Hello! Next chapter is up now… I nervous I don't why... I hope someone could help with this uneasy feeling that I have... Anyway... Please enjoy... ^_^
Lyfa - tee hee hee... surprise, surprise... I guess... Sakuno can still control the situation... well... do not worry... I have better plans on *kissing* part... just stay tuned for that... ^_^
DISCLAIMER: Tennis Prince - All rights reserved to Konomi Takeshi-sensei.
Chapter 14: Mixed Feelings
Chapter Summary: When her fiancé appeared, something changed inside him. Especially when they made an announcement in the public…
Saturday, National Tournament:
Doubles 6-4, 7-5, Singles 3-5.
Seishun Gakuen was competing for the finals against Rikkai Dai. The Doubles two match was won by Inui and Kaidoh pair against Yagyuu and Niou, the same between doubles one of Oishi and Eiji to Marui and Jakal. One more win and they would win the tournament… again. Singles three was not finished yet. A fight between Momoshiro and Renji was getting heated up. Momoshiro was on the disadvantage. Renji calculated every move of his and Momo was having a hard time to catch up.
Ryoma on the other hand was watching them from the bench. If Momoshiro lost his game, it would his turn to play… against Kirihara. He focused himself on the game when Inui suddenly talked;
"Sensei, I have received an announcement," He said fixing his glasses on his eyes, "it's about your granddaughter."
Everyone from the fence looked at their data analyzer, waiting for the announcement.
"Well what is it?" Sumire said.
"Today, the Kitazawa will introduce her as a member of their family in public. She will be recognized as their daughter from now on."
Everyone remained silent.
"Ryuzaki-chii is getting hard to reach now." Eiji commented.
Ryoma looked away and Fuji noticed him. The tensai was about to say something when the data analyzer continued;
"Not only that…" Inui looked at this notebook, thinking on how to say the next words, "This is the day that she would introduce her fiancé to everyone."
Amber-eyes became widened but he didn't look at them.
"Is she really… going to do that?" Sumire reacted when no one said a word from the shock.
"Well, there will be 70% that she wasn't be the one to introduce him but I am not pretty sure about the details yet."
"Where did you get all these information, Inui?" Fuji asked him.
Inui closed his notebook and said, "That's classified information."
"Ahh-That's unfair, Inui." Eiji retorted but Inui didn't say more words after that.
Ryoma shifted his stare back on the game. So… she's going to do it… He gripped his racket really hard as he was thinking of something. Deep inside him, he didn't like the idea of this recognition thing. He felt like the auburn pigtailed girl was slowly drifting apart from them, like she was difficult to approach when she was being recognized by the public.
"Echizen."
He looked at the person who called him. Fuji was at the side of the bench. The tensai was leaning on the backrest before deciding to sit beside him.
"How are you feeling?"
It took seconds before Ryoma said something, "I am not nervous at all."
"I am not talking about the game," Fuji said staring at the match like Ryoma did, "I am talking about Ryuzaki-chan."
Ryoma kept his glare at the match, "What about her?"
"She's engaged."
"We all know that."
"So how are you feeling?"
Ryoma looked at him, "Why are you asking me this?"
"Are you happy? …Sad? …Furious? …Mad?"
Ryoma stood up, "Fuji senpai!" he raised his voice a very little louder making everyone to look at him.
"…Or jealous?
Ryoma was a bit shocked on his words.
Jealous…?
Why would he be? Who was she to him anyway?
"Admit it Echizen, you have feelings for her."
He remained silent. Fuji's words were slowly absorbing into his mind. Did he? He was not sure yet?
"Fuji made it this time."
They looked at the both of them. Eiji teased him a bit more.
"We all know that since the very beginning."
"What are you going to do now?" Inui asked him.
Ryoma just stared at everyone. He didn't say anything to them. Soon after, the crowd went wild. The Singles three ended and Renji won against Momoshiro. He pinned his hat down as he looked away from them. Momo approached them and tapped Ryoma's shoulder.
"I am sorry everyone. I lost." He looked down.
"Heki! Heki! Momo-chii. Echizen will definitely win this one." Eiji commented to ease the tense.
Ryoma walked towards the court to play. Momo looked at him and wondered. The boy never said a thing to him and that was odd for him.
"What's wrong with Echizen?"
Fuji looked at him and said, "Love problem."
The dunk smasher blinked twice, "E-eh?"
xxx
He stood there where Kirihara was on the other side of the court. The still youngest Rikkai Dai regular member dared him as he raised his racket in front of him.
"Get ready to lose, brat."
Ryoma didn't reply to him. He stayed still at his location gripping his racket hard. Kirihara became pissed that he didn't receive any reply from him.
"Hey! Why don't you say something? Are you mute? Cat caught your tongue?" he asked spontaneously.
Admit it Echizen, you have feelings for her.
Ryoma was still thinking on what Fuji had said to him. He was confused. He wasn't paying to Kirihara's taunting words. Actually he felt odd, something that was mixed inside him and he couldn't name them. He gritted his teeth and 'tch'-ed.
Kirihara was shocked as well as both teams. Ryoma was showing 'that' aura and the game hadn't even started yet.
"M-muga no kyouchi?!" Momo retorted.
Everyone was shocked. Ryoma was going to use Self-of-Actualization against Kirihara.
"Baka." Tezuka uttered as he crossed his arms. Sumire just smiled at him.
Ryoma looked at him and said, "I'm sorry, Kirihara-san but I won't let this game play for too long. I'll defeat you 10 minutes."
Kirihara was shocked and was able to retaliate after that, "Don't be too full of yourself." He said as he transformed into Devil Mode. He was able to control himself when he used that mode that's why everyone around him was not that worried anymore.
The game started which Ryoma was doing the service game. For making the game faster, he used his twist serve that made him ace the service-the first set to be précised. It didn't last for more than two minutes. Kirihaya managed to catch up with the second set. Ryoma smirked after that.
"Mada mada dane, Kirihara-san." Ryoma said doing his serve this time, "This is where you stop."
The game continued. Everyone was shocked on Ryoma's performance. Kirihara used Muga no Kyouchi as well but that didn't stop the tennis prodigy to score a lot of points. That aura between them was long gone before Ryoma scored for the last time.
It was the last point in favor for him which was a drop shot with a heavy backspin and could make the ball move towards the net rather than bouncing towards Kirihara.
"It was…" Oishi muttered.
"Tezuka's zero-shiki drop shot." Fuji continued. Tezuka just fixed his glasses when he saw that.
"6 games to 4, Game set and Match! Echizen Ryoma! Seigaku wins!" the umpire announced.
Inui pressed the end button of his stopwatch, "9 minutes and 30 seconds. That was really fast."
Seigaku regulars and cheerers shouted for their victory. They won the tournament this year once again.
Kirihara Akaya stood up on the net as he shook his hand to him, "Heh, you were different today."
Ryoma tilted his head, "What do you mean?"
"Something made you different that's why you won against me," Kirihara smirked, "Or rather I should say someone."
"What?!"
"Well, you got this one. Congratulations, "He said as he walked away waving his hand to him, "but I won't go easy on you next time."
Ryoma walked back to the others and as usual they grabbed him by their locks and grips and congratulated him for winning the game.
"Hey, let's inform Kawamura about this, let's go there now." The vice captain announced to everyone.
"Sounds good, let's go there." Eiji agreed.
When they were fixing their things the Rikkai Dai approached and congratulated them.
"Congratulations on winning the tournament, Tezuka-san," Yukimura greeted him as he offered his hand, "Too bad we didn't meet at the court."
Tezuka accepted the handshake, "Yeah, I wish to play with you next time."
Rikkai Dai's captain nodded and then looked at their youngest regular member, "Your rookie is really powerful. He is really something."
The Seigaku captain looked at Ryoma before looking back at him, "We are proud to have him in our team."
"Well, we'll take our leave now. Good luck on your future games."
"Same to you."
xxx
Seigaku tennis team left the place without making a fuss. Eiji kept making nonsense talk with Momo and Oishi while Fuji was calling Kawamura that they would go to visit the restaurant. He also announced that they won although, the powerhouse player knew about that already. The game was aired live so he was watching it the whole time. Kaidoh was talking to Inui to improve some of his techniques.
The others remained silent including Ryoma. The silent people were interrupted by Eiji's words;
"Everyone! Look over there!" Eiji reacted recklessly as he pointed a big billboard just across the city that they had just exited. The bus that they were riding was running slowly so they were able to look at what the acrobatic player was pointing at.
Their eyes widened and remained speechless because of the shock. The billboard was featuring Sakuno. She was appearing at different posts, clothes, expressions and actions. Ryoma stared on the big screen as he stuck his eyes on the girl as she was being zoomed in from the giant billboard. Fuji was the only one who could see his reaction. Later on, the announcement of her recognition was being aired.
"So, it is finally starting." Fuji uttered. They saw a man with an almond-colored hair and blue eyes. At his side there was a very fine lady with crimson red hair and jade-like eyes.
'We won't let you wait any longer, with no further ado, our daughter and the heiress of the Kitazawa household, Sakuno Kitazawa.' The man talked whom they known the second wealthiest person in Japan.
Later on, the girl in red dress appeared in front of a large staircase. Her hair was put up with little curls at the back of her neck, some strands of her hair was at the sides of her cheek. Her red silk gloves were long until her elbow. And a blushing face with slight make up could be seen on the screen. The girl bowed in front of the crowd and swiftly voiced out her name;
'I am pleased to meet you all, my name is Kitazawa Sakuno.' She gave the brightest smile that she could give. Tons of picture shots and murmurs approached her ears and to everyone who was watching the scene.
"Sensei, she's very beautiful." Oishi said to his coach while staring at the large screen.
"Sakuno."
Tezuka saw their coach how she gripped both of her hands. He knew that she was having a hard time right now. Not long before, Reinja said another words;
'For more revelations, I want everyone to know that our daughter's future life with her is right here with us. Please welcome, Christopher Von Lloyd Finsbury Kishida.'
Another set of murmurs from the crowd could be heard. Ryoma was staring at the screen… sternly. Everyone in the bus was having their different reactions. They saw the boy appeared from the place where Sakuno came from and walked down the aisle to reach her. The boy kissed her hand that made the crowd screamed in envious. The blonde boy looked good in his appearance. He looked like a real prince in his white-gold outfit. The color of his suit was fitted to his fair skin. The girls around him made them so out of their mind.
"So the guy can make a fuss too." Momo retorted.
"What a show off!" Eiji said, "I still prefer Echizen-chan for our Ryuzaki-chii."
"I know Ryuzaki-chan wouldn't pick him. She still has the right to choose who she will pick." Oishi was worried as he looked at their coach and to the youngest regular member of the team who was on the upper part of the bus sitting near the tennis tensai.
Ryoma was sitting with Momo but when they saw the billboard, the latter stood up to have a closer look. Ryoma on the other hand, having sharp eyes could see the scene clearly. Eiji also had the ability to see things clearly as well. They could understand what was happening because of Eiji's information. Ryoma was still staring at the large screen as if he was thinking of something.
Everyone shared their reactions because of the blonde-boy-self-proud appearance and they made a commotion after that. Sumire asked them to stop as the noise inside of the bus was getting higher and tenser. Fuji was smiling at them suspiciously.
"I should be the one there… in his place."
Fuji looked at the young tennis prodigy. The boy was pinning his hat down as he fixed his self on the chair. He was not planning to look back on the screen. The tensai smirked as he cleared something. The bus started to move again after that.
Later on Kawamura restaurant:
"CHEERS!"
Everyone shouted as they lifted their soda up high. They were complete celebrating for their victory. Sumire even invited Tomoka for cheering on them. They were rejoicing and would've been happier except for one.
"I wish Sakuno-chan was here…"
Sumire looked at the girl beside her. Tomoka saw the announcement as well. The girl was having a hard time accepting all at once. She didn't like Sakuno's fiancé when she saw him slapped one of her best friend's bodyguards.
"Just be happy for her, Tomoka. She wouldn't like to see you all sad like that." Sumire tapped her shoulder.
"But to be forced like that… I know that she was… how could she not object? It's the Kitazawa's that we are talking about," She said making her voice a little louder that made some of the regulars look at her, "Knowing Sakuno-chan she doesn't have the guts to oppose them. She's just… like her."
Everyone remained silent, absorbing Tomoka's words. Sakuno was easily get manipulated. If no one saved her there then she would ended up with him.
"I believe in the Kitazawa's, they wouldn't let my granddaughter suffer like that," Sumire said facing everyone and then to her, "just trust Sakuno."
Tomoka stared at her for a while before someone said something.
"Sensei's right. Let's believe in Ryuzaki-chan." Oishi stood up and raised his soda. Momo and Eiji stood up as well after nodding to the mother hen and then they were followed by the others.
"Let's have this victory for double!" Inui almost shouted and followed by everyone. They all stood up except for Ryoma. Tezuka stood up and agreed but he didn't shout.
xxx
After eating, they sang there and made jokes. Ryoma decided to stand up and walked to the exit.
"Where are you going?" Momo noticed him.
"Practice," Ryoma said as he put his hat back to his head before exiting the door, "Thank you for the food."
Momo blinked twice and wondered, "What a dedicated kid…"
Fuji watched the door that the boy exited. He was thinking of something that no one could read. Everyone continued their activities and became pale when Inui took out his new 'invention.' Kawamura house sweat dropped.
xxx
He did practice at a public tennis court. Since it's already dark, there were not much people practicing there so he could concentrate hard. He rallied on the wall for several times. He added force on every hit he returned to and fro on the wall. He was practicing there for ages trying to forget something… or someone. Suddenly, an image of a certain pigtailed girl appeared in his mind that blocked the picture of the ball in front of him. He snapped because of that thought, he missed the shot as it went passed him. He stood straight as he fixed his hat. He went to the nearest bench and sat there. He grabbed a can of ponta and drank it up bottomless. When he freshened up, he looked ahead of him. He gave up on the thought, he was thinking of her right now. The way her life changed, being separated to them, meeting new friends… and having a fiancé.
He looked down as he was trying to forget the thought but no matter what he did, it wouldn't vanish. It was real. Sakuno had a fiancé, a proud fiancé to be precised and he wouldn't like him… he wouldn't like it. Desperately didn't like him. He stretched both of his legs as he leaned back to stare at the clear darkening sky. He stared there for a while with the softening eyes.
"Ryuzaki…" He uttered.
The wind blew after that. It was cold but he didn't mind it. He didn't care. He snapped back to his position when someone coughed near him. He looked behind to see the tennis tensai standing near him.
"F-fuji-senpai, what are you doing here?" he asked. How long was he standing there? He thought thinking that he might hear the only word that he said that night.
Fuji moved and sat beside him, "Everyone went home and Taka-san asked me to look for you, so here I am."
"I see, I'm sorry." Ryoma looked straight ahead like the tensai was doing.
"After you left, we received an announcement from Ryuzaki-chan's mother. She said that Seigaku boy's tennis club are invited on their two events: One is the opening of the recreation center which is near the city and two is Ryuzaki-chan's live performance." Fuji explained to him.
Ryoma looked at him stoically but the tensai was not finished yet.
"You have a special participation there, Echizen."
"Me?"
"You will teach the girl about aiming for a shot. I don't know the details but you will know when you meet them."
Ryoma looked away after that. What was going on? Just when he was adjusting from the previous one there was this new announcement. He didn't reply anything to him. He let the wind talked for them.
But not for long as he saw the tensai move.
Fuji put both of his clasped hands on his knee as he said his next words, "I haven't got a direct answer from you earlier."
Ryoma looked at him dumbfoundedly, "what do you mean?"
"Echizen, you know what I mean," Fuji said being serious, "you wouldn't say those words inside the bus if you are not jealous."
Ryoma was a bit shocked. So he heard him talk there.
"You wouldn't act wild in your match a while ago if you were not affected on what was happening."
"What are you saying?" he still stated the fact, "I don't get you."
"And you wouldn't sit here lazily and blurted out her name all of the sudden."
Ryoma's amber-golden eyes widened. Fuji looked at him and saw his reaction. He smiled as he said his next words;
"You like her…"
He gripped his racket in his hand hard. Did he? He wasn't sure about it. But the words that were coming from his senpai were interesting and it was even more interesting when the tensai added;
"You wanted to see her, hear her voice, feel her presence or look how she would blush in front of you," Fuji said as he stood up, "If you still don't get it, see for yourself… before it's too late."
Fuji waved his hand as he started to walk away from him. He was left there leaving a lot of thoughts inside his mind. He was so damn confused. There were words from his senpai that he couldn't admit and he didn't like it. It was complicated. Soon after, he stood up having those thoughts in his head while heading home.
The Echizen's Residence:
"Tadaima…" it was low hoping that no one could hear him. But as long as he stepped on the staircase, Nanjiroh started bugging him. His father knew the competition already and he started to annoy him. He ignored his father until he reached his room.
"Baka no oyaji." He said when his father decided to give up on banging his door when Rinko scolded him. The couple left his door afterwards. Not a minute passed, his phone rang. He looked at the screen only to be surprised.
Sakuno was calling him.
For the first time in his life, he felt that his heart beat faster well not that fast as everyone could imagine… for a girl. He calmed himself down as he pushed the call button.
"Un" he simply replied.
The girl fidgeted on the other line as if he could see her, "R-ryoma-kun, I-I watched your game… a-although it's only recorded. C-congratulations on winning the tournament…"
"Thanks."
Silence erupted after that.
Come on Ryoma, talk. He silently said that to himself. He was about to say something when the girl interrupted.
"W-well that was all I've got to say. S-sorry for disturbing you. b-bye-"
"I saw you today."
"E-eh?!"
"On billboard… about your recognition..."
"I-I see."
"Is it true?"
"W-what is it?"
"About you and him." He couldn't stop his mouth. He cursed himself after asking that. He was selling himself to the girl. Darn confusion he had right now.
The girl wasn't able to reply for a while, "W-we may be a couple in public… b-but we are not in reality. Y-you see… w-we discussed that matter already. M-my parents agreed on that and Chris-kun understood me."
"Sou ka." He said. He was not sure but he felt relieved upon hearing that from her. But there were uncertainties why he felt that something was missing but he disposed it for a while.
"Remember this, Ryuzaki," Ryoma told her the rightful words to say… at least for the meantime, "I will never like him for you."
"E-eh? Ryoma-kun?"
"You heard me so think first before making a decision."
Sakuno didn't reply until later, "O-okay…"
After they agreed to each other, he ended up the call. He didn't clarify about the news he heard today, the girl didn't open it up to him, probably she didn't have any idea and her mother let them knew before she did. She would probably be panicking if she heard it from him so he let the news to spill away. He put this phone on his headboard and lied down afterwards. Karupin who was lying on the ground, stood up and went to its master beside the bed. He was thinking all what happened today. From Fuji's and Kirihara's meaningful words until Sakuno's sudden call. His eyes became half-opened as they became soft. A small smile formed on his face. It was not clear but he was beginning to realize something…
Of all things, he wanted to hear her voice.
Done! How was this one? It's Ryoma's POV this time. I think Ryoma was getting Ooc in my story. Was he still okay? I mean the way I portrayed him here?... please tell me your thoughts…
Thank you for supporting my stories... minna-san... For those who want to be appreciated please let me sense your presense... Domo... ^_^
Reviews please! I(one) word will be highly appreciated by MitsukiJunko… ^_^
Next Chapter: Sakuno's Pillar of Support