Chapter 9... finally... artist block still here... ugh...
I don't own Prince of Tennis at all, only Kumiko here.
The Adventures of Tezuka Kumiko -9-
Prince of Tennis/TeniPuri story
"Tezuka." Fuji called as he walked towards Tezuka who's looking at the courts. It was vacation for them, but they still have to practice, even the first years.
"Fuji."
"It's Kumiko's entrance exam day, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Is that why you've been frowning?"
"… No." Fuji chuckles at Tezuka's rather hesitant answer.
"She'll be fine." Tezuka said.
"I'm sure she'll be. And will she go home alone?"
"She'll go home late, she wanted to visit the Rikkai tennis club."
"Visit?"
"She knew some of them already."
"I see. Always quick to make friends, that Kumiko." Fuji chuckles as Tezuka sighed.
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"Alright, time's up, collect the papers." Some of the people groaned as they passed the paper up front while Kumiko quickly grabbed her bag and fled out from the class to avoid the crowd. It was bad enough that the whole people in the class knew her tennis reputation. She didn't handle crowds well so she decided to go to the tennis club sooner than expected.
"Why does everyone have to recognize me?! I didn't know all of them would be so interested in those matches!" Kumiko said to herself as she sat down under a tree. It was peaceful, the blowing wind and the sound of the rustling leaves. Kumiko closed her eyes to enjoy the moment. Until it was disturbed when she felt something hitting the three she's leaning on. When she opened her eyes and turned her head, she saw a tennis ball rolling beside her.
"Hm? Who would hit a ball this far?" When Kumiko was about to pick the ball up, she heard someone yelling.
"Oi! Sorry about that! Did you get hurt?" She turned around and saw a messy dark green haired boy running towards her.
"Eh? A girl? What are you doing here? Ah, thanks." The boy said when Kumiko placed the ball in his hands.
"I was just relaxing. I just finished the entrance exam."
"Oh, so you're one of the new students, then."
"I'm not sure whether I'm in or not though. My name is Tezuka Kumiko, nice to meet you."
"Right, I'm Kirihara Akaya, an ace." Kirihara said as he grinned.
"An ace? Really?"
"Well, I have to beat the three demons first to be number one."
"Three demons?" Kumiko blinked as Kirihara blushed a little.
'She's… cute…' Kirihara quickly shook the thoughts out from his head. Then he saw something behind Kumiko and grinned.
"Hey, you play tennis, right?" Kumiko looked behind her and saw that Kirihara was looking at her bag, which her tennis racket was sticking out of it.
"I was thinking about going to see the tennis club, but I decided to rest." Kumiko said as she tightened the stings on her bag so her tennis racket wouldn't fall again. Then Kirihara's grin broadened and he quickly pulled Kumiko's arm.
"Then come on! You're not going to get a good look from over here!"
"W-Wait a minute, K-Kirihara-kun!"
"Just come and stay unseen!"
"S-Slow down!"
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"What is it, Renji?" Sanada said when he saw the data master turned his head from the court.
"Genichirou, today is the day for the entrance exam, right?"
"If I remember correctly, yes."
"So that explains it."
"Explains what?" Then Yanagi chuckles and pointed towards something. Sanada followed the direction Yanagi's pointing at and quickly rubbed his temple.
"Looks like she made another friend, willingly or not."
"What's so amusing, Yanagi?" Yukimura said when he saw Yanagi chuckling.
"That." Yanagi said as he pointed to the same direction as before. When Yukimura saw what was Yanagi chuckling at his smile broadened.
"Wasn't it entrance exam day today?" Yukimura asked.
"That's correct."
"So that explains why she was here. But why is that first year pulling her? Akaya, was it?"
"It seemed that she was unwillingly pulled here. I was thinking that she might be relaxing after the exam."
"Now where did you get that from?"
"That's what I heard from people. Her habit after a match, they say."
"I see… I better see if he's bothering her or not." Yukimura said as he walked out from the court.
"Well, Seiichi's little sister is similar to Kumiko if you look at it."
"I'm going to make him run."
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"Yep, you can definitely watch better here."
"Kirihara-kun, wouldn't you be scolded for this?"
"Don't worry about it, no one will probably saw me."
"I think some did." Kirihara tensed and nervously turned his head to see his captain smiling at him.
"You're in trouble, Akaya…"
"You sure are, Akaya, 20 laps around the court." Kirihara's face blanched when he saw Yanagi and Sanada behind Yukimura.
"F-Fukubuchou! Yanagi-senpai!"
"Now!" Sanada roared as Kumiko flinched and Kirihara quickly ran his assigned laps.
"Genichirou-san… isn't that… a bit harsh?"
"He deserves it. Always have."
"You really look like onii-chan just now." Kumiko said as she grinned nervously.
"So, how was the exam?" Yukimura asked.
"It wasn't as hard as I thought, but I still need to be careful."
"Did Akaya, dragged you here earlier?"
"I was relaxing under a tree over there and then Kirihara came looking for the ball that had hit the tree. When he saw my tennis racket, he pulled me here."
"That brat…" Sanada growled.
"Oi, Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi, what are you doing over there?" Kumiko peeked her head and saw 4 people coming towards her.
"Are? This girl here… isn't she…?" the glasses one said.
"She's not a student here, is she?" the red haired said as he blew his gum.
"She must be one of the students who is doing their entrance exam." The bald one said.
"Puri."
"Kumiko, why are you hiding?" Yukimura said as he looked down at Kumiko who's gripping his jersey tightly.
"S-Sorry…"
"Don't be embarrassed, they our team members. They might look a bit scary, but they're not bad." Yukimura said.
"Yukimura, don't talk about us like we're some bad guys or something." The blue haired one said.
"Just introduce yourselves." Sanada said as he sighs.
"Yagyuu Hiroshi."
"Marui Bunta."
"Kuwahara Jackal."
"Niou Masaharu."
"M-My name is Tezuka Kumiko, pleased to meet you." Kumiko said quickly as she bowed.
"Aren't you the girl who won the elementary division tournament for 4 years straight?"
"Y-Yes."
"You're good, I heard that you're level is the same as our level." Marui popped his gum.
"No one would say that, no way. I couldn't even beat nii-chan." Kumiko countered.
"But from what I've gathered, you've improved a lot from back then." Renji said.
"Oh, I forgot, congratulation on winning the Nationals! I didn't have the time to come to congratulate." Kumiko said as she rubbed the back of her head.
"You were watching?"
"I was! It was amazing!" Kumiko said as her eyes sparkles. Yukimura chuckles and patted her head.
"I see, thank you then."
"Wait wait wait wait, you three knew her since when?" Niou quickly said.
"Since last year. She was scouting the school since she was thinking about entering."
"That's quite admirable, going all alone to scout without someone beside you." Yagyuu said.
"I'm used to go alone, that's why I got lost a lot."
"And apparently, you manage to make friends on the way." Sanada said.
"Well… I have other reason for that one."
"You brought your tennis racket, didn't you?"
"… I did, why?"
"Whose turn was it again?" Sanada asked.
"Mine." Renji said. Kumiko then blinked confusedly.
"Apparently, this time you'll be having a match against me."
"I see…" Kumiko said as she nodded. Suddenly silence fall on them and Kumiko suddenly gaped.
"Eh?!"
"You heard him, Kumiko-chan."
"This is bad…"
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"She's doing good against Yanagi, is this how she always play?" Jackal said.
"That's her style."
"It's rare for Yanagi to miss shots like that."
"Kumiko's shots are usually unpredictable, Yanagi did say at some shots he couldn't get any data."
"Eh? Really?"
"Kumiko-chan sometimes hits a ball right when it was in front of her. She just stays still until the ball almost passed her and hit it."
"Eh… that's amazing."
"She seemed to be having fun." Yagyuu said.
"Tennis has always been fun for her, whether it was a serious match or not, she always said it was fun."
"That's quite a determination…"
"Perhaps it was more a rule to her. She did say, if it wasn't fun it's not tennis at all."
"That's… quite impressive."
"Game and Match! Yanagi! 6 games to 4!"
"Well, it's over."
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"I lost… again…" Kumiko sighed as she sat under a tree outside the tennis court.
"It's not that bad, though I might say, you didn't really try hard." Renji said.
"That's what onii-chan said… I'm confused about that too…"
"Why is that?"
"When I played tennis… I didn't have as much fun as I have before, it's like something is bothering me…"
"I see, everyone had those kinds of time."
"Maybe I need to get my mind off tennis for a while, onii-chan did say I've been stressed out most of the time. I'll practice from the beginning."
"Then you're welcome to come and visit us anytime you want." Yukimura said.
"Eh? Really?"
"Yes."
"Thanks a lot, nii nii!"
"Nii nii?" Marui chuckles as Jackal elbowed him.
"Kirihara-kun, might be as well as have more energy in practice." Yagyuu chuckles.
"Huh? What? Did senpai called?" Kirihara said as he approached them.
"Not really."
"Eh?"
"We were just talking about the match when you came." Niou said.
"That's right! It was incredible, Kumiko!" Kirihara said.
"… Really?"
"Really! You got 4 games from Yanagi-senpai! And I heard you got 2 games from bucchou and 3 from fukubucchou!"
"It's not that great…"
"No! It was amazing!"
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"Hey, Yagyuu."
"What is it, Niou-kun?"
"Did you see that pink tint on Akaya's face?" Niou smirked.
"Pink tint? Oh, I see what you mean." Yagyuu himself started to smile.
"Someone got a little something~" Marui said.
"Bunta…"
"Maa, possibility of romance 0%."
"That low?"
"You do remember that she focuses more on tennis than boys, right? You should see how she ran away every time she finishes a match." Renji said.
"Yikes… poor Akaya…" Jackal said.
"Well, at least he won't bother us if she came." Niou said.
"Point taken." Yagyuu said as his glasses glint.
"Kumiko! Come on, how about you play a match with me?"
"No! I'm tired."
"Aww, come on!"
"Well… this kind of obsession will end with her misery… we should help."
"Akaya, go back to your practice."
"… Right…" Akaya pouted as he went back into the courts.
"I need to go home before it's too late. Excuse me." Kumiko said as she bowed.
"Come back anytime, we'll be waiting." Yanagi said.
"Right. Thank you."
"Be careful on your way home." Yagyuu said.
"I will."
"Tell your brother I said hi." Yukimura said.
"Eh? You knew onii-chan? You never told me?"
"Maa, you'll know sooner or later."
"… Right…"
"Next time it's my turn." Niou said.
"Please spare me."
"No! Mine!" Marui said.
"Let's just have a draw."
"Mou…"
"Go along now, before your brother starts looking here for you."
"Ah, right! Excuse me, bye!" Kumiko said as she ran out while waving to the Rikkai players. Yukimura waved back and smiled at her while Sanada nodded.
"She's an interesting girl." Yagyuu said.
"She's a predictable person yet unpredictable at the same time." Niou said.
"Maa, that's how she is. Now let's get back to practice, shall we?" Yukimura said.
"Right!"
Read and Review!
Next: (give me some ideas... or I'll put up Kumiko's first day at Middle School)
Probably this: First week of Middle School and the start of trouble!
