Hi… I am back with a new one-shot. I don't know where this comes from but I thought of giving it a try. I hope you like it… Thank you… ^_^
DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Prince of Tennis and never will.
Dream Catcher
Summary: He saw a glimpse of his future that very one night.
"What is it?" He asked the girl in braided pigtailed hair in front of him. The girl fidgeted first before she responded.
"U-um…" She started as she showed him a bento in front of him, "I made some rice balls."
"Hmmm," He stared at it first before he grabbed one and ate it. The girl looked at him and probably waiting for his comment;
"Well?" She asked later on, "Is it tasty?"
Looking at the girl he gave her the comment that he really thought was right, "Isn't it pretty hard to make bad rice balls?"
She looked down and showed sadness on her face, "Y-you're right."
He gave her an inquisitive look and wondered about the girl.
She was miss wobbly hips, his coach's granddaughter who stuttered a lot, not so good at tennis and no sense of direction. Put them together she was a total mess. It was not that he didn't mind her, but everytime he saw the girl, those traits of her suddenly registered to his brain.
Especially with her awfully long hair.
He thought that it would just trouble her when she played tennis but she would just retort and defend it from him. At least the girl could defend herself when necessary. She wasn't annoying unlike the other girls around him.
Despite of it all, she was okay.
"Ryuuzaki," He looked at her making the girl look back at him, "Match is about to start."
"Oh, okay," She replied and smiled at him, "Good luck on your match Ryoma-kun, I'll be watching from the bleachers."
"Un." With that he walked ahead of her not bothering if she would follow him or not. Besides, he had a match to win that day after all.
xxx
As usual they won the game like always and as always they would go to Kawamura's sushi restaurant to celebrate for their victory. Even he didn't pay attention; he knew that she was there as well since her grandmother was there to celebrate with them. He could just search the floor once and remembered all the people inside and then he would go back to his own world.
Not only in that tournament, the team won several matches and made them the champion in that year. They parted ways after that and he had gone to America after that. But when he received an invitation to U-17 training camp selection, he didn't hesitate to accept the invitation and went back to Japan.
He had another game to win and he was excited about it.
6PM:
He arrived at the airport that night without telling anyone about his arrival. He planned to surprise the whole team on the day of the selection. He first called his family and announced his arrival. He was a bit pissed because of his dad who answered the call. In the end, he told him that he would be coming home in a few minutes so no need to pick him up from the airport.
Seeing the country once again, he thought of going to a certain place that he missed, a Japanese restaurant. Japanese food was his favorite anyway and he would forget everything except tennis of course.
After spending time in the restaurant, he timidly walked his way home. He yawned as if sleep was inviting him at that time. He was tired after all the flights he did today. He continued to walk while still thinking of going home fast and then he did another yawn for a couple of seconds.
"My, oh my, you seem sleepy my boy."
Blinking twice, he looked to his side and spotted an old lady in a violet coat and was wearing a hood on her head sitting on a chair. The table in front of her was filled with different amulets and potions or anything eerie in his eyes. He frowned when he saw he saw the old lady alone in that area.
She was creepy if he would think about it. Trying not to be impolite, he gave the old lady a bow and was about to leave the area.
"Do you want to see yourself years from now?"
His thought of walking away from that area was halted. He abruptly looked at her and frowned. He didn't say another word as he looked at her. Then, the old lady gestured him to come closer. The old lady's smile was enigmatic for him. He knew that he shouldn't get closer to the old lady but his mind was telling him the otherwise.
He walked closer to her table but he never said anything to her.
"Give me your hand, young boy." The old lady ordered.
He stared at her for a while before he slowly offered his hand to her. Later on, the old lady dropped something on his palm. Ryoma looked at his palm.
It was a dream catcher that can use as a necklace.
He looked at her frowning in the process, silently telling her what to do with the necklace. As if on cue, the old lady read his mind and explained her thoughts;
"You don't need to wear it. You can just hang it to your head rest before you sleep," She said. He was about to say something for the first time but she interrupted him, "No need to pay for that. It's free my boy."
"But… Obaa-san…"
"It's okay," She smiled at him and gestured her hand once again, "Now run along now. I've got some things to sell out here."
Ryoma stared at her for a while before he bowed to give respect. And then, he left the area keeping the dream catcher in his hand.
Later on:
"Tadaima." He announced as he opened the door of their house."
"Okaerinasai, Ryoma-san," Nanako greeted him, "How was the travel? Did you have a good time?"
He looked at her before he removed his fila hat on his head, "It was tiring."
"I see… you must be very tired."
He nodded as confirmation, "I already ate outside so I am going to bed," He said as he walked to the stairs, "Oyasumi."
"Okay." She smiled at him. Good thing that it was her who greeted him that night. If it was his father who did it, he would be pissed at him. She knew that Ryoma was pretty tired and he needed rest that very moment. Turning on her heels, she went back to the kitchen and helped out with her auntie for dinner.
In his bedroom:
Karupin was already there when he entered his room. He brought the cat in his arm as he lied down to his bed. The cat meowed at him and had a little staring competition with its master. He sighed afterwards and put the cat down. He put his hand in his pocket and felt something. Blinking twice, he yanked it out.
It was the dream catcher.
He stared at it for a while. The dream catcher wasn't creepy to his eyes. In fact, it was somewhat cute because it was a bit small. The bead at the center was scarlet red and the whole thing was black. There was also a small brown feather at the bottom, making it cuter. Despite the word that he described about it, he still couldn't believe that he accepted something from a stranger. He shouldn't be doing that.
In the end, he decided to think that accepting something from a stranger once wasn't going to do him anything bad. With that belief, he placed the dream catcher to his head rest and smiled at the thing. He then, lied down once again with Karupin at his side. While staring at the ceiling, he thought what the old lady said to him when she asked him about his future.
He was curious about it himself. Maybe at that time, he would be the world's number one tennis player and everyone who recognize him as professional. Closing his eyes in the process, knowing his future even though it was impossible was good for him.
.
.
.
.
.
"San…"
…Twitch.
"Nii-san…"
…twitch, twitch.
"Onii-san!"
Blink. Blink.
"ONII-SAN!"
He stared in front of him. From where he was standing, he saw another person in front… of the court.
A kid was standing at the other side of the court. A boy of he thought was probably eight or nine years old. The kid was wearing a blue t-shirt and white short. His was brunette and somehow, the color thought him of someone else but what caught his attention were his eyes.
His amber eyes were just like his, except for the shape. It liked belong to someone else.
Something with the kid he thought that he knew. The longer he stared at the kid, the longer he thought seeing his own self in him. The kid put a hand on his waist and retorted;
"How long are you going to stare at me like that?"
He blinked again and realized another thing. The kid acted like him.
"Serve now, nii-san."
Realizing what he said, he looked at his hand. He was holding a racket in his right hand while he was holding a tennis ball in his left hand. Not sure what was happening, he started dribbling the ball, "A-aa." After some dribbling, he tossed it upward and performed his signature serve. The kid somewhat knew what he was about to do.
"That serve again," He said as he positioned himself, "I've seen that a lot of times."
He was about to hit it with his racket when his opponent continued talking;
"Tou-san's twist serve."
He hit the ball alright but it lacked force, "What?!"
"Too weak." The kid said as he hit it back.
He ran to it and hit it back. Despite the little shock, he managed to come back with the game. As he observed the boy in front of him, he noticed a lot of things about him.
…His moves, his actions, his words… everything. Somehow, he felt that it was his origins. He felt odd when he was rallying with the kid. But still, he enjoyed playing tennis with him.
His skills were still invincible for he won the game but the kid wasn't that bad. He was pretty great too. Good enough to be his opponent at least for the age like him.
"Nice game." He said facing the kid who was lying down on the floor.
"You are pretty great," He said staring at the clear blue sky, "How come you do all those moves? You also act like my father."
He remained silent as he stared at his position. It was bothering him since the start of the match. The kid knew his moves even before he could perform it. Then he saw the boy raise his hand with his racket on;
"But don't tell this to him, I really admire my father," He said aiming for the sun with the sweet spot of his racket, "He even gave this red racket to my mother and then she gave it to me when I started playing tennis."
That caught him his full attention. No wonder that his red racket was familiar to him. It was also Grandea Dynabeam, the same racket that he was using. If he was not mistaken, he had given someone his racket as a gift from him. His memory wasn't betraying him that moment. Walking to his side of the court, he stood at his side of him and stared down at him;
"Ne," He started not tearing his stare from him, "What's your name?"
The boy stared at him just like what he was doing before he replied to his question, "I am Ryuji, Echizen Ryuji."
He was speechless when he heard that from him. He wasn't thinking it, was he? His instinct wasn't telling him at all. But he wanted to be sure. He didn't know why his heart was beating so fast but he knew that he still wanted to know so he asked the boy;
"Who's your father?"
The kid stared at him first before he used his body to sit up and stared at the shrine, "He's Ryoma," He said making his eyes wide. The kid looked at him and continued, "Echizen Ryoma."
That confirmed it as he came back from being speechless. He had a son? How could that be? Was he in the future and he was facing his future son right now? No wonder that he could see himself in him, minus of being slight talkativeness of the kid. He was seeing it at that moment.
The kid in front of him was his son after all.
He couldn't believe that he was seeing his future now. He must have been dreaming. Still staring at the boy from the ground, he slowly reached for his cheek and painfully pinched it. He winced at the pain it created. The boy named Ryuji saw what he did and began laughing at him, much to his surprise.
"You are weird nii-san," Ryuji said, deciding to stand up, "But I like your weirdness."
"Che." He faintly grunted. Now his son was making fun of him. He liked him because of his weirdness? What a rare comment he could receive from a kid, let alone his own flesh and blood. Staring at Ryuji, it was impossible to deny that the kid in front of him was not his son.
Ryuji was the exact replica of him except for the hair color and the shape of his eyes.
Looking around them, he noticed that they were in a temple. A temple that he was very, very familiar with, "This temple…"
Ryuji looked around like he did, "It belongs to my grandfather. My grandparents are in America now and currently having their vacation there before finally settling down here," He looked back at him, "They are old enough to travel if you ask me."
Oyaji… He knew and he secretly grunted. It was his home after all. In what year he was in that very moment anyway. And more on, having a son meant he had a family of his own. There was one more thing that was left.
Who was his wife?
Still staring at the boy who was fixing his red racket, he thought really hard. He didn't know what to feel. Was he ready to know who his wife would be? Having a wife was an odd information for him. He was just twelve years old for goodness sake. And the time he was in right now was way too far from his age.
Was it even possible to come until this very day? He didn't know.
However, he was still curious about his future wife. He guessed it wouldn't harm him after all.
"Ne," He faced the boy, "Who's your mother?"
Ryuji faced him and gave him an unexpected smile, "My mom is—"
"Ryuji-kun, are you done yet? I baked some cookies."
Both of them looked inside the temple and saw a lady that clad in a pink apron and holding a spatula in her hand. But that wasn't the reason why his eyes were wide in surprise.
It was the lady herself. She was fair enough and her hair was braided in pigtails until her shoulder level. Her eyes were hazel and the same shape as Ryuji's, "Ryuuzaki?" He whispered only to himself and he knew that Ryuji didn't hear it. It was indeed the older version of Ryuuzaki that he knew, minus the length of her hair although it was still braided.
…The typical Ryuuzaki Sakuno that he knew.
"Kaa-san," Ryuji called as he ran to his mother, "You were baking?"
She nodded and flicked his forehead, "You are all sweat now go upstairs and have a change of clothes."
Ryuji narrowed his eyes to his mother, rubbing his forehead that Sakuno flicked, "We are not done yet."
"Now." She ordered placing a hand with her spatula to her waist and stared at him. Ryoma on the other hand was watching an incredulous scene in front of him. He still couldn't believe what was happening.
She was his wife. Ryuuzaki was his wife? Still not recovering from it, he didn't know that he was staring at her until she looked at him. He was sure that she flinched but it was for a few seconds;
"Do you want to come and join us?"
He blinked twice before he closed them, "Aa." He didn't know why but he felt that he wanted to know more of his future family.
It was unexpected for him after all.
Later on:
Not really admitting it, he did enjoy their company. Ryuji was a glutton just like him much to Sakuno's chagrin. She kept saying that his son was just like his father. Ryuji could consider someone with few words but he spoke non-stop when he got interested over the things that he liked.
Like tennis and Japanese food.
That was so like of him alright. He liked Ryuji for he was seeing himself to the boy. He couldn't wait to see him when the time comes and had numerous matches just like what they had a while ago. He should be thanking Sakuno for that.
And speaking of the lady, he had the time to observe her. She was still the same although she didn't stutter a lot unlike the girl that he knew. She was sweet and acted motherly towards Ryuji. She would only blush when his son was talking about him.
Well the older version of him of course. He was curious about it now. Where was the older version of him? As if like Ryuji read his mind, he mentioned about him having a tennis match with his old teammates and was currently playing at the street tennis court. Ryuji wanted to come but his older version forbidden him.
He also heard from the older version of Sakuno that it was only for reunion of his old teammates.
She was probably talking about his senpais. It was another thing that he was still playing tennis until now. That was definitely good news for him. He had the instinct that he did reach his dream of becoming pro and having a family was like a bonus for him. He looked at his future family. He was unconsciously thinking that having this family was not bad after all.
He was starting to like this family of his… in the future.
Night:
Ryuji was already sleeping that moment. He felt asleep after eating a lot of food the whole day. Well, he spent his time the entire afternoon with the series of matches and food of course. Sakuno brought him to his room and told him to wait in the living room. While he was at it, he had the chance to look at his living room.
The place hadn't changed a lot. There were some pictures added on the wall. Being curious about it, he walked towards the set of pictures. There were four pictures added in the living room. The first one was the picture of him and Sakuno in their wedding attire, the second one was her picture, the one he was seeing of her now, the third one was the picture of Ryuji with his own fila hat. It was pretty big for his small head and the last one was his older version.
He looked at his picture and stared at it. He looked like Ryoga in a few years from that picture but he could still see his old self there. He only became mature of his self-portrait. He wasn't smiling that much but he knew that he was happy and he could see it at their wedding picture.
He wasn't familiar about falling in love with the opposite gender but in this time, his older version knew about it.
He was in love with his wife. He was in love with Sakuno after all.
"You're wondering about him."
From the pictures, he shifted his stare to the older Sakuno who was walking down the stairs, smiling at him.
"My husband," She said looking at his older picture, "He never changed. He likes tennis that his son is following his footsteps," Her giggle sounded nice to his ears, "Like father like son, huh?"
He secretly smirked when he heard that from her. He liked that phrase much to his bewilderment.
"Just like you."
His smirk was replaced with a shocked reaction. Not really noticeable but he was aware that she knew that he was surprised. Looking at her, she gave him a genuine smile;
"You're him."
"…"
"It's been years already."
"How did you know?"
Sakuno placed a hand to his picture and fondly gazed at it, "It is impossible not to forget the face of the person for the first time I've fell in love with."
Upon hearing that, he couldn't help but blush at her words.
"Ryuji-kun wasn't aware that he was playing with his father all along," She said walking away from him, "But deep inside he knew that you are his father. No wonder that he likes you."
"He's fine." He said as he looked at Ryuji from the picture. What he said was true after all.
"Seeing you with that appearance," She said catching his attention, "I feel like I am a twelve year old girl again."
He watched her sit on the couch and blush a little, "I couldn't believe that I wasn't stuttering at your younger version now. When he comes back later, I don't know if I can act like this again."
"What do you mean?" He obliviously asked her.
"It is something that you do every time you come home," She said trying to be civil with her words, "You'll understand what I am saying when you get older."
He blinked at her. Why was she saying things that he didn't know and then left him in the middle?
"Ne…" He looked at her. He wanted to ask her how they did become a couple.
"I know what you want to ask," She said closing her eyes in the process, "But you have to figure that out yourself."
"How?" He asked her this time taking a few steps closer to her, "What should I do?"
Sakuno was surprised at his question. She was probably expecting that from him. Sakuno stood up and walked closer to him, "At your age, of course you don't know yet. But you'll get there bit by bit so don't rush things up."
He frowned at her trying to register what she was saying. Seeing this future of him, he was sure that he wanted this family. He liked this family that he was going to have in the future. He wouldn't mind Sakuno as his wife in the future.
It wasn't at his tender age for now but as he grew older, he would fall in love with her. But he wanted to know how so he would know what he should do for his future.
"How should I treat you then?"
She was surprised at his words but smiled later on, "Just continue your treatment to me."
"What?"
"Just do whatever you like," She said placing her hands to his shoulder, "Feel like noticing me when you want to."
He wasn't satisfied at her answer. She was only giving him hints on how to make his own future.
"Ryoma-kun, don't worry about it," She smiled at him, "No matter what you do as long as you feel like doing it, I am sure that we will have this future. Besides, I am always there to support you."
"…"
"Do those things that you like and you'll have Ryuji-kun and me… just like now."
His eyes widened when she said that. Somehow, listening to her like that did give him an idea. He was confident that he could have this future if he wanted it. And that was he what going to do. He smirked because of that. While Sakuno just watched him do that.
"Tadaima."
Both of them flinched when they heard someone talked;
"He's here."
Blinking twice, he stared at her.
Sakuno smiled at him, "I should entertain your older version. Thank you for visiting me," She was about to turn around when she remembered something, "One more thing, when I did something good or bad, you should always say this to me," With that, she whispered something to his ear making his eye wide in the process, "Do that and I know I will be pleased."
He nodded as confirmation.
"Good luck," She said before leaning down and kissed his forehead making him blush in the process, "I'll see you soon."
He couldn't react at the sudden contact the older Sakuno gave to him. All he could remember was the white background covered his entire being as his amber eyes couldn't take it. He didn't have a choice but to close his eyes to cover them from the blinding light.
.
.
.
.
.
Snap!
He was breathing hard as he opened his eyes. Slightly recovering, he slowly sat up and thought what really happened. His eyes widened when he remembered his dream. It was shocking for him.
He was married to Ryuuzaki.
…And had a child.
He couldn't believe it but it felt real for him. Why did he dream of his future like that? It would be two decades from now if he could think about it. But it felt real for him. Then he remembered something.
"The dream catcher…" He alerted himself as he immediately looked at his head rest only for him to flinch in the process.
The dream catcher was gone from where he placed it last night.
Was it all a dream? Now he was confused. What was really happening now? What was that dream all about? It wasn't real, was that really a dream? It was too good to be true if he would ask him. But the only evidence that he was seeking for was not there anymore. He wasn't sure if that thing was there in the first place. There wasn't any sign that it was there at all. Sighing to himself, he thought of a conclusion.
It was after all… a dream.
He got off from his bed and had a change of clothes. He needed to get some fresh air to forget that weird dream of his. It was actually a nice dream but he just couldn't bring the fantasy with reality together. He needed to stop or else he would be hoping for a false one. He would be meeting his old teammates until later he could get some warm up outside. Looking near his closet, he spotted his fila hat hanging on his closet. What was Ryoma without his fila hat? Smirking to himself, he walked to his hat and grabbed it. As if something was telling him, he took a glimpse of his reflection on the mirror of his closet and noticed something. He thought that he was just imagining it but his eyes weren't betraying him, were they? He looked closely at his reflection. His eyes widened. From his forehead, it was there. He could clearly see it. He realized it now.
The lipstick on his forehead was telling him that his dream was no dream after all. It was definitely his future.
Later on:
He didn't know what to feel right now but he knew that he felt refreshed. He wanted to go outside and felt like doing something. He wanted to play tennis of course but he wanted to rally with someone.
Walking to a street tennis court that morning, he hoped that he could play someone he knew there. He walked to the court and was really surprised to see the early person sitting on a bench. Well, of all the tennis players that he was expecting to see in that court, he wasn't expecting her to see there first, not minding that she was a tennis player or not.
He stopped a few meters away from her as he observed the girl. She was in her usual braided hair that was tied in pigtails. He knew that she was there to play tennis as she was wearing her tennis attire, dirty white-collared t-shirt and above knee skirt. She was also carrying a bento box that was on her lap and currently eating what she brought. She was busy eating her breakfast that she didn't know that he was there. He noticed that she was frowning as she looked at her food. Her food was made out of green tennis balls shape. When she took a bite on her food he slowly walked behind her and accidentally heard what she said;
"Ryoma-kun would be saying that they're bad when they taste them." She closed her eyes as she giggled.
He blinked as he leaned on the back rest, the girl still wasn't aware of his appearance behind her. He secretly smirked before he decided to reach out to the tennis ball food from her hand making her surprise in the process. He stared at the food but he was aware that she was definitely surprised to see him there.
"R-R-Ryoma-kun!" She was really obvious that she was really shocked to see him here, "S-since when did you arrive here?"
"Just a moment ago." He said boringly not really showing his own thoughts at that moment. He was staring at the food that he stole from her, the food that she bit a while ago. Staring at bitten food, he thought something very memorable for him.
Way back in the future, before he was engulfed with the white light. He was able to see it. His older version was kissing the older version of the girl beside him.
…On the lips.
He was curious about it. Miraculously, he wondered what it would feel like to place his own lips to hers. Still staring at the food, he had thought something that he never realized that he would;
He wanted to feel it. He wanted to feel what it felt like to kiss her on the lips.
Munch!
Gasp!
She gasped when he ate the food that she ate a while ago. He closed his eyes as he thought of something. He remembered her older version saying;
Don't rush things up.
She's right after all. The kiss could wait and from the looked of it, he was satisfied with the indirect kiss… for now.
"A-anou… Ryoma-kun."
He looked at her for the first time, still munching the food.
"H-how is it?" She fidgeted as she looked inwardly at him.
Ryoma just stared at her and then looked at the bento box on her lap. There was another one left. She probably thought that he should be taking that instead of the food that she bit a while ago. No wonder that she was blushing really hard.
He secretly smirked as he realized something. He started to like her reaction, her blushing reaction. Wanting to see more of her blush, he grabbed the remaining one from the bento box making her surprise in the process and said the advice that he received from her older version;
"Not bad."
Looking at her surprised expression, he got what he was expecting from her. Not that she only blushed in front of him… he knew that she was very pleased.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
'All this time, these twelve thousand years
I know Aishiteru
Eight thousand years from the time that
I've met you my love grows strong than ever before…'
~ Akino with Bless4 ~
~ Owari ~
How was this one shot? Tell me your thoughts please… I just couldn't stop thinking about the dream catcher for I've been seeing it wherever I go that brought me an idea about this fic…
I sort of included some scenes at the National Arc: Semi Finals where Seigaku faced Shitenhouji that time. Sakuno was there and approached Ryoma and gave him her bento. The two of them, I included them here… From the beginning and at the end… Have you realized it guys?
Well… Reviews please… One word is enough… Domo…
I do not own the song being used here from the end part (It was the acapella and English version of Sousei no Aquarion and could be heard from the second season of the anime. I do not own everything Both animes and the song… Well, except for my Oc I guess… Ryuji… tee hee hee… Just love sharing them.
Lovelots
~ Mitsukijunko ~