Chappy 10 is up! The spotlight's finally on Midori! Hehehe. A big thank you to everyone who reviewed! This one's for you!
Chapter 10, douzo! ^_^
Chapter 10- Model-Turned-Tennis Player
-"WHAT!"- The Regulars chorused loudly which made Ryoma's eyebrow twitch.
'How can they forget that they're in a hospital room with a person confined in it?' He thought. Just as when he was about to tell them to shut their mouths, Tezuka spoke up.
"It would be better to discuss this outside. Ryuzaki-san needs to have a quiet time to recover from her injuries and the noise will slow that down."
"He's right. Everyone, let's go outside. Echizen, stay here." Oishi said and they all went out. Ryoma sighed and sat on the chair next to the bed. He looked at the sleeping girl and held her hand. Holding Sakuno's hand on his own gave him a warm feeling inside. It also gave him the feeling of wanting to protect her from everyone who wants to hurt her in any possible way.
'Why are you making me feel like this, Ryuzaki?' He thought as he looked at the girl's hand placed on his palm. Even though he already held her hand earlier that day, he wasn't getting tired of doing that. Instead, it made him want to hold her hand even more. It was also just now that he noticed that Sakuno's hand fitted his. He held the girl's hand upright with the fingers pointing upwards and held his own against it. He spread his fingers and Sakuno's fingers fitted in the spaces. He intertwined their fingers and he laid his head on his arm. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Outside the room, the Regulars, Yukina, Tomoka and Midori were talking about Midori's plan to join the team.
"Are you serious, Nanami-san? You want to join in our tennis team?" Oishi asked Midori who had both her arms wrapped on Fuji's right arm.
"Yup, I'm serious!"
"But, you can have injuries and wounds while you're playing tennis. Your manager wouldn't want that to happen." Inui said.
"I don't mind. Besides, I have two managers. One is my modelling agency manager, Miwako Kana-san and the other is Syuusuke." Midori said with a big smile.
-"EH!"-
"You see, Syuusuke was my manager before Miwako-san. When the pictorials were still being held here in Japan, I always asked Syuusuke for guidance and the decisions to make concerning the pictorials. We're childhood friends so it's only natural for me to ask him about what I'm supposed to do. Whenever I'm in Japan, it's Syuusuke who takes care of me while Miwako-san manages her other models."
"That makes sense. So, Fuji. What do you think?" Kawamura asked.
"Hmm. It's either I'll agree and she'll be happy or I'll disagree and she won't talk to me for a week. Let her have a try." Fuji said.
"Really, really, really? You're really letting me play?"
"Yeah. You just came back and I still don't know when you'll be leaving so I wouldn't risk a week with you ignoring me."
"You're so sweet! Thank you, Syuusuke! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Midori wrapped her arms around Fuji's neck and jumped up and down a bit. Fuji chuckled and placed his hand on Midori's back.
"Just don't try to catch the ball with your face."
"Hey! I wouldn't do that! You were the one who taught me how to play tennis! And you also know that I only accidentally caught the ball once with my face when we were four!"
"When you were four. I was already five by that time." Fuji said as he chuckled when Midori playfully punched him on the arm.
"Those two..." Oishi trailed off.
"Are surely..." Eiji followed.
"A couple." Momoshiro finished. Kawamura, Kaidoh, Tomoka and Yukina nodded in agreement while Tezuka just looked at the two.
"You'll have your match against Kikumaru, Kaidoh and Momoshiro to know whether or not you can join." He said.
"Hai."
"Anata, why are they not here yet?" Rinko asked while her hands were clasped together.
"Probably because of the practice. Ryuzaki-chan would be joining Seishounen's team."
"But... it's already 7 pm. Their practice doesn't normally reach 7 in the evening."
"Maybe they're with Momoshiro-kun. That young man treats Seishounen at a fast food chain some times."
"I hope so... but I don't think so..." Rinko took the receiver and dialed Ryoma's cellphone number.
-The number you have dialed is either turned off or out of the coverage area. Please try to call later.-
Rinko put down the receiver and sighed.
"I hope they're alright."
"Echizen, oi. Wake up. Echizen." Momoshiro shook Ryoma on the shoulder until the younger boy woke up. Ryoma sleepily looked at Momoshiro while still holding Sakuno's hand.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Aren't you planning to go home? It's already 7 in the evening. You also have class tomorrow."
"Hmm." Ryoma looked at Sakuno and sighed. He didn't want to leave her alone but he also needed to go home. Rinko would be worried if he won't go but no one would be watching over Sakuno if he leaves. Those were the only things he has to think of. He already knows what their lessons for tomorrow would be. He can just write it down for the girl.
"Momo-senpai, is it alright to use a cellphone here?"
"Hmm... I think so. This part of the hospital is separated from where the equipments are so I think you can use your phone here."
"Thank you." Ryoma dialed their house number and after two rings, someone picked it up.
-Ryoma! Where on earth are you two?-
"I'd explain everything tomorrow but for today, I'd stay with Ryuzaki here."
-Here? Just where are you two? Where's Sakuno-san? What happened to her?-
"Sorry, Mom." He heard his mom call him for two more times before he reluctantly turned his phone off. Momoshiro placed a hand on Ryoma's shoulder and looked at the boy.
"Echizen..."
"I'll stay here, Momo-senpai."
"Alright. See you tomorrow." Ryoma nodded and Momoshiro left. Ryoma resumed his interrupted sleep once again.
he next day, Midori was already wearing her tennis outfit while sitting on the bench. She was twirling her white and green racket while looking at Fuji who was sitting beside her.
"Shouldn't you be cheering for you teammates and not for me?" She asked with a smile.
"I'm not on anyone's side here. Besides, I want to know whether or not you've improved. It has been six months since we last played against each other."
"And I lost because of your Triple Counter. But, Syuusuke. I won't lose as easily as last time. Whether or not you're the opponent, I won't lose without a fight. Why don't we make a bet? If I win, you'd coach me until I get better. If I lose, hmm... what do you want me to do?"
"You'd go with me to an amusement park this Sunday."
"What amusement park?" Midori said with stars in her eyes which Fuji chuckled at upon seeing.
"Miracle Land."
"Yosh! I must win- no, I will win!"
"Good luck then." Fuji stood up and went outside when Kawamura sat on the umpire's chair.
"The first match this morning would be Nanami-san against Eiji. Players in the middle."
"Let's have a good match today, Midori-chan." Eiji said as he held his hand out which Midori took and they shook hands.
"Same here."
After a short while, they went to their positions and Midori held the tennis ball while looking at Eiji's direction.
"Nanami-san to serve." Kawamura announced and Midori started her serve.
The ball crossed the net and was returned by Eiji with one of his diving shot.
"Whoa, as expected of Seigaku's Acrobat." Midori said before running to the ball and returning it with a top spin lob. Eiji jumped and returned the ball with his right hand on the backhand side of his body, pinpointing the ball to the place where Midori wasn't standing on.
"Kikumaru Beam!" He said as the ball crossed the net for a score.
"Love 15."
"Cool! So that's what it was."
As the match resumed, Fuji was chuckling while the other Regulars except Tezuka were looking at him.
"What's funny, Fuji?" Oishi asked.
"Nothing. It's just that, Midori's gathering information again." The Prodigy answered.
"Gathering information?"
"That's how Midori is. She wants to experience the opponent's moves first before she show her own."
"You mean, Nanami-san is like Echizen?" Momoshiro said.
"Yeah."
"Kikumaru Bazooka!" Eiji shouted as he hit his powerful groundstroke after he spun in mid-air.
"Game Eiji. One game to love. Change court."
Midori stood on the other side of the court while waiting for Eiji to serve. When the red-head served the ball, Midori ran to the net and returned the serve with a volley, leaving Eiji with no choice but to approach the net. Midori smirked as she returned the shot with a high lob.
"Kikumaru Bazooka!"
After the ball connected with the racket for a smash, they all went wide-eyed except for Fuji and Tezuka as they saw Midori's return stance. She returned the ball by quickly rotating her body. She used a centripetal force to absorb the force of any overhead smash and then she returned the ball with a lob that landed on Eiji's baseline.
"Fuji's Higuma Otoshi!" Eiji exclaimed after landing on the court.
"Seriously!" Momoshiro shouted.
"It was no doubt Fuji's Higuma Otoshi. The stance, footwork, balance, grip, return and power were all 100% accurate. I have never seen anyone do it perfectly other than Hyoutei's Oshitari." Inui said as he scribbled down on his trusted notebook.
"That girl copied all of it?" Kaidoh said.
"It's natural that Midori knows how to do my Higuma Otoshi. She's been seeing that since we were kids." Fuji stated while chuckling.
"L-Love 15." Kawamura announced.
"Cool! It's the first time that I've seen a girl hit Fujiko's Higuma Otoshi! You're so cool, Midori-chan!" Eiji said while looking at the girl.
"Thank you. Actually, this is the first time that I hit Higuma Otoshi without a flaw."
"Eh? Really?"
"Hai."
"I'll be careful with that then." Eiji said before he served. Midori ran to the net and returned it with a volley. Eiji was careful of his moves and didn't use any smash. All the shots that Eiji hit weren't going beyond where Midori was.
"H-Hey, why don't Eiji's shots reach the baseline?" Oishi asked.
"Forget the baseline. It's not even going past Nanami-san." Inui said.
"Why is it like that, Fuji-senpai?" Momoshiro asked Fuji.
"That's Midori's Net Limit."
-"Net Limit?"-
"It's the same as a net play, only that Midori adds a certain spin on the ball before returning it to the opponent that limits every shot within where she is. Midori also knows how to do some acrobatics so this enhances her advantage on the net play to return each and every shot without fail."
"I won't give up, nya!" Eiji used both of his hands to return the shot. His return almost hit Midori on the face if she didn't kneel down and returned the shot with a backhand. Eiji made a passing shot for a game.
"Game Eiji, 2 games to love."
After thiry minutes, Eiji began to have a hard time while playing against Midori. This was noticed by everyone outside the court.
"Why is it like I'm playing against Fuji, nya!" Eiji said when Midori hit Fuji's Hakugei. When the shot landed, it returned to her hand just like how Fuji does it.
"40-30."
"Whoa! Even Fuji-senpai's Hakugei?" Momoshiro said.
"She's like an exact copy of Fuji." Oishi commented
"Which means that it's almost like Eiji is playing a match against Fuji." Inui said while scribbling things on his notebook.
"As expected of Midori." Fuji said with a chuckle.
"Who would've thought that out of all people, we'd see Fuji's moves being hit by a model?" Oishi said.
"No one would almost believe that Nanami-san is a true model. She certainly has skills for tennis, don't you think so, Tezuka?" Inui said and Tezuka nodded.
"It seems like her skills were thoroughly polished by you, Fuji."
"Every time Midori returned here in Japan, we always played tennis for some sort of bonding time with each other as well as to make up for the time we lost during her pictorials." Fuji said.
"Nya! This time it's Tsubame Gaeshi!" Eiji said as the ball rolled across the court.
"Game, Nanami-san. Four games all."
Midori continued using Fuji's Triple Counter on Eiji which gave the acrobat a hard time. After a few more minutes, Midori won the match with the scores being 7-6 after a tie-break.
"That was fun, nya! Let's play again some time." Eiji said while he was having a handshake with Midori.
"Of course. I would be glad to have another match with you."
"The second match would resume after five minutes." Tezuka said as Midori sat on the bench. Fuji handed her the water bottle and looked at her.
"That was interesting." He said while Midori sipped her water.
"It's was a difficult match but I enjoyed it. Kikumaru-kun's really powerful."
"You shouldn't underestimate your next opponent. Kaidoh's pretty serious."
"Kaidoh? Oh, Kaidoh Kaoru-kun. He's scary."
"Good luck, Kaidoh." Oishi said.
"Be careful, nya. Midori-chan's a tough girl." Eiji said.
"A girl is still a girl, senpai." Kaidoh retored.
"You really shouldn't look down on girls, Mamushi." Momoshiro said while his arms were crossed in front of his chest.
"Fssshhhhh. I don't care, Porcupine-head."
"Syuusuke, he's scary. I don't know if I can play seriously." Midori said while tugging the sleeve of Fuji's jersey.
"Hmm. Just imagine that Kaidoh's wearing a viper headdress. That way, you won't be scared."
"Kaidoh-kun... wearing a viper headdress?" Midori placed her index finger on her chin and closed her eyes. In her mind,she imagined Kaidoh's face. Then, the bandana on his head changed into a viper's headdress. A lightbulb clicked and she ended up giggling.
"That's funny." She said as she looked at Fuji.
"Concentrate on the match, Midori. If you're not careful, a viper might just bite you."
"Hai. I'll be careful, Syuusuke."
"Alright. The second match will begin right now. Players in the middle." Eiji announced as he sat on the umpire's chair. Kaidoh and Midori looked at each other when they stood before the net on their sides of the court.
"Just because you can hit Fuji-senpai's moves doesn't mean that I can't beat you. Fsshhh."
"And just because you're bitter that your opponent's a girl doesn't mean that I'll let you win, Mamushi-kun."
It was pretty short, right? Was it alright or did it lack anything? If it did, please include that to the reviews. ^_^
~ sapphire wind