I decided to write a Kite Eishirou fic because I felt he deserves more love. Read and Enjoy.
(This is set during the third year of high school of all the school regulars.)
Disclaimer: All characters and settings of Prince of Tennis belong to Konomi and it's rightful distributors. I own nothing except my OC, Himeno Nodoka.
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Encounter with the Hitman
"We're here! We're here!" Nodoka ecstatically jumped. "It's the National Tournament again!" A big smile was plastered on the Rikkaidai manager's face, excitement evident in her eyes.
"Nee-chan always gets this hyper when we reach the Nationals." Kirihara commented in amusement as he and the other regulars observed their manager from a distance as she went off to buy drinks for everyone.
It was the National Tournament for the High School division of tennis, and once again, Rikkaidai Fuzoku was one of the top teams who qualified. No one was really surprised, seeing that their team was as invincible as it can get with better trained regulars who have at least 3-4 years of National Tournament matches experience and wields considerable honed skills.
Himeno Nodoka had offered to buy drinks for the regulars as they awaited the signal for the start of the matches, the true reason behind her offer for running an errand was that she wanted to take a look around the courts, hoping to see a few familiar faces from certain teams. She was cut out of her musing when she bumped into someone and the drink she held in her hand had accidentally poured unto the stranger she had bumped into, causing a huge stain on his cyan colored polo.
"Ah! My Ponta!" She exclaimed. In her surprise, she had also dropped the plastic bag full of different drinks unto the man's foot causing restlessness around them.
"Shoots, the drinks! I uhm---!" She looked up only to see a glare from the fuming man infront of her, "Who wouldn't be mad…" She thought as she started to fidget. "Uhm, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…"
"You stupid kid! Do you realize what you've done!?" The atrocious looking man snapped, grabbing hold of Nodoka's wrist.
"I said I was sorry! Let me go, you oaf!" Nodoka struggled to get her wrist free from the man's grip but it only tightened every time she tried to push the hand away.
Irritated, she snarled, "I know karate, mister, and if you don't let me go this instant, who knows what will happen to you." She glared at him intensely. What she said was an utter lie, she had no knowledge whatsoever about Karate or any martial arts but she knew that her bodyguards, who knew multiple types of karate, were nearby. Watching her signal for help. She hoped that her threat could make the man back down but instead, it did nothing.
Her anger was fueled more when the man yanked her arm, she was about to land a punch on his face when she noticed a dark, tanned hand had gripped the arm of her assaulter.
"Saotome-kantoku (1), hurting a girl does not earn you any merit." He deadpanned as he slapped away the older man's hand, releasing Nodoka's wrist.
"Tch, Kite, you…" The coach's voice trailed off in a deadly tone. However, just one look from the boy had silenced him. Kite, as he was referred, flicked his gaze between Nodoka's delicate face and the held wrist earlier, which now had a red hand mark.
"Hmm, her skin is so sensitive and light that it easily bruises…" Pushing up his glasses, he reached for Nodoka's hand and examined it.
"Does it hurt? I'm sorry for our coach's actions." He placidly uttered as he locked eyes with Nodoka's amber orbs that looked confused at his actions.
Nodoka blinked, unable to keep her stare at the boy infront of her. "No, it doesn't. I guess I'm at fault, seeing as I spilled the drink on your kantoku's shirt and dropped those solid cans on his foot."
Kite shrugged, "No, it wasn't---"
"Nodoka!" clamored a voice, followed by a blur of yellow.
Earlier…..
"What's taking her so long…?" Marui muttered as he trotted his way towards the vending machines in search for the said manager who hasn't came back yet with the drinks. What greeted him was the sight of the Higa High School tennis team, particularly their coach, who looked like he was about to burst from anger.
"Oh, this is bad! I gotta tell the others."
"Bunta! Where's Nodoka?" Jackal asked upon seeing his doubles partner. Marui halted into a stop infront of his team members, who had puzzled looks on their faces. "Na... Nana-chan is…. surrounded by the Higa team." He managed to say in between huffs.
"What? /Eh?" The regulars reply in unison.
"I think she spilled soda on their coach's shirt, but he's gripping her wrist!" He exclaimed without a heave of breath.
The Rikkaidai regulars immediately rushed towards the direction Marui came from, faster before anyone can say 'Rikkai!'
"Wait for me! Kuso! (2)" The red-headed tensai cursed as he dragged his feet to follow his fellow teammates.
"Kirihara, finally, you've got an excuse to fight." Niou snickered as he smirked at his kouhai(3) who looked as if he would go to his red-eye mode anytime.
"If they had hurt nee-chan, I'll crush each and every one of them." The junior ace replied with a sharp tone.
Currently…
"Nodoka!" surfaced Sanada's strict voice that caught everyone's attention on the vicinity. He immediately pried off Kite Eishirou's hand from her as the Rikkaidai regulars stood infront of her in a protective manner, their faces displeased.
"Genichirou." Nodoka pushed a relieved smile.
The presence of Rikkaidai was, in a word, dominating. If you mention the junior tennis circuit to anyone, Rikkai will automatically come up to mind. Currently, with their mood, they were not a team to be messed with.
"Nee-chan! Did they hurt you?" Kirihara inquired in a rather serious manner. He examined her from top to bottom and his eyes widened as he saw the bruise in her arm. He gently grabbed her wrist and his hands shook with anger. "Those punks…." He muttered under his breath while his eyes started to redden.
The other regulars saw this and instantly, their reaction was of the same level as the junior ace. Yanagi snapped open his eyes to glare directly at the Higa team, Sanada and Niou's glares weren't also to be taken lightly. Yagyuu removed his glasses and leered in the same direction. Jackal and Marui checked Nodoka's condition in utter worry. Yukimura had his menacing smile on, a subtle warning of his ire.
"You guys asking for a fight?" Rin, a blond, tanned boy from the Higa team, smirked as he saw the furious glares they we're receiving.
"A warning though." Kai, another member of the Higa team, tsk'ed at them with a teasing tone. "We're trained in the Okinawan martial arts."
Nodoka, sensing the tense atmosphere, decided to step in before anything can happen.
"That's enough, buttheads!" She exclaimed before smacking each of the Rikkai tennis team member lightly on the head to shake their anger out, which proved to be successful since the team members looked at her blankly.
She pouted and crossed her arms before continuing to speak.
"All of you haven't listened to my story yet!" She stated with annoyance as everyone listened to her powerful yet soft-spoken voice. "It was my entire fault since I accidentally spilled soda on their coach's shirt. Kite-san actually saved me so all of you should be thanking him instead of giving the Higa team those unnecessary glares of yours!" She explained dramatically and hit them again to emphasize her point.
"You all know that I bruise easily and you all especially know that with Aka-chan's reputation, we will get community service again if there is ever a fight including him." She threw up her hands in the air and then pointed at her confused team. "And you all know I hate doing that~!" She stomped and attempted to put a furious face on. The regulars we're silent; Yukimura had his amused smile on. Oh how he loved to see their manager snap sometimes.
"Ojo(4) is right. It'll be best if we concentrate on our matches since no harm was done." The captain's amused smile turned to his 'obey-me-or-I-will-give-you-hell-later' smile. The regulars shuddered visibly and removed their ferocious glares from their faces but there was still a hint of irritation. "Come hime(5)." He lastly added.
Nodoka nodded in compliance. The regulars started heading back to their bench in a slow pace, they we're being careful not to infuriate either Nodoka or Yukimura. The pretty manager spared a last look at the blank captain of Higa and decided to approach him.
"If you still need repairs for your kantoku's shirt, here is my card." She handed him a sleek and elegant rectangular paper. "Please call me and I will pay for the fee." Nodoka smiled and took the captain's hand and shook it with enthusiasm. "Nice to meeting you Kite-san, I hope we meet again." She bowed and then ran off to catch with her team who was eyeing every move that she made.
Niou slung an arm around Nodoka's shoulders once she had caught up with the group. "You're such a flirt, Nana." He teased with his usual smirk.
"No, I am not!" She retorted in disagreement. "I needed to take responsibility for what I did!" Nodoka protested, determined to prove her best friend's accusation was wrong.
"Responsibility, schmonsibility." Niou prodded.
He looked back and saw that Kite was reading the card she gave him. Luckily for the trickster, he looked up and their eyes met. Niou then stuck his tongue out and mouthed the words:
"No chance in hell."
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Kantoku(1) = Coach
Kuso(2) = Darn it
Kouhai(3) = Junior
Ojo(4) = Princess
Hime(5) = Princess
How was it? It wasn't a pairing after all but I wanted my OC to interact with Kite at least.
Thanks for reading! Review?