Shin Tennis No Hime-Chan
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"The most painful goodbyes are the ones that are never said and never explained." —Bilal Nasir Khan
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Chapter 2: Much To Ryoma's Annoyance
Echizen Ryoma was irritated. Well, from anyone's point of view, that could be termed as his normal demeanor because his face always seemed like he was agitated. However, Ryoma wasn't just bothered today, no, he was sleep deprived, hungry, concerned, and overall, every little thing that happened seemed to be testing his very limited patience.
It all started with waking up in the morning. Now, because of yesterday's events concerning a certain twin braided girl, Ryoma had barely gotten any sleep with his inexplicable and according to him, somewhat superfluous guilt. He knew he had done nothing wrong nor had he said anything he wasn't supposed to say. He was the Echizen Ryoma after all. There weren't a lot of things he could do wrong. What possible inconvenience could he have caused in such short few minutes of dialogue? And with the friendship they've established, there should've been a comprehensible understanding between them. But there was a feeling in the pit of his stomach that was just beyond his comprehension.
After another chaotic morning in his household due to the pervert that is his oyaji, Ryoma considered the repetition of the previous day to be a sign of bad omens. Like the day before, he failed in obtaining a bento box from the kitchen due to his father's wild antics. Normally he'd be fine with that since Sakuno had always managed to bring an extra bento just in case things like this happened. Unfortunately for him, when he entered his first period, he saw that she was nowhere to be found.
As soon as he reached his classroom, he expected to see the auburn girl smile and greet him. It was a routine he'd gotten used to. But when the final bell had rung, he concluded that she was absent for today. To him, he didn't deem it as strange or startling. It was a known fact that Sakuno had a bad habit of catching a cold during the winter season. Nonetheless, he, though he'd never show it, was concerned for her well-being. She was, after all, his friend.
With a disinterested look, the tennis prince slowly began falling asleep as soon as the teacher finished calling his name for attendance. Since Ryoma hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, he'd found it appropriate to nap during the English lesson, being a fluent speaker and all. Before he drifted into dreamland, he heard his teacher's deep voice begin to say something else. However, due to his sleep deprivation, he slowly let his exhaustion overwhelm him.
The next class sessions wouldn't do Ryoma any good either. Apparently his classroom was in full chaotic mode as he woke up from his long nap. When he was able to finally discern all of his surroundings, he slowly noticed that it had already been lunch time. Taking note of the setting of groups falling into chatter, he began heading towards the vending machine. Much to his annoyance, he had found the conversations to be incredibly noisy today.
After quickly obtaining his favorite grape Ponta and pan bread from the cafeteria, he retreated to his spot on the roof and began to fall asleep once again. The bell soon rang after lunch had ended and he found it difficult to go back to class after taking another nap. Entering his classroom, he noticed some of his classmates' dull behavior.
They were so noisy before, he thought to himself as he made his way to his desk. He shrugged it off and looked out the window. He silently tuned out his surroundings as he thought about his long awaited tennis practice after the day he'd been having.
Tennis will help me soothe this uneasiness.
However, much to his dismay, his day had worsened after reaching the courts. To Ryoma, this day had tested his patience at every minute. First, he had gotten no sleep. Second, his oyaji was stupid. Third, he almost starved to death because of Sakuno's absence. And lastly, his coach was late. After the day he'd been having, he just wanted to play some tennis. But no, his coach was late. Not a few minutes late. It was already thirty minutes into practice and she still hadn't shown up.
When it had reached all of the teammate's patience, the regulars gathered around their team captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu, and their data analyst, Inui Sadaharu. Tezuka had the same inconceivable expression he'd always had while Inui looked too solemn for his own good. Oishi had been the first one to speak up and questioned the coach's whereabouts.
"Ryuzaki-sensei had some personal affairs she has to attend to," Inui said, flashing his glasses.
"So, until she gets here, just keep warming up, stretch and if you need to, run a few laps more," Tezuka added, earning him multiple sighs from his teammates.
"Why can't we just get started?" asked Kaidoh, aggravated by the situation.
Tezuka answered with a subtle frown. "She has the practice routines that we're introducing today, so it can't be helped."
As if on cue, their coach, Sumire, entered the courts seconds after Tezuka's explanation. She greeted the team with an apology and half a smile which certainly did not go unnoticed by all the regulars. Holding a clip board up with her hand, she called to the other members and started arranging groups for the practice. After a short term, Sumire was interrupted by a loud female voice.
Behind her, Sakuno's friend, Okasada Tomoka had ran up to her calling her name. After finally catching her breath, she questioned Sumire with a desperate cry, "Is it true, Ryuzaki-sensei!? Please, tell me it's not true!"
Looking at her intently, Tomoka awaited for an answer as Sumire tried to comfort her with a smile. "Yes, I'm afraid it is."
Silence followed afterwards as the girl in front of them started crying. Seeing the situation, the trio, consisted of Katsuo, Kachiro, and Horio, began to comfort her. With the other team members looking in confusion, it wasn't until Katsuo's question for the coach did they finally understand.
"So, what we heard in homeroom about Ryuzaki-san transferring abroad is true?"
Everyone looked at Sumire as she could only respond with a weak smile that she'd been giving. "Yes, I just sent her off just now."
"She didn't even say goodbye!" Tomoka shouted, crying even more. With a look from their coach, the trio guided the crying girl towards a bench outside of the courts in order to try to calm her down. Sumire turned back to her team who fell undeniably silent. No one was able to utter a word. Over the past few years, Sakuno had invested more time and focus into her tennis and thus began close relationships with the team whilst they helped her enhance her skills and in return, she supported their team by attending every single game and providing aid in bonding/growth exercises. After all her help, the regulars often described her as a trustworthy friend to the team.
After a few moments, looks finally set on Ryoma who was looking at the ground, his hat covering the expression on his face. Nervous looks and pity were exchanged between the teammates only to be halted by a sudden reveal of detachment shown on Ryoma's face.
"Okay, if we're not starting practice now, I'm going to go practice somewhere else," he said in a nonchalant tone. He grabbed his racket which had been placed on a nearby bench. He quickly and quietly made his way towards the exit. He pulled the brim of his hat down as the regulars stared at him in awe.
"W-What's up with that unemotional brat!? Doesn't he understand anythi—" Momo started to say, anger overwhelming him, but was interrupted by his coach.
"He's coping," she said sympathetically. Getting one last look at the direction where the tennis prince retreated to, she held the clipboard in front of her once again and started reading off the sheet. "We have to move on. We've already wasted so much time."
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'W-What would you do if I were to disappear one day?'
PIK!
Stupid girl.
POK!
Stubborn girl.
PIK!
Ignorant girl.
POK!
You didn't even hear what I had to say to you.
As he volleyed the ball against a wall near but hidden from the tennis courts, a short glimpse of a drawing of him on the ball caused him to hit it with full force. Bouncing of the wall, he quickly reached to return it. But even with his amazing speed, the ball quickly sped right past his head.
Tch.