Disclaimer: I own very little.
A/N: 40.5 AU, if you would kindly remember. )
Nothing in Tennis
"Love means nothing in tennis, but in life, it is everything."
- Anonymous
Chapter 8
First Contact
"Depends on which school level district finals you mean." Dan peered into his notebook, scanning over figures that made little sense to anyone else. "High school division, Yamabuki losing? Most likely desu. They've only gotten better lately, and the data I gathered in their latest match indicates that our usual strategies may not be as successful as desired against them desu. Middle school division, Yamabuki winning? I'm afraid not, not at our current level desu. Their current high school team's a lot stronger than their last year's middle school team."
"You would know that, wouldn't you?" Sengoku smirked. "After all, you were the captain who beat them."
"And then got beaten in turn at the Nationals," Dan reminded him dryly. "Don't get your hopes up – but not your spirits down, either, desu." Looking at his team mates with a grin, Dan said, "We're going to work our hardest to win them this year, right?"
"Oh, no," Nitobe muttered. "We'll lose on purpose just so they'll have mercy on us the next time we meet. Of course we're going to try our hardest."
"We'll be winning the thing before you even get the chance to play, Dan-kun." There were a few careful but no less determined nods accompanying Kita's announcement.
"We'll see about that desu." Dan glanced at his notebook for the last time before closing it with a snap.
"Indeed we will." Sengoku grinned. "Okay, everyone – today, let's do our best to prove Taichiichi's data wrong, ne?"
As the others started chattering about other things, Sengoku inched closer to his boyfriend. "So, how sure are you about your take on Seigaku's line-up?" he asked.
"As sure as I can be before they hand us a copy desu." Dan smiled. "They've absolutely no reason to change their standard line-up against us. Makeshift doubles pairings especially would make simply no sense, not when Golden Pair is closer to being professional level than just national desu."
"Oh?" Sengoku smirked a bit. "So… Would you be willing to make a little bet?"
"Bet with you? On their line-up?" Dan raised his eyebrows. "What do you know that I don't know?"
"Nothing, honest," Sengoku laughed. "I just think it's amusing how you're so confident with your data. So, what about a bet? You win if their line-up is just like you said."
Dan narrowed his eyes. "And if it isn't?"
"Easy." The red-haired captain winked. "You let me kiss you in public."
"Huh?" Dan flushed a little. Grinning, Sengoku wiped aside a strand of blue hair that had escaped from the younger boy's ponytail.
"You heard me." Ah, but it was a surprise, wasn't it? Dan usually didn't mind when Sengoku called him pet names or stayed close to him in public, but he was still somewhat uncomfortable with actual displays of affection. Sengoku figured it was because of the very traditional sense of propriety he'd been taught at home, as Dan was hardly shy or anything – and he wasn't even young enough to get away with hanging off someone's arm anymore, either. A pity. It would have been so cute if he had clutched onto people like he'd used to a few years ago. Sengoku himself, though, was a natural flirt, and, well…
"Okay desu." If Sengoku's suggestion had shocked Dan, the answer in turn shocked Sengoku. He hadn't really expected Dan to agree, not so easily at least. Apparently noticing his shock, Dan shrugged. "I am confident in my data desu."
"Lucky." Sengoku grinned. "So, either I get the line-up we prepared for, or I get a kiss. Either way, I win."
Dan huffed. "Nice to see just how highly you value your team's success desu." He was, however, smiling a bit, so Sengoku knew he didn't really mind.
It turned out that Sengoku, much to his disappointment – and, at the same time, relief – lost their little bet. Receiving the line-up from Seigaku's captain, he saw exactly the order they had expected. Doubles Two, Kaidou-Momoshiro pair, Doubles One, Kikumaru-Oishi pair. Singles One, Fuji, Singles Two, Inui, Singles Three, Tachibana. He had to wonder what the line-up would have looked like if either Echizen or Tezuka had been still playing for the school – or, perhaps, if Fudoumine had had its own high school. Regardless, this was the line-up they had expected to face.
"Lucky," muttered Sengoku quietly.
Doubles Two went well enough, with a difficult victory to Yamabuki – which, like Sengoku cheerfully said to his victorious doubles pair, was still much better than an easy loss. He wasn't exactly as cheerful as the Jimmies went up to meet their opponents, though. Yamabuki's Doubles One had gotten much better during the last three years, yes, but so had the Golden Pair. They'd only been beaten twice the year before, and given that they played pretty much on every round Seigaku played, this didn't leave much hope to their opponents. The best high school doubles team in Japan wasn't much of a stretch as far as titles went.
And, indeed, soon enough the match turned against the Jimmies. Despite all their skills and tricks, they were unable to turn the flow of the game to their advantage, completely falling to the Golden Pair's nigh perfect combination.
Watching the match, Sengoku had no more suspicions about who would walk from the court victorious. "If not for the fact our team is in trouble, I'd say this is beautiful." He smirked. "In fact, I think I'll say it anyway. It's not every day that you see such great doubles."
"Indeed." Dan nodded from his side. "As I said before, the Golden Pair is closer to professional level than simple high school tennis. They're not even a national level combination anymore, they're better than that desu."
"Well, at least there's no shame in losing, then." Sengoku stretched a bit. "Hmm, guess I should go and warm up. I don't think it will be much longer until my match."
Doubles One indeed didn't last much longer. Singles Three, on the other hand, lasted for a while – but still ended in Sengoku's own defeat. Muttering a few choice curses under his breath, he walked back towards his assembled team, sweaty, tired, and humiliated.
"That was a good game, Sengoku-buchou." And here was Dan, offering him a towel and a soothing smile, Dan who was already carrying his racquet. Sadly Sengoku didn't have much time to enjoy the comfort of his boyfriend, as the participants of the next match were ordered to the court.
It was somewhat a comical sight, the Singles Two, with the ridiculously tall Inui standing opposite to the pitifully small Dan. Dan had to look almost directly upwards to look his opponent in the eye – or as close as he could, anyway, what with Inui still wearing the same kind of glasses as in middle school.
"I trust you have sufficient data on me, Inui-san?" Dan smiled politely at the older boy.
"Dan Taichi, Yamabuki High School , first year," replied the other. "Primarily a data player, using his data to copy other people's moves, adapting them to the current circumstances. Most notable own move the Puppy Dog Serve, utilizing spin to manipulate the opponent's instincts." He smirked. "You'll soon notice I don't rely on my instincts alone, though."
"I know that much desu," Dan said cheerfully. "I'm interested in finding out whether you can return my serve desu. The ones who can are few and far between, after all."
"I'd be honoured to be one of them." The glint of Inui's glasses was, the Seigaku players noticed, even more sinister than usually.
So was, the Yamabuki team noted, the smile on Dan's lips.
"Aww, looks like Taichiichi has fun." Sengoku smiled as he watched the match beginning. "He's been so excited about this match!"
"Don't we know it," murmured Kita. They did, indeed, know. Ever since they'd realized Seigaku was their most likely opponent in the finals, Dan had constantly been reading this entry or that in his notebooks, mulling over strategy, demanding Muromachi – who had the fastest serve in Yamabuki – to serve again and again and again so he could practise returning fast serves. Even those who hadn't witnessed his nervous breakdown the day before over his inability to calculate chances accurately enough knew just how worked up he'd gotten over this match.
It was a good thing they'd been right about Seigaku's line-up; who knew how Dan would have reacted if he hadn't gotten his match with the ultimate data player after all.
"Why is he so excited over it, anyway?" asked Minami, sounding lightly confused. "I'd understand if he were purely a data player, but Dan-kun uses his data more to copy moves than to try to calculate the opponent's next move."
"That might be exactly it," Nitobe mused. "What if he wants to gather enough data to mimic data playing?" At their disbelieving gazes, he shrugged. "I don't know how it'd work, either…"
Sengoku grinned. "Really, it could be because he wants to see which way to use the data is better. Or just because Inui is the only Seigaku regular he hasn't mimicked yet and he wants more data."
"Knowing Dan-kun, it's probably the latter," Muromachi commented. "It wouldn't be like him to try and claim to be the best."
"Only Seigaku regular he hasn't mimicked?" echoed Kita. "In that case there are quite a few moves he hasn't shown us all."
"Oh, there are." Sengoku grinned again. "After all, the tournaments are still all basic stuff. It wouldn't do to use all of his moves yet, now would it?"
"Well, I've got the feeling we're going to see some of them soon," muttered Muromachi. "Or if we aren't, well, we can just as well call this a loss right away."
"Hush, you, before you jinx it." Sengoku batted playfully his fuku-buchou's head. "Just watch Taichiichi play."
Dan hit the tennis ball, just then, sending it flying to the other side of the net.
"Chance of a cross-court: 87 percent," Inui said calmly, already at the ball. As was to be expected, he returned it easily.
Dan, however, smiled in satisfaction. "Chance of a short left, 80 percent," he said, running to return the shot.
Inui smiled a bit. "I must commend your data," he said, hitting the shot back. "It's not as accurate as my own, of course, but apparently sufficient for now."
"I'm glad you appreciate my effort desu." Dan reached for the ball just in time. "That was only a 57 percent chance."
"Of course," Inui said, muttering another figure under his breath as he returned Dan's shot, "you could also be bluffing."
"And what are the chances for that?" Scraping his racquet lightly against the ground, Dan sent the ball into a lob too high for even the tall Inui to reach, landing it on the backline.
"About the same as the chances your move just now wasn't Oishi's Moon Volley."
A smile on his lips, Dan merely shrugged as the score was called out in his favour. "I've never been particularly known for my originality desu."
"Only your honesty, indeed." Inui smirked, getting ready to serve again. "There's a 76 percent chance your habit of copying is exactly why you opt for mimicking my manner of speech instead of deciding on your own favoured way of expressing the data, like most data players."
"I'm afraid your data fails you for once desu." Dan returned the shot. "It's because Sengoku-buchou says he gets a headache when I talk about data desu."
"Those two should just stop talking," Minami muttered. "They're supposed to be playing! Won't it be bad for their stamina?"
"For Inui? Given his usual stamina, he could probably sing and not be slowed down," Sengoku replied. "To Taichiichi? It might actually be beneficial to him, really, or at least his data. He says his mind works better when he talks. …Might explain why it's so hard to make him shut up."
"But then why does Inui talk so much?" asked Higashikata. "Surely he has realized that if Dan-kun insists on talking continuously, it definitely isn't slowing him down at least."
"I'd say he's trying to distract him." Sengoku nodded towards the two playing boys. "As we all know, Taichiichi isn't accustomed to doing calculations, not at the level Inui is, anyway. Talking may help him do so, but if Inui can direct his mind to something else, it's going to backfire." He grinned, then. "Too bad Taichiichi is too determined for that."
"You mean, too stubborn." Muromachi's lips twitched. "Wonder who he learnt it from."
"Mm-hmm." Sengoku glanced around discreetly, trying to spot a familiar head of silver hair in the audience. He didn't see anything like it, but he was fairly sure Akutsu was somewhere around nevertheless. He knew his friend too well to believe otherwise.
The first game ended with Inui's victory, much to Seigaku's apparent delight, though it was not by far. Preparing for his first serve, now, Dan smiled politely at his opponent.
"Please have pity on me." These words were enough to make Sengoku grin again – not that Sengoku's grin required much incentive.
"Ah. The Puppy Dog Serve," Inui said, adjusting his glasses. "A serve that's hit almost directly towards the opponent, with a spin that is ideal to the ball in the current conditions. Therefore, most tennis players' instincts, which usually tell the best direction to hit the ball towards to, prevent them from returning the serve." He nodded, changing his position into one perfect for returning the serve. "This should be easy enough."
The expression on Inui's face as his hand twitched involuntarily, taking the racquet out of the ball's path at the last second, was definitely worth seeing.
"I'm afraid," Dan said happily, "that returning my serve is not as much about not relying on your instincts as it is about ignoring them entirely." Cocking his head to the side, he added, "And to do that, one must first be familiar with them. That, I'm afraid, you are not."
"Remarkable, indeed." Inui adjusted his glasses again, this time somewhat nervously. "If you take that point of view, not only is my data rendered useless, it actually becomes a hindrance."
"A hindrance? Not exactly desu." Digging another ball from his pocket, Dan smiled kindly. "I prefer the term, 'obstacle' desu."
Dan won his first service game with straight aces. This, naturally, made Inui work even harder to win his own service game again. Too bad Dan was working a lot harder now, too.
There was no idle chatter, now, just Inui's comments on percentages and an occasional curt reply from Dan. The Moon Volley of the first game was followed by a Snake, then a Jack Knife that, while lacking the usual strength, seemed to surprise Inui enough to delay his reactions for exactly the second the shot needed to reach its goal. The Seigaku team seemed to be watching the match more attentively, now, commenting every time Dan showed another one of his copied techniques.
Inui won the next point, though, followed by a lengthy rally neither seemed to get control of. At some point, though, Sengoku's sharp eyes noted Dan's lips moving quietly.
"Oh, unlucky," he sighed. "Taichiichi's started." At the team's puzzled gazes, he pointed at his boyfriend. "Remember the time Kenta asked whether Taichiichi actually uses any data while playing? And how he decided to prove it? Well, he's doing it again."
The Yamabuki players glanced at Dan. The nigh-silent mutters were now loud enough that a somewhat puzzled Inui could actually make sense of them.
"…Left 0.2 right 0.7 centre 0.1, seven degrees, nine, eleven, step back left 0.4 hit it 0.95 –"
"Is that your version of data processing, Dan-kun?" Inui returned the younger boy's shot once again. "Sounds rather… cluttered."
"That's what you get for mainly using it to calculate your own moves." Dan smiled briefly, running to meet the ball. "On yourself you have complete data, which means it's also more complicated – 0.71 chance right NOW – but you also know you're right." Seeing Inui moving for the ball just a tad too late, he added, "Unlike you, I'm afraid, Inui-san."
"He can go on like that for hours." Sengoku rubbed his temples. "Just thinking about it gives me a headache. As far as Taichiichi's habits go, this is one of the less adorable ones."
"Just be glad he doesn't recite the data aloud all the time," Minami said with a comforting pat on the shoulder. "And that most matches don't require him to think so fast he has to talk."
"Just think of the data he could be spreading. Of course, the people who don't know about your kissing skills are probably rarer than ones who do, but…" Muromachi rarely was very helpful.
"Oh, just shut up, Panda-chan." Sengoku sighed. "At least it isn't loud enough to reach over here."
"That isn't a very nice to say about your boyfriend." Kita shook his head. "Perhaps we should tell Dan-kun?"
"Perhaps we should," Nitobe agreed. "Maybe then he'll stop talking to Sengoku-buchou altogether."
Not for the first time, Sengoku decided very firmly to stop listening to his team altogether.
The game slowly progressed into yet another victory of Inui's, though this time the playing was even more even than before. As Dan prepared for his serve, he smiled confidently.
As did Inui.
Dan served his usual way, voicing his plea before sending the ball on its path. To both his and the audience's amazement, though, instead of avoiding the ball, Inui managed to force his racquet to the ball, hitting it back. Trying to reach it, Dan found his own racquet twitching out of the way, instead.
The Seigaku team cheered, while Yamabuki was shocked. Dan, however, seemed to recover fast.
"Hitting the ball with the exact same spin? Clever, Inui-san, very clever indeed desu. As is only to be expected of you, of course." His racquet held under his arm, Dan tugged at his ponytail with both hands, tightening it before again taking a grasp on his racquet. "Too bad that won't always work desu."
Inui raised his eyebrows questioningly as Dan prepared to do another serve. Again hearing the words, "Please have pity on me," he seemed quite confident. As the ball was again shot right towards him, he moved towards it, forcing his racquet to hit the ball.
Just as he did so, though, his face took on a rather curious expression. Mere seconds later the audience realized the thing his ever so calculative mind had already figured out.
With a nice, spin-influenced arc, the ball flew right outside the court lines.
"Not bad at all," Inui mused. "If I don't return the ball with exactly the same spin and speed, it won't return at all. But if you aim it along a sufficient path, returning it will make it go out, given these constants." Then, he adjusted his glasses. "Doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying, of course."
"You are more than welcome not to, Inui-san desu."
Although Dan's serve had been broken, his service game was not. Again even, the two moved on to Inui's serve. Sengoku was silently thankful for all that time Dan had spent practising against Muromachi – if he hadn't been able to return Inui's super-fast serve at least most of the time, it would have been impossible for Dan to ever break the other's serve. And with mere unbroken serves the match would have continued forever.
As it was, serves and returns were changed again and again. Though Dan came close a couple of times, neither of the players managed to break the other's service game. Dan added a few more copied moves to his playing, which gained some more comments from Seigaku.
None of them, however, had quite the same influence on the audience as when he moved in for a drop shot and the ball quietly rolled back towards the net after hitting the ground.
Zero Shiki Drop Shot.
"…So, when you said he's mimicked all regulars in Seigaku…" Muromachi's voice was somewhat faint.
"I never said it was necessarily only the ones who he has played against, yeah." Sengoku grinned. "Well, so he doesn't have the power to mimic Kawamura's Hadoukyuu, but he doesn't play at all anymore… Neither does Tezuka, of course, but apparently it has not stopped Taichiichi."
"Remarkable," Inui said, adjusting his glasses. "That shot is one that very few people can accomplish."
"Thank you, Inui-san." Dan shrugged modestly. "It did take me more time to perfect than any other move I've copied desu."
"There are certainly worse things to devote one's time to."
While others were still somewhat stunned, Sengoku kept his attention on Dan. He frowned. Though the younger boy was still smiling even as he again prepared for a return, there was something off with him. Something he couldn't put a finger on, not exactly wrong but…
As Sengoku glanced at Inui, it suddenly hit him. There was nothing wrong with Dan's playing. There was just something missing from Inui's.
"Oi, Panda-kun," he said, tugging at his fuku-buchou's sleeve. "Look. Tell me what's the difference between those two."
"You want a complete list or just the highlights?"
"No, I want a serious answer. No height difference or different teams or anything else from your oh-so-smart mouth. Just… look at Inui. And tell me what's wrong with him."
Muromachi did look at Inui. Then, his eyes widened. "Damn," he muttered. "He's hardly even breathing hard."
"Indeed." Sengoku nodded grimly. "And if you look at Taichiichi, you see that he's clearly getting tired."
"This is bad," Muromachi muttered. "Stamina's one of Inui's best point, but Dan-kun's always had trouble with it. At this rate, Dan-kun will run out of stamina before he can win."
"Inui's probably drawing this out on purpose, knowing Dan-kun's problem," Minami joined the conversation after a while. "A couple of times he has ignored perfect chance balls. Dan-kun can handle a normal-length match, it's not like he could be a regular otherwise, but this one has already gone on longer than your average match – average for him, anyway." After all, Dan was somewhat in a habit of clearing his matches quickly.
"Hush," Sengoku breathed hastily. "You'll jinx it!"
And, even as the other two exchanged glances of the "Buchou's at it again" variety, the world apparently decided to prove Sengoku's superstitions right. Reaching out to catch Inui's shot, Dan suddenly simply started to fall, the racquet falling from his hands as he did. Inui froze, as did the audience.
"Oh shit oh shit," muttered Sengoku. "This is your fault, Kenta, you shouldn't have said it like that, it's all your fault and oh my god now Taichi's fainted and –" He was halfway to the court before he finished his sentence.
"Wow," murmured Muromachi. "I guess Dan-kun indeed was pretty tired, in the end."
"No shit." Kita rolled his eyes. "And I guess Seigaku just got kind of happy."
Sengoku, however, heard neither of them. Even if their voices had reached the court, he was too busy shaking his unconscious boyfriend to listen.
"…I'm sorry, everybody desu." Dan's eyes were lowered to the ground even as he leant back against Sengoku's chest. The red-headed captain claimed he shouldn't get up yet after getting so exhausted he actually fainted, so stuck with sitting he was for the time being, and apparently either unable or unwilling to protest as his boyfriend wanted to hold him close.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Taichiichi," Sengoku said, ruffling his hair. He never had been very discreet about his attentions, after all, even if he never got his kiss. "Next time, you'll win for sure."
"But because of me, we lost desu," Dan muttered. "It's my fault."
"No, it isn't," Muromachi said. "It's not anyone's fault – or if it is, then it's Sengoku-buchou's for making such a line-up. No matter how good you are, you're bound to lose if you go against someone whose strength exploits your weakness."
"Hey!" exclaimed Sengoku, irritated. "Are you saying it's my fault we lost?"
"Yes, I am," Muromachi replied dryly. "Dan-kun playing against Inui was bound to go wrong, no matter how badly he wanted to do it. Your duty as the captain would have been to change the line-up even if he was excited." Everyone around them nodded in agreement. Apparently it had been entirely forgotten they'd been more than glad to send Dan against Inui.
"Ah, here you go, Dan-kun." Minami had returned with a few cans of soda, offering one of the ice-cold drinks to the youngest boy. "That was a good match, in the end."
"Not good enough, though desu." Sighing, Dan opened the can, raising it to his lips to take a careful sip. "It would have been good if I hadn't collapsed." With another sigh, he seemed to hardly even notice as Sengoku drew him just a bit closer. "Guess I'm just too weak…"
"Nonsense, you silly." Sengoku nuzzled the now messy blue hair. "You did your best, right? And next time you'll do better. Everyone loses sometimes. And besides, we are second. Still going to Kantou, still the second best in the whole Tokyo Prefecture. That's not bad."
"Hey, Dan-kun." Minami smiled a bit. "Three years ago, we were also against Seigaku in the Tokyo finals. And back then, we also lost in Singles Two. Care to remember who was the one who lost?"
The answer came instantly. "Akutsu-senpai, against Echizen Ryoma, six games to four."
"Exactly. And did you then blame him for Yamabuki losing in the finals?"
Dan blinked. "Of course not! But – that was –"
"That was Akutsu-senpai," Sengoku finished for him. "But, Taichiichi, it doesn't make any difference. The same rules apply to everyone – and the rules say you're silly for blaming yourself."
"I was not aware there were such rules desu."
"Of course there are. Sengoku's Rules of Awesome Tennis. Now stop moping, okay? You're making me feel even worse about losing, myself."
Dan seemed somewhat startled at this. "Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to imply –"
"I know you didn't." Sengoku chuckled. "Calm down, Taichiichi. Neither of us is to blame for the loss, and the Jimmies aren't at fault, either. All of us played to the best of our abilities, and you can't ask anyone to do more than their very best, ne?"
"…I guess so." Dan sipped at his soda again. Then, with a suddenly somewhat startled expression, he said, "Ah, excuse me! It is horribly self-centred of me to assume that my performance would be important enough to the team to actually –" He was cut off as a hand closed over his mouth.
"Oh, stop it." Sengoku wasn't sure whether to be more exasperated or amused. "We lost, we still advance, we'll get back at them next time. 'Kay?"
"…Okay." Dan let his head fall back on Sengoku's shoulder. "I guess I'll just have to train my stamina," he said then, determined. "If I do that, my chances will be much better desu."
"You can't possibly get your stamina to Inui's level," Sengoku said. "That guy's a monster."
"Of course not. But perhaps I could last long enough the next time to break his serve before fainting desu."
"Well, we'll see that next time. Because you know what?" Sengoku winked at the whole team, not only Dan. "When Seigaku reaches the Kantou finals, we're going to be the ones waiting for them there!"
There wasn't a single sound of disagreement to be heard.