Chapter Eleven

Sachie

"That's twenty laps and it'll be forty if you do it again!" Coach Ryuzaki barked at me.

"Hai!" I set off running. Given that I'd left early the other day after my argument with Saki, I'd expected to be given some kind of punishment. I just didn't care at that time. Chiko had called me that night to tell me about the announcement that I had missed. The school was organizing a training camp for both tennis clubs, and members who had shown rapid improvement could go, as well as the regulars. The coach had probably gotten something wrong, though, since I was on the list to go too. Remember the desert island thing I'd heard a snatch of the other day? That had been about the camp.

By then twenty laps was no longer a problem for me. I finished the twentieth lap and only breathed a little deeper than usual. But—if you like jogging you might know this—my short run had given me time to come up with an idea. I sought out my coach, even though I wasn't in the best position to convince her of anything.

"Um, Coach? I was wondering, when you said that all the regulars could go, did you mean the regulars now?"

"Why, of course!"

"And...only people in one of the tennis clubs can go?"

"What kind of question is that? We can't just let anyone in school sign up."

"So, if there was this person, who um, was in the tennis club and hasn't actually quit but can't practice..."

"What are you trying to say? Spit it out!"

Things weren't going very well for me. As I had no visible talent whatsoever in saying stuff tactically, I figured the direct approach would be less of a hassle. "Do you think it would be possible for Fuji to go with us to the camp?"

"Fuji?" I had known it wouldn't be easy. "But I don't think he's in an acceptable state to train."

"Yes, I know." This was harder that I'd anticipated. "But um, being a tensai he should be able to learn by just watching and ever since he got injured he hasn't been, well, himself, and if he's out of contact with tennis for too long it might, uh, affect his game when he comes back." That sounded reasonable, right?

By the coach's expression, most likely not. "Tezumi, we can't have people joining just because they're our members' boyfriends."

"No!" I half yelled. I was already very sick of people taking it for granted that I was in love with Fuji. "It's just that he was a regular and will be again when he gets better—he never even officially quit the team—and well, he just can't live without tennis, can he? Plus, be can't play, but he's good at giving people tips on how to improve, so..."

"That doesn't make any sense at all, but I get your point." All right then. He can come with us if he wants to. Tell Fuji to come and see me if he does."

"Thank you, Coach!" I squealed joyfully and hurried off to my training with a new spring in my step. I couldn't wait to tell Fuji the good news, but I had to finish practice first.

"Oooh, Sachie, are you ok? Twenty laps! That was harsh!" Chiko came prancing over.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." The shocked look on her face was priceless. One of the reasons why I'd stayed friends with her for so long. She could be silly at times, but with her around you're never bored.

"Ok, everyone! Let's get started with some basic serves and returns," the captain yelled out to us. "All of you get into pairs!"

It was normally a given that I and Chiko would be a pair, so I went off to get my racket without saying anything.

"Chiko! Do you want to be my partner?" I spun around to see Saki giving Chiko her million-dollar smile. Since when were they friends? I was really perplexed as to why the popular vice-captain would suddenly want to spend time with Chiko, who was social, but less well known. Before we had our fight, she basically only went around with me.

But that was nothing to how astonished I felt when Chiko actually said yes. Shrugging, she turned around, gave me an 'I have no idea what's going on but I want to go along' look and followed Saki to another court.

Saki really puzzled me, but I could worry about her later. There were more immediate problems at hand.

"Still no partner?" the captain asked briskly. "You can practice with Takahashi then. Takahashi!" A very small, very shy girl that I recognized from class but had never spoken to sidled up to us.

"Hi, I'm Tezumi." I gave her my warmest smile.

"Hi," she whispered, not looking me in the eye.

Nothing to be done except give her time. Besides, I'd probably be back with Chiko the next day. "Come on," I tugged her arm. "Let's go practice."

Despite her shyness, Takahashi's tennis was pretty good, but a lack of aggressiveness kept her from reaching her full potential. I couldn't help thinking that she was a nice change from Chiko, who still missed the ball sometimes, even when the shots were really easy.

But I forgot all about her once practice ended. I nearly flew out of the court and grabbed Fuji. Excitedly, I whispered the news of the camp into his ear.

Forget about being poker faced. His face glowed. I mean it. His face literally glowed.