Disclaimer: I do not own any characters except for Yukimura Miyu.
Chapter Forty-Three: At the Beach (Part Thirteen)
Atobe looked over the paper in front of him.
It was the list of teams in the next round.
There were now thirty-two teams left.
With eight courts and two teams for each court, there would be sixteen teams out in one go and that would be only two rounds in the second set of the tournament.
He thought maybe it would be a good idea to gather all the remaining teams and let them draw lots to see who they would be up against in the next game.
That would be more exciting and he liked the idea very much.
Deciding he would do just that, he gave orders for his butler to prepare. Then he sat back to wait for the announcement and the teams to turn up.
888888
Sakuno and Shinn skirted through the crowds and soon, they saw Neo, Murrue and Stellar standing together.
Shinn was again caught between annoyed and happy to see Stellar smiling so sweetly.
He was annoyed because the smile was not because of him.
He knew that Neo and Stellar were more like father and daughter than anything else but being a possessive person at heart, he sometimes would wish that she would only smile at him and for him.
This just showed that he still had a lot of growing up to do, as some of his other friends had once said.
He walked over to them with Sakuno behind him.
Shinn called, "Stellar!" Stellar turned at the sound of his voice and her face shone when she saw Shinn.
She skipped the few steps towards Shinn, "Shinn!" Then she saw Sakuno and she stopped shyly, the smile still on her face.
Sakuno greeted everyone politely, "Murrue-san, Neo-san, Stellar-san."
She looked around for Mayu and asked, "Where's Mayu-chan?"
Murrue greeted her with her lovely smile, "Mayu's looking for Sting again."
Sakuno chuckled when she heard that Mayu had gone off looking for her crush again.
Sakuno liked these people because they made her feel at ease.
They were like her grandmother in the way that they did not stand to ceremony and did not seem to mince words with meaningless pleasantries.
On one side, Shinn was already speaking to Stellar, happy to be with her again. He had already forgotten about the other people's presence.
Sakuno looked at them with wonder. Murrue said to her, "It's beautiful, isn't it? This devotion between the two of them is so total that they do not seem to have room for anything else."
Sakuno looked at Murrue and nodded, "Hai. I-I…"
She wanted to say something or ask something but was not quite sure what it was that she wanted to say.
Murrue and Neo looked at her patiently, knowing that she was trying to put her feelings into words.
They were with Shinn and Stellar often and yet, they would still be amazed at the bond between them.
They could fully understand how it would touch a young girl like Sakuno who would also be hoping and searching for a bond like that.
888888
Sakuno looked at Shinn and Stellar again, trying to find words for what she was seeing in front of her.
Earlier when Shinn was with her and Auel, he had been just like any other boy around her age.
True, he was attractive but still, he did not really stand out that much.
However, when he was with Stellar, something made him different.
He seemed to stand straighter or was it that his whole demeanor became gentler.
There was a protective feeling that he gave out when he was with Stellar, it was not overwhelmingly so but one could feel that he was firm.
She could tell that he would do anything to protect this girl in front of him.
Stellar responded to him as well. She looked fragile but there was nothing fragile about her feelings for Shinn.
Her eyes glowed with warmth and adoration. It was not the lovey-dovey type of adoration though.
They did not cling together or send each other kisses or anything of that sort. It was a deeper feeling than that; deeper than love somehow.
Sakuno could see an infinite trust between the two and the absolute feeling of them belonging together.
She could see just from their eyes and expressions that theirs was a simple, pure joy, untainted by anything else. It was as if there was nothing else around them.
Sakuno suddenly bit her lip because she could feel herself longing for that kind of bonding.
She remembered the days when Ryoma was her day and night, sun and moon.
She might have had gotten over Ryoma, the boy, but her feelings in those days were not so easily forgotten.
Those feelings were pure and untainted.
At that time, she did not long for anything more than to see him and watch him play tennis. It was that simple.
She thought that it must be something like what Shinn and Stellar had.
She looked at Murrue to find her looking at her patiently, "Murrue-san… why are they so… pure? They… they don't see anything around them… do they?"
She did not know if she was making sense but Murrue seemed to understand her.
She answered the young girl, "No, they don't see anything around them. Even if they don't have anything else, as long as they have each other, they are complete. It is their single-mindedness, I think."
Sakuno was confused, "Single-mindedness?"
Neo cut in, "Yep, single-mindedness and focus. A passion for each other that is irreplaceable. Most people spread their feelings.
My passion is for Murrue and also for Auel, Sting and Stellar. I also love my friends and my work. While these feelings are just as special what Shinn and Stellar have, they are not as intense because they are spread out more.
Shinn's only passion is for Stellar. While he loves his family and friends, the feelings are definitely not as intense as what he feels for Stellar."
Murrue put her hand on Sakuno's shoulder, "It is a very childlike quality. This total intensity they have for each other very rarely belongs to people who are grown up.
As we grow up, we collect important things into our hearts. We meet people; we find interests; we acquire memories.
All these go into our hearts and very often, we lose that single-mindedness that children have. We learn to let go, you see."
Sakuno was starting to understand and she said, "Is-is that why… they seem… they seem to shine?"
She blushed when she realized that she had just said something that sounded rather silly.
Murrue can understand though, "Yes, it's just like people who concentrate whole-heartedly on something they feel very strongly for.
We are often attracted to those who are committed because they seem to shine. Their light is focused because there is only one thing for them.
For us, our lights are mostly spread out between different, like home and work or in your case, home and school."
Sakuno was again reminded of what she had felt for Ryoma.
Part of what she had liked so much was his single-mindedness for tennis.
It was also what made her admire Seigaku's regulars so much because they were so focused on their tennis.
She could understand now.
888888
She smiled shyly at Murrue and Neo, grateful for their patience and touched that they took the time to help her understand what it was that made the bond between Shinn and Stellar so special.
She did not know why she wanted to know. She thought it could be because it was so like the time when she had a crush on Ryoma.
The intensity of it was so strong that it still lingered on her mind, even more so than the short period of time that they had been a couple.
She knew that she would always remember that bittersweet feeling because it was too special and it had been too strong for her to ever forget.
However watching Shinn and Stellar now, these two young people who were about her age and their passion for each other, she felt a surge of hope that she, too, would be able to find such a bond.
888888
Sakuno was about to turn and say something to Murrue and Neo but suddenly, the loudspeakers blasted a loud 'gong' and a voice boomed, effectively catching everyone's attention.
It announced, "Will all remaining teams please proceed to the car park behind the pavilion? Repeat! Will all remaining teams please proceed to the car park behind the pavilion?"
Sakuno was startled into forgetting what she was about to say.
Murrue looked at her stunned expression at the sudden announcement and chuckled, "Go along! It was a pleasure to talk to you."
Sakuno's face brightened and she said happily, "Hai!"
Before she could say more, Auel and Sting with Mayu had somehow made their way back to them.
It was apparent that Mayu was successful in locating her precious Sting.
When they heard the announcement, Sting had wanted to go off immediately but Auel insisted on hearing Murrue say 'good luck' to him before they go.
After Auel got what he had come for, he dragged Sakuno along with them as he bounced to the meeting place excitedly with Sting following at his own pace.
888888
Sting had enjoyed this game called beach volley more than he had expected.
He enjoyed moving his body just as Auel did and now that they had a target, it was even better.
While their target would be to win the tournament instead of actively taking down someone, it was still preferable than to just do anything aimlessly.
He liked having a target, while Auel was more about the fun and excitement of it all.
He was surprised though at how easy Auel was with this little girl because he was somewhat difficult to be with sometimes.
They did not have much of a childhood so he had always wondered how Auel had turned out to be so much like a spoiled brat at times.
He was not too concerned over it though because at least, he was not the one being forced to listen to his inane chatter for the time being.
He was also very much relieved that Mayu was not with them.
While he did not mind the girl, he did mind it when Auel and Mayu started one of their stupid arguments.
It drove him crazy and usually he would be the one to deal with them because no one else bothered and it was either putting up with it or stopping them before it became something worse.
When they got to the car park, there were already a number of the other teams who had arrived.
He could recognize some of the tall, well built young men that he had talked to earlier.
He remembered that they were Sakuno's friends.
Some of them saw Sakuno and came over. Sting exchanged amiable nods with them and noticed as they took in Auel who was holding onto Sakuno's hand.
Sting thought to himself, "So here are some more love-struck sods…"
He had seen that kind of 'I don't like another male touching the girl I like' look on Shinn's face all too often.
888888
Yukimura, Akaya, Jackal, Bunta and Niou all came over when they saw Sakuno arriving with that team Atobe had wanted to ask about.
Yanagi joined them when he too noticed them. They were honestly a strange team from what he had observed and he was rather interested.
Bunta and Akaya ran excitedly to Sakuno while the rest of them showed a bit more dignity and actually walked.
Sakuno was happy to see them. She had already forgotten her earlier embarrassment about Atobe's kiss.
However her faithful Rikkai knights had not and they all noticed that she was holding hands with Auel.
Although Yanagi could see that she obviously treated Auel with a motherly indulgence and it was him tagging her hand rather than holding it, his hapless friends could not.
Maybe they could but they just chose to ignore it and decided on the sillier course of being annoyed secretly while pretending not to care.
It could also be because the Atobe-incident, as Yanagi called it, was too close to the surface of their thoughts.
While he found all this quite interesting, he also felt sorry for his friends because Sakuno, the girl in question, had seemingly forgotten about it already.
No, not seemingly, knowing her, Yanagi would say that she had definitely forgotten about it except for the 'Atobe wanted to speak to her friends' part.
While Sakuno was asking the Rikkai regulars what they were gathering for, Sting had come up and pulled Auel away from Sakuno.
While he was amused at the expressions of the other boys, he also did not want any trouble.
He did not think they would actually be hostile in front of Sakuno but because Auel had a rather volatile temper at times, he did not want to take any chances.
The group with Sakuno relaxed immediately after Auel left and Niou said, "We're not quite sure what Atobe wants at the moment.
I think he wants to make sure that everyone's here before saying anything. You know what he's like, all that drama and flair."
Sakuno giggled and Akaya said, "Whatever, I just want the next game to start so I can beat the…"
Yukimura had covered Akaya's mouth with a firm hand before he could say anymore.
He was quite sure that whatever comes out next would be along the terms of 'leaving Atobe in pieces' and he did not want Sakuno to hear anything of that sort.
Some things were always best left unsaid.
Jackal was quick to catch on and he slung an arm around Akaya's neck and when Yukimura released him, dragged him off saying that he saw Sanada looking for him.
Yanagi was shaking his head with mock pity at Akaya's plight.
Niou merely rolled his eyes at Akaya's thoughtlessness.
Why could he not understand that there would be no point in getting back at Atobe if it meant upsetting Sakuno?
Sometimes, that one-year age gap felt like a decade. At least Bunta showed a bit more sense here.
He was distracting Sakuno from commenting on their treatment of Akaya and successfully too, from the sound of her merry laughter.
Yanagi saw more teams arriving at the car park and he said, "We had better go up and see what Atobe is up to now."
Sakuno agreed, "Oh yes, Yanagi-senpai's right. I need to find Jiroh-senpai as well. I hope that he's not asleep somewhere."
Yukimura found at this moment that he had a jealous streak in him, a rather nasty one because he seriously did not like hearing even the name of another male from Sakuno's mouth.
Of course, none of that showed. He just said, "Don't worry about Jiroh. Oshitari and Shishido made sure to carry him along."
Sakuno said, "Carry?"
Yukimura smiled his oh-so-gentle smile, "Yes, carry. He was still asleep and they couldn't wake him.
They said that Kabaji was not with them so they had to settle for carrying him. One at the shoulders and one at the feet."
Sakuno had nothing to say to that. Yukimura, still smiling, said, "Shall we go?"
It was clearly a command for the group and they all walked back to the gathering.
888888
A man in black walked to Atobe's side and whispered something in his ear.
Atobe smiled when he heard that. Everyone who should be here was here.
He stood up and got the microphone that his butler was holding out, ready for him to use.
He switched it on and started speaking, "So, everyone's all here, en? To make things more exciting, I have decided that for this round of games, we would draw lots to see who we would come up against."
He then handed the microphone back to his butler who had to wait awhile before he could explain further because the teams were muttering amongst themselves.
When it was all quiet, he said, "You will all draw a number from this box and according to your number, your team will be noted down on this board here."
He pointed to the large white board with the table showing who would be playing who.
He continued, "First, will Team Atobe-Kabaji come up and start?"
Atobe went to the box with an ultra confident expression his face. He drew a number and his team was written down on the board.
One by one, the teams went were called out and numbers were drawn.
888888
When it came to Team Tachibana-Sengoku, Tachibana had to go and do the draw because Sengoku was busy chatting to a girl standing nearby.
Usually it would be Sengoku doing this because he always managed to get really lucky results.
As it was, Tachibana drew a number and when he looked at the board, he found that, to his dismay, they were up against his sister, An, and Yukimura's sister, Miyu.
He sighed and went back to tell Sengoku the bad news.
No, rub that thought, Sengoku would probably think it was good news, though Tachibana would never understand why.
Tachibana himself never did get that worked up about girls. Perhaps it was because he had such a strong-willed sister.
Still he was not looking forward to playing a competitive game against girls.
He was a gentleman at heart and he knew that despite all the equality talk nowadays, there were differences between male strength and female strength.
He sighed again.
888888
When it was Team Sakuno-Jiroh, Sakuno had to go out because Jiroh was still dead to the world.
Oshitari had assured her that once it was their game, he would wake up but she could not help being a bit nervous as she went out and drew a number from the box.
She was so relieved when she saw they would not be going against anyone they knew yet.
In the end, Teams Sakuno-Jiroh, Shishido-Ohtori and Niou-Yagyuu would be playing against strangers.
The other pairs ended up like the following:
Miyu-An vs. Tachibana-Sengoku;
Sanada-Akaya vs. Jackal-Bunta;
Yukimura-Yanagi vs. Oshitari-Mukahi;
Atobe-Kabaji vs. Yuta-Mizuki;
Auel-Sting vs. Kamio-Ibu.