A Different Tomorrow Chapter 1
Summary: The eight of them never expected themselves to have such a close bond with one another. But one thing was for sure, they wouldn't trade anything in the world for what they have.
Characters: Kirihara Akaya, Hiyoshi Wakashi, Ootori Choutarou, Kaidoh Kaoru, Momoshiro Takeshi, Zaizen Hikaru, Fuji Yuuta and Kamio Akira
Author's Note: This is written in each character's view, as such there will be eight chapters, one for each character. And the last one or two chapters will be a general view written in my point of view.
Chapter 1: Kirihara Akaya
Akaya could clearly remember the day they first spoke to each other as friends. It was during the U-17 Camp and Akaya was roommates with Seigaku's current captain, Kaidoh Kaoru, Hyoutei's current captain, Hiyoshi Wakashi, and Shitenhoji's current captain, Zaizen Hikaru. Akaya helped them change their bandages after they moved into the same room. They became close after finding some common things to talk about outside of tennis, such as video games and playing pranks on their teammates. Akaya was also introduced to the other second year tennis players such as St. Rudolph's Fuji Yuuta, Fudomine's Kamio Akira, Hyoutei's Ootori Choutarou and Seigaku's Momoshiro Takeshi. Likewise they also became fast friends and they often contacted each other and hung out almost every weekend. In fact, Akaya spent more time with them than he did with his former Rikkai teammates who were all currently in senior high. The eight friends talked about a lot of things together, such as their troubles, which they would share and find solutions to them together. Their talks helped them in a way, they were able to learn from each other's mistakes and gain new experiences.
Akaya panted as he finished locking up the clubroom. He first locked up the storeroom before rushing back to the clubroom as he didn't want to be locked in school on a Saturday afternoon. Akaya dashed towards the front gate and panted when he stepped out of the gate. Akaya heaved a sigh of relief and he heard a chuckle in the distance. Akaya found the chuckle to be familiar and he looked around for the source. Akaya soon spotted his close friend, Fuji Yuuta, the current captain of St. Rudolph standing not too far from him. Yuuta gave an amused smile before handing Akaya a bottle of water.
"Thanks." Spoke Akaya, as he opened the bottle.
"What are you doing here though?" Asked Akaya after taking a large gulp of his water and noticing that Yuuta had a simple backpack with him.
Yuuta shrugged before sighing, "Aniki wanted to come here, so we took the train here and I thought that I'd meet up with you. I texted you but you didn't reply, I figured that you were still in the middle of training."
Akaya paused, "You could have waited at the courts, and you could have waited for me for a pretty long while you know?"
Yuuta shook his head, "I just arrived a couple of minutes ago, I had lunch with aniki earlier."
"Why don't you follow me home, then we can go down to Hiyoshi's place together. We aren't supposed to meet until 5 anyway." Said Akaya.
Yuuta shrugged, "I don't mind, not that I have anything to do right now."
Akaya smiled and Yuuta followed his friend. Yuuta was a familiar face at the Kirihara household along with the other six. They often met up to play video games during the weekends. They agreed to not play any tennis whenever they met up as they would probably get too competitive and get into some sort of trouble.
Yuuta greeted Akaya's mother and older sister while Akaya headed up to his room. Akaya brought a brown backpack down to the living room while Akaya's mother served Yuuta some milk and honey nut cookies.
"You know, Akaya has never brought home any friends his age until you boys came." Spoke Akaya's mother.
Yuuta nodded, having heard of the story from his older brother, having been told by Yukimura himself.
"He didn't really have much friends because of his violent tennis style but I was glad when he brought you boys over. How did you get to know Akaya, Yuuta-kun?" Spoke Akaya's mother.
Yuuta paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "We're both tennis players and my aniki is good friends with Akaya's former buchou, so we met often but we became friends at the U-17 Camp."
Akaya's mother smiled before thanking Yuuta again for being Akaya's friend. Yuuta blushed embarrassedly, as he wasn't used to being praised by his friend's mother. Yuuta munched on a honey nut cookie as he tried to occupy his mind once again. Akaya's mother smiled at Yuuta's embarrassed reaction as Akaya emerged from the bathroom.
"We should get going, we have a train to catch. Thank you for having me over." Spoke Yuuta.
Yuuta bowed to Akaya's mother and older sister before picking up his bag.
"You are always welcome here, Yuuta-kun. The both of you have fun!" Smiled Akaya's mother.
Yuuta slipped on his shoes before stepping out of the house with Akaya. The pair walked to the train station together, to catch a train to Tokyo. Akaya glanced at Yuuta when they hopped onto the train. Akaya was the closest to Yuuta partly due to their common love for video games. But another factor was that they were both the youngest in their family and Yuuta understood how Akaya felt about being the youngest.
"You know, Zaizen updated his blog yesterday and he pranked his sempais." Spoke Akaya.
Yuuta chuckled, "I saw the picture that Hiyoshi sent me. Although Zaizen claims that he doesn't fit into Shitenhoji's style but I think he's just perfect for it. Zaizen likes playing pranks and seeing people's reactions and that kind of fits Shitenhoji."
"Anyway, Niou-sempai offered his help if we ever want to play any pranks." Said Akaya.
Yuuta raised an eyebrow, Yuuta knew better than to trust Niou when it comes to playing tricks. He would be a big help but who knows if any tricks masterminded by Niou would get them into major trouble.
"I'm not too sure about that but Momoshiro is the one who does most of the tricks among us." Responded Yuuta.
It was an hour's train ride from Kanagawa to Tokyo but time passed pretty quickly as Yuuta and Akaya chatted with each other. Akaya received a text from Zaizen who wanted to meet at the train station. Akaya agreed but he didn't mention that Yuuta was with him. Yuuta rolled his eyes and walked towards the train doors as they were approaching the station. Zaizen blinked when he spotted Yuuta with Akaya. Zaizen shrugged after realising that Yuuta's older brother must have dragged him to Kanagawa. The three friends walked towards Hiyoshi's house together.
Akaya smiled when the eight of them gathered in Hiyoshi's room. Hiyoshi's family owned a dojo and their house was connected to it. Hiyoshi's room was beside an empty room which they boys usually stayed in whenever they had a sleepover.
"We may be rivals, but I wouldn't trade my friendship with these guys for anything." Thought Akaya.
Zaizen noticed that Akaya was spacing out and he shared a smirk with Momoshiro before throwing a pillow at Akaya, starting an all-out pillow fight between the eight of them.
The next chapter will be written in Hiyoshi Wakashi's point of view, but will feature all of the eight boys.