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

Part 36

Ryumi and Eiji look to Oishi expectantly, holding their breaths as they await his verdict.

Suddenly Oishi's surprised face turns to one of happiness. "That's great!" he exclaims, making the two glance at each other with excitement in their eyes.

"So you're okay with it?" Eiji asks, just to be sure.

Oishi nods in reply. "Of course. If you two think you can take it, it's fine with me." he states, making them cheer as they receive Oishi's approval for them to play doubles.

"I promise I won't hog too much of his time Oishi. You guys getting to the Nationals is still top priority." Ryumi vows.

Oishi nods. "Thank you. But when will the first match be?" he wonders.

"The preliminaries will be after the regionals. It's to see if we are selected to participate. The actual matches won't start until after the Nationals." she explains.

Oishi smiles. "I'm sure you two will have nothing to worry about." he assures them.

"No we won't! Yosh! This calls for a group hug!" Eiji shouts excitedly, pulling Oishi and Ryumi to him, squishing the three of them together.

"Eiji, we're going to miss the train." Oishi laughs, squirming out of his friend's grip.

"Oh, right." Eiji muses, letting Oishi go so they can resume walking, he keeps a casual arm slung over Ryumi's shoulders though, who fights to hide a blush.

She remembers the day before. Eiji was immediately excited to have a go at this doubles tournament with her, the way his eyes lit up like a kid during Christmas... Why was she ever worried?

"How can you have this much energy at this time of the night?" Oishi chuckles, receiving a grin from the redhead in reply.

..........

Ryumi looks around at everyone with a small smile. They all gathered late at night at the train station at Oishi's request. Their mission: to watch the sunrise at the top of a mountain. It will be the last thing they will do together before Tezuka is leaving.

It was such a shock to his team when Tezuka announced his leave, but over the last few days, they have accepted it more or less. Soon he will leave, for weeks, months.... Who knows? As long as he returns in good health.

"Well, let's get this party started." Momo says, ready to go. "We have a long climb ahead of us." he states, marching towards the right platform their train will be at.

"Fssh. Don't just take the lead like that." Kaidoh hisses, irking Momo.

"Last one on is a rotten egg." Ryoma tells them as he passes them in a leisure pace, making them break up the fight before it starts and rush towards the train that just rolled into the station.

They quickly settle down into their half an hour ride out of the city, playing cards, talking or just staring out the window.

..........

"It smells nice here." Ryumi sighs after taking in a deep breath. They have just started their journey up the mountain and a light fog has settled down on them, but nothing to serious.

Eiji points his flashlight at her when he hears the rustle of a paper bag. "What's that?" he blinks curiously, watching Ryumi pop something into her mouth.

"Licorice." she answers with her mouth full. She hears Ryoma make a gagging noise behind her. "Want some?" she offers, holding out the bag.