Love and Tennis mix

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. However, I do own the plot of the story and my OCs

Author's Note: This chapter is from Ayumi Nazu's POV (point of view). Please note that the POV varies, so be sure to read the Authors Note before reading each chapter. Thank you.

Chapter 10

Skating On a Lake

I waited and waited for the longest while, it was sure taking a long time for aunty to return… The front door finally opened. My aunt came in holding a box, judging from the size, it looked like a shoe box…

"Hi! I'm back!" she said, brushing some snow off her jacket.

"Is it snowing outside?" I asked.

"Just a little… Anyway, look at this!" she shoved the box onto my chest.

I opened the lid of the box and found a brand new pair of white skates! I couldn't believe that she actually went out and got them for me…

"They're for you, your foot size and your cousin's foot size are around the same size, so I think I got an approximate size, try it on!" my aunt said, with sparkling eyes, just waiting for me to try on my new pair of skates.

I slid them on and it was a perfect fit. It looked so cool! But now that I have a pair of skates of my own, I had no reason not to go to that skating trip with Ryoma-kun's family. Oh well, I guess I had no choice but to go then. Besides, Mr. Echizen was really hoping that I'd go…

My aunt helped me get ready and I headed over to Ryoma-kun's house at 12:00pm like I promised. It was really chilly out. Today, I remembered to wear my scarf, gloves, and earmuff. I don't like wearing hats, so I usually wear either a head bands or a pair of earmuffs instead. And of course, I made sure I brought the pair of skates with me.

When I got there, Ryoma-kun's family were all prepared for the outing, and were about to leave to walk over to the skating rink. Mr. Echizen noticed me and waved enthusiastically, I certainly waved back. When Ryoma-kun turned around, and saw me, he looked very surprised. I don't think his oto-san told him I was coming; I guess it was bad timing yet again…

"Nazu-chan, I'm so happy you came!" Mr. Echizen said, walking over to me, his black skates were slung across his neck. Following behind were of course, Ryoma-kun, his skates hung on his left shoulder and his mother, who was carrying what looked like a medium sized picnic basket, covered on top by a thick blue checkered material, so I couldn't really tell what was inside of the basket.

Mrs. Echizen nodded, smiling that soft smile she always had on her face.

"What are you doing here?" Ryoma-kun asked, his eyebrows rose, curious to know why I was there.

"Anou…your father asked me to come…" I answered shyly, gazing at my pair of skates, avoiding his gaze.

"I knew there was something strange about oyaji asking me to go skating all of a sudden. Other then tennis, I thought there was nothing else he could teach me…guess I should have never agreed to come," he thought aloud, he was mumbling, not that I couldn't hear it.

"Is something wrong?" I asked innocently, looking back up to look at his face

"Betsuni," he answered and looked away.

His parents brought us to the lake nearby. It was frozen solid. Mrs. Echizen put down the basket near the side of the lake and everyone put on their skates, and then went on the ice. But as soon as I stepped on the smooth surface, I slipped and fell.

"Itai!" I thought, wincing at the pain.

Mrs. Echizen skated up to me and held out a hand.

"Arigato…eh…Mrs. Echizen," I suppose that was the best thing I could have thought of, it would be weird if I called her 'Ryoma-kun's oka-san' all the time.

She smiled. I held on to it and tried to keep balance so that I wouldn't fall again. Mrs. Echizen was a really good skater. She taught me step by step on how to skate. She really did look a tad bit surprised though, seeing that I didn't know how to skate at all.

As for Ryoma-kun, he was an excellent skater. He and his oto-san were competing seeing who could skate faster, but sadly, it was his father that won every time.

Everybody fell a few times, even Ryoma-kun. It was all pretty funny until you fell down yourself… After I practiced with Mrs. Echizen for about an hour, I got better and decided to try skating myself.

I was skating with difficulty and I was always so close to falling, I looked so helpless, it made me feel embarrassed. Ryoma-kun was pretending to look away; I bet he was secretly laughing at me…

"Are you cold? Your face is a bit pink," Mrs. Echizen asked me.

"Oh, it's nothing, heh heh heh…" I wonder if this is what they call blushing. Whatever that is, nobody ever explained to me what it meant by a person blushing.

I took another step and slid, "Hey I think I did it!"

All of a sudden, something hit the back of my head hard. The impact made me loose my balance and I fell.

"I thought you said you got it," Ryoma-kun said cockily, yet coming towards me to help me up.

Ryoma-kun held out his hand for me and I grasped it with pleasure. I noticed a banana on the rink; I think that's what hit me. But…what was a banana doing here? I looked around; there was a quick shadow of a person that disappeared in the distance.

"Nazu-chan, you must be tired, let's take a break and have some hot chocolate!" Mrs. Echizen said, folding the blue cloth away. She took out a large silver thermos and cups from inside the basket.

Everybody got off the frozen lake and waited for Mrs. Echizen to pour out some warm frothy hot chocolate into some cups she had prepared an hour before the trip.

As Mrs. Echizen was getting the hot chocolate ready, Ryoma and I were building a snowman! It was fun to roll the snow ball into the snow making it bigger and bigger! Mr. Echizen helped us put the second snowball on top of the first snowball because it was too heavy a job for us to do ourselves. It was one big fat snowman in the end.

We drank some hot chocolate and then played more in the snow! Right after making the snowman, we then made snow angels in the snow, we even built a small snow fort; just big enough for Ryoma-kun and I to crawl inside of. And finally we had a huge snow ball fight! To tell the truth, I have never played or even been in a snow ball fight before. Besides, it's impossible to play by myself, right?

Ryoma-kun and I were just throwing snowballs at each other, and then Mr. Echizen joined in. It was fun, hitting and even getting hit for some odd reason. It didn't hurt much because of my thick puffy winter coat.

Mr. Echizen was just throwing snowballs randomly. Not even trying to aim for Ryoma-kun and I, he accidentally hit Mrs. Echizen back when she was pouring out some more hot chocolate for us to drink. Hot chocolate spilled out and fell, making a patch of brown on the snow.

I saw her eye twitch and a giant fire-like aura surrounded her.

"Who threw that?" she asked in a low tone.

Ryoma-kun and I both quickly pointed at Mr. Echizen. Mrs. Echizen picked up a snow ball and threw it directly at his face! And then everyone was throwing snowballs, it was fun with so many people. I don't think I have ever laughed and smiled so freely!

As we were having fun, I wondered why I had never felt such comfort when I was with my own family. When I was with my own family, I felt the complete opposite…

Author's Note: Having fun in the snow and letting everything out by laughing and throwing snowballs! Next chapter, is it really that much fun to spy on people? (Ayumi and Ryoma got stalked again!) Don't forget to review! I'll be waiting for them!

Here's a dictionary of the Japanese words I used:

Betsuni (it's nothing)