Hello! This is my very first time posting a story here so bear with me for I do not know the rules very well yet. This is a Ryoma Echizen x OC romance/comedy story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of their characters as well as their tennis moves. I get my reference from wiki/Prince_of_Tennis_Wikia so if you think there is something wrong with the information here, let me know and I shall review it! Thank you and hope you enjoy!
Dame dame jan! Prologue
"Game set! 6 games to love! Winner of the tournament is Kenji Tezuka!" the referee announces.
The crowd roars at the amazing game the two tennis players just had a while ago.
The defeated player clenches his fists and grits his teeth in anger and humiliation as Kenji approaches the net towards him. Hesitantly, he too approaches the net.
Kenji is wearing a white cap with red stripes, baggy long sleeved blue jacket, baggy long black jogging pants and black rubber shoes with pink stripes. He keeps his head low with the visor of his cap hiding his eyes.
He reaches out his hand to shake the other player's hand. The other player glares at Kenji's outstretched hand and looks up at him. Not once did Kenji lift his head up during their match and not once has he spoken a word. Feeling a bit insulted, the other player reaches for Kenji's hand and grips it tightly.
The other player roughly pulls Kenji a little closer then whispers into his ear, "Don't get so cocky! I felt sorry for you 'coz you're so short! I gave you a chance!", he smirks and probably thinks that he had done some damage onto Kenji.
He lets go of Kenji's hand while wearing the same smirk. He expects to see Kenji angry but instead sees him adjusting his cap and moves it a bit lower as if making sure his eyes were hidden. The other player glares at Kenji for his lack of reaction then turns away to walk back to his bench.
The crowd is still talking excitedly to one another, not paying attention to what's happening on the court since the awarding is coming next.
"Cocky? I'm more disappointed than cocky", a girl's voice was heard, loud enough for the referee and the other player to hear.
This surprised both of them as they immediately look at Kenji who had his hands in his pockets, eyes hidden, and a smirk on his lips.
The other player slowly points at Kenji as he flaps his like a fish out of water, "Did – Did you just—"
"Dame dame jan! Hasn't anyone taught you to accept your losses and show good sportsmanship?" Kenji cuts him off in a mocking tone as he continued to smirk.
The other player just continued to stare with his mouth slightly open.
Kenji's smirk turns into a frown as he says, "You can't improve if you don't even know that you need to. You need to fall before you can master running, boy", he lifts up the back portion of his cap while keeping his eyes hidden with the visor.
Light brown hair dropped and swayed a bit before stopping right below his shoulders. A loud clack was heard when the other player dropped his racket. This got the attention of the crowd as they started getting noisier, wanting to know what's happening and what's taking the awarding so long to start. The referee looked uncertain as he approached Kenji. Kenji held his visor down to hide his eyes as the referee seemed to want to take a peek.
"Kenji Tezuka, are you a girl?" The referee asks Kenji, still a bit unsure and feels stupid for asking such a question.
But Kenji just smirks, "What do you think?" he asks in a clearly feminine tone.
The referee sighs in disappointment but smiles at Kenji saying, "You got guts, kid. But you do know you're disqualified, right?"
Kenji just shrugs his – err, I mean HER shoulders indifferently, "Meh, go ahead, I'm used to it", she says as she waves her hand and turns around to walk to her bench.
The referee looks confused but he figured he had more important things to do as he stepped aside and started relaying a message to the walkie-talkie he had.
Finally seeing his chance, the other player runs towards Kenji, stopping right behind her as Kenji zips up her tennis bag and lifts it up her left shoulder.
The other player seems a bit hesitant but when Kenji starts walking towards the gate, he shouts out, "Hey! Wait! What's –"
"Attention!" the other player gets cut off by an announcement, "There has been a change in the decision!" The speakers near the bleachers tremble a bit from the vibration.
The other player and the rest of the people look up and wait for the sudden message.
"It is unfortunate that we announce that Kenji Tezuka is disqualified for valid reasons and that the winner of the tournament is the 1st runner up. Thank you and congratulations!" the announcement ends there.
The crowd was confused and upset as they started screaming out their questions. They wanted to know why such a player was disqualified. Some of the crowd were even looking for Kenji but couldn't find him.
The other player turns around and saw that indeed, Kenji is not by her bench any more. She must have walked out when the announcement was being made. Some people were looking at him with doubt and suspicion as they suspect he had something to do with it. The other player does not like this at all and decides to run towards the referee who was walking towards the gate while talking on his walkie-talkie.
He forcefully grabs the referee's right shoulder and makes him turn to face him as he angrily said, "Why did you have to do that! I clearly lost and I do not want to receive a trophy that does not belong to me! My reputation would be tainted!"
He glared at the referee but it had no effect on him.
The referee just sighs and rubs the back of his neck with a tired expression, "Look kid, rules are rules. And he –" the referee stops himself and continues, "I mean SHE gave the go signal. She didn't seem to be bothered by it."
"But what about me? My reputation?" the other player reasons out.
The referee just shakes his head with a frown, "Sorry kid, this tournament has to have a winner so either you accept it or you forfeit as well, your choice."
The referee leaves and looks even more tired than before.
The other player clenches his fists then suddenly remembers what Kenji told him, "I need to fall first huh?" He says to himself with a smile and determined eyes as he runs towards the confused and rioting crowd.
"Excuse me! Everyone! Please listen to me!" He announces and gets everyone's attention.
The referee looks at the player with a confused expression but then later realizes what the player is about to do. He looks distraught and runs towards the player to stop him but he obviously can't make it in time.
"The reason why Kenji Tezuka was disqualified was because she is a girl! That's right! A girl joined this all-boys tennis tournament and beat every one of us! And I accept my loss because she is indeed a great tennis player. So I will accept the trophy in behalf of her and promise to give it to her the next time we meet", the player announces with a sincere smile on his face.
The crowd gets louder as some of them root for the player while most of them start complaining and shouting at the referee: "That's sexist!" "You didn't have to report it you asshole!" "She deserves the trophy!" They even started throwing cans and water bottles at him as he tried to dodge them but to no avail.
After all the ruckus, the awarding took place. And even if most people were still unsatisfied with the result, they let it be because the other player seemed sincere enough.
The player receives the trophy gratefully then looks up at the clear blue sky while saying to himself, "I'll find you, whoever you are. We will meet up one day in another tournament and I'll ask you for a rematch. I'll be stronger by then, just you wait!" he tightens his grip on the trophy with a determined smile on his face.
"Achoo!" A petite girl with shoulder-length light brown hair sneezes then sniffles.
"Looks like somebody is talking about you, eh little miss?" the driver teases as he chuckles while taking a peek at his passenger through the rearview mirror.
She sniffles a bit and rubs her nose "Yeah, and I might just know who..." she says with a frown.
The driver laughs a bit then decides to ask, "So you play tennis eh? Were you playing in that tournament I picked you up in?" He asks curiously, remembering the big tennis bag kept in the trunk of his taxi.
The traffic light turns red as he slowly steps on the brake.
The girl smiles as if remembering something and says, "Nah, it was an all-boys competition. I just watched and hoped I could get someone to play with me a bit."
The light turns to green as the driver slowly pushes on the gas and continues to drive on.
"Oh? Well were you able to play?" he asks as he glances at her through the rearview mirror and sees her grinning widely, making him chuckle and say, "I guess you did."
The rest of the ride was spent in comfortable silence until the taxi driver stops the taxi in front of a large train station. He gets out of the taxi and opens her door for her as she nods at him gratefully. He helps her get her tennis bag out of the trunk.
"Thanks, mister! Here!" she says as she hands him money then runs off to the station while waving at him and shouting, "Keep the change! Have a nice day!" She swears she was able to hear him chuckle before entering a crowded area of the train station.
She looks around the station for the sign of her track and train.
"JR Express track D...JR Express track D..." she repeats to herself while looking at various signs.
She had to ask various guards and employees of the station until she finally got to the right platform.
"Good thing I decided to come here early..." she tells herself as she feels half-proud but half-ashamed because of her lack of sense in direction.
"Attention, attention, JR Express number 3014 will be arriving shortly, please stay behind the automated fences for safety purposes. I repeat, JR Express number 3014 will be arriving shortly, please stay behind the automated fences for safety purposes, thank you", the announcement was heard all throughout the station.
The girl looks at her ticket and sees that JR Express number 3014 is the bullet train she needs to ride on so she hurries to a random shop to buy a lunch box for her to eat on the train.
The JR Express number 3014 bullet train arrives and several people are seen getting off with their luggages. The girl and her fellow passengers wait in line as they watch the people getting off the train in an orderly fashion. When no one was coming out any more, they go in and she immediately asks the attendant by the door where her seat is located. Good thing the attendant accompanied her or else she would have asked again. No one is sitting beside her so she feels lucky to have the space to herself. She sets her lunch box on the pull down table in front of her as the train conductor announces that they will be departing shortly. The train doors start to close slowly as the attendants prepare their roles.
A few minutes later, the train starts to move. The girl looks out the window with a smile on her face.
"Goodbye, Kyoto. I learned a lot from your players and I hope they learned a bit from me as well. It was short but fun and I hope to come back someday...", she says in a gentle tone as she opens her lunch box and start eating while enjoying the view from her window.
Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so I'll know what you think! :D