Chapter 2:

He. Was having. A panic. Attack.
His heartbeat was becoming thunderous in his head as he excused himself from the Hyotei Regulars and headed for the washroom. Atobe pushed open the door and walked straight to the sink. He grasped the cool stone and tried to focus on his breathing. She was alive. She was here. She is ALIVE. He splashed his face with cold water and took a deep breath in. The last time he had seen her... He breathed out and looked up at the mirror. He was pale, his pupils slowly shrinking as he took another deep breath and straightened up. His heartbeat was slowing down and he waited to make sure that he was calm before he left the washroom.
"You okay?"
He almost jumped. Almost.
He turned to see Oshitari waiting by the wall beside the washroom door. Something he used to do to..
"I'm fine." He said quietly, monotonously. "Let's go."

"She fell from the waterfall and when she woke up she had no memory of anything. We kept her here to see if we can help her regain her memories." Coach Saito smiled gently at them. "Please try to keep it to yourselves that she is here."

The evening air was cold and fresh. Atobe stared at the tennis ball he was repeatedly bouncing on the tennis court as he thought about the Mental Coach's simple answer to their demand of information about Mizuka. The answer was simple. Too simple. How could they have not known who she was? They must've seen the news even if they were cooped up in this training camp. They had to. It was everywhere. He made sure of it. He tossed the ball high up in the air and hit it with his racket, making it land directly in the corner of the serving line that he never misses. He had to admit he was a little tired from the circuit training Coach Tsuge had put them through. He couldn't want to go take a nice long bath.
"Atobe."
He straightened up and looked behind him. Oshitari.
"It's time."
Right.

"Maybe the players who have played against her before should face her in tennis," Kikumaru suggested. "That's how Ochibi got his memories back."

Oshitari walked beside him as they headed in the direction of Court 1. He could feel Oshitari's burning desire to talk to him and ask him questions and fortunately, he didn't. They got to the court to see a match already playing. He paused, his breath caught when he saw her. At least she wasn't wear that ridiculously big jersey. He then looked at remaining members of the high schoolers sitting on the bleachers and looking down at the tennis match.
"Why is there so many people here?" Atobe asked.
"We didn't know who played against her before so I invited all of them," Kikumaru said.
"I know who she has played against," Atobe tried to keep the iritation out of his voice. "Kikumaru, do you know why the Coach told us to keep it to ourselves?" He didn't wait for him to reply as he stalked past him. "Just think about it long and hard."
"Atobe, you don't have to be so mean. He's just trying to help," Oshitari said.
"Sometimes when people try to help they make it worse."
Oshitari sighed. "No doubt there."
Atobe realized that the remaining members of all the high schoolers were there. He also realized that they probably all came to show their support even though they were still sad that their teammates had to leave the camp.

They were only playing Tie-Break games with the highest point being seven. She was feeling restless after being trapped in her room all day. Tokugawa had dropped her off at her room and left without so much of a goodbye. There was a signaled knock on the door shortly after and she opened it to have Oni glowering down at her with Irie behind him. "Don't even think about leaving your room." Feeling betrayed, she looked at Irie who must've told Oni that her cover was exposed to see him smiling apologetically at her. Oni shoved a plate of food into her hand and then pulled the door closed. Just remembering that annoyed her as she swung her return against her current opponent.

The very first match she played was against someone who was apparently her brother, Tezuka Kunimitsu; tall, dark brown hair, oval glasses. He reminded her of Tokugawa. Maybe that's why she found him so comfortable to be around. They only played a one point match with Irie watching. A long drawn out one point match, ending with him returning the ball with a drop shot, a drop shot that didn't bounce. She stared as it rolled back into the net. Something tugged at her memory but she shook it away.

After her brother were two others who were from the same school; a calm one that always looked like he was smiling, Fuji Shusuke, and a very energetic and enthusiastic one, Kikumaru Eiji. As the games commenced, more and more people filled the bleachers.
"You're not tired, are you?" Irie asked after what seemed like her 10th match.
"Just a little," She said. Some of them felt comfortable playing against while others were not.
"In that case," He turned and raised his voice to the bleachers. "Last match of the night."
"Then I'll be the one to play with her last."
His deep voice rang out and silenced the talking that had built up. He stood up from the ground level of the bleachers and walked over to the court with his blue racket. He stood in the middle of the net and looked down at her with his dark blue eyes. He held out his hand. "Atobe Keigo."
"Tezuka Mizuka," She shook his hand and he held it for a couple seconds longer. "It's nice to meet you, Hat-Thief."
"It wasn't fooling me."
"It fooled everyone else."
"No matter what disguise you have on, I will always be able to find you."
She blinked. Confused. "Let's have a good game. Serve?"
"Ladies first," He did a small bow at the waist.
"Suit yourself," She picked up her racket and walked back to the service line. She bounced the ball a couple times and looked at him. He straightened and stood up, not even in a ready position to return the ball. Was he even going to try? He was just going to waste her time. She frowned and threw up the ball and serve and it bounced right past him. She glared at him when he started laughing, annoyed. "What's so funny?"
He pointed his racket at her. "How dare you use your left hand."
She blinked a couple times and then smiled, calling back over to him. "Problem?"
"Use your right hand."
"Make me," She served again and had to switch hands in the middle of the game since he was a difficult opponent. She could see him grinning on the other side. He scored a point that evened the score with a drop shot which made her scuttle towards the net.
"You've improved."
"Nice drop shot, Atobe-san."
He stiffened at her comment yet she couldn't understand why. She did compliment him. They stared at each other for a moment longer before turning back to their own service lines. The score was 1-1 and it was his serve. She watched him bounce the ball, toss it up, and serve. She ran up to return it but the ball never bounced. Another tug.

"That Atobe is a cruel one," Oshitari wondered aloud as he watched Atobe do another Tannhäuser serve. Though, it must've hurt him for her to call him by his last name.
"I feel bad for Mizuka," Ootori said.
Everyone let out a sound of surprise when Mizuka returned Atobe's third Tannhäuser serve.
"Isn't Atobe's Tannhäuser serve almost impossible to return?" Sengoku asked.
"Yes, it is," Oshitari sighed. "And it seems like Mizuka has learned a lot in this training camp. She was never able to return that serve before."
They watched as the score climbed to 7-6 with Mizuka in the lead. They were rallying and from what Oshitari can see, they were both having fun, grinning at each other. Atobe finally smashed the ball at Mizuka's racket grip, sending her racket flying away. He jumped up again to smash the ball and she looked up and stumbled back and fell back on the ground just as he hit the ball.
"Shit!"
Atobe's swear was audible throughout the court as the ball smacked right into Mizuka's face. That sound was also audible throughout the court.
Sengoku gasped along with everyone else. "That can't be good."
"No kidding," Oshitari walked quickly to the court along with Sengoku and the Seigaku Regulars as Atobe jumped over the net and raced to Mizuka's side.
"Arg...Ow.."
"Are you okay?" Atobe lifted her up to stand and took off her hat, tilting her face so he can have a better look but she pulled away.
"Of course I'm not okay! You just hit me with the ball!"
"It was an accident."
"I know. It just hurts," She pouted and touched her cheekbone that was growing redder by the second. She blinked quickly several times and the tears disappeared from her eyes. She looked at Atobe and smiled. "Good game, Atobe-san."
Atobe straightened, the softened look gone from his face as he shook her hand. "Good game."

"What a game," Sengoku stated. "You just had to hit her in the face."
"It's not like I did it on purpose," Atobe glared at Sengoku. Though he had to admit the game could've went better.
Sengoku put up his hands in defense. "I was just kidding. It was a good game."
Atobe shrugged. He glanced at Tezuka who was speaking with Irie. Then he looked at Mizuka who was fidgeting with her racket on the bench. Feeling the urge to go to her, he took a step in her direction and halted when he heard that annoying voice.
"What a shame, what a shame, Atobe."
He turned to see Mizuki, smirking and twirling a strand of his hair with his finger. "Yes, quite a shame to see you here."
Mizuki ignored his comment and stepped down to the same level as Atobe. He was shorter than him so Atobe looked down at him. He was practically the same height as Mizuka. "You know what I wonder?"
Atobe sighed. "Feel free to express yourself."
"I was just wondering maybe Mizuka doesn't remember you because she doesn't want to remember you."
"Say that again." Atobe took a step toward that annoying bastard. Oshitari put a hand on his shoulder while Sengoku stood on his other side.
Mizuki crossed his arms and smirked up at him. "Mizuka doesn't even know who you are. For all she knows, she's just a girl, a single girl with no boyfriend, at this training camp."
God, was he annoying. He kept his face neutral and didn't let Mizuki's words affect him. "You're wasting my time." He glanced at the bench again but Mizuka was gone. "Let's go." He proceeded to walk away as Mizuki continued.
"I say it's a free for all."
He had Mizuki's shirt in his grasp in a second. "You go near her and I'll make you regret it." He narrowed his eyes at that stupid smirking face Mizuki had on and released him.

Sengoku sighed. "Atobe, I hate to say this but...Mizuki's kind of right."
"What did you say?"
"Not about the girlfriend thing but the thing about how Mizuka doesn't know who you are? He's right about that," Sengoku said.
"I'll do what I want, Sengoku." Atobe snapped. "Goodnight." He added as he walked away with Oshitari toward their dorm rooms. He didn't want to hear anymore. He quietly bid Oshitari goodnight as he stood in front of the dorm room and mentally prepared for his roommates.

Oshitari wasn't sure if he was just imagining it or if some of the members of U-21 were glaring at Atobe. He noticed it when they were walking through the buildings and the tennis courts. They would give him dark looks and whisper to one another. He caught snippets of their whispers like 'It's him' and 'He's the one.' Atobe, it seemed, did not notice it and if he did, he didn't care. Their dorm rooms were right beside each other so they walked down to breakfast together. Atobe didn't want to wait for Ootori since he roomed with Kikumaru and it was way too early for it to be so noisy and Jirou would probably still be asleep.
"I wonder what the Coaches have in store for us today."
"Training exercises and probably a match against a court member," Atobe said. "They still need to get proper stats on us before they put us into different courts." They got to the cafeteria and he followed Atobe to Irie and who could only be Mizuka. How Atobe could spot her in that disguise confuses him. He wouldn't have even known it was her if it weren't for him.
"Good morning!" Irie smiled.
Atobe greeted him but kept his eyes on Mizuka. "If you want to keep yourself hidden, you're failing pretty hard."
Mizuka picked up a piece of sandwich with the tongs and placed it on her plate and tilted her head to look up at him. "It hardly seems necessary since you exposed me in front of everyone already." When Atobe didn't say anything she continued. "Tell me, do you grab everyone's hats like that or just strangers, Atobe-san?"
Judging by Atobe's arched eyebrow, he also noticed that Mizuka spoke differently. Or maybe that's just the way she spoke to strangers and not friends.
"Atobe has keen eyes. He can see through a lot of things," Oshitari said before realizing that it came out wrong but Mizuka giggled. The sound caused nearby people to look at her. Atobe shot him a warning look and he stared back in disbelief. It's not my fault she's laughing.
"I don't believe we have met. My name is Tezuka Mizuka."
Oshitari stared at her in confusion as she looked at him thoughtfully and blinked a couple times before he remembered that she lost her memories. "Oshitari Yuushi," He shook her hand and smiled lightly. "Pleased to meet you." Again.
Atobe glanced at her plate of food. "You don't like turkey."
"I think I know what I do or do not like," She retorted. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you. See you around, Oshitari-san. Atobe-san."

For the next three days after that, Atobe would approach her and whoever she was with. Even if she was with Oni and Oni was snarling at him to go away, he would greet her and bother her and it irritated her. It was different with her brother and his friends since they had a different manner of approaching. Oshitari, she noticed, would follow Atobe and she assumed he did that to keep his friend out of trouble since he always smiled or shrugged apologetically after she was annoyed.

"Atobe-kun has a shuffle-match this morning," Irie said one morning when he saw her looking around the cafeteria.
"I wasn't looking for him!" She snapped.
"I was just informing you," He smiled cheerfully.
"I know that!" She grabbed a bunch of sandwiches and dumped them on her plate.
"Uh-"
"Don't you start." She growled.

"Not liking the turkey?" Irie said.
Mizuka forced down the swallow after she took a bite of the sandwich. They were back in her room and he sat across from her watching her eat. There was always a different variety of food prepared by the chefs daily and she so happened to dump the whole bunch of turkey sandwiches on her plate. She found out she didn't like it the other day when Atobe mentioned it. Gods, it annoyed her again. "No, I'm just not used to the taste." She took another bite of her sandwich, ignoring Irie's knowing smile.
"Atobe-kun seems to know a lot about you."
"No, he doesn't."
"He knows you aren't left handed." She shrugged. Not many people are left handed anyways. "And he knows you don't like turkey." She rolled her eyes.
"Where are you going?" She asked when he stood up.
"Court 3 has a shuffle match against court 4," He said and added with a wink. "We both know you're not going to stay in here so just be careful and stay hidden, okay?" And then he was gone.
She dropped the sandwich on the plate and pushed it away. "I don't like turkey."
But Irie was right, she was not going to stay in her room. She tucked her hair in, put on her hat, and grabbed her racket. She quickly went through the dorm building and out to the private tennis courts to find an empty court and started warming up with exercise schedule that Coach Tsuge planned for her to do everyday. The sun was at its highest peak by the time she finished her warm ups and started practicing against the wall. Something was tugging at her brain which was giving her a headache. Maybe it was the heat from the sun. Maybe she needed water...Which she forgot to bring. She heaved a big dull sigh and hit the ball as hard as she could, frustrated, and sending it flying far and she quickly made her way back to her dorm room.

"Where have you been?" Oni glowered down at her. He was in her room when she got back.
"Washroom?" She tried.
When he spoke again, his tone was surprisingly gentle. "The only reason why the Coaches and I want you to stay in your room is because you are the only girl on this campus."
"But Oni-san, I can't stay locked up in this room," She protested. "For four weeks I had to stay locked up in this room until one of you guys came to escort me." She put an emphasis on escort. "I can't stand it! So what if I'm the only girl here?"
"Think about it like this. What if there was one guy on a campus full of girls?"
She blinked a couple times at him as she tried to picture that. "I think it would be pretty fun and cute."
Bad example. Oni scowled. "Boys do not have the same mindset as girls."
"But some of the boys already know I'm here. Can't I just stop hiding?"
"No."
She pouted. "Fine."

After Oni's lecture, Mizuka stayed in her room and reread a book. She woke up suddenly not realizing that she had fallen asleep. It was already dark outside and she realized she must've been exhausted from exercising. Her body ached. And she hadn't washed herself yet...It was half past one in the morning as she snuck out of her room and quickly made her way toward the bathing chambers. She paused by a window when she saw movement. She hadn't seen him or talked to him all day...She stared out at the court, at him practicing, and something inside her tugged at her.

"Who were you paired up against in your shuffle-match?"
Atobe turned around to see the one and only. Her hair was down and she wasn't wearing her hat. "Ahn? Hello to you too, beautiful." He stalked up to her, his racket on his shoulder, satisfied to see that he could still make her blush.
"Hello," Her voice faltered when he stood directly in front of her.
"You know, Oni's not going to like it when he finds out that you're out of your room."
"He's not going to find out!"
"He always finds out, trust me."
"And how would you know?"
He shrugged. "He seems like a man who always finds out things in the end." He leaned closer to her a grinned mischievously. "Tell me, did you miss me today? Is that why you came to find me?"
"Y-You still didn't answer my question!" She flustered.
"And you didn't answer mine," He winked and it seemed to agitate her more. He straightened up and replied. "I got paired up against someone from Court 7."
"Court 7 already?" Her eyes were wide.
"Why? Surprised by how amazing I am?" She stared at him with such intensity that he thought it might be her time of the month. He then decided to risk the chance of asking, "Do you really not remember me?"
He saw the light go out of her eyes and she frowned and looked down. "Am I supposed to remember you? I can't even remember my own self."
And then he couldn't help it. His hand reached out and used the ends of her hair to tickle her ear.
She giggled. "Stop it, Atobe!" And then she stopped, her eyes fazing out of focus. He resisted the urge to put his hand around her waist when she took a step back. She shook her head and placed a hand on her head, wincing. "My head hurts."
"I'll walk you back to your room."
"I need to shower."
He gave her a seductive smile. "Are you inviting me to shower with you?"
"No!"