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Yukimura was walking around the courts, jacket draped over his shoulders regally, watching his team as they played practice matches with each other in preparation for an upcoming tournament. He paused to watch his doubles pairs as he was debating which to put in doubles one and which in doubles two - not that he would tell his one pair that. Niou and Yagyuu had earned the right to play where they wanted with the power and talent they brought to the court. But the team they were playing had a stronger doubles two team and Yukimura needed to put his players where they would do the most good, not where they were usually positioned. He had a feeling that was the reason the other team had their stronger pair in doubles two; they expected Niou and Yagyuu to be in doubles one and the other team planned to take a match from King Rikkai. That was not going to happen while Yukimura was in charge.
Yagyuu served the ball directly between Marui and Jackal, a well placed hit which was returned by Jackal to Niou. The Petenshi smirked and hit the ball, the yellow/green blur splitting in two as it traveled over the net. Both Marui and Jackal swung at the ball in front of them and fell over as their rackets passed through empty air. "Puri."
"Niou Masaharu, what are you doing?" Yukimura asked firmly.
"Working on a new illusion, buchou," Niou replied with the smirk still firmly in place. He held up his racket to show the ball was wedged in the triangle under the web. "You have to agree it's pretty handy, ne?"
"It's hardly what could be called legal, however," Yukimura sighed. "If you're going to use something so childish, you should find a way to get the ball to the other side of the net where they players don't expect it to be."
Niou's eyes narrowed for a moment. "You mean like this?" he asked. He took out the ball and hit it, no blur following and no tennis ball landing on the other side of the court. "I can make the ball go where I want, buchou."
Yukimura suddenly became aware of an uncomfortable itching between his legs. "Thirty laps now, Niou," he snapped turning towards the clubhouse. "And never do anything like this again."
Niou tossed his racket to Yagyuu and made a rude gesture at Yukimura's back. The buchou never broke stride. "Sixty laps, Niou, and if you do something like that again, it will be a hundred. Do you understand?"
"Niou-kun, wouldn't it just be easier to ask him out?" Yagyuu asked quietly as his doubles partner walked past him to start his laps.
"Probably, but I'd be running laps for the rest of my life because Sanada wants to date Yukimura and I'm just not in the mood for so much work," Niou replied almost bitterly. "Sorry to screw up the match, Yagyuu. I know you wanted to work on your new laser beam."
"When you get back," Yagyuu said. "We'll stay warm and wait for you."
"Thanks."
Sanada's keen eyes had watched the whole scene and he stopped his match with Yanagi to follow Yukimura to the clubhouse. "Is everything all right?"
Yukimura made sure the room was empty and slipped a hand down his yellow warm-up pants, causing Sanada to turn an unhealthy shade of red and look away quickly. Yukimura pulled out a tennis ball and turned it in his hands. "I wonder how Niou managed to get this into my underwear," he murmured to himself.
"What?" Sanada exploded.
"Do calm down, Genichiro, I think they heard that on the courts," Yukimura said. "Niou is evolving again and I'm curious as to what he's going to do next."
"It's hardly appropriate to molest your buchou during practice," Sanada muttered pulling down his black cap. "Tarundoru."
Yukimura smiled softly. "That's right, but it's okay to molest your buchou away from practice," he said. "I think I'll have to have a talk with Niou."
"What?"
"Sanada, I will not tell you again, moderate your tone," Yukimura snapped. "What are you doing in here, anyway? I told you to play a match with Renji."
"I saw you come in here and wanted to make sure everything was okay," Sanada said.
"Laps, Sanada," Yukimura said. "I'll let you know when you can stop."
"What?"
"You heard me. Now."
Sanada would have glared at Yukimura if he felt a little braver about life in general, but he knew that he would be in more trouble than it was worth. There were days that life just wasn't fair, and it seemed that today was shaping up to be one of them. He really just wanted Yukimura to realize how he felt and return the feelings, but he wasn't brave enough to make the first move himself.
Yukimura tucked the ball into his pocket and made his way back out onto the courts. He was pleased to see the Akaya was playing Yanagi, the data master keeping an eye on their baby, and a little surprised that the doubles match had resumed. Niou was a fast runner, but he couldn't have finished sixty laps in the time Yukimura had been in the clubhouse. The buchou sighed and made his way back over to watch the doubles pairs play.
There was no question that Niou and Yagyuu were still the stronger doubles pair, no matter how many genius moves Marui put into play they were always returned with a deftness that belied the ease both Niou and Yagyuu put into their play. The doubles one pair was a delight to watch and Yukimura smiled softly when he saw the results from all of the early morning training that the Platinum pair had been working on. "Very nice, Yagyuu."
"Thank you, Yukimura-kun," Yagyuu replied pushing his glasses back into place.
Yukimura paused for a moment and laughed. "Very nice indeed," he said. "I want to talk with the two of you when practice is over."
"Of course, Yukimura-kun," Yagyuu said.
"Puri."
******************************
Yukimura spent the time waiting for the clubhouse to empty working on the line up for their upcoming match. There was no question that he had to put Niou and Yagyuu in doubles two to ensure the win. Doubles one was going to be the toss-up and he only hoped that Yanagi would be able to get him some new data before they had to submit their line-up for the games. Akaya wouldn't be happy having to sit out, but Yukimura wanted to play and he thought it would be fun to put all three of the legendary demons into the line-up. He enjoyed seeing their opponents turn pale when they realized exactly who they were up against.
"You wanted to see us, buchou?" Niou asked flopping down on the sofa next to Yukimura and bouncing the smaller boy slightly.
"Niou-kun," Yagyuu sighed pulling up a chair. "You should be more polite."
"Nah, takes all the fun out of life," Niou replied. "What's up, Yukimura?"
"When did the two of you switch?"
"While I was running laps," Niou said. "Yagyuu went to the bathroom and ran half the laps while I came out of the bathroom. There was a data gatherer in the bushes watching us and we didn't want to let anyone get anything good on us."
Yukimura smiled. "Everyone wants to know the truth about Rikkai," he sighed. "Well done, both of you. But Niou, you need to work to hold your racket steady at the end of the laser beam or people will begin to notice that you're not Yagyuu."
"It's a variation on the laser beam and we're still working on it," Yagyuu said. "Even I have a little trouble holding my racket steady after I hit it, so it's no surprise that Niou-kun does as well. But we'll have it ready by the next match."
"Which, I assume, you'll start as each other."
"Of course," Niou smirked. "We have to keep the other team off balance."
"But your opening move it getting to be well known," Yukimura pointed out.
Niou smirked. "Which is why I've come up with a way to cover both of us with an illusion so it will look like I'm me and he's Yagyuu, then I drop it and I'm Yagyuu and he's me, then we take off our wigs and we're ourselves again."
"That's a little too confusing for me, Niou," Yukimura sighed. "But I wanted to tell you that, based on the data Yanagi gathers this week, you will likely be playing doubles two in the upcoming matches because that's where their most powerful pair is positioned."
"Works for me," Niou grinned. "The more powerful the pair, the more fun it is to crush their spirit, right Yeahgyuu?"
"Quite right, Niou-kun," Yagyuu replied with a smile. "We might be known as the doubles one team, Yukimura-kun, but you know we'll play where you put us. But I do thank you for the warning."
"You're welcome, Yagyuu. That's all I needed from you, but Niou, if you could stay a little longer?"
"Sure, anything to not have to do homework," Niou grinned.
"Niou Masaharu...."
"I'm kidding," Niou said. "Geez, loosen up, buchou. I'm not going to fail anything and lose my tennis privileges. I'm in the top ten of my classes anyway."
"Good," Yukimura said. He waited until they were alone and then pulled out the tennis ball from earlier. "I'm curious about your new trick. How did you manage it?"
"Puri, an artist never reveals his tricks, Yukimura," Niou said. "But I think the other team might find it a little shocking."
"Unless they wear boxers," Yukimura pointed out.
"Who the hell does that under tennis shorts?"
"Sanada."
Niou shuddered. "I'm happy to say I've never noticed or cared what Sanada wears under his tennis shorts," he said. "Or wanted to think about it. But, as I said, I can make the ball go anywhere I want it to."
"And Yagyuu knows about this?"
"Of course, he's been helping me work on it," Niou said. "My folks are getting a little tired of hearing the ball going back and forth, but we haven't broken a window in weeks."
"You're playing tennis in your bedroom?" Yukimura asked, shocked. "How?"
"Carefully."
"You are a strange one, Niou," Yukimura said. "But you fit in so well here, how did that happen?"
"Just lucky I guess," Niou said. "That all, buchou?"
Yukimura sighed. "Niou, when are you going to ask me what you really want to ask me?"
"When there's no threat from Sanada."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that Sanada is hot for you and if I make a move he'll make me run laps for encroaching on his territory."
"I am hardly his property," Yukimura said offended.
"Then you promise I won't have to run laps?" Niou asked.
"You won't have to run laps for this," Yukimura replied. "I make no promises about laps for misbehavior at practice."
"Works for me," Niou said. He turned and raised a hand to Yukimura's cheek. "So, buchou, you want to come have dinner with me and maybe walk in the park?"
Yukimura smiled softly and leaned in towards Niou, kissing him softly. "I think that sounds perfect, Niou. And you can tell me more about your new illusions."
"You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"Of course not. I am your buchou and I need to know everything about you to ensure you're placed correctly in the line-up."
"Huh, you just want to know because you're nosy," Niou smirked. He kissed the tip of Yukimura's nose and stood up. "Maybe you can convince me somehow."
"That sounds like a challenge to me," Yukimura said taking the offered hand.
"Might just be, buchou," Niou smirked. "Puri.