Tennis Princess of Taigaiko
Chapter One
Taigaiko Regulars and a Brother's Team?
The captain of Taigaiko Middle School swung her racket fast and strong. The ball shot forward and smashed against the ground before twisting to a complete stop. The audience stood silently in awe as the captain exited the field without another sound. The crowd erupted into cheering and the other members of the Taigaiko Jr. High surrounded their captain.
"You won it for us Rya!" second in command, Rin Sujiami, exclaimed, giving her friend a licorice whip. The captain put the licorice in her mouth.
"Wasn't a big deal Rin, just like any other match," she said simply.
"That's our Ryamo~!" the others chorused and the eight laughed.
"Yo Girls!" a voice shouted out behind them. "We are Taigaiko's first tennis club, so don't go showing off."
The eight girls knew that this would happen. Kyoshi Sutayame was always a power hog, the complete opposite of Breah Sutayame, his sister on the girls' team.
At Taigaiko, and most other schools, there were two Tennis Teams. A girls and a boys. Originally the boys' team was normally the one to get most of the attention, while the girls get pity and sympathy for not playing great enough. It annoyed the girls to no end and they hated it when the boys' team rubbed it in.
"Kyoshi," the captain pointed her racket at her elder's face, "I challenge you to a match of doubles. If you can beat us, we back off and give you the spotlight. If we beat you, we get to take your spot as Taigaiko's First Tennis Team."
Everyone that had been in hearing distance stopped and froze. It was just a friendly match that was happening between Kamine Jr. High and the players were quite interested in what was happening. All eyes were on the two teams from the same school. The tennis coach stepped forward.
"If you girls are able to beat these boys, you will take spot as Taigaiko's First Team. I approve," he said affirmatively. Tennis Officials came forward and stood next to the coach.
"We agree that this is a good way to solve things. The rivalry of Taigaiko's girl and boy teams will come to an end with this match," the Head Official said. The two captains nodded and the girl captain looked to the captains of Kamine Jr. High.
"Are you okay with us..." the two captains nodded and went to talk to their teams. They took a seat to watch the match about to begin.
"Then it's decided!" the announcer announced, "Taigaiko's First Tennis Team will be decided by a match of doubles!" Everyone cheered and screamed, some agreeing and others booing. The two teams split apart and the captains assigned the people that will play.
"Yoshi, Marek, you're up," Kyoshi stated, motioning with his hand for them to go forward to the court. The two nodded and entered the court.
"Rin and I will play against them," the girl captain said, ignoring the shouts of "It's the Dynamic Pair!" She had heard it all before, they've just never seen real doubles in a match before. She wiped her brow and removed the licorice whip from her mouth. She and Rin entered the court as well.
When both teams were set, the official began the match. "Serve Iyomi and Ritsu."
'The boys get the first serve, huh?' Rin thought. She smirked, never underestimate she and her best friend. She paid close attention to the boys and the way they served. It wasn't a quick enough front swing, it could easily be blown away by three hits with back, front, back, then numbing the front. The ball was hit and soared through the air. "Rin!" a shout was heard.
"Got it!" she exclaimed back hitting it directly to the back corner and opposite of where he served. The ball bounced once, and then hit the back wall. Some people gasped as they began whispering about a return on Yoshi's Cradle Serve. The boys took the ball again and Yoshi bounced it several times before finally serving the ball over the net. It was much quicker than the last one and flew past Rin. "Rya!"
The ball flew back over the net at incredible speed but was returned with a small hit to the right, as both girls were on the left side. The captain ran with quick, light steps to the other side of the tennis court. She leapt forward and switched hands, successfully hitting the ball over the net. Gasps were heard, murmuring commenced, and whistling of the girls' team sang. She smiled when the ball bounced past the two boys giving them the advantage again.
"0-30," the official announced. The two girls nodded as of giving permission to the boys to continue on with the game. The crowd knew that if the girls continued on like this, they would win.
…/~\...
"It has been decided!" the coach of Taigaiko's tennis teams shouted through a bullhorn. "Taigaiko's new First Team will be the girls' team! With Ryamo Echizen as their captain!" Members of the audience exclaimed and shouted with glee while others sulked and left the court. The coach gave Ryamo the bullhorn.
"We will promise to train hard and do our best! Even though there are only us eight on the girls' team, we will continue to bring victory to Taigaiko!" The audience screamed in amazement at Ryamo as she returned the bullhorn to the coach.
"Since there are barely any girls on the team, the two teams will be split up; the Girl Regulars will be with some of the other freshman, juniors, and seniors. The others will be put onto the second team," the coach told all the students watching the game and the spectators. The eight girls left the courts and went to the locker room. Kamine had left earlier and the matches were over. Tomorrow, the girls will be practicing as regulars for Taigaiko's First Team. The eight girls quickly changed their clothing and back into their school uniforms, which consisted of a mid-thigh black and green plaid skirt, a white blouse under a black blazer with a green rose and 'Taigaiko' in white over the rose, a green tie hung around their necks and they each had two French braids in their hair.
"Oi, Breah," Rin questioned, "why's your brother an idiot?" Rin, also known as "the Sense." She could tell whether or not someone was becoming tired or where they would hit it next. She analyzed things and made sure that everything was working and training happened right. Rin had long blonde hair that she always mainly wore in a long braid, and then wrapped up into a spiral bun. Her blue eyes complimented her hair nicely and she was fairly tall for a middle school first year.
"I honestly and truly do not know if he was dropped or is just that idiotic on purpose," Breah Sutayame breathed out. Always so calm and collected. Never really showing what she thinks. Only Ryamo could tell when she was lying, especially when they all had to eat, Rin's "Special Training Veggies." They all hated it but Ryamo could actually stomach the crap, even though it tasted like vomit. Short dark brown hair, almost black, that was mainly kept in a small pony tail. Her chocolate brown eyes had small specks of ocean blue that showed her pupils perfectly, (though her eyes were graced with black glasses) she was quite short for a third year.
"That's why we like you better than your brother," Akira Hideyoshi snickered. The jokester of their team. She never backed down from a challenge and never really recognized a threat when one was too dangerous. She really was the strangest person in Taigaiko. Her bright red hair was like a fire that burned and no one would ever say it wasn't her natural hair color. She had bright emerald green eyes that made Risa call her Christmas on many times. Tallest on the team, comes with a long reach, though she doesn't use the reach a whole bunch, though she is admired for being super tall and only being a second year.
"I thought we hated her brother...?" Sora Minori thought aloud. The others laughed while Sora looked at them all confusedly. That just made them laugh more. Most people that knew Sora thought she was a dunderhead, but when she took hold of a racket, she totally changed into someone else. Her hair, kept in two buns mostly, was a light orange with red highlights. Midnight blue eyes that loved looking up at others even though she was a third year. (A/N: She's short xD)
"We do Sora," Risa Sohma confirmed. She never really did do anything besides help everyone practice. She was one of the loudest and nicest ones at Taigaiko. She was a great team at doubles with Rin but mostly plays with Sora. Her brown chestnut hair that she normally always kept in a small well-kept bob, was by far her best feature, or as Risa thought. But many others thought her eyes were what brought her attention to others. They were a deep purple with horizontal stripes of blue and green on the top and bottom of the pupils. She hated when people looked down at her and asked her is she'd always been that short, even though she was a year from graduating.
"But-"
"You won't win Sora, so might as well stop when you're ahead," Tori Honda stated bluntly, knowing Sora wouldn't get it. But being the forever blunt girl she was she didn't really care if no one got what she wanted. Her favorite thing to do was play singles, using her "Cat's Claw" hit. Most everyone called her the Cat and she always seemed to wear a green tie headband that she only took off when wearing her uniform. She was the only one without a normal hair color that the girls knew of. It was a midnight blue that had streaks of yellow in it and the way she had her hair in a fishtail braid made it look like lights were on inside her hair. Then her eyes were an unnatural bright blue color, but we're covered by black rimmed glasses. She was a medium height and a second year, with a very long reach.
"Why do you insist on telling her things she'll never get Tori?" Elise Romulin asked her friend. She was normally happy and bubbly unless something had happened a school to cause her mood to be down. And when that happened, she became a cruel and cold hearted player, ignoring anyone and everyone, today was one of those days. Her strawberry blonde hair made it hard for people to actually believe she could be crude, especially if it's usually kept in its high side pony tail with a green ribbon wrapped around it. Her eyes were a beautiful mossy green that had a brown glow to it. Being a third year with fair height was probably the most believable thing about her.
"Girls, tomorrow we start preparing for regionals. It'll be within a week's time," Ryamo Echizen interrupted her friends' conversation. They all became serious and nodded. Ryamo was the best out of them all and she could play singles and doubles, no matter who she was paired with or against. She was the favorite among many teachers and mainly preferred to stay quiet. She has short blackish green hair that is unkempt and very tangly. She never really brushes through it because of its short quality. Her eyes are a golden brown that glow when she's in the "zone." And being a freshman captain on a regular team was always something everyone wanted and she was medium height for a first year.
"Roger that Rya~!" the other seven exclaimed, saluting their captain and friend. She nodded to them as they all quickly filed out of the locker room. They all said their goodbyes and walked separate ways from one another, Ryamo going to Seigaku Jr. High, because her brother was there with his tennis club.
.../~\...
"Onii-chan," Ryamo called to her brother, who was busy taking multiple drinks of water faucets as if he drank something extremely terrible.
"O-onee-chan," he grunted miserably. Ryamo sighed and began to rub her twin brother's back.
"What happened this time onii-chan?" she asked him, rubbing small circles on his back.
"I-Inui-senpai's special vegetable juice," he grumbled.
"What's so bad about vegetable juice?" she questioned, wondering how on earth something could taste worse that Rin's veggie food. She raised an eyebrow and asked him to point out where Inui-senpai was. He pointed to courts A and B where some other people were practicing and some freshman that seemed to be watching them. She walked over to the courts and watched. She assumed that Inui was the one that held a glass of green juice in it, offering it to one of the players. She walked onto the court and across to Inui.
"Oi, Seigaku."
The Regular Members of Seigaku's Tennis Team all looked toward the voice of a girl calling out their school's name. Fuji was the first to step forward. "Hm, who's this?"
"It seems to be a Taigaiko school uniform," a boy with spiky black hair said.
"You are correct, senpai. It is a Taigaiko school uniform, for it is only natural for a Taigaiko student to where the school uniform," Ryamo stated, indicating she heard what he had whispered to a brown haired boy. "My name is Ryamo and I've heard you have a tough consequence for not doing the right training sequence?" she inquired to the boy that seemed to be Inui.
"Indeed we do, would you like to try it?" he grinned sadistically and a boy with a bandana nearly gagged because Inui had held up a glass of green juice.
"Sure, mind explaining it to me?" she smiled, sneakily smirking to herself.
"Okay," Inui said, returning to his side by some tennis balls that seemed to have different colored rings around them. "The goal is to hit the ball back at the same cone with the same color, got it?"
Ryamo just shrugged, "Simple enough." He nodded at her and served a ball.
"Blue," she said simply before returning the ball to the blue cone. He nodded and continued on.
"Red. Yellow. Red. Blue. Yellow. Red. Yellow. Yellow. Blue. Red." she said as each of the balls came at her. So far she hadn't gotten a single one wrong, but Inui had done some far off shot that made Ryamo run after it. She launched after it, switched hands discretely and hit the ball at the blue cone after saying, "Blue." But she had over shot just a little on the return and it hit the red cone. Inui grinned at her sadistically. 'Maybe he and Rin are in cahoots...' she wondered while walking up to the net to take the drink.
After she drank it, the ones who drank it before sucked in a breath. She smacked her jaws together before sighing sadly, "I thought it would have more flavor..." The boys just stared at her like she had grown two heads. "What?"
"H-how... How can you stand the juice?" a maroon haired boy on the ground asked.
Ryamo blushed a little before replying, "U-um... I have a friend that makes Veggie Training Meals for us to help with our tennis training and it has more flavor than his drink." All they did was stare at her in shock. "Well, since I came here without any warning, maybe I should learn your names?" They nodded before introducing themselves.
"I'm Takeshi Momoshiro, that's Eiji Kikumaru, Captain Kunimitsu Tezuka, Kaoru Kaidoh, Takashi Kawamura, Shuichiro Oishi, and Shusuke Fuji," he said pointing to each boy as he said their names. She nodded, saying that she knew who was who. "Oh! We have one more, but I don't know where he went..." Momoshiro trailed off, "And you can call me Momo-chan."
"I'll call you Momo," she said, winking and sticking her to the out at him. "I already met the other regular member when I was coming here," she explained and then looked at the time. "I better get going, maybe I'll see you all soon!" she yelled as ran off the courts. As she was leaving, she ran into her brother as he was heading back to the courts and she had only gotten away from the courts about ten feet, she had no doubt in her mind they were watching her. "Onii-chan, you're team members are strange."
"Hmm," he simply answered. She sighed and kissed his cheek saying,
"Don't be a wimp; you know Rin's Training Meals are worse than his drink."
"I know, but-"
"No buts- His has no flavor," she stuck her tongue out at him. "See you at home onii-chan."
"Okay onee-chan," he replied back, waving at his twin while she ran home. He shook his head as he walked into the courts.
"Oooo~. Echizen has a girlfriend~!" Momo said when he got close enough to them. Ryoma glared at him.
"Nope, not a girlfriend, a friend, and that's all," he replied agitated. Momo held up his hands in surrender and Inui explained what they needed to fix. Then Ryuzaki came forward and dismissed them from training. Ryoma was the last one out of the lockers and he left to go home, but was caught by Kikumaru.
"Ah, Kikumaru-senpai," he greeted.
"Oi, ochibi, who was that girl that you seemed quite chummy with?" he asked his underclassman.
"She's just a friend, I guess," he replied with a shrug.
"Just friends don't kiss each other's cheeks," he glared at the younger boy.
"She does that a lot so I'm used to it." Kikumaru got annoyed by this time and left the younger boy to walk home.