Secrets, Socials, and Seigaku

Chapter 17

I remembered Echizen and made a beeline towards him forgetting about the conversation I was just in. I took off the hat and placed it on his head. “Well?” I asked slightly excited.

He looked up at me with his one uninjured eye. “ Well, what?” he asked.

I frowned at this and pouted. “Didn’t you watch me play? I’ve gotten even better than last time. You better watch out when we play because it definitely won’t end the same way as when we were little.” I said smiling at the though of playing Echizen again.

“Whatever.” He said blowing my off proposal.

We all walked off court before that girl from before and Sakuno came up to us congratulating everyone. Sakuno wouldn’t look up at me and instead just looked at the ground in front of me. Before I could say anything to her though the girl from before started talking. “That was amazing Clair! I had no idea you could play tennis like that!” she said taking my hand in hers.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry but just who are you?” I asked skeptically.

She smiled. “I’m sorry for not introducing myself before.” She said while taking a step back and bowing. “My name is Ann Kippei. I’m Tachibana’s little sister.” She said with a grin on her face.

Needless to say everyone besides Fudomine was shocked. Apparently Momo and Sakuno already knew this so they remained clam through the panic. Tomoko, the other female freshmen, walked up and pushed Sakuno towards me. “Well? Go ahead! Tell her!” I blinked as Sakuno reluctantly walked up to me and bowed. 

“I-I’m sorry about what I might of said before! I wasn’t thinking clearly!” she stuttered.

I smiled sweetly before putting a hand on her head. She flinched at the unexpected contact and looked up at me. “It’s fine. There’s no need to apologize I was out of line not you. I just really wanted to see Echizen finish his game, so I thought if I provoked you it might hurry you up off the courts so he could play.” I lied smilingly all the while.

Once she realized what I was saying she looked angry. “But how could you-“ she was interrupted by me turning around and walking away. I didn’t want her to feel like it was her fault that the game was almost forfeited thanks to her.

“Oy, Clair! Where do you think your going after saying something like that?” Momo called out shocked.

I put a hand up in the air as I walked away. “Soda.” I replied simply and continued on with my journey. 

As I walked away I could hear Sakuno ranting. I sighed. Even if I gave her a reason to be angry she was just so blind. I just lied to her face and still she didn’t get why. I walked up to the soda machine and inserted a dollar. After looking over my choices I decided to go with a Ponta. Echizen is the one who drinks them all the time but they were good every once in a while. 

I sat down on a nearby bench and took a sip. I licked my lips taking in the taste of the fizzy, grape soda. I heard footsteps approaching and turned my head around to see Fuji. “Yo.” He said casually before sitting across from me. 

I looked over at him to see that smile that was always glued to his face. I gave him a look that said ‘let’s get this over with.’ And he chuckled a bit. “You know you didn’t have to lie to her.” He said calmly looking out at our surroundings.

I sighed knowing that something like this was coming. “It’s easier this way.” I said plainly taking another sip of my ice cold Ponta.

He looked over at me curiously. “How so?” he said.

I met his (closed) eyes with my own. “Now Sakuno doesn’t have to be upset after yelling at me for something I didn’t do. And she doesn’t have to feel bad knowing that if I didn’t come out on that court they would’ve disqualified him from the game.” I said looking at my Ponta can.

He snickered causing me to look up at him. I furrowed my brows at this. “What’s so funny?” I asked perplexed.

He smiled so that it reached his eyes this time. “Your so kind-hearted, thinking about other’s even if it means putting your own reputation in the way.” He said quietly. 

My cheeks were tinted red at this statement. “N-not really. Its just more work if I have to explain it all to the person.” I said looking anywhere but at Fuji.

He laughed again. Soon the whole teams besides the freshmen were ready to go. We walked to Taka’s restraunt and had a celebratory dinner. I sat right next to Coach Ryuzaki and had a couple of sushi rolls.

She talked in a low voice as if not to attract any attention. “You know Nanjiro would talk about your tennis sometimes with me over the phone back then, but I would have never guessed that you were that good.” She said still not making eye contact as if to throw away attention from her. 

I looked down at my already half eaten dinner and smiled. “Thanks I haven’t played for awhile so I think that the match went rather well.” I said remembering the previous events of today.

She looked over at me and our eyes connected. “You really love tennis, don’t you?” she said more to herself then to me. 

I was surprised at this statement and got caught off guard. “N-no, not really, it’s just something to pass the time.” I said untruthfully. 

She observed me for a couple more seconds before returning to her dinner. After about twenty minutes I looked down at my cell phone and saw that it was six o’clock. I sighed and pushed my diner away from me before getting up. I looked over to the Taka and smiled politely. “Thank you for the meal!” I said followed by a bow.

He put his hands up in front of him in defense. “Don’t thank me. You deserved it!” Taka said graciously.

I smiled back. “Thanks Taka. I’ll see you at school.” I waved before turning to the rest of the team.

“I have to go now! See you guys Monday.” I waved before heading to the door.

“Hold it!” I heard. I turned around to see a one-eyed Echizen getting up and gathering his things. I looked over at him confused. He must have noticed my expression and answered accordingly. “I’ll walk with you.” He said.

I didn’t question him but instead nodded and waited by the door. Once he gathered all his stuff we turned to everyone and told them goodbye. Well I did at least, Ryoma just stood there and watched.

We walked out the door and into the dark night. I looked up at the stars and smiled. “I love how you can see the stars so clearly here. In LA you could never see any stars because of all the lights from the city.” I explained.

Echizen just stayed quiet and continued walking. I walked behind him looking at his back. It seemed …bigger. He had changed a lot since I last saw him. I was surprised when I found out how open he was to his friends.