Okay this is my 23 Chapter I got a little surprise for you in my videos hope you like 23
Enjoy.
Tokyo Tennis Gardens Courts
Momoshiro couldn't understand. How come he'd never heard of Echizen's brother before?
He'd picked Echizen up from his house on his bike every day, and he had not once seen another Echizen. He noticed that his uniform was different, so he didn't go to Seigaku, so he'd decided that the other Echizen lived somewhere else. But then he heard Echizen ask the other Echizen if he was going home after the match, so the other Echizen definitely lived with their Echizen.
So if their Echizen lived with the other Echizen, and the other Echizen went to a different school, then the other Echizen must leave at a different time to their Echizen. That meant that the other Echizen went to a school further away, and suddenly he was curious why the other Echizen didn't follow their Echizen to Seigaku.
So why didn't he? And how come their Echizen never mentioned him?
"Oy, Echizen" he called, grabbing the attention of the two.
"What is it, Momo-senpai?" Their Echizen asked, and he realised his mistake of using 'Echizen' rather than their first names.
"Not you, the other Echizen" Momoshiro clarified. Their Echizen frowned and looked toward the other Echizen.
"How come you don't go to Seigaku?" he asked, and the other Echizen frowned in response, and made weird signs with his hands, and Momoshiro frowned before glancing at their Echizen.
"He says 'Because I found a school with a better education system'" Their Echizen replied. Momoshiro narrowed his eyes.
He sacrificed time with their Echizen for a 'better education system'? That can't be right, there must be another reason.
"Heh? You went to a different school for a 'better education system'?" he pressed, and their Echizen frowned.
"Yes, Momo-senpai, that's what people tend to do" he said irritably, before turning away, ceasing any reply from Momoshiro.
There was a pause, as Momoshiro sighed loudly and looked back up to the game of Fuji and Kawamura playing Fudomine. They were being hard pressed, especially Fuji, and he was worried how it would turn out.
"By the way" Their Echizen began, and Momoshiro looked back at him, but their Echizen was looking at the other Echizen.
"How did your tennis match go? I never asked". Momoshiro blinked, the other Echizen played tennis too? Before the other Echizen could lift his hands Kikumaru materialized in mid-air in front of them.
"Nya? Ochibi's brother plays tennis too?" he asked, looking between the two Echizens, and their Echizen just nodded.
"We play against each other a lot, and we're both at the same level" he replied coolly, and Momoshiro looked at the other Echizen sharply. He was at the same level as their Echizen? He must be really good.
"Nya!" Kikumaru cried, "Can you play a match with me, Echizen?" he asked giddily, practically bouncing as he made large eyes at the other Echizen.
"Kikumaru-senpai" Their Echizen interrupted, "How come you use his last name but not mine?" he demanded, and Kikumaru just blinked.
"Because you're Ochibi, of course. Nya~" he replied, and their Echizen just sighed loudly. Momoshiro couldn't help but smile.
"So will you?" Kikumaru pressed, turning back to the other Echizen. The other Echizen looked at him for a while before shaking his head.
"Nya!" Kikumaru wailed, "Why not?". The other Echizen made signs again, and Kikumaru looked to their Echizen for translation.
"Ochibi! What'd he say?" he asked, but their Echizen just smiled teasingly.
"Mada mada dane, Kikumaru-senpai" he claimed.
"Ochibi!"
Tokyo Tennis Gardens
Roko had managed to slip away whilst Ryoma and the red-head engaged in an argument about something, but whatever it was he wasn't really interested. He just needed some time away from Seigaku, they were far too loud, especially the red-head and spiky-haired guy.
He'd managed to find the vending machine and purchased another bottle of iced tea with the loose change he had, and the bottle fell down with a metallic clunk.
"I thought I'd find you here"
Roko half turned to the sound of the voice, somehow not surprised that the girl - Tachibana Ann was her name - was standing there with a hesitant look on her face.
"I saw you making signs earlier. Are you deaf or something?" she pressed, and Roko was quite surprised at the lack of formalities. But it was also clear this girl hadn't thought this through. One, because if Roko was deaf, he wouldn't be able to hear her question anyway. Two, if she knew that Roko was making signs, then she probably assumed that he would use signs to answer her, signs which she wouldn't understand. But he was mostly amused by how blunt she was. Roko shook his head as a response, and Tachibana frowned.
"You're not deaf?" she asked hesitantly, and Roko decided to put her out of her misery, and he made a single sign.
"Mute"
But to his surprise, Tachibana's eyes glowed with shock, and she suddenly looked very guilty.
"Oh I'm so sorry" she apologized quickly, "I had no idea you were mute". Roko paused.
"You can understand me?" his hands asked, and Tachibana smiled before making her own signs.
"Yes I can, it's nice to meet you" her hands replied. Roko was stunned; he'd never known anyone outside of his family and Sanada who knew sign language.
"How did you know I would be here?" his hands asked.
"You were here the last time we met" her hands explained, and Roko realised that in fact this was the exact same spot he'd met Tachibana Ann. It felt almost like dejá vu, except now they were having a proper conversation instead of one-sided questions.
"Are you supporting your brother?" her hands asked, and Roko frowned before making signs back.
"Not really, I'm just here to watch his game" he replied. Tachibana seemed to smile wider.
"Want to sit with us for the game?" her hands asked. Roko blinked as he remembered that Tachibana was the sister of Fudomine's captain, so by 'us' she meant the Fudomine regulars. Tempting, after all, they must be quieter than Seigaku, and Roko quite liked the captain, he was polite and didn't intrude on his privacy unlike Kamio and Shinji.
"OK" he replied simply, and Tachibana smiled softly, and lead Roko back to the bleachers on the other side of the court.
Roko scanned the court, which was empty, and he realised that the boy-girl and the ginger were both back on the bleachers, the scoreboard reading a forfeit. Roko mentally scowled as he realised that Ryoma's opponents were a challenge, unlike the useless teams he played in Kanagawa. It was so unfair, why were Tokyo's teams so much better?
The Fudomine regulars were all sat conversing among themselves before the start of the next match, and they all looked up when they noticed the two of them approaching. It wasn't until they were about to sit down did Kamio intervene.
"Oy, you, what are you doing here?" he demanded, and Roko mentally sighed.
"Kamio!" Tachibana snapped, "Leave him alone". Kamio looked confused, as did the rest of the team, while Roko smiled amusedly at how she was defending him.
"But Ann-chan" he protested, "He refused to speak to you"
"He's mute, Kamio" Tachibana stated irritably, and Kamio spluttered with wide eyes, sharing looks of shock with the rest of the team. Roko scowled and made signs to Tachibana.
"You didn't have to tell them" he stated, and Tachibana rolled her eyes before responding.
"He wouldn't leave you alone if I didn't" her hands replied, and Roko had to agree with that. He then noticed Shinji looking at him curiously rather than shocked or pitiful.
"Why did you bring him here, Tachibana-chan?" Shinji asked.
"Because he looked annoyed with the loud Seigaku regulars" she responded.
"Won't his brother be looking for him?" Shinji asked. Roko intervened and made signs.
"I won't miss him" he said with a smirk. Tachibana chuckled in response, and sat down on the bleachers, Roko following suit, with the rest of the team looking at them confusedly, except the captain who had a stoic mask in place like Sanada. The team consisted of the captain, Tachibana Kippei, Kamio the red-head, Shinji the rude guy, Ishida the bandana guy with lots of muscle on him, a black haired guy, a guy with a cap, and Masaya the brown haired guy with bangs. So he knew most of the team, which was a start.
He then noticed that on the other side of the courts Ryoma was staring at him with a raised eyebrow, and Roko made signs.
"It's quieter over here, you should join me" his hands said, and Roko could detect a smirk from his brother.
"I can't sadly, maybe next time" was his reply from across the court, and Roko smirked.
"Eh? Who're you talking to?" he heard Kamio ask. Roko turned to him and made signs, and Kamio frowned.
"He says 'I'm talking to my brother at the other side of the court'" The captain translated. The rest of the team looked at Tachibana Kippei surprised, who was half turned to Roko.
"Buchou, you know sign language too?" Ishida asked, sat next to his captain. Tachibana nodded once, the other Tachibana cutting in.
"We were both taught sign language at a young age" she added with a smile. Roko nodded and smiled; it seemed this team had more than one person to talk to, that was something at least.
"Do you play tennis, Echizen?" Shinji asked from out of nowhere, and Roko nodded in response. Suddenly the entire team leaned forward except the captain, promptly invading Roko's personal space.
"Are you as good as Echizen Ryoma?" Shinji continued, and Roko made signs.
"I play with him a lot, so we're on the same level" Ann translated, and the team leaned forward even further, and Roko tried to appear unfazed as he felt six pairs of eyes staring into his soul.
"Leave him alone" Tachibana said flatly, and everyone immediately moved back to their seats, much to Roko's amusement.
"Ne, Echizen" Ann said, and Roko turned to her.
"Do you want to get some food after this? We were going to go to a noodle bar not far from here" she offered, and Roko was surprised, no one had ever invited him somewhere aside from Ryoma. He quickly glanced at the rest of the team, and he could tell that none of them had a problem with it, aside from Kamio who was scowling, but he assumed that was because he hadn't let go of him not speaking to Ann earlier. He was used to stubborn people, so Roko promptly ignored it and nodded his head.
Ann's eyes lit up and she smiled widely.
"Great!" she cheered, and Roko smiled softly, again ignoring Kamio's scowl.
Tokyo Tennis Gardens Courts
Fuji was disappointed, he'd hoped after his match he could ask Echizen Roko all sorts of questions and get to know him better, and maybe know a few secrets about their Echizen along the way. But those plans dissolved like sugar in a teacup when he saw the second Echizen sat on the other side of the court with the Fudomine regulars.
It seemed that the second Echizen really was with that girl during that first game, and at least Fuji had gotten some blackmail material out of that. But that didn't make him feel any more satisfied with himself, since he so desperately wanted to know about Echizen Roko. He saw him exchanging signs with the girl, and he scowled as he realised he had no idea what they were saying.
Fuji hated not knowing things more than anything. He had acknowledged that he was nosy, and it was probably a bad habit, but right now he couldn't care less if it was a bad habit. He somehow needed to know what they were saying.
"Echizen" he called, getting their kouhai's attention.
"Huh?" he mumbled, and Fuji glanced at the Fudomine regulars.
"Why is your brother with Fudomine?" Fuji asked, and Echizen raised an eyebrow before turning to look at the bleachers at the other end of the court, eyes widening as he realised that his brother was in fact with the Fudomine regulars.
"Eh? Why is he with them?" Momoshiro asked in the background.
"Fssshhh" Kaidoh hissed, "Probably to get away from you, idiot". Momoshiro's gaze snapped to him in an instant.
"What was that, mamushi!?" he demanded. Kaidoh gritted his teeth in annoyance.
"Enough" Tezuka said simply without turning to them, and with that the two stopped and returned to their seats.
Fuji noticed that their Echizen was making signs at no one, and he turned to his direction and noticed he was actually making signs to his brother from across the court. He smiled as he realised the convenience of learning sign language, and distantly wondered if he should start taking lessons.
"What did he say, Echizen?" he asked softly when he noticed Echizen's smirk.
"Mada mada dane, senpai" he replied coolly, and Fuji pushed down the scowl that was trying to make its way into his mask.
This would be harder than he thought.
"Inui" he said as an afterthought, and Inui, who was sat behind him, looked up from his notebook.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Can you do me a favour and gather as much data on Echizen Roko as possible?" Fuji asked. Inui smirked.
"Already on it, it'll take a while, but I'm confident I'll find some good data"
Fuji turned back to the courts as the second game was announced with a smile. He was looking forward to Inui's results.
Tomorrow there will be vague plot/story, so look forward to that