Too Close,yet too Far
by Sessrin Koshimae (Shunrei Ryuzaki)
Disclaimer: The characters of Prince of Tennis isn't mine.
Chapter 12: Seiran, The New born Samurai Prince
...
He swiftly moved his feet to reach the spot before the ball bounces with its great speed and power. The ball quickly approaches on his court side. Seiran placed his racquet to his left hand to hit the ball with much control and accuracy. Suddenly, he felt dumbness at his legs and felt his body falling on the ground. A loud thud was heard at the area. His sister whose watching the match with their grandparents and uncle stood worriedly. He heard his father stopped momentarily and walked towards the net.
"What's the matter, Seiran?" He heard his father asked him monotonously. Seiran lifted his and his eyes met the same amber eyes staring down at him. He felt the sweat and heat within his shirt and brushed off some locks that hinders his vision.
"My Legs.." he whispered.
He saw his father raised a brow and frowned. Ryoma adjusted his cap and rested his racquet frame at his left shoulder.
"You've lost control and power to your legs because of consistent use of the flower dragon techniques." Ryoma explained. "Perhaps you should try to use another playing style than imitating your mother's playing style." he continued.
Seiran stood from the ground and brushed the dirt on his clothes. He brushed up his brown locks revealing his two amber eyes.
"I tried that before, Father. But I'd always ended up using the same techniques and I've never lost before when I uses her techniques." Seiran replied.
Ryoma's eyes narrowed. He stared sternly to his son.
"Do you really think you could beat me using Sakuno's playing style?" Ryoma asked.
Seiran frowned. Isn't that possible? Hmm... Come to think of it, his father could return all the shots and serves that he used at their initial games. He wondered why he could. Maybe his father is familiar with his mother's playing style.
"What do you mean?" Seiran asked.
He saw his father smirked and chuckled to him.
"Didn't your mother told you that I'm her training partner before? Therefore, I knew and I saw all her playing style and techniques." Ryoma said with a smile on his face.
Sakura blinked and seated beside her Uncle Ryoga.
"Mama also plays Tennis before?" she uttered.
Nanjiro smiled back at her and Ryoga grinned.
"Nah, yes Saku-chan. Sakuno-chan became a regular when she was a sophomore at junior high. Her grandmother is the coach of your father's team at junior high and since then they became playing buddies." Nanjiro answered.
"Ahh, Saa-chan is so cute and sweet back then. She's quite popular at Seigaku and to other schools. What a great beauty. Isn't chibisuke?" Ryoga chuckled.
"Ow! Uncle! Please tell me how Otou-san and Mama ended up together!" Sakura exclaimed and then giggles. Nanjiro laughed out loud and hitted Ryoga's back.
"That's really funny! I could still remember how the brat made me happy by asking me how to ask a girl for a date!" Nanjiro said still laughing.
"Ouch! That hurts, Oyaji!" Ryoga blurted out.
Ryoma and Seiran looked at them. Seiran seems confused while Ryoma frowned in annoyance.
"Hey, Oyaji, Ryoga. Stop spoiling my daughter's mind." Ryoma commanded.
Nanjiro and Ryoga laugh simultaneously at Ryoma's remark.
"Chibisuke! How dare you accuse me of spoiling my favorite niece's mind!" Ryoga said.
"Hey, weren't saying bad things to her, brat."Nanjiro replied to his younger son." Oi, Seisuke, aren't you interested to know how come your arrogant father ended up with your angelic mother?" He asked to his grandson.
Seiran furrow his brows and stared coldly at his grandfather. 'Why is it that the Echizens are weird?' he thought.
"My name is Seiran, not Seisuke. And for that piece of information, I'm not interested to pick up on others private life." Seiran replied.
Nanjiro frowned.
"But Seisuke is cute! Nah! Why is it that you've got the attitude with your father? Why can't you be sweet and kind like your mother,Saa-chan?" Nanjiro uttured.
Rinko arrived at the scene.
"Like Father, Like Son?" she intercedes.
All of them looked towards her.
"Oh, Rinko dear. Welcome home!" Nanjiro said.
"Now, now, Nanjiro. Why are you bickering to your grandson?" Rinko asked.
Sakura stood from her seat and embraced her grandmother.
"Okaeri, Obaa-san!" she said.
"Thank you, Sakura." Rinko replied. "So Ryoma, why won't you introduce your son to me?" she continued.
Ryoma and Seiran walked toward them and brought down their racquets. Seiran picked up a clean towel from his bag and wiped off the sweat from his face. Ryoma approached his mother and kissed her cheek. He then signaled to Seiran to come to them.
"Seiran come here and greet your grandmother." Ryoma said.
Seiran obidiently followed his father's command and approached them.
"Konnichiwa, Obaa-sama. My name is Ryuuzaki Seiran. I'm pleased to meet you." Seiran said then bowed to his grandmother.
Rinko stretched an arm and touched Seiran's brown locks. She stared down meeting his amber eyes which are prominent to the Echizens' looks.
"Oh, dear please omit that high honorifics. Just call me Obaa-san."Rinko said. Seiran nodded back at her and flashed a smile.
"Oh, you resembles your father a lot. You're undeniably an Echizen child." Rinko continued.
"Anyway, Ryoma, why is it that Seiran still uses Saa-chan's Family name? You're married, right? Seiran must use the Echizen's name now."
"Sakuno's father requested that Seiran must resume using Ryuuzaki as his family name. There are some legal issues at the part of the Ryuuzakis since Seiran is the next heir of their Ryuuzaki Zaibatsu." Ryoma explained.
Ryoga's eyes widened and stood suddenly from his seat.
"What? Ryuuzaki Zaibatsu? You don't mean that our sweet Sakuno is part of a mafia family!" Ryoga exclaimed.
Nanjiro, Rinko and Ryoma gave him confuse looks. Seiran stood silently and listen to their conversations. Sakura just blinked her eyes in confusion.
"What do you mean, Ryoga? Do you know something about Ryuuzaki Zaibatsu?" Ryoma asked.
Ryoga cleared his throat and sighed. He nodded at Ryoma. He looked to his nephew then turned his eyes to his brother.
"Well, Ryuzaki Zaibatsu is owned by Ryuuzaki Ichiro, the head of the main clan of the Ryuzakis. Ryuzaki Clan is a part of a mafia affiliation world wide. As far as I know, the clan is divided on two parts, the one called the main family and the other one the branch family. The Main Family have the whole control to the clan, its wealth and businesses. Only from the main family, a successor will rise to the throne. The branch family serves as the protector and loyal servants to the main family. Any rebellion started from the branch family will surely leads to massive deaths to the branch family inflicted by the main family." Ryoga explained.
"Sakuno came from the main family. She's suppose to be the next heir of the Ryuzaki Zaibatsu but she died before obtaining the position. But she left a legitimate successor which is Seiran." said Ryoma.
"You must be careful to Seisuke, Chibisuke. I heard a rumour that Hinamori family which is part of their branch family is planning a rebellion to the Ryuzakis since Sakuno's death left them without a heir." Ryoga warned. "Why can't the Ryuzakis proclaim Seisuke as their heir? It would hinder the rebellion within their clan? Oh, can't believe that our sweet Sakuno is a mafia girl." Nanjiro intercedes.
"Yes, Ryoma. That would be better. Sei-kun is their legal heir. Maybe they just need some formalities to stop the rebellion." Rinko said.
"Ryuuzaki Ichiro said that his half brother, Hinamori Kazuya is planning to assasinate who ever rises as the next heir. He's planning to take over the Ryuzaki Zaibatsu using the reason of unavailability of a legitimate heir." Ryoma said.
They all fell silent and their eyes suddenly shifted towards Seiran. Nanjiro raised a brow to his grandson.
"You don't seems afraid or bothered by the threat in your life." he said.
Seiran sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"I'm not surprised. I'm fully aware of these clan's issues and stuffs like that. I knew Okaa-san forsee this before and formulated a plan to divert Hinamori's plan. He already tried to kill her before but always unsuccessful. Okaa-san is a good tactician so I knew something's up at this moment." Seiran replied. He looked at his father and frowned. "Otou-san, let's resume to our match. I don't want to talk about these stuffs." he requested.
Ryoma nodded back to his son and took his racquet. They walked back at the court and prepared themselves for their match.
"Now, do you have any idea how will you defeat me, Seiran?" Ryoma asked.
Seiran smirked back to his father and squeezed the ball in his right hand.
"I'm planning to use my new techniques that I've formulated to use for the incoming Kantou Tournament." he replied.
Seiran tossed the ball to the air and jumped. He stretched his arms and legs and aimed for the ball with high accuracy and power. He hitted the ball and it swiftly moved across the court towards Ryoma. The direction of the ball is unpredictable because of its irregular direction patterns. Ryoma predicted that the ball will aimed at his left and positioned himself to the left side. Surprisingly, when Ryoma is about to hit the ball with his racquet, it changed its direction to his right and hitted the floor. The ball momentarily spin before it aim for Ryoma's face. But before it hit his face, Ryoma swung his racquet and hitted it. The ball moved across the court but didn't passed on the net. It hitted the net and fell on Ryoma's side court.
"What was that?" Ryoga asked.
"A variation of Twist serve?" Sakura asked.
Nanjiro crossed his arms and smirked.
"Nice. A serve where Somei Yoshino Serve and Twist Serve are combined. Seisuke is a genius." Nanjiro said.
"Not bad, Seiran. I see. You're improving." Ryoma commented while smirking at his son.
"That's my Ginryu Serve." Seiran said with pride.
They continued to play and the match ended up at 6 games to 1, in Ryoma's favor.
"You just wait. I'll definitely beat you, Echizen Ryoma." said Seiran.
"Mada mada dane, Seiran." Ryoma replied flashing one of his infamous smirks.
...
Six months have passed after Sakuno's death...
Seiran rested his head at his arms as he slumpered himself under the Sakura tree at the backyard of his mother's cafe. The Cafe is now owned by him but is managed by his godmothers Momoshiro An and Horio Tomoka. He weekly visits the cafe to check how things going with it. He's just twelve years old and too young to manage the cafe but as its new owner, he must keep an eye and tried to have some hands on in managing it with the help of his godmothers.
Seiran felt an intruder came at his resting place. He opened one of his eyes but still not moving from his laying at the ground. He saw his best friend, Kei sat beside him. Kei put down his soccer ball beside him.
"What's the matter, Seiran? Why are you here all alone?" Kei asked.
Seiran groaned and closed his eyes.
"I'm trying to take a nap but you've disturbed me." Seiran replied.
Kei laughed loudly beside him."Now, Seiran. Don't lie to me. Something's going on on your complex mind." Kei said.
Seiran opened his eyes and sat. He yawned and stretched his arms.
"I just remembered something painful." he said.
Kei blinked then put his hand on the front of his mouth.
"Oh no! Seiran-sama engaged himself to some dirty acts?" Kei uttered imitating Seiran's fan girls' voice.
Seiran sweatdropped and hitted Kei's head."Ouch! That hurts, Seiran-sama!" Kei blurted out still imitating the fan girls.
"Baka! I didn't mean something like that! You pervert!" Seiran replied.
"Seriously, what is it, Seiran?" Kei asked rubbing the back of his head hitted by Seiran.
"It's about Okaa-san. I remembered those last day we've spent with her and those first days we continued to live on without her. That was really devastating to us. Otou-san almost lost his hope to continue living. Sakura became sensitive and less energetic. And to me it has a very big impact." Seiran answered.
Kei nodded at him and cupped his chin with one of his hands.
"Yeah, that's really predictable. You used and you've grown up at her side and care. She's everything you had before." Kei said.
Seiran stood and put his hands in his side pockets. He stared above to see the sakura petals falling from the branches of the trees.
"That's true. I was really devastated back then. I felt I was all alone by myself with noone to be with. Then I saw Otou-san and Sakura grieving with me. It was then I realize how my mother means to them especially to Otou-san." he said.
"How's your relationship with your father? Are you still mad at him?" Kei asked.
Seiran shook his head and smile.
"Nope. We're doing fine. I just find it some kinda funny. I discovered we've lots in common." Seiran answered then chuckled.
Kei stood from his seat and picked up his soccer ball. He tossed it in the air and caught it with his both hands.
"I see so the three of you has started to moved on from Auntie's death." Kei said.
Seiran's face became somber. He felt his body stiffened at the ground he's standing of.
"No. We've never dared to live a day without her. For us, she's still with us, guiding and looking out at us. Do you know how we said good morning to her picture every time we ate our breakfasts? I find it weird but Otou-san placed some Okaa-san's pictures at different areas within our house. When we arrived home from outside, she always greet us welcome home and we would say "Tadaima" to her. We felt she's still with us. I can never live a day without her." Seiran murmured.
Kei stopped playing with his soccer ball and stared at Seiran's somber face. Suddenly, he threw the ball hardly at Seiran's face.
"Don't cry, Seiran-sama!" Kei blurted out.
Seiran caught the ball with his hands and send it back to Kei's face much powerful that made Kei fell in the ground.
"What's that for? It hurts you know!" Seiran yelled to Kei. He's obviously caught off guard when Kei assulted him.
"Duh! I'm just trying to cheer you up!"Kei yelled."That's obviously not the cheering way I needed!" Seiran yelled back.
"I'll surely take a photo of yours if your nose bleeds then I'll send it to your freaking fan girls!" Kei blurted out.
"You stink! You're cell phone doesn't even have a camera so you can't do that!" Seiran exclaimed.
"You stink! I'll use your cell phone camera to take the photos were your nose is bleeding and send it to your fan girls!" Kei yelled.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Kei's younger sister, Ai appeared and punched his stomach.
"Hey, Onii-chan! Stop bickering with Ryuuzaki-kun!" Ai said.
Seiran blinked and calmed himself.
"Ow, thanks for saving me, Momoshiro-chan." Seiran said.
"What the two of you talking about anyway?" Ai asked.
Kei brushed off the dirt from his shirt and he and Seiran stared at each other.
"Ahh... Something painful?" Seiran uttered.
Ai blinked and put both her hands in front of her mouth.
"Oh my Gosh! Something's indecent?" Ai blurted out.
Seiran sweatdropped and Kei laughed out loud.
"Why does it always end up with that?" Seiran asked.
"I told you! We've dirty minds!" Kei said and then laughs.
"Anyway, where's Sakura-chan, Ryuzaki-kun?" Ai asked.
"I saw her at Mom's office, Ai. Maybe she's still with her." Kei answered.
"Thanks, nii-chan!" Ai said then runs away.
"Hmm... That's good. She's gone. Anyway, how's Sakura and you now?" Kei asked.
"I don't know. I'm still treating her like my own sister."
"But you fell in love with her before, right?"
"Yeah, but she didn't know. It would be better if she didn't know. First of all, I must think of her first as my sister and not a member of the opposite sex. Maybe we're just infatuated to each other. We're still young so it's still possible for us to have a change of heart."
"You told me before that she somewhat resembles your mother. Maybe that's the reason why you're attracted to her before. There's this saying that guys look for a girlfriend who somewhat like his mother, right?"
"Yeah, that's right." Seiran answered.
"Seiran-kun! Come here inside! There's someone looking for you!" They heard Kei's mother, An called.
"Hai, Auntie!" Seiran said.
Seiran and Kei went inside a cafe and saw a man with brown hair and red eyes and a woman with long black hair that reached up to her waist and tied on a ribbon in its halfway of her back. She have a pair of purple eyes. They're talking to Ryoma, Shusuke and Kunimitsu. The two of them stood when they saw Seiran approached them.
"Good afternoon, Young Master Seiran. My name is Asagiri Mayuki and this is my partner, Kobayashi Sumaru. We're sent here by the Ryuuzakis to serve as your bodyguards." the black haired woman said with a smile.
"Good afternoon, Young Master Seiran." Sumaru said.
Seiran sat beside his father and nodded at them. "Good afternoon." he replied.
"Please excuse me for a while. I needed to go to the washroom." Mayuki said. "Yes, you may Mayuki-san." Shusuke replied.
Mayuki smiled and stood from her seat. She walked beside Seiran's seat carefully. Seiran's eyes widened. A familiar scent passed on his nose. He suddenly stood up which surprised the others. Mayuki stopped on her tracks and turned her head to Seiran.
"Seiran?" He heard his father asked.
Seiran turned his gaze to Mayuki.
"Mayuki-san?" he confusedly called.
"Yes, Young Master?" Mayuki replied.
Seiran mouthed something to Mayuki that the others didn't understood. Mayuki plastered a wide sweet smile on her face.
"Yes, Seiran." she replied.
Seiran's eyes turned wider and looked more confused than before. His jaws dropped and he seems in shock.
"Sly Witch." Seiran finally uttered.
