Seigaku Academy was the first to arrive at the Junior Invitational Enrichment Camp. The purpose of the training camp was to choose members for the invitational team to play against the West Coast American Team. Sakuno Ryuzaki followed the regular team members off the bus along with her best friend Tomoka who insisted the two of them wear their tennis uniforms. Boys from St. Rudolf and Fudomine showed up followed shortly by Rikkai Dai; the best players from all their rival schools and some still bearing grudges from the Kantou Championships.
Sakuno tossed a long braid behind her shoulder and took her place between Tomoka and Katou with the volunteers at the top of the steps while the players lined up by school at the bottom of the steps. The only volunteer not from Seigaku was An Tachibana from Fudomine. As coach for Seigaku Academy for the past twenty years, her grandmother gave a short speech on the purpose and rules for the camp and introduced coach Hanamura from Rikkai Dai and coach Sakaki from Hyotei Gakuen. Sakuno missed hearing anything else because Tomoka began whispering to her about some of the other players and how Ryoma was so much better than they were.
As soon as she got a chance Tomoka yelled "Ryoma-sama!" at the top of her lungs making the Seigaku freshman pull his Fila baseball cap further down covering his eyes. Sakuno saw the brunette shake her head at Tomoka and Sakuno wondered why Tachibana An wore the top of her tennis uniform with jeans instead of a short pleated skirt.
While the players went to the dorm and checked the rosters for room assignments and to find out which of the three teams they were on Sakuno and the other five volunteers were given a tour of the facility storage shed, store room, laundry room and cafeteria. They weren't assigned to a specific coach or area although coach Ryuzaki already told Horio and Katou to attend her team meeting and supply the balls and towels.
Her grandmother's decision didn't bother Sakuno since the boys were going to be players next year, but Tomoka complained about it loudly as they each grabbed a box of towels off the shelf in the laundry room. Her best friend looked at the training schedules to see where the other two coaches were and if there was a possibility of passing Ryoma on the way.
"Coach Hanamura is in the training room so I'll go there. Sakuno, you may go to Coach Sakaki's group at the tennis courts." Tomoka finally decided.
"Roger, commander!" Sakuno giggled at her friend's choice. The pretty red-headed coach was as enthusiastic about her tennis team as Tomoka was about Ryoma.
Coach Sakaki's seriousness was a little intimidating to Sakuno, "I brought towels and water for your team, Coach Sakaki. Where do you want the box?"
"Out of the way." He didn't take his eyes from the boys' practice as he gestured toward the benches.
She set the box on one of the benches then stepped back to watch the match between Fuji and that boy who always wore a blue baseball cap. After Fuji won she found out that his name was Sanada and that he was from Rikkai Dai, which she should have known and would have known if she paid attention to more than just her grandmother's team during the tournaments. Tachibana An seemed to know all the players on several teams and even greeted Momoshiro by name, perhaps she ought to learn more of their names as well.
All three girls helped the dietician prepare dinner while Horio and Katou showed up only to serve coach Ryuzaki's team. An made a comment about Horio's lack of skills after he bragged about having two years of tennis experience and Tomoka let her know that wasn't his worst trait; the singular eyebrow stretching across his forehead was more annoying. Sakuno was fairly certain An and Tomoka were the reason Horio and Katou didn't stick around to help with the dishes.
The sunset wasn't very colorful, yet Sakuno watched the few thin clouds anyway. There was no reason to hurry back to the room she was sharing with the other two girls after losing rock-paper-scissors. Her turn for the shower probably wasn't for another half hour so she decided to check the equipment in the storage shed.
The distinctive pok,tok…pok,tok…pok,tok of a tennis ball hitting cinderblock then cement led her around the back corner of the storage shed to see who it was. Sakuno wasn't surprised to see the familiar brunette with wisps of hair framing his face as he hit the ball. Syusuke Fuji's shirt was sweat stained making it obvious he'd been out here for some time so she leaned against the back wall watching the small green blur hit a cinderblock and bounce off the cement slab only to be struck again sending it back to the exact same cinderblock.
During the Kanto Tournament he played against Kirihara who temporarily blinded him and won anyway because he was so focused on the sound of the ball; Sakuno convinced herself that he wasn't aware of anything beyond the ball so she felt safe watching the way his body moved as he swung the racket over and over again. Fuji stopped to wipe some of the sweat from his face and she looked down at her shoes rather than his exposed stomach. He definitely needed a towel and maybe a bottle of water judging by the way he panted between shots.
That meant going into the shed and turning on a light which might distract him, it wasn't her place to interrupt a senior classman during a private practice. That excuse didn't make her feel any better so she ducked inside and grabbed a water bottle off the shelf by the door then quickly went around the cement slab to leave the water by his bag. Although he didn't have Eiji's agility he was amazing to watch.
The ball was left where it landed while Fuji put his racket away then thanked her for the water before heading toward the dorms. She stood there for a couple of minutes surprised by his sudden departure and hoping that he wasn't upset by her intrusion. No, if he was upset he probably would have left the water behind. Sakuno grabbed the abandoned tennis ball and returned it to one of the baskets in the storage shed before heading to the room she shared with Tomoka and An.
An-chan was beginning to comb out her shoulder length chestnut hair when Sakuno walked through the door.
"Hey, Sakuno-chan, have you seen my flower hair clip lately?"
"You mean the one you wore the first day? No, not lately," Sakuno began unbraiding her hair while Tomoka finished in the bathroom. It took a long time compared to An who simply removed the two clips holding her fringe.
Sakuno's best friend opened the bathroom door still towel drying her hair "Your turn Sakuno."
She grabbed her robe and towel and locked the door behind her. Tomoka and An-chan were sprawled across their futons chatting about the players when she returned with the towel wrapped around her wet hair.
"Because he doesn't think of me as Kippei's little sister and he treats me like an equal on and off the court." An rolled over onto her back to file the nails on her right hand.
"Since the two of you met at the street courts then it must be a popular place for other players, right?" Tomoka stuck her comb in the travel case at the foot of her futon and pulled out a tube of lotion.
"About half the guys here show up most Sundays, some early, others later." An dropped the emery board into the zippered pouch by her pillow and pulled out some lip balm.
"Sakuno, please turn off the light when you're done." Tomoka crawled under her covers "Goodnight."
The next morning An helped her take baskets of balls to the courts for grandmother's training group. As expected Momoshiro and a few others greeted An while Sakuno was ignored, but she was used to that. An-chan seemed to be staring at one player in particular so Sakuno followed her gaze to a curly haired boy doing warm-up stretches. When he turned to face them she saw a bandage on his left cheek.
"All those injuries!" Sakuno put both hands to her cheeks in worry.
"He looks like he'll be fine" An-chan sounded relieved.
"Are you sure, An-chan?"
"You're even more of a mother hen than Oishi-san."
"Oishi-senpai?" Why was she being compared to a doubles champion?
Sakuno was washing the last of the dishes from her lunch shift when she heard Tomoka yell "Ryoma-sama!" from the serving line. Her best friend was never going to stop being his personal cheerleader and although it sometimes embarrassed her she was glad that Tomoka found a way to support the team that still made half of them smile at the short freshman's discomfort. Sakuno wasn't good at cheering. Even when Tomoka gave her pom-poms to use during the championships she just stood there clutching them to her chest. She once made rice balls wrapped in seaweed and brought them as a snack for everyone after a match which was appreciated by almost everyone. Maybe she ought to ask the dietician for some advice on better things for them to eat.
After gathering the used towels from the training room and washing them with the ones Tomoko gathered Sakuno collected the balls from one of the tennis courts with An-chan, putting them in plastic baskets to be taken back to the storage shed. Then it was time to help prepare dinner and the dietician was more than happy to answer Sakuno's questions regarding proper snacks to eat before and after a strenuous match.
Serving a scoop of rice to each of the boys in Coach Sakaki's group wasn't intimidating since she knew four of them. Several players wore ankle weights including all of the team members from Seigaku. After kitchen duty she wandered over to the storage shed by way of the courts and saw they were empty and dark; the grounds were quiet until she came closer to the shed. This time he didn't have his bag with him, but he did have a water bottle already. Did that mean he really didn't want her intruding?
She walked around to the side opposite the flickering security light where she couldn't see if he was still hitting the same cinder block over and over again. It still seemed a little odd to watch him practice when the genius seemed to win most of his matches with little effort; even now he was relaxed as though doing this simply to relieve boredom. Perhaps that was only because he still wore his usual serene smile; it wasn't until he stopped smiling that Sakuno was convinced he took the match seriously.
Fuji suddenly caught the ball with his left hand and set it on the bench to drink some water then wipe his face with his shirt. Sakuno dropped her gaze to her shoes again, but not quick enough. While her eyes focused on a new scuff mark the image of his abdomen all lean and hard remained burned into her retinas. She shouldn't be here. Sakuno glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was coming down the lighted walkway to catch her gawking at her upperclassman.
The next morning Coach Hanamura asked her to take proper notes of a player's style in order to critique their strengths and weaknesses later. Tomoka videotaped the match however Sakuno spent more time clutching the clipboard to her chest than writing on it as the game intensified. After the game she wondered how Inui kept such meticulous notes and recalled obscure facts about every player the team faced. His secret was probably the 'Inui-juice' that the others talked about sometimes. Maybe he'd share some with her or trade for a special snack.
After handing her clipboard to Coach Hanamura she rushed to the training room hoping to catch Coach Sakaki's group. She missed them. The room was empty except for a couple of used towels which she put into the laundry bag by the door then began putting the dumbbells back on the rack against the wall.
"What do you think you're doing?" Yuuta Fuji took the weight away from her and carried it over to the rack placing it at the end instead of in the proper weight sequence.
Sakuno immediately bowed with both hands clasped "I was looking for Inui-sempai, but he wasn't here and the room wasn't in proper order so-"
"What do you want to see me about?" Inui straightened his square framed glasses.
"Please share some of your special juice with me, Inui-senpai." Sakuno bowed politely.
"You want to try some of my special mix?"
"I am willing to trade a snack of your choice for some."
"Setting up Ryuzaki-san like that is low, Fuji." Kaido hissed.
Kawamura yelled "Don't drink it, Ryuzaki-san!"
Which caused the coach to enter the room and ask what was going on in a tone of voice that sent the girl scurrying away as she apologized for interrupting their training session; once Sakuno caught her breath she wondered why Kaido thought Fuji set her up and why Kawamura didn't want her to have any juice. It was all very strange and she still didn't know how to take proper notes.
After her lunch shift she and An went to collect the balls from the courts. Coach Sakaki's training group passed by them and Sakuno watched Fuji walk by wondering again what Kaido and Kawamura meant. Should she ask Inui again when he was alone? Was there anyone else to ask for advice on note-taking?
"So what do you like about Fuji's older brother, Sakuno?" An asked loudly from somewhere behind her.
It took a moment for her to understand An was referring to Syusuke Fuji and said the first thing that popped into her head. "He's very nice and fun to watch." All the team members were nice and played very well so it was exciting to watch them.
She heard a snicker that didn't sound like An and turned to see her grandmother's training group standing around the sidelines waiting for the balls to be picked up. An smiled up at a dumbstruck Momoshiro while Ryoma muttered "Mada, mada, dane", his way of saying a person isn't good enough or still has a ways to go. Even after all these months in still brought blood rushing to her face and pounding in her ears.
Sakuno dropped her basket of balls on the bench and rushed off to the laundry room hoping to avoid everyone else until her embarrassing blush disappeared. It was silly of her to think that she'd stop hearing that phrase when she stopped taking tennis lessons from the prodigy. 'Not good enough', 'long way to go', 'found lacking', Sakuno used to hear it every Sunday when he told her 'knees too straight', 'hips too wobbly', 'serve too weak'.
An hour later Horio came rushing into the laundry room yelling for Sakuno. "Coach Ryuzaki collapsed by the courts!"
She dropped the box of clean towels that she finished folding and ran over to see an ambulance speed away. The team didn't speak much on the way to the hospital. Oishi purchased some flowers at the gift shop on the way to grandmother's room, but everyone was still lost in their own thoughts about the coach's collapse. It wasn't until they were all gathered around the hospital bed seeing the coach for themselves that they believed she was going to be fine after some rest.
"You should not have taken time away from valuable training just to visit me here. This invitational team is a once in a lifetime opportunity. There are only seven team members to be chosen and at least three had better be from Seigaku. Do not waste your time visiting me, is that clear?"
Sakuno watched the crestfallen boys leave the room quietly. "You didn't have to chase them away."
"I'm not pulling them down just because I collapsed. You shouldn't visit either. I know you want to support the team so stay with them work hard."
That evening she took her notebook and pen with her to watch Fuji. If she showed her notes of his strengths and weaknesses to Inui maybe he'd give her some advice. Sakuno tried to be as detailed as possible however half the time he was a whirling blur that stopped occasionally with both arms outstretched and head down. For the past two evenings he mostly volleyed with no complicated moves so why did he pick tonight to practice his triple counters and underhanded cut serve? Hitting the ball that hard ought to require intense concentration not a calm smile, by the time he took a break for water she was feeling frustrated with the contradiction of Syusuke Fuji.
During breakfast the next morning Sakuno thought of another way to help support the team so after taking a basket of balls out to the courts she decided to stop by the infirmary to ask the physical therapist if there was anything helpful she could learn about the initial treatment of sports injuries other than normal first aid. An hour and a half later Sakuno remembered that she was supposed to take towels to the training room and knew that Tomoka and An were going to be angry that she skipped out on her duties. She also realized that she no longer had her notebook with her.
Needing a short cut back to the laundry room, Sakuno went through the dorm instead of around it. Laughter came from the lounge area and as she passed by the entrance she heard unfamiliar voices.
"No way An-chan owns a notebook covered in pink flowers and butterflies."
"You know the obnoxious one would have Ryoma-sama all over it."
"That leaves what's-her-name with the long braids."
"So who do you think this guy is who flows smoothly from one attack to the next?"
"That could be any one of us, what else does it say about him?"
"He swirls like a whirlpool remaining calm and serene while something-I-can't-make-out crashes against his opponent."
"Let me see that. Why is she comparing this guy to whirlpools and ocean waves?"
"Look what she wrote at the bottom."
"Hey, Oishi-san! We were reading that!"
"What's with him?"
Why did things like this happen to her so often? She was frozen in place unable to move and unable to think beyond the fact that they were reading her notes. Sakuno ought to run before anyone saw her here. Oishi had it now so it was safe. Knowing she'd get it back didn't make her feet obey; they were still stuck in place on the old worn tile. She was going to be caught. Did she really want those boys to see her here right now? Why weren't her feet running away?
"Oh, there you are Ruyzaki-san. I believe this is yours." Oishi held the notebook out for her to take. He didn't expect a response from the shy girl so he didn't wait for one before admonishing his teammate "I can't believe you think this is so funny, Fuji. Have you no shame?"
Serving lunch was just awful since she didn't know who else had been in the lounge. To make matters worse she found herself volunteering to serve lunch and wash dishes to make up for skipping most of her morning chores. She carefully ladled teriyaki onto each tray that passed in front of her while smiling politely and keeping her eyes down. If she didn't make eye contact she'd get through this easier.
"Inui-juice is nothing to play around with."
"Do you really think he's targeting her?"
"I don't even want to know how he got her notebook."
"What do you think about it, Chibi?"
"Her data is mada, mada, dane."
They sounded upset about someone. They needed to concentrate on their skills, not worry about…Inui-juice…her notebook…her. Oh no, grandmother didn't want them distracted and specifically told her to work hard supporting them. Now what was she going to do? Sakuno was relieved when Horio took over her part of the serving line so she could hide out at the sink washing dishes.
Washing all the dishes by herself made Sakuno late getting the towels washed, now An and Tomoka were going to be upset with her as well as the team.
"Oh, there you are Tomoka. Please don't wait for me to get to the tennis courts. Just leave my half of the balls and I'll get it done as soon as I finish putting the towels in the store room."
"Okay, if that's what you want, but make sure not to stay out too late this time."
"I promise."
Tonight the sunset reflected against the gathering clouds catching her eye to stop her in the middle of the walkway and admire the florescent reds and oranges. It was so beautiful she waited until the red faded to a pinkish gray before putting her basket of balls in the storage shed. As she turned off the light and closed the door Sakuno realized how quiet it was. Fuji wasn't practicing.
"Do you know why half the team is upset?" A low soft voice indicated he was right behind her.
"Ah! Fuji-senpai, you startled me." She took a breath and felt calmer seeing his gentle smile. "Coach Hanamura asked me to take notes for her the other day and I'm sure I did a bad job." She dropped her eyes to the side "I thought I could support the team better if I took good notes so I asked Inui-senpai for some juice to help me, but that made Kaido-senpai and Kawamura-senpai mad." She looked down at her feet "I practiced on my own then I dropped my notebook somewhere between the cafeteria and the physical therapist." She moved her gaze left "Oishi returned it to me although it made him upset as well. Lately Momoshiro-senpai frowns at me when we see each other" She moved her gaze right "I tried so hard to support the team, yet now I'm just a distraction."
"Why did you choose to watch me? Why compare me to the ocean?"
"Everyone else wants to become stronger to beat a rival, yet Fuji-senpai seemed to be having fun. Ocean waves are very strong and also fun not to mention white whales-"
"Come with me."
Sakuno followed him around the corner to the edge of the cement slab and took his racket when he handed it to her. Fuji turned the racket slightly and placed his hand over hers.
"I'm going to show you how fun it is."
Sakuno felt him brush against her back as he bounced a ball once then hit it toward the wall. Fuji's light swings alternated between forehand and back hand several times then he stopped although she was reluctant to release the racket. It felt good to have the ball not go flying over the top of the wall or worse, land behind her.
"That's enough since you didn't warm up." He took the racket from her "Do you want to play again tomorrow night?"
"Yes, please." She bowed politely.