The referee's mouth opened and closed silently. He pushed back the sudden urge to gesture around wildly as if to say, "What. The. Fuck. Is. This. Shit."
Really. He wanted to know what shit this was. Sure, he learned not to underestimate the brats (much) but he couldn't help it. He was a realistic adult who didn't believe in the supernatural!
Then this happened. All this crap that royally screwed with his mind.
But he was the referee. THE referee. He would not show any weakness. Other than stuttering and staring, which the rich brat always made fun of, even with their unspoken truce to not rudely wish them death. Of course, that didn't stop the referee. It was unspoken, after all.
He resisted the other urge to yell, "FOUL!" at the unsuspecting tennis freak.
I mean, who the heck could take away a fellow middle schooler's senses without being thoroughly chided and punished? Actually, why the heck is it even allowed?!
Yukimura freaking Seiichi, the Child of God and already the leader of Rikkaidai. The kid he was really creeped out by last year because of his smile and stare? Yeah. Turns out he was some magical fairy that could return anything calmly while saying spiritual stuff that was still enough for a realistic adult. And he could take away someone's senses.
Now, the referee was rather fond of the fact that the kid would say things realistically and bluntly. Yeah, he totally agreed with the fact that there was only one ball and that the ball can never disappear, but this kid was plain crazy. What the heck happened to 'you can't lose your senses from hitting the ball?'
Not to mention the fact that if Yukimura was a girl, he'd look like an angel with the gentle waves of purply-blue hair and serene blueish-purple eyes. He wasn't gay or anything, he was just stating the fact that Yukimura was very, very pretty.
"Yukimura made him lose his senses with the ball."
As an adult, he should be thinking rationally. He shouldn't have thought, "if that was phrased differently, it'd have sounded very, very wrong."
Atobe, who was on the sidelines, had sneered at the referee's red face. Having heard the comment from that trickster, Niou, he knew why his face was so red. "Tch, ore-sama was beginning to think you were a mature adult with tolerable refereeing skills. Much to ore-sama's chagrin, but not much to his surprise, ore-sama was wrong."
The referee wasn't sure if he should be ecstatic on the fact that he had proved the brat wrong on something or pissed that the thing he had proved the brat wrong on was his capabilities as an adult.
He decided to ignore it and finally yell, "Game and match to Yukimura Seiichi, 6-0! Rikkaidai will be moving on to the next round!"
Rikkaidai was a skilled school with freaks. EVERYWHERE.
By the way, this was somewhere around the middle of the Kanto Regionals.
I'm pretty sure no one's confused, but let's zoom back to the beginning of our referee's terrifying second year where he witnessed the true power of Rikkaidai's demons. And the Hyotei King's frigid tennis, along with the Seigaku fukubuchou's logic-defying zone and drop shot. The Two Wings of Kyushu and their sudden drop out of the circuit and Shitenhouji's Bible, Comedy Pair and Speed Star.
Needless to say, his second year would be that much more interesting. And frightening.
The referee fisted his hands in his hair the night he saw Yukimura's Yips in action, slamming his forehead against his work desk. At least I'm not their buchou or fukubuchou. he thought blandly.
Ahem. Anyways, the referee thought he was cursed. He sincerely thought that someone had cursed him. Not because of being stuck with kids with highly unrealistic tennis. He was proud to say that he knew them, of course, but as the guy who shouts stuff out. But still. Unrealistic.
No. He thought he was cursed because he refereed Hyotei's match every. Single. Time. Therefore, he and Atobe Keigo always had weird stare-offs before Atobe scoffed and said something, which would make the referee turn away, curse underneath his breath, and bark out stuff to the kids.
Atobe freaking Keigo. According to him, he was clearly dazzled by his brilliance.
Anyways, back to the very beginning of his second year as a referee, where his first match was one between two non-important schools.
Talented, but not I'm-gonna-kick-your-ass-without-a-sweat-'cause-I'm -badass talented. More like Okay-I'll-try-my-best-to-beat-you talented.
The referee had his own fair share of normal, casual tennis. It was a relief to see these matches between all the lackluster matches with all the tripping kids and everything along with the insane tennis with flaming... everything. Flaming auras, flaming rackets, flaming balls- Um, tennis balls- and flaming people.
Those kids weren't human, he knew.
He still watched the match with avid eyes and a straight face, and opened his mouth to call "Game to Igusa's Mamoru, 5 games to 4!" when a tall, grey-haired, dark-eyed third year smashed furiously on the opposite side of where his opponent stood.
He grinned victoriously as said opponent chuckled and muttered something only Mamoru could hear. The referee gave a small smile to the wonderfully normal teenagers, telling them who would serve.
The match continued on like that, as a peaceful game with laughs, grunts and occasional sighs of frustration and in exhaustion.
It occurred to him that Seigaku was like that- Then first-years took over and created monster tennis that seemed more like miniature wars on a court and the weapons were tennis balls and their supernatural brains.
What teenager says stuff like, "I see everything?"
Hyotei was the apparent "Okay, let's do this and go all the way to the top" team that would have succeeded after winning their matches against Seigaku and powering their way to the semi-finals of the Kanto Tournament-
Only to be crushed by Rikkaidai. Hard.
The match with Seigaku was challenging enough on both sides, more Seigaku than Hyotei. Doubles was unsurprisingly equal, with Seigaku winning Doubles 2 and Hyotei winning Doubles 1.
Then it made its way to Singles Three- Tezuka Kunimitsu vs the Captain of Hyotei.
No, not Atobe Keigo. The former captain that had been defeated mercilessly by the rich kid was still on the team due to his skills- Even if they didn't match up to the little brat himself.
Tezuka defeated him with a humiliating 6 games to one, which the referee found terribly amusing.
Dear god, how many times has this guy lost for underestimating his opponent?
Atobe Keigo had returned the favour by defeating Seigaku's captain six games to three, as he was actually rather talented.
Damn freshmen. Always ruining his sanity after tiredly retrieving it so his wife wouldn't go crazy about how tired and exasperated he seemed. ("Dear, maybe you should take a break. Those kids are clearly exhausting you-" "Honey, it's okay, I just need a bit of rest-" "But-")
Then Hyotei was crushed by Rikkaidai but were still able to make it to the Nationals only to be defeated by Shitenhouji.
The referee desperately wanted to laugh in the brat's irritated and disappointed look, but decided he should set an example as to how a proper adult should act when faced with an opportunity anyone would want to take.
The poor referee was put at wits end when Atobe started ranting and complaining about him, the matches, the referee, him, his prowess, the referee, Shitenhouji, Hyotei's prowess, and finally the referee.
He knew he wanted the job and all, but he honestly, truly, never signed up to listen to this little brat.
The Shitenhouji vs Rikkaidai match was overwhelming and powerful, especially to him, the only person other than the players on the dangerous court.
Even Doubles, which he usually didn't care much for even if seeing the cooperation and teamwork was amazing, was as outstanding and awing as a regular singles match between Seigaku and Hyotei. But Singles for Shitenhouji and Rikkaidai was awe-inspiring and indescribable.
The Doubles line-up? Doubles 2 was Zaizen Hikaru and Koshikawa Kenjiro of Shitenhouji vs Yanagi Renji and Nishimura Jun. Doubles 1 was just the seniors of each school against each other.
How did both of the matches go?
The referee sat in his chair, gaping and frozen at the sheer power and brilliance of the champions Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku Chuu as they crushed Shitenhouji without even trying, sweeping them in a clean, clear, "6 games to love!"
Rikkaidai... They were all monsters. He admired them because of their flawless runs and beautiful tennis, even if they didn't win Nationals. But they always got to Nationals, showing their absolute brilliance and prowess in tennis. Even if he had been upset about the defeat from them, it was still wondrous being able to see a match between his school and one of the best schools in the circuit.
Then he became a referee and saw just how ruthlessly powerful Rikkaidai was, and how glorious they were in their prime and how defensive they were of their pride and power.
Singles 3 was Oshitari Kenya vs Mouri Juzaburo.
The speedy second-year was easily downed by the Rikkaidai Senior in a show of relentless power, laying on the court and gasping as the referee called out the score without stuttering, which he found quite the accomplishment.
"Game and match to Mouri Juzaburo, six games to love!"
Swept in straight, clean sets, all 6-0. Everyone was awestruck by Rikkaidai's display, and some slightly frightened.
Relief and uncertainty flooded him that night when he replayed the match over and over again, fearful shudders racking through his body when he saw Mouri's absolutely feral grin appear in his mind again as he didn't even hesitate driving a large hole through Kenya's pride and Shitenhouji's cheerfulness. Yanagi Renji's steady stare, calculations flying from his mouth and closed eyes intimidating his opponents thoroughly by his relentless stare, as if he was peeling layer off of layer just to see their insides and see how he could win.
Shitenhouji. Zaizen's and Koshikawa's clear discomfort during their match and the pure agony and disappointment that had forced its way onto their faces when they realized they had lose the match. Zaizen, the poor child, he looked so incredibly vulnerable and innocent in that moment when his mouth opened to form words that were never said and his eyes widened and stared at the monsters who had destroyed him.
Koshikawa's absolutely furious look and the dark scowl making its way onto his face, hiding his despair and shock at such a quick and easy win.
The referee groaned, slamming his face onto his pillow, trying to block out the thoughts that would eventually lead to-
Oshitari Kenya's shaking legs and his bloodied knees when he kneeled on the floor.
...Damn it.
He really needed to sleep.
...So disappointed. I finally make a longer chapter, and after I read it through a few times I realize I kinda forgot to put the goddamn referee in it. After a bunch of editing and stuff, I've incorporated the guy, but not as much as the previous chapter.
Shaaaaame.
I've lost his emotion and stuffffff~
And school's started D: That should explain itself.
Atobe wiggled his way into here again, dragging along Yukimura. I don't know how it happened. And then Niou crawled in and aggggh. I wrote that first part at night. I'msorry.
IMPORTANT- I HAS A TUMBLR ACCOUNT! XD. I'll probably post very little, but if you want to see what's happening with me or if I have any news for any of my fics, just check. I'm under TarundoruSlap as usual :)
I feel as if I'm focusing too much on Rikkaidai and Shitenhouji. If I am, I apologize since nothing really happens in those two years other than some major court conflicts between everyone and Rikkaidai.
Alright, the chapter after the next one is gonna be a Q&A chapter. Don't worry, the chapter that's supposed to be there will be up right after I post the Q&A, but you can start questions from this chapter. About me, Atobe, the referee, or just the story itself. I may or may not post it, depending on how many questions I get.
Last but not least- WHO WANTS TO SEE OUR REFEREE'S PERSONAL LIFE? I'm not sure about myself, but... WHO WANTS TO SEE MORE ATOBE-REFEREE INTERACTION IN A FATHER-SON WAY? MEEE. I'm planning to make a chapter dedicated to our referee's home life without a lot of mentions about tennis, just so I can get some family loving between Atobe and the referee in there. I'm sorry, I just think it'd be cute. It would be that then the start of Ryoma's year then a Q&A and then the next chapter.
WHY IS THIS AN SO LONG? I'M SORRY.
Replies to Reviews
LainellaFey- Rikkaidai is my favorite team and I kinda called bullshit on Ryoma, as much as I loved the little piece of shit, but Yukimura was kind of winning in the beginning without using his Yips or anything while Ryoma dearest was huffing and puffing after using EVERYTHING and I was like 'ha-frickity-ha' then the Pinnacle of Perfection came and everything. Damn. But I had to hate on Rikkaidai a little bit when I was writing the referee because this referee is an adult who used to think Rikkaidai was his idol, so... I was the same with Niou and Fuji, since they're both awesome. Well, a lot of this chapter was mainly Rikkaidai crushing Shitenhouji and brief mentions of Rikkaidai crushing Hyotei, so... That's kinda way I wanted to write about the first two years, and so the referee could understand a bit more. Thanks for the review!
Onyxinlife- I've decided not to put any pairings in here since as a married man with a child, the referee wouldn't notice, and this is mainly about the rants of a poor man, so... But there is going to be slight outside interaction between Atobe and the referee, since I love the idea of them being in a father-son type of relationship. Thanks so much for reviewing!
Obese-Gorilla- YOU! AGAIN! I REMEMBER YOU! I like you. :D Shitenhouji's my second favorite team. I love them and d'awww. Yeah. Most teams weren't that spectacular at first, before all these crazy freshmen came and dominated shit. Rikkaidai just got reeeeally lucky and got a bunch of freshmen, same with Hyotei. Tennis innuendos. I tried, but I'm not good with that stuff since I'm very oblivious to those things, so... I know nothing of Japanese puns. Or anything Japanese that I don't research or just find randomly. Thanks again for the review!