Sorry it took such a long time to complete this chapter. Harry Potter, Solitaire and older sisters are very distracting. On the bright side, I got my AS results last Thursday and got the necessary grades to go on to my second year. It's nice not to have that hanging over my head anymore.

Unfortunately, I have several sleepovers and summer homework to do so they'll probably be similar wait before the next chapter. Sorry about this but I hope this chapter makes up for it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince Of Tennis.

Chapter Three

Akaya walked towards the tennis courts with his head held high. After hanging out with Akizaki and his brother almost all weekend, he had completely desensitised to nerdy looking people. Akizaki had even tested him with a load of pictures of people who looked like nerds. Akaya had managed to not say nerd to any of them except for one of an anime character that he knew was a nerd.

"Hey senpai-tachi!" Akaya greeted chipperly as he burst into the changing room. Everybody returned the greeting but Akaya noticed that two voices were missing. He looked round and his smile turned into a confused frown. "Where's Niou-senpai and Marui-senpai?"

"Niou's having a few fillings done and he won't be in until just before lunch so Marui's coming in later with his brothers." Jackal explained as he pulled his T-shirt on and adjusted his wristbands. Akaya deflated slightly.

"Oh…" He said dejectedly as he sluggishly opened his locker. Yukimura looked over at him suspiciously.

"Why are you asking?" Yukimura enquired apprehensively.

"I wanted to apologise to Marui-senpai for being so mean last week." Akaya answered as he changed as quickly as his depressed state allowed. He did not want a slap from Sanada for taking too long. Yukimura instantly lightened up at the answer and he ruffled Akaya's hair.

"That's okay then! Now hurry up, Aka-chan, the sooner you get to practise the sooner you can have some cake!" Yukimura sang cheerfully as he snuggled Akaya before skipping over to his locker to get his tennis racket. Akaya blinked confusedly, holding his shirt in front of his body a little fearfully. Yukimura in a bad mood was scary but a hyper, singing Yukimura? That was downright frightening. Yanagi walked over to Akaya, placing a hand on his shoulder and jolting Akaya out of his terrified stupor.

"Don't worry about Seiichi. He's just glad he doesn't have to be mad at you anymore." Yanagi said as he took the shirt out of Akaya's hands and replaced it with his tennis shirt. "And I would hurry up if I were you. Genichirou's mood is 47% worse than usual today. Seiichi has been moaning to him all weekend about how his precious baby has gone bad so he is not most appreciative of you this morning. I will try to distract him until you get out but there is only a 7.6% chance of it working so you might want to hurry." Akaya blinked as the words processed before nodding.

"Okay. Thanks Yanagi-senpai." Akaya said as he pulled his shirt on. Yanagi squeezed his shoulder before grabbing his tennis racket and going outside. Akaya quickly started to change into the rest of his tennis uniform.

'Sigh, I wish Marui-senpai was here… Wait, did I just think a sigh? Either way, my thought still stands. I want to apologise to Marui-senpai as quickly as possible so I can stop making him sad. Why did Niou-senpai have to go to the dentist today? Stupid Niou-senpai.' Akaya sighed out loud before grabbing his tennis racket and creeping over to the door. He sneaked a peek outside before breathing out another sigh, this one of relief. The area was Sanada-free. Akaya stood up properly and walked outside, mentally thanking Yanagi.

"Tarundoru!"

So much for no Sanada…

Akaya prodded his still stinging cheek, hissing in pain as he walked round the school. His rather scatter-brained Art teacher had forgotten to take the register to the reception after homeroom so she had asked Akaya to take it for her. Akaya had ran to the reception and was now milking his walk back to class. It wasn't that he disliked Art but he did dislike school so he took any excuse he could not to go to lesson.

As Akaya ambled back to class, he went near the tennis courts. His ears perked up as they caught the sound of bouncing balls and pinging rackets and he curiously backtracked to the courts. There was a class going on, third years judging by the heights. Akaya was about to put them down to all having sloppy backhands and was about to walk away when he spotted a familiar head of red.

"Marui-senpai? Why is he playing tennis? I thought 'Mura-buchou said he couldn't do any sports in case he hurt himself…" Akaya murmured to himself confusedly as he walked closer to the courts to get a better look. Marui was playing against one of the girls in his class and, whilst he was running a lot slower and playing more carefully than usual, he was still playing just fine. "Then why…" Before Akaya could finish his thought, the teacher suddenly spoke up.

"Pick up the pace, ya pansies! This ain't no walk in the park, this is P.E.! Stop slacking and go faster!" The guy barked. Akaya quickly glanced up at the teacher but didn't recognise him.

'Must be a sub.' Akaya thought as all the students immediately started playing harder at the order. Akaya looked back at Marui who had also began running faster but the redhead hadn't even taken two steps at the new speed before he tripped. A sickening crack sounded and Akaya quickly sprang into action. "Marui-senpai! Are you okay?" Akaya yelled out worriedly as he ran on to the courts and over to Marui. Marui looked up at him in surprise and confusion before wincing and holding his wrist carefully. It was his left wrist, the wrist that he had sprained on Friday though it looked a lot worse now. Akaya carefully helped Marui to his feet, starting to lead him away from the tennis courts. "Come on, Marui-senpai, we'd better get you to the infirmary." Akaya murmured worriedly as he guided Marui to the gate. They were stopped by a big, beefy and sickeningly hairy arm.

"Oi, where d'ya think ya going? Class ain't over yet." The teacher growled. Akaya pinned him with his best glare, which made even his sister hesitate before annoying him.

"I'm taking Marui-senpai to the infirmary since he's hurt his wrist so if you'll excuse us…" Akaya batted the arm out of the way and pulled Marui out of the tennis courts.

Marui stumbled along behind Akaya as they walked towards the infirmary, the second year walking too fast for him to gain his footing.

"W-wait, Akaya, slow down! I'm about to-" Marui cut himself off with a yelp as he tripped over, coming close to pulling Akaya down with him. Akaya just managed to stay upright and he turned round so he could help Marui back to his feet.

"Sorry Marui-senpai. It's just that teachers aren't supposed to be stupid so stupid ones annoy me. Are you okay? Besides the obvious, of course." Akaya said as he carefully helped Marui to his feet, making sure that he had no scratches on him.

"Yeah, I'm fine-Whoa!" Marui squeaked as Akaya suddenly swept him up into his arms. "Akaya, what are you doing?"

"Sorry, Marui-senpai, but if you fall over again then you might hurt your wrist more and we've still got to go up a flight of stairs to get to the infirmary." Akaya explained with a sheepish grin as Marui blushed candy apple red at the way he was being carried and pouted like a child.

"Good thing everybody's in lesson. This is so embarrassing." Marui groused quietly before looking up at Akaya puzzledly. "Why are you helping me anyway? I thought you didn't like nerds…" Akaya shook his head so vigorously that he made himself dizzy.

"Marui-senpai's not a nerd, he's my friend. Even if you were a nerd, you would be a nice, cute one, not a nasty nerd that nobody likes." Akaya said stubbornly before looking apologetically at Marui. "Sorry about last week. I didn't mean to hurt you; I was being an idiot. Sorry for laughing at you." Akaya's eyes slid to the side ashamedly as he apologised before widening in surprise when Marui suddenly flung his good arm round his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Marui whispered happily as he awkwardly hugged Akaya, pulling back when the second year started to make oxygen deprived spluttering sounds. "Sorry, I was really happy. I'm glad we're good friends again." Akaya blushed lightly, pleased at the words, as he carefully made his way up the stairs that they had come to.

"Come on, we're almost at the infirmary." Akaya said embarrassedly as they quickly arrived outside the infirmary. With a tricky bit of manoeuvring and a lot of difficulty with balance, Akaya managed to slide the door open with his foot. Inside, the school nurse was sitting at her desk, looking decidedly bored as she read her book. She looked up as the door opened, her uninterested look instantly brightening up when she saw the duo.

"Hello! What's happened here? Let me guess, a sprained ankle?" The nurse questioned as she gestured for Akaya to put Marui down on the bed.

"Wrist, actually. Akaya was just making sure that I didn't fall over and hurt myself more." Marui explained as the nurse began bustling around him. The nurse nodded a little distractedly as she began checking his wrist, inspecting the swelling and prodding it carefully.

"Okay, it's painful but it isn't serious so I'll just bandage it quickly. Try to keep your wrist still so it can heal more quickly, I'll put it in a sling to help. You only need to wear the sling for today whilst you get used to keeping it still and to help with the initial pain. I'll give you some painkillers and I can give you some more at lunch if it still hurts but don't take too many. No pain no gain, it has to get worse before it gets better and all that lark." The nurse said as she bandaged the sprained wrist with practiced ease. Marui nodded in understanding, wincing as the nurse wrapped the bandages tightly. Akaya, who had stayed by Marui's side after he had put him down, squeezed his shoulder comfortingly as the sling was put on. Marui took the proffered painkillers, pulling a face as the pills dissolved slightly and left a nasty taste before he quickly downed them with some water. "Okay, you can go back to lesson now. If your wrist starts acting up or you're a little worried or something, just come to me, okay?" Marui nodded as he stood up.

"Okay, Minami-san. Thanks for the help." Marui gave a small smile which the nurse returned brightly as he and Akaya left. When the door closed, Akaya carefully put his arm round Marui's shoulders.

"Come on, Marui-senpai, I'll walk you back to the changing rooms and help you with your uniform." Akaya offered as he gently helped Marui down the stairs, looking worriedly at Marui's shoelaces which were just a tad too loose for his liking…

"Akaya, stop staring at my feet. My shoelaces are fine, they're not going to unravel the moment you look away." Marui said, a touch of humour lacing through his voice as Akaya looked up in surprise. "'Haru used to do the same thing until he realised that it meant he couldn't watch where he was going and he was the one falling over." Akaya flushed lightly and grinned sheepishly as he pushed the shoelaces to the back of his mind and focused on the stairs instead.

"That reminds me, Marui-senpai. How come wearing glasses make you so clumsy? You have really good balance when you're not wearing them." Akaya enquired as he helped Marui down the last few steps.

"It's because the kids glasses are too small for my face and the adult ones are too big. Since the kids ones all seen to have either Barbie or Batman on the frames, I went for the adult glasses but since they are too big, they keep slipping down my nose and the sudden change from clear to blurry always takes me by surprise and in the moment I'm not concentrating because of my surprise, my feet always manage to tangle themselves up and then I fall over." Marui explained as he gently pushed away the arm round his shoulder and instead laced his fingers through Akaya's and lightly rested his head on his shoulder. Akaya blushed lightly but grinned happily as they arrived at the changing rooms. Akaya helped Marui change into his school shirt but got a shoe thrown at his head when he tried to help with his trousers.

"I just wanted to help…" Akaya muttered outside the changing room door where he had been banished after the trouser incident.

"Sorry, Akaya, but there is such a thing as being too helpful." Marui said as he exited the changing room, awkwardly slinging on his shoulder bag. Akaya still pouted. "Akaya, think of it this way: If 'Haru found out that you helped me change into my trousers in particular, think of how much teasing we would get. Also, do you really want to know what my underwear looks like?" Akaya looked stricken and then pulled a face.

"When you put it that way, never mind." Akaya said, his face still scrunched up. It smoothed out and he took Marui's hand, tugging him towards the school's main building again. "Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going?" Marui asked as he scrunched his nose to stop his glasses slipping too much.

"Back to my Art lesson. That sub is a crazy bastard and there's no way he'd let you sit out. Besides, you're my excuse as to why I'm so late getting back." Akaya answered as he held the door open for Marui. The redhead looked back a little worriedly.

"Shouldn't we at least tell my sub? You can just growl it at him and then drag me away like last time." Marui said. Akaya shrugged.

"Naw, that guy'll probably just think that you stuck to the infirmary. You can't see the changing rooms that easily from the tennis courts so he wouldn't have seen us go there and then sneak off. The infirmary is the next logical conclusion." Akaya said simply as they walked past the classrooms. Marui grinned a little.

"Never thought I'd hear you say logical, let alone whilst being logical. I thought you usually leave that stuff to Yanagi." Marui teased as they steadily drew closer to Akaya's classroom.

"Hey, why use your own brain when someone is willing to use it for you?" Akaya countered with another shrug. "Besides, having Yanagi-senpai help leaves more brain power for figuring out how to escape Niou-senpai." Marui threw back his head and laughed.

Niou grimaced as he prodded his still slightly numb jaw. The anaesthetic had worn off enough for him to eat and to talk with minimum slurring but he still had a weird tingly feeling in his jaw.

Since it was the start of lunch, Niou decided that he might as well head to the cafeteria. As he walked into the large and noisy room, he set a course for the table the team usually sat at, nimbly making his way through the gaggles of giggling girls and bands of boisterous boys. The table was empty except for a single redhead, the others presumably having gone to get lunch. As Niou got closer, he noticed that Marui's arm was in a sling again. His eyes widened and he quickly ran the last few yards.

"Maru, are you okay? What happened to your arm, puri?" Niou demanded to know as he slid into the seat next to the redhead. Marui looked up in surprise before smiling. He opened his mouth to answer but someone spoke over him.

"Here ya go, Marui-senpai." Akaya said with a grin as he put a plate of food down in front of Marui. As he did so, he felt the distinct burn of someone glaring at him. He looked over a tiny bit and paled slightly when he saw Niou giving him an extremely dark glower.

"What are you doing here, Kirihara?" Niou snarled as he put a protective arm round Marui's shoulders. Before Akaya could make a squeak, the glare turned into a look of surprise as Marui gently pushed Niou's arm away.

"Calm down, 'Haru. We had a sub for P.E. who made me play tennis. I was fine for a while until he told me to run faster, at which point I tripped and fell. I landed on my wrist and made the sprain worse. Fortunately, Akaya was there and he saved me from the mean teacher and took me to the infirmary." Marui explained as he took Akaya's hand and rested his head on the second year's arm, knowing that Niou wouldn't glare so much at Akaya if he was in the way.

"Hash he apologished?" Niou asked, mentally wincing at the slurring. Damn, he hated fillings! Marui smiled slightly as he nodded and Niou crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing a bit as he thought. "Okay then but, Akaya, if you do what you did lasht week again then I will not heshitate to shove your tennish racketsh up your arshe, you got that, puri?" Akaya gulped and nodded. Niou nodded once, looking mildly placated as he got his own bento out of his bag. Akaya sighed relievedly as Niou's attention was redirected and he slumped down into his seat.

"You okay, Akaya?" Marui asked kindly as he gently ruffled Akaya's hair.

"I thought 'Mura-buchou and Fukubuchou were scary when angry. Niou-senpai is just as bad." Akaya groaned as he stabbed an overcooked pepper. Marui patted his back with a sympathetic smile as Niou looked distinctly unimpressed.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. Until next time!