For the year after he left Seigaku, Ryoma practically disappeared. Now he's back and armed with a completely new and improved tennis style; ready to take on the Australian Open. But first, he has to get pass the Jr. Tennis Player Prelims. Featuring Tezuka, Kevin, Inoue, Shiba, possibly Atobe,

Reappearance of a Samurai

Chapter 4

Still don't own this anime

"Good job! Go Aang!" A woman shouted in English. Ryoga turned to look at her. She appeared to be in her 30's and had shoulder-length blonde hair and grey eyes. Beside her was a tall, beefy man whose black hair was tied back in a ponytail. He had a smug grin on his face. Curious, Ryoga cleared his throat, catching the twos' attention.

"Um excuse me. Do you know Aang?" He asked with no trace of an accent in his voice. Tezuka divided his attention between the match and Ryoga's conversation for a while and then went back to paying attention to the match.

"Yes, he is my foster child." The woman replied to Ryoga's question before turning back towards the match. Once again, Jack and Aang had entered a match between the Reversal and the Jack Knife. And once again, Jack lost. Regardless, he seemed to keep his cool. And prepared to serve the ball again.

"Did you two teach Aang how to play tennis?" Ryoga asked, turning again towards the couple. Surprisingly, the woman did not seem to mind being distracted from the match. Her partner, however, gave Ryoga a quick annoyed glance before turning back to the game.

My husband did, I only provided the snacks." The woman said with a small chuckle. Ryoga gave the man a slight glance. Ryoga turned just as the tie was broken in Jack's favor. He silently critiqued the Brit's every movement through his serve. Aang returned the serve with a Jack Knife and Jack winced as he tried a Reversal.

"That's the weakness of the Reversal however. It only uses one hand, whereas the Jack Knife uses both hands. Jack's wrist must be near its limit right now." Ryoga said aloud.

"Hm, quite the critic, huh?" The woman said slyly. Ryoga turned to look at her. She seemed happy to have someone to talk to and Ryoga had a feeling he already knew who was going to win at this rate.

"Well, I was born into tennis, so it's kind of second nature." Ryoga said with a smile.

"Really?"

"Yes ma'am. My dad was a former champ. He was going for the Grand Slam title before my step-mom had my little brother here." Ryoga said motioning towards Ryoma, who didn't bother turning around.

"Really? That story sounds really familiar...um, it was a really good player. My husband was obsessed with him for the longest time. Oh shoot, what was his name again...Nan-something."

"Nanjiroh. Nanjiroh Echizen." Ryoga said smoothly. The woman's husband looked down with great interest.

"You're Nanjiroh Echizen's son?"

"Yes sir I am, I-"

"Why hello, my name is Jefferey Oak and I used to be, er, still am actually, a huge fan of your father. I'm sure he doesn't want you answering, but I must ask, do you know if and/or when he will be coming back to tennis?" The man asked, showing a surpising amount of enthusiasm as he shook Ryoga's hand.

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what my father is planning. I've been living in dorms for the past few years, so his agenda is completely unknown to me." Ryoga said sheepishly. Jefferey sighed.

"Darn, oh well."

"Yeah. But I must say, you have taught Aang very well. His attacks are fast and strong and he's pretty light on his feet himself."

"Well, coming from Echizen's son, that means a whole lot."

"I'm glad that you hold my opinion in such high regard." Ryoga said before politely turning back towards the match. While he had been talking, Aang had made a huge comeback. He had taken the previous game from Jack and was now halfway through winning the third match. Jack was about to serve and his right hand was trembling. Too many Reversals had caused the muscles to tire.

"Hm..." Tezuka muttered as he entered the second door of Muga no Kyouchi. Jack was, surpisingly, going to win the next point. Tezuka then removed himself from the state and continued watching the match. Jack served the ball towards the outer edge of the service line. Aang attempted a Jack Knife, but somehow the ball began spinning and quickly collided into the metal pole at the end of the net.

"Impressive serve but geez, what's with this Jack kid and all of these risky moves?" Kevin thought aloud. Aang looked up and glared at Jack who smirked.

"You're making this game really fun!" Jack said as he served the ball again with a spinning serve. The Jack Knife once again was nullified.

"It would appear that the Jack Knife has been sealed." Ryoga said aloud with a small smirk on his face. Behind him, Jefferey frowned a bit.

"Don't worry about it Aang, you're still ahead! Don't let up!" Jefferey's wife shouted. By now, all eyes were on the court as Aang recieved yet another serve. Instead of using the Jack Knife, Aang attempted to counteract the spin by adding a counter-spin. Jack scoffed at the attempted as the ball soared to the other side of Aang's court without rising above the net.

"It looks like Aang is in quite the situation now." Ryoga mumbled. He heard Jefferey chuckle behind him.

"Don't worry. That stubborn little kid won't lose like this." The man said pridefully.

And here is chapter 4. I was meaning on putting more of a backstory for Aang in this chapter and then I wrote it. But I like the way it turned out. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the story. TRANSFORMERS 2 coming out soon. Totally gonna see it. please review