Contrary to what others say when they see him soaring through the sky, Gakuto can't fly. He knows that it will never happen, but still the thing he desires most is for wings to sprout on his back. He dreams about it- huge, white wings that make heavy whooshing sounds as they flap, the feel of the clouds as he flies leisurely through them. He dreams about flying, fast and furiously, slow and harmoniously, his head rolling about on his pillow in the cover of darkness as he dreams, his eyes traveling towards the sky on a slow day. He doesn't only look at the sky on slow days; he constantly finds himself standing at a halt, his eyes gazing upwards, as if he was looking for something. He'll catch himself wondering, «What's up there?» What more is hiding above the clouds? It might be why he started jumping in the first place, Gakuto and his endless obsession with the sky.
«I want to reach it», he says to himself, thinks it when he jumps, his body twisting to allow his legs to kick up and turn him upside down. The moment is so short, the feeling so fleeting, before he knows it he's on the ground again. Gakuto knows that falling is an essential part of jumping, but it doesn't make him dread the moment his feet touch the ground less. He always tries so hard to jump higher; at practice, in the park on late afternoons, in his garden on nights he can't sleep, but it's an endless fight against gravity.
He likes the way the wind rushes through his hair, he loves that momentary feeling of being closer to the sky. He also likes showing off – sometimes there's nothing better than hearing the awe in people's voices as they stare at him in wonder. Gakuto likes the attention, and smirks to try and hide the great grin trying to fight its way onto his face. He's thought of joining the gymnast club, or the track and field club just so he can do the high jump, but has quickly thought better of it, since tennis is so much fun. Besides, the other stuff would be boring.
Why does he keep jumping if he knows he'll never reach the sky? Maybe it's to keep feeling that exhilerating surge of adrenaline rushing through him as he flips, maybe it's to keep hearing the other's cheers, maybe just because it's fun and it's tennis and it's nothing more than that. To keep playing tennis he needs to keep jumping, without his acrobatic style he'll be one boring-as-hell player. In a way, he needs to keep playing tennis to keep jumping. It fuels him, the ups and downs of winning and losing enlightens him, being part of a team is precious to him, like a family. The team is what holds him up; if he loses them, he knows he'll fall.