Back at home, Fuji's sister retrieved mails for the week and notified Mayu that she had a letter from Belgium. When Mayu saw that it came from the European Parliament, her heart did a somersault. Tearing open the top, she realized that she was being invited to an interview.
She read the letter once then again before allowing her to believe it was real. In the winter, she'd applied to the Parliament's highly coveted summer internship to help her springboard into a degree in public policy. She'd applied to give herself a chance, not expecting her decent yet not outstanding grades to wow anybody. Now that she'd made the cut, she had one shot to blow the interviewers away.
That evening, Mayu skipped dinner to get a head start on her research at the local library. She scoured the foreign politics section and took pages of notes until the librarian came around to announce closing. Before leaving, she checked out two books to take away for the night.
In late May, the night air started carrying remnant heat from the day. Seemingly irritated with this unwelcome rise in temperature, the cicadas screeched in the background the entire way home.
As she neared the Fuji house, Mayu noticed someone standing by the front gates. Obscured by layers of shadows, only up close did she see it was Tezuka.
He stood a little straighter as she got close. "Mayu."
"Hey. Here to see Fuji?"
"I've been waiting for you. Fuji told me you went out." With a slight frown, he added, "You shouldn't be out alone this late. It's not safe."
Mayu refrained from telling him that Tokyo was the safest city she'd ever visited. "How long have you been here?"
"Not long."
She suspected he was lying but said nothing.
A beat of silence passed before he said, "I saw you at the courts today."
"I know."
"Why didn't you stay?"
"You looked to be in the middle of an important game. I only stopped by to thank you for bringing me those chocolates. I didn't want to interrupt."
"Thank you for coming."
She stifled a laugh. "Are we just going to stand out here thanking each other all night?"
He shook his head. "I came to tell you that Seigaku qualified for the prefectural games."
"Prefectural games?"
"If Seigaku wins the prefecturals, we'd go on to compete at the regional level, meaning our players will have a serious shot at winning the national championship."
Mayu nodded. "Sounds like a significant accomplishment. Congratulations, I'm happy for you."
Her words were met with a deep frown from him. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we won't be able to do our study sessions as often."
"No need to apologize. I understand tennis is a priority for you right now."
He studied her face, seemingly desperate to say something then held back at the last second. After some struggle, he said, "Would you come to watch the first prefectural game this weekend?"
A car careened by. Watching the headlights bounce off the rims of glasses and his taut expressions, she said, "No, that's ok."
"You don't enjoy watching tennis?"
YOU ARE READING
Second to None
Fanfiction"I like you, Ohara-san," said Tezuka all of a sudden. "This is not how you should confess to a girl." "I'm sorry. I guess I should've brought something. Maybe flowers." "That's not it." "What should I do?" "You're supposed to ease into it, not tell...
