DISCLAIMER: I do not own Prince of Tennis!
A/N: I won't even bother with the excuses... I apologize for the time between updates, but I simply couldn't get it out earlier. I am sorry.
Note: I am somewhat iffy over this chapter; I really had to push through to even get it out. I hope the next chapter will come faster. Once again, I apologize
Chapter THREE
Time Skip
The next two weeks passed slowly, quickly, timelessly, and before the Seishun Gakuean men's tennis team realized it, the District Preliminary Tournament was upon them. They had trained hard for this, enduring long hours under Ryuuzaki-sensei's harsh coaching. They had endured Inui's repulsive concoctions. All the Seigaku regulars shuddered at the mere mention of one of Inui's "special drinks." Those vile things made two hundred laps around the entire school look more favorable.
But it was worth it. They were as ready as they would ever be for the Preliminaries. The regulars gathered at the attendance booth with all their supporters and officially entered the competition. Tezuka wrote the names and grades of all his teammates on the appropriate paperwork:
Tezuka Kunimitsu – 3rd year
Fuji Syuuske – 3rd year
Oishi Shuuchiro – 3rd year
Kikumaru Eiji – 3rd year
Fuji Syuuske – 3rd year
Kawamura Takashi – 3rd year
Kaidou Kaoru – 2nd year
Echizen Ryoma – 1st year
It was time.
The Seigaku regulars encountered few difficulties as they quickly defeated their opponents and advanced further in the competition. Before long, they were against their final opponent: the unknown school, Fudomine.
The first match was Doubles 2, Seigaku's Fuji and Kawamura versus Fudomine's Ishida and Sakurai. The Seigaku pair was hard-pressed, but with Fuji's Tsubame Gaeshi, it seemed the match would be theirs. That is, until Ishida revealed his Hadokyuu. Kawamura's wrist was injured, and Fuji forfeited the match. It was 1-0, Fudomine.
The second match was Doubles 1, Seigaku's Oishi and Eiji versus Fudomine's Uchimura and Mori. The Golden Pair easily won the match, leaving the score at a tie, 1-1.
The third match was Singles 3, Seigaku's Kaidou versus Fudomine's Kamio. Although Kaidou failed to reproduce the Boomerang Snake in the match, his willpower and perseverance outlasted Kamio's stamina. The endurance match ended in Kaidou's victory, with the score at 1-2, Seigaku.
It was finally time for Singles 2, Seigaku's Echizen versus Fudomine's Ibu.
The match started out simply enough, with Ryoma the first to serve. Ryoma used his right hand, starting out immediately with the twist serve. Ibu responded in kind, using his kick serve. There was a pause in the game with Ibu pressed Ryoma to reveal his secrets, and Ryoma complied. He played with his left hand.
The match continued, and Ibu's Spot was soon revealed. Ryoma struggled to resist the Spot, but he was at a bit of a loss. When there was a brief pause for a water break, her turned to look at his twin. Yuuki cocked her head to the side in a silent inquiry. She did not play tennis and didn't see how she could help him. She mouthed the words, "I believe in you." That was enough to put a small smile on his face. He returned to the game with renewed confidence.
As he played, he encountered the Spot once more. But this time, he had a plan. Ryoma could not feel his left arm, but he could still move the rest of his body. As the ball approached him, he began to turn to his right. It seemed to be working! His racket grew closer and closer to the ball… It was almost there… So close… And then the racket slipped out of his hand.
Before anyone could say anything, before anyone could move, the racket was flying away from Ryoma. It flew, spinning towards the net post. As it made contact, it broke mostly into two large pieces, with small shards falling to the ground.
But what happened next was even more unexpected. The handle of the racket bounced back toward him, spinning towards him. Time seemed to slow, and Ryoma could see the sharp end of the broken handle approaching his face. He could not move; he was frozen. He could only watch as it came nearer and nearer to his right eye.
"RYOMA!"
He fell to his knees, clutching his right eye. It hurt. Oh, dear Kami-sama, it hurt. He barely registered his sister's scream as he tried to think past the sudden onset of pain.
From outside the court, Yuuki fell to her knees at the same time as her twin. She was clutching her own right eye, feeling flashback-induced pain. She could feel the phantom knife ripping through her eye. She could see it happening in her mind. Oh Kami-sama, dear Kami-sama. Ryoma! Not him too! She could not think. She could not breathe. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she did not notice. One hand clutched her head; the other remained on her eyepatch. She was lost to the world.
The man pulled out a gleaming silver knife. He had it raised, and it was coming down. It was close to her face. The point was touching her skin. The hand holding it began to slash down. She felt the blood begin to run down her face first. Then, the pain…
"YUUKI-CHAN!"
And suddenly, she was not there anymore. She was not seven anymore. She was not bleeding anymore. There was no man, and no bloody living room. The pain began to slowly recede, but that did nothing for her state of mind. Yuuki looked around, panicked. Where was she? What was going on? Her left eye appeared wild, as she looked around frantically. Ryoma!
There he was! He was walking over to the team benches, one bloodied hand covering his right eye. Blood continued to drip down his face. Yuuki's left eye widened, and she felt her breath begin to quicken. He was hurt; his right eye was bleeding. Her twin… Was he going to… No, she could not think about that! But she couldn't help it. Tears began falling faster. She moaned, "Ryoma…" Her hands moved to return to their places, but larger hands stopped them. She looked up to see the owner, to see cerulean eyes staring back at her.
"Yuuki-chan, it's okay. He's okay; Ryoma is okay. Come, let's go see him." Fuji looked at her worriedly and offered her a hand up. She tried to stand, but her shaky legs would not support her. She would have fallen if it weren't for her senpai's support. Fuji paused only a moment to consider his next action, but his mind was quickly made. Being mindful of her uniform skirt, he picked up his kouhai bridal style.
Yuuki looked up at him surprised, but he only smiled down at her kindly. He carried her into the courts, seating her right next to her twin. Oishi was tending to Ryoma's eye, so he could not turn to his twin. He resigned himself to looking at her out of the corner of his left eye. Fresh tears began to fall down Yuuki's face, and she could not help herself. As soon as Oishi pulled away for just a moment, she wrapped her arms around her twin's slim waist.
Yuuki cried against Ryoma's collarbone, and he put his left arm around her as much as he could. He stroked her hair, letting her know he was all right. He would be fine. He had to be fine, for the match and for Yuuki. Oishi looked at them with a sad smile and continued to tend to Ryoma's eye. Oishi said, "Now that the blood is all cleaned up, it's clear that only your eyelid was cut. There should be absolutely no damage to the eyeball. It would be impossible to play at this point, since you cannot open your eye. The blood will not clot easily because of the wound's location."
Yuuki's tears came faster at the vice-captain's words. Ryoma's eye would be okay; he would be okay. Her twin was okay. She buried her face against him with the knowledge that only she would continue to need an eye patch.
Ryoma let out a quiet sigh at the vice-captain's words. His eye wasn't damaged after all. He didn't need to worry; Yuuki didn't need to worry. He was okay. His arm tightened around his twin, knowing they would make it through the day.
Fuji watched the twins carefully. He doubted anyone else saw the relief Oishi's words brought. He almost missed it himself, but his cerulean eyes had revealed themselves just in time. Knowing that he wouldn't miss anything else, he turned his gaze towards Oishi.
Oishi looked up at Tezuka to see what the captain would say. The captain had a look of concentration upon his face, and it seemed he had finally come to a decision. He walked over to Ryoma's tennis bag and skillfully avoided the broken pieces of Ryoma's racket inside. He pulled out the spare and walked back to the youngest member of his team.
Ryuuzaki-sensei took one look at Tezuka and smirked. She turned her gaze towards her former student's adopted son and outright laughed. Oh, these two! They were just as stubborn and persistent as Nanjirou. She tapped Oishi on the shoulder, and he moved out of the way for her. It was a bit difficult to kneel in a position that allowed her full access to Ryoma's eye, with Yuuki clinging to him as she was, but Ryuuzaki-sensei managed.
With deft hands, Ryuuzaki-sensei quickly made a temporary patch over the steadily bleeding wound. She leaned back to survey her handiwork. "It'll hold for a maximum of ten minutes, though I doubt it will even last that long." She said as she stood up. She nodded at them once and walked away to speak with the referee.
Yuuki slowly pulled away from her twin, wiping her face with the back of her hands. She looked at her twin straight on, their left eyes meeting directly. Her fingers light brushed over her twin's cotton eye bandage. Her hand retreated to touch her own silk eye patch. With her other hand, she grasped Ryoma's left one. She nodded at him once and mouthed the words, "I believe in you" once more. He nodded in return. I will be fine. Though Ryoma did not state so verbally, she knew what he meant. She always did.
Ryoma turned to look at his captain as he stood up. Tezuka looked at him sternly. He said, "You have exactly ten minutes to win this match. If you cannot win after that time limit, you will forfeit. Do you understand?" Ryoma nodded sharply and took his spare racket from the captain. He would definitely win. He stepped around Oishi and the first-aid kit, heading straight to the court. He was ready. The match continued.
A/N: This isn't as long as I wanted it to be, actually. I had wanted it to be a lot longer. The next chapter won't have such a large time skip. Please let me know that some of my original readers are still out there! Review!