Alright, here I go! I guess the first thing I should do is put down a disclaimer.
so... DISCLAIMER: I do not own Prince of Tennis, that honor is given to Takeshi Konomi (awesome guy), now do I own any of the characters from PoT, but if I did (hehehe)... ahem anyways, there will be many original character here by me but I doubt they they will be up to par with Fuji Shūsuke or Yukimura Seichi.
Plock... Thump... Plock...
Sweat slides down his cheek and joins into the puddle beneath him
Plock...
His arms are burning from the strain they are being put through
Thump... Plock
Must keep going.
Plock...
His eye lids are straining to stay open and his legs are shaking, ready to fall at any given moment.
Thump... Plock...
Just a little more...
Plock... Swish...
His tennis racket falls from the hand that could no longer hold it. Ryoma Echizen is on his back, face up to the stars, chest rising and falling to match is ragged breathing patterns.
"Mada mada dana, Ryoma." Taunted his father, Nanjirō Echizen, the constant annoyance in Ryoma's life. Ryoma moves his head to glare at the neon yellow ball that hit his side of the net, causing Ryoma to lose and then redirected his glare onto Nanjiro.
"Shut up" mumbled the continuing loser of these tennis matches.
"Hoho, middle schoolers these day are getting cocky. Thinking that just because they win a pretty trophy, they could defeat the pros." Nanjiro has his smug, condescending smile on his face as he always does when he wins a tennis match against his son.
"Past pro." Nanjirō keeps smirking, unaffected by the comment or didn't hear it.
Probably a mix of both, thought Ryoma. He and the Seigaku tennis team won the national finals against Rikkai Dai. Now that the tournament is over they had to say goodbye to the seniors seeing as they now have to go to high-school.
Tezuka-buchou was going to hand the club over to Momoshiro Takeshi and Kaidoh Kaoru as co-captain, but...
"Us!?" Momo yelled and Kaidoh hissed at what their captain just informed them. They always did have a continuing rivalry and the thought of working together both shocked and repulsed them.
The team was at their normal haunt, the sushi shop that Takashi Kawamura's family owns, throwing a going away party for the seniors going into high-school.
Now that they are no longer playing tennis in Seigaku many of the seniors will be going their separate ways. Kawamura is going to Seishun's high-school division and no longer playing tennis, as he promised his father, and starting to learn the ways of owning a sushi shop. Shūsuke Fuji, the genius of Seigaku, is going to Mikaido Gakuen for the elites and focusing on becoming a sports photographer. Oishi Shūirchuro is going to Namizake Gakuen to become a personal trainer with his always present doubles partner, Eiji Kikumaru, who squeezed pasts the exams and making into Namizake also to follow his best friend and partner. Sadaharu Inoue is going to the elite Andumine Gakuen to study to become a chemist and creat new chemicals (e.i. Inoue Juice). Finally Kunimitsu Tezuka, former team captain, will be going back and forward between abroad in Germany for tennis and visiting his family in Japan, while doing homeschooling to get an education. All of them are, of course joining their school's tennis club, with the exceptions of Taka and Tezuka.
The seniors all agreed that the combination of Momoshiro and Kaidoh as co-captains would be a good balance for the future of the tennis club.
"Eh... Sorry Captain, I cannot do that, I just can't." The whole team had to look at him incredulously. "My dad told my family last night that he is being transferred into a new division his company has just created, meaning me and my whole family are moving with him. Sorry for letting you all down!"
Momoshiro's body is now in a bowing position in the chair he is sitting in.
"Captain, I also do not think I am capable of taking aver the team. I am quick to anger and easily prejudice with my grudges, please forgive me!" Kaidoh is also now in a bowing position on his chair, trembling ashamed of his inability to take the responsibility the seniors want to give him.
Not even Inoue could have predicted this. They all sat in shocked silence, wondering about the future of the tennis club.
"Very well, I will inform Coach Ryūzaki of this development." Tezuka's voice was as steady and stoic as always. "Echizen!" Ryoma lifted his head to his senior, "will you continue to attend Seishun Gakuen this year?"
"Yes"
"From this year on, Echizen, continue to be Seishun Gauen tennis club's pillar of support as the new captain of the team." Tezuka's voice is now booming throughout the sushi shop.
Echizen raising his eyebrow was his only reaction, "Yes, captain."
Tezuka stared into the new captain's eyes, nodded his head. It was settled.
"How troublesome" the now thirteen year old captain mumble, before he picked up his worn out body and dragged himself into the house to take a bath.
"Hey, kid!" Ryoma groaned before opening his eyes to his personal hell, also know as morning. "Really... Kids these days are getting lazier and lazier." Oh look, there is the corespondent to Lucifer himself, his idiot dad.
"Ugh, what are you doing, idiot dad."
"Oh what an ungrateful son I have. Even after his loving father woke him up so that he wouldn't be late for his first day as a second year, the brat is still disrespectful." The said loving father continued to rant about ungrateful sons as Ryoma turned his head to look over to see that his alarm clock had the time 8:00 on it, meaning he had 30 minute to get ready and be at school.
Eyes widening, he jumped out of bed only wince as he felt pins and needles to go through his left leg. Shaking it off, he ran to get ready for his first day of school.
Good thing clubs aren't first thing in the morning today.
"Echizen-san, sorry to interrupt your sleep, but I am teaching a class" was the first the that Ryoma heard as he lifted his head up from his desk. He bleary looked around the class to an irate teacher and realizes he is in math.
"Ah sorry" he mumble and then puts his head down, ready to resume his nap.
Izumi-sensei's face only became redder at the action.
"Echizen, you..!" The bell cut off the rest of what the teacher was about to say. The student including Ryoma got up to either head home or to their club activities.
"Hey, Echizen!" Came a loud, cocky voice, "What is with you?! If you keep on lazing about, I , Satoshi Horio, shall surpass you and become captain with my, now, THREE years of tennis experience."
Horio's nose was lifted so high, you could see every detail of its insides.
"Ah, h-h-Horio-kun, you can't say that to your captain."
In came Katsuo Mizuno and Katou Kachirou, both eyeing Horio nervously, ready to try and stop from him from offending people like last year.
Ryoma kept walking toward the counts though, ready to see the new club members and who could and couldn't be this year's Seigaku regulars.
They all are no good, was the first thought that came to his mind as he looked upon the tennis club.
Ryoma never took notice of the non-regular tennis club members after he became a regular last year, and, even then, he was usually looking to the regulars training.
Most of these players wouldn't even be able to get a point on him while he was under Yukimura's yips. Ryoma shivered as he remembered how he felt, or more at how he didn't feel when under Yukimura's cruel mind trick.
He walked up to the courts, everyone stopping as he gets closer and starts to whisper to each other.
"I heard he won against the child of god..."
"THAT Tezuka chose him as his successor over Momoshiro and Kaidoh..."
"I heard he bribed the coach to get into a regulars position, he must of done the same to become captain..."
"It's because he the son of that pro..."
"There he is, looking down at all of us..."
Ryoma's facial expression gets hidden by the end of his hat, hiding his dark expression.
Bam! "Shut Up!" Hissed the vice-captain, Kaidoh. He pointed the the fallen bucket and scattered balls, "pick those up!"
The freshmen scramble towards the tennis balls, only to be stopped by Kaido hissing at them.
"No! Arai, Yuru, Tanaka, Yoshinaga, and anyone else that is not practicing at this moment, pick these up, now!" The words came out icy and stern.
"What!" Came Arai indignant protest. "You can't make third years do first years work!"
Kaidoh narrowed his eyes, and the courts became dead silent. Every club member was watching and waiting for his response.
"Arai, we may be in the same year and class; but the minute you step through the fences of these courts, it does not matter if they are a third year, first year, or a freaking bunny. Once they step onto these courts, all we should care about is how well they play tennis." Arai tense at these words, unable to say anything to that. "If that freaking bunny is able to lead us to victory in nationals, I will humble myself, ready to be led."
No one is able to crack a smile at his point, because his face is dead-set serious. "I will give you a warning this time, but if you, Arai, if ANYONE in these courts dare to give our captain anything less than the respect he deserves, will immediately be kicked off the courts, and the tennis club. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?"
"Yes, Vice-Captain!" The shouts echoed around to courts and all over Seishun Gakuen.
"Noe, Greet your captain!"
"Good Afternoon, Captain!" This was said even louder and all the freshmen, second years, and most of the seniors were bowing.
Said captain looked around the courts, nodded, and walked forward to the regulars bench to set down his bag and water.
"Now proceed with your exercises!"
Everyone immediately went back to practice swings, and picking up balls. Even Arai and the third years quietly picked up the scattered tennis ball, as Kaidoh ordered.
Ryoma was leaning back on the bench, smirking with his cap covering his eyes when Kaidoh came over. "Not suitable to take charge of the tennis club, vice-captain?"
Kaidoh hissed with a pinched expression on his face, "Like I said, I am blinded by prejudice, so every time a brat here pisses me off, I will treat them unfairly. You, on the other hand, would feel irritated and then forget them easily unless they were strong."
"Eh, you are awfully talkative today, ne Sempai?" There came an even more pinched expression on Kaidoh's face.
"Sssssh, it has to be explained to avoid misunderstanding, brat." Ryoma's face darkened at the word,"and don't call me sempai anymore, you're my captain also, Captain."
"And what do you suggest I call you then, Vice-captain?"
Kaidoh broke eye contact, and if you were looking hard enough, you would see a very faint blush. "Che, just Kaidoh obviously."
"Eh, only if you stop calling me brat or those weird nicknames, just Echizen."
They again made eye contact, and nodded in agreement. An understanding happened between them, the understanding that they were the last of the Seigaku national champions from last year and were responsible for the success of this year upcoming Seigaku victories.
So there it is. Like I said in my bio, I like criticism done right. All you need to do is say something you like about it, and then criticize. And if you don't like anything about it then either a) why are you even reading it or b) you say "oh _(trying to find a nickname, place it here. Nothing related to the fanfictions I write unless its completely awesome.) Andy what you say "oh _(insert nickname here) I like the way you rock that hat/make me laugh/ect., but you need to fix ... to become a swag muffin/tots cool/anything you call a complement."
BUT REMEMBER! This is a PG story so we are keeping everything about it PG. Control yourselve, people, I want my little sister to be able eat read somethings on this sight, with out making feel like I have to stand behind her the whole time, ready to jump and close her eyes at the sight of something she has yet to be dirtied with.(over dramatic I know, I also know she has pretty much heard them all, but I like to try to keep things decent)
peace out,
yet to be named.
btw- this is not a yaoi in anyway, shape or form. If you are looking for that kind of thing, don't come looking here.