Ship: Atobe Keigo/Oshitari Yuushi Fandom: Prince of Tennis Major Tags: none Other Tags: disability (blindness), mind games Square: Loss of Vision. Word Count: 545
This is always a fun pairing to write!
***
Atobe's insight was legendary. It first made a name for him on the tennis courts, but that was only the beginning. He quickly rose through the ranks of the business world with one shrewd decision after another putting his name on everyone's radar. The business journals all declared him the new superpower to watch, and the management at rival companies all feared the day they drew the short straw and had to face him in negotiations.
By the time he became the youngest board member in the history of his company, everyone had heard of him, and more importantly, had heard of his insight. They said that when one was in a meeting with him, he would look up with his piercing blue eyes, and then it would be over. He could see through any attempt at dissembling, exposing even the deepest of secrets and filing them away to use for his own ends at a later point.
Less than a month after Atobe moved into his new corner office, his vision began to fail. It was subtle at first, a slight haze that hung over the pages of his notes and blurred the letters on his computer screen. He purchased glasses in the latest style and wrote them off as a concession to fashion and to too many late nights spent with his laptop. But his glasses could only slow the inevitable.
It wasn't hard to hide his condition from his rivals. His insight was still stronger than theirs, even as shaky around the edges as it was, and his rivals both feared and admired him, two emotions that were easy to steer in the directions he wanted.
No, the biggest threat to his position wasn't from any outside company; it was from the CFO who sat in the office adjacent to his. Like Atobe, Oshitari Yuushi had risen quickly through the company hierarchy, and it was no secret that he had his eye on a board position and corner office of his own. He didn't have Atobe's insight, but he was cunning nonetheless and had an arrogance and drive that matched Atobe's own. And whatever he lacked in insight, he made up for with an unshakable poker face.
Oshitari's carefully schooled expressions were unreadable even to Atobe, but not even Oshitari could keep every gesture and twitch under that degree of control. After years of their game, Atobe had learned to read Oshitari's tells like an open bookâthe way Oshitari's eyes flicked to the corner as he thought and darted back to Atobe once he had made his decision, even if his words continued to vacillate. The way his fingers tightened ever-so-slightly on his pen when he felt cornered, even if he put on a mask of nonchalance.
They were all tells Atobe relied on to continue to hold his position of dominance, and he was rapidly losing his ability to discern any of them. He had never said anything publicly, but he knew that Oshitari had known even before the day Atobe's insight faltered during one of their skirmishes, and he caught Oshitari watching carefully.
He also knew that Oshitari knew that their battle was far from over. He was not going to give up that easily.
FILL: Team Imaizumi Shunsuke/Kinjou Shingo, B2, G
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: disability (blindness), mind games
Square: Loss of Vision.
Word Count: 545
This is always a fun pairing to write!
***
Atobe's insight was legendary. It first made a name for him on the tennis courts, but that was only the beginning. He quickly rose through the ranks of the business world with one shrewd decision after another putting his name on everyone's radar. The business journals all declared him the new superpower to watch, and the management at rival companies all feared the day they drew the short straw and had to face him in negotiations.
By the time he became the youngest board member in the history of his company, everyone had heard of him, and more importantly, had heard of his insight. They said that when one was in a meeting with him, he would look up with his piercing blue eyes, and then it would be over. He could see through any attempt at dissembling, exposing even the deepest of secrets and filing them away to use for his own ends at a later point.
Less than a month after Atobe moved into his new corner office, his vision began to fail. It was subtle at first, a slight haze that hung over the pages of his notes and blurred the letters on his computer screen. He purchased glasses in the latest style and wrote them off as a concession to fashion and to too many late nights spent with his laptop. But his glasses could only slow the inevitable.
It wasn't hard to hide his condition from his rivals. His insight was still stronger than theirs, even as shaky around the edges as it was, and his rivals both feared and admired him, two emotions that were easy to steer in the directions he wanted.
No, the biggest threat to his position wasn't from any outside company; it was from the CFO who sat in the office adjacent to his. Like Atobe, Oshitari Yuushi had risen quickly through the company hierarchy, and it was no secret that he had his eye on a board position and corner office of his own. He didn't have Atobe's insight, but he was cunning nonetheless and had an arrogance and drive that matched Atobe's own. And whatever he lacked in insight, he made up for with an unshakable poker face.
Oshitari's carefully schooled expressions were unreadable even to Atobe, but not even Oshitari could keep every gesture and twitch under that degree of control. After years of their game, Atobe had learned to read Oshitari's tells like an open bookâthe way Oshitari's eyes flicked to the corner as he thought and darted back to Atobe once he had made his decision, even if his words continued to vacillate. The way his fingers tightened ever-so-slightly on his pen when he felt cornered, even if he put on a mask of nonchalance.
They were all tells Atobe relied on to continue to hold his position of dominance, and he was rapidly losing his ability to discern any of them. He had never said anything publicly, but he knew that Oshitari had known even before the day Atobe's insight faltered during one of their skirmishes, and he caught Oshitari watching carefully.
He also knew that Oshitari knew that their battle was far from over. He was not going to give up that easily.