* eyeswideshut has signed on.

eyeswideshut: Hello, Inui.

datacollector: Fuji. You're not usually online at this hour.

eyeswideshut: I'm always online now.

datacollector: My logs show that on Sunday evenings you're only online between the hours of 8:00pm and 10:00pm 6.5% of the time.

eyeswideshut: That's because I'm hiding.

datacollector: Ah. Invisible mode. I admit I hadn't factored in that possibility.

eyeswideshut: Only you can see me now. How does that factor? ^_^

Inui was eyeball-deep in juice recipes when the door to lab eleven swung open and shut. He didn't even have time to turn around before someone grabbed his shoulder, making him jump and spill a drop of Experimental Penal-tea #68 (Working name: Mentali-tea, designed to improve concentration and higher brain function) onto the table. The juice sizzled and spluttered and evaporated, leaving behind a dark spot. Well, that would come out. Probably.

"I thought I'd find you here."

Inui spun around. "Ah, Fuji." Fuji was standing close to him. Very close. "I'm usually here during lunch, so it's not surprising you found me," said Inui.

Fuji smiled. "Probability would seem to suggest that, wouldn't it?"

Inui felt like Fuji was teasing him, only Inui wasn't sure what he had done. That happened a lot around Fuji, which was probably the reason Inui didn't initiate most of their interactions. Provoking was so much more familiar than being provoked.

"Did you need me for something?" Inui asked. Maybe practice had been canceled or Ryuzaki had called a meeting for the regulars.

"I had fun talking to you last night," Fuji said. "We should do it again."

Or that.

Inui wasn't sure why Fuji had enjoyed himself so much. They'd discussed school, tennis shoe preferences, Tezuka's stay in Kyushu, and their upcoming chances against Rikkai Dai. Inui had had fun, too, though. He'd stayed online until his mother had called to him that it was time for bed, even though the only useful data he'd gathered had been learning that they probably didn't manufacture ladies' tennis shoes in his size.

"I'll be on my computer tonight after dinner," Fuji continued, peering up. Inui had never realized how much shorter Fuji was, maybe because he seemed so unreachable on the courts. "Will you?

Inui blinked. Well, it would take some restructuring of his schedule, but--

"Yes, I could do that."

"Good," Fuji said, stepping back and leaving Inui feeling rather bemused. "I'll be looking forward to it."

So that's why Echizen won't be able to return Kaidoh's Boomerang Snake for at least another two months, Inui typed, and that's only if he follows my training menu exactly.

According to the data, Fuji replied a moment later.

Correct.

But he's overcome your data before, hasn't he? ^_^

Inui paused. Well, yes, he admitted. Echizen and Tezuka and Fuji -- all of them made a habit of smashing his information to bits.

Why haven't you made me a training menu? asked Fuji.

He had, actually. Inui updated training menus for all of Seigaku's regulars plus a few of the promising alternates once every two weeks. He then distributed the menus based on Ryuzaki-sensei's and Tezuka's recommendations, the perceived receptiveness of the player, and whether or not Inui thought the training menu would actually help. Kaidoh had gotten one every other week since the summer of Inui's second year; Inui had kept all of Fuji's.

I didn't think you'd want one.

There's a lot you don't know about me.

That was true. Fuji's data was a source of constant frustration. He was too good at hiding it.

Inui? Fuji asked eventually.

Yes? Inui replied. I'm still here.

May I ask you a question?

All right, typed Inui, although he wasn't sure why Fuji had asked his permission. Fuji had already asked him fourteen questions that night, thirty-eight in the last two days.

Have you ever kissed anyone?

Inui stared at the screen, watching the cursor blink over and over. He wished he could figure Fuji out, even if everything indicated he never would. He considered lying, especially since that question led to murky territory that sort of scared him, but figured somehow Fuji would know. No, he answered finally.

Hmm. Would you want to?

Inui felt his face get hot. What kind of question was that? I require more research, he typed, thinking that was neutral enough.

Hmm, Fuji replied again. You're interesting, Inui. ^_^

"Come with me," Fuji said, wrapping a small, deceptively strong hand around Inui's wrist. This was the second lunch hour Fuji had interrupted in as many days.

"I can't," Inui protested, feeling his glasses slip down his nose. "I'm in the middle of something."

Fuji stopped short and looked over his shoulder, keeping his grip tight on Inui's wrist. "You can. What I have to show you won't take long."

There was an experiment about to boil over. Chance of it being corrosive to the chemistry lab's floor, thought Inui while doing some quick calculations, 77%.

Fuji smiled.

"Okay," Inui agreed. It probably wouldn't eat all the way through the floor.

Fuji wove in and out of a crowd of laughing second years on their way to buy bread and juice. Inui thought he spied Momoshiro among them, but they were moving too quickly to be totally sure.

"All right," Fuji said, opening a door and ushering Inui inside. "In here."

Inui looked all around. "This is a supply closet."

Fuji pulled the door shut, and Inui found himself pushed up against the back wall.

"Fuji, what--"

The rest of Inui's question was cut off by Fuji's mouth. Inui's eyes flew open as Fuji's tongue touched his lower lip and Fuji raised himself up on his toes to more easily reach Inui's mouth. Over and over, Fuji licked at Inui's lips, until Inui opened his mouth and Fuji started licking his tongue. Inui moaned. He couldn't help it, he had too little information, hadn't known how much he'd like it.

Fuji ran his fingers up Inui's arm, his shoulder, his neck, resting at his nape and playing with the hair there. Inui didn't know where to put his hands, so he kept them at his side.

After a minute, maybe more, Fuji pulled away. He kept his eyes on Inui as he walked backward until he reached the door and didn't even trip over the bucket that sat on the closet's floor.

"Ii data," Fuji said with a knowing smile tugging at his lips, turning the doorknob and slipping back into Seigaku's bustling halls.

Inui could only blink after him, reaching up to touch his own mouth. His glasses had fogged up.

After dinner, Inui found himself sitting in his room, staring at his blank monitor. There were seventeen things he could have been doing instead of mentally weighing the pros and cons of signing onto the Internet.

It had been easy enough to just concentrate on tennis during afternoon practice, but what would he and Fuji talk about when it was just the two of them? Would Fuji want to discuss their kiss? Would he pretend it had never happened? Inui didn't know what he wanted to happen, didn't know what to think at all. Too bad Mentali-tea was still in the acidic stages. He could have used it.

His phone jangled in his pocket, making him jump a foot in the air. Inui managed to dig it out in time and looked at the screen to see who was calling.

Fuji. Inui began breathing erratically for no logical reason. He jabbed at the keypad.

"Hello?"

"Inui," Fuji said.

Inui held the phone away from his mouth and exhaled. "Is everything all right?" he asked, once his breathing had stabilized.

"Everything's fine. I wanted to let you know that I can't chat tonight. Yuuta came home for dinner, and our sister's making his favorite dessert. Family is important."

"Yes, of course," said Inui, trying not to let his confusion seep into his voice. "That's fine."

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Fuji. Inui could hear commotion in the background, including Fuji's siblings chattering.

"Tomorrow," said Inui before Fuji hung up.

Inui wasn't sure why Fuji had called. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the gesture, but they hadn't made plans to chat online that night. Maybe Fuji didn't want Inui to worry, or maybe he was trying to say that his brother was important, but Inui wasn't. Maybe Inui was just a game to Fuji.

There were too many questions and not enough answers. Inui fought the urge to yell in frustration. He needed a distraction. Inui scanned the notebooks on his shelves, reading the spines quickly: Seigaku first years, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Echizen Ryoma, Hyotei regulars, Yanagi Renji (Top Secret), Fuji Yuuta, Fuji Syuusuke...

This wasn't helping.

Inui picked up his phone again. He scrolled through the names in his electronic address book and dialed. The person on the other end picked up.

"Kaidoh."

"Senpai."

"We have only a few days before the Kantou finals. How's your training progressing?"

Forty-five minutes later, Inui's head was so full of facts about Kaidoh's development that he'd nearly forgotten everything else. Nearly.

Before he went to sleep, Inui touched his mouth again and tried to ignore the itch in his fingertips.

The next day at practice Inui still felt unsettled, fired up in a way he hadn't since the last time he'd played Tezuka. There was so much unused energy moving around in his body that he thought he might explode. Inui served ball after ball against an empty court as Kaidoh measured his speed. His muscles burned and turned to rubber, then jelly, then liquid, but Inui just kept going.

"208 kilometers an hour. That's national level, senpai," Kaidoh interrupted after a particularly blistering shot. Kaidoh put his hand on Inui's shoulder as he showed Inui the readout, and Inui's eyes widened as he tried to catch his breath. Inui initiated physical contact with Kaidoh 6.2 times more often than Kaidoh did with him.

Inui felt his neck prickle as Kaidoh congratulated him and turned around to find Fuji grasping the links of the fence, watching them with a serious expression on his face. Then, as quickly as a cloud passes over the sun, Fuji smiled brightly.

The door to the clubhouse slammed, and Echizen sauntered out, balancing a tennis ball on the edge of his racquet. "Play a match with me, Fuji-senpai?"

"Sure, Echizen," Fuji said, waving at Inui and Kaidoh.

Inui watched them go. He felt a tug at his stomach and the kinetic molecules in his body started bumping up against each other again. Something very troubling was happening, and Inui suspected he wouldn't find answers no matter how many XY coordinates he graphed.

A window popped up a minute after Inui signed on.

I didn't know if you'd be around tonight.

Hello, Fuji, Inui replied.

You looked good at practice today, Fuji typed. When you were working with Kaidoh.

Inui leaned back in his chair, keyboard in his lap, fingers hovering over the letters. It felt like he was missing the appropriate response to that. There was a chance that Fuji was jealous, but this was Fuji. Inui had to doubt the data.

I hope I didn't offend you the other day, Fuji continued when Inui didn't answer right away. Was your project ruined?

No. Inui shook his head. Actually, yes, the project was ruined, but nothing I couldn't fix. You didn't offend me.

Good. I meant what I said.

Inui wrinkled his forehead. What did you say?

That you're interesting. I like having a challenge. It's hard for me to figure you out.

Look who's talking, Inui wanted to reply.

I know that you're thinking I have no place to talk, Fuji answered, and Inui got a little scared. You're right. I like being a challenge, too.

Inui smiled, in spite of himself. You don't say.

Wait, I'm not finished, typed Fuji. I like being a challenge, but not enough to hide the fact that I liked kissing you. Maybe too much.

If you liked it so much, why did you leave so quickly?

Because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to stop myself. ^_^

Inui sucked in a breath and read the sentence again.

Inui?

You didn't have to stop yourself, Inui replied quickly, pressing enter a moment before he could delete what he'd typed. The cursor blinked once, twice, three times: Fuji?

I'm here. That's good to know.

Some of the tension in Inui's body melted away, easy as that. Inui grinned.

His mother threatened to take the computer out of his room when he went to bed an hour later than usual that night, but Inui was too busy making plans to care.

Seigaku was quiet early in the morning.

Complete with "Fuji Syuusuke Chatlog: Volume 1" tucked under his arm, Inui took a deep breath and opened the door to the clubhouse. If his data was correct, and given that it was Fuji, it quite possibly wasn't, Fuji arrived at morning practice twenty minutes before everyone else. If Tezuka hadn't been in rehabilitation, he might have caused unintentional interference, but as things were, Inui thought the odds were in his favor.

Inui pushed up his glasses. He liked it when odds were in his favor.

"Inui!" exclaimed Fuji, his eyes widening in surprise. He'd been sitting on a bench and tying his shoes, already dressed in his club uniform.

Not bothering to hide his smirk, Inui raised his hand in greeting. "Yo." He walked over to Fuji and dropped his bag and notebook onto the bench.

"You're here early," said Fuji, standing up.

Inui shrugged. "Just a little," he said. Inui grabbed Fuji's wrist. His fingers overlapped. "Come with me."

Fuji laughed. "The other club members could come in at any time."

"What I want to show you won't take long," Inui said.

"That's not exactly the most inspiring pickup line," Fuji said.

"Worked for me. Come on." Inui tugged Fuji's arm and pulled him into one of the bathroom stalls.

"We'll have to work on your choice of venue, too," Fuji said as Inui slid the lock shut. Inui slid his hand under Fuji's chin, tilting it up.

"Limited options," Inui mumbled, pressing their mouths together. "Unless you want someone to walk in on us."

Fuji pulled back. "I wouldn't mind," he said, before kissing Inui again.

Inui tried the tongue thing that Fuji had done, running it along Fuji's lower lip until Fuji sighed and opened his mouth. Inui felt like he could sense every impulse firing from his nerve cells and out his synapses, making his muscles move almost on their own even though he still didn't know where to put his hands. Not until Fuji pressed one of his to the front of Inui's pants, at least, because then Inui really, really got the idea.

A little while later, Inui was straightening his uniform and Fuji was tugging his Seigaku jersey back into place. Inui flushed a wad of toilet paper and unlocked the stall, running headlong into Oishi. Fuji peered around Inui.

"G-- good morning!" Oishi said in a loud voice. "You're both here early." His face was red as a tomato.

"Oishi," Inui intoned, rubbing his mouth and determining that it was 22% more swollen than usual. "Fuji had something in his eye, and I was assisting him. This stall has the best lighting in the clubhouse."

"Oh," Oishi said. "Next time, why don't you try going outside?"

Fuji doubling over with laughter didn't exactly add gravity to Inui's story.

* datacollector has signed on.

datacollector: Fuji.

eyeswideshut: Hello, Inui. ^_^

datacollector: This morning was nice.

eyeswideshut: Very. Next time we'll have to do it in a place that isn't regularly mopped by the school janitor. Would you want to come over my house sometime?

datacollector: I believe I could work that into my schedule. Fuji, may I ask you a question?

eyeswideshut: Of course.

datacollector: Am I still the only one who can see that you're online?

eyeswideshut: You are.

datacollector: Hmm. Fuji?

eyeswideshut: Yes, Inui?

datacollector: What are you wearing?

END.