The Silence In The Dark (Prince of Tennis) ||REWRITE||

Chapter 20

The day of the finals came up on the team quickly, Reichi stood beside his teammates, leaning heavily on his left leg, letting his right leg bounce gently as he stood. Hands fumbling to adjust his jersey, this is the first big game he's ever participated in, prior to this year he stayed away from the spotlight, he didn't like participating in large-scale games. So reasonably he was nervous, just a bit, not enough to worry his teammates, but enough that he was fidgeting and couldn't seem to really stop. Reichi was excited, a nervous excitement that settled deep into his bones when his team was called out. The captain in front was followed closely by Sanada, flanking Seiichi on the left, while Yanagi flanked his right. Marui walked alongside Jackal, followed by Niou and Yagyuu. Kirihara, alongside Reichi, flanked the back, walking in step together, Kirihara had an arm slung around the youngest member's shoulder as he grinned widely. Reichi walked with ease beside Kirihara, the two got along nicely more recently, after Kirihara took notice to Reichi's aversion to blood and his bloodshot mode he was more mindful of it and actually talked to the boy.

The team made it to their designated spots and most of them sat, Reichi, along with Sanada and Seiichi didn't sit, the three stood patiently and waited for their group to greet Seigaku. Once the greeting and official introductions were done they all sat down, some chatting to fill in the free time. Reichi locked eyes with his twin, whispering a quiet 'be back',  to his captain before he stood, walking toward each other, arms wrapping around each other as they both whispered their 'good luck' 'love you, be safe, don't get hurt'  to each other with ease. The crowd around them went wild for the brotherly affection, the twins smiled, almost playfully toward each other, before letting go and going back to their own teams, settling down.

Reichi shifted a bit to angle himself toward his captain a bit more, knees almost touching, but not quite. The group had noticed their captain and youngest member getting closer over the last few weeks. Though didn't put much thought behind it  ̶(̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶o̶a̶d̶,̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶f̶e̶w̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶'̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶m̶e̶m̶b̶e̶r̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶c̶l̶o̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶w̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶m̶i̶d̶d̶l̶e̶ ̶s̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶l̶a̶t̶e̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶s̶ ̶a̶w̶a̶y̶)̶ ̶not many people cared too much about the inner-working relationships between teammates. Though the regulars knew of each one, they knew that on free days Jackal accompanied Marui to get sweets and shop for manga at the mall. Or sometimes he went out with Yagyuu to find novels rather than manga. They knew that once or twice now Kirihara has gone with Reichi to get boba after tennis practice. It's kinda become a weekly thing for the two recently. They knew Nio took his time after classes and school to track Yagyuu or Yanagi down to get help with homework. They all also started to realize that Reichi and Sanada joked together, joked and talked about kendo or running, and Jackal almost always butted into the conversation when it became about running because he was the proclaimed 'man with four lungs' and that wasn't for nothing. Jackal and Reichi also talked frequently now, especially during tennis. So, everyone on the regular's team knew of almost all the inner-working relationships/friendships their teammates had, but the non-regulars? Usually didn't even blink an eye at any of this, didn't comprehend that they all were more than just teammates.

Matches began after a few minutes of announcements, introducing the teams to the crowd, and bringing up the brackets to show who would start, Reichi tilted his head as he watched the words go across the screen. 'Singles 1!' Followed by two pictures, Sanada's picture popped up on the left of the screen, followed by Tezuka's on the right. Their names showed up under them. 'Sanada Gen'ichirou v. Tezuka Kunimitsu' Reichi hummed his approval, shifting in his seat to watch his vice-captain stand, making his way toward the courts, from the corner of his eye he spotted Tezuka doing the same, hand briefly resting on Ryoma's shoulder on his way by him. Reichi smiled ever so slightly at the friendly gesture between his twin and the Seigaku captain. It was nice seeing him branch out and make friends. As Reichi watched his vice-captain and Seigaku's captain start their match he figured he likely wouldn't be playing in the national finals. Which was fine by him, he didn't exactly mind that much, happy to just watch and possibly learn more from the matches to come.