Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Finals are approaching so I won't update for awhile. Sorry!! Anyways I hope you enjoy this story. I'll update again as soon as possible!
The Prince of Tennis
Chapter 3
The Princess of Tennis…
The next day Gakuto ran to school and tennis practice. When he got there, he found that there was no one on the court yet and that surprised him. Usually Shishido and Choutarou would be practicing or at the very least Jiroh would be sleeping on one of the benches. Gakuto knew that he wasn't early and that the others were never usually late, so where was everybody? Going over to the club house, he expected it to be locked and was quite surprised when he found that it wasn't. Going inside he found the other seven Regulars there, five of them questioning Yuushi about something.
"What's going on?" he asked. The other members of the Regulars looked a little startled at the acrobat's arrival before Atobe decided to answer the acrobatic redhead player's question.
"Nothing important. Oshitari was just telling a very amusing story that he insists is true…"
"Because it is true," Yuushi interrupted. When he saw that Gakuto was confused he explained what the others obviously didn't believe. "After tennis practice on Saturday I went to the beach. It was going good for awhile but, all of a sudden, a huge storm came up and I was dragged under the water. While I was under there, a half woman, half squid creature must have grabbed me. When I regained consciousness, I saw a mermaid who had saved me years before being attacked by what was holding me. I can't really remember what happened next but the next thing I knew, I was on the beach and the mermaid was over me."
Gakuto's eyes widened when he heard that. No wonder the other Hyotei Regulars believed him. It was hard to believe the story unless the person who it was being told to was either a mermaid or someone who had come in contact with a mermaid. He came out of his thoughts when he heard Atobe say, "See, Gakuto. Oshitari's story clearly made up."
"It does seem hard to believe," he said slowly. Atobe looked triumphant while Yuushi looked a bit angry and disappointed. "However, I believe Yuushi." At that, both Atobe's and Yuushi's facial expressions changed to surprise. The other Regulars also reflected the surprised look on the captain and tensai's face, finding it hard to believe that the third year acrobatic tennis player believed the seemingly impossible story.
"Mukahi-senpai, no offence to you Oshitari-senpai, but why do you believe him?" Choutarou asked the smallest Regular. "What Oshitari-senpai said doesn't seem like it can happen now."
"Yuushi doesn't lie about things like that. Besides, how do we really know that it's not true? For all we know mermaids, sea demons and other mythical creatures could have existed at one time and still exist. I also don't see why something that happened has to make sense by modern ideas," Gakuto answered. He knew that it was true because 'he' was the mermaid who saved Yuushi but, like Sakura said, he couldn't say that. "And there is nothing to prove that it is made up."
All of the Regulars couldn't find anyway to counter those points. Two things they knew to be true; Yuushi didn't lie and they couldn't they prove that Yuushi made it up. The other two points were good as well but it was hard to think that some things couldn't be explained.
"By the way, shouldn't we have started practice by now?"
Afternoon
After practice that afternoon, Gakuto had just left the Hyotei campus and was heading home when he heard someone call his name. Turning around, he saw Yuushi running to catch up to him. Soon, his Doubles partner had caught up to him.
"Hey Yuushi," he greeted the tensai. "Do you need something? Because I know that we didn't plan for doing anything."
"Actually, no, I don't need anything. I just wanted to thank you for believing my story of what happened last weekend."
"Oh, it was nothing. And besides, I have had an encounter that would seem unbelievable."
The blue haired boy blinked at the smaller boy, surprised that the redhead would have some unbelievable thing happen. So he asked, "May I ask what that encounter was? It might be unbelievable to anyone else but I think that after what happened to me would make it believable."
Gakuto grinned up at his partner and nodded while internally yelling at himself for saying that. After that, he asked Yuushi if he would like to go to the street tennis courts and play some games promising that he would tell him what the encounter was on the way. Yuushi nodded and they began to walk toward the street tennis courts.
Gakuto was silent for a few minutes, trying to figure out how to tell Yuushi about Namiko without making it seem like a too big of deal, after they began walking before he began to tell Yuushi about his encounter.
"It happened a few days ago. I was down at the beach, walking on the beach. I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. When I looked, I thought that my eyes were playing tricks on me. I saw a mermaid." Yuushi blinked in surprise at his Doubles partner and refrained from asking questions. The acrobat continued, "She had really long wavy blue hair. If she was human I think that it would go down to her ankles, even though it wasn't straight. Her tail was a dark blue color. After I saw her though, she dove back under and must have swum off. I don't think that I'll ever see her again. Ne, Yuushi? What did the mermaid who saved you look like?"
Yuushi gave a small smile as he remembered the mermaid that had saved him twice now. "She had hair like the mermaid's that you saw only it was magenta. Her tail was dark magenta as well. Her eyes were ruby and she wore a seashell locket."
"Sounds that she might like magenta a lot," Gakuto commented. Yuushi nodded in agreement and then sighed. The smaller boy noticed the sigh and asked his double partner what was wrong.
"It's nothing. I'm just wondering if I'll ever get to see her again," the bluenette admitted. "I would at least like to know her name or learn more about her. One question that I would like to know the answer to the most is why she saved me. I don't get why she saved me the first time. I can sort of understand the second time and the reason that she came back might have been to retrieve the pearl she told me to keep after she saved me the first time but other than that, I'm confused." The wine haired boy looked at the ground as he thought over Yuushi's question.
The two were silent for the rest of the walk to street tennis courts. Once they got there though, they heard an "I will NOT!" coming from the courts. Their curiosity piped up and they wandered over to see what the commotion was about.
The scene that appeared was not too surprising. Atobe and Kabaji were standing on the tennis courts with all the other players on the ground. Standing near the two Hyotei members was a tan girl with short black hair and dark brown eyes. She was glaring at the two boys and it was easy to guess what happened. Gakuto's eyes widened slightly upon seeing the girl.
'Sakura,' he thought.
"Atobe-buchou, did you beat all the players here just to get a date with her?" Yuushi asked as both he and his Doubles partner walked over to their captain. The three on the court turned to see the tensai of Hyotei and his Doubles partner. Atobe smirked.
"Ore-sama is guilty as charged. Ore-sama did ask her to just go on a date with Ore-sama but she said that she wouldn't go unless Ore-sama beat all the players here. As you can see, Ore-sama did."
"Really? You beat all of these players? I wouldn't say that. In reality, you just stood back and let your partner beat them," somebody said. They all looked over and saw a person with a tennis bag over their shoulder leaning against a nearby tree. He was small but had a confident air that made him seem larger. He was wearing blue sports shorts, a green t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a green beanie that partially hid his golden-hazel eyes from view.
He regarded Atobe silently for a moment before speaking again. "How about this, seeing as you didn't beat anyone here, I'll play you in a singles game. One set match, standard rules. If you win, you did as she told you to do and can go on your date. If I win, you did not do what she required you to do and, therefore, you must leave her alone. Sound fair?"
Atobe 'hmph'ed. "Ore-sama has no reason to play you."
"Then I guess that I automatically win as you refuse to play."
"You do not. The only type of tennis games that are played here are Doubles and therefore Ore-sama cannot play you, since you do not have a partner."
"Oh, I'm sure that no one here will mind us playing one singles match." He looked around and saw no one give any objections. He smirked and turned back to Atobe, saying, "As there are no objections, we will play. Unless, of course, you're too scared that you'll be defeated or think that your tennis skills are not that good. But, then again, you'll lose if you refuse to play. So you would have to either take the chance that you will win or lose your 'date'."
The Hyotei Doubles partner's eyes widened at the comments. Whoever this guy was had just insulted Atobe and his ability to play tennis. This was going to get ugly once Atobe agreed. Once, not if. Already, Atobe's face was red with anger and it looked as though he had to put a lot of effort into not yelling at the guy. Finally, Atobe managed to growl, "Fine, Ore-sama will play you."
The guys smirk became wider after he heard that. Walking over to one of the benches, he put down his bag and brought out a green racket. He looked at the other players and asked for someone to be the referee. He then came up to the net and shook hands with Atobe.
"Good luck. May the best player win," he said as he let go of Atobe's hand.
"He will," the Hyotei player relied obviously referring to himself. He then set the wider end of his racket on the ground. "Rough or smooth?"
The guy thought for a moment before saying "Rough."
Atobe spun the racket. After spinning a few times, it finally landed. Both players looked at it and found it to be smooth. Atobe chose to serve first. The referee then began to announce the match.
"This is a best of one set match. Atobe against…" he trailed off, unsure of Atobe's opponents' name. The guy noticed his confusion and said, "Call me Ryu."
"Ah, thank you. Atobe against Ryu. Atobe to serve." Atobe bounced the ball a few times before he threw the ball up and hit it toward the opposite court. After it bounced once the Ryu returned it. The rally went on for a few minutes before one scored the first point of the game.
"Luv, fifteen." Atobe growled at the announcement.
"Lucky shot. But Ore-sama will still win," he growled as he served again. That serve and the next two were the same as the first serve.
"Game to Ryu. Ryu leads. One game to luv. Change courts."
Yuushi, Gakuto and Kabaji couldn't believe that Atobe had lost his serve so easily. Even when he played Tezuka he had gotten some points on his service game. Yet, he had not managed to get a single point.
"He's good. I wonder what school he attends," Yuushi said. Gakuto nodded in agreement to the statement. If he went to Hyotei, then how did they miss him? But if he went to another school and was a Regular, Hyotei was going to have to train a lot harder than they already were to beat his school. He pulled himself out of his thoughts to see Ryu getting ready to serve.
He served a very easy serve to return and, after a rally, Atobe scored a point. Ryu looked at the ball before turning to Atobe. "Not bad," he said. He then picked up the ball and got ready to serve again. This time though, the serve was different than it was the first time. It bounced towards Atobe's face instead of going to the left.
"A Twist Serve?!" Gakuto gasped in surprise. How was he able to do a Twist Serve? That was a hard serve to do. Ryu had gotten another ball and was preparing to serve. Most likely another Twist Serve. He was right. This time though, Atobe was able to return it but still lost the point.
The game pasted quickly and it was the final game. Atobe had won three games while Ryu had won five. Atobe had also lost the first two points of the game and didn't look too happy at the fact that he was losing. Ryu glanced at the watch he was wearing and then turned to Atobe, saying, "Sorry, but I've got to go pretty soon. Hope you don't mind me ending this quickly."
"You won't win, if that's what you mean by ending this quickly. And if you need to go, feel free to forfeit," Atobe replied.
"Oh? I won't forfeit. I'll just score two aces," he answered as he tossed the ball up to serve. He hit it toward the service box where Atobe was waiting. However, all the people watching got a big surprise. After the ball hit the ground, it bounced straight up. All of them were stunned and Ryu scored his first ace. He then prepared to serve again and served a different serve. This time, it bounced backwards and hit the net.
Everyone was silent until Ryu said, "That was a good game. But I have to get going. I hope that you'll get better by the next time we play." He walked over to his bag and put the racket away before he left the silent court. Everyone on the courts watched him go before they decided to go home. Atobe was still standing on the court. The other three Hyotei players came over cautiously.
"Are you okay, Atobe?"
"Ore-sama is fine Oshitari. Ore-sama is just surprised at his skills."
"You and everyone who was watching the match."
After she left the street tennis court, Ryuna thought back on the game she had just won.
'That match was really fun! Even Nii-san can't win three games against me. But then again, I didn't use any trick shots until the very end of the match. Oh well…either way it was a fun match. Now, where is Seigaku?'
She continued to walk down the street until she found Seishun Academy. 'Found it! Now to find the principals office and get my schedule,' she thought as she approached the building. She got lost a few times before finding the principal's office but she wasn't surprised. She would learn the school's layout soon enough. Ryuna then knocked on the door and upon receiving permission, entered.
Once inside she saw the principal and a woman that was probably one of the teachers. She bowed upon entering.
"I hope that I'm not interrupting anything but Okaa-san wanted me to get my schedule today instead of tomorrow when I start school here," she explained after she straightened up. The man nodded and asked for her name. When she gave it, she noticed that the teacher's eyes had widened slightly. She was confused but didn't ask. The principal then handed her schedule and gave her a short lecture on rules and protocol at the school. She listened silently until he dismissed her.
Ryuna was a little ways down the hall when she heard her name being called. Turning around, she saw the teacher who had been with the principal. The teacher came up to her and then said, "Welcome to Seigaku, Ryuna. My name is Ryuzaki Sumire."
"Pleasure to meet you, Ryuzaki-san."
"I hope you don't mind my bluntness but I was wondering if you were related to Echizen Nanjiroh."
Ryuna blinked before answering, "He's my father. Do you know him or are you one of his former fans?"
"Me? A fan?" she barked with laughter. "Hardly…actually I was one of his teachers when he attended Seigaku and his tennis coach."
"Honto ni? I would have never guessed. You don't look as though you taught here when Oyaji came here. I would have thought that you would look older. That was how Oyaji described you anyways."
"Let me guess…old hag." Ryuna nodded somewhat meekly, like she was scared that she would get in trouble because of her father. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to it from him. But I didn't want to talk to you about your father. I wanted to know if you would join the tennis club."
"I don't know. I was going to decide tomorrow after watching the club."
"Well, why don't you come have a look at it now? The Regulars are still practicing and I have to get down there anyways. I'm the coach."
Ryuna thought for a moment before saying, "Well, I don't see any reason not to. Just let me call Okaa-san to tell her that I'll come home with Nii-san." Coach Ryuzaki nodded and Ryuna called her home. After a short conversation, Ryuna said that she was ready to go down to the tennis courts. Coach Ryuzaki nodded before leading the way to the tennis courts.
When the two got there, they found the eight Regulars running laps around the court while four boys watched. A second later, a yell of "BURNING! OUT OF MY WAY! BURNING!!" echoed across the courts eventually followed by "ECHIZEN!" All eight left running then came around the corner and sprinted past a tall, bespectacled guy with a stop watch and a pitcher of red juice in his hands.
Once they had all past him, at the exact same time, they all collapsed, out of breath. Ryuna blinked a few times, not really understanding the reason to sprint. Running timed laps, she understood. Running timed laps like Death was on their heels, she was lost at. She must have looked confused or something because Coach Ryuzaki began to explain what was going on.
"The team runs laps to improve their speed and stamina. However, if they don't complete the lap by a certain time, they have to drink Inui's latest juice. Also, when the last lap is announced, the last person to finish must drink a different juice. Therefore, they would have to drink Inui's juice."
"Ah. That makes sense. Then I take it that I don't want to drink the juice by choice if I join," Ryuna said. By the look of it, only two people seemed to like that stuff; one was the maker of it while the other was a smiling brunette who had asked for a glass of it even though he was one of the people who were sprinting not to be last. All of the boys had turned to the two when they heard Ryuna speak up. She didn't like all the attention but she didn't let them know that. Instead she regarded them all silently and looked for her brother. He wasn't that hard to find as he was standing near the front. Their eyes locked for a minute before somebody else spoke up.
"Sensei, who is this? I haven't seen him around before. Nope, I haven't," a guy with violet eyes and hair that defied gravity said. Before Ryuzaki-sensei could answer, a red head bounced up.
"Nya! He looks a bit like Ochibi-chan! Ne, ne! Are you related to Ochibi-chan?"
"Who's 'Ochibi-chan'? There probably are a few people who could fit that description if you didn't notice. And to answer the first question and query, you can call me Ryu for now and you probably haven't seen me around because I haven't started school here yet. Tomorrow will be my first day."
"Saa. Are you planning on joining the club?" the smiling brunette asked. Ryuna shrugged.
"I honestly don't know. I was going to come down tomorrow and see whether or not I would like to join but Coach Ryuzaki asked if I would like to come down now. So, I came down to see if it would be worth my wild."
"Well, why don't we have a game?" Ryuna turned to one of the players in front, more specifically her brother. "I'll play you. Then you can decide if the club is 'worth your wild'." Ryuna thought over it before she smirked.
"Why not? It will be interesting to see one of the Regulars play and I would be able to decide quicker if I play a game. I'll play, but only if it's alright with the coach and captain. Otherwise you'll have to wait until later."
"I'm fine with it. Tezuka?" Coach Ryuzaki asked the stoic ninth grader. Tezuka stared at her for a minute before nodding. Ryuna bowed as she thanked them. She then grabbed her racket out of her bag and followed her brother onto the court. Once on the court, they exchange a handshake and decided who would serve first. The racket had landed opposite of her call so Ryuna got ready to receive the serve. The Regular with gravity defying hair then began to announce the match.
"This is a best of one set match. Echizen against Ryu. Echizen to serve." The other club members and coach gathered along the outside of the fence to watch. She heard one of the boys saying that Ryoma was sure to win since he was using his left hand. Another was bragging that he could probably beat 'him' with his two years of tennis experience. Ryuna mentally rolled her eyes at the comment before turning her mind back to the game.
Ryoma had just tossed the ball up and was about to hit it. The racket contacted and she ran forward to return the ball. The ball bounced toward her face but she had been guessing that would happen. She easily sent it back, much to the surprise of the other club members. The rally continued for five minutes before Ryuna smashed the ball and won the first point. The match continued like that with both player scoring points. They had five deuces until Ryoma took the first game.
"Game to Ryoma. Ryoma leads one game to luv. Change courts."
As they passed each other when they were changing court sides, Ryoma said, "You're holding back. Play seriously." Ryuna smirked at the comment.
"Mada mada dane," was her reply. Those that had heard the exchange became even more confused. It sounded like Ryoma knew 'him' or at least 'his' tennis style. If that was the case, why hadn't he just said 'hello' or something instead of challenging 'him' to a tennis match?
Ryuna had retrieved a ball and was preparing to serve. As she bounced the ball, she ran through all the serves she could do. A normal Slice Serve would be too easy for him to counter; he knew that she could do a Twist Serve and could counter it just as easily; the 'Changing Tide' was a new serve and she didn't want to show it again just yet; that left the 'Splash Serve'. So he knew it, but it was a difficult serve to return. That should make him happy and she could shock the whole tennis club with it. With her serve decided, she tossed the ball in the air and hit the ball with the correct amount of spin and power required to execute the Splash Serve.
Ryoma was already in position to counter the serve. However, when the ball bounced straight up, he had a look of shock and surprise on his face. He obviously hadn't been expecting her to use her Splash Serve. The other club members were shocked at the serve. They had seen a normal Slice Serve and a Twist Serve but that serve was so different. Instead of bouncing to one of the sides, it had bounced straight up. They had never seen anything like it. Actually, Ryuna would have been surprised if they had seen something like it. She had created the serve trying to keep it something that no one had ever seen before playing her. Besides that, it was very hard to serve correctly. It had taken her two full years to get it just perfect. Unless somebody practiced almost everyday for an hour a day for two full years; it was impossible to serve. And even after mastering the serve, she devoted at least thirty minutes of her time everyday to practicing it since it was one of her harder serves.
"Is that serious enough for you?" she asked Ryoma. Ryoma smirked.
"Yeah but you had better keep it up or I'll beat you," was his reply. Ryuna shook her head at the answer as she picked up another ball. She hit another Splash Serve and Ryoma countered it using a different technique than he usually did. However, the new shot was nothing to get excited about; it looked similar to one of her older shots. She hit the ball back and another five minute rally ensued. Eventually, Ryuna scored the point. She continued to score points until she won the match.
"Game to Ryu. One game all."
Ryoma once again served a Twist Serve and a long rally began. Eventually though, Ryuna won the game. They changed courts and Ryuna once again used her Splash Serve. This time though, the game changed a little.
When she was charging at the net, Ryoma hit a shot that she passed. The rest of the tennis club thought that it was Ryoma's point but she surprised them again. As the ball bounced behind her, Ryuna stopped her forward momentum by bending her knees and pulling herself into a forward crouch. Once she was closed to stopped, she pushed herself back into a back flip. While upside down she got her racket under the ball before she pushed her legs over her head and volleyed the ball while flipping over to land on her feet. The ball landed on the line making the game hers.
"Game to Ryu. Ryu leads three games to one." All the club members were stunned that this new guy seemed to be beating the Prince of Tennis so easily. No one except Tezuka had ever done that when they first played him. All the shots Ryoma hit had been easily countered and some of 'Ryu's' shots they had never seen a variation of before. The Regulars were beginning to wonder if this kid had ever played in the professional level; 'he' certainly had the skills that could compete with the pros. The next two games also went to Ryuna making the score five games to one.
"Come on! I thought that you could do better than win only one game!" Ryuna yelled as she prepared to serve the final ball. Ryoma glared at her but she didn't mind; she had been on the receiving end of his glares since they were little so they didn't intimidate or scare her. She served her Splash Serve again and immediately charged at the net. Ryoma hit it past her and she did the volley that required her to do a back flip. This time however, her hat fell off while she was upside down and her braid unraveled itself from its hidden position. She still managed to do a perfect volley but everyone there, except for Ryoma and Coach Ryuzaki, were stunned.
Her waist long braid had fallen out from under her hat and everyone could see that she was a girl. She rolled her eyes at the shock of everyone else before she put her hat back on, not bothering to tuck her braid back up under her hat, and walked up to the net.
"Not bad. But I thought that you would be able to win more than one game, Nii-san," she said as she extended her hand to Ryoma. If everyone was stunned that a girlbeat Ryoma, they were even more stunned when she called Ryoma 'older brother'.
"Che. Whatever. But you were still going easy on me. I know that you have more trick shots besides your 'Splash Serve' and 'Dolphin Volley' and you were playing with your wrong hand. Also, didn't you find any time to create any new trick shots?" he asked as they shook hands. Ryuna just smirked and didn't answer. Just then Ryoma was attacked by one of his senpais.
"Ochibi-chan! Why didn't you tell us that you had a little sister? She's really good at tennis and she's so kawaii!" the hyperactive red head player asked as he glomped the youngest Seigaku Regular. Ryuna blinked at the red head's antics and the compliments as well as his hyperactive personality while her brother tried to push the older boys' arms away from his neck so that he could breath. The redhead then released her brother and bounced over to land in front of her.
"Hi! I'm Kikumaru Eiji but you can call me Eiji! You're really good at tennis. Is Ryu really your name? Because it doesn't seem like a girl's name. How long have you been playing tennis for? Will you join the team? You're good enough to join. If they don't let you join will you still watch us and maybe give us tips? Will you come and watch the practice matches that we have tomorrow against Hyotei?"
"Eiji! Calm down and give her a chance to catch her breath before she answers any of your questions," Coach Ryuzaki instructed him. Eiji made a conscious effort to calm down but that didn't stop him from bouncing on the spot. Ryuna nodded in thanks towards Coach Ryuzaki before she answered.
"It's nice to meet you Eiji. No, my name is not Ryu; it's Echizen Ryuna but, please, call me Ryuna or Ryu so that I don't get confused when you want to talk to Ryoma. I can't remember how long I've been playing tennis for but it's been a long time. I'm not sure if I'll join yet since Nii-san could have waited until we got home and I had an unfair advantage since I already knew his playing style. And if I can't join then I would be happy to help everyone improve. Sure, I will come to watch the practice matches tomorrow," she answered as she watched Eiji bounce. Didn't this guy ever run out of energy? She then decided that she shouldn't worry about that. By then the other club members had come out of their stupor and introduced themselves.
Ryuna then sat out of the rest of practice since she was unsure if she was on the team or not. While she waited for the practice to end she alternated between watching the practice and memorizing at her schedule. The practice ended soon and Ryoma and Ryuna walked home.
The Next Day
The next day, Ryuna was the first one to wake up. She was too nervous to go back to sleep so she settled for getting ready for school. While she was getting dressed, she mentally debated with herself on whether or not she should wake Ryoma up. In the end, she decided not to; her older brother slept like the dead and was nearly impossible to wake up in the mornings. That and he had a bit of a nasty tendency to hurt anyone who got him up so early unless it was Karupin.
Once she was dressed and had made sure that she had everything that she needed packed in her bag, Ryuna went downstairs to make breakfast. Since she had just moved here from America, and was tired of Western food, she decided to make a traditional Japanese breakfast for everyone. Not long after she had started preparing the food, Nanako came down.
"Ohayo Nanako. I hope you don't mind that I already started cooking," Ryuna greeted when she noticed her older cousin.
"Ohayo Ryuna. No I don't mind at all. Would you like some help making breakfast?" Nanako offered noticing the amount of food that was out. Ryuna nodded gratefully to the offer.
"Not a Western breakfast?" Nanako questioned after seeing that there was almost nothing that would usually go into making a Western breakfast. Ryuna nodded again.
"I just moved here from America and am tired of having Western food everyday. Right now, I want to have some Japanese food." Nanako nodded in understanding as she turned back to helping her younger cousin prepare breakfast.
Once they were done both Nanjiroh and Rinko came down. They had just begun to eat when Nanjiroh decided to comment on how Ryuna looked today.
"Shoujo no tsuki…" Ryuna looked at her father when she heard his nickname for her. She knew that it would be some comment on how she looked since he always was saying that she wasn't girly enough or that she should where girls' clothes and act more like a girl. "Why are you wearing the boys' uniform? You would look prettier if you wore the girls' uniform. And you should let your hair out of that braid or at least style it differently."
'I was right. He's talking about how I look, again,' she thought after hearing the comments. She rolled her eyes at her father and said, "I prefer to wear the boys' uniform and I don't care if I look prettier in the girls' uniform. Also, I like the braid. Now stop telling me what I should look like or act like because I am not changing my style just for you." Ryuna then finished her breakfast and grabbed her stuff. She then yelled, "I'm going! I'll come home with Ryoma! Ja!" as she opened the door. Both Rinko and Nanako wished her luck at school and Nanjiroh yelled something that sounded like 'get a boyfriend'. She shut the door before he could make any more comments and headed to the street.
Once she was on the sidewalk, she heard the sound of an approaching bicycle. She automatically moved to the right to let the bike pass but was surprised when it stopped in front of her house. The biker then gave a greeting to her.
"Ohayo Ryuna-chan." Ryuna turned toward the familiar voice and saw Momo in front of the house.
"Ohayo Momo-chan," she greeted. Unlike most people her age, she had no problem calling Momo by his preferred nickname. Then again, he wasn't a senpai to her since she was in the same grade as Momo and Kaidoh. "I didn't know that you came by our house this early in the morning."
"I come to pick up Ryoma for tennis practice in the mornings everyday. I also pick him up on days we have matches," Momo admitted. Ryuna smiled at the reason that he was here so early.
"That's really kind of you. But Ryoma's not up yet and it's highly unlikely that he will be up in a minute. You should get going because I seriously doubt that you want to do any punishment laps or be the guinea pig for Inui's newest drink."
"That's true, too true. Well, would you like a ride to school? I don't see a reason that you have to walk when I can give you a ride, nope, there's no reason at all." Ryuna giggled at Momo's repetition.
"I don't see why not either. Thanks, Momo-chan," she agreed as he helped her get on the back of the bike.
"It's no problem. Are you ready to go?" At Ryuna's answer of yes, he began to pedal down to Seigaku. On the ride there, Momo told her about what tennis practices were usually like from the normal things that didn't get them killed to the amount of laps Tezuka could give them for anything and Inui's punishment drinks. Ryuna also told Momo about the training that they had in America that was that hard, if not harder, and came without the threat of a drink that tasted so horrible that almost everyone passed out after a glass. They soon arrived at Seigaku and saw other members of the tennis team arriving or already warming up. Some of the members were surprised that Ryuna was riding on Momo's bike instead of her brother. But, they knew that Ryoma liked to sleep and guessed that Ryoma hadn't been up to catch the ride so Ryuna had gotten the ride to school.
Ryuna once again watched the boys' practice before she decided to go and find her classroom. Once she got there she spoke to the teacher as the rest of the class filed in. She saw both Kaidoh and Momo from the Regulars and was glad that she at least knew two of her classmates. Once everybody was seated and attendance had been taken, the teacher asked Ryuna to introduce herself. After answering some questions that the class had, she took her seat and the lessons for the day started.
Afternoon
Once classes were over for the day, Ryuna followed the arguing Momo and Kaidoh out to the tennis courts. Why they were arguing, she had no idea. She just followed them down to the courts and stayed out of the argument while vaguely wondering if this was normal. When they got there, the boys found everyone else, including Ryoma, already in the locker room. Ryuna had disappeared once they were near the tennis courts but they were sure that she would be back to catch the bus.
When the nine had come out of the clubhouse, they found Ryuna standing next to Coach Ryuzaki. She was wearing her sports clothes and a green baseball hat. She hadn't bothered with putting her braid under the hat, but let it swing as she moved. The Regulars didn't really think much of her having changed into sports clothes. That had been her choice and she could help them warm up with a light game. Once they were all out, they followed Tezuka to the bus and headed to the tennis courts they had booked for the practice matches against Hyotei.
Afternoon; Tennis Courts
While the Seigaku members were heading over to the courts, the Hyotei members were already there and busy setting up for the matches. At least the non-Regulars were. The eight Regulars were watching the set up going on or thinking ahead to their matches against the Seigaku Regulars. Gakuto couldn't wait to play Eiji again and actually play the Golden Pair. He was still disappointed that he and Yuushi hadn't been able to play the Golden Pair during the tournament but he was looking forward to this match. While he was thinking about the matches, he saw a familiar person walking by with eight boys. The person that was familiar was Sakura and with her was the Rikkai Dai boys' tennis Regulars. As soon as he noticed that Rikkai Dai was here, he pointed it out to the other Hyotei Regulars.
"Guys, why is Rikkai Dai here?" The other members followed Gakuto's gaze. They were all surprised but for the most part they shrugged it off. Then Yuushi noticed the one girl with them.
"Hey Atobe, isn't that the girl that you tried to go on a date with yesterday?" The Regulars who didn't know what happened looked confused while Atobe looked harder at the only girl.
"It is. What is she doing with the Rikkai Dai boys?" Gakuto mentally hit himself at Atobe's question.
'Can't they notice that she looks like the fukubuchou of the team?! At the very least can't they see that their hair and skin is nearly the same color?!' he screamed in his mind. They were supposed to be smart and yet they couldn't see something that obvious?! Well, he couldn't fault Jiroh on that since he was asleep almost twenty-four seven but still, he thought that the rest would be able to see that Sakura and Genichirou looked like they were related in someway! He got tired of the stupidity of his teammates and decided to point out the obvious, "Hey, doesn't she look a lot like Sanada?"
The other members of the Hyotei Regulars studied the two before they saw that Gakuto was right; she did look a lot like Sanada. While they were watching, the 2nd year ace, Kirihara Akaya noticed them and pointed to them while speaking to his captain. The others with him looked to where he was pointing before they walked over to the Hyotei team.
"Ah, Atobe, I didn't think that you would be here. However, I'm glad that you are. We wanted to discuss something with you," Yukimura said as he stopped in front of the Hyotei captain. The other boys stopped behind their captain with the girl standing a little bit behind Sanada and Yanagi. All of the boys looked a little cross or annoyed at Atobe. It didn't take rocket science for Gakuto to figure it out. The others though, were at a loss at what the Rikkai Dai Regulars could want with their captain.
"Oh? And what did you wish to discuss with Ore-sama?" Atobe politely asked.
"Sanada's sister, Sakura, tells me that you tried to force her on a date with you. I wanted to see if it was true."
"Ah. Is Sanada-san's sister the one standing behind Sanada-san and Yanagi-san?" At Yukimura's nod, Atobe said, "Ore-sama did ask her to go out on a date with Ore-sama, but she refused. Ore-sama does not see how that is your concern."
"That's not what she said and it is our concern," Nioh growled. While the other players didn't show too much anger, Nioh was downright glaring at the Hyotei captain. Apparently he had gotten very mad when he heard that Atobe had tried to force Sakura to go on a date with him.
"That is true," Yagyuu agreed with his partner. The bespectacled Rikkai Dai player regarded Atobe over the rim of his glasses before adding, "From what she said, she just barely got out of going on a date with you."
Before anyone else got to say something, another voice broke in.
"What's going on? I didn't know that Rikkai Dai was going to come but we could probably have practice matches against two other schools if that was the plan." The members of Hyotei and Rikkai Dai turned to see Tezuka and the rest of the Seigaku Regulars had just arrived. The one who had spoken was the fukubuchou-slash-mother-hen of Seigaku. Sanada then answered Oishi's question.
"There is no need for that. We simply wanted to talk to Atobe about something. If you don't mind, will you spare us a few more minutes to talk to him?" Before anyone from the Seigaku team could answer, Atobe spoke up.
"No. Ore-sama at the very least will not spare anymore of his valuable time talking to you. If you wish to discuss it later, Ore-sama will be kind enough to grace you with his presence at some later date."
"Sounds like you just want to avoid the issue. Why does that not really surprise me?" somebody said when Atobe turned away. Atobe turned back around when he heard that comment.
"Oh? What makes you say that Ore-sama is avoiding the issue? And why do you say that it doesn't surprise you?"
"No reason, except it seems that you just try to get your way regardless of how you do it. Just like you tried to get your way yesterday. At least, until I put you in your place, that is." The Seigaku Regulars had moved a little to see who was talking. When they did, both the Rikkai Dai and Hyotei teams could see who it was. Atobe's face became twisted in a mixture of disbelief and anger when he saw Ryu.
"What are you doing here?" he managed to ask without yelling or growling. Ryu shrugged.
"I came to watch my brother and his teammates play practice matches with Hyotei. However, I didn't think that you were a Regular for Hyotei after you lost that tennis match to me yesterday." The ones who hadn't seen the match were stunned that she had beaten Atobe. Ryoma wasn't shocked too long and asked,
"You played against the monkey king and beat him. What was the score?"
"Six to three."
"Impressive," Ryoma complimented. He then asked, "Right or wrong hand?"
Ryu smirked and said "Wrong." The other players there just stood in shock. Playing with the weaker hand for the whole game and still winning?! That was unheard of when playing against Atobe. Out of the corner of his eye, Gakuto noticed that Sakura had gone over to her brother and was whispering into his ear. Sanada looked at her in surprise for a moment before approaching Ryu.
Ryu looked up curiously as the Rikkai Dai fukubuchou stopped in front of him. Sanada held out his hand while saying, "I know that I'm a stranger to you but I just wanted to say thank you. You helped my sister out when you beat Atobe in that tennis match yesterday. For that I'm grateful." Ryu took the offered hand and said,
"It was nothing. I just thought about how I would feel if I was the one who he was trying to go on a date with. Besides that, he is much too arrogant and spoiled for his own good."
Atobe snorted. "As if Ore-sama would ever ask a boy to go on a date with him."
Ryu released Sanada's hand and turned to face Atobe. He smirked and said, "I really doubted that you would ask a boy out on a date but I'm a girl, not a boy." Another stunned silence followed those words. A girl played Atobe, used the wrong hand throughout the game and still was able to beat the Hyotei captain?! That was unbelievable. The stunned silence was quickly broken when Momo began to laugh at the stunned faces. Gakuto was shocked and yelled, once the silence had been broken, "No way!"
The girl just smirked more before she introduced herself, "Actually, yes. I'm Ryoma's younger twin sister. My name is Echizen Ryuna but I'm also called 'Ryu'. I do have another nickname but you'll have to figure it out." She completed her introduction with a bow which caused her braid to swing over her shoulder. She then straightened back up and tossed the braid behind her.
Echizen's twin? No wonder she was good. Atobe didn't seem to be impressed by the information but said, "If Echizen's twin doesn't mind, Ore-sama challenges her to a rematch."
Ryuna regarded the captain of Hyotei before saying, "No. And before you ask why; the reasons are that I'll just beat you again, and the next time I'll play so that you won't win a single game, and I just don't play people who act like they're the best in the world and had bad luck when they played me. Besides that, you're supposed to be playing the Seigaku Regulars. So sorry; maybe I'll accept your challenge to a rematch in a year or two when you actually have a chance at beating me since I doubt that you will beat me in a match if you played me any sooner. Now, shouldn't you get started on your practice matches?"
"Yes. Are you ready to play or are you going to peruse in having a match with Ryuna, Atobe?" Tezuka asked the other captain. "Because we are here to practice, not watch you try to regain whatever pride you lost when you played her."
"Ore-sama will not play Seigaku unless she plays Ore-sama in a rematch," Atobe said stubbornly. Ryuna glared at Atobe, annoyed and spoke up before Tezuka could.
"Fine. I'll have a rematch against you. But if I win you are going to forget all about this and leave me alone about me beating you," Ryuna snapped before she pulled out her racket. All of the Rikkai Dai, Seigaku and Hyotei Regulars watched as the girl went down to the tennis court. When she saw that nobody was moving she yelled, "Are you going to forfeit?! Because unless you get your butt down to that court right now, you've wasted everyone's time, including your own 'valuable' time, by challenging me to a rematch that you don't want to play!"
"She's really annoyed," Ryoma commented before he began to walk down watch his twin beat the Monkey King. Atobe had already started going down to the courts.
"Eh? Ochibi-chan! Yuna-chan! Wait for us!" Eiji called as he ran up to the freshman. The other members of Seigaku, Hyotei and all of Rikkai Dai followed the redhead as he ran down to the courts.
GOMEN! I didn't mean for this to be almost entirely about Ryuna! I'll try to do better next chapter!