Playing Mixed Doubles: London Special!
Disclaimer: I do no own Prince of Tennis
Additional Information: I will be writing the characters as if they're in high school now instead of middle school! The school names will be kept, but events for example that happened in the first year of middle school will be equivalent to something that happened in first year of high school instead ^-^
Also! This is based off of the Eikoku-shiki Teikyu jo Kessen film that had been released! I haven't decided on how long it will be just yet, but I'll finish this before my main stories.
It was a peaceful morning at the city of Tokyo. Since their victory at the Nationals, seniors did not need to attend practice, so there was no need be in a hurry to get to class just yet. Fuji flipped through the pages of his book, while carefully keeping a good eye to anything near him.
He had just left his house and turned down the street. His sister offered to drive him, but since he didn't need to go to practice, it was the perfect time to go about a quiet walk to school instead of rushing there like usual. The morning sun was already up and beaming down on the city, brightening up everybody's day.
He had been deep in thought when suddenly somebody patted him on the back. He leaned forward a little from the force of the pat, but turned around slowly to see who it was.
"Hm?" Fuji looked over and came face to face with the beaming Eiji who greeted him with an upbeat expression.
"Yo, Fuji! Where are you headed so early?"
Fuji smiled slightly and continued to walk forward, while putting away his book. "I thought I might take a walk early to school. After all, practice isn't for us right now."
Eiji placed his hands behind his head, while trying to adjust his bag on his shoulder and chuckled. "Are you sure you aren't going to see a certain somebody…?"
"Eh? What do you mean by that?" Fuji said with a smile. He may have had an alternative reason for heading to school so early, but he didn't particularly expect Eiji to know about it.
"Wellllll, we might not have practice… But the girls still do! Isn't that right Inui?"
Out of the middle of nowhere, Inui had arrived and adjusted his glasses slightly. "Indeed. The girls will still have their usual morning practice, since they have an upcoming qualifying tournament."
Fuji, seemingly unaffected by Inui's sudden appearance, smiled slyly while continued to look ahead. "Hmm… I wasn't sure about that. But if that's the case I might as well go ahead and take a peek."
"Come on Fuji, you knew that! You just want to see Kizu-chan is all!" Eiji remarked in a sneaky tone, while narrowing his eyes mischievously at Fuji. "I heard she's earned the Singles One spot, so she technically doesn't have to go… Especially since she won the National's with us already…"
"She might be Singles One, but from what I have observed about Kizu, she'll probably still go at least to train with the underclassmen for a while." Inui reasoned while referring to his notebook of data.
"We'll just have to see then won't we?" Fuji noted as he got an extra step on his fellow teammates and headed toward the school grounds.
"Ah! Wait up Fuji!" Eiji picked up the pace a little bit in order to catch up to Fuji, leaving a confused Inui behind.
A sharp whistle traveled across the grounds of Seigaku. Deep exhales and heavy breathing suddenly rose up on volume as the girls of the Seigaku Girl's Tennis Club stopped and looked to the head of the courts.
"All right, time for a brief break. While you all take a breather…" Ryuzaki-sensei glanced at her wristwatch and then up at the girls. It was early morning, so she didn't want to wear them out too much. "Why don't we watch Kiryu here demonstrate some control skills? Ne, Kiryu?"
Kizu had been rallying with a few other girls, who by now had collapsed on the other side of the court. When Kizu heard her name being mentioned, she turned over to Ryuzaki-sensei and rest the head of her racket on her shoulder.
"A demonstration? Why don't we just give these girls a rest for the day huh? They look pretty tired." Kizu suggested while eyeing her teammates nearly gasping for air on the ground.
"I said YOU give a demonstration. They just have to watch." Ryuzaki-sensei retorted while clearing off another court and setting up cones on the far side of the court.
"Now then. Control of your power isn't the only thing that's important in tennis. Control of the location of your shots, speed, and spin are all important things to get track of. Kiryu, care to give a demonstration of a couple?" Ryuzaki raised an eyebrow in anticipation of Kizu's answer, even Kizu had already arrived at the opposite court.
"Yup yup, how do you want this to go?" Kizu held her racket in front of her and looked over to Ryuzaki-sensei.
"Let's start with some spin shots shall we? Make it a top-spin shot to the right corner of the baseline!" Ryuzaki-sensei tossed up a ball from her left hand and fed the ball right at Kizu. Kizu blinked once and then prepared for a forehand. Taking a step forward with her left foot, she held up her racket with the right hand and stepped right into the shot.
It landed right on the inner-edge of the baseline and jumped back up with five feet in the air. All the girls gaped in amazement at the shot, but was cut short as Ryuzaki-sensei continued to call out other conditions for Kizu to make. "Drop-shot into the right service box! Overhead shot to the left corner baseline, right on the cone! Short volley into no-man's land!"
Kizu continued to hit one shot after another, until Ryuzaki-sensei had finally ran out of tennis balls to feed. Kizu stood back up from her stance and then gave a smile to the rest of the girls.
"Takes practice, but I promise it'll come naturally after that." She winked and placed both her hands behind her head.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Kizu's nonchalant gesture was soon destroyed by Ryuzaki-sensei's rasping voice. It was clear that she didn't agree completely with Kizu's statement.
"Obviously it takes practice, but it also takes consistent practice! It only comes naturally after countless training and continuous training! This is the aim for all of you. To hone your skills and become the best you can!"
The faces of all the girls were oddly shining with motivation now. Ryuzaki-sensei's words had brought a burning passion to everybody in the team, and their eyes reflected it.
"That's it for this morning. Dismissed!" All the girls stood up and bowed on their way out of the courts. Kizu let out a long sigh and then proceeded to head over to her bag. She placed her racket into the bag, but when she looked up, she felt a hand on her head.
"Working hard I see." The hand was warm and comforting, when Kizu looked up, she saw that it was indeed Fuji. He had his eyes closed as usual, but his smile had a warmer feeling than usual to it.
"Hehe, good morning Syusuke." Kizu lifted his hand off of her head. As she was about to release it, Fuji held on a little tighter and gave her hand a light squeeze. Kizu squeezed back a little and then giggled a little bit.
He leaned in and gently planted a kiss on her forehead. She didn't expect such an action from Fuji at all, so it caught her speechless. Feeling the blood rush to her cheeks, Kizu turned away and touched her forehead. Fuji offered his hand to her as he began to stand back up straight as well.
"T-thank you." She mumbled quietly as she took his hand and was assisted up. Slinging her back on her shoulder, she looked up at Fuji and then smiled, trying to get over her embarrassment.
"Why are you here so early? There's no practice for the boys right?" Kizu questioned as she walked together with Fuji to the the gates of the courts. From a distance she could see Inui and Eiji waiting out front near the entrance to their athletic fields. Eiji made a very exaggerated wave while Inui did a minimalist one in comparison.
Kizu smiled and waved back with her left hand. Before she would place her hand back by her side, she felt a light touch on it. Fuji had grabbed her hand again held it gently in his own right hand. As he opened his eyes slightly, Kizu could see the glint in his blue crystal eyes, as he held her hand and started to walk beside her.
"We still have a little bit of time before classes start. Want to sit at the courtyard for a little bit?" Fuji's voice quietly suggested, how could Kizu say no to that? She nodded in agreement and both headed toward the pathway toward the courtyard of the school.
They walked holding hands to the courtyard, while chatting about their morning. Once at the courtyard, Fuji and Kizu both set down their tennis bags on the ground beside a bench. Sitting together, Fuji looked over at Kizu and smiled. "Do you know day it is today? "
"Hmm… Maybe… The 3rd right?" She tapped the bottom of her chin while thinking.
"That's right. It's been exactly ten months since your return, and eight months since we won the Nationals."
"Ahh you're right! I guess the wonderful victory still hasn't completely worn out yet. But I guess for us seniors, we need to keep our heads straight about what colleges we're planning on going to…"
"…Right…" Fuji paused and slowly turned to her. "That reminds me to ask, where are you planning on going after this?"
"Eh?" She was taken back by the sudden question. In truth, she hadn't thought about where to attend yet. Whether or not she should go back to the states or if she should stay here. There were plans for thinking about it later, but for Fuji to ask…
"Well, I haven't given it much thought just yet…" She responded, her voice nearly inaudible.
Even with the amount of time they have spent together, their relationship remained a little bit unclear. It was clear that they harbored feelings for each other, but neither made a move toward it.
Before any further conversation could be had, a figure appeared, with a voice all too familiar. "Ohh? Being lovey dovey here huh?"
"S-Shiraishi?!" Kizu immediately shouted when she recognized the voice. Before she could do it, Fuji was already up and facing Shiraishi's direction.
"Calm down Fuji." Shiraishi cooly hinted as he walked closer. "I won't take her away right now. I just wanted to have a word with her is all."
"Huh? Me?" Kizu pointed at herself. Unsure of what this topic could have even been about, she looked up at Shiraishi who was about three feet away now. "What do you need to talk to me about?"
"Have you guys heard about the Wimbledon trip yet…?"
Three Weeks Later… (Kizu's Focus)
"Ahh I haven't been here in a long time!" Feeling the breeze on her face, Kizu glanced around the airport. Even though it had been a while since she had been in London, nothing seemed to have changed too much since her last visit. People continued to bustle throughout the International airport.
"Well then, to the hotel it is… I wonder if everybody else is here yet…" She flipped through her notebook in order to see if she could locate the address of where the courts and hotels were. Dragging her luggage with her, Kizu marched right out of the double doors. "Let's see… Looks like I should check in first… then meet up with everybody else at the club…"
Immersed in her own thoughts, Kizu glanced around for a bus, when she spotted familiar yellow jacket droop of the shoulders of a tall boy. She squinted a little bit and realized her eye sight was not failing her.
"Ah, Seiichi-kun!" Her voice seemed to speak on its own. Hearing his name however, Yukimura Seiichi turned his head with his eyes frantically searching for the source of this calling. When he located Kizu, he immediately smiled and started walking toward her.
"Kizu-chan. I see you've arrived safe and sound." He spoke with his gentle and kind voice. They hadn't seen each other since the Nationals in Tokyo, and that was around a month ago. "How have you been?"
"I've been good! You look good! I'm glad that you recovered well!" She smiled brightly and held out her hand asking for a high five.
Yukimura only smiled. He raised his hand up, but instead of giving her a high five, placed his hand on hers. Palm to palm, and fingers to fingers. Slowly, he folded his fingers into the gaps between Kizu's and held it there.
"Well, you did help a lot. Before and after the surgery…" Yukimura seemed to almost whisper this as his eyes fixed on Kizu. Kizu, responded by widening her eyes and looking away. "Don't be ridiculous! You have a strong will and excellent work ethic! That's what's gotten you to heal up and be at 100% again."
"Hmm? Kiryu-san?" A deep voice drifted between the pair, Sanada Genichiro stepped up right behind Yukimura and made hard eye contact with Kizu specifically.
"Ahh, Sanada-kun!" Before she knew it, Yukimura had released his hand from her own and brought it back to folding across his chest.
"Kiryu-san, what are you doing here? Didn't you take the same flight as the rest?" Sanada's voice as usual, lacked any aspect of emotion. Kizu laughed nervously but still replied.
"Well you see, I had to take a different flight since I have my own circumstances. Do you by chance know if they've arrived?"
"If I'm not mistaken, they should have already arrived or are arriving soon. All the Japanese teams are meeting together at the courts at the same time." Sanada stated promptly. He stole a peek at Yukimura, who didn't join in the conversation, but rather overlooked the situation now.
"Still, do you have a mode of transportation to the courts facility and hotel?"
"Ahh now that I think about it… No…" Kizu placed a finger on her chin when she realized just what type of pickle she was in.
"If that's the case," Yukimura looked directly at her. "Why not come with us?" He motioned to the bus that they were all boarding. Rikkaidai was very prepared, even booking their own bus for their transport.
Yukimura smiled once more, "We are all headed to the same location. It wouldn't be an inconvenience to take you along with us." His tone left no room for argument and he immediately leaned forward to grab her luggage.
"Genichiro, could you take this for her and put it in with the rest?" Yukimura passed the luggage directly to him, and Sanada nodded.
"Hm. You should get on. Everybody else is has already boarded." Sanada turned and head toward the bus, while Yukimura took the dumbfounded Kizu by her hand and led her to the bus. It wasn't that she didn't want to go with them, but rather it felt as though she was a nuisance now. Regardless, she was grateful and followed Yukimura abroad the bus.
Walking up the stairs of the bus, she could already hear the familiar voices chattering. As Yukimura emerged though, the noises died down.
"Somebody will be joining us as we arrive to the courts. Kizu, come on up."
Reluctantly, Kizu emerged from the front of the bus and smiled at everybody sitting before her. "Hello everybody! I hope you're all doing well!"
"AHH KIZU SENPAI?!" Kirihara Akaya exclaimed while pointing an authoritative finger right at her. "Why are you here?!"
"Akaya, show some manners." A voice beside him silenced him. Yanagi Renji looked up and gave a swift nod to Kizu, who returned it.
"It's a long story…" Kizu began, but before she could even continue, Yukimura stepped slightly in front of her and ended her tale.
"It doesn't matter why she's here. Just know that for now she'll be riding along with us to the courts." Even though Yukimura had a soft voice, his words had conviction and authority. Everyone nodded and merely fell silent, back to doing their own thing. Out of the corner of her, Kizu spotted Yagyu Hiroshi and Niou Masaharu in the back, but before she could look for anybody else, Yukimura broke through her thoughts.
"Kizu-chan, come sit with me." He motioned to the seat beside him and tilted his head slightly as if inviting her to sit with him. "Let's catch up a little bit."
Kizu shared a small smile with Yukimura before she sat down beside him. "What is there to catch up on?"
"I never got to ask… How did you know I was in the hospital?"
"Eh?" Confused, Kizu looked over at him. How did I know…? "Well, I guess I ran into Sanada-kun once after you admitted. He gave me a brief situation overview and I thought I should go visit an old friend for some support."
She finished and then folded her arms across her chest while giving a firm nod to her own comment. Yukimura looked on with a blank expression at first, but then turned to the window to gaze out into the moving streets of London.
Old friends huh…? I guess that is true… But… Yukimura paused his thoughts momentarily as he felt something on his shoulder. Looking over. Kizu had rested her head on his shoulder, seemingly asleep. As pleased expression spread across his lips as he carefully removed his jacket from his shoulders and placed it over hers instead.
"Well, you're probably the only one who thinks that…" Yukimura whispered quietly as he returned his gaze back out to the window.
Seigaku Arrives at Courts (Fuji Focus)
"Whoa look at that!" Momoshiro pointed vigorously at the high towers. "I can't get enough of London, I can't!"
Momo continued to excitedly observe the outside scenery, while Ryoma beside him kept his eyes closed for a nap.
"Ne Echizen! Are you seeing this?"
"Ah. Mhmm."
Momo turned his lip up in annoyance and then grabbed the top of Ryoma's head with his hand and turned it directly to the window. "Don't lie to me, shorty!"
"Calm down Momoshiro." Tezuka sitting directly in front of them ordered strictly. Momo immediately released Ryoma from his death grip and then exhaled loudly in disagreement with the Captain's idea of letting him go.
"Shhhhhh, idiot." Kaidoh hissed behind the pair. Hearing that comment, Momo couldn't help but stand straight back up and ball up his fists right at the Viper.
"WHAT WAS THAT?! YOU TRYING TO PICK A FIGHT WITH ME?" Momo got up right into Kaido's space and made a grab for his opponent's collar, but Oishi stepped in and separate the fighting duo.
"Enough you two! We're in public and need to mind our manners!" Oishi reminded the two regulars they were representing Japan on this trip and needed to be on their best behavior.
Fuji smiled a little bit at the high energy of the juniors and then reached into his pocket for his phone. Flipping it open, he checked if there were any notifications. None. He closed his phone and then let out a small sigh.
Where is she? She should have been here by now…
He rested his chin on his hand and looked out the window. Sensing his concern, Takashi raised his eyebrows. "Fuji, are you all right?"
"Hmm? Yes. Nothing to worry about." Fuji tried to disguise his voice. He was worried, but he knew he didn't need to be. After all, Kizu spoke English and would be able to find help if she needed it.
"I'm sure Kizu-chan has gotten here just fine." Takashi reassured and patted him on the back. Fuji smiled as a return and nodded. "Thank you, Taka-san."
Turning back to the window, Fuji opened his eyes slightly to see the scenery of downtown London zooming by. The variety of colors and shapes passed through his vision, but none of them registered into his mind. He was far too busy wondering about where Kizu could have been. Her flight should have landed an hour ago, but there was still no contact from her.
Where is she…
The bus began to slow to a crawl, a steady stop. A hiss of the remaining exhaust was faint, but helped signify that they had arrived to their destination. The All-England Club, home to the Wimbledon Championships. Everybody began to grab their bags from their adjacent seats and readily left the bus.
The venue was grand, just as expected. All of the Seigaku members piled together into makeshift line while Ryuzaki-sensei guided them toward the main courts.
"Now then, shall we begin our tour?"
"Ah—achoo!" Kizu allowed a sneeze to erupt from her nose as she sat back straight up from leaning on Yukimura's shoulder. The sneeze had woken her up and she felt a little bit dazed as she opened her eyes while rubbing her nose with the back of her hand.
"Eh? Did I fall asleep?" She groggily asked herself while blinking a couple of times before realizing she was still on the bus with Rikkaidai. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a familiar blue haired boy sitting beside her. Yukimura himself had dozed off and rested peacefully on the window. Kizu smiled at this sight and tried to move, but felt a slight weight on her hands. Yukimura had given her his jacket prior to her slumber so it was still on her chest when she woke up.
Lifting it up slowly, she returned the favor and covered Yukimura back up with his own jacket. Backing off slowly, Kizu sat back comfortably in her own seat before she heard somebody clear their throat.
"Finished with your nap?" Kizu glanced over to the other side of he aisle and spotted Sanada. He sat straight up with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His eyes were closed, but her movements were enough to let him know she had awakened.
"Oh Sanada-kun. Why aren't you getting some rest?"
"I had plenty while you were resting. Is Seiichi asleep?"
"Huh?" Sanada's question caught her off guard a little bit, but she made a quick peek over at Yukimura and then nodded. "Yeah it looks like he's blissfully asleep now."
"He needs his rest. He maybe healed, but Seiichi is still the Captain of this tennis club. He uses a lot of energy to maintain himself." As usual, Sanada spoke clear and direct, without any rise in tone. Kizu understood that Sanada and Yukimura were closer than anybody she had ever known, but it never ceased to warm her heart when the seemingly cold and distant Sanada express care and concern for Yukimura.
"If I may say something…" Sanada kept his voice low and calm. Sensing that it must be something important, she nodded and looked intently at him. He slowly opened his eyes, and turned his line of site toward her.
His usual cold, emotionless stare seemed to have melted away in that instant. His eyes softened as he spoke the words, "Thank you."
These unexpected words caught her off guard. "Eh? What for though?" She wrinkled her forehead a little bit in confusion. There wasn't anything in particular that she had done lately with Rikkaidai. Especially nothing anything that would have permitted a piece of gratitude from the Vice Captain.
Sanada lowered his sights slightly then proceeded with his explanation. "Seiichi, it seemed as though he wasn't making the best effort to make a speedy recovery. He had… Regrets."
"It looked as if he didn't have the motivation and the drive he once did. Almost like he doubted his recovery back to normal strength."
This was the first time she was hearing such thoughts. Kizu had met Yukimura when she returned for about one year and entered into Rikkaidai her freshman year. Fuji didn't know of this return because she knew she was only going to stay for about half a year then return to the states once again. Even though Yukimura and herself were on different teams, they shared the same classes and often caught each other observing the other in practices or matches. They seemed to pique each other's interest, given their skills were far beyond anybody else of the team.
Eventually, they had grown close and often kept each other company during the remainder of the school year. Practices, lunch time, breaks, were nearly all devoted to them chatting and familiarity. Soon, she had to return to the states and they exchanged their farewells. She told him she would be back eventually and they would meet again. He didn't seem sad, but he probably knew that they were going to meet again.
"Nah, I don't think I really helped him. Seiichi-kun was always so confident and strong. I don't think he knew what it meant to be insecure." Kizu rationalized.
"Even those types of people have slumps. Seiichi is no exception." His words were hard. No room for argument. Kizu looked over saw how the knuckles of Sanada's hands turned white from his clenching. No doubt, it was hard for Sanada to see his best friend in such a state at the time.
"But then, I ran into you." His tone slightly faltered. It was, unlike Sanada to say the least. "I heard you visited him often after that."
The day when this happened, Kizu had just settled back into the city and she was heading over to Rikkaidai to see Yukimura and Sanada. Once at the school, Yanagi immediately recognized her, but unfortunately directed her over to Sanada for better explanation for Yukimura's absence.
She probably couldn't have sprinted any faster when she heard the news. The hospital was a good 20 minutes walk from the nearest station, but she ran her entire way there. Bursting through the door, she was nearly gasping for deep breaths when she saw the peaceful Yukimura sitting on his hospital bed gawking at her entrance.
From that day onward, she visited once every week. It didn't occur to her that the visits were anything in particular other than a friendly visit. In fact, every time she came, Yukimura would be his usual confident and appropriate self. There never seemed to be a hint of doubt or discouragement.
"I… I did. I thought it would be nice to catch up like that." Kizu flicked her eyes upward as she thought about it.
"Talking to you made him remember every single match he's had. Every moment he won. You brought it all back to him."
The bus was quiet. Some silent murmurs in the back as some of the other members were chatting. Sanada and Kizu sat in silence for a few moments. She didn't know what exactly to say, or if she should even say anything.
Yukimura stirred and shortly after, he opened his eyes and blinked a couple times to have his focus return. He sat up and continued to blink repeatedly, while making a slight grunt as he adjusted himself.
"Looks like I dozed off." He changed his sitting position and lifted up his jacket. He paused slightly, suddenly remembering that he gave the jacket to Kizu before, but then continued to place it around his shoulders again. "Did I miss anything?"
Kizu eyed Sanada out of the corner of her eye, who made the expression that suggested whatever they discussed should be kept between them. "Nothing really, just a quiet bus ride."
She turned over back at Yukimura and flashed him a smile. Yukimura smiled back tenderly and then looked forward. The bus had actually come to a stop without anybody knowing and the driver had already opened up the door for them.
Yukimura stood up and arranged his own bag over his shoulder and ushered everybody to do the same. Kizu picked up her own bag and followed close after the rest of the Rikkaidai team as they all departed the bus and stepped onto the lawns of the club grounds.
The scent of freshly cut grass invaded her nostrils as her eyes wandered the surroundings. Everyone else was already headed off to the entrance without taking much more of a second glance, but Kizu tried to keep up pace. They seemed to want to scout out the general area first, which wasn't surprising given their level of tennis they played.
Entering into the main tunnel, Kizu heard a familiar bickering tone echoing off the walls. She glanced around, but didn't see anybody else present just yet. Peering further down the tunnel, she saw faint silhouettes begin to form.
…Momo? Kaidoh? She tried to speed walk toward the echoing voices, passing the rest of the Rikkaidai team. Yukimura, leading the pack, watched her as she inched her way ahead of them and couldn't help but laugh a little bit at her actions.
"Now now, will you two stop it already?!" Oishi had once again stepped in between the rivals and held up his hands to their faces in an attempt to separate the two. Eiji laughed as the Mother of Seigaku tried his best to maintain the peace, while the rest of the team looked on.
"Stop it you two! You represent Japan here! Pull yourself together!" Ryuzaki-sensei voice boomed into everyone's ears.
"That's right." Yukimura's voice cut through everyone else's thoughts and concentrations with his gentle, yet authoritative manner. He stepped up to approach Seigaku and expressed a slight smirk as if responding to their humor. "We're here as representative of Japan. We wouldn't want to do anything that might wreck our country's reputation."
Everybody seemed quite surprised to see that Rikkaidai was before them, or rather, Kizu was present with them, even though she was slowly making her way right over to the rest of the team. "Sorry guys! I ran into them when I got off the plane, and they offered me a ride soo…."
Her voice trailed off as if it was self-explanatory, while eyeing everyone else. The main focus though, was of course Fuji. He looked at her and it seemed like a whole burden from his shoulder was suddenly lifted and he perked up. She flashed a smile in his direction and jogged a little bit heading in their direction.
Eiji was the first to give Kizu a greeting, waving a peace sign at her and smiling. "Yo, Kizu-chan!" He laughed as he walked up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Took ya long enough!"
"By my calculations, you were supposed to have arrived at the same time we did." Inui reasoned with his notebook at hand. "Was there perhaps, a delay?"
"Yeah there was. Maybe like an hour or so. The jet had a minor drop in fuel, so they had to refuel it." Kizu said while laughing slightly.
"I'm glad," Fuji quietly greeted her, while stepping toward them. Everyone seemed to take a tiny step back, as if to make room for the two of them. Kizu gave retracted her lips slightly, into an awkward tight smile and gave a firm nod. "Mm, yeah. I'm glad too."
They reached an awkward phase of silence as everyone seemed to look onward. Until another familiar voice broke their silence. "What's this? Didn't even notice the King has arrived?"
Kizu felt her shoulders slump, as she knew all too well who it was… Turning slowly, she spotted a sight she was too familiar in seeing. In the higher sections of the tunnel, sat none of other than Atobe Keigo and the rest of Hyotei present before them.
"As usual, he remains endlessly confident." Momo scoffed while looking over at Atobe and crossed his arms.
"Hmph. Being rude doesn't make you any more insignificant." Atobe remarked as he began to turn away from everybody, as if trying to signal he was done talking to them.
"Well, looks like everyone else is already here!" Shiraishi's voice echoed through the tunnel, making no effort at all at hiding his comfort with everybody. The rest of Shitenhouji appeared in line right behind him, but only one small red head decided to speak up.
"Ah! Koshimae!" Kintaro exclaimed while leaping up and down in excitement. Ryoma on the other hand did not return the feelings. He instead, scoffed a little bit and glanced away.
Everybody seemed to all suddenly have the same idea all at once and it began with an endless stares of fiery eyes to every school and every opponent. All at once, everyone grabbed their bags and started off in the same directions simultaneously and began to run hurriedly toward the end of tunnel.
The remaining coaches, with the exception for Yukimura and Kizu, stayed behind and all shook their heads in disbelieve of their own players for now.
"Good grief. Do they ever do anything else?"
For a brief moment, Kizu caught the sight of Fuji lingering behind a little, walking beside Tezuka. He passed a quick glance at her while still walking, but snuck in a peace sign secretly too as they left the tunnel to join the others.
She smiled at the gesture and nodded silently to herself. Shifting her backpack, she glanced over to the coaches. "Is it all right if I head over to housing first? I doubt I'd be able to get a court right now anyway, not with those guys flocking about."
Ryuzaki-sensei nodded in agreement and gave her short instructions for how to get there. Kizu remembered vaguely how the club locations were, but required a need of a refresher. Before she could say anything though, Yukimura popped up behind her and whispered, "If you need help, I can guide you."
This surprised her a little, causing her to turn around quickly, but not too abruptly. She smiled at him and shook her head, "Nah, I know you want to go out there and watch everybody out there!"
He was amazed to hear that from her, he just assumed she would want some help. But he still smiled and gave a nod of defeat. "Very well then, if you say so."
Kizu bid everybody else a short farewell, offering to check if all their bags had arrived too so the coaches don't have to worry about it too much before she set off.
There were three days before the major exhibition, nothing could go wrong… Right?
Author note: Hi all! Just a random special for funsies (: It's been a long time, I thank those who have been patient with me and hope you enjoy this incredible random update. I'll try to work on my unfinished stories. But as you can see, a lot of things have changed since the last time I posted on this site. Please be understanding~
Thanks again for reading ;D