Chapter 3

Jirou's words about Ohtori thinking Shishido didn't have time for him had been eating at him all week, so Shishido made it a point to show up at the courts well in advance of the arranged time. Ohtori almost always beat him to any meeting they'd agreed upon, he was just more organized than Shishido that way. The senior hoped that by arriving early for once, he would be showing his partner that he was in no way too busy for the other boy.

He warmed up by playing a couple of the kids who were always hanging around the street courts. They were no match for him, even two on one, so he found his mind once again turning to the whole issue with Ohtori.

After a lot of thought, he'd finally acknowledged that Atobe might just have been right about their friendship suffering from neglect. And even if that was just as much Ohtori's fault as his, that didn't mean Shishido couldn't be the one to put a stop to it.

So when Ohtori appeared with racquet bag in hand, a good ten minutes before one o'clock, he was obviously surprised to see his partner already there and playing. "Shishido-san!" he called, just after Shishido had spotted him approaching. "You're early!"

"Be right with you, Choutarou," Shishido called, and grinned at the two freshmen facing him across the net. "Last shot, guys, then I've got a game to play. Try and get it past me."

It was no contest, and after a short rally he lobbed the ball over both their heads and landed it solidly on the line. "Not bad, but you're a hundred years too early to beat me!" he laughed at the boys. "Keep practicing."

"You're good at motivating people to play better, when you're not busy trying to prove how far above them you are," Ohtori teased him gently as he walked off the courts. "How come you beat me here?" Despite the cool fall weather, the younger boy was already in his shorts and jersey, his lucky silver cross glinting at his throat. Shishido felt lighter just at the sight of him.

"I feel like I've hardly seen you lately," Shishido shrugged, slinging his racquet over his shoulder. Ohtori blinked at him, and he elaborated, "I just wanted to get as much out of today as I could, that's all. Sorry I've been so busy lately."

That made Ohtori's soft smile appear again, making Shishido feel oddly warmer despite the way the wind was chilling the sweat on his skin. "It's okay, Shishido-san," Ohtori asserted softly. "I know being in third year means most of your time is eaten up with studying. I don't mind, really."

Despite his words, Shishido was sure he saw some subtle form of tension leave Ohtori's shoulders as he spoke. Or maybe 'hurt' was a better word for it. Had Ohtori been feeling neglected by Shishido? The older boy frowned slightly. Well, why the hell hadn't the big idiot just called him, then?

Whatever, it didn't really matter now. Ohtori seemed to have forgiven him for whatever slight he'd unintentionally made. Shishido would just have to be careful not to do it again. He'd forgotten how sensitive his partner could be, that was all.

"Let's warm up," Shishido suggested, after grabbing a quick drink from his water bottle. "I want to see if I can still return that damn serve of yours. Can't let myself get slow, after all."

Something glittered deep in Ohtori's eyes: a familiar combination of amusement and competitive spirit. "Better watch out," the junior warned as he fished his racquet and a can of balls out of his bag. "My scud serve has only gotten faster. And I have been practicing, unlike certain lazy senpai I could mention."

Shishido laughed, the familiar banter making his steps feel light as he ran for the baseline on the far side. "Bring it on!" he called over the net. "Give it your best shot, I'm not afraid of your serve anymore."

Brave words, but the truth was he still flinched slightly any time he had to face that killer serve. His body remembered the pain of impact, even though he was fast enough now to be able to catch the ball with his racquet instead of his face. And Ohtori hadn't lied; Shishido could detect a noticeable increase in the speed of the serve as it slammed over the net towards him.

He was more out of practice than he'd thought; he barely managed to catch the first serve on his racquet, and missed the sweet spot by a good inch or two. Ohtori took that point easily, and the next one. By the third serve, however, Shishido was starting to get his stride back, and he returned it cleanly and ended up taking the point.

After that, it was as if it had been only days since their last match instead of weeks. They talked over the net, trading teasing threats and insults, all the while laughing in a way Shishido never did with anyone else. It felt a bit like coming home, and Shishido savoured the sensation. He could tell Ohtori was reveling in it as well, as the younger boy's smile grew wider and his movements looser as they continued to play.

The score was 4-2 in Ohtori's favour, and he'd just blasted a scud serve across the net that Shishido was sure had left scorch marks on his strings when he returned it, when a familiar voice piped up from the direction of the stairs down to street level. "Whoa, Atobe! Did you see that! Ohtori-kun, how fast was that, have you broken two hundred yet?" Jirou scampered up like the human bouncy-ball he was when awake and excited, hopping from foot to foot at the side of the court. "I want to play! C'mon, Ohtori, let me try to return it!"

"Jirou-san?" Ohtori let Shishido's return go by him, standing and staring at their friend and former teammate. "What are you doing here? And Atobe-san?" he added, even more confused as Atobe appeared at the top of the stairs as well.

"What do you mean?" Jirou stopped hopping, and tilted his head curiously at the younger boy. "Shishido invited us. I'm really glad, it's been way too long since we played!"

"He did?" Ohtori cast a look at Shishido that was not quite a frown, but his eyes were dark with some unreadable emotion. The expression made Shishido feel like he'd swallowed a lead weight somewhere along the way. "Oh, I... that's great, Jirou-san, Atobe-san, I've missed playing with you both as well."

Except for the initial hesitation, which Shishido wasn't even sure anyone else had caught, Ohtori's words were genuine enough. He definitely seemed happy to see his former teammates, laughing as Jirou raced to Shishido's side of the net in anticipation of returning Ohtori's infamous scud serve. Yet somehow Shishido felt as if he'd made some kind of major blunder along the way, and he didn't know what it was.

It took him a few minutes, as he and Atobe warmed up together on another court while Ohtori fired serves at an excited Jirou, but he finally realized why he felt that his partner was suddenly upset with him. As soon as he'd heard that Jirou and Atobe had been invited by Shishido, he'd... just stopped looking at him. Or rather, stopped meeting Shishido's eyes, even when he was looking right at him.

It was understated, not nearly as obvious as the way he'd brushed Shishido off the week before in the auditorium, or those two times on the phone. But it was still there, a subtle snub that rubbed Shishido entirely the wrong way. What the fuck is going on? he wondered, his attention more on what Ohtori and Jirou were doing than his own rally with Atobe.

He only realized what a mistake his inattention was when a smashed ball from Atobe caught the end of his racquet, sending it flying out of his hand as the other senior wound up for the second half of his 'Hametsu e no Rondo'. "That was entirely too easy," Atobe declared, even as he hit the ball the second time to send it whizzing past Shishido for the point. As his friend landed, Shishido just shook his head. "You're not paying attention in the least, Shishido. What's going on?"

"Fuck if I know," Shishido muttered, stalking over to retrieve his racquet. Honestly, he hadn't fallen for Atobe's signature move in a long time. Hell, he was one of the people Atobe had developed the bloody thing on, he ought to know the signs of it well enough to avoid it by now! He really hadn't been paying attention. "Everything was going just fine, and then he froze up on me."

"Aan?" Atobe glanced back and forth between Shishido and his partner on the other court, raising his fingers to the side of his face briefly as he studied them. Shishido grunted and turned his back on his former captain. He hated it when Atobe used his 'Insight' on him; the other boy really was uncannily good at seeing past the surface to the truths you'd rather remained hidden. "Ah, I see," Atobe said after a moment. "You didn't tell him we'd be coming, did you?"

"I haven't even talked to him since I invited him to play in the first place," Shishido snapped back, though he kept his voice low enough not to reach their other two friends. "But what the hell difference does it make? It's not the first time you guys've joined us for a practice match. It's a lot more interesting to play you than the pretenders that hang around here most weekends."

"If it weren't that I know you so well, I'd suspect you of being purposely dense," Atobe retorted, shaking his head as he dropped his hand away from his face again. "How do you manage to make every possible wrong move if you don't know what they are?"

"What the hell are you on about now?" Shishido demanded, unsettled. Wrong move for what? They weren't talking about tennis, he was sure of that much. What the hell was Atobe accusing him of now?

"Nothing," his friend sighed, and clapped him briefly on the shoulder. "Let's rejoin them, shall we, and see what we can salvage of the situation."

"Atobe!" Jirou had looked over, and realized that Shishido and Atobe weren't playing any more. "Atobe, can we play a match now? Ohtori's serve has gotten even faster, did you see?" He laughed in delight. "I can't return it yet. Let's play doubles!"

Trust Jirou to be so excited about a tennis move he hadn't managed to beat yet. Well, Shishido supposed he could hardly blame him. Tennis was boring more often than not for Jirou; even at his best in singles, Shishido hadn't been able to defeat his friend except on rare occasions. Only Atobe had ever been able to consistently beat Jirou, so small wonder the singles two player half slept through most of his matches.

That was in singles, though. Doubles was another matter entirely. Shishido grinned as he moved to join Ohtori on the other side of the court. Not even Atobe and Jirou could beat Shishido and Ohtori in combination. They'd been Hyoutei's doubles one pair for a very good reason. The best thing that had ever happened to Shishido had been Sakaki assigning him to play with Ohtori; he'd never have known that his real place in tennis was in doubles, otherwise.

"Australian formation?" he murmured as he approached the taller boy. "Or a double net play? It's been a while since we faced them."

"Jirou-san is too good at net play," Ohtori replied, frowning in concentration. He still wasn't meeting Shishido's eyes, but that could have been as much because he was studying their opponents across the net as anything else. He always got more serious and focused just before a game, as Shishido knew from experience. "And we don't want to give Atobe-san any opportunities to use his Rondo. Let's stick with Australian."

"Right." Shishido clapped Ohtori on the shoulder and brushed his hand over the lucky necklace the boy wore, as he always did right before they played. It had started out as a way of grounding himself, a physical reminder that he wasn't going to be alone on the courts and couldn't play like he was, but it had turned into just a simple sort of 'got your back' assurance between them.

He waited for Ohtori to reach out and flick the brim of his cap, the second half of their ritual; 'remember why you're here', which had become 'together we can do the impossible'. He didn't know quite when or how the changes in meanings had happened, or even how he was so sure of what the gestures meant now, since they'd certainly never said anything about it aloud. With synchronization as strong as theirs had become, maybe they just didn't need to say the words for them to be understood.

The shock when Ohtori simply nodded and walked away, therefore, was almost palpable. Shishido stood staring after his partner as the younger boy took his place at the baseline. He was totally floored, half certain he'd just somehow missed the feel of that strong hand tugging at his cap. "Are we going to play or not?" Atobe called across the net, raising an amused eyebrow at Shishido. Jirou was also giving him a curious look, and Ohtori...

Ohtori still wasn't looking at him, his gaze focused on the ground at his feet as he bounced the ball a couple of times in preparation for serving.

Flustered, Shishido scrambled to take his place up at the net, trying to convince himself it didn't mean anything. It was just a stupid little superstitious habit, it wasn't like it actually had any bearing on their game. Maybe Ohtori thought they'd grown past the need for the reminders, or maybe it'd been long enough since they'd played that the younger boy had forgotten about it. Hells, maybe it just hadn't ever meant what Shishido thought it had, and the 'ritual' had all been in his head anyway.

The last thought stuck in his throat and made it oddly hard to breathe as the first scud serve screamed by him onto Atobe's side of the court. He gripped his racquet a little tighter to remind himself to focus, and threw himself into the first rally.

It was immediately obvious that Shishido and Ohtori were off their game today. Shishido had kind of been assuming that they would just slide right back together again as if they'd never stopped playing, but obviously the month apart had more of an effect than he'd thought it would. It wasn't as bad as it had been when they'd first started practicing as a pair, because Shishido had learned a lot about the differences between singles play and doubles. But it was as if they were both good doubles players who'd been unexpectedly assigned an unfamiliar partner; they weren't reading each other at all.

After the third time they'd both moved the same way and left half the court wide open for Atobe and Jirou to score a point, Shishido approached his partner as they moved around the net for the change court. "What the hell, Choutarou?" he demanded, staring at his partner. "What's with us today?"

"Lack of practice, I expect," Ohtori replied, a bit more tartly than Shishido would have expected. He reeled back slightly, stung by the implied rebuke in the words. "Maybe we should forget about the fancy formations and just stick with the basics until we can predict each other a little better again."

"Yeah, I guess so," Shishido agreed slowly. Ohtori still wasn't meeting his eyes, so he couldn't read the emotions behind his partner's words. Ohtori was very good at keeping a neutral expression, but his eyes always gave him away. "Choutarou, are you angry with me?" he blurted out, still trying to figure out why his partner was so upset.

"Of course not, Shishido-san." Was it his imagination, or were the words a little too stiff? "Come on, let's play, it's their serve."

The rest of the game was no less a mess than the first part had been, though at least once they stopped using the more advanced formations the holes in their defence stopped being quite so large. They were still out of synch, with none of the easy co-operation and anticipation that had become their signature. For the first time since they'd felt confident enough in their combination to play another pair in a match, they lost the set. It was still close, 7-5 for Atobe and Jirou, but it was a loss. Shishido had forgotten how bad it felt to lose, even in a non-important game like this one.

"That was horrible," Atobe declared as they all headed for their water bottles after Jirou took the last point. "If you two expect to have any hope of playing together again in tournaments, you'd better start practicing together more often again. Your combination has clearly suffered for your lack of attention to it."

They both murmured abashed agreement to that. Shishido sighed, and mopped the worst of the sweat out of his hair with his towel. Atobe was right, they'd just have to practice more often. They had lots of time before the tennis season officially started again to get their game back in shape. Not to mention their friendship, which had clearly gone off track somewhere along the line.

Before he could speak up to suggest another practice date to Ohtori, an unfamiliar voice piped up from outside the fenced courts. "I thought you said you were good at this game, Choutarou. I may not know anything about tennis, but even I could tell that was awful."

Shishido was facing the wrong way to see the speaker, but he certainly saw the way Ohtori's glum expression suddenly brightened with a gleaming smile. He knew who it had to be even before his partner exclaimed happily, "Kazuya! What are you doing here?"

Wondering why the sight of that smile left such a bad taste in his mouth, Shishido turned. Sure enough, the long-haired pianist was leaning up against the fence, a teasing light in his eyes as he looked at Ohtori. "I wanted to see this game you keep raving so much about," Amano replied, smiling slightly. He seemed like a naturally reserved person, but his genuine affection for Shishido's partner was obvious.

"Who's this, Ohtori-kun?" Jirou asked curiously, looking at the pianist with half-lidded eyes. Now that the adrenalin rush of the game was passing, the former singles player was clearly starting to get sleepy again.

"Ah..." Embarrassed at his lack of manners, Ohtori laughed softly. "Kazuya, this is Atobe Keigo, our captain last year; Akutagawa Jirou, former singles two; and my doubles partner Shishido Ryou. Everyone, this is Amano Kazuya, the pianist for the Hyoutei orchestra. He transferred in from Midoriyama this term, he's really talented. Sakaki-sensei wrote the music we're working on now to showcase him."

"Us, you mean," Amano corrected him, the smile quirking his lips increasing slightly. "Don't be so modest, Choutarou. If I hadn't come along, you'd probably have a solo instead of a duet." He tilted his head in a bow towards the rest of them. "It's good to finally meet some of the people Choutarou talks about so much."

A transfer student? Shishido was startled enough that he almost forgot to murmur a polite greeting in return. Well, that explained why he'd never heard Ohtori mention the kid before. But if he'd only started at Hyoutei this term, how the hell had he gotten so close to Ohtori that the reserved and eternally polite junior was already calling him by given name?

"Ohtori is a Hyoutei Regular, of course he's talented at whatever he puts his mind to," Atobe said loftily, inclining his head in greeting to the junior. "I'm sure you'll both be stunning at the concert this year. We'll have to make a point to attend it."

"I'm not a Regular any more, Atobe-san," Ohtori pointed out with a laugh. "I quit the team, didn't you hear? But it will be a good concert, you should all come."

"Speaking of being good," Amano flicked a wry glance at Ohtori. "You want to go grab some dinner and then come over to my place? If we don't get that passage right by tomorrow morning, Sakaki-sensei is going to string us both up."

"No, he'll just forget which practice he's at and start assigning laps," Ohtori chuckled as the bottom dropped out of Shishido's stomach. "Sure, that sounds good. Let me just get my stuff." Turning, the tall junior smiled at the three seniors. "Thanks for coming out to play with me, guys. We should definitely do this regularly, or we'll all end up losing our edge."

Numb, Shishido watched as Ohtori hastily gathered everything into his racquet bag. To protest now that he'd been planning to treat Ohtori to dinner as an apology of sorts for neglecting him seemed, well, kind of childish. If Ohtori had work to do, of course he had to go, not goof around with his former senpai. And why should it matter that Ohtori didn't seem the least bit regretful that he couldn't stick around longer? They didn't always go out together after a game. There'd be plenty of time to hang out once this stupid concert was out of the way, right?

He didn't realize he was still standing there like an idiot as Ohtori walked to the door of the fence and out to join his friend, until a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and startled him. Jerking away from the unexpected touch, Shishido found Atobe looking at him with an expression of amused exasperation. Behind him Jirou looked sleepily sympathetic - sympathetic to what, Shishido wasn't sure.

"Come on, Ryou," Atobe sighed, squeezing his shoulder briefly before releasing him to start gathering his own things. "I'll take you both to dinner. Maybe then you'll stop looking like you just saw the sun set in the wrong direction."

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