Chapter 9: I want to play tennis again
The sound of badminton shoes squeaking against the wooden floor as well as the powerful sound of shuttlecocks being smashed hard onto the courts radiate from a grey modern-looking multi-purpose gym.
"Jump higher! Swing faster!" a clear tough voice shouts to two players moving on one side of the court. They move very quickly, taking turns to smash the shuttlecocks thrown towards them by a young and short female coach who is standing on a plastic chair while holding about twenty shuttlecocks on her left arm, picking them up and throwing them above the trainees' heads expertly.
When the last shuttlecock has been thrown and smashed to the other side of the court, the young coach says, "Alright! Rest 3 minutes."
Breathing a sigh of relief, the players move towards one side of the wall where several badminton bags have been thrown about on the floor. A tall figure remains on the court, staring after his coach as she jumps down from the chair and straightens her blue Yonex collar T-shirt. At the back of her shirt bears the words: Choi HY on top and Malaysia below the name.
She catches her disciple staring at her and she grins at him with her usual mischievious grin. She is very short for a badminton player. About 5 feet maybe. Her hair is dyed a mixture of brown, gold and blonde, cut layered till it reaches to her shoulders. She looks very fit, with the right amount of muscles for badminton.
She's Ukita Ishida's badminton coach. And the person he loves, albeit secretly.
Choi Hua Ying (the lady in question) is 24 while Ukita is 17. They met when she was 22 and him, 15, in a recreation club. Ukita was on his way to the tennis courts to play tennis with his father when a short brown-haired woman bumped into him as she was rushing to the badminton courts.
"Sorry about that!" she had apologised while looking up at him with a huge mischievious grin as she picked up a bright red Yonex bag from the ground.
Noticing how large the bag looked, Ukita asked her, "Are you a tennis player?"
She smiled again and answered, "No... I'm a badminton player. Or used to be. Now I'm a coach. From today onwards actually." She grinned sheepishly and Ukita's heart skipped a beat.
"You're not Japanese, are you?" asked Ukita curiously. She did look a bit Japanese but there was something foreign about her as well... Her accent sounded a little off for one thing.
Surprisingly, she laughed. Chuckled, more like it, and then she answered, "I'm Malaysian though while I was in Malaysia, there were quite a number of people who told me that I looked Japanese."
Ukita smiled at her and she smiled back. Neither said anything for a while.
"Hey, I have to go now. Got to be early on my first day as a coach," she said as she gestured to the multi-purpose gym nearby. Ukita merely nodded his head, not sure of what to say.
She took a few steps and then, turned back to look at him. "If you are interested in learning how to play badminton, you can just come on over okay? I'll be here till seven!" she called out.
Ukita nodded his head and smiled again and she disappeared.
After thrashing his father in tennis ("I'm getting old!" complained Uchi. "Give me some chance now, will ya?"), Ukita had lied to his father about leaving one of his racquet in the tennis court while they were on their way home. He had rushed back to the gym and had hoped that she was still there as the sky had already darkened and upon glancing at his watch, he realised that it was already 7.10p.m.
Luckily, she was still there, playing doubles with some unknown social players. His presence unnoticed, he quietly watched her play and felt awed. She looked as though she was flying, jumping up and down, right and left... There isn't much jumping in tennis but in badminton, it's important to jump as the shuttlecock is moving so quickly.
She looked very nimble and her reactions were very quick. Her shots were sharp and powerful. Her movements were quick and graceful.
Ukita was in love, with two objects of admiration: badminton...
And her.
Since that day on, he gave up on tennis and pursued his newfound interest: badminton. Hua Ying was surprised at his rate of improvement. Ukita was surprised himself. Within one year, he became the province champion in badminton and even went on to reach the quarter-finals of the National Junior Badminton Championship, and mind you, he was only 16.
Sometimes, he thought about tennis. His father had been quite critical about his choice in sporting excellence. "The tennis great's son is a great badminton player. How ironic is that?" his father had grunted disapprovingly. "What tennis great are you talking about?" Ukita had retorted, smirking. "Zip!" his father retaliated.
But he gradually forgot about tennis. His father had gotten used to his badminton interests and stopped poking at him about it. He's happy.
However, that little brat had to bring tennis crashing into his life again yesterday. What was his problem? Why did he have to remind him about tennis? He felt so tempted to accept his challenge. It took him a lot of control to resist thrashing that brat on the tennis court to show him who's boss.
Back to the present, Ukita looks at his bubbly coach. She's sort of like a tomboy come to think of it. The way she talks and carries herself isn't exactly how one might describe as feminine or gently but Ukita loves her just the way she is.
"Anything?" she asks, her hands on her hips as she approached her disciple an unknown admirer.
Ukita sighs and wears a troubled expression. Hua Ying's smile falters.
"What's wrong?" she asks quietly but Ukita remains silent.
Hua Ying turns her attention to the other trainees. "Alright! Break time's over! Start your physical exercises now! Sprinting, 5 courts, 8 sets. Sit ups, push ups, high knee jumps and twists 50 times 3 sets. Now!" she orders sternly.
There are a few groans as the tired sweating boys get up from the floor and trudges towards one end of the gym to begin on the dreaded physical exercises.
"You, come with me," she refers to Ukita as she exits the gym with Ukita trailing behind her.
"What's wrong?" she demands again, with a stern expression on her face.
Ukita shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath before answering:
"I want to play tennis again."
Ukita Ishida lies on his bed, the back of his head on his hands, staring out at the glass window beside his bed as raindrops tap gently at his window. The sky is darkening and soon it would be night. 'Did I make the right decision?' he wonders.
Sure, he's progressing so far in badminton despite playing for only 2 years. At this rate, he might really make it to the national badminton team.
'And then what?' he thinks. 'Where do I really want to go in badminton anyway? It's not as though I play badminton to be an Olympic champion or anything. Why do I play badminton anyway?' he ponders.
It can't be because of Hua Ying... can it? Sure, he loved her the moment he met her but he couldn't have picked up badminton just for her sake now, could he?
He continues thinking.
No, that's not it. He sincerely enjoys playing badminton but that's just it. He enjoys playing badminton. He enjoys winning too for who wouldn't? He enjoys seeing the smile on her face when he's picked up a new skill. But that's all there is for badminton: joy.
Nothing else. There's not thirst for success, no hunger. Just joy and fulfillment. Where else for tennis, well, take the event from yesterday as an example! He hasn't played tennis for two years and he could get so fired up over a challenge by a short kid. He is his father's son after all. Tennis is in his blood and no matter how hard he tries, he can't eliminate tennis from his life. It'll always be with him.
Ukita Ishida finally knows what lies in his heart. He is in love with a badminton coach, but he is a tennis player. And from their conversation in the afternoon, his badminton coach had accepted his decision with an open mind.
Aiko glances at the white board sleepily while waiting for school to start. She's so tired. Her grandpa had challenged her in Playstation 2 Tennis the night before and they had played on till way past midnight despite her granma's little protests. For an old geezer, her granpa was pretty good.
Still, losing to him was a real kick below the belt for Aiko. The embarrassment!
The wooden door opens and a gruff voice calls out, "Is Aikawa Wataru in this class?"
Still in a daze, Aiko does not have any reaction upon hearing her false name. "Aikawa-san," someone calls gently to her. "Aikawa-san," the female voice calls out again.
A hand touches Aiko's shoulder and Aiko finally snaps. She finds that the hand on her shoulder belongs to that of a very beautiful girl with fair rosy skin and long ebony hair. Tsukino Miyazaki. The girl who sits next to her. The girl Aiko envies for her beauty. The girl all the bad guys want. Well, no, actually. Just the girl all guys want in general.
She's so feminine and gentle. Aiko wishes she can be just like her if she isn't trapped in a boy's identity. Tsukino has been talking to her quite a lot recently. In fact, they are starting to become quite close. No wonder Aiko has been getting some odd stares from jealous boys recently.
"Someone's looking for you, Ai-ka-wa-kun," says a familiar voice from a familiar boy with light brown hair. Fuji Syusuke. Aiko blushes a little as she comes face to face with the Most Eligible Bachelor Freshman in Yamashita High School.
Tsukino turns to look at Fuji and smiles at him with a smile which can make any guy swoon.
But Fuji is always an exception.
He smiles back at her and turns his attention back to Aiko again. "You shouldn't keep people waiting," he advises.
'Oh right. Someone wants to see me,' that message has finally been keyed in to her CPU.
She stands up and heads out of the classroom only to see a tall spiky-haired figure leaning against the wall with a sort of stubborn or defiant look on his face. She doesn't recognise him at first but that broom-like hair catches her attention.
"Ah! You're Ukita Ishida!" she exclaims, pointing at him. Sweatdrop.
"Glad you remember me," he says sarcastically as he looks down to the floor, embarrassed by her outburst.
"You finally want to accept my challenge?" Aiko asks bluntly.
"No! Don't be arrogant you punk! I can trash you in tennis any time!" Ukita bursts out exasperatedly, shaking a fist at Aiko. However, he regains his composure in time. He clears his throat and with a serious expression, he says, "I want to join the tennis team."
Aiko stares at him dumbly. Did she hear right? He wants to join the tennis team? Really? Really really?
Ukita feels as though a heavy weight has been lifted off him. Yes, he has made the right decision, he assures himself.
"Too bad. Application closed," Aiko says nonchalantly as she makes her way back to her classroom.
"Wh-what?" exclaims a shocked Ukita. He had tried so hard to convince himself that he was making the right decision and this little brat had to throw him down like a rag doll!
"Are you kidding?" asks Ukita, swallowing hard.
"Yup," answers Aiko nonchalantly.
Ukita almost falls to the ground.
"You little brat! You're going to pay for that!" he has lost his cool again as he shouts loudly while pointing at Aiko's retreating back.
"Yeah yeah yeah... Just come for training after school tomorrow, okay?" she informs him as she disappears into the classroom din.
"Hmmph. That brat!" Ukita mutters to himself but he can't stop himself from smiling.
Around him, people are still looking at him as though he's a mutated broomstick. Annoyed, he bursts his temper again. "What are you guys looking at?"
