-Fumito residence / 10: 00 p.m.-
Yuka remained silent from where she was seated. In front of her laid pieces of print outs sent to her by her father from Canada. Beside the print outs was a separate envelop from St. Anthony`s medical center, the hospital in England where Yuka`s mother was taken cared of. She had finished reading the papers sent out by her father, and was waiting for an important person to discuss the contents of the envelop. Yuka clinched her fists. She felt afraid.
The moment she heard footsteps heading to the living room, she immediately stood up and spun around to face her `visitor`.
"Kate." she muttered.
The young doctor acknowledged her with a nod as she settled herself down, right across where Yuka was seated. She grabbed the envelop, tore it open, and comfortably leaned back. Yuka by then had sat back on the couch and waited for Kate to say something, while the latter continued skimming the medical records enclosed on the envelop.
"I just need to know when mom`s going back." Yuka said firmly.
Kate ignored what she said and scanned the rest of the reports which seemed to be the only thing that mattered at that moment.
"Dad sent you a sample copy of the invitation card for your wedding. Everything`s there, so I hope you checked it out." Kate said instead without looking at her `younger sister`.
Yuka pursed her lips, fighting the urge to throw all the papers in front of her sister`s face.
"I`m not getting married, you got that?"
Kate abruptly stopped what she was doing and looked back at her sister.
"Of course you are."
"Kate..I don`t...I`m not marrying - "
"Dad had made the arrangements with Kunimitsu`s grandfather, so everything is taken cared of, and I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself if you don`t want complications."
Yuka stared at her sister in utmost disbelief. Ever since they were young, she learned Kate`s tendency of taking things under her control. But what she was doing now, which to Yuka sounded more like of a threat, was a whole different story.
"That`s not gonna happen.."
Kate slammed down the papers she was holding in front of Yuka.
"You listen to me." Kate warned. " Mom has less than two months to live, and I`m pretty sure the last thing you want to do is disappoint her! And I tell you..I`m not letting you out of everything if that happens." she continued angrily.
"W-what?" Yuka muttered. "Did you just...mom...no!"
`No.` Yuka told herself. `She`s not gonna die..At least not now..`
"Why didn`t you tell me?" Yuka asked, raising her voice for the first time outside the bounds of the tennis courts.
Kate gave out a bitter smile.
"Because there`s no point in telling you things which can`t be changed."
And then she stormed out the room.
Yuka fell on her knees as she fought hard to accept everything that her sister told her. She felt a painful stab on her chest the moment she held back the tears that started to well down her eyes. Even if she wanted to, she knew crying wouldn`t help her out this mess. Yuka swallowed hard and forced herself up. She has to do something.
"I need to talk to you." Yuka said.
Tezuka momentarily glanced at her before he placed the book he was reading back on the shelf.
"If this is about Amane -"
"It`s about us." she interrupted. " Please..just hear me out. This won`t take long."
Tezuka gave her one last look and nodded.
They silently walked inside the clubroom, mindful of how awkward their situations have become ever since their first confrontation about Fuji. Though at that moment, neither of them was thinking of the tensai.
"Speak up." Tezuka said as soon as they settled themselves in.
Yuka brushed away the hair that covered her eyes, and took a deep breath. She had no idea how she should start. She just knew she needs to talk.
"It`s...I don`t know if you`d heard about the arrangements...I know it`s complicated. I just thought maybe.." Yuka swallowed hard and breath deeply for the second time. " That maybe you know something of what to do...Because right now, I don`t know if I can do this alone." she finished.
They stared at each other for a long time. She half expected this to happen. When she found breathing difficult, she withdrew her gaze from the guy and averted her stare at the opposite direction.
"Tezuka..we both know it`s impossible."
The other guy confirmed her statement with a nod. Yuka smirked. `So he knew it all along. Great.` she thought.
"You don`t need to worry about anything. There`s no way I`d marry you." Tezuka plainly said.
Yuka bit her lip. She knew he would say that. But why did it sound...wrong? She nodded and smiled.
"Then I guess it`s settled." she said.
Few moments of silence passed before Yuka finally took her leave. The stoic captain followed her retreating figure. He thought it could`ve been better if she was more honest on her concerns. That way he could`ve offered more help. But then she seemed to be solitude`s best friend, and Tezuka knew more than enough that it`s better to let her have her own way than intervene and cause unnecessary damages.
"Amane!" Aya blurted as she threw a hug for her best friend."Baka! I really thought you`re not coming back. You scared me, monster!" she cried.
"Saa..It`s not like it`s something new."
The rest of the women regulars, who were also gathered on the court had welcomed her back. Zakuro smiled. If only they knew what really happened, they`d rather keep quiet.
On a separate tennis court, Fuji wondered if it was a right decision to yield with Zakuro`s idea. Two days ago, he found out that the younger gal had asked coach Ryuuzaki to accept her back as a regular member, saying that the doctor who told her not to play made the wrong diagnosis, which was of course, a lie. Ryuuzaki didn`t mind that though. She`s just not yet ready to lose a very promising player like Zakuro Amane.
Fuji slightly frowned. Now, it was not at all fun.
What the tensai wanted to find out when he asked Zakuro to withdraw was who between Tezuka and Fumito would make the first move to bring back the lady prodigy. Sadly, neither of the two seemed to care much.
Fuji sighed. Everything has definitely been boring lately.