Kaidoh Kaoru

1. Tennis had started as a side project.

His initial sports passion had been running, and though he'd never officially taken it up through school, Kaidoh had begun training for marathons in his fifth year of elementary school. Joining the tennis team had really been done after his math teacher's pressuring, saying that he could succeed since he already had the endurance, and though he'd given in reluctantly at first his love for the sport had grown exponentially.

2. He was only friends with girls up until middle school.

And not even because he liked girls. In fact, he found them far too frilly and giggly for his own tastes. But they were less irritating than the guys, who always felt the need to instigate stupid conflicts. (Something he later found interest in, oddly enough.) The girls also tended to be brighter, especially at that age, where guys seemed to get progressively dumber as a lead-up to puberty, and so though Kaidoh didn't enjoy their constant presence it got the teachers off of his back about being social and kept him on the smarter side of the scale.

3. He loved animals because they loved unconditionally.

If you showed them the right kind of care they would come to you regardless of appearance. As long as you had a good heart, a kind personality, and a hand full of food, they didn't judge or run away, and Kaidoh cherished that above all else.

4. He'd started collecting bandanas in first grade.

His very first one was black with a white teardrop pattern, used to tie his abnormally long hair back from his face when he was playing outside. The girls he hung out with had giggled and fawned over the quickly developing habit and one holiday season he'd received a vast number of them. Before Kaidoh realized it, the bandanas had begun to pile up, and by the time he graduated high school he had a collection of well over 200 different bandanas that he rotated in and out depending on his mood and the season.

5. He really had no affinity for reptiles.

In fact, his nickname had been entirely fan-created, and his shots entirely fan-named. He was perfectly content just referring to his "snake" as a buggy-whip but then Eiji-senpai had jumped in, as had Inui-senpai, and suddenly his move had a name and it belonged to him along with the telltale "Mamushi" that he so despised. No matter how hard he'd tried to get rid of the nickname later in life, it never entirely left him and – even years later, when he had his own family and a nice, stable job – Momoshiro still made sure to address him by the despised name on yearly holiday card exchanges or in the few emails they wrote. Just for old times sake.

6. He and his brother rarely fought.

Though normal siblings, especially a pair of brother's so close in age, fought, there were very few times in their entire life that Kaidoh and Hazue had. Though only two years apart they were always courteous to each other and if one had a subject of disdain to bring up with the other they made sure to approach it with caution and present it in a respectable manner. Though no one seemed to believe this, it was true, and their respectable relationship continued through their entire life, including childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

7. He ironed his own clothes every morning.

It was something he'd learned from a young age simply out of interest. After all, he had always been taught looking presentable was nice and it was an easy connection that ironing clothes helped you look presentable. While his mother had helped him at first, by midway through elementary school he was ironing his own clothes every morning and the habit never ceased, even in adulthood.

Despite all of this, his mother still made his lunch every day of his K-12 career, and his wife after that.

8. He was a haphephobiac.

He knew it was an absolutely stupid thing to be afraid of, but for some unexplainable reason a large amount of anxiety plagued him whenever anyone clung to him. Small touches – bumps in the hall, a hand accidentally brushing past – he could stand, but the first time Eiji-senpai had glomped him and honestly clung, he had been half a second away from a full-blown panic attack in the middle of practice.

9. He'd stayed close to tennis.

Despite the fact that his career path had been another typical office-related job, Kaidoh had still managed to stay close to tennis. He was one of the only members of Seigaku to play seriously in University, and the only one who didn't go pro who still played after University. Though he didn't play every day he made sure to at least once a week, making friends with the owner of a nearby tennis club, and though the early-morning runs of his adolescence had been replaced by early-morning snuggles with his wife and two sons, Kaidoh never stopped playing.

10. His habit of always respecting those older than him had never been broken.

Though he had been told many times that an age difference of a year or two was not a big deal, even in the workplace, Kaidoh always bowed to his elders. He used the most respectful honorifics possible, and though it helped him gain respect there were some - mainly the younger generation, who didn't seem to understand the importance of proper politeness – who took it as a sign of weakness. Regardless, Kaidoh never broke the rule.

It was only after he had been directly told by an old acquaintance, in a more amused tone than anything that "these men are your elders by virtue of simply being older, but do you mean to bow your heads to them all your lives?" had he even considered changing.