This was originally the first part of the Valentine's chapter, but it ended up being over 50+ pages long. I kid you not. It got so bad that I started to cut scenes here and there to make it an acceptable length, until finally I was like, "I just need to split this giant mothaf**** in two.
To recap: Seigaku's girl's team lost to Hyotei and it was sad.
In this chapter, they deal with losing.
To Catch A Falling Star, Chapter 28: Freefall
~X~
And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows
All the good girls are home with broken hearts
And I'm free, free fallin'
~X~
Well this was awkward.
Kawamura's restaurant, which was normally filled with laughter and good cheer at dinner time, was dead silent.
Awkward, awkward, awkward.
Oishi lifted his mug of tea, desperate to break the silence. "Um… here's to both teams moving on to the Kanto tournament!" he said with forced enthusiasm. "Cheers!"
Some of the boys made to lift their glasses, but hastily put them down again when they saw that no one was doing the same. Worried glanced were exchanged.
One could practically see the gloom materializing in the room like a dark raincloud.
The facts were this. The boys won Yamabuki, successfully defending their title as champions of the prefectural tournament. While Inui suffered defeat at the hands of Sengoku in singles three, Fuji came back and dominated Minami in singles two, 6-0.
As for the girls… The scoreboard could tell you this much: Doubles two, 7-5 to Seigaku. Doubles one, 7-5 to Seigaku. Singles three, 6-4 to Hyotei. Singles two, 7-6 to Hyotei. Singles one, 7-6 to Hyotei.
But what the scoreboard didn't tell was how Sayaka sacrificed both her wrists to combat Gamaro's Firecracker. Or how Suzume put her entire trust in her partner for the game. How Kimiko refused to bow down to Ayumi and Rie's mind games, or how Aiko pulled out her Torpedo at the last moment. How Sakuno stunned everyone with her growth by putting up a strong fight in her singles debut. How Akane met her match in a person who could close their heart, or how Chiharu unlocked her Zanshin mode when her back was against a wall.
They were so close. So, so close. Neck and neck to the last second.
At the last possible moment, Hyotei managed to snatch the victory out of their hands.
Needless to say, none of them had much of an appetite tonight. Failure was a tough thing to swallow. It was like a giant, spiked lump in one's throat. All the girls just picked listlessly at their food, utterly defeated.
"Guys," Akane finally spoke up, putting her chopsticks down. "Guys. Stop moping. What matters is that we're going into the Kanto Regionals as the runner-up. We're still in the running for Nation—"
"We should have won," Suzume muttered, her eyes fixed to the napkin holder on the table. "We should've won. We had it. We had the doubles matches."
At this, Kimiko and Aiko shared a glance. Sayaka silently rubbed her bandaged wrists.
"Things happen," Oishi tried. "Sometimes…"
Suzume shook her head angrily. "We knew about Fuuma and Shigohara. We knew they were good. If we'd only put Reina-senpai in Singles Three, or Izumi-senpai, then—"
Hearing her words, Sakuno drew in a shaky breath.
Sayaka heard it and shot Suzume a dirty look. "Hey," she warned. "It's not Sakuno's fault, okay? She did her best. Besides, we were all kind of expecting Chiharu-senpai to clinch Singles One, and—"
Suzume gave her a dark glare. "Don't blame Chiharu-senpai for this."
"Don't blame Sakuno for this!"
At this, the red-haired girl almost laughed. "Please. We're all thinking it." She glanced around, daring other people to speak up. "Is no one else going to say it? If we'd put someone else in Singles Three, we would've won the championship!"
Akane met her gaze. "You don't know that."
"As a matter of fact, I do. That Singles Three Hyotei girl? Reina-senpai could've taken her, easy."
Sakuno bit down on her trembling lip. Tomoka put her hand over hers, trying to console her.
"Look," Oishi tried to interject. "I know we're all upset over the loss. Let's just have a good dinner and talk it over at practice on Monday."
Akane refused to back down. She looked Suzume directly in the eye. "I lost my match too, and I came up with the roster. I'm the one to blame. It's my fault."
Suzume wasn't done. "Why didn't you put Reina in Singles Three, buchou?" she challenged. "Did you think that you could outsmart Fuuma? Did you just give Ryuzaki the spot because she needed some encouragement?!"
Sayaka leapt to her feet, the blood in her veins suddenly fire-hot. "Kimura, how can you—"
"Sayaka, sit down," Akane commanded without even looking at her. "The point is, everyone did their best, okay?" Her tone was razor sharp with finality. "And that's what matters."
"Fine," Suzume said scathingly, getting to her feet as well. "Fine. Let's see how far that kind of mentality will get you in the regional tournament."
Akane's eyes flashed with irritation. "Kimura, you've gone too far."
Suzume turned on her heel and left without looking at any of them, yanking the restaurant door firmly behind her.
Oishi glanced desperately around, looking to everyone for help on how to handle the situation. "Um… uh…" However Akane continued to glare at the door without moving, and Sayaka just sat back down, looking infuriated. No one went after her, because… well…
The only person who would go after Suzume was Chiharu.
And she was a little too busy being miserable at the moment. The blue-headed girl had her head buried in her arms, although she was no longer crying. "I'm sorry…" came her muffled voice. "I'm sorry I let you guys down."
Tezuka gave her a look. "Don't say that."
Izumi reached out and touched her softly on the shoulder. "What happened on the court was incredible."
"We've never seen you play like that," Kimiko said earnestly, smiling. "Not even when Aiko-senpai nearly took you down!"
Reina nodded. "You outperformed yourself."
"And went beyond all the data," Inui added, tapping his notebook.
"Oshiro-chan, you played amazingly!" Kikumaru reassured her. "It was so cool!"
Chiharu forced a watery smile, the comments making her tear up again. "Thanks, everyone." But inside, she still felt heartbroken, simply because she came so close, she could almost taste the victory, and she expected to win.
This was not how it should be. It was all wrong.
She was supposed to win. They were counting on her to take the trophy home. And she disappointed all of them.
~X~
Sakuno managed to hold off the tears long enough to escape to the bathroom. She clutched the edge of the sink and let them fall, her lips trembling and her nose turning cherry-red, like she just caught a cold. Her breathing came out in ragged sobs. The tears poured down, hot and remorseful, disappearing down the drain of the sink.
She thought she played well. They were proud of her. They treated her like she won.
Until Chiharu-senpai lost. Then the world came crashing down.
"I never should've played," she whispered. "I never should've… I'm weak."
' "If we'd put someone else in Singles Three, we would've won the championship!"'
She flinched, hearing the words echo in her mind. The most hurtful part of Suzume's statement wasn't the attack on her skill. It was the fact that it was true.
Someone knocked on the door. "Excuse me?" someone said in accented Japanese. It was Aiko. "Is someone in here?"
"Yes," Sakuno started to say, but it came out as a choked sob.
"Sakuno-chan? Sakuno-chan, daijoubu? Are you okay?"
"I'm… I'm…" She tried to say that she was okay, but the words wouldn't come out. "I'm… sorry," she confessed between choked, wet breaths. "I'm so sorry, Aiko-senpai."
"Hang on. I'll be right back." Sakuno heard the footsteps recede. A moment later, several footsteps were right outside the door, followed by muffled voices.
"Just get over here—"
"Momo-senpai, that's the girl's bathroom—"
"I know, just—"
"Yadda! Why do I have to—"
Silence. Scuffle, scuffle, scuffle.
"Ryuzaki." It was Ryoma's voice.
She didn't respond.
"Ryuzaki, what's the matter with you?" A smack. "Ow!" A sigh. "Ryuzaki, are you ok?"
She still didn't respond. How could she? How could she let him see her like this? Always crying, always falling apart in front of him.
He tapped on the door lightly, sounding impatient. "Ryuzaki, just open the door."
Still no response.
She heard him sigh again. "Ryuzaki, I think Aiko-senpai needs to use the bathroom."
'Right… I shouldn't be inconveniencing others…' Sakuno sniffled and wiped her tears away as best she could. She took a deep breath, summoning every ounce of courage, and opened the door, only to see a bored (but concerned) Ryoma standing there by himself.
She frowned. "Where's… Aiko-senpai…?"
He raised and lowered a shoulder. "Hmm… I think she went upstairs."
"Oh…" She frowned again. "Oh… then…" She started to close the door, but he put his hand on the handle. "R-ryoma-kun?"
He tilted his head, golden eyes looking deep into hers. "What's going on?"
"N-nothing…" she lied terribly.
He blinked.
She tried to hide a sniffle.
Suddenly he reached out and grabbed her hand, dragging her out of the bathroom. "Come on."
Sakuno yelped, surprised at the sudden physical contact. "Ah-ah! Wait!"
"Just come with me."
And she did.
~X~
The redheaded girl swore under her breath, kicking at a wire fence. The rattle echoed across the empty court. "Damn it. Damn fucking damn it."
Everything was just so stupid. They should have won. By the end of the doubles matches, it was practically in thebag. If only they'd…
She sat down at the edge of the court, her head in her hands. Flashes of the match ran through her head.
People cheering and screaming.
Sweat pouring down Aiko's body.
Kimiko collapsing in exhaustion.
The bruises on Sayaka's wrist.
The tears down Chiharu's face.
She slammed her fist on the ground. Wasn't all the pain and suffering for the victory? They came to win. They were supposed to win.
Fucking Hyotei.
They never should've put Ryuzaki in Singles three. She was too green, too new, too inexperienced, and just… not good enough.
'But Chiharu-senpai lost too, she could've won and she didn't…'
"Shut up," she told herself. Chiharu had gone against someone who was stronger in every aspect. Sakuno had gone up against an inferior player.
'What about Akane? She lost too and it wasn't like she was completely outmatched…'
She clenched her teeth. No, she told herself. Akane went against someone who could close her heart. It was a losing battle to begin with. In the end, she didn't even have a chance.
'Yes she did,' the little voice said. 'Yes she did, she pushed the game into a tiebreak. She could've won. But you aren't mad at her.'
The coil in her stomach just got tighter and tighter.
'You just want to blame Sakuno, don't you?'
"Shut UP," she told herself again, hitting her fist against the round repeatedly.
'You're just upset that you aren't the genius freshman anymore, that you aren't the one getting all the attention anymore.'
Her nails dug into her skin, making crescent shaped indentions right under her callouses. The stabbing pain washed over her like waves of relief. She breathed with the pain.
Was she really jealous of Sakuno? She couldn't be. How could she be jealous of the skinny, demure, weak little freshman?
It was just the loss, she told herself. 'I'm just angry that we lost.'
They weren't supposed to lose.
She hated that word. Hated it.
The sound footsteps approaching startled her and she jerked her head up."Akutsu," she acknowledged, her voice stone-dead.
He opened his eyes in shock. "Kimura. The hell is wrong with you."
She bristled slightly at the comment, but she supposed she did look pretty pitiful right now. Instead of answering, she turned her face away from him. He didn't need to see her like this.
"Did you lose?" he sneered.
"No!" she retorted defensively. "But…" she bit her lip and looked down, her face burning in shame. She was disgusted with her school, disgusted with herself, disgusted with being associated with that word. "Seigaku did."
"Ha!" he scoffed. "Should've known Seigaku was a bunch of losers that couldn't hold their own."
"Well, Seigaku beat your team earlier this afternoon," she shot back heatedly, even though it was irrelevant to him; he didn't play for Yamabuki anymore.
Akutsu smirked as if to say, 'Is that the best you've got?' "And your girl's team? Hyotei got you, didn't they? Pathetic," he spat.
"What did you say?" Suzume rose to her feet threateningly, angry, angry, angry. "You want to say that to my face?'
"That you all are a bunch of weaklings that can't even play?" he taunted. "That Seigaku is not even worthy of holding their rackets?"
Suzume slammed her hands into his chest, making him stumble backwards. "Don't you dare," she snarled.
Akutsu's face changed immediately. "What, Kimura? Can't take the truth? That you and your little team are headed for absolute failure?"
What little restraint she had left in her snapped and she threw a punch at his gut. However, he immediately read her movement and blocked it to the side, his elbow aimed for her face. She ducked, barely dodging it. She wasn't so lucky with his second punch – it hit her right in the solar plexus, effectively knocking the air out of her.
She winced, silently gasping in pain. She'd forgotten how strong he was.
Akutsu never went easy on anyone because of his or her gender. It was one of the things she liked about him. He never treated her like a girl.
The silver haired youth smirked in victory, and in that brief instant she managed to catch him off-guard with an uppercut to his chin. It wasn't enough to knock him back, but it was enough to stun him momentarily.
In a final move, they both lifted their arms to block what they thought was an attack. Their arms connected, locked in a stalemate. Their eyes met. Both of them were panting with exertion.
Suddenly Akutsu dropped his arm, a dark scowl returning to his face. "Better?" he growled.
Suzume gradually regained her breath, staring at him with a confused frown and her hands on her hips. "Yeah…" she murmured, her chest heaving, realizing that some of the tension inside her had eased. "Yeah… thanks."
Not that she would ever admit it, but she really needed that kick in the ass.
"Che." He rolled his eyes. As he turned and slunk away, she heard him mutter, "You're even more troublesome than that brat."
~X~
Sakuno plodded loyally behind Ryoma as he navigated his way across the Tokyo streets. "Ano…" she murmured, hesitating to speak up. "Are… are we going to a tennis court?"
He turned his head halfway around without interrupting his stride or losing his pace. "No. Haven't you had enough of tennis this weekend?"
"A-ah…" She lowered her head. "I just thought… I just thought that since it's Ryoma-kun…"
He gave her a weird look. "Am I…" he started to say, but stopped himself. "Come on," he said instead. "It's getting late."
They ended up at a park that was near Sakuno's home. As it was already dark, there were very few people walking around the grounds. Ryoma located a vending machine and bought them each a Ponta. He sat on a bench and cracked his open in a fluent move, as if he'd done this many times before.
"What?" he said when he saw that she was still standing to the side, clutching her Ponta to her chest. "Aren't you going to sit?"
"A-ah…" She shuffled down next to him and opened her Ponta as well.
He took a long, languid drink from his Ponta. Sakuno, on the other hand, just gripped hers nervously, waiting for him to speak.
A minute passed. She debated with herself on whether she should initiate conversation or not.
Another minute passed.
"Um—" she started.
"Kimura-senpai was just mad," he finally said, interrupting her.
She looked at him, wide-eyed. "Eh?"
"You shouldn't listen to her."
"Oh. Um," she said in a small voice, looking down at the soda in her hand. "I know." 'I know.'
He gave her another strange look. "Then why are you sad?"
"I just… if we put Izumi-senpai or Reina-senpai in… they could've won…" Sakuno said feebly. 'And everyone would be happy.'
"Hmm…" Ryoma appeared to think about it for a moment. "You don't know that," he commented, taking a casual sip. "Morioka-senpai has a habit of freaking out and losing at critical times."
"Ah, you shouldn't say that, Ryoma-kun." Sakuno giggled despite her words. "That's not respectful."
He shrugged off her reprimand, but smiled slightly to himself. It was good to hear her laugh again.
She took a sip of her Ponta, and familiar tangy grape taste comforted her. "Thank you, Ryoma-kun."
He finished chugging his Ponta and tossed it over his head. It landed perfectly in the trash can behind him. "Come on, I'll walk you home."
He watched her walk into her house and wave at him from her doorstep shyly. "Thank you," she said again, earnestly. "I'll see you at tennis practice on Monday!
He watched the door close.
'Am I all tennis to you?'
~X~
Aiko carried the last of the clean dishes up to the cabinet. Her muscles tensed with effort as she lifted them above her shoulder and into the shelf. People normally don't think of porcelain as particularly heavy, but trust her, if you had a stack of forty plates in a giant column, it was damn heavy.
Although it did get less heavy day by day.
(And at least she didn't have it as bad as Kawamura. That poor guy had to carry in the tuna. Tuna, as she had learned, can grow to be as big as she was. No wonder he was built like a brick house.)
With a couple clinking noises, the plates were neatly arranged, and she shut the door firmly. She checked to make sure the counter tops were wiped down, before taking off her apron and hanging it on the hook by the kitchen. "I'll be leaving now," she said politely to Kawamura's father, who smiled.
"Thanks for your hard work!" he said, as he did every day. He skimmed the empty room for his son. "Hmm… I think Takashi is in the kitchen."
Aiko nodded and went through the double doors into the kitchen. She'd planned do a little running before returning home, however she wanted to say bye before she ran off. "Taka-san," she said, as she'd taken to calling him, "I'm le—" Her voice died off as he appeared to be focused very, very intensely on what he was doing.
Curious, she walked over to the table and pulled up a chair. He had a plate in front of him. On it were two pieces of tuna sushi; the rice was perfectly formed in little dome shapes. Aiko had watched him and his father make sushi before, and it was a lot more difficult than it looked.
(Especially, she realized, when they tried to teach her, and her sushi just fell apart.)
But he was doing something new. Aiko observed him as he took a piping bag with wasabi in it, and very delicately and painstakingly piped out a design, rotating the plate every so often. Finally, he put down the bag, using a towel to wipe the sweat off his brow, relaxing.
Aiko felt her jaw slacken.
A rose. He had piped out a tiny wasabi rose, no bigger than her thumb.
"That," she told him, stunned. "Is really cool." He was so much more creative and gentle than people gave him credit for. This boy was much more than the Hadokyuu; more than just brute force and muscle.
He turned to her with a warm smile. "Yeah… it's something I learned how to do a while ago."
"Why don't you do this for the restaurant? Oh, right. It takes up too much time," she answered her own question.
"There's that," he agreed. "I mean, if I practiced, I could do it really fast, but…" He shrugged, his smile carrying a tinge of sadness. "Dad likes to keep things simple." He said this as if it explained everything.
"But you don't…?" Aiko ventured.
He shrugged again, wistfully. "I just think it might be nice to experiment and bring it new things," he said. "Even little things. Just to make the customer's stay a bit more memorable. But Kawamura Sushi has always been about being simple and traditional, so…"
"What would you want?" Aiko asked curiously, stumbling over the words only slightly. "To… um… to change?"
(Actually she said the word for 'transform'. Nonetheless, he got her meaning.)
"Well, I always had an idea for a California Roll," he elaborated. "But with yellowtail on top and drizzled with a citrus reduction."
"Fish and fruit?" 'Ew.'
Kawamura laughed at her expression. "It's actually a good combination, I promise."
She still looked doubtful.
"The citrus cuts through the namagusa…" he explained.
"Namagusa…" she echoed, trying to remember the phrase. She'd learned it last week. "Oh, the fishiness!" It was funny how she was learning all these culinary terms when she didn't even know how to ask where the bathroom was.
(Actually she did know that, she realized. She learned that a long time ago. 'Toire wa doko desu ka?')
"Yeah… Don't a lot of westerners serve fish with a lemon slice?" Kawamura asked, seeing as she still looked skeptical. "It's the same concept. A squeeze of lemon to go with the fish."
"Huh…" She considered this. "Well, I think it still sounds weird, but you should try making it."
"Ah… maybe."
"If you make it, I'll eat it," she promised with a grin. "Unless it's gross. Then I won't."
He laughed.
"Ne, Taka-san…" Aiko said, suddenly serious, thinking back to the awkward dinner. "What was going on today? Everyone was so upset."
"A loss is hard to deal with," he said resignedly. "Especially one as a team."
Aiko shook her head in disbelief. "Have these girls seriously never lost a match before?" she asked. Sure, losing sucked, but you got over it. You just trained and made yourself better, and then grinded the person who beat you into the court the next time you saw them.
Kawamura sighed. "Everyone deals with a loss in different ways. Some people will cry. Some people will act out. It's just disappointing, I think. People hate being disappointed in themselves."
Aiko nodded doubtfully. "So, how do you deal with losing?"
"Me?" He laughed again. "I go do two hundred pushups upstairs."
"…holy sh—" Aiko bit her tongue. "No wonder you have so much power."
He made a face at her. "Are you implying that I lose a lot?"
"No, that's not what I mea—" She stopped as he started chuckling.
"I'm just kidding!"
"That's not fair! You know my Japanese isn't good enough to understand if you're kidding or not." She glanced quickly down at her watch. "Oh, I should head back now. I wanted to do some running."
"Ah… okay," He frowned for a moment, glancing at the window. "It's dark. I'll walk you back."
She paused and eyed him warily. "You're going to test me on the menu again, aren't you?" she deduced.
"Ah… I thought today we could try reading the street signs too," he added.
"My Kanji isn't that good yet!"
"That's why we need to practice. We wouldn't want another one of our customers to end up with octopus instead of tuna…"
"That was one time."
~X~
"Hey Tezuka," Fuji said as they walked back together. "Do you think the girl's team will be all right?"
"We'll see on Monday."
Fuji chuckled. "Why? Do you think people will talk?"
"I know they will."
~X~
Monday came around all too quickly. All of the girls braced themselves for the backlash they were sure to receive from their peers.
The cloud of gloom that hung around the girls' tennis team followed them wherever they went, and with it, whispers followed as well.
"Hey look, it's the Seigaku losers…"
"Told you they shouldn't have put all that funding into the female tennis team."
"I heard they cut three other sports teams in order to support the tennis team…"
"To support a team that can't even win? That's bullshit."
It didn't matter that the girl's tennis team was the district champions just a few months ago. That was old news. All the school cared about was their loss.
"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Them," Sayaka said to Kimiko with gritted teeth, after a group of her classmates stopped talking as soon as they entered the room; a clear indicator that they were the subject of the conversation. "All of them."
"At least we won our games," Kimiko pointed out. "I can't imagine what it's like for Akane-buchou and Chiharu-senpai right now."
"And Sakuno," Sayaka added, suddenly remembering how Suzume treated her at the dinner. "Poor Sakuno… We should probably check up on her in between periods to make sure she's doing ok."
"Yep yep! All right, I'll see you later!" Kimiko waved and skipped to her own classroom, determined to be extra happy and perky if it killed her.
And seeing the hush that fell over her own class when she entered, it just might.
~X~
"You know, Kimura, I've been lenient on your work because of your responsibilities with the tennis team. I thought that's where your energy was going. But with the abysmal performance last week, not to mention Tezuka still manages to get top marks and lead his team to victory…"
'Tezuka is not human.' "My apologies for letting you down.'
~X~
"Told you, you should've joined the chess team instead."
"I would appreciate it if you would depart. I wish to be incommunicado for now."
~X~
"Hey Oshiro, thanks for embarrassing our school at the prefectural championship!"
"Yeah, great job letting Hyotei one-up you."
"Hey, leave her alone."
"Oh, like you did any better, Akane."
~X~
"So, you guys lost, huh?"
"Bunta, I really don't need this right now. So if you're calling to gloat, then you can just—"
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, Kimi-chan. I didn't mean it like that. Hey, at least you won your match, right? People will get over it."
"…I'm just so sick of this right now."
"It'll go away. It'll… Kimi-chan are you crying?"
"…"
"Aww, don't cry, Kimi-chan. You'll look like a sad mushroom."
~X~
"Hey Komboi, could you teach me how to write 'loser' in American?"
"On your head?"
~X~
"I guess Hyotei was just too strong…"
"Horio."
"Well, you know with my two years of tennis experience… if I played for the girl's team—"
"Horio, just stop."
"Yeah, can't you see that Ryuzaki is upset?"
~X~
At afternoon practice, tension was higher than ever. Luckily for them, Coach Ryuzaki decreed that the team engage in 'self-practice' for the day, letting each of them deal with their anger and frustration on their own.
It was probably a good idea, seeing how Suzume was whacking the ball like she was going to kill it.
"Kimura," Momoshiro called from across the court, bouncing the ball on the ground.
She ignored him and continued to grind the ball into the wall.
"Yo! Hey, I'm talking to you!"
With an irritated toss of her hair, she turned around. "What the hell do you want?"
"A game." He pointed to the empty courts with his racket, completely unfazed.
Suzume narrowed her eyes. Coach Ryuzaki didn't approve of the boys playing serious tennis games against the girls. Within the team, there was an unspoken acknowledgement on the differences in power and stamina due to gender. Obviously no one pointed it out, (no point in sparking a giant political debate) but they all accepted it more or less.
Momoshiro was someone who tended to perpetuate the stereotype even further. So why was he challenging her to a game?
"Need me to go easy on you?" she said as she took her place at the baseline.
"Come at me with all you've got!" He jumped up and served. His shot blasted from his racket and streaked across the court like a missile. Suzume barely had time to think before it smashed onto the court and disappeared behind her.
The freshmen trio paused between their ball fetching duties, mouths falling open. "M-Momo-senpai…?" Horio sputtered.
"Oi, Momo!" Oishi scolded, anxious. "There's no need to use that serve now!"
Akane watched the game with eagle-sharp eyes.
"What's the matter, sparrow?" Momoshiro taunted, waving his racket. "Too fast for you?"
"Like hell it is," Suzume snarled, shaking off her shock and getting back into position.
Momoshiro served again, bullet fast.
"Momo!" Oishi yelled.
Suddenly, a racket slammed into the ball and sent it barreling back over the net with a giant slice. The ball nearly hit him in the face as it shot upwards and into the fence.
A bead of sweat rolled down his brow. "Whoa…" he quietly breathed.
He'd seen her play countless times before, but being on the receiving end of her shots was a whole different story.
"Kimura!" Oishi looked between the two. Seeing as they both ignored him, he quickly turned to the captain for assistance. "Tezuka, you should say something to them!"
The stoic captain was also watching the game, aware of their every move. However, he did nothing.
This time, Suzume served, and she served ferociously. It wasn't nearly as fast or powerful as Momoshiro's, but it was certainly on the same level. He stepped the wrong way, and it streaked by him. Ace.
"Take that, you dumb peach," Suzume panted, though she looked thoroughly pleased with herself.
Momoshiro grinned. "That's more like it," he murmured, to himself.
As they continued a fierce rally, Akane noticed that with every hard-hitting shot, the tension in Suzume's face gradually disappeared, and her scowl retreated. As the game reached a boiling point, she almost started to look… serene.
Momoshiro had an amazing ability, Akane concluded. His ability was probably even stronger than her own. Pity he was unaware of it.
~X~
Ryuzaki Sumire kept a watchful eye on the game. In fact, she kept an eye on all the girls. A loss was never easy to deal with, but it was even harder on them because every practice, they were reminded that the boy's team was victorious. And of course, the entire student body had heard about the loss and was milking every last drop their misery.
Out of all of them, Suzume took the team's loss the hardest. Winning always served to validate her efforts. It was something constructive for her, a positive force in her endless negativity. She was angry, and she took that out on other people.
(Sumire was glad she chose not to intervene at Kawamura's restaurant that time, but if Suzume ever said something like that to her granddaughter again, she would have a strict talking-to with the second year.)
Aiko stood nearby, practicing leg lifts with heavy weights strapped to each ankle. Aiko was used to falling onto the ground. She simply dusted herself off and got back on her feet.
Izumi didn't play in their match with Hyotei, so she was more or less apathetic to the team's loss. Had she played, she could have come out victorious – or she could have fallen, all the way down.
Ditto Reina, Sumire thought to herself, although she suspected that the contemplative third year was rather irked at not being put in the lineup against Hyotei.
Sayaka and Kimiko were the most upbeat of the bunch. They knew that this was just a phase, that there was always another win just beyond the horizon. If they were upset, it didn't show.
Sakuno was blaming herself. It was partially because of what Suzume said, and partially because she would've blamed herself no matter what. It was simply part of sweet-tempered nature to shoulder the burden.
And Chiharu.., well, Chiharu was undoubtedly shaken. Throughout the whole practice, she struggled, making errors and hitting easy shots. She was clearly aggravated with herself, trying desperately not to cry as her returns went into the net, over and over. Losing was a new feeling to her.
All in all, the team was shaken right now. But this ordeal would only make them stronger.
Sumire smiled, proud.
They would meet Hyotei again with a vengeance.
~X~
Chiharu on the bench, the towel on her head casting shadows over her face. Her game was completely off today, and she knew why.
It was like she was in free-fall right now, with no direction and no control. She didn't know what to do.
In her mind, she could still see that last shot, the shot that had ended the game. If only she had run a little fast, tried a little harder…
They were so close. So close to winning. It was such a long way to fall.
And it was stupid, but suddenly everyone on the opposite side of the net became Shigohara, and she just couldn't play. Couldn't forget that heart-stopping moment, where the ball landed, out of her reach, and the umpire called out—
A bottle of colored water came into view, disturbing her thoughts. She looked up to see Tezuka offering her a sports drink. "Replenish yourself," he said.
"A-ah… thank you…" She took the bottle and unscrewed the cap, bringing it to her lips. After a few gulps, she noticed that he was still watching her. His stern, reflective gaze was more than a little unsettling. "Um…" she stammered, a flush arising in her cheeks. "Was there something you needed, Tezuka-san?"
"You'll be fine."
"Ah…" Chiharu ducked her head down again, embarrassment tainting her cheeks. 'I wanted to make you proud of me. I wanted to impress you.' She could barely even hold her racket today. He didn't need to see her in this state.
Tezuka reached a hand out. He'd intended to clasp her shoulder to reassure her, like he would a comrade. But something in her eyes made him hesitate, and the gesture ended up being a feather-light graze, with mixed feelings and endless meanings.
"You'll be fine," he simply repeated.
Chiharu listened, and for a moment, she let herself believe him.
~X~
After a few more rallies, Momoshiro left to go practice some power shots with Kawamura. Suzume stood on the court, panting, but nowhere near winded. In fact, adrenaline was still coursing through her veins, and she needed a new opponent to finish relieving the tension in her chest. As she looked around for someone to challenge, Akane walked by the net.
"Suzume," Akane regarded slowly, tilting her head. "Why don't you play Sakuno?"
All hell broke loose.
"What?!" Sakuno gasped from where she was on the sidelines, her racket falling from her hands. "B-but…but…" She glanced wildly at the red-haired girl.
"No!" Tomoka cried.
Suzume was startled as well. "Buchou,"she said, visibly annoyed. "The hell is this."
"Akane-san?" Oishi choked on his water.
"Akane…" Chiharu said worriedly, coming up behind Sakuno. She laid her hands on Sakuno's shoulders protectively. "Akane…"
The freshmen trio exchanged fretful glances. "This… this is bad…"
Even Tezuka stepped towards her. "Is this necessary," he asked, although the way he said it wasn't a question.
Akane ignored all of them. "Well?" She leveled a gaze at the two girls. "Get started. Both of you."
Poor Sakuno was pale-faced and trembling from head to toe as she stepped onto the court. "Um… but… I…" she faltered. 'I can't play her! She'll… she'll destroy me.' This game would just be a chance for all of Suzume's resentment and anger to materialize, like bullets and gunpowder. And Sakuno was the target.
They had played each other once before, and the game had ended with a score of 6-1, although she was certain that the older girl had gone easy on her. Sakuno always thought that the fire-blooded second year had a little bit of a soft spot for her, but after the loss to Hyotei, she wasn't sure… She wasn't sure if the red-haired girl would hold back anymore.
Suzume had her green eye fixed on Sakuno, the same expression she gave anyone who was standing across from the net.
Sakuno shivered from pure terror, terror that felt like ice on her skin.
Would she hurt her?
From the other side of the courts, Ryoma was watching, gripping his racket tightly. "What is Ito-senpai up to now…" Whatever it was, he didn't like it.
"Yeah…" Momoshiro agreed solemnly. Suzume played a dangerous style. His wrist was still twitching in exertion, and neither of them had gone all out in that brief practice rally. "Ryuzaki-chan shouldn't be playing against the sparrow, not now."
"It's not safe," Kikumaru put in, uncharacteristically serious. "Not when Kimura-chan is so worked up..."
Even Coach Ryuzaki was frowning. She trusted Akane, but if she put Sakuno in any danger…
Sakuno bounced the ball, preparing to serve. Her throat constricted. The sweat that ran down the side of her face felt like liquid nitrogen. 'Please, oh god, please, just let me be okay…'
"Stop!" Akane suddenly called.
Literally everyone on the courts stopped.
They waited, with baited breath.
"Get off the court," Akane said sternly to Sakuno. "You've lost."
"E-eh?!" Sakuno was utterly baffled. Sure, she was going to lose, but she hadn't even served yet!
"You've lost," Akane reiterated patiently, stepping onto the court. She gently pried the racket from Sakuno's confused hands. And when she spoke, it wasn't just for Sakuno – it was for all of them:
"Sakuno," she said, "The minute that you think that you can't win, you might as well pack up your racket and go home."
~X~
After the nonexistent rally and Akane's little sermon, Suzume left to go wash her face. 'Seriously, does everything she do have to have an embedded lesson?' she groused inwardly, thinking about Akane's words as she dunked her head under cold water. The ginger-haired captain was getting a little too theatrical for her liking – not that she liked her much to begin with. As she was turning the faucet off, she noticed someone standing next to her.
Chiharu.
She lifted her chin slightly. "Yo."
Chiharu had that look on her face. "Suzume, you really should apologize to Sakuno-chan."
"Did you finally stop crying long enough to tell me that?"
"You… you said some really hurtful things at dinner, you know."
Suzume shook her head and turned the faucet on again, pretending dirt had suddenly materialized on her hands.
Chiharu was not to be fooled. She walked right up and turned the faucet off. "Suzume."
'Apologize? After everything I said?' "I… can't," she muttered thickly. Her pride wouldn't let her.
"Suzume, remember when you played Reina? What if Reina had said those things to you?"
"I never said anything to Ryuza—
"Suzume." This time when Chiharu said her name, she cringed. It was the way she said it, soft and light, but with a heavy, heavy weight behind it. On Chiharu's lips, her name was more than a name; it became a command, an insult, judgmental and condemning.
The blue haired youth continued, her voice quiet, but as firm as an oak tree. "You remember what it felt like when you first lost to Reina? What if she said…"
Suzume remembered. Of course she remembered. She'd lost horribly. On her knees in front of her senpai. Absolutely defeated. Skinned knees, scraped arms. Cold, calculating, Reina. Six games to one. If Reina had told her… If Reina had said…
'You're weak. You aren't good enough.'
Suzume shuddered inwardly at the thought.
Chiharu's face softened a little. "Apologize to Sakuno-chan."
"Fine. Fine," Suzume said crossly, exasperated. "Just… not today. I can't today."
Chiharu took her hand. "Okay," she said. "Okay. When you're ready."
'Baby steps,' she thought. 'Baby steps.'
~X~
As practice wrapped up and the girls went to the locker room to change, they were greeted by a sight reminding them that the school was very, very aware of their loss.
The outer wall of their equipment room was spray-painted bright red with the word 'LOSERS', followed with some tidbits of profanity and other insults. Around them, students were pointing out the graffiti, snickering and snapping pictures with their cell phones.
All of the girls felt their hands curl into angry fists around the rackets.
Coach Ryuzaki stormed into her office, mumbling something about 'defacing school property' and how she would report the delinquents to the school board and have their asses thrown into jail.
"Hey, first years!" Suzume shouted without taking her eyes off the wall.
Horio, Katsuo, and Kachiro jumped, only to discover that she wasn't talking to them. Five or six first-year members of the girls' tennis club assembled around Suzume timidly.
"Get rid of this crap," Suzume ordered, before turning on her heel and walking into the room to shower.
"If you have time, that is!" Kimiko amended, waving off Suzume's command with a don't-listen-to-her-she's-crazy gesture. "You don't have to if you need to be somewhere else. I can do it!"
"No, it's okay!" squeaked a pretty girl with blond hair and freckles. "We'll clean it up!" The other first years nodded their agreement simultaneously, like clones. They scurried to get supplies from the cleaning closet. By the time the girls had finished showering, only the "L" and "O" were still visible.
And then, with a scrub and a wipe, that was gone too.
~X~
"Izumi-san? Are you all right?"
She blinked, coming out of her daze. "Sorry," she apologized to Yukimura after realizing she'd been mindlessly staring at the wall.
He laughed lightly. "No worries. You seem to be a little preoccupied today. Penny for your thoughts?"
She hesitated. "We're under a lot of tension," she admitted. "From losing. We lost to Hyotei on the weekend."
He nodded. "I heard. It was a close game."
'If I had played…' "I didn't get to play this time… but even so. Dealing with a loss is difficult. Everyone is a little on edge right now," Izumi murmured. "Is it always like this?"
A glint that was both mischievous and dangerous appeared in his blue eyes. "We never lose."
Though slightly taken aback, she had to hide a smile. "Of course."
"I actually don't know how our girl team is doing," Yukimura said thoughtfully, touching his chin. "We don't conduct practice together. I know that they've won every single game so far…" His tone suggested that anything less would've been unacceptable.
"They came to watch our game…" Izumi mentioned, remembering the two girls at the top of the stands that were in yellow and black.
"Oh really?" Yukimura said, an inquiring tone in his voice. "I would expect no less from Fukuda-san. Their captain," he elaborated when she gave him a puzzled look. "I'm sure she sent her own scouts. So, what did they look like?"
She tried to picture the black and yellow clad figures in her mind. "One of them had green streaks in her hair," she remembered distinctly.
"Sugimoto," Yukimura said, automatically recognizing the description. "She…" He paused, his lips curving up enigmatically. "She's an… interesting player."
"Really?" Izumi leaned forward, her curiosity piqued. "How so?"
He chuckled. "Izumi-san, I may not be part of the tennis team right now, but my loyalties still lie with Rikkai, you know."
There was a paper-thin sharpness to his voice - so subtle it was barely there at all. Regardless, it served to remind her that their schools were rivals, and it was obvious where their loyalties should lie. "Sorry."
"I'll tell you this much," he said with a cryptic smirk. "Sugimoto doesn't win, but she never loses."
"…That tells me absolutely nothing, Yukimura-san."
He laughed again. "Well, I can hardly delve into team secrets in front of an outsider."
His laughter was bright and sunny, especially against the depressing hospital backdrop. Truly infectious – it made her wonder if happiness could be like a disease or a cold. Catching happiness. She liked that. It reminded her of what he was like when he talked about tennis, how animated he became. "Ne, Yukimura-san," Izumi asked, a thought occurring to her. "When did you start playing tennis?"
Yukimura pondered this for moment. "I don't remember…" he said. "I just know that I started getting coached when I was five." He smiled slightly to himself. "It sounds cheesy, but I hardly remember anything before tennis."
"It's like you fell in love," Izumi murmured, a faint smile on her lips.
He chuckled. "I suppose I did." Then he turned to her, "How about you? When did you start tennis?"
"When I was ten," she said after a moment. "It was just… something to pass the time." She hoped he wouldn't be offended with her honesty. Tennis was never her true passion.
"But you like playing tennis," he pointed out.
"I do," she responded hastily. "I do like it. But not like you do." No one could love it like he did. He lived and breathed tennis. "You say that it's your life. You can't live without it. I could never love tennis that much," She felt for her hair, threading her fingers through the long strands. "I can't imagine anyone else who could."
He nodded graciously, accepting her answer. "Then… what can't you live without?"
It was on the tip of her tongue to say "dance", because she loved that more than anything. It was her everything to melt and mold into the music, to become the essence and embodiment of music itself. But she thought of how easily she quit that, how easy it was for her to give it up.
It was a tiring art, certainly not sunshine and butterflies. People didn't realize how difficult it was. Her legs ached constantly, and her body was pushed to its limits. She remembered sitting in ice baths, rubbing Neosporin on her blistered feet, and the bruises – so many bruises.
One day, when it got tough, it was just too easy to throw in the towel and say, "I'm done."
And she did regret those lost years; she wished that she'd grit her teeth and stuck through it. Seeing Shigohara move so gracefully on the court had struck something deep within her. She would never attain perfection like Shigohara already did – Shigohara had hours of practice and performance experience that Izumi didn't.
Izumi knew she was a good dancer, a great dancer, but it wasn't like she was in the league of the National Ballet or anything. And it was too late. There were thousands of other Shigoharas out there. Girls who didn't quit, girls who had more heart and drive than she ever did.
' "What can't you live without?"'
Dance was the safe answer. The wrong answer.
"Memories," she finally said.
He looked at her, eyes widening in a questioning gaze.
"They're all we are. They're all I am," she said quietly. "If I forgot who I was, I would cease to exist."
From the look in his eyes, she knew he understood.
~X~
The torment of the girl's team wasn't quite over. Tuesday came around, and it was just as bad as Monday.
This time, whoever spray-painted the locker room decided to spray-paint the edge of the tennis court as well. The girls stared at the horrible words splashed on the side of the court, feeling sickened and violated.
The tennis court was their territory. It was practically holy to them. To see it treated with such disrespect hurt them, really hurt them. It was like someone intruded into their home.
Instead of practicing, the girls spent their time cleaning up the court. Not a single word was exchanged, aside from "pass the mop."
"I heard that the tennis program here costs nearly as much to sustain as the student council."
"No way! Waste of money that is."
"Morioka, do you think you'll consider coming back to student council? Now that this tennis thing isn't working out…"
"I can't believe that Ryuzaki freshman made it on the team as a regular. She clearly can't even play."
"Hey Sayaka."
"What." She whirled angrily at the boy who'd spoken. "What, Kenji?"
"Uh…" He stepped back slightly at the anger in her eyes. "I just… I wanted to tell you that you played well in that game."
"Oh." She blinked, anger dissipating. "Thanks."
"Are people giving you guys a hard time?" he asked sympathetically.
"It sucks," she grumbled admittedly, flopping down at her desk. "It really, really sucks."
"Tell me about it," He grinned. "When the baseball team lost last year, I couldn't walk down the hallway with my head up for two weeks."
"But… argh." She ran an irritated hand through her hair. "No one ever treated me like this when the gymnastics team didn't qualify for Nationals."
"Tennis gets more attention," Kenji indicated. "And you know they did have to steal funding from other clubs in order to even reinstate the girl's competitive team." He raised his eyebrows. "You have a lot of people out for your blood."
Blood. It just reminded her of the red lettering they washed off the courts this morning, mopping up the crimson streaks and feeling like someone had stabbed them in the heart.
She wanted to bury her head under her hands and stay there forever. After a moment, she lifted her eyes to his wearily. "Does it get easier?" she asked hopefully.
"Sure, it'll die down in a couple weeks. People will forget."
"But… It's not fair. I… I won my game," Sayaka muttered. "I know that sounds so selfish, but it's not my fault. I shouldn't have to deal with this."
"Yeah," Kenji said, slumping on his desk, next to hers. "I hit a home run in my game, but no one cared about that either. It's part of being a team, right?" He raised and lowered one shoulder. "You take the burden together."
She exhaled, tilting her head up from her arms, contemplating his words. Finally, a soft smile broke out on her face. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."
~X~
End Chapter Twenty Eight.
Next chapter: Be Mine, Valentine.
In which chocolates are exchanged and Kimiko goes adventuring in Rikkai.
Review if you want to read it! Teehee :D
