Author's Notes : Prince of Tennis (Tenisu no Oojisama) and the characters
therein, are creations of Takeshi Konomi, so for those sue happy people out
there nya nya. As always, don't plagiarize ;) Leave reviews if so
inclined, I don't have experience writing fanfics and I'd love feedback, be
it positive or negative.
Just for a heads up, I like to use certain Japanese phrases. First, some words don't translate 100% into English, and some words from the series are very fun to use. The other reason is that they sound cool. For those that don't know Japanese, here are some words that come up or will come up.
Mamushi – Viper. Kaidoh's nickname because he looks and acts like a snake. Ii yo, betsu ni – "Yeah sure, whatever." Literally this phrase means "sure, nothing special" but translates into idiomatic English this way. Uruse yo – Shut up. From the word, urusai, which means annoying noise, uruse translates to 'shu tup'. Why not just say shut up? Because uruse is so delightfully rude. Sasuga – Sasuga translates to "as expected from someone". It is used to praise someone's performance, saying that they are keeping inline with what is expected of them. Yaru jya – "Pretty good". Yaru sort of means to do. Senpai – A senior member of an organization, or someone ranked higher.
Please review this story after reading. I really value the viewpoints of my readers, be it positive or negative. I'm not the only one reading the stories I write, so it assists me greatly when readers can share their thoughts freely with me. It helps me improve as a writer and helps you by providing you with higher quality fan fiction to read.
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It was a bright early morning at Seigaku middle school. A throng of young middle school students in clean, pressed, black uniforms make their way towards the school. The low hum of chatter fills the air, with topics ranging from concern over English tests and gossip about who is dating who. The grounds of Seigaku are well kept, as can be seen from the neatly cut grass and pruned trees lining the exterior white wall of the grounds. A young boy carrying a dark blue tennis racket case walks past the school gates and looks up towards the clock situated at the height of the school tower. This young boy, Ryoma Echizen, silently walks on, his expression seemingly emotionless and detached from his surroundings. This peaceful little scene was dashed by the loud and obnoxious voice of another Seigaku middle schooler, Satoshi Horio.
"Yo, Echizen, what are you doing standing around here? We'll be late you know," said Horio in his usual blow-hearted manner.
Echizen simply looked at Horio, gave a slight nod, and walked inside the school. Horio walked next to Echizen, babbling incessantly about various unrelated topics. The two boys made their way to their first period English class.
"Aw man, not another test again. I totally failed the last test, couldn't read a word," said Horio.
Much to Ryoma's surprise, a gigantic pink banner reading "Good luck Ryoma- sama!" and a batch of freshly baked cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles were waiting inside the classroom. Standing next to Ryoma's desk, grinning from ear to ear, was the president of the Ryoma Echizen fan club, Tomo, and her friend Sakuno. Tomo was in her usual overly cheery mood, immediately rushing up to Ryoma.
"Good luck on your test today, Ryoma-sama. Sakuno baked you some cupcakes so you'll have all the energy you need to ace today's test," said Tomo.
"I hope you like them, Ryoma-kun," said Sakuno in a low and timid voice, blushing while she spoke.
"Uh, thanks," said Ryoma, putting down his bag and sitting at his desk, calmly taking a cupcake and eating.
"Wow these look great..." said Horio, reaching for a cupcake, only to get his hand smacked by Tomo.
"These cupcakes are especially for Ryoma-sama!"
"That's totally unfair," said Horio, his hand and his ego both sore.
The rest of the students had filed into class, and the class lesson began. The teacher passed out the examination to each student, then returned to his desk to work on various paperwork. Ryoma sat at his desk, staring outside the window while he disinterestedly worked on his test. Ryoma had played tennis in the United States, and his English skills were far above the level taught in his class. While staring out the window, Ryoma's mind wandered to his match with Seigaku's Tennis club captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu. With the captain gone due to his shoulder injury, Ryoma's mind kept wandering back to what the captain told him.
"Become Seigaku's pillar of support."
These words weighed a great deal on Ryoma's mind. Ryoma was confident in his abilities, as he knew deep down he could best any player who challenged him. But Tezuka's words gave Ryoma a new incentive, a new goal. A goal of self improvement, to bring out his hidden potential and to have the strength to bring Seigaku to victory no matter how strong the opponents he faced.
The Seigaku Tennis club met in the back of the school at the tennis courts. The club members were all hard at work, practicing their techniques and striving to become stronger. The Seigaku regulars were no exceptions. Inui and Kikumaru were playing a practice match at court A while Kaidoh and Oishi were sparring at the adjacent court. Despite the label of "practice", any onlooker could not describe the fierce battle between these regulars as such.
"The probability of a straight cross...85%," muttered Inui, while perfectly positioning himself to return the ball.
With a swift stroke, Inui hit the tennis ball, returning it at a dizzying speed to the right edge of Kikumaru's court, while Kikumaru was situated on the left. Kikumaru, apparently caught off guard by Inui's well calculated attack, runs like a madman to the right side of the court and dives to hit the ball with his racket.
"Hoi!" exclaimed Kikumaru as he managed to return the ball, landing it on the opposite side of the court from Inui, scoring the point. The dazed and confused Inui stared in disbelief.
"Kikumaru's reaction time has increased. I will have to rewrite my data," thought Inui.
"Game Kikumaru, 4-5, Inui-senpai's lead," said the court referee, one of the non regular members.
"Too bad Inui. Looks like your data can't predict everything, nya," happily exclaimed Kikumaru.
In the adjacent court, Substitute Captain Oishi dragged his racket along the ground, scraping up dust. Within seconds, he positioned himself to deliver his special technique, the Moon Volley. Striking with pinpoint accuracy, Oishi lobbed the ball high into the air. Kaidoh, standing in the middle of the court, could only witness in awe as the ball landed behind him, right at the edge of the line. Horio and Katsuno, who were watching the match the entire time, yelled out in excitement.
"Sasuga Oishi senpai! The Moon Volley takes the point!" exclaimed Horio in a louder than usual volume.
"Game Oishi, 3-2, Oishi-senpai, lead" said the court referee.
Momoshiro, who had been avidly watching the match between Kaidoh and Oishi, yelled out to Kaidoh.
"Too bad, Mamushi."
"Uruse yo!" yelled Kaidoh. Kaidoh's expression became contorted with anger. Momoshiro and Kaidoh had always been rivals and enemies, but today Momoshiro was especially getting on Kaidoh's nerves.
"Kaidoh, calm down. Let's finish the game up," said Oishi in a calm and collected manner.
Kaidoh simply turned away from Momoshiro and reverted back to his standard snake like posture.
"Fsssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
Ryuzaki sensei flanked by the reporters Shiba and Inoue, entered the tennis court.
"Everyone, gather round!"
Every member of the Seigaku tennis club immediately stopped their practice matches and warm-ups to gather near the court entrance. The Seigaku regulars, upright and sturdy, stood in a single line in front of all the other. Ryuzaki, holding a large flyer, held out a hand and began to address the club.
"I see everyone has been working hard for the upcoming nationals. That's good. We can't let our guard down for our opponents will be tough. I have a piece of interesting news that Inoue-kun and Shiba san have just brought me."
Ryuzaki held up the flyer in her hand for the entire club to see, waving it proudly in the air.
"There will be a special showcase tournament for specially selected freshman and sophomores from across Japan. The tournament was designed to cultivate the talent at each school and give the public a taste of things to come. The tournament is called the 'Junior Japan Tennis Showcase'," said Shiba in a glowing, upbeat tone of voice.
"There are a total of ten participants in the tournament, each selected by the Monthly Pro Tennis committee," said Inoue.
"The committee has selected a fine group of outstanding tennis players from schools such as Yamabuki and Fudoumine," said Ryuzaki-sensei. "And from Seigaku?" asked Kikumaru.
A hush fell over the Seigaku tennis club as the regulars waited in anticipation of hearing who would go to the tournament.
"Why our very own Echizen-kun and Kaidoh-kun of course. The committee was very impressed with Echizen's match versus Hyotei's Hiyoshi Wakashi. The committee also wanted to witness more of Kaidoh-kun's Boomerang Snake technique, now that it has been mastered," said Ryuzaki sensei.
"Good going kiddo!" said Kikumaru excitedly, patting Ryoma's head in an excited manner and smothering the little freshman. Ryoma's expression was one of embarrassment and annoyance.
"This is totally unfair. How could the committee overlook my Dunk Smash? Instead they send in the baka mamushi," complained Momoshiro.
"Who wants to see a monkey place tennis? You can shut up, stay back, and watch, Momoshiro," retorted Kaidoh in his usual low, hissing voice.
"Now now, that's enough you two. Save that fighting spirit for the tournament. Now everyone, get back to practicing. We can't let our guard down!" exclaimed Ryuzaki-sensei. The Seigaku tennis club answered with a loud cheer and everyone excitedly returned to tennis practice. As Ryoma and Kaidoh were heading towards their respective courts, they met each other's gaze for a split second. Ryoma's cold, stone like countenance met Kaidoh's fearsome visage. Kaidoh and Echizen soon passed each other, but they both knew what the other was saying.
Just for a heads up, I like to use certain Japanese phrases. First, some words don't translate 100% into English, and some words from the series are very fun to use. The other reason is that they sound cool. For those that don't know Japanese, here are some words that come up or will come up.
Mamushi – Viper. Kaidoh's nickname because he looks and acts like a snake. Ii yo, betsu ni – "Yeah sure, whatever." Literally this phrase means "sure, nothing special" but translates into idiomatic English this way. Uruse yo – Shut up. From the word, urusai, which means annoying noise, uruse translates to 'shu tup'. Why not just say shut up? Because uruse is so delightfully rude. Sasuga – Sasuga translates to "as expected from someone". It is used to praise someone's performance, saying that they are keeping inline with what is expected of them. Yaru jya – "Pretty good". Yaru sort of means to do. Senpai – A senior member of an organization, or someone ranked higher.
Please review this story after reading. I really value the viewpoints of my readers, be it positive or negative. I'm not the only one reading the stories I write, so it assists me greatly when readers can share their thoughts freely with me. It helps me improve as a writer and helps you by providing you with higher quality fan fiction to read.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------
It was a bright early morning at Seigaku middle school. A throng of young middle school students in clean, pressed, black uniforms make their way towards the school. The low hum of chatter fills the air, with topics ranging from concern over English tests and gossip about who is dating who. The grounds of Seigaku are well kept, as can be seen from the neatly cut grass and pruned trees lining the exterior white wall of the grounds. A young boy carrying a dark blue tennis racket case walks past the school gates and looks up towards the clock situated at the height of the school tower. This young boy, Ryoma Echizen, silently walks on, his expression seemingly emotionless and detached from his surroundings. This peaceful little scene was dashed by the loud and obnoxious voice of another Seigaku middle schooler, Satoshi Horio.
"Yo, Echizen, what are you doing standing around here? We'll be late you know," said Horio in his usual blow-hearted manner.
Echizen simply looked at Horio, gave a slight nod, and walked inside the school. Horio walked next to Echizen, babbling incessantly about various unrelated topics. The two boys made their way to their first period English class.
"Aw man, not another test again. I totally failed the last test, couldn't read a word," said Horio.
Much to Ryoma's surprise, a gigantic pink banner reading "Good luck Ryoma- sama!" and a batch of freshly baked cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles were waiting inside the classroom. Standing next to Ryoma's desk, grinning from ear to ear, was the president of the Ryoma Echizen fan club, Tomo, and her friend Sakuno. Tomo was in her usual overly cheery mood, immediately rushing up to Ryoma.
"Good luck on your test today, Ryoma-sama. Sakuno baked you some cupcakes so you'll have all the energy you need to ace today's test," said Tomo.
"I hope you like them, Ryoma-kun," said Sakuno in a low and timid voice, blushing while she spoke.
"Uh, thanks," said Ryoma, putting down his bag and sitting at his desk, calmly taking a cupcake and eating.
"Wow these look great..." said Horio, reaching for a cupcake, only to get his hand smacked by Tomo.
"These cupcakes are especially for Ryoma-sama!"
"That's totally unfair," said Horio, his hand and his ego both sore.
The rest of the students had filed into class, and the class lesson began. The teacher passed out the examination to each student, then returned to his desk to work on various paperwork. Ryoma sat at his desk, staring outside the window while he disinterestedly worked on his test. Ryoma had played tennis in the United States, and his English skills were far above the level taught in his class. While staring out the window, Ryoma's mind wandered to his match with Seigaku's Tennis club captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu. With the captain gone due to his shoulder injury, Ryoma's mind kept wandering back to what the captain told him.
"Become Seigaku's pillar of support."
These words weighed a great deal on Ryoma's mind. Ryoma was confident in his abilities, as he knew deep down he could best any player who challenged him. But Tezuka's words gave Ryoma a new incentive, a new goal. A goal of self improvement, to bring out his hidden potential and to have the strength to bring Seigaku to victory no matter how strong the opponents he faced.
The Seigaku Tennis club met in the back of the school at the tennis courts. The club members were all hard at work, practicing their techniques and striving to become stronger. The Seigaku regulars were no exceptions. Inui and Kikumaru were playing a practice match at court A while Kaidoh and Oishi were sparring at the adjacent court. Despite the label of "practice", any onlooker could not describe the fierce battle between these regulars as such.
"The probability of a straight cross...85%," muttered Inui, while perfectly positioning himself to return the ball.
With a swift stroke, Inui hit the tennis ball, returning it at a dizzying speed to the right edge of Kikumaru's court, while Kikumaru was situated on the left. Kikumaru, apparently caught off guard by Inui's well calculated attack, runs like a madman to the right side of the court and dives to hit the ball with his racket.
"Hoi!" exclaimed Kikumaru as he managed to return the ball, landing it on the opposite side of the court from Inui, scoring the point. The dazed and confused Inui stared in disbelief.
"Kikumaru's reaction time has increased. I will have to rewrite my data," thought Inui.
"Game Kikumaru, 4-5, Inui-senpai's lead," said the court referee, one of the non regular members.
"Too bad Inui. Looks like your data can't predict everything, nya," happily exclaimed Kikumaru.
In the adjacent court, Substitute Captain Oishi dragged his racket along the ground, scraping up dust. Within seconds, he positioned himself to deliver his special technique, the Moon Volley. Striking with pinpoint accuracy, Oishi lobbed the ball high into the air. Kaidoh, standing in the middle of the court, could only witness in awe as the ball landed behind him, right at the edge of the line. Horio and Katsuno, who were watching the match the entire time, yelled out in excitement.
"Sasuga Oishi senpai! The Moon Volley takes the point!" exclaimed Horio in a louder than usual volume.
"Game Oishi, 3-2, Oishi-senpai, lead" said the court referee.
Momoshiro, who had been avidly watching the match between Kaidoh and Oishi, yelled out to Kaidoh.
"Too bad, Mamushi."
"Uruse yo!" yelled Kaidoh. Kaidoh's expression became contorted with anger. Momoshiro and Kaidoh had always been rivals and enemies, but today Momoshiro was especially getting on Kaidoh's nerves.
"Kaidoh, calm down. Let's finish the game up," said Oishi in a calm and collected manner.
Kaidoh simply turned away from Momoshiro and reverted back to his standard snake like posture.
"Fsssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
Ryuzaki sensei flanked by the reporters Shiba and Inoue, entered the tennis court.
"Everyone, gather round!"
Every member of the Seigaku tennis club immediately stopped their practice matches and warm-ups to gather near the court entrance. The Seigaku regulars, upright and sturdy, stood in a single line in front of all the other. Ryuzaki, holding a large flyer, held out a hand and began to address the club.
"I see everyone has been working hard for the upcoming nationals. That's good. We can't let our guard down for our opponents will be tough. I have a piece of interesting news that Inoue-kun and Shiba san have just brought me."
Ryuzaki held up the flyer in her hand for the entire club to see, waving it proudly in the air.
"There will be a special showcase tournament for specially selected freshman and sophomores from across Japan. The tournament was designed to cultivate the talent at each school and give the public a taste of things to come. The tournament is called the 'Junior Japan Tennis Showcase'," said Shiba in a glowing, upbeat tone of voice.
"There are a total of ten participants in the tournament, each selected by the Monthly Pro Tennis committee," said Inoue.
"The committee has selected a fine group of outstanding tennis players from schools such as Yamabuki and Fudoumine," said Ryuzaki-sensei. "And from Seigaku?" asked Kikumaru.
A hush fell over the Seigaku tennis club as the regulars waited in anticipation of hearing who would go to the tournament.
"Why our very own Echizen-kun and Kaidoh-kun of course. The committee was very impressed with Echizen's match versus Hyotei's Hiyoshi Wakashi. The committee also wanted to witness more of Kaidoh-kun's Boomerang Snake technique, now that it has been mastered," said Ryuzaki sensei.
"Good going kiddo!" said Kikumaru excitedly, patting Ryoma's head in an excited manner and smothering the little freshman. Ryoma's expression was one of embarrassment and annoyance.
"This is totally unfair. How could the committee overlook my Dunk Smash? Instead they send in the baka mamushi," complained Momoshiro.
"Who wants to see a monkey place tennis? You can shut up, stay back, and watch, Momoshiro," retorted Kaidoh in his usual low, hissing voice.
"Now now, that's enough you two. Save that fighting spirit for the tournament. Now everyone, get back to practicing. We can't let our guard down!" exclaimed Ryuzaki-sensei. The Seigaku tennis club answered with a loud cheer and everyone excitedly returned to tennis practice. As Ryoma and Kaidoh were heading towards their respective courts, they met each other's gaze for a split second. Ryoma's cold, stone like countenance met Kaidoh's fearsome visage. Kaidoh and Echizen soon passed each other, but they both knew what the other was saying.