Chapter 4
Akashi rubbed her eyes gently and yawned, it was late and the sky was dark, alone in Sakaki's office located in the music centre, she had spent the last few hours sorting through the application forms to the Hyotei tennis club, majority of them were first year students with the occasional second year, she'd sorted them into two groups, one consisted of applicants with past tennis experience while the other consisted of complete newbies, from there she divided the students based on past record, height and predicted tennis play styles.
The general policy and one of the reasons for the hundreds of members was that if you wanted to join the club, you could, but if you wanted to play in a match, then you needed to make your way up the food chain first. At the very top were the regulars, there were 8 of them and until the Kantou tournament at any one time only 3 of them actually played in any official match, the rest of the team consisted of sub and pre regulars. The pre-regulars were second, whenever a regular was dropped it was from this group that Sakaki chose their replacement, again there were 8 of them, however their position wasn't exactly safe either as 8 sub-regulars waited to take their place. While officially there were hundreds of members, in reality only a selection of around 30 actually played in a match, the rest served no greater purpose than being cheerleaders.
This system seemed to perfectly reflect the life lessons from Akashi's own childhood, even at Rikkai, victory was absolute, second was no better than last. However regardless of skill, Sakaki wanted her to watch every single new recruit and tell him of any who had potential, for many of them this was their only chance for exposure and she almost felt guilty that now, instead of the actual coach, they had to prove themselves to her instead, however she had confidence in her ability to judge people. As she stretched while lying on the large couch in Sakaki's office she heard a knock at the door.
"Come in," Akashi said not looking at who it was.
"You seem to be working hard," commented a familiar voice, with a frown Akashi sat up to see the captain Atobe Keigo looking down at her.
"It's nice to meet you too," Akashi replied getting up, she recognised him from the years before, not only as a tremendously talented tennis player but a tremendous pain in the arse. Akashi covered a yawned and looked at her watch, it was 7pm. "What are you still doing here?" she asked, Atobe shrugged, his attention focused on the piles of folders Akashi had just spent several hours organising and sorting.
"I was practicing," he answered simply. While Akashi had never actually spoken to Atobe she'd heard many things about him from Sanada, amoung the many complaints there was one compliment in that while naturally talented, Atobe worked and trained hard, and while Sanada would never admit it, she knew he respected that quality.
"Is there anyone else still here?" Akashi questioned watching while Atobe read through her work.
"A few," he said, Akashi's eyebrow finched, while he wasn't being out rightly rude, his lack of interest somehow rubbed her the wrong way.
"I see," she replied eyeing his suspiciously.
"Did you do all of this?" This time it was Atobe asking the questions, he'd sat down and was reading what she'd written carefully.
"Yes," since he was using so few words she decided to do the same.
"It's quite detailed," Atobe commented, somehow his surprise pissed her off as well.
"Thank you." Atobe either didn't notice or ignored the heavy sarcasm in her voice, his attention elsewhere. Atobe casually flipped through all the piles, however when he reached for the last one, which was in a blue folder instead of a vanilla one like the others, Akashi attempted to grab before he could get to it, she was a step too late.
"What's this?" he asked almost triumphantly, there was a smirk on his face as he started to read, however it quickly faltered as he read it's content, Akashi had not only analysed the new recruits but the regulars as well. "When did you gather all of this?" he asked as he read his own profile first.
"Give it," said Akashi snatching the file away from him. "It's not finished," she added as she started to pick up the files from the table.
"There seemed to be quite a bit in there," Atobe commented while she locked the files in a filing cabinet. "What were the words you used? 'Nacisisstic'? 'Arrogant'? 'Talented'? 'Handsome'?" Akashi laughed.
"I don't remember that last one," she said as she tucked the cabinet key in her pocket.
"Well, it should be," Atobe said with such confidence that Akashi had nothing to say in response. "Such important things should only contain the truth after all," he added with an arrogant smirk.
"Piss off," Akashi said in response triggering a laugh.
"Aren't you an angel?" Atobe carefully eyed her. "Or is there something eye behind those pretty sapphire eyes?" Akashi's expression tightened.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked, keeping her voice neutral.
"What I mean is," Atobe stood up and walked towards her, he stood so close she couldn't help but take note of his height and build, Akashi was quite tall herself and rarely found her towered by anyone, however he had almost half a head on her, his build was sturdy but leaner than Sanada's, if either knew she drew the comparison she was certain they wouldn't be happy. "What are you doing here?" Akashi stood her ground and looked him in the eye, she didn't back off and instead move closer, he was trying to intimidate her and she wasn't going to let him.
"What do you mean?" she asked again, this time with a small smile.
"What I mean is what is the former manager of Rikkai doing here?" Akashi didn't flinch but Atobe noticed he'd caught hold of something.
"What do you think?" she asked in response.
"Are you a spy?" Atobe continued. "No, neither Sanada nor Yukimura would do that, I doubt even Yanagi would send the manager undercover for information, so why are you here?"
"I transfer schools, that why," Akashi answered with wide eyes and a pout. "What makes you think differently?"
"Something about you seems off," Atobe replied simply. "Is it that I don't trust you because you're a stranger? Or are you hiding something?" Akashi tilted her head to the side.
"What could I be hiding?" she asked innocently. Atobe frowned.
"Who knows," Atobe backed off and made his way to the door. "But whatever it is, I'll find it. See you tomorrow then Manager-san, from what I just saw, looks like the coach didn't just pick any girl off the street." Akashi's eyes flared with anger, however before she could say anything Atobe had already left.
"Arrogant jerk," she muttered under her breath, however what he said bothered her, she needed to make an effort to cuddle up to him, the last thing she needed was the son of Atobe group to go digging through her dirty laundry. Akashi sighed and ruffled her hair, she needed a plan.
