Title: Twilight
Chapter Title: Out of Sorts
Word Count: 1,918
Status: Continuous - Incomplete
Pairing: RyoxSaku , FujixOC
Summary: "Behind the facade of bravery and strength lies hidden a delicate, wounded heart that hasn't forgotten how to care." What do you mean by that? "The most beautiful, elegantly carved glass, no matter how heavy, is still glass. It needs to be handled with care, or it will shatter."
OUT OF SORTS
"Tezuka-kun, you're late today," said Oishi running to catch up to the Seishun Gakuen Tennis Captain.
"Hn." Tezuka walked on towards the courts, not minding his friend walking beside him.
"Ne, Tezuka-kun," Oishi pressed on, "It's not like you to miss a whole hour of morning training. What's up?"
"Nothing," replied Tezuka. "I had to take a little detour, that's all."
Oishi stopped and watched his old friend walk towards the courts, where Ryuuzaki-sensei was already pulling on Momoshiro's cheek for yet again disobeying a direct command.
"Ne, Oishi, what's wrong?"
Oishi turned to see his doubles partner, Kikumaru Eiji, standing next to him, panting slightly, racket in hand. He seemed to have just come out of a practice game with Fuji Syuuske.
"I lost, if that's what you're wondering," said Eiji in reply to Oishi's raised eyebrow. "But that's besides the point. You look troubled. Tezuka, I take it?"
"Hai," Oishi nodded.
"What's up with the Captain? Ne, he's an hour late, isn't he?" said Eiji thoughtfully, scratching the tip of his nose.
"Hai," Oishi nodded again. "But never mind that now, Eiji. Let's play. Ah, Kaidou and Momo-chan, what do you say?"
Eiji glanced up at his partner. Oishi was smiling at him again, that cheery look on his face. But Eiji knew it was false, because he'd seen it too. Tezuka was never much of a talker, but today he was much quieter than usual. Arai had been arguing with Horio on the court for over five minutes now, and still Tezuka hadn't given the command for everyone to run twenty or so laps around the court. He would let it pass, but Eiji had a feeling things were going anywhere but uphill from here.
He nodded. "Hai, that sounds like a good idea. Let's go ask them."
XxXxXxX
"That was a good game," said Eiji, letting cool water run over his head.
"Hai," Oishi agreed. "Kaidou's Boomerang Snake is getting better."
"Aa, and Momoshiro's gotten stronger too. Momo-chan's gotten much better at doubles, don't you think, Oishi?"
Eiji waited but received no reply. Pulling his head out from under the tap and rubbing his hair with a towel, he glanced at his friend. Oishi was looking at something in the distance, a troubled look on his normally cheery face. Eiji straightened up to look in the same direction.
"Oh, it's Captain Tezuka."
Their Captain was walking alone, making his way to class. That wasn't out of the norm. Tezuka really was just like an older version of Echizen, after all. Eiji turned to relate this thought to Oishi but found no one standing behind him.
"Oi! Oishi! Matte!"
XxXxXxX
Afternoon practice was not going well. Not well at all. Momoshiro and Kaidou were arguing again – as ususal – and consequently, Eiji and Oishi couldn't get any practice out of them. No point in trying to play tennis when your opponents were too busy arguing amongst themselves. Kawamura was backing away from an evil-looking Inui, who was approaching steadily, a small shot of his latest and improved Inui Juice.
The only ones currently occupied and absorbed in their game were Fuji Syusuke and Echizen Ryoma.
"You've gotten better, Echizen," said Fuji lightly, although the expression of immense concentration on his face showed that he was taking this game anything but lightly.
"Game point. Five games to four, Fuji Syusuke lead."
"Eh, I'm catching up, senpai," said Ryoma, a dangerous smirk on his usually stoic face as he threw his infamous Twist Serve. As Ryoma knew he easily would, Fuji returned it, changing the spin on the ball in the process. Ryoma returned the yellow ball with a grunt – Fuji-senpai could throw some heavy balls without without much exertion. He wasn't called tensai for nothing.
"Say that again Viper! I'll knock your head right off your shoulders!"
"Nani! Teme!"
Ryoma tried his best not to get sidetracked, but his return was a little off.
"Fifteen-love!"
Ryoma took this opportunity to chance a glance at the arguing pair. They were nose to nose, fists grasping shirts, growling (Momoshiro) and hissing and spitting (Kaidou).
"Yamero! Momo-chan! Kaidou-kun!" cried Eiji.
"Oi, Momoshiro! Koidou! That's enough," said Oishi, loud enough for all to hear.
"Anou, Momo-chan, Kaidou-kun ... eto ... maybe you should stop arguing," said Kawamura timidly.
"URUSAI!" both shouted simultaneously. They were on the verge of coming to blows. Desperate to avoid that (and the subsequent punishment of about fifty laps around the courts and an extremely irked Tezuka, which would most likely result in even more grueling practice the next day) someone – most likely Eiji – discreetly slipped Kawamura his racquet.
"BURNING BABY! SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU, YEAH! BRING IT ON!"
"Anou, Taka-san," said Eiji, "Maybe that's enough?"
"YEAH BABY! BRING IT ON! BURNING ANGER! SHOW ME BABY!" Kawamura began swinging his racquet wildly. Momoshiro and Kaidou forgot their argument as they both dodged the deadly swings. They glanced at each other and nodded.
"Uh-oh," muttered Fuji. "Here we go again."
"Hn. He's being very contradictory though, isn't he?" Ryoma knew what was going to happen next, knew that Tezuka would finally take action and most probably punish the whole lot of them. Innocent bystanders included.
As everyone knew they would, Momoshiro and Kaidou practically jumped on Kawamura, tackling him and trying to claim the racquet from him. It was easier said than done, though.
"Yamero! All of you! Twenty laps around the court, now!" declared Tezuka's authoritative voice.
"Oh, too bad Echizen," said Fuji.
"Aa, looks like we won't be able to finish out game again."
No one thought to argue as they made their way out. Momo and Kaidou had managed to wrestle the racquet from Taka-san without much injury to themselves. They ran along with the rest of the regulars, far ahead of the second years, while Tezuka instructed the remaining freshmen to tidy up as it was almost time to dismiss. The two hot-headed friends muttered indecencies to each other the whole time they were running, but did not resume their fight after the twenty laps were through.
In the changing rooms, all the regulars glared in Momo and Kaidou's direction.
"Don't look at me like that!" said Momoshiro, "It's his fault!"
"My fault? Fssshh!" hissed the Viper.
"Ne, ne," said Eiji, coming between them before they could resume their argument. "Don't start that again! Why don't we all just go get some burgers?"
"Fine with me," Momo grumbled.
"Fssshh," Kaidou hissed. "Count me out, I'm going home."
"Okay!" cried Eiji, punching air as he pulled on his uniform's coat. "So everyone else if coming, right? Ne, Oishi, you're coming too, right?" Eiji turned around to smile at the one half of the Golden Pair. "Huh? Not again! Where's he gone to?"
True enough, Oishi was nowhere to be seen. In fact, neither was Tezuka. Ryoma knew that the Captain and his second were close friends so he deduced that they must be outside talking if they hadn't left already, which was not an uncommon occurrence.
"Oh, looks like, you're right, Echizen."
"Huh, Fuji-senpai," said Ryoma, looking above him.
"So you noticed too, Echizen?" commented Fuji drily, his sharp eyes fixed on the pair walking purposefully away from the courts.
"You mean about Tezuka-buchoo?" said Ryoma, scratching his head, thinking.
"Aa. He's been a bit off lately."
"Oishi-senpai too; Eiji-senpai told me earlier. Oishi-senpai's been out of it all day since this morning, it seems."
"Oishi too, eh?" said Fuji, slipping his hands into his pockets. "I wonder what's bothering them. I hope it's nothing serious."
Ryoma silently agreed. Their conversation was cut short as the other regulars emerged from the rooms. Momoshiro slung a heavy arm around Ryoma's shoulders.
"Let's go, Echizen."
"Yosh! Ochibi's coming too! What about you, Fuji?" asked the energetic red-head.
"Oh me?" said Fuji, his face cheery once more. "Nie, I think I'll pass today. I have things to do at home."
Eiji was about to accuse their tensai of lying when Fuji's phone rang.
"Nee-chan. Hai, I'll be there soon. Well," he added to his fellow regulars, "see you tomorrow I guess. Ja."
Ryoma allowed Momoshiro and Eiji to drag him along with them, Kawamura trailing along behind. But, like Oishi and Fuji-senpai, he now had the ominous feeling that something was going to come up. It may not be related to tennis, but it might affect the regulars in some way anyway. This was all way too troublesome for his liking.
XxXxXxX
Oishi glanced at his friend uneasily. Something was bothering Tezuka alright, and it bothered him enough to make his miss an hour of practice that he scheduled himself, and even decline matches with Inui. He was out of sorts in his one practice match with Fuji as well, this afternoon. Oh he won the match, alright. But considering the fact that he was Tezuka, 7-6 was not good at all. Fuji was all for forfeiting the game seeing that his opponent was not fully concentrating. But Tezuka being Tezuka insisted on continuing, even adding that it was good lesson on keeping your wits about you in a game even when you were mentally distracted. Everyone had noticed that their buchoo was out of sorts, but only a few suspected that something was actually bothering him enough to affect his tennis. And Tezuka's tennis being affected was definitely not a good sign. Not with their next game coming up. It was a couple of months away, but still. After all, it was always Tezuka himself who warned against letting one's guard down. They had won the Nationals, but that didn't mean it was all over. The Nationals weren't the end of the road. Getting there and winning had merely been a stepping stone for them all.
"Tezuka, I'm going to be frank with you."
"What is it, Oishi?" asked the Captain, not bothering to turn to his friend.
"Something's bothering you."
"Hn."
"And it's not just me. Some of the other regulars have noticed too. Fuji and Echizen, to be exact."
"It's nothing, Oishi. I'll be fine."
Getting slightly irritated, Oishi put himself in the Captain's way. "Tezuka-kun, you can't tell me that it's nothing. If it were nothing then it wouldn't be affecting your tennis."
"Shows that much, does it?" said the bespectacled prodigy.
Oishi nodded. "It's rare that something bothers you enough to affect your game. You weren't going to lose to Fuji, that we all knew, but frankly, your play today sucked. By the standards you're looked at anyway. Tezuka's standard."
"That bad, Oishi?" Tezuka actually let out a small smile. He walked past his friend, knowing he would follow immediately.
"Okay so maybe, not that bad," said Oishi, falling back into pace. "But you've got the team worried about you. I'm worried about you."
"Hn."
There it was again. That favorite mono-syllabic answer. Why did all the people of his 'kind' talk this way? Echizen was exactly the same. Oishi had to struggle to keep his eyebrow from twitching. Instead, he sighed.
"Why don't you just tell me about it? Maybe you'll feel better?" he suggested. Oishi seriously doubted this, and knowing would bring more worry upon himself, but he could help his friend more if he knew what was troubling him.
Tezuka did not answer, but kept on walking in silence. He was contemplating whether to tell (and what not to tell) Oishi. But who was he kidding? Oishi was going to find out soon anyway. It couldn't be helped.
"Fine."
Author's Note:
There you go, the first chapter. First of all, I would like to let you know that I'm fairly new to this whole POT thing. Once again, it was my brother who started watching the series (he brought home a DVD) and now he'd probably quite annoyed (doing a Kaidou, in fact) because I have yet again run ahead of him in the series and left him far behind. I'm going to watch from episode 90 onwards tonight (when I get the time and my mom is not on my back - she's not too fond of anime you see). They haven't reached Nationals yet in the part where I've reached, although the quarter finals are done with and the Top 4 have been chosen. So I guess I'lll just have to incorporate the finer details as I go along. But I don't think my whole timeline will be messed up.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm not so sure where this thing is going, myself. I have most of the plot in my head, but I have to sort out the finer details as usual. All the same, here it is.
Your reviews help fuel my passion and ned to write. D
-CherriesandRoses
