Katou Kachiroh

1. He had started playing tennis at a young age, but had never considered playing it seriously until junior high school.

His father had played tennis in school, and though he had never taken it up as a very serious passion in life he stayed connected to it through some way or another. Teaching Kachiroh to swing and hit during the sweltering hot summers of his younger years had been a good way to keep the small boy entertained. Though Kachiroh had mostly dropped it by the time he had entered school the fame the junior high school he was going to had for tennis had piqued his interesting enough to revive his enthusiasm in the sport.

2. He became instant friends with Mizuno Katsuo.

They had met in their final year of elementary school when Katsuo had transferred in after moving. It had been the middle of the year, not to mention the final one of an already small school, and most of the students hadn't bothered even talking to the other boy. Kachiroh, though, was a bit shy but also very determined and he made a promise to himself that he would talk to the other boy – if only to test. The result had been a friendship that had hit off right away, leading to more sleepovers and secret sharing than normal eleven year old boys did.

3. They stayed friends throughout their entire lives.

It wasn't surprising, a friendship that had just clicked like that at first but also managed to maintain despite their differences. Though they'd gone through a few rocky months during their second year of high school once they had reconciled there was no doubt that they would always keep in touch. They both went to different Universities, because they both majored in different things, but they called each other at least once a week – usually more – and exchanged emails and text messages more than was healthy. Even with course work and their own respective relationships they made time to hang out at least once every two weeks, and though they drifted a bit in their later years their families stayed close and their children closer.

4. The one and only time he had actually gotten beaten up it was to protect a girl.

It had been a stupid, rash move on his part, but Kachiroh had an internal chivalrous streak a kilometer and a half wide. There was just something so wrong about hurting a girl, in his opinion, and while he didn't think anyone merited the physical pain seeing a small, thirteen year old backed up in the corner by three much larger guys – well, he had to intervene, regardless of what was sensible. He had ended up with two missing teeth, a black eye, three broken fingers, multiple bruises along his legs and stomach, and a half-crushed foot but watching the small girl scurry away had been enough for him to bear the pain. And the recovery.

5. His mother wasn't dead, but he told everyone she was anyway.

It was easier than explaining her absence in his life as the result of the advanced stages of early-onset dementia. Sure, he felt a bit bad getting those softened, upset looks from those who he told the thinly constructed lie to, and the time Kikumaru-senpai had burst into tears had made him feel guilty the rest of the day, but by the time he was in his last year of elementary school she had absolutely no idea who he even was. While not physically, she was dead enough mentally for Kachiroh not to feel too guilty when he said it, and though it made the sting a little bit harder when she actually passed away in his first year of high school it had ultimately been for the better.

6. He had a scary fan club.

Not at first, or anything, but by his last year of junior high school when he managed to maintain a consistent spot on the regulars as a doubles player with Katsuo and, if needed, a singles player, Kachiroh had – what he considered to be – a weirdly large fan base. Valentine's was overwhelming, and the thought and requirement of not only keeping track of everyone from Valentine's but also repaying them all on White Day was terrifying. He'd once accidentally turned a corner before school and had been half-mauled by a mob of screeching girls whom he had just barely managed to escape. Though he had brushed off his senpai's complaints of their fan clubs when he had been younger, by the time he had gotten his own he knew entirely what they meant.

7. He didn't know what he loved about history, he just did.

He knew a lot of people hated math because it was a 'you-get-it-or-you-don't' subject, and a number of people weren't in favor of English either. But, more often than not, if you asked somewhat what subject they hated learning about the most – regardless of whether the coursework was light – they would reply that it was history. Kachiroh, on the other hand, was absolutely fascinated by the subject, couldn't learn enough. He knew it was a bit odd, but tales of long ago – of the struggles of people, real people but in different time periods – were so interesting to him, especially when they were so alike but went through so many different things.

8. He and Katsuo had nearly beaten the Golden Pair. Sort of.

Their first year of high school, Kikumaru-senpai and Oishi-senpai's third. The score had been 6-4, yeah, but the winning game had been close and the disadvantage wide enough that the thought of the two of them winning wasn't quite as ludicrous as some made it out to be. Though they never actually did it – both pairs split and went on with their lives before they could truly play an even match – that long, drawn-out match from the beginning of practice to late one afternoon as the sun had nearly set remained forever vivid in Kachiroh's mind, regardless of whether they had officially won. And, later, when Kachiroh had over heard the older pair discussing just how close they had been to going into a tie break and how it had been sheer luck that Eiji had stumbled and ended up closer to the ball rather than further – well, it made the memory all the sweeter.

9. The death of his only son before he got to know him had been a hard blow.

He and his wife already had two lovely baby girls, four years and eighteen months respectively, but the thought of a son was something that had made Kachiroh more excited than he would ever admit. When the sex had been confirmed as male he had nearly (nearly) whooped with joy.

Standing in the delivery room, waiting anxiously with a grin on his face only to hear nothing – not even the faintest of cries – coming from his supposed to be newest child…

10. He hated being an only child.

Whenever he brought up the fact that he was an only child people had one of two reactions: either they looked at him sympathetically wondering how he managed or they stared in jealousy and starting ranting about how much they hated their own siblings. While Kachiroh didn't appreciate the first reaction, it was more towards how he felt, because while, sure, it was wonderful to have his own room and his own things entirely to himself with no small, screaming children around the loneliness caused by separation from his own age was enough to make him willingly give up his space and things. If only it could happen.