Chapter 7
The next day, the Seigaku boys continued having their listing matches. It was not until afternoon did Fuji have any games to play, therefore he hang around the ground and watched the other's doing. Before noon, all the results were almost released. Kikumaru, Tezuka and Ryoma were the first group of people who made themselves Regulars successfully. For the rest, they were looking forward to the games in the afternoon.
Shortly after lunch, matches started again. Fuji beaten his fourth opponent easily. Straightly after a fifteen-minute break, he was going to have his last game. Fuji sat on the side bench and wiped off his sweat with his towel. Beaten up four teammates in his group, he was guaranteed to become a Regular already. The coming match would not affect the outcome. Fuji raised his head and looked at the clear blue sky. A gentle breeze caught his face, blowing up his soft brown hair. "There is light wind today..." He muttered. Kikumaru bounced beside him outside and wished him good luck, and he just smiled back and had a short conversation with him.
"The next match is about to begin. Would the competitors, please come to the court area."
Fuji stood up and proceeded forward. "Alright, my last opponent should be..." Fuji was just glaring at the notice board when somebody opened the gate of the court.
"It's me." Entering the court area, Tezuka Kunimitsu, the Buchou and the no. 1 single player of the Seigaku tennis club spoke.
"Didn't you have all the five matches already, Tezuka?" Fuji smiled.
"... If you don't believe me, you can check the notice board yourself," said Tezuka coolly.
"Look! Tezuka Buchou and Fuji senpai are going to play against each other!" Outside the gate, those tennis team teammates who have already fail to become Regulars were spreading the news. "Buchou and Tensai, No. 1 and No. 2, who do you think will win?" "Don't just talk, let's go to D Court and watch! It is going to be a really splendid game that cannot be missed."
"Looks like the fatal match between this two people is inevitable..." uttered Oishi, looking to the direction of D Court from another court. Meanwhile, he was playing with Kaidoh, and Momoshiro was waiting for Inui to have their final match.
Surrounded by a crowd of students, the match began in a tensional atmosphere. Kikumaru, Ryoma and Kawamura, who has just made himself a Regular by beating Oishi and another teammate, came to watch the game. Nevertheless, the match didn't come out to be as brilliant as others thought to be. Within twenty minutes, Fuji has already lost 1:4. Actually, the Regulars understood that, if Fuji continued not to be serious, there is no way for him to win their Buchou. He would lose very easily and very soon.
They had a short break before changing court. While Fuji was sitting on the side bench, drinking water from his bottle, Tezuka approached him.
"Tezuka? What's matter?" Fuji lifted up his head, keeping his smile.
"... You are losing."
"Yeah, I know. Tezuka's tennis is really over-whelming. I will not be able to beat you."
"Fuji, I just want you to take tennis more serious. Your genuine ability isn't just up to this standard," demanded Tezuka.
Fuji just continued to smile.
Tezuka sighed, "... Fuji Syusuke won't let himself lose. Show me your truth self."
As Tezuka walked away, Fuji opened his deep blue eyes and stared at Tezuka's back. "I won't let myself lose..." He murmured, gripping his racquet tightly. He didn't shut his eyes after that, looking as if he has made up his mind for something; He was up to something.
"Hei... Looks like the real match is just about to begin." Being the first one to notice the difference in Fuji's eyes, Ryoma said quietly.
Fuji got up from his seat. He felt dizzy when he was walking to the court area. Putting his hand on his forehead for a while, he took a deep breath. Before the sixth set started again, Fuji scratched the racquet lines in order to enhance his concentration, trying to ignore the pain in his head.
"Fuji, to serve."
Holding the tennis ball slightly higher, Fuji twisted it and let it fell from his right hand. His racquet caught the ball in the middle of the air and pushed it forward into the other side of the net.
"Disappearing Serve!" shouted Kawamura.
Even though, surely, that Tezuka has seen Fuji's Disappearing Serve in previous matches, he has never encountered that himself. Taken by a slight surprise, he focused on the coming object calmly. When he was about to counter, the ball accelerated abruptly and escaped from his sight, as well as his reach.
"15:0!"
Standing back in his position, Tezuka pushed his glasses on his nose higher. He met Fuji's eye, seeing great determination and strength. There it was, the genuine ability of Fuji Syusuke, tensai of Seigaku, tensai of tennis.
Fuji, standing on the side, hid his usual smile rarely. He didn't say anything, instead he just responded to Tezuka's glimpse with his Disappearing Serve again. The ball approached Tezuka. Learning a lesson from the last serve, Tezuka predicted when the ball would accelerate, dashed forward and aimed his racquet at it. His action was quick and his prediction was correct. The only thing that went wrong was the direction the ball turned to after hitting the ground. It happened to switch to the opposite side as before and disappeared. Before anybody noticed, it has leaped out of Tezuka's arm length already.
"30:0!"
"Bravo! Bravo! Amazing! Hoi hoi! How can Fuji do that? Do you know, O'Chibi (Baby boy, that's how he called Ryoma)?"
Ryoma didn't answer. He just concentrated on the two Regulars in the court, the only people he hasn't beaten in Seigaku.
"Ahhh... Notice Fuji-senpai's expression? It is quite scary to see him not to smile sometimes," murmured somebody beside them.
"40:0!" Within minutes, Fuji was leading.
"Out! Game, Fuji won 2:4." This time, Tezuka was able to catch the ball finally. It was only that it happened to be shot to the wrong place.
"Awesome! Fuji-senpai managed to get all service ace in this set from Tezuka Buchou! I can hardly believe that anybody in Seigaku could do so!"
................................................
In court B, Oishi has defeated Kaidoh using forty-five minutes with 7:5. Kaidoh walked away, waiting for his last match with either Inui or Momoshiro. Inui was on his way back to school, according to Oishi, and therefore Momoshiro and he still haven't started their game. Oishi was burying his face in the towel when a figure approached.
"Excuse me, Oishi-san," It was Yuuta, in St. Rudolph school uniform. He greeted Oishi, "can you tell me where Aniki is?"
"Ah, You are Fuji's otouto (Little brother), right?"
"... Uh... " replied Yuuta, "why can't everybody remember my full name? I am Yuuta! I am myself, not solely Fuji's otouto! Well, never mind anyway..." Yuuta murmured and sighed, quite frustrated by the thought.
"Fuji should still be having a match with Tezuka over there..."
"Really? Aniki is playing with Tezuka-san?" Yuuta was impressed.
"Yes. If the game is over, there shouldn't be a huge crowd there. By the way, why do you come here?"
"Oh... Aniki wants me to go to the sports store with him to purchase some equipment after practice today. We happen to have a earlier off today, and as I have nothing to do, I come to see if Aniki is ready. Does it matter?"
"Not at all! Everybody is welcomed here. Actually, we are quite used to be spied during important matches," teased Oishi.
"Spy? I am not spying..." Yuuta sweatdropped.
"Haha... I am just kidding. Please don't mind that. Anyway, would you come back again later? Or do you want to stay for a while to wait for your brother?"
"I prefer staying here. I would like to watch Aniki's match. See you, Oishi-san."
"Just a minute, otouto-kun, let me go with you."
"Game, Tezuka won 5:4."
"Ahhh... Despite Fuji-senpai's awesome comeback, Tezuka-buchou managed to catch up again."
"Yeah... How amazing for him to win Tezuka-buchou four sets continuously!"
"......" Yuuta's mouth dropped open.
"...... Indeed. If anyone can compete so tightly with Tezuka in Seigaku, it has to be Fuji," said Oishi when he and Yuuta reached outside the gate of court D.
"Ah! Oishi, you are here! How's your match? Oh! Are you Fuji's otouto? Why are you here?" asked Kikumaru when he realized their sudden appearance around him.
"I am fine, Eiji. And otouto-kun just came to find Fuji. Anyway, I am more interested in how things has been going on here."
"Nya, you don't know how great Fuji has been doing! He became extremely serious somehow after the fifth set. His performance is excellent. But Tezuka's is not bad as well. The game isn't going to end soon. It is going to be a really tough and long competition," He attached himself onto Oishi, "Hoi hoi, let's watch the rest of the game together, pal."
Meanwhile, the two of them in the court stayed on guard every moment. They concentrated on the match so hard that they could hardly take notice of anything except each other's move. It was Tezuka's serve this time. Not waiting for the ball to rise to the highest point, Fuji lowered his racquet and returned quickly.
"Very fast!" exclaimed Kawamura.
"That should be the special counter skill of Fuji-senpai's otouto, Super Rising," uttered Ryoma.
"Uh..." replied Yuuta.
Tezuka's reaction is not slow either. He returned the balls normally, but as time went by his moving area became smaller and smaller, until he just needed to move within a circle around him to hit the balls.
"Tezuka Zone!" shouted all of the Regulars who were watching.
Instead of taken by surprise, Fuji let out a confident smile, "Finally, Tezuka. It is finally the time to show me your strength?" he thought. He shot the ball to the corner of the court. Nevertheless, no matter how many times he returned, where he aimed the tennis ball at, the ball would somehow be attracted by Tezuka and automatically flew to his side.
"40:0! Match Point!"
One more round, one more round and Tezuka would win. Everybody believed that.
"Nya... Is Fuji going to lose?" asked Kikumaru, feeling a bit frustrated for Fuji.
"So it seems..." replied Oishi.
"Tezuka is really great," said Kawamura.
However, exception always existed. Among the group, at least Ryoma and Yuuta didn't think in that way. "The game will not end so soon," they mumbled.
Even though knowing that he was winning, Tezuka wouldn't let himself to have any unguarded moment, especially not while playing tennis. He threw the ball into the air and made a serve. As soon as the ball left, he gathered his power up and prepared to use Tezuka Zone. The hitting and returning process went on for about two minutes.
"So you are still not willing to reveal your true self, Fuji. It will be a waste of time to continue the game then. Let me finish it," thought Tezuka, frowning slightly. Changing the holding angle of the racquet, he made a cut. The ball dropped sharply once it flew over the net.
"Drop Shot!"
"The game has finally come to an end!"