Disclaimer: I do not own any characters apart from Yukimura Miyu.
Author's Words: Thank you so much to tsubame-chan because she told me about the mistake I made concerning the number of rounds in the prelims. There are 64 teams and eight courts. My maths is horrible and I thought that it meant there would be8 rounds. Actually there were only 4. In the second round of the tournament, there would be 32 teams left and there would be 2 rounds. I am so glad that she told me because I really would not have noticed on my own. If anyone notices anything that they thought was odd, please tell me and I will check it to be certain!
Chapter Forty: At the Beach (Part Ten)
With such exceptional sportspeople out in the courts, the second round of the preliminaries were very exciting and the crowds went wild.
At the side of the pavilion, Sakuno stood next to Sanada, Akaya, Oshitari and Gakuto as they watched their friends play.
Before, Sakuno could not see because she was too small to see over the heads of the people in front of her. Now, with Sanada and Oshitari clearing the way for her, she could see extremely well.
Not only that, their little space was also quite empty of people as well. Sakuno did not notice but when Bunta and Jackal found them, they noticed that Sanada had been glaring at anyone who dared to try and come their way.
Oshitari did not miss it of course and he was extremely amused. He did not say anything of course and Gakuto and Akaya, being them, did not notice anything unusual.
Bunta was used to Sanada after so many years and he ignored him. Jackal was sharper than that and he looked warily at Sanada, wondering what was up with their fukubuchou.
Then he saw little Sakuno who was standing in front of Sanada. He did not see her in the beginning because Bunta and he came up to them from behind.
He looked at Sakuno who was cheering anxiously for Miyu and An and occasionally for Niou, Yagyuu, Yanagi and Yukimura, then looked at Sanada's protective stance and shrugged.
Jackal made his way to stand next to Oshitari. He would not want to disturb Sanada from his death glare.
Oshitari nodded at him and Jackal whispered, "Has he been like that since the second prelims?"
Oshitari grinned, "He's very protective, isn't he, Sanada?"
Jackal shrugged, "Well, Sakuno's like a sister to him."
Oshitari whispered back, "More like a daughter from what I can see."
Jackal almost laughed out loud but if he did, he would have to deal with Sanada and so he held himself back.
They stopped talking and concentrated on the games outside.
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Shishido and Ohtori were at a court near their vantage point and they watched as Ohtori used his powerful strength and height to serve a strong and fast ball into their opponent's court.
Ohtori thought that using just his arms and hands was somewhat easier to aim than using a racket and the volleyball was bigger and easier to control than the tennis ball.
He made good use of his physical advantage to hit some really heavy balls into the opponents' court.
They were actually not too bad for they could actually catch one or two of his serves but with Shishido quick reflexes and sharp attacks, they did not last very long and soon, team Shishido-Ohtori won.
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Sakuno clapped for joy when she saw Miyu catch a fast serve and An hit it across fast as lightning.
The two girls were attracting a lot of attention with their lovely looks and brilliant reflexes.
Their serves were strong and quick and they worked very well together.
Sakuno watched in admiration as she saw Miyu take on the heavy balls and An's fast attacks.
It was an exciting game for everyone and the opposing team: two well-built guys, had no choice but to loose.
They were pretty graceful about it but then if they had been sore losers, they would anger everyone cheering for the girls, so they just shook their hands when the game was finished and walked off, rubbing their heads sheepishly.
Miyu and An jumped up and down and gave each other high-fives.
They ran to where Sakuno was and the three girls chatted happily a little before looking at the rest of the players.
When they turned around, Yukimura-Yanagi team and Niou-Yagyuu team had both won and they were also making their way back. They were not even sweating, so easy was it for them.
Soon, Mizuki and Yuta also came back. Mizuki was looking very pleased with himself, as usual and Yuta also had a smile on his face. He had always been an active boy and he enjoyed all kinds of activities.
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Mizuki said as he walked into the shade of the pavilion, "Just as I thought, they couldn't do a thing against Yuta-kun's ferocious attacks."
Yuta said, "Mizuki-san, please stop with those descriptions! They're embarrassing!"
Mizuki ignored him, "Yuta-kun's fast saves and dives into the sand and strong serves, great potential there for tennis. I was so right to set my sight on Yuta-kun in the beginning."
Yuta respected Mizuki a lot but sometimes he wished that he could just stop with his strange way of speaking and thinking.
He said, "Mizuki-san, I already play tennis! Besides, you really don't have to describe all that. No one's interested I'm sure."
Yanagi cut in, "You're wrong, Yuta-kun! I'm very much interested because I could not watch all the games. Mizuki, please continue."
Yuta watched as these two data processing fanatics put their heads together to talk about their games.
He noticed Yanagi had already started to use Mizuki's way of calling him Yuta-kun. He shuddered when he thought of Inui and what it would be like if these three got together.
He was about to walk off when he noticed Miyu, An and Sakuno looking at him.
He turned to them and asked, "What?"
He did not mean to sound so gruff but he was hoping that they did not hear Mizuki's embarrassing descriptions of his 'ferocious attacks' and 'fast' whatevers.
No chance of that, Mizuki had been rather vocal and they had heard every word of it.
An giggled and asked, "Yuta-kun From Mizuki-san's words, it seems that you were very lively out there!"
Miyu added with another grin, "By the way, did Mizuki-san do anything on the court apart from noting down your 'ferocious attacks' and 'fast saves and dives' and 'strong serves', Yuta-kun"
Yuta wanted to weep but since he was a man, he could not and so he settled for glaring at them as fiercely as he could.
Unfortunately, they were used to being glared at by various people infinitely more fierce than Yuta so it did nothing except amuse them even more.
They were pretty much right though.
Mizuki had played a bit and then had said something on the terms of from his calculations, their opponents were too weak for him to bother, he would leave it to Yuta to finish them off. Then he had ready just stood there and let Yuta do all the work.
Yuta was used to Mizuki's ways but sometimes, he did wonder…
And now he had to deal with these two devils in disguise because of Mizuki…
He gave up on trying to glare them away and sighed. Sakuno took pity on him and said, "Yuta-san, congratulations on winning your game."
Yuta smiled at her gratefully, "Thanks though to be truthful, it was an easy game."
Miyu and An grinned at each other and decided to let poor Yuta be.
They talked about possibilities of coming up against each other when Jiroh appeared. He was still very excited, "Ryuzaki! Come on, we're in the next round of prelims!"
Sakuno had no time to react when she was pulled out to do stretching exercises with Jiroh.
She remembered that in this round, Oshitari-Gakuto team and Auel-Sting team would also be playing.
She was starting to get nervous but then she remembered Niou's words and she took several deep breaths which helped her relax.
She was not used to being in the centre of attention but with her friends cheering for her, she would do her best.
Besides, Niou was right, she had been doing sports for so many years. Even if she was not great, her body would remember how to move on its own.
She helped Jiroh stretch when she heard him giggling softly. She asked, "Jiroh-san? Are you alright?"
Jiroh turned his head to look at her, "Hehe, don't worry, I'm just very excited! I love competitions! Hehe!"
Sakuno did not know how to respond to that so she just smiled, "H-hai, Jiroh-san…"
Auel bounced next to her with Sting behind him, "Sakuno! Are you ready? I'm so excited, ne!"
Sakuno looked at him, "Hai, Auel-kun! Ganbatte ne!"
Auel grinned and they walked off to the court where their game would be.
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The second round of preliminaries had all finished and the teams in the third round were already going towards their courts.
Jiroh stretched one last time and pulled on Sakuno's hand again, "Let's have fun, Ryuzaki!"
Looking at his happy and carefree face, Sakuno could feel her nervousness disappearing and she smiled back, "En!"
They took their places on one of the courts. Jiroh at the back and Sakuno in the front.
Their opponents were two guys who looked very fashionable with styled hair and lots of accessories. One would think why on earth would anyone want to style their hair while they were at the beach?
However, they also looked as if they worked out at a gym or something because they did have a bit of muscle on them.
When those guys saw that their opponents were a little girl and a hyper-active looking guy, they snickered to each other.
One of them called out, "Hey, little girl, why don't you go home and play with your dolls!" The other also called out, "Yeah! Also, that jumping jack over there, you sure you're up to this? Hahaha!"
Jiroh heard them and he looked surprised as if he was not sure they were talking to him or not.
Sakuno really disliked people being so nasty to others. If it was good-natured teasing, then she understood.
However, she could not understand how people could be so nasty to others. It was very ill-natured and she disliked it a lot.
Jiroh did not mind because he was a very good-natured young man with the ability to let insults and ill-will slide off his back like water off a duck.
Sakuno, on the other hand, was a bit annoyed and she was even more determined to do her best.
She did not want anyone to think that Jiroh was just a hyper-active boy because she had seen him play tennis before and she could remember how happy he was and how skilled.
He was a rare tennis player who honestly appreciated the game.
She was not so much concerned for herself but when it came to other people, she could get very protective.
She could hear her friends' voices from the side of the pavilion and she concentrated on relaxing her body so she could move easily. Though she was shy and quiet, it did not mean she did not have a temper.
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On a court near Jiroh and her, Oshitari and Gakuto were also getting ready.
Oshitari took one look at their opponents and sighed. It was a pair of lovey-dovey lovers who were at this very moment blowing kisses at each other.
Gakuto also looked at them and he felt his stomach turn a bit.
He looked at Oshitari and Oshitari shrugged at him. They would just have to finish as quickly as possible to get away from them.
While they did not have anything against public displays of affection, it did not mean that they did not mind going against people who were doing it in front of them.
Gakuto thought that he was going to throw up soon if he had watch any more of the puckering-up-the-lips and blowing-an-audible-kiss across to her lovey-dovey boyfriend and having it returned, several times.
On another court, Auel and Sting were also getting ready.
They had not played beach volley before but Auel had seen it played on TV. They had also watched the some of the other games and were confident that they would be fine.
The rules seemed to be very simple and they were both used to be moving and jumping and such like.
Auel saw Murrue and he waved to her happily.
Sting eyed their opponents. It was a serious looking male-female team.
He could tell they were normally active from the tone of their skin and muscles.
He smiled to himself and thought that it was not such a bad idea after all. It was getting a bit boring at the beach anyway.
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Soon, the games started and Miyu and An both watched anxiously as Jiroh served. It was not too fast or too heavy and it was easily returned.
They cheered when Sakuno caught it. They thought that she must be in a good condition today. They had no idea that she was actually in a little temper because of the earlier insults.
Sakuno set the ball and Jiroh, using his flexible wrist spiked it towards a corner of the opponents' court.
It was a fast spike, totally unlike his earlier serve and their opponents had no time to react to it.
It landed accurately at the left-hand corner and Jiroh and Sakuno gave each other high-fives! Sakuno's face was lightly flushed with excitement and her eyes sparkled.
Their opponents could not believe they let these two score. They said to themselves that it must be a coincidence.
The game started again and Jiroh spiked the ball towards the other corner. It was another fast shot and Miyu and An cheered loudly.
Their opponents' looks turned nasty and they were determined not to lose face anymore.
They started to aim the balls towards Sakuno and she started having a hard time catching the heavily hit balls. She was determined though, because Niou, Yagyuu and Jiroh had all trusted her.
However, one of the balls caught her by surprise. It was faster than she expected and she lost her balance and fell back on the sand with a soft cry.
Their opponents scored and they looked very pleased with themselves.
Jiroh ran to Sakuno's side and helped her up. He looked very worried because he knew that if not for him, she would not have entered the tournament.
He asked, "Are you alright, Ryuzaki?"
Sakuno smiled, "I'm fine, Jiroh-san. I'm not going to give up!"
She got up and patted some of the sand off. Jiroh saw her determined expression and he grinned, half with relief and half with admiration.
Then he turned serious which was very rare for him. He was very easy-going but it did not mean he was not a fighter.
Since they were targeting Sakuno, he would just have to make sure that they could not have the chance again.
In his chair, Atobe noticed Jiroh's change of expression and he smiled in amusement.
He had seen Sakuno being targeted of course but he had not expected Jiroh to get worked up about it.
He got worked up so rarely that most people thought he only knew how to sleep, eat and play tennis.
Atobe had seen him practice his volleying techniques though and knew that there was a leopard sleeping under that happy friendly face.
He leaned back and said to no one in particular, "Let me see that leopard more often, Jiroh."
After that, the opposing team really had no chance to target Sakuno. Apart from their serves, Jiroh basically dominated the game.
None of the opponents could control their serves well enough to aim so Sakuno caught those easily.
She had been practicing her tennis with Miyu during the holidays and Miyu's serves were very quick, though not heavy.
Sakuno missed more than not but she had gotten used to seeing fast serves with tennis balls and these serves with volleyballs seemed very slow indeed.
She would catch them and set them high for Jiroh and he would ace the ball.
It was a quicker game than both of them expected and when it was finished, Sakuno was in such a hyper mood that she did something she would not normally do.
She stuck her tongue out at the opposing teams. Then she ran quickly back to Miyu and An with Jiroh after her.
The two girls were laughing when Sakuno and Jiroh came back.
Oshitari-Gakuto and Auel-Sting had already finished and were also back at the pavilion.
Gakuto was gagging as Oshitari talked about their opponents to Auel and Sting.
Sting also looked a bit green as he listened. Auel was smirking nastily while thinking, "Thank goodness we didn't get that pair or I would have wanted to beat their guts out."
Niou and Yukimura had both come up to talk to Sakuno.
Niou said, "You did very well out there, Sakuno!"
Yukimura said, "It was a pity you had such nasty opponents though."
Sakuno beamed up at them as she answered, "Jiroh-san helped me a lot out there! Didn't you, Jiroh-san?"
Jiroh said, "Hehe, I didn't like those guys anyway. It was fun though, Ryuzaki!"
Sakuno nodded and then someone patted her on the head. She leaned her head back to see who it was.
It was Sanada and he said, "You did very well out there, Sakuno."
Sakuno smiled happily at the Emperor's praise.
Everyone knew that he was really stingy with his praise. Not because he was mean with his words but because he had such high standards that he rarely praised people.
Actually Yukimura was pretty much like him in that respect but he looked so gentle that people usually did not notice.
In front of Sakuno though, it seemed as if all their high standards had gone to rot.
However, in a way, they were also right because Sakuno rarely played as she did just then. She caught most of the balls and while she did not attack, her defense was not bad and she seemed to get along with Jiroh.
All in all, it was not a bad game for her and for those who knew her.
They all waited for the other courts to finish.
In the fourth round of preliminaries, Ibu-Kamio, Bunta-Jackal and Atobe-Kabaji would be out in the courts.
After that, the second round of the tournament would begin with the thirty-two teams left.