The Day of Reckoning

Today was the day.

The day of reckoning.

The day of revenge.

Today. It was today –

Okay, so he never even thought of it until the runt told him about it. So that was kind of embarrassing. It was unacceptable, even. But today, he had a good feeling about today.

Today was the day that he was gonna get a hold of that Damn. Grip. Tape.

Muttering quietly to himself, Ibu Shinji lowered his baseball cap and proceeded to walk towards his intended destination.

**********

"-chan, mind the shop for a moment please? I just need to make a quick stop at the drug store. Grandpa's arthritis is acting up again." greeted cheerfully, hurriedly throwing an apron at his fourteen year-old sister's face.

, who just arrived at the door, grimaced.

"But I just came in! You should have told me earlier so I could have bought it myself on the way." But just pinched her right cheek and smiled.

"I also have other stuff to do," he said and pulled a slip of paper from his back pocket, waving for her to see.

sighed as she put her school things behind the counter and put on the apron. "Alright. But come back soon. I still have homework to finish so I need to get home early."

grinned in agreement, and left.

sighed again. Oh well. That was that. and 's grandfather owned Sports Goods. Dutiful grandchildren that they were, they took turns looking after the business since the time of their grandfather's ill health. It really was not a problem for , as he was a university student and had control over his schedule. But was still in middle school. The only time she could help out was after her long grueling afternoon of classes.

smoothed the folds of her brother's apron and scrutinized herself. She was still wearing her uniform under the offending garment. She didn't have a spare shirt and jeans in handy since she wasn't expecting to be at the store today with an English exam coming up.

She didn't like it but she didn't have a choice. Resignedly, she went back to the store counter to check if her brother had left any errands for her to do.

**********

Sports Goods. There it was.

He wondered if they had the stock. What if they didn't have it yet? Impossible. He would not have come here for nothing. And anyway, he could always ask for a reservation.

Well, Ibu, here's your chance. Go and get it, one way or another.

Yes, that's right. This was the day of reckoning, wasn't it? He'd show that Echizen that nobody came between a good tennis player and his own Damn. Grip. Tape. First, he just had to –

Uhm. What was he supposed to do again?

Yes, yes. Walk in. Here we go.

Hmm… where was the old man who ran the place? He didn't seem to be there. This was bad. He was the only one who knew about Ibu's most precious item. Well, except for that Seigaku fiend who had no business knowing in the first place. But where was that old guy? This was not good.

Something, or someone, he supposed, was coming his way. Was that… a girl? Ibu narrowed his eyes to see that she was wearing the old man's light blue apron. He also noted that she was wearing a familiar school uniform.

"Looking for something in particular?"

Ah, Yamabuki... The school uniform was Yamabuki. Akutsu Jin's school. They lost to Yamabuki before, losing the chance of playing a re-match against Seigaku. That was on a bad day, surely. He had never beaten Akutsu before. Yet the thought did not dampen his spirits. Ah, Akutsu, so sorry. But thoughts of your demise will be accomplished on another day. I'm a man with different, nobler mission.

smiled wonderingly at the guy who just walked in. He was whispering words that were unintelligible to her ears, though she did catch an "Akutsu" and "the day of reckoning", here and there. What was that all about? , amused, tried again.

"Hello? Is there something I can help you with?"

Ibu stared at her. And stared. And stared.

"I have come here for the grip tape."

The intensity of Ibu's stare, though he never noticed it himself, somehow shook the girl up. She blinked, dazed. She looked somehow familiar. Which was strange because Ibu was never really around girls. Right.

Ibu was surprised.

This girl was simply beautiful.

"I see. Grip tape, grip tape," the girl was flitting about and running her hands on the shelves stacked with bags of badminton rackets. She looked like a fairy sprite, sprinkling her magic dust all over the place. She moved determinedly from one shelf to another. Clearly, the girl had no idea what she was doing.

Ibu was alarmed. He was not expecting this. He came for one purpose and one purpose alone.

He was supposed to mind that the girl was never going to be able find his Damn. Grip. Tape. He was supposed to be outraged. He was not supposed to be fascinated of her one bit.

had already gone on to the basketball section, pretending to look for whatever it was the boy wanted. He was sort of cute, if not only for his odd way of whispering. Was he talking to himself or something? And what was the deal with the grip tape, anyway? Was that some sort of bandage for basketball injuries? He was still muttering about it, in any case. Must be something important.

"Hey. Uhm. You okay there?" asked. He had followed her, whispering. Better distract him and trick him into telling what a grip tape was.

Ibu nodded, in mid-murmur. "I'm. I'm okay."

She laughed nervously. Ibu liked the tinkling sound. She was truly amazing, this girl. At the back of his mind, he knew he was supposed to be thinking of something else entirely, but for the life of him, he could not remember. She was just too shiny. Oh. Wait.

"You don't know what a grip tape is, don't you?" He hazarded. The Fairy, as he decided to call her, flitted again.

"Well, actually, no."

"I know."

"Of course you do."

"No, I knew you didn't know what it was."

"Yes, you just said so."

"But that wasn't what you meant when you said, 'I know.'"

"You don't know that."

"I do."

The Fairy flushed. Her cheeks reminded him of the strawberry shake he had at the coffee shop earlier. Sweet and lovely. "We should stop arguing now," his Fairy said.

"We're not arguing."

rolled her eyes, knowing it was useless to argue. Arguing about arguing, for heaven's sake! The guy was exasperating. He had already managed to bewilder her with his stares, draw her into a petty disagreement, and she still had not even managed to find his grip tape. Or know his name.

"Do you know where the old man is right now?" he asked. smiled at him.

"Grandpa's not here at the moment. He won't be here for a few weeks, a few months. We don't know yet. He's not feeling well so I am taking care of the shop for him. Well, me and my brother. I'm sorry I don't know what you were looking for. Perhaps, if you can describe it to me?" She winced. That was lame. She could have just asked him to look for it himself.

He ignored her, and was walking towards the tennis section. He murmured, "Every time I come here it's always out of stock."

followed him. Oh, so these were grip tapes. These things didn't look too important. But the guy seemed to be bordering on desperate as he gazed at them. Still muttering endlessly.

She took one. "Are you looking for this one?" handing him the small package. Ibu looked at the box closely, shook his head, returning it to The Fairy. His hands softly touched hers and he felt something travel up his spine that he had to pull his hand quickly.

Abruptly, he moved to the side. Focus, Ibu. Focus. "I am looking for the 'gel grip' grip tape." Ibu told her, and scouring for it, he happened upon something packaged in dull brown paper, the most innocuous box of the bunch. There it was. At last!

Yet he hesitated. The Fairy was still standing right there, smiling expectantly. He wanted to try the tape out, wrap it around his favorite racket, maybe practice a few moves on the tennis courts with one of his team mates. Or perhaps a rival he would surely meet upon going there. Give Echizen or Akutsu a run for their money. Give them something to be jealous about.

He stared at The Fairy. Should he leave?

"Hey. Should I check that out for you?" The Fairy was asking, and one her hands rested on his shoulder. Her fingers looked delicate and pretty, starkly white in the contrast of his black shirt. Ibu shivered. This was a peculiar feeling. Her fingers were long and almost hypnotizing as they tapped his shoulder again. He couldn't understand any of it. He didn't come for whatever was happening now, he told himself. It was all very strange.

"Hey." The Fairy was already shaking his shoulder. "I'll just ring this up, okay?"

What? The grip tape. Yeah.

Ibu released the box on her waiting hand, turned around, and left.

**********

"Hey, Ibu-san! Hey!"

Ibu was oblivious to the sounds and sights of the world around him. He was going to Sports Goods again. For some reason, he had avoided walking by the store for the past three days. How can he be so thoughtless and stupid? He needed that Damn. Grip. Tape. It was supposed to be his reason for being. Its very existence spurred him with the power to tread down enemies, to triumph over evil.

Uhh. Well, not exactly. Win over evil tennis players would be more like it. Yeah. That Akutsu Jin. He must avenge the honor of Fudomine Chuu. Death to Yamabuki. Death to Akutsu Jin.

"Stop muttering and look at where you're going!"

"Echizen?" The little runt was harshly tugging on his hand as he narrowly avoided colliding on a fire hydrant.

"I'm on my way to the sports store. You?"

"Me, too."

"Really."

"Yes."

"Oh."

Both eyes widened in realization and the two tennis players ran with all their might to the sports shop.

**********

"That is mine."

"No."

"Mine."

"No."

"You Echizen Ryoma of Seishun Gakuen have no honor. You have told me to get this grip tape because you've already bought yours. You have to let me have this one or I will rue you until the day I die."

"No."

"You are a runt."

"Spare me the insults. I'm still taking this. I ran out of my grip tape because that old man at my house had it in his mind that he wanted it."

"I get first dibs on this."

"No."

"You, Echizen Ryoma are not fit to use this grip tape. Release it."

"Want to play for it?"

Ibu was going to take up the challenge when a bell-like voice of a not so unwelcome girl registered on his auditory sense. The Fairy! The reason for his existence.

No, that wasn't it. Ibu frowned.

"Is there anything wrong, boys?" The shiny Fairy asked. She looked at Ibu and blushed, "Oh! The one who wanted the grip tape from the other day! You forgot to buy it."

"Eh?" Echizen looked at Ibu and then the girl. That was news. It wasn't like Ibu-san to pass up a golden opportunity.

"Hello." Ibu greeted The Fairy.

"Hi."

"-chan! I need the inventory from last month's sales. Do you know where it is?" Someone, who knew the The Fairy was yelling from the store counter.

So that was The Fairy's first name. . Ibu didn't know that he was already whispering it repeatedly that he surely had not noticed Echizen smirking and the owner of the beautiful name blushing four shades of red upon hearing it from his lips.

"Yes?"

"Oh. You have a beautiful name. ."

Echizen guffawed.

Ibu was surprised to hear his voice, so faint and gentle as it addressed her. Something was definitely wrong here. He needed to focus. He was a man on a mission but he had no idea what it was he came for. Again.

"You should call me -san."

"-san," Ibu echoed.

"Yes, -san. I'm going to buy this one." Echizen declared, and abruptly made his way to the counter, leaving Ibu and staring at each other.

"W-wait!" Ibu was supposed to play for that grip tape. He remembered now. But Echizen just waved it mockingly in the air as the guy in the counter finished ringing up the purchase.

"We have another one, you know."

"What?"

, knowing that it was hopeless to convey anything with words to a person so preoccupied with them, took one of his stiff hands and guided him to the back of the shop. At the counter, her brother's narrowed eyes were following them while the little boy who bought the grip tape was walking to the door, still smirking. She didn't mind. She knew that it was inappropriate, holding the hand of a customer whose name she still didn't know. But this felt like something she was supposed to do.

"I reserved one for you." She went beet red. Not only did "reserve" it, however, but inspiration seized and she had wrapped the grip tape's dull brown box with blue paper and tied an intricate bow around it. Ever since this sweet boy practically ran out of the shop some days ago, it was all she could think to do, hoping he'd come back for it.

For… the grip tape.

Okay, so he really was all she could think about.

His hand was trembling as her fingers wrapped around his. Or was it her own? She only knew that her heart was beating so loudly that it was a surprise he hadn't remarked on it yet. Or at the least, murmur it to break the silence.

They were at the stock room now. reluctantly released his hand and looked for the blue package. She located it in one of the upper shelves and handed it to the boy.

She braved a bright smile.

"There you go. I thought this must be very special to you so uhm, I kind of fixed it. Make it pretty, though of course you don't care if it looked pretty or not, do you?" was muttering but the words were spilling out before she could stop them. "I mean, you were so adamant about it. But then you practically—"

"Ran out of the shop, yes."

"Yes."

Ibu affectionately held his precious Damn. Grip. Tape. against to the light. "-san. The box is very pretty."

heard him say it curtly. Did he mean that as an accusation? A compliment? She let out a strangled laugh. This boy was so very odd but his oddness made him so, conceded, so very likeable.

"-san. Ibu Shinji desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

He held out his hand again. Later, perhaps, when he was older and more out of the clouds, he would not say that he offered the handshake because he wanted to try the western way of introducing people, even only once. He would say, later, that it was because he just wanted to hold her hand again.

"Ibu-san." She looked surprised at the extended hand but took it, anyway. She shook it, pulled her hand abruptly, and bowed.

Ibu bowed as well. "Arigatou. Today," meaning that he wanted to thank him for reserving the box for him, "You have made me happy."

He saw her blush again. She probably misunderstood.

But it didn't matter, did it?

Later, he would say, that indeed, she had made him very happy.

##########

May 20, 2006
Written and edited by linchpin, with a smattering of Megane-ko if you squint very hard.

A/N: The premise of this story is based from Prince of Tennis anime, episodes 22 and 71.