Chapter 14: Not Alone
Inner Taro: That's right, Kin, you always have me!
Inner Kin: I don't think that's what the title's referring to...
Inner Taro: ... Well, I always wanted to tell you that. T.T
Kin gritted her teeth as her fingers clasped around her familiar tennis racket in an irrevocable iron grip.
"Singles two will now begin..." the noise blared throughout the courts, but Kin didn't hear it. She rose from the bench, her expression unreadable. Suzuki couldn't have lost any worse. Mizuki was undoubtedly a brilliant expert at identifying weaknesses and planning strategies. Thanks to him, she learned a lesson. She would reciprocate the favor on Yuuta.
Taro stared through the chain-link fence, his heart knotted in anxiety. If Kin lost this game, Ginka would stop at Prefectural level once again. It didn't matter if Kin came to save Ginka or not; there simply wasn't enough natural talent on the team. Taro's soft eyes gazed longingly at Kin's firm countenance. She stood up straight as her unyielding aura even seemed to radiate to Taro. In her rigid sapphire-hard eyes, there was not a glint of the usual blithe carelessness or a happy-go-lucky levity. 'When I have seen Kin this serious, so tenacious before?' He couldn't remember.
Her opponent, a determined junior with hazel eyes and soft brown hair wasn't intimidated. Mizuki had done all he could to prepare Yuuta for this, and they trusted each other completely. Yuuta would not let him down.
"It may be wiser to forfeit now and spare yourself the humiliation," she warned dangerously, her azure eyes uneasily intense.
"Back at you," Yuuta retorted. 'Putting up a tough front, neh?'
"Well?" she asked as she began spinning her racket.
"Rough." And rough it was.
"Love all. Fuji to serve."
Analyzing his opponent meticulously, he served carefully, expecting a strong response, but strong was not exactly the best word. As if she knew exactly where the ball was going to fly, she slammed it with her racket in a double-handed backhand in a flash.
'No way... that was returned even faster than my Super Rising.' Gritting his teeth, he remained calm. The first game was over incredibly quickly. Mostly return aces and one short rally. It took all of Yuuta's composure to keep from twitching his lip in panic.
She relaxed as they changed courts and she took a sip of water. 'Finally my training's paid off. The Sato Method's finally working. My reflexes, sprints and precision have all increased from the routines and exercises.'
"No way! I never knew Ki-" Hiroki glared at him dangerously. "-fukubuchou was this good!" Suzuki gaped.
Even though things were starting out well, as they usually did for Kin, a churning acid in Taro's stomach wouldn't ease. 'She definitely has a strategy- that's rare.'
"Heh, you're not bad," Yuuta smiled, but a hint of doubt crept into his voice.
"I'm warning you." She tossed the ball into the air. "I will break you."
Smash.
"T-that's cheating, fukubuchou! I can't believe you copied my Power Serve!" Doumoto shouted from the sidelines.
"Actually, Doumoto-senpai, if memory serves correctly, I taught and perfected your serve," she raised an eyebrow.
"But to think that you could do it yourself..." Doumoto shot an annoyed glare. Obviously he was not pleased at being robbed of the pleasure of having Ginka's best serve.
"Well, you used it dozens of times everyday. I couldn't exactly help but copy, now could I?" she muttered, but she knew Doumoto didn't hear her. He only heard what he wanted to hear. That was changing though.
A wave of hopelessness briefly passed over Yuuta. Mizuki had told him this would be a piece of cake. Obviously not a very chewable one. However, he glanced at his manager and was surprised to find that Mizuki was perfectly confident, wrapping his dark hair around his pinky, radiating his ever-so-cocky attitude and not even bothering to glance at the court. Trusting his friend, Yuuta decided that he would hit her with his all.
"There it is again!" The crowd chatted excitedly. Would this be a one-sided game like the last one? 'Well, I'll give them something to talk about,' Yuuta thought. On impulse, he brought the racket lower than normal and returned it before Kin could move.
"That's Yuuta's specialty: Super Rising," someone on St. Rudolph gloated. "Our Yuuta can return any ball the moment it's hit."
"Huh. You're better than I thought you were. Well, as expected of the name Fuji, neh?" she glanced uninterestedly at him.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he replied defensively.
Kin's lips curled into a smile as her concentration deepened. 'He can return any ball the moment it's hit, eh? Troublesome, but not undefeatable.'
As he returned her serve with another Super Rising, time slowed down to nanoseconds. She analyzed every detail of his stance and she could make out every bead of sweat on his face. His forehead was creased in determination and his arm uncomfortably angled as the impact met in a sharp snap.
Knowing the exact travel of the ball, she approached the net and did the forbidden- a drop volley. It skittered to the ground, bouncing erratically.
"You're an aggressive baseliner. There are clear weaknesses in your play. I thought you were tutored by Hajime," she taunted him, waving a finger. Yuuta bit back a hurried reply when he saw Mizuki's stern face. 'Chikusho, this guy's already figured out my weakness in the second game.'
After that, the point always ended in a serve and volley, tricking poor Yuuta every time. When Yuuta thought she would do a drop shot, she'd end up hitting a smash or a lob. It was getting unbearably frustrating. 'This is pointless! He's reading my every move.'
Inner Kin: You love torturing your enemies, don't you?
'Well... since I'm a girl, they obviously have the edge when it comes to endurance and strength, so mind games are all I have.'
"Game to Ginka. Three games to love."
Even Taro was impressed. He was glad he worried for nothing.
Inner Taro: Wow, when Kin is serious, she is scary, isn't she?
'When you mess with those close to her, you mess with her.'
Yuuta frowned at the last ball. He should have been able to get those shots, but they ended up out or weak. 'I'm missing the sweet spot,' he noticed, 'How is this possible? I could have sworn that the ball changed direction after the bounce.' He glanced at an impatient Mizuki and knew what his coach was thinking. Why was he waiting anyway?
"Oi! Don't get cocky because the game isn't over yet," he pointed a finger at him.
"Good. I was getting disappointed. Is this really the best Fuji's little brother can do?" she replied, bracing herself. She knew it wasn't a bluff at least. He had been holding back this entire match. A flare of annoyance exploded inside him as he released his ultimate move- Twist Spin Shot. To everybody's surprise, it returned incredibly quickly and slammed into the ground, giving the ball incredible bounce and height that soared above her in a blur. Kin simply blinked at where the ball landed, caught off-guard. 'A stronger version of a twist shot? I need to see that again.'
And she did. Flaunting his growth and power, he repeated the move over and over again.
"Game to St. Rudolph's Fuji. Three games to one."
"Yosh! Yuuta's finally showing his true colors. The match's ours now."
Inner Kin: Why did you let him win the game?
'To drag him into a safe sense of security. He's awfully proud and dependent on that technique. It'll be more devastating when I crush it.'
Inner Kin: I see. All part of a master strategy, neh?
'Well, I'm also a bit tired.'
Inner Kin nearly fell. The girl really doesn't change that much after all.
"Sorry, Fuji's little brother," she smiled smugly, "But the truth is that you never really had much of a chance. I will crush you."
"Hmph. All bark and no bite," Yuuta replied with renewed confidence.
To everyone's surprise, she switched hands. 'My left arm's aching a bit. It needs some rest.'
"That won't work against me," Yuuta grimaced. He served and she returned with a topspin. 'Rising Shot,' Kin realized, 'He's just abiding time for his precious Twist Spin Shot.' She was right. As Yuuta collapsed to one knee, the ball spun fast towards her and she knew it would spin up above her head, just out of reach. Focusing all of her concentration, she recalled the minute details of Yuuta's stance and copied it.
Pok.
Yuuta's pupils were dilated. 'N-no way... it's impossible...'
"That freshman returned Twist Spin Shot! Not only that, but he returned it with Super Rising!"
Fukushi whistled. That 12-year-old girl was full of surprises. It shocked him that he had actually defeated her before. Or maybe she let herself lose? 'No, no, I won fairly.'
'I-It's a fluke. It has to be. There's no way he can defeat my greatest technique by copying another one.' Clutching to Mizuki's trust that he can win, he shook his head. Adamantly and relentlessly, he served and used his Twist Spin Shot over and over again, only to be defeated every time.
"Game to Ginka's Aoki. Four games to one."
Yuuta wanted to punch somebody. How could his technique fail on him? How could his opponent copy and perfect a technique in minutes that he spent tears and sweat on? He couldn't believe his opponent's right hand was this good either. Was he some kind of monster?
"I'm ambidextrous," she smiled brightly, as if reading his mind, "Although I prefer using my left hand, I train more with my right so it's just as good." 'Actually, it's only because there's too great of a strain on one arm, since all the guys here probably weight lift twice my weight.'
Her smile struck Yuuta as pesteringly familiar: Syuusuke. He had the same hauntingly annoying azure eyes, the same eyes that looked down on him all his life. His shaggy brown hair and relaxed composure made Yuuta mistake him for his older brother for a second. 'Cut it out!' Fists clutching in intolerable frustration, he wanted to smack this tennis genius. He poured out his aversion and aggravation into each one of his shots, pretending like each ball was Syuusuke's face.
"Oi, you know your techniques don't work against me, Fuji's little brother. Why do you keep on using them?" Kin called, irritated.
"Because they're all I have," he shouted back, his fury not a tiny bit subdued.
She scoffed. 'What a stubborn guy. Not a bit like Fuji-kun at all.'
"Game to Ginka. Five games to one. Change courts." Shaking her head in disappointment, she called to him as he passed.
"Is this really your best? You're nothing but a joke. So someone defeats your so-called invincible techniques and you decimate to desperation. What would Fuji say if he saw you now? You're not even worthy of his last name."
"SHUT UP!" he shouted back, his full fury exploding, "I'll defeat my brother, just you wait!"
"Yeah, wait until you guys are old grannies and you pray each day for his arthritis to worsen so you can beat him," she scoffed.
"Teme-" Yuuta was ready to pounce on him, but Mizuki placed a hand on his shoulder.
"The match isn't over yet, Yuuta-kun," he warned, his voice low. Glancing at Kin's moving silhouette, Yuuta was barely able to keep his calm.
Kin began serving, but her shots were even faster than before. Had she been holding back earlier?
"Super Rising," Fukushi muttered.
"I told you, that doesn't work on me," she shouted, but she knew he wouldn't listen to her. 'Nani?' As she returned, he approached the net... and made a drop volley.
As the ball rolled past her ankle, Kin couldn't believe it. Yuuta had sacrificed his style of tennis to gain that point. Better yet, he had copied what she did earlier. 'Looks like my words pushed him over the edge.'
"Hm, you have potential," she cocked an eyebrow. "But it's too late now." Taking no chances, she served again, only adding an incredible topspin. 'Let's pray this works...'
"Fault!"
'Okay, maybe not.' She adjusted her grip slightly to the left and tried the same serve. 'Work!' As she slammed the ball down, the ball spun maybe 50 times over before it landed on the line and shot straight up. Preparing for a Super Rising, he brought his racket to slam against a ball... that disappeared. The ball reappeared behind him, but it already slammed into the fence.
"Well, I got that idea from your Twist Spin Shot, Fuji's little brother. Not bad, neh?" she gloated.
'What was that? A serve that disappears?' Yuuta's eyebrow twitched.
"Double fault! 40 to 15."
'If I lose this point, it's all over. How am I supposed to win against aniki if I can't even win against this puny freshman?' He gripped his racket harder, his palms sweating. As she served, this time the ball didn't bounce quite as high, since she was probably exhausted. 'Sou ka. The ball has such an incredible topspin that when it bounces, it goes directly up, giving the illusion that it vanished.'
Gritting his teeth in concentration, he slammed the ball and received a return ace.
Kin whistled. Yuuta managed to break her serve. 'Well, I guess I can't use that anymore.' Grinning from ear to ear, she served weakly, and soon Yuuta won the point. 'The guy's making a comeback.' She was terribly out-of-breath and her arms ached like she had been weight lifting for a month. 'Stupid Twist Spin Shots. I can barely raise my arms.' She glanced at her twitching hand and realized that she had fallen completely into Yuuta's trap. 'I've managed to return his Twist Spin Shots with Super Rising, but it's practically killed my wrist. Chikusho...'
"Game to St. Rudolph's Fuji. Three games to five."
"This is bad..." Taro grimaced. 'Very, very bad. The momentum of the match has shifted entirely towards St. Rudolph. Kin's lost her edge and passion to win, so now she can't even compete.'
'Darn it, I hate this guy. Either he tapped into a new reservoir of strength or he had been saving his energy until the end... unlike me.' She wanted nothing more than to lie down, drink some cold lemonade and watch a movie. Needless to say, she just wanted this game to be over, but this stupid kid was too stubborn. For a moment she didn't even care about tennis or Tezuka at all. She just wanted to get out of here and have a nice nap. 'I guess I can't compete with guys when it comes to endurance, neh?' She focused on resting, even sacrificing the next two points so she could win spectacularly. Unfortunately, Yuuta obviously had other plans.
"Game to St. Rudolph. Five games all."
Inner Kin: Nice going. Now you have to win another game. So much for the master plan, neh?
'Don't remind me.' Fortunately she could actually feel her arms again and she couldn't procrastinate any longer.
"Let's do this," she smiled as he served again, his power not ebbing from the very beginning. 'Would it be possible to turn that disappearing serve into a return?' As she returned it, she added a tremendous topspin, which laid quite a dark dent on the court as it bounced, and then it briefly disappeared until it flew over Yuuta's head.
"Let's name it Kamikakushi... or Divine Disappearance," she decided, rolling around the word on her tongue. With a renewed burst of strength, she became a spin meister while using the Sato Method once again. Yuuta was pretty much confounded by the mix of different spins, but he managed to surprise her by coming to the net once in a while.
Kin collapsed to the ground laughing deliriously as she tricked him into missing the ball entirely by slicing it, making him look like a newbie.
"Shut up! It's not funny," a crimson-faced Yuuta shouted. She just laughed harder at his blushing reaction. She had to give it to him; the guy was cute softie at heart.
"Game to Ginka. Seven games to five. Aoki Taro wins." Grudgingly and seething with frustration, they shook hands as the crowd cheered.
"I underestimated you. You're really cute, you know?" Kin winked. Yuuta stared at Kin in disbelief.
'Is he... flirting with me?' The thought was immediately repulsive as Yuuta's face reached a new shade of scarlet.
"It's okay. I know how you feel. You're not alone, Yuu-chan," Kin grinned like a doofus, her eyes sparkling in amusement. 'Poor guy. Struggling to deal with the fact that he's gay.'
'He didn't call me Fuji's little brother,' Yuuta noticed, 'But Yuu-chan?' His eyebrows twitched at the name. "Don't call me so familiarly."
"Yuu-chan, I'll call you whatever I want. Or maybe you'd prefer 'Yuu-poo'?"
'God, this guy...' Yuuta had trouble ignoring him as he sauntered off the court.
"I'll see you around, Yuu-poo!" she called, waving.
'I'm praying that we don't,' Yuuta sighed, not wanting to meet Mizuki's cold eyes.
"I can't believe you scared us there," Fukushi scowled deeply.
"Oh, puh-lease. You didn't think I was that bad, did you? I'm hurt," she pouted her lips, sauntering to the washroom as she pulled on Taro's collar, dragging him along.
"Congratulations, K-Taro-chan!" he cried, grimacing in pain.
"Look," she whispered in his ear, "Let's trade outfits, okay? It's so fun to flirt with Fuji's little brother, I can't stop now!" Taro stared at her in pure horror, as if she was some kind of monster.
"You can't be-"
"Come on!"
---One Hour Later---
"FU-KU-SHI, if you do not end this match right now, I'll count it as a loss!" Kin hissed between her teeth. "This match couldn't be more boring and we have better things to do!"
Inner Kin: Such as taking a nap and flirting with Yuuta, correct?
"All right, all right," Fukushi grumbled, not realizing that Kin had changed aliases. 'This girl has no idea what patience means.' Fukushi's laid-back attitude was driving Kin crazy. He wasn't a big one for flashy techniques or passionate speeches, but he had endurance that Kin would kill for.
Kin nodded smugly as Fukushi finally finished off a ready-to-drop Akazawa in the tiebreak round.
Collapsing onto the court, he closed his eyes, feeling the tepid rays of the sun boiling his skin. 'My backhand that blurs the ball doesn't have any effect on this guy at all. How can he still be standing?'
"Taro, our deal?" Fukushi glanced at the real Taro, who blinked in surprise.
"What deal?" he frowned.
On the opposite side of the court, Kin could barely prevent herself from rolling on the ground, laughing deliriously.
Inner Kin: You are so sadistic... you were planning this from the very beginning, weren't you?
'You give me too much credit.' Creeping out slowly, she grabbed Yuuta's arm and dragged him into a corner where no one was watching.
"W-what are you doing?" he frowned, amazed at her iron grip.
"Can I talk to you for a few moments?" she smiled brilliantly and winked.
'Who is this girl?' Yuuta blinked repeatedly, his face steadily returning to that lobster-red stage that he had just recovered from.
The next few chapters will be Yuuta x Kin. (Sugoi, neh? I think they make a cute couple. Absolutely kawaii! Mizuki x Kin would be absolute torture for Kin, but it'd be interesting. I love Mizuki by the way.) Hmm, so, after a few sleeplessness nights, I present you the list of the most plausible canon dates for Kin:
1. Kirihara
2. Atobe
3. Yuuta
4. Chitose (Remember Kamikakushi and Miyuki? I have my reasons...)
5. Kevin (He's so kawaii!)
6. Yukimura
7. Echizen
8. Fuji
Yeah, hmm, I wonder if I left anything out. Anyway, the problem is that I don't like Atobe (what a sin, right?) I'd rather pair Kin up with someone closer to her age, you know? Two years, huge difference, right? But considering they're in junior high, it does complicate things.
The more I realize it, the more Kin is starting to appear like Fuji- that was accidental. I hope Yuuta wasn't OOC in this chapter. Eek!
---Review Responses---
Floriculture- I'm glad you clicked on it too. :D Yes, I can't wait until I reach that part, but that won't happen until like, chapter 16. Actually, as for his shoulder rehabiliation, I'm going to pick Germany over Kyuushu for my own very important reasons. But before that happens, something HUGE happens. Well, thank you! Sunscreen, neh? I hate sunscreen... But thanks anyway.
Suzsan- Err, thanks?
Summer-loven-2- I love doggies too. My mom's terrified, but yeah, you should see the posters in my room... Yup, Ginka rocks! I only chose Ginka because they were weak, which makes them all the more under appreciated and memorable.
Joyce- Sorry that was confusing... err, how do I correct that? As for Yamabuki, yeah, they won't go against them directly, but remember Akutsu? I think it's enough to satiate your Yamabuki yearnings. :D Well, at least you have the contentment of feeling special, neh?
White Prayer- Thank you for being with me since the beginning. UPDATE YOUR STORY! Please? I'm waiting... don't forget to e-mail it to me first though. Yeah, I agree with you about the whole 'super skill' thing. At first I didn't know, but then I just made her lose.
RapidSong123- Yup. I tried to include extra translations for you. I hope that helped. Well, the show's not bad, but it's not great either, I hate to admit. I'm glad you like my story, but it may get very confusing if you haven't seen all the episodes. I'll try to fill in whenever I can, but...
SweetMiyu- Haha, I totally agree with you when it comes to steroids. I guess the author of TeniPuri likes making teenagers tall?
Li Xia Jin- Thanks!