"I'm her biggestfan."
—Momoi Satsuki
The Empress | Chapter 20
"I just don't like this."
"You don't like it?" Momoshiro repeated, confused.
"How did you losers end up higher ranked than me?" Atobe questioned said with a frown.
"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose," Toyama replied vaguely. "We beat them first, so Court 2 belongs to us." he continued with excitement in his tone.
"Let's play to see who the real winners are." Kikumaru cut in.
Coming around the corner, the Demi-God—who was listening until now—agreed. "None of you move well enough for Court 2."
"Interesting. Let's settle this then." Kaido held his racket in hand.
Meanwhile.
"Hey."
After the brief conversation with the beauty, Ryoma went to find his new rival. Tokugawa paused in the middle of practicing at the boy's sudden appearance.
"I'm here for revenge."
The high-schooler doesn't seem surprised by the declaration.
When the two were on the tennis court, Ryoma asked, "Hit that serve again."
"I will be the one to decided if you are worthy," Tokugawa said calmly.
Ryoma frowned until Tokugawa served the move he wanted to see. "Thanks, senpai." The Prince smirked; the high-schooler actually did as requested.
They began playing with five tennis balls before it slowly increased to ten.
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"You've improved a little, Echizen Ryoma." The 1st Court player said during their break. The male began hitting the ball with his racket softly causing it to bounce up and down while looking at the Prince from the corner of his eyes. "I also returned, one year ago, wearing that black jersey."
Ryoma turned towards him in surprise. He clearly didn't expect someone so strong to lose the first time around in the camp. He briefly wondered who the high-schooler played against to lose.
"Is the old man doing well?" Tokugawa interrupted the freshman's thoughts.
Ryoma was tempted to scoff, "He's doing too well."
"How was the hellish training?"
"It was fun, actually."
Tokugawa laughed, "I'm sure it was." then paused, "I knew you needed to meet Coach Nyudo."
"What do you mean?" There was a slight puzzlement in the younger male's expression.
"You hate losing more than anyone. But you also feel the excitement, deep inside, when you do lose."
"Are you different?" Ryoma questioned.
"I'm the same. I'm disappointed but excited."
"Why?"
"Because I feel twice the satisfaction when I win the next time."
"I see." He smirked, "I guess I'll be feeling twice the satisfaction today."
"Do you want to go home?"
"After I beat you."
Their match resumed as the two returned to the court from their place in the sidelines.
"Are you ready to face hell again?"
"So long as I'm playing tennis, even hell is fun."
"Not even I know what lies ahead. Once we take the first step, we cannot stop. Even if all our limbs should break."
"Bring it on!"
"Fly upwards to your next limit." Tokugawa smiled.
"Limit? Sorry but..." Ryoma paused to smirk, "mada mada dane*."
Approaching the camp gates were four males. The leading male had deep crimson hair as he looked up at the camera with a slight smile. The three behind him followed obediently once the gates opened wide for them to enter through.
"I can't wait to meet Frei-chan~" A gray-haired male exclaimed with a grin. His face had a long scar running from his hairline to his earlobe.
"Hm, is she all that?" His black-haired stoic teammate deadpanned, one earbud in his left ear while the other dangled on his chest.
"I guess we'll find out." The last male smirked, running his fingers through his wavy blond hair. "Personally, I think she's just a pretty shorty."
The crimsoned haired male remained silent without the whole conversation.
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Meanwhile, the beauty watched the 'Captain' of the group inside the dimmed room. He hasn't changed, other than his height; his crimson hair still eye-catching as usual and his features handsome.
She didn't think much of the fact that they were talking about her.
A few minutes later, three females and three males, all of whom were freshmen arrived at the gate.
They all glanced nervously at the gates. Horio gulped at the sight, it was his second time seeing the big gates. Except for this time, he didn't show up as a volunteer. They were all invited, however not for any reasons related to tennis. Simply for visiting purposes.
Their little group consisted of Tachibana An, Ryuzaki Sakuno, Osakada Tomoka, Horio Satoshi, Kato Kachiro, and Mizuno Katsuo. The girls stared wide-eyed as the gates opened.
Dan Taichi and Urayama Shita remained in the camp while Horio was requested to retrieve the three females in case they get lost.
The female Tachibana was nervous but excited at the same time. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; not just anyone is allowed to come to the Under 17 camp, especially females since it is an all-boys camp yet here she is. She was also looking forward to seeing her brother and the rest of the Fudomine team. Along with Momo-chan. Although it was a bit confusing when the invitation to visit came to her doorsteps so suddenly, from what is known about the camp, visiting privileges were rare.
Ryuzaki fiddled with her fingers as she glanced left and right. It almost felt like she's being watched. Much like the female Tachibana, she was also excited to be here. After all, her crush is also in this camp along with all the Seigaku regulars. But she was mostly nervous; she had a strange feeling.
Osakada wasn't excited, she was absolutely hyped. She can finally see her beloved Ryoma-sama after weeks of summer vacation. Although the giant gates did frighten her.
Kato and Mizuno looked more nervus than Horio as they exchanged a glance when the giant gates opened for them to enter.
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"Fuyuki-chan, are you sure about this?" Saito asked, staring at the front gate camera view.
"Ja," The beauty nodded, "It's more interesting this way. Besides they* are already here." she smiled, eyes glued to Ryuzaki Sakuno as the nervous-looking girl passed through the gates.
The beauty originally only wanted to invite the young Ryuzaki, however, that might intimidate her from coming as the only girl coming to the camp; it's unlikely that she's aware of Fuyuki's presence here.
Haru stood behind Fuyuki, also staring at the braided long-haired girl. Except his thoughts couldn't be more different. Based on his research, this girl could be useful for separating his Fuyuki-sama and Echizen the-annoying-pest Ryoma.
"Kurokocchi!" Kise ran towards Kuroko in excitement. Trailing behind him was Kasamatsu. The older male sighed with a ticked off mark on his forehead. It was a constant struggle to hold himself back from hitting the idiotic blond.
When the model tried to jump the Phantom, Kuroko quickly sidestepped. He was already prepared.
"Wah~ Mean suu." He cuddled his nose, facepalming on the ground before looking up, "Eh? Everyone is here already?"
By everyone, he meant other than his Kaijo High and Kuroko's Seirin High, there were players from Shutoku High, Too Academy, Yosen High, Rakuzan High, and...
Kirisaki Daichi High.
His eyes narrowed at the last team, "Why are you here too?" it was no surprise that Kise and the rest of the groups here hated Kirisaki Daichi High for their style of playing basketball.
"Obviously because we were invited, are you stupid?" Hanamiya smirked widely, "Guess you're a natural blond."
It was obvious the sadistic boy was egging Kise on.
"You-!" The blond growled.
"A-Anyways! We're glad you can make it!" It was Momoi that got between the two, "I'm excited to see the camp we're going to! Frei-chan told the coach that someone will be here to pick us up."
That certainly caught their attention.
On cue, a giant shiny black 'bus' pulled over. The doors opened as two males stepped out and waited on each side of the doors. "Frei-sama requested that we accompany you to the camp." The two butler-like males bowed politely and smiled. "Please." They motioned towards the entrance.
"Wow!" Koganei exclaimed, his eyes wide.
This is the fanciest ride ever in his eyes; it could easily fit at least 50 people inside.
Akashi seems to approve of their choice of the ride as he was the first to enter, followed by the rest of the Rakuzan team. When Kise followed to do the same, he was pushed to the side by Hanamiya. The blond narrowed his eyes but decided not to pursue the matter.
Momoi could feel the tension as she entered.
If the outside was amazing then the inside of their ride was even better. There were red velvet seats that looked soft as small sofas, drinks, and food in the back area while the windows were tinted to keep the sun at bay. There was even a washroom in the far back, along with a big flat-screen TV attached to the top front of the bus. Everything looked so expansive that they didn't want to even sit in fear of ruining the seats.
Murasakibara seems to have teleported to the food area as he looked over his options and grabbed more than he could carry before sitting down.
"Please make yourselves comfortable." One of the males who welcomed them said, "And let us know if you need anything." the other finished.
The screen flickered on as their ride began. Of course, Hanamiya took control of the remote. And when Kise's face came up on the screen, it was immediately skipped much to the blond's protest. After a while of switching back and forth through the channels, the sadist paused at a familiar name.
"-Fuyuki had claimed victory in the teen category last year. Is the Empress of tennis ready for another victory this year?"
The footage of the claimed victory match from last year started playing, near the end of the game based on the current score on the screen.
Long midnight blue—almost black to some degrees—hair was tied up with twin black ribbons. The long locks curled in the ends and looked perfect done against her porcelain skin. Her large hazel eyes appeared to be somewhat dull with a frozen expression as she smacked her racket from her side of the net.
The beautiful collar around her slim neck with a small bell attached rang in the silent atmosphere. Her elegant tennis jersey and sport short rose slightly, revealing more pale and perfect skin.
Standing opposed to Fuyuki was an older girl with light brown hair and eyes. Her skin tanned gleaming under the sun. The girl managed to return the serve, just barely. The strength of the beauty's return growing only heavier.
Hanamiya recognized the girl as Rei Mayu, young Fuyuki's first official opponent in a match.
Fuyuki started spinning in her side of the court as her opponent returned the ball. At first, it was slow before the speed turned akin to Toyama Kintaro's Super Ultra Great Delicious Mountain Storm. Only the spin was less intense as she smacked the ball against her racket during mid-spin and ended up with a final position of her arms stretched out on each side, head tilted forward, and one knee hitched forward. Almost like a falcon.
The ball—with some sort of dark surrounding energy—flew to her opponent's side in speed too fast to follow with the naked eyes. Only when the spherical object bounced a few meters away from the court times did it reduce in speed, allowing the audience to see it. But even then, there seemed to be dark smoke coming out of the ball from the intensity of the serve.
"Dark Cyclone." was muttered from the beauty's glossed lips as she stood up straight. Pushing the locks of hair that hindered her view from the sudden movements, she turned her back on the net and walked off.
"M-Monitors, check please."
Playing the last few seconds in slow motion, it was clear the ball passed by just right of the light brown haired girl's side. Within the lines of the court.
"Game and match, Fuyuki Frei. Six games to zero."
And the crowd went wild with the beauty's name spilling like thunder.
Kuroko stared deeply at the beauty on the screen. To say she is talented is an understatement. The Phantom firmly believes there is nothing she can't do. 'Is this the ability of a true prodigy?' She seems to have it all. Beauty. Brain. Talent. Influence. Wealth. Although a small part of him was envious, the far greater part of him was in awe. He briefly wondered if there was anything she wouldn't do. Anything she couldn't have.
"...damn."
Kuroko flinched ever so slightly as the mutter under Aomine's breath broke him off his trail of thoughts. When the Shadow looked at his ex-light, he began to notice everyone was in some sort of trance as most of their eyes were either glued to the screen or anywhere but.
"Holy smokes, she's amazing!" Takao exclaimed before nudging the green-haired male beside him, "right Shin-chan?!"
Said male furrowed his eyebrows and merely pushed up his glasses ever so slightly. If anyone noticed the faint awe on his face, it was not mentioned.
Kise, on the other hand, was deeply amazed as his eyes sparkled with glee, "Freicchi is incredible!"
Although Kasamatsu was annoyed at his loudness, he didn't say anything as he tried to stop himself from staring at the screen. He doesn't know much about tennis but it's clear as day to see that the girl easily surpassed her opponent with a perfect score. It deeply amazed him but the look in her eyes...
Sitting at the very back of the ride, Hanamiya had a smirk on his lips while there was a strange gleam in his eyes. Noticing the gleam in his captain's eyes, Hara looked back at the screen, "Talent huh."
Murasakibara was not pleased with all the comments he heard about his girlfriend. But he also couldn't help but feel proud to be her boyfriend. Clutching the bag of gummies in hand, he grinned child-like.
Akashi narrowed his eyes. She was just like him. Victory seems to be all she cares about. Yet he didn't fail to notice the slight look of hope that filled her hazel eyes as she waited a second longer than necessary—disguised as pushing her hair back—before walking away. Almost as if she was hoping the other girl would return her serve. How contradicting.
Momoi would usually be far more excited about seeing her Frei-chan's prowess yet for once, her excitement was overpowered by the sadness. For some reason, the video made her more sorrow than any other emotion. There was something about the video that seemed to scream for a cry of help. Just like all her other tennis-related videos. Being the beauty's self-proclaimed biggest fan, she knew it in her gut. Clutching a hand over her chest, she looked at the vanishing beauty. Frei-chan.
mada mada dane* - "There's still a long way to go"
they* - Fuyuki is referring to the 1st Strings.
I've been trying to improve my tennis match writing skills but as you can see, it still sucks. I'll keep working on it. The next chapter will begin the anime The Prince of Tennis II OVA vs Genius 10 with a mix of the new bunch that was introduced in this chapter.
Fun fact: Many German Americans anglicised the common and equivalent German surname Schmidt or Schmitz to Smith.
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Edited: Aug 22, 2020