After 2 Years...
1/When gathering turns embarrassment...
"Ryom...ryoma...ryoma..." cheerings from various people could be heard at the airport. They were of different genders and height, but one thing remained the same; the banners or posters that they were carrying contained the picture of the same person, Echizen Ryoma.
...
A figure appeared from the arival hall. He was immediately recognised by the crowd with him wearing his usual cap. It had a R imprinted on the cap. R stands for Ryoma.
...
(chorus of FUTURE starts playing)
Ryoma whipped out his phone unwillingly.
Surely it must be some reporters or some interviewers from sports magazines, Ryoma thought to himself.
...
"Kiddo !!! Welcome back to Japan !!!"
it was a familiar voice, yet he could not remember who it belonged to.
...
"Who are you?"
...
a cold voice was heard from the receiver. Eiji was rather annoyed at Ryoma's response.
...
"Your Eiji-senpai from Seigaku !!!"
...
oh, Eiji-senpai, Ryoma thought to himself. It has been a really long time.
...
"so?"
...
So??! What's the matter with kiddo's attitude??! Oh whatever, since he's now world no.1 tennis player for the junior category...Eiji thought to himself. He recalled seeing Ryoma's face almost all the time in sports magazines, reporting about him defeating various pro-players and finally clinching the sought-after position internationally.
...
"Well come to (address) now, we're having a gathering !!! DO NOT NOT COME !!! see you there !!!"
...
the phone clicked.
...
Eiji-senpai with his usual bubbly voice, Ryoma thought to himself. Perhaps, it would be not bad to go there after all.
...
He hailed for a cab and headed towards the place.
...
...
...
A guy cladded in school uniforom walked towards Ryuzaki Sakuno. He stopped in front of her table and put both of his hands on the sides of it.
...
"Sakuno-chan, please go out with me. I really like you alot!" the guy told Sakuno, who was packing her bag for the day.
...
"Erm...what club do you belong to?" Sakuno asked the guy in front of her.
...
"Tennis club," the guy replied with a smile. He was in the same club as Sakuno. The difference was only their gender.
...
"I'm sorry then. I wont go out with you,"
it was a clear reply by Sakuno. She was once wavered by his good looks and nice attitude, but dating a guy playing tennis was a NONO. She'd had enough trouble liking a guy who loves tennis...she KNEW that guys who play tennis will NEVER have time for girls, guys who play tennis are PLAIN DENSE, and Sakuno never wanted to experience that again. Once, she had been nice and sweet to him, yet to him, she was never in his sight. HE, Echizen Ryoma, was the nightmare of her life.
HE, made her fear guys playing tennis, HE, made her life bitter, HE, made her come to the conclusion that she will NEVER date a guy playing tennis.
...
the guy left with a frown on his face, despondent at the fact that he had been rejected by the love of his life, Ryuzaki Sakuno.
...
"HEY HEY SAKUNO!!!" it was tomoka with her usual LOUD (and noisy) voice.
...
Sakuno was about to turn around when Tomoka continued her words...
"WHY did you REJECT HIM !!!"
Oh gosh, Tomo-chan !!! Sakuno exclaimed to herself inside. Tomoka had made everyone focus on Sakuno, something that the latter did not like.
Sakuno did not utter a word, but Tomoko understood it perfectly.
"is TENNIS the reason? OH SAKUNO you're SOOOOO FOOLISH!!!"
oh please, tomo-chan, STOP yelling...Sakuno thought so inside her.
"okay i shall stop yelling...anyways Horio said that there's a gathering for the Seigaku regulars and the past helpers, and we are invited as well !!!"
...seigaku regulars...
"Eh, tomo-chan, what are the regulars?"
...
you kidding me??! Sakuno has forgotten about the Seigaku regulars??! Especially when her grandma was the coach of the team and her...her crush (previous) was the freshman of the team...HOW CAN SHE EVER FORGET THE REGULARS !!!
...
It wasnt that Sakuno fogot about them, i mean, she will NEVER forget the Seigaku regulars. One person among the regulars was forever in her mind, not in a good way though. Echizen Ryoma. She only pretended to forget, so that she can use it as an excuse to not attend the gathering. She hated such gatherings. it wasnt that she disliked the regulars, she just wanted to avoid Echizen Ryoma.
...
"I DONT CARE !!! GO WITH ME !!!" Tomoka shouted at Sakuno.
"no," Sakuno replied immediately.
...
nevertheless, she was dragged along by Tomoka and Horio, the weirdest yet rather compatible pairing.
...
...
"Ochibi's girlfriend is here !!!" Eiji shouted from the mansion. The mansion was the place the group of ex-Seigaku regulars had rented to organise the gathering/meet up.
"I...Im not," Sakuno looked down and whispered softly to herself. in front of the regulars (ex-regulars i mean), Sakuno was back to her shy and stuttering self.
"Hey hey Eiji ! Stop it. Youre making her embarrassed," Oishi went to the front door as well to pull Eiji back to the seems as though Oishi had not been out of his mama-duty.
"Wuuuu !!!" Eiji tried to talk some more despite her mouth being covered by Oishi's large palm. He was then dragged back by his partner-forever. (Oishi)
Sakuno didnt know how to react seeing this weird scene.
Tomoka and Horio then went into the huge mansion. they were "WOW-ing" all the way. It seems as though the ex-regulars had spent a huge sum ofmoney on this place.
A familiar figure appeared (or should i say a familiar pair of glasses?). He held a tray with him, filled with glasses of drinks.
"thank you inui-senpai, but may i know what are the different drinks?"
Inui adjusted his glasses in his usual "im a pro" way and started to introduce his creation.
"this," he pointed to a glass of red liquid, "is inui's special red," then he pointed to another glass of blue liquid, "inui's special blue,"... (and the introduction goes on...)
...
after everything, Sakuno did not know how to respond. ALL of them were inui's special drink, and she would definitely not want to drink ANY of them.
"Err...Inui-senpai, you can leave it there first, im not thirsty," Sakuno tried to be polite and keep herself away from the drink.
Inui, somehow looking sad that Sakuno did not touch any of his specially-made drinks despite his efforts to introduce them one by one, left her alone.
Phew...Sakuno heaved a sigh of relief. She had heard, and witnessed the ex-regulars drink inui's liquid, and fainted on the spot. Although Fuji-senpai were sometimes immune to the drink, there were also times when he could not take it as well.
she was sitting on the couch, somewhat exhausted, after having not-slept for three days to complete three reports. She closed her eyes slowly, but was woken up by a loud "clang" sound.
Sakuno opened her eyes to see a ball flying towards her at tremendous speed. She dodged it, and the ball hit a vase instead. the vase shattered with another "clang" sound.
"eh eh what's going on !!!" Oishi came out from the kitchen wearing an apron. He put his hands on the sides of his waist, looking rather irritated.
Sakuno saw two figures through the shattered window. one had spiky hair and the other tied a bandanna around his head. Oishi saw that as well.
"MOMOSHIRO !!! KAIDOH !!!" Oishi ran out of the door and chased after the two who were playing tennis at the open area.
looks like oishi-senpai's mama behavious has gotten worse instead, Sakuno told herself.
...5 minutes ago...
"I shall be in charge of the charcoal," momo volunteered when the group of ex-regulars were assigning the jobs.
"psssssssss...no, im in charge of the charcoal," kaidoh said that after momoshiro had volunteered.
"NONONO! im in charge !!!" momoshiro yelled.
"Pssssssss...it's me..."
"you viper !!!"
"who are you calling a viper !!!"
"wanna use tennis to decide??!"
"who's afraid of you !!!"
"huh!!!"
"pssssssssss..."
...and the two went outside to play tennis...
...1 minute ago...
"psssssss..."
"haha youre gonna lose. here's my improved jack knife !!!"
momoshiro hit a jack knife, but he had tilted his body wrongly and the ball went in the wrong direction instead...it headed towards the windows...
...and broke the window...and nearly hit Sakuno...and hit the vase...and Oishi appears from the kitchen...and you know what happened after that...
...and all of a sudden...
"ahem..." a sound was heard from outside the mansion.
"*cough*" this was another sound, orginated from the same place.
"captain, vice captain !!!" both kaidoh and momoshiro cried out at seeing tezuka and his pal, fuji syuusuke.
tezuka nodded to them.
fuji gave them his usual "charming smile"
as expected, when tezuka, fuji and the other seigaku regulars-at-that-time entered seigaku senior high and joined tennis club (once again...), tezuka and fuji were nominated and became regulars in their first year. reaching the second year, they had improved their tennis skills by leaps and managed to convince the other senior regulars that they, the second years, were more fit to be the captain and the vice captain. (tezuka is definitely the captain and fuji, with his excellent skills almost on par to tezuka's became the vice captain) as a result of such decisions, tezuka and fuji met up even often to discuss on tennis practices and any other random stuff, and thus their friendship blossomed even more.
"tezuka, be careful of your shoulder," fuji whispered to tezuka.
...1 hour ago...
tezuka and fuji were inside the doctor's room, waiting for the results. as a reult of tezuka playing toooooo vigoriously in a friendly match with atobe, he had felt pain at his left shoulder once again. fuji being the refree at that time, brought tezuka to the doctors immediately and the doctor had concluded that his pain had came back and hence need to come back often for frequent check-ups...this was the latest check-up...
"tezuka-san, your shoulder has gotten better but then dont strain yourself that much," the doctor advised tezuka.
tezuka nodded.
...and now...
"kawamura's sushi !!!" a man holding a racket said as he sped into the mansion, holding a box of what seems to be containing sushi on the other hand.
kawamura-senpai !!! Sakuno smiled to herself. she had been too familiar with the seigaku-ex-regulars because of her constant yearning to support ryoma for all his tennis matches, that was, when she was still on-high over him. (that brat)
"captain you're back ! can finally distribute the rooms nyah," eiji smiled.
...and so the distribution begin...
"tomoka and sakuno,"
"eiji and oishi," ...
Sakuno didnt bother to listen to the other pairings. she took the keys from fuji and apologised and explained her tireness and went to her/tomoka's room. she was as dead as a log when she had laid on the bed.
...after 5 hours...
"yoush," he waved a hand outside the door. eiji was the first to notice him, the once small petite figure, becoming somehow taller and looking even more arrogant than before.
"ochibi !!!" eiji cried loud to the figure.
indeed, he was the well-known Echizen Ryoma, top of the junior category in the whole world. Nevertheless, he seemed to lose all his authority in front of his ex-senpais, as eiji dragged him in...
"ochibi's here !!! he came here once he had come back !!!" eiji shrieked with his usual loud voice.
it was inui who first offered him his inui's special blue/red/other colours, and ryoma declined his offer just like sakuno.
tomoka cried out "ryoma-sama" as usual but horio pulled her away, after which tomoka managed to free herself and ran to her room.
"sakuno !!! ryoma-sama's here !!!"
horio chased after her after hearing the ex-senpais said that the dinner will begin soon...
"tomo-chan, let's go for dinner,"
tomoka went with him after hearing the word "dinner" and left the door slightly open instead.
...during the dinner...the ex-senpais (except for tezuka and fuji) made ryoma drink wine/beer and other making-people-drunk stuff...after which they headed to their rooms...
and ryoma was struggling to find his room...
and he entered sakuno's room by accident...because it was unlocked...
...ryoma enters sakuno's room...
"mada mada...mada mada..." ryoma kept mumbling to himself...
Sakuno was stirred by his constant mutterings...
(fact 1: tomoka went to sleep with horio so she wasnt in the room...)
Sakuno opened her eyes and saw a figure in front of her...
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
Ryoma was shocked and went to cover her mouth with his hands immediately. it was then he realised that he had entered the wrong room.
"sorry...i...*hiccups* entered the wrong room...*hiccups* dont yell ok?"
sakuno nodded her head although she wasnt sure who the person was...she was still in a dreamy state...but then, she wasnt going to let the person of for barging into her and tomoka's room...wait...why dont i hear tomoka? sakuno thought to herself.
ryoma released his hand but sakuno stood up and wield kicks and fists at him. ryoma then pressed his legs and hands against sakuno's to stop her. instead, sakuno ended up shouting. ryoma, now with his hands and legs occupied, did not hesitate before covering his own mouth with hers to stop her constant yellings.
sakuno was stunned, but was clear awake now...she saw Echizen Ryoma in front of her, the latter still in a drunk state.
however, instincts tolf ryoma he had done something WRONG and he stepped back, covering his mouth with his hands, and ran out of sakuno's room, leaving sakuno is a shocked state...
i hope you like this chapter...please comment and review ^_^