Chapter 4 - Similar Rivalry

After looking over Isane's wounds, the doctor lowered his stethoscope off Isane's back while standing up and sighing.

"Well, she's definitely bruised all over." He exhaled sharply while looking at all the members of the all-girls Hyotei tennis team with a raised eyebrow. "How in the world does a classy game turn into something brutal?"

Ayane shrugged with a sheepish grin. "There was a girl who got violent and hit us with tennis balls?"

The doctor gave her a droll stare. "Are you serious?"

"I wish I wasn't."

"When did girls get so violent?"

Momo deadpanned. "Apparently, the child Isane played against was raised by bears so she insisted on asserting her dominance."

Isane saw all the distraught and concerned looks on her teammates' faces. She then looked at her sweaty palm, noticing some of the blisters from the friction between her skin and her racket's grip. Her heart sank more, however, when she recalled each of the shots that slammed into her body, She saw the bruises on her forearms and legs, wincing every time she shifted her sitting position on the pillow. But the disappointment of losing to Shina hit her harder. The maniacal and bestial laughter coming from Yuugetsu Chu's freshman still echoed vividly in her memory, sending chills down her spine.

"Isa-chan?" Rin called out.

Isane snapped out of her daze.

"You okay?"

The silver-haired girl, realizing she had spaced out for a while, laughed and nodded. "Sorry, I was thinking about that freshman," she admitted mildly.

"Sunamyou Shina?" Momo raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Her demeanor felt like Shizuru's when she first joined."

Everyone then turned to the brunette who had a solemn look. Both Ayane and Kiyone exchanged glances, noticing the more crestfallen or sullen looks on their upperclassmen's faces. However, Mai clapped her hands, snapping everyone out of their grim daze.

"But we've changed and buchou has gotten better," Mai pointed out. "Right?"

Momo chuckled with an abashed shake of her head. "Right. Sorry."

Isane smiled apologetically. "We mean no offense, Shizuru-buchou."

Shizuru nodded. "It's okay. I" — she sighed and averted her gaze — "am not too fond of those days either."

Ayane blinked until the doctor was the first to break the silence.

"Well, you know what they say." He shrugged. "The strongest of friendships are forged through the hardest of times. And from the looks of it, you all had your days."

Haruka nodded. "Yeap. We all have."

Hitomi snickered and shook her head. "You have no idea."

Mai patted Shizuru on the shoulder, smiling. The brunette nodded with a knowing smile in return to the redhead.

"Speaking of." The doctor then raised an eyebrow at Ayane. "Are you not going to introduce me to your teammates, dear sister?"

Everyone's eyes widened when they all gaped at Ayane. "Sister!?"

Ayane giggled sheepishly. "Yeah, so this is my brother — Dr. Kobayagi Soujirou."

The team gawked for a moment, bewildered at how lanky and skinny Soujirou was the brother of the buxom and muscular Ayane. The only thing that made them look like siblings were their gleaming emerald green eyes. Soujirou, however, had a doe-eyed look expected from a doctor with a more professional air around him as he folded his legs and placed his notes and observations of Isane on his desk.

"Thank you for watching after my sister." Soujirou smiled sheepishly. "I know she tends to be a bit... overwhelming."

Ayane flushed red. "Hey!"

Mai snickered. "Oh, we know. Her voice's volume was the first thing we noticed."

"Mai-senpai!"

"What? Don't you know we can hear you from the tennis court even though you're at the science lab on the fifth floor?"

Ayane puffed up her cheeks and folded her arms. "Hmph!"

"I find Ayane's passionate personality a breath of fresh air," Shizuru remarked offhandedly with a polite smile.

"Awww! Thank you, buchou!"

"But I do admit that it can land her in quite an amount of trouble."

Ayane pouted with puckered lips and hands planted on her hips. "Hey!"

Chuckling, Soujiro shook his head. "Well, what can I say? She's an energetic personality; there's a lot to love and hate about that. You must be the famed Kurenai Shizuru-buchou. Ayane talks quite highly about you."

The female Kobayagi's face turned as red as Mai's hair. "H-Hey!"

Shizuru raised an eyebrow. "I take she's probably told you how much I work her to the ground?"

"Oh, quite the contrary. She admires your tenacity. She says your ability to unnerve Atobe is admirable."

"Ah, I don't quite follow."

Mai snickered at the comment. "Well, Atobe does get annoyed when people aren't all in shock and awe of him. Most especially girls."

"So I hear." Soujiro chuckled before turning back to Shizuru. "She also says you're quite the leader to look after all of them."

Shizuru shrugged. "Ayane does well in helping me keep them in line especially" — she shot a pointed look at Isane with a raised eyebrow — "the terribly stubborn ones."

Isane shrunk into her chair.

"And thus, even the demure-faced captain hides a monster beneath." Soujiro sighed with a shake of his head. "Take it easy on her, okay?"

Momo snickered. "Don't worry, we will." She then patted Isane on the shoulder with a reassuring smile. "I'm going to be taking the slot from her for a while."

Isane nodded with a weak smile. "Yeah."

Nodding, he turned to Ayane with a smirk. "So, 6 games to love?"

Ayane grinned. "6 games to love, baby."

Kiyone beamed and jumped onto the bed. "They were hard at first then, their brains kind of melted because Yane-yane smashes balls like a truck."

"I'm sure," Soujiro chuckled, amused by Kiyone's explanation. "Anyone would be bound to wet themselves if they saw one of Yane-chan's shots flying into their face. Although" — he tapped his chin — "it's a good thing she just his tennis balls. Before tennis, anything from a table to a car's license plate became a weapon of choice."

Ayane's ears turned beet red. "Soujiro-nii-san!"

Haruka gasped. "No kidding!"

"No kidding. Ozuma-nii-san and Sai-nii-san started taking all sorts of bets, wondering if she was going to terrorize Hyotei the same way they did."

Rin blinked with surprise at Ayane. "All your brothers went to Hyotei?"

Ayane nodded. "Yeap, 100% pure Hyotei!"

"Wouldn't that mean you met Atobe-san at some point though?"

"That's the ironic part, they actually did." Soujiro shook his head. "She forgot."

Ayane gasped before blushing madly. "I did not," she protested hotly.

"So, you're telling me you forgot how happy you were when he said that you were his princess?"

Those words immediately caught all the girls' attention as they all looked at Ayane with gapes and gawks of astonishment. Even Kiyone stared at her doubles partner, slack-jawed at the revelation.

"He called you his princess?" Kiyone gasped.

Mai shook her head. "My, my, so what did he do that made you throw the crown back at him?"

Momo whistled.

Hitomi shook her head, scribbling on her notepad. "There are three possibilities as to why she would hate him so much." She then showed her equations. "One: right after he did —"

"— Okay, nobody needs to know that!" Ayane immediately pulled down her senior's notepad. "Ugh! They don't need to know that!"

Snickering, Mai sniffed the air. "You smell that? I smell a scorned lover."

"I AM NOT A SCORNED LOVER!" shrieked the tangerine-haired vice-captain.

Shizuru, wincing from Ayane's shrieking, waved her hand. "Guys, that's enough. We don't want the entirety of Tokyo to hear about how Ayane's love life gone wrong."

Ayane gasped, completely aghast and flabbergasted. "Buchou!"

"Is that not what you want?"

"You don't have to put it that way!"

Mai hooted with laughter. "Damn, Shizuru" — she wiped a tear from her eye — "you really know where to hit where it hurts!"

Shizuru frowned. "I wasn't trying to do any of that sort."

All the girls laughed, even Isane despite her wincing every time she did so. Ayane's face, all the more, had flushed bright red as Hitomi patted her on the shoulder with an all-knowing nod.

"Don't worry." Hitomi gave her a cryptic smile, sending chills down her spine. "They too will have their moment in love."

Ayane shivered. "Why does it sound like a horror movie coming from you!?"

"But love is scary?"

"Yeah but not like that!"

Soujiro smiled at the sight of his sister making friends.

But he had to admit; he was a bit jealous of her ability to make friends out of anyone.

His days in Hyotei were not all bad but he did find them a tad lonely especially when he went to medical school. He glanced towards the photograph with a picture of him and some of his friends. Some have become too busy while others have gone before him. He sighed at the picture before glancing once again at his sister who he saw clinging for dear life to the brunette captain, screaming about how "Yamaguchi-senpai was turning romance into some scary movie." He chuckled under his breath with an amused shake of his head. His sister's friends were true characters.

"Speaking of which." He hiked his thumb over to the sunset shining from his window. "Don't you girls have to head home?"

Isane jumped up with a yelp. "Oh right!" She then winced. "Itachi and Sasuke are waiting for me. To think Itachi's making his amazing curry today!"

Haruka groaned. "Nooooo, I have to study Accounting!"

"Don't remind me," Rin whined while slumping over her double's partner.

Hitomi shrugged. "Ah, I already did it."

"What!?" The twin dragons stared at her aghast. "When!?"

"It pays to be on reserve sometimes. I'll teach you two the basics."

Soujiro smiled as the pink-haired girl and her black-haired partner gushed with joy at the bespectacled blonde. The scene reminded him of how some of his friends begged and pleaded with him to do their accounting homework for them. But the secret to his success was that their mother had needed help managing his three siblings so he offered his help. It just so happened he had a knack for it. Someone did have to keep track of all the pans Ayane had dented over people's heads, Ozuma's expenditures to accommodate his increased food intake whenever competitions arrived, and whenever Sai had to go abroad for competitions.

The indigo-haired senior nodded. "I have to head back. The security of my condo will lock me out."

Soujiro blinked in surprise. "You live alone?"

"Yeah." She then shrugged. "But, it's a lot better than living where I used to be."

He glanced at Mai and Shizuru. "How about you two?"

Mai grinned. "I have a recital to practice for and" — she nudged the brunette — "Shizuru's heading home?"

Shizuru shook her head. "I'll be heading over to the dojo. It's my promotion today."

"Oh right! Karate, was it?"

"Mm-hm."

"Good luck. How do you even balance that with tennis?"

Shizuru giggled. "It helps my breathing and also makes sure I can take a beating from someone like Ayane."

Ayane pouted. "Wow, I'm a standard now?"

"Consider it a flattery." Momo snickered. "Most guys wouldn't even dare take a shot from you."

Soujiro nodded. "I would have to agree with your violet-haired senpai over here."

Ayane gawked at him before groaning.

"Oh come on!"

After saying their goodbyes, all the girls went in their separate directions.

Shizuru, however, chose to linger near the courts a bit longer.

As the streetlights flickered on, Shizuru walked along the cobblestone pathway until she reached another court with a scoreboard. On one side, it read some other school she didn't recognize. However, the score read a winning record of 3 out of 5 games and she saw the winner's name clearly: SEIGAKU. She bit her lower lip and her hand trembled as she recalled how skilled they were last year. She and Mai won their Doubles Match but the rest of the team had been wiped out, including the captain back then. It was then she remembered the red-haired freshman who the previous Hyotei captain, Kotetsu Naomi, had declared to be her rival.

"Souma Fuuka," she murmured.

She had played against her during the Nationals, narrowly scoring a win. Shizuru couldn't forget the score that sealed her opponent's fate. 50-48 — everyone had said that it was the highest tiebreaker anyone had seen in the middle school female's division in tennis. It was also this match that immediately bumped her up to captaincy when the previous captain had graduated. She remembered the look of disappointment on the other seniors' faces but the other candidate had shrugged it off, saying that it wouldn't fit since Naomi had already declared Fuuka to be her rival.

She sighed and walked away, moving further from the tennis courts while deep in thought. Although she appreciated Naomi's trust in her skill, Shizuru couldn't help but feel that Momo had been slighted for being passed over. It had been unheard of in the entirety of Hyotei that a freshman would take on the captaincy. That is until Atobe invented the rule of The Virtue of Power. Time-consuming the rule was but, it's what prevented people from questioning the decision. Momo decided to play against her and was soundly defeated by her.

"Can we do it though?" She asked no one in particular.

While walking, she heard someone hitting tennis balls on the court. Blinking in curiosity, she strode over and saw a tall young man with dark coffee-blonde hair with oval-framed glasses. Shizuru recognized the royal blue and white jersey with the red stripe as Seigaku but, she didn't recognize him. However, she found it impossible to tear her eyes away from his form as each stroke was so graceful. No wasted energy and the explosive sounds he made from his hits didn't look like it took much effort at all.

Amazing.

She stood frozen in place, watching each of his moves. What if he spotted her? Would he call her a stalker? Didn't she have a promotional exam for Karate to get to? None of those questions were unable to persuade her eyes to look away. Shizuru's mouth slightly opened in amazement, watching how his body easily responded to the power and speed of each shot that bounced off the wall.

Incredible.

"He's quite a view, isn't he?" A smooth voice remarked.

Shizuru snapped out of her daze and saw a honey-haired young man with a serene smile. He wore the same jersey as he did although, he looked slightly shorter than the male who was using the court. A shiver ran up her spine; it was a familiar shiver too. One that she often felt whenever Nagisaki Mai had some insane plan in mind that would drive her bananas.

"You're from Seigaku," Shizuru pointed out.

"And you're from Hyotei," he replied. When he opened his eyes with a more serious look, Shizuru felt paralyzed by his sky-blue gaze. "Reporting back to Atobe?"

That snapped her out of it. "What?"

"Why else would you be here?"

"I'm going home?"

"Yet, you could have done that 15 minutes ago."

Shizuru, realizing he was right, shook her head in annoyance. "Atobe-senpai can do his own reconnaissance. He doesn't need me to do it."

"Ah." He stopped for a moment. "A fan, perhaps?"

"I only met him today." Shizuru pointed out before bowing. "My apologies if I bothered you."

Before the honey-haired young man could say anything, she heard someone call him. "Fuji. Stop it."

She looked behind the young man named Fuji and saw the other male who had been walling standing right behind him with a stony yet disapproving look. So, the one I've been talking to is Fuji-san from Seigaku. I wonder who he is, Shizuru wondered to herself.

Fuji, sighing, resumed back to having a serene smile. "Saa~, Tezuka. I wasn't going to do anything."

Tezuka. She repeated his name in her mind. Shizuru swore she heard that name before. But for the life of her, she couldn't remember where.

"Fuji," Tezuka repeated his name, except a little more forceful this time.

"Fine." Fuji chuckled and then turned to Shizuru. "I'm sorry. It's just rare to see a girl out this late."

Shizuru nodded. "I'm more amused that you thought I was one of Atobe's spies. The man's got a big network. Why send me?"

"Oh, come to think of it — I didn't get your name. What's your name?"

Shizuru smiled. "Kurenai. Kurenai Shizuru." She then bowed. "Pleased to meet you."

So this is the girl that Souma-san's afraid of.

Tezuka had only heard stories about Kurenai Shizuru and how Seigaku's captain, Souma Fuuka, had a deep-seated obsession with her. Every day, Fuuka would train with people like him, Fuji, and even play against two people on purpose to push herself to the limit. But no matter the opponent, Souma Fuuka had never wavered. Yet every time the name Kurenai Shizuru was mentioned in her presence, she would freeze and slightly shiver. Now standing right in front of the source of Fuuka's frustration, Tezuka found himself enchanted by her ruby-red eyes. But to be completely convinced that she was nothing but gentle, he realized, was absolute folly for all it took from him was one moment of eye contact to make him feel that he was only staring at the surface of the vast and deep abyss.

To make matters worse, she was from Hyotei Gakuen — Seishun Gakuen's rival school.

"You're Hyotei's captain," Tezuka pointed out.

Shizuru smiled. "Yes, and I'm guessing you're Seigaku's?"

So, she figured it out by just watching me. "Ah."

Although he had sensed her presence a few minutes into his training, he felt no malice. Instead, there was a certain admiration that he felt from the bleachers. Unlike the fan girl's obsessive support, feeling admiration and respect from a fellow tennis player somewhat soothed and inspired him.

"That would explain a lot." Fuji then bowed to Shizuru. "I'm sorry. Hyotei and Seigaku have quite a heated rivalry."

Shizuru nodded with a knowing smile. "I'm well aware. I'm sure Fuuka would have been a lot louder if we encountered each other today."

Tezuka raised an eyebrow. "You're not playing against each other?"

She shook her head. "We're not in the same grouping, I'm afraid."

"Ah. Will you be playing again?"

"Yes, we'll be having a match tomorrow if" — she shot Fuji an amused look — "Fuuka needs you to scout for her."

First-name basis. He knitted his eyebrows together. Just how familiar was she with Seigaku's female tennis captain?

Fuji chuckled good-naturedly. "Saa~, no need to be mean about it."

"I'm sure she would have a lot of harsher things to say if she were the accused."

She wasn't wrong, Tezuka knew. Souma Fuuka hated underhanded tactics like scouting although, she was not above taking advantage of the information given by those who enjoyed stalking. But he remembered her first encounter with Inui Sadaharu. If not for Oishi's intervention, Seigaku's Data Man would have gone home in a body bag.

But Shizuru's invitation made his stomach slightly twist. Her poised expression meant two things: either she was so certain of her team's skill or it was a bluff. Either way, it triggered both his curiosity and his amusement. He had only seen Seigaku's female tennis team play; so long as Fuuka did her role as Captain, he didn't need to poke his nose into her business. However, he wanted to see what he believed was false: 80% of Hyotei's populace was only filled with rich kids or Atobe's fans. Watching Shizuru exchange barbs with Fuji with a rather blasé look intrigued him.

"Which court?" he asked.

Shizuru smiled. "Court 7." She then checked her watch with her eyes slightly widening. "Oops, I think I've kept you for too long."

Tezuka raised an eyebrow. "You're walking home alone?"

"It's not too far. I have a dojo to pass by." Shizuru nodded and began retreating before bolting off, with a few light bows. "It was nice meeting you, Fuji-san, Tezuka-san!"

As Tezuka watched Shizuru's running figure fade into the distance, he somewhat understood Souma Fuuka's one-sided obsession with her a little better. While Shizuru looked like any other Japanese schoolgirl student with her auburn brown hair and her ruby red eyes, there was something there. He couldn't put his finger on it but there was some sort of unsettling feeling inside that Shizuru wasn't showing everything. Her controlled yet poised responses — could he be reading into it too much? He wanted to deny it but, another part of him couldn't shake it off.

"You felt it too, ne, Tezuka?" Fuji's whisper snapped him out of his daze.

He stiffly nodded. "It's strange."

"She managed to get you to talk. That's an achievement on anyone's part."

The bespectacled captain frowned at the honey-haired tensai. "That's not a good gauge, Fuji."

"As someone who's known you for years, Tezuka. It's very difficult for anyone to hold a conversation with you without your little conversation killers. Kurenai-san loosened your tongue in a few minutes of knowing you."

"You did most of the talking."

A paltry excuse, he scolded himself. Fuji was right; he didn't expect himself to talk too much let alone express concern that she was walking home alone. Realizing his conflicting thoughts, Tezuka found himself baffled by the situation. Did he want to steer clear or was he going to find out more than who she was? All he had left was the invitation she extended to see her play in Court 7. Perhaps, it was a jab at Souma-san, he thought. But there was one thing he was sure of.

He was curious and his mind wasn't going to let him have any peace until he saw what she was capable of.

Seigaku's captain wasn't the only one who wasn't going to have peace that night.

For Hyotei's Sniper, Uchiha Isane, found herself standing between the door and her two brothers, Itachi and Sasuke, who were both armed with guns.

"That's aggravated assault and you know it," Sasuke growled. "Let me at the little brat."

Itachi exhaled sharply. "Isane, we can try her for attempted murder. You do know that's a crime right?"

"She's a kid!" Isane waved her hands frantically. "I'm sure she wasn't trying to kill me?"

While she understood their concern, Isane couldn't believe that her brothers were going to arrest a 12-year-old little girl for playing a brutal style of tennis. It's not even attempted murder, her mind screamed. Seeing her brothers' eyes scream bloody murder made her question herself about why she decided that tennis was a better sport to compete in than marksmanship. Tennis wasn't even supposed to be violent!

"You have bruises and a broken rib!" Sasuke snarled. "Let me at her."

Isane huffed and planted her hands on her hips. "No!"

The three siblings stared in a deadly silence with a deadlock so intense that when their father — Uchiha Rengoku — walked in, he thought they were going kill each other.

"Hey!" Uchiha Rengoku boomed.

His voice broke their intense stares and caused them to shiver. The three Uchiha siblings slowly turned towards their father who had a raised eyebrow and folded arms.

"If you three are going to kill each other," he then sighed. "At least wait until I'm away from the crime scene so I can be a father who wishes to mourn for his three crazy children in peace!?"

Uchiha Rengoku, the father to Chief of the Tokyo Police Uchiha Itachi, Lieutenant and Junior Detective Uchiha Sasuke, and Rifle Champion Uchiha Isane, still looked threatening despite the wrinkles on his forehead and his greying hair. Although his age had shrunken him in height, his toned arms showed he still had the vitality of a 30-year-old man in his prime. The clarity of his voice booming throughout the house immediately had all three siblings standing at attention.

"When I taught three of you how to use a gun, what was my first rule?" He chided.

Sasuke sighed. "Not to go shoot anybody."

"Don't abuse it," Itachi added.

"Only use for self-defense," Isane murmured.

Rengoku nodded. "Good." He then gave Sasuke and Itachi a pointed look, scanning their entire outfit. "Now, why are the two of you all ready to go out on a drug sting operation?"

"Because there's a little brat who needs to be jailed for aggravated assault," Sasuke grumbled.

"Okay." Rengoku nodded slowly. "Who's the victim?"

Isane meekly raised her hand. "M-me," she squeaked.

Rengoku's eyes widened. "What!?"

Itachi shook his head and stowed his gun away, raising his hands in surrender while walking off. "Well, you're on your own for that one."

Isane gasped. "Aniki!" She turned to Sasuke. "Otōto?"

Her younger brother shook his head. "Nope."

Isane groaned. The last thing she needed was for her dad to know that she got hurt in tennis. "Dad, I —"

Rengoku hiked his thumb over his shoulder. "Box. Now."

Realizing what she was in for, Isane gulped and marched straight to her father's office.

Her father's office looked like a typical office with an office desk and papers. But the office had earned its name, the "Box," because it was built like an interrogation room. Complete with a one-sided mirror and an intercom that can connect people within the house, the room served as the place where Isane, Itachi, and Sasuke often had a stern-talking with their dad.

Isane shivered before sitting down on one of the chairs, closing her legs and watching her fingers fiddle with one another. She heard her father draw out a chair and take a seat in front of her, exhaling sharply.

"Isane," he started.

Isane weakly looked up with a nod.

Rengoku sighed. "How is it you got beaten up in tennis? Of all sports, a classy game like tennis isn't supposed to involve brutes."

She shook her head and then lowered it. "I... I don't know. I wasn't strong enough to stop her shots —"

"— Now, you and I both know that's not true. You can use your tennis racket as accurately as a rifle," he cut her off. "Was it because you weren't strong enough or you got scared of her?"

"I don't know."

"No, you do know." Rengoku exhaled before reaching out and opening his palm. "Isa."

When her father called her again, Isane felt something hot sting her eyes but looked up nonetheless, trying to suppress her hiccups.

"Pixie, I know you don't hold anything against your opponent." Rengoku gave her an empathetic smile. "But, don't you think you're taking your injuries a little too lightly considering you came home with bumps and bruises the size of tennis balls?"

Isane couldn't say anything save silently nod. After all, her dad had called her by his pet name for her: Pixie. They all had one, including Sasuke and Itachi. Sasuke got Ducky because he once fashioned his hair like a duck's tail while Itachi got Sneaky because his name meant "weasel." But all three Uchiha siblings knew that their dad only used their pet names when he wanted to convey something with a lot of love.

She sniffed. "I thought I had it..."

"Had what?"

"I thought I wasn't scared of the net before. That, I could actually win."

Rengoku sighed before raising an eyebrow at her. "Did you freeze?"

Isane blinked. What kind of question was that? "No?"

"Are you asking me or are you telling me?"

"No. I didn't freeze."

Rengoku, nodding, stood up and patted her head. "Then, you're growing."

"But I lost."

"You can't win them all, Isa. But the important part is, you tried." Rengoku crouched in front of her. "What did always say whenever you missed a shot?"

Isane, sniffling, rubbed her eyes and smiled a bit. "Take the shot even if you have 1% of it landing because you'll always miss the shots you never take."

Rengoku, seeing her weak smile, opened up his arms. The Uchiha daughter wanted to bury herself in a hole for her recklessness but, there was some silver lining: proving that she could attack the net unlike before. But a loss was still a loss. Isane then crawled into his arms, still slightly sobbing and sniffling. The father then patted and rubbed circles on her back, nodding.

"You'll get it next time."

Although school resumed as usual, Momo felt like she had to drag herself over to the classroom.

The irony of it all was that her apartment was right across the school.

Sighing, she raked her fingers through her long indigo hair and dragged her tennis bag along with her. Although she knew that the classes were important, her mind focused more on what happened to Isane during the match. She definitely improved, Momo realized. But what caught everyone off-guard was how much of a monster Sunamyou Shina was. Bruises, bumps, and even feral growling — she had only seen one player use that ability, and even then, it was uncontrollable.

"I wonder how Akaya-kun is doing," Momo wondered aloud.

"Who's Akaya?" someone asked.

She blinked in surprise, spotting Haruka right next to her. "Oh, Haruka!"

Haruka raised an eyebrow. "Everything okay?"

Momo chuckled lightly. "Sort of, I guess."

"Isane?"

"Am I that obvious?"

Haruka shook her head. "It would make sense. Everyone was disturbed by yesterday's match."

Noticing Haruka's sheepish smile, Momo sighed in resignation. "I've only seen someone use that ability and it was also hard to put him on a leash."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he was from Rikkai Dai."

Haruka drummed her fingers on her chin. "Is that the one they called Kirihara Akaya?"

"Rikkai Dai's latest wildcard, yeah," Momo nodded.

"He scares me. Like, I only looked at him once and he looked like he could shred me to pieces."

If only they knew how much of a child Akaya actually was, Momo snickered in her mind. "He kinda can on the tennis court. But other than that, he's a bit of a baby," she admitted.

"You guys were close?"

"More or less, even after I transferred."

Haruka nodded before patting her shoulder. "Don't worry, Isane will be fine. I think she learned her lesson about pushing violent tennis matches."

Momo laughed. "She better. I don't want to know what her brothers would have done to Shina if they found out."

"Yeah, you have the chief of police and a junior detective for brothers — both who know how to use guns."

Nodding with a bittersweet giggle, Momo trudged to her classroom, ignoring that she was dragging her school bag on the ground. While she wondered if Isane would call in sick today, she figured that the Sniper would have gone to class either way. She wasn't going to miss watching a string of matches if it meant making up for the mess she made of herself yesterday. She sighed again with a shake of her head.

It was going to be a long day.

Although classes remained boring, something was heating up at the tennis court, especially at Court 7.

For a staredown that somewhat felt like a Mexican stare-off was happening between the boys' tennis team of Hyotei and Seigaku.

The tension was so thick that one word would serve as the figurative knife to start a war. All the schools were aware of Hyotei and Seigaku's rivalry but, none of them knew it was that strong. All the tennis players from the other schools could do nothing but try their best to scurry away while fighting down the awkward feeling that knotted up in their stomachs. After all, two of the strongest tennis players stared each other down: Seigaku's Tezuka Kunimitsu and Hyotei's Atobe Keigo.

Atobe smirked. "Tezuka Kunimitsu" — he folded his arms — "What brings you here to Court 7?"

Tezuka shook his head. "I was invited."

Invited? Atobe wondered. "Is that so?"

"You can ask Kurenai-san yourself."

Atobe exhaled sharply and pursed his lips. "So she did."

There were days he wanted to yell at her but, there were other days he wanted to praise her.

Today, however, was a day he wanted to strangle her.

Why on earth would Kurenai invite a rival school to watch her!? Atobe's mind screamed in frustration. How confident was she that she had invited Seigaku to watch their match? But why invite the men's team? They had no business being within the Hyotei girls' team. His fists clenched until his knuckles paled, signaling him to start breathing to calm down. Shizuru had a lot to explain to him! An Atobe doesn't lose his cool over something so petty, he reminded himself.

Suddenly, someone tapped his shoulder. "Ah, you're early, Atobe-senpai," a calm voice greeted.

He whirled around to see the source of his ire with a patented smile on her face. "Kurenai, you invited Tezuka?"

Shizuru shrugged. "Only because someone accused me of scouting for you."

Atobe suppressed a cough, still choking out his shock. What a foolish idea! "Arn~, is that so?"

She goaded them, he realized. From strangling her, he didn't know whether to praise her for her pride or chide her for the strange move.

Shizuru nodded. "I offered the courtesy. After all, if I accidentally pass the information of what I saw yesterday to you then, at least they would have no excuse to whine about it, yes?"

Atobe smirked and raised an eyebrow at Tezuka. "I didn't know you were that secretive, Tezuka."

Tezuka's eyebrows creased. "I have nothing to hide, Atobe."

"So you say." Atobe nodded before turning to Shizuru. "So, what was your grand plan, Kurenai?"

Shizuru smiled and then cast a sideward glance at her teammates who made their way down to the court. "What do you think, Atobe-senpai?"

She then walked away, much to Atobe's annoyance, leaving him to deal with Seigaku. He raked his fingers through his hair before noticing that the rest of Seigaku's male team showed up a few moments later. Trailing behind them, it was Seigaku's female team and he recognized only the muscular redhead: Souma Fuuka. Word on the courts was that her physical strength was on a whole new level, surpassing Ayane in both force and accuracy.

"So you're Hyotei's King," he heard Fuuka say.

Before he could respond, the magenta-haired acrobat, Gakuto, raised an eyebrow at her. "What's it to you?"

Fuuka smirked. "Nothing. Just wanted to know how a king managed to lose control of a queen."

Atobe felt his fury build at the jab. "She is not ore-sama's queen."

"She's still Hyotei's. You're supposed to keep her in check," Fuuka rebuked.

As if Tezuka does the same for you, Atobe wanted to fire back but chose to shut his mouth instead when he heard a loud explosion akin to a gunshot. He turned to the field and saw the other two girls from the opposing school on the floor while Ayane displayed a perfect double-fisted backhand. He then glanced at Fuuka who already began gripping the metal fence with her lavender eyes shining. Was it out of excitement or intimidation? He didn't know but when his eyes wandered towards the scoreboard, he saw it had only been Doubles Two. Kurenai doesn't normally put Getsugan and Kobayagi in Doubles Two, he realized.

"It's a challenge," the blue-haired bespectacled Oshitari murmured. "It's like she's saying —"

"— Come and get me," Shishido finished.

Atobe recognized the colors of the jersey, however. Fudomine Chuu, he spotted the school's logo on the black and white striped jersey. He remembered Hyotei facing them once but let Shishido handle it back then. However, they lost which resulted in Seigaku being the one to take them out. He only knew that the men's tennis team had been rebuilt. But he didn't know that Fudomine Chuu also had a female team. He didn't recognize any of them however but, why would Shizuru bring out her team's full power against an unseeded school like Fudomine?

"Game and Match: Kobayagi-Getsugan, 6-0!"

Was that even a match? The girls could barely return any of Ayane's and Kiyone's shots! While he would understand if someone managed to return some of Kiyone's shots, returning Ayane's shots meant risking one's wrist. He recalled the one time he caught Ayane's forehand before shaking his head vehemently and massaging his shoulder.

"Singles Three: Hyotei Gakuen's Nagisaki Mai versus Fudomine Chuu's Arasaki Ran!" The arbiter announced. "Please report to the court."

Arasaki Ran — a name that he had only heard a handful of times. She wasn't National's Calibre but she had the potential to be one according to Shizuru. From what he heard, the female tennis team in Fudomine Chuu was so underfunded that they didn't even have a court of their own. Although he heard Fudomine Chuu's captain, Tachibana Kippei, had rebuilt the tennis team, the women's team still had no structure.

"Game, Arasaki: 1-0!"

The announcement shocked him as he saw Mai just standing on the court as if checking her nails.

Now what!?

Shizuru exhaled and raised an eyebrow as Mai walked up to her to change court. "Mai, really?"

Mai shrugged. "I kinda felt bad that Ayane and Kiyone steamrolled the other two."

Momo snickered and shook her head. "Wait, why are we even bringing out the big guns for this round?"

Shizuru pointed with her nose. "Look at the bleachers, Momo-senpai."

Once Momo got a good look at who stood at the bleachers, her jaw slightly dropped. "Seigaku?"

Hitomi nodded. "It seems that the boy's team slighted buchou yesterday."

Haruka blinked before raising an eyebrow at Shziuru. "But didn't you have a promotional exam yesterday?"

Shizuru sighed. "Yeah" — she shrugged — "I was a bit late but I managed to get there on time and get my belt."

"Awesome! Congratulations!"

Hyotei's captain nodded before turning back to Mai. "As for you, how long as you going to play around?"

Mai snickered. "Relax, Captain" — she waved her hand dismissively — "I'll put on a good show. You won't even have to play."

"Mai."

"What? Were you hoping to play?"

Shizuru sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Never mind."

Mai snickered while pinching her captain's cheeks. "Chill out, I know exactly what to do."

While Mai headed off to her side of the court, Shizuru glanced towards the bleachers and saw the Seigaku's teams — both boys and girls — having a good look at how they play. It'd be a shame if we didn't give them a good show, Shizuru thought before looking toward Mai who nodded back at her.

This one's in the bag.

Shizuru smiled lightly until she felt Hitomi tap her shoulder. "Hm?"

Hitomi shook her head. "Shouldn't you have played Singles 3 if you wanted to show off?"

The brunette blinked, tilting her head to the side. "I wasn't trying to show off."

"Then, what were you trying to do?"

Shizuru shrugged. "Nothing really."

"Buchou, you can't say that when it looks like you knew that Seigaku would show up here."

"That's the interesting part: I didn't."

Hitomi exhaled sharply. What was Shizuru playing at?

While she knew Atobe and the rest of his team would show up for support, it was Seigaku's team that she didn't expect full attendance from. Hitomi knew that Shizuru had been accosted by Seigaku's boys' tennis team yesterday but she didn't expect her to invite them over to watch. She glanced back at her captain who focused more on the outcome of Mai's match. Biting her lip, Hitomi turned back to her notebook that had Mai's name as its label with the word "Vol. 3" right next to it. She tightened her grip on her pen, clicking its button repeatedly. Despite all the days spent researching the two of them, none of her theories held water in trying to predict their behavior.

Assuming buchou did invite them, Hitomi tapped the pen against her chin. What would the Hyotei team gain from showing their skills against Seigaku? Or, perhaps that was the wrong question: what would Seigaku gain from watching Hyotei fight against an unseeded team? Almost the entirety of the Kanto region knew that the Hyotei's women's tennis team were all Nationals-caliber players! So it didn't add up.

Unless she's goading them to play just as hard, Hitomi realized.

"Game and match: Nagisaki, 6-2!"

She saw Mai shake hands with Arasaki Ran before walking over to the captain, smirking. "Good enough?"

Shizuru nodded.

"Alright then." Mai grinned before hiking her thumb over her shoulder. "Haruka-senpai, Rin-senpai, you're up."

The Twin Dragons of Hyotei nodded before picking up their rackets, and walking over to the court. Hitomi observed the two girls' expressions with Rin greeting her opponents with a bubbly smile while Haruka had one just as inviting but less energetic. Rin's childlike and cheerful behavior is one that leads most opponents to underestimate her, leading people to believe that Haruka is the only one who makes plans, she recalled her notes about the Twin Dragons. She closed her notebook and instead turned her attention to understanding her captain's motives.

"You're just as stumped as Atobe-senpai," a voice suddenly called her out.

Hitomi turned to see Mai with her arms folded, raising an eyebrow. "Would you happen to know?"

Mai shrugged. "Not really but I do have a working theory."

"Enlighten me."

"What if, Shizuru didn't have a motive to begin with?"

Hitomi frowned. "Mai-chan, that —"

"— Shizuru is capable of being fickle and simple-minded," Mai pointed out. "Everyone thinks that Shizuru has some devious plan when there's not a single devious bone in her body. Being a plotter is more my thing."

"Fair but, wouldn't you like to find out if Shizuru-buchou has a more devious side?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Being devious isn't her thing. She can be at times, yeah but, this one doesn't have a devious feel to it. It feels more like a coincidence, to be honest."

Hitomi nodded lightly. Maybe Mai was right; Shizuru's provocation could just be a coincidence. If there was anything the two sophomores of the Hyotei tennis team were capable of, it was their unpredictability. Nobody knew what they were going to do. When she looked up, Haruka and Rin were already walking off the court, barely breaking a sweat.

"Game and match: Hikifumi-Shimohi, 6-0!" The announcer then gestured for both teams to meet. "Hyotei wins, 3 games to 0!"

Hitomi followed the rest of her teammates toward the net, bowing to each other.

"Thank you for the match!" they chorused.

More like a one-sided slaughter, Hitomi thought to herself while returning Arasaki Ran's forced-out smile with an empathetic one.

After their goodbyes, Fudomine Chuu trudged out of Court 7, leaving Seigaku and Hyotei alone with each other. The eyes of both the women's teams never left each other even with Hyotei climbing up the stairs. The women had not moved from their spots and while Fuuka had a hardened look, Shizuru maintained a calm — or almost blasé — expression but her eyes had not broken from the other captain's eye contact. Hitomi noticed that their Seigaku counterparts had stepped up right next to their captain.

Amagi Karin stared at her, hard.

Renkeikouji Atoli had a confident smile to which Mai returned with one of her own.

Although hiding her nervousness and holding Kiyone's shoulder in a tight grip, Ayane exhaled sharply while staring down a glaring Jerrard Vera with a quivering Ryuuzaki Sakuno clinging to her arm.

Haruka and Rin smiled at the amused Tashiko Midori and a bored and brooding Mouri Enma.

Shibuya Rangiku gave an innocent childlike smile to a stern-faced Sanada Momo.

But the stare between the two captains sent shivers up everyone's spine. Hitomi had spotted Hyotei's Ootori Choutarou slightly taken aback while even Atobe couldn't disguise the astonishment in his eyes with an arrogant smirk. She saw one of Seigaku's male players with dark red hair, cowering slightly behind his teammate with a black bowl-shaped haircut, and even the ones who she recognized as Tezuka and Fuji showed their own unease with Tezuka's nose wrinkling slightly and Fuji's electric blue eyes peeking from beneath his lashes.

"Kurenai," Fuuka started.

Shizuru nodded. "Souma-san."

"Shame that Fudomine Chuu had to be made a sample of today."

"Were they? I simply asked my team to play like they usually do."

Fuuka's eyebrows furrowed. "Really? Amagi tells me that your two new bloods usually play Doubles One."

Shizuru shrugged. "I wanted them to learn about rhythm setting; they were more than happy to do so."

Tezuka thought he had seen intense rivalries.

But Souma Fuuka and Kurenai Shizuru's rivalry caused the hair on his nape to stand on its ends.

Fuuka's clenched fists however told him enough that one more word out of Shizuru could trigger her rage. But the brunette seemed completely unfazed, similar to when Fuji pushed her buttons. Her smile had not changed, leaving him to wonder if Shizuru could handle one of Fuuka's rampages.

"Tezuka, I don't think it's a good idea to let Fuuka-chan run amok like this," Oishi whispered.

Tezuka nodded. He stepped forward to snap Fuuka out of her intense staring match but noticed that Atobe had moved up right next to Shizuru.

"Are you planning to involve yourself, Tezuka?" Atobe smirked.

Blood boiled inside him but Tezuka closed his eyes and exhaled to calm himself down. But his irritation aside, he had to make sure Fuuka didn't fly off the handle. The last time she did, it was a mess that he spent weeks cleaning up. Even Seigaku was ready to expel her, regardless of her almost spotless tennis record.

He then placed his hand on Fuuka's shoulder. "Souma-san, that's enough."

Fuuka shot him a withering glare. "What?"

He ignored her venomous hiss. "You will have your chance," he said.

Was it a Hyotei thing to push people's buttons?

While wondering about the answer to his question, Tezuka did notice that while Atobe had a mocking and almost provocative look, Shizuru's remained rather unfazed. But he could feel it. It was the same feeling he felt when he saw her for the first time. It was as if something hid behind that calm and composed look; something more dangerous and bloodthirsty that chilled his blood. If he had to describe Shizuru's presence in comparison to Fuuka's, Fuuka's felt like a volcano's impending explosion. Shizuru's, on the other hand, felt like a creeping darkness that could slit a person's throat and walk away without being bothered.

His throat tightened slightly from the sheer weight of the tension until Atobe clapped his hands, snapping everyone out of it.

"Ore-sama is not one to waste time." Atobe chuckled before turning to Shizuru. "You shouldn't be one too, either."

Shizuru giggled softly before turning away. "Of course."

That smile sent a shiver up his spine again, as if his whole body froze. The Hyotei women's team soon followed after her with Atobe smirking, waving him off.

"See you around, Tezuka."