The beeping of the alarm clock woke Ryoma with a groan, sighing, he reluctantly got out of bed. Ryoma gave Karupin a good morning pet and headed to the bathroom.
Once, Ryoma dressed for the day he headed downstairs. Ryoma found a note from his mother, next to a packed lunch. Ryoma's mother would be working late again. Ryoma saw his Father passed out on the sofa, with a magazine over his face. Ryoma made himself a quick breakfast of yogurt and toast.
Then, Ryoma filled up Karupin's food and water dishes.
After that, Ryoma finished getting ready for the day, grabbing some milk to have on the way to school. Ryoma needed to have at least two full glasses of milk a day, to keep up with his special team diet. Milk wasn't as good as having a Ponta, but it couldn't be helped.
"Hey, Echizen! You're up early for once!" Momo called, waving, as he ran up to Ryoma.
"Hello Momo-Senpai," Ryoma greeted.
"I wonder what the new Coach is going to be like," Momo commented.
"His personality doesn't matter to me, only how good he is at playing tennis," Ryoma replied.
"The Coach used to be a professional tennis player he can't be bad at tennis."
"Hey! Maybe your Dad knows who he is Echizen!" Momo stated.
Ryoma shrugged, "Maybe, I'll ask my Dad tonight, after practice."
Ryoma and Momo arrived just before morning practice started.
As Ryoma walked out of the locker room, he noticed Tezuka standing next to a man Ryoma had never seen before. The man was tall, at least 182 cm, with curly dark hair. The man's eyes were dark green, and he had a mole on his left cheek.
Ryoma supposed that the girls would consider the man to be a "Hottie." In Ryoma's opinion, he couldn't even compare to Tezuka.
"Everyone up front! We have some announcements to make!" Ryoma turned his attention to his attractive captain, facing up front.
"As Coach Ryuzaki stated yesterday she'll be recovering, I'd like to introduce her replacement, Coach Yamasaki," Tezuka stated, gesturing to the man next to him.
"Yo! My name is Yamasaki Touma! I played tennis throughout middle school and all the way to the professional level. I played for a few different European teams, now, I'm retired. I look forward to working with this team, I played for Seigaku, myself," Coach Yamasaki introduced himself with a smile.
"Before we start, I have another announcement to make, we have a card for Coach Ryuzaki, we would like everyone to come up to the front and sign it."
Ryoma waited for his turn to sign the card before he could start his warm-up, Tezuka stopped him.
"Echizen, you are acquainted with Coach Ryuzaki's granddaughter, I would like you to come with me when we finish after-school practice to drop the card off."
"Sure, Captain."
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Finally, After School Practice was over, and that meant Ryoma got to spend some time with Tezuka.
"Thank you for agreeing to come with me, Echizen."
"You're Welcome, Captain."
"What do you think of Coach Yamasaki?"
"He's energetic, like Momo-Senpai or Kikumaru-Senpai."
"I looked up some of his matches," Tezuka confessed. "Coach Yamasaki definitely earned his place among the great professionals. I can send you some links if you'd like."
"That would be great, Captain."
"I can email them to you."
"Sure," Ryoma smiled, as he wrote down his email on a piece of paper. Ryoma and Tezuka made small talk the rest of the way to the hospital. Mostly, they spoke about tennis, but Ryoma also learned about some of Tezuka's other hobbies.
Sakuno greeted the pair at the hospital, promising to give her grandmother the card, and the gift the team got for their Sensei. Ryoma and his Captain parted ways soon after, Tezuka promising to email Ryoma later tonight.
Ryoma was surprised to see a car in the driveway when he returned home. Ryoma couldn't recall the last time his Father had people come to visit him. As Ryoma opened the front door, he was greeted with the sounds of laughter.
"I'm home," Ryoma called taking his shoes off.
"Ryoma! Come greet our guest!" Nanjiro, Ryoma's father called. Ryoma walked into the sitting room to find Nanjiro and Coach Yamasaki sitting on the sofa together, drinking.
"There you are!" Nanjiro slurred, clearly intoxicated. Coach Yamasaki seemed soberer than Ryoma's father.
"Hello, Coach Yamasaki," Ryoma greeted, shifting slightly.
"Hello, Ryoma how are you?"
"I'm okay Coach Yamasaki. "How are you?"
"I'm well, I bet you didn't know your Dad and I used to be teammates."
"Really?"
Nanjiro spoke up "It's true, do you remember that one match we had where we played doubles…." Nanjiro trailed off, and Coach Yamasaki picked up the rest of the story. Ryoma sat down and listen to the story intrigued.
Eventually, Nanjiro passed out leaving Coach Yamasaki and Ryoma alone.
"How about we play a game together, Ryoma?" Coach Yamasaki suggested.
"Sure, sounds fun," Ryoma replied. Coach Yamasaki and Ryoma played a match, Coach Yamasaki winning the match.
"Man, that was a tough game," Ryoma said sitting down, whipping sweat from his brow.
"You did a good job, you'll be a top player in no time."
I need another beer; do you want anything?"
"A soda, please," Ryoma requested. Coach Yamasaki returned with a beer for himself, and a soda for Ryoma.
"I opened it up for you already," Coach Yamasaki said handing Ryoma a Ponta. Ryoma drank the Ponta and spoke with Coach Yamasaki some more.
Suddenly, Ryoma started to feel dizzy, he stood up and almost fell over, but Coach Yamasaki caught him Ryoma. "Let's get you upstairs," Coach Yamasaki said, picking Ryoma up. The last thing Ryoma saw was Coach Yamasaki smiling strangely at Ryoma before he passed out.