Chapter 3
When it's all said and done
"You want to be my math tutor?" I asked, a few hours later, while sitting across a table from him in a café near the school.
"Why not? I'm in the same class, we know each other, and I happen to be good at math" Fuji said smiling.
"You seem to be good at a lot of things" I said in a mumble.
"Saa… that's what she said" Fuji said smirking, and making me spit my coffee. "This is fun"
"What embarrassing me?" I asked, jokingly.
"Absolutely" he said and smiled.
"I think I should be offended by that" I said pouting.
"In average, Fuji enjoys teasing and embarrassing others when he cares about them" Inui said, scaring the crap out of me, as he sat down next to me. He was closely followed by Taka sitting down next to Fuji.
"Hello" Taka said, looking down all shy, and Taka like.
"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" I asked.
"I wanted… I wanted to ask… Fuji, if his arm is ok?" Taka said slowly.
"Taka-san don't worry, I'm fine" Fuji said, with what I assumed was a genuine smile.
See, that was something I noticed about Fuji. He smiles all the time, but there are moments, when his smile is different, and when you know a little bit about him, you can actually tell.
"Well guys, I am headed home. It's getting dark" I said standing up.
"I'll walk you" Fuji said standing up as well.
"You don't have to"
"I want to"
I smiled, said goodbye to Taka and Inui, and left with Fuji following close behind.
It was a comfortable walk for us. We didn't say one word to each other at all. My house wasn't actually that far, so I didn't get why he walked me at all. It wasn't until I was in front of my house, under a streetlight that he actually said something.
"I'm guessing we should start the tutoring this Sunday" he said.
"Sunday?"
"Yeah, so that way, this first week has passed, and we can review everything, and make sure you are ready for the next week." Fuji said. "Also, tennis practice is every day, and I don't want to make you wait for me"
"Ano… I guess Sunday would work. My place or yours?" I asked.
"Saa… let's start at my house this week, and then we alternate" Fuji said smiling.
"Right. See you tomorrow at school" I said, walking into my house.
"Good night Alex-chan" Fuji said, turning around and walking away.
I walked over to my front door and right before walking in I looked back to the where Fuji disappeared down the street. My parents were working late with the pizzeria, so they had left dinner for me, and let me know they'd be late, but they would see me at breakfast. I wasn't really hungry so I just drank juice, and went to my room. I wasn't really planning on sleeping early, but after taking a shower, and laying down on the bed, I just fell asleep.
The next day at breakfast, I let my mom and dad know about going to Fuji's house to study math on Sunday. As usual, they were fine with it. My parents weren't really strict with me; they actually trusted me a lot.
I was supposed to get to school earlier as today the ranking matches would begin. Getting to school was really easy mostly because it was a little earlier than usual, and there were less people around, but I did get a little surprise when I got to the tennis courts as the entire club, and a lot of other people were there. I was walking around trying to find m friends and to figure out when they were playing, when I saw something interesting, Ryoma Echizen was playing a match against another second year student.
"Impressive isn't he?" someone asked next to me. I looked over and found a man with a notepad in front of him.
"Yes, he seems good" I said, but continued to look at him.
"I'm sorry. My name is Inoue, I'm from Monthly Pro Tennis magazine" he said, putting out his hand, which I shook. "You are the only upper class student to really take notice of this game. Most are watching the other games."
"I was mostly wondering why he is competing at all. I thought that as a rule, freshmen don't play in ranking matches until the second term, in the fall." I said.
"It seems Tezuka decided to make an exception because Echizen has tournament experience" A voice said from my other side. I turned and found Oishi standing next to me.
"Oishi-san, good morning" I said with a smile. "Did you already play?"
"Yes, I did. I just came over from seeing Eiji finish his match" he said, and looked back to the game on the court.
"Eiji finished his game? Then that means…" I started, before I was brutally interrupted.
"Hoi, Hoi! Alex-chan you are here!" Eiji's voice yelled in my ear, as he Tackled-Eiji-Hugged me.
"Eiji-kun! Let me breathe!" I said, as his hug was a little choking. But I was happy that Taka-san got there and pulled him away from me.
"Taka-san, Ohayo!" I said smiling.
"Ohayo Alex-san" he said shyly, and scratching the back of his neck.
"Nya! Taka-san let me down!" Eiji said, and Taka just dropped him. "Taka!"
Cheering from the other side of the court made me look back to notice that the game was over. From his smirk, I assume that Ryoma Echizen was the winner.
"Anyone else playing this morning?" I asked to Oishi, who was standing next to me.
"I think Fuji has his first match right now, and Momo is playing in a few minutes too." Oishi said after thinking about it for a minute. "Feel like watching Fuji or Momo's match?"
"Let's see which one starts first" I said, and we all started walking over. I also noticed the reporter guy talking to a woman holding a camera.
"It'll probably be Fuji's, since Momo usually takes his time in the mornings" said Taka, and Eiji snickered.
I nodded and we all continued walking until we got to court B, to also find Inui, Kaidoh, and Tezuka standing there, waiting for the match to begin. We walked over and stood next to them.
"Nya! The match hasn't started?" Eiji asked.
"It's just about to begin" Inui said, as players in the court went to their place. "This is a good opportunity to get good data on Fuji."
As the match began, I was surprised with Fuji's playing. It seemed that during practice I really hadn't seen how good he was. The other player wasn't even able to get a point. He had a hard time even getting returns in.
"As expected from Fuji" Inui said.
"Ne, he really is a Tensai" Eiji said with a smile.
"Tensai?" I asked to the group in general.
"Fuji's abilities have gotten him a lot of prestige. Like Tezuka, he is at a National Level." Inui said. "His playing style, his capabilities to adapt to opponents and his techniques are beyond school level"
"Fuji is also skillful in many other sports, as well as academically" Taka said.
"I didn't really know that, but…" I said trailing off a little.
"You noticed it" Tezuka said. "Fuji has that air about him, that he is talented in whatever he does."
No one said anything else, and before we knew it, the game was over, and a smiling Fuji was shaking hands with his opponents. We all walked back to the clubhouse, as the guys needed to get showered and changed for class. As they went in, I sat down by a tree outside, and read something for my Classics class. It took a few minutes before I felt someone sit down next to me. I looked up to find Fuji reading from the book I had in my hands.
"Saa… I didn't read this either" he said smiling.
"It's not like it matters, Mr. Tensai" I said teasingly.
"Nani?" he said, his smile fading just a little.
"I learned today, that you apparently are a very talented man Fuji-san" I said.
"Ah, well, what can I say" he continued smiling full on again.
"I guess I got myself a pretty good math tutor then" I said smirking.
"That you have" Fuji said smiling, and then suddenly stood up. "Up you go, Alex-chan" he said reaching out his hand.
He helped me up, and then I noticed that the rest of the regulars were walking over to where we were. At least the third year ones.
"Ne, I don't feel like going to class today. I'd much rather play tennis" Eiji said, with his hands behind his head.
"Eiji…" Oishi said shaking his head, and before he could say anything else, the bell rung, signaling the start of class. "We better get going."
"That we do" Fuji said.
We all started walking towards the school buildings, the guys talking about the matches that afternoon, and who was playing who.
"Momo plays Eiji today, and Fuji plays Taka-san. There is a 75% chance of Eiji winning and a 63% chance of Fuji winning" Inui said as we made it to the third year floor.
"Inui, you had to broadcast that I might be losing today" Taka said, scratching the back of his neck again.
"Here Taka, this will make you feel better." Fuji said handing him a tennis racket.
"How is that helping, we are inside" I said before my eardrums were busted, as Taka became Taka.
"BURNING BABY! NO ONE IS GOING TO BEAT ME TODAY! CAUSE I'M BURNING!" Taka yelled, but it was all interrupted as a teacher walked out of the classroom to find what was going on, and Oishi took the racket from Taka's hand.
"What the hell was that?" I asked Fuji as we walked over to our classroom.
"Taka becomes a lot more confident when he has a racket in his hand." Fuji said with his smile.
"I see" I said, as we walked into our homeroom, and sat in our places.
"Are you going to be watching the match between me and Taka?" he asked suddenly, after a moment's silence.
"I might be there" I said with a smirk.
"I hope you do" he said turning away from the window and looking at me. "That I do"