I'm actually very proud of this story! I love how it's going smoothly!
Thanks to everyome that left reviews!
Reviews:
reddoggie - I'm glad you loved it! Rayn has many different personalities! I'm also gald you read it ^_^
yuki0123 - Sorry it took so long to reply. Hope you like this chapter!
Miss-Shadow - I'm so happy that you love it! I hope you like this one too!
animebird16 - They might just become one soon ;)
XxxdarkloversxxX - I'm glad you like it! ^_^
Chapter 2 : Samurai Jr. and His Best Friend
Rayn walked down the stairs in a pair of short black shorts and an old, black and white, jersey that said '#1 Fan of...' on the front and 'Echizen' on the back. Her hair was tossled in a messy wave indicating that it hadn't been brushed yet.
She rubbed her eyes as she walked into the kitchen.
"Good morning..." She mumbled as she sat next to Nanjirou.
Nanjirou lowered his magazine and looked at her. He chuckled as he saw her exhausted face.
"Did the kid keep you awake last night?" He asked as he looked at his magazine again.
"More like the opposite..." A tired voice answered from the kitchen doorway before Rayn could answer.
Rayn crossed her arms over her chest.
"You KNOW you're just as nervous about today as I am, Ryo."
Ryoma yawned and shook his head as he smirked and sat on her. She groaned and tried to push him off.
"Get off, Fat Ass!"
Ryoma chuckled and moved to the chair beside her. As Rayn continuoulsy glared at Ryoma, Nanjirou glanced at the kids. He looked at the jersey that Rayn was wearing and smirked.
"I remember that jersey." He said as he nodded to Rayn.
She looked down at herself and grinned. Ryoma, however, looked at it and scoffed.
"You still have that? I told you not to keep it."
Nanjirou chuckled.
"It just embarrassed you because everyone thought you were a couple." He said as he glanced back and forth between the teens. "I remember how your face turned soooooo red..."
/FLASHBACK\
Ryoma was warming up before a practice match with Nanjirou. He heard chuckling and giggling so he turned towards the doorway to see Nanjirou and his best friend, Rayn.
"Ryo~!" She yelled as she hugged him.
He blinked and hugged her back with one arm. She then pulled away and walked over to stand beside Nanjirou.
"Ray? Why are you...?" His question faded as he noticed what she was wearing.
She was wearing short jean shorts, black converse, and a jersey...the jersey was what caught his attention. It was black and white. On the front it said '#1 Fan of...' and when she turned to say something to Nanjirou he noticed the back said 'Echizen' with a small heart beside it. The font was in red and so was the heart. Ryoma blushed.
"Ray, w-what are you wearing!?" he stuttered as he walked up to her.
She looked down at herself and grinned.
"Do you like it!? I got it to wear at allllll of your matches!" She yelled as she spun around.
Ryoma blushed and pulled his cap down to cover his face.
"It's stupid. Get rid of it."
He then turned and started to hit his tennis ball against the wall. Nanjirou glanced at Rayn and noticed she seemed fine with the fact Ryoma didn't like the jersey. Well, she was his best friend and was use to his attitude. She grinned as she looked at him.
"I'm gonna go get him a Ponta. You want anything, Daddy Nanjirou?"
Nanjirou laughed.
"No thanks, Little Ray."
She nodded and headed into the house. Nanjirou then turned to his son and sighed.
"Did you have to be that harsh, kid?"
He heard Ryoma scoff.
"That's embarrassing, old man. I don't need a cheerleader."
Nanjirou grinned.
"Even a cute one?"
Ryoma scoffed.
"She's barely even cute. She's been overly annoying lately. She always interupts my practice..."
Nanjirou glared at Ryoma.
"I know you're lying. You've smiled more since you met her than you have since you were 6."
Ryoma smirked.
"That's because she can be entertaining, but I think I would have it easier if we never became friends."
CLANK!
Nanjirou and Ryoma both turn in shock to see Rayn standing there with tears in her eyes, and the Ponta can on the ground. Ryoma's eyes widen.
"Ray..."
She turned and ran. She ran down the street. She ran all the way down the block and she kept running. She ran until she got to the park where she and Ryoma spent their free time.
Not long after Rayn ran off, Ryoma followed. Everyone he knew asked if he was dating the girl in the Echizen jersey. His reply would be a blush and a shake of the head.
When he finally found her, she was sitting under their tree in the local park. Her eyes were closed and her cheeks were still wet from the tears. He quietly sat beside her. When she didn't react, he put his arm around her shoulder and brought her close to him. They sat there in silence for a few minutes.
"Ray-."
"Don't."
Ryoma looked at her in confusion. She shook her head and brought her knees up to her chest.
"Don't do this if you don't want to..."
Ryoma then realized that what she had heard hurt her more than he originally thought.
"I lied to the old man."
Rayn looked at Ryoma with sorrow filled eyes. Ryoma smiled softly at her.
"I'm glad we met. You're my best friend."
Rayn blinked up at him. He tugged at the bottom of her jersey.
"It's...cute."
Rayn grinned as she hugged Ryoma.
"I still think you should get rid of it...it started our first real fight." Ryoma said with a smirk.
Rayn giggled.
"After you called it cute? No way."
/FLASHBACK ENDS\
When Nanjirou finally came back from his flashback, he noticed empty plates on the table and Ryoma and Rayn fully dressed in their new uniforms.
"Did you finally come back to Earth, Daddy Nanjirou?" Rayn asked smirking.
Nanjirou laughed as the kids put on their shoes. When they were finished, Ryoma waited at the door as Rayn hugged Nanjirou goodbye.
"See ya, Daddy Nanjirou!" She yelled as she caught up to Ryoma.
Nanjirou shook his head.
"Can't they just start dating already?"
"I hope we're in the same classes! I don't know what I'd do without my little Ryo~!" Rayn said while kissing Ryoma's cheek.
Ryoma blushed and wished he had his cap on.
"Stop acting so cuddly. Someone might see you."
Rayn grinned.
"Alright."
"Hey, Echizen, wait up!"
Ryoma and Rayn turn around to see a boy with brown hair run up.
"You're new around here, right? Are you gonna sign up for the tennis team? Who's your pretty friend?"
Ryoma stared at him.
"Who's asking?"
Rayn giggled as she leaned against Ryoma's arm. The boy cleared his throat.
"The name's Horio. You've probably heard that our school's team is best in the country. I've already played for two years in a row-."
Ryoma felt someone tug on his sleeve. He looked down to see Rayn motion towards the school with a bored look. He nodded as they walked away, leaving Horio to ramble on about himself. They got a few feet away before Horio noticed.
"Echizen, Echizen's girlfriend, wait up!"
Rayn walked faster, trying to get away from the creep when she accidentally ran into someone.
"What's this? The little mice aren't looking where they're going." A tall upper classman said.
Ryoma stared as Horio looked at them back and forth in confusion.
"If they're not careful they'll end up as catfood." The guy continued.
Rayn scoffed.
"Ryoma can certainly take on a few 'cats' every now and then...asshole." She mumbled while glaring at the guy.
Ryoma chuckled at Rayn's comment. The guy glanced at Rayn and smirked.
"Ah, an AMERICAN mouse. How entertaining."
Ryoma and Rayn both glare at the older guy. The older guy frowns.
"I don't think I like that glare of yours." He said directing his comment towards Ryoma. "I can tell you're new around here so I'll let it pass this time. Just watch where you're going."
The guy waved and walked off.
"Who's that guy?" Horio asked.
Ryoma shrugged and Rayn crossed her arms over her chest.
"Some idiot." She said. Horio looked at her in shock.
"You speak Japanese!?"
Ryoma chuckled as Rayn got an anger vein on her forehead.
"I know it's so FREAKIN' amazing that an American can speak your language, but can people PLEASE stop asking that!" She yelled sarcastically.
Ryoma chuckled then watched the guy walk off in the distance.
"Wow! Look at those courts! Seigaku's better than I imagined!" Horio said as he looked at the tennis courts in awe.
Ryoma just stared as Rayn was watching people walk by, completely uninterested in tennis.
"C'mon Echizen, let's sign up!"
"You can forget about that. Today new members can't even register because of the 2nd and 3rd year matches. Maybe you can try again tomorrow."
They all look to see two guys. One was bent down with his hands in a bag and the other one was standing beside him. The one bent down was the one who informed them.
"Most of the freshman have already gone home, so we stayed a while and picked up balls from the ground." The one standing added.
"But that's no fun." Horio said to the two guys.
"Hey, you over there."
Everyone, except Rayn who was still people watching, turned to see a guy in a green headband.
"You thinking of joining our tennis team?"
"Yes sir!" Horio and the other two guys said bowing.
As everyone else was introducing themselves, and Horio going on about his 2 years of tennis experience, Ryoma just stared at the older guys.
"Hey, show some respect! You gotta name?" The guy standing slightly behind headband guy asked Ryoma.
Ryoma just continued to stare.
"What's wrong? You deaf or something?"
The guy with the headband put his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Leave him alone. Now we're gonna play a really fun game."
Rayn finally turned to see what was going on. She noticed the slightly mischievious glint in the headband guys eyes. Horio, Kachiro, and Katsuo were all curious.
Rayn and Ryoma stood against the fenced wall as Horio and the other two played. Rayn looked at Ryoma to see him watching intently. She knew something was up with the older guys and she didn't like it.
"I know what's gonna happen~!" She said smiling.
Ryoma turned to her curiously.
"And what's that?"
She grinned and stood in front of him and got close to his face.
"They're probably gonna do something really mean to the others. You and your awesome self will probably save them while being a show off."
Ryoma rolled his eyes.
"I'm not a show off."
Rayn smirked.
"That's the biggest lie ever! You're full of bullshit Mr. Echizen." She said poking his cheek.
He returned his gaze back to the others.
Ryoma watched as it was Horio's turn to try and knock over the can. On Horio's last ball he hit the can slightly, but it still didn't move. Rayn looked at Ryoma.
"Something's not right. It sounded like there were..."
Ryoma just continued to lean against the fence with his arms behind his head. It wasn't until the older guys tried to get him to try by calling him weak, that he finally moved.
"Let's get this over with..." He said as he looked at the guys.
Rayn got his racket out for him and handed it to him. He took it and smirked at her.
"Echizen, don't be an idiot. It's a waste of money." Horio said.
Ryoma just grabbed a ball and took stance to serve. Rayn walked over and smiled innocently at everyone.
"Don't worry, Horio. Ryo knows what he's doing. That can wont be knocked over by just a normal serve. It's too heavy."
Everyone stared at her as she said that, but she was too focused on watching Ryoma. The older guys seemed to be nervous.
"What are you talking about?" The guy with the headband asked shakily.
Rayn glared at him.
"You're horrible for cheating people like this."
They glared at her.
"What the hell are you talking about, girly?"
There's rocks inside the can." Ryoma said calmly.
The older guys seemed shocked that someone found out. Ryoma just smirked at Rayn.
"I'm proud that you noticed it too, Ray. I always thought you were stupid."
Rayn just glared at Ryoma playfully.
"Shut up and show off already!"
Ryoma nodded and served the ball. It hit the can and knocked it over making the rocks fall out.
"Kid got lucky. Anyone can hit it once."
Hearing this, Ryoma continuously hit the can. Rayn sighed.
"You're such a show off, Ryo!" She exclaimed with a proud grin.
"If I hit it one hundred times will you give me a million yen?" Ryoma asked smugly as he continued to hit the can.
"You think you're hot stuff!?"
Rayn couldn't contain herself. She licked her finger and pressed it against Ryoma's butt, causing him to blush, and made the 'tsss' sound. Ryoma ignore her, still sporting an impressive blush, and turned toward the guys.
"The only thing worse than a loser who cheats is a bad loser who cheats. Why don't you grow up?"
"BURN!" Rayn yelled while high-fiving Ryoma.
As the bullies walked towards Ryoma and started to threaten him, a tennis ball flew and hit the can, causing a dent to form. The can hit the fenced wall.
"Wow, what a lucky shot. Can you spell lucky?"
Rayn looked at the guy and noticed he was the one from earlier. The one that refered to Ryoma and herseld as mice. Rayn stared at Ryoma as she heard the guy talking to the bullies. Ryoma seemed tired today.
'I hope it's not my fault...' Rayn thought as she started to feel guilty.
"Hey we're not done, hot stuff."
Once again, Rayn had the same urge as before, but decided against it since Ryoma probably already wanted to kill her from the first time. Suddenly Sakuno was dragged over by another girl. They were followed by a man and woman.
"He's looking right at me! Sakuno introduce us quickly!" Sakuno's friend said blushing with stars in her eyes.
Rayn rolled her eyes.
"Here too? Damn fangirls..."
Ryoma chuckled at her comment.
"This is Ryoma Echizen." Sakuno said.
Rayn pouted. She was standing beside Ryoma but went unnoticed.
"I'm invisible...damn you Ryo for being such a hottie..."
Ryoma chuckled again.
"Hey, there's been a lot of talk about you but you don't look like anything special to me." Momo said to Ryoma.
Ryoma looked back at him.
"Who're you?"
"Name's Takeshi Momoshiro. I wonder if what they say about you is true. I heard you know how to do a kick serve."
At this, everyone seemed shocked. Rayn, knowing nothing about tennis, seemed unenthused. Ryoma smiled.
"Wanna find out?" He asked Momo.
Momo smiled in return.
"Sure. Shouldn't take me too long to take care of you."
Rayn groaned.
"Ryooooomaaaaa..." She whined. He ignored her and walked towards the changing area.
When he returned the match started. Rayn watched as Horio began to introduce the match.
'He likes the sound of his own voice...' She thought while sweatdropping.
Tomoka then began to yell at Horio telling him to hurry.
'I can tell we're not gonna get along...'
Tomoka began to freak out because of Ryoma faulting. Rayn was getting more and more annoyed.
When Ryoma finally did his kick serve and knocked Momo's racket out of his hand, Rayn smirked.
"He's such a show off." She mumbled.
This caught Sakuno's attention.
"Rayn, when did you get here?" She asked sweetly.
Rayn sweatdropped again.
"I was here the whole time, Sakuno..."
Sakuno blushed.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't notice you before."
Rayn smiled sweetly.
"Don't worry about it. Happens all the time. Ryo's fangirls don't usually notice me." She said whiile giggling.
Tomoka glared at her.
"Who are you and what gives you the right to refer to him with a cute nickname!?"
Rayn glared back.
"Excuse me, but I'm Ryo's best friend. I'm sure that gives me the right. Unlike you, I actually KNOW him."
Tomoka glared.
"You're lying. You just want attention. You're just an ugly American. There's nothing special about you."
"Tomoka!" Sakuno scolded.
Rayn smile fell for a second. She then looked over towards the match. She ignored them as the man told them what a kick serve was.
"Ryoma can do all the tricks! He's the coolest!" Tomoka said while blushing and clasping her hands together by her face.
Rayn scoffed.
"This is your first time seeing him play..." She mumbled.
Tomoka glared at her. During the rest of the match, everyone kept getting shocked and excited, excpet Rayn. She grew us to seeing these things happen. Right when Ryoma switched to his left hand, Momo quit.
"Right when I was actually getting interested..." Rayn mumbled.
Tomoka, once again, sent her a glare.
"How are you best frineds when you don't even like the same things?" She asked smugly.
Rayn smirked at her.
"If we had all the same interests, things would get too boring. Playful arguements with Ryo are fun. Being a best friend doesn't mean liking the same things, it means supporting each other no matter what. Always being there and helping them along the way..." Rayn said while smiling affectionately in Ryoma direction.
Everyone stared at her in amazement. They continued to give her those looks until Ryoma came back from changing. Rayn walked over to him as he was putting his tennis racket in his bag. He was being questioned by the guy trio.
"So where did you learn tennis?"
"In a temple." Was Ryoma's simple answer.
Rayn giggled.
"An interesting temple, right Ryo?"
Ryoma looked up at her and smirked. A few seconds later, Tomoka walked up dragging Sakuno with her.
"We watched the whole match! You're the most incredible player I've seen in my lifetime! My name's Tomoka! I'm Sakuno's friend!"
Ryoma stared at her then turned his gaze to Sakuno.
"Hi, Ryoma. Thanks again for the other day." Sakuno said shyly.
Ryoma stood beside Rayn. He gazed at Sakuno confused.
"Have we met before? I don't...remember you."
Rayn coudn't hold it in, she laughed so hard she started crying. Ryoma looked down at her as she leaned against his arm for support.
"Are you okay, Ray?"
She nodded.
"I'll be f-fine. Sorry Sakuno. He's always like this. Nothing personal."
Sakuno nodded, still looking horrified. Tomoka glared at Rayn.
"Get off Ryoma. I can tell he doesn't like you touching him." She said snidely.
Ryoma blinked at her then looked down at Rayn, then back at Tomoka.
"I don't mind." He said as he helped Rayn stand up straight.
He chuckled as he wiped away her tears. Rayn smiled up at him.
"Thanks, Ryo!"
He nodded. Rayn stared for a second then broke out in a grin. Ryoma blinked at her curiously.
"What?"
Rayn threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug. He stumbled as he wrapped his left arm around her waist to return the hug.
"That was awesome!" Rayn said as she pulled away with a grin. "I wish it could have continued though. I wanted to see everyone's reaction to you when you play lefty!"
Ryoma chuckled and shook his head. He grabbed his bag and handed Rayn hers. They walked off, Rayn still complaining about being hungry and him taking too long to show off. Tomoka glared at Rayn's back as they walked off.
Meanwhile, Nanjirou Echizen was ringing the bell of his temple with his foot while reading a magazine.
"Hm, wonder where my idiot son and Little Ray are. On a date maybe?"
He grinned at the thought.
"That'll happen soon enough."
Ryoma and Rayn were walking down the sidewalk on the way home.
"So, since you'll probably join the tennis club I thought about joining the drama club. I'm not sure yet though."
"I think it's a good idea. It'll give you some experience being on a stage and stuff."
Rayn nodded as she thought about it.
"If I do, it'll be later on. I wanna watch you practice some more first. I wanna make sure you're well looked after."
Ryoma rolled his eyes.
"What do you mean well-."
Suddenly a image of Sakuno flashed through his mind.
"I remember now!"
Rayn stared at him curiously.
"Remember what?"
"That girl..."
Rayn laughed.
"Same ol' Ryoma."
She then kissed his cheek and ran ahead of him. Ryoma smiled and looked up at the sky.
What'd you guys think? Should I speed up the process between Ryoma and Rayn or wait it out? Hmmm...decisions...
Please leave me reviews! It makes Rayn happy!
Rayn: Make me happy, dammit!