Broken Strings (Prince of Tennis/ slow burn love story)

Part 14

This is bad... The Golden pair is on the loss. They have been losing a lot of points with St Rudolph's tactic of targeting Eiji. He looks really tired and is loosing his focus. But how?

"How annoying..." Ryumi mutters as she squints her eyes.

Fuji looks over to her curiously. "What's wrong?"

"So it's not just me." Ryoma muses. "Do you see five or six balls as well, nee-san?"

Ryumi nods. "I just can't focus on one. No wonder Eiji is getting tired." she says worriedly.

"That must be it!" Inui exclaims. "Akazawa habitually hits his backhand by hitting the ball at the top center. Instead of using the sweet spot, he uses the impact from the racket to return it." he explains.

"That ball has the tendencies to show lines of multiple balls. Normal people won't notice. But Eiji's ability to distinguish moving objects is unusually high, which means he will subconsciously chase after all the balls." Inui finishes.

Ryoma starts rubbing at his eyes irritably. "My eyes hurt. They're getting tired."

Ryumi pats her little brother's head while glancing at Eiji worriedly. He still looks determined, but visibly tired.

Luckily, this is a doubles game and Eiji is not on his own. Oishi sees his chance and lobs the ball right on the backline with his signature Moon volley. Finally they get a break and thanks to Oishi, the playing field has leveled out again.

After a short break, the Golden pair falls back to the Australian formation. With both of them starting in the center and only moving after Oishi's serve, Akazawa and Kaneda can't plan ahead in their return. It's very effective and well played out, only because Eiji and Oishi match so well together.

Frustrated, Akazawa suddenly releases a loud frustrated yell, stunning everybody. "Is he okay?" Sakuno wonders.

Ryoma shrugs. "Who knows."

Kaneda tries to speak with his partner, but gets pushed back, only to have him yell at his captain to get his act together and stop behaving like he's playing a singles match.

Ryumi claps softly. "That was very brave." However, Akazawa doesn't seem to agree.

Kaneda however seems to have the right idea as he seems to be more experienced in playing doubles and steps back after Oishi's next serve and finds the opening he has been looking for.

The ball is out, but it was close. Oishi and Eiji seem to realize this too. They are about to be countered in their formation.

During the next break, they find themselves behind on points again and to make matters worse, Eiji is still very tired. He's completely out of breath. That blurred return from Akazawa earlier took a lot out of him. He's even too tired to get up and return to the court when the umpire asks for it.

"Eiji..." Ryumi breathes worriedly.

After a moment he manages to get up and drag himself to the court, but once there he shuts down completely, leaving Oishi to play two-against-one. He's really working hard, but there is no stopping Akazawa and Kaneda on his own.

St Rudolph is only one point away from victory. Oishi runs to catch a drop volley, but when he does he finds himself trapped.

Akazawa goes for a smash that Oishi stands no chance in returning. It's over...

They don't believe they ever heard him curse as he pumps his legs as he tries to make it anyway, but he can't, or needs to... A blur rushes passed him.

"Wow!" several gasps fill the court as Eiji seems to have snapped out of his stupor and makes a saving return. He lands harshly on his back, but whips up like he can't be bothered, looking all fresh and ready.

"Oishi, sorry for the wait." he apologizes cheerfully. "I finished recharging."

Oishi looks relieved giving his partner a high five.

Ryumi scoffs, but can't help but smile. "That guy... How dare he scare us like that?"

"Mh? Were you worried?" Fuji asks cheekily.

"Huh?" she startles before looking away. "Not so much." Fuji raises a brow at her in disbelief.

They are slowly making a comeback and Mizuki is simmering in his annoyance. Oishi equals the game by pretending to do a Moon volley, but at the last second going for a drop volley. It's 6-6.

"12 point tiebreak, Oishi to serve!" calls the umpire. It is all or nothing.

The Golden pair quickly runs ahead and Eiji is ready to make the next point count as he receives a chance ball, but much to everyone's shock, he suddenly stumble before crashing. His racket skids across ground.

He gets up, but... "He's still tired huh? You just can't recover fully within two games." Ryumi mutters to herself. "Well, they tried." she smiles. "St Rudolph is really good."

They step off the court, looking apologetic. "My battery just ran out." Eiji mutters, breathing hard.

"Good work." Tezuka compliments either way.

"Sorry guys. I'll leave the rest to you." Oishi tells the others helping Eiji to the side.

"Hey guys." Ryumi greets, handing them their drinks. "That was a great match. I had fun watching." she tells them genuinely.

"Thank you. I'm glad." Oishi nods in appreciation while Eiji manages a small smile, a glint in his eye.

"Well, I'm going to find chibisuke. Can't have him be late again." she sighs. "He'll make me look bad." she winks before setting off, glancing over to see Mizuki stiffly and silently walking off as well. He looks pissed off. 'Not really going according to plan huh, Mizuki-kun?'