Author's Note: Merry Christmas! (Sorry this took so long to get out. The FF servers were acting up on me earlier.)
Elf10444: Don't get your hopes up too much darling! -winks- You know me, I like to throw curve balls in the game. Heh, but will I throw any at all? Who knows! Merry Christmas sweetheart and thank you for the feedback!
Le Me: -.- Did you review? I wanna say you did but it did not shot up, as usual... I think it has something to do with you signing in as a guest. Ah well, thank you whether you left feedback or not darling!
Chapter Thirteen:
Running
"Team, I know you've been in your pajamas all day, but now you have to wake up. Time for practice!" I gave a rough smirk as I stared at my team, now dressed in their uniforms. "Who's ready to run?"
"We are, ma'am!" I felt like a Drill Sergeant.
"Excellent," I laughed maniacally. "Ten laps." We were at the track by this point, "Jogging. No walking. I wouldn't advise sprinting. GO!"
"You running with us?" Patrik scoffed.
"What?! Hurry up! You're taking too long!" I was already jogging with the other amount of the team.
Since it was Monday, the training regiment was purely based on exercise. Yesterday- Sunday- we had only stretched and played. It was a strict program we stuck to that Serenity devised. Aylin had planned out our diets as well, which hardly any of us stuck to. We still took our vitamins and kept to our schedules though.
"Alright, this lap I want pure sprinting! We can power walk the next one if you all give me your best!"
"Yes ma'am!"
:{On The Line}:
I entered the courts late at night. I had a tendency to come during school days to play tennis. For some reason it just felt right.
Could it be because of the nights I trained with Kirihara?
Of course it was.
I smiled up at the shining moon before I heard someone walking by. I swiveled around to see a dark figure walking past the Regulars courts, heading off to other ones.
"Yo, who's there?"
The figure stopped and hesitated before walking onto the court. When I clicked the lights on for the area, guess who was shining brilliantly against the glow?
"Akaya?" I grinned. "Well what do you know! Late night tennis?"
He nodded, smirking a bit, "It just feels right." He had voiced my exact thoughts.
"I can vouch for that," I nodded. "So, how about this time we actually have some matches?"
He did not hesitate in taking his side of the court, "What are you waiting for?"
"Geez, slow down and let me get a good footing first." I took my side, "I call first serve!"
:{On The Line}:
"So you're meeting Kirihara at the courts again?" Paige smirked. "To bad I can't tease you about your secret lover anymore. You have someone else now."
"Yeah," I laughed. "Ryo is more my type."
"Who said I meant Ryo?"
I halted, watching her back as she continued walking. I scurried to catch up, "What did you mean by that?"
"Nothing at all." She gave a meek smile, "See you later."
"Later," I waved, heading into my room with a confused twinkle in my eyes. The first thing I did after grabbing a soda was position myself in my beanbag and flip on my game.
Keina: Oh Shi! I see you're online! Where you at?
Shi: Fighting. Valley of Despair.
Keina: Be there in a few!
Since Keina now had met the character, she was able to communicate with him from across the game via a special device they both had.
She ran across the ground of the field she was in, breaking into a valley where Shi could easily be seen attacking a giant monster.
She jumped in to help him, fighting hard and using her deadly katana and all sorts of weapons to destroy him. The monster was slain in no time, but a rather dodgy move happened.
A dark knight that had not been seen knocked Keina over the head. She fell and he caught her, snickering at Shi.
Knight: To rescue her from a grim demise and a loss of her complete life, you must come to the fifth tower.
Shi: Let her go!
The knight had gone. My character was brought to a tall and menacing gray castle, shoved into a room and a witch entered. The entire duration, she had been unable to move and I immediately swore at the programmed simulation.
Woman: Hello my dear.
Keina: What do you want lady?!
Woman: Simple. The death of your friend and the end of your little quest.
Keina: I'll kill you before that happens!
Keina lunged at her, aiming at her throat for a good strangling, but the woman reflected her with a barrier.
She was knocked down and before I knew it, knocked out. I glared at the television. But I knew Shi would be saving me soon...
:{On The Line}:
Ryo Takahashi
Third Person's P.O.V.
"Now tell me about this Syusuke character."
Ryo had decided to do his own investigating on the relationship between his beautiful girl and the new student, Syusuke Fuji.
And he had gone to the easiest source he could think of- her little sister.
"Oh, and why should I?" Aylin the Devious questioned blandly. He did not know it, but she supported Kimmy and Syusuke instead of Kimmy and Ryo.
"I just need to know, alright?" he sighed deeply. "It's a personal thing."
"You're afraid she'll leave you for him," she laughed. "How about I show you the basics?"
She broke out the photo albums, showing him picture after picture of Syusuke and Kimmy alone together or close in a photo of friends from the trip to Japan. Ryo was not that upset until a picture of them lip-locked came up.
"What?" He stared at it a long minute. "You mean they've dated?"
"Close enough." She shrugged, "You should see this!" She pulled a tape out of the World Junior Tennis Finals, secretly smirking to herself.
Maybe she would be able to run Ryo off and then Syusuke could come back into the picture.
After all, he made Kimmy the happiest, right?
Of course he did!
"This is what I call love," she smiled to herself as she flicked on the tape. Yes, it was a genuine smile that even Ryo could easily see shining.
She let the entire game play, showing the matches between Tezuka and Paige right before it was time for Kimmy and Syusuke.
"Kimmy did all this for Dad, but now she just enjoys the thrill of the game. Her dream is to be a bigger hit than him, and it in fact was his dying wish for her," Aylin turned the volume up, "But this was her hardest match ever. She was facing the boy she'd spent all her school year with. It was the best I've ever seen her play and probably will always be the one I remember the most. Same for her."
The match played as she silenced herself. The two were dancing across the court, both focused. Ryo was a bit shocked at the opened eyes of Syusuke, focused entirely on Kimmy. Sweat dripped into their eyes and skidded from their pores, but neither seemed to care. Instead of getting slower, they seemed to get faster and more powerful as the match progressed, their breathing heavier with each passing return.
"Amazing..." He had never seen her move like that. He knew she was fast and she had a passion for the sport, but this was awe-worthy.
"Shh!"
The match finally ended and Syusuke was declared the winner. Kimmy looked absolutely happy though, as if she were a kid that just got back from Disney Land. It was so pure of a smile, it took Ryo's breath away. It was absolutely beautiful...
They hugged, the net between them, his brow now knitted carefully while watching this scene. Had they really been so close?
"We had never had a better day. Even if we lost, the match against Seigaku was the most significant, memorable one of our lives." Aylin had her chin against her raised knee, watching the television with a twinkle in her eyes to go with her smile. She loved just seeing this again. "Oh! Here's the most important part and the reason I wanted you to watch this."
His eyes focused on the screen. The fans had poured onto the court and begun to hug the teams, but something happened to make them stop. Kimmy walked in front of Syusuke, and like magic they shared a kiss right in front of the hundreds- no thousands- of people. They looked so passionate as they did and everyone cheered for them, turning to watch.
They broke away, grinning from ear-to-ear. The tape ended with a final announcement and Aylin shut down the television.
"See, they weren't just a couple, they were the couple, even if they weren't a couple. It's hard explaining. They didn't realize how much it meant to them until it was time for the tournament to start. Then it was too late, seeing as both take their sport to seriously to ever try and juggle dating on the side. Besides, that caused too many problems between Paige and Tezuka for example." She was staring at him, his eyes shadowed by his hair.
"Thank you for this, Aylin," Ryo took to his feet, bowing slightly. "That locket she wears..."
"A Fuji Family heirloom. Syusuke gave it to her for Christmas and she hasn't taken it off since. She even wears it for matches."
Did she ever really love Ryo?
"I have to go talk to her," he opened the door, but Aylin grabbed his elbow.
"Ryo, she does love you. She actually understands love now, but she has a strong belief in not getting too deep into young love." She had decided against saying, "But I think she made an exception for a certain tennis player."
"I still need to talk to her of other things." He smiled a forced one, "Aylin, I do have another question. The others, how involved were they?"
"I think Serenity was one of the most serious." She leaned against the doorway. "She used to be the kind of girl that hardly showed emotions, like she does now when she's on the court. Just imagine her like that all the time. But then Eiji got to her. Paige and Tezuka seemed pretty serious, even after she nearly tore his arm to pieces. I always had Inui, but I never realized it until too late as well, plus I was ridiculously young. And then Tiffany and Masaharu were another two we paired off together." She finished quickly, "I have to get to bed. Don't you dare make her upset, Ryo. I'm not about to hesitate to hurt you, whether I like you or not. We've both been through enough lately. Neither of us can take much more."
Aylin gave him a sad smile before she pushed off the doorframe and closed it behind her, not daring to glance at him anymore. He stood at the door a moment, wondering what to do.