I couldn't stand it any longer. Thus by the time we were at the school gates,I shook my hand off him and run away,back to class. I didn't turn back and look at him even once. Eventually I will see him in class after all.
The news has spread so quickly by the time I entered the classroom. The girls were crowding around me asking how did it do it. I was really confused and asked them what did they mean by that.
One of them answer my question,"Well...you see,Zaizen may look scary but overall he is sort of every girls' dream boy in our school. It's too bad he doesn't want us near him or else... Well,you are the first to be able to get close to him! You gotta tell us how you did it."
Huh? You mean that the girls in this school like this guy? You got to be kidding?! I really want to puke,I mean seriously his attitude is one of the worst I seen and he insist that I play tennis with him. I mean I hate tennis and he is forcing me to play it.
Thankfully,the bell rang before I could speak and I tried avoid the conversation as much as I could. By lunch,I ran up to the rooftop again. This time when I arrived,he wasn't there. Up there,I thought of lots of things,my brother,my mother and this. So many emotions flow out of me and eventually I started crying when I recall my mother's death.
"Hey,why are you crying?I thought you were the strong kind of girl?",a voice spoke to me. I turned around and my tearful eyes met Zaizen's. I haven't noticed anyone around since I was busy with my thoughts.
"Nothing,just remembering something...",I didn't want to lie but I didn't want to tell the whole story either. My tears were still flowing like an endless waterfall. Zaizen face was somehow worried and I never thought he would make an expression like that. He suddenly put his arms around me with his face blushing slightly and said,"Use my shoulder to cry all you want,I don't mind at all. Just make sure you stop crying."
Hearing that I started crying even louder on his shoulder and I think I got his shirt really wet by the time I stopped crying.I have to return the favor and I mean two favors. So when I finally stopped crying,I looked at him determinely and said this,"Ok,I am going to be your practice parther,any objections?"
I made up my mind,I said it and I don't regret much as I hate tennis,the favors he had done for me is much greater then what I expect it to be. Either way,sooner or later I was going to leave the school so I guess it wouldn't hurt.
After school,I expect him to bring me to the courts to practice. But to my suprise,he brought me out the school,to the streets. I was really shocked but I didn't want to ask why. Zaizen brought me to a sport shop. Everything in there was sports equipments. I had no clue what I was there for,perhaps he needed to buy something but I was about to find out.
"What style do you like to play in tennis? Power,speed,techincal or smart play?",he ask me.
I was really stunned and just blurred out "Anything...".
"Then this racket should do."he told me holding a silver racket with red strikings on it.
"Huh? What's going on?",I finally asked.
He continued ingoring my words,"The grip is really good so you won't drop it easily. By the way how much do you have?".
"Erm...",I checked my wallet but Zaizen took it from and looked inside of it.
"Just enough for this."and he went off to pay.
"Wait a minute,you are using my money to buy a racket! That's my week's worth of allowance! Why am I buying a racket anyway?", I asked panicking.
The racket was bought,my allowance was gone. How was I going to survive the week with no allowance and the money to buy a new chopping board was gone too. How am I going to prepare dinner? I really regretted my words.
As we came out of the shop,Zaizen turned around to me and said,"Akiyama,this racket is going to be the most important thing in tennis. You will need it badly if you are going to play against other stronger players. The school's one won't do you any good cause in a months time,we are entering the Kansai Junior Tennis Doubles Tournament."