Note: Hi again!! Well, this is the last one. Enjoy!
Together again
Chapter 4: Together Again
This chapter has 2 parts:
Part 1: Freshmen Trio Appears
"Ne Oishi no matter where you go or even if you turn the world upside-down Eiji can't still get rid of his childishness" Taka-san told Oishi.
"Mmm…You're right Taka-san it's not only Eiji but everyone. No matter what happens or as you said even turn the world upside-down no one has changed," Oishi replied
--Outside the Store--
"Huh? Isn't this place the Kawamura Sushi? The place owned by Kawamura-senpai?" a person said as he stopped walking & stood in front of the store catching the attention of his friends.
"Huh? Katsuo, of course that's the sushi store owned by Kawamura-senpai," his friend answered him refreshing his memories. "Don't tell me you've forgotten it??!!?"
"It's not that Horio-kun. It's just that it's been a long time since we've seen him along with the other senpais," Katsuo said defensively.
"Well if you miss him so much why don't we give him a little visit? Besides that, I'm hungry too," Kachiro told Katsuo.
"Okay then let's go. I'm starving," Horio invited. "Konichiwa Ka---" he said as he slid the door & was broken off because he was surprised to see all of his senpais inside the store.
"Horio-kun what's taking you so long to---" Katsuo complained as he tried to peek in at Horio's back & was broken off as he saw all of his senpais in the store.
"Am I hallucinating? Because I miss the senpais so much plus the fact that I am hungry, I am seeing them in right now at this moment, in front of me," Kachiro said as he also peeped in the store & saw all of his senpais in the store.
Everyone was stunned to see the 3 of them that they stopped at whatever they are doing & set their eyes on the 3 people who were standing at the door open-mouthed at what they saw. Even Eiji stopped chasing Momo & Inui & set their eyes on the 3.
"You're not hallucinating guys," Fuji told them.
" Fuji's right, now come in; don't hesitate. It's an Eat-All-You-Can," Taka-san invited them.
"Kawamura-senpai is so kind," Horio complimented as he & the 2 went inside & took their seats next to Echizen.
"Echizen-kun, have you gotten taller?" Kachiro asked his colleague as he saw that he really did grew taller.
"Huh?" Echizen asked in confusion.
"Kato has a point I missed the fact that Echizen grew taller," Inui said.
"Heh…looks like someone as accurate as you still make mistakes eh? I think that just shows that no one is really perfect," Fuji jokingly provoked Inui who continued scribbling on his green notebook.
"Now he's taller than Momo," Eiji joked.
"Eiji-senpai!" Momo pouted at his senpai's joke.
"Anyway it's true, fshuuuu," Kaidoh murmured to himself but loud enough for Momo to hear.
"What was that Mamushi?!" Momo said standing up making Echizen stand up too because Momo accidentally kicked him. Hard.
"Whoah! Ryoma-sama/Ryoma-kun/Echizen/Echizen-kun really did grow. He's almost as tall as Momo/Momo-senpai," all of the people in the store said in their thoughts as soon as Echizen stood up.
"See Echizen is almost as tall as you," Kaidoh told Momo also standing up.
"And that means WHAT??!!!" Momo replied already getting pissed.
"Momo-senpai & Kaidoh-senpai still hate each other until now?" Kachiro whispered to the people near him.
"Mmm…maybe this is their way of showing each other that they really care about each other," Katsuo replied.
To them this conversation is soft enough for others not to hear, but this WAS loud ENOUGH for Momo & Kaidoh to hear.
"WHAT WAS THAT??!!" both Momo & Kaidoh demanded as they stared at them with big, freaky eyes.
"No-nothing senpai," Katsuo & co. replied obviously their voices were shaking with fright first of because of the big, freaky eyes Momo & Kaidoh shot them & secondly, the tone of the voice Kaidoh & Momo used.
"Oi stop it," Oishi commanded Momo & Kaidoh. And they took their eyes of the pale, frightened Katsuo & co. who sighed with relief as Momo & Kaidoh stopped staring at them.
"Ne Tezuka," Fuji said. "It's weird."
"Huh?" Tezuka asked in confusion. "What's weird?"
"It's weird because I only decided to go to Seigaku today to visit it & because I missed it. But I didn't expect to see all of us gathered at the same place & at the same time. Also, if I'm not mistaken with the same purpose," Fuji explained while rolling his eyes on every single regular in the shop.
"Yeah it is weird but I'm happy that it happened because I miss all of you. And now I am glad to see all of you after a long time," Tezuka said his voice not as cold as ever but still cold with a mixture of happiness & joy in his tone.
"Ii….data," Inui muttered to himself as Tezuka finished his speech while Eiji was wiping something out of his eyes.
"Huh? Kikumaru-senpai are you….crying??!!??" Echizen asked his senpai as he heard him sniffing (a bit) & wiping his eyes with his hand.
"Huh nya? O'chibi I'm not crying! Something just got stuck in my eye," Eiji alarmingly defended himself while his eyes were really watery & he used his cat-like voice to respond to Echizen but it was too loud for the people in the whole store to hear him.
Everyone laughed but only Momo was the one who can't stop laughing.
"I…never knew that laughs Eiji-senpai could be emotional," Momo said as he continued to laugh.
"I AM NOT E-MO-TIO-NAL!" Eiji told Momo defensively. "Tezuka, Fujiko-chan never say such words like that & as for Momo, 'want me to chase you again??! I still have Seigaku's best reflexes You know!!!"
"Er…um no thanks Eiji-senpai I pass pfft" Momo said while putting his hands in front of him while Eiji goes in front of him.
Part 2: A New Beginning….
The next few minutes were great & they were enjoying each other's company. Even Kaidoh enjoys Momo's company & so does Momo but they are hiding it from each other. They were so happy that they didn't notice the time.
"Ah! Would you look at the time! I still have to buy something!" Katsuo exclaimed as he looked at his watch.
Everybody looked at him then looked at the clock inside the shop.
"You're right I have to get going too," Oishi said in agreement.
"Yeah me too," "Same here," were the answers of the other people in the shop.
But the moment they opened the door of the shop, a mixture of bright orange, yellow & red filled the sky & went in the shop.
"Whoah! I've never seen the rays of the sunset this stunning & beautiful," Momo said the moment his eyes met the warm rays of the sunset coming outside.
"For once you're right fshuuu," Kaidoh said in agreement to Momo's statement.
"What was that Mamushi??!?" Momo asked about to be pissed about what Kaidoh had just said.
"Oi, oi stop it you guys," Taka-san told them.
"Let's check it out to see a clearer view of it," Sakuno suggested.
"Sakuno-chan is right, ikou(let's go)," Inui agreed.
So they looked for a place where they can get a clearer view of the warm, arousing sunset.
"It's breathtaking," Tomoka said in satisfaction.
"Yeah," Sakuno agreed.
While watching the beautiful sunset, they remembered their glory days in their junior high till high school when they were playing tennis together having the time of their lives. (Just imagine 'White Line' or 'Sakura' being played. It matches the scene)
"Actually guys, I admit that I really missed you & I want to know if we all have the same purposes upon coming to Seigaku at the same time," Taka-san admitted.
No one dared to answer Taka-san's questions because their prides were too high for them to admit it so, they pretended that they didn't hear anything but they can't hide it because their eyes are swirling everywhere wondering if they should admit it or not.
"Hmm….great silence I'll take it as a yes," Taka-san said satisfyingly & still not a single response not even a twitch of a brow nor a nod or even a sound could be seen or heard from the regulars.
"Why is there complete silence nya? Shouldn't we be happy that all of us are here together & have seen each other's faces after long years? And now that the day is almost over there's complete silence?!" Eiji said as he went in front waking everyone out of their dreams about their glory days in playing tennis to the fullest.
"Everyone let's make this a wonderful memory. Everyone say 'cheese'," Fuji told them & took pictures.
"CHEESE" everyone said in unison as Fuji placed the camera on timer mode so that he, himself, will also be included in the shot.
"I'm really happy that an incident as impossible as this happened," Kachiro said almost about to cry because of happiness.
"Yeah me too," "You're absolutely right," everyone replied.
And so they enjoyed each other's company till the last possible second. Then went home with great smiles on their faces even though they were scolded about being home late than what they told their parents. Before they went to sleep, they knew that tomorrow was a new day, that they were gonna have to go back to work & so on. But tomorrow is a different tomorrow because their closed world about tennis has been opened again & it will never be closed. This is because that they knew that they treasured this sport much more than anything else when they were in junior & in high school so they want to treasure it again to make their lives more complete than ever. Also they all hoped that this 'impossible' experience may be repeated once more. Not to challenge one another but to feel each other's presence once more.
THE END