Bildungsroman

Chapter three

Disclaimer: Do you really think I'd waste my time writing fanfiction if I owned PoT?

By the way, please do read the note at the end of the chapter. Many thanks!

Stupid fucking alarm clock…

Sakura wasn't a morning person. She really wasn't. Unfortunately (or in this case, fortunately) her phone was. And the alarm tone was loud and obnoxious and made her want to throw the gadget across the room.

Even more effective than the alarm were the thirty laps they had been brusquely ordered to run as soon as everyone had arrived (Sakura had turned up second-last, much to the girls' surprise). The massive jug of viscous green liquid acted as a great motivator, even for the girls, who'd never tried it before. It wasn't the colour, or the gluggy consistency, or even the fact that it was freaking bubbling, though these were bad enough- it was the mad glint in Inui-senpai's eye (glasses, whatever. It was downright creepy the way his glasses could project emotions).

Laps- which culminated in a mad dash to the finish line- were followed by twenty minutes of stretching. The result was that by the time they broke up into pairs, Sakura's blood was pumping quite ferociously through her veins. "You look flushed, Kagawa-san." Fuji said with his ever-present smile.

She grinned, trying to catch her breath. "I bet. And call me Sakura, senpai. Do you guys do this every day?"

"We do. This is rather basic, actually. I think Tezuka and Nomura-san are eager to get preparations for the mixed doubles underway."

"Yeah, they sure are eager. Good thing, I guess; does anyone here actually have experience in this kind of thing?"

Fuji shook his head. "Not really. I certainly don't, and I'm sure Momo and Oishi don't either. All of us have a good amount of experience in doubles, but never with a girl. What about the girls?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not me. But then I only started playing a couple of years ago. Takada and Sato-senpai have been around much longer, and I mean- most of the girls have played against guys at some point. It's just the way things roll, I suppose. Very few really had girlfriends who played until junior high, and most have brothers or dads who got them into it. But I don't know about doubles –"

"Can you two start practising over there!"

Nomura certainly had the eye of a hawk. Then again, two stationary figures on a tennis court were probably more than a little conspicuous.

"Oops." Sakura gave Fuji a sheepish wink, her tongue sticking out. "Let's get to it, senpai. I really don't fancy more laps."

"I agree. Rally?"

"Works for me."

Fuji-senpai's style was like her own, Sakura decided- not showy (except that Disappearing Serve and the Hakugei- but come on, being that freaking good, he was allowed to show off now and again), but almost a seamless whole with no holes and blind spots and weaknesses. And god, when he really pulled out those shots- Sakura lost a few points just gaping.

"How are you doing that!" She gasped, after yet another well-timed smash was returned faultlessly to her baseline.

His voice was ragged, but playful. "It's a secret, Sakura-chan."

It was the chan that did it. Sakura wasn't a madly-focused tennis nut, but she was damn good, she was being considered for captaincy, and Fuji Syusuke, genius though he may be, was going to respect her as his partner. No one, no one, took that infuriatingly patronising, politely dismissive tone with her more than once, because she was Kagawa Sakura, and she refused to be swept aside.

She didn't have shots that stunned whole crowds into silence; she'd come rather late into tennis, and had worked to perfect her basics. Speed, power, accuracy, control, technique. Her entire game was based on these; these, and her ability to out-think the other person. Granted, her accuracy had been questioned lately, but… she'd been slacking off that practice, lazier than usual, and it had showed. Other times…

Fuji's eyes opened as he found himself needing to chase every single ball down, right to the very corners. She's accurate… marvellously so. Balls were bouncing on the corners of the court, a hair's breadth from being out, but indisputably in every time. She was hitting them hard, hitting them fast… and she was catching every single ball of his, too.

Her shots were heavier than before; she was clearly pushing him into long rallies, rather than trying to power one past his counters.

Fast- she's picking up everything. Precise. Good stamina- she wouldn't push me into an endurance battle otherwise. Good power, good technique, excellent control.

The rally continued for another ten minutes. Sakura seemed to have no problem keeping up with Fuji's changes- he altered the pace, the power, the speed of his shots, and she adapted. Sometimes it seemed shoddy, as when he drew her up to the net and she tripped over her feet trying to volley quickly. She did receive a skinned knee for her efforts, but the ball made it over the net, which was a win, she supposed.

"I guess that's enough for now." Fuji caught the ball in his hand.

Caught by surprise, Sakura stared. "What?"

His grin was small and amused. "We're supposed to evolve a partnership, Sakura-chan."

The smile, the tone to this chan… Sakura allowed a small smile of her own to slip onto her face, because this smile from him, this address? They were clean. They were honest.

There was, she fancied, a hint of appreciation there now.

"You're very good." Was the first thing he told her after practice concluded, when they stayed behind to 'discuss things'.

She reddened, which was understandable, but utterly embarrassing. "Thank you, senpai. I've already told you that you're amazing, so that would be repetitive."

At least she wasn't tongue-tied and blushing. That would have been mortifying.

"I'm worried about our combination, though. We're not really the ideal pair- two counter-punchers..."

"We're both baseline players." Sakura nodded. "Neither of our play styles includes net play, and that's where we're weakest. It's one of the reasons why the Golden Pair is so successful."

"But that doesn't mean we can't adapt, and forge a successful combination. After all, Momo is an aggressive baseliner, and he and Kaidoh make an excellent pair even with Kaidoh being a counter-puncher like us."

He waited for her to nod, before continuing. "Seeing as you play far better at the baseline than at the net, I think I'll stay at the net, except during my service games. You need to develop your net play a bit more though. You'll be targeted a good deal since it doesn't take much to figure out where your weaknesses are."

He laughed when Sakura squirmed. "Don't worry! Oishi's weakness is the same as yours- it's one of the main reasons why Eiji plays singles and he doesn't. Eiji can play near the baseline well enough to hold his own- it's just that he prefers the net, since his tennis is acrobatic."

"I'd better not get put on a team with Oishi-senpai, then. We'd go down in flames."

"Don't be so sure. There are ways to make every combination work- even those that defy the norm."

That night, Sakura pretty much dragged herself to her room, and had to use her hands to pull her feet up onto the bed.

"It's the ankle weights." She told her bemused mother. "I'm just getting used to them; when I do, Inui-senpai's going to give me the corresponding wrist weights. I need to tone up until I at least look like Fuji-senpai- slender, but super strong."

"...Right." Aiki said slowly. "And should I expect a puddle of sick on my floor every night until you tone up enough to run to the bathroom in time?"

"... I said I was sorry, ma."

Debate club had started late this year, Sakura thought. Probably because Ueda-senpai, the President, had taken his own sweet time getting back from Okinawa, and the Vice-President was pretty useless. Or lazy. Most likely both.

"Sakura-chan! It's great to see you back this year!" Ueda exclaimed as she walked in. He rose and spread his arms. Laughing, she walked into them. "Like I'd leave, senpai."

"Oh, I know that." He assured her, giving her a fierce squeeze. "It's nice to know I was right about you. By the way, congratulations. I heard about making the regulars. Nomura told me."

Sakura groaned. "That can't have been very pretty."

"Borderline ugly. But I told her that the final decision would obviously be yours, so there was no reason for us to come to blows."

"So diplomatic, senpai."

"Ah, but at least I never lie, Blossom-chan."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Blossom-chan. There weren't many more ridiculous nicknames out there, but it was Ueda-senpai, so saying that his nicknames were crap (more than thrice, anyway) would be like kicking a puppy.

Slowly, members and newbies filtered in, and the room was unusually full. Vice-captain Asano floated over. "Ueda-kun, how lovely to see you back." She said. Everything about Asano was delicate- her slight frame, wispy hair, near-translucent complexion, the frail hands, her light embrace, floating gait. Her voice was soft- like how flowers would sound, if they would talk. She had a tender, gentle smile, and she was the most ladylike person Sakura had ever seen, her own mother included.

She was also the calmest, most logical and damn near unbeatable debater Sakura had ever seen.

"It's the Vice-captain." Someone whispered, and there was awe in the voice. "I heard she's never been beaten."

Ueda grinned. "It's nice to see you too, Sadako-san." Ueda replied, shaking her hand. "How was your internship? With the Asian Women's Centre, wasn't it?"

Asano inclined her head with a smile. "Yes, it was, and it was wonderful. Most illuminating. Okinawa seems to have suited you."

"Oh, wasn't that awesome! You should go there, Sadako-san, it's simply incredible! You'd enjoy it."

The smile she gave him was so soft that Sakura had to turn away. She couldn't hear Asano's reply, and eventually drifted off to another corner of the room, where a few members from the previous year were sitting. After a few minutes of aimless chatting, in which little information was exchanged along with many insults, a hush descended on the group as Ueda stood up.

"Hello everyone." He smiled around. "Welcome to this year's first meeting of the debate club. It's great to see such a large turnout this year- if slightly strange. Not complaining though."

Several faces became less strained- having such a pleasant leading figure was definitely a plus. Ueda-senpai was a good leader.

"Unfortunately, not all of you will make it into the club. Since teams are consist of four people, the club strength is small, to ensure that everyone gets some amount of experience. A decent amount, too. But the fact is that the better debaters will get more chances to speak at competitions, so you can't treat being chosen as part of the club as a goal in itself. Here, as everywhere, growth and improvement count."

Asano stood. "The auditions for debate club will be held on Friday, at regular club activities time." Her voice carried, despite her not raising it a single bit. "If anyone has enrolled in another club with conflicting timings, you'll have to either get an exemption for that day, or miss this round and prepare for the next. There will be no re-scheduling, for anyone." She glanced at Sakura, who gave a brief nod.

"We're passing a sheet around. Kindly fill in your name and contact details, so that we can let you know the exact time for your round. The topic will be given to you on the spot."

A few of the freshmen turned a mild shade of green at that. Newbies, clearly. Sakura rolled her eyes.

When everyone had written down their details and the papers had made their way back to Asano, the meeting was broken up, with a repetition of the injunction to be there at the time communicated to them.

"Such a lot of people this time." Ueda sighed, looking over the sheets. He ran a hand through his hair. We'll be having about 26 debates in a single evening… unless we spill over to Saturday. And dammit, I don't want to do that. I have plans."

"I can take care of it, if you have to be elsewhere, Ueda-kun." Asano offered. He sighed, casting her a weary smile. "No, I'll be there. Thank you all the same, Sadako-san. Blossom, I think we can have yours first on Friday. Okay?"

Sakura had really been hoping for Saturday. Tennis practice was longer on those days. "Right, senpai. Friday, at three then?"

"Right you are."

"Great. See you, senpais!"

It wasn't often that she walked home without being absolutely dog-tired, or without someone from the tennis club. Sakura felt strange; like she was at a loose end, but without feeling all… superfluous in herself, or lonely, or… it was rather nice.

She'd go home, have a wash, do her homework. There wasn't much, but English and Physics would probably take a bit of time. At least there was nothing in Math today. A few questions in World History, a chapter to read in Japanese history (and of course she was going to do that, wasn't she), problems in Physics and an essay in English. Hmm. She anticipated being done by 6. What then?

Well, she'd see at the time. Maybe she could go down to the bookstore and buy the next issue of Special A; she'd certainly saved enough from her internship for that.

She arched her back, feeling her spine crack satisfactorily. It came to her mind that it had been a while since her last break-up. Not long enough to really have a decent conversation with Ryou- Chozen-kun, but long enough for any negative feelings to subside, and for her to start looking around again. She wasn't a serial dater, but she liked dating- well, obviously, who wouldn't like spending time with a person they liked? It was a nice feeling- what an awful way to describe anything, 'nice'- but there wasn't really anything else she could say about it.

For god's sake, she was only sixteen. She didn't believe in love at first sight, or one true love, or any of those romantic fairytales. Sure, they were pretty to read about, or to sigh over while watching Disney movies. And that was it. She was pretty practical, and at this point, while she enjoyed dating people and genuinely felt something for the people she dated, she wasn't looking to have anyone on a white horse come around and sweep her off her feet.

She could admit- Tezuka-senpai was pretty cute. More like very, very handsome, but it wasn't like she had a full-fledged crush on him. Hell, she didn't even have a crush on him, it was his surprising likeness to Shirota Yuu, on whomshe did have a full-fledged crush, that had her… noticing him. It would be hard not to, anyway, going to Seigaku and being involved in the tennis scene. He was sort of the 'unattainable ice prince golden boy' of the school; she wondered if there was really anyone in school who didn't know of him. Unlikely.

Her parents weren't home when she got there. Interesting. Ma usually was. At any rate, she was touched to see that she'd left a plate of rolls for her to warm in the microwave. Lovely.

She washed, ate, and sat down to do her homework. When Ma would be back, she didn't know, but she hadn't left any message about ordering dinner, so Sakura didn't bother.

It was nearly eight 'o' clock when she heard the front door being unlocked. That was rather a lot of noise for one person- her parents were home, then.

How was it? Please review!

So, I've had a thought. This story will likely be a pretty long one, so I was thinking that it might be more interesting and quite a bit quicker if I were to do the two timelines simultaneously. To say anymore would be to give away rather too much, but the double narrative would be more of a challenge to write, as well as preventing the story from becoming too much of a monologue and dragging on. What do you think? I was going to simply take this down and start afresh, but that didn't sit well with me. So I'd like to get input from my readers; if there are any, of course.

Cheers,

Chilli.