A/N: Another update in the same week? I'm on a roll here. It's mostly thanks to you guys who read and write lovely reviews :3 I dedicate this chapter to my friend (if you're reading, you know who you are) because it's her birthday today. Enjoy the showdown between Riko and Hiroko. I just realized how similar their names are, this was not smart naming at all D: I actually have legit reasons why I name characters the way I do, though.
Anyways, enjoy~
Sassbrat: Yes, between Riko and Hiroko, we all know who's going down :D This chapter was so fun to write. Thanks for your review :)
VanriddleZ: That's really nice of you to say, thank you! I hope you like this chapter as well, then :)
Previously, on Devils and Demons:
"Hello Echizen-chan. Yukimura-kun assigned me as your opponent."
Riko turned around to see a smirking Inui with his glasses on and his ever present notebook tucked safely under his arm.
Well then.
She raised her racket. "Mada mada dane."
CH 5: Of Data-men and Bullies
"Inui-senpai, why do I have to play you? I want to play fukubuchou." Everyone sighed at Riko's bluntness.
"Well I apologize for not being Sanada-san, but as it seems this is Yukimura's will, why don't we have a match?"
Riko shrugged. "I don't care. I'll beat you." And with that, she turned around and marched to the base line, calling over her shoulder, "and I'll let you serve as well."
The match between Inui and Riko was drawing quite a bit of attention, as it was rare for a new member to directly play one of the regulars.
"Ne, who is that boy?"
"He's playing against Inui-senpai!"
"SUGOI! LOOK, IT'S RI-" Before Jirou could give away Riko's true identity, Oishitari and Mukahi silenced him, with the latter looking around slightly nervously.
"Jirou! Hush! Someone might find out!" Choutarou whispered.
As Inui and Riko continued rallying, it was clear that Inui had the upper hand, predicting most of Riko's moves and effectively countering them, returning them to difficult or hard-to-reach places on the court.
"Ochibi's going to lose against Inui, nya!"
"I believe Eiji is correct. It's like she's playing a match against herself!" Oishi said.
"I wouldn't be so sure. The game has just started, right Yukimura-kun?" Fuji smiled, turning slightly to the Rikkaidai captain.
"Right. I'm sure Riko has something up her sleeve, she always seems to."
And he was right.
Riko began to walk back to the baseline after Inui had taken another game from her. But then, she stopped halfway and turned around. "Mada mada dane, senpai."
"Why does he always have to say that?" A first year asked.
"OH I know why!" Horio exclaimed, causing all the first years to surround him immediately.
When Riko reached the baseline, she smirked. "I was saving this for Nationals, but it looks like I'll have to bring it out now." She began bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.
Everyone looked confused. "Split-step, nya? Why is Ochibi using the split step?"
Watching the beginning of the first game cleared the confusion for the regulars. With the help of her split step, Riko was able to reach balls that Inui originally calculated she wouldn't be able to.
"Why can Ochibi suddenly reach the balls? Ne, Fujiko, what's going on?"
"The split step is efficient, but it can only take you so far. If you look closely….."
"…..Riko's split step is actually one-footed." Yagyuu finished for Fuji.
"This gives her even greater reach, because her other foot can directly maneuver to her will without first touching the ground," Oishitari explained to a very confused Choutarou, Shishido, and Mukahi.
"SUGOI! ECHIZEN-CHAN SUGOI! KAKOI!" Jirou cheered loudly. The regulars all glanced around nervously, wondering if anyone else had heard the blunder. But thankfully if anyone did, they seemed to just brush it off as Jirou's natural tendency to call people with cutesy nicknames or –chan.
The rally progressed, and it was obvious Riko had turned the game in her favor.
And then she smirked, pointed her racquet at Inui, and said, "Senpai, I know a type of ball you can't return even if you know where it's going."
Ultimately, of course, Riko won the game, with everyone else in total aw of the "new freshman guy". Who, little did they know, wasn't a guy at all.
Coach Sakaki and Sumire were both watching from the office window, which oversaw the tennis courts. "I told you she was pretty good."
"Hm. She is interesting indeed. Shame she joined Rikkaidai."
"….You could have put her in Hyotei if you had wanted to."
"At that point in time, when I assigned her house, I was unaware of the extent of her abilities. It was not worth the risk."
Meanwhile, back at the tennis courts…
"Echizen-kun, you're so good! How come no one has heard of you in the boy's youth tennis circuit?" A brown-haired freshman boy asked animatedly.
"KYA! ECHIZEN-KUN!" All the girls gathered around the tennis court screamed.
"BE MY GIRLFRIEND, ECHIZEN-SAMA!"
"MARRY ME!"
Riko grimaced. Perhaps dressing and disguising oneself as a boy did have it's downfalls as well. Then she decided that she didn't feel like being a boy anymore.
Turning around, Riko pulled off her hat and said to the boy, "Maybe because I lived in America? Or because I'm not a boy."
Everything fell silent and all the people around them stared. And then…
"USOOOO! (1)"
"WAIT THAT FRESHMAN IS A GIRL?"
"What?"
"What's going on?"
There were waves of endless chatter and confusion spreading through the tennis club members.
To the side, Yagyuu and Oishi were rubbing their temples, trying not to cry at the extra stress and chaos Riko had just caused.
Admist the chaos, Riko noticed that the girl Horio had been talking about before was obviously bullying two other freshman girls. Riko recognized both of them from her science class. The one named Tomoka was rather loud and annoying, but the one named Sakuno, who she'd heard was Ryuzaki Sumire's grand-daughter, seemed quiet and reserved. Either way, none of them deserved to be picked on. From the distance, she could just barely pick up her voice saying, "You two don't belong here. The regulars would never even look at you, come back in 10 years when you grow up. Oh, and, don't wear shirts like that, they look disgusting."
Riko pushed through the crowd and walked over. "Hm what's going on here? Bullying? These girls are completely fine, you don't own these courts. In fact, I remember you were a freshman too at some point. Are you saying that you didn't admire any of the regulars then? Oh and by the way, I quite like these shirts, they show school spirit, unlike you." With that, she grabbed the two younger girls and brought them to where the rest of the fangirls were standing.
"Etto… Arigato, Riko-chan!"
"ARIGATO!" Tomoka screamed as well.
Riko nodded, and entered the gates to the court, ready to practice with her next opponent.
Suddenly, "Excuse me, but you must leave the tennis court."
Spinning around, Riko saw the girl. "Excuse me? Who are you?"
Immediately the other girl's nostrils flared. "Well well, not only bratty but stupid as well. I would think you should remember someone you met a few hours ago."
"….I met you before?"
A few snickers were heard, though mostly from Akaya who was obviously trying to contain his laughter.
"Oh wait, now I remember," Riko said dramatically, hitting herself on the head. She really did remember now. That girl….. "You're Hikoba right? Oh wait no it was… Hiroba. No, Hitoka. Wait no no, I think it was Hibaka."
A fresh wave of snickers sprouted at the last one.
The other girl facing Riko was livid with anger. "It's Hiroko," she snapped.
"Oh. Sorry," Riko said without sounding sorry at all. With that, she turned around and picked up a tennis ball, making movement to leave.
"Hey, watch it, you're not going anywhere!" Hiroko grabbed her arm and yanked her around. "As captain of the girl's tennis team, I herby declare that you are not allowed on the courts."
Riko stared. Who did this girl think she was? "And you say that because…?"
"You're obviously just here to flirt with the tennis regulars. I just want to remind you that tennis is an important sport that must be taken seriously. Seeing as you are only here to bag guys, I suggest you-"
Riko cut her off with a rather un-lady-like snort. "Che, if you think tennis is an important sport that must be taken seriously, why don't you play a match with me?"
Immediately Hiroko frowned. But everyone was watching, and she couldn't back down now. "….What makes you think I have the time to play with a lowly freshman like yourself?"
Riko sighed dramatically. "Well then, why don't you show everyone how generous you are by playing with a lowly freshman such as myself?" She smirked.
Hiroko scoffed. "I don't have a racquet."
Riko smiled sweetly. "Oh that's no problem. I'm sure you can just borrow one of fukubuchou's, he won't mind." With that, she reached into Sanada's tennis bag, which was sitting on bench near her, and pulled out Sanada's brand new racquet that he hadn't even used himself yet. Not that others had to know that. In fact, she also overheard Yukimura and Yanagi talking, saying that Sanada planned to use it for the first time during the school lineup matches. Well looks like that dream of his was dashed. Hopefully he wouldn't mind.
Riko handed the racquet to Hiroko, acting innocent.
Hiroko scowled. But then she thought about it. Riko had just played a match with Inui, who was no easy opponent. She must be extremely exhausted, and was probably just putting up a front to intimidate her. Of course, Hiroko didn't actually know how to play tennis, but that didn't matter. She just had to hit a few balls. It should be easy, right?
There was no way she would lose to someone who was already tired.
"Ok fine. No problem. Let's play. You can serve, if you want." Hiroko smirked, thinking she was being generous.
"Etto.. Can I be the umpire?" Horio asked, looking interested.
Riko shrugged and grudgingly agreed with a short, curt nod. She could already tell that Hiroko was bluffing about her tennis abilities. She wasn't even holding the racquet in any of the proper grips. But of course, none of the newest members could tell, so they were obviously extremely excited, anticipating a brilliant match.
With both of them on the baseline, Riko decided to go easy on Hiroko at first. She hit an easy underhand serve, which surprisingly Hiroko managed to return.
With that, she hit extremely easy shots to Hiroko, purposely letting her return them.
"Nya, nya, Oishi! Why is Ochibi hitting such easy shots? Is she already tired, nya?"
Oishi sighed, knowing exactly what Riko was up to. "Eiji, Kaidoh isn't the only player who likes to mess with his opponents or play with his food…"
"Ochibi is just acting, nya~?"
"Of course. You can't actually believe someone with skills like Riko would lose to someone like Hiroko, do you?" Marui answered, coming up beside them to watch the "game".
Riko purposely hit a seemingly easy shot in the court rather close to the edge line, knowing that Hiroko clearly didn't know how to play and was only hitting shots down the line (A/N: This means hitting it straight, like the opposite of hitting a shot cross court). Hiroko hit the shot, but to her surprise it began to move right, towards the out zone. Then, she breathed a sigh of relief as it landed inside the blue court, close to the outer white line.
And then.. "Out!" Riko called.
Hiroko frowned. "What the hell? That was in, wasn't it?" She turned around to look at others around them, trusting them to stand up for her when the shot was obviously not out. But to her surprise, they were all whispering as if they agreed with Riko.
Finally, a younger boy spoke up. "Um..u-u-m… it was actually out, Hiroko-kun."
Immediately she frowned. What was up with everyone? "Did none of you see that the last ball was in?" she demanded.
Everyone slowly shook their heads. Hiroko frowned and marched forward, tapping the corresponding point on her side of the court where the ball had landed on Riko's court. "It landed right here."
"Hiroko-chan, this is a singles match. The outer set of lines are only used in doubles matches. Don't tell me you didn't know that?" Riko feigned a look of shock.
Hiroko's face lit up brightly like a tomato. "Well-well- I mean… I- Psh of course I knew that! Now hurry up and serve!" she snapped, trying to pretend as if she had never said anything.
The game continued, and Riko felt pretty satisfied, having successfully shown that obviously this girl did not know anything about tennis and was being a hypocrite. Riko stopped hitting easy returnable shots and began trying to finish the game as soon as possible, not wanting to waste time. After a mere 5 minutes and 9 seconds (apparently Yanagi and Inui had timed it together), Horio called out, "Game and Match. Echizen Riko, 6 games to 0."
As Riko walked off of the court, she pointed her racquet at Hiroko. "Mada mada dane."
And with that, Hiroko was obviously livid. She raised her racquet, slashing it violently through the air. Immediately, with her fast reflexes, Riko raised her own arm to counter the attack. But there was no impact…?
"…Buchou?" Yukimura had his hand firmly gripping the racquet head, preventing it from moving in any way.
"Hello Riko. Sanada, Atobe, Tezuka, Fuji, Oishitari, and I just finished discussing the first round practice match results. I apologize, Hiroko-san, but I believe there is no reason for you to remain here. I cannot have you causing harm to any of the tennis club members. Please leave immediately."
"Y-Y-Yukimura-sama? I can assure you, this is all a misunderstanding-"
"Wrong move." Sanada came up next to Yukimura. "I believe you were told to leave immediately. I understand that perhaps your vocabulary is limited. A simplification of the message would be, "Please get out right now"." He glared.
Looking terrified, Hiroko scurried off of the courts and ran away, bowing her head in shame as everyone else around the courts stared at her.
Everyone was silent for a moment. And then..
"Damnnnn Sanada, I didn't know you could be so blunt or rude!" Niou cheered enthusiastically, casually throwing his left arm over Sanada's shoulder, pulling him close. "Looks like I'm rubbing off on you!"
Sanada grimaced. "Niou, please-"
"FUKUBUCHOU! KAKOI (2)! Can I do that next time someone tries to bully Echizen? Can I? Huh? Can I?" Kirihara asked excitedly, bouncing up and down around the vice captain.
"Kirihara, can you-"
Before he could finish, Marui lept over onto his and Niou's shoulders and said, "Man that was sweet, did you see the look on her face? You gotta tell me how to glare like that someday!"
"Marui, don't-"
"Sanada-kun, I don't know if that degree of… bluntness was necessary, but it was certainly very surprising and entertaining to watch. I congratulate you."
"Huh? Yagyuu, why-"
"Well done, Sanada. According to my data, there was actually only a 0.1% chance you would choose to do something along those lines. I must also congratulate you on becoming less predictable. I should redo my calculations, this makes things very interesting…"
"Wait Renji when did-"
"Excellent job, Sanada!"
"Yukimura! Not you too, I-"
"Good job, Sanada." Riko saw Jackal clap Sanada heartily on the back.
"What the-who are-"
Sanada couldn't get a word in while people excitedly chattered around him. Riko smirked mockingly at him.
Clearly not a good move on her side, because Sanada then yelled out, "WHY DON'T YOU ALL CHECK IF ECHIZEN IS ALRIGHT?"
The effect was immediate.
"RIKO! Are you alright? Here you must be exhausted have some cake!"
"No, Bunta, I don't need-"
"ECHIZEN! You're the best roommate don't die on me now, please you have to stay with us, hold on, someone call an ambulance!"
"Um Akaya I really don't think that's-"
"Excellently played, Echizen-kun. As your senpai, I would like to congratulate you. I believe that your one-footed split step you used against Inui might also be sufficient to reach my laser beam."
"Er thanks Yagyuu-senpai, but-"
"Huhhhhhhh Nicely played, Echizen-chan, wanna try that on me sometime?"
"Uh Niou-senpai honestly you're-"
"Hm interesting amount of data I've collected. This is wonderful. I should be able to design a perfect fitness regime for you by next week."
"Erm no it's fine-"
"Nice job, dude." Once again, Jackal's response was the most normal.
Riko was drowning in attention, and she didn't like it one bit.
Finally, "TARUNDORU!" Immediately everyone backed up, Niou let go of Riko, Marui dropped his cake, Akaya stopped shaking her and sobbing, Yanagi looked up from his data, and Yagyuu pushed his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose.
"AKAYA! NIOU! MARUI! RENJI! YAGYUU! 25 LAPS! NOW!"
Riko noticed Jackal's crestfallen face. When she blinked and looked again, she noticed him sobbing quietly in the corner at being forgotten again (A/N: Poor Jackal T-T).
The rest of the regulars who had been called quickly hurried to the track, but suddenly Akaya stopped.
"Eh? Jackal-senpai? Why are you crying?"
Jackal looked up at Akaya. "B-because I-I d-didn't g-get a-a-any l-l-l-l-laps!" He wailed.
Akaya looked at him funnily. "…Why would you want laps?" And then he ran off to do his own when Sanada glared at him.
"Jackal stop crying." Sanada said sternly.
"Jackal."
"Jackal."
"Jackal Kuwahara."
"JACKAL, TARUNDORU! 25 LAPS! GO!"
Immediately Jackal stopped crying, getting up and sprinting to catch up with the others.
Well then.
A/N: Ok so this chapter was really long. I mean kind of long. At least, compared to my other chapters. This one is like 3k words. Pretty good for me.
As usual, review, favourite, follow, etc. only if you want to! It's a pet-peeve of mine when people do "review ransom" or "read ransom" as I call it (when they only post chapters after hitting a certain number of reads/reviews).
Once again, thanks a lot because you guys motivate me to keep writing, and I'm now about to go finish writing the second chapter of Snowy Enigma.
Hope y'all have/had a nice day!
Ciao!
Next up, on Devils and Demons:
"So you think just because you can play a little bit of kid tennis and serve some weird twisting shot that you can qualify as a regular? Think again, you little brat!"
"…Have a nice day."
"Oi! Is that any way for you to talk to your senpai? Get back here, you punk!"
"Calm down, she's just a girl. If you think you deserve to be a regular more than her, all you have to do is play a match."
"I know I deserve it more than her. She's a girl, is this even allowed?"
"But you guys aren't in the same house."
"So? She's still putting my goal in jeopardy. I am supposed to be the regular. What if they let her play in the official school lineup matches?"
"She even brought three racquets!"
"Arghh, I'll teach that kid a lesson during practice this afternoon!"
= Teaser End=
In the next chapter, you'll find that Riko's still going around and pissing people off. Can you guess who's mad at her this time?
Thanks for reading!
~Vieux