Deafening Silence ( prince of tennis) (#wattys2016)

49

I'm sooooooo

Just as a note, when Roko's birthday is over the new school term will begin, and that means tennis times are ahead, since everyone complained about how tennis is slowly not becoming a thing anymore.

Also, wow this is my 50th chap. Awesome. I mean really, you guys gave me wonderful reviews 3 I love your comments and responding to them.

But don't ever write 'please update soon'. That is bad, I will kill you if you do.

Okay? K.

Sanada Household

Gen'emon knelt before his family's altar in quiet meditation, his legs folded and his arms on his lap sitting ramrod straight as he slowly inhaled and exhaled the scent of jasmine incense sticks. The boy was still here and it was bothering Gen'emon. He barely even saw him during his stay here, but Gen'emon still felt like his house was being intruded upon. Genichiro had been busy on the phone with his friends, plotting today, which was apparently the boy's birthday. Whilst Gen'emon agreed that his grandson was perhaps too stoic for someone his age, he did not like the fact that Genichiro was planning such things rather than practicing his kendo.

This child was bringing problems into Gen'emon's household, and he did not like that one bit. But he could not be rid of him either, because the child had nowhere else to go, and so he had to deal with it. Gen'emon slowly inhaled and exhaled, drawing in all his frustration and breathing it out in a small puff.

After several minutes of meditation Gen'emon decided he should get some tea, and so he quickly stood and turned to the doorway. He entered the kitchen quickly, and took the red metallic kettle with much distaste and filled it with water under the sink. He despised the metallic device, since it went against much of the traditional Japanese ways he was taught, but Masaki decided that to make tea a kettle was needed, and she bought the brightest and most modern kettle she could find. Gen'emon huffed in annoyance in the complete silence of his house. Genichiro had not left his room yet, probably still conversing with his friends over today. Masaki had gone out to buy some food, and Gen'emon couldn't care less where the boy was. The kettle began steaming, and Gen'emon took a ceramic cup from the cupboard and a tea bag and picked up the kettle, pouring the water and allowing it to mix with the tea bag.

Gen'emon stirred his tea with a spoon thoughtfully, and then removed the tea bag and left the spoon in the sink, moving into the dojo with his cup of tea. He would drink it, and then practice his kendo, maybe meditate further.

When he reached the doorway of the dojo he stopped and almost gaped in surprise when he discovered the dojo was occupied.

There was the mute child, sat on the cushion before his family's altar in meditation, he legs folded and his back perfectly straight. Gen'emon was lost for words, almost dropping his cup in surprise, and he quickly stopped himself from doing anything foolish. He wasn't sure what to do, and so he just watched the mute child meditating on the cushion.

Sanada Household

Roko had been curious what exactly Sanada's grandfather was doing. He had walked into the dojo to check if Sanada was in there, but he only saw the back of his grandfather, and Roko frowned curiously. He'd stepped into the dojo and took a seat on the floor in the corner of the room, and he didn't seem to disturb Sanada's grandfather, who did not move a millimetre.

Roko quickly realised that he was meditating, and he peered almost curiously forward, watching the old man in complete silence. It was so silent that he could hear the small, steady breaths of the man, and Roko had to wonder how on Earth he managed to sit like that in complete silence, not moving a millimetre. The man was like a statue.

Eventually the old man had stood up slowly and quickly left the room, not even noticing that Roko was sat there the entire time and he frowned in annoyance. Either he didn't notice him at all, or he just ignored him, but either way Roko quickly decided he didn't care. He stood up when Sanada's grandfather left the room, and moved toward the large stone tablet that he was meditating in front of before.

'Sanada' was engraved onto the stone, and Roko narrowed his eyes analytically. Was this like a mural for Sanada's family? A memorial? It was a large square tablet resting on a small stone that held it upright, with incense sticks burning in small clay pots on either side, and Roko looked at the altar a moment longer before nodding to himself, and then turning to the cushion. Curiously he moved to it and sat down, recalling the position Sanada's grandfather was in: Back straight, legs folded and arms on lap.

Roko did just that, straightening his back and folding his legs, and closed his eye as he slowed his breathing.

He didn't know why but his head suddenly felt empty. There was nothing, no thoughts, no whispers of his conscience, it was just void. Roko was mildly surprised by it, but not as much as he expected, and he simply dismissed it and inhaled the scent of jasmine and slowly and softly exhaled his doubts and troubles, finding his centre instantly and complete quiet.

It wasn't like the deafening silence he had experienced most of his life, where he could not shout or scream or speak. This wasn't the torturous silence he had lived in and despised because of his own actions, this was a peaceful silence. It felt like he was drifting into sleep, and yet he was wide awake at the same time. He couldn't fully describe it, but he just felt peaceful.

You're never this quiet, his consciousness noted, but Roko ignored it, breathing in and out slowly. Apparently the silence he had was only temporary.

You can't get rid of me that easy, it stated.

Roko just focused on his breathing, doing his best to block out the voice in his head.

"You seem troubled"

Roko was surprised at how he wasn't even fazed by the sudden voice in the room, only opening his eye in response. He turned to the voice to find Sanada's grandfather standing in the doorway staring at him analytically, and Roko suddenly realised that what he was doing might be considered rude.

"Your breathing is all wrong" the old man stated, and Roko frowned at him. That was probably because the voice in his head wouldn't shut up.

"Why are you here?" he asked bluntly, and Roko suddenly felt awkward. He didn't think 'I was curious' was a good enough reason to just walk into his family's dojo and meditate while he was around.

'Buchou wasn't around, and the dojo was empty' his hands lied and the old man frowned.

"By 'Buchou', you mean my grandson?" he asked, and Roko nodded in response. That only caused him to frown deeper.

"Tch" he scoffed, "Tennis is such a meaningless sport, it has no value and is so unorthodox, and yet my grandson is obsessed with it. He even practiced his kendo relentlessly just to develop tennis moves"

Roko just looked at him passively, not giving him a single trace of the burning anger beneath his mask. The old man noticed this lack of response and leaned forward slightly.

"Why do you play tennis?" he asked intrudingly, "Do you play for the victory like my grandson?"

Roko frowned. Rikkaidai, as crazy as they were, was a team obsessed on winning, and it was their core principle. Absolute victory. But Roko didn't play tennis for the victory or for the joy of it, like Ryoma did. Ryoma had played in all the big tournaments like the Junior Grand Slam in America, whilst Roko couldn't bring himself to care, because he didn't care about big hot-shot tournaments like that. It was the main reason why reporters like the tennis journalist Inoue didn't have a clue who he was, because Roko always kept to himself.

That was because rather than playing tennis for the win, Roko played for the experience. He enjoyed losing more than winning, though that didn't mean he didn't put up a fight. He agreed losing was better, but losing after giving everything you had was the best kind of loss because of the experience that could be drawn from it. It was why he never held back, but it didn't mean he relentlessly pursued the win like the other Rikkaidai regulars.

'I play for the fun and experience' his hands replied, 'A sport isn't interesting if you keep winning'

The old man looked at him for a while and then nodded to himself.

"You have good principles" he stated, and for some reason Roko smiled softly, standing up from the cushion.

'What did you mean when you said Buchou developed tennis moves from kendo?' his hands asked, and the old man scoffed.

"He calls it FuuRinKaZan" he stated nonchalantly, and Roko blinked at him in disbelief. The old man didn't notice his reaction and continued.

"He says he developed his kendo and began to use his tennis racket like a sword in order to mimic kendo movements" he stated, and Roko frowned at him.

'How long did that take him?' his hands asked, and the old man narrowed his eyes.

"You plan to learn it?" he asked sharply, and Roko hesitated. Did he? Did he want to take his own captain's technique and use it against him? He wasn't a rival to him, but the idea of developing the FuuRinKaZan would be an opportunity.

"I can help you learn it if you wish" he offered, and Roko looked up sharply and his eyes widened. Was he offering to teach him the FuuRinKaZan?

"Though I can only show you the kendo movements" the old man quickly followed, "You'll have to develop them yourself, and to do that you must learn the basics of kendo". Roko frowned at him confusedly.

'Why?' his hands asked simply, and the old man scoffed.

"My grandson may be pursuing to beat his rival, but he is only focused on one goal and one goal alone. He needs to understand that he must always have a goal, and so he must always have someone to beat" he stated nonchalantly, "Even if tennis is a ridiculous sport, I will not allow my grandson to play with such ridiculous ideals" he said, spitting the last few words as if they were a curse.

He then moved towards the rack on the wall without another word, selecting a bamboo sword and taking it swiftly, passing it to Roko who held it with both hands at the hilt like he remembered Sanada doing. Kendo was a sport where both hands were used.

"So you at least understand one thing" the old man noted, "Good, right foot behind the left and keep your elbows tucked in" he ordered bluntly, and Roko moved to do just that, the man kicking at his feet until they were in exactly the right position.

Marui Household

Bunta watched his cake rise in the oven with a very satisfied smirk. They were to meet at Sanada's for Echizen's birthday party in an hour and a half, which gave him plenty of time. After it was done baking for half an hour all that was left was to ice one half of the cake with blueberry jam, put the two halves together and ice the top with vanilla icing. Nothing fancy, just plain, because Bunta knew that Echizen liked simplicity.

Almost immediately he heard steps down the stairs, and as expected his brunette brothers appeared in the kitchen doorway.

"Nii-san!" Koshiro cried excitedly, "You're making cake?"

"It's not for you" Bunta replied instantly, and their excited grins evaporated.

"What!?" Koshiro demanded in exasperation, and Bunta just rolled his eyes.

"It's exactly as I said. This cake isn't for you" he stated bluntly.

"Can we at least try some?" Shintaro pleaded, and Bunta's eyes narrowed.

"Don't you dare take a single bite out of this cake" he warned acidly, and the brothers practically recoiled at the weight of Bunta's threat, and in an instant they were gone. Bunta stared at the doorway for a moment and frowned. He'd been way too harsh, but the idea of them eating Echizen's cake was enough to make him worry, and suddenly he was feeling paranoid.

What if they try to eat some of it? He thought.

Bunta sighed to himself, since he was allowing his brothers to get to him. As annoying as they were, he was sure they wouldn't defy his command.

But just in case, when Bunta pulled it out of the oven, he did not leave the cake alone for a moment until it was iced and in a plastic box, which he carried with him to his room and placed on his desk whilst he changed out of his flour-dusted clothes and into something more comfortable.

Sanada Household

Yanagi had arrived an hour earlier than planned in order to oversee the event. He had decided that absolutely nothing could go wrong tonight, and so he had come to make sure there would be no faults.

Of course decorations and such were not present, since Sanada explicitly forbade them. His mother and grandfather had used this event as an excuse to visit relatives, or maybe they just did it to give them space, but Yanagi didn't really care which.

He placed his neatly wrapped present on the table in Sanada's living room, glancing at it with a rather satisfied smirk as he left the room and moved into the kitchen where Sanada was sipping some green tea.

"You're being too serious about this, Yanagi" he stated bluntly, not even glancing at him, but Yanagi was not fazed.

"I believe it is you who is being too lax, Genichiro" he stated equally blunt, and Sanada just snorted.

"I don't suppose you had a schedule when you planned everyone else's birthday?" he asked, and Yanagi considered lying for a moment.

"No" he admitted with a shrug, "But this is different"

"How?" Sanada asked, still sipping his tea. It occurred to Yanagi immediately that he didn't really have an excuse, other than he was still bothered by how he had come last place in the Great Gift Race.

"It just is" he said after a pause, and Sanada rolled his eyes irritably.

"What about Yukimura's gift?" he asked suddenly.

"Akaya volunteered to pick it up" Yanagi returned easily, and Sanada frowned at him.

"And you trust him with it?" he asked, and Yanagi mentally rolled his eyes.

"Genichiro, I believe he can handle carrying a small packaged object from the hospital to your house. Have more faith in your teammates"

Sanada just grunted in response and sipped his tea, his reply clear in that movement and Yanagi just shook his head condescendingly.

"What about your gift?" he asked after a while.

"It's in a box" Sanada replied with a bored expression, "I want to make sure it doesn't break". Yanagi frowned at him for a moment.

"You never mentioned what your gift was, Genichiro" he stated intrudingly, but Sanada didn't even look at him.

"That's correct" he stated, sipping his tea.

"Then what is it?" Yanagi pressed curiously.

"You'll find out" Sanada returned immediately. Yanagi frowned further, but did not press the subject, since it was clear Sanada would not reveal what his gift was.

At that moment there was a loud knock on the door, and Yanagi glanced at Sanada for a moment before disappearing into the hallway. He moved to the door and opened it quickly, and immediately there was a black blur through the doorway and past Yanagi, and Yanagi shook his head.

"Hello to you too, Akaya" he said.

"Yanagi-senpai" Akaya said immediately, "Where is the radiator in this house?" Yanagi blinked confusedly at the question.

"In the kitchen" he said hesitantly, and immediately Akaya was moving. Yanagi just stood there stunned for a moment before closing the door, locking it and moving into the kitchen, finding Akaya crouched before the metallic radiator in the kitchen with a small package in front of him wrapped in black paper. Sanada was still sipping his green tea, not even acknowledging Akaya's presence.

"Akaya, what are you doing?" Yanagi asked curiously, and Akaya turned his head quickly.

"Buchou said I have to keep this warm" Akaya stated quickly, and Yanagi's eyebrows rose in curiosity.

"What is it?" he asked.

"No idea" was the instant reply. Yanagi stood there and stared at the small package next to the radiator for a moment.

"It's probably a plant of some sort" he guessed, "Since Seiichi is that kind of person, and it makes sense that it would need warmth".

Akaya just nodded obediently, rising to his feet and quickly reaching into his jacket and pulling out a larger box, which Yanagi noted was wrapped rather messily.

"Where should I put this?" Akaya asked curiously.

"In the living room" Sanada stated from behind them, finally noticing Akaya over his tea. Akaya nodded once and moved into the room without hesitation.

"He's here early" Sanada noted when he was gone.

"He's probably just excited about this" Yanagi stated.

"Just as much as you?" Sanada asked curiously, placing down his empty cup of tea on the counter.

"Perhaps" Yanagi pondered, not even denying that he was excited.

In an instant Akaya was back in the room with a rather curious look on his face.

"Yanagi-senpai, where's Echizen anyway?" he asked, and Yanagi frowned.

"He went to buy more tea" Sanada answered, and Yanagi frowned at him.

"I mentioned that we have little green tea left" Sanada added, "So I asked him if he could go and buy some".

Yanagi raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Except the event starts in an hour" he pointed out, "It doesn't take an hour to buy tea"

"It does if the shop is twenty minutes away and Echizen can never decide on what tea to buy, since he will use this opportunity to buy a new flavour of fruit tea" Sanada stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Yanagi and Akaya just blinked at him.

"Genichiro, you really do know Echizen well" Yanagi stated rather shocked. Sanada just faintly blushed and looked at the wall.

"Shut up..." he muttered.

Downtown Kanagawa

Several things occurred to Roko in one moment.

The first being was that Sanada had tricked him and manipulated his weakness for tea to make sure he was out of the house, sending him to buy some green tea. Roko had planned to buy his own flavour, which he would always spend at least ten minutes deciding on, before either buying one flavour or both.

The second thing was that he had stood in an empty tea shop for the last ten minutes deciding on Raspberry and Orange flavour or Strawberry and Kiwi, when the obvious answer was both, so he had successfully wasted ten minutes on top of the twenty minutes it took to get here.

The third thing he realised that it would take another twenty minutes to get back to Sanada's house, giving the other regulars plenty of time to prepare for his birthday, all according to Sanada's genius plan.

And how exactly did he know this?

Only because he had stepped out of the tea shop with a new plastic bag with three new boxes of tea including the green tea, and if Marui and Jackal had been paying attention they would have noticed the fact that Roko was standing on the other side of the street watching them carry suspiciously wrapped boxes towards the direction of Sanada's house.

And then it hit him: He had been completely manipulated by Sanada.

Damn, he was crafty.

Roko mentally sighed in annoyance as he realised how well Sanada had played his cards, and honestly he had to give him credit for it.

But on the topic of his not-so-apparent birthday celebration, since Marui and Jackal had just passed him they would be the latest, and if Roko walked at his normal pace he would easily overtake them ensuring their lateness. So as more of a moral obligation Roko had to hang around and be late to his own birthday party since the two across the street were being slow.

He mentally sighed in annoyance again. He could waste a good five minutes if he took the long way around.

Sanada Household

Jackal breathed a loud sigh of relief as they finally reached Sanada's house. If it wasn't for the fact that Bunta had decided to buy some gum on the way there they probably would have been on time.

The instant they knocked on the door it was yanked open by an apparently very impatient Yanagi.

Instead of giving some sort of statement on how late they were he moved and allowed them in, and the two understood and moved into the house quickly.

"He'll be here soon" were Yanagi's only words, which of course made Jackal only more anxious as he hastily removed his jacket and shoes, moving into the living room in an instant. The other regulars were lounging around in a somehow anxious way, and they all looked up sharply to the two.

"You're late" Niou stated flatly.

"We know" Jackal replied immediately, not even bothering to blame Bunta, this wasn't the time for that. They both moved to the centre of the room and placed their gifts on the table, and then both sat down, Yanagi entering the room and following suit.

"What were you doing that had taken so long?" Sanada asked irritably.

"I had to buy some gum" Bunta stated casually before Jackal could stop him, and as expected he could practically see the irritation on everyone's faces, though some more than others didn't express it.

"You went to the store to buy your stupid gum?" Niou asked sharply, and Bunta snapped his neck towards him.

"Oi, my gum is not dumb" he argued irritably.

"It is when you waste your time when this is so important" Niou returned.

"We're here on time aren't we?" Marui asked sharply, and the two glared at each other. Jackal tried to break them up but he was promptly ignored by both of them.

"Well next time you shouldn't buy your stupid gum and make everyone worry, fat ass" Niou mocked.

Oh no

Jackal froze and watched in horror as Bunta's eyes lit up with a sudden maniacal fire, and he knew what was coming next.

"Bunta..." he muttered, in an attempt to direct his attention away, but he was ignored again.

"You did not just call me fat" Marui spat viciously. Jackal shuddered. Niou just smiled widely like a cat.

"So what if I did, fat ass?" he asked.

And without further ado Bunta was flying through the air, his arms reaching forward prepared to strangle Niou as he covered half the room in an instant.

Sanada Household

Never in Roko's wildest dreams had he imagined coming back to Sanada's to find Marui strangling Niou with everyone in the room shouting and trying to rip Marui off of him, who held onto Niou's neck like it was a lifeline.

So he was pretty stumped on what to do next, either to walk in and end the fight on an extremely awkward note, or do nothing.

He quickly decided to do nothing, taking off his jacket and shoes, and moved to the kitchen on the opposite side of the house, none of them even noticing his presence. Over the sounds of strangled cries and shouting Roko placed down his plastic bag, taking the green tea box and putting it in the shelf where the tea boxes stayed, before pulling out his own box of Strawberry and Kiwi tea, opening it quickly and taking a tea bag and a ceramic cup from the cupboards.

He filled the kettle with water and flicked the button, waiting patiently for the water to boil as he amusedly listened to the sounds of Niou being choked to death. Though Roko had since decided that he was overreacting when he nearly killed Niou twice, he felt a sweet sense of justice in hearing his near-death cries.

The water boiled and Roko took the kettle nonchalantly and poured it into the cup, dropping the tea bag into it and stirred it thoughtfully with a spoon as it turned a deep shade of red.

He looked up when he noticed that Sanada had moved into the kitchen, mumbling to himself and rubbing his temples rhythmically, and Roko smiled amusedly. He must put up with a lot of pain from the team.

Sanada looked up, noticing the fact that Roko was standing in his kitchen stirring his tea, and he froze instantly.

"Echizen..." he muttered in shock, and Roko just put a finger to his lips, ordering him to be silent, which he understood instantly and nodded, moving towards the counter like nothing had happened.

"I'm sorry about their behaviour" he said quietly, taking the box of green tea Roko had bought and his own ceramic cup, picking up the boiled kettle and making his own tea. Roko just nodded understandingly at him, and Sanada caught the look and scowled.

Roko took his brewed cup of tea and moved out of the kitchen and into the hallway, peeking around the door. Some order had been maintained, most of the team were sitting down casually, but Niou scowled with his arms folded in the corner with red marks around his neck, much to Roko's amusement. Jackal was comforting Marui in another corner, who was muttering inaudible things under his breath, and there were many colourful boxes stacked in the centre of the room on the table, which had surprisingly not been disturbed in Marui's brief temper tantrum.

Roko just rolled his eyes and stepped into the room.

Everyone froze immediately at the sight of him, to his infinite amusement.

"Echizen..." Yanagi muttered in the same manner Sanada had.

Roko decided this would be an appropriate time to sip his tea and look totally casual about the fact he had practically crashed his own birthday party.

Idiots.