A/N: Well they are an item but Fuji's just being difficult… I can't say too much as to why, but she is. (^_^)
Hi to Demoncat13 and WinterValentine. Thanks for taking the time out to read my… well it's something of a novel now… really. Oh, and much love to those who keep coming back. (^3^)*chu
Disclaimer: Upon being shipwrecked, Takeshi Konomi was found with the first volume of Prince of tennis and an Echizen Plush. Ah, kawaii. (random)
Chapter Seventy Six
Fuji handed the nurses' note to Ryuzaki-sensei and waited for her to read it, only to see the colour drain from her sensei's face. Fuji nearly apologised. Only for a moment did she believe everything that happened was her fault; she felt a need to say sorry. A quick glance to the side door reminded her that that wasn't so. She wasn't the only one to blame for this but Fuji never thought Ryuzaki-sensei could allow defeated to circle her. Fuji understood the emotion behind the expression, as in recent days, she has felt it surge through her with that same speed.
Ryuzaki-sensei didn't say anything. She held the document rigidly in her hands and stiffened in her expression. How was she going to tell the girls this? (Even in her heart and mind she wanted Fuji back on the team. After their last match against Fujimi Juniors, although they won, the girls weren't playing like professionals.)
"Okay." She placed the note face down on her desk. "Okay. Are you still going to show up to training?"
Fuji slowly turned back to Ryuzaki-sensei. Did she really ask her such a question? Fuji thought the letter explained itself. If she couldn't play, if she couldn't talk to her team, if she couldn't do anything that she could do before, why be there? She didn't say it. Fuji didn't want to give her sensei reason to moan at her.
"I'd like to be there, I want to play with the team-"
"Well you can't." It seemed no matter what Fuji said, Ryuzaki-sensei would still be fed-up with the whole thing. "You brought this upon yourself. Sometimes you teenagers don't think of the consequences, you just want to lash out as if you're not going to cause a change."
Fuji understood what Ryuzaki-sensei meant, but she could have done without the snappy lecture.
"If sensei doesn't want me there, then I won't show up."
"Don't differ responsibility for this. This is the repercussions for what you did."
Fuji suddenly felt the anger swell inside her. "What about Arai-chan?"
"As far as I'm aware she hasn't done anything." She saw Fuji flare up. "And the reason why she hasn't done anything is because no one wishes to tell me what she's done. I'm waiting for someone to tell me something."
Fuji was about to tell her sensei exactly what Arai did but the words wouldn't come out. Where to start? How to phrase it? Even for Sai's involvement, how should she explain it? It wasn't fair. Everything that was happening to her was unjust and Fuji was getting tired of it. She turned away. "If you think what's happening to me is deserving, what has happened and what will happen to Arai-chan is deserving too. Your judgement is unfair." She headed out the room.
"Fuji-san!" If only she would tell her, Ryuzaki-sensei thought as she shot up out of her chair.
Fuji left immediately and made her way down to the courts. The girls were already changed and training. It hurt that she couldn't look after any of them anymore and could only sit down on one of the benches on the sidelines. And because of this great shift, it was becoming a regular thing for people to talk about her. No doubt Kikumaru would tell the regulars why she couldn't play. But what about the rest of the team? The ones who didn't even know that much?
She sat down and watched those on her right, the regulars occupied courts A and B. Why was she so far way from them? Though far, why could she see every emotion on their faces? Each of them were unsure. Why? What was happening over there to make her confident team so beaten? If they were like that then the other should be the same. She looked to her left to see if the non-regulars were the same when Rinko, a year seven girl, glanced over and asked Fuji why was wasn't participating.
"I'm under doctors orders not to play until my hand is healed."
"Oi, Rinko-chan! Pay attention?" Someone shouted when the ball passed her. She ran after it and continued watching.
"Fuji-san, I hadn't finished talking to you."
Ryuzaki-sensei had caught up with Fuji after sorting out other paperwork and organising the permission forms for a three-day release from school.
"What more is there to say?"
Ryuzaki-sensei sat down with Fuji and the two watched the teams for a while. Both were being ignorant to the difference in morale.
"I was going to ask you something which might help you clear your mind." Fuji listened. "I don't think the guys are quite up to scratch. Their next school is Rikkaidai… and in their hearts I think there's a little doubt. So I'm going to take them down to a cottage in the country to clear their minds."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"As you can no longer part-take with the team, why don't you help out with the year sevens and help maintain the up keep of the cottage."
She felt sadder at the thought of it. "Now you're completely pulling me away from the courts all together?"
"No, that's not what I said. I'm taking the boys away to train for tennis, so there'll be courts when we get there. You'll still hear the sounds. You can practise a little as long as your hand heals and it's only for three days."
Fuji thought about it. One half of her didn't want to leave the team, that was before Tezuka's words popped into her head 'I'm no good to you or my team like this'. She was no good to her team like this. She looked at her dressed hand that was still very tender. She brushed her hand over her left and looked up to the girls. At one point or another those practising stole a peek at her. Regulars included. Could she leave them? Should she leave them? If she stayed Fuji would only tempted herself to play. Maybe the countryside would be a good idea. She wondered if it bothered Tezuka this much to decided what was best? If she had to stop playing, sensei would encourage her to go.
"Just three days?" Fuji wanted to confirm.
"Three days. You won't even have to do much. Just clear your thoughts."
What good would that do? "No." She answered. "If I leave now nothing will be sorted out and these lot will think that I've abandoned them."
"What do you mean?"
She held the seat of the bench. "They already think I don't want to be anywhere near them. If I go too far from them… I don't think I could handle them… ha…" She couldn't say that word. "I don't want them thinking I don't care… because I do."
Ryuzaki-sensei understood a little. She was hoping by now Fuji would have told the girls something about what happened, but no such luck. Sensei didn't want to do it, but it looks like she needed to get involved a bit more to uncover the truth. Funny. She never thought losing Fuji would effect her this much. Annoyingly, she could see just how much it effect the girls in their last game.
Ryuzaki-sensei sighed deeply. How could one person effect so many people in such a way? Fuji was right, with that explanation it was best that Fuji stay. The girls still needed her. But having realised that, Ryuzaki-sensei didn't leave Fuji's side.
Even now, she didn't know what had happened between the girls. She understood her lacklustre efforts to find out, which is why she wanted the girls to come to her first but they weren't even doing that. She looked across to the regulars and now acknowledged that their training was slipping. Ryuzaki-sensei didn't want to admit it but if they carried on like this, they wouldn't beat Bunsei with basics or strength. Bunsei was a school known more for it's practical academia then its sporting strength, so the girls on the team were all masters of their craft and they're not shy in hiding their spiritual influences and will be quick to end a game if they have to or get bored. Ryuzaki wished Fuji were up there with them, but even she had rules she needed to follow of her own.
"What are you thinking Fuji-san? About the team?"
"I'm not helping fix things. It's not my…" She had to correct herself. She promised herself she'd keep things as they are, she's try to keep the team winning and on top so when Tezuka came back he wouldn't be so quick to say his famous line to her. Damn. This really wasn't fair. She didn't want to help Arai at all. "I mean…hm, they'll lose if they focus on the basics. They could get away with it at the start but Bunsei is not that kind of school. They really need to focus."
"Just as I thought. She's playing like the boys. It's two different games… Maybe I should remind her just what she should be doing."
It only irritated Fuji. Why should she help someone who in turn helped her to fall into this state of mind? To deliberately make her look like the bad guy in all of this. She didn't like it one bit. Ryuzaki-sensei didn't move just yet. She would wait for the session to finish, but Fuji took to her feet and walked around the edge of the courts to where the regulars were training.
Kikumaru noticed her move first and stopped, thinking that Fuji was going to say something to them. The ball shot pass her causing Nariko to glance up at Kikumaru. She was about to call the point, when she saw Fuji. Nariko walked closer to the net to try and catch Kikumaru's attention. The others; Suzu, Jinhana, Yokoishi and Umeko turned around once Fuji walked pass them. They stared at her, wondering if Fuji was going to help them or possibly train with them as she did the others.
Fuji watched each of them, reading their energy, and their form. The only two who saw her but carried on was Arai and Shikawara but even Shikawara was distracted when Fuji appeared beside her. The two caught each other's glance and Shikawara was the one to recoil in her step.
Fuji walked right around the courts, back down to the non-regulars and began pointing out their faults and instructed them so they could improve. After just a few words the non-regulars were playing more powerful and strategic games against each other.
"Why did she do that for?" Nariko gathered around the other girls.
"She was totally judging us. "Jinhana grumbled. "Bet she was pointing out our faults."
"Why didn't she say anything?" Umeko was getting heated.
"She can't, can she? She's not the captain." Yokoishi reminded them. However much they wanted her to, they knew she wouldn't.
"What's wrong with you lot?" Arai walked over to them and didn't like the look she caught in their eyes. "Why have you stopped practising?"
Kikumaru and Nariko looked away, not wanting to confront her. The others didn't back down.
"Didn't you notice?" Jinhana said first. "The way Fuji walked around the courts, watching us?"
"Can't say that I did."
"Of course you wouldn't." Shikawara added. "She wasn't looking at you, Arai-senpai."
"Don't cause trouble, Shikawara-chan." Arai said back.
"Oh, so it's okay for you to cause trouble but the rest of us can't!" Umeko jeered.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Arai said, hearing the heavy tone in Umeko's voice.
"What does it sound like!" Umeko bit back.
The two glared at each other before Umeko flicked her gaze to Suzu.
"Guys, come on, please. Lets not make something out of nothing." Suzu tried to break them up. She didn't notice that Jinhana was watching and slowly making her way to the middle of the girls to stand in front of Arai. By the time Suzu saw her Jinhana had already started talking.
"No. I think we need to sort this out. Do you really think we can continue going on as if nothing has changed? Something has changed and it's not for the better."
"Gosh, what do you want?" Arai wanted to walk away.
Jinhana stepped forward and shoved Arai shoulder to fully get her attention.
"Jinhana-chan, no more fighting!" Suzu held Jinhana's shoulder but was quickly pushed off.
"Listen Suzu-chan, you can be nice all you want but I'm not impressed by the quality of the training or how the last tournament went. Yokoishi-chan, you can't be happy with this. What do you think?"
The girls looked to Yokoishi, who for once came over very serious. "We suck at the moment."
"See! And the rest of you. Kikumaru-chan is playing at her worst."
"That's not-" Kikumaru tried to reassure them that she was fine, but they all knew.
"You are at your worst and I know why." Jinhana turned to Nariko. "She was amazing before Fuji-chan left, now she's worse than when she started playing doubles. I don't know why she's second guessing herself," She turned back to Arai. "then I realised everything turns back to you."
Arai didn't move when all the girls stared at her. Jinhana said what everyone was thinking, thought they didn't class it as a good thing, because Jinhana's thorns where certainly poking through, and because of that nobody stopped her.
"What did you do to Fuji-chan?"
"Pardon?"
Jinhana was about to repeat herself. "Wait a minute! You're going on as if Fuji-chan just upped and punched you for no reason… I'm really starting to doubt that. I've had my altercations with Fuji-chan before and it's not something I'm proud of at all. I know that when I played against Fuji-chan, I realised just how balanced and self-aware she is. I couldn't fault her, but I wanted to and challenged her to a match. You remember it, that's why you guys keep reminding me of the thorns to my rose. I realised that I was jealous of her. She had something I wanted. So, I'm asking you, what did she have that you wanted that you would go so far to get rid of her?"
Arai took a deep breath. She remembered why she did it. "Like Suzu-chan, I don't think you understand anything."
Jinhana seethed. "Don't take me for a fool. Your character reeks of jealously, and I'm in a position to know what that looks like. Are you telling me Fuji-chan would just punch you for no reason in front of all of us? You tipped her over the edge. Even when I challenged her she was never that mad. She got mad, but she never lost it."
"Jinhana-chan, please, not now. We really need to train. "Suzu tried again.
"Then when, Suzu-chan? When is all this going to clear up? I'm ticked off that we're up against Bunsei soon and we're doing swings. Really! I know if we carry on like this we'll lose. I'm not prepared to lose just because this one thinks she's a 'captain'. Tell us what you did to Fuji-chan so we can get her back."
Kikumaru stepped forward. "But she put Sai-kun in the hospital, Jinhana-chan. I saw him the other day… Fuji-chan… he's in a bad way."
Jinhana didn't want to hear that and was just as mad with Kikumaru. "You of all people! You Kikumaru-chan! Stop lying to yourself! You know Arai-chan did something. I know she's your partner and you don't want to rock the boat but she's done something to your best friends and I can't believe you're okay with it."
Kikumaru couldn't argue against what was said to her. She tried to think of something to say but Jinhana said the truth, which made her cast her sight away. Making everyone see that Jinhana was right.
"And that includes you," Jinhana stepped back to face Umeko. "You're face has been looking sour ever since the changes. Looks to me like she did something to you too. Going around breaking people's arms, I don't know what you're thinking. I don't know about the rest of you but I'm not an idiot. I'm not prepared to lose and I'm not in acceptance to this change, and I can't believe the rest of you are just rolling over to this. When we were in the changing rooms Fuji-chan didn't say much but she said something about you showing a picture to Sai-kun. I think you provoked Sai-kun into doing something stupid to Fuji-chan and she lashed out at him. Fuji-chan's is the only one who can tolerate him, why would she then try to kill him? I even think you showed that same picture to Tezuka-kun." Arai twitched and they all saw it. "Hmpf. You up-set her because you up-set Tezuka-kun, huh? I remember… you said something about her selfishness costing him his shoulder. No doubt you've been bothering him as well. Tezuka-kun doesn't talk to anyone, and people don't readily speak to him, so how is it that people have seen you talking to him? Iwara-kun is telling everybody. The girls in the school are suspicious of that. You had better confess exactly what you did before Fuji-chan decides to tell us the truth, though if she did I think it would be a fairer account.
"I know why I lashed out on Fuji-chan all those years ago. It was my fault. My attitude. Me! You did the same thing I did and you need to tell us what it is so you can be the one to sit out of the games. It's a joke that sensei would put you in her place."
Jinhana grabbed Nariko and stormed off the courts, leaving the girls stunned. They peered around and noticed the whole court stopped playing to listen. Worse still, Fuji had sat back down with Ryuzaki-sensei and watched Jinhana rant. Weirder still, Ryuzaki-sensei sat with Fuji, arms crossed and staring right at them. She didn't thinking to intervene.
Arai gripped her racket. She wanted to say something but the girls were seriously thinking over Jinhana's words. Kikumaru more so. Jinhana was right. All this time Kikumaru knew what Arai did and how it effected Fuji, but she wanted to turn a blind eye to it. Umeko decided to finished for today and walked off. Suzu took Kikumaru with her and Shikawara smirked and took her leave, showing Arai her dislike for the changes.
The two left standing didn't say a word to each other for a moment. When Arai glanced up to Yokoishi she saw her smiling, gleefully from cheek to cheek. It said all that it needed to. Arai slowly curled her hair over her shoulder. Once she lowered her free hand Yokoishi spoke to her.
"Wow. She… she really hates losing, huh? Enough to weed out the weak ones."
"Don't-"
"I think it's about time you told them the truth."
"Tell them what? What is there to tell them? Fuji-chan's the one throwing herself around to other people. I'm not the one who's getting hickeys from other guys." She didn't shouted but her words were angry.
Yokoishi paused for a moment. "You're missing the point. That much is Fuji-chan fault. I'm not gunna deny that, but… you need to think about your motives. Why did you show Tezuka-senpai that picture?" She sighed. "I don't really care about that right now. If we lose, it'll be your fault."
"How?" Arai raised her voice.
Yokoishi shook her head. "Captain's responsibilities. Jinhana-senpai doesn't care about what happened between you and Fuji-chan, she never did. The only reason she's throwing it in your face is because she knows it's the reason why everyone's performing so poorly. She doesn't want to lose. I guess if she loses, Fuji-senpai's not going to the only person to what to hit you." She turned on her heels. "Anyway~, I don't care because I'm not on your side Arai-senpai. If we lose, won't it be interesting for the others to see how pathetic you are. Ah, if only you were amazing like me." She teased.
"We're not going to lose." There was a burning confidence behind Arai's words. She walked off to see to the other members of the team.
Seeing that Arai went to the others, Ryuzaki-sensei now took to her feet to hear what happened, giving Yokoishi a chance to speak to Fuji.
"You really set them off."
"That's because sensei doesn't believe Arai-chan did anything wrong."
"No, sensei knows of something. She's just waiting for one of you to fess-up.
"It's no ones business. I want to keep it between me and her. I still want to kill her… I can't, so I at least what the satisfaction of seeing her suffer."
"Shame, considering you lashed out in front of us."
"I was beside myself."
"I know! But regarding the team, we'll lose if you're not there."
"Why's that? Aren't you saying too much?"
"Nope. Aneki is allowed to make close observation. But you understand why the team's falling apart?"
"I do."
"Hmm. Arai-chan has no spiritual energy."
"She does." Fuji said, remembering that thing that was Tezuka's hand.
"Only the bare minimum. Not the same level as you. She can't control the team. I've told her this before but she doesn't understand."
"You know what happened? Why I hit her?" Fuji asked Yokoishi, and she nodded. "If it was a direct attack at me, I could have handled that. To hear how she was speaking to him, knowing that she showed him that picture, to get Sai-kun flustered… just thinking about it makes me angry. I don't care if we lose, but even I don't want us to drop out now. We can't drop out."
Yokoishi smirked. "So why did you provoke us?"
"It's like I said. I want her to suffer."
Yokoishi cut Fuji off quickly after feeling that disgusting energy seep out once more. She held Fuji's shoulders. "Okay I'll leave it alone, but I'll ask that you're at the match so that the girls can have some focus. If you're not there, I don't know what will… well I do… please show up."
Fuji took to her feet seeing as Ryuzaki-sensei was calling the session to an end. She told Yokoishi that she would be there because even she couldn't afford for the team to drop out at the semi-finals, otherwise she'd have a whole lot of explaining to do when he gets back.
…tbc…
A/N2: Jinhana-chan, don't show the world your ugly side! Winning isn't everything!
Chapter 77: Arai's confused and the girls are gossiping!
THANKS FOR READING
