A/N - Re-cap:
And standing there was Fuji Yumiko.
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"I-uh..." .
"Tai-kun....you...you're...." Her eyes were wide as she examined Taiya's longer hair and much more feminine figure. Taiya automatically drew the towel closer to herself; she couldn't exactly convince Yumiko that Taichi had man boobs—her brother would kill her for saying such a thing under his name.
"I'M SORRY FOR—"
"Ah...uh- Tai-kun, or Taiya-chan, please come to my room after you're done. I'm sure there's a reason to this," Yumiko said with a sweat drop on her head, cutting Taiya off her speech.
"Oh....hai," said Taiya awkwardly, feeling her trhoat relax at the use of her normal voice. Yumiko on the other hand seemed too stunned to continue, but for some reason, Taiya was quite sure she had a fleeting suspicion from the start.
After the bath, dressing and all, Taiya still forced her cap onto her head out of habit, and just in case that spark of hope inside doesn't die. Taiya approached the door of Fuji Yumiko, before raising her hand to knock on the door. But before she could the door opened, revealing a smiling Yumiko who standing there with an oddly calm expression. Taiya invited herself in and took the seat offered to her by Yumiko.
"So....you're a girl....Taiya....the one we met on the first day you moved in," she stated softly, closing her eyes, letting her hazel-coloured hair fall onto her shoulders.
Taiya nodded. Guilty conscious.
"Why...no, what are you actually doing?"
Taiya tried to open her mouth before closing it again. This action was repeated several times, like a goldfish out of water. Soon, she subconsciously wrapped her arms around her knees, stringing words together in her mind. It was the kind and caring (though sometimes surreptitiously evil) Yumiko of the Fuji family, who had treated her so well during her stay. She owed an explanation, at the very least. Still, she couldnt' believe she had let her guard down and was founded out almost immediately.
The Taiya began to speak. From her plans she had made in China, to her moving down to Japan, and then the whole ordeal in getting into the team.
"Why...why not the Girls team?"
"The teams aren't serious enough. I only heard that the male teams in Japan were to be noted, but the girls news weren't as prominent," explained Taiya, arms wrapped around her knees. "I needed to get away for a while. I....that is all I can fully say right now."
'Why isn't she telling everyone...?'
Suddenly, Taiya felt the bed underneath move a little and she looked up to see Yumiko standing, with a gentle smile on her face.
"That's alright, I can see it means a lot to you," Yumiko breathed out. "But...I'm not sure how Syusuke will take this."
"Uh, what do you mean?"
"Syusuke is....very strange—"
"I picked that up myself thanks."
"Yeah, well, though he is sadistic—"
"Sorry to interrupt, but he is much more than just sadistic."
"Ah, well, he likes being around others, despite how he is. And he cares about his friends, even though he likes to watch them suffer," Yumiko explained. Taiya sweat dropped.
'What a lovely way to be described by your older sister, ne, Fuji-san?'
"Well, all I'm saying is I don't know how Fuji'll take it. Even though I'm his sister....it's hard to pick things up from him, and see how he really is feeling."
An awkward silence filled the air as the two of them stared down at the sheets. Yumiko broke the silence, after coming to a conclusion.
"You still want it to be a secret right? I can't guarantee a lot, but I can try...help you get through this, okay?" Yumiko gave a small smile again, making Taiya do the same.
"It won't be long I promise! I will find the courage to tell them another time, when it's all over!"
"So, you don't really have a sister, do you?" said Yumiko, slightly amused. Taiya gave a small giggle.
"I AM the little sister. I'm acting as Sanzushi Taiya's twin brother, as funny as it sounds."
"Okay, so it's a secret then, until it's revealed."
"Thank you very much!"
----
Taiya woke up feeling like the claw of death just combed at her through her sleep.
Tomorrow was the District games
'I know how much you guys liked seeing me improve...although it's a little late for dad, since he's kinda....in a better place now. And I can go back to China and prove to all the people who looked down on me; I'm not going to be a disgrace to my dad at all.
'Brother...come down to see me.'
Taiya pulled herself from her sitting position to her standing position, before she dragged herself to the bathroom to get ready. The District, the Regionals....especially the Nationals. Taiya couldn't let her team down, of her father and brother down. She vowed that.
'Now, Taiya, mistakes are a part of life. Mistakes help you go onto the path called Success, giving you more experience every time. Learn from your mistakes, and build on your knowledge upon them. Do not feel sorry for yourself after a mistake, because what good would it do? You must always look forward, and never look back....'
'I promise to make you proud of the daughter you've got, dad...'
----
Taiya sprinted from her Maths class (her favourite class) to the change rooms. She made sure every single guy was out before she entered, or she can just imagine the things she would be known as by her friends and family.
Pervert.
Erotic girl.
Idiot.
Desperado.
After changing, she carried out the training schedule Inui had so kindly organised for her', the Smash Practice in a now-smaller basket, and relative jokes that earned all the Regular's laps.
"Then....see you again tomorrow!" remarked Taiya as she gave a light wave to her new team-mates.
Momoshiro waved before heading off to where-ever he goes, and Ryoma—Taiya already knew he can't be bothered bidding farewell most times. Tezuka, if you count an aa as a farewell, then she received a very good one from him. Taiya had left early, already telling Fuji that he would not need to wait for her to go home.
Fuji was just walking with the enthusiastic Eiji, chatting about toothpaste and such, before Eiji departed around the corner to his home.
Walking and enjoying the peace around him as usual, Fuji was thinking of one thing; how to scheme Taichi and possibly Taiya, his new neighbours. It would be fun. And Taichi seemed like a bottling-up person; ready to explode.
Then he could hear the faint sound of a tennis ball being hit, along with the shaking of a fence, which Fuji presumed was under attack by the ball.
He walked a little closer to investigate (more like get his camera ready to take pictures for blackmail if it was anyone there he knew doing something embarrassing) and saw someone familiar...
----
4-5 days left....4-5 more days before Taiya could escape the house of Fuji, with Fuji himself prowling around, sometimes scaring Taiya out of her mind and doing extremely random things. Like...
-
"Oh! Nearly finished this equation...." Taiya pressed her tongue against her teeth in concentration, trying to complete the difficult and VERY long mathematics problem (including a VERY long and difficult algebraic fraction—the longest one she had ever seen) from the top of her head while she wrote down her calculations on paper.
'Yes! I think I've got the idea of it—'
"Ah, let's have a look at what Taichi-kun is doing!" someone sang through her door, purposely altering the voice to match a baby's. She immediately got an anger mark, her fringe shadowing her eyes as the plain, grey lead pencil she held snapped.
'Shit! I lost it...because...of....'
"FUJI SYUSUKE!!"
-
Or the other time when....
-
Taiya was busily doing some homework before she yawned and rubbed her tired eyes behind the reading glasses she wore. Taiya stretched out her arms before...
"INUI JUICE!...is yum."
-CRASH-
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!! GET AWAY!!"
"I....sorry?"
"What kind of guy raises his voice right next to another guy's ear?!"
Taiya shuddered at the thought of herself in the future staying with Fuji Syusuke again if her mum went out for jobs. It was a simple scene:
Taiya, dead on the ground.
----
'Forehand...backhand...forehand...backhand...got to keep aiming right at the middle....'
-
"Taiya! Aim. For. The. Middle!"
"I'm trying!"
"As if! Come on, try harder! -sigh-. Maybe this is impossible for you; you started a lot later than dad and me."
"...."
"B-but! You can do it, because you are my sister and dad's daughter, right?"
"...I'll get better. Then...those people will shut up, right?"
"Right. Now continue target practice; being an expert at hitting with precision in motion will be your strength; use those legs to help!"
"Yes, brother."
-
'I was born with this weak, female body. I never had too much strength in tennis; nothing to be marveled at. And this is why I became a player that relied on my agility. Brother, you taught me how to use my quick legs to my advantage. For that, I thank you.
'But I won't thank you for being an ass all the time. Stupid brother.'
Sliding to the right and uplifting a lot of dirt from beneath her feet, Taiya brought her arm back and smoothly followed through the ball until it hit dead-middle of the target she had set on the fence.
'I wasn't good at training by myself with new things. So I mastered all the basics.'
She ended it with one more shot to the middle before it bounced back and got caught in her hand. Taiya wiped her forehead rid of sweat and took a swig from her water bottle.
"Ah, so I was right, it was you."
Taiya's eyes immediately opened as she nearly sprayed out the water in her mouth. Pulling a face of subtle disgust, she said, "Hey, Fuji-san. Or would you rather call me call you -chan," she replied quite irritably, a well-hidden mocking tone held in her voice.
"Well, above -san and -chan, I rather you call me -sama."
"Oh, shut up..." she muttered, slightly annoyed at his calm demeanor.
Taiya noticed Fuji was equipped with a racquet, and he had it behind his head, holding it above his shoulder. "Why are you here, Fuji?"
"Same as you; practicing. My, it looks like you were having fun, Tai-kun; may I join? Nice accuracy by the way."
Taiya gritted her teeth. "What's up with the -kun at the end of my name?! I'm not THAT much younger than you!" she pointed out, flapping her arms like a kid. Fuji gave a giggle.
"You're getting angry again, Tai-kun. Kun, kun, kun, kun, kun!" Taiya got a large anime-vein on the back of her head as was suddenly drawn chibi. 'This is the so called Tensai?!'
"Ah, whatever! I don't care no more, Fuji-chan. I'm gonna go run some laps, surprisingly," she hissed out irritably.
"You remind me so much of Kaidoh."
"I DON'T CARE NO MORE!!"
After they both satisfied themselves with their 'training' (including a very violent Taiya and amused Fuji who was dodging the many tennis balls served towards him with extra strength), they both sat on the bench, wiping perspiration off their foreheads with a towel and hydrating their bodies with new fluids.
"I never would have though the tennis tensai, Fuji Syusuke, is such a guy—holding a hobby to annoy new transfer students."
"Oh, am I bothering you? I can stop, if it causes you that much distress," said Fuji with an honest smile. Taiya just smiled to herself, shaking her head.
"I'll cope..." Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she started to make her way out of the courts. Tired and irritated with the ever-composed Fuji victimizing her, she decided it was the best course of action. But Fuji only smiled innocently before running after Taiya, walking along her left.
"Stop following me, Fuji-san."
"Ah, you have a short temper, Tai-kun!"
"You sometimes say my name as Tai, and I prefer it just as THAT, okay?!" From their first meeting to a little over 2 weeks, Fuji had changed from 'polite and awfully nice Fuji-san' to 'nice with a dash of sadism'. It was scary and rather unique; nobody could have pulled it off better than the popular Fuji Syusuke himself.
"I guess so. But it's fun because you get angry," he chuckled. Taiya was angrier at the fact she couldn't tell if he meant any ill-intention.
"I really have no time for this. The District Games are tomorrow...hopefully then I will see Fuji actually serious."
----
Taiya felt sick as she got up from her bed.
"Today's the day, huh...?" she murmured to herself.
She dressed in her usual attire, and walked out to the kitchen somewhat glumly, meeting Yoshiko, Fuji's mother at the sink.
"Good morning, Taichi-kun. Breakfast will be ready very soon, so just sit down and relax. I know it's a big day for you and Syusuke today. Good luck," she said, he eyes also closed in an everlasting smile just like Fuji's.
"Thank you."
Fuji walked out calmly, he in his uniform looking as normal as ever, with his usual gentle smile on.
Practicing and spending some time with Fuji Syusuke the night before actually made Taiya in awe at him. Even though he didn't do anything too flashy, she observed his fluent movement, his pinpoint accuracy and his marvelous tennis play. This thought made her even more excited to see him in a match.
'His name and Captain Tezuka's names had travelled to China. But of course, I didn't know them back then. Fuji Syusuke and Tezuka Kunimitsu, the two tennis geniuses of Seishun Gakuen,' Taiya thought in awe, glancing at the closed-eyed boy every once in a while, who was calmly eating his toast with an enjoyable expression.
'No...maybe in Japan.'
"I wonder what the matches will be like. Have you ever played in them, Fuji-san?" asked Taiya to the boy walking along side her. They were both setting out for the courts were the games were held.
"Hmm, yes, last year."
"How were they?"
Fuji looked up at the sky, finger on his chin as though he was thinking deeply about it. "Hmmm....." Then he put a finger up and said brightly, "Easy!"
"Never mind, I shouldn't have asked a tennis genius..."
"I'm not a genius—I'm just adaptable."
Suddenly, a red car rode along side before beeping the horn a few times. They both stared at the car, and the tainted windows rolled down to reveal Yumiko, as beautiful as ever, wearing a small smile.
"Syusuke, Tai-kun, do you want a ride?"
"Thank you, Yumiko-san/nee-san."
-
"We're gonna win this thing, eh, Echizen?" Momo said with a confident smile to the young freshman, who only lowered his cap and replied with a "Yes."
"Neh, Fuji, Tai~," The two mentioned turned and faced a bright Eiji, "Let's win this, nya?"
They both nodded solemnly.
-
Taiya felt really awkward as she strode along with the other Regulars, now known as her team-mates, through the crowds to the reception desk, and she could hear people mutter and talk behind all the Seigaku Regulars backs. Seigaku must be really famous, Taiya guessed...
Tezuka placed a clipboard with some papers inside onto the desk, looking as stoic as ever. Taiya gulped as she heard his few words, making her feel like she had butterflies in her stomach.
"Here are the registration applications for the nine Regular members of Seishun Gakuen Jr. High."
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