V. A Time For Remembering
Where were Yagyuu and Niou?
Where were Yagyuu's sister and her friends...?
And above all, where the hell was Hijiri?!
Marui hadn't gauged how long it had taken him to find Yajiro and come back to the spot where he left Hijiri with Yagyuu and the rest. But he figured it was enough time for everyone to get restless and decide to go on ahead to the concert.
That's it, the concert. They were sure to be there. If they weren't there yet, they were sure to get there at one point or another.
And if he didn't find his brother, Yagyuu, or even Niou, who couldn't possibly be innocent of anything, before 6 PM, someone was going to pay.
*******************
"Hmm...well this second band wasn't so bad," Kuwahara was mumbling to himself as the music died down, "even if I don't like reggae..."
"I'm thirsty. I'm getting something to drink!"
"Make sure its ingredients are less than 10% artificial, Akaya." Yanagi had started digging into his pockets. "And get me a can of oolong tea while you're buying."
"Bottled water," Sanada supplied, bringing out his own wallet. "Two containers."
If his upperclassmen knew that the look Kirihara was flashing them was an offshoot of the Pout, they would never let him live it down. "What?! I'm not a water boy, dammit!"
"Stop whining," Kuwahara said to him. "I'll help you carry it."
And not for the first time that day, Kirihara found himself walled in by otherwise well-meaning, taller older people who could string him up by the thumbs if he misbehaved.
Grumbling, he took the money and stalked off to the nearest refreshment stand, not caring if his Jackal-sempai was following or not.
"It's going to be great having Yukimura back in the team," Kuwahara said brightly when the two of them reached the stall.
"Hmm..." It was a noncommittal sound. "I dunno. I'm getting used to Sanada-fukubuchou running the show."
Kirihara rested his elbows on the counter and made his purchases. Then he went on, without looking at his companion:
"When Yukimura-sempai comes back, he might be the weakest one of us."
Kuwahara might have found it easier to deal with a comment like this if Yukimura weren't in the area. But the other boy's presence alone made such a comment seem out of place. Kouhai weren't ever in a position to make such speculations around their upperclassmen.
"Akaya," Kuwahara said sternly, "watch what you say about our captain."
But when Kirihara looked over at Kuwahara, the look on his face was thoughtful -- not resentful or mischievous. If anything, it showed that he was seriously concerned about the team's total strength...as the future head of the Rikkai team would be.
Perhaps it was Sanada's training. Perhaps it was just the deep-set practicality in Kirihara that kept him concentrated on the goal. In any case, what he just said about their captain no longer struck Kuwahara as completely insensitive.
Kirihara gathered up the drinks, tossed the two containers of bottled water over to his companion.
Then he grinned his kittenish grin, wherein his intense eyes, and the serious look in them, disappeared.
"Just kidding. That's Yukimura-sempai, after all." Kuwahara blinked. The kid had slid back into "harmless" mode as if it was nothing. How could he do that?
"Besides...sempai made a promise, didn't he? I know he's going to keep it."
The third band started playing. Kuwahara insisted on lingering by the stall so they could listen to the first song. In the meantime, he bought his own drink.
*******************
Niou and Yagyuu sat side by side at a high spot overlooking the fast-filling stadium, far away from everyone else. From where they were, the audience looked like ants shifting restlessly in one huge clump.
Without knowing it, they were also overlooking a small gathering of other Rikkai middle school tennis club regulars separated from the crowd.
"Niou-kun. Seeing your family," Yagyuu began quietly, "I got to thinking about Yukimura."
Niou looked over at Yagyuu in askance.
"It's Christmas Eve. He probably has family visiting him, but... I wonder how he's doing."
Niou inclined his head to one side. "You worry about him a lot, don't you?"
Yagyuu took a deep breath. What he was about to say had been brewing inside him for some time, and it was hard to find the right words...
"I know he's strong. It's just, it affects us all -- having one sick member." He let out the rest of his breath in a sigh. "Even if he wasn't the captain, it would make a difference. I don't think any of our opponents in the other schools understands that. I know our families don't..."
The Rikkai Dai Fuzoku tennis team regulars were a unit. They were complete unto themselves, they made each other stronger. And they felt it acutely when one of them was weaker than the rest.
When one of them was suffering.
Since finding out that Yukimura had to undergo surgery, Sanada had significantly increased the team's exercise and training regimen. His objective -- and he had made it clear since the beginning -- was to increase everyone else's playing level. They had to fill in the skill gap that Yukimura left.
In case Yukimura could never play again.
The possibility was never said outloud, but it never needed to be. The rigorous training buried all their apprehensions under so much blood and sweat.
Niou took time to phrase his reply.
"We're not just aiming for a third win at the Nationals for Yukimura's sake," Niou intoned. "We go on for ourselves, too. That's why we're training twice as hard...winning the Nationals is the only thing that's important." He said all this with absolute certainty. As if he was reading from a book. Or quoting something someone else had said.
"Yagyuu. We only have to do this one more time. Nothing must hold us back. Even Yukimura understands that."
Yagyuu was silent for a long while.
Finally he sighed.
"You're right, Niou-kun. I shouldn't talk nonse -- "
Suddenly, someone struck Yagyuu upside the head, loud enough to make him eat his words.
"-- Ow! what the -- "
"So where'd you put my brother?"
"Hey it's Marui again," Niou greeted with utter lack of interest. "How've you been?"
"I was talking to this one," Marui snapped back at Niou. "You don't answer for him. Unless for some insane reason, you two switched places or something...I wouldn't put it past you."
"Marui-kun." Yagyuu was fixing his glasses, which had been knocked askew. "My sister and I've brought our cell phones. We should be able to ask them where they are."
"Go on and use it then! And let me talk to Hijiri, okay?"
Yagyuu complied. He took out his cell phone from his pocket and started dialing.
A short while later, he reported: "My sister's phone is unreachable."
"What do you mean unreachable?!"
"Means they've either gone as far as Kyuushuu," Niou droned, "or they're in a covered area. Like a tunnel of love."
Marui shut his eyes, groaned and fell to the ground beside Yagyuu in an exhausted heap.
"I can't believe all our training at the Rikkai team isn't enough preparation for running after two brats." Marui sighed. "You guys are lucky."
"Yeah, so my sister says."
"Don't worry, Marui-kun. We'll be able to contact them later."
The angry wailing of an electric guitar broke through the silence. There was screaming from the crowd. The third band had started to play.
"This band looks popular," Niou remarked.
Yagyuu squinted. "I think I've seen them somewhere, but I can't recognize them from here."
"Let's go closer." Marui stood up. "My not-missing brother told me there are some interesting things going on down there. Besides, I'm stressed. I need gum."
**************************
Yukimura lost his balance as he was about to counter Renji's volley. He fell on one knee and seemed to lose control of his entire weight.
His shoulders slumped. His grip loosened and if he hadn't caught himself, the racket would have rolled off his palm and clattered to the ground.
On their side of the court, both Renji and Yagyuu took one step forward, mouths open, ready to speak their captain's name.
The only one who didn't seem alarmed was Genichirou, Yukimura's doubles partner for that practice match.
"Can you go on?" Genichirou asked, stance rigid, eyes hard.
Yukimura's reply was a faint and labored "...Yes."
"Then get on your feet."
Renji knew enough to take Yukimura's answer for law. But Yagyuu had to protest. "Sanada. We should take him to -- "
"That's enough, Yagyuu!"
The reprimand came from Yukimura.
Rikkai's captain came to his feet slowly, but with no sign of trembling or hesitation. He looked up directly at Yagyuu.
"I'm still your opponent," he said to the speechless boy, his eyes filled with agony and hate. "Let's finish this."
Yanagi was snapped out of his thoughts by a can of oolong tea coming up close to his face.
He started upright and looked up. Kirihara peered down at him.
"Sempai wasn't paying attention," he pointed out with wicked delight, as if he intended to add "I could have hit you and you wouldn't have seen it coming."
"Ah...thank you, Akaya." Yanagi took the can and his change from Kirihara's hands without ceremony.
"Here," Kuwahara was saying nearby, as he handed two bottles of water to Sanada. Kirihara stepped over to Sanada to deliver the change, then bounced off to join Kuwahara at a safe distance, closer to where Yanagi sat.
Sanada reached one of the water bottles down to Yukimura. Yukimura raised his hand in polite refusal. He still wasn't looking at Sanada. He appeared to be gazing at something further beyond the stage.
"Aaagh, this is flat!" Kirihara complained, making a face at the soda can he was holding. Yanagi noted blankly that it was the one softdrink that had most of the artificial colors and flavors he had just warned Akaya not to consume. "Is yours flat too, Jackal-sempai? Let me have some!"
"Hell no! You'll drink it all up!" Kuwahara sheltered the can from Kirihara's predatory claws.
"Just one drink! I'm really thirsty!"
"If you're really thirsty you'll finish your own soda, even if it's flat!"
Yanagi heard Sanada make a puzzled sound. He turned and saw that Sanada was watching a familiar trio fast approaching their group.
"Are?" Kirihara blurted out when he followed his upperclassmen's gazes. "It can't be. More sempai?!"
**************************
As the three most serious freshman players, Yanagi Renji, Yukimura Seiichi and Sanada Genichirou gravitated toward each other even after club hours.
Together, they found quiet spots where they could spend time laughing and discussing topic after topic, children who had just found their best friends and were enjoying the start of the relationship.
Sometimes, however, their discussion turned serious. That happened more and more frequently as they became more and more engaged in the events of the tennis club.
Once, at the empty stadium in Aono Park, Seiichi and Renji sat discomfited while Genichirou paced to and fro, working off unrest.
Renji was the first to voice out his thoughts: "Our upperclassmen are obviously not fully aware of our club's resources. It doesn't follow that they should arrogantly dismiss our suggestions just because we're first years."
Seiichi knew whom Renji wanted to comfort with those words. "Genichirou..."
"Our sempai are weak. They don't understand the importance of championship." Genichirou was speaking in a steady voice. He didn't seem angry at all anymore, not like he was earlier that morning, at the Rikkai practice courts. "It's not enough that we've been regional champions for 14 years. With enough effort, we can conquer the nationals as well."
And Genichirou had every right to say this. Like Seiichi and Renji, he was also considered a tennis prodigy. Like them, he was a winner.
"And now they have three top-level first-year members they won't even listen to. We can be stronger than this. We can be national champions. If we have to fight for the right to prove it, we will!"
At an earlier outing, Genichirou had announced that he was determined to make it as a regular in his first year, even if Renji and Seiichi couldn't make it with him. Seiichi and Renji had thought he was joking, but in the days that followed, he trained himself rigorously and challenged upperclassman after upperclassman -- and beat them all.
When Genichirou announced something, he followed through. His determination was like nothing Seiichi had seen.
Genichirou...was strong. Being friends with him made Seiichi feel strong.
"If we win the national championship three years in a row," Seiichi brought up, "we could prove our own skills. It could become a new school tradition. Regional championship won't be the middle school tennis club's only goal anymore, and it would all start with us."
Who would want to pass up the chance of becoming immortal?
Genichirou stopped pacing. He approached his friends. With a resolute look, he raised his left hand to eye level, palm open.
"We'll start this new tradition. The three of us together. Let's make it a promise."
Renji smiled and grabbed Genichirou's left hand with his.
When Genichirou put his right hand up, Seiichi held it without hesitation. Genichirou's strength flowed into him through their joined palms. He felt its warmth.
"It's a promise," he said.
They were fast approaching last national tournament they needed to clear.
And Yukimura couldn't get his body to understand the urgency.
Maybe that was what made it hard to look into Sanada's eyes...he couldn't admit that the fight was becoming too difficult.
Still, it was a waste of time to feel uncomfortable, after having looked forward to Sanada's company all day. Yanagi was here too, and Yukimura felt like he should extend a hand in making their get-together worth it.
They should be enjoying themselves. They were there as friends. They weren't there as tennis club members.
"Oi, slackers! Never thought you were the indie concert sort..."
"Is there a tennis club meeting? No one called me."
...Though the point was perhaps moot since all the regulars were making an appearance.
"And not one of them wearing wristbands," Sanada grumbled irritably.
"So, Yukimura. You were so troublesome in there, they finally let you out, huh?"
Yukimura faced Niou with a roguish smile on his face.
"Yeah, all the pretty nurses said they needed a break."
"Does everyone in the region know that we're here?"
"Nah, my brother just bumped into you guys. He said I was welcome to join you, so I did, I just brought two friends along."
"Heh, you should've seen it, Marui! Akaya here bumped into your brother and apologized on bended knee."
"I did not! Jackal-sempai!!"
Yukimura smiled to himself. The third band's music was great, and everyone was in high spirits.
Making sure everyone would have a good time wasn't going to take too much effort.
(to be continued)
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NOTES: Second to the last!
The sixth and last chapter is still in drafting process, it might be a while before I finish it. In the meantime I'm planning a sort of overhaul for this fic. There's a huge miscalculation I've managed to overlook up to this point. Fear my peerless self-betaing skills.
I'll reveal the nature of the miscalculation at the last chapter. Meanwhile, the plot goes on undisturbed. I won't apply any major changes until I've finished everything, I promise.
-- MorphailEffect