The Chase

Summary: Tennis Captain, Kunimitsu Tezuka of the Boys team at Seigaku Academy, and Tennis Captain, Kagome Higurashi of the Girls team at Seigaku Academy, have one thing in common, they are completely against relationships that concern them and another person romantically...their teammates full heartedly disagree with their thoughts on the matter.

Genre: Romance

Pairing: Kagome/Tezuka

Rated: M

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"Sit-ups! Fifty, switch, fifty, switch, and continue till one hundred, break between fifties for water!"

"Hai, Higurashi-Senpai!"

'Respect...' The thought was always the first to enter her mind at the beginning of practice, 'Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule.' It was simplicity in itself, really. How hard was it to treat your fellow teammates with the respect you feel that you yourself deserve? 'Use good manners, not bad language.' It was tasteless, speaking with vulgarity, not only in practice but in any given situation as well. 'Be considerate of the feelings of others,' something you may have to train yourself to notice, but, in the end, it's worth it. Noticing the way the things you do or say affect those around you can help you smooth over unnecessary problems and help improve relations among teammates. 'Don't threaten, hit or hurt anyone.' Self explanatory, if you hurt someone, physically or otherwise, then expect to be hurt back. It only causes bad blood to form between teammates. Finally, 'Deal peacefully with anger, insults and disagreements.' Remember, if you can fight stupidly over something, then you can resolve it peacefully too. There will always be a positive method to counter the negative method in resolving a disagreement. 'Respect...for them, for me...' Kagome watched stridently as her girls preformed the task she'd given them without complaint or withdrawals.

"H-Higurashi-Senpai..."

She turned piercing, intelligent, but kind blue eyes onto one of her girls. She wasn't a Regular on her team, in no way was this girl good enough to participate at her Regulars level, but she was persistent, in the best of ways. Her name was Ryuzaki Sakuno, the granddaughter of the Boys' Teams Coach, Ryuzaki Sumire. Her hair was brunette, long in length, and tied into separate braids that fell well past her hips, and her eyes, a ginger brown which often gave way to her meek personality. She could be an outspoken girl like many of her Regulars, but she was also easily brushed aside due to her quiet stature. Kagome brushed her bangs out from her eyes, smiling in kind at the twelve year old, her own hair was tied back tightly into a pony tail, black in color; she kept it neatly cut in layers that fell beautifully down to the middle of her back, her bangs always framing her face. "Yes, was there something you needed, Ryuzaki-Chan?"

"Hai, I was wondering, would you be able to help me with my form after school?"

Kagome smiled, "Of course, you know that's what I'm here for," She glanced back as the girls finished their first set of sit-ups, "How about you come to Court C-2, at five. We will practice then,"

Sakuno clapped her hands excitedly together, "That'll be great! I can hopefully improve quickly, and maybe impress Ryoma-Kun!" She paused, blushing at the outburst she'd given in to.

Kagome stared in wonderment at the younger girl, she herself was fourteen in age, not to far off from the girl, but she had never understood the essentials of dating. She had always had her head in the sport, what more was there? She lived to play Tennis, it was all she needed, all that she wanted, but she guessed some couldn't settle with just the sport of Tennis, they needed to have an arm trophy as well. Sakuno was a good girl though, so she would give her the benefit of the doubt, perhaps it was one of those mere whims of the heart; a 'puppy love' or 'roaming heart'. Whatever they called it, Kagome was glad she wasn't affected by the silly emotion more commonly know as love.

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(Eight Hours Later)

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Kagome finished writing up her training regime for her Regulars and made her way to the Tennis Clubs school room. She entered, but found that it was occupied by some of the male players.

She knew each of them well enough, their reputations did them justice. "Tezuka-Senpai," She bowed respectfully, her hair falling over her shoulder with that singular motion. "How fairs your team?" She questioned as she straightened up and headed to the copier beside the filing cabinet.

"They are doing well, Higurashi, and yours?"

She smiled at the two members of the boys tennis team that were sitting on tables next to Tezuka who was sitting in a chair writing something that looked like a schedule similar to what she had done. The boys were Inui Shadaharu, a fourteen year old who was a data collector among the boys tennis team, and Oishi Shuichiro, who was also fourteen, and was the vice-captain of the boy's tennis team. "You'll see soon enough," She smiled, turning to face him as she grinned cheekily. "I saw that letter a while ago. Whose idea was it?"

Tezuka glanced away from what he was doing and looked her in the eyes. "Not mine, Ryuzaki-Sensei sent out that invitation."

Kagome laughed, "That sounds like her; I hear you've got a new recruit." She looked up in wonder, she had heard many things, but gossip had never been an interest of hers, so she often went straight to the source of knowledge for information regarding matters that interested her, and the fifteen year old in front of her was the perfect source of information, considering it was his team.

"You must be talking about Echizen."

Kagome gave a small nod, "I'm curious about how he plays, think I'd stand a chance?"

He smirked, "Possibly, you've always been a strategic player; if I remember correctly you play with something of a mix between Eiji and Fuji, yes?"

She watched carefully as the two beside him eyed her curiously, listening intently to their Captain talk about her. She wasn't one to stir up gossip, and her team understood how she detested rumors, so they never went off spreading things, be it good or bad, concerning Kagome. So the fact that they didn't know who she was didn't bother her. Kagome nodded, "I grew up with Eiji, and Fuji was my tennis partner for the longest time, so they both had their effects on my own tennis form, and my skill in general. I'm grateful to both of them. Anyways," She placed a copy of the schedule away in the cabinet before grabbing the small stack she'd had duplicated for her team, "I should get going, I promised to help one of the girls on my team, and already I'm a little late,"

He nodded his head and returned to his own task at hand, not bothering to watch her leave, as she didn't care to bid him farewell.

Neither had ever been friends as much as they were acquaintances. So the fact that they only ever saw one another maybe two or three times a month didn't deter her or bug her in any way.

"Higurashi-Senpai!"

Kagome stepped out onto the court she'd spoken to Sakuno of earlier, and placed down both her satchel and tennis bag. "Ryuzaki-Chan, you were practicing," Kagome smiled.

"H-Hai, Higurashi-Senpai!"

Kagome could see from the light sheen of sweat on the girls forehead and cheeks that she had indeed been practicing, and the tennis balls that littered the right side of the court also gave way to what she had been doing while Kagome hadn't been present. "Now, I know you stay late after everyone else leaves to practice longer, but let's try to put that time to better use." She grabbed her own racquet, a Mizuno Pro Light S90, with a white grip that she constantly changed out. "Let's return to basics, step one is...?"

"...uh...hitting the ball?"

"Yes, and no...Movement, step one is movement. The first step in Tennis is to establish a strong foundation with the body, and to do that, you first must face the undeniable truth that you as a tennis player face an angle of possibilities. This of course means that the ball angles, or moves, away from you either to your right or to your left. You should never be afraid of the ball, because the ball is not hit at you, in fact, your opponent will do what he can to keep it away from you. With me still?"

"Hai!"

"Good, now the ball is angling away from you. While you can take different directions to intercept it, you want to hit the ball back with some power and not simply run over and touch it or just stop it. You've heard often enough that moving into the ball gives you power, right?"

"I've heard some of the guys on the Boys Tennis team say that,"

"Do you understand why that is though?" Kagome asked.

"Iie," Sakuno was no longer stuttering, getting more comfortable with her Senpai that she could speak clearly to the upperclassman.

"Because getting your body's momentum behind the stroke and into the ball equals power."

"I do that, but it never does far, or where I want it to go."

"Aiming it is something completely different then just hitting it," Kagome said, "Let me ask you this, Ryuzaki-Chan; why doesn't that happen often enough for you?"

"...because I'm not strong enough?"

Kagome shook her head with a smile, "Because if you move parallel to the baseline, turn sideways, or pivot one foot to the side, you're moving away from the ball and not into it. It's simple geometry."

Sakuno smiled, "I'm good at Geometry!"

"Then start looking at Tennis from a mathematical point of view."

"Alright,"

"I'm going to hit you some balls, I want to see your form before we get too into this."

Sakuno nodded and stood with her feet shoulder width apart.

"Bend your knees a bit, you want to keep yourself always ready to hit a ball, and if your legs are always straight, then you will have trouble adjusting to a sudden run."

"Okay,"

"I want you to think about something else too, it doesn't matter whether you kick or hit a ball, tackle someone, lift a bag of groceries or a heavy box; all of these actions take place in a zone common to us all. This common zone lies between the width of the feet where the feet are for the most part parallel to each other, I call this common area your body's power zone. Not exactly in the middle between identical feet, simply in between them and not to the outer side of either one, and the center of your body, the groin area, faces straight ahead in the same direction as your feet."

Kagome continued to teach the girl and smiled as the younger would move in accordance with her instructions. She would occasionally hit a ball in her direction and she would knock it back, Kagome would then add more tips and give more instructions. By seven o'clock, Sakuno was sweating and breathing hard from the practice. Kagome wasn't too bad, but then, she hadn't moved much at all. She walked to her satchel and pulled out a small red notepad, taking a black sharpie out, she wrote on the inside cover, SAKUNO – TENNIS, then turned to the first page, "Keep this with you at all times and practice as often as you can, understand?"

"Hai!"

"I will write down weekly schedules for you, since there are only three days left of this week, and you practiced today, I will write down Thursday and Fridays practice schedules, and on Mondays, you can bring this to me and I will make the weeks schedule, on that note, every Friday you will meet with me at five at this court, and I will see how you are improving."

Sakuno clapped happily at the idea of all this new practicing and training she'd be getting, "Thank you, Higurashi-Senpai!"

"Call me Kagome,"

"Then please, call me Sakuno!"

Kagome nodded, "Understood, now, tomorrow, I want you to run at least one hundred meters in the morning, either get here early and run the track, or sleep in and run to school, your choice, I would advise the former." She scribbled neatly on the paper under Thursday;

Stretch for 10 minutes after breakfast and before you run.

Run 100 meters in the morning.

Lift light weights, 5lbs, 10 – 15 lifts per arm, twice a day.

Jump Rope 15 – 20 minutes x3, with 2 minute rests in-between.

Before turning in for bed, alternate between 10 push-ups, and 10 sit-ups, x5 each.

She then continued on for Friday;

Stretch for 10 minutes after breakfast and before you run.

Ride bike to school, or run 100 meters.

20 minutes of Bench Steps. Find a box, bench or other stable platform, no higher than your knee, and place 1 leg on the box. Using the leg on the box, push off and jump as high as you can into the air. Repeat 6 to 8 times, and then switch legs. Next, stand on the box with both feet, then jump off and as soon as your feet touch the ground, jump as high into the air as you can. Repeat 6 to 8 times. For giant steps, try to make it across the width of a tennis court with as few steps as possible, as fast as you can. Slowly walk back. Repeat 3 times.

30 second dash, x4

Before bed, toss a tennis ball in the air as if to serve, and let it bounce on the ground before you catch it, try to make it land a foot in front of you to the right. Do this about 20 -30 times until you feel comfortable about where the ball will be when you go to hit it.

Kagome handed the notebook to Sakuno and smiled, "I will see you at practice tomorrow then,"

"Thank you, Kagome!"

"Thank you, Sakuno, and good luck." Kagome grabbed her stuff and left for home, making it not too far before a car pulled up to her. A window rolled down and Kagome smiled at the familiar face.

"Want a ride, Kagome?"

"...ah..." Kagome walked up to the car, "Do you mind?"

"Not at all, hop in."

Kagome did and happily so, she sat in the back conversing with the driver and passenger eagerly.

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Me: Chapter One is finished! Tell me what you think~!