Across the Round Table. Chapter 1- Prologue ~Trials of Seigaku~

“FUUJIIII!!” the jumpy red-head started his antics early in the early morning. He waved his hands over his head, calling out to his classmate and friend, Fuji. The said friend was calmly walking by the road towards Eiji, who would wait for him every morning so that they could walk to school together.

“Ah.. Eiji, you beat me again, even though I tried to leave earlier.” Fuji said, as he joined his friend and they went on their way. “What time do you usually leave your house?”

“Eh? I don’t know.. I just leave after I have my breakfast.”

“Really? Then what’s that in your mouth?” Fuji asked, pointing to Eiji’s face which was half-buried in a bun he was holding.

“Second breakfast!”

Fuji chuckled, while a new determination to find out just how long Eiji waits for him everyday surfaces into his mind. That day, he had left his house half an hour earlier, yet Eiji was still there the same as ever, but this time with his second breakfast in hand.

They talked about the usual things as they walked; classes, new tennis gears, girls that were stalking them, and Fuji went on talking about boys that he thought were stalking the members. Eiji turned agitated at the topic shift, tearing his eyes away from Fuji and shuffling his bag unconsciously, but Fuji kept on his smiling mask which was hard to read, yet eerie to try reading. A genius mind considers so much, who knew what he would believe.

“Tezuka’s gotten a few more juniors on his tail. Do you know Yamashiro?” Fuji said.

“The bloke who tried to break into Ryuzaki-sensei’s office?”

“Yes, that’s him. I caught him trying to drop something into Tezuka’s locker, but he ran away with it when he saw me.”

“Did you see what it was?”

“No.. he hid it well. I sure hope his intentions were good.” Fuji broke his smiling mask and opened his eyes, “for his own good that is” he finished.

“Eeeehh… He’s so suspicious. We should stake out and see if he tries it again!

“We have after-school practice, Eiji.”

“Aww… and I thought it would be so cool. Oh well, we’re here! Morning practice, morning practice!” And Eiji went skipping ahead, through the school gates and towards the tennis courts.

Fuji watched as Eiji bounced into the courts and pounced on Oishi in greeting. Oishi, though he should have been used to surprises like these, still managed to jump and clutch his chest as Eiji dangled on his back. It was subtle, but Fuji could see Eiji’s cheeks turn pink while he hid his face behind Oishi’s view. He kept his knowing smile and walked into the courts to start the morning practice.