A/N: Hey, sorry for the long update. Didn't write anything in January, barely picked up a pen in Feb. Life getting in the way of fiction, again. I'll find a way to get pen to paper.
Hey all new readers, thanks for taking an interest and getting this far. Hey to all those who keep coming back. Many thanks (^-^)
Disclaimer: I was picking flowers for Takeshi Konomiwhile he spoke with his publisher about Prince of Tennis
Edit: reread on 14.1.2012
Chapter Seventy One
Even though there was a lot of excitement around her, people standing up and cheering, students chanting to a familiar beat and uninhibited skies above letting the radiate rays touch them, Fuji was able to slip away into her thoughts that appeared far more entertaining to her. The first one involved her sister.
"Yumi, get out of my room." She said one morning.
The request made Yumi jolt. After a week and a bit of being in the lively room, she assumed the unspoken matter could go without being said.
"Why are you kicking me out?" She objected, hugging onto the covers.
Fuji sat at her desk playing with the white card that held his number. "Since you arrived you've been in this room and haven't slept in your room yet. I wanna know why."
If there was one thing she remembered about that morning it was the look in Yumi's eyes as they widened and glossed over like a doe. They were the cutest thing Fuji had seen in ages, and she wouldn't soon forget it. Yumi used to always have eyes like that when they were younger. And it surprised Fuji that Yumi could still make that expression. How could she kick Yumi out of her room after that?
"Why are you been difficult?" Yumi said stubbornly.
Fuji wasn't going to really kick her out, but she at least wanted to know why Yumi was always in her space, where in the past she would have run a mile. Maybe something in her had changed. Fuji pushed the card to the back of her desk. "Come on, let's hear it."
Yumi's gripped tighter onto the covers and she leant back on the bed head, avoiding her sister's glare. Fuji could tell she was thinking about something and had enough time to wait for her to say it. Would Yumi go up against Fuji's fickle mood? Yumi lifted the pillow to her nose and looked away. "I'm used to sharing a room… It's not like mine has been used in ages… Doesn't feel right."
"Is that all?" Fuji said, hoping for a different answer, which she was unlikely to get. Now she was in the frame of mind to kick her out…
That thought ended when a loud cheer came from the people around her. Fuji glanced about for the moment, at the colours, the teams walked onto the courts to bow in and to get set up. Nothing worth watching. She drifted off again.
She remembered back to when she was in the changing rooms. Nothing to unusual about getting changed from one outfit to another, but it was the one she chose to wear.
"Fuji, what are you doing? Ryuzaki-sensei's gonna be mad." Kikumaru stood beside Fuji as Fuji slipped her dress over her head.
"I know. My normal kit is too small. I don't have anything else, do I." Fuji took up her things to go out for a jog.
As she walked out she caught Arai's eye. Arai certainly had a disturbed look to her. Eyes narrowed and a slight kick to the corner of her lip. She was containing something inside her, holding back on speaking her mind. If only she would! Fuji would take any opportunity to finish her off. For now Fuji stared back with calmer, ready eyes. The other girls grew silent for that moment, expecting something to happen. Fuji flicked up her right eyebrow to gesture 'and what?' and carried on out the door. Leaving everyone to sigh with relief.
"Fuji-san?"
Fuji jumped. She wanted to add fiction to her facts but had to turn down to the one who called out to her. Ryuzaki-sensei stood with the team on the day of the second leg of their tournament.
"Just because you're sitting way back there doesn't mean you can loaf off. Pay attention."
It was hard for someone of her calibre to hide. Before she drifted off she saw the confused faces of those who didn't see her in the line up, they then glanced around and began whispering with each other, believing their school had a greater chance to win. On this occasion they might just win. After Ryuzaki-san finished speaking, the girls glanced up to her. Fuji didn't response to them or give her team any encouragement. Fuji's thinking behind it was, they were now Arai's responsibility. Yes, she lost the privilege to lead them, but if it was what Arai wanted then she would give it to her.
Though it did make her heart sink when she saw that some on the team lost their drive to play and would look to her from the corners of their eyes to see if she would give them any advice. But, Echizen said it didn't matter. She could do what she wanted, and what Fuji wanted to do was let Arai suffer a little. Lead the team. If they fail it'll be on your shoulders and sensei's shoulders. That energy was still working in her.
Turns out that the line up hadn't changed much. Ryuzaki-sensei wasn't making any bold moves, not with Fuji out of the line-up. Doubles two belonged to Jinhana and Nariko.
"Isn't that Fuji-san over there? Why is their captain not playing? She's not even in the school regulars kit!" Someone said to a friend as they walked down to sit closer to the match. Fuji remained silent, not bothering to glance back at them. She might not have been interested in the match but she certainly wasn't going to acknowledge anyone.
Annoyingly, Fuji can't forget the beauty of the first served ball. She found herself watching earnestly at Jinhana form as she tossed the ball up in a perfect line, with slight rotation, while at the same time dipping on her back leg and swinging her arm back to slam the ball down to put it into play. It was hard to forget and it made her mind doubtful once more.
She didn't want to care about the game, she wanted to leave all the hard thinking to Arai, and let it be her downfall, but she couldn't help watching how her girls on the court. This time she wouldn't pay attention to the other team. She watched her girls and her heart sank. She began to fell as if it was all her fault.
Fuji shifted her gaze to the non-regulars, wondering what they were thinking. Hmm, did they even notice? She doubted it. They must not have known. They only watched and supported the two.
She was hoping the match would be boring so that she could day dream about something aimless, but when she saw Nariko's form, she couldn't look away. Fuji leant forward, digging her elbows into her knees, almost praying that Nariko wouldn't feel any level of guilt. The same day Fuji decided to wear her regulars dress, Nariko approached her, in almost the same fashion that Umeko did, wanting to apologise for something. Even though Fuji wanted to stop Nariko from telling her anything, Nariko insisted she was also to blame. Nariko let Fuji know that she indirectly encouraged Arai to change the teams. Nariko told Fuji she didn't know a change meant losing her as captain.
Because of that, because she was no longer captain, Nariko wasn't playing to her natural style. As far as Fuji could remember, Nariko was on the brink of discovering a new move. Now it looked as if she'd forgotten how to play doubles. She second-guessed all her moves, causing herself to make the same silly mistakes she did when she first played. Fuji sunk down in her seat. Nariko allowed the ball to slip by her, causing herself to trip up more often than normal.
With that said, it begged the question as to why Jinhana was too in tuned with the match and her opponents. The two weren't playing as one. Jinhana may be in better form and mentally ready to play, but she was also pushing Nariko aside. Fuji nearly covered her face. What the hell was Arai telling them to do over the past week? Was she telling them anything at all? Jinhana may not have shown the same disappointment as the others but she was still affected by Fuji not being there. So much so that she displayed her bad habits of wanting to win at all costs.
As the match continued, it wasn't hard to see that Jinhana had to clean up after Nariko's slip ups, leaving the scores at 6-3. She got her win and was happy enough to give Nariko a friendly pat on the back. Fuji didn't like that. Jinhana was showing too many tell-tale signs. Fuji wouldn't blame Nariko for her slip up. Right from the start, Fuji knew of Nariko's doubts in doubles, but she didn't bank on being the one to sit out of a tournament. There was no strong leader for Nariko to draw strength from.
Fuji was a little confused. Why would Nariko encourage Arai to change things? Who did she think she drew her strength from, and to want to change that to someone so unstable? Fuji lowered her head into her hands. Knowing how this tournament would end. She didn't want to watch.
Despite not wanting to watch, she found herself getting drawn in by the momentum. Ryuzaki-sensei glanced up and was pleased that Fuji was watching. Up next were Kikumaru and Arai. Fuji felt a little sick in her stomach. She tried not to react to Arai stepping out onto the court. Some of the other members of her team glanced up to her to see how she reacted. They couldn't tell. Fuji had covered her mouth thoughtfully with both hands and her eyes never changed. The game started.
Like the first match, one was playing stronger than the other; the weak one was Kikumaru.
Don't worry Kikumaru-chan, just play without me. Fuji could see Kikumaru was in conflict. She had to team up with the one would held contempt against her best friend. Ignore what she did Kikumaru, it's my fight… If only Kikumaru could hear her maybe she would have played with her partner and not try to keep her distance.
The two barely won their match making the score a tight win of 7-6. At least this time, Arai noticed Kikumaru wasn't playing her normal game. When she went to ask what was going thought her head, Kikumaru hesitated before shrugging. She rolled Arai's hand off her shoulder and walked off the courts with her head lowered. Fuji, from her high seat, could see that the other regulars noticed this distance? Suzu noticed. Would Jinhana and Shikawara care? And what was Ryuzaki-sensei going to do about it?
Darn. She was getting more and more into the game than she had first hoped. But they were all for the wrong reasons. She didn't want the team to lose but she really wanted their team to lose with Arai as their captain… Was she starting to think like Arai now? Maybe. Fuji cared, but she didn't care to help her. It was no longer her responsibility.
Even that much annoyed her. She wanted the responsibility back. She saw many flaws that needed correcting. The voice no longer matter; she would make it so it wouldn't matter. She continued to watch.
Singles three went to Umeko, who has been livid since last week. Fuji could smell it in the air and felt sorry for Umeko's opponent. The other school looked confident but Umeko was burning mad. Fuji wished she knew why.
Everyone watched Umeko walk onto the courts. She told her opponent that she was in a bad mood, but her opponent thought it would be an easy win having seen Umeko's last game (the one she promised to win but lost on purpose) but that was Umeko's intentions.
"Oi, what can you smell?" Umeko asked.
"Smell." She sniffed the air." Bamboo?"
"Hm, try not to trip over." Umeko murmured to herself.
As it wasn't her serve she took to the baseline but just stood there with her hands on her hips and racket loose in her hand.
"She's going to throw the match again." A few of the year sevens whispered, but that wasn't true at all.
Umeko's opponent threw the ball up to serve. She immediately screaming, as if she saw the article of her phobia and tripped up on something, fell and accidentally broke her arm on the bamboo that only Umeko could see. A horrid gasp ran around the court from all those who watched and the medical team rushed out to help her. Umeko didn't move. It wasn't as if anyone could blame her. It looked as if she lost her footing and had a nasty fall.
"Interesting." Fuji felt a chill.
Umeko was in a very bad mood. The spectators suddenly remembered her from last year and kept their voice to a low murmur. Some who were disgusted that they lost didn't raise their dislike for the scores. She won by default. Her opponent was unable to play so the point went to her. And Umeko knew it would. The umpire said what he had to say and she walked off. She didn't have to lift a finger. She didn't even have to care. Umeko sat down amongst her team and no one dared say anything to her. The umpire had to encourage the games to continue
Next up was Shikawara, slightly confused but would continue anyway. As she walked onto the court and bowed in, someone walked behind Fuji and stopped. She heard them and thought nothing of it. Fuji didn't want to get into the match but it was pulling her in. Soon enough the person sat beside her. Still she took no notice of them. It was when she felt their eyes on her did she reluctantly glance over to her right. And staring back at her was Atobe.
A cold shiver ran down her back. Why was he here? Why was he still coming to the tournaments? She shifted to leave but he hit his hand down over hers' and held her down. She shot a look to him only to catch a calm smile in return. She turned back to the game, not willing to fight him off with her team so close.
She couldn't handle his energy. It was over bearing and seemed to crawl up her arm to ignite that old mark on her shoulder. Fuji tried to breathe it away but he was too strong for her in her weak state of mind. Suddenly, she didn't know if she could resist him.
"Good afternoon." He said, waiting to see her reaction. Any movement would do. Even the fact that she tried hard not to move was telling. "It's funny… it's been nothing more than a few days and there's something different about you, Fuji-chan." He could see with his perfect eyes that she was hiding something tasty. He shuffled closer towards her. "So, what has happened since the last time I saw you?" Ah, her gaze lowered slightly. Something bad happened. Not just bad… Fuji tried to close her eyes as they began to gloss over.
Atobe raised his free hand to laugh at her. "Oh, is there something you want to tell me."
"Leave me alone."
Oh, she was very angry, though tried to appear in control. Atobe could hear it. He could hear the seer vehement swelling inside her. He knew what she was capable of. He has heard the rumours but he pressed on.
"Sounds like something interesting happened. Who did you hit?"
"I said leave me alone."
He grinned. "Not until you tell me what your weakness has caused you to do."
Fuji looked on in the other direction. You can't escape me, Atobe thought, his grin getting wider.
"Unfortunately for you Fuji-chan, I've already got beneath your skin. You're completely exposed whenever I see you."
She tensed up to breath out. Atobe was tempted to touch her. Her skin many not have shown how flustered she had become but he knew she was burning up. Fuji 's heart was racing. She was controlling it . Controlling herself. Telling both her mind and body not to strike him. If ever she did that, she knew Tezuka would look down on her. He hates violents. It hurt her to think what he'd say to her after her attack on Sai. She shifted in her seat. Atobe drew closer so their thigths touched.
"So, how's Sai-kun?"
Fuji took to her feet. It was a quick and unexpected movement, but she hesitated before deciding to walk away from the match and Atobe.
Her sudden movements got his heart racing all for the wrong reasons. His head told him to follow. Once she was a fair distance away, he got up from the seats and followed.
Fuji had hoped that after her match with her sister, when he approached her, that that would have been that last time she would have to deal with him. To think that he would continued to pop up. What she had allowed to happen wasn't over.
It had been a while since she last touched that shoulder after Tezuka brushed the tips of his finger over it but, it burnt again and she had to cover it, not realising that she couldn't hold back the tempting thoughts that followed. They wouldn't go, even when she closed her eyes and looked for an inner peace, the images wouldn't go.
"Where you going Fuji-chan?"
She froze. Was he really following her? She turned around to see that he was. She diverted her eyes quickly – not being able to match his arrogance. Somehow, his voice sounded different in her ear and she hated it.
"Look how you got me chasing after you."
What was that suppose to mean? He approached her and stopped a little too close to her. She couldn't back away. She was too shocked to say anything and the two stood like that for a few seconds.
Atobe didn't move – only his eyes burnt into her. He started because he understood something and it unknowingly pulled him closer to her. When he realised what he was doing something beyond his control, her laughed it off -–wanting to hide his eyes and narrowed them. As he turned he said something. "I can see why he likes you." He walked around her and left quickly hoping he covered his mistake. And he did because Fuji didn't notice his discomfort.
…tbc…
A/N2: Well, that's not what Atobe hoped for, I wonder how it'll effect him later on.
Chapter 72: Fuji goes back to school.
Thanks for reading!
