A/N: Exams are done and gone, for now. Finally updating, finally back. I've written a few new oneshots, check them out when you feel like it. Extra long chapter for all of you, will be updating soon as well. Btw, this story will follow the plotline of the original PoT, with tweaks here and there. This will circulate around Rikkaidai and their eccentric coach.
"That's not what I'm looking for." Her grey eyes bore into Jackal's.
Jackal widened his eyes, unable to wrap his head around it. "I...don't understand."
Yukiko raised an eyebrow. "It's easy. That's not the answer I want. I want you to tell me something else. Something I've been trying to teach all of you."
There was even more confusion. "Teach...us?"
Yukiko screwed up her face and silently put back on her shades, hiding her eyes once again. "Never mind. It's not my choice to make anyway. Do whatever you want. But when you find a different answer, tell me." Yukiko's expression regained a bit of brightness as her mind wheeled into another more pleasant path. "Now, go kick the butt out of Katayama."
"Oh? Look at that Brazilian guy's arm." Some of the Katayama cheerleaders murmured. "Are we winning, then?"
Yukimura narrowed his eyes dangerously. "I didn't imagine we would face such an interesting opponent so early into the prelims. We underestimated Katayama."
Sanada drooped his head. "I apologize. If it were not for my inconsistency, we would not be in such a complicated situation now."
Yukimura smiled and put a hand on Sanada's shoulder. "Don't worry. Your training menu may not have been perfect, but we will win this nonetheless."
Yukiko grinned. "You know, for gay dudes, you sure don't downplay your homosexuality. ThunderHorse is the hard-core masochist of the couple, and Child of God the sadist."
There was a long, long, long period of silence.
Jackal did a few quick stretches on his arm. It was still pretty numb, but he could hold a racket.
"Jackal-kun, I'll cover for you until you recover." Yagyuu muttered. Jackal nodded gratefully.
"The score is 3-2, Kuwahara-Yagyuu pair leads. Katayama Chuu's Lee to serve."
Lee and Tai exchanged a look and nodded. Lee tossed up the ball and served.
Yukimura narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized Lee and Tai. They had a similar playing style to his, and it irked him in a way to see how that kind of playing style crippled players. Yukiko was lying across the bench with her eyes closed, a hint of a grin gracing her lips subtly.
Jackal stood by as he waited for his arm to recover, just enough to keep playing. We can't keep going on like this. Yagyuu can't play forever. We're at a disadvantage. Our opponents have two players and we only have one. Our opponents aren't bad and Yagyuu's stamina isn't endless. It'll run out eventually. I can't just stand here and do nothing! There must be some way I can help!
Jackal pulled Yagyuu aside. "Listen, I've got a plan. It's not very good, and it's real bad. Do you still want to hear it?"
Yagyuu replied, "Do we look like we have another choice? Our backs are against the wall, and it doesn't look like the wall's going to give way any time soon. Let's hear it."
The game was...unsettling. That was the thought that came to Katayama's captain, Miyamoto. Part of the reason was perhaps because of the eccentric blind coach who had the nerve to take a nap in her bench.
They were at an advantage at the beginning, and it seemed the same now, but there was something off with how the purpled haired glasses guy was playing. But he couldn't tell. The Brazilian guy was even weirder. He was just running around the courts doing nothing. He looked towards the bleachers, where the Rikkaidai captain was sitting.
Yukimura Seiichi, the Child of God. He would probably play in Singles One. Any sane coach would put it that way.
Miyamoto cocked his head. The Child of God seemed to be staring at something...in front of him. Following his gaze, he found himself looking at the female coach sitting on the bench.
Right, the coach. He'd heard rumors about her. Some were absolutely ridiculous, say, like she was hiding a set of laser beams behind those dark sunglasses she always wore.
But, most of the rumors circled around the fact that she was an amazing player, probably better than the Child of God. There wasn't enough information on her to begin with, and she didn't have any game records. It was as if she had not existed until now. Her face showed no sign of panic at the sight of her team being in the disadvantage. Like everything up till now was all a part of her calculations. Miyamoto could not understand. Shouldn't the coach put the best players out there? Instead, the order of the lineup seemed completely random. He knew Rikkaidai was good, but wasn't this a gamble? This was the Kanto Tournament. It was not joke. Was she mocking the tournament level? No...it wasn't that. Her attitude when she talked to her teammates was completely serious. She was definitely not underestimating anyone here.
Was it confidence in her trained team? Or was this all some sort of scheme to somehow help the team?
"Game, Lee-Tai pair, 3-3 all! Change courts!"
When the two opposing pairs brushed past each other, something ignited between the players, like a bomb.
Tai taunted. "Well, this was unexpected. I never thought Rikkai was a bunch of crappy players."
Now, if Tai had been talking to anyone else in Rikkaidai than Yagyuu and Jackal, he probably would have been hospitalized, at best. But thank god for him, he was talking to Yagyuu and Jackal, the only rational and normal (to a certain extent) players on the team.
Jackal simply shot him a glare.
Yagyuu fixed his glasses. "Savor the taste of victory on your tongues while it lasts. Your tactics may have taken us by shock, but Rikkaidai has its ridiculous plays as well."
That left their opponents speechless.
Kirihara gripped the railing of the bleachers tightly. "Coach, will they be alright?"
Yukiko scoffed. "What's with the 'coach' thing? You guys sure are tense. Look at them. Can't you see? They're learning something new every second they spend out there."
Yanagi stayed silent. What that it? All those ridiculous pairings, reckless lineups, crazy training, all only for the sake of learning?
As if she could read his mind, her smirk faded.
"Renji," This was the first time she had referred to him with his real name. That alone was enough to shock Yanagi to pay attention to her. "Right now, you are only improving, but you are not learning. Victory is tasteless if you cannot learn from it. Watch this match carefully, and you will certainly see how Jackal-chan and Yagyuu-kun learn from everything."
Jackal, his arm now recovered to the point where he can receive light balls, stood by the baseline. Yagyuu made a two fingered gesture at him and he nodded.
Tai served the ball. It was a normal, straightforward forehand serve. Jackal stretched his muscles and returned it. Lee made an effort to stand in a way where he could receive the ball and return it with a backhand.
Then the strangest thing happened. Yagyuu, on the other side of the courts, also backhanded the ball.
"...What the hell is Yagyuu-senpai doing?" Kirihara stared.
Yukimura gazed at the coach. The blind coach looked...smug. This was exactly what she intended for. Something in that smug look punched his gut and jiggly-jiggles all over his body.
Calm down, Seiichi. It's nothing more than mild admiration.
He tried to believe that as his stomach did another cartwheel turn.
This game could simply be renamed 'backhand tennis', for both sides kept backhanding the ball.
Lee panted as he chased after the neon green fuzzy ball. His thoughts started to trip over one another, and his tongue tied into knots. The game was supposed to be at their advantage. It is still at their advantage. Was this wheeling sensation the taste of victory? If so, victory isn't very sweet.
The game wasn't getting any much easier than before. Why was that? Their tactic was supposed to weaken their opponents. Tai tried to calm down and think deeply about it, but his mind kept speeding up in tune with the ball. His thoughts raced way ahead of him, beyond the boundaries of sanity.
Have they become immune to their backhands? No, impossible. Our technique is flawless. Then how? How on earth...?
"To cure a poison, you must feed it with poison." Yukiko said, to no one in particular. "An old Chinese saying. Attack the poison with poison."
Yanagi nodded. "So it is. It seems relatively easy to counter the tactic."
"It's not. Your mind has to be sharp. You need to know where the ball will fly and where to stand. For Lee and Tai, I reckon they're not used to being countered. Opponents usually use their forehand to return the ball, thus allowing the ball to fly to the side they are most comfortable with. But, with the opposing side figuring out their trick, and being countered with backhands as well, the gap in experience shows." Yukiko smiled.
"They'll win." Yukimura decided. "There's no need to sweat bullets, Akaya." He threw a glance at the second year ace, who seemed to be shaking from head to toe.
"Oh, leave him be. He's hopeless, that coward." Marui snorted. "He's just relieved we're finally winning."
"I'll go do some warm-up exercises." Yukimura declared.
He heard Marui mutter, "Warm-up exercises? It won't even be a fight anymore then. Bullshit."
They were odd that way. No matter how lightly people talked to you, no matter how relaxed people behaved around you, to the end, Yukimura Seiichi was always superior, above them all, and forever unreachable. They treated him with an air of cautiousness, never letting their guard down, as if Yukimura Seiichi were an animal that could bite off their ten fingers.
Yukimura gripped his racket more tightly. It was true, he though bitterly, that he didn't need to warm-up. Why bother? It's not like it'll make any difference. The opposing team wasn't even trying to win. They were just trying to make the best out of three games. The captain wasn't even slightly shocked or upset that their team had lost. It was like he expected it.
That was how emperors ruled. No one expects to win against you. And of course, no one puts up an effort to win if they don't expect to. Was this even tennis anymore?
"Oi. You. I go with you. Sanada, take the bench. I'll go with Yukimura to do his warm-up." Yukimura turned around in surprise. Their coach was using their real names for once? Yukiko fished out a racket from her bag and poked him with it. "Come on, Yukimura. Start walking."
"As always, your technique is great, Captain." Yukiko commented as she dashed across the courts to receive the ball.
Yukimura marveled at the confidence she carried herself, never worried that she would run too far or too short. Never hesitating for a spit second to return a ball. Always believing that every ball could be returned.
The balls of her feet punched the ground with surety, like she knew the courts as she knew the back of her fingers. Her white dress fluttered and flapped against her bony knees, and her silver hair curled to frame her cheekbones in the wind.
Seeing the ball returned, he took three long strides and caught up to the ball, and struck it with power.
Yukiko nodded in appreciation. "Good return." She puffed as she bounded over, and stretched the tip of her racket, and barely grazed the ball. But the graze was powerful enough to reverse the force applied to it and sent it back towards Yukimura.
Such potential, such a skillful maneuver of the racket.
Why wasn't she famous? She should be in Wimbledon, at least. Why was she here in Japan, coaching a team she didn't even like that much.
And, just now, she switched back to calling them by their real names. What did that mean?
There was so much mystery around her. He thought he knew her, but he knew nothing beyond her name and class. And that Oshitari Sho.
Her relative? Her acquaintance? Her friend? Her rival? Her boyfriend?
At the last thought, his heart clenched. The fuzzy tennis ball flew past him and hit the fence behind him.
Yukiko frowned, straightening up from her stance. "Oi, Yukimura, what's wrong?"
Yukimura looked up at her, and really looked at her.
He saw pale, white, irises. He saw silver hair wavering in the wind. He saw a white dress dancing to the beat. And he saw nothing else.
"Coach, who are you?"
A/N: Important**: A poll about the Zero Blindness that Burns - Who do you think Oshitari Sho is to Yukiko? Vote now, results may or may not affect the outcome of the story.