Chapter 14
Another day had gone by and classes had ended. Yuu stepped out of the school entrance and was just thinking whether he should head back home or go to the library to catch up on some architectural reading when Miki came running, looking excited.
"Yuu! Thank goodness I caught you just in time!" Miki came skidding to a halt in front of Yuu, a little out of breath.
"Caught me just in time for what?" Yuu asked, feeling a little curious.
Miki swept her arm across her brow, momentarily distracting Yuu at the sight of her looking robust from the run. And then Miki dazzled him with a smile that sent his own heart running.
"I'd like you to put on some tennis clothes, right now!"
Yuu's running heart tripped just then and stumbled to a clumsy halt at the odd request and he was instantly suspicious. "Excuse me? Did I just hear you right? You want -me- to put on what?"
Miki continued to smile at him and at closer inspection, Yuu noticed Miki was smilling too widely.
"You heard me, tennis clothes!"
Yuu's eyes narrowed, "May I ask why?"
Miki's smile slipped a little. "Well, er..." Miki's eyes looked away, a tell-tale sign that Yuu wasn't going to like what she was trying to explain.
Not finding any inspiration, Miki resorted to pulling on his arm to get her way. "I'll explain later, alright? Right now, just follow me to the locker room and put on those clothes! It's an emergency!"
Yuu didn't budge from where he was standing although Miki was making an effort to try to get him to move. Getting frustrated, Miki dropped Yuu's arm and used another tactic. She turned her beautiful eyes on him and looked pleadingly at him, adding a little hurt in them for effect.
Yuu had to give Miki some credit on her acting skills. At that moment, looking at her face, Yuu was ready to do anything for her. But he was more amused than anything. With a great big sigh, he finally moved.
"Alright, where's the locker room? Do these tennis clothes even fit me?"
Miki gave a shriek of delight, overjoyed that Yuu had finally relented. "Oh, thank you, Yuu! You're a lifesaver! And don't worry, I know just the right clothes that will fit you!" and then they were on their way.
Amazingly enough, Miki did managed to find some tennis clothes that fitted him well. The tennis club's locker room was in tip top condition with a lot of tennis clothes to spare and well maintained tennis gears.
While he was changing clothes, Miki was explaining to him from outside how her tennis club fellow member broke his arm and was unable to play. And then she went on to praise Yuu that his tennis skills must be great seeing as he was in a tennis club back in his old school and that she thought Yuu would be able to replace that person temporarily. What amused Yuu was that Miki hadn't even seen him play to even know that for sure.
Yuu pulled on the tennis shirt over his head and Miki's chatter was muffled for a moment, but he could have sworn that Miki mentioned something about being Ginta's partner and a tournament. But when his head was clear out of the shirt, Miki had stopped talking and was peeking in to see if he was ready. Yuu figured he'd know the reason soon enough.
Miki and Yuu stepped onto the tennis court and was greeted by what must be the entire tennis club members. Namura sensei ran towards them and called out, "Yuu? You're going to play for us in this tournament? That's great!"
Yuu's suspicion was confirmed. "So, this -is- the reason you want me to wear these tennis clothes," Yuu narrowed his eyes at Miki, who was now in begging mode.
"Please, Yuu? Would you, please? Just give it a try?" Miki begged, clapping her hands together in front of her face.
It's not that he couldn't play, indeed Yuu could play very well since he represented his school before during tennis tournaments. It's just that he didn't need this kind of distraction in his life right now. What's more, he's not even sure he's in good terms with Ginta. But looking at Miki he couldn't say no. So, just this once, he would do her a favor just to see her smile.
"Yeah, sure. Why not?" Yuu shrugged. Miki smiled happily and Yuu knew it was worth it. "What must I do now?"
Namura sensei moved forward to hand him a tennis racquet. "Now, we play. Let's see how well you do against me."
Yuu swung the tennis racquet, getting a feel of it. At the corner of his vision, he spotted Ginta glaring at him from among the other members. Yuu grinned, "Ready when you are." He'd give Ginta a show he'd never forget.
Namura sensei served first. Almost immediately, Yuu could feel his muscles moving into the familiar action of receiving the ball. His swing was perfect. The curve of the ball as it landed back at Namura sensei was perfect as well, making the teacher run for it. Yuu's form was perfect as if he never stopped playing tennis.
Yuu could hear the crowd getting excited as they were amazed at the unexpected sight of a student keeping up with their tennis coach. What's more, it looked to be their coach was losing. Yuu wondered if Miki would be in awe as well. Yuu suddenly felt good and continued to lob the ball back at Namura sensei.
Finally, Yuu spotted his chance and smashed the tennis ball right onto an undefended spot of the court. Namura sensei looked stunned. He didn't expect Yuu to actually beat him. But he was clearly pleased. The crowd was silent for a moment and then they cheered because here was a talent that could save their school team from defeat.
"Well done, Yuu!" Namura sensei walked over and shook his hand. "You're just what we needed."
Yuu replied modestly, "Well, I don't know about that. I was just lucky."
Miki came over, looking excited,"Oh, Yuu! You were just great! So, will you really play for us? You'll be pairing with Ginta!" Ginta on the other hand, didn't look too pleased at all at the prospect.
Yuu looked down at Miki. Not wanting to seem as if he had already accepted, Yuu tried to make an excuse just to tease her, "Well, what about Ginta over there?" Yuu pointed at a glaring Ginta. "He doesn't look too happy about it."
Ginta snapped to attention. Everybody was looking at him. When Ginta looked back at Yuu, a brittle smile was plastered on his face, "What are you talking about, Yuu? Of course I'm happy!" Ginta moved to wear Yuu was standing and grabbed him by the shoulders. "We need to win this tournament and that's why we need you!" Ginta's grip on his shoulders was a little too hard to be convincing of Ginta's honesty in Yuu's opinion.
Ginta moved on to his seniors, receiving well wishes for the tournament now that he has finally found a replacement. You just stared after Ginta, a bit puzzled at the sudden change in Ginta at accepting him as his partner eventhough it was obvious to him that he resented it.
Namura sensei came over and stood beside Yuu. "Well, Yuu. Now that you're here with us, it's going to be a great tournament. At least it'll be something for the girls to cheer about," he winked at Yuu and walked away from the court.
Now, Yuu was staring after Namura sensei. Namura sensei says the oddest of things to convince a person but despite that, Yuu found himself wanting to please the coach as well because he had earned his respect in tennis.
Miki came over, wondering why Yuu was looking so amazed at the coach. At her inquiring look, Yuu spoke, "I was just thinking that coach of yours can really sweet talk anyone to doing anything for him."
Miki beamed at Yuu, "Yeah, he's the best coach ever! Namura sensei is even the most popular teacher in the entire school!"
Yuu glanced down at Miki. "Well, anyway, I hope you're happy. The reason I'm doing this is because of you, you know, " not wanting to reveal too much behind that statement, Yuu reprimanded in a brotherly manner.
"I know and I'll be eternally grateful for your help! I'll make it up to you, I promise!"
At that moment, Ginta was done talking with his seniors and was now calling Yuu over, "Hey, Yuu! Could you come over here please? I'd like to talk to you in private for a moment," Ginta gestured over to the other end of the court.
Sighing, Yuu walked over to Ginta, not liking this part one bit.
Ginta looked at Yuu squarely in the face and spoke frankly," It's true that I do mind you being my partner."
Yuu figured it out as much.
"But there are more important things to worry about than my personal feelings. We just cannot lose this tournament! And if you have to be my partner in order for us to win than I'd rather put aside my dislike for you and play on!"
It must have been difficult for Ginta to actually admit that to him. Yuu had to admire him for that at least although he didn't like hearing Ginta telling him honestly that he didn't like him. Well, the feeling was mutual.
Ginta went on, "That's why I agreed! And since you've agreed..." Ginta was momentarily distracted as he looked over to where Miki was standing. Miki looked up in surprise and turned away hurriedly.
That moment was too intense for Yuu's liking. And he has had enough of Ginta for today. Taking his opportunity at Ginta's distracted gaze at the sight of Miki running away from him again, Yuu made his escape and ran towards the school library to hide.
As Yuu dodged to the side of the building, he could hear Ginta yelling at the top of his lungs for Yuu to come back and come practice with him this instant. Yuu managed to slipped through an opened window before Ginta came running past looking for him.
"This will certainly take a while before I lose this guy. I might as well occupy my time here in hiding with some reading before I head back to the locker room to change," Yuu said to himself.
Yuu was about to take a book from a shelf when he suddenly heard somebody come in through the library door. Afraid that it might be Ginta, Yuu quickly hid himself behind the bookshelf away from the view of whoever that might have came in through the door.
"It's okay, nobody is here," came a whisper. "I've been here and nobody has came in."
Yuu was just thinking how untrue that was, since he was certainly in the library right now. Yuu was cornered with nowhere to escape except back out the window. He didn't want to be trap in here while a pair of love birds were making out in the school library. Yuu was about to make a dash for the window, when a familiar voice spoke, "I shouldn't be here right now."
Could it be? It almost sounded as if the voice belonged to Namura sensei! Too curious to stop himself, Yuu peeked from behind the bookshelf he was hiding at and sure enough, there was Namura sensei with a female student.
What shocked Yuu even more was that the female student in question was none other than Miki's best frient, Meiko Akizuki!
"Oh, I love you, sensei. I've missed you all day. Didn't you miss me?" Meiko was looking up at Namura with love shining in her eyes. She moved closer and slid her arms around his neck to pull his head down for an intimate kiss.
Yuu couldn't believe his eyes. What secret was Meiko keeping! It was scandalous and it could get both Meiko and Namura into deep trouble. Even worse, it didn't seem as if the two of them were worried about it as Namura sensei bent his head down to receive Meiko's kiss with a passionate one of his own.
Looking at the shocking display before his eyes, Yuu felt a sudden dread. But the dread wasn't for the forbidden couple but for Miki who surely didn't know about this secret of Meiko's and how it would really hurt her once she found out.