Disclaimer: I worship Konomi and his characters, but I don't own them. I own the OCs within the story.

Enjoy the chapter~

To Catch A Falling Star—Chapter Fourteen: Fudomine

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"Ano…" Sakuno shyly walked up to Sayaka, who was, strangely, her doubles pair. She was surprised, since she thought she did pretty well as Akane's partner yesterday… And she'd never tried playing with Sayaka before. They'd taken a small break during the matches in the morning in order to practice a little and work out a few simple combinations. Sayaka was much harder to complement than Aiko or Akane, actually, since her movements were harder to read.

"It's fine!" Sayaka reassured her as they picked up their rackets. "Just play like we did this morning. We can't let those guys take all the trophies now, can we?"

Sakuno nodded vigorously. "Hai!" There was one thing about Sayaka that she really liked—she felt that Sayaka depended on her more. Playing with Sayaka was just more… fun. It was probably due to her cheerful and rowdy personality. Playing with Aiko was a bit cold, because of a language barrier and Aiko's dislike for doubles, and Akane also brought her blunt attitude onto court. 'We'll win this match together!'

"One set match! Momoshiro to serve!"

"This is a strange doubles pairing…" Inui murmured as the match began. "Why did Ryuzaki-sensei choose this pair to put as doubles two, anyways?"

"I asked her to," Akane said simply.

Ryoma wandered back, tossing his Ponta perfectly into the trashcan ahead. "Echizen!" Momoshiro called, grinning. "I knew you'd come back for Ryuzaki's match!"

"What's the score?"

"They just lost the first game, but that's okay!" Momoshiro said. "Sayaka hasn't started playing yet."

"Hey, Ryuzaki-chan?" Sayaka said as she retreated to the baseline. "Remember those exercises that Inui-senpai had us do? The one where we each guarded our own boxes?"

"Hmm?" Sakuno nodded, while still keeping an eye on their opponents. The girl tossed the ball up.

Sayaka pointed towards Ryoma, and Sakuno suddenly knew that she wanted them to pull off a double approach maneuver. The girl served, and Sakuno hit it back. Both of them began running for the net.

"My limbs itch from not moving properly!" Sayaka proclaimed, and suddenly she broke into a series of cartwheels and flips. The two opponents stared at her movements—they'd never seen anything like that before. The way she effortlessly caught her racket after tossing it, twisting and turning… The whole crowd's attention was captivated. It was as if there was some invisible spotlight on her. Sayaka landed with a smile, hi-fiving her partner. "Nice shot, Ryuzaki-chan."

"Hey, where's the ball?" their opponents looked around, only to find the ball near the baseline. Sayaka had let Sakuno take the shot, while leading the opponent's attention away. "Hey! That's dirty!"

"You can't call that dirty!" Ann said from the sidelines. "You have to give the game your full attention if you want to win!"

"You girls are doing great!" Coach Ryuzaki said during a break, as they took sips of water.

"Nothing like playing with Ryuzaki-chan!" Sayaka said. "It's like playing with a brick wall behind you. You know it's okay to miss the ball—there'll always be someone there to catch it." She winked at Sakuno. The brown haired girl blushed at her praise.

"They're like you, they haven't been playing together very long," Tachibana said to his teammates. "I'm sure you can find an opening."

Sakuno readied herself to serve. Sayaka grinned and held up a two behind her back. 'Okay…' Sakuno narrowed her brown eyes in concentration, jumped, and hit the ball.

"Since when did they learn sign play?" Momoshiro asked.

"When you were getting beaten up by Kamio," Akane said.

"Hey, I won him, alright?"

Sayaka did a cartwheel and pulled it into a double flip as she pushed herself off the ground. The Fudomine pair aimed for her left—it was left open. However, Sayaka's long reach and long legs easily allowed her to throw up her racket and do two front flips to reach the ball. When she did, did a somersault and slowly scraped her racket across the ball in a drop shot.

One of her opponents predicted it and managed to run forward, volleying it back. At that moment, Sakuno saw her chance. She leapt upwards and smashed the ball down, winning the point.

"Timing was slightly off…" Tezuka commented. "But it made the ball faster."

"Eh?" Horio turned his head to Inui. "How does that work?"

"Normally you hit the ball when it's at its highest point," he explained. "But Ryuzaki jumped a little late, so she hit the ball as it was descending. She added power to the momentum the ball was gaining due to gravity."

"SUGOI SAKUNO!" Tomoka yelled.

"The amazing thing is…" Akane said with a smile. "She doesn't even know that she's doing it."

The Fudomine pair tried to pull themselves together as the game went on, and managed to take another game. As long as they stopped concentrating on Sayaka so much, it seemed okay. Besides, their combination wasn't that good, it just seemed that way because Sayaka moved around so much.

"Wait! Where's the girl with braids?" One of the girls asked as her racket connected with the ball. All she could see was Sayaka, who was standing in the middle. "Maybe it's the Australian Formation, and we can't see the other girl because she's too short!"

"Hit it straight down the middle then!" her partner told her. "That way they'll go left and right, and won't be able to get it!"

The ball came straight towards her. Sayaka smiled. Suddenly she leapt upwards, doing a toe-touch, while Sakuno slid out from beneath her and hit the ball in a drive volley, winning the point. Just for kicks, Sayaka pulled her toe-touch into a backwards flip, and landed into a victory pose. She hugged Sakuno. "I loved that move! We should give it a name!"

"Oi… that almost looked like your Drive B, Echizen!" Momoshiro exclaimed.

"Sayaka used her body to hide the direction Ryuzaki was coming from… " Inui said as he wrote it down. "It works when you know a shot is going to come down the middle."

"Not bad, Ryuzaki." Ryoma murmured.

"Namazu-chan is pretty cut out for doubles too…" Suzume muttered.

The Fudomine pair was just about done. "They're really good." one said as they misread Sayaka's movements and ran in the complete opposite directions. It was just too easy to be dazzled by her movements. How did she manage to predict where the shot would land so she could throw her racket and catch it at that very spot?

"Yeah," the other agreed. "Even though they've just started playing doubles, it seems like they've been playing for years already."

"Game and Match! Momoshiro-Ryuzaki pair, 6 games to 2!"

"Hey you!" Sayaka said to Sakuno as they went to accept the congratulations of their friends. "We're playing doubles from now on, right?"

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(A/N: If sexual references offend you, please skip over this section.)

"We need to come up with a name for that move, right?" Kachiro said. "It was really cool!"

"It should have the word 'drive' in it, since it was a drive volley…" Katsuo murmured.

"RS Drive!" Momoshiro said. "For Ryuzaki and Sayaka!"

"That's lame." Akane said bluntly. "Besides, you used a first name and a last name; it doesn't make sense…"

"It'd be the same as saying Sakuno and Momoshiro drive," Reina said. "S and M Drive."

There was silence.

"No, it's not the same at all…"

"Okay, I just found out Reina-senpai is a pervert," Suzume said with a roll of her eye. Reina just gave her a nonchalant look.

"YOU'RE A PERVERT FOR KNOWING IT!" Momoshiro yelled.

"And you're not?" Suzume rolled her eye again. "Everyone knows it already."

"Ano…" Chiharu interrupted. "Sorry, but what is S and M?"

All of them clasped their hands to their foreheads.

"Dammit, Chiharu-senpai is just too innocent!" Sayaka said. "It makes you feel kinda bad."

"Saa… I'm sure you could ask Tezuka about it," Fuji said, smile ever present.

"Don't. Do. It," Suzume said through her teeth, glaring at Fuji. He just smiled back innocently.

"S and M?" Sakuno looked at Sayaka confusedly, completely clueless.

"OI! Echizen! Why don't you come over here and explain to Ryuzaki-chan what S and M is?" Momoshiro called, a mischievous grin in place. Ryoma spat out his mouthful of Ponta. Momoshiro laughed, trying to imagine the images in the youth's head. Come to think of it, wasn't Echizen a little young to know these things?

(Ryoma has a perverted dad. Of course he knows.)

"Let's just call it… Drive S," Akane said in attempt to steer the conversation back to a healthier topic. "S for both your first names, Sayaka and Sakuno." She turned to the girl with glasses. "Reina, we are going to have a long talk about what is appropriate."

"I thought Akane liked 'concise' and 'brief'," Reina said.

Akane really wanted to punch the girl sometimes.

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"Let's go, Aiko-senpai!" Kimiko said as they pulled their rackets out of their bags and stepped onto the courts.

Aiko retied her ponytail so that it was tighter and made sure the beads were in place. "Okay. Let's do this."

Sakuno watched, still breathless from her match. Doubles was so much fun! The taste of victory was so sweet. A can of Ponta came into view. She turned around.

"Wanna drink?" Ryoma asked.

"Ah! Thank you!" She opened the can and took a grateful drink, enjoying the fizzy feeling on her tongue. After she'd taken a sip, she asked, "Did I do okay, Ryoma-kun?"

"Mada mada da ne."

She made a face. "Ryoma-kun always says that. Fine, which part is "mada mada da ne?"

"Come over after practice next week and I'll show you." He drank some more from his can of Ponta.

She blushed. "Okay."

"Akane-san, I'm surprised you agreed to change partners so quickly…" Oishi said.

Akane just watched the pair as they moved into their positions on court, her expression unreadable. "I knew this would happen one day…"

"Eh?"

"Nothing…" Akane continued watching as the game got underway. Being Kimiko's double partner, she knew that Kimiko had great analytical skills but tended to have a small reach and little stamina. 'If we want this pair to work, then Aiko has to be the game-maker. She has to create openings so Kimiko can break the game.'

Kimiko allowed her lavender eyes to settle on her two opponents. They had the first serve. "Ne, Aiko-senpai—let's go just as we practiced, okay?" she said over her shoulder. Like Sakuno and Sayaka, they had also taken some time yesterday and this morning to work out their combinations. "We can't let that pair have the spotlight all to themselves!"

The serve came. Aiko caught it easily, returning it to the baseline. Kimiko's eyes shifted to the ball. 'Topspin, huh…' She took two steps away from the ball, allowing Aiko to hit it again as it came back.

"Why is that pink-haired girl running away from the ball?" one of their opponents asked the other.

Aiko hit a drop shot. Their opponents ran forward to catch it. Kimiko grinned. "Thanks, Aiko-senpai!" She carefully controlled her drop volley. It hit the metal pole at the end of the net with a resounding clang before flying upwards and landed just beyond the service line.

"Techuu Ate (Metal Bell Hit)," she said. 'Genius, right, Bunta?'

"15-0!"

"I see…" Inui said. "Komboi lead the opponents towards the net, where Marui's techniques would be at their strongest."

Aiko received the high five that her partner gave her, but she didn't smile. No matter what, she was still a singles oriented person at heart. 'I said okay to doubles with her… because she's stronger than that Ryuzaki girl.' But still, she didn't like the feeling of relying on someone else.

"Neh, Aiko-senpai!" Kimiko put one finger behind her back, indicating the combination. "Let's show them what we can do!"

"Oi! Oishi!" Kikumaru said, tugging at the jersey of his friend. "That's the…"

Oishi looked dumbstruck. "Australian Formation…"

Akane put her hands against the green wire fence. "They can't pull that off! You have to rely on your partner completely to use that formation!"

They awaited the ball to come back before suddenly moving. However, Kimiko and Aiko somehow ended up going the same direction, leaving the left court open. Their opponents saw this and aimed the ball down the empty area.

"Aww, that was a bad combination on their part!" Kachiro said.

Suddenly, Aiko appeared out of nowhere to slam her racket against the ball, pinning to the right alley of their opponents.

Ryoma smiled. "Not bad…"

Akane let her hands drop to her sides. "She feinted…"

Inui nodded. "It was an excellent move. Allowing them to think that they made a mistake in the combination…"

"…instead coming back to score a point into the empty court…" Oishi finished.

Tezuka focused his eyes on the opposing pair. "The other team is just getting started though…"

Even though Aiko and Kimiko managed to take the first game two points later, the other team was obviously more skilled. Kimiko, being short and having limited range, missed several shots that were to the very edge of the net. As time rolled on and her stamina was being drained away, she tried to hit two cord balls, but they hit the net and fell to the ground, not powerful enough to go over the net.

'We won't fall for the same trick twice!' The Fudomine pair easily found openings in their combination—it could hardly be called a combination now that they were falling apart. They tried the "Australian Formation feint" again, but the Fudomine pair hit the ball right behind Kimiko, knowing that Aiko was going to feint. Soon enough, the pair was three games down.

"Game, Fudomine! 4 games to 1!"

Aiko became frustrated and ran up to the net, planning on intercepting all the shots.

"Oi, Aiko-senpai!" Kimiko shouted. "Defense, defense!"

"We're three games down!" Aiko retorted as she hit a backhand. "How am I supposed to sit back and watch us lose?"

Suddenly the other team lobbed the ball upwards in order to get it over their heads. Aiko jumped for it, but since she positioned herself at the net, she didn't give herself enough running space to power up. Her jump wasn't high enough to reach the ball.

"Game, Fudomine! 5 games to 1!"

Kimiko turned to her partner, almost angrily. "Aiko-senpai, you have to trust me! This isn't singles!"

Kikumaru turned to Oishi, a nostalgic smile on his face. "Oishi, do you remember having this argument?"

"Ah," Oishi nodded. "It's when we first started playing doubles. Kikumaru—you wouldn't trust me at all."

"Hee hee!" Kikumaru clung to the green wire fence, thinking back. "I remember thinking that I could return any ball. Oishi, you were really patient with me back then. I remember you telling me where to stand and which areas to run to—then where to duck and feint. It worked out okay, didn't it?"

"Yeah…" Oishi smiled. "All doubles pairs have to have that argument…"

Aiko leapt for the ball. Her racket collided with Kimiko's. The ball dropped right in front of them.

"Ah!" Katsuo cried. "It's match point!"

Kimiko turned to Aiko, panting hard. "Why did you choose to play doubles with me?" Her eyes were narrowed. "I want the truth."

Aiko looked downwards to look the girl in the eye. She didn't lie, because she suspected the short girl already guessed the reason. "Because… you're stronger than that other girl. I need to prove to everyone that I'm good enough to play singles."

Kimiko shook her head. "That's not how it works, senpai. Don't think that doubles is a soft option compared to singles. It's even more difficult—and maybe even more important. Eto…" She paused. "Umm… I remember reading a quote that your American Michael Jordan said—" Here she drew in a deep breath and tried to enunciate her English words clearly: "Talent wins games but teamwork wins championships."

The dark-skinned girl listened.

"Senpai, they chose you to play doubles because they think you've got enough skill for it!" Kimiko said. "Not because they think you aren't good enough to play singles!"

Aiko brushed her braids off her shoulder, the beads clacking. Kimiko looked into her eyes and saw fire burning. "Let's go then, Kimiko," she said as she turned back, retreating to the baseline. "The game's just beginning."

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Akane looked up. Kimiko and Aiko looked more determined now. "It's going to be hard to make a comeback now… It's match point."

"But we've done it hundreds of times!" Kikumaru said, grinning. "Right, Oishi?"

"Hey, Aiko-senpai…" Kimiko said as the serve came their way. "I want a backspin."

Aiko returned the serve and tried to put a strong counter-spin on it. "Here you go!"

Kimiko kept her lavender eyes on the ball as it came back their way. She ran backwards a little. Aiko moved to the left to completely cover the court. "Here goes!" Kimiko swung her racket in a forehand slice.

Reina sharpened her gaze.

She saw the movement in four frames. The swinging of the racket in a smaller arc, the slice that only just scratched the ball… It was all in those detailed drawings, and those drawings had come to life.

The ball hit the net, the spin strong enough to make it brush the net loudly. Suddenly, it rolled upwards, shocking everyone. It teetered for a brief moment before falling on the opposing court.

"40-15!"

"Marui actually hit it again!"

"Whoa… how is that possible!"

"It just went up the net by itself!

"Nice job, Reina…" Akane said. "You actually recreated it for her."

Reina felt so proud, so immensely triumphant, even though it wasn't her performing the move. This is the sort of satisfaction she always looked forward to. The hours of analyzing didn't matter. The hours of drawing didn't matter. As long as she could see the fruits of her labor—see the results her teammates got from her help, all was worth it. These moments were one of the few that could make her smile.

"Uphill…" Inui murmured, trying to come up with a name. "It defies gravity…"

Reina shifted her eyes to look at him.

"Chouseki." they said at the same time. "The tides…"

"The…"

"…tides?" the rest of the team repeated.

"I see…" Fuji chuckled. "Tides of the sea can run uphill… and it's due to the moon's gravity affecting them."

"Chouseki…" Kaidoh said to himself. "Doesn't sound half bad."

"Chouseki!" Kimiko repeated happily. "I like it! Don't you, Aiko-senpai?"

"I would if I had any idea what it meant."

"Eto… um… the water from the sea against the shore?" Kimiko struggled with her English. "Like… going up the shore?"

"Ah, the tides. I see."

A few intense minutes later, they had won another game and were well on their way to winning a third. Aiko was beginning to learn how to depend on her. Kimiko too, began to learn to adapt towards Aiko's aggressive style. She hit her famous drop shots, forcing the opponent to lob the ball at the net, allowing Aiko to jump and smash the ball.

But their opponents weren't down yet. They aimed their shots at the baseline, forcing Aiko to retreat. Kimiko tried to intercept them to give her partner enough time to come closer to the net, but the shots went deep and she couldn't control her net play. Putting a signal behind her back, she and Aiko switched places.

"The rear guard at the net?" Momoshiro exclaimed.

"Aiko has a longer reach…" Chiharu said. "It's to give the game a slight change of pace."

"But when Aiko's at the net…" Akane murmured, seeing the scene take place again. She resisted the urge to bang her head against the fence. "She tends to forget Kimiko's existence…"

Kimiko was running back and forth at the rear uselessly.

"…and become a solo player."

Aiko volleyed all the balls back, not allowing them to bounce. 'I can handle this.' Suddenly a ball was hit to Aiko's far right. "Damn!" She leapt forward in a diving volley, but wasn't able to reach it, crashing on the clay of the courts. A flash of pink darted by her eye. "What…?"

Kimiko sprinted for the ball, diving forward. "I told you before…" Her racket tapped the ball, dropping just over the net. "You can trust me!"

"OI! KIMIKO, WATCH OUT!"

Kimiko faced forward in time to see that she was about to crash into the metal pole at the end of the net. She was moving too fast. There was no way she could stop. Time seemed to slow as the pole came closer. In that one moment, she realized…

'I can save either my arm… or my head…'

For a millisecond, her eyes rested on her arm. She could block the blow with it if she wished. Lavenders eyes traveled down the length of her arm and to her tennis racket, which was basically an extension of the flesh and bone. 'I need it to hold my tennis racket…'

She anchored her arms by her side and let her head take the full blow.

She saw red.

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She opened her eyes, a warm liquid running down the side of her head. The salty, metallic taste in her mouth made her want to throw up.

Akane was by her side, lifting her up. "We need to get you to a hospital…"

"I'm fine!" she said, only to clasp a hand over her mouth and wince in pain. There was a gash on her face, splitting the corner of her lip. Another one was just to the side of her forehead, blood dripping steadily down.

"You can't play with these injuries." Akane said.

"YOU DON'T PLAY TENNIS… WITH YOUR MOUTH!" she yelled. The pause between words was there because the sentence became too painful halfway through. Even panting, breathing was painful with the gash cutting her mouth. She swiped a hand across her mouth, staining her fingers red. The blood flowed out again just as she moved her fingers away, making her look like some sort of demented vampire.

Aiko put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. We did our best."

"Marui-san, you must get your injuries treated!" Oishi said. "You could get an infection!"

"NO! I'm not done with the game yet! I'm not done—hey!" Suddenly Kaidoh walked up and tossed her over his shoulder like a child. "Put me down!"

"Where's the hospital?" he growled.

"Ano… If you turn left over there, there are signs telling you which way… But Kaidoh, isn't that a little…" Kaidoh already walked away, with her still whining. "…unnecessary?"

"I'll go too!" Aiko jogged after them.

"Seigaku forfeits! Game and Match to Fudomine!"

The girls exchanged a look. "We were lucky…"

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Suzume was walking back to the courts from her warming up session with the wall. She had seen everything. As she passed Kaidoh carrying Kimiko (who was still protesting), she turned her head. "You'd think that cut to the mouth would shut her up a little."

Kimiko glared silently. It wasn't worth the pain to argue with her.

"You should stop the bleeding first." 'Stupid people back at the courts that forgot to give her basic first aid.' Suzume reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of Band-Aids. Large sized. Quickly and easily, she patched up the cuts and wiped away the excess blood with her hands roughly. Kimiko winced and Suzume told her to suck it up. When Kaidoh looked at her in surprise, as if wondering where she learned first aid, she said, "What? I get hurt a lot."

"Oi, Kimura…" Kaidoh said in a threatening manner. "When we get back, it better be a win."

His way of wishing her good luck made Kimiko giggle. She flinched. Even giggling was painful.

Suzume let her eye rest on the blood on her hands. "I'll definitely win the next one."

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"Ann," Tachibana turned his head from the bench. "It's your turn."

"Hai, onii-chan!" She entered the court. "I'll bring the flow back to our side!"

"Play like you always do," Tachibana told her with a fond smile. "I don't have any special advice for you."

"I do…" Sakiko said, and Ann looked up. "Don't go to the net. If you're at the net, there's no telling what this girl will do." 'This girl molded herself after Akutsu…'

"Hey, Kimura!" Sayaka said as Suzume passed by her. "Be careful. That girl has good eyes."

"Yeah…" Momoshiro said, remembering the time when Ann played him and found an opening to his left.

"All the better then," Suzume replied with a smirk. "Come to think if it, if you had better eyes Namazu-chan, I probably could've induced more fear."

"…that sounded like an insult."

"It was."

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"Let's have a good game, Kimura-san."

"Same, Tachibana's little sister."

She pouted. "I do have name, you kn—"

"Yeah, and I don't like it."

Suzume retreated to the baseline, leaving Ann dumbstruck for a second. Momoshiro laughed. "That's how she says hi."

Ann threw the ball up and served a surprisingly powerful serve for a girl as small as she was. Tachibana smiled.

"It's slow!" Suzume taunted as she returned a cross shot across the court. Suddenly Ann caught up to it and swung her forehand wide, slamming the ball into the empty court. Suzume didn't even react.

"15-0!"

'Oh yeah, her forehand is pretty formidable.' Momoshiro briefly remembered how the girl scored several points against him with that forehand.

"This might actually be fun…" Suzume murmured, lowering her torso in anticipation of Ann's next serve. When Ann served again, she returned with a straight shot instead. This time her opponent swung a two-handed backhand. The shot went a little high.

"Yup, she tends to lob on her backhand." Momoshiro said with a nod.

Suzume jumped for it and smashed the ball. It flew right by Ann's cheek, streaking through her hair. For an instant, she froze.

"It's starting…" Inui said. "Suzume's tennis."

"Chiharu, you better keep an eye on her." Akane said.

"Ann, are you okay?" Tachibana asked.

"A-ah…" She swung her racket a few times, heart pounding loudly. 'Only 2 points into the game and she already figured out that I have a weak backhand…' Throwing the ball up, she served again. 'I can't keep protecting my weak points—I have to find hers!' Another rally began.

Suzume smirked, hitting a drop shot. Ann ran forward to catch it. 'I've got you!' Suzume thought.

"I told her not to go to the net!" Sakiko stood up.

Suzume twirled her racket in her hand as Ann tapped the ball with her racket, barely reaching it.

"Oi! That's a reverse grip!" Momoshiro exclaimed, watching as Suzume changed her grip in that instant.

In a flash, Suzume punched forward as if she was fighting Ann in hand-to-hand combat. Ann yelped and ducked backwards, falling onto the ground. The ball shot though the air, coming in close contact with her cheek, just like last time. As she fell backwards, the ball smashed against her hairclip. It fell to the ground with a click.

"Suzume-chan's pretty serious…" Chiharu said.

"I know she's a black belt in karate, but man…"

"She only does that when she can get her opponent to the net," Akane said. "She's not like Izumi or Sayaka—she doesn't really incorporate a secondary sport into her tennis."

"Strictly speaking, that wouldn't even have been a correct punch." Suzume called, overhearing the conversation. "You wanna see one, Momoshiro? C'mere and I'll show you."

'Did she aim for that?' Ann walked over to pick up her hairclip. It fell into two; snapped in the middle. Her hand began shaking.

"Hey! Kimura!" Sayaka yelled, rattling the fence with her hands. "Why didn't you play like that when you were against me?" 'She didn't use her full strength against me then? What does she take me for?'

"Because, idiot Namazu-chan," Suzume replied. "Whenever you were at the net, you were always about 500 feet above ground. There's no way I could punch anywhere close enough to get a reaction."

'So she did aim for it…' Ann thought. 'Sort of…'

"She's got this one. It's over." Akane got up. "Oishi, do you want to take a walk?"

"Eh? But the game—"

"I want to talk with you." she explained. The way she said it made the matter seem important.

"Ah… okay…" The lightest of blushes appeared on his cheeks as he followed her to the fountain that was in the middle of the tennis garden. Water cascaded down ornately carved marble, creating a beautiful image. They sat down on the edge. Oishi could see several couples hand-in-hand, walking around them, and the silence suddenly became a lot more awkward. "Ano… so what did you want to talk about?"

She laughed. "Don't get your hopes up, Oishi. It's nothing like that."

His blush grew. "I… I wasn't thinking—"

"I get it…" She smiled for a brief moment, then let her face become more solemn. She exhaled. "Do you remember how a few days ago, we noticed how much Sakuno improved in doubles?"

"Ah… yeah…"

"Like you said, she has a natural feel for it…" Akane looked straight ahead. "But I felt that her improvement was almost unnatural, you know?" She closed her eyes. "I found out some things. It's my fault she's so good at doubles now."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Oishi said with a smile. Then he frowned. "Wait. You said 'my fault'… why—"

"You know, Oishi…" Her smile was bitter. "Sometimes you realize you have this sort of power over other people, and you just don't use it properly. I've realized that I can be extremely manipulative…"

"Manipulative?"

"See, I told Sakuno that she appeared to have a talent for doubles. And then, Coach Ryuzaki told me," She trailed her finger in the cool water of the fountain. "That Sakuno started studying doubles. She bought books that analyzed all the formations and she memorized them. She neglected her schoolwork for tennis."

Oishi thought that's why she felt bad. "But, if she wanted to, then—"

"Oishi…" Akane turned her eyes up to his and he was shocked to see unspeakable anguish within those eyes. "Right after I told her she might make a good doubles player, I completely crushed her in singles. And in doing so… I crushed all her hopes in becoming a singles player." She rubbed her temples. "Ryuzaki-sensei told me that Sakuno had never shown any interest in doubles until after that match with me."

"Akane-san… I mean, if you're manipulative and it's unintentional…"

This time, she had to force herself to look into his eyes. "I'd be lying if I said it was completely unintentional."

He didn't know what to say to that.

She stared into her own turquoise eyes as she looked at the water. "You know, I'm not really a doubles player… I just trained myself to play doubles… It's not fair to Kimiko. She's such a good doubles player that I used her, I used her to make myself seem like a doubles player. And she could tell; she could tell that we didn't fit. It's not just other people; I do the same to myself. I use people when the situation demands it. And it really hurts."

Even if she was manipulative, even if she used people to get the desired results, when Oishi looked at Akane, all he could see was a team captain that really cared for the team.

"You know when they ask you to choose two things? To A, do what you want to do. Or B, do what you're good at. I always wanted there to be an option C," She smiled again. "Do what's best for the situation. And our team needed doubles players. Suzume can't play doubles at all. Izumi hates relying on other people—you have to find someone that would adapt to her, and not the other way around. Chiharu is the same—her style is at maximum power when she's solo. Not many people are like you—just born for doubles…"

She leaned back, looking at the blue sky. The sky was clear, a clear blue that was so much more pure than the color of her eyes.

"They have to be made."

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When they got back, Suzume had won the match 3-1. Ann forfeited. Actually, it was more like her brother made her. When Akane arrived at the scene, she saw scratches and hints of bruises all over Suzume's opponent, and she was limping badly. "Oi, Kimura. What did you do?"

"She got a little agitated," Suzume said carelessly.

"Ann's a passionate player," Momoshiro said. "She started getting a bit frustrated, which led to recklessness."

"She tried to dodge Suzume-chan's shot that was near her feet and twisted her ankle." Chiharu explained.

Akane frowned. "Ann isn't a low level player. How did that happen?" 'She shouldn't have twisted her ankle so easily…"

"She did a carioca step," Sayaka demonstrated. "And tried to go into a one-footed split step directly after that. Like this." She crossed her legs and landed with a bounce on one of her feet. Then she wobbled a little and stopped. "Heh, guess I can't pull it off either. In theory though, it would've been a good way to dodge the ball and aim it back."

"I think it was more like this…" Izumi crossed her legs and skipped to the left, landing on one foot lightly before immediately pushing off that foot and jumping to the right. "It was to dodge the ball and get a good angle to hit it back, but at the same time she tried to give herself a split-second advantage."

"As expected of Morioka-senpai!" Momoshiro said. "Her sense of balance is better than yours, Sayaka! You'd think with all your years into gymnastics…"

"It didn't help that Kimura's next shot hit her in the chest, full on. That was a smash." Inui said.

"You hit her in the in the chest with a smash?" Both Oishi and Akane said at the same time.

"Hey, don't get worked up," Suzume replied calmly. "It was an accident. I didn't know she was going to fall."

"She already apologized…" Chiharu said quickly.

Kimiko, Aiko, and Kaidoh got back from the hospital. "Is it… did we…?"

"She won," Chiharu told them with a smile.

Kimiko shrieked with joy. Suzume covered her ears.

Meanwhile…

"Ann-chan, are you okay?" Kamio asked, rushing to enter the court with the rest of the Fudomine team. He looked at Suzume, who was talking with her team members. "Did she do it on purpose?"

"No, I don't think so," Ann said as her brother felt along the bones in her ankle. "She almost looked horrified when the ball hit me. I know it looked like she was aiming it for me… but somehow I don't think she was." She bowed her head. "I'm sorry, onii-chan."

"No, you did great," Tachibana said reassuringly. "You managed to take a game away from her. So far, no one in the tournament has been able to do that."

"Besides…" Kamio smiled. "Tachibana put Saki-senpai in singles 2 after hearing a report on the sparrow-girl. So there's no way we're losing the next one!"

"I wouldn't be so sure…" Tachibana said gravely. "That girl…" He inclined his head towards Chiharu. "We don't know anything about. She only got to play once in the whole tournament, and that was during singles 1 in the opening match, where all five matches are played." He sighed. "Unfortunately, we also had a match that time and didn't see what happened."

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Both Sakiko and Chiharu stepped onto the court, shaking hands at the net. "I'll say a prayer for you." Sakiko said. Before Chiharu could say anything, she put her hands together in a praying position and closed her eyes.

The way she said those words: "I'll say a prayer for you", she said them without a taunting tone. Nor did the words carry any faint suggestion that Chiharu would lose. Her tone wasn't sarcastic either. It was just… flat. Neutral. Chiharu was puzzled by this girl.

"She's praying again, isn't she…" Ibu said.

"Of course. She does it every time before a match."

When she was finished, Chiharu smiled at her. "You're acquainted with Suzume-chan, don't you?"

"I do, actually…" she replied. "But it definitely isn't as deep as your bond is with her."

Chiharu was a silent for a moment. "You know?"

She nodded. "Everything."

"One set match! Seigaku Oshiro to serve!"

Chiharu started off the match like she normally did—a perfectly ordinary serve followed by a seemingly perfectly ordinary rally. Saikiko also didn't show any skill besides being able to keep up with the rally. Slowly, the blue-haired girl began pinpointing her shots, causing Sakiko to retreat to the right corner. Chiharu was just making a cross shot when she noticed a flurry of movement at Sakiko's hands—but she didn't concentrate well enough. The return came out of nowhere and skidded across the left edge of the court, well beyond her reach.

'What?' Chiharu thought. 'How did that happen?' Judging from the area that she was holding Sakiko at, Sakiko couldn't have hit that shot from her angle. Not unless she could dislocate her arm. Her eyes suddenly focused in on her grip and she wanted to slap herself for not noticing. At the beginning, Sakiko had been playing with her right arm. Now she held the racket in her left. That flurry of movement must've indicated the change.

"That's a faster Nitouryuu than yours, Echizen," Kamio said gleefully.

"How… is she doing that?" Sayaka asked.

"The same way he did it," Momoshiro replied with a nod towards Ryoma. "The one-footed split step."

"That's not it…" Kikumaru said, his eyes large, catching every movement Sakiko used to move around the court. "She alternates with a carioca step in order to hit the ball with the sweet spot of her racket! It was what Tachibana's little sister was trying to do!"

"She can react faster, at the same time switching directions, if needed," Inui said. "Her footwork is flawless." He eyed the way her feet moved. Even if Chiharu was going to use her synesthesic ability to interpret the shots, it wouldn't do any good if she couldn't get to the ball into time. 'I should make a training menu helping Oshiro to improve her speed…'

"Ne, Inui-senpai…" Horio suddenly asked. "Why does playing with two hands give the other player an advantage?"

"Firstly, it gives the player a longer reach. This," He stretched both his hands out. "Is better than this," He stretched only his right arm out and moved it to the left. "Secondly, you have much more variation. When a shot is hit to your backhand side, you can quickly switch hands and hit a forehand if you want."

"And lastly…" Akane said. "Normally, that place on the court…" She pointed to where Sakiko was standing. "You can only hit a straight shot or a cross shot to the right. But…" They watched as Sakiko changed hands immediately. "She can hit a cross shot to the left if she needs to." Sakiko hit a forehand with her right hand, pinning the ball far from where Chiharu was standing. "You get the best angles that way, and your opponent cannot tell where you're going to hit it."

"On top of that…" Inui looked a little rattled that Akane stole his spotlight. "You retain stamina, since you use both your hands, rather than putting the strain on just one. You get tired less easily."

"Game, Matsuyama! 3 games to love! Change court!"

"She won three games, just like that?" Momoshiro exclaimed.

Suzume stood there, astonished. 'Th-this isn't your style!' Her senpai's movements were too fluid, too… simple. Too passive. What happened to the luck she relied on? The random style? What happened to using the wind and the sun? Had she really changed so much? And what was with the ambidexterity? 'How can she play like that?'

"Her Nitoryuu is perfect…" Ryoma said quietly, and Tezuka nodded.

Suzume glanced their way. "How is that possible…?"

Sakiko heard her and walked over to the fence. "Left handed people are known as the spawn of the devil," she said, directly to Ryoma and Tezuka. "Especially if they are albino."

Kikumaru frowned. "But, you'r—"

"I'm not, but I appear to be. That's all that matters," She then turned to Suzume, who glared defiantly back at her through the fence. Sakiko felt her temper boil. "You want to know how I did it? This is how!" She yanked her left shirt sleeve over her shoulder, showing what appeared to be a rope-burned mark. "They bound my left arm to my body! They immobilized it, for six months!"

Several gasps were heard from the crowd.

Sakiko looked Suzume in the eye. "Tell me if you wouldn't have made the same decisions."

Suzume's eyes were wide with shock. "Saki-senpai, I had no idea…"

"Well now you do."

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"Chiharu, isn't it about time you got serious?" Akane asked.

Chiharu put her water bottle down. 'I was wondering if I could win onematch without relying on my abilities,' she thought. 'I guess not.' "I will."

Horio grabbed the fence in his anxiety. "Do you think we can win this one?"

"Of course," Inui said with a nod. "Even if Matsuyama's shots are hard to interpret and there's no telling whether she'll use her left or her right…"

Sakiko served. Chiharu hit a return ace, shocking everyone. What shocked them even more was that her eyes were closed.

"…It doesn't matter with Oshiro. She doesn't interpret them with her eyes."

"It's purely how she feels…" Izumi said softly. "She feels the presence of the ball."

Sakiko switched to her right, hitting a forehand. The moment her racket hit the ball, Chiharu had moved into receiving position. She hit a drop volley to score another point.

"And that's why Chiharu's our 'Miracle'." Akane said.

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"Game and Match, Seigaku's Oshiro. 6 games to 3."

Sakiko shook her hand at the net, still in disbelief at the sudden turnover. "I lost."

The rest of the players entered the court. Akane shook hands with Tachibana, as did Tezuka. The two girls from Fudomine inquired Kimiko on her injuries politely. Kikumaru grabbed Chiharu into a big hug, with Kimiko and Sayaka joining in. Sayaka felt tears running down her cheeks. "We're the champions!"

"Oi, oi, sis. Don't be so emotional," Momoshiro said.

"Easy for you to say." Sayaka wiped away her tears roughly. "We've never won a tournament before."

Sakiko looked downcast, but all the Fudomine members patted her on the back and offered words of encouragement. Tachibana put two hands on her shoulders and nodded. She smiled at them in gratitude.

"Saki-senpai…" Suzume had approached her. She looked a bit awkward. "I'm… I'm sorry about what I said before."

"I forgive you," she replied, the words sounding very formal.

"But senpai… what happened to your old style?" Suzume asked.

Sakiko looked up at the sky. "Being Christian has given me the gift of being ambidextrous. I should make most of that gift."

Suzume shook her head. "Just because you have new beliefs now doesn't mean you have to forget your old ones," She ran a hand through her hair. "What happened to your fearlessness? Your aggression? The way you hit any type of ball you could, just to see if it would go over the net?"

"They're still here. With me."

"Then find them."

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"Nice work, Oshiro." Tezuka said with a nod.

She beamed. "Thank you!"

"Sushi! Sushi!" Kikumaru was chanting. As promised, Kawamura's father was closing the store for their after party.

Suddenly Chiharu winced and clutched her midriff.

"Oi, are you okay?" Oishi asked. "Are you not feeling well?"

"She's fine." Akane said. "Here…" She handed Chiharu two white tablets and her water bottle. Chiharu gave her a grateful smile as she took the pills.

"Are you sick?" Oishi was in mother hen mode again. "You should've have played today then! Maybe we should get you to a hospital!"

"Maybe you should just go home," Kawamura said. "I can give you a sushi coupon if you don't want to miss out."

"He's right." Tezuka said. "If you aren't feeling well…"

"Why is everyone making such a big fuss?" Sayaka asked. "It's normal." Several people murmured in agreement.

"How can you say that?" Oishi said, outraged. "It's not normal to be sick! What's wrong, Oshiro-san?"

"She has dysmenorrhea," Reina said. "It's the contractions of the uterine muscle as it expels the endometrial—"

"She's on her period," Akane said bluntly.

Their reactions were priceless. Oishi turned bright red. Kaidoh also blushed. Kawamura turned away in embarrassment. Inui's pencil lead broke in the middle of a sentence. Momoshiro laughed nervously. Tezuka merely closed his eyes for a brief moment.

(Chiharu, on the other hand, wanted to crawl in a hole and die.)

The only people who didn't have reactions were Fuji (who just continued smiling), Ryoma (who wasn't listening), and Kikumaru.

"Why didn't you react?" Suzume asked him.

"Hee hee! I have two older sisters! And it was so obvious the pills were painkillers!"

"Then why didn't you tell us, Eiji?" Oishi asked. 'He could've saved us the embarrassment.'

"But Fuji said it would be much more interesting to see your expressions!"

All the guys glared at Fuji.

"Dysmenorrhea," Akane rubbed her temples. "That's a fancy word for saying 'cramps'. Reina, honestly, where do you learn all these words?"

"My cognizance in lexemes is augmented through a source that involves etymology; despite your eloquence, I cannot impart it." Reina said with a nod.

Akane told herself not to bang her head against the fence. 'It kills brain cells.' she reminded herself. "Chiharu, do you have any more of those painkillers? I've got a major headache."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Congratulations to both the boy's team and the girl's team for being the champions!" Oishi raised his glass. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" everyone else replied.

"This is only the preliminaries. The prefectural tournaments will be even tougher. We mustn't let our guards down."

"Mou, Tezuka. Just lighten up for one night, nya."

"ACK! That was wasabi sushi! WATER, WATER! How did wasabi sushi get on MY PLATE?"

"Saa… how did regular sushi get on mine?"

"Gomen, Fuji, Momo. I seemed to have mixed up the orders."

"TAKA-SAN!"

"Stop yelling, moron. Fssssh…"

"…so, go left over here, okay? If we feint this way more than once, they'll be able to tell. I really think we actually can make a good doubles pair, ne?"

"…Yo, Ryoma, translate for me."

"…regular participant Hyotei Gakuen… 48% chance of victory…"

"Hyotei Gakuen? It is reputed that the captain is rather egomaniacal. Narcissistic, even."

"Oishi-san, do you know the answer to this problem?"

"I didn't start on the homework yet. Morioka-san, you're so hardworking."

"Oi, Chiharu-senpai. Be careful. You know what? Sit, and I'll get your cell phone for you."

"Suzume-chan, it's fine, I'll—"

"She's right, Chiharu. Tezuka might not be able to catch you this time."

"Akane! No, I'll get it mysel—EEK!"

CRASH.

"Tezuka, you sure move fast for Oshiro, don't you?"

"Fuji, 10 laps next practice."

"Mada mada da ne."

"Echizen, 20 laps."

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End Chapter Fourteen

A/N: The random sexual reference was put in for humor purposes and as a dedication to my friend Zeta.

Thanks to all my reviewers, anonymous and signed! THANKS FOR 350 REVIEWS! That initiated my jackrabbit mode.