This day, this day something is going to happen. You can feel it somehow and you're slightly bothered by it, because you like to be in control of your life. As much as you can anyway.
As you stand near the fence you still feel like something is going to happen. You wonder if it has something to do with Echizen. You pinch the bridge of your nose.
You care for Echizen, in fact you care for all your teammates, even if people seem to think otherwise. But…but Echizen is different. You've noticed that you've been staring at him, even is he isn't on the court. At first you didn't understand, but you can't deny it anymore. You like Echizen Ryoma.
'Ne, Buchou?' you hear behind you, barely a whisper. You immediately know who it is. Startled that you didn't notice him before you calm yourself and turn around, looking at him with questioning eyes. You see his face flush a bite before his cap hides it. 'Can I talk to you after practice?' he says with a breathy voice, which you've grown to like…a lot. You notice the slight tremble of his right hand, holding a Ponta as usual.
'Ah.' You answer and nod. Then you turn around to the courts to start the practice.
Right now you're in the locker room, in your mind you go over practice again. You assigned practice matches and put Echizen with Kawamura. As you watched the match you noticed things unrelated to tennis. The way his eyes shine and light up when faced with a challenge. The way his quiet, insolent remarks carry over the court, the way he….Stop! Stop thinking like that, you have to be able to look him in the eyes when you talk to him.
You've already finished changing, so you look around the locker room and see Echizen sitting on the bench. Slouched and cap in place which you find odd because he's wearing his school uniform. You catch a glance of his eyes before they disappear under the cap again.
Then it's quiet and you notice Fuji is the last to leave. His smiling face is just too suspicious as he closes the door. You shrug it off and go to sit on the bench across of Echizen. You look straight at him as you ask, 'What do you want to talk to me about, Echizen?' For a moment he just stares at you and just as you want to ask him if he's okay, he stands up and starts pacing. He makes a few attempts to talk but fails. You notice he's nervous and he's fumbling with his sleeves. You wonder why, why is he so nervous? Could it be….?! No, it couldn't…..but why else would he be so nervous. Then he stops pacing and you look up to him. He looks in your eyes for a moment and when his cap slides back over his eyes again, you hear him whisper, 'Buchou, I….I like you!'
And suddenly he presses his lips against yours. You freeze up, not knowing what to do, you just feel his soft lips. Then he pulls away and he almost shouts as he bows, 'Gomen!' Then he bolts it out of the room, you feel the corners of your mouth curve up. Still a bit dazed you raise a hand to touch your lips. You make a decision.