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~The Splits
Chapter Five
Regulars
Fifteen people stood in a line before Banji. Five of them were in regular uniforms as the current members of the elite team with their graduating two players off to the side; the other eight were out to steal a spot from one of the regulars if they could manage it. "Alright, since we have an odd number, we'll run four matches at a time, and each of you will play five or six matches throughout the day. This will make it easier for us coaches to monitor your matches and it'll give each of you a small break between playing." He said with a smile. "When your match is over report the final score to either myself, Watanabe-sensei, or Takahashi-sensei. In between your matches stay nearby so you can hear when your name is called.
"Now, you will play some players twice, or even three times, but that is to make sure your first win or loss wasn't a fluke or a whim of luck, but if you make it to tomorrow's tryouts, things will calm down. Are there any questions?" A few seconds passed before Banji turned to Takahashi-sempai. "Well then I'll leave you to get things started." Nodding, Takahashi-sempai stepped forward with a clipboard.
"I'm going to call out the pairs and the court you're assigned to. Once I have read both of your names one of you take a fresh can of balls from Watanabe-sensei and head off to your court to start your match. A representative from either the boy's or girl's team will be there to act as judge. Please limit your warm-up to a few minutes. Those of you not playing may pick a match to watch or stay somewhere nearby so you can be easily found."
From where he stood next to Alice, Riku glanced inauspiciously down the row of players, wondering who his first opponent would be. In some ways he wanted to play the boy he'd played the other day because he knew it would be a quick victory, but at the same time he also really wanted a chance to play one of the regulars right off the bat. Hearing his name called, Riku stepped forward along with another boy named Nishikiori Tsubasa, who was wearing a regular's jersey. Sharing a quick glance with Alice whose eyes seemed to say "No fair, I want to play a regular." Riku retrieved a can of balls from Watanabe-sensei before following Nishikiori to court B.
After setting down their bags and pulling out their rackets Riku broke open the seal on the balls and handed one to Nishikiori while pocketing the other two. "Can we start from the net for our warm-up and work our way back?" Nishikiori asked walking onto the court while he fixed the strings on his racket.
"Sure." Riku replied setting up a little in front of the service line. Taking a ball out of his pocket he lightly hit it over the net so the two could start with some easy volleys. "So, how long have you been a regular?"
"Actually, I'm not really an actual regular." Nishikiori admitted as he tapped the ball back over. "I wasn't on the team last year, but I do go to some of the tournaments as the reserve player. Mostly, though, I'm just the manager for the team. This year, though, I'm hoping to actually make the regulars, or at least officially have the reserve spot." Nodding, Riku returned the ball with a soft backhand volley. He didn't really need to warm-up since he'd already done so with Alice before they came. After a few more volleys Riku asked if it would be alright to move back to the baseline. Saying that was fine with him, Nishikiori took the ball and walked back to the baseline to start a new rally. While they exchanged light strokes, Riku took note of the way Nishikiori hit. His forehand was a bit inconsistent, but had more power than his backhand which was more consistent.
"You know, you have a strange form Ikuma-san." Nishikori commented after a few minutes as he hit a backhand to Riku. "I've never seen anything like it."
"Yeah, I get told that a lot." Riku replied as he caught the ball after it bounced once against the court. "Is it okay with you if we move onto serves?"
"That'd be perfect. I was actually about ready to ask you the same thing. Since you have all the balls, you can start." Nishikiori said as he moved to take a receiving position behind the baseline. Deciding to stick to basically flat serves so he wouldn't give away his spin control, Riku served three times from the deuce side making sure to not give away his full power. Nishikiori gathered the balls when he was done and served them back to Riku who took them and did three serves from the add side. Once Nishikiori had done the same, Riku asked if he was good to go.
"Don't you want to warm-up your serve a bit more?" Nishikiori asked as he walked towards the net.
"Not really, but if you want to, I'm fine with that." Riku replied as he walked up to the net as well with the three balls sitting on the face of his racket.
"No, it's alright. So, do you want smooth or rough?" he asked placing the head of his racket against the ground. Looking at the racket for a moment Riku picked smooth. Nishikiori spun his racket and the two watched as it slowed down before tipping over and hitting the court with a clatter. It was smooth.
"Well, you won the spin so what do you want to do?" Nishikiori asked as he picked his racket back up.
"I'll serve." Riku replied easily. "Since I'm serving which side do you want to start on?" Looking up at the sky and the sun for a moment before replying, Nishikiori chose to stay on the side he was on. Nodding, Riku pocketed two of the balls and bounced the third one up and down on his racket as he walked back to the baseline to serve. Taking a minute to look at the courts around him, Riku spotted Alice warming-up with a guy who was also in a regular's jersey on court D. His brown hair was bowl cut and by the look of Alice's body language, he was annoying. The two other matches that were getting ready to start didn't have anybody Riku knew in them, but there was another regular playing on court C.
The girl in charge of being judge for their match called for the official start of the match as Riku began bouncing the ball against the court and catching it repeatedly. Catching the ball again, Riku glanced at Nishikiori before tossing the ball up and bringing up his racket to a loaded position. Tracing the ball with his left hand, Riku watched as his racket came up and smashed into the yellow sphere.
*%%*
Glaring lightly at her opponent, Alice wondered for the hundredth time how he could be so annoying and, not to mention, ugly. He'd said his name was something or other, but Alice had already forgotten. To her he was officially known as Mushroomhead-san. It was only deuce in the first game, but Alice was already letting some of her annoyance slip into her shots, which gave a sharper edge to them. She had seen Riku start his match while she was still warming up and had been able to see from the scoreboard that he had taken the first game before her match even started.
Not to be outdone by her brother, Alice returned Mushroomhead's serve with a sharp, down the line shot that he couldn't even come close to reaching. Sending her a glare, and saying something about it being too early in the match for shots like that, which Alice completely ignored, he served again. Taking it on her backhand side, Alice turned her shoulder and torso into the shot, sending it back as a deep crosscourt shot that landed close to Mushroomhead's feet. He somehow managed to get his racket around the ball and put up a weak return. Letting the ball bounce once, Alice ran up and met the ball using a short swing forehand to send it to the opposite corner before falling back a few steps to return to the baseline. She didn't mind playing at the net when she was playing doubles with Riku because he could back her up, but whenever she played singles Alice preferred to remain at the baseline as much as possible. Alice smirked as the ball slapped into the net from a failed forehand return from Mushroomhead. She had figured that would happen if he managed to reach the ball. The first game was hers. Now to have a little fun.
On the changeover Mushroomhead tried to say something to Alice as he handed her the balls, but she ignored him until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking over her shoulder she raised an eyebrow as if to say "What?"
"You really should give your senpais more respect," Mushroomhead complained in an arrogant tone. "I was telling you that I'm fully warmed up after that first game, so don't expect to win another one this match."
"Senpai?" Alice said in near disbelief. "I'm a third year which means we're either in the same grade or I'm your senpai. Are you implying that I'm childish?"
"Uh, well-well…no, not reall-" he stuttered, surprised to learn that Alice was in the same grade as him. He didn't get to finish though because Alice cut him off.
"You're horrible. I'm not a little kid. I can't believe you'd insult a girl like that." Alice said, sounding upset as she turned and began quickly walking away towards her half of the court, leaving a bewildered Mushroomhead staring after her.
Standing several feet behind the baseline Alice pretended to pull herself together while she adjusted the gut on her racket, since she wasn't really upset in the first place, and watched Mushroomhead out of the corner of her eye to see how her words had affected him. While he was drinking from his water bottle he kept giving her guilty looking glances and spilled some water on his shirt. Muttering, he set his water down and picked his racket back up and tripped over his own feet as he walked back to the receiving position. Making sure he couldn't see her face, Alice allowed herself a small smirk. This guy might be annoying as anything, but he sure was fun to trick. Oh the advantages being a girl could have sometimes.
Checking to make sure she still seemed a little upset, Alice took up a position a few inches behind the baseline and readied for her serve. While bouncing the ball, she threw Mushroomhead a quick hurtful look before serving. Her serve was well placed in the outside corner, sending mushroom head running out past the doubles alley lines to return it with a questionable forehand. Running to the ball, Alice returned it with a slow backhand towards the center line, making sure Mushroomhead would be able to reach it. She felt like dragging this particular point out, to play with his head a bit.
Mushroomhead caught up with and returned the ball using a deep backhand shot with a topspin rotation to it. Taking the ball on her forehand side, Alice hit it several feet to his right, again making sure he could reach it before hitting it the opposite direction on her next shot. This pattern repeated with Alice always hitting the ball far enough away that he had to run for it, but close enough that he was sure to get it. As Mushroomhead began to breathe heavily Alice decided to change things up a bit, and used a shallow forehand to draw him up to the next. Hitting the ball as he stumbled almost imperceptibly, Mushroomhead used his momentum to continue running forward to attack at the net. His only warning was a slight glint in Alice's eyes before the ball whistled passed his ear, hit the court behind him, and bounced away. With her back half turned to him, Alice glared at him out the corner of her eye causing shivers to run down his spine.
"Never." Alice said in a deadly calm voice. "Never insult a girl." And with that she turned away sharply, leaving her opponent to feel her coldness as a prelude to the next point. Just how would he respond to her sudden change in demeanor from being foolishly hurt to silent fury? Alice wasn't sure, but whatever the results it was sure to be interesting. They always were.
*%%*
"How'd your match go?" Alice asked Riku as she walked out of the fence enclosing court D. She'd won 6-3 against her opponent, who upon hearing her call him Mushroomhead-san at the end of the match had loudly shouted that his name was Nitobe Inakichi, not Mushroomhead. Riku had laughed out loud at that. Alice's weird habit of nicknaming people, because she could never remember their real names, had shown up again.
"I won 6-2, but when I was up 4-2 we went to deuce twice and he had a chance to take the game. I got lucky, though, and hit a cord ball that won me that game." Riku said with a nonchalant shrug. "I also managed to keep from showing off my spin control to a minimum, so nobody really knows what I can do in that aspect yet."
"So it was an easy match then?" Alice asked as she looked around for one of the coaches so she could report her score.
"It was the hardest one I've had so far, and it was definitely decent, but not hard." Riku said as they started walking towards Watanabe-sensei. "Nishikiori-san is nice guy, but he lacks confidence in his shots, and I found a couple of flaws in his groundstrokes that I used to my advantage. He did tell me while we were warming up, though, that he's the manager for the regulars, and only rarely played as the substitute in the tournaments, which really makes me want to play some of the others. What about you?"
"Annoying, but he had some interesting reactions. It was okay, I suppose. Definitely the hardest match I've played since tryouts started." Alice said simply. "Hang on. I need to report my score." She said, and walked off before waiting for Riku's answer to tell Watanabe-sensei her score. Riku rolled his eyes and waited for her to return when a voice called him from behind. Turning, Riku found himself looking at Banji, who was smiling like usual.
"Hello there Ikuma-kun. How are things going?" he asked pleasantly.
"Just fine Banji-sensei." Riku replied politely.
"Please just call me Banji. You don't need to add the sensei to it." The old man explained. "Now, I'm not sure how long you've had to rest, but I came to tell you that you need to report to court A for your next match. Since you've already played there won't be a warm-up this time."
"Thanks Banji." Riku said as he readjusted the strap to his tennis bag so it sat more comfortably on his shoulder. "I'll head over there right now." Glancing over his shoulder, Riku saw Alice walking back over and called out to her. "I've got a match on court A right now, so I'll talk to you later." Waiting to see Alice nod, Riku turned and walked towards court A. When he got there, he found a girl waiting for him. Twenty-five minutes later the match was over with Riku having won 6-1. For a girl she was decent, he supposed, but compared to Alice she was horrible and Riku had had little trouble with her. Speaking of Alice, she was busy playing one of the non-regular boys on court B.
After finding Takahashi-sensei and reporting his score Riku felt an arm flung around his shoulder, and heard a somewhat familiar voice in his ear. Sengoku.
"Come on Ikuma-san. Let's go cheer on your sister." Sengoku said in that happy-go-lucky way of his. Glancing at the other matches, Riku shook his head and disentangled himself from Sengoku's arm. There was a match going on between two of the regulars on both courts C and D and Riku wanted to go watch them. He could see Alice play whenever he wanted, and she wouldn't mind if he didn't go cheer for her.
"Sorry Sengoku-san, but I'm going to go watch the matches on courts C and D. You'll have to cheer for Alice by yourself." Riku stated as he started walking away. It only took a second and Sengoku was next to him again.
"But it's your sister. Shouldn't you go cheer her on like a good brother?"
"Why bother when I know she'll win, and it would be better to scout out the regulars that are playing anyway, in case I get put up against one of them in a match which will probably happen." Staring at Riku for a minute, Sengoku blinked and sighed.
"You have a good point there, I suppose, but I'm going to miss watching the girls that are playing. Unlucky." Rolling his eyes, Riku found a good spot to stand that allowed him a good view of both courts while Sengoku followed him. If he was complaining about not getting to watch the girls play, Riku didn't see why he followed him when he could easily go watch the girls play by himself. Not that it was really his problem in the first place, so Riku ignored it and decided to see what he could learn from Sengoku about the regulars that were playing.
"Over there on court C is Nitobe Inakichi, who your sister played earlier, and his opponent is Higashitaka Masami, our new vice-captain. Then there's Minami Kentarou, our new captain, on court D, who's playing Touji Muromachi, the guy with the glasses. His position is singles one." Sengoku explained, answering Riku's questions. "Higashitaka-fukubuchou and Minami-buchou will win for sure. They actually make up our number one doubles team. Everybody calls them The Jimmies."
"Why The Jimmies?" Riku asked as he watch a long rally between the players on court D. Touji-san seemed to be a good player, but first singles? Was he really the best singles player? Watching him play, Riku felt that he'd be able to beat him if they played.
"Nobody really knows." Sengoku replied with a shrug. "It's just what we call them."
"So they'll be the ones to beat if Alice and I want to play first doubles." Riku mused, not noticing the strange look Sengoku gave him.
"What did you just say Ikuma-san?" he asked in confusion. "Was that Italian you were speaking just now?"
"Huh? Was I? My bad." Riku said with a shrug of his shoulders after a moment of though. "I can't tell the difference between when I'm speaking Italian and Japanese unless someone else points it out." Riku explained to the doubtful looking Sengoku. "Weird I know, but that's just how it is. Anyways, if they're doubles one then who's doubles two?"
"That'd be Nitobe Inakichi and Kita Ichiuma. Kita-kun is the guy with grayish hair and the red swirl marks on his cheeks that's standing over there." Sengoku said as he pointed the boy out. "Both of our doubles pairs are at the national level, which is one of the things that allows us to use an aggressive lineup in tournaments."
"An aggressive lineup?" Riku asked as he watched Touji-san win a point with a well-placed slice backhand.
"Oh yeah, I guess you wouldn't know since you're new around here, but Banji has a very aggressive style. We form our line up with the goal of winning the first three matches against each school we face. In order to do that we need strong doubles teams, and then Banji puts our strongest singles player, which just so happens to be me, in singles three to finish the other team off. " Here Sengoku rubbed the back of his neck, a blush on his cheeks. "It catches a lot of teams off guard because they expect our worst player to play third singles, and our best to play first singles, but we do the opposite."
"Doesn't that cause a problem if you don't win in the first three matches, though?" A voice said from behind Riku. Turning, Riku acknowledged his twin with a nod of his head.
"Hey Alice. How'd your match go?" Riku had no doubt that she'd won easily enough.
"It was too easy. I won 6-1, and he wasn't an interesting opponent at all. He wasn't even worth messing with." She sighed, ignoring the look Riku sent her, used to his annoyance at her treating people like chess pieces, before looking at Sengoku, who'd been trying to edge his way into their conversation unsuccessfully. "Who are you?"
"Ah, this is Sengoku Kiyosumi. He's a third year like us." Riku said as he introduced the two of them. "Sengoku-san, this is my twin sister, Ikuma Alice."
"What? You're twins? I thought Alice-chan-ah, I mean san, was a second year." Sengoku exclaimed as he look back and forth between the two, looking for similarities that ran deeper than just being family-similarities that only twins could have. Meanwhile, Alice examined the orange haired boy critically, noting his lean physique and easy going attitude. At least he didn't seem too annoying.
"Nice to meet you." She performed a quick bow and whipped out her camera, snapping a picture of him before putting her camera away and pulled out her notebook, sticking the picture on a new page and grabbing her pen to write his name down.
"Um…" She looked up at him, sheepish. The orange haired boy didn't get the hint, though.
"Oh, where did that camera come from, Alice-san? Or the notebook? Or the pen?" Riku answered before she could.
"I've been trying to figure that out for years. It'll always be a mystery."
"Really? I'll have to keep a close eye on you then. Hopefully I'll get lucky and find out where you keep them." Riku rolled his eyes, noticing the subtle innuendo Sengoku added, and of course, Alice didn't. She stared down at her notebook, her pen pressed against the page, uncertain.
"He says lucky a lot." He offered, smirking slightly when Sengoku sent him an odd look. Alice hummed, nodding.
"It'll do." She informed them, writing 'Lucky-san' down underneath his picture. She put the notebook away and smiled at Lucky and Riku.
"What-" Lucky was cut off as Banji came over and placed his hands on his and Alice's shoulders. "Ikuma-chan, Sengoku-san, I hope you are both well rested, because you two are playing next, court A."
*%%*
Riku watched, somewhat in awe, as his sister was beaten. She put up a good fight, managing to get four games, but Sengoku finished her there, winning with the score at 6-4. Of course, Alice wasn't showing everything she could do, holding back with a lot of her precision shots and she didn't toy with his mind as much as she did others, and in turn, he figured Sengoku didn't play to his fullest either. He watched his sister shake Sengoku's hand and nod to Banji, who had been watching, before making her way toward him.
"Why'd you hold back so much?" Was the first thing he asked. Alice shook her head at him in mock shame.
"How can we be twins? Sometimes I doubt that you have two brain cells to rub together, let alone an actual brain. You know there's this newfangled thing called thinking, right?" Riku scowled at his sister. She could make a nerd feel dumb if she wanted to.
"Just because some of us over analyze things, doesn't mean we all do." He informed his sister, glaring. Alice scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Poor Riku, making up excuses for his lack of intelligence." She cooed, patting his head. "It's alright, Riku-kins, I'm sure that Dad will always love you, at least." Riku glared harder, curling his fingers into fists at his side.
"Just tell me, Alice." She smirked at him, crossing her arms.
"Say please, brother mine." Riku raised an eyebrow, copying her stance.
"Nope." The twins engaged in a staring contest, neither of them looking away from their twin. Finally Alice blinked, her eyes watering.
"Dang." She muttered, rubbing her eyes. Riku smirked triumphantly, rubbing his own eyes.
"Spill." He ordered. Alice nodded, walking over to her bag and putting her racket and purple sweat bands away. She gestured for her brother to follow her and led the way to a bench off to the side. She sat down heavily and pulled out her water bottle, taking a big draught. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before turning to her brother, who had sat down next to her.
"Lucky-san is supposedly the best singles player that Yamabuki has," she started, "and so it is expected of him to win, and we can't afford to beat the best quite yet, Riku, not until we actually make the regulars, at least." At Riku's confused look, Alice rolled her eyes, leaning back into the bench. She surveyed to games going on, sweeping her gaze across the courts.
"That still doesn't explain why you held back as much as you did. You could have pulled out with a better score than you did and though you probably still would have lost, you would have looked better as a player." Riku said, stretching his arms out in front of him before resting them back on the top of the bench.
"I doubt I could have beat him if I had tried my hardest too, that's a given. He's the best singles player for a reason, but add that to the fact that this is just tryouts and it's not prudent for me to show off, since the goal is to simply get onto the team and not win a tournament or something. We're new here Riku." She turned back to him, serious. "I know it isn't your forte or anything, but look closely at the Regulars and tell me what you see."
Riku gave his sister an odd look, but did as she told him nonetheless. He observed the regulars that weren't playing; they all stood together, at least loosely, and were watching the matches. He turned back to his sister. "I don't know what I'm looking for." He admitted. Alice nodded, looking at him, considering something. Finally she turned back to the courts.
"Over there." She pointed to the far side of the courts where the two regulars that would be graduating after the summer were watching the matches. "The one on the far right is last year's captain, and the one next to him is the vice-captain." She paused, before sweeping her finger over to the regulars that needed to try out. "The one with spiky brown hair is this year's captain, and the stern one with black hair is the vice-captain, but, if you watch carefully, they aren't the only ones that the old captain and vice-captain are watching." Alice trailed off, watching the regulars. Riku tried to follow the old captain's eyes to see who he was watching, but couldn't pinpoint who it was. He wasn't used to people watching like Alice. All he knew was that he wasn't watching the games. Giving up, he gave his sister a questioning look.
"They're watching Lucky-san, and The Jimmies." She told her brother, pointing to the people mentioned. "The best people on the team." She added. She turned toward her brother, catching his gaze.
"There is a hierarchy here, Riku, with Lucky-san and The Jimmies at the top, and to upset that hierarchy by even almost winning against one of the top is a bad idea. We're new here, and we don't need unnecessary resentment from the team." She gave her brother a significant look. "And trust me, we would gain resentment for showing our true skills when we aren't even on the team yet." She paused, relaxing at the dawning understanding in her brother's eyes.
"You remember our team back in Italy, right?" Not waiting for her brother to answer the rhetorical question, Alice continued. "You saw how they treated people that played us on the street courts that beat us or were even came close to beating us; they treated them like they were…" Alice trailed off, looking for the right way to describe it.
"They felt threatened." Riku murmured, thinking back to his old team. "Even though they couldn't possibly try out for our team, they felt like if they beat us or them, they were a threat out to take their spots."
"And they treated them accordingly." Alice nodded, smiling at her brother. "It's irrational to the extreme, but no one likes a no-body to be better than them. So, Riku, my point is, if we went out there and played Lucky-san or the Jimmies our hardest, threatening them, they will resent us… they will…" Alice searched for words again. "I guess they would finally realize that they could be kicked off of the regulars and be demoted to the representative teams, which could be a shock. They're nationally ranked players, after all. So, if we simply target the non-regulars, and the regulars that we want to take the place of, the doubles two team, we can scrape by these tryouts without any bad will." Alice beamed at her brother.
Riku stared at Alice, bemused. "How do you know they would react that way? Not every tennis player is a sore loser Alice." Alice slumped back, disappointed.
"It's not that they would be sore losers Riku, it's that the hierarchy would be upset by newbies! One of them a girl. Why don't you get this?" Alice threw her hands into the air, exasperation coloring her tone. "They're not mean or whatever, it's just, like… human nature! They'd be scared if we could beat their best or almost beat their best that easily. If we were at a school with less of a hierarchy and all of the players were more evenly matched, then it wouldn't be a problem, but here it is." Riku smiled, amused at his sister's frustration. Sometimes, like in this case, the things she found to be so important meant absolutely nothing to him. Holding up his hands defensively, Riku accepted what Alice had said before she could rant again.
"Alright, I get it I get it. Pretend to try my hardest with Sengoku-Lucky-san," he changed when he saw her confused look, "and The Jimmies, and beat everyone else. Will do!" He mock saluted his sister, still amused. Alice rolled her eyes and stood up, grabbing her bag.
"Good." She told her brother curtly, walking away from him. "Because your name was just called for court C."
Grabbing his things, Riku got up and started walking towards court C, but not before stealing a glance at Sengoku and The Jimmies. Hierarchy huh? Alice might care about stuff like that, but honestly Riku really couldn't care less, so he never really paid attention to it in the first place. Sure, he'd pretend he did for his sister so she didn't freak out at him…again, but really, tearing down the hierarchy that had been so carefully built up sounded…fun. Smirking, Riku pulled a coin out of his pocket and began rolling it across his knuckles while he walked. Alice had better not expect him to remain complacent for too long.
*%%*
"Good work everyone!" Banji beamed at the students. "What an excellent first day. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to give some bad news now. The following players lost three or more of their matches today, and so aren't qualified to return to tryouts tomorrow: Fugiwara Eiichi, Ino Gen, Inoue Haruka, Fujita Chizu, Gotò Ayame, and Hasegawa Rinko. Thank you for participating today, and remember that after you improve yourselves you may challenge for a spot." The six players nodded, determination painting their features. Banji excused them and turned his attention to the remaining players, particularly Alice and Riku.
"Congratulations you two, you are the only two non-regular participants that have made it for day two." Alice and Riku beamed at him and gave each other a high five to the other students' amusement. Banji chuckled, smiling down at them warmly before his smile returned to his normal one and he turned his gaze to all of his students.
"Tomorrow, two of you will not make the team." A tense, competitive silence fell over the group. "So, I expect you to prepare yourselves for a grueling day. Tryouts tomorrow will be elimination based; the two players with the most losses will not make the team, though they are welcome to sign up as the team's manager and play as the reserve player." Alice and Riku exchanged looks, excited and nervous. The rest of their day had been filled with smashing the non-regular players, and holding back against most of the regulars. It had been an exercise of patience and a balance of skill, and tomorrow was the day they hoped it would pay off.
At this point, combined, they had played all of the regulars, and both were quite happy with the level of skill shown. Of course, they didn't win against either of The Jimmies or Sengoku, but both had won against the others with differing levels of ease.
"With that being said, go home and get a good night's rest." Banji said, dismissing them. The students all bowed and hurried off, the twins included.
*%%*
"Alice, Antonio." The twins looked up from their feet, turning toward their mother. They had just gotten home and the rush of the first day of tryouts had worn off and all they were left with were straining muscles.
Mrs. Ikuma smiled at her kids tenderly, "I'm sure you two are tired, but it is dinner time and your father and I have to speak with you." Alice and Riku exchanged looks, a feeling of dread in their stomachs. The last time their parents had needed to speak to them, they had been informed of their oji's death and their move to Japan. They gulped but nodded, walking back down the stairs, making their way to the kitchen.
Once everyone had taken a seat at the table, except Uncle, who was mysteriously missing, Mrs. Ikuma sat a big bowl of spaghetti in the middle of the table, with rolls off to one side and fruit on the other. "Eat first." She told them, "We'll talk after." Mr. Ikuma and the kids nodded in acceptance, passing the food around the table for everyone to grab.
Throughout the meal, Alice tried to get one of her parents to let something slip about what they needed to talk to the twins about, but was unsuccessful. Riku didn't even bother trying. If Alice couldn't get them to spill there was no way he'd be able to do it. Once everyone had eaten their fill, and all the dishes and food had been taken care of, the family sat back down around the table.
From where he sat, Mr. Ikuma cleared his throat, a resigned look on his face. "Kids…" He paused, rubbing his forehead. "You're not going to be happy about this, but for dinner tomorrow we're all heading up to your grandparent's house." Riku and Alice stared at their father, eyes wide.
"Dad…" Alice hesitatingly started. Mrs. Ikuma shook her head, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"Alice, it's one night. You can survive that." Alice nodded glumly, head down. It's not like their grandparents would take no for an answer anyway.
"Now," Mr. Ikuma continued. "You two know the drill. No talking about Alice playing tennis, no back talking your grandparents, only talk when spoken to, and be on your best behavior." Mr. Ikuma gave his kids a stern look, only relaxing when they nodded their agreement.
"This sucks." Riku murmured, resting his chin on his hand. Alice made a noise of agreement and Mr. and Mrs. Ikuma traded tired looks.
"Now that we're in Japan, we're going to see a lot more of your father's side of the family." Mrs. Ikuma told her children. "And I know it's not fun, but your grandparents are hardworking people, and they-" Alice cut her mother off.
"They have our respect Mom. We just don't like them." Mrs. Ikuma sighed, but nodded.
"Just try and get home as soon as you two can so that you have time to clean up, but we did tell Sofu that we would be later than usual." Alice and Riku nodded, trying to smile at their parents. When they were excused the twins immediately got up and headed toward the stairs, calling out a goodnight to their parents.
Once upstairs Alice headed toward the bathroom that Riku and she shared, while Riku headed toward the bathroom in his parent's room, both intent on taking a shower. Once toweled off and in their pajamas Riku and Alice met briefly in the hall.
They stared at each other in silence for a moment, glum, before Riku sighed and turned toward his bedroom.
"See ya in the morning Alice."
"'Night Riku." Alice turned toward her own bedroom. She didn't quite know why they had met only to say goodnight, but it had almost seemed like a final farewell between the two. Which was ridiculous, since they had tryouts all day tomorrow before the execution.
Alice shrugged to herself and lay down in her bed, pulling the covers up to her nose and curling onto her side. She closed her eyes and relaxed her body, trying to think about nothing. They had a long day tomorrow, and she wouldn't let the thought of her grandparents keep her up.
*%%*
Riku panted, adjusting his grip as he returned to the base line to fall into the receiving position. It seemed that all of the regulars were holding back on the first day, and were letting loose on the second, because he didn't think that Minami Kentarou, the new captain and one of The Jimmies, had given him this much trouble yesterday, and he had lost then. He had also played Touji Muromachi, the singles one player, earlier, and while he had won, Touji had definitely shown skill that he hadn't yesterday. Of course, because of Alice, Riku still had his better skills sealed off; although, nobody other than Alice knew that. Anyone else watching the match thought Riku was going all out, which wasn't the case at all. His parents always said Riku would get an 'A' in acting if he ever took it. The exhaustion he was showing was only half real, and he was purposely not making it to shots that would normally be easy for him to reach. Since his true speed was still unknown to everyone but Alice, Riku figured that would be a good way to keep it…for now at least.
A few minutes later the match ended with Riku losing 4-6, the highest score Alice said he could have right now against Sengoku or either of The Jimmies. After shaking hands with the captain, Riku went to refill his water bottle at the drinking fountains. Alice met him there.
"Good match," Alice said in Italian so anyone nearby couldn't understand. "Almost too good. You nearly took a fifth game off of him there Riku! Be a little more careful, would ya? Someone could figure out that we've been holding back." She scolded. Rolling his eyes as he capped his water bottle, Riku turned to face his sister.
"Relax Alice. I made sure not to take that game from him. You can call me dense all you want, but I'm not an idiot. I knew what I was doing. I'm wounded that you don't trust your own twin." He joked as they started walking back towards the courts. "Besides when we play doubles together, that is." He added with a smirk. Slapping Riku on his arm Alice rolled her eyes, but inside she was smiling. Riku was starting to joke around again, which was a good thing.
Hearing the name Ikuma being called, Alice and Riku stopped before turning around to see Watanabe-sensei walking towards them.
"There you are. Court B just opened up. Report there immediately and get started with your match." She said before beginning to turn to leave.
"Excuse me Watanabe-sensei." Alice said before the woman could walk off. "You didn't say which one of us is playing." Turning back, Watanabe-sensei looked at the two of them before nodding in understanding.
"I guess I wasn't very clear, was I? Both of you need to report to court B- you're playing each other. Well, if you'll excuse me I need to go find some other players and notify them of their matches." She said, turning and walking off. Alice and Riku looked at each other in momentary shock before recovering.
"Well, I guess we should get going then." Riku said as he started towards court B. "I have to admit though, the thought never really crossed my mind that we might play each other." Nodding in agreement, Alice followed after her brother. "Just make sure you don't start to play seriously against me. Keep it at the level you've been using against Lucky-san and The Jimmies."
"Whatever you say Your Highness." Riku teased as he opened the gate to court B. "It still doesn't change the fact that you're going to lose."
The match was well played considering the fact that both players were holding back, and ended with Riku winning 6-4. Anyone who wasn't busy with a match of their own had stopped to watch the twins play, curious as to which newcomer was better. Curiosity sated, the few people watching dispersed and the rest of the tryouts passed by quickly.
*%%*
Except for The Jimmies and Sengoku, who had gone undefeated during tryouts, everyone was feeling a nervous tension as they stood in front of the silent coaches and graduating regulars. The tryouts had been close, too close. Riku pulled a coin from his pocket and rolled it across his fingers while Alice shifted her weight from foot-to-foot. Finally after what seemed like an eternity Banji stepped forward to address the players.
"First I would like to say good job to all of you." Alice sucked in a breath and rolled her eyes, why did they have to bother with this? She just wanted to hear the names of the regulars, because while she was pretty sure that Riku and she had made it, the wait played with her perceptions. "Each and every one of you played hard and did your best out there, but unfortunately not all of you can become regulars." An uneasy silence settled on the students, and some of them shifted restlessly from foot to foot.
"Now I know that you all want me to get on with telling you who made the regular team…" Banji beamed at them all as he paused, and Alice decided right then that the smiling sensei was just cruelly toying with them.
"So, I shall start." The hopefuls tensed up and stared at the head coach, collectively holding their breath. "First, we have Minami Kentarou, our new captain." Minami stepped forward and shook Banji's hand before moving to shake the other coach's hands as well. He then stepped to the side next to the graduating regulars, excepting their congratulations.
"Next we have Higashitaka Masami, our new vice-captain." Higashitaka followed the captain's example and shook everyone's hands.
"Sengoku Kiyosumi. Tougi Muromachi. Nishikiori Tsubasa." One by one the new regulars were called up and congratulated. Riku felt Alice grab his hand and he gripped it tight, only two more spots. "Ikuma Alice." Alice felt relief poor through her, giving her the courage to let go of Riku's hand. She stepped up to Banji and beamed up at him.
"Congratulations Ikuma-chan." Alice nodded and shook his hand and moved onto the girl's coach and then the guy's coach before joining the other regulars.
"You made it Alice! Lucky, we have a girl on the team." Alice beamed at Lucky-san and went to shake his hand when he glomped her into a huge bear hug. Before she had the chance to wriggle free of Sengoku's hug and shake the others' hands, she heard:
"And our last regular is Ikuma Riku." Watching as Riku shook hands with Banji, the coaches, and the other regulars, Alice high-fived him when he reached her, identical grins on their faces. With all of the new regulars announced only two players were left standing with disbelief on their faces. Nitobe Inakichi and Kita Ichiuma, the number two, nationally ranked, doubles team of Yamabuki hadn't made the cut for regulars. A moment of silence hung awkwardly in the air before the two rounded on Banji, exploding.
"What do you mean we haven't made it?"
"Ya, what are you going to do for doubles two now?"
"We're national level players; those newbies couldn't have beat us out!"
"What were you thinking?"
"She's a girl!"
"-could a girl-"
"How could she-"
"-must have been a mistake!"
"-can't be-"
"-no-"
"Banji!" They yelled together. Everyone was staring at them while Alice and Riku shared a glance and a subtle nod. These two were annoying and needed to be shut up, but not today because they were tired and had to go to their grandparents for dinner.
"I'm sorry Nitobe-kun, Kita-kun, but you two had the most losses of anyone here." Banji replied calmly. "Doubles two will be worked out along with the rest of the positions at the first practice which will be on Monday." He turned to Alice and Riku, "Think of it like another tryout, you two need to decide which spot you would like and be prepared to play for that spot." Banji turned to address Nitobe and Kita. "Once the summer tournament is over you can submit challenges to try and earn back your spots on the regular team. Until then practice hard so you'll be ready to challenge." The two boys scowled but nodded, crossing their arms and glaring at the other players, especially Alice. "You two boys also need to remember that you will still be practicing with us until after the summer tournament, which you will still be participating in." Banji smiled at the whole team once more before he dismissed them.
Alice and Riku managed to leave the school and get about a block away before they stopped and beamed at each other.
"We made it!" Alice exclaimed, glomping her brother. Riku laughed and nodded, hugging her back.
"Duh. It's not like there was any other option to start with. Now, will you get off me already?" Smirking deviously, Alice only hugged Riku tighter.
"Nope."
"And just why not?" Riku asked somewhat breathlessly since Alice was crushing his ribs.
"One, because I'm really happy right now, and two, it annoys you."
"Alice." Riku said between clenched teeth. His only response was the shaking of his sister's body as she burst into a fit of giggles all while still not letting go. Great…just great.
*%%*
"Kids, are you ready?" Riku made a face at his closed door, smoothing down his button up shirt and ruffling his wet hair.
"No." He muttered to himself, before opening his door and walking toward his sister's. "We'll be right down, Mom." He called loud enough for her to hear. Reaching his sister's door, Riku found it open and his sister sitting on the floor, feet sprawled out in front of her. She was wearing a white dress that fell to about mid-thigh -though that could have been because she was sitting -with gold leggings underneath. He shook his head slightly, knowing that Sobo would be displeased with the outfit. He decided not to mention that to his sister, though, knowing that she probably picked that outfit just because of Sobo's reaction.
"Come on, Alice, we have to go." His twin nodded and gracefully climbed to her feet. She went to her closet and dug up some shoes before turning to her brother.
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Alice said, following her brother out the door and down the stairs where their parents were waiting. Mr. and Mrs. Ikuma inspected their kids, wincing slightly at Alice's choice of outfits.
"Don't you want to wear something a little more… well, something Sobo would approve of Alice? You know she doesn't like leggings or short dresses." Mrs. Ikuma asked.
"She also hates short hair," Alice smiled up at her parents, swirling her hair around her fingers, "but you don't see me letting it grow out. No, this will be fine." Her parents sighed but nodded, ushering their children out the door.
"I can't believe that us making the regulars is going to be celebrated by going to our grandparent's house." Riku commented idly. Alice hummed in agreement, nodding her head.
"Something does seem really wrong about this situation." She added, hands sliding down her dress as if looking for pockets to stuff her hands in. Mr. Ikuma smiled down at his children.
"We'll celebrate tomorrow kids, don't worry." Riku and Alice nodded their agreement and climbed into the car, buckling their seatbelts and relaxing back into their seats.
"At least it's not a long drive." Alice told her brother who nodded in agreement, staring out the window.
"At least." He murmured. His parents climbed into the front seats and his father started the car, pulling out of the driveway. The car ride was spent with Mr. and Mrs. Ikuma talking quietly and the twins staring out their windows, silently dreading what was to come.
About twenty minutes later Mr. Ikuma pulled into a long driveway, driving another five minutes, before stopping in front of what could only be described as a mansion. Elaborate looking gardens surrounded the house, and expensive lawn ornaments and fountains decorated the grass.
"Still looks as tacky as ever." Riku observed. His parents sent him scolding looks, but he just shrugged. "It does." He told them.
The Ikuma family climbed out of the car and started for the front door, all of their expressions shifting to a haughty, rich one. "I feel like a well-trained monkey." Alice whispered to her brother out of the corner of her mouth.
Riku nodded, "No kidding." They stopped to the side of their parents, who had just rung the doorbell. A butler answered and escorted them in, taking their mother's purse and their father's jacket; he informed them that he would go notify his Master and Mistress that their guests had arrived, before he left the room.
Alice looked around the room, noting that the expensive Persian rug was still there, and all of the vases on little tables were the same as well. The room was no longer a cream color though, but now had marble on the walls, coating the room in green and black. Alice idly wondered if it was fake or real, but didn't get the chance to find out as her grandparents had just entered the room.
Sofu was dressed in an expensive lounging outfit, which consisted of a three button suit and a dark blue tie. Sobo was wearing a traditional Japanese kimono that was red on top and slowly faded into black on the bottom. It also had Japanese cherry blossoms twisting around the kimono. To Alice, it looked like something that belonged in a museum, never to see the light of day again, but that was how Sobo always dressed.
"Father, Mother." Mr. Ikuma stepped forward and bowed before giving his mother a light hug.
"Son." Riku and Alice watched what was happening, but made no move to great their grandparents, knowing that it would seem impolite of them to greet their elders without first being greeted themselves.
"The game of playing politics begins." Alice thought grimly, folding her hands in front of her and bowing her head slightly. She was more than willing to risk her grandparent's wrath about her hair and clothing choices, but she would never actually act out in front of them. That would be suicide.
They greeted Riku first, and spent a moment talking with him, asking about his goings on and his tennis. They also made sure to ask about whether he was keeping up with his business practice, and if he had gone with Mr. Ikuma to the office lately. Riku performed admirably and answered their questions as politely as he could, making sure he was addressing their question and not going off on tangents.
Sobo immediately sniffed upon seeing Alice, her nose wrinkled as if she had smelled something bad. "Suzume." She finally greeted. Alice turned toward her grandmother and bowed, not too low to suggest brown-nosing, but not high enough that she would seem disrespectful.
"Sobo."
"Goodness child, what are you wearing?" Alice arose from her bow and refolded her hands in front of her, hiding her triumph at making her grandmother lose her composure behind a neutral expression.
"It is all the rage amongst my peers, Sobo. I apologize if it isn't quite to your tastes, and will make sure that I never wear it again, if that is to your agreement." Sobo sniffed again, but nodded, turning her attention back to her parents.
Alice let a quick smirk curl her lips before she suppressed it. Not only had she befuddled her grandmother, she also made sure she turned her attention away from her quickly, not asking any questions. Score one for Alice, score zip and zero for Sobo.
The Japanese-Italian family followed the elder Mr. and Mrs. Ikuma to the family dining room, which was not to be mistaken for the formal dining room. The elder Mr. Ikuma knelt at the head of the dining table, with his wife to his left and his son to his right. Riku sat next to Sobo and across from his mother, with Alice to his left.
Polite and subtle probing conversation filled the room, with Alice and Riku being mostly ignored. The talk mostly consisted of the latest and greatest in international politics and gossip. There was also the light scorn that was always present being directed to Riku's and Alice's mother for being a foreigner and marrying into the family.
Riku shifted in his seat slightly, resisting the urge to excuse himself to the bathroom. Dinner with his father's parents was always awkward and riddled with unspoken tension. He really had no clue as to how his father grew up with Sobo and Sofu without turning out exactly like him, but he would never ask. His father clearly loved his parents, but didn't like speaking about growing up under them.
He glanced at his sister and nearly rolled his eyes at her zoned out look. It really was a wonder she survived these things. He turned back to stare at his plate and sighed inaudibly in relief when a servant took his plate and Sofu stood, indicating the end of the meal. Riku followed the other's example and also stood, hiding his wince as his knees protested to finally straightening up.
Following his family back out to the entrance hall, Riku waited for the goodbyes that they unfortunately had to go through. His grandparents briefly mentioned, and he was faintly horrified at hearing about a 'little dinner party' his grandparents would be holding before school started back up. His hopes for missing it were dashed when his grandfather turned to him and held out his hand, saying:
"There will also be plenty of people your age to mingle with, Riku. I'll be sure to introduce you to someone." Riku swallowed his grimace and politely thanked his Sofu and Sobo for the dinner and the invitation to the dining party. He made a face at his parents as they turned their attentions to Alice, nearly laughing at the face his father sent back.
The Ikuma family said their goodbyes and left the mansion, collectively sighing in relief and slumping their shoulders.
"Well, that wasn't too bad." Mrs. Ikuma told her children, offering them a smile.
"Yeah, if you don't count the order to show up at their dinner party, it was wonderful." Riku said, stretching his arms above his head. Mr. Ikuma laughed and flung an arm around his son's shoulders.
"I'm sure you'll survive Son."
"You are old, Father, And your hair has become very white; And yet you incessantly stand on your head - Do you think, at your age, it is right?" Riku replied with a roll of his eyes while his family turned to stare at him in shock. "What? Is there something on my face?" He asked after a moment before Alice mercilessly tackled him into a huge bear hug.
"I can't believe it! That's the first wonderland joke you've made since we moved here. If I'd known visiting Sofu and Sobo would cure you then…well, maybe not. I'd never willingly visit them, but still, that's beside the point. You're finally cured!" Alice exclaimed happily. Laughing, Riku disentangled his sister's arms from around him.
"Let go Alice or I'll die from lack of oxygen. You've already tried to crush my ribcage once today." Finally getting her off of himself, Riku glanced over at his parents who were smiling at him.
"I'm glad to see your back to your old self Riku, but what's with that choice of quote? Are you calling me insane?" Mr. Ikuma asked as he ruffled his son's hair fondly.
"Ha! You have to be if you think I'm going to survive Sofu's dinner party unscathed." Riku replied, elbowing his dad lightly.
"He's got a point there Dear." Mrs. Ikuma admitted. Everyone looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. This is how it was supposed to be: one happy, laughing, dysfunctional family. Uncle would be in for a pleasant surprise when they got back.
Japanese to English dictionary:
Sofu: Grandfather
Sobo: Grandmother
Tennis Glossary
deuce side- also known as the even side, this is the right side of the court, and the side that you start serving on. Points served on this side are: 0-0, 15-15, 0-30, 30-0, 30-30, 15-40, 40-15 and duece.
add side- also known as the odd side, this is the left side of the court. Points served on this side are: 0-15, 15-0, 15-30, 30-15, 0-40, 40-0, and the advantage (ad) points when playing out a deuce.
Choosing a court side rule- before starting a match a racket is spun or a coin is flipped to decide who will serve first. However ends up being the reciever gets to choose which side of the court they want to start playing on.
CHALLENGE QUESTION
No one won our previous challenge, but that's okay. Hopefully this contest/challenge will go a little bit better. Like last time to compete just send in your answers with a good review to this chapter. The winner will be notified with the posting of our next chapter.
Challenge: Guess how long our next chapter (6) will be. The person who is closest to the actual length wins. We are looking for the closest number of words. To help you out, here's the stats for the chapters we have posted so far (the number of words is from what Microsoft Word shows):
Ch1: 7pgs 4,344 words
Ch2: 10pgs 6,113 words
Ch3: 15pgs 9,396 words
Ch4: 18pgs 11,391 words
Ch5: 16pgs 9,735 words
Prize: A one-shot or drabble with a prompt of your choice.
Prize conditions:
-It has to be a Prince of Tennis fanfic.
-The highest rating we will allow is T.
-Absolutely no slash.
If you win:
-We will notify you and tell you what you need to send us for the one-shot/drabble
Well, there's chapter five for ya. We hope you all enjoyed reading it. We want to know what you think about our story, so make sure to leave us review.
~The Splits