A/N: A new chapter is here! Thanks to minna who consistently read and/or comment!

Translation notes are at the bottom… and I'm sooo sorry it took so long to publish this chapter; I started high school and things got crazy!

Chapter 13

Hyoutei

Miku was sitting quietly on a tree branch outside the tennis courts where Seigaku was going to play. She'd arrived two hours early, because somehow her alarm clock got messed up and she thought she was late, ironically. Since she was the only one there, she figured that she'd climb a tree and wait for someone else to come. While swinging her feet back and forth under her, she reviewed the past events.

Seigaku had played Yamabuki about a week ago, and won 3-2. Doubles 2, Fuji and Taka, had lost, but Doubles 1 and Singles 2 and 3 had all won.

Now it was time for the Kantou tournament finals, and Seigaku was facing Hyoutei, the team that beat them by just a bit last year. Fudomine, the school that Seigaku had beaten to win the prefectural tournament, had beaten Hyoutei in 3 quick matches, much to everyone's surprise. This was because not many of their regulars had been playing- only 1 person from the normal team competed that day.

But in these upcoming matches, the Hyoutei regulars would be playing full force. They were a good team, and Seigaku would have a tough time with them. Miku was confident that her team would win, though.

She sat where she was for another hour, mulling over her thoughts and chewing her gum contentedly. It was then that she spotted a person walking her way. He had grey, messy hair, and a Hyoutei uniform on. As he got closer, she found that she recognized the boy.

"Choutarou-chan!" she cried, grinning. Choutarou Ootori looked up to where she was on the tree branch. Recognition crossed his face, and he smiled shyly at the old nickname.

"Miku-san," he greeted her, walking over. Miku jumped down from the tree branch and gave her old friend a hug. They sat on the grass on the side of the brick walkway, talking.

"How have you been? I haven't seen you since…when was it…?" Miku asked.

"Probably about 6th grade," the Hyoutei regular answered, trying to remember.

"Well, sixth grade for me, at least. You're a second year now, am I correct?"

Choutarou nodded, and he sighed. "Being a regular at Hyoutei is hard."

"I bet. I've heard the stories… like the ones where if you lose once you're off the regulars permanently…"

"Well, those are true."

Miku laughed, and said, "Well, I'm glad to see you haven't lost yet."

Choutarou smiled back. "So how have you been?"

"Pretty good, thanks. I'm still playing volleyball."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep! My team is really good!"

"Miku?"

Miku and Ootori looked up.

"Fuji," she greeted him with a smile.

"Consorting with the enemy?" he teased. Choutarou just looked from Miku to Fuji, confused.

"Oh, Choutarou-chan, this is Syuusuke Fuji. You'll be playing him. Maybe not personally, but you get the picture." Miku explained.

"Ah, wakata, wakata," Choutarou said, nodding.

"So how do you two know each other?" Fuji asked, sitting down on Miku's other side.

"We went to school together through sixth grade," Miku answered for both of them. And then to Choutarou, she continued, "But I didn't know you went to Hyoutei, though."

"My parents wanted me to go there," Ootori said, subconsciously playing with his cross necklace. "It's also really close to my house, so I walk to school every day."

"Ootori!"

The trio looked up. A guy with silver hair was leading his team towards the courts. Beside him were a monkey-looking boy, who was huge, and a tall, thin guy with short, brown hair and a light blue baseball cap. Behind them, there were 3 other males. One had fluffy, orange-brown hair and a sleepy expression on his face. He yawed every minute or so. The one in the middle had dark magenta hair and a determined expression on his face, making him look slightly crazy. His haircut was… odd; it came to a point in the middle of his forehead, and was a bob otherwise. The boy on the end had shoulder length dark blue hair and round glasses. He was smiling confidently.

"Ootori, come warm up. The matches will start soon," the one with the silver hair said.

"Hai, Atobe-san." Choutarou nodded, and joined the group. Miku and Fuji watched them leave, and then Miku said, "The air around them is stiff. The program must be very strict there."

"It is," Fuji agreed.

"Hoi! Fuji! Miku!" Eiji scampered up to his classmates with a smile on his face. "What's up?" He offered his hands to Miku and Fuji, and they took the favor and stood up. Eiji looked over to his left. "What were they talking to you guys for?" He asked in slight disdain.

"I know one of the teammates," Miku explained.

"Which one, nya?"

"Ootori Choutarou."

"Really?" Eiji was surprised. "I want to play him! I'm just glad it's not Atobe though… I'd have to disown you."

"What? Why?" Miku asked, confused.

Eiji and Fuji looked at each other. "You'll find out later," Fuji said. "Believe me, it won't take long." Eiji accompanied this statement with an eye roll.

"Kikumaru! Fuji!" Coach Ryuzaki called, and Miku saw that the team was mostly present. The trio went to join the group.

"Where's Oishi?" Eiji asked anyone who'd answer, looking around. "He's usually one of the first ones here."

"I don't know," the coach said, a worried expression on her face. Then, she spotted Tezuka walking over to the group. "Any news?"

Tezuka's normally expressionless face was, as usual, expressionless.

"He is at the hospital helping a pregnant woman who is about to have a baby," Tezuka explained. "He encountered her while walking over here."

"If it's Oishi, it's got to be true," Taka said. Everyone agreed.

(Earlier in the tournament, Ryoma was late and made this same excuse. No one believed him.)

"I'll go get him! If I run, he should be able to make it back!" Momo, who wasn't currently a regular, volunteered.

"Okay, but hurry!" Coach Ryuzaki said, looking at her watch. Momo sprinted off.

A while later, Tezuka got another call, and he, Eiji, and the rest of the regulars, along with Miku, all went to the steps in front of the gate. When they saw Momo, he was panting from running all the way there and back.

"Momo, hurry up!" Eiji called to him. "There's only 3 minutes left to sign in!"

Momo walked with the rest of the group over to sign in, and then to the tennis courts to be briefed on the upcoming matches. He walked over to Eiji.

"Eiji-senpai," he said with a grave expression. "Oishi-senpai's wrist is-"

"I know, I know," Eiji said. "It's broken. Tezuka told me." Miku looked over in shock. Well, maybe now she wouldn't have to hire an assassin. They were expensive, anyway.

"Oishi-senpai says sorry."

Eiji smiled and shrugged. "It's no big deal. We're going to win anyway, right Momo?"

"Eh?"

"You're on the doubles 2 team with me, nya!"

Momo was astonished, to say the least.

"Momo! Eiji! Go Seigaku!" Miku cheered in response to the Hyoutei supporters' cheer of "They winner will be Hyoutei! The winner will be Hyoutei! The loser will be Seigaku! The loser will be Seigaku!"

Momo and Eiji weren't doing so well. They were playing the guy with the pink triangle hair who was crazy, Gakuto Mukahi, and the guy with blue hair and glasses, Yuushi Oshitari. Since Eiji's normal partner, Oishi, had gotten switched with Momo before the match, Eiji didn't really know how to work with a new cohort. Also, his acrobatics had been sealed by the other team, as well as Momo's special shots.

Eiji somehow had an inspiration in the fifth game, when Seigaku was down 4-0, and he was revived a bit, playing his acrobatic tennis more and scoring more points. It was then that the pair used Eiji and Oishi's usual formation- the Australian Formation. It was very difficult to master, especially in the middle of the match (for Momo), but they pulled it off well and scored quite a few points from just that formation. Eiji stayed in the back to support Momo, and even used Oishi's signature shot- the moon volley. It involves a high lob dropped with pinpoint accuracy, usually to the back line.

Eiji and Momo tied the opponent at 4 games, and had the momentum of the match. Then, Eiji and Momo put their hands out in fists- not to each other, but out to the stands. Almost everyone looked where they were pointing.

A tall guy with raven-colored hair, weird bangs, and a wrapped wrist stood there in a blue uniform, fist out in a sign of victory.

The Seigaku team, apart from Tezuka, Inui, and Ryoma, grinned and/or sighed with relief. On the Hyoutei side, the multitude of cheerers was silent, and the silver haired captain was analyzing the match.

'So this isn't a regular doubles match…' Keigo Atobe thought. 'Doubles for three people, eh?'

In the end, ending with a faux smash preceding the actual one, Eiji and Momo pulled through to win the game 6-4. Everyone thought that Momo was going to hit his favorite smash, but Eiji jumped up behind him and scored the winning point.

The two teams shook hands, and then Momo and Eiji ran to the stands, grinning and cheering. Oishi congratulated the pair.

"You did really well for a first time, Momo!" Eiji said excitedly, slapping his partner on the back.

"Yeah, if it were us, we probably couldn't have won," Oishi said with a laugh. "Who's next?"

Inui, setting down his notebook and pencil and picking up his racket, entered the tennis courts with Kaidoh, who had just finished a warm-up run. They both wore determined looks on their faces.

Their opponents were the guy with short brown hair and the blue hat, and Choutarou-chan. Miku didn't know who to cheer for…

"Good luck, Choutarou-chan!" she yelled at him, waving. Both the Seigaku and Hyoutei regulars looked at her like she was crazy, but Miku ignored them. Her friend on the court waved back with a smile. "You too, Inui-san and Kaidoh-kun!"

The game progressed with Choutarou showing his 300mph serve, which Inui and Kaidoh couldn't return. When Inui was up to serve next, however, he gave it right back to them after taking off his wrist weights. Kaidoh ended up perfecting his boomerang snake, a shot that went around the poles that hold the net on the tennis courts, and sometimes even through the referee's chair.

After a while, Kaidoh started playing by himself, while Inui didn't help at all. The Hyoutei team was winning point after point, while Kaidoh was playing 2-on-1.

When the game count was at 5-0, Kaidoh was breathing quickly and sweating profusely. The other team was really good.

"Did you get all the data you needed?" Kaidoh asked his partner.

"Yes, perfectly," Inui answered simply.

In the game following, Inui started his data tennis, predicting all of the opponents' shots- and returning Ootori's serve in the process.

After Inui scored a great point on a smash, the game count was 5-4. But, to everyone's surprise, he walked over to the referee, who checked the spot that the tennis ball made on the court.

"Sure enough, it's out… Everyone! We will reset the score to 40-15!" the ref informed the crowd.

In the end, Ootori and his teammate Shishido pulled through to win, 6-4. So both Hyoutei and Seigaku both had one win and one loss now.

Miku told the doubles team that they did a good job, and waved at Choutarou as he passed, running to cool down.

Taka stood and faced his team. He wasn't currently holding a racket, obviously.

"If we lose here, the third years are done, right?" he said. He then picked up the Seigaku flag next to him that Momo brought with one hand, waving it around so that the symbol on it was visible for all to see and the flag billowed out in the wind.

"Taka-san!" Momo was astonished. "It's too heavy! Are you sure you've got it?"

Taka smiled and nodded. On the Hyoutei side, the big monkey man was carrying a sleeping teammate by his jacket- also with one hand.

The match began in due time, and Taka started out at serve. His obnoxiousness and yelling hadn't even fazed his opponent slightly, much to the disappointment of Taka's team.

All of Taka's strong shots were easily returned by his challenger with just as much force, sometimes more, pushing Taka back.

After a short while, though, Taka used his signature move- the Hadokyuu. It was an extremely strong shot that was usually hit with one hand, but Taka used two hands to lessen the strain on his wrist, making him able to hit it repeatedly. Time after time, that shot knocked the racket out of Taka's opponent, Kabaji's hand.

In the third game, when Taka hit yet another Hadokyuu, Kabaji surprised everyone. Well, everyone except his team members that is.

As Taka's shot came to the monkey man, he returned the Hadokyuu- with another Hadokyuu.

After a while of this, as Taka was being pushed back again with Kabaji's efficient play style, the monkey man was catching up. Tied at 2 games each, the pressure was on. A duel of Hadokyuu had begun- and one handed Hadokyuus at that.

"Taka-san!" Coach Ryuzaki was shouting from the bench. "Don't do this! You'll never be able to play tennis again!"

"I don't care!" Taka yelled, hitting another one of his signature shots.

Back on the sideline, Miku was watching the ensuing fiasco with a worried expression. She turned to Fuji, who was pretty good friends with Taka.

"Fuji, what's going on? Why doesn't he stop?" Miku asked him.

"Taka isn't going to play tennis after high school. He's going to train to be a sushi chef to carry on the family business." Fuji said this in a grave tone. "But no matter if we win this or not, he'll still have to continue to the nationals with us."

Miku looked back to the game, biting her lip.

The duel was still going on; a continuous stream of Hadokyuu. It persisted for a long time…

"AAAAHH!"

Miku's head snapped over to Kabaji. The tennis ball was lying next to the net on his side of the court. His racket dropped out of his hand with a loud clatter.

"I can't hit anymore," the monkey man said. His right hand was bloody; as was his racket grip.

Another sound was heard from Taka's side of the court.

"I can't continue either," he admitted, holding his wrist.

"Since both players can't continue, Singles 3 is considered a null match." The referee announced. These were probably the most amazing matches he'd ever judged.

Inui and Momo helped Taka back to the bench, and Fuji carried his racket back, examining it.

"Taka." The tall brunette turned to face Fuji. "Can I use this racket?"

Taka nodded confusedly, and resigned his wrist and hand to be checked by Inui and Coach Ryuzaki. As Fuji walked to the tennis courts, the Coach stood to address certain persons.

"Taka-san, I'm going to take you to the hospital now. Sorry, but you can't watch the next matches; we need to have a surgical doctor look at it as soon as possible." She turned to face the Hyoutei bench. "Is it okay to take Kabaji-kun with us?"

Atobe, who to Miku seemed the monkey man's "master", considered this, and then said, "Go, Kabaji." Kabaji just replied, "Usu," and followed Coach Ryuzaki out of the courts.

Through all of this, Fuij was standing on the court by himself, calmly smiling. Not watching anyone, not looking around for his next opponent; probably off in his own little world plotting diabolical schemes.

"Jirou! Get up! It's your turn!" someone over on the Hyoutei side yelled.

The boy with orange-brown hair, who was lying face down on the bleachers, stirred and yawned. Shishido and Oshitari and Shishido picked Jirou up by the scruff of his jacket, setting him on his feet unsteadily.

"What…? What's going on?" the guy named Jirou said sleepily.

The Hyoutei captain sighed. In a commanding voice, he ordered, "Akutagawa, get on the court. Now."

Jirou stumbled over, his slumber still evident in the way he was trying to get to the courts as fast as he could.

Miku cheered loudly for Fuji, as his opponent finally came out to face him. Ryoma took the job of bench coach, much to the surprise of Eiji and Momo, who tried to remove him by pulling him backwards over the short fence by his jacket. Tezuka and Fuji intervened without any physical motion.

Fuji, how about going all out for once?

Coach Ryuzaki's words echoed through Fuji's head as he walked back to the serving line. He bounced the tennis ball three times, and took a deep breath, looking across the net over at his opposition. The tensai held his racket low, and raised his arm to head height, tennis ball in hand. He dropped the ball, giving it an intense spin, and swung the racket quickly upward. The serve bounced over to Jirou, who readied himself to return it, suddenly not sleepy anymore. The latter swung through, hitting air.

"That ball will disappear," Fuji said mysteriously, with the hint of sadism that was almost always there.

Everyone looked for the ball, which was rolling away from Jirou on the ground behind him.

All of the people present and watching were stupefied (yes, even Tezuka, Atobe, and Ryoma). They turned to their neighbors with wide eyes, discussing and praising the amazing "disappearing serve."

Jirou was staring at Fuji with his mouth hanging open, shocked speechless. Then, recovering a bit, he blinked, and looked around at the crowd.

"No way! Did you see that?" he shouted, practically jumping up and down. The Hyoutei members, who had recovered by now, rolled their eyes and looked away. But Jirou just ran over to the bench where his teammates were seated, yelling. "Atobe! Atobe! That guy's really good!"

"I told you already. Were you still sleeping?" his teammate covered his face with one hand dramatically and shook his head.

Fuji used one disappearing serve after another to win his game. In Jirou's service game, he tried to serve and volley, but Fuji hit shots toward his feet. In what seemed like an accident, Jirou perfectly returned Fuji's attempts with volleys that the latter couldn't return. The Hyoutei member held his service game. The tensai struck again, and the score was 2-1. Then, he announced and started using his third triple counter- hakugei. (White Whale) The other two were Tsubame Gaeshi (Swallow Return) and Higuma Otoshi (Bear Drop). Jirou was no match for it, and neither were any of the people in the stands, who were utterly shocked at the turn of events.

When Fuji hit a Hakugei, the ball would go towards the opponent, then hop up, landing at the baseline. After all this, the tennis ball returned back to its master, the tensai, in two bounces over the net.

Fuji dominated the rest of the game, and won 6-1, much to Hyoutei's disappointment. The brunette returned to the Seigaku bench, barely sweating, and smiling as always, with his eyes closed. And since he wasn't all sweaty, Miku congratulated Fuji with a hug. Breaking away, Fuji turned to his brother, who was sitting about 10 seats up.

"Yuuta, were you watching?" the tensai asked with a slightly sadistic smile. Yuuta flinched, protesting, and Fuji laughed.

Singles 3 was next, and Tezuka was in the courts already; no flashy performance needed there. But it was the opposite for his opponent, who was sauntering onto the court.

"You haven't gotten weaker, have you, Tezuka?" Atobe said in his smooth voice, and with a flip of his hair. He raised his hand to the sky in a fist in one swift movement, and the Hyoutei cheering squad of over two hundred people started to cheer.

"The winner will be Hyoutei! The winner will be Hyoutei!"

"The losers will be Seigaku! The losers will be Seigaku!"

Atobe put his hand on his heart melodramatically.

"The winner will be Atobe! The winner will be Atobe!"

"The loser will be Tezuka! The loser will be Tezuka!"

The Seigaku regulars and supporters were silenced. You couldn't top that.

"The winner will be-"

"Me."

Atobe quickly brought his right hand to the sky again, snapping to cut off the cheer, and making a #1 sign with his hand as he said this. He grabbed the right side of his collar, rapidly and gracefully removing his jacket, sending it into the stands. He probably thought someone would be honored to have it.

Miku turned to Fuji with an eye roll. "Hey Fuji." The tensai turned, and Miku gestured to Atobe. "Is he gay? He's flamboyant enough."

Fuji covered his mouth, chuckling silently but almost uncontrollably. He answered finally, still laughing a bit, "No. At least, I don't think so…" They both turned back to the game.

Tezuka and Atobe were shaking hands at the net.

"Are you done?" Tezuka asked politely.

"Yeah, I'm satisfied." His opponent answered.

'It's about time,' thought Miku.

The match started, with Atobe at serve. After just one point, the Hyoutei captain said, with extreme showiness, "Be intoxicated with my beautiful skills."

Tezuka started using his Tezuka Zone, a technique that he used that allowed all of the opponent's shots to return back to him. He didn't move from one spot, and a circle in the ground around him was forming.

The game went on and on, and long rallies between the two players ensued. It was a while before Fuji had a eureka moment.

"He's purposely trying to make the match long," he murmered. Taka, Miku, and Eiji, who were surrounding him, all looked over at the brunette. Inui just nodded once and adjusted his glasses.

"What do you mean, Fujiko?" Eiji asked, confused.

"Atobe is purposely trying to make the match long. He knows. About Tezuka's elbow, I mean."

"What's wrong with Tezuka-san's elbow?" Miku asked. She hadn't heard about this.

"Buchou's elbow was hurt a while ago, and he couldn't play for a while. But, as you can see, he's back now." Momo was suddenly present and explaining.

The five players all looked back to the game, worried. Miku was still a bit foggy on all of the information.

"Ano, Fuji, what happens if this match is drawn out too long?" She asked.

"Tezuka's elbow will most likely give out," Fuji answered, a slightly pained expression showing on his face. "And if he's being careful about his elbow and wrist, he's putting more strain on his shoulder, and in the end that might yield to the pressure first, before the others. Hopefully, though, he'll end it before that can happen. But that Atobe… He plans on crushing Tezuka's arm in a drawn-out match."

Despite the Seigaku team's wishes, the game drew out longer and longer, extending to two hours of total play. At this time, Tezuka was at match point, and the game count was 6-5 with Tezuka at advantage.

"One more point! One more point!" the Seigaku cheerers were chanting, grins on their faces.

Tezuka, aiming for a strong serve to finally win the game, tossed the tennis ball up into the air. Leaning back to hit it, he cried out, falling on the ground and grabbing his shoulder.

"TEZUKA?"

Shouts rang out from all sides of the stadium, some people standing up in shock, and in some cases, horror. People from the Seigaku bench came flooding over, yelling questions regarding his arm.

"Go back!"

The group stopped moving. Their captain was speaking.

"Don't…come here!" Tezuka ordered. "The match…" he flinched, grabbing his racket and standing up with great effort. "…is not yet over."

The Seigaku captain labored his way over to the bench, and the flood of people returned back to their area. But the regulars still showered him with questions and comments. Most of them went like this:

"Buchou, you can't continue like this!"

"Your arm won't be able to recover if you go on!"

"The probability of you winning is exceedingly low…"

"Any further play is extremely dangerous!"

Despite the protests, Tezuka stood up and started walking back to the court. Oishi ran quickly in front of him, arms spread wide. The captain stopped his advance in front of his fukubuchou.

"Oishi…"

"You know this is dangerous."

A nod answered.

"But…just trying to fulfill your promise to take Seigaku to the nationals won't be enough. We can't do it without you." Oishi sighed. "Good luck."

Tezuka showed one thousandth of a smile, and passed his teammate with a fist bump. Oishi went back to the bench, already starting to regret his decision and starting to worry.

The game went on some more, Tezuka's face telling the story of the pain he experienced as he tried to go on. Eventually, in a tie break at 6-6, the point total was 36-35, and then one finally pulled through to win.

That person was Atobe.

Both players walked to the net, panting. Tezuka reached out his right arm to shake hands, and Atobe promptly grabbed his hand and held it up in a very showy way. Cheers were screamed and shouted from all sides of the court and its surroundings, and the applause reverberated through the entire arena.

"Wait, what happens now?" Miku shouted over the din at Fuji while clapping. "The game count is two each."

"You'll see!" he yelled back.

Well, that didn't help any.

When the tumult was finally calm, and both Atobe and Tezuka were back to their benches, Tezuka getting his wrist, shoulder, and elbow bones checked and Atobe ordering people to get him a towel and water, the referee got down from his chair to make an announcement.

"Because both teams are tied at two games," he said, "the sixth match will be a singles match between the reserve players."

Ryoma stepped on the court, and handily beat his opponent 6-4 after switching to his stronger left hand and bringing out all of his signature plays. He still wasn't quite satisfied with the win, though, being Ryoma.

Miku made her way over to the Hyoutei bench and to her friend Choutarou.

"Hey, Choutarou-chan," she tried, to get his attention. The silver haired guy looked up from putting his racket away.

"Hey, Miku-san." He swung his bag up and onto his shoulder. "What's up?"

"Well, I came over to tell you a few things. Firstly, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out Saturday, and secondly, great game!" She grinned at this last part.

Since she spoke so fast, and Choutarou was having a hard time trying to figure out the first thing she said, Miku reiterated for him.

"Oh, I get it now," he said, comprehension crossing his face. "I'm pretty sure I'm free Saturday. Where did you want to meet?"

"You know that old park by my house that we used to play at? It has a lot of stores and restaurants nearby, so I think there would work the best."

"Okay. So, what time?"

"Is Ootori going on a date?"

Miku and Choutarou turned, and the latter blushed. Atobe was standing there, one hand on his hip and the other fixing his hair.

"Miku-chan, ne?" Atobe asked.

"Okay, if you just got here, how do you know my name?" Miku asked indignantly. "And since when am I '-chan'?"

"So rude! Ore-sama knows everyone's name," the Hyoutei captain was astonished. "How can such a beautiful girl be so uncouth?"

Miku rolled her eyes and turned back to Choutarou, who was looking back and forth between Atobe and his friend.

"How about 2 pm?" she asked.

"T-that would work," Choutarou answered, again subconsciously playing with his cross necklace.

"Ootori, you should ask ore-sama before you go on a date," Atobe interjected, looking hurt.

"Shut up. You aren't 'ore-sama' anyway." Miku turned her back on Atobe, who turned to Kabaji for help, asking, "Ore-sama is beautiful, ne Kabaji?"

"I'll see you Saturday," Miku said to Choutarou with a smile, and starting to walk away. She passed Oshitari, a Hyoutei team member, who was eyeing her curiously.

"I'm impressed. Not many girls would turn down Atobe-san like that," he said, and Miku walked quicker back to where she thought Fuji, Eiji and co were.

Outside the courts, Eiji was observing the entire scene. And peeved, too. What was that Atobe moron thinking, hitting on his Miku? And she was going on a date? And with the guy who beat his teammates, nonetheless.

Eiji gripped the fence as hard as he could, trying as hard as he could not to kick a hole through the screen. He sighed.

"Eiji, what are you doing?" Fuji was standing beside him.

"Fujiko, Miku is going on a date!"

"Oh really? With whom?"

"Ootori."

"That was a bitter tone. But really, you're moody today. Is it that time of the month already?"

"FUJIKO! SHUT UP!"

"Heh… I was right." Fuji chuckled. After a while, Eiji had to give in and laugh along with him.

Eiji stopped laughing first, and went back to gripping the fence extremely hard and staring at the tennis court. Fuji looked at his friend and sighed.

"Eiji, how long are you going to stare at the court? It never did anything to you. And if you hold onto the fence any longer, your fingernails are going to draw blood."

Eiji quickly let go, suddenly realizing the pain in his palms. He stood in one spot, zoning out on nothing in particular.

"Fuji?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm going to follow them."

"Choutarou-san and Miku?"

"Duh. Who else?"

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"No..."

It was quiet for a few seconds.

"…but I'm going to do it anyway."

"You're helpless."

"I know."

They both picked up their bags in no particular hurry, and left the arena in silence.

A/N: Okay, some translations-

Ano-Um (pretty much)

Buchou-captain

Fukubuchou-vice captain

Wakata-(I understand [informal], wakarimasu is the formal version)

Ne? - right?

And I'm pretty sure ore-sama means king, but I'll check up on that

Once I translate once, I'm not translating again, so refer back if you need to

THE NEXT CHAPTER IS GONNA BE GOOD! I WILL TRY TO POST SOON! :D AU REVOIR!