Binary stars

Summary:

Like two suns circling each other, Atobe Keigo and Tezuka Kunimitsu had been travelling the same orbit, treading the same paths, yet missing each other by miles and by inches.

Author's Note:

I seriously thought Shifting Sands was the one and only fanfiction I'm going to do for PoT. But Atobe demands his side of the story. It started with Atobe's comment to Tezuka at the start of the match "Weren't you avoiding me?" And suddenly, it did look like Tezuka was avoiding Atobe from Atobe's point of view.

Chapter 1

Atobe Keigo watched Seigaku's second year ace, Tezuka Kunimitsu, play tennis for the first time, against Hyotei's captain in Tokyo Perfectural Singles 2*. He had found someone worthy enough to be his rival. He knew then he wanted to play against Tezuka that year. But Seigaku did not even survive first round** of National Tournament, the slackers. They lost 2-3. Only Tezuka and the newly minted second-year doubles, dubbed Golden Pair, managed to secure a win.

He consoled himself that he would hunt Tezuka down in Junior Senbatsu Training Camp later that year. Again Tezuka eluded him, declining the only invitation to Seigaku without reason. He was replaced by Yamabuki's Sengoku, who did not even provide Atobe any challenge at all. Camp was rife with rumours though. The unthinkable had happened. It was unprecedented for anyone to decline the elite invitation.

That was when Atobe decided to take matters into his own hands. Atobe dared Oshitari to steal Seigaku's contact list from their captain. Oshitari simply smirked and sauntered back 15 minutes later smiling like a cat who had found a whole barrel of cream. Oshitari had helped himself to the contact list of all the schools in Kantou.

They split the list between them and started calling between training sessions. Oshitari and he had a good laugh mocking the poor clueless plebeians with prank calls and that made camp a little more bearable. Unfortunately, they were less than successful in their mission. All Seigaku regulars clammed up when Tezuka's name came up. Tezuka himself hung up on Atobe three times in a row. He had never been so insulted.

He was contemplating hiring a private investigator when the Rikkai players caught his eye. A third year was being teased for losing the only match that year. An embarassing loss to a two-bit school like Seigaku in the Kantou Tournament semifinals. Only Sanada remained silent, his eyes hooded and unreadable.

Atobe had managed to catch the last half of Tezuka's Singles 3*** match with that third year, after despatching Rokkaku's Singles 3 and cinching their win. By the time Atobe arrived, he had expected Rikkai to have packed up and left after despatching Seigaku in 6-0 straight sets. But they were still halfway into the fourth game of Singles 3 after one hour, Rikkai leading 2-1. Tezuka was giving the Rikkai player a hard time. In ninth game, Tezuka finally led 5-4 with four service aces. In the tenth game, Tezuka broke Rikkai's service game with five consecutive Zero-shiki drop shots. The last drop shot fell feather light and rolled back two centimetres. Rikkai were shocked speechless when the referee called "Game and match, Seishun Gakuen Tezuka, 6-4."

Tezuka was slightly favouring his left side when he left the court. Atobe had not paid much mind into it at that time. After playing against Tezuka's opponent himself in the finals and losing 2-6, he learned not to underestimate Rikkai's powerful shots. His hand was numb and upper arm sore even after switching to two-handed jack knives half the time. He began to wonder how much strain was Tezuka in after playing ten games with that crazy powerhouse.

Based on the hunch, Atobe had discreetly checked hospital records around Tokyo. He finally hit jackpot in a nondescript hospital where Tezuka had made regular visits. He smirked, finally figuring out Tezuka's reason for withdrawal. Next year, he will hunt Tezuka down and destroy him.

TBC ...


*Assuming Atobe and Tezuka played Singles, Atobe played before Tezuka, and Hyotei won as a team, it can be inferred that Singles matches were ordered:
Doubles : 1 win, 1 loss each
Singles 3 : Atobe vs Seigaku Captain (Atobe wins)
Singles 2: Hyotei captain vs Tezuka (Tezuka wins)
Singles 1: Hyotei OB vs Seigaku OB (Hyotei OB wins)
Hyotei wins 3-2.

** Conjecture, Seigaku did not do well at all in National Tournament. Golden Pair and Tezuka, presumably won the only matches, gaining them the National-player titles in the following year (2-3). This implies that all the players who won at National level from Seigaku were second years.

*** Inference. Rikkai won 3-1. Since Tezuka is the only one that won his match, and assuming that Tezuka played Singles, he had to be placed in Singles 3, so that Rikkai will win D2, D1 and S2.