The Arranged Marriage
A/N: Okay here there are all in high school, so the 3rd years are 18, 2nd years are 17, and 1st years are 16. Just to avoid confusion. Also this is as if Ryoma didn't leave Japan after the nationals.
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"Momoshiro, Kaidoh! 50 laps NOW!" yelled Tezuka.
"Ne Oishi? Tezuka's in a bad mood…" said Eiji as he watched Momo and Kaidoh take off onto their laps.
Oishi merely nodded in agreement. He had never seen Tezuka this mad before. Even Fuji was treading lightly around him today.
"Saa… I wonder what's got him so upset. " said Fuji as he joined the conversation.
"Fuji please don't make the situation worse…" asked Oishi.
"I wonder if it has anything to do with Echizen…." Mused Inui.
"Ne Inui, why would it have anything to do with O'chibi?"
"Well Eiji, Echizen has been zoned out all day. He's already done 70 laps because of him not paying attention." Answered Inui.
"REGULARS!!! 80 LAPS FOR SLACKING!!!!!" yelled Tezuka from across the courts.
The regulars in question cringed before taking off onto their laps.
Either way everyone in the club couldn't wait for practice to end, and was thanking the Kami's that it was the end of the week and they had the next two days off from practice and school.
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Ryoma sighed as he walked through his front door. Practice had been horrible since Tezuka had been in a bad mood. Then Momo and Eiji had dragged him for burgers. His mother was not going to be pleased, especially since he was supposed to come home straight away today.
As he pulled off his shoes, his eyebrow arched as he noticed that instead of the usual 4 pairs of shoes there were 10 pairs of shoes in the hallway counting his. However before he could think further about it, his cousin Nanako appeared in the hall way from the kitchen with a tray of drinks.
"Ah Ryoma. Everyone is in the lounge. Hurry up your late."
Ryoma merely nodded and followed her into the lounge, only to freeze in the doorway and have his eyes go wide and mouth open in shock.
His mother, Rinko, and his father, Nanjiroh, were sitting together with Nanjiroh's father next to him, Kanjiroh Echizen. Nanako was sitting down next to his mother with a space in between then clearly meant for him.
Opposite his parents on the other side of the table were 2 men and one woman who he didn't know.
However what shocked him were the two people sitting at the head of the table.
One was his buchou, Tezuka Kunimitsu; the other was a young woman who he hadn't seen in 5 years. His older sister. Kayako Echizen.
"Ah well now that everyone is here we can start our discussion." Said Kanjiroh as Ryoma slipped into his seat.
The older man sitting on the other side of the table nodded his head in agreement before starting to speak.
"Allow me to introduce us first. I am Tezuka Shiromitsu, this is my only son Tezuka Harumitsu and his wife Ayame, and this is my Grandson Tezuka Kunimitsu.
At their names each one nodded their head politely.
"Right well before everyone gets too impatient let Shiromitsu and I explain why we called this meeting." Started Kanjiroh.
"Now Shiromitsu and I have been friends for years. We went to the same university and then worked together in the police force. Now the reason we are here today is to explain our ambition to you our grandchildren. Your parents already know of our wish and are in agreement with us. Now when we were young Shiromitsu and I had wished to join our families together, but both of us only had a son: Nanjiroh and Harumitsu."
At this point Shiromitsu took other the explanation.
"Since we both had sons, we couldn't join our families, but now we and our sons have come to an agreement. Both Kunimitsu and Miss Echizen are 18 and graduating from high school this year. So together with our sons and their wives we have agreed that we would wish that Kunimitsu and Kayako get married to join The Tezuka and The Echizen families together."
There was silence for a few minutes until Kayako stood.
"Kayako" started Rinko as she watched her daughter carefully.
"Don't" said Kayako as she started to leave the room.
"Kaya…" Said Nanjiroh.
"NON!! Laissez moi penser!" she snapped before disappearing through the sliding door.
Ryoma glanced at his captain whose eyebrow was visibly twitching, before he took off after his sister. As he left the room he heard his grandfather say:
"Well that when well."
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"Kaya nee-chan?" called Ryoma as he venture outside on the deck overlooking the house's gardens.
His sister was sitting on the deck with her back facing him, just staring into space with a slight frown on her face. At the sound of his voice she turned her body to face him.
"Ryo…" was all she said as she opened her arms to him. It took Ryoma less than ten seconds to dive into his sister's arms and hug her back.
"I missed you too little brother." Said Kaya in a gentle voice with a smile on her face.
When he let go and sat next to her, Ryoma locked eyes with a pair of golden eyes which were identical to his.
"Are you okay Kaya?"
"Yeah… Bit of a shock though. Would never have guessed this is why they pulled me out and transferred me to Seishun Gakuen."
"What are you gonna do?"
"Dunno kid. I need to think. I mean I know nothing about this guy…"
"He's a good person Kayako"
"How do you know that Ryo?" asked a sceptical Kayako.
"He's my buchou for my tennis team at school. Which by the way, did you really quit?"
"Yes I did, but now is not the time to discuss that. So tell me what is your buchou like?"
"Tezuka-buchou is a good player. Strict, serious, but he always makes the best decision for his team. He's also the president of the student council at school."
Kayako was going to comment but heard someone coming towards them. Ryoma noticed his sister's attention was elsewhere.
Turning he saw his father with Tezuka behind him coming over to them.
"Oyaji, Buchou." He stated dully.
"OI brat! Respect your elders." Protested Nanjiroh.
"Yadda!" was Ryoma's answer.
Nanjiroh scoffed before saying:
"Oi brat come here. Let these two talk." With that Nanjiroh grabbed the collar on Ryoma's shirt and promptly dragged his son away from the couple.
Kayako watched with a slight grin on her face. The pair obviously hadn't changed a bit in 5 years.
There was an uncomfortable silence as neither knew what to say. Tezuka eventually moved and sat down next to her. He held out his hand to her and said:
"Tezuka Kunimitsu. It's nice to meet you."
"Echizen Kayako. Likewise. I hear you are my brother's buchou."
"Ah. Yes I am. He is a good player."
"Ryo says the same of you."
"Ah. I didn't know that. Do you play tennis Echizen- san?"
"No, not anymore, I quit. Also just call me Kaya or Kayako; otherwise it's going to be too confusing."
"Very well then Kayako-san."
The pair fell into a comfortable silence until Kayako spoke up.
"What do you think of this situation?"
"It is unexpected. My grandfather rarely requests anything of me."
"Indeed. Nor does mine. They were always lenient with me. Neither he nor my parents protested when I asked to go to a private boarding school."
"A boarding school?"
"Yes, in Paris. I haven't come home in 5 years."
"A long time to be gone."
"Yeah, and a very unusual welcome home announcement."
Tezuka nodded in agreement, when his mother had said this morning that she wanted him to meet a girl, he wasn't happy, but he never expected something like this.
"This arrangement means a lot to my grandfather. After you left, they explained further. They are suggesting we get married and if after a year, we are both unhappy with the arrangement then they will allow us to cancel the marriage."
"A year?"
"Yes. They already have everything ready. All that is required of us is to sign the marriage certificate, and they have a small house near the school for us to live in. Apparently according to your father the garden is an actual tennis court."
Kayako snorted at this before answering.
"That would not surprise me. Every house my father has lived in since he quit being a pro had a tennis court. But what do you want? What's your decision in this?"
"I am willing to try for my grandfather. It means a lot to him and your grandfather. I do not mind trying, however if you do not wish to concede to their request. I will not push the matter. My grandfather gave me this. It was my grandmother's ring. They have said that if you agree with the arrangement, then wear this when you return, if not then don't wear the ring and the subject will be closed."
With that Tezuka stood and made to leave, but as he did Kayako called out to him.
"If we did get married, would we live as strangers or would we try to be friends?"
"I think that I would not mind having a friend."
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Kayako watched as Tezuka left. Sighing she re ran their conversation in her mind, as she studied the ring he had put into her hand.
It was a simple silver band with a single diamond in the centre of it with 3 smaller diamonds set into the band on either side.
Kayako sighed once again before making her decision.
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Tezuka had returned to the lounge and had informed the two families' of his decision.
He was currently sitting with a cup of green tea, while watching Ryoma playing with Karupin. He found it quite amusing how drastically different the youngest member of his team acted at home away from the eyes of his schoolmates.
He heard the door slide open and squeals come from both his and Kayako's mother.
As he turned to the door, he saw that it was Kayako, but what caught his eye was that, on her left hand, on her fourth finger, she was wearing the ring.
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A/N: hope you enjoy. Wrote it on paper first, and then decided to make it into a fic. However have no idea where this is going. Hope you enjoy. Ciao.