\nYagyuu fell in step with Masaharu’s slouch to school without saying a word; they
\nwalked for five minutes before Masaharu spoke. "So," he said. "That
\nsealing thing."<\/p>\n
\n"It wasn’t what I was expecting," Yagyuu said, and anyone who didn’t
\nknow him wouldn’t have recognized that tone for what it was.<\/p>\n
\nMasaharu stretched. "Wild," he said, and prodded Yagyuu. "So, where’s
\nyours?"<\/p>\n
\nYagyuu gestured, discreetly, towards his hip. "Yours?"<\/p>\n
\n"The same," Masaharu said. "I wonder if that means something?"<\/p>\n
\n"It involves Hatter," Yagyuu said, after a moment, "and you have
\nto ask?"<\/p>\n
\n"Good grief, Niou, I know I’m good-looking, but didn’t your mother ever teach
\nyou it’s not polite to stare?" Marui demanded, catching Niou staring again.
\n"You’re creeping me out."<\/p>\n
\n"That’s because Niou-sempai is, by nature, a creep," Kirihara declared,
\nand dodged the swipe aimed at his head. "Although he is being creepier than
\nusual."<\/p>\n
\n"He’s just trying to figure out where your seals are," Yagyuu murmured,
\nbent over his shoes.<\/p>\n
\n"Is that all?" Marui rolled his eyes, and popped a bubble in disgust.
\n"It’s right here." He pulled down the waistband of his shorts and displayed
\nBelial’s mark. "Happy now?"<\/p>\n
\n"Mm," Niou said, non-committal, and turned to Kirihara. "What about
\nyou?"<\/p>\n
\n"Same," Kirihara said, "but don’t expect me to go showing it off."<\/p>\n
\n"Prude," Marui said, good-naturedly. He grinned at Jackal, who’d kept
\nquiet so far. "So, since we’re playing show and tell…"<\/p>\n
\nJackal rolled his eyes. "Same as the rest of you," he said. "Now
\nare you happy, Niou?"<\/p>\n
\n"Mostly," he said, and shrugged.. <\/p>\n
\n"Mostly?" Jackal echoed, and Marui felt he was right to sound worried.<\/p>\n
\n"If you’re planning on asking the three of them where their seals are, let
\nme know when you’re doing it," Kirihara said. "I want to make sure I’m
\nnowhere in sight when Sanada-san goes off."<\/p>\n
\nNiou grinned. "I’m not that crazy," he said, and everyone seemed to
\nrelax after that declaration, only to tense up when he added, "Doesn’t mean
\nI can’t draw my own conclusions, though," and strolled out of the clubhouse.\n<\/p>\n
\nGenichirou, Renji noted, seemed unwilling to look anybody in the face—no, that
\nwasn’t strictly accurate. There were specific people he wasn’t looking in the
\nface, and all of them had just signed the same contract. So. Post-commitment jitters,
\nor something else? Renji pondered the question as Seiichi sent the doubles pairs
\nout to the far tennis courts to practice, which was an excellent decision, given
\nthe gleam in Niou’s eyes.<\/p>\n
\nIf he wasn’t looking anybody in the face, Genichirou was definitely avoiding looking
\nat Seiichi at all. Considering what had just changed… Renji sidled over to Seiichi
\nwhile Genichirou was assigning drills to the non-Regulars. "I take it you
\ndidn’t warn him about Hatter’s seal, either?" he asked, quietly.<\/p>\n
\n"No," Seiichi said. He gave a little shrug. "I thought the two
\nof you wouldn’t need warning," he added, "since you’d already seen one
\nof hir seals."<\/p>\n
\n"I don’t believe it was the seal so much as the sealing," Renji said.
\n"The process was…" He stopped, and shrugged. "Intense."<\/p>\n
\n"Yes, it was," Seiichi agreed, but stopped before adding anything else,
\nlooking to Genichirou. "This could be a problem."<\/p>\n
\nRenji was about to ask what he meant when Belial slid out of Genichirou’s own
\nshadow and spoke.<\/p>\n
\nRenji and Seiichi were discussing him; he didn’t have to turn around and check
\nto know that much. Genichirou growled and the freshmen he’d been lecturing trembled
\nand scattered to practice.<\/p>\n
\n"One is curious as to why you are so irritable today," Hatter purred
\ninto his ear.<\/p>\n
\nGenichirou couldn’t quite keep from starting, but he did manage to stop the yelp.
\n"Hatter-san," he said, and it wasn’t retreating to move away in an effort
\nto reclaim his personal space.<\/p>\n
\n"Are you perhaps afraid that one will no longer respect you?" Belial
\ncontinued in that light, mocking tone that set his teeth on edge, still entirely
\ntoo close.<\/p>\n
\n"Belial." There was steel in Seiichi’s voice, and Genichirou’s spine
\nstraightened of its own as he whipped around to see what it was that Seiichi wanted.
\nBeside him, Belial had responded in much the same fashion, which was oddly reassuring.<\/p>\n
\nSeiichi was—yes, stalking, there was no other way to describe that prowl or that
\nparticular glint in his eyes—toward them, Renji trailing behind. "We’ve
\ndiscussed this habit of yours before," he said.<\/p>\n
\n"Have we?" Belial asked, recovering his equanimity and batting his eyes.
\n"One must have forgotten."<\/p>\n
\n"There’s no need to provoke him so much," Seiichi continued, still with
\nthat inflexible tone. "We are yours now."<\/p>\n
\n"One hasn’t forgotten," Belial murmured, his eyes hooded.<\/p>\n
\n"Hurt yourself on someone else, then," Seiichi said, unmistakably commanding.
\nHe waited a beat, and then relented somewhat. "Why go to so much work to
\nearn us, only to push us away?"<\/p>\n
\nSeiichi had just spread the rest of the pieces out so neatly that Genichirou felt
\na bit of a fool for not having seen them sooner. From the way Belial had just
\ngone still beside him, he did not care for this exposure. Genichirou considered
\nwhat was needful, and chose his response carefully. "Seiichi," he said,
\nkeeping Belial in the corner of his eye, "if I can endure Akaya at his most
\ninsufferable, surely I can handle Hatter-san." It was just as well that their
\nprickly kouhai was out of earshot; he would not have appreciated the comparison.\n<\/p>\n
\n"Are you so sure you can handle one?" Belial asked, and trailed a hand
\ndown the side of Genichirou’s neck, over the pulse that was beating fast enough
\nto betray that Genichirou knew that as teasing as he had intended his comment
\nto sound, and as detached as Belial sounded, this was serious. His hand came to
\nrest over the other mark he’d left, pressing into sensitive skin.<\/p>\n
\nGenichirou turned his head to look Belial in the eye. "Are you so sure I
\nwould have agreed to anything this important without being completely certain
\nof myself?" he asked, and reached up to cover Belial’s hand with his own.<\/p>\n
\nBelial held his gaze for a long moment before stepping back, drawing his hand
\naway from Genichirou’s shoulder. "One finds oneself inclined to take you
\nat your word." It must have cost him a great deal to say, because he stepped
\nimmediately into the shadow of a bench and disappeared.<\/p>\n
\n"What do you suppose that is?" Bunta asked, with a nod in the direction
\nof the Trio and Belial.<\/p>\n
\nYagyuu looked. After a moment, he said, "Settling frazzled nerves, I expect."<\/p>\n
\nJackal blinked. "What, Sanada’s?"<\/p>\n
\nYagyuu pushed his glasses a little further up the bridge of his nose. "Possibly."<\/p>\n
\n"Huh." Masaharu thought this over, and nodded. "I suppose I’ll
\nhave to hold off on teasing him, then."<\/p>\n
\n"How remarkably benevolent of you," Jackal murmured.<\/p>\n
\nMasaharu grinned at him. "Is it? I was just thinking that I’ll have all of
\neternity to play with, so a few days now won’t make any difference in the long
\nrun."<\/p>\n
\nYagyuu huffed in amusement. "That’s one way to look at it," he said,
\nas Belial stepped away from Sanada and disappeared, whatever confrontation it
\nwas they had been having at an end. He looked at the other four. "Come on,
\nlet’s play."<\/p>\n
Seiichi moved up to stand beside Genichirou. "Thank you," he said,
\n as Renji joined them. <\/p>\n
\n"For what?" Genichirou asked. "Telling the truth?"<\/p>\n
\nSeiichi smiled. "No, for being you."<\/p>\n
\nGenichirou snorted. "If you like," he said. A thought occurred to him.
\n"Did you even think about warning us?" he asked.<\/p>\n
\nSeiichi’s smile was a touch too innocent. "What, and spoil my fun? Don’t
\nbe silly."<\/p>\n
\n"I thought so." Genichirou couldn’t manage to put any heat into the
\nglare. "Is there anything else you’ve forgotten to mention?"<\/p>\n
\nSeiichi shrugged. "Nothing that you don’t already know by now."<\/p>\n
\n"Is Hatter-san likely to need special handling?" Renji asked. "More
\nso than usual?"<\/p>\n
\n"For a bit, possibly," Seiichi said. "Until se gets used to the
\nthought of having hir own tennis team." Upon reflection, he added, "We’re
\ngetting there, I think."<\/p>\n
\n"Good," Genichirou grunted. "Because enduring it doesn’t mean I
\nhave to like being provoked."<\/p>\n
\n"Don’t worry," Seiichi said. "It shouldn’t take Hatter more than
\na decade to work this out of hir system." He kept a straight face for as
\nlong as it took Genichirou to choke, and then chuckled. "Got you."<\/p>\n
\nGenichirou sighed. "I’m doomed, aren’t I?"<\/p>\n
\n"Probably you are," Akaya informed him, "but can we have practice
\nnow and talk about our immortal souls later?" He shifted from foot to foot,
\nswinging his racquet. "I’ve tried to be patient, but really…"<\/p>\n
\n"Then come play a set with me," Genichirou invited him. <\/p>\n
\n"Glad to," Akaya said, with a dark look. "I heard that insufferable
\nthing, you know."<\/p>\n
\nGenichirou just laughed, and headed for the court.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some embarrassment over the seal.