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In the darkness of the night, the dim light of the streetlamp revealed a body sprawled along a bench with their limbs dangling off one side. Footsteps echoed loudly in the silence of the empty park, making their way towards that bench. The sound of shoes hitting the ground grew louder and louder until they came to a stop before the bench. Akutsu did not show any sign of acknowledging the other presence, letting his body rest on the wooden surface. He tried to ignore it, but he could not relax while feeling the gaze of another on himself. Figuring they would leave him alone if he scared them away, Akutsu's eyes snapped open and he glared up at the other person.
"You got business with me?!"
"You look well."
Then Akutsu had to blink several times because before his eyes stood his rival, Echizen Ryoma. The brat was supposed to be with American team, so what was he doing here? Akutsu thought that maybe this was an aftereffect of that last match and his subconsciousness was screwing with his mind. Thus, he closed his eyes and proceeded to ignore the brat. His body ached and Akutsu just wanted some peace. All he could think about these days was tennis anyway. Seeing his rival only served to remind him more about that sport.
He could still hear the voice of the Australian player. "You will definitely become a good tennis player."
A tennis player? What a joke. Was Akutsu's first reaction. Tennis is boring. He's only here for one thing: to get revenge on Echizen Ryoma. But the brat keeps improving every damn time. So it only makes sense to improve himself to the point where he can surpass his rival and beat him. With tennis, of course.
"Did you get my message?" Echizen asked, breaking his train of thought.
Akutsu grunted, his eyes still shut closed. He remembered Dan coming up to him after the match, his face a mess of tears and snot. Dan practically stuck to his side all the way back to Japan. It got to the point where Akutsu had to drag Sengoku to sit next to him on the airplane so that he could get a break. He finally became coherent by the time they got off the plane.
"Akutsu-senpai! Echizen-kun wanted me to tell you that he wants to play tennis with you again!"
"Tch, that brat! Fine, I'll crush him next time if that's what he wants."
"And, um, you were really cool! I still want to be like you! You're my goal senpai!!"
"How annoying. I told you already: find somebody else."
"But! But! Even Echizen-kun understands, so why won't you?" Dan deflated.
"Hah?!"
"I-It's nothing."
He didn't like being compared to the brat. Nevertheless, it's not like Akutsu could even begin understand why Dan was so attached; a violent guy like him, who can easily excel at any sport. Being always the strongest, he could not find the even the slightest of enjoyment since there was no one who would challenge him, no one to play with him. So instead he had found fun in breaking the spirit of others.
Though Akutsu still had yet to accomplish that with Echizen.
Suddenly, he felt cold metal touching his forehead. Instinctively he grabbed at the outstretched hand and stood up, towering over his target of revenge. Looking down at the hand, he saw a can of grape Ponta. It seems that while he had been absorbed in his thoughts, Echizen had gone to get drinks.
"Oh, you're awake. Here, take this." Akutsu let go of his hand to accept the drink cautiously.
"What?"
"You went quiet so I assumed that you fell asleep."
"This is Japan."
Echizen raised an eyebrow at the statement. "Sure is."
Akutsu was silent for a moment, finally registering that this was not a hallucination. While he glared at the brat who was casually drinking Ponta, his mind was in shambles.
Finally he let out a sigh. "Whatever, not my problem." He was too tired to deal with this.
Akutsu opened the can of Ponta and downed the drink in one gulp. He then threw the can towards the trash, where it landed smoothly in through the opening. Seeing that Echizen was still there, he growled.
"What do you want, brat!"
"...I saw your match. You've gotten stronger."
"Yeah, so?"
Echizen smirked. "I've also become stronger. Let's play tennis when you've regained your strength again."
Akutsu watched as Echizen walked away. The brat was really good at making him pissed, he mused. It's as though he came all the way back to Japan to provoke him. He felt like punching that stupid smirk off his face, but held himself back. He'd wait until their next tennis match to do that. A few feet away from the bench, Echizen stopped, but did not turn around.
"After seeing your match, I know where I belong now," he said, loud enough for Akutsu to hear. Then he added more quietly, "So thanks senpai. Let's get stronger together."
Unable to come up with a reply, Akutsu watched as Echizen's figure disappeared into the darkness of the night. Then he started laughing. Akutsu was laughing at the absurdity of the situation. His tennis was so impressive that it sent Echizen rushing back to Japna? How amusing.
There and then, Akutsu made up his mind. Even though it's not fun, he'll continue to play tennis. He'll even become a "tennis player", if only to keep his word and defeat that brat. If it's him, then Akutsu felt like he could start to learn the joys of tennis. After all, that brat was the one who understood why Dan respected someone like him.
So just maybe, he'll try giving it a shot.