Chapter Thirty-Six:
The Tournaments End

"Earth Rumble: Open Seal Three!" Serenity screams, her body almost completely drained. She had built up enough energy for this final seal. She had not been able to master the others as she had hoped obviously, seeing as she was worse for wear right now.

Ryoma was a great opponent. I had to admit that one. He had brought the best out in her, and I was proud of both of them. She had finally been able to show her full potential.

BAM! WHIZ! DROP!

My eyes were wide.

I could not believe what I was seeing. It could not happen. It was both improbable and impossible.

Serenity had lost for the first time in years, and her seal had been countered perfectly. I had not known this tennis-tensai to ever lose, and frankly it disturbed me.

"Match: Seigaku's Echizen Ryoma!"

Serenity was awed as she shook his hand, her head bowing in utmost respect. She walks back over to the sidelines to a quiet team.

"I... lost."

She had only lost to one person in my memory. That one person was her best friend, her captain- Me.

"This day is getting more and more interesting," I gawked. "I've never seen you lose besides when you and I had that rematch and every time we played after."

"My calculations were wrong. I even opened seal three!" she was aghast. "He's... amazing."

"I think you're a bit dazzled," Harmony smirks. "Amazing how great these guys are, isn't it?"

"Awe-worthy and disturbing."

"Who is playing next?" Paige drinks on the sugary drink. "There's two spots left. I take it that you're facing Tezuka and Serenity gets Syusuke after that?"

"Close enough."

The ref clears his throat, "Now, for Singles One, would Tezuka Kunimitsu and-"

"Castille Kimmy," Paige sighs.

"Aikens Paige please step onto the court?"

She turns to me, wide-eyed. I was smiling.

"Why?"

"Because you were right. This means a lot to you and even if we don't win, I know that everything will be all right. We can just work hard and get up to this speed again by next year."

"Kimmy..." she hugs me tightly, meaningfully, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Don't lose too badly, all right?"

"I won't," she smiles a sincere one, hurrying to the court. Even Tezuka seemed a bit astonished.

"Tezu-kun, this will prove to you what I really am capable of."

"Ready, BEGIN!"

:{Out of Focus}:

"What is she doing?" I gawked.

"She's winning?" Serenity gaped. "She's purposely making him strain his arm, like I heard Atobe did before. He'll be reduced to nothing soon."

"Ruthless as always, silly little Paige," I run a hand through my hair while pacing back and forth on the sidelines.

"Fuu. Chaos. REIGN!" she uses a mixture of Sanada's Fuu technique and her Chaos Reigns. It was a tough strain on her body, but it proves perfect. At the last minute, Tezuka moves to hit it, but he collapses in agony from his arm.

"There is no way in the seven bloody hells..." Harmony was staring with horror and shock. "There is seriously no way..."

"Match: Harrix's Asp!"

I did not move, I could not. Paige had beaten Captain Tezuka Kunimitsu. She had torn him from where he stood, straight from a pedestal.

But she had used wicked ways to get there. She was obviously hurt from the break up, but I never expected her to do that to him. At least she did not go full out and aim at him.

She had been taking lessons from Rikkaidai. That was where the wickedness must have stemmed, yet I did not quite believe that. I was not ashamed; no I was proud. She won, even if it was a dirty way.

But her winning was not what I was proud of. I gave her the chance to prove herself, and she had done it.

"Tezuka-kun!" She drops her racket, forcing her body to run to the other side of the court and help him up. He gave her a smile, breaking away from her long enough to shake her hand.

His lips move, mumbling words I could not hear. She had tears in her eyes as she shook her head, mumbling something back before she helped him back to the Seigaku team. She kissed his forehead lovingly before she drags herself back over here, collapsing and panting on the bench.

"What did you two say?"

"He told me he was sorry for breaking up with me. He knew it hurt me, but the tournament was too much to juggle with a relationship," she smiles through her tears. "I told him I was sorry and that I had made him strain his arm on purpose. I feel horrible."

"You proved yourself, my little snake," I chuckled, kissing her forehead this time. "You were amazing. I've never seen you so on before. I'm proud, if nothing else, and you proved yourself magnificently."

"Kimmy, I don't mean to put pressure on you, but if you lose this round then the tie is broken. This next match decides who is second and who is first," Serenity stares me straight in the face.

She knew I was not worried about that, not anymore.

A smile breaks her face. Not a small one, a large, joyous one that I have not seen in a long time, "You finally let go of that winning thing."

"Yeah, I kind of have," I forced. "My dad asked too much of me. I'm only fifteen for God's sake! I'm going to have fun, not only play."

"Would Singles Two, Castille Kimmy and Fuji Syusuke, step onto the courts for the end match?"

"Well girls, here I go," I pop my limbs, stretching while making sure my hair was tight and grabbing up my racket.

"Good luck Captain!"

"Show him whose boss Kimmy!"

"Have fun," Serenity's voice, though the quietest, was the best encouragement I had.

"Well Syusuke, you were right. You told me we'd verse. I hope you don't disappoint me," I take my stance, ready for this game. My shorts stretched with my body comfortably.

"I promise I won't, Kimmy-hime." He chuckles as I turn bright red, giving him time to take his own stance. He had first serve.

"Ready, BEGIN!"

The first thing I see is his beautiful eyes opening up. The match had begun.

:{Out of Focus}:

"Swallow's Return!"

"Angel's Wings!"

"White Whale!"

"Harp's Serenade!"

Words were flying back and forth. Technique after technique after technique were being used- one after another.

It was a battle of titans.

"Brown Bear!"

"Daybreak's Embrace!"

"She has something to counter every one of his techniques," Tiffany and Aylin had been shaken awake by the team to watch the deciding match halfway into it. "They've been at it for about an hour or more!"

"Fuu!" I screamed. "Swift like Wind!"

He easily reflects it.

"Rin!" I beat at the ball. "Quiet like the Forest!"

It comes back to me again as he counters.

'Damn it!'

"Ka! Invade like Fire!"

Here it comes back again.

"In! Formless, like the Shadows!"

Here comes that damnable ball back to me. Syusuke was panting heavily and I was exhausted, but we both played for ourselves and our teams.

"Zan! Immovable like the Mountain!"

"Keep trying, Kimmy-hime!" He strikes it back.

"RAI! STRIKE LIKE LIGHTNING!"

That move took the most out of me. I was in serious pain now, but I refused to quit.

"Dragonfly Illusion!"

"Butterfly Love!"

"Phoenix Return!"

"Vipers Venom!"

"Kirin Drop!"

"Malevolent Heart!"

"White Dragon!"

"Dark Intent!"

We were both wobbling more than not. Our moves were sharper as we became more prone to falling unconscious. It was a weird twist, but it meant we were trying harder to end this long match.

Do not get me wrong, I was in heaven. I could not be happier than I was right now.

It felt like the first time I had ever played tennis.

:{Out of Focus}:

"Daddy! Look! I hit it! I did it!"

"You have a knack for it, Kimmy. You'll be great if you want. You just have to try."

"I love it Daddy! This is fun! Lots and lots of fun!"

"Show me that one move again please?"

"Okies!" I giggled, my little four-year-old body holding a racket that was just my size. "Kiss of Dawn!"

"Ah, it's so cute!" he cooed. "One day you'll have that move perfected, sweetie."

He did not tell me, but the point was to get the ball over the net.

:{Out of Focus}:

"Kiss of Dawn!" I serve a wild one, making it do the exact opposite of what he expected.

He was too fast for me and deflected it back.

I grunt, returning it again.

It was starting to remind me of the battle with Serenity I had experienced so many years prior.

:{Out of Focus}:

"You're good, Skylar."

"Better than you!" she aims dead center and scores another point.

The entire boarding school was watching two ten-year-olds as we danced across the court. We battled like this was our very lives.

"Wanna bet?!" I served it roughly into the far right corner and get a point on my side. "Beat that!"

"Gladly!"

I had never felt so good when I played. It was magical finding someone that was so great and so amazing on the court. Her mind worked faster and farther ahead than mine did, though not by much. She was a genius, like I, but I had a feeling she was more advanced.

Right now I did not care. I was in a state of euphoria.

And it was as close to heaven as I would get.

This girl would grow to be the best friend I had, I could tell just by how we moved on the court. She would be my rival and my shoulder to cry on.

It was a great feeling.

:{Out of Focus}:

"I won't lose Syusuke!"

"Neither will I!"

He was getting ready for something. I myself had almost run out of things to do. I could not maintain the State of Self-Actualization anymore, or I would be copying his moves right now. I had exhausted too much energy.

"Gate Keeper of Hecatonchires!"

"What the hell is that?!" I screech. I had perfected a counter to all of his moves, or so I thought.

He had an ace up his sleeve.

I knew how to counter it. The ball had a super spin on it as he had done something I had never seen. He had hit it with the reverse side of his racket and then quickly switched to the front.

I just had to create a counter-spin, but I had one chance to do so.

"Don't rule me out yet!" I screamed as I feel my muscles tighten in my wrists.

I would not dare let this match end.

I smacked the ball, rolling to make a counter-spin.

The ball zooms towards the net. It was almost there and I could tell it would barely make it over.

The ball hits the net.

And drops onto the court.

My side of the court.

The crowd, the air, the room, the building, the world- it was all silent. Syusuke and I were the only ones making any noise with our eradicate breathing.

"Match: Seigaku's Triple Counter Prodigy!"

I smile the most genuine I think I have smiled in a long time. I was happy, I was content; nothing could make me feel like this but a superior opponent granting me a game that would never be forgotten.

Syusuke and I both drag ourselves to the net. We shake hands, holding them there with those smiles real, taking up our faces with our eyes open, staring straight at the other.

"Thank you for the greatest game I've ever played," I laugh, tears in my eyes and emotions running high. I bowed my head.

"Thank you for that thrill I've been looking towards for a very long time," he also bows to me.

The crowd was going wild. Clapping, hollering, hooting, whistling, screaming- all of it was for us.

"THE JUNIOR TENNIS WORLD CHAMPIONS ARE... THE SEIGAKU REGULARS OF SEISHUN GAKUEN!"

Syusuke and I did something magical. Right in the middle of the tennis courts, he hugged me tightly, the net between us. I hug him back just as tight, shoulders shaking as I cried.

No, I did not cry because I had lost.

I cried because I had finally been given something to make me feel alive. It was a match that truly broke my heart and pieced it back together in one grand game.

I did not even know how long we hugged like that before our teams pulled us away. My girls hug me and cheer. I was confused as to why they cheered for me when I'd lost, but it becomes clear.

They loved me.

"Kimmy! You're my idol!" Aylin was crying. "It was... amazing!"

"That's saying it lightly!" Paige was even happy, her face no longer crying as she hugged me like there was not a tomorrow to look forward to. "I've never seen you play before. I mean, I thought I had, but this was nothing like your old matches!"

Serenity steps up, looking me dead in the face. She bows low and stays that way.

"I respect you now as my superior, Captain Kimmy Elissa Castille," she had never said that. It meant the world to me and more. "I've never seen anything like what just happened. I hope one day you'll look to me as your equal as you do to Syusuke-sama."

"Thank you..." Syusuke's voice whispers in my ear. I turn around and he takes me into his arms, kissing me in front of all the people in the entire stadium. I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him back, the magic flowing through me and making emotions run even higher.

The crowd watched us in fascination and awe. They begin cheering again, louder and louder. The crowd leaks into the courts, taking Syusuke and I from one another and carrying us. We were thrown into the air.

"Castille! Fuji! Castille! Fuji!"

"Guys, put me down!" I holler to them. They set me down and as they do I look to the Seigaku team, standing tall as they are congratulated. My team and I force our way through and the crowd parts, letting us stand in front of each other, team to team.

"You have surpassed us. Congratulations," I take Tezuka's hand, holding it high as Atobe had done to me.

Speaking of Atobe, while the crowd cheers, he bursts through and stands between us.

"No, you both deserve praise!" He holds both our hands up high, higher then I could reach, smirking. "The world's greatest game of tennis, as Ore-sama witnessed! Let's hear it for them!"

And the thunderous roar commences once more.