A/N: I'm sorry I'm late! I was rushing to complete the 50 000 words needed to win the first ever Camp NaNo! I'm so sorry!
To clarify something from the last chapter, Reiko forfeited her match against Tezuka meaning that by default, Seigaku won that match. Tezuka then faced Atobe unofficially, away from the tournament grounds – they played on the warm-up courts. (To the reviewer that asked this, I hope this explains things. I normally PM to answer but well, if you hit anonymous, I can't reply that way!)
Anyhow, we proceed to Nationals Finals then. It's time to begin tying up loose ends, and resolve conflicts and essentially move the story towards conclusion. Basically? It's showdown time, with Hyotei-Rikkai action taking the stage, front and center. I hope it's worth the wait and you enjoy it. Let me know what you think? (: –iirse
Disclaimer: Original names, characters and places don't belong to me. I don't own anything except the general ridiculous plot-less plot and OC(s), if any. Yadablah.
As Fate Wills It
Chapter 23 – Insurmountable
As Mukahi easily leapt into the air and delivered a last smooth Shooting Star, the spectators were abuzz. Hyotei, the dark horse of the circuit this season had just won their first Nationals Finals match, after all. The way they had been barely scraping through their way to the top had made speculators suggest that they would simply lose to Rikkaidai at Finals.
Singles 3 of Hiyoshi Wakashi versus Kirihara Akaya had suggested as much.
It wasn't a set match - that wasn't Reiko's style. But she had put Hiyoshi there, knowing that his chances of winning were fairly low. Jiroh might have done better, but well. The cousins had reasoned that Sakaki needed to see the capabilities of next year's third years at their best.
Hyotei hadn't shown any new moves, sans Reiko's Samurai Serve in her forfeited match. Yet Mukahi and Oshitari had delivered them in bulk.
As was his wont, Mukahi's technique names all involved some natural phenomena. Shooting Star was a fast speed return that used more power than one would have expected from the acrobat. And it held the speed that came from constant training against Ohtori and Shishido. Its serve counterpart, named Comet for lack of originality, had been a no-touch ace. Tornado Smash had been easily returned, but in return, Mukahi had finished Asteroid during the game. Playing on the acrobat's flexibility, it was difficult to return without going out.
And this was coming from the redhead that people always said dragged down Hyotei's tensai.
A player normally delivered one new move in a game, not as many as Mukahi did. And Oshitari simply integrated moves that he normally saved for singles into this match. To the spectators, they were all new because well, Oshitari Yuushi hardly played singles officially.
"Game, set and match, Hyotei's Oshitari-Mukahi pair! 6 games to 4!" The referee announced, as the electronic scoreboard flickered to reflect the result. After a pause, he continued. "One set match, Hyotei's Atobe versus Rikkaidai's Sanada!"
As if the newly finished Doubles 2 match wasn't enough gossip for the spectators, this announcement only notched up the noise level. If Atobe was playing Sanada, who then would play against Yukimura who was likely to take Singles 1?
"Atobe to serve!"
In reality, Atobe and Reiko had almost fallen out over the lineup for Nationals Finals. They had to make sure that Hyotei would make it to Singles 1, yet at the same time not have set matches - that would be completely unfair to their teammates. They would have done it for them, definitely. But for most of them, it was their last season. Kabaji and Hiyoshi could sit it out, definitely, but for the rest? They deserved a good ending to their high school tennis 'career.'
"It's a matter of predicting then." Reiko summed up for Atobe.
Her cousin nodded. "Unfortunately, we don't do much calculation of odds the way Seigaku and Rikkai does."
The greenette shrugged, studying the list of names for both teams in front of her. "As I see it, we probably have to take Singles 1 and 2. Doubles doesn't need to be changed - Oshitari, Mukahi and Shishido deserve their last match. It's just Singles 3."
"Jiroh, Kevin, Kabaji or Hiyoshi." Atobe summed up, choosing to leave the question of who was to take which Singles slot between the two of them for later. That decision would probably breed disagreement and would definitely take longer to resolve.
Reiko gestured in the affirmative. "If we go by the logic of last matches, Jiroh-senpai should get Singles 3. Kabaji shouldn't mind. If Rikkaidai's seniors want to play their last match as well, Yanagi would likely take that slot and he's likely to lose."
"Kevin doesn't mind sitting it out." The diva added. "It's just Hiyoshi wanting in, right now. But you realize that Kirihara might take that slot as well?"
"As a final gauge of capable he is, perhaps?" Reiko suggested. She had considered the possibility as well. Unlike Hyotei that had both her and Kevin as extras, Rikkaidai only had one extra rather than Hyotei's three. "Sakaki-sensei did say that he would like to see what the sophomores are capable of in order to determine your successor. Hiyoshi didn't do too well as captain in middle school, apparently. I doubt he includes me in that list of sophomores."
Atobe recollected that conversation. Reiko and Kevin's skill didn't need testing, definitely. But both were new. The Regulars had no issue taking instruction from them, having seen them in action too many times and the rest of the club followed their lead. But without them there… Well, it wouldn't be easy. It would make more sense to appoint one of the other Regulars as the next captain.
Whatever the case… "No one can replace ore-sama." He sniffed disdainfully at the implication of her use of the word 'successor.'
"Be serious, Kei." Contradicting her own statement, Reiko stuck her tongue out at her cousin. "Ohtori's the only one in there right now. It might be a good idea to let Hiyoshi play. The odds for Jiroh's win may be better, but well, we do need losses if we are to get to Singles 1."
Atobe considered the suggestion. "At the same time, it isn't confirmed that Hiyoshi would lose, so it would be a decent match and not a set one."
"Precisely." When her cousin nodded his agreement, Reiko picked up her previously discarded pen and filled in the slot for Singles 3. "All that's left now is Singles 1 and 2, Kei."
They stared at each other in silence for a long moment.
"I think..." They said at the same time.
Atobe beat her to it. "Spit it out, Rei."
Judging from her cousin's look, and coupled with the fact that she really wanted to get it over and done with, Reiko complied. "I think you should take Singles 1."
An eyebrow arched in question prompted her to continue. "A part of me really wants to destroy Sanada because that part of me blames him more than Seiichi."
"And you don't want to face Yukimura." Atobe said the words that she refused to say.
Suddenly incensed by the (too true) accusation, Reiko flared up. "You can't tell me you want to face Sanada, Kei!"
"You know that the odds of you beating Yukimura are higher than mine. It makes more sense that you take Singles 1." Atobe reasoned, wishing he could take the easy way out she offered. But someone had to be the voice of reason here. Someone had to take the high road. "I don't want to face Sanada anymore than you want to face Yukimura, Rei. But all the plans so far would be wasted if I were to lose Singles 1. I'm not narcissistic enough to believe that I would certainly win."
Reiko deflated. All this facts that her cousin laid before her... She knew all of them too well, having played around with them in her head since Finals had become a reality. "I know. It's just..."
"I know." Atobe echoed her. "But Rei, we all have to face reality eventually. You can't avoid it forever. And you'll never heal unless you get some form of closure."
He sighed. "You're not going to get it unless you play Yukimura and pry them out of him." Under his breath, he muttered. "We both wouldn't."
It had been that statement he had meant to go unheard that convinced Reiko. If Kei felt that he needed to play Sanada to be satisfied, she would let him. And she would play Yukimura - but whether the outcome was what her cousin expected or not was another story.
She picked up her pen and slowly filled in the familiar kanji of their names into Singles 1 and 2 respectively.
He slammed another Tannhauser into Sanada's court without regret.
Tennis was familiar. It was normal. It was... safe. It didn't have all that confusion of emotion that he felt when off the courts.
Atobe wasn't too surprised with Sanada returned it easily. Without Yukimura playing against Reiko in any adjacent court, Rikkaidai's fukubuchou was in no way as distracted as he had been the last few times they had played. It was an old serve anyway. When Fuu was came breezing right at him, Atobe practically anticipated it, flipping his racquet to return it slightly off timing so he just lobbed it.
Sanada played neatly into his trap, smashing Ka into the diva's side of the court.
To nearly everyone's surprise, Atobe met the smash that had destroyed Tezuka's Tezuka Zone and flung it back across the net. The ball seemingly vanished before landing as still as the ground beneath them neatly on the lines marking the corner of the court.
"Game, Atobe, 5 games all!" The referee called.
"Venuse Return." Atobe calmly stated, smirking at Sanada.
On the bleachers, Reiko sighed. Did Kei always have to be so dramatic? And why was he so fixated on that legend anyway?
Sanada shifted uneasily inwardly as he watched Atobe's smirk. He, too, had felt like Hyotei had been fooling around when he watched their Doubles 1 match against Seigaku. Playing against Hyotei had always been challenging. The Emperor loathed admitting it, but Hyotei was amongst the best. Yet during this season's Nationals, they barely scraped through in order to proceed to the next round… It was like their standard had dropped overnight.
Atobe during the whole match and made it seem like he had nothing new. They had practically been taking points and games alternately. It had come to duce almost every game.
Then suddenly he destroyed a move that Sanada had used earlier in the game. Venuse Return, as Atobe had flashily named his new technique, had been flawlessly executed. It wasn't a move freshly finished and completed during the game. It was a technique that Atobe had had in his arsenal all along.
You're toying with us. That's what Echizen meant by breaking of spirit, isn't it, Atobe? Sanada narrowed his eyes at Hyotei's captain as he served. Rikkaidai doesn't lose. Losing is not accepted.
"I didn't intend to use this here, but it's just as well that I have to then." Sanada managed as he returned Atobe's ball. With the score at 6 games to 5, 15 all, in Hyotei's favor, Rikkaidai was getting desperate. "Mizu."
The ball didn't quite vanish, but it seemed like it passed through Atobe's racquet.
"30 – 15!"
"Do you know why Venuse is special, Sanada?" Atobe asked casually, as he prepared to serve. "It's because it defies all known logic and makes the impossible happen. And when the impossible happens and the other party regrets it… It's too late."
Hyotei's captain served, and as with the Venuse Return, the ball appeared precisely at the point where the corner of the court was marked by white lines.
"30 – all!"
Atobe smirked, feeling the irony as he spoke. "I know what you did that night. And it's obvious what you want. Question is… Will you regret it?" He served, but Sanada remained frozen as his words hit home. No one had pointblank told him that he'd been seen yet.
"40 – 30! Match point!"
Irony tasted bitter on his tongue, Atobe found. What he said to Sanada… Did it not apply to himself as well? Did he honestly want to admit it aloud and put his cards on the table? It was obvious that nothing would come of it.
Temporary insanity, he named it, in that moment.
No, I know what I feel. He rejected that thought. But I know what's for the best. Right now… I don't know if it's the right person, but it's definitely the wrong time. If it's the right person, the right time will come.
I'll take my own advice. It's time to move on.
He served a final Venuse Serve.
"Game, set and match! 7 games to 5, Hyotei's Atobe!"
Sanada didn't even bother to conclude match formalities, he simply walked off in a daze, leaving Atobe to look after his retreating back knowingly – he was going to think, certainly.
And that was all Hyotei's King could ask for. The rest was up to Rikkaidai's Emperor.
"One set match, Hyotei's Shishido-Ohtori pair versus Rikkaidai's Niou-Yagyuu pair!" The referee announced.
Winded, Atobe was too out of breath to watch the match. He just found the nearest most isolated part of the bleachers and plopped his butt down, focusing on getting himself back under control once he'd walked off the court. That match with Sanada had truly been tiring. He wasn't quite used to the Venuse techniques yet. It still took a toll on his stamina. That might actually be because he and Reiko had agreed on keeping new moves for only Finals, so there had been no opportunity to test them beyond team and family.
Thank kami for his tennis-obsessed uncle and cousins or his stamina wouldn't have allowed him to use the Venuse serve to win that last service game.
Atobe was so concentrated on his breathing that he nearly jumped out of his skin when a towel was dropped on his head and a bottle thrust into his face. He looked up to see Misaki holding it loosely, wordlessly.
"You forgot." The Nakamura heiress said simply, only settling herself into a nearby seat when he took the bottle of cold water from her.
He didn't quite know what to say to that. They were old friends, certainly. But they were also old friends who had a major fight recently and hadn't spoken since. He wasn't quite sure how to speak to her now. It would seem that the brunette girl had the same problem as she remained equally quiet and simply let the awkward silence build.
But people always had to crack sooner or later. Misaki cracked first, giving up on attempting phrasing something delicately. "Honestly speaking, it's weird not talking to you at all." The words rushed out helter-skelter, unedited and unchecked. "We've never fought for this long in a while, ne?"
And well… Atobe couldn't ignore his childhood friend, after all. "Not since we were kids, Misaki."
"I thought you were a monkey, not a goat, Keigo." She returned, smiling slightly at his indignant expression at her use of a really bad pun. Jokes aside, they had other matters that were more serious to clear up. "Really, Keigo, what did happen?"
The heir shook his head. "Honestly? Stress over too many things. Rei's disappearance, pushing for Kevin's transfer to hurry up, Kantou and Nationals... I do have a limit, Misaki. I wouldn't pretend otherwise. Not to an old friend, at least."
"And I was stressed as well but mainly over Reiko-chan." Misaki sighed. "You know I don't deal well under duress. It was all the stress talking, and then snapping and taking it out on each other."
"Seems rather trite in retrospect?" Atobe offered as an olive branch.
She took it. "That's for sure." Misaki paused, gauging his current state before she chose her words carefully again. This was far more delicate a subject than their fight, she felt. "I worried for you too, Keigo."
"Ore-sama doesn't need people to worry about ore-sama but if you feel the need... Ore-sama guesses that even Nakamura Misaki can't resist the great me." Atobe arrogantly replied.
The brunette rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up with the ore-sama, Keigo. It just makes it more obvious that you're covering up."
He caved. They both knew each other too well that he'd knew when he started using the pronoun that he was merely stalling for time and delaying the inevitable. "I know what you speak of, Misaki. I'm alright, I promise."
"You do seem better since you finished your match." The heiress observed.
Atobe shrugged an attempt at nonchalance. "I decided to take my own advice. I won't live in denial, certainly. However, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. In the meantime, I'm not going to pine. There's more to life than that." He smirked arrogantly at her. "Are you scoping out the competition, Misaki?"
"Keigo!" She protested, flushing a pale pink.
"What?" The diva teased. "One would have thought your actions in recent weeks rather jealous, actually. You keep glaring at him whenever you're with us and we encounter him."
At that, Misaki burst out laughing, earning herself that soon-to-be infamous raised eyebrow. She explained. "Yuushi suggested jealousy as well. I agreed, but shot down the idea simultaneously. I was jealous, Keigo. But I was jealous as a friend that someone so unworthy was taking up your time when you could do so much better."
A short distance away, Reiko watched her cousin tease Misaki and the Nakamura heiress retaliate; their relationship restored to approximately the same state it had been at when Reiko had first arrived at Hyotei.
She smiled quietly to herself.
Kei had seemed more at peace with himself since he stepped off the courts after that match with Sanada. It would seem that his idea that playing Sanada to attain some form of closure had worked for him. For that, Reiko was happy for her cousin, but she wasn't about to delude herself that something similar would happen between her and Seiic–Yukimura in their Singles 1 match. If that match should even come to pass.
And whether that match came to pass... That depended on how well Hyotei's Silver Pair acquitted themselves against Rikkaidai's Platinum. Niou and Yagyuu hadn't attain the name of Platinum Pair (as Niou said, it was the best metal in the world) without cause.
The Princess turned her focus back on the game that she had abandoned observing in favor of watching her cousin and Misaki previously.
It was like history repeated itself and her hand slipped, causing her to drop the open bottle of water she had been holding. Reiko was so startled by ongoing game that she didn't notice the annoyed looks that Hiyoshi and Mukahi had simultaneously shot her when they'd gotten splashed by the sudden rainfall.
Jiroh turned to face her with a rueful look. "They're doing horribly, I know." The blonde had narrowly missed being wet as well – he was seat just outside the 'splash zone.'
"Oshitari and Mukahi were more in sync than they are." She responded, her mind on automatic comparison and her mouth just spitting out the facts as she saw it. Any filtering had been killed by the shock she just got. "And our Doubles 1 is supposed to have attained Synchro?"
Jiroh had no words to offer her.
Unknown to Reiko, on the bench, Sakaki privately agreed with her sentiments. This match, as he watched it, was a good as lost.
At his behest, Hyotei's training manager and captain had put in Hiyoshi and Ohtori into the lineup to test their mettle. But Sakaki was now at a loss. Hiyoshi had lost Singles 3 to Kirihara Akaya. Ohtori was losing Doubles 1 - he didn't even need to watch to determine the end result, seeing how Rikkaidai's Doubles 1 was utilizing Synchro while Hyotei's was failing at activating theirs.
In any case, they had both lost. Winning had given Atobe his spot as captain. How now would he determine the successor for the subsequent year if Hiyoshi and Ohtori both tied?
He'd hoped that Ohtori would win Doubles 1 but it was a lost hope now.
While both Shishido and Ohtori's speed were more than up to par, and their techniques as refined as ever, they weren't as in sync as they had been when Atobe had suggested them for a fixed Doubles pair when they had been middle school students. Ohtori was playing in largely the same way, but Shishido wasn't. He was off, for lack of a better word.
He was trying to do too much at some points and too little at others, almost as though he didn't know his partner anymore.
And in a way, it was true. Ohtori Choutarou, as a sophomore in middle school had little backbone to speak of. He wasn't even considered for captaincy, and the position had automatically been given to Hiyoshi. But now, Ohtori had grown to take charge where necessary. And Shishido didn't know how to deal with it.
As Niou delivered the winning Laser Beam, Sakaki sighed. It was going to be a hard choice, but it would be definitely difficult to justify since both potential successors had conveniently lost their Nationals matches. Not to mention that Ohtori had always played doubles as a Regular while Hiyoshi was fixated on singles, playing doubles only when he had to.
"Game, set and match! 6 games to 4, Rikkaidai's Niou-Yagyuu pair!" The referee called.
Up in the bleachers, Reiko shut her eyes briefly. Singles 1 was in her hands now. Whatever might happen during the match, she had to win.
"Singles 1, one set match, Hyotei's Echizen versus Rikkaidai's Yukimura!"
All the memories flooding her mind, they didn't matter now. All that mattered right now was winning.
That's all that mattered.
Losing… Losing wasn't allowed.
"Smooth. Service end. Echizen to serve." The referee wasn't exclaiming as he had the whole day. That was how palpable the tension between Reiko and Yukimura was.
She proceeded to destroy 4 balls and take the first game with Samurai Serve. Princesses were supposed to be fragile glass dolls, weren't they? Well, this one wasn't, she determined, eyes cold.
Across the net, Yukimura had anticipated this. He served Vanishing Serve, which she returned to obtain Shadow Sound in exchange.
What the Demigod hadn't expected was Reiko to let Shadow Sound slide past her. She tried to get it, but she kept missing. He frowned inwardly. While she had only faced it in one match, she already had broken it - albeit only at an imprecise science.
"Game, Rikkai's Yukimura! 1 game all."
Yukimura wasn't too surprised when Reiko took her service game in return. He was still unable to render her Samurai Serve useless, and it didn't seem to have any debilitating effects on her stamina. Still, he wondered at the cost for the organizers. Reiko was destroying a ball every single time she served. It was no large cost since she was only playing one match but if she had throughout the season...
"Game, Hyotei's Echizen! 2 games to 1. Change court!"
As she brushed past him, Reiko had to force thoughts of another time and another place where they had changed court. Those were the happier times. The period of time when they were dancing around each other, skirting the topic of whether they were interested in one another or not…
Those were the times that she would do well to forget. She sipped from her bottle of water absently. Her feet led the way to the baseline to receiving position from pure muscle memory, for that was how lost in thought she was, fighting back those memories.
It only took Yukimura's serve hurtling past her ear for her to snap out of her daze. "Assassin's Serve." He intoned, just barely loud enough for her to hear.
The challenge was clear. A serve that was so fast that it hit you before you knew it. That you could barely see. Reiko would bet that if she returned it, its spin was such that probably would affect her return as well.
So, she had threatened destruction and annihilation.
And here he was returning it with assassination and espionage.
Oh, how fitting. Who was the one who pretended interest to hurt Hyotei's chances? Who pretended to be someone he wasn't? Reiko's mind demanded, bringing out images of Yukimura as she had seen him at Rikkaidai's fair. It hurt to remember it, even as she managed to return the serve only to have it declared out.
During that split second, she felt defeat seep through her bones. She was so very tired of this, after all. It was so tempting to forfeit. Or to lose. And just let ojii-sama have his way and make the calls.
"Don't you dare, Ray!" Kevin yelled from where he was on the sidelines. "You promised!"
"Promise me, Ray." Kevin pressed. "Promise me that no matter how hard it gets, you'll see this through to the bitter end. To the end of the match, no matter what. That forfeiture with Tezuka doesn't count. Echizen-Takeuchi Reiko doesn't forfeit. Neither does she give up. Promise me that you would see your plan through, even if you fail."
The courts were silent after that yell.
It was as though time had frozen temporary, until Reiko gave the blonde the barest of nods.
The silence was broken by the sharp thwack of racquet strings meeting tennis ball as Yukimura sent another Assassin's Serve whizzing towards Reiko. The Princess's eyes narrowed and she slammed it back at the Demigod.
Shadow Sound was his choice of return technique.
I don't care what memories that technique has! Reiko cried at her subconscious, ramming the ball back into his court with her cousin's Venuse. What could she say? They trained together, and they had perfected that technique together after all.
"30 – 15!" The referee called.
Yukimura was the one who broke the silence between them. Speaking directly to Reiko, his tone was accusatory as he harshly served the ball into her court. "Don't speak of being used when you're the one who was the user who rebounded, Echizen Reiko."
Take a snapshot of their eyes at that exact moment.
Amethyst and amber.
The large amber cat-like eyes has just begun to show hints of disbelief at the other's words.
Both hold the same determination to wreak havoc on the other, to destroy the other's spirit, and to win. Yet under that layer of faux conviction lie the same confusion as to why and the maelstrom of hurt feelings that are quickly spiraling out of control.
This is more than just a tennis match for these two who live and breathe tennis.
Their relationship hangs in the balance, hedged entirely on this one final match.
A/N: Rather short, but it felt like the right place to end the chapter. Yes, I know cliffhangers are the bane of any reader's existence but if I'd continued from on… Well, you'd have a final chapter that's more than double this chapter and it just felt too long. The final chapter's coming next week (not counting the epilogue, of course) so I hope I'll see you then! Enjoy! -iirse