Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: Rating going up for violence and thematic issues.

Nothing in Tennis

"Love means nothing in tennis, but in life, it is everything."

- Anonymous

Chapter 3

The Way of the Bastard

Akutsu stared at Sengoku, not believing his ears. "You'd better be fucking kidding, Sengoku," he growled, rage raising its ugly head within him.

"Do you really think I'd fuck around with something like this?" asked Sengoku. "I saw it, Akutsu. You don't get that kind of bruises from falling down the stairs, no matter what he claims it was. One of them was obviously the result of someone grasping on his shoulder with the intention to hurt. Someone much bigger than him."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Akutsu frowned, running a hand through his wild hair, not even bothering to worry about spoiling the carefully gelled up style. The look in his eyes was positively murderous. Sengoku was very glad not to have it directed at him. "Somebody's going to die as soon as I catch them."

"First we'll have to find out who it is, though," Sengoku pointed out. "And I doubt Dan-kun is going to tell us anything, so it may be difficult."

"The fuck it is," growled the grey-haired boy. "We'll just keep an eye on the brat. Sooner or later we'll catch the bastard – that or he won't dare come anywhere near Taichi again."

"That sounds like a plan." Sengoku smiled faintly. "Fine. Let's become the kid's guardian angels, then – even though you're more of a devil."

"Oh, shut the hell up, Sengoku." There was no real venom behind Akutsu's words, though.

Though they never verbally agreed on it, Akutsu and Sengoku developed a habit of always walking Dan home. Sometimes it was the two of them, sometimes just one, but they made sure Dan never had to walk home from school alone. If whoever was bullying the kid was doing it on the way home, well, they weren't going to get another opportunity anytime soon.

Thus Akutsu found himself idly walking beside the kid one day, smoking a cigarette and occasionally grunting or grumbling something in response to the brat's never-ending chatter. This seemed to be enough to satisfy Dan, who carried on happily.

As they approached the kid's home, though, Dan gradually grew more quiet, his hasty steps slowing down until he almost came to a halt. "I should go on alone from here," he said. This was another peculiar thing. He never wanted the senpai-tachi to walk him all the way home. He never offered any explanation, but he seemed bothered with the idea of being seen with them, and eventually, Akutsu and Sengoku complied. Of course, they always trailed after him to make sure nobody bothered him on the short way to his house, but they never saw anyone suspicious. Apparently Dan simply didn't want his family to see them.

Strange, indeed. Akutsu himself had little experience – back in middle school, it had usually been Dan who followed him home and not the other way around – but Sengoku assured him that the couple of times he'd walked Dan home back then he'd always been cheerfully invited for a cup of tea. He'd never met Dan's father, but the boy's mother had seemed nice enough, as well as his little sister, the cute little thing that she was. So why the change of habits?

Now, he looked at Dan, who stood by his side, looking somewhat miserable even with his infinite smile. Making a split-second decision, Akutsu asked, "Do you want to go to the street courts?" Usually Dan never turned down the rare opportunity to play tennis with him. It was good practice, he always said, as well as a great way to spend time with the great Akutsu-senpai. Akutsu still couldn't understand the appeal of that particular sport, but he played along with it since it seemed so important to Dan.

"I have to go home desu," Dan said. However, Akutsu couldn't help but notice how reluctant he sounded about it.

"You don't sound like it," he grunted. "You sure you wouldn't rather play tennis?" Of course he would. Dan always wanted to play tennis.

The kid, however, bit his lip instead. "I – I'm sorry, Akutsu-senpai desu," he muttered. "I really have to go home or – or my father will get angry desu."

"And so what if your father gets angry?" questioned Akutsu. "It's not like being late one time will ruin your nice boy image for ever."

There was a flicker of some strange emotion in Dan's eyes, almost too fleeting for Akutsu to recognize. However, he did notice it, just like he noticed the fact the boy's hand crept to brush his arm. With a frown, Akutsu grasped on the arm, pulling the sleeve up. He was less surprised than he would have liked to be as he saw the bruise marring the slender arm.

"Fuck, Taichi," he said, a hint of anger in his voice that was not directed at the boy. "Did your father do this?"

Dan looked anywhere but at him. "No desu," he replied quietly.

Akutsu snorted. "And you're a fucking bad liar, too. Look, brat, I'm not an idiot. You've got to come up with a much more believable story if you think I'm going to buy it."

"But it's the truth," Dan said quietly, not sounding very convincing. Especially not to Akutsu, who – much though he might have liked to deny it – knew the younger boy much better than most people.

"Fuck it." Akutsu janked the sleeve back down. "Look, kid, you may think it's your fault, but it's not. The only one at fucking fault is the one hurting you. Your doing right or wrong in one thing or another doesn't matter, he'll always find a reason to hit you anyway. It's about the time you realize this." After all, Akutsu had been much younger when he'd come to the same conclusion about his own tormentor.

"But it's not like that!" Dan exclaimed, sounding somewhat panicky. The big brown eyes were brimming with tears. Understandable. "It's not my father! You – you don't understand desu!"

"Oh?" Akutsu raised his eyebrows. "So if I were to drag you to the bloody street courts no matter what the hell you say and you ended up coming home late, you could guarantee there wouldn't be any more fucking bruises on you tomorrow?"

Dan didn't answer, looking away again. This, of course, was enough of an answer in itself.

Akutsu sighed. This was going to be one Hell of a mess, indeed. "Is this why you don't want us to walk you all the way home?" he asked. "Has he fucking forbidden that, too?"

Dan nodded minutely. "Well, no," he then muttered. "But he – if he thought anyone else was too important to me, he –"

"He'd take it out on you. Old story." Akutsu snorted. "And you aren't doing anything about it?"

"I can't desu," Dan said miserably. Well, at least he wasn't trying to deny it anymore. "I'm too weak to stand up to him… and even if I could, there's my mother and sister desu. They're even weaker than me. And if I tried telling anyone, they wouldn't believe me anyway desu."

"And you know that how?" asked Akutsu, even though he knew that might very well be the case. Or, at least, Dan couldn't be get out of the bastard's hands before he managed to get revenge.

"I tried once desu," whispered Dan. "I told a teacher…" With a sniffle, he continued, "He told her I was just making up stories because I got into fights, that I always hang around with delinquents anyway, and she believed him desu. And then he hit me for it desu."

Now, Akutsu sighed in irritation. "Delinquents like me?" he guessed quietly. It was too convenient, really. Anybody would have thought that if a small kid like Dan ended up bruised, known for hanging around the less than safe guys like Akutsu, it was the fault of his so-called friends.

Dan's only answer was a quiet sniffle. Akutsu cursed under his breath. Well, damn it all to Hell, anyway. Dropping his cigarette onto the ground, he crushed it with his heel.

"Well, do whatever the hell you want," he growled. "If you aren't doing anything, I certainly can't fucking help you." Not yet, at least, though he'd definitely find a way. He turned around to go, only to find a hand tugging at his jacket. Instead of tearing himself away, though, he turned to look back at the kid

"Wait, Akutsu-senpai," Dan said. "Please… please don't tell anyone about it. If it gets back to him… I… desu…"

Akutsu rolled his eyes. Oh, he knew all too well what would happen if it got back to the bastard. His kind were all the same. "None of my damn business," he growled. Especially since Dan was refusing to let him get involved.

The hand let go, allowing him to go free. "Thank you, Akutsu-senpai," he heard a quiet whisper.

"Whatever," replied Akutsu with the most disinterested tone he could summon into his voice. "Try to stay out of the fucking way, though."

Like Hell he'd stay quiet about this, he thought. Only, it wasn't the authorities he was going to contact. They wouldn't have believed him anyway.

Who knew he'd one day be actually happy Sengoku had made sure Akutsu had his phone number?

"Oh my god." Sengoku's face was pale as a sheet as he stared at Akutsu. "You can't be serious."

"There are some things even I won't fucking joke about, Sengoku," Akutsu growled. "This is one of them. The kid as good as confessed his fucking father is beating him."

"We have to do something," muttered the redhead. "There has to be some way to help him, right? Right? It can't go on like this!"

"We can't do fucking anything," Akutsu announced gloomily. "The only evidence we have are the bruises, and if confronted, the kid will deny everything, that's for sure. If he did anything else, he might not even survive. And who do you think they're going to believe, a couple of high school kids or a well-respected family man? The bastard would probably say it's us who've been beating the kid, instead, and given my reputation, people would rather fucking believe him."

"But surely we can't just let things stay like they are?" Sengoku asked, sounding pained. "This is Dan-kun we're talking about! We can't let him continue suffering like this!"

"I'm afraid we don't have a fucking choice," Akutsu replied. "Look, Sengoku, I know how these bastards work. He's got everything covered." A fierce glare told Sengoku it was best not to question exactly how Akutsu knew this. "All we can do is keep an eye on the kid and see it doesn't get any worse. If anything worse actually happens, we have to get him out of there, but right now, any attempt at changing anything would land both us and the kid in one hell of a mess."

"I hate this," Sengoku muttered. "I hate feeling so fucking helpless!"

"Join the fucking club, Sengoku," Akutsu replied. "I'm going to find a way, though. I'm going to find a fucking way to deal with that bastard." His glare got even darker than usually, now directed at no one in particular, fierce enough that it would have made little children cry, had there been any around. "Even one person like that in the world is too much."

Sengoku still didn't question him, which was good. Apparently his luck was still with him. At the moment, Akutsu was feeling even more violent than usually, and would have welcomed any excuse to turn his something-of-a-friend into a target for his rage. As it was, though, he'd just have to go and pick a fight with someone.

Whoever ended up being that someone, well, they sure weren't in luck today.

"You burned it! You burned the fish! How can you be so stupid?"

Dan raised an arm to shield his head as the fist came down. He should have known, really. To make such a trivial mistake while cooking was just inviting trouble. Too bad his mother was out today; she surely wouldn't have made such a mistake. Then again, if what Akutsu-senpai had said about not needing a true reason was true, perhaps it was for the better that she was – certainly, Dan could bear his father's ire better than a woman. And even if he couldn't, he at least didn't want his mother to be hurt.

"I'm sorry desu," he muttered as he was struck again. "I won't do it again desu!"

"Damn right you won't," his father muttered. "How something as idiotic as you could have come from my seed is almost unbelievable! No, forget almost, it's indeed unbelievable!"

The hand rose to strike yet again. However, just then Dan saw a little ball of silver rushing past himself. Before he could even shout out to stop her, his dog had sunk her teeth into his father's leg.

"No, Hachiko!" Dan cried out, distressed. "Let go!" However, his dog seemed intent on defending her master this time. She'd let him down often enough. Master Taichi would not be hurt again.

His father cursed aloud. Then, without waiting to see whether the dog obeyed Dan's command, he grasped on the frying pan on the stove, the one that still held the burned fish. Then, despite Dan's horrified cry, he brought the pan down at the little dog's head, fast.

Hachiko didn't as much as yelp. Instead, she just let go, falling to the floor. A trickle of blood trailed down her soft fur. Even without a closer look Dan knew she wasn't going to get up.

"Why?" he whispered, falling to his knees and reaching for Hachiko as his father stepped back, glaring down at the dog's lifeless corpse. "It's not like she's even big enough to really hurt you…" Talking like this was, he knew, most unwise. However, right at the moment, he was too upset to even care properly.

"That's what happens to everyone who stands in my way." His father glared at him fiercely. "Watch and learn, Taichi. Standing up to me is no good, understood?"

"Understood," whispered Dan, wanting very badly to cradle the dog close to his chest but not daring to do so. It'd probably anger his father even more, and he couldn't afford that, not now. Who knew who would be the next one to die.

Poor Hachiko. She'd only wanted to protect Dan, loyal as she was. Only this time, that loyalty had been more than his father had been able to bear. Nobody questioned his authority, not even something as lowly as a stupid dog.

Stupid dog. Stupid kid. For a moment, Dan almost wished it were him that lay there in Hachiko's place. At least then he would no more have to watch his words and actions. Now, though, he was in exactly as much danger as before.

After fuming for another while, his father told him to clean the mess up, and Dan felt relieved. With any luck he would get all the evidence cleared before his mother returned with Meiko. He didn't want his sister to see this. Explaining why Hachiko had gone away would be difficult, but it would have been even more difficult to try to explain to her exactly why the contents of their dear dog's head had leaked onto the floor.

Tears blurred in his eyes as he knelt to clean away what had used to his best friend, and Dan had to bite his lip to keep himself from sobbing. It hadn't been Hachiko's fault, really. Dan himself should have behaved in such a way as to not have caused any scene at the first place. Yet Hachiko had been punished for his stupidity – it was because she'd stood up for Dan, tried to protect Dan, that she'd been hurt. If she'd stayed clear of the situation, she wouldn't have been hurt.

Dan petted the grey fur momentarily, and suddenly thought of something else that was just as wonderful a shade of silvery grey. Just as soft, just as thick, just as lovely. And belonging to something even more fierce than Hachiko.

He'd made a mistake, Dan reflected, by letting himself become attached to Akutsu. Even if his feelings would never be returned, Akutsu had apparently become used enough to him that he might actually even care if Dan got hurt. And this was bad, for while Akutsu-senpai was big and strong and great, even he could be hurt if Dan's father decided to get angry. And that was something Dan could never, ever allow.

He didn't want Akutsu-senpai to get hurt, definitely not because of him. And even more definitely not if he could somehow prevent it.

The easiest way, of course, was to make sure Akutsu-senpai never tried to stand up in his defence. And although the mere thought broke his heart, he knew what he had to do for it to manage.

He could only hope the end result would be worth the price.

It wasn't like he was waiting for the brat, oh no. Akutsu Jin would never have stooped to such ridiculous levels. He just happened to be here, leaning against the wall around the school right by the front gate. If it was around the time Dan usually left tennis practice, after everyone else had already gone home, changing after the rest of the team just before locking up the club room. Of course, Akutsu knew why he did this. Hiding and especially explaining away various bruises could be such a pain.

Finally, he heard the familiar footsteps. Completely forgetting the fact he was not supposed to be waiting for anyone, Akutsu pushed himself slightly off the wall, preparing himself for the usual overly cheerful greeting.

Only, there wasn't one.

For the first time perhaps ever since they had first met, Dan walked right past him without a glance at him. Akutsu was too shocked to even react. He just stood there for a moment, staring after the kid, his mouth hanging half open in a way that would have been rather comical if anyone had ever dared to think of the horrible Akutsu Jin in such terms.

Finally, he pushed himself off the wall, shaking his head. He shouldn't be shocked, really. He'd discovered the kid's secret, his darkest and most dangerous secret. Of course Dan would disassociate himself from Akutsu, not wanting to become any more vulnerable than he was. If someone couldn't help him, them knowing his secret was only a hindrance. Akutsu, if anyone, knew this all too well.

Well, good riddance, Akutsu told himself, eyes narrowing. He'd wanted to get rid of that annoyance forever. No matter what he said, the kid always kept coming back. Maybe he'd finally managed to do something right and achieved his goal. At last, the brat would not follow him everywhere anymore. At last, he was totally, completely free. And to Akutsu Jin, free was always good. Very good.

Then why did he feel so very empty right now?