DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters! Or else I wouldn't be here. (sulks)
YOSH! Chapter 3 is up, minna! Sorry for the mistakes and wrong grammar! I don't have anyone beta-ing for me, so, haha, there's the result. By the way, I started making the next chapter of ISWB. It SHOULD be out by this sunday, by any case. :)
A BIG THANK YOU to those that reviewed! This is for you, ellydude, animelover4ever69, Cathy Rin, Future X13, FallenAngel Sayu, Quixling and MintLeafeon! :) ALSO, THANKS for all who subscribed! :D
OK! And now, onwards with the story!
Chapter 3: The Princess of Hyoutei
Ryoma groaned as she felt the pounding of her head.
'What happened? Where am I?' she thought, opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling.
"You're awake," a deep voice said to her right.
She turned to the right and found herself staring at a pair of beautiful hazel brown eyes.
'Beautiful,' she thought, mesmerized by those eyes.
"Echizen," called the voice, snapping her back to reality and memories of what had happened to her flodded through her mind.
'Urg. I'm never touching sushi again,' she thought.
"Hai?" she groaned, forcing herself to focus on the owner of those gorgeous eyes and answer his question. When she saw Tezuka's face, she was surprised to say the least.
'Those eyes- were Buchou's?' she thought, surprised. She never thought that she would be attracted to the expressionless Buchou of the team.
"Echizen, are you listening?" said Tezuka, his voice coated with concern.
'Then again, with his voice, he is kinda hot,' she thought as she stared at him impassively.
"Echizen," Tezuka said, shaking her gently.
"H-hai?" she said, lightly blushing as she was daydreaming about him.
"Are you alright? You're getting red," he asked, his eyes discerning concern.
"Hai. Don't worry, Buchou. I can still practice," she said, ducking her face so that she could hide her blush while attempting to get up from the bed.
"Are you sure, Echizen? Wouldn't it be better if you rest?" he asked as he gently forced her to stay on the bed.
"Iie. I'm the only girl in the club. I can't have the others thinking that just because I'm a girl, I have privileges," she said as she got out of bed then brushed the wrinkles out of her uniform before he could even react.
"Alright. But stay close to me. Do not practice heavily today. After laps, you will stay with me in the sides. Understood?" he said sternly.
"Hai," she smiled softly, a shadow of a smile flitting on her face.
Tezuka was shocked to say the least. He knew that it was very hard to get a smile from her, never mind that it was merely a shadow, as their personalities were roughly the same. Also, he was impressed with her dedication to tennis. It didn't stop her from exceeding the prejudices of their peer group. She was really serious about this. He was certain that she had much more to offer to the team, and was willing to train her and be there for her, no matter how long it took. For he just found the next pillar of Seigaku. His pillar.
'Chotto. Where did that thought come from,' he thought, slightly surprised by his thoughts.
"Buchou, are you coming?" Ryoma asked as she held open the infirmary door, waiting for him.
"Aa," he said, ignoring his confusion to his trail of thought as he and Ryoma went back to the courts.
Later, when they entered the courts, they were immediately surrounded by the regulars. Even Momo and Kaidoh were present, though the snake player was within a considerable distance to the others.
"Echizen-chan! Are you alright?"
"Echizen-chan! Do you still feel dizzy? Can I get you anything?"
"Ochibi-chan!"
"Kikumaru-sempai! You're choking her!"
"Fshhh."
"Ii, data."
"Maa, maa, Tezuka. You did a wonderful job of taking care of our little rookie."
"Minna, 20 laps!"
"Hai!"
After their laps, Tezuka ordered the regulars to practice with each other, with the exception of Inui and Ryoma.
"Nya, why is Ochibi-chan not practicing?" Kikumaru said as he pouted as he glomped Oishi while gesturing to Ryoma and Tezuka, who both were standing in the sidelines, overseeing the practice.
"Eiji, Echizen-chan still is weak. She can't practice well enough. For Tezuka, the laps were practice enough for her," Oishi gently said as he pried his partner gently from himself.
"Oh," Kikumaru said, mollified.
As they were practicing, a shrill scream cut through the sound of balls hitting the courts.
"It seems the girls' tennis team is early today, Tezuka," Inui said as he appeared at his side immediately.
"That's the girls' tennis team?" Ryoma asked, the disgust in her tone obvious.
"Affirmative. They are often our cheering team for competitions," Inui said as he stopped jotting down notes to look at the reaction of their rookie prodigy. Never mind she wasn't a regular. She was a girl in a boys' tennis club. That was enough reason for him to gather her data.
"Che. They're more worthless than Oyaji described," Ryoma said, tugging her cap down in displeasure.
"Yudan sezu ni ikkou," Tezuka berated gently, his gaze trained upon Ryoma.
"Che. Hai, Buchou," Ryoma relented. And then, all hell broke loose as the club stayed outside the fence and screamed out the names of the regulars.
"Kyaa! Kikumaru-sama! Oishi-sama!"
"Fuji-sama! Over here!"
"Kawamura-sama! I love you!"
"Momoshiro-sama! Kaidoh-sama!"
"Inui-sama! Be mine!"
"Tezuka-sama! Marry me!"
Then, the shrill screams died down as they were suddenly faced with an annoyed Ryoma.
"Ne, you're disturbing practice. Can you quiet down? If you don't want to play tennis, we do," she said, her golden eyes flashing in annoyance.
Silence ensued at her statement. Nobody ever went against the girls' tennis team because their captain was Hinamori Kimora, the heiress of Hinamori Corporations, one of the biggest companies in Japan. So to see Ryoma go against them was like a cold glass of Inui Juice down the boys' tennis club's throats.
"Oh? Somebody wants to go against my wishes? Who are you, little girl, to think that you can take on the heiress of Hinamori Corporations?" a brunette with green eyes stepped forward and crossed her arms, glaring at the small girl.
"Echizen Ryoma, at your service. And no, I am not going to bow down and grovel at your feet, your highness. You and sempai-tachi harassed me enough a while ago," she said smugly, deliberately choosing her words so that they annoyed the heiress the most. She wasn't mistaken in her observation as the girl turned a brilliant shade of red before speaking.
"Why you impudent little-," she said as she raised her hand as if to smack her, but someone caught the said hand before it could descend.
"Cousin of Ore-sama's, Hinamori. So unless you filthy peasant want to come home to discover that all of your assets are frozen, Ore-sama suggests that you not continue with hurting my cousin," a snide, arrogant voice came from the owner of the arm that was holding her back. She paled as she recognized that voice. I mean, who wouldn't.
"A-atobe-sama!" she said, trembling slightly.
The diva tossed down her hand like it would infect him in some way. Then he looked at the trembling girl with his infamous Ice Emperor Stare.
"Hmp. You lowly peasants should be marveling at the fact that Ore-sama is gracing you with his glorious presence. And yet you have the audacity to lift your hand against an Echizen? Do you want to leave here without a penny to your name?" he boasted, moving to confront the girl and hide his precious cousin at the same time.
"Of course not, Atobe-sama! We'll be leaving now!" she said as she literally flew away from the courts, her entire club following her.
"Che. Aren't you a bit late in your meddling, Kei? And where are Yuushi and the others? Aren't they supposed to be with you?" Ryoma huffed as she turned her back on him and walked towards Tezuka.
"I'm hurt, dear cousin. Whoever said I was meddling? And the team is still in Hyoutei. They didn't want to see the carnage you would leave here," Atobe said grandly as he followed the petite girl towards his rival. Ryoma's pointed look was answer enough to his innocent act.
"So, I meddle with the ones who make you suffer. Isn't being a cousin supposed to be like that? And I meant what I said about the team," Atobe said as he snapped his fingers, and immediately, his butler set up for him a chair, table and an umbrella complete with the usual brewed iced tea.
"Hmm. Finally, the team listening to Yuushi. I'm so proud," she said, sarcasm dripping from her words.
Finally, the two noticed that the entire courts had gone silent.
"NYA! Ochibi-chan is Atobe's cousin?" Eiji was the first to react to the scene in front of them.
"Sensei! Were you aware of this?" Oishi asked the silent but smirking coach of Seigaku. She looked at them with a surprised demeanor.
"Are? You guys didn't see the cocky resemblance?" she stated, quietly snickering to herself.
"Saa. So it all falls into place. Ne, Inui?" Fuji said as he smiled at the data player who was mumbling non-stop since Ryoma told the girls' tennis team off.
"Aa. I suspected as much. Who would have enough power to convince the Board of Directors and the Japan Tennis Association to let a girl join in a boys' tennis team. One must have extremely powerful backing and financial support," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"Ehh? So you knew, Fuji?" Taka said as he overhead the conversation.
"Aa. And I'm assuming Tezuka did make the connection, too," Fuji smiled at the Hadokyuu user.
"Buchou! Is this true? WHEN?" Momo asked their captain who was as expressionless as ever.
"Awhile ago," he said, not taking his eyes of practice.
"Che. Mada mada dane, sempai-tachi," Ryoma said, smirking all the way.
"Demo, Oishi, don't you think that Atobe is whipped by Ochibi-chan?" Kikumaru asked as the commotion died down.
"E-eh? Why would you say that, Eiji?" Oishi asked quietly, nervous that either Ryoma or Atobe would hear his words.
"He stopped calling himself 'Ore-sama'," Kikumaru said a-matter-of-factly, pointing at Atobe.
Fuji, who heared what Kikumaru's point, dropped in his two-pence.
"Saa, it's because Atobe's afraid that Ryoma-chan would strangle him in his sleep if he didn't comply to her wishes," he said serenely, his calm demanor ruined by the glee in his eyes.
"Oi, Fuji! Stop spreading bad things about Ore-sama!" Unfortunately, or however you wish to view it, Atobe heard them and was quite annoyed, partly because it was the truth.
'Syuusuke,' he mentally groaned, vowing to get even at the smiling tensai.
"Hmm? Why? Is there something wrong with what Fuji-sempai said, Kei?" Ryoma said as she looked at Atobe with glinting eyes.
Atobe gulped at the look.
"Of course not, dear Ryo," he said gallantly, promptly ignoring the snickers coming from the regulars.
"I thought so," Ryoma said, smirking.
FINISHED! Haha. Wee! Read and review, please! Thak you to all those that are sticking to this story! :)