sessho | HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TSUNAMI-CHAN <33

Tsu-chan, once more I would like to wish you happy birthday <33 You're a truly wonderful person and I wish that your life will always mirror it <33 I wrote a fic for you, I hope you'll like it ^^

Title: Give-and-take
Author: Sessho
Dedicated to:

tsunami_pl <33
Rating: PG-13
Parings: Guess which one~
Words: ~1240
A\N: My first take on that pairing, written because of Tsu and for her :)
Also, betaed by

fiendie - thanks ^^

All in all, Yuushi was a lazy person. He knew it well, because he knew Yuushi himself well. He talked slowly and his distinct Kansai accent didn’t really help matters – not that it was a bad thing, no, far from it. Yuushi’s voice was extraordinary – at the least – deep and captivating. If sounds could be considered aphrodisiacs, his voice would certainly be one. It was kind of funny just what reactions it got from female part of Hyoutei cheering squad. Or would be if it didn’t work quite not-so-differently on him.

(And not only his voice) Off the court his moves were simply lazy as well, seemingly careless, but somehow they didn’t seem graceless at all. Put him on the court, though…. And they didn’t change, not really, not in the too obvious way, not so vulgarly. They just gained a dangerous edge to them – nearly imperceptible. But it was there and it could be noticed if one looked attentively. But then he was there – not letting anyone do that, distracting their opponents, deluding them into believing that his partner was no danger. He was the one that one could call vulgar. And they did, but hell if he cared. Losers don’t have a say.

And Yuushi’s play was splendid. Every and each of his motions beautifully efficient, not a needless gesture made. They never knew what hit them. And when it did, it hit hard, because, well, in reality Oshitari was as vindictive, ruthless and greedy for victory as Mukahi himself. He was just usually being more subtle about it. Or maybe it was Gakuto who made people blind to it with his own revenge-fullness and hatred for losing. (Having those characteristics sort of defined a real Hyoutei regular, he mused sometimes) Either way, it worked and it worked perfectly. It wasn’t as if Yuushi was as insecure as to actually care about whether some fool or another noticed him until it was too late.

Besides, Mukahi liked attention. Shishido once told him that he was a stupid attention-seeking whore. Funny thing, words like those coming from someone who used to brag so much and who liked balancing his racket on his stupid finger. Someone who, may he add, first lost his match splendidly and then had to resort to seeking help from an underclassman.
(Not that he minded Ootori, no. The kid was all right. It wasn’t his fault that Shishido was a sore loser who turned out to be not as great as he believed himself to be.
No need to force his silly insecurities on Gakuto.)

Attention was one of the things that his partner usually let him monopolize while on the court and one that he readily provided Mukahi with when in, ah, a little more intimate settings.

He remembered well when he had first met Oshitari. The impression the boy made on him was even more burnt into his mind. And it wasn’t positive, not really.
First he heard about one new member of Hyoutei tennis team – that immediately proclaimed himself a ‘king’ and a captain of said team, no less. It was only natural to go and check him out. But having to learn that he wasn’t the only cocky overly self-assured ‘genius’ that decided to honour the team with his mighty presence out there – it didn’t really make him all happy and lucky and just itching to meet those two fantastic guys. His now team mates.

After Atobe beat their loser–captain mercilessly, he thought Oshitari stupid. To challenge someone who just literally obliterated a captain of the two-hundred–person team – no matter how annoying that someone seemed to be – was a ridiculous thing to do.

When he managed not only to play with the ‘king’, not only to put some serious resistance, but fight him almost evenly – Gakuto still found Oshitari a conceited fool, but this time a fool that had reasons to be as cocky as he was. Even if he eventually lost.
By then he had to admit that this newcomer got him interested. It wasn’t really so later when the interest became mutual.
The boy turned out to be a rather fascinating person. Even in the anonymous crowd of the team he still stood out. As did Mukahi himself, for that matter.

Maybe that was what first made them notice each other. Or rather Oshitari notice him, because by then he had already kept not-so-offhand eye on his team mate.

Where was a commotion, there was Gakuto. He was the first to joke and scoff. Somehow Oshitari was always there as well – throwing some careless but painfully accurate smart comment in that lazy manner of his. All eyes shifted then to him and he just smirked casually.

Their play styles were completely different. Mukahi’s was flashy, attention-demanding – just as he himself was. He ran and he jumped, he was everywhere. Oshitari played significantly differently. Subtly and yet powerfully, his moves smooth and accurate – beautiful example of economy of motion. He was always where you didn’t expect him to be. They varied so much, but most of all they turned out to be complementary. Sakaki-kantoku quickly realized it and that was how they started training as a doubles pair.

The thing that got them closer might as well have been the fact that they both had rather little respect for rules in general. That shit happens and so Mukahi got assigned laps for his foul-mouth. That Oshitari often accompanied him, because Atobe caught him texting someone during the practice once more. That his voice sounded even better when he was out of breath from running. (Later Gakuto would decide that he liked its sound the most when it was him who made Yuushi breathless. And he considered himself quite capable in that domain. He wasn’t sure if his partner would agree with him, but it would be denial, nothing more.)

He enjoyed making him passionate even more. As Mukahi learned somewhere during the years they knew each other, Oshitari – deep down under his cool and collected façade, hid passion – strong, relentless, overwhelming. He set it as his goal to bring it out as often as he could. And if afterwards his lips were severely swollen or his body sore – well, they were just side-effects and he couldn’t honestly say that he minded them. Quite contrary. He enjoyed very much what – and who – caused them, after all. Hell if he didn’t. Worse if he was left thoroughly shaken by some nasty words and even nastier arguments. But he had to somehow deal with them when they happened. If that was what it took to make Yuushi let go of his restraints, then so be it.

Gakuto firmly believed in give-and-take principle, that there’s nothing for free and that just proved it. Even if in some rather painful way.