Realization
"What was that about?" Sakuno said coming up to her sisters bed as all the tennis player went to do their laps before Tezuka added more onto them.
"It's nothing…" Taki said and leaned back down on her bed. "Sakuno could you close the door and windows… I want it to be quiet." She whispered and her sister did as she asked.
"Taki are you going to be getting out of here tomorrow to watch the rest of the matches?" Sakuno asked coming back and sat down in the seat Tezuka had been in before she came in.
"I don't thinks so imoto. I'm tired. Even with resting well tonight."
"Can I stay with you here then? We'll get a TV so that we can watch the game live."
"You can stay here and get a TV but when the game continues you'll have to watch it from the nurces station." Taki said and then her grandmother came into the room.
"Taki are you feeling better?" She asked and Taki looked at her grandmother.
"A bit oba-san, but I said some things to bucho that I shouldn't have. Could you please tell him that it's just that I'm in here and it's not because of them."
"He's a big boy he'll understand."
"I don't think so Oba-san. Just keep an eye on him."
"You're talking as if you aren't going to be getting out of here and coming back to them." That's when it hit Sumire.
"What are you talking about, Nee-san just needs to get a long rest then she'll be back in no time." Sakuno said and Taki smiled as her.
"You're right Sakuno I'm just going to need a long rest." She said then closed her eyes again. "Oba-san Sakuno wants to stay here tonight. Could you tell Oto-san and Ka-san that they could place the TV in here again for her." She said and then her Oba-san left the room to talk with her parents.
Tezuka had stormed to the public courts a few blocks away and started to hit the ball around to get his anger out. "Who the hell does she think she is." He said to himself not noticing people watching him, as the ball started lifting dust of the wall in one place. "This is not my fault they should have told us. She just toyed with us. With me." He hit the ball in an abnormal way and it went over the wall and hit a tree behind it. As he went to find the ball he didn't notice some people watching him.
"Was that the brat?" Some men said as they all moved from spot around the courts.
"Yeah it looked like him." A man with sunglasses said then walked over to the wall Tezuka was working at. "And it looks like he's in a bad mood. Worse then usual."
"Wonder what it could be?" another guy said and then Tezuka came back and saw the guys.
"What the hell are you guys doing here?" He said and put his things away.
"Tezuka this isn't like you." Some of the guys said and the teen sighed.
"One of my regulars is in the hospital." He said and they all gasped.
"No way, none of them looked like they could be sent there."
"The ones that you know about haven't. It's my new member." He said and they all walked towards Tezuka's place. One of the guys stayed with him even when they got to his place. "I'm home." He said and then his mother came running.
"Kunimitsu were have you been? Sakuno called to say that you stormed out of the hospital and that was about five hours ago." His mother said and he took off his shoes.
"He's been at the courts Mrs. Tezuka." Yamato said and the woman smiled at him.
"Yamato it's been so long. So I'm guessing you've gone to visit taki at the hospital then." She said and Yamato looked at her surprised.
"What are you talking about? Why is Taki in the hospital?" He said and Kunimitsu went up to his room with out another word.
"Oh so you didn't hear. I would have thought that Kuni-kun would have told you since he was with her right before she was taken there." The woman said and then Yamato ran up the stairs and stormed into Kunimitsu's room.
"Is that why you were acting like this." He said and Tezuka looked up from putting his raquet's under his bed. "Was Taki on the team? Are you out of your mind? You let a girl on the team. You let her get hurt."
"I didn't let her get hurt Yamato. And she asked her grandmother to be placed on the team, not me. She was the one who wanted to play with the guys' team. Having cancer and not telling us was also her choice and look were it got her. Go and talk with the others about it I just have had enough." He said and then layed down in his bed. Yamato left the room and Tezuka heard him talking with his mother.
The next day the other regulars of the seigaku team arrived at the tournamnet and were met by reporters. The other team members tried to puysh the reporters away untill a whistle was blown. Every one turned a saw Tezuka with the old Seigaku team members who had graduated long before them.
"I want eveyone to run ten laps around the park Now." He said and the reporters just looked at him as his team went for the run. "I said everyone didn't I." He said and the reporters were off. His team finished with in ten minutes and started to warm up. When the reporters came in they were all out of breath except for a few who came up to him.
"Tezuka could we get a follow-up on Ryuzaki's condition." One of them said and was pulled away from Tezuka by the old members.
"Ne, Tezuka could I talk with you?" the female reporter that Taki gave an interview to asked and Tezuka walked away from the others so she follewed him. He just turned to look at her and crossed his arms. "Is Taki alright?" She asked and he rubbed his head.
"No." he said and she waited for an elaboration but didn't get any.
"Ok then could you tell me why you let a girl on your team in the first place?"
"Her talent would have been waisted on the girls team plus she was the one you talked with Coach Ryuzaki so I didn't have a say in it." His cell then rang and he looked at the number. He then turned it off.
"So who was that?" She asked.
"Ryuzaki." He said and then his pager went off. He looked at the message then turned his cell back on. He dialed the number and waited. "What do you want Sakuno?" He said and then listened. "Why are you telling me this you could have called Fuiji or the others. I don't have time for this." He said then hung up. "Are you done?" He asked the lady and she nodded not liking how things were going.
When the tournament was continued the guys on the Seigaku team wanted to finish it as fast as they could so that they could get back to the hospital. It amazed the schools that were watching at the determination that was shown. Seigaku won all three singles matches. Tezuka wasn't at all in a good mood when the reports came charging up to them once more. Yamato and the old members once more intersepted them and told them when the others wanted to talk they'll call. So the team went back to the hospital minus a very grumpy captain and a worried tensai.
"Tezuka why did you storm out like that yesterday?" Fuji asked as Tezuka took a shower at home.
"Fuji you do know that it really is unnerving when you talk to me while I'm taking a shower." He said and Fuji moved the curtain so that he could see Tezuka's face.
"I talk to you all the time in the shower."
"You do but that's at the school in the changing room but this is my house." He said turning off the shower and Fuji handed him a towle.
"So are you going to give me and answer or not?"
"I was mad that's why I left. Nothing more." He said and then went to his room with Fuji behind him.
"Tezuka you can't run from this."
"Who said I was running."
"Sakuno called and told me what you said to her."
"When I don't answer my cell you don't call my pager. I didn't answer for a reason. That's all I got mad at her for."
"Tezuka she wanted to talk with you, what did you expect. No one can talk to you now. Well except for me."
"Fuji if you are so worried about her and I know you are, go and see her. Leave me alone and make sure you and the others are at school on time tomorrow or I'm going to make you all run laps for the whole practice." He said and Fuji left.
Tht night he didn't know what to do. He tried doing schoolwork but couldn't since he could only think of how mad he was at her. Then he would try to go to sleep but couldn't since his bed smelled like her. He just kept getting madder and madder. He didn't sleep at all then his alarm clock went off. He went down for breakfast to see his brothers all happy. He smaked them on the back of the heads as he passed them for no reason as he went to get his usual drink. "Ne Baka what was that for?" The two said making their parents look at their oldest son.
"For being so chearful in the morning." He said then hit them again then left the house. When he got to the courts the others were all there even the non-regulars. The first years were full of energy that they were jumping off the fences. The second years were all talking. And the third years were all talking with one another quietly about Taki and if they thought she was going to be coming back. "That's it everyone is running laps for the whole practice." He said and they all looked at him.
"But Tezuka we're all here and not to mention before you." Fuji said and got a glare from his bucho that none of them had ever gotten before.
"As for the regulars you all get to run those laps with 10 pound whights on each ankle and five pound whights on your wrists. You all better start running in one minute or you'll all have to do running later after school as well." He said and they all ran out of the courts and started their laps. Tezuka walked off to his classroom and watched from his seat as they all ran.
His mind wandered at what he was doing. "What's going on with me? I'm snapping at people I would usually just shrug off. I'm pushing my friends away my teammates. I'm not getting sleep. And I'm hitting my own brothers." He said in his mind as others started to come into the room for the day. He shot up from his seat and grabbed his bag. He ran out of the room and down to the clubroom and grabbed his tennis bag. The regulars and club members didn't see him as he ran off the school grounds. He had decided to go to his secret spot that no one knew about. It took him about three hours to finally get to a secluded waterfall high in the mountains. He sat down and just let the smell of nature consume him. It was then that the smell started to get to him because it smelled like her. "I'm never going to get away." He said closing his eyes and his lack of sleep dragged him mind into a deep slumber.
Laying under a tree on a lazy day. He opened his eyes slowly to see his koi looking down at him as she ran her hand through his hair. A soft smile on her face as turned her attention back to a book in her other hand. He could hear his teammates splashing around in the water and then he noticed a ring on his koi's finger. "Ne when did you get that?" he asked and the book she was reading dropped onto his chest.
"What are you talking about Kuni-kun? You gave this to me before you graduated. Have you been hit on the head by those tennis balls to many times that you've already foregotten." She said and he sat up.
"A gomen Taki." He said and she shook her head.
"Are you sure you're alright Kunimitsu. I mean we've been here for a while maybe we should head home. The others will undertand since we have been here four hours longer then them. Plus I think I'm starting to get tired." She said and he nodded and got up.
"Come on I'll carry you back to the car."
"Kunimitsu have you lost your mind. Not in my condition. I would rather walk down to the car then rick you dropping me by accident. I know you're strong but it's a long way back to the car. It's not like the distance from the livingroom to the bedroom." She said and took his hand to help her up.
"Fine but at least tell me if you need a rest on our way back." He said and she nodded. "Guys we're headed back. Don't forget we have a tournament to be at tomorrow." He said and the others nodded.
"Ne Bucho you better wake up and smell the air." Ryoma said and he looked at his youngest teammate. "Is this what is really going on."
"Tesuka is this really what is going to happen?" Fuji said and suddenly everything went dark.
"Kunimitsu!" Taki shouted as she started falling and he couldn't reach her. Then everything went black.
Tezuka shot up from his sleep and looked around him. It was starting to get dark. He had to do something before he went home. He got out his cell and called his coach.
"Ne Tezuka were are you? The others said you hadn't been to any of your classes. And you aren't here at practice." Sumire said and then the regulars came running up to her.
"Gomen I had to do something. Let them off early today. And tell Oishi to call me tonight on my cell." He said then hung up.
"Well you are all dismissed for the day since Tezuka said you can go early." She said and the club called it a day.
He walked towards a jewelry store and went in. A sale's person came up to him and he pulled something out of his bag. "Oh that is lovely." The woman said and he handed it to her.
"I was wondering if you can have this put into it as well?" He asked placing a notebook in front of her.
"It will take us about three hours. But we close in one hour. So can you come back tomorrow to pick it up?" She asked and he shook his head. "I thought not. Well then take a seat I'll get one of the guys on it right now." She said and took the thing to the back.
I his room Tezuka looked at the tennis ball on his desk. "Ever since Mrs. Ryuzaki told us what was going on I haven't wanted it to be true. I didn't want to know that I'm going to lose her after just getting her back. To know that wasn't going to get to give her that ring that I've been holding onto for her and only her till after we graduated. How could I have been so stupid. She came back to the school to be with us as long as she could. She came to me and told me how she felt." He said and then closed his eyes and drifted into a content sleep at what he had in mind for the next day, that he didn't notice his mother had opened his door to call him down to have a talk with him. She noticed the small smile on his face and decided that she would let him sleep.