Unexpected
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Ego trip: Hi again! Thanks so much for giving me comments on this story and thanks for supporting it. I know everyone wants it to be longer so I'm going to try and have longer chapters but bear with me if it's still too short. * Sorry * Oh some things to clarify. Misaki stays at the Hyotei hostel (not sure if there's such a thing but for the story's purposes, lets presume there is.) Misaki and Ryoma know each other because they train at the same clubs in New York but Misaki only plays socially so Ryoma gets more attention from the world after winning his numerous junior tennis titles. However if Misaki had competed, it might have been a different story. (Sorry Ryoma fans) Kazura and Ryoma also know of each other because Kazura acts as Misaki's coach and they've seen each other around the tennis clubs but they're not really good friends, just acquaintances. Now let's move on with the story.
Disclaimer: Prince of tennis characters are not mine. I only have claim to Kazura and Misaki.
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Monday morning 7.30am
"Ok everyone, that's all for today. Pack up and get ready for school," shouted Tezuka. They had just completed a gruelling training session that included 50 rounds around the tennis courts, 400 racket movement practices, and finally a game against another member of the team. The results had thrown up few surprises, with Tezuka winning against Oishi, Eiji against Kaidoh, Momoshiro against Kawamura. However the game between Fuji and Ryoma was still ongoing, deadlocked at 5-5. Both Fuji and Ryoma seemed to be having the time of their lives and had no intention of losing.
"Fuji-senpai, you're not going to run out on me again are you?" taunted Ryoma, remembering the time his match with Fuji had been suspended due to the rain.
"Not today Ryoma, a hurricane won't tear me away," replied a smiling Fuji. He was really enjoying this game. The only other person in Seigaku who could mount a decent challenge against him was Tezuka and the captain rarely played against him.
"I give you all 10 seconds to get out of here or else . . ." threatened Tezuka in a cold voice. He hated it when his orders weren't followed, besides school would be starting in half an hour and he hates being late.
With an apologetic smile, Fuji said as he went about packing up," Sorry Ryoma, we'll just have to continue this later."
"10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . ." Tezuka in a voice approaching subzero temperature.
"Darn! Why does this always happen, I would have worn this game . . ." grumbled Ryoma, disappointed to have this interesting match with Fuji suspended at a tie.
"4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . ." Tezuka continued in a frosty voice.
"1 . . . times up," Tezuka said as he locked the doors leading to the tennis courts behind Ryoma who had barely made it through before the 10 seconds was up.
While watching his team members hurry off to change for school, Tezuka remembered Kazura's existence and looked around searching for her. Once training had begun, she had melted away into the surroundings and he had somehow forgotten about her existence. She was indeed good at being invisible.
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Scanning the surrounding, he finally noticed Kazura sitting under a nearby tree scribbling furiously into her notebook. She was so engrossed in whatever she was writing that she didn't even notice he was approaching.
" . . . Fuji . . . triple counters . . . horizontal movement . . . needs work . . . Ryoma . . ." Kazura mumbled as she scribbled. Not realising that training had ended, she gave a muffled shriek when Tezuka spoke, interrupting her train of thought. " I didn't mean to startle you, school is going to start soon, don't you have to report at the school office or something?" Tezuka asked politely, with no expression whatsoever, though he was very interested in what she had been scribbling about.
"Oh shoot! I'm supposed to go somewhere and fill in some forms . . . Darn!" said Kazura absently, stuffing things into her gigantic Nike sports bag haphazardly as she racked her brain trying to remember what it was she was supposed to do before school began. "Anyway I made notes about this training session and here you go, you can have a look when you're free, just return it to me later . . ." she trailed off as she handed Tezuka her notebook. Immediately she turned and ran off towards the school building still muttering to herself about being late reporting for her first day at Seishun Gakuen. Almost as an afterthought, she shouted over her shoulders," Bye Tezuka-senpai. See you later."
Feeling somewhat as if a hurricane had just blown through his life, Tezuka stared at the notebook in his hands, unsure of what to make of Kazura's behaviour.
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Monday 12noon
During lunch break on the roof . . .
"I can't believe I forgot to bring my lunch!" wailed a devastated Eiji.
"Would you like some of my wasabi sushi rolls?" Fuji asked politely, amused that Eiji could make a forgotten lunch seem like a national catastrophe.
Eiji shuddered visibly at the memory of the spicy wasabi sushi roll he had stolen from Fuji once. He could have sworn they had a permanent effect on his taste buds.
"Or you could help try out my new Deluxe Vegetable Juice," said Inui, holding out a flask containing a murky brown liquid that smelt and looked like anything but vegetables.
Noticing the desperate look on Eiji's face, Oishi took pity on his doubles partner and offered him half his own lunch. Eiji was so grateful he threw his arms around Oishi and enveloped him in a great bear hug, causing Oishi's face to turn into the colour of a tomato.
Not wanting to embarrass Oishi anymore, Fuji turned to face Tezuka who was as usual silently eating his lunch. However today his attention was focused on the notebook in front of him instead of his surroundings. He seemed to be completely engrossed in the contents of the notebook. From what Fuji could see, there were loads of scribbles and English words. Though he racked his brain, he simply could not recall having an upcoming English test that would require such studying from Tezuka who usually did well in English.
"Buchou . . . what are you reading that's so interesting?" Fuji asked, unable to hide his curiosity.
Without lifting his head, Tezuka replied," Kazura's notes on this morning's training."
"Really? Let me take a look," said Inui who was very interested in Kazura's notes.
Everyone else also wanted to take a look and proceeded to crowd around Tezuka, much to his annoyance. However, he was really surprised by the details and analysis Kazura had written about each of their games. She had been able to capture the essence of each of their shots into words and scribbled sketches. She had somehow managed to analyse how each of their shots work, and in some case even included comments on how to improve on the accuracy and power. Her writing was messy and all over the place, but the content itself was a astoundingly accurate analysis of their skills, for someone who had only watched one training session. Who knows what she'll be able to come up with given more time? Already it was clear to Tezuka that her comments and suggestions were on or close to target.
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Monday afternoon 3pm
"Kazura-kun . . . class is over, its time to go . . ." Sakuno said to a dozing Kazura. Kazura had been placed in Sakuno's class, much to their happiness. Maybe because of the late nights and early mornings or maybe she was still feeling the after effects of jet lag, Kazura had shown that she was prone to dozing off in the middle of the class. Sometimes, the teachers who caught her doing so would try to humiliate her by asking her difficult questions, but she was undaunted and could answer most of them correctly. This caused admiration to grow within the class for this new transfer student. It helped that she was quite pretty with her beautiful black hair, big eyes, and trim figure. Her easygoing manner also endeared her to her classmates.
When Kazura remained asleep at her desk, Sakuno became a little exasperated. How was it possible for Kazura to sleep through the bell and their noisy classmates leaving? Sometimes it was so hard to understand Kazura. Just when she was going to shout into Kazura's ear to wake her, Fuji poked his head into the classroom, causing a startled Sakuno to jump back.
"Ah Sakuno-san, have you seen Kazura? I was wondering if she was ready to go for training," Fuji asked as Sakuno was blocking Kazura from his sight.
"Um . . . she's right here . . ." Sakuno replied hesitantly, shifting so Fuji could see the sleeping Kazura. She seemed to be in a near comatose state and the only sign of life was her soft breathing. "I've been trying to wake her but she . . ." said Sakuno.
Seeing this, Fuji couldn't help smiling. Somehow it seemed completely natural that he should find Kazura in this state. Walking into the classroom, he stopped beside Kazura and gently whispered into her ear," Tennis training is about to start soon, I wonder what interesting events could take place today . . ."
Almost immediately, Kazura's head shot up from the desk and she exclaimed with bleary eyes," Oh shoot! Am I late again . . . Darn!"
Seeing this, Sakuno couldn't help giving Fuji a look of admiration. Fuji simply continued smiling his trademark smile, it was after all a simple matter of knowing which buttons to push.
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After setting the training session into motion, Tezuka turned to Kazura who was standing by the side, dressed in sports wear, much like the attire of the members. He went over to her and returned her notebook.
"Oh so there it is, I thought I forgot to bring it along," Kazura said, conveniently forgetting that it was she would had stuffed the notebook into Tezuka's hands and ran off. "So did you read it?" she asked.
Tezuka nodded, a little nonplussed by her behaviour. This forgetful girl was the genius behind those insightful notes? "They are very interesting. Some of your comments and suggestions are very valid and I hope you will address them to the team later," Tezuka said in his usual emotionless tone.
"Sure. By the way, is it your elbow or your shoulder?" Kazura asked casually.
For a split second, Tezuka froze, staring at her. 'What does she mean by that? Does she know? How can it be . . .' These questions ran through Tezuka's mind as he tried to come up with a plausible way of evading the question.
"You can't hide it from me you know, so just tell me the truth, elbow or shoulder? Personally I'm leaning towards shoulder but you seem to be favouring your elbow as well," Kazura continued shrewdly.
No longer able to evade the question, Tezuka replied her with a question of his own. "How did you know?" he asked, startled to have been discovered by her so soon.
"You hide it very well but it shows in the way you play. Don't worry I don't think anyone else would notice it but me. But its such a shame that you're injured, if not you can be much better. You have to stop favouring your injury, even if you do it subconsciously. If not other parts of your body will not be able to withstand the extra burden," Kazura said with the air of a wise man imparting pearls of wisdom.
The fact that Kazura had completely seen through him threw Tezuka completely. It seems that he had underestimated her skills, she has a very sharp eye when it comes to tennis and she seems to be able to turn her observations into actions and advise for improvements.
Looking at her grinning face, Tezuka couldn't help but think Kazura could be hiding many more secrets behind those shrewd and observing eyes that seemed to be analysing everything around.
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At the end of the training session . . .
The team members were all exhaustedly sprawled on the tennis courts, breathing hard and looking flushed with exertion. Tezuka had pushed them harder than usual and even the regulars had narrowly missed having to consume Inui's new Deluxe Vegetable Juice.
Today, instead of Inui, Kazura came forward to give them a debriefing of the day's training. As she spoke, the regulars grew more and more surprised with the depth of her knowledge for tennis in general and their individual style. Considering that she had only known them for such a short time, her in depth analysis and advice were suspiciously on target. Only Tezuka expressed no surprise, as he already knew what she was capable of, yet to the others Tezuka was merely being his usual stoic self.
" . . . so if you guys try out my suggestions, there should be some improvements. Of course this is just a rough idea, when I have more information about you guys I will be able to make better analysis." Kazura said. "And you guys don't have to hide your true power from me . . . Unlike Inui-senpai, I am not your competition," she added with a cheeky grin.
"Ok that's all for today," concluded Tezuka.
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"Hey Fuji want to go grab a burger before going home?" asked Eiji, seeing Fuji outside the locker room.
"No thanks Eiji, I'm not hungry . . ." replied Fuji with a smile.
" . . . but we are! Eiji-senpai, we'll be nice to you today and let you buy us burgers," said Ryoma and Momoshiro who had popped out from behind some bushes. Not giving Eiji any chance to escape, they took him by the arms and proceeded to frog-march poor Eiji out of school. Poor Eiji could be heard wailing for help a good 5 minutes after they rounded the corner.
Shaking his head, Fuji remained where he was, sitting on the railing outside the locker rooms. That's how Tezuka found him when he came out of the locker room a few minutes later. Fuji was in deep thought and had his beautiful blue eyes closed. If not for the smile on his face, it would appear that he was asleep.
However when Tezuka walked near to him, Fuji's eyes opened, as if sensing his presence. "Why are you still here Fuji?" asked Tezuka, curious to know why the prodigy was still hanging around.
Before Fuji could answer, a loud thud came from outside the girls' locker room, followed by a muffled string of vulgarities.
" . . . oh crap . . . Darn it . . . shit! . . . Ow . . . pain . . ."
In unison, Fuji and Tezuka went over to check things out. They were greeted by the sight of Kazura sitting on the ground clutching her foot whimpering in pain. She had showered and changed into a new set of what they now called her "uniform" she seemed to where nothing but sports apparel, unlike the fashion conscious girls in their school.
Noticing that she had drawn their attention, Kazura curbed her cursing. "Who would have noticed the big rock in front of the door?" she asked pitifully. Both Tezuka and Fuji sweat dropped as they thought to themselves,' anyone with eyes would have noticed a rock that big. You would have to be blind to walk into it.'
Seeing their expressions, Kazura threw them a baleful look and said," I don't want to hear one word about this ok, not one word. Its not as if I enjoy walking into things, somehow there are just so many things in my way." She proceeded to get up and tried in vain to appear as if nothing had happened. She failed miserably because her foot was still hurting and she had to limp a bit.
Picking up her bag for her, Fuji smiled and said," come on I'll see you home." turning to Tezuka, he waved goodbye and said," see you tomorrow buchou, bye."
"Bye, Tezuka-san. See you tomorrow," Kazura said over her shoulder as she limped after Fuji.
Watching the two of them depart, Kazura chattering a mile a minute about how people should not leave rocks lying around because they are health hazards, to a calmly smiling Fuji, Tezuka couldn't help but notice what a cute match they made. ' This could become interesting . . .' he thought to himself as he walked home.
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Monday night 9pm
Fuji was out on his nightly walk to the nearby park as usual. As he walked, he found his thoughts straying to Kazura. She is unlike any other girl he knows, a refreshing change from the girls around him who tends to take things at face value. He has his fair share of fans because according to Momoshiro, he had a "beautiful face". He always felt uncomfortable around other girls but with Kazura, the awkwardness he usually felt wasn't there. He was able to talk to her about tennis and other things, laugh with her at the silly things she did and he found himself looking forward to being in her company. Fuji had enough self-awareness to realise this was not normal behaviour for him, he didn't usually enjoy spending time with girls. Maybe . . .
Arriving at the park, Fuji found the object of his thoughts lying on a park bench. Smiling to himself, he went over to where Kazura was lying down. As he neared her, he could hear her softly humming to herself. She was listening to music through her headphones and singing and humming along. It sounded like English Rock and Roll music to him. With her eyes closed, Kazura didn't notice that Fuji was standing near her and Fuji seemed content to watch her.
When Kazura opened her eyes a few minutes later, she was so shocked to see Fuji she rolled over and fell of the bench. "Ow . . . pain . . ." she grumbled, sending accusing looks at a smiling Fuji.
"You scared me to death Fuji-senpai! Do not creep up on people and just stand there smiling. It's really scary! Anyway, how long have you been standing there?" she asked, suspecting that he had been there for some time.
"I just got here," Fuji replied innocently, though his eyes were twinkling with mischief.
Kazura stared at him suspiciously. 'Could he be telling the truth? Oh God, if not, he would have been standing there listening to me singing. Oh NO . . . how embarrassing.' With these thoughts running through her head, she couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
'She's so cute, she's actually blushing,' thought Fuji, seeing the vague pinkish tinge on Kazura' cheeks that had nothing to do with the cool night breeze. Fuji couldn't help giggling at this sight, causing Kazura to scowl even more at him.
"Horrible Fuji-senpai! Its all your fault for creeping up on me and you still dare to laugh! All your fault my head's really hurting," grumbled Kazura half-heartedly. Somehow she simply couldn't find it in her to be angry with Fuji, who had been so nice to her. Besides he looked so gorgeous standing there under the streetlights. 'Oh my god! What am I thinking? How can I be thinking about Fuji-senpai like that! But he really looks so good . . . Argggg! Stop Kazura, stop thinking lascivious thoughts about Fuji-senpai. Stop.'
Visibly shaking herself from her thoughts, Kazura got up and dusted off the dirt on her clothes. Sending Fuji a baleful look, she asked," Why is it that every time you show up, I crash into something? And don't smile like that, its not as if I enjoy it, it really hurts you know . . ."
Before she could continue her grousing, Fuji leaned over and pressed a soft kiss onto her forehead, where a light bruise was developing.
This stunned Kazura into immediate silence.
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'Oh My God! Did that just happen, did Fuji-senpai just kiss me? He did! Well even though it was just on my forehead . . . Oh My God! I can't believe this . . .'
Her mind a complete blank, all Kazura could do was just stare at Fuji, her large eyes blinking in disbelief. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but no sound came out and before she could close it, Fuji leaned forward again . . .
A feather light kiss, just a brief moment when their lips touched . . . yet a warmth spread through her entire body, a tingly feeling down her spine . . . a simple kiss, yet with such profound results.
Realising she was still staring at Fuji like a goldfish, Kazura snapped herself out of her reverie. She could feel the warmth spreading to her face causing her to blush even more. Though this wasn't her first kiss, she had never felt like this before . . .
Watching her reaction, Fuji breathed a sigh of relieve to himself, so she wasn't averse to being kissed by him . . . he had just caught her by surprise.
"I like you very much Kazura, I know we haven't known each other for long, but I want to get to know you better. You don't have to give me an answer now, think about it and let me know when you've got an answer."
"Um . . . are you sure about this Fuji-senpai? I'm a super klutz, complete idiot, accident-prone moron, and a loud mouth chatterbox, also I've been told I'm very annoying by more than one person . . . " Kazura couldn't help babbling
To prove his seriousness, Fuji stopped her self-deprecating tirade with a slower, longer and deeper kiss.
"Yeah I'm sure. Is that your answer?"
Not sure of how to react to the serious Fuji, Kazura nodded shyly.
Now that both had their answer, it was as if a burden had been taken off their shoulders. Both of them just looked at each other and started giggling. This helped return them to their normal state of ease, nothing had changed, just that now they knew of each other's feelings for themselves.
"Oh shoot, I'm late again! I was supposed to go back by 9.15pm," exclaimed Kazura, finally noticing the time. "Ryuzaki sensei is going to kill me . . . groan . . ."
"Come on I'll see you home . . . so I'll come by tomorrow morning to pick you up for school?"
"Ok sure . . . hurry Fuji-senpai, I'm going to be really late"
They broke into a run, laughing and chattering the whole way . . . nothing had changed . . . just that their relationship had taken a huge step forward.
End of chapter
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End of yet another chapter. Wow Kazura is becoming more and more powerful, like a superwoman who is good in everything. But I guess her klutzy nature kind off balances things out a bit. Been trying to add in some romance bits but seems a little weird now, so bear with me please, romance is not really my forte. It might not turn out very well so I'd really appreciate it if you could review this and let me know what you think. So please review! Thanks much!
