Flayn (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
seems_fishy) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
synergetic2024-03-16 04:44 pm
seems_fishy) wrote in synergetic2024-03-16 04:44 pm
Entry tags:
Doubling Down
Flayn was still looking forward to this match.
From the way he smiled when he described his plan, she knew he meant for her to feel excited and confident in its success. She'd done her best to meet his expectations, and she was still excited about getting to play with him. She would see even more of his playing this way; she would have much to learn from!
At the same time, for him to generally say leave most of this to me, feels... well. She doesn't quite want to name the feeling and make it real, she'd rather hold on to the way she felt when she opened his drawing of the yellow rose. Because she was sure that the same heart was behind both decisions. One just felt better than the other; that was all.
With practice winding down, she helps the first year girls put away the unneeded balls (it was only fair), craning her neck constantly to see if the boys were ready. They were at least easy to spot, being so tall...
She waved hopefully when it looked like they were putting things away, too.
From the way he smiled when he described his plan, she knew he meant for her to feel excited and confident in its success. She'd done her best to meet his expectations, and she was still excited about getting to play with him. She would see even more of his playing this way; she would have much to learn from!
At the same time, for him to generally say leave most of this to me, feels... well. She doesn't quite want to name the feeling and make it real, she'd rather hold on to the way she felt when she opened his drawing of the yellow rose. Because she was sure that the same heart was behind both decisions. One just felt better than the other; that was all.
With practice winding down, she helps the first year girls put away the unneeded balls (it was only fair), craning her neck constantly to see if the boys were ready. They were at least easy to spot, being so tall...
She waved hopefully when it looked like they were putting things away, too.
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But he can live with that... a quick look tells him Fujimiya is still in sight, and it would be a damn poor showing if he couldn't face it as calmly as she did.
He doesn't need to hear his own voice. Nor Yukimura's, for that matter.
He doesn't immediately want to let on that Yukimura has gotten to him-- he'll realize it soon enough. He always does. That means continuing with his plan as stated, and he explains the Black Dragon's ins and outs.
But he's going to need a moment to acclimate to not having his hearing-- in some ways, it'll help his focus, and his sight is already quicker, but for now, he just serves Wind, and gets a rally going.
Flayn watches closely, a bit concerned that he hasn't truly attacked yet, but Yukimura's changed plan has revitalized her, gotten her more excited now that he seems to be more trusting of her.
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It wasn't impossible; it has been done before. Twice, at any rate.
No, this wasn't the right thing to be thinking about. It wasn't about winning. It was about making the most of this chance to pair with Sanada on the court. They didn't need to win for her to do that.
The rally begins, Yukimura taking the lead in fending off Sanada's attacks, and Aya sees her chance: a return shot to her court, and Yukimura's eyes fill with alarm as he meets her ready gaze, and it's just not quickly enough for him to change plans. She steps forward and fires it back in a clean shot straight past his stunned expression.
"...15-Love," Niou announces.
"Yatta!" Aya jumps in cheer and raises her hand for a high five with an energy of brazen confidence to rival Yukimura's himself as she changes sides with Sanada for the second serve.
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It doesn't always go like this. Usually, he's angrier and more frustrated, but having witnessed how Aya just threw off the yips like it was nothing and then turned around and scored on him again to-- Absolutely she's earned a high-five, and he gives it with almost as much shock as Yukimura.
Flayn pops in close to Yukimura, concerned. Having never seen him surprised before...
"We are still on the right track, are we not?" she asked, voice pitched not to carry.
On the other side, Sanada looks at Aya, still a bit in awe.
"He'll recover quickly," Sanada told her. "He always does."
He still had to make good on his threat to use the Black Dragon aura, for just such an occasion.
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"Yeah, we're fine," he assures Flayn, and feels his self-annoyance melt away. He wasn't going to let Fujimiya get a ball past him like that again.
Something has changed in their opponents' combination, however. Fujimiya's eyes no longer reflect wariness but passion. Yukimura's tennis thrives on negativity, and there's no longer any to be found in his original target. Well, there was still Sanada. He, too, would likely overcome it give time, but for the spell he was affected, that was a period of advantage. They would simply have to use it to seal the victory.
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Sanada, still with his sight but beginning to feel his senses of smell and taste go -- not necessary for playing but useful to gauge exactly how deeply he was mired in Yukimura's domination of the court -- couldn't help smiling at the sight of her. Enthusiasm was doing a lot of work in this match, although he wasn't sure quite why Aya was into it. Perhaps she just wanted to make a good showing for the ladies' club against the more celebrated boys?
It would be okay as long as he was still thinking he coherently. As long as he didn't fall into the pit of frustration, the anger truly unworthy of Japan's second-best high school tennis player, as long as he didn't sink to the level of actually hating Yukimura, something that was usually impossible but that friendly fire match made him wonder...
"Invade like fire!!" he called, reacting to the ball coming toward him and unable to hear himself, shooting straight for Yukimura this time, smile slowly widening, unsure if it was because he thought he could win or because he could still play.
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In truth, it could be any of those, or any number of other candidates, from Yukimura's opening formation to Flayn's moment of breaking out in spite of it. As Marui has watched this match unfold, the surprises just keep stacking up. Maybe the greatest lesson to take here is just how much they all still had to discover, both about their tennis and about themselves, from playing matches with the women's team. Marui doesn't think all that has unfolded today is coincidental to that factor.
Yukimura probably didn't imagine such an outcome when he orchestrated it. It sounded like an indulged whim from what Marui heard. What does he think now that he's actually standing out there with Flayn? Does he realize his partner has taken over as the mood maker of the court?
For a doubles specialist like Marui, it's an amazing combination to watch. For all the wrong reasons. Yukimura and Flayn were both insanely talented players on their own. They were both uncommonly skilled at doubles (Yukimura because he was just that good at tennis, Flayn because she was a natural for doubles itself). As people, they seemed to get on quite well. But their compatibility as a tennis team was unfathomably awful. It was nothing to do with how they got along, or the positions they favored or their ability to read each other's movements. It was all about their respective energies. It's the first time he's seen anything like it.
Almost out of nowhere, Marui wishes he could see a match between Flayn and Echizen. What an interesting sight that would be.
Sanada and Aya, on the other hand, are pairing well. Their mutual respect and trust is evident, and after only a few minutes in the beginning, they seemed to have acclimated to each other's impact on the court, each using their strengths to support the other. When Yukimura returns Fire, Aya is ready with a slice that seems certain to land in the deuce court, but it arcs sharply into the advantage court on its path to the ground. Yukimura isn't fooled and runs to the advantage court to receive it, undoubtedly reading the trajectory from the high spin on the ball. By the time it's returnable, however, Aya is already at the net, forcing Yukimura to either return to Sanada or lob a chance ball.
...Or he could choose a drive shot right at her feet. Just like Yukimura! That's a nearly impossible return standing that close to the net. Only Jirou could manage an angle like that. Aya squeaks and leaps back, letting the ball rebound high into the air, on its way out of the court.
"Sanada-kun!" She calls in prompt for him to cover, already running cross-court to fill the void Sanada's rush to snare the fly ball would leave.
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Sanada only has a second to react. He only needs a second to react. No time to explain that one to Flayn but the way her eyes narrow, he suspects she gets the gist of it.
Something in him, not just his tennis, electrifies at the thought that Fujimiya really trusted him to make that save. Against Yukimura. She has to know-- she certainly knows that was never guaranteed and yet, in this moment...
He can hear Flayn's sudden groan of frustration and suddenly he knows the way to drive it all home.
"Black Dragon, first slash!" he exclaims, winding the ball too far way from Flayn's path for her to ever intercept. "The black aura and the double clutch... can change the path of the ball!"
But Sanada knows without looking that Yukimura is already, will already be prepared to return it, even if he sends the second slash to Flayn. Doubles is the weak point of the double clutch.
"Black Dragon, second slash!" he calls then, once Flayn has changed course too far to change back, and sends it to where she would have been if she hadn't moved.
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The point is over and called before he can fully process what just happened. Sanada....
Yukimura can hardly believe the evolution he's just seen. Lightning double clutch.
Fujimiya jumps and cheers "That was the best!" before turning to him and pulling down an eyelid with a stuck-out tongue. It's playful and childish and completely on-brand. Yukimura doesn't give her the satisfaction of a response. He simply doesn't understand it: how did Fujimiya so quickly go from trapped in the dark void of yips, needing Sanada to guide her to the other side of the court, to brimming with confidence, her eyes bright and focused and alive? How was she ready to return that ball? Yukimura had thought that surely the hope and pressure of wanting to help Sanada have a good match would overwhelm her. What brought her back into the light?
Sanada, too, seemed to be regaining his senses rather than them slipping further away. Fujimiya's entrusting the return to him seems to have rejuvenated his will. Was that even possible? Doubles was no safeguard against yips, even with solid teamwork and complete trust. Where did this second wind come from?
"Look alive, Flayn-chan!" She pep-talks from across the net. "The real game starts now."
Yukimura, as though remembering she's there for the first time since the score changed to 30-0, looks back to check on her.
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"That looked amazing!!" she exclaimed.
"Only because you weren't there for all the years I was preparing it for Tezuka," he said matter-of-factly.
"I quite disagree," she answered, making him smile in surprise. "Ohh, honestly I think that would make it even better! It makes me feel better, that it took a lot of years of work... Maybe someday I could do something that splendid!"
"Th-there's nothing splendid about it," Sanada protested, and suddenly snapped his fingers next to his ear, just to be sure, absolutely sure, his sense returned. He was a little embarrassed, but admiration that was unequivocally sincere -- not poisoned by envy or trying to get on fukubuchou's nonexistent good side -- was a bit of a rush, and he was firing on all cylinders all of a sudden.
"You're a hundred years too late to reach this peak," he said imperiously, feeling renewed and rejuvenated. "Lightning isn't even damaging my body the way it normally does."
"I do not have to reach the peak," Flayn called back giddily. "I only have to make you stumble!"
"For that you're a thousand years too late!!"
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Flayn hardly seems to have needed Fujimiya's encouragement. Her utter delight after losing the point is at odds with everything Yukimura associates with tennis and Rikkai's tennis club culture. And it's contagious, if Sanada's behavior is any indication. When was the last time he looked so happy in the middle of one of their battles? The thought is at once endearing and painful. No doubt about it, he's regained his sense of hearing as well. Yukimura can read Sanada's snap by the ear for the sanity check that it is, and narrows his eyes.
...
It's Flayn.
The epiphany hits like a block of ice dropped in the stomach. Everything she's saying to Sanada is anathema to the taunting psychological weardown that heralds yips. She's not rattling their opponents' confidence, she's boosting it.
This match was a terrible idea.
He's stuck, too: Flayn is so happy, he can't crush that, but if he doesn't do something, they're going to... to Sanada... He can't, won't let that happen. And he doesn't have to. This is doubles, after all!
"But I'm not!" He retorts as he rescues the next shot, and feels a rush of satisfaction (and dare anyone say it, joy) that spreads across his face in a smile.
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Sanada's heart was hammering in his chest, adrenaline shooting through his veins, just from Yukimura's retort. For the next two seconds, all he wanted to do was make sure he hit back Yukimura's ball--
But that was exactly what Yukimura was expecting. And this is doubles.
This time he returns it, but he looks at Aya after, gauging what they need to do next, and is struck by her serenity. She's supported by the kind of strength that only comes from the certainty that she's already won. It's the same kind of awe-inspiring aura Yukimura emits, even when Sanada's stood beside him knowing that he doesn't actually know if he'll win or not. But it is the greatest feeling to have on your side.
And yet Yukimura still hasn't given up. Thinking back, he was thinking about something before responding to Sanada, and Sanada wonders what it was, what he realized. He hasn't given up fighting and with all of his senses, Sanada can finally really see him in his element from this side of the net.
Who's will is the strongest here? He's always known it to be Yukimura's, victory is inevitably his, but Fujimiya's and Von Aegir's changes to the equation are more than he imagined and he, for once, doesn't have his own certainty that Yukimura will win.
It's terrifying and a little thrilling, or thrilling and a little terrifying, but he's with Aya on this one. Whatever happens next.
Whatever she does next...
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It's the adrenaline in both cases. But it's enough. The game is no longer terrifying but thrilling, and suddenly-- it's not that Yukimura has developed blind spots, but his and Flayn's combination is full of them. She can see them all so well now, like glimmers of light across the court. It's almost too easy. She hardly notices the passage of time and their swelling lead. What she sees is the opponents' ragged determination and tenacity. Peripherally, she's aware of Yukimura's frustration and growing desperation to not lose this game, but more in her focus is Flayn's excitement and drive to keep trying simply for the fun of playing. That's right; that's the energy to ride out to the finish.
Match point. Sanada's double clutch sends the ball sharply askew to the corner of the court. A strangled cry tears from Yukimura's throat as he dives and sends the ball whizzing back like a bullet. He skids across the court paving, scraping up his limbs and dirtying his jersey. The ball smacks against the top of the net and rolls along the top, not unlike Bunta's most famous volley.
She knows, before it even happens, it's going to follow the same trajectory too. She moves without further thought. Knows without words that it's hers. Her racket arcs parallel to the ground and taps the ball with the frame back to the opponents' side without touching the net. It feels like slow motion watching it drop, not two inches from the net, and come to rest with barely a second bounce, sealing the outcome of the match at six games to four-- the same score Yukimura suffered to Echizen years ago.
The silence that follows is deafening.
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He doesn't have any words for either Aya or Yukimura, just an icy drop in his stomach looking at him, wondering...
But Flayn is beside him before he can react beyond that, looking at his scrapes with a cute little crease between her eyebrows and he feels his blood start to run again as he looks at Aya.
"You've really done it..."
Meanwhile, Flayn was looking over Yukimura with concern, breathing hard.
"That was magnificent," she insisted, pulling a handkerchief from her pocket and brushing some of the grit and dirt from his arm. "I almost wish I could see it again!"
Oh, but she was probably hurting him worse, and she was breathing hard from the exertion and so was he and she could see Sanada approaching the net with a hand outstretched and before that she threw her arms around Yukimura's shoulders with a laugh.
"That whole match was amazing," she said breathlessly.
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Yukimura almost feels weightless as reality closes around him and steals a piece of his pride that he'll never get back. It's a milestone in his friendship and rivalry with Sanada, one the selfish side of him wishes never to have seen, even as another part of him fights to remind him: he's also deeply proud of Sanada. How tirelessly he's pushed himself, how long he's strived to reach this moment where he could extend his hand across the net as the victor between them. He can't manage happiness for him, but he has so much respect for how hard it's been earned.
The stinging scrapes on his limbs barely register. Sweat-dampened bangs cling to his face and stripe his view of Aya removing the hair pins and shaking her braids loose.
"Me? This is doubles, you know," she winks at Sanada with an expression so full of warmth and fulfillment even he can't miss it. "I'm glad I could be a part of this with you. Congratulations, Sanada-kun."
Yukimura pushes himself up as Flayn dusts him off, then simply throws her arms around him like this must be the best day of her life. What a strange feeling to be so pleasant after defeat. At least she's happy with it all. That's who it was for, right?
He smiles at her, torn between ruefulness for the outcome and gratification for her pleasure in spite of the fact. "You have good spirit; if you keep playing opponents like Sanada and Fujimiya, your strength will grow rapidly. As for me, that was an embarrassing introduction to my tennis. Come watch me play singles, okay?"
Accepting Flayn's offered hand up, he gets to his feet and approaches the net with her, extending his hand to shake Sanada's with a smile.
"Don't think I'm going to let it end with this. Sanada."
'Congratulations' simply couldn't be voiced. It was too much like saying their rivalry was over.
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But for a moment, he wonders if it was worth it, if he hasn't broken something that shouldn't be broken, shattered something that can't be repaired, the last thing he wants to be is a shadow in Yukimura's mind like Echizen or Tezuka. The way that Yukimura has gently oppressed him all this time is something he'd never, ever want to do in return--
"It's never going to end," Sanada promises him, the sun seeming to come out again when Yukimura smiles and takes his hand. Loss isn't defeat; merely an opportunity to come back better, and he smiles back, in spite of himself, because even now he isn't satisfied with merely winning a doubles match. There will be other matches, other wins and even other losses in the future.
Aya is radiant with her congratulations and something in him suddenly feels hot stuck between the two of them. Yukimura is probably faking some of his contentment (he knows what Echizen does to people), but his gratitude for that kind of friendship and rivalry is enough to make his chest burst, and Aya's elation is just as deserving.
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Aya, then, turns her attention to Flayn as they shake hands alongside Yukimura and Sanada. "That energy and spirit of yours out there was the best! Hey, wanna go get crepes? I'm dying for some sugar after all that."
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She spares a glance for her partner and Aya's, and they're with each other, but far apart, too. She senses something great happening in both their minds, and while she'd love to spend a little more time with Yukimura, he's already gone above and beyond for her.
So she smiles gratefully at Aya, and bids the boys all a fond goodnight.