So I decided to go back and rewrite the sequel to Who Will Take it All. I got bored one day and started re-reading old FFs and came across ones that really helped get my groove back with writing. I'm still trying to figure out some details on how this story is going to go, but I am liking what I am feeling so far with writing this. If you started reading the sequel, I did end up changing some of the details in that story, so it will not follow what I wrote in that Story.
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Chapter 1- Reunion?
It had been nearly 5 years since they won, five years since they had all been together. Now they were in University, long gone are the dreams of them going to the Olympics and playing professionally. So, they all decided to live together in a small house not far from the campus when they learned that they would all be attending the same school. Sitting in a living room, five girls all stared at each other.
"I have missed all of you guys so much. I can't believe we haven't seen each other in years," Noella said looking at the group of girls. She had pretty much remained the same as she did five years ago. Her red hair still sat past her shoulders and her brown eyes followed around the room. She was the tallest of the five girls and learned to specialize in doubles with Tricha over the years at Rikkai.
The Firsca Tennis Team had brought all of them together. They all worked hard and saw them win their first national title their senior year. But to get to that goal, they put forth a lot of training and hard work with a little help from some of the boy's teams.
"Same here. It looks like time did us all well," Ryelle said. Her bright blonde hair was down towards the middle of her back, but most of the time it was twisted up into a bun or in a braid. Her blue eyes matched that of the sky. She looked extremely exotic to many people in Japan. She stayed in Japan for high school, but transferred to Seigaku after finishing at Firsca.
Outs of the five girls, Aribella was the only one that didn't attend high school with the girls in Japan. She spent time in England after her father's job changed. When she needed to attend college, she appeared in the girl's lives again. After learning that all of them are attending the same college, they decided to rent a house close to campus and live together.
"I agree, but who is up for having a little fun tonight to celebrate all of us being back together!" Konstantine asked, her hazel eyes lit up.
"I am in! We haven't had a chance to do anything with moving in and classes starting tomorrow!" Tricha said getting up and going upstairs to get ready.
The other four girls followed suit and got ready. The upstairs of the house has three bathrooms and six bedrooms. The empty bedroom was converted into a study room/get ready room for the girls. After a hour or so, all of the girls were ready and gathered in the front of the house.
Noella dressed in a plain black shirt and skinny jeans. Her hair was pulled up into a braided ponytail. Tricha wore a yellow bell sleeve top and tight black skinny jeans and two low pigtails completed her look. Ryelle wore a cream tank top and a dark blue skirt. Her long hair was twisted up into a bun. Konstantine kept it simple with a red and black shirt with jeans while her hair was kept down and pinned back from her face. Aribella wore a simple blue sundress and a white cardigan and curled her hair.
"Now that we are looking amazing! Where do we want to go?" Noella asked.
"How about for some sushi!" Konstantine said. "I bet Ari hasn't had good sushi in years!"
Aribella laughed and the five girls made their way through town and stumbled upon the sushi joint that they had been looking for. Konstantine opened the door and walked in.
"Welcome! Ah, Aribella-chan! It's good to see you again! Nice to see all of you again actually!" Taka said with his signature smile.
"Thanks Taka-san! It feels good to be back," Aribella said.
The five girls took their seats and ordered a plethora of sushi. When their order came, they all decided to dig in and enjoy their last night before attending college.
"So, any word from some of our old friends?" Aribella asked taking another piece of sushi. She did have to admit that she missed the food here the most.
"Well, Kikumaru and Syusuke are both going to the University," Konstantine said. " I know there are some people from Rikkai and Hyoutei. I think that is about it."
Aribella eyes showed that she waited to hear for another name. Ryelle knew that something happened and that Aribella and Tezuka broke up, but she didn't really press the matter, other than he broke it off with her. If she remembered correctly, it happened about a year ago. Ryelle often wondered if it was about the distance or something else.
"Ah, so how are they both doing?" Aribella asked taking a sip of their tea.
"Great! Kiku went with me to Italy a few weeks ago. It was nice going along the countryside with him, and he even was able to speak some Italian while we were there!" Konstantine said. The two had been inseparable since they started. Many thought that it was just puppy love with them, knowing both of them, but it became more serious.
"Syusuke is fine. His sister got married a few months ago and I went to the wedding. We had a good time," Ryelle said trying to downplay everything that went on.
"That's good! How about you two? Any boys that we need to know about an interrogate?" Aribella asked raising an eyebrow.
"Nope, but I really hope that there are some good looking guys at college. I mean, I'm not like Ryelle and Konstantine who have been with the same guys since they were fourteen," Tricha said eating a piece of sushi to help avoid the topic even further.
Ryelle and Konstantine just laughed at the girl and continued to eat their meal. They sat at the sushi shop and talked a little bit more. After they left, Noella and Tricha went ahead and Ryelle, Konstantine and Aribella slowed their pace. Before they knew it, they were in front of Seigaku.
"So many memories here," Konstantine said looking up at the school.
"Yeah, some good and some bad. I can't believe that I'm back here again," Aribella said.
"Say, what ever did happen with you and Tezuka-kun?" Konstantine asked.
"Well, I'm still not really sure. Part of me thinks that he did it so there was less of a distraction for when he was trying to play tennis professionally, but that doesn't mean that it didn't hurt any less. I tried calling him again about seven months ago to try and talk to him and he just said that he didn't have time to talk to me. We did talk as friends, but I haven't talked to him since that day," Aribella said quietly while looking as if she was holding back tears.
"Seven months ago?" Ryelle asked. "Isn't that when…"
"Yeah, I called him a little after my dad died."
Ryelle and Konstantine knew that her father recently passed away in an accident, but they never really took it further than that. Knowing now that the girl was trying to call him to tell him that her father passed away, angered them. Ryelle tried her hardest to keep her anger down.
How could he?! She was trying to get a word through that her father passed away!What a jerk! Ryelle thought. Ryelle had been busy at the time of the funeral, but she did video chat the girl everyday until she came back to Japan with her mother.
"I'm sorry, why didn't you tell us though?" Konstantine asked. Konstantine hopped on a plane as soon as she told her that her father passed away. She was already getting ready to visit her family, so leaving early wouldn't have mattered much to her. She told Kikumaru that she was leaving early, but nothing more than that.
"Because, judging my Ryelle's eyebrow twitching, she would have found the first plane to Germany and pummeled him. And we hadn't really talked in years, so it made sense that he brushed me off like that. I just wish that he didn't. I think I never really got over him," Aribella said crossing her arms.
Konstantine smiled at the girl and took her hand, "Well, you have the two of us, and now that we are all back together, people better watch out!"
The three girls continued their walk back to their house and settled in for the night. Classes would start tomorrow, and they all wanted to get a good night sleep as they would be leaving early that morning to get everything straightened away.
At 6am on the dot, Konstantine woke up. Part of it was due to her living in the house with her twin sisters growing up, that if she didn't get up and get ready quick, she would be late as they always ganged up on her and locked her out of the bathroom. She was late far too many times for tennis practice when she finally learned her lesson. Wake up before everyone else does.
Her feet padded down the stairs and made their way into the kitchen. She made a whole pot of coffee. Looking at the time she saw that the rest of her friends should be waking up and getting ready. Next down the stairs looking for coffee was Ryelle, by the look on her face, it was that no one was to talk to her until she got at least two cups of coffee in her.
Konstantine poured a mug and set it on the counter near the girl. She took the mug and then retreated to the living room where she put on the news, most likely to check for the weather today.
Noelle and Tricha were next down the stairs and each got their own cup of coffee, but helped Konstantine make breakfast for everyone. They decided on a western style breakfast of pancakes and eggs.
"Um, is Aribella up?" Noella asked.
"I haven't seen her come down. I'll go up and wake her," Konstantine said going back up the steps.
She made her way down towards the end of the hall where her room was. She heard the faint sound of her music playing, a good sign towards her being up. Konstantine knocked on the door and slowly opened it. She looked around and saw that Aribella was sitting on her floor with her makeup out getting ready, but her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying.
"Hey, are you okay?" Konstantine asked sitting on her bed.
"Yes and no. I just really miss my dad today. He would be so proud that I was going to college today and majoring in Business like him. I guess it just made me really think about him a lot. Also, it doesn't help that today is his birthday," Aribella sniffled while trying to put on some mascara.
"Well, please tell me that stuff is waterproof if you are going to be a leaky faucet all day," Konstantine laughed as she dodged a pair of socks.
"It is. I'm okay. I think everything just hit me at once today and I wasn't expecting it to," Aribella said putting her make up away and following Konstantine out the door. She made her way down to the dining room where there were a stack of pancakes and eggs waiting for her. It made her happy that all of her friends were here with her today.
"Let's eat!" All five of the girls said digging into the food in front of them.
By 7:15, the food had been eaten and the dishes put in the dishwasher to be cleaned while they were in class all day. They all lined up at the door and made their way to campus. Their earliest class today was at 9 so they timed it out that if they left by 7:45, they would make it to campus with at least 30 or so minutes to spare.
The girls split up and went to their own buildings for their classes. Aribella made her way to the Business Department, Konstantine to the Communications Department, Noella to the Mathematics Department, Tricha to the International Relations Department, and Ryelle to the Education Department. They all agreed that since they had a break at 12:30pm that they would all get lunch together before their last classes of the day.
Aribella walked into her first class of the day, it was an auditorium style room with multiple entrances and exits. She walked in from the back and made her way towards the front. She sat down in the second row and noticed immediately who was almost directly in front of her.
Of course, of fucking course. I mean this day was bound to get worse and worse. He probably doesn't even know that I am here. But what is he doing here? I thought that he would have been trying to play in Germany by now. God, why do you hate me? Aribella thought as she got her things together.
"Hey can I sit here?" Aribella heard a male voice ask. She could almost pinpoint it, but when she turned she saw that she was staring face to face with Atobe Kiego.
His face immediately recognized her from when they were in middle school. She was the one woman that he could respect on the tennis court, even more so than Tezuka. He also fondly remembered at her nationals in middle school, she gave him quite a scolding for how he treated Serena.
Aribella groaned internally at the fact that should have to be in the same class at not only Atobe Kiego, but Tezuka Kunimitsu. This was going to be a long semester. Before she could say anything her professor walked in and started lecturing. She silently thanked the Gods that she didn't have to interact any further with the two of them.
Now for Aribella, Accounting was an easy class for her. She loved this type of math, the type that is very logical and that you normally have the answers in front of you and you are solving for a puzzle.
Over in the Education wing, Ryelle was sitting through the first of her classes wondering how the rest of her friends would be going on until they met for lunch. Syusuke texted her and said that he would be joining them for lunch. She told him a little about what happened with Aribella and his former captain, but she wasn't sure how much he knew and if he even still talked to him. Fuji would try and avoid the topic when it got brought up.
Konstantine was working on her speech that she was to give the next time she was in class. Her professor wanted each of them to write a five minute speech about their goals and a little about themselves. Konstantine excelled in public speaking, but writing something about herself felt a little too braggy. If she wanted to stand out in her department she would have to do something the other students wouldn't think of doing. She smirked and started writing in not one, not two, but three separate languages.
Mathematics has always been an interesting subject for Noella. She used to to her advantage many time playing tennis. Some said that she did data tennis like Inui or Renji, but hers was simply more seeing the space, rather than probability. She could never really explain her tennis to anyone, so she just kept it to herself. So when she decided on her future career, she looked no further than the subject that she enjoyed in and out of school.
Tricha knew from early on that she wanted to specialize in International Relations. Her father had worked for the Italian government as an ambassador for years before he retired. That was how he ended up in Japan, and he loved the country so much that after he retired, he moved there permanently and gave up his Italian citizenship to do so. Tricha still had her dual citizenship for a few more years, but she was more than likely going to give up her Italian citizenship in order to work for the Japanese government, hopefully. She had already mastered three languages like her other Italian counterpart.
As their break time came, Ryelle met up with Fuji and Eiji and walked towards the student building. Konstantine was next to join them. Noella and Tricha were waiting outside the building for the four of them.
"I didn't know you two were here too!" Eiji exclaimed hugging the girls.
"Yeah, we are here! Let's get a table!" Noella smiled.
The group entered the building and found a table large enough for them. Fuji and Eiji told them that they had invited some of their other friends to sit with them as well. A moment later, Yukimura Seichii, Sanada Genichiro, and Shiraishi Kuranosuke joined them.
"Hey! Long time no see!" Noella and Tricha said together.
"How's it going?" Yukimura asked.
"First day and all. Not too bad. Ah, Aribella! You made it. What's wrong?" Noella said noticing her friend sit at the table ready to murder someone.
Fuji and Eiji both turned their heads and saw the girl sit at the table next to Ryelle and start eating the food that she got, not wanting to talk to anyone, which took all of them by surprise as she was always conversant with them while they were in school.
A moment later, a deep voice came from beside Eiji, "Is this seat taken?"
Everyone looked up and saw that Tezuka Kunimitsu was standing at the table. Ryelle and Konstantine's faces immediately fell into a glare and then they shifted their eyes to Aribella, who had a mix of wanting to yell and cry at the same time.
"I invited him to sit with us," Yukimura said. "I figured that you all would want to sit with each other and catch up."
Aribella was the first one to speak after that, "Of fucking course you would sit with us. Why in the world did I think that it was okay for me to come back here? I'll see you all at the house. I have to do something."
The girl go up from her seat, gathered her things in one fluid motion and left the group all sitting in awe at the table. Not one of them bothered to speak for a moment.
"I thought you two were still a thing?" Eiji asked.
"No, they haven't been for a while. And to be quite honest, by her reaction, whatever it was that you did, she really hates you for it," Noella said with a little bit of venom.
The other males at the table sat in awe that those two were no longer together. She was the one that got him to come out of his shell and now it seems that he has retreated back into that shell, if not deeper to protect himself.
"It's none of your business what happened," Tezuka said coldly.
"Yeah, well you could have thought about that a little bit more. Koni, what did she say to you this morning anyways, she was running a little slower than normal," Ryelle said not taking her eyes off of the former captain.
"Today is her dad's birthday. She looked like a wreck this morning. I'm still not sure of all of the other details, but she hasn't talked about what happened," Konstantine said looking down at her food, all of a sudden no longer hungry. "I'll go check on her."
Konstantine got up and tried to follow after the girl. When they were captain and vice-captain, they knew each other backwards and forwards. Ryelle also understood the both of them. That was why they were known as the Three Angels of Firsca.
"Care to fill us in?" Shiraishi asked.
"I mean I don't even know what happened. All I get is a phone call from Aribella saying that you two broke up, and then not even a few months later, I get another phone call saying that her father passed away. She still hasn't told us what really happened. I think she might blame herself for something," Ryelle said. "I have to see if I can find them. Talk to you later Syusuke."
After she left all eyes turned to Tezuka who had a shocked expression on his face. He was trying to think of when her father could have passed away, and then he realized when that was.
The night that she called me. She was trying to tell me that her father died. Tezuka thought.
"Wow, I knew you were an emotionless ice block sometimes, but I didn't think that you would be that cold," Tricha said. "No offense, but I can see why her just looking at you would make her want to punch you in the face."
Sanada looked at the girl and saw that she was passionate about protecting her friend, but he felt that there was more to the situation than what he let on. He remembered her from high school. Her and Noella had transferred to Rikkai after middle school. There he witnessed the two become an inseparable doubles team.
"I didn't know," Tezuka said. "I didn't even know her father was ill, or whatever was going on with him. I remember her calling me a few months back and that was it, she didn't seem upset on the phone."
"Yeah, and you who have been with her the longest knows, that she does have good control over her emotions, when she wants to. Probably in that moment, she was trying to be strong for her family and not letting it show," Noella said taking a bite of her sandwich. "But why did you break up with her?"
"Part of me doesn't know why. I think it was we were just getting busy with school and tennis, that we just grew apart due to the distance. She was always busy when I called her and vice versa, and it seemed like my team also didn't want me to be with her. They also thought she was a distraction to me."
Tricha and Noella raised their eyebrows knowing that he was one who more often than not did not let distractions get in his way, but they could not believe that he considered Aribella a distraction.
"You are lucky that I have to get to class, or else I would give you more of a tongue lashing, but I have to get going. See ya!" Tricha said getting up and going back to class.
Noella followed suit and went to her next class leaving all of the boys at the table all a little dumbstruck.
"Whatever it was that happened, you should try and fix it. I'm sure Aribella will come around," Eiji said, trying to be the optimist.
So there is that! Like I said, I am trying to get something out there. I have no clue how often I am going to update, but I can imagine it taking me a little bit between the updates. So just stick with me. As for my other stories, I will be taking a look at them and trying to update and complete them if possible.
Until next time!