Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN Tennis no Ohjisama, I'm just writing this story for my enjoyment, and (hopefully) for the enjoyment of other fans so please don't sue me.
Author's Note: any quotes with * * mean spoken in English, Italics indicate thoughts, and (Italics) indicate author's suggestions, and Bold Italics indicate flashbacks, otherwise the characters are speaking Japanese. Um, this story was going to be a Sakuno x Ryoma fic, but now I'm not too sure if it's going to be a pairing fic.
Chapter 1 - Someone Familiar
"Made, made . . . dane," a thin 10 year old said softy, in an unmocking tone towards the younger boy across the tennis court. Her head lowered, not even acknowledging his presence; suddenly lifted, revealing a large smile."Don't forget, you two promised! See you tomorrow!" Then she left the court and ran off somewhere, leaving behind two very shocked boys.
"Tezuka . . . you . . . how . . . I . . . " a very confused eight year old Oishi, stammered.
"I didn't think she would be so strong, I won't make that mistake again. But still, she beat me." Tezuka stated quietly. He looked at his racket and clutched it even tighter. " They were fair matches, but we lost. " He turned to his friend, the serious expression on his face hadn't changed." Come on, we need to buy that stuff animal for her now."
That was six years ago, so why was he thinking about it? Kunimitsu Tezuka was walking towards school which usually allowed him to reflect and clear his mind but lately he kept thinking about someone whom he hadn't seen in years. He couldn't remember her last name, or what she really looked like except that she had black hair, and oddly enough one brown eye and one blue eye. He couldn't even remember when he started to think about her again. How bothersome, he had to concentrate on the up and coming tennis matches.
"Oy, Tezuka, wait up. I'll walk with you," yelled a running Syuichiroh Oishi. Tezuka waited for his friend to catch up. Maybe Oishi remembered more about her, that might take his mind of her once some of the mystery would be cleared up.
"Oishi, do you remember Sakura?"
Oishi turned towards his team captain somewhat surprised, Tezuka rarely asked about other people, especially girls. "Sakura-chan, we haven't seen her in about 4 years, why do you ask?"
"Do you remember her last name?"
"Ummmm. Actually, I think it's the same as sensei's, Ryuzaki. Yeah, her name was Ryuzaki, Sakura. Do you think they're related?"
Tezuka just closed his eyes for a second before opening them again, revealing that he really didn't care, and just kept walking. Oishi was use to this type of behavior and decided not to continue the subject although he was very curious about why his friend brought it up. However, to be quite honest he was thinking about Sakura too, lately, and he wasn't sure why. Like Tezuka, he couldn't remember much about her, except for her unusual eyes, and that she beat both at them once on the tennis court. It was a learning and humbling experience for both, even if it never happened again, since she never played against them again after that day.
Ryuzaki-sensei was sipping tea with her visitor before the school day ended. "You know, this article may become a problem."
"We all knew that this would be a possibility, Mother. I've already talked to a lawyer, but according to him, we don't have grounds for an injunction. Even if the magazine is regarded as a tabloid, the story will probably be picked up by others. I'm sorry for the trouble this might cause you."
Sumire Ryuzaki looked at her son for a moment before answering, "Well, it would have been a matter of time before the reporters brought up the past, even if Sakura wasn't modeling. With her being so close to breaking the US record for the mile and 2 mile, I'm sure sports reporters would want to do interviews with her."
"Speaking about running, are you making the tennis club run laps?" her son asked with a hint of mischief in his voice. His mother glanced at him before returning his smile.
"I think that could be arranged."
Sakuno Ryuzaki and her friend Tomoka Osakada were walking towards their lockers when Sakuno heard her name being called. Turning back, she saw a tall girl, with long black hair, heading towards her. Sakuno waved to her older cousin. "Sakura-neichan! Uncle was looking for you. He said that he wanted you to get dressed in your sweats."
Her older cousin looked down on Sakuno, her right eyebrow raised in disbelief. "I can't believe this, he promised we could hang out this afternoon. Did he say where I was suppose to meet him?"
"Well, Grandmother and he were still in her office when I saw them, so I suppose that they're still there."
"Hey, Sakuno, aren't you going to introduce me?" her friend asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry Tomo-chan. Tomo-chan, my cousin Sakura Selene Ryuzaki, Sakura-neichan, my best friend Tomoka Osakada."
"Nice to meet you, Tomoka-chan, but I need to find my father, especially if he's planning what I think he is. If he is, I don't think we'll be able to go to the arcade today, see you later Sakuno-chan!"
"Hmmm, Sakuno, your cousin looks a lot like that new model, expect for those eyes. You know the one that poses for all of those teen magazines lately, what's her name?"
"Selene Lee? Yeah . . . umm . . . that's because," Sakuno paused as if unsure she should continue, but decided that her best friend should know. "Sakura-neichan, is Selene, Selene Lee is her stage name, she wears gray contacts and glasses at the shoots so people wouldn't recognize her and lynch her when she wants to go out in public." Sakuno stated in hopes that the stars she noticed in Tomoka's eyes would go away. Her hopes were dashed by her friend's next response.
"Your cousin IS SELENE LEE?!?! That is sooo cool, why didn't you say something earlier? Do you think that she could introduce us to some of the really cute boys that she works with? Hey, do you think she knows famous people?"
"Shhhhh! She doesn't want the world to know."
"Ohhhh, I get it, don't worry Sakuno, I won't tell anyone. I know how to keep a secret. Hey, if you and your cousin can't go to the arcade then you can come with me to watch the practice. Oh, no, we have to hurry or we'll be late in seeing the guys practice today, come on!"
They ran towards the tennis courts to find that the practice hadn't started yet. It was weird because practice usually started once Tezuka was out on the courts, but today all of the regulars and Sakuno's grandmother were out there, and they were still only warming up. Sakuno looked around and smiled when she saw Ryoma Eichizen out in the far end hitting some balls with her uncle. That's right, before Ryoma-kun came to Japan, my uncle coached him in the United States. She watched them for a while before noticing some of the jogging noises coming from behind.
"Okay, I jogged around the school and stretched, now what do want me to do, Dad." Sakura yelled while jogging in place. Suddenly the boys from the tennis club stopped stretching long enough to look at the speaker, but all of them just kept staring at her, except for Ryoma. Something that irked Sakura, but at the same time she wasn't surprised because her father had managed pack her running clothes, which were her sports bra, her polyester draw string warm-up pants, and her practice pair of running spikes, without the metal spikes. While she felt comfortable in these clothes, she was very aware how much skin she was showing. I can't believe my father remembers to pack my training clothes, but can't even remember to bring a spare tee-shirt for me to use to preserve some dignity. He probably also packed my tennis racket too. For crying out loud, my whole stomach is showing, it's a good thing that I'm really thin otherwise I'd be really embarrassed.
Oishi looked at the teenager, his mind trying to figure out why bells were ringing in his head about the tall girl wearing blue warm-ups, her hair in pig-tails, and was really very pretty until he noticed the eyes. She had one blue eye and one brown eye. He looked towards Tezuka and noted that his friend was making the connection as well.
"I was thinking you could run laps with the tennis club today, Lena-chan."
"Dad, you promised that there would be no practicing during this trip."
"So I lied, what else is new?" He responded good-naturedly, "did you have plans?"
"Sakuno and I were going to the arcade and then some shopping, remember?"
"Oops, well, just go after."
"I can't. Knowing you, you'll want me to stay until the end of practice and then we have to go to the Eichizens' for dinner." Ryoma grimaced and missed the ball that his former coach served to him. "Guessing by Ryoma's reaction, I take it that no one told him we'd be coming over."
Sakura's father smiled, "You know me a little too well. I suppose you have some conditions."
"Yes, but I'll get to them later," and with that she stopped talking to her father, turned towards her grandmother, who was standing along Sadaharu Inui. "How many laps?"
"Thirty, you have to finish each lap in under 60 seconds or else you have to drink a cup of Penal Tea. The loser has to drink a full pitcher of Penal Tea." Inui answered.
Sakura considered the conditions imposed on her, then she tilted her head and a confident smirk appeared on her lips, "But what do I get if I win?"
Oishi and Tezuka's eyes widen in recognition, if there was any doubts earlier to the identity of the girl, they were all erased now. The girl on the tennis court was the same girl, who beat them six years ago, even her expression, when she said those seven words, was exactly the same. The other members were just shocked that this girl would just state those words so cavalierly.
Inui's right eyebrow rose in skepticism at her bold statement, while Ryuzaki-sensei just laughed. "You really haven't changed, granddaughter-"
"GRANDDAUGHTER!!" the entire club exclaimed, except for Ryoma, who rolled his eyes.
"-you won't have to practice with the team again, unless you want to."
"Okay," Sakura smiled, and then continued, "So, are we going to get started or is everyone just going to gawk at me all day?"
Immediately the tennis club members turned theirs heads back towards their rackets and tried very hard not to seem embarrassed that Sakura pointed out that they were staring at her for the entire time since she made her entrance.
Her grandmother laughed again, and then stated, "All right, everyone line up for laps."
As they lined up, Sakura stood besides Ryoma, *Aren't you going to warn your teammates about me?*
Ryoma turned and smiled at her, *Why? It'll be interesting for them to find out on their own, don't you think?*
She laughed, *You're still a brat, aren't you Ryoma?*
Ryoma would have answered back, but Inui announced the start of the run. Kaoru Kaido started sprinting off, scared of the idea of drinking the Penal Tea. The other regulars started off to catch up with Sakura not too far behind.
"Oy, Eichizen, how do you know her?" Takeshi Momoshiro asked. At this point the regulars were all clumped together as a small group about halfway through their laps.
"Hmmmmm, why? Do you like her, Momo-sempai?" Ryoma teased.
"What, what, Momoshiro likes sensei's granddaughter? Wow, it must have been love at first sight." Eiji Kikumaru stated.
"No, no, it's not like that!" Momoshiro angrily stated; his temper beginning to flare up.
"I never knew that you were into older women, Momo-sempai."
"Love?? Who's in love?" Oishi asked suddenly aware of the conversation going on.
"Momo-sempai and Ryuzaki's granddaughter."
"Huh, why are you talking about Sakura-chan?" As soon as Oishi stated her old nickname, he knew he'd live to regret it.
"Sakura-CHAN?"
Eager for the spotlight to move away from him, Momoshiro smirked at the older student, "So...you two are close? Nice, sempai, she's really cute!"
"Ehhh?" Oishi started to appear worried about the looks his team members were giving him.
While most of the regulars started to hassle Oishi, Syusuke Fuji and Tezuka were running separated from them. Fuji took a quick look back, "She doesn't even look tired. I wonder if she will like the Penal Tea," the boy just continued to smile.
". . ." Tezuka didn't even glanced back at his teammate but seemed aware of the current conversation that was going on between the other teammates. "The pace is slowing," he called out to the others, which lead them to pick it up once again.
Meanwhile at the water table, as other members laid on the ground grasping for water, and holding their stomachs, Inui, Ryuzaki-sensei, Sakuno, her uncle, and Tomoka watched the runners pass by.
"This will make very good data." Inui stated while he wrote furiously in his notebook.
Sakuno tugged on her grandmothers' jacket, "Nei, Grandmother, don't you think it was a little unfair for Sakura-neichan to run with the regulars?"
Inui turned to the adults and also stated his concern, "Yes, according to the current way she is running, there is a 95% chance of her being the last person to cross the line. Was it really wise for her to join the regulars?"
The two adults looked at the data collector and started to laugh. "She means, that she thinks it's unfair to the regulars," Ryuzaki-sensei began. Inui just stared at them as if they had just gone mad, completely confused at the confidence they had in this girl. Even if she was the sensei's granddaughter, so was Sakuno, and well, Sakuno wasn't known for her prowess in sports.
"My daughter holds the California state record in the mile and the 2 mile. At her current rate of improvement she's expected to break the US record by the end of the month, or at the very least the end of the track season. She's also training to be able to compete in some yearly marathons. Of course, she won't be able to compete in the big ones until she's older, but she wants to make sure that she does well, when she debuts." Ryuzaki-san stated.
The spiky haired boy just tilted his head one way, and then to the other. He paused and then started to scribble in his notebook. "These next couple of laps should provide interesting data then."
At that moment, Sakura counted that they were on their 20th lap. She noticed that the regulars tended to remain a big sold group, and while every so often someone started to lead the group, the others would grab him so that they wouldn't be losing. She heard other things as well, such as how most of the members believed that Inui's Penal Tea was vile, and she barely noticed the reaction of the other members who had to drink it. At the time she really didn't focus on it too much, but now, she was thinking about it, and decided that it would be a cold day in hell before she'd have to try it. So the biggest problem was how to break away. It wasn't like a track where they had assigned lanes, nor was it like cross country where there were specific rules about impeding your opponent. She noticed from her position that she probably had a better chance of breaking away from the group if she ran on the outside, since the guys tended to run really tight corners, but it also meant that she would use more energy. There was also a very small stretch of time which would allow her to bypass the group without the trouble of feeling boxed in. It only occurred right after the turn from the water table; the distance was less than 25 meters; and she wasn't sure that she could get pass all 8 of them so quickly.
While she was making up her mind about what to do, Ryoma handed Takashi Kawamura a racket. "Here Taka-sempai." It had the desired effect.
*BURNING!! GET OUT OF MY WAY!!* The normally mild-mannered Kawamura became a trash-talking, fire-eating monster, and began to tear through the crowd creating an opening. The other regulars of Seigaku started to panic at the idea of drinking the pitcher. Momoshiro and Kaido started to grab Kawamura.
"I'm not going to drink that stuff, Taka-san!" Momoshiro stated.
"Sssssssssssssssssh," hissed Kaido.
Ryoma and Sakura used the opportunity to start to advance through the crowd. As Ryoma began to weave through the crowd toward the front, the other regulars of Seigaku began to yell at him. Although familiar with Ryoma's plan, they still were unable to grab the small twelve year old. While the group was distracted by Ryoma, Sakura used the time to run around the group and caught up to the young boy at the front. He turned to her as she came up next to him, *I'm not going to drink it,* he told her.
She only smiled and started to run on her toes, indicating that she was going to go at a full out sprint. *Then catch me if you can,* and before the others could try to grab her in order to hold her back, she went off at full tilt.
The regulars stared at her surprised at the sudden burst in speed. "But there is another 8 laps, she can't keep up at that speed," Kikumaru stated amazed. The others didn't respond, but just started to speed up in an effort to catch up with her, fearing what would happen if they didn't cross the finish line before her. Ryoma cursed himself since he knew this was coming; he should have known better than baiting her. Most of the members tried to keep up pace for the first couple of laps, but by the end, it was clear that only Oishi, Tezuka, and Ryoma were the ones with a chance of catching up. As they turned to begin the last lap, Tezuka and Ryoma were getting close enough to her to overtake her. Hearing their footsteps coming closer, Sakura just smiled, "Mada, mada . . . dane," was the whisper that came from her lips.
"I can't believe that she can run that fast," Kikumaru groaned.
"I can't believe that I drank that poison," Momoshiro moaned over the water faucet.
"I can't believe you all didn't like the Penal Tea," Fuji stated with a grin.
"Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssh!"
Jadeling's last notes: Hee hee, I love Fuji, "I like watching people suffer even more." Hee hee. If you guys like this one, then please review, you never know. I may just update quicker.