Prince of Tennis (RyoSaku) Non-yaoi
Notes: Manga based, Ryoma is probably a little OOC (to me is seems like he ALWAYS is, sigh), other chapters to be posted soon, hopefully. Set sophomore (1st) year of High School.
I totally forgot to mention in the first post that this story was giving me ideas for the EWB sequel. So it might be related to it a bit… or not. Actually I originally wrote this around their graduation time (the seniors) but then I realized it wouldn't be that cold in March and also why would Ryoma get a scarf then? My dumb is fantastic.
This chapter is Ryoma's POV... It's short but the next one is long :D
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Ryoma flipped through another tennis magazine. He couldn't decide which to buy. All of them had nice stats on other players but none had any tips that would be helpful to him.
He looked up from his magazine when he heard a familiar noise from the other side of the magazine rack. He moved a couple of magazines around and peered through a crack between the shelves- yup, that whining was coming from Ryuuzaki Sakuno. Who else?
It looked as if she was looking through some manga but then she picked up a clear plastic bag from underneath the pile with some yarn in it.
Ryoma almost laughed as she looked at it for a moment and blushed. It was terribly, truly terrible, just like something out of some cheesy shojo manga. There she was, clutching the package tightly with a big blush on her face, probably thinking about making something for the guy she liked or something… … … Ryoma couldn't believe how silly it was. But he didn't realize that his face was turning a little red just watching.
Sakuno pulled some money out of her pocket and counted and then searched for a price tag. From the looks of things she didn't have enough. She started swaying back and forth and Ryoma rolled his eyes. Looked like it was time for him to step in and save her again. Really, always needing to be saved… what a bothersome girl. Well, maybe he's get something out of it. Like… uh, like a bento lunch or something…
Just as Ryoma was about to put the magazines back that he's been looking through he heard a loud "Eh?!" from the other side of the rack. He quickly looked through the crack again. There she was, talking to… Kikumaru Eiji! Looking up at him her face was getting even redder. What was going on?
"H-hello Eiji-senpai. Wh-what are you doing here?"
Huh? She was stuttering again. And did she just call him Eiji?
Ryoma leaned in closer but his hand slid on a magazine and he fell over while fallen magazines piled on top of him. He sighed and sat up, hoping that no one heard that.
Ryoma got up with a pile of magazines in his arms and started stacking them back on the shelf.
"Going to make anything for anyone in particular?" Eiji asked Sakuno.
"No!" Sakuno replied loudly.
Ryoma paused and put the magazines back on the shelf over the crack. He went to round the corner- he would just pass by and leave and it wouldn't be a big deal- but he paused when he heard Eiji ask her to make him the scarf and something about wanting a scarf from a cute girl.
Ryoma sighed and rubbed his head. It would be easier to leave once they did.
As if on cue, Eiji walked off and Sakuno quickly followed.
'Well,' Ryoma thought as he left the store, 'looks like I didn't need to rescue her after all. Good.' It was a good thing that Ryoma didn't need to help Sakuno out yet again, right? Then… why didn't it feel all that great?
He hurried on ahead; he didn't want either of them to catch up with him. But why? After all, Eiji was his friend and team mate. And Sakuno, well, this would be his fourth year knowing her. She was quiet and they hadn't talked that often until their senior year of junior high even though they'd known each other since they were twelve. He liked her just as much as he liked anyone else, he supposed. At first she was really bad at tennis but she'd gotten better. Pretty fast, actually. She could recognize moves and call games. Any way during that senior year of junior high they'd gotten pretty close, so… to him, she was…
Oh, well… she'd given him a present for his birthday last year and he was fairly indifferent about it he thought. After all, he got several… well, SOME presents, from his family at least, this time of year since it was Christmas and his birthday. But she had chuckled and said he actually looked happy so she'd remember to give him a birthday present the next year too. He wondered if she would actually remember.
