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"I believe we could all benefit from this lineup," said Yukimura as he slid the clipboard over the table for his teammates to see. The first one to comment on it was Marui.

"Why are we Doubles 2 again?!"

"Didn't I just say so?" Yukimura's tone remained cool. "This is for the sake of the team."

The redhead frowned, looking around the room to see if he was the only one who didn't really understand what Yukimura was talking about. Jackal, at least, appearead to be as puzzled as him.

Niou on the other hand, was grinning like a devil and not even bothering to hide it. As for Sanada and Yanagi, their expressions remained as neutral and stoic as ever.

Yagyuu looked from the paper back to their captain. "That sounds very nice, but would you mind elaborating, Yukimura-kun? Or are we waiting for Kirihara-kun?"

Yukimura smiled at him, shaking his head slowly. "Actually, I'd appreciate it if you could all keep this reunion from him," he paused for a brief second, as if considering how to phrase things. "Things might not go according to plan, if he were to find out." That statement alone, was more than enough to change everyone's expressions in the room into curiousity, interest, and amusement in some cases.

*****

Yanagi was not exactly pleased with this turn of events. Of course, most of the team members weren't, but he felt especially at fault. After all, he had been the one who had spent hours discussing Kirihara's progress and development with Sanada and Yukimura since the latter had returned to the team.

"You could call it a fight-or-flight response of sorts," he'd said, "except in Akaya's case flight is never a real option."

There had been a glint in Yukimura's eyes when he heard that. "So what you're saying is... the most effective way for him to improve his tennis..." he had left the sentence unfinished on purpose. Sanada frowned and Yanagi nodded.

"When confronted with an extreme situation, Akaya will be left with no other option than to push himself beyond his own limits."

Then again, it would have been foolish of Yanagi to expect any different from their captain. Yukimura hadn't been exactly thrilled to hear about Rikkai's defeat in the Regionals, so it only made sense he'd be this ruthless, now. They were going to win the National Tournament, there was no question about that, but they would need for all of the regulars to be in top condition. Merely winning was not acceptable, they had to show their opponents what their true strength was.

Yanagi could do nothing but hope that Kirihara's unpredictability wouldn't turn against them. Perhaps a few suggestions to improve his training menu were in order.

"Yo~ Got a minute to spare?"

Yanagi turned to look at Niou, who was rapidly catching up to him. "Yes?"

"I think we should talk," he waved his hands vaguely, "about strategies."

"Strategies?" Yanagi tilted his head to the right.

"Yeah, you know. For our game?" Niou replied, matter-of-factly. "Not now, though. But I'm interested in hearing what kind of ideas Our Strategist's got in mind, so!"

Yanagi nodded. In reality, he hadn't thought about anything regarding their own match, yet. But Niou didn't need to know that.

"Tomorrow at lunch." Niou gestured towards the school's roof, and walked off without giving Yanagi a chance to reply.

*****

Niou laid sprawled under the sun like a large cat. His eyes were closed, but Yanagi couldn't really tell if he was asleep or not. The moment he stepped closer, one of Niou's eyes darted open.

"Oh. You came."

"I did. Was I not supposed to?" Yanagi took a couple of steps back, giving Niou room to sit up if he wanted to. Which he apparently didn't.

"I thought you'd be busy checking on Akaya." Niou shrugged, closing his eye again.

"Oh?" A hint of amusement could be heard in Yanagi's voice. Niou snorted.

"You're worried about him, aren't you? I kinda am, too. But not for the same reasons."

"What are your reasons?"

Niou stretched, his limbs twisting above him, before springing up to his feet with one swift movement. "I wanna play. If Akaya loses, I won't get to."

Yanagi looked at him, silent.

"What?" Niou smirked. "Do we share the same reasons, after all?"

"I never said I was worried."

"Heh, right. Anyway, that's not why we're here today."

Yanagi nodded.

"Any thoughts on our opponents?"

"David Rivera and Lucas Siebold. Like the rest of Nagoya's lineup for the semifinals, they are exchange students."

"What about their tennis?"

"Exceptional, as well as dangerous. But--"

"But we'll beat them anyway, right?" Niou finished for him.

"There is no question about that."

"Hmmm," Niou started pacing in front of him, "so it's only a matter of figuring out how we'll do it."

"What do you mean?"

Niou stopped in front of Yanagi.

"Only crushing them would be too boring, don't you think? Let's have fun with them."

The clear image of a cat playing with a half-dead mouse before swallowing it whole came to life in Yanagi's mind.

*****

Yanagi arrived slightly earlier the day after, his bento still neatly packed and untouched. Niou, who was in the exact same spot and position as the day before, waved his hand lazily as a greeting. He nodded in response, despite knowing Niou wasn't looking at him, and sat against a wall.

"So?"

"So?" Yanagi replied in the same tone.

"I dunno, have you come up with anything yet?"

Yanagi took a moment to reply, since he was now finally eating. "This is not my field of expertise, you realize."

Niou rolled on the floor and hefted himself up on one elbow to look at him. "You're supposed to be the strategist here."

"And you're the one who wants to play with our opponents," he paused to take a sip from his canned tea. "You're the trickster."

The other boy groaned, rolling his eyes. "I know you're not always this dull, so humour me a little, will ya?"

Yanagi decided not to ask about what Niou thought he knew about him and shrugged instead. "We can't do the same thing as in the Regionals."

"Or can we?"

Yanagi looked up from the piece of salmon he was holding between his chopsticks. "I'm fairly certain that a team who went as far as modifying their entire lineup to make it all that more intimidating would know about your tennis habits."

"Yeah, and that's it exactly. Since they know about it they won't be expecting us to pull a stunt like that again."

"Reverse psychology?"

"Is that it? I just see it as thinking two steps ahead, but I guess that also comes into play."

Yanagi set his bento box on his lap, resisting the rising urge to massage his temples was proving hard. "No offense, but I honestly doubt we'll be able to, ah, stage something like that in so little time."

"O ye of little faith!"

"Excuse me for attempting to apply logic to--"

"Nonono," Niou interrupted, pointing with his index finger, "this has very little to do with logic and a lot to do with talent and skills."

"The game is in less than a week," Yanagi's exasperation wasn't all that subtle, now.

"I know. And I also know you're not an actor, in case you were planning to use that excuse too. But trust me, it'll be way easier than you think."

"You're asking me to trust you?"

Niou sighed heavily. "Yeah, and I really think you should. You know I wouldn't throw away a game that easily."

"The only thing I know," said Yanagi, rising to his feet again, "is that if things start getting out of hand, I will stop listening to a word you say."

Niou laughed. "Things won't get out of hand, Master~. Besides, is that really the way you should talk to your doubles partner? Whatever happened to teamwork!"

Yanagi shook his head, not even bothering to look at Niou anymore. Though he could clearly hear him going puri~ the moment he closed the door behind his back.

*****

"It's okay to walk with us if you want to, Niou." Yukimura called, half-serious, half-teasing.

"Eh? Oh, hey Yukimura! Don't worry, I hadn't even noticed you guys!" Replied Niou cheerfully from a good twenty feet away.

"Somehow, I find that hard to believe." Sanada had an amazing talent for stating the obvious.

Yanagi shook his head. Apparently Niou had been serious about this whole thing. And it wasn't that Yanagi didn't feel like playing along, he simply did not see the point to it. Both of them were excellent tennis players, capable of standing their ground on both singles and doubles games, so catering to Niou's attention needing ways seemed like a completely unnecessary extra effort.

"Doesn't it bother you?" Commented Sanada.

"I don't mind." replied Yukimura. They turned to look at Yanagi, then.

"Perhaps if we ignore him he will go away."

"What does he want, anyway?"

"Well, if I were to take a guess, I'd say it has something to do with Renji."

Sanada turned to look at Yanagi, questioning.

"Was that truly a wild guess, Seiichi?"

"If neither of you is going to say anything, I will..." But the moment Sanada turned to confront Niou, he found that the trickster in question was nowhere to be found.

"Impressive!" Yukimura clapped, much to Sanada's chagrin. Yanagi fished his cell phone out of his pocket only to find a text message from Niou waiting to be read.

'I can follow you all the way home if that's what you want.'

He snapped the cell phone closed without giving it further thought.

*****

Seeing Niou's figure waiting by the front door to his apartment building didn't come as a surprise.

"What do I have to do so you'll let me in?" He tried to keep his tone neutral.

"Well, what do I have to do so you'll play along with me?" The upper half of Niou's body bent forward, so that he was now looking up at Yanagi from behind white bangs. He remained immutable.

"Give me a good reason why I should take part in this."

Niou's eyes lidded at that question, but he said nothing. They both remained like that for a very long moment.

"Mmh~ You got yourself a deal." Niou nodded, pushing the rest of his body forward and away from the wall he was leaning against. Yanagi couldn't help but stare.

"See you tomorrow, Mr. Strategist~"

Yanagi would have slept much more peacefully that night if it hadn't been for the sly, knowing smile that Niou allowed him see to before leaving.

*****

The next morning transcurred like any other, no sightings or text messages from Niou. Yanagi started to toy with the idea that maybe Niou had realized there simply was no way to convince Yanagi, but ultimately he came to the conclusion that the other boy was just too stubborn to give up that easily. Especially after the suspiciously cryptic exchange they had shared the day before. Unfortunately, he couldn't, for the life of him figure out exactly what Niou had in store for him. He kept mentally analyzing all the possible scenarios and probabilities as he made his way to the school's cafeteria, but absolutely nothing could have prepared him for what he saw that moment.

Chitchatting and eating their respective lunches, sitting in the same table as every Wednesday, were Yukimura, Sanada, and himself.

Yanagi froze in place, not entirely sure if the image before his eyes was real or not. A freshman who accidentally bumped against his back confirmed the fact that he was not, in fact, having a very vivid dream. The shorter boy apologized profusely and scurried away, quickly getting lost amongst the sea of students. At least no one seemed to be paying attention to him, or his twin at the table.

Carefully, and without pulling his eyes away from the other him, he started making his way back to the cafeteria's entrance. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening at the table. Yukimura was talking while the other two listened and nodded, with the other Yanagi commenting every now and then. He was too far away to make out anything about the conversation, but from Sanada's expression he could tell they were probably discussing something about their Art teacher. Sanada always had conflicting views with Yukimura when it came to Iwako-sensei.

Speaking of which, Sanada most likely had no idea that the one sitting at the table with them was not his best friend, but one of his disputedly worst enemies. As for Yukimura, he wasn't sure if he was being tricked as well or if he was just playing along for the sake of it, but it didn't make a difference, in any case.

He opened his cell phone and started typing.

*****

Niou took over two hours to actually reply to his text message, and when he did, it was just to tell Yanagi to meet him at the coffee shop behind the arcade Kirihara and Marui frequented. Neither Yukimura nor Sanada mentioned anything to Yanagi regarding lunch, and he was secretly grateful when they didn't ask why he wouldn't join them all the way to the train station that day.

When he arrived to the coffee shop Niou was already there; looking outside the window and sipping on what looked like a capuccino frappe. He only looked at Yanagi once he'd sat down in front of him.

"Weeee~ll?"

Yanagi sighed. "Well, what?"

"You did see us, didn't you? Isn't that why you're here?"

"I did, yes. I have to admit I was rather impressed."

"Is that all?" Niou laughed. "Really, after all the trouble I went through--"

It was Yanagi's turn to chuckle. "Now you're just fishing for compliments."

"So what if I am?" Niou stirred his drink with the straw. "I think those'd be well-deserved compliments."

"Excuse me," the voice of a waitress suddenly interrupted them, "sakura ice."

Yanagi blinked at the dish in front of him as Niou thanked her.

"How...?"

"The same way I knew how to behave today. Do I get compliments now?"

"Congratulations."

Niou grinned as he reached across the table to steal the cherry that was adorning Yanagi's ice cream. "My prize!" He claimed, putting it in his mouth.

"I thought your prize would be me playing your games."

"Nope! That's what you should've done from the start."

"Oh, of course," Yanagi replied monotonously. At least he had his ice cream.

"So, now that you've admitted your defeat, let's get to business. We can totally pull this off in the few days we have left, but it's gonna be hard work. For you, anyway."

"Only for me?"

"Well, I'd like to think I do a pretty decent job of being you already."

"Let's. Not discuss that for now." Niou's ego didn't need any more boosting right now, Yanagi decided. "How are we going to do this?"

"Are you sure you wanna know? I don't think you'll like it -- heeey, hey, don't give me that look, now. Geez, some people can't take a joke."

"Allow me to remind you that I can still change my mind about this."

"Yeah, yeah, of course you can. But--" Niou gestured with his hands. "Anyway. The only thing you have to do, is watch me. That's all there is to it."

"You make it sound so simple."

"'Cause it is! Most people would be able to pull it off if only they bothered, y'know, paying attention to the people around them."

Yanagi nodded, as if asking for elaboration.

"Like... okay. Between you and me? I'm pretty sure this'll be way easier for you than it was for Yagyuu. We worked on it for over a month, dunno how much of it you noticed, but we were practically attached at the hip. Of course, we wasted lots of time arguing over retarded stuff because that's just the way we are, but that's also why I think you'll do fine."

"What do you mean?"

Niou pulled the chewed straw out of his mouth and leaned dangerously close. "You think a lot like me. Sure, outside we're almost total opposites, but here..." Niou tapped Yanagi's temple. "We function almost the same way."

Yanagi pulled back slowly, analyzing every word. "Is that so?" This time, the question was honest.

"That's what I think, anyway," Niou pulled back as well, and took a long sip from his frappe, "but what do you think?"

*****

What, indeed. Yanagi thought about this not only then, but on his way home, later in the bath tub, while he was doing his homework, and later before bed. The more he wanted to say that Niou and him were nothing alike, the more reasons he found not to. It was, admittedly, more than a little disturbing. Especially because he had never noticed it before himself.

 

Contrary to popular belief Niou wasn't a bad student, in fact, he had some of the best grades in his class. But of course, he also spent such great amounts of time napping on the roof and playing pranks on people that these had ended up becoming his defining traits.

And what he had mentioned about observing people in order to learn how to become them?

That was data, Yanagi thought. He wondered if Niou himself had been aware of this, that all his people watching and studying could so easily be translated into that. Yanagi collected data in order to better understand and predict the reactions of the people around him, Niou did it because he enjoyed making their lives hell. Whatever their reasons, in the end, even he could not deny they were good at what they did.

Maybe Niou was right, maybe it would be easier for him.

Maybe he would have fun.

*****

The day after, they met up at the street tennis courts after school and played a few games against each other. The matches were as serious as any other they'd had before, but this time they weren't playing to win. No, they were literally picking apart each other's tennis; their patterns, their movements, even the facial expressions. At one moment, Niou started laughing and it took Yanagi a few seconds to realize that he had been unconsciously mimicking Niou's faces for who-knew-how-long. Yanagi frowned, and took a point from him.

They stopped when they realized they could barely stand on their feet anymore, and they dragged themselves to some benches nearby. There, they talked at length about what they'd seen. Not judging or correctinng each other's moves, but explainig and rationalizing.

"It's not about probabilities or playing styles," Niou said, very serious, "but about being able to get inside the other's head."

"To think the way they think."

"You're moving too fast. Right now it's still about thinking the way you think I think."

"That's a lot of thinking." Commented Yanagi with some humour.

"I know, right?" Niou smirked. "But it's fun, educational, even!"

"I want to try it."

"Whu?"

"If we really are that much alike, it shouldn't be all that complicated." He paused, thinking of where to start. "The way you were playing just now, making me run from one corner of the court to the other. You know my stamina is good, so you weren't trying to wear me down; but perhaps... your aim was to predispose me to run in a certain direction. After a few minutes of following the same pattern, the brain becomes quickly used to it, and consequently the same thing happens to the body. That way, when you lobbed and I had to run to the front of the net, my reaction was a few seconds slower than it would have been had my body not already been predisposed to--"

Niou bursted out laughing.

"I'm not done yet."

"I... I know..." Niou managed to reply, his words drowning in the laughter.

Yanagi folded his arms over his chest and waited. It took Niou a little over three and a half minutes to finally regain his composure.

"That... That was..."

Yanagi looked at him, Niou was giving him two thumbs up.

"That wasn't it at all, but wow. Kudos for coming up with all that on the spot."

"You mean you weren't...?"

Niou snorted, wiping tears from his eyes. "Naaah, I was just havin' you run around for the hell of it, but that was pretty impressive. I'm flattered that someone like the Data Master would think so highly of me~"

Yanagi couldn't help but facepalm as Niou broke into another laughing fit. This was going to be a long week.

*****

"Your place or my place?"

"Pardon?"

"I wanna try somethin' different now," replied Niou, who was still wearing a sweaty towel over his head, "that's enough tennis for now."

"And we can't do it here?"

"Well, we could also do it back at the computer lab. But I wanted to try sayin' that just once."

"I should have guessed." Yanagi stood up and began to pack his racket and tennis balls.

"Piyo~"

*****

Luckily for them, it was late enough that not many other people were at the laboratory. Luckily, because Niou was Niou and Yanagi wasn't very sure what he had in mind now. The boy opened the web browser and soon he was pulling up a number of windows with all sorts of personality tests in them. Yanagi started thinking he might know what this was all for, but he kept quiet anyway.

Niou moved to the computer behind, and repeated the same process. "You know what to do."

"Aah," replied Yanagi.

The sporadic clicking of the mouse and typing were the only sounds that could be heard in the room for something like forty-five minutes. Yanagi finished first.

"And now...?"

"Ahh, you're done already? Not bad." Niou commented, still focused on the text on the screen. "Save your results, then reset them all."

Yanagi nodded and did as told. Once Niou had finished himself, he got up and indicated Yanagi to switch computers with him. "Do you know what comes next?"

Yanagi smiled to himself. "I answer them again as if I were you."

Niou made an approving sound and they both got to work.

This time, Niou finished first; Yanagi could tell because he wasn't making noise anymore.

And because he could feel his breath right next to his ear.

Yanagi inhaled. "Would you mind giving me a little space here?"

"You're taking too long." Niou replied, not moving an inch.

Yanagi knew arguing would lead this to nowhere, and he did want to be done with his quizzes already. So without a word, he reached behind and winded Niou's rattail around his fingers. He didn't need to see his face to know that had taken Niou by surprise.

He waited a few seconds, and then he yanked.

"--OW WHAT, WHAT THE FUCK?!" Niou immediately pulled back, rubbing at the base of his head. Yanagi didn't respond, though, calmly returning to what he'd been doing before.

When it came to comparing answers, Yanagi was pleased to see he had actually done better than Niou. Predictably, their results were far from perfect, but they had done considerably well, taking into account the suddenness of it all.

"See? I told you this'd be easy."

Yanagi, who was reading through some of the answers, turned to look at him. "I'm a little disturbed, to be honest."

"Why? You thought no one'd ever find out about your dirty little enka secret?"

"Genichirou knows."

"Really? Does that mean he listens to enka too?" Niou had the face of someone who had just found the secret of life.

"Sometimes."

"Oh god, I bet you two go karaokeing together."

"Sometimes. But no, that's not why I was disturbed."

"Then?" Niou moved to sit on the desk, next to Yanagi's computer.

"We really do think alike, don't we?"

"Told you so, Mr. Strategist." This time Niou's tone wasn't mocking.

Yanagi arched an eyebrow at that. "Will you ever call me by my name?"

"Maybe the day you call me by mine."

"Hmmm."

*****

"... What exactly is the purpose of this?"

Yanagi stared at his reflection in the mirror, his hair now white and his tie undone. Niou tilted his head from one side to the other and then stepped closer to ruffle the wig a bit more.

"Thaaat's more like it." He nodded, approving of his work.

"No offense, but you're a freak."

"Said the pot to the kettle. Anyway, to answer your question, this'll be your final trial."

"Yes? And what about yours?"

"I don't need one! Remember how I managed to talk you into this?"

Yanagi sighed. He glanced at the mirror once more, half-amused and half-scared at the image in front of him. Slowly, he slid his left hand inside his pocket, and almost as a consequence, his shoulders slouched forwards.

"Good. Real good," Niou walked closer, sliding an arm over the other Niou's shoulders. "I'm sure you won't mess up, but I'll be watching anyway, just in case."

Yanagi fixed his eyes on Niou's, in the mirror.

"Puri." They both smirked.

*****

There was a certain... Yanagi couldn't think of the right word to describe it, freedom perhaps? Yes, a certain freedom, ease about becoming Niou. The way he moved and spoke, it was all so fluid yet at the same time carefully calculated. He had noticed this about Niou, before, but being in his shoes was a complete different thing and it felt good.

Talking to people was awkward at first, he wasn't certain he could actually pull it off, so he mostly nodded with his head or responded in monosyllables.

Then Yagyuu arrived to his side.

"Jackal-kun and Marui-kun want a rematch."

"... Huh?" Replied Yanagi, absolutely clueless.

"From yesterday," Yagyuu adjusted his glasses, "Marui-kun insists that we were at an advantage, since he didn't eat a proper lunch."

The snort came out of Yanagi's mouth naturally. "You don't say."

"I accepted, of course."

"Good. We'll crush them as many times as necessary."

Yagyuu looked at him from the corner of his eye and smiled. "My, someone's in good spirits today, it seems."

Hesitating would do no good, Yanagi thought, so he laughed again. "You can't blame me for bein' all pumped about tomorrow."

"Ah, of course."

Something clicked in Yanagi's mind.

"Still pissed 'cause you're gonna have to lose?"

Yagyuu looked at him in a way that explained perfectly the origin of a certain saying involving death from looks. Yanagi stretched his arms, in the same way Niou would, and shrugged.

"It'll be worth it just to see those losers' faces, don'tcha think? And that's also why we'll play Bunta and Jackal again," he patted Yagyuu's shoulder a couple of times, "it'll be therapeutic for you, hmm?"

Yagyuu smiled, shaking his head. "Of course, Niou-kun."

*****

Niou welcomed him back inside the locker rooms by way of clapping and whistling. Once Yanagi made sure the door was locked, he turned to Niou, and bowed in an amazing Niou-like fashion. The other boy, who was clearly far too amused, clapped harder in celebration.

"Had fun?"

"More than I would have expected."

"Was it hard?"

"Somewhat."

"But no one could tell."

"Not as far as I know."

"You had them totally fooled!"

Yanagi smiled to himself, sitting in one of the benches. "You'd know better."

Niou looked down at him for a brief moment. "Y'look good like that."

"That is, perhaps, the most narcissistic thing I have ever heard you say."

"But you do! It suits you."

"I wonder."

Niou's eyes lidded, and his posture became more stiff all of a sudden. Yanagi watched.

"Make sure to arrive early tomorrow," Niou commanded, in a voice not his own, "we'll need as much extra time as we can get in order to perfect our strategy."

Yanagi felt a shiver run down his spine. Niou hadn't even changed clothes, but what he could see standing there, in front of him, was none other than himself. The reply came easily to his mind.

"Like there's anything left to perfect."

"Being so overconfident is not advisable in a situation like this, you realize."

Yanagi raised to his feet, so he could look at Niou... no, at himself in the eye. "Call it whatever you like, I already know it'll all go according to plan, Master."

"Niou." His voice was low enough it could have been a whisper.

He could feel his heart racing. Niou's voice, the way each of his words and movement were firmly dragging him into this game. And there was no point in resisting, because he was Niou right now and Niou didn't resist. He always went with the flow, and it was easy to understand why; everything was so much simpler like this.

He grabbed the other boy by the shoulders and pulled him in for a kiss in a rather unceremonious way. He could feel the other's body tensing up and then, eventually, relaxing and leisurely kissing back. He couldn't help but let out a very low moan as they pressed up closer to each other. Maybe he was a narcissist, too.

When they finally pulled apart Niou was back to being himself; Yanagi could easily tell because of how incredibly smug he looked.

"I'll arrive early, promise!" He waved before disappearing through the door.

*****

The day of the game, they were the first Rikkai members to arrive. They still had plenty of time to change and Niou was feeling thirsty, so they went looking for a soda machine.

"How ya feelin'?"

"Calm."

"Heeeh." Niou squatted to get their drinks and tossed one can at Yanagi. "You know, there's still one thing we didn't talk about."

"Hmm?"

"Say, why do you think I enjoy doing all these things?"

"For fun?"

"Aside from the obvious."

Yanagi took a sip from his tea, thinking.

"Do you think my tennis is good?" Niou interrupted before Yanagi could say anything.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it is."

"But what is my real tennis?"

Yanagi looked at him. It was true that Niou was a good tennis player, but most of his playing was, after all, copied from fellow teammates and rivals. The Trickster of the Courts had only earned that reputation because he was good at fooling others. The fact that he went out of his way to keep the real him and his true tennis under covers only helped to furter highlight this.

"Your tennis is based on inducing fear in the people you play against."

"Ding-ding-ding~!"

"Why are you telling me this now, though?"

Niou leaned against the soda-machine. "'Cause that's the way we're gonna play today. Remember what I told you? About thinking the way you think I think?"

Yanagi nodded.

"Well, today it'll be even more fun. You're gonna think the way you think I would think if I was thinking I was you."

It took him a few seconds to understand what Niou had meant by that. "You don't mean..."

"Ahh, but I do!"

"So we're not going to switch."

"Not physically, anyway!"

A week ago, Yanagi would have felt like punching him in the face. Right now, he wanted to punch him, kick him, and let every single person in Rikkai who had been a victim of his pranks have their way with him.

But he didn't, because as painful as it was to admit, he had come up with a good plan.

"That's the easiest part of it all," Niou continued, maybe to futher reassure Yanagi that violence was not the answer, "when you don't even have to waste your energies on them. You just drop a hint or two, a tiny, little seed that'll make them go hey, what if..." he gestured with his hands, mimicking the act of pushing a seed deep inside fresh soil.

"And then, their brain does the rest of the trick! Bam," he snapped his fingers, "suddenly the tiny, little seed is an enormous tree completely blocking their way. Self-destruction."

Yanagi chuckled, in spite of himself. "So you made me go through all that for nothing."

"It wasn't for nothin', and you know it. Besides, didn't you say you'd had fun?"

"I--"

"Well, look who's here!" Niou exclaimed, all of a sudden.

Yanagi turned and saw Kirihara standing behind them. He seemed like he was trying really hard not to pout.

"What're you doing here so early, Niou-senpai?"

"I could ask the same of you."

Kirihara clenched his fists and looked away.

"Genichirou didn't want you sleeping in again?"

"S-Shut up, that's not it!" Kirihara scowled. "Anyway, Yukimura-buchou will arrive any moment now, so..."

"Akaya," Yanagi called, making Kirihara freeze in place. But the one who finished that sentence was actually Niou.

"We're counting on you today, don't disappoint us."

"SHUT UP!" Kirihara hissed, desperately trying to bat Niou's hand away from his head; Niou laughed.

Yanagi couldn't help but laugh, too, as he followed behind his teammates. Today was bound to be an interesting day.