Chapter Nine

Sachie

Sometimes Fuji and I would go to the street tennis courts during weekends. I guess he really meant what he said when he told me that he liked to watch people play. It was interesting enough, but I had much rather be the one playing.

"Saa, it's Yuuta!" Fuji exclaimed happily. This was also the place where I met a lot of the other good tennis player around.

"Oh, it's you, aniki." Yuuta said stiffly. "Tezumi." He nodded towards me. I didn't think he had anything against me in particular, but since I hung around his brother, he had probably mistaken me for a fan girl or something.

"Yuuta, since you're around, does this mean you'll be coming back home tonight?" Fuji asked hopefully. Their conversations were always so fascinating. As in, you could never quite believe that Fuji could take in Yuuta's indifferent words and still reply enthusiastically. On the other hand, I always wondered how Yuuta could be so cold towards with Fuji fawning over him like a puppy.

"I guess I'll have to," Yuuta said heavily. "I won't be able to make it back to St. Rudolph before they lock up."

"Great! Maybe I can get mom to make your favorite pumpkin curry. You almost never come home and we usually don't get to eat with you—"

"Aniki," Yuuta cut in. "Just...just let me play my game, ok?" Picking up his racket, he randomly challenged someone to a match. If Fuji had wanted to send his brother on a guilt trip, it hadn't worked.

Was I the only one who could sense his frustration? I mean, this is what he got from his own family. But again, there wasn't much I could do to help besides plunk him down into a bench to enjoy his brother's game.

"Nya, Tezumi! We keep bumping into you." Eiji appeared on the scene. "Hey, everyone! Tezumi's here! Oh, and Fuji too." I followed his line of sight to see Momo, Echizen, Inui and Oishi coming up the stone steps.

"Hi, everyone," I and Fuji said together.

"Aww, everywhere is full. We'll have to play doubles," whined Eiji, a little kid as he always would be.

"Let's see..." I said to myself. "Eiji with Oishi, that's a given. Inui and Momo, fine...wait, Echizen's on his own."

"Yes. Senpai?" Echizen turned his adorable eyes on me. "Would you like to try playing doubles?"

I chuckled weakly. "I'm not that good, you know."

"It doesn't matter. You just have to be on the court."

The boy was cute, but a little on the blunt side.

But it turned out quite well for us, actually. He plastered himself to the net and whatever he missed I could always retrieve. Either our opponents were really bad, or I was improving. We did, however, lose spectacularly to Momo and Inui, who turned out to be a pretty good doubles pair.

Since Echizen had done most of the work, I wasn't even tired by the time we had finished out games. I went back to Fuji, who was now staring openly at Yuuta, who seemed to be playing doubles with someone he didn't even know. The scores made it kind of plain.

"You'd give anything to be the guy playing with him, right?" I smiled sympathetically at the visible look of longing on his face.

The moment I said it, he switched back to normal mode, as in poker face mode. "Not a bad idea, but I'll probably just annoy him if I went out like this." He gestured at his leg.

Well, if he could laugh at himself it had to mean that he wasn't totally swallowed up by depression.

I continued to study him out of the corner of my eye, but gouged nothing else from his now emotionless expression. Maybe it's true, what they say about geniuses being the loneliest people on earth, because no one can quite compare with them. First his own brother gives him the cold shoulder, and now...

I got up and found Oishi, who had just finished his match. I handed him his water bottle. "Thanks," he said.

"Oishi," I started abruptly. "How long have you guys known Fuji?"

He eyed me strangely. "Three years, every since seventh grade, I guess."

"This'll sound a little weird, but who does he normally hang out with? Like a best friend or something."

"Um, he's friends with Eiji, they're in the same class. And he gets along with Tezuka. And everyone else as well, actually. Why? If you want someone to help you ask him out, I don't think I can recommend anyone." Oishi was smirking. Unbelievable.

"No," I sighed impatiently. "If I liked him I'd be over there talking to him. Just...ok, Oishi, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Try to get Fuji to hang out with you guys more, ok? I know it's kind of hard now, because of his leg, but just try."

Oishi considered me for a moment. "Why? And why me?"

"Just do it, please? As for why you, do you honestly expect Eiji or Momo to take me seriously and do you really think Tezuka or Echizen or anyone else to care?"

"Well, I don't have a problem with that," said Oishi with a shrug. "But I'd really like to know why—"

"You will, when you're around him as much as I am, and see the people he hangs out with."

"Who are...?"

"See? You don't even know. That's the problem." I looked back to Fuji. For all his natural charisma, the guy sure had some intimacy issues.

Now that no one was watching, that look had resurfaced on his features.

There was totally a reason why he always smiled and was nice to everyone. I wanted to help, I really did. I wanted to help him fill that empty void in him, which he tried to fill with random smiles and words of thanks from random people at random places. Except, could that actually work? I wanted to make him less lonely.

But how could I ever be enough?