Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 3: Love All! First Serve!

By ~*Angel*~

                Ohayo! ^_^ Well, I don't expect my updating to really be fast since the weekend ended and back to school…But I'm going to write down any ideas I have for the next chapters. I didn't think I'd actually get so many reviewers! Would you believe it jumped up from 9 reviews to 24? That's pretty darn cool! After the story, I'll answer some of the questions you guys had…Until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Ja! NOTE: I am changing my spelling from 'Cye' to 'Sai' just because it's the better of the two. ^_^

Disclaimer: Haven't we gone through this? _ WHAT? No?! What the hell is THAT suppose to mean?! Don't you READ my other disclaimers?! No?!!!! You know what…Bite me.

                Mia wrinkled her nose as she realized another one of her good suits was wrinkled because of the harsh way they were handled during the move. She would need to get these professionally ironed; otherwise, she'd burn them because the fabric was so delicate. Folding her undergarments carefully, she glanced at all the boxes around her room. Many of the items from their home in France was moved here, some pieces were kept there so that she could go and stay there whenever she wanted…or whenever her grandfather allowed her to. More shelves were arranged to fit into the room so that she could fit in all her books. Most, if not all, of her collection of books consisted of romance for she loved to read romance. Unbinding the string that held a set of clothes' hangers, she glanced once more around her room. Then winced when she pulled to hard. Hanging up her clothes, she could almost say that she was done. She didn't have all that many clothes and most of them had been in garment bags so they came equipped with hangers. All she had to do was hang them up in her walk-in closet.

                "Hey Mia," her grandfather said as he rapped on her door, sticking his head in. "Lunch is ready,"

                "Hai, arigato, I'll be right down," her muffled voice came from the closet.

                "Alright, hurry though, rice gets cold rather fast," he replied on his way out.

                Coming out of the closet, Mia let her hair down and quickly braided it, pining it around her head. Still wearing her pajamas, she quickly dressed into her tennis outfit. Later, after lunch, she had figured she'd go and play tennis to keep her tennis swing in shape. After she finished dressing, she grabbed frame from the middle of her desk and looked fondly at it. It was a picture of her, her mother, and her father in front of the Eiffel Tower. She hugged the frame to her chest, and then quickly set it back down on her desk.
                "Mia!" her grandfather shouted from the floors below.

                "Coming!" She yelled back. Sticking her feet into her slippers, she quickly ran down the steps with her tennis bag in hand.

~*~*~

                "Yes! Tennis! My favorite sport of the year!" Rowan whooped as they all got onto the bus.

                Kento stared at him. (AN: Sort of like this: ¬_¬) "I hate it."

                "I don't mind actually, it's a good sport," Sage stated as he swung his racket.

                Ryo dodged quickly and sweat dropped. "Watch where you're swinging that will you?"

                Sage laughed as he stuck one hand behind his head. "Gomen!"

                Sai laughed at them all as he carried his own tennis equipment.

                "Sage-kun!" A girl shouted.

                Sage's eyes contradicted to dots. Uh-oh…Naoko…If she's here…her groupie isn't far behind. Which means…

                "My little Ro-kun!" Another girl shouted.

                Rowan blushed as his eyes contradicted to dots. "Lindsay…Please don't call me that."
                She grabbed his arm. "Too cutesy for you huh? How about I just call you Rowan?"

                Rowan shook his head. "Er…Why not just Rowan-chan?"

                "Oh Rowan, that's too formal!"

                "Rowan-chan."

                She sighed dramatically. "Fine fine, Rowan-chan. So, you want to be my partner?"

                "Actually, Sage and I are partners."

                She narrowed her eyes, staring at him. "Hmmm…"

                Rowan knew exactly what she was thinking. He also knew what she was going to ask next.

                "Are you gay?" She pointedly asked.

                Rowan sighed. Before he could get  a word in otherwise, their teacher started speaking.

                "Alright guys, we might be a bit short on tennis courts since it is a public place so there might be people already there." Mr. Yamaguchi, their gym teacher, stated. "You have today to choose who your partner will be. Tomorrow, we'll start the ladder tournament."

                Rowan quickly sat down next to Sage before Naoko and Lindsay could sit down next to them. Of course…the two girls chose the seats across.

                "Oh yeah, one more thing…doubles have to be one boy, one girl."
                Sage and Rowan winced inwardly as they turned simultaneously toward Lindsay and Naoko who were already looking at them with big grins on their faces.

                "DAMMIT!"

~*~*~

                "Alright grandfather, love all, first serve!" Mia brought her ball up and swung her racket at it. Grandfather Koji countered it by backhanding it to her in a strange sort of spiral. Luckily, she caught it and dropped it…only for her grandfather to spike it behind her, too far for her to reach.

                "Yeah!" he grinned at her as he got back into position.

                Mia laughed. "I'll get you back for that one!"

                "You can try…" He winked as they moved to the left side.

                "Love fifteen, first serve," she was ready to throw her ball up into the air when a large bus rolled into the road in front of the courts letting out a large 'whoosh' as it stopped. Many of the other tennis players stopped their games and watched. Soon, a large number of students were piling out of the bus.

                "Come on Mia!" her grandfather shouted ready to get back to the game.

                "Hai! Love fifteen, first serve!" She brought the ball up and swung her racket down hard on it. Her skirt flew up when she jumped revealing her white spandex shorts. Spandex helped her move around easier. The game quickly progressed.

~*~*~

                "Lessee, three courts are taken which leaves seven courts…four people per court…Maximum number of people we can have on a court is 28 people!" Rowan said as he hurried to the fence door.

                "We have around 35 to 36 people in our gym class," Sage replied as he stuck on a pair of sunglasses to shade his eyes from the sun.

                "That's okay, I'm sure a court will be open soon…in the mean time, let's go grab a court!"

~*~*~

                Mia bounced the ball a couple of times as she adjusted her wristband and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Forty all, first serve!" She shouted as she brought the ball up and swung at it.

~*~*~

                "Forty all, first serve!" A female voice shouted as it caught the attention of a few students attending a nearby court.

                Sai glanced over and his eyes widened in effect. Mia and Grandfather Koji were in their tennis wear playing what he could only deem as a harsh game. The thing that shocked him was the fact that Mia was playing in a skirt. His relief came through when he remembered that the sort of skirt Mia was playing in was a tennis skirt…which then said that she was definitely wearing shorts under it.

                Kento, who was partnered up with a girl called Kayura, motioned toward Sai. Ryo noticed his friend's interest and was about to call out but Sai's partner beat him to the punch.

                Miko tapped Sai with her racket. "Sai?" She turned her head towards the direction of where Sai had been staring. Had been…

                "Oh…gomen," he said as he bounced the ball a couple of times and hit it over the net to warm up. Which…was Ryo and a girl named Sakura.

                Miko narrowed her eyes at the brown haired girl and the old man playing. Who is she?

~*~*~

                Mia bounced the ball several times and wiped off her sweaty forehead. "Game point, second serve!" Throwing the ball up into the air, she swung it down as hard as she could. Her grandfather returned it with a dainty drop but she ran up and returned it with a backhand. She had no time to return to her spot when Grandfather Koji returned it. The ball flew up…and SMACK!

                She had spiked the ball right into Grandfather Koji's racket. The force of it was so much and since Grandfather Koji wasn't prepared…

                CRACK!! It sounded very much like a loud firecracker going off as the worn down racket snapped in half and the head of it hit Grandfather Koji in the his head

                Oh my god…She dropped her racket and started running towards the figure on his knees tending his head wound. Hurdling over the net, she took off her wristband and held it to his head. "Oh goodness, grandfather, I'm really sorry,"

                He chuckled lowly. "It's alright Mia, no worries, I'm fine, really I am,"

                "Mia! Grandfather Koji!" A familiar voice shouted as a few people started running towards them.

                Mia turned her head around and saw Sai running towards them. "Sai?" Her facial expressions brightened but then went back to being serious when she realized that her grandfather was bleeding in the head.

                Mr. Yamaguchi knelt down next to Grandfather Koji. Students had paused their playing and watched the scene fold before them. "What happened?" He asked.

                Mia cleared her throat. "The tennis racket snapped and it hit my grandfather's head,"

                Taking away the wristband, he looked at the cut and winced. "I think he might need a few stitches,"

                "We're about to leave, we can drive him there," an old couple who had been playing next to Mia and her grandfather spoke up. 

                "Can I come?" Mia asked hopefully.

                The woman shook her head. "I'm sorry dear, we have a small car, the back could usually seat three people but it's occupied with a few boxes for our library. Don't worry, we can get him back to you in no time,"

                Mia nodded as she held her grandfather's hand. Just my luck.

                "Don't worry little one, I'll be fine," he grinned as he got up, holding the wristband to his forehead wound.

                Mia watched as they walked off towards the parking lot. She felt like she could cry.

                "Hey Mia…" Sai spoke softly. "It's alright,"

                "Yes, in the meantime, why don't you wait for your grandfather and play with my class?" Mr. Yamaguchi said.

                Mia looked up surprised. "Oh…I wouldn't want to impose,"

                "Not at all! In fact, since there's a free court, you can be my partner," Mr. Yamaguchi offered kindly.

                "That would be nice," Mia smiled as she got up.

                Mr. Yamaguchi nodded and ran towards the equipment to grab a racket.

                Turning her attention towards Sai, she broke out into a large grin.

                Sai couldn't help but grin back as he opened his arms for a hug to which Mia stepped into. This did NOT go unnoticed.

~*~*~

                Miko narrowed her eyes into slits as she stared at Sai and that STRANGE girl hugging. Who is she?

                Sage, Kento, Rowan, and Ryo traded glances.

                "Is that Sai's girlfriend?" Lindsay asked Sage as she looked at the hugging pair.

                "I…didn't think so…But she is," Sage replied, not being able to come up with any other solution.

                "It's official," Rowan stated nodding his head effectively.

~*~*~

                Sai returned and waved to Mia. He turned around just in time to avoid colliding into Miko. "Hey Miko-chan, gomen, I almost ran into you," He smiled.

                She didn't hear. She couldn't hear. She was still staring at the brownish-reddish with an odd glint in her eyes.

                Sai tapped her. "Miko? We're going to start now…"

                "Hai," She replied mechanically as she turned around and got into her position. Her features suddenly changed as she grinned up at him. "What's the score?"

                Sai grinned back. "Love all, remember? We just started,"

                She giggled. "Oh silly me, of course we did!"

~*~*~

                The attention of the students were quickly diverted as they watched their teacher and the mysterious girl play a game of tennis. The ball was going back and forth…spikes were returned from both sides and drops were returned also. Deep shots had many times made Mia and Mr. Yamaguchi slam into the fence to hit the ball.

                "This is game point right?"

                "That's what I heard."

                "Wow…that girl, she's really good,"

                "You know who she is Sai?" Kento asked as he hung a sweaty arm around his best friend.

                Sai nodded as he concentrated on the game.

                "What's her name?"

                "Meiala Koji," Sai responded shortly.

                Meiala…Sai's girlfriend! Kento couldn't wait to tell the others about his discovery.

~*~*~

                Mia felt balls of sweat rolling down over her face. She didn't have her wristband to wipe away the sweat so that none of it got into her eyes so she had to let them be and blink them out. That was her mistake. She saw the ball go flying but she just wasn't fast enough even when she dived for it. "Damn," She cursed.

                "Gamepoint," Mr. Yamaguchi said from the other side as Mia picked herself up. "I'm telling you girl, you play one heck of a harsh game," he held his hand out to Mia which Mia took; and then turned his attention back to the class. "Alright guys, time to wrap it up,"

                "Yeah coach! AWESOME GAME!" Someone shouted as a group of the guys and girls clapped and cheered.

                Mia blushed as they hooted and hollered.

                "Thank you, now get your butts moving or the bus will be late in bringing you back to your next period," The gym teacher ordered as he started toward the equipment area.

                Sai quickly dropped his racket into the bin and ran towards Mia who was putting the cover on her tennis racquet. "Hey Mia, I have lunch next period and I was thinking about going to McDonald's, meet me there will you?"

                Mia grinned. "Um…which one?"

                "Here, I'll write down the directions on a piece of paper for you," he said as he grabbed out a pen. "Er…Do you have some paper?" He smiled sheepishly.

                She shook her head but held up her palm. "Here,"

                He gently scribbled down a few directions. "I'll be there shortly, see ya then!"

                Mia nodded. "Kay, bye!" She was careful as to not mess up the writing. She had to hurry for she needed to change out of her sweaty outfit and into a nice one if she was to meet Sai at McDonald's. Watching as the bus rolled out of the driveway, she hurried to her grandfather's jeep. Thank goodness she looked as if she was old enough for if she didn't, she'd be pulled over. She didn't have a driver's licensed by the Japanese government, only by the French and that wouldn't exactly work so well here.

~*~*~

                Kento nudged at Ryo and they both stared at Sai. He had the oddest expression on his face as he stared out the window.

                "I bursting with curiosity as to who that girl is and what her relationship to Sai is." Rowan said to Sage as they looked at Sai.

                "Okay, it's rather obvious that they're boyfriend girlfriend…However, I don't think Sai would appreciate it if we bugged him about it." Sage answered back.

                "Why not?"

                "Well, he'll basically talk to us about it when he wants to," Sage replied.

                Rowan nodded. "That's true…then you know what this means?"

                "No Rowan…No…"

                Rowan grinned as Ryo and Kento turned around grinning just as bright. "Yosh!" They chorused like a bunch of little kids.

                Sage groaned as a large sweat drop rolled down his face. "Ano…"

~*~*~

On the next episode of "The Ugly Duckling"…

Sage: The guys are in a ruckus about who this strange Meiala girl is. Of course, they're all rather curious as to why he left lunch so fast without even an explanation…then there's the fact that he scribbled something on her hand.

Rowan: Aren't YOU curious Sage? Forget I asked…I know you are!  

Sage: I still think you guys are reading too much into this!

Rowan: Demo, how can you not read into this? He gave her a hug! And I don't think it was one of those 'oh-I've-missed-you-best-friend' hug, it was a 'you're-hot-fudge-I'm-the-sundae' kind of hug!

Kento: Eh…how would you know Rowan?

Rowan: I just know alright?!

Kento: Not a good enough explanation, you've never had a girlfriend, in fact you're thought of as-

Rowan: Shut up bakayaro!

Sage: Next time on Ronin Warriors: The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 4: Rowan the Spy.

Mia: Sai, I think we're being watched…

~*~*~

Li-Chan: Mia and Sai are cousins but only cousins through marriage. Meaning one of their distant relatives married each other and that's what made Mia and Sai cousins. They aren't blood-related…however they are related so yes, it is legal for them to get together and it wouldn't be incest. However, I'm not sure yet if he's the person I want to pair Mia up with…I'm sort of deciding between him, Rowan, and Sage. ^_^

Rockergirl: Actually, it's impossible to have gained confidence to face the tormentors who have basically tormented you your whole life or even be confident anymore. Besides, Mia just went through the death of her father and mother so of course she's still meek and shy. I don't want this to turn into a Mary-Sue so I'd be hitting it pretty close (I already am) if she had confidence. Don't worry…^_~ There's more to come, who's to say she won't have her confidence by the end of this fic?

Everyone Else: Arigato minna-san for your wonderful reviews! Don't forget, if you have any problems or questions, just ask! Ja ne!

~*Angel*~