Akutagawa Jiroh had always been a good student, and was usually among the top of his class in most subjects, only behind Atobe and Oshitari, so he had always assumed he would make it into a fine university, even if he hadn't put in much effort while he was in high school. Despite what most teachers thought, he was not sleeping in class; he was in fact just resting, and always listened intently. The teachers rarely complained about it though, because his grades usually reflected that he had indeed been studying.

Jiroh would often pull all-nighters to get his work done, and sleep during the day. He liked to make it look like the work was easy for him, mostly just for kicks, and it was for the most part, but his grades had been slipping lately, and he feared that he would be denied entrance into one of the top universities. He always kept up the front that he didn't care though, and he didn't really, until he received a letter of rejection from the university he most wanted to attend. He had failed the entrance exam.

***

Tennis practice was a different place that day for Jiroh. He wasn't even in the mood to play, which was a rarity for him. He was sleeping when Atobe called his name, telling him to get up and play against Hiyoshi, who was still playing tennis, was a regular on their high school team, and had improved quite a bit since junior high.

Jiroh made his way to the court, not bothering to pretend he was excited about playing. He served the ball and it went right past Hiyoshi, and out of bounds. He did this several times before he was declared the loser of the game, and it was Hiyoshi's turn to serve. Jiroh made a slight movement toward the ball that was far slower than his usual, and too slow to return it.

"What's with you!?" The younger boy asked angrily, as he approached the net, furious that his practice was being ruined by a shabby opponent. Jiroh gave an angry look, that was quite unusual for him, and walked off the court muttering something about how he was sick and wanted to go home and rest.

He barged into the locker room quite forcefully and began changing out of his tennis uniform back into his clothes for school. He shoved his racket into his bag, and waked quickly toward the door, ramming into Hiyoshi in the process.

"Oh! Sorry Hiyoshi-kun…"

"Whatever." Jiroh forgot for a moment that he was supposed to be angsting, and began to laugh. Hiyoshi's scowl deepened a little as he brushed past the other. Jiroh suddenly stopped laughing and took a more serious tone.

"You know, I failed my university entrance exam huh? I mist be a real idiot. I suppose my dad was right all along…" Hiyoshi stopped for a moment, gave a sigh, then turned around to face the older boy.

"You're only an idiot if you give up." Jiroh paused for a moment before smiling, and watched as the younger boy turned and walked off toward his locker.

***

A few weeks later, Jiroh received another letter in the mail, and began jumping up and down in excitement as he read the words written on it.

He had been excepted to his second choice university after studying very hard, and acing the entrance exam.

He walked around with a wider than usual smile that day, and at tennis practice when he saw Hiyoshi, he ran up to the other boy, threw his arms around his shoulders and kissed him in his excitement.

"I did it Hiyoshi-kun! I was accepted!"

"Uh…congratulations Jiroh-senpai." Hiyoshi blushed very slightly, ran a hand through his hair, and walked away.

Jiroh laughed.

The End

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