Disclaimer: I own very little.

Chance Meetings

Chapter 2

Even though the idea of meeting Dan-again kun was pleasant for some obscure reason (though Kabaji was fairly confident it had something to do with not being so alone) he hadn't expected it to happen before their teams faced each other in a tournament, whenever that was. Most certainly he had not expected it to happen mere days after their first meeting, as another random encounter on the streets.

Expected or not, it wasn't full three days since first meeting the boy that he again met Dan. This time, they didn't run into each other quite as literally as before; instead, Dan spotted him from far away, a happy voice calling out his name.

"Kabaji-san!" Dan shouted, practically skipping closer to Kabaji. He looked exactly like when they first met, except that he was carrying a notebook this time. "What a surprise to meet you again like this desu! Are you doing anything in particular?"

What could you say to such a question when all you were doing was wander around aimlessly to forget just how lonely you were? Kabaji, for his part, merely shook his head, looking down at Dan in wonder. Was he really always this energetic?

"Great desu!" Dan grinned. "Um, I mean, if you aren't doing anything special, would you mind accompanying me? I'm going to the street courts," a nod of the blue head indicated the racquet bag he was carrying, "and it's just not as much fun to be there alone desu!"

Kabaji's decision was not a difficult one. He was still carrying his own bag from club practice, not having gone home yet, and it wasn't like he had anything better to do. He could either agree and spend some more time with Dan-kun – or continue his lonely walk until he finally decided to head home.

Even if he hadn't had any such reasons, the bright smile on Dan's face as he muttered an, "Usu," would have been enough of one.

Kabaji followed the apparently somewhat bouncy smaller boy, wondering where he got all his energy. Not that being energetic was a bad thing, oh no; it quite reminded him of an awake Jirou, in a way. However, for some reason, Dan's energy seemed somewhat… cuter? Yes, he did believe cute was the right word in this case.

The street courts weren't that far, though Kabaji couldn't help but think that he wouldn't have minded if the way had been a little longer yet. As they got there, though, Dan sighed in disappointment.

"So many people desu!" he exclaimed. "There aren't usually this many players here, not at the singles courts at least. It'll take ages to get to play!"

Kabaji glanced around, seeing the gathered people. Then, suddenly, a thought came to his mind. "Ah… Dan-kun?" As the little boy turned to look up at him, eyes shining, he continued, "Do you play doubles?"

"Huh?" Blinking, Dan looked towards the doubles court. Indeed, there were significantly less people there. "I… I have played, but only a little in practice desu… what about you, Kabaji-san?"

Kabaji nodded. "Usu." He had, after all, played doubles even in official tournaments – not too often, or against very skilled opponents, but then the opponents around here would hardly be at a national level, either.

"Great desu!" The grin on Dan's face could have rivalled the sun. "What do you say, should we try that instead?"

Kabaji nodded again. "Usu."

"Okay desu!" And, with no more warning than this, Kabaji found his hand being pulled at rather insistently as the little boy hurried towards the court. While it was quite obvious that simply standing still would have made Dan's attempts at moving him futile, Kabaji found himself walking rather briskly instead, matching the smaller boy's pace.

Playing Doubles with someone you barely knew, as Kabaji was well aware, was anything but easy. However, if your opponents weren't too skilled, it was possible to win simply with Singles skills. Which was, at first, exactly what they did.

Dan-kun was a good player, Kabaji soon noted. He could trust the smaller boy to take care of the net play, staying at the baseline himself. It worked well enough as long as their opponents weren't too good for the Singles tactics.

The first time they actually came across a good couple, Kabaji first thought they would lose.

It wasn't pessimism or anything, just basic realism. He didn't know Dan-kun well enough to read any signs, and even if he had, he doubted the younger boy even knew how to use sign play effectively, being almost exclusively a Singles player. And true enough, after three games, they were losing three games to love.

This was when Dan smiled.

"Ah, Kabaji-san," he said. "I think I have them down now desu."

For a moment, Kabaji was confused. Then, however, he remembered the notebook in Dan-kun's hands earlier. Even in Kabaji's somewhat limited experience of such things, notebooks indicated a very specific type of player.

Data players generally gave good instructions. And following instructions was what Kabaji did best – depending on who was giving them, anyway. And he was definitely willing to follow Dan-kun's.

Go left, step right, it's out, Kabaji-san – this, he could do. Soon enough he noted Dan-kun making small gestures with each shout – whether on purpose or force of habit, he knew not, but he had always been good at learning. When he reached a ball just in time simply due to interpreting right the way Dan-kun nodded his head, he knew they were going to win.

It wasn't sign play, not really, it was more of Kabaji following instructions, that and him learning his little partner's playing style instead of that of their opponents. By the time they walked off the courts for a break, he mostly knew what he had to do in any given situation. It might not be good enough against skilled Doubles pairings in actual tournaments, but they had beaten all the lower-ranked actual couples they faced on the street courts.

Dan-kun was smiling at him.

Kabaji wasn't entirely surprised when he heard himself agreeing to another visit to the street courts sometime soon.