Chapter 7

"Seikagu wins, 4 games to 1!" the referee said.

It irked Atobe, really, to hear the match count as the players stood lined up by the net to bow to their opponents. He frowned as he politely inclined his head, feeling Tezuka's presence beside him. He was always aware of the other boy, and this time he could practically feel the humiliation radiating off him. He felt it to. Of course he did.

How the hell could he lose? Next to him, Tezuka had to be sharing a similar train of thought.

Atobe glanced over at Momoshiro, who stood to his other side. Amazingly, Momoshiro and Echizen had won, which was just rubbing salt on the wound.

Why the hell didn't we think of drawing a line down the center of the court? he wondered.

The Gyukurin doubles two pair were the only ones on the opposing team that seemed at all happy, and it wasn't a surprise. Even though they had been eliminated, their reputations had just been made.

"If you ever want to play a real man's game, we're play on the street tennis court," Izumi said to Atobe, giving him a wide smile. "I think giving you another lesson would be fun, Atobe-sama."

The voice was way too disrespectful, and Atobe glared at him. "Doubles is for those who can't rely on their own strength."

From down the line, he heard Kikumaru begin to protest quite loudly that Atobe was a complete idiot.

Izumi just smirked. "Is that so? Then how come you lost?"

Atobe opened his mouth for another ripping retort, but Izumi was already leaving. "Maybe I should make it a career - teaching Seigaku players how to play doubles. Your doubles teams suck. Splitting the court down the middle? Ridiculous. And watching you and Tezuka was something I could have sold tickets to for a comedy show," he called over his shoulder.

Atobe fumed. "How dare-"

"He did have a point," a soft, familiar voice said in his ear. "It was quite amusing." Fuji, of course, coming to put his two cents in.

"I'm not in the mood right now, Syuusuke," Atobe warned. "Tezuka, it was your serve they broke. How the hell could you let them do that?"

Tezuka, still standing close by, crossed his arms over his chest. "It takes two to screw up a doubles match, as I think we aptly demonstrated," he retorted.

"Yeah!" Kikumaru inserted, coming over to Tezuka's side. "You need to learn where the hell you should be! If you had been in position, half of those shots wouldn't have gotten through."

"And the other half wouldn't have gotten through if Tezuka had been playing his role," Fuji retorted sweetly.

Kikumaru glared at his classmate. The two usually avoided outright confrontations in the Tezuka/Atobe war, but when they clashed, it tended to be nasty. Fuji rarely incited, but when he did, people tended to remember it.

Oishi, ever the peacemaker, put a calming hand on his partner's shoulder. "It's neither of their fault. They just don't know how to play doubles. Some people just aren't good at it." His words, intended to sooth, had the opposite effect.

"Are you implying I'm not good at something?" Atobe hissed angrily.

Tezuka didn't say anything, but his eyes narrowed slightly, apparently offended as well.

The peacemaker of their team raised his hands in a request for peace. "What I actually mea-"

"Is we aren't gifted at doubles." The flat stare Atobe gave Oishi would have frightened the hell out of anyone who didn't know him well.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Oishi knew him well enough to cringe and wilt slightly under the glare before straightening himself in indignant anger. The vice-captain frowned deeply. "It isn't as if-"

"I think that's quite enough, Oishi." Tezuka's cold, slightly stiff voice was something which only his best friend could recognise in an instance.

Kikumaru frowned. "Anyway! It isn't Tezuka's fault if-"

"Kikumaru, you too." Tezuka's low, commanding voice made the hyperactive half of the Golden Pair pause in mid-sentence, mouth opened and a hesitant look slowly dawning on his face.

Atobe was already in the last stages of reaching total anger and he glared at anyone who so much as dared to look in his direction. It was effective until he hit Fuji, who let the look slide off him in the same way dogs shake off water from their coats. He had long since realised that it was difficult to try and pin someone with his stare when said person didn't have his eyes open. No staring matches could happen. One of these days, he would give Fuji his trademark 'Atobe Glare'. The one that made first year students look like they had stepped on the tail of a sleeping dragon and were regretting not clubbing it to death when they had the chance to.

"Saa, practice makes perfect, ne?"

The diva glared at Fuji some more, feeling extremely put upon. People simply did not insult him in the public with so many of his teammates and supporters staring. Not only had it been an unpalatable loss that day, he was sure that his reputation would be totally sullied in the rumour mills by morning.

Tezuka turned to their coach with what Atobe would call his constipated look. "Ryuuzaki-sensei, I'm-"

She sighed deeply. "I think that should be enough. Tezuka, Atobe... I didn't think placing the two of you in doubles would be a good choice, but I was hoping that you would prove me wrong."

At this, Atobe turned to regard her with a fierce frown. "I-we can do it! We just-"

"We'll need to practice more, Ryuuzaki-sensei," Tezuka sounded as if he was politely suggesting to her to take his advice into serious account. "Simply throwing us on the courts and asking the both of us to play doubles is a poor strategy. As good as we are at singles, the differences between doubles and singles tennis are still many and varied."

The other star player of their team turned to glare at the captain. "Can't you let me finish saying what I want to-"

"I see nothing wrong in-"

"Boys!"

There was an amused grin on Fuji's face. Atobe scowled darkly at his best friend, the look he shot him promising much revenge for his terrible attitude at a later time.

Ryuuzaki crossed her arms over her chest, praying for patience. She was just about ready to take the two and smack them upside the head. "I am not stupid enough to let you humiliate yourselves like that again. We still have two more games today, and if you're not careful, I'll put you both on reserves and call out one of the other team members."

Everyone blinked, amazed that she was threatening to bench both her best players. No one had thought she was that mad.

"We'll be playing Kakinoke after lunch, so I want everyone to think and regroup. Okay?"

"No, Ryuuzaki-sensei," a voice said, cutting through.

Everyone turned to see Inui, standing there with his pen and paper. Click, click, click... He fiddled with the pen, pushing it up and down, extending and retracting the ballpoint.

"What is it, Inui?" she asked curiously. "Are you saying I should let these two idiots play together again?" It was a sign of how annoyed she was with Tezuka and Atobe that she was insulting them in public. Usually she left her "cute" nicknames to Nanjirou or Momoshiro, people whose personalities grated on her nerves.

Tezuka and Atobe twitched in unison, for once synchronized. Fuji put a restraining hand on Atobe's arm, reminding him to keep quiet.

"Kakinoke was defeated... by Fudomine. We play them in the finals."

It was Atobe who asked the question that was on everyone's minds. "Fudomine? Who the hell are they?"

Inui had the answer ready.

"I went to scout out Fudomine's match," Inui began, his prized notebook tucked securely underneath his arm. "They're now a completely different team from last year's Fudomine. All of their current members are new regulars, except for the third year captain. The key factor of their success is the masterful leadership of their captain, Tachibana Kippei. Also, the six unknown second year members beat Kakinoki in straight sets."

Atobe raised an eyebrow. "Straight sets? Is Fudomine really that fantastic a team or has Kakinoki actually regressed, Inui?"

"According to what I can see, and comparing it to my data, Kakinoki actually improved, as compared to last year. Fudomine, however..."

"Hmmn," Fuji tilted his head to one side, chin propped in his right hand. "This looks interesting."

"We'll never lose!" A first year member's loudmouthed comment caught the regulars' attention.

Atobe turned to stare at the first year boy who had decided to attach himself to his side since the day he entered the club.

"We can't possibly lose to an unseeded beginner! We're Seigaku!" The annoying first year continued as if he was a member of the regulars and not just a normal club member. "We-"

"Horio!" A tall, gangly boy standing next to the noisy one shook his shoulder hard.

The boy called Horio was about to continue talking when he glanced up and noticed something in the background, causing his jaw to fall open ungracefully in shock. Atobe glanced up, and finally noticed what had caused the alarm in the two first year students.

The Fudomine team stood just a little further away, every single member carrying a look of pride on their faces.

"Now isn't this Fudomine?" The diva smirked.

The boy standing in front of the rest of the team stepped forward with a somber look. That was followed by a brief staring match between him and Tezuka, while both boys appeared to gauge the other.

"I'm Captain Tachibana from Fudomine." The other boy finally spoke, extending a hand at the same time.

Tezuka took his hand without any hesitation. "I'm Tezuka. Captain of Seigaku."

"Let's have a good game later."

"Ahh," Tezuka nodded, releasing the other's hand. "Sure."

Atobe smirked. "Of course we're going to have a good game."

This effectively turned everyone's attention to him. Exactly what he wanted. Perfect. Atobe caught Oishi frowning from the corner of his eyes, and Tezuka's features tightened in what he knew was the only telltale sign of the other's irritation at his impromptu behavior.

"I'm Atobe Keigo."

There was a brief moment where the Tachibana's eyes widened. One of the second year students behind him moved forward but was stopped by another.

"Nice to meet you." Tachibana gave Atobe and Tezuka both a brief nod before he started moving off, leading his team towards the tennis court they were supposed to meet at later.

Atobe narrowed his eyes at the other's obvious display of nonchalance, then shrugged. The other had already showed signs of recognizing him. It was a pity that he was cowed enough by Atobe's mere presence that he had to be nonchalant about it rather than awed at seeing his greatness in person.

Ryuuzaki stared at the boys who were stood in a semi-circle around her, waiting to hear what she had decided for the line-up. She had learned her lesson from the first game, knowing that another punishing loss would do little for Seigaku's moral. That meant...

"Okay, everyone! Doubles 2, Momoshiro-Kaidou! Disappoint me, and you're doing fifty laps!" She paused for a second, knowing that the two were going to throw a fit, and she was right.

"Doubles -- with him?" Momoshiro asked immediately, jumping back from where Kaidou was hissing in disgust from across the circle.

"I don't have many options, Momoshiro. I'm not letting Echizen play after that last debatable," she said, dropping a disapproving frown on the first year, who merely "che'd" as he pulled his brim down lower. "Doubles one, Oishi-Kikumaru. Show people what Seigaku's doubles really are!"

The Golden pair grinned at each other, bumping fists in triumph. Kikumaru was itching to play after sitting on reserves.

"Singles Three, Fuji. Singles Two, Atobe. Singles One, Tezuka. Show me your best games."

Atobe was, as always, torn when he heard that he was in singles two. It was something that was thrilling, to know he'd be more likely to play, but singles one was a more prestigious place. It was probably why Ryuuzaki kept switching him and Tezuka back and forth, to keep their carefully cultivated truce in tact. It was such a pity she just didn't acknowledge he was better, and ask him what he preferred.

Ryoma, though, looked extremely put out, annoyed over the fact that he would be on reserve.

Tough, chibi, Atobe thought. Seigaku fields the best Singles line up in the nation, so you'd better work on your doubles game.

Glancing over at Momoshiro and Kaidou, he almost sighed. The two were in each other's faces, threatening about what would happen if the other screwed up. It was giving Atobe a headache.

"Are you okay, Atobe?" a concerned voice asked.

Kawamura, of course, Atobe thought. His classmate was always so empathetic.

"Looks like I'm going to get to play," he said, nodding toward Kaidou, who was being pulled away from Momoshiro by Oishi and Inui. "That pair isn't going to work at all." He rubbed the center of his forehead, wishing he had thought to taken something for it. Frowning wasn't anything he'd give them the satisfaction of seeing.

"Well..." Kawamura was hesitant to say anything nasty about anyone, but he knew as well as Atobe that Momoshiro and Kaidou got along like oil and water. Nervously twitching his hands, he changed the subject. "Your head is bothering you, isn't it? Can I get you something?"

Atobe smiled at him, satisfied that Kawamura was as he always was -- painfully eager to please. It was such a nice change from all the idiots he had to put up with. "Something to drink. Money's in my bag, in the usual place."

"Sure thing. Your usual?"

"Of course."

Kawamura pressed a hand on Atobe's arm in a fashion that only he'd be allowed to get away with. There was nothing invasive about his touch, merely friendship which Atobe understood was important to the usually shy boy. "How about you and Fuji come over to my restaurant after for a victory celebration?" he asked.

Atobe saw the question being asked through Kawamura's offer. "Of course we're going to win. Doubles 2 is a write off, but we should win everything else," he said confidently. "Of course, we'll come after. My driver can bring us -- but we're not getting into any wasabi eating contests with Fuji." He shuddered, remembering the one time the tensai had talked him into that. He seriously wondered if Fuji had any taste buds.

Kawamura's smile was as brilliant as the amused laugh he released, and Atobe wished that the power player hadn't been ousted from the team. He would have been a good doubles player, able work with the others had they been able to realize that his "burning!" persona wasn't the real Kawamura.

There were a few special people in his life-- people like Fuji and Kawamura, people who shone bright and caught his eyes. Those, he would treasure, but it was something they might never discover in their entire lifetime. He suspected that Fuji knew, because Fuji was sly and clever in his little ways, but Kawamura was a different issue. Kawamura was an honest boy, and he was smart, because he saw in Atobe what others had obviously missed.

He wasn't trying to think good of himself here, even though he did that often enough. It was true. Kawamura had a special talent, and it enabled him to see things in people others chose to either overlook or deigned to notice. Atobe knew what talent he possessed was something which very few people would want to admire openly, since he was flamboyant in his ways.

But Kawamura wasn't afraid to admit it, and neither was he afraid to support Atobe. It was this thing... this courage and belief he saw in the other boy on the first day they met in the class they shared.

Fuji was his best friend because he chose to follow Atobe, and he amused the diva on several different levels. Kawamura was a friend because he followed, but he wasn't stupidly following Atobe either. He was smart, kind and gentle. It would simply take a deeper look from other people to understand what lay underneath the two-sided personality.

What was true to Kawamura was something people overlooked easily, and that was their loss.

"Atobe," the kind and slightly nervous smile his friend offered him was a relief to look at, apart from Momoshiro and Kaidou's heated argument and sulky expressions. "Here's your drink. Are you feeling any better?"

He shook his head with a graceful smile, accepting the drink with a small nod. Being around Kawamura always made him feel better.

A voice piping through the loud speakers made any further comment unnecessary.

"We will now commence the match between Seishun Gakuen and Fudoumine Chu. Would the players please assemble on the courts?"

End: Chapter 7