So, do I even have the right to post this? It's been a few years, and I feel bad, but this story is super personal to me, and I love coming back to it time to time. I hope you enjoy it, but if you don't, that's completely fine too. Thanks for even getting to this chapter!
Niou had no idea what to tell Megumi when they got to practice. He was sure he was going to get some form of punishment from Sanada, but he didn't know what kind of things would be asked of her. He saw her staring ahead at the courts, clearly nervous about her new job. But he figured that she was going to get through it. She wasn't mumbling to herself just yet, which he believed to be a good sign.
"Hey, I have to go over there now." He patted her head. She nodded and took a quiet breath.
"Are you gonna like… pass out?" he asked.
"Am I going to have to talk to everyone here?" she looked up at him with anxiety written all over her face. He gave a small laugh.
"I doubt it, we're trying to keep this thing secret still."
"Okay, if you say so." She said. He mentally sighed and wanted to make her feel a little more comfortable than this.
"Alright, I'll take off now." He said and walked away from her.
Niou took a look at everyone in the club. He made a list in his head of people he would want Megumi to avoid. Once she was better settled in with the team, he would start with the pranks and the tricks, but for today, at least, he felt it was best to leave her as alone as possible. Luckily, no one seemed to notice her. He looked back at her and she was being approached by Yukimura and Sanada. He hoped that Yukimura would keep the conversation calm and wouldn't scare her off. There was an awkward stare down between Sanada and Megumi. He knew that Sanada was just trying to see if she's capable of doing anything athletic, but he had no idea what she was thinking about him. For all he knew, she could be falling in love with him right now.
"Nope." He laughed at himself.
"Can I ask what you're laughing about?" Yagyuu came to ask.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. But hey, she's here." He tilted his head to Megumi's direction. Yagyuu seemed surprised.
"Oh, good for her." He smiled.
"You think so? She was practically dying with shyness with just us five."
"Yeah, but I think she'll be fine. As long as Yukimura's here." Marui jumped in the conversation.
The three looked over and saw a slightly annoyed Sanada. Megumi wasn't standing still, and was rubbing her eyes.
"Oh, did he make her cry already?" Akaya asked from afar. Marui stuck his hand out against him.
"Don't join this conversation right now." He said and slightly shifted toward her direction.
"I don't believe she was crying. Maybe she got a little dust in her eyes." Yagyuu tried to assure.
"Nope. She's going to yawn soon." Niou realized. He tensed up, wondering how Sanada would take that.
"Are you sure? That's not a good idea." Marui said, hiding behind Niou.
The three stood silently and watched it happen. Megumi covered her mouth and looked away as a mild yawn was let out. And frame by frame, they saw Sanada's face turn from stern, to bewildered, to you-need-to-be-slapped-awake. His hands turned in to fists, and a deep breath was taken.
"How dare you yawn during an important discussion!" he yelled loud enough to possibly reach Shitenhouji.
The whole team stopped to see what was going on and saw Megumi with her chin held back. She blinked a few times and tilted her head. Everyone saw her move her lips, but didn't hear a word she said. If anything, it made Sanada angrier.
"Hey! All of you drop your rackets. Fifty laps, every one of you." Yukimura came in to the courts. With no hesitation, everyone did as they were told.
"Regulars run one hundred!" he added.
Marui and Niou groaned and started the run. They ran past Megumi once and saw that she wasn't crying or in distress. She looked calmer than she's ever been with Niou. And that slightly bothered him. It boggled his mind more than anything. More than half of the kids who join tennis drop out by the second day after they see how strict Sanada is on just posture. Which of course, never stopped Niou from appearing lazy every day. By his thirtieth lap, she was in the courts, sitting next to Yukimura on the bench. She was meeting Yanagi, who was handing her a few notebooks.
"Niou! Your pace is dropping!" Sanada yelled from behind him.
'Since when was he running behind me?' he rolled his eyes and jogged slightly faster.
Akaya sped past him, as he had a rule that he can never run behind Sanada. He caught up and continued to run next to him. Akaya yelled and tried to out run him. This was always a great laugh for Niou, but it wasn't as fun this time. He kept wanting to make sure Megumi was doing okay. He reassured himself that she was with Yukimura, but that didn't make him feel that great either.
"Just one more lap, Niou-kun." Yagyuu passed by him.
"Who the hell even keeps count?" he mumbled.
"I do." Yanagi showed up for the final lap.
"Why do you guys always show up from nowhere?" he rolled his eyes and pushed himself to finish the run.
Luckily, he wasn't the last one and smoothly walked in to the courts to grab his water. Coming out from the club room with a stack of towels in her hands was Megumi with Yukimura, holding a few beside her.
"What's with Yukimura? He'd never carry towels for the team." Jackal said.
"He's most likely showing her where all of our belongings are." Yagyuu said.
Niou smirked and briskly walked over to Megumi.
"Hey manager~, I just ran a ton and I'm sweating like crazy. Can I have a towel?" he said slyly.
"There's a bunch right here, just grab one." She said, obviously annoyed.
"But you see, I'm about to practice my swinging. I have to rest my arm."
"You seriously have some nerve." She said and continued to walk with Yukimura.
"Hey, that's incredibly rude to your senpai. And a regular of the Rikkai tennis team!" he said.
"Masa. Shut up." She said and stuck her tongue out. He couldn't hold back a small laugh.
'And I'm the one who has nerve?' he shook his head and stole a towel from the stack.
The sun was beginning to set, and the team members were out of energy. Everyone was waiting for Yukimura to give the call to end for the day. Niou found it funny that even by taking the laziest route, he still gets unbelievably tired. He couldn't even imagine how Akaya felt. Although it was pretty obvious as he was on the ground practically melting.
"Akaya, you can get up now." Yukimura said as he passed by.
"Can't…." he groaned and stayed on the ground.
"Okay, everyone! You're dismissed!" Yukimura shouted. Everyone was confused as they usually have team meetings after every practice. They slowly gathered their things, but stayed an extra ten minutes on the courts, just in case they were being tested. Yukimura let out a light sigh.
"So, are we meeting or anything today?" Marui asked.
"I figured I don't really have to tell you guys because we just end up talking anyway. Why waste the extra energy?"
"I don't have any more energy to use…" Akaya said from below.
"Learn to conserve it." Yanagi told him.
"Where's the new manager?" Jackal asked. Niou looked around and she was with Sanada by the club room.
"She's talking with Sanada. Their discussing manager responsibilities."
"He actually said that it's fine that she's here?" Marui said.
"Not really, but he'll adjust." Yukimura lightly smiled.
"Can we go change now? It's freaking hot." Niou mumbled.
"It's only April, it's not that hot." Jackal said. He rolled his eyes and headed for the club room. Megumi was obviously day dreaming, and Sanada had his arms crossed and looking the other way.
"Hey, Sanada, how do you like our new manager?" Niou stood in front of the two. Megumi looked over at him with dead eyes.
"She needs to learn what this sport is." He said very bluntly. They both looked at her and she shrugged, not knowing what to say.
"She doesn't know any rules, how is she supposed to manage anything?" he added.
"It'll be fine, Sanada. She'll get used to it." Yagyuu said from behind.
"Okada-san, I hope you had a good first day in the club." He smiled and walked in the room. Niou followed him.
"How long do you think she'll last?" Niou asked Yagyuu. He let out a sigh.
"I'm not too sure. I think she'll be okay, I'm rather more worried about Sanada-kun. He's going to be stressed out."
"He already has wrinkles, any more stress on him is going to be too much, don't you think?" Marui said as he walked in.
"I thought Sanada-fukubuchou was immune to anything. Has he ever gotten sick?" Akaya asked. They all paused for a moment and imagined a stone cold Sanada sneezing.
"Yeah, I doubt that'll ever happen." Niou said.
"But guys, did you see the way he yelled at Okada? I know it's just level one Sanada so it's not that bad, but on a new girl who's here because of Akaya's mistake? It was rough to watch." Marui said.
"Yeah, I felt pretty bad." Jackal agreed.
"What surprised me was how well she handled it. It was as if she'd experienced it before." Akaya said.
"It's possible. All team captains of this school are very strict and I've heard that they can be tough." Yagyuu said. Niou stayed silent and wondered if she's ever met Sanada, or if she's had a scary team captain before. He walked out of the room without saying anything to the team, and looked for Megumi. He had hoped she would stay where she was, but she had completely disappeared. He walked to the school gate but she wasn't there either. In fact, it was actually Yukimura standing.
"Oh, hey." Niou said to him. He kindly smiled back and approached him.
"I have to talk to you about something, Niou." He said in a serious tone. Most of his smile was gone, and he looked scary.
"What? Did I do something wrong?" he asked without worry.
"Out of everyone in the team, you're the closest to Okada-chan, right?" he said.
"She's not exactly the friendliest, but I guess I met her first." He shrugged.
"Okay. I don't want you to get any closer to her." Yukimura said sternly, looking at him deep in the eye. Niou didn't respond. He knew that by the way he was talking, he was being serious. Was it because Yukimura liked Megumi? He doubted that, as Yukimura wouldn't bother saying something like this.
"What?" he finally said.
"She doesn't remember, but we've met a few years ago. I'm not sure I'm allowed to say how we met, but we have. And she's not okay for this group."
"What the hell are you saying? She's just a girl, a fucking second year, and you're making her sound super dangerous." Niou scoffed and turned away. Yukimura followed and stepped in front of him.
"Say what you want. And I honestly don't have the right to tell you not to be friends with her, but I'm not going to let her find a new reason to kill herself." He said and walked away.
Niou stood there, and thought about what he just said. He wanted to know how they met, and why Yukimura knows she's tried to kill herself. And if they have met, why doesn't Megumi remember him? He shut his eyes and let out a deep sigh, as he was growing annoyed. He looked ahead and saw Megumi standing there. He approached her, and lightly kicked the back of her knee.
"Really? Was that necessary?" she rolled her eyes and started walking.
"I know you were waiting for me." He sneered and walked beside her, still wondering about the relationship between her and his captain.