A/N: Well, after like nine months of abandoning this story, I've started watching some random matches from PoT and remembered writing this story. So I read it over, and decided that I really wanted to continue it. I'm sorry that I abandoned it, and I will try to update consistently and finish.
Chapter 10: "…wow"
When Fuji arrived at the tennis courts near the school, he decided he'd work on the accuracy of his serves. It'd be difficult to work on the accuracy of his regular shots in anything but a match, since it's a different hitting a shot that you drop yourself than hitting a shot that is hit to you by an opponent.
So Fuji set up cans on all four corners inside each service box and walked to the other side of the court, just behind the baseline. He decided to serve to the deuce side first. So he focused on a can in one corner, and then threw the ball into the air, turning as it reached its peak and hitting it cross court into the service box, aiming for the can. He missed by quite a bit, hitting it deep into the center of the box.
He thought about it for a minute, and then pulled another tennis ball from his pocket. He once again focused on the can for a while before throwing the ball in the air, and serving it in that direction. This time he was considerably closer, the ball hitting the line about six inches from the can.
He thought about it again. He thought that maybe if he turned more and guided his racket straight toward the can, the ball would follow the same path. So he threw the ball into the air and pivoted a little more than usual, hitting the ball with his racket at the peak and guiding it straight at the can. This time, the ball went straight towards the can, but flew over it and landed out.
So I just have to do that, except take a little bit of power off of it, Fuji thought.
So he again got in stance, threw the ball in the air, pivoted, and hit it straight toward the can. Finally, it hit the ground just in front of the can, and bounced up, hitting the can in the process and knocking it over. Fuji grinned contentedly, and then got another ball, this time readying himself to aim for the other can at the other corner.
He threw the ball in the air, and hit it toward the can. It was a little off, landing on the ground a few inches away. He continued serving the balls at the cans for about thirty minutes, hitting each can about two or three times.
Well, I guess that's enough for today. I've got the technique down, so I can start working on consistency next week.
So he gathered the cans into his bag, and was about to put his racket up when he saw two people playing in the court next to him. They were having a very intense rally, each of them hitting it with a lot of speed and accuracy. The rally lasted for about another thirty seconds when one of them turned and hit a drop shot. Fuji didn't think much of it until he saw it hit the ground and roll backwards without a bounce.
Then, as the player that hit the shot turned, he noticed that it was Tezuka. Fuji then decided to watch the rest of the match, and maybe, since he didn't get to play him last time since he was tired from playing Ryoma, he could ask him to play a match.
So Fuji took a seat on the bench next to the court and watched as the two continued to play. Tezuka seemed not to be playing at full force, since he wasn't using the Tezuka Zone. But he was hitting all of his shots with a lot more topspin than he used to put on his shots. Every shot he hit dipped at the last second, and bounced much higher than flat balls would, and his opponent had to stand about four or five feet behind where the ball hit the ground to get a good hit on it.
As the game ended, the two switched sides and it was Tezuka's turn to serve.
"Five to four, love all, first serve," he called out before serving the ball.
This guy must be pretty good to be keeping up with Tezuka like that, even without him using Tezuka Zone, Fuji thought.
Tezuka, however, decided to end the match with this game. His opponent hit a powerful shot into the corner opposite Tezuka, but it quickly took a sidespin and landed right in front of Tezuka, and Tezuka hit the shot with a powerful topspin strike, and it landed in front of his opponent, but bounced way up over his head, and the guy missed it completely.
Tezuka then fired two straight aces, and ended the game with a short point that ended in another Zero-Shiki Drop Shot. The two then met at the net and shook hands, saying a few things that Fuji couldn't hear, and then the other gay packed up and left as Tezuka took a seat on the bench next to Fuji.
"That was a good match, Tezuka. Who was that guy?" Fuji asked.
"Teni Bakuro. He was our high school's third seed singles player, but now that the second seed and I graduated, he's taking over at first seed. So I've been playing a few matches to help him get ready. What are you doing here?"
"I was practicing on getting my serve more accurate. It's part of my training program for the Open. So, I was wondering if you would want to play a match."
"Sure. I don't have much else to do," Tezuka replied.
So they stood, picked up about three tennis balls, and then met at the net.
"Which?" Fuji asked.
"Rough," Tezuka said.
Fuji spun his racket, and it landed on the ground upside down.
"It's rough," Fuji said.
"I'll take serve," Tezuka replied, pocketing two of the tennis balls, and walking to the baseline with the other in his hand.
Fuji stood a foot or two behind the baseline, ready to receive the serve. He watched as Tezuka threw the ball into the air, and slammed it downward into the service box. Fuji returned it, cutting it a little to negate some of the power on it. Tezuka then hit a shot with a ton of topspin on it. Fuji was a little confused, wondering if Tezuka was baiting his Iguru Gaeshi for a reason. He backed up to a few feet behind the ball, and got ready to hit his infamous first triple counter.
But as he swung at the ball with the slice, the ball dipped onto the racket before Fuji meant to hit it, and bounced of the racket lightly, landing about a foot behind Fuji. Fuji was extremely surprised.
"…wow," was all he could say.