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It was meant as a goodwill gesture mainly, to prove that they could get along and play a friendly game of tennis.
"So, Fudomine," Marui said, tapping his racket on his shoulder, "you don't mind if we beat you quickly again, right? I've got homework to do."
Both teams were lined up on either side of the net on the Fudomine practice court. Rikkai Dai was almost uniformly smirking. Fudomine was almost uniformly glaring.
"So, Rikkai," Kamio snapped, "you don't mind if we crush your oversized egos, right?"
"You're confusing us with Hyoutei Gakuen," Yanagi pointed out calmly. "And considering your previous performance, there is a very low chance of anybody besides you being crushed."
"If you think we've been sitting around, doing nothing, then you're not nearly as smart as you think you are," Sakurai said, shooting Yanagi an incredulous look.
"Like we care about what you've done." Kirihara lifted his chin and tried look down his nose at Kamio; it didn't quite work as he was only a couple centimeters taller. "If I could beat your captain so easily, none of you stand a chance."
Clenching his fist, Kamio sneered. "I'm gonna play you and you're gonna lose because I'm too fast for you to hit me!"
"So you admit your captain wasn't good enough to get out of the way of my ball," Kirihara said, grinning nastily.
Kamio moved to leap over the net but Ishida grabbed his shoulders and hauled him back. "Kamio!"
"You heard what he said, Ishida! The asshole deserves it!"
"Yeah, but..." Ishida looked over at the two school captains who, thus far, hadn't said or done anything.
"Hey."
Ishida turned his attention back to Rikkai to see Jackal staring at him. "What?" he asked warily.
Smirking, Jackal replied, "You ashamed of something?"
Ishida wrinkled his brow in confusion.
"A real man doesn't hide their head," Jackal said, running a hand over his bald one.
"It keeps the sweat out of my eyes," Ishida said stiffly, letting Kamio go to adjust his towel. Fortunately, Kamio contented himself with trading low insults with Kirihara.
"Whatever excuse makes you feel better."
Niou stepped in front of Jackal before Ishida could say anything and pointed at Shinji. "Hey, you're the one who mumbles. Why aren't you mumbling?" Niou asked, a grin on his face.
Shinji glared back defiantly, his mouth firmly closed.
"And you're a genius, right? Hey, Yukimura! Since I didn't play the first time, can I pick my opponent? I want to play him."
"You don't get to pick who you play. The captains are going to decide that. You and your team are being rude."
"Maybe we should play doubles. Me and Yagyuu against you and the redhead. We could give you some sort of handicap so that the game might be interesting." Niou cocked his head. "I could play you with one hand tied behind my back, how's that?"
Shinji raised his racket in a threatening gesture and Sakurai hurriedly snatched it out of his hand. "Shinji! Remember what Tachibana said!"
"No vengeful justice unless it's through tennis. You're lucky," Shinji said, narrowing his eyes, "that Tachibana-san is such a good person."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So you and the redhead against me and Yagyuu-"
"Akira wants to play that guy he's insulting."
Niou laughed. "Okay. Kirihara against the redhead, you against me. Jackal, you want to play the towel guy again?"
Jackal nodded. "His power shot is almost strong enough to be interesting."
"Hey, jerk, if you think-"
"You know, they have one less regular than us. Someone needs to sit out. I'd say Sanada but I think Sanada should play the tiny Sanada," Niou said, pointing to Uchimura.
"WHAT?" Uchimura clenched his fists and took a step forward. "What did you say?" Sanada just stayed silent and adjusted his cap.
"They have names, Niou-kun," Yagyuu said mildly. "I believe you might even know them."
"Yeah, but he looks kinda like a little Sanada with that hat. It'd be funny to watch them play."
"I thought you said that your team wasn't going to provoke," Tachibana commented, watching as absolutely no one tried to hold Uchimura back from leaping on Niou.
"And I thought you said that your team wasn't holding a grudge," Yukimura replied, also watching as Niou sidestepped and laughed as Uchimura fell flat on his face.
"They aren't holding a grudge. They're just..."
"You red-eyed FREAK, I'm so going to pound you into the ground during our game to pay you back for what you did to Tachibana-san!"
"...defensive," Tachibana finished.
"And my team isn't provoking." Yukimura smiled. "They're just being social."