Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I only own my original characters, though one would be given up for adoption soon.
Warning: Contain spoilers for latest manga chapters. Shonen-ai fic. Very long chapter.
Pairings: Tezuka X Echizen, Momoshiro X Ann
(This chapter is followed by chapter 14 in Life After Seigaku)
A/N:…..Pfft!
So sorry. I had added that 'fake' A/N at the end of the previous chapter to see how many of you actually believed what I said. Was feeling very sadistic at that time after 'killing' Ryoma off.
::cough:: Alright, I'll confess. Of course he's NOT dead. I can't proceed with the story if he was. If I really killed him off, I would have to rename my story to be 'The Late Echizen, Our Buchou' or 'Momoshiro, Our Fukubuchou'. Gomen again for that sadistic A/N.
RyoTez lover, gomen, but I can't promise you anything just yet.
slyswn28, yeah. Kikumaru is one cutie. I actually named one of my cats Eiji coz she was so playful.
Milky Etoile, I think the both of us might be indirectly related to Fuji. ::chuckles::
RoxieBunny, hmm…Ryoma an immortal…that's a scary thought. No one would want to play tennis anymore coz they can't beat him then. lol
mimikitty, (Headlines for the following day's papers) "Fanfic writer collapses from lack of sleep, food and breaks" XD
kyuuketsuki kaji. Yup. I don't consider that a flame so I'm not offended. Flames to me are people throwing foul words at me just because my plot runs different from what they had expected. (Gah…I don't even want to remember it…) Thx for your review. I'm flattered that my fics are able to invoke such emotions in readers.
Thank you all for your reviews
For this whole chapter…well…almost this whole chapter, you would not be hearing much of Echizen's voice because I've sent him on a long vacation.
Ryoma: (looks at plane ticket) Hmm? The Land of No Return…where is this place?
Gwynhafra: You don't need to know, Ryoma-darling. Just go for a holiday.
Kunimitsu: Ryoma! Don't go!
Ryoma: (Already boarded the plane)
Momoshiro: Bye bye, Echizen. Now then, it's finally time for me to shine!
Kunimitsu: … Momoshiro. 100 laps. Now!
Not much humour in this chapter, as it will take on a more solemn tone. Also, for the matches, I put emphasis on some, less emphasis on others. For the ones I don't put the focus on, would just be breezing through it.
So sorry that the updates this round took so long (and I left such a terrible cliffhanger. Guilty…). Was bombarded by assignments, and I had just finished one before I resumed typing this again.
Alright then. Would not chat too much. To the story then…
Echizen, Our Buchou
By: Gwynhafra
Chapter 12
Momoshiro sat down at the breakfast table that day and tried to finish his breakfast at record speed as he wolfed down his toast. He needed to get to the hospital immediately.
"Takeshi…isn't this person your captain?" his mother asked.
He leapt out of his seat and went to join his mother with reading the papers.
He couldn't have missed the news, for it was splashed all over the front page with big bold letter. "Tennis Prodigy in Coma"
"Echizen Ryoma (13), son of former professional tennis player Echizen Nanjirou and the youngest player ever to have reached the Pinnacle of Perfection, is now in a comatose state after an accident involving a drunk driver. News in pg 3"
"May I have that for a moment?" Momoshiro asked, and his mother gave him the papers for him to browse through.
Momoshiro briefly read the news about Ryoma. Apparently the drunk driver was the son of the headmistress of Kanto High, who was a member of the Atobe family. There was another article stating that the headmistress was now charged for embezzlement, and was to be trialed in court tomorrow.
He folded the papers and returned it to his mother. "It's him." He nodded gravely.
Early that morning
Momoshiro grumbled sleepily as his phone rang. He opened one eye and took a peek at his clock.
3 a.m.
"What the hell? Who on earth would call at this ungodly hour?!" The vice-captain of Seigaku rolled over, used a pillow to cover his ears and tried to go back to sleep.
After a while, the phone had begun ringing again, and Momoshiro started cursing. It had better be Ann-chan. Anyone aside from her would be dead for calling at this time.
"Hello?" He asked gruffly, his voice indicating that he was not happy at all. He hoped that it wasn't a telemarketer, or his temper would definitely flare.
"I've calculated a 65 percent chance that you would not be very happy with me for calling, and I've calculated an 85 percent that if the phone rang long enough, you would pick it up anyway. However, I have some urgent news to tell you." Inui could be heard over the other end.
Momoshiro yawned and scratched his head. "Just get to the point already, Inui-senpai."
"Echizen's in the hospital." Inui reported.
Momoshiro's sleepy mind did not register what he had said. "I see. Thanks for telling me. Good night." He put down the phone and tried to get back to sleep. Honestly, for Inui to call and tell him a joke like that.
A minute later, however, his eyes snapped open again. Wait a minute…since when would Inui make jokes like that. Also, did he hear Inui correctly?
He hurriedly found Inui's number from his phone book and called the data master. When Inui picked up, he sounded a little disgruntled. "I've calculated a 95 percent chance that you would call back."
"Inui-senpai! What do you mean Echizen's in the hospital?" Momoshiro asked, worry in his voice now that his mind was more awake.
"Echizen met with an accident yesterday evening. His surgery had just ended not too long ago, and he's in a coma now. Just informing you that."
"What?!"
XXX
Momoshiro jammed the rest of his breakfast into his mouth. "I'll be going now." He told his mother and he sped off, feeling extremely anxious now.
He had called up all the other regulars at 6 that morning to inform them about the news. Everyone was told to meet up in front of the hospital by 8.30am, as their classes would only be starting at noon.
Reaching the hospital, he found Kaidou already there. The two rivals did not say anything as they stood with their back facing each other. Kaidou was hissing softly now and then, most probably his way of calming himself down.
Kachiro and Katsuo arrived next, and Takahiro arrived not too long later. The two sophomores had anxiety written all over their faces, while the Chessmaster's expression was unreadable.
"Momo-fukubuchou! How's Ryoma-buchou now? Is he alright?" Kachiro asked.
Momoshiro held up his hands to stop their questions. "I've only heard about it this morning too, so I don't know how he is doing now either."
Finally, Tsun and Itsuki arrived. With that, the regulars stepped inside the building.
Momoshiro went to the receptionist counter. "Anou…may I ask which room is…"
"Momoshiro." Inui had just stepped out of the lift, and now the data master was walking over to them.
"Inui-senpai…" Kachiro and Katsuo began, but Inui placed a finger to his lips.
"Just follow me. I'll take you to Echizen." He said quietly.
All of them followed him into the lift, which brought them up to the 4th floor. Inui then led the way to one of the wards (Ward 13), and when they entered, a few of them (including Momoshiro) gave a gasp.
For Ryoma lay on the bed, heavily bandaged, and both his right arm and his right leg were in casts. The boy looked like he was dead, if it wasn't for the steady 'beep' of the machine indicating his heartbeats.
Ryoma's parents were in the room as well. His mother sat with her head bowed, and his father was trying to give her a glass of water to calm her down. Momoshiro noticed that Tezuka was in the room as well. The Kanto High captain's eyes were fixed on the prone form of the Seigaku captain.
"I believe the papers today would have mentioned about Echizen already. He was hit by a car driven by a drunk driver." Inui told them before pulling Momoshiro aside. The others were now looking at their captain solemnly. Katsuo and Kachiro tried to talk to Tezuka, who seemed to have become a human statue as he gave no response to them.
"What's with Tezuka-buchou?" Momoshiro asked.
Inui lowered his voice. "The thing is…that car was originally not heading in Echizen's direction. It was going to hit Tezuka, but Echizen pushed him out of the way and took the hit himself."
Momoshiro's jaw dropped from shock. "So…Echizen protected Tezuka-buchou…?"
"Aa. As you can see, he's not taking it very well. I believe he blames himself for Echizen's condition. Don't bother trying to talk to him. He doesn't even know we're here."
Both of them were silent for a while.
"I suppose Echizen…really did love Tezuka-buchou. He's the type to express himself through actions." Momoshiro spoke up again, coming out of his thoughts.
Inui nodded. "Aa. It is not different from your love towards Tachibana's little sister."
Momoshiro was beginning understand a little more about gays. He would not fully accept them, perhaps, but he definitely made an exception for those two.
They stayed on in the room, all with their own thoughts about everything that had happened. Finally, Momoshiro glanced at his watch and realized that it was almost time for school.
"Alright, minna. We would have to leave now. Inui-senpai. Please look after buchou." Momoshiro said.
"I understand." Inui promised, watching as the Seigaku regulars left.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Seigaku Tennis Club was shaken by the news of their fallen captain, though Momoshiro immediately took charge as temporary captain, watching over the club in Ryoma's place.
With Echizen down, Momoshiro then ordered for a quick selection to be held, and Arai was chosen to take Echizen's place as one of the eight regulars.
Right before the day of the competitions, Momoshiro sat at the breakfast table browsing through the papers. He frowned at one of the articles, which had rather bizarre news.
Plane Crashes into Ocean
Momoshiro read on. Apparently a private jet that was bound for America had crashed into the Pacific Ocean just yesterday. The jet had experienced some turbulence mid-air. It was said that the cause was the supersonic shrieks from its sole passenger on board.
Momoshiro frowned. Who on earth could make such a racket to cause a plane to crash? Folding the papers he shook his head. First Echizen goes into a coma, now a plane crashes from excessive noise pollution. What was the world coming to?
Speaking of Echizen, Momoshiro decided to go visit the captain one last time that day.
He was at the hospital half an hour later. Ryoma's parents had just left, and only Tezuka was in the room with him, though the Kanto High captain did not even look up when Momoshiro entered. Momoshiro vaguely wondered if the usually stoic captain still went to school.
"Echizen…tomorrow's the District Games. Don't worry, all our members are well prepared this round…" Momoshiro spoke to his best friend. Even if Ryoma could not respond to that, he knew that the Seigaku captain must be listening.
There was a long pause as Momoshiro held back his tears at seeing how still Ryoma was. When he had calmed down enough, he spoke again.
"Arai has replaced you as a regular. Well. It's only temporary though. We'll definitely get into the Nationals…that is why…please wake up, Echizen. We'll always have a place reserved for you, so please wake up, and recover so that we can go to the Nationals together."
There were no more words spoken after that, and the only sounds in the room was the steady beep of Ryoma's heartbeat.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Ah. It's Seigaku…" a few people whispered as the Seigaku regulars arrived for their match.
The players, in their blue and white uniforms, could feel the gaze of everyone on them as they went to check in at the counter.
Momoshiro was not surprised by all the attention. After all, their captain had been in the news for days.
"Seishun Gakuen, here with the eight regulars." He told the person at the counter, and received a pitying stare in return.
"Are? It's Seigaku. I'm surprised to see all of you here. Such a pity your captain is down. Well, I don't think we have anything to worry about then. Compared to him, the rest of you are only small fries." Some players from Momomiku-an unseeded school snickered.
"What did you say?!" Kaidou had lunged forward, though Momoshiro held out an arm to stop him.
"Don't listen to their yapping. Let's go." Momoshiro ordered the team.
"Running away? Momoshiro Buchou-dai?" The next moment, that player gave a yelp as someone collided into him.
"Ah! Gomen! I couldn't see where I was going for a moment desu." The boy apologized, tugging at his green headband, which had fallen over his eyes.
"I don't think a simple apology is enough, boy." Before the Momomiku player could step forward, someone else loomed over them, sending them a glare so powerful that all of them went weak in the knees.
"Ah! Akutsu-senpai! You came to watch our game after all!" the boy said happily.
"Ch. I just happened to be around the area." Akutsu sent the Momomiku players a glare with the silent message "Get lost!" and all of them complied obediently.
"You're Yamabuki's Dan-kun." Momoshiro finally said. He had been trying to recall the boy's name for a while. Dan Taichi looked like he had barely changed at all, except that he had grown a few more inches.
"Hai desu! Good to see all of you again desu. You're our opponent for the first round. Well, I'll see all of you later desu." The boy gave a bow and left, with Akutsu following behind.
"We should get warmed up too." Momoshiro told all his players.
XXX
The games started that day with Doubles 2 players Katsuo-Kachiro pair facing Yamabuki's new regulars, Baku and Masahide.
Both sides began a rally that lasted over 20 minutes, though the Seigaku pair was obviously stronger as their co ordinations were better.
"Katsuo!"
"Leave it to me!" Katsuo had taken several steps back to return the shot, while Kachiro had moved to the front to cover the unguarded spaces.
Baku had then fired a shot over to the right, intending to lure Kachiro away from the net.
Kachiro made a few signs to Katsuo, who went to retrieve the shot. Kachiro then finished the game with a drop shot.
"Game and match. Won by Seigaku, Katsuo-Kachiro pair, 6 games to 1."
Katsuo and Kachiro were then replaced by the Doubles 1 players-Tsun and Itsuki, who had to face Kita and Muromachi.
"Whoa! He has swirls on his cheek." Itsuki exclaimed, looking like he wanted to see if those swirls could be rubbed off.
"Be careful, Keita. Those two were in the regulars last year." Tsun warned, positioning himself to serve.
"I know, I know. Well, doesn't make much of a difference. We will not lose, Minori." For once, the usually happy-go-lucky player looked serious.
"Aa." Tsun agreed quietly. They would not lose.
Tsun began the match, and all of them began playing.
"I'm going to hit to the right." Keita told the opponents before hitting the ball in that direction, and Kita went racing after it. Taking the chance, Keita had then fired a smash directly in between the two players, scoring a point.
"Game Seigaku, 1 game to 0" the referee announced.
"Unbelievable. You actually fell for that. If he says go right, you would just follow huh?" Muromachi sneered at his doubles partner.
Kita threw him a look of dislike. "I suppose you would have been able to handle that then?"
"Maybe. Sengoku-san did mention that I'm the better players after all."
"Oh? But I'm the one with the experience in doubles." Kita retorted.
"Anou…could we get back to the game? We're trying to finish this as fast as possible." Itsuki suddenly spoke up, stopping their arguments.
The Seigaku doubles players exchanged a look. From what they could see so far, Muromachi has a smart mouth, and Kita is severely cynical. Well, the optimistic player should have some fun with this.
Surely enough, every time either Itsuki or Tsun hit towards the centre, somehow the two Yamabuki players would collide with each other, sparking off yet another war between those two.
It wasn't helping that Itsuki would then pinpoint all their mistakes out loud; causing them to be so angry that their game was severely affected.
"Ch…I really can't trust people like you. Don't get in my way!" Kita attempted to return all the shots himself.
"Fine! I can laugh when you fail then." Muromachi snapped.
Tsun then hit a drop shot, and Kita failed to return it as he was already too worn out with running around the whole court alone.
"Game and match, Seigaku Tsun-Itsuki pair, 6 games to 0" the referee announced before long, and the Seigaku players walked off the courts, while the two Yamabuki players were left squabbling with each other until the referee pulled them both apart.
"I would have thought that they would be more used to each other, since they were in the regulars last year. Who would have thought that they're acting exactly like Momo-buchou dai and Kaidou-senpai." Tsun muttered thoughtfully.
"Hey, hey. Even Mamushi and I know not to fight during a match. I don't really blame them though. Itsuki here is a master at mind games. You must have provoked them on purpose to make them lose their focus."
"What are you talking about? I was merely stating facts when I pointed out their mistakes." Keita stated innocently. Tsun rolled his eyes and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Hai, hai. Well then. Singles 3 is up soon. Better not miss your Haruka-chan's match right?"
"You have a point! Haruka-chan! Go get them!" the optimistic player yelled. Itsuki had somehow dubbed the chessmaster to be his 'adopted little brother', a nickname which caused the strategist to wince every time his name was called.
The opponent, Rikuto-buchou pointed his racket at the expressionless Seigaku sophomore. "I don't think you can stand a chance against me. Who knows, when I'm done with you, you would be sent to the same place as your captain." He gave a laugh, missing the brief flash of dislike in Takahiro's eyes.
"Be my guest."
15 minutes later, the Chessmaster had walked off the courts, with the severely shocked referee announcing the 6 games to 0 score.
Rikuto-buchou had been an extremely strong power player, though Takahiro lured him all around the courts with his pawns, decreasing the opponent's concentration and causing the opponent to hit several shots out of the courts, with some being a homerun.
"Checkmate." The chessmaster had then said after returning the Rikuto's power shot with a power shot of his own, scoring a point right next to the opponent's left foot, which the chessmaster had noticed was the Rikuto's weak point.
XXX
Well, Kaidou's opponent didn't fare any better. The snake shot player's expression was looking absolutely frightening, and he was hissing more rapidly, probably from the combination of nerves and determination to win.
Kaidou had played his strengths-by drawing out the match to become a battle of endurance. The opponent had collapsed halfway throughout the match and Kaidou won as the other player could not continue the game any longer.
Finally it was all down to Singles 1…
"Ah. I was wishing to play against Echizen-kun desu. I'm so sorry to hear about him." Taichi admitted truthfully.
"Aa." Momoshiro did not want to press the subject any further.
Taichi noticed that and he nodded in understanding. "Very well. We'll begin playing then, Momoshiro-buchou dai."
…………
"Momo-chan buchou-dai!" Kachiro and Katsuo looked on anxiously as Dan Taichi had scored yet another point.
Dan Taichi had been inspired to play tennis thanks to two very powerful players, with one being the monster Akutsu Jin, and the other being Echizen Ryoma. Currently, Taichi was displaying his skills, which were borrowed from those two.
"Drive B!" It was disturbing to see someone else aside from Ryoma using that skill so perfectly, and Katsuo groaned as the points kept adding.
Surprisingly, Momoshiro did not look too troubled by it, as he still had a faint smile on his face.
"I play against Echizen all the time, so I'm pretty familiar with his skills. Well then, I've roughly seen how your tennis skills are like. You really haven't reached Echizen's level. Now then, it's about time I made my comeback."
Taichi had hit a twist serve, and Momoshiro returned it easily. "I can't lose to you eh, I can't." he stated, hitting a power shot.
Seeing Taichi prepare to use the Drive B, he backed off a little.
"Eh?! Momoshiro buchou dai had taken a few steps back! What does he think he's doing?" Arai asked.
The ball hit the ground, made an arc and hit the ground again, but before the second arc was completed, Momoshiro had hit it back with a Jackknife.
"Game, Momoshiro, 5 games to 3."
"Does that answer your question?" Takahiro asked Arai, looking bored.
While Dan had improved greatly, he was definitely no match for Momoshiro, who had far more experience than he did.
"Dun!" Momoshiro grinned as he had scored the final shot with a dunk smash.
"Game and match, Momoshiro, 6 games to 3. Seigaku has 5 wins, 0 losses. Seigaku advances to the next round." The referee announced.
"That was really a good match desu. I hope to play against you again someday." Taichi said as he shook Momoshiro's hand.
"Ah well. I'm sure we'll have that chance eventually." Momoshiro grinned before returning to his team.
XXX
"Hmm? Looks like we're finally down to the last opponent." Tsun said as they looked at the boards.
"Hyotei Gakuen…I wonder how are they doing now without Atobe." Momoshiro said aloud through a whole mouthful of burger.
"Ch…don't talk with your mouth full, baka Momoshiro. You're disgusting." Kaidou hissed.
"I'm doing this on purpose because you're around, baka Mamushi." Momoshiro snapped back, spraying bits of chewed bread and meat on the poor snake shot player.
As the two of them lunged for each other's throats, Katsuo and Kachiro hurriedly pushed them both apart. "Momo-chan buchou dai. Other people are staring…" Kachiro warned.
"We will now have the match between Seishun Gakuen and Hyotei Gakuen. Will the players come out to the courts now?"
"So soon? I haven't finished my burger." Momoshiro whined.
"It's your fault for fighting with Kaidou-senpai. You either eat that or throw that. Pick one." Takahiro said bluntly, already heading towards the courts.
"As if I will throw this. That will be wasting." Before Momoshiro could take another bite, Kaidou had taken the burger and thrown it.
"You're wasting time. Also, you can't play with a full stomach." The snake shot player had difficulty hiding his glee at seeing how stricken Momoshiro looked.
"My burger…you will pay for this, Mamushi!"
"Fssshh!!!"
XXX
Aside from Ohtori Choutarou and Hiyoshi Wakashi, the rest were all new faces. Though all seemed to have inherited the proud spirit of Hyotei as the regulars stared challengingly at the Seigaku players. Also, Hiyoshi was serious when he said he wanted to surpass Atobe, as now he seemed to have brought his own cheering squad with him. He too, like Atobe, had no vice-captain.
"Usually we would just have used our assistant regulars to play before the Kanto tournaments. However, we have long learnt not to underestimate your team, so we've brought our regulars this round." Hiyoshi- the Hyotei captain to succeed Atobe stated as the two school shook hands, and Momoshiro had no idea if that was a compliment, or just a cocky statement.
He decided to interpret it as the former. "Arigatou. We will not go easy on you."
"I will have it no other way. Gekokujou!" With that, the others moved off to the stands while the Doubles 2 players got ready.
Katsuo had injured his hand in one of the previous matches, and Arai now took his place to team up with Kachiro.
"This was a rather last minute decision; I do hope we haven't made the wrong choice in pairing the both of them up." Tsun muttered.
Ten minutes later, their fears were confirmed.
"This…is one disastrous combination…" Tsun muttered as the both of them failed to save yet another shot. Arai was more of a singles player, and it wasn't helping that Kachiro was still mildly intimidated by him.
"Ne, Momo-chan buchou dai. Why didn't you put Takahiro-kun in Doubles 2 instead?" Katsuo asked.
"We need him for Singles. Besides, he doesn't really play doubles anyway." Momoshiro's mood was getting from bad to worse as the game proceeded.
"Hey you! That's was supposed to be returned by you!" Arai snapped.
"Sumimasen, Arai-senpai." Kachiro squeaked at seeing how angry Arai was.
Arai was underestimating the opponents. True, he was a good player himself, but he tends to think of himself to be better than the opponents, and the opponents scored at places he didn't expect the shots to be directed to.
As for Kachiro, he was too busy trying not to collide with Arai, or not to accidentally hit the senior with his racket.
"Ne, Keita. Won't you say something? We definitely could use the morale boost." Tsun whispered to the optimistic tennis player, who was sitting as bench coach.
Itsuki gave him the brightest grin at that. "We can't possibly win this round." He said casually, and everyone felt buckets of ice run down their shirts at the 'negative' words coming out of the eternally optimistic player's mouth.
"Game and match, won by Hyotei, 6 games to 4." The referee announced.
Before long, the Doubles 2 players stood before a very livid Momoshiro. "30 rounds around the competition grounds. Go."
"Hai…" they jogged off, with Kachiro keeping his distance from Arai.
"Seigaku's reputation is definitely ruined. So baka Momoshiro wasn't the worst doubles player after all. Fsshh…" Kaidou stated it as an indirect compliment/insult to his rival.
"I'm starting to think that we made a mistake in adding him to the regulars. He doesn't get along with a lot of the players here." Momoshiro muttered. Currently, the list of those who have Arai on their dislike/hate list included Kachiro, Katsuo, Takahiro, Tsun and Kaidou.
Kachiro and Katsuo were still afraid of him as he had bullied them frequently when they were first-years, Arai didn't like Takahiro for beating him during the previous selections, Tsun didn't like Arai for his cockiness, and Kaidou just didn't like Arai.
"Echizen…now I'm really starting to miss having you on the team…" Momoshiro thought mournfully.
The temporary captain became bench coach as Itsuki had to go for his match. Seeing a solemn faced Itsuki freaked out the opponents even before the match had started. A frown just seemed out of place on the Seigaku third-year's face.
Somehow, Itsuki had kept quiet throughout the match, without the usual cheers or comments on the enemy, and the silence was causing the other two players to lose their concentration.
"Hey you! Could you quit staring at us like that? It's freaky!" Hyotei's doubles players whined as Tsun scored. They were already rooted to the spot by Itsuki's stare.
Both of them tried to focus on Tsun instead. Tsun was really strong at defensive, and the two players were having a hard time trying to score past him.
"Game, Seigaku. 5 games to 3." Keita had scored again, since the two players neglected his presence in the game and had not watched out for his shots.
"Let's finish this, Tsun."
"Aa. Let's try another formation. Your stare tactic was really useful though." With that, Itsuki positioned himself just before the net, while Tsun stood at the baseline behind Itsuki in a very familiar looking formation.
"Isn't that…Oishi and Kikumaru senpai's Australian formation?" Katsuo asked.
It was the Australian formation indeed, except that it was a little different in the sense that both the opponents were confused by Itsuki's stare, and when Itsuki shifted to the right, they followed like a snake to its charmer. Tsun would then score on their left.
"Goodness. They actually fell for it." Katsuo said happily. Itsuki had made it look like he was defending the right indeed, especially since his eyes were so serious, so of course they moved to block him.
"While Oishi and Kikumaru senpai used hand signs to tell each other of their next move, Itsuki-senpai would take it upon himself to confuse the opponents, since he is best at dealing psychological impacts. Tsun-senpai would observe Itsuki-senpai and the opponents, waiting for a chance before scoring. I suppose these two should be given a name as well." Takahiro stated his observations.
"Ch. Psycho pair…" Kaidou muttered.
"Game and match, won by, Seigaku's Tsun-Itsuki pair. 6 games to 3."
"They won! The Psycho Pair won!" Katsuo cheered just as Arai and Kachiro had finally returned from their punishment.
"Psycho Pair? Where did you get a name like that?" Kachiro frowned, and Katsuo nodded in Kaidou's direction.
"Mamushi…you really think up of terrible names, don't you?" Momoshiro frowned.
"Urusai!" Kaidou looked highly embarrassed.
Once the match was done, Itsuki seemed to have returned to his old self a little. "Well then. We won! Haruka-chan! Do your best!"
"Don't call me Haruka-chan…" the Chessmaster scowled, picking up his racket.
"What do you think that boy would do?" Tsun asked.
"He might come up with some dirty tactic, perhaps." Arai sneered, and immediately he found himself pinned with a stare from Itsuki.
"Don't speak ill of my little bro." Itsuki said while waving a finger in Arai's face, effectively shutting him up.
(A/N: I kinda made Arai like a criminal. Gomen to all Arai fans, coz I really do not like him)
Meanwhile, Takahiro studied his opponent. "Ne. You're a lefty, aren't you? I would suggest you play with your dominant hand."
"I don't need to use my left hand to beat you." The other sophomore stated, hitting a serve.
The next moment, Takahiro had fired a power shot in return, knocking his racket out of his hands.
"Your grip is too weak. I would be able to defeat you in just one step. That's no fun at all." Takahiro's voice was monotonous.
The opponent scowled. 'Very well then.' With that thought, he switched to his left hand.
The opponent served again, and this round, it was an even rally between the two.
"Game, Hasumi. 1 game to 0." The referee announced.
Takahiro did not even blink, even though he had lost one match. "6 moves." He said suddenly.
"Eh?" The opponent had no idea what the Chessmaster was talking about.
"I would require 6 moves each time to score a point. Should be quite an achievement for you." Takahiro stated.
A vein popped on Hasumi's head. 6 moves? What did this Seigaku player take him for?
With that, another rally began, and this round it seemed that Takahiro was using normal moves, though he really did score at the 6th hit.
"15-0"
Another 6 hits.
"30-0"
"I see. Takahiro's pawns are now getting faster, making the opponent have to race to retrieve them. He is also not giving the other guy enough time to think about defending. How evil." Itsuki chuckled.
"Game Takahiro, 3 games to 1." The referee announced.
The opponent looked completely out of breath, as he was already panting. Takahiro pondered yet another strategy. "This time, I would use just three shots." He told the other.
"3…3 moves. You have got to be joking…"
Takahiro used an under serve, making the ball land near the opponent's foot. Hastily, Hasumi tried to return the shot by hitting a lob.
"I was waiting for that." Takahiro smirked, already in mid-jump.
'A smash!' the opponent braced himself.
That smash never came, as the next moment the Chessmaster had hit a drop shot.
"Baka." Takahiro grinned, returning to the baseline.
Before long, the match was over, 6-1. It was all down to Singles 2.
XXX
"Win this, Mamushi!" Momoshiro yelled.
"I won't lose, baka Momoshiro." Kaidou hissed.
He faced a very meek looking Choutarou, who looked to be in low spirits.
"One set match. Hyotei's Choutarou to serve."
The scud serve player threw the ball into the air. "I Kyuu Nyuu Kon!" he fired the scud serve...which hit the net.
"Fault!" the referee called out.
Kaidou frowned as Choutarou served again, and once more it hit the net. "Double fault. 0-15."
Choutarou tried this a few times, and out of the five times he hit the scud serve, only one managed to cross the net, though Kaidou then scored with a snake shot.
When Choutarou started the next serve, he used a normal shot, no longer using his special skill.
"Look at him. He must have thought himself to be really special just because he was formerly one of the Silver Pair. Such a pity that Shishido-senpai had left him behind. Without his doubles' partner's support, he really is nothing special." Whispers could be heard coming from some of the players from other schools.
On the court, Choutarou was getting more and more nervous. They were right. Without Shishido's support, he really could not as perform as well as before.
"Game, Kaidou. 4 games to 1." The referee announced.
Kaidou lost his temper as the jeers got louder when Choutarou missed yet another serve. "Shut your trap, all of you! If you all think you're so powerful why don't you come down here instead?" he snapped at the people taunting Choutarou.
Choutarou looked uncertainly at the tennis ball in his hand. He was grateful that Kaidou was defending him, but it made no difference anyway. He was going to lose.
"Choutarou! Teme! Don't you dare lose!" a familiar voice yelled.
Immediately the silver-haired boy's head snapped up, scanning the audience and finding his target.
There was no mistaking that blue cap, or those fierce, challenging eyes. "Senpai!" Choutarou said disbelievingly. Wasn't the senior high games supposed to be today too? What was he doing here?
The hot-tempered half of the silver pair brandished his fists at his junior. "Don't you dare lose to that guy, or I will kill you, Choutarou."
Finally, a smile broke out on the silver-haired boy's face. He was grateful that Shishido-senpai had taken the trouble to come all the way here to watch his match. He would not lose. Not when his senior was watching anyway.
"I kyuu nyuu kon!" he fired his scud serve, and of course Kaidou couldn't return it.
Very quickly, Choutarou caught up with Kaidou's score, having regained his confidence once more.
"Fssshh..." Kaidou let out his breath in a hiss to calm himself down. He used a speed snake.
"Oh? That's a new skill. I've never seen him use such a fast shot before." Even Momoshiro was mildly impressed.
However, Choutarou returned it successfully. Speedy shots were not a problem for the scud serve player, who could hit a serve at 215km/h anyway.
"I will not let you down, senpai!" Choutarou hit a scud shot, a return that was nearly as fast as the scud serve.
"Game and match, won by, Hyotei's Choutarou. 6 games to 4." The referee announced.
For a while, Choutarou looked stunned, though the cheers of his teammates brought him back to earth, and he cheered.
"Senpai! We won!" he exclaimed, throwing a glance at his cap-wearing senior.
"Hmph. Of course. You're part of the Silver Pair, aren't you? You can't lose that easily." That was considered a compliment, coming from Shishido.
Meanwhile, Kaidou returned to his teammates. "Gomen." He apologized, though Itsuki smiled at him.
"Don't worry about it. We will definitely win the next round. Ne, buchou dai?"
"Leave it to me." Momoshiro headed over to the courts. They would have to win, no matter what.
XXX
"I wonder if you're able to win this match." Hiyoshi said in 'greeting' as the two captains shook hands.
A vein popped on Momoshiro's head. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, his smile twitching slightly.
"Don't underestimate me. Aside from your most powerful player Echizen, I don't think any of you could defeat me. The winner will be Hyotei." Hiyoshi said as he walked off.
"We'll see about that!" Momoshiro served, starting off a rally between the two.
"What do you think of this, Takahiro-kun?" Kachiro asked. Since Inui wasn't around to give them explanations, the observant Chessmaster was the next best option.
The sophomore remained expressionless. "No comment." He finally said.
"Aw come on, Haruka-chan! We're dying to hear about your observations." Keita said while patting his junior on the head repeatedly, annoying the eternally bored boy.
"Fine." He might as well say something to get his crazy senior to stop. "They're evenly matched, so I don't think I can predict who would win."
He turned his attention back to the game. "Momo buchou-dai has greater strength, but Hiyoshi-san has swifter returns."
"I think you might have made a wrong observation there. Momo buchou-dai is being overwhelmed." Tsun said quietly.
"Jackknife!" Momoshiro used his skill.
Hiyoshi immediately got into his Enbu Tennis pose. "Enbutenshu (Dance Towards The Heavens)" he countered Momoshiro's skill with such a fast return that the dunk smash player could not even react fast enough to counter it.
"Game, Hiyoshi. 4 games to 1." The referee announced.
Momoshiro clenched his hands into fists. 'Kuso! There really is no way to defeat that style of his. Echizen has the Drive B to counter it, but if I can't counter it with the Jackknife, there is no other skill that can go against that! What should I do?' he thought, getting slightly desperate as Hiyoshi scored yet another point.
"Have more faith in yourself, Momo-senpai…" Those familiar words rang in his head as he recalled one of the last words Echizen had told him.
In his mind's eye, it was as if the Seigaku captain was standing before him again, with the arrogant smirk on his face.
"Should anything happen to me, you'll have to take over the club."
At that, Momoshiro remembered that he had responsibilities now. He was not just the vice-captain of Seigaku. He was the temporary captain leading Seigaku now. There was no way he could lose here.
As Hiyoshi prepared the next serve, Momoshiro used his insight. The sun was beating down on the both of them. Well, this could work to his advantage.
"Gekokujou! You're finished!" Hiyoshi hit his Enbu Tennis again, though this time Momoshiro returned it successfully, hitting a lob.
"That's easy!" Hiyoshi prepared to return it, though the rays of the sun got into his eyes, and somehow, he seemed to see three tennis balls flying at him instead of one.
He fumbled when he tried to hit it, and the ball hit the net.
"Game. Seigaku. 3 games to 4." Momoshiro was catching up to Hiyoshi's score.
The temporary captain closed his eyes for a while. "Feels like a good breeze coming up. Alright! Here we go!" he served.
After a few shots, Hiyoshi used his Enbutenshu again, thought this time Momoshiro returned it...except that he seemed to have used too much strength.
"Baka. It'll be out." Hiyoshi smirked.
Momoshiro gave him a grin in return. "Nope. It'll be alright."
The breeze had guided the ball, and it hit directly on the line, much to Hiyoshi's surprise.
This happened several times. Using the wind to his advantage, Momoshiro's shots landed at all the unexpected places, and Hiyoshi was getting increasingly frustrated.
"I will be better than Atobe. There is no way I can lose!" he used his Enbu Tennis, and Momoshiro countered with his real Jackknife skill, knocking the racket out of Hiyoshi's hands. His previous ones only used 70 percent of his strength.
"Game and match, won by Seigaku's Momoshiro. 7 games to 5"
"We won!" There was an immediate cheer from the Seigaku stands, from both supporters and regulars alike.
Momoshiro shook Hiyoshi's hand. "That was a good game."
"Hmph. I was only going easy on you because your captain isn't around this time. Next time, I will be the winner."
"Hai, hai. Atobe's successor." Momoshiro grinned.
"Don't call me that. I've surpassed Atobe already. Gekokujou." Hiyoshi corrected the dunk smash player with a frown.
"Are you sure you would want to talk about Atobe like this? Better make sure he's not around." Momoshiro joked, looking around for any signs of the silver-haired diva.
"Hmph. That self-proclaimed king wouldn't know. He's most likely in a match right now, and I severely doubt that he would come running all the way here even if he knew." Hiyoshi smirked. Momoshiro laughed weakly. Poor Atobe must be sneezing his lungs out by now. With that, they went back to their teams. The temporary captain soon found himself swarmed by his teammates.
"Good work, Momoshiro. You did a fine job leading us. Echizen-buchou would have been proud." Tsun smiled.
"Aa." Momoshiro smiled as he saw the Seigaku flag, now being waved by Itsuki.
"We did it! We won! We did not let Ryoma-buchou down." Kachiro said, looking like he was about to burst into happy tears at any moment.
'We made it to the next round, Echizen. You have made a promise to join us for the Nationals, so please wake up.' Momoshiro thought.
"Seigaku! Fight-O!" The cheers continued to ring around the courts as the Seigaku players went to receive their medals.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, in ward 13, all was silent except for the steady beep coming from the machine.
On the bed, a certain green-haired captain's fingers moved ever so slightly. "Mada mada dane…" he whispered, smiling faintly.
To be continued…
A/N: Whew! I've finally finished this chapter. Now to type the other one. (-.-)!!!
Well then. The worst of the angst is over. I think many of you would prefer the ending of this chapter better as compared to chapter 11. Ne?
I've hinted that one of the OCs is now gone for good. Wonder if you managed to guess who that person was. Life After Seigaku would speak of what had happened to this OC as well.
That Shishido-Choutarou scene was free for interpretation. Fan service. XD
Now that I've gone past the cliffhanger, I can really take my time now. More assignments coming up, and I can't guarantee that I would be able to update as frequently as before.
So sorry again for the late update this round.
Please read and review. No flames please.
-Gwyn
