Deafening Silence ( prince of tennis) (#wattys2016)

40

I loved writing this chapter, since I decided it was Roko's turn to get to know the regulars. I'm sorry you will have to wait so long for Roko's birthday, but these next few chaps will hopefully make up for it.

Streets of Tokyo

It was cold, and the streets were layered with a thin sheet of snow, but Roko was bored and he had been trapped indoors for days, so he left the house to go for a walk. He wore a thick jacket with a layer of fur inside for insulation and thick trousers with walking boots. He still had his trusty iPod and earphones with him, since he would never separate from them, and he walked to the rhythm of the rock music in his ears.

It had been a week since school had ended, and tomorrow was Ryoma's birthday. He'd heard from Ryoma that Seigaku were planning on having a party for him at his teammate's restaurant, so Roko would have little involvement with him tomorrow. That was good, he never liked big parties, and even though he would be happy to celebrate with Ryoma, he'd rather give him his present and then leave him to his friends that were better company.

Roko had kept in contact with his teammates often, mostly Marui, since he made good conversation over text, and Roko decided that Marui was good company. They talked about whatever came to mind, and Roko was glad that for once he could express himself to the team without Sanada around, but it was really ironic that he expressed himself better from fifty miles away rather than in person. He also talked to Yukimura often, and he'd heard from him that he'd been practicing sign language as a past-time, and Roko promised him that when the snow cleared up he'd visit.

It was odd how much of a relationship he'd developed with the team, and for some reason in the middle of the snow-filled street with no one around and only the sound of rock music in his ears, Roko realised that they were the first people he'd met that he could class as friends. Roko had never had friends before, since he had always been Ryoma's shadow, and vice-versa for their entire lives, always talking to each other and staying by each other's sides, doing everything together. In a way Roko was glad he chose to go to Rikkaidai, because if he went to Seigaku with Ryoma nothing would have changed, and he knew it. Ryoma probably wouldn't have developed nearly as good a relationship with his teammates as he had now.

It then occurred to him that he called his teammates 'friends' rather than teammates. Is that how he thought of them? He supposed some were more than others, but overall they cared about him and they did their best to learn about him.

And yet you know almost nothing about them, his consciousness added, and Roko frowned in depressing realisation. That's right, his teammates worked hard to learn about him, asking every question they could think of in order to know him better, and yet Roko never asked them in return. He knew Sanada well, but that was a given when he was practically Roko's bodyguard.

He knew that Yanagi loved making his strange juices, and that he enjoyed reading and academic subjects. He enjoyed inflicting pain on people - quite like Fuji the sadist - and he prided himself in his data more than anything.

Jackal was the quiet caretaker of the group who never raises his voice at anyone, because he's too polite.

Marui was a fellow obsessor over cake, who enjoyed eating sweets and food in general. He enjoys pop music and goes bowling in his free time, he has two younger brothers whom he cares about and prides himself in his baking skills.

Niou enjoys playing pranks on people, and he isn't afraid of Sanada.

Yagyuu was too polite to express any sort of dislike because he was raised to be a gentleman.

Kirihara...

...

Wow. He knew so little it was stunning. Roko scowled, suddenly feeling incredibly guilty about not returning his teammate's questions. They tried to get to know him better and yet he never bothered to return the favour.