Hiya everybody! Doll-chan here~! I am a huge fan of Prince of Tennis, Ryoma being my favorite character. So I decided to write about him. This is a RyomaxOC story. So if you don't like OC's you have nothing to do here! Please leave a review. Tell me which parts are good, which aren't, my mistakes will be there of course. But since I just started writing I would like some advice~!
Summary: They both eat, live, breath tennis. They both are determent to win. They both see each mistake and use it against their opponent. Too bad they're too dense to each others feelings. — RyomaxOC
Sky Is The Limit
Sora's POV
"Alright! Girls, today we're going to do a combined-practice, with the boys." Ryuzaki-sensei stated. All the girls groaned in unison, and had anxious looks on their faces.
"Are you kidding me? They're always taunting us, and making fun of everything we do!" A girl stuttered. Coach frowned.
"Then I'll just have to shut them up." I said, coolly. Nakamura-buchou grinned at me, and walked towards the boys' courts, leading the rest of the girls.
"Now now.. Let's get going. There's no need to be afraid." She comforted them. I rolled my eyes, and briskly made my way to the courts. This was going to be a long day.
"Oi! Here come the weaklings!" A boy exclaimed as he laughed. Some of the other boys joined him.
"Yo, ready to get crushed?" Arai-senpai, notorious senpai-bully, taunted to a girl who happened to be a beginner and a freshman.
"Hey, if you don't have anything nice to say," I gave him an icy look, "Shut your mouth up." He furiously turned around, and looked at me. The small girl gave a sigh of relief, but her eyes grew wide when she saw that Arai-senpai and his gang were advancing on me.
"What, did you say, you little freshman prick?" Arai-senpai said, with his fist clenched.
"I said," I looked him in the eye. "If you don't have anything nice to say, shut your mouth up. Or are you to narrow-minded to even interpret that?" I smirked, while he raised his fist. "Now now, no need to get violent, senpai." He growled, and his fist sprang down. The girls screamed. A hand blocked the fist before it touched my face. I looked to who's hand it was.
"A-ah.. C-captain!" Arai-senpai stuttered, as he said, it was Captain Tezuka, of the boys' team. "Both of you, 20 laps for creating a scene." Without arguing, I walked off to start my laps.
"She started it!" I smirked, if you ever complain to the captain..
"Arai, 50 laps." I held in my laughter, and sped off without him.
"Just wait." Arai growled. "I'll get you for this."
After my laps, I walked over to Nakamura-buchou. "So, who am I going against?" She glanced at her clipboard, and the ends of her lips curled upward.
"Arai." I almost laughed out loud at that moment, but kept my cool. I did let a grin pass over my features.
"Time to give that ass a taste of his own medicine"
"Sora, what did I tell you about-"
"Watch my language.. blah blah blah.. yes, I know." The captain smiled at this. I walked off to do some practice on the wall.
[-]
3rd Person POV
"Jeez, that girl doesn't seem like she respects you, Nakamura-san." Eiji said, while crossing his arms. The captain shook her head.
"She respects me, in a sisterly way."
"Eh?" The boy regulars stared at the captain in disbelief.
"Are you guys..."
"Sisters? Oh, goodness no. We're just close in that sort of way." The captain smiled at the boys, and turned to look over at Tezuka. "So, Tezuka-kun, how's the team's progress?"
"They're doing fine." He said, plainly. Nakamura (the captain) smiled, and nodded. "How's the girls' team doing?" Nakamura's smile turned into a frown. She looked around, and whispered so that only Tezuka can hear.
"To be honest, generally, they're not doing well. The girls just can't seem to grasp tennis firmly." Tezuka stayed silent. Nakamura nodded, as if she could interpret his silence. "Every time I teach them something, they always forget the technique I taught them the previous week ago. I don't know if we're even ready for any tournament. They're still at the beginners' level. Even the regulars. Do you have any suggestions?" She asked. Tezuka nodded.
"Why not assign them up for a camp? The boys got a lot stronger, and they seemed to have gained some more confidence in themselves." Nakamura nodded.
"I'll look into that." She heard footsteps, and looked in front of her. It was Sora.
Sora's POV
"So, when is my match?" I asked.
"Right now." Nakamura-buchou smiled.
Smirking a bit, I adjusted the visor at an angle, so my eyes wouldn't constantly be hit by the luminosity of the sun. Arai was boasting loudly to all of his friends, just to get on my nerves. I rolled my eyes. That lowlife of a senpai...
Clearing my throat, I said rather loudly, "Let's get on with this match already." Arai and his friends turned to me with smug expressions.
"Alright then. I understand, you want to get this over with so that you won't feel so bad when you lose!" I felt an angry tug at my chest. I bit back my temper, and calmly opened my mouth.
"Rough or smooth?"
[-]
I let the first game go. But it was all intentional.
My plan: get his ego inflated, make a surprise attack, and crush him. I grinned, step one had been initiated. The real deal begins.
I took the point from Arai, making the score 15-15. I could see the slight panic in his eyes as I began to step up my game, and quicken my pace. Bouncing the ball, I threw it in the air. It suspended momentarily and dropped down. Grunting, I slammed the ball towards my senpai. He returned it, without much difficulty but I was ready for it. Raising my arm, I looked at the ball. Using my peripheral vision, I chose a destination for my ball. After picking a certain spot, I slightly angled my arm and hit the ball.
The look on Arai's face was priceless. The ball had flown to the exact place where I had intended for it to go—the space in between Arai's legs. I heard some giggles from outside of the court. It was my turn to smirk.
"Senpai, you spread your legs way to wide."
[-]
The match ended at me winning at 3 games to 1. The coach said that we had to make time for other games. Arai was more than eager to end his torment. By the end of the match, I was grinning. "Man senpai, I was really looking forward to continuing the match too... Such a shame!" I said, in mock-coyness. Arai said nothing as he gave me a hard look and briskly walked pass me without a word.
Triumphant, I preceded to walk out of the courts after him, and put back my racket. I took my spot beside my team.
"Good job, Sora." Nakamura-buchou commented, giving me a mischievous smile. I grinned back.
"That's right! Since our little freshman player won our first game, we should celebrate by going to eat after school." Aoi-senpai, a blue haired second year on our team commented.
"On who?" I asked, even though I knew the answer already.
"On you of course!" Hoshi-senpai, another second year on our team, chimed. Sighing, I looked around. I felt a bit worn out after being assigned fifty laps by Tezuka-buchou, and playing a semi-game with Arai. I asked to be excused for a while, and proceeded to walk around the campus.
Finding a shady tree, I sat down on the cool grass. The refreshing wind caught my hair and instantly cooled down my body. Murmuring in content, I sat back and laid down on the grass.
As soon as I got myself comfortably situated, I heard an annoying series of squeals and a commotion. Grunting, I couldn't help my curiosity and forced myself to sit back up at the protest of my body.
I saw a boy in a white cap looking down, and a trail of giggling following behind him. I instantly recognized the boy. Hey, isn't that Echizen Ryoma? He and I have homeroom together. Just as I realized, he turned his head and our eyes met for a couple seconds, before he turned away, uninterested. Man, how egotistical! I thought, but after a moment I blushed as I remembered our little interaction. His eyes...
NO! My brain retaliated in protest. Good looks, quiet personality, arrogant attitude.. No, Sora you can't like him. He is a total player.
I shook my head, trying to get the memory out of my mind. That's right, I can't like him. I've got other plans.. Like perfecting my tennis. I nodded determinedly, and stood up. Ignoring my aches, I marched over to the tennis courts. To my utter surprise, Echizen was also there, taking interest in one of the guy regulars taking on Aoi-senpai. Then, I remembered how Echizen had surprised the whole school by becoming a Regular on the team.
Ignoring him to the best of my abilities, I took my bag from where I had left it, and walked back to find a spare wall. Taking a deep breath, I contained my excitement, and channeled it into rallying.
[-]
After eating fast food with my senpai-tachi and enduring their wrath, I trekked home. By the time I reached home, my silk black hair was needing a serious shower and my stomach was begging for a scrumptious meal.
I decided to take a shower first. During mealtime, I sat with my family, chatting about school and work. After dinner, I winged my homework (cause I felt like it) and signed into IM. As soon as I signed on, one of my friends, Tachibana An from Fudomine sent me an instant message. My heart skipped a beat at the question.
An: You go to school with Echizen Ryoma, right?
When I noticed that I hadn't replied due to shock, I hurriedly typed in my answer, accidentally jumbling up words in my haste.
Sora: Yeah, he's in my homeroom class
An: Oh, that's cool. You know, Fudomine played Seigaku a couple days ago.
Sora: Really? Oh, yeah! I heard we won.
An: That's right. That kid is really interesting though. Echizen. You know he got hurt? On his left eye.
I frowned. Poor guy... But why hadn't I noticed before? Then it clicked. The injured eye was not visible to me. But... Why is An telling me all this?
Sora: Oh, I see.
An: Yeah. It kind of reminded me of you, haha.
I smiled, and took it as a compliment.
Sora: Thanks.
After my online conversation with An-san, I had decided to devote a majority of my free time towards tennis. I had also overheard a conversation in the girls' bathroom about Echizen. From what I heard he was some sort of genius at tennis. This only fired up my determination. Incidentally, I had gotten a text from An-san, asking if I wanted to join her for street tennis. I accepted the invitation, and hurriedly packed up my stuff after practice (no combined practice today!), leaving my green polo, black knee lenght pants, and tennis shoes on.
I made my way towards the street tennis courts as fast as I could without tiring myself out. When I got there, I was slightly surprised at the number of guys there. It seemed that An-san and I would be the only girls here. "An-san." I called, as soon as I spotted her. She turned to me and smiled good-naturally.
"Hey! Didn't I ask you to call me An-chan before? Anyways, come on. I found a good pair to play doubles against." I cocked my head. Doubles? Well, it won't be the first time I'm playing doubles, so it's alright, Sora. I smiled towards An anyways and complied. However, before I could even step onto the court, a voice drawled out from behind me.
"Heh, look Kabaji. Look what we have here... Ore-sama was right about going to the street courts ne, Kabaji?" I turned around and saw a tall boy with gray hair donning an arrogant look, and a dark skinned boy/man with tall hair holding two tennis bags.
"Usu." I gave both of them a weird look and turned my head towards An. Did she know them?
"Look," she spoke up. "If you want to have your turn in the courts, don't make such a spectacle about it." The gray haired guy gave her an amused look.
"Ore-sama does not take orders from anyone. Not even from someone as cute as you." He pompously stated. This remark caused my own arrogant attitude to surface.
"Maybe you should take time and learn manners before you open your big mouth." I didn't give him a chance to reply. "Hmm, maybe that's impossible after all—your mouth seems to be as big as your ego." I pushed on further. This got him riled up.
"How dare you speak to Ore-sama like that?" He said loudly. This got everyone's attention. One guy spoke up.
"Hey, if you're going to be that loud, can you just leave?" The gray haired guy smirked.
"Not until we get dates, ne Kabaji?"
"Usu." I rolled my eyes. That was getting old.
"Whatever." An said, and turned her body away, trying to ignore the two.
"Hey, cute one. How about a date if we defeat every guy here?" The gray haired boy started again.
"What about Sora-chan?" I shot a bewildered and annoyed look at An, while she returned mine with a You-Better-Go-Along-With-Me-Or-Else glance.
"Who? The other girl? No way, she's way too arrogant. After all, arrogance only looks good on Ore-sama. Ne, Kabaji?"
"Usu." I felt my face heat up with outrage and prepared to hurl my tennis bag at him. I felt An hands and looked up at her. She was glaring at the two guys.
"Fine. Defeat every guy here—then I'll go on that stupid date with you!"
[-]
The way they had blown through all of the guys was—I hate to say it—amazing. It seemed as if they were hardly doing anything. Well, the gray haired guy was barely doing anything. He was just ordering around the big guy, who was doing pretty well by himself. In the end, the result was always the same: that annoying pair won.
The last game was between them and a guy with orange hair and another guy with dark navy hair tied into a pony tail. It seemed as if they knew An, but they ended up losing the match too. Turning around, I got out my racket, as the gray-haired guy approached An.
"Now, where shall we go for our date?"
"Not so fast." I called out. He turned his head toward me after a purposeful long pause. "What about a one-on-one between you and me?" I suggested, with an edge in my voice. He laughed.
"Now why would Ore-sama waste time playing a dwarf like you?" I glared at him gripping the handle of my racket tighter. Suddenly, he grabbed a hold of An's wrist. She cried out in protest.
"What the..? Let go of me!" She struggled.
"Hey, you sick bastard! Let go of An or you'll pay!" I shouted angrily. He smirked.
"Oh? And what exactly are you going to do about it?"
"No way! I said let go of me!" It was a painful sight to watch, and I felt angry at him, but more so at myself because I couldn't do anything—so helpless.
"Hey, causing such a ruckus... You made a promise with us, didn't you? If we win against every guy here, you'll go on a date with us." Out of no where, I saw a red-haired guy run over to the courts, followed by a familiar looking senpai. Hey isn't he one of the regulars at Seigaku? "What the... There are still two more?" With this, he let go of An's wrist. The red-haired guy rushed over in front of An.
"An-chan, why did you decide so easily?"
"But they were going to play street tennis here—"
"So weaker players are gathering.." The gray haired guy drawled. An made move to slap him. I held my breath in anticipation, but let it out as soon as he grabbed her wrist painfully, yet again. "You're cute when you're mad too..." I stepped closer to the group.
"Let go of her, you creeper!" I exclaimed. Right then, the two "saviors," as one would call them, decided to challenge the intruders to a game.
"That's fine. It's the same no matter how many people you have. Right, Kabaji?"
"Usu."
[-]
I had to admit, with borrowed rackets, the red-haired guy and senpai were good. Despite their bickering, they had complimented each other at doubles well. I stood by An the whole time, feeling a bit sorry for not being able to do anything else for her. After the senpai was able to pull off an amazing drop shot and win the game, An was in high spirits, thanking the two boys for saving her. From what I saw, it seemed they both had taking a liking to her too.
However, through all this, I knew my tiring day was not in vain. I had a name and a school—Atobe Keigo, third year at Hyotei Gakuen.
You better watch your back, Atobe Keigo, third year at Hyotei Gakuen, because I swear I will come for you, and beat your sorry ass in tennis!
Okay so I know Ryoma wasn't much in here, but don't worry he'll show up more in next chapter~. Please leave a review and I hope you enjoyed reading this! Until the next time ^^