Monday, June 18, 2007

   CHAPTER ONE: Meeting Team Seigaku
NOTE: I really have to go guys… I’m off to work! Ehehehe! I hope you like this. Honestly, I feel a bit off writing this since I have never wrote a P.O.T. Fic before. So, here it is. I’m not sure if you guys will like it though… See ya this evening! X3 Hoi hoi hoiiiiiii!!!

Shin walked into her room after a silent dinner with her mother and father. It has always been like this – her life. But maybe it wasn’t enough to blame her family… Maybe she should blame herself…because she was never the peppy peachy person everyone likes. She was always the person in the shadows. Except for track and field that is…, she thought bitterly. Of course she loves running…throwing… But…she loves them just because she’s good. She has the skill. But I don’t have the heart, she told herself. The sport is boring her nowadays. She wished she were like her cousin who loves his sport ever so dearly. She even wished she were a part of his family. “I should talk to him tomorrow…”

Shin sighed and got herself ready for bed. Tomorrow will be another yesterday for her…just a repeat. As she was drifting off to sleep though…she remembered the redhead boy. “Maybe just not like today…” She muttered to herself.

The very next day, Eiji trotted towards school with his hair a bit different. “OHAYO MINNA!!!” He shouted when he saw Momoshiro, Ryoma and Inui walking together.
Momoshiro nearly lost his balance when he saw Eiji. “Eiji…why is your hair…like…like…”
“Like a trying hard gangster…” Ryoma filled in.
Eiji just grinned. “Don’t I look cool, nyuuuh?” He beamed.
Inui coughed.
Momoshiro discreetly snorted.
Ryoma raised a brow. “Why did you change your appearance?” He asked.
“Nothing really…just for a change.” Eiji laughed nervously.
“According to data, Eiji never have issues with his appearances before. Data suggests the reasons… 25% he’s being bullied to do this…75% is that he’s off to impress someone who insulted his appearance…” Inui remarked and closed his book.
Faster than a twist serve Momo is already by Eiji’s side with his hand over the redhead’s shoulders. “Ne, Eiji-kun…who’s the lucky girl..ne, ne?”
Eiji nervously removed the arm. “Hey…what made you think that, nyuuuuh???”
“Eiji-senpai never has problems with public relations. Everyone likes you…so that means no one bullied you. Inui-senpai’s data is mostly if not always accurate… And you’re blushing, Kikumaru-senpai.” Ryoma pointed out.
Eiji blushed more at the statement.
Momo laughed. “I thought so… So, Eiji-kun…who’s the girl?”
Eiji sighed in front of the three faces that are looking very eager to know. “She’s a…track and field athlete…” He stammered but was surprised to be dragged away in high speed.
“The track and field team always has an early morning run. Let’s go!” Momo grinned and ran holding Eiji by the arm.
“I agree!” Inui grabbed the left hand. They both dragged Eiji towards the track and field. Ryoma tagged along behind them.

Shin finished her warm-ups – 20,000 meters around the stadium (50 rounds). She began her stretching for the throws. Today is her practice for discus throwing. It’s a lucky day for her…the coach is not around due to some business with another school. She grinned. She does love his father. But when it comes to coaching…she hates him. She took one disc from the pile beside her and took her place on the plate. Shaking her legs she looks about the field. There are a lot of runners today. She smiled. ”I wish I could hit one of them and run away with it.” She thought to herself with a laugh imaging how that would look. She stretched her right fingers before clasping the disc. Slowly she positioned her feet and twists her torso from side to side in deep breathing. She bended her knees and with a gush of strength she took the dance… That’s what she calls it – the turn that adds more force to your throw. It is dreaded by a lot of throwers because if the athlete is not good in footing, he or she will loose balance and eventually will have FAULT. But to Shin, it’s just a dance. “Hmpuuuhhh!” She released and the disc went flying away. She was known to reach more or less 150 meters. And today, she seemed to nail a 200 as she watched the discus plunked on one of the lanes at the other end of the oval. “Oops… Wow! I’m a bit too genki today…” She scratched her head.
“I think so too. I’m glad I don’t run here in the oval. I might end up one of your targets…”
Shin turned to see her cousin. “WAH!!!” She flung herself on him. “I’ve missed you, oniichan!”
“Shhhhhhhh…”
“Wah… Kaoru-oniichan…why are you blushing?” Shin asked curiously at her hissing cousin. “Are you okay? I haven’t seen you for weeks!”
Kaidoh nodded and said, “You are already a big girl, Shin-chan. Don’t go embracing people around… I don’t like people thinking about other things…” He muttered.
Shin laughed at this. “Mou, oniichan!” She pouted and left the plate to stop beside Kaidoh.
“So… Why do you want to talk?” Kaidoh asked.

Not far from the two people in the field, three people are hidden behind some bushes. “Oh no… I think Kaidoh likes your girl, Eiji-kun…” Momo looked at his teammate in dread.
Inui nodded his head in approval. “I’ve never seen Kaidoh with such affection though…” He takes out his book and continued noting. “I must include this.”
“She’s pretty, Eiji…” Momo smiled sheepishly.
“Pretty strong.” Ryoma commented bluntly, to which Momo clunked his head. “Ow! But she is! If she’s playing tennis, we’ll be crushed. Didn’t you see her strength?! She’s in league with Kawamura-senpai.”
Inui coughed. “It also takes precision to throw a discus. The position of the hand alone is difficult. And the footwork’s balance is crucial. Her physique is also that of a runner’s…not a thrower’s. I heard about her from someone… Shinureji Oe. She won ten medals in the inter-high school meet last year and took all the attention of the scouts. Hmm… So far…that’s all I know.”
“She does resemble Kaidoh though…” Eiji thought remembering the time the girl insulted him. He sighed and started to walk away. “It’s no use… She doesn’t like me anyway. It’s better that she and Kaidoh are together… I don’t want to start any trouble in the team…” Walking off, he noticed he felt a bit jealous at how Kaidoh talked to the girl. “Maybe they’ve been together since they’re younger…” He thought.
“Wait! Don’t give up just yet!” Momo ran after Eiji and stopped beside the unusually sad boy. “Look. We don’t know anything yet. I’ve never seen Maboshi(snake) date her… So maybe she’s not a girlfriend.” He explained. “Besides… I want you to be victorious over Maboshi-ahou(snake idiot)! Mwahahahah!!!” He sniggered.
Eiji sighed once again. “It’s okay. Thank you for cheering me up, Momo-kun…” He combed his hair back to it’s normal self and entered the building shoulders heavy. “Please don’t tell anyone…”

That afternoon, the practice began with everybody staring at Eiji who is sighing again and again. He didn’t have any energy at all. The balls just kept passing him.
“Unsual…” Inui commented as he kept on writing down. “So…these are the symptoms…”
“Symptoms?” Tezuka asked. He is standing beside Inui. “Tell me.”
Inui swallowed hard. He promised not to tell anyone. Oh well, seems like I don’t have a choice…he thought. “Eiji is in love.” Before he could finish the sentence, Tezuka is no longer by his side. “I thought so…” He sweat-dropped.
“There is something wrong with him and he won’t tell me.” Oishi is now beside Inui. “Do you know?”
Inui swallowed hard again and laughed nervously. “No.”
“Yes you do.” Oishi raised an eyebrow. “Eiji is acting weird and you know the reason. Spit it out. I could see it in your face that you’re gathering data regarding his behavior…”
“Well…I guess it can’t be helped…” Inui was about to answer when a ball went flying and hit him in the face. “oww…” He managed to say before he fell to the ground.
Oishi turned to see Eiji delivered the blow. “Eiji! What are you doing?!”
“Nothing.” Eiji turned around and walked off. He saw Kaidoh stretching. “Ne, Kauro-kun… Let’s have a match.” His eyes glinted as he flipped his racket again and again around his wrist.
To this everyone watched. It is not in Eiji’s nature to be so…offensive. Even Tezuka let this one go – interested in the outcome himself.
Kaidoh himself was surprised but he’s not the type to back out either. So, he gave a nod and went for a nearby court.
“First one to finish 6 set matches wins.” Eiji said as he stretched and got ready. He turned to Ryoma and said, “Ne, Ochibi…you call the scores.”
Shin wandered and finally got to the tennis courts. She has let her long wavy ebony hair down. She hated that her uniform got dirtied earlier that day and she’s now wearing her track and field uniform. She felt awkward wearing such short shorts. “The meet is another matter…there are a lot of people wearing them and not everyone is ogling you…” She reasoned to herself. She needs someone to be with her to buy new running shoes. Her cousin told her to wait for him near the tennis courts after classes. She saw that there’s a match going on and the familiar green headband of her cousin. “Wah! He’s having a match!” She ran to the fence and smiled feeling excited already. When she reached the fence she shouted, “Gambate, Kauro!!!” To which everyone stared at her. She made such a loud cheer. Her face reddened.
Eiji saw her. He’s winning despite the obvious advantage of Kaidoh who is an offensive player. He managed to make a tie even. But now… He stared at the girl. “She’s cheering for him…that means…” He felt dead all of a sudden.
“Shin-chan! Stop cheering. It’s embarrassing!” Kaidoh barked.
Eiji felt dead…and ALIVE. He felt like killing Kaidoh for shouting at the girl. “HEY! She was cheering for you! You can’t do that!” He waved his racket at Kaidoh who stared blankly at his rage. “That’s no way to treat a girl!”
“So…that’s the girl…” Oishi remarked by the benches and everyone followed him as they watched Eiji carefully. “Eiji…you never told me…”
Eiji froze. Uh-oh, he thought.
“Ne! Kauro-oni…why are you guys stopping?” Shin asked.
“ONI?” Eiji’s eyes twitched at the word.
“ONIIII??!?!??!!!” Everyone stared at Kaidoh and his cousin…well, everyone except for Tezuka who is talking to Ryuuzaki-sensei.
The first one to snap out of the frozen state is Oishi. “Your sister?” He turned to Kaidoh. All heads immediately followed his.
“No.” Kaidoh answered.
With a gasp, they all looked back at the girl. “Then who are you?” Oishi asked.
“His cousin.” Shin answered.
Everyone immediately turned to Eiji with smiles on their faces. “Now you know…” Oiji whispered and looked back at the girl. “Miss, will you please come inside. It’s hard to talk to you when you’re over there.” He called out.
Shin entered the tennis court…a bit embarrassed due to her clothes. Her eyes immediately darted to the redhead she met the other day. She cursed to herself thinking the day she met him, her routine changed. “Hi.” She smiled.
“Ahhh! Shin Oe.” Ryuuzaki beamed and went for the young girl. “How is your mother?”
“Quite fine, coach.” Shin answered happily. At least there’s someone I know, she thought. Ryuuzaki-sensei of the tennis team is a good friend of her mother who is also a coach in another school.
“Ready for next week’s meet, I see…” Ryuuzaki smiled. She does not only admire this athlete but also knows how hard it is on this young girl. She hates the way this girl’s father treat the athletes. “Ne, minna! Come closer! I need to introduce you to this extraordinary girl.”
Shin blushed at that.
“This is Shinureji Oe, the most valuable athlete in the Kanto Track and Field Meet last year. She specializes in throwing and at the same time, running. Gold medallist of the Javelin and Discus throws. She’s also the Gold medallist of the 50-meter dash in which she broke the record…that’s 7.56 seconds and also the silver medallist of the 400-meter dash.” Ryuuzaki finished and realized everyone’s gawking. “Now, now…pretty impressed aren’t we…”
“It’s nice to meet you!” Shin bowed in respect and embarrassment. She doesn’t have to tell them that, she thought.
“This is the captain, Tezuka. The vice captain, Oishi….Kawamura, Echizen, your cousin Kaidoh, Momoshiro, Fuji, Inui and Eiji.” Ryuuzaki introduced.
So, his name is Eiji…the dork, she thought as she glared at him. “Nice to meet you all…” She answered with a bow once again.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .










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