After the new students’ introduction speech ended, Tezuka Kunimitsu immediately arranged the tennis club’s training as usual.
“Start warming up right away. Second and third years, get on the court and practice. First years, prepare to pick up balls. That’s all!”
Even though today was the day for new members to join, Tezuka didn’t plan to waste much time on introductions. After organizing the tasks for each grade, he left the court directly.
As he left, the regulars of the tennis club also started leaving one by one. Just when the new students were feeling puzzled, Coach Ryuzaki appeared on the court to take over the training.
“Koku? What’s wrong?” Noticing something was off with his friend after the regulars left, Echizen Ryoma was quite concerned.
He pulled Tezuka Koku to a corner and asked quietly, “Is there something wrong with your health?”
Tezuka Koku shook his head. He had just received a message from his brother before he left and was hesitating whether to ask Ryoma to come along. “Ryoma, my brother just called me over. Do you want to come with me?”
“My brother said the regulars want to meet me.”
“Do you want to come with me to meet everyone?” Tezuka Koku looked at Echizen Ryoma with hopeful eyes. “Come on, come on, if you come with me, I won’t be scared to go alone.”
Thinking about the possibility of many unfamiliar people waiting for him with his brother, Tezuka Koku was still a bit worried, so he wanted to bring Ryoma along.
However, Echizen Ryoma declined, “I’ll go with you to meet everyone next time!”
This time, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to go given his own status. Koku’s brother clearly wanted to introduce his younger brother to the team, and if he went, it would be awkward for both sides.
But he also understood Tezuka Koku’s fear, so Echizen Ryoma offered, “I’ll go with you, and once we get there and you meet your brother, I’ll come back alone, okay?”
“Okay.” As long as he didn’t have to go alone, Tezuka Koku was easy to talk to. So he didn’t insist on having Ryoma meet the tennis club seniors with him. Instead, he happily linked arms with Ryoma, planning to walk out of the court together.
“Echizen, Tezuka, are you guys heading out?” Noticing their actions, Horio asked.
“Yeah, we’re going to…” meet my brother!
Hearing someone call him, Tezuka Koku was about to honestly explain their destination, but Echizen Ryoma interrupted him, “We’re going out to buy some drinks.”
Then, without giving him a chance to speak, he pulled him out directly.
Once they were out of the tennis court, Echizen Ryoma said, “It’s best not to tell others about meeting the regulars and Koku’s brother.”
Tezuka Koku: “???”
Why can’t I tell others? Hearing Ryoma’s reminder, Tezuka Koku was genuinely puzzled.
Fortunately, Echizen Ryoma didn’t keep him in suspense and explained directly, “Everyone wants to meet the regulars. If they know you know everyone, they’ll all come to you.”
“Do you want everyone to come to you, Koku?” Echizen Ryoma exaggerated a bit, “Then all the tennis club members will surround you, asking you to introduce them one by one. Can you handle that?”
Koku can’t! Just imagining that scene made Tezuka Koku’s little face scrunch up. He hated being surrounded by people; it really made it hard to breathe. So he quickly shook his head, showing his resistance through his actions.
Seeing his reaction, a hint of amusement flashed in Echizen Ryoma’s eyes, but his face remained expressionless, looking as cool as ever.
After escorting him to the tennis club’s lounge, Echizen Ryoma silently greeted the seniors who immediately came out, then turned back to the court. Before returning, he didn’t forget to buy a Panta soda from the vending machine to cover up the excuse he made earlier.
Inside the lounge, the regulars were all in sync, watching the little guy who followed their captain inside.
Although they had all met yesterday, everyone was still curious about the captain’s younger brother. Especially after Fuji-senpai mentioned that they shouldn’t be too enthusiastic with the little guy, or else he might get scared.
So, when the little guy came in, everyone stayed quiet, just watching him.
However, what they thought was quiet was actually quite intimidating for Tezuka Koku.
As soon as he entered the lounge, everyone turned their gaze towards him. Even though he hid behind his brother, he could feel all the eyes focused on him.
So scary, and why isn’t anyone talking? Do they want Koku to introduce himself???
He reflexively tugged on his brother’s clothes, completely hiding behind him, and started trembling slightly.
Noticing something was wrong, Fuji quickly spoke up to divert attention, “Tezuka, you’re back!”
“Ah!” Tezuka Kunimitsu quickly patted his brother’s back to comfort him, “Koku, don’t be scared. These are the brothers you met yesterday!”
“Remember, you greeted them yesterday, right?”
Tezuka Kunimitsu patiently comforted his brother. He knew Tezuka Koku was just not used to being stared at by so many people, so he signaled Fuji with his eyes to quickly find a topic to shift everyone’s attention.
Without needing to be told, the regulars quickly realized their gaze was causing discomfort to the captain’s brother. So without Fuji’s reminder, they all shifted their gaze, pretending to be busy with other things.
Once their gaze shifted, Tezuka Koku calmed down a bit. Encouraged by his brother, he tentatively poked his head out and sneakily glanced at the others in the lounge.
He thought his actions were subtle and wouldn’t be noticed by others.
But he didn’t know that although the regulars weren’t looking at him, their attention never left him. So his little actions were completely seen.
However, everyone knew he didn’t like being the center of attention, so when he peeked, they all tactfully looked away, avoiding eye contact with Koku.
“Koku remembers.” After sneaking a peek and realizing no one was staring at him, Tezuka Koku finally relaxed and quietly replied to his brother, as if afraid that speaking too loudly would draw attention.
“Then how about I introduce these brothers to you?”
“Yesterday, they learned your name, but you don’t know theirs. Isn’t that a bit unfair to you?”
“Yeah, yeah.” When it came to fairness, Tezuka Koku wasn’t as scared.
Indeed, yesterday his brother only introduced Koku’s name to everyone, and Koku really didn’t know the names of the other tennis club members. So when Tezuka Kunimitsu mentioned it, Koku’s spirits lifted, “Koku wants to know the brothers’ names.”
“Alright, then let’s have the brothers introduce themselves, okay?” Fuji Shusuke, who had been observing Koku’s situation, noticed he had calmed down and expressed a desire to meet others. He spoke up at the right time, shifting Koku’s attention to himself.
As the person most familiar with Koku besides Tezuka in the club, Fuji naturally took the lead in introducing himself, “Koku knows me, I’m Fuji-nii, my full name is Fuji Shusuke. I love it when Koku calls me brother~ If you want, you can just call me brother without the Fuji!”
“Yeah, Koku knows, Fuji-nii.” Hearing the familiar Fuji-nii start introducing himself, Koku overcame his inner fear and bravely stood beside his brother.
After Fuji Shusuke’s introduction, the other regulars in the room didn’t lag behind, introducing themselves to Koku one by one.
“I’m Oishi Shuichiro, the vice-captain of the tennis club. You can call me Oishi-nii!”
“Oishi-nii, hello!”
“I’m Kikumaru Eiji, meow~ Nice to meet you, Tezuka’s little brother. Remember to call me Eiji-nii~”
“Yeah, Eiji-nii, hello!”
“I’m Inui Sadaharu, from Seigaku’s 3rd year, class 11. Hello!”
“Inui-nii, hello!”
“I’m Kawamura Takashi, hello, Tezuka’s little brother~!”
“Kawamura-nii, hello!”
“I’m Momoshiro Takeshi, 2nd year, class 8. Hello, Tezuka’s little brother!”
“Momoshiro-nii, hello too!”
“I’m Kaido Kaoru, 2nd year, class 7, hiss—”
“Hiss… Kaido… Kaido-nii, hello!”
The last to introduce himself was Kaido Kaoru. Although he tried to make his expression more gentle, his tall stature and fierce appearance still scared Tezuka Koku.
When greeting him, Koku couldn’t help but stutter, and after speaking, he hid behind his brother again, looking quite frightened.
So everyone gave Kaido Kaoru a unanimous glare. But to everyone’s surprise, like a little snail retreating into its shell, Tezuka Koku, after realizing everyone had introduced themselves and there was no one else, slowly poked his head out and, with a trembling little voice, introduced himself to everyone.
“Hello, brothers, I’m Tezuka Koku. I’m very happy to meet you all today~ Please take care of me in the future!”