Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its chars. I only own my plot.

Warning: Shonen-ai fic, Mpreg

Pairings: Inui X Yanagi, Sanada X Yukimura, Tezuka X Echizen hints.

To the story then…

Data Tales

By: Gwynhafra86

Chapter 8

Inui decided that he couldn't deny it anymore. He was attracted to Yanagi, but he refused to say it out loud. By saying it out loud, he felt that he was officially saying that he might not be so straight.

For now, he was contented with swinging on the fence, not crossing over to either side.

He continued to visit his friend. Somehow he felt happy just to see Yanagi, even if they only sat down for a cup of tea and a short chat. His friend looked forward to his visits, his mood becoming cheery once Inui walked through the door each time.

He didn't know when it had begun, but every time Inui visited, he subconsciously helped out with the chores, trying to make Yanagi as happy as possible. If he was concerned over Yanagi's welfare the last time he visited, now he found himself downright obsessed with trying to make Yanagi happy…and also to make Yanagi notice him.

Inui found himself wondering what Yanagi thought of him. More precisely, how Yanagi felt about him. He didn't think there was any difference with how Yanagi treated him. It was all the same, just like how Yanagi had treated him all those years ago.

Yanagi's opinions started to matter to him too. If the other data master made a careless comment that purple didn't suit Inui, then Inui would find himself disliking that colour and getting rid of all the purple outfits he might possibly have.

By the end of it all, when Inui was back home and lying on his bed, he stared up at the ceiling, incredibly confused by these new emotions and also by his recent actions. He was changing, and he didn't know if he liked the change. Before he went to sleep, however, he always shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind, allowing his more logical side to come through. He was merely being responsible for what he had done to Yanagi, and of course, he was playing his part as the baby's father.

Inui took on a part time job. If he were to be responsible for his child, he would start saving for him or her from now onwards. Even though there wasn't much he could provide for either Yanagi or the baby, he did what little he could. He played by his strengths, helping to do some simple accounts for a small business. Years of data collecting allowed him to be highly efficient in calculating anyway, so figures were nothing to him. The pay was pretty good too so he was contented.

It was sometime during the middle of Yanagi's seventh month when Inui heard his mother give an exclamation. "Oro! How smart, Sadaharu. You've been chosen for a camp."

"Camp?" Inui went downstairs and noticed his parents reading a letter. Apparently, Inui had been selected for a study camp, one which would last for up to three months. One of Inui's eyebrows twitched. He calculated a 98.22 percent chance this was Atobe's doing.

Surely enough, when he went to find the Hyotei captain the next day Tezuka, Sanada and Yukimura were there too.

"You're not transferring to another school, Inui. You're going to remain in Seigaku, and there will be no change to your routine, your tennis practice or your part time job. There will only be a change to your lodging." Atobe said calmly.

Yukimura smiled at him. "We apologize for coming up with this on such short notice, but considering Renji is already in his third trimester, all of us have agreed that it's better to have someone accompany him from now onwards. It wouldn't be a good idea to leave him all by himself, since we need someone to keep an eye on him."

"Why don't the rest of you volunteer then?" Inui frowned.

Both Tezuka and Sanada threw him a stern glare at that. "Shouldn't you know the answer to that?" Tezuka asked.

Inui sighed inwardly. That was right. He was the father, so he should be the one to stay with Yanagi.

He continued to protest though. It wasn't that he disliked the idea of staying under the same roof as Yanagi, but he was averse to the idea that they had come up to this decision without consulting him first. Who did they take him for? His pride wouldn't allow this!

"Why didn't you discuss this with me first?" He couldn't help asking.

Atobe raised an elegant eyebrow. "Oh? As I clearly recall you were the one who couldn't meet up with us. We just had to go ahead with the discussion without you."

Oh yeah. Now that Atobe mentioned it they had asked to meet up, but Inui had to turn down the offer as he had his part-time job to go to.

"Renji has already agreed to this. I believe he should be expecting your arrival today." Yukimura told him.

So it was how Inui found himself standing outside Yanagi's place, having rung the doorbell. He carried two luggages, filled with his personal belongings for his stay.

Yanagi greeted him at the door. "Sadaharu. You've finally arrived. Come on in." He looked cheery, possibly delighted at finally having some companionship after having to stay alone for so long.

"Sorry to intrude…ah…no. I'll carry those. It wouldn't be good to overexert yourself." Inui stated at seeing Yanagi try to pick one of the luggages up.

Yanagi chuckled. "I'll carry this then." He took a smaller bundle from Inui. "I'm very sorry to trouble you like this. It must be quite inconvenient for you, since now you will have to walk a further distance to Seigaku."

"No. It was no trouble at all." Inui mused to himself that Yanagi must have hung out with Yukimura too much. He was starting to sound like the blue-haired captain. Inui found himself no longer protesting about the sudden living arrangement the others have made without informing him earlier, and instead, he looked forward to this short stay. His friend would really need some company.

Yanagi showed him one of the guest rooms, just a few doors away from Yanagi's. Inui allowed himself a short moment to study the room before packing his things away. When he left the room, Yanagi had placed a tray of cookies on the table.

"This feels almost like we're back in the junior senbatsu camp, doesn't it?" Yanagi smiled.

Inui thought about that. Now that Yanagi mentioned it, it did quite feel the same, with how they were to share a place again, except that this time it was a whole house instead of just one room.

"Aa. It does give the same feeling. I'll deal with the tea. You really should stay off your feet as much as possible." Inui stated, getting to his feet and heading to the kitchen. If he was to stay in Yanagi's place, he might as well make himself useful.

Yanagi obeyed, sitting on the couch immediately. Inui returned with two steaming mugs, and he gave one to Yanagi. The Rikkai data master thanked him and took a sip.

"So how…" Inui began.

"…how are you faring, was what you were trying to say right?" Yanagi smiled.

Inui didn't need to answer, not that Yanagi was expecting one. Yanagi reached out and patted him lightly. "Don't worry, Sadaharu. I may be pregnant, but I'm not that delicate. In fact, up till now I'm still wearing those power wrists."

Inui gaped. "Renji, all that weight can't be good for you or the baby."

Yanagi shook his head. "Don't worry. I've done the calculations and I don't think this particular weight is harmful. It's still manageable. It's something the regulars of Rikkai do. We don't take off our weights unless the coach asks us to do so. Besides, I don't want to get rusty, so a little training like this should be fine."

Inui sighed. "The Rikkai kings…sure are scary. I think I'll have to come up with a new training menu for Seigaku. Oh, I still have to come up with a menu for Kaidou-kun too…"

"Who?" Yanagi turned to look at him. His head was tilted a little by a 10 degree angle, almost like he cocked his head to a side.

Inui took out his notebook and flipped to one of the pages. He passed the book to Yanagi. "Kaidou Kaoru, second year, bloodtype B, nicknamed Viper. He specializes in the buggy whip shot, also known as the snake shot. Back when he was a first-year, he has lost to me three times, but early this year he beat me and won his position as a regular. I think he must have pent up quite some steam after losing to me the last time. Such a hot-blooded guy." He chuckled at that.

"Oh? You lost to a junior? You must be getting soft." Yanagi stated good-naturedly.

"Two juniors, actually. The other one is the first year prodigy, Echizen Ryoma. I really have underestimated him. No wonder Tezuka's so smitten."

Yanagi gave a laugh at that. "Tezuka? Smitten with a first year…wait…he has a crush on a boy too? That sure was unexpected."

"Aa. I suppose a tennis freak is easily attracted to another tennis freak. Those two are frighteningly similar in a lot of aspects and different in the rest." Inui leaned back in his seat.

Yanagi took another sip of his tea. "So, the boy likes him back?"

Inui frowned as he thought about that a moment. "Not at the moment, it seems. Echizen's too concentrated on tennis. I suppose it's an unrequited crush on Tezuka's part."

A strange look crossed Yanagi's face at that moment, one similar to sadness. "Is that so? Poor guy." He said nothing more as he took another sip.

Inui felt a strange tightening in his chest at that, similar to one of a heart attack patient (if the descriptions he read in medical books were accurate, that was, since he had no personal experience in that area), yet different. Again, that strong urge to make Yanagi smile returned. He tried to divert the topic. "I'm surprised though, Renji. You're so relaxed when you speak of this, it doesn't sound like you mind their...genders at all."

Yanagi looked up at him. "I don't." He replied calmly. Inui detected a 0 percent possibility of dishonesty in his voice.

Inui decided that it shouldn't hurt if he asked just one more question. "Well then…does anyone strike your fancy?"

Yanagi averted his gaze at that question. There was a very long pause, and Inui wondered if he had asked something bad. He decided to dispel the awkwardness between them by changing the topic again when Yanagi replied.

"Perhaps."

It felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on Inui. It wasn't the answer, actually, but more to the underlying data Inui got from him. "Perhaps" was, at most, a neutral answer to most laypeople, as was the word "maybe". However, to data masters, there was no such thing as "perhaps". Only an affirmative or a negative answer. That, was data. According to Inui's data, Yanagi's answer, judging from the tone of his voice to his body language (or lack of), the answer leaned more to "yes" than "no".

The Seigaku data master was filled with the strange urge to stab someone…or let the person enjoy a nice, steaming, XL-sized mug of Inui's Special Undrinkable Root Beer.

"I see." Inui tried to regain his composure even as his thoughts threatened to break free from the back of his mind. He sent those thoughts back again with a firm command, sealed the door shut and swallowed the key. He allowed his rational mind to process what he had heard, and deduced that he was acting like that because he was afraid that if Yanagi started a relationship with someone, their friendship wouldn't be the same again.

Before he could ask another question, Yanagi glanced up, looking at the clock which hung on the wall behind Inui.

"Ah. It's this late already. I believe you have classes tomorrow, and I have my lessons too. It's time for bed." Yanagi got to his feet carefully.

Inui's mind took a wrong turning at that, though it was a good thing he reined it back before it went down the road of no return. He nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow then." Once more, he scooped Yanagi up into his arms.

Yanagi's face remained unchanged, though Inui detected a tiny spot of colour in his cheeks. "Again, Sadaharu?"

"Of course. Since I'm around I can see to it that you're off your feet as much as possible. It's not good for the baby." Inui told him.

Yanagi didn't say anything more to that. He was subdued when Inui tucked him in, and Inui reckoned that his friend was tired. He bade his friend goodnight and closed the door.

Once he did, he washed up, returned to his room and lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. His thoughts managed to burst through the sealed door, and he was left wondering about what his friend had said.

Yanagi liked someone, and Inui calculated a 50-50 chance that it was a girl…in fact, Yanagi was so attractive it was a 65 percent chance it was definitely a girl.

Inui's mind froze at that. Wait…he didn't just think of his friend that way now, did he…?

Inui buried his face in his pillow, trying to stifle a groan of embarrassment. Something was very wrong with him. He most certainly couldn't think of his friend that way. It would betray the trust between them, and weren't they supposed to be best friends?

He removed the pillow when he calculated that he was 10 seconds away from getting himself suffocated. Once more, he stared at the ceiling. Yanagi liked someone…who? Inui would definitely need all his data collecting skills to hunt the person down. He didn't want their friendship to be affected.

He paused at that thought. Then again, why should he be so agitated if Yanagi liked someone? Wasn't that his business, not Inui's?

In the end, not even Inui's logical mind could give him all the answers, and the Seigaku data master fell into a restless, confused state of mind even as sleep claimed him.

To be continued…

Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.

-Gwyn86