This is my first Prince of Tennis fanfic, so go easy on me. I'm bringing spice to Nanjiroh and Rinko's past. I mean, I was not very contented with the flashback episode 'The Samurai's Ballad.' It was cute, I admit, but not enough. (Laughs.)
And think of this, ever wonder how a pervert and playboy like Echizen Nanjiroh thought of settling down with a simple girl?
Well, I brought their story to the next level.
Thanks to the person who reviewed and corrected me on Rinko's maiden name. Thanks! :)
Here it is! My POT fanfic entitled…
Encounters
(Rated M for future chapters.)
Chapter 1
New Horizons
"Oi, Rinko!" a female voice shouted from afar.
A woman, around 25, spun around, looking at the direction of the voice. Takeuchi Rinko stood proudly, a sapphire-blue tennis racquet in one hand and balls in the other. She was about 5 feet, 6 inches tall with expressive chocolate-brown eyes, fair skin with a small amount of tan due to playing tennis, and shoulder-length, layered brown hair.
Her woodland eyes squinted far. Then she heard a whooshing sound. A tennis ball came flying out of nowhere. Rinko, whose reflexes were honed because of frequent training, instantly gripped her racquet and hit the ball back to the person who threw it.
Another woman appeared out of the trees in the park, wearing a very candid expression and was smiling. She had curly, long blonde hair, crystalline-blue eyes, a forbidding cherry-colored mouth and an entirely voluptuous body. Her name was Tara Lewis.
"Nice return," Tara said, and then scowled. "You didn't follow my advice again Rinko."
Rinko, a Japanese who grew up in U.S., muttered a curse in her native tongue and feigned a smile, holding her oversized green jersey. "What? This jersey? Well, I feel a lot comfier in it."
"Yes, but it's completely out of fashion," Tara said, grinning. "You're not showing off that slender body of yours."
Rinko gave out her own scowl. "As if I have something to show."
She mentally chided herself for the self-degrading comment but she knew it was true. She had none of Tara's curves. She was petite, compared to her friend's model-like 5'9 height and her vital statistics were the 'perfect' 36-24-36. Hers was 34-24-34, with all the fours.
"There you are again, insulting yourself," Tara scolded. "You have an excellent tan to show off. You have a modest body and your eyes are the most beautiful I'd ever seen."
Rinko smiled. Her asset was her highly mood-changeable eyes. "Yeah, but what do my eyes have to do with his this jersey thing?"
"Nothing," Tara said, winking. "I just thought of it."
"I thought so," Rinko said. "I really love this jersey. I feel so free as I move in it unlike those small skirts and sports blouses."
Tara frowned and flicked her own clothes. She wore a small, white skirt with sporty red and blue lines that streaked the ends and a midnight-blue fitted blouse with no sleeves. It looks smashing on her, Rinko thought. But it's a 'no-sale' on me.
"I was just kidding," she quickly said after her short reverie. "I was just defending the fact that I really love what I'm wearing and that I'm more comfortable in it. And please stop telling me what to wear. I'm not here in the tennis court to be a fashion model."
"Ok, ok Grumpy," Tara said. "I'm just helping you find yourself a guy. I'm going out with Al and he's my 60th since I met you but you still haven't got any."
Rinko sighed. She knew that she and Tara had been friends since their freshman year in college at the state college. Tara was the school hottie and everyone saw her as the petite Japanese best friend who is simply plain and uninteresting.
"I'm not really into dating," she lied.
Tara laughed. "Don't tell me you're the type that's traditional."
"Traditional?"
"You know. Looking for the 'soul mate' and dating only once in a lifetime then marrying the poor guy you dated."
"I think so."
"Shut up!"
"I said I think so!"
"Oh alright," Tara said and yawned. She swung her racquet high and pointed it to Rinko, who was smiling. "Match's up. Let's play."
"Sure," Rinko said, smiling wider as she played her favorite sport with her best friend.
"Go wild over there, Nanjiroh," a woman around the age range of 35 and 40 said, grinning broadly.
She was talking to a young man who was 26 years old and wore an open Hawaiian polo and rugged shorts that grazed past his knees. His open shirt revealed a huge mass of tanned skin. Echizen Nanjiroh was a handsome and well-built man due to years of tennis training and competition. And now, he was heading off to America to become a Grand Slam champion. His cat-like and dark eyes quirked amusingly as he gazed at his sexy coach, his coach for more than a decade, since he was in junior high.
He also had firm lips and a straight nose that fitted perfectly with his entirely masculine face. It was saved from being too mature by a boyish smile and charm that sends women to their knees.
"Sure I will," he replied in his deep and smooth voice. "I'll run all over those good American women like a wild man, I will."
Coach Ryuuzaki grimaced. "Not the women, idiot! Your dream."
"And that too," he added, smiling wickedly. "I'll make those pros weep."
"Make sure you do."
"I will," Nanjiroh replied. He lugged his backpack carelessly over his shoulder and walked swiftly to the departure gates.
Ryuuzaki shook her head and smiled warmly at the man who was once the naughty schoolboy that played tennis as a hobby next to dating girls. He was now walking away to reach his goals as a tennis champ.
Echizen Nanjiroh has beaten everyone in Japan during his amateur years, beating so-called J pros in tennis matches, unscheduled or not. He was a rarely gifted young man who can play the game with his eyes closed. All of Japan's tennis society knew and respect him. Now they all wonder how he'd turn out to be in the Grand Slam, battle ground of all professional tennis players around the world.
Ryuuzaki finally left as the plane with Nanjiroh aboard took off the runway.
Nanjiroh looked outside the window of his hard-earned first-class flight seat. Even though he was from a better-off family, his father wouldn't let him touch a cent of his money so that Nanjiroh would appreciate the value of money and teach him to earn some on his own.
Not that his parents didn't care. They were just strict. They were rich after all. They had to maintain a good reputation. A professional tennis player son was really unexpected. But they were met with many congratulations.
He expelled a relieved breath as he saw the island region of Honshu disappear from sight. He idly played with his shirt, closing and opening the buttons while winking broadly at the giggling flight stewardess who was eyeing him while distributing warm nuts and drinks.
Luckily, no one was sitting beside him. As the lady passed by his seat, he moved to the other one, looking up at her prettily flushed face.
"You got more nuts there?" he asked, smiling devilishly at her.
"Of course," she replied. "How many do you want?"
"I think I'm passing on the nuts," he said, then stood up and flicked a brief kiss on the girl's right cheek. "But I think I'm not passing on you."
The girl giggled louder and whispered. "Not now sir. Sit down a moment."
Nanjiroh feigned an exasperated sigh and half-heartedly rolled his eyes. "Oh well, I guess you're too hard to get."
The stewardess was about to open her lipstick-coated mouth to reply when the couple sitting behind Nanjiroh demanded the girl to get a move on. She apologized profusely, flashed an attractive smile at Nanjiroh and moved away.
Nanjiroh sighed and sat back to his window seat. He cocked his head to the window pane, his dark, shoulder-length hair falling carelessly at the sides of his handsome face.
Ruggedly attractive in his carefree ways, Echizen Nanjiroh was an inveterate playboy. He can make women fall for him with his wicked smile, playful eyes, smooth talk, deep voice and perfect tennis. He was quite smart too, perfecting the English language while playing with American foreigners in the tennis courts and studying with his father's private tutors. He bluffed that he couldn't understand English while his foreign opponent openly cursed him on the court. He just retorted by humiliating them badly at the game's end.
Just how many big-chest girls will I be able to find in U.S.? Nanjiroh thought, smiling wickedly. He thought about those voluptuous beauties with long, shapely legs, with fair or tanned skins, awesome brunettes, bottle blondes, redheads and many more. He thought of them from all the magazines he had seen and also the foreign programs on TV. America was filled with liberated and seductive women who knew what they want. He won't have any trouble finding himself a lot.
Especially when he made his name in the U.S. open. He had brought a reasonable amount of money to go out and indulge himself on breaks. He looked forward to those practices and elimination matches. He was sure to win. And if he did so, he would be the first Japanese to be the champion.
He impulsively reached for the phone propped at the side of his seat for contact purposes. He dialed Takahashi Sousuke's number. Sousuke was Nanjiroh's long-time friend who volunteered to be his manager. He was already at the U.S., arranging Nanjiroh's entry to the game and finding him a place to settle in.
"Yo, Nanjiroh, good news," Sousuke said upon answering the phone, apparently sensing and anticipating the call. "I've already finished your application and they already found future match-ups for you."
"Really now?" Nanjiroh said, a bit surprised by the rapidness. "Who?"
"A guy named Henry Ferguson," Sousuke replied. "I reviewed him a lot and found out that he's quite good and that his favorite trick is the Bender."
"What a lame name."
"Right," Sousuke commented, not really focusing on what he said. "Also it's his first time to join the U.S. open. He joined Wimbledon four years ago but quitted due to a knee injury. He's quite recovered now and is purported to be a deadly opponent."
"Deadly enemies, so they are. All of them. They're international tennis pros, what do you expect? Just hope they turn out the way I expected them to."
"I expect that but I didn't expect you to be saying such things."
Nanjiroh laughed at the sarcasm of his friend.
"Knock 'em dead, Nanjiroh," Sousuke said.
"Sure," Nanjiroh replied, and then changed the subject. "Have you found me a place?"
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that, Sousuke answered, chuckling at the other line. "I found you a great house at Saddle River, since New Jersey's the venue for this year's competition. They have good tennis courts in that place, good tennis clubs and tennis coaches. I found you a temporary trainer and a 'sparring' buddy, Chris Newman. He's very good and qualified."
"Is my house fine?"
"Fine, fine. Classy, from my point of view. I heard it's the most expensive in the subdivision."
"Okay, as long as it didn't put me into bankruptcy."
"I loaned, okay? But you can pay it back soon. I know you'll earn big bucks for tennis because you'll win!" his friend said enthusiastically.
"Okay," Nanjiroh replied, relieved at the accomplishments of his friend. "You're amazing Sousuke. Thanks."
"I know," Sousuke said, laughing. "Bye Nanjiroh. I'll pick you up at the airport, say, around 8?"
"8 am, that would be fine," he answered. "Bye."
And with that, he glanced absentmindedly outside again. All he could see was the blue ocean. They were crossing the Pacific. Sooner or later, he would have to adjust his watch to suit the time. Hello America, he thought, and then stretched on his seat. He tilted his chair and started to drift off to sleep.
Is it good or not? Tell me!
Review.
If you did like it and want to read more and review, then wait. If you don't, tell me. Or you could read my other works.
Bleach fan fics:
The Will To Live (UkitakeXUnohana) – under the pen name of hitsuhina07. This is the account where I put my non-rated M fics. So, this fic is not rated M, but still loved by many. (complete)
Nothing Unusual (HitsugayaXYuzu) – an unusual pairing of my favorite Bleach character Hitsugaya Toushirou. Under the pen name of hitsuhina07. But I'm thinking if I want to put up a continuation of it. When they become older, under my directX07 account. (Under this account, that is.) If you've read it, tell me if you want a sequel. (For the mature audience).
Rebirth (IchigoXOrihime) – under my directX07 account. My story with the most number of reviews and loved by so many! Rated M. It's so good and full of twists, according to many people.
Announcements: (for those who read my works before)
I have a new project, although it's not yet posted. I call it my personal baby. A fanfic I'm sure you'll love because I love it too. It's so cute! Above all my fan fics, this is the most adventurous and unfamiliar, almost on par with Rebirth. A Prince of Tennis fan fic. Atobe and Tomoka. You should be familiar with these characters. Tune in! Entitled 'Arguments.'
A question: If you've read my HitsuYuzu fic entitled 'Nothing Unusual,' do you think I should make a sequel of it when I'm finished with the original? That is when they grow older? A rated M fic? Well, the original is not yet finished, they still have a lot to go through as kids. I've only finished four chapters of this fic and I still have to add more. How they fell for each other and other things. Cute kids! A nice pairing!
I have other plans. I'm making a Tatsuki and Renji fanfic entitled 'Testing the Limits.' Rated M! It's not cheesy. There's something different. What if Renji's the one who doesn't want anything to do with Tatsuki? And other twists!
And I'm finished writing a Rated M IchiHime fic in my notebook. I'm just gonna type it all up. It's entitled Afterlife. Huge twists again! What if Orihime died? What happens to her in Soul Society? She doesn't want to be weak anymore and she gets a teacher to be her mentor in being the greatest Shinigami. Will she make it? What about Ichigo? Why in the world did she get this crazy idea to be strong? You'll love it.
A sultry fan fic is next. An Ishida-Nemu fic entitled Groundbreaking. A story of Nemu's adventures when she left her tyrannical and eccentric father behind and the story of Ishida who left his controlling and anti-Quincy father. Rated M please. :0.
Comments and Answers to be given in any of my accounts or works. In reviews or send me a message in this site, or e-mail me in my yahoo accounts. Anything. Just let me know.
