Chapter 5
Kiyoko woke up to the ring of the alarm clock and woke Yuki with a huge shove. "Eek!" screamed Yuki as she fell of the bed. She rubbed at a bump on her head as she glared at Kiyoko.
"It's time for school," said Kiyoko with a grin. The two girls yawned in the classroom. After school, the two waited for Ryoma to finish in the locker rooms. Yuki walked to a seat near where the regulars were practicing and watched silently. Her eyes scanned the court where Eiji and Fuji were playing. She didn't hear their conversation when they were taking a break.
"That girl watching us today was pretty cute," said Eiji with a grin.
"I didn't know you were interested in first years Eiji," said Fuji with a smile.
"I am not!" said Eiji hurriedly before telling himself that he was interested in that particular first year. Her eyes seemed to draw you in with its intensity. He felt them on him when they were practicing and had the urge to do his best in front of her. Kiyoko called Yuki over to her. Yuki got up and walked to Kiyoko.
"What is it?" asked Yuki.
"Are you done checking on the regulars?" asked Kiyoko with a grin, "Those two in particular? You know you'll have to check the other ones out later for the block competition." Yuki looked down with a blush.
"They were interesting and I liked their moves," said Yuki with a blush.
"I feel sort of guilty watching them and studying their moves when they haven't even glimpsed at our style," said Kiyoko, "It feels like cheating."
"All right," said Yuki, "We'll both do one match before the competition and show our style but that's it."
"Good," said Kiyoko grinning, "I want to show Ryoma just who he'll be up against." The captain called the first years to the court and ordered them to do thirty laps around the court.
"This is killing me!" whined Horio. Echizen said nothing and Yuki just looked ahead of her. Kiyoko looked sympathetic. The three were the only ones not out of breath.
"This is pretty hard so it's okay to be tired," said Kiyoko.
"Easy for you to say," muttered Yuki, "Horio and the others are the only ones panting."
"What was that?" asked Kiyoko.
"Nothing," said Yuki before going ahead. Kiyoko and Echizen raised their speeds and the three were soon finished. Horio dropped down to the ground sweating heavily while Kiyoko and Yuki were talking animatedly next to him.
"How can you guys be so happy?" asked Horio, "we have to do 500 swinging motions next too! We're not even on the team yet!"
"Cheer up Horio," said Kiyoko.
"You're way to sympathetic, Kiyoko," said Yuki with a sigh.
"64!"
"65!"
"66!"
"67!" Horio stopped when he saw that Ryoma, Yuki, and Kiyoko were not doing the exercises. There were no rackets to swing on their sides.
"Did you guys forget your rackets?" asked Horio.
"Not really," said Ryoma.
"You three have guts?not bringing your racket to practice," said Arai, "Trying to skip practice since the captain and the co-captain aren't here?"
"Pretty much," said Kiyoko with a smile. Arai narrowed his eyes.
"Stay out of this freshman girl," said Arai.
"You should watch your temper senpai," said Kiyoko with a threatening grin if he lost control, "You wouldn't want someone to report your behavior to Captain Tezuka, would you?" Arai grinned suddenly.
"If you're that confident, and since we're not doing anything anyway," said Arai, "I'd like a match with you, but since you don't have a racket?"
"Arai!" called one of his friends handing him a racket.
"You can use this one!" said Arai throwing it to Kiyoko harshly. She caught it in one swift movement.
"That's the old racket in the locker room!" exclaimed Horio in surprise, "How could anyone play with that?"
"So are you going to play? Miss I'm-better-than-anyone-else," said Arai with a malicious grin, "I was going to play against that other kid over there but you seem to be the more obnoxious one of the three." Kiyoko said nothing testing the racket in her hands, from the loose strings to the worn handle. "That racket is just right for you, if you get what I'm saying. Stop acting so cocky! Who knows? If you play, maybe all of you three's rackets will come out?" Kiyoko's eyes took on a dark expression. One of those rackets we're her mother's. She had taken pains to remake it. Kiyoko walked to the court.
"Only weaklings will thing of such a low method of playing," said Kiyoko on the court, "All you had to do was ask."
"Are you accusing me of hiding your rackets?" asked Arai angrily.
"Well," said Kiyoko, "Hurry up! I don't have all day."
"Let's see how this turns out," said Fuji with a smile.
"I knew he would say that," muttered Eiji. The two sat a bench away from Yuki and Ryoma.
"There is no question as to who will be the victor," said Yuki to them though not giving eye contact.
"So you don't believe in your friend?" asked Eiji with a grin. Yuki smiled.
"I never said that," said Yuki, "On the contrary, you can see for yourself that age does not matter when you play, it's experience. You should be watching too Ryoma, she wants you to know that she is worthy of a game with you."
"Hmph," said Ryoma, "I never said she wasn't." Kiyoko tested the ball on her racket and winced at the sound it made.
"Ah!" screamed Horio. Yuki tested her ear to see if she could still hear.
"Hey," said Arai with a confident grin, "What's wrong?"
"It's impossible with that racket," stated Horio.
"Let's go!" said Arai serving the ball to Kiyoko. She returned but it hit the end of the fence on the other side wiggling on the way.
"She can't control the ball! What's with that weird impact sound?" said Horio.
"Even if she wants to return it," said Inoue, "It won't work that well."
"Right," agreed Fuji, "With those kinds of strings, she won't be able to add a top spin to the ball." Kiyoko looked at the racket and smiled.
"Now I get it," said Kiyoko.
"Think you can win like that?!" said Arai serving the ball back at Kiyoko. Kiyoko was now ready and turned her whole body back at Arai. The ball zoomed past him.
"She hit it?!" exclaimed Horio in surprise.
"I get it," said Eiji, "She turned her whole body to add a spin to the ball."
"Very impressive," commented Fuji.
"That return was so fast!" exclaimed Horio.
"It's way too slow," said Ryoma, Yuki, and Kiyoko disapprovingly.
"Hmph," said Arai, "Don't get so cocky just because you hit the ball once!" Kiyoko returned it now with ease. "What! She returned it?"
"And he told himself, a great painter does not use his brush daintily," said Fuji.
"That girl's on fire," said Inoue, "I'm surprised she's a freshman. By her skill, she could match to one of the third years."
"Or maybe even us," said Fuji. Yuki turned to them.
"You'll see for yourselves just how good we are," said Yuki.
"Kiyoko's got full control of that ball!" said Horio in surprise, "She's amazing. Only one more serve and she wins!" Kiyoko grinned.
"Let's finish this to the end?senpai," said Kiyoko before launching the ball in the air. Instead of the strings hitting, the rim had the ball cascade to Arai and the game was over.
"That ball was fast!" exclaimed Horio, "It would take more talent than an average person with a good racket to his that ball in such speed and precision." Yuki gave Kiyoko a reprimanding glare as she walked to Kiyoko.
"Kiyoko!" said Yuki, "That was my serve. They weren't supposed to see it until the rankings next week."
"But the strings were loose and it was the only way I could send a fast ball to the other side," said Kiyoko as and excuse. Yuki got out her racket and whacked Kiyoko on the head.
"Yeowch!"
Kiyoko woke up to the ring of the alarm clock and woke Yuki with a huge shove. "Eek!" screamed Yuki as she fell of the bed. She rubbed at a bump on her head as she glared at Kiyoko.
"It's time for school," said Kiyoko with a grin. The two girls yawned in the classroom. After school, the two waited for Ryoma to finish in the locker rooms. Yuki walked to a seat near where the regulars were practicing and watched silently. Her eyes scanned the court where Eiji and Fuji were playing. She didn't hear their conversation when they were taking a break.
"That girl watching us today was pretty cute," said Eiji with a grin.
"I didn't know you were interested in first years Eiji," said Fuji with a smile.
"I am not!" said Eiji hurriedly before telling himself that he was interested in that particular first year. Her eyes seemed to draw you in with its intensity. He felt them on him when they were practicing and had the urge to do his best in front of her. Kiyoko called Yuki over to her. Yuki got up and walked to Kiyoko.
"What is it?" asked Yuki.
"Are you done checking on the regulars?" asked Kiyoko with a grin, "Those two in particular? You know you'll have to check the other ones out later for the block competition." Yuki looked down with a blush.
"They were interesting and I liked their moves," said Yuki with a blush.
"I feel sort of guilty watching them and studying their moves when they haven't even glimpsed at our style," said Kiyoko, "It feels like cheating."
"All right," said Yuki, "We'll both do one match before the competition and show our style but that's it."
"Good," said Kiyoko grinning, "I want to show Ryoma just who he'll be up against." The captain called the first years to the court and ordered them to do thirty laps around the court.
"This is killing me!" whined Horio. Echizen said nothing and Yuki just looked ahead of her. Kiyoko looked sympathetic. The three were the only ones not out of breath.
"This is pretty hard so it's okay to be tired," said Kiyoko.
"Easy for you to say," muttered Yuki, "Horio and the others are the only ones panting."
"What was that?" asked Kiyoko.
"Nothing," said Yuki before going ahead. Kiyoko and Echizen raised their speeds and the three were soon finished. Horio dropped down to the ground sweating heavily while Kiyoko and Yuki were talking animatedly next to him.
"How can you guys be so happy?" asked Horio, "we have to do 500 swinging motions next too! We're not even on the team yet!"
"Cheer up Horio," said Kiyoko.
"You're way to sympathetic, Kiyoko," said Yuki with a sigh.
"64!"
"65!"
"66!"
"67!" Horio stopped when he saw that Ryoma, Yuki, and Kiyoko were not doing the exercises. There were no rackets to swing on their sides.
"Did you guys forget your rackets?" asked Horio.
"Not really," said Ryoma.
"You three have guts?not bringing your racket to practice," said Arai, "Trying to skip practice since the captain and the co-captain aren't here?"
"Pretty much," said Kiyoko with a smile. Arai narrowed his eyes.
"Stay out of this freshman girl," said Arai.
"You should watch your temper senpai," said Kiyoko with a threatening grin if he lost control, "You wouldn't want someone to report your behavior to Captain Tezuka, would you?" Arai grinned suddenly.
"If you're that confident, and since we're not doing anything anyway," said Arai, "I'd like a match with you, but since you don't have a racket?"
"Arai!" called one of his friends handing him a racket.
"You can use this one!" said Arai throwing it to Kiyoko harshly. She caught it in one swift movement.
"That's the old racket in the locker room!" exclaimed Horio in surprise, "How could anyone play with that?"
"So are you going to play? Miss I'm-better-than-anyone-else," said Arai with a malicious grin, "I was going to play against that other kid over there but you seem to be the more obnoxious one of the three." Kiyoko said nothing testing the racket in her hands, from the loose strings to the worn handle. "That racket is just right for you, if you get what I'm saying. Stop acting so cocky! Who knows? If you play, maybe all of you three's rackets will come out?" Kiyoko's eyes took on a dark expression. One of those rackets we're her mother's. She had taken pains to remake it. Kiyoko walked to the court.
"Only weaklings will thing of such a low method of playing," said Kiyoko on the court, "All you had to do was ask."
"Are you accusing me of hiding your rackets?" asked Arai angrily.
"Well," said Kiyoko, "Hurry up! I don't have all day."
"Let's see how this turns out," said Fuji with a smile.
"I knew he would say that," muttered Eiji. The two sat a bench away from Yuki and Ryoma.
"There is no question as to who will be the victor," said Yuki to them though not giving eye contact.
"So you don't believe in your friend?" asked Eiji with a grin. Yuki smiled.
"I never said that," said Yuki, "On the contrary, you can see for yourself that age does not matter when you play, it's experience. You should be watching too Ryoma, she wants you to know that she is worthy of a game with you."
"Hmph," said Ryoma, "I never said she wasn't." Kiyoko tested the ball on her racket and winced at the sound it made.
"Ah!" screamed Horio. Yuki tested her ear to see if she could still hear.
"Hey," said Arai with a confident grin, "What's wrong?"
"It's impossible with that racket," stated Horio.
"Let's go!" said Arai serving the ball to Kiyoko. She returned but it hit the end of the fence on the other side wiggling on the way.
"She can't control the ball! What's with that weird impact sound?" said Horio.
"Even if she wants to return it," said Inoue, "It won't work that well."
"Right," agreed Fuji, "With those kinds of strings, she won't be able to add a top spin to the ball." Kiyoko looked at the racket and smiled.
"Now I get it," said Kiyoko.
"Think you can win like that?!" said Arai serving the ball back at Kiyoko. Kiyoko was now ready and turned her whole body back at Arai. The ball zoomed past him.
"She hit it?!" exclaimed Horio in surprise.
"I get it," said Eiji, "She turned her whole body to add a spin to the ball."
"Very impressive," commented Fuji.
"That return was so fast!" exclaimed Horio.
"It's way too slow," said Ryoma, Yuki, and Kiyoko disapprovingly.
"Hmph," said Arai, "Don't get so cocky just because you hit the ball once!" Kiyoko returned it now with ease. "What! She returned it?"
"And he told himself, a great painter does not use his brush daintily," said Fuji.
"That girl's on fire," said Inoue, "I'm surprised she's a freshman. By her skill, she could match to one of the third years."
"Or maybe even us," said Fuji. Yuki turned to them.
"You'll see for yourselves just how good we are," said Yuki.
"Kiyoko's got full control of that ball!" said Horio in surprise, "She's amazing. Only one more serve and she wins!" Kiyoko grinned.
"Let's finish this to the end?senpai," said Kiyoko before launching the ball in the air. Instead of the strings hitting, the rim had the ball cascade to Arai and the game was over.
"That ball was fast!" exclaimed Horio, "It would take more talent than an average person with a good racket to his that ball in such speed and precision." Yuki gave Kiyoko a reprimanding glare as she walked to Kiyoko.
"Kiyoko!" said Yuki, "That was my serve. They weren't supposed to see it until the rankings next week."
"But the strings were loose and it was the only way I could send a fast ball to the other side," said Kiyoko as and excuse. Yuki got out her racket and whacked Kiyoko on the head.
"Yeowch!"
