queensweets

Chapter 4 – another

Hanamura Aoi walked through the park on her way to the new years party a friend was hosting. She had been looking forward to it. The snow was still in a thick layer on the ground, on top of everything. Between Christmas and new years it had disappeared for a while, but big snowflakes had been falling to the ground slowly all day and it felt like everything was shimmering and glowing in the afternoon sunset.

When she passed the street courts, she heard the irregular sound of a ball hitting a racket, then wall, then ground, and it repeated again and again and again. Usually nobody would play here these days, and not with this much snow. It reached her ankles, even though she was wearing high heels.

She waded through the snow and onto the courts. There, to her right, someone was practicing against the wall to the changing rooms, snow cleared out around him. She didn't know with what, there was no shovel or the like at these courts. Puffs of breath escaped his mouth as he ran for the ball, hitting it back against the wall once more.

Hanamura was curious of this boy, to say the least. He had removed the snow, with who knows what, just so he could train. On a day when no one else played. Was he that enthusiastic about tennis? It was endearing, really, she thought.

She called out to him, making him almost miss the ball with his racket as it bounced back from the wall in surprise. He hadn't heard anyone approaching.

Takahisa turned around, smiling nervously at the woman at the courts. She was wading towards him in the snow. He picked up the ball, that had rolled over the ground that was starting to get covered in a new layer of snow. He clutched the racket in his hand tightly. It was the first racket he had actually bought himself, and now he didn't want to let it o. He had had to get a large rucksack, big enough for the racket to fit entirely, but he thought it was totally worth it. He never took it out of the bag when he was at home, though.
"Ano.. Good morning.." he said, locking his hands behind his back while at the same time remaining his tight grip on ball and racket.

The woman chuckled softly. "It's hardly morning anymore, you know. It's after four."
Takahisa looked around, blushing in embarrassment when he realized she was right.
"How come you're training here all alone, boy?" she asked, leaning her back slightly against the wall.
"I.. wanted to play tennis."
"Then you must be pretty enthusiastic about the sport. How long have you played?"
"...A few years..?" Takahisa wasn't really sure what to make out of this lady. She was strange.

After a few minutes of conversing with the boy, Hanamura remembered that she had been on her way somewhere, and not on a random stroll (not that she took random strolls).
She winked at the boy, who stared at her in shock. "I have to take my leave now, I'm afraid. Maybe we will meet again."
Takahisa wasn't sure if he wanted that or not.

A few weeks into the new year the snow disappeared again, leaving the ground gray and naked. He wasn't playing alone now, a few players dropped in every week, most who he recognized, some that he'd never seen before.
There were two new kids this week. Although he was pretty small for his age, these two were even more so. To be honest, he hadn't figured out if they were boys or girls, or one of each yet. He wouldn't tell them that, though.

He learned that they were called Tanaka Youhei and Kouhei. Youhei had hair that looked like some sort of mixture between pink and purple, which was around the same length as his own hair. Kouhei's on the other hand was long and dark blue. Both had lightblue eyes, that reminded him of ice.
He hadn't talked to them much, but he had found out they were both boys and one year younger than him.

He was stretching when he heard them talking about middle school with an older girl.
"We're going to Jyosei Shounan." Kouhei said as he helped his twin stretch. "It's really good at sports, and they say their tennis team is quite good." Youhei continued and reached for his toes.
"It's pretty close to here, isn't it?" the girl asked, preparing to get on the court when a match was finished.

Takahisa thought about it for a while. Middle school.
He was going to start his first year of middle school in April this year. It was just one month left.
'Jyosei Shounan..' he thought. 'Isn't that where I'm going?'
When choosing for middle school he had had no idea what he wanted, so he filled in some schools at random, ending up at Jyosei.

Should he join the tennis club? There were many risks in that, but it would only add to the ones he already took every day.

His class was loud, there was always a buzzing sound of voices, someone drumming on the table. They laughed a lot and talked a lot. Takahisa noticed after a few days, that the girls tended to chatter with an orange haired boy in class, who seemed to really like the attention. He was a pretty boy, this Wakato Hiroshi, he had to admit that. He had thought that from the first time he saw him, with his big happy smile and sparkling eyes. Though he guessed pretty wasn't really the right word to use for a boy, because he'd heard when the Tanaka-twins got called that, and they just got annoyed. They were not girls, they said.
So he didn't tell the other boy his thoughts on his looks. Though they had never spoken to each other, so he didn't know what kind of person Wakato was.
To be honest, he didn't speak much at all. Years of hiding his problems and situation at home had taught him not to get too close to anyone. It would just hurt.

One week into the term, the registration for clubs started. Takahisa was still not sure if he should join the tennis club or not, but he still ended up by the indoors courts. It was his first time seeing courts that were not beneath bare sky, and it felt really strange. But his fingers itched to play.
He ended up joining after all.

"So ain't you talking anything at all?"
Takahisa looked up from where he was writing on his homework, sitting by his desk in the classroom. He had gone back there again right after practice. "Wakato-kun? What are you doing here?"

Said boy grinned at him. "So you can say anything besides 'hai' when you answer roll call!" He sat down on Takahisa's desk, dangling his legs. "Ya know, it must be boring like that, being alone all the time. Won'tcha talk more? Your voice ain't that bad."
Takahisa felt his cheeks get hot at the stare and the words. "What do you mean by that?"
Wakato laughed and poked the dark blonde's pink cheeks. "I mean, talk more, cuz your voice is cool."
"Cool?" Takahisa raised an eyebrow at the redhead, while his cheeks were dyed another shade darker. He had never gotten any compliments as a small child, so getting one now made him confused and embarrassed than anything.
"Yeah!" Wakato said as he pinched the other's nose lightly. "Can't you at least talk to me?"
"Ano...okay..?"

Slowly, but steadily, Takahisa started to get to know Wakato better, spending more time with him, and the redhead would give encouraging comments and compliments, that never failed to dust his cheeks pink. Wakato still did most of the talking, but Takahisa didn't mind. He liked the sound of Wakato's voice, it was weird, but his voice was calming, although he wouldn't say that out loud. It felt strange to be so close to anyone. It wasn't until Wakato told him that he was his best friend that he realized just how close they were. Surprised, Takahisa looked at him, but the gray-colored eyes that met his own violet ones were honest. He wasn't lying.
Stuttering and blushing, Takahisa told the at that time taller boy that he too was his best friend, only to receive a hug from the happy redhead.

"This is Hanamura-sensei, your new coach starting today." The principal motioned towards a young woman, who bowed slightly and introducing herself with a smiling face.
Takahisa blinked. It was that weird woman from a few months back! The one he met when no one else was training because of the snow! She was a tennis coach? Was that why she'd asked him so many questions?

Wakato poked him in the side, sending him a questioning look, as if wanting to say: "Are you alright?"
Takahisa shook his head, no. He'd tell him after training, which was one of the times the girls did not crowd around the young redhead. Just moments later, he got the same redhead's elbow in his side, and Wakato pointed to one of their year mates. Said boy had a weird look on his face. He could see that Wakato had a hard time holding back his laughter.

After club activities they ended up in their homeroom. They usually did.

Wakato jumped up on a desk by the window, propping himself up against it. "Did you see his face?" he asked as he followed Takahisa's movements with his eyes. Takahisa sat down on the chair that belonged to the desk that Wakato sat on. "What's his name..? Ah- Shinjou! He's big, isn't he? He totally got the hots for that teach!"
Takahisa tilted his head. "..'Got the hots'..?" he asked.
"Oh, I mean he likes her." Wakato said, wagging his finger in front of the other's face. "He so does."
"You think? But she's weird."
"So that's why you looked so funny! You know her!"
"Not really, I've only met her once."
"Tell me, tell me, tell me~!" Wakato said, pushing at Takahisa's nose.

Takahisa didn't see any dangers in telling him about that event, so he did, after swatting his friend's hand away.