Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: Do remember -- this story is 40.5-AU.

Nothing in Tennis

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

- Anonymous

Chapter 5
Scores

"Would you all just calm down for a moment?" Sengoku glared half-heartedly at his buzzing regulars. "Honestly, sometimes I wish Banji was still here. At least he could make everyone shut up for a moment sometimes."

"It's only because you aren't authoritative enough." Nitobe never was one to waste nice words, was he? "Although you're definitely better than Minami-buchou."

Minami sighed. "You know, just because I'm not the captain anymore doesn't mean you can make fun of me," he muttered, ignored by everyone as usual. Poor Minami. It was bad enough that back in middle school, people had more often than not assumed Sengoku was the captain, but that even his own team talked like this…

"Banji only made us shut up by hitting everyone who talked with his latest porn magazine." Kita winked at Sengoku. "Why don't you use the same strategy?"

"Just for you, I'll bring my sister's phonebook-sized yaoi books along next time," Sengoku replied dryly. Most of the time he found it rather amusing that their regular team was practically the same as it had been in middle school, but at times like these he very much hoped he'd had some new people to work with. He liked the other guys, yes, and they were all great friends, but that didn't change the fact his team was quite insufferable sometimes.

"Oh, just admit you need the reference material. I'm sure Dan-kun would prefer honesty to hiding the truth when it comes to your inexperience." Okay, now they were making poor Dan blush. Playtime over, guys.

"The next one to say a single word not related to the line-up will automatically be reserve. And yes, I am indeed prepared to risk it with a makeshift doubles pairing if need be."

Thankfully, the regulars now fell (mostly) quiet. "Lucky! Now, for Singles One we'll have, like usual, Muromachi-kun." Sengoku smiled happily at his vice-captain, who simply nodded in return – it wasn't like this was a surprise to him, after all. "You'd better have recovered completely by now, Panda-chan. And as for Singles Two… Well, let's see Dan-kun win this one!"

"Huh?" Dan blinked. "Me desu? Singles Two?"

"Yes, you desu. I want to see how you do in an official match, and the best way to do that is to make you play one, right?"

"But – then why Singles Two?" Dan looked puzzled. "Wouldn't it make more sense to put me in Singles Three if you want to be sure to see me playing? And besides, I don't think I deserve that position desu."

"You deserve it because I say you deserve it." Sengoku winked. "Don't even try defying your captain! It won't be of any use anyway."

"But I don't want to be the reason someone else doesn't get the spot they deserve."

Sengoku rolled his eyes. "Taichiichi, the one getting pushed down a slot here is me, remember. I can take care of myself, I assure you." As his boyfriend still seemed about to protest, he added, "Do it for me, okay? Show everyone I wasn't wrong in making you a regular."

"…Sure desu." Now, that unsure tone just wouldn't do. They'd have to do some talking – preferably without the whole team listening in with great interest.

True to his plan, Sengoku cornered Dan after practice – not that that was anything unusual, really. This time, though, he had more reasons for it than the usual waiting-for-boyfriend-to-walk-home routine.

"So. Why were you so badly against your playing position?" Sengoku looked seriously at the younger boy. "You were a successful captain last year; surely you don't really think you're too bad for the position?"

"Well…" Dan bit his lip – an adorable trait, really, but also somewhat unsettling as it always signalled Dan was unhappy about something. "I guess I'm just nervous."

"You're nervous?" Sengoku echoed. "But why? You only lost once last year, right?"

"Right," replied Dan, still worrying his lip in the most adorable way possible. "However, last year, I was one of the third years, with the most experience and everything desu. Now, I'm a first year, and practically everyone is more experienced and stronger and whatnot than me."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be fine," Sengoku said cheerfully. "I mean, you have your serves, right? And your data, too. It's only the first round of the city district tournament – there's nothing to fear, here."

"Sengoku-buchou? You're forgetting one teeny tiny fact here desu." Dan cocked his head to the side, looking at the older boy seriously. "This year's National champions are currently in a city district tournament, too – whatever tournament it may be desu. And, given the past success of various Tokyo teams in the last few years, chances are good they're in our district. I know all the worst teams are in the first tournament – but, really desu, so are the best teams, too. The question is, are the best ones us, or our next opponents?"

Sengoku raised his eyebrows. "That's a very good point," he said. "And as you should know, there's only one certain way to find out whether our opponents are the next champions."

"Indeed desu." Dan smiled hesitantly. "If we beat them, then they definitely aren't the best in Japan."

"Right." Sengoku threw an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders. "So cheer up and get yourself some certain data before your captain gets mad at you."

"It's not solely up to me, I fear," chuckled Dan. "But as long as I can get myself some information on my opponent, I can win at least my own match, I guess desu."

"No guessing." Sengoku tapped Dan's nose with his finger, then pressed a light kiss on it. "Just do it."

The shy little grin, Sengoku decided, was the most adorable thing ever.

Doubles Two's loss was definitely not something Sengoku had expected to see, but it served its purpose. Not only would he get to give a severe lecture to the two – they hadn't been taking the match seriously enough – but he'd also see Dan play. As he had complete faith in the rest of his team, it was a win-win situation, really. There was no way Yamabuki would lose, not at this level. Dan's fears of having to face the next National champions had definitely been unfounded.

And indeed, Doubles One ended with a rather easy victory. Sengoku himself pounded his opponent to the ground in record time, grinning in satisfaction to himself as he seated himself to watch the next match. The rest of the club, who had hardly been paying attention aside from marvelling at both the easy victories and Kita and Nitobe's inexcusable loss, also turned more attentive now. Apparently he wasn't the only one looking forward to seeing Dan play.

"Do your best, Taichiichi." Sengoku winked at Dan. "Do you want a kiss for good luck?"

"Stop teasing the poor boy, Sengoku-buchou," sighed Muromachi. "Don't mind him, Dan-kun. Go and win the match, okay?"

"…Okay, Muromachi-fuku-buchou desu." With a tiny bow, Dan grasped his racquet and hurried to the court.

Dan's opponent towered easily over the little boy as they faced each other at the net. "Huh? Are you sure you're in the right tournament?" the opponent asked with a teasing smirk. "This is the high school division, you know."

"Oh, I know desu. I'm sorry, I really didn't want to play this position, but my captain insisted desu. I hope we can have an interesting match nevertheless desu!"

"Interesting, damn right," chuckled the older boy. "But not a very long one, I think."

"Oh?" Dan blinked. "Are you in a hurry to somewhere, perhaps? I shall do my best not to take my time, then desu."

"Oh, that's easy. Just lose."

To this, Dan didn't say anything. He simply smiled.

The match started with the opponent's serve – fortunately, Sengoku mused. Dan had plenty of time to get used to the feel of the ball, which meant he didn't have to sacrifice his service games to rallying before he could do his best serve. The little boy didn't seem to be teasing, this time, not like he sometimes did in practice; he was playing quite seriously instead. Well, aside from one teeny tiny detail.

"He's only using his right hand," Nitobe pointed out. "Show-off."

"Nah, it's because I told him to do so if only he can keep up with the opponent," Sengoku said. "Later on, he may need the advantage of playing with both hands, and while he does it well enough now, he can't only play with his left hand if he wants to keep the skill." The redhead smirked. "That's definitely one of the more useful skills Taichiichi picked up from trying to imitate Echizen Ryoma."

"He should just pick a category and stick to it," someone commented. "I mean, it's obvious he's not a tensai or an acrobat, but he has traits from both the data player and copycat categories, even if he prefers to be called a data player. Even his style is more of all-rounder than anything specific. Can't he make up his mind?"

"You're just jealous because he gathered your data in five minutes and then used your own play style to win you." There was general laugher within the club.

"There's no data to be gathered about the likes of you." Sengoku smirked. "Seems like a good thing he researched our opponent well, though." He nodded towards the court, where Dan was currently smiling apologetically at his opponent.

"I noticed hitting from that particular position makes your shots steer a bit to the left desu," Dan said happily. "So when I hit ball to that spot and forced you to return it that way, it's bound to be out. Please don't blame yourself for it desu."

"Oi, Dan-kun!" shouted Muromachi. "You don't have to be polite, just crush him so we can win!"

"Okay, Muromachi-fuku-buchou!" Dan said with a slight flush. Then he blinked as the referee counted the first game for him. "Huh? The game's already over?" Typical Dan, Sengoku thought. Getting so involved in the match he didn't even pay attention to the score. How was he supposed to use data like this?

"Damn it," muttered the older boy, moving to the receiving position, a fierce glare in his eyes. "I'm not going to lose to some little kid!" Locking eyes with Dan, he called out, "Okay, do your worst!"

This was when he was introduced to the Twist Serve.

"That was a beautiful victory, Taichiichi," Sengoku said. "He didn't even know what hit him!"

"My money would be on a tennis ball," Kita muttered. "And after that the ground. Seriously, it's not like Dan-kun even hit it that hard."

"I didn't mean to do it desu!" Dan said, almost panicking. "I swear I had no idea it would hit him that hard desu! I hope he didn't hurt himself desu…"

"Oh, calm down, Dan-kun." Muromachi smirked. "It's his own fault for not stepping aside when he saw the ball was coming towards him. Besides, you would have clearly won regardless of whether you knocked him out or not."

"You didn't even have the chance to use your own serve." Minami looked thoughtful. "Although that might be better, actually, not revealing it yet…"

"Oi, Minami, no stepping on my turf!" Sengoku laughed, reaching out a hand to ruffle his friend's hair. "You gave up the captain position voluntarily, remember? No trying to wrestle it back from me!"

"Oh, believe me, I've no such intentions." Minami smiled in slight embarrassment. "Sometimes I just can't help but still think in terms of strategy, though…"

"Thinking strategy is okay. In fact, it's better than okay. It means you care about the team, after all. But, you know, talking like you're about to rearrange the line-ups or something?" Sengoku winked. "Not your job. That's for me and Panda-kun. Or Taichiichi, if there's any need for correcting our mistakes."

"It's not like that." Dan flushed slightly. "I just point out the bits of data you may have missed."

"Exactly." With another grin, Sengoku then glanced at his team, the regulars as well as the others. "Anyone still wanting to protest at Dan-kun being a regular?"

Unsurprisingly, nobody spoke up.

"Of course," Sengoku said, walking peacefully next to Dan, "last year's finals were even more beautiful. Sure, you lost in the end, but it wasn't by much."

"By much enough," Dan muttered. "Really, you think too much of me, Sengoku-buchou."

"Nah. You just don't think enough of yourself, Taichiichi." Sengoku grinned at the younger boy. "Really, my dearest. That don't-flatter-me pout of yours is so cute that if we weren't in public, I'd take my time kissing it off your face."

As expected, Dan flushed. Sengoku laughed at him.

"You know," he said, "one of these days I'm taking you out. And no protests. Surely your parents haven't forbidden you from having a social life, yet?" Please, please don't let them have forbidden that.

"Well, no, they haven't." Sengoku was immensely relieved. "I'll just have to tell them beforehand, and think of good enough an excuse desu… Since I doubt 'going on a date with my captain' would sit well with my father desu."

"Just say it's extra practice." Sengoku casually fiddled with Dan's ponytail. It wasn't as though anybody was seeing, anyway. "We can even go to the street courts for a bit to satisfy your adorably serious conscience."

"Nice to know my honesty is appreciated." Ah, but Dan didn't sound entirely sincere now, did he? What was this, sarcasm? Sengoku hadn't even known the boy knew the meaning of the word. …Well, scratch that, but he hadn't known Dan actually made use of his knowledge. "Too bad you can't see a match like the finals again, though, what with Echizen-kun moving and all desu."

"No changing the subject, Taichiichi, even if it is indeed a pity. Not that it would happen anyway, since I know all too well you would never accept the Singles One slot as long as Panda-kun is around, and even if Echizen was still going to Seigaku, he wouldn't play any other position."

"Glad to hear you're not entirely lost when it comes to what you can persuade me into doing and what not desu." With a blink, as though only now realizing what he had said, Dan added, "And don't you dare take that in some perverted way or anything desu."

"Aww, Taichiichi," Sengoku laughed. "You were a lot cuter when you were still all naïve and innocent. Not to say you aren't cute anymore, or innocent either," he then hurried to add, "just that a few years ago most of the innuendo just flew over your head and that puzzled look on your face when you tried to figure out what the rest of us were laughing at was absolutely adorable."

"And you had fun seeing my reactions to the explanations, too, of course desu." Dan smirked. "Especially when you let Minami-buchou give them."

"Indeed." The memory made Sengoku laugh again. "I don't know which one of you was blushing more when we convinced him to tell you about birds and bees."

"Oh, shut up about that desu." The flush was on Dan's face again.

"Aww, cute, Taichiichi. Be glad we didn't ask him to tell you the all-boys version!"

"I got good enough a demonstration of that side of the issue later on desu." Dan sighed. "Some people should really learn that using the clubroom for private affairs is not allowed, especially not if the captain is going to drop in for a moment desu."

Sengoku's eyes widened. "What? Who? When? Are you serious?"

"Unfortunately yes desu." The younger boy's expression was rather pained. "I didn't see much, but enough to earn both culprits a few hundred laps desu. I think the punishment broke the record several times over, but… no. Just no desu."

"Awww, my poor Taichiichi," sighed Sengoku, settling an arm briefly over the younger boy's shoulders before taking it away again. "You should have told me so I would have beaten whoever was responsible for such a thing. There are some things even I wouldn't use the clubroom for." Then, he winked. "Except, you know, if I happen to be the captain."

"..Do you want that date or not, Sengoku-buchou?"