Kaidoh looked around the street courts and sighed. That was the problem with having (unofficially) 9 regulars on the team: there was always someone left out. Fuji, Tezuka and Echizen were always in demand, as were the Golden Pair. Momoshiro seemed to know everyone and this time Kawamura and Inui had been dragged into a doubles game against one of Fudomine’s pairs.

That left him standing on the sidelines, waiting for one of the courts to become free. They were unusually busy - probably because it was a Sunday - and there were a lot of top players, including a few from Hyotei.

That said, Hyotei’s players were having about as much trouble as most of Seigaku’s in finding matches. Atobe, Oshitari and Gakuto were all on court, leaving a single representative in the bleachers.

Kaidoh looked over somewhat disapprovingly. If you came to the street courts, you should be prepared to play tennis, not to nap. That said, given the amount of time he was likely to have to wait, a nap didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Akutagawa-kun seemed to have come prepared. Not only was he sprawled comfortably along a bench, his head pillowed on his tennis bag but there was a book by his feet and a bottle of drink on the floor beside him.

He sighed and sat down heavily on the bench next to the other boy. Akutagawa didn’t even stir.

“I guess we’re in the same boat,” he said, not really expecting a response, and leaned back on his arms.

Out of curiosity, picked up the book and flicked through it. Doujinshi for some football manga. A page caught his eye and he stared at it.

“Hm, you read ‘Whistle!’ too?” came a sleepy voice.

Kaidoh grunted.

“Never heard of it.”

Suddenly, he had a lap full of Akutagawa. Apparently that was the wrong answer. He flushed a bit as Akutagawa squirmed. He got the impression that he was either asleep or hyper; it was a bit of a disconcerting combination.

“That’s Fuwa-kun - my favourite character - he’s dating Kazamatsuri-kun, who’s the short smiley one.”

Kaidoh had to admit - to himself, of course, there was no way he’d say it out loud - that Kazamatsuri was kind of cute.

“Ne, Kaidoh-kun? Do you want to come over to my place and watch the anime? It would be awesome! We could have popcorn and everything.”

Kaidoh looked out at the courts again.

“It’s not like we’ll be playing anytime soon,” he said and stood up. “Come on then, Akutagawa-san.”

“Jiroh, Kaidoh-kun. The only person who calls me Akutagawa is the coach. And Ootori, but he’s different that way. Did you really mean that you’d never seen any of it before? We can start right from the beginning then….”