I Turn To You: Chapter One
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis…. I still cry at night about this.
Author's Notes: This is my first Prince of Tennis fanfic, so please be gentle. This fanfic is dedicated to all of the wonderful regulars in Prince of Tennis, especially Kaidoh. I love him, and I thought he just needed some attention.
This fanfic is a mix of all kinds of genres. There is some angst, a lot especially in this first chapter. There is romance, drama and comedy. But first and foremost it's a love story for all of our regulars.
A little warning, there are going to be some light-fluffy, shonen-ai characters in this fanfic. There are tons of pairings, too many to just list here. If you want to know, you'd just have to read on.
I'd really hate to make a Mary-Sue out of my little Kari-chan. If you have any constructive criticism, please, help me make this story better for you. The song in the beginning of the chapter is "I Turn To You" by Christina Aguilera.
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When I'm lost, in the rain
In your eyes I know I'll find the light
To light my way
A young girl, she could only be 13 or 14 years old had been sitting down and staring out the window. Everyday she sat on the window sill and watched outside to see a tennis team practicing. As captain she watched over them through the window most days. To be a good captain, she tried every so often to practice along side with them even just for a short match or so. It has been awhile since she actually played along side with them with all her heart into it. It has been three months and seventeen days to be exact. Nearly four months ago the young girl injured her knee during championship season. She worked herself too hard, stressed and overstrained her body. She was lucky she could still walk in the condition she was in. It was her mental toughness, or stubbornness that kept her going those four months ago. As time passed day by day, her mental toughness deteriorated, and all was left was a little girl who lost her way home. She felt vulnerable everyday even more and more as the sun rose and then when it set. It was unnerving; she hated feeling like people could see right through her as if she was nothing. She hated the feeling that she could see right through herself.
She had a healthy physique; that's what four to five hours on a good day of tennis stretches, practices and exercises would do to a body. Lately, her body was not responding well to the lack of movement like she used to do on the court. She had a pretty tough exterior; one could see the strain she did to her body with cuts, scrapes and bruises. She had a fairly dark complexion; unlike her mother's beautiful pearly white skin. I guess it was from training so hard in the hot sun. It was a like a tan that never went away. Compared to her brother's and father's face, her face was much softer like her mother's. Her eyes were dark brown, a muddled color which was hard to read. Some say, you can read into a person's soul through their eyes, but when you look at Kari's eyes, you would have a hard time seeing anything. Even though you couldn't read her soul, you could still admire her wide eyes that reflected her innocence. Her hair was long and dark brown. A brown that looked like it could be black if you didn't look at it so closely. She always kept her hair down; she'd only put it up if she was serious. If she intended to play a serious match, she'd put her hair up. Her smile, not too flashy, but not too wide was beautiful and she loved to smile for people. It spread warmth to whoever was in the vicinity. She was a happy person, she loved being happy. She hated negative things—and tried to make things better. But lately, she was being her complete opposite. She thought sad thoughts; unhappy thoughts that made her cringe. She didn't smile very often, if she did, it felt fake and forced. Her eyes looked dim if you took the time to look.
Everyday just seemed restless, sitting around, looking out the window. One can only look out at the same scenery for so long. Thoughts loomed in her head, thoughts about her family, her brother in particular and thoughts about her life. She often thought to herself what she was doing so far away from home. It has been three years she left and until now had she ever thought about going back home. She often thought what she left behind and if it was thinking about her. Her heart dropped whenever she had these thoughts. She hated being unhappy, she hated thinking about unhappy thoughts. Unfortunately, they plagued her. They wouldn't let her forget that she had to go back home eventually, home where she wasn't sure was ready to take her back.
It feels so unnerving to think this way. She was happy here in America, wasn't she? She had friends, a place she could always call home. Most importantly, she had tennis. But as time went by, she felt that tennis is not what it used to be. Trophies, recognition and such were nice things. But that's the thing, they were things, things that no longer made her feel like she was floating on Cloud 9. It wasn't the same anymore when she was a kid; it didn't feel that special to her. It didn't feel the way it was supposed to be. In practice and matches, her mind wandered, her heart wavered. She felt like a traitor to the sport that made her into the person she was today.
She couldn't help but think about what life was like two years ago back in Tokyo. Tokyo seemed so far away, and it was. She hated the fact that she was worlds away from Tokyo and that she was worlds away from her former self. She felt fake, no she didn't feel fake, she knew she was fake and it was gnawing at her insides.
Ever since her injury she made excuses not to play. She couldn't push herself anymore to do anything. She couldn't make herself be happy. She wouldn't let herself realize that she's been healed for a while now. She couldn't bring herself to love tennis the way she used to, she way it should be. For now, she'll lie to herself until it was all better. She couldn't remember when she last played all out during a match, she couldn't remember when she used to love tennis with a passion that she'd wake up someone at 3 in the morning just to play with her or sit on the court and look up at the stars convinced that the tennis gods are looking down on her. She couldn't remember because it was so long ago. Ever since her injury, ever since her withdrawal from tennis she found that living without it as bearable, more preferable. She no longer felt the thrill of a victory, she no longer felt the stress on her shoulders during a match, she no longer felt the electricity surge through her whenever she picked up a racket with anticipation from the opponent. She hated the fact that she no longer loved tennis like she used to. She remembered times playing with her brother until both of them got red in the face. Until both of them wouldn't give up and have their mother yell out their full names to get their attention to get them to come to dinner. She loved that. She loved playing with her brother. He was the one that taught her how to play tennis. He was the one who taught her how to love tennis. It hurt her so much that she totally forgot what her brother taught her. It was as if almost everyday she thought about her brother, and what he was doing right at this instant. It hurt her to be away from him, it hurt her even more that it took two years to feel regret for leaving him.
She stared at her knee, she stared at it with such intensity that her eyes began to sting. Her eyes, then her heart began to sting with the knowledge that she was lying to herself, to everyone that she cared about and to the world of tennis. She knew she wouldn't play tennis anymore, not now. She wouldn't bring back the girl she knew until she went home to Tokyo, not until she found herself and convinced her to come back. She would go back home and discover the small things, the sad things, the happy things and the difficult things. She smiled, "That's life" she told herself inwardly. That's life, and I'm going to rediscover it. She suddenly felt the world wasn't going to crash, like the world was going to be okay, like she was going to be okay.
She wondered to herself how she'd get back to Tokyo. She wondered what excuse she could use. She just couldn't leave her studies behind, her tennis team behind. Even though she didn't love tennis the way before, she loved her team. It was as if she raised them herself. She saw them succeed, fail, blossom and love. She hated the thought that she's been lying to herself, she hated even more that she lied to them. They looked up to them, and she looked up to them. She loved their spirit, their dedication and their hearts. She was sincerely and seriously messed up. She had so many emotions swirling inside her. She didn't love to play tennis anymore, but she was dedicated to her tennis team and her teammates. She hated herself, she loved others. She missed her brother, but didn't want to leave anyone of her teammates behind like she did with her brother. What was wrong with her? She was a walking contradiction. It made herself loathe herself even more and that hurts. Self-loathing is never fun.
With hesitation in her heart, she knew that Tokyo had been waiting for her for two years and it was time to go back and right the wrongs and find herself. It was going to be difficult, to divulge into a past that liked to be hidden and didn't want to be found. More importantly, no one ever looked for it. It was all about to change, she was about to change. That is why she hesitated. She wondered if she ever went home, what it would be like. It couldn't just be like how it was before she left. She knew she left for too long. Her family wouldn't feel like her family anymore. She knew that they moved on, even though they wouldn't admit it. They had moved on without her. They made themselves comfortable with each other, they made themselves a new family. A new family without her. It was one of her greatest fears. One thing that she hated to admit to herself or to anyone. It's a devastating feeling to know that you have no family anymore, that you're an outsider watching in. She trembled at the thought of what would happen. She didn't belong there, so why force herself back in? She forced herself out herself; what would they think of her trying to force her way back in? Would they want her back? Did she want to be back and feel even more alone? She sighed to herself and breathed out the last quivering doubts out of her mind.
No more wondering, it's about time to do the "doing". It's about time to find out the truth and put away the doubts. It's about time to stop running away from everyone, from her family, from her friends, and most importantly, herself. She turned closed the window and turned and started to move away from her thinking ground. "No more thinking- just do"
"Hello? Mama?"
"Hm… Kari? Is that you darling? Oh, it's been awhile since you've called. Are you okay? Is everything okay?"
"Mama, everything is fine. Well… um… at least, yes mama, everything is well."
"Honey? Are you sure? I'm just concerned, you don't call often. I'm glad you did though, I was just thinking about you sweetheart."
"Mama, how is everyone?"
Her mama smiled brightly. "Papa is doing well, your little brother is doing fine as well. As for your aniki, he's been working hard and training hard for tennis. He wants to do you proud, you know that, right?"
With a wince in the young girl's voice, "Ahh, of course mama. Aniki always works hard no matter what. I'm proud of him all the time, no matter what he does."
"I know he feels the same way sweetheart. --- Is that why you called? Just to ask how we're doing?"
"Well, mama, I wanted to ask you another thing…" The young girl started to twiddle with the phone cord.
"Ask away honey, anything you want."
The young girl smirked at herself. Anything I want? Is it that simple? I don't remember it being that simple….
"Honey?"
"Yes mama?"
"What is it… the question you were going to ask?"
"Oh…um… mama?
"Yes sweetie?
"Would it be okay if I came home?"
"Oh… are you on vacation? I didn't know that Bartley had vacation time now."
"Um.. no mama, you see… I want to come home."
Startled, surprised and happy were just some adjectives one could use for her mother's expression…"Come home? You want to come home and leave school?"
"Yes mama, I want to come home, live at home and attend school with aniki… is that okay?"
"Sweetie… of course, of course, it's okay! But why the sudden change? Are you not happy in Bartley?"
"I'm happy mama, but I think I'll be happier in Tokyo, I'm ready to come home and be with you and everyone."
"Honey, I'm so happy to hear that, you have no idea how happy. I'll have my little girl back home with me."
"Mama, I'm happy to be coming home too."
"Well, I'll settle everything here to prepare for your coming home. I'll send you your ticket and everything."
"Thanks mama, I, I love you."
"I love you too honey." Her little girl was coming home, her whole family will be complete now.
Kaidoh Kari was going back to Japan for good.
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It just seemed like a good day for Kaidoh Kaoru. It seemed like everything was in place, it felt like the gods were smiling down on him. He found his mother singing showtunes while making breakfast. Ever since a couple of nights ago, she seemed so happy and also really busy. Whenever he saw she was either on the phone, doing the laundry, tidying up the house or something else. It was not like she never does this, but it just seemed that she was doing even more work, as if they were going to have visitors. Kaoru wanted to help his mother, but whenever he offered his help all his mother would say: "Oh Kaoru, don't worry about me. I have everything under control. Why don't you go on now, you'll be late for practice." Kaoru didn't want his mother to be overworked, he was a bit worried. Then again, his mother liked to be busy, plus, she was happy. If she was happy he was happy.
His morning was one of the best mornings he had ever had. He had just run 10 miles this morning up and down the river. It felt refreshing to do this very morning. He couldn't wait to tell his sempai about his intense training. When he came home, that is when he saw his mother in the kitchen, making herself busy yet again. She had actually made everyone their favorite breakfast food for breakfast. She rarely did this; it had been so long since he could remember when she made everyone their own favorite individual dish.
Kaidoh Kaoru made his way to practice. It seemed to be such a bright day. Brighter than any other day that he could imagine. He strolled down his street towards Seishun Gakuen, his middle school. He wore his green bandana that his mother just finished ironing. He had his tennis gear thrown over his shoulder as he walked. He could hear that stupid Momo and Echizen right behind him. He was in such a good mood, that he could even tolerate that stupid Momo this morning.
"Hey Mamushi! Wait! You're not even going to walk with us to school?", Momo yelled with his large lungs.
"Fsshhhh, I don't need to walk with you, we're only a minute away now." Kaidoh kept his head straight, he didn't even bother to turn his head slightly to acknowledge his Momo's existence.
"Ehhhh, Mamushi, what's up? Are you too good for Echizen & I?"
"It's Echizen & me, Momo-sempai.", Echizen said to his tall friend.
"Fsshhhh, just shut up stupid. I don't want to be seen near you."
"Ehhh, ahahaha, too late Viper, I'm right next to you."
Kaidoh turned his head slightly and just when he did he was up close to that stupid Momo's face. Momo was smiling, his stupid big smile. Kaidoh was getting annoyed having his face so close.
"You idiot, get away from me. You don't need to walk so close to me, baka."
"Fine Viper, have it your way. --- I'll race you to the tennis courts." Momo started to run ahead of Kaidoh. Kaidoh, being a person who can't stand to back away from any challenge against Momo started to run after Momo. They both left the twelve year old behind.
"Ahhh, I see that the morning has just begun the same just like everyday." Fuji said quietly who had just appeared next to the young prodigy.
"Hn, Fuiji-sempai?"
"Good morning Echizen, shouldn't we get going? Tezuka wouldn't be happy if we were late for morning practice?"
Fuji started walking ahead while Echizen stayed back for a second. When did he get here? Was he right behind us? Echizen's feet just started to move, one foot after the other. He wasn't going to waste his time thinking about trivial things.
Practice was exhausting. Everyone felt a stress on their muscles. Tezuka-boucho was being pretty harsh this morning. Or maybe he was always like this? They ran at least 60 laps for being late this morning, and now, on top of that, they had to sit through classes for six hours. It was going to be a long day!
Since intra-school tournaments were going to begin soon, Tezuka wanted to make sure everyone was in their best condition and that meant being strenuous and tough on the regulars and those who wanted to become regulars. He made afternoon practice even tougher than what it was in the morning.
"Ahhhh, boucho! I can't run anymore", Eiji Kikumaru complained. He didn't mind running, but after this morning and what seemed like 100 more laps this afternoon, he was going to collapse.
Tezuka looked at the team. They look ragged. After laps and practice matches, it looked like they rather drink Inui's juice than to continue practice. Wait, they rather give him Inui's juice and see him suffer. He better stop before there's a mutiny before the intra-school matches.
"Good. All of you have worked hard. Go home and rest, no morning practice tomorrow.", Tezuka said loud and clear. He gave the motion for everyone to change out of their workout clothes and to start to head home.
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The plane ride was always annoying. Kari-chan hated to fly on planes. She much preferred traveling by car or even train. As long as she wasn't thousands of feet in the air.
"Well, it can't be helped I guess", she said to herself. You couldn't really drive a car to Japan from California. Kari looked outside to see the scenery. Japan is just as beautiful as it was when I left. She could see the mountains and the clear sky. It looked breathtaking. She noticed that they were descending and she could see the tops of the big skyscrapers in Tokyo. She was almost home, almost there.
She felt so nervous in the airport. Just standing there, waiting. She kept looking around her to see anyone she recognized. Just a familiar face, that's all she needed.
"Kari-chan?" It sounded almost like a whisper, just a whisper that got her attention. She turned around to see the two people that saw her off just two years ago. Now, they were welcoming her back home.
"Papa? Mama?" Kari ran to them, she ran to them and hugged them. She hadn't seen them for so long. Two years was too long. Bartley was an all-year round school, even if she had vacations, she usually stayed back in Bartley to either practice with the team or go travel to competitions. She couldn't believe she never came home to visit them. She would make it up to them, to her whole family. She was home now.
"Ah, Kari-chan! It's been too long, I missed you so much little one."
"Papa, I'm not little anymore."
"I know, but to me, you're my little Kari."
"I'm glad to be home Papa, I'm really glad."
She gave a small smile to her papa. He smiled back.
"Kari, I'm glad you're home too."
"Mama! I'm glad too! I've missed you, I've missed both of you! Where's Hazue-kun, and Kaoru-chan?"
Her mother smiled and even laughed, "They're at school sweetie. Afterwards, Kazue has kendo practice and Kaoru has tennis."
"They don't know I'm here? Do they even know that I'm coming?"
Her mother replied, "We thought we'd surprise them, isn't that fun?"
Kari's smile grew wider, "That is fun Mama, I think I'll go surprise Kaoru-chan when his tennis practice is done and walk home with him. Do you think he'll like that?"
Kari's father gave her a small smile, "I think he'd love that."
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Practice seemed like it lasted forever. Everyone's muscles were sore. Everyone seemed out of breathe.
"Waaah, Tezuka-boucho made us work so hard today. I don't even think I could walk home now. My legs are so sore. Ne, Oishi, do you want to give me a piggy-back ride and take me home?" Eiji Kikumaru asked his doules partner.
"Ehhh, Eiji!", responded Oishi Shuichiro as his eyes widened. "I'll walk home with you if you want, but I don't think you'd need a piggy-back ride."
"Ne, that sounds fun, do you want to give me a piggy back ride Tezuka?" Fuji loved to toy with his boucho's emotions and see if he could embarrass him. But everyday, Tezuka Kunimitsu never waivered, all he did was give Fuji Syusuke a stern look.
"It's time to go home everybody, get all your things so I can lock up the tennis club room." Tezuka said sternly.
Everyone practically chanted, "Hai boucho! Good practice!"
Everyone started to file out of the room. Taka-san was the first to leave. He had to help with the restaurant for dinner soon. He said his goodbyes and ran towards home. Eiji, Oishi, Momo, and Echizen left afterwards. Fuii, Tezuka, Inui and Kaidoh were the ones to leave the tennis club room last. When they left, they saw the rest of their team still on school property. It looked like they were all looking at the same thing, well, not same thing, more like, same person.
There stood a young girl with her dark long hair down blowing across her face in the wind. She pushes her hair back only to see her dark brown chocolate eyes. Her skin just seemed to glow in the warm sun as it went down. She seemed to be waiting for someone.
Eiji said, "Wow, she's so cute, I don't remember her though, is she a new student?"
"Ehh, I don't know. I've never seen her before, but she is cute! Should I go talk to her?" Momo replied.
Oishi, ready to pull Eiji and Momo away from the young girl said, "Now, now guys, we should leave her alone. I don't know where she's from…. Hm, maybe she's lost? Maybe she needs help? Maybe we should approach her. But, if she needs help, wouldn't she come to us. Oh, this is very complicated."
"What's going on here?" Tezuka demanded.
"It looks like a pretty young girl waiting for someone at the gate Tezuka" Fuji said coyly.
"Who could she be? Maybe she's from a rival school, this might be data worthy." Inui, never without his pen and notebook started to jot down notes.
"This is dumb, I'm going home." Echizen, just pushed forward and started to walk home.
Kaidoh stood there dumbfounded. He's seen her before. He knew her. He doesn't know how to handle this situation. Surely, people would be asking questions about her, but all he wanted to do was go home. What was she doing here anyways? Is he even right about who he thinks is at the gate? Is she waiting for him? No, no, his eyes must be deceiving him; she's thousands of miles away. He's just tired; he just needed to go home.
He moved forward, away from his teammates, "I'm going home, see you tomorrow."
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She saw him start to walk towards the gates. It's been so long, she was worried that she wouldn't recognize him; she was worried he wouldn't recognize him.
She smiled and yelled, "Kaoru-chan! Over here! I never thought your tennis practice would end!"
He turned to see her face, and dropped his tennis bags. His eyes weren't deceiving him. It was her, it was his sister, in the flesh. She started to run over to him and he caught her and lifted her into a great big hug.
It's been two years since he saw Kari. Her hair was longer, she was taller, she was different. She really grew up. It started to bother him that his sempai and other teammates were gawking at her. Still, he couldn't believe that Kari was actually here, in the flesh, right in front of him.
"Kaoru-chan! Really, it's been too long! I've been waiting for over an hour for your practice to end."
"An hour? I've been waiting two years Kari-chan for you to finally come home. When did you get here? Do mama and papa know you're here?"
She giggled. "Seriously aniki, do you really think I'd be here if mama and papa didn't know? Of course they know silly! Come on, let's go home. I have so much to tell you, plus, mama is making a great dinner, I'm starving!"
She pulled away from his hug, picked up his tennis bags, took his hand and started to walk pulling him along. Kaidoh couldn't be anymore relieved. He didn't want to know what his sempai were thinking when Kari recognized him. This was going to be a big hassle tomorrow morning. For now, he would just walk away with her and worry about his other teammates later.
Meanwhile, the Seigaku regulars stood there dumbfounded and quite honestly, shocked to what they have just saw. They just saw Kaidoh Kaoru walk away with the girl at the gate. Inui, especially, was taking down notes furiously.
TBC.
Author's Notes: This is my first long serious Prince of Tennis fanfic. It took me a while to actually write up this chapter. It is a bit long, but I hope that's okay with you. I've had an idea for this fanfic for a while, and I'm pretty happy that I finally have the first chapter done. There's more to come, more pairings, more surprises.
I absolutely love Kaidoh, and I just thought he needed some love and sisterly advice. wink
Thanks to mesmart: Thanks to mesmart's suggestions I fixed some things. I changed Kari's physical appearance because it was a bit MarySue-ish. I also changed Kaidoh's brother's name from Kazue to Hazue. Sorry for the mistake.
Flames, reviews, anything are always appreciated.
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