Tennis no Ouji-sama © Konomi Takeshi, Shuheisha, Inc.
- Act XLIII -
Not Knowing Is Buddha
Ever since his childhood friend, best friend, also team captain, Yukimura Seiichi was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, Genichirō took Seiichi's place as both captain and also coach, trying his best to strengthen the team despite Seiichi's absence. Being a vice-captain, he had used to accompany Seiichi to the club-related meeting and being a captain in charge, it wasn't a big deal for him.
Except for that moment…
It was summer and the temperature was supposed to reach its highest but an icy cold storm was raging in his spot. Sitting on his left was the Ice Emperor of Hyotei, Atobe Keigo, and to his right was Seigaku's strongest man, Tezuka Kunimitsu. The two might never talk that much aside from something related to club and sarcasm exchange but sitting in between the two had never been that uncomfortable.
However, inspiration struck him and he came up with a new sentence for his poem.
It was one cold summer…
Oh, how deep the irony was…
Genichirō rolled his eyes to the left, then to the right, noting that both didn't greet each other at all, not even a simple nod. They usually did a simple greet, but they acted like they didn't know each other at that moment. Keigo wasn't his usual self but he still greeted Genichirō, but when his eyes met with Kunimitsu, the room's temperature dropped to zero. Genichirō decided to recede his seat a little to the back to avoid their icy gazes.
Enemies in the same boat…
Was it because of the last match?
What Keigo had done was definitely unacceptable. Taking advantage of Kunimitsu's injury and putting up a long match was something that strayed from the code of honour he always upheld. Even Akaya would most likely do something like that and for the sake of Rikkai's victory, he wouldn't stop that. However, they were sportsmen who were living in a competitive world. Kunimitsu wasn't the kind of person that would give a cold shoulder just for that very reason. The only thing that would make him so pissed off was…
"Oi, Sanada." Keigo handed him a paper that contained the information about his team's schedule for practice matches. The Regional Tournament's committee socialised the importance of practice matches and asked each school to hand in a copy of their available time for the practice match. "Pass this to Tezuka, tell him to contact Kabaji if he is interested in a practice match."
Quiet, like the forest…
Staring at the paper, he glanced at Kunimitsu who was staring intently at Keigo. The paper was definitely within Kunimitsu's reach but Kunimitsu didn't make any effort to take the paper, so Genichirō took the paper and passed it to Kunimitsu. "You've heard that, right?"
"Ah. Give this to Atobe and tell him to call Ōishi." Kunimitsu handed him Seigaku's schedule. Genichirō did as he was asked again.
"You've heard that."
"Yes. Tell Tezuka I said thank you." Keigo scrutinised the paper without even looking.
Genichirō glanced at Kunimitsu who collected his papers and tapped their edges twice to put them into a neat stack. "Tell Atobe I said thank you," he said briefly while fixing his glasses position.
He couldn't hold himself from not asking, so Genichirō cleared his throat, getting their attention. "What's the deal with making me your messenger?" Genichirō was dejected by the two, however, he tried to maintain the clarity of his mind.
Immovable, like the mountain…
"Nothing," they answered in unison. What a slack off!
It wasn't like Genichirō expected them to say anything to begin with. After all…
Not knowing is Buddha…
If it was something personal, he better stayed away from it. After shoving all the papers into his bag, Genichirō saw his flash drive and recalled that he had something he wanted to report.
"Tezuka. I'm sorry for letting it slip from my mind but did Hikari tell you anything that happened during your match?"
When Kunimitsu remained indifferent and said, "No", Genichirō felt several of his blood veins pop just at the thought of how klutz she was to not tell something so important to her brother.
What a slack off, Hikari!
Sighing, he furrowed his brows and tried to compose himself. The reminiscence of the incident alone had triggered his blood to rush to his head that he wanted to beat the scums thousand times if he could. "I have something very important to tell you. Hikari said that she would be the one to tell you but since she hasn't, I'll tell you myself."
"Did something happen to her?"
"It's…" Genichirō eyed the Ginka's captain who was sitting in the corner of the room, clearly trying to avoid him. "…those scoundrels from Ginka were up to no good to your sister during your match. I've collected the proof and want to report this assault to the committee but I should let you know first."
"What did they do?" Kunimitsu inquired, now fully paying attention to him.
"They tried to kidnap Hikari and were about to bring her to a hotel." Kunimitsu widened his eyes. For the first time, he could see the flare of anger in his eyes. But what surprised him was the sound of screeching chairs on his other side, knocking the chair off while the sitter rose to his feet with eyes widened in horror.
"What's wrong, Atobe?"
"What did you say? What did they do to her?" His voice was shaking.
"Do you know Tezuka's sister—Hikari?"
Unpredictable, like the shadow…
"What have you done to her?!" Keigo blared across the room as he strode towards Ginka's captain, pulling his collar and pushing him against the wall.
"A-Atobe! We're sorry! We didn't know that she's your—"
"How dare you touch her with your filthy hands!" Keigo raised his fist and pulled it backwards.
Invade, like fire…
"Atobe, stop!" Genichirō tried to pull him off from Ginka's captain but Keigo tightened his fist around him instead. "She was okay! They didn't get to bring her anywhere!"
"Still! They tried to—"
"Atobe! You're here to represent your team!" Kunimitsu shouted.
"She's my—"
"She has nothing to do with you! This matter is unrelated to you! Stop doing things that will put your team at a disadvantage!"
What Kunimitsu said seemed to hurt Keigo more than the realisation finally dawned on him. Keigo released his hold on Ginka's captain, but not after he said, "If you dare to touch her again, I'll crush you and your teammates to bits! Remember that, Ginka!" With that, he took his bag and left the room, even though the officials hadn't dismissed them.
"T-that girl is Atobe's girlfriend?"
"She is my sister." All the eyes in the room automatically shifted to Kunimitsu. "But even if she's not, how could you do such a horrendous thing to a girl?"
"T-Tezuka, you don't understand—"
"Stop screwing around! I don't need to understand the reason why you want to do such things to a girl!" Genichirō cocked his brows upon seeing how Kunimitsu shouted, surprising the other captains present in the room as well. It probably had been decades since he saw Kunimitsu ever show his emotion like this.
"W-we were asked to! We were asked to get her at once when we saw her! O-or else…" He suddenly cried. "We've done a stupid mistake. We wanted to play a prestigious match once in a while but it turned out we were being used as a tool for illegal tennis gambling matches…"
"Tennis gambling match? How could such a horrible thing even exist?" Just imagining it already made him taste something disgusting at the edge of his tongue.
"T-then we weren't allowed to stop, unless we find that girl and bring her to the hotel they've designated…" Ginka captain kowtowed at Kunimitsu. "I deeply apologise, Tezuka! I didn't know she's your sister. I just want to be free from them! Every time I said we don't want to do it anymore, they were sending their gang members to attack our members! T-that's why when we saw her, we didn't want to waste our chance…" He pathetically sobbed on the floor.
"I-isn't this turning into one serious case?" Fudomine's Tachibana Kippei couldn't hide his surprise, and so did the other captains.
"But why Hikari? How did they know about her to begin with?" Genichirō crossed his arms, not expecting that things would develop so much more than a sexual assault report.
"I should talk about this to my family." Though he looked stoic as usual, Kunimitsu's aura was different at that moment. Genichirō then thought up the possibility that the case had something to do with Kunimitsu's family occupation.
Genichirō submitted the violence report together with Kunimitsu and the officials declared that Ginka's tennis club was banned from joining any tournament and the case would be passed on to the police for further investigation.
"Thank you for your help, Sanada. I really appreciate what you've done for my sister." Kunimitsu bowed at him.
"I'm not a stranger to your family, Tezuka."
Though they weren't related by blood, what he felt towards Hikari wasn't different from that of Kunimitsu. He, after all, grew up with her. Their grandfathers were old-time friends but he only met Kunimitsu when they were four and Hikari was two. The moment they met for the first time when she hugged his legs with that innocent smile was still clear in his mind, so much that seeing what Ginka had tried to do with her beat that war drum within him, the drum that beat the rage of fire, wind, and lightning.
But it was interesting to see Keigo's reaction. Though both Keigo and Kunimitsu hadn't said anything yet, Genichirō had grasped the big line of what might have happened.
Sighing, Genichirō crossed his arms as he walked, pondering out of all the men who existed in the city, why an Atobe Keigo. The girl was slacking off a lot of times but he didn't expect her to have such a poor taste in men. No wonder Kunimitsu kept saying "Don't let your guard down" over and over.
When he walked out of the meeting place with Kunimitsu, he raised a brow upon seeing Keigo was still there, sitting on the bench. Keigo glanced at him as if expecting an answer to the question he only expressed through his eyes.
"They're banned from all competitions. The case will be passed on to the police," Genichirō simply said. Keigo didn't say anything in response. He didn't even look satisfied with the news.
However, he didn't even get to take two steps further when Keigo's and Kunimitsu's phones rang at the same time. Then both were running in the same direction.
Swift, like the wind…
Sanada Genichirō crossed his arms as he took a deep breath and released it to regain the zen in his mind. After all…
Not knowing is Buddha…
AN: I should write more Sanada POV in the future. Writing this chapter was somewhat fun. XD
The Japanese proverbs I'm using for this chapter don't have anything to do with religion. 'Not knowing is Buddha' [知らぬが仏] literally means 'Ignorance is a bliss' or 'what you don't know can't hurt you.' Since Sanada is a poetic person, I'm looking for the right proverbs to represent his situation in this chapter.
What is this tennis gambling, I wonder? And how is that related to Hikari's occurrence? I don't know how you feel about these super long chapters. It's already 43 and there are still a lot more things happening in the future. Can you guys comment on this line and tell me what you think about this? Should I speed up the pace or are you enjoying all the chapters as they are?
Favorite, follow, and most importantly—review are gold for me! As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the story is also posted on Wattpad. Since the site allows me to post videos and images, I might be able to pamper your eyes there. Check my account in ReikaNanatsuki!
Thank you for reading and have a nice day!
