Bildungsroman

Chapter 23

Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, with no copyright infringement intended. I don't own PoT, which belongs to Takeshi Konomi.

It was a surreal, surreal feeling, the next morning. Sakura waved goodbye to her parents earlier than usual, and Sanada at her side, she walked in the opposite direction as the school. And the entire time, she wanted to kiss him.

This hadn't been a part of the plan, but Sakura could roll with the punches. Even if said punch was over six feet tall and had a jawline to rival the marble statues they learnt about in European history.

"Are you looking forward to this… matchmaking event?" Sanada broke the silence, smirking down at her. Sakura grinned in reply. "A bit… it's always nice to have a girls' thing."

"You play on a girls' tennis team, Kagawa."

She waved the words away. "Oh, you know what I mean. Not as players, just… girls being girls."

He nodded, though he clearly did not know what she meant. That was okay; she didn't really expect him to. Boys didn't really 'hang out' like girls did, it seemed. At least, not the ones she knew.

"You played Akitaka in the Hyotei match, didn't you?" He asked curiously. "You said it wasn't easy?"

She exhaled. "It was not. Mei's a tricky customer, but it was fun. Not least because she's a bit of a flirt, either." She threw him a roguish smile, which bubbled out as a giggle at the sight of the colour rising to his cheeks. "Threw me a bit too. But she's a nice girl- don't know if she's Mikabi-chan's type, but nice enough."

They continued in silence. At length, Sakura sighed. "You ever think this is weird?" At his querying expression, she elaborated: "We're playing you next weekend, and here I am, taking you out to breakfast."

"Don't forget dinner." He muttered.

"Technically you took me out to dinner." Sakura pointed out. "But yeah, let's not forget that. So. You feel weird about it?"

Sanada pondered his answer. Truth be told, he had thought about it at length last night, long after Kagawa had fallen asleep and her soft, even breaths filled the room. He should've felt antsy, even uncomfortable, on a mattress on the floor of a girl's bedroom, but any scruples had been minor. Uppermost in his thoughts had been the way her eyes had cut to his stalker, and the anger in them; the hard, uncompromising tone in which she had made her threats; the playful way she'd tugged at his cap and offered her home as a safe space, without even sparing a second to think about it.

He thought about other things, too- the snorting laugh when he'd bitten into the wasabi she'd snuck onto his plate; the ferocity with which she protected her maki rolls; the round tea-stains on her bedside table. Low-fat matcha ice cream eaten straight out of the carton (and hadn't he shuddered at that, and hadn't she laughed).

"Not anymore." He replied, meeting her gaze head-on. They threw him off a little, those eyes- blazing fire one second, and dark pools another, and a twinkling sky the next. Now, they resembled the sun, dark though they were, as she beamed at him.

"Hey, lateness!" A loud voice interrupted his thoughts- he didn't recognise it, but the girl was vaguely familiar from Ikeda and some of the other girls' research charts. Hyotei's dark horse. "Didn't know you had a boyfriend." She continued as Sakura and Sanada drew closer.

A tinge of pink rose to Sakura's cheeks. "He's not my boyfriend." She dismissed, shooting Sanada an apologetic look. He shrugged. "Sanada-kun, this is Akitaka Mei, from Hyotei. Mei, this is Sanada Genichirou."

"Yeah, Rikkai's vice-captain." Mei nodded, forgoing a bow in favour of shaking his hand roughly. "Aren't you facing him next?"

Sakura nodded, grinning. "Not him, but yeah. It'll be something special, won't it, Sanada-kun?"

"Perhaps if you address the problem of your swing." He smirked at the outraged look on her face.

Mei laughed. "Oh, I like you. So who else's comin', Sakura?"

She tore her glare away from Sanada. "Mikabi-chan and Momoko- she's a friend of mine, you'll like her." Sakura replied. "C'mon, let's get a table. They know where this place is."

Soon enough, the three were seated and perusing menus- at least, Sanada and Akitaka were. Sakura had been here plenty of times; she knew what she wanted.

"Don't you have practice, Sanada-san?" Mei asked, not taking her eyes off the options. Sanada nodded. "I've excused myself for this morning. Under the circumstances, it's hardly possible for me to make it back in time."

Mei raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, s'kinda far, isn' it?" She shot Sakura a pointed look. "So how come yer here then?"

Sakura bit her lip, wondering whether to intervene. But Sanada answered, "I was attempting to throw off a stalker yesterday; by the time Kagawa got rid of her, it was too late to travel, so her family was kind enough to host me for the night."

The two girls looked at each other- Mei looked impressed. "You got rid of a stalker? I hope you dragged the bitch to the police, Sakura."

"Not this time," Sakura's smile had more teeth than usual. "But if she shows up again, you can help."

Mei punched her shoulder with a smile that was just as vicious. "Done. Having a stalker sucks," She looked back at Sanada. "I had one in my first few months at Hyotei- had to break a few teeth before he stopped."

Sanada looked from one set of bared teeth to the other. Things made a lot more sense now.

"Good morning!" A voice chirped. Sakura's wolfish smile softened, and she stood up to hug Momoko and Mikabi. The former beamed at Sanada and Mei as well. "You must be Sanada-san and Akitaka-san." She smiled beatifically. "It's so nice to meet you both at last! My name is Hayashi Momoko- and this is Takada Mikabi. We're friends with Sakura-chan too."

Mei stood up, and shook hands with both girls. "S'a pleasure, Hayashi-san." She drawled. Her eyes seemed to caress Mikabi. "Takada. How've you been?"

Mikabi shrugged. "Can't complain, Akitaka. Nice to meet you too, Sanada-san."

"Likewise, Takada-san, Hayashi-san." He replied, shifting so that Mikabi could slide in beside him. Momoko slipped in on Sakura's other side. "You've been keeping secrets, Sakura-chan." She hissed in her ear. "What's he doing here?"

Sakura cast him a glance. "Later." She hissed in reply, before snapping back to the conversation between Mei and Mikabi.

"Yer match 'gainst Yamabuki was pretty damn good." Mei was saying. "Yer gonna be captain next year, right? Sakura tol' me."

Mikabi raised her eyebrows at Sakura. "Yeah... if I can't convince her to stay. Nomura-buchou would appoint her in a heartbeat."

Sakura shifted. "No she wouldn't, Mikabi-chan." She snapped. "And you know it."

Sanada stirred. "You're quitting tennis next year?" He asked Sakura, brow furrowing. She nodded. "Yeah, gotta get back to debate. It'll look good on college apps, and I think I'm ready to give up tennis at the end of this year."

"When she could go fucking pro." Mikabi lamented. "I mean, where's the ambition, Sakura-chan?"

"In the courtroom, darling." Sakura replied sweetly.

"There's nothin' wrong with not wantin' to go pro." Mei put in, raising her eyebrow at Mikabi. Momoko agreed, but Sanada was looking into his menu with a little frown.

The waitress came over. "Are you ready to order?"

Sakura ordered waffles, and as every else chipped in with their orders, sat back to observe them. Mei and Mikabi seemed to be getting along well enough, but most of her attention was reserved for Sanada; he still had that little crease between his brows, even as he asked for a chocolate milkshake and some toast. Their eyes met, but he looked away, causing her to frown herself.

"So what's up at Hyotei, Akitaka?" Mikabi was asking. "Since we wiped the courts with you, I mean."

Mei returned her smirk. "Wouldn' ya like to know?" She shot back. "I don' give up my secrets that easy, Takada. But I can tell you tha' there's been some major restructurin'. Not leas' because of y'all."

Mikabi snickered. "Good to know we had some impact on you."

"Oh you had an impact alrigh'..." Mei drawled. Momoko and Sakura rolled their eyes, but Sakura was more interested in the way Mikabi went very, very faintly pink. A glance at Sanada showed that the crease between his brows hadn't smoothed out. It bothered her, not least because she had a feeling that she'd put it there.

"Hey," She tapped his thigh under the table- before blushing and wondering if that was too intimate. "What's up?"

He glanced around; no one appeared to be paying attention to them. Momoko had gotten drawn into Mei and Mikabi's argument about... something. "It's... I just wondered why you're set on quitting tennis after this year."

She blinked. "You knew I didn't want to go pro."

His jaw appeared set. "Neither am I, but I'm still playing."

"Oh, like that." Sakura relaxed, even smiled faintly. "I want debating experience closer behind me when I apply to college. It just... it's a timing thing."

Sanada looked at her, amused and relaxed and strangely devoid of passion. He didn't understand.

"I understand." He dipped his head in a nod. Sakura raised an eyebrow. "No you don't." She retorted, and a faint smile crossed his lips. "No, I don't," He admitted. "But that's hardly important."

Sakura looked up at him, wondering what he'd say if she told him that it was. That she wanted him to understand.

"Guess not." She winked; he snorted, and they turned back to the conversation just as the food arrived.

The girls made it to class just in time; their respective homeroom teachers gave them looks. "Worth it." Momoko muttered to Sakura. Airi snorted. "I bet. How'd it go?"

"Well, there was matchmaking, but I'm not sure it was Takada." Momoko replied, throwing Sakura a roguish look. She rolled her eyes, while Airi narrowed hers. "Lunch. I want to know everything." And it sounded like a threat.

Sakura knew the perils of messing with a gossip-hungry Airi, so come lunch, she told the two all that had happened the previous day, leading up to breakfast this morning. Well, she told two; that was definitely Kagome that Momoko was texting as she spoke.

Airi let out a low whistle when Sakura finished. "Damn." She shook her head. "That's some story."

"You should've seen them this morning." Momoko giggled. "All low voices and private conversations... He seems nice, by the way, you should definitely hit that."

Sakura swallowed. "I... well, I- agree?" The last word came out as a squeak, but the other two definitely heard it, and Momoko emitted an excited shriek. "I knew it!" The slap of their high-five made Sakura wince, even as she blushed a blotchy rose hue. "Can you shut up-"

"Oh, Kagome-chan is going to flood your phone with I told you so!" Momoko snorted, typing what Sakura just knew was a exclamation-ridden, all caps, high-octane message. Airi grinned. "We all told you so."

She hid her face in her hands. "I don't have to take this."

"Yes you do!"

Sakura had never been so glad for the end-of-lunch bell. Or even for tennis practice, where her friends' smirking and ribbing couldn't follow. Nomura looked surprised to see her jog into the clubhouse as opposed to her usual ten-minutes-late amble. "You're eager."

The younger girl shrugged. "Rikkai." Was all she offered by way of (completely false) explanation. Nomura hmm'd, seemingly uncaring, but no sooner had Sakura changed than the captain gestured to her. "Let's take a walk."

Well. Sakura didn't like the sound of that. They made their way to the back of the clubhouse, where the captain could keep one eye on the courts while having what was clearly intended to be a serious conversation.

"How have you been?" She asked, and there was a curiously kind look on her face as she asked it. Sakura blinked. "I'm... okay?" She raised her eyebrows, then shrugged. "But sore, but yesterday's mixed-doubles win was a good one. Guess we're just waiting for the final draw on that, right? To know the finalists for Sunday?"

"It'll likely be Rikkai again- Imako's got an idea of the points, you should check with her. And you and Fuji are pretty much confirmed too." Nomura nodded. "Your singles match was good too. Though you had us worried for a while. I wasn't sure you'd be able to cope."

Sakura snorted. "Might've spared yourself a bit of worry if you'd told me before." She pointed out. Her captain cracked a smile. "Sometimes we need to be thrown in the deep end." Sakura snorted again, but grinned all the same. "You did well. But I suppose I can't risk the same trick twice, not in the finals."

"So I'm playing Singles 2 again?" Sakura asked, tilting her head. But Nomura's eyes glinted.

"No. I will. You're playing Singles 1."

Birds. Sakura could hear birds. Nothing else.

Until she spoke. "Singles 1." Her tone was flat, not quite disbelieving, but Nomura could pick out the incredulity easily enough.

"Yes."

"Against Rikkai."

"Yes."

Sakura took a deep breath. "Against Ikeda Kotone."

Nomura chewed on her lip. "Yes."

Another slow inhale.

"I'm sorry to ask you this, Nomura-buchou," Sakura's tone was expressive in its blankness. "But are you high?"

A short, incredulous laugh burst out of the captain. "Really, Kagawa?"

"No, seriously, are you? Because that's the only explanation I can think of- like, nothing else explains why you'd think that I might be able to play Ikeda Kotone. I mean, you could be joking, but I've literally never seen you joke, so I don't think so? And honestly, considering I almost lost a Singles 2 match to Yamabuki on Saturday, it takes some truly astonishing mental gymnastics to think, yeah, she's not gonna get completely fucking humiliated by Ikeda fucking Kotone, one of Japan's top 2 players and future fucking pro. I mean, you don't actually think I'm going to win, right? Because that's... a level of delusion that can only be explained by a really potent cocktail of chemicals because you're my captain and I know you're not stupid."

She'd not stopped to breathe, even as her pitch and volume spiked; by the end of it, Sakura was red and panting, but not as wild-eyed as Nomura had expected. "Are you done?"

Sakura huffed. Not waiting for an answer (because she wasn't sure she wouldn't get another rant), Nomura ploughed on: "Thanks for saying I'm not stupid, but honestly, Kagawa, I'm starting to think you might be, if you didn't see this coming."

"Not against Rikkai-"

Nomura sighed. "Kagawa. Get your head out of the clouds and think. You're sixteen. Kotone's only a year older than you. You're not playing Serena Williams; you're playing a seventeen year old girl!"

"Who just happens to have beaten you!" Sakura exclaimed. Nomura's jaw tightened, but she nodded all the same. "Kotone is good. The best, really- my techniques might be on par with hers, but..." She sighed. "She reads people. I can't do that... and more than that, I don't have the drive to beat her."

That stopped Sakura short. She eyed her captain suspiciously. "That match... at Nationals," She didn't specify which one, and Nomura didn't need her to. "You- captain, did you throw it?"

Nomura swallowed. "No. I didn't." She broke off, blinking rather rapidly. "But I can't guarantee that I wouldn't now. Anyone else, I can and will beat. But Kotone..."

She trailed off, and Sakura couldn't say she understood. Oh, not the feelings- those, she got. But the admission that Nomura didn't trust herself not to throw a match against Ikeda... that was frightening. Sakura couldn't understand letting a match go for romance. It wasn't in her.

It took a lot of courage to admit, though. And she could respect that, as she had always respected everything else about her captain. She raised her chin. "I can't promise to beat her."

Nomura smiled wryly. "With any luck, it won't come to that." Neither of them had to voice that it would take a lot of luck. "But believe me- I've been watching you play for two years, so you'd better believe me- you're probably the only one with half a prayer."

"Oh, that's heartening." Sakura retorted, shouldering at her racquet. "I've got half a prayer."

"Look, right now, she's better than you." Nomura stated baldly. Sakura very nearly flinched. "She's better than everyone. So what are you going to do, Kagawa? What's the plan against someone who's just... better?"

Sakura looked down, scuffing the concrete. When she looked up, her eyes were glinting- storm, steel, and stubbornness. "The plan is to plan." She replied. "C'mon, captain- let's get to work."

Slightly filler-ish, but it does set up some things. Let me know what you think!

Cheers,
Chilli.