[fic] PoT - Serious

[lysapadin]

Originally posted June 2004.

Title: Serious
Characters: Golden Pair
Summary: The glorious beginnings of Seigaku's nationally-ranked Golden Pair!
Notes: If you've seen the manga with the Rikkaidai-Seigaku match, then you'll recognize some of this. What we see in the manga is Eiji's version of events. I like to think of this as Oishi's version. Some spoilers for a brief portion of the Niou/Yagyuu-Oishi/Kikumaru match (manga version).

Dedicated to _branch_, because, really, if not for her, none of this spiral into PoT madness would have ever occurred.

~~~~~~~~~~

Serious

Prior to the first ranking matches of his second year at Seigaku, Oishi Syuichirou had known of Kikumaru Eiji--the Seigaku tennis club wasn't a monster club like, say, Hyoutei's, so everybody knew everybody else, even if he never saw the other person outside of club activities--but Syuichirou hadn't really known him. At that time, the best Syuichirou would have said of Kikumaru was that he was--not very serious, was he?

Syuichirou was always very serious--probably as serious as Tezuka, and a good deal more prone to worrying. That Kikumaru bounced so much, and took his losses as easily as his wins, rankled with Syuichirou, who pondered each of his losses and worked harder so that next time he could ponder a win. Seigaku was headed for Nationals, after all, but they'd never get there as a team unless everyone settled down and worked at tennis.
Then again, if one was charitable, he had to remember that Tezuka hadn't exactly told the entire team they were going to Nationals. The third years wouldn't have taken that so well from their talented but stand-offish junior.

Still, allowances having been made, Syuichirou was not impressed by Kikumaru, whose acrobatic playing style (impressive as it might be to watch) lost him as many games as it won him. He was surprised, then, when the first ranking match rolled around and Kikumaru won enough matches in his block to secure a place among the Regulars. The other second years to become Regulars weren't a surprise: Tezuka, of course, now vice captain of the team; Fuji Syusuke, the prodigy who unnerved Syuichirou whenever he stopped to think about what the other second year was probably hiding behind the constant smile; and Syuichirou himself, by a narrower margin than he liked (he would have to work on that).

~*~

Practicing as a Regular provided the chance to get to know Kikumaru a bit better--well, it wasn't an option, given the way the eight of them worked together now. Before, if he hadn't wanted to speak to Kikumaru, it had been possible to avoid him. Now, escaping that bounciness wasn't really possible. Syuichirou resigned himself to that, and worked hard to improve his tennis, and the next month, the ranking matches went more smoothly for him.

Kikumaru stayed on as a Regular, too, which was provoking. Tezuka and Fuji as well, which was no surprise. Yamamato-buchou, of course, kept his Regular spot, as did Tenou-senpai and Kagare-senpai, since they were the best doubles pair Seigaku had and thus always ended up in separate ranking blocks. Tasagawa-senpai lost to Shindo-senpai, and they traded off jerseys again with the ease of long practice and rueful grins.

~*~

A month and a half into the new year, Ryuzaki-sensei had had enough of team-building, and began pairing off the new (and, in Shindo-senpai's case, not-so-new) Regulars off to see whether she had any natural doubles pairings in the new lot. What she saw, after a week's worth of clumsy doubles matches that left Tenou and Kagare snickering into their sleeves, was that having a D2 pair worth putting on the courts was a long way off indeed.
There was hope, though, and that was why she pulled Syuichirou aside after practice to have a quiet conference.

“Oishi-kun, have you considered playing doubles?” she asked, and he blinked at her, surprised.

“Me? Doubles?” Syuichirou looked away, across the courts, where the first years were busy picking up the last of the scattered tennis balls and cleaning up for the day. “I--ah, no. I haven’t, really.”

“You should,” Ryuzaki-sensei said. “With Kikumaru, perhaps.”

“Eh?” Syuichirou looked back at her, but didn’t see any hint that she was joking. “Um. Kikumaru?” he repeated.

“It’s a thought,” she said, and shrugged, turning away.

~*~

Later, when he fell in beside Tezuka for the walk home, Syuichirou mentioned the encounter. “Ryuzaki-sensei suggested I partner with Kikumaru for doubles.” He didn’t have to look to know that one of Tezuka’s eyebrows had lifted somewhat.

“Interesting,” Tezuka said.

Syuichirou analyzed the carefully neutral tone, and made a slight face. “You think it’s a good idea.”

“It might be,” Tezuka allowed.

“Hmph.” Syuichirou frowned at the sidewalk. “Doubles. With Kikumaru. I’m not sure I can work with him. I don’t understand why Ryuzaki-sensei would suggest it.”

“Two doubles teams, three singles players, one alternate.”

Syuichirou blinked. “What?”

“When we begin playing in tournaments, that’s how the team will be divided. Of the current Regulars, who would you pick for singles?” Tezuka asked.

“You, Fuji, and Yamamato-buchou,” Syuichirou said promptly.

“And who for doubles?”

“Tenou-senpai and Kagare-senpai for sure,” Syuichirou paused. “And that leaves me, Kikumaru, and Shindo-senpai. I don’t see any of us playing doubles, really.”

“Ranking matches are coming up soon,” Tezuka said.

“I guess they are, aren’t they?” Syuichirou frowned at the sidewalk, adding that in to his list of things to worry about.

~*~

“Whatcha looking at, Oishi? Ohhhh, the ranking blocks!” Syuichirou continued to stare at Block C while Kikumaru searched for his name on the grids. Syuichirou pinpointed the moment he found it, when Kikumaru went still. “Block C.”

“Yeah,” Syuichirou said. “Against Tezuka and Fuji.”

“Well, that sucks,” Kikumaru said, not bothering to lower his voice or to see who might be listening. Syuichirou looked around, and sighed when he saw that they were safely out of earshot of anyone else, for the moment. “Why do they want us off the Regulars so bad?”

Syuichirou shook his head. “They’re looking for something,” he said, finally.

Kikumaru looked at him, eyes narrowed. “Are they, now.”

Syuichirou nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well. It still sucks.” Kikumaru turned, heading for the clubhouse.

“Hey,” Syuichirou called after him. “Good luck.”

Kikumaru waved a hand, not turning around. “You too.”

~*~

Tasagawa-senpai and Shindo-senpai switched places again, Tasagawa-senpai gleefully shedding his ordinary jersey for the Regular’s jersey while Shindo-senpai growled and complained and swore vengeance would be had at next month’s ranking match. Syuichirou congratulated Inui and Kawamura for taking the other two slots, and tried not to be too upset.

“Doubles,” he muttered to himself, practicing against a wall. He could deal with doubles, he guessed, smashing the tennis ball into the same spot on the wall over and over. Doubles was certainly better than watching from the bleachers, or being the alternate, which amounted to the same thing.

Was playing doubles with Kikumaru better than watching from the bleachers? He couldn’t decide.

If he had bothered to look up from his practice, he would have seen that he was being watched.

~*~

“Hey, Kikumaru... play with me?” Syuichirou offered at the next practice, surprising himself and Kikumaru too, to judge by the way Kikumaru was staring at him.

“With you?” Kikumaru repeated. He grinned. “What kind of a challenge is that? You’re no match for me.”

Syuichirou bit his tongue and refrained from reminding Kikumaru that they had played before, and that he didn’t remember losing many of those matches. Instead, he shrugged. “If you’d rather not, that’s okay... I just thought it might help us get back on the Regulars.” He was about to walk away when Kikumaru stopped him.

“Wait.” Kikumaru looked at him. “I’ll play you.” He turned to one of the first years he’d been talking to before Syuichirou had interrupted. “Yuki-kun, will you call the match for us?”

“Of course, senpai!” The younger boy scampered to the net.

“I’m still going to beat you,” Kikumaru told Syuichirou, conversationally, as they took to the court.

Syuichirou smiled. “The game’s not even started yet,” he pointed out.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Kikumaru flipped his racket over his wrist and caught it neatly. “You’re gonna get crushed by my acrobatics.”

Syuichirou had to laugh at that. “Maybe I will,” he said. “Go ahead and serve already.”

“Fine, I think I will.”

~*~

The problem with playing Kikumura, Syuichirou decided, after losing the first three games, was that his play style was unpredictable. He said as much while the watching freshmen jabbered excitedly about Kikumaru’s acrobatics. Then he surprised himself again and said, “Kikumaru, why don’t you play doubles with me?”

Even Kikumaru, bounciness and all, was better than the bleachers.

“No way,” Kikumaru said. “You’re too boring!” He laughed. “I’d fall asleep playing doubles with you.”

Boring?!

“At least I’m not a show-off,” he retorted, before his brain could catch up with his mouth.

Kikumaru stared at him. “A show-off?” he repeated. “Are you talking to me?”

This time, at least, Syuichirou managed not to say what he was thinking. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Kikumaru was flipping and catching his racket. “So you think I’m a show-off, huh?” Flip. Catch. Flip. Catch. “Now I’m definitely going to win this match.”

“You’re going to try,” Syuichirou retorted.

Flip. Catch. Kikumaru grinned at him. “Here I go,” he said, and served.

~*~

Syuichirou would never have said anything about it for the world, but Kikumaru’s disbelief when he lost six games to four was deeply satisfying. He contented himself with a smile. “I guess boring beats show-off.”

Well, maybe some things had to be said.

Kikumaru made a face. “All right, that match was just for practice. Let’s play again.”

“Again?” Syuichirou mopped the sweat from his face and looked pointedly at Kikumaru, whose hair was plastered to his head. “Right now?”

Kikumaru blinked. “Well. Maybe not right now,” he conceded. “But the show-off wants a rematch, and soon.”

“That’s fair enough.”

~*~

“So why the doubles thing, Oishi?”

The question came out of thin air, breaking Syuichirou’s concentration. The tennis ball rebounded from the wall and whizzed past, unnoticed, while he looked around.

“I’m up here.” Kikumaru was grinning down at him from the roof of his practice shed.

“What are you doing up there?” Syuichirou asked, chasing after the stray tennis ball to cover his confusion.

“Nothing. I just come here a lot.”

“I’ve never seen you here before.” Syuichirou, equanimity recovered, looked up at Kikumaru.

“That,” Kikumaru said, “is because you never look up.”

Syuichirou felt his eyebrows going up. “You watch me?”

“It lulls me to sleep when I need a nap.” Kikumaru shrugged. “So. Why the offer to play doubles with you, anyway?”

Syuichirou looked at him for a long moment. “I want my place on the Regulars back.”

Kikumaru mulled that over. “That’s what they’re looking for?”

“I think so.”

“Huh. Makes sense, I guess.” Kikumaru looked out into the space over Syuichirou’s head, and then looked back down. “I suppose I’ll play doubles with you, then.”

“That’s gracious of you,” Syuichirou said, or started to say, because Kikumaru interrupted him.

“Of course, I’m just going to use this opportunity to learn all of your secrets, and then I’ll defeat you!” he proclaimed. “When the senpais graduate, Singles Three will be mine for sure!”

Syuichirou could not help rolling his eyes. “Whatever, Kikumaru.”

“Call me Eiji.” Kikumaru grinned. “We’re doubles partners now, right?”

“I guess we are,” Syuichirou said, and figured it was his turn for a question. “Why are you sitting on the roof?”

“The view is awesome. Haven’t you ever been up here?” Kikumaru shook his head and answered his own question. “Of course you haven’t.” He leaned over and offered his hand to Syuichirou. “C’mon, I’ll help you up.”

And that’s how Syuichirou came to be sitting next to Kikumaru, whom he hadn’t ever really wanted to get to know, let alone play doubles with, watching the sun set over the city. “It is a good view,” he said after a while.

“Yup. D’you think this doubles partnership is going to be enough to get us another chance for the Regulars... in a block that doesn’t have Tezuka and Fuji in it?”

“Depends on whether we’re any good at doubles,” Syuichirou said.

“I want my jersey back.” Syuichirou glanced over, and saw that his new partner’s expression was intent--grim, even. If they had been on the court, he would have been flipping his racquet. Syuichirou was sure of it.

“Eiji,” he said, and waited until he looked over. “We’ll get them back.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.” Eiji’s expression went from solemn to smiling. “Y’know, you could have knocked me over with a feather when you suggested playing doubles together.”

“Oh?”

“I didn’t think you liked me.”

“Eh-heh...” Syuichirou returned his gaze to the sunset, embarrassed. “I, uh--”

“It’s okay. I don’t think I was all that fond of you either. Too boring, you know?” Eiji sounded too sheepish for the admission to be very offensive. “But I see you out here every time I come here to think, and that kind of dedication--well, you gotta have some respect for it.”

“I didn’t think you took it very seriously. Tennis, I mean. Sorry.” Syuichirou ducked his head, examining the sole of his shoe.

Eiji laughed. “You wouldn’t be the first to mistake showing off for not being serious about playing. Just like I don’t think I’m the first person to underestimate a playing style without any flashy moves.”

Syuichirou laughed too, ruefully. “Maybe Ryuzaki-sensei did know what she was doing.”

“Oh, so she approached you, too. I wondered about that.” Eiji shook his head. “I’m withholding judgment until we’ve won a match or five.”

“We’ll win. Definitely, we’ll win.”

Eiji looked at him, and nodded. “You know,” he said, “I think you’re right.”

--end