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Traditionally, the last day of school was the time for all the third years of the Seigaku Tennis Club to say their goodbyes to their club. All of them had already resigned from the club a few weeks prior, due to exams and school regulations; but the true farewells were only spoken at the end of the last ranking matches of the year, those that determined who would be attending the few matches offered by rival teams during the holidays.
It was also the moment for the captain and vice-captain duties to be passed on, and that was the part most were anxious about. There had been bets running in the locker room ever since the third years had withdrawn from club; most of them gave Echizen as vice-captain, and the odds were almost equal between Momoshiro and Kaidou for the captainship, with a slight preference for the more social of the two.
Inui had watched, and participated in this event the two previous years, but this time was different. Maybe because they had won the National tournament this year, and it had drawn all club members closer together. Maybe because all were aware that, now that two thirds of the team were gone, things would have to be built back from the base.
Maybe, also, because this time he was the one leaving.
The non-regular second years, led by an extremely commanding Arai, had organized what could only be called a party for the occasion, complete with drinks, snacks and music, the departing Regulars stood scattered in the courts, saying their goodbyes to whoever came to them, club members and fangirls alike.
Fangirls among which Ryuuzaki Sakuno, while her pigtailed friend was trying to stalk her Ryoma-sama and cooing over how good a captain he would be next year - she apparently did not know that only third years could be named captains - had managed to fight her way to all six of them, offering freshly baked cakes - recipe taught by her grandmother, Inui's data book provided - with a few words and a blush, and while he hadn't paid any attention to the girl for non data-related issues during the year, he'd felt oddly touched by the gesture.
He watched his friends' interaction with the people with interest, gathering or adjusting data about their social dynamics, while girls whose name he would never have remembered if he didn't make it a point to know everything about the tennis club came to offer their admiration - and a few telephone numbers, which surprised him more than any new technique of their genius freshman ever could.
He still managed, in all the noise and confusion, to keep track of Kaidou, who made his way from one senpai to another, apparently aimlessly but, to Inui, in an obvious order of precedence, and very formally bowed to them - 2.5 seconds longer to Tezuka than to any of the others, Inui noted with unsurprised interest. Then Echizen and Momoshiro came to talk to him together, Momoshiro smacking his kouhai up the head every time something unflattering was about to come out of his mouth - even though they all knew that Inui had predicted all the "Mada mada dane" and "I hate your style of tennis" before Echizen had even started to mouth them - and he lost track of the last Regular. Then the freshmen trio came, then more girls, then Arai and a few other second years, and then the music stopped and Tezuka called for his last meeting as captain to name his successor.
The choice was of no surprise to Inui. He'd seen it taking shape in Tezuka's eyes over the past months, and had agreed with it as soon as his captain had asked for his opinion. He'd known for a long time that Kaidou would make a good captain - good enough to bring next year's team much higher than anyone would expect of him - and he had learned, with time, to work quite well with Momoshiro.
It was, symbolically, Kaidou who dismissed the meeting and sent the freshmen to tidy up the mess on the courts, and Inui made his way back to the locker room to grab his bag.
This was not his place anymore.
He managed not to think about anything else than the new data High School would hold as he made his way back home. Only when he reached the bridge where he'd spent so many hours watching and analyzing did he acknowledge what had happened.
If he was to be honest with himself, he had to admit that he'd been somewhat anxious at the approach of the official goodbyes - but he had not expected things to be like this.
Kaidou, very proper and serious Kaidou, who had paid his respects to all of his elders in turn, had not come to him.
It was almost painful to think about, but he couldn't help making his way to the bank as memories of the past year came back to him.
"Senpai?" a familiar voice spoke behind him, and for a second he was tempted to ignore it and leave, but he had decided that he would be a responsible senpai to the end, hadn't he?
So he turned around and pretended that he wasn't hurt, wasn't bitter, as he answered with an non-committal noise. Surprisingly enough, Kaidou was still dressed in his Regular jacket, instead of his usual training attire- then again, it was a little cold to be wandering around wearing nothing more than shorts and a sleeveless shirt.
Kaidou was giving him an assessing look, and if he hadn't known his kouhai better than that, Inui could have believed that he had been subjected to an experiment of sorts.
But it was nothing like it, he understood as the Viper vanished before his eyes to be replaced by the Kaidou he'd had the occasion to watch in his own room, all those months ago.
"My parents... they're getting divorced. My father left this morning."
Oh.
It didn't explain why Kaidou had been ignoring him all through practice, it didn't make things better; but at least it helped him switch his concentration to other problems. Still he couldn't help but wonder, as he looked more closely at Kaidou's face, how long the other boy had known about it - how long the news had been eating at him.
But it wasn't his role to ask, and Kaidou must have had a good reason not to tell him before. Certainly.
"... Are you all right?" it was all he could say, after all; there was nothing he could offer that would make his kouhai feel better, but he wanted to know, wanted to make sure that Kaidou would be alright before he moved on to other things.
"I will be. But... that's why..." And suddenly the sensitive boy Inui had come to look for was gone, and he was suddenly faced with a look he'd seen many times from behind a fence and once over a net - the look that said You can try to stop me, but I will get what I want in the end, stubborn and determined as only Kaidou knew how to be. "I'm not saying goodbye to you."
Inui's immediate response was "I do hope you're not confusing me with your father," but he couldn't help the big goofy grin that spread on his face, brought on by the tidal wave of relief that had flowed over him at Kaidou's words.
He got a glare an a hiss as an answer, but Kaidou's expression softened after a few seconds, and suddenly Inui was very happy with the world.