Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of it's related characters, themes, content, etc.
I came up with this story when I was pondering over Yukimura's character. It's really just kind of me working through it and I decided to post it since I like it.
Yukimura Seichi peered into the microscope on the counter in front of him, slowly adjusting the clarity. After staring at the leaf sample for several minutes, he wrote down several bits of information on his worksheet and then turned to the girl sitting next to him. "Is this what you got," he asked holding out the sheet of paper. The girl looked between his piece of paper and her own several times before nodding. Yukimura gave a short nod of his head in satisfaction and then proceeded to take out the present leaf sample that was under the microscope and while the girl put in the next sample, he put the old one away.
The class they were in was a biology lab and Yukimura and his lab partner Mizuhashi Takeko were quietly working away at their assignment. They were a stark contrast to the rest of the room, who were all chatting away as they worked. As Takeko looked at the new sample, Yukimura scanned the rest of the room and gave a small smile at everyone talking. He quickly found out after they became partners that Takeko was rather shy and getting her to casually talk was difficult. The most he ever got her to talk about was class, which was a subject that quickly ran dry.
Honestly, some days Yukimura felt a little odd being the only two people not loudly talking away. Other days though, he would notice that Takeko would just look at him out of the corner of her eye, like she really had something that she wanted to say.
Like she was doing right now.
"You done," Yukimura asked, turning his head to her with a simple smile. "Yes," Takeko answered with a small smile of her own, stepping off to the side. She kept looking at him as he examined the sample and after a few moments Yukimura muttered, "If you have something to say, it's ok to go ahead and say it." Apparently that was all the invitation Takeko needed as she immediately asked, "Is tennis boring for you?"
Never once expecting that kind of question Yukimura pulled away from the microscope and gave Takeko a confused look. "Boring," he repeated. A light blush crossed Takeko's cheeks. "I'm sorry," she said, "It's just that a friend was telling me about your style of tennis and after thinking about it, I couldn't help but wonder if it would be boring. I mean, being so good that in a way you steal your opponents senses thereby always winning just... well... it just seems like it would be boring playing like that."
"I'm not quite sure I follow you," Yukimura said slowly, still a bit shocked from the question. Takeko turned a little bit redder as she looked to the side, her hand going to her mouth as she tried to think of how to better explain it. "Well, it's just that you always know that you're going to win. Playing each game like that, always knowing that you're going to win, it just seems boring. There would be no reason to put in any more effort than you have to, or even any effort at all. There's no tension or excitement that comes from not knowing. Every single time, over and over, you know how it will play out and it's just seems like it would be boring and I was just wondering if you thought tennis was boring?"
Takeko turned back to Yukimura at the end of her reasoning, a questioning look on her face. Yukimura had to keep his mouth from dropping open and after a minute of silence, still under Takeko's questioning stare he finally answered, "Well I wouldn't say boring really." "Oh," Takeko mumbled before letting out a nervous laugh. "I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have asked. That was rude. I'm sorry. I interrupted you," Takeko quickly said, pointing at the microscope, while looking away in her embarrassment. Yukimura let out a gentle laugh at her actions. "Don't worry about it," he replied going back to the microscope.
Yukimura went back studying the leaf and several minutes went by where he just started into the microscope. Finally he looked over to Takeko and stated, "It's enjoyable after I win." There were a few seconds of silence as Takeko took in what Yukimura said before she simply replied with, "Oh." Yukimura gave a smile of satisfaction and went back to the microscope, missing as Takeko cocked her head to the side clearly thinking.
It didn't take long before she suddenly asked, "So it's fun after you win?" "Yes," Yukimura replied not looking up from the microscope. "So, it's only fun at the end?" Yukimura brought his eyes away from the microscope a bit to glance over at Takeko. "Yes," he repeated though this time much more slowly and unsurely. "So that means when you're playing, it really is boring," Takeko announced. Yukimura straightened up fully and turned to look at Takeko. "What," he questioned.
"Well you find it enjoyable at the end, but what about the game that you just played or all of your practices too? There's all that time you spent playing and practicing so that you could win, but if it's only enjoyable at the end, it could seem that you would find everything else boring. I mean, if only one part is fun the rest is usually boring, right? You usually don't like it."
"I see your reasoning," Yukimura said after a few moments, "But that's not really what I was getting at." "Oh sorry," Takeko replied. "It's fine," Yukimura added, once again going back to looking into the microscope. Takeko went back to thinking and it was only a couple minutes before she spoke again. "So what about after you lost at the nationals, what was it like then?" "I'd rather not talk about it," Yukimura responded not moving from the microscope. "Oh sorry," Takeko said again, finally going silent.
Not a minute went by though, before Yukimura straightened and turned to look at Takeko for the second time. With a perplexed look on his face he stated, "I certainly didn't think of it as boring and just because I lost to that cheeky brat doesn't mean I'm not going to play tennis."
Takeko responded with her own confused look. "But you guys always say that you're not allowed to lose. And I read in a magazine article where you were talking about how only the truly talented can reach the top or even have the right to, that for everyone else it's just a waste of time and effort, and making them realize their limits by defeating them is doing them a favor. So since you were defeated, you were shown your limits and everything you've done up until then was a waste for you too. You went through a lot though, for it to just be called a waste and I think everyone would agree that you are truly talented. But since you lost, that must mean that there was nothing about that match that was enjoyable. If you were to never have the enjoyment of winning again and if playing really is boring, I guess I just don't get it Yukimura-san, why do you play tennis?"
Yukimura just stared at the girl for several seconds, his brain reeling, before he finally replied, "So I can win. You said it yourself, I'm talented and capable of winning. Everyone's allowed to have a few bumps on the road and one loss from a cheeky brat isn't enough to make me quit. I didn't go through all I did for nothing. I'm still going to play and I'll overcome whatever odds and win next time."
A thoughtful look passed across Takeko's face and after about a minute she finally gave a knowing smile. "I see. Oh, uh, sorry if I was too forward." "It's fine," Yukimura repeated. Again, going back to the microscope, he finally focused on the leaf sample and wrote down his answers. The two compared their answers and then switched the samples, continuing their routine that they had established at the beginning of the class. Letting out a sigh over his partial interrogation, Yukimura hoped that he never got Takeko talking that much again.