aliceylain (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aliceylain) wrote2012-11-17 06:00 pm
aliceylain) wrote2012-11-17 06:00 pm
Here's to the Night, G, Prince of Tennis
Title: Here's to the Night
Rating: G with slash overtones
Characters: Inui Sadaharu, Kaidoh Kaoru, Seigaku team
Summary: "To Seigaku! The National Champions!" Everyone at Kawamura Sushi cheered happily in response. Grinning, the expression hidden underneath the bandages on his face, Inui panned the camera across the crowd of excited people. That was the fourth time so far this evening that someone had yelled out a toast to the entire room and no one seemed to be tiring of it yet.
Notes: I originally wrote this story500 years ago back in 2008 and never posted it, mostly because I felt that it ultimately had nothing to say. It still has nothing to say but there are some scenes and dialogue that I like. And so, in my quest to try and finish all the WIPs that I have for various fandoms, out into the wide world it goes!
"To Seigaku! The National Champions!"
Everyone at Kawamura Sushi cheered happily in response. Grinning, the expression hidden underneath the bandages on his face, Inui panned the camera across the crowd of excited people. That was the fourth time so far this evening that someone had yelled out a toast to the entire room and no one seemed to be tiring of it yet.
No one seemed to be tiring of the celebration either, even though it had been going on for a couple of hours. Kawamura-san was doing good business this evening, despite the generous discount for the Seigaku regulars. The bar was jammed with people trying to order plates of sushi to bring back to their friends at the tables spread throughout the room. Inui noticed Tezuka and Fuji ensconced in two bars seats at the very far end, their heads bent together, and walked over.
Fuji noticed his approach, of course, and turned his head with a smile. "Inui, I meant to say before, that's a nice camera."
"Thank you. My father let me borrow it," Inui said, focusing the camera on Fuji. "What are both of you talking about over here?"
"We're just enjoying good sushi and nothing more. Well, I'm trying to guess who will give the next toast."
"With your back to most of the room?"
"I think that Taka-san might be next," Fuji continued, ignoring Inui's question and popping a piece of sushi into his mouth.
Intrigued, Inui turned the camera and searched the room. He managed to find Kawamura just as Arai handed him a racket. Stifling a laugh, Inui focused the camera. Generally, it only took Kawamura four seconds to-
"TO VICTORY! WE ARE WIIIINNER! BABY, RIDE MY VICTORY TRAIN!"
The answering cheer was a little scattered, as most people tried to figure out what exactly the English words meant and the rest just cheered for the hell of it. Amused, Inui watched people duck Kawamura's waving arms as he kept yelling, "RIDE MY TRAIN!" until Akutsu Jin detached himself from a nearby wall to wrestle the racket out of Kawamura's hand.
"Arai doesn't seem very sorry," Inui commented to Fuji and Tezuka, as a grinning Arai accepted his racket back from an glowering Akutsu.
"Perhaps he wanted to see Burning Taka-san one last time," Fuji said.
Inui turned the camera away. "Tezuka, do you think the restaurant might be too crowded? We don't want to have to shut down the celebration due to a violation the fire code."
Tezuka picked up a cup and took a drink. "If that happens, we will go somewhere else."
For Tezuka, that was quite a laid-back response. "Are you drinking sake, Tezuka?"
"Now, why would you think that, Inui?" Fuji said smoothly before Tezuka could respond. "You should turn off the camera and join us. I'm sure we would love to hear your opinion on Nationals, the party, what Tezuka may or may not be drinking, how much wasabi I can safely eat, and the universe."
"The universe? That could take awhile. And I want to get more footage of everyone."
"Your battery will run out at this rate," Tezuka cautioned.
"It already did. I put in the spare awhile ago, which is why I want to film more now. But I'll be back, I wouldn't want to deprive either of you of my extremely factual opinions." As Tezuka smiled slightly, Inui couldn't help saying, "It must be sake. That's twice today, Tezuka."
"Ten laps around the room," Tezuka answered before picking his cup up again, his lips still upturned.
An order given, Inui continued making his way through the crowd, filming his teammates. Echizen was being held hostage by the other freshmen, looking bored as they chattered around him. Well, not all of them chattered, Inui observed. Sakuno hung shyly at Echizen's elbow, sneaking him little awed looks. He wondered when she would realize that Echizen was far more interested in people who asserted themselves than people who shrank into the background. Katsuo and Kachiro were taking turns asking Echizen questions, which he ignored. That was all right though, Horio seemed to have no problems answering for Echizen. These answers involved a lot of arm-flailing and Horio kept hitting Sakuno's shoulder, at least until Tomoka fixed the problem by hitting Horio on the head.
"Inui!"
Turning around, Inui saw Oishi waving near the back of the room and made his way over. Oishi and Kikumaru were propped up against the wall; Kikumaru was laughing and Oishi was busy trying to keep him from falling over.
"Iiii-nuuuu-iiiii," Kikumaru sing-songed as Inui approached. "Wanna learn to do a one-handed handstand? I'm teaching Oishi!"
"Don't listen to him, he's not teaching anything right now," Oishi said, a big smile on his face. "He keeps knocking into people."
"Like yourself for instance," Inui said, bemused, as Kikumaru tried to lean forward onto his hands and ended up falling sideways into Oishi.
"He doesn't - oof! - mean it!"
"Iiiiii-nu-iiiiiii," Kikumaru said, grinning at him from where he was lying on Oishi. "Aren't you hot with those bandages on?"
"Not particularly," Inui lied as he turned his camera to focus on a couple empty bottles of Sapporo. They probably weren't drunk on such a small amount, but they certainly seemed tipsy. "I need to keep them on for awhile longer."
"Take them off! Take them off!" Kikumaru shouted, sitting up suddenly. "Take them alllll off like-"
Oishi slapped a hand over Kikumaru's mouth. "Have you eaten yet? You could give me the camera for awhile, I'll make sure nothing happens to it," Oishi said, his face turning red.
"I'm fine, Oishi, but thank you for offering." Inui thought about mentioning that Oishi already had his hands full but as Kikumaru started poking Oishi and Oishi started laughing, Inui decided that probably wasn't the case at all.
The Golden Pair distracted, Inui slipped away, trying not to feel too nostalgic that this was the end. He brushed past a couple of Fudomine players; Ibu Shinji's mutters were far too low to hear in the restaurant but Kamio's loud, "Geez, Shinji, give it up, it's just grip tape!" was clear enough. He stopped for a moment to film the Rokkaku table until Davide loudly said to someone, "Is that a tempura in your pocket, or are you just happy sashimi?" Kurobane's exuberant kick accidentally sent a plate of food (by coincidence, sashimi) onto the floor, and Inui left to the sound of disappointed groans.
No one from Rikkai would show up and Inui doubted that Shitenhouji would travel so far out of their area. He thought he saw the back of Kabaji, though; if Kabaji was here, then Atobe was nearby, probably hoping to chat up Tezuka. Well, if Tezuka's good mood held, it would probably be Atobe's night.
"Senpai?" a very familiar someone asked loudly from behind.
Inui turned and quickly focused the camera. "Hello, Kaidoh. Have you been enjoying the celebration?" Based on the flushed look on Kaidoh's face, there was a good chance that the answer was yes.
"It's fine. Crowded. Can I speak to you for a moment, senpai?"
"Certainly. What do you want to talk about?" A blinking symbol suddenly appeared in the lower corner of the camera frame and Inui frowned. He was on the second battery and running out of power already? His father needed to buy better quality equipment.
"I want to know who-" Someone bumped into Kaidoh, causing him to stumble into Inui. Inui steadied him and Kaidoh glared furiously at the person rapidly walking away. He then muttered something.
"Kaidoh, I'm sorry, you're going to have to speak up."
"I want to speak to you in private," Kaidoh said louder, looking embarrassed.
Inui smiled and waved a hand at the room. "I don't think there is any 'private' in here right now. Can this wait until later? Tomorrow, perhaps?"
The crowd continued eating and talking, people continued to bump into them, and Inui waited for him to answer his question. Finally, Kaidoh declared, "No," and then grabbed Inui's free forearm.
As Kaidoh dragged Inui to the entrance of Kawamura Sushi, they passed the gaggle of freshman. Echizen raised an eyebrow and smirked. Horio shouted, "Where are you going, Inui-senpai?"
"Important Doubles Two meeting," Inui managed to call out to them. "We'll be back in five-point-nine minutes."
Kaidoh continued to pull Inui until they were outside. It still wasn't exactly private but there were certainly less people around. There were even less in the alley by Kawamura Sushi. As they stumbled to a stop, Inui rescued his arm from Kaidoh's strong grip and said, "Well, this must be very important. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself tonight, though. We won Nationals. We deserve a little celebration."
"I wanted to ask you something, senpai," Kaidoh said, still looking serious.
Curious, Inui raised the video camera with its flashing low battery warning. He didn't recall what the manual said about how much time he would have left once it started, but he hoped it was enough to at least record this conversation. "Go ahead."
"Can you put the camera down?"
"I'm recording this evening for prosperity. What you want to ask can be a part of it."
Kaidoh scowled and hissed and finally said, "Fine. But don't show this to anyone."
Now, Inui was very curious as to what Kaidoh wanted to ask. "For my eyes only, agreed. What do you want to know?"
"Who do you think Tezuka-buchou will choose as Captain for next year?"
"I don't think Tezuka is thinking about next year's Captainship quite yet. I think he's too busy enjoying this year's win." This question wasn't much of a surprise, but the timing was. Why so soon?
"But when he does think about it, who do you think he will choose? Me or the Idiot?"
"Kaidoh, you don't need to be worrying about such things now. The next season is a long way away."
Kaidoh crossed his arms defiantly. "The team is losing six regulars. We need to work hard to replace all of you and we need to start working now."
"You want to be able to start issuing laps tomorrow?"
"Yes! No!" Kaidoh looked very annoyed. "He's going to choose Momoshiro, isn't he? Everyone likes him. He's popular."
Inui shook his head. "Kaidoh, I don't know who Tezuka is going to choose. You should ask him yourself, if you need to know."
"This isn't something you just ask. You have all that data on Tezuka-buchou, can't you predict who he will choose?"
Ah, yes. Just because he gathered data, that made him an indisputable expert on what people do and think. "I could try but I am not very accurate on what Tezuka is thinking. It wouldn't be very useful to you."
"Fine." Kaidoh glared at him and then said, "Who do you think should be Captain?"
Inui answered without even a moment of hesitation. "You, of course."
An expression of surprise crossed Kaidoh's face briefly and Inui hoped that his camera was still working to catch it. "Don't you need to look in your notebooks before answering?"
"I don't need to do so because I have already considered this question before and you as Captain is the obvious choice to me. Yes, Momoshiro has more charisma than you but charisma isn't the most important factor in choosing a Captain." Inui held up a finger on the hand. "First, your play style is easier to teach others. Hard work is something that, theoretically, everyone can do. Momoshiro's intuition, while impressive, is not something that can be taught."
Kaidoh nodded and Inui continued. "Second," he said, raising another finger, "it is generally acknowledged that you are more responsible than Momoshiro. There is a certain amount of paperwork and extra meetings with Ryuuzaki-sensei involved with the Captainship. The Captain cannot ignore such responsibilities in favor of impressing girls or going out to eat. And third," Inui concluded, "you are more likely to earn respect as Captain than Momoshiro."
Another quick look of surprise. "How do you know that?"
"Momoshiro's overt friendliness is his downfall in this. I don't think he is as likely to be able to put aside friendship and convince others to see him as someone in charge. You, on the other hand, would have no problem convincing others to see you as a leader over a friend. And the Captain must be a leader and undisputed authority." Inui lowered his hand. "There are other reasons why you are a better choice than Momoshiro but those are the most important ones."
Kaidoh was silent as he appeared to think this over. "But we lost our match during the finals."
"Yes, we did. And Momoshiro didn't play at all. Why do you mention it?"
"I don't know," Kaidoh muttered, looking down at the ground.
"Your ability to Captain can't be determined from one game." Inui was going to just leave it at that but then decided that he may as well be truthful. "Even if it could be, everyone knows that our loss is my fault, not yours."
Kaidoh looked back up, his eyebrows drawn inward. "It was doubles. It was both our faults that we lost."
"It was my fault," Inui said, determined to be fair. "I was the one who took too long to gather the data. I was the one who didn't realize that Renji would allow Kirihara to take control of the game and I didn't have a ready counter for Kirihara's violent play style. I was too cocky, thinking that a makeshift pair could not stand against us, forgetting that not too long ago, we were a makeshift pair ourselves. I was the one who-"
"Inui-senpai, it wasn't just your fault," Kaidoh interrupted. "I got too angry. And I shouldn't have gotten the other guy angry."
"If I hadn't lost consciousness," Inui continued, a little bitterly, "we could have kept fighting to win. I should have tried harder to stay upright."
"You did your best."
"Echizen has played with a gash over his eye. So did Momoshiro. Kawamura played against Hyoutei until his hand was bleeding and then against Shitenhouji when he was severely injured. Fuji was temporarily blinded against Rikkai but still played. Tezuka played until he nearly destroyed his arm. And I? I fainted and couldn't finish our game. What do you think about that, Kaidoh?"
It seemed like a very long time that Kaidoh stared at Inui after that question, although it couldn't have been more than five or six seconds. "I think, senpai, that I don't want that to be our last doubles game," Kaidoh said finally.
And like a switch had been flipped, all the disappointment and anger that Inui had been feeling disappeared, only leaving relief. "You don't?"
"Do you?"
Inui felt a warm feeling in his stomach. "No, I don't. We are better than that."
Kaidoh smiled a little and then it faded. "Why are you still all wrapped up? Are you still bleeding?"
"The doctor said I should leave the bandages on awhile longer before changing them."
"But you should at least take off the ones from your face. You look ridiculous," Kaidoh said, now frowning.
"I think I should probably follow the doctor's advice," Inui said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's a little uncomfortable and hot but I don't mind."
Looking focused, Kaidoh stepped forward. "Kawamura-senpai was hurt worse than you and his bandages aren't so bad." And then Kaidoh reached a hand towards Inui's face.
Inui took a hurried step back from Kaidoh. "What are you doing?"
"Taking the bandages off your face. Stay still, senpai."
He should tell Kaidoh that he could take the bandages off himself. But with no context for such behavior from Kaidoh and uncertain as to what had caused it, Inui stood still. Kaidoh's hands were light on his neck and that warm feeling in Inui's stomach changed to fluttering and nervous. Why did he feel nervous?
"You always go to extremes, senpai," Kaidoh muttered, unwrapping the gauze from Inui's chin and then mouth.
"That's amusing coming from you, Kaidoh. I would think that you would understand extremes."
"Not when it-" Kaidoh stopped and hesitated. He gestured to Inui's face. "May I take them off?"
It took a moment for Inui to realize that Kaidoh meant his glasses. And though one of Inui's hands was free, he found himself saying, "Go ahead." Illogically, the fluttering in his stomach grew worse.
Kaidoh carefully removed Inui's glasses and hooked them in the front of Inui's regulars jacket. Inui closed his eyes as Kaidoh finished unwrapping the bandages. It only took a minute until they were completely off. Inui waited for Kaidoh to step backwards but, again illogically, that didn't happen.
"Your scrapes aren't bleeding anymore," Kaidoh said as he brushed his fingers over Inui's bare skin. Inui shuddered a little at the sensation. "This cheek is going to be bruised for awhile."
Inui wanted to say that he knew that, as he had been present when the doctor had listed his injuries and approximately how long they would take to heal, but Inui found himself too distracted by Kaidoh's light touches to say anything. When something brushed his lips, his eyes flew open to see Kaidoh's face a few inches away, a hand hovering between them.
Kaidoh's own eyes widened and he averted his head, stepping backwards and blushing. Inui felt a little relieved at the extra space and then stiffened when a hand reached towards him again. Kaidoh jerked Inui's glasses off the front of his jacket and shoved them on Inui's face. He was lucky to not have been poked in the eyes with one of the glasses arms.
"Sorry," Kaidoh muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
Inui cleared his throat. "Ah. No, it's fine." His fingers itched for one of his notebooks. Whether it was to madly write this incident down or hide behind it, Inui couldn't decide. The camera was heavy in his hand. Had it recorded everything?
"I shouldn't have...your glasses...I didn't mean to..." Kaidoh seemed suddenly unable to speak in full sentences.
"It really is fine." Inui found himself ducking his head to catch Kaidoh's eye. To let Kaidoh know he was serious, Inui lowered his glasses and looked anxiously over the tops of them at Kaidoh. "Everything is fine."
Instead of reassuring him, Kaidoh only seemed to blush harder. Then he took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and snapped it shut as Momoshiro yelled from behind them, "Viper! Get back inside!"
"Why should I, Idiot?" Kaidoh yelled back as Inui pushed his glasses back up and turned around to see Momoshiro at the entrance to the alley.
"I need a judge for an eel-eating contest against Bane-san and Echizen's being an asshole, Taka-san is busy, and Oishi-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai are toasted," Momoshiro bellowed back. He then seemed to notice Inui and added, "And Inui-senpai will make the loser drink weird things. You've got five minutes, Viper!" With that, Momoshiro whirled around and left.
"You will have to work with him in some capacity next year," Inui said as Kaidoh growled something uncharitable under his breath. "You may as well start getting used to it."
"It would serve the bastard right if he chokes," Kaidoh growled and took a step to go past Inui back into the restaurant.
Inui reached out and grabbed Kaidoh's arm. "Ah. About what just..." Actually, Inui was more than a little uncertain as to what had just happened. He tried to think of something neutral to say instead. "I am willing to continue to make training menus for you, as long as you want them."
"I want them," Kaidoh replied. "They work."
"I can email them to you," Inui said slowly, wondering why this felt so awkward. Hadn't they just agreed before that they would be playing doubles again?
"We should meet up instead. Then sometimes we can work on our doubles form," Kaidoh said, echoing Inui's thoughts. "Maybe play at the street courts against others for practice."
"That would be...good." What else to say? "And there are some independent tournaments that we could consider entering, non-school-related. That is, if they don't conflict with either of our schedules."
"Okay."
Inui took a half-step closer. "I know that it might be difficult with you in middle school and I in high school. But we can work it out. That wasn't our last game together, like you said. I don't want it to be our last one."
Kaidoh's blush had faded and he looked determined. It was a good look on him, like always. "Yes. We're better than that. We're good together."
Inui's warm feeling doubles, trebled, quadrupled at those words. "Don't think too much about the Captainship. Tezuka will make the right choice."
"I know. I don't know why I bothered you about it."
"It's okay, Kaidoh." Realizing that he still had hold of Kaidoh's arm, Inui quickly let go. "We'll talk tomorrow. There's a 92% chance that Oishi will organize some sort of last minute team-bonding exercise, once he...recovers from this evening."
"Sounds like Oishi-senpai." Kaidoh rubbed his arm slowly. "I'll call you if he doesn't."
"A good plan. I look forward to tomorrow."
"Good. I'm going back inside." Kaidoh hesitated and then reached out. Inui reached out as well,confused, until Kaidoh grabbed the video camera out of Inui's hand. "I'm borrowing this, so that the contest is fair," Kaidoh said.
Inui smiled as Kaidoh pointed the camera at him. "The battery is almost out. Or it may be out already."
"Doesn't matter. As long as the Idiot thinks it on, he probably won't cheat."
"Momoshiro is not someone who cheats," Inui said, watching as Kaidoh pressed some of the buttons. The lens moved so the camera must still be functional. Was Kaidoh focusing on him?
"It's a food contest," Kaidoh said, as if that explained it all. "I'll give you the camera back when it's over so you can film more."
"Actually, I think I'm done with that for the evening. I think I might see if Kawamura-san will let me borrow some ingredients and a blender, after the sushi-eating is over. A new Juice would commemorate this day very nicely."
Kaidoh made a face and then went back into Kawamura Sushi. Inui stood in the alley for awhile longer, thinking about what had happened that evening. His smile grew wider.
"Tomorrow," Inui said and followed Kaidoh inside.
Rating: G with slash overtones
Characters: Inui Sadaharu, Kaidoh Kaoru, Seigaku team
Summary: "To Seigaku! The National Champions!" Everyone at Kawamura Sushi cheered happily in response. Grinning, the expression hidden underneath the bandages on his face, Inui panned the camera across the crowd of excited people. That was the fourth time so far this evening that someone had yelled out a toast to the entire room and no one seemed to be tiring of it yet.
Notes: I originally wrote this story
"To Seigaku! The National Champions!"
Everyone at Kawamura Sushi cheered happily in response. Grinning, the expression hidden underneath the bandages on his face, Inui panned the camera across the crowd of excited people. That was the fourth time so far this evening that someone had yelled out a toast to the entire room and no one seemed to be tiring of it yet.
No one seemed to be tiring of the celebration either, even though it had been going on for a couple of hours. Kawamura-san was doing good business this evening, despite the generous discount for the Seigaku regulars. The bar was jammed with people trying to order plates of sushi to bring back to their friends at the tables spread throughout the room. Inui noticed Tezuka and Fuji ensconced in two bars seats at the very far end, their heads bent together, and walked over.
Fuji noticed his approach, of course, and turned his head with a smile. "Inui, I meant to say before, that's a nice camera."
"Thank you. My father let me borrow it," Inui said, focusing the camera on Fuji. "What are both of you talking about over here?"
"We're just enjoying good sushi and nothing more. Well, I'm trying to guess who will give the next toast."
"With your back to most of the room?"
"I think that Taka-san might be next," Fuji continued, ignoring Inui's question and popping a piece of sushi into his mouth.
Intrigued, Inui turned the camera and searched the room. He managed to find Kawamura just as Arai handed him a racket. Stifling a laugh, Inui focused the camera. Generally, it only took Kawamura four seconds to-
"TO VICTORY! WE ARE WIIIINNER! BABY, RIDE MY VICTORY TRAIN!"
The answering cheer was a little scattered, as most people tried to figure out what exactly the English words meant and the rest just cheered for the hell of it. Amused, Inui watched people duck Kawamura's waving arms as he kept yelling, "RIDE MY TRAIN!" until Akutsu Jin detached himself from a nearby wall to wrestle the racket out of Kawamura's hand.
"Arai doesn't seem very sorry," Inui commented to Fuji and Tezuka, as a grinning Arai accepted his racket back from an glowering Akutsu.
"Perhaps he wanted to see Burning Taka-san one last time," Fuji said.
Inui turned the camera away. "Tezuka, do you think the restaurant might be too crowded? We don't want to have to shut down the celebration due to a violation the fire code."
Tezuka picked up a cup and took a drink. "If that happens, we will go somewhere else."
For Tezuka, that was quite a laid-back response. "Are you drinking sake, Tezuka?"
"Now, why would you think that, Inui?" Fuji said smoothly before Tezuka could respond. "You should turn off the camera and join us. I'm sure we would love to hear your opinion on Nationals, the party, what Tezuka may or may not be drinking, how much wasabi I can safely eat, and the universe."
"The universe? That could take awhile. And I want to get more footage of everyone."
"Your battery will run out at this rate," Tezuka cautioned.
"It already did. I put in the spare awhile ago, which is why I want to film more now. But I'll be back, I wouldn't want to deprive either of you of my extremely factual opinions." As Tezuka smiled slightly, Inui couldn't help saying, "It must be sake. That's twice today, Tezuka."
"Ten laps around the room," Tezuka answered before picking his cup up again, his lips still upturned.
An order given, Inui continued making his way through the crowd, filming his teammates. Echizen was being held hostage by the other freshmen, looking bored as they chattered around him. Well, not all of them chattered, Inui observed. Sakuno hung shyly at Echizen's elbow, sneaking him little awed looks. He wondered when she would realize that Echizen was far more interested in people who asserted themselves than people who shrank into the background. Katsuo and Kachiro were taking turns asking Echizen questions, which he ignored. That was all right though, Horio seemed to have no problems answering for Echizen. These answers involved a lot of arm-flailing and Horio kept hitting Sakuno's shoulder, at least until Tomoka fixed the problem by hitting Horio on the head.
"Inui!"
Turning around, Inui saw Oishi waving near the back of the room and made his way over. Oishi and Kikumaru were propped up against the wall; Kikumaru was laughing and Oishi was busy trying to keep him from falling over.
"Iiii-nuuuu-iiiii," Kikumaru sing-songed as Inui approached. "Wanna learn to do a one-handed handstand? I'm teaching Oishi!"
"Don't listen to him, he's not teaching anything right now," Oishi said, a big smile on his face. "He keeps knocking into people."
"Like yourself for instance," Inui said, bemused, as Kikumaru tried to lean forward onto his hands and ended up falling sideways into Oishi.
"He doesn't - oof! - mean it!"
"Iiiiii-nu-iiiiiii," Kikumaru said, grinning at him from where he was lying on Oishi. "Aren't you hot with those bandages on?"
"Not particularly," Inui lied as he turned his camera to focus on a couple empty bottles of Sapporo. They probably weren't drunk on such a small amount, but they certainly seemed tipsy. "I need to keep them on for awhile longer."
"Take them off! Take them off!" Kikumaru shouted, sitting up suddenly. "Take them alllll off like-"
Oishi slapped a hand over Kikumaru's mouth. "Have you eaten yet? You could give me the camera for awhile, I'll make sure nothing happens to it," Oishi said, his face turning red.
"I'm fine, Oishi, but thank you for offering." Inui thought about mentioning that Oishi already had his hands full but as Kikumaru started poking Oishi and Oishi started laughing, Inui decided that probably wasn't the case at all.
The Golden Pair distracted, Inui slipped away, trying not to feel too nostalgic that this was the end. He brushed past a couple of Fudomine players; Ibu Shinji's mutters were far too low to hear in the restaurant but Kamio's loud, "Geez, Shinji, give it up, it's just grip tape!" was clear enough. He stopped for a moment to film the Rokkaku table until Davide loudly said to someone, "Is that a tempura in your pocket, or are you just happy sashimi?" Kurobane's exuberant kick accidentally sent a plate of food (by coincidence, sashimi) onto the floor, and Inui left to the sound of disappointed groans.
No one from Rikkai would show up and Inui doubted that Shitenhouji would travel so far out of their area. He thought he saw the back of Kabaji, though; if Kabaji was here, then Atobe was nearby, probably hoping to chat up Tezuka. Well, if Tezuka's good mood held, it would probably be Atobe's night.
"Senpai?" a very familiar someone asked loudly from behind.
Inui turned and quickly focused the camera. "Hello, Kaidoh. Have you been enjoying the celebration?" Based on the flushed look on Kaidoh's face, there was a good chance that the answer was yes.
"It's fine. Crowded. Can I speak to you for a moment, senpai?"
"Certainly. What do you want to talk about?" A blinking symbol suddenly appeared in the lower corner of the camera frame and Inui frowned. He was on the second battery and running out of power already? His father needed to buy better quality equipment.
"I want to know who-" Someone bumped into Kaidoh, causing him to stumble into Inui. Inui steadied him and Kaidoh glared furiously at the person rapidly walking away. He then muttered something.
"Kaidoh, I'm sorry, you're going to have to speak up."
"I want to speak to you in private," Kaidoh said louder, looking embarrassed.
Inui smiled and waved a hand at the room. "I don't think there is any 'private' in here right now. Can this wait until later? Tomorrow, perhaps?"
The crowd continued eating and talking, people continued to bump into them, and Inui waited for him to answer his question. Finally, Kaidoh declared, "No," and then grabbed Inui's free forearm.
As Kaidoh dragged Inui to the entrance of Kawamura Sushi, they passed the gaggle of freshman. Echizen raised an eyebrow and smirked. Horio shouted, "Where are you going, Inui-senpai?"
"Important Doubles Two meeting," Inui managed to call out to them. "We'll be back in five-point-nine minutes."
Kaidoh continued to pull Inui until they were outside. It still wasn't exactly private but there were certainly less people around. There were even less in the alley by Kawamura Sushi. As they stumbled to a stop, Inui rescued his arm from Kaidoh's strong grip and said, "Well, this must be very important. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself tonight, though. We won Nationals. We deserve a little celebration."
"I wanted to ask you something, senpai," Kaidoh said, still looking serious.
Curious, Inui raised the video camera with its flashing low battery warning. He didn't recall what the manual said about how much time he would have left once it started, but he hoped it was enough to at least record this conversation. "Go ahead."
"Can you put the camera down?"
"I'm recording this evening for prosperity. What you want to ask can be a part of it."
Kaidoh scowled and hissed and finally said, "Fine. But don't show this to anyone."
Now, Inui was very curious as to what Kaidoh wanted to ask. "For my eyes only, agreed. What do you want to know?"
"Who do you think Tezuka-buchou will choose as Captain for next year?"
"I don't think Tezuka is thinking about next year's Captainship quite yet. I think he's too busy enjoying this year's win." This question wasn't much of a surprise, but the timing was. Why so soon?
"But when he does think about it, who do you think he will choose? Me or the Idiot?"
"Kaidoh, you don't need to be worrying about such things now. The next season is a long way away."
Kaidoh crossed his arms defiantly. "The team is losing six regulars. We need to work hard to replace all of you and we need to start working now."
"You want to be able to start issuing laps tomorrow?"
"Yes! No!" Kaidoh looked very annoyed. "He's going to choose Momoshiro, isn't he? Everyone likes him. He's popular."
Inui shook his head. "Kaidoh, I don't know who Tezuka is going to choose. You should ask him yourself, if you need to know."
"This isn't something you just ask. You have all that data on Tezuka-buchou, can't you predict who he will choose?"
Ah, yes. Just because he gathered data, that made him an indisputable expert on what people do and think. "I could try but I am not very accurate on what Tezuka is thinking. It wouldn't be very useful to you."
"Fine." Kaidoh glared at him and then said, "Who do you think should be Captain?"
Inui answered without even a moment of hesitation. "You, of course."
An expression of surprise crossed Kaidoh's face briefly and Inui hoped that his camera was still working to catch it. "Don't you need to look in your notebooks before answering?"
"I don't need to do so because I have already considered this question before and you as Captain is the obvious choice to me. Yes, Momoshiro has more charisma than you but charisma isn't the most important factor in choosing a Captain." Inui held up a finger on the hand. "First, your play style is easier to teach others. Hard work is something that, theoretically, everyone can do. Momoshiro's intuition, while impressive, is not something that can be taught."
Kaidoh nodded and Inui continued. "Second," he said, raising another finger, "it is generally acknowledged that you are more responsible than Momoshiro. There is a certain amount of paperwork and extra meetings with Ryuuzaki-sensei involved with the Captainship. The Captain cannot ignore such responsibilities in favor of impressing girls or going out to eat. And third," Inui concluded, "you are more likely to earn respect as Captain than Momoshiro."
Another quick look of surprise. "How do you know that?"
"Momoshiro's overt friendliness is his downfall in this. I don't think he is as likely to be able to put aside friendship and convince others to see him as someone in charge. You, on the other hand, would have no problem convincing others to see you as a leader over a friend. And the Captain must be a leader and undisputed authority." Inui lowered his hand. "There are other reasons why you are a better choice than Momoshiro but those are the most important ones."
Kaidoh was silent as he appeared to think this over. "But we lost our match during the finals."
"Yes, we did. And Momoshiro didn't play at all. Why do you mention it?"
"I don't know," Kaidoh muttered, looking down at the ground.
"Your ability to Captain can't be determined from one game." Inui was going to just leave it at that but then decided that he may as well be truthful. "Even if it could be, everyone knows that our loss is my fault, not yours."
Kaidoh looked back up, his eyebrows drawn inward. "It was doubles. It was both our faults that we lost."
"It was my fault," Inui said, determined to be fair. "I was the one who took too long to gather the data. I was the one who didn't realize that Renji would allow Kirihara to take control of the game and I didn't have a ready counter for Kirihara's violent play style. I was too cocky, thinking that a makeshift pair could not stand against us, forgetting that not too long ago, we were a makeshift pair ourselves. I was the one who-"
"Inui-senpai, it wasn't just your fault," Kaidoh interrupted. "I got too angry. And I shouldn't have gotten the other guy angry."
"If I hadn't lost consciousness," Inui continued, a little bitterly, "we could have kept fighting to win. I should have tried harder to stay upright."
"You did your best."
"Echizen has played with a gash over his eye. So did Momoshiro. Kawamura played against Hyoutei until his hand was bleeding and then against Shitenhouji when he was severely injured. Fuji was temporarily blinded against Rikkai but still played. Tezuka played until he nearly destroyed his arm. And I? I fainted and couldn't finish our game. What do you think about that, Kaidoh?"
It seemed like a very long time that Kaidoh stared at Inui after that question, although it couldn't have been more than five or six seconds. "I think, senpai, that I don't want that to be our last doubles game," Kaidoh said finally.
And like a switch had been flipped, all the disappointment and anger that Inui had been feeling disappeared, only leaving relief. "You don't?"
"Do you?"
Inui felt a warm feeling in his stomach. "No, I don't. We are better than that."
Kaidoh smiled a little and then it faded. "Why are you still all wrapped up? Are you still bleeding?"
"The doctor said I should leave the bandages on awhile longer before changing them."
"But you should at least take off the ones from your face. You look ridiculous," Kaidoh said, now frowning.
"I think I should probably follow the doctor's advice," Inui said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's a little uncomfortable and hot but I don't mind."
Looking focused, Kaidoh stepped forward. "Kawamura-senpai was hurt worse than you and his bandages aren't so bad." And then Kaidoh reached a hand towards Inui's face.
Inui took a hurried step back from Kaidoh. "What are you doing?"
"Taking the bandages off your face. Stay still, senpai."
He should tell Kaidoh that he could take the bandages off himself. But with no context for such behavior from Kaidoh and uncertain as to what had caused it, Inui stood still. Kaidoh's hands were light on his neck and that warm feeling in Inui's stomach changed to fluttering and nervous. Why did he feel nervous?
"You always go to extremes, senpai," Kaidoh muttered, unwrapping the gauze from Inui's chin and then mouth.
"That's amusing coming from you, Kaidoh. I would think that you would understand extremes."
"Not when it-" Kaidoh stopped and hesitated. He gestured to Inui's face. "May I take them off?"
It took a moment for Inui to realize that Kaidoh meant his glasses. And though one of Inui's hands was free, he found himself saying, "Go ahead." Illogically, the fluttering in his stomach grew worse.
Kaidoh carefully removed Inui's glasses and hooked them in the front of Inui's regulars jacket. Inui closed his eyes as Kaidoh finished unwrapping the bandages. It only took a minute until they were completely off. Inui waited for Kaidoh to step backwards but, again illogically, that didn't happen.
"Your scrapes aren't bleeding anymore," Kaidoh said as he brushed his fingers over Inui's bare skin. Inui shuddered a little at the sensation. "This cheek is going to be bruised for awhile."
Inui wanted to say that he knew that, as he had been present when the doctor had listed his injuries and approximately how long they would take to heal, but Inui found himself too distracted by Kaidoh's light touches to say anything. When something brushed his lips, his eyes flew open to see Kaidoh's face a few inches away, a hand hovering between them.
Kaidoh's own eyes widened and he averted his head, stepping backwards and blushing. Inui felt a little relieved at the extra space and then stiffened when a hand reached towards him again. Kaidoh jerked Inui's glasses off the front of his jacket and shoved them on Inui's face. He was lucky to not have been poked in the eyes with one of the glasses arms.
"Sorry," Kaidoh muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
Inui cleared his throat. "Ah. No, it's fine." His fingers itched for one of his notebooks. Whether it was to madly write this incident down or hide behind it, Inui couldn't decide. The camera was heavy in his hand. Had it recorded everything?
"I shouldn't have...your glasses...I didn't mean to..." Kaidoh seemed suddenly unable to speak in full sentences.
"It really is fine." Inui found himself ducking his head to catch Kaidoh's eye. To let Kaidoh know he was serious, Inui lowered his glasses and looked anxiously over the tops of them at Kaidoh. "Everything is fine."
Instead of reassuring him, Kaidoh only seemed to blush harder. Then he took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and snapped it shut as Momoshiro yelled from behind them, "Viper! Get back inside!"
"Why should I, Idiot?" Kaidoh yelled back as Inui pushed his glasses back up and turned around to see Momoshiro at the entrance to the alley.
"I need a judge for an eel-eating contest against Bane-san and Echizen's being an asshole, Taka-san is busy, and Oishi-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai are toasted," Momoshiro bellowed back. He then seemed to notice Inui and added, "And Inui-senpai will make the loser drink weird things. You've got five minutes, Viper!" With that, Momoshiro whirled around and left.
"You will have to work with him in some capacity next year," Inui said as Kaidoh growled something uncharitable under his breath. "You may as well start getting used to it."
"It would serve the bastard right if he chokes," Kaidoh growled and took a step to go past Inui back into the restaurant.
Inui reached out and grabbed Kaidoh's arm. "Ah. About what just..." Actually, Inui was more than a little uncertain as to what had just happened. He tried to think of something neutral to say instead. "I am willing to continue to make training menus for you, as long as you want them."
"I want them," Kaidoh replied. "They work."
"I can email them to you," Inui said slowly, wondering why this felt so awkward. Hadn't they just agreed before that they would be playing doubles again?
"We should meet up instead. Then sometimes we can work on our doubles form," Kaidoh said, echoing Inui's thoughts. "Maybe play at the street courts against others for practice."
"That would be...good." What else to say? "And there are some independent tournaments that we could consider entering, non-school-related. That is, if they don't conflict with either of our schedules."
"Okay."
Inui took a half-step closer. "I know that it might be difficult with you in middle school and I in high school. But we can work it out. That wasn't our last game together, like you said. I don't want it to be our last one."
Kaidoh's blush had faded and he looked determined. It was a good look on him, like always. "Yes. We're better than that. We're good together."
Inui's warm feeling doubles, trebled, quadrupled at those words. "Don't think too much about the Captainship. Tezuka will make the right choice."
"I know. I don't know why I bothered you about it."
"It's okay, Kaidoh." Realizing that he still had hold of Kaidoh's arm, Inui quickly let go. "We'll talk tomorrow. There's a 92% chance that Oishi will organize some sort of last minute team-bonding exercise, once he...recovers from this evening."
"Sounds like Oishi-senpai." Kaidoh rubbed his arm slowly. "I'll call you if he doesn't."
"A good plan. I look forward to tomorrow."
"Good. I'm going back inside." Kaidoh hesitated and then reached out. Inui reached out as well,confused, until Kaidoh grabbed the video camera out of Inui's hand. "I'm borrowing this, so that the contest is fair," Kaidoh said.
Inui smiled as Kaidoh pointed the camera at him. "The battery is almost out. Or it may be out already."
"Doesn't matter. As long as the Idiot thinks it on, he probably won't cheat."
"Momoshiro is not someone who cheats," Inui said, watching as Kaidoh pressed some of the buttons. The lens moved so the camera must still be functional. Was Kaidoh focusing on him?
"It's a food contest," Kaidoh said, as if that explained it all. "I'll give you the camera back when it's over so you can film more."
"Actually, I think I'm done with that for the evening. I think I might see if Kawamura-san will let me borrow some ingredients and a blender, after the sushi-eating is over. A new Juice would commemorate this day very nicely."
Kaidoh made a face and then went back into Kawamura Sushi. Inui stood in the alley for awhile longer, thinking about what had happened that evening. His smile grew wider.
"Tomorrow," Inui said and followed Kaidoh inside.