Switching [phi_20 prompt #14, Rikkai+Seigaku gen]
Title: Switching
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Character(s) or Pairing: Yukimura, Tezuka, Seigaku and Rikkai; hints of Yagyuu/Niou, TezuRyo, Troika.
Prompt: #14, Parallel
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 5,000
Summary: Yukimura and Tezuka switch teams for a week.
A/N: Horrible OOCness. Mild bashing of Seigaku. Written for philosophy_20's 14th prompt, parallel.
Edit: Received from beta reader on September 01, 2006, replaced previous text with edited verison.
Dies Prior
Tezuka tells Oishi on Saturday, before practice, because he believes his friend, and vice captain, should be the first to know. "Are you sure about this, Tezuka?" Oishi asks, watching his captain and already thinking of ways everything could go wrong, although he does not expound on them.
When Tezuka nods, and assures Oishi that yes, he is positive about the switch and that it will benefit both teams, Oishi relaxes marginally. He will not object, although he wants to.
Tezuka tells the rest of the team after practice that afternoon, when the freshman are picking up balls and cleaning courts, the non-Regulars are busy changing, and the Regulars are gathered around Tezuka, with Ryuuzaki just behind his shoulder.
His announcement meets silence, which seems to stretch on and on, to be broken, finally, by Kikumaru and Momoshirou both trying to speak over each other.
"Why are you going-"
"Are you deserting us-"
"Is he going to be-"
"Does this mean our practices aren't-"
"Kikumaru, Momoshirou," Tezuka says, and he cuts off their voices with the ease of someone who is used to dealing with them. "It will benefit both teams. I will be back after a week. He shall be your captain for a week, attending practices. Treat him as you would treat me."
Fuji's eyes are open and Inui is scribbling into a notebook; Kaidou is staring at the ground and Kawamura simply smiling at Tezuka. Echizen's eyes are alight with the fire Tezuka ignited, burning with the thought of another rival, one supposedly great, and the opportunity to beat him. Tezuka knows a moment of worry, but he pushes it aside, already thinking of the coming week.
-
Yukimura tells Sanada and Yanagi the night before he is to leave. They are at his house for dinner, three teenage boys grouped in his room, big enough for him but seemingly overwhelmed when the three are gathered there, and his announcement makes the room seem even smaller.
"You're going to captain Seigaku?" Sanada demands. "And Tezuka is coming here?"
"That's just what I said. I know you're not deaf, Sanada."
"But - why the hell are you doing that?" he demands again, and his voice is slowly rising. Yukimura reaches out to place his hand on Sanada's arm, which calms him slightly.
"It will benefit both teams - see how they handle authority other than that which they are used to. Tezuka is a competent captain and tennis player. Besides, it will be a way to see how our rivals train, if there is anything we need to worry about."
Silence settles over them, interrupted by Sanada's impatient growl and he shakes off Yukimura's hand to stand up. "I'll see you in a week," he says, nodding to Yukimura, and then to Yanagi, and storms out.
"Practice will be difficult tomorrow," Yanagi predicts, and Yukimura is the only one to hear the hidden meanings in his words, which speaks of worry and fear and not understanding, all the same for Yanagi, and Yukimura softens.
"It'll only be a week. It won't be like the hospital. And I'll still be living here, it's not like I'm moving into Tezuka's house."
Yanagi only nods, but there is something in him that relaxes, and he follows Sanada moments later.
There is no announcement for the team. The remaining Regulars find out Monday morning, when Tezuka is there, dressed in Rikkaidai's yellow, instead of Yukimura.
Dies Unus
Rikkai starts the morning off with practice, as does Seigaku, so Tezuka is used to being up early. He only has to wake up slightly earlier to catch the subway to Kanagawa, and he spends the trip there thinking about what advantages the exchange will bring.
He can find new training ideas, he thinks, and bring them to Seigaku. He briefly thinks that Inui would have been a better person for the job, if that was to be the only benefit, but he shakes that thought from his head. There will be other advantages: his team shall benefit from another captain, one with strict ideas on practice and training, and it will show him how well they work under a different hand.
Tezuka refuses to think about Rikkaidai and the tennis team. He will create expectations and if they fail to meet those expectations, or if those expectations are too low, they will get off on the wrong foot.
-
Yukimura enjoys the early morning practices; he would rather play tennis than attend school but he knows he can not do that, so he throws himself into the practice before class, knowing it will tide him over until the afternoon.
He isn't the last one to arrive at the clubhouse, but nor is he the first, and it almost feels like Rikkai, until Oishi greets him with a smile and extends his hand.
"I'm Oishi Syuuichirou," he says, as though Yukimura does not know. "I'm the vice captain. It's really nice to have you here, I'm sure the team is looking forward to having another captain for the week. If you need anything, any help or advice, during practice or even during -"
Yukimura cuts him off with a smile. "I'm fine, Oishi," he says, and drops his bag on the bench in front of Tezuka's locker. "Thank you for the offer, but I am sure I will not need anything."
Kaidou and Inui are the next to arrive, Kaidou nodding and introducing himself, Inui doing the same, but lacking Kaidou's politeness. Yukimura is not sure what to think of Inui, who was once Yanagi’s closest friend and who keeps his eyes hidden behind glasses, preventing Yukimura from seeing the gleam of interest in them. Yukimura doesn’t like that fact, but he is used to Yanagi, and he accepts it, and thinks nothing more of Inui for the moment.
There is Fuji and Kikumaru, followed by Kawamura. Momoshirou and Echizen trail in last, Echizen rubbing his eyes and yawning, and Yukimura smiles at them all as they introduce themselves, from Momoshirou’s loud, exuberant “Call me Momo-chan,” to Echizen grumpy and mumbled, “Morning.”
-
No one introduces themselves to Tezuka. He isn’t the first one in the locker rooms; Sanada and Yanagi are both present, and they simply look at him when he walks in, and turn back to their conversation. They are conversing in regular tones, nothing low to indicate a need for privacy, but still, Tezuka blocks out their voices as he changes.
He assumes everyone knows he will be the captain for the week, judging from Sanada and Yanagi’s reactions. He is proven wrong when Niou comes bursting through the locker room doors, crowing about something, only to stop when he spots Tezuka.
“Who the hell are you?” he demands and Tezuka, in the process of pulling on his shirt, frowns.
“You shouldn’t use such language,” he says.
Niou stares at him oddly for a moment before speaking again. “Who the hell…” As if thinking better of it, he turns to his teammates. “Yo, Yanagi, who’s the new guy?” he hollers, as if they were across the courts and not feet away from him.
“That’s Tezuka Kunimitsu, of Seishun Gakuen,” Yanagi says. “He’s going to be our-“
Yanagi is cut off by Kirihara, who walks in, rubbing his eyes and yawning, and demands, through one of his yawns, to know why Tezuka is in Rikkaidai’s locker room.
Yanagi starts explaining, but he is interrupted before he says more than a few words. Tezuka starts wishing the idea had never come up.
-
Yukimura is the first one out of the locker room that morning. He is standing just inside the courts, watching the sky, when the Regulars start pouring out. Yukimura has expectations of the team, not because he spent time forming them, but because he thinks it only practical that a top team like Seigaku would be similar to his own team.
He is surprised when they do not start running right away and instead look at him, grouped around the fence, waiting for his commands.
“What are all of you waiting for?” he demands, once they are all there. “Laps, now. Twenty-five of them.”
“Eh?” Kikumaru asks, looking at Yukimura as if he is crazy. “Twenty-five? But we haven’t done anything wrong and warm-up laps are usually-“
“Thirty, then. Start running, we still have drills to go through.” Yukimura frowns and the team quickly takes off, which does not surprise him. What does surprise him, however, is the fact that they did not start running from the moment they stepped from the locker room.
How slovenly, he thinks, and starts his laps as well. There is silence as they run, broken by little talking and Yukimura can not help but compare: even running laps, his team was loud.
-
Kirihara is yelling and Tezuka feels a headache starting. Niou adds in his voice, and the headache moves from simple throbbing to painful hammers pounding in his head. Marui is the next one, followed by Yagyuu and Kuwahara, and the noise level increases by decibels until Tezuka isn’t sure how he will keep his hearing.
It lasts until Sanada finally slams his fist against a locker and yells for silence. Marui, Kirihara, and Niou, who had been the ones jabbering away, fall quiet and it is Yagyuu who speaks up.
“What is the meaning of this?” he asks, looking at Yanagi and Sanada, who are sure to know something. They are all shocked when the answer is a shrug from their data expert.
“Seiichi said he and Tezuka are switching schools for a week. So Yukimura is at Seigaku and Tezuka is here,” he explains for the fourth time that morning, although it is the first time he manages to actually say the entire thing through.
“We’re supposed to treat Tezuka as our captain.”
-
Yukimura is displeased, although the Seigaku Regulars don’t realize it. They are too busy practicing drills against each other, maximizing hand-eye coordination and balance. All of them are used to such drills, but not as intense and not as many in the morning. Yukimura spends his time studying them and giving orders. A missed shot, a dropped ball, adds on ten.
“You believe in the axiom ‘Practice makes perfect’, I see,” Inui says, in a lull between drills.
“No,” Yukimura tells him. “I believe that only perfect practice makes perfect.”
He orders another round of thirty drills, and ignores the groans that come from a handful of the Regulars.
Yukimura expects Echizen to talk to him, to ask for a game, because he has heard about the boy from his teammates, but he doesn’t, and Yukimura is left somewhat surprised. But he realizes that Echizen only knows his reputation and has not seen his skill: a demand will come later, after a game or two.
-
Tezuka is the first one out of the locker room, because the atmosphere in the building screams that he is not a part of the team. The feeling is common; he never feels like a part of Seigaku, but it is more pronounced in Rikkai. When the others follow, he is shocked; Yanagi and Kuwahara run laps without orders, Sanada stretches. He is used to ordering laps and warm-up exercises and drills, and watching them start on their own mystifies him.
Even when Marui and Kirihara leave the locker room, arguing, Tezuka has to say nothing; they are helping each other with stretches, all the while bickering, and when Marui starts threatening to put gum in Kirihara’s hair, he jumps up to run away, and it is uncanny how easily running away turns into laps.
His work is almost easy for him that morning, and he wonders if his good luck will keep up. For some reason, he does not think it will. He thinks about the reason as he is showering and changing, and it hits him: there is too much mischief is Kirihara’s eyes, too much amusement in Niou’s. Marui watches him speculatively and when Tezuka catches his eye, only smirks.
He does not trust Rikkai to be as well-behaved that afternoon; his guard is up.
-
Yukimura breezes through Tezuka’s classes, all calm assurance and graceful smiles that the teachers don’t even question. He listens and studies and watches, but most of his thoughts are on tennis. Seigaku has no ball machines, or the advanced gym equipment Rikkai has; he misses them already.
He receives a text message at lunch, from Yanagi, who tells him all is going well and that the team is on their best behavior. Yukimura’s lips curl into a smirk and the girls watching him giggle and shrink back, whispering even more.
Tell the team to keep up their behavior, he texts in reply. Let Tezuka think he is safe.
The bell rings before he has a chance to check for Yanagi’s reply, but he knows his orders will be passed around and his team will understand.
-
When the switch was mentioned, exchanging schools for a week, it was undoubtedly for tennis and nothing else. But Tezuka was the one who thought everything through, and received his homework in advance, as well as promises from classmates to take notes for him. He spends the time he is in Yukimura’s classes studying and completing his homework and the teachers do not object. He itches to respond when he hears a wrong answer, but he keeps his hands at his side.
Besides, there is Sanada and Yanagi sitting across from him and they are only too pleased to correct the wrong answers or add in comments.
Niou joins them for Maths and when he leaves, Sanada’s eyebrow is twitching, Yanagi seems amused, the teacher breathes a sigh of relief, and Tezuka finds he is amazed and almost allows himself to worry for the afternoon. Almost, but not quite.
-
When Kaidou and Momoshirou start fighting, Yukimura does not even blink: he has Niou, Yagyuu, Kirihara, Sanada, and Marui on his team. He understands spats and arguments and fights.
What makes him order laps is the fact that they stop practice. A shot goes wrong and the next thing Yukimura realizes, they are yelling and threatening to throw punches. It is bad enough that Oishi is running to them and Kawamura helps separate them. Yukimura knows fights: he does not know disruptions in practices for such fights. His team will fight, but they will fight on the courts; their battle zones are the tennis courts and their strategy, the game itself.
“A hundred laps,” he orders, his voice quiet, and when Momoshirou opens his mouth to complain, Yukimura stops him with a look. Oishi and Kawamura each have fifty, and when Yukimura overhears Kikumaru demands to know why, he answers. “They shouldn’t have stopped their match to stop a fight. They should be happy it is only fifty, and nothing more.”
Nox noctis inter
Yanagi replies to Yukimura when he gets home and asks how long they should be on their best behavior. Everyone knows Yukimura’s message and everyone wants to know when he will rescind the orders.
I will let you know, Yukimura responds. Give it at least another day. We want him to think he is underestimating us.
Sanada, reading over Yanagi’s shoulder, snorts and rolls his eyes, but Yanagi can see the dark gleam in his eyes.
They are all waiting.
Dies Duos
Tezuka starts rethinking Rikkai’s tennis team Tuesday after the morning practice; he sees no misbehavior, no wild antics or pranks. He wonders if the reputation the team has is all rumors, for there seems to be nothing behind it. He knows they are formidable on the courts, but he sees none of the psychological plays that make them feared.
He does not see Niou constantly looking to Yanagi; he does not see Yanagi’s head shake in denial. He does not see Niou look once more, in the afternoon; he does not see Yanagi’s nod of approval and lips move: Wednesday.
He knows nothing of the text messages. The Rikkai team communicates in secret, in codes and words with subtle meaning and actions and it is all lost on Tezuka.
He does not care to know anything, either. He is busy enough saying no to Kirihara’s demands for a match to pay attention to the rest of the team, which is the entire reason why they stuck Kirihara on him.
-
Yukimura is pleased on Tuesday and walks into the locker room with a smug smile. Fuji is the one there when he arrives and smiles pleasantly, although Yukimura can see a glint of blue beneath his lashes.
“A game today, Fuji?” he asks, looking to the boy who taught Kirihara a lesson. He does not doubt anything: he knows he will win, if Fuji plays seriously or not. All he needs Fuji for is to gain Echizen’s interest.
“Of course,” Fuji agrees, and his eyes are open, studying Yukimura as if he knows. But Yukimura does not care, especially with the agreement. He will play Fuji and win and then Fuji will no longer matter to him. It is a simple plan and he gives it no thought throughout the day. There is no need to, after all, and he proves it later.
There is a challenge, because Fuji is good. But there is nothing in him that wishes to be the best and therefore, there is no competition. Yukimura wins.
When they are gathered in the locker rooms, Yukimura can feel Echizen’s on eyes on him, speculative. He’s positive that there will be a forthcoming demand for a match.
Dies Three
Niou is the last one out of the locker room Wednesday morning, but he is not very late and Tezuka thinks nothing of it. Kirihara is at Tezuka’s side, waving a tennis racket in his face. Kirihara’s eyes are startlingly green, and he uses them to his advantage, the look in them matching the plea in his voice.
“Play a game against me,” he begs. “I’m going to defeat you.”
Tezuka says nothing, because he does not wish to interfere with the boy’s training; he does not know what Yukimura has in store for Kirihara. He thinks Kirihara will give up, after a while, but he underestimates the boy, for in-between each drill they complete, in breaks during practice matches, Kirihara asks. Sometimes not with words, but his eyes, his stance.
It reminds Tezuka of Echizen, at times, but in different ways, and he buries such thoughts quickly, for it almost shames him to compare the two.
-
Echizen does not remind Yukimura of Kirihara at all; Kirihara, he knows, would have demanded a game from the moment he saw Yukimura - indeed, Kirihara had done that, the year prior. Echizen waits, until they are on the courts and the Regulars are busy with drills.
“Play a match, Yukimura-san?” Echizen asks. He does not call Yukimura buchou, and that pleases Yukimura; he is not captain to this team, and he thinks he does not wish to be, ever. Buchou coming from Echizen’s mouth, or anyone in Seigaku’s, in reference to Yukimura would not be fitting or carry the same reverence they hold for Tezuka, or Rikkaidai holds for Yukimura.
“This afternoon. I’ll arrange practice matches.” Yukimura smiles. “Ten laps for ignoring drills. Then you have to complete the drills.” He turns away, expecting his orders to be taken seriously, already thinking of the practice matches. He will schedule them but not enforce; Yukimura is a top player and he likes a crowd just as much as any other top player. The rest of the team will want to see them play.
Distractions from his thoughts come in the form of another argument, from Momoshirou and Kaidou and this time the entire team is brought to a standstill. Watching them, watching Oishi and Kikumaru and Kawamura attempt to pull the juniors apart, Yukimura treks back to the locker room. He has been expecting this, and comes prepared.
No one notices him when he slides through the crowd, marching to sides of the boys still arguing; there is too much noise, from them and the rest of the team and the pre-Regulars and those freshmen. No one pays any attention to him until he snaps a pair of gleaming silver handcuffs on their wrists, and the click of the locks catching brings a sudden halt to the noise. Silence descends like a summer storm.
“You’ll be wearing those all day,” Yukimura says. “And tomorrow, if you do not learn to get along.”
Kaidou hisses and Momoshirou starts yelling. “You can’t do this to us! I’m not spending all day chained to Mamushi,” he screams, and it starts the fight all over again.
Yukimura ignores it and turns to the rest of the tennis club, who still seem to be staring. Seigaku does not know how to act, he thinks, remembering the times his team had stopped practicing to watch, only to pretend to be busy when he turned.
“Yukimura-san,” Oishi begins, “I do not think-”
“I don’t care what you think,” Yukimura replies. “Why has practice been stopped? If everyone has finished the assigned drills, I can add more.”
No one dares to say anything after that.
-
Tezuka is in class when he realizes that his books are not in the right order. The folder he carries with the week’s assignments is not in its usual place. His pens are in the bottom of his backpack.
He spends the first ten minutes of class quietly not panicking and hunting for everything. He shuffles papers and pulls everything from his backpack in order to rearrange them.
Sanada notices and is watching him with eyes narrowed. He has no hat on, and so Tezuka can see his eyes clearly, but he can not read the expression in them. He’s too busy worrying about the disorder in his backpack to concentrate on it.
Tezuka knows everything was in order when he left for Rikkai that morning. He does not understand what could have happened.
When Niou is with them for Maths, he smirks at Tezuka and asks if he is feeling okay. It only dawns on him then one possibility. Yanagi smiles when Tezuka’s eyes widen behind his glasses and then narrow, but Tezuka does not see Yanagi, for he is focusing on Niou and his sharp smile.
-
“I’m sorry Echizen-kun,” Yukimura says with a smile and a soft voice. “But today wouldn’t be a good day for a match. We’ll play tomorrow.”
He does it because he thinks it will anger Echizen and he’s pleased when Echizen glares and walks away without saying anything. Yukimura prefers more emotion but he will settle for Echizen’s apathetic anger.
-
Niou shows up to practice Wednesday afternoon with a red mark on his neck, and Tezuka is witness to the most shocking display of emotion he has seen in the Rikkaidai tennis team.
Yagyuu slams Niou against the chain link fence when he shows up on the courts and growls in Niou’s ear, too low for Tezuka to hear. He is about to order the fight to be broke up when Yagyuu’s mouth moves and covers the red spot on Niou’s neck.
Sanada appears beside him. Tezuka wonders if he is in shock, for Sanada startles him; he does not see things like what is going on between Niou and Yagyuu on Seigaku’s courts, even if the tension between some is unrelieved, and he isn’t sure what to do.
Sanada saves him by cursing and yelling at the pair. “Stop making out on the court,” he orders. “This isn’t your damn bedroom.”
“We’ll just go back into the locker room then,” Niou insists, his hands in Yagyuu’s shirt and Tezuka drags his eyes away because he thinks it is too private.
“No you won’t,” Sanada yells, and his voice grows loud when they ignore him and Niou is dragging his partner towards the clubhouse. “You fucking bastards, get your asses back here.”
“Sanada, don’t get your panties in a twist. Tezuka’s the captain and he’s not ordering us to do anything.”
That rouses Tezuka from his shock, and he clears his throat. “A hundred laps,” he instructs, because he can think of nothing else. He does not know how to punish such actions, and laps are the first things he thinks of.
He doesn’t expect the laughter of Niou and the twitch of Yagyuu’s lips, or Kirihara joining Niou in laughter, and Tezuka feels even more out of place, standing in Rikkai’s courts.
-
Inui brings out his juice Thursday, because he was unsure of Yukimura’s reaction prior to this. But there is a perfect opportunity when the Regulars are paired up against each other to practice serves.
Kikumaru is the first to try the juice and he is immediately sick, gagging on the liquid and rushing to drink water. Others follow: Kawamura, Momoshirou and consequently Kaidou, Oishi. Yukimura disappears for a few minutes after ordering a break.
When practice is over, Yukimura hands Inui a bucket. “You should always clean up your mistakes. Be glad there’s no toothbrush in there.”
Inui stares at him, glad his glasses hide his eyes, and wonders about this boy who is one of Yanagi’s closest friends.
Dies Quattuor
Tezuka wakes up and he realizes the week is almost over. He is looking forward to it as he looks forward to nothing.
His cell phone blinks at him and Tezuka checks the message on his way to Rikkai.
Yukimura and I play today. I’m going to win, Buchou. It is obvious who the message is from and he wishes he was not at Rikkai, but Seigaku, to watch the match. But then, he rationalizes, if he was at Seigaku, Yukimura would be in Rikkai and the match would not happen until an official setting.
Tezuka wants to say a thousand things in reply, but he can’t and settles for one thing that he knows Echizen is expecting.
Don’t get careless. He does not expect a reply and mentally prepares himself for facing another day of Rikkai. He will refuse Kirihara again, if he asks, especially now. He will not give in to the burning desire to play this protégé of Yukimura’s, to strike back at the other captain for playing Echizen. He is better than that.
There is money flashing in Rikkai’s locker room and Tezuka frowns at it as it exchanges hands. “Gambling is prohibited,” he says. “Put the money away.”
All of them - Niou, Marui, Kirihara, even Yanagi and Yagyuu and Sanada and Kuwahara - look up, although it is Niou who speaks.
“We’re not gambling. We’re simply backing predictions with money. Want to join? So far we’ve got Yukimura winning 6-0, 6-1, 6-2. Want to bet on 6-3?”
Tezuka stares at them all for a long, silent moment. And finds it a struggle to not give in and break his no gambling rule.
He turns away without saying anything.
-
Yukimura knows how Echizen plays; he has seen tapes and he watches Echizen during the practices. He also knows that Echizen knows his style of play, from the match with Fuji, and he knows that both of them hide bits of themselves from the world.
He is looking forward to his match, if only because he wants to see Echizen’s talent. This is the boy who won against Sanada and he wants to see why. He wants to reassure Rikkai’s mastery. He wants to defeat a challenging opponent and enjoy a game of tennis. He is sure of winning; loss is not an option in Yukimura’s mind.
Echizen’s eyes burn with fire, he thinks, but the fire that burns in Echizen is different than the fire that burns in Yukimura, in Kirihara, in anyone from Rikkai. He realizes it more as they play, the match lasting longer than Yukimura expects, because tennis speaks to him more than anything else does, and he reads Echizen in the arc of his returns, the speed of his serves.
It is not a slaughter, which pleases Yukimura. He meets Echizen at the net with a pleased grin and it obvious the boy is unhappy: displeasure seethes from him. Echizen stares at Yukimura and he can see the promise in the boy’s eyes. I will defeat you it says.
Yukimura laughs. Echizen will wait in line for that.
Dies Quinque
Friday morning Tezuka breathes a sigh of relief: two days to go. He dreads checking his cell phone that morning, but does. There is no message from Echizen, but there are half a dozen from Inui, two from Oishi, and one from Fuji.
They confirm his worst fears.
He does not take out his frustration on the team he is supervising, only because he is above such things. But he is human and has his faults; he can’t help but wonder how it will feel if he does.
Especially when the money exchanges hands and he hears laughter in the locker room that follows him to the courts.
-
“I trust you will no longer fight,” Yukimura says Friday morning in the locker room, when he dangles the handcuffs in front of Kaidou and Momoshirou, and they both look away, scowling but saying nothing.
Inui is next to him, scribbling down words in a notebook and the sound of the pencil moving against the paper finally gets to Yukimura. He reaches out quietly and plucks the notebook from Inui, who looks up. Even if Yukimura can not see his eyes, he can feel the confusion.
He smiles when he drops the book into the trashcan and orders them to the courts.
-
Tezuka attempts to open his locker Friday afternoon after practice, only to find it won’t move. He digs his finger under the edge and pries it open, stumbling back when it pops open, a piece of gum that was dislodged hitting him in the forehead. Along with the gum, his clothes fall out and three balloons proclaiming “We’ll Miss You.”
He thinks it is a lie and his forehead is twitching when he says good-bye to the team. He is glad they agreed only to switch for five days, and not the entire week. If he spent another day at Rikkai, he would go crazy.
-
Yukimura meets up with Sanada and Yanagi later Friday night, because he is too impatient to wait until the following day.
“Did you learn anything useful, Seiichi?” Yanagi asks over sushi and tea, and Yukimura’s smile widens; he was expecting Yanagi’s question.
“Only that I would not be challenged at Seigaku at all.” He laughs then, and his friends stare at him, but they are used to Yukimura’s sudden laughter, and neither expects an explanation. He can not even think of an explanation, if they had demanded one.
“If anyone has grown lax in my absence, they will be sorry,” Yukimura warns when his laughter dies. “I have missed the team.”
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Character(s) or Pairing: Yukimura, Tezuka, Seigaku and Rikkai; hints of Yagyuu/Niou, TezuRyo, Troika.
Prompt: #14, Parallel
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 5,000
Summary: Yukimura and Tezuka switch teams for a week.
A/N: Horrible OOCness. Mild bashing of Seigaku. Written for philosophy_20's 14th prompt, parallel.
Edit: Received from beta reader on September 01, 2006, replaced previous text with edited verison.
Dies Prior
Tezuka tells Oishi on Saturday, before practice, because he believes his friend, and vice captain, should be the first to know. "Are you sure about this, Tezuka?" Oishi asks, watching his captain and already thinking of ways everything could go wrong, although he does not expound on them.
When Tezuka nods, and assures Oishi that yes, he is positive about the switch and that it will benefit both teams, Oishi relaxes marginally. He will not object, although he wants to.
Tezuka tells the rest of the team after practice that afternoon, when the freshman are picking up balls and cleaning courts, the non-Regulars are busy changing, and the Regulars are gathered around Tezuka, with Ryuuzaki just behind his shoulder.
His announcement meets silence, which seems to stretch on and on, to be broken, finally, by Kikumaru and Momoshirou both trying to speak over each other.
"Why are you going-"
"Are you deserting us-"
"Is he going to be-"
"Does this mean our practices aren't-"
"Kikumaru, Momoshirou," Tezuka says, and he cuts off their voices with the ease of someone who is used to dealing with them. "It will benefit both teams. I will be back after a week. He shall be your captain for a week, attending practices. Treat him as you would treat me."
Fuji's eyes are open and Inui is scribbling into a notebook; Kaidou is staring at the ground and Kawamura simply smiling at Tezuka. Echizen's eyes are alight with the fire Tezuka ignited, burning with the thought of another rival, one supposedly great, and the opportunity to beat him. Tezuka knows a moment of worry, but he pushes it aside, already thinking of the coming week.
-
Yukimura tells Sanada and Yanagi the night before he is to leave. They are at his house for dinner, three teenage boys grouped in his room, big enough for him but seemingly overwhelmed when the three are gathered there, and his announcement makes the room seem even smaller.
"You're going to captain Seigaku?" Sanada demands. "And Tezuka is coming here?"
"That's just what I said. I know you're not deaf, Sanada."
"But - why the hell are you doing that?" he demands again, and his voice is slowly rising. Yukimura reaches out to place his hand on Sanada's arm, which calms him slightly.
"It will benefit both teams - see how they handle authority other than that which they are used to. Tezuka is a competent captain and tennis player. Besides, it will be a way to see how our rivals train, if there is anything we need to worry about."
Silence settles over them, interrupted by Sanada's impatient growl and he shakes off Yukimura's hand to stand up. "I'll see you in a week," he says, nodding to Yukimura, and then to Yanagi, and storms out.
"Practice will be difficult tomorrow," Yanagi predicts, and Yukimura is the only one to hear the hidden meanings in his words, which speaks of worry and fear and not understanding, all the same for Yanagi, and Yukimura softens.
"It'll only be a week. It won't be like the hospital. And I'll still be living here, it's not like I'm moving into Tezuka's house."
Yanagi only nods, but there is something in him that relaxes, and he follows Sanada moments later.
There is no announcement for the team. The remaining Regulars find out Monday morning, when Tezuka is there, dressed in Rikkaidai's yellow, instead of Yukimura.
Dies Unus
Rikkai starts the morning off with practice, as does Seigaku, so Tezuka is used to being up early. He only has to wake up slightly earlier to catch the subway to Kanagawa, and he spends the trip there thinking about what advantages the exchange will bring.
He can find new training ideas, he thinks, and bring them to Seigaku. He briefly thinks that Inui would have been a better person for the job, if that was to be the only benefit, but he shakes that thought from his head. There will be other advantages: his team shall benefit from another captain, one with strict ideas on practice and training, and it will show him how well they work under a different hand.
Tezuka refuses to think about Rikkaidai and the tennis team. He will create expectations and if they fail to meet those expectations, or if those expectations are too low, they will get off on the wrong foot.
-
Yukimura enjoys the early morning practices; he would rather play tennis than attend school but he knows he can not do that, so he throws himself into the practice before class, knowing it will tide him over until the afternoon.
He isn't the last one to arrive at the clubhouse, but nor is he the first, and it almost feels like Rikkai, until Oishi greets him with a smile and extends his hand.
"I'm Oishi Syuuichirou," he says, as though Yukimura does not know. "I'm the vice captain. It's really nice to have you here, I'm sure the team is looking forward to having another captain for the week. If you need anything, any help or advice, during practice or even during -"
Yukimura cuts him off with a smile. "I'm fine, Oishi," he says, and drops his bag on the bench in front of Tezuka's locker. "Thank you for the offer, but I am sure I will not need anything."
Kaidou and Inui are the next to arrive, Kaidou nodding and introducing himself, Inui doing the same, but lacking Kaidou's politeness. Yukimura is not sure what to think of Inui, who was once Yanagi’s closest friend and who keeps his eyes hidden behind glasses, preventing Yukimura from seeing the gleam of interest in them. Yukimura doesn’t like that fact, but he is used to Yanagi, and he accepts it, and thinks nothing more of Inui for the moment.
There is Fuji and Kikumaru, followed by Kawamura. Momoshirou and Echizen trail in last, Echizen rubbing his eyes and yawning, and Yukimura smiles at them all as they introduce themselves, from Momoshirou’s loud, exuberant “Call me Momo-chan,” to Echizen grumpy and mumbled, “Morning.”
-
No one introduces themselves to Tezuka. He isn’t the first one in the locker rooms; Sanada and Yanagi are both present, and they simply look at him when he walks in, and turn back to their conversation. They are conversing in regular tones, nothing low to indicate a need for privacy, but still, Tezuka blocks out their voices as he changes.
He assumes everyone knows he will be the captain for the week, judging from Sanada and Yanagi’s reactions. He is proven wrong when Niou comes bursting through the locker room doors, crowing about something, only to stop when he spots Tezuka.
“Who the hell are you?” he demands and Tezuka, in the process of pulling on his shirt, frowns.
“You shouldn’t use such language,” he says.
Niou stares at him oddly for a moment before speaking again. “Who the hell…” As if thinking better of it, he turns to his teammates. “Yo, Yanagi, who’s the new guy?” he hollers, as if they were across the courts and not feet away from him.
“That’s Tezuka Kunimitsu, of Seishun Gakuen,” Yanagi says. “He’s going to be our-“
Yanagi is cut off by Kirihara, who walks in, rubbing his eyes and yawning, and demands, through one of his yawns, to know why Tezuka is in Rikkaidai’s locker room.
Yanagi starts explaining, but he is interrupted before he says more than a few words. Tezuka starts wishing the idea had never come up.
-
Yukimura is the first one out of the locker room that morning. He is standing just inside the courts, watching the sky, when the Regulars start pouring out. Yukimura has expectations of the team, not because he spent time forming them, but because he thinks it only practical that a top team like Seigaku would be similar to his own team.
He is surprised when they do not start running right away and instead look at him, grouped around the fence, waiting for his commands.
“What are all of you waiting for?” he demands, once they are all there. “Laps, now. Twenty-five of them.”
“Eh?” Kikumaru asks, looking at Yukimura as if he is crazy. “Twenty-five? But we haven’t done anything wrong and warm-up laps are usually-“
“Thirty, then. Start running, we still have drills to go through.” Yukimura frowns and the team quickly takes off, which does not surprise him. What does surprise him, however, is the fact that they did not start running from the moment they stepped from the locker room.
How slovenly, he thinks, and starts his laps as well. There is silence as they run, broken by little talking and Yukimura can not help but compare: even running laps, his team was loud.
-
Kirihara is yelling and Tezuka feels a headache starting. Niou adds in his voice, and the headache moves from simple throbbing to painful hammers pounding in his head. Marui is the next one, followed by Yagyuu and Kuwahara, and the noise level increases by decibels until Tezuka isn’t sure how he will keep his hearing.
It lasts until Sanada finally slams his fist against a locker and yells for silence. Marui, Kirihara, and Niou, who had been the ones jabbering away, fall quiet and it is Yagyuu who speaks up.
“What is the meaning of this?” he asks, looking at Yanagi and Sanada, who are sure to know something. They are all shocked when the answer is a shrug from their data expert.
“Seiichi said he and Tezuka are switching schools for a week. So Yukimura is at Seigaku and Tezuka is here,” he explains for the fourth time that morning, although it is the first time he manages to actually say the entire thing through.
“We’re supposed to treat Tezuka as our captain.”
-
Yukimura is displeased, although the Seigaku Regulars don’t realize it. They are too busy practicing drills against each other, maximizing hand-eye coordination and balance. All of them are used to such drills, but not as intense and not as many in the morning. Yukimura spends his time studying them and giving orders. A missed shot, a dropped ball, adds on ten.
“You believe in the axiom ‘Practice makes perfect’, I see,” Inui says, in a lull between drills.
“No,” Yukimura tells him. “I believe that only perfect practice makes perfect.”
He orders another round of thirty drills, and ignores the groans that come from a handful of the Regulars.
Yukimura expects Echizen to talk to him, to ask for a game, because he has heard about the boy from his teammates, but he doesn’t, and Yukimura is left somewhat surprised. But he realizes that Echizen only knows his reputation and has not seen his skill: a demand will come later, after a game or two.
-
Tezuka is the first one out of the locker room, because the atmosphere in the building screams that he is not a part of the team. The feeling is common; he never feels like a part of Seigaku, but it is more pronounced in Rikkai. When the others follow, he is shocked; Yanagi and Kuwahara run laps without orders, Sanada stretches. He is used to ordering laps and warm-up exercises and drills, and watching them start on their own mystifies him.
Even when Marui and Kirihara leave the locker room, arguing, Tezuka has to say nothing; they are helping each other with stretches, all the while bickering, and when Marui starts threatening to put gum in Kirihara’s hair, he jumps up to run away, and it is uncanny how easily running away turns into laps.
His work is almost easy for him that morning, and he wonders if his good luck will keep up. For some reason, he does not think it will. He thinks about the reason as he is showering and changing, and it hits him: there is too much mischief is Kirihara’s eyes, too much amusement in Niou’s. Marui watches him speculatively and when Tezuka catches his eye, only smirks.
He does not trust Rikkai to be as well-behaved that afternoon; his guard is up.
-
Yukimura breezes through Tezuka’s classes, all calm assurance and graceful smiles that the teachers don’t even question. He listens and studies and watches, but most of his thoughts are on tennis. Seigaku has no ball machines, or the advanced gym equipment Rikkai has; he misses them already.
He receives a text message at lunch, from Yanagi, who tells him all is going well and that the team is on their best behavior. Yukimura’s lips curl into a smirk and the girls watching him giggle and shrink back, whispering even more.
Tell the team to keep up their behavior, he texts in reply. Let Tezuka think he is safe.
The bell rings before he has a chance to check for Yanagi’s reply, but he knows his orders will be passed around and his team will understand.
-
When the switch was mentioned, exchanging schools for a week, it was undoubtedly for tennis and nothing else. But Tezuka was the one who thought everything through, and received his homework in advance, as well as promises from classmates to take notes for him. He spends the time he is in Yukimura’s classes studying and completing his homework and the teachers do not object. He itches to respond when he hears a wrong answer, but he keeps his hands at his side.
Besides, there is Sanada and Yanagi sitting across from him and they are only too pleased to correct the wrong answers or add in comments.
Niou joins them for Maths and when he leaves, Sanada’s eyebrow is twitching, Yanagi seems amused, the teacher breathes a sigh of relief, and Tezuka finds he is amazed and almost allows himself to worry for the afternoon. Almost, but not quite.
-
When Kaidou and Momoshirou start fighting, Yukimura does not even blink: he has Niou, Yagyuu, Kirihara, Sanada, and Marui on his team. He understands spats and arguments and fights.
What makes him order laps is the fact that they stop practice. A shot goes wrong and the next thing Yukimura realizes, they are yelling and threatening to throw punches. It is bad enough that Oishi is running to them and Kawamura helps separate them. Yukimura knows fights: he does not know disruptions in practices for such fights. His team will fight, but they will fight on the courts; their battle zones are the tennis courts and their strategy, the game itself.
“A hundred laps,” he orders, his voice quiet, and when Momoshirou opens his mouth to complain, Yukimura stops him with a look. Oishi and Kawamura each have fifty, and when Yukimura overhears Kikumaru demands to know why, he answers. “They shouldn’t have stopped their match to stop a fight. They should be happy it is only fifty, and nothing more.”
Nox noctis inter
Yanagi replies to Yukimura when he gets home and asks how long they should be on their best behavior. Everyone knows Yukimura’s message and everyone wants to know when he will rescind the orders.
I will let you know, Yukimura responds. Give it at least another day. We want him to think he is underestimating us.
Sanada, reading over Yanagi’s shoulder, snorts and rolls his eyes, but Yanagi can see the dark gleam in his eyes.
They are all waiting.
Dies Duos
Tezuka starts rethinking Rikkai’s tennis team Tuesday after the morning practice; he sees no misbehavior, no wild antics or pranks. He wonders if the reputation the team has is all rumors, for there seems to be nothing behind it. He knows they are formidable on the courts, but he sees none of the psychological plays that make them feared.
He does not see Niou constantly looking to Yanagi; he does not see Yanagi’s head shake in denial. He does not see Niou look once more, in the afternoon; he does not see Yanagi’s nod of approval and lips move: Wednesday.
He knows nothing of the text messages. The Rikkai team communicates in secret, in codes and words with subtle meaning and actions and it is all lost on Tezuka.
He does not care to know anything, either. He is busy enough saying no to Kirihara’s demands for a match to pay attention to the rest of the team, which is the entire reason why they stuck Kirihara on him.
-
Yukimura is pleased on Tuesday and walks into the locker room with a smug smile. Fuji is the one there when he arrives and smiles pleasantly, although Yukimura can see a glint of blue beneath his lashes.
“A game today, Fuji?” he asks, looking to the boy who taught Kirihara a lesson. He does not doubt anything: he knows he will win, if Fuji plays seriously or not. All he needs Fuji for is to gain Echizen’s interest.
“Of course,” Fuji agrees, and his eyes are open, studying Yukimura as if he knows. But Yukimura does not care, especially with the agreement. He will play Fuji and win and then Fuji will no longer matter to him. It is a simple plan and he gives it no thought throughout the day. There is no need to, after all, and he proves it later.
There is a challenge, because Fuji is good. But there is nothing in him that wishes to be the best and therefore, there is no competition. Yukimura wins.
When they are gathered in the locker rooms, Yukimura can feel Echizen’s on eyes on him, speculative. He’s positive that there will be a forthcoming demand for a match.
Dies Three
Niou is the last one out of the locker room Wednesday morning, but he is not very late and Tezuka thinks nothing of it. Kirihara is at Tezuka’s side, waving a tennis racket in his face. Kirihara’s eyes are startlingly green, and he uses them to his advantage, the look in them matching the plea in his voice.
“Play a game against me,” he begs. “I’m going to defeat you.”
Tezuka says nothing, because he does not wish to interfere with the boy’s training; he does not know what Yukimura has in store for Kirihara. He thinks Kirihara will give up, after a while, but he underestimates the boy, for in-between each drill they complete, in breaks during practice matches, Kirihara asks. Sometimes not with words, but his eyes, his stance.
It reminds Tezuka of Echizen, at times, but in different ways, and he buries such thoughts quickly, for it almost shames him to compare the two.
-
Echizen does not remind Yukimura of Kirihara at all; Kirihara, he knows, would have demanded a game from the moment he saw Yukimura - indeed, Kirihara had done that, the year prior. Echizen waits, until they are on the courts and the Regulars are busy with drills.
“Play a match, Yukimura-san?” Echizen asks. He does not call Yukimura buchou, and that pleases Yukimura; he is not captain to this team, and he thinks he does not wish to be, ever. Buchou coming from Echizen’s mouth, or anyone in Seigaku’s, in reference to Yukimura would not be fitting or carry the same reverence they hold for Tezuka, or Rikkaidai holds for Yukimura.
“This afternoon. I’ll arrange practice matches.” Yukimura smiles. “Ten laps for ignoring drills. Then you have to complete the drills.” He turns away, expecting his orders to be taken seriously, already thinking of the practice matches. He will schedule them but not enforce; Yukimura is a top player and he likes a crowd just as much as any other top player. The rest of the team will want to see them play.
Distractions from his thoughts come in the form of another argument, from Momoshirou and Kaidou and this time the entire team is brought to a standstill. Watching them, watching Oishi and Kikumaru and Kawamura attempt to pull the juniors apart, Yukimura treks back to the locker room. He has been expecting this, and comes prepared.
No one notices him when he slides through the crowd, marching to sides of the boys still arguing; there is too much noise, from them and the rest of the team and the pre-Regulars and those freshmen. No one pays any attention to him until he snaps a pair of gleaming silver handcuffs on their wrists, and the click of the locks catching brings a sudden halt to the noise. Silence descends like a summer storm.
“You’ll be wearing those all day,” Yukimura says. “And tomorrow, if you do not learn to get along.”
Kaidou hisses and Momoshirou starts yelling. “You can’t do this to us! I’m not spending all day chained to Mamushi,” he screams, and it starts the fight all over again.
Yukimura ignores it and turns to the rest of the tennis club, who still seem to be staring. Seigaku does not know how to act, he thinks, remembering the times his team had stopped practicing to watch, only to pretend to be busy when he turned.
“Yukimura-san,” Oishi begins, “I do not think-”
“I don’t care what you think,” Yukimura replies. “Why has practice been stopped? If everyone has finished the assigned drills, I can add more.”
No one dares to say anything after that.
-
Tezuka is in class when he realizes that his books are not in the right order. The folder he carries with the week’s assignments is not in its usual place. His pens are in the bottom of his backpack.
He spends the first ten minutes of class quietly not panicking and hunting for everything. He shuffles papers and pulls everything from his backpack in order to rearrange them.
Sanada notices and is watching him with eyes narrowed. He has no hat on, and so Tezuka can see his eyes clearly, but he can not read the expression in them. He’s too busy worrying about the disorder in his backpack to concentrate on it.
Tezuka knows everything was in order when he left for Rikkai that morning. He does not understand what could have happened.
When Niou is with them for Maths, he smirks at Tezuka and asks if he is feeling okay. It only dawns on him then one possibility. Yanagi smiles when Tezuka’s eyes widen behind his glasses and then narrow, but Tezuka does not see Yanagi, for he is focusing on Niou and his sharp smile.
-
“I’m sorry Echizen-kun,” Yukimura says with a smile and a soft voice. “But today wouldn’t be a good day for a match. We’ll play tomorrow.”
He does it because he thinks it will anger Echizen and he’s pleased when Echizen glares and walks away without saying anything. Yukimura prefers more emotion but he will settle for Echizen’s apathetic anger.
-
Niou shows up to practice Wednesday afternoon with a red mark on his neck, and Tezuka is witness to the most shocking display of emotion he has seen in the Rikkaidai tennis team.
Yagyuu slams Niou against the chain link fence when he shows up on the courts and growls in Niou’s ear, too low for Tezuka to hear. He is about to order the fight to be broke up when Yagyuu’s mouth moves and covers the red spot on Niou’s neck.
Sanada appears beside him. Tezuka wonders if he is in shock, for Sanada startles him; he does not see things like what is going on between Niou and Yagyuu on Seigaku’s courts, even if the tension between some is unrelieved, and he isn’t sure what to do.
Sanada saves him by cursing and yelling at the pair. “Stop making out on the court,” he orders. “This isn’t your damn bedroom.”
“We’ll just go back into the locker room then,” Niou insists, his hands in Yagyuu’s shirt and Tezuka drags his eyes away because he thinks it is too private.
“No you won’t,” Sanada yells, and his voice grows loud when they ignore him and Niou is dragging his partner towards the clubhouse. “You fucking bastards, get your asses back here.”
“Sanada, don’t get your panties in a twist. Tezuka’s the captain and he’s not ordering us to do anything.”
That rouses Tezuka from his shock, and he clears his throat. “A hundred laps,” he instructs, because he can think of nothing else. He does not know how to punish such actions, and laps are the first things he thinks of.
He doesn’t expect the laughter of Niou and the twitch of Yagyuu’s lips, or Kirihara joining Niou in laughter, and Tezuka feels even more out of place, standing in Rikkai’s courts.
-
Inui brings out his juice Thursday, because he was unsure of Yukimura’s reaction prior to this. But there is a perfect opportunity when the Regulars are paired up against each other to practice serves.
Kikumaru is the first to try the juice and he is immediately sick, gagging on the liquid and rushing to drink water. Others follow: Kawamura, Momoshirou and consequently Kaidou, Oishi. Yukimura disappears for a few minutes after ordering a break.
When practice is over, Yukimura hands Inui a bucket. “You should always clean up your mistakes. Be glad there’s no toothbrush in there.”
Inui stares at him, glad his glasses hide his eyes, and wonders about this boy who is one of Yanagi’s closest friends.
Dies Quattuor
Tezuka wakes up and he realizes the week is almost over. He is looking forward to it as he looks forward to nothing.
His cell phone blinks at him and Tezuka checks the message on his way to Rikkai.
Yukimura and I play today. I’m going to win, Buchou. It is obvious who the message is from and he wishes he was not at Rikkai, but Seigaku, to watch the match. But then, he rationalizes, if he was at Seigaku, Yukimura would be in Rikkai and the match would not happen until an official setting.
Tezuka wants to say a thousand things in reply, but he can’t and settles for one thing that he knows Echizen is expecting.
Don’t get careless. He does not expect a reply and mentally prepares himself for facing another day of Rikkai. He will refuse Kirihara again, if he asks, especially now. He will not give in to the burning desire to play this protégé of Yukimura’s, to strike back at the other captain for playing Echizen. He is better than that.
There is money flashing in Rikkai’s locker room and Tezuka frowns at it as it exchanges hands. “Gambling is prohibited,” he says. “Put the money away.”
All of them - Niou, Marui, Kirihara, even Yanagi and Yagyuu and Sanada and Kuwahara - look up, although it is Niou who speaks.
“We’re not gambling. We’re simply backing predictions with money. Want to join? So far we’ve got Yukimura winning 6-0, 6-1, 6-2. Want to bet on 6-3?”
Tezuka stares at them all for a long, silent moment. And finds it a struggle to not give in and break his no gambling rule.
He turns away without saying anything.
-
Yukimura knows how Echizen plays; he has seen tapes and he watches Echizen during the practices. He also knows that Echizen knows his style of play, from the match with Fuji, and he knows that both of them hide bits of themselves from the world.
He is looking forward to his match, if only because he wants to see Echizen’s talent. This is the boy who won against Sanada and he wants to see why. He wants to reassure Rikkai’s mastery. He wants to defeat a challenging opponent and enjoy a game of tennis. He is sure of winning; loss is not an option in Yukimura’s mind.
Echizen’s eyes burn with fire, he thinks, but the fire that burns in Echizen is different than the fire that burns in Yukimura, in Kirihara, in anyone from Rikkai. He realizes it more as they play, the match lasting longer than Yukimura expects, because tennis speaks to him more than anything else does, and he reads Echizen in the arc of his returns, the speed of his serves.
It is not a slaughter, which pleases Yukimura. He meets Echizen at the net with a pleased grin and it obvious the boy is unhappy: displeasure seethes from him. Echizen stares at Yukimura and he can see the promise in the boy’s eyes. I will defeat you it says.
Yukimura laughs. Echizen will wait in line for that.
Dies Quinque
Friday morning Tezuka breathes a sigh of relief: two days to go. He dreads checking his cell phone that morning, but does. There is no message from Echizen, but there are half a dozen from Inui, two from Oishi, and one from Fuji.
They confirm his worst fears.
He does not take out his frustration on the team he is supervising, only because he is above such things. But he is human and has his faults; he can’t help but wonder how it will feel if he does.
Especially when the money exchanges hands and he hears laughter in the locker room that follows him to the courts.
-
“I trust you will no longer fight,” Yukimura says Friday morning in the locker room, when he dangles the handcuffs in front of Kaidou and Momoshirou, and they both look away, scowling but saying nothing.
Inui is next to him, scribbling down words in a notebook and the sound of the pencil moving against the paper finally gets to Yukimura. He reaches out quietly and plucks the notebook from Inui, who looks up. Even if Yukimura can not see his eyes, he can feel the confusion.
He smiles when he drops the book into the trashcan and orders them to the courts.
-
Tezuka attempts to open his locker Friday afternoon after practice, only to find it won’t move. He digs his finger under the edge and pries it open, stumbling back when it pops open, a piece of gum that was dislodged hitting him in the forehead. Along with the gum, his clothes fall out and three balloons proclaiming “We’ll Miss You.”
He thinks it is a lie and his forehead is twitching when he says good-bye to the team. He is glad they agreed only to switch for five days, and not the entire week. If he spent another day at Rikkai, he would go crazy.
-
Yukimura meets up with Sanada and Yanagi later Friday night, because he is too impatient to wait until the following day.
“Did you learn anything useful, Seiichi?” Yanagi asks over sushi and tea, and Yukimura’s smile widens; he was expecting Yanagi’s question.
“Only that I would not be challenged at Seigaku at all.” He laughs then, and his friends stare at him, but they are used to Yukimura’s sudden laughter, and neither expects an explanation. He can not even think of an explanation, if they had demanded one.
“If anyone has grown lax in my absence, they will be sorry,” Yukimura warns when his laughter dies. “I have missed the team.”