Chapter 02
"Out! 6 – 3, Kaidou wins!"
"How can it be?!" Momo shouted with all his might. Just when he thought that he'd win after perfecting a completely new move at the end of the game, which Inui deemed as the most ineffective technique in the history of tennis, he lost.
"If he played like usual back then, his score would've been better," Inui muttered as he scribbled something on his notepad. He was moving to stand at the right side of the court, right behind Kaidou. "7 – 5 at best," he added, snapping his book closed.
"He'd still lost, right?" The viper snickered gleefully, glancing at his senior behind him. Inui looked amused,
"Well, it's inevitable." He replied. Even in his calculations, Momoshiro would still lose the game anyway.
"Hey! I can hear you, you know!" Momo shouted angrily behind the net.
"Lower you voice, is that how you talk to your senior?" Kaidou reprimanded his friend with a very satisfied tone. Even his face pissed Momoshiro a lot.
"Nya! Momoshiro is rude! He's rude!" Eiji chimed in as he stepped into the court, holding a racquet. Oishi followed him closely.
"If you don't mind, it's time for our doubles match." Oishi was as polite as always.
"Fine. I'll win next time, you hear that snake head?!" Momo taunted childishly. Kaidou only snorted back,
"Dream on, you peach." He retorted.
"Why you-" Momo didn't get to finish his sentence.
"Momoshiro Takeshi, Kaidou Kaoru, both of you! Out of the court now!" At the familiar sound of their coach, the two players stepped aside in haste, adding words of apology as they scrambled away.
"Let's go, Oishi!" Eiji dragged his friend toward the court, meeting their doubles opponent. His blue-eyed best friend already standing in the middle.
"Let's have a nice and fun game." Fuji said as they shook their hands in turn. Kawamura then turned around to pick up his racquet. A roar was heard.
"Game start! Fuji to serve."
Eiji whined as the ball disappeared gracefully.
"Fuji is in a good mood." Ryuuzaki noted as he watched the game. She sat beside Tezuka, who was watching the game carefully. The captain was discharged from the hospital yesterday, so he was still wearing his uniform today. Ryuuzaki specifically told him to sit out from today and tomorrow's practice. They witnessed the ball disappeared a second time. They could hear Eiji's loud 'that's unfair!' as he desperately tried to hit the ball. "What do you think, Tezuka?" Ryuuzaki asked.
"Kikumaru needs to work on his concentration more. He should've tried to observe the ball and the opponent's movement first. Until now he has been working his body needlessly trying to hit the ball." He answered. Ryuuzaki only nodded.
"True. His actions also disrupt his partner's concentration." She added, looking at Oishi who was having a hard time following his excited partner. Tezuka nodded again. "Who do you think would win, Tezuka?"
"If this continues, probably Fuji and Kawamura will win. It's a hard decision to make at the start of the game. Fuji is a competent single player, but this is a doubles match where Kikumaru and Oishi have more advantages. They had worked in sync for a long time, and both are a very capable tennis player." Tezuka explained. The coach smiled again at the team captain. Both continued to watch in silence.
Before long they could hear the ball hit a racquet. Oishi managed to touch the serve after concentrating for so long. The ball was fast and hard to see, but he could determine where it was from watching Fuji's movement as he serve. It was a wild, fun, and lucky guess on Oishi's side, but if this continued, they could get the gist of it quickly. Eiji happily hugged his friend before provoking their opponent for another serve. Fuji replied their taunt by serving normally.
"Nya! What's that?!" Eiji hit the ball clumsily, he was expecting the special serve. Fuji chuckled at Eiji's antique. "Fuji you're so mean!" he whined.
"Can't let you have the secret of my serve, Eiji!" Fuji teased the red hair and returned the ball swiftly. They started a smooth game, volleying ball here and there.
Tezuka sighed as he watched their childishness. Their game was good, but they could've played it more seriously. His eyes strayed to Fuji. The blue eyed boy was smiling and laughing as he played. He was the only one Tezuka knew could play tennis like that. Fuji had changed a lot since the national. Tezuka could feel his determination to win in every game lately. It pleased Tezuka so much to see the growing passion for tennis in his best friend.
But Fuji was still Fuji. He liked to play a lot, and by 'play' it meant as having fun or fooling around. After changing courts, he decided to shock Eiji again with another serve. Even Kawamura shook his head. When would they be playing seriously? Tezuka sighed again. He'd have them run 10 laps after this if they continue.
Another 15 minutes passed and the game were still on. "Sorry, I'm late!" Ryoma panted heavily as he leaned forward on his knees for support. His shirt was drenched in sweat. He stood up as he walked toward the captain, still wearing his cap. Tezuka looked at him disapprovingly,
"20 laps." he returned his gaze back on the match. Ryoma only gasped. How could there be a man so heartless in the world? He sighed and started tying up his laces. Ryoma looked at the court Ryuuzaki and Tezuka watched intently, spotting the cat-like Eiji bickering with his genius senpai. Even though Ryoma never admitted it out loud and acted like the cocky brat he was, he always admired Fuji and his flawless tennis skill. Ryoma lowered his cap. He was following his honey haired senpai's graceful movements when his eyes met with the blue one. He felt at the split second, Fuji's eyes fixated at him longer than necessary. And he was in the middle of a game.
"Fuji!" Kawamura shouted as he blocked a tennis ball in front of Fuji, causing the ball to go outside the field.
"Out! Fuji, concentrate!" Ryuuzaki suddenly stood up and scolded him. Fuji grinned sheepishly and apologized. Tezuka sighed quietly in relief. Ryoma noticed that and almost grinned when Tezuka suddenly turned around to look at him.
He started running as fast as he could, pretending he didn't hear the "25 laps."
"Are you alright, Tezuka?" Fuji sat beside him, leaning against bench. Tezuka could see sweat trailing down his face. He took out a towel from a bag,
"I'm fine." He handed it to Fuji who accepted is gratefully.
"I'm sorry I never came again since the last time I visited the hospital." Fuji said as he wiped his face and neck. Tezuka watched his friend's every movement. It wasn't like Fuji had any obligation to visit him every day in the hospital, nor did he had to be there when he was discharged, but they were just like that. They had stayed by each others side for a very long time already. They didn't know when did it start this way, but apologizing for 'not being there' was pretty normal for them now.
"It's alright." Tezuka replied and handed him a bottle of water. Fuji took it and quickly gulped generous amount of water. "Careful," Tezuka said as he watched his friend. Fuji wiped his mouth and grinned at him.
"Ne, Tezuka. You're so sweet today." Fuji could never get tired of teasing his stoic captain.
"Break time is over, Fuji." Tezuka reminded him, ignoring Fuji's protest 'Tezuka is trying to kill me.'
"You're lazing around yourself." Fuji smirked, that hit the mark. Tezuka was never going to admit his weakness, that he couldn't afford to enter strenuous activity right away after he was discharged only yesterday.
"Fuji..."
"Ne, why don't we pick up the balls like we did when we were first years? Let them practice swinging a bit more. It's not a heavy thing to do, and it won't upset your stomach." He grinned and teased the captain again. Tezuka frowned in annoyance.
"Fuji."
"Alright. Don't make me run laps, I'm going to die." Fuji smiled and quickly got up. Tezuka also stood up and walked to pick up a strayed tennis ball.
"I never said about going back to the court." Tezuka said as he moved to pick up another ball. Fuji smiled wholeheartedly and started to pick up balls nearby.
"You really are so weird today. Do you eat something unusual?" he asked, a hint of teasing in his voice. Tezuka knew better than to reply.
"Look! Tezuka buchou and Fujiko are picking up balls!"
Tezuka was really tempted to make them run a hundred laps.
It was another half an hour before lunch, but she was so bored she decided to visit the patient earlier. She opened the ward door, hearing some noise inside. There were two men in the room. One was operating a laptop on the side table, and the other was climbing a chair to reach something on the wall. Both were clad in grey uniforms.
"Excuse me, what are you doing?" she asked politely. Both men turned toward her, revealing familiar faces. They were technicians, working in the same 'special' team with her.
"Hey, it's us," one of them answered. "We were installing new camera at this side, ma'am." He continued and climbed down the chair. She visibly relaxed.
"What is it for? There is one by the door, and there're several more along the corridors." she asked curiously. Just how many cameras were needed to watch the entire room?
"They were asking for cameras with higher resolution." He shrugged and turned toward his companion, "how is it?" he asked.
"It's great, see?" he turned his laptop toward the nurse. She cringed at the image showed. It was live streaming of her at the moment. It was still a bit blurred, but detailed enough to make out her face, smiling and then frowning.
"That's quite... Clear." She commented, slightly stepping aside from the camera's range. But the range were quite large. A typical closing sound was heard from the Laptop.
"It's done. I'm going first." the man excuses himself, packing his laptop and left. She watched until the door closed,
"I don't see why this was necessary." she stated.
"Apparently, someone let a boy into the room a couple of days ago. From what I heard, it was only a boy, looking around harmlessly," he told her. "That hag working at the surveillance room reported it to the boss. You know then, all hell broke lose." He sighed.
"Yes. And I've seen that boy, I met him when I want to tend to the patient," she gestured to the lifeless body on the bed. "For sure he was harmless, got lost when looking for bathroom." She explained.
"I thought so too. But the boss seemed mad, and he said about wanting the boy to be found. But all cameras installed around him couldn't give a clear view of his face." he told her.
"But it's not a big deal! Come on, he's just a kid. He wouldn't even know we're keeping this corpse-"
"Sssh!" he hushed her. She gasped in realization,
"Don't tell me... Oh god." She inhaled deeply at the nod she received from both men. This was absurd. Why would they installed microphones in there also. Were they some kind of obsessive paranoid people or what?
"Hey, let's go out for a second." he asked her. She complied and stepped out of the room. He led her away a bit far from the ward, into a blind spot from the camera.
"Look, we are on the same boat here. People who don't understand, and will never want to understand," he emphasized. "I don't know what they have been doing, or why they've been keeping that boy you called corpse there, and I don't want to know." He said in a low whisper. She only stared at him. "The pay is high, and there's all I need to know."
"Uh... Okay..." she replied as softly, still staring at him. The man sighed,
"I don't know if I should tell you this or not." He whispered carefully. "I heard about a lot of nasty things they did, just a rumor among us, but still it creeps me out. I don't believe any of it you know, because this is a hospital for god sake." He raised his voice a bit without realizing it. She listened carefully, and wondered if things could be more confusing. "And you know what they said that really disturbed me. It was us, the workers on the team two." her brow raised at that.
"team two?" she repeated, questioning.
"Bet you don't know huh?" he chuckled a bit. She could see he was nervous. "We are divided into two teams. To make it simple, there're the team who know everything, and the team who doesn't know a thing. Our jobs is to do standard labor. You see, I fix the camera and everything, but I can't see the records. The guy with the laptop you saw earlier, he can. He's on the other team. But he has a loose mouth, I get to hear interesting things from time to time if we're working together like this." He explained.
"Are you alright with telling me all of this?" she asked. He wasn't the type to keep things to himself also.
"I need someone to talk to, you know." He grinned at her. She rolled her eyes and muttered a thanks.
"I need to go, it's our prince's lunch time." she said. "thanks for telling me all this, I'll see you later." she excused herself. He suddenly called her again,
"Hey, one more thing." he said. She halted and turned to him. "Do you know why they picked us out of hundreds of people in this place?" he asked in a tone that made her shuddered. "I found out our similarities. We don't have any relatives. Creepy isn't it?" He told her. If he looked closely, the nurse already visibly paled. She didn't say a thing after that. "Well, see you later." He picked up his tool bag and walked away.
"You don't have to walk me home, Fuji." Tezuka suddenly said as they walked down the road. Fuji smiled at him,
"Do we need to discuss this again, Tezuka?" he asked. "I'm concerned about your wellbeing. Something might happen when you walk home." he explained. Tezuka shook his head,
"We passed the way to your house," he said. Fuji tilted his head and pouted slightly,
"I told you I don't mind. Or you don't want me to?" Fuji asked with a mock sad tone.
"I've never said that." Tezuka replied a bit too quickly. Fuji smiled wider.
"Then it's settled." He continued to walk beside his best friend, humming happily.
Tezuka quietly sighed. He didn't make any more comment after that and continued to walk by his side. He was glad Fuji insisted on going home with him. He was feeling well of course, but it was nice to have him there. Fuji always kept him company everywhere since their first year. Despite their class differences, they could always found time to visit each other. At least they were able to see each other at Tennis practice.
Tezuka never wanted to impose on his best friend, no matter how much he enjoyed the other's presence beside him. Sometimes he forgot to reconsider that the feeling was mutual. Fuji also liked to be in Tezuka's company. He wasn't as boring as everyone thought he was. At first Tezuka was afraid he might bore Fuji with his passiveness, or he might hurt his friend's feeling because of his indifference. He seemed to lack empathy and emotion. People never avoided him, but they also never found pleasure socializing with someone like him.
It wasn't like he hated talking. He just found that it was a meaningless activity as long as it didn't serve any purpose or importance. He learnt that too much words could hurt because sometimes you might said something you didn't mean. Fuji knew this and started to fish words out of Tezuka more often. Because the stoic boy was so honest.
While Tezuka didn't like talking that much, Fuji didn't need to talk to have fun. He had a lot more ways to entertain himself. He always in an ecstatic mood everywhere. After a while Tezuka realized, that Fuji seemed the happiest when they were together. And Tezuka was very comfortable being around him.
Oishi was one of Tezuka's closest friend too. While they had a great mutual understanding, they never considered each other's presence as fun. It was purely respect and shared interests, and Tezuka liked it also. But Fuji was different. Tezuka found his company very entertaining.
"This is it." Fuji said as he halted his step in front of a gate. Tezuka's family name was carved on the hanging plate.
"You want to go in?" Tezuka offered.
"No, maybe some other time," Fuji smiled and took a step back. "Oh, I forgot to return your jacket!" he exclaimed, suddenly remembering.
"It's alright, Fuji. You can return it later." Tezuka said. "I can walk you back to your home tomorrow or the day after, then you can return it." he offered. It was very unlike him to suggest something so impractical. They could do that at school anyway. But Fuji smiled again, happy to hear the suggestion.
"Alright then, see you tomorrow." Fuji bid him goodbye. Tezuka replied and told him to be careful on his way back.
"Rewind the tape again, I want to see when he came in," a voice ordered. The woman working at the surveillance room didn't have a choice but to obey. He insisted on checking the corridor cameras since the video from the camera inside the ward was too dark to make anything out of it.
"We've been at this for hours. It's a boy with a white shirt, using a loose size jacket. From what the attending nurse said, he accidentally spilled some juice on his bed and got lost when he tried to find a washroom," the man who was operating the laptop earlier told him. He met the nurse when he installed the camera with his partner. His good for nothing partner told him what the nurse know. "She said the boy was really harmless, he knew nothing. It is best to leave him be." He added. But the boss didn't seem convinced at all. He was stubborn and irrational sometimes.
"I only ask you to find out his identity. I don't care if he's only a harmless five-year toddler. I want to know." His tone was harsh and low, almost like a growl. The technician fell silent after that and continued looking at the monitors.
It was nearly impossible. The boy was wearing a blue oversized jacket and a white shirt beneath, too common. He was holding a vase of tulips also. They couldn't possibly identify every ward that had the yellow flowers, there were hundreds of them, and it was days ago, people came and went back home.
The woman was sweating bullets, trying to find a clue. The boss was also staring intently at the monitors as they keep rewinding the same video over and over. Two man clad in black suits were standing behind him. They were his trusted men, the ones who manage the teams and giving out orders. Their looks were quite handsome, though the western outfit contrasted the japanese vibe they had. They were seen outside this hidden room sometimes, either in casual outfit or suits alike, conversing with the nurses and patients.
"There." the boss suddenly moved closer to one of the monitor. It showed a nurse halting her step midway, apparently shocked to see someone in the room. The blurred figure of the boy seemed like bowing, nervously turning around. "Rewind a few seconds, and slow it down," he directed. She obeyed and slowed the video and played it backwards. She could see blurred bits of the boy stepping out of the door, backing away from the nurse, then his back for a millisecond faced the camera. The woman gasped as he saw this.
"This is it," she said as she hit the pause button. Part of her wanted to ignore this finding, but the boss already seen it. The paused frame in the video displayed the letters on his back.
"Now, zoom." The boss instructed. She complied and scrolled the button under her finger. The image was so hazy, blurred in pixels. But the writing was large enough to read. Designs of white, blue, and red imprinted on the jacket.
Seishun Gakuen
Thanks for reading. :)
Next issue: Another victim was found. Tezuka went back to the previous hospital for health follow up and Fuji decided to look for him there. Hide and seek ensued.
