Chapter Two – Miyako's Presence

She'd become such a common occurrence that the tennis club members barely noticed her presence anymore and managed to practice without being distracted by her. And everyday she'd wear the same basic thing. A pale coloured tank top and the dark green school skirt. She'd also trade her normal school shoes for a pair of blue and white coloured sneakers.

Tezuka grumbled quietly to himself. If anyone on the regulars – particularly Fuji or Momo – knew that he noticed her enough that he knew what she wore everyday then he'd never hear the end of it. But he'd noticed that she'd practice swinging over and over again several times during her hour practice on the half courts. And after several minutes she'd try with the ball – but would end up feeling the pain in her wrist again. It had been nearly two weeks since he'd approached her and she still hadn't given up.

He admired her persistence – but knew that there was nothing else that he could do to help her.

"She's found the problem?" Fuji asked on a fresh Monday afternoon.

Tezuka bought his eyes away from the girl – whose name he still did not know – and to where they should have been: the courts, making sure that the members of the club remained on a tight leash. "Apparently she has."

"You told her huh? About the flick in her wrist." Fuji assumed.

Unconsciously, Tezuka clutched his once injured elbow. "I wouldn't want someone to injure themselves playing a game they enjoy."

"You're a kind person, Tezuka – as much as you let on that you are indeed not." Fuji said with a smile.

Tezuka sighed. "Being stern does not mean that I am not kind."

Fuji laughed lightly, and then he stopped, but still a smile graced his lips. "Well, what do you know…a primary student?"

Tezuka followed Fuji's gaze and indeed, there was a very young girl wandering cautiously onto the tennis courts, keeping to the fences. She was searching the courts desperately. She walked all the way up beside Tezuka and – having not seen him yet – bumped into his leg softly. Taking a step back she meekly looked up and then blushed, looking back down. "Gomen-nasai!" She exclaimed, bowing deeply.

Tezuka looked at Fuji for a moment and then knelt down in front of the girl. "It's not a problem. But I wonder: what are you doing here in the high school?" He asked.

The girl bit her bottom lip, looking up at him from under her lashes. "My Neechan goes here. She was supposed to pick me up, but she said that she would be playing tennis here. My school isn't far so I said that I would come here so that she doesn't have to stop practicing." She explained sweetly. "She loves tennis so I wouldn't want her to miss out on my account."

"Your sister, you say?" Fuji asked, leaning his hands on his knees to be at a closer angle to the girl while he spoke with her.

The girl looked up at him and nodded. "Mmm-hmm. Her name's Miyako-neechan~." She replied. "She's my bestest friend in the whole world."

Tezuka looked up at Fuji. "Do you know her? Is she on the Girl's Squad?"

Fuji shrugged. "Momo should know."

"Momo?" The girl asked. "Neechan talks about a Momoshiro-sama. Could he be the same person?"

"She talks about him?" Tezuka asked.

The girl nodded. "They're in most of the same classes. She says that he's funny."

"That's one way to put it." Fuji said with a grin. "I'll go ask Momo then."

Tezuka nodded and then turned back to the girl. "Don't worry, we'll find your sister for you."

The girl smiled brightly, her caramel eyes sparkling. "Arigatou~." She then froze and bowed. "Oh, I forgot to say. My name is Kaiya Arakaki." She introduced herself. "I'm in kindergarten at Edogawa South Primary."

"It's nice to meet you, Kaiya-chan." Tezuka greeted. "I'm Kunimitsu Tezuka."

Kaiya smiled up at him. "I hope my sister will be friends with you."

Tezuka blinked. "And why do you hope that?" He asked, genuinely confused.

"You are a really nice person, Tezuka-kun."

"Tezuka."

Tezuka looked up at the call of his name and saw that Fuji was returning. "What did Momo say?"

Fuji looked over to the half courts. "It's her. Miyako Arakaki."

The girl looked over in the direction the older boys looked in and – once again forgetting her manners in her excitement – ran towards the gate to get to her sister.

"Kaiya-chan!" Tezuka called, but she failed to realise that in her haste she'd run into a match. She screamed out as the ball came flying from the opposite side and collided solidly with the side of her head. "Syusuke, get the cold-press." He instructed as he ran over to the young girl's aid.

. : . : . : .

There was a scream and a large commotion from the courts.

Miyako paused her music on her hip and looked over at the all too familiar sound, her heart began to race and she looked at the time on her iPhone. Horror struck. "Kaiya." She dropped her racquet and ball and ran at full sprint towards the courts.

As she drew closer she could hear the sobs of her little sister coming from within the small crowd that had gathered on one of the courts.

"Kaiya!" Miyako cried, skidding through the gate and pushed her way through the students.

What she found surprised her to the point that she forgot why she'd run so fast. Kaiya was sobbing with her arms around the arm of Kunimitsu Tezuka – his free hand brushing her hair back on the right side of her head.

"You're not bleeding, it's okay." Tezuka reassured the girl softly.

"Can we make some room here?" Momo said to the crowd. "Give the kid some space. Oh, Miyako-san."

Miyako looked at Momo for a moment and then back at her sister who had looked up at the sound of her sister's name.

"Miya-neechan!" Kaiya cried, leaping from Tezuka to Miyako in a few bounds.

Miyako scooped her up, holding her on her hip. "I'm sorry, Kaiya. I should have just gone to pick you up." She whispered as her sister continued to cry into her shoulder. Then the fury set in. She looked up with fire in her eyes. "Who did this?" She demanded, looking around in the crowd.

"Easy, Miyako-san." Momo said. "It was just an accident."

"Are you kidding me?" A boy exclaimed. "The kid ran out onto my court. What was she doing here in the first place?"

Tezuka sent a dark glare in his direction. "The question is why did you let the ball hit her?"

Surprised at this, Miyako looked at Tezuka. She already had one reason to thank him – and now she had two.

"Fifty laps." Tezuka stated after the boy couldn't come up with a solid explanation. As the boy trudged off, Tezuka stepped up to Miyako. "She just got hit on the side of the head. I couldn't find any bleeding but there's every chance that it's internal. I'd suggest that you take her to a doctor if she starts to feel dizzy."

Miyako nodded. "Thanks. I really appreciate it. She's usually very cautious of tennis courts, I've told taught her many rules to keep her safe."

"She was excited to know where you were." Tezuka replied in Kaiya's defence. "But I ask that you don't allow her into the tennis courts unsupervised again."

"That is my fault." Miyako said. "I said that I would be at the front gate at around quarter past three so that I could safely being her into the school but I lost track of time." She explained, shifting Kaiya on her hip and brushing her fingers into her hair. "Hey, where's her hair tie?"

Tezuka held out a hand, the blue band resting on his palm. "I had to pull it out to inspect the injury."

Miyako reached out and took it, carefully not touching his skin as she did so.

Tezuka suddenly looked over to the gate. "Here's Syusuke with the cold-press."

Miyako turned as Fuji walked up to her, with a cold-press in hand as Tezuka had said.

Fuji handed it to the older sister. "Is she okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." Miyako replied, placing the press to Kaiya's injured spot. The girl hissed in discomfort, but didn't pull away. "She's had worse."

"So, as I said she should go to a doctor if there are any problems." Tezuka repeated.

Miyako nodded. "I should head home now then and let Mum know what's happened. Thanks again. For everything." She said and left the courts, cold-press and sister in hand.

Tezuka watched as she walked back to the half courts to retrieve her belongings and then made her way to the entrance of the school.

"She's a good sister." Fuji said softly.

Tezuka nodded and then turned his eyes back to the courts.

. : . : . : .

Miyako meekly walked into the school that next morning. There had been nothing more than bruising above Kaiya's right ear so there had been no need for a doctor's appointment, but she had taken it upon herself to punish herself. She wasn't going to practice tennis that afternoon – instead she was going to do all of the washing and cleaning the house needed for that afternoon.

She didn't go by the tennis courts, nor did she go directly to her classroom. She went to Coach Kikuchi's office. She knocked on the door and waited to be acknowledged. When she was told to enter she slid the door open and walked over to the desk.

"What can I do to help you?" He asked.

Miyako pulled the cold-press from her bag and offered it. "I borrowed this yesterday when my sister was injured. The lid said it was the tennis clubs property so I thought it would come back to you."

Kikuchi took the cold-press. "Is your sister okay?"

Miyako nodded. "She's fine and went to school today."

"Will you be practicing today?"

Miyako's eyes widened a little at the question.

"I've noticed your presence – and you are rather good. I'm surprised that you didn't join the club."

"I prefer a bit more freedom when I play – any kind of competition extinguishes that." Miyako explained. "But no, I won't be practicing today. I've got things to do at home." She bowed. "I should get to my classroom. Have a good morning, Kikuchi-sensei." She said and turned to flee the room, but slammed into another person. Looking up she blushed in horror. "Gomen nasai!" She exclaimed, bowing yet again and then quickly fled, her plait flying around behind her.

Tezuka stared at the direction she'd disappeared in, his eyes a little wide.

Kikuchi chuckled. "Perhaps you should have announced your presence, you frightened her."

"I have a horrible habit of being silent." Tezuka said, walking over to the desk. "What's the competition for the next tournament?"

"The usual schools. No one really new or to necessarily worry about. Unless they've changed their teams extensively. And even then, we can't know much more until the date gets closer and the tournament isn't for another two months." Kikuchi replied. "But that's not why I asked you to come here this morning. I wanted to ask you about the incident yesterday with the young girl."

Tezuka motioned towards the door. "You should have asked Ara – "

"I did. The girl is fine and at school. But I want to know what actually happened."

"Kaiya-chan was here to see her sister and they were going to walk home together. She couldn't find Arakaki-san so she wandered onto the club courts. There wasn't a problem until Kaiya-chan discovered where her sister was so she ran for the gate – ignoring rules and found herself on a court. The idiot on that half of the court let the ball go and hit her on the side of the head."

"Did you write up a report?" Kikuchi asked.

"Yes, and I've left it at the office." Tezuka replied.

"Good. Well, you're free to go to class now. Have a good day and I'll see you at practice this afternoon."

. : . : . : .

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"Mum, I'll be as hard on myself as I like. I just want my conscience to be clear, okay?"

"I understand that, but Kaiya holds no grudge on you."

"She's five, it's impossible for her to even know the meaning of the word."

"Is it really necessary for you to clean the toilet though?"

Miyako sat back on the tiled floor of the bathroom and sighed. "Mum, I just feel horrible. I forgot about Kaiya."

"Because you were having fun. That's why you play tennis, isn't it?" Tamie Arakaki asked, kneeling beside her eldest daughter.

"Yeah, but…"

"But I do have another question that I need to ask you." Tamie said, helping Miyako to her feet. "Who is this 'Tezuka-kun' person I keep hearing about?"

Miyako's eyes widened, her cheeks darkened to a red and she quickly began to busy herself by removing the gloves she was wearing and putting them into the bin under the vanity sink.

"Well?" Tamie asked. "Who is he?"

"He's a senior at my school. He was the one who told me to see a doctor if Kaiya began to get dizzy." Miyako replied, keeping her face hidden from her Mother. "He was also the one who told me why my wrist was hurting."

"I see." Tamie said, crossing her arms and able to see the look on Miyako's face in the reflection of the mirror. "Is he a friend of yours?"

Miyako scoffed. "Hardly. He creeps me out."

"Kaiya thinks highly of him."

"Yeah, because he checked her wound."

"Not just that." Tamie corrected. "She told me that he found out where you were for her – even if he didn't know your name yet."

Miyako blanched. "Oh no. I forgot to introduce myself." She panicked.

"Well, you have every chance in the world, right?"

Miyako turned and glared. "No. I don't. He creeps me out, remember? He looks at me like he's going to kill me or something."

"He can't be that bad. Any man who can get as much praise from Kaiya as he has certainly can't be." Tamie said. "And I think that he might be a little worried about Kaiya himself – especially if he suggested a doctor."

"Well, I'm sure that I will see him tomorrow. The Regulars are on the courts every day."

"He's a Regular?"

"Yeah. He's the captain." Miyako replied, leaving the bathroom to do her homework.

"The captain? He must be very talented." Tamie commented, following the teenager.

"Apparently. I haven't seen him play though. The half courts aren't close enough to the normal courts to see anything."

"You should watch their games sometimes. You might get something out of it."

"Nah, they might think I'm interested. And I certainly am not. I just want to practice my form on my own, with my own skill and time. For free."

"Money isn't a problem, Miya. You know full well that it isn't."

"I know, but I feel better about it. And besides, teachers and lessons in regular school time annoy me – imagine how it would affect my view on tennis if I got back into lessons?" Miyako asked as she sat at her desk and opened her Math text book.

Leaning against the doorframe, Tamie sighed. "I know. But don't you think that playing against an actual person might be a bit more fun, and maybe something different. Playing a wall is like playing a mirror isn't it? You're only hitting shots as hard as the ones you serve."

"Yeah….I don't know."

"It couldn't hurt just to ask one of the girls on the team if they want to play a game for fun." Tamie suggested.

Miyako shrugged.

. : . : . : .

"She's not here today?" Fuji asked, noticing Tezuka's eyes straying to the empty half courts.

"I'd say it was unusual." Tezuka replied. "But I don't know her well enough to judge her behaviour."

"Is there any particular reason why she isn't here, Momo?" Fuji asked.

Momo nodded. "I asked her during lunch break, but she said that she had some chores to do at home. She dropped the excuse that her Father is out of town until Monday so she wanted to help her Mother out. But I heard her say to her friend later that she felt horribly for her sister getting hurt – so she punished herself."

"How so?" Fuji asked, a confused frown replacing his usual smile.

"She chose to do chores instead of play tennis." Momo replied. "And Tuesday is when most of the chores in the house need to be done. And she's doing them all on her own this afternoon. If you ask me she's crazy. But she's kind of kawaii ne?"

Tezuka frowned, holding back a sigh of sympathy. He'd have to have a talk with the girl when she returned to playing. About her sister and warning her to avoid contact with Momo. "Back to practice, the tournament is in two month's time."