Hi!.. Uhm, I'm alive, so yeah. (oh god i haven't touched this since march like wuttttt) and this has no plot.
So, to clear some things in this fic. It's a semi-AU, where the tennis players know all the other schools already. We'll jump into the tennis scene around the time they appear in the anime so, Kanto Regionals.
Btw, the current season in this fic is autumn going into winter. So, November-ish. It's not clear on seasons in the anime or manga so I'll just make it up.
Disclaimer- I don't own any of these wonderful characters except for Sayuri, Mimi and Maki.
xXx
Maki was done with life.
"Come on! Onee-chan!" Her little sister, Rin was tugging on her leather jacket.
"I will not play dress-up with you right now!" Maki tugged her sleeve out of Rin's grip.
Rin looked depressed for about five seconds. "So, later?"
Make groaned, "Sure! Just, I have to go now, okay?"
"Hai, Onee-chan!" Rin giggled and ran off to her bedroom.
Maki sighed and straightened her miniskirt and thigh-high socks. She took a quick glance in the mirror and fixed her hair.
"Ittekimasu!" she called, and left her house. Maki took the train down to Tokyo and walked up to a shabby-looking building. She knocked in a queer pattern. The door creaked open with a pair of violet eyes peeking out.
"Password?"
"There isn't one because we don't give a fuck who comes in." Maki answered in an lazy manner. The girl with the purple eyes grinned.
"Welcome to the Grotto, Arisa Maki-sama," She bowed.
Maki walked in, her heeled boots clicking on the marble floor. The interior of the building was nice. There was a black marble floor and an impressive bar, there were kids sprawled around the room. They were gambling, drinking, laughing. Maki had found this place awhile ago. It was a place where nobody was going to judge you. Kind of an underground place. The owner of the building had been the grandparent of the founder. The founder had turned it into this. It may be mildly illegal, but nobody had found it yet.
Maki went up to the bar, "Can I have a virgin Bloody Mary please?"
Not to brag, but Maki could hold her alcohol. Not like anybody else knew that. But if she was going to go home and play with Rin, it'd be best for her not have any alcohol in her system.
The bartender handed her a glass full of a red liquid and Maki thanked him. She sniffed it before taking a sip, who knows what things they put in drinks without telling you.
"And how are you today, Arisa?" A blonde girl plopped down next to her on the couch. "I don't see you in any fights or gambling so... what's wrong with your life?"
"Hey Alice," Maki nodded. "Ah, nothing much. Just ran into an ex, the bastard."
Alice nodded, "If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that. Well then, let's go turn on the neon floor and pump some music. You look like you need a good casual rave."
Alice went over to the stereo and stood on top of the speaker. Maki plugged her iPod into the stereo and selected her techno/rock playlist.
"HEY PEOPLE!" Alice shouted. "LET'S START A RAVE!"
She was answered by cheers. "Take it away, Maki!"
Maki turned up the volume. Soon, the entire Grotto was pulsing with music. People were dancing and generally having fun. There were various levels of raves that occurred at the Grotto. Type 1 was just dancing and loud music. Type 2, mild alcohol was allowed. Type 3, drugs, heavy alcohol and sexual behavior. There were other, more illegal types, but Maki only attended Types 1 and 2. She had her own standards, after all.
A voice slipped through her thoughts. Ne, Maki, promise me you'll never attend any raves Type 3 and above... Those can get dangerous.
Maki shook her head.
She continued dancing with Alice for about an hour. Then she looked at the time, "I have to go guys!" She went and pulled her iPod out of the stereo.
There were various complaints, but eventually people went back to what they were doing. Maki put her iPod in her pocket and exited the building. She cracked her neck and walked through the streets of the Kanagawa Prefecture. To be honest, Maki wasn't entirely sure what she was doing out and about. That momentary rave wasn't really it. It must have been seeing Niou again. That bastard... Maki thought absentmindedly.
Gee, Maki, did his name change to bastard or something?
Maki pouted, she just didn't know what to call him.
What do you call someone who used to mean the world to you?
She sat down at a cafe table, head in her hands. Where am I going in life right now? Who am I? What am I doing? Oh great, now I'm all depressed and shit.
Someone sat down at the table. Maki looked up, it was Niou. She froze.
"M-M-Masaharu!" She shouted, pointing at him. Damn, I said his first name.
Niou clapped slowly, "Nice, you know my name."
Maki sighed, "What do you want?"
"Ho~ not as fired up as yesterday huh?"
"Just go away if you're not planning on saying anything."
"And pass up on an opportunity to talk to you?" Niou laughed cruelly. "My, I would never pass up this honor!"
"Shut up. If by talking, you mean calling me a slutty bitch you can get your ass out of that chair."
"I'm not going to say that," Niou put his hands up like he was surrendering.
"If you're not going to believe anything I say, then I won't believe you either." Maki said quietly.
"Good bye, Masa..." She corrected her mistake, "Niou." She could feel his gaze on her back as she walked away, the one that she used to crave. She used to wish he'd look at her more, now she's wishing for him to look away.
Maki sighed. "What's wrong with me?"
The voice inside her head answered her. Everything, my dear.
xXx
Mimi sat up in her room, doodling on a blank piece of copy paper. She found herself doing this a lot recently. One of her weird habits was drawing things about her friends. She doodled a chibi Maki, with the long straight black hair, piercings that were hidden from her mother, and the doelike brown eyes that contrasted the entire image. Then she drew Maki in her school uniform, her slender frame and the torn tights, her blazer with tons of tiny pins and buttons on it. Of course, she couldn't forget the chains. Maki had sewn them into her skirt, the pocket of her blouse, her hair ribbon, and even on her thick-soled Mary-Janes. It was a fashion statement that Mimi was slightly envious of.
Next she drew Sayuri. Sayuri with her wide purple eyes and soft brown hair. Her school uniform was perfectly compliant with the standards of Rikkaidai, albeit a little sloppy since she constantly oversleeps. Mimi giggled. Then she drew a chibi Sanada on her head and hearts around the two. She could just see them together. Mimi made a mental note to talk to Maki about that.
Finally Mimi drew herself. Her short blonde curls and big eyes that were half blue and half green. Her own uniform had white lace sewn on the collar of her blazer, the edge of her blouse, the hem of her skirt. Mimi hated drawing herself, it never looked realistic. She scribbled over it with a black pen.
"Mimi!" Her mother called from the bakery.
Mimi put on her apron as she walked downstairs. "Hai Okaa-san~!"
Mimi walked into the kitchen. "What's up?"
"We need some more strawberry cakes, make two please."
"Of course." Mimi began taking out the flour and butter. She mixed together flour, eggs, vanilla, baking powder and the butter. Oh and of course she couldn't forget sugar. Mimi placed the cake batter into four pans and placed them in the preheated oven. Hm... next is the icing~ Oh, and I need to wash strawberries too.
Icing at the Tetsuo bakery was always made from scratch. Mimi mixed together powdered sugar and milk and stuck it in the fridge to thicken. After the cakes were done baking, Mimi took them out to cool. Eventually, after much decorations, smoothing and spreading of icing, and waiting, Mimi had herself two strawberry cakes with cream and strawberries in the middle.
"Hai! They're done, Okaa-san!" Mimi said, sliding the cakes into the glass display case.
The bell by the door chimed. "Hurry up, Jackal!" Mimi looked to see a flash of red hair and violet eyes.
"Ah? Mimi-chan?" Marui said.
"Ano.. Hi, Marui-san~" Mimi said.
"Do you work here?" Marui asked. Mimi nearly facepalmed, he was so clueless.
Jackal, who had finally caught up, sighed. "She's the daughter of the baker, idiot."
Marui looked at Jackal blankly then, "Ehhhhh?!"
Mimi shook her head and cut a slice of cake, "Here, Marui-san, I just made it. I'll make some quick brigadeiro for you Jackal."
She disappeared into the kitchen.
"Jackal... It's freshly made cake~!" Marui's eyes had stars in them. "I'm gonna marry Mimi-chan if she'll make me delicious strawberry cake everyday!"
Mimi sighed from the kitchen. Does he really have to be so loud?
"Eh? Marry my daughter?" Mimi's mother came out. "It's a million years too early for you, Marui-kun."
"Why, Tetsuo-san~?" Marui complained.
"Psh, like you could win my daughter's affection."
Mimi overheard as she brought the brigadeiro out. "Okaa-san..."
Jackal's eyes lit up a tiny bit. "Arigato, Tetsuo-san."
"Oh no, call me Mimi. Wouldn't want to be mistaken for my Okaa-san here."
"Hai, Mimi-san."
Mimi sighed, "Mou, you're too formal~"
Marui had already finished his cake. "Can I have another slice, Mimi-chan?"
"Hai~" Mimi skipped over to the glass display and cut another piece.
"You're paying for that, Marui-kun!" Mimi's mother said.
"Hai hai..."
After they had finished up their desserts, the two boys left.
"We'll be back!" Marui said, waving.
Mimi figured they'd be back the next day after practice.
xXx
Sayuri woke up to the birds screeching outside her bedroom window. That's a bad omen if anything.
"Sayuri! It's nearly 12! Are you up yet?!" Her mother called from downstairs.
"Yeah! I'm up!" Sayuri rubbed her eyes.
"Nakamura-sensei called! He wants you to go to school real quick!"
"Ughhh, do I have to?!" Sayuri shouted back. Communication in her family consisted of shouts and ridiculously loud voices.
"Yes! Now get dressed!"
Sayuri pouted and complained, but she got dressed in a matter of minutes. She threw on a floral dress and stuck a flower in her braided hair. She yawned and rubbed her eyes as she went into the kitchen.
"Do I get to eat breakfast, Okaa-san?"
"Hai, hai," Sayuri got tossed a banana. "Now get to school!"
Sayuri sighed. She unpeeled the banana and grabbed her purse. The banana was eaten on the way to school. Rikkaidai came into view. The gates stood closed. Sayuri began climbing the gate. She lifted herself over the top effortlessly. On her way down, she felt the gate moving.
"Ah!" She screamed a little bit. Sayuri looked down to see big brown eyes and a black cap. Oh crap...
"Why are you here, Sanada-chan~?" Sayuri asked.
He shrugged, "Nakamura-sensei called me here."
Sayuri then remembered that she was wearing a dress and she was about four feet above Sanada. Even if she was wearing shorts underneath, it was awkward. It was Sanada, but even still. She blushed and jumped down.
"Eto... Walk with me?" Sayuri asked awkwardly.
Sanada started walking. She smiled weakly, "Or I'll walk with you..."
Sayuri ran to catch up and then the two walked into the school together.
xXx
"Eh?! You want me to tutor Sanada-san?!" Sayuri asked in astonishment.
"Hai, Muramoto-san." Nakamura-sensei adjusted his glasses. "He is part of the tennis team after all. We can't have a vice-captain with bad grades, that just won't do."
Sanada had been stiff for awhile. Sayuri looked at him. "Eh, fine. But do I get extra credit or something?"
Nakamura-sensei sighed. "Of course. Now, work out the details with Sanada-san on the way home."
Sayuri and Sanada bowed before leaving the classroom.
Sayuri grinned up at Sanada. "So... what's your grade in English?"
Sanada mumbled something. "Eh?"
"A B minus..." Sanada hit his face under his cap.
Sayuri stared at him, "That's a perfectly acceptable grade. Maybe not Asian acceptable, but surely tennis acceptable. Then what the hell do you need tutoring for?"
"A B is unacceptable." Sanada said.
Sayuri rolled her eyes, "Hai hai. So when do you want me to come over?"
"Come over?" Sanada asked.
"Well... There's no way in hell you're coming to my house. And I don't think you want me tutoring you in school, fangirls and stuffs." Sayuri said.
Sanada sighed. "Fine, wait for me after tennis practice."
"I have ballet practice anyways." Sayuri told him. "So.. I'll see you Mondays and Thursdays. Does that sound good?"
Sanada nodded.
"Mkay... So now I need your phone number." Sayuri said, pulling out her phone. He stared at her suspiciously.
"What," Sayuri raised an eyebrow. "Do you think I'm going to sell it to some fangirls?"
Sanada reached out a hand for her phone. Sayuri handed it to him. He punched in a number. Sayuri took her phone back an called it. A ring came from Sanada's pocket.
"Hehe, I had to make sure you didn't give me a fake number or something." Sayuri said as she hung up the phone.
"Well... I'll see you tomorrow after school then?"
Sanada nodded.
"Ja, Sanada-chan~" Sayuri waved, and then skipped back home.
Sanada shook his head and walked off in the other direction.
xXx
The next day, Mimi, Maki and Sayuri met up on the way to school.
"So how was your Sunday?" Mimi said brightly.
"I started a rave." Maki said emotionlessly.
"I saw Marui-kun and Jackal-kun at the bakery~"
"I'm tutoring Ushi-san in English."
Mimi and Maki stared at Sayuri in silence. She looked at them, "What?"
"EHHH?!"
"Dude, Sayuri, that's nearly the perfect setup in order to get him to like you!"
"Mhmm! Sayuri-chan, you have to go for it!"
"Eh? I don't want fangirl wrath!"
"But if there were no fangirls, would you try and go for it?" Mimi asked with her sadistic smile on.
"Eto..." Sayuri looked up and thought about it. "Hm, no."
"Why not?"
"Because then Yukimura-san would kill me."
Mimi and Maki fell down, anime-style.
"Forget it, mou~" Mimi said childishly, sadist mode off.
Maki shook her head, "You're dense, Sayuri."
Sayuri stared at them. My friends are weird...
"Oh yeah, by the way, I made brownies over the weekend for you guys~" Mimi said and gave them a victory sign. "We can eat them at lunch!"
"Uwah~ Mimi-chan's cooking is the best!" Sayuri said, drooling a little.
"Oh? Mimi-chan made something?" Marui popped up behind them.
"Marui-kun~ I made some for you too!" Mimi said happily.
Marui's eyes lit up. "Hontou? Arigato!"
"Ohayo, Marui-san," Sayuri said. Maki nodded at him.
"Yo," Marui winked and blew a bubble.
They chatted on the way to school and separated at the gate. "See you at lunch, Marui-kun!" Mimi waved and skipped beside Sayuri and Maki.
"Oi... why is everybody staring at us?" Sayuri whispered.
Mimi shrugged.
Maki put a finger to her lips, "Hm, let me see, you might have just upset every fangirl of Sanada Genichirou last Friday."
Sayuri facepalmed. "Right... Forgot about that."
"Find the nearest tennis regular and hurry!" Mimi wailed.
Maki froze, "Shit..."
"What's wrong, Maki-chan?" Mimi asked.
Sayuri saw what was wrong. "Come on, Mimi. Let's get to class."
"Again, what's-" Sayuri covered Mimi's mouth and dragged her off, along with Maki. Before they walked in, Maki turned around and looked into the cold blue eyes of Niou Masaharu. He winked at her. She shivered and turned her back on him.
I don't need any more bad karma from Niou Masaharu...
xXx
Lunch came and Sayuri and Maki rejoiced. Mimi's brownies were cute little squares with a white sprinkle on top. Marui came rushing into their classroom.
Mimi handed him a brownie before he could say anything.
"Arigato, Mimi-chan!" Marui said, with sparkles in his eyes.
Who does she think she is, talking to Marui-sama?
Did he come here just to eat her sweets?!
No way!
Maki looked around, "As much as I love your presence, Marui-san, you might want to leave before you get Mimi into some pretty deep fangirl shit."
Marui had his cheeks stuffed with brownie.
"But dere sho good!" He said through a mouthful of brownie.
The door to the classroom slid open. "Oi, Marui."
Maki froze for the second time that day. "Oh, what's up Niou?"
"Yukimura wants you to come to lunch. Some tennis stuff." Niou leaned against the doorframe, hands in his pockets. The tennis team always ate lunch on the roof. They're like kings. Sayuri thought. Exclusive and privileged.
"Oh, okay. I'll be right there." Marui said. "Can I have another brownie, Mimi-chan?"
Mimi handed him one, "You owe me, okay?"
"Yeah, sure!" Marui said. "Okay, let's go, Niou."
"Hold up for a moment, I want to try one of these brownies." Niou said. He leaned down and put his head next to Maki's ear. "Can I have some of yours, Maki-chan?"
Maki froze for a moment. A flashback ripped through her mind.
Can I have some of yours, Maki-chan?
Mou... If you have to eat mine.
Hehe, things always taste better if they're yours.
Maki shook her head slightly. "No." Her voice faded as she looked at her brownie. In that little time it took to have a flashback, Niou had taken a small bite.
"What the hell, Niou!" Maki shouted.
He smirked, "Puri~" Then he and Marui escaped.
Maki stood up, as if to go after them. Then she sat down and sighed, "Not worth it."
Mimi giggled. Sayuri had a smile on her face. "Now I'm not the only one going through fangirl wrath." Sayuri said, pointing at their classmates.
The female classmates of 3-A had sparks in their eyes.
"Great." Maki said dryly. "Just what I needed to start off my Monday."
xXx
After school and practice, Sayuri stood waiting by the gates. Sanada came out with a towel around his neck.
"Well, somebody's sweaty." Sayuri said, falling into step beside Sanada.
Sanada stared at her for a moment, then focused on the street.
Sayuri wrung out her wet hair. "You should shower before we start. Just saying."
Sanada gave her a half-glare.
They walked together in silence through the Kanagawa Prefecture.
Sayuri stared at the tall boy next to her. She knew that he played tennis but what else did she really know about him? When she was a kid, Sayuri's preschool teacher had told them if you want to learn about somebody, observe them.
So Sayuri observed. Noticed the sweat dripping from his brow down the side of Sanada's face. Observed how his gaze was fixed on the path straight ahead, never wavered. Took in his ramrod-straight posture. And she realized that he wasn't exactly handsome or dreamy or hot like all the fangirls described him as. Sanada Genichirou was, more or less, a statue. He had regal features and huge muscles and carried himself with the Rikkaidai pride of "I don't lose".
Sayuri smiled to herself. She liked that.
Sanada looked at her with a question in his eyes. She shook her head, "It's nothing."
And while Sayuri was conducting observations, Sanada wondered how the hell she could understand him so well when he didn't say anything. But he would never voice this aloud, god forbid.
The pair continued in their comfortable silence until they reached Sanada's house. It was a traditional house, with lots of greenery and what looked like a huge backyard. Sayuri squealed inwardly, she loved huge fields where she could turn cartwheels and do jumps and be free. Sanada opened up the gate, and she followed.
"Tadaima," Sanada called.
"Okaeri, Genichirou." A woman came in from what appeared to be a kitchen. "Ah, is this the girl that is assisting you?"
"Hai, Okaa-sama."
Sayuri bowed, "I'm Muramoto Sayuri-desu, nice to meet you."
Sanada's mother gave a tinkling laugh, "My, so polite. It's nice to meet you too, Muramoto-chan."
Sayuri smiled. Well... Sanada's mother is a lot warmer than Sanada himself.
"We'll be out in the yard," Sanada said, walking towards a hallway. Sayuri bowed again to Sanada's mother and followed.
"Your okaa-san is nice," Sayuri said.
"Hn," Sanada stopped in front of a clear glass door. "Sit here, I'm going to go shower and change."
"Okay~" Sayuri dropped her things on the floor and turned into a cartwheel. "I'll be here, ya know."
Sanada shook his head and went off. Sayuri giggled and turned more cartwheels and leaped into grand jetes. She turned bad pirouettes and even managed a decent back handspring. I'm in love with Sanada's backyard, it's official. I'm gonna marry it when I grow old.
"Muramoto," Sayuri turned around. There was Sanada, with wet hair, jeans, and a bulky cream sweater*. Sayuri gasped.
"Sanada~ I'm in love with your sweater." Sayuri said, running towards him. "And that's totally not creepy, by the way."
Sanada stared at her like she was weird.
Sayuri sighed, "Okay, I'll stop being weird. Let's go."
And so Sayuri tutored Sanada for an hour, she laughed at him a little bit, but she was helpful. Sanada grudgingly had to give her some credit. She knew English inside and out. He considered Sayuri Muramoto to be someone that didn't put that much effort into studying. And yet, she had an instinct for the correct tenses and spellings. How did that clueless girl do that? Sanada closed his eyes. I'm thinking too much.
"Now, everything you say to me has to be in English." Sayuri grinned. "That's how you'll practice."
Sanada groaned inwardly. "Okay."
"Hehe, your accent is funny." Sayuri giggled. "Okay, I should get going now."
"Wait," Sanada got his coat and followed.
Sayuri stared at him. "What are you doing?"
"I'll..." Sanada thought for a moment, "Walk you home?"
"Nice tense, and seriously? You don't have to..."
"It's dark." Sanada said.
She smiled at him; Sayuri didn't understand, but she got it. "Well then, let's get going."
xXx
"Sanada, can I think of a nickname for you?" Sayuri asked on the walk to her house. "'Cause I'm not going to call you Sanada. It's too... normal." She grinned.
"Don't make it all weird."
Sayuri held up her pinky finger, "Promise, promise!"
Sanada snorted. He highly doubted any nickname from this girl was going to end up normal.
Hm... I'm not going to use his first name. We're not that close yet. But how about Sa-chan? No... Hm... Nadachi? That sounds weird... Sachi sounds like a girls' name. So...
"Aha! I'll call you Sanachi~!" Sayuri bounced in excitement.
Sanada glared at her. Sana...chi?
"Heehee~ It annoys you too! It's perfect!"
A cold breeze blew past Sayuri's face. She shivered. "Okay, my house is around the corner." Sanada nodded and turned his gaze back to the path straight ahead. Sayuri walked a bit behind him. It was something of an impulse, along with a fear of walking out and about at night. She wasn't going to admit it, but being out at night scared her. Sanada being here gave her a sense of security. The guy did practice Kendo and all.
They walked up to her doorstep. Sayuri bowed, "Thank you for walking me home, Sanachi. I hope you don't get into any fights on your way home."
Sanada gave a slight scoff and waved before setting out. Sayuri watched him leave before closing the door. She smiled, This is going to be interesting, ne? I wonder how long we can keep this tutoring thing under wraps.
xXx
A/N: Sorry for lateness! /bows. Author-chan is horrible at keeping up!
*: This is completely canon. It's that one ep or OVA where we see Sanada's house and his nephew and his grandfather's all mad at Tezuka's grandfather. Yeah.
Typically I don't really check these things, but I was on the PoT wikia and under the characters it says their type of girl. I like Sanada's the best.
Sanada's Type of Girl: I have no time for such nonsense! (One's that brim with energy)
Marui's Type of Girl: Girls who are sweet, quiet and innocent. And those who give him food and presents. Someone who wears ribbons and feels fashionable is cute!
Niou's Type of Girl: A girl who is full of strategies or good at diplomacy.
And then I realized that my OC's actually sorta kinda ish fit those types. And I was like o.o whoa. Sayuri is kinda energetic. Mimi isn't "innocent" per say, but she is a baker and she's really sweet. And Maki's just good at arguing, so I say that's diplomacy.
That was unplanned, but it'll work, ne?
Next Chapter- Maybe some more romantic stuffs and then we'll see the beginning of the Kanto regionals. Yukimura drama. Chapter after that will hopefully be Seigaku. And who knows? Maybe I'll get in a beach special.
Please Read and Review!