Deafening Silence ( prince of tennis) (#wattys2016)

8

Rikkaidai Fuzoku Tennis Courts

Court A

Marui wasn't sure what to think when it was announced that he would play his doubles partner. He knew immediately that Sanada had done this to test their skills in singles, like he constantly did when an opportunity arose. He wasn't the type of person to let people stick with what they're good at, Sanada wanted the best all-around players, in singles and doubles, which is why Sanada would always focus on your weaknesses rather than your strengths. While Marui - who had always had low stamina, could attest to how his fukubuchou's focus on weaknesses didn't work, it worked wonders with the other regulars. It seemed to Marui that he was the only person who could not get past the hurdle of his stamina, and that made him feel weak in comparison.

That's why he enjoyed playing doubles, because he could go all-out at the start and have Jackal covering him, so when Marui was exhausted, Jackal would play until he got back up. To Marui, doubles is a game where your weaknesses don't matter, because you have your partner to support you, and you just play your best knowing that you have someone watching your back. To him, Jackal was that support, in a sense he was like a protector, since whenever Marui missed a shot, Jackal was there behind him, returning it in an instant. Marui trusted Jackal utterly, and put his whole faith in him during a game.

That's what doubles was.

So playing singles against his own protector gave Marui a sinking feeling in his stomach. He no longer had that reassuring presence next to him, telling him to go all-out and not worry about a shot he missed.

But it wasn't that Marui didn't want to play Jackal - even doubles partners have to wonder who's better - in fact he was kind of excited about it, but it was the fact that he was alone. Yukimura often described them as a skyscraper, Marui was the tower that reached to the top and took the gold, and Jackal was the foundations that stopped the skyscraper from toppling.

What kind of building can hold without foundations? Marui had to wonder.

Jackal was the support who stood at the back and returned shots, and Marui dived and attacked at every angle at the net.

Marui knew if he did what he normally would he would lose all of his stamina and lose to Jackal, but Jackal could just continue doing what he was doing because his doubles play could easily be used in singles. Jackal realised this too, and so they both knew that the winner would be who exposes their opponents' weaknesses first.

Jackal may have a lot of stamina, but he was slow, and preferred to stay at the back, so shots near the net would work against him.

Marui had less stamina, but was fast enough to catch up to them, so making him run around would guarantee a win.

Now they had to prevent those things from happening.

Rikkaidai Fuzoku Tennis Courts

Court C

No one was here.

Roko's match against Daigo Kakuba was about to begin and no one was here. He wasn't particularly shocked, since the tennis club members severely underestimate him, it probably wouldn't be a match worth watching to them. They were probably watching Court A where Marui and Jackal were playing, and then they'd move to Court D where Yukimura would play Niou, and then Court B where Sanada would play Yanagi, which meant he could utterly destroy his opponents and he wouldn't attract any attention with no witnesses at all.

Excellent.

Daigo, who stood at the opposite side of the court, tying up the laces on his shoes, seemed to be underestimating Roko as well. He could tell by the swagger he had when he walked in and the sneer he had sent at him. Roko couldn't blame him, since most freshmen here were too unskilled to even swing a racket properly, and he had never played a game to show off his skills. Daigo Kakuba was a tall third-year with short sandy yellow hair, a rather pointy nose, deep green eyes and a sharp chin.

"Let's get this over with!" he called across the court, having picked up his racket and approached the net. Roko smiled inwardly.

Better finish him quick before anyone arrives to watch the match, he told himself. Roko walked towards the net, racket in hand, and stood in front of Daigo. Daigo looked down on him with a jeering expression, clearly not expecting a challenge at all.

Did Sanada put such a cocky guy with me for a reason? Roko wondered.

"The game between Echizen Roko and Daigo Kakuba will now begin!" the umpire called from his chair, "Please shake hands"

Roko and Daigo did so, and Daigo tightened his grip on Roko's hand.

"You're going to get owned, shrimp" he taunted. Roko just looked at him with a hollow expression.

I'll finish you in 10 minutes, he decided.

"One set match, Echizen to serve!"

Rikkaidai Fuzoku Tennis Courts

Court D

Yukimura watched with waning interest as Niou ran circles around Yamato Shigeyuki, a second year with a lot of potential to become a regular, but not yet. He had to admit, for a second year, the kid put up quite a fight, or at least a struggle, since Niou only let one shot get past him.

Yukimura would play Niou next, and he had to admit he was looking forward to it. He wondered what would happen if Niou copied his yips tennis style, would he fall victim to his own technique?

Yes, he decided, I am definitely looking forward to this.

Unsurprisingly, there was very little club members watching this match. The Rikkaidai tennis club was made of elite members who had taken the championship three times, so it's of little surprise that people would only be interested in the matches where regulars play regulars. If Yukimura had to guess, the first attraction would be Court A where Marui was playing Jackal, and then it would be onto Court D where Yukimura would play Niou, and then to Court B to watch The Emperor play The Data Master.

Yukimura himself was looking forward to watching that match, but it seemed that there was almost no interest in Court C at all. Some may watch Akaya play Yagyuu, but no one would bother watching Echizen-kun play with so many more interesting matches.

While Yukimura didn't know Echizen that well, he understood that he loathed attention, and so was probably basking in the moment right now.

I wonder how he will do. Will he defeat Daigo?

Of course he couldn't focus on the freshman right now, since he had his own matches to worry about. It wasn't that he was concerned about the matches, but Yukimura believed that you shouldn't play tennis if you don't go all out from the start. He couldn't afford to be distracted in order to obtain flawless victories. That was his mind-set.

And yet his thoughts kept wandering back to the freshman. Yukimura desperately wanted to see how he would play, but he knew that he couldn't leave with his match right around the corner.

Yukimura Seiichi is never late.

Rikkaidai Fuzoku Tennis Courts

Court B

The Data Master watched with an amused smirk as The Emperor's opponent was literally on the ground begging for mercy as ball after ball flew past him at amazing speeds. Sanada Genichiro never held back.

Yanagi knew that Sanada had orchestrated this entire thing so he and Yanagi could play against each other. In fact, Sanada had done a fantastic job choosing the players for each block, making sure there was always an interesting match going on. But looking back on it, Yanagi had to wonder what his motivation for this was. By the looks of things, there wasn't many interesting matches going on in Court C. While Yagyuu was going to play Akaya soon, some may go to watch, and then leave when the match is finished for Yukimura and Niou's match.

If he didn't know any better Yanagi would say he had manipulated the matches so Echizen would have no spectators.

He smirked devilishly, Sanada was actually far craftier than he appeared to be, behind his blunt personality and stoic body language, he actually had a rather complex mind, and often thought about things no one else would consider.

Sanada was like Echizen in that respect, they both hid behind their facades and blunt personalities, while their minds worked in ways no one would guess by looking at them. Yanagi would include Yukimura in that list, but Yukimura was a more straight-forward type of person, he only focused on winning and nothing else. It made Yanagi kind of smile at the thought that maybe their fukubuchou was smarter than Yukimura after all.

Yanagi knew very well of the friction between the vice-captain and the freshman, and yet Sanada had still done all of this for Echizen. Sanada was a rather soft person once you got to know him, and Yanagi wondered if Echizen had brought out that side in him. It could also be that Sanada wants Echizen to work to his full potential, so he allowed no distractions during his matches. That was the more likely choice, because Sanada despised players who did not play their absolute best.

But then again, Sanada was a rather crafty individual.

Yanagi mentally smirked as Sanada's match ended, and his opponent walked away in tears. Yanagi stood gracefully with his racket, taking off his own jersey before facing his opponent, who paled at the sight of him.

I'm not going to hold back either, he decided. He really wanted to play Sanada already.

"One set match, Yanagi to serve!"

Yanagi threw the ball in the air, climbing higher and higher as it went.

Echizen Roko, you are a very interesting individual.

And Yanagi smacked the ball with all his strength.

Rikkaidai Fuzoku Tennis Courts

Court C

Eight and a half minutes.

That's how long it took to beat Daigo Kakuba, who was currently on his hands and knees, sweating buckets and panting like a dog. Roko felt no satisfaction in his win, simply because there was no challenge to it. The third-year had not even got a single ball past him. He had given everything in the match because he saw no reason of holding back and analysing his opponent's play, there was so many holes in it he didn't even need to think about where to hit the ball, because this guy couldn't hit them back anyway.

He mentally sighed in frustration and left the courts, leaving the gasping third-year and the gaping umpire alone while he got a drink of water.

He sat on the bench sipping his water for a long while before he heard footsteps.

Yagyuu appeared next to him, looking at Roko with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't think you'd be finished by now, how long did it take?" he asked bluntly. Roko put down his bottle and raised eight fingers. Yagyuu actually gasped.

"Eight? You beat him in eight minutes!?" he asked sounding exasperated. Roko nodded once, and Yagyuu's lips pressed together in a hard line.

"I see", he said after a while, "I knew you would win this match, but never so easily". Roko actually smiled at Yagyuu; at least someone had faith in him.

"Well then" he continued, "I look forward to our match, Echizen". Roko frowned.

What? Oh yeah, Yagyuu's my next opponent, he realised. Yagyuu turned away from Roko.

"I'll go register your score on the board, and then we'll have our match" he promised, and walked away.

Roko smiled eagerly and sipped some more water.

I'm sorry there's no actual matches in this chapter. Next chapter for sure! :P