A New Beginning

Kaidoh stood still at the door to Ryuzaki's office. His mind began to swirl and fuse as an array of thoughts and emotions ran through him: excitement, for being able to re-join the team, shame, for being kicked off in the first place; his standing in Tezuka's eyes, in Ryuzaki's eyes, in Momoshiro's eyes. He ran his hand down his sweatshirt, and missed the smooth, light feel of his jersey. Gripping his racket, Kaidoh took a step forward and creaked open the door to the Coach's office.

Ryuzaki sat in her chair and glanced straight ahead. Kaidoh felt like he was suddenly dropped on a stage, and all of the lights and cameras turned to him. He began to sweat. Pull yourself together, Kaoru. This is something you have to do. He took a step forward, and Ryuzaki slammed the book she was reading shut.

"Are you lost, or do you want something?"

Kaidoh gulped. "Coach. I've done some thinking, and I've trained a lot. I'm more committed than I was before. Please give me another chance."

Ryuzaki removed her glasses and smiled softly. "Well, you seem to be serious this time. Are you really ready?"

Kaidoh bowed even lower. "Yes!"

"Then I see no reason to hold you back any longer." Ryuzaki stood up. "Welcome back, Kaidoh."

"Thank you very much!"

Inui, standing at his side, already changed into his uniform, turned to Kaidoh. "Kaidoh. Despite the fact that you were formally released from the team, not a day of training has passed where nobody mentioned you. Everybody is anxious to have you back; even Tezuka and Coach Ryuzaki. I'm sure that if you just change into your uniform and come to practice, nobody will think twice. The worst that will happen is Tezuka making you run some hundred laps."

Kaidoh turned to Inui and bowed. "Inui. I really want to thank you for your help over the last few weeks."

"Don't mention it."

"Even if that were the truth, I've disgraced Seigaku." Kaidoh took another heavy step towards the green gates. "I let everybody down because I trapped myself in my own selfishness and ignorance, and as a result, I became visibly worse. I owe it to everybody to do this the right way; I have to join as a new member, discarding any of the bias they might have in favor or against me."

"You're incorrigibly, obstinately honorable, Kaidoh." Inui smirked, and then left for the courts. "Well, I guess you have to do what feels right to you. I'll see you inside."

Kaidoh closed his eyes, and then creaked open the revolving fence door, and stepped onto the school's courts for the first time in weeks. All of a sudden, Kaidoh felt a multitude of eyes swarm around him and devour him. Each and every freshman dropped the ball he had in his hand and gazed at the reborn Snake. Kaidoh wanted to disappear at that moment. All of a sudden, the freshman, who averaged a height less than half of his, seemed more intimidating then any of the ruffians or bullies that Kaidoh had ever ran into. The upperclassmen stared as well, whispering amongst themselves as Kaidoh slowly made his way through the courts and towards the area where the Regulars were practicing. Before he realized it, Kaidoh found himself in the middle of a circle formed by his friends and teammates.

"I calculated ahead of time that the probability of you returning was one-hundred percent," remarked Inui, scribbling something in his notebook.

"Welcome back, Kaidoh," said Oishi, smiling politely.

Kikumaru rushed up, grinned, and pushed Kaidoh gently on the back. "We knew you'd come back to us."

Kawamura smiled gently. "It's good to have you back."

"Welcome home, Kaidoh." Fuji held up Kaidoh's folded jacket in offering.

Kaidoh bowed deeply. "Thank you, everyone," he managed to squeeze out. Just as he reached out for his old jacket, a stray tennis ball found its way to Kaidoh's forehead. Kaidoh turned around abruptly.

"Yo, Viper."

Kaidoh turned around and scowled. Momoshiro stood smugly in an array of red sunbeams, clutching another ball in his right hand, ready to spring. "What do you want?"

Momoshiro grinned. "I just wanted to let you know I haven't gotten all soft and complacent just because I beat you once." He pulled out his racket and pointed it at Kaidoh. "You better be ready for the Nationals, Viper. I don't want you holding me back with your mediocrity."

"That's my line."

Momoshiro tossed Kaidoh a ball. "After the Nationals, promise me that we'll settle this for good."

Kaidoh turned away and hissed.

Author's Notes:

This chapter could have used more content, but in any case, I'm done with it. If you've read up to here, thanks for sitting through this; I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.