Just some random thing with Shinji and Kamio. It takes place while they're in elementary school.


"Let's play tennis, Shinji."

Ibu Shinji raised an eyebrow. Kamio Akira and he had been walking home after their Elementary School, when they passed a tennis court. Some people had left their tennis rackets out, and Kamio was now examining one of them thoroughly.

"Why, Kamio? Why would you want to play tennis? I've never really thought about the sport before, but I've heard it's really boring. Put that racket down. What if the people who left it come back and see you playing with their rackets? What if they're big mean people who don't appreciate little kids playing with their stuff? What if they come back and-"

Kamio smacked him lightly in the head with the tennis racket. "Shut up, Shinji. You're rambling to yourself again. If you don't quit that soon, it'll turn into a real habit!"

Shinji rubbed his head, "Sorry. I like talking. What about your music? Just the other day Sensei caught you listing to your CD player during class…"

"I can't help it! If I don't have music playing while I do something, I'll explode!" He waved the tennis racket wildly to emphasize his point. "So anyway, how about a game? I bet I can beat you!"

"Whatever." Shinji said, grabbing a racket, "Do you no how to keep score a tennis match?"

Kamio paused, and said, "I'm not exactly sure. I watched a match once, and it had something to do with love…"

"Ewww…" Shinji stuck out his tongue, "Gross. Love is so gross..."

"Not that kind of love, idiot!" Kamio half-skipped to his side of the court. "How about we just hit the ball, and whoever drops it loses a point. Okay?"

"Sure," Shinji picked up a tennis ball, and hit it with his racket. It hit the net.

"Haha!" Kamio started laughing, "Ibu Shinji can't even hit the ball over the net! That's one point for me!"

"Quit laughing, Kamio Akira." Shinji mumbled, "I bet you can't even hit it over the net either. Then I'll laugh at you and you'll feel bad. I bet you've never even played tennis before, and you don't know how it works, and…"

"SHINJI! SHUT UP!" Kamio yelled, and… completely missed Shinji's serve. "Awwww! No fair! I was talking!'

"Point for me." Shinji muttered, ignoring him, "Now we're tied. I'll beat you…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Kamio served, but the ball missed the court entirely. "What?"

"Haha…" Shinji quietly laughed, "Kamio can't even hit the ball in the court"

"That's okay…" Kamio said after he retrieved the ball, "I'll just change my serve a little…"

It was good. Shinji ran for it, and managed to hit it near the frame of his racket. It arched dropped into Kamio's court. But Kamio somehow managed to reach it.

"I'll hit it over there!" He yelled, "On your other side!"

But instead, he hit it straight at Shinji. Shinji smiled at Kamio's surprised look, and hit it to Kamio's right.

"Darnit!" Kamio yelled, as he got to it, "This ball is so stupid!"

"Ehh…" Shinji replied. The ball came right back to him, and he hit it to Kamio's left. "I sorta like it. It always comes back to me…"

"GRRR!" Kamio got to it yet again, thanks to his amazing speed, "GO IN!"

This time he managed to hit it to Shinji's left, and it went in.

"Ehh…" Shinji sniffed, "It's still tied. This doesn't make you any better than me…"

"Let's just play, Shinji! This is getting fun!"

It was fun. Shinji's smile widened with every point he scored. He was supprisingly good at it, and he (usually) managed to hit the ball where he wanted it to go. It was like he was made for tennis. Kamio was really good, too. After a few tests, he also got the ball to go where he hit it. They played for an hour, Kamio and Shinji, until, finally, Shinji proved victorious.

"Aww, man…" Kamio sat on the ground, and wiped his sweat with his sleeve, " I thought I was gonna win for sure…"

"Too bad." Shinji at down too. "I told you I'd win."

"Yeah, well you didn't wanna play in the first place." Kamio frowned, "I wish Sensei hadn't taken my CD player… I would have won if I had some music to listen to."

"Yeah, yeah…" Kamio usually used that excuse when Shinji beat him at sports.

"What was up with you? You were playing like a pro! Well, maybe not. I bet it's your AB blood…"

"Probably not." Shinji snorted. Then he asked, "Why did you want to play tennis?"

" I don't really know..." Kamio looked Shinji in the eyes. "Do you ever have that feeling, like, you're supposed to do something? When I saw the rackets sitting there… something just came over me. I wanted to play tennis really bad, so I just did…"

"Hmm…" Shinji looked down at his borrowed tennis racket, "I wanna play again. Let's play again, Kamio."

"Not now." Kamio got up and brushed himself off, "I gotta go home. My mom has probably already called the police because I didn't come home on time."

"I didn't mean now." Shinji also rose, "I meant in general. Some time in the future let's play tennis. I had a lot of fun, and I want to play again."

Kamio grabbed his bag, and grinned, "Sure, Shinji. Let's play tennis."