Chapter 2: Enter the Kunoichi
Ayame set out of her house, glad that there was no school today. She decided to run from one end of the neighborhood to the other, to see how fast she could run. Going to one of the ends, she switched the watch on her wrist into stopwatch mode and prepared herself.
Kanna Ayame, you better make it under thirty seconds! her thoughts menacingly scolded at her.
She took a deep breath.
Ichi… ni… san! her thoughts ran as she pushed the button on her watch and she took off.
She sped off so fast that she would've looked invisible to the human's naked eye… unless they had superb eyesight just like her friend Ryoma, then maybe they would've gotten a glimpse of her. She sprinted down the neighborhood while being mindful to avoid passing civilians and the street. The last thing she wanted was to crash into someone and interrupt her running time or to get hit by a car and possibly meet a similar fate her mother did.
In twenty-seven seconds, Ayame had sprinted from one end of the neighborhood to the other.
Yessssssssss! Ayame was pleased with herself. My speed is in top condition today!
Before she had another thought, somebody snatched her tennis bag off her shoulder and sped away. She saw it was a crook on roller skates.
"You bastard… I'll kill you!" she said in a murderous tone as her expression changed to look like as if somebody spilled their coffee on her shirt.
Before the thief analyzed what she had just said, Ayame ran full speed and tripped him. She grabbed her tennis bag and removed the tennis racket inside, and the sunlight glinted over the racket as she raised it.
"Diediediediediedie!" she kept shouting as she hit the thief repeatedly with the tennis racket, swinging it like it was a sword.
Meanwhile, while this was going on, Ryoma had been sleeping peacefully in his room, and he was awakened by the commotion outside. Apparently Ayame had taken it out directly in front of his house, and Ryoma was irritated that his sleep was interrupted. But then he heard Ayame yelling outside while hearing sounds of somebody getting hit, followed by screams of pain.
She probably killed somebody for real this time… he thought drowsily as he climbed out of bed and decided to see what the heck Ayame was doing outside.
After changing clothes, he went downstairs and went outside. He came upon the scene on time to see Ayame forcing the thief to go down the street while she held her racket behind him.
"One wrong move and you're dead," she warned.
Her glance fell on Ryoma, and she suddenly acted like as though nothing just happened.
"Oh. Hey Ryoma," she greeted.
"Ayame? What happened?" Ryoma asked.
"This dumbass stole my tennis bag and I killed him for it," she replied. "Now he's comin' with me to the police."
Ryoma said nothing but followed her as they went into the town. He was well aware that Ayame has a tendency of going violent when she gets angry, and he could tell that she was really pissed off if she used her racket as a weapon. He remembered one day in America asking her why she always carried her tennis bag, and her response was, "Just in case if I need to see a little bloodshed." (although she has actually never hit anybody hard enough to draw blood). He was already used to her drastic mood swings and her violent acts, which sometimes scared him a little, but at least she never did anything bad to him.
The two arrived at the police station and turned in the thief. They then started walking back to the neighborhood.
"… and then I tripped him and took my tennis bag back," Ayame continued her story.
"And then you killed him," Ryoma finished. "That's what happened. Your attack woke me up."
"Gomen," Ayame said, remembering that Ryoma is the type of person who likes his sleep and wouldn't get up that easily unless you used violence (although Ayame has never went violent on him before). "I didn't think that I'd catch him in front of your house."
The two were silent for a while until Ayame finally spoke.
"Oi," she started. "Know any places to play tennis other than the temple?"
"You could always go to that street tennis place," Ryoma said.
"Where is it?" she asked.
"Follow me," Ryoma said.
Ryoma knew that Ayame could lose her directions if she's not familiar with her surroundings. She had told him that on her first day at Seigaku, she was almost late since she got lost, but thanks to her lightning speed, she was able to find the building on time and not be late.
"The street tennis place has three courts that you could use," Ryoma said as they strolled along the road. "Back then, when there was only one court, you were only able to play doubles."
"So you can play doubles and singles now?" Ayame asked.
"Right," Ryoma answered.
At the mention of "doubles", Ayame realized that she's never played doubles before. As far as she knows, Ryoma has never played doubles either. She heard that it's very different from singles, but she never experienced how different.
"We're here," Ryoma said as they arrived at the bottom of some steps. "If you go up these steps, you'll make it there."
"Thanks, Ryoma," Ayame said.
Ayame went up the steps to check out the "unexplored territory". She looked back to see Ryoma behind her.
"You're coming too?" she asked.
"Sure," was Ryoma's response.
They climbed the steps and saw a couple of tennis players. The first court had some boys playing doubles as well as the second court, but the third court was a singles game. Ayame watched with keen interest at the first two courts.
Doubles, huh… she thought. I wonder if I could learn everything about it. It looks pretty hard. But I'll think about that at another time.
Right then, the game in the third court has finished. Ayame saw her chance and got onto the tennis court.
"I'll play you," she said as her expression quickly changed to serious.
She removed the tennis racket from her bag and gripped the racket in her left hand while tossing her tennis bag aside. Ryoma sat at one of the benches, and watched with a smug look on his face as the other tennis players thought that it was a joke that a girl wanted to play.
Unfortunately, that "kunoichi" is not someone you should underestimate, Ryoma thought.
It was Ayame's serve. She tossed the ball into the air and swung her racket down. The ball sailed over the net at an incredible speed that her opponent couldn't react.
"15-0!" she called as she moved positions.
The other tennis players were stunned. How could she hit a serve that fast?
That's not her fastest serve, Ryoma thought. I've seen her hit faster.
Ayame easily won her service game, and she prepared to receive. Her receives were just as quick as her serves.
Back in America, she was known as the "kunoichi", Ryoma's thoughts went as he watched his old friend play. Ayame was called that because of her ninja-like movements and the fact that she's Japanese. She's very fast and has good stamina, but… did she overcome her lack of power?
Ryoma's last question couldn't be answered, as all the tennis players who challenged Ayame didn't hit what he'd call a heavy ball. He knew that even if he asked her, she wouldn't tell him if she overcame her lack of power. She loved to surprise people, and sometimes in the worst way possible.
Ayame gladly challenged anybody who dared to face the wrath of the kunoichi, and remained undefeated. She left with Ryoma to go back home.
"Well, that was fun," she said casually. "I wish there were stronger opponents. None of those lunkheads stood a chance against me."
"Ne," Ryoma said. "You could've played with me."
"Yeah…" Ayame said. "Come to think of it, we've never had a real round before."
"Want to play a match with me right now?"
"Wish I could. I'm already exhausted from playing all those guys back there. Another time, alright?"
"Fine by me."
"Ah, there's your house. Til' next time, Ryoma."
"See you."
Ayame's title of "kunoichi" is an intended reference of the Ayame from PowerStone (then again, there was that one samurai character named Ryoma, so I thought it'd be a little funny to make a small reference to that)
