Welcome to Dark Horse, my first attempt at writing a fanfiction. Just to give you some idea of what you're getting into, I'm planning for this project to be 26 chapters when finished. That means it'll probably clock in at about 200,000 words when I'm done. As for the story itself, it revolves around a team of original characters who attend Hida Junior High School in Gifu Prefecture. Yes, dreaded OCs. Since I wanted to write a story about tennis, in line with Prince of Tennis itself, this seemed the most reasonable way to present something new and original. These characters are actually based on students I teach at the school where I work in Japan, personality-wise, but they all happen to look a lot like manga characters anyway. Oh, and one last thing. Full names are all given in Western order (given name first, family name second) although some characters will be referred to by their first, some by their last, and some by nicknames, just like they are in the regular Prince of Tennis series.
Dark Horse
Chapter1 – Tournament Prelude
Seiichi Kamishimizu reclined his seat in the tour bus, closing his eyes against the morning sun. The too-happy voice of the bus hostess came crackling through a speaker overhead. "We are now entering Tokyo. We should arrive at our destination in about thirty minutes." Out the window to his right, the sound of a Honda zipping past the bus drowned anything else the hostess might have said.
Seiichi hated bus trips. Traveling from Hida City to Tokyo was a five-hour ordeal. Worse, the bus had departed at 6:30 am. The scenery would probably have been nice that first hour, as the bus wound its way out of the Japanese Alps, but Seiichi had been too busy trying to sleep to care.
The only upside to the bus ride were the other passengers. If Seiichi had to share a bus with someone, he was glad it was Hida Junior High's tennis club. He'd known most of the people on this bus for at least a year and a half, some a lot longer.
Seiichi had always liked tennis. His father Kentaro coached the tennis club for Hida Takayama High School. From the first day Seiichi could swing a racket, his father had taught him the game. He'd practiced all through elementary school, and Seiichi had joined the Hida Junior High tennis club on the same day he enrolled.
He never really expected the club to be good, though.
Hida City was hardly a city at all. With around 50,000 people, it could only support three junior high schools. But somehow, Hida Junior High had found a group of gifted players to round out its tennis team for the last two years.
No one had expected Hida to win the Gifu prefectural competition. Hida Junior High hadn't even made it to the semifinals the year before. But not only had Hida won, they hadn't lost a set in the whole tournament. For the first time in the school's history, Hida Junior High sent a team to the regional tennis championships.
The Tokai regional competition in Nagoya had been harder. Nagoya had some very strong schools, schools that appeared regularly in the national tournament. And Hida was still the outsider, the little school from nowhere. They had gotten a bye through to the second round since they were Gifu's prefectural champions, but their opponents in the second round of Tokai, Meito Junior High, had been projected to sweep them in straight sets. Hida's Doubles Two had dropped, but in a much closer match than most of the observers expected. And Doubles One had crushed Meito's pair in record time for the Tokai tournament.
When Daisaku Yamaguchi, Hida's Singles Three, won his set 6-2, the spectators at Tokai began to take Hida seriously for the first time. And when Kazuki Sunama took the Singles Two set without dropping a game, moving Hida into the third round, even the teams favored to win at Tokai started to pay attention. Still, Seiichi had been a little disappointed. With Sunama earning Hida's third win against Meito, the round had ended. Seiichi never even had the chance to play.
The third round and the quarterfinals went the same way: Hida only lost one set in each. If Daisaku hadn't sprained his ankle in the quarters, forcing him to retire from the match, even Sunama might not have had the chance to play that time.
Tokai's semifinals were a little more interesting. Shizuoka Daifuzoku, champions from their prefecture, had watched the Hida team sail through the quarters and decided the best way to deal with them was to frontload their schedule. Shidai bumped their Doubles One to Doubles Two, pushed two strong singles players into the Doubles One slot, and put their team captain as Singles Three. It wasn't an uncommon tactic, especially when faced with an unstudied team in a late-round match. Shidai was banking on the sheer strength of their top players to win through against the weaker players in the Hida schedule. The strategy nearly worked, too. Hida's Doubles Two fell easily, and despite his best efforts, Daisaku never managed to take a game from the Shidai captain. But Hida's Doubles One was too much for Shidai to handle, and the Shizuoka champions had dropped that set 3-6.
The problem with frontloading your schedule in a tournament is that, if you don't win in the first three sets, you're fighting an uphill battle through the last two. And Shidai never saw a chance to retake the high ground. Sunama dropped their Singles Two without raising a sweat. For Seiichi, it was the first time he'd had the chance to play at Tokai. The set against Shidai wasn't as much fun as it would have been if he'd faced a stronger opponent, and it was over far too quickly for him to feel satisfied, but at least it gave Seiichi a chance to warm up his arm before the finals.
Getting past the semifinal match guaranteed that Hida would play in the national tournament. Tokai was allowed to send its top three teams to nationals each year, so beating Shidai gave Hida a guaranteed trip to Tokyo. The team had celebrated afterward, in the short space before the final matches. Having a seat at nationals eased the pressure somewhat. Winning the Tokai tournament would be nice, but even if they lost, Hida would still continue playing this year.
Tokai's championship match had been a good fight. Hida had faced Nagoya's AIT Daifuzoku. AIT had been Tokai's runner-up the previous year, and had sent a team to the national tennis tournament for an amazing eight years running. AIT had been heavily favored to win the Tokai tournament, and for Seiichi it was easy to see why. AIT's Doubles Two dropped Kurari and Iwasa, Hida's own pair, in straight games. Doubles One, the Ito twins, had lost 5-7; it was the only time Seiichi had ever seen Hirohito and Tetsuya fail to take their set.
Everyone in the tennis club, everyone but the regulars, had resigned themselves to a second-place finish by the time Daisaku stepped out for the Singles Three match. But Daisaku had shown himself to be a better player than anyone expected. His serves were perfect through the entire match, and he managed to convert a breakpoint opportunity to win the set 6-4.
Sunama had approached his match with the same unnatural cool he always showed. He served the first game, but the AIT player fought his way to deuce and then managed to break Sunama for a 1-0 lead. Sunama had pressed on, not even showing a reaction to the break. Six games in, with the count at 4-2 in AIT's favor, it became clear to everyone why Sunama seemed so calm. The AIT singles player was sprinting around the court, fighting for every point, and growing noticeably slower with each ball. Sunama, calm as ever, looked the same as when he had stepped on the court. In short order, Sunama won his own match 6-4. He took the last game on his serve alone – the AIT player hadn't had enough energy left to return the ball properly.
All of which meant that it was up to Seiichi to win or lose the championship. And, of course, that meant he was probably facing the best player AIT could field. Considering the previous sets, that was no small claim. There had been some nervousness, facing that sort of pressure, but Seiichi did his best to squash it as he checked his racket and took his place on the court.
…And after that, he didn't remember much. Seiichi knew he had been very impressed with his opponent's speed and power. But there was more to tennis than speed and power. And there were two holes in the AIT player's game: his rising backhand and his serve. Neither hole was particularly large, but together they were sufficient. Seiichi's opponent could hit a rising backhand well enough to clear the net, but it lacked the power of his other shots and left Seiichi open for an easy winner. And the AIT player could serve competently, just not with the strength to keep up with Seiichi. The match had been close, a 7-5 victory for Seiichi in the end. But he had kept back his best techniques. Whether or not they won the Tokai championship, Hida already had a seat at nationals. And the more surprises he had left for Tokyo, the better his, and Hida's, chances of doing well.
Again, the voice of the bus hostess crackled through the speakers, bringing Seiichi back to the present. "We are now arriving at the Palace Hotel. Will everyone please begin to gather your belongings?"
Stretching his arms over his head, Seiichi gave one last yawn. He glanced at the seat beside him and saw that Daisaku was still soundly asleep. Narrowing his eyes, Seiichi elbowed him in the ribs.
"Hey! What?" Daisaku woke with a start and tried to squirm away from Seiichi. "What was that for? I was sleeping, you know!" As if that weren't obvious.
Seiichi rolled his eyes and made a show of sounding exasperated. "We're here, Daisaku."
"Here? Whaddaya…" Daisaku scrubbed a hand through his short bleach-blond hair, making it even more unruly than usual. Obviously, Seiichi thought, he still wasn't quite awake. Well, that could be fun in its own right.
"In Tokyo? Or did you forget we were going to Tokyo? There's a tennis tournament, you know. I think they might even let you play. Now hurry and let me out. You're holding everyone up."
The glazed look in Daisaku's dark brown eyes told Seiichi he had been right. "Toky… Tenni… Hey…."
Always press the advantage. "Hurry up, you lump! Some of us want to get to our hotel rooms!" Just for good measure, Seiichi swatted Daisaku on the head.
"Okay, okay already! I'm moving. You don't have to hit me!" Daisaku snatched his duffle bag from the floor in front of him and started hurrying down the aisle of the bus. He got about three steps before he realized the bus was still moving. Spinning around, he fixed a baleful glare on Seiichi and strode back down the aisle, murderous intent plain on his face. Unfortunately for Daisaku, the bus chose that moment to make a rather sharp turn into the Palace Hotel parking lot. Daisaku lost his footing and tumbled into the seat in front of Seiichi, landing on Yuya Kawakami and Shouta Iwasa, Hida's Doubles Two, who were both still sleeping themselves.
If anyone in Hida's tennis club could sleep more soundly than Daisaku, it was Iwasa, but the shock of having a well-muscled former kendo player land in his lap brought him back to consciousness in a heartbeat. His head twitched, frizzy brown hair swaying, as he came awake. Iwasa didn't waste any time readjusting to his surroundings, though. Seeing Daisaku lying across his legs, Iwasa reacted the same way as he always reacted to an unexpected situation. He did the first thing that came to mind.
In this case, that meant he started punching Daisaku to within an inch of his life.
Yuya Kawakami (everyone just called him Kurari) wasn't quite so violent about being woken up, but he did have a mean streak to him. Glancing at Iwasa and the pummeling being visited on Daisaku's unprotected back; Kurari gave a little shrug and began pounding away himself.
Daisaku roared in pain, trying to fight his way out of the beating. "Stop it! Stop it! Get off me, already. Ouch! That hurts, Kurari!"
Between the yelps from Daisaku, Seiichi could make out Iwasa's voice as well. "You get off, ya little… was dreamin', and it was really… yea, I hope it hurts!"
Seiichi couldn't help himself. He burst out laughing.
The commotion had attracted everyone else's attention as well: Seiichi wasn't the only one laughing. But the man striding down the aisle from the front of the bus did not look amused. Ando-sensei was short and thin, and still young for a teacher at thirty-two, but he had the sort of presence that commanded respect. He walked up to the brawl, but instead of intervening, he just barked three names. "Iwasa! Kawakami! Yamaguchi!" Almost as an afterthought, his eyes rose over the seat backs to rest on Seiichi. "And you too, Kamishimizu. I know you had something to do with this. I want you four on the courts an extra hour tonight, practicing. If you have this much energy to burn before the tournament, I'd rather you did something useful with it."
Daisaku struggled back to his feet with all the dignity he could muster, which wasn't much. All four of them hung their heads as they reluctantly gave a chorused, "Yes, Sensei."
As Ando-sensei returned to the front of the bus, Daisaku slipped back into his seat. "I'm going to kill you for that, Seiichi. I'm going to fricking kill you. I'm going to wait until you're asleep, and then I'm going to tie you up, and there are going to be knives, really big knives, and…." A perverse glee lit Daisaku's face as his mind raced to think of all the horrible things he could do.
Seiichi felt the bus come to a stop. Over Daisaku's shoulder, he saw the other members of the tennis club begin filing past with their bags. "Um, Daisaku…. They're…. Everyone…. Leaving…." Daisaku did not want to let him get in another word.
"Oh no, I'm not falling for that again, you rat. I'm sitting right here until this bus stops and Ando-sensei tells me to get off. And then I'm going to string you to the back of the bus, and I'm going to watch it drive off dragging you behind it, and I'm going to wave like this." Daisaku held up his right hand and twitched his fingers at Seiichi, a truly villainous grin spreading across his face. "And there are going to be knives. Did I mention the knives? And… Oh, what is it, Ando-sensei?"
Ando-sensei was tapping a finger on Daisaku's shoulder, his face a mask of barely-controlled impatience. "Are you done, Yamaguchi? I'd like to check into our hotel rooms today."
Daisaku turned back to Seiichi with a look that said somehow this, too, was his fault. He grabbed his bag, again, stepped into the aisle, and made a short bow to Ando-sensei. Ando turned to leave and Seiichi reached down to get his own bag. But Daisaku refused to give up. In a whispered voice, he promised, "Knives, Seiichi. There're gonna be knives." Then he turned and hurried off the bus, Seiichi following close behind him.
Outside, the tennis club was circled around Ando-sensei, who was holding a sheaf of papers. He was reviewing the schedule in a loud voice.
"The tournament starts tomorrow at 8:00 am. Because we won at Tokai, we get another bye. We won't have to play until the second round. But that doesn't mean you all can slack off. I want each of you watching the other teams, getting a feel for what we're up against." He flipped to a page with a tree-chart mapping the tournament lineup.
"Our first match will be with Osaka Tennoji Junior High, or with Rokkaku Junior High from Chiba. Hirohito, I want you and Tetsuya watching that match. I want to know everything we can about whichever team wins that series.
"Sunama, I want you watching the Rikkai match. They've won the national championship for the last two years, and if we make it to the semifinals, we'll probably run into them there. They'll be playing… Oh. They'll be playing Shizuoka Daifuzoku. You already know their play style from Tokai, Sunama, so see if you can use that to work out any more information about Rikkai.
"We beat AIT at Tokai too, and I think they'll be looking to return the favor, so I want Kamishimizu and Yamaguchi watching them. They'll be playing the Host Prefecture seat… Hyotei Gakuen. Kanto already has their best six teams here and Hyotei wasn't among them this year, so I'd say AIT is a safe bet for that match. But I want to know if they have any new shots, if they changed their lineup, if anything is different from what we saw at Tokai.
"And on our side of the bracket, that just leaves… Kyoto's Doshisha Junior High School and Miyake Junior High from Kyushuu. Just to be safe, I want someone watching that match too. So Iwasa and Kawakami, you two will take them.
"Now, you all know your room assignments. The front desk knows we've arrived and they should have our keys prepared. Drop off your bags and meet me back here in one hour, with your rackets."
As the players made their way to the hotel entrance, the team captain Hirohito Ito caught Seiichi's arm. Hirohito was tall, though still a little shorter than Seiichi, and he had the same sort of unruly hair as Daisaku, though his was a little longer. Absent for once was Hirohito's perpetual smirk. Obviously, he had something important on his mind. "What do you need, Captain?" Seiichi asked.
Even though the rest of the tennis club was already five meters ahead of them, Hirohito dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Would you mind working with Tetsuya today at practice, Seiichi? I want him to get some more practice with service returns, and your serve is the best we've got. This is nationals, and I want him to be ready for anything."
Hirohito and Tetsuya Ito were twins; fraternal, so they looked very different from one another, but twins nonetheless. There were as many differences between them as there were similarities. Hirohito was tall, while his brother was short. Hirohito was good-looking, but Tetsu-kun was genuinely beautiful. What they did share was a love of tennis, and while Tetsuya wasn't as talented as Hirohito, he was not weak either. Hirohito held the position of club captain, but Tetsuya had earned the vice-captain position on his own.
The twins made up Hida's Doubles One, and as far as Seiichi knew, except for the loss against AIT at Tokai, the Ito brothers had never been defeated. But Hirohito still pressed his brother relentlessly, making Tetsuya train harder than anyone else on the team. Tetsuya never complained; even when he looked ready to fall over from exhaustion, he would just smile and continue to play. Tetsuya had more tenacity than anyone else Seiichi had ever met.
"No problem, Captain," Seiichi replied. He took his duffel off his shoulder and rested it on the ground while he talked. "I wouldn't mind practicing my service game, anyway. Anything specific you want me to work on?"
Hirohito kicked the ground with his toes, something he often did when thinking. "Give him the standard range. I don't know what sort of serves we're going to see here. Like I said, I want Tetsuya to be ready for anything. But if you focus anywhere, focus on his backhand returns. He has the most trouble with those."
"Back-slice?" Seiichi asked a bit apprehensively.
"No, save that for tomorrow. There may be scouts watching the courts for the other teams. I want you to keep both the big serves back today. Anyway, if Tetsuya is anything, he's fast. He can already get under most of your winners. Just work him on the return strokes."
"Okay, Captain. I'll do my best." Re-shouldering his duffel bag, Seiichi began to walk toward the entrance of the Palace Hotel. Everyone else was out of sight. Probably at the front desk already, collecting their keys.
Hirohito walked beside Seiichi and spoke up again after a few steps. "How about you? Do you think you're ready for tomorrow, Seiichi? You have an extra hour to practice after everyone else. What are you going to work on?"
"Huh. I hadn't really thought about it yet. Volleys, I suppose. I still don't feel like I can get enough spin off the volleys. I mean, they go in, sure, but…. We're at nationals. That's not going to be enough, is it?"
"No, probably not." Something about the tone of Hirohito's voice made Seiichi turn to look at him. The captain's face was suddenly much more closed. Hirohito's eyes were narrower, and he walked like a man going to his death. Seiichi had never realized the competition weighed so heavily on his captain's mind. He wanted to say something to lift the suddenly somber mood, but no words came to him. The pair walked through the hotel entrance in brooding silence.
Inside, most of the club members had already left for their rooms. Only Tetsuya and Kazuki Sunama remained, standing beside the check-in desk. In many ways, Tetsuya resembled Sunama more than his own brother. They were both small. Tetsuya was in his third year at Hida, and Sunama in his second, but they were both frequently mistaken for first-years. Both of them wore wire-rimmed glasses and had the same feathery black hair. Tetsuya's ever-smiling face, though, could have been lifted straight from the pages of a comic. Sunama would have been attractive, too, except that he never smiled. His face just now was a mask of introspection, closed to the world outside.
As Seiichi and Hirohito approached the desk, Tetsuya came to meet them carrying two keys. "Hey there, Seiichi. Okay, Hirohito, I've got the keys to our room. Lets go check it out! This place looks so cool. I can't wait to see where we're gonna be sleeping!" Tetsuya grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him off to the elevators in a manic frenzy.
Sunama stayed by the front desk and watched as Seiichi approached. He looked… not upset, Seiichi didn't think he'd ever seen Sunama upset, but… distant. More than usual, as impossible as that seemed. When Seiichi was a meter away, Sunama finally spoke.
"Room 714. I'm using the shower."
That was all. He flicked his hand and sent a key sailing through the space between them. Seiichi snatched it and thrust it into his pocket. Sunama was already walking to the elevators. With his longer legs, Seiichi overtook him quickly, but instead of going ahead, he chose to just walk beside his teammate. Sunama never seemed to care one way or the other, though. As it always did when he was with Sunama, Seiichi's brain struggled to find something to talk about. And as always, it failed.
Seiichi liked Sunama. Kazuki Sunama was an amazing tennis player and as nice a person as Seiichi had met. But Seiichi had never found a way to get past Sunama's cold exterior. He didn't know what Sunama liked to do, aside from play tennis. Seiichi didn't know if he had any siblings, what his favorite comics were, or whether he liked to go to karaoke. In short, Sunama was a mystery. Still, Seiichi didn't think of Sunama as a loner, not as such. Sunama didn't appear to especially like being by himself. He just never really seemed to care whether or not there were other people around.
Stepping into the elevator, Seiichi leaned back against the wall as Sunama pressed the button for the seventh floor. And then something truly unprecedented happened. Sunama started to speak.
"Watch Hyotei tomorrow, Seiichi. Whatever Ando-sensei said, I don't think AIT is going to have an easy time getting through to the second round. I've been looking at the teams myself. Hyotei trains with Rikkai, and the only reason they weren't seated at the Kanto tournament is because they lost to the champions, Seishun Gakuen, in the first round. And Hyotei did better against Seigaku than any team in the tournament, including Rikkai."
Sunama hadn't turned around to talk; he was still facing the elevator's button panel. As he finished speaking, a chime announced their arrival on the seventh floor, and Sunama stepped out into the hallway, not even waiting for a reply from Seiichi.
Not that Seiichi was sure how to reply. Everyone on the team knew to trust Sunama's judgment. He had an uncanny knack for spotting patterns and making connections that slipped past other people. It was that trait, more than anything else, that had earned him his habitual seat as Singles Two. Sunama was an excellent tennis player in his own right, but his real gift lay in finding and exploiting the weaknesses of his opponents. Seiichi was sure that had been the reason Ando-sensei told Sunama to watch the Rikkai match – if anyone could spot the flaws in their play style, it would be Sunama. And if Sunama said Hyotei was the team to watch tomorrow….
Returning from his thoughts, Seiichi noticed that Sunama had gotten ahead of him and was already opening the door to their shared room. Seiichi slipped in behind him and tossed his duffel on the bed nearer to the window. Sunama unzipped his own bag and removed his neatly folded Hida tennis club uniform. Taking the uniform with him, Sunama stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. Seiichi flopped down onto his bed and twined his fingers behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. Talking with Sunama and Hirohito had brought back the pre-game nervousness he so hated. Tomorrow, his team was going to be playing for a chance at the national junior high tennis championship. And as Singles One, every match he played would either result in his team's advancement in, or removal from, the tournament. No pressure.
The sound of running water announced that Sunama was preparing to take his shower. The noise grated on Seiichi's already raw nerves for a moment, but he forced himself to take a deep breath and close his eyes. Getting tense before the tournament tomorrow would just hurt his game. Seiichi needed to relax. He tried to call up soothing images: swimming in the Miyagawa river back in Hida, taking tennis lessons with Daisaku in elementary school. Gradually, the tension started to ease. The sound of water pellets coming from the bathroom became less dissonant and more rhythmic. The anxiety, ever so slowly, began to fade….
Then there was a rather loud voice, sounding all too close to his ear. Daisaku.
"What are you doing, Seiichi? We need to practice! Get up and get dressed, already!" Seiichi opened his eyes and realized he must have fallen asleep.
Daisaku was standing over him, a look of apprehension painted on his face. He could have been exacting revenge on Seiichi for the incident on the bus, but instead he just looked nervous about being late for practice. Seiichi glanced at the room's other bed and saw Sunama sitting there, already wearing his uniform and browsing through a notebook that might have been tennis notes or might just as well have had his math notes from last week's classes.
"Okay, okay, I'm moving." Seiichi kicked Daisaku out of the way and sat up, pulling his duffel bag onto his lap. He unzipped it and rummaged inside until he could find his own uniform. It was light blue, with black shoulders and black lettering across the back, just like the other Hida uniforms. Seiichi took off the jeans and t-shirt he'd worn on the bus ride and pulled the jersey over his head. Then he stood and slipped into the matching pants. Finally, he dug in the duffel for a pair of socks, unrolled them, and tugged them onto his feet.
Daisaku had moved to the door and was bouncing impatiently on his heels as he watched Seiichi get dressed. "Move it, Seiichi! We already have to practice an hour more than everyone else. I don't want Ando-sensei making me do anything else!"
Seiichi pulled on his shoes and tapped his toes on the floor to settle them. "He's not going to make us do any more than that, Daisaku. We have to be able to play tomorrow, remember? If we're too tired to play, we won't win, and Ando-sensei doesn't want that any more than we do." Still, Seiichi wasn't entirely sure how far Ando-sensei would be willing to push, whatever he told Daisaku. Better not to take chances. Seiichi snatched up his racket and his room key, and hurried to the door. He was on the verge of telling Sunama to hurry as well, when he noticed that his roommate was already out in the hall, his racket slung over his shoulder. And the notebook still open in front of him. It had to be a tennis notebook, Seiichi thought to himself.
Seiichi jogged to the elevator and jabbed the button to go down. The other two followed him quickly, but they still had to wait nearly a minute for an elevator to arrive. Once the doors slid open, they stepped inside and Sunama pushed the button for the lobby. They spent the ride down in silence. Daisaku kept bouncing on his toes, shaking the elevator periodically.
In the lobby, the rest of the team was already assembled around Ando-sensei. Seiichi raced over with the other two and bowed a hasty apology. Fortunately, Ando-sensei just nodded in reply and started in on what he had planned to say.
"All right, everyone. Tomorrow, we'll be playing at the Arena Tennis Court complex. It's only a couple minutes from the hotel – that's why we're staying here – so we're going to walk over this afternoon and practice there." Ando-sensei kicked two large boxes at his feet. "I've got our tennis balls in here, along with some tape in case anyone blisters while we're practicing. Kamishimizu and Yamaguchi, you two can carry these boxes for me." Well, maybe there was going to be a little retribution for their late arrival. "Okay, then. Everyone follow me."
Seiichi squatted to pick up one of the boxes. Beside him, Daisaku shot Seiichi a look that said he had, at last, regained his former humour and was thinking of yet more horrible things he could do, probably still involving those knives. Well, this time it really was Seiichi's fault. He shouldn't have fallen asleep before practice. But still, Daisaku could have come down by himself. It had been his choice to find Seiichi and come down together.
Hefting the box, Seiichi followed the crowd of uniforms in front of him out into the Tokyo afternoon. The streets of the Marunouchi district, near the Imperial Palace, were wide and well shaded with a canopy of trees. Ando-sensei turned right, leading the team along a major thoroughfare. They walked for about five minutes and took a left onto another wide avenue. Seiichi's arms were starting to get sore from carrying the box of tennis balls, but he knew better than to complain. Anyway, Daisaku would never whine about something like carrying tennis balls. Daisaku had been practicing kendo nearly as long as tennis, and he had the heavily muscled upper body of a kendo player. These tennis balls probably weighed nothing to him. And Seiichi wasn't about to start whining unless he could expect Daisaku to whine along with him.
Fortunately, after another minute Ando-sensei turned right again and Seiichi saw the arched sign for the Arena Tennis Court complex. It was a very nice-looking venue. There were big, leafy trees everywhere; benches and tables where you could rest for a while; vending machines every fifty meters or so. But, Seiichi supposed, of course the national tennis competition would be held somewhere nice like this. Still, as Ando-sensei led them along the brick path to the tennis courts, Seiichi couldn't help wishing he had somewhere like this to play back in Hida.
Ahead, the trees opened to show a row of empty courts. A rhythmic, muffled 'pang' sound told Seiichi that someone else was playing nearby, just out of sight. Ando-sensei led them down a series of steps, past terraced benches, and then pointed for Seiichi and Daisaku to leave the boxes against the wall of the court. Seiichi bent his knees and gently deposited the box, massaging his arms as he stood. Then he joined the rest of the team around Ando-sensei.
"Okay, I want all of you practicing hard today. Don't hurt yourselves, but make sure you're good and ready for tomorrow. And stick to the basics: serves, groundstrokes, volleys, smashes. None of the fancy stuff today. Now get warmed up and start practicing." With that, Ando-sensei turned and walked back to the boxes, opening them and beginning to remove the balls.
Hirohito stepped into the middle of the circle and barked, "Stretches!" Then he began the usual warm-up routine, counting off the stretches as everyone did them together. Once they were done stretching, he outlined the practice schedule for the afternoon.
"First thing today, groundstrokes. We're going to do them for twenty minutes, then volleys for another twenty. Then I want you each to do fifty smashes and fifty serves, alternate firsts and seconds. Sunama, you work with Iwasa. I'll join you two for the basic practice. Yamaguchi and Kawakami, you two together. And Tetsuya, you'll work with Kamishimizu." Everyone nodded quickly to acknowledge the pairings.
"After we finish with the basics, I want you all working on your individual strengths. Iwasa and Sunama, singles games for the rest of the practice. Sunama, see if you can find somewhere on the court Iwasa can't return the ball. And Iwasa, try to force Sunama to hit back to you instead of putting the ball where he wants it." Hirohito waved his hand, and Sunama and Shouta Iwasa jogged back to Ando-sensei to collect enough tennis balls for practicing.
"Kawakami and Yamaguchi, you're our big hitters. So thirty minutes more on groundstrokes, and another fifty smashes each. Push yourselves, see how fast you can return without hitting the ball out. We're going to need speed as much as power tomorrow, and I'd rather have you testing your limits now, instead of during one of the tournament games. After that, run singles games. You'll be practicing an extra hour, so don't wear yourselves down too much." When Hirohito finished, Daisaku and Kurari went running back to ball boxes as well.
"And last of all, you two." Hirohito dropped the captain's formality for a more friendly tone. "Tetsuya, I want you practicing service returns for tomorrow. See if you can read what Seiichi is going hit. Seiichi, just push yourself for speed and accuracy. Same thing I told Daisaku and Kurari. If you're going to double-fault I'd rather you did it today instead of tomorrow. Work on that for forty-five minutes, and then run singles games for the rest of practice. I'll switch you over to Iwasa for the last hour, Seiichi. You two can keep going with the singles games after that, just make sure you're both still fit to play tomorrow."
With a last nod for Hirohito, Seiichi and Tetsuya jogged back to the balls. As they hurried to their court, Seiichi saw Hirohito stopping to talk to Ando-sensei before joining Sunama and Iwasa himself.
The impact of a racket on the back of his head brought Seiichi's attention around. "Hey!"
"I was asking," Tetsuya started, "If you thought everything was all right with Hiro? He's been acting a bit funny the last couple days. I'm worried about him."
"Hiro? Oh," Seiichi muttered, rubbing the back of his head, "It's probably just nerves, Sempai. He's the captain. He's responsible for the whole team. I know I'm nervous, but he's probably as worried as the rest of us combined. It'll be fine."
"Yeah, sure…." Tetsuya didn't look convinced, but he dropped the conversation as Seiichi turned off to take the far end of the court.
Practice was intense, with Tetsuya pushing Seiichi as hard as he could on the groundstrokes and the volleys, and Seiichi pushing right back. He lost himself in the steady rhythm, back and forth, and the time passed quickly. Smash practice was fun, as always. First Tetsuya would lob ten shots high overhead, leaving Seiichi to reposition himself and find the best point to smash from. Then Seiichi would lob ten back to Tetsuya, who would do his turn of smashing, and so they went, back and forth, until they had each done fifty. Serves worked the same way. Seiichi would hit a first serve and a second serve, then a first serve and a second serve, until he had done ten, total. If they were good, which they usually were, he and Tetsuya would play the point back and forth until someone hit a winner. Then Tetsuya would take his turn, and they would continue.
After basic practice, Seiichi and Tetsuya began to do service and return in earnest. Now, Seiichi would change between first and second serves without warning, forcing Tetsuya to read his movements to know how fast the serve would be. Seiichi hit him the usual series of serves: flat, slice, topspin, and sidespin. It gave Tetsuya a good range of heights and directions to return from. According to Hirohito, Tetsuya had the most trouble with backhand returns, so Seiichi gave a little more emphasis to those, but as far as he could tell, Tetsuya's backhand returns were just as solid as his forehands. They continued like that for forty-five minutes, usually playing out the point after Seiichi's serve. Seiichi was grateful for that – by the end of practicing service returns, his shoulder was starting to weaken, and it was good to have a rest between serves, even if it did involve sprinting around the court to fire off groundstrokes and volleys.
Tetsuya and Seiichi only had about fifteen minutes more at the end for singles games, but they still managed to play almost a full set. Seiichi was ahead at the end, 5-2, but Tetsuya was standing up to Seiichi's game better than he had just two weeks before when they practiced for Tokai.
At the end of the seventh game, Iwasa stepped in to relieve Tetsuya. Seiichi walked to the net, glad for even a small break after two hours of practice. Iwasa looked tired himself, but that could be deceptive. Iwasa always looked tired, his eyes half-lidded and his hair hopelessly disheveled, as if he had only woken up minutes earlier. Even in the middle of his fiercest games, he kept that look. Stepping to the net himself, Iwasa had a limp flexibility, as if using his muscles was just too much trouble. As he approached, he raised his voice in a loud drawl. "The captain is a friggin' maniac, Seiichi. I don' know how he 'spects us to play two more hours out 'ere. This is crap. I wanna get some sleep."
Seiichi had to bite back a laugh. You could always count on Iwasa to whine about practice. Or about school. Or about girls. Or about pretty much anything. "Let's just get this over with, Sempai. The sooner we start, the sooner they let us leave, right?"
Iwasa nodded, not so much in agreement as in refusal to bother thinking about it, and yawned, turning back to his side of the court. Seiichi turned back to his own side and pulled a tennis ball out of his pocket, bouncing it against the ground with his racket. When he reached the baseline, he snatched the ball and turned.
Iwasa's voice rang out from the other end of the court, words slurring together. "What the frick are you doin', Seiichi? I'm friggin' servin' first, you moron. Now put tha' thing away 'fore I come over there an' whack you."
Seiichi shrugged and re-pocketed the ball, then stood on the baseline to receive Iwasa's serve. It came high and fast, landing just inside the service court and spinning slightly to the left. Seiichi returned it with a casual backhand, warming up to Iwasa's play style.
Iwasa just stood there as the ball came back to his court, looking like nothing so much as a deer in headlights. The ball was coming straight for him, though, and at the last minute he swung his racket. It looked more like a defense reflex than an actual stroke, but Iwasa's form was nonetheless flawless. The ball cleared the net on a flat trajectory and landed crosscourt from Seiichi, skittering to the rear wall on an overabundance of backspin.
"Wha' the frick? Seiichi, 're you even awake? What're ya doin' over there? We're playin' tennis, here, ya moron."
Seiichi didn't bother responding, he just squared his feet to receive the next serve. It looked like Iwasa was muttering something to himself as he fished another ball out of his pocket and tossed it in the air. He paused with his back arched, staring at the ball. It almost looked like he had waited too long to hit it, but when he swung through, Iwasa connected and the ball just cleared the net, striking at the back line of the service court and bouncing straight at Seiichi.
This time Seiichi didn't let the return go quite so casually. He sidestepped and struck with what looked like a forehand, but with a tiny bit of twist in the wrist. By the time the ball crossed the net, Seiichi was already moving to the center of the court. When Iwasa backhanded the ball, he gave a small grunt as it spun off his racket from the sidespin Seiichi's return had given it. Smiling to himself, Seiichi waited in place as the ball came toward him. A little bit left – Seiichi readjusted and put the ball away with an easy smash to the corner of the court farthest from Iwasa. He grinned as he returned to the service line.
"Tha's crap, Seiichi. Ya know I would'a had tha' if you hann't… Ya know wha' I mean. I'm yer sempai, an' I say tha's crap."
The next hour went like that. Iwasa would win a point and taunt Seiichi. He would lose one and spend the next minute whining. It was funny, kind of like listening to a drunken John McEnroe commenting on the match. At least Iwasa knew better than do to it at tournaments, though. Seiichi doubted many referees would put up with it. At the end of the hour, they had only played two sets – Daisaku and Kurari had gotten through three, but neither of them had spent a minute talking after every point. The first set had gone 6-4 to Seiichi; he spent a good deal of it going to the net, even when it wasn't practical, so he could work on his volleys. But Seiichi decided to get in some solid practice on the second set, and Iwasa only managed to take one game. Needless to say, the whine quotient on that second game had been astounding.
The other three players had stayed to watch the extended practice, and now were sitting with Ando-sensei on the benches near the stairs. Sunama, apparently having lost interest in the games near the end, had his nose back in the notebook he'd brought. Tetsuya and Hirohito were talking to each other, occasionally drinking from twin bottles of Pocari Sweat they must have purchased from one of the vending machines.
Seiichi had been too wrapped up in the game to notice before, but there were other people watching now too. One boy, with nearly white hair, a cross necklace, and a blue-sleeved jacket, was jotting notes on a tablet of paper. Another boy was sitting next to him, in a blue cap and the same jacket, looking at the tablet and occasionally making a quiet comment. Seiichi also saw two players wearing the telltale gold and gray jerseys of AIT Daifuzoku.
The biggest contingents, however, were a group of seven students in blue and purple short-sleeved polo shirts, and seven more wearing sleeveless red jerseys. Seiichi could just make out something printed on the front of the reds' shirts. It looked like… Roggyo? Six fish? Seiichi blinked. No, no, Rokkaku. Of course. That meant the team in blue and purple would probably be Tennoji. Whoever won between those two tomorrow would be the first team Hida had to play.
Ando-sensei ignored the spectators as he stood, and the Hida team crowded in around him. "Good work, everyone. Now let's pack up and head back to the hotel. I want you all in bed by ten. I know, this is Tokyo and you want to see it. But we're playing tomorrow, so you sleep tonight, got it? There'll be time for you to see Tokyo before we leave, I promise. Sunama, you and Iwasa can carry the boxes back to the hotel." It seemed Ando-sensei still hadn't forgotten who was late. Seiichi assumed Iwasa was getting landed with hauling duty for all the whining during his sets with Seiichi. Turning back toward the courts, Seiichi jogged toward one of the stray balls still lying uncollected. Of course, having to carry the boxes was likely to start a fit of whining itself. And just as he thought it, Seiichi heard Iwasa's shrill voice behind him, complaining to Ando-sensei about how tired he was already from three hours of practice, and there had to be someone else who could carry the boxes.
As Seiichi was collecting the last of the balls, Daisaku came over with eleven of his own precariously balanced on his racket. He looked like he had something he wanted to talk about, so Seiichi reined in and waited for him to approach.
Daisaku stopped, a meter away from Seiichi, and thrust his racket forward. Impressively, all the balls stayed balanced on the head. A gleam lit in Daisaku's eyes, and his mouth turned upward in a cruel smile. "It's not over between you and me, Seiichi. I'm going to get you back for today. Just you wait. It's going to be sweet, I promise you that. And there are going to be kn…. Hey! Seiichi! Where are you going? I'm not done talking to you yet. You come back here, Seiichi!"
It was something of a pity to ruin Daisaku's dramatic moment like that, but Seiichi just wanted to get back to the hotel room and rest, maybe go to a convenience store and get some dinner, watch a movie and sleep. And he wasn't going to let Daisaku stand between him and that. Tomorrow was the start of the Junior High School National Tennis Competition, and Seiichi still felt the butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. At that moment, all he wanted was a chance to relax. Tomorrow would, very probably, be the most exciting and terrifying day he'd faced in his entire life.