Hidden Plays

29: I tried to be supportive

Singles 3 Oshitari Yuushi vs Momoshiro Takeshi. Coach Sakaki sat on the bench. Nori was with Rokkaku, while Satomi had just entered the park.

A few member noticed her when she was at the top of the staircase.

"Manager-senpai!" A first year shouted. She smiled and waved. Everyone looked up to see her descend the staircase. She stopped right next to Nori.

"Get on my level, before we talk again." Tomi said before she continued walking down the staircase. The Rokkaku team was steaming.

Nori was just smiling.

"She's right. She on whole different level now. I'll catch up quickly. One day I'll defeat you." Nori said smiling. The Rokkaku team was confused.

"It's her way of saying 'Hello'." Nori explained.

"Seems more like a challenge to me." Kentaro said. The others nodded in agreement.

Satomi disappeared behind the building. When the Hyoutei players came onto the court they kept their aura of confidence.

Satomi was watching from the rooftop of the building. How she got there is anybody's guess, but she had a perfect view of everything.

"How long can Oshitari keep his cool?"

In the beginning Momoshiro was leading 4-0, playing his game using nature to help him, but when Oshitari finally broke out of his cool Oshitari's playing style changed.

Momo hit his head on a pole and was bleeding. In the end Oshitari broke through and won 6-4.

When Doubles 2 started Hiyoshi and Mukahi entered the courts. They started taunting Kaidoh who was pumped up from Momoshiro's game.

"A quick match, but a snake has set it's trap. Quite interesting..." Satomi mumbled. Since she was on the roof no one had heard her.

She noticed Hiyoshi and Mukahi were dominating in the beginning.

"A puppeteer style of tennis? Me likey." Satomi said. She kept a keen eye on Kaidoh. Being a puppeteer in a tennis game isn't easy, but it would benefit her if she could master that style like Fuji could.

When it was 5-0 everything had seemed to changed. Inui was back in play and Kaidoh seemed to have even more stamina.

Unfortunately Hyoutei lost Doubles 2. Next would be Singles 2. Kabaji versus Tezuka.

"A national level player versus a copycat. Hm...Boring." Satomi thought.

In the end Tezuka pulled through.

"Of courss, no matter the copy cat, the original is still worth more." Satomi thought.

The next match was Doubles 1 Seigaku's Golden Pair versus Hyoutei's Best Doubles pair, the Ootori-Shishido pair.

The game was long and harsh. Both wouldn't give up. It ended with a tiebreaker round where Ootori-Shishido won.

"Singles 1 is to start soon." Satomi thought as she climbed down from the roof. She encountered Echizen.

"Chibi-chan, Atobe will force it out of you, if you are able to defeat him I promise you a match again sometime. If you manage to beat Atobe, I'll be serious during our match. I'll even take that 'thing' off." Satomi said before leaving to the nearest vending machine. As she was buying a drink suddenly before she could press the button someone else did. She looked over to see the Rokkaku coach who used her money.

She sighed and handed him his bottle before inserting her money again, but the old man decided to press it again.

"Sir, uh, can I please get my own drink?" Satomi asked. An irk mark appeared on her head, the old man just smiled. She tried to calm herself down before she exploded.

"Hey don't bully an old man." A voice called out. Satomi turned to a side. She rolled her eyes.

"Who said anything about bullying? I was simply trying to use MY money to get MY drink, but someone pressed the button before me, twice I might add." Satomi said rolling her eyes and walking to another vending machine and getting her drink.

Nori stood with the Rokkaku team. She was frowning. Saeki noticed.

"What wrong Nori?" Saeki asked.

"Nothing..." Nori said before turning towards Oji.

"Oji-san! You must learn to not take other's money. If you need a drink I'd be more than happy to pay." Nori said.

Yukimura noticed Satomi when she walked past him and Sanada who were sitting on a bench watching Echizen and Atobe. Satomi saw Yukimura looking at her in the corner of his eye. She quickly ran off, and disappeared in a crowd of Hyotei tennis team. Yukimura turned his attention back towards the game.