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.

Lillian, your insight is incredible. (grins). Not going to give any spoilers yet though. The answer is in this chapter.

Mew, ah well. Good luck to the both of them for that.

Data Pair Lover, not going to be giving any spoilers. Read on to find out. (grins)

A/N: Italics indicate flashback, and it's also the entries of the diary.

Data Tales

By: Gwynhafra86

Chapter 11

Yanagi could still remember the first time he met the boy Inui Sadaharu. It had been quite a few years back, yet the memory still remained fresh in his head, as if he had only just met Inui yesterday.

"Minna, from today onwards, Inui-kun here will be part of our tennis club. Inui, please introduce yourself."

Yanagi glanced up from his pocket notebook just in time to see a pale, thin boy with huge, thick, square framed spectacles covering about half his face walking into the courts. Inui had put up a strong front, but Yanagi could see that he was nervous, by how his hands (which the bespectacled, slightly dorky looking boy kept clenched by his sides) were shaking slightly, and by the 3 percent increase of tremor in Inui's voice as compared to a normal person's.

Inui was different, and on the very first day, Yanagi had calculated an 87 percent chance that he might have trouble fitting in. He was correct. After the coach had asked Inui to join the line with the others, no one made any space for him, sharing smirks and mean glances as he passed. Yanagi had taken pity on him, and stepped back a little to make some room for him. The pale boy gave him a brief, grateful glance before he stood in line.

Back then, Yanagi hadn't thought that they'd become friends. He just thought that Inui was an interesting source for data. Despite his rather geeky appearance, the bespectacled boy was actually quite talented in tennis. Yanagi raised an eyebrow when he first saw a demonstration of Inui's high speed serve. The senpai whom Inui was playing against didn't stand a chance, as the ball shot past his left foot even before he could move a muscle. Inui had won the game, 6 games to 3. Yanagi calculated that there was a 100 percent chance that given a few more months, Inui would definitely be a regular.

Inui might have won the game, but he had yet to win the friendship of his teammates. All of them continued to treat him as an outcast, not asking him to join in any of their games, and the only time Inui got to play tennis with them was only during club practice, and only if the coach or the captain made Inui their opponent. Oddly enough, Inui, for his part, did not seem the least bit concerned about that. Instead, he went along with the flow and kept mainly to himself, hardly socializing with the other club members. Yanagi continued to watch as Inui snuck off to one of the trees during break times, and returned precisely 15 minutes later, after he had had his lunch. He noted all these down in his pocket notebook (not his main one and nowhere near as comprehensive as the huge notebook he had hidden at home), and made a mental note to do some scouting later to find out additional information about the newcomer. It was all good data.

He had found out about Inui's familial background, and was reading the notes regarding the number of times Inui had switched schools when he bumped right into the devil himself. Yanagi noted that Inui was carrying a whole box of tennis balls to be put away in the clubroom, and he frowned to himself, remembering that it wasn't Inui's turn to clean up the courts that day. Somehow, that reminded him of his time as a junior, when he too was bullied by seniors into doing their chores. It was from then he had developed data tennis as a means of self-defense, so that no one would bully him again.

He decided to use that very same trick to help Inui out, and it was also that day that Yanagi actually had a conversation with the bespectacled boy. Inui wasn't arrogant or stuck up as some of the club members had put him to be. From what Yanagi gathered, Inui was just quiet, and a little insecure. An anti-social like himself. Yanagi thought Inui seemed to be an interesting person, and wanted to get to know him more (for data's sake), so he offered to walk with Inui home that day.

He could never forget the look on Inui's face. While his eyes remained hidden behind those thick glasses, a small smile had appeared on his face briefly before Inui put on a poker face again. That was the first time Yanagi had actually seen a real smile from Inui. The rest he put on his face during practice were only forced, a mask to protect himself when he was being ridiculed. It was on that day, Yanagi made a promise to himself that he would put all his data skills to use, to bring that smile out on Inui's face more often.

XXX

Initially, Inui was very tentative about their friendship. Yanagi continued to meet up with him, and the anti-social remained stiff during their conversations. Eventually, however, Inui warmed up to him, and slowly, Yanagi could see the trust Inui had in him, as he opened up and spoke more personally, such as his family, his past acquaintances, and his hobbies…to name a few.

Inui had never used the word 'friend', not to describe him or anyone else, but Yanagi would like to think of their relationship as that. Inui was the only person to have such trust in him. Yanagi had people he could call friends, but they usually approached him when they had questions regarding homework, or if they were bullied by someone and they needed his help. Also, the club members were rather fearful of him, and nobody approached him to have a heart to heart talk, afraid that whatever they said might become blackmail material against them instead. None of them…but Inui.

Inui had never asked anything from him, and instead didn't seem to mind Yanagi hanging out with him. As they sat down for lunch, Yanagi stole a glance at his teammate. Even under the shade of the tree, Inui's skin remained so pale, so translucent. Almost like…a girl's…

Yanagi had to hide a chuckle at that thought. If anything, he'd be the one looking effeminate instead, something confirmed by Inui later. He was making a mental note to have his hair cut in the future when the coach asked to meet them.

It was something outside his calculations when the coach asked them to be doubles partners. Yanagi had been surprised, but he was very happy. He had wondered what it would be like to play doubles with Inui anyway. It should be a lot of data he could collect from the experience.

That wasn't the greatest surprise though. What had really made Yanagi's eyes widen was when Inui had unexpectedly asked to be taught data tennis. Yanagi had never expected anyone to ever ask him that question, and he gladly agreed. Inui did have potential anyway.

It was a step in the right direction. Inui picked up this form of tennis very fast, and had even created his own style of data tennis. Yanagi was very proud of his friend's progress, and was slowly drawn to Inui's tennis…and Inui too. When they started calling each other by their names, Yanagi thought it seemed rather intimate. He found himself wanting to be in Inui's presence more, and while they were inseparable during the day, Yanagi was constantly thinking of Inui when he was back at home too. This new emotion baffled him, and after some research, the closest match he could find in the book was 'puppy love'. Yanagi wasn't irked by the idea that he might be attracted to Inui, like Inui was a girl. It was a special feeling, one which he knew would not come often, so why should he be disgusted by it?

He kept quiet about it though, and continued to hang out with Inui, his first crush. Sadly, the happy days did not last, as Yanagi's father announced that they were moving to a completely different district altogether. Yanagi's heart fell, knowing that this might be a very long parting with Inui. He might not be able to see him ever again.

He couldn't bring himself to tell Inui that, and he forced a smile on his face at seeing Inui's cheerful expression. When they played against one another, Yanagi put his heart into the game, wanting it to be a final memory between the two of them. Unfortunately, it was interrupted by their coach before they could finish the game. After the game, Yanagi caught sight of Inui's eyes- twin emeralds. He smiled to himself, consoled that at least he could have a memory of those eyes to take with him when he left.

Inui then asked a very unexpected question.

"Renji. Let's always be doubles partners. Forever."

Yanagi looked down at the ground, trying to stop the moisture now gathering in his eyes. It was a promise he wanted to make, but at the same time, it was a promise he could not keep. "Sadaharu…forgive me…"

He ran. Ran from Inui. Ran from his crush. Ran from the memories. He wanted to seal it all off, to forget it all so that he could start school life all over again. He wanted to forget it all, because remembering would make him start hurting.

Yanagi knew, deep down, that that was impossible though. He would never be able to forget.

XXXXXXXXX

The years went by. Yanagi graduated from elementary school and enrolled in Rikkai Dai Fuzoku, a school well known for its all-rounder achievement. It was a bonus point that Rikkai was also well known for its tennis club too.

It was at that school, Yanagi was fortunate enough to meet the soft-spoken Yukimura Seiichi, and later he met the stern, poker-faced Sanada Genichirou too. These two quickly became his close friends, all drawn to each other by their obsession of tennis. They made school life happy for him, and Seiichi was one of his closest friends, and one which he confided in most. It was a good thing too. Yanagi would go insane if he had only his notebook to confide in. He spoke to Seiichi about a lot of things, and the blue-haired boy managed to pry from him his elementary school life too. Yanagi told him about Inui, and Yukimura was the one who guessed that Yanagi had a crush on the boy, even though Yanagi tried to cover that up. Yukimura's insight was scary, and he wasn't even a data tennis player.

Yanagi had most certainly not expected to see Inui again, and definitely not at the junior senbatsu camp. After a round of scouting, he heard that only Seigaku's vice-captain Tezuka, a third year regular, and Seigaku's tensai Fuji was going. He could not believe his eyes when he spotted his old friend hiding in the bushes, and when Inui turned around to look at him, Yanagi knew that he hadn't seen wrong, and feelings he had suppressed began to surface again.

They had ended up in the same room. When Yanagi returned, he found Inui asleep on one of the beds. The boy was so tired, he didn't even take off his glasses. As he watched Inui sleep, he had to resist the urge to reach out and remove those glasses. Instead, Yanagi was contented with just standing by Inui's bedside, just watching him.

Inui had grown a great deal during all those years apart. The shrimpy-looking boy was gone, and now a tall, well-built teen had taken his place. While Inui was still rather fair, it did not in any way make him any less masculine. Heck, Yanagi could see all those abs under the shirt, which had rode up slightly in sleep, exposing quite a lot of skin-

Before Yanagi's mind could wander off too far, Inui had opened his eyes at that moment, startling him. The Seigaku data master still held a small grudge against him, and Yanagi felt a twinge of fear. Was he going to lose his friend for real?

Inui had forgiven him though, after Yanagi had apologized, and the Rikkai data master felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders. Inui didn't hate him. It was more than he could ask for.

Throughout the whole camp, Yanagi was contented to hang out with the Seigaku data master, happy to return to their elementary schooldays. He was back with his crush. Since it would only be a short while, he wanted to treasure the time as much as possible.

He was incredibly happy that Inui had enjoyed his presence too, and pleased when Inui went through all that effort to make that juice for him. He had enjoyed Inui's drinks during the entire duration of the camp, so this was a very nice parting gift for him.

Of course, at that time he hadn't known that that very same parting gift would change his life so drastically. Still, even after he found out, he didn't blame Inui for it.

XXX

Yanagi gave a soft gasp as he bolted awake, sitting up in his bed as he fought to recover from a VERY vivid dream. His breathing was heavy as he tried to rein in his thoughts, forcing them back with sheer mental strength. He had had dreams like that ever since he reached puberty, but now, nearly two months after discovering he was pregnant, he had been having these dreams almost every night, thanks to all those hormones raging in his body.

He gave a groan and got out of bed, padding carefully over to the bathroom. A cold shower was a very good idea at the moment. At least it could keep certain unnecessary thoughts at bay. Turning on the water, he shivered as the blast of cold water hit his skin. That had worked, for he was completely awake now. He allowed the water to fall on him for another few more moments before he turned on the hot water too, not wanting to catch a cold in his current condition.

Once he was done with the quick shower, he got out of the bathroom, wrapping a towel around himself as he did so. He wiped his hair dry as best as he could, then discarded the towel and padded over to the closet for a clean batch of clothes. He halted, however, just when he was putting his shirt on. Glancing down, he could see that the small bump he had gained a few weeks ago had grown in size, and the pregnancy seemed more real to him now, and not a dream as he had hoped it would be when he first found out.

Yanagi sighed, pulling on the shirt before returning to bed. He lay back against his pillows, running his hands on his stomach in soothing motions. He could remember the day he first found out he was pregnant. First, there was disbelief. This was quickly replaced by fear and panic when he read the report. However, once he found out whose baby it was, another instinct surfaced, the urge to protect. He would fight to keep the child, no matter what, even if he had to keep this secret on his own. Yanagi tried to convince himself that he wanted to keep the child because he felt bad about ending a life before it even had the chance to be born, but he wasn't too sure if his intentions had been that noble. After reflecting on it a little, he had to admit that he did have some ulterior motives for keeping it, a small part of him hoping that by keeping the baby, he could be somewhat closer to its other parent too.

He also knew, however, that it was only wishful thinking on his part. He had kept it all a secret from Inui after all. He feared rejection. Feared Inui might reject him, or reject the child. Would he still want to keep it if that had happened?

When Yukimura came for a visit the next day, Yanagi had dark circles around his eyes. The fellow Rikkai demon frowned, looking concerned. "Are you alright, Renji?"

Yanagi forced a smile on his face. "Aa. I am. Thank you for your concern, Seiichi."

Yukimura didn't look convinced. He poured a cup of tea for Yanagi and passed it to the Rikkai data master. Yanagi took it after giving his thanks before taking a sip. Yukimura picked up his cup of tea too, but paused for a moment with the cup hovering 4.2 inches from his lips.

"I've been meaning to ask, Renji. That baby...it's Inui-san's, isn't it?"

Yanagi stiffened. After a while, he decided that it shouldn't hurt if Yukimura knew, and slowly, he gave a nod.

Yukimura gave a light cough. "So...urm...you and Inui-san had...and after that this baby..."

Yanagi caught on to what the blue-haired demon was trying to say, and he turned a slight shade of red. "No!" He protested. Realizing that he had raised his voice unintentionally, he lowered his voice and spoke again. "No. Sadaharu and I didn't do...anything..." He then proceeded to explain how he had drunk the juice, and how the pregnancy was a result of it.

Yukimura listened calmly, not saying anything until he had finished. Once he did, the blue-haired guy took his hand, squeezing gently. "Now that I've heard how you have ended up in this condition, I realize that you are stronger than I have initially thought, since you've kept someone who was a result from...well...an accident."

"I wonder about that, Seiichi." Yanagi muttered, his free hand going to his stomach. "Was I doing the right thing? I want to keep this baby, yet its future is uncertain. In fact, my own future is uncertain. I am not sure if I can raise this child on my own, yet...I don't want to give it to anyone..."

Yukimura patted his shoulder. "As I've said before, you are not alone, Renji. We'll help you pull through this. Also, I believe this baby is tied to you not just physically. It's tied to you because of your feelings to Inui-san, so of course you'd want to keep it. As to whether you have made the right decision, only you will be able to find that answer."

Yanagi gave a slow sigh, looking mildly resigned. "I guess you're right." He gave a sad smile. "Sometimes, I do wish Sadaharu were here too though."

Yukimura had a determined glint in his eyes. "You should tell him, Renji. It's his baby too. He has a right to know, so..."

"No!" Yanagi protested instantly, eyes flying open. He closed his eyes again, an expression of pain filling his usually well-controlled mask. "He mustn't know. He mustn't ever know. He's better off not knowing of its existence. If he does he might blame himself. I don't want that."

"Renji..." Yukimura gave him a slight frown. Yukimura didn't like the idea at all, but this was Yanagi's decision to make. Yukimura could not interfere.

XXXXXXXXX

Yanagi had been extremely nervous the day Inui found out about his condition. His friends had gotten careless, and Inui had found out. Then again, who was Yanagi trying to kid? Inui was an excellent data master. He was going to find out sooner or later anyway.

The rejection he had feared never came to pass. In fact, Inui continued to treat him so kindly, it helped to dispel some of the fear Yanagi initially had. He remembered being rather touched when Inui bought the plushie for the unborn child. It was a very kind gesture to the baby, and at that time, Inui hadn't even known that it was his. Yanagi could remember feeling rather guilty at hiding the baby's parentage from Inui.

However, he wasn't willing to disclose that bit of information to Inui, afraid that instead of rejection, Inui would go into denial instead. He didn't think his already stressed out mind would be able to take it if Inui had denied that the child was his.

He was truly afraid that Inui would never want to see him again when he had gotten emotional that one time and blurted the secret out. For a few days, Inui hadn't dropped by for a visit and Yanagi believed that it was the end of their friendship. To his surprise, Inui had returned after that, and looked pretty calm, showing no signs of denial.

He was, however, not at all happy when Inui tried to pity him. He scowled. It wasn't Inui's pity he wanted, but something else.

Things went worse from there. Inui continued to be so caring and so concerned that Yanagi couldn't help falling for him all over again. That would be crushed, however, when Inui clarified later. He was doing everything for the baby, and only the baby. It was torture, being treated so nicely to the point that there was always this sense of hope deep in him, yet that hope would be crushed every time Inui mentioned that it was only because of the baby, because he was feeling responsible. If that wasn't bad enough, that junior 'Kaidou' then came into the picture, and Inui had never seemed so far out of Yanagi's reach before.

There were times when Yanagi was so stressed out that instead of the love he usually felt for his unborn child, he'd feel a sense of hatred towards it instead, angry that Inui was caring more for it than for him, the parent. Moments later, however, he'd feel extremely guilty about it. How could he be jealous of his own child? He was such a horrible parent.

He disliked Kaidou more and more too, not at all happy that Inui was returning late because of his 'study sessions' with Kaidou. Even with such long study sessions, that Kaidou still made so many phone calls to their home. Yanagi didn't say anything though. What would Inui think of him if he made such complaints? He had no right to be jealous. Inui wasn't his anyway. He kept everything inside, and pent up all his frustrations, all gathered over the weeks.

The worst was when Inui had been gone the whole day. Yanagi's mind conjured what Inui might be doing with this 'Kaidou-kun' and he didn't like the mental image at all. That day, the doctor had given him an ultrasound scan to check on the health of his baby, yet Inui was not around to see it too.

Yanagi looked on in amazement as the doctor pointed out the baby to him, indicating parts that were supposed to be hands and feet. (After analyzing the parts, Yanagi concluded that it did somewhat look like hands and feet to him). When the doctor asked whether Yanagi wanted to know the baby's gender, Yanagi had shaken his head. No point knowing if Inui wasn't even around to see it.

He was extremely depressed for the rest of the day after that. Inui arrived home very late, and had given a rather lame excuse for it. Yanagi gritted his teeth and endured it, even when that Kaidou-kun called again.

Then it happened. The stress-induced contractions. The pain which filled Yanagi with a wild fear that he might be losing his child. It was an episode of his life he would never want to go through again, and the relief when the contraction passed was indescribable.

That made Yanagi realize something. He loved the child more than anything at that moment. He loved Inui, but Inui had made it clear time and again that he was straight. There was no way Inui would want to have anything to do with him, a male. He was having false hopes with his longing for Inui's attention. It was something he would never get. He would never have Inui.

On the other hand, the baby was his to keep. At least if he had the baby, he could have a small part of Inui that was his. That one episode made him realize that if he lost the baby, he'd truly have lost everything.

From that moment onwards, Yanagi decided to give up on his feelings. He would try to remain as calm as possible, and try not to give himself so much false hopes anymore. The stress wouldn't be good for his baby.

XXXXXXXXX

Now...Yanagi didn't know what to think anymore. Just when he had given up on his feelings, and settled for them being just friends, Inui had...kissed him...

Yanagi had been stunned. Too stunned to even make a sound, or even react, not sure of how he should interpret Inui's actions since the latter hadn't shown any signs of having any feelings for him. He didn't know if he should allow himself to hope again, or was Inui only acting in the spur of the moment, too hormone-charged after seeing Niou and Yagyuu make out on the screen.

Before Yanagi could react, or maybe even respond to the kiss, Inui had pulled away and fled. The Seigaku data master had been avoiding him ever since, and Yanagi was left in confusion.

Yanagi gritted his teeth. All this stress was most certainly not good for the baby. He could do without getting a relapse of those false contractions again. Coming to a decision, he got to his feet carefully, heading out of the room to look for Inui. He wanted to clear things up with the Seigaku data master. Did Inui like him, or was Yanagi to give up hoping? This time, it would be for real.

XXXXXXXXX

Inui stood rooted on the spot, his eyes still on the diary, but no longer reading it. Yanagi liked him...here Inui was, getting all frustrated with trying to get Yanagi to notice him, going through the dilemma of realizing he was gay, and apparently Yanagi had liked him all along...

Inui supposed that he should feel happy about it. After all, his feelings towards Yanagi weren't unreturned. However, he didn't feel joy at all. On the contrary, anger welled in him. Why did Yanagi hide all these from him? Why had Yanagi never told him anything, and he had to find out this way?

"Sadaharu?" Speak of the devil, he could hear Yanagi calling out for him, probably wondering where he was.

"I'm over here." Inui replied curtly.

Yanagi walked into the study. He paled instantly when he recognized the book Inui was holding in his hands. Moving with agility heavily pregnant people shouldn't be having, Yanagi was next to Inui in an instant, snatching the notebook out of his hands.

"...You didn't bother to tell me anything..." Inui muttered.

He turned to Yanagi, his green eyes flashing behind his glasses. "You didn't say a word when you first ran away years ago. You didn't say anything about the pregnancy when you ran away again. You hid the baby's parentage from me. You hid everything from me! I had to find everything out on my own!" His anger mounted. "And here I was wondering what had caused you all that stress to make you have those contractions! And here I was going out of my mind because I'm attracted to a guy! Why have you kept everything from me?"

Yanagi gave a bitter laugh. "What was I supposed to think, Sadaharu? You made it so clear that you're straight."

"That doesn't give you the right to decide what I'm better off not knowing about!" Inui glared, feeling betrayed by his friend, who seemed fine with telling everyone about his condition except him.

Yanagi gave him a cold stare in return. "And have you pity me after knowing everything? You've done a good job at that, Sadaharu."

It ended up in an argument. Both were feeling betrayed. One because the other had been keeping secrets from him, and the other because his secrets had been blown to bits against his permission.

Inui decided that there was no point for him staying any longer in that room. Their conversation was going nowhere. He spun on his heels and stormed out. He thought he heard Yanagi give a sharp intake of breath, but he didn't care about that.

He strode over to the door and opened it. Before he could step out, he could hear Yanagi call out to him again.

"Where are you going...Sadaharu...?" The other data master asked.

Inui's glasses glinted. "I am not obliged to tell you that." He stepped out of the house.

Even as he shut the door, he could hear Yanagi's pain-filled voice.

"No! Sadaharu! Don't go..."

The door slid shut, and Inui walked away from the house in swift steps, away from Yanagi.

To be continued...

Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.

-Gwyn86