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almondinflowerRating: G
Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi's.
Warnings:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
20_facts meme. Lynn writing Tezuka. Warning enough, really.
Notes: stole the secondary title offbranchfic's recent Relational.
1. Tezuka Kunikazu
Kunimitsu grows up listening to the drip-drip-drip of water trickling from bamboo pipes.
This is not his first memory, but it is one he remembers: springtime, Ojiisan and Otousan standing by the fish pond. Ojiisan leans forward, fingers pressing around Otousan's wrist.
Swift circular motion. Otousan lands on the ground in a sprawl of limbs, ungraceful but unharmed.
Kunimitsu watches judo, knows that's not how it's supposed to be done.
“Getting careless, Kuniharu!” Ojiisan is tall and straight, his voice sharp as the winter wind. “You shouldn't let your guard down!”
Kunimitsu never forgets his words.
2. Tezuka Kuniharu
Ojiisan gives him judo, a catchphrase, and a minor obsession with history.
Otousan gives him mountains.
The first time they go fishing, the breeze is warm and whispering through pine leaves as they walk up the trail.
Kunimitsu finds a cool, flat rock and sits on it. He fumbles with the tackle for forty-five seconds before Otousan reaches out, slides the hook into place.
“You'll love the Matterhorn,” Otousan says, laughing. Around them, the crickets are singing.
Kunimitsu casts his line into the water, watches it ripple and travel downstream. Stillness in motion, he thinks.
He discovers tennis on his own.
3. Tezuka Ayana
Tezuka Ayana smiles, cooks breakfast. Even Kunikazu is a little intimidated by her.
Okaasan smiles enough for the both of them, Kunimitsu decides. Besides, he really doesn't know how to smile for Otousan.
“Your father is strong,” Okaasan says. Kunimitsu doesn't understand what she means. At eight years old, he never wants anyone to treat him the way his grandfather treats his father.
Okaasan never lets him know when she's sad.
She can always tell when Kunimitsu's happy.
4. Sanada Genichirou
“Are you strong?” asks the other boy. Black hair, black cap. Eyebrows fierce like Ojiisan's.
They are ten years old. Kunimitsu meets his eyes, says: “Do you think you are?”
Sanada's scowl deepens. Like fire trapped in a cage. “If you're strong,” he says, “then play me one day.”
Tezuka will.
5. Fuji Syuusuke
He notices Fuji's smile before noticing his tennis.
Fuji's smile is defensive and yielding, laced with false submission. Tezuka slams the last point home, goes to shake hands.
“Good game,” Fuji says, and Tezuka thinks about the brilliant flare of topspin, the breathtaking curve of balls. Not good enough, he wants to say.
In ten years Fuji's smile will be like Ayana's.
Tezuka doesn't want to think about that.
6. Yukimura Seiichi.
“Your next match will be interesting,” the coach tells him.
Yukimura's tennis speaks for itself. Playing him is like drawn-out tension, a dizzying spiral upwards until everything snaps, crashes to the ground. Tezuka gasps for air, his heart pounding.
“Interesting left arm you've got there,” Yukimura says afterwards. Tezuka stiffens, watches the other boy warily.
Yukimura's smile is not a mask, but a dagger.
Tezuka rests assured that steel cannot cut through stone.
7. Oishi Syuuchirou
Junior high. Within weeks of meeting Oishi, Tezuka is wondering how people can stand to be so kind.
Oishi's tennis is not appalling. At this stage, this is as much concession as Tezuka is willing to make.
It's Yamato and Oishi who teach him that you don't have to be strong, in order to be strong.
8. Yamato Yuudai
One day, Tezuka will surpass Yamato.
He doesn't think it will be today, or next year, or even in junior high. Some lessons about tennis are nothing to do with how you play.
Tezuka still hates running laps.
9. Ryuuzaki Sumire
The first thing Tezuka notes is that she likes good tennis.
The second thing he notices are Ryuuzaki-sensei's forehands, quick and explosive, hard enough to bruise if they clip you on the shoulder.
He plays a warm-up set with her one Sunday, before anyone else arrives at practice. The morning is cold, cuts straight to Tezuka's bones. The game is warmth like the crackling of a bonfire.
Tezuka sends the final ball spinning towards the baseline. Ryuuzaki-sensei lets it pass, stands with her hands on her hips and grins.
“Like Nanjirou's tennis,” she said, and when Tezuka blinks, she adds: “You did know he used to be Seigaku's captain, didn't you?”
He looks at her face and sees ghosts and shadows there.
10. Inui Sadaharu
Two weeks is sufficient to confirm that the tall, looming boy will never defeat him.
Three months suggest that said boy is hell-bent on doing so. Yudan sezu ni ikou.
Tezuka doesn't really understand logic. But he knows enough about persistence to be wary of it.
11. Kaidou Kaoru
Sheer pigheadedness, he understands even better.
Second year descends with the vice-captaincy and more chaos than Fuji can generate with a racquet, Kawamura, and a crowd of unsuspecting club rookies.
As always, some rookies stand out more. Tezuka watches the bandanna and the short,spiky hair travelling around the courts as the two boys run themselves into exhaustion. He wonders what it would be like to have a rival on the same team.
12. Kikumaru Eiji
Seigaku makes it to Nationals that summer, loses in the first round. They'll need to aim higher.
Tezuka watches Oishi's tennis become real, offset by a whirl of limbs and clever volleys.
Tezuka could never play doubles with a partner weaker than he is. This is the difference between him and Fuji.
13. Kawamura Takashi
Tezuka twigs to Fuji before Fuji twigs to him.
He realises this while watching the winter ranking tournament – his first as Seigaku's captain. Tezuka wants a team that will go to Nationals.
Fuji wants friends.
Fuji can be trusted to win because winning is more pleasant than losing, and few players at their best can tackle Fuji on a mediocre day.
It'll have to be enough.
14. Kirihara Akaya
Tezuka has seen more chaos at Seigaku before, but never inflicted by a single tennis ball.
It takes 24 hours to convince himself that the whole escapade is too unclassy to be Yukimura's doing.
15. Momoshiro Takeshi
On a really bad day, Yukimura reminds him of Yamato-buchou.
More often though, it's Momoshiro in whom Tezuka sees these things. He sees them in the ridiculously ugly headbands, the cries of 'Momo-chan sempai', the deviousness of a drop shot.
Momoshiro is not a pillar. That's okay. Teams need other things besides pillars.
16. Echizen Nanjirou
the samurai, he thinks, the spirit beyond image. he wonders if tennis is destined to be this ephemeral for him.
17. Atobe Keigo
Atobe Keigo is not ephemeral at all.
Atobe is concrete, vivid: blue eyes and blond hair, solid backhands, solid jackknifes, tangible cheers from the audience.
And solid pain spiking through his arm, burning like the shards of a thousand knives.
He picks up his racquet.
18. Miyuki
Ten-year-old girls, he discovers, are one of the few things Tezuka Kunimitsu is utterly incapable of handling.
He sees himself in her.
He reminds himself that lessons about tennis can be learnt from anybody.
19. Kite Eishirou
He remembers how Fuji played Mizuki.
Tezuka couldn't say why he plays this match the way he does, except that his tennis is finally alive again, after paying the cost for so long, and tennis racquets are not for hurting people.
20. Echizen Ryoma
Some things do not need to be said.
Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi's.
Warnings:
20_facts meme. Lynn writing Tezuka. Warning enough, really. Notes: stole the secondary title off
branchfic's recent Relational.1. Tezuka Kunikazu
Kunimitsu grows up listening to the drip-drip-drip of water trickling from bamboo pipes.
This is not his first memory, but it is one he remembers: springtime, Ojiisan and Otousan standing by the fish pond. Ojiisan leans forward, fingers pressing around Otousan's wrist.
Swift circular motion. Otousan lands on the ground in a sprawl of limbs, ungraceful but unharmed.
Kunimitsu watches judo, knows that's not how it's supposed to be done.
“Getting careless, Kuniharu!” Ojiisan is tall and straight, his voice sharp as the winter wind. “You shouldn't let your guard down!”
Kunimitsu never forgets his words.
2. Tezuka Kuniharu
Ojiisan gives him judo, a catchphrase, and a minor obsession with history.
Otousan gives him mountains.
The first time they go fishing, the breeze is warm and whispering through pine leaves as they walk up the trail.
Kunimitsu finds a cool, flat rock and sits on it. He fumbles with the tackle for forty-five seconds before Otousan reaches out, slides the hook into place.
“You'll love the Matterhorn,” Otousan says, laughing. Around them, the crickets are singing.
Kunimitsu casts his line into the water, watches it ripple and travel downstream. Stillness in motion, he thinks.
He discovers tennis on his own.
3. Tezuka Ayana
Tezuka Ayana smiles, cooks breakfast. Even Kunikazu is a little intimidated by her.
Okaasan smiles enough for the both of them, Kunimitsu decides. Besides, he really doesn't know how to smile for Otousan.
“Your father is strong,” Okaasan says. Kunimitsu doesn't understand what she means. At eight years old, he never wants anyone to treat him the way his grandfather treats his father.
Okaasan never lets him know when she's sad.
She can always tell when Kunimitsu's happy.
4. Sanada Genichirou
“Are you strong?” asks the other boy. Black hair, black cap. Eyebrows fierce like Ojiisan's.
They are ten years old. Kunimitsu meets his eyes, says: “Do you think you are?”
Sanada's scowl deepens. Like fire trapped in a cage. “If you're strong,” he says, “then play me one day.”
Tezuka will.
5. Fuji Syuusuke
He notices Fuji's smile before noticing his tennis.
Fuji's smile is defensive and yielding, laced with false submission. Tezuka slams the last point home, goes to shake hands.
“Good game,” Fuji says, and Tezuka thinks about the brilliant flare of topspin, the breathtaking curve of balls. Not good enough, he wants to say.
In ten years Fuji's smile will be like Ayana's.
Tezuka doesn't want to think about that.
6. Yukimura Seiichi.
“Your next match will be interesting,” the coach tells him.
Yukimura's tennis speaks for itself. Playing him is like drawn-out tension, a dizzying spiral upwards until everything snaps, crashes to the ground. Tezuka gasps for air, his heart pounding.
“Interesting left arm you've got there,” Yukimura says afterwards. Tezuka stiffens, watches the other boy warily.
Yukimura's smile is not a mask, but a dagger.
Tezuka rests assured that steel cannot cut through stone.
7. Oishi Syuuchirou
Junior high. Within weeks of meeting Oishi, Tezuka is wondering how people can stand to be so kind.
Oishi's tennis is not appalling. At this stage, this is as much concession as Tezuka is willing to make.
It's Yamato and Oishi who teach him that you don't have to be strong, in order to be strong.
8. Yamato Yuudai
One day, Tezuka will surpass Yamato.
He doesn't think it will be today, or next year, or even in junior high. Some lessons about tennis are nothing to do with how you play.
Tezuka still hates running laps.
9. Ryuuzaki Sumire
The first thing Tezuka notes is that she likes good tennis.
The second thing he notices are Ryuuzaki-sensei's forehands, quick and explosive, hard enough to bruise if they clip you on the shoulder.
He plays a warm-up set with her one Sunday, before anyone else arrives at practice. The morning is cold, cuts straight to Tezuka's bones. The game is warmth like the crackling of a bonfire.
Tezuka sends the final ball spinning towards the baseline. Ryuuzaki-sensei lets it pass, stands with her hands on her hips and grins.
“Like Nanjirou's tennis,” she said, and when Tezuka blinks, she adds: “You did know he used to be Seigaku's captain, didn't you?”
He looks at her face and sees ghosts and shadows there.
10. Inui Sadaharu
Two weeks is sufficient to confirm that the tall, looming boy will never defeat him.
Three months suggest that said boy is hell-bent on doing so. Yudan sezu ni ikou.
Tezuka doesn't really understand logic. But he knows enough about persistence to be wary of it.
11. Kaidou Kaoru
Sheer pigheadedness, he understands even better.
Second year descends with the vice-captaincy and more chaos than Fuji can generate with a racquet, Kawamura, and a crowd of unsuspecting club rookies.
As always, some rookies stand out more. Tezuka watches the bandanna and the short,spiky hair travelling around the courts as the two boys run themselves into exhaustion. He wonders what it would be like to have a rival on the same team.
12. Kikumaru Eiji
Seigaku makes it to Nationals that summer, loses in the first round. They'll need to aim higher.
Tezuka watches Oishi's tennis become real, offset by a whirl of limbs and clever volleys.
Tezuka could never play doubles with a partner weaker than he is. This is the difference between him and Fuji.
13. Kawamura Takashi
Tezuka twigs to Fuji before Fuji twigs to him.
He realises this while watching the winter ranking tournament – his first as Seigaku's captain. Tezuka wants a team that will go to Nationals.
Fuji wants friends.
Fuji can be trusted to win because winning is more pleasant than losing, and few players at their best can tackle Fuji on a mediocre day.
It'll have to be enough.
14. Kirihara Akaya
Tezuka has seen more chaos at Seigaku before, but never inflicted by a single tennis ball.
It takes 24 hours to convince himself that the whole escapade is too unclassy to be Yukimura's doing.
15. Momoshiro Takeshi
On a really bad day, Yukimura reminds him of Yamato-buchou.
More often though, it's Momoshiro in whom Tezuka sees these things. He sees them in the ridiculously ugly headbands, the cries of 'Momo-chan sempai', the deviousness of a drop shot.
Momoshiro is not a pillar. That's okay. Teams need other things besides pillars.
16. Echizen Nanjirou
the samurai, he thinks, the spirit beyond image. he wonders if tennis is destined to be this ephemeral for him.
17. Atobe Keigo
Atobe Keigo is not ephemeral at all.
Atobe is concrete, vivid: blue eyes and blond hair, solid backhands, solid jackknifes, tangible cheers from the audience.
And solid pain spiking through his arm, burning like the shards of a thousand knives.
He picks up his racquet.
18. Miyuki
Ten-year-old girls, he discovers, are one of the few things Tezuka Kunimitsu is utterly incapable of handling.
He sees himself in her.
He reminds himself that lessons about tennis can be learnt from anybody.
19. Kite Eishirou
He remembers how Fuji played Mizuki.
Tezuka couldn't say why he plays this match the way he does, except that his tennis is finally alive again, after paying the cost for so long, and tennis racquets are not for hurting people.
20. Echizen Ryoma
Some things do not need to be said.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-09-20 01:31 am (UTC)I spent ten minutes reading it, and the next fifty minutes trying not to think about it and failing.
There's way too much to think about here.
I consider it a work of art and applaud.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-25 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-09 07:50 pm (UTC)Loved this line.
And I liked this fic C: One whole lot of good, true lines, all of which can be about Tezuka and not about Tezuka at all.
miyuki
Date: 2007-04-16 11:06 pm (UTC)However, there's one thing; Who's Miyuki? I think someone mentioned Yukimura having a little sister named Miyu or something, but as far as I know, she's never been mentioned in either the anime or the manga. As far as I know, anyway.
Re: miyuki
Date: 2008-10-16 09:30 am (UTC)Miyuki is a character who appears in the Nationals arc of manga; she's Chitose Senri's younger sister and meets Tezuka when he's in rehabilitation in Kyuushuu. But you probably know that by now already!
But thank you for the comment; I'm sorry I took so long to get back to you!