Chapter 5 – Ii Data

"Kikumaru. Tezuka. Stay." Ryuzaki ordered hands on hips.

The Regulars started off towards the school building all mumbling curiously.

"What's going on Oishi Senpai?" Momoshiro asked confused.

The manager sighed and shrugged, "Let's just get to her office before she really gets mad." The boys quickly made their way into Ryuzaki's office and rushed to the window so they could see what was happening but to their dismay, the coach, their captain and the acrobatics player were no longer where they had left them.

"Everyone take a seat."

Seven head swiveled in surprised towards the door.

Eiji walked into the room with his head lowered and swiftly took a seat on the sofa, keeping his gaze to the floor the whole time.

Ryuzaki walked in followed by Tezuka. She went to her desk and leaned on the front as she waited for the regulars to have a seat somewhere in the room. She glanced to her side where Kunimitsu Tezuka was quietly standing. She wanted to sigh. She motioned for him to address his teammates instead.

Tezuka stepped forward.

A tense silence engulfed the room.

Eiji sniffed.

Suddenly Tezuka bowed, "Gomen ne everyone." He straightened, "The Nationals will be my final Tennis tournament."

A loud uproar of surprise filled the room.

"Tezuka!" Oishi exclaimed jumping to his feet.

"Take a seat Oishi." Ryuzaki sensei said with a sigh. She raised her hand as everyone began throwing questions at Tezuka or discussing the shock of the news, "Everyone quiet!"

When the regulars quieted, but continued to stare at their captain in shock Ryuzaki spoke again, "I think, Tezuka, everyone wants to know why you've made this choice."

Seven heads bounced up and down. The eighth head simply lowered his cap further over his eyes.

"I have decided to concentrate on school only from now on." Was the simple answer.

No one said a word.

Fuji's eyes snapped open briefly, but then closed again just as quickly. School? Doubtful.

Oishi slowly stood up. He looked straight at Tezuka a moment then turned to face his teammates, "This means it is even more vital that we win the Nationals everyone."

"Hai!" Takashi said shyly.

Inui opened his notebook, "Tezuka will be quitting tennis after nationals. I didn't expect this…" He mumbled to himself. He scratched the side of his head with the back end of his pen in confusion.

"Buchou…"Momoshiro whispered to himself.

"Quiet." Kaidoh hissed.

"Shut up Mamushi! I can say whatever I want."

"Stop being a baby!"

"Quiet!" Ryuzaki yelled angrily.

The room went silent.

Momoshiro gave a final elbow at Kaidoh who whacked him back.

"Stop now!"

The two teenagers froze.

"This is Tezuka's decision. You should all accept it and support him. The Nationals is our goal right now. Lets concentrate on that. We play tomorrow. Go home. Rest. Think Tennis." She tried to make eye contact with as many of them as she could. Only Kikumaru and Ryoma had their gazes lowered, "Everyone dismissed."

"Thank you!" They chorused and slowly got to their feet before sluggishly filing out of the room. Each of them giving their Buchou a questioning look as they passed him. The freshman was the last one to walk by. He paused in front of his captain and glanced up at him with cat like eyes, "Mada mada da ne." He said then turned and followed the other regulars out of the office.

Tezuka turned to follow the others out of the room.

"Tezuka."

The teenager stopped in his tracks and turned to the coach.

"Do you want to tell me anything?"

"No."

Ryuzaki nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

The teenager nodded and walked out of the room. Ryuzaki sighed.

Fuji watched as the regulars finished changing and slowly vacated the locker room until he and Tezuka was the only one left. Fuji sat already changed and turned to his friend who hauled his tennis bag over his shoulders along with his book bag.

"Not going to change?"

"No." Tezuka walked towards the door and waited for Fuji to step outside. He stepped out after him and pulled the door shut to lock it. When he turned and stepped down the step, Fuji was still there waiting for him.

He started towards home.

Fuji followed him.

To his surprise, when they reached the street where they were to separate, Tezuka simply turned down the street towards Fuji's home.

Tezuka stopped in front of the Tensai's home. He looked at it a split second then turned to Fuji. He gave him a nod of the head then turned and walked back down the street they had just come from.

Fuji watched him a moment then went up to his house.

Tomorrow… He'd have everything worked out for tomorrow…

He followed closely behind him into the quaint room, and before he cold react, the man had turned back and pushed the door shut.

He heard the soft click as the dead bolt of the lock slid into place. The sound seemed to be resonating in his ears. Tezuka wanted to shudder.

"Sensei?"

"Shh…" The man cooed and stepped towards him. His eyes shone and here was a smile on his face that made the teenager want to vomit.

He got closer to him.

"It's ok…" The man reached for him…

Tezuka bolted upright in his bed panting. He shut his eyes tightly and shook his head. He shook his head again as though he could shake the dream and the images and the feeling out of his mind. A slight mist of sweat covered his body making his nightshirt stick to his chest. He shivered and unconsciously began rubbing his arms.

An influx of images hit him once again and Tezuka grabbed at his head his fingers tangling into his ruffled hair. He wanted to yank it out as though that would get rid of the images.

He caved into himself, feeling dirty.

His eyes clamped shut so tightly his head was beginning to hurt. But the images and the contaminated feeling on his skin wouldn't go away.

The next morning, Tezuka stepped out of the house, his tennis bag over his shoulder.

"Ohayoo Tezuka."

The young captain looked up from locking the door to his house to see a smiling Tensai outside the gate."

He descended the stairs and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"Fuji."

"I thought we could go together."

Tezuka nodded and they started walking towards the bus stop.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Hn."

"Really?" Fuji's head tilted slightly, "I see circles under your eyes. His companion didn't say anything.

They arrived at the bus stop just in time as the green and white vehicle pulled up within moments. As expected at his hour, it was quite full. Fuji grabbed onto one of the dangling handles between a few passengers. When he was secured, he glanced back to see where Tezuka was. His friend was holding onto one of the handles, but it looked like he was about to consider letting it go. He was standing erect; tense. His usually soft brown eyes were shifting rapidly, taking in every movement around him.

Fuji's eyes opened.

Noticing only two men between them he shut his eyes again and smiled, "Excuse me. Would you mind switching places with me so that I can be with my school mate?" He asked the first man between them. With slight difficulty they managed to squeeze by each other. He asked the last person separating them the same thing and finally came to stand beside his friend.

"Tezuka."

The young captain's eyes came to rest on the familiar face.

Fuji smiled, "It's crowded ne?"

Tezuka's gaze took in his surroundings again.

"Ne Tezuka?"

Those shifting brown eyes settled on him again.

"Who trained you in Tennis when you were in Germany?"

The buchou looked away.

Those cerulean eyes revealed themselves again. Tezuka was avoiding eye contact with him?

"Tezuka."

"Are you ready?" Tezuka asked changing the subject.

Fuji was slightly taken aback by the question, "Of course. So who was your Tennis trainer?"

His friend turned to him, "Kudo Tetsu." then he turned and resumed watching all movement around him.

"Ne Tezuka, why didn't you tell us you were being trained by such a skilled Japanese player?"

Tezuka simply shrugged, "No one asked."

Fuji laughed lightly, "Of course." in the back of his mind, he made a note to himself to research Kudo Tetsu. From what he could recall though, Tetsu-sama was a picture perfect national player with no indiscretions having ever been associated with his name.

The bus came to a stop and Tezuka immediately made a move towards the door. Fuji rushed after him. He watched as the tension seemed to drain off of his friend's shoulders.

They walked towards the stadium and he noticed that the nearer they got to the entrance, that tension he had felt on the bus seemed to re-inhabit his friend's demeanour.

They entered the stadium and immediately saw Oishi, Eiji, Ryuzaki and Inui standing together talking.

"Ohayo!" Oishi called out waving to them.

Fuji smiled.

Tezuka nodded.

"Where are those boys?" Ryuzaki grumbled.

Fuji laughed lightly, "Things haven't changed."

"Oye you didn't have to scare them Mamushi! Ne Echizen?"

Everyone turned to the entrance to see Momoshiro, Kaidoh, Taka-san and Ryoma stroll into the building.

"Ne Echizen?"

"Don't involve me." Ryoma exclaimed quickening his pace.

Momoshiro turned to Taka, "You agree with me right Taka-san?"

"Uh... Well.."

"Hurry up!" Ryuzaki boomed out.

"See. Shut up already." Kaidoh hissed.

Momoshiro's face turned red, "Don't tell me to shut up!"

Kaidoh rolled his eyes and walked ahead.

Kawamura blushed and also hurried to meet with the others.

"Ugh!" Momo followed unhappily.

"Stop squabbling. We have more important things to do." Ryuzaki sensei scolded. Although annoyed she was happy that her athletes were still somewhat the same.

Now that she had everyone's attention she quickly read them the line up for their match.

That done, Inui suggested they go and scout one of the schools representing Hokkaido from which he had yet to collect data.

Tezuka stood slightly behind his eagerly watching teammates. His eyes were focused on the court but he was trying to blur all of it and imagine something entirely different. A book he had been reading. Something. Anything but tennis.

"I know you can hit harder than that Tezuka-kun.!" The man across the court called over as he returned the brown haired teens ball, "Harder!"

Tezuka willed all the strength in his body. He had to hit the ball harder. He reached back and swung his racket forward making contact with the ball he whacked it back over the net.

Out.

The man frown, "With control." He smiled, "That's one."

Tezuka's body went numb...

"Again!" The man called out and served the ball, barely giving Tezuka time to get his body back in a functioning mode.

The man seemed pleased when the ball went out of the teenager's reach, "Two."

Tezuka could feel his heart beat rise. He had to concentrate. He had too. Two... He swallowed... and got ready for the next serve. He could see the man watching him. Those sharp dark brown eyes. Even from here he remembered the hardness and sadistic laughter in them. He didn't notice the tremor that passed through him just as the man served.

He got ready to hit the ball...

"What do you think Tezuka?"

The young captain jerked to attention at the voice beside him.

Cerulean eyes studied him.

"Fuji."

The Tensai smiled and nodded, "So?"

Tezuka stared at him.

Fuji's eyes closed. Tezuka knew he had been caught, "I was asking you what you thought about the game."

"You're not really looking for an answer Fuji."

The Tensai shrugged and turned to the court again, "Did anyone else train you in Germany?"

Tezuka shut his eyes briefly. When he reopened them he stared blankly at the match taking place on the court, "You should be focusing on the Nationals Fuji." He exclaimed and turned and walked away.

Fuji turned his head and stared after him.

"Where's he going?" Oishi asked joining him.

Fuji shrugged and slipped his hands in his pocket before walking over to Inui.

Oishi sighed and watch his two friends walk in separate directions. What was going on?! He went back to where Eiji was hoping up and down.

The red head glanced at him, "What's wrong Oishi?"

"I just hope we win."

"We will."

Oishi smiled at the confidence in his friend's voice. It was reassuring.

"Inui."

"Fuji."

"Tell me about Kudo Tetsu"

"Kudo Tetsu?"

"Aa."

The data specialist pulled open his notebook and scribbled something down before turning to Fuji, "Tetsu-sama is a national level player. He's was the top player in Japan for four consecutive years. He has 23 different internet fan clubs, single although once rumoured to be dating a famous American actress, age 37 years, started playing tennis when he was 7 years old, won the world junior championships for youth at the age of nine, went on to win the junior national singles tournament at age 13, and became a professional 17 years. Has never been convicted of any crime, doesn't drink, smoke or take drugs, not to the public's knowledge anyway. He's idolized by young players and has been said to be the perfect athletic role model."

"I see."

Inui glanced at Fuji a moment, "Hmm." He scribbled in his notebook.

"Inui, would a team building exercise benefit Seigaku right now?" Fuji asked already knowing the answer.

"Team building? Of course."

"Then there will be a team sleep over tonight at my house."

Inui pushed up his glasses, "Sleep over?"

"Hn."

Inui scribbled in his book again, "Sleep over at Fuji's. Interesting. Ok."

Fuji smiled and nonchalantly walked over to each of the others and informed them of the plan.

Tezuka re-appeared and came to stand in front of the fence to the court.

Fuji joined him.

"Ne, the team is gathering for a sleepover at my house tonight."

No response.

"As a team building exercise."

Still no response.

"As our buchou, you should come."

"There's a 98 percent chance the team building exercise will not have any effect if the Buchou does not attend." Inui informed them as he somehow glidded over towards them.

Tezuka's brow twitched.

Fuji smiled.

Success!

Inui furiously scribbled in his notebook.