A/N: Chapter 2! By the way, if anyone can come up with a better name for this fic, let me know because I just chose something very generic. As for the tennis, you guys may notice that in the anime and during last chapter's match only one set (first to six games) was played. Since tennis is normally two sets, I made it so that university players play longer matches and thus the "official" way. Oh and as far as names go…it all depends on how the players are usually addressed on the show to avoid confusion. And sorry, this is a rather long chapter!

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Tezuka Kunimitsu was irritated. He closed his eyes briefly before he tossed the ball in the air and swung to hit it.

From the net, even Fuji could feel his partner's frustration. They were in their second set, and losing rather badly. And though he hated to admit it, it was mostly Tezuka's fault that they were losing.

From the sidelines, co-captain Sakamoto Touya turned and sighed. "Meiji and Tachibana, start warming up," he ordered. Calm down, we can sacrifice one match, he reassured himself.

"Touya-chan looks worried," Eiji noted from a distance.

"It's ok," Oishi said. "Granted, not having Takahashi here is bad enough but at least we won our matches so Meiji can cover this loss and Tachibana can win this. It's only the district tournament."

"Of course we won our matches," a voice piped up.

An almost identical voice completed the thought. "It's the Golden Pair and us. We never lose…"

"Thus setting up the perfect foundation for our single players," the first voice continued.

"Oh Takahashi-sempai really is very clever," the second voice finished.

Eiji beamed with excitement. "Toooooshiiiirrrro, Toooommmiiio!" he sang out.

The fourth-year identical twins smiled. Sengoku Toshiro and Sengoku Tomio could be as silly as Eiji off the courts but when they played both adapted in a manner eerily similar to Fuji's nature: hard to read, often bipolar, and undoubtedly unpredictable. And since they were identical twins, it was hard to distinguish them apart, often confusing their opponents.

"But do you really think Aki-chan can win his match?" Eiji asked them.

"Of course!" Tomio answered confidently. "We've seen him play! Granted, he's a reserve player but you know…"

"Oftentimes reserve players are better than the regulars," Toshiro said. "Because they have to be prepared at any time to take over, it requires more concentration and focus. They HAVE to be good."

"And our dear Meiji has a very prestigious background. He will uphold our honor!" Tomio cried out passionately and dramatically.

Touya rolled his eyes as his teammate Hataya Masayoshi grinned. "Our sempais are the same as ever, eh?"

Touya was about to respond when his cell phone rang. Excusing himself, he walked off.

Masayoshi turned towards the team manager. "Inui, what do you think?"

"This is highly irregular," Inui noted, scribbling into his notebook. "But an excellent opportunity for me to observe them under extreme pressure…they have never been in a situation like this…it's a good thing I brought extra notebooks…"

Masayoshi grew alarmed as he noticed the stack of notebooks next to the manager. "Uh…are you sure you'll be needing all of these?"

"Eh?" Inui glanced up briefly. "Oh, Hataya-sempai. These are already full."

"Wha-" Masayoshi's surprise was cut off by Touya rejoining them.

"Tadashi is coming," he announced.

"Are you sure?" Masayoshi asked. "Should he really be leaving Reiya by herself? What if something happens?"

"You know Reiya-chan," Touya smiled. "She insisted."

Takahashi Tadashi ducked as he entered the door to avoid the box of Kleenex his sister had just thrown at him.

"What are you still doing here? You should be at the tournament!" she shouted.

"Reiya-chan, please calm down," he pleaded. "This is only going to aggravate your asthma."

His sister pouted and crossed her arms. "You're aggravating my asthma," she protested. "Please, onii-chan, I didn't mean for you to miss the tournament today."

"I don't mind and the team doesn't mind," he reassured her. "But if it'll make you happy, I'm going to leave now to go watch."

A smile crossed Reiya's face as her brother bent down to hug her. "Liar," she said. "You're worried about the team without you."

"They can function without me," Tadashi protested.

"Of course they can but you're very controlling. You'd rather they didn't," his sister snickered.

"I'm glad to see your spirits are up," her brother mumbled as he left the room.

As the door closed, Reiya sighed deeply. Finally, some quiet, she thought. After she passed out on the courts, she only remembered waking up to her mother, who was normally very calm and reserved, in near hysterics and her brother looking pale and distraught. Her father was noticeably absent, being on a business trip to Germany, but he was flying back as soon as possible, having cut down his trip by two days. He also called almost every single hour.

She had only been in the hospital for three days but it felt like a lifetime. So many people had come to visit that it only made her feel more exhausted because she had to put up with so many people. Reiya already had decided that it was too weird having people be genuinely nice to her. At St. Augustine, there were only people who were nice for the sake of being your friend.

In the past two days though, Sakuno had visited at least four times, each time accompanied with a small army of visitors from Seigaku, along with people she recognized to be Tezuka's friends. What unnerved Reiya the most was that everyone was nice, asking about how she felt and her hobbies. No catty, back-handed comments, no whispers of how awful she must have looked with her golden brown hair in disarray and pale complexion. She found herself actually relaxing and enjoying the company for the time being even though it took up a lot of energy. And she was fraternizing with the enemy.

Ryuzaki Sakuno must be an alien, Reiya concluded. No one is that nice, especially to an opponent.

And then there was Sakuno's boyfriend, Echizen Ryoma. Now that was an odd pairing, she mused. She hadn't talked to Ryoma in ages, ever since she stopped taking lessons with her father three years ago at her new coach's insistence. Her coach…it had been three days and she still hadn't heard from her.

Her head started throbbing again. She decided to take advantage of the peace and quiet and rest. I need to be back on those courts as fast as possible, she thought fiercely. But even though she relished the silence, there was still a bit of emptiness. She longed to talk to Tezuka again. Only he ever seemed to really understand her.

Ryoma caught Sakuno looking at her watch again. "Somewhere else you'd rather be?" he asked.

Sakuno blushed. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," she promised, taking his hand.

"What, are you bothered that I always take you to tennis matches?" Ryoma asked, a hint of anxiety in his voice.

He was starting to enter his paranoid zone. "No, no…I was just wondering if we had time later to go to the hospital to see how Takahashi-san is doing."

"You know it's not your fault what happened to her. It's that coach's fault for putting her in the game and not pulling her out when she started to have problems," Ryoma rationalized. "And I guess it's Tezuka-sempai's fault too…"

Sakuno quickly put her hand over his mouth. "Ryoma!" she hissed. "He's right there!"

Ryoma shrugged with indifference. "It's not like he can hear me. He's too busy concentrating on not losing. Though come to think of it, it's partly Reiya's fault too for getting so caught up in her emotions that she forgot to take her medicine. It's really not like her to forget, but girls can be so dense sometimes…"

"What?"

Ryoma gulped as he saw his girlfriend's face. "Uh…nothing."

Sakuno smirked as he obediently shut up. "I just…feel bad for her. Fuji-sempai told me how he heard some of her teammates laughing, and I'm sure no one from St. Augustine has visited her. I mean, it just seems like the right thing to do."

"You're such a good person," Ryoma sighed. Suddenly something caught his eye and he straightened up. "Takahashi's here!"

"What? Isn't she supposed to be hospitalized?" Sakuno blinked in confusion.

"No, her older brother- the captain of Tokyo University's team. He's supposed to be extremely good, although it's rumored that his sister can beat him," Ryoma said excitedly. "I've played against Reiya before…she used to be coached by my old man. But I've never met Tadashi before, much alone seen him play. He's brilliant to have such strong doubles teams that he's never needed to play."

He rarely got excited over tennis players. Everyone was usually "mada, mada dane."

But it was something that he said that stood out to Sakuno. She had heard rumors of course, but she had dismissed them. If Reiya was better than her brother and her brother was someone that even Ryoma admired, didn't that make Reiya much better than Sakuno? She was curious now…she hoped Reiya would recover soon. She wanted to see her former opponent at her full potential.

Tadashi stood grimly in front of his number one doubles team. "The score is 2-5. You lost the first set 1-6. What is happening out there? This isn't like either of you both as individuals and as a team. This is an embarrassment!"

"We're trying," Fuji said tiredly. Tezuka just stood there, staring at the ground. He didn't want to make eye contact with his captain. Having him there was just ten times worse.

Tadashi sighed. "Just…try harder then."

As his players walked away, he felt his best friend approach. "Are Meiji and Tachibana warmed up yet?"

Masayoshi nodded. "Is Reiya ok?"

"She threw a vase at me. Luckily it was plastic. Unluckily it was full of roses and it was aimed at my face," Tadashi pointed a several scratches on his cheek. "I think she's fine."

Masayoshi chuckled, knowing full well that Reiya hated how her older brother constantly fretted over her health. Hated to the point where…well…Tadashi was the only one who could make Reiya so angry.

"Takahashi-sempai!" identical voiced trilled. "Oh we are so glad you're here!"

Tadashi groaned, feeling his face grow slightly pink. He hated how the twins addressed him as "sempai" even though they were older. They just loved to make a scene.

Out on the courts, Fuji focused, even though he knew his partner had given up. As the ball flew over the net towards Tezuka, Fuji ran ahead and sliced it neatly down the center.

As they passed each other to get into their receiving positions again, Tezuka said coolly, "Don't ever do that again."

Fuji remained silent. But during the next point, he once again ran in front of his partner and smashed the ball into the furthest right-hand corner.

"What is he doing?" Tadashi muttered. "Come on Fuji, trust Tezuka."

Despite Fuji's efforts to monopolize the ball and control the game, within ten minutes the judge had already called the game, set, and match for Otoru University.

As they walked off the court, Tadashi was waiting. "Fuji, we need to talk. Tezuka, I'll deal with you later."

Tezuka walked off silently, only to be assaulted by his teammates. "Nya, Tezuka, what happened out there?" Eiji piped up.

"Was it something that was maybe said before the match?" Tomio asked slyly.

"Was it something we accidentally said?" Toshiro asked innocently.

Tezuka pushed passed them without a word. Only Oishi, who hadn't said anything, followed.

Masayoshi sighed as he walked up to the rest of the group. "Tomio, Toshiro, you really shouldn't have said anything. It's a delicate situation."

Toshiro's face grew serious. "But Masa-chan, everyone needs to learn to separate tennis from their personal lives. What we said was a test of mental strength, and he failed."

"Tennis is a game of extreme mental strength," Tomio added. "Kuni-chan needs to learn that."

"They're right," Touya said from behind them. "Yosh, you should know better than anyone that Tadashi would have agreed with their decision. Let this be a lesson for Tezuka."

Masayoshi remained silent. He knew that while the twins were right, it had cost them a game. So what was more important here, letting Tezuka learn a lesson or winning?

The air was crisp. He inhaled and allowed himself to smile a bit. It felt like victory. Everything was falling into place.

"Are you ready?"

He turned to look at his doubles partner, who had his perpetual smile on his face. "It feels like a good day," he responded.

And it did feel like a good day…until they joined the rest of the team and noticed that their captain was missing.

Their co-captain Touya cleared his throat. "Well, Tadashi isn't able to make today's game so today's order will be slightly different. Number three doubles will be Oishi and Kikumaru. Number two doubles will be the Sengoku twins. Number three doubles, Fuji and Tezuka. Number four singles will be Meiji, number three singles will be Tachibana, number two singles will be myself and number one singles will be Hataya."

All around, eyebrows were being raised at the ordering. "What do you think, Tezuka?" Fuji asked.

Before he had time to respond, Inui cut in. "It seems very logical and thought out. Starting out with the Golden Pair will show off our various skills, while the twins will bring out another facet of our different kinds of tennis. Despite the fact that the twins are usually started off so that the Golden Pair's unorthodox playing is a surprise, this set-up will only unease our opponents. Then, with you two, it shows solid partnership and legendary tennis with the prodigal Fuji and nationally renowned Tezuka," Inui said excitedly, his glasses flashing. "And this will give me more time to study our mysterious reserve player, Meiji Aki, who was one of the top players last year but with so many top-level sophomores has been reduced to a reserve player. It is a bit odd that Sakamoto placed himself lower than Hataya when Sakamoto is a better player but there is a 92 chance that it won't even reach the top two players anyway."

"Your Data Tennis is precise as ever," Fuji praised.

"I wonder why the captain isn't here today though," Tezuka murmured.

Inui coughed slightly. Fuji's eyes opened and shifted uncomfortably to the right. Oishi looked away and scratched his head uneasily, and Eiji became uncharacteristically silent.

"Should we say it?" Toshiro whispered.

Tomio shrugged. "If she meant anything to him, this could become rather interesting."

"You mean you didn't hear?" Toshiro said loudly.

This alarmed his teammates, who started sending his signals to shut up.

"TOSHIRO, DO YOU THINK YOU CAN WARM UP WITH ME?" Tachibana said loudly and desperately.

Toshiro waved his teammate off. "You're not playing until much later, Kippei-chan," he said sweetly.

Tomio sighed. "Well I don't blame Takahashi-sempai for putting family first. After all, his sister nearly died."

Time seemed to stand still as everyone stole glances at Tezuka. His stoic expression didn't change.

"Sengoku Toshiro. Sengoku Tomio."

The twins froze at the sound of their co-captain's voice. Even though they were older, the fierce anger in Touya's voice was unmistakable. "Even though Tadashi decided to remain at his sister's side while she's in the hospital, I should remind you two that this is not an excuse to slack off. I expect nothing but perfection out there."

"Hai, Sakamoto-sempai!" the twins saluted, before dashing off to avoid more anger.

"Don't ever do that again."

Fuji looked down at the ground in silence. "I'm sorry."

Tadashi shook his head. "Sorry isn't good enough, Fuji. I can't allow you and Tezuka to play together on the next game. I'm going to put Momoshiro and Kaidoh in."

"You're going to replace us with the reserve players? Why?"

"It's not like you to be so insensitive," Tadashi said.

Fuji momentarily forgot his anger. "What?"

"It's true that Tezuka wasn't playing at the top of his game. And I know that you two aren't used to not being in control, both individually and as a team. But what you did undermined his skills. It's embarrassing to have your partner take over for you when it's not what you wanted in the first place. You and Tezuka are not at the partnership level of the twins or the Golden Pair. You cannot lose confidence in your partner. It's hard enough when he's doubting himself, but to have your partner lose faith in you as well? Tadashi shook his head. "It can be devastating."

As Tadashi started to walk off, he stopped and turned. "One more thing: 25 laps around the courts tomorrow."

"If you knew, why didn't you tell me?" Tezuka asked, slamming his fist against a tree in anger.

Oishi sighed. "We…weren't so sure of the relationship between you two. It's not like you to keep secrets from us, Tezuka. We felt betrayed."

Tezuka refrained from losing his temper and sighed. It had always been something he argued about with Reiya, that so few people knew about their relationship. It'll interfere with our tennis, he had told her. It's better this way so it's not a big deal if something happens. "Is she ok?"

"Not really. I'm sure that physically, she'll be fine even due to all the stress on her body. Mentally…to be honest, she must be tough because it seems as if she's stood alone. None of her teammates seemed concerned when she collapsed and the coach just walked away and didn't even bother seeing if Takahashi-san was breathing. She seems very harsh."

Her coach. Kinomi Sakura. Something else they constantly argued about. He always noticed that she strained herself to please her coach, disregarding her health in the process.

"Our relationship was…complicated," Tezuka said. He hesitated before his next words. "I think I loved her though."

"Loved or still love?" Oishi questioned. "If you two had a clean break, she wouldn't have been so distracted to forget her medicine. If you didn't have any lingering feelings, you would have been able to concentrate on the match."

Tezuka didn't know how to answer. He thought that he had made a clean break, but on the inside after he heard the news he wanted to do nothing but rush to the hospital and hold her hand.

Love. He wasn't sure if she had felt the same way towards him but…damnit, it sure was an emotion that screwed people over.

"Oishi, may I have a word with Tezuka?" Tadashi said from behind them, interrupting the silence.

Oishi turned. "Oh, Takahashi-sempai! Of course, of course…by the way, how is Takahashi-san?"

"She's a bit more…spirited," Tadashi said carefully, touching his face where the rose thorns had scratched.

After Oishi had left, Tezuka turned to face his captain. "Gomen ne," he murmured.

"Kunimitsu," Tadashi said, choosing a more casual tone. "You should know that I've been offered an opportunity to travel abroad next year. Whether or not I decide to take it…there is little doubt that you are the next captain of this team. The only thing is whether or not it happens a year earlier than expected."

Tezuka raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Sempai-"

"This is why," Tadashi said, cutting him off. "It is important to learn to separate your personal life from tennis. I know you're not used to this situation but when you play tennis, the best thing is to not feel anything. No pain, no happiness…your mind should be free. Let this be a lesson to you. Please do not let this happen again."

As he walked off, he stopped and turned. "Oh yes, 25 laps around the court during tomorrow's practice. One more thing too…I'm going to be visiting Aiiku Hospital after this. Would you like to join me?"

Reiya woke up to see her coach sitting next to her bed. "Kinomi-sensei," she said drowsily.

Kinomi Sakura looked upwards. "I've wasted so much time on you."

Before Reiya could react to those harsh words, her coach had already stood up. "I already took your regulars captain jacket. You needn't come to the extra practices for regulars now, but I do expect you to do basic training along with the other girls. Surely you can handle an easy task such as basic training. By the way you played the other day though, I wasn't sure whether or not you remembered how to swing a racquet, but I suppose we all have to start somewhere."

"You knew I wasn't in the best shape to play. You should have made me the reserve player," Reiya protested weakly, sitting up.

Her coach scoffed. "Stop making excuses and accept some responsibility for a change. That's what real tennis players do."

Before she could react, Kinomi was out the door.

Falling back into her bed with wide eyes, Reiya could feel her heart start to pound. She had worked so hard, didn't it mean anything? Losing her regulars spot meant that she might never play in competitions for her team again. Tennis was everything, without it…

She started to hyperventilate at the thought.

"What happened?" Takahashi Fumiyo demanded, sinking into a chair. She had come to see her daughter ten minutes ago only to be greeted by a flurry of nurses and doctors in Reiya's room.

"Someone visited and must have upset her, she had another asthma attack," the nurse said gently. "It was only a minor relapse but she's going to stay in the hospital longer now. Maybe in about a week she can be released."

"Do you remember who was in her room?" Fumiyo asked. Oh, if it was Tezuka, there will be hell to pay, she thought angrily. She liked him, but.. Reiya has never, EVER forgotten to take her medicine.

"An older woman…I think she had a St. Augustine's shirt on? Short, blond hair, very unfriendly eyes. I remember because she was very curt with me in asking for your daughter's room. I could check the log if you'd like."

Fumiyo clenched her fists. Kinomi Sakura. "That won't be necessary." Thanking the nurse politely, she turned and flipped open her cell phone.

"Hello, Nanjiro? Yes, this is me. I'd be honored if you could start giving lessons to Reiya again. You will be compensated generously, of course."

On the other line, Echizen Nanjiro smirked. "What about that hag coach who told you that I wasn't the best for your daughter?"

"She's out of the picture," Fumiyo said coldly. "And I'm sorry I ever took her advice."

"Your daughter is very talented. Certainly the most interesting young player I've come across thus far," Nanjiro yawned. "I guess wouldn't mind giving her lessons again."

"Thank you."

"And actually," Nanjiro said, an idea popping into his head, "She would be a good practice partner with Ryoma. He doesn't have many worthy opponents his own age."

"Sounds perfect. Thank you, Nanjiro. You should know that my scouts have been eyeing your son too."

"What for?" Nanjiro snorted, though secretly he felt a bit of pride. "Oh Fumiyo, I heard that Reiya is in the hospital now. Is she ok?"

"Better than ok," Fumiyo said firmly. "Especially when in two weeks she won't be playing for St. Augustine anymore."

"You know, I'm starting to enjoy this ice queen routine of yours, Fumiyo," Nanjiro chuckled. "It's a drastic change from before."

A/N: Say what??? Yeah it gets a little intense from here on out- let's just say that Reiya's transition from St. Augustine to Seigaku High will cause rifts on both sides, not to mention she'll feel conflicted too. In case people are confused, here's the Tokyo University's team:

Captain: Takahashi Tadashi (Reiya's older brother, a junior at Tokyo University), usually plays #1 singles

Co-Captain: Sakamoto Touya (Used to be a legendary junior player but went through several issues that resulted in him being faded from the national scene), usually plays #2 singles

Hataya Masayoshi (Tadashi's childhood best friend), usually plays #3 singles

Tachibana Kippei (formally of Fudomine Middle School, now attends Tokyo University on a full-ride tennis scholarship), usually plays #4 singles

#1 Doubles: Tezuka Kunimitsu and Fuji Shusuke (Because of Tezuka's arm, Tadashi is careful not to let Tezuka overstrain himself, which is why he plays doubles)

#2 Doubles: Oishi & Kikumaru

#3 Doubles: Sengoku Toshiro and Sengoku Tomio (Who have never lost a single match as a doubles team, and the only fourth-year regulars)

Singles reserve player: Meiji Aki (A very mysterious fourth year, but you'll see more of him)

Doubles reserve players: Momo & Kaidoh (the only freshman reserve players in history, which many are resentful of)