A/N: Planning and plotting the next instalments of chapters… interesting, if I do say so myself.
Disclaimer: I told Takeshi Konomi that it was only fair to give the people what they want; Prince of Tennis.
Chapter Sixty Six
Ai Suzu
I read the line-up for the up-and-coming match and I'm not too sure about my players. I'm put in reserve, which I'm okay with but when I look at the order of play I can tell there's going to be some tension. I dwell on the idea for two hours, thinking maybe the girls will be okay with the news, only to later decide it is too serious a problem to leave to chance. Even though Ryuzaki-sensei said Fuji wouldn't play in the tournaments, she did say that Fuji will still be able to play tennis. At least I think she will. It would be the same as Umeko in the beginning and me before now, just hovering around and training with the non-regulars.
I know that if sensei didn't make these drastic changes then we would never see Fuji on the court at all, let alone around the school. They wanted to expel her, and with good reason. Unintentional or not, she nearly killed Sai however annoying a person he is you just can't do that. Whatever Sai did, it must have been serious for Fuji to do that. Mind you, without Fuji's side of the story and without knowing why or what Sai did, the blame could only have fallen on Fuji. The same can be said for what happened between her and Arai.
I tap my fingers over my desk quickly. Even if Arai wanted to, she couldn't get a hit in on Fuji. The look on Arai's face told me she didn't expect Fuji to hit her. I don't think any of us did. Fuji doesn't or didn't seem like that kind of girl. To me, Fuji is assertive but unruffled. I could never picture her as someone who could switch on a team mate. Gah! Listen to me. It's even bothering me this much too! I'm grateful that she's allowed on the courts. I just hope the others feel the same.
Speaking of others, I wouldn't mind knowing what Arai did to Fuji. The lunch bell rings out and class couldn't be over quick enough. Even so, I remain in my seat. I watch Jinhana walk out the room. She seems pleased. Of course, she's got gardening club to get to. Before I'm kicked out of an empty room I take my leave and wander around the building. Was I ever this alone before? With the team so divided I guess this feeling will become a normal thing.
I wander the school grounds for a bit until I come across a familiar face. She's sitting on the wall by herself, which is odd. She's always with someone. It begs the question as to where the others are. I decide to sit with her. She looks across to me and takes out a drink, wanting to ignore me.
"What's wrong, Umeko-chan? Not with Arai-chan today?"
Umeko whips her auburn hair over her back and bites down on her straw. She turns from me a little and tuts loudly. As I continue to stare at her she screws up her lips. I don't say anything, not before she does.
"It's not fair Suzu-chan."
"What's not fair?"
"You being vice captain."
"Why?"
She spits the straw out. "I just don't think it's fair."
I watch her for a while. She can't look me in the eye and begins to shake her knee up and down for short period of time. She's clearly frustrated with something. "Sounds as if you were hoping for it?"
"Well, d'uh! After all she said I would be… I mean, it was promised to me."
"What, like, a substitute vice captain? Would Ryuzaki-sensei really say something like that?"
"Not sensei, I'm talking about Arai-chan… She… she had something planned for ages… Suzu-chan she promised me."
I look away from her… So Arai had planned to ruffle Fuji's feathers to get her to lose her captaincy. That much of it worked. But why on earth would Arai promise Umeko a vice captain's role? "Is that all you're worried about?"
Umeko doesn't answer straight away. "I mean, I'm shocked about all of it. With what captain… I mean…" She can't say it. She can't refer to Fuji as anything other then captain and I don't blame her. Fuji fitted the role. To call her anything else feels like a distortion in reality. "I'm shocked by what… captain did to Sai-kun. She was captain at the time." She started to flick the side of the carton.
"Arai-chan's the captain now." I say, knowing it's hard to accept.
Umeko stands up. She tosses her empty carton in the recycling bin and goes towards the school. "She's not a leader, especially not of this team."
I watch her walking away and sigh. That's not good. To think Arai would promise such a thing to her best friend. More fool you Umeko for believing a stupid notion. She should know by now that sensei always has the final say on any decision… but Arai, I'm worried about you… to be plotting this for, who knows how long. If I think about it, I never once saw a moment when Arai was discontent with Fuji. Wow, she hid her motives well. It's sickening to think that she succeed. I take out a rice ball to munch on before walking on to see who I come across next.
8 8 8
I dust my hands off. And look around. I wouldn't have seen Kikumaru next, expecting her to be alone too but she is with Oishi, and it was him I see first before I see her. She's slumped down in his arms. It's not a position I want to see right now. I really don't, because I can read its significance from here. I sigh again and go up to talk to her.
As I walk up to them, it only just occurred to me that she was another one like Umeko. No, I'm thinking it is a lot more different for Kikumaru. These changes affected her best friend and her doubles partner. Jeez, give me a break!
I call out to her. It's Oishi who turns first. I wave to him and he taps Kikumaru on her shoulder. She doesn't move. Don't tell me she's crying! I walk around to look at her and catch sight of her eyes first. I don't need to ask whether she's thinking of the how situation. It's written all over her face!
"Hey, guys." It's all I can think to say.
Kikumaru wipes her eyes. "Suzu-chan?"
I doubted whether I should speak to her. "I wanna hear your thoughts on everything, with the team and such."
Kikumaru clenches her fists. Maybe I shouldn't talk to her so early after the announcement. I hold my hand up to tell her it's okay when she tilts her head back and screams out all her frustrations. I shudder. She walks over to me and grabs my shoulders.
"It's not fair Suzu-chan!"
That word again. Would all the girls have the same view?
"Arai-chan had no right to interfere. I can't believe it was her who showed Tezuka-san!"
"Erm… what exactly happened Kikumaru-chan, I mean, why did Fuji-chan switch in front of everyone?"
Her grip loosened. "I'm not sure what tipped her over the edge but, she was having trouble talking to him about it. She was worried about something all this time and it wasn't helped by the fact there was great misunderstanding. I can't Arai-chan would be so stupid!"
Are you telling me this is over a boy…? I shake the thought out of my head. If that were the case, it's pretty easy to figure out what might have happened. Everyone knows Fuji and Tezuka like each other. It's common knowledge amongst us girls. With that said, we've never really seen the two do anything together. Even when she plays tennis, Tezuka stays on his side of the court and Fuji stays on her side. So it's no doubt people would try their luck to get between them. I doubt the two have even said they like each other yet. Tezuka just seems like that type of person. And Fuji respects him enough not to say it. What? That doesn't make sense! Sure, Tezuka gives off that air about him that you couldn't merely approach him with just anything. I barely talk to him unless it's of the utmost importance… I can't even say that I have ever spoken to him in the last few months. So there's a level of misunderstanding… Arai's been speaking to him. That I can believe. She is very bold in character.
"Did Arai-chan say anything to you about any of what has happened?" I ask.
"That's why I'm angry. She's said nothing to me."
"Of course, why would she! You're Fuji-chan's best friend… seems as if Arai-chan really did think about what she was doing."
"It's not fair – and Fuji-chan doesn't like it when people dislike her. For Arai-chan to go behind her back? I'm not surprised she switched. When she tells me about her sister not liking her I can hear the disappointment in her voice. Now Arai-chan has shown her just how much she hates her, of course she switched. She doesn't like being hated, especially by those closest to her."
I hear what Kikumaru is saying but I get the feeling there is more to it then not being liked. I tapped her hand that's on my shoulder.
"How do you feel about playing alongside Arai-chan?"
Kikumaru stiffens. I see Oishi adjust himself as he watches his girlfriend hesitate.
"Do you still want to play tennis Kikumaru-chan?"
"I don't know, probably…" She doesn't look at me, and lowers her hands.
"All right… all right. Think about it. If you need someone to talk to Kikumaru-chan, I'm here too, okay."
She nods joylessly and I move my hand off her shoulder. I show a weak smile to Oishi, a kind of apology for making Kikumaru sadder. I thank Kikumaru for sharing her thoughts and turn to leave.
"Oh, Suzu-chan." Oishi went into his pocket and took out a letter for me. "This is from Yokoishi-chan."
Oh, really? I take the letter from him and read it. 'I'm on the roof.' I scrunch it up in my hand. I'm not going there just yet and decide to hurry after Jinhana in the gardening club.
8 8 8
As expected, Jinhana is talking to the plants in the school's greenhouse. Her followers surround her with esteem and listen to her every word. One of her club mates lets me in after I tap lightly on the glass. She opens the door and a wave of hot air pours out over my face. I ask myself how they can bare to stay in here for an hour. To not show too much discomfort I follow the club member in and she takes me to Jinhana through the thick green leaves and dense plants.
"Oh, Suzu-chan, what brings you here? You gunna join the gardening club?" Jinhana asked as she puts a healthy orange plant down. I had no clue as to what it is.
"No. I just wanna ask you something. Do you think we can talk somewhere a little less…"
"Crowded?"
"Hot!"
"Sure."
I'm glad to be out of that place, and once outside I ask her the same thing I asked the others. "I wanted to make sure you're okay with what's happened on the tennis team?"
She shrugs flippantly and leans against the greenhouse door. "Why wouldn't I be okay with it?"
"What?" That takes me by surprise, especially after hearing what the other two had to say. "What do you mean Jinhana-chan?"
She rocks back and forth on her heels. "What, you mean with Arai-chan being captain, you being vice captain and Fuji-chan not being able to be a regular? I don't care. Why should I care? If they got stuff going on in the background I don't think that has anything to do with me or the rest of the team. If anything, they have inconvenienced us by their bickering. We didn't need to see that."
"Jinhana-chan, I'm shocked."
"If it was meant to involve us, one of the two would have come to us. I don't remember Fuji-chan saying anything to me and Arai-chan hasn't come to me with any worries, so I don't see why I should react to it. Sure she asked be about the language of flowers before but since then I've heard nothing."
She may have put it across the wrong way, but Jinhana's is right. If it is over Tezuka, and neither of them spoke to anyone in the team – not even their best friends - then it shouldn't really have anything to do with us. The only problem is, is that it does affects us, especially Kikumaru.
"Listen, at the end of the day, Fuji-chan lost her temper. She's got to face the consequences of that. If that mean she can't play in the games, then she should be mature enough to understand that."
"Jinhana-chan, I can't believe you're thinking like this." Or was I? She did put emphasis on the fact that Fuji lost something, and we all know that Jinhana is the kind of girl who hates losing, and even she has some issues with Fuji.
"Look, we played fine without her even lifting a finger most of the time, we'll be fine here on after. I mean look how she conducted herself against St. Rudolph. She was going to throw the match, Suzu-chan! If she's got that kind of reckless attitude then it's probably-"
I stop her before she said anything more. "I get the point. You don't care but don't you…" What was the point, she already said it has nothing to do with her. "never mind." I guess her thorns were starting to show. "At least be a bit sensitive towards other members of the team."
"Why? Don't they think the same?"
"Of course not! Umeko-chan and Kikumaru-chan are devastated."
"Well new vice captain," She thumped her hand down on my shoulder. "do your best to motivate the team!" She grins.
I lower my head in defeat. She totally doesn't understand why I'm here. I better leave her be before she starts bring up nonsense from the past. I thank her and decide to sit down and eat something before I completely miss lunch break.
8 8 8
I'm on my way to class when I pass the infirmary. I just spoke with Nariko and Shikawara. I'm more conflicted then when I stated. I seriously thought the girls would be all down case. How wrong was I. Nariko was more annoyed with herself for believing in Arai. Apparently, Arai has approached her more than once to get her help on improving the team unity. Having mentioned something about confronting Fuji as helping the team, she didn't quite understand or want to believe that this is what Arai was hoping for. Had Shikawara not been there I'm sure Nariko would have said more about the issue. Shikawara seemed to affirm her own thoughts about believing that Arai wasn't one to do things for others and that Nariko should now concentrate on controlling her new move that Yokoishi unlocked. Having heard that, Nariko was reluctant to carry on with her lunchtime training. Again, had Shikawara not shown the same level of disinterest in the whole matter as Jinhana, I'm sure Nariko would have spoken more of what was on her mind.
I do believe that Shikawara is concerned. But she does belong to that type of family line, so I'm sure she is used to seeing these types of confrontations. She lives among leaders, strong, scary ones, so she knows the qualities of a leader. When I asked her if she thought Arai would bring us to the Nationals, she couldn't have said 'no' quick enough, and with such confidence. It threw me a bit, because all our hard work looked to be waste over something as small as fighting over a boy.
The annoying thing is, that idea of it being about Tezuka only came up when talking to Kikumaru. Gah! I don't know what to believe now. Why would Arai involve Nariko? I mean, not only Nariko but Umeko too. And why not Kikumaru? If she was able to hush Nariko up then she could easily have hushed Kikumaru up too, as it seems that Fuji was keeping some secrets between Kikumaru and herself.
I slide open the door vigorously and shut it just as quickly behind me. I see a pair of shoes hanging off the bed and walk over to her. I grab a chair and sit in front of her. She's sleeping. With such a grimace I can see she's in pain. At this time I want to say 'serves your right.'
"You're causing trouble, you know that?"
"What do you want Suzu-chan?" Arai eases her eyes open slowly.
I pause to breathe. "Can't I come and see how you are?"
"Not if you're telling me I'm causing trouble?"
"What's wrong with you?"
She rolled her eyes closed. "Well, I ain't in here for no reason. I'm feeling sick."
"What's wrong? Is it that time of the month?"
She wipes her hand down her face. "You're talking like you weren't in the room. I was punched in case you missed it." Her hands are loosely rapped around her torso.
"You were? No kiddin'! Who would want to punch you?" My sarcasm is too obvious.
She rolls her face into the pillow. "What do you want, Suzu-chan?"
"I wanna know what's going on? What did you do to Fuji-chan to make her hit you? I'm hearing different things from different people and when I ask, they all want to tell me different stories, but your names come up every time. What have you done?"
She doesn't say anything for a while. I'm not moving until she says something.
"Are you saying that I go around asking people to punch me, Suzu-chan?"
"I'm serious Arai-chan. What did you do? If Oishi-kun didn't pull you out the way, she might have kill you! Did you not hear what she did to Sai-kun? That could have been you. We all know Sai-kun's a pain in the butt, yet… tell me what you did."
She forces herself to sit up. I've never seen her so weak before but she deserves it if she would go so far out of her way to hurt a friend.
"Can you hear yourself when you speak, Suzu-chan? What are you going to do if I tell you everything that has been going on? What are you going to do if I tell you about the stress I've been under, the decision I had to take? Not only me but a lot of other people are involved too."
I wish you would tell me! "Who other people?"
"Suzu-chan, why do you care? It's really got-"
"Don't tell me it hasn't anything to do with me, or anyone else on the team, I've spoken to everyone, and everyone is confused and unsure about why-"
"You really can't hear yourself when you speak. I get the feeling that the only one that cares is you."
I don't know why, but what she said shut me up. "…Of course I care."
"No you don't. Just like everyone else, you want to come to me and blame me for everything that's happened, as if l'il ol' me told those two to get so close. That had nothing to do with me, yet everyone wants to hate me because I exposed the lies!"
"Arai-chan, who is everyone else?"
Strangely enough I could see the gloss of tears surface over her eyes. Could it be because of the pain, or the guilt?
"What are you going to do once you know? Run and tell everyone! What good is that going to do?"
I look away. "I wouldn't do that."
"What other reason could there be? I'm listening to you and you're doing the same thing I did, Suzu-chan! The only difference is, no one's going to turn and blame you for… tsk?"
I stand up. "For what? Blame me for what Arai-chan?"
She eases herself down on the pillow and closes her eyes. I'm sure those tears started to fall. I think it is more the pain then anything else.
"Go away. You of all people I thought would be a little objective, but you're like everyone else, Suzu-chan. Go away." She sniffles.
I kinda felt bad for making her cry but I wouldn't let it completely faze me. "I want to know what happened Arai-chan, and I'm not put off by your temper. I've known you since primary school and I know this is not like you."
I leave her and make my way to the roof, as someone is waiting for me!
I weave my way in between the other students, up the stairs of the east wing and let myself out onto the school roof. I stay near the door. I'm not one for heights.
"Happy?"
Yokoishi is stood right beside the door, making me jump when her calm but loud voice comes through in my left ear. She walks out and stands in front of me. I don't know why but I can't look her in the eye.
"You don't have to try so hard Suzu-chan." She says.
I walk out onto the roof but only to the side of the door. I let her talk.
"I know what you're doing Suzu-chan and you're not going to get anything out of me. That's not why I called you up here."
I don't say anything. I stare at her until she grows tiresome.
"Suzu-chan, I know what you're doing."
I change the subject. I know she knows what I want to say so I talk about something that's been on my mind for a while. "I've always wondered about your ability, Yokoishi-chan."
She smiles knowingly but raises an eyebrow just to play the part. "Wondering, what?"
"You say that you can look at a person and see their aura and from that you can know what they're likely to do."
"Yes."
"But, I don't think you're being very truthful with us."
She turns playfully and walks towards the fence. "Oh really Suzu-chan. Are you forgetting that I'm amazing? A lot of people are these days." She smirks and swings around to face me.
"I think you're covering your true talent under the guise of seeing colours."
"I can see colours Suzu-chan. You're a mix of three. As you stand right now, you've never been so unbalanced. That's why I said you're trying too hard."
I ignore her. "I've been wondering since our match against Miura, when you lost against that girl… If it's true that you can read colours, why couldn't you read the colours coming from that girl? Why couldn't you see that she had something stronger than you that you couldn't defeat?"
"I don't have an answer for that."
"Are you telling me that you can predict my every word and movement and thought just by the colours I emit?" She doesn't say anything. "I didn't come up here to talk to you about this. I still wanna know what you think about what happened, knowing that you knowing, but wondering how you could have known. I'm even suspicious about the morning before Fuji-chan came to the changing rooms. You stood the furthest away from us, and you were the only one who didn't go in with us."
She pauses for a long while. "I can only read colours, Suzu-chan."
"Hmm, I'm starting to doubt that, because, how did you know that Fuji-chan was going to do what she before she showed up?"
She hesitates, slowing her playful movements down. "It's because I'm amazing."
"You see, I'm doubting that, after what's happened in the team."
"You're doubting that I'm amazing?"
"But you already know what I'm going to say, I can hear the lack of surprise in your voice. You've seen this sense already. You've seen everything already. Colours can't show you everything. Knowing that, why would you stand around and allow the team to fall apart? An amazing person would have stepped in and resolved the unwanted tension."
Her playful nature slips from her face and she gives me a cold stare, one that lets me know I hit a raw nerve. I don't look away and when she sees that I'm not going to back down from the challenge she steps closer.
"…I did try to help. I gave the two of them warnings that what they were doing was going to upset each other, but I can't go beyond the spiritual rules of my ability. I can't…" She pauses. "I can't."
"Then maybe you should have made a-"
"Sacrifice?" She finishes the sentence for me.
"Sacrifice…" I murmur after her. Her ability of seeing colours was just too precise to merely be colours. "You're stronger than Fuji-chan aren't you?"
She smiles awkwardly and shrugs.
"We're an interesting bunch, aren't we Yokoishi-chan. I only found out because you know too much. I won't say anything… but you know that already, right? I know you know, but I'm gunna say it anyway. I'm not attacking you. I guess what I'm thinking is, why hold back? If you're going to hide it under the guise of you colours, don't hold back."
I wait to see if she's going to say anything more. When she doesn't I decide I've said enough for one day. As I make my way downstairs I thought I would be thinking of ways to kept the team together, but all that rambles around in my head are the secrets that are starting to come to light in the team.
I wonder if Arai had the same feelings I have to tell someone… she must have, because it's exactly what I know want to do. Only in my case, be it that I'm a lot more patient than she is, I'll wait until I can sort things out in my head, and maybe even wait until a few days. Because a part of me is saying that the team needs to know something…
…tbc…
A/N2: Ooh, check out Suzu, calling everyone out to tell what they know, even being so bold as you confront Arai and Yokoishi! That was 'so' not planned! I'm starting to think that I'm just as amazing as Yokoishi thinks she is (^_^)
Chapter 67: I might fall from grace as I have no idea what's going on in this chapter. Wish me luck? I know where I need to get to, just don't know how to get there.
Thanks for reading and your patience. (^3^) *chu
