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1. Yamato was never quite sure why he was chosen as captain -
he wasn't any kind of tennis prodigy and had never thought of himself as a leader like the captains that he's played
under. When Ryuzaki-sensei tells him that the younger students remember him as one of Seigaku's greatest, his only thought
is that he must have faked it well.
2. Yamato's tendency to sound mystic only began when he was 14 and starting
out as captain, the general idea being that if he sounded like he knew what he was doing, people might actually listen to
him.
3. Yamato kept doing it even when he was comfortable in his position because the blank looks on people's
faces amused him and by that point he was genuinely interested in the philosophy behind the game anyway.
4. Yamato
likes to think that people take something away from conversations with him. Sometimes it's not what he was trying to
tell them but sometimes making people think is more useful than telling them the answers.
5. Publicly, Yamato
will always claim that he knew that Tezuka could beat him and that's why he left Seigaku in his hands. Privately he
admits that that first time he was amazed to be beaten by a first year because, while he wasn't National level like Rikkai's
captain, he was still a Seigaku regular.
6. He was very careful about which first years he played after that,
staying well clear of Fuji in particular. The others might not yet have realised but Ryuzaki kept careful records at
each player and Fuji's clearly stated his tournament history.
7. When he realised that Rikkai were fielding three
first years in their top team, Yamato wished that Seigaku was a little less traditional and made as many changes to the first
years' training schedule as he felt the club could accept. It's good for the first years to play more with their seniors
and good for the seniors to learn not to let their guards down.
8. While he's always scrupulously polite to other
teams when he meets them, he can't help but think that Hyotei are just asking to be knocked off their pedestal. He sees
the tactical advantage in allowing pre-regulars to gain experience but the implied insult is a little hard to bear.
9. It's
harder to justify his feelings about Rikkai because while they are arrogant they are also scrupulously polite in public and
never field anything but their best team. That alone gives him a certain satisfaction when they destroy Hyotei in the
Kantou finals.
10. Yamato still feels that he should have been able to prevent Tezuka's injury two years back but he
still hasn't worked out how. Tezuka comes to him for advice sometimes in spite of this and secretly this makes him more
proud than anything else about his time as captain.
11. Yamato would have liked to have Tezuka as his successor
as captain but was forced to settle for vice-captain since Tezuka technically wasn't even a regular yet. He'd be willing
to bet that such minor details wouldn't bother Tezuka when it was his turn in two years time.
12. Handing in the resignation
form for the tennis club after they're knocked out at the Tokyo tournament is possibly the hardest thing Yamato has ever done.
He's very glad that he habitually wears sunglasses to play in when he says his final words to the club. Suddenly his
timetable seems scarily empty and he's unsure of where he's going.
13. If Ryuzaki-sensei sees him holding back
tears in the clubroom that evening after everyone else has left, she never lets on.
14. Yamato quietly tells Tezuka
about the informal club that meets at the Haruno University tennis courts. With any luck he will have a chance to play
Tezuka again there since it would be uncomfortable for everyone if he dropped by the school tennis club when the new
captain was in charge.
15. Yamato is very glad when he can join the senior tennis club, despite spending hours chasing
balls again. He's not entirely sure why playing tennis is so important to him but he does know that he enjoys
it enough that his life feels empty without it.
16. Yamato deliberately doesn't shave before going to help out
at Seigaku's training camp. This is because he knows Ryuzaki-sensei has a tendency to forget that former students aren't
twelve any more. He's seen 30 year old men being dressed down by her before and is hoping the visual reminder of his
increased age will prevent the same happening to him in front of his juniors.
17. It amuses Yamato how like Echizen-kun
is to Tezuka. Echizen is a decidedly ruder (though Yamato has his doubts about what goes on inside Tezuka's head) but
they're both ridiculously stubborn and have tend to mistrust people on principle. He wonders sometimes whether Tezuka
has noticed the resemblance. Honestly, he doubts it, though he's sure that Tezuka's yearmates have.
18. Next year
he's almost certain to be captain of Seigaku's senior tennis team. It feels a bit like freeloading to think it but he
hopes that Tezuka and his team will be able to carry them to Nationals because playing there is something he's always dreamed
about.
19. Yamato is aware that some of the current regulars are likely to be knocked from their places by the new
arrivals but he is confident that his two years of hard work have placed him as one of the strongest regulars so he should
survive the elimination. He does wonder if Fuji would be interested in playing doubles with him because Fuji's style
is fascinating and would probably suit his own, steadier style well.
20. Yamato knows now that the captain doesn't
have to be the strongest player on the team (which is lucky because he hasn't been the strongest for a long time). He
does know that he understands all of his future players, understands them better in fact than some of them do, and knows that
this will be more valuable than any technical expertise that he has. This time, he won't be faking it.
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