BETA: TheSupernoava


Chapter 2: Atobe's Favorite Sparkling Water


Atobe left the tennis court for the desolate arena hallway. Sanada was nowhere in sight.

"Do you always have to be so cold, eh, Sanada?"

The excitement and adrenaline from the match was quickly fading. Atobe made his way to the team Japan locker room, heavily pushing his way inside and stumbling against the wall. His breathing drew heavy. The continuous Tannhäuser service game; he had been reckless and though the gamble paid off, his body was paying the price. The earlier exhaustion had been a preview.

The room was empty. Two sets of lockers faced each other along opposite walls, with a long, wooden bench in between. The far wall was divided in half; the space to the left led to the showers, some sinks and a few bathroom stalls.

Atobe made it twenty feet before a wash of fatigue ran through him. He stumbled again, colliding with the side of the metal lockers with a loud bang and collapsing to the ground. The empty water bottle he was holding slipped from his hand, rolling across the ground, stopping a few feet away. His head felt light. Atobe slumped against the wall, breathing out of control. He couldn't calm down. It had taken everything to finish that game and walk steadily out of the stadium.

The Tannhäuser serve wasn't meant to be played eight times in a row. Atobe was just glad he wasn't in a singles match. This was a finishing serve, one meant to end the game, as he had planned in his match with Tezuka. Unless pushed hard enough; then who knows when he'd use it?

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. He was tired and his body felt heavy; it had no intentions of moving.

Under normal circumstances, he could just snap his fingers to get what he wanted but that technique didn't work so well in an empty locker room. But it couldn't hurt, right? No one was around to see him make a fool of himself anyways.

*Snap*

An opened bottle of his favorite sparkling water appeared in front of his face. He followed the hand holding the bottle to an extremely familiar face.

"Sanada?"