Chapter Six: Ranking Matches

"Good game!" Tenx said to her opponent, shaking hands across the net. After a week of Eriol's spartan training regiment (as Tenx so affectionately called it), Tenx was feeling very confident in her ability to hold rallies and run her opponents ragged around the court. That was evident in the exhausted smile that the other girl was giving her, still panting from the last bout the Italiana had put her through. What surprised Tenx even more, though, was the fact that she had won her first ranking match 6-4. Tenx won. She won. As in, her record was currently at 1 win, 0 losses, and she was that much closer to cementing her position as a starter on the girls' tennis team.

But, that last thought was more of an after-thought. The most important thing, right now, was that Tenx won. And she couldn't get that beaming smile off of her face if she tried as she went to go and report her score.

"Looks like the 'spartan training' was worth it," Seiki commented, sitting behind the table where all the score sheets, along with the score board, were. It seems like it was Seiki's turn to babysit the table. Tenx seemed to grin wider and Seiki gave a chuckle as she got up and looked for her name on the score board. "What was the final score?"

"Six games to four," Tenx replied, watching as Seiki nodded and wrote down the score.

"Well, good job, Tenx. What else is there to say?" Seiki said, grinning as she turned around, "We're only doing the preliminary matches today. There's still a lot more games going on, so we won't know the next set of matches until these finish. So, you're all done for now."

Tenx blinked, her grin faltering for a moment. "No way, really?"

"Yes, really."

"Wait. . .so what do I do now?"

Seiki chuckled at her boggled expression, "You can wander around and watch the other matches, if you want. Fukubuchou is busy taking care of a few things with buchou and Coach. Though, I think the boys' are having their ranking matches too. Yoshimi finished her match early, so you can find her there."

"What about you, Seiki?"

"Well, it's my turn to watch the table. I'll definitely swing by the boys' courts when my shift's over, though."

Tenx nodded, "All right then. I'll see you later." She then jogged over to the boys' courts, quite interested in how their ranking matches were going.

"Kikumaru Eiji, third year. He specializes in 'acrobatic play,' and he's Oishi-senpai's doubles partner. Together, they make Seishun's 'Golden Pair,'" Yoshimi explained, as she and Tenx were watching a certain red-headed tennis player bound around the tennis court as he played his game. Tenx nodded, slightly mesmerized and curious as to where a person came up with the idea to jump and twist around and turn that into their style of play. "Ah, looks like Kaidoh's game is about to start."

That totally snapped Tenx out of her trance. "Kaidoh?" she asked, snapping her head toward her companion. Yoshimi arched a delicate eyebrow, but shrugged it off.

"Ah," she confirmed, pointing to a court a down the ways, "It looks like he's getting ready to warm-up. Would you like to watch?"

Tenx considered the offer, and replied, "Sure. I'm interested in seeing him play."

Yoshimi nodded and navigated the two of them over to Kaidoh's court, watching Tenx as she seemed fixated on the tennis player in question. A thought struck her, and she gave herself a few moments before posing her question, "Does Kaidoh interest you, Tenx?"

"Huh?" The Italiana was caught completely off-guard. She turned toward Yoshimi, her expression conveying her confusion.

The latter gave her a neutral look and cooly restated her question, "Does Kaidoh interest you? Is there something about him that you find interesting?"

Tenx blinked a few times, not quite sure what the other girl was getting at. "Yes, I think he's an interesting person," she began, slowly, "His tennis skills are amazing. I've only hit with him a few times before, but that's enough for me to know that he takes tennis seriously. I'm not sure how to phrase it. . .but I just really want to watch him play. Hitting against someone, and sitting back to actually watch them are two different things right?"

Yoshimi's blank look, though, was making Tenx second guess herself a bit. Did she say something wrong? Had something not made sense? Luckily, she didn't have to dwell on that any longer before a grin slowly spread on the other girl's face.

"Yes, you have a point there," Yoshimi responded, slowly, making Tenx wonder what was going on through her head. The next statement, though, thoroughly surprised her, "You're a very interesting person, Tenx. Maybe I should try rallying with you some time."

"Uhhh. . .sure. I'm up for it whenever you are," Tenx agreed, still confused but smiling nonetheless. Yoshimi nodded, and the two of them turned back to the court in front of them. While the two of them had been immersed in their (slightly confusing) conversation, Kaidoh and his opponent had finished warming up and began their match.

"By the way, Tezuka-buchou, I heard that you allowed a seventh grader to partake in the ranking matches this year," said a female tennis player sporting the Seishun girls' team starter jersey. Eriol was seated upon the desk next to hers, looking over a few papers she held in her hands. The Filipina briefly glanced over at Hinami Ayeka, the captain of the girls' team. Ayeka was a third-year student, studious but also passionate about tennis. She advocated a sense of sportsmanship between players, and was big on the whole 'team' feeling. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, a few strands framing her face. Ayeka seemed to sense her co-captain looking in her direction, and raised her emerald green eyes to meet Eriol's chocolate brown ones. She gave the younger girl a smile, just as Tezuka answered her question.

"Ah. Echizen. He's young, but his skills are good."

Ayeka seemed to accept the answer, and went back to the papers she was looking over containing the list of names of players currently playing their ranking matches.

"Well, what about that new student you added to the girls'?" Oishi piped up, prompting the attention to fall on him.

"Medici?" Ayeka asked, receiving a nod in return. "Well, Cruz-chan has been working with her for the past week. And, from what I hear, she's getting along well with the other players. I haven't seen her skills for myself, but I have high hopes for her." She then turned her attention to her co-captain, who gave her inquisitive look. "I do hope, though, that you're not letting your prior affiliations with her cloud your judgment."

Eriol smiled at her captain, "I don't think that's a problem. If anything, our history together is only serving to make me want to push her to her limit as soon as possible."

Ayeka chuckled, "Ah, now it makes sense why you've been making the girls condition so much lately. Well, at least the entire team benefits." She then turned her attention back to the papers in her hands, looking up when Oishi decided to walk around and stretch. He situated himself by the window and looked out at the ranking matches still going on. Not that many now, but enough for him to know that all four of them would be there until late into the day.

"So, how were the ranking matches?" Tenx's father asked at the dinner table that night. The elder Medici was quite excited to hear how his daughter's day went. She looked quite excited that morning, and this past week she had been busy catching up with her old friend.

"It was amazing," Tenx responded, grinning widely, "So much tennis! There's more tomorrow, and probably for the rest of the week. At least, that's what Yoshimi said to expect. Ranking matches are a huge affair - I didn't really realize that until I was there. You should have seen it." Her father chuckled, as Tenx rambled on and on. At least she was enjoying herself. What more could he ask for?

Ending Notes:

Sorry this one felt like it was jumping around everywhere. Inspiration struck and I had to get this down after such a long absence. Finally introduced the mysterious captain of the girls' team - Ayeka ~ She's one of my personal favorite OCs I have for this story, and she'll be making more of an appearance as the story progresses.

Again, not much Kaidoh, but I swear there will be more of him.

o Ao;;