Disclaimer: I will never own Prince of Tennis and rake in all the globs of money that it makes………
Author's notes: Reviews have made it to 213+…therefore, I have made another chapter and updated sooner than usual as a celebration. Yay!!! Thanks to all that read and/or reviewed!! Pretty soon, some guests will be making themselves known….
Thanks for the correction .Days for the correction on Inui's trademark saying. I'll try to be more accurate in the future. Thanks for all those that read and reviewed. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
This is regular conversation.
These are thoughts.
Conversation usually in a different language. (Language)
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================Chapter 13: Friendly matches…==================
Let's fast forward until say…..Thursday,…shall we??
It is the end of the day and classes are over. Students were milling about and hanging out with each other on their way to their clubs. Laughter and friendly voices could be heard. At least, around the other parts of school that is. There was one not so happy voice that could be heard coming from inside the tennis offices where coaches Sakaki and Ryuuzaki did all of their paperwork.
Inside the usually pristine office were the three popular captains, two stressed coaches, and one irate freshman.
"No! NO!!! NO!!!" Ryoma said to Sakaki-sensei. "I'm not doing it!!!"
"Keep your voice down, Echizen-chan." Sakaki said in a controlled voice. "We are all in the same room and can hear each other very well without needing to yell."
"I don't want to take part in the match this Friday." Ryoma said in a subdued, but angry voice. "You guys have over twenty regulars! Get one of them to play!"
"You are the only one who we can ask." Ryuuzaki-sensei remarked calmly. "Based on Melanie and Pierre-sensei's reports and our own information, you are the only decent freshman player than we have."
"What about Shiro or the Chan twins?" The girl asked desperately. It seemed like the walls were closing on her and that there was no escape in sight,
"Hyotei has already asked Shiro to take part in their game as their freshman representative." Atobe said. Ryoma opened her mouth to comment but Atobe spoke before her. "And my otouto has already accepted."
"Then what about the Chan brothers? They are pretty good." Ryoma asked in a panicked voice. "They are pretty good at singles."
"And they are even better at doubles." Tezuka said. "They have already accepted to play as the freshmen representatives for Seigaku."
"The Rikkaidai team is the only team that does not have a freshman rep, and based on process of elimination, you are the only we can ask." Ryuuzaki stated before Ryoma could make another comment.
"But….but…"
"Phoenix Star Academy has a reputation to uphold." Sakaki-sensei said in a confident and deep voice. "Every year, our academy hosts friendly matches against other schools. One tradition of ours is that there is at least one freshmen representative in each match and we usually win the match as well. We allow for at least one freshman to ensure that there will be at least one other player knowledgeable in playing in matches in the future years to come, should anything happen to the upperclassmen or other regulars."
"But if I don't play, what will happen?" Ryoma asked in a small voice. The logic behind making one freshman play was very sound and made much sense.
"If you don't play Ryo-chan," Yukimura said in a sad voice. "We will most likely have to ask one of the other new incomers. Can you imagine someone like Horio representing Phoenix Star and Rikkaidai's tennis team?"
Ryoma could only very well imagine how Horio would act and brag in front of the opponent. And she could readily see him lose in a humiliating manner, and therefore humiliating the school and team.
Sighing, Ryoma could only roll her eyes. The others in the office smiled as they recognized the tell-tale signs that Ryoma had accepted their proposal. "I'll play for Rikkaidai….but don't think that you guys can be making a habit of this."
There was a chorus of 'sure' and 'fine' among the crowd of tennis lovers.
"Now that this matter has been settled, would everyone except for Echizen-chan leave?" Ryuuzaki asked. The three captains had looks of surprise and curiosity as they filed out of the room. Sakaki gestured for his co-worker to lock the door and signaled for Ryoma to take a seat.
"It has been a while, Ryoma." Ryuuzaki said to her former student's daughter.
"Hai. It has been over a couple of years, Ryuuzaki-san, Sakaki-san."
"How is your music going? I know that you had put it on the side burner the last time that I saw you in America." Sakaki asked his student.
"It's going good. My piano skills have improved and I play the violin every now and then in my room."
"That's good. You should come by the music room sometime during lunch and I can give you some pointers like before." Sakaki said to Ryoma. "You were an attentive student, if I remember."
"Hai. You were one of the best music teachers that I have ever had the honor of having." Ryoma said and nodding her head in acknowledgment. "But I doubt that you asked me to stay behind to talk about my hobbies."
Ryuuzaki and Sakaki looked at each other before Ryuuzaki spoke first. "We've known you and your family for years, Ryoma. Why aren't you interested in being in the tennis club? And does your family know what you have been doing?"
"Yeah, they know." Ryoma said before sinking further into her seat. "They know what's been going on."
"Then can you tell us? I think that we have a right to know. I am your cousin as well." Sakaki-sensei told his little cousin. Ryoma nodded again and told her story to the two adults.
----------- Meanwhile -----------
"I guess Ryoma-chan will be playing with me Friday." Yukimura told Atobe in a smug voice. "I'll be sure to give Ryoma some personal training."
"Ha! Ore-sama doubts that Ryoma needs any help from you Seichi-san. If she needs any help, Ore-sama will be the one to do so." Atobe argued with Yukimura.
The two captains continued to bicker like children until Tezuka stepped in.
"Stop it. Both of you or there will not be any dessert for either of you tomorrow." Tezuka said in a stern voice. Yukimura and Atobe quieted down.
It was quiet between the three captains before they all busted out laughing. Keigo wiped the tears coming out of his eyes.
"You sounded like my father just now." The King laughed again.
"Seriously, Kunimitsu." Yukimura said while clutching his gut, "You have got to stop hanging around Oishi. The mother and father of Seigaku indeed!!"
The two captains of Hyotei and Rikkaidai looked at each other again and fell into another laughing fit. The image of Tezuka acting as the father of the tennis players and the image of Oishi mothering the regulars made them collapse on the floor. Tezuka was not amused.
"Now that you guys have stopped fighting, please get up off the floor before a fan girl catches us out in the open." The captain told his friends sternly. They quickly got up. If there was one thing that they all agreed on, it was that a lone fan girl is annoying, but a pack of them is about survival.
Once again, the three captains were on alert and walking back to their dorm. It was the blunette who broke the silence.
"I wonder what the coaches wanted to talk to Ryo-chan about."
"Most likely to give her pointers and that sort of stuff." The Hyotei captain said. "She is only a freshman after all."
"Don't worry, Seichi. She'll do okay. She did beat Arai in the end." Tezuka said, trying to calm his now nervous friend.
"But barely." Yukimura protested. "Even though it looked like she was playing with him, it still seemed like it took her a lot for her to beat him."
"Ore-sama doubts that sensei would choose a student who didn't have some skill to represent our school."
"I know that…but Rikkaidai…."
"Don't fret about it, Seichi. Rikkaidai has many upperclassmen who can avenge Ryoma-chan should she lose." The honey-haired teenager said to his childhood friend.
As Atobe and Tezuka tried to cheer up a worried Yukimura, none of them noticed the girl who was walking several feet behind them. Nor did they notice that her facial expressions changed depending on what she had heard them say about her.
Instead of following her senpais into the dorm, Ryoma Echizen took a detour to the Arts Building. Ignoring the stares that she was getting, Ryoma made her way to the highest floor. The emerald haired girl spent several minutes before finding the room that she was looking for and entered it. She looked around the room to make sure that she was alone.
"Argh!" The girl screamed out loud before plopping down on the coach in the room. She rubbed her forehead and tried to rid herself of the headache that was forming. After several moments of self-contemplation, she sat back up and started to talk to herself.
"Arrogant sempais! Who do they think that they are? Talking about me and my skills as if they know anything about me!!"
Ryoma got up off the sofa and started looking for the instrument that she wanted to play. Little did she know, another person was in the room with her and had woken up from his nap when she had screamed earlier.
"ME! They think that they have to worry about me even trying to put up a fight at the match tomorrow?! I was the FREAKIN' Prince of Tennis for Kami's sake! I could take any of them on and still win. I'd like to see them try and take on aniki or oyaji."
Ryoma was finally able to choose the instrument that she wanted and was carefully tuning it and determining it to be in good condition.
"I mean, aniki was known as the freaking MASTERMIND DEMIGOD (1) of the tennis courts and oyaji is still admired as SAMURAI NANJIRO (2) in both America and Japan. How dare they think that just because I'm a girl and younger than them I can't play tennis as well as them?!!"
The figure who had been napping behind the coach was wide awake and shocked. I may not be a language expert like Yuushi, but I understood those two names. Ryoma? She's related to Ryoga Echizen and Nanjiro Echizen? But Ryoga only has one sibling, and that's his lit…little brother….Ryo….OMG!!
Frustrated with condescending sempais and just with tennis in general, Ryoma let loose her emotions in her music. (3) Unbeknownst to the girl, the windows of the room were open and her music flowed out of the room. Around campus, the wind carried her intense music and it was heard by many.
"Saa….such nice music." A smiling tensai thought before crushing Inui in a tennis match, making it 6 games to 2.
Around another part of the tennis courts, a tired Kaidoh and a worn out Kikumaru felt reenergized as they heard the music floating around.
"Hoy, hoy! Kaidoh, let's do five more laps!" The redhead told his kouhai.
"Hai, senpai! Let's finish the stamina training." A now energized Kaidoh said to his upperclassman.
In the SCD's office, the tennis coaches were meeting with Mr. Yamato. The music drifted inside the room through an open window. The head of the Student Coordinator Division leaned into his chair as he took the time to listen to the music.
"It's rare to hear such music being played around here." Mr. Yamato said in an appreciative voice.
"Yes, sir. The feelings and emotion being played in the song are very intense." Ms. Ayame said to her boss.
"Yes, Ryoma-chan is very talented." Sakaki remarked after he too relaxed under the song's spell.
Yamato looked at his friend. "That was Echizen-chan playing? She is very talented then. But why did you call her Ryoma-chan?"
Ryuuzaki could seed that Yamato was thinking that Sakaki was being to forward with Ryoma and decided to add a helping hand out to Sakaki. "Those two are cousins, so they know each other pretty well."
"Ah…" Yamato-sensei muttered before getting down to the original purpose of the meeting. "Now…as you both know, there are going to be some new transfer students coming in on……"
The meeting went back on track and there were no more talks about music. Meanwhile, back with Ryoma……
"That felt much better!" Ryoma mumbled to herself before putting up the violin. A noise made her straighten up quickly. Turning around, Ryoma could only watch in dread while Jiro clapped his hands at her playing.
"That was some playing, Ryoma!" he said. "Or should I say Tennis no Ojisama?"
The color drained out of Ryoma's face. But Jiro wasn't done yet.
"So, hime…Care to explain what is going on to me?" The usually sleepy boy asked his friend. Ryoma looked around the room for an escape, but seeing the determined look in Jiro's eyes, she gave a defeated sigh. Seconds turn to minutes and minutes stretch into hours until the sky outside the windows is tinted with black satin spotted with scattered stars. The emotions and old memories that Ryoma felt and had during the past few years were bared out to her friend. Several moments passed after Ryoma finished her tale.
**Whistle** "That's some story, Ryoma…I never knew you felt that way."
Ryoma nodded. She surprisingly felt much lighter and actually felt more at ease now that she had told someone her true identity.
"Yeah. I mean, it was fine being the Prince of Tennis in the beginning, but having fan girls calling at 2 in the morning to declare their love for you gets annoying after a while." Ryoma said with a grimace on her face. The Sleeping Beauty of Hyotei laughed at her pained expression.
"But, Ryoma…How would you feel if someone else knew your secret besides me?" Jiro asked the girl in a serious manner. "Would you be okay if Kabaji knew?"
"Nani?" Ryoma said with a stricken look. "What do you mean? What are you talking about? It's only me and you in here!"
No sooner had Ryoma spoken those words did the door to the room open. Lurking outside the doorframe was the hulking figure of Kabaji of Hyotei. What little color that had been on Ryoma's face was gone. Her mouth was hanging loose like a gaping fish as Kabaji entered the room and closed the door.
"Buh…Wha….uh…." For once, the teenage prodigy was at a loss for words.
"I didn't mean to ease drop, but I couldn't help but want to listen." The usually quiet boy told the girl. Ryoma shut her jaw closed. Seeing how uncomfortable Kabaji was and how silent Ryoma was, Jiro decided to take matters into his own hands.
"You know, Kabaji did knock on the door earlier, but you weren't paying attention. And I think that when he started to hear you ramble out loud to yourself, he didn't want to interrupt you." The orange-head said.
But Ryoma wasn't easily appeased with such an explanation. "It shouldn't matter if I was talking to myself or not. He should have gone inside anyway. He wasn't supposed to hear all that stuff. YOU weren't supposed to hear all of it either!"
Jiro wasn't in the mood for appeasing Ryoma. At least, not this time.
"But the fact of the matter is that we both now know the truth about you Ryoma Echizen. And I can't believe that you don't trust us enough to keep your secret for you." Jiro said with an upset expression etched itself on his visage. "I think that out of all the regulars that you have met here so far, you could at least trust us."
"I…I…"
"We like you Ryoma." Kabaji said in a low voice before stopping abruptly.
Jiro picked up where he left off. "We like the Ryoma that can cook like a five star chef. We like the Ryoma that can play music that soothes the soul. We like the Ryoma that isn't afraid to beat another player in a tennis match. We especially like the Ryoma who isn't afraid to punch Kei-buchou in the eye when he is being annoying…..We…."
"Please….please…just stop." Ryoma said, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her two friends were saying the things that she had been wanting to hear for the last few years. Ryoma rubbed her eyes, wishing that the tears would stop. How long has it been? How long has it been since someone has truly accepted me besides my old team?
Quietly, Kabaji and Jiro wrapped their arms around their friend. Feeling the sudden warmth, Ryoma turned herself into their embrace. Minutes passed before Ryoma's tears started to slow down and eventually stop. Soon, only sniffling could be heard coming from the girl. She looked up at her friends with red eyes.
"You know. You two are the best friends that a girl could have."
"Usu." Kabaji said. The teenager's trademark saying made the trio break out into soft laughter.
"It's getting late, and we need to be up early for the match tomorrow. We should be heading back to the dorm now." Jiro said in a logical manner similar to Inui when he was collecting data. He even pushed up imaginary glasses up his nose and gave a creepy smile that made Ryoma laugh nervously.
"Seriously Jiro….you gotta stop that. You acted like him so well that it was just plain creepy." The girl told the volley specialist. His next comeback wasn't a smart move.
"Well. Your face looks pretty bad when you cry. It seems like you aren't that type of girl that can cry in a delicate and pretty manner." The Hyotei regular said before receiving a fist to the head. Jiro collapsed on the floor and was knocked out for the night.
"Baka." Ryoma muttered to herself. Kabaji sweat dropped at his friends' antics.
The girl then turned her attention to the lone conscious boy. "Let's go Kabaji. Bring the baka to his room for me please."
"Usu." He said before picking up the unconscious teenager and placing him on his shoulder. The scene looked very similar to when Jiro is asleep on Kabaji's shoulder, and no one was suspicious at the sight of them walking when they started to make their to the dorm.
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Meanwhile….Back in the Music Room……
One of the ceiling tiles in the music room's roof popped down onto the floor. A long body eased itself out of the ceiling before landing softly on the couch. The boy hurriedly got off of the furniture piece before another body fell onto the sofa.
The first teenager helped his friend off the couch and both of them dusted the cob webs and dust off of their uniforms. Their usually yellow and black outfits were smudged with dust and what not.
The purple-haired teenager looked at his doubles partner and saw that he was in deep concentration. Yagyuu pushed the glasses up his nose before clearing his throat. Niou was startled out of his contemplation of what had just conspired in the past couple of hours.
The Gentleman spoke first. "Well…that was interesting to say the very least. What do you think Niou-san?"
Niou was still very a few moments before he broke out into a wide grin. "I'm thinking that this is going to be a very interesting school year." Just like I thought when I first saw Ryoma all those days ago…I bet that the others are going to in for the roughest time of their life…hehehe…
Yagyuu was getting slightly creeped out about the look that Niou was making and decided to ground his friend back to Earth. "So…who would have thought that the Prince of Tennis was actually a girl?"
"Mmm…It does explain why we never heard any news about a girl involved with the prince in all these years. And why he never attended any summer events dealing with bathing suits and swim shorts and what not." Niou logically told his friend. Then he smiled a lecherous grin. "Hehehe…in that case, I can't wait to see Ryoma in a two piece!"
"Ow." Niou rubbed his head where Yagyuu's fist had previously made itself known to. "I was just joking you know."
The megane player humphed before he started to make his way out of the room. Seeing no other choice, the silver-haired boy followed suit. But he couldn't resist asking his friend another question. "So what are we going to do about the truth about Ryoma?"
Yagyuu contemplated on the matter briefly before saying that they should just treat the girl the same as they had been before they had found out the truth. Niou, being the usual Trickster that he was, couldn't help but imagine all of the mayhem and commotion that he could cause with his newfound information. **BANG** another punch had made its connection to his head.
"What the hell was that for, Yagyuu?"
"Ryoma already explained why she kept her past like she had. We should just treat her in the same manner that we have been treating her until she decides to tell us herself." Yagyuu said before frowning sternly at his friend. "And I think that we should help her keep her secret until she decides to reveal it herself."
"I…" Niou started to say before closing his mouth abruptly. The cogs in his head were moving at a fast pace. If I keep her secret, then think of all the trouble I could cause. And the look on buchou's face when he finds out will be hilarious! HAHAHAHA!
"Sure! Me and you can work together with those two Hyotei players to protect our hime's secrets." Niou grinned. "It'll be like we four are the Royal Guards of the Princess!"
Niou laughed at his own joke while Yagyuu sweat dropped at the thought of his friend wielding a sword and shield to protect a 'defenseless' Ryoma-hime. Then the Gentleman laughed softly at the thought of a weak Ryoma asking for help to take care of all her troubles. The purple-haired boy was still laughing softly to himself as he made his way out of the room with his roommate on his heels.
Niou interrupted his friend's internal musings. "Even though we didn't find what I was looking for, we did find something else that was interesting."
"Yes we did. And for that, I won't make you sleep outside on the balcony tonight."
Niou raised an eyebrow at his friend's comment. Yagyuu continued to talk. "You asked me to help you find your book on illusions. I doubt that we should have gone looking in the ceiling for it though."
The silver haired teenager started to sweat bullets as he thought about the private bet that he had with Fuji of Seigaku. The bet was to make Yagyuu look less than abnormally pristine as he usually does by doing something that he would never be caught doing in a million years. All Niou had to do was take a picture of his dirty self and he would win the bet. If Yagyuu ever finds out about the picture I took of him….sleeping outside on the balcony will be the least of my worries…
Niou tried to deflect the subject by mentioning a more worthy subject: tennis.
"So, I hear that Ryoma will be playing as Rikkaidai's freshman representative tomorrow. This should be very interesting."
"Yes. It should be interesting indeed." Yagyuu said.
"So who are we playing against?"
Yagyuu only said two words. "Fudomine High."
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Notes:
(1): Mastermind Demigod is the nickname that Ryoga acquired on the tennis courts in America. His skill, strength, and speed made him a great force to reckon with on the courts. His highly analytical mind helped him systematically destroy his opponent and/or trap them until exhaustion or forfeiting.
(2): Samurai Nanjiro is the nickname that the father of Ryoma and Ryoga made for himself during his early years in tennis.
(3) The song that Ryoma is playing is "Meteor" by T.M. Revolution. I first heard of it when I was watching Gundam SEED….It's so cool sounding. I love hearing it.
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And the mystery bonus chapter for having Reviews making it to 213+ is finished. I am really making Ryoma little OC, but hey…that's what fanfic is all about!! Hehehehehe!
Until next time!!!
Updated 6/21/09