When romance comes with certain death

Somewhere between our beach adventures and the World Cup exhibition matches, I caught Tsuki-san with another girl. He was sitting on a bench at a park in the representative town with this person. There was no way she was any older or younger than me. She was absolutely gorgeous with her contagiously radiant smile and she was somehow having a conversation with Tsuki-san! Well, it was more of her talking to him and Tsuki-san just nodding in response. Even his aizuchi was so Tsuki-san. There's no way for me to describe the way he is, other than to use his name as an adjective.

Because I was curious and interested in knowing who this dazzling beauty was, I decided to surprise attack Tsuki-san by jumping onto him. He could immediately sense a disturbance and leaned over to shield the girl as I flew past the bench's back and landed on the ground in front of them.

"Tsuki-saaaaaaaaaaan," I complained as I rose to my feet and snapped my joints back in place. "You're going to miss afternoon practice if you stay out here any longer."

He got off of the girl and looked at her with a soft expression. "Are you alright?"

She nodded and smiled warmly at him. "Just fine, Ochi-san."

"A friend of yours, Tsuki-san?" I grabbed the girl's hand and firmly shook it. "Mouri Jusaburou, Under 17 Japanese Representative," I proudly introduced.

Her cheeks were the cutest shade of pink from embarrassment. "I'm ," she managed to tell me.

"Eh, -chan? You have such a cute-"

I felt the murderous energy radiate from Tsuki-san as he dragged me back to our hotel, choking me by the collar of my jacket. He turned back to look at the girl and gave her a slight smile before pulling me away from her.

"S-see you later, O-Ochi-san," she waved back as I watched myself being slowly dragged to my death.

By the time we got back, I could tell my partner was fuming on the inside as he glared at me with his mental assassin-y glare. I felt my life flash before my eyes yet again as I braced myself for the worst. Just as I felt like my life was forfeit, Byoudouin came storming down the hotel foyer, ready to end both of our existences.

"You two! Get your asses into my room! We have a war to prepare for," he yelled as his voice bellowed through the large room. Several people turned to look at us in horror; mainly because they have never heard an angry Japanese man yell so loudly before.

"Apologies." Tsuki-san let go of my collar and started heading towards the elevators without me.

"Tsuki-san, wait up!" I called out as I ran after him.

After that exhaustive meeting, I decided to go out for a walk to decompress. I would sleep, but something tells me I would die if I did that. At a time like this, I wonder why I was forced to pair up with my idiot doubles partner for the room assignments. My walk took me around whatever random streets this weird athletic village place had. It was getting late into the evening, but the sun was still shining brightly in the summer sky. I ended up returning to the same park earlier and, lo and behold, the girl was still there. I had nothing else to lose at this point and decided to strike up a conversation with her.

"-chan! Fancy seeing you here again."

She turned around, looking like a deer in the headlights. "M-Mouri-kun! H-hello..."

I never really noticed how small she was in comparison to me. She was about two heads shorter than me. Then again, I am freakishly tall; especially for a Japanese man. "What's a lovely girl like you doing in this park by yourself?"

She let out a small, adorable giggle. "I wanted to come and watch you all play. Of course, Nii-san was very apprehensive about that idea, but I got what I wanted at the end of the day."

"Your older brother? Who might that be?"

"If I tell you that, you'll run away from me," she smirked playfully.

"Oh! I get to play detective, huh? You sure know how to make things fun, -chan," I replied in my most sultry of voices. "I'm not sure I know! If you're not Duke-san's sister, then I'm stuck. Tsuki-san has an older sister, but I've seen her before. I don't know if anyone else has a sister as cute as you."

"You're pretty cute yourself, Mouri-kun," she laughed in the most adorable way possible.

"Hey now, it's 'Jusaburou' to you!"

"Alright, Jusaburou-kun." The way her angelic voice said my name made my heart skip a beat. "What do you like to do for fun?"

"Well, if we were in Japan, I would be doing stamp rallies at local shopping districts!"

Her confused expression was adorable. "Stamp rallies? Like, those weird promo events where you collect stamps on a sheet of paper for a chance to win a prize?"

"You've never done one? They're a great test of speed and luck! We should go together sometime."

"Eh, I'm not sure. We probably live far apart from each other, Jusaburou-kun." She tilted her head and leaned onto my shoulder. "But, I'm sure it'll be super fun if we do end up doing one together."

I wasn't sure what to say at this point, but I felt my heart thrash around painfully in my chest as my face got warmer and warmer. How could someone this adorable exist?

Thankfully, I was saved by an incoming phone call for -chan. "Hello? Oh!— Is it that late already, Nii-san?— Sure, I'll head back. I'll see you soon!" She let out a sigh as she closed her phone.

"Aw, is it midnight already, princess?"

"I am afraid so, my prince," she joked. "Perhaps, we shall see each other again?"

I pulled out my phone and handed it to her. "Add your number in. I'll text you when I'm free!"

She giggled as she started entering her details. "Then, perhaps, you could do the same?" She handed me her phone for me to enter in my number. "Just in case I get bored of waiting for you."

I laughed. "As if I could ever keep a lovely lady like you waiting!"

We handed back our phones to each other. "I'll be seeing you then, Jusaburou-kun." She jumped up and kissed me on the cheek before running off.

I never knew a girl could be so bold. As I reached my hand up to touch the spot where her lips briefly grazed my skin, my heart was beating uncontrollably. I really was in awe of this mysterious . Was this the love I was so desperate for? I wonder what terrible misfortunes await me now.

As I made my way back to the hotel, every step felt like I was walking in the clouds. The feeling was so surreal. I felt weightless and on top of the world right now! As I skipped into the lobby, I was met with dirty looks from my lovely kouhais, who were less than pleased to be graced by my presence. Yanagi gave me an especially dirty glare as I waved at the three of them before heading to the elevator up to my room. I watched them converse with each other as the door closed in front of me—probably saying something awful about their dear senpai.

Once I got back to my room, I took a quick shower and decided to curl up in my bed for the night. Tsuki-san was so busy being boring and working on school work that he didn't even bother to turn around to look at me. I took out my phone and started texting -chan to keep myself busy.

'Hey~ Miss me yet?'

'Not in the slightest :)' was her response.

"So cold..." I muttered to myself. 'Aw~ Did you make it back alright?'

'If I wasn't alright, do you think I would be texting you?'

'You do have a good point there!'

'You have a strange sense of humour. I'll talk to you later.'

I sighed as I placed my phone on the bedside table and threw the comforter over my head. I could hear Tsuki-san shift in his chair to look at me.

"Going to sleep?" he asked.

"Tsuki-san, I think I'm in love," I responded.

I could hear him exhale through his nose before turning back to scribble in one of his workbooks without another word. Another day, another Tsuki-san response...

The next day at practice, I was surprised to see -chan sitting in the seating surrounding our practice courts. She did mention her older brother was on the team, so I guess it's not much of a surprise that she's here to watch him. As much as I wanted to make conversation with her, Tsuki-san was going to kill me if I didn't at least practice half-seriously. Honestly, I would rather be sleeping, but I had to stay awake for this practice—Byoudouin-san doesn't want me to reveal my secret weapon carelessly! Tsuki-san and I were forced to rally against that snobby rich kid, Atobe, and one of my lovely kouhais, Yukimura. I could tell that Atobe wasn't particularly fond of this arrangement and my lovely kouhai was especially furious in his own cute way.

"It would do you well to take this seriously," my lovely kouhai spat.

"Aw, what fun would that be? Practice is practice, my lovely kouhai," I toyed. "And is that really how you'll speak to your own senpai?"

A cold smile filled with malice was staring right back at me. "I'm sorry; when were you ever in that position?"

I felt an icy glare pierce the back of my head from Tsuki-san as he unleashed a Mach Serve. As expected, my lovely kouhai returned the shot with ease. I ran up to the net to smash the ball and was met with another effortless return. Rather than return it, I let it fly past me for Tsuki-san to send back. Neither of them could return the shot and the game ended there. Both of the middle schoolers looked exhausted, but I wasn't sweating at all. They were working way too hard.

I walked up to Byoudouin-san with a playful, yet panicked expression on my face. "Byoudouin-san! I have to use the little boys' room," I pouted.

I watched him blink twice before rubbing his eyes in frustration. "Get the hell away from me, Mouri."

"You got it," I winked as I ran for the exits before anyone else could yell at me.

After actually heading to the washroom, I decided to wander around the stadium grounds alone. It didn't look much different from the last venue we played at—wherever that was again. The only downside was that the venue was a considerable walk away from the big shopping centre, meaning I couldn't run away and hide from Tsuki-san. I knew he would be coming to look for me very soon, so I decided to head back to meet up with the rest of the group. What I wasn't expecting was for someone to accompany me on the walk back.

'Turn around' the text read.

"You know you can just talk to me normally, -chan," I said out loud as I did what the text instructed me to do. "I promise I won't bite."

"My, how noble of you, Jusaburou-kun," was her sarcastic response. "You play quite well for someone who claims to not put in effort."

"Can't put in effort when Byoudouin-san says 'no'," I shrugged. "You haven't seen what I'm actually capable of doing."

"Hiding your true strength? How refreshing."

"Can't have the other countries steal our data so easily, you know? Who knows; you might be a spy too!"

She snorted at the thought. "If I was a spy for another team, Nii-san would be heartbroken. I also would not be a good spy either. I don't understand much about tennis."

"Oh? Why did you come out all this way, then?"

"Because," she started twirling her silky locks between her fingers, "there's someone, other than Nii-san, that I want to see play."

This piqued my interests, though I'm fairly certain that she was referring to me. "What a lucky man he is, then," I said as I hinted towards myself.

She let out a small giggle as she grabbed hold of my left arm. I could feel my elbow graze her chest, which was slightly overwhelming, but I couldn't really complain. "He is. He's much easier to talk to compared to the others here."

I looked at my walking companion, who was smiling from ear to ear and radiating in mischievous energy. I felt myself melt a little. "Your level of cuteness should be illegal, -chan." I can't even think straight right now...

"So I've been told," she mused. "We're getting near the courts. I must take my leave."

"Eh? You mean you don't want to walk in together?"

She jumped up to lightly kiss me on my cheek again before letting go of my arm. "Let's keep this between us. Our little secret," she winked before heading back to the seating area.

I couldn't wipe the stupid grin or blush off of my face when I returned. Byoudouin-san and Tsuki-san were not very impressed with me upon my return.

"Must have been some large shit if you took until the end of practice," Byoudouin-san scoffed.

"Hey! Breakfast was not sitting well with me," I lied.

Mitsuya-san popped up out of nowhere. He was holding another threateningly coloured food item in his hand. "Stomach troubles, Mouri-kun? Perhaps this prototype 'Akuto Mochi' will make you feel better."

Now my stomach was churning from how sick I was going to be after eating that. I felt a cold sweat rush through my body as I politely refused the danger posed to be. "N-no thanks, Mitsuya-san..."

I felt two hands force themselves onto my shoulders from behind me. "Perhaps you should eat it, Mouri," was the equally threatening tone from Byoudouin-san. I felt another mental assassin-y glare poke the back of my head. "We won't know if this is an effective remedy unless we test it on an actual sick person."

I'm not sure what happened next, but I caught a glimpse of my angel laughing at me before I lost consciousness. How embarrassing! I hate Mitsuya-san and his stupid experiments...

I didn't really see -chan until after we lost against Germany during the exhibition matches. Not that I was expecting anything less—they're the reigning champions of this damn thing for the past decade or something! I was more bummed out that I didn't get to play in the match either, but there's like thirty of us on this team and we have to give up at least three spots to the middle schoolers this year. If Tsuki-san and I were playing, we would have definitely taken the last game, but there's no use in dwelling on the results of an exhibition match that counted for nothing. We had to focus on getting out of the upcoming group stage if we wanted to stay in the competition. Leave it to that egghead middle schooler to draw us in a group with the second seed of the tournament! I started to wonder if we were ever going to be able to take over the world if we had to face death by Switzerland so early on...

The coaches announced the roster for our first match against Greece and I can't believe they picked Tsuki-san over me! If only that scaredy cat Tane-san was late to the party, I would have definitely been the best option to replace him. On the bright side, that means more time to do as I please without anyone getting in the way. I guess you could say it's a win for me. Tsuki-san can't stop me now! I decided to celebrate and sulk by seeing if -chan was free to go to the fancy shopping building and check it out.

'-chaaaaaaaaaan~ Are you free?'

It wasn't very long until I got a response. 'Don't you have a game tomorrow?'

'I wasn't picked~ How about we go exploring instead?'

Her next reply took a lot longer than her last one. 'Really? How disappointing...'

'So, how about it? Meet me at the front of the team hotel?'

She didn't reply. I felt rejected, but I knew meeting a girl in a foreign country who was interested in me was too good to be true. As I walked out of the building with a broken heart, I saw -chan standing outside with Byoudouin-san. They looked like they were arguing with each other about something. There was no way I was getting caught by him skipping practice! I quickly hid in the shrubbery lining the building, peeking out through the leaves and branches to watch the situation. It wasn't long until Byoudouin-san stormed off towards the practice courts. I took that as my cue to get out of my hiding spot and head towards her.

I debated calling out to her as I made my approach. She was clearly upset. "Hey, -chan," I managed to say in a soft voice. It wasn't my business to pry unless she wanted to say something.

She gave me a fake smile, which stung a little. "Hey, Jusaburou-kun. I'm alright." She rubbed her eyes to rid them of the tears that were wetting them. "Why aren't you at team practice?"

"Why would I need to be? I'm not playing."

A small chuckle escaped her lips. "Won't you get in trouble later?"

"I've always been a 'Due tomorrow? Do tomorrow' kind of person," I grinned. "Consequences be damned. I want to enjoy my time here before things get serious!"

"What an interesting viewpoint, Jusaburou-kun."

"It's ingenious, don't you think?" I gave her a flirtatious wink as I held out my hand towards her. "So, would you like to come with me and explore?"

She laughed as she gently batted my hand away. "Where to, my prince?"

"Have you forgotten what we were texting about literally a few minutes ago? You really know how to hurt a man, -chan," I wept.

"The funny shopping building, right? We should go before anyone else sees us." The girl started running off in the direction towards the building we were talking about. "Race you!"

I started jogging after her, but kept my distance to give her a false sense of accomplishment when she would beat me to our destination. I could easily outrun her with my massive strides, but that would be cheating. She didn't look like the type to have much stamina or athletic abilities close to my own. Still, I was quite impressed that she was able to run the entire way without needing to stop.

"You're— You're no fun— Jusaburou-kun," she said in-between breaths as she inhaled and exhaled sporadically. "You just— Let me win!"

Though I was also trying to catch my breath, I was so used to it that it didn't affect the way I spoke. "Doesn't winning make you feel better, though?"

"Not unless it's— fair!"

I couldn't help but chuckle at the innocent claim. "Fine, fine! I'll go all out the next time," I promised. "I'll make it up to you and get you something sweet from one of the shops inside."

I watched her gloomy and tired expression brighten up. It was a breathtaking and magical sight to behold. "Deal!" She grabbed a hold of my hand and dragged me into the building.

As an avid shopper, I was amazed at the sheer size and number of stores they were able to fit in this concrete structure. Modern architecture and capitalism sure are something else. My companion was also very eager to start running around, but had no idea where to begin.

"Tell me, Jusaburou-kun," she began, "do you start your stamp rallies off by getting the food items off your list first, or do you save them for last?"

"Food always comes last. What kind of question is that?" Suddenly, a thought clicked. "Are you hungry?"

"No way! My stomach is still churning from earlier. Let's go check out what clothing stores they have here." She started tugging me in the direction of the more designer clothing stores.

I felt like I was a lamb being led to its slaughter. This girl could destroy my wallet if she wanted to get something from these overpriced boutiques she was dragging me into. I've never seen so many numbers on a price tag before!

As I mentally prepared myself to be broke, -chan asked me a question as she perused the racks of dresses. "Jusaburou-kun, what kind of things would you like to receive as a gift?"

She could tell I was confused by the look on my face. "There's no way I'm letting a cute girl buy me anything," I protested.

-chan was clearly amused. "It's not for you, silly. I need to get a present for Nii-san. I missed his birthday because you were all somewhere overseas."

"Speaking of him, who is he? You still haven't told me yet."

"If I did, you would run away. Everyone does."

"But Tsuki-san didn't!"

"I didn't tell Ochi-san. Even if I did, I don't think he would run either."

"You have a point. Tsuki-san doesn't scare easily..."

She giggled. "But you're nothing like Ochi-san. You would certainly run away from me if you knew who my brother was."

Her vagueness and secrecy was intriguing to say the least. "Oh? Is that a challenge, -chan?"

"It was more of a threat, but you could think of it like a challenge. Now, what do you think would be a good present?"

I felt physical gears inside my head turning as I thought of ideas. "I'm sure any of the guys would like new grip tape for their rackets. Ah, but Kimi-san is particular about which grip tape he uses."

"I feel like if Nii-san needed it, he would just get it himself."

"Well, what does your brother like? Colours? Food? Hobbies?"

"I don't think he does anything outside of dedicating himself to the team. He really likes green tea, but I can get that at home. As for colour... Probably gold? He has a weird fixation with it."

"A good luck charm? I'm sure they come in gold."

"That's an idea, but I should get him something else too to go with it."

"Man, is your brother actually a real person? He sounds impossibly boring and inhuman."

"I can assure you that you would not be saying that if you knew who he actually is," she snorted.

"Aw, not even a hint? You really are making this game hard for me, -chan!"

"Nii-san isn't the most understanding, if you get what I mean."

For some reason, I felt a chill run down my spine. "He can't be that bad. I have a talent for getting along with everyone! I'm sure your brother and I can reach an agreement."

"If you can do that, then I will be very impressed."

"Impressed enough that you'll consider being my girlfriend?"

"If you're alive, then perhaps," she mused.

"Challenge accepted!"

We continued to drift around the various stores, looking at all of the things we can't afford and thinking of more gift ideas for -chan's brother. She made a special effort to try out a variety of cute outfits either to tease me or because she just wanted someone to tell her how beautiful she looked. It was working either way. Maybe Kimi-san was right; I do have very typical tastes in girls. But, is that such a bad thing? Knowing what I want sounds like a good thing to me. -chan must've noticed my silly grin because she kept throwing flirty winks at me the entire time and laughing at my reactions.

She twirled around in the sunflower-patterned sundress she had on. "You're enjoying this, aren't you, Jusaburou-kun?"

"It's not every day that I get to watch a lovely girl, such as yourself, dress up in cute outfits that she'll never buy," I complimented.

I watched her cheeks flush a light pink. "T-thank you."

"I think you should get the dress. It really suits you!"

She took one glance at the price tag and made a slightly surprised expression. "I can only afford one thing and it's going to be Nii-san's present."

I laughed. "Why don't you get him to buy it for you, then? Surely, he must be feeling a little guilty about abandoning you in Japan as he travels the world to play a dumb sport."

"With that logic, he might as well buy the present himself!" She sighed as she returned back into the changerooms to switch back into her regular clothes. "I think we should go check out the strange bookstore next. Nii-san likes reading foreign novels."

"Sounds like a plan!" I walked up to the person working at the cash register and leaned on the counter. "Say, how much is that dress?" I asked, hoping that my English was good enough to be understood.

"It's $139 plus tax," they responded. "For your girlfriend? Would you like it gift-wrapped?"

I wasn't sure what they meant by the last part, so I just nodded and stuck my thumb up in approval. I give my thanks to the volatile economy for making this purchase affordable for me. As I was completing my secret purchase and writing out her name on the gift tag, -chan came out and tapped me on the shoulder.

"Buying something for yourself, Jusaburou-kun?" she joked.

"For my older sister," I lied. "She texted me about buying something for her."

"Aw, how nice of her baby brother," she mocked playfully. "I'll wait for you outside."

The employee handed me a neatly decorated bag just as she said that. "I guess there's no need for you to wait, -chan."

"What oddly convenient timing. Almost like this is a story of some kind."

"You have an adorable sense of humour," I chuckled.

She giggled. "Shall we go to the bookstore now, my prince?"

"After you, princess," I bowed as I gestured for her to take the lead.

It took a lot longer than expected, but we eventually found some really ancient philosophy books after trying to communicate in broken English with the bookstore's employees. The name was French or something because I couldn't really pronounce it. Maybe I'll ask Duke-san later to teach me the name. After that exhausting ordeal, we went to grab some lunch at the food area before heading back to our lodging. For dessert, I paid for some fancy, overpriced bubble tea. I couldn't find it in me to give her the dress, especially after the lie I made about it being for my sister. I suppose it'll have to wait until later, but I hope I can find time for it too. Before we reached the entrance of the building, -chan pulled me into an area between two random buildings just shy of our destination.

"Whoa there," I chuckled. "I didn't realize we were moving so quickly with this relationship."

"Jusaburou-kun, we should probably stop sneaking around like this," she began as she stared deep into my eyes with a forlorn expression. "I had a lot of fun with you, but we can't keep doing this."

"Are you seriously afraid of your brother and what he could potentially do to me if he found out?"

"You don't know what he's capable of, Jusaburou-kun. The last time he caught a boy with me, he really made him regret it. I can't let that happen to you." I could see the terror in her eyes. "There's no way I am going to let that happen to you."

I felt the need to wrap my arms around and cradle her. "You're making it sound like your brother is Touno-san, but I don't think he has siblings."

"I'm scared for you, Jusaburou-kun. Truly," she whispered in her shaky breath.

I didn't feel right saying anything and just continued to hold her as I stroked her head to ease her anxieties. I couldn't help but think of who could possibly be her older brother during that time. Was it Oni-san? He's scary-looking on the outside, but there's no way he would hurt me. Irie-san and Tane-san aren't the type to resort to violence. Do any of the other guys have a sister? There's no way it's one of the middle schoolers...

-chan was shaking my arm and trying to wriggle her way out of my arms, which snapped me back into reality. "Jusaburou-kun? You're squeezing me too tight," she struggled to say.

I let go quickly. "Ah! Forgive me," I apologized. "I'm going to be really sad when we can't do our secret rendezvous anymore."

"Jusaburou-kun..."

I'm not sure what came over me. I bent down so that my height matched her's. Without hesitation, she immediately leaned into me and kissed me on the lips. Feeling playful, I decided to slip my tongue into her mouth to see if she would respond in any way. I was surprised to see that she had similar sentiments as well. For some reason, it felt like she had been longing for this moment for a very long time. I've never felt such passion before!

She pulled away after what seemed like only a few short moments in paradise to catch her breath. There was a sudden look of horror on her face. "Nii-san!"

I did not have time to turn around and see who it was before I felt my body being slammed into the brick wall beside us. "So, this is what you've been up to instead of practicing," the familiar voice yelled at me. "Exchanging spit with my little sister? You really are fucking something."

"Nii-san, stop! Jusaburou-kun did nothing!" -chan was struggling to pull the man off of me.

I pushed myself off of the wall and twisted myself out of my assailant's arms. "What the hell-"

I knew this romance was too good to be true after all. Standing before me was Byoudouin-san, ready to pulverize me. No wonder -chan told me I would run off if she told me the truth. Who the hell wouldn't? When your own brother is Byoudouin Houou, everyone would be afraid of you by extension. No one ever crosses paths with him and lives to tell the tale.

"B-Byoudouin-san..." was all I could manage to say.

The boss man got uncomfortably close to me. "Normally, I would kill you right here and now, but, unfortunately, I still need you to win this World Cup."

I gulped, afraid to say or do anything.

"If I catch you with her again, your life won't be the only thing you need to worry about, Mouri Jusaburou."

"Y-yes, sir..."

"Nii-san—"

Byoudouin-san turned away from me, picked up all the bags on the ground and started heading back towards the hotel. "We're going, ."

I watched her heart shatter in front of my eyes as she looked at me one last time before following her older brother back into the building. When they were both out of sight, I felt my knees give in as I slumped to the ground. Leave it to me to fall in love with the little sister of the most feared youth tennis player in the entire world. Aren't I just the luckiest? Not only that, but he even took my gift for her as well! Could this get any worse?

Skipping practice was now out of the question. Waking up late was a thing of the past. I had to be careful with my actions, especially if Byoudouin-san was around. The rest of our group stages went smoothly and we managed to get out as the second seed. I didn't get to play in any of the three matches, which I'm sure is because of Byoudouin-san. I also did not get a chance to see -chan either. She wasn't replying to my texts, but I'm sure that was more because of her insane brother than herself. Everyone around me seemed to have heard something through the grapevines, since I kept getting these stares and all. Even my kouhais seemed to be snickering behind my back...

We somehow managed to have our Round of 16 opponents forfeit their game against us, so our first actual match of the playoffs was against France in the quarterfinals. This time, I would actually be playing in Doubles 1, but I was not expecting my partner to be him of all people. What the hell was that drunken coach thinking when he decided to pair me up with the one monster who hated me the most? Don't get me wrong; I still deeply care about Yukimura, Sanada and Yanagi, but there's no way they will ever accept that. The day before the match, Yanagi had some very choice words to say to me.

"H-hey Yanagi," I greeted as I bumped into him in the hallways. "How's Yukimura's condition? Is he doing alright?"

Without batting an eye or turning around, my lovely kouhai calmly responded, "Once this tournament is over, he will undergo another surgery to recover completely. There's no reason for you to lose sleep over it."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew, that's great! I was really worried."

"...Worried?" He turned around like a serial killer in the movies would. "You, who won't even take the time to practice properly, are worried? Seiichi couldn't play tennis, no matter how badly he wanted to."

I could see the rage seething through him. I have never seen him this angry before.

"We've seen his struggles firsthand, every single day! You always had the opportunity to play tennis to your heart's content, but you slacked off all the time. How do you think Seiichi felt, looking at that?" By this point, he was shouting at me as he vented out years of frustrations onto me. "Do you have any idea how much pain he was in?! Do you even care?!"

I wanted to say that I did, but Yanagi stopped me before I could.

"No matter how many years pass, I will never forgive you. Don't you dare utter Seiichi's name ever again," he spat at me coldly before leaving.

Tsuki-san was around to eavesdrop on the conversation and patted my shoulder.

"Tsuki-san..."

"The truth will come out soon," was his firm response.

"I would rather my kouhais unite against me than find out that their asshole senpai really did care about them," I smiled sadly. "I suppose now is the time to reveal who the Sports Drink Fairy is."

Tsuki-san nodded before changing the topic of conversation. "Mouri... About Byoudouin-"

"Look, Tsuki-san, I'm over it," I lied. "If the boss says he'll end my life, what other choice do I have?"

Tsuki-san gave me a confused look. "I don't know what you're referring to. He asked me to relay a message to you."

"What's so important that he had to go through you to tell me? He could just text like a normal person or even talk to me himself."

"He said to 'prove your worth' to him tomorrow. He said you knew what that meant."

That was Byoudouin-san's secret code for me to let me use my full strength. Were the middle schoolers ready to see that side of me? Would my lovely kouhai be able to work with me? There were so many uncertainties to think about, but there was no time left to plan. I just had to put my faith in the stars that it'll work out.

"Pulling out the big guns so early? Let's hope it doesn't backfire on him," I smiled to myself. "Say, Tsuki-san, I think I'm going to hit the hay early. I have a lot of catching up to do."

My doubles partner just gave me a slight nod before leaving to go do whatever it was Tsuki-san does at this time. I went back to our room and prepared to go to sleep. As I curled up in a ball to sleep under the strangely scented comforters, the paper-thin walls made all of the conversations around me bleed through. Kimi-san and Tane-san seemed to be going at it again with their bickering, but I couldn't seem to make out what they were saying, other than it was about Touno-san. What I could hear and make out was Duke-san and Byoudouin-san above my head in the other room.

"Boss, you know he's not a bad guy."

"I don't care." Byoudouin-san's retort was as cold as ever.

"You can't always protect her. She's going to resent you."

"This happens every time. They're all spineless weasels."

"Boss-"

As much as I wanted to continue listening, Duke-san and Byoudouin-san moved further away from the wall, making it impossible to hear what their hushed voices were saying. As curious as I was, my heart was aching thinking about it. I really hope -chan was alright. I don't really know what was going through my head, but I felt the need to text her something, even if she didn't reply.

'I like you. I don't care if your brother kills me. It won't change how I feel about you.'

I had a hard time falling asleep that night. God, I hope tomorrow will be able to take my mind off of this.

Standing before one of the Big Four teams was another experience entirely. I haven't felt this intimidated since a few days ago. After winning my exhilarating doubles game with my kouhai who no longer hates me, I went for a walk outside of the stadium to decompress. It was the most exciting game of my life, but I just had to get out of the stadium. What I wasn't expecting was Byoudouin-san pulling me aside, slinging his arm around my neck, looking ready to bash my skull in.

"Let's talk, brat."

I swallowed a lump down my throat. "O-of course, b-boss..."

We walked silently out of the main stadium area and I was shaking in my own skin. What if he was leading me to a secluded area to murder me? No one would be able to find the body! I started praying for a quick and painless execution.

"You proved your worth today. The future of this team is in good hands if you stick around," he complimented. That was rare for him to do, which made me more fearful.

I wasn't sure if I should nod or verbally thank him, so I decided to stay quiet instead.

He let out a sigh. "Any of those damn assholes from before would just hightail out of her life the moment I threaten to rip their heads off, but you," he looked at me, "you're still willing to die. Why?"

"Is this about your sister, Byoudouin-san? I swear-"

"Save your breath, idiot." He kicked open the exit door and pushed me out. " is expecting you, but your ass better be back when we win!" He slammed the door shut behind me.

Confused, I decided to walk around to the other side of the building, seeing as the only other entrance back into the stadium was now locked behind me. I didn't even have my security clearance badge on me, so it was going to be a chore and a half to squeeze my way back in. As I turned a corner, I wondered if I had actually died and I just didn't realize it. Byoudouin-san really was a master assassin if that was the case.

There she was: my guardian angel, wearing the beautiful dress I had bought, waiting for me patiently like the saint she was. Surely, I must be dreaming or dead. Do I run up to her or approach her normally and keep my cool?

"Jusaburou-kun, hurry up!" she called out to me.

I couldn't wipe the grin off of my face. "-chan, what's happening? I'm very confused right now and I'm going to need an explanation."

She jumped up to hug me.

"W-whoa there! I'm still sore and mildly sweaty from the game." I had to shift my arms around her to support the sudden weight. "What is going on?"

"It's a long story," she began. "Nii-san has this stupid habit of testing people for some reason. He really was going to rip off your head when he caught us... You know."

"Is that a blush I see?" I teased. "Are you sure he didn't kill me between then and now?"

"I am very much real and you are very much alive," she reassured. "Can I continue, or are you going to keep interrupting me?"

"Sorry, sorry!" I gently set her back down on the ground. "Please continue."

"He saw the message, Jusaburou-kun. The one where you said you'd gladly let Nii-san kill you."

"Eh? What's so interesting about that?"

"You're the only person crazy enough to do that. Everyone else ran away and never spoke to me again because they were too afraid of Nii-san."

"See? What did I tell you? I can get along with anyone," I said with a hint of satisfaction.

She giggled. "You are quite the charmer."

I bent down and gave her a light peck on the cheek. "Charming enough to get another kiss from you?"

"Perhaps," she responded playfully before responding to the request. "Nii-san's especially angry about the dress still. He wants to pay you back, but his pride is getting in the way of that."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I think him sparing my life is payment enough. It looks amazing on you and I just had to get it. I do have impeccable tastes, don't you think?"

"Technically, I picked this out, but thank you for the generous gift," she corrected me. "Shall we go back to the rest of the team? I'm sure the match is ending soon."

"Shoot, you're right!" We started to head back into the stadium, but security stopped me because I forgot I didn't have my badge. "Do you think you can go ask Tsuki-san for my security badge? I forgot it in the little boys' room!"

"Jusaburou-kun, really! You are an idiot, just like Nii-san said," she laughed. "But, that's why I like you."

"Hey, let's save the cheesy confession until later. If we don't get back, your brother will actually kick my ass!"

I'm not sure what today was. Somehow, I'm both the world's luckiest and unluckiest man alive. I won a match against the third best U-17 team in the world. I made amends with my lovely kouhais who hated me for so long. I got a girlfriend, but her older brother is going to kill me at any given moment if I do anything to upset her. What was life going to throw at me next?

I didn't have time to think about the future. Byoudouin-san was charging right at me. "Mouri, you damn idiot!"