A/N: Hey everybody! Miss me? Even though it's only been a few days… anyways, this is the sequel to "Average Life of a Teenager". You don't need to read it to read this story, but I recommend it. This chapter is a lot of back story but I made it longer because I love you guys that much… and I couldn't wait. So here it is! The Romantic Life of a Teenager (and yes there is a plot and won't be random/cute Sanada/OC fluff)Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or any of the characters. I don't own any franchises, songs, video games, ect mentioned either (like Facebook, song lyrics, and DDR).
If you notice any spelling, grammar, plot errors please let me know. I will fix them as soon as I can. Reviews are always nice, like the chocolate syrup on top of a banana sundae, but aren't necessary.
.-.
"Amaya!" My best friend, Mori Kiyomi, came running over to where I stood leaning against the fence around my high school's tennis courts, her light brown hair streaming behind her as she ran full force. "Amaya! Amaya, guess what!" She jumped to a stop in front of me, panting for breath. "Takeshi and I are officially going out." We squeal together and I ask for details. "We were at Kawamura Sushi, you know the restaurant his friend's father runs? Anyways, there we were eating sushi and giggling when he blurted out that he loved me. And I told him I liked him too and poof! We're going out." Kiyomi takes my hands and bounces up and down happily.
"Aw! I'm so happy for you." I don't want to ask why she's telling me this now instead of last night when the news was still fresh but it's not my place to ask. She was probably hyperventilating all night until she finally passed out because she was, finally, dating Momoshiro Takeshi after being his friend for years.
She squealed and ran off to tell the rest of the tennis team the news. It was a warm Monday morning and we were starting morning practice in just a few minutes. We, the Girl's Rikkai Tennis Team, had won first place in the Kanto Tournament. Now we had almost a full month before the National Tournament in August. Even though we had a month to prepare practice was incredibly exhausting. Next week we were going on a weekend trip to the mountains for a little training exercise.
"Twenty laps!" Buchou, Kichida Hisoka yells just as all the regulars come spilling out of the locker rooms. Kiyomi runs up beside me and we run together. Kiyomi is not only my best friend but my doubles partner and so far we've won every official match we've played except our match against Hyotei in the finals at the Kanto Tournament.
Kiyomi and I jog together, our pace just warming us up for practice. After our laps are done we stretch and jump right into a training exercise. Hayashi Chie, our trainer, has set up various colored cans on the courts and to be able to end practice we had to hit the correct colored can ten times. Chie will toss a ball at us and shout out a color, it was our job to hit the colored can she called out. Chie enlisted the help of a few second years to toss balls and call out random colors.
"Mori! Blue!"
"Hisoka! Green!"
Names and colors were called out randomly. Balls were tossed. Cans went plink and bounced off. My concentration never wavered as I focused for my name and a color. Blue. Green. White. Yellow. Plink, pink, plink. I win! I race into the locker rooms and take a quick shower and change for school. It's incredibly hot right now and I can't take the heat. I'm from the mountains, used to freezing winters not sweltering hot summers. I curse the sky as I saunter into the school to go to homeroom.
My locker holds nothing but my shoes, which is a pleasant change because just a few weeks ago my locker was constantly filled with hateful warning notes from a stalker. The stalker hated me because I had befriended the members on the boy's tennis team and the stalker was gay for all the members and it only made sense he was jealous of me. So Aki, the stalker, followed me home, stood outside my house at night, tossed a rock through my window, and just plain freaked me out. That happened for a few weeks before my housemate beat him up and the co-captain of the tennis team kicked the boy off the team. Since then I haven't seen or heard a peep from the boy.
.-.
School is easy. I don't want to sound narcissistic and say I'm smart because I'm not. School just comes easy to me, so I feel content with my grades. The only thing I have an issue with is my music class. I'm musically challenged. My housemate has been trying to teach me guitar but there's not much improvement. So instead of playing a musical instrument in music class I sing, this means I only get coaching 40% of the time because the teacher is teaching the class. I should be in Chorus but it won't fit in my schedule.
Practice is right after school and I change into my tennis uniform. White skirt with a yellow tank top that has a black stripe across the boobs. We also have windbreaker jackets and sweats for cooler weather but I'm sure right now, if we could, we'd be practicing in our bathing suits. After running our warmup laps and stretching we break into doubles teams and start to practice. Kiyomi and I are paired against Chie and her twin sister Madoka. Since the four of us make up the Doubles 1 and 2 pairs it only makes sense we test our skills against each other. Chie and Madoka are quite alike, both have wavy blue hair but Chie keeps hers long and Madoka's is always short.
Kiyomi and I are much newer at playing doubles than the Hayashi twins, but what we lack in experience we make up for in our connection. Kiyomi and I play like we've known each other years, we've grown to completely trust each other in such a short amount of time. That trust shows through in our game because we know each others skills and limits. Still, we lack certain skills against Chie and Madoka and eventually lose our game 3-6.
Practice ends when I can barely move I'm sweating so much. I gladly take a cool shower and get ready to head home to face my homework. With my backpack slung over my shoulder I wait outside the boy's locker room for the boys to leave and say goodbye. Kirihara Akaya, the ace of Rikkai, saunters to my side and asks a few questions about our English homework. I've been tutoring Kirihara practically since I transferred to Rikkai and we've grown quite close because of it. With his questions answered he heads home and the rest of the members walk by me with quick waves. Then three figures leave the locker room together and I smile wide.
"Hello Kokawa." The blue haired Captain of Rikkai, Yukimura Seiichi greets me warmly.
"Hello Yukimura-San! Yanagi-Senpai!" I smile at Yanagi Renji, the data collector with brown hair in a bowl cut with his eyes always mysteriously closed. "Sanada." I nod my head to Sanada Genichiro who merely tugs at the black cap he's always wearing over his raven hair. Yanagi and Yukimura leave together and head to Yukimura's house for a study session. Sanada starts walking to the school gate and I trail after him until I'm once again in stride with his long legs.
"How was school?" Sanada asks routinely.
"I hate music." I tell him honestly.
"Aa?" "I suck."
"You can't be perfect at everything."
"Well neither can you."
"I never said I was."
"I'll remember that for later." I smile up at Sanada.
"Aa. Anything else? Is Aki leaving you alone? And Yamasaki?" Yamasaki Kazumi also hated me but for other reasons. I took her place on the tennis team and she got angry and wanted revenge, going so far as to try and push me down the stairs. I got my revenge when her hair was dyed orange by my trickster friend but then she chopped off my hair. My fingers automatically play with the choppy ends of my hair that was just now starting to skim my shoulders.
"Fine. I haven't seen either of them." When I drop my hand the stoic Co-Captain brushes his hand against mine before taking it in his own. Our fingers entwine perfectly as his warmth spreads through my body. Sanada and I have been dating a month thanks to me shaking some sense into his dense skull with some screaming and crying.
"Aa. Tell me if you do." Sanada says.
"How was your day?" I squeeze my boyfriend's hand.
"The same." Sanada says that every day and I flick his arm only to have him glare down at me. "Life doesn't always have to be interesting you know."
"Yes, but something must have happened today. Anybody say anything surprising? Any new rumors about our relationship? Any red marks on a test of yours?"
"I never get red marks." Sanada states matter-of-factly.
I roll my eyes, "Of course you don't."
"Nothing interesting happened." Sanada says.
"That's a better answer." I start to swing our hands together, something Sanada doesn't approve of. "You have a rather boring life don't you Sanada?"
"Aa. You make it interesting though." Sanada tells me gently.
"Is that a compliment or an insult?"
"Take it however you want." Sanada replies cryptically.
"Ok, I'll take it as an insult." I smirk to myself since everyone always takes things the good way.
"I-I didn't mean it like that Kokawa! Y-you make life interesting in a good way!" Sanada stutters, my plan worked perfectly.
"Aw, thanks." I coo dramatically before giggling and swinging our hands higher into the air. Sanada sighs, realizing I had planned it and takes his hand from mine. My hand feels instantly cold and small without Sanada's wrapped around it. "Ah! No! Don't do that." I hop to keep up with his quick pace.
"You're cruel Kokawa."
"Only because that's the only way I can ever get a reaction from you." I jump to his side and try my best to match his pace. "If you weren't so stoic my life would be easier and I wouldn't tease you all the time."
Sanada huffs and entwines our hands again silently giving in to me. "Remember Wednesday you're coming over to my house."
"And Friday we're going to the movies. Oh, can we invite Kiyomi and Momoshiro? Oh, what a cute double date that would be!" I coo.
Sanada sighs. "If you want to." I start to swing our hands against, just a little back and forth movement. He squeezes our hands and we arrive at my house. "Bye Kokawa."
"Bye Sanada." I run up to my house and wave as Sanada head home, he doesn't live far from me so we always walk to and from school together. When I enter my house I'm greeted by three cats; a black cat, a white cat, and an orange kitten. Moon, Riot, and Juice are the loves of my life. Juice mewls and I pick her up and saunter into the living room.
"Welcome home." My housemate Josh greets me. Josh has been living with us because he's studying abroad and his father and my father are co-workers. I'm not sure how to feel about the blond haired, blue eyed Irish man but we have our moments. Josh hands me my guitar and we start practice right away, he's the only one who's ever been able to teach me how to play guitar and he's the one who beat up Aki so I do owe him a lot… he just creeps me out on occasion, stalking me around the house, asking about my personal life, little things like that.
We practice guitar until the front door opens and my mother arrives home early. You never can tell when my mom, or my dad for that matter, are going to be home. Mom works at the local hospital and would probably work 24-7 if she could. Lately she's been coming home for supper so we could spend a little "family time" together. Dad on the other hand, is the founder and owner of a large company called Wa-Ware and currently he's in Russia trying to open a new branch.
"I'm home!" Mom calls out.
"Welcome home!" Josh and I reply over our music.
Mom peeks into the living room, "Do you want me to cook supper?"
"Aa, if you wouldn't mind, I have a lot of homework." I explain.
"Sure dear." Mom smiles and disappears into the kitchen to cook supper. After one more run through of a song Josh lets me go so I can work on the rest of my homework. I tap my pencil against the coffee table as I read a small section of notes for history class. How I loath history class, dates and numbers, facts and theories. If there's any class I'm "bad" at it would have to be history class.
"Supper's ready!" Mom calls when I'm halfway through my math homework. Sighing I crawl to my feet and saunter into the kitchen, since Dad's not home we just eat at the bar in the kitchen. Josh hops into the bar stool next to me as Mom serves us boiled fish, rice, and a bowl of various vegetables. Once supper is eaten and Josh and I have cleaned up the dishes I head back to my homework to finish it up before going to my room to Facebook the night away.
.-.
"You make me smile like the sun. Fall out of bed, sing like a bird. Dizzy in my head, spin like a record. Crazy on a Sunday night." My cell phone sings telling me it's time to wake up. I tap my phone so it stops singing and prepare for the day. Downstairs Josh hands me my lunch and I head outside to meet my boyfriend.
"Good morning Sanada." I greet him cheerfully as we head to school together.
"Good morning Kokawa." He replies.
We walk in silence, not holding hands, like we always used to do. Sanada usually doesn't hold my hand, I make the first move. Sanada's dense and embarrassed about relationships, we still haven't even kissed. Not that that really matters, my first kiss was with Kirihara on a spur of the moment type deal. That's when I realized I liked Sanada and not Kirihara. Life's perfectly wonderful right now. I don't want anything to change, not now, not ever.
At school I run off with Kiyomi and she fills me in with the latest gossip. Apparently Jackal Kuwahara, the half-Brazilian tennis player, and Fujita Tsukiko, the tallest female in history, are dating. They've had chemistry together for some time now and Tsukiko, one of my best friends, constantly talked about how attractive Jackal is. I'm glad they're together. "Oh my gosh we should all go out on a triple date!" Kiyomi squeals as we wait for homeroom to start so she run back to her homeroom for school. I smile and agree but I plan on putting the triple (or even a double) date off for as long as I can. Sanada's still rather awkward about our relationship. Last Thrusday someone asked him if we had kissed yet, Sanada got flustered, shouted "Tarundoru!" and ran off.
.-.
Practice rolls around far too soon. Jogging around the courts I feel my body warm up. Then it's practice time. We're practicing doubles again. We want at least one alternative pair in case something happens. Buchou is suppositious since just a week before the Kanto Tournament I got injured and wasn't in top shape for the first round of the tournament. Kiyomi wasn't impressed when we weren't paired together, we've vowed to always play doubles together. Still it's a good idea. Kiyomi is paired with Imai Hoshi, the spunky, black haired, second-year, and I'm paired with Tsukiko. Tsukiko is incredibly tall, taller than me and I'm 5'8", she had long brown hair in a pony tail and brown eyes and is quite fun to be around.
Imai and Kiyomi have a better combination mainly because they've played doubles together longer. They were going to be the substitute doubles incase I couldn't play in the first round. Still Tsukiko and I tried our best to find a combination that worked for us. We found when she stays at the baseline and I take the net we do much better. Our game ends 6-4, Kiyomi-Imai won.
"I only want to play doubles with you." Kiyomi pouted as we shuffle to the locker room. I have to tell her we need to be prepared for anything but Kiyomi just pouts some more. After a fast shower we head outside together, Tuesdays have become our girl's day. And it's my day to choose where we'll be going.
"Arcade." I tell Kiyomi. Tsukiko and Imai are suddenly our best friends, clinging to our arms as we head out.
"Where ya going?" The redheaded, self-proclaimed genius, Marui Bunta asked before popping a bubble.
"Arcade, come with." Kiyomi holds out her hand to Marui who loops their arms and we head out. Jackal and Kirihara follow after us, when we reach the school gate I find Yanagi and Sanada talking about something, probably tennis.
"Yanagi-Senpai!" Kirihara races forward and hugs Yanagi's arm tightly. Since Kirihara and I have decided not to date each other he's become more and more childish, clinging to others, pouting, and even crying. I think it's both adorably cute and annoying. "Senpai! Come to the arcade with us! Please?"
"I have to study Akaya." Yanagi tells him, patting the boy on the head who starts pouting. "Ask Genichiro." Kirihara turns his large green eyes to Sanada who stares back at him like Kirihara has three heads.
"Don't be stupid Kirihara." Marui rolled his eyes before popping another bubble with his apple flavored gum. "We all known Fukubuchou is electronically retarded."
"Tarundoru!" Sanada yells before slapping the back of Marui's head. "Thirty laps tomorrow!" Marui rubs the back of his head and glares.
"Kokawa!" Kirihara stares at me with his wide eyes, "Make Fukubuchou go with us… pleeaaaasseee." He whines.
"What makes you think I can make him do anything?" I ask.
"Because you're dating him." Kirihara states.
"Sanada can make his own decisions you know."
"So he's not whipped… yet." Marui snickers and Sanada's slaps him again.
"Bye Sanada, Yanagi." I say dragging Kirihara off to the arcade. Once we're at the arcade Kiyomi and I head straight for the DDR game where we set to work defeating any and all scores higher than ours. We hop and jump and dance the day away. Finally Jackal and Tsukiko tell us it's time to head home like good, responsible senpais. Our day always seems to go by too fast. I say goodbye to my friends and head home alone. I suppose I could take a bus but I feel like walking.
The sky is turning a pale orange color. It's hot, sweat rolls down my back as I walk. It's almost winter, I'm so ready for snow and cold. Maybe for my birthday I can bring my friends home. That would be so much fun.
.-.
