"Hurry up Yuki!" called Kiyoko from behind her shoulder to Yuki who was walking casually up to the Seigaku School.
"She's been like this since last week," said Yuki with a shake of her head, "Since that match she stayed for she's been muttering about her rival. Wonder if she finally found one?" Just then she heard the bell ring.
"Holy crap we're late!" exclaimed Yuki running to catch up to Kiyoko
who was already inside. Yuki nearly made it but she crash landed with
Kiyoko and a boy who seemed to also be late. Upon closer observation,
it was Ryoma! The three were admonished by the teacher.
"Now you three introduce yourselves."
"Hi! I'm Kazumi Kiyoko, happy to meet you."
"Aihara Yuki, glad to make your acquaintance."
"Echizen Ryoma." The three took their seats. Ryoma was dressed in the black vest and pants all the boys wore. Yuki and Kiyoko wore white blouses and short green skirts. After school the girls left with Ryoma right behind them and a boy following suit. All four had tennis rackets wrapped up under their arms.
"Hey you three!" called the boy catching up to them, "My name's Horio.
I can tell by the rackets under your arms that you're going to the
tennis team. Did you know? The tennis team is really strong." Ryoma
and the girls paid him no heed. Since all three were going the same
direction, Yuki, Kiyoko, and Ryoma went together. Horio chose to tag
along.
"Which way is the tennis court?" asked Ryoma to an upper classman with spiky black hair.
"That way," said the boy pointing.
"Thank you," said Yuki with a bow before catching up to everyone. They were led to the sumo wrestling area instead.
"The tennis courts are the other way?" asked Kiyoko when a man told them where to go.
"Damn that stupid second year," muttered Yuki, "And I even thanked him." When they got to the fence of the tennis court, Horio was the only one who gasped.
"Whoa! Seigaku's school facilities are a total killer!" exclaimed Horio. When they walked in, they only found a few freshmen boys and girls milling around. Sakuno was amongst them.
"The second and third year players are on a playing tour so we have to register tomorrow," said Sakuno.
"God damn," cursed Kiyoko.
"We just wanted to practice a little," said Sakuno.
"I didn't know you played tennis," said Kiyoko now turning to her.
Sakuno blushed.
"It's my first time," said Sakuno.
"Yo, are you guys here to join our tennis club?" asked one of two upperclassmen approaching them.
"We're 2nd year Hayashi and Ikeda," said the other. Nice to meet you said most of the freshman boys bowing. By now all the girls had left not wanting to miss an afternoon except for Kiyoko and Yuki.
"Won't you play a fun game with us?" asked Hayashi.
"What game?" asked Horio curiously. Ikeda grinned.
"The rule is simple," said Ikeda, "Serve from the end of the court at the five cans right here. All you need is to hit one. You get ten tries and if you hit it, ten thousand yen each!"
"Its 200 yen for each player," said Hayashi.
"I smell something fishy," said Yuki on the bench next to Kiyoko.
"So do I," said Kiyoko when the last five boys had missed.
"Is that all you can do?" asked Horio to the other freshmen smugly.
"Easier said than done," said one, "a target that small in such a large distance is way too hard even in ten tries."
"Tennis record first year Horio will now come up!" said Horio.
"That idiot," said Ryoma.
"Ten thousand yen is mine!" said Horio eagerly. At the tenth try the ball hit the frame of the racket and the ball zoomed to the top of the can but it narrowly missed.
"Too bad," said Ikeda, "Even we have a hard time with just ten tries."
"Oh well," said Horio before handing the two boys his 200 yen.
"You must be mistaken," said Ikeda with a grin before turning the can to show that it was 200 yen the first try and five hundred for the rest. Yuki was disgusted and stood up abruptly heading for the door.
"Hey you freshman girl!" called Hayashi, "Ten thousand yen to buy you some new clothes."
"Yeah, clothes for girls, not the kind of boys' tennis wear you have"
said Ikeda, "Or is it that you can't play? Don't worry, you can't do
much worse than these guys here." Yuki stopped from the door and took
out her racket.
"It's not that I can't," said Yuki slowly getting her racket, "It's just that it's a waste of my time...because hitting one of those cans normally wouldn't really work." As she said this she took out a ball from the many in a basket and got up to serve. It hit the furthest can dead center. Rocks spilled out of the can. Kiyoko got up in surprise and took out her racket too. It hit the next can. Rocks spilled out of them too. Ryoma hit the third. The fourth ball was hit by someone behind Yuki. She was the first to turn and saw the boy who had given them the wrong directions.
"Oh Lucky! I hit it!" said the boy before turning to Hayashi and Ikeda, "You two, since the third years aren't here, you think picking on juniors is okay? You can't do that." The two boys gave a sweatdrop while the freshmen cheered.
"Nice to meet you!" they said.
"Takeshi Momoshiro at your service," said the second year. Yuki got her bags and stood up heading for the door. She didn't feel like being in the same court as a trickster.
"Hey!" called Takeshi, "Who said you could leave? Oh, I see, you're one of those freshmen the coach was talking about. Well, guess there's no use for the eye if you can't use the vision." Yuki said nothing.
"What do you want senpai?" asked Yuki.
"How about a fight?" "Are you sure you want to play him Yuki?" asked Kiyoko curiously. Yuki was busily tying her tennis shoes on and had put on wristbands. She got on the court and met with Takeshi on the net.
"I heard from the old lady counselor that the kid over there knows how to do the twist serve?" asked Takeshi. Yuki shrugged.
"It's not my business," said Yuki.
"What's the twist serve?" asked Ikeda. Kiyoko grinned.
"Generally speaking," said Kiyoko, "It's the reverse of the slice serve that turns left. Basically, it flies right to your face."
"Let's start this game," said Yuki. Takeshi grinned nonchalantly. He went to one side of the court.
"I'll use this side of the court," said Takeshi, "You can serve first. Let's see if you prodigy tennis whatevers can serve right," said Takeshi.
"Is it all right if I referee?" asked Kiyoko turning to Takeshi.
"Go ahead," said the second year. Kiyoko grinned and climbed the high chair.
"The best of one set! Aihara, service play!"
"Go easy on her Takeshi!" said Ikeda. Yuki said nothing her eyes covered. She tossed the ball into the air and hit it to Takeshi's side. He looked surprised and stood up.
"I refuse an ace serve! Don't be so stingy," said Takeshi, "I expect something more challenging from someone who makes a name with the counselor." Yuki grinned.
"I don't want to," said Yuki stubbornly.
"15-Love!" announced Kiyoko. Yuki grinned and started bouncing the ball up and down speeding up as it bounced even though Yuki looked as if she was standing still. The ball lunged to Takeshi.
"The slice serve?!" exclaimed Horio in surprise. The ball hurtled at Takeshi at an amazing speed and knocked the racket out of the second year's hands.
"Amazing!" exclaimed Hayashi. Kiyoko shook her head.
"Yuki! Stop playing around. It's not like you to be showing your true personality only a day in at school," said Kiyoko. Not many knew it but Yuki wasn't really a serious girl. She laughed the most between Kiyoko and Yuki. Yuki smiled before turning to Takeshi.
"You okay?" asked Yuki for the boy was clutching at his wrist. Takeshi looked surprised but then grinned.
"Not bad," said Takeshi.
"30-0! Game 1-0 Aihara leads!" said Kiyoko. Yuki served the slice serve and Takeshi was ready but the ball had too much force on it and he couldn't return it.
"Impossible! How could Momoshiro have been overpowered? The timing was right," said Ikeda.
"No way!" exclaimed Hayashi, "Momoshiro's a member of the regular team!" Yuki went to serve again.
"The timing is right," said Momoshiro, "This is a match against power. I can't lose!" Takeshi returned Yuki's ball but only barely. Yuki went to the net and tossed the ball over the net into an underhand.
"Drop volley?!" exclaimed Takeshi on the floor, "You know how to do that too! You're not someone to take lightly, even if you are a girl." Yuki smiled and took off the twenty pound weights on her wrist and tossing them to the side with ease. Takeshi raised his eyes in surprise but then grinned.
"Stop," said Takeshi, "I guess I'll let you go this time." Yuki nodded and went to gather her things. Kiyoko jumped down to the floor with ease and grinned at Yuki.
"That was pretty fair of you to keep the weights while his ankle was injured," said Kiyoko.
"What else could I have done?" asked Yuki.
Yuki and Kiyoko watched as the older senpai practiced. The female players had not come yet. They sat together with Horio and Echizen.
"Hmm," said Horio, "I thought it was pretty weird that Momoshiro-senpai was only using half of his ability to play against a girl because of his twisted ankle. Of course there's no way a girl could play with a regular and a senpai. Even the ones that aren't on the team are strong. Hey! Are you three even listening?"
"Not really," said Kiyoko. Yuki said nothing and leaned back closing her eyes in relief. Kiyoko looked up when a third year girl walked up to her and Yuki.
"Are you girls here for the female tennis team?" asked the girl.
"Yes," said Kiyoko.
"You must not have heard the announcement," said the girl, "There is no girls' tennis team. We've never won any championships so the board decided to stop funding," said the girl, "Sorry about that. Now the only captain is the male captain, Captain Tezuka."
"They must have just announced this," said Yuki, "Otherwise Coach Ryuzaki wouldn't have invited us to be part of the team. Guess we were her last resort before the board stopped funding."
"We can't go back now," said Kiyoko, "You know how hard it was to convince our dads that it was the right thing to do."
"Let's talk to that Captain Tezuka," said Yuki, "If we can't have a girls' team, they could at least let us get registered into the mixed doubles category. You know they needed one."
"Great idea!" said Kiyoko before the two walked to a tall third year Horio had said was the captain.
"Captain Tezuka," said Yuki walking to him, "We'd like to talk with you."
"Are you two the first years from the U.S.?" asked Tezuka getting to the point, "Coach Ryuzaki asked me to speak with you."
"What about?" asked Kiyoko curiously.
"It's a little early for me to be saying anything but I'd like you two to be in the block competition in a few weeks," said Tezuka, "Along with that Ryoma Echizen the coach recommended. If you beat the ones in your block, you'll be special members for the male tennis team. You will be registered into mixed doubles, but you will practice with us for now."
"Thank you!" said Yuki happily. The two girls grinned before running to Horio and Ryoma. Kiyoko shook Ryoma eagerly.
"Hey Ryoma!" said Kiyoko, "I get to compete against you! Isn't that great?"
"What do I care?" asked Ryoma through closed eyes. Kiyoko sweat dropped and smacked him on the head.
"Baka!" shouted Kiyoko. Just then a second year walked to Ryoma.
"Are you that great first year?!" he asked.
"Great first year?" thought Ryoma and Kiyoko to themselves. Ryoma shook his head and pointed in Horio's direction. Kiyoko was surprised but stayed silent.
"So that's him, how obvious," said the senpai, "he's the only one wearing the weird shirt and jumping around." The boy who Kiyoko heard someone later call Arai walked to Horio.
"That wasn't a very good idea Ryoma," said Kiyoko to the boy, "Horio will be the one to suffer the consequences even when you were the one that Arai guy was talking about." Ryoma wasn't listening and Kiyoko got the angry mark on her face before walking to Yuki. She looked around for Tezuka who had already disappeared into Coach Ryuzaki's room. Kiyoko leaned on the wall next to Yuki. The regular players had just walked by.
"Here they come," said Yuki stating the obvious, "I hope the coach was right when she said this would be a challenge." The two girls looked up when the vice-captain Oishi went forward.
"Just to get the new first years to ease up," began Oishi, "Until the captain comes, you are free to use the court." Yuki perked her ears to a conversation of one of the regulars, Fuji, to Oishi. Yuki and Kiyoko had read each of their files the week before. Horio jumped up and down excitedly.
"This is so cool!" exclaimed Horio, "The courts over there at that side are empty. Let's go!" He stopped when Eiji had served a ball into the basket at the opposite end of the court. All the regulars had been serving into the basket. Oishi caught Fuji's ball.
"Fuji! You're steps are too slow!" said Oishi with a grin.
"Wow!" exclaimed Horio, "All the lobs they hit are going straight to the basket! This is my first time ever watching such a smash practice. These are Seigaku's regular members!" Yuki, Kiyoko and Ryoma stood near the court observing the regulars as they practiced. A ball flew over to their side and Ryoma also served it into the basket.
"Eh?doesn't seem that hard," said Ryoma with a grin.
"Show off," muttered Kiyoko.
"You punk!" shouted Arai walking to Ryoma and clutching him at the front of his shirt, "This is not a place for first years to be showing off."
"What is the meaning of this?" asked Captain Tezuka from behind the two boys and Yuki and Kiyoko. He observed the scene before him. "The two of you, ten laps around the court for causing a commotion."
"But wait! I?" objected Arai.
"Twenty laps," said Tezuka. Kiyoko went forward.
"Captain," said Kiyoko, "Is it all right if Yuki and I join them?"
"Suit yourself," said Tezuka.
"Why did I have to join you?" asked Yuki with a whine, "This is all just a question of male superiority."
"But you were the one that caused it," pointed out Kiyoko, "You made all the first years noticeable, especially Ryoma since he's the only boy first year that's actually good. With us, we're the relief force to stand for the women."
"I still don't feel like running," muttered Yuki before catching up to them lazily, "It's not efficient."