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To recap: In the last chapter, Akane got poisoned and had to forfeit.
To Catch A Falling Star, Chapter Twenty-Two: Seigaku's Strategist
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"This isn't want I signed up for!" one of the St. Rudolph doubles players said angrily. "Petty pranks are fine. I didn't think that you'd actually hurt her!"
"There are casualties to victory." Mizuki reprimanded.
"Casualties like this? It's not worth it! I wanted to beat them with my own strength!"
"Well your strength wasn't good enough, was it?" Hina's voice was sharp and accusing. "You lost to that little freshman girl. Even Shizuka beat her."
The girl looked away, cheeks reddening. "Whatever…"
"I agree." Shizuka suddenly spoke up, much to their surprise. "We went too far. Playing mind games with the weak ones was fun, but this was too much. We can't do this anymore. We need to train hard from now on."
"We should turn ourselves in…" the doubles partner muttered.
"Wait," one of the new girls said, picking up her racket. "That's not fair. You all get help in beating your opponents, and suddenly right before my game you have a huge epiphany that you're going to be goody-two shoes? You promised to help me too!"
"Exactly," Hina said. "Let's finish what we started."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Game, Seigaku. 3 games to 2!"
Izumi let out a breath after the referee announced the score, loosening her grip on her racket. The last game had been tense, but she'd managed to pull ahead once more. So far, they'd each kept their serve. As long as she kept her lead, she was going to be fine.
"That was a long game, wasn't it…" Kikumaru complained, stifling a yawn. "It took almost twenty minutes…"
"Nineteen and half, actually," Inui corrected. He turned his attention back to the long haired girl on court. "But you're right. It seems like she's playing it safe."
"She's waiting out her opponent," Kawamura noted. "She's not really trying to score points. She hasn't even gone for a smash yet."
"It's full-on defense…" Momoshiro agreed.
"It's boring!" Horio said. "When is she going to start dancing?"
"Quiet, you," Suzume muttered, a needle between her teeth. "Tennis isn't a show." She was sitting on the ground, the tennis t-shirt in her lap. Apparently, she was not at all shy about being in just her sports bra and skirt. Her scissors worked deftly through the cloth and the needle swerved in and out. Her gaze went back and forth between the match and the cloth.
"Kimura-senpai, what are you doing?" Katsuo asked curiously.
"Improving it."
"You're lucky Akane-buchou isn't here right now!" Kimiko said, glancing her way.
Suzume made a "che" noise before snipping down the seam of the sleeve. "She already said I could alter it. Besides, I'm bored." Snip, snip, snip, went the scissors. Her fingers laced up the sides expertly with a bit of ribbon. She finished hemming the edges, bit the thread off, and donned her improved uniform in a smooth motion.
"Hey, you know… that's kind of cool." Kimiko admitted as she stared at Suzume. From a quick glance, the t-shirt looked the same as all the ones they were wearing, but if one really paid attention they would notice the little details—the sides that resembled corsets, the slashed shoulders—that made it punkish and therefore, Suzume's style. The wind blew through the slashed sleeves, revealing the tattooed butterfly wings on her shoulder that had been hidden.
Suzume tugged at the t-shirt in a slightly dissatisfied manner. "Oi, Kimiko," she said without even looking at her. "Keep your eye on the game. If you don't watch, you're never going to beat Morioka-senpai."
Kimiko grumbled something under her breath, but nonetheless turned her attention back to the game.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"I'd never thought I'd say this…" Akane murmured, her voice scratchy like an old record. "But thank god for Suzume and her recklessness." If it hadn't been for the second year's quick action in shoving fingers down Akane's throat, the former captain would've been in a lot more trouble. While her throat had closed up and her head felt like a furnace, there was little visible swelling in her face. It was a lot better than the last time her allergies had acted up. Turquoise eyes shifted to her companion, who was sitting by the hospital bed. "You're not still crying, are you, Chiharu?"
"I'm not!" the third year replied, sniffling.
Akane laughed, and then winced. Her throat was still swollen.
"You shouldn't talk, Akane-san…" Oishi said anxiously.
"And you guys should go back to the game."
Chiharu shook her head, pale fingers closing around her friend's hand. "I'm staying with you."
Akane coughed a couple times. "I don't need you guys to baby me. I'll be out and about by tonight. Izumi's the one that needs you."
"Izumi-chan will be fine."
"You don't understand," Akane coughed a few more times, even more harshly than before. Chiharu's worried grip on Akane's hand tightened softly as a soothing 'shhh' escaped her lips. "Izumi doesn't play well under pressure. And there's huge pressure on her right now. She needs all the support she can get."
'Because if she decides to quit, even I can't persuade her to stay. And there's no one out there more persuasive than me.'
Chiharu and Oishi exchanged a glance, both hearing the unspoken words echo in their minds. "If you're sure…" Oishi said hesitantly.
"I'm sure."
Oishi let out an exasperated sigh, a smile appearing on his face. "Akane-san, one day you're going to have to stop looking after other people and worry about yourself."
"Same goes to you." she replied promptly, and he smiled.
'So long as I have you to look after me…'
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.
Her hair was sticking to the back of her neck. She ran her hand over the nape of her neck, grimacing at the dampness. One of the many setbacks of cultivating such long hair, she thought. Sometimes she just had the urge to chop it all off.
She fixed her gaze back on her opponent. The girl wasn't bad, but she wasn't good either. Half of the girls on the Seigaku team were stronger. That girl was nothing on Chiharu. Nothing on Akane. Perhaps she was somewhere around Kimiko's level, but the pressure that Izumi felt right now was no where near as heavy as the one Kimiko put on her.
It might be that Kimiko was aggressive, whereas her opponent played a counter puncher style not unlike her own. She let out a rueful smile. No wonder the game was boring. Neither of them were trying to score points. They were each waiting for the other to make errors. At least Kimiko made the game exciting.
Steady stroke here, slow rally there… 'Play it safe. You can't lose here.' She could sense the boredom of the crowd. They wanted points. They screamed for blood.
"Counter puncher style?" Momoshiro repeated.
"That's her opponent's style." Inui confirmed. "It's a battle of the counter punchers."
"She won't lose if that's the case…" Suzume muttered.
The male regulars all turned towards her, looking for clarification. "Why do you say that?" Fuji asked curiously. They knew Izumi was skilled, but to be able to beat everyone else at "counter-punching" was quite an achievement.
"Because Izumi-chan used to practice drills with Reina-chan." A soft voice said from behind them. Chiharu rejoined the group, amber eyes staying on the agonizing battle on court. "Every day…"
Reina closed her eyes, remembering.
-pok-
A younger, shorter girl. Large eyes. Long, black hair.
-pok-
The ball flew towards the wall and hit the circle that was drawn on it with chalk. It bounced back. She ran forward, hitting it into the next circle, which was drawn around 20 centimeters away. There were five total. She ran forward. Next circle. Forward. Next circle. Final smash.
The ball bounced past her head, and she heard someone clasp it within their fingers. She turned.
"Not bad, Morioka-san."
Another girl. Young. Dark hair tied in a ponytail. A big smile, showing pearly white teeth.
The first girl nodded. "Thank you, Watanabe-san."
"But you need to step it up a bit, make it rapacious." She laughed at Izumi's puzzled expression. "That means make it even more kick-ass!" Reina pulled out her racket.
She tossed the ball up hit it to the first circle. Dead center, without smearing the chalk. Then, without even stepping forward, she hit the next one. Then the next one. And the next. Dead center every time, without needing to move. She could calculate the exact angle and force of the ball so that it came right back to her. The chalk lines weren't even blurred the slightest.
This wasn't Tezuka's zone. The path of the ball was straight, the angles well defined, like a billiards game.
It was math.
'Amazing ball control…' Izumi thought.
Reina handed her the ball. "Here. I'll teach you how to use your wrist to get it in the center."
"I'm depending on you."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Every day…" Chiharu repeated. "From when they were first years, up until she quit in her second year. Some days she practiced for five minutes, others for hours. At least she practiced, and it has done wonders for her ball control."
"So if it's a battle of control, she won't lose." Oishi clarified.
"Hmm," Inui raised an eyebrow as Izumi suddenly put both her hands out in a graceful manner. "Maybe it isn't a battle of control anymore. Looks like she's turning it up a notch…"
"There it is!" Kimiko said excitedly, as the ball's bounces began following a rhythm. "Her zone!"
Fuji's eyes widened. "It's faster than before…"
The tempo of the song was reassuring, Izumi thought as she stepped and hit the ball on beat, making sure to control the spin. Her feet moved in a graceful manner, gliding across the court. She arched her arm back in an elaborate loop, transforming the spin shot into a flat one. 'Control it…' That's what her dance teacher used to say. 'It's passion, with control…' You couldn't just let loose. It was freedom with restraint.
Her opponent tried a slice shot. Again, Izumi neutralized it gracefully, absorbing the spin into her exquisite movements. The flat shot landed just beyond the net, scoring her another point.
The crowd watching could almost hear the music in their ears.
Her opponent swore, twisting the racket around in her hand. "There's got to be a way to break it."
"Use a twist spin!" Mizuki called from the bench. All of Seigaku turned to look at him. Suzume gave him an especially scathing look. He returned their stares with a smirk. "Right, Inui?"
The notebook in Inui's hands shook slightly as he clenched it. This was the only emotion that betrayed his calm exterior. "Losing my data to them is hurting us. They know all our weaknesses."
"That's probably how they knew about Akane's shellfish allergies," Kawamura added. "You do write a lot in those books…"
Ryoma let his fingers rest on the rim of his cap. "Inui-senpai is frightening."
Inui touched his glasses secretively.
"Look! There's a twist kite!" Kimiko pointed, directing their attention back to the game. Sure enough, the St. Rudolph player had just hit a twist serve. "Izumi-senpai might be in trouble!"
"It's how you beat her rhythm, right?" Momoshiro asked.
"Yeah! Because twist spins cause you to duck away, so was she missing the beat and trapped in her own rhythm!"
The ball flew towards her, carrying a twist spin. A twist. The one fool-proof way to disrupt her style, to trap her in her own trap. If it was hit deeper into the court, she could counter it with her 'Whirlpool'. But it was a serve—it was shallow, and it was coming fast. Time seemed to freeze as old memories echoed in her mind.
"You can't keep winning at your current level…" Tezuka.
"…you need to step it up a bit!" 1st year Reina.
"Don't let yourself lose!" Akane.
"Sometimes you can't just give up!" Her own voice.
Struggle. Fight. Win.
She tightened her grasp around the handle of her racket.
Several of them narrowed their eyes at the same time. Her posture suddenly looked a lot more certain, and her expression more determined.
"That…" Izumi said as she caught up in a series of elegant sidesteps, "won't work on me anymore!"
Jaws dropped as she lowered her racket into the position for a drop shot.
"No way! A drop shot to return a serve?"
"It's not even a volley! It's going to be a weak return!"
She turned the racket face up a little to catch it, and felt the impact of the ball on her racket. The spin was stretching the gut, brushing against it roughly. Her arm quivered under the pressure. Sharpening her gaze, she scooped downwards, drawing a "U" shape with her racket.
"What is she doing?"
"That's the weirdest return I've ever seen."
"The ball hasn't left the racket yet!" Kikumaru exclaimed, astonished.
Izumi held it there for a moment longer. And then she released the shot,
'It's so low!' Her opponent gasped as she ran forward. The ball was falling straight for the ground. 'But it's slow too!' The ball was not dropping normally, but rather seemed to be floating. Something about it was unnatural. Whatever, at least it gave her time to catch up to it.
"Three and-four…" Ryoma murmured as it landed on the ground. 'Perfectly on beat…'
"Too slow!" Her opponent lifted her arm to hit a topspin return…
…straight into the net.
"40-love!"
Tezuka nodded approvingly.
"Wait, what happened?" Momoshiro asked, incredulous. His eyes were wide with surprise. "I don't get it."
Inui chuckled. "Morioka just found a counter to one of her weaknesses." A pencil suddenly materialized in his hand and he began scribbling furiously in his trusty notebook.
"She learned how to neutralize a twist, didn't she?" Fuji said with a smile. "Without breaking from her rhythm."
"Oh, darn it. Now I need a new way to beat her." Kimiko said begrudgingly. But she was smiling.
Inui shut his notebook and glanced at Mizuki. The latter did not look happy, much to his delight. "You think you can rely on old data to beat us? That's not going to happen here."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"That was a fluke…" Her opponent muttered to herself. "A fluke. Mizuki's data shouldn't have any flaws."
The next few games proved her wrong. A twist spin no longer had any effect on ruining Izumi's rhythm, despite what Mizuki's data said. The black-haired girl took the next game easily, bringing the score to 5 games to 2.
Something caught Reina's eye. She blinked a few times, clearing her vision. There was something strangely familiar about Izumi's steps. As if she had seen them somewhere before. 'No,' she told herself. 'Izumi relies a lot on impulse and emotion. Her steps aren't choreographed.' Maybe it was the rhythm itself. It was so precise, it could've been the bass of any 4/4 beat song.
…wait.
Reina suddenly realized why, and her eyes turned away from the game to a certain smiling tensai. 'Did he notice…?'
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A second later, Fuji's face snaps in shock.
Albinoni's Sonata in A minor.
It was the song he played on the flute for her. It was the song he played whenever she danced for him.
'No, it could be anything with that rhythm…' he reminded himself. 'Anything…'
And yet he knew. He could hear the melody so clearly in his ears. Every step she took, every flick of her wrist matched the melody he was humming softly in his mind. As her steps quickened and became more elaborate, the music in his heart rose into a crescendo, until the final notes—fortissimo—sharp, thrilling, passionate, stealing the breath from his chest. She smashed the ball on the final chord.
He wasn't aware that he'd stopped breathing until he was forced to take a breath.
'She… she used that song...'
'The song I played for her…'
Fuji smiled to himself. It was a small indication that he was on her mind, and he liked it.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Keep up this pace, Izumi. You're doing great." Coach Ryuzaki's face crinkled into a smile.
"Hai!"
"Senpai," Suzume handed her a bottle of water through the green wire fence. "Here. We can't take any chances."
"Thank you," Izumi said gratefully as she twisted open the seal and drank. The refreshing liquid poured down her parched throat, and she almost choked. She swiped her hand across her mouth. Noticing the blue-haired girl, she said, "Chiharu-san, how is Akane's condition?"
"She'll be fine. She's already well on her way to recovering," Chiharu said. She turned towards the red-headed second year. "Thank god you acted fast."
Suzume shrugged carelessly. "I did what had to be done, that's all."
Izumi put the bottled water on the bench and walked over to the other court. As she walked by her opponent, the girl gave her a glare. She shivered slightly inwardly but ignored her and walked on. Just as she was passing the other bench, where Mizuki was sitting smugly, he suddenly spoke:
"You shouldn't keep playing with your condition."
She froze, dread creeping into her skin. She forced herself to count to three, before slowly turning around. Her heart set off in a rapid beat, pumping in her ears. "What?"
He stood up, arms crossed, a satisfied smile on his face. "I came across your file at the hospital."
Her eyes widened. 'No…' She was clenching her racket so hard that it startled trembling. 'He didn't… He couldn't have…' How could he have? There was doctor-patient confidentiality, unless he snuck by or bribed someone.. She'd tried so hard to keep it a secret. Even Fuji hadn't managed to find out more than she let him know. The air around her suddenly seemed to be sub-zero
He wouldn't be so cruel to announce her secret to the entire world, would he?
He spread his arms out, as if inviting others to argue with him. "Did Seigaku really think they could win with an invalid on their team? Moreover, what kind of captain would let—"
She struck him across the face.
"Izumi!" Coach Ryuzaki got up.
The crowd dissolved into murmurs.
"Whoa..."
"What's going on?"
The black haired girl was shaking with anger. She would not let Tezuka, Tezuka who was kind enough to let her remain on the team, be insulted for her decisions. She suddenly cringed. Coach Ryuzaki probably didn't even know. Would she blame Tezuka? Would she remove her from the team herself?
Everyone else was in shock. Akane, while kind and caring, was extremely strict. It was no big surprise when she lifted a hand against Suzume. Izumi, on the other hand, had always seemed quiet and rather… docile. They'd never expected her to physically harm anyone, let alone a stranger.
Their captain, Akazawa, sauntered over haughtily. "Well, Tezuka. I didn't think this kind of event would occur under your leadership."
Izumi felt herself wince. 'Now I've disgraced my team…'
"As you see here, your teammate has assaulted my manager," He shrugged arrogantly. "Obviously, I expect an apology for—"
"You will expect no such thing!"
Her head shot up at his voice; firm and clear like a command. Tezuka had his arms crossed, the look in his eyes fiercer than normal. She thought she heard Suzume mutter, "Damn straight," but she couldn't be sure.
Akazawa looked taken aback. "Well—"
"In fact," Tezuka continued, "You will have your manager apologize to my teammate for provoking her."
Akazawa's mouth opened and closed, making him look very much like a fish. "You—you can't be serious." he finally sputtered.
"It's buchou we're talking about," Ryoma said with a cheeky smirk. "He's always serious."
The referee stepped down from his elevated seating, walking towards them with a puzzled expression. "Is something wrong?" He seemed to have missed the commotion.
"No," Mizuki said silkily, regaining his smooth composure. "Please continue the match." He patted Akazawa on the back, murmuring something in his ear. The dark-skinned captain grudgingly nodded, and motioned for his teammate to return to the court.
"Hey!" Kikumaru said angrily. "That wasn't an apology!"
"Its fine, Eiji." Izumi said quietly with a shake of her head.
"But—"
She cut him off. "It doesn't matter." she said.
Even though she knew it did.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Back at the hospital, Akane reached her cell phone on the bedside table. She was still hooked up to an IV and was having trouble grasping for it. Her arm suddenly knocked against the lamp, causing it to teeter dangerously, like a ballerina on a crippled leg.
"Oh no…"
The lamp fell to the ground and shattered into a hundred pieces.
Akane was too practical to believe in superstitions. She lectured herself to think nothing of it. However even after a nurse cleared up the mess, the ominous feeling lingered in the room. Like a dark cloud that had snaked its way through the clear skies without anyone noticing until raindrops hit their heads. She turned and lifted her clear teal eyes towards the window.
Akane found that she had to look directly at the sun to remind herself that it was shining.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
'"You shouldn't keep playing in your current condition."'
She shook her head, trying desperately to clear it as she dived for the shot. All she could hear were voices echoing. Horrid voices.
'"Did Seigaku really think they could win with an invalid on their team?"'
They were warped. They taunted her, laughed at her. The other noises of the court filtered faintly in her ears. She could hardly hear the 'pok' sound of the ball, the cheers of her team, the running footsteps her feet made as she tore across the court. They were all muffled by the voices.
' "What kind of captain…" '
'Stop it,' she told herself. 'Stop thinking.'
And memories of other voices started surfacing. Sentences that were spoken to her, that had nothing to do with what she was thinking, were suddenly repeated in her head. Words she tried to bury were being unearthed. She no longer felt herself on the court. Her mind wasn't registering what was happening to the game right now.
' "I know you better than anyone, and I know that you quit everything you start! The school council, tennis, the dance team…" '
' "I objected to accepting you onto the team…" '
' "Izumi-senpai… I'm sorry… but could you leave me alone?" '
' "You're making excuses…" '
' "Morioka, you don't know the trouble you've caused…" '
'Stop…' she cried inwardly. 'Enough already.'
' "You let them become closer to you. But whenever I try, you push me away." '
The soft voice began to echo in her mind. She felt a new spike of dread. 'Stop… not this, not you. I can't take this right now.'
' "I just want to get to know you better… But you won't let me." '
She could see those beautiful blue eyes burning into hers. A wave of anguish engulfed her. It felt like someone had reached into her heart cavity and physically tugged on her heartstrings.
' "Izumi-san, I don't know what you expect me to do." '
Soon afterwards, the referee announced the game and match to St. Rudolph, but she barely heard him. Numbly, she picked up her racket and walked out of the court.
"Izumi-san…" Chiharu started towards her. Fuji laid a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged them all away, eyes fixed to the ground.
"I'm sorry," she said to Tezuka. "I…"
Tezuka nodded.
"Can I leave?"
Normally he would've said no. All the team members were supposed to stay and finish watching the matches out of respect. But she looked so forlorn, so positively heartbroken that he just nodded once again. And with that, she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked off without another word.
Fuji made a move to follow, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Let her be." Chiharu said gently.
"What if…"
"Akane told me that if she leaves, she needs to come back of her own accord. She needs to want it." She bit her lip. "It hurts me to just let her go like this, but I think Akane's right."
"What happened?" Horio asked. "She was playing so well… and then suddenly…"
"She lost her concentration," Inui finished with a nod. "Something was troubling her. Her eyes were all out of focus and her movements were sloppy. "
The freshmen trio looked downcast. "If we lose here, we won't move onto the next tournament…"
"Wait," a soft voice suddenly came. They all turned to see a strikingly beautiful girl walk onto the court. She whirled to face them, her hair framing her almond shaped face. Her eyes were exotically tilted, framed with dark alluring lashes. She smiled, and suddenly her skin looked like it was bathed in light.
"Who said we were losing?"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"R-reina-san?"
Kachiro nudged Horio uncertainly, whispering under his breath. "Did you ever remember Watanabe-senpai being that beautiful?"
Chiharu let out a soft laugh. "Reina's always been beautiful."
"Not like that…" Kachiro breathed. A faint blush adorned his cheeks.
"Ah! Katou! You like older women!" Horio exclaimed accusingly.
"Shut up!" the first year cowered to hide his face.
"You're not the only one," Chiharu informed them with a tender smile. She nodded her head toward the crowd. Apparently a lot of the first and second years had the same blushing face on, including Arai. "Reina has this effect on a lot of people."
"Wh-what? How? I mean, she took her glasses off, but still! She's… different."
Fuji chuckled. "She put on makeup, didn't she?"
"Eh?" Oishi turned to him. "Really? You can tell?"
"My sister explained it to me. Makeup, when done properly, enhances the best features in a person's face, and covers the worst. You can easily alter your appearance to its best advantage. And done correctly, it's not even noticeable; all people notice is that you look prettier."
"Reina has always had an astonishingly attractive face." A slightly hoarse voice said from behind them. All of them turned to see Akane, coughing a little but otherwise completely fine. That didn't stop Oishi from fretting immediately, however.
"Akane-san! You need to go back to the hospital!"
She waved it away. "I'm fine, Oishi-kun. They released me themselves."
Suzume snorted slightly, with a roll of her eye. It was obviously a lie. She bet that sooner or later they'd see a crowd of nurses tearing across the court looking for their missing patient. For a moment she wondered what Akane had to do to escape the hospital. She imagined the 3rd year leaping out of the 2nd story window with a makeshift parachute made of bed sheets. It wouldn't be too far from the truth.
Akane nodded at Fuji. "You're right. If she puts some makeup on, and she turns out completely stunning. It's one of the tricks she uses. Intimidation."
"I wouldn't be intimidated by a pretty face." Aiko stated boldly. "It's not like it helps your tennis." Kaidoh grunted in agreement.
"Maybe not, but some people are, and some are distracted by it." Akane winked. "Like half of the people watching."
"I would be scared!" Kikumaru declared openly. "If my opponent looked like that, I wouldn't be able to play!"
Oishi chuckled. "As your partner, I sincerely hope that isn't true…"
"Tennis is tennis," Ryoma muttered. "You don't need all these mind games."
"Tennis," Akane countered, clearing her throat some more, "is ninety percent psychological." 'And you play mind games all the time, Echizen. You just don't realize you're doing it.'
After a moment of silence, she said, "So I take it that since Reina is playing, Izumi lost her game."
"She was fine until that baka said something to her." Aiko said, almost defensively, shooting a glare in Mizuki's direction.
"She's right." Kawamura agreed. "It was all in her favor until then."
Akane gave Mizuki a dismissive glance. "She overreacted." she said cuttingly.
"Akane…" Chiharu began, wincing at the tone in her captain's voice. "It wasn't her fault. Izumi-chan—"
"Needs to sort out her issues, or I'm pulling her from the team."
"Akane's right." Tezuka affirmed. "You can't play well unless you give the game your entire focus."
"Speaking of which, we should focus on the game." Oishi reminded them. "It's starting."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"One set match!"
Hina was her opponent. This was certainly interesting; two data players facing off. Reina took her stance, preparing to serve. Her fingers rubbed along the velvety surface of the ball as she ran a calculating glance across the court. She gathered her focus, threw the ball up high and served.
The serve shot towards the edge of the court. "It's out!" Hina called.
"A little premature to be saying that, don't you think?" Akane said with a smirk.
Reina's serve grazed the edge of the line, narrowly but irrefutably in.
"15-0!"
"So precise…" Oishi murmured in shock.
"If Oishi is saying it, it must mean a lot," Kawamura said, turning to him with a smile. "After all, almost no one can match you in precision."
"In terms of power, Reina is second only to Aiko," Akane said, quelling another cough. "In terms of speed, she is second only to Sayaka. In terms of technique and ball control, however, she is second to no one."
Momoshiro's head whipped around. "What? Sayaka's faster than Komboi-senpai? That's impossible!" He glanced over at his foreign senpai, or, to be more accurate, at her muscled legs. "Just look at her."
Sayaka looked equally surprised.
"Actually," Inui explained. "Sayaka-san is able to produce short bursts of speed that are faster than Komboi's sprints," He compared the two in his mind, racing them mentally. "Sayaka-san needs to gather momentum to enter her jumps and aerials. In that moment before she takes off into the air, she is definitely the faster one."
"Ah…" Ryoma murmured, his face deadpan. "Like an airplane."
"Hey! Who you calling an airplane, you midget!"
Ryoma ignored her, choosing to give his attention to the court instead. Reina had just ended a rally, winning her another point. So far, she hadn't shown any extraordinary skill, other than being fast and hitting heavy shots. Didn't Inui once say something about data players being stronger in the basics, like strength and stamina? He nodded to himself. It made sense. They were probably more aware of their weaknesses.
She hit a sharp slice into the court, causing Hina to stumble in her attempt to catch up. She barely made it. Reina hit a drop shot, but her opponent saw through it and volleyed it back. Suddenly Reina leapt up and smashed it into the rear box.
"Nice." Aiko murmured quietly. The weird pretty girl was gaining some of her respect. That was no ordinary leap. She could probably out-jump the girl by at least six inches, but she doubted her timing would've been half as good.
"Well executed." Tezuka commented. "Sometimes how well you time your jump is more important that the height of it."
"She predicted the volley, didn't she?" Fuji asked. "So she could time her jump perfectly."
"Right," Inui said, with a slight tone of pride in his voice. "Reina's the resident data player on the girl team."
"No." Chiharu said softly, and everyone turned to stare, surprised. After all, to them, Reina did seem to be a lot like a female Inui. Only a lot prettier. Chiharu shook her head. "She's a lot more than that."
Kachiro tilted his head. "Ne, isn't Watanabe-senpai a synesthete, just like Oshiro-senpai?"
"Good memory," Akane all but croaked the compliment. She cleared her throat. "But number form just means she sees numbers in a different way than we do. They surround her in the air. Because of it, she has a faster reaction to which number is higher and lower. It gives her a split second advantage in calculations, and those seconds add up."
"She doesn't use it directly like Oshiro does." Tezuka said.
"Her data tennis isn't what's dangerous," Suzume said with a smirk. "It's something else."
"Something… else?"
"Yeah. Something else."
Momoshiro resisted the urge to smack his forehead. "Would you care to elaborate?"
"Watch," Suzume simply said, a glint in her eye. "And you'll see."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"1 game to love! Change court!"
Reina shook her wavy hair out after winning the first game, and half the crowd caught its breath. It was like watching an angel.
"Hey you," Hina snarled. Reina looked over her shoulder. "Don't look so smug. That's the only game you're going to win today."
Reina calmly walked away and straight up to Mizuki. He tried to look indifferent, but the pink on his cheeks betrayed him. He sat up straight and attempted to sound confident, "Is there something you want?"
"I was going to go easy on your minion here—" Hina sputtered an incoherent curse at the point. "But avenging my teammates suddenly sounds a lot more appealing," Reina finished. "You do not need to endeavor in envisaging the final score any longer. It will end in 6-0."
Normally, Mizuki would scoff off the comment. But his mind was blank, and all he managed to stutter was, "You-re-you're wrong."
Reina let out a musical laugh and walked back onto the court.
Katsuo looked at Horio. "It is just me, or does she seem a little…" He stopped, rethinking his words cautiously.
"Pretentious?" Kimiko finished for him, giggling. "Oh, definitely."
"That's how she is on the courts." Akane said. "I guess it brings out the old her—the old flaws too."
Suzume tossed her head. "Trust me, when you're that good, you're allowed to be a little conceited."
"Do you remember…" Chiharu said, reminiscing fondly. "…when she was a first year? How she was always showing off her new tennis skills and her artwork?"
"Not to mention the new vocabulary she was learning," Akane said with a grimace.
"But she would always try to teach us," Chiharu reminded her. "She would always work with us with all those tennis moves, until we could do it better than she could."
"Yeah…" Akane rested her gaze on the court once more, watching as a new game began. Reina ran down the edge of the court, and Akane suddenly had a glimpse of the younger, shorter girl with the big smile and large eyes, giggling and yelling at her to hit the ball harder.
"Deep down, I think she's the same girl; passionate and eager to please."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Hey," Kikumaru frowned as Reina was halfway to winning her second game, with Hina having yet to score a point. "Is it just me, or are the rallies getting shorter and shorter?" The last point she had won in just three short rallies. He was sure that the second one of the match had been well over ten.
"Now that you mention it…" Kawamura said. "I think you're right."
"I see that your vision is unparalleled, Kikumaru." Akane said, causing the redheaded acrobat to grin at her praise. "It means Reina's tactics are working."
"Reina isn't as much of a data player," Chiharu explained. "Yes, she uses data, but she never wastes a few games to gather it. She's a strategist at heart, and she tests her theories through trial and error. Once she finds a few that work, the rallies get shorter."
"So she doesn't play the exact same way Inui-senpai does…" Kaidoh said.
"No," Akane said to herself, thinking that they hadn't seen anything yet. "No, she doesn't at all."
Suddenly, Hina anticipated a drop shot and smashed it out of Reina's reach, grabbing their attention.
Reina looked at the spot the ball had landed. She couldn't help but smile a little. Finally, finally her opponent was trying to predict her moves.
"I'm going to keep winning from here!" Hina announced. "You won't get another game."
Reina smiled. "I'm sorry, but given past examples, that statement seems to be disproven already." She turned away. "I do pride myself in being logical."
Hina could only scowl.
But as the next rally dragged on, it became clear that Hina was putting up a fight. She managed to counter Reina's sharp attacks. She also knew not to doubt Reina's precision anymore, so she ran after every ball, even when it looked like it was going to be out. She caught up to a ball and rallied it back for the third time. 'This isn't that hard…' she thought to herself. She anticipated another shot; this one was hit straight down the middle. She ran towards it, pulling her racket back for a swing. "Is that really all you've got?"
The straight shot suddenly bounced to the side, and she missed. 'What!'
The crowd drew in an astonished breath.
Suzume nodded once, almost in respect.
"What was that?" Kaidoh asked. The ball had bounced in a right angle, making an "L" shape on the court.
"Probably a forehand slice with an enormous amount of sidespin," Inui concluded, even though he knew Kaidoh wasn't being literal. "Which caused the ball to take a path perpendicular to its original route after the bounce."
"That's so cool!" Kachiro said.
Fuji nodded. "That's quite an ace she has up her sleeve." He turned to see Kikumaru looking at her in a puzzled matter. "Is something wrong, Eiji?"
"No… but I feel like I've seen it somewhere."
Fuji opened his eyes, immediately interested. "Really. Where?"
Kikumaru let out a frustrated sigh. "It's not just that. Her play style. The game. It looks familiar. It's too… patterned. Ordered."
"Really? I can't tell…" Sayaka said doubtfully. She rubbed her eyes. "I wish my vision was that good."
Akane smiled a secret smile.
"Hmm…" The tensai returned to observing the game, trying to see if he could detect anything familiar.
Reina hit another diagonal shot, making Hina run halfway down the court in order to catch up. The latter was already tired, and the return shot had little power. She hit it down the middle again, forcing her opponent to back up. And then she hit to the left, in another cross shot.
Eiji was right, Fuji decided. There was something 'orderly' about Reina's shots. Her cross shots were well defined in all their angles. She controlled everything so there was no extra spin that threw the ball off track. Even though Hina was hitting shots with heavy spin, Reina calmly made sure their path stayed straight and true when they left her racket. Clearly, Reina did not like curved shots. He watched as she hit the "L" shot again, noting how it bounced sharply to the side in a right angle. No curve. He briefly wondered how she would fare against Kaidoh.
Everything was so precise. He could practically see a grid drawn out on the courts, with the ball landing on specific intersections. It reminded him of when he had to draw triangles on graph paper in elementary school. Or when he had to write the coordinates of a point on an x-axis and a y-axis. The tensai let out a chuckle. That might actually be the truth. Reina seemed like the type of person to plot her shots on a mathematical plane. Maybe that's what made it look familiar. It was too… perfect.
Hina looked prepared to hit a backhand when the "L" shot came again, evading her. She dived for it and missed.
Out of nowhere, realization struck the tensai, and his blue eyes widened. At the same time, Ryoma got it. One word left the first year rookie's lips.
"Chess."
Akane grinned. "Yes."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"She's playing chess?"
Kikumaru jumped upwards in pure relief. "I knew it! I knew I saw it somewhere!"
Chiharu nodded. "Reina's a Candidate Master in chess. One of the youngest in the world. It's only three ranks below International Master."
Some of the people still looked doubtful. Arai tossed back his brown hair. "This is impossible. You can't just play chess on the courts."
"Reina can." Akane replied coolly, not wasting words.
"How?" Horio asked.
"She thinks logically, and she thinks fast."
Katsuo leaned over to whisper in Horio's ear. "Ito-senpai is really the opposite of Watanabe-senpai. She doesn't elaborate enough most of the time."
Sayaka voiced her opinion out loud. "Really, Akane-buchou, you're just as bad as Reina-senpai."
"Reina has a heightened form of spatial reasoning," Chiharu explained. "Since that's what number form gives her. She sees numbers in a spatial sense."
"And…" Akane continued, pointing to the court. Reina swung her racket to hit a low shot, right to the baseline. "She applies it to the court."
Like a Magic Eye, lines started to appear on the court. The regulars suddenly saw an invisible grid, marking out squares where Reina's shots landed. They could practically see coordinates and numbers next to each intersection. It really was a mathematical plane on the court.
And suddenly, certain squares were filled in. It was a mathematical plane no longer. It was a chessboard.
Tezuka blinked; the most surprise he's shown since the beginning of the game. When he thought that the chessboard and the courts were "Reina's territory" back at Suzume's mansion, he didn't mean it literally. As it turned out, Reina had merged the two into one.
Reina hit a drop shot forward.
A pawn.
She countered Hina's straight shot with a diagonal one, to the corner.
A bishop.
She swung her arm to hit a powerful forehand, the ball bouncing before shooting off to the side. Her famous L-shaped shot.
"A…knight." Momoshiro whispered, stunned with his realization.
Reina's eyes were cold and calculating. Every stroke was meticulously planned, but at the same time, it was experimental. She seamlessly adjusted her strategy to her opponent's attacks. And once the regulars understood how she was playing, they too saw the game in her way. Her knight took Hina's rook. Her queen took the other bishop. It was amazing how she could think of so many different tactics and carry them out, one by one.
Because, they realized, tennis was chess. It depended on which player could outmaneuver the other.
"Did you know," Kimiko asked. "that Reina-senpai has the all time high score in Tetris?"
Most of them didn't know what to make of this knowledge.
"Eh?" Kikumaru looked over his shoulder. "I love Tetris! But it gets pretty hard when the blocks start falling fast."
Oishi looked at his partner. "Can't you still see the blocks, Eiji?" With Kikumaru's visual abilities, he was surely capable of achieving a high score.
"Yeah, I can see them," He pouted. "But I can't figure out where to put them in time and then they get stuck in the worst positions…"
"Like Akane-buchou said, Reina-senpai thinks fast." Kimiko remembered a time when she watched her senpai play Tetris on her laptop. She remembered how focused Reina's eyes were as they flitted back and forth from the blocks to the puzzle underneath. She remembered how sure her fingers were as they darted around the arrow keys. And she only saw her senpai make one mistake, and even then, it was rectified immediately.
"That's her most dangerous trait." Suzume concluded.
Momoshiro raised his eyebrows. "That she's…good at Tetris?"
She gave him a filthy look. "No, idiot. Her spatial reasoning."
"Being an artist must've also helped her visual-spatial reasoning, since artists have to deal with perception."
"But how can it be a chessboard?" Horio asked loudly. "First of all, a tennis court can't divide evenly into 64 squares."
Inui guessed that Reina saw more of the concept of the chessboard. She drew out boundaries in her mind, but the squares were fluid. She probably shifted the squares around her opponent as she saw fit. The opponents' weak points became the weak squares on a chessboard; squares where the valuable pieces were more vulnerable due to their position. Inui tried to explain this to the freshmen trio, but they just looked at him with dazed expressions. Maybe he was wrong, anyway. What was he trying to do, he asked himself. Who knew what went on in Reina's head?
"Hey."
Ryoma wasn't looking at her when he said it. But Sakuno knew that he was referring to her. Something about his tone, or the way he said it… "Is something wrong?" she asked him.
"What animal do you think she is?" he said, without taking his eyes off from the court.
"Hmm…" Sakuno stared back at her senpai, watching her end another successful rally. She had been on the defensive for that rally, only to score a point in the open court as soon as Hina had let her guard down. She probably planned the whole thing. Was there ever an animal so… analytical? "Maybe a bird of prey, like buchou…"
"Or a shark," Ryoma countered. "Since they always go for the injured animals and attack their weak points."
"No, I think Kawamura-senpai is a shark. Since he has the whole "burning" mode when he touching a racket, and sharks go into a frenzy when they smell blood."
Kawamura looked up when his name was mentioned. "What is it?"
"Nothing." the two freshmen said simultaneously. Half of the team couldn't help but smile at them. The two first years were in on a private joke together. It was endearing. Maybe it showed their matchmaking efforts were working.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Reina gently patted the towel over her face. A small smear of black was left on the towel when she finished. She put it down and pulled out a liquid eyeliner tube, before flawlessly applying it to her eye. She didn't need a mirror. She hadn't needed mirrors since she was a first year. 'I've drawn enough self-portraits to know exactly where my eyes are…' To be honest, she'd hated mirrors since she was a first year. And she hadn't drawn another self-portrait since then, either. She hated them because they didn't show who she wanted to be.
Which was the worst part, because she didn't know who she wanted to be.
"Are you okay, Reina?"
Coach Ryuzaki's voice jolted her back into the present. Reina nodded. "Yes."
She smiled. "One game left. Don't screw it up like the last two did."
Ignoring Akane's indignant (and raspy) "hey!", Reina nodded again. "Don't worry. She is only capable of predicting seven moves ahead." Then she twirled her racket in her left hand and confidently stepped back into the court.
Kaidoh gave his ginger-haired senpai a confused look. "What does that mean, 'seven moves ahead'? It sounds like a lot." He never planned ahead. He just crushed them as they came.
"It means she's average," Akane said. "Seven is the point where most people lose count. You could probably remember seven steps, or list seven things, without any trouble."
Inui held out a piece of paper. On it were some black circle marks. Sakuno looked at it and said curiously, "Seven dots."
"Right," Inui said. "But bring that number to eight, and almost everyone gets mixed up. They can't react to it immediately. Seven is the largest number people can visually comprehend."
"Hmm…" Horio said thoughtfully. "So if Watanabe-senpai has good spatial reasoning, she can do more than seven dots, right?"
Akane fought back the urge to chuckle. "Oh, yes."
"How many can she do?" he asked eagerly.
"Twenty-three."
"W-WHAT?"
"Reina's artistic training, combined with her synesthesia, and her extensive expertise in chess have given her an amazing ability to visualize things spatially."
"The chess training did more than that," Suzume suddenly cut in. "She can see strategies, possibilities, sheer patterns just like that. Like Chiharu said before, her tennis is strategy based."
Sayaka realized how Reina caught all her openings and noticed the repetitiveness so quickly. It was because she could pick out patterns and see where Sayaka was most likely to miss, based on how she returned the ball. She felt like a lab rat, all of a sudden. A lab rat in which a scientist carried out experimental tactics and strategies on.
Suzume continued, "Which is also why I never, ever turn down a chance to play Reina-senpai, even if it means getting my butt kicked every time."
Sakuno looked up. "Why do you say that, senpai?" 'Akane-buchou is right, I need to ways to improve, and play against stronger people…' But the first year girl had to admit that she hated losing. Does Reina make losing easier to take? Maybe she should ask Reina to play against her.
"Because playing against Reina-senpai is like trying to crack a puzzle. The objective is to figure out what strategy she's using before it starts working." Suzume thought back to their games. She recounted on how she would try to look for clues in Reina's attacks, rather than just hit the ball. She remembered how, occasionally, she would finally get a shot past Reina. It was incredibly rewarding to see that surprise etch itself onto her senpai's features. Rare as they were, Suzume liked the moments where she bested Reina. As she finished telling the first year about it, Suzume said, "Of course, then she'd switch strategies and kick my butt anyways."
"Oh look!" Tomoka exclaimed excitedly. "Match point!"
Hina, sneaky and coldblooded as she was, deserved some sort of credit for not giving up. Even now she was fighting tooth and nail to get a point back. Suddenly, she found an opening and practically shrieked in delight. Reina had left part of the right court empty, the court away from her dominant hand. Hina swung an almighty forehand right to the left corner, making it one of her most powerful shots. The ball exploded toward Reina's court and Hina smiled triumphantly. 'Yes!'
Out of the blue, a yellow streak shot right under her legs and sizzled onto the baseline. Her mouth formed an O as she heard the ball bouncing behind her. She hadn't even seen Reina move.
The dark haired girl walked slowly to the net. "When an amateur moves in for the kill," Reina began, "he is too eager; he often forgets to protect his own king and leaves his defenses open." She gave Hina a nod, who had dropped to the ground out of shock and exhaustion.
Then she glanced at Mizuki, who was clearly distressed that neither St. Rudolph's team had been able to advance in the tournament. She couldn't resist a smug look, just for payback. It was a bit satisfying to bask in his pain. "I told you I'd win 6-0," Then she mustered up her most radiant smile, noting that half the crowd was already applauding. "Checkmate."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Everyone offered up their congratulations and cheered at the fact that they were advancing to the finals.
"Watanabe-senpai is amazing…" Kachiro said in a mesmerized manner, his cheeks still pink. He looked like he was in a trance.
They laughed.
"Hey, I'm going to go find Izumi-chan, ok?" Chiharu said to Akane as they gathered their things.
"I'll take care of that..." Fuji told her. A second later he was gone. Chiharu and Akane exchanged glances.
"Reina-san, I am officially impressed." Inui said, shutting his notebook decisively. He had filled up over half of it in that one match.
Reina put her glasses back on. "Thank you…" His approval meant so much to her.
"Evidently, there is more to you than what the eye can see."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Izumi-senpai?"
Izumi lifted her head. She'd been sitting at the picnic bench for quite some time. The sunset was already painting the sky a lovely purple-pink, yet she didn't feel like appreciating it. "Yuuta-kun." she acknowledged, without much enthusiasm.
He awkwardly stopped in front of her. "Um… Seigaku won, if you were wondering."
She tried for a smile. "I'm glad." She glanced at his standing form. "You can sit, if you'd like."
He sat.
After a moment, he spoke. "Mizuki-san was rude to you. I'm sorry."
"You really shouldn't be the one apologizing." She still felt hurt, and his words still ghosted her memory. She didn't want anyone else apologizing on his behalf. He wasn't going to be forgiven like that, if at all.
"You're right."
They sat in companionable silence for a little longer. She discovered that his presence made her feel a little less lost, and welcomed the feeling. It was a nice change from the lonely solitude she'd experienced a few moments before. "Yuuta-kun," she suddenly said. "How do you deal with losing?"
"Hmm?" He seemed a little taken aback at her question. He shrugged. "Well, growing up with Aniki, I've had to deal with it a lot."
A bigger smile crossed Izumi's face. "I'm sure you did."
He laughed at her tone. "I guess I've just always wanted to beat him. And every time I lost, I would just work harder hoping that I'd get him next time."
"Doesn't that make you… sad?"
"Sure," He shrugged again. "But I'd just use it as my motivation to train harder and at least bring him a better game the next time we played."
"Motivation…" Izumi repeated to herself, looking at the ground. It was precisely what she lacked.
"Yeah. You can't expect to get better when you don't have a target. Isn't there someone that you want to beat? Someone that you want to be better than?"
She shook her head, her eyes still fixed on the soil. "No, I don't—" Abruptly she stopped. A memory resurfaced in her mind. A flash of ginger hair, a piercing turquoise gaze. "Yes. Actually, there is."
Yuuta smiled. "There's your motivation."
She turned her gaze from the ground to him, to look at him properly. "Thank you," she said quietly, gratefully.
"You're welcome."
Footsteps approaching caused both of them to look up. "Aniki!" Yuuta said.
"Yuuta, sorry that your team couldn't advance." Fuji said.
Somehow, his brother always managed to ruin something. Yuuta looked to the side a bit angrily. "There's still the consolation match." he grumbled.
Fuji turned his attention to the girl next to him. "Izumi-san, are you all right?"
"Yes. Yes, I am." she replied and for once she thought it might be true.
"That's good. Yuuta, you're coming home today, right? Mom's making curry."
"Really?" His bad mood vanished. He was easily seduced by curry.
"Actually," Fuji once again turned to her. "Izumi-san, you're welcome to join. Kaa-san's curry is delicious."
Something whooshed through her when he looked at her. She didn't know if it was good or bad.
"I'm not sure if you should trust someone who thinks Inui juice is good," Yuuta said, "But I can vouch that my mom's curry is edible. More than edible. It's great."
Izumi felt her lips curve up again. She was almost sorry when she said, "I'm expected at home. Thank you for the offer." She picked up her bag and walked away.
When she was out of earshot, Fuji turned to his brother. "What were you talking about?" Whatever he said, it had made Izumi a lot happier than he had last seen her. She had looked utterly despondent back when her matched finished. Here, he saw her looking serene, as if a burden had been lifted. Fuji felt a tug of something very similar to jealousy when he realized that Yuuta was one who cheered her up.
Yuuta gave his brother a suspicious frown. "Nothing… why?"
Fuji smiled. "Just curious. Let's walk home."
As they started off, Yuuta said, "You know, Aniki, I've never known you to invite a girl over for dinner before."
Fuji chuckled. "There's a lot you have to learn, Yuuta."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"I'll walk you home, Ryuzaki."
"Eh… EH?" Sakuno instantly flushed rosy pink. Ryoma had never offered to walk her home before, at least not after a game. 'This was… this was…' Even her thoughts were stuttering. 'Wait, I can't think like that… he's probably just…' "U-um… sure. Thanks. Let me just tell Obaa-chan."
Her grandmother didn't really pay attention when Sakuno told her that she'd be walking home. She was too deeply engrossed in a conversation with Tezuka and waved her off.
"Hey, Echizen, let's get burgers or—" Momoshiro suddenly stopped when he saw the two freshmen heading off on their own. "Oh. Oh. Oh, I see." he said in realization. The rowdy second year covered his mouth with his hand to stifle his snickering.
Sakuno felt like diving into a bush. Momoshiro was just so obvious. At least Sayaka had more tact.
And she had a lot more common sense, as shown in the way she grabbed her brother by the ear and dragged him off. "Cut it out, Take-nii!"
Ryoma and Sakuno walked in silence, side by side. "Hey," he spoke up. "We should finish the animal matching game. Just match the last three senpais on your own. You're better at it anyways."
"Eh?" Her modesty got the better of her. "I'm not! Ryoma-kun is the one who came up with 'eagle' for Tezuka-buchou." she pointed out.
"And Ryuzaki came up with 'chimpanzee', 'dolphin', 'whooping crane', 'lioness', 'fox', 'raccoon', 'shark…" he paused, recounting in his mind.
"Ryoma-kun came up with 'wasp', 'blowfish' and 'beaver' though!" she protested.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Meanwhile in the bushes…
"Do you have any idea what they're talking about?"
"Um… animals?"
CLUNK. "You're an idiot."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"We'll leave Watanabe-senpai aside for now. What is Chiharu-senpai?"
"A rabbit."
'Timid, gentle, but overly reliant on instinct. And capable of delivering a powerful kick. Perfect' Ryoma thought. "Hmm… not bad. What's Marui-senpai?"
"A hamster."
He nodded. "Put her on a wheel and she'll go and go."
Sakuno laughed.
He was enjoying this; pitching names at her like some circus performer. "And Oishi-senpai?"
She frowned. "A mother-hen… you came up with that! It was one of the first ones we did!"
He smirked. "Heh. Just testing you."
"Mou…" she sighed, exasperated.
He walked in silence for a while before saying, "Seigaku really is a zoo…" making her giggle.
They had reached her doorstep. Ryoma turned around to face her. "You really don't know why you're good at this?" he said, his tone becoming more serious. She was extremely accurate at the animal matching game. Scarily accurate, and she wasn't even aware of it.
"Huh?" she looked at him with bewildered eyes.
"It's because you can read people, Ryuzaki," Ryoma said. "You have good eyes."
It was such a nice compliment. Way better than: "you have beautiful eyes", because it actually meant something. It meant she had a skill. And when he said it, she felt warmth spread from her head to her toes. He made her feel useful. Like she wasn't the anchor of the team, dragging the rest of them down. "Really? You think so?"
"Yeah. I think you can read anyone. So," he changed his tone to an offhand, more casual one. "What do you think I am?"
Sakuno scrutinized him for a brief moment. "I think you're a cat."
He frowned slightly. "I don't want to be the same thing as Kikumaru-senpai…" he muttered, complaining.
His words were lost in his throat when Sakuno put her face extremely close to his to get a better look at him.
The temperature around him rose about fifteen degrees.
His cheeks felt warm. He couldn't be blushing, could he? No. Echizen Ryoma did not blush.
Sakuno's eyes searched his and he just couldn't, couldn't stop looking.
"You," she finally decided, stepping back from those golden orbs. "Are a baby leopard."
Ryoma quickly tugged down his cap in case his cheeks were filling up. Underneath the protective cover of his cap, he smiled. A leopard was good enough for him. They were like cats, only minus the prissy-fussiness and plus the predatory instinct by a thousand fold. He counted his fingers off. "So we're only got Watanabe-senpai left.
Sakuno suddenly clapped her hands together, startling him. "I've got it. She's a lab rat."
Ryoma gave her a puzzled look, tinged with a little skepticism. "What are you saying. I think you're slipping up." Wasn't Sayaka the one who was complaining earlier how Reina used her like a lab rat? "Watanabe-senpai's the mad scientist, not the lab rat. Maybe more of a nightingale…"
"No, no, listen," Sakuno said, her face pink with enthusiasm. It was quite cute, actually. "Rats are some of the smartest animals on earth. They can run mazes and solve puzzles. I remember watching this documentary where this rat found out how to get the peanut off the mousetrap without setting it off."
"Hmm…" It was making sense. After all, rats were often put in situations where they had to strategize.
"And rats are super sneaky. They have infiltrated almost every country on Earth," she continued, almost breathless from her eager explanation. "Didn't Momo-senpai say something about Reina-senpai being really pro at spying?"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In the bushes…
"Damn right I am."
"Shhh, Reina-senpai! And since when did you talk like that! Did you take a tennis ball to the head during your match?"
"I apologize. I was merely attempting to personate Suzume's epanaphora in a caricatural habitude.
Pause.
"What does that even mean and why does it have my name in it."
A hastily whispered translation.
Another pause.
"Don't try to imitate me, you lab rat."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sakuno flopped onto her bed. She was absolutely befuddled.
She had spent at least fifteen minutes on her doorstep, just talking. He'd even complimented her form in today's match, and told her areas she'd improved on. She had to admit, it was a little strange that he was complimenting her rather than criticizing. The conversation on her match went on for a while as they recounted the details together. Without him telling her that her hair was too long.
Although he did comment on her knees.
Even if the conversation seemed slightly forced, it made her really happy that he'd noticed where she had improved. So he was watching her. But right after that moment, it was as if someone had shoved him back into his normal mindset. He'd swiftly turned away, said, "Ja. See you tomorrow." He raised a hand in parting without even looking at her, and was out of sight before she could even reply.
It was confusing.
' "I think you can read anyone…"' he'd told her.
Well, he was wrong. She hugged a pillow to her chest and sighed a frustrated sigh.
"Not everyone."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ryoma collapsed on his bed. He was tired.
He knew he had to give Ryuzaki a confidence boost today. That St. Rudolph girl had crushed her spirit hard, and he wasn't sure if Akane's words, (inspirational as they were), were enough. So he decided to talk to her and tell her how much better she was now, to make her feel good about herself.
During the talk, it really hard not to mention how her timing was off, or her footwork was poor during volleying, or that she could've used more power in her serve. She needed encouragement, not criticism. So he bit back his true comments and focused more on how much she had improved.
And then he realized that his praise was true, too. He had noticed all her improvements. And the part about her eyes was the truest thing he'd ever said. Ryuzaki had really good eyes. Dare he say it, they were almost as good as his own. He knew how observant she could be on the courts. She could see it in the way she reacted, the way she moved. Her eyes just lacked his training and expertise. But if she realized it, she could hone them into her greatest weapon.
He hoped she didn't think he was being insincere, (or worse, sarcastic); she did look a little wary at some point in the conversation. That would have the opposite effect he wanted. And that would be bad.
He groaned into his pillow. Why did he care so much anyways?
He was thinking too much these days.
He turned off the light switch and tried to sleep.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Hey, Reina," Akane said, as they were reaching the road where they went their separate ways. They could only spy on the freshmen for so long before they had to go home. She stopped and turned to face her friend. They were near the same height, so she could stare directly into her eyes. "Was it fun today? Playing your own style?"
"Akane," Reina replied, adjusting her lenses. The weight of them on the bridge of her nose was oddly comforting. "I was always playing my own style."
"Not to your full potential you weren't. You were playing the analytical part of it. You were calculating percentages, but you weren't coming up with your strategies. You were trying too hard to mold yourself into Inui. Your chess pieces aren't going to move themselves."
She rocked on her heels a little, not wanting to say anything.
"What I think…" Akane continued. "Is that you're more daring yet at the same time more… stingy than Inui. You need to test out your tactics, but you never give up a single point. Inui has to give up two whole games sometimes, just to collect data."
"I don't want to sacrifice a point if it can be avoided. I can be rather punctilious."
"Exactly!" Akane all but exclaimed. "That's what I'm talking about. You dare to run after every ball even though you'll tire out. You dare to hit them to the very edge to test your opponent, even though you could miss. That's how you got your stamina, speed, and precision." How did no one else on the Seigaku team realize this about Reina? Not spatial reasoning, not strategizing... But this, this might be her most dangerous trait? But most importantly, how could Reina not realize this herself?
She didn't know what to say. What was Akane trying to tell her?
"You know, I thought I saw rock-solid determination in Aiko, the Momoshiro twins, and Kaidoh. But Reina…" Akane put a hand on her shoulder. "I've realized this. You may be the most determined one of us all…"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
END CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
A/N: This was a difficult chapter, I know. Bear with me. It's getting harder and harder to come up with tennis styles, and Reina's was one that was half formed in my mind. I'm definitely going to put more work on her, and I admit I introduced her style in a weird situation. She won 6-0 against someone clearly weaker than her, and yet she played full out.
I was going to call it Chessmaster, but I thought it would be a dead giveaway. I may change it back.
The next chapter will have some mixed doubles, since I've been neglecting this part of the tournament. And of course, since Chiharu and Tezuka will be playing doubles, that will make up for their absence in this chapter. Sorry, but Reina's development came first. I hope you got to know her a little better in this chapter. She's a messy one, and that's partially because she has no idea who she is.
Also, the next chapter will be "PRINCE OF….". It's a secret.
I am going to develop Aiko, don't worry. And Sayaka. They're next on my list.
So, funny story: I met this girl a month back and we realized we both loved Prince of Tennis. And then she said, "Oh, have you read "TO CATCH A FALLING STAR." It's the best fanfic ever."
Hehe, well.. imagine my embarrassment. (After my ego deflated, that is.)
I'm going on a cruise to Greece, Italy and Turkey soon. I don't expect I'll see any of you there?
Thank you guys again for 1000+ reviews. You don't know how much it means to me. My first chapter on this fic got about 4 reviews. It seemed like such a dream to even hope that this story might one day be popular enough to warrant 1000+. You guys are amazing. You make anything possible and I love you.
(But don't forget to leave another review, to keep me happy and writing. xD)
