Nobody is Perfect
By: Asagi Tsuki
Taken from a quote given my friend used for her nickname. Thank you so much, Whity-san. Sorry if this story is short.
Humor one-shot, no pairing. General. For humor and entertainment purpose only.
Summary: in which Ryoma is strangely being depressed, and the other boys are trying to cheer him up. But why do they end up angry and cursing instead?
Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis
Nobody is Perfect
It was one fair day. The sun was high up, shining with all its glory. It was very hot outside, but that didn't stop the members of the boys tennis team from practicing that afternoon. They were out there on the courts practicing, each pair on each court. But wait a minute, each pair on each court?
So where's the last member of the regulars? Inui was currently having a practice match with Kaidoh, and they seemed to be missing a member here. Why didn't they notice this sooner?
Of course, it was near the end of practice, but Tezuka never remembered giving anyone the permission to slack off and stop training without permission –of course-.
"Ara? Echizen is not here," Fuji finally said, while he waited for Kawamura to take a stray tennis ball from the outside of the court and serve.
"Maybe he's in the locker room," Inui commented as he too, stopped. Almost all of the regulars had stopped by now. "Someone said that Echizen is being depressed in the locker room earlier," he added as he shrugged.
"I'll look for him then," Kikumaru offered, and he ran towards the locker room to check on the youngest member of the regulars while the others merely stared.
"Everyone go back to practice!" Tezuka commanded, and the practices were continued.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Kikumaru came back to the courts not long afterwards, wailing and whining.
"Oishi! Ochibi!" he whined as he flailed his arms up and down.
"What's wrong with Echizen?" Momoshiro asked as the regulars gathered around him.
Kikumaru continued to whine, and they knew that he wouldn't be answering their question soon.
"Kaidoh, you go check on him," Inui ordered, and Kaidoh merely nodded, before going to the locker room to check on the youngest member of the regulars who someone claimed to be depressed.
Not long afterwards, he was back, grunting, grumbling and growling.
"He's trying to turn into Tezuka no. 2," Fuji commented as he shook his head when he saw Kaidoh walk into the court.
"I heard that Fuji," Tezuka warned.
"What's wrong with Echizen, anyway?" Fuji asked, trying to sound as if he couldn't hear what Tezuka said to him.
"That cocky, self-centered, good-for-nothing brat," Kaidoh grumbled, and he sat cross-armed just beside Kikumaru who was still whining.
The others looked at each other in puzzlement.
"Didn't you say he's being depressed, Inui?" Fuji asked.
"I did say that someone told me he's being depressed," Inui shrugged.
"Why don't you go check on him, Momoshiro?" Kawamura suggested. "If this doesn't work, we'll just check on him together," he added, and the others agreed.
Momoshiro agreed, and he then went to the locker room to check on Ryoma.
Minutes later, he was back, his expression sour. He sat down on the bench just beside Kaidoh and pursed his lips unhappily.
"What's wrong?" Oishi asked.
"Just see for yourself," Momoshiro merely replied, and the others once again looked at each other in puzzlement.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to see for ourselves, no?" Fuji suggested, and the others agreed. All the regulars –sans Kikumaru, Kaidoh and Momoshiro- all went to the locker room to check on the depressed Ryoma, and to know just why everyone who was sent to check on him ended up being unhappy.
"Echizen?" Fuji asked as he stepped into the locker room, followed by Inui, Oishi, Kawamura, and Tezuka.
"Echizen? What's wrong?" Oishi asked concernedly, being the mother hen he is.
"Senpai," Ryoma started. He was fully dressed –his jacket and his cap were on-, and he was looking down at the floor. The locker room was dark, and it added to the depressing atmosphere in the room. "Have you ever heard of the quote 'nobody is perfect'?" he asked, still looking at the floor.
"Yeah… what's wrong with that?" Oishi asked back while the others stood at the side and watched. "Did someone insult you or something?" he asked again.
"Not really," Ryoma replied in a low tone, barely above a whisper. "My father had recently told me that," he added.
"And now you're degrading yourself?" Fuji asked, but soon stopped when the others shot him a disapproving look.
"I'm not," Ryoma said. He slung his bag over to his shoulder, and stood up. "Now I know that nobody is perfect," he said, still in a low tone.
"E-" Oishi was about to say something to comfort the young boy, but was cut off when Ryoma suddenly walked towards the door, and opened it. He turned around, half of his body bathed in light, and said.
"And you can call me nobody,"
And the door closed behind him.
I am Nobody
Well, so how was it? The quote was actually 'I am nobody, and nobody is perfect'. I laughed when I read it. Really. Thank you Whity-san. This fic will not be here if not for you. Best regards for you.