Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue! OC's are MINE!
Change courts!
By Nyte
"One, two, three!" Hana counted as Sakuno, Tomoko and An played Pepper, "Under, over, spike! There you go!" She clapped as the three younger students sat down, exhausted.
"Mou, Hana-senpai, this is tough!" Tomoko complained as she accepted a water bottle.
"Just be glad you don't have to go through this five days a week. When our coach trained us, it was all seven days," Hana laughed.
"Yeah, Mom was a slave driver." Yukino agreed.
"Just how long have you two known each other?" An asked, curious.
"Since we were in our nappies," Hana laughed. "Our families are old friends."
"Enough with the gab, I want you three against us two. Give it your all," Yukino ordered cheerfully. She and Hana positioned themselves on the court but the three students were still sitting there, gasping for breath.
"Hoi, hoi, they're right! Give them a break!" Eiji and Oishi materialized through the trees, followed by Momoshiro and Ryoma.
"What are you guys doing here?" An asked in surprise.
"We finished early. I could ask you the same thing, Tachibana-imouto," Momoshiro replied.
"Haruko gave us the day off, so we're teaching these three," Hana grinned.
"The lazy bums who won't even get their bums off the bench to play a real game for once," Yukino glared at them playfully.
"Please give us a rest, onegai!" Sakuno gasped a little.
"Ryuuzaki's right, you need to warm up a little," Ryoma yawned, "Why don't you play Oishi-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai?"
"We were planning to warm up during the game but if your that protective of your little Hime-chan, then why not?" Hana winked before she pulled off her track pants to reveal shorts.
"With all due respect, senpai, Urusai," Ryoma muttered.
"Aw, you wound me," Hana grinned, putting a hand over her heart playfully
"You guys can go change over there," Yukino pointed to the bathroom nearby. Eiji and Oishi grabbed their things as they followed her order.
"I swear I'm going to kill Ochibi," Eiji muttered to his partner.
"We've played before, it's not that bad," Oishi reasoned. They emerged from the sunlight to see Hana and Yukino already bumping the ball back and forth.
"Here you go, Oishi-san. You're going to want to warm up, since your working on Yukino-chan and Hana-chan's playing field," An tossed him a ball as she groped for her blue towel, "Where's my water bottle?"
"Right here! Catch!" Momoshiro threw her a light blue water bottle which she caught deftly.
"Arigato," She smiled back at the blushing Power player, "Game to commence in 2 minutes!" She announced t the players.
"That's not nearly enough time, An-chan!" Hana protested.
"Suck it up!" An stuck out her tongue.
"Yeah! Senpai-tachi didn't give us enough of a break so we won't give you enough of a warm up!" Tomoko called.
"You're no fun, Tomo-chan," Hana pouted at them, which only made her and Sakuno laugh.
"I'm not the slave driver. Anyways, game to commence. One Partner, approach the ref, me!" An commanded. Hana put away their ball as Yukino and Oishi walked over to her, "Heads or tails?" She asked.
"Tails," Oishi shrugged.
"Heads. Yukino-chan, do you want to pick a side or serve?" An asked, "One set match up, up to five."
We'll pick. Get your butt over here, Hana-chan!" She called.
"Coming!" She sprinted across the court to her partner.
"Let's play a fair game," Yukino shook hands with Oishi as Hana did with Eiji.
"Go easy on us!" Eiji rubbed the back of his head and laughed. The pairs got into the positions as Oishi served underhand. Yukino bumped it straight back over, right in front of Oishi.
"Mine!" Kikumaru punched the ball from behind him, straight into the net, "Gomen, gomen!" He scratched his head sheepishly.
"Point to Seigaku's Dreamers!" An called.
"Dreamers?" Momoshiro echoed.
"It's Yukino-chan and Hana-chan's team name that they use in tournaments," An explained, "I'm calling Oishi-san and Kikumaru-san Golden pair. 1-0, Yukino to serve!"
"Ha!" Yukino over handed it straight towards Oishi who caught it with a bump. His partner grabbed the opportunity and spiked it between Yukino and Hana, who both missed it.
"I guess practice is over," Hana smirked. She and Yukino got a completely different look in their eyes as they crouched lower in their ready positions.
"1-1, Kikumaru to serve!" Kikumaru smashed it overhand where Hana caught it. She bumped it, Yukino set it and Hana spiked it for another point.
"2-1, Hana to serve!" "Point to Dreamers, 3-1!" "Point to Dreamers 4-1!"
"Sugoi, Yukino-senpai and Hana-senpai are getting points pretty quickly. It's match point already." Momoshiro observed.
"Switch! Oishi to serve!" An called.
"What?" Ryoma frowned.
"When the server gets a certain number of consecutive serves, they rotate and the serve gets passed to the other team. At least, I think that's what senpai told me," Sakuno frowned a bit, biting her lip worriedly.
"You're absolutely correct Sakuno," Yukino praised her while keeping her eyes trained on the ball.
"Yuki!" Hana exclaimed as she dove for the ball. She hit it over the net where Eiji caught it
"Sorry!" Yukino apologized as she got ready for the next shot. Eiji set it up for Oishi who approached the net. Yukino got ready to jump and did when Oishi faked a spike but instead set it, leaving her back completely open for a hit, which Kikumaru took and spiked it over her head, scoring them a point.
"Yes!" Eiji cheered as he and Oishi high-fived. Hana and Yukino only shared a nod.
"4-2 for Dreamers! Kikumaru to serve!" An called. Kikumaru hit it in an overhand serve that Hana nearly missed. She hit it over in the same fashion she did last point. Again, Kikumaru set it near the net and when Oishi faked a spike and set it again for Eiji to spike. This time however, Yukino jumped much higher and managed to spike it on her way down to earn a point.
"Sugoi, that was high!" Sakuno gasped. "It's true that most volleyball players can jump pretty high, but Yukino-senpai was at least her body length above the net!"
"Momoshiro's dunk smash is almost that high," Everyone swung around at the sound of the voice to find the person they least expected.
It was their Captain, Tezuka Kiminitsu, back from the dead (or Germany, what ever you want to call it.)
"Buchou!" Momoshiro gasped.
"Tezuka! Welcome back," Oishi exclaimed.
"Wai! Tezuka-Buchou, you're back!" Eiji exclaimed.
"Tezuka-senpai!" Tomo and Sakuno bowed.
"Finally you're back, buchou," Ryoma snorted with a smile on his face, hidden by the cap.
"Welcome back, Tezuka-san," An smiled
"Ah. It's good to be back. Congratulations on winning the Nationals," A ghost of a smile was soon covered by a disapproving frown, "Why aren't you all at practice? Were you soft on them, Oishi?"
"Iie. Most clubs had taken the day off so I gave them a light practice. Everybody left early," Oishi explained.
"What are you doing here, then? The last time I checked there wasn't a Volleyball court," Tezuka asked.
"That would be us," Yukino stepped forward, "My name is Shiroi Yukino, Vice Captain of the Seigaku girls Volleyball team and this is my teammate, Hinagaku Hana. We just got relocated here."
"Aa," He nodded, "I hope they were no trouble," he bowed.
"None at all, Tezuka-san. We were having a friendly match which Yuki and I WON!" She stuck her tongue out at Eiji teasingly.
"Shaddup! You guys are professionals! We're amateurs," Eiji whined.
"I see. Oishi, come with me and give me an update. I need to see Ryuuzaki-sensei anyways," Tezuka motioned for him to follow.
"Ja ne, Minna-san," Oishi waved.
"Well that's a downer. Forget practice, wanna go get some candy? I'm feeling for a sugar high," Hana yawned.
"Oh boy. You guys had better not come or you might end up in jail tomorrow morning. Do you guys mind walking these girls home? I don't want them to get mugged," Yukino asked.
"Sure. Come on, Tachibana-Imouto!" Momoshiro turned away.
"Don't call me that!" She screeched as he followed him.
"I think I live in your direction, Osakada-chan. Let's go," Eiji waved, "Ja minna!"
"Arigato Kikumaru-senpai,"
"That leaves you two. Have fun and keep it clean!" Hana winked and waved as she followed her partner out.
"Let's go, Ryuuzaki," Ryoma turned in the direction of the exit.
"A-Arigato, Ryoma-kun," She bowed, "You don't have to. Yukino-senpai's a bit too protective of me and every one else on the team. Some times the other girls call her the okaa-san of the team," She smiled a little.
"Personally, I don't want Shiroi-senpai after my skin, so don't worry about it. Besides, with your sense of direction, I'm not surprised," He replied gruffly, "Now let's go,"
"H-Hai!" She followed behind him, like she always had.
"Hey, An?" Momoshiro said out of the blue. He unconsciously rubbed his sweaty palms as he gulped a little. They had walked back to her house in almost complete silence, mainly because An was tired and well, our dearest, over confident power player was nervous.
The question he had been meaning to ask for a very long while: Since he had saved her from those Hyotei freaks, in fact. It was only now that the feelings had become a little over whelming… maybe a lot more than that. He liked her… A lot.
"What is it Momoshiro-kun?" An asked. She wiped a hand against her forehead.
"Well…, Um…, that is…, I…, oh never mind," He sighed. For once, he was able to force the words through the lump the size of a melon in his throat but he couldn't actually ask her.
"Momoshiro-kun, is something wrong? You've been acting strange since we left," An stopped and felt his forehead gingerly, "You don't have a fever do you?"
"N-N-No, It's just…"
"Just what?" She asked him, her dark blue eyes wide open and concerned.
"Just… Just- IlikeyoualotandIwantyoutobemygirlfriend!" Momoshiro blurted out in one breath, looking like a fire siren.
"Y-You want me to – Wait! Momoshiro-kun!" An watched helplessly as the tall tennis player ran away. She sighed. The one time the guys she liked asked her out and she had to be a bozo and answered too slow. She bonked herself over the head. So stupid!
"An-chan, you're home. How was practice?" Tachibana Kippei greeted his sister at the gate.
"It was good. Hana-chan and Yukino-chan say we'll be ready for a tournament in two weeks," An smiled. "I'm going up to room ok? Call me when dinner's ready," An waved. No matter how much she loved her Onii-chan, she couldn't face him right now. As soon as she got into her room she collapsed on her bed and hugged her pillow. Where was she going to get the courage to tell Momoshiro that she liked him back?
Ryoma and Sakuno walked in complete silence for a long time until they reached the end of Sakuno's street. "You know Ryuuzaki, you do better in Volleyball then you do in Tennis. You should just quit the tennis club and join the Volleyball club,"
"I-I was thinking of doing that," Sakuno ducked her head slightly, "I think I could do better in tennis if the girls were more, well family-ish. But tennis is a lonely sport if you don't do doubles and even then…"
"Tennis is lonely. You're not the type for that kind of sport," Ryoma stated bluntly.
"I like being on the volleyball court because you have to rely on your partner more. You have time to do things and a very deep understanding of each other," Sakuno bit her lip, "Even when you're playing beach volleyball, you still need to rely on each other."
"The girl's Volleyball team is one big happy family, eh?" Ryoma almost laughed at the idea.
"It's true!" Sakuno exclaimed, "Haruko-senpai is the laid back and childish mother, Yuki-senpai is the grumpy and concerned aunt while Hana-senpai is the big cousin that tells the aunt not to worry, Tsuchi-senpai and Ino-senpai are the sisters in university, Aomi-senpai and Yamiko-senpai are the sisters in High school, while Tomo-chan and An-chan are with me. They all treat me like the baby sister though."
"Interesting," Ryoma had not caught a word of what she said, but he had to be polite. Not that he ever bothered before, "All the more reason for you to go to the Volleyball club."
"You really think so? I've been having a hard time deciding." Sakuno bit her lip a little, "I mean, I don't want to desert the Tennis club."
"I- The regulars will be fine with it," He said dismissively.
"Well…, Ano…, Alright. Thank you for your help, Ryoma-kun!" She pecked him on the cheek, and turning as red as a stop sign, ran into her house and slammed the door shut as her mom yelled at her. She let out a huge sigh and moaned as she buried her head in her hands. Why did she kiss Ryoma-kun?
A/N: To be continued! Tezuka is finally back and things are going to get ugly. But first, some over-the-head fluff in the next chapter. It's cliché and whatever, but oh well.
I hope I didn't make the characters too OOC. Ryoma's hard to write, especially in romance. And to other regulars… let's not go there, hehe. If at any point in the story, you think my OC's are getting Mary-sue ish (Shudder) drop me a line and tell me. My Beta doesn't do PoT . .
As always, leave a review! I'm hoping to get more than three this chapter… -Winkwinknudgenudge-
Lub, Nyte