Hello everyone :))
I'm so sorry for the late update, end of semester has been quite rough but I managed to write a bit for the next chapter but it's not close to completion yet. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I gravely apologize for any grammatical or spelling mistakes I have made in the story. I don't own PoT.
Until next time! :))
"First you stalk me around all after dinner and now you cause a ruckus?" Ryoma questioned his two senpais with a raised eyebrow. He took another sip from his drink and looked over to see a small built girl in an all white tennis outfit. "Hm, pink looks better." He thought. He then walked over to Kazuya who was still bickering with Sakura.
"Ne Senpais let's start." Kazuya looked down towards the boy with the white with an irritated glance.
"I refuse to play with him." Kazuya looked at his girlfriend. "I am a singles player."
"Aw come one, just this once?" She pleaded with him, eyes widening and a small pleasing pout placed on her lips.
"Che, like I'd ever play doubles with you." Ryoma spat back.
"Eh? Kazuya, you didn't tell him?" Sakura realized what was happening.
"I told him we were playing tonight." Kazuya replied in a matter of factly tone.
"You didn't tell him we were playing doubles." Sakura repeated with her hands on her hips. Kazuya looked away, avoiding her eyes that now looked like they were about to bite off his head.
"Agh!" Was all Sakura could make from her frustration. Sakuno, sensing her sister's change in attitude, quickly rushed over and tried to save the situation.
"Nee-chan! It's ok! We can do doubles with Ann-chan and Tomo-chan, since they came today too!" Sakuno said. Her friends instantly nodded at that idea, afraid that Sakura would also bite their heads off.
"Demo, I told Kazuya that we would be playing doubles against him and Echizen." Sakura mumbled, sending yet another glare at her incompetence boyfriend. Kazuya simply avoided eye contact and prayed that his future sister in law could salvage and save him.
"We still have the rest of the camp to play. Plus Ryoma-kun isn't a doubles player either" Sakuno replied. Sakura sighed. "You're too much like Kaa-san."
"Ne, Ryuzaki. Are you insinuating that I can't play doubles?" Ryoma looked up at the girl.
"E-Eh! Iya, chigau yo Ryom-kun! I-I didn't mean it like that. It's just you haven't played doubles for a while…"
"Doesn't mean I can't play." He smirked at the now fumbling girl. "It's so fun to tease her. I can do this for the rest of my life." He thought. Ryoma then turned to Kazuya. "Let's do what the crazy lady wants. I'm tired of waiting. Doubles is still tennis." He then walked towards the court leaving the group of people gaping.
"Uh, I guess Ann-chan and I will play singles?" Tomoka asked.
"Hey! We are here too!" Momoshiro yelled.
"BAKA with all that yelling it would be hard to not tell that you weren't here." Kaido retorted back.
"Who are you calling baka? Snake head?!" Momoshiro started and before he could continue Ann had thrown a rock at him to shut him up.
"Let's do a doubles game to see who the real idiot is." Ann suggested.
"Yeah go ahead! I'll turn the lights to the court next to us." Sakura beamed and bolted towards the control box. The lights next to the court they were standing on systematically turned on in a canon manner. The four then bowed and headed off to the next court.
Court 7: Ryoma, Kazuya, Sakuno, Sakura
"Ryuzaki pair to serve." Sakura's voice rang across the court as she bounced the yellow ball twice and tossed it into the air. The ball flew over the net and all of a sudden split into 8 causing the dark haired boys to scramble in an attempt to receive them. Kazuya had thought to use his 10 ball Strike but Ryoma was in the way. He 'tsked' and ran towards another illusion. Sakura smirked as she watched the tennis prodigies scramble for the ball.
"15-love" Sakura said as she geared up for another serve. However, she decided not to do Yamata no Orochi. It was a mental game after all, according to her sister that is. Sakuno was surprised to see her sister do a deep cross court serve. Kazuya was able to return it towards Sakuno, who quickly side stepped towards the ball and returned it. Sakuno grunted under the weight of her new racquet. Due to the weight her return was a lot slower and weaker than Ryoma had seen before and he quickly ended the point with a drive B.
"15 all." Kazuya declared for all the players to hear. Kazuya stood by the base line and decided if Sakura was going to throw out the Yamata no Orochi then he should also throw out his rainbow serve. Sakuno sensing his rainbow serve, she positioned herself a bit further behind to give her eyes enough time to process the countless balls. Bouncing on the balls of their feet the girls had prepared themselves to receive Kazuya's signature serve. The serve flew over the night at an almost light speed. "Red? No. Green? No." Sakuno hit the different paths that the balls had nurtured due to the serve. "Orange? Nope. Blue? Nah." Sakura did the same and finally found it. "Yellow!" She returned the ball towards Ryoma who in turn did the same. The two pairs rallied for a good 2 minutes before Ryoma decided enough was enough and finished the point with his cool drive. Sakuno was a tad too late when she lunged towards the ball.
"30-15" Ryoma smirked towards the girl who was slowly regaining her composure. Kazuya sighed in relief. "At least when it came to tennis, the brat was serious." Kazuya thought as he prepared himself for another rainbow serve.
"Ne, Kazuya. I'm still mad at you. Don't think you're getting away from that situation scotch free." Sakura yelled which caused the calm and collected man to miss the ball in his serve. Ryoma turned around to see his partner varnished clearly with anxiety. Ryoma shivered at the smile that Sakura had just exuded on her mouth as he thought back how similar she was to her grandmother. "Thank god I have Sakuno." He felt a bit of pity towards his partner. "HOLD up a darn second. When did I even have Sakuno?" He thought. His mind fumbled around and he had barely noticed that Kazuya had reserved the ball over the net. Sakuno had returned it quickly towards Ryoma, who was too busy fighting himself in his mind to pay proper attention.
"30 all" Sakuno gasped as she realized she had scored a point on Ryoma. Ryoma 'tsked' and internally hit himself. "Focus, focus." He thought. The rest of the set went on pretty evenly as the two pairs tested the waters of each other's skills and abilities. Sakuno didn't throw out much of her skills as she had yet to get comfortable with her weighted racket. Although she had tried her best to hide it, Ryoma's sharp eyes were able to see the small quivers and how unsure her shots were.
"Game Tokugawa-Echizen pair 1-0." He muttered and looked up at Sakuno. "Mada mada dane. Play for real, Sakuno." Sakuno's eyes widened in shock. "So he noticed…" She sadly hung her head down low and walked over to her bench. Kazuya shook in anger. "How dare this brat say that to Sa-chan." He looked over to see that Sakura was actually happy at what the midget had said. "How can she be happy? The brat just bullied Sa-chan!" He grumbled. Ryoma and Kazuya then headed over to drink some water.
"She was doing her best. Why did you say that?" Kazuya asked, attempting to keep his cool.
"No she wasn't." Ryoma started and took a sip of water. "For a good tennis player like him, he should have noticed." Ryoma thought. Kazuya was livid. "She was holding back by using a heavier racket." Ryoma finished before his mentor could explode. "Who knew a future brother in law could be so overprotective." Ryoma thought. Kazuya then calmed down and began to replay the past game. He hated to admit it but the kid was right. Sakuno's shots were weaker than what he had recalled from yesterday. He then looked over at the girls to see that Sakuno had indeed taken out her own personal red racket. Kazuya looked back down at the boy sipping his grape ponta. "Maybe, just maybe this kid wasn't too bad." He thought as he noted that the two juniors did indeed have the same racket.
Out on the other side of the court:
"Heh, I can't believe that kid noticed." Sakura cheered, elated that her sister's crush was finally noticing her.
"Mou nee-chan, Ryoma-kun is very smart. Of course he would notice." Sakuno defended the tennis prodigy. "Plus he only noticed because it was tennis." She added.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you insist. Im-o-tou." Sakura smirked at her blushing sister. "So are you going to play for realsies yet?" And the only answer she got was the sight of a red racket. "Eh, not even going with the lighter weighted one?" Sakuno shook her head. She had left that one in the gym. She had her pink rackets in her bag still but it felt so right to use the red one for the game today.
After the little break the pairs switched sides and the game once more resumed. "Echizen-Tokugawa pair to serve." Kazuya announced to the empty court. Sakuno took a deep breath and calmed herself for the upcoming game. Kazuya reached for the ball and smashed it towards the girl in white. Sakuno quickly readjusted her body and returned the ball straight towards Ryoma. Ryoma smirked when he saw her quickly react to the ball. Her return was a lot more powerful but not strong enough to topple him over. Hitting the ball back towards Sakuno, Ryoma anticipated her next move. Unbeknownst to him the ball had already landed on his side in between him and his partner. Ryoma's eyes widened and eyebrows rose. "So two years does change someone." He thought as he faded out of his shock.
"Ne, what's that called?" Ryoma asked the girl. Sakuno glanced at her opponent. She smiled at her accomplishment. "Samurai no saigo no iki" she sweetly replied. "Next time, I'll return it." He arrogantly said and repositioned himself. "I know." Sakuno replied and did the same. The more she played and the longer she was on the court the more her confidence increased. She was happy that she wasn't stuttering or tripping nor was she red 90% of the time. Off the court was a different story, but Sakuno could care less. There is still a good 2 weeks left in training camp to fix that issue.
"15-Love." Sakuno announced proudly. Sakura smiled at her sister's confidence and activated Dragon's Presence. Sakuno felt the power emitting from behind her and thought it was a bit too early for it but it was her sister. Sakura then repeated her Yamata no Orochi serve to earn the sister pair another point.
"30-Love." Sakura cheered. Kazuya scowled. It was definitely not the first time he had seen the combination, but he could still not fathom the power and speed that she had placed into that serve. If she was going to activate Dragon's Presence, Kazuya activated his Premonition. This is where he predicted the brown haired girl to once more perform the same serve. True to his prediction Sakura headed straight on with the Dragon's Presence and Yamata no Orochi serve combination. Kazuya had earned a return ace and the two boys were beginning to get the hang of playing with one another.
"30-15" Kazuya's voice rang across the court. With another rainbow serve, another long rally had begun. Moves and special techniques were thrown out in mayam unlike the last game. Thanks to all the games that Sakuno had watched Ryoma play, her eyes were trained to notice the small twists in his body when he prepared for his smashes and drives. A quick Drive C was hit by Ryoma heading straight towards Sakuno who quickly reacted to the drive. Readjusting her stance to counter spin the ball Sakuno too, hit a drive. This allowed them to win the point.
"Game Ryuzaki pair! 1-1!" Sakuno called out.
"I didn't expect Fleeting Blossom to come out so soon." Sakura panted next to her sister, while searching for her second water bottle. Sakuno shrugged.
"It was just a reaction. I usually only use it against drives so when Ryoma-kun hit one my body just went for it." She explained. Her sister rubbed her head and the boys were already demanding for the next game to start.
-Time skip-
"Game, set, match Tokugawa-Echizen pair 2 sets to 1. Mada mada dane, Ryuzaki." Ryoma panted as he announced the final score for their scrimmage. A smirk adorned his face as beads of sweat slowly rolled down his tanned skin. He looked over the net to see a Sakuno panting just as hard and bent over. The other two older teens did not look any better as everyone had pretty much put in all their energy into the last set. Sakuno was quite proud of herself for being able to stay at the same pace as the other 3 tennis players. "Mori-senpai would be proud." She thought, imagining the senior jumping up and down, cheering. A small laugh escaped her lips at the thought of her coach.
"Ne good match." Ryoma said across the net. "A-ah, hai! Thank you for t-the match." Sakuno cursed herself as she stuttered. Everyone then began to pack up. They hadn't even noticed that the other game on the other side of the court had also finished.
"Ah, Sakuno-chan! How did the game go?" Ann quickly asked as she saw the girl walk out of the court. Sakuno explained to her the loss but felt happy in the fact that she was able to return most of Ryoma's special drives.
"What about you guys?" Sakuno asked.
"My ears hurt more than anything…" Ann said and Sakuno took a good look at the lot that her friend had just finished playing with. Letting out a small laugh, she couldn't help but feel a little bad for her friend. Soon, everyone began to head their separate ways. Momo and Kaido however failed to notice that their underclassmen had mysteriously disappeared.
Ryoma having successfully escaped his nosy upperclassmen was enjoying a can of cool ponta and strolling towards his cabin, ready for a good night's sleep. Not only were his legs wandering about, his mind was too. Excited yet almost shocked at what had become of Sakuno in just under 2 years. "We should have a match." He thought to himself. The doubles match was unexpected to him, but he did not mind it one bit. "Tokugawa-senpai needs to take a chill pill once in a while…" He thought to himself. "Ryuzaki or Sakuno isn't that weak." He thought back to the bento making girl. And so he arrived at his sanctuary, tired and sore from the long day of tennis, but still quite satisfied by the day's events, especially the one with a certain blushing girl.