Disclaimer: Not mine.
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Memories Like Rain
They would look back and remember with a smile -- be it a smile
tainted with laughter or tears, joys or triumphs...
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.one// day tripperGakuto's first impression of Oshitari Yuushi went something along the lines of: What the hell is wrong with that motherfucking womanizer?
He scowled at the jumble of papers and books in his arms, knowing he was going to get it from his History teacher for wrinkling his assignment again, and it was all Oshitari's fault. Stupid blue-haired glasses-wearing so-called-tensai just couldn't take his eyes off a girl's pretty smile long enough to watch where he was going.
"Ne, you dropped your papers?" Jirou bounced up to him, eyes curious. Gakuto gave him a glare, and Jirou's smile faltered. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," came the waspish reply.
Jirou glanced down the hall, and blinked. "Did you run into someone you don't like?"
"Someone ran into me, more like."
"Hey, doesn't mean you have to sulk over it." Jirou gave him an award-winning smile, and clapped him cheerfully on the shoulder. "Here, let me help with some of that. Geez, all these books... No wonder you're dropping it all over the place!"
A minute later, Gakuto was smiling and laughing with his friend as the two of them walked toward the first class of the day. It was hard not to smile around Jirou.
.two// a matter of trust
It was difficult for Atobe Keigo sometimes to explain just why he kept Oshitari as a close friend -- why he trusted that sly, romantic, and often frustrating genius.
In the business world, their families had long held each other in esteem as valuable partners and allies, but there was a level of wariness as well. Atobe Keigo knew it was a good idea to befriend one's enemies -- even when unsure as to whether or not that someone was the enemy -- just in case. Besides, if Oshitari proved to be trustworthy, it would be a great gain.
Oshitari understood him fairly well, or at least, knew when to keep his mouth shut and just humor Atobe. It made the interactions between them that much easier.
But all in all, it wouldn't be quite true to say that the two of them were good friends, or even especially attracted to each other in any way.
.three// drama queen
Shishido hated Atobe for the entirety of their first year at Hyoutei Gakuen because of a comment that the latter had made upon their first meeting.
Drama queen.
If there was one thing that Shishido hated more than anything else, it was being called that. He was not a drama queen -- fuck, that was a term for girls. And what about Atobe himself? The man had an ego wide enough to encompass the Pacific and all neighboring continents besides. And the act he always pulled, calling himself Ore-sama and acting like he owned the school. Well, maybe that last part had something to do with fact, but still. Atobe was the one orchestrating the drama.
But to his own mortification, Shishido found that by the end of his second year at Hyoutei, his previous grudge against Atobe had almost completely disappeared. There was something about the perfect, beautiful egomaniac that made people respect him...even against their better judgment. And Shishido realized that he wasn't exception to the rule.
.four// enough
It didn't come as too much of a surprise when Gakuto glared at him and snapped, "No!"
Oshitari hadn't expected the red-haired boy to agree to playing doubles with him on the spot; but then, he hadn't expected either to see a faint blush on Gakuto's cheeks when he added in a softer tone, "Please?"
A week later, Gakuto walked over to him during practice with an expression of resignation that was obviously fake.
"Fine," was all he said.
It was all that Oshitari needed to hear.
.five// failure
Jirou had long since come to the conclusion that the key to success was not simply talent. But people who tried to achieve high goals by hard work and determination alone were doomed to failure as well. The trick was, as Jirou knew, a combination of both. You needed the talent, but you had have determination as a crutch to prop yourself up, and where talent failed, hard work patched up the rest.
When it came to tennis and people, Jirou had plenty of unique talent and he was fully aware of the fact. He didn't dwell on it though, nor made a fuss out of it, like Atobe. And though it seemed like he was always sleeping, Jirou trained just as hard as the next person in Hyoutei's tennis club. But unlike Shishido, he didn't flaunt the fact, and always kept up a laid-back appearance.
It was his formula for success, and it was unique. After all, not everyone could pull off the smile that made girls want to cuddle him like a giant teddy bear.
...Too bad it seemed to only work on girls, though.
.six// introvert
Contrary to popular opinion, Kabaji was not Atobe's henchman. Certainly, Kabaji did many tasks that Atobe asked him to do, but it was out of mutual respect rather than any kind of master-servant relationship.
They were friends, simply put. It was not a kind of friendship that fit strictly into conventional meanings of the term, but there it was nevertheless.
Strangely, Kabaji didn't seem to mind that people thought of him as Atobe's mindless helper. Maybe he found advantages to being underestimated in that manner.
But Atobe suspected that Kabaji was just shy.
.seven// lean on me
Ohtori and Hiyoshi were used to alternatively being hated, praised, and ignored by their year mates, simply because they were Regulars on the tennis team. It wasn't an easy task, beating out the rest of the competition, but they had succeeded, and pettiness like insults and snubs in the clubroom were not about to discourage them.
Not after they'd come this far, past pain and frustration and tears and trials.
But sometimes, life just had a way of dragging down even the most determined soul. It happened more often to Hiyoshi than to Ohtori, but the result was the same. They turned to each other, finding company in a fellow year mate.
It wasn't easy, at first. Hiyoshi had never had many friends. Ohtori had been bullied all of his first year at Hyoutei, often by his own classmates. Hiyoshi was inclined to shut himself off from the rest of the world, and was often arrogant without realizing it. And Ohtori was just too sensitive sometimes for his own good.
But what Ohtori realized was that for all his cool, detached manner, Hiyoshi was every bit as sensitive as himself.
From then on, it was just a matter of opening up to Hiyoshi a little, and asking maybe, would he like to go study for English together sometime?
Hiyoshi was hesitant (shy, almost), but he did end up agreeing.
.eight// legacy
Atobe did not accept defeat gracefully.
This should have been Hyoutei's year. Yukimura was out of the running for the Kantou tournament, and their Regulars this year were the best Atobe had seen in all his time at Hyoutei.
And yet, somehow, they lost. First to Fudoumine, out of sheer carelessness. They had underestimated their opponents. Atobe vowed to himself that it would never happen again. Hyoutei would not lose.
But they did. In the first round of the Kantou tournament.
It was a crushing blow to the team, but moreover, to Atobe's pride. It had been a close match, a good match, against perfectly worthy opponents. However, that didn't change the fact that Hyoutei had lost. The fact that his team had lost.
So was his career as the captain of Hyoutei's tennis team to end like this? It was a question that Atobe asked himself bitterly time and time again. He couldn't seem to escape from that chain of thoughts, spiraling down to a distant end of self-pity.
Atobe Keigo did not indulge in self-pity.
There had to be a better use of his time and energy.
In the end, Atobe decided that if he couldn't lead his team to victory now, he would at least make sure to leave a lasting legacy. He would make everyone remember that Hyoutei was the ultimate winner.
The first step was to choose his successor for next year.
.nine// together
They would look back, and remember with a smile -- be it a smile tainted with laughter or tears, joys or triumphs, or a mixture of it all.
Atobe would remember each time his eyes fell on the team photograph placed atop his desk (polished mahogany, imported from Europe), and each time he would hear the voices that had accompanied that photo session, laughter and grouches and amused comments -- in short, his team being just as crazy and proud and dysfunctional as always.
Jirou would remember each time his cell phone rang, because it would be the same ring tone Gakuto had set for him in eighth grade as a prank, and he'd never bothered to change it after he overheard Atobe humming the same tune in the showers.
Kabaji would remember each time he said "usu" in casual conversation, the same way he'd said it so many years ago, when he attended Hyoutei Gakuen.
Oshitari would remember, whenever he put on his glasses (for real now, as he had unintentionally ruined his eyesight during medical school), how Shishido liked to splash water on him every chance he got, just so Oshitari couldn't see for the damp lenses.
Gakuto would remember whenever he brushed his hair, recalling how Yuushi used to tease him about how girly it looked, and at the same time saying that it was beautiful.
Shishido would remember each time he looked in the mirror and saw that faint scar on his forehead, left from one unforgettable season in ninth grade when he'd fought and bled for his pride -- supported by a gentle smile that came from a silver-haired kouhai, but also by Atobe's unexpected words to Sakaki-sensei.
Ohtori would remember as he saw a young boy wearing a blue cap running through the park in his neighborhood, and he would be reminded suddenly of a certain boy he'd once known in junior high -- a boy who had become his best friend, and more.
Hiyoshi would remember with the turning of the seasons, unable to help comparing the current time to that year when each day had been so bright and filled with companionship and competition, driven by youthful dreams and an ambition that lingered even now to stir his heart.
In the end, each of them would look back and remember both good times and bad. In the end, they would smile and shake their heads, and perhaps even laugh a bit to remember -- or cry.
But in the end, no matter what feelings those memories invoked, they would never regret all that they went through that year.
That year when they came together at Hyoutei Gakuen.
fin