DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS NOR ITS CHARACTERS!
I'm back, minna! So sorry for the late update on those of you that were waiting for this. I was waiting to see if anyone would bother answering my challenge. AAAAANNND someone did! Yay for Cathy Rin! (applause) So, here's the answer to my own question, and there's more than one. (smirk) Oh! Also, thank you all for the favorites and subscriptions! :D
Gogetadivagurl - thanks! :D Maa, who knows. All I know is that Momo-chan would be very, very careful around Ryoma now, ne? (smirk)
Cathy Rin - haha! YES! That's one of the pairings. I just couldn't resist it. They're just too cute with each other! Thanks for the review! :D
MintLeafeon - yep, she sure can! Haha. They really are perfect for each other, ne? Oooh. Now, there's a thought. We'll just see what chaos that would result into, ne?
Here's Chappie 6!
Chapter 6: Matchmaking
"Keigo-sama, a phone call for you," Wataru, the head butler of the Atobe family, said as he went and held aloft a chord less phone for the rich diva, who was sitting on the couch of his bedroom, to take. When he took it, Wataru dutifully slunk back to the door of the room, and slipped outside.
The diva frowned. He wasn't expecting a call from anyone today.
"Ore-sama speaking. Who's this?" Atobe said, his voice slightly polite if it was one of his father's associates. Well, it would never do for them to find him disrespectful, now, would it? But alas, his courtesy was wasted, in terms of his father's name, though, not altogether wasted. For it was his beloved on the phone.
"Kei, stop with the formality. It's only me," the voice said, dripping with amusement.
"Ah. If you say so, my love," Atobe said, his voice changing into a more relaxed tone.
"Gomen ne, if I called all of a sudden," the voice said gently.
"Iie, nandemonai. By the way, why did you call?" Atobe asked, curious as to what his beloved might need from him.
"I called because I wanted to thank you for earlier," the voice said, giggling a little.
"You forced me into it. But are you sure that this would benefit her? Would he be the right match?" Atobe said as he slunk further into the couch, a worried frown on his elegant face.
"Of that, I am sure. Have I ever been wrong before?" the voice said, smugness radiating from it.
"No, you haven't. But, next time, please use gentler means," Atobe said, exasperated at his beloved.
"We'll see," the voice, coated with mirth, said.
"Mattaku. Where are those two?" Ryuzaki said as she tapped her shoe on the pavement, impatiently waiting for the two still missing regulars. It was the day of the District Competitions and their Doubles Two team-up, namely one Echizen Ryoma and Momoshiro Takeshi, were still missing, though it was already 8:40 AM.
"Mou, there's only twenty minutes till nine! Where are they, Oishi?" Kikumaru wailed as he hung off Oishi, shaking him with gusto.
"Maa, maa, Eiji. They're probably on the way here already," Oishi pacified his partner, patting him on the shoulder to steady him.
"Aa. They won't miss this match. They trained really hard to become a doubles team," Kawamura said, smiling slightly as he recalled the practice matches the two would ask Oishi and Kikumaru whenever they were free.
"Fsssshh. I hear the baka's loud mouth," Kaidoh hissed. Surely enough, they spotted the two MIA players running towards them.
"Momoshiro! Ryoma! Why were you late?" Ryuzaki asked, giving them the evil eye. Momo eeped and hid behind Ryoma, who just rolled her eyes at her partner's antics.
"We were practicing, Baa-chan," Ryoma said nonchalantly as she looked at the clock apathetically.
"Ne, are we going to register now?" she asked pointedly, distracting Ryuzaki from further chewing them out.
Ryuzaki sighed and threw Ryoma an 'I'll get you later' look then nodding to Tezuka. Tezuka then approached the registration booth with the regulars.
"Seishun Gakuen, here with 8 regulars."
Soon afterwards, it was time for Seigaku's first match against Gyokurin.
"Ne, Baa-chan. I'm never going to play doubles again," Ryoma said vehemently as she dragged an irritated Momoshiro out of the courts, leaving with a score of 6-4 and their opponents severely traumatized.
Many people were openly staring and pointing at Ryoma. It was really annoying. They only stopped pointing and whispering when the referee got annoyed and threatened to call the Tennis Association themselves to confirm it. Of course, seeing that the competition wouldn't let just any girl join in the boys' category, they let it slide. When they saw Ryoma play, they were completely mollified, save for the Gyokurin Tennis Club, whose members were looking at Ryoma like she was the devil herself.
"You didn't have to knock him out of the game, Ryoma," Ryuzaki said, exasperated at the way Ryoma handled the situation.
At first, their developed strategy seemed to be working but the Gyokurin players made them bump into each other all the time. By that time, Ryoma was extremely fed up and did the only thing that popped up in her head. She purposely aimed at Momo's head, thus making him a little bit dizzy. So, she innocently made Momoshiro stand at the side and observe. Of course, Momoshiro made a fuss at first, but seeing her glare (seriously, she glares worse than Tezuka!) mollified him a bit. And thus, they won the first Doubles Two, albeit messily.
"He keeps bumping onto me," she said dead-panned.
"Oi! You're the one bumping onto me, Echizen!" Momo exclaimed, grabbing her in a headlock and giving her a rather large bump in the head.
"Momo! You're hurting Echizen-chan!" Oishi said immediately, prying her off the irritated girl.
"Ite, ite, ite," whimpered Ryoma, giving Momo a rather teary glare as she clutched her head close to where Momo gave her a bump the size of a goose egg.
"Mou, Momo! You're not going to get a girlfriend if you do that to girls!" Kikumaru said, taking a look at Ryoma's head.
"Momoshiro, 50 laps around the facility. Now," Tezuka said, his voice laced with venom. Momoshiro took one look at Tezuka then ran for his life, complaining to the gods why he was the one paired up with Ryoma.
"Fsshh. Baka," Kaidoh said, rolling his eyes at his rival.
"Ahaha. Momo really didn't mean to hurt Echizen-chan. Calm down, minna," Kawamura said, meaning to pacify his teammates.
"Tezuka, would you mind making Momoshiro taste this for me?" Inui said, holding a pitcher of red glop, literally. The viscosity of the thing makes it qualified enough to be considered jelly!
"Ano, Inui, what is that?" Kawamura weakly asked, looking at the juice warily.
"I wasn't going to introduce this 'till the Districts are over, but Momoshiro has given me a much needed reason. Hora. My Penal Tea," Inui said as his glasses glinted ominously.
"Why does it look like blood, Oishi?" Kikumaru whimpered as he looked at the drink while cowering behind his partner.
"T-that's not blood, Eiji," Oishi said as he looked at Inui warily, all the while trying to calm his distraught partner.
"Saa. It smells wonderful, Inui. Can I have a drink?" Fuji said, smiling sweetly at Inui.
"I'll make another one later. This one is for Momo," Inui said, smiling suddenly, his smile looking like a Grim Reaper's.
At Tezuka's nod, Inui placed the drink where Momo's water bottle should have been. When Momoshiro finished his laps and took a drink, he immediately foamed at the mouth. With an unearthly shriek, he fell gracelessly on the ground.
The regulars, sans Fuji, Tezuka and Inui, shuddered as they looked at Momo's unconscious body sprawled on the ground. One lesson was learned that day. One who hurts Ryoma in any way will be subjected to a very painful lesson.
The Seigaku regulars gasped as they all stood up, horrified at what just happened. Ryoma was down on the courts, holding her right eye. Tezuka was the first one to act and called a time-out on the referee.
They were currently in the Finals of the Districts Competition and were facing Fudomine. After Fuji and Kawamura's forfeiture at Doubles Two, Kikumaru and Oishi's win at Doubles One, and Kaidoh's win at Singles Three, it was up to Ryoma to win it for Seigaku. Unfortunately for them, their expected easy victory against an unseeded school ended up as their toughest fight in the Districts. Her opponent, Ibu Shinji, countered her Twist Serve right out of the bat and produced a serve very similar to the Twist Serve, the Kick Serve. And then, he produced a technique that temporarily numbs your opponent's playing arm, the Spot. And of course, Ryoma, being the stubborn girl that she is, still tried to return the ball by twisting her torso. But her racquet hit the metal post of the net and then split into two. The worst part was that the lower half of her racquet rebounded and hit her in the right eye. And thus, their current situation.
When the referee acknowledged and announced the time out, all of the remaining Seigaku regulars, for Fuji and Kawamura were at the hospital getting Kawamura's wrist taken care of, shot out of their bleachers and onto the court, where Ryoma was still holding the right part of her face.
"Echizen-chan! Let me see it please," Oishi said as he was the one with a medical background.
Ryoma took of her hand to reveal that half of her face was covered with the blood coming from her closed eyelid.
"Oishi, so much blood," Kikumaru said weakly, looking very pale. Oishi looked at his partner and then at Ryoma, unsure of what to do. Luckily, Momo came to his rescue.
"Eiji-sempai, you should sit for a moment," Momo said, escorting the shaking acrobatic player towards the bleachers, where the Dunk Smash player spoke quiet words of comfort to the distraught teen.
Oishi, relived that his partner was going to be alright, again focused on Ryoma's injuries.
"We need to stop the bleeding. Minna, let's get her to the bleachers," Oishi said, looking up at whoever was closest to him, which was Tezuka. Tezuka nodded once and immediately picked up the injured girl and walked quickly to the bleachers, far from the still queasy Kikumaru. He then set her down gently as Oishi immediately appeared at Ryoma's side with the first aid kit.
A terse moment of silence passed as Oishi tried to remedy the girl's injury. When he at last spoke however, his voice was shaking.
"I can't get the blood to stop flowing!"
"Oishi, give it to me," a voice said, and as one, the regulars turned and saw Ryuzaki coming towards them, her face grim. Oishi nodded once and gave the kit to her, and she got busy.
Oishi went to his partner, who was still quite pale. Momoshiro was looking at the girl with a concerned face, even though he knew that she was almost always the reason why he was almost always picked on by Inui. Kaidoh was hissing softly, though he often looked in Ryoma's direction, indicating his concern for the girl. Inui gave up writing in his notebook in favour of looking at Tezuka's reactions intently. As for the said captain, his poker face remained intact, though, for those who really knew him, they would immediately know that the said captain was concerned for their female rookie, by his unusually tightly clenched hands and his firmer jaw line.
When Ryuzaki was done, the regulars saw that Ryoma's right eye was completely covered in gauze.
"This will hold, but not for long," Ryuzaki sighed as she got up to observe what she had done.
"Arigatou, Baa-chan. Ne, Kaidoh-sempai, hand me my spare racquet," Ryoma said as she stood up and tried to walk back to the courts.
"Oi, Echizen! You can't be serious! You can't do that, na. You can't do that, yo," Momoshiro said as he suddenly appeared and blocked Ryoma's path.
"Why?" she asked bluntly, staring down Momo even if she only had one eye on her arsenal.
"Ryoma, you had a lucky break! A couple more centimetres and you could have lost you eye!" Ryuzaki pointed out, earning wide eyed looks from the regulars.
"Echizen, forfeit the match. There's still an 88% chance of Tezuka winning in Singles One," Inui said as he looked at the determined girl.
"What if the other 12% chance came true, then?" she asked, her face set on a frown.
"Fssssh. Don't force yourself," Kaidoh gruffly answered.
"I'm not forcing myself. I can still play," Ryoma said as she headed toward the court. Suddenly, her spare racquet was being held in front of her. When she look at whoever was holding her racquet, she saw Tezuka staring at her with soulful eyes, even though his face said nothing.
"I'll give you ten minutes. When you're not finished, you're forfeiting. Understood?" he said sternly, his eyes never leaving Ryoma's.
"Hai, Buchou," Ryoma said as she grabbed her racquet and headed back to the courts.
"Are you sure about this, Tezuka?" Ryuzaki quietly asked him, as the rest went to check on Kikumaru.
"Aa."
Ten minutes later, a surprised but exasperated Ibu Shinji was walking out of the courts, mumbling to himself, while Ryoma was being suffocated by the hugs she was getting. The referee then announced the score to be 6-4 and that Seigaku was the District Champions.
After the awarding ceremony was over, the group had decided to meet at Kawamura Sushi to celebrate.
"Congratulations, minna!" Oishi said as he stood up and raised his glass in a toast.
"Yeah!"
"We're the district champions!" Momo sang as he dug in to some sushi.
"Yup hoi! And it's all thanks to Ochibi-chan!" Kikumaru said as he jumped from table to table, nicking sushi out of everyone's plates.
"Eiji! Stop bouncing around! You might upend some tables!" Oishi, ever the motherhen, chastised as he watched Kikumaru worriedly.
"Mengo, Oishi," Kikumaru said, halting at Oishi's side and poking his cheek.
"Maa, Eiji, you sure bounced back pretty quickly," Fuji said as he ate some of his sushi.
"Of course! We won, nya! And Oishi talked me out of it!" Kikumaru said as he flashed a victory sign at Fuji, who, weirdly, was looking at the blushing motherhen.
"That reminds me, Taka-san, how's your wrist?" Inui said as he looked at the power player, who was waving his bandaged wrist.
"It's just a sprain, Inui. It'll heal pretty fast," Kawamura said sheepishly. Then, Kawamura saw the two quietest individuals in a corner of the restaurant.
"Tezuka, Echizen-chan, why don't you guys eat and enjoy the party?" Kawamura said as he approached them.
"I don't eat sushi, Kawamura-sempai," Ryoma said bluntly, making Kawamura blink.
"Echizen," Tezuka admonished sternly.
"Gomen, Buchou," Ryoma said as she nodded at Tezuka. Then, she turned her attention at Kawamura.
"I don't eat sushi anymore, Kawamura-sempai. Not since my first time," Ryoma said as she looked at Kawamura with a straight stare.
"Oh! Gomenasai, Echizen-chan! I should've realized!" Kawamura said as his eyes widened as he recalled the not so fun memory.
"Iie, it's not a problem, sempai. I'm okay with juice," Ryoma said as she sipped her glass. Kawamura apologized again to her before turning to Tezuka. Tezuka just stared back at Kawamura, answering his silent question. Kawamura then smiled and said that they have a good night and left for the other table.
"Ne, Buchou," Ryoma said, breaking the silence that was between them.
"Hmm?" Tezuka asked, his eyes slanting towards her.
"Arigatou," she said, her cheeks painted a slightly pinkish color.
"Aa," he said, determinedly ignoring her blush so he could fight of his own.
"Saa, couldn't have planned it better," Fuji said quietly, chuckling as he watched the two blush.
"Are you going to report this to Atobe?" Inui said lowly as he recorded their reactions in his notebook.
"Of course, Inui." Fuji's smile definitely promised trouble for Seigaku.
Finished! Now, who predicted that, ne? Read and review everyone! :D
