Eternal.Angel
July 5, 2007 to July 8, 2007
Disclaimers: I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis.
Summary: Thanks to the J.K. Rowling's idea of writing a story that prolongs to an entire school year, I have decided to write a Prince of Tennis story that recaptures every moment of Seigaku (BE WARNED! IT'S NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ANIME OR MANGA!) Enjoy! And don't forget to review please!
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Year One, Stage Three
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"Class," called Fuwakawa-sensei, trying to draw her students' attention, "CLASS!"
Silence.
She coughed slightly before making her announcement, "As you can see, the school festival is coming very close, and for this year, we are to arrange a school play for the entire school to see." Sensei took out a bunch of papers and removed a pen from the cup. "Anyone have any ideas on what play we should do?"
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears; kawaii ne!"
"Nah, let's try something more romantic, like…Cinderella!" then the student sighed.
A male student started to snicker at the preceding suggestion and said, "Hansel and Grettel is very simple."
"Settle down everybody," warned Fuwakawa-sensei, "I will pass each person a piece of paper to write their idea on, and we will count out the votes; majority rules." The teacher began handing out little pieces of scrap paper for everyone to suggest on.
Hn, thought Ryoma as he looked out the window for a moment, I hate plays. Especially romantic ones. Stupid people…
After all the students deposited their suggestions inside a box, and the votes were counted, the selected play was written on the chalkboard.
"S…"
"N…"
"O…"
"W…"
"W…"
"H…"
"I…"
"T…"
"E…"
"Snow White?!" hollered the class in unison all together.
"Yes, class," explained sensei, "Most likely all the girls voted for it. Besides, there are many other classes doing plays, so we should do something different. I believe no one has done Snow White before."
Every student in the class groaned.
"Tomorrow we will pick the roles and characters for each student in the class. Everybody is doing something to contribute to the play." Her eyes squinted at the napping freshman with green hair.
"And to get things started, Echizen-kun shall be Snow White's Prince," retaliated the teacher, giving a slight smile.
"NANI?!!!!!"
oooooooooooooo
"Fight-o, fight-o, Ryoma-sama!" cheered on Osakada Tomoka as she threw her fist into the air. Her shy friend, Ryuzaki Sakuno, tried her best calming her down Sakuno gave a glance at her tennis prince before sighing and walking away, far, far, away from the courts.
The timid and shy girl was lost in thought, looking down at her feet as she walked. Ryoma-kun is going to be Snow White's Prince, ne? If only I could be Snow White, then that would be nice, wouldn't it Sakuno? Then you can do 'this' and 'that' to him… She shook her head wildly, flinging her braids side to side, and Ryuzaki blushed, blaming herself for thinking such thoughts.
"Hn? Ryuzaki-san, why are you here?"
Sakuno looked up to see the face of the tensai, Fuji. He smiled and repeated his question, "Ryuzaki-san, why are you here? Shouldn't you be watching Echizen at his match?" The mention of Ryoma-kun's name made her blush darker.
Fuji put on a small pucker face and teased, "Ryuzaki-san, you're not answering my question."
"Ah!" exclaimed Sakuno in surprise, "Gomenasai, Fuji-senpai!"
"Ryuzaki-san…" he tapped his foot and waited.
"Gomenasai, Fuji-senpai! The reason I'm over here is because I needed to think about something…" she lowered her voice at the end, barely making her sentence audible.
"Something?" asked Fuji-senpai, "Like what?"
"Ano…"
"Don't worry, Sakuno-chan, you can tell anything to your Fuji-senpai. Or do you not trust me?" her senpai emphasized.
"Iie, iie! Well, for the school festival, our class is doing a school play. Ryoma-kun was already chosen as the prince, and I was wondering…"
"How it would be like if you were the princess, ne?" finished Fuji, smiling at the first year. She blushed to the darkest color of red possible, possibly the color of dark blood.
Fuji glanced at her appearance and chuckled, patting her on the shoulder, "Nothing to be ashamed of. I remember my Nee-san would always do that when she was younger, daydreaming and ignoring my request to play with me." Then he bent down to his knees so he would be eye-leveled to the female, and they began to talk more.
Meanwhile, Echizen was walking over to the vending machine to grab a Grape Ponta. He tugged down his white Fila cap and sighed of how weak his opponent was. He inserted 120 yen into the machine and pressed a button when he overheard a conversation.
"…I don't know about this, Fuji-senpai."
"It won't hurt to try, would it now?"
"Demo…what about sensei? And Ryoma-kun?"
"They won't mind at all, I'm pretty sure about that. I'm your senpai anyway, right?"
"Hai, Fuji-sen…"
"Shusuke."
"Heh?"
"Call me Shusuke-kun."
"Hai, Fuj – eto, Shusuke-kun, arigatou."
"Iie, now let's get started, shall we?"
"Hai, Shusuke-kun."
Echizen madly stomped over to glare at them and overhear their conversation, and immediately broke up the two, "Ryuzaki, can I speak with you for a moment?"
"Eto…" Ryuzaki started, twiddling her fingers when he grabbed her wrist and practically dragged her, turning around a corner before disappearing out of view.
The sadist chuckled before wandering off back to the courts.
In the dark shade of the building, Ryoma stared at her with angry eyes and spoke quite coldly to her, "What were you talking about with Fuji-senpai?"
"Ano-o," she stuttered, "Fuji-senpai and I were just having a friendly chat."
"About what?" he asked harshly.
"Umm, my problems…"
"Such as?"
"Ano-o…I can't tell you, because this is between me and Shusuke-kun…"
Shusuke-kun? Hmph! "Do you trust him more than you trust me?"
"Iie, I trust you well!" Ryuzaki frantically waved her hands in front of her.
"So why can't you tell me?" questioned Ryoma.
"Well, can't a girl have her own privacy?" reacted Sakuno loudly.
He was taken aback, having quite the look on his face. Seeing his expression, the girl immediately apologized to him, "Gomen, Ryoma-kun! I didn't mean to yell at you! I'm sorry, I'll answer your question now. Eto, the thing I was talking about with Shusuke-kun was that –"
Her words were cut off by his finger that pressed against her lips. Ryuzaki Sakuno blushed the darkest she could ever have, and was ready to faint at the action of the tennis prince.
"Ryuzaki-sensei is looking for you. We can talk later about this. Ja," said Echizen Ryoma, removing his finger and stuffing his hand back into his pocket while sipping on his Ponta with the other. He walked back to the courts, leaving behind a puzzled Ryuzaki Sakuno.
oooooooooooooo
The next day was the tennis match with Fudomine, and Seigaku had quite the struggle before obtaining victory.
Kawamaru Takashi handled the strong and powerful shot, Hadoukyuu, to prevent from Fuji injuring himself. However, he had the injury of a possibly broken wrist.
Therefore, Seigaku Doubles Two had to default.
Then, Echizen Ryoma, injured himself in the eye with an accidental loose grip on his racket. The cause of this was Ibu Shinji, a second year of Fudomine Middle School who used his technique 'Spot', consisting of alternating topspin and slice shots. Ryoma's red racket bounced against the net pole, and its handle deeply cut near his eyelid.
Silence.
Whispers among the crowds.
Shock.
Running footsteps.
"Ryoma-kun!" cried the coach's granddaughter, pulling out the ribbon from her school uniform, bending down next to the tennis player.
He gave her a deadly glare and scolded her, "You! How many times have I told you not to interfere during a tennis match!"
"Ryoma-kun is not a tennis player anymore! Ryoma-kun is now a injured player!" yelled back Sakuno.
"Sakuno!" hollered her obaa-chan, standing up from the bench, "Haven't I told you not to treat tennis players like that?" The granddaughter looked at her elder with shocked, widened eyes before reluctantly standing up and exiting the court.
Ryuzaki turned her back to see Ryoma being treated. She sighed at the worried looks of his senpai-tachi and walked down the sidewalk. I can never grab Ryoma-kun's attention, his life revolves all around tennis. I can never be part of his mind at all, never. She sighed again and shook her head, disappearing down the path.
Sitting under a sakura tree, her thoughts began to wander. She stared at the ground with empty eyes as the wind blew against her hair and her shoes tapped the cool pavement of the ground.
"Gomen, but do you know where Sumire Ryuzaki-sensei is?" voiced a female. Sakuno immediately looked up and saw a teenage girl with a tennis bag, and three other people standing behind her.
"You mean Obaa-chan?" questioned Ryuzaki.
"Ah," said another girl who walked next to the first one, "You must be Ryuzaki-sensei's daughter, Ryuzaki Sakuno. I heard you just joined our tennis club, neh?"
"H-hai," stammered the first year, "Ano-o, Obaa-chan is-s taking-g c-care of R-ryoma-a-kun-n right no-ow."
"Ryoma-kun? You mean that new freshman who became a regular in the Boys' Tennis Club?" politely asked another tennis player.
"H-hai," replied Ryuzaki, "H-his eye was-s inj-jured, so Obaa-chan is-s fixing-g him-m up-p right now-w."
The last of the four came from behind one of the older girls, revealing what seemed to Sakuno, quite a familiar freshman. Then the last one ran down the sidewalk, dropping her tennis bag in the middle of it.
"Ka-chan! Stop running so fast!" yelled one of the older ones. "Is the girl headed towards Ryuzaki-sensei?" Sakuno merely nodded and soon two of them ran after the freshman.
The last one of them who remained behind plopped down next to Sakuno and greeted, "Watashi wa Kiyashi Tanako desu. Now tell me, Sakuno-chan, what's the problem?" The second year smiled at her.
oooooooooooooo
"I've tried so many times, but the bleeding won't stop," Oishi stated as he threw another tissue into the top cover of the first-aid kit. "It's a good thing that the eyelid muscle wasn't damaged, but it still is a pretty deep cut."
"Echizen…" Horio on the sidelines mumbled, as the other two, Kachiro and Katsuo, worried as well.
Echizen Ryoma, with his eyes still closed, spoke suddenly, "Momo-senpai, get me my extra racket from my tennis bag." Everyone was shocked and taken aback.
"Echizen, you can't possibly play in the condition you're in right now!" some of the third years said, and the rest nodded in agreement.
"Yadda. I'm still going to play," refused the first year, as Oishi dabbed another tissue onto his wound.
The referee, overhearing the conversation, came down from the chair and walked over to the Seigaku benches. "Echizen-kun, if your wound doesn't stop bleeding, I cannot allow you to play."
"Is that so?" questioned Ryoma. He stood up and rubbed the blood off from his head with the sleeve of his t-shirt. "Does that do?"
"Uh…hai," responded the referee. "If it bleeds again, you'll have to quit." Then he walked back to the chair.
"How are we going to let you play if your eye bleeds in the middle of the game?" asked Oishi worryingly, as he tried to dry off the blood stains from Echizen's eye.
"Ryuzaki-sensei! Is everything all right?" yelled a voice. The coach's attention turned towards the sound and she placed on a smile, "Ah, Niwa! You're here. And Xinta as well as Syrin!"
Three girls headed towards Ryuzaki-sensei the nearest they could without crossing over the wall. They bent over and asked again, "What happened here, Ryuzaki-sensei?"
"It's bad," explained the coach, "One of our players, Ryoma, injured himself during the game, and the bleeding won't stop. I don't want him to play if the bleeding continues." She sighed and pointed her finger towards the injured freshman.
The youngest of the trio, Syrin Kagura, widened her eyes and tried to catch the coach's attention.
"Sensei, Ryuzaki-sensei," called the third year, Xinta Tsubaki, "Syrin is trying to tell you something."
"Hm? You figured something out, Syrin?" asked the coach. The freshman could only nod, and she began to create a picture with her hands and body.
Ryuzaki-sensei could only worry, but she breathed deeply before responding to her idea, "Let's give it a try. Ryoma! Come over here! Oishi, bring me the first-aid kit!"
Oishi hurriedly brought over the box while Ryoma slowly walked over. "This may hurt," warned the coach, as she took out some spray and a huge bandage from the kit.
"ITAI!" he screeched, fidgeting as Ryuzaki-sensei applied the treatment to his eye and forcefully stuck the large bandage.
"Ka-chan says this will hold the blood for ten to fifteen minutes max. After that, it'll be bleeding like mad," noted the third year, Niwa Junko.
After the coach finished placing on the bandage, Ryoma stood up and took his extra racket from Momo-senpai. "I'll be going now."
"Matte, Echizen," ordered his buchou, Tezuka Kunimitsu, "You will only have ten minutes to finish the match. Once you go over the time limit, we will withdraw you and default. Do I make myself clear?"
"Usu," replied the freshmen, throwing his racket over his shoulder before entering the court.
"Arigatou-gozaimasu, minna-san," bowed Oishi as he hurriedly ran in front of the three girls, "You saved us from forfeiting the match."
"Don't worry, it was nothing," accepted the buchou of the Girls' Tennis Club, Xinta Tsubaki, "It's just that Syrin here knows her medicinal subjects well." The little girl waved and smiled.
"Ganbatte, Echizen-kun!" cheered on Niwa as she threw her fist into the air.
"That reminds me," said Xinta, "We saw your granddaughter just now, Ryuzaki-sensei. I think she's with Kiyashi right now, but something seems to be wrong with her."
A worried face was plastered on Sumire's appearance, but she shook her head and firmly said, "Don't worry. I'm sure Sakuno will be fine. I have to make sure that Ryoma is able to play with his eye in that condition."
"Xinta! Niwa! Ka-chan!" yelled the second year who was comforting Sakuno, "Have you found Ryuzaki-sensei? We still need to tell her about 'this' and 'that'!"
"Hai, Tanako-chan!" yelled back Junko, "We'll tell her 'this' before 'that'! And what the heck is 'that'?!"
"Never mind," said Kiyashi, who finally caught up to their spot, "Just tell her 'this' first, and I'll tell her 'that'."
Junko nodded and turned her head towards the coach, "Ryuzaki-sensei, we've finally passed the Kantou Regions, and we're onward to the Nationals now! We defeated the Girls' Tennis Club for Ginka High."
"That's good," praised Ryuzaki-sensei, her eyes still on Ryoma, "And Kiyashi, what is 'that' supposed to be?"
The second year let out a sigh before explaining, "Your granddaughter refuses to come back here and watch the game, and she won't tell me anything about what happened after Echizen-kun was injured."
Sumire raised an eyebrow, "Is that so? Gomen, but tell Sakuno I can't come to her comfort now. Can you try sending somebody else to comfort her?"
Upon hearing this, Syrin immediately ran back from where she started. "Ka-chan!" hollered fuka-buchou Kiyashi Tanako, but the freshman kept on running. "Never mind that, Kiyashi," said Xinta, "Let's just watch this game and hope for the best."
Everyone from Seigaku nodded their heads and averted their attention to the match between Echizen Ryoma and Ibu Shinji.
oooooooooooooo
Once again, Ryuzaki Sakuno placed her head on her hands which rested on the tip of her knees. She sighed and her eyes began to wander around until she noticed a pair of black leather shoes standing firmly on the girl. Sakuno looked up to see the freshman girl from before waving and smiling with her eyes closed.
"Ah," started Ryuzaki, "Please have a seat." Her eyes opened and she sat down next to Sakuno, and then patted her on the shoulder.
"Ano-o," murmured the granddaughter, "Are-e y-you-u…" she let her question incomplete, turning away from the other girl that looked at her with a strange expression.
Swiveling her head back towards the new girl, somehow, she managed to speak the last word, "…mute?" Syrin could only nod in agreement, and immediately she pointed to her eyes and then with both of her hands, formed a flat surface while the attention of her mind was directed to the hands.
Sakuno tried her best to interpret the mute's message, "So you're telling me that I can talk to you like any other person as long as I read your eyes?" Once again, the new freshman smiled and nodded.
"Gomen, ano-o…" she looked at Syrin's eyes before speaking again, "I'm really sorry about your physical disability." Her companion just waved her hands frantically in front of her as she smiled and sweat beads formed from the top of her head.
"Ok, I won't worry about it," replied Sakuno in a cheerful tone when she suddenly noticed the dramatic change in Kagura's eyes. Fearful of this, she began twiddling her fingers, and a large amount of sweat poured down from the crown of her head, "Ano-o, nothing-g is-s wr-rong-g. I'm-m j-just-t h-having-g a b-bad d-day."
Is that so? read her companion's eyes. I heard from my senpai-tachi that you're not a very good liar, particularly to those very close to you. Reading this, Sakuno began to sweat even more and gave out a long, and I mean a LONG sigh.
"Eto, it's just that…" started off Ryuzaki, and then abruptly changing the subject, "Can you keep a secret?" Kagura nodded and acted out 'my lips are sealed' demonstration.
"Arigatou. Anyway, it's just that I have a crush on Ryoma-kun, but I don't think he notices. He's always nice to me and all but doesn't look at me for who I am. And he's so busy with tennis, he barely notices me. That is, until I come out on the court to try and help Ryoma-kun, be he harshly refuses and tells me to stay away." Speaking her last word, her eyes began to form tears, and they dropped lightly onto the ground, forming a pool of water.
Syrin Kagura comforted her on the back and tapped her lightly to grab her attention. Listen, Sakuno-chan. Can I tell you something? The crying girl could only look up and nod before burying her head back into her hands. Sakuno-chan…
"Ah, hai! Gomen-n!" choked out Ryuzaki as she tried to hold back the tears and wiped them away with her sleeve.
I'm sure Echizen – that's his name right? (Sakuno nods) – Echizen-kun didn't mean to reject you completely. He just doesn't want you to get hurt or anything of that sort. Although tennis is his number one priority, I'm assuming that his friends are also another thing.
"I suppose…" reluctantly agreed Sakuno, "Demo, why did he have to act so harshly?" Tears welled up in her eyes, and Kagura dug through her pocket to find a handkerchief, and she carefully dabbed the tears away from her tear ducts.
It's his personality, or rather his nature. He can't help it if he only focuses on tennis so much. He might have to learn how to lighten up a bit. Then her companion gave a silent laugh which Sakuno could not hear at all.
Mentioning Echizen-kun reminds me of one my friends from long ago.
"Your friend? Is he similar to Ryoma-kun?" sniffled out Ryuzaki.
Hai, Sakuno-chan. But slightly different. He's a little slower than Echizen-kun though.
"Oh?" questioned Sakuno as she began to giggle a little.
Hai, Sakuno-chan. Once, when his opponent madly threw tennis balls at him, he had really bad bruises and injuries. I randomly jumped into the court and blocked as many tennis balls as I could from him.
"Daijoubu? Are you fine now?!" worried the granddaughter.
I'm fine now, Sakuno-chan. That was back then. He actually thanked me for it. Then Kagura gave out another silent laugh while Ryuzaki sighed.
"You're lucky, Syrin-san," commented Sakuno, "Ryoma-kun didn't thank me or anything like that."
Kagura could only pat her new friend in comfort before sending her next message through her eyes for Ryuzaki to read, There will be a day when Echizen-kun will thank you for you. Trust me, I know.
Standing up from the pavement wall that held the sakura tree, Syrin held out her hand and smiled again, Now then, shall we go and cheer on your tennis prince? Sakuno could only blush before accepting her new pal's hand and walking down the sidewalk side to side.
oooooooooooooo
Inui Sadaharu, former regular and Seigaku's Data Man, could only nervously glance at his stopwatch before returning his attention to the match. Five minutes left, he thought before scribbling down some notes.
Everyone, including Fudomine and other audiences, could only be silent and stare intensely at the game.
The silence was broken with running footsteps that sounded louder and louder each second. Breathing heavily before speaking, Sakuno shouted her loudest, "Ryoma-kun! Do your best! Ganbatte!" Kagura could only wave and smile, but she showed her team spirit as well.
Hearing the coach's granddaughter's support, Ryoma plastered a smirk on his face before returning his attention back to the match.
A strong wind blew and the ribbon that was tied around Sakuno's uniform was blown away from her loose clutches. The pink cloth flew high into the sky, fluttering around the outline and sunshine of the sun.
oooooooooooooo
And so, Seigaku's celebration took place at Kawamaru's Sushi, where the regulars and everyone else were offered free tea and all-you-can-eat sushi to supply their growling and empty stomachs with.
"Momo! You stole my Anago Sushi!" whined Eiji as he stared into his empty plate.
"Haha, Eiji-senpai! You weren't paying attention!" he stuffed down the sushi down his throat before coughing in pleasure.
"Nya! Not fair!" complained Eiji, when he gleamed at the sight of the lifeless sushi that sat innocently on Fuji's plate. He crept up behind him and screamed, "Nya, Fuji! What's that over there?" Fuji turned his head towards the pointed direction, and Kikumaru plopped down the sushi into his throat.
"GAK! TEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! I NEED TEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" hollered Eiji as he ran towards Kawamaru-san to request a cup of tea quickly. The tensai could only chuckle to himself before explaining the 'innocent' sushi, "Actually, Eiji, these are wasabi sushi."
Everyone sweat-dropped at the sight of them, and each and every one of them slowly inched away from the smiling sadist.
"Echizen! A picture!" requested one of the news reporters, Shiba. Echizen could only grumble and he swallowed down another piece of sushi.
As he handed over Taka-san the camera and rushed over to the freshman's side, Kawamaru-san shouted loudly, "I have here the Sushi Special! Who wants to get it?"
"NYA! I DO!" answered Eiji actively after cooling down from his tea.
"NO WAY, EIJI-SENPAI! I'M GETTING IT!" interrupted Momo as he politely thanked the sushi chef before scurrying away from his senpai.
"NYA, MOMO! YOU ALREADY HAD ENOUGH SPECIALS!" chased the red-head.
"NOT ENOUGH TO FILL MY STOMACH, NO!" responded Momo as he tripped over the rug and slipped, loosening his grip from the crate of sushi.
"HOI, HOI! THE SUSHI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Eiji as he leapt to grab for it. He crashed into Sakuno, who was sitting next to the victorious rookie, and Echizen accidentally pushed aside the news reporter, Shiba, away from the camera.
"Click," went the camera.
A photograph slipped out from the slot below, and fluttered down to the ground. Sakuno carefully picked it up with the tip of her hands and giggled to herself at the sight of it.
It was herself unintentionally sided against Ryoma, who looked quite surprise. Only one side of Shiba could be seen in the picture without her head. In the background was a pair of legs sticking up Egyptian style, twitching slightly, Momo-senpai who was in a diving position to reach the box, and the wooden crate of sushi that went flying in the air as the cover broke off from the seal, soaring like a violent Frisbee.
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Owari
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A/N: Gack! The worst chapter up…I think I was too fast on some parts…really have to slow down. BUT THERE'S SO MUCH ANIME TO SEE, READ, AND WATCH!!!!!! I'll try keeping up with my schedule people, and may I ask…what is 'life'? Please review and give me any feedback! I am very happy to be criticized because there is always room for improvement. Arigatou!
Ja ne, and I do not own any part of Prince of Tennis!
Eternal.Angel