Chapter Fourteen: Meeting Rikkaidai

Kawamura Sushi:

"It's mine!"

"No! Mine!"

"You want to fight, Mamushi?!"

"Bring it on!"

That was the scene that one Tachibana Ann came across when she arrived at the sushi restaurant which owner was the father of one of the Seigaku's regulars and which the Seigaku tennis regulars frequented. Momoshiro had called her the day before, wanting to know about their match against Rikkaidai nearly a week before and Ann had agreed, though not saying anything about how badly Fudomine lost.

Her brother was still in the hospital, undergoing checkups and X-rays for broken bones and if it will affect his athletic ability in the future and if it will affect his tennis play. Most of the Fudomine team are still in a deep psychological shock after seeing how badly Rikkaidai had thrashed them – not even allowing them to get one point past them – especially the doubles two match when Shinji and Kamio – two of Fudomine's best players lost this badly in a mere eight minutes.

Rika was extremely apologetic about her brother's match with Kirihara and had telephoned her the night after their match. Ann had mentioned that it wasn't Rika's fault that her brother was injured that badly, nor is it any of the Rikkaidai regulars' fault, save for the one who had done the deed, and that she shouldn't apologise for something that she didn't do.

And thus, Tachibana Ann had came straight from school to Kawamura Sushi where Momoshiro had mentioned that the Seigaku regulars will be at. As she slid opened the door to Kawamura Sushi, all arguments ceased immediately.

"Konichiwa," said Ann with a smile.

"Aren't you...?" muttered Inui.

"Fudomine's Tachibana's..."

"Hai," said Ann with a slight bow. "I'm his younger sister, Tachibana Ann."

"Now that you mentioned it..." muttered Shiki who was chewing on an anago whilst seated next to Oishi at the counter. "Didn't Fudomine have a match against Rikkaidai, our next opponents during the finals of the Kantou tournament?"

"Yeah," said Momoshiro. "I called her, wanting to hear about it. Some sort of information gathering, if you get my drift. I thought that it might be interesting to hear about it."

"There's...nothing really interesting to hear," said Ann in a low voice. This got the attention of everyone in the shop. "It's too awful."

Inui started to rummage in his bag before bringing out a videotape. "I thought that we should watch this once we're done," he said. "This is the recording of the semi-finals match between Rikkaidai and Fudomine."

"Let's play it then," said Shiki, not noticing that Ann's face had gone pale.

Within a few short moments, the video started to play and Fudomine's Kamio and Ibu appeared on the television screen. Fuji frowned, tapping his chin. "Fudomine's Kamio and Ibu pair, huh?" he mused.

"Everyone came to the match in their best condition," said Ann and everyone turned towards her. "But...Rikkaidai..."

The tape was starting to play the matches. The first match was doubles two and all Seigaku regulars present immediately recognised the female freshman regular from Rikkaidai from the time when she came to their school with Kirihara and the fact that she's their assistant coach's sister.

"Game and match! Rikkaidai's Marui-Echizen pair! 6-0!"

"What's up with this match?" asked Kikumaru, staring at the screen with wide eyes.

"They couldn't even get a single game? Or even a single point?" muttered Momoshiro disbelievingly.

"This is unbelievable," muttered Inui. "The difference in power is too much of a difference."

"Rikkaidai...is too strong," muttered Ann, keeping her head bowed down. "I played against Rika occasionally in a match at street tennis occasionally, and even then, I couldn't even get one point past her. That match...it's as if Rikkaidai are not even letting them play the match. I know Rika. She's cheerful and fun to be with outside the courts, same with a few of Rikkaidai's regulars, but once on the courts, they're all business. Rika told me before: Rikkaidai's law is that losing is forbidden. They never go easy on any opponent, no matter who they are." Ann clenched her hands into fists. "When Rika first got wind that Rikkaidai's opponents in the semi-finals is Fudomine, she had already warned me. I appreciate that warning. But I don't know if Kamio-kun and the others think the same. Rikkaidai is completely making fools out of us."

Ann turned to the video which Inui had paused which was that of Marui and Rika. The former was blowing a bubblegum whilst the latter was tapping her racquet on her shoulder. "They weren't even showing their real strength," she muttered. "I know that Rika wore weights on both wrists and ankles all the time and she wasn't even forced to remove it during the match. The same goes for all Rikkaidai's regulars."

"Now that you mention it," mused Oishi, staring at the screen. "Shiba-san from Monthly Pro Tennis was talking about it. Rikkaidai's regulars were all Tezuka-class players. In other words, National-level players. And without a doubt, Rika-san is too, even if she is their only female regular."

Kikumaru turned towards Oishi. "All the regulars are like Tezuka?! That's crazy..."

The doubles two match ended in a mere three minutes and Inui sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Next up is singles three," he said. "For Fudomine, it's Tachibana against Rikkaidai's Kirihara Akaya."

They all watched as the match commenced. Tachibana was fixing Kirihara with a stern look whilst Kirihara still had that goofy look in his eyes as he rubbed his nose.

"One set match! Rikkaidai Fuzoku's Kirihara to serve!"

They watched as the match went on between Kirihara and Tachibana. Momoshiro blinked. "At least Tachibana is making it a real match."

"No," said Shiki, narrowing his eyes as he watched the match. "Tachibana-san...he's under a lot of pressure." He turned towards his teammates. "Think about it. If you're him and you've witnessed Rikkaidai's strength in both doubles matches, you'll be in a position where you're not allowed to lose."

"True..." admitted Oishi. "I would too if I was him."

"We too," said Ann, causing all attention to be focused on her, "we too gathered information on Rikkaidai. But it was useless."

Shiki frowned as the match between Tachibana and Kirihara continued. "It seems as if Tachibana-san is barely returning Kirihara's shots," he commented and Fuji nodded, agreeing. The freshman scowled as the match continued. "He's forcing Tachibana-san to move about...especially with his right foot injured."

"Why didn't Yukimura or Sanada stop Kirihara?" asked Momoshiro. "With someone of Kirihara's skill, he shouldn't have to do that to win."

No one answered him.

"Game and match! Rikkaidai Fuzoku's Kirihara! 6-1!"

The television screen went blank.

"How's Tachibana?"

"He's hospitalised," answered Ann. "For an injured ligament and he's scheduled for an X-ray to make sure that he didn't have any broken bones."

Everyone fell silent.

"I can't believe this," said Oishi at last, breaking the silence. "Fudomine lost that badly to them? And Rika-san wasn't even forced to use her left hand, even though she's a left hander. And Tachibana is a National level player and he even lost to a sophomore by 6-0."

"This time, Marui and Rika-san played in doubles two," said Inui, straightening his glasses. "Sanada and Yanagi played in doubles one. Without a doubt, Rikkaidai will send their best doubles teams and singles players against us during the finals."

Oishi frowned. "What do you think about the match line-ups, Inui?"

"Doubles two will most probably be Marui Bunta and Kuwahara Jackal," said Inui, flipping through his notebook. "Doubles one will most probably be Yagyuu Hiroshi and Niou Masaharu. Those four make up Rikkaidai's best doubles teams. Marui and Rika-san are good as a doubles pair, but not good enough for Rikkaidai's standards. Probably why Yukimura decided to let them play as doubles in the match against Fudomine. Then singles three will most probably be...Yanagi. Singles two will probably be Kirihara since he's one of their aces."

"Singles one?"

"I don't know," said Inui. "It could be one of three people – Yukimura, Sanada or Rika-san. But knowing Yukimura and Sanada's personalities, most probably, Rika-san will probably be playing in singles one."

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St Rudolph's dormitory:

"Yuuta! You have a phone call!" called some random student, poking his head in the gym where Yuuta is currently in.

"Huh? Oh. Thank you."

Yuuta then headed to the receptionist desk where the phone is and picked up the receiver. "Moshi moshi?"

"Yuuta."

Yuuta blinked. "Aniki? What is it?"

"You know Echizen Rika, right?"

"Yeah," said Yuuta. "I heard. Your next opponent is Rikkaidai, right?"

"Yeah. What's that girl like?"

Yuuta frowned. "Well, if you're talking about tennis skill, I haven't even been able to get one point past her yet even though we've played countless times at street tennis. But she's mentioned once that she's not the strongest in the team. Only the 'Three Demons' of Rikkaidai have been able to defeat her so far, though she sometimes managed to beat Yanagi Renji."

"I see."

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Day of match of finals of Kantou tournament:

The rain was pelting down onto the ground and Seigaku were all gathered beneath the shelter whilst waiting for the authorities to decide whether the match between Seigaku and Rikkaidai will commence as because of the rain, the courts were all slippery. Ryuzaki is currently negotiating with the tennis authorities whilst leaving Ryoga in charge.

"What a drag," whined Kikumaru. "It was still warm and sunny when we left the school."

"Hello. How are you doing?"

The Seigaku regulars turned to see Ann and Kamio with umbrellas standing not too far away from them. "It's Fudomine," said Momoshiro. "Are you here to cheer for us?"

"Baka," scoffed Kamio. "We're here to attain information on Rikkaidai." He clenched his hands into fists. "We'll get back at them for the humiliation that we've suffered at the semi-finals."

"That's why I thought of recording the match and showing it to my brother," said Ann, showing a video camera in her hands.

Kaidoh who had been doing some light exercises to stretch his muscles stiffened all of a sudden and looked across the shelter to where a few tennis courts are. Ryoga who was present with the Seigaku regulars noticed Kaidoh's strange behaviour. "Hmm? What's wrong, Kaidoh?"

All the Seigaku regulars then turned to where Kaidoh was looking only to see a few tennis players in Rikkaidai's tennis jersey. Sanada Genichirou, Yanagi Renji, Kirihara Akaya, Marui Bunta as well as Echizen Rika were present. All were studying Seigaku with an unreadable expression, not caring that the rain was pelting down on them.

"Rikkaidai..." muttered Oishi.

"So that's Rikkaidai," muttered Shiki, staring at the Rikkaidai players, or more specifically, at their freshman regular.

Ann tightened her grip on her umbrella. "Kirihara..."

Sanada stared at them with an unreadable expression in his eyes, causing the Seigaku regulars to feel uncomfortable with his unnerving stare. "Let's go," said the fukubuchou before turning and leaving.

The rest of the team obeyed, but Kirihara walked towards Seigaku instead, a fact that Rika noticed and she stayed as well, staying behind Kirihara in case she needed to restrain the sophomore if things get ugly.

"Long time no see, Seigaku," said Kirihara before his eyes fell on Fuji. "Fuji Syusuke... With Tezuka-san's absence, you're Seigaku's ace. I hope you'll at least put up a little resistance during our game."

"What was that, you jerk?!" snarled Momoshiro.

"Sempai!" snapped Rika and everyone stared at Rika. Her eyes were cold and Seigaku now knew why Rikkaidai called her the 'Ice Princess'. "Mind your words."

"Hai. Sorry," said Kirihara, though he don't look to be sorry at all. He then noticed Fudomine. "Fudomine?" Ann and Kamio scowled at him. "Are you here to ask Seigaku for revenge?"

"There is still the Nationals!" growled Kamio. "This time, it won't go the way that it did the last time."

"I can't wait," sneered Kirihara. "Just don't give me another screwed game—"

"Sempai!"

Kirihara looked at Rika and even he shivered at the cold look in her eyes which spoke wonders. He knew what the message that the girl was trying to tell him and he'll do best to obey.

"I'll look forward to having a match with you," said Kirihara, looking at Fuji. "Though in the end, the victors will be Rikkaidai."

"We'll see about that," said Fuji coldly.

Rika could almost see sparks flying between both of their eyes as she sighed inwardly. "Oh well, I tried," she muttered. "It's not my fault if fukubuchou is mad at you, sempai."

"Kirihara. Rika."

Both Rikkaidai players turned towards the voice only to see that it's their fukubuchou. "Sanada-san," greeted Kirihara.

"What are both of you doing?" asked Sanada with a frown. "Hurry up and come to the meeting place."

"Hai," drawled Rika. "We'll be right over. Sempai here just felt that it's necessary to introduce himself to our opponents."

Sanada raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Hoh? What good manners, Akaya," he said sarcastically. "If you don't hurry to the meeting place, Yukimura will be doubling your weights. Rika, you too." He added, glancing at their female freshman regular.

"We'll be right over," said Rika before turning towards Sanada with Kirihara close behind her, but not before Rika glanced apologetically at the Fudomine pair which Kamio and Ann returned with a nod. Ryoga hadn't said anything so far as on one side is his team and on the other side is his baby sister. The poor guy had no idea who to help.

"Hold it right there, Rikkaidai-san," said Momoshiro with a frown on his face. Sanada, Rika and Kirihara stopped in their tracks, turning their heads to look at Momoshiro. "Would it be all right if I said a few words?" The Rikkaidai trio seemed to be studying him. "Since your player decided to give us a piece of his mind."

"I don't know what he said nor is it necessary to know," said Sanada. "Furthermore, whatever Akaya said is bound to be worse if Rika isn't here to stop him. You should be thankful to her."

"What did you say?!"

"It's something you'll understand only when you play us," said Sanada, continuing as if there had been no interruptions. "Without Tezuka, you have no chance of beating us, even if Yukimura isn't playing. And even if you had Tezuka, the result will be the same." He turned to his two kouhais. "Let's go."

Rika and Kirihara nodded before they followed their fukubuchou to their meeting place which is outside some cafe in the tennis park where the rest of the regulars were gathered. Yanagi looked up from his notebook.

"Akaya. Rika. You're late."

"Sorry," apologised Rika. "I have to make sure that sempai don't get into a fight." She glared at Kirihara who 'meeped' beneath her glare. "He found it necessary to introduce himself before our match. What good manners, don't you think?" She said sarcastically.

"Come on," whined Kirihara. "I was just checking out our prey."

"Fuji Syusuke, huh?" mused Yanagi and Kirihara smirked. "Is he good enough to play against you?"

"I can only hope so," said Kirihara. "Fudomine's Tachibana is a letdown, and to think that he's a National level player!"

Rika sighed before rummaging in her tennis bag and taking out her racquet, catching the attention of all Rikkaidai players. "Where are you going, Rika?" asked Yanagi.

"I'm going to go and do some practice and warm up for a bit until the official announcement came on," said Rika before leaving with her racquet tucked beneath her arm.

"I can't believe those guys!" growled Momoshiro, swinging his racquet haphazardly in the rain.

"Kirihara Akaya and Echizen Rika, huh?" mused Inui, flipping through his notebook. "They looked even more intimidating than the last time we saw them."

Rika waited until a droplet fell from a leaf before she served a tennis ball and it came in direct contact with the droplet, scattering the water in all directions. She smiled, satisfied, before she heard the thud of a tennis ball being bounced continuously on the ground before turning to see Seigaku's freshman prodigy standing not too far away from her.

Rika frowned, but ignored him before returning to her practice. This was a practice that Sanada had arranged for her to quicken her hand-to-eye coordination. As another droplet fell from a leaf, she served again only to hear the tell-tale sign of a ball being served as well only to see that Shiki had also served at the same time only to have his ball hitting through a droplet as well.

Rika narrowed her eyes dangerously before turning towards Shiki, tapping her racquet on her shoulder. Rika isn't very tall as it is, being continuously called 'chibi' by Niou and Kirihara sometimes. And this freshman was around her height as well, despite being called a prodigy by Seigaku and the reporters from Monthly Pro Tennis.

"Is there anything that you need?" asked Rika.

"Today's match was postponed because of the rain."

"I expected as much. And?"

"I don't think that you could bear to wait one week either, right?"

Rika frowned. "What are you trying to say?"

"Have a match with me."

"The match will be postponed for a week because of the rain," said Yukimura after having came from the authorities' office.

"I see."

Yukimura looked left and right just then. "Where's Rika?"

"She was saying something about warming up earlier," said Marui. "I'll go and get her since the match has been postponed."

"I'll come with you," said Niou before Yagyuu and Kirihara decided to come along as well.

"You're really okay with this?" asked Rika with a frown as she watched Shiki set his tennis bag down on the ground. "If the Board finds out that we have a match before the finals, I don't think it'll just blow over for you. Your school will be in trouble, you know that?"

"We can stop if you're getting nervous."

Rika snorted. "You're just like what Sora said," she muttered, unzipping her bag and removing her tennis racquet before unzipping her jacket and walking out to the courts. "One set match. Is that okay?"

"Okay."

"I hadn't introduced myself yet, have I?" said Rika, bouncing the tennis ball onto the court. "I am Rikkaidai Fuzoku's freshman, Echizen Rika. You are?"

"Seigaku's freshman, Shinderui Shiki."

Rika smirked. "Sora is pretty good at sports," she said. "Not up to Rikkaidai's standard, but still pretty good. I heard that he's the captain of the basketball club when he was in elementary school. Let's see if you, being his cousin, is as good as him."

"I won't disappoint you," was all that Shiki said.

This was the scene that the four Rikkaidai regulars who came to get Rika came across. "Wait," said Yagyuu, stretching out an arm to stop Marui from shouting for Rika.

"Yagyuu?"

"Let's watch, shall we?" said Yagyuu, adjusting his glasses. "And see how the so-called freshman prodigy, Shinderui Shiki fare against our own freshman ace."

"Here I go," said Rika, tossing the ball up in the air before her racquet came in contact with it and before Shiki knew it, Rika had already attained one point against him. The look on Shiki's face was one of shock.

He had never seen his cousin's best friend play before, unless you count the match that he had seen on the videotape that Inui had shown Seigaku, and she's better than the rumours stated and from what he had seen from the tape.

"15-0," said Rika.

And that was how the game continued for the next minute. Shiki could not even see Rika's shots coming and couldn't even counter them. Yet, Shiki could tell that Rika was still holding back on him, not showing all her true skills.

"Seems like the training that Sanada had put her through is working wonders," commented Yagyuu and the rest nodded. "If that is so, we have to work harder as well."

Rika walked off the courts, leaving a severely shocked Shiki behind on the courts. He could not so much as get a point past her, let alone see her shots and it ended with a game count of 6-0.

"What do you think, Rika?" asked Marui.

"He's good, I admit that," said Rika. "Better than I expected. But..."

"Not good enough, right?" said Yagyuu, straightening his glasses. "We were watching the match, if you can even call it that. You didn't even get serious against him as you had been playing right handed all the time."

"Yeah."