Chapter IV: Chance
His brother always believed in tarot, luck, reincarnation and those weird things that science qualified as unreal. Kiyo didn't know if they were real or not, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to believe in them.
That night Utsuho was way too bored, and when he's bored, if you're next to him, be sure you'll have your fortune read, even if you don't want.
It didn't matter how many times Kiyo refused or how hard he smacked his brother. When Utsuho is determined to do something, he won't stop bugging the person until he or she says 'yes'. But that time he just ignored his little brother and dragged him to the table, which already had all the cards placed on it. If the older Mitsumoto didn't say a certain phrase, Kiyo would probably stand up and leave him talking. That phrase was 'The chance you were waiting for has just arrived. But, you'll possibly leave someone hurt, or worse'. Utsuho said the last two words as creepily as he could, just to scare his brother.
After that, Kiyo went to his bedroom, thinking in those words.
He still had that phrase in his head. He couldn't understand the whole meaning. Why would he hurt somebody entering the tennis team? He wasn't an aggressive person; he thought those types of fights were pretty useless. They would just leave injured persons. But, what if it wasn't about fighting? What if it was emotionally? He also disliked that type of attacks. In the end, they were much worse that physical damage. But that didn't answer his question. How could he hurt someone's feelings by playing a single match?
That was too deep and strange for him.
"Kiyo!" Akaya shouted from behind. Kiyo supposed he would be running, trying to reach him "Good morning~!"
"Kirihara-" The red head sighed, slightly upset "-why do you have to yell so early?"
"Hehe, I'm sorry ~" He replied, grinning. "Guess I won't do it again."
They kept talking. And when I say talking, both of them did. Kiyo only said complete sentences when he talked with Akaya, because he was the only person who actually could get along with him without freaking out, because of Mitsumoto's short answers. Or maybe it was because Kiyo trusted him.
And Kirihara knew he was opening bit by bit.
"Why the hell you still don't know the whole school!" The seaweed boy asked, emphasizing the 'still don't know' part "You've been here for three months!"
"I don't have time for these things" The other replied, putting one earphone on his ear "And maybe you don't realize it, but Rikkai's pretty big."
"It isn't that big. It must be that your other secondary school was just too small."
"Whatever."
Kirihara glared Kiyo. It was pretty annoying to be forced to show the entire field of Rikkai three days in a row. And it was more annoying when Kiyo had that lacking-of-interest attitude. If Kiyo was bored, why would he have to oblige Akaya to do that? Mitsumoto was still too complicated.
Fortunately, someone interrupted the duo. It was Niou, and he seemed pretty tired.
"Whew! I finally found you two!" He said, smacking his kouhais "Why the hell you're here? You classroom is in the opposite way!"
"Kiyo wanted to see the school" Kirihara replied, blaming his friend.
"Why would Mitsumoto do that?" The trickster asked "He has been here for three months"
"That's the same thing I was saying to him! And-"
"Quit it" Kiyo interrupted, upset "If you don't wanted to do it, then you just had to say 'no', Kirihara."
"But-but…I said no like a hundred times!" Akaya cried "But you-"
"Anyways," The silver haired stopped the second-year Ace "Mitsumoto, Yukimura-buchou is calling you."
"Huh? Me? Why?"
Niou shrugged.
"How the hell am I supposed to know?" He answered "He just told me 'Look for Mitsumoto. He is always with Akaya'"
"Uh, okay" Kiyo looked his senpai "Where's Yukimura-senpai?"
"He's probably in the Gardening Club. Follow me"
Mitsumoto looked at Akaya, surprised. The Devil made a good luck gesture as the other two left.
Kiyo looked at all the plants amazed. They had the most beautiful flowers he ever saw. All of the plants looked healthy and somehow shiny. They gave life to the room.
Yukimura was the only boy in the club. And he didn't seem uncomfortable with that. Instead, he looked happy.
"Oh, Niou, Mitsumoto" He said, leaving his watering can in a table. A smile appeared in his face "It is good to see you here"
Niou got interested in the plant that Seiichi was watering. It was a white orchid.
"Whoa, you sure take care of your plants a lot, buchou" The trickster said, obviously amused with the flower "What is your secret?"
"It wouldn't be a secret if I told you, Niou" The blue eyed boy chuckled and turned to Kiyo "So, Mitsumoto, you should be wondering why I called you, right?"
The red headed nodded, starting to understand what Utsuho said.
"Well, I will be honest. I am tired of your complaints about the tennis practices and all those things" He confessed, looking as serious as he could "If another person asked me to do this, I would probably say no"
Niou got the meaning of Yukimura's idea, and widened his eyes. Mitsumoto blinked, still puzzled.
"What I am saying is" The captain continued after a short pause "I've been watching you, Mitsumoto; your play style is good. And, just for that, I will give you a chance. You will play with one member of the team, and if you win, you will be a part of us."
The other two boys had a '…what the hell?' expression in his face. That was pretty unexpected. And somehow cruel. Yukimura already knew it would be impossible to Kiyo to beat a member of the team. They were Rikkai, and that meant they were invincible. Niou pitied his kouhai. He would obviously make a fool of himself in front of the public.
"A-All right" The younger accepted, wondering why Yukimura was being so generous "Who are I playing against?"
"With Akaya"
Everything went upside down. And Kiyo finally understood what Utsuho said.
He didn't want to chat with Kirihara. Instead, he decided to avoid him until the last hour. That way he wouldn't feel too uncomfortable at the Ace's side.
Mitsumoto was truly worried. Hurting Akaya's feelings was the last thing he would do on Earth. And he knew better than anyone how the black head would feel if he lost to Kiyo in a match, in front of all the school, the team and the fangirls.
But, in the other side, what if he was the one who lost to Akaya? Everyone would laugh at him for months, including the younger one. When he wins a match, he mocks the person 'till he gets bored.
Oh, the dilemma. To win or not to win?
Akaya got shocked too when he heard it. Yukimura pronounced 'With Mitsumoto' so nonchalantly, that Kirihara thought his buchou didn't have any compassion. Then, he started worrying about his friend. The seaweed haired knew he wouldn't have any mercy with Kiyo, regardless of their friendship. He was part of Rikkai, and that meant he had to win all the matches he played. Even if it was an unofficial match.
But still…he knew Kiyo had pride. A big pride, that almost turned him into an egocentric person. It was practically the same type of pride as Akaya's. He already felt that ache that only comes when someone hurts that pride. And he was aware of the consequences as well. There was a high rate of losing him, Renji said sternly, if he won.
What would he do?
The last hours passed fast, and the tennis club activities started in no time. Almost all the school already knew about the match between Kiyo and Akaya. And, as expected, all the public cheered the second one. Most of them didn't know who the hell that Kiyo was, but they would never miss a match of one of the regulars. Also, it was more fun when they crushed random students.
Mitsumoto could hear the 'Go Akaya-sama!' from outside. There were a lot of people out there. Plus, he was sure everyone would start yelling 'Boo!' or 'You suck!' as soon as he entered the courts. That was the natural pattern. And that was one of the things he loved the most. Kiyo thought those types of words were almost hilarious. But he knew all of them were just jealous, because he had the chance to play as good as he could with a regular of the tennis team.
Kiyo walked to the third court as calmly as possible. He was so focused in his music and his thoughts, that he didn't felt Akaya walking besides him. The other knew that, and walked silently. He knew he shouldn't break the opponent's concentration, because that would only make the other less focused in the match, or something similar said Bunta-senpai once.
The trickster proclaimed himself the umpire, and sat in a chair.
"This will be a one-set match between" Niou pointed Akaya "Kirihara Akaya and Mitsumoto Kiyo"
Everyone cheered the second year ace, and once in a while insulted the red haired.
They didn't stay quiet for three entire minutes. That pissed Kiyo a lot; he couldn't get focused in the match, and he often failed to return the ball. Plus, that only made the screams get louder and louder.
Couldn't they understand this was a tennis match?
After a while, Sanada was pretty sick of the screams, and he decided to scream "Shut up already!" as loud as he could. He even scared Akaya, who didn't have the chance to hit the ball once more, and Kiyo got his first point.
The red head sighed, relieved. That way he could concentrate more on returning the ball, and finding a way to recover the three games he lost.
"Love-fifteen ~" Niou said, somehow bored of the match "Kirihara leads three games to love."
Akaya laughed.
"Whoa, Kiyo, you're pretty good in tennis!" He said sarcastically "You should be the buchou!"
Mitsumoto ignored the comment, and pointed his opponent with his black racket. Afterwards, he smirked.
"Tenisu da hare ni maketakunai, Kirihara Akaya*" (See author's note~)
The black haired stayed quiet. He felt a different atmosphere surrounding his new rival. It was more confident than before, and somehow stronger. So…Kiyo was just toying around with Kirihara? Who in Earth would waste three games in a row just to have some fun? That was stupid!
"Che. Don't get cocky just because you won one point, you dumbass" He replied, snorting.
But he knew it wasn't like that.
~o~
"Mitsumoto seems more serious" Jackal commented, surprised.
"And his shots have become more accurate" Renji started writing something on his notebook "There is a 80% probability of Kiyo winning this game"
Everyone kept silence, and Yukimura crossed his arms.
He was getting really interested in the match.
~o~
Yanagi was right. In the end, Kiyo won the game without problem, and that worried Akaya a lot. Kiyo's play style changed drastically in one second. How could that be true? It was almost impossible that one person could seem to be a beginner in tennis and when he decided he could reach Kirihara's level!
Damn. His shots are heavier than before The Ace was angry, and at the same time amused And he's much faster than before…How can this be happening? I can't lose!
Luckily, he had an advantage. He knew if he used that, Kiyo would lose in no time.
Akaya lowered his head, as Mitsumoto threw the ball up and jumped. It flew to Kirihara's court, and didn't go back. Instead, it bounced a couple of times before hitting the wall.
"Fifteen-love" Niou looked at Akaya, already knowing what he would do.
The same thing happened one more time, and Kiyo shrugged. What was the other doing? He just stood there, with his head down, both hands holding the racket, without doing anything. That was strange.
But it didn't last too long. A sinister laugh came from the other side, and Kirihara raised his head, making Kiyo stop from serving. The next thing made Kiyo drop the ball.
Akaya had bloodshot eyes. And he was still laughing, louder and louder.
"So, you want a real match?" He asked, chuckling evilly "I'll give you one!"
~o~
"Mitsumoto is in big trouble" Marui popped his bubblegum "Akaya's in Bloodshot Mode"
"I wonder if he can win" Yagyu seemed worried. He knew what happened when Akaya was in bloodshot mode "-with Kirihara-kun in that state. He's capable of hurting Mitsumoto"
"Don't say that" Yukimura interrupted, still watching the game "Akaya used his bloodshot because he is starting to feel cornered. You know he could win the match without that if Mitsumoto wasn't that good"
Everyone nodded, thinking about that. Maybe their buchou was right. Akaya could seem confident and powerful on the outside, but they knew in the inside he was being cornered and somehow intimidated by Kiyo. All the regulars knew the devil only used the Bloodshot Mode when he noticed the strength of the rival. In other words, it was kind of his last resource to win without problems, if he excluded all his special shots.
The cheers got loud. The Ace managed to get a triple break point, thanks to the Bloodshot Mode. And Kiyo still seemed impassive. Clearly he didn't know what the Bloodshot meant. Oh well, he deserved it. He shouldn't mess with Akaya when playing tennis. He had to let Akaya win without problems. Without scoring a single game. Without those stupid phrases and those stupid looks of superiority.
It didn't matter if Kiyo was his friend or a random person. That was tennis. He knew he had to be as strong and fast as he could when he was playing tennis, without showing any mercy. That's what Sanada-fukubuchou taught him; Kirihara should never let his feelings interfere with a match. If that happened, he was sure he could lost that match, and receive the usual punishment for that. He shrugged after remembering the feeling of being hit by Sanada after losing a match. It was awful.
The Bloodshot devil gazed at the ball in his hand for a few seconds. He knew what he had to do in that instant. He was going to use one of his scariest techniques.
~o~
"Wait…" Jackal opened his eyes in big surprise "Akaya will be using that?"
"It seems so" Yagyu sighed, worried "I didn't know Kirihara-kun was really intimidated"
Yukimura chuckled, like if nothing important was about to happen. So, he didn't give a damn if Kiyo was hurt at the end of the match or not. Jackal restrained himself of scolding Yukimura for being that sadistic. But he was pretty lucky. He was the buchou, so Jackal couldn't say a thing.
"Saa…you're saying Mitsumoto can't handle that?" Yukimura smiled "Oh, you are so funny. He is capable of that, and more. That boy hasn't showed his true potential."
~o~
Akaya began squeezing the ball as hard as he could, and threw it to the air. The green sphere started spinning violently, almost unnaturally. When it headed down, the black haired hit it with all his strength. Everyone started shouting two words.
"Knuckle Serve! Knuckle Serve! Knuckle Serve!"
The ball kept spinning wildly, even after it bounced for the first time. Kiyo didn't know what was going to happen next.
