[Fic] Twenty Things About Seigaku (2/9) (Prince of Tennis)
Title: Twenty Things About Seigaku (2/9)
Rating: Gen
Characters: Oishi Shuichirou
Summary: Twenty things about Seigaku from Oishi's point of view.
Notes: Written as part of that 20 things craze last year. This fic continues to be dedicated to readerofasaph, the one who got me into writing again through her constant poking. Thanks for reminding me how much I missed it. First posted on October 15, 2005. Edited below for grammar.
Twenty things about Seigaku, from Oishi's point of view:
1. Every time he sees Tezuka putting up the new ranking blocks, Oishi is reminded that Tezuka is actually the one deciding who makes it on the team and who doesn't. No result has ever surprised Tezuka, not even the first ranking match where Echizen made it onto the regular's team.
2. In the beginning Tezuka avoided seeding Oishi with any strong players. It's not that Oishi needs to be seeded for his own protection, but Tezuka apparently doesn't want to take the risk of losing his fukubuchou. After a few arguments with Tezuka, though, Oishi thinks he's managed to convince Tezuka otherwise. Still, Tezuka refuses to put Oishi in the same block as himself and Fuji, or Fuji and Inui, or himself and Inui. In the back of Oishi's mind, some niggling seed of self-doubt causes him to suspect he might not be able to beat those three if they're trying, too. After thoughts like that, Oishi heads to the old container, where he practices against the bumpy sides for hours until Eiji drapes himself over Oishi, going, "Mou, Oishi, let's go for ice-cream already!" and drags Oishi away.
3. Oishi often wonders if Fuji really does like Inui juice. It can't be good for any human being--Oishi heard the ichinen-sei talking about what Inui puts in his juice--but Fuji always looks alright after drinking it. He's noticed Fuji's absences once or twice, but no one should be able to hold in an adverse reaction for so long after the fact ... right?
4. Oishi wonders if he'll ever be able to take more than one game from Fuji. He doesn't think it's right that he can sometimes take two or three games from Inui, and from Tezuka, but never more than one from Fuji.
5. Oishi once contemplated cooking up some Oishi-juice for the team, but after Inui debuted his Inui Juice, Oishi suspected that the team was forever mentally scarred and would forever associate any homemade juices with poison, and scrapped his idea.
6. The Regulars all enjoyed some chocolate chip cookies from their fukubuchou before their first match. Oishi never told anyone that he spent the entire weekend baking, and Eiji (chief cook/supervisor--Oishi's not really that good in the kitchen) never told anyone either.
7. Even though he named one of his fish Eiji, Oishi and Eiji are just the Golden Pair, and firm friends, but nothing more. Really.
8. Oishi can't help but try his best to remind himself of #7 when Eiji glomps him and cries, "Oishi!" every morning at school.
9. Oishi sometimes worries that Taka-san's decision to quit tennis after Jr High isn't the right decision. Being Oishi, though, he's too polite to say that to Taka-san's face, and instead constantly scrutinizes Taka-san for any signs that he's regretting it and trying to find a way out of the situation gracefully.
10. Oishi has to admit that Taka-san's sushi has improved vastly from the first time the shy tennis player invited everyone over to Kawamura Sushi to act as guinea pigs. Oishi figures that if Taka-san is serious about his sushi, given time, Kawamura Sushi might possibly become the most famous sushi restaurant in all of Tokyo.
11. Sometimes Oishi wonders if Momo's "I'm popular with everyone and everyone likes me" attitude masks severe self-esteem problems. It only lasts for a few seconds before Oishi reminds himself that he's been reading too many psychology textbooks and that not everyone has a deeply hurt and battered psyche.
12. Whenever Momo and Ryoma invite Eiji out for burgers, Oishi wishes that, just once, they would invite Oishi along, too. He actually keeps a few 1000-yen notes tucked away in a corner of his wallet, just in case.
13. Kaidoh scares Oishi, but Oishi would die first before admitting it to anyone. Except maybe Eiji, who's demonstrated amazing discretion with this revelation.
14. Everyone thinks Oishi has amazing patience, but Oishi has, more than once, wanted to throttle Momo and Kaidoh as he breaks their fights apart for the umpteenth time. Surprisingly enough, as if they can sense this, Momo and Kaidoh manage to behave for at least 48 hours after Oishi seperates them with just that level of exasperation in his voice as he says, "Stop it, you two!"
15. Oishi secretly wants to adopt Ryoma as a little brother. Even snarky and bratty as he can be, he is surprisingly endearing. But then Oishi remembers that he's being selfish. As the youngest member of the Regulars, Ryoma currently has eight big brothers looking out for him already. There's no need for Oishi to hog him to himself, that's for sure. When he tells Eiji about this, Eiji laughs and agrees wholeheartedly.
16. Sometimes, after losing to Echizen, Oishi wonders if he should be embarassed that his kouhai so throughly embarasses him on the tennis courts. Then he sees Echizen play Inui/Kawamura/Eiji, and Oishi feels much better about losing, 6-2, especially when Eiji complains loudly to all and sundry that "o-chibi isn't respecting his senpai at all, beating me 6-1!"
17. Oishi occasionally wonders how old Ryuuzaki-sensei really is. After all, she coached Echizen's father. Sometimes Oishi catches himself thinking of Ryuuzaki-sensei as an adopted grandmother.
18. Besides his Moon Volley, Oishi has sometimes wondered if he can incorporate swimming into his tennis. So far, though, he hasn't managed to make any new swimming-inspired move work. Oishi suspects that if only he could ask Fuji for help, he would be able to make it work. Oishi refuses to ask, though. This is _his_ special move, not Fuji's. What sort of personal gratification would there be if he could only come up with something with Fuji's help? Still, when his attempt at a Butterfly Volley to join the Moon Volley fails for the 3000th time, Oishi can't help but wish he was a tensai for a few hours, too.
19. Oishi once organized a cleanup of Seigaku's clubhouse. Though everyone pitched in to help and the clubhouse was gratifyingly sparkly by the end of their efforts, everything was back to normal (read: messy) the next morning. Tezuka listened patiently to Oishi's private ranting on the issue, and in the end, Oishi didn't go through with his original idea of making the "spring cleaning" a fortnightly thing.
20. Unbeknownst to the ichinen-sei trio, Oishi is planning to set up a clubhouse committee and put the three of them in charge before he graduates. Oishi figures this way he won't have to worry about the continued upkeep of the clubhouse after that. Oishi is also toying with the idea of asking Sakuno and Tomoko to become managers, like the baseball club and basketball club, whose female managers have proven exceedingly adapt at taking care of the organisational things, and sometimes mother the players, too. Oishi wonders if this way he can get rid of that darned "Mama of Seigaku" nickname everyone has plastered on him.
Part 1: Tezuka
Part 3: Fuji
Comments always welcome!
Rating: Gen
Characters: Oishi Shuichirou
Summary: Twenty things about Seigaku from Oishi's point of view.
Notes: Written as part of that 20 things craze last year. This fic continues to be dedicated to readerofasaph, the one who got me into writing again through her constant poking. Thanks for reminding me how much I missed it. First posted on October 15, 2005. Edited below for grammar.
Twenty things about Seigaku, from Oishi's point of view:
1. Every time he sees Tezuka putting up the new ranking blocks, Oishi is reminded that Tezuka is actually the one deciding who makes it on the team and who doesn't. No result has ever surprised Tezuka, not even the first ranking match where Echizen made it onto the regular's team.
2. In the beginning Tezuka avoided seeding Oishi with any strong players. It's not that Oishi needs to be seeded for his own protection, but Tezuka apparently doesn't want to take the risk of losing his fukubuchou. After a few arguments with Tezuka, though, Oishi thinks he's managed to convince Tezuka otherwise. Still, Tezuka refuses to put Oishi in the same block as himself and Fuji, or Fuji and Inui, or himself and Inui. In the back of Oishi's mind, some niggling seed of self-doubt causes him to suspect he might not be able to beat those three if they're trying, too. After thoughts like that, Oishi heads to the old container, where he practices against the bumpy sides for hours until Eiji drapes himself over Oishi, going, "Mou, Oishi, let's go for ice-cream already!" and drags Oishi away.
3. Oishi often wonders if Fuji really does like Inui juice. It can't be good for any human being--Oishi heard the ichinen-sei talking about what Inui puts in his juice--but Fuji always looks alright after drinking it. He's noticed Fuji's absences once or twice, but no one should be able to hold in an adverse reaction for so long after the fact ... right?
4. Oishi wonders if he'll ever be able to take more than one game from Fuji. He doesn't think it's right that he can sometimes take two or three games from Inui, and from Tezuka, but never more than one from Fuji.
5. Oishi once contemplated cooking up some Oishi-juice for the team, but after Inui debuted his Inui Juice, Oishi suspected that the team was forever mentally scarred and would forever associate any homemade juices with poison, and scrapped his idea.
6. The Regulars all enjoyed some chocolate chip cookies from their fukubuchou before their first match. Oishi never told anyone that he spent the entire weekend baking, and Eiji (chief cook/supervisor--Oishi's not really that good in the kitchen) never told anyone either.
7. Even though he named one of his fish Eiji, Oishi and Eiji are just the Golden Pair, and firm friends, but nothing more. Really.
8. Oishi can't help but try his best to remind himself of #7 when Eiji glomps him and cries, "Oishi!" every morning at school.
9. Oishi sometimes worries that Taka-san's decision to quit tennis after Jr High isn't the right decision. Being Oishi, though, he's too polite to say that to Taka-san's face, and instead constantly scrutinizes Taka-san for any signs that he's regretting it and trying to find a way out of the situation gracefully.
10. Oishi has to admit that Taka-san's sushi has improved vastly from the first time the shy tennis player invited everyone over to Kawamura Sushi to act as guinea pigs. Oishi figures that if Taka-san is serious about his sushi, given time, Kawamura Sushi might possibly become the most famous sushi restaurant in all of Tokyo.
11. Sometimes Oishi wonders if Momo's "I'm popular with everyone and everyone likes me" attitude masks severe self-esteem problems. It only lasts for a few seconds before Oishi reminds himself that he's been reading too many psychology textbooks and that not everyone has a deeply hurt and battered psyche.
12. Whenever Momo and Ryoma invite Eiji out for burgers, Oishi wishes that, just once, they would invite Oishi along, too. He actually keeps a few 1000-yen notes tucked away in a corner of his wallet, just in case.
13. Kaidoh scares Oishi, but Oishi would die first before admitting it to anyone. Except maybe Eiji, who's demonstrated amazing discretion with this revelation.
14. Everyone thinks Oishi has amazing patience, but Oishi has, more than once, wanted to throttle Momo and Kaidoh as he breaks their fights apart for the umpteenth time. Surprisingly enough, as if they can sense this, Momo and Kaidoh manage to behave for at least 48 hours after Oishi seperates them with just that level of exasperation in his voice as he says, "Stop it, you two!"
15. Oishi secretly wants to adopt Ryoma as a little brother. Even snarky and bratty as he can be, he is surprisingly endearing. But then Oishi remembers that he's being selfish. As the youngest member of the Regulars, Ryoma currently has eight big brothers looking out for him already. There's no need for Oishi to hog him to himself, that's for sure. When he tells Eiji about this, Eiji laughs and agrees wholeheartedly.
16. Sometimes, after losing to Echizen, Oishi wonders if he should be embarassed that his kouhai so throughly embarasses him on the tennis courts. Then he sees Echizen play Inui/Kawamura/Eiji, and Oishi feels much better about losing, 6-2, especially when Eiji complains loudly to all and sundry that "o-chibi isn't respecting his senpai at all, beating me 6-1!"
17. Oishi occasionally wonders how old Ryuuzaki-sensei really is. After all, she coached Echizen's father. Sometimes Oishi catches himself thinking of Ryuuzaki-sensei as an adopted grandmother.
18. Besides his Moon Volley, Oishi has sometimes wondered if he can incorporate swimming into his tennis. So far, though, he hasn't managed to make any new swimming-inspired move work. Oishi suspects that if only he could ask Fuji for help, he would be able to make it work. Oishi refuses to ask, though. This is _his_ special move, not Fuji's. What sort of personal gratification would there be if he could only come up with something with Fuji's help? Still, when his attempt at a Butterfly Volley to join the Moon Volley fails for the 3000th time, Oishi can't help but wish he was a tensai for a few hours, too.
19. Oishi once organized a cleanup of Seigaku's clubhouse. Though everyone pitched in to help and the clubhouse was gratifyingly sparkly by the end of their efforts, everything was back to normal (read: messy) the next morning. Tezuka listened patiently to Oishi's private ranting on the issue, and in the end, Oishi didn't go through with his original idea of making the "spring cleaning" a fortnightly thing.
20. Unbeknownst to the ichinen-sei trio, Oishi is planning to set up a clubhouse committee and put the three of them in charge before he graduates. Oishi figures this way he won't have to worry about the continued upkeep of the clubhouse after that. Oishi is also toying with the idea of asking Sakuno and Tomoko to become managers, like the baseball club and basketball club, whose female managers have proven exceedingly adapt at taking care of the organisational things, and sometimes mother the players, too. Oishi wonders if this way he can get rid of that darned "Mama of Seigaku" nickname everyone has plastered on him.
Part 1: Tezuka
Part 3: Fuji
Comments always welcome!