A/N: This is the third time today that I've tried to update SOMETHING, so it came to this. I decided, 'since it's stuck in my head, might as well write it.' and such. I think a lot, don't I?
Chapter Summary: It was a look he knew well, but never wore himself.
Characters: Hiyoshi Wakashi, Atobe Keigo, Oshitari Yuushi, Mukahi Gakuto, Ootori Choutarou, Shishido Ryou,
Pairings: There's not meant to be any, but a bit of Oshitari/Hiyoshi friendship, unless you wanna look at it differently.
The Look
Oshitari sighed, running a hand through his hair. It had been a long day, and wished it could have been better. He fell asleep in English(because Kenya called late the other night and wouldn't get off the phone until nearly two in the morning) so he was forced to stay after class, the library didn't have the books he was looking for, his glasses fell off again in Gymnastics(Gakuto had managed to grab them before they were stepped on, thankfully) his new infrared sensor decided this time to blow up on him, and he didn't get the recent notice from the committee so he didn't know the meeting was cancelled.
All in all, this day sucked.
He sighed again, taking a look at his watch. It read 4:35, which meant he had to rush unless he wanted to miss the train. Exiting the school building, he looked around. Empty. He didn't know what he was expecting, seeing as it was way after school and tennis practice had just ended. everyone had gone out the back exit, so he was alone. He took no more than three steps out the door before he heard an odd scratching sound.
He made his way over to the side, where he peeked around to see Hiyoshi, crouched down, supposedly drawing in the dirt. His curiousity getting the better of him at what the second-year could be doing, he quietly wandered over. He tapped the younger boy's shoulder.
"Hiyoshi?"
Said boy turned to look at him, eyes wide but not startled. It was a look he knew well, but never worn himself.
Innocence.
He'd seen it countless times on the face of Zaizen's nephew, during the few times that he had seen the young boy, and found it momentarilt surprising that someone as sarcastic and short-tempered as his junior could wear a look like that so well. He had to stop himself from staring by reminding himself that the boy in front of him was their team's youngest member.
The look vanished as quickly as it came, replaced with a scowl and a glare. Oshitari managed to not point it out, as it would probably result in either a punch in the face or a week of silence from his kohai.
"What."
The word ripped through the silence that he realized had only been a few seconds, but it was annoyed none the less. he coughed into his hand to avoid laughing.
"What are you doing?" He asked as calmly as he could. While Hiyoshi was still seated on the ground, he knew the boy's movements were nothing to underestimate if he worded his sentences wrong. Hiyoshi didn't repspond right away, instead turning to erase whatever it was he had drawn on the dirt patch.
"Nothing."
Another short silence followed them as Hiyoshi snapped the twig in half, tossing it into a bush on the side. Oshitari scratched the back of his neck, unsure of how to speak to his kohai. In all the conversations they'd had, there was the rest of the team to start it all off. Whenever they were alone, there was always an awkward(on his part) silence that seemed to carry on until someone else entered the room. Like now.
"So, uh, what are you doing here?" He asked, seating himself next to the shorter boy. Hiyoshi didn't look at him.
"Waiting for my brother, he picks me up on his days off." He said no more after that, staring at the line of ants a little bit off to the side. Oshitari waited a little longer for anything else, before speaking.
"So... how was your day?"
Hiyoshi turned to look at his sempai, eyebrow raised.
"Is there something you need?" He asked, and Oshitari froze. Why was he here? "If you don't need anything, go away." He blinked.
"You... you really don't acknowledge me as your sempai, do you?" He asked, eyebrow twitching. Hiyoshi shrugged.
"Nor Mukahi-san, Akutagawa-san, or Taki-san." He said, looking up to stare at birds passing by. Oshitari blinked.
Not even Taki? "What about Atobe?" He asked. He knew Hiyoshi had some - if not little - respect for their captain. Hiyoshi hummed.
"Buchou is Buchou, I don't need to acknowledge him as my sempai to respect him." He turned to look at Oshitari again. "You, on the other hand, I have little to none respect for."
He's too honest, Oshitari felt like punching the boy in the face just then, but he knew that even if he did he'd just get hit back twice as hard. Hiyoshi glanced at the watch on his wrist.
"Shouldn't you be going?" He asked, confusing the older boy. "I mean, you take the train home, right? Doesn't the next train leave in, like, twenty minutes?"
Oshitari shot up, looking at his watch. The time read 5:15. How had time passed by so fast? And the ride home was thirty minutes!
He gave a quick good-bye and a wave, running out the front gates of the school. A little more than five feet away from the school did he hear someone call out for him.
"Oshitari-san!"
He turned around, wondering what Hiyoshi could want, when he saw the second-year standing by black car. The moment he turned around, Hiyoshi lifted his hand to point at the car, watching him. He stared back, unsure of what his kohai was trying to tell him. Hiyoshi just stood there, watching, before Oshitari got the message.
He was asking if he wanted a ride.
xXxXxXx
"Wakashi, are you okay?"
Hiyoshi gazed up at his best friend with sleepy eyes, frowning.
"Ask me what time I slept."
"Um, what time?" Choutarou asked nervously.
"Three in the morning. Now ask me that question again."
"Got it, your sleepy, okay."
Hiyoshi yawned, reaching for his jersey. Choutarou glanced at him, the corners of his mouth turned down.
"Why were you up so late?" He asked. As much as he remembered, Hiyoshi always slept before eleven.
"Akaya called around eight to use me as a walkthrough for Legend of Zelda. He wouldn't let me off the phone until he got out of the Earth Temple. Since I apparently remember it so vividly, he decided I'd be of more use than going online.
Choutarou gave his tired friend a pat on the back. Luckily, it was only them, Kabaji and Atobe that morning, since it was a Saturday. The others had yet to come in yet, so the regulars locker room was rather quiet.
The silence was broken by laughter from outside, when Shishido, Gakuto and Jirou walked in. Shishido immediately greeted Choutarou, walking over to his locker on the taller boy's right. Oshitari walked in shortly after, walking over to his locker between Gakuto and Jirou. He turned to look at Hiyoshi.
"Hiyoshi," His kohai turned to look at him, tired. "Thanks for yesterday."
Hiyoshi simply nodded, yawning again. Oshitari watched him for a moment before Gakuto poked his arm.
"What happened yesterday?" He asked with an odd gleam in his eye. Oshitari knew, from past experience, that when Gakuto had that look in his eye, it meant Jirou and Shishido were listening too, which was not good.
"Nothing much, we just talked and his brother offered me a ride home." He said calmly, pulling his jersey on. He saw Gakuto's excitement die in an instant, replaced with a pout. He grinned again in such a quick change in mood that it slightly shocked his partner.
"What'd you talk about." He said, looking over at Hiyoshi, who was attempting to change into his jersey half-asleep. Oshitari smirked.
"Not telling."
xXxXxXx
Oshitari realized, after a bit of annoyance and an "accidental" push into the dirt, that Hiyoshi was rather... entertaining, after school. He even began looking forward to staying behind another hour or so(apparently he stayed there even when his brother wasn't picking him up or going home with Choutarou) just to see what the younger boy would do.
It was around 4:20, when Hiyoshi asked him.
"Oshitari-san, why do you come here everyday?" Hiyoshi asked, tilting his head slightly. Oshitari glanced at him from the paper between them, where they were playing a game he couldn't seem to remember the name of. "After what I said last time, I didn't expect to see you here again. Everyday."
Oshitari hummed. "Would you believe me if I said I'm hitting on you?" He said, grinning. Hiyoshi continued to keep a deadpan expression.
"No."
His eyebrow twitched.
"Good."
"So why?"
He hummed again, leaning back. Why was he here? He didn't have any specific reason to be, and he was always late coming home because of it.
"You're... interesting. To be around, I mean." He added the last part when he got a raised eyebrow and an anooyed look from the younger boy. "I don't know, I just felt like hanging out with you."
Hiyoshi stared at him, much like he'd seen Zaizen stare at Kenya when he did something wrong. He couldn't help but tense up at that look, considering both second-years were such good friends. He was relatively surprised when, after it seemed that the information had sunk in, Hiyoshi had given him that same look he had when Oshitari first found him here.
That surprised, yet seemingly happy, innocent look.
xXxXxXx
About twenty minutes later Oshitari decided to end their game and go home, seeing as it was getting late. They walked to the gate in silence, the crunching of the leaves under their feet being the only sound they made. Oshitari stopped at the gate, looking at his teammate.
"Well, see you tomorrow." He said, waving the younger boy off and turning to walk down the street. Hiyoshi waved back, turning in the opposite direction.
Oshitari walked up to the same point he had on the first day before stopping when someone called out, surprising him.
"Sempai!"
He turned to see Hiyoshi looking at him. Then, to his surprise, he smiled.
"Thank you."
Oshitari watched in stunned silence as his kohai ran off, towards his own house. He blinked
He called me Sempai...
xXxXxXx
A/N:I update this thing way too much, more than I do my real fics.
When I started this, making it up as I went since I only had that first scene, I remembered that Hiyoshi only refers to Shishido as 'sempai' which is how the rest of the conversation went. I actually took a huge liking to this pairing when I first read a few fics for it, and decided that instead of writing my own full-out fanfic, might as well do something like this. I was going to change Oshitari to Atobe when I thought about it, but decided that the scene fit Oshitari better.
As for WHY I did this, well, let's just say I'm having bad writer's block right now.
