Kyandi: Hey everyone!
Hikari: Morning all!
Kyandi: Here's another chapter for all of you!
Hikari: And we'll be putting up another right after.
Kyandi: Yeah I got a few down when I should have been sleeping last night.
Hikari: So we'll just leave it at that.
Kyandi: Yes we will!
Hikari: Enjoy and review.
Kyandi: I do not own Prince of Tennis.
Chapter 37 Betting Once Again
Hikari dropped to sit on the bench with a sigh. "Here Hika-chan." Fuji said passing her a towel. "Thank you Fuji-sempai." she told him taking it from him. Hikari hung the towel around her neck and wiped her face clean of the sweat.
"That was a great match you two." Oishi told her and Inui. Both smiled. "It was a last minute pairing, but we know each other pretty well." Hikari remarked as she rubbed her left arm. "Is your arm hurting?" Oishi asked worried.
Tezuka looked at Hikari who shook her head. "No. Its just its been so long since I've used those shots in an actual match. My arm is getting a little tired and the muscles a little sore." she told them.
"Here, try this." Oishi told her pulling a heating pad out of his bag. Hikari pulled her sleeve up to let him put it on her shoulder before putting another on her elbow just in case. The slight heat on her joint eased the soreness of her muscle causing the girl to sigh.
"Thank you Oishi-fukubuchou." she told him. Oishi nodded. "Don't use those shots too much, Higarashi." Tezuka told her. Hikari looked at him and smiled. "Right." she told him. "I won't." she promised with a nod.
"Its your turn now." she told Tezuka who nodded. "Good luck, Tezuka-buchou." she told him as he headed out onto the court.
"You sure you'll be alright, Hika-chan?" Tezuka heard Fuji ask. "I'll be fine, Fuji-sempai. I have to be anyway. I can't afford not to be. We still have a ways to go after this." came Hikari's reply. Tezuka paused at the coach's bench to check his laces.
"Hika-chan don't push yourself too much." Oishi told the girl. Tezuka looked out of the side of his eyes as Hikari gave Oishi a smile.
"That's not fair, Oishi-fukubuchou. You all get to push yourself and I'm not allow to? Its my team too. As long as winning Nationals is everyone's dream, I will work and play my hardest. No matter the injuries." she told her vice-captain.
Tezuka turned his eyes back to his laces. "You know I don't think she would work this hard if she didn't care so much about you and the others." Tezuka looked up at Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki glanced as him and then looked away.
"She's a lot like you. Stubborn about not giving up when she's found something she cares about." Ryuzaki added. Tezuka glanced back over as Hikari who was resting against the wall her jacket draped over her shoulders as she lightly massaged her left arm.
Stubborn didn't even begin to describe the girl. She worked hard to do her share and then worked even harder to help others do their share. But then again maybe that was the reason Tezuka liked and respected the girl.
-0-0-0-0-
Hikari looked up at the sky as it started raining. "Th-This is bad! That's enough Tezuka! Just give up this match!" Oishi yelled. "TEZUKA!" Tezuka wasn't listening to Oishi. "Leave him be, Oishi-fukubuchou." Hikari told him.
Oishi turned to look at her. "You should know that our captain never runs away. Even if it means he'll injury his arm again, he won't give up." Hikari added as she leaned her head back to let the rain fall on her face.
"You aren't worried!?" Oishi asked. "Of course I am, but that's not going to get him to stop. Anyway…Tezuka-buchou is more accustomed to the rain slick court then Kabaji-san is." Hikari replied. "Not to mention that, a fake, an mere copy, could never stand up to the real deal." Hikari added as the result of the match was called. "Game set Seigaku's Tezuka, 7-6!"
Hikari smiled at the frustration on Shishido's face as it was announced that the matches would continue the next day. "I bet he's so overly frustrated." she remarked from her spot. Eiji offered a hand up pulling the girl to her feet.
"Thanks Kikumaru-sempai." she told him. Hikari looked up as Atobe passed by Ryoma tapping the younger boy on the head with his racket as he passed. "Hey Atobe-san!" Atobe stopped and turned to look at her.
"Tomorrow…the winner will be Seigaku." she told him with a smile, sort of mocking the Hyotei cheer. "You think so Hihime-chan?" he asked with a smirk on his face.
"I don't think…I know." she replied firmly. Atobe chuckled at her. "Willing to bet on your team's victory? Are you that sure of their ability to win?" he asked. All of the Seigaku boys looked at Hikari as she smiled.
"Every time. I'm willing to bet the prize from the last bet." she said. Atobe shook his head. "This is Nationals, Hihime-chan. The prize better be bigger." he told her. Hikari pressed one hand to her chest over her heart faking hurt.
"Why I'm hurt, Atobe-san that you don't think that prize is good enough." she said sarcastically making him smile. Hikari eyed him before crossing her arms. "Four and you got a deal." she told him. Atobe chuckled.
"Oh no, no, no, Hihime-chan. The last time I made this bet with you, you had your little rookie prince there come in and sweep the victory out from under us." Atobe said as he walked towards her pointing one finger at Ryoma who raised an eyebrow.
Atobe stopped in front of Hikari who looked up at him with a raised brow. "If I'm going to take part in this bet this time you better make it worth my while." he told her. "Name a price and we'll see." she replied.
Atobe eyed her for a long moment as if wondering just how far he could push her. "Ten." he said finally. It was now Hikari's turned to laugh. "Five is that's it." she replied making Atobe raise his eyebrow at the girl. The other members of the Seigaku team looked at Ryoma as the two argued a price.
"What's going on?" Eiji asked Ryoma as he eyed Atobe and Hikari. "Back at the Kantou tournament Atobe bet her one date with her that we would lose." Momo told them. "Higarashi took the bet saying we'd win hands down." Ryoma added.
"Fine!" Atobe declared finally drawing all attention back to him and Hikari. "Five and," Atobe tilted her chin up. "One kiss." he added. A spike of anger raced up the spines of her teammates. Kaido and Momo jumped forward to thrash Atobe but Taka and Oishi stopped them.
Hikari simply swatted Atobe's hand away. "Deal." she told him. Atobe smiled. "Then we'll see you tomorrow." he said before walking off. "Hika-chan!" Hikari turned to look at her teammates. "Why would you make a bet like that!?" Oishi asked.
"Because I have full confidence that we'll win." Hikari told them with a smile. "This isn't fun and games, Higarashi. Nationals is serious. You need to take it seriously." Tezuka scolded making the smile fall from Hikari's face.
"I didn't think it was fun and games Tezuka-buchou." she said seriously a little hurt in her voice. "I made the bet as a friendly jest between Atobe-san and myself. And…I was showing my faith and confidence in my teammates' abilities to take the victory." she told him.
She was hurt that he would even suggest such a thing and it was clear on her face. "You honestly think I don't take this seriously?" she asked. Tezuka didn't say anything. The set of Hikari's mouth drew into a hard line, showing slightly that she was far from happy with that. "Well apparently you don't know me very well." she added turning her face away from him.
Oishi stepped in. "Now Hika-chan there's no need to get mad! Tezuka was just stating that none of us should take it lightly!" Oishi told her as Hikari looked at him. "I know what Tezuka-buchou was saying." she replied before turning and grabbing her bag.
"I'll see all of you tomorrow." she replied over her shoulder before taking off. "Hika-chan!" Oishi called but Hikari was gone. "She's not happy." Eiji said. "No, she's not." Momo agreed.
-0-0-0-0-
"Ryuzaki-sense…it seems that Hyotei is putting everything on the line in this match." Tezuka told Ryuzaki. "Indeed Tezuka…I didn't think that even you would have such a hard fought match." Ryuzaki said.
"I fear that in our next Doubles 1 match against Hyotei's strongest Doubles team: Shishido and Ohtori. To be honest we currently don't have a team who can beat that combination." Ryuzaki told him as Tezuka stared out the window.
On the court directly below him, Oishi was practicing hard. As he watched Eiji jumped in to join his partner in practicing. "No, there just might be one team left who can pull it off." Tezuka told Ryuzaki as she joined him at the window. Ryuzaki nodded before something else caught her eyes.
"You know Tezuka," Tezuka looked at Ryuzaki. "Higarashi highly values your judgment. She takes your opinion of things very seriously." Ryuzaki told him. Tezuka glanced at her and then back down at Oishi and Eiji.
"Suggesting that she's not taking this seriously, that she's not being serious. A suggestion like that from you, really hurts that girl. Especially when its not true. If anyone on the team is overly serious, its that girl. She works hard, harder then most, and she does more then her fair share to keep up with and surpass the others." Ryuzaki told him.
"She pushes herself hard to meet your standards, and then pushes even harder because as a girl she doesn't want to be a burden to the team. Even going as far as staying at school until late hours, practicing in the rain." Ryuzaki added pointing towards one of the far courts.
Tezuka turned and looked. On the farthest court from Oishi and Eiji, Hikari was practicing on her own. She was chasing the ball fiercely back and forth over the court, hitting it hard and then chasing it down again.
"I think you owe her an apology." Ryuzaki told him. Tezuka looked at Ryuzaki who turned to go back to her desk. "The sooner the better. Higarashi is the type of girl that her emotions could either make or break her tennis style. I don't think you want to risk that." Ryuzaki added.
Tezuka looked at her. She had a point. He did owe Hikari an apology. Tezuka looked back out the window at Hikari. But not tonight. She didn't really look like she wanted to talk at the moment and he wasn't going to push his luck.
END
Kyandi: Alright here's the chapter.
Hikari: We're going to start preparing the next one to put up.
Kyandi: Yep.
Hikari: And then depending on how many more people review saying they want the Halloween chapter, we'll start on that.
Kyandi: If they want it, it should be fun.
Hikari: Yep! So everyone enjoy and review.
Kyandi: And we'll be back soon.
Hikari & Kyandi: Bye!