[Bronze] What A Racket [1/2]
Getting back into the swing of Tenipuri writing, and apparently it's where all my long fic muse has been hiding. There's not much to this one; mostly just headcanons. Also set three years after canon (so Bane is third year high school this time), so they've matured on a little. Well, one would hope.
(On an aside, there's a couple puns in there that are in italics. Hover over them for the Japanese equivalent.)
Title: It's Time For 'That'
Rating: PG
Word Count: +/- 2594
As much as Bane wanted to claim everything on talent and hard work, he knew as well as the rest of his team that they were standing on this court mostly because of pure luck. They had been lucky enough to be placed in a pool away from the main dangers of the tournament. They didn’t have to worry about coming up against Rikkaidai or Seigaku or even Hyoutei as they worked their way through the rounds, their carefully developed skills helping them take down any team that got in their way.
It wasn’t until they were named as one of the finalist teams that Rokkaku had begun to worry, watching as the semi-final of the other pool dragged out, anxious to find out who they would be facing.
Just like it had been three years ago, watching Rikkaidai face off against Seigaku was intense and unpredictable. Seigaku’s lineup wasn’t exactly the same as back in the middle school circuit, what with Tezuka off in Germany and Kawamura having fully quit the sport and their first-year boy-wonder having returned to America, but Rikkaidai wasn’t at it’s full power, either, with Yukimura having been completely banned by his doctors and Yagyuu having left to focus on golf rather than tennis.
The gaps had been filled with faces that Bane wasn’t entirely familiar with, but they weren’t disappointing, either - and there was something about watching the Fuji brothers playing together on the same side of the net that had made his heart swell and made him wish he’d been able to convince his own brother into the sport.
(But you already have a talented second-year to play with, he had reminded himself with a glance towards his partner, watching as the red-head entertained a few members of the middle school team that had come to support them.)
“Bane.”
Lowering the bottle from his lips at his name, the senior turned his head towards his bench coach - along with the rest of their team watching from behind the courts surrounding wall. “What’s up, Ojii?” he asked, screwing the lid back onto his bottle as Davide moved to stand beside him. It occurred to him to glance at his partner and up to his hair, but there was nothing wrong with it - Davide had learned from their match against Seigaku three years ago that he needed a lot more wax than normal to last a match against that trickster.
“Don’t you… think it’s time you started using your own racket again?” Ojii finished after a moment’s pause, the corner of his lips quirking up just slightly.
Bane blinked and glanced down, though it wasn’t to his own hand. His own lips pulled up slowly as well and a chuckle bubbled up from the back of his throat. “Maybe you’re right.”
“Does this mean I have to use mine, then, Bane-san?” Davide’s tone was almost airy and his smile matched his older partner’s when their eyes met. One of his hands lifted, fingers gripped tightly around wood. “I took good care of it for you. Just like I promised.”
“Well. I never thought I’d see the day,” Ryou commented, tugging down the brim of his cap. “How long has it been now? Five years? Six?”
“Eh… Sae-san? Why are Davide and Bane-san swapping rackets?”
“Ah, you wouldn’t remember, would you? It was when you were still in elementary school, Kentarou,” Saeki explained with a slight smile, arms folded over his chest, eyes never looking away from their doubles team experimentally swinging the swapped rackets. “It was when Davide was, as well. The rest of us had just started and we had all joined the tennis club and Bane was the first of us that Ojii made a racket for. Davide got his two months later even though he hadn’t started yet. He was always playing doubles with Bane outside of school and training, so Ojii made him one. So he could be ready for when he finally joined the team or something.” Moving his gaze finally, having been holding Bane’s gaze directly while he spoke, Saeki shifted his attention to the first-year beside him. “You remember that time you asked us why Bane and Davide had each other’s first names on the butt of the rackets?”
Kentarou nodded his head once.
“The names engraved into the wood are the names of the owners,” the blond continued talking, lifting his gaze back out to the court as the doubles pairs took their place. “That long racket has always belonged to Bane.”
“Eh~ Bane-san, you’re a pretty scary guy,” Momoshiro commented with a laugh as he set himself on the baseline, preparing to receive the serve. “Does this mean that rumour back in middle school about the Rokkaku guy with the long racket defeating a hundred of Hyoutei’s members was actually you?”
Bane just smirked before he tossed the ball up to serve.
“FAULT!”
“DOUBLE FAULT! LOVE-15!”
“Davide, you changed the grip tape from last time,” the third-year commented off-handedly as he switched to the opposite half of the court. “It’s smoother.”
“FAULT!”
“DOUBLE FAULT! LOVE-30!”
“You changed my string, Bane-san,” Davide teased and bumped his shoulder against Bane’s as he moved back to the baseline and swapped sides with him. “It’s not nice to string me along like that. That’s a real hit to the gut. Pft.”
“FAULT!”
“DOUBLE FAULT! LOVE-40!”
“Bane-chan! What are you doing?”
“Why is he double faulting so badly? This isn’t good...”
“Maybe he’s just not used to the racket…”
“Inui.”
“Ah. I saw it, Fuji,” Inui hummed. “Kurobane is not double faulting because of his racket. He is aiming for the very middle of the net.”
“FAULT!”
“Bane-san, if you keep this up, Kentarou’s going to have a heart attack. That’s pretty cold hearted of you… Pft--” Davide gave a short laugh, quick to step out of reach of the long racket swung in his direction. “Stop making a racket, Bane-san, and serve. Pft-- We have to make up for Sae-san and Itchan’s game.”
(Having been playing against each other for years, now, both teams generally knew what to expect when faced against each other. In order to try and avoid having Kikumaru sealed off by Saeki again, Seigaku had opted to put their Golden Pair in D2 for a change. Unfortunately, Rokkaku had, for once, decided to change things up and tried to pit their own national pair against Seigaku’s in D1.)
“15-40!”
“Mamushi!”
“I’m fine.”
“What… What was that serve?”
“30-40!”
“Momo-chan-senpai!”
“Just return the ball, idiot.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Bane this ruthless.”
“Deuce!”
“Momo-chan-senpai and Kaidou-senpai can’t return it… What’s going on?”
“No matter what they do, they won’t be able to return that serve.”
“A heavy, slow serve that drops low into the service box and kicks out of bounds quickly at a low angle. The serve that makes it impossible to take a service game off of him in singles. This is Bane’s Drop Kick Serve. Named by Davide, of course.”
“Advantage Rokkaku!”
“This is bad… Momo-chan-senpai and Kaidou-senpai are getting pressured!”
“No. It’s okay. Look. Kaidou’s moved forward to receive it. That serve’s weakness is it’s predictability so no matter how low it is--”
“Game, Rokkaku! Five games to one!”
“... A flat serve…”
“Right down the middle…”
“I’m glad we found some middle ground, Bane-san… Pft--” Davide laughed as he headed to the edge of the court and picked up his bottle, ducking to avoid the racket being swung at him, only to have it change direction and hit his hip instead. He swung out his own in retaliation, only belatedly remembering his reach wasn’t quite what it used to be after Bane had moved out of the way.
“Think you’ll be fine with the shorter racket, Davide?” The senior asked as he grabbed his own bottle, the worry on his face not entirely hidden behind his amusement at his friend’s miss.
“Well, I’ve always said I had the short end of this stick, but--” The red-head’s hand reached up in time to catch his partner’s as it came up to hit his head, long fingers wrapping around the older male’s hold on the racket. “If you can play your Drop Kick Serve without giving away a game completely, then I’ll be fine as well.”
For a long moment, neither moved, until a smile pulled across Bane’s lips and he gave a nod. They stepped away from each other, placed their bottles down and then walked back onto the court. The third-year set himself up near the net, swinging his racket experimentally a few times before falling into position, while Davide took up place on the baseline.
“Ara? Bane-chan is playing net even when Davide is receiving,” Kikumaru pursed his lips. “It’s like they’re completely changing their play style.”
“Ah. In all of the matches I have seen of them together, Kurobane has only ever played net when there is no other option, or when he is in a better position to return than Amane,” Inui turned the pages of the notebook in his hand, glancing between his neat scribbles and the court in front of them. “But all of this information was collected from when he was using the shorter racket. I’m not sure how accurate it will be with this change, based on what we’ve already seen.”
Oishi hummed, arms folded across his chest. “Momo and Kaidou will need to be careful. Who knows what else those two will come out with?”
“Ah, Bane-san, you really are a scary guy,” Momoshiro gave a laugh as he set up near the net, Kaidou taking the baseline for his serve. “That racket is even more intimidating in your hands.”
“Mine isn’t the one you need to worry about, Momo,” A chuckle vibrated in the third-year’s throat. “This may be my racket but it really was Davide who defeated those Hyotei members alone.”
“Game, Rokkaku! Five games to two!”
“Alright, Davide! Bane-chan!”
“Here comes Rokkaku’s comeback!”
“Don’t mind, Momo! Kaidou!” Kikumaru called, hands cupped around his mouth. “If you break Davide’s service game, we’ll win this match, too!”
“That’s true,” Though Oishi lacked his partner’s same excitement and confidence, worry instead painted over his face. “But after Bane’s surprise serve and that single-return play… What else do those two have hidden up their sleeves?”
A smirk sat on Bane’s lips as he took up his place at the net again, eyes trained on the Seigaku regulars grouped behind the court’s barrier before he shifted them back to his partner. “Hey, Davide,” he called. “I think it’s about time we used that, don’t you?”
“That?” Davide repeated, face blank and confused for a moment before he looked past his partner to their opponents and a confident look soon replaced it. He nodded. “Then I’ll make it fast, this service… Pft.”
No attempt to punish the red-head came, though, and it served only to strengthen the concerned expression on Momoshiro’s face. It was far from the first match where he’d experienced the secret ‘That’, but it was the first one when he had had it turned on to him with such pressure - not to mention the fact that he genuinely didn’t know what to expect from this pair that he had been so sure he knew better than they did themselves.
“Au-Australian Formation!”
“No! Look! It’s different!”
“Bane-san! If you stand like that, Davide’s going to hit you!”
“If this is the that they were talking about, it looks like they’re just going to give the game away to Momo-chan-senpai and Kaidou-senpai.”
“15-LOVE!”
“What… just happened?”
“Eiji, did you see it?”
“Y-Yeah, I saw it, Fuji,” Kikumaru blinked a few times and pulled his eyes away from the court to glance at his teammate beside him. “It bounced back into the net and then out again.”
“With Kurobane standing like that directly in front of Amane, it limits the space Amane can serve into and it forces the receiver wide,” Inui shook his head slowly. “It seems like an obvious weakness but combined with that Drop Kick Serve--”
A laugh interrupted before the dataist could finish, pulling the Seigaku team members’ attention to the court. “Sorry, Inui, but that’s not the Drop Kick Serve,” Bane said with a grin. “Try watching again.”
The third-year returned to his previous position, racket held loosely and low on his left side now that Davide was going to be serving to the right. At least, that’s what it looked to be at first glance. A service play like this had been one he and his partner had long worked on even with the knowledge that it would probably never see an official tennis match, and he trusted Davide fully to understand the signals they had spent so long developing.
He knew he didn’t need to look back - or even move - as felt the ball whiz past his arm and clear the net. Momoshiro was waiting, of course, having already moved forward to volley the low serve when it bounced back towards the net, but Bane still didn’t move. He simply kept his hold on his racket loose and watched as the ball bounced, not back towards the net but instead slipping past his reach and bouncing over the singles out line.
“30-LOVE!”
“To have so much confidence that Bane isn’t even holding his racket properly for a return… Relying on the opponents not having a chance to hit any returns...” Saeki folded his arms over his chest slowly, lips pursed. “Bane… Davide… Where have you been hiding this?”
“40-LOVE!”
“It bounced back in… This is getting bad…”
“Even if we lose this, Momo-chan’s service is next! We already know that they can’t return his service!”
“Possibility of Kikimaru being correct…” Inui pressed his lips into a thin line, his voice low. “32.17%.”
“Mou! Inui--”
“He’s right, Eiji,” Oishi rubbed a hand over his forehead. “This game has completely become Rokakku’s pace already. Except for Kaidou’s service game, Momo and Kaidou haven’t touched the ball since they swapped rackets. We may as well be playing complete strangers at this point. Bane has been playing net and Davide-kun hasn’t stepped off of the baseline, and their strength seems to have increased substantially. Additionally, this way of serving… Doesn’t it feel like something that they should be in sychro for? At this pace, I think I will be more surprised if they can’t achieve it...”
Taking up his position at the net again, Bane took a slow breath in and out, focusing on the sound of the ball bouncing against the base line behind him. Slowly, he let his racket come down to rest right in front of him, the frame set against the surface court. The ball behind him stopped and silence hung for a moment - Davide was probably going to call him out on his insanity after this serve.
For now, a quick double bounce followed - Okay, Bane-san - and then three more bounces, more spaced apart now - Count it, Bane-san, this is how much time you’ll have. The elder kept his eyes forward and his back straight and his feet slightly apart, watching their opponents. Kaidou was hanging back a little, just off the service line, while Momoshiro was forward of it, his body low and ready to move in any direction he needed to in order to catch the kick of the serve.
Silence followed the third bounce and Bane counted in his head.
Timing was everything.
Three.
Two.
One.
Part Two
(On an aside, there's a couple puns in there that are in italics. Hover over them for the Japanese equivalent.)
Title: It's Time For 'That'
Rating: PG
Word Count: +/- 2594
As much as Bane wanted to claim everything on talent and hard work, he knew as well as the rest of his team that they were standing on this court mostly because of pure luck. They had been lucky enough to be placed in a pool away from the main dangers of the tournament. They didn’t have to worry about coming up against Rikkaidai or Seigaku or even Hyoutei as they worked their way through the rounds, their carefully developed skills helping them take down any team that got in their way.
It wasn’t until they were named as one of the finalist teams that Rokkaku had begun to worry, watching as the semi-final of the other pool dragged out, anxious to find out who they would be facing.
Just like it had been three years ago, watching Rikkaidai face off against Seigaku was intense and unpredictable. Seigaku’s lineup wasn’t exactly the same as back in the middle school circuit, what with Tezuka off in Germany and Kawamura having fully quit the sport and their first-year boy-wonder having returned to America, but Rikkaidai wasn’t at it’s full power, either, with Yukimura having been completely banned by his doctors and Yagyuu having left to focus on golf rather than tennis.
The gaps had been filled with faces that Bane wasn’t entirely familiar with, but they weren’t disappointing, either - and there was something about watching the Fuji brothers playing together on the same side of the net that had made his heart swell and made him wish he’d been able to convince his own brother into the sport.
(But you already have a talented second-year to play with, he had reminded himself with a glance towards his partner, watching as the red-head entertained a few members of the middle school team that had come to support them.)
“Bane.”
Lowering the bottle from his lips at his name, the senior turned his head towards his bench coach - along with the rest of their team watching from behind the courts surrounding wall. “What’s up, Ojii?” he asked, screwing the lid back onto his bottle as Davide moved to stand beside him. It occurred to him to glance at his partner and up to his hair, but there was nothing wrong with it - Davide had learned from their match against Seigaku three years ago that he needed a lot more wax than normal to last a match against that trickster.
“Don’t you… think it’s time you started using your own racket again?” Ojii finished after a moment’s pause, the corner of his lips quirking up just slightly.
Bane blinked and glanced down, though it wasn’t to his own hand. His own lips pulled up slowly as well and a chuckle bubbled up from the back of his throat. “Maybe you’re right.”
“Does this mean I have to use mine, then, Bane-san?” Davide’s tone was almost airy and his smile matched his older partner’s when their eyes met. One of his hands lifted, fingers gripped tightly around wood. “I took good care of it for you. Just like I promised.”
“Well. I never thought I’d see the day,” Ryou commented, tugging down the brim of his cap. “How long has it been now? Five years? Six?”
“Eh… Sae-san? Why are Davide and Bane-san swapping rackets?”
“Ah, you wouldn’t remember, would you? It was when you were still in elementary school, Kentarou,” Saeki explained with a slight smile, arms folded over his chest, eyes never looking away from their doubles team experimentally swinging the swapped rackets. “It was when Davide was, as well. The rest of us had just started and we had all joined the tennis club and Bane was the first of us that Ojii made a racket for. Davide got his two months later even though he hadn’t started yet. He was always playing doubles with Bane outside of school and training, so Ojii made him one. So he could be ready for when he finally joined the team or something.” Moving his gaze finally, having been holding Bane’s gaze directly while he spoke, Saeki shifted his attention to the first-year beside him. “You remember that time you asked us why Bane and Davide had each other’s first names on the butt of the rackets?”
Kentarou nodded his head once.
“The names engraved into the wood are the names of the owners,” the blond continued talking, lifting his gaze back out to the court as the doubles pairs took their place. “That long racket has always belonged to Bane.”
“Eh~ Bane-san, you’re a pretty scary guy,” Momoshiro commented with a laugh as he set himself on the baseline, preparing to receive the serve. “Does this mean that rumour back in middle school about the Rokkaku guy with the long racket defeating a hundred of Hyoutei’s members was actually you?”
Bane just smirked before he tossed the ball up to serve.
“FAULT!”
“DOUBLE FAULT! LOVE-15!”
“Davide, you changed the grip tape from last time,” the third-year commented off-handedly as he switched to the opposite half of the court. “It’s smoother.”
“FAULT!”
“DOUBLE FAULT! LOVE-30!”
“You changed my string, Bane-san,” Davide teased and bumped his shoulder against Bane’s as he moved back to the baseline and swapped sides with him. “It’s not nice to string me along like that. That’s a real hit to the gut. Pft.”
“FAULT!”
“DOUBLE FAULT! LOVE-40!”
“Bane-chan! What are you doing?”
“Why is he double faulting so badly? This isn’t good...”
“Maybe he’s just not used to the racket…”
“Inui.”
“Ah. I saw it, Fuji,” Inui hummed. “Kurobane is not double faulting because of his racket. He is aiming for the very middle of the net.”
“FAULT!”
“Bane-san, if you keep this up, Kentarou’s going to have a heart attack. That’s pretty cold hearted of you… Pft--” Davide gave a short laugh, quick to step out of reach of the long racket swung in his direction. “Stop making a racket, Bane-san, and serve. Pft-- We have to make up for Sae-san and Itchan’s game.”
(Having been playing against each other for years, now, both teams generally knew what to expect when faced against each other. In order to try and avoid having Kikumaru sealed off by Saeki again, Seigaku had opted to put their Golden Pair in D2 for a change. Unfortunately, Rokkaku had, for once, decided to change things up and tried to pit their own national pair against Seigaku’s in D1.)
“15-40!”
“Mamushi!”
“I’m fine.”
“What… What was that serve?”
“30-40!”
“Momo-chan-senpai!”
“Just return the ball, idiot.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Bane this ruthless.”
“Deuce!”
“Momo-chan-senpai and Kaidou-senpai can’t return it… What’s going on?”
“No matter what they do, they won’t be able to return that serve.”
“A heavy, slow serve that drops low into the service box and kicks out of bounds quickly at a low angle. The serve that makes it impossible to take a service game off of him in singles. This is Bane’s Drop Kick Serve. Named by Davide, of course.”
“Advantage Rokkaku!”
“This is bad… Momo-chan-senpai and Kaidou-senpai are getting pressured!”
“No. It’s okay. Look. Kaidou’s moved forward to receive it. That serve’s weakness is it’s predictability so no matter how low it is--”
“Game, Rokkaku! Five games to one!”
“... A flat serve…”
“Right down the middle…”
“I’m glad we found some middle ground, Bane-san… Pft--” Davide laughed as he headed to the edge of the court and picked up his bottle, ducking to avoid the racket being swung at him, only to have it change direction and hit his hip instead. He swung out his own in retaliation, only belatedly remembering his reach wasn’t quite what it used to be after Bane had moved out of the way.
“Think you’ll be fine with the shorter racket, Davide?” The senior asked as he grabbed his own bottle, the worry on his face not entirely hidden behind his amusement at his friend’s miss.
“Well, I’ve always said I had the short end of this stick, but--” The red-head’s hand reached up in time to catch his partner’s as it came up to hit his head, long fingers wrapping around the older male’s hold on the racket. “If you can play your Drop Kick Serve without giving away a game completely, then I’ll be fine as well.”
For a long moment, neither moved, until a smile pulled across Bane’s lips and he gave a nod. They stepped away from each other, placed their bottles down and then walked back onto the court. The third-year set himself up near the net, swinging his racket experimentally a few times before falling into position, while Davide took up place on the baseline.
“Ara? Bane-chan is playing net even when Davide is receiving,” Kikumaru pursed his lips. “It’s like they’re completely changing their play style.”
“Ah. In all of the matches I have seen of them together, Kurobane has only ever played net when there is no other option, or when he is in a better position to return than Amane,” Inui turned the pages of the notebook in his hand, glancing between his neat scribbles and the court in front of them. “But all of this information was collected from when he was using the shorter racket. I’m not sure how accurate it will be with this change, based on what we’ve already seen.”
Oishi hummed, arms folded across his chest. “Momo and Kaidou will need to be careful. Who knows what else those two will come out with?”
“Ah, Bane-san, you really are a scary guy,” Momoshiro gave a laugh as he set up near the net, Kaidou taking the baseline for his serve. “That racket is even more intimidating in your hands.”
“Mine isn’t the one you need to worry about, Momo,” A chuckle vibrated in the third-year’s throat. “This may be my racket but it really was Davide who defeated those Hyotei members alone.”
“Game, Rokkaku! Five games to two!”
“Alright, Davide! Bane-chan!”
“Here comes Rokkaku’s comeback!”
“Don’t mind, Momo! Kaidou!” Kikumaru called, hands cupped around his mouth. “If you break Davide’s service game, we’ll win this match, too!”
“That’s true,” Though Oishi lacked his partner’s same excitement and confidence, worry instead painted over his face. “But after Bane’s surprise serve and that single-return play… What else do those two have hidden up their sleeves?”
A smirk sat on Bane’s lips as he took up his place at the net again, eyes trained on the Seigaku regulars grouped behind the court’s barrier before he shifted them back to his partner. “Hey, Davide,” he called. “I think it’s about time we used that, don’t you?”
“That?” Davide repeated, face blank and confused for a moment before he looked past his partner to their opponents and a confident look soon replaced it. He nodded. “Then I’ll make it fast, this service… Pft.”
No attempt to punish the red-head came, though, and it served only to strengthen the concerned expression on Momoshiro’s face. It was far from the first match where he’d experienced the secret ‘That’, but it was the first one when he had had it turned on to him with such pressure - not to mention the fact that he genuinely didn’t know what to expect from this pair that he had been so sure he knew better than they did themselves.
“Au-Australian Formation!”
“No! Look! It’s different!”
“Bane-san! If you stand like that, Davide’s going to hit you!”
“If this is the that they were talking about, it looks like they’re just going to give the game away to Momo-chan-senpai and Kaidou-senpai.”
“15-LOVE!”
“What… just happened?”
“Eiji, did you see it?”
“Y-Yeah, I saw it, Fuji,” Kikumaru blinked a few times and pulled his eyes away from the court to glance at his teammate beside him. “It bounced back into the net and then out again.”
“With Kurobane standing like that directly in front of Amane, it limits the space Amane can serve into and it forces the receiver wide,” Inui shook his head slowly. “It seems like an obvious weakness but combined with that Drop Kick Serve--”
A laugh interrupted before the dataist could finish, pulling the Seigaku team members’ attention to the court. “Sorry, Inui, but that’s not the Drop Kick Serve,” Bane said with a grin. “Try watching again.”
The third-year returned to his previous position, racket held loosely and low on his left side now that Davide was going to be serving to the right. At least, that’s what it looked to be at first glance. A service play like this had been one he and his partner had long worked on even with the knowledge that it would probably never see an official tennis match, and he trusted Davide fully to understand the signals they had spent so long developing.
He knew he didn’t need to look back - or even move - as felt the ball whiz past his arm and clear the net. Momoshiro was waiting, of course, having already moved forward to volley the low serve when it bounced back towards the net, but Bane still didn’t move. He simply kept his hold on his racket loose and watched as the ball bounced, not back towards the net but instead slipping past his reach and bouncing over the singles out line.
“30-LOVE!”
“To have so much confidence that Bane isn’t even holding his racket properly for a return… Relying on the opponents not having a chance to hit any returns...” Saeki folded his arms over his chest slowly, lips pursed. “Bane… Davide… Where have you been hiding this?”
“40-LOVE!”
“It bounced back in… This is getting bad…”
“Even if we lose this, Momo-chan’s service is next! We already know that they can’t return his service!”
“Possibility of Kikimaru being correct…” Inui pressed his lips into a thin line, his voice low. “32.17%.”
“Mou! Inui--”
“He’s right, Eiji,” Oishi rubbed a hand over his forehead. “This game has completely become Rokakku’s pace already. Except for Kaidou’s service game, Momo and Kaidou haven’t touched the ball since they swapped rackets. We may as well be playing complete strangers at this point. Bane has been playing net and Davide-kun hasn’t stepped off of the baseline, and their strength seems to have increased substantially. Additionally, this way of serving… Doesn’t it feel like something that they should be in sychro for? At this pace, I think I will be more surprised if they can’t achieve it...”
Taking up his position at the net again, Bane took a slow breath in and out, focusing on the sound of the ball bouncing against the base line behind him. Slowly, he let his racket come down to rest right in front of him, the frame set against the surface court. The ball behind him stopped and silence hung for a moment - Davide was probably going to call him out on his insanity after this serve.
For now, a quick double bounce followed - Okay, Bane-san - and then three more bounces, more spaced apart now - Count it, Bane-san, this is how much time you’ll have. The elder kept his eyes forward and his back straight and his feet slightly apart, watching their opponents. Kaidou was hanging back a little, just off the service line, while Momoshiro was forward of it, his body low and ready to move in any direction he needed to in order to catch the kick of the serve.
Silence followed the third bounce and Bane counted in his head.
Timing was everything.
Three.
Two.
One.
Part Two