Title: Methods and Madness

date written: 11-14-06

Pairing: Silver Pair

It was the kind of morning when you wake early, brimming with energy and a sense of purpose. The kind of morning when, giving into impulse, you throw the window open and shout "Hello, world!"

And the world responds, "Shut up, I'm trying to sleep!!"

Yeah. That kind of morning.

Of course, Ohtori didn't actually great the dawn by shouting like a maniac. He had more self control than that. He also didn't want to wake his parents, who would want to kill him, or his sister, who would want to know why it was, exactly, that he was so excited. Ohtori didn't want to deal with that today; he had too much to think about already.

This was because he had decided that today would be the day.

Or, rather, The Day. Today would be The Day that he finally asked Shishido-san out on an official date. It merited the capital letters because the two of them had been avoiding the subject for so long. Through their private training and struggles the two of them had become close, and Ohtori had learned who Shishido-san really was. Far from the brash, arrogant jerk some people took him to be, Ohtori knew that Shishido-san was a good person who was genuine in his actions, dedicated in his undertakings, and straightforward in his manner. He had his failings, but somehow even they could be endearing. After spending so much time with him, Ohtori found that he couldn't help caring for him.

Shishido-san felt the same way about Ohtori. At least, Ohtori thought he did. Shishido-san may have been genuine and straightforward, but that didn't mean he bared his soul at every turn. Still, everyone had noticed that Ohtori was treated with more affection from the dash specialist than anyone else on the team received, or Hyoutei at large. Neither of them had ever said anything but everyone knew something was going on.

That was why today was The Day. Ohtori was tired of playing around, tired of hoping that Shishido-san would do something about their not-exactly-a-relationship and had decided to take the initiative.

"Shishido-san!"

Shishido turned and, seeing his kouhai, the intense expression he always wore slipped a little into a smile. He slowed in his pace to allow Ohtori to catch up with him so they could walk the rest of the way to the clubroom together.

"Hey Choutarou, what's up?"

"Actually, Shishido-san, I wanted to ask you—"

"HEADS UP!"

Instinctively, both of them dove for cover. Scant seconds after they had hit the deck, two tennis bags crashed down onto the path directly in front of them. They regarded the objects for a moment before Shishido got up, scowling.

"…appreciate the effort, but I do not believe that is what 'I'll carry your bag' generally means," they heard a drawling voice say, approaching from around the corner.

"I didn't say I'd carry it, I said I'd help," responded another voice. "And look, they're right next to the door now and we don't have to carry them at all."

"Gakuto, throwing our bags off the bleachers is not—"

"OI!"

Ohtori watched as Shishido stalked up to the arguing doubles pair.

"Did you do that?" he demanded, gesturing angrily to the fallen bags. "You could have taken Choutarou's head off!"

The tensai and the acrobat both looked at the scene.

"Did it hit you?" asked Gakuto. "Shit. If my stuff's broken it'll be your ass, Shishido."

"Not. The. Point." Shishido growled. "What the hell do you think you're doing, chucking stuff at people, anyway?!"

Gakuto actually looked offended.

"I didn't throw it at you," he retorted, "I didn't know you were there! And I warned you, didn't I? It's not my fault if you're too distracted to notice!"

"What the hell does that mean?!"

"It means that if you paid any attention to what you were doing instead of spending all your time thinking about O—mmph!"

Gakuto glared at Oshitari, who had put one hand over the redhead's mouth and the other on his shoulder and began steering him towards the clubroom.

"Our fault entirely," he said smoothly, relinquishing his hold on his doubles partner only when he stopped to pick up both tennis bags. "Apologies, Ohtori," he said while Gakuto sulked.

Ohtori nodded and smiled as he watched the two go inside.

"Are you okay, Choutarou?" Shishido didn't look quite as angry anymore.

"I'm fine, Shishido-san," Ohtori said, getting up and dusting off his clothes.

"I swear, those guys are going to kill someone one of these days," Shishido grumbled, as they continued on their way into the building and to the clubroom, where most of the other regulars were already assembled. "Oh, hey, were you going to say something?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you if—"

"Shishido!"

This time the interruption came from a miffed looking Atobe. The Hyoutei diva strolled up to them with his usual air of extreme self-importance and completely ignored the frown that was now gracing Ohtori's lips.

"Shishido, Ore-sama is not going to tell you again to keep your trinkets to yourself," he said haughtily. "Ore-sama found this next to his things."

They took the time to look at the object that Atobe was brandishing. It looked like a hairbrush, and on closer examination it had a sparkly, pink handle.

"…The hell?" said Shishido. "Atobe, you think that hideous thing is mine?

"Naturally," replied Atobe, raising a pristine eyebrow. "Who else would have the bad taste to own such a thing and be careless enough to leave it next to Ore-sama's bag?"

Shishido looked as though he was about to tell Atobe where he could shove it when they were interrupted as a scowling Hiyoshi stalked up, snatched the hairbrush from Atobe, and retreated back to his corner of the room, muttering. For a moment they only stared, then Atobe, now ignoring the falsely accused Shishido entirely, followed the second year with the clear intention of giving him a piece of his mind.

"Sorry, Choutarou," Shishido began, turning back to his doubles partner. "What were you going to—HEY! Give that back, Gakuto!"

Ohtori watched as Shishido proceeded to chase down Gakuto and demand the return of whatever it was the acrobat had just stolen from the other boy's bag. The locker room, he reflected, was not a good place for asking senpai out on dates. Not only were there the constant interruptions, but there was also the possibility of being overheard by other senpai. It was probably better to wait for a more opportune moment.

The only problem was that there were no opportune moments. All throughout practice there was always someone nearby or a match or argument was in progress, and Ohtori found that he could never get a word in edgewise. It wasn't until after morning practice was over that Ohtori even had a chance, deciding to ambush Shishido as he came out of the showers.

Unfortunately, that didn't work out quite so well either.

"Shishido-san, about what I was going to ask you this… morning…"

"What is it, Choutarou?" Shishido asked, toweling off his hair.

Ohtori tried to say it. It was the perfect time—Shishido took long showers and everyone else had already left so there would be no eavesdropping senpai. Sadly, the moment he'd seen Shishido step into the locker room with only a towel around his waist… his brain had short-circuited. He didn't look at his senpai when they were changing; he thought it was indecent and a little like voyeurism. He usually made an extra effort not to peek while Shishido changed, because he was certain his blush would give him away. He couldn't ask Shishido out when he was half-naked; it was too awkward.

"…Choutarou?"

"Just say yes," said a voice from behind them.

The two boys blinked and turned. Ohtori had thought the room was empty, but he had somehow managed to overlook the drowsy form of Jiroh on the clubroom sofa. The sleepy boy yawned and sat up, stretching.

"What?" asked Shishido, bewildered.

"To his question," said Jiroh. "Just say yes. You're going to at some point, anyway."

The boys stared at him. Jiroh-senpai, Ohtori reflected, was a lot sharper than he looked. He hoped that the volley specialist was also accurate in his predictions.

"Jiroh, what are you talking about?" demanded Shishido, still confused.

Jiroh shook his head.

"Never mind," he said. He yawned again. "Hey, Shishido, didn't Machida-sensei say he was going to… uh… oh, right, 'give you detention for the rest of your short, miserable life,' if you were late to literature class again?"

Shishido blanched.

"Crap! I totally forgot!" Shishido dressed in record speed and flew out the door with a hurried call of "Sorry, Choutarou, gotta go!"

Jiroh followed him at a much slower, languid pace.

"Try again after afternoon practice, Ohtori-kun," the sleepy boy said, reaching up to pat him on the shoulder before wandering out the door. "He'll have nowhere to run then."

Ohtori stood there wondering what on earth had just happened. Then he realized that he was late to his own class.

It was not turning out to be a good day.

Ohtori liked to think of himself as being patient and understanding, but as the day continued on he found himself becoming frustrated. He didn't even see his senpai again until classes were over; true to Jiroh's warnings, Machida-sensei had apparently been none to forgiving and had given Shishido lunch detention. By the time afternoon practice was half over he was beginning to think that the entire world was conspiring against him. Every time he tried to broach the subject he was interrupted. Maybe today just wasn't the day after all, he found himself thinking sadly.

"Choutarou, are you okay?" Shishido was looking at him in concern. "You've been kind of distracted today."

Startled, Ohtori realized he had been staring at the same spot on the ground for the last five minutes. Practice had ended and they were once again in the clubroom getting ready to go home. The entire day had passed and Ohtori still hadn't said his peace. He was so frustrated by this point that he was almost ready to give up. This was his last chance.

"I'm fine, Shishido-san," he said, and then, "Can I ask you something?"

Shishido shrugged.

"Sure, Choutarou, what is it?"

The senpai could hear if they wanted to, Ohtori decided, he didn't care. As long as Shishido finally heard what he had to say, nothing else mattered. He took a deep breath.

"Shishido-san," he began, "would you—"

"Hey, Shishido, how's your extra homework going? I heard Machida-sensei was pretty pissed!"

"Shut up, Gakuto! I'm trying to have a conversation here!"

"Shishido-san, could we—"

"Well, excuse me! Next time you land in detention for a week I just won't say anything at all!"

"GOOD!"

"Shishido-san, I—"

"Of course, next time I'll be too busy laughing my ass off…"

"I thought I told you to shut—"

"Shishido-san!!"

Everything stopped.

Ohtori hadn't meant to yell. He hadn't realized he did until he saw everyone staring. He didn't blame them for being surprised—Ohtori wasn't the kind of person who yelled at people, not nice, quiet Choutarou. He was the kid who was always polite and soft-spoken, the one who would sit by in silence even when he was frustrated just because it made more sense to him than losing his temper.

Of course, there were always special circumstances.

Nobody said a word. Shishido looked utterly shocked, and only stared at him with his mouth open. As the seconds ticked by, Ohtori felt his face going red. Now that he had the attention of the entire clubroom there was no way he could say anything. So he did the only thing he could think of and, ducking his head, he mumbled an apology and left.

He was halfway down the block and mentally kicking himself when he heard his name called.

It didn't take very long for Shishido to catch up with him.

"Choutarou, I'm sorry," the other boy said, a little out of breath. "I didn't mean to interrupt you. What were you going to say?"

Ohtori sighed.

"It doesn't matter, senpai," he said, resigned. If fate had decreed that today wasn't the day, then there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Oh."

They stood there in awkwardly for a minute, neither sure of what they should say. It was Shishido who finally spoke up and broke the silence.

"Hey, Choutarou…" he was avoiding Ohtori's gaze and rubbing the back of his neck with one hand while the other played with the hem of his shirt, Ohtori noticed. It was a sign that usually meant he was embarrassed about something. "Do you want to… go get something to eat? Or see a movie or something?"

Ohtori blinked and ran the sentences through his head again to make sure he'd heard correctly. It couldn't possibly be what it sounded like, could it? Not after the day he'd had…

"Now, senpai?" he asked, stalling for time.

"Yeah, sure, now," Shishido responded quickly. "Or later. Or… not. If you don't want to…"

"I would love to, Shishido-san," said Ohtori warmly.

Shishido relaxed. He'd been worried that Choutarou was mad at him. He didn't really blame him if he was, what with all the times he'd been interrupted that day. Shishido still had no idea what Choutarou had wanted to tell him. He wanted to make it up to his doubles partner, if only because he couldn't stand the idea of ending the day badly with the silver-haired second year.

Ohtori's next question, however, threw him for a loop.

"Is this a date, senpai?"

Shishido froze, unsure. Had Choutarou thought…? Had Shishido sounded like…? Had he wanted…?

…

…was it?

For a moment, Shishido only stood there. Then something Jiroh had said to him earlier that day came back to him. There was no way Jiroh could have known, Shishido realized, but it was still the best advice he could have given.

"Yes," he said nervously.

Then he finally met his partner's gaze and, seeing the way Ohtori was smiling, he didn't feel so nervous anymore.

For their very first official date, Shishido and Ohtori, neither whom had very much money on them at the time, went out to dinner at a fast food restaurant. The food was greasy, and the building was far too crowded and noisy for confessions of love, or whispering sweet nothings, or any conversation at all. Somehow, however, they both felt that it couldn't have gone better. The place didn't really matter, they could have been anywhere at all and it would have been perfect because they were together, and it was official.

In the end, thought Ohtori later that night as he said goodbye to his boyfriend and began the long walk home, it always turned out that the best things in life were unplanned.

A/N: I'm really sorry about how late (and rushed) this is. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to go on a semi-hiatus. My workload is enough now that in order to get things done I stay up to all hours of the morning and I've started acting like Jiroh, falling asleep in odd places. Also, in a couple of days I'm going home for the week of Thanksgiving, and my parents' computer is broken, so there's not much I can do about it until I return. At any rate, I'll be back around the Monday after Thanksgiving, and the updates will continue then. :)