Disclaimers: Prince of Tennis belongs to Takeshi Konomi.
Summary: In which Echizen Ryoga reminisces.
Retrospect
By: Snotty Chim-Chim
"If any one faculty of our nature may be called more wonderful than the rest, I think it is memory."
-Jane Austen
Echizen Ryoga flopped down carelessly on the sofa. His expression clearly conveys his boredom. No one is good enough at tennis for him to beat and the tennis show on the television is just too boring.
He randomly picks a book from the living room table to read and opens it. After a minute of scanning, he got bored again. He doesn't know why but he's getting a bit reckless. As he threw the book back on the table, a picture fell out. It landed with a soft thud on the floor.
He picks it up with an air of indifference and turned the picture upright for him to look at. Perhaps, it will ease his boredom.
The picture is more than seven years old. It contains his ten-year-old self together with a four-year-old kid.
'Wait a minute! That kid is Ryoma!'
He quickly racked his brain for the memory of that day; the day when he first met Chibisuke.
The lady beside him rang the doorbell of the house in front of them. This would be his new home.
"Don't worry, Ryoga-san, I heard the family is good."
"Ah."
"Before I let you go, I would just like to tell you that they have a four-year-old son. His name is Ryoma. You don't have to worry because he's a good kid."
"Ah." He wonders why they would adopt him if they already have a child of their own.
"But most of the time, he's shy and quiet. Don't take it as a sign of arrogance or repugnance if he doesn't talk to you at all. He's usually by himself, considering that he's an only child. And I warn you, Ryoga-san, don't pester him that much."
"Ok."
The door suddenly opened and revealed a brown-haired lady.
"Oh! Here they are! Dear? Hey Nanjiroh!" she said.
"What?" a man with an air of indifference said. He looked around and saw their newly arrived guests.
"Who are you?" he asked, rather rudely.
"I'm Ryoga, sir. It's nice to meet you."
"Oh. So you're the boy?"
"Yes."
"Come on in, then."
"I'm sorry, Echizen-san, but I have to leave. I still need to go back to work. Now, Ryoga, be a good boy."
"Ok."
With that, the lady left.
"Uhm…"
"Come on, Ryoga-kun." Rinko ushered him inside.
"Just Ryoga is fine with me." He muttered timidly. Rinko just smiled at him.
"Ryoma-kun! There's someone here that I want to introduce to you!" Rinko shouted at the stairs.
"Don't call the boy, Rinko. You know very well that he doesn't like strangers that much."
"It's okay, Echizen-san." Ryoga said, but deep inside, he is anxious. What if his stepbrother doesn't like him?
"Ryo –"
"What?" a four-year-old suddenly appeared at the foot of the stairs and demanded haughtily.
"Now, boy, is that the right way to talk to your mother? Arrogant kid." Nanjiroh scolded his son.
"Che, baka Oyaji." With that, the boy turned his head towards them.
Ryoga saw that he has sharp, golden eyes. His black hair, streaked with green, contrasted perfectly to his fair complexion. No matter what the lady said to him a while ago, Ryoga is making every effort not to jump on Ryoma and hug him like a teddy bear. The boy looks adorable and with his jumpsuits too!
Before he can prevent himself, he opened his mouth and –
"Hey there, Chibisuke!" he said with a smile.
The younger boy turned to look at him, scowled, and hid behind his mother.
"Come on, Ryoma. There's no need to be shy. He will be your older brother from now on." Rinko said tenderly to her son.
"Huh?" Ryoma look blankly at her.
"Older brother, boy." Nanjiroh said.
That concludes the first hour of their initial meeting.
He looked back at the picture in his right hand. He can vaguely remember the hours that followed but he can clearly recall his first conversation with Ryoma.
Ryoga is munching a bag of potato chips while watching the television. He is aware that Ryoma is sitting right beside him, but he didn't dare turn to look at the younger boy for fear of driving his brother away. However, he can fully feel the stares that his brother keeps on sending him. After an hour of ignoring the stares, he turned to look at Ryoma.
"What's the matter, Chibisuke? Want one?" Ryoga offered gun the bag of chips.
As expected, Ryoma didn't answer back. He just stared some more.
Ryoga found himself, once again, keeping the urge to tease his brother. He noticed that Ryoma started to scowl at him. He doesn't know what he did to irritate the boy this time. He opened his mouth to ask just that but Ryoma beat him onto it.
"What are you staring at?" he asked, irritated.
"Nothing. Why are you staring at me?"
"Hmph. Because that's mine you're eating, you big glutton!"
Ryoga was about to retort when a soft click disturbed his thoughts. He turned to look at the source and found Rinko at the doorway, a camera on her hands.
And that is when his relationship with Ryoma as brothers starts; with the moment forever engraved in the picture.
He glanced down at his brother's face fondly and thought that it is time for him to visit Chibisuke, his beloved younger brother.
Author's Note:
I haven't met Ryoga yet so I don't know if he's being out of character in this fic. Anyway, comments are gladly accepted.
Ja ne!