A/N: Is it true? Is it really true! After being gone for SIX MONTHS you finally update!
Yes it's true. I have finished babysitting and now have another demanding job but don't worry I'm back on this.
Happy New Year!
Disclaimer: Takeshi Konomi peered over my shoulder as I was writing another fan_fiction that wasn't Prince of Tennis. (Speculatively Random)
Chapter Eighty Six
Fuji tried not to think about it. She packed her bags that morning and made her way to school as normal. Though, her self-will betrayed her as she saw her team mates walk on by with their school uniforms on and their tennis gear in hand. All she could do was wave to them. On her right side was her holdall for the three days away. She tried to convince herself that it wasn't some kind of betrayal, she needed to clear her mind. All the girls had to do was train. It was nothing out of the ordinary.
When Kikumaru arrived at school and saw Fuji by the entrance she gave Fuji a hug and told her to clear her mind and get back to her normal self. Fuji nodded, not sure how she was to do that. When Shikawara walked by she tried to hide her face, embarrassed by the text she sent Fuji and then for the reply she got back. Before she was out of sight Fuji smiled and said she wouldn't tell anyone.
It wasn't long before some of the year 7's from both teams joined her and the boys' team wandered out with Ryuzaki Sensei. This was it. She was really going to leave it all behind for a few days. How would they get on without her around? Even though she was no longer on the team, she knew they still wanted her there. Sensei said they won a match for her... it felt weird picking up a different bag and walking on a coach without her girls.
She didn't care that they were in conflict, not being with them didn't feel right. If Kaidoh wasn't standing behind her, blocking her way to get off the coach, she would have got off and ran to them and confessed to never wanting to be a part from them. She sighed into her hand and hit her head against the tinted window once she had sat down. Even if she wanted to, Fuji could never do that. She would have merely walked over to them, hid in the shadows and watched as they practised.
"Is it okay if I sit here, Fuji-senpai?"
She glanced up and Oki was stood over her. At least it was a familiar face. She agreed to it but didn't engage in conversation with her, not that Oki minded as throughout the journey she spoke to Sakuno and Momoko to the left of her. Fuji closed her eyes. She didn't want to see how far away she was moving from the school and her friends. She blocked out the noise on the coach and daydreamed about what they would do without her. She'd miss Kikumaru the most... and Nariko and Shikawara and Umeko... she'd miss them all-
"...Stop it..." She told herself in a murmur. If it wasn't one thing it was another that she obsessed over.
Now she listened to the noise on the coach and the conversations that boomed out around her and found it a nice distraction from the nonsense in her head. For the hour or so journey, Fuji listened to the gossip of the year 7's and imparted a little of what she knew to them. As she was getting into the topics of conversation the coach stopped and Ryuzaki-sensei let them know they had arrived.
The boys piled over to the left side of the coach to get a good look at the building. The girls did too. But Fuji remained in her seat. Before they toppled the bus over Ryuzaki-sensei ordered all to get off. The team in question had to wait outside while those who were to help: Megumi, Hachi, Emiko and Oki, Sakuno, Momoko Kachirou Katsuo and Horio, went inside to sort themselves out and to set up the facilities for the players.
Sakuno and Momoko were given the task of taking Fuji in while Katsuo took her bag.
"Don't worry Fuji-senpai, we'll look after you. You won't have to do a thing." Momoko marched forward.
"We're really glad you chose to help out Fuji-senpai." Sakuno smiled up at her.
Fuji was still indifference about the whole thing but she took her mind off the matter by peering around the corridors as they walked to their rooms. It was an amazing building. It was almost on the same scale as her school but it was well kept and well provided for. It had an air of peace hovering through the rooms and there wasn't the taste of ignorance in the air. Odd thing for her to think but sometimes school felt like that. Nobody really knew anything but they still open their mouths. This place felt like it had knowledge and wisdom in its halls. So she walked a little lighter in her step and her mood began to change as she walked around with the year 7's.
They registered their names and went up to their rooms. Katsuo left Fuji's bag by her door and she entered the room. She jumped when she saw a girl with the mousey-brown hair staring back up at her.
"Oh! Oh, wow! Sumiko Fuji! What are you doing here?"
Fuji paused for a moment.
"The ex-captain of Seigaku, you guys are all over the place." She got up and walked over to Fuji to shake her hand. "My name is An Tachibana. I go to Fudomine academy." She now paused, realising something was wrong. "Why are you here?"
Fuji picked up her bag and placed it by her bed. "Because I was asked to come."
An took note of the way Fuji phrased her words and knew she shouldn't over step the mark.
"Are you helping out too?" Fuji asked.
"Yep." She now smiled softly and laid down on her bed. "You know your school friend sounds just like you. Erm... what's her name... Takara Shikawara! The two of you have a certain authority in your words. So I know straight off that she works alongside you."
Fuji unzipped her bag wondering whose bright idea it was to put her in a room with such a girl. She was hoping to have a room to herself so she could at least talk out loud... then again, if the room got too quiet her thoughts would become over overbearing.
"Shikawara-chan is strong by her own merit." Fuji said.
An watched Fuji "You speak so well of your team... even when they use underhanded tactics to win a match."
That could certainly be said of Umeko. Fuji glanced over at the girl and began to understood Shikawara's annoyance with her. There was something smug about the way she spoke, as if she knew everything and anything. Maybe she did. She knew Fuji's name and the fact she was demoted. Nevertheless, it was annoying.
"You sound as if you've had firsthand experience with one of Seigaku's players." Fuji said to her as she sat down to listen.
"Oh, it was only a few days ago that she broke a friend's racket... saying something about playing tennis to solve a problem... as if I'd back off. Little does she know..." She giggled and checked her watch. "Well Fuji-senpai, we can't hang around chatting all morning we need to go and introduce the teams when they come in."
Fuji watched An as she jumped off her bed. An went into the side draw and took a site map out for Fuji. She then pointed at where they were to go and headed out first. Once the door closed Fuji wrote a text to Shikawara, smirking as she sent it and began to unpack some of her belongings.
As she unpacked she looked at the dressing on the left hand and wondered if her hand would get better. She took out her pain killers and placed them on the side and carried on before her phone rang.
"Shikawara-chan?"
"Fuji-senpai, I don't know if you're causing trouble or not but if she so much as breathes on him tell her that I'll be waiting for her when she least expects it..." She hung up.
Fuji was taken aback and had to stare into space for a minute. She brushed it off with a giggle and placed her phone down on the bed. Maybe if she was that blunt in the beginning, Fuji wondered if she would be where she is now. If she had told Atobe and Arai to not interfere... oh well. Now she had to deal with the consequences of it.
Once all her stuff was put away, her bag under her bed and changed into something more fitting for the occasion, Fuji took the map in hand and went out to the meeting point.
Ryuzaki Sensei had already started talking when she stepped out and lined up with the rest of them. Of course the boys from the others school wouldn't expect her to be here, so she accepted their gaze on her. But they stared a lot longer than they should have, making Fuji look at each of them. When she saw Saeki she had a moment of surprise and gave a quick wave. This made a few of them turn to him. Realising her mistake, Fuji paid attention to the teachers.
There can a sudden familiar feeling on the side of her neck that she hadn't felt in a long while, but not one that she could forget so easily. She lifted her hand to suppress the feeling under her skin and turn slightly to her right to see who cased it, only to catch Atobe staring straight at her. Fuji flicked her gaze back to sensei in that split second and lowered her hand slowly fully understanding why her flesh began to irritate her. No doubt he saw her touch her neck... showing him that she still remembered... He'd see it as an opportunity...
Even though this was an event for the most talented boys in the region to attend, Fuji simple didn't picture him being here, despite knowing that he was the captain of his team. She couldn't show any weakness here... she couldn't. She continued to listen to the teachers tell the boys how the training for the invitation would continue from here on out. They were dismissed and Ryuzaki-sensei turned to Fuji.
"Since you are here, you might as well make the most of it. I've spoken to Hanamaru-sensei and she doesn't mind you learning from her."
Fuji glanced at the lady with glowing red hair and defining features stride towards her. She smiled with confidence while wearing a lab coat.
The boys and the helpers began to move towards the building, but Hanamaru-sensei took hold of Fuji's left hand and studied it.
"Oh my, silly girl, what did you do to cause such an injury?"
Fuji wanted to jerk her hand back, but tensed up to dull the pain.
"She punched one of the lockets, cracking it somehow." Ryuzaki-sensei said before going into the building.
"You? Really?" Hanamaru-sensei then began to squeeze Fuji's arm to feel her muscles. "I would never have guessed you were so strong."
"You would so easily believe Ryuzaki-Sensei?" Fuji said.
"I highly respect your Ryuzaki-sensei. She says what's on her mind. I can tell just by looking at the wound that you caused a lot of damage. I'm going to enjoy teaching you all I know. The beauty of drawing out a students' full power through science should be a pleasure shared between women. Come, let's go."
She let go of Fuji's arm and walked ahead encouraging Fuji to follow her into a classroom. Hanamaru-sensei sat at the head of the table and waited for her small team to enter her room. Fuji took her place by Hanamaru-sensei and watched as the boys came in. She listened for their names as they were greeted. Shinjou Reiji, who was one of sensei's students and kinda stiff in personality and character, Ibu Shinji from Fudomine... the name rang a bell... didn't Shikawara brake his racket the other day? Amane Hikaru. Fuji knew a little about him back when she lived in Chiba but she didn't know the kind of guy he had grown up to be. Hisaruzu Ryou she knew too, and his twin brother, Atsushi, who, coincidently went to Yumi's school. Lucky for the brothers that they were put in the same team.
When the students from Hyoutei walked in, Fuji didn't know if it was retribution befalling her or just bad luck. It was the devil himself who walked in and two of his teammates. The young one that followed him around, Kabaji Munehiro, and the one that irritated Kikumaru on her date with Oishi, Yuushi Oshitari and Atobe Keigo...
Fuji didn't linger on them too long, turning to sensei as they all sat down. Atobe decided to sit at the other end of the table. Just like him, Fuji thought, casting a look to Hanamaru-sensei who giggled to herself. Sensei ignored him for the time being and informed them of how she would tackle the invitational camp.
"If you're going to bother with all of that, why don't you just let us play matches?" Atobe interrupted.
Fuji expected sensei to answer him with her plans but she did something better. She laughed lightly and made it very clear that while they were in her group they would follow her rules. Fuji woke up for a second when she didn't hear Atobe cocky reply, she turned to him to confirm her shock. So that's how you shut him up. It was there on out that Fuji was going to enjoy being in Hanamaru-sensei's company.
Sensei never let them go near a tennis court, but from the window Fuji could hear some were already outside. Come to think of it, even she wouldn't mind playing a game or two while she was here. She looked at her hand and told herself to wait a little bit longer. She watched them on the rowing machines and the bikes, treadmills and weights. When they needed water she handed them a bottle and listened to the knowledge Hanamaru-sensei gave her. Sensei had them in the gym for a long time, measure endurance, strength and dexterity. Towards the end of the day Fuji helped clean up.
"That was a bit much for the first day." Atsushi said as Fuji passed him a fresh towel.
"It might be the same thing tomorrow so hang in there." Ryou replied.
"Who are you? Is it okay for a girl to be here? Won't you feel uncomfortable, unless you are also training then I guess it would be okay, but aren't the guys a little stronger than you... oh, was that a sexist thing to say?"
"Erm," Fuji interrupted Shinji. "Don't worry about me, I'm here to help and learn."
"You were a great help today. That bottle of water was refreshing. And you're cute so it made it nicer to receive. Thank you." He bowed and walked on to the changing rooms.
It was more like the other way round, thought Fuji as she found his odd rambling cute. The others hurried on to freshen up. She found herself looking to see where the Hyoutei boys were. They had already left the room. She had to catch herself before her thoughts got the better of her. Hanamaru-sensei stayed behind to collect and organize her data. Fuji stayed a little longer to go over the numbers with her, not realising that they let an hour pass. On hearing her stomach growling Fuji decided it was time for dinner and went down to the canteen were she saw Oki cleaning some food up from the floor.
"You okay? Did someone have an accident?" Fuji asked.
Oki was about to answer when Fuji looked up. Why was she feeling such negative energy in the air? She shook it away when Oki spoke.
"Two of the guys started fighting and dropped the food on the floor."
"Yeah, Fuji-senpai, you should have seen it!" Momoko bounced up behind her with a mop in hand. "Kamio-san leapt up from his chair and manhandled Kirihara-san. It was really scary wasn't it Sakuno-chan?"
Sakuno nodded. She had the mop bucket in her hand.
"Didn't the guys stop them?"
"Yeah, they took them to their separate places and calmed them down, but I can't believe they are fighting already." Hachi said.
"Have you come for your meal, Fuji-senpai." Megumi asked.
"Yeah, I'm starving."
They sat her down and gave her her meal and spoke about how the first day went, what the other teachers had planned for the other teams. Ryuzaki-sensei gave them a free session while Sakaki-sensei had Iuni and Renji play a match against Iwara and Saeki. Because of their duties they couldn't see the entire match. But they wanted to know where Fuji had hidden herself. She told them now getting carried away by the flow of the conversation, even getting on to the subject if there was anyone she fancy. Though, they should have known better to asked that when they knew who she liked. Despite that, they still wanted to know if there was anyone else. At least they made Fuji laugh.
"No one tickles my fancy as of yet, but Ibu Shinji is rather cute."
"Oh so Fuji-sensei doesn't mind missing with the young ones." Momoko said.
"Don't cause any weird rumours to start about me."
"Though there is a lot of talk about you Fuji-senpai" Kachirou walked over to join them. "They want to know why you're here when you should be practising for the girls tournaments."
Fuji stood up taking her tray. "tell them whatever you want. Tell them I'm spying on their techniques so that I'll know how to bet them."
Fuji went into the kitchen to clean her bowls away. She yawned, reminding herself of the long day she had. It was only about eight but she was ready for bed. She departed from the year 7's and went back to her room to get her toilettes to shower. Amongst her things was a plastic bag to cover over her hand. She took another one of her pain killers and headed down the hall.
On her way down to the washrooms, she heard a familiar voice ahead of her. Fuji thought for a second to double back to her room or to hide in one of the empty ones, but she realised maybe her odd behaviours would be too obvious if she did that. And being in this small enclosure it wasn't as if she could easily avoid him. So when Atobe walked down the hall talking to Kabji, she acknowledged him with a quick flick of her gaze. He did the same. No words were exchanged. Nothing telling in their eyes. They carried on.
Fuji sighed to herself wondering what was going on with her. Not this again, she thought and hurried on to freshen up. She stayed in the bath longer then she wanted, thinking this was going to be a hard few days away from school. Her thoughts were going in circles, thinking the same thoughts as the past. The ones that caused herself and others a lot of pain.
But she couldn't help it... no matter how many times she told herself to not picture him, she pictured him working out in the gym and she had to slap her cheek.
"Enough." And she got out, dried herself off and headed back up, over curious that she would bump into him again.
Luckily she didn't and headed straight to her bed, but not before texting Kikumaru about what the camp was all about and that it would be fun if the girls could have such an invitation. Fuji didn't expect to see several messages from Shikawara and decided to sit up a read them.
After some time An came back to the room. All she said was good night and threw the covers over herself and kept very still. Fuji didn't pay her any mind, not after reading the concerns of Shikawara and said goodnight in return. She stayed up reading the ten texts until she began to nod off and fell asleep.
...tbc...
A/N2: Was that worth the wait? Meh! More stuff to come.
Chapter 87: Everyone has their eye on her for different reasons. Will Oshitari get a chance to talk to Fuji? And why? (Quick update.)
Thanks for reading.
Merry Christmas!
