Chapter 6 - Unclear Intentions
A few weeks had gone by since Yukimura and the others learned about their selection for the Top 20. It was now time to head back to the infamous U-17 training camp to begin preparations for the next World Cup. The bus ride up was largely uneventful, as it was early in the morning and everyone was catching up on sleep (except for Sanada, who was just always awake). Yukimura himself rested his head on Sanada's shoulder as the statue-like vice captain read his book, not paying half a mind to what was going on around him. The azure haired boy opened one of his eyes to see what his companion was reading before yawning and stretching his arms.
"You have the most boring taste in literature ever, Sanada," he commented. "Even Renji has less boring tastes—and all he reads is Souseki."
"There is nothing boring about Bushido," Sanada retorted, eyes still glued to the pages of the book.
"This is the millionth time you've read it."
He closed the book and set it down gently in his lap. "It is always good to be refreshed on the topic."
"You practically know the book line-by-line, Sanada. Read something else."
Sanada crossed his arms. "What is it that you wish to speak about, Yukimura?"
"I need to have a reason to bother my best friend while he reads the world's most boring book for the millionth time?"
"You usually don't unless there's a matter at hand."
"That's not true," he protested.
"Alright, then." Sanada picked up his book again and stowed it away in his bag. "You seem upset as of late. I know we've been busy preparing for the camp, but if you need someone to talk to, I am here."
His vice captain was rather perceptive of his inner turmoil, but Yukimura wished he knew it was all because of him.
"Well, I am just a tiny bit annoyed lately," he admitted. "Sanada, who do you think is the Number 1 rep if it's not Drink Fairy-senpai over there?"
Sanada glanced over at their snoring senpai, who had drool dripping down from his agape mouth. "I'm surprised he was ranked higher than you and even more perplexed that you cared about something so trivial, Yukimura."
"Well, it would make sense. He does have more experience than any of us do as the only returning member of the Genius 10," Yukimura pointed out, completely ignoring Sanada's other remark. "But, still, there's someone else that outranks him? I don't remember anyone else from last year who wasn't a third year..."
Sanada scratched his head, trying to remember who else there was. "I am rather perplexed as well."
The two had no time to further muse about the topic when the bus pulled in through the gates of the camp. Something about returning to it sent shivers down their spines as they disembarked. Waiting for them as soon as they got off were the same three coaches from last time: Saitou, Kurobe and Tsuge. It seemed like they were the first group to arrive, seeing as no one else was there.
Mouri ran up to the coaches and saluted them like a soldier would. "Genius 10 leader and Number 2 rep, Mouri Jusaburou, reporting for duty!" he said playfully.
"It's good to see you again as well, Mouri-kun," Saitou chuckled. "Welcome back to camp, Rikkai's Tennis Team."
"There better not be some bullshit tiebreaker thing again," Niou grumbled. "Are you sure this camp's methods are ethical or even legal?"
The long-haired mental coach just laughed. "Heavens, no! We already tested you once."
Sanada crossed his arms and let out a huff. "The others are rather late."
"Genichirou, there is still another five minutes and forty-seven seconds left before the others are considered late," Yanagi corrected.
"Sanada's just a stick in the mud. You know that, Renji," Yukimura teased.
Just as the strict vice captain was ready to yell, the rest of the buses pulled into the training grounds, putting a stop to whatever words were going to come out of his mouth. Yanagi snorted quietly in amusement.
"Alright, let's all get inside. We can discuss more after everyone joins us," Coach Saitou said nonchalantly as he herded the boys into the foyer.
Once everyone had disembarked, Yukimura took a quick look around and was surprised to see who else had made it.
"He's not here," he hissed at his two friends.
Sanada had no idea who he was referring to, but Yanagi knew from the intonation in his voice that he was talking about Atobe Keigo. Yukimura's question remained unanswered as the coaches began their long soliloquy about the training camp this year. By the end of it, everyone was restless and had a strong desire to blow their brains out.
"Now, it seems like almost everyone is here," Saitou mused. "Is Tokugawa-kun still out on the court?"
"He's still here?!" exclaimed Shishido.
"But, of course," came the equally calm and nonchalant response from Mitsuya Akuto, who appeared out of thin air. "Tokugawa-kun is our Number 1 this year."
"But I'm the leader," Mouri added boastfully. "I might be Number 2, but just leave everything to me!"
"Why do I feel like this is going to end in disaster..." Yanagi mumbled to himself.
"Because the chances of things going wrong is 98.26 percent, Kyouju," was Inui Sadaharu's monotonous response to his friend's comment. "Coach, there are supposed to be 20 of us here, but I only count 18—not including Akuto-senpai. It seems as if the Number 4 rep is not here."
"Atobe-kun's not here?" Kurobe asked. There wasn't even a hint of surprise behind his response.
'So he was invited,' Yukimura thought to himself. 'And, I'm ranked higher than him too.'
"We don't have time to waste arguing about this," a gruff voice from behind the group stated. "I presume that is why you showed up?"
Mitsuya pushed his glasses up his face and smirked. "Heavens no, but this now works out well for what I have planned."
Everyone turned around in the direction of that familiar voice and froze in place when they all saw who it was.
"Did you fuckers think you could get rid of me?" Byoudouin Houou smirked.
"Byoudouin-kun will be replacing Coach Mifuune for the time being," Kurobe informed the still-stunned group.
"What happened to the coach...?" Kai wondered.
"Who would've guessed that drinking all the time was bad for your health?" Byoudouin cackled, which terrified everyone. "Don't worry about that old geezer. He'll live. As for you miserable sods..."
"Well, camp's sure going to be interesting this year," Yukimura whispered to Sanada, who could only nod slowly in agreement.
Following a brief visit to Hell and back, everyone had retired to their rooms for the night to pass out from exhaustion. Yanagi was getting sick of watching his roommate and longtime friend acting irrational and without logic as he mindlessly conversed with his girlfriend over a messaging app. Inui's unreasonably creepy chuckle as his fingers clacked away at the keyboard was driving the U-17 strategist up the wall. The worst part of it all was that he knew why he was annoyed—he was jealous.
"Sadaharu," he groaned.
The clacking stopped. "I suspect you are getting rather peeved," he commented. "My apologies, Renji."
He sighed.
"Renji—"
"I know, Sadaharu," he interrupted. "I'm sorry, but I just can't get over it. Seiichi has been hung up about Genichirou since they were children. I thought he would never try to love someone else. And to just do it right in front of my face..." He buried his face into his hands and exhaled deeply.
"Renji, did you ever tell Yukimura that you love him?" Inui asked directly.
Yanagi shook his head without looking up. "It's Seiichi, of all people. I can't just say something like that to him."
"But, are you truly happy just sitting there and watching him get hurt over and over again? Renji, you've seen him broken before. You even confided in me that it would not be ideal if he were to have his heart broken again."
Yanagi felt anger begin to build up. "And you think adding stress by confessing that I've been in love with him since the first year of middle school is going to make things better? That I wished he would get over being in love with a straight man? That I wished it was me he chose to get over Genichirou with instead of Shiraishi Kuranosuke?"
"Renji, you're showing your anger again," the bespectacled boy pointed out.
He was tired of bottling up his frustrations and started crying silently. "Sadaharu, why couldn't I have fallen in love with someone else?"
"Mathematically speaking, you have a 97.562 percent chance of falling in love with someone close in proximity and mindset as yourself. That meant either myself, Akuto-senpai, Sanada or Yukimura. It is highly improbable for you to fall for anyone else," he recited calmly, as if he had said the same thing many times over. "Renji, you need to tell Yukimura."
"Sadaharu—"
"You need to."
A sad smile crept onto his lips at the same rate he started to accept his reality—slowly, with hesitation. "Why couldn't I have fallen for you instead, Hakase?"
Inui pushed up his glasses and grinned. "Fumiko would kill you if she heard that, Kyouju."
Yanagi sighed as got up from his bed and headed for the door.
"Bring me back any leftover umeboshi, Kyouju," Inui said, not taking his eyes off of his laptop screen.
"Of course, I'll be back," Yanagi smiled slightly.
After closing the door to their stuffy room, Yanagi took his time walking towards the kitchen. He leisurely walked through the brightly lit hallways until he reached the empty dining hall. As he entered the dim room, a familiar voice from the corner of the room echoed through the air.
"Seiichi?" he called out as he made his way in the direction of the sound.
Yanagi could hear a faint 'I'll talk to you later' before the other voice responded. "Renji, is that you?"
"Yes." He flicked on the rest of the lights, filling the space with harsh blue fluorescence. His eyes immediately spotted his friend hunched over the table, furrowing his eyebrows in annoyance.
"What are you doing here?" Yukimura asked.
"Couldn't sleep. Sadaharu's typing is rather loud."
"Ah. Want to switch roommates? I got stuck with Drink Fairy-senpai and he snores for someone whose talent is sleeping."
"I'd... rather not." Yanagi pulled out the chair beside Yukimura and sat down. "You're annoyed."
The boy with the azure eyes snorted slightly in amusement. "Can't hide anything from you, can I, Renji?"
"Unfortunately not," he frowned. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing that should concern you," was his friend's vague reply.
Yanagi knew it was about Shiraishi, but he could tell by Yukimura's expression that he still believed Yanagi knew nothing about his relationship status.
"Seiichi, it's not my business to pry, but perhaps talking about it will make you feel better. It doesn't have to be now, but I will listen if you need me to."
"Renji, you and I both know you're going to find out—whether I tell you or not," Yukimura chuckled.
"You make it sound like this is a bad thing..."
"Sometimes, it is. Other times, I am grateful that you're like this." He let out a sigh as he stretched his arms up above his head. "I just don't get him, you know?"
"I'm sorry, but what do you mean by 'get him'? Who is 'him'?"
"Shiraishi," he answered plainly. "I heard that the camp did invite him, but he refused the invitation. He would've been our Number 4 rep, but since he refused, they gave that position to him. Now, that bastard isn't even here."
"You mean, they didn't invite Atobe this time?" This was surprising, even to someone as knowledgeable as Yanagi.
"I know, right?! I mean, I hate the bastard, but you can't deny that he does have some talent."
Yanagi furrowed his eyebrows as he racked his brain for a possible theory. "Now that you mention it, Coach Kurobe did not seem that surprised when Sadaharu pointed out that he wasn't there..."
"Were they expecting him to not show up?"
"Who knows? I heard that he disappeared following the National finals."
"I heard that from Oshitari-san as well. It seems like he's also been ignoring any messages sent to him," Yukimura recalled. "You don't think he was so embarrassed by that loss that he decided to flee the country, right?"
"He's not that type of person, I don't believe," was Yanagi's response. "If he did leave, I do not believe it is due to his own volition."
"I suppose," he concluded. "Anyway, it still baffles me how Kura—I mean, Shiraishi just... turned this all down."
"Shiraishi is a good player, but his mental strength has weakened significantly between then and now," Yanagi frowned. "I would not be surprised if that was the reason why he turned down the invitation."
"What do you mean by that?" Yukimura asked. "He's well-balanced in all five areas of tennis. How could his mental strength decrease when everything else is fine?"
"That... I wish I could explain, but I just don't know," he lamented. "I was reviewing some intel on his match against Atobe during the semifinals and it seemed like he broke down. It was highly unusual."
"That's because that prick made a stupid bet with him," Yukimura scoffed, not realizing what he was saying.
"...What bet?"
Yukimura looked like a deer in the headlights. "I-it's not important," he stammered. "Anyway, there's nothing wrong with him—I'm certain about that."
"Data doesn't lie, Seiichi," Yanagi recited. "Regardless, what use is there in dwelling on it? Would it not be better to support him and his decision?"
"But, Renji—"
"'But, Renji, he doesn't know what he's missing out on'... is what you wanted to say, correct?" He finished his friend's sentence before he could. "I don't believe that matters. What's important is that you support his decisions." He hesitated before saying, "isn't that what a good friend would do?"
"I..." Yukimura was unable to answer, but he knew Yanagi had a point. "Thanks, Renji."
"You know I would do anything for you, Seiichi," he reassured him. 'And I really mean anything.'
The azure-eyed boy smiled gently. "Even swapping rooms with me?"
The aloof data master chuckled. "Perhaps. Shall we head back, then?"
Yukimura let out a yawn. "Sure."
The both of them stood up. Yukimura leaned on Yanagi, holding onto his right arm tightly as they walked back to their rooms. Yanagi had to silently distract himself from the rapid thumping in his chest that he prayed Yukimura was unable to hear. By the time they reached the door to Yukimura and Mouri's room, there was a tiny sticky note on the surface of it.
I will be up all night, so I moved into this room instead. -Inui
"Well, I guess that means I'll be able to sleep tonight," Yukimura sighed.
Yanagi knew that Inui was playing him like a fiddle and he silently swore to get revenge on him. It was too late to do anything, so he resigned himself to having a sleepless night as his oblivious best friend slept within arm's reach of him—so close, yet so far away.
"Is this seriously the British national team? No wonder you never made it to the Round of 16 last year."
The former Hyoutei captain had absolutely no problem with wiping out the remnants of what Charlie dubbed the "old guards of the British national team" to establish himself as the new leader of the team. If there was one thing he was good at, it was starting revolutions.
"Fuck you, Keigo," one of them spat. "You weren't the only one on the Japanese national team last year. You really expect to put together a winning team here?"
"Ahn? As long as I'm playing, none of that will matter," he boldly smirked. "If you want this great nation to stand among the best, your archaic ways have to go."
He knew that it was going to be a bitch and a half to put together a decent team with the lack of talent in the country, but the former Japanese middle school representative captain had more than enough skill to make up for it. The real question now was how this newly minted captain would rebuild his team. Thinking about it would have to wait until later, since Leon always found a way to distract Atobe from any of his problems.
"Leon—"
"Oh, shut it, Keigo. You worry that pretty little head of yours way too much," his aggressively tender boyfriend cooed before crushing their lips together once more.
But Atobe was getting rather tired of tasting hedonism and privilege and shoved him away. "Seriously, Leon. We need replacements for the new team."
"What did you think I sent Eric to do? You seriously believed that we were going to look for that talent?"
"You know, I'm really starting to think that you don't actually care about winning," Atobe stated, rather annoyed.
"You were always so impatient, Keigo," he cooed. "With how the rest of the competition is looking this year, we shall bring glory back to the United Kingdom without a fuss."
"You are absolutely insufferable," he sighed as he rubbed his temples to soothe the headache that was creeping up.
"You always come back into my arms every time, darling." Leon gave him a flirtatious wink. "Anyway, don't worry your pretty little head off. Did you seriously think I'd let you come into this broken team and turn it on its head without having some semblance of insurance already in place?"
That statement intrigued Atobe slightly. "You weren't always a schemer, Leon. Frankly speaking, you're not much of a thinker at all."
"This bloke has some talent outside of being horny," a third voice interrupted. "Eric's back, your Royal Highness."
"Jealous, Charlie?" Leon inquired. "Well, no point discussing it further. Come, Keigo. I want to show you the kids that those old cunts refused to let on the team."
Begrudgingly, Atobe followed his teammates out towards the courts to see who Eric had dragged off the streets to rebuild the team. He was not expecting to see such familiar faces from long ago waiting for them.
"Ah, you've brought the right people," Leon smiled as he strolled towards them. "Keigo, I want you to meet Xiu, Keith and Peter. They're—"
"—You're the bastards who completely trashed my castle a year ago," Atobe interrupted.
"Look mate, we said we were sorry," Peter answered, rather irked that those were the first words to come out of Atobe's mouth.
"It has been a while," Xiu greeted as he slapped Peter in the back of the head. "We owe you our gratitude for what you all did for us."
"I do hope none of you threw away your shots, otherwise our efforts were in vain," Atobe scoffed.
Keith scoffed before turning around to head to the courts to play with the others who were already there.
"Hey, Keith!" Peter chased after him, leaving Xiu alone with the other two.
"Ahn? What's with him?"
"Well..." Xiu had a forlorn expression on his face. Atobe could tell there was something he wanted to say, but couldn't.
"Ex-Clack members are still looked down upon in the British junior tennis circuit," Leon explained. "Though they're legally allowed to participate in tournaments now, people haven't forgiven them for their past actions."
"In other words, we still get ostracized and pressured into not playing," Xiu added.
"They're quite amazing players too. I'm sure you understand that as well, Keigo. It would be a crime to watch their talent go to waste."
"I... see..." The newly minted captain was slightly disappointed to hear that. "And I assume you wanted them on the team, but the previous bastard in charge was against it, Leon?"
"See? Now, you're using your brain, Keigo," he laughed. "I'm not just a hopelessly useless pretty face, as you might think I am."
"We want to prove to the world that we have changed," Xiu declared. "To represent the United Kingdom at the upcoming U-17 World Cup is a great honour. To do it on home soil as well will give us a chance to show the people of this nation that we're not who we once were."
"I don't doubt you or your skills, Xiu. All of your skills," Atobe clarified. "You all kept us on our toes back then."
A faint smile formed on Xiu's lips. "Never going to let that go, will you?"
"I only joke, but my grandfather..."
Knowing who his new teammates would be, the former Japanese rep was feeling a little more hopeful. He had almost forgotten about the tennis street gang he had the unfortunate displeasure of running into back in middle school. It felt like a very strange, completely unplanned reunion. Having the ex-Clack members as teammates would bring a whole new image to a team that he had long viewed to be stagnant and lacking innovation. Especially with the firepower they now possessed, taking on his former teammates will be a lot easier than he initially thought.
If there was something all Rikkai students had in common, it was their inability to apologize for their wrongdoings. Days had passed since Yukimura's argument with Shiraishi had occurred. The Rikkai captain wasn't sure how to go about apologizing for not being more compassionate. He mulled over it for days, but ultimately decided there was no way he could do it without ditching his pride entirely. Getting over that mental hurdle was something he had never done before and it was proving to be quite difficult to get over.
His thumb kept hovering over the 'call' button on his phone as he tried to gather the nerves to press it.
"It's just a simple apology. Don't overthink it, Seiichi," he grumbled to himself.
The more he stared at the phone in his hand, the harder it became for him to do anything. As if on cue, the man he had been trying to gather the courage to call was now ringing him up.
With his super fast reflexes, he answered the call. "H-hello?!"
"Sei-chan, are you alright?" Shiraishi asked, slightly confused.
"Y-yeah! I'm fine! I'm fine. I'm fine," he assured him. "What can I do for you?"
There was a long sigh from the other side. "This might get long. Are you done training for the day?"
"It's my day off, so you caught me at a good time. I was just about to call you as well," he added.
He heard a soft chuckle. "I guess this works out, then."
"Yes. Care to go first?" he deflected, hoping that Shiraishi wouldn't press him further.
A sigh. "I've been thinking about how you said I was missing out by not accepting the invitation," he began. "I think it's better if I just told you the truth."
Yukimura gulped loud enough that he thought Shiraishi could hear. "What truth?"
"I'm... I'm thinking of quitting tennis entirely."
Yukimura felt like his phone was going to slide out of his hand. "What?"
"This has been on my mind for months now," Shiraishi continued. "I've stagnated as a player and I don't think I'll ever improve past what I've achieved now."
"But, giving up now? And after all you went through to get into Makinofuji?"
"I know. I know." There was a very heavy allusion to exhaustion behind Shiraishi's tone of voice. "I thought about all of it, but this is what I want."
"Kuranosuke, you can't be serious," Yukimura groaned in disbelief. "Your team made the Nationals semis this year! This seems like a very rash decision."
There was a long pause before Yukimura heard something that amounted to a frustrated, yet accepting exhale.
"You know, I was really hoping to get some kind of support from my boyfriend in a time like this—not the same flak that my parents gave me," Shiraishi snapped. "The one person I wanted on my side, and yet..."
"Who said I wasn't on your side?" the offended Child of God retorted. "I just want to understand—"
"Understand what? My feelings? My thought process? Why I don't see this sport the same way you see it?" he interrupted. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you don't need to know these things just to support someone?"
Yukimura was stunned and at a loss for words. To Shiraishi, the silence was comprehension that he got his point across.
"We're done. We can discuss this after the World Cup," he said before he hung up.
The azure-eyed boy just stood there with his phone to his ear, listening to the dial tone as he tried to process what he perceived as word vomit from the person he was calling his boyfriend.
'Did he just break up with me...?'
It was late into the evening when Yanagi found his best friend looking extremely upset. Everyone had gathered to eat dinner, but his friend's plate was practically empty, save for a few leafy greens. He didn't seem to have a clue as to why that was for the first time in his life. He decided to cautiously approach Yukimura and sit down at the same table as him.
"Seiichi, is your stomach feeling alright?" Yanagi asked him.
"Just perfect," was his half-hearted reply.
Yanagi frowned. "If you want to talk about it, I am free tonight. I can kick Sadaharu out if you need me to."
Yukimura shook his head. "No, I'm fine," he lied. "Well... I guess... No..."
"'No' as in...?"
"I'm not fine, but I don't know if I want to talk about it," Yukimura concluded.
"Okay," Yanagi nodded. "But know that the offer still stands, no matter what time that may be."
After a quick soak, Yanagi returned to his dorm room, where Inui was packing up his laptop and several data notebooks. It was almost midnight and he wondered where his roommate was going.
"Sadaharu?"
"The probability that Yukimura will come to this room to speak with you about something he doesn't want me around to hear is... 100 percent," Inui mumbled to himself.
"Sadaharu, Seiichi isn't coming," Yanagi reassured him. "You don't need to leave."
Inui walked to their door and swung it wide open. On the other side was a surprised Yukimura, who looked like he was just about to knock on the door.
"Speak of the devil—or should I say, Child of God?" Inui smirked. "Your data has been lacking as of late, Renji. Soon enough, I will surpass you, Kyouju."
"Should I come back later?" Yukimura asked.
"No, no," Inui reassured. "If you'd like, Yukimura, we could make this roommate arrangement more permanent."
"I think Drink Fairy-senpai will kill me if I took you up on that generous offer, Inui," he chuckled. "Thank you, but you don't need to concern yourself with me."
Inui shrugged as he walked out of the room. There was a murderous intent behind his increasingly creepy smile. It caused Yukimura to shudder a little.
"You changed your mind," Yanagi concluded.
"Yeah, I guess," Yukimura shrugged as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.
The two sat awkwardly across from each other on the beds. A suffocating silence filled the room. Yanagi wondered what was eating away at his best friend, who looked stricken with guilt, confusion, and the same soul-crushing heartbreak he always saw in the mirror.
"Kuranosuke broke up with me," he admitted, not realizing that he had outed himself to his best friend. "I think, anyway."
"Are you upset, Seiichi?" he asked.
Yukimura looked at him, confused. "I don't know. Should I be?"
"It would be a natural response to be upset, I would think."
"I guess, but I don't think I am."
"Do you feel anything?"
Yukimura paused for a second. "No, I don't think I do."
"Seiichi."
"I don't know, Renji," he said in frustration. "Tell me how to feel. What am I supposed to feel?"
"I... don't know," Yanagi answered hesitantly. "Do you want to discuss what happened between you two?"
"I mean, he said 'we're done' and that we'll talk after the World Cup," he sighed. "Is there another way to interpret those words?"
Yanagi pondered all of the possible connotations of those words, but couldn't really think of other meanings that didn't suggest what Yukimura was saying.
"I don't know if I feel... bad, you know? I think I was lying to myself when I tried to start a relationship with him."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I felt like I was using him to get over being in love with Sanada."
"Seiichi," Yanagi moved over and sat beside his friend, "you know that is a horrible way to start any sort of relationship."
"I know, but I just couldn't bear being alone."
"You're not alone, Seiichi. You know I'm here for you," Yanagi reminded him.
"No offence, Renji, but it's not the same as this," Yukimura said, not realizing his choice of words felt like he just drove a dagger through Yanagi's heart. "Maybe this is better—not being in a relationship, I mean. The World Cup is coming up and we have a title to defend."
"Seiichi—"
Yukimura turned to his friend and smiled. "Thanks, Renji."
Yanagi returned the pleasantries with a forced grin. "You're welcome, Seiichi."
The two exchanged a few more mundane words before Yukimura decided to head to sleep. Just as he was about to leave, Inui returned into the room, glowing with a menacing aura.
"I'll let you know if our senpai's still alive in the morning," Yukimura yawned. "Good night, Renji, Inui."
"Sweet dreams," Inui replied before he closed the door. "I presume you have been rejected?"
"Indirectly," Yanagi mumbled. "Though, I lost to tennis this time around, so maybe I should be more hopeful?"
Inui shook his head. "The probability that Shiraishi Kuranosuke will take Yukimura Seiichi back is almost 100 percent."
"I figured as much."
The World Cup reared its ugly head before any of them knew it. It was now time to test the newly formed Japanese U-17 team on the world stage, but none of them felt particularly confident in their abilities compared to last year. Everyone knew that there were some off-court conflicts that were quietly ruining team morale, yet no one really wanted to speak about them. None of the members of the team believed that they could win this year—not with all this hidden baggage looming in the air.
The stage was set in London, England, which a lot of the team recalled wistfully of some wild events that happened the year prior. To find themselves back in the same place was interesting to say the least.
"Remember when you and Akaya went to rescue that boy, Sanada? You made him run 500 laps for sneaking away and you made yourself run 1000 for enabling him," Yukimura snickered.
"They were formidable opponents," Sanada grumbled. "Even if they cheated."
It was nearing the end of the opening ceremony. Almost all of the teams had made their entrance, except for the host nation. The home crowd was buzzing with excitement and anticipation as everyone waited for the UK U-17 team to reveal themselves. Everyone had been waiting for several minutes by that point and people had started to get a little restless.
"Man, what's with this delay?!" Gakuto groaned. "Swear it's like we're waiting for Atobe to make a stupid, over-the-top entrance!"
Not even a second after those words came out of his mouth, the excessive flashing lights and environmentally destructive glitter that was almost synonymous with an unfashionably late Atobe Keigo entrance began.
Yukimura's jaw unhinged more than he thought it was physically capable of doing. "Oh. My. God."
The Japanese team couldn't believe what they were witnessing with their own eyes as the UK team entered the stadium.
"Miss me?" Atobe declared as he led the rest of the Brits in. The entire stadium began erupting in cheers and fanatical screams.
"I don't believe that bastard," Niou cackled. "That's where he disappeared to?"
Sanada scoffed as he crossed his arms. "Unbelievable."
Mouri was, yet again, distracted by the colourful bishie sparkles that radiated from their flamboyant entrance. "How do they do that?! It looks so cool and totally unrealistic!"
Byoudouin felt a migraine forming as he began to rub his temples, mumbling something to himself as he glared intensely at the supposed leader of the troupe. "It seems like that fucker's turned coats, huh?"
Yanagi noticed the boy standing beside him trembling. "Seiichi?"
"Does he think he's better than me? We'll see about that," he cursed under his breath.
Following the end to the delayed ceremony, the two prideful high schoolers had the unfortunate fate of crossing paths yet again. Neither of them spared a single breath to try and tear each other down.
"Running off to a whole other country just because you lost at Nationals this year?" Yukimura scoffed. "How pathetic, even for you, King."
"Ahn? Jealous that I get to command my own team?" was his equally spiteful response. "I seized the opportunity I saw, Child of God. Nothing more, nothing less."
"We'll see who makes it out of groups this year, won't we?"
"Naturally."
"Oh, Keigo! Where are you?" a voice down the long corridor echoed towards the two bitter teenagers.
"I'll be there in a minute," he replied. "I would wish you luck, but I would rather you crash and burn instead."
"The feeling is mutual, then," was Yukimura's cold, dead smile.
The two abruptly parted ways as Atobe made his way back into the arms of Leon, who seemed absolutely fascinated with the androgynous figure he was arguing with.
"Who was that adorable thing?" Leon asked.
"Do not be deceived by his looks," Atobe snorted. "He may be a pretty face, but that's all he'll ever be."
"Is that a hint of jealousy I hear?"
"What do I have to be jealous about, Leon?" he questioned. "Just look at me; I'm perfect."
Leon laughed. "Of course you are, Keigo."
But deep down inside, Atobe couldn't shake off the growing feeling of disappointing everyone. The world as he knew it was riding on his shoulders, which was starting to wear away at his character. He was, in fact, deeply jealous of someone like Yukimura Seiichi, who lived for himself and himself only.
Elsewhere, Yukimura was about to return to his team when he heard a pair of footsteps approach him from behind. He felt a chill run down his spine and whipped around, only to see someone he wasn't expecting at all. His stomach dropped the moment they made eye contact.
"Kuranosuke...?"
"I came to see you, Sei-chan," he began. "Are you free?"
Yukimura nodded cautiously. "What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't wait any longer," he answered. "Let's go somewhere more private to talk things out, okay?"
