Chapter 5
The First Tournament of the Season
At the end of the day, the regulars had been selected: Kunimitsu Tezuka (captain), Oishi Syuichiroh, Kikumaru Eiji, Kawamura Takashi, Fuji Syusuke, Momoshiro Takeshi, Kaidoh Kaoru, and Echizen Ryoma. Inui Sadaharu would remain as a part of the regular's manager. That Friday class went as usual, and I didn't actually stay for practices as I wanted to get home, and get ready to go out that night. My parents had this Gilmore-esque thing of Friday night dinner, usually out so no one had to cook or clean.
That night we decided on a small place near our house which served classic Japanese cuisine. It was a nice night out with them. On the way home, we split up, with me going to the café I'd gone with Fuji, and my parents heading back home.
I sat down drinking my cup of coffee, relaxing. I was very thankful that I had finished drinking it, by the time I was attacked.
"Nya! Alex-chan! I didn't think I would find you here!" Eiji yelled in my ear as he hugged me.
"I didn't think anyone would be here either" I said. I noticed that Eiji, Oishi, Momo and Fuji had all sat down at the same table as me, and that Tezuka and Inui were getting something at the counter.
"We were celebrating at Taka-senpai's restaurant before the tournament next week" Momo said. "Ne, why weren't you there?"
"I was having dinner with my parents" I said.
"That's nice." Oishi said. "Are they with you now?" he said looking around.
"Nope. They went home early" I said. "I didn't feel like an early night."
"Hoi, Hoi! Neither did we, so we came here instead!" Eiji said, quite loudly. "Where should we go after this?"
"Sake Bar!" Momo said raising his fists.
"Momoshiro" Tezuka's voice came from behind him, and Momo paled.
"I was just joking" Momo said scratching the back of his neck.
"What about the arcade down the street?" Fuji said, mostly looking at me.
"Yes!" Eiji and Momo yelled at the same time. And then Momo added. "It'll be a senpai treat!"
"I'll go get Echizen now!" Momo said running out, and heading to where I assumed was the kids house.
"I'll call Kaidoh" Inui said taking out his phone.
At that moment it really didn't matter if I agreed or not, I was going. The crazy thing was that when we finally got there, the group had grown a lot. The third years were soon joined by Echizen and rejoined with Momo who had found Echizen on a store a few streets down. Kaidoh was on his way, but with Echizen came the trio of freshmen, and two other freshmen girls. One was quite loud, Tomoka, and the other I recognized as Ryusaki-sensei's granddaughter; Sakuno.
The arcade was huge, and it had every type of game you could imagine. Eiji, and Tomoka were doing great at the Dance, Dance, Revolution type game. Momo, Taka, Oishi and Inui were taking turns in one of those street fighter type games. Momo and Kaidoh were especially competitive, but at one point Fuji gave Taka a racket and well… Oishi was having a hard time controlling them. Inui was gathering data, and Tezuka was playing Echizen on a bowling type of game. The three freshmen were playing one of those virtual tennis games. Sakuno wasn't playing any game, but instead was watching the game between Echizen and Tezuka. I didn't really know what to play or do or anything, but I was soon distracted from all that when I felt a hand wrap around my own, and the pull me somewhere. The light brown hair that was Fuji led me to what was apparently the game we were playing: a driving game. The type where they had the separate cars, and that you saw it all on a huge screen in front of you.
"Is this a challenge?" I asked him smirking.
"Maybe" he said, getting into one of the cars.
I got into the one next to him, and got ready. The game reminded me a lot of the video games of street racing, and sure enough, it was that type of game. We weren't playing alone, there were about 3 or 4 other people in the same race.
The thing about the Tensai, he is good at everything apparently. It may have been an arcade game, but I actually wanted to beat him. It started out nicely enough, we were both in the middle of the pack, I was in front of him, and there was only one person in front of me. After a few seconds, we both passed that person on first place and ended up neck and neck entering a turn, which I had the advantage on. But then he did something, and turn in: I'm winning, turn out: I'm losing. I heard Momo's voice yelling something at me about not losing and a bet, so I assumed most of the guys were watching. I feel proud to say that I kept up with Fuji quite well, overtaking him in some turns, only to be overtaken in the next one. The last part of the race was a straight line, no other cars in sight. We were in all technicalities neck and neck, but then his car started going ahead of me, so I did something, and pushed the button for the fake NOS, making myself speed forward, and take the lead, only for him to do the exact same thing, winning by merely inches. Although I did lose, it was a fun game, and it didn't stop us from playing a few more times. We decided to end our little competition at a tied 5 races each, and one that Tezuka won from us.
Outside of the arcade, we split into three groups: Momo, the freshmen trio, the girls, Echizen, Taka and Inui going in one direction; Kaidoh and Oishi going in another, Tezuka, Eiji, Fuji and myself, headed in our own direction. Our group was Eiji and me chatting, Fuji smiling walking behind us, with a quiet Tezuka, who had the hint of a smile on his face. There came a moment, when Tezuka left us, a few minutes later, Eiji headed a different turn, and it was just Fuji and me.
"Is your house this way too?" I asked.
"Yes and no, but I'm walking you home before going back to my place" he said. "Saa, I should give you my address so you can find it tomorrow"
"Good point, wouldn't wanna fail math cause I didn't find my tutor's house" I said.
When we got to my house, he got a paper from his schoolbag, which I just noticed he had, and wrote down his address, and then gave it to me.
"That's my cell phone. Call me if you need me" he said smiling.
"Right" I said, and walking to my door. "I'll see you tomorrow"
"Goodnight A-Lex-Chan" he said in kind of a sing song voice.
I went inside, and soon enough I was in bed and asleep. The next morning my mom woke me up a little early to have breakfast, and then I sent a text to Fuji to tell him I was on my way, he told me that he was expecting me. When I finally got to his house (yes, I took the wrong turn once), I found that it was quite similar to mine, even in size.
I rang the doorbell and waited a few seconds before an extremely beautiful woman opened the door. I was wondering if she was his mom, but then I realized she was way too young to be a mom.
"Ohayo, I'm Alex Velázquez… Fuji-san and I are studying together" I said bowing lightly.
"Oh yes, Syusuke-kun told me about you" she said. "I'm his sister, Yumiko" she said bowing back, and then inviting me in.
"Thank you" I said walking in. "You have a beautiful home"
"Thank you." She said, and then yelled up the stairs. "Syusuke-kun! Company!" she looked back at me, and smiled, much like her brother, only the eyes stayed open. "Alex-chan, will you be staying until dinner?"
"Oh, I don't know" I said a little sheepishly.
"Please do! We'd love the company" Yumiko said, taking my hands.
"If it's ok with everyone" I said, trying to make sure I wouldn't be stepping in anyone's toes.
"We'll probably be studying late, so staying for dinner is the best idea" Fuji said, from the bottom of the stairs. I didn't even hear him walk the steps down.
"Fuji-san" I said, in way of hello.
"I'll leave you to now" Yumiko said smiling, and leaving to what I assumed was the kitchen.
"Saa… let's go upstairs" he said, and turned to move upstairs.
A few seconds later I followed him, and found myself in what I knew to be his room. His school bag was next to the desk, and there were two books, from our classes on the desk. His room walls were painted in a shade of dark blue in the wall opposite the window, and white on the rest. He walked in and sat on the desk, while I hovered close to the door, not really knowing where to move to.
"You can sit on the bed" he said smirking, his tone a little teasing.
"Right" I said, taking my seat, and taking out my math notes. "So, are we just reviewing today?"
"Yes and No" Fuji said, and then moved to sit next to me on the bed, but with a little space in between. "We'll review it, but I will also explain it so that you can understand it, and then will be able to handle the problems on tests better."
"Cool. Let's start then" I said.
Soon enough we were comparing notes, and looking over the first test. He did a much better job at explaining everything I didn't understand (which was a lot to be honest), than any teacher I ever had before. It was around 6 in the afternoon before we even got close to the end. We had taken a few water and snack breaks, as Yumiko popped in every few hours with food, or drinks, but by now, we knew she was making dinner, so we decided to clean up all our notes, and papers, and just rest it out until dinner was ready (she had already refused any help in the kitchen). We didn't do much other than talk aimlessly, until I asked a question that got an interesting answer.
"Are your parents going to be home for dinner too?" I asked.
"Nope, they are travelling at the moment" he said, his smile ever present.
"And Yumiko is your only sibling?"
His eyes opened and he looked up at the ceiling before answering. "No. I have a younger brother, Yuuta. But I doubt he'll be home for dinner."
"How so?"
"Saa… that is a long story and I doubt we have the time."
The conversation got deviated, and I never really knew why Fuji's younger brother wasn't home for dinner, that night or any night. Dinner was very pleasant, and I found Yumiko such an agreeable person. After dinner, I stayed for a cup of tea, and then Fuji walked me home. As we usually did, we didn't really talk on the way to my house. We said goodbye and went our own ways, but not before I looked down the street he disappeared back to.
The following week of school went by nicely. Thanks to Fuji, a lot of the math things I didn't understand before were now clear, and I could follow along the lessons better. The Tennis team had morning and afternoon practices, seeing as the next tournament started that Saturday. They would be playing Gyokurin, not the best team in the world, but as Tezuka and Inui's training method, they shouldn't underestimate anyone.
Before I knew it, Saturday was here, and I was at the tournament courts, watching the game. As I couldn't seat with the team, as was in the company of the freshmen trio, the girls, and next to us were the reporter man Inoue, and his photographer, Ms. Shiba.
The first game was entertaining to say the least. A hard fought doubles match with Echizen and Momo playing for Seigaku. It was clear from the beginning that they weren't doubles players, but they found a way to make it work. They divided the court up in half, and played two singles games vs. a doubles team. They won the game in the end, giving the impression it would be a hard fought match. Then Oishi and Eiji stepped in, and won their game in straight sets. Kaidoh, Taka and Fuji also won in straight sets, granting an absolute victory to Seigaku. After the game, most people split up, and I was left with Taka, Fuji and Inui as we went to Taka's restaurant to eat something before going home. It was when I reached my house and turned to say goodbye to Fuji, my ever present escort home, that I was surprised at something he said.
"Saa, I have something I want to ask" he said.
"What's that?"
"I feel like we know each other well enough. I feel that you can call me by my first name Alex-chan" he said, his smile, a little smaller.
"Nani?"
"Syusuke-kun" he said. "I'd like it if you called me that"
I looked at him carefully. It didn't really matter to me what I called him, I had just fallen into comfort by calling him by his last name. I nodded, and as I turned to go into my house. "Good Night Syusuke-kun" I said with a smile.
