Beetz beetz.

Beetz beetz.

Akina reached over the Echizen cat, pawing her nightstand for her vibrating phone. Pulling the electronic from its charging cord, she quickly tapped the flashing screen to stop the phone alarm's incessant buzzing. Slim fingers drowsily entered Akina's pin as her cat wiggled around from the great disturbance. Akina sighed.

Nine o'clock.

"Ryoma!" Akina weakly called out, turning her head towards her door. "Get up!"

Getting an even weaker groan in response, Akina took that as an okay and proceeded to remove herself from her comfy spot next to her cuddly cat. Karupin meowed in response but continued to nestle into her cocoon of pillows. She donned her favorited jean shorts and tight tank top considering the hot day that Yoko said it would be. Tying up her hair in a quick bun, Akina spent most of her time applying light makeup in an attempt to partially cover up the tiredness in her face. Happy with her end result, Akina glanced at the clock.

Nine thirty.

Was Ryoma still not up?

"Ryoma!" A string of grumbles answered her. Akina poked her head into her brother's mess room to find her brother still dozing off in his bed. "Ryoma, you have to get up now!"

"I am," he mumbled. His bed creaked as he shifted. "Just a few more minutes…."

"Fine," Akina rolled her eyes. "But I'm going to get breakfast without you."

"Whatever."

Akina rolled her eyes again. This time, however, instead of waiting for an annoyed response from the boy, Akina simply left the groaning teenager to himself and took off from the house in search for a nice breakfast. Purse in hand, the girl stopped at a crepe shop on her way to the park. Half eaten crepe in hand, Akina made her way to the Tokyo Competition Grounds, watching other schools practice in open tennis courts. As she meandered around the park, Akina munched on the rest of the crepe, enjoying the flavors of the breakfast and the beautiful greenery of the park. She swallowed the rest of the delicious breakfast as a piercing voice broke through to her.

"Akina-chan!" A voice whined behind her while another voice admonished the informal usage of her first name. Akina spun around, finding a panicked looking red head bumbling after her. As Eiji caught up to her, she noticed the Seigaku team watching from a distance. "Akina-chan, where's your brother?"

"Huh?"

"Ryoma-chan!" Eiji grabbed a hold of her shoulders and shook her. "Where is he?"

Akina's eyes widened at his words. "Is he not here?"

"No!" Eiji shook her again much to Oishi's dismay. "I thought he would be with you! We have to sign in soon!"

"I woke him up," Akina gave the poor red head a weak shrug. "I left him at home to get myself breakfast."

As Eiji shrank back into a quivering mess, Oishi gently pushed him aside to speak to the Echizen sister. "I called him, and he said that he was helping a pregnant lady…"

"Yeah…." Akina grimaced. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

Oishi's gentle smile faltered at her words. He truly did have a kind soul. "I— I— well— maybe—"

"I have an idea!" Eiji bounced back up, a beaming smile on his face and a mischievous glint in his eyes. His hand slapped down hard on her forearm, causing the girl to let out a small squeal. As he dragged her closer to the rest of the Seigaku team, his smile grew. "You can pose as Ryoma-chan until he shows up!"

"Uh…," Akina blanched. It was one thing to bend the rules, but this was straight up cheating. You couldn't switch players or even their positions when you signed in. And she was female! "I don't think this is a—"

"Great idea, Kikumaru-kun!" Coach Ryuzaki snapped her fingers. Eiji beamed at her. "Kaido-kun, give her your jacket. Fuji-kun, I hope you have a spare set of shorts?"

"Sensei?" The Seigaku captain turned to his coach, actually looking slightly concerned.

"Yes, Sensei." Fuji just smiled at her.

"Good," Ryuzaki slapped her fist into her open palm. "Get her changed and we'll check in!"

"Why me?!" Akina pointed at a nearby freshman who squeaked. "He's actually in the tennis club! And he's his height."

Fuji's smile widened as he handed her a clean pair of Seigaku shorts. "You actually look like him. Just slouch."

After much pouting from Akina, she met the Seigaku team outside of the restrooms after changing into the Seigaku uniform. Since nobody brought an extra Seigaku shirt, Akina had to make do with the oversized Seigaku jacket from Kaido. Although it was probably for the better. A tighter shirt might have revealed a feminine figure to the check-in referee. Despite all that, the jacket was pretty hot and it smelt a lot like teenage boy. As she fanned herself with a baseball hat one of the freshman dug up from his tennis bag, Akina couldn't help but feel a bit envious at the regulars warming up on the courts in front of her. It had been a while since in an actual competition.

"Sensei?" A taller freshman asked next to Akina. He was met with a questioning hum from Ryuzaki. "What happens if Ryoma doesn't show up until after Echizen-chan has to go up?"

"Well, then…." The coach trailed off. Akina blanched. Did she not think of that before-hand? "She'll either play or forfeit."

"You'd really let me participate?" Akina's jaw dropped.

"Yeah," Ryuzaki shrugged. "I've known your father for a long time. I'm sure you'll play fine. Anyways, we'd have beat Kamata regardless if you win or lose."

"Oh wow," Akina's eyes widened at her words. "You really are confident in your guys, aren't you?"

"Why shouldn't she be?" A snarky voice came from behind them, arrogance dripping from his voice. "She's got me on her team."

Ryuzaki's eyes blazed with fire and Akina knew then that her little shit of a brother shouldn't have said that. The coach whipped around, her ponytail almost slapping her face, and glared at her younger brother dressed messily in the Seigaku tennis uniform. "Maybe I would be more confident in you, Echizen Ryoma, if you'd bother to show up in time!"

Yikes! Akina looked away, holding in her giggles at her brother's expense. That'll show him!

"Now get your ass on the court, we're about to start and I don't think you running around like a frantic chicken was enough of a warm-up!" Ryuzaki admonished, drawing the attention of everybody near the courts.

Despite Ryoma's starting sloppy plays— at least from his normal plays, the Seigaku team bageled* every opponent that Kamata lazily tossed their way. After the massacre of Kamata, Akiyama 3rd was then quickly slaughtered within three matches even if Seigaku did seem to struggle a bit with some of their plays.

"It's such a shame Echizen-kun showed up before you had the chance to play, Echizen-chan," Fuji gave her a sly smile as she handed him back his shorts. She merely laughed as she sat down next to him in the soft grass. Seigaku had quite some time before their next match, so Ryuzaki decided to have lunch a bit earlier. "I bet you would have been spectacular."

"I would have been more inclined to play had you been my doubles partner, Fuji-kun," Akina teased, lightly swatting at Fuji's arm. As Akina opened her prepackaged sandwich that Ryuzaki's granddaughter had brought with her, she caught a glimpse of her brother's glare staring hard at her. She merely grinned back at him. As Fuji laughed at her words, the sounds of nearby cheering drowned him out.

A nearby freshman looked up from his food. "What school is doing that?"

"Hyotei," Momoshiro rolled his eyes at the cheering. "They do this at every match. It's so annoying."

"Ah," Fuji had his signature smile on his face like usual. "But I do want to play in the middle of a cheering crowd once again."

Akina burst into laughter at his words, again swatting his nearby arm and giggling like a maniac as she caught her brother's gaze. "I'll cheer for you if you ask nicely, Fuji-kun."

"Will you cheer for me, Echizen-chan?" Fuji's eyes opened, revealing the warm crystal blue eyes that Akina couldn't help but want to drown in. Akina was shocked. No wonder Fuji wanted to keep his eyes closed all the time; the beautiful blue orbs were mesmerizing. She opened her mouth, preparing to make some off hand, stupid comment about his eyes that he's probably heard dozens of times before.

"Your—"

"Alright, boys," Ryuzaki interrupted. And Akina couldn't help but feel grateful for her interruption. "Get up, it's time to kick some St. Rudolph butt!" Shook her fist in the air, pride radiating from her. Yet she paused when she caught sight of Fuji. "Ah, no offense Fuji-kun."

"None taken, Sensei," Fuji laughed, waving the older lady off as she moved on to talk to Tezuka and Oishi.

"What?"

He turned to her, a smile still on his face. "My little brother plays for St. Rudolph."

"You have a brother?"

"And an older sister," Fuji nodded.

Akina blinked, cogs turning in her head. "Why doesn't your brother go to Seigaku?"

"Well," Fuji paused and for the first time, Akina had seen this statue's smile falter. He tore his gaze from Akina, deciding to focus on faraway flowers. "It's a long story."

Akina, recognizing that detached pain etched into the older brother's face, nodded. Too many times has she worn that same expression upon her own. Too many times has she cried herself to sleep as she remembered his flaming eyes boring deep into her heart; his anger wasn't even meant for her. Too many times has she woken up to find her eyes puffy and sore, grey and washed out as if the life was drained out of her from her own tears.

It's been better. She'll get over it. They'll get over it. Together. At least, she hopes he will.

She let out a deep sigh, pretending to stare at whatever had caught Fuji's eye. "I get it. Ryoma and—"

Ring ring. Ring ring.

Akina's hand slapped down hard on her buzzing pockets. Whipping out the small device, her eyes quickly glanced over the phone screen, her eyes widening at the caller ID.

Yoko :P

"Oh yeah," Akina managed to mutter out as a message from the caller popped up on the screen, reminding her to meet up at Rikkaidai's entrance.

"You doing something else today?"

Akina put her phone back in her purse before standing up from her spot on the cool grass. "I'm meeting up with a friend this afternoon. I guess time just got away from me."

"Ah, have fun then," Fuji's traditional smile was on his face again, his beautiful eyes now hidden behind his lids. As Akina made to turn away from the tensai, a thought quickly jumped into mind. "Ah! Echizen-chan?"

"Yes, Fuji-kun?"

"What's your number?" Fuji asked, an innocent smile still on his face.

"If I give you mine, you'll give me yours, right?" With Fuji's confirmation, the pair swapped numbers. Now, Akina was ready to leave, her goodbye wave given to Ryoma of which he ignored and somehow Eiji popped up next to her brother to give her sad waves back to her. Before finally turning away from the blue eyed tensai, Akina opened her mouth. "You can call me Akina, you know? Calling me Echizen is so annoying."

"As long as you call me Shusuke," Fuji laughed at her words.

"Alright then, Shusuke."

Bring blue violets to someone when you return to them.

*I don't know how many people actually use this term in the tennis world, but I remember using this term in high school when someone got 0-6 in a set. They got 'bageled'. So, I don't know how many people actually play tennis and read this fic, but if you do, please tell me if this is a term you use. Cause I don't know if this is just local thing or if it's actually official.