FIC: Last Good Day of the Year, part 7 (END)
On trial run. Might still be edited later. Gotta run right now.
If anyone wants to read the previous 6 parts, they're over here.
VII. Last Good Day of the Year
Niou Masaharu couldn't remember if a day like this had ever come for them as a team. Every time they got together and their two leaders were in the vicinity, all they ever talked about was tennis. They brainstormed about rival players and gameplay strategies, picked at each other until nerves were raw...and when the other regulars weren't being more intense among themselves than the university's college debate team, they were boring Niou half to death.
But today was all right. Today had nothing to do with tennis. They should try to hang out like this more often next year.
He just wished his family didn't have to embarrass him in front of his own doubles partner. That could seriously mess up his and Yagyuu's synch.
And smokebombs...what was he thinking...
But he wasn't going to dwell on all that. Besides, the concert was especially interesting when the slightly more goth-visual performers came on. Those guys can really pick out kickass color combinations...
"Yanagi seemed thoughtful," Yukimura muttered absently after a long moment of comfortable silence. "I wonder if something was bothering him..."
Niou shrugged. "Probably something about the tennis club," he helpfully contributed. "You know, while you were gone, those two were the tennis club's lead dogs, always going off by themselves and whispering about us behind our backs..."
"Niou-kun," Yagyuu said in a hushed warning tone. But a faraway look had settled into Yukimura's eyes again.
"...Lead dogs, huh..." he said softly to himself.
Niou grimaced. He searched Yagyuu's eyes for a clue how to proceed, and somehow managed to patch together: "Yeah, you know lead dogs...all they do is bark and bite. Normal people can't understand their speech."
Yukimura's face relaxed into a smile. Thus he exerted a little effort in showing that he appreciated the attempt to make him feel better. "Those two...they can make perfect sense. If you push the right buttons..."
"Except with Sanada. Just thinking about the act of pushing buttons will get you racing to the infirmary," Yagyuu joked. Yukimura gave a small laugh at this.
"The right buttons on Sanada are hard to find. But if you know him well enough -- "
Yukimura stopped speaking abruptly. His hand flew up to his half-open mouth. Yukimura's upper body pitched forward slightly.
Yagyuu was on his knees and beside the wheelchair in an instant. Niou scrambled to his feet and strode up closer.
"Buchou!!"
"Yukimura..."
The boy made small choking sounds behind his hand, at the pit of his throat, inaudible over the noise coming from the stage.
Yagyuu looked up at Niou. "We have to find a doctor. We can't wait for Sanada."
Niou nodded and started to get on his feet...but Yukimura gestured with his one free hand for Niou to stay. This singular motion rendered both 15-year-olds helpless.
They waited, crouched on either side of Yukimura's chair, for the fit to subside. Thankfully, it didn't take long. Yukimura settled back into his chair and tilted his head up, breathing heavily, hands gripping his thighs.
Not knowing what else to do just then, Niou reached down and tucked the loosened ends of the blankets back beneath Yukimura's legs.
When he glanced up at Yagyuu, he saw his own concern looking back at him.
"I'm all right," Yukimura told them presently, in a very weak voice. "This was what I was talking about earlier...with Jackal. The nausea..."
"Is there anything you need? Do you need to go back to the hospital?"
Yukimura shook his head insistently.
Just then a familiar booming voice came from nearby: "You two, what's going on?"
"...Sanada." Yagyuu never seemed panicked, but at Sanada's appearance, he definitely sounded relieved. "Yukimura just..."
"What?" Sanada was at Yukimura's side in an instant. Niou became aware at the edge of his consciousness that they had made a fuss, and that people in the area had started to stare at them.
Yukimura seemed to have trouble opening and focusing his eyes. His head stayed tilted back, and meanwhile Sanada loosened Yukimura's scarf, as well as the topmost buttons of some of the layers of clothing keeping his upper body protected from the cold.
Sanada was frowning, but only in concentration. There was only the barest hint of anxiety in his eyes. "This happens," he said to whoever could hear him. "There's nothing we can do."
Both Niou and Yagyuu hesitantly fell back, giving Sanada space. Sanada would know better, of course. He was the one who most frequently visited, at home or at the hospital.
Nothing they could do...
It was something they seldom heard.
Niou turned his face away. The phrase stuck like a bitter taste.
**************************
Yagyuu Hiroshi wondered what his sister Sonomi and her friends would think if they saw them like this.
Three boys with helpless looks on their faces, crowded around one lean, pale boy in a wheelchair, who wasn't even strong enough to move his head.
This was Rikkai's winning team. The boy in the wheelchair was what held them together.
His cell phone started ringing. Yukimura opened his eyes a crack in response to the foreign sound.
"Sonomi-chan," Yagyuu said into the phone. He stood and walked off a short distance, lowered his voice as much as he could afford. "No. I'm sorry, but do you think you could wait for me a while longer? I have to stay a while, it's...important. I'll explain when we get home..."
"Yagyuu," he heard from behind. It was almost a question.
"...I see. Well, we can meet there later. All right." Yagyuu ended the call and turned around. Yukimura and Niou were looking at him.
"It's okay. It's getting dark," Yukimura continued. "You should be taking your. Sister and her friends home."
"There's no trouble." Yagyuu looked at Sanada as he assured everyone this.
Sanada frowned at Yagyuu, but spoke in a subdued tone, "You and Niou have to go. You'll make your parents worry."
"But..."
Niou planted his hands on his hips and gave a small frustrated sigh.
"Sanada-fukubuchou's right," Niou told Yagyuu. "Let's go find Sonomi-chan and the rest first. Then I gotta be home."
It was a cue. The look on Niou's face said he didn't want to leave, either. But there was no point in staying if the two of them weren't going to be of any help.
And when they were a good way off, on their way to meet Sonomi and her remaining friends, Niou explained, in a tone that Yagyuu recognized as placating, "Sanada's there. Things can't get any worse."
Yagyuu only nodded thoughtfully.
Niou stepped ahead and faced Yagyuu, walking backwards, hands in pockets, making sure his companion's eyes were on him. He broke the silence again by saying, "Yagyuu, you know what the worst thing was about today?"
Was this a serious question? "The worst thing...?"
"We never moshed."
It was only then that Yagyuu realized: there had been a light tone to his friend's voice, like a joke was coming on. A grin came to Yagyuu's face, and he found himself chuckling.
"That's right. We never did, did we? What a waste of a perfectly mediocre free concert."
Niou raised his eyebrows in a gesture of agreement. He turned, and they fell in stride again.
"...But yeah," Niou said presently, "aside from a few things...well, it was good. Today was good."
There were more young people in the park than there had been earlier that afternoon. Perhaps Jackal was right, the good bands were all bunched up at the end. It was almost regretful to leave at that time, but Yagyuu acknowledged that the Rikkai middle school team had little to do with the affairs of other people their age. It was as much a privilege as it was a loss.
"I can't argue, Niou-kun." His smile was mischievous. "That escape trick we pulled on your parents is going to be an especially fond memory."
Niou went incredulous on him. "You told me smokebombs suck."
"I did not say they 'suck.' I said they were 'passe.'"
Niou rolled his eyes.
"But you know what, Niou-kun?"
"Hn?"
Yagyuu paused as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"I think I would like to have dinner with your family sometime."
**************************
Yanagi Renji had spent most of the day sitting and observing. Multitasking was his forte; he was able to launch complicated calculations, conduct intelligent conversations, evaluate the music, and enjoy his favorite oolong tea, all at once.
As he sat in the train on his way home, he reviewed the calculations he had made, paying close attention to the results he had carefully memorized:
There had been a 95% chance Kirihara Akaya was going to fall asleep in the middle of the park, since there had only been a 7% chance of any sort of mayhem occurring in the vicinity of the entire Rikkai middle school tennis club playing team. He didn't have anything to worry about there...
There was an 86% chance Sanada Genichirou would actually heed his last-minute advice and become less stringent for the remainder of the day. Yanagi's words had been carefully selected, and there are just times when everyone (else) is vulnerable to mind games. It was the right time to leave those two to talk, anyway.
There was an 80% chance that this day's outing had actually improved Rikkai's inter-team dynamics. A windfall on all counts, as he had not exactly counted on everyone in the team making an appearance...
Taking the new dynamics data into account, there was a 71% chance that their play styles were going to improve, and that they were going to win in the Nationals, as planned. And as promised.
This was a step up from the original 68%, a conclusion at which he'd originally arrived via a thorough analysis of updated skills tables of their strongest opponents. He still, of course, grounded his new calculations on the notion that there were going to be only seven players in the Rikkai team.
There was a 72% chance Yukimura Seiichi would not be able to play in the Nationals.
When he remembered this, his calculations fell silent.
He had more results lined up for cross-checking and evaluation -- most of which had to do with Yukimura's recovery rate. These results attempted to answer questions such as: How long it would take Yukimura to recover, how much retraining he had to do, how their odds of victory fluctuated as per the probabilities of Yukimura making it back in the team, and also NOT making it back in the team...
But somehow, something held his questioning back. "No matter what happens, I'm still with you." ...was where most of them ended.
He doubted Sanada understood. Yet in a sense, Yanagi was grateful.
Life wasn't a game played on a closed court. Odds weren't as easy to calculate. Determination and hard work increased all chances of success; unforeseen, unquantifiable things served as catalysts for the impossible. His friend could still make it back into the team. The new rounds of medicine he was taking could still make him stronger.
While Yanagi Renji didn't exactly have faith in miracles, he knew the power of the unexpected...
And sometimes it just felt better to believe than to know.
**************************
Yukimura Seiichi kept his eyes closed while he steadied himself.
Sanada's presence was a solid, heavy feeling at the edge of his awareness. He tried his best to ignore it.
It was no good. He was only getting weaker. There was no way he could return to the team like this...
As it had done many times in the past, something Sanada had said echoed in his head: "Even without you, we're still a national level team."
They didn't need him.
He was the one who very badly needed to get back into the team. To get the chance to play again. To fulfill his promise...
He'd wanted so badly to be captain. If you were captain, they couldn't take you out of the team easily. If you were captain, you would be in a position to share your knowledge and help other players equally driven to excel. If you were captain, you were useful. Indispensable.
But it seemed that being captain needed more strength than he had.
Sanada, for example, would make a better captain. Or Yanagi. The two lead dogs. His team needed a leader who wouldn't fail them. His team had to go on for themselves, not for the sake of one of them.
So...
Was he giving up?
He was still a Rikkai regular. They still called him "Buchou." They were all looking forward to getting him back on the team soon.
Was he letting them all down?
Yukimura opened his eyes. Sanada, who had sat down at last, arms folded on his drawn-up knees, turned his head to look at him, alert to the smallest movement.
"You should tell me if you're hungry or uncomfortable," Sanada initiated, when Yukimura said nothing for a while. "Or if you want to go back..."
"I'm fine. I don't want to go back."
Yukimura saw that there were more people. The majority was cheering, they seemed to be having fun. He and Sanada were just two boys off to one side by themselves, blending into the crowd.
"...Sanada."
If he was the only one going down, he was going down fighting.
"When I return to the tennis club after the winter break, I expect you to help me retrain."
No emotion registered on Sanada's face. The other boy simply listened, looking up at Yukimura quietly.
"Set aside a few hours after school to practice exclusively with me. I would like to ask you to free up the first weekend after school, too...but the hours after school should do, so we won't have to..."
"Yukimura," Sanada finally interrupted.
And Yukimura seized the chance to pause. It was tiring to talk.
"Don't think too hard about the team. Concentrate on getting better." Sanada looked away. "I'll watch out for you."
They sat through the performance in silence for a while. The music and the band changed on them. People came and went, the darkness grew deeper and bright winter stars fought to show through the lamplight and the lights from the stage.
Then the boy in the wheelchair extended his hand, palm upward, to the boy seated on the ground beside him.
Without looking, without even thinking, the boy on the ground quickly enfolded this hand with his own.
Yukimura closed his eyes.
"One last win, Sanada..."
Sanada's fingers tightened around his captain's. "One last win."
This was the last time this year that Yukimura was going to feel this warm.
It was comforting to believe that next year, there will be more days like this.
(THE END)
********************************
Now, some notes. First on the list is the enormous boo-boo I mentioned in chapter 5.
Things I messed up:
* The timeframe. Oh the timeframe. this is not related to official information, and I should have caught this earlier. But I didn't.
The nationals end before September, when most seniors retire from their club activities. I slipped up, so this entire fic is set before the nationals, and on Christmas eve.
When i find the time to rewrite this fic (a rewrite is definitely in order), I'll have to either 1) remove all references to the nationals, or 2) change the timeframe, so they're all out on a much earlier holiday. I won't be changing the title, though.
This is a blatant indication of obliviousness, which is unforgivable. Gomen, mithas!! There's no way I can make light of it. Please excuse me while I beat myself repeatedly over the head with this rubber chicken.
* Rikkai has no ranking matches. Neither does Hyoutei for that matter. Seigaku's the only one that does. Many thanks to aishuu for the reminder. How can I call myself a fan?? I've corrected this in chapter 5.
* Niou's dad being a nightclub magician. Heheheh. In my defense, though, I wasn't serious. no.
* It seems my Renji is more...feeling. Yes he is a Vulcan -_- I need more hard evidence of emotional intelligence. Also, that he is actually emotionally committed to his captain and vice-captain as a friend.
Things that fought me up to the bitter end:
* Oh Lord. Yagyuu and Niou. It's a conspiracy of two. I can't get into Niou's head, and Yagyuu makes me feel like I'm barely scratching the surface. Maybe they switched personalities again just for this fic. I wouldn't put it past them. Or past ME.
* Marui. I think I started off with a clear concept of him as a leetle more serious than he actually is. Now I have a Marui in my head which, with his tiny similarities with the canon Marui, could probably pass off as a private self. Let's keep working on it.
* I know I'm a damned hypocrite, claiming this fic was mostly gen, when it screamed "SanaYuki" too many times =_= But hey. At least I tried to tone it down. Die, conscience, die!
* Had to struggle to stay true to my initial characterization, before the generous muscatlove shared with us her translations of the 20.5 Rikkai profiles. I was able to stick with the original sequence of events, though. Warped timeline and all >P
Things I('d like to think I) got right:
* Marui liking music...or, well, at least he likes music class. though this was, admittedly, a last-minute addition. Much like what happened that time when I said to myself "Shoot, Marui hasn't been chewing gum for the last four chapters!" XD
* I make no apologies for my Sanada. His character is Really Hard to catch.
* Kirihara and Jackal, to a certain extent. Or just Jackal. Wilder thinkers can do (and have done!) much more with Kirihara. I want to someday have the courage to wade through the chaos that is this boy's brain.
In the end, I still wrote this for mithas (wuvs her) and I hope it wasn't a complete disappointment.
Title and inspiration borrowed from Cousteau's "Last Good Day of the Year."
If anyone wants to read the previous 6 parts, they're over here.
VII. Last Good Day of the Year
Niou Masaharu couldn't remember if a day like this had ever come for them as a team. Every time they got together and their two leaders were in the vicinity, all they ever talked about was tennis. They brainstormed about rival players and gameplay strategies, picked at each other until nerves were raw...and when the other regulars weren't being more intense among themselves than the university's college debate team, they were boring Niou half to death.
But today was all right. Today had nothing to do with tennis. They should try to hang out like this more often next year.
He just wished his family didn't have to embarrass him in front of his own doubles partner. That could seriously mess up his and Yagyuu's synch.
And smokebombs...what was he thinking...
But he wasn't going to dwell on all that. Besides, the concert was especially interesting when the slightly more goth-visual performers came on. Those guys can really pick out kickass color combinations...
"Yanagi seemed thoughtful," Yukimura muttered absently after a long moment of comfortable silence. "I wonder if something was bothering him..."
Niou shrugged. "Probably something about the tennis club," he helpfully contributed. "You know, while you were gone, those two were the tennis club's lead dogs, always going off by themselves and whispering about us behind our backs..."
"Niou-kun," Yagyuu said in a hushed warning tone. But a faraway look had settled into Yukimura's eyes again.
"...Lead dogs, huh..." he said softly to himself.
Niou grimaced. He searched Yagyuu's eyes for a clue how to proceed, and somehow managed to patch together: "Yeah, you know lead dogs...all they do is bark and bite. Normal people can't understand their speech."
Yukimura's face relaxed into a smile. Thus he exerted a little effort in showing that he appreciated the attempt to make him feel better. "Those two...they can make perfect sense. If you push the right buttons..."
"Except with Sanada. Just thinking about the act of pushing buttons will get you racing to the infirmary," Yagyuu joked. Yukimura gave a small laugh at this.
"The right buttons on Sanada are hard to find. But if you know him well enough -- "
Yukimura stopped speaking abruptly. His hand flew up to his half-open mouth. Yukimura's upper body pitched forward slightly.
Yagyuu was on his knees and beside the wheelchair in an instant. Niou scrambled to his feet and strode up closer.
"Buchou!!"
"Yukimura..."
The boy made small choking sounds behind his hand, at the pit of his throat, inaudible over the noise coming from the stage.
Yagyuu looked up at Niou. "We have to find a doctor. We can't wait for Sanada."
Niou nodded and started to get on his feet...but Yukimura gestured with his one free hand for Niou to stay. This singular motion rendered both 15-year-olds helpless.
They waited, crouched on either side of Yukimura's chair, for the fit to subside. Thankfully, it didn't take long. Yukimura settled back into his chair and tilted his head up, breathing heavily, hands gripping his thighs.
Not knowing what else to do just then, Niou reached down and tucked the loosened ends of the blankets back beneath Yukimura's legs.
When he glanced up at Yagyuu, he saw his own concern looking back at him.
"I'm all right," Yukimura told them presently, in a very weak voice. "This was what I was talking about earlier...with Jackal. The nausea..."
"Is there anything you need? Do you need to go back to the hospital?"
Yukimura shook his head insistently.
Just then a familiar booming voice came from nearby: "You two, what's going on?"
"...Sanada." Yagyuu never seemed panicked, but at Sanada's appearance, he definitely sounded relieved. "Yukimura just..."
"What?" Sanada was at Yukimura's side in an instant. Niou became aware at the edge of his consciousness that they had made a fuss, and that people in the area had started to stare at them.
Yukimura seemed to have trouble opening and focusing his eyes. His head stayed tilted back, and meanwhile Sanada loosened Yukimura's scarf, as well as the topmost buttons of some of the layers of clothing keeping his upper body protected from the cold.
Sanada was frowning, but only in concentration. There was only the barest hint of anxiety in his eyes. "This happens," he said to whoever could hear him. "There's nothing we can do."
Both Niou and Yagyuu hesitantly fell back, giving Sanada space. Sanada would know better, of course. He was the one who most frequently visited, at home or at the hospital.
Nothing they could do...
It was something they seldom heard.
Niou turned his face away. The phrase stuck like a bitter taste.
**************************
Yagyuu Hiroshi wondered what his sister Sonomi and her friends would think if they saw them like this.
Three boys with helpless looks on their faces, crowded around one lean, pale boy in a wheelchair, who wasn't even strong enough to move his head.
This was Rikkai's winning team. The boy in the wheelchair was what held them together.
His cell phone started ringing. Yukimura opened his eyes a crack in response to the foreign sound.
"Sonomi-chan," Yagyuu said into the phone. He stood and walked off a short distance, lowered his voice as much as he could afford. "No. I'm sorry, but do you think you could wait for me a while longer? I have to stay a while, it's...important. I'll explain when we get home..."
"Yagyuu," he heard from behind. It was almost a question.
"...I see. Well, we can meet there later. All right." Yagyuu ended the call and turned around. Yukimura and Niou were looking at him.
"It's okay. It's getting dark," Yukimura continued. "You should be taking your. Sister and her friends home."
"There's no trouble." Yagyuu looked at Sanada as he assured everyone this.
Sanada frowned at Yagyuu, but spoke in a subdued tone, "You and Niou have to go. You'll make your parents worry."
"But..."
Niou planted his hands on his hips and gave a small frustrated sigh.
"Sanada-fukubuchou's right," Niou told Yagyuu. "Let's go find Sonomi-chan and the rest first. Then I gotta be home."
It was a cue. The look on Niou's face said he didn't want to leave, either. But there was no point in staying if the two of them weren't going to be of any help.
And when they were a good way off, on their way to meet Sonomi and her remaining friends, Niou explained, in a tone that Yagyuu recognized as placating, "Sanada's there. Things can't get any worse."
Yagyuu only nodded thoughtfully.
Niou stepped ahead and faced Yagyuu, walking backwards, hands in pockets, making sure his companion's eyes were on him. He broke the silence again by saying, "Yagyuu, you know what the worst thing was about today?"
Was this a serious question? "The worst thing...?"
"We never moshed."
It was only then that Yagyuu realized: there had been a light tone to his friend's voice, like a joke was coming on. A grin came to Yagyuu's face, and he found himself chuckling.
"That's right. We never did, did we? What a waste of a perfectly mediocre free concert."
Niou raised his eyebrows in a gesture of agreement. He turned, and they fell in stride again.
"...But yeah," Niou said presently, "aside from a few things...well, it was good. Today was good."
There were more young people in the park than there had been earlier that afternoon. Perhaps Jackal was right, the good bands were all bunched up at the end. It was almost regretful to leave at that time, but Yagyuu acknowledged that the Rikkai middle school team had little to do with the affairs of other people their age. It was as much a privilege as it was a loss.
"I can't argue, Niou-kun." His smile was mischievous. "That escape trick we pulled on your parents is going to be an especially fond memory."
Niou went incredulous on him. "You told me smokebombs suck."
"I did not say they 'suck.' I said they were 'passe.'"
Niou rolled his eyes.
"But you know what, Niou-kun?"
"Hn?"
Yagyuu paused as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"I think I would like to have dinner with your family sometime."
**************************
Yanagi Renji had spent most of the day sitting and observing. Multitasking was his forte; he was able to launch complicated calculations, conduct intelligent conversations, evaluate the music, and enjoy his favorite oolong tea, all at once.
As he sat in the train on his way home, he reviewed the calculations he had made, paying close attention to the results he had carefully memorized:
There had been a 95% chance Kirihara Akaya was going to fall asleep in the middle of the park, since there had only been a 7% chance of any sort of mayhem occurring in the vicinity of the entire Rikkai middle school tennis club playing team. He didn't have anything to worry about there...
There was an 86% chance Sanada Genichirou would actually heed his last-minute advice and become less stringent for the remainder of the day. Yanagi's words had been carefully selected, and there are just times when everyone (else) is vulnerable to mind games. It was the right time to leave those two to talk, anyway.
There was an 80% chance that this day's outing had actually improved Rikkai's inter-team dynamics. A windfall on all counts, as he had not exactly counted on everyone in the team making an appearance...
Taking the new dynamics data into account, there was a 71% chance that their play styles were going to improve, and that they were going to win in the Nationals, as planned. And as promised.
This was a step up from the original 68%, a conclusion at which he'd originally arrived via a thorough analysis of updated skills tables of their strongest opponents. He still, of course, grounded his new calculations on the notion that there were going to be only seven players in the Rikkai team.
There was a 72% chance Yukimura Seiichi would not be able to play in the Nationals.
When he remembered this, his calculations fell silent.
He had more results lined up for cross-checking and evaluation -- most of which had to do with Yukimura's recovery rate. These results attempted to answer questions such as: How long it would take Yukimura to recover, how much retraining he had to do, how their odds of victory fluctuated as per the probabilities of Yukimura making it back in the team, and also NOT making it back in the team...
But somehow, something held his questioning back. "No matter what happens, I'm still with you." ...was where most of them ended.
He doubted Sanada understood. Yet in a sense, Yanagi was grateful.
Life wasn't a game played on a closed court. Odds weren't as easy to calculate. Determination and hard work increased all chances of success; unforeseen, unquantifiable things served as catalysts for the impossible. His friend could still make it back into the team. The new rounds of medicine he was taking could still make him stronger.
While Yanagi Renji didn't exactly have faith in miracles, he knew the power of the unexpected...
And sometimes it just felt better to believe than to know.
**************************
Yukimura Seiichi kept his eyes closed while he steadied himself.
Sanada's presence was a solid, heavy feeling at the edge of his awareness. He tried his best to ignore it.
It was no good. He was only getting weaker. There was no way he could return to the team like this...
As it had done many times in the past, something Sanada had said echoed in his head: "Even without you, we're still a national level team."
They didn't need him.
He was the one who very badly needed to get back into the team. To get the chance to play again. To fulfill his promise...
He'd wanted so badly to be captain. If you were captain, they couldn't take you out of the team easily. If you were captain, you would be in a position to share your knowledge and help other players equally driven to excel. If you were captain, you were useful. Indispensable.
But it seemed that being captain needed more strength than he had.
Sanada, for example, would make a better captain. Or Yanagi. The two lead dogs. His team needed a leader who wouldn't fail them. His team had to go on for themselves, not for the sake of one of them.
So...
Was he giving up?
He was still a Rikkai regular. They still called him "Buchou." They were all looking forward to getting him back on the team soon.
Was he letting them all down?
Yukimura opened his eyes. Sanada, who had sat down at last, arms folded on his drawn-up knees, turned his head to look at him, alert to the smallest movement.
"You should tell me if you're hungry or uncomfortable," Sanada initiated, when Yukimura said nothing for a while. "Or if you want to go back..."
"I'm fine. I don't want to go back."
Yukimura saw that there were more people. The majority was cheering, they seemed to be having fun. He and Sanada were just two boys off to one side by themselves, blending into the crowd.
"...Sanada."
If he was the only one going down, he was going down fighting.
"When I return to the tennis club after the winter break, I expect you to help me retrain."
No emotion registered on Sanada's face. The other boy simply listened, looking up at Yukimura quietly.
"Set aside a few hours after school to practice exclusively with me. I would like to ask you to free up the first weekend after school, too...but the hours after school should do, so we won't have to..."
"Yukimura," Sanada finally interrupted.
And Yukimura seized the chance to pause. It was tiring to talk.
"Don't think too hard about the team. Concentrate on getting better." Sanada looked away. "I'll watch out for you."
They sat through the performance in silence for a while. The music and the band changed on them. People came and went, the darkness grew deeper and bright winter stars fought to show through the lamplight and the lights from the stage.
Then the boy in the wheelchair extended his hand, palm upward, to the boy seated on the ground beside him.
Without looking, without even thinking, the boy on the ground quickly enfolded this hand with his own.
Yukimura closed his eyes.
"One last win, Sanada..."
Sanada's fingers tightened around his captain's. "One last win."
This was the last time this year that Yukimura was going to feel this warm.
It was comforting to believe that next year, there will be more days like this.
(THE END)
********************************
Now, some notes. First on the list is the enormous boo-boo I mentioned in chapter 5.
Things I messed up:
* The timeframe. Oh the timeframe. this is not related to official information, and I should have caught this earlier. But I didn't.
The nationals end before September, when most seniors retire from their club activities. I slipped up, so this entire fic is set before the nationals, and on Christmas eve.
When i find the time to rewrite this fic (a rewrite is definitely in order), I'll have to either 1) remove all references to the nationals, or 2) change the timeframe, so they're all out on a much earlier holiday. I won't be changing the title, though.
This is a blatant indication of obliviousness, which is unforgivable. Gomen, mithas!! There's no way I can make light of it. Please excuse me while I beat myself repeatedly over the head with this rubber chicken.
* Rikkai has no ranking matches. Neither does Hyoutei for that matter. Seigaku's the only one that does. Many thanks to aishuu for the reminder. How can I call myself a fan?? I've corrected this in chapter 5.
* Niou's dad being a nightclub magician. Heheheh. In my defense, though, I wasn't serious. no.
* It seems my Renji is more...feeling. Yes he is a Vulcan -_- I need more hard evidence of emotional intelligence. Also, that he is actually emotionally committed to his captain and vice-captain as a friend.
Things that fought me up to the bitter end:
* Oh Lord. Yagyuu and Niou. It's a conspiracy of two. I can't get into Niou's head, and Yagyuu makes me feel like I'm barely scratching the surface. Maybe they switched personalities again just for this fic. I wouldn't put it past them. Or past ME.
* Marui. I think I started off with a clear concept of him as a leetle more serious than he actually is. Now I have a Marui in my head which, with his tiny similarities with the canon Marui, could probably pass off as a private self. Let's keep working on it.
* I know I'm a damned hypocrite, claiming this fic was mostly gen, when it screamed "SanaYuki" too many times =_= But hey. At least I tried to tone it down. Die, conscience, die!
* Had to struggle to stay true to my initial characterization, before the generous muscatlove shared with us her translations of the 20.5 Rikkai profiles. I was able to stick with the original sequence of events, though. Warped timeline and all >P
Things I('d like to think I) got right:
* Marui liking music...or, well, at least he likes music class. though this was, admittedly, a last-minute addition. Much like what happened that time when I said to myself "Shoot, Marui hasn't been chewing gum for the last four chapters!" XD
* I make no apologies for my Sanada. His character is Really Hard to catch.
* Kirihara and Jackal, to a certain extent. Or just Jackal. Wilder thinkers can do (and have done!) much more with Kirihara. I want to someday have the courage to wade through the chaos that is this boy's brain.
In the end, I still wrote this for mithas (wuvs her) and I hope it wasn't a complete disappointment.
Title and inspiration borrowed from Cousteau's "Last Good Day of the Year."