Tramlines: Yuki's Tale
Am going to acctually use Yuki's first person POV in this chappie...have never really experimented with First person POV in fanfiction before, so it's new to me :P Hope it's not bad xD REVIEWWW??:P:P:P
Next chapter you'll find out who she was on the phone with whilst she was with Tezzy ;)
Chaper song: The words 'best friends' become redefined - Chiodos/Brothers on a hotel bed - Deathcab for a cutie
Chapter 2: Sharrade
She had liked him since he had arrived at the complex. If only because Nanjiro had recomended him to her. She knew she could trust the man; he would not reccomend someone to her so lightly; if at all. But she still watched him closely. She was always watching.
She liked the man. He had a stoic demenour, and kept professional distances; although between the team, and in particular, his predecessors to glory, she knew these walls he built up around himself would crumble. There was no keeping them away when he worked in such close quartres to them. No one managed it.
He was one of the few people she told about the inner workings of Temple when he arrived; she felt that he was one of the people who would be able to handle some such information, without cracking under the pressure at the end of the first week. Of course, it was just another test for him. Emotional strain, some people couldn't take it.
He had taken it in his stride; unlike many of the other hopefuls who walked through Temple's doors, she could tell that he had come with reservations; he belived that it was a dog eat dog world, and he was mature about it. It was a dog eat dog world; more than he would know or see for a long while. She still liked the way the man took it in his stride.
He was also determined; she taught him the tricks she kept up her sleeve, and he learned, practicing hard on the new skills she taught him. Some mornings she came in to temple to find him on the court that she had let him into, practicing hard in the early morning. She had never let anyone else use that court; she was glad to see that he was taking her advice and using the court. She did not know, however, how much longer he would have to use that facility she had granted him. It's owner would be returning home in the next few months; she didn't know when, she didn't care to know, all that mattered was that he would return soon.
Which meant that she had another problem to concider. She would need to make space for the newcomers.
She would have been surprised if the team hadn't seen this coming from a few weeks back, when she had started to become a little colder. Mitsu, Daisuke and Tsubame knew it was coming; they were preparing.
Mitsu, along with an older doubles pair were retiring, which meant that she would have enough space in the team for three more men. She wanted four; though she wasn't sure she would have four people to fill them as yet, it all depended on one phone call which she was waiting patiently for. That didn't matter now though; she just needed to figure out which player to chuck.
It was a harsh buisness, and a hard job, but it had to happen, and somebody had to do it.
Over the next few months the team would slave away in their efforts to prove themselves to her and Mitsu - although they knew it probably wasn't Mitsu that they should be showing off to. Mitsu would hand over his title to one of them, but it would be Yuki who decided which.
So far she had come to the conclusion that there was one person who she would definitely not drop. That person happened to be a certain Tezuka Kunimitsu, although she wasn't about to bestow such information upon him. She could always change his mind, and a bit of pressure never hurt anyone; she would not let him slack; such talent had to be used after all.
The people she did throw off the team, of course, would either quit, or enter the singles league along; Tsubame would, of course, still be their manager, and they would still have sponsors; they just wouldn't be endorced by an international team; it would be a blow, but if they were passionate, and good enough at the sport, they would still succeed in the tennis world.
Yuki would never get rid of anyone like that though. She was too good at her job - and Tsubame wouldn't let her, there was no way in hell Tsubame would let her get rid of anyone better than a decent player.
Another thing she liked Tezuka was that he was deffinitely living up to her expectations. He stood up to every tast she gave him with confidence, and saw it though; usually with an immovable poker face. Her favorite event so far had been the testing of such a face.
Putting him as singles one in the boys and the mixed team had been immensly fun for her. Of course, she wouldn't have put him there if she hadn't been positive he could win the matches for the teams, but trying to gouge his reaction, and then watch him keep his poker face straight as he was surprised out of hit wits had made her smile. A lot.
The fiver she'd won off Mitsu when the guy didn't react also made her smile.
The Mitsus, she had discovered, were completely opposite ends off the spectrum, although they seemed to get along well, which was a fact that she enjoyed. Yoshimitsu was almost like a brother to her; she had known him longer than most people at Temple; and, although he was far older than her, they'd always had a good relationship.
She particularly revelled in his fun personality, having grown up around brats like Ryoma. And Kevin.
Tezuka reminded her of these brats; but he was different. Although the manor in which he held himself appeared arrogant; he wasn't. He truly was a good person; he was just exeptionally smart, talanted and good looking. Some people, Daisuke had said to her, once he had met the man, had fallen out of the lucky tree and hit every branch on the way down. She hadn't known how to reply at the time; but he was undoubtedly right.
Although the man had a rather cold personality sometimes, which was shown up by the distances he kept, she knew he had already won the hearts of several girls at Temple; not all of them were Japanese. Although the most obvious crush was that of Hideyo's. That girl had been struck from the second she layed her eyes on him.
Yuki wondered if his oppinion of Hideyo was as superficial as hers was towards him. Dispite being a grown woman of nineteen years old, the woman was still displaying all the signs of a childish crush. She may say that she loved him to her friends, but words were easy to say; feelings were harder to have, and harder to get people to reciprecate.
From what she had seen of Tezuka, he didn't return Hideyo's feelings in the least; at most he saw her as a friend; and at the least, a teammate.
Since the handsome boy came to Temple, Daisuke and Mitsu had also often teased her about an affection towards the boy: after all, they were the same age, he liked tennis also, and he was hot - at least, those were their reasons.
She had told them to shut up more times in the last weeks than she could count; she could barely remember her years of not knowing how to use sarcasm.
Tsubame also had an interest in him; it grew day by day. Any player I thought was worthy of my personal attention would have brought her out of the woodwork. She quizzed me daily on any new developements. Her perfect plan was being set in motion; she'd had several successes in the past with tennis players; now Mitsu and Mitsu two would be her fanale. I knew it was coming; I could see it a mile off; she was planning to get rich off the back's off those two players and then retire.
She was a first class bitch.
There were, of course, many false accusations going around about me and that woman; people gossiped that she had been like a second mother to me once mine had died. A terrible lie probably brought about by the convincing sharrade of manager and client that we put on; of friends.
Tsubame was more like the second generation third cousin three times removed that your mother decided that you should hang out with as a child, as much as possible. The one that eventually knows so much about you, and spends so much time with you that you eventually you have to call a 'friend' because 'aqquantance' isn't enough anymore.
She was the sort of person you could easily tread on to move up in the world. The sort of person who would do it right back to you, given half the chance.
She had become my manager out of conveniance; she had needed a team, and I had needed someone to shove my paperwork on whilst I was busy; that was the only reason.
We began to work togeather flawlessly; I picked up different members for her team and carried on my training, watching them shape into professional players. I planned out their training scedules, and I made sure that they got the top sponsors.
In short, I made her the best manager in America; aside from the devious Shou Ryouichi; an arrogant man who brought in arrogant clients. I had hated him on site.
My plan overall, of course, had been to use Tsubame's position, to create a team, and then take them off them at the end; finishing her career and creating my own. She herself, of course, had tried to step over me; but when she'd done so, she'd realised how reliant she had become on me. The poor woman, I had thought, relying on someone almost half her age.
I had the chance to take her career and create my own in two or so months, but now I was too so I would not; she was too close to her victory, and her volentery retirement into riches. I couldn't pull that away from her now. It didn't matter anyway; it wasn't as if I wanted the money.
The only reason I would still have taken it would be to show her what I was all about. Winning. Kicking her to the ground in her own game.
Because I knew she could never beat me in mine.
WAAA?! YUKI AND TSUBAME'S INNER RAGED BATTLE!! WAAAAAAA!! WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON BEHIND TEZZY'S BACK?? REVIEWWWETHHHHHH 3333 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x