Alike
A Prince of Tennis Crack Pairing
By
Jaelle
Pairing: Yukimura/Shinji
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Rating: G.
It wasn't until nearly the end of
the Nationals that Ibu Shinji met Rikkai's infamous captain, Yukimura
Seiichi.
Fudoumine
had just been defeated in the quarterfinals, having had the stunning
bad luck to wind up facing Seigaku yet again. They'd played their very
best, and Tachibana's match against Tezuka had been a marvel to behold,
but in the end it hadn't been enough. Shinji had wandered off during
the aftermath, when everyone was coming out of "competitive rival" mode
and shifting back into "friendly rival" mode. He didn't feel like being
friendly right now.
Moodily, he stared sightlessly at a
nearby window. He'd done his best, he knew it. He felt it, in the bone-deep weariness within
him, but still, it was over, and it was just a little bitter, and
disconnected, and...
"Fudoumine's Ibu, right?"
Shinji
didn't turn at the soft question from the left, merely flicked his eyes
to the window, and the shapes reflected in it. The other boy's
reflection smiled and stepped up to stand next to him. "I'm Yukimura,
from Rikkai."
So, this was the great captain.
Shinji assessed him slowly. Didn't seem like much.
"My
sympathies," Yukimura apparently had no problems with communicating in
this fashion. "I'd hoped to test Fudoumine's strength myself, but it
appears the match order was against us. I'll have to call your Captain
and try to organise a practice game one day."
Shinji, uncharacteristically,
remained silent.
Yukimura's reflection's head tilted
slightly as it regarded Shinji. "Depressed?"
"Disappointed," Shinji corrected.
"Ah,"
Yukimura's reflection nodded. "Well, that's understandable." A faint
smile flickered over his mouth. He tilted his head the other way. "Hey,
don't you think we look alike?"
For the first time Shinji turned
his head to look at the boy standing shoulder to shoulder with him, and
regarded him closely. Yukimura turned and bore the examination with the
hint of a smile lurking at the corners of his mouth.
Finally
satisfied that he'd scrutinised Yukimura as closely as possible, Shinji
tilted his head slight to one side and spoke. "You're taller than me."
The
smile broke loose onto Yukimura's face. "Well, yes, but aside from
that, don't we look alike? With our hair? And our features?"
Shinji gave this some thought.
"You're not me."
"No."
"And I'm not you."
"Certainly not."
"So, taking that into account, I
suppose we look a little alike," Shinji conceded. "But I'm still not
you."
"Of course you're not," Yukimura
nodded. "If you were, we'd be in a lot of trouble being on two
different tennis teams."
"Hmmm, true." Shinji turned back to
regard their reflections again.
After waiting to see if any more
conversation was forthcoming, Yukimura spoke again. "Are you free now?"
"Hmph,
thinks he's so important," Shinji began to mumble. "Is that a Rikkai
trait I wonder? Hmm... perhaps Echizen should have gone there, he's
arrogant enough."
Yukimura waited patiently for
Shinji to
finish, but after a few minutes of mumbling he merely shrugged, leaned
down, and kissed the other boy lightly on the lips.
Shinji blinked at him. "You stole a
kiss."
"Indeed I did," Yukimura agreed, a
small smile on his face. "Are you ready to play a game now?"
Shinji frowned. "You STOLE a kiss."
Yukimura's lips quirked further
upwards.
"I'll tell you what, if you beat me
at tennis, I'll give it back to you."
End
A/N:
Uh, written because... I thought they look alike. No, really. It's the
hair - I CANNOT RESIST THE HAIR!! SURRENDER YOUR WILL TO THE HAIR!!!