OK, this A/N will be a list of disclaimers that you probably don't wanna read, but I want to stress the most important of them all right here, right now: I DO NOT, and I mean DO NOT, own ANY content in this story. I do not own the characters, I do not own the plot. I am doing a translation of a Prince of Tennis game on PS2 that not many know about. It is called Tennis no Oujisama: Sweat & Tears 2. It tells the story of another ex-Seigaku tennis club member's child who is following his footsteps. Now, in the game, you can choose between a boy or a girl, but I am going in the girl's point of view (obviously the developers aren't going to do yaoi if you pick the male character). And yes, the girl in the cover photo is the main character.

I am going to use the female default name, 赤月 巴 (Akatsuki Tomoe), as well as the default nickname, モエりん (Moerin). I do believe that the nickname is rarely used by the other characters, but I know for sure it shows up every once in a while, so I'll clear that up now before some confusion is caused as to who "Moerin" is. The game does have voiceovers, but the characters never speak the player's name, instead using second or third person words to address them (i.e. omae, anata, etc.), although the text shows how each character would call the player. The player doesn't have a voiceover when speaking, but they do have it when playing a tennis match.

And speaking of tennis matches, since it all varies on how well you can play the game, I will portray the matches in my own way while attempting to fit it into the game to the best of my ability.

The game is mostly cutscene rather than playing tennis.

The genre and rating is subject to change. I am going by the genre of the game is described as at the moment, but I cannot confirm the genre exactly until I have translated it enough to tell.

One last thing I will say is that this is a side project. So updates will be very slow, due to me not perfectly knowing Japanese and the long lines of text they have in the game. My translation might not be 100% accurate, but I'll do my best. I'll try to limit it to a one or two days-length span, depending on the situations presented in the game.

Alright, here goes...

Prologue

Date: ?

A dark purple long-haired 12-year old girl was walking around the city of Tokyo. She wore a light blue jacket and a pink miniskirt. Her eyes, being the same color as her hair, looked around curiously. Her name is Akatsuki Tomoe, and she was new to the place.

Ahhh, she thought. As expected, this city is very different… These people here, how should I put this, are also in refined condition. My hometown is very different. For sure, it sends motivation of middle school life.

She took a look at her new school's uniform. Ah! The uniform is so cute! Well, my school's quite cool.

Oh, right! I'm part of a sports family. Furthermore, otou-san's old school was Seishun Gakuen. With hard-working diligence, like otou-san, I'll move up… and become a Japanese sports trainer!

Akatsuki wandered around a bit more before stopping to take in her surroundings. Then, in this case, I've got to get stronger. My new home, my new home... Um, otou-san's friend… What is he like? Um… h-huh?!

Her thoughts were interrupted by a horrible sight. Wh-what?! There's no map?! Ugh… Why is there a lot of trash cluttered here? Oh well! This can still work! If I remember correctly, the house was in front of a temple.

She wandered into a neighborhood for a long while. "I give up… I'm not going to find the temple this way. Geez, I walked through this whole neighborhood…"

She then saw something up ahead. Ah, there's a couple over there who can help!

"Um, excuse me!" Akatsuki called out.

She got a closer view to see a high school boy and a middle school girl, the latter being about her age.

"Huh?" the high school boy, Sasabe, said. (A/N: The game never reveals his name, but he's clearly Sasabe, so I'll just go with that)

The brunette girl with twin braids looked nervous and tense. She wore a pink jacket and a white miniskirt.

Akatsuki then got a bad feeling. Huh? This atmosphere seems bad… This definitely isn't a couple. But this time, it can't be helped… Which one should I ask for directions with…?

After some thought, Akatsuki decided that she would speak with the girl. "Hey, I'm lost. I'm unfamiliar with this area. I need to get to a temple around here."

"U-um, I…" the girl stuttered nervously.

"You don't know?" Akatsuki asked. "About that temple?"

"Hey, brat!" Sasabe started. "Where are you looking? If you're also in my way, get out!"

"You listen here!" Akatsuki said, annoyed. "This person was the one who's listening to what I have to say!"

"What did you say, you?!" Sasabe demanded.

"U-um…" the girl stuttered again.

"What the…" Akatsuki began whispering to the girl. "This person, do you know him?"

"Nngh, no," the girl whispered back. "But, wait…"

"Ah, you accidentally got involved with him?!" Akatsuki whispered. "He does give a bad vibe."

"Y-yeah…" the girl whispered.

"Oi! What are you whispering about?!" Sasabe demanded.

"You're noisy, you bad guy!" Akatsuki replied. "All I wanted was directions! Stop bothering me!"

"What's with that arrogant tone?!" Sasabe demanded angrily.

His shout caused Akatsuki to back off, angering him. "Hey, brat! Come back here!"

"W-wait, stop!" Akatsuki shouted as Sasabe reached for her. "Ahhh!"

While Sasabe tried to hit her, Akatsuki let go of the soda she was holding, causing it to spill on Sasabe's shoes.

"Ahhh!" Sasabe yelled. "My shoes! Y-you…!"

Ahhh, Akatsuki sighed, looking down at the ground. The soda spilled. B-but for right now, I've got to deal with something else…

Akatsuki looked back up to face Sasabe. "U-um, that was an accident. I didn't mean to do something bad like that…"

"Those guys are expensive!" Sasabe said angrily. "To make up for what you did, you have to pay for them!"

"Pay?!" Akatsuki cried in surprise.

"Yeah, that's right!" Sasabe continued. "You have to pay for those guys! They were clean earlier!"

Akatsuki knew that she wasn't the only one in trouble here. "Those guys" are his shoes…? He must value them a lot…

With that, she made a decision, turned to the girl, and began whispering. "Hey, you…"

"Y-yes?" the girl whispered back.

"This is a bad time."

"Y-yeah…"

"Sanjuurokkei…" (A/N: sanjuurokkei translates to "36 ancient Chinese military strategies." The last resort is said to be beating a retreat.)

The girl was confused at what Akatsuki was implying.

"Let's get outta here while we can!" Akatsuki shouted.

"Wh-what?!" Sasabe exclaimed.

"Hey, let's get outta here," Akatsuki said to the girl.

"O-okay…" the girl stammered.

Akatsuki grabbed her wrist and took off. She slowly picked up speed until she was running at a fast speed, shocking both the girl and Sasabe.

"Why you…! Get back here!" Sasabe shouted as he gave chase.

"I'm not gonna wait to pay for you!" Akatsuki called back as she easily managed to gain more distance from Sasabe.

She looked back to speak with the girl. "Should I run faster?"

"Huh? Y… yes…" the girl panted.

With that, Akatsuki picked up her pace. Every day I run five kilometers up a mountain trail past a school. I'm very confident that if we keep this pace, we can escape.

"U… um…" the girl panted, interrupting Akatsuki's thoughts. "W-wait a second…"

"Huh?" Akatsuki said, snapping back to reality.

"I… can't… Ahh, I can't run…"

"Huh?" Akatsuki was slightly shocked. "But there's still that guy…"

"Hey, get back here!" Sasabe shouted in the distance, answering Akatsuki's point.

"Look, that kind of guy is persistent!" Akatsuki insisted. "So, hang on!"

With that, Akatsuki ran faster and was about to shoot out of the neighborhood. "Daaaaash!"

"Ahh! In front of you!" the girl yelled.

"Huh? In front of me…?!" Akatsuki repeated.

She was too late to see what the girl was talking about when she had crashed right into something.

"Kyaaaa!" Akatsuki screamed.

"Ahhh!" the girl yelled in alarm.

"Uwoh!" the thing Akatsuki bumped into cried in surprise.

"Ugh…" Akatsuki mumbled dizzily, recovering from her crash. "Wait, there wasn't an obstacle in front of me…"

She had been running so fast that she was unable to see the person in front of her on time. She took a look. It was a boy around her age. He wore a white T-shirt with red sleeves and black shorts. On his right shoulder was a blue tennis bag. He wore a white Fila cap that covered up much of his black, green-tinted hair.

"What were you doing, bumping into me like that?" the boy asked.

"Ah, that's right, I'm sorry," Akatsuki apologized quickly. "I was in a hurry."

"Hmm," the boy responded. "Then, you were going somewhere? You were coming from behind."

"Huh?" Akatsuki said, not understanding the boy.

"Waaaaaaait!" Sasabe could be heard yelling in the distance.

"Ahhhh, what should I do…?" Akatsuki muttered to herself, and then a thought came to her. "Ah, that's right! You there!"

"What?" the boy responded.

"We are two sweet girls. There's a bad guy chasing us!" Akatsuki attempted to sweet talk the boy. "Please help us!"

"… That doesn't concern me," the boy replied indifferently.

"It doesn't? So you're going to ignore us and leave us against a crazy man?" Akatsuki decided to try making him feel so bad that he would help.

"… Really?" The boy remained unfazed.

"Really…?!" Akatsuki repeated, despair rising in her.

"Ah… Aren't you from that time?" the girl asked the boy.

"Huh? You know him?" Akatsuki asked her.

"Y-yes, sometime ago," the girl answered.

"… Hey," the boy spoke up. "Is this the time for a small conversation?"

"Huh?" Akatsuki said.

"Hah… hah… hah…" Sasabe panted as he finally caught up to the three kids. "What the hell, why is this brat so fast…?"

Oh no… Akatsuki thought. That guy caught up.

"At last, you've given up! Huh?!" Sasabe taunted, pleased that he caught up.

"The tables have turned, you see?" Akatsuki turned to the younger boy. "Hey, you tell him!"

"… Bye," the boy absently said, and then began leaving.

"W-wait!" Akatsuki called to him in desperation. "I didn't mean it like that! You know this person, don't you?"

To her relief, the boy turned around and came back. "Well, this doesn't concern me."

"Well, that's…" Akatsuki began, losing hope from getting help.

Sasabe's eyes widened in recognition. "Ahhh, you're…?! You're that brat!"

The boy simply stared up at him. "… Who are you?"

"From earlier…" Sasabe began. "You say you forgot me? From the electric train. You shamed me!"

"Hmm…" The boy made no indication of recalling the said event or knowing Sasabe.

His response caused Sasabe's eyes to go wide in disbelief. "Hey, are you seriously saying you don't remember me?"

"For sure, there's one person I often remember. If I did shame them, where and how did I do it?"

Whoa, Akatsuki thought. He's got a bad attitude…

Sasabe groaned. "I see, I got it. I was about to get a large amount of money."

"But I don't remember you," the boy said.

Sasabe became irritated at the boy, but then decided that he was hopeless. "Anyway, even if you don't remember me, let's play a tennis match! If you win, I'll let these girls go. However, if you lose, you'll have to pay for my shoes."

Whoa… Akatsuki thought. It's gotten him involved too… This is our chance!

"For someone who's so excited, sorry to say that this is a bad spot," said the boy. "Where is a good place to respond to your challenge?"

"What do you mean by that?" Sasabe demanded.

"If you are really good, remember that we can't do a match here. Furthermore, "those guys" and "paying them" have nothing to do with this."

"They do have to do with this!" Sasabe said in exasperation. "Anyway, no matter how good you think you are, you'll have to pay up!"

"No way," the boy said cheekily. "Well, anyway, in the end I won't have to pay anything."

"What?!"

"Are you trying to win to get even with me? I won't lose."

Whoa… awesome self-confidence… Akatsuki thought. All right, now I've got to find an opening…

"You'll be sorry after this," said Sasabe.

Now! Akatsuki's thoughts screamed.

"Hey, you girls!" Sasabe said with a raised voice. "Aren't you worried?"

"Hey, start running!" Akatsuki whispered to the girl.

"Eh? Eeeeh?!" the girl exclaimed, horrified at what Akatsuki was suggesting.

Akatsuki, knowing that their cover will be blown, grabbed the girl's wrist once again and took off running.

"… Huh?!" Sasabe heard the two girls running. "H-hey! They're getting away!"

"That jerk…" the boy muttered, realizing that he had been ditched.

Please don't think badly of me… Akatsuki thought remorsefully as she continued on.

The two girls ran down streets until Akatsuki suddenly stopped in the middle of a busy area of the town.

"Hah… hah… hah…" Akatsuki panted as she stopped to catch her breath. "We got away…"

"Y-yeah," the girl agreed. "But that person, will he be okay?"

"That guy? He should be. He was brimming with self-confidence. Anyway… He has a bad attitude." A thought then struck Akatsuki. "… Ah, sorry! Did you know that boy?"

The girl's face turned red as she began answering. "… I know him. A while back, he asked me for directions, and I gave him the wrong directions. And then, that person, got late for his match, and he was disqualified… And now, again I became a bother to him."

"Heh, you are bad luck!" Akatsuki teased. "It's alright, you're a good person. Well, that bad experience is how we met, isn't that right?"

"B-but…"

"Ah, I haven't gotten your name. Can you tell me?"

The girl's face brightened. "Ah, I'm Ryuzaki Sakuno… And you are?"

"I am Akatsuki Tomoe."

"Ah! Akatsuki-san, you helped me today! Thank you!"

"Mmm, no problem. I feel bad about earlier as much as you… Ah!" Akatsuki realized that she has something unfinished.

"Wh-what's wrong?" Sakuno looked concerned again.

"That's right, I have something to worry about. Today, I left my hometown to move to another home, but there's no map to get there…"

"Why don't you make a phone call to get there?"

"Ahaha…" Akatsuki laughed, embarrassed. "I don't have the number of the new home."

"Um… why don't you call your own home number?"

"Ah, that's right! Otou-san can tell me where to go. Ryuzaki-san, you're a good friend!"

Akatsuki took out a cell phone and began dialing a number. "Ah, otou-san? It's me, it's me! … Yes, that's…"

Akatsuki then returned to the neighborhood where she was previously at, this time knowing where to go. Ah, calling for directions was the best option. With that, I'll know what to do and not get involved in another incident.

She found a temple, approached it, and noticed a tennis court next to the bell tower. Ah, here?

Akatsuki then walked down the steps and through the front door of the home in front of the temple. "Hello!"

A young woman with black hair came to the door to greet her. "Huh? Could you be Tomoe-san?"

Akatsuki knew she got the right house. "Ah, yes! I'm Akatsuki Tomoe! Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Meino Nanako. Let's get along well."

"Yes! Please treat me well."

"First of all, you should introduce yourself to oji-sama. Why don't you come in now?"

"Yes!" Akatsuki then noticed someone coming down the stairs in the house, no doubt curious to see who she was. "Ah!"

The person is a young boy who is around Akatsuki's age. He had black, green-tinted hair and brown eyes, both traits being horribly familiar to Akatsuki. The next instant, Akatsuki recognized him to be the boy who she had ditched earlier, although now he was wearing a dark blue shirt with blue sleeves and he wasn't wearing the white Fila cap. The boy stared at her, not betraying any emotion.

"Ryoma-san, now's a good time," Nanako said to the boy. "This is Akatsuki Tomoe-san. Now, she is oji-sama's friend's daughter who is moving here."

"Eeeeeh?! Then, this guy… lives here?" Akatsuki was shocked at the coincidence.

"That's right, he's oji-sama's son, Echizen Ryoma-san," Nanako confirmed. "By any chance, do you two know each other?"

"No, not really," Akatsuki answered. "We just met earlier…"

"Then, that being the case, it's good either way," Nanako then turned to Ryoma. "Ryoma-san, please go introduce her to oji-sama."

"I got it," Ryoma replied.

Nanako then left, leaving Akatsuki alone with Ryoma.

"U-um…" Akatsuki started nervously, wracked with guilt.

"… Oyaji is over there. Let's go…" Ryoma said to her.

"Um, well… About earlier… I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, isn't it?" Ryoma did not seem to care about the incident, although Akatsuki had doubts as to whether he meant it or if he was trying to not let it worry her, as he had spoken in a rather emotionless tone. "… I beat him easily."

Akatsuki became surprised. "Huh, really? You beat up that loudmouth?"

"Madamada da ne… Well, are you coming?" (A/N: To avoid me getting a headache, I will write down what the phrase is really spelled as)

"Ah! Let's go, let's go."

Ugh… Akatsuki groaned. Never again do I want a bad experience like that, and I feel guilty about what I did to him…

Akatsuki followed Ryoma to another room in the house, where Ryoma's father Nanjiroh was. Ryoma quickly explained to him who Akatsuki is, though she didn't understand why he started talking right away.

"I see, I see," Nanjiroh said. "This girl is Kyoshiro's daughter. You've really grown. You'll also be here in little Ryoma's house."

"Is that bad…" Ryoma muttered.

"Ha ha ha, so you're a bit annoyed," Nanjiroh remarked. "Well, you're getting along quite well. Seigaku's new freshmen can have a mutual life."

"Eh?! Is that it?" Akatsuki asked.

"Yes, that's it." Nanjiroh turned to his son. "… Well, Ryoma? Do you have any objections?"

"… No," Ryoma answered.

"I see," Nanjiroh continued. "Then we're good… Oh, I have one thing to say. That guy is my rival, Kyoshiro's daughter. There's enough for geniuses..."

Ryoma's expression changed into a glare. "… Hmm?"

Huh, rival? Akatsuki thought. There's enough for what? And why is that Ryoma kid glaring right at me?

"Um," Akatsuki spoke up. "What you said just now. What do you mean by that?"

"Ah, it's nothing, it's nothing," Nanjiroh answered quickly. "I said it, I said it…"

"… Then, if we're done here, can I go now?" Ryoma looked like as though he didn't want to be around Nanjiroh for another minute longer.

"Yes," Nanjiroh answered. "Tomoe-chan, that's enough for today. You can go to your room."

"Yes," Akatsuki replied.

Nanjiroh then left. Akatsuki turned to Ryoma, her guilt resurfacing again. The boy who she ran into earlier was the son of her father's friend. Now he was her new roommate. And she made a terrible first impression in front of him. Although Ryoma showed no signs of animosity towards her about the incident nor seemed bothered about it, Akatsuki was certain that he had ill thoughts about her. After all, she crashed into him at high speed, dragged him into a mess, and forced him into dealing with the said mess alone by ditching him, all to save herself and protect another girl. And just a minute ago, he was glaring at her.

"U-um… From earlier, I'm so sorry," Akatsuki apologized. "Even so, after that, please treat me well."

"It's fine… It doesn't concern me," Ryoma forgave her, although Akatsuki still found it hard to tell if he was being sincere about it. "Anyway, how long have you played tennis?"

"Huh, tennis? Mmmm, I never really got to enjoy it… Is that okay?"

"… It's fine. Then, let's go."

With that, Akatsuki followed Ryoma out of the room to her new room.

And with that, my new life began…

Welp, return of the high school boy who gets worked up with his shoes getting dirty and wanting the offender to pay for it.

I'm sure you might guess it's one of those cliched "girl joins the boys' team and plays in it" stories, which I admit this is it. However, the developers made SURE they limited it to mixed doubles, so... I don't know what you would think about the game now. But I'll try not to make her seem overpowered, but what I can say for sure is that the developers made her a speed player (if you consider how fast she ran away from Sasabe and how long it took for him to catch up to her).

Alright, it's pretty unusual to see someone call the OC by their surname rather than the given, but I'm going by what the game calls them. And yes, they still call Ryoma by his given name.

I will write down the date in the game so you know how much time has gone by. In the prologue, though, they don't give a date, so whatever the date is at that time is up to you.

If you have read my first Prince of Tennis fanfic, Kunoichi of Tennis, I did write down the exact context of "madamada da ne" in Chapter 43: Kiko and Dodo. In case if you were never interested in the fanfic and still want to know the context of it, sure, I'll write it again down here. "Madamada" is indeed one word, and it means something along the lines of "not yet" or "still more to work on." The "da" means "be" or "is," which gives it the part where Ryoma tells somebody that they're "madamada." And finally, "ne" is just for emphasis, which is why it is possible to have different variations. Nanjiroh using "madamada da na" is the same, as "na" is also for emphasis. Echizen Ryoga's "madamada da ze" is a bit different, though. "Ze" is used to indicate command or force (incidentally, "zo" means the same thing).

In case if you are curious about the first Sweat & Tears game, it's pretty much the same thing as this version. The only difference is that the art is different (it looks more like the anime), and the player has no special connection to Ryoma at all. Incidentally, to the best of my knowledge of the original Sweat & Tears, rather than the player fleeing from Sasabe here and dumping him onto Ryoma, Ryoma saves the player (while trying to look cool... maybe).

And the reason why I'm doing this translation is because I want the game to be noticed... a little. Even if it is very old. I've not seen a translation for this game, so I'm translating it for myself... and for those who have waited years for someone to step up and translate.