Ambition 2/?
by Freya
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"I see."
"If you want I can relay the status of the potential Regulars, Te-" Click. Ryoma's status was all that was needed, thought Tezuka as he pocketed his cell phone and took a seat by the window. The clouds tumbled by in solid gray puffs, hinting toward rain, though the morning forecast mentioned no such thing. Nevertheless, it created the perfect atmosphere for silent contemplation.
"Oi, Tezuka," he heard, but pretended not to. Gathering his thoughts on the information relayed to him came first.
As it were, Inui just happened to be passing by Seigaku on his way home, and spotted the tennis court he'd once thrived on to find Echizen Ryoma, assisting a long line of freshman and juniors through swinging drills. He didn't demonstrate the precise form he wanted his kouhai-tachi to be situated in, and made deleterious comments about the position of the knees especially, and eventually got frustrated enough to assign laps. He was certainly acknowledged as a leader, but he lacked tact. Needless to say, his abilities as a captain were a bit mada mada dane, if Inui had anything to say about them. It was only the first day, but Echizen hadn't the slightest clue what he was doing. His leap into leadership was a blind one.
Tezuka thought it might come to this, and told Inui that they were absolutely not to interfere. Echizen was sloppy when it came to brand new situations, but he always adjusted to them. It never failed, save for a small mishap during a game of volley ball, but that was different. Volley ball wasn't tennis, therefore, if it were tennis related, Echizen would adjust, and adjust well. The district preliminaries were on their way. It would only be a taste of Echizen's road to triumph. Tezuka would follow him every step of the way.
A conk to the head via plush velvet pillow summoned Tezuka from his thoughts, and his attention met the perpetrator. Atobe was glaring at him from his bed, arms crossed, legs crossed, demeanor crossed between irritation and envy. To Atobe, Tezuka being on the phone with Inui for more than ten seconds meant Echizen was involved somehow, and if he had to hear one more word about that audacious little twerp, he swore their rematch would result in that child on his knees crying for his mother. Tezuka read the whole bloody rant in the other boy's eyes and sighed. It always came to this.
"Atobe, don't throw things at me."
"My honored guest is trying to bark orders at me in my own home, eh?" Atobe was smirking, because when Tezuka became his again, Atobe was always smirking. "I wouldn't lower myself to such juvenile acts if you didn't cut yourself off from the living world whenever that brat's involved." Ecchi-whatshisbratface should just be a fond memory by now, like the gorgeous locks of hair that once adorned Atobe's perfect head like a crown. It never grew back quite the same, but nevertheless, it was as perfect as perfect could be, just as Atobe needed it.
"You should know why this is important to me," said Tezuka, the subtle shift in his voice catching Atobe and making him frown. It truly was something to see Seigaku in the Nationals twice in a row, just to barely have victory slip from their fingertips both times. Indeed, Atobe had also been in the audience to see how his perfect influence enhanced Hiyoshi's role as captain. It was the same case with most former captains who had graduated a year prior. A true captain's role never ended until they were shown that their former team was put into the correct hands.
Each of these teams Tezuka had considered significant rivals: Hyotei, Fudomine, Shitenhouji, and Rikkai Dai, made it. Hyotei was knocked out of the quarter finals, as Ryoma claimed a very narrow victory against Hiyoshi (and shaved his head, which, much to Atobe's chagrin, became a ritual to Ryoma.) The victory against Shitenhouji in the semi-finals was even narrower, seeing as Ryoma had actually lost 6-7 against Tooyama. though Seigaku's team was still victorious. He and everyone else had more than expected Seigaku and Rikkai Dai to face off once more.
Fudomine, however, had knocked Rikkai Dai out of the Nationals in the semi-finals, much to everyone's surprise. They had a new junior ace, whose name Tezuka couldn't quite recall, and, as rumor had it, this ace was a true, violent monster, like an unadulterated version of Tachibana Kippei, but worse.
Not only that, but Fudomine was brought to victory once Kamio had claimed a narrow victory against Momoshiro. That was just after Ryoma had lost to said junior ace (a match that ended in blood, because that ace never could leave the court with a clean opponent, so the gossip went.) These were the first and only two times Tezuka had ever seen Ryoma lose.
Tezuka was glad Ryoma lost those matches. He imagined this would wake the boy up and give him the ambition to work hard for his team, rather than relying on his natural talents.
Tezuka had all the faith in the world in Ryoma. He was sure he had made no mistake in his selection. Ryoma had accelerated into a Nationally ranked player, a Star, someone who belonged in pro circuits, and whose name was big in two different countries. Tezuka just hoped--prayed--that his Pillar didn't let a foolish name cloud his judgment.
"Ne, Tezuka." Atobe stood and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "I'll personally see to it that your brat gets his act together if that's what it takes for you to finally get it together."
"Don't," said Tezuka. The tone in his eyes and voice were absolute. "Don't interfere. Echizen's on his own."
"Hardly," said Atobe, with a disgruntled huff. "Not when you're still fussing over him."
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The feeling that he was being spoken of seemed to loom over Ryoma's head wherever he went that day. Having sneezed a few times on his way home did nothing to contradict his suspicions. Oh, the glory of being Seigaku's infamous captain. How he hated it already.
He had to admit, being a captain was not an easy job. Not easy in the slightest. Tezuka and Momo must have had the patience of a happy mother with quadruplets. Ryoma's first taste of leadership was sour, as if something had crawled into his mouth and died. It was almost like taking a sip of Inui Juice, except without the blissful fainting part. Nope. Ryoma had to be alert through every taste of failure.
Not that he considered today a failure on his part. It wasn't his fault his team couldn't follow very specific directions.
Ryoma treated himself to some burgers and fries and seated himself in his favorite, secluded corner in the burger joint. Hopefully no one would stop by and feel the need to pester him. It wasn't like Horio was capable of doing all the paperwork.
For starters, Ryoma needed to start considering elections for the ranking matches.
Hmm, but it seemed nobody was ready. Not in his opinion, anyway. He had a few days to consider it, though.
First off, he needed to do something about these damn allergies, he thought before another sneeze.
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"Echizen's a really tough Captain so far, but I can handle him. I'm his best friend, after all, and I have four years of tennis experience."
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"Kachirou-kun, is Ryoma-kun going to be okay?"
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"I think Ryoma-kun's going to be great, Katsuo-kun! Just wait and see."
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"Echizen-buchou's one of the best players in Junior High tennis, perhaps even one of the best in Japan. He's rumored to be an even more fierce captain than Tezuka-buchou. No matter. I won't lose to him!"
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"I've deeply admired him since the moment I caught his face in Tennis Monthly. He's always been just adorable, that Echizen-kun. Now that he's a head taller, he's more gorgeous and talented than ever."
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"I can't stand the guy. I say we light his house on fire."
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"Echizen-buchou's tennis has an abstract quality to it that I've been observing from the sidelines since I joined the team."
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"His leadership skills leave much to be desired, but that's A-OK with me. Either way, a spot on the regulars is as good as mine."
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Ryoma must have tapped the rankings sheet a few hundred times before he gave up for the night. The burger joint was vacant and would be closing soon and, quite frankly, he didn't know the boys on his team well enough to be making any fair judgments. He considered postponing the rankings a week, so he had a bit more time to think and observe. Sure, they'd only get in minimal practice in before the district preliminaries, but if they were good enough to be on his team, they could handle it.
So, without writing a single name down, he packed the sheet away and left, choosing not to think of this in anymore detail. A new chapter of his life was beginning, and it all rested on his shoulders. Whether this steered into the way of tragedy or triumph was entirely up to him. This was his year to make it into the Nationals and take the gold once and for all. He couldn't afford to make a single error from now until then.
When the first raindrop hit his nose, he knew he had to hurry. He only had two gakuran that still fit, and didn't feel like getting this one wet and dirty so early in the week. The run wouldn't be a bad workout, and the sooner he got home, the sooner he could hit the pillows and be out cold. That was his favorite place to be, aside from the tennis courts, that was.
The rain really started to pick up once he hit the half-way point. Looks like he wouldn't get his way after all. Nanako would be perfectly happy to tend to his wet clothing, but still. His bag would be wet, his hair would be wet, and he'd need a warm bath before heading off to bed (which sounded pretty good, actually) lest he risk smelling like a wet cat the next day.
Just as he was about to cut a corner, he heard what sounded like a real jaw-cracking punch and a body hitting the wet ground. And wouldn't you know it. The sound came from the very corner he had to cut. He'd now be arriving home soaked to the bone if he didn't want to risk being involved with whatever was going on.
"GIVE IT BACK," cried an enraged, bordering on demonic kind of voice. Before Ryoma knew it, a lithe body pounced after this guy on roller skates, barely getting him by the waist as he dragged him down and pummeled him. Ryoma took a moment to analyze what was going on. By experience, a thief on roller skates often meant trouble, so he didn't exactly feel bad for the guy, but didn't exactly find this full on assault to be anywhere near acceptable. He was about to grab his racket when the attacker, appeased with the now unconscious thief, pocketed his stolen wallet and stood.
It was way too dark, way too rainy, and the violent man walked forward, spitting at the water-strewn tar as he headed right on past Ryoma.
The cold air that suddenly engulfed Ryoma made that boy's identity all too real to him, and the most visible scar on his right cheek tingled. Without word, he took slow, shallow steps away from the scene and chose to do everything in his power to forget this night ever happened.
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"I'll have you begging for mercy, you arrogant shit. Don't you dare insult me and come at me with such weak moves. I'll-"
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T B C
Coming Up: Inui heads back to Seigaku and analyses each player closely, just to get a general idea of what Seigaku's in for. Ryoma calls those who desire to become Regulars to the opposite side of the court, and makes it very clear that he won't be going easy on any of them. Statistics show that, well, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?