Hiyoshi is many things, Taki muses as he watches the stoic boy whip across the tennis court, unexpectedly graceful in that unique style he uses. One doesn't expect him to be graceful, the way he acts, but Taki most definitely sees grace in that lithe form. Hiyoshi is also fiercely determined and not just a little bit stubborn, far more than Taki ever will be, and no doubt it's why he lost to Shishido. He bears no ill will to either of them that took his place, though it was fun while it lasted.

As Taki watches Hiyoshi shrug away offers of a team get-together after practice, he adds 'anti-social' and 'socially inept' to his mental checklist of 'things to describe Hiyoshi,' and it's probably a combination of these two qualities that makes the other boy so damn dense. Because Hiyoshi is, and Taki knows because he has been chasing him since he first played him. A beautiful, raging fire, he thought then, and he still thinks so now.

Hiyoshi has never really seen Taki.

It's Taki's third and last year though, so on the last day of the year he throws everything to the wind. A "Hiyoshi-kun, over here" brings Hiyoshi's attention to him, and he crosses the distance between them in two large strides to plant a kiss on unsuspecting lips. Hiyoshi sputters and pushes him away – beet red, but they are in the middle of the courtyard at school. It's nothing Taki doesn't expect, so he winks and tosses over another, airborne kiss before skipping away. "Call me, my number's in the directory," are his parting words. He doesn't doubt that were they alone, he would have been punched, but he's on enough of a high from the confession that he doesn't care.

Two days before the new school year starts, Hiyoshi calls him and mutters a gruff "Ilikeyoutoo" before hanging up.

The End

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