That afternoon at practice, Sanada paired up with Marui in opening rallies. Obara-buchou and Miyabashi-fukubuchou rallied on the next court over, occasionally stopping to give a few bits of advice to the first year favorites. Marui did not enjoy the attention because, as a tensai, he was never wrong, just experimenting. Sanada did not enjoy the attention because Obara's suggestions were usually more tactile in nature and Sanada, as a first year, was not allowed to punch his buchou and remain on the team. When the season was over and Obara was ready to graduate, Sanada was going to cash in on the beatings Obara had coming to him.
"Sanada, your arm is still arching wide on your return. Here, try it this way." Obara adjusted Sanada's arm. Sanada adjusted it back.
"I am aware of my stance. It is a tactical approach and I am evaluating it for use with the move I showed to buchou yesterday. I hope you will pardon my sloppy form until that time." Sanada's voice lacked any sorrow or sincerity. He wanted Obara to get the hint and get away.
"Sugoi Sanada-kun!" a girl called from outside the court. Sanada did not know her name, nor did he want to.
"You seem to be getting a pretty big following Genichirou." Obara clapped Sanada on the back. "She's been to every practice so far."
"She used to frequent the kendo team practices. If you do not encourage her, she will leave." Sanada returned his attention to his rally partner, who was practicing his bubblegum technique. Sanada refrained from informing Obara that he did not have the right to call Sanada by his first name. If Sanada focused on playing tennis, he could wade through the afternoon more or less unscathed until practice with Yukimura.
Obara, hand still in the curve of Sanada's back, chuckled. "I doubt she's going anywhere, but you can always hope. I'll see if we can't get coach to limit spectators." Another pat, and Obara was gone.
Marui moved up to the net and beckoned Sanada over. "So, you always let people feel you up in the middle of practice?"
"He was not feeling me up," Sanada looked down at Marui, wanting to grab the gum out of the genki boy's mouth and have quiet tennis instead of spastic bubble practice.
"Rubbing someone's back at length is normal, then?" Marui looked skeptical.
Sanada took a deep breathe and counted backwards from twenty before he spoke. Yelling at Marui wouldn't help anything right now. Sanada could always yell at Marui tomorrow. "I do not wish to discuss this matter. It is your turn to serve." He tossed a tennis ball across the court and Marui caught it with his racquet.
&-&
"I have served the ball three times. If it is not your intention to attempt a return, please inform me so I will not waste my energy." Renji contemplated lobbing the ball at Yukimura's head but, seeing that Obara was standing next to Sanada, it was doubtful Yukimura would notice.
"Does Monday sound like a good day for challenging, Renji?" Yukimura's attention was still on Sanada's court. "The sooner the better, yes? I think Sanada's ready."
Renji served. Yukimura didn't notice. "Monday will suffice if it will divert your attention back to the matter at hand."
Yukimura turned and smiled. "I don't know what you're talking about, Renji. My attention is on the matter at hand."
Yanagi served and, this time, Yukimura received. "If the matter at hand is staring at Sanada, then yes, you are addressing the issue with maximum diligence. However, if the matter at hand is tennis practice, as I believe it is, your dedication is lacking." Renji hit the ball back.
"Yanagi-kun, are you jealous?" Yukimura's racquet moved faster than Renji's eyes could register. The ball left a scuff mark next to Renji's left foot. Yukimura moved to the net, hand extended. "Come shake hands, Renji."
Renji stood, staring at the scuff mark. He'd never experienced a return of that caliber before. "I would rather not," he said, finally. He refrained from mentioning that it was generally bad policy to shake the hand of the devil.
"We must observe the rules, Yanagi-kun. Come shake." Yukimura moved his hand forward a little more. Renji relented. Yukimura would stand there all day if need be. Yukimura grabbed Renji's hand as soon as it was within reach and took hold, hard. "You've not been deceiving me, have you, Yanagi-kun? Certainly you haven't been feigning interest in my cause, all the while intending to pursue Sanada for your own causes, have you?"
"You may be assured that I have no such interests in Genichirou," Renji answered in a voice slightly higher than he was accustomed. Yukimura Seiichi was a nut, and Renji had helped ensure Sanada's capture by said nut.
"Fantastic." Yukimura released Renji's hand and smiled, bright and open. "As I was saying, we'll challenge on Monday and they should have our regular jerseys in by the end of the week, just in time for the mock tournament."
"Yes, Yukimura."
&-&
"Sanada, I don't believe that associating with Yukimura Seiichi will be good for you." Renji and Sanada walked down a bustling street a few blocks away from Rikkai. They were going to study at a nearby café and meet at Yukimura's for a tennis strategy meeting after dinner.
Sanada didn't reply, but turned toward Renji to show he was listening. There was little use in speaking when Renji was trying to explain something.
"He has an unhealthy fixation on you. I believe he will do you bodily harm if you do not reciprocate." Renji reached into his tennis bag and pulled out a small steno notebook. "If my estimations are correct, there is an eighty-seven percent chance that he will physically injure Obara-buchou in their match. Twenty percent probability to the stomach. Seventy-five percent probability to the head. There is a ten percent chance that, after the match, Obara will not be able to play tennis again."
"You are overreacting." Sanada also thought Yukimura was a little off, but off in a 'Let's Hold Hands, Sanada' way, not in a 'Kill All Who Oppose Me' sort of way. With time, Yukimura would figure out that Sanada wasn't interested in dating, particularly not another male. If Yukimura didn't understand it, then Sanada would explain it.
"He bruised my wrist because he thought I was trying to take you away from him." Renji lifted up said bruised wrist.
Sanada reached forward and examined Renji's bruises, ignoring the other boy's hisses as he poked and prodded at the skin. "It's fine."
"You're defending him. Interesting." Yanagi jotted down a few notes.
"I'm trying to end your whining." Sanada picked up his pace, not looking to see if Renji would follow. Renji always followed. "If you have something useful to discuss, then do so. If you are going to continue speculating about Yukimura's sanity, then do so silently as I am not interested." Renji used to be a good companion after school. Since he started spending time with Yukimura, Renji's behavior had changed drastically.
"Worrying about your well being is not whining, Sanada."
Sanada stopped and stared. "Next you'll tell me Yukimura is possessed by the devil, I suppose."
"Don't be ridiculous. There's only a ten percent probability for that conclusion. The top two explanations for his behavior are an emotional fixation on you, and drug use. The third most likely is sadism."
Sanada continued walking. He would speak with Yukimura about Renji's problems privately. Perhaps he and Yukimura could devise an intervention for Renji before the data tennis player did himself harm.
&-&
Yukimura lay on his bed, chuckling to himself. By now Renji was telling Sanada about the incident at practice. Renji would say that Yukimura was crazy and obsessive and, if Sanada was the proto-fukubuchou that Yukimura hoped he was, Sanada would defend Yukimura. If Sanada were perfect fukubuchou material, he would tell Yukimura about the discussion and want to come to a solution together.
The painful part in Sanada's fukubuchou evaluation was the waiting. Yukimura was patient, but the whirling feeling in his stomach when he thought about standing next to Sanada, ordering a team full of sweaty tennis players to do an impossible number of laps and being obeyed, was becoming unbearable. He wanted this future, this bright and beautiful kingdom of tennis, and he wanted Sanada to be there. No one, particularly Obara Koji, was going to get in Yukimura's way.
&-&
"Sanada-kun, Yanagi-kun, it's lovely to see you." Yukimura's mother stood at the door, a tea tray in her hands. "Seiichi is freshening up and will be down directly. Please join me for some tea."
"It is always a pleasure to visit your home. Thank you for having us." As planned, Renji spoke for both himself and Sanada. Sanada felt uncomfortable around Yukimura's mother, which was understandable, given that she had a pair of slippers at the door with Sanada's initials embroidered on the toe. Renji got the guest slippers.
"Sanada-kun, are your studies going well?" Yukimura-san looked straight through Renji and pushed the tea tray toward Sanada. "I made the cucumber sandwiches you enjoy."
"Thank you. I hope it wasn't a bother." Sanada took the tea and the sandwich, which, according to Renji's data, was one of his least favorite foods, and bowed. "My studies continue to do well, though I am afraid my mathematics have fallen behind in the last week and I will need to give extra attention to my studies when I have met my tennis club obligations."
Yukimura-san handed Renji a cup and sandwich. "And you, Yanagi-kun? Are you still trying to become a regular on the tennis team?"
Renji hoped Sanada appreciated his tolerance of Yukimura-san's plastic smile and blatant disinterest. "I am. I anticipate that my training will breed success at next week's challenge match."
"That's wonderful to hear, dear." Yukimura-san turned and yelled up the stairs. "Seiichi, it's impolite to keep your guests waiting!" She turned back to Sanada and Yanagi and laughed. "My apologies for my son's bad manners. Please do not think less of him for them."
Sanada, to whom the statement was addressed – Yukimura-san was continuing to ignore Renji's presence – nodded and looked away quickly. Yanagi would look away too if he were being appraised like cattle. Soon Yukimura-san was going to show Sanada all of Yukimura's dental records and discuss adoption procedures the two could undergo after their bonding ceremony, for which it was eighty percent likely that Yukimura-san was already preparing.
"Did you wait long?" Yukimura Seiichi hopped down the stairs, hair wet from a shower, clothes still clinging to him from moisture. Yanagi was ninety-seven percent sure that Yukimura was delayed because he was trying to find a shirt to go with his aqua pants, which appeared to be a size too small.
"Not long. We were having tea and these wonderful sandwiches." Again, Yanagi spoke when the question was clearly directed at Sanada. Renji didn't know why he even bothered to come, beside the fact that Yukimura insisted.
"Good." Yukimura looked to Renji as if just noticing he was in the room. "Why don't you both come up to my room and we can begin planning our strategy?" Yukimura's smile was Cheshire bright. The walls seemed to be closing in.
&-&
Yukimura's room was never meant to bear the burden of three people for long. Two was a comfortable capacity, but three drained the room of any oxygen, fogged the windows, and made the temperature so oppressive that Sanada was getting cranky. Yukimura's whining wasn't helping.
"We go, we play tennis, we win, we're done. I do not understand why we need to strategize this." Sanada's voice was getting louder and louder.
"Because, Sanada-kun, we have to ensure a dramatic entry into…"
"Your preoccupation with drama is of no interest to me. I'm going home." Sanada rose and began to leave. Renji caught him by the hem of his pants.
"Genichirou, please sit down." There was a ninety percent chance that Sanada's foul temper was directly linked to the temperature of the room. "Yukimura-kun, would it be possible to obtain some ice water?"
"I'll be right back." Yukimura left the room with a smile of warning for Renji. Sanada was to be there when Yukimura returned, the smile said, or Renji was never going to be a regular.
"This is ridiculous," Sanada grumbled, sitting next to Yukimura's bed, reclining against it.
"It's very important to Yukimura-kun and, as we have previously agreed to assist him, we should honor our commitment, no matter how ludicrous the means." Renji wasn't going to explain how monumental their undertaking was. Sanada would neither understand nor care.
"I will assist you but I will do so in my own way."
Renji sighed because there was nothing left to do. Sanada was as immovable as a mountain when he had his mind set on something. "Fine, just don't tell Yukimura."
&-&
Wrong. Everything was wrong. Sanada was supposed to be impressed with the plan for total tennis domination. Renji was supposed to support Yukimura's plans with figures and that stupid tensai brain of his. There wasn't supposed to be fighting and Sanada was not supposed to be sitting across from Yukimura, eating pineapple cake, and frowning. Yukimura took his phone out and began to quietly type out a message.
Renji's phone rang and he started, bumping his knees on the underside of the table. He looked to his phone, then to Yukimura, then to his phone. "My mother needs me home," he said. "I apologize that I will be unable to further assist with coordinating the challenge. Please call me if there are any problems."
Yukimura smiled and slid his phone under his zabuton. "I'm sure Sanada and I will manage."
"I will see you at school on Monday." Sanada held a hand in the air, his version of a goodbye salute.
Renji bowed and scuttled away.
"Perhaps I am not explaining myself properly," Yukimura said, holding his ice water in his hands, the numbing cold helping to settle his temper. "If we succeed in the challenge on Tuesday, we will be the first to make regulars in our first year in a decade. We will be the largest group of first years to do so in the history of the school. If we can begin our tennis career with that kind of reputation, we will have authority established. If we establish authority, we will have the means to shape the tennis club into the most powerful in the country."
"Renji believes you are crazy." Sanada said this with a straight face and proper posture.
Yukimura laughed and leaned forward. If he reached out, he could touch Sanada's hand. He refrained, though, because Sanada wouldn't approve. "Renji believes many things that aren't true. If his data says I'm crazy, then that's what he'll believe, ne?"
"I am not altogether convinced that Yanagi is wrong, but I am willing to support your endeavor." Sanada paused to take a large bite of cake. When he was done chewing, a piece of pineapple still clung to the side of his mouth. Yukimura reached forward and wiped it away with his thumb, knocking over a cup of tea in the process.
Sanada reacted to the spill like a trained fireman, swiping Renji's discarded napkin as well as Yukimura's unused one – Yukimura didn't like pineapple – and spreading them across the spill. As the cloth napkins soaked up the tea, Sanada stood and headed for the kitchen.
Yukimura tried not to laugh in delight, but failed. Sanada was perfect, absolutely perfect, in everything.
&-&
The man standing on the tennis court, lording over a fallen second-year regular was not Sanada Genichirou, at least, not the Sanada Genichirou that Renji knew and in whose face Renji threw sand in third year primary because Sanada took the best swing and Renji was stuck with the swing that creaked and had a rusted chain near the seat that stained your uniform shorts if you sat on it too long. No, this Sanada Genichirou was a monster.
"Game, Sanada, six games to love," Obara-buchou called, smiling down at the court from the referee seat. Obara never liked Mitsuhashi anyway.
"I see everything is going well." Yukimura patted Renji on the shoulder and surveyed the courts. "Sanada is using half strength, which is good. We don't want Obara knowing the full extent of his skill."
Yukimura's headband was ridiculous and made him look more like a girl than the powder blue shirts he wore on the weekend. "Half power? I was unaware Genichirou had progressed so far." The statement was true enough. Renji knew Sanada had the potential to acquire such strength, he just didn't know that Sanada was actively pursuing it.
"It would seem there are many things about Sanada that you do not know." Yukimura smiled and the sunlight twisted around him in a halo. "How unfortunate for you." Renji received another pat to the shoulder and, with a "see you in a bit," Yukimura was gone.
When Sanada left the courts, he made his way past Yukimura without so much as a sideways glance on either of their parts. They didn't seem to notice that the other was there, which was highly illogical given that Renji knew, without a doubt, that Yukimura could pinpoint Sanada's location almost immediately, even if Sanada was in another building or, on one occasion, in another district visiting his aunt for the weekend
"Yanagi-kun, your match is up," Obara called.
Renji cleared his mind of everything but Kamidori-senpai's data. This would be an easy win.
&-&
Pop. "Yo Sanada, that was pretty cool." Pop. Marui stood along the fence, watching Yanagi play a fairly boring game of tennis.
Sanada didn't say anything, but his eyebrow went up, which Marui took as a sign to continue talking.
"So, did you mean to turn your wrist and limit the power of that last shot, or was that an accident?" Marui didn't think it was an accident. As far as he could tell, nothing Sanada did was an accident.
Sanada's eyebrow rose again, then he let out a long breath. "It was not an accident."
Marui smiled. "Cool. Just make sure you really hammer it into Obara-buchou, huh? He's been asking for it and you should get a good bite into him before Yukimura destroys him."
"Oh?" Sanada came to stand beside Marui, his eyes following the ball's path across the net and back.
"Yukimura's been waiting to let buchou have it ever since the second day of practice. Buchou told Yukimura to cut his hair – that's why Yukimura wears that headband – and Yukimura's really vain about his looks, you know." Marui stopped and took in Sanada's stony expression. "Guess you didn't know. He is, though. Most people probably don't notice because Yukimura's so busy being nice all the time, but a tensai like me notices everything, like that leaf in your hair. You might wanna take care of that."
Sanada removed the leaf. "Thank you."
"No problem." Marui flashed Sanada a "V" and hopped away, gum popping over the smack of tennis ball to racquet.
&-&
Renji won his games, 6-3, much as he anticipated. Yukimura won both his games at 6-3 as well and might as well have been napping on the court. Of course, Renji was aware that Yukimura was saving himself to throw off Obara, who still seemed unconcerned with the two freshmen who were one match away from making Rikkaidai history.
Sanada's second match was having problems. Sanada's domination in the first match had Miyabashi on guard. The future captain played a safe, strategic game, utilizing lobs and drop-shots.
"He's playing into Sanada's hands pretty nicely," Marui said, startling Renji enough that he squeaked.
"Why would you said that?" Renji didn't put much stock in Marui Bunta's claim to tensaihood, particularly since Marui was getting B's. Tensai didn't get B's.
"Watch the next lob," Marui said, patting Renji on the shoulder and walking away to stand with an isolated and smiling Yukimura.
The next lob, Renji focused on Sanada. Had he not been watching carefully, he would have missed the dart of the eyes and the curling of muscles. All he would have seen was a blurry arm and a scuff mark on the other side of the court.
Renji could hear Marui and Yukimura's smug laughter from the other end of the crowd. Sanada took the match, 6-3.