Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Life's A Stage ❯ we open up our hearts 2 ( Chapter 6 )

Life's a Stage

 

Chapter 5: We open up our hearts

 

 

 

000 000 000

 

The all too familiar swoosh of a tennis balls being spat out from the machine in rapid succession was comforting to Tezuka's ears. One of the stable things of life he could count on. At that moment, all that was in the world to him was the tennis ball machine and the reassuring swish of his racket, plus a slight sound of impact as the racket made contact with the ball, sending it hurtling towards the faded chalk drawn bull's-eye on the wall. He had been playing non-stop for the past hour or so, feeding the machine with more and more coins when the last supply had exhausted, stopping only to pick up the balls and return them to the feeder.

 

Sweat dripped and darkened parts of his shirt, but he could not care less. At the moment, he just wanted to get rid of all his frustrations that had built up that week. Every ball represented a face he wanted to forget, things he wished that never happened. And each time the racket connected with a ball, he felt an odd sense of satisfaction. These private practice sessions were Tezuka's guilty pleasure; a means of refuge from the maddening world out there; a world where everyone was burdened with responsibilities and an image to uphold, where he was one of those expected to be perfect in every aspect of life, where he was entrusted to lead others- a hard reality that would return once he stepped out of the green fenced courts.

 

As he returned another ball, his mouth twisted into a sarcastic smile and scoffed at his thoughts. Who would ever think that the great Tezuka Kunimitsu was a mess inside? He was an exceptional student, respected by all and held head positions in the student committee and tennis club. Who wouldn't be jealous? He just put his all in everything he did and was blessed that things would settle his way. Who would've thought that at the moment, he'd be glad to trade places with one of the more average students. At least they didn't have everyone's hopes and expectations to burden them.

 

And that were only part of his current frustrations. If anyone knew what had been on his mind the past week, they would've teased him mercilessly. It was rare for him to become so worked up, aside from tournaments and in the event went his team members had their occasional moments of disputes and discrepancies. But never had he felt so baffled in the way he was now. The more he thought of it, the more frustrated he became. His dream from that few days past haunted him. Teased at his every sense and thought. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Fuji's aqualine orbs boring into his; that word echoed in his mind, nearly driving him insane. It either that or …

 

Her.

 

She was another matter altogether. Almost at if fate was siding Fuji, the week following his confrontation with the tensai had placed them in a record number of awkward moments. At least they had been awkward to him, that is.

 

There had been that time he found himself locked in another banter of words with her again and Echizen had blatantly commented they sounded like an old married couple. Then there was that combined physical fitness class in which he found himself unconsciously watching her move around the court as they competed in various games. While he knew that she was pretty fit due to her martial arts training, this allowed him to witness in sports for the first time. She did not run terribly fast, but moved fast in terms of agility and flexibility. He had not realised he was staring till Fuji had snuck up from behind him and whispered a rather suggestive remark as to what he should do afterwards.

 

The final straw had been when it was raining one afternoon and since practice was cancelled Tezuka arrived home earlier. Minutes later she had come through the door, soaked to the skin as she had forgotten to take an umbrella with her. He had wondered how he could have missed her as they took the same train home. She must probably have sat in a different compartment. It was just that upon entering, she had taken her jacket off and he had been treated to the sight of her white uniform top clinging to her body like a translucent second skin. Even if Fuji's comments had not affected him before, he had felt something stir within him then, at that moment. And when she had looked back at him in innocent puzzlement, he had to restrain himself from walking up to her and taking her there and then. When he had finally come to his senses, he made her go and take a warm bath, watching silently as she walked up the stairs.

 

He had tried everything he could to get rid of it, even avoiding his sources of frustrations; namely Jack and Fuji, but it had been to no avail. The image was burnt into his mind clearly and now every time he saw her, his thought drifted to that thin layer of white clinging to her in all the right places.

 

He groaned. Fate was indeed cruel. Who knew Tezuka Kunimitsu could ever become so distracted by a girl? He could imagine Kikumaru and Momo laughing their heads off if they found out.

 

Tezuka took some coins out of his pocket and inserted them into the slot. He returned back the starting area, and gripped his racket firmly, ignoring a certain part of his left arm that had been tingling warningly for the past ten minutes. He tightened his hold around the handle and sighed as the machine whirred to life.

 

This was going to be a long night.

 

000 000 000

 

 

A pair of dark brown eyes watched as Seigaku's tennis buchou attacked each ball with increasing such strength and force that sometimes the balls left faint markings on the wall where they bounced off. Sweat soaked through his lavender shirt, and made it cling to his body in a fashion that with no doubt, would have sent his `fan girls' squealing with excitement, his picture probably making it into the school magazine or something.

 

So she might not go all rabid as those other girls did, but Jack also could not deny that Tezuka Kunimitsu was appealing in his own way. He did have that tall dark enigma thing going on there… Goodness, what am I thinking?

 

She was not attracted to him; she couldn't be, not with someone who constantly bickered with her, not with someone who said things that hurt her. Sure, he did exhibit signs of normality, as rare as they may be but really, after everything that has happened, could she even be interested in someone like him?

 

As she watched him quietly from a distance, her thoughts drifted back to the training session she had just come from. A classmate had approached her, as they were packing up.

 

“ Jackasa, so I heard you're saying with Seigaku's tennis captain.”

 

“ Yah? So what?”

 

“ What's that like?”

 

“ Why don't you go and fine out for yourself?”

 

“ Humph.” Her friend said twirling one of his dark curls. “ Can't you at least tell me something? One tiny piece of information, nfu… that's all I ask.”

 

“ Na ah, if you want data go and collect it yourself.”

 

“ So mean. And I thought you were my friend.” He pouted playfully. “ Then how about the others? Tell me …”

 

“ I told you I'm not going to spy on them for you `Zuk, they're my friends. How would you like it if I told Inui your team's secrets?”

 

“ But you don't know my team's secrets.”

 

She sighed. “ That's not the point.”

 

“ Pretty please?”

 

“ Cut the puppy eyes, you look funny.”

 

“ Humph. So mean. Why are you so moody today? Nfu… I think you seriously need to get…”

 

“ Mizuki, stop bothering poor imouto-kun. You know very well she's not going to tell you anything. And FYI, don't talk to her about Tezuka. It just makes her all tense, seriously, sometimes I wonder what goes on in that house.” The Hyoutei buchou grinned and patted Jack's head as if she were a kid and she glared at him, which as usual, did not work.

 

She sighed. “ You know it's because of that stupid prank both of you pulled those years ago that I nearly attacked Tezuka when he tried to wake me up!”

 

Atobe looked confused for a moment. “ Prank? What? Oh… you mean that prank.” He laughed and ruffled her hair. “ Lighten up. We were just testing you. Those were the good old days eh?”

 

“Testing me? I thought someone was trying to kill me! And if I recall correctly, I could've seriously injured both of if I didn't figure out who you were faster! ”

 

“ Whatever, you're expression was priceless. So what were we talking about again? Ah yes, the great Tezuka Kunimitsu. So has anything interesting happened with him and imouto-kun yet?” Atobe wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

 

“ Gosh, the two of you so shouldn't have been put together for that assignment. You're starting to infect each other. What's with you guys and thinking about that all the time? You know if you're so obsessed about my housemate, why don't you just go and s**g him yourself?”

 

There was silence as both boys stared at her word that she had used. Jack was blushing furiously, she usually never said just things aloud. What had made her do that?

 

After a moment or two, Atobe was the first to recover and laughed. “ Why Jack, I never imagined you would speak such a word. You must be really frustrated indeed. Are you sure you're not attracted to Tezuka at all? It's not a crime if you admit to wanting to f**k Seigaku's prized captain you know… I'm sure many people have fantasized about it.”

 

“ I…” suddenly at a loss for words, she stared at Atobe, trying to tell him “ no, I don't want anything to do with Tezuka Kunimitsu at all.” But somehow, she could not bring herself to say so.

 

In the end, she made an exasperated noise and quickly walked away.

 

As she left, Mizuki turned to Atobe, a mischievous grin on his face. “ I give it a week. What do you think?”

 

Atobe just smiled “ I give it a day.”

 

000 000 000

 

Jack was pulled back to earth when she heard a loud clatter, as if something had dropped on the fall. Her eyes widened as she saw Tezuka kneeling on the ground, clutching his left elbow tightly, his body shaking slightly, clearly in pain. His racket lay discarded on the ground beside him. Was this that infamous injury everyone talked about? The once which was result of his being hit by a senior when he was a freshman? She quickly walked to assist him.

 

As she neared, her keen hearing picked up a soft whirring of machinery. To her horror, the ball machine looked as if it as going to fire another round and this time, he was not paying attention.

 

It was the fastest she had ever run in her life.

 

000 000 000

 

As Tezuka knelt on the cold floor of the court, he mentally cursed himself for being such an idiot. Sure the doctor said his arm was fully healed, but nevertheless, too long a period of intense exercise could also strain it. He had spent nearly three hours in that practice area, hitting balls without taking a rest. And now because of his weakness, letting his troubles overtake him, he had to pay the price. What was he so stressed about anyway? In the past he never let such things get the better of him.

 

Then, he heard it, the sound of the machine reloading and the swoosh of the ball flying in the air. And he was right in it's firing line. Currently he was in too much pain to move out of its way. How ironic that I would be defeated by a machine, he grimaced. He closed his eyes and braced for the impact.

 

A minute later, he realized the ball, in a twist of fortune, had either diverted in its course, or someone had…

 

“ How can you stand it? That machine's scary, shooting out stuff like that….”

 

That voice…

 

He turned to its source and sure enough, lazily leaning against the green-netted fence, was the origin of his frustrations. Even more surprising was that she held the ball in question, rolling it around her hand. How she had found him he did not know but already so stumped was he that he did not even react when the machine fired its next ball right towards him. He could only stare through what seemed to be a haze of feelings, and time appeared to go slow motion. He managed to clear his head and realised she had, by some remarkable feat, thrown the ball she possessed, in such a way that it had knocked the other off its path.

 

How did she do that?

 

“ Hey? Are you alright?”

 

“ Hn?”

 

“ I asked if you were ok. You looked like you were in quite a bit of pain there just now.”

 

“Ah…” Standing up, he realised that to his relief, the throbbing in his arm had lessened considerably. “ I'm fine…”

 

000 000 000

 

In a bizarre twist of events, Jack suddenly found herself being dragged out of the practice area, having no choice but to follow him as he pulled her into the nearby locker rooms. Of course she could have easily broken away from his hold but she did not want to hurt him. The tennis captain took a quick swig from his water canteen before proceeding towards her. The look in his eyes told her that he was clearly annoyed at her disturbance to his practice, and anger at being found out.

 

However, the praticised look Tezuka Kunimitsu used to bring his players into check had no effect on her. She simply countered his glare with one of her own, showing her annoyance at being brought somewhere against her own will. Then, he spoke, voice dangerously low,

 

“ What were you thinking?!! You could have gotten us both injured!”

 

“ I saved you. And you were tired, not to mention in pain, there was no way you'd had hit that anyhow.”

 

“ That is besides the point. You followed me!”

 

Her body stiffened at the allegation and she turned on him furiously. “ Me? Follow you? What for? It's not like I'm one of those crazed fan girls of yours.”

 

“ Then explain what you are doing here.”

 

“ I was coming home from extra training and I decided to take a different route. That's all!”

 

“ And I'm supposed to believe that?”

 

“ Believe what you want…”

 

“ You do not know what I want.”

 

“ Man,” she groaned in frustration, “give it up already! I am not accusing you of anything, so I'd very much appreciate it if you did the same!”

 

She took a step forward but found herself trapped between his arms, which had been placed on either side of her, as he leant his weight slightly against the lockers behind her.

 

“ Move aside Kunimitsu.”

 

“ Stop calling…”

 

“ I shall address you however I want to! Now will you please kindly move aside?” she enquired, voice dripping with sarcasm.

 

He only stepped forward, closer till all she could see was his face, and eyes glinting fiercely behind his glasses.

 

“ What do you want from me?”

 

“ What I want?” he replied, slowly, confused by her sudden demand.

 

“ Yes you, how am I supposed to know how I'm supposed to act around you when one moment you're stone cold and yet there are times when you actually feel human.”

 

“ Ask me that again…” he said softly.

 

“ Huh? Ask what?”

 

“ That thing about what I want.”

 

Something in his voice, and the intense look in his eyes made her pause. She gulped, suddenly unsure of how to reply. His voice had dropped, but instead of anger, it had a rough edge to it. And the way his gold hazel gaze beheld her, Jack suddenly felt like a prey cornered by its predator.

 

They had argued many times before, but somehow, this one seemed different from the rest, which now all seemed insignificant in comparison. A strange tingling feeling rushed through her, and it made her frightened. When she spoke next, her voice wavered slightly despite her efforts to continue countering his gaze.

 

 

 

She gulped. His face so close she could feel his warm ragged breaths

 

“ Tezuka Kunimitsu… what do you want.”

 

The question that sounded more like a statement, as if she somehow, subconsciously knew the answer…

 

He leaned forward snaking an arm behind her, pulled her towards him, and crushed his lips to his. It stunned her and for a moment, she was unable to react. She tried to speak but he took advantage in her parted lips to slip his tongue in to explore her, taste her. And slowly, he broke her, as she clung to him, suddenly weak from the dizzying rush of sensations, sandwiched between his lean hard body and with the metallic coolness of the lockers radiating through the thin material of her shirt.

 

He suddenly lifted her up, so that she had to half straddle herself to him for support. She could felt the state of his arousal against the part of her that ached needfully. She titled her head back allowing him access to the column of her throat and shoulder, on which he planted a heated row of kisses down before settling his attentions on a particularly sensitive spot at the area where neck and shoulder joint, making her moan softly.

 

He felt like he was in some kind of drugged heaven, one that he did not feel like ever getting out of. Was this what he had been denying himself of? How had he managed to stand it? He let his hands wander, caressing through the fabric of her attire. He gave an experimental rock with his hips.

 

She gasped at the sensation that bit of contact aroused in her. “ Mitsu!”

 

And for once he did not correct her. In the heat of the moment, it just seemed right coming from her. Somewhere in his mind, he could almost see Fuji smiling knowingly, wearing a look that said, “ I told you so.”

 

It was then that he somehow connected his thoughts of Fuji, with that of tennis, and he remembered where they were and what they were doing. Most importantly, what he was nearly going to do. He lowered her onto the floor with a light kiss, their breathing heavy.

 

Puzzled at the sudden change, she gave him questioning look.

 

“ Not now, not here.”

 

To his surprise, she simply smiled back and nodded once in understanding.

 

He went to pack his bag in silence. As they left the locker room, he stopped briefly and said without looking at her,

 

“ Jackasa, there are some things I need to think about.”

 

He had gone back to his normal impassive self, voice unfeeling, unmoving; showing nothing. As if they had not just trespassed the barrier between them. She was quiet for a moment, then spoke. Perfectly calm, except for the mischievous glint in her eye,

 

“ Well, now that that's that, what's for dinner? I'm hungry.”

 

Silence, then,

 

“ Whatever you want.”

 

She grinned, “ Very well. Let's eat out today! There's this place I've been wanting to try…” she rambled on, walking ahead of him, oblivious to the fact that he had not moved.

 

He found himself looking after her in a strange sense of déjà vu. He smiled and shook his head sighing…

 

That girl…

 

This time, he caught up to her.