I am really, really, really sorry about the long wait but they are giving me way too much Geography homework at college. Updates will probably be once every two weeks. I will tell you all if there are any deviations to that schedule due to coursework or going on holiday or something like that. Anyway, enough of me, now for the long awaited Chapter Two!
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince Of Tennis, that belongs to Konomi Takeshi. I only own my crazy mind.
Chapter Two
Marui's heart soared when he saw Yagyuu coming towards him with a chibi Niou by his side. It fell back down to Earth when he saw how grumpy Niou looked. It plummeted to the other side of the planet when Niou refused to look at him.
"Hey 'Haru." Marui greeted, kneeling down to Niou's eyelevel. The Trickster stubbornly looked away. "I'm sorry I wasn't there yesterday. It was my brothers' birthday and I couldn't miss it." Marui tried again, shifting so that he could see Niou's face. Niou looked the other way and Marui sighed as he sat back on his heels.
"Sorry, Marui-kun. Niou-kun did not appreciate being woken up this morning and his brother saw him when we went to get his stuff." Yagyuu explained as he held out a hand to pull Marui up. A look of understanding crossed the redhead's face as he took the offered hand. That explained why Niou seemed so angry and annoyed. Marui would've felt the same if his brothers had found out.
'Still, he doesn't have to take it out on me…' Marui thought glumly as he glanced at Niou who was sitting several rows in front. They were on a train that would take them near their campsite and Niou was acting normally with everyone but him. Marui felt a little upset about that.
Marui was pulled out of his thoughts by Akaya collapsing into the seat next to him.
"Hey Akaya. I'm surprised you aren't cooing over 'Haru." Marui commented lightly.
"Hey Marui-senpai. I tried to but Niou-senpai's glares were even scarier when he was a kid." Akaya explained as he got comfy. "What about you? I'm surprised you're not sitting next to Niou-senpai." Marui's expression turned glum again.
"'Haru won't talk to me." He said. "I think I hurt his feelings by not being there when he woke up…"
"That's not your fault though. And you shouldn't be losing sleep over it. And before you ask, you've got bags under your eyes." Akaya said as he reached out to rub one of said bags with his thumb. "Do you want to rest on my shoulder?" Marui blinked in surprise before slowly nodding.
"If you don't mind. Thanks Akaya." Marui mumbled as he rested his head on Akaya's shoulder, yawning and closing his eyes. Akaya shifted slightly, moving the hair out of his senpai's eyes before falling asleep as well.
Three rows down, Niou fidgeted in his seat.
"I think I might go and talk to Bunta..." He finally said as he stood up. He turned round and stopped when he saw Marui with his head on Akaya's shoulder. A shot of jealously surged though him and Niou flung himself angrily back into his seat. "On second thought, never mind." Yagyuu raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he continued to read his book.
The train arrived an hour later and, after a fifteen minute bus ride, they arrived at the campsite. After quickly signing in, the team set about finding several free spaces next to each other and putting their tents up. They had four two-person tents with Jackal and Akaya in one, Sanada and Yukimura in another and Niou and Marui sharing another tent. Yagyuu was lucky enough to have a tent of his own since Yanagi was no longer on the trip.
Niou sat next to the bags, watching with mild interest as the others put the tents up. Both Marui and Yagyuu had the misfortune of having to put their tents up by themselves but the Gentleman obviously had a lot more experience camping, if the amount of casualties the redhead suffered were anything to go by. Marui had been hit on the head four times by the same pole, the tent had collapsed on him three times and had tripped over the guy rope twice. Niou watched worriedly as he started hammering the pegs into the ground. Marui was fine until he got to the last peg. A nearby car alarm went off, causing the tensai to jump and the hammer to slip. Marui yelped as the hammer hit his thumb, quickly pulling it back and sucking the injured thumb.
"Bunta!" Niou yelled as he jumped up and ran over to the redhead. "Are you okay?" He asked in concern as he gently took Marui's hand, frowning at the darkening thumb.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It isn't that serious." Marui tried to wave it off but couldn't stop himself from hissing in pain as Niou's fingers gently brushed over the bruise. Niou looked downcast.
"Sorry. I couldn't protect you…" Niou said sadly, sniffing slightly. Marui sighed silently as he used his good hand to pull Niou closer in an awkward embrace, ruffling his white hair gently.
"It's not your fault. I should've been watching what I was doing. Thank you for caring though." Marui said as Jackal came over with the first aid kit. Niou nodded as he moved out of the Brazilian's way, clinging to Marui's good arm.
"Genichirou, finish putting Marui's tent up. Yagyuu, Akaya, start putting lunch out. The blanket is in the blue and white bag." Yukimura ordered as he walked over to the remaining three. "Is your hand okay, Marui?"
"He'll be fine. It's just a bad bruise." Jackal answered for Marui as he stood up to make sure that Akaya didn't eat all the sandwiches. "It'll be almost completely healed in a few days." Yukimura nodded.
"That's good. Marui, please be more careful. You're already out of practice, you don't want to miss out on more tennis because of a broken thumb." The captain said. Marui nodded, an apologetic look on his face. Yukimura nodded once before getting up and walking over to the others who were sitting on the blanket and starting to eat.
"Are you sure you're okay, Bunta?" Niou asked again as they stood up.
"I'm sure, 'Haru. The pain's already starting to subside." Marui reassured him with a smile. "Come on, let's get some lunch."
"If you're sure…" Niou said uncertainly. "Ah, let me get that for you!"
The team watched as throughout lunch Niou tried to do everything for Marui. The redhead could barely move a finger without Niou asking what sandwich he wanted or if he was thirsty. There was even one point where Niou tried to feed Marui but the tensai managed to get him to draw the line there.
"Is it me or is Niou acting strange?" Jackal whispered as he leaned towards the others. They all nodded.
"Niou-senpai told me that he used to protect Marui-senpai from bullies when they were little. Maybe being young and seeing Marui-senpai get hurt brought that old protective streak out." Akaya suggested quietly to the others. Yukimura nodded.
"It's plausible." He agreed before raising his voice so that Niou and Marui could hear. "If we're all finished then let's have a look around town and do some food shopping." The team had decided not to bring any food and to just but stuff when they got there so they didn't have as much heavy stuff to carry on the train. Everybody nodded and started to get up but Niou pulled Marui back down.
"Yukimura, can me and Bunta stay here?" The Trickster asked. Yukimura nodded and the team left. A slightly uncomfortable silence fell over the remaining two. Marui fidgeted slightly.
"Come on, let's put this stuff away." He said suddenly as he stood up and started to clear away the lunch things.
"But Bunta! Your thumb!" Niou cried out as he jumped up. Marui held the empty sandwich box out of his reach.
"It's only bruised, 'Haru! Stop trying to protect me!" Marui said in a much louder voice than he wanted to in the hope that Niou would listen. Niou stopped moving and looked down at his feet.
"Are you mad at me, Bunta?" He asked in a small voice. Marui mentally kicked himself as he knelt down in front of Niou.
"I'm not mad at you. Why would I be mad at you?" He asked.
"Well, I was in a bad mood this morning and I took it out on you simply because you were an easy target even though I knew it would make you upset. And then, on the train, I got really jealous when I saw you sleeping with Akaya and started saying mean things about you to the others behind your back. And then, even though I knew you weren't very good at putting up tents, I still refused to help you and now you're hurt and you won't let me help you and-" Marui held up a hand to cut him off.
"I understand about this morning, I didn't know you were talking about me to the others and even if you had offered to help, I wouldn't have let you in case you got hurt. The reason I won't let you help me now is because a) it honestly doesn't hurt that much anymore and b) you are five years old. I should be the one protecting you, not the other way round. Besides, if I'm mad at anyone then it's myself." Marui said as he hugged Niou. Niou shifted the embrace and looked up at Marui.
"Why are you mad at yourself?"
"Because I'm afraid that I hurt your feelings. I had the whole team there when I woke up; you only had Yagyuu. I should've at least been there as well." Marui said as the guilt started to build up inside of him again. Niou blinked in surprise and tackled Marui, sending the surprised boy on to his back.
"You didn't hurt my feelings. I knew it was your brothers' birthday and when Yagyuu told me how upset you looked because you couldn't be there for me, I couldn't stay mad at you." Niou mumbled into Marui's chest. Marui opened his mouth but was stopped by a blushing Niou looking him in the eye. "I know I seemed mad at you this morning but that was 'cause it was early and Keisuke had seen me in this embarrassing form. I took that anger out on you because you were the easiest target, like I said. I'm really sorry." Marui smiled at the apology, wrapping one arm around the Trickster and using the other to cushion his head.
"Apology more than accepted." Marui said happily as he closed his eyes. "Come on, the others probably won't be back for a while. Let's have a nap." Marui felt Niou nod against his chest as the boy snuggled up to him. He yawned before letting nature's lullaby slowly rock him to sleep…
Marui groaned slightly as he felt somebody poke him awake. The rest of the team had come back empty handed save for a bag of Chinese and some sandwiches that they had managed to blag from a café that had been closing for the day. It had taken the team quite a while to find the small supermarket and since it apparently closed early on Mondays, the shop had been shut by the time they got there. Fortunately, they had found a small takeaway and the aforementioned café to get food from to sustain the group until the next day. The longish journey had made everyone tired so they all retired to bed early.
Marui opened his eyes and blinked as they got used to the darkness. It had to be midnight at least, it was that dark. Marui rolled on to his back and was surprised to see Niou hovering above him.
"'Haru?" He asked.
"I woke up and it was dark…" Niou said, his voice trembling slightly as he trailed off.
'Ah, yes, 'Haru was scared of the dark when he was a kid, wasn't he?' Marui thought as he sat up. "Just a sec, 'Haru, I've got something that I think might help." He said as he started to rummage through his bag.
"Bunta?" Niou said uncertainly as he looked at his boyfriend weirdly, confusion in his eyes. Marui ignored the unspoken question for the moment and instead let out a cry of triumph as he found what he was looking for. He gave the item to Niou who blinked as he looked at the thing in his hands. "Is this…?"
"Tora-kun, yeah. I've got the others in my bag as well." Marui said as he pulled Niou closer. "I thought you might want him, considering what's happened. After the twins friends left, I had a look in the attic. That's why I was so tired today. Yesterday. Whatever."
"Thanks Bunta." Niou whispered as he stroked the toy tiger's soft fur. Marui smiled gently as he laid back down, bringing Niou with him.
"No problem, 'Haru. Now get some sleep, we've got a long day ahead of us." Marui yawned. "Sweet dreams, 'Haru."
"Okay. Sweet dreams, Bunta."
A/N: Sooooo...did ya like it? I hope it was worth the long wait. Until the 28th November then! Bai bai!