As the Years Pass By
Chapter 6
Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis. If I did, holy bejeebus do you know how not-bored I would be? :D
Thank you, pyrrhicvictoly, for being a wonderful beta!
Once school was out, Rin had originally planned on heading home to finish up her homework so she could catch a few hours to nap, but had been interrupted when Oishi and Fuji had popped up out of nowhere.
"Usagi! Wanna hit the courts with us?" Oishi asked, his warming smile catching Rin's attention.
"Yeah, sure!" Rin yelled, throwing the idea of taking a long nap out the window. She walked over to Oishi and Fuji, starting a random chat about the team for the preliminaries.
"That's right! That freshman, Echizen, made it onto the team! Only after beating Inui. Who knew, eh?" Oishi laughed a little bit more before Rin began to wonder who they were waiting for since they hadn't begun walking to the courts yet.
"Who are we waiting for?" Rin asked, curious. Were they waiting for some people from the team?
"Well, we don't have to wait anymore. Tezuka's walking towards us now." Rin didn't know what to think. Tezuka was coming along? That seemed rare. She had always thought he would go home right after school to do homework or do whatever he usually did. It's not like she knew his routine or anything.
"Sorry I'm late; Ryuzaki-sensei wanted to discuss the line ups for the preliminaries." Tezuka adjusted the strap on his shoulder slightly so that it wasn't sliding off. His face was the never changing stoic expression.
"Mhm, it's fine! Now that you're here we can head out!" Rin exclaimed, a lot more hyper than she was a few minutes ago. It seemed Tezuka's presence was all she needed to get her energy flowing again. They all headed off towards the park, Oishi and Rin holding a steady conversation while Fuji and Tezuka were silent in the back.
"Whoa, so did you see that show last night where the old man attempted to fight a watermelon monster?" Rin asked Oishi enthusiastically. "I love those kinds of shows because they're always so funny!" Oishi laughed along.
"No, I didn't see it yet but I'll try to watch it later when I get home!" It wasn't long before they arrived. It also didn't take long for Rin to realize she had left her racquet back at home since she had planned on going home right away. How did she not notice that she didn't have a racquet the whole time? She mentally scolded herself for being so unobservant.
"Ah, guys…I left my racquet at home and I didn't just realize it until now." Oishi deadpanned, wondering how anybody could plan on playing tennis and forget that they left their racquet at home. Rin laughed nervously while trying not to look stupid. Her nervous laughter was cut off when a white racquet handle with a "T" on it was handed to her. She looked up at Tezuka who just held his normal expression.
"Are you going to take it?" He asked, pushing it into her hands gently. Rin didn't know what to say because he had never done anything like this when they were younger.
"Thank you, Tezuka-kun," Rin smiled before holding onto the racquet tightly. Tezuka nodded before walking over to Fuji to ask if he wanted to play a game.
Rin stood there, watching him as he walked to the first court with Fuji following behind him. Oishi stood there, smiling as he noticed Rin was watching Tezuka. He made his way over to her and asked her if she wanted to hold a steady rally with him all while trying to test his theory.
"So Rin is there somebody catching your eye right now?" He asked, trying to hide the coy smile threatening to form on his lips.
Rin whipped her head so fast that she had almost stumbled. "N-No! Of course not!" She stammered, trying to regain her composure. "I mean, we're all friends here and all! Having a romance with any of you would be weird, and I don't think-"
"Rin! Relax!" Oishi laughed, his hand holding onto his stomach. "I was just kidding!" With that statement, Rin blushed slightly and lowered her head. She fell for that trick, even though it was very plainly obvious. So obvious, even a five-year old could detect it.
"That's not funny, Oishi! You don't mess with people's feelings!" Rin whined, pouting in the process. "But, heh, let's go rally or something." She said, gripping Tezuka's racquet tighter. As they were walking to the courts, Rin kept watching Tezuka play against Fuji. Fuji, being Fuji, was able to hold his ground even though it seemed he was working up quite a lot of sweat while Tezuka was still standing in the same spot he was.
"You know, I think you're the first person that I've seen Tezuka lend his racquet to." Oishi stated, his comment breaking Rin out of her dreamy gaze.
"Wha? Really?" Rin asked, not believing him.
"Yeah! When Momo's strings popped, Tezuka told him to use an old racquet from the storage room." This made Rin pause and think.
"What's that supposed to mean, Oishi?" She asked, wondering what Tezuka was up to.
"I don't know, but I think you must be special to Tezuka. He normally doesn't go out of his way to help others unless they're important to him." Oishi smiled, which caused Rin's grin to shoot up an extra twenty percent.
"Alright!" She glanced over to Tezuka one more time before starting their rally.
~AYPB~
While Rin was rallying against Oishi, Tezuka's attention had begun wavering over to Rin. He noticed how she was watching him play the first game against Fuji. He saw how she held his racquet close to her, as if it were going to run away. For some reason, that gesture made him smile slightly, but not enough for anyone to notice.
By the time Fuji and Tezuka had finished their set, it was already evening and the sun was beginning to set. It would get dark soon and Tezuka decided they should leave before it would make walking home quite a hassle. Oishi and Rin had finished a few minutes before them, Oishi barely sweating while Rin was wiping sweat off her forehead with her forearm.
"You know, tennis takes quite a toll on your body, huh?" Rin asked. It seemed as though she was nearing exhaustion. "I mean, I feel so tired my legs will probably melt off." She laughed a bit, and so did Oishi as they compared their legs to liquids of all sorts.
Once everyone packed their bags, they began to walk home. Oishi and Fuji heading towards the subway while Tezuka walked with Rin home since they lived so close to each other.
The silence was a long one before Rin decided to break it.
"Thank you for letting me borrow your racquet today, Mitsu-kun!" She smiled at him. She continued walking slightly before her legs began to shake a bit. Tezuka noticed this, stopped, and waited. "S-Sorry I think I overdid it today. My legs are a bit sore." She smiled while trying to continue to walk, but kept stumbling which caused Tezuka to catch her.
"If you keep going at this rate, we won't be able to make it home before it gets dark." He took his tennis bag off and placed it on the ground. He got on one knee, his back facing her.
"N-No, that's too much of a hassle for you, Mitsu!" Rin tried telling him that she was fine, but he wouldn't hear it. In the end, his stubbornness beat hers. Her legs were wrapped around his waist while her arms circled his neck. She was holding onto his bag while he carried her home. She had to admit, being carried home by Tezuka felt nice.
While thinking, Rin absent mindedly buried her nose into his neck, sending shivers down Tezuka's spine, though he wouldn't show it. Eventually, she nodded off to sleep, her arms tightening around his neck.
~AYPB~
Tezuka had arrived in front of her door and was trying to get her to loosen her grip around his neck. In the process, he had woken her up. Still groggy, Rin noticed she was home. She turned to Tezuka and smiled.
"Thanks for today, Mitsu-kun." She said, in a sleepy voice. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck in a warm hug before letting go and walking to the door. She turned around and waved goodbye to him before shutting the door.
Tezuka just stood there, the warmth of her body still lingering on his body. He hadn't expected that from her, and it had caught him off guard. Nevertheless, he smirked before turning around and heading home himself.
A/N: I'm so sorry that this took forever to update. I'm just having a huge block with this story. And honestly, this is the least favorite story I have out of all the other ones so I don't know what's going to happen to it. : I don't like abandoning things that I've started, so I'm going to try my hardest to continue this as far as I can.
Originally I was going to have this go up to at least over twenty chapters, but I think I might shorten it a bit, but it'll just have a bit more quality to it, hopefully.
!