Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis.
Author's Note: I finally got a chance to sit down and revise/edit this chapter a bit. Expect the other chapters to be edited/revised slightly as well before any new ones come out. Also, feel free to review. I read all of them and keep them in mind especially when critique is provided.
A Love Game: Chapter 1 – Love 1, Ryoma 0
Ryoma Echizen wiped the sweat that dripped from his forehead as he replaced his match racket into his tennis bag.
It was now over.
Seigaku won the National Championship with everyone having a hand in it. With Tezuka at the helm once again, Seigaku was stronger than ever. Even though his return all but fueled up opponents more to play better, nothing could derail Seigaku from powering through in the finals to snatch victory. Kawamura had to give up his position as a Regular due to an injury during the run but it didn't affect him one bit. To him, he was still part of the team. His Burning! energy and enthusiasm were utilized to incite and cheer the crowds as Seigaku fought hard against their opponents.
Almost to no one's surprise, the final match was against Rikkaidai. With Yukimura-san back as the captain, their confidence and strength soared to even greater heights, which made them even more of a challenge for Seigaku.
Unfortunately for them though, Seigaku had eight players who were as strong and confident, if not more, as they. Seigaku was not going to settle for anything less than the National Championship.
Ryoma paused and briefly recalled the matches played and labeled them as possibly the best played matches he's ever witnessed and have played in. His teammates were the best teammates anyone could have. They made each other strong, better, and more competitive.
And the end result spoke for itself. Seigaku's Tezuka over Rikkaidai's Yukimura, 7-6.
Ryoma sighed as he zipped his tennis bag closed. Now, it was over. There was still tennis to play for the rest of the school year, but the most exciting matches have come to pass.
And to him it wasn't all tennis. Playing the game expanded his horizons. From Tezuka-buchou, he learned so much more about shouldering responsibility and strength in teamwork. He met all kinds of people, made friends with many, made enemis with some, learned a few great things about life, and learned to accept disappointment when it came. And also, somehow, in the midst of it all, he managed to…find something else. Something else that someone his age shouldn't really even consider yet.
Ryoma frowned. What place does love have in the tennis court except denote the lack of a score?
How ironic. No one taught him about this.
If his father knew about this, he'd never let him live it down. Ryoma decided immediately that there was no way in hell he'd give away this secret to him. Nanjiroh Echizen tormented him enough as it is. If he ever learned that his son had fallen in love at such a young age, he would think up of a thousand more ways to make Ryoma's life miserable.
Ryoma would just have to overcome it. Falling in love, that is.
Somehow.
He turned around and looked over to where his teammates stood. He tried hard to avoid looking at the object of his affections but it was to no avail. His eyes fell on him anyway. "Che! How troublesome…"
Ryoma bowed his head slightly and tipped his hat downwards as he walked towards the team. They were clearly going to celebrate at Kawamura's tonight. He preferred to go home and soak in his bathtub but the rest of the Regulars would hear none of it. Since this was the last major tournament of the season, they needed to celebrate in style.
He sighed and finally relented. Though he wanted to have time to think to himself (preferably while soaking in the bathtub), he also knew that there was no way his sempais would leave him alone. He suspected that Momo-sempai would be more than happy to volunteer to drag him to Taka-san's sushi restaurant if necessary.
He'll just have to find some other time to think about his problem with 'love' and the complications and uncertainties that came with it. He was sure of one thing, however. He definitely needed to overcome love. Otherwise, he'd be one agitated freshman for the rest of school year.
--
"Oi, Chibi! Pass me some of that ikura sushi before Momo devours it, nya!" Kikumaru yelped as he reached across the table.
"Hai hai. Here," replied Ryoma as he skillfully swiped the targeted piece from Momoshiro's hand. Without thinking twice about it, he passed it on to Kikumaru sempai who devoured it promptly.
"Nani?!? Echizen!"
"Hnn…"
"Oi, Eiji! Don't use Echizen like that!" reprimanded Oishi.
"Demo, Oishi-kun! Momo stole my masago earlier!"
"Eiji!"
Ryoma breathed out a bit exasperatedly as he took in another bite of saba sushi in his mouth. As he chewed on it, he turned his head towards the table where his other sempais sat. Once again, automatically his gaze fell on him. Annoyed that he couldn't stop himself from looking, Ryoma abruptly turned his head the other direction and almost clonked heads with a still grumpy Momoshiro who had to settle for unagi sushi.
"Hora, Echizen! Watch out, will ya? I'm trying to eat here!" Momoshiro grunted.
"Sorry," replied Ryoma without regret. He reached for a tuna roll.
"Oi, Ochibi? Daijoubu desu ka?" Kikumaru asked with one eyebrow raised. "Nya, you've been unusually quiet, though you're quiet half the time anyway, but you are so so—"
"Eiji!" Oishi interrupted. "Gomen, Echizen! Don't mind Eiji. He's just still in cloud nine after our win today."
Ryoma brought the tuna roll to his mouth and avoided Kikumaru's curious gaze. "Hai, daijoubu. I'm just a bit tired."
"Of course he is! He played for over two hours against Sanada-kun again today! He showed that show-off invisible swing speed hitter how much of a better player than he his!" Horio boasted as he suddenly spoke out from nowhere.
"Horio-kun! We don't think that's something you should be bragging about!"
"Ah, mou!"
"Mada mada da ne," Ryoma mumbled as he stood up and gathered his bearings.
"Fushuuuu…You're leaving?" asked Kaidoh who had to move when Ryoma stood up.
"Hnn…betsuni…Going home. I'm tired and have homework to do."
"Wait-o Echizen! I've got more Burning sushi for you!" Kawamura belted out. "Oh no! You can't go yet, Baby!"
"Nya! Oishi! Make Ochibi stay longer!"
"Tezuka-buchou!" Momoshiro called their captain's attention to try to convince the freshman to stay longer. "He can't leave yet!"
"Fushuuu…."
"Mamushi!"
"Nani!?"
"Make Echizen stay!"
"Fushuuu…Don't tell me what to do!"
"Hey you two, calm down…," said Oishi.
"Yaro…!!"
Ryoma managed to successfully dissuade other attempts to make him stay in the party even as his sempais Momoshiro and Kaidoh were about to start a fight. As he slipped his shoes on and grabbed his bag, a solemn voice called him.
"Echizen."
Ryoma paused and turned slightly. It was him.
"Be careful, ne?"
"Wiiz," he replied without meeting his gaze.
And with that, Ryoma exited the sushi restaurant and began the lonely trek home, confused and frustrated once again.
--
Before Ryoma realized it, Sunday had come and gone and it was back to school again the following day. He ended up spending most of his weekend trying to devise a way to get over his falling in love with his sempai. He though of several distractions or new hobbies to take up but tennis was the only thing that he knew in his life. That and maybe having eating competitions with Momo-sempai.
Now that the national championships were done, tennis practices were sparse. Most of the time will be spent just training and conditioning. There were some tournaments to participate in but nothing major. The sempais were made to work with the freshman to help them get better with their skills as well as improve their chances of becoming Regulars next year when Seigaku's championship team loses six of its regular rotating starters.
He wondered once again how he managed to fall in love in such a short time. Up until recently, he always thought that love was such a fickle thing. You don't go falling in love when you're just twelve years old. It's almost unheard of, he thought. Ryoma tried to convince himself that it was just some inconvenient infatuation. Maybe he became infatuated because of the challenge his sempai represented. A challenge that kept taunting him, it seemed.
That had to be it.
Nevertheless, Ryoma didn't want to admit it, but he was going to miss him once he graduates from junior high.
'Nande? Why did I have to start liking him in the first place?' he thought to himself as he lightly tapped his pen on his desk.
The dreary voice of their English teacher droned on without giving him any hint of a response.
"Psst. Echizen!" Horio whispered roughly.
Ryoma tilted his head. "What?"
"Sensei's calling you to translate something!" Horio quickly mumbled.
"Echizen!" the sensei's voice finally registered.
"Ah…Hai?"
"Come up to the board and translate several phrases."
Ryoma sighed as he got up and slowly made his way to the board. "Hai…"
--
Several weeks later…
"Echizen! Wait up!" Momoshiro ran after the freshman who seemed to have suddenly picked up his walking pace. "Oi! Mate!"
Ryoma stopped abruptly in his tracks which almost caused Momoshiro to crash into him. "Hora! Are you crazy? Why'd you suddenly stop?!"
"Hnn, you told me to wait, didn't you?" Ryoma said impatiently.
"Che! You didn't have to stop in the middle of the sidewalk all of a sudden!" Momoshiro grumbled. "Anyway, the whole team's going to have another huge party coming soon. This time it will be with the whole Tennis Club. You're coming whether you like it or not."
"Hnn, was this what you all were discussing the other day while I went ahead and changed in the locker?" Ryoma asked with passing interest.
Momoshiro shifted a bit nervously and laughed. "Ma! Of course it was! We just forgot to call you back as we were talking about it."
"…Do I have to go too?"
"Of course you do! You're part of the team and this is team activity!"
Ryoma fumed. "Betsuni. Just don't sit next to me. You always try to take my sushi."
Momoshiro patted the freshman and laughed. "Haha, of course of course. I'll just steall Mamushi's sushi. Now c'mon. Let's go have a burger. That talk about sushi has made me hungry."
Ryoma shrugged and followed after his sempai, suspicion hanging over his head. "Fine, you treat."
"Bah. You cheapskate. Just don't order too many burgers."
They walked in silence side by side for several minutes. Finally, Ryoma spoke up again.
"Ne, Momo-sempai…?"
"Nani?
Ryoma took a deep breath and asked," Have…have you ever fallen in love?"
"Huh?" Momoshiro reddened slightly. "Eh, I…I don't know…I like…some girls but…I don't think I'v—"
"So you like Ann-san?"
Momoshiro's eyes bugged. "B-b-b-aka! Why would you say…I mean, I'm not referring to her! She's nice and pretty cute, but but bu—"
"Hnn," said Ryoma with an amused smile. "She seems like she does like you."
The taller boy froze. "She does? I mean, what? No, that's not it! I don't love her! I'm still too young, I mean, Kamio's always hag—"
"So you do like her at the very least."
"I…No…I mean…I…" Momoshiro fumbled and then let out a resigned sigh. "…Don't tell anyone else."
Ryoma chuckled. "Six burgers and you've got a deal."
Momoshiro gave him a deathly stare. "Blackmailer."
"Tough."
"Fine."
The pair resumed their walk toward the restaurant once more when Ryoma spoke up again. "So…how can you tell? I mean…Did you just like her all of a sudden?"
Momoshiro stopped and thought for a bit. "How can I tell? What do you…Wait a minute!!"
Ryoma felt a bit embarrassed as his senior started to realize where the discussion was headed. He hastened his pace to the burger shop while regretting his choice to ask Momo-sempai a seemingly stupid question.
Momoshiro ran to catch up to the freshman. "Mate, mate! What do you mean, Echizen? Are you…You mean…you like…or wait…you lov—"
"Iie…I mean…no…I'm just curious. I'm not in love!" Ryoma said in defiance. "It's not me!"
Momoshiro cocked an eyebrow. "But…" a smirk formed on his face. "So this must be why you were asking. You like someone!" he proudly proclaimed a little too loudly in the middle of the sidewalk.
"Hontou?!?! Ochibi-kun likes someone?" Kikumaru's playful voice suddenly came out of nowhere. He appeared without warning between Momoshiro and Ryoma. Oishi wasn't too far behind either.
Ryoma's eyes widened. "Iie, iyada! I…I don't! Really!"
Whatever hope of help Ryoma expected from Oishi was quickly dashed as Oishi also seemed interested in Ryoma's love life. "Oh? Our freshman is growing up so quickly! Ne, Echizen…who's the lucky girl? Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter?"
"Sakuno, is it?" asked Kikumaru
"No! It's not her…I mean…I'm not in love…I mean, I don't like anyone!!" Ryoma exclaimed. He felt like he was digging himself a grave though with the overly defiant response.
Kikumaru grinned like a cheeshire cat. "Ochibi-kun's all grown up, nya! This calls for a celebration! Let's have some hamburgers!"
"Oh great idea, Kikumaru-sempai!" Momoshiro happily said. "You can treat us again today!"
"No problem, no problem!" Kikumaru draped an arm around Ryoma. "Oishi-kun! Call up Tezuka and the others! Tell them the good news and to meet us at the burger place! This calls for a celebration!"
"Yosh!" said Oishi as he took his cell phone out and started dialing.
Ryoma paled and tried to think of an excuse to get out of this so-called celebration. Unfortunately it was too late. They were already in front of burger place. And Oishi has successfully contacted the rest of the regulars who have all agreed to meet up with them. It seems that Fuji was already around the area and Tezuka happened to be with him as well.
Ryoma cringed.
He never wanted to crawl under a rock and die more in his life.
-To Be Continued
