After St. Rudolph
Apr. 3rd, 2010 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seigaku_no_nekoAs always, Ōishi is being way too nice about everything.
They lost.
They're the Golden Pair—the perfect doubles team, the ones who beat everybody. They're not supposed to lose.
But they did. And it was Eiji's fault.
Now Ōishi's almost acting like it never happened.
Eiji doesn't really mind. In fact, he's glad. He's trying to put this whole thing behind him, probably even more than Ōishi is. He doesn't want to think about it anymore.
But there's still that part of him, the part that remembers what happened every night before he goes to sleep. And he realizes that Ōishi won't even talk about it.
Shouldn't he say something? Maybe they should change their strategy, or Ōishi should make Eiji exercise more, or… something. But it's been the same thing every day—go to regular practice, then go home. At the end of every day, Ōishi says the same thing he always has: "Good job today, Eiji. See you tomorrow!"
Eiji is about to sigh, when a tennis ball hits the back of his head.
"Hey!" He turns around suddenly. It's Momo-chan.
"What's the matter, Eiji-senpai?" Momo asks. "You were spacing out."
Eiji waves a hand, grinning sheepishly. "Nothing, nothing." And then focuses on practice again.
Once it's over, he notices that his doubles partner has gone to talk with Tezuka—boring administrative stuff, probably. Eiji will have to wait around for them to finish, if he wants to walk home with Ōishi. How annoying.
He walks into the clubroom, but doesn't feel like changing yet. Then suddenly, he gets an idea. He starts to grin as he runs past his teammates to the back of the room, acting on his whim.
He's going to hide. He'll wait around in that dusty old equipment room in back, until Ōishi comes in to change and lock things up. And then he'll burst out of the door—maybe yell, too—and startle Ōishi. Eiji giggles. He can't wait to see Ōishi's face!
The door creaks open, and Eiji ducks inside. All of the equipment back here is really old; the room is really more of a storage shed at this point. Even the air smells old, Eiji notices, and coughs a little when he upsets some of the dust. He closes the door and peeks out the narrow window.
A few minutes pass. It's going to be a while. Bored, Eiji looks behind him again, and notices a small shaft of light coming from the opposite side of the room. After one last peek back into the clubroom, Eiji leaves the door to go investigate. He has time.
He makes his way nimbly over the piles of boxes and equipment, following the dusty trail of light. When he finally gets to the back of the room, he discovers that the light is coming from another narrow window, on another door. The window is too dusty to really see through. Does it go outside?
Eiji reaches out, and opens the door.
They lost.
They're the Golden Pair—the perfect doubles team, the ones who beat everybody. They're not supposed to lose.
But they did. And it was Eiji's fault.
Now Ōishi's almost acting like it never happened.
Eiji doesn't really mind. In fact, he's glad. He's trying to put this whole thing behind him, probably even more than Ōishi is. He doesn't want to think about it anymore.
But there's still that part of him, the part that remembers what happened every night before he goes to sleep. And he realizes that Ōishi won't even talk about it.
Shouldn't he say something? Maybe they should change their strategy, or Ōishi should make Eiji exercise more, or… something. But it's been the same thing every day—go to regular practice, then go home. At the end of every day, Ōishi says the same thing he always has: "Good job today, Eiji. See you tomorrow!"
Eiji is about to sigh, when a tennis ball hits the back of his head.
"Hey!" He turns around suddenly. It's Momo-chan.
"What's the matter, Eiji-senpai?" Momo asks. "You were spacing out."
Eiji waves a hand, grinning sheepishly. "Nothing, nothing." And then focuses on practice again.
Once it's over, he notices that his doubles partner has gone to talk with Tezuka—boring administrative stuff, probably. Eiji will have to wait around for them to finish, if he wants to walk home with Ōishi. How annoying.
He walks into the clubroom, but doesn't feel like changing yet. Then suddenly, he gets an idea. He starts to grin as he runs past his teammates to the back of the room, acting on his whim.
He's going to hide. He'll wait around in that dusty old equipment room in back, until Ōishi comes in to change and lock things up. And then he'll burst out of the door—maybe yell, too—and startle Ōishi. Eiji giggles. He can't wait to see Ōishi's face!
The door creaks open, and Eiji ducks inside. All of the equipment back here is really old; the room is really more of a storage shed at this point. Even the air smells old, Eiji notices, and coughs a little when he upsets some of the dust. He closes the door and peeks out the narrow window.
A few minutes pass. It's going to be a while. Bored, Eiji looks behind him again, and notices a small shaft of light coming from the opposite side of the room. After one last peek back into the clubroom, Eiji leaves the door to go investigate. He has time.
He makes his way nimbly over the piles of boxes and equipment, following the dusty trail of light. When he finally gets to the back of the room, he discovers that the light is coming from another narrow window, on another door. The window is too dusty to really see through. Does it go outside?
Eiji reaches out, and opens the door.
