Left or Right?

"Cheh... Ore-sama has never been this bored before."
Heaving a sigh, Atobe Keigo strutted toward his driver and commanded him to drive him to the street tennis courts.

"Would you like me to pick you up later, Keigo-sama?"
"I will call you when I need you. You may go now."
"Hai, Keigo-sama."

Giving his driver a brief nod, he stepped out from his limo and proceeded to go up the stairs that lead to the courts.

***

As he reached the courts, he took one glance and realised that he was actually alone.
"Hmph... Loneliness can be quite a pain" he grunted.

Turning his heels to leave, he heard the familiar 'Pok' of a tennis ball. "Ah--n?" he raised his eyebrow with curiosity and decided to investigate where the sound was coming from. Searching through the courts, he finally came to a secluded area. There he saw a young girl practicing on her own.

She was hitting the ball to the wall but she seemed to have trouble controlling her strength when hitting it. "Interesting..." thought Atobe as he seated himself on the bench that was behind the girl.

***

After a while of watching the girl struggle, he cleared his throat to acknowledge his presence. Surprised at his presence, the girl missed the ball and it flew straight at Atobe. Quickly, the girl turned around, trying to go after the ball which was caught by Atobe at ease.

"Looking for this?" he smirked as he held the ball in his hand.
"Hai..." smiled the girl.
"What's your name?" asked Atobe as he handed her the tennis ball.
"Arigatou... My name's " the girl smiled as she tilted her head a little.
"Hnnn... Ore-sama notices something about you" he got up and flicked his hair.

The girl gave him a questioning look before shrugging. Atobe grinned and walked towards her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, bent in and whispered in her ear...

"You're a right hander, aren't you?"

was surprised that he knew. How could he have noticed? Was it that obvious? Well it couldn't be that obvious because most people who saw her practice thought she was a beginner... A newbie in the sport.

"H-how did you know?" she asked, her throat suddenly felt dry.
"I see all..." the boy smirked and placed his finger over his eye.
"All?" she asked in a curious tone.
"Never mind that... Why are you using your left hand instead of your right?"

***

It was a dark and stormy night in the month of October. was walking home alone after her part time job. "I wish I had an umbrella or a coat with me..." was all she could think of as she walked home. As the rain got heavier, couldn't see where she was going so she decided to shelter herself under a tree.

It was a rather odd night in Tokyo... There wasn't such heavy rain in years and tonight was so cold. There was also some fog as well.

Resting her back on the tree trunk, placed her bag down and brushed off some wet hair out of her face. Out of nowhere a youth dressed in black came up to her and grabbed her bag. Shocked and stunned for a moment, ran after the boy. Screaming out for help.

But sadly, she lost him. Standing alone in the darkness, a car came crashing toward her. What happened next scarred for the rest of her life.

***

"And that's about what I can only remember..."
"It was an unfortunate thing to happen..." said Atobe sadly as he handed the girl a can of juice.
"Yes it was... I can't grip onto anything properly now..." said , solemnly as she stared at her right hand.

Atobe gave the girl a soft pat on the shoulder before reaching out to hold her right hand. smiled at him. No one she knew actually cared about what happened to her.
 

They'd usually smile and say that they're lucky it wasn't them before changing the topic. But Atobe Keigo was different. At first he seemed like the people she knew, cocky and arrogant but now, she realised that not everyone is alike.

Heaving a sigh, she reached out for her tennis racquet next to her on the bench.
"Even though I can't use my right hand... I will still continue to play tennis. I will never give up!" she stated and gripped tightly onto the racquet.

Touched by her determination, Atobe smiled as he got up, "Since you said that I suppose nothing will change your mind..."
"Let's go" he turned to the girl.
"Go where?" , looked up at the boy with with a confused expression.
"Do you want to go back into the world of tennis or not? Ore-sama is offering you a once in a life time chance" he grinned at her.

Putting on a childish pout, got up and walked toward Atobe.
"Of course I want to play tennis. I just made my statement Kei-chan~"
"Oi! How dare you call Ore-sama by that name! Besides, we have just met" he said light-heartedly and playfully thwacked her head.
"Uwaaaaaah!! Kei-chan no HIDOI!!!"
"Stop calling me that you fool" he grinned at the girl and pulled her toward the tennis courts.

smiled warmly as she held onto Atobe's arm.
"Thank you Keigo..."

Determination can get you toward the direction you are heading... Do you have any?

-Owari-

Marishka [06/01/2005]

Edited by Anon