NOTES: "Ikuyo" timeline. Inui & Yanagi friendship (or more, you decide). Inui POV.
With This Hand
Framed, in his tennis bag, was the single captured moment of his elementary school tennis life.
It was a moment he shared with his friend, his doubles partner.
In the picture, both of them held on tightly to the gold medal they wore around their necks. Those were the awards they received to compliment their outstanding partnership. And, as excited and proud as they were, they did not disregard the foundations on which they built their victories.
That was their friendship.
That was evident in the picture, in the single captured moment of their elementary school tennis life.
That was when they held hands.
That was when it was natural for them to do so, when their close companionship established such a contact.
Then, that was when the other left without warning, aborting their friendship.
As he counted each day of the other's absence, he was also counting the time in which he has not held the other's hand.
Finally, after four years, two months, and fifteen days later, he re-encountered the other.
Yet, their roles have been altered as they stood before each other in this familiar place on the tennis court after four years, two months, and fifteen days.
That was why, when he held the other's hand again in a loose handshake, there was no relief knowing the other would be there to support him, no happiness realizing that he could have someone to share so much of himself with, no excitement believing they could win every match, and no optimism imagining their eternal companionship.
That was all in the past.
That was why, when he held the other's hand now, he held it with rigid formality.
They were rivals now.