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The moment Momoshiro’s wrist was broken during a match; Yukimura Seiichi looked around the grounds. It was as he thought; someone was playing a game with them, and Yukimura was about to change the rules.
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He gathered his team together that night after dinner in the only blind spot he’d been able to find in the whole camp. “This is not a training camp,” he said. “We are in an experiment of some sort.”
“What have you seen, Seiichi?” Yanagi Renji asked.
“You have all noticed the cameras? There is a mastermind here, someone who is pulling the strings of every single person in this camp and we are going to change that.”
“Puri,” Niou Masaharu smirked.
“Exactly, Niou,” Yukimura agreed with a soft smile. “No matter what happens we will stand together as a team. But you have my permission to do whatever you want to the other players here.”
Yagyuu Hiroshi pushed his glasses back into place. “There is a very good chance that such behavior will get us thrown out of here.”
“That is the rule of kings,” Sanada said firmly. “We do not lose.”
“This is not tennis as it is meant to be,” Yukimura said. “And winning at a corruption of our life’s blood is not a true win, Sanada. We will be the true victors here because we are the only ones who realize who the true opponent is.”
“We must beat the hidden mastermind at his own game,” Yanagi said with a nod. “We begin tomorrow, Seiichi?”
Yukimura smiled, and it was a smile that would’ve sent lesser men running in terror. “On my signal,” he said. “Make sure you are with another Rikkai player no matter what. And we will win, Genichiro. We are King Rikkai Dai, after all.”
********************
Yukimura felt justified the next day when the mental coach appeared and told them to break into pairs. He smiled to himself when he looked around and saw Niou with Yagyuu, Marui and Jackal, Yanagi with Akaya, and himself with Sanada. His team, as strange and rebellious as they were, always listened to him.
He watched in amusement as the new coach’s words rolled over the group; each pair would play singles and the loser had to leave the camp. Yukimura caught Sanada’s eye and nodded. It was pathetic, an attempt to turn friends into enemies and it would work too; work on everyone but Rikkai Dai. And that was because they were more than a team, more than lovers, more than a family – they were Rikkai Dai. And not the time had come to prove it to everyone.
Niou and Yagyuu were among the first chosen to play. The Petenshi looked at Yukimura and received a nod in reply to the head tilt; all bets were off for the match. Yukimura watched as his number one doubles pair made eye contact across the net, watched the silent communication between them and smirked, wondering exactly what they would do.
The game started with Niou serving and both halves of the Platinum Pair played their strongest game, with laser beams and other stolen moves peppered in, neither giving ground until Niou stumbled and Yagyuu took the first game.
Yukimura had to bite back a laugh when there were suddenly two Nious on the court playing each other across the net. It obviously wasn’t anything near Kikumaru Eiji’s technique, which was to move fast enough to leave after images on the court. This was pure Petenshi; wonderfully Platinum Pair and Yukimura took power from the gasps and exclamations around him, as he knew Niou and Yagyuu were. He looked up at Sanada. “Our Petenshi is getting stronger, isn’t he, Sanada?”
“Did you know he could do this?” Sanada asked when the image shifted again and Niou was suddenly Yagyuu and Yagyuu was Niou.
“I suspect he can only do this trick with Yagyuu,” Yukimura replied. He was watching the referee trying to figure out which player was which when two Yagyuus appeared on the court. “Though I haven’t asked him about it. We all have our power plays after all.”
“What are we going to do, Yukimura?”
“Follow my lead, Sanada.”
“Always.”
Yukimura turned his attention back to the mental coach who was standing with his mouth hanging open staring at the court Rikkai was using. Yukimura only just resisted the strong urge to glance up at the cameras, but it was still too early to let the mastermind know who was really in control.
“Game Yagyuu,” the poor, confused referee finally called.
Two Yagyuus pushed their glasses up and walked off the court to where their buchou and fukubuchou were standing. Yukimura nodded with a soft smile. “Good work, Niou,” he said to the Yagyuu on his left.
“Are you certain, Yukimura-kun?”
“Of course.”
“Puri.” Niou reappeared and slung an arm around Yagyuu. “How’d you like playing yourself, Yeahgyuu?”
“It’s quite stimulating,” Yagyuu replied with a small smile,” but I find doubles infinitely more fun, Niou-kun.”
“Me too,” Niou agreed. “Want to do some extra practice tonight?”
“Only if we are away from these cameras, Niou-kun.”
“Our turn has come, Sanada,” Yukimura said. “Let’s show them what the Emperor and the Child of God can do.”
The remaining Rikkai regulars gathered together, the excited murmurs rolling over them in waves. It was nothing new to see the pair face off, but they were curious what pranks the demon pair had planned.
Yanagi was the first to notice the referee and people closest to the court start to panic. “It would seem that Seiichi is in fine form today,” he commented softly.
“I wonder how long he plans to keep them under his spell,” Yagyuu commented pushing his glasses back into place.
“You know our buchou,” Marui said popping his gum. “Does anyone see any cake around?”
“Too easy,” Akaya scoffed.
“Three minutes and still going,” Jackal said looking at the watch in his hand. He claimed to like to hold it so his tan lines would be even, but the team knew it was so it didn’t mess with his power wrist bands.
“Puri,” Niou smirked.
They could tell when Yukimura released his hold on everyone and started laughing. The referee started so violently that he almost fell out of his chair. “Hey, only one ball in play!” he called.
Yukimura and Sanada both stopped moving and the dual blurs faded into one tennis ball that bounced to rest at Yukimura’s feet like an obedient dog. The Child of God glared at the man. “It’s hardly our fault you have such slow eyes,” he said. Yukimura turned to look at the mental coach. “Could we have Echizen Ryoma judge for the rest of the match, please? His eyes will be able to keep up with our play.”
Ryoma pulled down the bill of his ever present white ball cap with a smirk. “Mada mada dane,” he muttered as he moved towards the courts.
“Thank you, Echizen,” Yukimura said.
“Whatever,” Ryoma replied. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he liked the style of the joke more than he liked the stupid rules of the camp. Plus, someone had to pay for what happened to Momo. And, if he was closer, maybe he’d be able to figure out how they were turning one ball into many and back again. It would be a cool trick to have on the court.
“How many arms does Sanada have?” Akaya asked as he watched the game.
“Akaya, you’ve slept with the guy,” Niou said softly. “We all have. How many arms do you think he has?”
“I know, I know, but it always looks like more out there,” Akaya replied hanging on Jackal’s arm. “How long now, senpai?”
“Five minutes,” Jackal said. “It should be over soon.”
“Now, Sanada.”
Ten tennis balls shot off the court, each one hitting a camp flunky in the face and knocking him over. “Game, Rikkai,” Ryoma said with a yawn. He hopped down and started to walk off, pausing only to look up at Yukimura. “You have to teach me how to do that.”
“Of course,” Yukimura replied. “Marui, Jackal, make me proud.”
“Tough act to follow, huh, Jackal?” Marui commented as they made their way out onto the court. “And I still haven’t found any cake.”
“This won’t take long,” Jackal said. “Then we’ll get you some cake so you have enough energy for later.”
Marui’s eyes lit up, both at the promise of cake and time alone with his lovers. They played an even match which ended when Marui hit the ball so it landed and stayed on the referee’s head. “Yes!” he exclaimed punching the air. “How do you like that? Total genius! I nailed it.”
Even Sanada had to work not to smile at Marui’s antics. “He only improves,” Yukimura murmured. He went over to Akaya and leaned over to whisper in the baby devil’s ear.
Akaya lit up. “Really, buchou?” he asked.
“You have my permission. I know you can control it.”
Yanagi just sighed and walked towards the court with Akaya laughing and bouncing behind him. Sanada looked at Yukimura. “You’re really going to let him?”
“Oh, Genichiro,” Yukimura said softly. “This is a mental exercise, isn’t it? Why not let our youngest show exactly how mental he is?”
“But Renji?” Sanada asked.
“Will be fine,” Yukimura replied with a soft smile. His gaze flicked to the mental coach who looked about ready to pull his hair out. “I wish I could say the same for others.”
Sanada followed Yukimura’s gaze and snorted. “You’re twisted.”
“But you love me anyway.”
“Of course, we all do.”
Gasps and shouts or alarm pulled their attention back to the court. Yanagi was calmly volleying balls to Akaya. The younger boy had activated devil mode, skin red as blood, hair and eyes white as he hit each ball at the mental coach and camera surrounding the court. His insane laughter echoed through the tennis courts as he finally broke and ran towards the mental coach and took a wild swing with his racket.
“Enough,” Yukimura called.
The racket stopped a breath away from the man’s skull. He collapsed back on the ground panting and stared up at Akaya in shock.
Yukimura and the other Rikkai players walked over slowly and gathered around their baby devil. “Well done, Akaya,” Yukimura said running his fingers through the white curls. He glanced down at the stunned and bruised coach. “Isn’t it remarkable what can happen when you play mind games with God and the devil?”
Akaya cackled and started to swing his racket before Jackal took it away. Yukimura glanced up at the one remaining camera and back down at the coach. “Are those video only or are they wired for sound as well?”
“Video,” the man croaked. “That thing is not human.”
Sanada moved forward and backhanded the man hard enough to bounce his head on the sidewalk. “Akaya is not a thing,” he snapped sharply.
“He’s our baby demon,” Yukimura said. “And unless you want to meet the three adult demons of Rikkai Dai, I suggest you pass on a message to the spider at the center of your web.”
“What?”
“That he will stop corrupting the game of tennis in such a vile and unspeakable manner, or he will not only suffer the wrath of the three demons, the wrath of God and the Devil will befall him.”
The mental coach was about to laugh when he caught the look in Yukimura’s eyes. It was a look that promised more and intense pain that he had suffered so far, a look that not only promised it, said it was about to be delivered unless his demands were met. The man swallowed and staggered to his feet. “I’ll be right back,” he muttered hurrying off.
Yukimura sighed and kept petting Akaya until the curls under his hands turned black. “Some people just shouldn’t be involved in tennis,” he said. “They don’t have the nerve for it. Shall we go home, Rikkai?”
“Hai, buchou,” the chorused. They all knew that home meant a trip to Yukimura’s where they would be able to spend the night piled together as a team and as lovers.
********************
No one was able to explain what happened to the Under 17 training camp. The mastermind thought that the threats from Yukimura were a joke and kept torturing players for his own amusement for a week following the departure of Rikkai Dai. Then, one morning, the players who had survived awoke to find a naked man hanging upside down from one of the poles around the court muttering to himself about Gods and Devils and their fiery wrath. The center had been destroyed some time during the night, but no one had heard anything.
Ryoma just shook his head and pulled his cap down. “Mada mada dane,” he muttered and wandered back in to get his things. Yukimura still had to teach him that new ball trick