A Tennis Heart Ornament, and A Homesick Prince
Ryoma Echizen sipped his grape-flavored Ponta as he strolled casually under New York City's lights.
He decided to ditch the four-star hotel to avoid the over-perfumed-conditioned air, the over-perky hotel
attendants, and of course; the over-obsessed local fan-girls. Well, at least he only had to endure it for
one more stay. His perverted-monk of a father told him he either had to stay for one more week or
return before New York's predicted blizzard (expected to be on the day after tomorrow). However,
Ryoma was far from ready for tomorrow's departure. He decided to procrastinate and sit it aside for
now, to say good-bye to the New York he knew for the time being. The sun was set half-way in the sky
ready to close the day with a startling sunset.
"Nya!..." Curious, Ryoma swiftly turned to meet a young mother and her child help a stray cat.
The mother reached for her cheap purse, and tended to the cat. Suddenly, the cat yelped under the
mother's touch.
"There,...there it'll be alright. This kitten just had a little scratch on it's cheek! See, nothing to
worry about!" She said to her child reassuringly.
'Oishi-sempai...'
The pair said their good-byes to the little cat, and went on home. Ryoma took a quick peak at the small
animal. It was curious-looking cat, with fire-blazing fur and a band-aid stretched against it's left cheek.
He could have sworn it was smiling at him.
'Eiji-sempai...'
The cat wandered off, leaving a thoughtful Echizen behind. Ryoma twitched slightly and scratched at
his chest. Still, he continued with indifference on his walk.
"AHHHHHH!! IT'S BURNING!!" He heard a nearby restaurant chief shriek in manic. Ryoma
whipped around in surprise. The man wore a oily-apron and ran towards a nearby bucket of water;
carrying with him a tray of raw sushi in flames. 'How do you set sushi on fire?' Ryoma wondered in
disbelief, still watching the distressed man.
"MY SUSHI'S BURNING!!" He shoved it into the bucket and let out a sigh of relief to see the
flicks of fire vanish.
"Son..., whatcha do this time...?" Another man spoke behind the oily-apron-man.
"Sorry Dad..." The man stuck out his lip in guilt.
"What will I ever do with you? Go serve table five. Oh! Remember to take out the soy sauce..."
The man's father voice faded away as he went back inside. The apron-man
took notice of Ryoma, and gave him a sheepish smile. The man walked into the restaurant leaving the
tennis prince in his thoughts.
'Taka-sempai...'
Ryoma twitched once again and scratched at his chest. He shrugged to himself and resumed on his
evening stroll.
"Excuse me...could you answer this one question for my school survey?" Ryoma looked up
to see a face with coke-bottle glasses and a clipboard in their hands.
"Do you think schools should have more fruit juices or soda?" Echizen immediately thought of Ponta.
"Soda."
"Hmmm...interesting data..." The boy walked away, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.
'Inui-sempai...'
Ryoma twitched once more.
"Richard! May I please try that cracker you've been experimenting on?" A brown-haired boy
ran to the man with the clipboard.
"Um...sure." The clipboard boy handed him a blackened cracker. -'Why is it black?'- The
brown-haired boy took it; joyfully stuffing it inside his mouth.
"Yum! It's very delicious!" The clipboard man just blinked.
"...What...?" They walked away discussing the wonders of how a "treat" like that one be any delicious.
'Fuji-sempai...'
Ryoma scratched immensely at his chest. 'Do I have a rash or something?' He lost track of where he
was until he saw some basketball courts near some shops. Leaning against the fence in boredom, he
watched a few students play.
"You idiot! That's not the right way to shoot! You're just a stupid hedgehog-haired boy!!" One
of the students wearing a yellow-bandanna yelled.
"Who you calling hedge-hog-haired boy?!" The other with spiky-blond-hair demanded.
"You! You idiot!"
"Laundry-lady man!!"
'Kaido-sempai...'
"Porcupine!"
'Momo-sempai...'
"ENOUGH!! Run fifty laps around the courts!" A tall stoic man commanded.
"Fifty?! I didn't-"
"One hundred laps!"
'Tezuka-sempai...'
Ryoma widened his eyes in surprise, but nonetheless, continued his walk. He stopped at a tennis-sports
equipment shop where (thankfully) there was a bench to sit. The boy stared at the sky. It finally
settled down into a hue of vermilion and fiery-red. Closing his eyes in meditation, Ryoma was
interrupted to see a commercial start on a T.V. from the equipment shop. A little girl was swinging her
tennis racket without any care and seemed bored. Suddenly, a rosy-pink heart decoration appeared on
the girl's racket. Then, the girl practiced with her racket with more enthusiasm. The screen blacked out,
and Ryoma snapped back into reality. For such a lousy commercial, he was absorbed into it. His eyes
widened like saucers, and his chest began to ache all the more. Suddenly, a little girl (probably eight or
nine) dashed passed him. Ryoma's almond eyes never left her. She had trailing, black, twin-braids with
two lunch boxes at hand. Ryoma squinted to see the girl run after a young capped boy.
"Um...w-well, I-I brought y-you a lunch..." The braided girl told the boy.
"Thanks." The boy took it without another word, and the two walked off to the sunset. The
slight vibration from his pocket interrupted his thoughts. Taking out his cell phone, he answered it. He
still watched the pair.
"Hello?"
"Ah, finally you answer your damn phone!"
"Hi Dad."
"Are you coming back tomorrow or what? Your mother won't stop nagging me to call you."
Ryoma paid no attention, still watching the little boy and girl walk silently together. Why did this seem so familiar?
"Shonen? Hello? Are you listening? Are you coming-" Ryoma smirked; turning his attention back
to the familiar tennis-heart-ornament advertisement. His chest began to ache again. Back it faded away
when he finally spoke.
"I'm coming back."
To be continued...