“Gambatte Eiji!” a 14 year old girl called out to her boyfriend. She wore her Seigaku girl’s uniform and a white headband. Her light brown hair was tied up thus matching the color of her eyes.
“Eh?” Eiji turned around to see his girlfriend waving at him. He smiled and flashed her one of his famous peace sign.
Later on during the match…
“It’s nice to see you here again, -chan” Fuji said to the young girl while standing next to her with his usual smile.
“Oi, Fuji! You should know by now that I never miss a game” said smiling confidently.
The sound of the ball slamming against the ground was heard and everything else was silent.
“Game and match. Kikumaru and Oishi! 6 games to 2!”
“Yeeahh!” everyone cheered.
“Alright! We won doubles with Kaidou and Momoshiro pair and now Kikumaru and Oishi-senpai!” Arai cheered smacking Saiki on the back with a laugh.
“Oi, Arai. Control yourself.” Saiki muttered annoyed yet he was also happy with the results of the match. Singles wouldn’t be much of a problem anyway since they had Echizen, Fuji and Tezuka.
“Nobody beats the Golden Pair” Arai continued smiling arrogantly while clenching his fists.
After Eiji and Oishi had spoken to Ryuzaki sensei they opened the gate and walked out to greet the others.
“Hey Eiji you were so awesome!” exclaimed running over to Eiji, throwing her arms around his neck. “I am so proud of you!”
“Thanks!” Eiji smiled scratching the back of his head. . Where should he begin? She was the first girl whom he ever felt so close to. He could remember the first time they met.
“Hey give that back to me!” exclaimed jumping up at the tall boy trying to get her backpack back. It was no use he was twice her size. She tried again, but it seemed hopeless. The higher she tried to jump the bully would only raise the bag either higher or move it away from her.
“Hey Izumi. I think you should give the little girl her backpack back before she cries” Shindo sneered grinning at her.
“What? No way! Come on Shindo, you have to admit! This is fun!” Izumi said shaking the backpack up and down high over her head. tried one more time to jump up and reach for her backpack, but it was no use.
“Alright buddy you asked for it! Hraugh!” she exclaimed, stomping hard on his foot. She made sure she put her whole weight onto his foot before she let go.
“Ahhrgh! You little-!” Izumi grunted lowering the backpack again just enough for to reach it, but Izumi threw the backpack over to Shindo who caught it swiftly and roughly. “Here hold onto that while I teach this little brat a lesson”
Before he knew it was already running over to Shindo trying to grab the backpack.
“Too slow!” Shindo snickered throwing the backpack back to Izumi.
“I’m not giving up!” thought angrily now running over to Izumi. “Give it back you!”
“What are you going to do about it?” Izumi asked lifting the backpack in the air over her head again.
Out of nowhere a figure jumped over Izumi’s head, reached out and grabbed the backpack out of his hands. The figure flipped over behind Izumi and landed perfectly on his feet.
“What the…” Shindo looked over to where Izumi stood.
“Who?” Izumi looked behind him to see a red headed kid holding onto ’s backpack.
“It’s not nice to take other people’s belongings, nya!” the boy pouted at them.
“K-Kikumaru!” Izumi stared at him all of a sudden very scared.
“Listen kid… you may have beaten us at tennis the last time…” Shindo started to speak.
“Izumi-senpai and Shindo-senpai should act more like senpais too!” Kikumaru exclaimed shaking his finger at them. “Or Kikumaru-sama is going to have to tell the principal about this!” he said in a teasing tone. The two students’ eyes widened in horror and started to freak out and get worried.
stared at the boy in front of her.
“His name is…Kikumaru…?”
“Here you go!” Kikumaru said handing her backpack back. Before she knew it the two 3rd years were already running off leaving behind a whirl of dust.
“Thank you,” she said taking the backpack back.
“You’re welcome!” he said smiling at her. A few moments passed by in silence. She didn’t know what else to say. “So what’s your name?” he asked suddenly. was shocked with his question at first, but a smile gradually formed upon her face. She was glad that someone had actually noticed her… let alone ask her for her name.
“ . ,” she said holding onto her backpack tightly. Her heart was thumping so hard; she couldn’t have felt any more excited. She was actually talking with someone. He was cute too!
“Kikumaru Eiji desu!” Eiji said holding out his hand. just stared as his hand. Is this for real? Nobody in her life had ever really talked to her before and here she is being offered a friend. No way in hell was she going to pass this up.
“Eh? What’s wrong -chan?” Eiji asked worried all of a sudden. “Oh no…I wonder if it’s because my hands are dirty…” he thought sweating nervously and drowning into his own thoughts. Suddenly a warm hand grabbed onto his and squeezed it.
“It’s nice to meet you Eiji-kun!” she said with a determined face.
~~~
Months went by and they were finally Second years. The two became the best of friends and Eiji always cooked for both of them while never missed a single tennis match or practice.
“Oi, Eiji-kun! Your cooking is still fantastic as usual!” exclaimed munching down on the lunch he made for the two of them. “How do you even make all this? The chocolate cake you made for my birthday was delicious!” said as she took in a mouthful of rice. Eiji chuckled feeling embarrassed.
“Eh…I’m not that good…” he said flustered while scratching the back of his head, not noticing the hint of pink shaded onto his cheeks. He really did think he was a good cook.
“Well I don’t care it’s really yummy!” said happily, now picking up a homemade sushi with her chopsticks.
“Oi. You there. Girl in the Seigaku uniform,” a voice came from behind .
“Oi, Kari-chan…we’re all wearing Seigaku uniforms too…” her friend whispered to her.
“Shut up Yuka!” Kari snapped at her.
“H-hai!”
turned around from eating her after school snack.
“You’re talking to me?” she asked still chewing on her food.
“Yeah I’m talking to you. Would you like to explain what you are doing with Kikumaru-sama? You better have a good reason if you don’t wanna get your ass kicked.” Yuka said crossing her arms while staring down at .
“He’s my friend. I don’t see why I can’t hang out with him,” said now standing up and moving a bit closer to Yuka. She was getting angrier as well.
“Oi, oi guys don’t fight now,” Eiji said separating the two with his two hands.
“So are you going to lay off of Kikumaru or do we have to make you by force?” Kari asked grinning with her arms crossed while Yuka was smirking away.
“No, I don’t think so” she said in a thoughtful tone.
“Nani?!” Kari looked at in disbelief. Yuka gaped at her.
“What did you say?” she clenched her fists tighter and let her nails pierce through her skin. She was so angry she hardly felt any pain.
“Ehh this is interesting,” a look of amusement took over ’s face. “Since you two are tennis players, why don’t we have a quick tennis match?” asked pointing at the girls’ tennis bags.
“You must be joking,” Yuka scoffed looking the other way.
“Yeah do you seriously think you have a chance against Takahashi Kari?”
“Geez…she can’t be that good…” thought with a sour look on her face.
“ -chan, Takahashi-san is the girls’ tennis club’s ace.” Eiji tried to reason with . He didn’t want her to lose, let alone so easily to Takahashi Kari.
“You don’t think I can do it?” asked with soft eyes. Did Eiji doubt her?
“Huh? Well…yes but-”
“He doesn’t need to believe in you. You have no idea who you’re up against. Once I defeat you, you’ll learn you lesson soon enough.”
“After school.” Kari declared.
“Nani?” Yuka asked starring at Kari with disbelief.
“I want to settle this after school. Be there after our practice. Unless you’re afraid.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I am not afraid, I’ll be there.” muttered, returning Yuka’s piercing glare.
“Good. I’ll be waiting. Let’s go, Yuka.” Kari left as Yuka rushed after her.
“O-oi, oi , can you play tennis?” Eiji asked . She was being dragged by Eiji and they started to head towards the boys’ court.
“H-hey Eiji! What are you-?”
“Sa! We only have around 15 minutes until lunch ends, so why don’t we practice right now?!” he asked smiling.
“Eiji, I can’t-!”
“Why not?” ’s eyes slightly widened a bit as she looked at him and asked herself the same question. Why not? Nothing was holding her back. She’s had some experience and her crush was even supporting her so why not? She didn’t want Kari to win either.
“You know what Eiji-kun…” Eiji smiled as if he already knew what she was going to say. “Let’s do it”
~~~
“Ah, so the girl finally shows up.” Yuka said with heavy sarcasm.
“Let’s get this over with.” Kari said walking toward the girls tennis court while Yuka followed right behind her. took in some fresh air.
“Do you think I’ll be ready?” she asked looking at Eiji nervously.
“Ready when you are.” He winked at her. He was going to cheer for his best friend, even though he was going to have to stand at the sidelines.
“So, are you ready? Your skills are going to have to be very good if you’re going to beat us.” Yuka smirked.
“Us?” asked with a confused expression. Kari never said anything about a doubles match.
“Yeah. I’m more of a singles person, but I’m sure Yuka wants some fun too” Kari said placing her tennis bag on the bench and taking out her tennis racquet while Yuka did the same.
“Does she mean 2 against 1?” Eiji asked, shocked with the situation being unfair.
“Exactly.” Yuka tapped her racquet onto her right shoulder.
“You know Yuka... it’s too bad that doesn’t have a racquet…does that mean we win by default?” she asked smiling while pretending to think thoughtfully.
“Eh, you may be right, Ohohohoho!” she laughed with a high-pitched giggle. Two twitch marks made its way right after another onto ’s forehead. ’s eyes suddenly shifted to a sound of some rummaging through a bag.
“Huh?” the two girls looked over at Eiji who was fishing two tennis racquets out of his bag.
“Hai!” he said in a cheerful voice and handed a racquet.
“K-Kikumaru ?!” Kari and Yuka gaped at Eiji with their mouths hanging open.
“Sa!” he said feeling pumped up and still full of energy. “Let’s get started then!”
“B-but Kikumaru!” Kari stuttered suddenly a bit nervous. “This isn’t fair!”
“Yeah we can’t play against you!” Yuka agreed sweating nervously, suddenly starting to feel a little tingle in her hand.
“Nani? Why not?” Eiji asked, now standing at the service line with the tennis ball in one hand. hurried over to her position with a grin on her face.
Kari and Yuka still stood out of the court looking dumbfounded.
“Oi, you two should get on the court now.” said grinning cheekily. “School gates are gonna close in about 20 minutes.” The two girls quickly ran to their positions.
Eiji tossed the ball in the air. He hit it with such powerful and quick impact, that neither one of the girls knew what to do.
“Fast!” thought gaping at the mark on the ground. “This isn’t like his usual play is it?” she thought looking over at him. “Are you acting serious already?”
“15- Love, nya!” Eiji put up his peace sign. “Oi, did you see that -chan?! I’m still full of energy, nya!”
“Maybe not.” sighed.
“This can’t be happening!” Yuka gasped.
“Unforgivable…who do you think you are? I will make you pay for turning Eiji against me.” Kari thought staring at with such hatred. She clenched her racquet tightly. Eiji served again. Service ace again and again. Before they knew it, it was already one game to love.
“Kari! What do we do?” Yuka asked wiping the sweat off her face.
“First thing that you should always know…break off the weakest link.” Kari muttered, walking past Yuka stopping right at the service line.
“Really?” smacked the ball back easily.
“Yes. You will lose, and I will win!” Kari placed her left hand onto her racquet.
“Two handed grip?!” Eiji exclaimed.
In flash, before could react, the ball blasted past her. Eiji gaped at the scene.
looked at where the ball had landed and glanced at Kari.
“Sou ka…Jack Knife is it?” grinned. All Kari did was stare at her with a cold aura surrounding her.
“If you can’t handle the Jack Knife or the Twist Serve, you don’t have a chance”
“I wouldn’t be so confident there Takahashi-san” gripped her hands tighter onto the racquet. She had to admit it was sort of entertaining.
Kari glanced behind her back but didn’t say anything.
“30 - Love.” She finally said and proceeded to bounce the ball up and down in her hand. She caught the ball in her hand and served. Again, the ball spun on the ground and shot up.
“Same trick won’t do!” managed to get the ball to connect with her racquet, returning the ball to Yuka’s side.
“It’s mine!” Yuka exclaimed swinging her arm back to hit the ball. The ball made its way back across the tennis court and landed perfectly on the line between and Eiji.
“40 - Love!” Yuka sang out. “This is way too easy, ne Kari-chan?”
Kari didn’t answer. She served normally this time, and caught up to that easily. Yuka smacked the ball to the left corner where had to run over in order to reach it. Kari grunted as she smacked the ball back and it blew forcefully past .
“This isn’t good…” Eiji thought as he looked at who was slightly panting from the 2 against 1 attack.
“1 game all! Yay!” Yuka exclaimed happily, jumping up and down.
“At least it’s our serve now,” Eiji thought staring across the court.
“Eiji-kun, let me serve.” said walking over to him. Eiji was confused for a moment when he looked at her. He could see the determination in her eyes. She wanted to beat Kari so badly.
“Hai, hai” he handed the ball over to while walking over to his position…in front of the net while was at the service line right behind him.
“N-nani?!” Kari’s eyes widened a bit.
“T-that’s! No! Impossible!” Yuka exclaimed stunned.
“Australian Formation…do you really think you can pull this off, you brat!”
grinned on the outside, yet she was also a bit nervous herself. She had never partnered up with Eiji before. Looking on the bright side, she had attended all of his practices and witnessed his skills so she had some sort of an idea.
“You ready Eiji?”
“Hai!”
tossed the ball high into the air. The racquet soon collided with the ball. It blew past Yuka and crashed into the fence with a rustle.
“S-service ace…” Yuka gasped. Sweat formed onto her temple and streamed down her face.
“Bullet serve…not bad.” Kari thought looking over at .
“15-Love.” She started bouncing the ball again and served.
“Like you said, the same trick won’t work!” Kari said slightly grunting as the ball connected with her racquet.
“Damn it… it’s so heavy!” the ball made it’s way back to the opposite side of the court. She was aiming for but unfortunately for her, Eiji was already up front. The sound of the ball slamming against the ground was heard.
“No way…” Yuka clenched her fists.
“30-Love.” smiled.
“N-no! That was just a coincidence…” Yuka thought smacking the ball again. The result was the same. Eiji had returned it, the return was ten times as powerful as theirs.
“H-how about this!” Kari returned the ball feeling under pressure as Eiji ran over to the side and hit it back.
“ . I will beat you. Teaming up with Eiji like this. How dare you?! I saw Eiji first and I will drop dead before handing him over to you!” Kari screamed in her mind. She added her left hand onto her racquet and smashed the ball against her racquet. It blew past Eiji aiming for the empty spot at the corner.
“Too slow!” ’s racquet collided with the ball and blasted right past Kari.
“N-Nani?!”
~~~
“Game and match. We win 6 games to 1.” said slightly panting while tapping her racquet onto her right shoulder. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this excited.
Kari and Yuka were worn out. Kari stared at the ground, and watched her sweat fall to the floor. Yuka fell down to her knees and slapped her hands onto the floor.
“No…” Yuka grabbed at her head. “How could we loose? She’s…she’s not even on the tennis team…”
The four walked outside the school gates. Eiji and were about to head off the other direction when Yuka made a quick grab for his wrist and pulled him aside.
“Hey, what are you doing with Eiji?!” was shocked as she tried to walk over to them but was blocked by Yuka’s arm. “She just wants to speak with him.” She told her not cracking a smile. gave her a glare and looked over at where Eiji and Kari were.
“Takahashi-san, what was that all about?” Eiji asked confused and a bit shocked with her action.
“Eiji…” Kari looked far off into the distance. She seemed to be focusing on a random sign on the street.
“Nya?”
“I like you…” Kari looked at him and quickly looked away.
“E-eh?”
“I like you…” Kari confessed for once with a gentle expression. Eiji was shocked. He had no idea what to say. Eiji’s expression softened and he let out a soft smile.
“Arigatou…demo…”
“You love someone else.” Kari said looking defeated.
“Hai…”
“It’s…that girl isn’t it?” Kari asked looking away.
“Hai. is a very nice person once you get to know her in fact, you can tell by first impression.” Eiji chuckled lightly.
Kari snuck a glance at who was staring off into the sunset.
“Sou ka…”
“Demo…” Eiji’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “We can always be friends.” He offered putting his hand out. Kari was surprised. After picking on he still wanted to be friends.
“Hai.” Kari nodded and shook his hand. “I’m sorry…just happened.” Kari apologized. She really was after all. Seeing him so close to another girl drove her insane with jealously. She remembered the time she was bullied and nobody had wanted to help her. But Eiji…his heart was so kind. She had fallen in love with him since then. But he chose and she was going to respect his decision.
“Arigatou, Kari-chan.”
She smiled at him and touched his face.
“Good luck, ne?”
“Hai.”
“Let’s go, Yuka.”
“Hai!” Yuka ran over to Kari and they walked off.
~~~
Eiji and were walking home, with Eiji doing most of the talking.
“Should I tell him I saw that…?” she thought feeling a bit jealous. No. It was more than a bit of jealousy. She was beyond jealous. But if she blew up at him that would make it obvious.
“Inui made me drink that nasty juice again, nya!” Eiji put a look of disgust. He had noticed ’s weird behavior and started to become a little worried.
“Ne, -chan…”
“Hm?”
“You’ve been very quiet since we started walking home…is there anything you wanna talk to me about?”
“Eiji…”
“Nya?”
“Just…out of curiosity…what do you feel for Takahashi-san?” she stopped walking. Eiji noticed that she stopped so he did the same.
“Nani? , we were just talking.” Eiji turned around to face her.
“After what she did to us, you’re still friendly with her?” she had an urge to burst into tears. “No. I’m not going to make a fool of myself.” She looked at him in the eye. “What exactly did she say to you?”
“Pffthehe…”
Eiji was trying to hold in his laughter. looked at him with dotted eyes.
“Mou, Eiji! What’s so funny?!” she asked angrily.
“Hahahaha!”
Twitch marks made their way onto ’s head.
“I can’t believe you Kikumaru!” she tried to run past him but he made a quick grab for her wrist. “Let me go!” she looked at him. Eiji was smiling?
“I’m not interested in her the way you’re thinking, -chan.” Eiji assured her. opened her mouth halfway.
“H-how-”
“I like someone else.” He let go of her wrist and grinned.
“Oh…” looked at the floor. So he liked someone else. How could she have been so stupid to think that he would possibly be interested in her? Eiji looked at her sad face and smiled. He took both of her hands into his.
“ …my number one…”
“…” looked at his chest, not wanting to look any higher.
“Is you.”
’s eyes widened at his words.
“N-nani?” she asked, suddenly looking up at him, her mouth dry.
“I love you -chan.” He said feeling a bit more confident, since he really did mean what he said.
gripped at his shirt and started to cry.
“Daisuki…Kikumaru Eiji.”
“That’s how we met, ne?” Eiji thought smiling to himself. noticed him spacing out.
“Eh? Eiji…what’s up?” Eiji looked down at her confused face and smiled.
“Nothing.” He lifted her chin a bit higher and leaned down for a kiss.
“Mou, Eiji-senpai! Don’t do that here!” Momo exclaimed gaping at the scene. Eiji broke away as turned bright pink. She lightly smacked his chest.
“Eiji…!”
“But you’re so kawaii when you’re like that -chan!” Eiji hugged her from behind.
“Mada mada dane Kikumaru-senpai.” Ryoma said walking out since he was already finished with his singles match. grinned. Ryoma was right in a way. Their relationship did have a long way to go. But she was going to enjoy every moment of it.
~~~
Kawamoto
Edited by Anon