A/N: As promised, a shorter, lighter chapter, again from Gakuto's perspective. This takes place in episode 55 and the manga volumes 14-15, during Seigaku's match against Hyoutei. Once the match is over, the plot's main focus will become the pairing itself. Please enjoy! I appreciate any and all feedback/critiques/reviews/hugs. Flames are unanimously ignored.
Warning: Future shonen-ai/slash/BL/yaoi/whatever-you-call-it.
Chapter Three: Offensive
"Playing doubles is having the comfort of a friend by your side, along with the pressure of letting that friend down."
…
It was still very early, hardly past dawn on a weekend morning, a time when the typical middle school student should have still been lying unconscious in bed. But Hyoutei's campus was bustling with activity anyway.
Five buses. Five. It still seemed ridiculous to Gakuto, no matter how many times he had seen it before, but it was always like this.
Hyoutei's tennis team and its various spectators usually needed about five buses to get to their tournaments, once they had finally reached the Kantou Regionals.
There were many reasons for this, and some of them were just stupid, in Gakuto's opinion. But there was no help for it. For one thing, Atobe insisted that the Regulars needed their own separate bus. Which Gakuto didn't mind at all, especially since their bus was one of the Atobe family's charter buses, which meant it came with the occasional perk or two, like, oh, maids.
Apart from that, though, Hyoutei needed three buses just to get all their other club members to the tournament. Which their coach Sakaki insisted was critical, because he required every last hapless club member to be at any match that the Regulars were playing in, so that they could cheer like the wannabe groupies that they were.
As for the last bus, that was for overflow, and also for storage, and for one other thing…
"Omigosh, look, it's Atobe! Ah, he's so hot! A-TO-BEEEEE!"
Gakuto flinched. Yes, that's right.
Fangirls.
Personally, Gakuto just didn't get it. Sure, he could understand why someone might be impressed with Atobe. The man was not only skilled in tennis to the point that he was known as a national-level player, but he was outstanding at just about everything he had ever attempted in his entire life. Not to mention he was loaded with cash, spoke several different languages with perfect fluency, and commanded his native dialect with a skill that could have rivaled the most glib-tongued dictator. Oh, and he was only fourteen.
But what exactly was it about the man that caused massive hoards of screaming girls to follow him around like sheep?
As for Atobe himself, the captain seemed to be perfectly in his element. He was even armed with a megaphone so he could still be heard in the chaos, as he gave orders to just about everyone in the general vicinity and continued to check off an endless list of items that was attached to the clipboard he was holding.
"I need the first-year cleanup team for the week to do a trash sweep of the buses before and after our arrival… As for this month's general assistants, I need a water count from the coolers that are sitting by bus number three… Oh, and Taki, would you make sure the speed gun and the portable recorder is in the equipment box? And, ladies…"
Here, all the fangirls tittered with the excitement of being addressed by the suave captain.
"Could you please try to contain your very flattering enthusiasm for a few minutes?"
More squeals.
"I don't know when he's going to learn that talking like that only encourages them," a low voice sighed somewhere above Gakuto's head.
Gakuto resisted the urge to snicker, but he couldn't resist taking the opportunity to tease his doubles partner.
"You mean, unlike you, Yuushi?" he asked, trying to look innocent. "You're always so cold, just ignoring all those poor, pathetic, ear-piercing shrieks, while those girls pour their hearts out to you…"
It was no secret that a handful of the girls that followed them around secretly admired Oshitari Yuushi just as much as they adored Atobe Keigo. And Gakuto never got tired of harassing his partner about it.
"Shut up, Gakuto," was Yuushi's deadpan response.
"Seriously, though, Atobe's enjoying this way too much," Gakuto added more seriously, glancing at the self-absorbed captain again.
Yuushi's eyes lingered on Hyoutei's top player for almost a minute, before the tensai casually remarked, "He's excited about something."
Gakuto did a double-take at that. But he couldn't see any particular evidence of excitement in Atobe's expression.
"What are you talking about, Yuushi?" he demanded, sounding very skeptical.
"Atobe's excited about something," Yuushi repeated calmly, still looking at Atobe as though he was trying to decipher some secret code that nobody else could see.
Gakuto took another look at Atobe, and then turned to Yuushi. And then his eyes went back to Atobe, who was still rambling on the megaphone in his usual arrogant voice. And then they went back to Yuushi. But the cryptic expression on his partner's face wasn't any help, either.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Gakuto finally declared, feeling annoyed. "What would he be so excited about, anyway?"
"It's just a guess, but…" Yuushi shrugged slightly. "Don't you think it's because we're facing Seigaku again?"
Up until that very instant, Gakuto had hardly thought about it.
But suddenly, all the memories of the previous year flooded back into his mind.
…
"Game, set, and match to Hyoutei's Atobe Keigo, 6 games to 4."
"Can you believe it? Atobe even beat Seigaku's captain. He's invincible!"
"He'll be the captain next year for sure. Just one more win, and we've shut Seigaku out of the Nationals!"
"And it's our captain's match, too. There's no way we can lose!"
…
"Game, set, and match to Seigaku's Tezuka Kunimitsu, 6 games to 4."
…
"No way. Who is that guy? He's their vice captain, isn't he? Unreal…"
…
…
For a moment, Gakuto was silent. Now it made perfect sense. But then he just rolled his eyes at the whole thing. Honestly, Atobe had such a taste for the dramatic that it was ridiculous. It was just tennis.
"He'd better not get his hopes up," he commented to Yuushi. "Who knows if the playing order will even work out like that? Maybe that Tezuka guy will be in second singles this time."
For a moment, Yuushi was silent. And then he smirked.
"Oh, it will work out like that, alright," he replied confidently. "Seigaku's captain has to know what Atobe's plotting. And he knows that he'll look like a coward if he backs out of the first singles spot for this match. The reports are that he's been playing at singles one for almost the whole season already."
"You seem unusually interested," Gakuto noted with some surprise. He wouldn't have expected Yuushi to be up to date on the tennis reports. Normally, neither of them even cared enough to read the articles, at least not until the National Tournament.
Yuushi just shrugged again. "I'm not. But the rumors have been flying, and it's been getting rather hard to ignore. Besides, everyone's interested in our match today. It looks like in spite of the Fudomine fiasco, people haven't forgotten who the competitive schools really are. I doubt they'll make this much of a fuss again until the finals."
"Well, that's true enough," Gakuto agreed, with the usual toss of his head. "It's too bad for Seigaku that they got so unlucky in the draw. Otherwise, they might actually have made it to Nationals this year."
"Too bad, indeed," Yuushi repeated with a slightly amused chuckle. "In any case, shall we?"
Gakuto's partner was gesturing toward the Regulars' bus, where several of their teammates were already boarding. Gakuto nodded in reply, grabbing his tennis bag.
"Sure. Let's go!"
As Gakuto was making his way to the bus, with Yuushi following close behind him, he couldn't help thinking to himself about how easy the match was going to be for the two of them. After all, they weren't even in first doubles. Instead, they were going to get the privilege of taking the credit for the first victory of the day… And then, in all probability, Gakuto was going to get the secret satisfaction of watching Shishido crash and burn against the Golden Pair. And of course, Hyoutei was going to win in the end.
He couldn't help thinking that it was going to be a fun day.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"I hate geometry."
Gakuto scrunched up his nose in displeasure, trying to concentrate on the long list of notes that he'd written during class. But the fact that he still couldn't grasp the one line he had been reading for the past fifteen minutes was starting to grate on his nerves.
"I know you do. But simply declaring that the picture looks like an equilateral triangle does not actually prove that it's an equilateral triangle," Yuushi remarked, an amused smirk dancing across his mouth.
"Well, what's the point of proving it?" Gakuto growled, crossing his arms in a huff. "If I can see that it's supposed to be equal on all three sides, why can't I just say it's equal and be done with it? Proofs are a complete waste of time."
"You've been saying that ever since we started studying it, but you still have to do them for the test, you know." Yuushi started flipping through his textbook, looking for a sample problem that matched up with Gakuto's class notes. "Anyway, it's just about learning to think logically with the definitions we've learned. That's all."
"Tch. Logic, huh?" Gakuto shifted in his seat, trying to get a better look at the pages. "No wonder you're good at it. I just suck at math."
"You don't exactly suck at it, or at least you wouldn't, if you didn't hate it so much. Besides, you like chemistry, don't you? What's the difference, exactly?" Yuushi leaned over and started underlining a few key points on Gakuto's notes.
"That's completely different. In chemistry, you can just memorize the boring stuff. Anyway, it's based on something you can actually see and feel, most of the time. It's not just a bunch of ink on paper," Gakuto sniffed, trying to pay attention to what Yuushi was explaining.
"I suppose so. And logic certainly isn't your forte, after all," Yuushi chuckled, writing something in the margin of his partner's notebook for future reference. Gakuto resisted the urge to retort, as he watched Yuushi's long fingers guide the pen in a dark blue scrawl across the paper.
He couldn't help noticing, as he usually did, that his partner's handwriting looked so much more interesting than his own. Whereas Gakuto had a tendency to write very simply and precisely, Yuushi's handwriting was more like a careless stream of steadily flowing pen strokes. It could get somewhat hard to decipher at times, but Gakuto was used to it, and he thought it looked…
Well, it almost looked beautiful, really. It reminded him of a professional's handwriting, or maybe a celebrity's. Kind of… artistic.
Of course, the very thought was amusing to Gakuto. Yuushi couldn't draw any more than he could, which was to say, not at all. But there were still a few things about his partner that struck Gakuto as almost poetic… Like those glasses that Yuushi insisted on wearing, even during their tennis matches, despite the fact that he could see fine without them. Like the way the frames would slip just a little down the bridge of his nose, whenever he tilted his head down, like he was doing now…
…
"Glad to see that you've noticed, Gakuto."
…
Suddenly, Gakuto was very conscious of the fact that he was staring at his doubles partner, and he could feel the blush starting to come into his face. He quickly looked away, pretending to be searching for something in his tennis bag. He really didn't want Yuushi to notice the way his face was turning red, not when everything was finally starting to feel normal again, not when he had finally forgotten about the bizarre conversation in the locker room between Shishido and Ootori…
Oh, god.
Why was that still on his mind, anyway?
It didn't have anything to do with him, or with either of them, for that matter. He and Yuushi were doubles partners, and that was all there was to it. It was just tennis, and…
It was just Yuushi.
So why was he blushing like this?
"Gakuto."
His heart leapt out of his chest in surprise.
"What?" he demanded, jerking upward again, and narrowly missing hitting Yuushi's face with his head.
"That was close," Yuushi noted calmly, leaning a safe distance away from his blushing partner.
"Sorry," Gakuto mumbled back, trying to breathe normally as his heartbeat attempted to regain its normal rhythm. He didn't know why, but suddenly, he didn't think that he could stand listening to that low, murmuring voice for even one second longer. It had seemed so close in that moment, right next to his ear…
"I'm getting a drink," the acrobat blurted, springing out of his seat like something had burned him.
Two eyes were following him as he walked away, watching him quizzically from behind gleaming lenses, but Gakuto just ignored them.
"How's geometry going, Mukahi-senpai?" a friendly voice inquired as he walked toward the front of the bus.
"As usual," was the ironic response, as Gakuto attempted to sound calm, like everything was perfectly normal. Because it was perfectly normal, after all… He was sucking at geometry, and Yuushi was teasing him about it, and Ootori was being overly polite…
Yes. Perfectly normal.
"That badly, huh?" Ootori was asking, looking sympathetic.
"Yeah, pretty much," was Gakuto's wry answer, as he rolled his eyes and continued on his way down the aisle.
He passed by Hiyoshi, who wasn't doing anything except sitting and staring out the window, glaring at it as though he wanted to melt the glass with his eyes. But that, too, was relatively normal. And Kabaji was also just sitting there, somewhere near the front, so that he could be within hearing distance of Atobe. Very normal.
The only thing, in fact, that was maybe slightly abnormal about the ride was all the racket that was coming from the front of the bus. Which was mostly due to the chaotic noise of rapidly-changing radio stations.
"I swear, you two are getting on ore-sama's last nerve."
"But, Atobe-! The song was over!"
"I know that, Jiroh. But I still wish that you could just pick a station and stick with it."
"Aw, who needs that? If we listened to you, we'd probably be listening to classical music, or some crap like that…"
Gakuto couldn't resist a snicker as Shishido stopped turning the dial, and some rap song started resonating through the bus.
"For your information, Shishido, it is called 'classical' for a reason. In any case, it's genuine music, unlike this poorly contrived jumble of barely rhythmic jargon…"
"Whatever. Hey, Jiroh, turn up the volume…!"
Gakuto had to grasp the back of one of the seats to avoid being floored by the sudden attack on his eardrums. The longsuffering bus driver even swerved a bit in the lane at the deafening onslaught.
"Holy crap, Jiroh, not that loud!"
"Whoops, sorry…"
"… Ore-sama should be considered a martyr for enduring this kind of torment."
Almost as quickly as it had started, the assault was muted to a dull roar, and the two perpetrators continued fiddling with the dials.
"Oh, hello, Gakuto," Atobe greeted the acrobat, suddenly noticing that he was standing in the aisle. "What brings you here? Although it's certain that you must envy my current position, seeing as how ore-sama is being treated to a music selection from hell…"
"Aw, save it, Atobe," was the mumbled interjection.
"In any case, what can ore-sama do for you?" Atobe continued, flashing one of his customary smirks. Yes, this was shaping up to be a normal bus ride, alright.
"Actually, I just wanted a drink," was Gakuto's brief reply. But Atobe only managed to raise his hand before Gakuto interrupted his usual finger-snapping gesture.
"I can get it myself. The refrigerator's right here."
Atobe just lowered his arm and shrugged. "Suit yourself, then. But the servants are being paid for it, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," and Gakuto couldn't resist rolling his eyes one more time, before reaching into the bus's refrigerator and grabbing a soda can. Yes, it was crazy that the fancy charter bus had its own refrigerator, not to mention that it was currently being staffed by a couple of Atobe's personal servants. But then, this was Hyoutei, and that was normal, at least for them.
Yes, perfectly normal. Normal like geometry being a pain in the neck, and like Yuushi making sarcastic remarks. Like Ootori being way too nice to be real. Like Atobe being annoyed by rap music.
Yes, it was a normal bus ride for the Hyoutei Regulars, and the start of a perfectly normal day at the Kantou tournament, where they were about to crush Seishun Gakuen and advance to the Nationals…
Everything was normal.
… Wasn't it?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Haven't you heard? Seishun Gakuen is facing Hyoutei Gakuen in the first round."
…
The Kantou Tournament was just the same as Gakuto remembered it. In fact, it was being held in the exact same place as the previous year. And except for a few newcomers like the underdog Fudomine, it was being attended by the exact same teams that it always was. In all likelihood, the end result would be the same as well. The same winners would be advancing to the National Tournament, and the same losers would be going home for the season.
It was certainly looking that way for Seigaku, Gakuto thought smugly. It was too bad, really, because the rumors said that they had improved considerably from the previous year, when Hyoutei had beaten them and shut them out from the Nationals. If only they hadn't had such bad luck, as to face Hyoutei in the very first round at Kantou…
Of course, it had been Atobe who had drawn the number fifteen at the captains' meeting, which had placed Hyoutei in Seigaku's bracket. So in a way, maybe it wasn't Seigaku's bad luck, so much as it was Atobe's devilish tendency to create a stir and cause problems for other people.
Either way, it wasn't going to be pretty, but Gakuto didn't really care. As long as he and Yuushi won, it wasn't his problem.
"Hey, Yuushi, we're the first match today," Gakuto reminded his partner as they walked toward the courts. Of course, they both already knew that, but it was still strange to be back in the second doubles spot, where they would be the first to face the opponents.
"Seigaku, huh?" Yuushi's tone was casual, as always. "We'll have to be careful. They should be a little tougher than other opponents."
"Well, maybe," and Gakuto just shrugged. "I guess we'll see about that."
"I guess we will." Yuushi glanced at him, and Gakuto met his partner's stare. And at the exact same time, they both smirked. It was time to pull off an easy victory, not to mention put Shishido and Ootori in their place. They were the set doubles pair, after all. And that was just the way it was.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Hyoutei! Hyoutei! Hyoutei!"
There was just something about being on the Hyoutei Regulars that could make a tennis player feel like a superstar. Maybe it was the massive amount of people that were always following them around, for no reason other than to cheer them on to victory. Maybe it was how complete strangers would get out of their way as they walked to their next match, or the way those strangers would start whispering in awed voices, "That's Hyoutei, you know. They were the runner-up last year."
Or maybe it was the way they always followed Atobe around. Their captain, of course, had the self-assurance of royalty, and his lofty aura was contagious to his followers and unsettling to his enemies. Just having Atobe for a leader was enough to give the Regulars a confidence that couldn't be shaken.
In the end, though, it was all those things rolled into one. It was just a part of being on Hyoutei's tennis team, and Gakuto was perfectly familiar with that feeling.
Which was why he knew they were going to win.
There was one other thing that had made Gakuto even more positive of this outcome, if that were possible. Him, and every last person on Hyoutei.
Their opponents had practically self-destructed, before the match had even begun.
No one knew exactly what had happened, but it was true. The second that Atobe had been handed the final line-up for the match, the captain's raised eyebrows had told them all that Seigaku was in trouble. Somehow, Seigaku's vice captain, Oishi Shuichiroh, had failed to show up that morning. And this Oishi Shuichiroh just happened to be one half of the famous Golden Pair, which had been Seigaku's only conceivable hope for winning a doubles match against Hyoutei.
Now Seigaku had two makeshift doubles pairs, and their odds of even making it to the singles two match were practically nonexistent. Kabaji was in third singles, after all, and at Atobe's command, the gigantic second-year was ready to do anything to his opponent, perhaps short of actually killing them with his power shots.
"Hyoutei! Hyoutei! Hyoutei!"
It was almost a disappointment, really. In fact, it really was a disappointment to at least two people… Jiroh had already checked out mentally for the day, and was dozing off on one of the benches. As for Atobe, Gakuto thought that he could detect some annoyance from the self-absorbed captain, at how predictable this match was going to be.
"I guess Atobe really did want to play against Tezuka," Gakuto murmured to Yuushi as they took their racquets out of their tennis bags.
"Apparently so," Yuushi agreed, glancing quickly in Atobe's direction.
"Well, too bad," Gakuto remarked, tossing his head. "There's just no way that Seigaku will last that long."
"Hyoutei! Hyoutei! Hyoutei!"
For a split second, Gakuto and Yuushi's eyes met, just before they headed out onto the court to claim the first win.
"The winner will be Hyoutei. The loser will be Seigaku."
"Let's go," Gakuto said with a grin. Yuushi only nodded in reply, but his partner could see a familiar glint behind those glass lenses.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"There's this Kikumaru guy in that Golden Pair that everyone's talking about. His moves are kind of like yours, Mukahi."
…
Gakuto and Yuushi had taken control of the match from the very first shot.
This was expected, of course. But there was one thing about this match that was going to make it all the sweeter for Gakuto, once Seigaku tasted the shame of their defeat. He had almost forgotten about it, until he had stood in front of their opponents and remembered what their names were. And then he realized it.
That was him. That was the Kikumaru Eiji that everyone was always talking about.
He hadn't just heard of Kikumaru, of course. No, he and Yuushi had even seen the Golden Pair play once, during the National Tournament. But that was exactly why, even though they had never met face to face, that this Kikumaru Eiji had always annoyed him.
It was because there was nothing special about him. His moves weren't impressive; they were predictable, like the antics of some cocky beginner. Any showoff could hit a ball from behind his back. Gakuto had been doing that kind of thing since elementary school.
And yet here was this Kikumaru Eiji, and everyone talked about him, like he was some great tennis player. His skills were nothing more than childish techniques that Gakuto had long since outgrown. And there was a part of him that had always been itching to prove that there was nothing more to Kikumaru's so-called "acrobatics" than cheap tricks.
Well, here was his chance. And what's more, they weren't even dealing with the Golden Pair. Just Kikumaru and some second-year named Momoshiro, the same Momoshiro who had mouthed off to the Hyoutei Regulars and admitted outright that he couldn't play doubles. Obviously, the two had no hope of winning, and even Seigaku must have known this was a throwaway match.
And so Gakuto was more than ready to take the opportunity to set the record straight. He would show everyone who was the real acrobat in the Kantou region. He had already told Kikumaru that to his face.
"I will show you what it means when they say, 'There's always someone better out there.'"
The first point went like clockwork. Yuushi took the return by hitting it back to Momoshiro, who managed to pull off a straight shot that was aimed higher than usual. This gave Gakuto the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his own technique, so he bent his knees and jumped…
"There it is! Mukahi-senpai's Moon Salute!"
It was a sensation that only Gakuto could be familiar with, that dizzying moment where the sky above and the court below him melted into one continuous blur. But he was familiar with it, and the shot was perfectly executed, rocketing across the net as it eluded the front player's reach…
Gakuto's satisfaction turned to shock when the front player did reach it, and Kikumaru hit the ball past him with one of his "acrobatic volleys."
"Leave it to me, Gakuto."
That same deep voice that had startled him on the bus ride filled his ears, and before Gakuto even knew what was happening, Yuushi hit a lob from the baseline and won the point.
Like clockwork. That was the way they played doubles. That was the way it was supposed to be played.
Of course, he and Yuushi were going to win the match. Gakuto didn't doubt that for a second. But that didn't stop him from being annoyed about that stupid volley from Kikumaru, the one that had slipped past him like it was something better than a cheap shot. Yes, it definitely annoyed him.
He wasn't going to let Kikumaru think that he'd won. What's more, Gakuto had had enough of losing for that week.
Ka-thump. Ka-thump. Ka-thump.
The sound of Gakuto's shoes hitting the ground as he jumped echoed in his own ears.
…
"Our Oshitari-Mukahi pair will be playing against Shishido and Ohtori for the top doubles spot."
…
Yes, Gakuto had had enough of this.
For the rest of that service game, Gakuto made his point clear, and he completely dominated the shots. Every time Kikumaru tried to jump, Gakuto jumped further and higher, hitting perfectly-aimed volleys that flew by his opponent. He could even hear some of the Hyoutei members bragging, about how "Mukahi-senpai's acrobatics" were better than Kikumaru's. Yes, he was making his point, repeatedly… He hit ball after ball right past the dismayed redhead, until the game was over.
And then he turned to Yuushi with a smirk on his face.
The game count was 1-0. They were winning.
Of course.
- End of Chapter Three -