Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Prince of Tennis: The Weekend ❯ Day One: Friday ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter One: Friday


On Saturdays and Sundays, Seigaku usually lets us have a day off. It’s the same thing as the schools in America. But a few days before Friday, Seigaku had been invited to the Nationals to fight our rival Rikkaidai, one of the top tennis schools we’ve ever heard of. All of us poured in a lot of effort to earn a victory, and eventually we won in the end. Coach Ryuzaki-sensei was pleased with how the Nationals went, so she convinced the principal of our school to let all of the tennis players who participated to have Friday off. Just to celebrate Seigaku’s victory. No one passed down the chance to have a break, however. Even though we love tennis and act like it had been in our blood, even professionals like us take a break…once in a while. So since today was Friday, all of us went our separate ways. Tomorrow was going to be Saturday, anyway.


After school ended, my friend Momo gave me a call just after school ended on Thursday and invited me to spend time with him and Kaidoh. They were going to go shopping somewhere in Osaka, just a few hours’ distance near Seigaku. Although I usually asked my parents for permission, I chose to go on my own, since they trusted me enough for me to do my own thing. I took the money I earned from my last summer’s job and got a change of clothes, and I was on my way.


Momo and Kaidoh were waiting for me near the bus stop. They were out of the white and blue Seigaku tennis outfits today; instead they stayed casual. Kaidoh was still wearing his old green bandana with those diamond patterns on it, but he was in this black undershirt and these khaki pants that looked frayed at the bottom of the legs. Momo had on his chocolate coat that looked more suited for the fall season and those plaid-colored shirt and sweats underneath.


“Got your money?” Momo asked me. He was standing near Kaidoh, who was leaning on the bus stop sign.


“Yeah,” I replied. I patted my left pocket where I kept my money. I was wearing jeans today, “12,000 yen. Where are you guys off to?”


Momo exhaled and turned his whole body away from me. He crossed his arms behind his head. “I was going to buy some bentos for my younger brother and sister. They never had one, so I figured I’d buy them for lunch.”


Then he jerked his head toward Kaidoh. “Kaidoh said that he was going to buy pet food for something.”


“Fshuuuu, I might,” hissed Kaidoh. He blew an annoying strand of hair from his face.


“I thought you don’t own pets.” I said to him.


“True. One of my relatives is allergic to pet fur.”


“Oh?”


“She starts having these sneezing fits that last for hours if we’re not careful,” Kaidoh explained. “And also, her skin breaks out in hives as big as tomatoes.”


To prove his point, he cupped his hands around a part of invisible space to show how big the hives would get. I nodded, but was disturbed enough to not prod for any more answers. One good thing about Kaidoh, he doesn’t go on and on like some people I’ve seen. He was the cut-to-the-chase kind of guy. When he answers a question, he just gives you what you need and moves on.


“Oishi-senpai,” Momo said, “What are you going to get?”


I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.”


“Alright.”


I turned away and stared off into the streets. The streets were empty, except for a few cars parked at either sidewalk. Most of the neighbors I knew here either had gone out or stayed home. But the streets were also clean because the garbage truck comes by a few times a week to pick up trash bins left outside, and the sweepers often eat up any debris found on the road. The place wasn’t bad, to tell you the truth. It was better than the neighborhoods where a few of my friends lived, where the streets were filled with litter and things, and the residents were a bit nastier.


While I was thinking about my neighborhood, I kept my eyes peeled for the bus. I had my wristwatch hidden under the sleeve of this motorcycle jacket my older brother used to have, so I rolled up the sleeve to check the time. It was 3: 30 pm. I started hearing Momo whistling some tune I didn’t know. Boy was he good. Whatever he was whistling, it made my foot tap the sidewalk on its own will.


“Chotto, Oishi-senpai,” I heard Kaidoh’s voice say to me. Momo was still whistling. “When does the bus arrive?”


I contorted my face in thought. I checked my watch again. It was still 3: 30. “When does the bus arrive?” I repeated.


“Hai.”


“It&# 8217;ll come in about several minutes. More or less, I’m not very sure.”


“Is it really?”


“I don’t know. I don’t use the bus that much.”


“Then what do you use, then?”


“My parents drive me.” I didn’t know how to drive because I wasn’t old enough. If I were to go somewhere, it was either the local bus or my parents would take me.


“Oh.”


A chilly gust flew in unexpectedly. I gripped the zipper and closed my jacket, shivering as I did so. I didn’t know the wind was going to be that cold.


I looked over at my two friends. They looked like they had been taken by surprise, too. Momo quickly inserted his hands inside the opposing sleeves of his to keep from freezing, his coat billowing slightly. Kaidoh was the only one without a sweater or anything. He was a stoic one, that person, but somehow I can sense immediately that he was cold, too… only he didn’t show it. I can even see him trying not to shiver.


I felt sorry for the second year and walked up to him. “Chotto, Kaidoh, you’re freezing to death,” I observed. Of course, I was only exaggerating.


Kaidoh glared at me as if I had insulted him, and he didn’t say anything. I sighed and I unzipped my jacket.


“Look, Kaidoh, I think you need this jacket more than I do.” I took it off and handed it to Kaidoh. “Here, wear it.”


My younger friend pushed it away saying, “I’m fine.” Fine, my butt. The breeze was cold, and I didn’t want Kaidoh to be susceptible to an illness. Besides, I can hear Momo shiver behind me. Looks like his coat wasn’t that thick.


“Kaidoh, watashi ni kiite kudasai,” I insisted. “I can see you shaking like mad, and it’s what, below seventy degrees? I’ll give you my jacket, and you don’t need to pay me back. Just wear it for your own sake, okay?”


I can tell that the second year was reluctant to accept my token of kindness by reading his face. He gave me the eye, then took my jacket and put it on. I was lucky it fit him. But then I heard him mumble something incomprehensible.


“What was that?” I asked.


“You didn’t have to give me your jacket,” Kaidoh said a little louder, but still softly.


“Well, you need it anyway.”


Kaidoh turned away from me, muttering something else, but I didn’t ask this time. I wondered why he tried to refuse my offer. The first thing I ever thought of was ask, but I can see he wasn’t in the mood for talking. I resorted to staring at Kaidoh’s head for a while. I didn’t know what I did, but suddenly I was greeted by blurry renditions of pictures floating in my mind…


Well, that was before I saw Kaidoh unexpectedly staggering forward into the road, pressing two fingers to his head. I snapped out of it quickly.


He turned and asked me, “What did you do?”


I blinked. “Did what?”


I heard Kaidoh groan in slight pain and saw him squeeze his eyes shut, very hard. Uh oh. “It feels like…”  Then he turned to me. “Did you…”


Suddenly I realized what he meant. “No…, not that I know…” I said nervously.


He sighed, “I don’t know.” Kaidoh then rubbed his temples. “I think I’m getting a headache.”


The second year got back on the sidewalk, but he didn’t go back to leaning against the sign. He sat down so his back was facing me, and buried his face in his hands. I turned to my left and saw Momo looking at me.


“Did I miss something?” Momo asked me.


Even though Momo looked confused, it seemed that he was pretending not to listen. “It was nothing,” I said. I went up to him and patted him lightly on the shoulder. “It was nothing at all.” Momo nodded understandably and turned away. I decided to take the chance to check my watch. Several minutes have gone by. Doing things does have effects on time.


Silence ruled. We didn’t speak for a while. Momo started whistling again, and Kaidoh still sat in that position on the sidewalk. I thought of the tennis courts at Seigaku and all the times we’ve spent practicing there. I started to miss holding a racket in my hand already. When you have been doing something your whole life, and you stop doing it for a while, you start to suffer some kind of withdrawal. It’s indescribable, but it was a withdrawal nevertheless. I wonder if Momo and Kaidoh feel the same way.


There was this brrrrrm sound that I couldn’t help hearing. It sounded like the engine of a vehicle. But I couldn’t determine what it was and how large. It certainly wasn’t a car, though. “Hey, did you hear that?” I asked out of the blue. Momo and Kaidoh looked at me; only Kaidoh stayed silent.


Momo started digging into his left ear with his pinkie only briefly. “Hmm… I don’t think so,” he said. “I might have, but…”


I looked both ways at the street – though there weren’t any active cars – when at my left I saw something emerging from the road. I stood on my tippy toes and shaded my eyes with my hand, squinting.


“You see anything?”


That was Momo still. “Hold on…” I replied, “I’m trying to see…” Then I saw it. It was the front of…


“…A bus?” I murmured.


I must have said it too loud when Momo walked up and stood next to me.  He said, “It could be. Maybe that’s the bus we’ve been waiting for, Oishi-senpai.”


I went off to check my watch. 3: 59 pm. It was almost till four. When the bus stopped at the sign where we were, I realized Momo was right. The bus was yellow like those school ones that take little kids, but it was more sleek-looking and the windows were darker… and cleaner. The front windows of the bus were much larger than the side ones, so much that you can practically see the driver and all in the front seat. There was one pair of tires in the front, and two in the back. But in some places the paint was peeling off and there were scratches at the sides, so it was an older bus.


I walked up to the bus door, which hissed as it opened. The engine humming was loud, typical for buses unless you were in a populated place like Tokyo or something, where they were quieter. The bus’s driver was a portly man and his clothes had stains that I didn’t know where they came from, but I didn’t want to ask.


I had to talk loudly over the engine humming, “Are you the one?”


“Sorry I was late,” said the driver. “The bus wasn’t working right since this morning. I had to send for repairs.”


“So that was why we had to wait,” I heard Momo whisper to my ear.


Fortunately the driver didn’t hear that. “What is your name?” he asked me.


“Oishi Shuichiro,” I answered. I also went on to introduce my friends to the bus driver. “This guy here is Momoshiro Takeshi and that guy behind me is Kaidoh Kaoru.”


The driver nodded. “Alright, get in.” He stuck his thumb out that indicated the passenger seats behind him.


I climbed into the front bus door, with Momo and Kaidoh in tow. Usually buses require you to go through the back door if they had one. This one didn’t. Actually, it was one of the few buses where the builders forgot to put an extra door. So, the only one available was the front. It was like the buses from America.


When I came in, there was a small machine next to the driver. I pressed the only button on it and a ticket rolled out. I picked it up. ‘F6’ was printed on the top-right corner of the ticket. “Don’t forget to match your ticket on the screen,” said the driver.


I knew what the driver meant. If you pick up a bus ticket for the locals then you have to match whatever number it is on the fare display above the driver. The fare you pay depends on how far you were going. I’m not a frequent bus user, but I’ve been on local buses enough to know what you’re doing. You always know what you’re doing if you’re doing something enough times.


I walked into the passenger section and picked a seat. Mine was under the big flat window facing the seats on the other side, and it was near from the door we came in. Momo went and sat next to me. Kaidoh however, kept on going and sat in this seat far from us, crossing his arms and glaring holes in the floor. I began to wonder why he was sitting all by himself.


“Momo,” I whispered.


“What?”


I asked him, “Why is Kaidoh sitting by himself?”


Momo said, “Oh, him? He was like that since first year at Seigaku; wasn’t too social with everyone except for maybe some of us regulars.” He wrung his neck. Then he lowered his voice so Kaidoh wouldn’t hear him, “I don’t know exactly, but I heard that he moved here because his family was searching for dough to make.”


I stared at the second year incredulously as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Are you sure?” I said.


“I don’t know, really. That was all I’ve heard.”


“Who told you?”


“Some kid from my old neighborhood.”


I fidgeted a little in my seat – it was made of leather, by the way – and turned away, feeling suddenly uneasy. The subject was bothering me so I changed it, “So how are the others doing?”


Momo looked at me. “Sorry?”


“How are the others doing?” I repeated.


The second year knew I was referring to the other regulars. Momo then stared mindlessly at the ceiling, “Um… I haven’t bothered to call the others, because basically yesterday they had plans, and they sounded busy when I called a few of them. I heard from one of the freshmen that Tezuka-senpai had been working on some kind of project with Ryuzaki-sensei…”


I sweatdropped, “You heard that from Horio, didn’t you?”


Just in case you didn’t know, Horio Satoshi was one of the Seigaku first years lying around in the school’s rosters, and one of two people I knew who had a big mouth – him and my doubles partner Kikumaru Eiji. He was always bragging about his tennis skills, but his experience, unfortunately, was only two years. He was also gossiping about trivial stuff with these two other first years he hangs around with, but most of us doubt his credibility. Surprisingly though, most of the news we hear outside of Seigaku come from Horio.


“Yeah,” said Momo, “it came from Horio. But I gave Tezuka-senpai a call, but he wasn’t home. So then I called Fuji-senpai and he was there, but he told me he was busy, so I hung up.”


“How’s Fuji-senpai?” I asked.


“He’s fine. But I’m getting this feeling that maybe he’s busying himself this weekend as much as Tezuka-senpai. I bet they’re both doing what Horio said Tezuka-senpai was doing.”


“Okay…then what about Echizen?”


Momo’s brows raised themselves. “Ryoma…? …That first year?”


I nodded.


Echizen Ryoma was a first year besides Horio, and the only Seigaku regular who’s a first year. He was a nice kid, I had to admit sometimes, but with that indifference and cold, arrogant personality he didn’t seem to have that many friends, in contrast to more social types like Momo and Eiji. He was even more comparable to Kaidoh, whose tough and intimidating demeanor had put a distance between him and the rest of us regulars.


“I don’t know about Ryoma,” Momo told me. “He’s also fine, but the last time I saw him was yesterday. He was buying some Fanta juice from a vending machine. I asked him if he had plans for this weekend, and Ryoma said he was going to practice his tennis skills. Never saw him again after that.”  


“So Ryoma’s out…”


“Pretty much…yeah.”


“…So that means everyone else is out?”


Momo turned thoughtful, “Well uh, Eiji-senpai called me several hours before I left home.”


My eyes lit up. Kikumaru Eiji was a fellow third year and doubles partner in tennis matches. He was also my close friend. I had a reason to get excited. “Really?” I blurted out. “How is he doing? What did he say?”


“Eiji-senpai’s fine,” Momo said to calm me down. “He said on the phone that he and a friend were going to town for a while, so he wouldn’t be back until about…” He started silently counting his fingers. “…about late evening. I’d estimate between nine and twelve.”


“Sounds like he got a lot of stuff to do.”


Momo shrugged. “Yeah, well… who can blame him? Anyway, Eiji-senpai’s out. But I did call him about the others.”


I asked, “What did he say?”


“He said that Kawamura-senpai’s taking cooking lessons from his old man (at least that’s what I’ve heard), and Inui-senpai’s at home.”


I raised a brow. “Why is he at home? Still brewing his juices?”


“Oh no, I called Inui-senpai before I left with Kaidoh. His mother told me on the phone when I was considering him to bring along. She said he got the flu or something, so that’s why he’s staying at home.”


I started to get really worried.


“Oh, that’s too bad. I hope it’s not serious.”


“Uh…I think when I called Inui-senpai, he was coughing and sneezing during the first half of the conversation before his mother probably overheard and took over. And his voice sounded funny, too.”


My face fell. “Sore wa hijô ni zan'nenda…” I muttered in Japanese. “When is he getting better?”


“In about a few weeks or so,” Momo replied.


I muttered a curse word that Momo, hopefully, didn’t hear. “Looks like I have to buy medicine for him.”


Momo asked me, with this joking grin on his face, “What kind of medicine? Inui juice?”


I laughed and gave a playful slap to Momo’s right shoulder.


“You’re one to suggest things.”


“Maybe we should.”


I gasped, “Momo!”


“You asked!” Momo laughed back.


Inui, one of the third year regulars on our team, has this habit of brewing horrible vegetable juices that taste even more so than it sounds. They’re so horrible; I think one of the unlucky freshmen was rendered unconscious trying it. She probably thought it was Gatorade or something. Well anyway, Inui started making them for our tennis program when students started slacking off on practice. Our captain Tezuka saw how powerful his juices were and put Inui in charge – meaning, if someone was caught being lazy or breaking the rules, they would get Inui’s juices. The tennis program never missed a day of practice again.


Inui was also well known for never missing a day of school. He would always attend, every, single, day. Everyone who knew Inui only for his juices would try to avoid him on the days he was at Seigaku, which was impossible. But also, the strange thing is, Inui almost never got sick. On those rare days that he did get sick, we would wonder if he tried his juices on himself, just to see how powerful they are. But a few of us regulars started developing this inside joke that whenever Inui got sick, we would give him the vegetable juices as medicine.


I can just imagine all of us at Inui’s house holding cups of ‘Inui juice’, while saying like he said it: “Come on, here’s some Inui juice! You know it’ll help you!” That would kill me if it actually happened had the flu not been contagious.


Our fun didn’t last long, however. During my laughing fit I caught sight of lonely Kaidoh, and began to think about how lonely he was over there. My smile turned into a frown so fast, I didn’t know until Momo pointed it out.


“Hey, Oishi-senpai, what’s wrong?”


“I don’t know,” I sighed. I didn’t feel like taking about it with him. “I’m going to sit with Kaidoh.” A brief look at Momo told me that he knew why I was going over there. He let me go with a nod, and so I got up and left him.


Kaidoh was still glaring holes into the bus floor when I arrived. He didn’t even bother to look up when I said, “Hi” to him. I sat down next to him, and I was lucky he didn’t get angry about it. I almost swore I heard him thinking something about accepting my company… Whatever. Forget what I said.


“Hey, Kaidoh,” I greeted for like, the second time.


“…Hey,” said the other second year. Albeit very quietly.


“Why are you sitting all by yourself?”


Kaidoh said nothing.


“Kaidoh?”


“…Di dn’t feel like sitting with anyone.”


“Well, I thought you’d like the company,” I said. Whoa. I probably sounded like an idiot or something. I was only trying to be nice to him. Kaidoh didn’t comment on anything, though.


“…Thanks.”


There were all these things buzzing in my head that I wanted to say so badly. But Kaidoh looked so downhearted that it discouraged me from attempting to do so. He probably overheard my conversation with Momo, the one about his family moving to our school district in search for better jobs. “Look, Kaidoh…” I started to say.


Kaidoh moved his eyes toward me, but not his head. I sighed in near frustration.


“Kaidoh, I don’t see why you keep isolating yourself from others. Is socializing bad to you?”


“…People are stupid sometimes,” said the person I was talking to.


“True, but not everyone is stupid. Why don’t you talk with Momo for a bit?” Uh-oh. I remembered. Kaidoh was a rival of Momo. They’d probably tear each other’s guts out if you put the two together.


“Fshuuuu… Momo’s a baka…” Kaidoh murmured.


I heard that. “That’s not very nice.”


“…He’d probably never shut up…”


“About what?”


“…”


“Kaido h?”


“Things…”


I was rendered silent for a moment, before saying, “Is it because I and Momo were talking over there?” Kaidoh this time turned to face me, but it was to glare at me. I must have treaded into personal matters when I shouldn’t have.  I realized my mistake and turned away; he must have known what I was referring to.


“I’m sorry…” I apologized, and then murmured something else.


“Hmm?”


“I’m sorry,” I said a little louder, “if I hurt your feelings.”


Kaidoh turned away from me. “…Just don’t ever discuss it or tell anyone…” I heard him say.


“Why?”


It was then Kaidoh gave me the Just-drop-it look. “It’s personal,” he hissed.


“Alright,” I muttered.


I didn’t talk to him anymore for a while. I still sat with him, but feeling a little guilty. I know Kaidoh wasn’t angry with me, because I can sense sadness in him. He didn’t cry, however. I wonder why he was feeling sad, but I considered it a good thing that Kaidoh wasn’t angry. The last thing you’d want to do whenever Kaidoh was around was get on his bad side. You wouldn’t like it, trust me.


I checked my watch. It was around 4: 45 pm. About an hour has passed. I sighed. I turned around and looked out the window. The bus was still on the road, which meant we weren’t at our destination yet. I thought of asking the bus driver, but I didn’t want to bother him. He was the one driving. I didn’t want him to run into something while he was answering me.


I turned to face the other rows of bus seats, shoving my hands into my jean pockets. ‘This is just not my day…’ I thought to myself tiredly.

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