Akaya had a devilish grin, mischievous eyes, and black, unruly curls that defied order and prediction. Those who didn’t know him would say that he was sadistic and rebellious, rash and psychotic. They would describe his sinister leer of demon eyes dyed red by blood and his evil cackle, as his forehand connected with his opponents’ face. But Renji knew better.

After a year of observation since Akaya’s entry into Rikkai’s tennis club, Renji had seen past the oni mask that Akaya wears on the court to the real boy underneath. The boy who couldn’t pronounce English to save his life, the boy with the darling green eyes that looked intently at Renji while he asked “Yanagi-senpai, how do I do this math question?” and the boy who pouted whenever Renji beat him at matches through precise timing and calculations and declared that he will train harder and beat him. It was also the boy who fussed whenever his seniors were fighting even though he would never admit to the correlation between the two.

Seiichi had once commented that Akaya reminds him of a hurricane—utter chaos on the outside but contains an inner peace. Renji was never as romantic as the other boy, but he could see the truth in that statement. If you approach Akaya, you may get hurt but if you’re able to get past the devastating, howling winds, then you may stumble upon a pleasant surprise.

It was Akaya who taught Renji that one can’t rely on predictions and numbers all the time during an afternoon tutoring session after tennis practice. “Ne Yanagi-senpai, let’s take a break! Wanna play Soul Calibur II with me?” Akaya asked as he loaded up his Playstation 2.

“There is a 99% that you will beat me the first time. There is a 90% that I will not like playing that game and there is an 85% that after playing it, you will not be able to concentrate,” Renji stated matter-of-factly while his face remained impassive as it always did when he rattled out probabilities.

“You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, senpai! After all there's still that 10%. Besides, even Sanada-fukubuchou played with me!”

They ended up playing a set, Nightmare versus Taki, with the final score of 6-4 (like tennis, winner has to lead by two). Renji won the game after figuring out the controls and timing, to which Akaya protested and brushed off as beginner’s luck, but Renji knew that in the end the real winner was Akaya. The game was surprisingly pleasant and he kicked butt with Taki.

*

Written for a creative in-class writing assignment while using a proverb. :X So I wrote about YanaKiri. lol And I totally have this vision of Akaya playing Soul Cal with the Troika. ;o; Renji fits Taki. X3 Yuki would use Ivy (hahaa) and Sanada would be Mitsurugi of course. :o