Over the next few days, Atobe couldn't get his mind off of Tezuka-sensei. It didn't help that he saw the man every day; he could barely pay attention in homeroom, and in Japanese literature, the class Tezuka taught, he couldn't even concentrate. The back of his notebooks were covered in hearts containing their initials, and "Mr Keigo Tezuka" written in Atobe's neat handwriting. He wasn't going to deny it any more- not that he'd denied it in the first place. He was in love with Tezuka.
Atobe was the type to get what he wanted, but now he wasn't exactly sure how to get Tezuka. The other was older, of course, and besides that he was his teacher. Beyond that, Tezuka was a mystery – what did Tezuka like, he wondered? Literature seemed to ignite some sort of spark in him, since it was clearly something that he enjoyed. Beyond that, Tezuka kept his private life private. Atobe would be embarrassed to admit that, a week after the man had come into his life, he still knew nothing about him.
A window of opportunity came, though, in the form of a new school club. Atobe came across Tezuka looking as serious as always, hanging posters in the hallway. He glanced at the poster, and saw that it read: "Tennis club sign ups, Tuesday after school. Gymnasium."
"Do you play, Atobe-kun?" Tezuka asked, and Atobe jumped slightly as he heard the other's voice. He hadn't been aware that Tezuka had even noticed him.
"I played a little, in middle school," Atobe said. "Why are you hanging posters up, Tezuka-sensei? Helping out someone else?"
"Actually," Tezuka replied, "This club is my endeavour."
Atobe stared, a little surprised. Tezuka did not seem the athletic type- but there were lots of things he didn't know about the other. Tezuka paused, then said, "I wanted to go pro at one point- people said I was the most promising player in Japan. But then…"
"Then…?"
Tezuka finished hanging the poster. His gaze lingered on it for a few seconds, and then the fingers of his right hand moved to his left arm, the tips brushing over it. "Injury," he said. His voice sounded strangely tight, nothing like the aloof, deep tones he usually took on. He paused, then gave a slightly forced smile. It might have looked natural, if not for the fact that Tezuka never smiled. This new expression was alien on his face. "But no matter. So, will I see you at sign ups, Atobe-kun?"
Play it cool, Atobe thought. Cool as ice.
"I don't know. I think I should be focussing on my academic work…"
"Well, club activities are proven to help support academics," Tezuka said, "And sports are especially good if you're going to study. Healthy body, healthy mind."
"Oh, I don't know…"
"Well, if you say so, Atobe-kun." Tezuka turned to leave, and-
"Wait!" Atobe said, and he was a little mortified to find he'd shouted it after Tezuka. Damn, what had happened to playing it cool? He sounded uncharacteristically shy as he said, "Tuesday after school?"
TUESDAY AFTER SCHOOL
The show at the tennis club was a poor show. There was a smug looking black-haired boy, accompanied by another who clearly didn't want to be with him. There was another boy there, too, and Atobe wasn't sure if he had meant to be there or if he'd just fallen asleep on the bench and not woken up to leave, because he lay with his head resting on his bag, snoring quietly. Tezuka seemed disappointed at the turn out, but Atobe was thrilled; less people meant Tezuka-sensei would have more time to spend with HIM!
"Everyone!" Tezuka said, and everyone turned their attention to him – even Sleepy McGee woke up, blinking and stretching and looking drowsily towards the teacher. Tezuka pushed his glasses further up his nose and then began to pace, "I'm disappointed to see that only four of you came, but we need at least seven players to even think about playing in tournaments. With that in mind, I'd like it if you could recruit at least one friend each. If you could do that, then we'd be closer to having a respectable team."
Atobe nodded. He was sure Kabaji would join. His friend and loyal servant was big but surprisingly graceful, like a giant ballerina, so he was sure he could be some use.
"But in spite of our few numbers, I'm happy to see you all here," Tezuka said, with a smile. Okay, he didn't. Tezuka never smiled. Instead he just looked less frowny than usual. "I see from the sign-up sheets that you're all from different homeroom classes, so why don't you introduce yourselves? As you'll all know, I'm Tezuka-sensei."
Atobe was about to speak, but he was interrupted as one of the other boys stood up, twisting a strand of black hair around a finger. "I'm Hajime Mizuki, class 2-C, but you can call me… never." He threw them a smirk, then said, "Myself and Yuuta-kun came from St Rudolph's, so I'm sure you'll know how well our little school did in the regionals last year, Tezuka-sensei."
Tezuka nodded. "Yes, you did very well, Mizuki-kun," Tezuka said, and Mizuki seemed to miss the slightly patronising tone in his voice. Tezuka looked to the boy sitting next to Mizuki, with cropped brown hair and a scar on his forehead. "It's good to see you, Yuuta-kun. I was a little worried you wouldn't show up, so thanks for coming along."
Yuuta shrugged. "It's no problem, Tezuka."
Atobe's head spun. He stood up, pointing a finger at the other. "You! How dare you talk to Tezuka-sensei so casually?!"
"Atobe-kun," Tezuka said, as Yuuta looked confused, "I am a friend of Yuuta-kun's brother. I've known him since he was a child, so it's natural he finds it strange to talk to me as though I was a teacher." Atobe was jealous. Why couldn't Tezuka be a friend of HIS brother? Besides the fact that he didn't have a brother, that is. Tezuka said, "While you're standing, Atobe-kun, why don't you introduce yourself?"
"Hmph. Fine," Atobe said, doing that weird hand thing he does where he holds his hand like over his face or whatever. "My name is Atobe Keigo, and I'm king of this school."
"Very nice," Tezuka said blandly. "And lastly…?"
Sleepy Boy yawned. "Nice t' meet you," he mumbled, stretching once more. "My name's…" he stifled another yawn, "Jirou Akutagawa."
"Well met, all of you," Tezuka answered, and bowed. "Now, with introductions out of the way, we have to decide on a captain."
"Well, obviously it'll be me," came two voices at once, and Atobe and Mizuki spun to glare at each other, their expression dark.
"Are you kidding?" Mizuki said, "I was a member of St Rudolph's tennis team, a member of the specially chosen tennis elite! Clearly I'm the most obvious choice."
Atobe wasn't really sure what to say to that. He'd never been on a tennis team before, so he had no sick tennis brags. Instead he just said, "My dad owns the school."
"Why don't we vote on it?" Tezuka interjected, sensing a fight brewing. He took out a piece of paper, tore it into four strips and handed it out. "Write down your votes and fold them up, and then I'll count them."
Everyone took a slip of paper, and soon the votes were ready to be counted, which took about five seconds, considering there were only four names. Tezuka unfolded each piece of paper carefully and read them over, before clearing his throat. "Okay, the votes are in," he said. "One vote for Mizuki-kun-" Mizuki smiled a little smugly. "One vote for… for 'this is stupid'," Mizuki glanced to Yuuta angrily, who just shrugged. "And… two votes for Atobe-kun."
Atobe felt pride well in his heart. He looked to Jirou, planning on telling him he'd made the right choice, but the other was sound asleep once more. Instead he puffed his chest out in pride and said, "Just call me Atobe Buchou."
a/n: ohio minna-chan! ( ´ ▽ ` )ノ thanks for reading the second chapter of oresama student! thanks for all your reviews, too! this chapter was kinda slow, ne? (´_`。) but soon stuff will start to pick up? soon, someone from tezuka-sensei's past is gonna show up and atobe's going to have some competition! anyway, see you next time. \(^ ^)/
