Evidentual
Stage One: Once Again
Disclaime:Tennis no Ohjisama no anime and manga © 2001 Konomi Takeshi. Evidentual © Kitori Chiharu.
Rating: PG
Summery: 19 year old collage sophmore Kevin Smith re-encounters Ryoma Echizen; this time, the latter in a form of the rising tennis star of the world.
The girl smiled, reaching her microphone a bit farther. "So, Ryoma, why do you think of your last victory against Jack Hilton?"
The japanese boy merely pulled the hem of his visor. "Mediocre."
The reporter frowned slightly. "Well, your last valley was excellent, were you playing on that move since the beginning of the point, or was it just a 'momentary' thing?"
"Tennis is a momentary thing. I can't expect any opponent to do as I wish, you just have to be prepared." He replied flatly.
"Arg." Kevin groaned, shutting the T.V. off.
"Oh, he sure looks familiar." Stephanie turned back to her notebook.
"You've seen him before, Steph." Billy wrapped an arm around his fiance. "The All-Japan junior tournament, remember? He played Kev."
"Oh." The young women brightened up. "I remember him, he was such a good tennis player. I just didn't think he would go pro, it seems that no one is doing that nowadays."
"There's a lot of people who doesn't deserve fame." Eli shrugged, leaning back in his seat. "All these actors and singers, they all suck. All you need is a contract label, and anyone can be famous."
"Ryoma Echizen was pretty good though." Billy flipped through his book. "At least, he was seven years ago."
"Yeah, but you were better." Stephanie smiled, looking up.
"Aw, you're so cute when you flatter me. Even if it's true." Billy grinned back, leaning down to place a kiss on her cheek.
"HEY!" Delphi snapped. "You're not going lovey-doopey on me now. Some people what to pass Physics, you know?"
Eli yawned, looking around the library. "What time is it anyway?"
"Four-thirty." Kevin growled under his breath, slamming his book shut. He stood up, dumping all of his stuff back into his bag. "I'm gonna leave early."
"O..kay?" Delphi blinked. "You sure? I mean, the exam's on Monday and all."
"I've been studying here and there." The blond shrugged, pulling his shades down. He swung the strap of his bag over his head, leveling it onto his left shoulder. "I'll be fine."
"Your death, then." Billy grinned, giving him a soft wave before turning back to Stephanie. They watched as Kevin walked out of the library. The door opened as light finally emitted through the cracks, and was gone when it closed again.
"What's up with Kev?" Eli peered up from his textbook.
"Bad lunch?" Delphi guessed.
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Kevin flinched with when the light filled into his eyes. They had been in the library for the past seven or eight hours, cramming. At least he had his sunglasses on, or Kevin was sure he would be blind by now.
The blond yawned, walking down the many steps of the State-Library. The city of New York honked in front of him. People filling out in front of bus stations, taxis running down the road in the speed of light, and random people selling pretzels on the side of the road.
The campus was near the center of attractions, and Kevin could easily drift off into countless stands if not for one simple fact. Finals were next week, he couldn't afford to drift off.
Not now, the blonde reminded himself, walking past a cotton-candy stands. He didn't really understand why anyone would start a tourist attraction in the park next to the National Library, but it was also the easiest short-cut back to his apartment.
There was a soft ringing sound from his bag, Kevin would only slightly make out the sound of his cell phone through the background noise. He easily dug the mobile phone out, popping the lid open before pressing it to his ear.
"Hello?" He crossed over the mid-section bridge of the walk-through park.
"Where are you?"
"On my way home." The blonde replied carelessly, exiting out of the bush-filled park way. He looked both sides before quickly crossing the street. A red toyota honked behind him.
"You coming to the game tomorrow?"
"Probably not." Kevin mentally sighed, making his way down the sidewalk next to the construction site. "Have to cram for the finals, can you just give my ticket to someone else?"
"Keviiinnn. It's the semi-finals, we got 4th row! You know I can't just give the ticket to anyone else!"
"Sammy, I can't." He repeated, running his free hand through his damp blonde hair.
"Oh... Okay, I guess it's no big. The selection changed anyway, I was so sure that Hilton would make it through the last match. Instead of him, now it's that japanese player fighting Ranker." His fellow tennis obsessor replied.
"Wait..." Kevin froze, slowing his pace down. "Which Japanese player?"
"Eh... Eki.. Ekiten something."
"Echizen Ryoma!" He nearly shouted into his cell.
"Eh... Yeah?"
"Forget what I said, I'm gonna make it." He declared, looking up. His apartment was a few feet in front, reaching its way through the three-story house.
"Okay?" The girl's doubtful voice replied, but was soon erased with a happy outburst when realized that she now had another reason to miss curtsy class. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, I'll ask Esteban to pick you up, okay?"
"Bye." He muttered, inserting his key through the whole. He slowly pushed the door open.
"You rock, Kev." His cousin chanted happily as he snapped the lid close. Maybe it was god's way of making it up for his lost childhood, but a few weeks after returning to New York after the tournament, his long-lost aunt from his mother's side finally decided to contact Baker for the parental ownership of Kevin Smith.
Mrs. Nora Hemming had been his mother's younger sister, who, from what he has heard from his drunken father, had eloped with her boyfriend during her teens. It also turns out that this "bad seed" was now a running a line of hotels and very, very rich.
This was followed by a nasty lawsuit, introducing countless family members he had never met before who were also so determined to win him from the clutches of 'that madman', as his cousin put it. It was also interesting for the boy to learn that his mother sacrificed her future for her father, and look what that turned out to be.
In some ways, Kevin had truly believed that his dad did love his mother, but that had been years ago. Maybe the death of his lovely mother was what triggered the man's fuse, and made him mentally unstable enough to start pushing Kevin into tennis, bringing back those old memories of his lost dignity.
To put it simply, Kelly Hensic Smith's family had been rich. She was rich, which meant that Kevin was also a part-heir to Exxon. Kevin had no idea why his aunt suddenly found the interest to relocate him after all these years, they had more than enough boys fighting for the stop of top heir already, the they didn't need him. Kevin had no former education in the subject, unlike those tidy bastards who had been brought up in mansions, and absolutely made no contribution to their family.
This might've meant family gatherings with boys he absolutely could not stand, but he also got to move in with his aunt in the "richer" part of the city, he could finally have a life.
"Kevin" Nora would always smile a him. "You are important here, you're the only one keeping us honest. I would hate to live in a society where people honored money and fame more than their dignity, so you're here to keep me in line."
"What about Samantha?" He would ask in return.
"Sammy needs someone like you too. Your Uncle and I love her too much to punish her, and we all know she's too wild for a mistress's taste." The still-young women smiled. "She needs you to be blunt and tell her when to stop."
She was right, of course. Samantha Hemming was beyond what to be expect from an heiress. She loved sports, hated literature, dresses, or anything lady-like. She gets herself into too much shit, and literately needed Kevin to stop her from hurting herself.
It was that part of his family he hated to love, but now, at least he felt like a normal kid. He had a crazy, no-nonsense cousin who could pass for his twin, a care-free aunt who rocked beyond belief, and a loving uncle who could spoil any kid.
This also included a full-set of maids and servant at their "house". So yes, Kevin was sent to a privately-founded school with Sammy. He had to put up with people worlds apart from his.
Was it coincidence, or God was starting to look into his file more. He spotted Stephanie as the shy, not-so-outspoken, member of the yearbook staff. This brought in his re-encounter with Billy, who had been coaching the girl in tennis at the time.
Entered Eli and Delphi, both of whom Kevin had met at Stephanie's 15th birthday party. Then, entered roomful of crazy people who loved to hate as friends. These rich snobs proved to be a great allies in his insane trip though high-school with people he could actually put up with now.
That's what landed him where he was now, studying at NYU, pushing his way though the door of the apartment he shared with with a pack of absurd friends.
"Yo, Kev!" Justin yelled from his position on the coach, grinning. "I took the liberty of deleted the 37 messages you got today. Beat Toni's record."
"Touched." The blonde groaned, throwing his jacket over the couch. "I'm going to the match tomorrow."
"Thought you were cramming for the finals." Jake poked his head out from the kitchen.
"Change of plans." Kevin shrugged, dumping himself on the couch, next to Justin. "Just hope I crammed enough for monday."
"Kevin" Drew flirtatiously sat onto the blonde's lap. "You know you want to get the pizza for tonight."
"Arg." He groaned, pushing the red-head off him to get a better view of the T.V. "Stop trying to be gay with me."
"Pity." Joey smirked, magically appearing in front of his line of vision to the T.V. with his hand on hip. Kevin still can't understand how he did that. "It's Toni's turn anyway."
As if on cue, the brunette automatically came down the flight of stairs. He blinked at Kevin, about to open his mouth when-
"No." Kevin groaned. "I'm not fixing you up with my cousin, go away."
"You're so mean, Keviie." Drew smirked, leaning down backward into the blonde's lap once again. "We just want someone to make out with, share the information of our pointless existence, and to cook for us. Unfortunately, none of us are lucky enough to get a girlfriend or professional cook, so you need to order pizza."
"But how can I get to the phone when you're on top of me?" He replied in a semi-pout.
"He's right, Drew." Joey smirked. "You need to stop gloping him."
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"Master Kevin." Esteban bowed, opening the door to the black, long-stretch limo in front of him. Kevin only yawning, climbing out of the back-seat.
"Kevie!" He was literally attacked by a mop of blonde hair. After a few seconds of sheering suffocation, being squeeze out of air from his lungs, the girl finally let go. She took a step back before look at him, clapping her hands together. Her crystal-blue eyes shinned under the sun. "You look taller! And skinner!"
"Yeah, well." Kevin ran a hand through his blonde hair, pulling his sunglasses off. "That's what happens when you don't sleep."
"Right." The girl smirked, crossing her left arm into his. They made their way into the open-air stadium. "And why is that?"
"Ew." The young man scrunched his noise slightly. "Not cool, Sammy, we're not going into that again." The guard examined their ticket for a few seconds before letting them in.
"Well, I'm on a diet again." Sammy declared rather randomly, pulling on the hem of her flora dress, hanging over her designer jeans and held together by a lace of ribbon around her waist. Kevin made a mental note that the girl had curled her hair at the end as well. "I've gain too much weight, now I'm gonna go totally obsessed." The coliseum shaped field glowed back at them as the pair made their way down the rows.
"You're crazy." Kevin grinned, sating down into one of the seats.
"At least I'm not starving myself with a house full of gay people." Sammy shrugged in return, pushing the end-side of her dress back before taking a seat.
"You sound more like Aunt Nora every day." The boy shrugged, pulling his hats on. The match could take awhile, and it was quite hot outside. "None of them are gay..." He paused when she gave him an unconvinced look. "They're bisexual."
"Same difference!" Samantha laughed, playfully punching him in the shoulder. "But seriously, those people freak me out."
"That's okay." He smirked. "I'm sure you freak them out just as much, maybe more."
"Yeah, well, that's enough." Sammy looked foreword, blinking slightly. "So, when is this going to start?"
"Pretty soon, we're came in pretty late." Kevin leaned back in his seat, silently eyeing the big-screen TV on the top stadium.
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"Ryoma." Chelsea poked her head into the waiting room. "I would start walking out if I was you."
The Japanese young man looked up from his position, laying down on the couch, blinking. "Why?"
"Because you're going on in." His manager looked at her watch. "Three minutes ago."
Ryoma slowly sat up, grabbing his visor from the handle. He smoothly made his way out the door, pausing for a second when passing by the slightly older girl. "You suck. You know that, right?"
"Of course." Chelsea grinned, pointed toward the hall leading toward the entrance of the stadium. "Now go."
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The crowd, mainly the female population, went wild when Patrick Cole entered he court, waving around. Kevin felt annoying to see the guy on the main-T.V, but kept his excitement in.
"He's such a show off." Sammy rolled her eyes from her position next to him.
Echizen Ryoma made his way in a few minutes later, looking promptly bored. Some of the crowd clapped, but most were still slightly awed at seeing the Japanese boy. Others only kept quite.
The situation could have been awkward, if only Ryoma had cared. He easily made his way onto the court, pulling the cap of his visor down. A few testing runs followed, the the match started.
One set, Cole to serve, the referee announced.
"You know, I think this is a very exciting course of events." Jake Winston, long time announcer narrated from their top-cube.
"Indeed it is, Jake." Jesse Martson followed. "None of us expected Ryoma Echizen to be the one playing Patrick Cole. After defeating Hilton last week, Echizen has already made his way up the charts."
"Yes, well, you'd think that this was just another no-show, but Ryoma Echizen has proven to our judges that he, indeed, is a wonderful tennis player."
Point, Echizen. Three games to love.
Kevin watched with intenstiy as the other boy ran across the court, seemingly flying in the air. Echizen has long since traveled beyond the limits of his junior high years. The eight-teen year old has been winning most of points with just serves.
"He's so good." Sammy whispered from next to him, grinning. The rest of the crowd sitting behind and above them chanted into mumurs. The girl took the chance to turn around. "Wow, there's got to be a couple hundred thousand people here."
Kevin had been too concenrated on he game to hear her comment. Inwardly, he also noticed something different.
He was playing with his right hand.
The blonde smirked silently, leaning over toward his cousin. The girl was holding her program as a fan, above her head for block off the sunlight. "Cole has no chance."
Sammy only blinked in return, pushing a strand of golden hair behind her sholder. "Really? But he was a favorite to advance to the quater-finals."
"They abviously didn't consider Echizen Ryoma's entrance, then."
"You speak as if you know him."
"Ah... Sort of." Kevin returned his sight back to the game.
"Oh, that was some brilliant net play there."
"Indeed. In situations like this, we would expect it to be a lob. No less, Echizen saw that and stop Cole from processing by getting him up to the set as well."
Cole return the ball with a smooth backhand, but was caught off when Echizen started gaining speed. In the blink of an eye, his ball landed sucessfully on the end line.
The crowd went wild as Echizen won the first set, only sparing his oppent a few points in the process. The said boy backed up to he serve line as one of the ball-boys threw the tennis ball toward him. He easily caught it, bouncing it on the baseline a few times before topping in a standing position.
Patrick Cole straightened up, pulling his headband backward. His feet brushed against the baseline beforeing serving. Echizen return it in a fast forehand. The older man rushed toward the net to return the ball as Echizen hit it toward the end line. The ball flew past the austrain player and landed in.
"Wow, that was an amazing display of quick thinking from Echizen there."
"Yes, and his control is so presistand, it's almost impossible to predict his next move."
"He's so quick." Sammy declared, leaning back in her seat. "And it looks like he's still holding back." The girl was right, of course. Even through the easy returns and smooth serves, Echizen looked like he was just playing around with the other player.
The grand T.V. only displayed Echizen's taughting smirk even more.
"This has got to be one of the quickest games I've ever seen." The girl growled, taking another sip of her diet coke. "And to think I wasted a couple hundred dollars on the ticket. What a waste."
"And whose fault is that?"
"Hey, I wanted to see Jack Hilton in actions, he was hot." Sammy laughed in return. "Who knew he was going to get beaten in the last match."
"Well, if you didn't have the habit of pre-ordering tickets to everything." Kevin shrugged, his attention returning to the game at hand.
"But it's okay, this Echizen Ryoma's just really good. I've never seen anyone win so many points with just serves." She grinned, pushing her bangs back with the edge of her sunglasses. "Besides, he's hot too."
Point, Echizen. Five games to three. Cole to serve.
"You know, we are comming close to the climax of the second set, what do you think?"
"Well, Cole has showed some amazing handworks on at the baseline and up the set. But I'm not show about his sketchy footwork, and Echizen just looks ready for anything."
Pok. Cole's last return made connection with the net.
"And there's that ends the second set."
"Yes, well, I can not wait for the next set."
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He threw the bouyant tennis ball into the air, smoothly swining his right hand over in a fast motion. The serve landed in the corner of he serving box, sucessfuly bouncing out of the ratio and eliminating the possibilty of a return.
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Kevin was ready to get up with the rest of the crowd the Sammy's cell rang. She gave him a finger, gesturing for them to wait for awhile behind snapped the lid of her phone open.
"Uh, hey."
The young man looked around as a few people brushed past their row. Not a lot of people could reserve front seats, so most settled with the back. It wasn't that much of a bad idea either. The seats for the back-rows were much less expensive, closer to the exits. And with that giant T.V. on the middle of the feild, broadcasting their every move, it was a better packet deal by itself. Of course, Sammy couldn't settle for anything less than the best.
"I don't know how long we'll be here though." The girl replied into her phone, taking a glace of herself in her mirrow. "Well, I got this booked for the whole afternoon. There's still three more games ahead... I don't know, the next one start in an hour or so."
Kevin looked around. True, some of the people stayed in their seat as well. They were probaby waiting for the next few games as well.
"Well, if Kevin wants to." Sammy replied, tilting her hand sideway to reach her bag.
Most of the seats were empting out already, Kevin noted. The statium was truely the largest he has seen so far. Maybe not as big as the one of the Jr. Opening all those years ago, but he could hardly remember.
"Oh, gee, I don't know." Sammy laughed. "I'm meeting over with Delphi next weekend. Post-finals shopping spree, I take it that you probably wouldn't want to come with us. Yeah, I love you too. Bye!"
Kevin grinned as he watched his cousin shut her phone down happily. "Joss?"
"Yep. We're gonna go see a movie sometimes soon, I haven't see him in a couple of weeks." The girl replied happily. "Why does everyone I know have to be so serious about the finals." She stood up, ready to go. "Let's get something to drink."
"Well, most people would like to pass their exams, graduate, and have a sucessful carear without wandering the streets for trash." He remarked, leading them up the flight of stairs.
"Oh, please." Sammy rolled her eyes. "You don't need that. Just have enough of a brain to inherite the company."
"It's more fun to earn it." Kevin shrugged. "I don't want to constantly relay on Aunt Nora."
"Yeah, well, you're the only guy we can stand, and I don't want to do any of that either." Sammy shrugged, pushing the door that led into one of the short-cut halls. "I think I saw a vending machine somewhere around here."
"Yeah, it's over ther-" The blonde when he saw the figure of two people infront of the said machine. The girl, she only looked a few years older than them, was leaning against the wall while typing onto her laptop. The boy was staring at the drinking options.
"Come on." Sammy snapped her finger in front of his face. "Let's go."
"Your proformace rate was slower than usual today." The redhead girl declared. "You missed a lot of unnecessary points, and you could've finished the match much earlier."
"Chelsea." The young man grunted, still staring intensely at the vending machine. "There's no ponta."
"Oh, why can't you just drink water?" The young women groaned in return, pushing the lid of her laptop close. "You know, like everyone else?"
"Water has no taste."
"And it's also good for you. Those Ponta things make you hyper."
"I'm never hyper." Ryoma declared looking up. He blinked he he spotted the pair of blondes a few feet away.
"Hey, you're Ryoma Echizen!" Sammy clapped her hands together.
He pulled the hem of his visor down. "Yeah."
"I didn't know you spoke perfect english." Sammy grinned, she hooked Kevin's by he arm, pulling him up front. "Kevin speaks japanese too, right?"
"Eh... Yeah." The blonde boy replied slowly. All he got in return was a small smile from Ryoma. The japanese boy had grown since the last time Kevin saw him. His dark locks remained as they were when he was twleve, his eyes were slightly more sharp and bright. His slim yet firm figure stood tall, but was still slightly shorter than Kevin himself.
"Yeah, we've met."
"You have?" Chelsea, who'd been quite up til now, blinked.
"Yeah, someone I knew a long time ago." Ryoma turned back to the vending machine, frowning slightly. "There's no Ponta." He repeated, again.
"You're still as polite as ever." Kevin snorted, pushing the boy aside. He easily digged a few coins out of his pocket. "Watch this, brainiac. It's called 'Fanta' here." He easily pressed a few buttons, and a can of grape Fanta rolled out of the opening."
Chelsea and Sammy watched as Kevin snapped the lid open open, giving Ryoma a smirk before handing the sofa over. The japanese boy accepted it, pulling his visor down once again. "Sankyuu."
"Now we're even."
"Totally lost?" Sammy shot Chelsea a look, blinking.
"Yep."
"You want to explain?" Ryoma looked up, sipping onto his can of Fanta.
"Fine."
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TBC
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A/N: Anyone Tenipuri writer needs to know the pain it is to describe a tennis match. I'm a tennis player, but actually mapping out the points of a match, serve, or return is next to impossible without repeating yourself.
Lots of AUs. The setting is actually in America this time. Am I the only one who remembers Stephanie from the anime? You know, the girl Billy was infatuated with? I actually liked her.
Fonta -> Ponta. Am I the only one that noticed this too?
By the way, Patrick Cole and Jack Hilton are not real tennis player. :D