The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 4
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Oshitari Yuushi had awakened the sleeping lioness.
That phrase seemed to be going through the entire tennis club’s minds, watching the tensai of Hyotei and the newly appointed manager, , exchange subtle insult after insult. Atobe Keigo, captain of the tennis club, was idly sitting by; sipping a fresh drink his servants had brought him. The rest of the members could do nothing but sit by and watch.
“I hope you aren’t going to let anything slip, -san. Your credibility would decrease dramatically.”
“Rest assured, Oshitari-senpai. I would never do anything to betray the esteemed Hyotei Regulars.”
“Is that so? Because the two of you seem awfully close.”
“We were childhood friends, it was inevitable.”
“So you admit to being close to him, possibly in a romantic way?”
It was at this point that Atobe put his drink to the side, flicking a strand lock of hair away from his face to direct his full attention to the banter between Oshitari and . The manager blushed furiously, scribbling away at a clipboard in her hands.
“I said no such thing, and you never asked me about something so absurd beforehand.” retorted curtly, keeping her eyes strictly on the list in front of her. “Furthermore, Oshitari-senpai, my relationship with Tezuka Kunimitsu is of no concern of yours. Keep this up, and I will not hesitate to double your training schedule.”
Oshitari just smiled, nodding his head and pretending to zip his mouth closed.
And to think, it had all started on an exhibition match with Seigaku.
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(Flashback)
“-chan, here’s the order of the regulars matches. Ore-sama is placing you in charge of timing each match and telling each player when they should warm up. Sakaki-sensei won’t be here today, so ore-sama will be sitting on the bench. He also told ore-sama to tell you to sit with ore-sama.” Atobe said, handing the girl the papers. nodded, smiling eagerly.
“Hai, Atobe-senpai!” She had gotten used to Atobe calling her so familiarly, but not after many fits of blushing and incoherent stuttering. “Would you like me to sit on the bench when you go up to play?” Atobe smirked, nodding.
“Yes. You will be the one offering towels and water to the players when they come for breaks.” He told her. She nodded once more, writing notes onto a scrap piece of paper.
“Ne, ne, here comes Seigaku.” Gakuto exclaimed, grinning cheekily. blinked, turning to look at the group of blue and white uniformed players as they all stood more-or-less in a line, facing the Hyotei team. Blinking her eyes once or twice, rechecked the faces of the Seigaku regulars before her clipboard dropped, and her face broke out in a wide smile.
“Kuni-kun!”
All of them were more than shocked to see – shy, sweet, little – launch herself at Tezuka Kunimitsu, making him stumble slightly before he hugged her back.
“Ah! -chan!” He exclaimed. She pulled back, laughing happily before her two hands grabbed his face, and pulled it down so her lips could meet with his forehead. There were shocked gasps and several blushing faces, even more so when Tezuka also grabbed her face and kissed her sweetly on her forehead.
“Sugoi~! I knew I heard the name Seigaku before, but I couldn’t remember where!” giggled, before peeking her head to look behind Tezuka. “Ne, ne, are these your teammates?” Before he could answer, she hopped past him to purse her lips at the regulars.
Cocking her head, pointed to Oishi.
“Oishi Shuichiroh, the vice captain, right?” Then she proceeded to name off every regular, a bright twinkle in her eyes as she did so. They all seemed to relax slightly, greeting her with bows and handshakes.
“-chan, what are you doing here anyway?” Tezuka asked as she finished greeting the regulars.
“Ah! About that Kuni-kun-,”
“-san?! What are you doing being so friendly with the enemy!” Ryou growled, eyeing her. A weird flame seemed to emit from her body, and she turned a dark eye to the regular of Hyotei.
“Once practice starts again, an extra 50 laps Shishido-senpai!” She growled at him. He froze up, shifting back a little. Tezuka blinked, turning to her.
“Senpai? Practice? -chan, are you in the tennis club?” He asked. turned to him, smiling brightly.
“Hai! I’m their manager!”
Eiji spoke up at that moment, pointing to her.
“So you were the one who planned this exhibition match?!” He exclaimed. blinked, shaking her head.
“Iie. Sakaki-sensei planned this match, I just took charge of everything.”
Tezuka looked like he wanted to say more, but Atobe let himself be heard at that moment.
“-chan. Let’s get going. Ore-sama still has some things ore-sama need to discuss with you, so we can talk when we’re walking to our assigned court.”
‘oh’ed, nodding her head and making her way to Atobe’s side, picking her clipboard up along the way and allowing him to lead her with his hand on the small of her back. She waved to Tezuka, telling him to hurry before turning her full attention back to Atobe. Tezuka stood speechless for a few moments, before his eyes hardened and he gestured to the rest of the regulars. They would take a different route to the courts.
(End Flashback)
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The match had been long, but fierce. Seigaku had won, still having their ace, Echizen Ryoma. However, the match-ups had been altered. Atobe and Tezuka ended up playing against each other, sitting on the bench watching the match almost hypnotized. Before they departed, had chatted with Tezuka cheerfully, even taking his towel to wipe the excess sweat from his brow.
And just like before, kissed his forehead and Tezuka kissed hers before they separated.
Which is exactly why Oshitari and were bantering.
“So you deny that you and Tezuka exchanged kisses?”
“They were on the forehead! And no!”
“So you admit to being in an intimate relationship with him?”
“No! Kuni-kun and I are not dating!”
“But you kissed each other.”
“Like a parent to their child, or a sibling to their sibling!”
“But you both are neither, instead you are unrelated, childhood friends in a very close relationship, possibly bordering on the romantic kind.”
sighed in frustration, getting ready to tear her hair out at Oshitari’s persistence.
“For the last time, Kunimitsu and I are not dating!”
“Then explain the kisses.”
threw her clipboard down on a table, whirling at Oshitari and glaring at him.
“That is private and none of your business!”
And with that, stalked out of the training room, flipping out her phone to call Sakaki and telling him she was skipping the day because she felt a little under the weather.
Atobe watched her go with unreadable eyes, before he called the attention of the tennis club and set them to work. Idly, he picked up ’s clipboard to read the training schedule for each regular. Flipping through each page, Atobe’s eyes rested on a particular one, slipping it out and folding it neatly, placing it in his jacket pocket.
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After practice, Atobe went to grab his bag from the lounge when he say ’s purse sitting innocently on a nearby chair. It was a deep green, and there was a pretty golden design on the front. Stitched in golden thread on the top right corner was ’s name.
Atobe walked over, picking it up and slipping it into an extra bag he had with him, just as Ohtori walked into the room.
“Eh? Konnichiwa Atobe-senpai.” Ohtori said, smiling and bowing at his buchou. Atobe murmured a quick reply, brushing past him to head out the door. Before he left completely, he turned to Ohtori.
“Ohtori. Tell Oshitari ore-sama can’t make it to the meeting tonight. Ore-sama has an errand to run.”
Blinking, Ohtori inclined his head politely.
“Hai, Atobe-senpai.”
Giving Ohtori one last curt nod, Atobe walked off.
©Snowflake