Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Prince of Tennis
Chapter 7 – The Match
"You are early," Fuji commented as he approached Sue who sat on a bench with a bored look on her face, "Can't wait to play the match, I suppose? I didn't know that you are so passionate about tennis," Fuji said dryly.
Sue only gave a nonchalant shrug as she stood to walk across the tennis court to get into her position. As she sauntered past Fuji, she paused in her tracks, treating Fuji to a cold stare as she answered, "I can't wait to see you staying away from Mitsu-kun forever, Fuji Syusuke." A quick twisted smile flashed across her face as she walked on.
Fuji sighed inwardly. 'What have I gotten myself into? A fight for Tezuka? My pride? Even if it was for Tezuka, yesterday's incident had already indicated that Tezuka doesn't like me at all.' Fuji shook his head, trying to push the thoughts away, 'But for now, I need to focus on the match.'
FujiTezukaFujiTezukaFujiTezukaFujiTezukaFujiTezukaFujiTezukaFujiTezukaTezuka strolled down the familiar street leading to Fuji's residence. With hands placed in both of the pockets of his black track pants, Tezuka slowed down his pace as he began to reach his destination. No doubt that the Seigaku tennis captain was nervous. Despite the look of confidence etched on his handsome face, Tezuka's heart was racing. Taking in a deep breath, he muttered, "This is it. It is now or never."
Taking out his handphone, Tezuka dialed the familiar number that he had already memorized in his heart.
"Fuji is still not answering my call," Tezuka sighed s he slid his handphone back into his pocket. Since yesterday's incident, Tezuka tried to contact Fuji, but the tensai seemed to be avoiding his calls.
"I guess I have to talk to him personally," Tezuka muttered yet again as he saw his destination in his view now.
"Ohayo, Yumiko-san," Tezuka greeted as he saw Fuji's older sister locking the main door.
"Ohayo, Tezuka," the taller woman greeted back with a cheerful smile, "Are you looking for Syusuke? He is not at home at this moment. I think he has gone to play tennis at the nearby street tennis courts."
'Play tennis?' Tezuka wondered as he politely answered with a word of thanks before hurrying off to look for the prodigy.
FujiTezukaFujiTezukaFujiTezukaFujiTezukaFujiTezukaFujiTezukaFujiTezuka
Fuji was starting to feel tired as beads of perspiration trickled down his face. The lack of a good night rest had obviously caused Fuji to feel weary more easily compared to the other matches he had played. However, being a tensai, Fuji was still leading the game by 5-2. 'One more game,' Fuji thought as he ran forward to serve back a high ball, 'One more game and I will win.'
Sue was a tough opponent since she was a member of the Seigaku girls' tennis team after all. Despite the case, it was obvious that she was no match for the well-known tensai in terms of skills and physical strength.
'Damn that Fuji,' Sue swore silently as she dashed to the side of the court to return Fuji's serve, 'How dare he play with me like that.'
"Penny for your thoughts," Fuji suddenly spoke with a subtle hint of tease in his voice, "Why are you playing against me with such an angry look on your face? Am I such a bad player?"
"You purposely lost to me in the first two rounds, didn't you? How dare you make a fool out of me!" She shouted as she sprinted forward and swung back the racket to return the ball with all her might.
Fuji shrugged as he reached forward to return Sue's hit on the ball, "I thought I am a gentleman but I guess you don't appreciate that." With that, Fuji suddenly did a drop shot, which appeared to surprise Sue since the latter was unable to run forward to return the ball on time.
"Game set. 6 games to 2. I win," Fuji declared, feeling delighted to see Sue scowling at him. 'Definitely she is a poor loser.' Fuji concluded.
Unknown to Fuji who was now being glared at by Sue, Tezuka was standing at a short distance away watching the situation. Tezuka definitely was surprised, 'I wonder how many surprises Syusuke can give?' He mused, "Why on earth would Fuji be playing against Sue?" He muttered.
'Syusuke! I just called him Syusuke!' Tezuka's eyes widened slightly upon the sudden realization.
"Syusuke." He whispered the name, feeling very pleased, as he immediately liked the sound of Fuji's name being pronounced.
The Seigaku captain's thoughts were cut off suddenly when he heard Sue shouting at Fuji with a high-pitched voice, "I hate you!!"
Worried that something bad might happen between the two players as Tezuka began to sense the increasingly tense atmosphere, he hurried down the steps to reach them.
"Whatever," Fuji shrugged nonchalantly as he turned towards the bench to pack his belongings, "I don't need you to like me anyway."
"You…" Sue stuttered as she tightened her grip on her tennis racket, "…Damn you!"
To Tezuka's horror, he saw Sue swung her racket to throw it at Fuji's head. But the tensai was unaware of it, since his back was turned towards the enraged female.
"Syusuke! Look out!" Tezuka shouted as he sprinted to pull the shocked tensai to safety in his arms.
'If I were slightly slower,' Tezuka thought, his heart racing wildly as his fingers turned slightly cold from fear, 'If I were a second slower, Syusuke would be injured!'
"What do you think that you are doing?" Tezuka barked angrily at the stunned female, "Tennis is not something which you use to injure people!" He lashed out angrily, as he unconsciously tightened his hold on Fuji's waist, pulling the tensai against his chest.
"I…Mitsu-kun…I…" Sue sputtered as she started to approach the fierce-looking captain.
Fuji was absolutely stunned by Tezuka's outburst. He stared up into Tezuka. He had never seen Tezuka this angry before. No, he had never even seen Tezuka shouting at anyone like that. Even if it was during tennis practice, Tezuka only commanded with respect and calm, not shout with clear evidence of anger.
"If you are such a poor loser, you aren't fit to play tennis! Let's go, Syusuke."
'Huh? Syusuke?' Fuji thought, slightly startled.
Without waiting for the tensai's reply, Tezuka grabbed Fuji's belongings and led the both of them out of the tennis courts, before turning back to glare at Sue with cold, hard eyes, "And I will make myself clear this last time – I will never, ever like you."
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter. My apologies that the last chapter was slightly short. :X
Even so, to all who reviewed in the previous chapter, thanks so much:D
Still, reviews for this chapter will be greatly appreciated!