Summary: They were probably the quietest people in the entire school—maybe even the planet. But that's not true. They chatter away, and laugh and scream just like everyone else, but no one can hear. Luckily, they have an acute sense of hearing, and through silent conversations, they fall in love.
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.
o
o
o
It was one week into the project, and Tezuka and Shizue's project was coming along nicely. They had managed to complete most of their research (much to Shizue's relief. As much as she was a romantic, she and Tezuka had chosen to use the unabridged versions like the overachievers they were, and one could get tired of Shakespeare's extremely flowery language.), and could start working on the poster.
Shizue was on her way to the school library when the librarian, Kato-sensei, zoomed past her.
"Shizue! Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetheart, but I just remembered that I had a doctor's appointment today, so no one's allowed in the library after school. Here, I have some books you could use, just return them tomorrow. Good luck on your project!"
She nodded meekly and watched Kato-sensei speed down the hall and down the stairs, wondering how an elderly woman could move so quickly.
'She probably runs faster than me.'
She sighed and looked at the clock. 'Where will Tezuka-san and I work now?'
Shizue turned around and started walking towards the tennis courts, a sinking feeling pitting in her stomach. She hadn't been to the tennis courts after the whole "girlfriend" incident, and had been doing her best to avoid everyone from the tennis club.
.
Ryuzaki Sumire looked at the girl in front of her in a somewhat gently amused manner. She remembered this girl; it was the same one who had come just last week and asked (very politely, which she approved of) for the practice schedule, explaining that she was working on a project with Tezuka.
"Speak up a little. It's a bit hard to hear you over those maniacs out there," she said, gesturing lazily to the club members outside.
The girl (Suzuki-chan, was it?) looked down, flushing slightly, and cleared her throat. "Um… The school library is closed for this afternoon, and-"
"Is that it? You didn't have to come here to ask if you could wait here. I'm sure he won't mind, since there are already girls watching practices. Go on, go tell him about the situation. He's on Court D."
With that, Ryuzaki-sensei buried herself into some paperwork about something or other before Shizue could ask where Court D even was.
After several failed attempts of regaining Ryuzaki-sensei's attention, she sighed and left the office, shutting the door softly. When she looked at the courts, her consideration to ask for directions crumbled under the fear of all the people.
.
Letting her feet lead her around aimlessly, she eventually bumped into a boy with a green bandana on his head.
He turned around and glared. "Fsssssshu."
Shizue paled. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"
Her squeaking was interrupted by an, "Oy, Mamushi! Which poor girl are you scaring this time?"
They turned to see Momoshiro jogging up to them, smirking slightly, though the smirk was wiped off when he recognized Shizue. "Oh, you're Tezuka-buchou's girlfriend!"
This made her pale even further, as she tried to find her voice to tell him that she and Tezuka weren't dating.
"What are those books for? Did Tezuka-buchou forget something, or are they a present? Here, come on, he's over this way."
Shizue followed him meekly, and finally found her voice. "Tezuka-san and I—"
"You still call him Tezuka-san? I guess he likes the shy type, then."
"We're not—"
"Tezuka-buchou! Your girlfriend's here." Momoshiro grinned and lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "I think she brought you a present."
"Um, I'm not—"
"Aw, don't be shy! Give it to him! Oh, wait, was it supposed to be a surprise? Sorry, I guess I ruined it for you, then."
Tezuka discreetly looked upward, wondering why the majority of the tennis club had to be loud-mouthed. "Momoshiro. Suzuki-san and I are not dating, as she was trying to tell you before you interrupted. I believe I cleared that up last week."
He grinned sheepishly. "I think I was getting a drink of water when you were saying that."
Tezuka glared. "Ten laps, and then go back to your match with Echizen."
He turned to Shizue while Momoshiro jogged away. He took one look at the small stack of books in her arms and her pitiful, longing glances towards the direction of the library (he understood her nervousness around the tennis team, especially after last week's events, but was being in the tennis courts so bad?), and he understood immediately.
She scurried off to the bench he'd turned his head to, which was right behind the spot he was standing on to oversee the practice.
This, for some reason unbeknownst to either Shizue or Tezuka, caused quite the commotion among the tennis club. (Again.)
"Saa, Tezuka. You really are protective of Suzuki-san, aren't you? The way you're standing in front of her, it's almost as if you're making sure she's out of harm's way." Fuji thought of a caricature he'd draw of the whole thing later, and chuckled. (Tezuka would be dressed in a traditional samurai's garb, and deflecting multiple tennis balls at once with a tennis racket. Shizue would be sitting nervously in the background, wearing the attire of a Western princess.)
Shizue peeked out from behind Tezuka cautiously, staring at Fuji with brown eyes in horror.
He smiled reassuringly. "There's no need to worry, Suzuki-san. I'm sure Tezuka will gladly protect you from—"
The tennis captain grumbled under his breath, though Shizue seemed to be the only one to notice. "Thirty laps, Fuji. Don't let the presence of a guest disturb your practice match with Inui."
Light footsteps padded away with a sort of natural grace, and the usual comfortable silence between Shizue and Tezuka resurfaced.
At least, that was what they wished would happen. There were murmurs flying throughout everyone in the tennis courts about the two finally dating, and they could both feel a few dirty glares being thrown in Shizue's direction.
"Che. The girl has a pretty face, but she never talks, right? What's so cute about that?"
"Tezuka-buchou and Suzuki-senpai suit each other, huh?"
"Tezuka-kun needs someone more outgoing to balance him out!"
"It's so like him to get a cute girl!"
"What's so good about Suzuki, anyway?"
Shizue visibly flinched, and she could see the two girls smirking out of the corner of her eye.
Biting her lip, she stacked the books neatly onto the bench next to her. When Tezuka turned to look at her questioningly, she paused before giving a shaky smile.
"I think… I think it's better if I wait somewhere else, ne?"
Everyone watched as Shizue stood and edged her way out of the courts. She broke out into a clumsy run towards the school, ducking her head down and nearly knocking into various people.
As the chatter rose up again, Tezuka could only wonder where she'd gone.
.
She wasn't used to running this fast (although to most, it would seem as if she were running at a normal pace), but then again, Shizue was rarely this scared.
"The girl has a pretty face, but she never talks, right?"
"What so good about Suzuki, anyway?"
Tears were stinging her eyes by the time she stopped running and threw open the door to the music room, panting heavily. Her vision was blurry, but she could still make out the general form of a grand piano in the center of the room, and she stumbled towards it blindly.
'This is why people are scary…'
Shizue lifted the cover from the piano keys and settled onto the bench. She took a deep breath, straightened her back, positioned her feet, and curled her fingers onto the keys. (1)
La Campanella by Liszt was a piece she frequently chose to play when she was frantic or stressed. Shizue could never fully understand why, but she had a feeling that the fast tempo and amount of notes let her relieve some frustrations, while the amount of control it took to execute the piece allowed her to keep a firm grip on her emotions.
It was this song that flowed from her fingers and throughout the school, flooding the entire hallway. Shizue bit her lip when she made mistakes (she hadn't warmed up beforehand), but her muscles relaxed as her fingers grew more accustomed to playing.
'It's sounding pretty now.'
She didn't know how long she played for, but Shizue never cared about how long she played. She just cared about what made her stop playing.
"Suzuki-chan?"
Shizue flinched, and she hit an ugly combination of notes that seemed to echo throughout the entire school.
"There you are! Tezuka was looking all over for you." Oishi turned back towards the hallway. "Tezuka! She's over here!"
The seemingly blank expression that Tezuka cast her way was probably the most scolding look she'd ever received.
'You should have told me you'd be here.'
She stood up abruptly, cringing at the screech the bench made as it slid away from her. "I'm sorry," she whispered, bowing.
Oishi seemed to sense the atmosphere in the room, and actually seemed relieved. "Well, I'll be going, Tezuka. Good luck on your project!"
As he turned to leave, he looked back at Tezuka and Shizue one more time and smiled
'He's not mad. That's good.'
.
They must have stood there awkwardly for five minutes.
Tezuka's face softened slightly, and Shizue sighed in relief.
"Where should we work?"
She smiled, knowing she was fully forgiven. "Anywhere is fine."
They walked out of the room, not quite together, but their steps matched. He led her through the hallways and towards the main entrance, bowing politely to passing teachers who greeted them.
"Tezuka-kun! Suzuki-kun! Working after school again?"
"Yes, Sensei."
"Well, I'm looking forward to your project. You two are tied for the best ranking in your grade; I'm sure the two of you will exceed my expectations."
"Thank you, Sensei."
As the teacher nodded and walked away, Tezuka looked at Shizue.
"I never knew you were also ranked first."
She peeked up at him and looked away. "I asked not to be a part of student council. The principal seemed okay with it, since you were there to be president."
This just brought more questions, but Tezuka pushed them away, scolding himself for nosing around into someone else's life.
Though why he hadn't realized this before, he didn't understand. They were arranged to sit by ranking, and he'd always sat next to her. She was not vice-president of the student council, which could only mean her ranking had been higher than that of number two.
Tezuka frowned. 'It's none of my business. I should stop thinking about it.'
.
The second they'd walked into the store, Tezuka had silently vanquished all creative rights to Shizue. While she wasn't incredibly artsy compared to the art students at school, she certainly appreciated colors and shapes more than he did, and had probably mapped out a plan for their poster in her head.
He just didn't understand why it would take so long for her to linger between two colors, or even two shades of the same color. Was it a trait that all females shared?
Shizue was currently torn between white and black, and she looked to Tezuka.
He pointed to a random one, which happened to be the black.
She seemed satisfied with his choice (she hadn't pondered over it, like she had when she was torn between an emerald green and red), and began to debate over two shades of blue.
.
When they walked out of the store (Tezuka had paid), Shizue found herself following Tezuka in the direction that she realized led to his home.
This surprised her. Tezuka had always struck her as an extremely private person, to the point where he refused to give his phone number out to anyone, save for a select few. But as they took a subway and walked into a neighborhood with no signs of libraries or cafés, the revelation came to her.
Shizue couldn't help but smile a little, and feel a little flattered by his trust.
.
Tezuka's eyebrow twitched when he saw his grandfather scrutinizing his classmate. Yes, his partner was indeed a female, and he had brought her over to their home, but that did not mean that he had any interest in dating her.
"So," Tezuka Kunikazu peered over the newspaper, "I believe you have someone to introduce to us, Kunimitsu?"
His mother giggled behind her hand.
"Mother, Father, Grandfather. This is Suzuki-san. We're working on a project together."
Shizue never looked up from the floor as she bowed politely. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Suzuke Shizue. I'm sorry for the intrusion."
She shifted her weight from foot to foot and chewed on her bottom lip as Tezuka Kunikazu continued to study her.
He broke out into a small, wry smile, and his grandson inwardly groaned.
"Well, Shizue-chan. Call me Grandfather."
o o o
(1)– Please go on Youtube and look for Arthur Rubenstein's version of the song Shizue plays. I realize that the fact that he recorded it is an urban legend, but the version of Youtube under Rubenstein's name is the interpretation I would imagine Shizue has, and I think her skill level and style is very important in the story. I still have to find out who the real pianist is, but once I do, I will be sure to leave him/her due credit.
o o o
A/N: I'll be leaving incredibly long author's notes at the end for one reason: To improve my writing. There are certain things that I want to get through to you readers, and there are thing that I feel that you all need to grasp about the story. (I've spent too much time obsessing over it for my own good.) I'm just trying to make sure they get across, since I can't trust my writing to do so, and to hopefully get advice.
First, I would like to warn you all that this story will not include much tennis, besides mentions of tennis practice or whatnot, unless a random spur of the moment decision changes the entire course of the story. Yes, I know it's called Prince of Tennis, but everyone's in school, and awesome as tennis is, it does not dictate everyone's life, and especially not Shizue's. And while the story includes Tezuka, this is mainly about Shizue and her changing because of Tezuka.
I tried to establish at one point in the chapter that Shizue was not scared of people themselves, but the cruel things people can do. I'll be bringing it up more than once in the story, of course, and she will explain it later herself, but I feel that it's important to know as soon as possible what she's really afraid of. Now's just not the right place in the plot to explain it, since she's not close to anyone yet.
The rating of the story will be changed to T. There will be some more mature themes in the story as it progresses, but nothing hardcore. It's mainly just to be safe, to be honest.
I promised myself I wouldn't use Japanese in an English story! But there's really no English equivalent of 'ne', so I had to use it. It didn't sound right without it.
