Archive of Our Own

I suppose I have a rather peculiar attachment to Usainu. It's this really cute pink rabbit and dog hybrid mascot. You would never imagine someone like me would love something that was meant for children to enjoy. I don't think I've told anyone why I like Usainu—not even Renji and Yukimura. 

The truth is that it was Mouri Jusaburou who got me into liking Usainu. And it was also him whom I fell in love with without even realizing it.

I was first made aware of his existence during my first week at Rikkai. Club sign-ups had just ended and I had just handed in my application for the school's tennis club. Yukimura seemed to be in a bit of a daze since the opening ceremony, but he wouldn't tell me why. Though we had planned to go home together that day, I also had to report to the Public Morals Committee for an orientation. 

"Don't wait up for me, Yukimura," I told him. "I don't know how long it will be."

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" was his response.

"Bright and early," I confirmed.

He stuck his tongue out at me before heading out. I turned and made my way towards the main building, where I spent the next half-hour learning about the rules of the school from the head of the committee. Immediately afterwards, we were sent around for a mock patrol. Part of my area included the infirmary, where I happened to notice that the door to it was slightly ajar and the lights were on. I went over and opened the door wide open, only to see someone inside, wrapping his arm in a bandage.

"Who the heck are you?" he asked me.

"Sanada Genichirou, Public Morals," I identified myself. "Do you need help?"

His body relaxed a lot the moment he heard my name. "You're one of the neat new tennis team additions, huh?"

I was shocked that he knew. "H-how do you know that?"

He finished applying the bandage and rolled down his sleeve. "'Cause I'm on the team, silly! It's Mouri Jusaburou, by the way."

A panic washed over me. "Did you hurt yourself, senpai?!" 

He looked at me confused for a second. "Oh, you mean my arm? Don't worry about it. I'm on the Health Committee. Just practicing my first aid."

"After hours? By yourself?" I questioned him.

He laughed. "Aw, ain't you just the most adorable little campus snitch?"

I wasn't sure what he meant by that. "I'm sorry?"

"No rules say that I can't be here, officer," was his response. "Besides, I was taking inventory and just happened to have an injury to attend to."

"So you are hurt."

Another laugh as he walked over to place his hand on my head and mess up my hair. "It's been taken care of, my lovely kouhai. Let your senpai be the one to worry about you—not the other way around."

"Please stop, Mouri-senpai," I demanded. "I don't need you to worry about me."

"You don't get to decide that, Sanada Genichirou," was his arrogant reply. "I care about each of my kouhais deeply."

"It's wasted energy on me, Mouri-senpai."

He had an amused smirk on his face as he reached into his pocket and fished something out. "Here," he handed it to me, "I think you might like it."

I took a look at the small charm. It was something pink and made of hard plastic. I wasn't sure what it was. It had the ears of a rabbit but the body of a four-legged animal.

"Cute, huh?" he chuckled. "Hopefully, it'll be a good luck charm for you."

"I have no need for this thing," I said as I handed it back.

"Keep it," he insisted. "I think you'll grow to like Usainu."

"I'll grow to like a rabbit dog?" I asked, confused.

"No, silly. The character is called Usainu," he corrected me. "It's one word, flat intonation."

I looked down at the charm again. It was very worn down and scratched up. Was he just giving me his garbage? My thoughts were interrupted when Mouri Jusaburou placed his hand on my head again. 

"Aw, don't be all pouty! I'll play tennis with you later, m'kay?" he smiled as he brushed past me to leave. "Lock up when you're done here. See ya!"

Little did I know at that time the charm in my hand would cause so many problems. I sighed as I pocketed the piece of plastic and went on my way to finish up my patrol.

It must've been another week before I saw Mouri Jusaburou again. I had fallen during practice and scraped my knee on the hard court surface. There was blood everywhere and it was really painful. Nishiki-senpai had to escort me to the infirmary to get first aid. But when we arrived, neither of us were expecting to see him there, sleeping on one of the beds.

Nishiki-senpai approached the bed and kicked it hard. "Yo, if you have time to skip practice to sleep, then you have time to patch this kid up," he hissed.

"And a fantastic morning to you too, Nishiki," was his sarcastic response. "Can't you just put a bandage on it and let me sleep?"

"Are you insane, Mouri? Deal with the damn freshman or I'll tell the captain where you actually are," Nishiki-senpai threatened him before storming out of the room.

Mouri-senpai sat up and took one look at me. "Yikes! It would've been nice to know he needed a transfusion!" he hollered out the door, but there was no one to listen to him. 

"Transfusion?" I asked.

"It's a joke," he reassured me. "Okay, lemme just pick you up and place you on the bed."

"I can get up on it myself," I winced as I made my way over and sat on top of the bed he was just sleeping on.

Mouri-senpai went over to the cabinets and pulled out a bin full of bandages and antiseptics. He placed them on a cart before walking over to the sink to fill up a large metal bowl with water. He wheeled the cart over to the bedside and dragged a chair from the corner of the room to sit down on.

"Damn, this looks painful," he chuckled as he took a dry towel from the bin and wetted it with the water in the bowl. "I'm just gonna wipe the area clean, okay? It might sting."

"I'll be fine," I scoffed. "This pain is nothing."

"You don't need to hold back your tears, Sanada," he said as he placed the damp cloth on my knee. 

I resisted the urge to yelp in pain as my eyes began to water.

"Almost there. I just need to see if there's any debris inside too," he said as he picked up a pair of tweezers in his other hand. "I'll be gentle."

I looked down as I watched him pick out the tiny rocks that were embedded into my knee. He looked very focused, making sure to check every inch of the wound. Once he seemed happy, he spread some antibiotic cream over the area and took out a roll of gauze to wrap around my knee. 

"Gosh, how did you end up in this mess? Ain't you less clumsy than this, Sanada?" he asked.

I didn't say anything in response. He taped down the gauze on my knee and stood up to admire his work. 

"That's one thing done," he said to himself. "Show me your hands. I need to see if they got banged up too."

I held out my arms and flipped them around a few times. There was nothing else that he needed to treat. Mouri-senpai looked me in the eye and reached for my chin with his hands.

"W-what the hell are you doing, s-senpai?" I stuttered in a panic.

"Relax," he smiled. "Your chin also got scraped up. Let me see."

He gently placed one hand on my chin and tilted my head up. Our eyes were practically staring into each other. I felt my face getting hot as he narrowed his eyes. He took the wet cloth and lightly dabbed an area on my lower cheek, which made me wince again. 

"Nothing wrong with crying," he reassured me as he placed the cloth down.

"I'm not crying," I told him firmly.

"You're quite the terrible liar, Sanada," he smirked as he gingerly wiped a stray tear from my eyes. He picked up the cream again and applied a little to the area. 

"Senpai, why aren't you at practice?" I asked him.

"'Cause I don't feel like it?" was his response. "Practice is something you do 'cause you want to."

"But, if you don't practice, you won't get better."

"As long as I win my games, what can the captain really do to me?" he shrugged. "I'm too valuable for him to get rid of me."

"But, senpai—"

Mouri-senpai aggressively stuck a bandage to my face and stepped back again to admire his work. "Enough talk. I'm all done, so you can get back to practice now."

"Senpai—"

"Don't worry about me, Sanada. Remember—it's my job to worry about my kouhais."

He moved his hand towards my head and tilted it back up again. His head inched closer and closer towards mine. I shut my eyes tightly and felt a light pressure press on the area where he placed the bandage.

"Really, Sanada, you flatter me, but worry about yourself more than me, m'kay?"

My face felt like it was burning. What did he just do? My tongue felt like it weighed a ton and I couldn't say anything.

"Be careful out there. Don't wanna end up back here again, do ya?" he chuckled.

Stunned, I subconsciously made my way back to practice. Yukimura and Renji both came up to me when they saw me return. Yukimura had a bemused look on his face.

"Nice bandage choice, Sanada," he snickered.

I was confused by his reaction. "What do you mean, Yukimura?"

"You have a bright pink bandage with an animal motif on your chin, Genichirou," Renji clarified.

"It's an Usainu bandage!" Yukimura laughed. "Aw, it suits your complexion so well, Sanada."

"Usainu..."

I could only look at my face in a mirror after practice to see what the two of them were laughing about. Plastered onto my chin was a bright pink bandage with that rabbit dog animal pattern on it. The colour stood out on my skin and I wanted to rip it off right then and there, but I didn't. Even if it did stick out, it would've been rude for me to undo all of Mouri-senpai's work. I resided myself to leave it on for the rest of the day and endure the chuckles that were coming my way.

The first time Mouri Jusaburou actually showed up to practice was after our captain sent Renji to go get him. We were just a few days away from making our debut at the Kanto Regionals. I thought it was a futile attempt, but I was shocked when Renji came with him in tow. Renji looked very disoriented and his face was really red. It looked like he was sunburnt. He spent the rest of the practice fumbling and messing up shots that he would never normally miss. Yukimura and I confronted him about it after practice had ended for the day.

Yukimura asked the first question. "Is something wrong, Renji?" 

Renji replied almost instantly. "No. Sorry, Seiichi. I am just not feeling well."

"Now is not the time to be distracted. Kanto is only days away," I reminded him.

"You are right, Genichirou," he acknowledged.

We were about to head into the club room to get changed when Mouri-senpai ran past us. He was acting rather strangely, but I couldn't make out what exactly he was doing.

"See you in a few days, my lovely kouhai!" he waved at us as he skipped away.

"If he has that much energy, perhaps he should use it properly," I shook my head.

"Seeing him like that infuriates me," Yukimura said. I could hear the anger behind his voice. "All that talent and he does nothing with it."

"A shame," I added.

I did not understand why the captain never kicked him off of the team. He was rumoured to be one of the best middle school players in the nation, and yet I have never heard of him before. I hadn't even seen him play anything with my own eyes. It was very hard to believe that this lazy man was the team ace. 

The next morning, I came to the courts earlier than everyone else. I wanted to squeeze in some extra practice for my serves. By the time I got there, all of the nets were set up and there were balls all over the area. I was certain that we had cleaned up the night before. Someone else must've been around. I went into the club room to change, where I heard the running water from the shower going.

"Hello?" I called out as I stepped in. "Is someone here?"

Whoever was in the shower was not answering me, but I did not wish to walk over and check to see who it was. I opted to quickly change into my tennis uniform and leave the club room to deal with the mess on the courts. While I picked up all of the stray balls off of the court, I heard the gates creak open and shifted my attention towards them.

"Wow, you're pretty early," Mouri-senpai greeted me. "I was gonna clean up the mess, but thanks."

"It's not a problem, senpai," I responded. "Why are you here so early?"

"Felt like it," was his nonchalant tone. "I could ask you the same question, too."

"Kanto is in a few days. I wanted to get some extra practice."

"Oh? Care to play a little game, then?" he suggested.

I was taken aback by the sudden request. Mouri Jusaburou really was asking me to play a game against him. Of course, it would be excellent practice if he actually practiced as much as he should be. 

"I don't see how playing a game against you will be a productive use of my time," I answered.

"Oh? Getting a little cocky, huh? You can't beat me, Sanada," he declared.

"I most certainly can," I said as I stood up and walked over to pick up my racket. "But, can you keep up, senpai?"

Mouri-senpai laughed. "Of course. Let's play one game."

The next few minutes felt like they never happened. I blinked as Mouri Jusaburou served towards me and before I knew it, the game was already over. I fell to my knees in exhaustion and confusion. My hands were shaking. It felt like I had just played a game against Yukimura, but this wasn't the same sensation as getting the yips.

"Is that all you got, Sanada?" he taunted me from the opposite side of the court. "I really was expecting a lot more from one of the so-called 'Three Monsters'."

I stood back up and glared at him. "I demand a rematch."

That only made him laugh harder as he started to exit the courts. "Nah, I'm good. You were right—playing that game really was a waste of time."

He left me there as I tried to process what had occurred. It wasn't until the rest of the team showed up that I managed to snap out of my daze. 

"You're early, Sanada," Yukimura commented. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Genichirou, did something happen?" Yanagi asked me, worried.

"I... I don't know..."

I felt like I should have been angry at him, but I wasn't. In fact, I felt strangely enamoured and impressed by him. There was a strange, fuzzy feeling in my chest.

Naturally, we won the national tournament that year. Mouri-senpai barely played any matches to get us the championship, so it was impossible to see how truly skilled he was. And yet, he was still allowed to be a regular. Any protests fell on deaf ears and any attempts to kick him were thwarted before they could even begin. I was convinced that no one in a position of authority knew what they were doing. Even when Yukimura gained the captaincy in our second year, we attempted to get rid of him multiple times, only to fail every time. 

I was rather irritated by everything happening, but alas, I could not protest. I started to take out my frustrations by coming to school earlier than everyone else just to train more by myself. I was still partially asleep when I got to campus at the crack of dawn and unlocked the door to the clubroom. I tripped over something and fell to the floor as I tried to walk in. 

I groaned as I turned myself around to look at what I just walked over. I almost shouted as soon as I saw the mass at my feet shift around.

"Oh, Sanada?" the thing yawned. "You're early."

I rubbed my eyes and looked at the thing again. "S-senpai?!"

Mouri-senpai was lying on the floor in a pink Usainu sleeping bag. He unfurled the bag and slowly crawled out of it. "Morning, Mr. Vice Captain."

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

"What can I say? The floor's real nice here," he laughed. "Last I checked, this wasn't illegal."

"Senpai, you are not allowed to sleep on the club room floor! Go home!" I shouted at him.

"Hmm... I don't feel like it! I'm going back to sleep," he declared as he snaked himself back into his sleeping bag and promptly began to snore. 

"Senpai!" 

I pulled myself up off the ground and walked over to his sleeping body. I knelt down and started to shake him awake when he reached out with his arms, and pulled me down towards him. Our lips briefly brushed against each other, which made me jump back in surprise, but I didn't have anywhere to go.

"Hey, Sanada, has no one ever told you that you'd be the most adorable one if you weren't such a stickler?" he snickered. 

"W-what are you d-doing, s-senpai?"

"Relax, silly. It's still way too early in the morning to be practicing," he mumbled as he pulled me closer towards him. "Sleep is just as important to training as a balanced diet, y'know?"

For someone who never practiced, Mouri-senpai's arm was surprisingly strong and unwavering. He had me pinned towards him as he resumed snoring. No matter how much I tried to get out of his grip, it was wasted energy. I sighed as I resided myself to being stuck here in this ridiculous position until he woke up or let his guard down. 

My ear was pressed right up to his chest, so I was able to hear his breathing and heartbeat faintly. There was something strangely calming about the constant, rhythmic thumping in his chest. I felt my eyelids grow heavy and muscles relaxing. The next thing I knew, Renji was shaking me awake.

"Genichirou!" he called out to me. "Wake up!"

"Gah!" I bolted upward and almost collided with Renji, but he moved out of the way just before we did. 

"Genichirou, why were you asleep on the floor?" he asked me, confused.

"Where's Mouri-senpai?" I asked.

Renji looked at me with a blank expression. "Why does that matter?"

"He was here with me earlier—"

"Ah, that would explain it," he said as he got up from the floor. "Genichirou, he's just messing with you."

"What?"

"Mouri-senpai just wants to mess with you."

"Huh?" Why was Renji telling me this? 

"Don't let him," he warned me before he left the room.

Later that day, I was on my usual patrol around the west entrance to the school grounds after classes had ended. I was on the lookout for anything unusual happening as the students left for the day. To my surprise, I saw Renji leaving, even though we had tennis practice. He was clearly following someone, but I could only catch a glimpse of the person's crimson red hair before they disappeared into the horizon. I had to report the absence to Yukimura once I arrived.

"Renji left. I don't know if he'll be back in time for practice."

"That's strange. With who?" he asked. "He's not the type to just leave without a reason."

"I couldn't catch a glimpse of who he was with."

"Well, I hope he likes running laps, then," Yukimura shrugged. "Let's not worry about him. Renji is smarter than the both of us combined. I'm sure he'll be fine."

All I could do was nod and continue on with my own routine. 

The next day, Yukimura and I saw Renji running around the courts by the time we got there for practice. He stopped his run when he got near us.

"Where were you yesterday?" Yukimura asked.

"Sorry, Seiichi," he apologized. "Something came up unexpectedly. I'm running the 200 laps you ordered."

"But I didn't—"

"The probability of you suggesting laps as a punishment for me missing out on yesterday's practice is 100 percent," Renji cut him off before he could finish. "Now, if you'll excuse me—"

"Hold on, we're not done yet," Yukimura interjected. "Who were you with?"

I couldn't tell if Renji's cheeks were turning red because he was breathing too hard or if he was getting embarrassed. "No one important," he answered. 

Yukimura didn't seem convinced, but there wasn't much use dwelling on it. Renji continued to run his laps and we went on to start practice. 

After we finished for the day, we all made our way back to the club room to change. It was there that I noticed Renji had a strange charm on his tennis bag that wasn't there before. It was an Usainu. 

It was at that moment I realized that the person with the red hair he was with yesterday was Mouri-senpai.

"W-where did you get that charm, Renji?" I asked him.

"Nowhere special," he lied. "It was a gift."

"From who?"

"The shopping district is holding a stamp rally. This was one of the prizes you could get from completing the rally," he answered truthfully this time.

I felt this strange sense of jealousy wash over me as I calmly responded, "Oh, I see."

Yukimura fell ill shortly before the end of the school year. The news broke the entire team apart. The doctors didn't know what was wrong with him, but they all said the same thing: Yukimura would never be able to play tennis ever again. Despite being told that, Yukimura never once gave up on trying to play the game again. Watching him struggle daily changed you as a person. It made me want to work harder for his sake.

With him being in the hospital, I found myself taking on more of the club's responsibilities in his place. There was quite a lot of paperwork waiting for me to complete before the end of the year. Renji had gone through most of it and left the ones I needed to complete in the club room. There still were a lot of papers to get through, so I sat down and began to do them one by one. I was quite preoccupied with it that I didn't notice someone else entering the room.

"Oh, didn't expect to see ya here," the voice said, slightly alarmed.

I glanced up, only to see Mouri Jusaburou standing by the doorway. "What do you want?"

"Just came to get my things," he replied. "Don't mind me."

"You have some nerve to show your face around these parts," I spat. "Your captain is in the hospital and you refuse to even visit him?"

"My schedule is different from yours, Sanada," was his weak excuse. "And, for your information, I have visited Yukimura. He just doesn't want to see me."

"I wonder why," I scoffed. 

"What're you working on?" he asked me.

"It's neither your business nor concern."

"Ouch, harsh. You really know how to hurt a guy, huh, Sanada?"

"I'll ask you again—what the hell do you want?"

Mouri-senpai looked at me with a sad expression in his eyes. He gave me a slight smile before ignoring my question and heading to his locker to clean it out. I was still irritated, but at least he left me alone to go through the rest of the papers. I didn't know how much time had passed until I heard the locker slam shut.

"To answer your question, Sanada, I want something that you will never be able to give me," he said out of the blue before exiting the room. 

"What kind of stupid answer is that?" 

I didn't care enough to think further about it. I powered through the rest of it and stacked them up into a neat pile. It was getting late, so I decided to pack up and head home for the day. I went over to my locker, where I noticed that the door was slightly open. I cursed myself as I tried to recall if I had left it open earlier, but when I swung the door open, I wasn't expecting to see that... Usainu thing again.

"Why is this here...?"

I picked the pink thing up and looked at it. The plush toy was holding a black heart in its appendages. It was cute, I had to admit. There was a card also attached to its tail. I removed it and opened it up to read its contents.

"' I hope you don't hate me. I really liked you '... Whose handwriting is this?"

Could it have been Mouri-senpai? I ran over to his locker, only to find that the lock was gone and the entire interior was empty. I ran outside, hoping to still see him, but it had been a while since he left. I looked back at the paper again.

' I really liked you. '

What did he mean by this? I never once got along with him and he had the audacity to say this? Preposterous. What an absolute fool. 

But when I went to confront him the next day, Mouri Jusaburou was gone. No one knew where he went—not even Renji. I felt my chest sink in, but I did not know why.

Before I even knew it, the school year had come and gone. We were heading into the summer, which meant that Kanto was creeping up. Under my guidance, training only got harder as we worked to make up for Yukimura's absence. As defending champions, we had to secure the title for the sake of the school's pride. Personally, I felt the need to secure the title for Yukimura's sake. I wanted to believe that winning Kanto for a third year in a row would help him get better sooner. 

But, that wasn't what happened. We lost. I didn't want to face him after it happened. I blew it. 

The team and I were on our way to see Yukimura off for surgery, but by the time we got there, the operation was already completed. The team sat around in the waiting area as we waited for him to wake up, but I couldn't bring myself to stay there. I went to Yukimura's room on my own so I could be the first person he saw when he woke up. 

As I approached the doorway, another person was quickly walking out of his room. They had a blue surgical mask on, but that messy red hair was eerily familiar. Before I could even ask them who they were, they ran down the hall and disappeared out of sight. I looked inside Yukimura's room, but there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. It made me even more suspicious about the person who was just in here.

The whole team was in the room when Yukimura opened his eyes. He smiled weakly at us before asking that dreaded question: "Did you win?"

I couldn't speak. It felt like someone tied my throat into a knot.

"We lost," Renji said on behalf of the team. 

Yukimura snorted. "You're joking. If that's true, I must be dead."

None of us wanted to say anything more. I felt the most ashamed. I promised him we would win, but I blew it. 

Weeks had passed since then. I kicked myself every day for what happened and promised myself that I'd do better. I went to the hospital every day after practice concluded in order to encourage Yukimura through his physical rehabilitation to get back to his former peak. Usually, my visits would line up with him finishing up his session for the day. I would spend the time afterwards listening to him talk about the session and let him bounce ideas off of me when something didn't seem to work. 

He would always be drinking a bottle of sports drink and I made a mental note to myself to buy that brand for him in the future. I was under the impression that the doctors had given it to him after every session, but that didn't seem to be the case. He asked the whole team about it one day because he was convinced it was Niou pulling a prank on him.

"Seiichi, you look lively today," Renji pointed out. "Did something happen?"

He nodded. "I've been visited by the Sports Drink Fairy."

Marui was the first to say something. "Huh?!"

"Is that like the Tooth Fairy?!" Akaya shouted. "Wait, what do you need to leave under your pillow to get the Sports Drink Fairy to visit you?"

Niou smacked the back of Akaya's head. "You idiot, there's no such thing as the Tooth Fairy."

"What the hell was that for, Niou-senpai?!"

"Niou! Akaya! Stop creating a commotion and bothering the people in the hospital!" I shouted at both of them.

"Yukimura-kun, what is it that you are referring to?" Yagyuu asked.

"I said what I said. It's a fairy that brings me a sports drink."

Jackal was confused. "A fairy that brings sports drinks? I'm sorry?"

"Every time I return to my room after rehab, there's a cold sports drink waiting for me," Yukimura explained.

I glared at Akaya and Niou.

"It wasn't me!" Akaya shouted.

Niou held his hands up. "Me neither."

"W-wait! D-do you think it's a g-ghost?!" Akaya shouted back. I smacked him again. 

Yukimura bursted out laughing. "I don't know who's doing it, but it feels like they're pushing me forward, telling me to keep trying."

"Sounds like we got ourselves a mystery," Niou pointed out.

"I thought this was one of your tricks, Niou-kun," Yagyuu commented.

"As if. Why would I do something like that?"

Yukimura looked up to the sky. "I hope I get to meet that fairy someday."

I wasn't sure what to make of the story, but I didn't pursue it further. It wasn't until days later when Renji started talking about it with me that I realized there might be some validity to it.

"Genichirou, are you certain that you did not see anyone enter or exit Seiichi's room, other than the hospital staff, his family, and the team?"

I nodded my head to confirm. "No one else had been in his room other than that as far as I can remember."

"Are you positive?" he asked again.

"Renji, when I say I'm—"

That person with the messy red hair with the mask on. I forgot about them.

"Genichirou? Judging by your expression, you remembered something."

"The day of his surgery," I started. "Someone was leaving his room before I went in. Tall, red hair, but they had a mask on. No hospital uniform."

Renji seemed lost in his thoughts. "While not a very common hair colour, there are still a lot of people with red hair who frequent that hospital. It would be difficult to pinpoint who exactly it was."

"Hah, wouldn't it be amusing if it was Mouri-senpai?" I scoffed. "As if he'd care."

But instead of smiling slightly, Renji seemed to be thinking harder about it. That only made me think about it more. And the more I thought about Mouri Jusaburou being that mysterious, encouraging figure only made me more and more spiteful of him.

There was just no way he cared. Mouri-senpai ran off when Yukimura was at his worst. He didn't care. There was no way it was him.

The Nationals finally came and went. We weren't able to defend our title, but I had finally beaten my long-time rival Tezuka at his own game. Though I was content with finally being able to best that four-eyed bastard, the team's loss still stung. I think Yukimura was the most upset out of all of us since he worked so hard in rehab, but that damn boy ruined everything. Bitterness aside, the team received invitations to the U-17 training camp, where we went through grueling training all for the sake of improving our tennis. 

I just wasn't expecting to see Mouri-senpai there, too. 

I had just returned from training in the mountains when the foreign expedition team returned from their trip in Macau. I instantly locked my eyes on that red haired bastard the moment he stepped off. I couldn't believe it. That lazy excuse of a senpai was a representative on the national team? If he could make it on, then it would be easy to crush him with my own two hands. Yukimura looked particularly angry to see him. I had to suppress my own rage and make sure he was alright.

"Yukimura."

He turned around and looked right in my eyes—the same pain and anguish I saw in him whenever he saw that bastard flaunt his able body around. I couldn't help but feel a pang in my chest.

"I know," I told him. "We'll crush him, don't worry."

Yukimura gave me a small smile before turning back around to stare at him. I quietly stepped back and made my way down towards him. I felt the need to yell at Mouri-senpai. I tailed him from behind as he got further away from me. Just as I was about to catch up to him, he turned to the much taller person beside him and kissed him right in front of me.

Mouri-senpai was kissing someone else right in front of me.

I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't move or look away. The pain in my chest was unbearable. What was this sinking feeling? Why did my eyes burn? Why was I feeling this way?

"Yo, Sanada! Are you okay?"

I turned around in the direction of that voice. It was Jackal.

"What's wrong? You look like someone just—"

"It's nothing," I stopped him. "It's really nothing."

I couldn't believe it. Mouri Jusaburou chose him over me after everything we've been through. What did he see in him? Why did I care so much?

I've been in a bad mood since that day. It didn't help that Mouri-senpai showed up for practice every day, putting on a serious act as if he was actually trying. I couldn't believe that he was pretending like he couldn't see or hear us. Who the hell did he think he was? 

During a break, I went over to the water area to refill my bottle and splash some onto my face. Just as I was about to leave, Mouri-senpai approached me from behind.

"Yo! Long time no see," he laughed. "Boy, you sure got a lot taller and muscular."

I looked around the area to see if there was someone else, but there wasn't. I was certain he was talking to me. 

"I'm talking to you, silly!" he said as he poked me in the forehead. 

"So, you conveniently chose to not ignore me now?"

"I'm not—"

"Save it, senpai," I groaned. "All you've ever done to me is give me confusing signals."

"Sanada—"

"You ignore me on the courts and during practice, but you're talking to me here," I started. "You tell me that you should be the one to worry about me and not the other way around, and yet you ran away from us when we needed you."

I felt my eyes begin to water in frustration. I felt a gaping hole in my chest grow bigger.

"You kissed me and said you liked me, but then I saw you with..." I choked.

"Sanada..."

I pushed my way past him. I didn't want to continue the conversation with him, but he grabbed onto my shoulder and spun me around.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," he repeated in a more audible tone. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

There was that conflicting feeling again. 

"I shouldn't have led you on and messed with your feelings."

There was a long pause before I decided to say something.

"Senpai, I looked up to you," I told him. "I wanted to be you..."

I couldn't bear to look him in the eyes. They looked sincere, which was something I didn't realize he was capable of feeling.

"I liked you, too," I admitted. 'But, when you left the team..."

I felt his arms wrap around me as he pulled me closer.

"As much as I liked you, my lovely kouhai, us getting any deeper into a relationship would only end in disaster, y'know?" he explained. "You were just the cutest vice captain!"

"Senpai—"

"Sanada, the person you should be with isn't me, m'kay? Even if I was single, I would never be the one to make you happy."

"I know," I sighed. "I just wish you didn't have to be such a bastard about it."

Mouri-senpai burst out laughing. "Sorry, sorry."

It had been a week since the World Cup started and Japan made it out of the groups and into the main tournament stage. After a sudden withdrawal from the tournament, the team managed to make it to the quarterfinals, where we were pitted against France—one of the Big 4. As luck would have it, I was placed in the Singles 2 match and Renji was to be paired up with Mouri-senpai for Doubles 1. Needless to say, Renji was less than pleased with the arrangement and Yukimura was not content about it either. 

"I can't believe that old drunk paired you up with him ," Yukimura spat.

"It is not ideal, but it's the coach's decision," Renji sighed. "I'll need to rearrange my schedule to gather intel..."

"Good luck getting anything on him ," Yukimura scoffed. "Honestly, what was the coach thinking?"

"I'm sure Coach Mifuune had his reasoning," I tried to be the neutral voice in this conversation. "Anyway, I better get back to practice if I'm supposed to be playing in that match."

I left my two friends to head to the practice courts on my own, but I ran into Mouri-senpai on my way there with his own racket in hand.

"Senpai, are you practicing?" I asked.

"Mmhmm! Don't wanna let Yanagi down, y'know?" he smiled. 

"Yukimura and Renji are still angry with you, Mouri-senpai."

The smile on his face dimmed slightly. "I know. They'll never forgive me."

"Have you tried to apologize to either of them yet?" 

I was met with silence as his eyes lit up with another idea of his. "You're a genius, Sanada!" he exclaimed before he ran off.

I wondered what he was getting himself up to, but I had to practice if I wanted to ensure our team's victory.

It wasn't until the next day that I saw Mouri-senpai again at the match. Renji seemed equally as annoyed as he was yesterday when their match started. The first set was in our favour before they stopped for a break. Mouri-senpai threw something at Yukimura, which he instinctively caught. I took a look at the item that was tossed and felt a strange sense of nostalgia.

A cold bottle of Yukimura's favourite sports drink—the same one his "Sports Drink Fairy" always brought. Mouri Jusaburou was the fairy all this time.

I could sense that Yukimura wanted to cry, so I handed him a tissue from my pocket. 

"Here." He took the thin sheet from my hand. "It really was him after all, huh?"

" He cared, Sanada," Yukimura tried to tell me. His voice was barely audible. "All this time..."

I wrapped one of my arms around him in reassurance and said nothing more.

The match wrapped up in three sets, where we lost the first, but won the second and third with ease. Following Echizen Ryoma's victory, I took down that wannabe ninja before France's team captain forced him to retire from the match. It was a rather anticlimactic end to the quarterfinals, but a win is a win. 

Yukimura wanted to go explore the area we were staying in with the rest of the team, so we all decided to follow him. As we set out to go find Renji, Akaya spotted him in the distance, talking with Mouri-senpai. I knew the conversation was important, so I ran after that idiot Akaya before he could ruin it.

"Akaya, stop!" I commanded. "Don't interfere!"

"Yanagi-senpai, please protect me!" 

Mouri-senpai began walking off with that other tall player with the strange hair. Akaya jumped onto Renji and clung onto him like a rabid animal.

"Akaya! I told you not to interfere!" I scolded him.

"It's fine, Genichirou," Renji responded. "What are you all doing out here?"

"We're going out to the shopping centre and wanted to see if you're coming too," Niou said.

"It's not the same without you there, Yanagi," Marui added. "Plus, you gotta celebrate that win in Doubles 1!"

"I suppose I do not have much of a choice," Renji smiled. "Akaya, please let go. I promise I am not going anywhere."

"Damn right, you aren't!" he shouted.

Yukimura and Renji started to have their own conversation before Yukimura decided to run after Mouri-senpai. "You guys go ahead. I have something I need to do."

"I'll stay behind," I informed the rest of them. "You can all go ahead."

A part of me shuddered in fear at the impending, unmitigated disaster that was going to befall the entire area. I placed my hands in my jacket pocket and felt a strange lump in my left one. I pulled the item out to see what it was. 

It was that same Usainu on Renji's bag. There was a small tag that had the words 'I'm sorry' written on it and tied to the tail. 

"Senpai, you bastard..."

I feel like such a fool for ever believing that Mouri Jusaburou never cared about us. He may be an idiot, but I suppose he has his own way of showing that he cared.