Prince of Tennis: Ibu Shinji, 049: Club
Title: Diversity
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Ibu Shinji, Fudomine
Prompt: 049: Club
Word Count: 435
Rating: G
Summary: Shinji thinks about his tennis club.
Author's Notes: I wanted to take a different look at the Fudomine team and how they might really be, despite how close they seem, because, really, everyone has differences. This reflection takes place somewhere during the canon run of the series., probably within the first half.
Main table can be found here and here.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
By all rights, Shinji sometimes thought, it shouldn’t have worked.
When all was said and done, there wasn’t much binding the Fudomine tennis club together. They all had different groups of friends outside of tennis; in fact, Shinji had never even spoken to Mori or Uchimura before tennis, and he only knew Sakurai because Ishida had taken a liking to him. They all had different hobbies, personalities, plans, hopes, dreams, family backgrounds, lives. In fact, the only thing that all of them had in common were tennis and a reverence for Tachibana Kippei that almost bordered on the creepy. (Even Shinji could admit that, sometimes. The rest of the time, he saw no problem with it.)
Tennis and Tachibana.
Sometimes, Shinji wondered if that was enough to make a club.
They were all so different, that Shinji couldn’t see how it could work. Where Kamio was all movement and spazz, Ishida was calm and quiet. Where Mori had a hard time living on the lighter side of things, Sakurai had a hard time taking anything seriously. Where Uchimura couldn’t help playing practical jokes, Shinji had a hatred of them that bordered on the pathological.
So many times, in the beginning, Shinji had seen the six of them degenerate into shouting matches (or in the case of him and Mori, muttering matches). So many times, Shinji, or one of them, had been on the verge of walking away.
There were times where Shinji wondered if he should’ve been thanking their senpai. As abusive as they had been, they had also given the six freshmen something to bond over and find common ground on.
Even then, Shinji thought, if it hadn’t been for Tachibana, they would’ve splintered and gone their separate ways. Adversity can only bond for so long…but whatever Tachibana had done had woven the six-seven, now-of them together so thoroughly that Shinji couldn’t foresee a day where they wouldn’t all be friends.
Shinji wished he knew just how Tachibana had done that. Then decided that it must be a special Tachibana-san power, and didn’t trouble himself thinking about it again.
But, knowing their beginnings, Shinji still found it so odd when people would remark that they all must’ve been best friends forever. It was far from the case. In fact, hardly a week passed where there wasn’t some who was “never speaking” to someone else again.
It never lasted, though. Because there was tennis, and Tachibana, and a club that managed to be a team even through all their difference and diversity.
And Shinji was never more thankful for that.
--The End--
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Ibu Shinji, Fudomine
Prompt: 049: Club
Word Count: 435
Rating: G
Summary: Shinji thinks about his tennis club.
Author's Notes: I wanted to take a different look at the Fudomine team and how they might really be, despite how close they seem, because, really, everyone has differences. This reflection takes place somewhere during the canon run of the series., probably within the first half.
Main table can be found here and here.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
By all rights, Shinji sometimes thought, it shouldn’t have worked.
When all was said and done, there wasn’t much binding the Fudomine tennis club together. They all had different groups of friends outside of tennis; in fact, Shinji had never even spoken to Mori or Uchimura before tennis, and he only knew Sakurai because Ishida had taken a liking to him. They all had different hobbies, personalities, plans, hopes, dreams, family backgrounds, lives. In fact, the only thing that all of them had in common were tennis and a reverence for Tachibana Kippei that almost bordered on the creepy. (Even Shinji could admit that, sometimes. The rest of the time, he saw no problem with it.)
Tennis and Tachibana.
Sometimes, Shinji wondered if that was enough to make a club.
They were all so different, that Shinji couldn’t see how it could work. Where Kamio was all movement and spazz, Ishida was calm and quiet. Where Mori had a hard time living on the lighter side of things, Sakurai had a hard time taking anything seriously. Where Uchimura couldn’t help playing practical jokes, Shinji had a hatred of them that bordered on the pathological.
So many times, in the beginning, Shinji had seen the six of them degenerate into shouting matches (or in the case of him and Mori, muttering matches). So many times, Shinji, or one of them, had been on the verge of walking away.
There were times where Shinji wondered if he should’ve been thanking their senpai. As abusive as they had been, they had also given the six freshmen something to bond over and find common ground on.
Even then, Shinji thought, if it hadn’t been for Tachibana, they would’ve splintered and gone their separate ways. Adversity can only bond for so long…but whatever Tachibana had done had woven the six-seven, now-of them together so thoroughly that Shinji couldn’t foresee a day where they wouldn’t all be friends.
Shinji wished he knew just how Tachibana had done that. Then decided that it must be a special Tachibana-san power, and didn’t trouble himself thinking about it again.
But, knowing their beginnings, Shinji still found it so odd when people would remark that they all must’ve been best friends forever. It was far from the case. In fact, hardly a week passed where there wasn’t some who was “never speaking” to someone else again.
It never lasted, though. Because there was tennis, and Tachibana, and a club that managed to be a team even through all their difference and diversity.
And Shinji was never more thankful for that.
--The End--