Chapter 3
Echizen Ryoma was rather unhappy with how his first few days of school had gone. He was justifiably proud of his tennis skills, and after figuring out that his father's alma mater, Seishun Gakuen, was really a good tennis school, he'd been intending on entering and shaking things up.
That hadn't happened. Somewhere, he'd screwed up.
He'd managed to impress the rest of his classmates after beating Arai at the tip-the-can game, and had Momoshirou's attention as well, but when he'd come to the first day of real practice, he'd found, much to his disgust, that it was harder to get hold of the attention of everyone else.
They seemed focused on the supposedly invincible captain - or on the other player who might be as good as Tezuka Kunimitsu - Atobe Keigo. They called him the diva, and the name fit, from what little Ryoma had seen of him. Ryoma had met a lot of players with huge egos over his career (and many people accused him of having a rather sizable one himself) but Atobe took it to new levels. He had a fan club, encouraged them, and seemed intent on undermining the captain at every turn.
Usually Ryoma would have been amused, but right now he just needed to prove that yes, he was that much better. If he was ever going to beat his old man, he had to take out everyone else, since Echizen Nanjirou was so much damn better than anyone else.
The problem, though, was that Ryoma couldn't decide who to focus on. Atobe? Tezuka? Someone else? Who the hell was the best in Seigaku, anyway? No one seemed able to agree, and it made the first year want to strangle something - or at least smack them with numerous tennis balls until they couldn't see straight.
He thought it would be kind of pointless to ask any of the members in the team, until he chanced upon Inui, one of the regulars and a renowned data collector. If one watched the proceedings on the courts long enough, one would realize that Inui was always either out of both groups or standing somewhere in between. He didn't appear to side with either leader, and he always made sure to associate with parties from either side for a small amount of time. So he took his chance one day, approaching the older boy when he was standing under the shade by the tennis courts watching the non-regulars train.
"Ne, senpai," Ryoma began, keeping his head lowered and racket tucked underneath his arm. "Who's the best in Seigaku? I know that Tezuka-buchou and Atobe-senpai are both very strong... but who's better?"
The older boy raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise. "You're curious to know?"
"Yes," the shorter boy glanced up at Inui, eyes burning bright. "I want to play against the best in Seigaku."
Inui smiled. "Ahh, doesn't everyone want to do that?"
Ryoma frowned. "No-"
"Inui?" A soft, lilting voice interrupted the boys' conversation.
Both turned to stare at Fuji, who was standing just a meter away from them. Neither had noticed the other's presence, and they certainly weren't aware of how long Fuji had been standing there behind them listening to their conversation.
Inui tilted his head to one side. "Ah, Fuji. I thought there is no practice for the regulars today?"
Fuji approached both boys, smiling sweetly. "Maa, that's true, but Keigo-chan wants to do some strength training today so I'm staying back to help him."
Ryoma watched the slightly strange exchange with half an interest, annoyed that one of Atobe's lackeys had appeared to disrupt his conversation with Inui. Fuji appeared to notice his displeasure and smiled, turning to peer at the younger boy with a gentle smile on his face.
"Ne... you're called Echizen, right?" The smile widened.
The younger boy didn't bother to look at Fuji. "Nn."
"How do you find the practices lately? Arai really shouldn't have lost his temper with you, but saa... I guess it can't be helped. He's always been short-tempered. Also, Tezuka might be a little tough on the both of you, but it's for your own good."
There was a curious glance from the younger boy. "Fuji-senpai, I thought you are the Monke-Atobe-senpai's best friend?"
Fuji's smile brightened. "Oh, I am."
The data tennis player started glancing between both boys with a slightly confused look. "Eh, Fuji-"
"So why are you putting forward good words for buchou then? I thought Atobe-senpai hates buchou... or it looks like that from the way they were behaving around each other." Ryoma adjusted his cap, revealing only one eye to stare at Fuji insolently.
The older boy appeared to be genuinely amused. "Because Tezuka is a good leader."
"Heh..." Ryoma tilted his head one side in contemplation. "So, who do you think is the best on the team then?"
Inui started up before the younger boy could finish his sentence. "Ah. Echizen, actually-"
"Maa, it's alright." Fuji beamed at the taller data tennis player, watching the other twitch for his efforts. He turned back to the younger boy, his smile turning increasingly friendly. "I'll say, Echizen, that it all depends on who has a better breakfast in the morning."
Ryoma just gave him a steady look, trying to decide if the third year was being serious or not. Inui's sharp glance at Fuji made him wonder, but Fuji was already moving onto other matters. "I should get going. Keigo-chan is probably waiting, and he's never happy about that." The smile that curved his lips was perfectly pleasant, but for some reason Ryoma felt like someone was dancing on his grave. "I hope you're in my block, Echizen."
Inui's pen, which had been scribbling furiously, came to an abrupt stop. "First years aren't-"
"Oh, that's right," Fuji said, and his expression of disappointment seemed genuine. "Well, you should be allowed to have some practice matches soon. Maybe then?" He waggled his fingers cheerfully as he vanished, disappearing as quietly as he had arrived.
Inui shook his pen, apparently having run out of ink. As he changed pens, he glanced over at the first year to gauge his response.
Ryoma looked... annoyed.
"Don't underestimate him, Echizen," Inui warned. "He's the number three player, right behind Atobe and Tezuka.
"Hmm," Ryoma murmured, before turning away toward the tennis club.
Inui opened a new notebook, created the night before, and began to fill it in with information relating to Ryoma. If Fuji thought he was going to play in the ranking tournament, then chances were, he would. Fuji was rarely wrong. That meant Tezuka would be making an exception to his precious rules for Ryoma. Interesting, and certainly worthy of note, if it happened. Tezuka lived by his rule book, since he apparently seemed to think it was the only thing that provided any sanity when dealing with the variety of personalities in the tennis club. It was... thrilling.
Inui wouldn't be so thrilled once the ranking matches came down to business.
Ryoma didn't really care about that. He just wanted to thoroughly defeat all of his opponents, and that included his senpai. He needed to get on the team, true, but he could care less if there was anything exceptional about allowing him to try.
He was used to blowing people out of the water. It was nothing new.
The next day, blocks were announced for ranking matches, and few people were happy with the results. Atobe, Tezuka, and Fuji had been separated, along with the Golden Pair, but it was the presence of the first year which had the second years riled. Tezuka, though, seemed to let the comments of favoritism and unfairness wash over him, which led many to turn to Atobe for justice. Atobe had listened to their complaints patiently, before giving them a look which let them know he was thoroughly disappointed. "If the first year is good enough to win, then he deserves to be on the regulars. Just beat him, and that's the end of that."
Easy for him to say, they thought, but there was a certain elegant simplicity to the solution, they all had to admit.
Atobe, though, was annoyed at his own block, which was unfairly loaded: himself, Momoshiro, Kawamura. Having two regulars and one former regular in the same block meant the competition would be fierce, which wasn't a problem, but he didn't like the fact that Tezuka had just guaranteed that Atobe would be without one of his followers. He would win, no doubt, but one of the power players would take the other out.
It would be such a pity, considering that the Golden Pair practically had a permanent position on the team like himself. Of course, Fuji would stay on the team. He wasn't the third best player on their team in name only. Now... He had noticed that Kawamura was being extremely zealous with his training of late, and he suspected that it was just about time for him to make a spectacular comeback.
The first years were all going to be scared out of their wits by the power player, but it was for the best of the team, he thought.
This meant that he would win the bet.
He had wagered on Momoshiro and Kaidou, when the cut came for the regulars. The way the blocks had been rigged meant that either Momoshiro or Kawamura would be going -- it was a pity they hadn't known it when they had laid their bets.
Fuji had chosen Inui instead of Kaidou, for some peculiar reason he refused to name. He was sure that he would win, all the same. Although the prodigy was pretty good at outguessing him, there were occasions where he slipped, and Atobe had the gut feeling that this would be one of those times. It would be such a pity to drop Inui from the team, especially with the tournaments drawing near. Inui was a purposely neutral player on all accounts-- not that it was a bad thing, since they do need people around to see what was happening for themselves and not through the tinted visions of the respective biased members.
Atobe didn't mind if people were to accuse him of being proud and disgustingly selfish.
He knew that there were grains of truth in those accusations. What he didn't like was when people automatically assumed Tezuka to be good in response to his bad. That would be called stereotyping. Everyone was often so blinded by their captain that none of them ever dared to think that the other was wrong. It made him all the more gleeful to see Tezuka make the decision of putting Ryoma into the ranking matches and bearing the prejudice of everyone who thought that it wasn't fair. Admittedly, Tezuka had done the right thing, since the value of talent within their team was something everyone wanted desperately.
They were due for the nationals this time, he was sure. Ever since what happened last year at the Kantou finals-- no. Just thinking about it made him uneasy. He didn't believe as much in luck as he did in skill, but there were occasions where he realized that mentioning certain things made the probability of their occurrence increase.
And the last thing they needed at hand now was a replay of last year's incident.
"What do you think, Syuusuke?" Atobe reclined in his seat by the board holding the results of the ranking matches, then stretched. "I think the year one brat is doing pretty well within his block."
Fuji smiled, peering at the results almost shortsightedly. "Hmmn... He's due for his match against Inui later in the afternoon."
The diva only did a cursory glance. "He did a good job of wiping the courts with those second years' asses. They needed that wake-up call."
The fair-haired one tilted his head to one side and gave Atobe an amused grin. "Talking about that-- don't you have a game now?"
He smiled slightly, though in truth he wasn't amused. Having to play against inferior players to keep his rank was boring, but later he would be going up against Momoshiro and Kawamura, and he knew that defeating them would be a bit bitter, since Tezuka had set him up. He'd be taking out two of his own favorites. Why couldn't he be in a block with Oishi, Kaidou or Kikumaru?
Oh, no. Tezuka had no ulterior motives whatsoever.
It was those little sly slights that made Atobe really dislike the captain. Politics. Power. Tezuka had them, and he used them in subtle ways to undermine Atobe. He wasn't even sure if Tezuka was doing it consciously or not, but the supposedly impartial captain had definitely gained a dislike toward those who supported Atobe over him. It was natural enough - and frankly a relief that there was a sign that Tezuka was human - but Atobe wished others would notice.
Atobe didn't let any of his disgust show as he rose to his feet, grabbing his bag. Instead he fixed the smirk that everyone expected from him on his lips, and gave Fuji a mocking bow. "Are you coming to watch my magnificence?" Defeating an unranked second year wouldn't be a challenge, but having an audience might make it more amusing.
Fuji gave it a second's thought before shaking his head. "I'm going to watch Echizen's match. If he defeats Inui, he'll be as good as guaranteed a spot on the regulars, since he took Kaidou out this morning."
Atobe smirked a bit. "Looks like I'm right about Kaidou," he said, referring to their bet.
"Inui will be a larger hurdle. He watched Echizen play Kaidou..." Fuji said, trailing off, the implication clear.
"Interesting. Almost makes me wish I wasn't playing. Let me know what you think, won't you?"
Fuji just gave him an inscrutable smile. "Maybe."
Atobe heaved a melodramatic sigh. "Why do I put up with you?"
"Because we look so good together?"
That startled a laugh from the diva, who headed over to B court. Despite his inner dissatisfaction, when he stepped onto the court, all of it melted away, and he felt the thrill he knew only when he was playing tennis. His opponent, a second year who favored Tezuka, trembled when Atobe smiled at him.
"Fifteen minutes," he promised. "I have another game I want to watch." He heard a few comments from the other boy's friends about his arrogance, but he knew he was only stating facts. The screams he got from those who adored him, impressed by his confidence, more than made up for it. He heard a female voice asking "Inoue-senpai" about him, and recognized the name of the Tennis Weekly Magazine reporter who hung around junior high schools, trying to find the next rising star.
"That's Atobe Keigo. He's one of the top players here, maybe the best player Seigaku has," said the half-remembered voice.
"Isn't that Tezuka-kun?" the woman asked, sounding curious.
"No one knows. He and Tezuka keep switching the singles one and two slots, so it's anyone's guess who's better."
He smiled, turning around to see a pretty woman in her twenties standing by the reporter who had interviewed him last year after he and Tezuka had been named for the Junior Selection Camp. "I'll tell you right now -- I'm better. Never forget that."
"Ohh!" The female reporter appeared to be honestly surprised by his direct admission of skill. She turned to her senior almost immediately. "He's certainly confident for such a young boy, Inoue-senpai! Listen to the way he talks!"
Satisfied that he had made his point, he turned back to his reluctant opponent on the court, tilting his head to one side as he contemplated the other boy's obvious nervousness and tension.
"If you're really worried about wasting your time on this court - since it is kind of obvious that there are far more interesting matches being held elsewhere - I can make it within ten, I believe." He smirked again, and stopped himself from rolling his eyes when the younger boy rose to his bait almost immediately.
"I will not give up now!"
How boring. And kind of pathetic too, since it was obvious that he was going to thrash the other totally.
"Good." He shrugged almost nonchalantly, raising his racket. "Shall we begin then?"
The match proceeded as he predicted, and he kept his promise, ending it within fifteen minutes. The roaring cheers surrounding him when he was done felt satisfying, and he wandered away from the court before some of his fans or the two reporters could accost him and delay him from arriving in court D before the match there ended. He came to a stop beside Fuji, who was frowning slightly in concentration, an unusual sight.
"How's it so far?"
Fuji turned to regard Atobe with a faint smile. "It doesn't look too good for Echizen. Inui is doing a good job at predicting his moves. You can see that he's getting increasingly agitated."
"Indeed," the diva kept his eyes trained on the two boys moving rapidly on the courts, and raised an eyebrow when he saw Ryoma pause in between serves as if to consider something. "Nothing's sailing smooth for him, then. That should teach him something. Inui must have been a bad surprise to him... kind of like food poisoning, I believe."
There was a soft chuckle from Fuji. "Maa, that sounds cruel, Keigo-chan."
He shrugged, amused at his own joke. "I find it oddly true. Don't you?"
"Well..."
He glanced over at the prodigy, who had regained half a smile in amusement. He gave an answering smirk in return. "I think this boy is doing a good job at impressing his seniors. It's a pity that he still doesn't recognize the need to be a little more... humble in his attempts to play against us. If he had been a little more polite, I might even consider his request, but I believe that it would be a waste of my time, actually."
Fuji only smiled, almost kindly. "Saa... he's doing pretty well at impressing the other regulars, though."
"He would have to do so if he wants to get onto the team." Atobe glanced over at Inui again, who was unruffled by his opponent in the least bit. "And he's trying hard, at least. That's some saving grace. Inui intimidates his opponents far too easily and the way he's still unafraid despite having all his moves known says quite a lot about the brat."
"You sound as if you're warming up to him, Keigo-chan." Fuji's light, teasing tone was something the older boy had long since grown used to.
"His attitude is better than another left handed player I can name," Atobe said.
"I wonder what our esteemed buchou is making of this?" Fuji asked, watching as Ryoma proclaimed that he was going onto the Nationals. Nearby, the female reporter squealed in delight, apparently thrilled in the display of confidence.
"He's probably having some bad flashbacks to our last match," Atobe said, turning his head slightly to see Tezuka standing twenty feet away, with Oishi at his side.
"Hmm... he is rather like you, isn't he?" Fuji mused, watching as the boy began to bounce.
"He's got a ways to go, but the raw material is there. This should be good," Atobe admitted, watching the first year unveil his specialty, the split step.
Ryoma managed to quickly turn the game around, undermining Inui's data by providing it as they went - and Inui simply didn't have enough skill to keep up with him. It was amusing, and Atobe liked the style.
In a few years, the boy might approach his level. It was interesting, since it'd be fun to have a rival who actually understood about more than the bare bones of tennis, who understood that attitude was part of the game. But that was a few years off. Atobe watched, and saw places where he'd be able to take the first year apart. He'd be fun to play with later, but it wasn't time. Yawning delicately, he covered his mouth as Ryoma managed to tie the score. "I'm going to go take a shower before everyone else decides they need to get in my way."
"Aren't you going to watch till the end?" Fuji asked, his eyes still riveted as Inui took the next serve.
"I know how it's going to end. I think the final match between Kaidou and Inui will be interesting - you might just be right about Mr. Data," Atobe conceded. "But I'm right about two players being gone."
"I just can't win sometimes," Fuji said easily. "Make sure you don't spray your cologne too heavily - I think Tezuka's allergic."
"Would I do that?"
Ryuuzaki Sumire stared at the results of the ranking tournaments, feeling a serious headache coming on. She hadn't been anticipating Inui losing, and without his careful neutrality, she was seriously worried about what would happen to the team. Reaching into her desk drawer, she drew out a bottle of aspirin and swallowed four dry, trying to ward off a migraine. Ever since Atobe and Tezuka had entered her club, she had taken to keeping an industrial size bottle on hand, knowing that she'd need it.
The slights, the power ploys, the small fights were getting old. Apparently the club members agreed, because recently things had escalated into actual fistfights, and she had no clue how to stop it. Tezuka was a good captain, and provided good leadership, but the fact that he couldn't get respect from half of his regulars meant that situations were constantly simmering.
It would be easy to blame Atobe, with his flashy personality, but she knew he did much to keep those who followed him in line, and never sanctioned violence. The problem lay in the fact that the two personalities were just too strong to exist in the same atmosphere without clashing.
They SHOULD have learned how to get along for the good of the club, but it hadn't happened. Instead, the wary truce the two danced around was tentative and constantly being pushed by members like Fuji, who seemed to delight in riling people up just to watch their reactions.
Actually, thinking about Fuji made her want to take another pill.
Sometimes she wondered if things would have been better with Atobe as captain. Tezuka most likely would have had the grace to accept the vice captain position, and that might have healed the breached...
And that idea made her laugh, hard. The idea of those two working together for any length of time was enough to send her into hysterics.
One of these days, she was going to start becoming senile long before her years and she would have her boys to thank for that. Totally. If Tezuka and Atobe had never appeared... admittedly, she appreciated talent of their sort. In the same way she appreciated having the privilege to train Echizen Nanjirou, having Atobe and Tezuka under her wings was something she found great pride in.
It was just that... the two boys clashed in ways nobody would believe.
They were worse than countries waging wars on each other, setting out to make the other's life as miserable as possible at all times. Many would comment that it was below Tezuka to do anything of that sort, but she could see the boys for what they were. They were still boys in all respects, and rivalry between boys was something she had grown old watching over the years. On the courts and off, there were reasons why those two boys appeared to hate each other's guts. Now, if only she could make them cooperate...
The thought made her laugh again, more than slightly loud this time. The other teachers in the room gave her worried glances.
Maybe Ryoma would fill in the space Inui emptied with his disappearance from the regulars. As far as she could see, Ryoma had yet to pick a side, and some would even say that he was someone who walked his own path-- a 'my pace' kind of person. He would do some good for the team, she hoped. This was the third year since Atobe and Tezuka entered Seigaku, and it would be kind of sad if they left school holding the same grudges they had since they were first year students.
"Ryuzaki-sensei," Inui's polite tone alerted her of the data tennis player's presence, and she nodded, waving him in. "I wonder if I can actually take on the role of the manager while I'm not on the team?"
She stared at him briefly, wondering about his request. Inui must have taken his defeat from both Ryoma and Kaidou hard, and she could see that he had something up his sleeve with that request. Regardless, she knew that it would be useless to let her ex-regular members sit around waiting for the next set of ranking matches.
If Inui wanted to occupy himself by coming up with a totally tailored training schedule for the regulars, why not?
Maybe it would help her lessen her burden, as there would now be someone else to watch over the regulars when she was busy. And Inui's neutral standpoint for the two power welders of their team would help him in enforcing a stringent and fair training schedule, she was sure. If it had been anyone else, she couldn't be sure if that person would seek to be totally fair in administrating punishments.
"Yes, I think it is a good idea. Do you have your training schedules done? Maybe I can take a look before you start enforcing them." She leaned over, peering at the sheet of paper Inui handed over with a wide smile.
Scanning through the list of training exercises and diet plans, she stopped at the section labelled 'Punishment' with surprise.
"Inui," Ryuzaki began carefully, staring at one of the labelled items. "What is this... 'Penal-Tea' you're making them drink for punishment?"
End: Chapter 3