Hello guys! This is the next chapter in the story, once again I do not own Prince of Tennis but my OC's belong to me. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it'll be slow again but a bit of drama will occur mid-way, stay tuned for it :3 thank you again for those who have stuck through this fanfic of mine, really appreciate it!
Also, from time to time, it will be in other characters POV in the next coming chapters if you ever get confused!
IZUMI POV
After school came by quicker than I thought - first day of classes weren't bad but it could of gone smoother. I pack my things in homeroom as I get ready to walk down to the lockers, retrieving my outdoor shoes. I want to visit my mother so after putting the shoes on, I get my phone out to text Inori saying that I'll visit mother first and then drop by at hers. As I start to walk forward, someone calls my name.
"Kanagawa-chan, nyaa wait for us!" I hear a childish voice, similar to the one in homeroom and I turn around to see the red-haired boy that sits next to me in class, his expression very cat like.
"Oh, hello...uhm," I reply, bowing forgotten to ask his name.
"Kikumaru Eiji Nyaa," he replies, smiling. I see from behind him, Tezuka and Fuji are walking accompanied by another boy who has short hair, much shorter than the other three. I bow to them as a little greet as I waited.
"Saa, going home? Let's walk together," Fuji says, smiling and something behind that smile makes me wonder if he only said that because he wants to see Inori.
"I'm actually going to the hospital, first, uh," I reply, awkwardly and his smile brightens.
"Well, Tezuka is going there too right? Why don't you both walk," he says, grinning like a cheshire cat once again and I sigh, he's up to something.
"Honestly its ok, I'm sure Tezuka has a busy schedule," I say as I turn around but his voice stops me in my tracks.
"I don't mind," and with that statement he walks up next to me, slightly glancing down at me, his eyes gesturing for us to walk. I could only nod, then with a wave good-bye to the others, we both begin to walk to the station that would take us to the hospital.
"What are you up to, Fuji," Oishi Shuichiro questions, sweat-dropping. Fuji just chuckles, proud of what he did.
The train journey didn't feel as awkward as I thought it would be. We stood side by side, both of us holding onto the support above us. I hear some people whisper about me cross-dressing as a high school girl and it makes me angry, are they so simple-minded that maybe some girls can be my physique? I almost felt uncomfortable until Tezuka moves so he is blocking the view of the stares. I look up at him, even though I didn't need to stretch too much I felt like I was smaller with how close he was. His gaze is on the people whispering, upon realising this they turn away, embarassment etched on their faces.
"Thank you..." I say quietly and he looks down, then with a small nod he faces the outside, the buildings and power-lines zooming past us. After disembarking the train, we walk to the hospital that is a 10 minute walk. I decided to break the silence.
"So uhm, why do you need to go to the hospital?" I ask, slightly taking a glance at him. His eyes advert to me, then back to the front.
"My elbow has joint problems due to overusing it at tennis. I need regular check-ups," he replies and I nodded, I wasn't sure if that was a good question to ask since I'm sure he's wanting to know my reason of going but again, I wasn't sure if I'm ready to actually tell the reason. He didn't pry or ask, we just walk again in silence. After sometime we reach the hospital, I bow and say I have to go the other direction to him. He nods and we part ways - I feel like I can breathe again. I never realised I was holding my breath.
"I'm here again mother," I say as I enter, the flowers from before wilting. I throw them away, I didn't have a change of new ones but I decided I'll buy some tomorrow after club activities. I tell her about my first day in high school, what I did and that I signed up for the volleyball team. I continue talking, but I feel so lonely despite her being the room. I grip the blankets, she is still breathing but I couldn't help but cry a little, the tears spilling out my hopes beginning to dampen at her awakening.
"I miss you so much...so much," I whimper, crying now and I can't seem to stop the tears. I suppose this is what you call bottling up your emotions for too long and then you decide to unleash it. I hear the door slide open and I look up quickly wiping the tears then my eyebrows creased in anger.
"What are you doing here?" I spit venom into the question as I see my dad, holding flowers and his face crestfallen. Behind him is his mistress who had a smile like a cheetah, ugly and disgusting.
"I came to visit..." my dad said, quietly and his mistress comes in all happy then tries to hold my hand, I snatch it away, "get away from me, from us. You cheating monster," I angrily shout, she got taken aback as she steps back, horror in her face.
"I never realised she was like this, she must of gotten it from her mother for sure," she smirks, knowing full well that made me angry, but I chose to be the bigger person.
"You don't have the right to speak like that about my mother. She would never be a whore and fuck another man, having an affair like you did - disgusting ugly witch!" I shout, incredibly angry now and I couldn't help it, I didn't feel like me - all the anger and sadness erupting like a volcano. Her face changes to something of angry as well, she brings her hand up to slap me but another hand stops her. It wasn't my dad's.
"Violence in a hospital shouldn't be tolerated. You are disturbing the patient and otherse around you," Tezuka's deep voice comes in, he lets go of the mistress' hand as he walks inside, standing in front of me, "Kanagawa isn't comfortable with you being here and you are causing her distress as well as the patient," he continues and on time security and nurses come in.
"That's her father and I am her step-mother, you can't just tell us to leave!" She shouts and I growled, about to jump towards her but Tezuka stops me, his gaze politely telling me to calm down, so I do.
"Ma'am, sir, please kindly leave - you are disturbing the other patients in this area," the nurse who looks after my mother speaks sternly, ignoring the outburst of the witch. She scoffs as she walks away, my dad turned around, throwing the flowers he was going to give before leaving, his expression filled with pain and guilt. Tezuka caught it for me, even though I could easily do it myself since I'm about his height, but from the back he looks more mature than anyone else. He protected me.
"Thank you...Tezuka," I whisper quietly, my tears threatening to spill now and so it did. I cried, gripping the back of his school shirt tightly, he didn't move nor make an attempt to stop me. The nurse looks on in worry as she leaves with the security.
"It'll be fine," he says after I calm down. I could only nod, no words were able to come out. We stand like that in silence until he turns around, he grabs something from his pocket as he wipes my tears away. My eyes meet his, our heights perfect for the contact, his honey brown eyes meet my golden ones. His usual stoic hard expression turns into something soft, I wasn't sure if it's the lighting or him feeling sorry for me - a broken individual.
After I said good-bye to my mother and apologising for the drama, I walk out with Tezuka, him holding the flowers and I tell him to throw it in the bin. He didn't hesitate to stuff it in the bin. Why did my dad decide to come visit? I still wasn't sure, the encounter today gnawing at me. Would I see him at home or should I just head over to Inori's and explain what just happened.
"Thank you, Tezuka...for being there," I say, quietly as I feel a brush creep to my cheeks.
"It's fine. If you need support, I'll be here," he says, his voice unwavering and I look at him from the side, shocked at what he just said. He didn't seem the type to say something like that. He glances down at me again and I quickly look away, my face heating up. I can't control my emotions, I need to but I just can't - I feel like such a mess. I keep the remaining thoughts to myself as we head to the train station, the 10 minute walk feeling like a 30 minute one. The train is quiet, I didn't realise we were at the hospital for so long that the rush hour is finished.
"You mother is in a coma?" He asks and I nod, he's seen it all now I may as well open up to him, even a little.
"Yeah...she's been in a coma for 4 years now, it started near elementary school, just as we were going to Junior High. The doctors say there's a chance she'll wake up but I'm beginning to lose hope day by day," I reply sadly, twiddling my thumbs as I couldn't get myself to look up.
"You don't have to go on, if you don't want to," he says, realising my voice cracking and I thank the heavens for his awareness. At least he knows that, but I'll keep the rest to myself for now. We arrive at our destination and we had to part ways as he goes the other direction.
"Thank you for keeping me company, Tezuka. I appreciate it," I say, bowing as I thank him and he nods, then with a small wave we part-ways. I walk over to Inori's as I saw that wretched witch's car there so they'd be home. I knock on her door and she greeted me with a big hug - it seems her mother knew as she enters with a smile on her face, saying dinner should be ready soon.
TEZUKA POV
The incident that occured yesterday wasn't what I expected to see for my normal hospital visit. I finished the checkups for my elbow and I heard some commotion from a room not far from where I was. It sounded bad, I'm not one to pry into other people's business but it sounded unfriendly. I alerted the security and some nurses as I made my way over and to see it was Kanagawa and 2 other adults. I walk to school, thinking about Kanagawa and hoping that she's alright - I would never openly admit that I'm worried about her.
"Tezuka, good-morning," I hear Fuji greet me as I walk into the school grounds. I nodded as acknowledgment, my mind still lingering on Kanagawa. We part ways to homeroom, I need to focus on the tennis club, the national tournament will be upon us soon, our Captain currently is down with a cold so the Vice-Captain is in charge but he reminds me a little too much of Oishi - a mother hen. It'll be different compared to the middle school national tournament, we'd be up against stronger opponents and probably some rivals.
"Good morning, Kanagawa," I greet her as I sit down, she looks at me then blushes, a light tint on her pale cheeks.
"A-Ah, good morning," she replies stuttering, I tilt my head a little wondering if she is okay. Homeroom begins with me announcing the teacher arrives as we all sit down. Wakase-sensei begins to say that the annual cultural festival will be upon us. Kanagawa and I go to the front to handle the affairs.
"We'll make a poll on what we'll do. We'll have 3 different options, then with that we have more leverage incase another class chooses the same themes. Kanagawa will hand out pieces of paper for you to write down what you'd like, then tomorrow we'll announce the most 3 popular themes," I explain as Kanagawa hands out the papers, her long slender fingers gently taking each piece of paper with care. Once she finishes, people begin to write down what they want and we both do as well. After homeroom finishes, Wakase-sensei thanks us for handling that perfectly well for the first time of being the representatives for the class. I bow as Kanagwa and I walk to our class, we have it together first thing every morning.
"Are you feeling ok?" I ask, I notice up-close her eyes are a little red, she must have been crying alot last night. She looks at me briefly then away again, the blush on her face.
"Yes, thank you..." she trails away as we enter the class - some students still filing in after us. The class as per usual isn't anything difficult, it was just basics - taking every note down that would deem important for any homework. Second period is English Literature and I am in the same class so we walk together and I notice people murmuring or staring, sensing that she looks uncomfortable I subtly glare at the students and they turn away quickly. I furrowed my eyebrows, what's so intriguing about two students walking in the hallway? We reach class and then it begins. From the corner of my eye I see some girls eyeing up Kanagawa in a scornful way, upon realising I saw them, they look at me and then blush, giggling quietly. I sigh quietly to myself - they should be paying attention to class instead of bickering. After classes, I see the same girls approach Kanagawa, asking her if she wanted to eat lunch with them, something seemed off but I didnt intervene, just yet.
As lunch approaches, I keep an eye on Kanagawa, following her; she is so tall compared to them but I would never assume her gender, she is a girl through and through. I get stopped by Fuji and Kikumaru, asking me if I wanted to eat with them.
"I'm busy at the moment," I say and Fuji chuckles, his eyes opening and he knows.
"Saa, let's keep you company. It's not like you to be interested in something like this," Fuji chuckles and I glare at him, then stop. He's right, it isn't like me to do this, I sigh as I leave her to it. She can probably handle it, I'm sure.
IZUMI POV
I was not expecting this kind of confrontation - the two girls blushing in front of me, twiddling their thumbs as they ask me the most absurd question I could ever imagine ,"Uhm, is Tezuka-sama into boys?" The one asks and I my face falls into one of confusion.
"Excuse me?" I ask, making sure I heard it right.
"She asked, is Tezuka-sama into boys? I mean, you're a boy aren't you? You just like to cross-dress, surely?" The other girl then repeats, and I feel a vein pop on the side of my head from annoyance and frustration.
"For the love of heavens, I am a girl. Not a boy. If you'd like, I can show you in gym class that I have a figure of a female," I say, gritting my teeth a little. Day by day I am slowly losing my composure, but I know I have to be the bigger person so I decide to breathe in and out, then eye them - waiting for an answer.
"But-" she begins again but from some reason I stomp my foot, like a little girl and it startles them.
"I'm a girl. I was born a girl and I'll continue to be a girl. Now if you'll excuse me, you're wasting my lunch hour," I say harshly then walk away, the nerve of them. They bully me, then question Tezuka's sexuality just because I look like a boy and they think me and him have something going on? Absurd. I mean, I wouldn't mind... being with Tezuka but right now it's the least of our concerns and it's not important. I walk to a quiet area where I didn't think anyone will come as I get my lunch out. I sigh heavily as I begin to eat, Inori hasn't sent me any texts today so I would think she's busy.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" I hear Tezuka's voice, I look up to see him staring down at me and I nodded, a small blush on my cheeks. He sits next to me, his right leg out-stretched whilst the other is up, using his knee as a leverage to eat his food. We sit in silence, eating our bentos as if the world around us has gone still. I wonder what he thinks in that head of his - he always has a poker face, his expressions stoic, it's hard to unravel what goes on in his head.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear the conversation that was exchanged between you and those girls," he then suddenly says, and I choke on my carrot. I blush hard, how embarassing he heard that.
"It's so stupid...I'm sorry, it's because they must of seen us together yesterday," I reply, my eyes downcast on my lap.
"It's how absurd and silly of the question," he then continues, something in his voice makes me think he's annoyed but isn't showing it. It still feels surreal to me that he's so supportive, we don't even know each other all that well yet I feel something in my chest. I don't want to admit it to it though, not yet - it's still early.
And that's that folks! I do apologise for not posting in so long. Been so busy with work and life, I haven't had the chance. However I am back, for a little while. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY 3