Chapter 18: Unlucky
Inner Kin: That's us, to be stuck with such crazy little kids...
Inner Taro: You mean you.
"Today, there will be a test. If you do not pass this test, you will stay a freshman forever." Shadows etched from her teacher's face, malignantly glaring down at Kin's nerve-wracked form.
She gulped. 'Where is Taro-chan?' She looked left and right, but all she saw were shadowy huddles scribbling furiously. Sweat rolling down her face, she took a head-on challenge into the test. No matter how many times she read the first problem, her brain may as well have been a stone. 'Okay, calm down, just finish the problems that look easy.' She read the next problem, and the next one, until she finished reading the entire test.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Hands shaking, she scribbled her name at the top: Tezuka K-
'Oh, screw it! It's hopeless.'
She threw her face into her arms. She hadn't studied because she didn't know there was an exam today, and now she was going to stay a freshman even as an old woman...
Tick. Tick. Tick.
'Why is mathematics so easy for everybody else and yet so desperately impossible for me? Why is it that onii-chan got all the IQ genes and I got left with none? Why is it that when onii-chan explains it to me, everything suddenly clicks, but when I try to figure it out myself, it never works?'
Inner Kin: Shouldn't you learn another lesson from this?
'What do you mean?'
Inner Kin: Think about it. Sensei, even as you refuse to admit it, just wants the best from you. 'Tou-san and 'kaa-san all want the same thing. You have Ginka, Taro, even Mizuki. Now what do you learn from this?
'Blackmail is my life?'
Inner Kin barely resisted the urge to slap her.
Inner Kin: Open your eyes and take a good look around, Kin.
So she did. She found herself staring at a spider weaving a dirty cobweb in the corner of her ceiling. 'So the test was a dream. Oh merciful God, thank you.' Then she tilted her head to get a better look at her clock.
And literally FREAKED.
"SHIMATTA!"
It was 2:30 in the afternoon... and the semi-finals started 30 minutes ago.
---Later---
Kin wanted to smash her skull open on something. Not only was she pointlessly late, Ginka had forfeited entirely out of cowardice. She knew from the very beginning that they didn't stand a chance, but they didn't even try. All those hours and hours of backbreaking training, all those nights where she stayed up doing homework, all her effort... it all went down the drain in one unfair twist of fate.
"K-Kin-chan-" Taro touched her shoulder, but she moved away.
"Leave me alone," she replied coldly. Clutching her bag, she ran towards the tennis courts. Cursing, she gripped the fence and squeezed. It was her golden opportunity, the perfect chance to show Kunimitsu her growth, and yet she was robbed even that. Why did life hate her so? It was just so unfair. Blinking back tears of frustration, she grabbed a tennis ball that rolled past her feet.
A man called, "Oi, can you get that for me?"
She picked it up and threw it towards him- hard.
Pok.
"O-oi, Sasabe-kun, are you all right?"
His eyes were swirling blurbs as he lay on the court, unmoving. A red bump on his head grew bigger by the second. "Sasabe-kun!"
So she had knocked him out inadvertently. Oh, well. For some reason she didn't feel a hint of sympathy for the guy.
Feeling slightly better, she walked out, bouncing a ball up and down from her racket.
"TEME! You, get back here now!" The guy made a miraculous rebirth as he pointed at Kin accusingly.
"Make me," she muttered.
"TEME!" He threw another tennis ball at her and she dodged it easily, catching it on her racket, bouncing two balls at the same time.
"Why that-"
"What do you want?" She turned to face a livid junior high kid that looked threateningly murderous.
"A match. If I win, you will bow down and beg for forgiveness," he shook his finger furiously.
"If I win, I get a free shot at your face. Again," she agreed. "It was fun the first time."
"Smug, cocky little-" He went on cursing her as they prepared in a court.
"Will Sasabe-kun be all right?"
"Mochiron! I'm not going to let this pathetic shrimp beat me, who do you think you're talking to?"
"One set match. Sasabe to serve."
"I'm not going to go easy on you!"
"Ah. Me neither," she licked her lips. He served, and she admitted that he wasn't bad- she was just far better.
"Love to fifteen."
"No way! Excellent return. What was that, Super Rising?"
Kin learned that he was a volley specialist, so she kept hitting groundstrokes to keep him at the baseline. His movements were predictable and his play had holes. She could have won with her eyes closed.
"Game and match to Aoki Taro. Six games to two."
"N-no way! It's impossible, Sasabe-kun lost sorely!" His friends were freaking, and so was Sasabe.
"T-that was a fluke! I challenge you to another game right now," he panicked, sweat falling from his face.
"Maybe after our bet is fulfilled," she smirked maliciously. She threw the ball into the air and smashed it- right into Sasabe's face by pretending he was Echizen.
Pok.
Now she shut the guy up for good. She blew off some steam, but not as much as she wanted to. Maybe she should ask Mizuki to train her some more.
"You're not bad," a voice came from behind. She turned to see the all-too-familiar cap, green hair and massive ego.
"Echizen Ryoma."
"So what happened? Chickened out?"
"Maybe. You'll never really know, hm? So why're you still here?"
"I was hoping you'd show up," he grabbed his racket, "You're wearing weights, aren't you? Take them off."
"Make me." A bubble of excitement rose in her. Could she still play her match? Why hadn't she thought of it before?
"I will."
It was a glaring competition and neither of them was backing down.
'I'll teach him to not mess with me when I'm in a bad mood.'
"One set match. Echizen to serve."
'Twist Serve, but he knows that doesn't work on me!' She switched hands and hit a Super Rising. The first rally ended as Echizen's point and she already felt the weights sagging her down. Impressed, she removed her ankle and wrist blocks. With her sharp increase in strength and speed, she managed to win the game, plus she already had Sasabe warm her up. Concentrating all her aversion to beating Ryoma to a pulp and proving onii-chan that she deserved his attention way more than this annoying little guy did.
"Game to Aoki. Two games to love."
"I never lose my first service game," she waved her racket at him. "I will crush you."
"No way! O-chibi's losing?"
"Yo, Echizen! What's wrong with you today?"
"His opponent's not bad. I heard he's from Ginka."
Not bad? Her mouth twitched.
She hadn't noticed earlier, but they had drawn quite a crowd. A team with blue and white jerseys. Seigaku. Standing right next to her was Tezuka Kunimitsu.
'Onii-chan's watching me. He's watching me! Don't look at him, don't look...' On the other side stood Ginka with their shabby green jerseys, gaping at her.
"So she ended up challenging that kid anyway," Fukushi shook his head. "I'll never understand her."
"Go, fukubuchou! If anyone can defeat Echizen, it's you!"
'Oh, please. You will not be saying that after the punishment I've prepared for you all.'
"Gin-ka! Gin-ka! Gin-ka! Gin-ka!" The chants were like music to her ears. Tennis came so much easier to her now as she was guided by reflex without worrying about tripping over her feet or crashing over a ball.
Mixing topspins with slices and sidespins became second nature to her now. She even amazed herself at how much she had improved. She remembered how her backhands were always weak and her serves never made it over the net. It seemed like a lifetime ago. That all changed now.
It was an amazing feeling, really. Nothing compared to the sensation of being on court. The elation in her chest grew with each passing ball. To be able to pit herself against the best, holding nothing back, playing to her heart's delight. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, pumping confidence into each stroke and movement. Even though her training killed her muscles and she was terribly sleep-deprived, it was worth it, this feeling of freedom and accomplishment. Even though her shirt was soaked in sweat and her muscles screamed for rest, the pain felt human, reminding her that her body had limits, but she only enjoyed it as another challenge.
She saw him perfectly. No matter how hard he tried a feint, his movements were completely obvious in her vision and so were the flaws in his technique. He seemed to have problems hitting balls that were aimed for him ironically, despite the fact that he did it himself. He had some amazing moves- Drive B, which stumped Yuuta, as well as the one-footed Split Step. She herself revealed no flashy moves other than Super Rising, not even her Kamikakushi Serve. She wanted to prove that one could win with only hard work, not tensai techniques.
'How to break Drive B...' He slid on the ground and used the inertia of the thrust into creating a curve. Knowing exactly where he'd hit it, she approached the net at the same time, slamming a cross court in the opposite direction.
"No way! What amazing reflexes."
"He discovered the weakness in the Drive B technique. That boy is amazing at finding holes."
"Game to Aoki Taro. Five games to three." As they changed courts, she found herself gasping for breath. So she had fallen for the same trap as before. The game had already lasted 40 minutes. He was dragging it as long as he could to tire her out. So he had seen her weakness as well. Still, she had confidence in her endurance.
"Have you realized?"
"Yeah, the Spot is already starting to take effect. This match is over."
'The Spot?' To be honest, she had no idea what they were talking about. 'Echizen's already won? How come I didn't know? I hate it when people know more than me.' Panicking, she missed a drop shot she should have predicted. Frowning, she rubbed her eyes as her vision blurred. 'What's wrong with me? It must be this heat.'
"I-I can't believe I'm saying this, but Echizen! Beat that kid's ass!"
"AAHHH? Sasabe-kun? You're cheering for your sworn enemy?"
"That little kid's my sworn enemy now!" He pointed accusingly at Kin. Cringing, she moved away from the direction he pointed to, but his finger followed her.
"Mada mada dane."
Once again she was struck by an unlucky twist of fate.
Her concentration broken, she didn't stand a chance. Her shots kept on missing or she misjudged his unpredictable feints. He also invented some new annoying technique called Drive A that smashed into her face, saying it was "revenge for Sasabe" or something or other, but she couldn't hear him because she was too busy complaining.
Why couldn't she defeat this kid? No matter where she shot the ball, he would always be standing there. Her earlier antics didn't work anymore. No matter how aggressively she attacked, he would defend with twice the power.
'Onii-chan's watching! I can't keep making a fool of myself. Chikusho, why won't this kid back down?'
She doubled her efforts, attacking each ball with all her heart. No matter what she did, he would always be there to return it with a new trick to stump her. She realized what Yuuta meant now.
'This kid...' she realized to her shock, '...will never give up.'
"Oi, are you going to pick up your racket or what?" He glared at her, his breath shallow.
"Why?" She cocked her head at him.
"What?"
"Why do you never give up?"
"There's only one person who can stand on top and that's me."
"On top..." A strange sensation overcame her.
"So why do you play tennis?" he asked her.
"Me? Because there's someone I want to defeat beyond anyone," she answered.
"Is that all? What happens when you defeat that person?"
"To be honest, I never thought of that before," she blinked innocently.
"Hmph. Someone like you will never defeat me," he smirked. "Pick up your racket."
---
The most amazing thing is that Ginka Chugakkou actually placed third in the tournament, thanks to Fudoumine forfeiting.
She now recognized why Seishun Gakuen took the first place medal while they were stuck at third. It wasn't just because Seigaku's regulars had inherent tennis skills or that their coach was amazing. No, it was because they had the ambition to be the best. Deep down, each one of them wished nothing more than to bring the victory cup in the Nationals Finals. They believed in each other; they supported one another. Any one of them would give an arm or leg for their friends. They were a close-knit bundle of explosive potential waiting to shock the world.
Sitting squat underneath all the pressure was Tezuka Kunimitsu, her staid little scapegoat.
'You never fail to amaze me, onii-chan.'
Still, it was the little cocky freshman, Echizen Ryoma, that brought out the best in everybody, including herself. He may not look like much at first sight, but there was something undeniably special about him, and Kin only realized that as she was losing.
Ginka was a large school, after all. There was definitely parallel talent somewhere in the building, right? The fact that Ginka didn't have any 'inherent' talent was bull. She simply didn't know how to draw it out and bring out everybody's best. Why was Ginka competing? Because Kin coerced them with bribes and blackmail. They weren't winning because aspiration. They were winning for her.
'Onii-chan, when you were my age, did you learn the same lesson when that jealous guy hit your arm?'
She carefully watched as the stoic captain accepted the gold medals. He had the utmost respect from each of his teammates. His presence stood above everyone else. This was the boy, no- man her parents aspired her to be.
She looked over her ragtag group dressed in verdant-green. They were such a disparate group of students that were somehow united under her hegemony. Even though all of them grudgingly obeyed her, she could tell that they were embarrassed to be 'tamed' by her, not flattered like Seigaku.
Kin finally understood.
Inner Kin: No, actually girl, you're just starting to understand. As Echizen said, 'mada mada dane'...
She gazed at the sunflower-yellow sunset and grabbed her racket, raising it in the air.
"Oi, fukubuchou, what are you doing?"
'Wait up, onii-chan, because I swear upon this racket that I'll defeat you one day.'
---
Dear Diary,
Believe it or not, that's what happened. Even though Kin lost to Echizen, she had an evil glint in her eye, like as if nothing had happened. She usually hates to lose, but she didn't mind this time. She acted weird the rest of the day, and I didn't even have to cheer her up. I'll really never understand her. What's more, when we returned to school the next day, she was even in higher spirits than usual. Even though Ginka forfeited, she simply punished them with the usual routine. I was concerned for her health for a moment there, but she looked... happy. Glowing, almost. That Echizen really does weird things to people. Well, even though Ginka's out of the equation, I don't feel like we've lost. Actually, it's like we've gained something even more precious...
---A/N---
Haha, I bet nobody saw that coming, huh? Well, if Kin actually did beat Echizen, that would make her a total Sue... completely unrealistic.
Has anyone read chapter 352? GACK! I seriously, seriously think that Seigaku's going to LOSE the finals. Tezuka's going to lose to Sanada! It's going to be at tiebreak during Singles One, but Konomi can't end the series there. He can't! Why is Echizen going to lose to Yukimura? Because Konomi HIMSELF admitted that Yukimura is the strongest player in the PoT universe (surprising, meh? I thought it'd be Nanjiroh)!!! Okay, haha, it's been a long time since I've abused exclamation points. Feels good somehow...
Anyone agree with me?