♥Dissonance♥Prince of tennis♥Shitenhouji♥

♥23♥ The 'Perfect' answer

Shiraishi and Kenya were making their way to their classroom after delivering some stuff for the teacher. On the way, they found Kintarou holding a cold bucket of water above his head. 

"Kin-chan, what are you doing?" Kenya asked. 

"Kenya? I came in late." Kintarou answered them. The answer confused the two of them; Kintarou was here during morning practice! How did he manage to come into class late? 

"How?" Shiraishi asked, wondering if Kintarou was up to no good again.

"...I was waiting for Nee-chan." 

"Huh?" Shiraishi was confused. 

"Shiraishi, I know Nee-chan hasn't been coming to school. Has she gone missing? I don't know what's going on, no one will tell me! Where is Nee-chan?!" 

"Kin-chan..." Shiraishi was not sure how to answer this to Kintarou. The subject was far too sensitive to talk about with Kintarou so the Coach and Shiraishi told the 3rd year and 2nd year members of the tennis club not to say anything to him. 

"Kenya, tell me! What happened to Nee-chan?! Is Nee-chan okay?!" Even Kenya couldn't answer Kintarou. He can't bring himself to lie to Kintarou because even he's not sure if Chinami was fine. Who was he kidding, of course she's not fine! She's still in that house! The one place that was once called her home was now a hell hole. 

"She will be fine. She is just very unwell." Shiraishi forced himself to smile for Kintarou's sake. "I am very sure she will come back real soon." 

'You say that, Shiraishi, but you are the one with the most doubt whether she is safe or not.' Kenya thought to himself. 

At some point of their conversation, the teacher sent Kintarou back into the classroom. Kenya followed Shiraishi, who instantly started walking away right after Kintarou was out of the picture. 

"Shiraishi! Hey!" The moment Shiraishi turned a corner, Kenya heard a loud thump. "Shiraishi?!" Shiraishi's left fist was against the wall, trembling slightly after a hit with full force. Kenya was not surprised by the captain's frustrations; Chinami was someone very important to them. 

"Chinami...!" Shiraishi was angry at himself that he couldn't do anything more for her. He's very angry that there wasn't anything he can do as the captain he was. For the first time ever, he felt useless. Was he just reliable to her when it came to the club but not when it came to her personal life? 

"Shiraishi..." Kenya put a hand on Shiraishi's shoulder, "Come on, let's go." 

Today's practice came to an end and the first years and non regulars went home already. The only ones remaining within the club room were the main regulars but Kintarou, who went on home with the other 1st years.

They were sitting around the table, not looking very happy despite beating their first team at the Kansai Regional Tournament.

"Apple-chan isn't in school again..." Yuuji said to them. "I walked past the teacher's lounge and I herd she was sick again..."

"There's no way a person would be sick so often! Oh, what are we going to do? It's just not the same without Apple-chan!" Koharu was upset that their little manager still hasn't returned. 

It's just not the same without Chinami. No one will ever tell her this but they missed the sound of her paper fan making contact with something. 

"Sakurahime-san has just started to play tennis too. She looked so happy when she felt included..." Koishikawa said with a smile, "I'm sure she would love to play tennis with us again."