The Rumour
Chapter 9: Fight! Seigaku! Fight!
Tezuka walked towards the school tennis courts feeling relatively happy, all things considered. The first day of the ranking tournament was held yesterday and the performance was more than what both Tezuka and Ryuzaki-sensei had hoped for. Suddenly, a loud hail greeted him from behind.
"Oy! Tezuka!" Oishi and Eiji came running towards him, racket bags swinging from their shoulders. All of them were already dressed in their tennis gear, since it was a Saturday and there were no classes.
"Good morning!" Oishi greeted his friend with a smile. "Good matches from the non-regulars all round yesterday, wasn't it?"
"Nyah! I can't believe Ikeda and Arai took three games from us!" Eiji pouted for a moment, then brightened. "Still, it's a good sign for Seigaku's chances next year!" He looped an arm around Tezuka's neck and grinned. "Now our buchou's happy! Nyah? Nyah?"
A tiny smile lurked at Tezuka's lips, ready to vanish at a moment's notice. "They weren't bad," he admitted. Then the smile vanished, and the stern buchou took over. "But today's the ranking tournament for regulars. Are you ready?"
"Hoi, hoi! No worries!" The red head turned into hyper mode as he spotted a familiar figure just ahead of them. He waved frantically. "Hey Fuji! Wait for us!"
The tensai smiled cheerfully in greeting and waited for his friends. "Good morning!" His smile was perhaps just a fraction wider than usual. Eiji chattered on cheerfully. "Get ready for the Kikumaru Special Beam! I'm going to beat all of you today – Nyah! What's happening?! There's so many people around the courts!"
The boys looked forward. Eiji was right. There were a lot of people milling about the entrance to their courts.
Oishi squinted a little, a tall carrot-head boy caught his eye. "Ah… Isn't that Yamabuki's Sengoku-san?" he asked hesitantly.
"Hoi, hoi! And there's Kabaji and Atobe! And Rikkai's Sanada and Yanagi and Niou too!" Eiji's bright eyes blinked and swept across the crowd rapidly. He continued to list happily, "Nyah! I see St. Rudolph's uniforms – Fuji! It's Yuuta! Hoy! Yuuta! – ah, and Rokkaku and Fudoumine are here too!"
Beside them, Fuji's smile froze. Impossible! What are they doing here! They couldn't all have heard about the match! Fuji thought frantically. An unknown feeling called panic was welling up from his chest and up into his throat.
By this time, the people closest to them had noticed their approach. A chorus of catcalls and whistles resounded through the air.
"Tezuka baby!"
"Oi! Seigaku buchou! Looking good!"
"Your ass is gonna belong to our buchou!!"
Oishi and Eiji gave all of them a single, horrified look. Then their heads snapped back in unison to look at Tezuka and Fuji. Fuji had gone just a little bit pale, and there was something forced about his smile. But Tezuka…
If Eiji had ever thought his buchou expressionless before, he was wrong. Stone-faced. Unmoving. Cold as ice. These expressions came into Eiji mind and were discarded. Some stones can be quite friendly, especially to women, according to Eiji's older sisters. And standing beside a glacier in the heart of Antarctica would be warmer. If Eiji had to choose a word to describe the Seigaku captain right now… he'd pick implacable. Also, maybe, terrifying, spine-chilling and murderous. Eiji swallowed and immediately ducked behind Oishi for protection.
Oishi gulped audibly. "Eh… Tezuka?" His voice rose alarmingly on the last syllable.
There was no visible response; Tezuka simply stared straight ahead, not even bothering to glare at the quiet pale presence beside him.
Fuji breathed out, a soft exhalation, almost a sigh. "It wasn't supposed to be this way." The words came out quietly, as if pulled from a deep void from within the tensai.
There was still no response.
Around them, news of Tezuka's arrival had spread like wildfire among the crowd. The four boys endured various pointing, and whispers, and outright wolf-whistles. Then, people began to move through the crowd towards them.
Like the sun pulling bright comets into its orbit, the rival school buchous came, alone and in pairs, to stand in challenge before an unmoved Tezuka.
Atobe, bright and brave, with only the slightest hint of vulnerability to be found in his eyes. Behind him loomed the huge figure of Kabaji and a score of Hyotei players in their white, grey and blue uniforms.
Sengoku came alone, a perpetual smile adorning his face. He stood comfortably, hands tucked into his pocket.
Sanada stood with the assurance of a king, the katana-sharp gleam of steely resolve only slightly blunted under the cover of his cap. He was flanked by Yanagi and Niou, one hiding behind half-lidded eyes, and the other shielded by the eternal smile of the joker who knows the joke no one else got.
Akazawa presented himself, proud and confident and feline in his grace, while Mizuki stood beside him, smirking and twirling a lock of his hair around his finger.
Aoi Kentarou, the Rokkaku first year buchou stood, scratching his head a little sheepishly, feeling slightly out-of-place amidst the third-year buchous around him. His third year senpais flanked him, grinning.
And finally, Tachibana… The tall buchou stood amidst his team mates, his determination and resolve shouted across every line of his body. His eyes were alternatively fierce and gentle, as they moved over his rivals and rested on Tezuka's form. I will win this for you. His eyes seemed to be say as he gazed at the Seigaku buchou.
It was a strangely beautiful tableau, the fairest flowering of players of Japan's junior tennis world, gathered around Tezuka's still figure.
Sanada was the first to break the silence, his words unexpectedly formal. "We have come to play a match of tennis with you, Tezuka," he said, as a king would speak to a touchy crown prince.
Tezuka was silent. Around him, the remaining Seigaku regulars – indeed, all the club members – were moving, eeling their way through the crowd to stand behind their buchou like a solid human bulwark.
Sanada frowned into the ensuing silence. "We are here to play against you," He repeated, displeasure beginning to colour his words.
"Well, you can't," said a loud, brash voice fiercely. Horio-kun pushed past a few tall Hyotei players to stand directly in front of Tezuka. He stood face thrust up pugnaciously at Sanada. Kachirou-kun and Katsou-kun clung to each other timidly, but followed behind their friend nevertheless, their faces set in equal terrified determination.
Horio-kun glared belligently at Sanada, "You're supposed to beat one of our Seigaku regulars first, before you get a chance to play against Tezuka buchou! Don't you know anything?" The short, loud-mouthed first-year student managed to tilt his head up and sneered defiantly at the astonished Rikkai acting captain.
A large hand lifted, then descended gently on Horio's spiky head – almost in approval. "He's right," Inui said matter-of-factly, as he came and stood beside Horio. "Tezuka's only just recovered from his injury, and as manager, I certainly can't approve of him having to face matches with all of you."
His words sparked a frown on Atobe's face. "I don't know what you're talking about. We were supposed to play against Tezuka. Not some Seigaku regular."
A new voice broke in this time. "If you want to get to Tezuka buchou, then first you must get through us," snapped Momoshiro, as he walked up to stand beside Inui. Kaido stood behind him, hissing softly.
Regular, manager, and first-year stood in a line before Tezuka, putting themselves between the rival school captains and their buchou.
"Che. Mada mada dane," snorted Ryouma inelegantly as he too slouched towards the line to stand by Horio.
"Well?" Inui asked, adjusting his glasses.
"Fine!" Atobe bit out. Around him, all the other captains were nodding their agreement.
"Thank you," Inui replied coolly. "Now, you might want to go warm up first while we make some preparations…"
The crowd slowly dispersed, leaving a knot of Seigaku regulars gathered around Tezuka.
"Eh… Buchou? You okay?" Momoshiro turned around and asked awkwardly, looking for all the world like a kid caught in the act of doing something he wasn't' supposed to.
Finally, something cracked in Tezuka's unmoving visage. "I. Will. Deal. With. All. Of. You. Later." Tezuka spoke slowly, articulating each word precisely in a tone that promised to bring down retribution on all their heads. The gathered regulars gulped, with the exception of Fuji, who remained pale and silent.
"In the meantime… you should all be warming up. Nishi! Mikami! Nagayama! Go to each school and confirm their players! Oishi! Inui! You two work out the match lineups! The rest of the second year players, put up the nets and clear the courts! First years! Take care of the tennis balls!" Tezuka snapped out a series of commands.
Oishi and the rest of the regulars exchanged glances. At least Tezuka's back to normal again! They thought, relieved.
"The rest of you! Warming up! Now"
"Hai! Buchou!" The Seigaku tennis club members moved.
After ten minutes spent conferring with each other, Oishi and Inui brought out the white board with the proposed match line-up and were nearly bowled over by the rush of regulars eager to check out their prospective competitors.
"What?!"
"Aww.. I'm playing the Rokkaku freshman buchou? Man, why am I always stuck with the gaki!" Momoshiro moaned. Beside him, Ryouma twitched in annoyance.
"Momo! Don't lose to someone I've already beaten," growled Kaido in the strange deep voice he has.
"Right back at you, Kaido!" Momoshiro grinned, stretching his arms behind his back. "Sengoku's pretty good, you know!"
"So… I'm playing Atobe," A gleam flashed across Fuji's eyes, before disappearing into another smile.
"Me and St. Rudolph's Mizuki?? Nyah, what kind of lineup is this? Hey, Inui!" Eiji grumbled, twisting his racket this way and that. "I don't want to play against that horrible person!"
Inui adjusted his glasses. "Can't be helped. I've planned the matches according to the best winning probabilities. The more 'sure-wins' we can get, the less tiring it would be for Tezuka at the end –,"
"Inui-senpai," Momoshiro broke in with a confident voice. "We won't lose!"
"Yoosh!" Eiji grinned. "Momo-chan is right!" Just then, his attention was caught by the final line-ups. "Eh? What's this? Ochibi! You're playing two matches?! And they're both difficult ones too!"
Oishi blushed slightly. "Yes. It's all my fault. I kind of overdid yesterday…"
"Oishi hasn't fully recovered from his collapse two days ago, and compounded matters by playing too vigorously yesterday. I think it is best if he sat this one out," said Inui.
"Sorry… Echizen, I'll depend on you to help cover for me," Oishi said, looking apologetic.
Ryouma merely smirked. "The more, the merrier." He stuck his racket over his shoulder. "I'm ready."
Inui nodded. "Echizen-kun, I'm putting your match with Sanada first, and the match with Tachibana last. Hopefully, that will give you some extra time to recover between matches.
"All right then! Let's go!" The Seigaku regulars walked out into the light.
Eiji bounced up to where Mizuki and Yuuta were standing. "Nyah! Come on, Mizuki! It's you and me on Court A."
Mizuki smiled. "So… I'm playing against Kikumaru-kun. Fine, give me a minute. I need to go change."
"Eh?" Eiji and Yuuta stared at the St. Rudolph manager.
"Ah, Mizuki-senpai, you're already wearing the St. Rudolph tennis uniform," Yuuta said carefully.
"Ah, this? No, no. I've prepared special outfits to wear, depending on who it is I play today," the dark-haired manager smirked.
Come to think of it, Mizuki-senpai was carrying a huge bag today. Yuuta felt a sensation of foreboding descend. Please, please, let him wear something normal… Yuuta prayed. But deep down, he knew that it was a futile hope. His Mizuki-senpai had a tendency to wear, ah, interesting outfits, to say the least. His dorm mates thanked God everyday that St. Rudolph's had a strict uniform rule… It meant that they were only inflicted with Mizuki's fashion sense for the few remaining hours every night. Yuuta still had the occasional nightmare about the black-with-large-pink-roses shirt his senpai wore in the dorm a couple of months ago after their defeat at the Tokyo Prefecture Tournaments. He swallowed. But this wasn't a school outing. There was no uniform to save him and the rest of the world now.
A soft murmuring started across the crowd. Mizuki walked towards Court A, leaving a large swath of dropped jaws and boggling eyes in his wake. The black haired boy was wearing a hot pink sleeveless top with large neon green bobbles attached, paired with matching frilly pink and green shorts. Yuuta flinched. Daily exposure to Mizuki's sartorial fashion sense in the dorms every night had given him some small measure of immunity to the outfits Mizuki sometimes wear, but this… Yuuta could feel his hard-won immunity slipping slowly out of his grasp. He clenched his hands into fists, trying to control his trembling.
Beside him, Eiji – and the rest of the people present – had no such immunity or control. Eiji screamed.
"AAAAHHHH! WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" In the face of the extreme provocation, all of Eiji's usual speech mannerisms had vanished. "I'M NOT GOING ON THE SAME COURT AS THAT FREAK! NEVER! NOOO WAY!"
"Ah? Are you forfeiting your match then, Kikumaru-kun?" Mizuki smiled and twirled a lock of his hair.
"Eiji!" Oishi ran to his doubles partner's side upon hearing the scream. "What's wrong?" Then he saw Mizuki. The sight left him speechless for a good minute. Oishi's jaw worked, but no sounds emerged.
Eiji screwed up his eyes, as if to cry. "Oishi! I don't wanna play him!"
Finally, Oishi found his voice. "E… Eiji, you, you have to… think about Tezuka!"
"But, Oishi…" Eiji whimpered. "The horror…"
Oishi took Eiji's face between his large strong hands and gently forced the redhead to look him in the eye. "Eiji. You must be strong. I believe in you."
Eiji desperately soaked up the sight of Oishi's face, his smile, hoping to use the gentle image to fortify him against the monstrosity that was so recently burned into his retina. Finally, he looked away and shot a terrified glance at Mizuki. He immediately looked back up at Oishi. His Oishi. Counting on him. "I… I'll try," Eiji whispered, lower lip trembling.
Oishi smiled. "That's great," he murmured, hand brushing through Eiji's unruly locks. "I'll be watching you the whole time by the sidelines."
"Hurry, before I change my mind again…" said Eiji, desperately blinking back tears.
The first three games were a rout. Eiji simply couldn't shake off the horror that was facing him in the opposite court, and Mizuki pushed his advantage to the brink. Eiji did not manage to score a single point against him.
Eiji collapsed on the side bench that was hastily erected for the players. "Oishi…" He moaned, leaning into his partner. "I can't. Really, I can't… He, he *jiggles*…" With a cry, Eiji buried his face against Oishi's strong chest.
Oishi simply hugged his suffering partner closer. He looked up to find Inui standing behind them. "Ah, this is really bad," said Inui, flipping through his ever present notebook. "Mizuki exploits the fact that Kikumaru has better-than-average sports vision through the cunningly placed bobbles on his shirt, causing them to jiggle as they move and creating greater stress on his vision. And of course, we shouldn't underestimate the overall, devastating impact of his outfit. This is Mizuki's Double Whammy Attack."
Oishi looked helplessly at the Data Tennis expert. "Neh, Inui, what can we do? Eiji can't continue like this…"
Inui adjusted his glasses. "I don't have sufficient data on this…" The tall player's lips thinned. "I can't be sure if this will work, but there just might be something you can try…"
"What is it?" Oishi asked.
"They say… Love is blind."
Oishi stared. Then understood. He blushed. Finally, Oishi took a deep breath and stood, pulling Eiji along with him. Eiji looked up at Oishi, disorientated, eyes still wet with tears. "O– Oishi?"
Oishi put an arm around Eiji's waist, and bending him nearly halfway backwards, kissed the heck out of one Kikumaru Eiji.
Finally, the kiss ended, to the sounds of various catcalls around them. Oishi whispered softly amidst the shouting and cheers. "Win, Eiji. And then come back for me." He gently pushed his partner towards the court.
Eiji, still seeing stars and hearts spinning around him, nodded dumbly.
He could never remember the rest of the game after that – just the impact of Oishi's lips pressed against his. Somehow, his body took over on automatic pilot, fielding shots, performing incredible feats of Acrobatic Play.
Inui scribbled happily in his notebook, then closed it with a snap. Yii Data. He called out to the second-year member keeping record, "Six games to three! Kikumaru Eiji wins!"
Inui adjusted his glasses again. Maybe he would be in time to catch Kaido's match as well.
Kaido won, 6-4 beating Sengoku in a hard, long fight.
Momoshiro took the game against Kentarou, 7-5, despite Kentarou's last minute rally.
Echizen also had a hard fight, but managed to beat Sanada back, 7-5.
Over in Court C, Kawamura was preparing for his own match against St. Rudolph's Akazawa. Carefully, he unwrapped a white-silk wrapped package and placed it upon the bench.
"Taka-senpai, what is that?" Katsou-kun asked. He was one of the first years taking charge of ball-recovery on Court C. "Eh? Ointment for muscle fatigue?! Taka-senpai, aren't you feeling well? Are you okay?"
"Ah… Eh…" Kawamura blushed faintly and scratched the back of his head.
Fuji walked up to them, with racket in hand, "Taka-san, you left your racket behind again."
Kawamura took the racket.
"BURNNINNG! I'M LUCKY TODAY WITH A PRESENT FROM MY BABY! COME ON LET'S GO!!"
Kawamura won, 6-5.
