Disclaimer: If I owned TeniPuri, I would make Sakuno DO SOMETHING. Saying "R-Ryoma-kun" DOES NOT COUNT! I do own any OC's that I'll be introducing.
Here We Go Again
Chapter Two: Reunion
Looping his hair through the elastic one more time and finishing the ponytail at the nape of his neck, Echizen Ryoma looked in the mirror. The uniform for Seishun Kokou was relatively simple. It consisted of a white dress shirt beneath a black blazer (which he left unbuttoned) with golden buttons and trim. The long black slacks matched the ensemble well, though they were completely impractical in this heat. Altogether, he could stand it, even if he did usually wear loose, excessively casual clothes. The only problem was…
"Kaa-san! How do you put this thing on?" he yelled as he walked into the kitchen, brandishing a navy tie in one hand.
Shaking her head and laughing the slightest bit, Rinko walked over to her son. "Here, like this. Wrap it around, then up, then back down through here." She tugged on the accessory, snapping her son out of his concentration. No doubt he was memorizing the process, so as to never go through this embarrassing situation again.
"Ite! Kaa-san, too tight!" Ryoma, being used to loose athletic clothing, was not enjoying his first experience with a tie.
"Don't be a baby, you'll be fine. If you really need to, you can loosen it later," the brunette gently chided her son. "Now, I've made a Japanese breakfast for your first day of school. Eat up, you don't want to be late."
"Thanks. Itadakimasu." For a few minutes, only the sounds of chopsticks and Rinko washing dishes filled the room.
Eventually the new high school student set down his chopsticks and clapped his hands once in the traditional manner. "Gochisousama. Kaa-san, you're sure that they finished my room?"
Rinko nodded gently. "Mm-hm. I saw it the other day, and it looks great, you'll love it. Make sure you come home on the weekends, though, the house gets pretty lonely with your father and Ryoga still in America."
"Aa, when I can." With that, he exited the room.
Slipping into his shoes, Ryoma tugged the tie until it dangled, its new diameter several inches larger than his neck's. As a finishing touch, he undid the top button of his dress shirt. Much better. I don't know how people stand buttoning their shirts up all the way.
Snatching up his second spare racquet and sweeping it into his bag, Echizen Ryoma set off for his new school.
~X~
"Ah! Katsuo, look, they're here! Fuji-senpai, how did the finals go?" Kachirou asked the smiling brunet.
"Well, in a manner of speaking." Came the enigmatic reply.
"What do you mean by that? We did win, right?"
"Saa…" Fuji's eyes opened, causing shivers to run down the crowd's collective spines. "Yes, we won. However, while the matches of the Golden Pair, Tezuka, and myself went along without a hitch, those of Nishi-buchou and the Aoiyama-fukubuchou-Gorou pair were…" The genius trailed off, a look of extreme distaste marring his features.
"Embarrassing, nya. They were total train wrecks! Mou, Oishi, why can't we have Kaidoh and Momo-chan back? And on top of that, Ochibi's pulled a disappearing act on the world!" The team's acrobat was currently being uncharacteristically negative, seeking comfort in his partner and unofficial boyfriend.
"Kikumaru! Watch your words. Be glad that Nishi-sensei didn't hear you say that." The stoic ex-captain spoke for the first time. He too was ashamed of those particular matches, but if their coach heard Kikumaru saying that…
Kachirou, feeling like the whole gloomy shift in mood was his fault, decided a change of subject was in order. "Well, the weirdest thing happened yesterday while you were all away," the freshman segued. "This really pretty girl showed up and challenged Kazuya-senpai to a match when he started hitting on her."
"What? Did you say a girl challenged Kazuya-san? What if she got hurt because we weren't there to stop the match? It would all be this club's fault! Was she all right?" The mother hen Oishi had succeeded in calming his doubles partner, but when he turned to the conversation, he heard that.
"Wait, Oishi-senpai! I didn't finish! She beat him in less than ten minutes, and it was all with service or return aces! He didn't score a single point, but she didn't even break a sweat!"
"Yeah!" Katsuo chimed in. "It was incredible! Then afterwards, she just calmly walked away, asking us where the Main Office was like nothing had happened!"
"Hmm… Main Office, did you say? That means there is a 79.83% chance that she will be enrolling here."
"Ah! Inui, don't do that to me, nya! I'm on edge today!" the unfortunate redhead shouted, looking over his shoulder to where the data man had appeared.
Notebook in hand and glasses gleaming, Inui suddenly asked Kachirou, "You said she was a beautiful girl? Could you please describe her some more; this could be good data…"
~X~
Had one been a student of class 1-A that morning, one would've noticed the teacher's excessively strange behavior.
The young woman was practically bouncing in her seat, while managing to smile, blush and squeal all at the same time. When Horio posed the question, "Ayaka-sensei, are you alright?" she simply giggled and said:
"You'll see soon, go take your seat! Hurry!"
The class decided that whatever it was, they would find out sooner if they settled down sooner. So, five minutes before any of the other classes had even been told to sit, class 1-A was ever-so-patiently staring at their sensei.
"Alright class. I'm extremely pleased to announce that we are receiving a transfer student. He's been traveling the past two years, so please be nice! You can come in now and introduce yourself."
The sliding door opened, and in walked a… boy, judging by his uniform alone. Stepping forward to stand next to the teacher's desk, he gave a small, curt bow to his classmates. "Echizen Ryoma. Nice to meet you."
A single beat of silence, and then- "Kyaa! Ryoma-sama! It's really you, right? You came back to us! I need to tell Sakuno, then your fan clubs!" As Ryoma's eyes widened at the sight of his first crazed fan girl (and the mention of multiple fan clubs), whispers, gasps, and the more than occasional squeal broke out in the classroom.
"Miss Osakada, please calm yourself and return to your seat. Class, I know this is extremely exciting, but I'm going to have to ask you to quiet down," Ayaka-sensei called out, her expression somewhat taking away the force behind her words.
"Ah! Echizen! You're that girl who beat Kazuya-senpai yesterday! What're you doing in Japan?" Of course, it was the bullhorn on two feet: Horio Satoshi.
"Che. You know full well that I'm a boy. I'd rather you call me one. Sensei," he turned suddenly to his new teacher. "Where should I sit?"
"Oh, right, your seat. You'll be sitting there, next to Tsukiko, she's my little sister by eight years, you know."
Great, my teacher is a ditz, too. Are there any normal girls? A hand going up in his peripheral vision and a high-pitched voice snapped him out of his reverie. "Ryoma-kun, I'm Ayaka Tsukiko. It's really great to meet you." The girl had pale skin and long black-brown hair to her waist. He supposed she could've been pretty, but he couldn't tell through all the makeup she was wearing.
"Aa. A pleasure." He was trying his utmost to ignore the purring voice she was attempting to use, and the suggestive looks she threw his way from beneath pseudo-eyelashes. This was a perfect example of why he hates fans.
Deciding to catch up on his sleep, and blessing whoever gave him English first period, he laid his head down on his desk. As the teacher's voice became a steady background drone, the prodigy's last thought was how couldn't wait until his first tennis practice.
~X~
He napped for the rest of the morning, waking every now and then to pacify the teachers or jot a brief note down.
As the bell signifying the start of their lunch period trilled, Ryoma stood. Picking up the bento his cousin had prepared earlier today, he decided to see if the roof at this school had any good spots to nap. At the very least, he could get away from all the questioning stares.
Opening the door to the outside, he looked around. No one was up here as of yet, which was good. Walking around the edge of the building that shielded the stairwell, he found the ladder he was looking for. Using one hand to hold his bento and one to grasp the rungs, he climbed up to the top.
Setting down the little lunchbox, he sprawled out on his back, shielding his eyes from the sun with one arm. It seemed that the main school building was the mirror image of Seigaku, just with different uniforms.
Sitting up, he opened his lunch and began to eat. Holding an onigiri in his mouth, the golden-eyed boy looked over the campus. To his far right, the dorms for sportsmen lay. Everything there, from the balanced food they were given to the various relaxants and deep sleep programs, were designed to be healthier for an athlete. Their lower floors, as he was told, held an expansive gym, filled with top of the line equipment. Even the library, after covering the core subjects, was chock full of books on the human body, information (from rules to history) on various sports, and physics (usually about centrifugal force, momentum, etc). They were also much closer to the sports fields, yet a good walks distance from the school itself. Ryoma nodded in approval. "So that's where I'll be living. Not bad…" he murmured.
To his far left were more relaxed artisan dorms. This particular chain of buildings was for those who were not in a sports related club, such as photography, painting, or music. Here, their meals were balanced, but to help them stay somewhat fit, not build muscle. There were various rooms and studios to help stimulate the artistic senses, and there was very little by way of a gym. There was an expansive library with books on different histories: music, art, cuisine, architecture. These students also had a much shorter commute to the school building, but had quite a walk to the sports facilities, should they choose to drop by.
Directly behind him was the entrance to the expansive campus, and the outside world.
Directly in front of him was…
"Heeh…" he drawled, stretching out the syllable. The sports fields here were impressive, to say the least. In a cursory glance, he had seen a complete track and field setup, American football and soccer fields, a baseball diamond, a natatorium, a stadium that he assumed held a basketball court, and even an archery range and beach volleyball pit. Apparently, there was also a bowling alley several stories beneath his feet, and a table tennis club that practiced in the gym. What his sharp gaze was currently focused on was much closer to the school than the large expanse of vibrant green fields, though.
Directly in front of him lay the tennis club's facilities, eight hard courts split into two blocks. Even from here, he could clearly see the bright white lines and nets dividing the bluish-green surface. He could tell that, despite its frequent use, the entire area was cared for to a tee. Metal beams laid flat on the surrounding ground and a large fan system indicated a dome could be put over the complex in the winter.
"Living here might be some fun…" He remarked before turning his attention to his loudly protesting stomach once more.
~X~
As the final bell rang, Ryoma stood while rubbing his eyes like a cat. Picking up his books, he moved towards the door. Or, he would've, had a girl not been blocking his way. Ayaka Tsukiko, was it?
"What?"
"Well, Ryo-kun, I know that since you're such a huge tennis star and all, you'll be joining the tennis club, right?" She spoke agonizingly slowly, with a simpering, lilting voice and an attempt at a seductive smile. Her hands clasped behind her back, as if to give him a better view of her chest. It struck him that she was trying to flirt. "Ryo-kun?" Fantastic. Now she was trying to flirt and had a nickname for him.
"Yeah, I am. If that's all, then-" Tsukiko saw a stand of green hair, and Echizen Ryoma was gone.
Out in the hall, the Prince made a reminder to himself to always get out of class as quickly as he could.
As he set off, Tsukiko already long forgotten, his thoughts strayed to his former (and soon to be) teammates. He hadn't seen any of them face to face since Nationals two years ago, and wondered if they had changed much. Before coming here, he had assumed that he himself was more or less the same, but with the rate that people were mistaking him for a girl, maybe he was wrong.
When he arrived at the clubhouse, he decided that it was fine to go straight in. He was joining a couple of months late in the school year, and as such had missed all the club registrations. The forms he'd filled out over the weekend had been for cases like that, and asked him to specify which club he would be in (three guesses).
As he stepped into the locker room, he noted the conspicuous lack of people. Shrugging it off, (he was late) he began to change. As he pulled his shirt out, he gave a little snort. It was a slightly bigger version of the shirt he had worn to his first practice at Seigaku.
Throwing it on, he took a short, thin cord from his bag and used it to pull his hair into a high ponytail, bangs hanging free. Clouds had covered the sky about one period earlier, so he decided to leave his hat in the locker he had been assigned.
Golden eyes glittered in anticipation as Samurai Junior stepped outside, favorite red racquet in one hand, bag in another. Walking onto the busy courts, he found a quiet corner to set his things down and check his laces one last time.
He was beginning to scope out the courts when he heard yelling, directed towards him.
"Hey! Pretty-boy in the corner!" A completely unknown teenager, a third year if his size was anything to go by, was walking towards him, a menacing look on his face.
"Feel like explaining why you think you're too good to set up the nets and clean the courts like first years should?"
"Hmm…" The man was a veritable giant. He had at least a foot and a half on Ryoma, (even if the teen was only five feet tall) a heavyset face, and black hair in a severe buzz cut. However, his own ego aside, the fact that he didn't know the Prince of Tennis' face was enough for said Prince to immediately look down on him.
"You're new to tennis." It wasn't a question.
The statement, however simple, carried enough disdain and arrogance to set the third year off. "So what if I am, brat! I'm Gorou, a Regular on the team here, so I'm better than the likes of you!" By now, Ryoma found himself in an all too familiar situation. Namely, held by his collar, feet dangling two feet off the ground.
Gorou, on the other hand, was feeling slightly unsettled. This boy who looked like a girl didn't seem intimidated by him in the slightest. He just kept staring at him evenly, disinterestedly, in fact. This kid was asking to get punched.
"Hoi hoi! Sorry for being late, minna-san. Unyah? Gorou, why are you beating up a girl!" Gorou turned his head slightly, and was greeted by the sight of his fellow Regulars walking in.
"Oh, Tezuka-san, Nishi-buchou, I'm glad you're here. This little piece of shit was slacking off, and when I asked him why, he gave me attitude." During his mini-speech, he had returned his attention to the golden cat eyes that were still staring him down. Now thoroughly perturbed by them, he decided to make the arrogant first year blink.
Releasing his hold on the brat's shirt, he watched as he fell to the ground heavily. The impact sounded satisfyingly painful.
"Echizen?"
"Nya! Ochibi! What are you doing here? Wait, are you okay?"
"Echizen! Oh no, are you sure that you're fine? You're positive you didn't get hurt? But that fall was a few solid feet, you could've easily fractured something, or…"
"There is an 86.04% chance that you're not hurt, but wouldn't tell us even if you were. Also, there is a 94.81% chance that your indefinite retirement from the pro circuit was specifically to come here. Good data…"
"Ryoma-chan, you're fine, right? Good. Gorou-san, explain yourself now, if you please."
"W-w-wait, what? You guys… You know this worthless piece of-" Fuji's eyes were open. That had previously been enough to reduce him to a stuttering mess. Now, the sadistic aura and the collective glares of the group surrounding this 'Echizen' were enough to take away his voice for a solid twenty-four hours.
"As I seem to have the highest ability to be vocal and civil at the moment, I will explain." The walking dead ma- Gorou took a step back. Since when was Inui standing in front of him? "The first year who you just manhandled is our former teammate and close friend, Echizen Ryoma, also known worldwide as the 'Prince of Tennis' and the 'Samurai Junior' after his father, Samurai Nanjiroh. When he was twelve, he became the youngest winner of the US Open, the youngest – and second – person to ever unlock the third door of Muga no Kyouchi, Teni Muhou no Kiwami. Since then, he has won a Calendar Grand Slam, an Australian and French Open, and a Wimbledon. The latter, he actually just took about three weeks ago. Had he stayed in the circuits a few more months, doubtless he would have won another Calendar Grand Slam. Birthday is 24 of December, favorite color is silver, favorite school subject-"
"Inui." At this point, Tezuka decided to cut the data tennis player off for three reasons. The first was that he had recovered from the shock of seeing Echizen here, the second was that Gorou looked like his brain was about to shut down from the influx of information, and the third was that Inui's rambling was irritating him.
"Ah, all that talk of tournaments reminds me. Buchou, I have something to ask you." Heads turned at the title Ryoma gave the stoic teen, but he paid no mind. "You just finished the Districts, but the Nationals have been pushed back a month, right (1)?"
"Aa, that's right, that's right! And since it would be too cold everywhere else, we get to go to Osaka for Nationals in November! Na, Oishi!"
"Yeah." The dark haired boy was pretty sure the ex-vice captain continued to say something, but he was more focused on how the man was able to ignore an Eiji Glomp ™. Whatever it was, he would pay to find out.
"Echizen, why did you need to know about the different schedule?" The monotone bass of his captain's voice pulled him away from his thoughts of cat-boys and how to avoid them cutting off his airflow.
"Well, I wanted to make sure I have the time to finish up my second Grand Slam. I was planning on leaving for America in a month and a half, then coming back right after I win." The eavesdropping crowd sweat-dropped. Cocky brat was running through everyone's minds.
"In short, Tezuka, he wants to repeat what he did in middle school." Inui chimed in.
"That'll be fine, right, Buchou?"
One of the Regulars had been ignored until now, simply watching the reunion with distaste. However, for Nishi Hideto, this was the last straw.
"Oi, Samurai Prince or whatever it was. I don't care who you are-" Lie. "-or what you've won-" Lie. "-but in this club, I am captain, not Tezuka, so stop giving him my title!" The captain was of medium height, and gaunt complexion, and his black hair was streaked with yellow
Ryoma had seemed completely unaffected by his telling-off, but at the mention of the captaincy, his eyes widened, only to narrow into a fierce glare. "Who the hell are- Ack!"
"Unyah! I just remembered we needed to talk to Ochibi about something! We'll be borrowing him for a minute, right Fujiko?" The redhead had intervened before their team's baby could cause any more damage. He was now dragging the star by one arm, with Fuji holding the other.
"Saa… We really should tell him what happened… Tezuka, you should be here for this, too." The prodigy had been happily watching the exchange, Gorou's discomfort in particular, but now, his eyes were open and all traces of his usual playfulness had disappeared.
Ignoring protests from their captive, Fuji and Kikumaru dragged him into the locker room with Tezuka following closely.
Setting the disgruntled teen down on a bench as his friend closed the door, Fuji leaned against the lockers a few feet away, a murderous look in his eyes.
"Senpai, Buchou, could you please tell me what that was about?" Ryoma had been dragged here against his will, so he was expecting answers. Soon.
"Echizen, as Nishi-san told you out there, I'm no longer captain. Tezuka or Tezuka-san is fine."
"Buchou is Buchou." The freshman stated with a blank stare, as if the three words explained everything. "But, what's with all the thugs in the club, and where are Momo-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai?"
"Well… Nishi-san's dad is really rich, so we think he bought his way into being our coach, nya. He made his son captain this year, and gave his son's friend the vice captain slot and one of the Regular slots…" Reliving the events seemed to be sucking the life out of the temperamental acrobat.
"Even if it was illegal." Fuji spat the words venomously, still trying to burn a hole in the tiling. "Then, he started giving us a hard time if we didn't jump through hoops. It was either put up with a biased coach who can't even play, or leave Seishun's team to crash and burn. Not to mention he threatened our parents' careers with his goddamned money…" The usually level headed genius was getting more and more agitated as he went. Kikumaru and Tezuka had heard their friend rant several times so far, but the youngest of the group didn't even think he'd heard Fuji swear before today.
"Then Momo-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai…?" Ryoma was no longer sure he wanted to know. Everything had seemed fine, but now…
"Nishi-sensei." Fuji spat the honorific out like it was a foul curse. "He never liked them. One day, they got into one of their fights, except this one ended… messily for sensei. The next day, they were banned from any and all sports teams, permanently."
Lips parted slightly, Echizen Ryoma didn't say a thing. However, wide, golden eyes were screaming one word.
What?
OH SH-NAP! I gave Momo and Kaidoh da boot! Not to worry, we'll get 'em back soon enough. Also, what do you think of Tsukiko? Isn't she the biggest slut you've ever met? I hope so, that's what I need her to be.
Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, put me on alert, yadablah, EVERYTHING! The more you R&R, the more people that will be exposed to the glory that is me (and my story, and my overly obnoxious Author's Notes). TEEHEE.
(1) In the third/fourth week of July, August, and September, there is a round of the tournament. To fit the time frame I want and give our little champ another Calendar Grand Slam, I pushed the Nationals back a month. We'll say the grounds blew up. All of them. Early November is the Nationals, in yes, Osaka. Again, confusing as hell, review or PM any questions to me.