Love is for Fools
A/N: Hey everyone! Make sure to read and review! Ryoma needs to fall in love… doesn't he?
Disclaimer: Not anything here is mine besides the plot and writing. Otherwise, I DO NOT CLAIM ANY CREDIT
Notes:Italics are thoughts, dreams, and flashbacks. Bold is for emphasis on words. Underlined words are notes.
alishonae - Don't worry my dear, no OCxRyoma in any of my fanfiction pieces. I don't like them either.
Chapter One: Return of the Mysterious Girl!
Ryoma suddenly was jerked awake by a hungry Karupin. He touched his face and realized there was a trace of blood there because Karupin had scratched him. His alarm clock had failed to wake him again, and he cursed, seeing as how he might be late if he didn't move. NOW. He jumped out of bed, throwing his sheets off, and shivered when the cold air hit his legs, but didn't stop. As he was trying to force on his shirt, Ryoma recalled the dream from last night. The cap-wearing boy decided that it was extremely abnormal, because A. he never had a relatively same dream /different conversations/ for two weeks straight and B. he had never dreamed about a girl talking to him about falling in love. That was particularly odd about it, but mostly, he had other things to think about, so he just got dressed and ran downstairs with Karupin trailing closely behind.
As he entered the kitchen, he smelt a Japanese-style breakfast and saw a smiling Nanako frying some eggs for him, as well. He quickly downed a bottle of milk and instead of eating the breakfast he was hungering for, nodded an apology at Nanako, grabbed a piece of toast, folded it, stuffed a newly fried egg in between, and ran towards the door. He sat down horridly and forced his shoes onto his feet, and tied them.
"So, boy, late again, hm?" his father mocked.
"Shut up, you could've woken me," he said as he grabbed his rackets, as well as a few other things and left, slamming the door purposely.
"So, you're finally here, eh, Echizen? How long were you going to make your senpai wait, ne? That's not a good habit. Not a good habit." Momo said impatiently.
"Momo-senpai, we're not going to make it, if you're in the mood to talk and not bike," Ryoma pointed out. /senpai is an older classmen/
"Hmph. Be grateful I wait, Echizen," Momo replied, beginning to pedal. "So why where you late today? You couldn't wake up or something?"
Momo didn't get any kind of answer, though. Ryoma was too deep in thought, which was rare, because he wasn't thinking about tennis. The older boy just felt offended, but when he sped up, the wind tore apart and possible conversation, so he gave up.
Ryoma was thinking about the dream. What in the world could she have been talking about? She's going to come to me? What's that all about? Why is she so mysterious? God… I need more sleep. It's getting to me, after all, dreams don't come real. For now, I need to think about how to break Kaidoh's new Camouflage Snake. I guess I'll just have to hit it before it disappears...
They arrived at Seigaku High School. Ryoma, too deep in thought to notice they had stopped, sat there. Momo, on the other hand, was seriously pissed that the golden-eyed boy would not freaking move, so he could lock his bike. After all, they only had 9 minutes left, and that would not do. Not do at all.
"OI! Echizen! Move it!" Momo yelled at his kouhai. /lower classmen/
"Aa..." the golden-eyed boy muttered. He was partially embarrassed that he had been caught off guard, so the cap-wearing boy moved. Quickly. He also pulled down his cap a little bit. Then, he turned around and yelled some thanks and took off towards his class room. On the way there, he greeted several people, dropped off his things, and got ready to live through the day. He suddenly remembered that that annoying Horio and his two friends would be there. The cap-wearing boy sighed, as he remembered that that Tomo girl or whatever her name was would be there. With Sakuno. Suddenly, he realized he was in front of his class, and entered it as stealthily as possible, wanting to just slide into his seat without notice. Ryoma, though, had no such luck.
Upon trying to get to his seat, Horio yelled, "Ah! There he is!"
And then, great ol' Tomo or whatever her name was, screamed, "Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka attempted to smother the golden-eyed boy with a huge glomp. Ryoma, foreseeing this, moved out of the way and she landed on big-mouthed Horio.
"Tomo-chan!" Sakuno exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
"Ah, get off me you WOMAN!" Horio said, blush faint.
"I never wanted to land on you, you butt-ugly, loud-mouth monkey!" Tomo replied, blush hidden behind her anger. "Eh? Ryoma-sama?" She looked around.
However, in the midst of the screaming, Ryoma had weaved his way through the rest of his classmates and got to his desk. Sighing, again, but this time with relief, Ryoma heard Katsuo and Kachiro's voice. Great, he thought. More of the trio.
"Ah! Ryoma-kun!" they said as they spotted him. Quickly weaving through the crowd, the two other Freshmen boys reached him. Ryoma would've said they looked worried or happy, but sad…
"Ryoma-kun, Ryoma-kun! We're getting a new coach because our old one fell down the stairs. They said some mysterious girl and Ryuuzaki-sensei were coming to coach!" Kachiro told him, voice happy, but trying not to show it.
"Really?" Ryoma asked, calm. Even though their old coach was an ex-professional, he had sucked… his name was something like, well whatever. The golden-eyed boy was merely happy that Ryuuzaki-sensei was coming back… but who was the other girl? Well, it doesn't matter, after all, so long as we have a competent coach. God knows I could've beaten that crappy coach in less than five minutes.
The bell rang, the teacher came in, and class for that day had begun. He was so happy they would be holding practice after lunch. Ryoma needed to meet this new coach and see how good she was, and, although he would never admit it, he wanted to see Ryuzaki-sensei again…
Sometime after lunch…
"Oi Echizen!" a familiar voice yelled from behind him. Ryoma moved over a couple steps, just as a certain Dunk Smash senpai was about to give him a friendly hello, while keeping him in a head lock. "You're no fun anymore," he muttered when Ryoma had moved out of grasp. "Well, anyways! Have you met the new coach? I heard that it's a girl… She's supposed to be here now, so let's go meet her. I hope she's cute. Ah, Fuji-senpai! What are you doing here?"
"Nmaaa… I'm just headed to the tennis courts. Tezuka's already there, apparently, so I was looking for Inui and Kaidoh to walk with. I need to ask them some stuff, but I'll just walk with you guys, okay?" the genius threw on his famous suggestivesmile. "Let's go…"
They walked the rest of the way in silence, each deep in their own thoughts. Momo was thinking about giant manjuus /pork buns/ and Shuusuke was thinking about his cacti and Ryoma was just thinking about tennis, like usual. He looked at the oh-so-familiar buildings around him. His oldest senpais would graduate soon, and that would stink. There'd be no Fuji to play with or Tezuka to play with. There'd be no Inui, Eiji, or even motherly Oishi… it was depressing, almost. Then they suddenly heard Tezuka's voice loud and clear, he was introducing the coach.
"Wait… the coach? Aren't there two of them?" Momo asked aloud. So, the three boys jogged over there to see what was happening. They were sucked into a cloud of people coming over to hug Ryuuzaki-sensei. They were crushed, smooshed, and sent tumbling every which way.
Shuusuke, being a genius, and having a deadly aura, was quickly let out. Ryoma threatened some… ugly things, so he got out second. Momo, being a kind, but powerful 2nd year, was let out third. Suddenly, Taka ran over with a racket in his hand, screaming BURNING and quickly clearing the crowd away from Ryuuzaki-sensei. Fuji calmly removed the racket from his hand and he turned around shyly to ask the bewildered sensei if she was okay. There was a discreet silence for neither uncomfortable nor awkward, just pleased. Then suddenly, everyone was there… except for the other coach. Suddenly remembering what he was going to ask, Momo came up to Ryuuzaki-sensei and asked, "Where's the other coach?"
Surprisingly, the old coach laughed aloud. "Oh, she'll be here. A ha ha ha ha ha! Don't worry about her, Tezuka. She'll make it, and Oishi, she's just late today because… she is," looking from Momo to Tezuka to Oishi. "It's okay! She'll be totally fine."
"Don't let your guard down, everyone! We'll have regulars on courts A and B, everyone else on C, D, E, and F!" Tezuka shouted. "Everyone, Inui has a new training drill. Without the juice, please, Inui. We'll be smashing into the basket to warm up! Aim precisely! Go!"
Without further ado, Ryoma and Shuusuke lined up to warm up. Then, it was Eiji and Oishi, after that, there was Momo and Kaidoh. They all smashed perfectly, while all the other freshmen were picking up balls. Lastly, there was Tezuka and Inui. Taka helped out and played when he could, but was no longer a regular.
Everyone was taller, Tezuka and Shuusuke the two tallest, with Inui and Oishi and Eiji following behind. Momo and Kaidoh were still arguing over who was taller, even though they were pretty muchthe same height. Ryoma was still the shortest, but that was because he was the youngest. Younger people are shorter… right?
Suddenly, as Tezuka and Inui were warming up, a voice came from behind Ryuuzaki-sensei. "Oi! Tezuka!"
All the third years froze. Right then and there. Tezuka and Inui missed the smash, Fuji opened his eyes all the way in shock, Eiji hid behind Oishi… All the oldest boys were in complete and total shock. Tezuka lost face composure, his face showed he was in partial shock too. Taka, who was helping hit lobs, froze, and just stared at the ground, dropping his racket. Clatter. It hit the ground, breaking the tense silence.
"No. Way," Oishi said aloud. "Our other coach… it's not her? Right?"
Tezuka regained his emotionless face. Shuusuke went back to his relaxed facial position and Eiji and Oishi laughed it off. It was impossible, it couldn't be her.
"Oh come on, guys! Don't be like that! I wasn't that bad, was I?" the mysterious voice said again, and out came a girl from the shadows.
"Who are you?" asked Ryoma, but then froze… He muttered, "You! You can't be, right?"
"Huh? You know her, Echizen? Who is she?" Momo asked.
Ryuuzaki-sensei sighed. "This is Hana, our other coach."
Hana's silver eyes glinted with amusement.
"Yo! Nice to see you again, everyone."