7

Shouts kept getting higher and higher, struggling to reach the sky. From left to right, they all carried differents voices and differents words, but all of them encouraging their respectives players. And even if there was no flag swaying up in the air, the whole scene very much felt like a battlefield in which four warriors, faces dark and hands clutched on their weapons were fighting to win.

The match between Seigaku and Fudoumine Tennis teams had turned more heated than expected.

Inui stood close to Seigaku's headquarters along with his fellows comrades, watching the fight from the distance, his attention never missing any shot.

The Kamio-Ibu pair had gotten better than the last time the team had played them. It wasn't only about their improving individualy, even if Kamio seemed to have sharpened his rythm sense. The player was doing everything but useless moves: his steps were measured, his swing precise, his shots straight. Everything in his play was calculated so as not to waste any energy. As for Ibu, he seemed a lot more involved in the game, much reactive than the previous time and also more determined. It was obvious they had worked hard on their coordination and together, they had become fearsome opponents.

He turned his gaze to the other pair and almost smirked at the situation.

It wasn't the first time Momoshiro was to be paired with Kaidoh. They had already played doubles together, not so long ago. At that time, he had thought they were quite nicely matched, even if they kept yelling at each other and scolding each other for their mistakes.

Today was a completely different story.

It wasn't that they were on the verge of tearing eachother's throat, they had barely spoken at eachother. Momoshiro was playing his usual hard game on their opponents, smashing as much as he could, taking risks in some action and anticipating the counterattack like the tactician he had become. As for Kaidoh, his techniques had never felt so effective as in this very day, corrupting Kamio's rythm and by the same time demolishing the other pair's play.

Inui's eyebrows furrowed.

But there was more than that. Besides the obvious alchemy between the two players, there was something else. Something that radiated from their moves and intensified their respective play. Something that made them shine brightly from the court and in the very middle of the day.

Their passion for Tennis was surely what had brought them together and made them the beautiful pair they had become.

"Three games all."

Still, their opponents weren't bad either.

Kamio was starting to pressure Kaidoh with his long and swift shots at the rear, and the Seigaku player somehow, was slow at reacting. As for Ibu, he covered quite well the front, resisting with an impressive ease to Momoshiro's assaults.

"30-0."

"Heh...What is going on with those two? Weren't they panting a minute ago?" Eiji asked, sulking.

"Maybe that was a part of their strategy." Fuji said. Then, turning to the one at his left "What do you think, Inui?"

"Kamio and Ibu seem to have overcome the trouble in their coordination. And now that they have the serve in their hand, I think they will certainly try to break Kaidoh and Momoshiro's play."

"Hum, so that's why Ibu keeps containing Momoshiro's smashs so he would be forced to play long balls..." Oishi said.

"...and Kamio can take Kaidoh off-guard." Fuji whispered aloud.

"40-0." was the new score announced.

"Ah This is getting bad." Eiji whined.

It was true the situation was getting out of control. Momoshiro was turning back to his restless self, along with his shots losing their precision. Kaidoh's temper was raising little by little: the frown on his face had never been so deep and the grip on his racket so feral.

"Four games to three. Change court."

He watched as the two players wordlessly walked to the opposite side of the court, not even looking at their side. Screams and shouts raised from the worshipping crowd as the players resumed the match.

"30-0." was announced after some minutes.

"Again?! This is so annoying, why couldn't we play?!" the acrobatic player complained.

"Eiji, you shouldn't be saying things like that. Instead, why don't you encourage Momoshiro and Kaidoh. They are most likely to be our successors afterall." Oishi interviened.

"Myeah...I know..." the other player answered, pouting.

Fuji smiled, amused by the situation while Inui's mind was focused on the match.

"40-0."

None of the two players was moved, Inui noticed. They had lost all their facial expressions.

Momoshiro positioned himself close to the net as Kaidoh withdrew at the rear.

"Is that some kind of 'Australian Formation'?" Kawamura asked.

"Hum...I've never really seen this kind of pattern anywhere. Maybe they made it on their own?" Oishi mused out loud.

"Well, I don't think they did. I don't even think it's a Formation."

"Fuji is right. It looks more like they are turning back to their solo work." Inui put in.

Eiji promptly jumped in the discussion.

"Heh? Individual double? That's not double at all..."

"Maybe, but that's the way they play double." Fuji stated, a small smile on his lips.

"40-15."

Inui sighed and wordlessly took his notebook out of his pocket.

It was time to gather some more datas.

7

He passed a hand in his hair and laid down in his chair, the warmth of the room gaining him.

It was still snowing outside, not profusely as the day before though. He was glad he didn't have to train today, for it was certainly freezing outside.

He smiled at the image that jumped his thoughts, the image of a Kaidoh in shorts doing footing under the falling snow. He was aware of its ridiculousness, but it made sense in a way, for Kaidoh was the type of person who would do something so reckless.

But he Inui had taken care of everything. He had made clear to the Year two never to put his health at risk just to improve, because in the end he might lose everything.

He adjusted his glasses on his nose.

And his advices had paid. Seigaku had won the Sophomore-Freshmen Tournament, beating Fudoumine, St Rudolph and Jyousei Shonan players.

He remember how stunned they had been when Ryuzaki-sensei and Tezuka had announced none of the Year three of the team would be playing. Fuji had only smiled, Kawamura had taken the news as calmly as usual. Only Eiji had sulked for the rest of the practice that day. As for himself, Inui had barely raised an eyebrow. He had been much more interested in how Momoshiro, Kaidoh and Echizen would deal with their opponents both in singles and doubles.

It had been a tiring experience for the three players. First because they had had to play everyday against different opponents and in a different type of play. But there had also been the immense pressure of the tournament: with Seigaku been the district champion the three of them had to win in order to show that the team's strenght didn't rely only on their sempais.

As Double, Echizen and Momoshiro had done miracles, doing the impossible by beating the Tanaka brothers of Jyousei Shonan. Eiji had jumped really high that day and both Fuji and Oishi had had to prevent him from choking Echizen in a dreadful hug.

And there had been that incident with Mizuki. It had been right after Kaidoh's match against Fuji's brother. The match had started all smoothly, but soon Kaidoh had taken the lead, and along with the Boomerang Hadoukyuu, his new move, the Diving Snake, had been destructive. Yuuta had had neither the strenght, nor the speed to react to such powerful and subtle techniques.

And he hadn't been the only one caught off-guard.

Inui particularly remembered Oishi wondering how come Kaidoh could have mastered such a complicated move in such a small amount of time. He also remembered that very knowing look Fuji had given him as everyone went to congratulate the Year two.

That was when Mizuki had come to them, his usually steady step unsteady, his calm face unable to hide his resentment. Fuji had asked him what was wrong, and he had ignored him. He had glared at Inui, and said that never in his life had he suffered loosing twice against the same person. He had also spat various words about sly unfair training methods and revenge being some cold dish.

Inui sighed at the memory.

He couldn't reproach Mizuki for being mad. Everybody knew Fuji Yuuta was Mizuki's protégé, and it wasn't impossible that the latter had heard of his training with Kaidoh. That was the reason why, in a way, Yuuta's defeat against Kaidoh was also Mizuki's defeat against him. Another defeat it seemed he couldn't bear.

But maybe he was taking things too dramatically.

He straightened up and turned to the window.

The sky was clear and the wind had stopped blowing as hard as before. The leaves were resting on the immaculate carpet made in snow threads, preventing the naked trees from catching a cold in their hibernating. And no one dared to wake them up, for the alley was silent, like the long forgotten lane of an old manor's garden. And when a bird flew through the slight opening of his window, looking for a small corner in his heated room, Inui was glad to have a companion for some time.

7

The door silently closed as sound of steps echoed in the cool breeze.

No student chatting in the entrance of the building. No teacher stalking along the corridor. No class at all.

Today would be the last time. The last time he would step in this place. The last time he would see these two buildings that had somehow scared him three years before, when he had entered Seigaku High. This massive concrete, those small windows, those narrow corridors, he had loathed them ever since the beginning. They made school look like a prison in which he was to be incarcerated for three years. And it was so big he had feared he might lose himself at some corner.

He closed his eyes as he mentally scanned the area, and the vision of every single room of the place became alive in his head without any effort from his part.

And he couldn't understand why he had been scared in the first place: it was just some random school like thousand of other one across the country. Like the others, it welcomed hundreds of students every year, it instructed them for three years before releasing them in the outside world. It helped small boys and girls to become fine young men and women, it helped them to find their way in thousand and thousand possible paths that existed for them: Mathematics, Physics, Languages, Literature, Art, Sport...those were the dishes of the Great Menu of Life they could pick up anytime they wanted, according to their taste of the moment.

No, Seigaku had never been the terrible being he had though it would be. It had been a good mother to him, teaching him how to live a young boy life, how to live among people of his own age and befriend them and get attached to them. It had teached him how to live a passion and how to share this passion with other people, other people that had become his friends and maybe more.

So there was no way he could hate the place. It was a part of his life, and like a giant photobook, every single windows of it carried a special moment of those three years. This window at the second floor on the right, how many times had he looked through it during his English class as a Freshman? And that one on the third floor, it reminded him of that time he and the other regulars had spent a dreadful time worrying about a Tennis racket and the curse it was thought to carry.

Certainly today was the end, otherwise he wouldn't be thinking about all this.

He resumed his walking, passing close to the announcement board, closing the black gate behind him.

"You are a little early." he said to the waiting figure.

"I know." The deep voice answered.

"I suppose you already guessed why I called you there for...right?"

The other nodded. Then, after a thoughtful look crossed his face.

"Why?"

"Why we have to stop?" Inui asked.

"No. Why did you start to train me in the first place?"

"Oh..." he adjusted his glasses. "Because you have talent."

Kaidoh's usually hard expression softened as he lowered his gaze.

A loud pause.

"Ryuzaki-sensei asked me to be Seigaku's vice captain."

Inui smiled inwardly: it seemed that once again their coach had taken note of his suggestions.

And he wasn't the only one to think that Momoshiro and Kaidoh as captain and vice-captain was the best combination for the team's sake. Momoshiro was someone very sociable and easy to get friend with, which could prove really reassuring for any newcomer. He had a something special that, for some reason, made people attracted to him and that made them both trust and respect him no matter what. But what a team also need is a strong figure, someone that has enough charisma to impose himself naturally to the others, without it being strange at all. Kaidoh had that very kind of aura. And even if somehow, he and Momoshiro were rivals to the point of getting into serious fights from time to time, they knew they could count on eachother everytime, without even needing to ask for it. With those two being the new official pair and the leaders, it was certain Seigaku's Tennis Team was to become stronger and more powerful.

But right now, the difficult part was to make the two of them acknowledge this fact.

"I see. What did you say?"

"I...have to think about it."

He smiled.

Kaidoh hadn't rejected the proposition at once. This was very good news, considering that he had always hated, or rather pretended to hate to see his name associated with Momoshiro's.

The Year two frowned at the expression on his senior's face.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." was Inui's flat answer.

"Hn."

A beat.

"University is not close by." Kaidoh said finally.

Inui perfectly knew what the statement implied. So he decided to give the year two the informations he was silently asking for.

"An hour or two by train is not that much, and we get a lot of free time."

"Tennis is a part of University program?" the Junior asked, intrigued.

"I am not going to play Tennis at University."

Kaidoh's eyes widened.

"And I don't think I'll be playing anymore."

The Year two turned to look away, his jaws clenched. Then his head jerked on the left as a hand was laid on his shoulder.

"Don't take it like that, I had decided this a while before I started to train you. I just can't play Tennis anymore, but it doesn't mean I've lost interest in it."

"...Were you injured...?"

The uncertaincy and the bitterness in Kaidoh's expression was so obvious Inui felt he had to do something.

"No. But it doesn't matter. Kaidoh, I already told you why I trained you. You have talent, and that's the difference between you and me. You have to keep playing Tennis, for the next year as Seigaku's vice-captain, and for the other upcoming years. Become a professionnal, play as many matches as you can, don't waste that powerful source in you, and I know you won't because you are shaped in will and determination." He paused. "As for me, I'll be watching you from my coaching bench."

Kaidoh only nodded, his expression dead-serious.

"Well, see you around."

"Hn."

He walked away, his step never so steady.

He was glad he had finally found a way to say what had been on his mind for so many months. Kaidoh was the first to know, he would tell the others later in the week...though he was pretty sure Fuji suspected something.

"Inui-sempai..."

Sounds of steps ceased on the pavement.

"Thank you for everything." Kaidoh said, bowing low.

Inui simply turned away and resumed his walk.

A self-satisfied smile broke out of his lips.

Certainly one day that boy would blossom into a beautiful player.

THE END

To those of you who reviewed.