Hey guys! Gomen its a little late. Buzy with final projects & Art ideas...=.=''''...i mean seriously, 3 ideas within 1 week? U've gotta be kidding me.
This chap's a little long. Gomen. But hope u guys will enjoy it! ^.^
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Chapter 3 : The strength of a Buchou
Beauty can't be ignored. That is what is currently happening to Sora Ittoki.
Ginger color hair is quite common among people. But that is a different story for Sora. There is no specific color to describe it, but if you were to observe carefully, it looks as though her hair was a mix of rich auburn, dark copper and flame red altogether. Overall to say, it was a beautiful mix of reddish color. Appearing as layers, and falling shortly around her shoulders, her hair ends with an outward curl at the bottom.
Her eyes were another wonder. Instead of the usual brownish-red or brownish-orange, they were ruby with a tinge of gold. Eyes that were unique and amazing to others, but common in her own family.
Standing on an average height of 162cm, with a small oval face, slim figure, and wearing her white-blue 2-piece tennis uniform, you don't really have to ask why most of the tennis members had their jaws dropped when she entered the boys' tennis court.
Too bad she wasn't really interested in guys. For now.
'Not this reaction again...' Sora whined silently.
Most of the tennis members had this lovestruck face on them, one that she was quite used to already. Whispers of 'who is she' 'she's hot' 'does she play tennis' and many more that she dare not say, filled the air, before it was silenced by none other than their buchou. With all the members lined up, they all stared curiously at the red-headed girl who stood beside Tezuka.
Giving the bridge of his nose a final pinch, Tezuka started, "Minna. As you've all remembered, Ryuzaki-sensei had announced clearly that we were going to have a temporary trainer coming in today, to help us in our goal of reaching the Nationals." 'Yeahs' and and nods soon followed.
"Well.." He waited for Sora to step forward. "This is Ittoki Sora. I hope everybody will give her your fullest respect and attention for these next few months."
Sora continued. "Konnichiwa everyone. As Tezuka had said before, I'm Ittoki Sora, buchou of Seigaku girls' tennis club. I'll be looking forward to working with you guys, especially the regulars. So, dozo yoroshiku." Ending her introduction with a friendly smile.
Awes, relief and glee arise. Glad that their new trainer was not some old, cranky or weird person, but a girl instead. A pretty one too - that's a plus point.
As the innocent minds of the first years were just thinking about how amazing it was to be trained by a girl buchou, their seniors were currently thinking on a different lane.
'There's no way i'm ever gonna skip practice again she's gonna be there.'
'I'm soo going to amaze her with my skills.'
'I never knew there was someone like her in my year. Yosh! I've gotta get her attention.'
As for the regulars, they were just eager to know more about Sora, who seemed really close with their buchou.
Tezuka spoke up once more. "If there's any disagreement with this arrangem..." "I have one Buchou!" Everybody turned to look at the speaker, Arai, who had raised his hand.
"What is it Arai?"
With confidence, Arai said. "Well, i don't agree with us having her as a trainer." Most of his friends looked appalled by his statement but he decided to ignore it. "It's true that she may be the buchou of our girls' tennis team and to some of you guys, just because she is pretty, you agreed to it. But to me, she's still just a girl, Buchou! She can't be compared to the power of a boys' tennis team!" Arai gave a smug smirk to the girl in front.
Before Tezuka could step up and retort, Sora placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered. "Shussh...Kunimitsu. Please don't be mad. It's just his opinion. Let me settle this, please?" Tezuka turned to face the girl. Oh...what a big mistake he made. He knew that he couldn't resist that puppy face she had on.
'Why is God torturing me by making me helpless against these type of people? I gonna need my aspirin.' Giving a final sigh, he gave a nod to her, before backing away.
Sora whispered a silent 'thanks' to him before focusing her eyes on the brown hair kouhai. Really, that nerve..."So, you really think that a girl's strength cannot match up to a boy's?"
"Of course! Isn't that obvious already?" Arai replied smugly.
She took a look at Tezuka for a moment. Taking his nod as an agreement, she faced her kouhai once more, before letting down her tennis bag.
"Well then... ...if that's the case, i want to see how a boys' team tennis skill looks like." Taking out a white racket from her bag, she stood up before heading for an empty tennis court. "Unless.." Tilting her head to look back at Arai, "...you're scared of being proven wrong?"
All the tennis members, even the regulars, gaped at her challenge.
"Te-Tezuka! Shouldn't you stop this? She may get injured or troubled, facing Arai like this! You know how Arai is!" Oishi stared worriedly at the current situation.
"Hn. You'll see Oishi."
"B-Bu-Buchou..." Momoshiro's and Kaidoh's eyes widened in slight shock. Even the other regulars were surprised at their captain's confident response.
Ryoma took a look at the scene. "Hhmmmm...this is starting to get interesting..." He smirked.
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"Oohh...what do we have here?" A voice came up from behind the regulars.
"Ryuzaki-sensei!" Shouted all the surprised regulars.
Oishi quickly spoke up in concern. "Sensei! You've got to stop this now! She may lose. Or even worse, get injured!"
"Maa, maa Oishi. Calm down." She smiled, looking at her regulars. "If she's the one you guys are worried about, you better watch this match carefully. You never know if the wind decides to change direction." Taking a look at the red-head, she let out a slight smile. "Right, Sora?"
(On the court)
(Sora's POV)
With her racket strings already adjusted, she gave a shout out to her kouhai on the other side that he may serve first. Receiving a glare in response, she took a final glance of the sidelines. A new face came into view and was currently looking at her.
'Sensei! Would she stop this match?'
As though Ryuzaki-sensei had just read her mind, she gave a nod, meaning that she'd approve of this match. It was then followed by her sensei's hand, which was giving her a silent message.
'Hmmm...four ka? Seems like i can't disobey her. Got to follow what a teacher says after all..' Taking a look back at Arai-kun, I noticed that he was about to serve. Getting into a receiving position, I prepared myself for a slight thrill.
(Normal POV)
Everybody was confused at the silent message their sensei had just given Sora. They were even more surprised at the fact that Ryuzaki-sensei knew Sora.
"Baa-san. Do you know Sora-senpai?" Momoshiro asked.
"Of course. Baka! She is one of my students after all." She smacked Momoshiro's head, hard. "One of the maths whiz in my class. Right, Tezuka?" She smirked.
"Ah."
Bringing her gaze back to the starting match, "Not only that... ...she's also brilliant on the courts... ..."
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"Ittoki vs Arai. One set match. Arai to serve!"
Arai looked at his senpai who was at the receiving end. 'I'll show her what happens when anybody underestimate the power of us non-regulars!' Tossing the tennis ball up high, he placed his full power in his 1st serve.
"Hey! That's Arai's power serve! Guess he's really taking this seriously. Sora-senpai won't stand a chance if Arai continues this." exclaimed Ikeda Masaya, one of Arai's friend.
Landing with a loud 'thud', anybody could estimate how strong the shot was. The ball went past Sora, whom everybody presumed, was unable to return that heavy serve.
"15-love!"
"Uso! Arai got a service ace right off the bat!" Momoshiro exclaimed.
"Fsssuuhh...Sora-senpai can't even react to it."
"30-love!"
Momoshiro looked shock. "Unbelievable...is Arai's serve really that strong until Sora senpai don't even have the chance to return it?"
(Back at the courts)
'Ahaha! She's not that tough. Can't even return my serves!' Arai gloated before serving another power serve.
"Twack!"
'Huh? She returned my serve? Never mind...' Arai quickly reacted and send the ball back to the other side of where Sora currently is.
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"40-love!"
"E-Ec-Echizen...this is bad. If this goes on, Arai may win with all his serv...E-Echizen? What are you smirking about? Can't you that this match is so one-sided?" Momo was bewildered by the smirk on his friend's face.
"Hhmmm...Mada mada dane, Arai-senpai." Confused looks arise among the regulars, except for Ryoma, Tezuka and Fuji.
"What does Echizen mean Tezuka? I mean, even if Arai's isn't a regular, he's still one of the best non-regular we have!" The resident mother-hen was currently in a hectic.
"Saa ne... ...Why don't you just take a look at where her racket is?" Fuji gave a slight chuckle.
'Huh?'
"U-U-Us-Uso!" "Fshhuu!"
"No way nya! But i thought Inui said she's lef-..."
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(Back at the courts)
Arai was in his game. "What do you have to say now, Sora-buchou?"
A slight chuckle was heard from the girl. "Na-Nani?"
"Arai-kun. Take a look properly." Arai, confused, observe carefully. "What do you mean Buchou? All i could see is that you're losing!" He gave a smirk.
Sora just gave a small smile. "Didn't you hear what Inui-kun said earlier?"
"Yeah, yeah...i know all that! 3rd year, 1st class, 3 older brothers, left-hande-... ...KUSO! You mean you were just playing with me just now?" Arai shouted with rage.
Sora just shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know...why don't you see for yourself, A-rai-kun."
"Y-you! I'll show you!" Throwing another ball, he used his power serve once more, though it was returned a few seconds later.
'Never mind. I'll just score again like the previous time.'
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"Woah! Arai returned it to the other side of the court. Sugoi! Sora-buchou won't be able to get that one." A random person shouted.
Ryuzaki-sensei just smirk. 'I like to see that happening.'
"1-1-15-40..."
Loud 'huh's were heard around the court. Where did that sudden count come from?
"Huh? Nani? What just happened?" Momo asked, baffled.
Even Arai who was on the court, was baffled as he saw the ball rolling on his side of the court. "H-h-h-hayai..." His eyes wide.
"H-hey Baa-san. W-what just happened? I thought Sora-senpai was supposed to be there.." Momo pointed to the left side of the court. "B-but how come she's there now...and i didn't see the ball..."
"Well...you guys just have to focus better right, Tezuka?"
"Hn. Minna, just focus on her play."
"H-hai!"
Arai served once more, resulting in a return. 'I'm pretty sure that was a fluke. Gotta concentrate better.'
The ball went to the other side of where Sora was. However, like the wind, Sora had ran and reached the position of where the ball had just bounced, with more than enough time left to give a quick return, giving her another point.
"30-40!"
"Hayai..." Echoed among all the tennis members.
"Sugoi...she reached the ball just at the moment when the ball just bounced...at that distance too...She's fast." Kawamura said.
"Ii data... ... ...But i don't think that's all.."
"Hoi? What do you mean Inui?"
"Just watch."
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As quick as Sora was, the scores were too.
"Game, Ittoki. 1 game to love!"
"Woah...that was fast, right Echizen?...Echizen?" Momo took a look at his friend who was wide eyed.
Not only him, even Kikumaru-senpai, Fuji-senpai and Inui-senpai have the same reaction.
"Rikutsu janai..." Inui mumbled softly to himself, while he write something in his notebook.
"Nani? What are you saying Inui-senpai? That's nothing special with her play except that she's fast, right?" Momo asked curiously.
Fuji turned to him. "Ne..Momo. Why don't you and the others close your eyes and listen properly to her shots and serves. It'll be easier that way."
"Huh? If that's what you want us to do Fuji-senpai..." Momo closed both of his eyes. All the team members followed suit, except for Tezuka, Fuji, Ryoma, Inui, and their coach.
A ball bouncing was heard, indicating that she was about to serve.
'thud...'
"15-love!"
'th.u..d...'
"30-love!"
Both were service aces.
'th.u..d..."
"40-love!"
Blue eyes quickly snapped open. "Waah nya! That's impossible! Her returns were so..." Kikumaru exclaimed.
"..soft...I-inui-senpai. Is that even possible? I mean, her shots are extremely fast. They've got to have a lot of power and a loud impact right?" Kaidou asked.
Inui pushed up his glasses. "That's the usual logic Kaidou. But it seems that though her serves and returns are extremely fast, they apparently have little power in them to make it a light ball. It may sound like an easy ball to return, but it seems the amount of power she put in those shots are about 1/3 of our normal returns. So, the receiver has to adjust his power to be just enough in order to return it. Or else it'll be..."
"Out." Fuji continued. "Furthermore...can you return a ball that reaches the other side that quick?" he chuckled.
Momo was in awe. "Sora-senpai is amazing! But how is that kind of ball possible?"
Inui continued his thesis. "She may have eliminate most of the spins and power she had received from Arai. When she's gotten what she'd wanted, its possible that, instead of using her whole arm to return the ball, she may have just used her wrist instead."
That was true since for the last game, there was only a small arm movement from her side.
"With a return that uses the wrist only, that will also contribute to the soft shots that she used. Well...that's only based on my theory though..." Inui finished.
Tezuka add on. "Inui's right." Getting many 'huh's from his team mates.
"But Buchou, how do you kn-" "Shusshh...just watch Ryo-chan." Ryoma was interrupted by Fuji, earning a scowl-pout from the prince.
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"Game and the match, Ittoki. 6 games to love!"
'Woah..' 'Sugoi..' was heard around the court.
"Inui!" Tezuka asked, looking at his friend.
"7-7 minutes 14 seconds...Ii data..."As he quickly took down the new info.
"Hn." Tezuka looked back at Sora, with a soft smile on his face. 'Fast as always.'
"S-SUGOI SORA-SENPAI! SUGOI! NOTHING BUT SERVICE ACES AND RETURN ACES ALL THROUGH THE MATCH! A QUICK MATCH TOO!" Momo was now jumping in excitement.
"Fhssuuu...that was impossibly fast. But you don't have to act like a noisy monkey, baka." Kaidou retorted.
"Huh? What did you say mamushi?"
"You really want me to repeat that again? FSShuuhh..."
"HAHA! I dare you idiot!"
"Bastar-"
"Momoshiro-kun! Kaidoh-kun! 10 laps around the courts now!" A female voice interrupted their fight.
"H-hai! Sora-senpai!" Moving as quick as their mouths could move, before getting more laps from their 'starting-to-get-angry' Tezuka-buchou.
"Phew...that was a good match." Sora sat down on the bench which Tezuka was currently occupying.
Accepting the towel and bottle from the stoic buchou, she beamed. "Thanks Kunimitsu."
Fuji came before them. "That was a splendid play Sora-chan."
"Hoi, hoi! You were so fast! Even faster than i am!"
"Aha. Eiji's right. Fastest player i've ever seen so far." Oishi gave gracious smile.
Kawamura shyly added. "An incredible play, Sora-san."
"Yaru ja." Ryoma complimented, if you include 'not bad' as a compliment at all.
"Thanks minna!" Giving a pleased smile to her new friends.
"Expected of a buchou, ah Sora?" Ryuzaki sensei smirked, proud of her student.
"Ah! Sensei! Good afternoon." She greeted. "Though that was not based on my full power, it was still a nice game."
"Nya? Not-"
"..with.."
"..your."
"full power?" each member said simultaneously.
"Ah." Tezuka nodded.
Inui took a look again at his notebook. "Hmm...if i'm not wrong, that 'four' you showed Sora-san just before the match meant 40%, right sensei?"
"Right as always Inui. We can't be showing a buchou's full potential on a practice match can't we?"
"NYA! That means...you'll be extra super duper mega fast if you were to go 100% nya!" Kikumaru's eyes were now sparkling.
A slight laughter was heard. "I wouldn't go as far as that Kikumaru-kun. But maybe one day, you may just get the chance to see that."
"H-huff...huff..huff...but Sora-senpai, w-why did you call buchou by his first name? I mean are you guys close friends or something?" asked Momoshiro and Kaidou who had just returned from their run.
"Nani? But didn't Kunimitsu tell you?" Indications of 'no' were showed for an answer.
"Well, if you wanna know...Kunimitsu and I are neighbors. We're childhood friends, you see." Sora answered easily.
Silence followed.
"EEHHHHHHH?"
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(With Arai, on the courts)
"A-a-an-another monster just a-appeared...h-h-how many more did Kami-sama created?..." He sat down, with sweat profusely running down his face.
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Most typical chapter 4 me so far =.=''
Info bout Sora Ittoki's appearance – http:/s566 (dot) photobucket (dot) com/albums/ss109/redlovephoenix/?action=view & current=IttokiSora (dot) jpg
Its like that except fringe is parted to the left instead.
Read, Review & Enjoy! ^.^ (Of course pretty please with Kuranosuke, Takahisa, Syuusuke & Kiyosumi on top ^^)