A/N: Gotta add those plot devices… Was trying to keep Oishi and Kikumaru in character… not sure if I have. Alas, we knew them well!
Disclaimer: I was swimming in the sea when I saw a lot of young men half conscious, floating on their fronts and backs… kinda reminded me of Takeshi Konomi's Prince of Tennis. (I got out quickly/Randomness)
Chapter Forty Five
The next morning, Tezuka took the envelope out of his paper bin, placed it on his desk and left for school.
* * *
Fuji walked to practise with Kikumaru. It wasn't planned. Fuji, on her way to open the changing rooms, saw Kikumaru leaving her house and decided to walk with her. They didn't greet each other. It would be silly to act as if everything was fine. Kikumaru eyes didn't glow with excitement, neither were they very interested in what the day had to show her. The two friends glanced each other, acknowledged the look and walked in silence until they reached the hill that led up to Seishun academy.
Kikumaru flicked her red curls from touching her eyelashes and stared up at the sky with a pondering glance. "I've thought about it Fuji-chan… and I didn't do anything wrong."
"I know."
Kikumaru peered over at Fuji thoughtfully but didn't say what it was for. "When we walked home together the other day he didn't look all that calm, like, how I know him to be. I asked what was bothering him and he said he was concerned about Momoshiro-kun, one of the year eights on his team… but so much so that he would hit someone? Doesn't make any sense…"
"Even a mother has to discipline her children."
Kikumaru gave Fuji a penetrating glare with her dark blue eyes. She didn't want to hear her form of reasoning right now. Kikumaru's eyes said everything that she was unable to express with words. Fuji brushed it off and followed quietly.
"Ne, Kikumaru-chan, you don't think he did it on purpose, do you?"
Kikumaru stopped and faced Fuji. "At first I thought it was an accident… but he indented to hit someone. It… it wasn't as if he swung his arm around and accidentally bumped me… It was on his mind for some time… I called his name, I saw that he hunched his shoulders, he shouted something and before I could grasp what he said I felt a sharp pain Fuji-chan. He wanted to hit someone…"
"But not you."
Kikumaru began walking again, she pulled her bag over her shoulder and shrugged with the other. "…It's the fact that he did Fuji-chan…"
They continued on in silence with Kikumaru in front and Fuji a few steps behind. Fuji wondered, as she looked upon Kikumaru's low hung head, if Oishi had it in him to calm her storm.
They made it to the changing rooms where some of the girls were already waiting to get in. Really, they were hanging around nice and early so they could hear the gossip. Jinhana, Yokoishi, Suzu, Umeko and Arai were all waiting with a few others. Kikumaru kept the gaze to the floor with tight lips and peeved eyes.
Yokoishi was the only one who dared to ask her if she was okay.
"I'm fine." Kikumaru barely said under a low murmur.
Fuji unlocked the door and they went in, whispering in their small groups. Arai didn't say anything. She knew Oishi and Sai would carry themselves over when they were ready. The year sevens slowly filtered in. By then, Kikumaru was already in her tennis dress and out the room and on the courts. The others waited for her to close the door and to be a fair distance from the room before all their attention went to Fuji. They wanted to know the gossip so far.
"Did she dump Oishi-kun?" Jinhana asked.
"I already know what's going to happen, but does she hate him?" Yokoishi asked next, going along with the flow.
"Did she wait after school and 'jumped him'?" Umeko said randomly but no less intrigued.
"Y… you guys?" Fuji wanted to smirk because of their nosy questions but she held it in. "Leave her alone until Oishi-kun speaks with her."
"Oh? They haven't spoke to each other yet? When is he coming over?" Jinhana leant in and whispered.
"Dunno, I asked him to wait until today. He'll come over when he's ready."
"Meaning we're going to have to train with an angry Kikumaru-chan. I like it!" Umeko grinned, which didn't go over will with Arai.
"No slacking today guys." Fuji said and walked outside once she got changed.
She walked out onto the cool courts and watched as Kikumaru came round after her last bend. She slowed down and stopped near Fuji. She breathed deeply as she bent forward to lean on her knees.
"Do you plan on following me all day?" Kikumaru lifted her head to see Fuji.
"I wanna make sure you don't do anything you'll regret."
Kikumaru laughed hearing the irony of Fuji's words. "Well, I won't be doing anything on your level, if that's what you mean."
Fuji didn't like that jeering tone, and when Kikumaru glanced up to her, Fuji gave her a warning glare to make sure she didn't take her frustration out on the wrong people.
"Sorry," Kikumaru straightened up and wiped some sweat from her forehead. "It's just… I don't think you know how I feel about this. If you want to, image Tezuka-san striking you, accident or not and then tell me that it's just for discipline's sake." She didn't wait for Fuji's reaction and went onto the courts to stretch.
"Imagine such a thing? I can't…" Fuji said softly to herself.
Fuji was about to take to the courts when Umeko jumped up from behind. "Ooh, did you see the look on her face! Did you see it? I like this side to her! Eiko-chan! Let's stretch together!" Umeko ran onto the courts and made herself a nuisance, but of course she would be merry, now being able to wear her regulars' dress once more. And with the notion of having her skills returned to her, she was ready and rearing to go. Fuji peered over her shoulder to see the others slowly coming out, rackets and attitude in hand. As Yokoishi walked by she bumped her hip into Fuji purposely and carried on without a word. Before Fuji could think why, Arai stood beside her and arms crossed.
"Silly girl, trying to act as if nothing has changed." Arai said, watching Kikumaru training with a serious but distance face.
"She'll be okay… She said I don't understand her feelings. You wanna know what she said to me?"
"Let's hear it?"
"If I want to understand I should picture Tezuka-san hitting me."
The image struck Arai quickly. She stood motionless for a moment, and when she realised what Kikumaru might be feeling she didn't know what to say. It was Fuji would broke the image by tapping Arai on the shoulder.
"There's no comparison between the two." Arai decided. "Oishi-kun, you'll at least get an expression on his face to let you know what you did wrong… but I think with Tezuka-san, if he was to hit someone his face wouldn't let you know why… it would hurt that much more…"
Fuji thought about Arai's specific response and decided she didn't want to give too much attention to it. "Come on lets, get on with it."
They carried on with the practise match as normal. Fuji continued off from yesterday by getting everyone to have a two-minute match against Yokoishi only, as they were more likely to meet up with developed players like her. Yokoishi after twenty minutes, instead of getting tired got stronger. The only ones to shake her flow were Umeko and Fuji. Once she was in front of those two she played seriously. Umeko managed to catch her off guard once or twice but Yokoishi repaid the gesture. When she played Fuji, oddly enough, her shots kept hitting Arai.
"What the hell, Yokoishi-san!" Arai caught one of the fast balls.
Yokoishi laughed it off. "Your aneki's aim is a little… dishonest."
"That's the fifth time now! Stop messing around!"
"You all right Yokoishi-chan?" Fuji asked while retrieving the ball from Arai.
It was when Fuji faced Yokoishi did she noticed and unfavourable sneer form on her friend's face. Instead of speaking her mind directly, Yokoishi looked up to the clear blue sky.
"My, my… everyone is causing a storm. One likes the rain but not the thunder, the other likes the thunder but not the changing winds, yet they both like the strength of the lightening. I warned them that lightening goes better with thunder. The rain and the wind makes things terrifying. And Kikumaru-senpai, hurry up and forgive him."
Kikumaru crossed her arms and turned away but everyone else stood still for a moment. They didn't know what Yokoishi was talking about. The fact that she was aiming her shots at Arai meant something was wrong. Shikawara asked Yokoishi if she was being pushed to her limit and Yokoishi laughed, she walked over to Shikawara but not before slightly bumping into Fuji again, who was in the doubles court.
"You want to get stronger right, Taichi? Let's go to a shrine on Sunday. You can pick me up in your dad's flashy car!"
Shikawara didn't know what to say. Yokoishi tapped her shoulder and told her to think about it. Fuji got the class back in motion. Nariko was next in line and she really wanted to have another go against Yokoishi. Fuji okayed it and told everyone that Nariko's match would be the last.
"What does our little humming bird want with her aneki?" Yokoishi taunted and got back in place.
Nariko didn't say anything at first, she understood Yokoishi technique, and admired it, but she just needed that extra push to reach the next stage. Nariko especially listened to her senpai's words: lightening works well with thunder. But how would she implement that?
"No time to space out Nariko-senpai, here it comes!"
Fuji started her stopwatch and the team watched with interest to see what Nariko could do. Every now and then Fuji looked over her shoulder to see if Oishi had made his way over, or if he stood by the fence. Not yet. She turned back and watched. Nariko, by no surprise was being over powered by Yokoishi's play. Having now played everyone twice she was well aware of all their moves and could use them with ease.
"Times almost up humming bird and you've yet to show me anything useful." Yokoishi shouted as she raced over for the ball. Throughout the game, Yokoishi noticed something peculiar about Nariko's colours. There was a colour of lime green that hovered around her body, as it did everyone else, but another pastel colour that kept jumping off of her and lashing out like a plasma global. As the two minutes went on, the lashes of pastel blue lines jumped future and further out from Nariko's body. Yokoishi nearly lost her footing when she realised what Nariko was trying to do. She's seen those colours once before. There were the colours of someone's aura but with an added element… she didn't think someone from her school had that kind of potential.
"Times up!" Fuji called out
Nariko gripped her free hand in a fist and murmured something to herself. Yokoishi could see how everyone was getting stronger, even Shikawara had a remarkable energy about her that she wasn't using. Yokoishi thought for a moment and smiled brightly.
"Your aneki is giving you permission to go to the shrine with her this Sunday, Nariko-senpai. Make sure you meet up with Taichi early, okay!"
"What?" Nariko panted heavily. What ever she was trying to do took a lot of her energy away from her.
Fuji walked onto the courts to give the girls their next exercise when someone brought it to her attention that Oishi had finally showen his face. Everyone then glanced over and saw Oishi walking over with Sai beside him. Sai didn't really look all that interested while Oishi looked overly responsible. The girls could see that most of Tezuka's boys were peering from around the corner. Kikumaru saw who it was and turned away at once. She pulled Umeko away and started a quick match. Once Fuji moved towards the fense. Arai moved with her. Fuji told the first years to jog around the courts and told the others to practise their slams in groups of four. They did was told but their ears were very much on the conversations at hand.
The four of them approached the fours at the same time. Oishi, who was on the other side wanted to talk to Fuji first but Arai blocked him.
"What do you two want?" She said aggressively.
"We noble men have come to right our wrongs." Sai stepped forward. Arai didn't have any words for Sai and turned to Oishi.
"She's not in a talking mood, Oishi-kun."
Oishi sighed uneasily peered across from Arai wanting to see where Kikumaru stood. He hadn't seen her since the incident and her tear-filled eyes still haunted his thoughts. She had her back to him while holding Umeko's arm tightly.
"Aka-chan! We've come to express our sorrow! And I have a new nickname for you too!" Sai shouted.
Kikumaru twitched when she heard his voice. She didn't understand why Sai was here or want he could want. She wanted to turn around, but if she did she would see Oishi.
"Fuji-chan, do I have to do this in the open?" Oishi asked and Fuji nodded without a second thought. "Then… let me talk to her?"
The two girls looked at each other.
"If we don't let them talk, Kikumaru-chan won't forgive us."
"Only Oishi-kun though, I don't want Sai-san in here." Arai decided.
"Is that anyway to talk to a gentleman!" Sai tilted his shades down and grinned mockingly.
"You're really asking for it, you are." Arai mumbled under her breath.
Fuji opened the door for Oishi and he stepped in slowly. There wasn't anything different about the courts, it was about the same length and widths as the ones he and his team used, but Oishi felt restless being on the girls courts after injuring one of their players, no less his girlfriend. It made him stop a few feet from Fuji. The girls' couldn't help but look across at him. It was as if they were in slow motion. Their curious eyes made him hesitated. Oishi took a deep breath, a long, faith-driven deep breath and took half a step forward.
"Ki… Kikumaru, we gotta talk."
"I don't have anything to say to you!" She served the ball to a grinning Umeko.
"Kikumaru, please?"
"If you cared you would have spoken to me yesterday. The fact you took this long… I wonder if you care at all."
"But?" Oishi turned back to Fuji confused. He only agreed to delay talking to Kikumaru because he thought this was what Kikumaru wanted. If he knew she was waiting for him, he would have rushed over without a moment's thought. Oishi took those final few steps up to Kikumaru and grabbed her free hand that sway back. The ball bounced passed them and she tried to yank her hand away but he held onto her tightly. So tightly that she accidentally faced him, just like before when he held onto her hand when she confessed to him. She remembered it clearly and it didn't muster the same feelings inside her; very much the opposite. Oishi felt dread flood through him when he saw she was fighting back tear.
"Kikumaru listen. Don't cry, please. It wasn't anything you did that upset me. It was all a misunderstanding."
"I know." The tears fell and she squeezed his hand. "I know you're not like that… tell me what made you so mad?"
He told her. He told her that Sai teased him about the whole thing, that he never in all his days meant to hit her and having spoken to Fuji and Arai he finally came to speak to her today. Kikumaru soaked her tears into her arm knowing he spoke the truth. Though her view was blurry, she could see that he wouldn't lie to her and that he really didn't mean to hit her. She nodded and accepted his heartfelt apology. But that didn't leave her completely at rest. Since this morning, she suspected either Fuji or Arai of something to him yesterday. It wasn't like Oishi to procrastinate over any matter, which meant that they were interfering. Whether their so-called-advice was on purpose or not, Kikumaru didn't appreciate their help.
She began walking and Oishi followed under her led. She wanted to continue talking to him out of everyone's view. Before she left the courts, she rebuked both Arai and Fuji for telling him to do such a stupid thing as waiting. The two didn't argue with her. Arai crossed her arms and watched Kikumaru walk over to Sai, still with Oishi in hand.
Sai checked to see how emotional Kikumaru was and shrugged his shoulders. He didn't care. "You have my... utmost and sincere apologises, Eiji-chan."
She would have accepted that much from him even if it lack sincerity, but he said something that she didn't like. She halted in her step and faced him slowly and asked him to repeat himself.
He held his hands up in mock-defend "Don't you like it? It took me a while to think of it, but I-"
Kikumaru dropped her racket and slapped him. That quick and sharp sound of skin hitting skin left everyone that heard it aghast. Oishi tried to say something, Arai wanted to laugh while others covered their hand over their mouths. Sai, who went with the flow of the slap, adjusted his shades and faced her once more.
Kikumaru pointed at him. "It's bad enough that you bother me, but Oishi too? That was meant for you, anyway. Leave us alone!"
She stormed off with Oishi so the two could talk together.
Arai accidentally let out a single burst of laughter. She pinched her nose and faced her team.
"Something funny, dark one?" Sai questioned as he rolled his sight over to her black hair.
Arai had to fight back her sniggers. "No, Sai-kun. You see me laughing? Come on you girls, get back to practise!" She couldn't hide it for long and walked off to get the group in motion.
Fuji sighed to herself. Seeing as Arai busied herself with the team, she went over to see how Sai was after Kikumaru's lost her patience with him.
"You're girls are abusing me Fujiko-chan." He play-sulked.
Fuji fixed the collar of his tennis shirt and tapped his redden cheek. "You gotta stop teasing her, Sai-kun."
"She doesn't even realise how fun she is to tease. She never disappoints… but I too need a warm hug, Fujiko-chan, to ease my broken and withering heart."
He flung his heavy arms around Fuji and rested his head on her shoulder. She patted his back and he whispered to her. "She's you're best friend, right?" Fuji nodded. "Hmm, pity."
Fuji eased him away from her, not liking the way that last line came across. It sounded too threatening for her liking.
"But," He added. "you should remember, Fujiko-chan, cats like to do their business in private. I'm off. Let you dear friend know I'm keeping the nickname. I think it suits her."
He blew her a kiss before leaving. When he tilted his head down to blow the kiss, Fuji saw a pair of wrathful eyes. She watched him walk off with his hands in his short pockets. By then those who were watching had already disappeared back to their courts. Fuji curled her hair behind her ears and picked up Kikumaru's racket and went back on the courts.
"Ah, I was hoping for a good fight." Umeko bounced over and grabbed Arai's arm.
"I can't believe she hit him!" Yokoishi gasped.
"I thought you knew what was going to happen?" Arai corrected her.
"I mean, yeah. But, it's still shocking when you see it. What did he call her? Eiji? Why that of all names?"
"He deserved it." Shikawara gave her two cents. "He does nothing but bother her. He's lucky she didn't slap him twice."
"Oh, ladies!"
They stopped abruptly when they heard Ryuzaki-sensei voice call from behind them. Not realising she was there they looked to the top of court D to see her standing there with Inui. How could they have missed that pink jump suit?
"Oi, oi, Fuji-san and company, aren't we forgetting something?" She grinned bearing all her teeth and chuckling delightfully.
"Yes, now that the happy couple are back together, lets make a toast to their reconciliation." Inui raised a full wine glass of his iridescent veggie drink and revealed a table full of little cups for each of them.
The girls shuddered and huddled together, pushing both Fuji and Arai forward.
"When did they-" Suzu couldn't bare to finished her sentence as she hid behind her team.
They heard the padlock and the chain on the doors lock togther and Kaido stood with his back to them with a key in his hand. He didn't face them. He wasn't stupid!
"She got us good you lot." Shikawara said, surrendering to the facts.
"Wait! What about Kikumaru-chan?" Arai shouted to her sensei as a last ditch effort to delaying the matter. This would be her second time tasting it.
"Don't worry, she'll get her cupful but for now, let an odd woman enjoy the fruits of your youth!" She laughed an evil laugh, waiting for them to unravel before her for their arrogance yesterday.
…tbc…
A/N2: Weird ending… wisdom. Teeth. Moving. Don't… have… the will… to end chapter… probably… *Coughexcusescough
Anyway, did you count all the plot devices? I think there were five of erm! Oooh~
Chapter 46: Short interlude before the drama!!! Yokoishi takes Shikawara and Nariko to a shrine to unlock a new skill!!!
