of Tennis Rackets and Broken Violin Strings.
Christmas fic For my Friend Jill
Summary: Takes place at the Senbatsu-camp when Ohtori is paired with Kikumaru in a doubles game against Shishido and Oishi. Choutarou finds out that he has lots of things to learn from Eiji.
"Ik…Kyuu…Nyuu….Kon!" Choutarou said to himself as he tossed the ball in the air and served, he loved tennis immensely. The ball landed on Shishido's racket, he would be able to return the serve and Choutarou readied himself to return it. Tezuka-coach had paired him up with Kikumaru from Seigaku and made them play a game against Shishido and Oishi. He had never been in a situation like this… it made him feel very uneasy. His shoulders were tense and the racket in his hand felt different, maybe not the racket but Choutarou himself felt odd.
Without a single problem Kikumaru jumped and returned Shishido's hit with a smile on his face, this person must be mental. Bouncing around with a grin on his face and making smart remarks at his doubles partner over the net. Somehow Choutarou could not understand that what so ever. He heard the pok of the tennis ball and went to return it, this he knew by heart whoever he was partnered with this was the same. But the heavy feeling was suffocating, Othori wanted to run away and hide, play violin or just be alone. That would have been nice.
"Game Shishido-Oishi pair. 3 games to love." The referee called, Choutarou was still not able to grasp what this sickening and odd feeling was, and all around him was getting hazy. It must have been the heat, yeah that's it the heat. "Don't mind! Relax!" Kikumaru popped up in front of him and scared the living daylights out of him, what was that guy made of? Scary person. "I am relaxed." Choutarou grunted back and looked at his racket. Kikumaru walked back to his spot and grinned at Oishi, pumping his fist and exclaiming that this game was not over yet.
Choutarou started wondering how that felt, to be able to be so free and just play, this game was important. It was to decide if he was going to be in the Japan versus America game (Senbatsu), he wanted to surprise everyone by making it. But since he knew that Atobe-san made it and Sanada-san from Rikkai Dai Fuzokuchuu made it he was a bit hesitant, there was no way that he would even be a match for the two of them. His bad self-esteem started showing again, really Choutarou had been working on it and he was making improvements but there was a little voice in his head saying that he wasn't good enough in whatever he was doing.
Tennis had been an escape from the tedious violin practices and school that his parents demanded best grades in class or at least top five, otherwise they would send him away to a music school and let him live there alone with the violin and Bach only. Then there had been Shishido that had actually told him that he was promising in tennis and that he was good enough to play with him. Nothing better had ever happened to him, until now.
Kikumaru had teased Oishi that he couldn't read where the ball was going to land. Othori felt his body tremble, he was furious. Why in the world was Kikumaru not taking this seriously and he could not stop himself before yelling that Kikumaru was taking this game way too lightly. But when the red haired teenager said that he loved playing against Oishi the most it all fell in to place. Choutarou also liked playing with Shishido the most and he wanted to win this game. Because tennis was fun! Choutarou adjusted the strings on his racket and smiled as he readied himself for another set.
The game had been totally awesome they had won and Choutarou had the time of his life, he loved playing tennis. Even though he would have to quit the game in a year or two to pursue the carriers that his parents wanted him to, either become a lawyer or musician. Sighing Choutarou sat down by the grand piano in the entrance hallway to the dorm. Pushing a random key and just listening to the resonance and savoring the sound. He thought some more about the game, he still had so much things to learn.
Maybe there were some things that Shishido-san would not be able to teach him, like what Kikumaru-sempai had taught him today. That you were still friends after having to play a game against the one that you'd rather play with or with a good friend, he was confused. It wasn't that he didn't want to play against Shishido but it was that he was the sempai and that he was supposed to be the nice kohai, like he had been taught to be. How could he do both? That seemed to be the question of a lifetime.
How were you supposed to play seriously against your best friend? The sun was about to set and they had the night off, a rare occasion. Choutarou sighed again and pushed off the chair at the grand piano. He decided to go back to his room and practice his violin some, his parents had insisted that he brought the thing with him and right at this moment Choutarou was thankful for that. A distraction was very welcome.
The walk to his room was a short one, just up one flight of stairs and then the fourth door to the right. But inside the room Shishido were having the others over from the team, Choutarou knew that he wouldn't be able to practice there. He actually thought of staying in there but when he heard that they were whining and complaining about the coaches that weren't Sakaki he decided against it. Actually Ryuuzaki-sensei had been good and Tezuka was awesome, he even returned the Scud Serve on the first try without even drop of sweat.
"Hi sempai-tachi. I'm just going to grab my violin." Choutarou bowed his head as he went inside and got the rectangular hard bag. He heard Atobe complain about the beds not meeting his standards and smiled, the bed that Kabaji and Atobe were sitting on which happened to be Choutarou's weren't meeting his standards either. It was really uncomfortable. And the fact that he always slept fitfully when he wasn't in his own bed or by now he was used to the ones in Atobe's mansions they were okay too. But this one, he shook his head, was not approved he would have to sleep lots when he got back home.
He thought some more about how the camp had been and that actually Tezuka-coach was exceptionally good with giving advice that Choutarou needed to practice and instructions on how to make the most out of practicing. Even if he never said anything but just wrote on a piece of paper what he saw during their practices.
He walked inside the cafeteria, it was filled with the tennis players that he knew, and nope this was no place to practice. Then Choutarou tried the gym, common rooms and conference rooms. Why where there no places empty? By now he was getting a bit discouraged. Where could he be alone for a bit, he really didn't mind if someone wanted to listen while he practiced but not someone that he didn't know, something like that. Because friends criticize in a nice way but if a stranger did it he would have been discouraged to continue.
Choutarou found himself on the courts outside, the evening breeze caressing his skin. Closing his eyes Choutarou realized that this was the first place that he was alone. He wondered how it would feel to play in a place so big. Only one way to find out, he put the bag on the coach bench and began preparing the instrument and opened his book, flipping it to the correct page. Minute Waltz one of his favorites, not to difficult to play but to get the right feeling of it was the hard part, one that his teacher loved to point out every single time.
He knew how to play the same Chopin's Minute Waltz bit on the piano by heart, because his mother loved the song and when he found that out he wanted to learn it. The same with his sister loving to play Für Elise (Beethoven Romance) on the piano, he had forced her to teach him how to play it. Smiling at the memory Choutarou listened to the strings as he listened for any wrong sounds, if the pegs were in their right position. There were none, he loved his old violin it never, well almost never had any problems at all.
He put the bow to the stings and closed his eyes, letting his fingers dance over the strings as the sun was starting to set, leaving the sky in the most amazing colors. Shades of red, yellow and purple that made the whole scene feel even more encouraging to Choutarou. He breathed in synch with what he played, his mind cleared of all worries and the only thing that existed at that moment was Choutarou and his violin, and of course a bit of Chopin, because he made the music and should be praised, because the song was completely and utterly beautiful.
Choutarou finished with flicking the strings. Suddenly one snapped and hit his hand. Swearing to himself, Choutarou put the violin back in its box and sighed. Then he heard something, clapping. Someone had been watching him. How embarrassing. Choutarou didn't know if he dared turn around, whoever was there had seen something that he never showed anyone that didn't know him well…
"Woah! Ohtori-kun that was amazing!" The red haired teenager bounced up and down while he was clapping. Choutarou blushed and mumbled thanks as he shut the box, then tried to take some care of his injured fingers. He realized that it wasn't only his index finger that was hurt but the long finger too. Those kinds of injuries were the worst, taking an eternity to heal and it was a clear cut though so there would be scarring.
"How come you stopped playing?" Kikumaru craned his head to right and looked up at Choutarou with his huge blue eyes. "A string broke." Choutarou had a damp tissue, one of those you buy that are already prepared something that he had learned that he needed as a tennis player in all of his bags. Sighing again he wiped the blood on his fingers and realized that it was kind of deep.
"Come on Ohtori-kun." Kikumaru had already snapped shut the bag containing the violin. "Keep some pressure on the wounds to make it stop bleeding." The older boy commanded and steered Choutarou towards the door to the dormitory. "It looked deep. Someone has to look at it." Eiji nodded and ushered the younger one inside. "How?" Choutarou began but all words disappeared from his mind. The red haired teenager grinned, "Oishi wants to be a doctor, and he has been teaching me a lot."
Eiji opened the door to his and Oishi's room to find the black haired man lying on the bed and reading. "Oishi, nya, Ohtori-kun hurt his hand. Can you take a look at it?" This feeling that was welling up inside Choutarou was something new. Kikumaru could easily have taken him to the nurse. She seemed like a nice lady or even Hanamura or Sakaki. Strangely it felt very nice.
"Ah, you're really hurt. Eiji get the first aid kit from my bag." Nodding while uttering a HoiHoi the red haired one bounced to the black bag on the right side of the desk, putting Choutarou's violin on the desk with practiced ease. "Let's see here." Oishi lifted the tissue and studied Choutarou's fingers. The wounds were a bit too deep to just put on a band aid in Oishi's opinion. "Can you give me the surgical tape?" He didn't even turn his eyes away from the small cuts on Ohtori's fingers.
"Why are you doing this?" Ohtori questioned the pair in the same room as him. A gentle smile made its way to Oishi's lips as he disinfected the wound with some liquid thingy that the younger one had never seen before. "Because that is what friends do." Choutarou felt like someone, like an elephant had stomped on his chest it hurt. "Friends?" Oishi was still looking at the cuts before deciding on some cream-thing that he put on it after he had pulled the edges together and put a suture tape on it.
"Of course. Any friend of Eiji's is a friend of mine." Choutarou thought it was strange how someone could be so nice towards him, especially from a rivaling school. "Aren't we friends Ohtori-kun?" Eiji's eyes shone and his lower lip trembled. "Of course we are." Choutarou exclaimed before being able to stop himself. "How did you get this kind of injury?" Oishi asked as he wrapped the fingers with self adhesive gauze around each finger.
"A string broke on my violin when I was playing." Choutarou bowed his head and felt embarrassed. He thought they'd think he was a dork if they knew that he played music. "Ohtori-kun was amazing." Again the red haired one bounced up and down all around the room talking about what and how Choutarou had played. "Thank you sempai." Blushing as he said it Choutarou felt really at home with the both of them, and that was so strange… He hadn't even been able to open up like this to any of the other members of Hyotei regulars as quickly as he did with these two from Seigaku.
"Can you play any other instruments?" Eiji was up in his face before Choutarou even could react. Nodding Choutarou mumbled piano. "That's so awesome, can you play something for me. I saw one in the hallway, at the dorm entry." Oishi shook his head and apologized to the youngest one and told him that someone had disobeyed the order of not giving Eiji any sugary or caffeine contained substances after four in the afternoon. Choutarou looked really surprised, and then started laughing.
Kikumaru grinned and joined the laughing too. Oishi just shook his head and smiled. "Neh, Ohtori-kun, why did you look so sad before?" Eiji asked as they stopped laughing. "I've had a lot on my mind, since the game this afternoon." Oishi offered a bottle of water to Ohtori, the three of them were sitting together on the beds and Oishi on the floor. "Oh, how come?" Eiji asked and lay down on his stomach next to Choutarou who was sitting on the edge and looking at his hands.
"I don't know. You'll think I'm strange." Choutarou played with the bottle in his hands as Oishi and Eiji shared a look and Eiji poked Choutarou in the side. "Tell us, please." And so Ohtori told them about how he wanted what they had, trusting each other enough to tease the other one over the net. Then arguing without having a fight and wanting to be serious enough to win a game, he wanted that too.
"We have known each other since the first day in middle school, and started our unlimited doubles combination a month later." Oishi smiled at the memory. "I know Eiji can be a klutz and a real air head some times." A loud Hey came from Kikumaru on the bed with a huge pout on his lips. "But he's the best doubles partner I could have." The pout turned to a grin and the acrobat bounced off the bed and glomped his best friend and doubles partner.
Nodding Choutarou somehow understood a bit of what Oishi was saying. He did enjoy himself that day when he had been paired together with Kikumaru. He thought it was fun, not as fun as playing with Shishido but he learned some new things. And to see Shishido play with Oishi had been an experience too. Shishido had always been a good player and Ohtori just average but with the serve that they had created Ohtori had been good.
Now he had even been able to win a game against Shishido, with some help from Kikumaru. It was fun but he still liked playing with Shishido the best. "I think I understand what you mean Oishi-san." Eiji looked extremely confused and Choutarou couldn't help but laugh at the expression. "Thank you Kikumaru-san, Oishi-san." Choutarou bowed his head and Oishi smiled gently.
"You should probably have a doctor look at the fingers when you get back." Choutarou nodded and went to fetch his bag. "Leaving already?" Eiji questioned with a pout on his lips. "I 'm going to put my violin back in the room and then play some piano, if sempai wants to listen…" A huge grin spread on Kikumaru's lips and he pounced on the youngest one, Oishi plucked the bag out of Choutarou's hand before he caught Kikumaru.
"You may go." (Itteyoshi) Kikumaru pointed at the door and Oishi opened it, Choutarou laughed whole heartedly. That had sounded like a ridiculous version of Sakaki-sensei's favorite sentence. "Okay, let's get going." Choutarou let himself be somewhat dragged to the room he shared with Shishido and because Mukahi was outside the door for some reason that Ohtori probably didn't even want to know. Oishi handed him the box and followed the redhead and the younger one being dragged by his friend.
Mukahi was left standing there, hugging the brown box and looking strangely at his kohai being dragged off by a rivaling school's sempai. And not just any sempai but his arch rival, dragging a laughing Choutarou.
"Come on Oishi! You're so slow…" Eiji groaned at Oishi who was walking a little bit behind Eiji and Ohtori. They arrived at the entrance just mere seconds later, Eiji flopping down on a comfy chair close to the piano and ushered the youngest one to sit down at the grand piano. Oishi joined Eiji on another chair leaning back as he closed his eyes, waiting for the music to sweep him in a warm blanket.
Choutarou got comfortable by the black grand opening the lid and caressed a few keys to hear the special tune that just that piano made. Smiling to himself he decided on playing the Beethoven's Für Elise, it was a semi slow but happy tune. That could be enjoyed even if the people listening didn't know of music as much as he did. He thought about how much that he had learned from the Seigaku duo that day; it was interesting that someone could make him feel comfortable like that within a day. That had never happened before and Choutarou felt a little bit iffy about it.
"Nya! Ohtori-kun is amazing!" Eiji was flopping around in the chair trying to get comfortable in the most unlikely way. Like upside down, lying across the seats and armrests, Ohtori grinned, Kikumaru-sempai was a funny one. What he didn't notice was that a small crowd was gathering around the room and listen to his music. He was happy.
"You're playing well." Oshitari nodded as Ohtori stopped playing and a small round of applause went through the room. The Hyotei 2nd year blushed and bowed his head to the older ones praise. "Thank you Oshitari-sempai." He mustered up some courage when he saw Shishido, Atobe, Kabaji and Mukahi standing in the doorway watching him. "Atobe-san, would you mind being my partner in a doubles game against Hiyoshi and Shishido when we get back to school?"
With amusement in his eyes Atobe crooked his head a little looking at the almost scared 2nd year standing there, fiddling about with the hem of his t-shirt. "You want to be awed by Ore-sama's beautiful tennis skills. Aan~"
"Sure?" Choutarou let go of his hem and clenched his fists and then looked at Shishido, he was smirking and nodding. Grinning like an idiot he ran back to his sempais from the school and Shishido ruffled his hair fondly, even though Ohtori was taller Shishido always treated him like a cute and well behaved kohai. Suddenly remembering his two new friends Ohtori turned around to Eiji and Oishi.
"Thank you so much for all your help Kikumaru-sempai, Oishi-sempai." Choutarou had finally figured out that if he put his trust in Shishido wanting to evolve Ohtori would try to evolve and get better too. He wanted to learn more about tennis and swapping partners here and there might be a good idea. "Nya, that's what friends are for. Right Oishi?" Eiji grinned and Oishi nodded.
It was nice to make new friends in your rivals. They had played a serious game earlier that day but now they were comfortable together and would be able to talk and listen like that Choutarou felt really lucky that they included him in that. "Oh and Ohtori-kun, make sure someone looks at your fingers?" Oishi, that worrywart said, it made Choutarou smile. Oishi had no idea what he had just said. Choutarou was counting the seconds until the circus would start.
"What happened?" Mukahi yanked his freshly bandaged hand so they could all have a look and inspect it. "Ore-sama will call his personal doctor to have a look at that." Atobe pulled a cell phone out from nowhere and started babbling. The circus was like it usually was, Choutarou thought it felt homey. Atobe babbling, Shishido and Mukahi were arguing, Kabaji observing with a blank face and Oshitari sighing and trying to break up the argument between Mukahi and Shishido. It felt familiar and the happiness Choutarou felt at that moment let everything else seem meaningless. This was what tennis was about, friends, something that his new found friends had taught him.