My first Prince of Tennis fic! R&R! It takes place near the start of the school year after PoT ends. Ryoma, Sakuno, etc's junior year!
Tensai (Genius)
Sumiko sighed as she looked at the girl's tennis team. It was Saturday practice, but most of their members weren't doing anything close to practice. Some ex-regulars of the Seigaku boy's tennis club had returned to assist the current captain in finding replacements now that more than half of the regulars had graduated. No such thing was happening in the girl's team, though. Excitement at seeing what they called the 'bishounen (1) regulars' again had attracted them out from their assigned courts and to the boys' courts.
She continued to hit the tennis ball against the wall. Suddenly, she heard the thud of a tennis ball being hit by the racket next to her, and a moment later the ball collided into the wall next to hers. Surprised, Sumiko glanced to her right and saw a girl from her class. Her auburn hair was tied into a long braid behind her head. The tennis ball, though not extremely accurate, managed to hit more or less the same area every time it hit the wall. That coupled with the determined expression on her face, made Sumiko feel that she had finally found a fellow dedicated tennis player in the girl's team.
Smiling, Sumiko was about to greet her when a few girls dashed towards the boy's tennis courts from the opposite direction. They seemed to be heading straight towards a crash with Sumiko and Sakuno. Catching her ball in her hand quickly, Sumiko prepared to dodge to one side. But Sakuno was not so lucky. She had hit her ball again before she noticed the incoming stampede. The girl right in front shoved her rudely aside, even causing Sakuno to fall down. Unnoticed before then, the tennis ball bounced onto the wall and headed back... straight into the girl's cheek.
Sakuno cringed as the girl touched her hand to her face in shock, and then turned accusing eyes towards Sakuno. "You! First you block my way, then your ball hits me! Didn't anyone tell you to respect your seniors?!" she shrieked, preparing to slap her. Sakuno shrank back. But before the hand could inflict its intended purpose, a tennis ball whizzed past the girl's nose.
"Ne, Arashi-buchou (2). I didn't know that the girl's tennis team was for watching the boys. With the captain blaming her members for practicing, no wonder they say the girls' regulars are rubbish," said Sumiko, her sky blue eyes like daggers.
"What did you say?!"
"I'm sure I was quite clear. I said you and the other regulars are bad players. If it isn't so, why don't you prove it to me?"
"Why you..." Arashi Airi turned away, irritated. "I don't have time to deal with losers like you."
"Oh? Or are you scared? But if you are good, there's no need to be. After all, I'm just a junior, buchou-san."
The girls' captain glared. Sumiko glared right back unflinchingly.
"I'll take you on," Arashi snarled, "But when you lose you'll have to quit the team." She snatched up her racket from her bag. The two girls made their way to the tennis courts.
Meanwhile, at the boy's tennis courts, a certain neko(3) tapped his friends shoulder.
"Ne (4), ne, Fuji, Fuji! There seems to be a commotion at the girls' side."
They glanced over to said courts and saw the two girls, one with light brown hair tied in a ponytail, the other with dark hair knotted into a deliberately messy bun. The dark-haired one seemed a little too nicely dressed for tennis practice. The other was sweating slightly.
"Possibility that she is sweating due to practice before this, 100%."
"I-Inui! Don't just pop up behind people like that!" exclaimed Eiji.
"Saa (5), this looks interesting. I want to see how it turns out," said Fuji, strolling towards the opposite courts.
"I knew you'd say that..." said Eiji, sweat dropping, but followed him anyway. Inui followed them, muttering "Data..."
"Which?" asked Sumiko, tucking an errant lock of brown hair behind her ear.
"Smooth."
The racket spun for a while. "It's rough. I'll let you serve."
Arashi's eyes narrowed at that, but she didn't say anything, only took her place at the service line.
"Oh, we need an umpire," said Sumiko, noticing that no one had taken that spot.
"I'll do it!" chirped a familiar voice, and Kikumaru Eiji bounced onto the chair. "1 set match! Um..." he glanced at Arashi. "What's your name?"
"Arashi Airi," she said coyly, delighted that a former Seigaku regular had come to watch their match. A few others were standing along the side. Well, she would show how good she was in front of the boys. Did this girl really think that she had a chance?
"1 set match! Arashi to serve!"
"Arashi-buchou, when you lose, we'll just have to take the 'buchou' off, ne?"
"Ha! As if I'll lose! You're a thousand years too young, little girl!" Arashi served.
The rally went on for some time. Finally, the ball landed in Sumiko's side of the court.
"15-0!"
The match dragged on.
"Game, Arashi! 5-2!"
Arashi smirked. "Prepare to lose!"
"Saa, I thought that you, being the captain, would be better than this. I guess I overestimated you. What a pity..."
""Hmph! Just some conceited words. Trying to intimidate your opponent. Well, it won't work on me!"
"We'll see." Sumiko tossed the ball into the air, and hit it to the opposite side of the court. Sumiko smirked slightly. "Prepare to see some magic."
"Magic? This serve is a piece of cake to return!" Arashi swung her racket down... and swiped at thin air. Her eyes widened.
"Di-Disappearing Serve!" gasped Sakuno.
"Data..." mumbled Inui, scribbling furiously in this notebook.
"Do you want to see it again?" Once again, Sumiko threw the ball into the air, spinning it in the process. Thus, she won her service game. She began her retaliation.
"Game, Fujiko, 5-5!" announced Eiji.
Sumiko cast an exasperated look at him. "Ne, Eiji-sempai (6). I told you my name isn't Fujiko..." The happy-go-lucky acrobatic player took no notice of her.
Arashi served. The game easily tipped in Sumiko's favor. "Game, Fujiko, 5-6!"
It was Sumiko's service game again. Arashi narrowed her eyes and prepared to see the Disappearing Serve again. Sumiko was soon at match point.
One more ball... Sumiko hit a normal serve. After rallying a bit, she looked at Arashi. "Ne, I'll show you something interesting." She stood in a stance with her right arm stretched out behind her and her left arm in front. The ball she hit soared over the net, hit the floor... and didn't bounce up, much to Arashi's shock.
"Game and match, Fujiko!" said Eiji, leaping off the umpire chair to glomp Sumiko.
"Eiji-sempai... You're strangling me..."
There were mutters from the crowd, wondering who she was. Arashi approached the net reluctantly, glaring at Sumiko. They shook hands.
"I haven't introduced myself, have I, ne, Arashi-sempai?" she said, stressing on the change of honorific. Arashi paled slightly. "Seigaku second-year, Fuji Sumiko, Yorushiku."
Eiji glomped her again. "That was so cool, nya, Fujiko-chan!"
"Sumiko! It's Sumiko! Eiji-sempai...!" she wailed.
"But your brother doesn't mind when I call him that..." Eiji pouted.
"Another reason why you shouldn't call me that! Won't it be confusing if you called two people by the same name?"
Eiji thought for a while. "Then I'll call him Fuji and you'll be Fujiko, nya!" he said brightly, tightening the hug.
Sumiko sighed, but with a smile.
"It was a good match. But your Tsubame Gaeshi wasn't smooth enough. It bounced slightly. I'll train you on that this weekend," said Fuji, suddenly beside them with his ever-present smile.
"Eeeh?! But Syuu-nii-chan (7)! You promised to teach me Hakugei!"
"You have to master the other two first."
"No fair!"
Sakuno stared at Sumiko, and sighed. "I'm still nowhere as good as her..."
"That's because your posture is wrong, your knees are too bent, your shoulders are too stiff, and your hair is still too long."
"Ryoma-kun, don't just pop up beside me like that! And why do you always tell me that?!"
"Mada mada dane."
Review! I want to know whether it seems okay as a one-shot, or seems rather cut short.
A one-shot for now, but may become a multi-chapter fic later on if I have time. Showing Sumiko's efforts to bring together a Seigaku girls' tennis team, and strive to bring them to the Nationals.
Additional info, some common japanese terms used in anime.
(1) bishounen: more or less a very good-looking guy, translates directly into beautiful young guy.
(2) buchou: captain.
(3) neko: cat.
(4) ne: Something like 'hey' or 'eh'.
(5) saa: Something Fuji likes to say. I think it's something like 'ah...'.
(6) sempai: senior
(7) Syuu-nii-chan/Syuu-nii: Sumiko's nickname for Fuji. Means Big Brother Syuu.
