A shadow fell across his desk, towards the end of lunch break.

"Yo," said Niou, throwing a book carelessly on top of Renji's work. "Got something for you."

Something was a slim clothbound book; a selection of some example moves and positions for games of Go, with analyses of the strategies involved. Renji flipped through a few pages, uncertainly.

"Thank you," he said, politeness overriding confusion for now. "To what do I owe this generosity?"

"Enh, not much," Niou said, and made a dismissive gesture. "I ended up with a spare copy, couldn't think of anyone else who'd want it."

Renji frowned automatically - Niou's gifts tended to come with hidden agendas - then smoothed out the expression into mild gratitude. Spare copy. "You play Go?"

Niou raised an amused eyebrow. "Tsk, you're slipping, data man. Shouldn't you know that already?"

"Ah yes," Renji smiled faintly, tracing the kanji for blue in the author's name on the cover. "I sometimes forget that I'm omniscient."

Niou opened his mouth, as if to reply, and then looked at the clock in a reasonably convincing pretense of having just noticed the time. "Ah, whoops, better duck back into my classroom. Catch you in practise later."

Renji watched him leave, and then looked at the book again. Go. It wasn't actually a game he favoured - he played Shogi and Sugoroku often with Sanada, and occasionally Mahjong with his family, but for some reason their Go board rarely got used. Renji suspected that the vague bits of Go strategy he could remember were actually better suited for the five-in-a-row variants that one of his uncles liked.

Niou played Go? Interesting.

"Your brother made the team, I hear," Renji said, idly, after practise the next evening.

Niou's back was to him, and Renji saw the muscles in his shoulders tense fractionally before Niou visibly relaxed and laughed. "Ah, yes. How'd you hear?"

"The president of the high school team also has a brother in the middle school club," Renji said, hauling off his own top. "Apparently Niou-kun is making quite the impact."

Niou shrugged.

Yukimura, on the other side of Niou, leaned back so he was visible and caught Renji's eye. His eyebrows were raised in exaggerated curiosity; Renji spared him a soothing explanation later smile. "Aren't you proud of him?"

"Eh, I suppose," said Niou, freeing his rat-tail from its tie and dragging his fingers through it as a makeshift comb. "Reserving judgement until he comes back with a trophy."

"Or until he can reliably beat you," murmured Yagyuu, very nearly under his breath. Renji pretended not to hear that particular tidbit, and knelt to rummage around in his bag for a towel instead.

Niou was good enough that his brother - apparently some kind of Go prodigy, from Ohara-kun's enthusiastic description - didn't beat him often. Huh. Well, perhaps Niou-the-younger had learned from playing Niou-the-elder; heavens knew, Renji could name a double-handful of tennis players whose family rivalries had helped them become excellent competitors. Perhaps Niou hadn't made much of his Go ability because tennis obligations had kept him from that school club; the schedules certainly wouldn't have been easy to reconcile.

Renji pulled the slim volume out of his bag that evening, and started reading. After twenty-two minutes, he put the book down and went to fetch board and stones; after a further seventy-four minutes, he put the book down and stared at the board in frustration.

Too many variations. Even assuming a predictable set of moves from one side, the other side could make so many potential moves; it made it near-impossible to pick options. How could a player develop a proper strategy in the face of that?

Sadaharu actually laughed at him, on the phone.

Once he'd stopped finding the situation quite so entertaining, however, Sadaharu suggested that perhaps Renji might need a simpler, more basic introductory book, one that emphasised the patterns already optimised over the years, and - after a pause filled with the frantic tapping of his keyboard - furnished a handful of suggestions for primers. He also offered to set up some way to conduct a few games online, an offer which Renji considered for a moment before declining for now; one area of intense-and-friendly rivalry with Sadaharu was sufficient, really.

Sanada frowned, that fierce dark line furrowed across his brow aging him prematurely. Renji could understand why others thought Sanada to be ill-tempered so often; his features always made him look thunderous if he was even fractionally less than content with the world.

For example, right now, Sanada was only considering his next move; to Renji's knowledge, he was in a rather good mood, and the general expression of anger was directed only at the board for not immediately offering up an obvious location for him to set down his stone.

"It's been years since I played," Sanada said, finally setting down his stone with a quiet click. "Shogi players don't play Go. I'm not going to be much of a challenge to you."

"Actually, I think we're probably about even," admitted Renji, tilting his head in case viewing the board at a 45-degree angle offered any insight. It didn't; he wasn't sure Sanada even had a particular joseki in mind, and if he did then Renji didn't recognise it. He sighed, and tried to concentrate on securing territory of his own instead. "I'm woefully bad at this. Perhaps you should revoke my status as team strategist."

Sanada snorted, and then stared at the board again. "Is this because of Niou?"

Renji risked a glance at Sanada's face - impassive, surprisingly unreadable - and then shrugged lightly. "He reminded me that I wanted to pick Go up again some day, yes."

"Mm." Sanada set down his stone, in what was a predictably antagonistic move, in the middle of Renji's slowly-developing framework. "Well, let's hope he spots you a few stones when you challenge him, hmm?"

"You should have more faith in me," said Renji, mildly. Damn, now they were going to have to have an actual contest in this corner of the board, much earlier than he'd hoped. Oh well. He set down a stone in what he hoped was the best place to follow this pattern through. "I won't challenge him until I think I stand a chance."

Sanada picked up another stone. "You'll be waiting a long time, then. He played Marui once, apparently, a couple of years ago; Marui said that Niou wouldn't tell him his ranking but gave him black and a fistful of starting stones like they meant nothing. And kicked his ass anyway."

"Marui's only 12th-kyu or so. Niou wouldn't have to be that good to beat him."

Sanada shrugged. "Right now, Marui would wipe the floor with either of us, I think." He set down his stone, in Renji's pattern, and then immediately scowled. "Ah, crap."

"Huh?" Renji considered the move as it related to the whole corner, and then smiled. "Oh, I see. Oh dear."

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead, capture that group." Sanada plucked another stone from his pot, and held it up to his eye. "I might be terrible, but even I remember that this game is a campaign, not a battle. One early loss means nothing."

Niou was sprawled out on the floor, not far from the water fountains. The textbook in front of him was open to a page of circulatory system diagrams, but his eyes were screwed tightly shut and he seemed to be muttering to himself.

Renji folded himself down as quietly as he could, cross-legged, by Niou's shoulder, ready to wait.

Niou's eyes snapped open almost immediately. "Data man. What can I do for you?"

"What dan are you?"

"'Good afternoon, Niou-kun, I just wanted to see your pretty face, no other reason.'" Niou's eyes closed again. "Why is it relevant?"

"You wanted to provoke me into taking it up, so I should know what level I'm aiming for."

"I did not," said Niou, mildly. "I gave you a spare copy of a book. You like books. I'm not looking for a rival here."

Renji repressed the urge to shake Niou, and made a show of preparing to stand up. "Oh. Well. If your rank is that low, perhaps-"

He waited, but Niou didn't take the bait.

"-perhaps you can just keep playing against opponents like Marui," he finished, aware that it lacked any weight as a jibe.

Niou opened his eyes, and gave him a dubious look. "You know there's a whole club of decent Go players at this very school? Why would I need to provoke you to get an opponent?"

Good question. Renji smiled beatifically. "Now, Niou-kun. Why spoil your fun by answering?"

Niou snorted, and closed his eyes again. "Fine. Have fun trying to wheedle my ranking out of Yagyuu."

"For shame." Renji hauled himself onto his feet. "I wouldn't stoop that low."

One eye opened again, as Niou smirked up at Renji. "Yet."

"So you see," said Renji, mostly in an attempt to convince himself, "either I ask you or I have to ask Niou's family directly."

Yagyuu raised an eyebrow, in an incredibly Niou-ish fashion. He was, in fact, more than half-way to being Niou right now; Yagyuu's mother had ushered Renji into Yagyuu's room in the middle of his preparations. Amber contact lenses were in, subtle makeup had been applied around the nose and eyes, and he was wearing the kind of soft, subtly-patterned shirt that Niou seemed to have developed a taste for in the past year or so. It'd only take the wig and a little more makeup, and the illusion would be pretty firmly in place.

Renji wondered quite what Yagyuu's mother made of her son's habit of dressing up as his best friend, but shoved the speculation into the same corner of his mind that housed his thoughts about what Niou thought about the same thing and focused on re-marshalling his arguments.

"Niou expected me to ask you," he said, plaintively, clutching at the silver-grey wig Yagyuu had handed him.

"Yes, he did," said Yagyuu, turning his attention back to the mirror, scrutinising himself closely. "He requested I not give you a direct answer."

Requested, noted Renji. Not told. Not instructed.

"Are you and Niou meeting up later?" he tried instead, looking for some kind of opening in the conversation.

Yagyuu tilted the mirror so that Renji could see his eyes and frowned slightly. "Why would you think that?"

Renji made a gesture, intended to take in the whole disguise. "Because you're.. switching."

"This? This is because it's my turn with his girlfriend tonight."

Renji was startled into a nervous cough of embarrassment. "Oh."

Yagyuu regarded him in the mirror for a moment, and then smiled politely, unsettling though that looked. "I'm joking, Yanagi-kun. I am going to Niou-kun's house, yes. No girls are involved."

"Can I ask you not to tell him I-"

"You can ask, but his wishes overrule yours." Yagyuu sighed, and set down the mirror. "I will clarify something, though. Niou-kun does not play formal matches or compete in tournaments. I suspect he plays opponents online every so often, but I couldn't tell you if he plays consistently enough on any server for their system to gauge his level accurately."

Which means he doesn't necessarily have a formal rank. "I-oh."

Yagyuu lifted the mirror again, and picked up something that looked more like a pencil than a makeup implement. "He does play a few opponents regularly. His brother. Some of the school team. Myself, very occasionally."

"So you could estimate his level, then?"

"Only by inference." Yagyuu used the pencil to do something at the inner corners of his eyes, making no overall difference as far as Renji could see but seeming to satisfy himself. "Niou's brother just achieved 1st-dan."

Renji nodded. "So, Niou would be somewhat higher."

"By perhaps a dan or two." Yagyuu efficiently gave himself a mark that resembled Niou's prominent chin mole, then added two more smaller ones low on his neck. "He's not that outstanding a player, Yanagi-kun. He doesn't work at it."

The inference there was clear also; if Niou chose to put effort in, he could be a lot better. Renji nodded, trying not to fidget with the wig in his hands.

Yagyuu set down his pencil, and examined himself again before giving a small nod. "I will also make one more observation, if you'll permit me."

"Certainly."

Yagyuu picked up a small piece of flesh-coloured nylon from his desk, and began tugging it over his head, tucking his hair into it. Renji tried not to stare. "Niou-kun respects you a great deal. Whatever you think he's trying to achieve here, he's not trying to make himself look better at your expense."

"Thank you, but that reassurance is unnecessary." Yagyuu raised an eyebrow at him again, and it looked rather eerie with his hair hidden under mesh and his face so Niou. "No, genuinely, I'd already dismissed that thought. I would not be indulging my curiosity if I thought he was being vindictive."

Yagyuu took the wig from Renji's hands, then bent his head over it and pulled the wig up and over his own head. When he lifted his head, he looked like a very-slightly-skewed Niou, his hairline just a touch misaligned over Yagyuu's left brow and his fringe brushed the wrong way.

Renji reached out his hand to correct the issue, reflexively, and then stopped himself. Yagyuu shot him an amused look, and then looked in his mirror and settled the wig into a more accurate position, fluffing it out at the back and tugging on the rat-tail. His eyes met Renji's gaze again, and his mouth widened into a sharp, knowing smile.

"Good luck, though," Yagyuu drawled in Niou's voice then, and Renji sighed in defeat. "In whatever game you end up playing. C'mon, time to clear out."

Yukimura was surprisingly enthused about Go, Renji thought to himself, as Yukimura slid another stone into place. Renji was starting to recognise more of the basic patterns, now, and Yukimura was playing some sort of variant on a pinwheel opening. Yukimura also had a very good Go set; he had a proper wooden floorboard that was an inheritance from some relative on his mother's side, and Chinese-style lacquered bowls for his rather expensive-looking stones. As a tactile experience, it was rather delightful; certainly significantly better than Renji's own set.

"You aren't playing me very aggressively," Renji observed, setting his stone down in the next move in the sequence.

Yukimura hmmed at that, and picked out another stone, weighing it in his hand. "Guilty. I don't want to put you off. You've never wanted to play against me before."

"I was only theoretically aware you played," said Renji. It was true; Yukimura had always had this board in the corner of his room - usually covered in tennis magazines - but it hadn't really been something Renji had paid much attention to before. "I'm surprised you found the time to become so proficient."

Yukimura slid the stone gracefully into place, following the pattern Renji anticipated. "My mother used to bring a set into the hospital sometimes. It's one of the few interests we share."

"I see." Renji placed his next stone.

"I'm afraid, however, that I'm not actually that good," Yukimura said, and Renji looked up, startled. Was everyone going to be humble about this game? Yukimura presumably caught something of the expression on his face, and laughed lightly. "I'm sorry. I'm not awful, either. But my mother tells me I'm too impatient: play fast, lose fast."

"Proverbs, from you?"

"Oh, this game is all about the proverbs." Yukimura smiled, and then unexpectedly said something in appallingly-accented Mandarin. Renji turned the sounds over in his head until they made sense.

"'Greed will not... let you gain victory?'"

"Indeed. You should talk to my mother sometime, she can recite pithy little bits of Go advice for hours." Yukimura slid another stone into place, and Renji blinked; that didn't follow the pattern he was expecting. "Sanada tells me this newfound interest is our trickster's fault."

"Genichirou exaggerates his influence on me, but I admit he contributed." Renji frowned over the board, and hesitantly set down a stone near his corner, trying to be cautious. "He gave me a book, that's all."

Yukimura very swiftly slid his next stone into place, his expression amused. "I look forward to seeing how that turns out, whatever he's up to."

Renji shrugged. "I'm less and less convinced he had much of an ulterior motive. It's not as if he's getting to see my incompetent playing." He set down another stone.

"It's entirely possible," said Yukimura, sliding another stone into place with enough speed to make Renji wonder how many moves ahead of him Yukimura was calculating, "that he thinks you won't be incompetent for long. If you put effort into learning, you'll excel at it soon enough."

That sentiment rang a bell; it took a moment for Renji to connect it with Yagyuu's implied comment on Niou's abilities. He smiled, and set down another stone, ignoring Yukimura's last few moves and trying instead to start a new pattern of his own. "That may take a while."

"Thankfully, you are more patient than I." Yukimura clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth for a moment, and then slid his stone into place, following the flow of the new pattern Renji had begun.

Yagyuu looked up from the table he was at, and smiled, politely pulling his books back to make some room. "Yanagi-kun, join us?"

Renji nodded, placing his own books down and taking the seat on the bench next to Niou. "Thank you. I didn't expect it to be quite so busy in here."

"Midterms next week, and it's raining," said Niou, not lifting his eyes from his textbook. There was a gentle buzz of conversation all around them; nearly every seat at every table was occupied. "Everyone's cramming."

"Are they that soon? I keep thinking we have longer." Renji flipped open his notes from their last History class, and tried to get comfortable on the hard bench. The table - in the warmest corner of the library - was quite small, and his knee bumped against Niou's under the table for a moment, making Niou jump unexpectedly. "Ah, sorry."

"Nn, it's fine." Niou wrinkled his nose at his textbook. "Fuck's sake, Yagyuu, do you understand this diagram from today? I keep thinking these bonds don't add up."

Yagyuu leaned forward, peering at the upside-down diagram that Niou was directing his ire at, and scratched in an extra line between two of the elements with his pencil.

Niou's frown lifted, and he grinned across the table. "My hero. Marry me?"

"No deal," said Yagyuu, turning his attention back to his own books. "I still prefer women."

Niou stuck his tongue out at Yagyuu for a moment before copying out the altered diagram into his own notebook.

Renji kept his eyes on his own notes and tried to focus on the Siege of Odawara. He surfaced when Niou's knee bumped against his, again, some time later.

"Oops," said Niou, and flashed him an apologetic grin. "Hey, you got an English dictionary there?"

Renji shook his head. Yagyuu, across the table, rolled his eyes and leaned down to dig around in his schoolbag for a moment before handing Niou the requested item.

"Thank you, light of my life," said Niou, in English.

"You're welcome, bane of my life," said Yagyuu, also in English, and Niou pulled another face at that before flicking through the book determinedly.

Another knee pressed into his, with intent behind it, and Renji glanced up to see Yagyuu frowning at him thoughtfully. Yagyuu's gaze flicked to the pile of books between them for a moment, and then he removed his knee and dropped his gaze back to his own notes again.

Renji hurriedly assessed the pile of books; school textbooks, a biographical dictionary for some research, a novel... and the book Niou had given him, poking out of the side nearest Yagyuu. He let himself smile a little, ruefully; he'd been carrying it around with his schoolbooks for so long he'd almost forgotten it was in there. He tweaked the pile a little, under guise of extracting the novel, so that the Go book was less visible; it would probably amuse Niou far too much to see it.

A short while later, Niou stretched - his shoulders made unpleasant cracking noises as he did so, and Renj repressed the urge to recommend some supplements - and then stacked up all his papers into a neat pile, yawning. "No more for me today, that's it. Toshima-sensei can stuff his test for all I care."

Yagyuu levelled a disapproving look over his glasses at Niou, but didn't argue.

Niou slid the pile smoothly into his schoolbag. "What about you, data man? You fancy getting some ramen before you head home?"

Renji glanced over at Yagyuu, who was still writing with no apparent intention to stop soon, and hesitated. Studying with Yagyuu, who would likely make some pointed comment about Renji's reading materials, versus food and unpredictable conversation with Niou. "That sounds good," he found himself saying, packing away his schoolwork. "Just give me a moment to get ready?"

Niou hauled his bag onto his shoulder. "Take your time. I need a piss anyway. See you by the entrance."

Renji watched him amble towards the exit, automatically sliding schoolbooks into his bag. A hand seized his wrist suddenly.

"Yanagi-kun," Yagyuu began, in a low voice, and then he appeared to reconsider, and released Renji with a sigh. "Never mind, I suppose I shouldn't ask."

"About what?"

Yagyuu pushed his glasses up his nose, and smiled faintly, his fingers flicking briefly towards the stack of books. "You're still studying Go? I'm surprised it's held your attention so firmly."

"It's... surprisingly rewarding," said Renji, feeling defensive. "It's forcing me to think in new ways."

"Yes. The more you study it, the more interesting it gets. Like so many things." Yagyuu smiled again, and turned his attention back to his books. "Well. I suggest you catch up with Niou before he gets bored of waiting for you."

They ambled through the streets around the city centre, finally stopping at a tiny ramen stand near the station that only had empty stools because it wasn't quite time for the salarymen to return home from their jobs yet. Renji took a seat carefully, and caught the owner's attention, holding up two fingers. The owner nodded, and busied himself with the bowls.

Niou sprawled himself across the seat next to Renji. "Fuck, I'm exhausted. Can you tell Yukimura to lay off the crazy juice for a few days? I could do with a rest."

Renji shook his head. "I'm afraid it's unlikely to make any difference. We have those friendly exhibition matches next week, and he wants us to look good."

"Yeah, take his side, why don't you."

The stall owner set down two bowls of ramen in front of them. Renji reached for his wallet, and Niou slapped him on the arm lightly.

"Uh-uh, my treat this time. You paid the other day."

Renji shrugged, and bent over his noodles. This had become a weird little routine; Niou would haul Yanagi along to some kind of eaterie after school every so often - when Yagyuu was busy with student council, usually - and they'd talk. Renji couldn't confide in Niou like he could in Seiichi or Sadaharu or Genichirou, but the conversation came easily enough. Sometimes they talked about tennis. Mostly they talked about school things, or exchanged mild gossip, or they discussed books or films or music.

Until recently, Renji had thought of Niou as a friend, in the same way he thought of Marui; not a close friend by any means, but certainly someone he got along with amicably and who he socialised with regularly. They'd spent about four years playing tennis together intensively, with all the boundary-lowering that entailed. It was hard not to become friends of a sort.

But they'd never hung out like this before, just the two of them. Renji concluded that he'd been missing out; Niou was unexpectedly eloquent and charming when he was enthusiastic about something. When he'd coaxed Niou into a discussion of Botchan - a novel Renji had read and re-read until two different copies had fallen apart from overuse - Niou's dry comments about cowardice and freedom had sent Renji scurrying back to re-read the novel again. When Niou had, one day, been full of sparky, vicious enthusiasm for a movie he'd seen about delinquent gangs, his descriptions had made Renji suddenly grasp why on earth someone might actually watch that sort of thing.

Niou was fascinating, in fact. Had he always been like this? Had Renji just never paid attention before?

"Eat up, I'm in a rush today."

Renji glanced over at Niou, who was most of the way done with his bowl. "Oh?"

Niou nodded, shovelling another mouthful of noodles into his mouth. He swallowed, and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Yeah, sorry. Need to go babysit at home."

"Your brother? Isn't he old enough to not need that now?"

Niou shook his head. "Not after how I was at that age." He brought another mouthful of noodles up, and then paused. "Not that he's much like me. But you know how parents get."

Renji swallowed his own mouthful, and made a vague gesture intended to imply agreement while not actually suggesting Renji's parents were anything less than entirely reasonable. "Well, that's alright. I have some chores at home I really should be doing anyway, and-"

Niou waved his chopsticks frantically in negation, one hand over his mouth as he swallowed hastily. "Ah, ah, you're coming with me. I need grown-up company or I'll go mad, and Yagyuu's got student council today."

"Oh." Renji dropped his eyes back to his bowl, dipping his spoon into the broth. He'd never been to Niou's house before; he was pretty certain Niou made a point of not inviting people there, in fact.

Niou's brother, was, it turned out, a little like looking at some kind of genetic breeding experiment between Niou and Yagyuu. Norihide had the angular features and slenderness of his older sibling, but with neatly-parted dark hair, and he wore a pair of slim-framed square glasses over eyes that were nearly as piercing as Niou's own.

"Yanagi-san," he said politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My teachers still talk about your literature essays. They're very insightful."

Renji bowed his head in bemused acceptance of the compliment, trying to assess Niou's reaction. He looked like he was trying not to roll his eyes.

"I can make tea for you both, if you'd like," Norihide continued, lowering his eyes.

"Nah, don't worry," Niou cut in. "I'll handle the hospitality, it's fine. Go on, go entertain yourself."

Norihide nodded, bowed again very formally to Renji, and then left, wordlessly.

Niou led Renji into the small kitchen, and let out a sigh. "Eh, sorry about him. He's not always quite so stiff; he just gets nervy around people he doesn't know much."

"He reminds me of Yagyuu."

Niou pursed his lips, nodding as he filled the kettle. "Yep, well. Yagyuu's the one who got him to come out of his room, so that's probably fair enough. I hope it wears off eventually though; one Yagyuu's enough."

Renji bit his tongue on his immediate question and looked around the kitchen instead. "Did your family always live here? For some reason I thought you lived closer to Yagyuu's house at one point."

"No, I just stay over at his a lot." Niou put the kettle on to boil. "You'd better not be expecting a full tea ceremony here, by the way; I can just about make a pot without stewing it, but I'm kind of a heathen."

"I'll live."

Niou pulled out two cups and a small, squat teapot, and then leant back against the counter. "You can ask, you know. About my brother, I mean. I might not tell you, but it's not like the question'll piss me off."

Renji shrugged. "If you want me to know, you'll tell me."

"God, if that's how you gather data, it's a miracle you're as informed as you are. Just ask me, will you?" Niou rinsed out the teapot with hot water, and then made probably the laziest pot of tea Renji had ever witnessed someone make with a guest right there; there were teabags and he stuck a spoon directly into the pot and stirred it around vaguely to agitate the bags and augh. Renji tried not to wince.

"Um. You said he locked himself in his room?"

"Right. For about four weeks last year. Only came out at night or when the house was empty to steal food. My father thought that was it, he was going to be one of those shut-ins forever and bring shame on the family. Me, I had no idea what to do: Noricchi wants to lock himself away, nothing I can say seems to make any impact." Niou sloshed out some tea into the cups. "I'm still not even sure why he did it, really."

Renji took one of the cups, nearly scorching himself in his haste to have something to do while Niou vented.

"Anyway, thank fuck for Yagyuu; he came and camped outside my brother's room for four nights in a row talking to him and on the fifth day my brother actually came down for dinner like a normal human being." Niou took a sip from his own cup, and made a vague gesture. "I think the polite formal stuff is Noricchi's way of coping with shit now. If it works, more power to him."

Renji found his voice. "I remember not being certain you and Yagyuu would even get along enough to play as a doubles team."

"Yeah?" Niou smirked. "Weird thought. My life'd be so different without him around. And his'd be a lot more boring without me." He gestured towards the door. "My room's upstairs, first door on the left. Be right behind you."

Niou's room was small and clean and somehow managed to be exactly the way Renji would have guessed while still being surprising in a number of ways. He had two futons, stacked neatly together in one corner, next to a small desk with a computer. One wall of the room had a large sliding door, behind which Renji assumed Niou kept his clothes; it had been decorated with a bunch of different patterned papers, slightly amateurishly. There was a chest of drawers - with a TV and music player fighting for space on top - next to a very full bookcase; hooks festooned the edges of the shelves and there were phone charms and beads and bits of paper and things hanging off all of them in a riot of cluttered-ness.

On the wall there was a large pinboard and a shelf; Niou's tennis trophies were shoved rather untidily onto the shelf, as if he was embarrassed by them, but the pinboard had lots of photos; some of their classmates and teammates, and some people Renji didn't recognise at all. Renji's eyes lingered for a moment on a pretty girl in a pink sunhat beaming straight down the camera lens, and then caught on a photo he had a copy of himself, taken by Akaya; Yukimura and himself pulling faces behind Sanada's back, while Sanada himself looked the epitome of the stern fukubuchou.

"Natsuko," said Niou quietly, behind him. Renji turned, unsure what Niou was talking about. Niou jerked his chin towards the photo, and set his tray down carefully on the floor. "The girl."

"She's very pretty."

"She's my cousin, and a pain in the ass, but it's a nice photo." Niou sat down, and picked up his cup. "By the way, if there's anything else you actually want, let me know. I'm a crap host, I can't anticipate that stuff for shit."

"This is fine." Renji glanced around. "I've never seen your room before. It's interesting."

Niou shrugged. "It's home." He waved his arm around. "Welcome, and all that. My brother will be nose-deep in some online game by now, so as long as we don't leave the house I'm pretty much off the hook supervision-wise. Wanna watch a movie?"

Yukimura slid him a note, during History. It read I brought tamagoyaki. Lunch on the roof?

"Well," said Yukimura, brightly, when Renji found him up there an hour later. "Hello there, stranger."

Renji frowned, and dusted off the bench next to Yukimura. "Don't exaggerate."

"What? I barely see you these days, not since you and Niou suddenly became besties." Yukimura leaned in close, his eyes dancing with mischief. "Poor Yagyuu, forced to share after all this time."

"It's not like that," said Renji, irritated. "Friendship isn't a monopoly, and Niou's good company."

"I'm sure he is." Yukimura opened his bento. "I'm just joking, really. How badly does he kick your ass at Go, then?"

Renji, leaning in to take a slice of Yukimura's tamagoyaki, paused. "He doesn't."

Yukimura made an impressed sound. "Either he's going easy on you, or you're a lot better than when we last played."

"No, I mean we don't play Go. I don't think I've even seen a board in his house." Renji studied sequences of moves, in the evenings. He was still finding the theory interesting; watching the options blossom from every new move was invigorating. But he hadn't actually played a game in weeks - even his occasional matches against Sanada had drifted to a halt.

Yukimura looked confused. "Uh. Really?"

"Now I think about it, yes." Renji snagged one of the slices, pulling it into his own bowl of rice. "Strange. I assume there's a set in his brother's room."

"No - I mean, that's strange, sure, but really - you aren't hanging out with him to play Go?"

Renji looked up from his bowl, and Yukimura's expression was strange and slightly apprehensive. "No?"

Yukimura leant forward. "What do you guys do, then?"

"Go for food. Talk. Watch movies." Renji wasn't quite sure what Yukimura was waiting to hear. "Just... hang out, really. I try to stop him butchering good tea, and he tries to convince me that blood-and-guts movies are actually valid works of art. Neither of us is winning yet."

"Oh."

"What were you expecting?"

Yukimura shrugged. "I'm really not sure. Something less wholesome, I suppose? It is Niou."

"I'm not sure he was ever really that much of a delinquent."

"I suppose not. I think I'm a little disappointed." Yukimura picked up a slice of tamagoyaki, and bit into it. "Do you ever see his sister around? Apparently she's gorgeous."

Renji laughed. "What happened to your crush on Otoyama?"

"Don't remind me - actually, did you hear? She's dating that big hairy guy from class 2-F now." Yukimura sighed. "One day, one day."

"This is a dreadful film."

"Usually, I'd argue for the hell of it, but nope, you're right, this is crap." Niou yawned, and brandished the remote control. "Your choice: mock it the rest of the way through, or watch something else instead."

"Oh, I'll take mockery, every time."

"I knew I liked you for a reason."

"Um. Don't be angry, but I have a question: is this thing you have with Niou, uh, more than just friendship?"

Renji was too surprised to register any other emotion. "No. Why on earth would you ask that?"

Yukimura looked around as if checking they were still alone in their corner of the school garden. "Do you remember Fuji from Seigaku? Short, always smiles, makes me look butch and manly by comparison."

"Yes, I remember."

"Fuji's brother was at St Rudolph's. Apparently Niou was involved with one of the guys there. Not a tennis player, just one of the older students."

Renji shook his head. "That's third-hand gossip at best, Seiichi, and very vague at that."

"It was a pretty persistent rumour. There was one going around last year too, that he was with a different guy. You've never thought he could be, you know, that way?"

"Not especially." Renji closed his lunch box, and considered. Yagyuu had made that joke about liking women, once, and Niou hadn't denied it. But then, Yagyuu had also joked that he and Niou were sharing a girlfriend. "You shouldn't go suggesting things like that about your friends."

Yukimura tipped his head to one side. "And you're not annoyed that I implied you might be gay."

"I've honestly never really thought about it much."

"Seriously?"

"No." Renji stared at the lid of his box. "I mean, maybe a bit. You know. Everyone has little moments." He glanced up at Yukimura. "Everyone, Seiichi. It doesn't mean much."

Yukimura laughed. "Is that so?"

"Yes. But none of my moments were ever over Niou."

"Hmm." Yukimura leant forward, and tapped Renji on the knee. "I think I could understand if they were. He's quite magnetic, in his own way. I just wondered, that's all."

Renji's imagination was inspired enough by Yukimura's musings that he was forced to seek out distractions that evening. It helped that Sadaharu was an unpleasant opponent when it came to Go. Renji allowed him to gloat for a while over the phone, and then made his excuses and went back to studying his book of life-and-death problems determinedly. When he slept, his dreams were full of soothing black and white, tiny circles chasing each other and eyes that opened and closed seemingly at random.

Niou handed Renji a bottle of cold barley tea, and leaned back against the counter. "It's actually just you and me for now. Norihide's got a club meeting until later."

Renji nodded, vaguely cursing Yukimura. He was going to have to spent a couple of hours alone with Niou in his house. And it wasn't Niou's fault that Yukimura had decided to spread ridiculous rumours, so Renji was just going to have to bite down his discomfort.

Niou glanced upwards, and gestured with his bottle. "Let's go, then. I downloaded that weird arthouse film you were talking about the other day."

Renji nodded mutely again, and picked up his bag.

Niou frowned, and put a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong? You've been kinda off since we left school."

Renji shook his head, and took a gulp of his drink to try and stop his mouth feeling quite so dry. "It's nothing. Seiichi said something, that's all."

Niou was still frowning.

"It was just something odd. Don't worry."

Niou took his hand away. "Uh. I know we don't… I mean, if you need to talk about it, then-"

"No, it's fine. Really." Renji managed to pull up a smile from somewhere. "Let's go watch the film."

Within about thirty minutes, he was regretting the suggestion. The movie was some European film with moody lighting and subtitles, and it was full of kissing and meaningful looks and really, what with everything, Renji was wishing they were watching some chainsaw-infused gorefest today instead.

It didn't help that they were sitting - or in Niou's case, sprawling bonelessly - on a rolled-out futon. Renji kept wondering if Niou had invited the mysterious and possibly nonexistent St Rudolph's boy up here, had kissed him and touched him in this room. And even if he hadn't, this was still Niou's bed. Niou had probably touched himself on this futon, had fantasised about boys or girls or whatever Niou fantasised about while staring at this ceiling, and now Renji was thinking along those lines he really wasn't going to be able to stop.

He was going to kill Yukimura, if he didn't die of embarrassment first.

Niou paused the film. "Uh, Yanagi, seriously. You really don't look like you want to be here." He nudged Renji with his foot. "Spill, or I kick you out."

Renji sighed, drew his legs up, and rested his chin on his knees. "Seiichi asked me if I was gay."

Niou's eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't otherwise react. "And?"

"I'm thinking about it. Perhaps I am, a little."

"Huh." Niou shifted, very slightly, but not in a way that seemed to be either drawing away or moving closer. "No wonder you're distracted. What did you do to make him ask?"

Renji wrapped his arms around his legs, pulling them tight against himself. "Um."

Niou blinked, slowly, and then sat up. "It's the company you're keeping, isn't it. Ah, crap. Sorry, I should have warned you."

"Sorry?" Renji stared at Niou. "Why? It's not your fault there are stupid rumours."

"Uh," said Niou, looking sheepish. "It sort of is. Tanosuke was a sweet kid, but apparently he sucked at not whining to all his friends after we broke up."

Renji tried not to gape, but he knew he wasn't doing a very good job of hiding his surprise.

Niou leant back against his pillow. "And there was Naoya, before that." He pulled a sour face. "Stupid really, we didn't even get to second base but half his fucking school knew about us."

"It... the one Seiichi knew about went to St Rudolph's."

"Yeah, that's Naoya. Figures." Niou shrugged, radiating unconcern. "Yagyuu got kind of worried over that one; he even went out as me and got frisky with some random girl in public. It didn't make much of a dent in the gossip, though."

He took a swig from his bottle of tea, then held it out to Renji.

"I figure it could be worse, honestly. I've got muscles, brains, and a reputation for holding grudges and being inventively nasty. People aren't going to mess with me over it, even if they're tempted to."

Renji took the bottle, and brought it to his lips slowly, his eyes not leaving Niou's. "And what about me?"

"You? Smartest guy in school, one of the three demons of the feared tennis team? Please. You'll be fine."

Renji took a deep gulp from the bottle, and handed it back to Niou. "No, that's not what I mean. I might like a guy. But aren't we all supposed to have moments of confusion at our age? Maybe that's all this is for me, and it'll pass."

Niou set down the bottle, and looked a bit embarrassed. "Oh, shit, I'm crap at advice. I just always knew, really. Guys do it for me, girls not so much."

"Girls work fine for me. So I've never tried, you know, deliberately thinking that way."

"So start there." Niou scratched at his nose, and then glanced away. "Try thinking about them. Seriously; go look at naked men, and see if they actually turn you on. If not, congratulations, you're probably straight."

Renji frowned. "It's that simple?"

"God, no, but it does help distinguish between one crush on that nice senpai and serious lifestyle adjustment. You're the data obsessive, get some data."

"I don't even know where I'd get... pornography." The internet, probably. Who could he ask to help him? Sadaharu? Renji nearly gagged at the thought.

Niou rolled his eyes, and then sat up. "Right. Shoo. Outside, now."

Renji uncurled, startled. "Sorry, I'll get my bag, and-"

"No, just get out of my room for a moment so I can get you a goddamned magazine without you seeing all my secrets, you idiot."

"Oh." Renji stumbled to his feet, blushing. "Oh. That's... I mean, you don't..."

"Yeah, I kind of do." Niou shoved him out of the door, and slid it shut. "Wait there a moment, okay?"

Renji leant against the wall, his brain not really able to keep up with this. Niou was lending him gay porn. Yukimura would have kittens. Not that Renji would ever be able to tell him.

When Niou opened the door again, he thrust a tightly-rolled-up magazine into Renji's hand. "Right. Don't look at it now, you'll embarrass us both, okay? Just... stick it in your bag until you get home."

Renji glanced down at it. Even what he could see of the back cover had acres of muscular flesh visible, and he swallowed nervously. "Ah, thanks."

"That's just an advert," said Niou, his face pink enough to make Renji feel a little better about his own embarrassment. "Geez, they don't put cocks on the cover. Just... read it later, hide it somewhere safe. And for the love of all that is holy, keep it."

Renji nodded, and took the three steps to where his schoolbag was, shoving the magazine inside and trying not to actually look as he did so. He zipped his bag up, firmly, and bit his lip.

Niou exhaled, behind him. "So I don't know about you, but right now I'm going to pretend we have not just had this whole conversation. Let's see if there's something suitably distracting on television, huh?"

"My turn to pay," Renji said, after they ordered. Niou gave him a dubious look, but Renji held his gaze. "Please, I owe you."

"Alright."

They were in a little family restaurant between the school and the city centre; the place did starchy comfort food and good tea and right now Renji couldn't really face anything that wasn't soothing.

Niou twirled his straw around in his glass. "Well, this is excitingly awkward all of a sudden."

"So it's not just a simple crush, it turns out," said Renji. "Just to get that conversation out of the way. I... yeah. It makes a lot of sense, now I know."

"Aha."

"So, um. Thank you."

Niou twirled his straw again. "I'd say anytime but, honestly, get your own porn in future. But, uh, glad it helped."

Renji nodded, staring at his own drink.

"So," said Niou, transferring his fidgeting from the straw to the napkin on the table, "I have no idea what difference it actually makes to you. You still like girls anyway, right?"

"I think so. Probably."

"Hmm."

"What was it like for you, knowing?"

Niou stared at his drink. "Hunh, a direct question. I... well. The answer doesn't make me look very good, and makes someone else look kind of shitty when they were trying not to be."

"Oh."

Niou took a sip of his drink, and then crushed the napkin in his fist. "Imagine that you had a crush on... Yukimura, say. He's handsome, charismatic, all that; maybe it's not even much of a stretch, am I right? And imagine you told him, because he was your first real crush and your friend and you thought it was what you were supposed to do. And imagine him thinking that he should try to make you happy, even though he's straight, because he's your friend and he doesn't want to hurt you by saying no."

"...was this Yagyuu?"

Niou shook his head. "No, no. Thank fuck for that; Yagyuu's great and all but I wouldn't want to even think about thinking about him that way. No, I do have other friends, you know. Good ones, even, or I did."

"Okay." That was actually a relief; something about the idea of Niou pining over Yagyuu left a sour taste in Renji's mouth.

"And this friend even enjoyed stuff like kissing at first. A mouth is just a mouth, really. But then it started getting a bit heavier and hotter, and then he just freaked out completely. We had a big fight, and he told me he didn't even like guys. Then I freaked out at him for lying to me, and that was that friendship messed up and gone forever just for the sake of a few makeouts."

Renji put his hand out, wanting to do something just to soften the horrible twist in Niou's smile. But then the waitress arrived with their plates, and the moment was lost.

Niou stared at his plate, and then picked up his chopsticks, snapping them apart with an angry-looking motion. "Don't do that, that's all I'm saying. Don't go falling for Yukimura, or that lunk of a fukubuchou of ours, or anyone you actually want to stay friends with. It won't end well."

Renji poked at his own plate. His own appetite had fled. "I... yes, I can see that," he ventured, after a while. "All too easily."

Niou glanced up at him, then shoved his plate to one side. He reached down into his bag, and pulled out a notepad and two pens, and started sketching out a grid. "You know the rules for Gomoku, right? Five in a row? You're black."

Gomoku was an absurdly one-sided game; there were tons of rules variants to make it less unfair. Against a decent black player, the white player could not possibly win. "Er. You mean Renju, right? Where we do the swap thing to even the chances?"

"Ha." Niou smirked, and handed Renji a pen. "Gomoku. Standard rules, 19 grid. Take black."

Two victories to white and one hard-fought draw later, Renji tossed down his pen and shook his head. The waitress had taken their cold plates away some time ago; his stomach rumbled. "You're ridiculous."

Niou laughed, and span his pen in his fingers idly. "It's a knack, that's all. Some people remember the strengths and weaknesses of the entire high school tennis circuit, and some people remember how to optimise game moves. Besides, you don't play dirty enough."

Renji flagged down the waitress as she passed, and asked her politely for the same order as before. She gave him a confused look, and he promised that they'd eat them this time, and pay for both orders.

Niou smiled at him, his earlier grimness banished, and flipped the notebook page over to a clean one, smoothing it down. "How's your Go these days?"

"Are you offering me a game?"

"That depends, really." Niou sketched out a small grid, and began drawing stones on it. "Not right now. But maybe soon."

"Are you drawing out life-and-death tests from memory?"

"Enh, this one's pretty common." Niou shoved it across the table at Renji, who stared at it, and then pointed wordlessly at the most likely-looking point. Niou made a thoughtful noise, and nodded, and took the pad back. He added a few more stones, and handed Renji the pad again, and again Renji stared at the diagram for a while before pointing to the point he thought seemed most likely.

Niou nodded again, more slowly, and then closed the pad as the waitress came back with their new plates.

"You're decent," he said, a few mouthfuls later. "Too cautious, though."

"You can tell that from two problems?"

"Two problems and three games of Gomoku and years of watching you play tennis." Niou took a gulp of his water, and ploughed back into his rice. "If you're losing ground, you need to go on the attack or you'll never regain the advantage. It's the same principle."

Renji blinked. "Are you telling me to apply tennis strategy to Go?"

"Why not?" Niou waved airily with his chopsticks. "Apply any knowledge you have to everything. Use whatever you have, anywhere you can."

Sanada threw up his hands. "I concede."

Renji sat back, grinning. "Coward." It had been a vicious little game there at the end, lots of captures and ko fights, lots of tiny struggles for territory. Sanada had been on the defensive for most of it, however.

"No, realist." Sanada shook his head. "Now I remember why I never really kept at this game."

Renji started clearing the board. "Now, now, don't be a sore loser."

"Oh, I'm not. You won, fair and square. I really can't deal with this game when it gets into counting and looking for tiny, tiny advantages."

"It's not that taxing, Genichirou."

Sanada shook his head. "It's hard for me to explain what I mean to you, I think." He glanced up at the clock. "My grandfather'll be back soon; I need to go sweep out the dojo. Come with me?"

The routine of the dojo chores were so familiar to Renji by now that he fell into the rhythm of matching Sanada's brush-strokes with ease, and soon he was carefully neatening up the stacks of mats while Sanada fastidiously checked the practise weapons for visible wear.

"So," said Sanada quietly, inspecting one of the wooden blades, "Yukimura said you might be in a bad mood with him, but wouldn't tell me why."

Renj tugged gently at a stray thread, testing to see if removing it would unravel anything or if it could just be snipped off. "I'm not."

"Oh."

"I mean, I was a bit irritated at the time." The thread seemed not to be crucial; Renji pulled out his penknife and snipped it. "But I'm actually glad he interfered."

Sanada put the blade back. "And you don't want to tell me what this was about?"

Explaining would bring up a whole host of further conversations. On the other hand, there was only so long they could be avoided for. Renji sighed. "Yukimura was wondering about the nature of my relationship with Niou."

"Oh. Er. Is it a relationship?"

Renji dared a sideways look at Sanada, who was inspecting another blade, his posture carefully not quite rigid. "You wouldn't mind?"

Sanada shrugged, and slid the blade back into place. "It's not my place to judge. I know I used to have issues with him. But he's grown up a bit, and you're smart enough to know if he's playing you or not."

"Huh."

"So if he makes you happy, I-"

"-we aren't dating."

Sanada sagged a little. "Oh, thank god." He passed a hand across his brow. "Seriously, it's not that I'd mind if you liked guys. It's that the idea of you and Niou together is… it makes my brain hurt."

Now that was more what he'd expected. Renji forced out a laugh, and then turned to face Sanada. "I do like guys, in fact."

Sanada blinked, and then took down another blade, slowly. "Well. That's new. Is there anyone I should know about? Is there anything you need help with?"

"Not especially." Renji sighed. "You're going to wish you hadn't asked but actually, I like Niou, a bit, if anyone."

"Shit. It's official: you hate my brain," Sanada said flatly, and then smiled ruefully. "So, he's been seducing you with candlelit games of Go, then?"

"No. We don't play Go when we hang out together."

"...oh, my poor imagination."

Renji stuck his tongue out. "I already said we weren't involved."

"Right, yes, I get it." Sanada put the blade back, and then stared at Renji for a while before walking over and sitting down next to him with a thump. "Can I ask why you like him, of all people?"

"Oh god, Genichirou. What do you want, a list? Why do you like that giggly girl from 3-E?"

Sanada gave him a startled look and then sighed. "Sorry, dumb question. But hey, cut me a little slack. My best friend's got the gay hots for Niou."

"That's a bit more... uh, bluntly than I'd put it."

Sanada put one arm around Renji's shoulders, and hugged him sideways. It was a little awkward, but Renji was absurdly glad for it. "Some of us don't have your way with words. Do you think he likes you the same way?"

"I have no idea." Renji leaned his head on Sanada's shoulder. "Thanks for not freaking out."

Niou's mother was short, and slightly plump, and smiled a lot, and Renji had not expected her to be at home when Niou suggested both he and Yagyuu go over there so they could all study together.

Renji bowed politely, wishing he'd brought a gift with him. "Um, good afternoon, Niou-san."

Yagyuu pushed past him, and - to Renji's surprise - hugged Niou's mother, planting an affectionate kiss on her cheek as he did so. "Hello, mother."

Niou put a hand on Renji's shoulder. "Hi, ma. This is Yanagi, from school."

"Of course it is, I recognise him from your tournaments." Niou's mother beamed at Renji. "Welcome."

Renji bowed to her a second time.

"Oops, there he goes again," said Niou, grabbing at the back of Renji's shirt and pulling him upright. "Don't go all stiff, okay? It's not that kind of house, even if Norihide's on a formal kick these days."

"Now, Masaharu, just because you have no manners means I don't appreciate them in others." Niou's mother patted Renji on the cheek lightly. "But in future, no bowing, huh? Young men shouldn't bow so much."

Yagyuu made an amused sound. "Be patient with him. Some of us had it trained into us, you know."

"I suppose I can train him out of it like I trained you." She smiled at Yagyuu with obvious fondness. "Do you boys need anything? Snacks or whatever?"

Niou draped his arm around Renji's shoulders. "Nope. We're going to grab some drinks and go upstairs, if that's okay."

"I hate to tell you this," said Yagyuu, in a conspiratorial tone, opening the fridge, "but after studying, we're probably going to talk about tennis."

Niou's mother widened her eyes, in clearly faked horror. "Ugh. How could you, Hiroshi?"

Yagyuu grinned, in a very Niou fashion, and dropped his voice into a low, sinister tone. "Groundstrokes. Drop shots. Volleys."

She threw a dishcloth at him, as Niou tugged Renji towards the stairs. "Ugh, disgusting beast. Have fun, boys."

"Right, if you wanna use the desk, it's all yours," said Niou, as they entered his room.

Yagyuu was already kneeling. "Because your desk chair is designed to hurt people. I'd recommend the floor, Yanagi-kun."

Renji sat down, feeling distinctly unsettled. He hadn't really thought how strange it might be, when he'd accepted the invitation to join their study session this evening. Niou with Yagyuu was not the same as Niou alone. He opened his bag.

"Hmm. I'd like to tackle English first, I think," said Niou, leaning over his shoulder and peering into the bag. "Yagyuu's probably already done the essay, though."

Yagyuu nodded, and tossed a sheaf of papers at Niou. "Last night. My notes."

"Great." Niou sat down next to Renji, and flicked through the papers before handing them to Renji. "I can read the book fine but Yagyuu gets, like, the themes and motifs and all that."

Renji nodded. "I wrote a draft but if you don't mind me looking over these, I'm sure it'd be helpful for revisions."

"Help yourself," Yagyuu said, stretching. "I have some work for mathematics."

"You can check against mine when you're done, I did it at lunchtime." Niou shoved his backpack towards Yagyuu. "No peeking, though."

"Really, you're chiding me about cheating? Mr But-I-hate-history-just-let-me-copy-one-answer-please?"

Renji was puzzled. "We don't have any maths work to do at the moment."

"You don't. I dragged Yagyuu into an extra credit course, piece of cake but impresses university types."

Yagyuu snorted. "Piece of cake for you, sure. I find it challenging enough."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure Yanagi'd breeze through it," said Niou, thoughtfully. "It's like an eight-week stats speciality thing, I bet you could try picking it up for the next cycle. Hang on, I'll get the intro papers from downstairs, you can have a look."

Renji nodded, and Niou grinned at him.

"Yanagi-kun," said Yagyuu in a low voice, once Niou'd closed the door behind him, "Niou-kun said he told you about his sexuality."

Renji glanced over. Did that mean Niou had told him about Renji too? "Yes, he did."

"I just wanted to thank you for continuing to be his friend."

Renji stared at Yagyuu. "You thought I might not?"

"No, I didn't expect you to cut him off, precisely." Yagyuu gave a thin smile. "But other friends have become distanced after finding out."

Renji thought for a moment, and then plunged forward. "He didn't tell you why he told me? That it's because I like men?"

"Oh." Yagyuu blinked, and then pushed his glasses back up his nose, frowning. "No. He didn't. And do..."

They heard footsteps on the stairs, and bent back over their books hurriedly, before Niou entered.

If it had been weird going to Niou's with Yagyuu there, it was even stranger going over to Yagyuu's on his own. The invitation had been obviously non-declinable, however.

Yagyuu folded out his Go board, and smiled politely. "Let's start with giving you two stones, and black, and I'll take just a half-point in compensation at the end. I suspect you're better than that, so we'll re-evaluate after this game."

Renji nodded.

After a while, Renji came to the conclusion that Yagyuu's level was roughly on a par with Yukimura's; both of them surprisingly fluid and confident. And both noticeably impatient when he dithered over his options.

"Yes, we play against each other quite often," Yagyuu said, when Renji voiced the thought. "It's convenient, to have someone on your level."

Renji placed his next stone, nodding.

Yagyuu followed with the next stone in a sequence that Renji recognised. "And on the topic of similarity-"

"Indeed." Renji set down his stone. "I would be a hypocrite if I'd withdrawn from my friendship with Niou over that."

"May I ask what prompted you to tell him?"

Renji bit his lip, watching Yagyuu set down his stone precisely. "There were rumours about Niou, and it made Seiichi curious about me."

Yagyuu's mouth narrowed, and he nodded.

Renji paused. "Seiichi also apologised for gossiping, when I objected."

"I see." Yagyuu tapped the board, indicating that Renji should play. "Am I to infer that you are infatuated with Niou-kun?"

Renji blinked, and put down his stone without thinking. "I didn't confess to Niou; I asked him for advice."

"I see." Yagyuu hesitated, his stone held in mid-air. "That's not a no, Yanagi-kun."

"I - Niou told me that dating friends doesn't end well."

Yagyuu set down his stone, firmly. "I see. Kisawa-kun wasn't actually attracted to men, however. And he was a moron, not that Niou-kun would agree with me."

Renji stared at Yagyuu. "Do you want me and Niou to be involved?"

"I merely refuse to let that idiot have any influence on his life." Yagyuu gestured at the bowl. "Play."

Renji picked up another stone, and tried to focus on the board.

"I have to ask: is Niou-kun the first boy you've been attracted to?"

"No." Renji set down his stone. "I think not, in retrospect."

"And are you attracted to him for himself, or because you already know he's attracted to men?" Yagyuu set his stone down fluidly, disrupting the pattern Renji thought was being followed. "I mean no disrespect, but I get the impression he's the only person you know personally who is."

Renji frowned, both at the board and at Yagyuu's words. "I... I'm not sure. Perhaps a little of both." He made the obvious move open to him, capturing a stone.

Yagyuu smiled, and placed a stone in the opened spot; doing so gained him three stones and made Renji groan at missing the setup. "I suspect you're not giving this game your full attention, Yanagi-kun."

"Really," said Renji, dryly. "I can't imagine why."

Yagyuu pushed aside his bowl of stones, and steepled his fingers beneath his chin. "Let me be blunt with you, then. I will not countenance Niou-kun being treated as an experiment."

Yagyuu's face was calm, and he kept that faint smile on it, and Renji suddenly remembered Sanada saying that he found Yagyuu in a vindictive mood more terrifying as an opponent than Yukimura. "I wouldn't."

"Good." Yagyuu's smile softened slightly. "You might have trouble convincing him that he is not an experiment, however."

"I... I hadn't seriously thought about actually acting on my attraction, you realise."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Because he's Niou, and it would be very strange? And because he's shown no interest in me?"

Yagyuu shrugged. "I'm not sure I agree, on either count." He gestured to Renji's bowl. "But I suppose, in the end, it's up to you. Play on."