Teach Me {Tennis Team Members}

[Nicolette]

It was a cool February morning. A Sunday morning, to be more precise. It had been over a week since the school dance, though his mind could clearly remember how drained and pale his sister looked from overexerting herself in order to keep the dance attendees from being submerged in darkness. And he could clearly remember how weak he felt compared her, remembering how small his flame had been and for how short he had been able to keep it lit.

Henri De la Fontaine made his way through the school grounds, looking around the campus. There were very few, if any, students roaming the campus this early, considering most students had been up late with their friends with it being Saturday night. However, Henri wasn't much of a social butterfly. He would occasionally bid his roommate a good morning or good evening, but he hadn't seen the male that morning, so he simply departed and headed out into the school.

He wore a simple white short-sleeved button down shirt with black slacks and shoes, a jacket placed over his shoulders, though it simply hung on his shoulders since his arms weren't through the arms of the jacket. His hands were jammed in his pockets as he walked, his grey eyes looking around boredly.

He soon found himself near the gymnasium, at the tennis courts. He had seen the game played so many times, but he had never really gotten the chance to play as much. He'd played a few games over the past few years, though it had been a while. He wanted to play so badly, but he doubted there would be anyone around to teach him...

His eyes gazed longingly at the court.

[Kyerin]

The early Sunday morning was the perfect time to be out on the campus grounds, doing something. A fair number of the students were religious and had a ceremony on the first morning of the standard week. Even more of them partied too hard on the prior night and were sleeping in. The few students that were out and about were either dedicated... or just trying to make the most of the morning.

Kyerin Saito, mostly known on campus as the leader of the SFF, was also out. However, on this morning, that was not the hat he wore; instead, he was out as the vice-captain of the T'zenshin Tennis Club, practicing on his strokes as he rallied against a wall. A white polo combined with wind pants covered his body, ending at the bottom with (of course) tennis shoes. Despite playing a sport, he still wore his glasses, finding it bizarre to try to wear sport goggles instead of his eyewear, though the chance of them breaking and glass stabbing into his eye would decrease exponentially with the swap.

Though the motion was repetitive, considering that he could nearly nail the same spot with each stroke, both forehand and backhand, the focus and concentration helped him forget what had happened the prior week. Sure, it had been necessary to remind people of the SFF and that making a dance mandatory for students was infringing on them (it should be optional, especially for those people who weren't social butterflies), but Nicolette, who he had been getting along with quite well, had felt betrayed by his actions. The feelings of guilt were pushed back though by his focus to make every movement count, hitting the ball back towards the same spot in the wall, as if everything else around him was fading away...

[Nicolette]

Henri's eyes fell upon the one person who was in the tennis court, practicing with himself. He didn't know who the male was, but he admired his style. He had seen enough tennis games to know many different styles, but this male's style was different from what he'd seen. It was something quite amazing and he couldn't seem to tear his eyes of him as he moved further toward the court.

He walked toward the building that the ball was bouncing off of, keeping his eyes on the way the male swung the racquet, how it hit the ball and how it seemed to be consistant each and every time.

[Kyerin]

This was how Kyerin did things: it was obvious when he first started playing that he wouldn't be able to overpower his opponents with raw strength that they couldn't even return. Nor could he use overwhelming speed to catch every ball his opponent hit and return them before they could set themselves. No, neither of these were his gifts; instead, he focused on making sure that he could hit precisely where he wanted it to go, making it hard for his opponent to return, and set him up for winners. That's how he managed to get to be vice-captain... and maybe captain, if he could balance it well enough with his other leadership.

The young man tilted his raquet, catching the ball as it came bouncing back towards him and sent it straight up, adjusting the raquet once more to catch it on its way down. With a small flick of the wrist, he began bouncing it, making sure to keep it straight. It was at this time that he looked up and noticed that there was a boy watching him. The younger student looked familiar... but he hadn't chatted with him before. Instead, the eleventh year smiled and waved, managing out of the corner of his eye to keep the ball bouncing.

[Nicolette]

Henri noticed that the male had turned his attention to him and he stood straighter, taking his hands out of his pockets as he watched the ball bounce on the raquet. He gave a small nod in response to the wave and he turned his attention to the older male's face, focusing on speaking to him rather than just gazing on at him.

"Your technique is impressive."

His accent was different from his sister's. While she spoke with more of a French accent (living in France for so long in her later years), his accent was more British (living in England for a good amount of his later life). There was a hint of a French accent in his speech, but it wasn't very noticable to a non-French speaker.

[Kyerin]

Kyerin couldn't help smiling a bit, a hint of smugness on his grin, from the compliment the boy gave him. Yes, he did have good technique, but that came from years of practice. Still, it lead to satisfying results when he placed what some would call trick shots: balls right on the line, through people's legs, and so on. It was what he had, and he did it with pride.

The accent seemed almost familiar... but he hadn't really talked to anyone British on campus. "Thank you," he said, his English clear and crisp, though his Japanese accent spiced his words. "Do you play as well?" At this, he stopped bouncing the ball, catching it with his free hand, and spun his tennis raquet around, holding it by the edge of the frame with the handle offered towards the other male.

[Nicolette]

Henri looked at the raquet that was being handed to him and he found himself biting his lip a little. He hadn't held a raquet since he was back in England. He reached his hand out to take the handle and slipped his jacket off his shoulders. He found a decent spot on the ground to set the jacket and set it down before turning to Kyerin.

"I have not really played in a couple months or so..." He admitted, looking at the item in his hand. "My mother's mansion had a tennis court, so I really only got to play when I was there... So a year of some tennis, take off a year for music, then come back and take another couple of months to play tennis..." He shrugged. "But that was only within the past two or three years..." He had been too small to really hold the raquet before then; he had always been quite small...

[Kyerin]

The more and more he was around this kid, the more and more it tugged at the back of his mind that he was like someone... but Kyerin was having trouble putting two and two together. Still, it didn't matter; this was obviously a lower year, maybe his first or second here at the Institute. And considering that not only was he vice-captain of the tennis club, which was always looking for members, but also the head of the SFF, which was looking out for the wellbeing of the students, there was nothing about who he was that said to not offer this kid some help.

"Well, at least you've played before; I hadn't touched a raquet since I came here. Took me the last couple of years to get that good," the young man remarked, glancing at the wall where he had been hitting it. The ball had been picking up the dirt from the ground with each bounce and lightly depositing it on the wall, creating a good one foot diameter circle on the wall; it wasn't pinpoint accurate, but it wasn't too bad in itself. "Besides, if you wanted to play, there is a whole club that is here that could help you practice..." There, cheap endorsement done!

[Nicolette]

The young boy's eyes widened a little at hearing that there was a whole club dedicated to tennis. There was no such club back in his old elementary schools, so the idea was rather new and rather exciting to the European boy.

"R-really...?" His voice seemed surprised. "A whole club dedicated to Tennis?"

[Kyerin]

Kyerin was slightly surprised himself that the boy had not heard of the tennis club; hadn't he gone through the list of clubs when he first got here, considering that the Student Council wanted so many people to join them and be more active? Still, no problem with him; he hadn't joined until three years prior, so he didn't have much room to talk. Still, it didn't hurt to get the information out, and to potentially get a new member. It was partially his job as co-captain, and would be his job next year if he could handle both heading the tennis club and the SFF.

"Yes, there is," he said, quickly smiling and closing his eyes. "You're a bit lucky because I happen to be the co-captain. I could tell you all about it." But what was there to talk about... he had to think a bit to what the captain had said to the potential members at the start of the year. "Well, we are open to players of any age here at the school, and any skill level. We actually have more people than one would think, so there's usually someone to play against if you want a match. We do have club wide practice three times a week for an hour, which it's recommended that you show up for. Every quarter, we hold a ranking tournament to see how people stack up, and if you ask the captain or myself, we can watch your game and help coach you where you need improvement."

It was a lot to take in, but the kid seemed pretty bright, so he should be able to grasp it. Ultimately, it was up to him if he wanted to join or not.

[Nicolette]

It was a lot of information to take in, but Henri heard every word and thought it over carefully. He didn't have much else to do with his free time since his homework was easy to accomplish and Nicolette was usually too busy to have her own free time. The Tennis Team would give him a chance to play the sport he had always admired.

"How would one go about joining? Just show up to practice after school one day?" He asked.

[Kyerin]

Kyerin was glad that the boy had picked up all of the information, or at least the main points; he was quite bright, and seemed to at least have an idea. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that this boy was familiar somehow... which was weird for him, considering that he usually made sure he knew a person so they weren't just familiar to him.

"That would work; you do have to fill out some paperwork, but besides that, it would be giving you a locker... and that would be it," Kyerin replied, shrugging lightly before adjusting his glasses. He reached into his pocket before pulling out a small keyring, flipping through before picking one key. "In fact, if you were sure you wanted to join, we could take care of the bureacracy segment right now."

[Nicolette]

Henri nodded at the older boy, excitement clear in his eyes, though he tried to contain it in his expression. He'd finally get to play tennis and actually be on a team! While he was sure tennis wouldn't completely take over his love for music, he was still excited to be able to play.

"I am absolutely sure I would like to join." He said, his voice confident and determined.

[Kyerin]

Kyerin was surprised by the conviction that the boy had; not many people entered tennis with the determination to do it. He knew quite a few people who were in the club just to say that they were in a sports club, though he didn't mind that. He probably wouldn't follow tennis professionally after school anyway... though he may play some in college. However, this boy seemed to be into it... either he was looking for the top, or he really wanted to play tennis.

"Okay then, follow me," the older lad replied, before turning and leaving the tennis courts, still holding the key in one hand, and the ball in the other. It wasn't too far from the tennis courts where the tennis club's building was... and building was probably the most appropriate word for it... or maybe house. It was bigger than a shack, but nothing too large or fancy; it was big enough to comfortably fit in a dressing room for both sexes and showers along with an office, but not much larger than that.

Kyerin walked up, and unlocked the door, pushing it open with his shoulder before gesturing to the boy with his head. "If you'll turn on the lights to your left when you come in, I can get the paperwork and we can do that now."

[Nicolette]

Henri followed the older male from the tennis court to the building nearby. It seemed a little out of place, but he supposed that's how it worked for sports teams. They went into the building and the younger male followed his upperclassman to the office area, flipping on the light as he was told.

It was a little messy, but it wouldn't quite be a sport's office if it wasn't. The boy walked inside, looking around a little more as he waited for the older male to give him the paper work.