Rules of Deception

Disclaimer: ;; I don't own them....

Pairing: Shinji x Kamio

AN: Eh, I don't know what suffix Shinji and Ann use to call each other. I just guessed… ;; Sorry if I'm wrong…

Tachibana Ann hurried out of the school's main building and ran to the tennis courts. She stopped abruptly at the top courts, waved a hello to her aniki, and then turned her full attention to the scene before her.

She watched the match between Kamio and Shinji, laughing silently to herself. Those two were so blatant that it was too cute. Where there was Shinji, there was Kamio yelling at him. Where there was Kamio, there was Shinji muttering after him. TOO CUTE.

Of course, Ann understood about Kamio's interest in her. The thing was, that interest had somewhat died away. Ann noticed that Kamio only really seemed protective of her only when Seigaku's Momoshiro was around. Whenever she was with another guy, such as Seigaku's Fuji or some one, he seemed fine with it.

Anyway, back to the task at hand… What to do…

Kamio suddenly tripped on his shoelace and fell over. Shinji walked over slowly, going off on a long rant about how Kamio was an idiot and how he should have noticed that his shoelaces were untied and that he would have no one to practice with if Kamio was hurt and how Kamio being hurt was such a nuisance and how he really didn't like Kamio being hurt and how Kamio was now yelling at him to stop mumbling…

Ann grinned deviously. Oh, they were so perfect for each other.

Shinji, holding onto a new roll of grip tape in his hand, was talking to it, yet not talking to it. He completely unaware of the people around him who were pointing and staring. He knew, some where in the back of his head, that he came off as a retarded schizo to most of the public. However, Fudomine's ace could care less. As long as it didn't interfere with his game, it was fine… What was the point of wasting energy on focusing on daily things anyway? It wasn't as if… (here we go again)…

He was brought back down to earth when some one tugged on his sleeve. Glancing to his right, he muttered, monotonously, "Oh, hi Ann-chan."

"Shinji-kun!" Ann chirped brightly. "I was hoping you could tell me who Kamio's going out with."

That got the tennis prodigy. Shinji blinked, staring at the girl. For a few seconds, he was actually speechless (an amazing feat, really). Then, the words came tumbling out. "Kamio has a girlfriend? It's not you? Are you sure? Who told you? She must look like you Ann. Kamio likes you so much. It's actually kind of irritating, especially when that Seigaku regular is around. I forgot his name. His hair looked strange. Wait a minute. If Kamio has a girlfriend, I should have known. He should have told me. I'm his best friend. This isn't right."

Sweatdropping, Ann added, "Ne, Shinji-kun, Kamio doesn't have a girlfriend."

Silence. The grip tape slipped from Shinji's hand and plopped onto the floor below him. By some divine miracle, Shinji managed to utter out a single question, "Kamio is gay?"

"Eh, that was a bit of a surprise for me too," Ann replied, grinning sheepishly. "I know he used to like me and everything… He's probably bi." Her face brightened up. "Either way, it doesn't matter, ne? Kamio is Kamio, no matter what his sexual preference is. Just find out who his boyfriend is, okay?"

Shinji stared at Ann as if he was taking a long time to digest those words. Finally, he bent down and picked up the roll of grip tape. He placed it back to where he had gotten it and walked away without even saying good-bye to the girl. A long string of pure digression poured out of his mouth. "Kamio is gay. How strange. I wonder why I didn't notice it before. Aren't gay people supposed to be peaceful? Kamio sure has a short fuse. He blew up on me the other day. He said that I was mumbling. I wasn't mumbling. I was just speaking my thoughts. I can share my thoughts if I want…"

Ann smiled, watching Shinji leave. See, Shinji was definitely one of those guys who had a separate, deeper inner self, a self which he chose to reveal rarely. Although Ann had never actually seen Shinji's real self, she knew of two characteristics which pierced through his clouded personality.

One, he was blunt. Shinji, although a rambler, did not waste time. The strange thing was, Shinji was only blunt by accident. The guy had the bad habit of thinking aloud.

Two, he was vindictive.

So put them together.

Ann giggled.

Ryoma sighed, taking a long drink from his Ponta can as he stared ahead, bored as hell. He and Momo-senpai were supposed to be playing at the public courts, but then they ran into Kamio and… Well, there was really no need for a further explanation. The strange thing was, Ryoma couldn't quite figure out what the two were actually arguing about. The bike incident was a long time ago and Tachibana Ann wasn't at the scene. So what the hell… Ryoma let out another sigh.

There was a sudden commotion and people began to back away from something. Seigaku's prodigy turned from his bench in the shade to see Fudomine's prodigy emerge from the stairs with a murderous aura around him. There was literally black fire all over Shinji as he passed the golden-eyed boy by. Interesting, Ryoma thought, smiling slightly. Shinji hadn't even batted him an eye. Usually, whenever Ryoma was near, Shinji would try and start some debate about grip tape or something.

But today… Ryoma watched as Shinji stalked over to Kamio. Momo caught one look at Shinji, turned blue, and began to edge away slowly.

"…is it that Seigaku guy? That's strange, even for Kamio. He doesn't have any taste for his rivals. Unless… No, I'm sure of it. I'm his best friend," Shinji muttered to himself as he glared Momoshiro's way, succeeding in scaring the other boy off. "I know him best." He turned his gaze upon Kamio.

Kamio, who was used to Shinji's many attitudes, raised an eyebrow. His earlier hype at Momo ebbed away. "What's wrong Shinji?" he asked. Strange. Rhythm boy noticed Echizen sitting on a bench right behind Shinji. Why wasn't Shinji talking to… His eyes suddenly narrowed as Momoshiro got into his line of vision. The guy was talking to Echizen about something, pointing his way. Why that…

"Are you going out with that Seigaku guy?"

"…WHAT?!" Kamio exploded.

Apparently, Momo over heard and facefaulted right into the bench, whamming his head against stone.

"You must be," Shinji rambled on, glaring at Kamio. "You're always talking about him. Why did you keep—"

"—hold on Shinji—" Kamio began.

"—a secret from me? I'm your best friend. I deserve to know. I know you better than anyone else. Why that guy anyway? What does he have that I don't? He's annoying. He's loud."

"…Shinji…" Kamio's eyebrow began to twitch.

Shinji finally stopped to take a breath. Rhythm boy seized the moment and snapped back, "Shinji, I don't know what you're talking about." He stared at the dark-haired boy in the eyes. "In fact, besides the fact that there's no way in hell I'd going out with Momoshiro, it sounds like you're jealous."

Silence.

The wind blew.

Echizen got up from the bench, dragging an unconscious Momo behind him, walking to the other side of the building(1). "We'll be leaving," Seigaku's prodigy said, "I hope you two work that lover's spat out."

Kamio's eyebrow twitched and he whipped his head around. "YOU LITTLE BRAT—"

"You're not going out with that Seigaku regular?"

"NO!" Kamio replied, exasperated, turning back to the long, dark-haired boy.

Pause.

"Oh," Shinji stated flatly. He blinked, still holding Kamio's eye contact.

Kamio raised an eyebrow. "You know, you really did sound like you were jealous."

A slight, red mark started across Shinji's cheeks. He seemed faintly annoyed at something. "I wasn't jealous. You were imagining things. Why would I be jealous? I know I'm your best friend. I know that if you were actually gay or bi or whatever that you would choose—…" He suddenly stopped.

"I would choose what?" Kamio asked, waiting.

Shinji stood there, staring at Kamio. Then, right before Kamio was about to lose his patience and snap at the dazed boy, Shinji bent over and gave Kamio a light kiss. However, the dark haired boy completely messed up on his aim and it landed on the tip of Kamio's nose.

Shinji shrugged and tried again.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Kamio freaked, backing away. "What are you—How—Why—…"

Shinji glanced away, turning red. He said nothing.

"You're… You're…" Kamio began angrily, stalking forward. He grabbed Shinji, startling the usually dazed boy, and placed one hand firmly in back of Shinji's head, pulling the other boy towards him. "You're such a bad kisser."

"……"

Kamio planted one right on Shinji lips. Brief, but sweet. Light, but deep.

Ann, once again, laughed silently. She sat there, obscured by the bushes, watching Kamio teach Shinji the art of making out. Hahaha…ha…wait…where had Kamio learned to kiss anyway?

owari

(1) For those who don't know, the public courts has two sides, separated by a building. It was in the 'date' episode. Forgot the number.