Chapter 9

Sushi at Kawamura's restaurant was always a treat, especially if Kawamura wasn't the one doing the cooking. He had ways to go before he mastered his father's trade, and while Fuji was fond of his tendency to be heavy-handed with the wasabi, Atobe was not.

Fuji, Atobe and Kawamura had grabbed one of the tables in the corner, settling in comfortably. Fuji and Atobe were sharing one side of the table, leaving the other to Kawamura. All three were in rather thoughtful moods.

"It was an interesting day, wasn't it?" Fuji said, sipping idly at his tea. "Quite enjoyable."

Atobe was of more mixed opinion. "I do not want to go through that again."

"So you're not going to play doubles? Pity, it was so much fun to watch."

"Syuusuke." Atobe's low voice was filled with overtones of faint warning, and the prodigy smiled in return.

"Maa," Fuji turned to pick up a piece of wasabi maki, making Atobe wrinkle his nose in an obvious sign of disgust. "You have the talent for it. You just need the proper training."

"And a decent partner."

The soft laugh from his best friend was a familiar sound. "Tezuka's a good player. You have admitted that much."

Atobe sniffed indignantly. "Not as good as me, obviously. That's why he can't keep up."

"Urm, guys..." Kawamura looked a little harassed by their soft argument, but was smiling all the same. "Let's tuck in?"

Fuji appeared to let the kind-natured boy's comment slip by, but flashed him a small smile in apology. "You're not without faults during the game either, Keigo-chan."

"I'm perfect," the smaller boy watched as Atobe shrugged off his comment with a displeased frown, and started attacking the sushi almost viciously.

The prodigy smiled, then stole a sushi from Atobe's plate.

"Hey!"

The younger boy leaned in close, resting his head against Atobe's shoulder and gazing up at him with sly, half-lidded eyes. "We still shocked them good today, didn't we?"

There was an amused laugh from the diva as their topic of conversation took a hundred and eighty degrees turn. He patted Fuji's hair lightly before turning back to his food, satisfied. "They never knew what hit them." The proud voice proclaimed what was on Fuji's mind as well, even as Kawamura began to turn an interesting shade of scarlet.

"We're-" Fuji coughed in a purposely delicate manner. "Gay, just like Echizen declared."

"Fujiko!" Kawamura glanced around the shop, despite knowing that it was empty but fearing that the current conversation would be overheard.

"It's a joke, Taka-san." Fuji straightened himself and continued picking at his food with a pleasant smile. "The team won't know what hit them, though. Everyone will be wondering if that was true or if we're having fun messing with people's brains as usual."

"Exactly. And that Echizen brat better wisen up soon," Atobe began thoughtfully, tapping the tip of his chopsticks against his lips. "Or maybe, he's not going to get a chance to."

"You're going to play against him?" Fuji knew his best friend well enough to second guess his thoughts.

"Oh, yes." The diva smirked. "He'll get a taste of what playing against the top singles player of Seigaku is like. Maybe he'd know how to feel remorse after that. Someone needs to put him back into his proper place."

"And you're going to be that certain someone, aren't you. Keigo-chan?"

Kawamura would have wrung his hands if he could. Fuji looking like he didn't particularly care if Atobe thrashed a year one player was a dangerous situation for Ryoma, indeed. Usually, the prodigy would either help or discourage, depending on his mood for that day.

If he was neutral... Kawamura guessed that all he could do was hope for the best.... and maybe, if Atobe was feeling kind that day...

...he wouldn't thrash the year one student too badly.

Momoshiro Takeshi prided himself on being a good friend, and he knew now, more than ever, Echizen Ryoma was going to need friends -- even if he didn't know it.

Atobe Keigo had always fascinated the second year, sometimes repelled him, but since becoming a member of the tennis team, Momoshiro had found himself listening to the flamboyant third year more often then not. He was talented and watched after those whom he declared his, and he always seemed to know what the hell was going on. Besides, he was hell of a lot more interesting than Tezuka.

Not that Momoshiro disliked that captain -- he just liked Atobe better.

Still, he knew Atobe had the capability for cruelty, and it seemed that Ryoma had brought that streak to the surface. Momoshiro could understand that, wanting to crush the first year before he could rise up (having tried it with little success himself), but he knew that if Atobe did it, he would do so with unrelenting determination and unmitigated success.

The only time Momoshiro had ever seen Atobe fail was yesterday's doubles match, when he thought on it.

The day after the Prefectural matches was a Monday, and Momoshiro rode his bicycle to Echizen's house to offer the first year a ride -- and hopefully some advice. He doubted how much would actually sink in, but at least he could give it a try, right?

He waited for five minutes before Ryoma shuffled out the door, looking more asleep than awake. His cat-like eyes were heavily lidded, and he hardly seemed to be aware of where he was going -- in fact, he walked right by Momoshiro.

"Oi, Echizen!" Momoshiro called in agitation, unable to believe how the first year continued to meander along, completely oblivious to the world around him. "Say hello at least!"

Ryoma blinked a few times, coming to. Yawning, he turned his head to see his senpai, and then rubbed at his eyes, obviously not believing what he was seeing. "Momoshiro-senpai? What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you! Che!" Momoshiro huffed, pushing the bike along idly so he could maintain a pace with someone who was walking at the rate of a drunken turtle. He found it impossible to believe that their first year ace was so incredibly lazy.

"Couldn't it wait?" Ryoma asked grumpily. He shifted his tennis bag to his other shoulder.

Momoshiro considered washing his hands of the whole mess, and leaving Ryoma to his fate, but his conscience wouldn't allow it. "Echizen..." he said warningly.

Ryoma must have actually caught the warning in his voice, because he turned his head enough to pay attention. "What is it?" he asked a little irritably.

"Echizen, stop annoying Atobe-senpai," Momoshiro said. "He's a really good player, but he has a really bad temper. You don't want to make him mad at you."

Ryoma sniffed. He loved annoying good players -- he annoyed his father every night, and the stupid old man was supposed to be one of the best.

Momoshiro knew he'd said the wrong thing.

"I don't really care." Ryoma yawned, as if to make his point. "Besides, it's his own fault if he wants to get mad at me. And he's gay."

Momoshiro choked on thin air. "Echizen! Some things are better lef-"

"Whatever."

With that, the first year student continued plodding along, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Momoshiro gave an exasperated sigh before getting onto his bicycle and followed the younger boy, knowing that no amount of advice would work on him now. At least, not when he wasn't even keen to listen in the first place.

"Get on the bicycle, Echizen! I'll give you a ride to school!"

Atobe surveyed the courts the moment he stepped past the gate, satisfied to see a few of the first year students scurry out of his way almost immediately. The brat of their team was standing in a corner of court A, testing the tension of his racket strings with a bored look.

Fuji came to a stop behind the diva, his usual pleasant smile a handy mask.

"Today?" The soft, murmured question and close proximity raised a few more stares from the non-regulars who had obviously seen and heard the story of what happened on the competition courts just a few days ago.

If there should be chaos on the tennis courts, Fuji always believed that they should do it Seigaku-style. All out with no regrets and more casualties than one could count. Not to mention Ryuuzaki wishing that she had murdered the whole lot of her team and gotten herself a permanent contract with an aspirin production factory.

A slow smirk surfaced. "Yes. Now, in fact."

The prodigy reached over to touch Atobe on his left arm lightly, smiling sweetly. "Don't be too mean, Keigo-chan."

Atobe snorted and leaned in close to murmur by Fuji's ear, smirking when the whispers started up around them and some of the girls watching by the side of the courts squealed. "I'll try. And you're having too much fun out of this whole 'gay' thing, aren't you?"

Fuji only laughed, soft, then nudged Atobe in Ryoma's direction. The younger boy was giving them a nonplussed look, obviously unimpressed by their open display of affections.

"I'll try not to have too much fun, Keigo-chan. After all, we still have to keep our reputations intact, ne?"

"Good." Atobe gave a soft snort before walking towards Ryoma. The younger boy's face took on a decidedly suspicious look. "Echizen."

"...yes?"

"Let's have a match now."

A sudden stillness rolled across the courts, as everyone's attention was immediately riveted on Atobe and Ryoma. Kawamura glanced around, noting that Tezuka, Oishi and Kikumaru were nowhere in sight. Kaidou was away at court D, where Momoshiro and Inui were warming up at as well. Other than Atobe and Fuji, Ryoma was the only other regular in court A.

Atobe had planned this well.

"Sure," a confident smirk surfaced on Ryoma's face almost immediately.

Right after they took their positions on court B, the younger boy shot Atobe a look.

"I'm going to make you cry."

Atobe smirked. "Tears of pity, maybe," he said, drawling the last word. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked.

Ryoma shot him a suspicious look. "Fine."

"I just want to be clear that you're in perfect health when you lose to me pitifully," Atobe said, smiling a bit. He glanced over at Fuji, nodding at the referee's seat. "Be so kind, Syuusuke?"

"Of course, Keigo-chan." Fuji climbed into the chair easily, slouching down a bit comfortably as he waited for them to decide the serve.

"I'll let you serve and have the choice of courts," Atobe said graciously. "Consider it a favor."

Ryoma glared at him. Atobe was acting too much like his father for his liking. It would be a pleasure to beat him.

"One set match, Echizen to serve!" Fuji announced, his soft voice still somehow piercing.

Around them, the fence started to line with people who happened to be wandering by and Atobe's fangirls. People hushed, because Atobe rarely played matches, and everyone was curious about how good the new first year regular was.

"Give me your best shot," Atobe encouraged. The expression on his face irritated Ryoma, making him want to wipe it off forcibly.

Ryoma served, feet rising as he performed his signature twist serve. Atobe smirked, watching the ball go by, the way so many of Ryoma's opponents did when they first saw the stunning move.

Around them, the crowd was quiet, unable to believe that Atobe had missed. Atobe never missed.

"15-0," Fuji called out, no sign of any emotion on his face or in his tone.

"I thought it was going to be faster," Atobe mused, staring at where the ball landed against the fence. "Still, the angle's not bad. I can see why most average players are scared of it... but I'm not average." Tossing his head back, the sunlight made silver highlights in his hair. "I'm exceptional."

"Bastard," Ryoma said.

"Heard it before. That's the only point you're going to get this whole game. Consider it my gift to you for making the team," Atobe said.

Fuji snickered into his hand.

Ryoma's eyes flashed, and he served again. Atobe smiled and leaned to the side, easily managing to avoid getting whacked in the face. The return came hard and quick, and Ryoma wasn't even able to react as the ball whirled right by him.

"15-all!"

Atobe smiled as the crowd cheered. "Ready to learn a tennis lesson?"

Momoshiro heard the cheers of the crowd, something that was as familiar to him as breathing. Glancing across the courts, he saw the commotion on B court, and tried not to wince. Seeing Atobe and Ryoma stare across the net at each other was enough to scare him.

"Inui-senpai, can this menu wait a bit?" he asked. Inui had been planning on running him through a practice to increase his accuracy but right now, the sick feeling in his stomach left it hard to concentrate. Ryoma had just gotten in way over his head, and didn't even know it.

Inui blinked, but then saw the reason for Momoshiro's request. "Ah. Yes."

"I hope Atobe-senpai is in a good mood today." Momoshiro's worried tone must have somehow conveyed itself to Inui, who adjust his glasses with a slight frown.

"We can only hope."

Meanwhile, back on the courts, Ryoma wasn't faring as well as he thought he would be. He thought this was his chance to really show the stuck-up third year he wasn't a joke. Apparently, the other was even keener to make him into the joke of the club. To say he was angry would be an understatement.

But he was Echizen Ryoma!

There was no way in hell he would give up in the middle of a game. As much as he hated struggling so early in the match, he was sure he could turn the tables, somehow. He had amazing adaptability when it came to opponents, and although Atobe was strong to the point of suffocation, there should be some way to trip the older boy.

"Game- Atobe Keigo, two games to love!" Fuji's carefully neutral voice was raised to a volume that traveled above the excited whisperings and murmuring traveling among the crowds surrounding them. "Echizen Ryoma to serve."

This was his second service game and Ryoma was agitated to find himself losing even that as well. The score currently stood at two-nil, and it was evident that it would hit three-nil soon. Ryoma found his service game passing in a blur, as he tried his best to return the pin-pointed shots Atobe gave.

"Game- Atobe Keigo, three games to love!"

Ryoma gritted his teeth in frustration.

Suddenly the volume of hurried whispers around them went up as if someone had just turned a dial. Ryoma risked a glance to the side, noting Tezuka, Oishi and Kikumaru approaching the courts. A serve shot by him in a blur, causing Ryoma to frown.

"30-love!"

"What's going on here?" Tezuka's calm voice commanded a type of presence which nobody could deny.

Even Atobe paused before his next serve to give Tezuka a look, as if daring him to stop the game. Ryoma glanced at the captain in annoyance, wishing that he would go away. This was his match! He would play it to the end, regardless of whether he was going to lose it or not. And it was still too early to tell! He still had a chance to recover games from Atobe, if he worked hard at figuring out Atobe's pattern for pin-pointing shots to certain locations.

"They're having a friendly match." Fuji's simple reply made Tezuka stare at him hard. "Echizen agreed to the game."

"Yes," Ryoma muttered, wishing that everyone would simply hurry up, get out of the way and let him continue the game in peace.

Tezuka looked on disapprovingly, his silence the only given affirmation that they could continue the game. Atobe smirked at the captain before delivering a serve, easily smashing down Ryoma's return with no remorse. Oishi was looking more and more worried by the moment, while Kikumaru hung onto his arm nervously.

"Game- Atobe Keigo, four games to love!"

The faint frown on Tezuka's face was the only sign of his displeasure as someone changed the score on the board.

By then Ryoma was starting to seriously consider what would happen if he lost. It happened every day, but that was to the old man. He was used to losing against him -- but he wasn't used to losing against anyone else.

Atobe Keigo was smirking at him.

Ryoma wanted to smash the ball through the diva's teeth... and he would have, if he'd been able to. However, Atobe seemed to be reading his moves, and compensating for them before he even played them. It was worse than playing against Inui.

"You know," Atobe said, "I can see exactly what you're thinking." His left hand pointed up at his striking blue eyes, and Oishi flinched.

Insight. Atobe was using his blasted Insight, and that meant the first year was done for.

"Mada mada da ne," Ryoma shot back characteristically.

"He's toast," Kikumaru said glumly, clinging to Oishi even more firmly. "It's so cruel!"

Oishi was forced to agree. Atobe was in his usual fine form, and it seemed that Fuji was definitely in on it as well. For some reason, the two third years had taken it into their heads to put Echizen Ryoma into place, and they were doing so with quite a bit of noise. "Tezuka, do something," Oishi said.

Tezuka shook his head. "Interrupting the match now would only cause more damage," he said, even though his knuckles were white. He didn't say who the damage would be done to, and it was clear he was being very careful not to rock the tentative treaty he and Atobe had struck.

"It might be educational to watch," Ryuuzaki said, coming over behind her team.

The three regulars turned to see their coach, hoping that she would be able to put a stop to it. Instead, she seemed just as intent on watching as the rest of the club. "Ryoma's eyes take me back..."

"Huh?" Oishi asked.

"It's like looking at his father," she said, staring a bit dreamily as Atobe claimed the fifth game. "He forgets about everything except tennis, and beating his opponent."

"You knew Echizen's father?"

She waxed nostalgic on Samurai Nanjirou, and Tezuka turned his eyes back to the game. At a 5-0 count, Atobe only had to take one more game before Ryoma was completely humiliated.

Ryoma fumed, trying to think of what to do. His split step was barely keeping him in the game, and Atobe had no problems dealing with the twist serve. Everything he threw at the diva was sent back effortlessly. It was infuriating, and he hadn't scored a single point since the first one.

Dammit, he had to get at least one more! There was no way Atobe was going to beat him like this!

Atobe saw the frustration in Ryoma's eyes, a familiar sight to him. Now was the time to completely break him.

Serve...

The serve went to Ryoma's right, just a bit beyond his reach. There should be no way the annoying first year should be able to get it, even with the split step.

Ryoma smiled suddenly, racing, and his tennis racquet changed hands...

A cross court shot, and Atobe blinked, surprised.

Nitouryu.

"0-15!" Fuji called, sounding amused again.

And it dawned on Tezuka right in that instant who Ryoma's father was. Echizen Nanjirou was the man who invented the Nitouryu, who stormed the tennis scene a couple of decades back and suddenly dropped out of sight. It was rumored that he was heavily injured and therefore unable to play anymore. There were also rumors of his child, and how he was going to groom his son into a talent who would do him proud.

Echizen. Ryoma. Why didn't it occur him earlier? How many tennis players were called Echizen, anyway?

That issue aside, Atobe appeared to be amused by the sudden stroke of inspiration from the younger boy. But the amusement also darkened rapidly as he gave the younger boy a smirk, once again raising his left hand to touch fingers lightly to his brow.

"Well well, interesting evolution, Echizen." Atobe sighed and shook his head. "But not enough. Definitely not enough if you're facing me."

"It's still too early to tell." Ryoma's stubborn answer made Atobe laugh.

"That's going to be the last point you're going to score."

Ryoma frowned but Atobe ignored him and prepared to serve again, glancing at Fuji. The prodigy appeared to be amused, and tilted his head to one side before murmuring softly, almost to himself.

"Someone's going to get spanked."

Tezuka shot the resident prodigy a look, then turned his attention back to Atobe, who had by now pin-pointed a serve which even Ryoma's Nitouryu couldn't reach in time. He could see the frustration building in the younger boy's eyes, as he strived almost desperately to return another serve.

"30-15!"

Another ace was delivered as Ryoma once again failed to reach the serve in time.

"40-15!"

"And this is it, boy wonder." Atobe's voice held heavy overtones of amusement, and the words 'boy wonder' came with a decidedly sarcastic air.

The diva served again and Ryoma watched, feeling stricken and upset as the tennis ball bounce just out of his reach-just-he could almost reach it! But unfortunately, the tennis ball ricocheted past him, grazing the edge of his tennis racket lightly.

"Game and match, Atobe Keigo!"

End: Chapter 2