LAST CHAPTER!! Yeah, it's really long this time, so I should have probably posted it as two separate chapters, but so much important stuff happens and it all ties together, so I wouldn't have known where to cut it off! Thank to everyone who stuck with me to the end!
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Ryoma had been surprisingly quiet all day. As Eiji glanced down the bench at his kopai, he wondered about asking whether he was alright. When he did, the only answer he got was a nod. He knew something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
'Maybe he's just concentrating on the match…' Eiji said, and tried to convince himself that he was right. Oishi nudged him, and he glanced over at his partner. Oishi cast a worried glance at Ryoma and then made a questioning face at Eiji, who had to shrug. He then turned to relay the message to Momo, who had nothing to say either. A few more curious glances went around the starters' bench before Eiji reluctantly stood up with Oishi, heading out to play in number one singles as the victorious number two's took the bench. Ryoma never said a word during the doubles match, where Eiji and Oishi pulled through, like always.
The announcer's voice rang out as he called for Ryoma and Ashi to approach the net. Ryoma made the customary handshake as brief as possible. Something seemed to click in Ashi's mind, and he turned to the judge.
"Sir, this--" he was cut off by another voice, booming from across the courts.
"SHIA!!" Ryoma tensed on the courts as he looked out at the mirror image of himself, standing just outside the fence. A slight, nervous smile found it's way to 'Ryoma's' face as his double glared through the fence at him.
"Wha--?" Momo started, but his question was answered as a strong stream of water hit Ryoma (the one on the court. How confusing…), knocking him over. Dark hair dye ran in the fake's eyes, making them rub their eyes furiously, unconsciously removing the color contacts. Blonde hair and blue eyes were revealed as Shia looked up angrily at the people who had dowsed her with water.
The twins snickered and slapped a quick high five as Christine whistled.
"I didn't think she'd go so far," she said, sounding impressed, "She chopped her hair short even. Good thing for us Kiri was right about it being wash out dye."
"She's even wearing color contacts and a vest," Cara nodded, "She really did go all out, didn't she?" Raina shook her head, her face clearly asking why she had been stuck with such 'out-there' teammates.
"Shia," Kiri's voice was calm, "You really shouldn't pull stunts like this, you could have gotten Seishun disqualified." Shia didn't say anything, but stood up defiantly, not looking her teammates. Ryoma entered the courts, placing a hand on Shia's shoulder. She winced as she saw the light arm brace he was forced to wear on his left arm.
"Shia," he said softly, "It's fine. Everything will be fine. You shouldn't have worried." He fought the urge to add 'you also shouldn't have locked me in a closet', and waited until she acknowledged hearing him with a nod. "I'm fine. This," he lifted his left arm to make the point, "is nothing. I'm fine. I'll play right handed today." How strange it felt to be talking to her like this in front of so many people. After a moment, reluctantly, Shia nodded her head again, handed Ryoma his racket, and moved off of the courts and beyond the fence to watch with her friends.
The judge seemed confused about what to do, "I really should disqualify Seishun Gakuen still, but…"
"The girl never even touched a ball," Ashi reasoned, "It seems harsh to me to punish the Seishun team for something they obviously knew nothing about, especially when other members of Seishun went to such great lengths to keep her from playing." The judge seemed to consider it.
"Well…" he said, but Ashi was boring wholes into him with a glare-smile.
"Besides, this is a match of the century as far as middle school tennis goes. And I can't even tell you how I have looked forward to this," Ashi said, his voice hard. The judge suddenly seemed a bit airy, and he nodded.
"Of course…" he muttered, his eyes a little glazed over. He shook his head, "Then the match will begin." Ashi smiled and caught the ball for his serve.
"You're a lucky one, Ryoma," Ashi said lightly, "I was about to report her when you showed up."
"How did you know it was her?" Ryoma asked. His own teammates had been fooled, after all.
"Her hands," Ashi said, somewhat nostalgic, "I could never mistake her hands for yours."
"And how did you know her hands so well?" Ryoma asked, stalling as Ashi was when he continued to bounce the ball.
"Of course I remember her hands, and everything else about her," Ashi answered, tossing the ball into the air over his head, "She's my sister." He hit the ball with all of his might, Ryoma fought the shock as he returned it.
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"You can hear them, can't you?" Kiri whispered through the fence behind Kunimitsu.
"Yes," Kunimitsu answered quietly. He knew Kiri's ears were sharp, but figured she was reading their thoughts as well.
"Did you figure it out before?"
"No, but you knew."
"Yes."
"How long ago?"
"The beginning. Shia thought about him occasionally. When we meet him though, it confirmed it."
"And you decided not to let the rest of us in on it."
Kiri's eyebrow raised, "When do I ever share the secrets of others?"
Kunimitsu nearly smiled, "Never."
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"Do you want to know about it?" Ashi asked as he returned the ball, "How we grew up, I mean?"
Ryoma grunted slightly as he hit the ball back.
"Yes?" Ashi shrugged, "alright, listen closely while you lose." Ashi's smile seemed twisted and Shia shuddered from the sidelines, Aine putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. "We grew up in Germany, with both our mother and our father. Our father was German, our mother of Japanese descent. Did you meet her? No, I doubt Shia would let you. Anyway, things were mostly happy back then." Ryoma's mind was racing, but he kept his body moving as well. The clues had been there, all along…
'Every once and a while… Wouldn't she say 'Nien'? And she seemed so annoyed that time Shira mistook French for German…' He was snapped back to reality, realizing Ashi was continuing.
"Shia was being beaten, even back then, but not nearly as often or as badly as she has been in the last few years. Not that I've been around to really know. Maybe we should ask Shia herself?" Shia was sniffling from where she watched, and Ashi laughed, "Somewhere along the line, I taught her the Devil's Serve. It put too much strain on my arm, like it obviously did to yours, but Shia's so used to pain, her bone structure seems to be able to tolerate it. It doesn't really hurt her, you see, not right now anyway. Someday, her arm will probably just shatter, when it reaches it's limits, then it will probably be beyond repair. In fact, it could happen any day now."
"You knew that when you taught her."
"Of course."
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"Shia," Aine whispered, peering at the freshman with a look of sympathy, "Shia." She was shaking violently now, staring at Ryoma and her brother, knowing her last secret could be revealed at any moment. She was so afraid of that, of Ryoma finding out about that and never forgiving her. She didn't actually hear Aine calling her name, ever so softly, over and over, or feel her fingers run through her hair, trying to calm her.
"I can't really hear what they're talking about," Cara sighed and the twins nodded that they couldn't really either. Christine's face remained straight, but they could tell she could hear the conversation well enough to be concerned.
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"Do you know real the problem with Shia?" Ashi asked, "Do you know what bothers me most about her?" Ryoma didn't respond, but moved to return the ball Ashi had just sent flying at him. Ashi took it as a 'no', "Well, you see, Shia doesn't care what happens to her, physically or mentally." Ashi smiled, but his eyes didn't close in the happy way they had every time before, "That's way I'm going to use you." Ashi smiled wickedly, "You're my ticket to revenge."
Ryoma wondered for a moment why the judge didn't say anything about the threats Ashi was making, with a glance in that direction, he realized that the judge didn't seem to be hearing anything at all. His face seemed blank, he was watching the tennis as closely as ever, but there was no evidence that he was hearing their disturbing conversation. The blasé look on his face was bothering Ryoma. Ashi seemed to notice what Ryoma was doing and grinned again.
"Do you like that? I'm a little proud of my own abilities, controlling people, you know." Ashi laughed, and it wasn't a pleasant sound, "Almost everyone here has no idea that I'm even talking! All they hear is the tennis…!" To make his point, he made an extremely fast return to the left corner and Ryoma missed it.
"Game- Kakinokizaka East, one game to love!" The judge yelled out and Ryoma nearly missed the ball that was thrown to him for his serve.
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"Nyah! This is bad!" Eiji whined, looking at the game in distain. "Ochibi is getting worked up!" Looking out on the courts, Oishi could see that this was true. Ryoma was getting angry and upset over whatever Ashi kept saying. Oishi couldn't understand why Ryoma, ever 'Mr. Cool', was loosing it now, over those whispered words. He saw that Shia was crying behind the fencing, not too far away, and he sighed. Ashi was exploiting a young boy in love.
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Ryoma knew he was losing it, of course, but wasn't sure what he could do about it. The things he was hearing him disturbed him. Ashi had powers, but he despised Shia for hers? Or was there a deeper meaning?
"Of course," Ashi was saying now, "I didn't hate her early on. We were both young… She seemed to be a good kid. We played a lot of tennis together; not that she ever beat me." He sighed, "It wasn't until then that I understood her true nature."
"Then?" Ryoma asked quietly, returning the ball. Ashi smiled wickedly, slamming the ball past Ryoma.
"Then."
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'No, oh no…' Shia trembled under Aine's fingers, gripping her shoulders, holding her softly, but firmly. 'He's going to tell him… He's going to tell him about That Time…' Her eyes were wide with disbelief. 'What's happened to you Ayashi? What happened to the Aya-chan I grew up with? I knew you blamed me for That, but…' She didn't understand. "Aya-chan…" she whispered, but no one heard it , and it was swept away by the winds.
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"I was six, Shia was five," Ashi's voice was nostalgic. "It was a rainy day, I remember that well, because none of it might have happened without that rain." He hit a vicious return, "Shia wanted to go to the movies quite badly, you see. However, our car was being fixed, and our father wanted to go on a day it would be nice enough to walk. Shia didn't care about the rain; she wanted to go. So did I, naturally, but it was Shia who continued to press. She began to throw a tantrum. She lost control of her own power, or perhaps she relaxed her control on purpose, I don't know, but things began to break. Eventually, our parents gave in, just to make her stop.
"We went to the movies, walking in the rain. I don't remember any more what we saw, but it doesn't matter, does it? It was on the way home that everything happened. It was all Shia's fault. Shia and the rain." Ashi sent his little sister a glare where she watched, crying through the fence. "Selfish…" he muttered, then returned his attention to Ryoma, "Shia was walking closest to the street, in the beginning. I offered to take her place, because she kept getting splashed when cars went by. Our father shut down that proposal, and took the place himself, though he told me I had been noble. That's why, you see, it was her fault. It was all her fault that the truck hit him, and we had to see our own father die in those streets. Hers! She was the one who made them take us! She was the one he wanted to protect so badly! I want her to suffer just as much as he suffered in death, and as much as I've suffered in life!" Ashi hit a return that was blurred because of it's speed.
The ball almost immediately came back, whistled past Ashi's ear, and landed in. Ryoma glared at the older boy. "You're petty." Ashi clenched his fists. "You're blaming Shia, when it wasn't her fault at all. How could she know that wanting to go to the movies would lead to the death of her father? How could she prevent him from protecting her from the water? Do you think she summoned the truck at him? No. You say that you know Shia, but you know nothing!" Ashi smirked, his eyes narrowing.
"You think you have it all figured out? Perhaps she did call that truck over with her power. I don't know for sure, after all; I'm not Shia, and I can't read minds," he shook his head, "I do know, however, that if she hadn't acted so selfishly in the first place, none of it would have happened. She's selfish like no one else. You haven't even seen it yet… You are hoping even now that she loves you. You want to tell her how you feel too, but I'll save you that embarrassment. Shia loves no one but herself."
"That's not true!" Shia yelled, salty tears finding their way into her mouth as they fell down her face, "I love you, Aya-chan! Aya-chan…!" She sobbed, sinking onto her knees. "Aya-chan… I love… you… I want you… to forgive me… so badly… but… How can I even ask for something… like that?" Her eyes sank to the ground, she couldn't look at her brother any longer, she was too ashamed. By the looks her teammates were sending her, she realized that Ayashi hadn't been shielding her from their sight or from their hearing. She didn't care anymore. "Aya-chan… I do love people. Much more than I love myself! I often hate myself, but I love You… and Ryoma-kun too!" Ayashi stopped, looking at the young girl with wide eyes.
"How… can you say that? After all I've done to you?" he asked, and the judge didn't seem to notice that the tennis had stopped. He was still under Ashi's spell. The brown haired boy took a step towards the fence. "I blamed you for that… Even though… As he died… He told me not to. He told me to protect you…" Ayashi laughed bitterly, "It would seem I've messed everything up." He turned to the referee, who seemed to be waking up from a dream, "I concede. This match is over." Ayashi continued off of the courts, grabbing his tennis bag, while ignoring the angry outbursts of his teammates. He slung the bag over his shoulder, his eyes lowered to the ground as he walked out. Shia met him at the gate, her arms around him.
"Don't leave me, Aya-chan, come live with me and my new family," She looked at his face as he avoided her eyes. He shook her arms off.
"You're a fool, Shia," He said, starting to walk away. "I thought that after all you'd been through, you'd know what kind of people to stay away from. If you hadn't noticed, the kind that try to ruin your lives and your arm are probably not good people."
"But you are," She argued, "You didn't go through with it after all."
"You're naïve."
"You're a coward," Ryoma said, "You're running away from the problems you caused. If you're really sorry, you'd stay behind to help with the cleanup and repent."
"Who says I'm sorry?" Ayashi asked, but the silence that followed and Ryoma's subservient smirk seemed to answer it for him. Ayashi finally sighed, "… If they'll have me… and if you and Ryoma really don't hate me all that much… I'll stay. I'll do what was asked of me before and protect you." He looked up with a wary smile, "Though there seems to be someone else who does that well enough already."
"Shia?" She turned to see the eloquent figure of her new mother, as she had been the one speaking. "Who is this person, Shia?"
"I'm Ayashi Seikaku, originally named Ayashi Raiku," Ayashi introduced himself, with a small, but polite bow.
"Oh!" The woman's hands went up to cover her mouth. "I'm Rena Shimari, my husband and I have adopted Shia. She told me something about you once! Well, not precisely, but she did tell me that she had a brother! So you're the famous boy she spoke so fondly of?"
"Fondly?" Ayashi chuckled, "Strange… But it's nice to meet you, Shimari-san. Thank you for taking care of my sister."
"No problem at all! And you have no idea how happy I am to meet you!" She seemed ecstatic.
"Why?"
"I've had an entire company of child-social workers trying to find a thirteen or fourteen year old youth with the last name 'Raiku'," She smiled, "You changed your name; now it makes more sense why it was taking so long! You'll stay with us, won't you?" Ayashi was too stunned to speak. "I told my husband that we needed to find this brother that Shia loved so much, if we wanted her to be happy. He looked me in the eyes all serious like and said 'Why don't you just adopt him too?' And so I tried to find you! Such a coincidence, no?" Ayashi almost laughed at this woman's bubbly personality, which reminded him so of the young girl beside him.
"Who am I to say no anymore?" He smiled, and let Rena Shimari drag him away to call a social worker to get the official papers.
"There," Ryoma whispered, "Now she has everything she ever wanted." Shia tugged on his sleeve, having heard him talking to himself.
"Not everything," She informed him, and leaned in for a kiss. Ryoma blushed furiously, but didn't push her away. She finally moved backwards, smiling. "And everything should go well from now on!" Ryoma smiled, then took her hand as they tried to run away from the teasing upperclassman who had been watching the whole charade. Shia laughed again and felt that she had never been happier. She thought to herself, 'And so, the Prince of Tennis and the Princess of Lies lived Happily Ever After.'
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The End!
Special thanks to-
All of my friends, who supported me during that time of writer's block. (I'm sure I got on your nerves!)
My family, who resisted that strong urge to kill me every time I stole the computer for hours to end up with only one sentence typed. (Yeah, I got on your nerves too, huh?)
And finally, last but never least, to my readers, who stuck with me too the end, even when it took me forever to get a chapter out.
Thank you all so much!!