Sakina twirled the tennis racquet between her fingers and took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. The upcoming tennis tournament would be in less than two weeks and Sakina could feel her heart beating within her chest.
Fear and anxiety flowed through her mind and thoughts. What if she wasn't ready? What if she messed up and made a fool of herself? Above all else, What if she brought Seigaku down and failed her teammates?
Sakina exhaled and allowed the air to exit her mouth. Getting worked up over a possible failure is not healthy.
All she Can do is try Her best.
Sakina began to grip her racquet tighter and started her practice. As was her habit, she started off with hitting the ball against the wall repeatedly and constantly changed the pacing.
The only sound emitted was the ever changing patter of the ball against the hard surface of the wall.
This continued for an hour before Sakina stopped and took a drink from her water bottle.
"You've gotten better,"
Sakina turned to see Momoi watching her from a bench along with a data book and a pen tapping against her lips.
"How long have you been there Satsuki?" Sakina asked curiously, walking over to her.
Momoi smiled faintly. "I'm learning a few techniques from Tetsu,"
Sakina made no comment but instead sat beside Momoi and sighed in relief as she leaned backwards.
"I know tennis is not my expertise, but I've picked up a few useful data information that I think could help you a lot. I recorded some tennis matches and wrote down some info that you can use. I hope it helps,"
Momoi handed Sakina two CDs and the notebook before getting up and running her hands through her hair.
"Oh, Thank you," Sakina said, taking them.
"Glad to help you out. I'll see you later, I can't wait to see you play tennis,"
Momoi walked away and Sakina glanced down at the notebook.
It was thick and Sakina knew, even without looking inside, that each page was filled with information. It reminded her of Inui's notebook.
After carefully flipping through a few pages, Sakina couldn't help but be awed by the amount of Data collected. There were names of tennis players Sakina had never heard of as well as a few names she recognized.
One name in particular caught her attention.
"Shiraishi Kuranosuke," She murmured. Sakina looked at the data and tried to memorize as much as She could.
"Wow, Satsuki's data says that This guy is a B rank. He must be pretty strong," She murmured.
Inside the Data Notebook was a collection of useful information as well as more unique info.
Sakina found out a lot about Shiraishi by utilizing this feature. She also found out things that weren't related to tennis at all. But the most important Piece of information that she found was the school he attended.
With that information, Sakina decided to head to Shitenhoji.
Sakina placed the Notebook inside her tennis bag and slung the bag over her shoulder. She then took in a deep breath before beginning to run.
Sakina ran forwards, carefully weaving through the small groups of people who were walking about.
Suddenly, a student walked right in her path. It took every ounce of power she had to stop herself from running into the male. After skidding to an abrupt stop, Sakina tried to catch her breath.
Sakina looked up at the male as she breathed trying to remember who he was. After some seconds of consideration, Sakina finally recognized him as the one who always followed closely behind Atobe.
"Y- you are...K-Kabaji, right?" Sakina inquired, half unsure of herself.
Kabaji gave a slight nod before doing something unexpected. He silently lifted Sakina up by the waist and placed her over his shoulder before turning around and walking.
Shocked and stunned, Sakina was silent for a second before she burst into a fit of rage and tried to get him to put her down. No matter how much Sakina protested and struggled, Kabaji would not put her down and seemingly ignored her objections.
Accepting defeat, Sakina heaved a heavy sigh before going limp.
Sakina was faintly aware of the direction they were headed and recognized the exterior of the building as being the entrance of Hyotei.
She glanced up at the surprised expressions on the various students faces as they watched as she was carried. Even the tennis team all stopped and stared as Kabaji carried her into the tennis court.
Kabaji stopped and placed Sakina down in front of Atobe who didn't seem fazed at all.
Sakina was seated on the grass and blinked rapidly, confused and slightly embarrassed. After collecting herself, She leaped up and straightened her skirt a bit before looking up defiantly at Atobe and saying, "Why was I brought here?"
"Why? To play tennis," Atobe answered calmly.
Sakina puffed out her cheeks and gave a stern look but could feel the blush forming.
"Well, whose my opponent?" She murmured, looking away.
Before the answer was given, a loud burst of wild squeals interrupted and a small group of girls were rushing to the tennis court, or so it seemed.
Sakina adverted her attention towards them and wondered what could be the reason for all the excitement.
The group of girls were headed to the tennis court but the majority of them were walking backwards. Their attention seemed to be focused on the approaching individual.
"M-Murasakibara?!" Sakina shouted.
The purple haired giant caught sight of Her and gave a slight wave before eating more of the potato chips in his hands.
Murasakibara approached until he was right in front of Sakina and placed his large hand on top of her head and ruffled her hair.
"Ne, Sakichin It was hard finding you. I went to your school and you weren't there and so I had to ask around but I got hungry. Then I saw you. Akachin wants to see you."
Murasakibara stuffed his mouth with more potato chips.
With ease, Murasakibara grabbed Sakina by the waist and lifted her up.
Sakina struggled to form words and protested as best she could. Looking back she could see the annoyed look on Atobe's face.
Sighing yet again in defeat, Sakina allowed herself to go limp.
Murasakibara walked on, eating as he did so, ignoring the occasional remark of supremacy from Atobe who was following behind along with the Hyotei regulars.
When Murasakibara stopped and finally placed Sakina down, the group was standing in front of Rakuzan High School.
Sakina gently dusted herself off and sighed.
"Thank you for bringing her here, Atsushi," Akashi's voice said.
Akashi smiled at Sakina before his eyes wandered over to where Atobe and the tennis team stood.
"I see you also brought Hyotei as well," Akashi murmured, eying each and every one of them.
When Akashi locked eyes with Atobe, Sakina shivered. She could sense the invisible electrical shockwaves being sent between the two.
"Ah, um, Akashi...why did you want to see me?" Sakina inquired, attempting to quell the dangerous aura.
Akashi gave Sakina a small smile, "I thought it would be the best time to teach you the emperor eye since your tournament is soon."
Sakina's eyes lit up. "Really? I can't wait to learn it!"
Sakina glanced back and spotted an unused tennis racquet and picked it up.
"Ne Akachin, why don't you play a tennis match? You play tennis don't you?" Murasakibara questioned, having finished his bag of potato chips and was now eating pocky.
"Yes! Let's Play a match!" Sakina shouted excitedly.
"Sorry Hime-chan, but I think I should play first," Atobe said, taking the racquet from her.
Sakina glanced up at Atobe then at Akashi.
The air intensified. Sakina was about to protest when a hand on her shoulder interrupted her.
"You should take this opportunity to Observe both of them. I'm sure everyone wants to see what kind of player Akashi is."
"Yuushi..." Sakina murmured, slumping her shoulders. She sighed and glanced back at the two.
Both Atobe and Akashi were smiling at each other but it was obvious that they couldn't wait to obliterate one another.
"Pay close attention Sakina," Akashi said before walking towards the tennis court and into position.
It has only been a split second but Sakina could have swore that Akashi's eye color had changed.
As soon as Akashi was in position, his eyes wandered over to her and Sakina gasped. Akashi's usual maroon red eye had changed color. There was something odd about Akashi.
Sakina felt a deep sense of dread and gulped, instinctively placing her hand on her chest.
The aura around Akashi was different. It was as if another person was in the court.
It was Atobe's serve. He bounced the ball before throwing it in the air and hitting it hard. The movement of the ball was a blur, too fast to follow.
Sakina blinked, Akashi returned the ball. A rally between the two began. The ball was moving so fast that Sakina barely saw it. No, to say she saw it would be a lie. She saw the faint after image of where the ball had been but she hadn't actually seen the ball.
Sakina glanced between the two. She may not have seen it, but she knew both Akashi and Atobe could see the ball clearly.
Sakina focused her attention on Akashi's eyes, after all, that's where the emperor eye was located. The technique she needed to learn.
Akashi wore an unreadable look on his face, one of boredom and seriousness at the same time.
His eye seemed to draw her in. It was as if Sakina was entranced. It's while she's staring that she realized something.
"Akashi...can see it. He can really see it," She breathed.
Despite having no expertise in tennis, Akashi was holding his own Against Atobe.
This fact took Sakina by surprise. She glanced over to Atobe and could see he was getting rather annoyed and frustrated. It wasn't as if Atobe was losing, but Sakina felt that it was the fact that he MIGHT lose that Atobe was getting annoyed.
Sakina searched Atobe's expression that suddenly changed. "He's found a weakness," She muttered, quickly glancing back at Akashi.
As she thought, the ball whizzed to Akashi's side of the court and imbedded itself in the ground.
"F-fifteen Love!"
Sakina blinked and searched Akashi's face. There was no expression. Only a blank stare.
Sakina remembered that stare from when she first played shogi with Akashi. It was an expression that seemed to say, "is that all?"
Sakina shuddered. The match picked up again. It was a long match.
Atobe and Akashi played for what seemed like forever but in reality was only a couple of hours. The Sun was darkening, casting a pinkish hue down on the tennis court. And even then, neither one seemed to be willing to give up.
Sakina's stomach growled and she placed a hand on her stomach. "You be quiet," she whispered, stifling a yawn.
"You wanna snack?" Murasakibara asked, holding out a stick of pocky.
"Thanks,"
Sakina munched on the pocky as the match continued. Then, a familiar face appeared; Shira.
"Everyone must leave the property," She said.
Atobe and Akashi ignored her and continued on.
Shira frowned and dug in her bag, pulling out a tennis ball.
She threw it in the air and hit it towards the court. With unnatural accuracy, Shira's ball smacked into Atobe and Akashi's ball sending it flying out of the court.
Both boys glanced at her, giving her a disapproving look.
"Get off the courts now," Shira demanded.