"If you glare any harder, the boy might catch on fire." Nanjiro muses, watching his daughter shoot bullets from her eyes towards Akutsu. He is blissfully unaware of what happened the week before.
"Heh." she scoffs in reply. "Might do him some good." she mutters in reply, making her old man cock his head curiously.
"Mh? What's up with you? You're all fired up." he drawls.
Ryumi looks up at him over her shoulder, her eyes sharp as knives. "I just don't like his attitude." she explains dryly before turning away.
Nanjiro rubs his stubble covered chin in thought before glancing over at Akutsu Jin who is facing his son. He must admit he rarely ever saw anyone carry such a bad attitude into a match. He wonders what his old rival was thinking when recruiting a boy like that into his team.
The match starts off heated and Ryoma quickly rushes up to the net returning the ball Akutsu returned after his lob, with a Drive Volley right into his face. The crowd gasps as Akutsu lies sprawled across his side of the court, his face set is shock. No doubt Ryoma intended to pay him back for what he pulled.
While mostly everyone is left in shock, Ryoma and Ryumi's dad can't help but laugh. He really liked to see Ryoma put forward some attitude of his own.
"Oops. I'm sorry." Ryoma states with a smirk as Akutsu gets to his feet. "But you shouldn't take tennis so lightly. Even though that's not something big... That's for Kachiro." he says calmly. "Now what are you still on the ground? I still have to get you back for Kawamura-senpai and for the heck of it Arai-senpai... and most of all my sis." he finishes.
Akutsu jumps to his feet calmly after gathering his racket, facing the boy several heads shorter than him. "You... can't escape anymore, brat."
"Same to you." Ryoma replies simply.
Akutsu crouches real low as Ryoma sets himself up to serve, as both are looking very serious about this match. Ryoma serves him a Twist serve, but Akutsu returns it by moving fast and is soon able to gain his first point.
Akutsu's speed seems to dominate the game. Ryoma only has to blink and he's gone from sight. His speed, combined with his strength, really leaves Ryoma in trouble. Not even Ryoma's split step makes a difference.
Kawamura looks on worriedly from the sidelines. He and Akutsu, they used to be friends.
"To pay me back in tennis. Don't make me laugh... brat." Akutsu sneers unimpressed.
Ryumi sighs lightly as she leans up against the chain fence. If she didn't despise the guy so much, she would consider complimenting him on his skills. She glances towards her dad who looks on in interest. He always enjoys it when someone is giving Ryoma a hard time. He believes it's the best way for him to grow.
Ryoma tries a lob to draw Akutsu to the net and follows after, trying to limit his area to return a proper strong return. Akutsu at first wants to ignore it and goes to lob the ball over Ryoma, but with one taunt from Ryoma, decides against it at the last split second. The result... Ryoma having the ball returned in his face at full power.
"Ryoma!" his sister calls worriedly as her little brother is thrown back by the force.
"30-15." the umpire calls as the ball hits the court on Akutsu's side.
Ryumi blinks in surprise. As far as she knows, Ryoma's face isn't flexible enough to return balls. It appears he made himself the target on purpose, so he knew where he could expect the ball to go and so was able to return it.
Ryoma gets to his feet, looking completely fine with a smirk plastered on his face. "Jeez. He nearly gave me heart attack." Ryumi complains, making her dad snicker behind her.
The match continues and Ryoma continues pulling more tricks from his sleeve, showing them moves he never used before, amazing his sister and impressing his dad. He's really evolving himself as he goes.
"Heh. Be careful. He could be growing to get better than you Ryumi." her dad boasts proudly. It's his way of urging his children on, by creating some competitive air between them. They learn to grow by watching and learning from each other. It's how he got them into tennis in the first place.
Ryumi smirks in return. "I would hope so, but not just yet oyaji." she replies, making him blink before eyeing her suspiciously before smiling.
"Ah~. Well, I'm getting hungry. See ya." he muses before sauntering off. Ryumi simply waves, not taking her eyes from the court.
Meanwhile, Ryoma and Akutsu face off, both smiling as they enjoy the match. It surprises everyone who thought they would be forever at each other's throats.
With Ryoma now using a single step to change his direction, he can keep up to Akutsu better. He gains on the other boy, though Akutsu isn't planning to make it easy for him.
By expectantly changing his tempo, from just full on attacking to a more all round type of style, he manages to keep Ryoma behind him. Shows he isn't all about brute strength after all.
But Ryoma just has a thing for adaptation and gets over it, soon matching whatever pace Akutsu decides on.
It's amazing to see the two play together. All animosity seems to have ebbed away. Even Ryumi can't summon up her anger anymore as she watches the match unfold.
But despite them having their fun, Ryoma still remembers to pay Akutsu back, by winning the match.
"Game and match for Seigaku's Echizen." the umpire concludes the match, also signaling the end of the prefectural tournament. They've won. Ahead is are the regional championships.
Akutsu matches up to the net, snatching Ryoma by the shirt, hoisting him up threateningly.
"I won." he simply states, making Akutsu freeze. "You did good though."
A tense silence fills the air before Akutsu releases Ryoma just as suddenly as he grabbed him. Surprising everyone, he starts to laugh before turning away, walking off the court still laughing.
Ryumi snorts. "What the heck." she mumbles before turning her eyes to her little brother. He's really something. Yeah, one day he will surpass her, no doubt. But... "Mada mada dane."
...
"Where did you get those?" Ryoma wonders as he watches his sister snack on some takoyaki after the consolation match between Hyotei and St Rudolph. Only one of them could continue on to the regionals and that turned out to be Hyotei. Ryumi feels sorry for Yuuta. She heard he got beaten surprisingly fast.
"Mh? Oh well, I snatched oyaji's second portion. He shouldn't hog all the food for himself when he has growing children right?" she explains, glancing towards the man crying on a bench further away as he looks into his wallet. "Want one?" she offers, holding it out, but before he can take it, Eiji comes diving in.
"Mmh~. Delicious." he sings with his mouth full while Ryoma glares at him. His glare then turns to Fuji who sits down next to her, also claiming a piece for himself.
Ryumi chuckles to herself. "You guys." Suddenly an idea springs to her mind. "Hey, let's all go to the ice cream shop. All of us, to celebrate Seigaku's victory." she suggests. "It'll be my treat."
Eiji's eyes light up at the sound of that. He's so used for being exploited by his juniors, always having to pay for the burgers. "Yeah! Let's go!" he urges, running off to gather the others.
"Oi!" a voice calls, making her look up. "If you brought your own money this time, why didn't you pay for your own food?" her dad wonders, growing red in the face as he hovers over her threateningly.
"You're my dad. Aren't you supposed to pay for my food?" she counters, making him grumble.
"At least buy me some ice cream too." he tries, only to receive a blunt 'No.'
"I'm not going to have my dad tag along on an outing with my friends. You'll embarrass me." she states as a matter of factly before getting up with Ryoma and Fuji as the others walk on over.
"Hey, I've seen that guy before." Momo-chan says in realization as he watches the now weeping man in monk's clothes behind them. "Is he bothering you?" he wonders.
Ryumi chuckles. "Don't mind him. I can take him." she says before they walk off together, ready to go get some ice cream.
Nanjiro cries crocodile tears as he watches her go. "My own daughter thinks I'm embarrassing her!"
Greetings from the Black forest Germany everyone!