disclaimer: nothing belongs to me but the plot... sadly


The Rippling Effect

Yukimura gently rocked the raven-haired boy, his hand resting against the top of the younger boy's head. For once, Yukimura Seiichi had nothing to offer the boy, no comforting words, no wise advice. All he could hope to do was to cradle the broken boy and shield him from the hurt, if just for a little while. He pressed his face into the boy's silken hair and felt silent sobs reverberate through the slender body. "There's no need to hold back, Akaya," he whispered, as his hand rested against the younger boy's face.

"There's no need to hold back when you're with me, Akaya." He planted a soft kiss in the boy's raven curls. "I'm here for you."

"Buchou…" Akaya's voice sounded muffled as he pressed himself harder against Yukimura's chest. Akaya was shaking and his skin was cold to Yukimura's touch. A cold sweat had broken out on his brow.

"I'll take care of you."

Tears started spilling from Akaya's eyes involuntarily, and he was having difficulty breathing. Yukimura closed his eyes, pained, as he felt the boy shiver violently in his arms.

Akaya…

"Don't… don't leave me… alone…" he breathed hoarsely.

Yukimura tightened his arms around Akaya.

"I won't."

I'll never leave you, Akaya.

When Akaya finally fell into a deep dreamless sleep, Yukimura gently shifted his head to his lap. Akaya looked like a child when he slept. He stroked the boy's hair, entranced by its silk-like qualities. Most people only saw the Demon on the courts, never noticing the child that had hidden so well in the depths of his being. Ever since he first saw Kirihara Akaya, Yukimura had known that there was more to the audacious boy than met the eye. So he had patiently waited and watched for even the tiniest crack on the surface of Akaya's perfect façade.

No one with eyes as clear as Akaya's could ever be evil.

It was no wonder then that he had been the one to find out about Akaya's feelings towards Yanagi. They were so subtle and well-hidden that Yukimura suspected that even Akaya had been unaware of them when he first brought it up. Needless to say, it had thrown Akaya into such an angry fit that the tennis club was turned upside down in a matter of hours. It also turned the younger boy into a walking timed bomb which went off at even the smallest triggers possible. The number of visitations to the school infirmary had sky-rocketed within a month.

Those memories brought a smile of amusement to his lips.

Needless to say, getting to know the real Akaya was not an easy task, but the knowledge that he now held a special place in the boy's heart was worth all the hard work and perils he had had to go through. But his real accomplishment lay in the fact that he had been the one to bring the boy and one of his best friends together.

Akaya and Renji.

When Akaya had gotten over the initial shock, and the subsequent bouts of anger, he had been confused. As usual, he built up a concrete wall around himself, running away from the problem like the proverbial ostrich that hid its head in the sand. Not that Yukimura would call Akaya's affections for Renji a problem; not when he knew all too well that Renji returned the feelings as well. It was sweet watching the two of them, both so outwardly intimidating but squishy-soft on the inside, loving each other but not knowing how to say it.

What they had shared was beautiful. There had been nothing complex about their relationship from the start.

Unlike Sanada and him.

Yukimura rested his hand against the side of the younger boy's face. His face was still wet and his eyes had begun showing signs of puffiness. He gently wiped at the tear streaks that marred the sleeping boy's soft porcelain skin. Akaya turned fitfully in his sleep, a soft pitiful moan escaping from his lips. It tore at him to see the boy suffer. He trembled with the need to sooth all the boy's pain away.

It was all his fault.

No matter how much he hated to admit it, Yukimura was envious of the younger boy. Perhaps just a little jealous even. Akaya had long become more than just a novelty to Yukimura; he was a constant reminder of what Yukimura could never have. Something Akaya had that he could never get.

The chance to love.

Yukimura grimaced as he felt the old pain tug at him once again. He had long come to accept things the way they were between himself and Sanada, yet the pain had remained. It haunted him constantly, gnawing at him incessantly. There was no escape from it so Yukimura had learnt to live with it. Learnt to live with the pain.

So much so that he was too numb to feel it.

But Akaya had made him aware of it again, and the pain came back at him in full force. In his moment of panic, he had grabbed at Akaya to keep himself afloat, and Akaya had stayed by his side loyally. By the time he had come back to his senses, he realized that he did not really want to let Akaya go; he needed the boy too much to let him go. So he had held on to the boy despite knowing the consequences of his actions.

It was all his fault; Akaya did nothing to deserve this, neither had Renji. It was not fair for them suffer so much just because of his selfishness. He had no right, no right at all, to do this just because…

Just because he was afraid. A mirthless chuckle escaped Yukimura as he bent over Akaya. He was suffering and he was afraid, and Akaya had been the only one to offer him the comfort he craved. Akaya had been the only one to see it, the only one to understand. He had looked right through the walls Yukimura had meticulously set up about himself and found the broken him that no one ever knew about. Not even Sanada. He leaned into Akaya and breathed in his warmth.

It was all his fault and he did not know how to begin to say that he was sorry.

I'm so sorry, Akaya.


Sanada had not been quite himself lately. To be more specific, he had been feeling out of sorts ever since… that day. He clenched his jaw, hard. Saying that he had been out of sorts was a gross understatement, but he really did not want to venture into that now that he had finally managed to seal all that mess away in some dark recess of his mind. The process had involved pure agony and unrelenting tears and unheard cries, but Sanada really had no need to be reminded of that right now; he was in the middle of practice.

Right now, he needed to be the pillar of Rikkaidai, the strong stoic Emperor who would lead the tennis club to victory once again. Now, he needed to do everything that needed to be done to ensure that all of them were in their best conditions for the upcoming Kantou games and subsequently the Nationals. He owed Seiichi that much as his fukubuchou. He could be Sanada Genichirou again when practice was over, when he was safe at home. But right now, he had responsibilities to fulfill.

Right now, he had to be Rikkaidai's pillar of strength.

"I have been observing some of the non-regulars like you told me to, Sanada." Yanagi sauntered up to Sanada, looking through the pages of his notebook purposefully. "Some of them do show some hints of potential. But it will take much training before they can compete at national level."

"Then we will train them," Sanada stated calmly as he turned to face the taller boy. "They are?"

Yanagi fingered a page and stopped flipping. "Tenoshi, junior year; Makada, junior year; Takeo, junior year; Fujiwara, freshman, and Doujima, freshman," he recited.

"That's only five out of two hundred," Sanada commented.

"The school team needs only eight."

"We're still two short, Renji."

Yanagi closed his notebook. "They have plenty of time to come to us before we officially withdraw from the club. I wouldn't worry so much if I were you."

"I'm not worried."

"Good."

They fell into an uncomfortable silence then, having run out of things to say. It raged between the two of them; it was strange how dead quiet could be so deafening. Sanada was the first one to turn away. He focused on the practice game between the two doubles teams before him. Doubles One was in the lead, but Kuwahara and Marui were making things difficult for them; like always, they would not go down without a fight.

A smash, and another point to Kuwahara and Marui.

"Kuwahara has increased his power, and his control has improved as well; he has far surpassed my expectations. Marui would have to work hard on his stamina and style if he still wants to play with Kuwahara in future. He is fast becoming a burden, as of now," Yanagi said quietly.

Becoming a burden.

If there was one thing in the world that could render Sanada Genichirou a wreck within a matter of seconds, it must be this. Sanada who remained unfazed even when facing an opponent twice his age and thrice his size back when he was only seven years old. It was strange how a few words could destroy him in a matter of seconds when he had stood fearless in face of the countless challenges he had faced in all fifteen years of his life.

It was impossible, that such simple words could affect Sanada Genichirou that much.

It had been impossible… until he met Yukimura Seiichi.

Seiichi…

Sanada forced himself to breathe again. Evenly.

"You're alright?" Yanagi asked, eyes opening just a little as he looked over at his fukubuchou. If Sanada had been his usual self, he would have been annoyed by Yanagi's subtle display of concern. Very annoyed. But right now, his pride was the least on his mind. Not that anyone could see it though. Except maybe Yanagi and Yagyuu, judging from the way they were both looking at him.

Hold there a second. Yagyuu?

"The game ended a while ago," Yanagi offered politely, "with Yagyuu and Niou winning 7-5. It was a close game."

Right. Sanada thought he saw Niou and Kuwahara looking at him strangely out of the corner of his eye.

"Well done, Niou, Yagyuu. Marui, Kuwahara, 40 laps each. You'll complete them in 30 minutes' time and then work on the menus Yanagi had come up for you." He looked over at the Doubles Two pair. "With your weights on. Any question?"

Marui's eyes flared and started to say something but Jackal quickly pulled him away, hand over the redhead's mouth. "Yes, Sanada," he replied with due respect as he dragged a certain very reluctant, very angry redheaded self-appointed tensai off the courts.

"Lemmegoyoujerklemmegolemmego," Marui managed to scream, between chewing on his gum vigorously and fighting his doubles partner who had both arms locked around the slender youth firmly. Jackal sighed, resigned, and continued to pull his redheaded friend along.

Sanada watched as the two disappeared from sight, his insides churning.

"They seem happy together." Yanagi's voice sounded too flat to be normal.

"Of course they're happy together. They do everything together; what do you expect?" Niou smirked as he stretched himself deliberately. Sanada did not realize that the Trickster was still there; he thought with the boy's short attention span he would have left to look for something interesting elsewhere long time ago. Yagyuu cleared his throat a little too loudly. Niou swung an arm around his doubles partner. "C'mon, Hiro-chan. It's not as if you haven't heard them together in the changing room before…" Niou's eyes narrowed slyly as he leaned towards his spectacled friend.

"That's enough, Niou. Go bug someone else now." Yagyuu replied, adjusting his glasses casually.

"Che. Such a prude, Hiro-chan." Niou's smirk widened into a grin as he flicked stray strands of hair from Yagyuu's face. "See you later," Niou whispered in Yagyuu's ear, letting his fingertips ghost over the other boy's cheek before turning to leave.

Yagyuu looked as unruffled as ever.

Sanada looked sideways at the expressionless Gentleman; even the two of them were happy together. It hurt, really hurt, to see people around you so blissfully in love when you were so out of it. Not that what he shared with Seiichi was really love anyway. Never in all the past two years they were together had Sanada ever mustered enough courage to put his feelings towards the beautiful boy in words; he had done every thing that was humanly possible to show them to Seiichi, but he never did quite bring himself to say the three simple words he longed to say.

Sanada had never been good with words.

His throat tightened.

He never had a way with words, because he was afraid of making mistakes. Afraid of driving Seiichi away. Afraid… of becoming Seiichi's burden. So he had chosen silence, so that Seiichi could move on whenever he wanted when he got tired of him without having to feel guilty. In the meantime, Sanada would love Seiichi in his own way, watching over him, caring for him, being there for him. Until the day Seiichi decided to leave him.

Seiichi.

"Are you… Are the two of you alright?" Yagyuu asked quietly. Sanada's head whipped around to stare at the bespectacled boy. He saw Yanagi doing the same. "I don't mean to probe, and you don't have to tell me anything. I'm merely concerned about the two of you, as a friend, or at least a teammate should."

For all his politeness and well-meaning intentions, Yagyuu Hiroshi had never really been known for his tact, or his subtlety. But somehow, the Gentleman always managed to make the most stinging remarks sound perfectly acceptable. Congenial, even.

It made one feel obligated to answer him truthfully.

"No," Yanagi replied, "but that is of no relation to tennis practice, except for the fact that I am concerned with Akaya's absence from practice. Which means he will be missing out on crucial training aimed at improving his speed. Other than that, I do not think my current state of mind is of much consequence at this point in time." Sanada wondered if the Master understood what he was saying; it hardly made sense.

Yagyuu nodded thoughtfully before turning to Sanada.

"Same here. Thank you for asking. I appreciate your concern but you should return to practice now." Sanada started to walk away; he was too confused to stay. He needed to move to clear his thoughts.

The truth was that he had not visited Seiichi again since last Sunday and the lapse in time was killing him; he was already aching for the beautiful boy as it was. He ached to see Seiichi again, and he yearned for the familiar smile and touch. Seeing Seiichi would make everything alright, as he always did. But he wanted to have some time to think before he faced Seiichi again. The last thing he wanted was to have Seiichi see him in this miserable state and blame it all on himself like he was prone to do. Seiichi could have anyone he wanted as long as he was happy; he did not need to feel guilty for anything. Especially not how Sanada felt; how he felt he would deal on his own.

But when he went to visit Yukimura that day, never in his wildest dreams had he expected to see Akaya asleep in Seiichi's lap, with Seiichi singing softly to him.

It was strange, how Sanada had reacted to the scene then. It was perfectly innocent, yet there was something about the scene, about the way Seiichi was looking at Akaya that made it seem all wrong. Something that said that there was no room for him there.

Not when Akaya was already there.

Sanada thought he would faint right there and then, but he did not. He had watched. He needed to know for sure that it was what Seiichi wanted. Somehow he had always harboured the hope that perhaps, just perhaps, Seiichi would one day tell him that he wanted no one but him. And he knew that unless that hope was completely crushed, he would never willingly let Seiichi go no matter how much he persuaded himself to.

So he had forced himself to stay, and to see. When Seiichi looked up, he knew. So he had left; he no longer belonged there. He had never belonged there to begin with. But he still needed to see him again. For the last time, to say good bye.

It really hurt.

"Perhaps you should call Akaya to see what's wrong. He seemed pretty fine this morning. Was acting the devil and sending people to the infirmary in droves. Wonder what happened to him," Niou suggested as he reappeared suddenly by Yagyuu's side. "It's not like him to miss practice like this." His face was graced with a lopsided grin as he watched the three of them intently. Sanada did not like it.

It was as if he knew exactly what was going on.

"That won't be necessary, Niou. Go mind your own business." Yagyuu's voice sounded a little too harsh.

"Oh, but I want to, Hiro-chan. I'm bored out of my mind with no one interesting to bug, and I'm feeling nice enough today to be a good senpai to my little kouhai," Niou drawled as he pulled out his phone languidly. "I'll call him myself since you guys aren't interested." Sanada thought he caught a malicious glint in the Trickster's eyes. Beside him, Sanada could feel Yanagi start to tense.

It made him suddenly aware of the fact that he was clenching his jaw so hard that it hurt.

"Niou," Yagyuu started warningly as the silver-haired boy slowly dialed Akaya's number. Niou grinned with mock innocence at the boy. "Yes, Hiro-chan?"

"You're going too far, Niou…" The Trickster silenced his doubles partner with a finger against the other boy's lips as the call got through.

Sanada suddenly found himself unable to move; it was just like last Sunday.

"Ahh… I was wondering when you're going to pick up, Aka…" Niou stopped abruptly. A strange look crossed his face as he listened.

Sanada felt a wave of nausea wash over him; his insides were burning.

Niou's eyes gleamed. "No, I'm just calling to check on Akaya. So he's fine? Asleep? I see. I won't disturb you then…" He was staring straight at both Sanada and Yanagi now.

"Have a good rest… buchou." Sanada hated the way Niou voiced the last word out so deliberately. It was as if he wanted to see just how much he could hurt the two of them.

Sanada was not going to let him.

"Yagyuu, practice game. Court one now," Sanada ordered as he made his way onto the practice courts. His face was still the perfect mask of authority and discipline was he walked to the net, but inside, his heart was breaking with every step he took. He saw Yanagi moving to take his usual place outside of the courts, his notebook at the ready. It seemed that Yanagi was not going to give in to the Trickster as well.

As Sanada practised his swing while Yagyuu got ready, he thought he would go deaf soon; the sound of his heart breaking was so loud.


A/N: Here goes the thrid chapter! Phew Finally gotten onto the story proper, with Akaya, Yukimura and Sanada in the picture after two chapters of absence. This ended up much longer than I planned. Originally, I had wanted to stop at Sanada's painful musings, but Niou just had to pop up. :) I wanted to keep both him and Marui until the next chapter, but somehow, the two irritating brats refused to wait any longer. Also, Sanada's feelings for Yuki appeared to be much more complicated than I first thought. So not only did it take up more space than I previously allocated, it also took up much more time! Sigh. It's going to get more angsty from this point onwards, since I'm done with laying down the basic grounds.

Before I move on, I'd like to mention that I'm basing this fic on both the anime and the manga, since I've seen both. They both have interesting material for me to work on, and I think it'll be a greatwaste if I do not utilise both resources. For example, the switch between Yagyuu and Niou happened in the manga but not the anime, while the anime talked about how Niou got Yagyuu into the tennis club but not the manga. Hoots. Anyway, that's all I have to say as of now. Anything more would be a crime because I really shouldn't be giving out spoilers... wails