The four of them made their way to an empty court; they didn't notice the Starters come in. Shuichiro Oishi crossed his arms loosely over the chest of his Tennis Team jacket. He smiled knowingly when he saw Momoshiro following Ryoma and the two girls, most probably organizing a tennis match. "There goes Momo again," he said.
Behind Oishi, Eiji Kikumanu sighed. He rolled his eyes in a bored fashion. "If he's doing what we all know he's doing," he said in a matter - of - fact tone, "he'll get in trouble when the captain arrives."
Shusuke Fuji glanced at Eiji and smiled.
Ryoma stood on the left side of the court. He was bouncing a Tennis ball on his racket. Even though the Tennis ball never left contact with the racket strings, his eyes were on the opposite court.
Momoshiro was helping Cherrylea, quickly warning her about Ryoma and giving her as much advice as one can in about two minutes. "Listen," he was saying, "I've played him before. He's left handed, but he'll most probably play you with a handicap. No matter what goes down, yo ugotta stay focused." He ran his eyes quickly over her to make sure she was in the right position. Then he made his way to the big, tall seat where the referee sat.
"One - set match. Service Ryoma Echizen!"
"Since you've never played before, I'll go easy on you, okay, Cherry?" Ryoma looked up, grinning. He had his racket in his right hand, and he held a Tennis ball in his left.
She grinned back and raised an eyebrow, but she didn't reply. She poised, ready to play.
Ryoma threw the ball into the air and then hit it with his racket. The ball flew towards Cherrylea, and he smiled, thinking that she wouldn't hit it. He relaxed, slouching back his shoulders.
She moved her racket in a fluid movement to return his serve. The ball cleared the net and she looked at Ryoma, a playful frown on her face. "You thought I wouldn't hit it; I saw that grin!" she accused him.
Ryoma ran to his left and lobbed the ball up into the air. "I did," he admitted with a laugh.
"I think I'm gonna watch for a while," said Shusuke, smiling as he watched Cherrylea run up to the net and hit the ball in one graceful, effortless motion. It spun at Ryoma, but he didn't blink as he sliced it to his left.
"How did I know you would say that?" sighed Eiji, but he was watching as well, despite what he said. In fact, all the Starters were watching Ryoma against Cherrylea.
Sakuno was standing next to the chair Momoshiro was sitting in. She was watching happily. As much as she had a crush on Ryoma, she wanted Cherrylea, at least, to win. She had never witnessed a Ryoma defeat.
"You're pretty good for a girl who's never played before," commented Ryoma, watching as Cherrylea tried to slice it past him, in a sharp, deep hit. He returned it quickly.
"Yeah?" she panted. She then got on the balls of her feet as the ball got closer...
"I guess...I am." She jumped and rotated her body in mid - air to back hand slice the ball. Ryoma started to run, to return her hit, but he stopped when he realized she had hit the shot sharply. He let her have the point. He raised his hand to wipe some sweat off of his neck. "Nice, Cherry," he grinned.
She smiled back as Momoshiro announced, "Love - 15."
