A/N: I still don't like the ending, but here!
Disclaimer: Why would I write disclaimer, if I would own the anime?
Her name was Echizen Ryoma.
She liked her cat Karupin, Ponta and tennis.
She disliked annoying people, especially Yukimura Seiichi.
She had one goal.
To destroy Yukimura Seiichi, to surpass their exceptions.
Everything started, as she was little. Her father was excited to teach her tennis.
Despite her terrible memory, she could remember it.
How her father gave her, her first racket. How he grinned his usual stupid grin. How he taught her the basics and how he played against her, just to laugh and pat her head, whilst she pouted, after she lost.
She started to love tennis and enjoyed playing it, but that didn't last for long.
Soon it wasn't about joy anymore. Not for her. There were exceptions and she needed to surpass them. After all wasn't that the reason her father, told her everytime, that she couldn't win against her father, her brother and most importantly him.
With that, Ryoma grew to believe, that she needed to surpass her father's exceptions.
That she needed to beat everyone.
Knowing it was pure luck, that she could go to Rikkai instead of Seigaku, she smiled happily. Seigaku might have wonderful tennis player like Tezuka Kunimitsu or Fuji Syuusuke, but Rikkai someone more important.
Yukimura Seiichi.
It was easier to beat him, when she was in the same school.
She walked into one of the classrooms of the second years and in front of many wondering and a bit scared students.
They were scared, because her golden eyes bored into to them and observed them, as if she would look trough their souls.
Maybe she did, they decided after she looked away, addressing their homeroom teacher.
"This is Echizen Ryoma. She comes from America, but was a few times in Japan."
Sensing the teacher's gaze on her, Ryoma introduced herself and answered questions from the students.
"You will be sitting besides Kirihara-kun," The teacher looked at a boy with black hair and green eyes.
Without a care in the world, Ryoma walked to the boy and sat at the desk besides him. He and the other students wondered, why she knew, who he was. The teacher never said anything.
The teacher realized what Ryoma did and smiled.
"Good observation, Echizen-chan."
The girl just nodded unimpressed.
Akaya couldn't believe, what he just witnessed. The new girl was the whole time asleep. And the one time the teacher woke her up, she answered the English questions without trying. He really didn't know, what to think of her.
Looking to her, he muttered," Let's go."
He was assigned to show her around and did so currently. They were in the last room.
"Anything you wanna know?"
"Could you show me the tennis courts?"
He blinked and then sighed," We don't have a girl's tennis team."
"I know, I did mean the boy's tennis team."
"... I see, let's go then."
"Akaya! Wh... Echizen?"
All looked surprised at Sanada, then Ryoma and again Sanada.
"You know here, Fukubuchou?" Akaya asked.
"Well... Not really."
"What do you mean?"
"Echizen-chan, is Seiichi's childhood friend."
All blinked.
"Eh?!"
Ignoring them, Ryoma asked," Where is he?"
Yanagi and Sanada panicked. She didn't seem to know, that he was in the hospital.
Noticing their hesitation, the girl asked again, but this time there was a force behind her words.
"Hospital."
"Hospital?"
"Ryoma," Yanagi looked at her, his expression not showing his feelings, "Seiichi is in the hospital. He has a disease."
The first time Ryoma met Yanagi and Sanada, was on Seiichi's birthday. The girl looked at them the whole day and they wondered why. As everyone got home she asked them for a match and lost against Yanagi.
It took her one month, until she could beat Yanagi and three weeks until she could beat Sanada.
Ryoma still lost against Yukimura.
The door opened and he was met with a unfamiliar sight.
Ryoma standing in his room.
He wasn't surprised to see her, Renji told him about her arrival.
He smiled and asked her, as if it was natural, "Still want to beat me?"
Her only response, was to look at him. But for Yukimura were the eyes filled with a burning passion, that he adored, everything he needed.
Because he knew it wouldn't last.
Their first meeting didn't happen for awhile. No, first Yukimura met Ryoga. Nanjiroh's childhood friend was the father of Yukimura and due a favor, the former professional tennis player started training Yukimura.
One day Yukimura met Ryoga and played against him. He lost, but just one week later he played again against Ryoga and won. Since then they played often against each other.
Then he met Ryoma.
Ryoma never joined the tennis club. She was sometimes there observing them, but that was all. They started asking her for matches, but she declined, surprising Yanagi and Sanada, since she used to always say yes to challenges.
Time got by, Yukimura had his surgery and came back.
It was then, where she started speaking herself for the first time, without someone other talking to her.
"Please play a match against me, senpai."
It shocked the others, since Ryoma never paid respect to someone. Both, Seiichi and Ryoma, knew better though. While the girl didn't like paying respect, she knew that if she wanted a match, she needed to pay respect and be polite as possible.
That's why she bowed, her eyes on the ground.
"Fine."
As child, there was nothing better, than being praised by her father for Ryoma. So she did her best and learned quickly, just because her father would acknowledge her. She had fun playing tennis and making her father proud.
But then he started teaching Yukimura.
At first she didn't mind. No, she was perfectly okay with that.
But then he father started being disappointed, always muttering about how weak she was and how much better Yukimura did. That was the time she started to believe, that she needed to surpass everyone, so that her father would start being proud of her again.
When her father said she couldn't do that, she did it. When her father said she couldn't beat that one player, she beat him.
And this continued, until she played against Yukimura and lost.
She was mad at herself for losing, because now her father wouldn't praise her anymore. But she was also mad at Seiichi, because he got her father's whole attention. So she decided to follow him around and to find his weakness. Until he started ignoring her.
It broke her, because somehow, in their time together, he befriended her. Him ignoring her, felt like he too, like her father, saw her as weak. So she decided to go to America.
There she trained and trained to get stronger.
And now she was back, ready to beat him.
Bounce
Bounce
Bounce
The ball flew through the air with great strength. Students looked surprised at the match, having never really seen such an intense match.
In the end, Yukimura won.
"It was a good match, Ry-"
"I still can't beat you."
"Ryoma..."
"... It's useless... All the years..."
"Useless?"
"All the years I trained for nothing! My father will never be proud of me!"
Seiichi's eyes widened and then he smiled sadly, realizing, what's going to happen.
He took her hand and walked of the court with her away from the praying eyes.
Away from the judging eyes.
Then he laid a hand on her shoulder and his smile vanished.
"Ryoma... Your father is already dead."
He was prepared to hear the next words. The words he always heard, when this happened.
"What? That... That can't be! That is impossible..."
Ryoma never was in America to train. She was there because of the chance, that there were people that could help her.
Seiichi never ignored her, she ignored him.
Her father said such words, abusing her mental health with this, but soon after he died in a car crash.
While Yukimura trained under Nanjiroh, Ryoma never challenged him. No, after her father's dead, Ryoga told him about Ryoma's condition and Seiichi couldn't help but promise to help her. Soon after that he fell in love with her and started taking her with him, so he could look after her.
The whole death of her father and his abusive personality, made Ryoma believe in a twisted world.
The only time where she remember everything, was after a match with Yukimura. After she remembers everything, she won't leave Seiichi's side for some weeks. Then she forgets everything and all starts over again.
Because Ryoma still wishes, that her father would praise and acknowledge her one day.