*lets out a deep breath* You know, okay, I haven't read THAT much Rikkai fic, but I've read a fair amount, and there's a lot of GOOD stuff out there, but I've never seen anything quite like what you did with this story--that you gave them all three-dimensional personalities and backgrounds and motivations and reactions and it all made sense. I am in absolute love with how you handled the switch, that Yagyuu wanted it, too, and why he wanted it. His issues with authority really was beautifully done--if you'd told me about it beforehand, I probably would have been on the fence and gone, "Ehhh, I'll see, I suppose." but actually reading it... reading about the way Kirihara came into their midst, the way Yagyuu and Niou's relationship developed, their reactions to the Golden Pair match (I loved the way you handled that, too--instead of just reiterating what happened, you went deeper and explained how Niou--and the others as well--reacted to those matches, so it was fun to 'rewatch' the matches because I felt like I understood the whole thing on a deeper level.), so many other things. You really wrote a defining Rikkai fic for me, a fic that explained them, put all the pieces we had on them together into a coherent whole. I would ♥ you just for that.

But THEN you gave us gorgeous, gorgeous Yagyuu/Niou interaction--the way Niou is constantly aware of where Yagyuu is, the way they work together on the court... that all felt so right, like you knew exactly what you were talking about, that you knew exactly how their tennis worked, that you understood everything and explained that to the audience beautifully. I really came away from the story awed at how much insight was packed into the story--the way you explained Yukimura's important to the team and how he affected each member, the way you wrote Kirihara's entrance and the developing fondness they all had for him, and the way Yukimura treated him to gather Kirihara's respect... holy crap, that was fabulous and made so much bloody sense that Kirihara is like he is and acted the way he acted in the series itself.

And then there were all those little details packed into the story, too--that Yagyuu noticed Niou was starting to concentrate his tricks on people that bugged either himself or Yagyuu, the way their doubles style evolved, the way Niou was aware of Yagyuu's style and insight, the way there was this whole team dynamic, and eight million other details that I could never remember in one sitting. I loved that the whole thing was so... it's hard to find the right word, it's not quite dense, but 'meaty', perhaps, in that each chapter gave me something to sink my teeth into, not only furthering them along on the timeline of events, but also unfolding that much more insight into how they worked. I really can't get over that. XD;;

Plus, OMG, I loved the way the sex finally happened. It wasn't meaningless, it was very much filled with feelings, but it wasn't sappy or saccharine--I loved, loved, LOVED that they clearly cared so much about each other, but never really had to say it, never had to tell each other they loved each other, but you weren't avoiding it, either. (With some fics, it really feels like the author wants to have them confess their undying love, but doesn't do it because it's too far over the schmoopy line, you know?) They just... are what they are and that's enough for them.

*spazzes* I can't tell you how much I utterly adored this and the explaining you did of Rikkai's D1 and the other characters *and* wrote a lovely story. .....err, didn't mean to babble that much, eheh. XD;;;