Aishuu Offers:
Snapshots: Tezuka
~ A Tennis No Oujisama Fic ~
Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi, manga-ka.
Note: A series of drabbles, snapshots of Tezuka's
life, hopefully exploring his character. Each section
written in five minutes, so...
Challenge: 5 minute drabbles.         

*************

He had tried to quit once.

He knew that tennis was his life, but inside of him,
there was an empty feeling. He didn't always like
playing. It was routine sometimes, something he wasn't
always fond of. 
                    
His father would drag him out of bed - a cardinal sin
- and remind him that the day began at dawn.
He liked to sleep in... he liked other things... and
he hated feeling like a tennis machine.

So he tried to quit.

It didn't work.

He managed to stop for all of a week. That week had
been the emptiest of his life - his hands had
ached for his racquet, and every time he passed the
court, he forcibly had to turn away. He wasn't
sure why things were that way - wasn't he more then
tennis?

That had been when he realized the essential truth. He
was tennis - there was nothing else. Until he
reached the hurdle that was in front of him, he
couldn't quit.

So he began to play again. It took a month to repair
the damage the week off of training had done.

But Tezuka Kunnimitsu did it, because he knew he had a
goal. He would be the best, because there
was nothing else in sight.         

****

When he entered junior high, he hadn't been sure what
to expect. He had been planning on joining
the tennis club, but he hadn't been expecting to have
all the senpai look at him like he was a bug that
needed to be squashed. 

But that came later.

After the first day of classes, he had immediately
gone to the tennis courts, intent on signing up. The
club had been practicing, and he had been a bit
impressed at how good they were - though not good
enough to beat him.

He believed in a realistic evaluation of his own
skills. He had been playing since he had been three,
and he knew that he could beat any of the current
players practicing on the court.

"Are you going to sign up?" a gravelly female voice
asked from behind him.
						
He turned, meeting the eyes of a woman in her fifties.
"Yes, ma'am," he said.

She laughed at him, clapping him on the shoulder
cheerfully. "You'll do good here, Tezuka," she
told him. Her eyes looked him over. "I think we've
been waiting for someone like you."

He had been confused. "What do you mean?"

"Why don't you get on the court and see?" she asked.

He had nodded, and brought out his tennis racquet.

That had been his first meeting with Ryuuzaki Sumire.
     
****

When he sat by the koi pond, his family would leave
him alone. There were no responsibilities, and
he could merely sit there, feeding the fish. They were
beautiful, and it was restful to watch them
fight over the little bit of food he would idly drop
in.

It wasn't often that he had time to come into the
yard. His family lived in an old fashioned house,
one which his father's high-powered corporate job paid
for, but he never saw his father. The only
thing he could remember was being shaken awake early
in the morning by a rough hand, when the
sun hadn't yet come up. 

His father always woke him up before he left. Tezuka
had become an early riser because of it,
though sometimes he wondered what it would be like to
sleep in.

But that was not how things were done in the family.
If there was a day off, there was other work to
be done. Tezuka would study literature or art, or play
Go with his grandfather - the days of the life
of a scion of the Tezuka line were full. Idle hands
were not permitted.

Except by the koi pond. There he was allowed to slow
down, and think.

Sometimes he wished he could stay there forever - but
those thought were few and fleeting. He had
been too indoctrinated in the ideals of hard work for
such whimsical ideas to take hold.



****


Meeting Fuji was a turning point in his life. 

He had always taken tennis seriously, of course, but
never before had he had a rival. He had always
been the best, the person who had no peer.

Then in walked Fuji Syuusuke.

Fuji was like a force of nature. He didn't actively
try to shake things up; no, Fuji was more subtle
than that. Fuji simply turned Tezuka's life upside
down by being himself, and that was more than
enough.

Fuji wasn't as good as he was; he was a player who
relied on skill and talent, but lacked the sheer
strength that made Tezuka's game. Tezuka knew that he
could break Fuji's tricks, if given enough
time.

And Fuji knew that, too.

But... there was an unpredictable quality, and
sometimes Tezuka wondered if Fuji was toying with
him. Fuji liked doing that to people.

He realized that, because Fuji had never used all the
triple counters against him.

Fuji was lying in wait. 

That was what made him Tezuka's rival within the
Seigaku tennis club. Tezuka knew that if he
slipped, Fuji would tear him to bits, all the while
wearing that seemingly pleasant smile on his face.

****

The answers always came easily to him, when it came to
school work. All he had to do was read the
book, and the knowledge was his.

It amused Tezuka, though he would never admit it, how
the teachers were terrified of making a
mistake in front of him. He was the golden child, the
one who had the brains to do whatever he
dreamed of, and they all wanted him to do well - and
they all wanted his respect.

He respected very few of them.
          
Whenever he raised his hand to volunteer an answer - a
rare occurrence - they ignored him. They
didn't want to be overwhelmed by his intellect, didn't
want to admit that he was smarter than they
could ever hope to be.

They only called all him when none of the other
students knew the answers, or when they wanted to
race through a lesson. Lesson plans had to be kept up
with, and it was his function to help in that
way.

So he would sit in his seat quietly, letting his
attention drift towards tennis club. Every now and
then
he would check what was being written on the board,
making sure the answers were right. Whenever
he found a mistake, he pointed it out. 

After all, mental and physical perfection were
important to a well-balanced person.

****

It was common practice for first years to go through
doubles training as soon as they proved they
could hold a racquet and knew the basics.

It was Tezuka's first, and only, failure.

When his turn came, he was paired, naturally enough,
with Oishi. There was an understanding
required to create a good pair, and Osihi was probably
one of the few in the club who wasn't jealous
of him.

It didn't go well.

Tezuka had a hard time yielding half the court to his
partner, and an even harder time relying on
Oishi to be where he was supposed to. Oishi was a
solid player, but Tezuka was convinced,
somewhere in his subconscious, that he could beat the
two opponents he faced by himself.

They won, of course. It was unheard of for Tezuka
Kunimitsu to lose, but he knew that the game
hadn't gone well. There had been holes in their game,
and a truly experienced doubles pair would
have torn the Oishi-Tezuka pair apart, because Tezuka
couldn't relax enough control to his partner.

Oishi had come to him after practice, and looked at
him. "I think you should stick to singles," he
told him.

Tezuka had been forced to agree.

     
****

It was a bit unsettling to be stalked.

Tezuka wasn't stupid; he became aware of Inui's
constant following of him within the first week.
There was the scratch-scratch of pen against paper of
Inui recording whatever he observed in his
notebook, and Tezuka knew there was nothing he could
do to stop it.

Whenever he turned around, Inui was there,
calculating.

He knew why.

The first ranking match, he had soundly defeated the
other first year, totally undermining his
confidence. Inui was a decent player, but there was
far too much calculation in his play; there was
no flair, nothing that was unplanned. It had been easy
to beat him, once he had overcome the pin-
pointed shots.

Inui had been fixated on defeating him since. Tezuka
had accepted that, deciding that it would help
Inui become a better player. But sometimes he wondered
how far the obsession ran and if it was
such a good thing.

Tezuka actually was thrown off balance the beginning
of the first day of the 0second semester. Inui
came to practise clutching a water bottle, but the
liquid that was coming through the straw looked...
green. And thick...

"It's Inui juice..." Inui was telling Fuji. "It's a
special blend that's good for the body. Would you
like some?"

Tezuka didn't let on, but he decided then that
obsessions could go too far.

****      

It was towards the end of his first year that Kikumaru
and Oishi played together.

He remembered that, too, since he happened to be
there, discussing future plans with Kuroi, who
would be the new captain. He had stopped, turning to
watch his friend play with the first year he
only vaguely knew. It had only been a practice match,
and Oishi was already a regular, but
Kikumaru had been called to partner him. 

Kikumaru was a likeable enough sort, Tezuka supposed,
but the sheer amount of energy the red-
haired boy radiated was tiring. His play style was
erratic, and though he would probably evolve into
a decent serve-and-volley player someday, his serve
was still too weak to pull off the usual acrobatic
attacks he was fond of. Ryuuzaki-sensei had her eye on
him, though, so Tezuka knew he would
probably be a regular by his third year. Ryuuzaku was
good at picking out talent.

He watched as the two entered the court together....

And something clicked.

Oishi's steady presence backed up Kikumaru's strange
attacks, and Kikumaru added flair to Oishi's
rather predictable play. They fit, for lack of a
better word.

Watching them, Tezuka knew something wonderful was
being born.

****

"I'M BURNING!"

Kawamura had Tezuka seriously question what the
definition of sanity was.

Tezuka and Kawamura were in the same class, and both
of them were rivals for the title of quetest,
rarely speaking - Tezuka because he was antisocial,
and Kawamura because he was shy.

And then Kawamura picked up a racquet...

"COME ON BABY!"

Kawamura played hard, with shots that were powerful.
Tezuka felt his wrists being jarred whenever
he returned the ball, but Kawamura lacked the control
Tezuka had mastered. The ball went out
about a third of the time, so Tezuka wasn't too
concerned about the outcome.

Still, hearing Kawamura yell and mock his opponent set
Tezuka's teeth on edge.

"COME ON, PRETTY BOY!!! I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU!"

Kawamura had been wrong about that. Tezuka had won
easily, but not before thinking Kawamura
might be a valuable addition to the team if he kept
getting better - and if he proved sane enough.

****
          
When he entered second year, things changed. The
seniors were gone, and he was now vice-captain.

It was an honor, because it was as good as admitting
that he would be the captain the next year. He
was well on the way to being the pillar the tennis
club would rely on.

It was his inherent honesty that made him admit that
he was a very poor vice captain. He had a hard
time agreeing with what Kuroi ordered, and he knew
many of the other club members would glance
to him whenever the captain ordered something, waiting
for Tezuka to second it.

It was a very subtle division in the ranks; a camp of
people who followed Tezuka, and a camp who
followed their official captain.

It wasn't that he didn't respect Captain Kuroi - no,
hardly that. It was just because he was better, and
the club members all knew that. Kuroi was more laid
back than he was, and had a different style.
Frankly put, Kuroi was too gentle. Tezuka knew that he
was too easily swayed by the team's
complaints, because Kuroi was concerned with being
liked.

A good captain shouldn't be concerned with that. A
good captain needed respect, not liking. 

So he spent that year quietly waiting, knowing that
when his turn arrived, he would lead Seigaku to
nationals. He didn't need to be liked - he had the
club's respect, and a bit of their fear.

But he could accept that. It was all for a good cause,
after all. 

*****

His shoebox was full of love letters everyday.

It wasn't anything Tezuka was happy about - in fact,
it made him... uncomfortable. He didn't want
to deal with romance. He didn't want to deal with the
girls fawning on him, or giving him hopeful
eyes, deal with the meetings they tried to arrange to
confess their undying love.

Most of all, he didn't want to deal with Fuji.

Fuji's shoebox was close by, and he seemed to always
have a ton of letters as well. Whenever they
arrived to change their shoes, a pile would fall out.
Fuji would gather his up, smile, and turn to
Tezuka.

"It seems we're getting popular, doesn't it?" he would
say every day. His smile was sweet and
totally benign, which made the hair on Tezuka's arms
crawl. Whenever Fuji looked innocent, it
meant he was getting way too much amusement at someone
else's expense.

Tezuka would merely grunt, stare at his own letters
helplessly, and wonder if they could be marked
"return to sender."

****

The ball rose into the air, and he focused on it...
and served.

It was his first game of the tournament, the first
time entering the stage of inter-scholastic sports.
Tezuka was the vice captain, and no one knew of him.
He would change that, today.

His opponent watch in awe as the ball spun past him,
striking just inside the corner. It was an ace.

Murmurs stirred the crowd as Tezuka served again.

Another ace.

Again.

Ace.

He took the first set in straight points.

Then it was his turn to receive, and the opponent was
determined to get his pride back. Seigaku
player or not, and unknown second year wasn't going to
defeat him!

Tezuka could see that desire in his eyes...

And cut it down.

He took the game without dropping a point, stepping
onto the stage of junior high tennis. Around
him, the cameras clicked, and he knew that others were
going to remember his name...

...but he would remember his opponent.

Rokutanda Tsuyoshi of Miyuta Junior High.

He always remembered the opponents he defeated- it was
his responsibility to play for them, as well
as for their team.

****

The new year brought in new first years, and three
stood out inhis mind - Arai, Momoshiro and
Kaidou.

Arai wasn't going to be a regular anytime soon, by he
had the passion. Momoshiro was extremely
friendly, and Kaidou was his opposite - those were the
two he would wager on becoming regulars,
after the training camp.

They also had an almost unholy rivalry.

Kuroi seemed amused by it, but Tezuka found it more
exasperating than anything else. The two
used it to push themselves to heights, but he worried
that it could destroy them. The two should have
become friends, but he didn't see it happening anytime
in his life.

Well, there were always punishment laps. Tezuka tied
them to tires once before making them run
twenty laps, trying to get it through their thick
heads that their screaming at each other wasn't
welcome. He found it disruptive.

It backfired.

If anything, the two just yelled louder, blaming the
other for irritating the vice captain.

>From that, Tezuka learned that some things just
couldn't be changed. There was no point in trying
to make water flow uphill.

Besides, when they were fighting, Fuji and Inui would
watch them, instead of him.

****

"Excuse me, sir," someone murmured to him.

Tezuka was getting used to it. With his latest growth
spurt, along with sore bones, he had gained an
impressive physique that had people mistaking him for
someone ten years older than he was. It was
weird to be thought of as someone in his twenties,
when he was barely a teenager.

When he corrected the mistake, it always led to
embarrassment on the behalf of the person who had
though he was an adult. When he left it alone, he was
accused of being arrogant. He wasn't quite
sure how to deal with it, so usually he ignored it,
unless there was a pressing reason to make sure
someone knew how old he really was.

He was thirteen... but bore the responsibility for the
entire team. Kuroi, the current captain, was
preparing for high school, so now Tezuka had assumed
the captain's role.

He was pleased about that. He could finally manage the
team the way he wanted to.

And he had the dignity a real captain needed, he knew.
He got the proof whenever he boarded a
subway.

"Excuse me, sir."
               
****

The first day of his third year, there was a match
against another school. Momoshiro hadn't been
able to make it, but that was okay. He needed to rest
his sprained ankle.

The matches didn't stand out in Tezuka's mind in
particular, since he knew the new players for the
prefectural games would be selected shortly in the
next series of ranking matches.

What stood out that day was Ryuuzaki Sumire pulling
him aside.

"Tezuka, are you ready for this year?" she had asked.

He had nodded. "Oishi will be a good vice captain." 
That was true - Oishi was nice and reliable,
and their styles would compliment each other. Oishi
was approachable, where Tezuka was not. The
players would like him, while they respected Tezuka.
It was a good balance.

"I wanted to tell you about an incoming freshmen," she
said.
                              
"Oh?"

"Echizen Ryoma," Ryuuzaki-sensei said. "He's very good
- he's won four national titles in
America."

Tezuka had been impressed, but didn't let it show. "Is
it common to let captains know of incoming
players?" he asked calmly instead.

"The last time I did it, the name I spoke was Tezuka
Kunimitsu." 

=====
Down, down, down, would the fall never come to an end?
Wonder how many miles I've fallen?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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