Disclaimer: I do not own any characters/plot/etc., of the PoT manga/anime.
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"Itai! What the hell... HITOMI!"
Hitomi smiled slyly, her brown hair used to be below her shoulders when they were first years, now, in their third year, it was down to below her chest, and that was when it was in a ponytail.
"It's not my fault, Shishido," She said rather defiantly, "You didn't catch the ball in time."
"I'm a retriever, not a f*cking ninja!" He retorted back.
Chotarou sighed, "Hitomi-senpai, I think Shishido-san is tired today."
"Why is she senpai and I'm san?!" Shishido asked his kouhai.
Hitomi burst into a small fit of hidden giggles as Chotarou stuttered, unable to think of a good reason. She snaked her arm around the poor second year's arm and pulled him closer to her side.
"Aw, poor Chotarou, it's ok. Shishido is just mad because it's his last year in middle school without having gotten the number one spot in the Nationals."
"It's cause of stupid Rikkaidai!" Gakuto spat, "Them and the Three Demons."
"I always thought Yukimura-kun was nice..." Hitomi said, she looked over at the team expectantly, and most turned away.
They disagreed when it came to facing him themselves.
"Oi, Hitomi, get away from ore-sama's team."
Hitomi rolled her eyes, and, quite mockingly, used the best female fan girl voice she could, "Oh gosh, sure, Atobe-sama! Do you want me to shine your shoes, Atobe-sama? Maybe I can bring you some chocolates for Valentines Day, Atobe-sama! Don't worry, I know your favorite, Atobe-sama!"
Gakuto and Shishido snickered the loudest, and Oshitari sighed, ready to break up the two if need be.
Hitomi never meant to be so rude to Atobe, and sometimes Atobe considered the mock affection to pass for his taste, and allowed her to do so, but things between the two always fell out either awkwardly or horribly. For one thing, Hitomi had grown to actually admire Atobe during the second year, but on few points, and it grew to even fewer points once Oshitari gave her the inside advantage of hanging out with Atobe. Now she seemed to like him only as a mutual acquaintance.
"Come now, you two, we have practice, don't we?" Oshitari asked.
Hitomi snapped out of her fangirl facade, crossed her arms and went to the stands, and sat at her (what seemed to be reserved) spot in the front of the bleachers. Being the girl that she was (and knowing Oshitari, Jirou, Gakuto, and Shishido on a personal level), she always came to practice to ask Oshitari for a ride home. The tensai was the only one who knew why, and once he asked Atobe, as a personal favor, of course, Atobe complied. What the tensai's favor was? To let Hitomi stay even in the private practices so he could bring her home.
There'd been a longtime understanding that Hitomi and Oshitari were closer than most, and it even led people to believe that they were going out. Hitomi quickly dispelled the accusations with a slap to Oshitari's face, telling him that it was his fault for letting people speak of her that way. Oshitari knew he deserved it, since he led everyone to believe it. No one questioned it then, but if the matter did come up, Oshitari had two ways of dealing with it:
A) He would shut them up, before Hitomi could.
or B) He would be the one to deal with them, since it was far better that he do it than Hitomi
Today was another typical private practice, like no other, and it was exhausting. After all, Seigaku had already won against St. Rudolph, and since Seigaku won against Yamabuki, they'd go up against Hyotei.
Hyotei was preparing, they couldn't lose. They would be out of the roster for Nationals immediately after a second loss. It was all or nothing now.
Hours later, as practice ended, they all saw Hitomi leaning against the railing, dozing off as much as Jirou would be.
Oshitari sighed. It must have been a long night for Hitomi.
"Oi, Hitomi!" Shishido yelled, "Wake up, you dork!"
Hitomi muttered an obscenity to Shishido that made even Gakuto blush, yet it wasn't until she heard two familiar voices that her eyes widened.
"Hitomi napping? Now isn't that just a pleasant sight to see?"
"Pleasant? It's downright exhilarating to finally see someone like her shut up."
The voices caused Hitomi to sit up straight, and she turned around to find two people that she absolutely did not want to see.
"Who're you?" Mukahi asked.
"Kenji, Otto." She spoke indifferently to the two high school students, "What are two morons like you doing here?"
That was surprising. If anything, Hitomi was widely known around school for being one of the cordial, offering anything from homework help to acting tips. She wasn't one to throw around rude words unless it was with her favorite friends- the Hyotei tennis team, and even then she was never serious like now.
"We followed you." The first boy, Kenji, stated simply. He jumped down to the first row of bleachers and stood up straight to meet her with an amused glare.
His brown eyes matched the rugged brown hair of his. Hitomi acted calmly towards his presence. Kenji, at first glance, was handsome. But over the course of time Hitomi had come to the conclusion that he was as monstrous as one could be. He only proved that by disrespecting Kamiko.
His wilder friend had erratically spiked black hair, and his black eyes had a small hint of insanity in them. His grin scared Chotarou, Hitomi noticed.
"Wasn't it obvious?"
"H~mn, what's this? No non-members are allowed on these courts." Atobe found the two boys annoying anyway, but the fact that the two actually stalked a girl and proceeded to interrupt his practice annoyed him further.
"Then let's take this someplace else," Hitomi muttered to the two high schoolers, "I'd rather you not be so flashy. It's unflattering."
"But, you see, if we did that, there would have been no point in us coming."
She questioned them silently, and Kenji turned back to her while Otto kept his eyes on the regulars.
"We need an audience simply because you refuse to tell anyone, especially her." Kenji said.
Hitomi kept her eyes on Otto, who's glare never left Chotarou, and when he was about to jump over the rail she stopped him.
"Otto!" She yelled.
The boy stopped in his tracks, and turned around. Imagine his surprise when he felt something like a textbook smacking him across the face, Hitomi's eyes narrowed slightly when he smiled.
"Hurt my teammate again and I'll make sure you can't hold a racquet," She threatened, she composed herself when her panicked blue eyes met that of Atobe's. Her eyes shot back instantly to the two high school goers, and narrowed, "Take a step further to them and I'll make sure you can't walk."
"Now you're acting like a captain." Otto rubbed his cheek, and noticed Hitomi's script in her hands.
Hyotei was confused by the conversation. As far as they knew, Hitomi had no extra curricular activities. She barely even glanced at a racquet, and she took no interest in sporting events.
She scoffed, and put the script in her bag, "I've always been captain. No one else is qualified enough to take my place."
Shishido shot a dirty glare at Oshitari, if anyone was to know anything, it would be him. He was quiet and turned back to the exchange between Hitomi and her two companions.
"So why'd you retire?"
"Because if I'd stayed I would have beaten you and you would have been humiliated. I would've beaten anyone else you paid to play dirty too."
"Urusai!" Otto yelled back.
Hitomi didn't even flinch at the oncoming hit, and took it with her head held high, though the force of the hit caused her to fall down. Hitomi stood up. She was a stubborn one, after all. Otto had hit her so hard that her ponytail had come undone, and the red mark on her face was even redder than the one on his.
"Hitomi-chan!"/"Hitomi-San!"
She was bleeding already.
"Control yourself, Otto." Kenji smirked, "We're in enemy's territory."
"Your only enemy is me." Hitomi said; she winced as she grinned.
It was painful for her to even smile at the moment.
"If you're so high and mighty then that means you pay the price. You're responsible. You understand?" Kenji asked abruptly, he was getting tired of beating around the bush.
Hitomi nodded silently, and cast a warning glance to Oshitari. She wanted no interference.
"I can take my own consequences." She muttered to those around her, and more importantly, to herself.
It was hard for Oshitari to hold Shishido back, and Gakuto, and Jirou. But he had to, even when Hitomi bent over in pain from the punch she'd taken in the stomach. There was another punch, and Otto threw her against the rail. Once her back hit the railing Otto punched her gut, and aimed for the kidneys last.
So it was suddenly shocking to hear her breaths of suffering and pain turn into a haughty laugh. It was an insane laugh comparable to Atobe when he knew what was going on.
"You think that that could hurt me?" She laughed and looked up, her eyes narrowed in challenge, "I think I've given you more credit than you deserve."
"Why you-"
"Otto, I wouldn't."
Kenji couldn't, or rather didn't, stop Otto from kicking her so hard in the stomach. She practically flew over the railing and landed on the floor of the courts.
"Ace." Otto smirked, he thought of himself as witty because of the remark.
With the help of her friends Hitomi was able to get up, and she laughed weakly.
"It's gonna take more than that to make me stoop to your level." She spat.
A clanking noise, and her eyes widened in shock as two metal plates cracked in half and fell from her waist. She looked at them disapprovingly.
"Those weights cost me a fortune!" She winced, "That's it! The deal's done!"
"You were using those weights to pad against our blows, that's cheating." Kenji explained calmly.
"I wear those everyday!" She cried out, she stepped back and gasped when a sudden realization hit her.
"You knew that... " She accused, "You purposely made me look like I was cheating so you'd win on default! Bastard!"
She couldn't handle it anymore, and ran at the two. She looked faster than any tennis ball, and jumped up to the railing, swinging upwards so as to kick either Otto or Kenji when she landed.
A snap.
"Kabaji, retrieve her."
"Usu." Kabaji listened compliantly and caught Hitomi before she landed, and even if Hitomi struggled against the big second year her eyes remained on them.
"Bye, Hitomi-'san'." Kenji smirked.
Otto saluted her off mockingly, "See you soon, Hitomi-'chan'."
Oshitari was one of the first to recover from the incident, and looked at the metal plates on the floor.
"I thought you'd just gotten heavier." He said.
Any other moment of the day, Hitomi would have hit him. Instead, she laughed lightly, the same sparkle of playfulness lighting her face up.
"It helps me keep in shape," She remarked, "Think of wrist weights, except for your torso... The fact that I get a flat stomach always helps too."
"Hoi, this isn't the time to be joking! Who were they?!" Shishido asked, he was so much more annoyed than most.
"High-school students. American High-school students."
That was her only reply.
Before any other questions were asked, Hitomi quietly thanked the girl who called her.
"Oi! Mi-chan!" Echizen Kamiko yelled, her dark hair and light golden eyes caught sight of everyone and everything on the court.
She entered the courts happily, "Hyotei-chan...? Are you coming to Mi-chan's match too?"
Scratch that, Hitomi regret even meeting Kamiko now.
"No," She responded for them, "They're not. They don't want to waste their time on something so... Trivial."
She glanced at a certain captain for agreement, something to show he wasn't interested. He wasn't.
But the fact that he was the only one able to see her fear had in fact interested him.
"They were in the video too," Kamiko explained, holding out her cellphone and playing a video that relayed exactly what had happened before, "I thought they were coming cause they'd actually seen it happen, and everyone goes to watch Mi-chan's match. Especially when you're going up against cheaters, Mi-chan."
"No." Hitomi said for her friends, "They're not coming."
Kamiko was already convincing the team to go, "Aw, that's no fun. You owned up to your captain position already! You're more than capable of-"
"I'm perfectly capable of getting Emi and Lily to replace you, if that's what you mean," It felt as if Hitomi was ignoring the situation at hand as she grabbed her things and began walking out, "You're not getting near this match without my say. And believe me," She turned back, her eyes narrowed at every single person there, "There won't be anything nice to say either."
Kamiko waited till Hitomi was gone before smirking, and shrugged.
"Mi-chan is just being shy." She concluded.
The second year turned to Oshitari and mischievously handed him a note, "Meet us at this place in an hour, and maybe Mi-chan will be in a better mood then!"
So this chapter has a lot of explaining to do, but I promise that if you stick with me, all will be explained (inevitably)!