Thank you to everyone who got this far! Again, special hugs to the vocal readers…! xD You allow me to know your presence and motivate me so. *Hugs*
I remember writing a story about a minor pair here. It is entitled Masterpiece. It's old, rushed, and not that well-written (don't be fooled by the title)… but I will appreciate some new readers~!
DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own Prince of Tennis
…
CHAPTER XXXVI: Hyotei Gakuen
It was after classes and everyone was all tired from the hard training. It had only been a few days since the announcement and they were already getting killed. The coach and a few seniors were particularly hyped out about this next battle with Hyotei – sweet revenge was always (emphasis on the always) awesome.
"We should shop at the sports store." Ryoga announced as they walked home. It had been an especially busy day, and it was also one of those days wherein Tezuka would refuse the invitation. He had a lot to do, and it would take such a long time that Tezuka was determined not to make her wait… so there she was, walking home with Ludwig and her brother… since he sort of lost his gasoline money.
In any case, if shopping of sports items was the activity then Reina would definitely agree to come. They looked around at the shop, and Ryoga immediately went to buy something. There were new shoes—and, apparently, he saved the gas money for it.
"You're not going to buy anything?"
"Nah. Just window shopping. Probably…" She answered and continued looking around (and maybe hoped for something interesting), it didn't take long for Ryoga to catch up to her. They paused at the sight of a brunette boy with long hair… and a very familiar logo on his uniform. He was just staring blankly at a brand new racket that he was holding. It looked nice, maybe she should buy it.
"Are you going to buy that?"
"…No."
"No as in Never, or not yet?"
"I'm… undecided. I'm not sure if it's worth the money… now that I'm no longer playing in my school tourn—" He stopped himself from blurting something embarrassing up, and then proceeded to staring at the small boy who made him spit it out. He noticed the boy's uniform, and his eyes widened.
"You're from Seigaku?"
"What of it?" she asked and continued to think of where the heck she saw that logo.
"He's from Hyotei Gakuen, Ryoma, since you're obviously thinking about it." Ludwig pointed out, and she didn't show much reaction.
"I knew that."
"Liar." He stated bluntly making her eyes jerk, but then she ignored the kid and proceeded with guessing who the brunette was.
"Then… you must be Shokaido Rei."
"Shishido Ryo." He corrected.
"Ah…"
Ryoga scratched his head. "How'd you know him?"
"Momo-senpai replaced Inui-senpai on data gathering. He said something about him being the latest kick out, losing to Tachibana-san."
"…"
Ryoma sighed. "Are you going to buy that or not?"
"I was… before that happened."
"So… you're not going to buy it anymore?"
"…"
"You obviously want to." Ryoma commented, seeing that there were no other rackets of the type was left.
"But I—"
"You can keep that troublesome amount of hair but not your regular spot?"
"…oi!"
"You're going to stop playing?"
"Of course not!"
"Then how come you're so reluctant?" She asked, before adding casually. "Can't you just ask the coach to let you play again…? Isn't the punishment too harsh?"
"…It's not. Not really. With 200 members, it gives chance to many and it also motivates the hell out of us. Besides… No one had been exempted yet."
"Then why not try to be the first one?" she intervened making his eyes widen. "It's now or never, right?"
Ludwig ignored them for most part but he faintly nodded, while Ryoga grinned. "Right."
Ryoma watched the semi-frozen boy stare and sighed. She waved her hand for a silent goodbye and left, the two boys following her coolly.
And for the two weeks that followed, Shishido trained hard with his doubles partner… and conditioned himself that he –for some reason—would cut his precious, lovable, and (yes) gorgeous hair…
…
Hyotei was quite hyped up – especially since Shishido's return. His enthusiasm was seriously contagious! They trained quite harder than usual, and nobody minded. Even when they wouldn't admit it, they knew Seigaku shouldn't be underestimated.
But Oshitari could not help but notice his captain's odd behaviour. He knew he was excited in battling the great Tezuka Kunimitsu, but he could sense something else. For some reason, he felt that arrogant freshman was involved somehow.
In the end, he just shrugged. He was prying too much, and he knew Atobe – he was both his teammate and his friend. He'll get through whatever he was experiencing. You know, eventually.
But then after some time of staring…, he could swear he was seeing the signs of… pimples.
Atobe would die if they continue to grow.
"Oshitari! What the bloody hell could you be doing standing there?" Atobe exclaimed in his usual sexy voice, as his fangirls would say it. In fact, many of them lost a heart beat every time they heard him speak.
Oshitari mentally sighed and approached him to finally get his training menu made by the coach.
But now that he thought about it—where was the coach?
…
Sakaki Taro was alone in the Faculty room. Most people would think he was arranging the line-up, but doing that wouldn't take him a lot of time. He was calling a certain gorgeous brunette woman. He was telling him the case of Shishido Ryo.
"I told you it was a bad idea."
"No it is not. It is a great motivator."
"But it could also lose you and your team amazing players." She replied. "Why not just evaluate the performance and determine whether the player will be kicked out?"
"That would be inconsistent."
"Sometimes, inconsistency is the right thing to do Taro."
"Apparently…"
"Mou, are you even planning on listening to me? Anyways, don't forget our date this weekend."
He smiled. "Ah."
…
Finally, the Seigaku's first stage in the Kanto tournaments. Everyone was hyped up, but unfortunately the Vice-Captain had yet to show up. Only 10 minutes left til' the deadline when he called. He helped a pregnant woman go to the hospital. Ryoma gagged involuntarily, what were the chances that one of her excuses would actually happen?
"That's Oishi…"
"Then it's probably true."
Her eyes twitched. How rude…
Momoshiro gallantly volunteered to go and replace his position in the hospital so Oishi could go back, but minutes later though he returned Oishi-less. And a minute later, their eyes widened at his news.
Due to the accident, Oishi's right arm was injured.
For a moment they thought they were going to lose Doubles two a little too easily, but then they remembered—Momoshiro was a good player. Not a good doubles player, but definitely better than Ryoma.
"Che." She mumbled knowing everyone was thinking just that, but then shrugged it off. It was true anyway. Besides, from what she was hearing, the games would be extremely good—
"…Singles 1: Tezuka Kunimitsu."
Silence
The Coach did not say her name in the line-ups. She couldn't possibly be hearing things, right?
Sumire sensed this immediately and went to explain. She absolutely could not play doubles, she'd break bones if she plays singles 3, Fuji reserved Singles 2, and Tezuka was the best bet against Atobe Keigo. She frowned.
'I beat Keigo all the time as a child.' She mused in slight bitterness. Again. She completely ignored the fact that that was ages ago and he probably grew at a much stronger rate than her—the disadvantages of being female, so to speak.
In any case, she didn't want to mope around in public and just decided to go and sit and look cool as usual… and mentally brood somewhere and glare at the clouds. She sighed, and decided to walk around to start. She had all the time in the world, anyway (she added bitterly). She'll just get back before the grand battle.
In the end though…, she found that she wanted to watch ever single game.
Doubles 2, Momoshiro and Eiji had a hard time. Eiji was not used to playing doubles without Oishi guarding him and it had been especially straining that the opponents are effortlessly returning their best shots—heck, Gakuto Mukahi even exceeded Eiji in terms of acrobatic play. Naturally, this is a big hit on their momentum and the fact that Eiji was so used to playing his stunts without worries because Oishi was always there with him did not make it any better. They were losing, and badly.
Well, that was until Oishi entered (metaphorically and spiritually) forming a group of three. Eiji also learned to take in Oishi's position in the partnership, and perhaps… be a better senpai?
With Gakuto's stamina running out (due to his lack of foresight) and Momoshiro's quick improvements, they won with a very witty feign Dunk smash combo with a score of 6-4.
The next game was Inui and Kaidoh's games. She smirked at the odd pairing as well as well as Hona's adorable attempts of cheering with Tomoko and Sakuno. Her smirk became visible when she saw Kaidoh blush at the sight of his girlfriend… whom, if Ryoma would add, was slowly becoming prettier every day.
Not even a moment later though, Ryoma blinked as they had announced the team's opponents. She didn't recognize Shishido because he had gotten such short hair. No wonder he was gaping at her like that earlier. By 'that', she meant he was looking at her like a little sheep walking around nonchalantly at a pack of lions.
The game started with the gray-haired person serving. He was yelling…something before he hits.
"Ikkyuu Nyuu Kon"
BOOM!
And the next thing they knew, the ball already passed her teammates. It went on for a while—the no touch aces continued and she could hear the hope slowly draining away. But Inui-senpai being Inui, he had found the boy's weakness—its accuracy—and, after a few games, he got a double fault. Inui just had to ask Kaidoh to position himself somewhere.
In any case, Atobe arrogantly commented about it only being returned so far by the strong Kabaji (not that he's tried before) and appeared pompous as usual. He was careful not to let her be in the way of his sights for the moment, for who knew what reason. Ryoma frowned. Didn't she already apologize?
'Stop being a freaking spoiled brat.' She thought irritably and then whipped her head back to the game. She paused, but remained silent and waited to see if what she saw was really real. And it was – only Kaidoh was actually playing and Inui was just standing there doing nothing.
She heard a huge amount of confused murmurs but she knew better, after putting together the pieces. She sent a knowing look at Tezuka's direction, and he just nodded.
It was going to be a great game in a few sets.
…
Inui and Kaidoh lost, but they showed great skills and a very awesome comeback. During his little break, Inui was analyzing their opponent equipping them with good data. It was just that this particular opponent had extremely good teamwork and trust in the other. They were just unlucky, in a sense.
The next battle was a power battle – Kabaji and Kawamura. It was an unbelievable battle- Kabaji, it seemed, could imitate any sort of move. Atobe said something about the huge boy being extremely simple-minded so that he could absorb anything that he saw.
With their shots and movements, Ryoma could swear she could see invisible bombs getting thrown from place to place. It ended with Kawamura's best version of Hadokyu rendering Kabaji unable to play any longer, but sadly it did the same to him too.
In the end, the match was announced to be null-and-void.
Kawamura, Kabaji, and the coach went to the hospital and Ryoma knew what was coming. She stood up immediately and aimed for the bench. Coolly and composed, of course… she only participated in a one-player walk-a-thon or something.
"Who wants to be a bench coach?" The coach asked, but the other players were just surprised…seeing that Ryoma was already sitting in the bench. Momo and Eiji immediately went to pull her out, but Fuji asked them to let her stay there. Fuji turned around and positioned himself at the courts feeling wonderful as ever.
Ryoma watched him thoroughly. She could not forget that match in the rain, and she was planning on defeating him soon. She could sense a few stares behind her back, some of which are just curious… and some a little more than that. Heck some of them were prying. She didn't want to think whom they were coming from, so she just looked straight at the courts.
Fuji, on the other hand, told himself he needed to put a distance between them – he was Seigaku's number two after all. And that thrilling match made people doubt that.
Well, that was true. But it was an understatement. Who was he kidding? He wanted to show off and being at the bench would ensure she got the best view possible. Maybe he was hoping she'd look at him the same way during Tezuka's match with Inui.
If he couldn't make her see him as a man, he sure as hell wanted her to at least admire him more in tennis skills than Tezuka's.
He ignored his brother's prying stare alternating between him and Reina. He was probably thinking if they were dating in public now that everyone thought he was gay.
'Well, whatever.' He mused and stared at his sleepy opponent, gripping Taka-san's bloodied racket tighter. He was going to get revenge for his brother, and that was what he should be focusing on. Impressing Reina along the way was just an added bonus.
The game started with his disappearing serve—silencing the environment ranging about three dozen meters in radius. No one could believe his shot, and many tried to analyze it but as usual, only a few actually got it right.
Ryoma on the other hand froze simultaneously. It was no wonder that Fuji's opponent was so familiar! She met him before – just when she had realized what… certain feelings mean. Hell, he even pointed them out.
Him being energetic again helped her remember. A moment later, he felt her stare and his eyes widened immediately… rudely pointing a rude finger at her along the way.
"I-It's YOU!"
"Hello, snorlax."
"H-Hey! Me not fat!"
She sighed. "Whatever."
"Ne…" he yelled as of no one was there listening to them. "Are you fine now? You seemed quite down th-"
"Referee. Can you please disqualify him? He's not taking the match seriously."
"Wh- I AM SOOOOO takingthismatchseriously!" he shouted and then shifted his gaze at this perplexed-on-different-levels opponent. The now-energetic boy flinched a little but otherwise kept his beam.
Fuji turned to Ryoma. "Yes, I do want to hear if you are fine bench coach-san."
"Oi." She uttered dismissively. "Start already."
The referee cringed under her stare and announced for them to begin. Fuji got the first service game. He smiled and stole a glance toward Ryoma…, and it just so happened that Tezuka was next in his line of sight—looking stoic, yet expressively even more guarded than before. As if he was ready to stop him if he did anything improper to that capricious girl on the bench.
He'd love to see that, but he had a game to win, revenge for his little brother to do…
He took one deep breath; put centripetal pressure on the ball, and threw it in the air—hitting it precisely on top and sliding it a bit down ensuring the ball retained and increased spin.
Now all was left was to watch the ball… disappear.
…
Ryoma's eyes widened after she forced them to slits—as she was just trying to focus her sights a second prior. The turbulence in the ball was outstanding…, and in a flick of the eye she just, well, lost sight of it.
"You are friggin' awesome!" Snorlax Jr. stated and then ran to his team mates, who just sweat-dropped at his antics. "He's such an amazing player! Did you see that shot? Did you? Did you?"
Ryoma's eyes twitched. "Referee—"
"Oi, you…" The referee called to Snorlax Jr., "Go back to the courts."
"You're so impatient, bench coach. Is that why you were cr—"
Ryoma's eyes widened and she whipped her head to her senpai. "Just beat him quick, senpai."
…
And that Fuji did. He beat him 6-2, and impressing everyone (which of course included Reina) with his techniques and awing them with his third counter—Hakugei.
He felt very accomplished. Not only did he avenge his brother and made him proud, he could see the amazement in Reina eyes too, despite barely allowing her expressions to change.
"Mada Mada." She said and he smirked. Given the context, that was a compliment.
"Thank you." He mumbled and he looked alternatively at Tezuka and Atobe after shaking hands with Jirou. He asked something about if anyone was stronger than him, and the two immediately popped up his head. Although… for some odd reason, they seemed to be pre-occupied with something… or someone. He squinted his eyes to see if he could catch them stealing glimpses.
And there it was. Tezuka's was understandable, but Atobe's?
Fuji frowned.
Seemed like things were even more complicated than he thought.
…
At a distant court, Tezuka and Ryoma were warming up. At a certain point, Ryoma was winning since Tezuka was barely moving. "You better start moving, Mitsu." She voiced out. "Want to do a 3-point match?"
He sighed, and just gestured to hit. They played a good game, even as short as it was. And as soon as they got out from the court, he finally brought himself to ask.
"Mind telling me what's your relationship with three of Hyotei's players?" He asked inquisitively catching Reina's puzzlement.
"Shishido-san, we just met by accident at the sports shop. Snorlax-"
"Jirou."
"Yeah, Jirou, I met above a tree. He was sleeping and I was passing time…"
"And what did he mean by you were about to cry."
She paused. She knew he'd be worried. "It's nothing much. He was just there when I arrived at a… disconcerting conclusion."
"Like?"
She blushed and stared at him for a while, thinking of just how to word it. "T-That I thought… uhmm…" She paused. "It was that time, when…"
"When?"
"You and Fuji-senpai had feelings for me."
He looked at her in the eyes. "But it's true…" He squinted his eyes. "What are you hiding?"
She didn't speak for a while since she could not lie. So he decided to just get to his conclusion. "You felt sad when you thought I fell in love with you?"
"…No. It was more of a-a confusion…" she uttered incoherently making him feel guilty for saying something like that. He remained silent so to let her speak.
She looked at the pavement. "I felt like crying b-because…" She blushed further. "I had no idea why I felt so happy…."
His eyes widened by a millimeter and he smiled.
"I'm glad." He stated and held her hand tightly.
And he completely forgot to ask about Atobe.
…
Singles 1 had finally started and there had visibly been more audience than before—this was a must-watch game, after all. There were scouts and a plethora of teams that time and they pretty much concluded that this would be a great match.
But then, only several minutes passed and—
THUMP THUMP THUMP
WHAT THE HELL WAS HE TRYING TO DO?
The match started out just fine, and both Reina and Atobe willed themselves not to input any external feelings into the game—especially Atobe. He loved tennis, Reina made sure of that all those years ago– and projecting his feelings for her and his bitterness for him was something he could not do.
Well, that was what he told himself. But then with his insight he found out that Tezuka's shoulders had been hurting, and he turned to his especially arrogant self afterwards. Who knew what he was thinking? That moment he was planning to make the match longer. He told himself he wanted not just to win but also destroy his arm, many others thought the same way. Maybe it was true, to some degree, despite him willing himself not to attach any sort of unnecessary feelings into this match… but what the hell—
He avoided Reina's glare.
Reina, on the other side of the court, sent him daggers. As many (and as deadly) as she could, but for some reason he had been especially immune to them today. She overheard her senpais talk about how Tezuka got his injury. She recalled how angry she was when she heard, despite the huge sweet-coating Tezuka did for his story. She could just see the events unfold at the time and Tezuka had to… kiss her to keep her from hunting them down.
At the moment, she was feeling anger, anxiety, and despair—too much that all she could do was grip the blasted chair. She knew Atobe, he wouldn't do such a thing as solely aim for Tezuka's shoulders. There was also the fact that he had improved at an unbelievable rate.
It was, in general, a great game… and so she had to fight herself for a decision whether or not to beg them to stop playing. The game had been taking much too long.
She forced herself to calm down, anymore negative energy might distract Tezuka… making things even more complicated. In any case, she tried to watch the game as calmly as she could, but to no avail.
"Change court!" The umpire finally announced, and she mustered all her strength to speak.
"Buchou…"
He gave her a smile that was invisible to everyone else.
"Trust me." He said. 'You understand… right?'
She gulped.
That was the problem. She did understand—and a little too much—to the point that it was no longer rational. She should be dragging him off the courts by now! But nooo, she knew a little too well that given the same position… she would do the same thing.
She closed her eyes to compose herself, and just looked at him.
"Don't let your guard down."
…
Atobe saw their interaction, and how they looked at each other. Hearing and imagining was one thing—but seeing it first-hand rendered him senseless. But he managed to stop himself before stepping in the courts though. This was such a great game that none of them would want to taint it with such selfish impulses.
The game continued on… It had been past an hour and their determination was far from lost. He underestimated Tezuka's motivations, admittedly, and he had been over-confident. His current situation ensured he saw that. He soon realized that him wanting to take the match long was because he wanted him to give up, in front of Reina.
He thought he was as cold and calculating as he looked – and so would do the rational thing to do, that was, lose. Forfeiting was next to impossible, but rushing the game to the point of showing holes was not – well, that was what he assumed. But then his love for his team was too great. So great… that Keigo didn't even think it was possible.
His sight accidentally caught Reina. His heart stopped for a moment but he willed himself to return to the game—his team was depending on him, too, after all. For the moment, he shooed away the fact that the person who even taught him the first thing about teamwork and responsibility was her – and focused on the game. Her eyes were full of determination and will power.
Probably to keep herself from jumping to Tezuka.
BOOM!
Sounded an extremely heavy shot directed to him. How could he still have so much power and control at a time like this?
'Concentrate Keigo.'
He continued the game. Soon he realized fully that Tezuka was even making the game longer himself. Even if he was a fellow captain, he couldn't fully understand his motives. His teammates seemed to know though, and so did Reina, making them look at him at an even more admiring state—who would've thought it could still happen.
He shook away all thoughts. The game has reached a battle of will power, and from then on he will rely mostly on his instincts… which suited him just fine, because he was getting tired of all the thinking… and the forcing himself not to think blasted issues.
He closed his eyes after hitting, and abruptly opened it revealing refreshed eyes.
He would not give up.
…
It was a magnificent game, and slowly her anxiety had been shooed away. Tezuka and Atobe were having fun, she could see that now, despite all the complications that was mixed with the game. She did not want to ruin this, not now…
But that little resolution lasted for only several minutes. The next thing she knew, Tezuka was no longer holding his racket… and he was crouching at the floor.
And that moment, Reina swore that she was going to black out.
.
.
END OF CHAPTER XXXVI
Coming Soon:
CHAPTER XXXVII: The Talk
REPLIES TO ANGELS
Natasya Ivashkov- Ahahaha~ I'm glad you still liked the chap! I'll do my best to keep you hooked. xD Thanks for the review~!
xDarkxKurokox – Indeed! I mean both at Tezuka's selflessness and Atobe's feelings lol. And the kidnapping thing isn't that dramatic… xD *turns your sadistic mode off*Thanks for the review~! And go write a little more, too! Haha
MintLeafeon- Maaaaaybe, maybe not. Fufufufu~ I'll try to update soon so I can say 'wait and see' safely. xD Thanks for the comment! ;D
Animelover4ever69- lol. I'm not sure by what you mean by 'testy' exactly but I bet I'll agree to it. Ahahah~ Thx for the comment~
PurpleScorpion- They do make a good couple don't they?! xD *Envious* And lawl, Atobe… getting hated even more… he's so beautiful *cough* /slapped. Hahaha. Thanks for the comment~ xD
Herondalefan- Thank you for the review! I'm glad you found their relationship satisfying~ I would love to see more of these types in real life. And I'll do my best to portray Hyotei~ xD
Lightning Lily- Here it is and I hope it was worth the wait! And… am I in trouble if I were to say we're more or less just half-way there? xD And thx for the review~
Shadowhawk- You blush when he does that? How nice! xD *high-five* And… I'll try to write the Atobe thing better so you'll be fine with whatever happens. Haha~ Thanks for the review and I did have a wonder summer~
Blueberryxn- Hahaha. And the moment you saw the questions, too! And I feel you. School can be depressing at times… Glad I helped somehow and thx for the review~
oxCuteKataraox- I'm very happy that you gave the story a chance! *hugs* And I'm glad that you did not regret it. Ahaha~ It's great to hear that I deserve these attention, even from you who originally did not like GBs. xD Thank you for the review~!
Big Sis of 8- Thanks, dude! I'm happy that you think so! xDD Hopefully, I won't do anything to make you change your mind. Lol
FranscoiseLaraLapis- Yep~ His hair might turn gray! xD And yes~ Tezuka will still go away for a bit, and oh, oh! Thanks for the comment~ ;D
Justgowithit5631- Thank you for the review! *blushes* And I'm glad you read that other one, too! And yes~ I wanted Fuji to have some sort of happy ending. xD
EminaEmina- Thank you for the review~! And I love the Pillar pair too! It's my fave pairing as well. xD And here's the update! Hope it was good enough. xD
Kagehana. Tsukio – Here it is~! I'm so sorry! Site went bonkers in my country so I couldn't access for a week. xD Anyway, I hope the wait was worth it but feel free to say otherwise. xD Thx for the comment~
Auroradawn123- (ch1) Thank you for the review frieeend~! Lol. And I shall push it! Hahhahaha. And Glad you liked everything so far~ I'll try to keep it up. xD
Guest [7/17/13] – (ch5) Yes. I can make a harem. xD Hope you get to read this reply someday and thanks for the comment. ;)
…
Thank you for reading!
I apologize for the delay, but I hope this chap was worth the wait!
And please don't hesitate to tell me what you thought! :D