Prince of Tennis: College Reunion
Okay… so we're going back to first person again. I may switch to a different person's POV or a third person later in the chapter, we'll see.
Oh, before I forget! How well do you know your Prince of Tennis? And I'm not just talking the anime or the shows. I'm saying how well do you know ALL of the fandom? Well here's a bit of a test: see if you can find any familiar names in this chapter. If you can find them, that's great. If you know who they are, that's even better!
Normal disclaimers apply: do not own Prince of Tennis, slight Golden Pair fluff, angst, and eventual disturbing imagery.
Prince of Tennis: Forgotten Memories
Chapter Four – Figuring Out
It had been two days since the incident at my apartment. It made me more self-conscious of my classes and the people around me. I had started noticing them more. I could actually see my former teammates in classes that I took. I saw them watching me, making me feel uneasy.
But today I missed all my classes. I didn't go because I wanted to watch. I did it with every time I knew there was a match. Ryuuzaki-sensei let me know when the next matches would be for Seigaku – my middle school.
Our middle school.
I couldn't help but want to go watch. It was that part of me deep inside that made me want to see, made me watch. It pained me to watch my former school's team – not that they didn't win, but that I couldn't play anymore. It made me want to play, but when I touched a racket the results weren't good. I panicked and I… I would go into a state that I didn't like.
I watched as the new team played with such skill. It was amazing how much they seemed to mimic the team I was on. It was almost uncanny as to their similarities.
Their captain – Yuu Takigawa – was strangely enough like Tezuka-bucho. So much so that the Zero-Shiki Drop Shot and the Tezuka Zone were the only things that he needed to be the bucho. He was everything like our bucho, even the way he presented himself – stoic and quiet.
Their fukobucho of Yuichi Suzuki appeared to be almost a mirror image of Oishi. He was one half of the current Segaku "Golden Pair" and the play maker. He stayed back and took control. He set the pace and it was usually a good one for his partner.
Prodigy Hiroki Furukawa was much like Fujiko. You could never guess his next move. If someone on his team was hurt and there was a player who held the style that could cause pain, he'd attack that player for all it was worth. The phrase "payback's a bitch" meant nothing in that he could make every play an ace if he wanted to – a hell on earth for any player.
Data Tennis was Hirofumi Aoyama's style. He emulated Inui almost to a degree that was beyond scary. I though I was looking right at my former teammate when I met him once. He was very calculating, extremely cool and only panicked if something didn't go his way. I was just glad that that he didn't try to poison his teammates by having them drink concoctions that only he would drink as punishment.
There was the nearly snake-like Naoya Kujirai. He wasn't called Viper like Kaidou. No, he was the Cobra. He held a move that he thought only he could do – much like Kaidou. Very quiet and didn't really talk all that much. He didn't hiss as much as Kaidou, but he did do it sometimes.
Taka-san's Mini-Me was named Hiro Kotani. He was shy, almost timid… Well, when he didn't have a racket in his hand. He changed just as quickly as Taka and had just as much attitude. And he had the powerful swing to back it up completely. It made me laugh a little at the memory.
Momo's double was loud as ever. Tetsuya Kaji had just as much power and lack of form that his former had. Yet I had watched him evolve just like counter part and he had actually accepted help and became more of a team player. He did it much faster than Momo-san.
Ochibi's double was… Well, he was another Ochibi in training. His name was Kotaro Sakurada and he had the attitude. He was silent most of the time, but held a presence much like his bucho's. There'd been rumors of him going pro, but I was waiting to see what would happen.
Then there was my Mini-Me. Kyousuke Adachi was very acrobatic, moreso than I ever was. He could do tricks the like Gakuto-san would be proud of. He kept them at a minimum, knowing his partner well enough to do such things. He was a net player and a good one at that. He was the other half of the current Seigaku "Golden Pair." Once or twice I had actually seen them reach synchro and it was… amazing.
I had met them all thanks to Ryuuzaki-sensei. It was good to meet the new regulars. They were all very friendly in their own way. I knew the ways of each member just from looking at them and knew how to react to them. They were every bit like us.
Now I watched them as they performed on the court. It brought back memories of playing back at Seigaku. I knew that I smiled when I saw them play. It made me feel like I was back on the courts, like I could put myself in Ada-kun's place and just play. Oh how I wished I could be like that again.
"Kikumaru-kun, you look sad again."
Glancing up I saw Ryuuzaki-sensei standing in front of me. I tried to give her a smile, but she shook her head. She sat down next to me. "You don't have to lie to me, Eiji. I could see past it even when you tried to fake it when on the team."
I slumped my shoulders and looked at the ground. "I want to play again, Ryuuzaki-sensei," I heard myself say, "I want to so badly, but every time I've tried…"
I watched longingly at the match between the current Seigaku Golden Pair and Hyotei's team.
"Tezuka told me of the situation," she let me know. I let out a breath I didn't know that I was holding. She knew about it, about me.
"I can't even touch a racket… I haven't actually stepped on a court… in two years."
"What happened?"
"I don't know…" I answered her honestly, "I was about to play a practice match to get ready for the college team. I felt… weak… disoriented… I dropped my racket. I panicked, didn't know what was going on."
"Then what?"
"It happened every time after that. I couldn't touch the grip without freaking out, or whatever it was." I stared at my hands. "What happened to me? What made me like this?"
"Don't you remember what happened after nationals?"
I was shaking. I could see my legs moving and arms shivering. It couldn't happen, not there. I couldn't let it happen at my former school's matches. I wouldn't allow myself to.
"No." I heard my own voice crack. "I went onto a court with Oishi to practice doubles with Gakuto and Ooshitari and next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital with pain all over."
"Eiji, you can't always rely on people to help you remember everything," Ryuuzaki-sensei told me, "All of us will be here for you if you need to talk. I know for a fact that Fuji is-"
"I don't need a psychotherapist," I muttered. I knew what field Fuji was going into.
At my side I heard her sigh. "It's best you do something. Everyone is worried for you. Even the former teams of Rikkai and Hyotei have shown their concern for you."
The bench beside me moved and creaked. She had gotten up and went back toward the wall between her team and the courts. The new Golden Pair of Seigaku needed their coach. I didn't, couldn't ask for more help. I had already burdened everyone else enough.
Standing, I kept my gaze down. I walked up the steps to the main level. When I was close to the top I started to fall forward as my foot landed wrong on the edge of a step.
Flashes entered my mind. Arms strong enough to break my ribs... A wrong step that twisted my ankle... Landing in a way to sprain my wrist… My head hitting the edge of a step... Had… Had this been how I had gotten hurt nearly five years ago?
A hand grabbed my arm near my elbow. This gave me time to regain my footing. I stood there for a moment, the person still holding my arm as I tried to calm down from my adrenaline-induced panic attack. At least it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
"Are you alright?" I heard a soft voice ask me. I gazed up and saw a face that I never would have thought would be there.
"Yukimura-san…"
YUKIMURA POV
"Kikumaru-kun," I spoke softly. I had invited him to come to a café near the courts and he accepted. He was quiet and reserved. It was difficult to even see the once hyper acrobat from Seigaku.
"Yukimura, why did you ask me here?"
I sighed. He knew something was wrong. Rather, I wanted something of him. He almost always seemed to know.
"Kikumaru-" I started.
"Call me Eiji," he corrected me, "Everyone else does."
"Eiji-kun then," I restarted, "I want to help."
I stiffened as he spoke the words I dreaded hearing.
"Then tell me what happened."
My heart sank. I had still been recovering from my operation but I had been there to see the incident clearly. We had all feared for his safety as it happened. It was only supposed to be practice matches between the schools of Seigaku, Hyotei and Rikkai. Everything went wrong that day. All three teams of regulars had sworn not to speak of the incident to Eiji unless he remembered. All of us were men of our word.
No matter how much we wanted to break it to help him.
"I'm sorry, Eiji-kun," I spoke sadly, "I made a promise. You have to do this on your own."
"Then what help can you give me, nya?!" he almost yelled at me. I knew he didn't catch it, but I noticed. The Kikumaru-kun that had once been so prevalent was trying to come back. Old habits really did die hard.
"I can help in being one of several support pillars that you may have," I stated, "I will be here if you need and ear or a shoulder."
I glanced up, noticing a group of three young men enter. We knew them well, but I wouldn't tell Kikumaru-kun. I returned my attention to my current companion.
"…I can't even hold a racquet, let alone step on a court," he told me, staring at his white mocha, "I love tennis, Yuki-san. I want to play again, but when I do I freeze and panic. I've been like this for two years."
"Two years?" Had I heard that correctly? But that was… "Do you remember the day?"
"I can't forget the day I was forced to quit… It was my nineteenth birthday." His gaze was down and away from the table.
My eyes went wide. It had been… So that had been why they cancelled the celebration. "Eiji…" I heard myself say.
"I don't want pity," he said, standing. "I have to go finish watching Seigaku beat Hyotei for the sixth year. Excuse me." With that, he left.
"You can come over," I spoke, "As you can see, he's gone."
I heard the sound of light footsteps and chair movement. I kept my gaze on the coffee in front of me.
"What was said between you two?"
Looking up, my own eyes stared into brown. My heart constricted, knowing I'd have to tell them. "He wanted to know, Tezuka. I didn't tell him, as you saw. He's in mental pain right now."
"I know."
"No, you don't," I contradicted him, "He had to quit on his birthday, Tezuka. The day of Kikumaru-kun's birth and he had to end a rather promising career in tennis. It really did change him."
"I was the one who had to call everyone," Oishi's voice came, "I was the one to watch his fall from grace."
I nodded solemnly. "A fall from grace it was. I had never seen more graceful tennis played than when he played with the skills of an acrobat." I looked over to Atobe. "What's the latest news?"
"Ore-sama hates to be the bearer of worse news, but…"
He revealed the morning's newspaper to us. It was the main headline on the front page. It was hard to believe that it had actually happened.
The headline read "Tennis Attacker Escapes Prison."
