12. Let him know that you know best, 'cause after all, you do know best

"I've done my homework".

Yanagi looked at Matsui as she sat next to him with a large smile on her face. He smiled back. "You aren't speaking about school", he said.

"Smart as usual, but it was pretty obvious. Why should you care about my homework?", she tilted her head. "Unless you're one of those guys who- Nevermind", she shook her head. "We aren't even dating yet".

"Yet?"

"Never say never", she searched her jacket's pocket and pulled out a crumpled paper. "Anyway", she smoothed it on her legs. "Hyoutei Gakuen".

"It wasn't the first time you've heard that name".

"Of course not. I come from Aomori, not from Siberia". She glanced up.

Yanagi looked away from her to put his attention back at the courts. On the main court, the regulars were still running laps before the actual practice. On the other courts, the rest of the club was following the regular training. Marui still wasn't in sight; it had been more than a week after the Ranking Matches. Yanagi considered he had had him enough time already. It was time to go speaking to him.

Before that, though-

"Are you listening?", Matsui asked him.

He fold the corner of his mouth. "Always".

"Right". She side-eyed him. "Where was I at? Hyoutei. Nice school. I've seen it on Google Earth. Big campus. Rich people".

"All of this", Yanagi said, "and much more".

"That's what I wanted to know". She pointed at a name at the top of the page. "Atobe Keigo".

Yanagi nodded. "Of course".

"I've done my research, as you told me. To be fair, it hadn't been a long search. He isn't exactly a guy who, you know, lives under the radar", she lifted her brows.

"Go ahead".

"And what I got was much information about his career. I even found interviews", she shook her head. "Like, Hyoutei has this super cool website that-"

"I know it very well, Matsui", he cut her short.

"Yes, I know you know, but let me finish", she rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry".

"Don't be. Just let me finish", she pointed at the words right below Atobe's name. They said "Big rivalry".

"He sure likes to talk", she continued. "And that's good for me. That's how I got about the long, long list of his rivals", she glanced at him. "Basically, everyone who has ever stole a point from him at tennis".

"Atobe likes to be dramatic sometimes", Yanagi explained. "But, in fact, there are few players he truly considered his rivals, before entering High School, at least", he gave a quick glance at the courts. Still no Marui. "I don't have any data about his current situation in High School. Yet".

"Let me guess", she said. "That kid from Seigaku", she lifted one finger. "Not our business, he's still a Middle Schooler. Sanada-kun", she lifted a second finger. "Our very business, but not our point now. And", she smiled, and lifted a third finger. "Yukimura-kun. Our very very business. Our point. Our everything".

"Can you reach this point, Matsui?", Yanagi asked. "It's very clear you've something in mind. Don't misunderstand me; I'm pretty sure I already know what is it. But I wanna to hear that from you".

"You will, but let me finish first", she glared at him. "You asked for my help".

"Not exactly", Yanagi said. "I asked you to collaborate to-"

"You asked for my help", she interrupted him. "And that's fine. I also want Yukimura-kun to be part of the team. The more I think about it, the more I believe it's such a waste he just has that horrible personality that ruined everything. But", she smiled at him, and pulled out a second paper from her pocket. "I also have a plan. But I want to discuss it with you first".

Yanagi quit to glance at the courts. There were no chance Marui would've shown up today. "You have my attention, Matsui".

"About time", she said, and started to explain.


"Are you nervous?"

Sanada glanced outside the window. He wasn't there to fall to Niou's provocations.

"Why should I?", he asked.

He didn't know why Niou decided to sat next to him. Probably because all the other seats of the bus were already taken.

Niou shrugged. "Looks like your jawbones are glued".

Sanada frowned. "Mind your own business".

"Sure". Niou stretched his legs under the seats, and pulled on his earphones.

Sanada ignored him, glancing back out of the window. Their bus was stuck in Tokyo's morning traffic. Hyoutei High was in the same campus as Middle School, about a twenty minutes ride from Rikkai. It had been half an hour since they left, and they had yet to arrive. He started to become impatient.

In the seats behind them, Hongo was half lying on two seats, his earphones on, watching something on his phone. Sanada could heard him laugh out loud from time to time. He did his best to ignore him.

In the front seats, Morimura and Asou were chatting with a low voice, probably deciding the latest details of the upcoming matches. Hirose sat right behind them, looking outside the window, in silence.

Sanada had found himself thinking a lot about their conversation during the last days. They had practiced together again, but never spoke about that subject again. They both avoided the argument and settled into a polite kind of conversation. In other words: they avoided to mention anything that didn't concern their common practice schedule.

And yet, Sanada didn't fail to observe him. He changed, he had said. Sanada forced himself to recall him as he was in Junior High, but to be fair, he didn't have many memories about him, beside their match together, beside the few practice matches he had recalled to see him play, and lose.

He couldn't see in him anything that would mean a big change in his game. He still practiced hard, but he already did. He had probably improved his basics since then - and he better had, in two years, Sanada thought - but he could see nothing to explain his current position in the team.

He wanted to play with him again. But not in doubles. He wanted to play against him. More than that, he wanted to crush him again. He wasn't flattering to admit, but his last words on the bus really irritated him. "You didn't change", he had said to him. "I did".

Sanada frowned at the memory. Sanada had changed too, since then. He had changed a lot. He thought about his last Junior High year, as a Captain-in-charge. He thought about him leading the team to defeat, during Kanto tournament. He thought about Yukimura returning, and them losing again- and again, and again, in different ways, in different forms.

Yes. He had changed. Hirose just didn't know what he was talking about.

The bus started to move again. Sanada glanced at his clock. They were definitely late.

The bus entered Hyoutei's grounds ten minutes later. Sanada looked at the familiar scenery, the Grade School and Middle School departments, the High School department and, on the other side of the campus, the three, huge buildings of Hyoutei's University.

Rikkai, with its three campuses, was big, but Hyoutei could occupy a entire yard on its own. The Junior High's tennis club had twice the courts as Rikkai's, which was considered one of the strongest powerhouses of the entire country. Sanada had never seen the High School department, but he had no reasons to believe it was any smaller.

They got off the bus, grabbed their bags and started to walk towards the club. Sanada followed Morimura and Asou, who were still chatting with each other as the proceeded towards the Campus. Hirose took his side, greeted him with a pale smile, but didn't try to speak to him. Sanada was grateful for that; he wasn't in the mood for chatting.

Hyoutei's tennis club was huge as he had imagined. Half of the courts were already full of people practicing.

"Are you ready?"

Sanada turned to see Matsui smiling at them. She winked. "You both look nervous".

Again. Sanada clenched his jaw. "We're fine". He gave a quick glance towards Hirose. "It's not our first match". Well, not his. Had Hirose ever played a match outside the club? He had no idea. "Is it yours?", he asked her.

Matsui shrugged, speeding up her pace to get between them.

"I'm not the one who plays, I'm very much fine, thanks".

"So you don't feel any responsibility for today?"

He couldn't avoid being harsh. He just didn't like that girl. He still can't see the point in having an external person as a manager.

She glanced up at him. She smiled. "You can't even imagine, Sanada-kun". She walked past them, and raised her hand. "Good luck for today!"

Sanada frowned. What would he had to imagine? That she needed to bring all the dirty towels to the laundry? He shook his head. He just didn't care at all.

He looked ahead. They reached the locker room. Morimura invited them to enter and get ready for the warming up. "I'm going to meet with Hyoutei's Captain", he told them. "Asou will lead you to the right courts", he looked at Niou and Sanada. "See you later".

Even the locker rooms were flashy. Sanada changed in silence, ignoring the chatting from his teammates that filled the room with noise. He got ready as fast as he could, and went out to take a glance at the campus. He didn't need to wait for Asou. He had seen the direction Morimura had taken, and he could even see him from there.

He looked at him as he walked towards him. He was chatting with a tall guy who probably was Hyoutei's Captain. A group of Hyoutei players were chatting or warming up in the court around them.

He spotted Matsui too; she was also chatting with a Hyoutei's player. No. Not with a generic Hyoutei's player. Sanada frowned, realizing that, as always, he had been right to judge that manager right from the start. She was there, hand on her hip, smiling and chatting with Atobe Keigo.


Everything went according to his predictions. Sadly.

Morimura frowned, ad Asou walked towards the court to face Ishiyama. It was still weird to look at Hyoutei's ace as a rival. Watching him on court was always like turning an hourglass upside down, even for a little time. Three years ago, in a public middle school of Yokohama neighborhood, Ishiyama was the captain, and Morimura his vice-captain, both working their asses off during practice to gain themselves the chance to grab a sport scholarship into a powerhouse high school. They fought their way to the Nationals, even if they lost in the early rounds - nevertheless, they got what they were looking for.

Morimura joined Rikkai. Ishiyama chose Hyoutei. And now, there they were. Morimura, as Rikkai's new Captain, walking into heavy shoes he wasn't even sure they were his size, and Ishiyama, with his natural charisma, authority, charm, being Hyoutei's ace. There were no way, he had told Morimura back in January, that someone like him, who was attending Hyoutei with a scholarship, whose father owned a cleaning shop and not an iron industry, could ever become Captain of such a tennis team. There was a hierarchy to be respected, he told Morimura. No, it wasn't fair, but it wasn't unfair too. Ishiyama was still Hyoutei's ace. He was still the diamond heart of the team. He just could not be the Captain. It was just how things worked, in Hyoutei.

Morimura didn't like at all how thing worked in Hyoutei, but Ishiyama didn't seem to mind. All he wanted was to play tennis and give his best on court. All the rest, it didn't matter.

As the match started on the main court, Morimura wished it could've been the same for him. Even just a little bit.

Those practice matches - they would be a turning point. It didn't matter how much he told that the results didn't matter, that the only important thing was what they learned from their games - bullshit. Bullshit.

Mormira rubbed his temples, feeling a migraine pushing from behind his eyes. So far, he had had no surprises with how the matches went. Hongo won his in less than 15 minutes. Mouri and Kuroba were pushed into a tie-break, but eventually prevailed. Niou lost, but played well, and Morimura had more than a couple ideas on how to work with the guy.

Hirose and Sanada lost. Badly. Morimura had talked with Asou, and was still convinced that he hadn't mistaken their potential when he had chose them for the team. Asou suggested that they maybe weren't fit for doubles, but Morimura hardly thought it was the case.

They just didn't seem able to cooperate on court. And, gods forbid, his next thing to do was definitely to discover why.

But first, Asou had to face Ishiyama. It was the decisive matches, and all the odds were with Hyoutei. Sadly, Morimura couldn't disagree on that.

"You had guts". A voice spoke from behind.

As Morimura turned, a guy in Hyoutei uniform moved on and sat next to him. He recognized him as a guy he had seen chatting with Matsui not long before.

Now the girl was busy taking notes in the front row. He was really curious to see what the hell she was writing.

Morimura glared at him. "I'm sorry?"

"I said you have guts", the guy said again, uncareful about the fact that Morimura had heard him very well, he only wanted to give him the chance to change his tone. "Sanada in doubles? Really? You might as well put him as a ball boy".

Morimura didn't blink. "Sanada-kun himself had told me he had already played doubles plenty of times, in the past. In official matches also". He shouldn't even waste his time to reply. But this guy seemed to know one of his teammates, perhaps better than him. He probably was a first year, he considered. They may have faced each other multiple times, in Junior High. "Your name is-?", he asked.

"Atobe Keigo", the guy replied. "And yes. He did. With the teammates he had chosen, and only in less important matches, in which he could've defeated his opponents blindfold".

"And why are you telling me that?"

"Because I hate seeing time wasted. You will sort it out by yourself, sooner or later, that he is an individualist that only trusts his own strength. I may give you a favour and tell you right now".

"But why?"

The guy grinned. "Because I'm a nice guy. You don't meet much of those, ahn?"

Morimura didn't bother to reply to that.

"And you know what", Atobe added, "now that you've taken his playmate away from him, I see him grumpier than ever. I give you my condolences".

"What the hell are you talking about?" He seems to like to waste Morimura's time a lot, for being one that hates to see time wasted.

"A little bird told me you kicked Yukimura out of the club". He nodded with his head. "When the little bird is your happy-go-lucky manager over there. She sure likes to chat a lot".

Morimura frowned. He should also remind Matsui that not everything that happens on the club should be a matter of conversation with other teams' members.

"This is something that concerns Rikkai, and Rikkai only", Morimura replied, dryly, hoping that it would put an end to this conversation.

It didn't.

"Well, now it concerns Hyoutei as well, I guess", Atobe stared at him. "If Yukimura Seiichi doesn't play for Rikkai, he's on the market". He grinned again. "Hyoutei could make a good use of him".

Morimura looked at him, suspiciously. "Let me guess. Who paid you to come and tell me that?"

Atobe laughed. "Paid me", he said. "Anyone in your school should sell their houses and all the families inside before aiming to meet my price".

Morimura glared at him.

"As I said, I'm a nice guy. I'm not one to take advantage of my opponent big mistake to get an easy point, ahn?" He looked at him. "I've heard that of you, as well".

Morimura was growing more and more suspicious every single minute. "If you have a point, reach it", he said. "I've a match to watch".

"Why does it matter? Ichiyama will win. You know that too", he leaned in. "And what else do you know? You know that when you have a very good player in your team, you keep him. If you don't, someone else will do".

"Are we talking about Roger Fucking Federer, here?" Morimura had little patience left.

Atobe stood up, and laughed.

"Maybe", he said. "You never know, ahn?"

He waved at him with his hand, and left with no more words.

Morimura glared at him, and then glared at Matsui, still bent over her notes.

The match was almost one sided, taken that Asou was still one of the best players they had. But Ishiyama, damn it, was Ishiyama. And was doing a typical Ishiyama job, speaking about Roger Fucking Federer.

Morimura forced himself to focus on the match, even if he knew both of them too well. If there was something new he could notice, he should pay attention.

After the inevitable ending of the match - Asou lost 6-3, and he had hardly played the worst match of his career; quite the contrary, Morimura had seldom saw him play that well, and that was even more frustrating - Matsui reached him.

Asou was still exchanging greetings with Ichiyama and Hyoutei's captain, on the court. Morimura, he knew, was supposed to reach them. All the other ones were already packing to leave.

But first-

"Do tell me, Matsui-san", he said, before she could even open his mouth, "this has been a fruitful day for you, has it?"

"Very much", she held her notebook. "Well, not all the matches had been sparkling brilliance, but I guess-"

"I guess", he interrupted her, "that your conversations with Atobe Keigo had been fruitful as well".

She didn't even blink. "Well", she hesitated, "not much. Too much ego, if you ask me. I couldn't learn much from him. But I read he was one of the best players in the last National tournament in Junior High. He's not in the team yet, but I'm sure he will-"

"Lots of people did very well in Junior High", Morimura said. "But this doesn't mean High School would be necessarily the same".

"Did you, Morimura-san?"

He frowned. "Did what".

"Did you do well in Junior High?", she asked.

"I did", he said. "But what does it-"

"So if you did well in Junior High, you can do well in High School too".

"Or you couldn't", he cut it short. "The point is, Matsui, that you have to show good will and respect when you reach another team. What you've done before doesn't matter anymore. Can you understand it?"

She nodded, slowly. She didn't seem that willing to speak anymore. She has the face of someone caught red handed, biting her lips, avoiding his gaze.

Morimura glanced at her. She may have taken him for a stupid, and this Atobe may have thought the same, but still-

He sighed. "Okay. Since you seem eager to do so", he stretched his lips, "talk me about Yukimura Seiichi".


Aki's sooo like "well this sounded way smarter in my head", and so am I, girl, I guess.

I also want to say that I haven't forgotten Tezuka in the list of Atobe's rivals. She did. But he's in Germany now, so who cares.

And yes, I still pretend NPOT has never existed in this universe, thank you very much.

Thanks a lot to who has faved this story, and left a review (thanks May 3), it's so nice to see it when I update one chapter every three years or so. I'm sorry!

I just wanna ask: since I understand this story has way too many OCS, even if I try my best to make them recognizable through the chapters, would you like if I make some simple Character Sheets? Just with the important information and one or two details about them - I have like four notebooks full of character meta I think I have a problem send help.

Just, let me know!

Thanks for reading, and see you soon(er)!

Kisses,

Fanny

The Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi

Let him know that you know best, 'cause after all, you do know best [The Fray - How To Save A Life]