Title: The Long Game
Characters/Pairings: Imayoshi and Kasamatsu
Summary: Imayoshi plays the long game.
Notes: General audiences; a not-at-all porny fill for Porn Battle. 1309 words.

The Long Game

"What?" Kasamatsu said, his next bite of ramen suspended in mid-air, clearly forgotten. "What?" He stared at Shouichi, looking just about as gobsmacked as Shouichi had ever seen him.

Shouichi grinned at him, which only made Kasamatsu glare at him furiously. "It is kind of loud in here, isn't it?" He raised his voice a bit—just enough to make Kasamatsu's eyes widen in horror—and repeated himself. "I said, how about we go find a hotel room after this?" He slurped up some more noodles while Kasamatsu sputtered. "So, how about it?"

It was probably only the fact that they weren't teammates and were sitting across from each other in a public place that kept Kasamatsu from kicking him. As it was, he looked sorely tempted to do so anyway. "I don't even like you."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Shouichi wondered out loud, enjoying the way Kasamatsu was going red. "Hey, you know, if you don't hurry up, your ramen's going to be ruined."

It didn't take a master craftsman to reduce Kasamatsu to wordless noises of outrage, but Shouichi flattered himself with the thought that this was perhaps one of his better efforts. Kasamatsu snarled at him and resumed eating with savage efficiency, slurping up his noodles and chomping on them while he glared across the table at Shouichi. Shouichi followed his most instructive example, continuing to eat placidly while he waited for Kasamatsu to make the next move.

"What are you playing at?" Kasamatsu burst out with the question after only a scant few minutes; Shouichi hadn't thought it would take very long.

"Beg pardon?" he inquired.

Kasamatsu leveled a finger at him, his eyes narrowed. "Don't. You know damn well what I mean. What the hell are you up to now?"

"Eating," Shouichi told him, just for the joy of watching Kasamatsu's eyes snap. "I'm thinking about a second round of noodles, how about you?"

Kasamatsu brought his fist down on the table hard enough to make their dishes dance and people turn to look at their table from all around the restaurant. "Be serious!"

Shouichi set his chopsticks down and tucked his hands under his chin. "What makes you think that I'm not?"

"I don't know, maybe because I've met you?" Kasamatsu retorted.

"Mm, I reckon that's a good point," Shouichi conceded. "Hoist by my own petard, as they say. What a tragic irony."

"I am going to give you thirty seconds to start making sense, and then I'm getting up and leaving." Kasamatsu's voice had gone calm, dangerously so, and his eyes were hard. "That's thirty more seconds than you deserve, so start talking."

Shouichi figured that he meant every word of it. Time to be blunt, then. He shrugged at Kasamatsu. "I like you and find you attractive, and I would like to sleep with you."

According to his internal count, the thirty-second mark came and went while Kasamatsu sat and stared at him, slack-jawed. "You—you—" he said eventually, shaking his head. "You're not serious." But he was not getting up to leave.

Shouichi chose to take that as a positive omen. "No, I'm afraid that I am." He took a philosophical approach to it. What other choice was there?

Kasamatsu stared at him some more, no longer slack-jawed—no, he was frowning now, eyes narrowed beneath his knitted brows. That was his analytical face. Shouichi settled in to enjoy the spectacle of Kasamatsu working his way through an unexpected twist. "So when you started showing up at the street court near my apartment…?"

"Because I wanted to see you," Shouichi said, smiling at him. "It's so hard to find a decent game when you're not in a club anymore."

Kasamatsu squinted at him, but declined to press the point. "And when you started badgering me into betting meals on the outcomes of our games…?"

"Covert dating," Shouichi said promptly, enjoying himself hugely.

Kasamatsu stared at him. "Cover dating," he repeated, his tone utterly flat.

"Of course." Shouichi grinned at him. "How else was I going to get you to see the many facets of my personality off the court?"

"Your personality doesn't have facets. It's got exactly one facet, and that is pure asshole."

"But at least I'm a charming asshole," Shouichi said.

Kasamatsu snorted. "Do you actually believe your own bullshit?"

"If I did that, then I'd really be in trouble." Shouichi pushed his bowl back and folded his hands on the table in front of him, studying Kasamatsu. "But I suppose that if you're not taken by my suit, there's no helping it. A fellow can't win them all." He inclined his head to Kasamatsu. "I'll just be on my way—"

"Oh, stop that." Kasamatsu frowned at him before he could follow through on sliding out from the booth. "You're not fooling anyone. Keep your ass in that seat and let me think."

Shouichi laughed, delighted that Kasamatsu had seen through his gambit. "That's why I like you. You're so good at this."

Kasamatsu looked at him, frowning, and tapped his finger against the surface of the table. "Why me?" he demanded, abrupt. "Assuming for the moment that I accept that you're being serious. Why me?" He raised his finger in warning. "And no bullshit. Now is not the time for your games."

He was both right, and not, but no matter. Shouichi considered his answer carefully—even more carefully than he would have done anyway. At last he shrugged. "I can't think of anyone who makes a better match for me, whether we're on the court or off it."

"Huh." Kasamatsu settled back in his seat, still wearing that thoughtful frown, and studied him. "I think you really mean that."

"You did ask for no bullshit," Shouichi apologized.

Kasamatsu snorted at him again; something like the herald of a smile kicked up the corner of his mouth. "I don't know why I put up with you."

"I'd tell you it was my incredible good looks and prowess in bed, but…" Shouichi spread his hands. "Since I haven't had a chance to demonstrate that, it must be something else."

"It must be," Kasamatsu agreed, dry. "Though I can't imagine what it might be." He pursed his lips and then nodded, as if he had come to some decision. "All right."

Shouichi blinked. "Er. Am I going to be establishing my prowess in bed after all?"

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not that kind of girl." Kasamatsu shrugged. "There's no such thing as covert dating, and I don't put out on the first date anyway. But I might say yes if you were to man up and ask me out for real."

"Really, now." Shouichi smiled across the table at him. "In that case, would you like to catch a movie and have dinner next weekend?"

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Kasamatsu pointed a finger at him again. "But don't think this means I like you or anything."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Shouichi assured him, not bothering to conceal his amusement. He leaned forward again. "But tell me more about this policy of yours. How many dates does it take before you turn into that kind of girl?"

Kasamatsu balled his napkin up and bounced it off his forehead. "Don't push your luck," he growled. "That's none of your damn business."

"Yet," Shouichi said, breezy. "But I've been patient for this long. I suppose it won't hurt me to be patient a while longer."

Kasamatsu gave him a suspicious look. "Just how long is 'this long'?"

Shouichi smiled. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

He had no doubt that Kasamatsu would, eventually, but that was all part of the fun of playing the long game, after all, and Kasamatsu was by far the best partner for that he'd ever found.

end

Comments are always lovely!