This chapter is fixed! Not a lot going on here, though - just a lot of introspective & kind of setting the stage for the next chapter, which is where the plot will start to develop.
Note: If the chapter is fixed, I will state so at the beginning. If you don't see the magic words, I suggest you not read it until I fix it, for that chapter (& the ones later on) will be VERY bad, potentially ruining your experience reading this story. Trust me, I wince at my own writing from a year ago lol.
It turned out that, after that, there weren't any chances to talk to Shishido, though Ootori was not too sad about it. The Hyoutei practice menu were more strict than he had thought - of course, they were Hyoutei after all, so Ootori focused on that instead and tried to get better. He knew that if he'd made regulars, he would have way more chances, or excuses, to talk to the older boy, after all.
Of course, this was just a nice bonus, as Ootori was very serious about making regulars. It had been his dream since he was little: to be one of the top players in a school that had over 200 members. All his life, due to his kind and polite nature, he got pushed around quite a bit, so he wanted to prove to himself, and others, that Ootori Choutarou wasn't just some kind of pushover, like everyone else had thought. He was going to try his very best in the school ranking matches.
Not that Ootori was bad at tennis; he was actually quite decent at it. Somewhere along the way, he discovered that, by using his power and height advantage, he was able to do this killer serve that was incredibly fast. When he tried it out last year in 6th grade, even the top players in the club weren't able to return it - no, they couldn't even touch the ball, much less return it. Ootori was quite proud of that serve, naming it the 'Scud Serve'. He hoped that the people here would have a hard time with the serve, too.
The only problem was he hadn't quite grasped the control yet, and sometimes it would hit the net, giving his opponent points with double faulting. But that, he knew, would eventually improve as long as he keep on practicing. Other than that serve, he was also a very decent well-rounded player, so he really couldn't wait until the ranking matches come. The excitement of the possibility of making regulars drove him to practice most of his time and made him forget about Shishido temporarily.
So there Ootori was, practicing all alone on a street tennis court. He doesn't know how long he had been there. He was too occupied with trying to get his serve just right that he forgot the time. It must had been quite some time already, as it was getting dark and there was nobody around anymore. He wanted to go home, since he was feeling a little hungry, but his last five serves kept on hitting the net, and he was getting very frustrated. Has it ever been that bad? If this was a real match, one more fault and it'd be 40-0, and his opponent might win without even doing anything at all. If this ever happen in the school ranking matches—No, he doesn't even want to imagine that horrible scenario. Shaking his head firmly with resolve, Ootori gathered himself up, muttering "Ikyunyukon" and hiting the ball once again.
It went over the net, hitting right into the service box, and bounced out all in less than half, no, a quarter of a second.
Before Ootori could smile at last at finally getting the serve in, he heard a voice that cut through the stillness of the night. "That's some awesome serve you got there. I must say I'm impressed."
Ootori only knew this voice too well. "Sh-Shishido-san...?!" This was too much for him to handle-he hadn't even talked to the boy since last time, which was 2 months ago.
"Huh? You know me?" Shishido started walking toward where Ootori is, and then he just stood there, staring at him. His two hands were in his shorts pockets, tennis bag on his shoulder, with hair tied back in a ponytail as always. This time, though, he didn't have a smirk on his face - instead, his eyebrows were a bit narrow, and he cocked his face to the left a little, as if thinking about something. Ootori thought that he looked cute in his 'thinking mode'.
"Oh. I remember you. I was too far away and it was too dark to notice, but didn't I saw you some time ago in the clubroom? When that stupid guy hid my tennis bag in there and I have to go and find it?"
"H-Hai!" honestly, Ootori was quite shocked that Shishido still remembered that, or him, for that matter, because he had no doubt thought Shishido would've forgotten all about it, but if he was to remember... Ootori was way too happy right now that he couldn't hide a silly grin on his face, making Shishido giving him a puzzled look. Nonetheless, he continued on, "What are you doing here, Shishido-san? Oh! I mean, you're here to play some tennis, right? I'm sorry for asking such a stupid question..."
Right then and there, Shishido just burst out laughing, making Ootori confused. "Uh, I mean, of course I must seem very silly, and I, uh, well... Shishido-san...?"
Barely able to contain in his laughter, Shishido stuttered out "You- You're so funny, always apologizing left and right, looking so lost like that, that I can't help but-- bwahaha!!" he kept on laughing, while Ootori slowly started to realize that he must look like an stupid idiot in his senpai's eyes, but he didn't care, because seeing Shishido-san laugh was worth it. He slowly started to smile.
"Ah... I haven't laughed like that for awhile." Shishido finally stopped his laughter and looked up. "Hey, are you just playing dumb or something? I can't believe someone who goes to Hyoutei can have such an overly-polite and nice attitude like you do."
At this sentence he panicked. "Ah, no, I'm sorry, I'm really not trying to, umn... it's just how I've always been, and umn..."
At this, Shishido chuckled slightly. "I guess you're really like that, huh. I remembered you from last time because of your personality- I've never met someone so... meek like you. Almost like innocent or something. But to think you would have such a serve!" The older boy's eyes gleamed briefly as he looked at Ootori, seemingly impressed. "You're really interesting."
I stand out in Shishido-san's eyes, Ootori thought happily to himself, at least just a little, but still he must left some sort of impression to not have Shishido-san forget him, right? And now the brunette was saying that he was interesting. Could this day get any better? He was so happy that he had decided to practice on this court right here - that he failed to serve so many times that he would still be here even when it wass already so dark out. If his serves were so awesome and perfect, he would've gone home hours ago, wouldn't need extra practice, and would've never got to meet Shishido-san here.
"Ah, Arigatou guzaimas!" Ootori beamed, making Shishido smirk this time. "I guess you'll be using that serve on us in the ranking matches two weeks from now, huh? I'll be looking forward to it." Shishido said, then started to walk away.
"Ah, wait, senpai! Why're you...?" Shishido-san was leaving? But Ootori wanted to talk to him some more…! "I mean, you just got here and all!"
"Yeah I know, but it's getting dark, and if I don't get home my parents'll ground me."
"But then why did you came here in the first place? You even have your tennis bag with you!"
"Ah? Yeah, I actually wanted to play some tennis this afternoon, but then I got a call from Atobe to go to his house, and he wouldn't let me leave until it was really dark out. I just wanted to go here and hit some ball for a few minutes, but it's later than I thought, and if I don't get my ass home my dad'll probably ground me for a week and then I won't be able go to practice."
Ootori had stood there for a while now. He didn't really hear past the 'Atobe' part. For a while there he was starting to forget that the two were going out. How could he be so stupid, thinking for an instant that he might have had a chance with Shishido-san, when he just came from Atobe's house? Trying his best to not show the pain he was feeling inside, Ootori murmured, "I see... well then, I'll see you tomorrow Shishido-san. I'm glad we got to talk." He tried to smile, but it was too hard to do.
Shishido was staring at him again, his face in an expression slightly... different that his usual smirking face. Ootori started to feel really hot inside and bent down to put his racket in his bag, hoping that Shishido wouldn't be able to see him, wondering why his face was so red. "Ah, yeah, I'll see you, uh..."
"Ootori Choutarou, Shishido-san."
"Right, see you." with that, Shishido walked away, leaving Ootori all alone on the court, once again.
Meet the Hyotei regulars in chapter three! Thanks for reading. :D