Hi there! Hime-chan here again!
Hope you all enjoyed reading Chapter 3; I definitely loved all the reviews that came in! Thank you to everyone who reviewed: Alpha14, Lone Panda, chillybean, janeryoma, celtic27fionn, PurePrincess, and ksm013.
A special shout out to my good friend Vesper Rin Lynd—I'll do my best! 私、がんばるから！
So I'm glad that the misconceptions in Chapters 1 and 2 were cleared up through Chapter 3. If anything of the like comes up again in this chapter, please PLEASE tell me so I can fix it ASAP!
To ksm013: I will take up your "challenge" and try to keep it at 3rd person this chapter. Hopefully you will enjoy my attempt! Thank you for your comments!
I love all of you, and appreciate your time and support! Please continue to help me along my way (i.e. PRETTY PLEASE REVIEW!); I'm in your hands! Yoroshiku!
Disclaimer: I only own Moriyama Kimiko, not the Prince of Tennis anime/manga. If you wish to use my OC, please contact me personally. I've put in a lot of thought to think her up—please do not use her as you please without informing me beforehand.
Now, I proudly present to you, a slightly delayed, but with lots of love and effort, update: Chapter 4 of The Empress! ENJOY! 3
Regular POV
**Ding ding** The first bell of the day rang, signaling the 1st period's start.
It was a normal day: birds singing sweetly, the sun was out, students filing in noisily and happily, sitting down in their normal seats.
Yet, something was out of the norm, a certain stoic vice captain noticed as he walked over to sit down beside his seatmate.
Observing her cursorily, Sanada saw that Kimiko had her chin in her hand, leaning on her elbow while staring blankly out the window. It was rare for the class president to zone out like that, Sanada mused, wondering if something had happened with his "student."
Kimiko jumped, slightly startled, as Sanada sat down with a slight thump, notifying her of his presence.
"Ohayou," the tennis emperor said casually.
"Ah, o-ohayou," Kimiko replied, stumbling slightly over her greeting. She slapped herself mentally for the infinite time. What's wrong with me, she groaned.
Sanada noticed her obvious discomfort, and asked concernedly, "Hey, you all right?"
His seatmate, knowing that the boy was now aware of her abnormal actions, put on her regular cold façade that she showed to everyone else, dismissing it offhandedly, "Yeah, I'm fine. What could possibly be wrong?"
Sanada scrutinized her for a while, silently, almost until he drove Kimiko mad, when he simply shrugged and let her off for a bit, "All right then," and turned to face the board as their history teacher walked in…or, was supposed to walk in.
Both Kimiko's and Sanada's ears perked up, slightly intrigued when they heard a voice that was not that of their history teacher's. Facing forward, backs straight, eyes and ears attentive, they saw someone completely different than their young male instructor. Instead, in his place stood a white-haired, hobbling, but all-smiles granny-like elderly woman.
"Good morning, everyone." The lady croaked out shakily in her high-pitched, spindly voice. "I'll be subbing for your teacher today as he is out sick."
A slight groan of dismay resounded from the back of the room, as all the students were quite fond of their original teacher. The sub opened her mouth to say something, changed her mind and closed her mouth, and then quickly announced, "Actually, today will be a self-study hall. Please use your time wisely." And with that, she scooched out the door, hobbling off as fast as she could.
Kimiko and Sanada looked at each other, confusion clouding their eyes. Then, they simultaneously burst out in laughter (Kimiko) and quiet chuckles (Sanada).
"Did you see the way she got out of the classroom? It was as if she was afraid of us!" Kimiko couldn't smother the mirth that showed quite obviously on her beaming face.
Sanada, by this time, had calmed down and returned to his usual flat-mouthed self, but the amusement still twinkled in his eyes as he observed Kimiko's laughing figure. I guess she's back to normal, he sighed in relief. Wait, relief?
He checked himself. She was just his student…he had no duty to care about her personally. The tennis practice schedule this afternoon was certainly more important…he busied himself with scribbling down in his neat handwriting the practice matches he had planned out in his head that morning.
The rest of the period passed relatively uneventfully, and essentially completely silently. Kimiko simply sat and stared out the window while Sanada worked on paperwork for the team.
At the ringing of the bell signaling the end of the first period and everyone's movement to leave the classroom, Kimiko yanked lightly on Sanada's sleeve and asked with a carefully expressionless face, "So, after school today?"
Sanada looked at her, thinking for a while, and then replied, "An hour later today. Seiichi announced another sudden tennis practice this morning."
Ah, that's right, Kimiko reminded herself. Seiichi did say Nationals were coming up…
The usually stern vice captain interrupted her thoughts with a hesitant, "Do you…?"
"Yes?"
"Would you…like to come to watch?" was his cautious query.
At first, Kimiko was taken aback. It was a usual thing for her to wait for Sanada to finish practice, but for him to ask her personally today…it made things, maybe just a little, different. "Of course," she replied indifferently, and then turned to go, quickly walking out the door, leaving Sanada puzzling over her attitude today.
As Kimiko walked away into the school hallway, only a close observer would have noticed…that with her bangs hanging over her cheeks and hiding her eyes, our cool class president had the slightest hint of a smile playing on her lips.
(after school)
"Yo, Renji, Genichirou!" Yukimura jogged over to the said vice captain, who was already accompanied by the team's data specialist.
They nodded in reply, Yanagi greeting back, "Seiichi."
Sanada squinted slightly, his eyebrows furrowing a bit as he caught sight of a group of people nearing the courts. He counted off in his head, Niou. Marui. Jackal. Akaya. Yagyuu trailed closely behind them.
…And squished amongst them was a certain class president the rest of the team was dragging her along with them. They had gotten very close over the past month or so, and were often into playfully moving her (literally) to the courts. Kimiko's long silky hair streaming in the light breeze, a slight pinkish hue dotted her cheeks as she good-humoredly struggled to regain her freedom.
Yukimura and Renji looked at each other. Sanada was looking awfully long at the group, considering his strong eyesight. But then they caught sight of Kimiko and looked at each other again, this time grinning mischievously. Something interesting was happening…
Scooting inconspicuously closer to the left and right of "emperor," the two glanced at his face, and were surprised at what they found, even considering their high expectations.
Sanada's face was the usual stiff, unchanged slight frown. Yet as his gaze was trained on Kimiko, his eyes shone with a certain…gentleness? The captain and data player nudged Sanada in his right and left side, "Is someone attracted to our princess?" Yukimura teased.
Sanada coughed, the warmth in his eyes immediately disappearing, and a slight rush of heat flew across his cheeks for a split second, which he ignored of course, before he recovered and scoffed to Yukimura, "Of course not."
Renji raised an eyebrow.
"In any case, we have practice to attend to. Let's go," Sanada quickly strode off to apprehend the rest of the group and free his "student" from their grasps.
Yukimura and Renji chuckled and walked after him. He had a long way to go, didn't he…
(during tutoring)
Having decided to take a small break, Kimiko proceeded to tell an as-usual-silent Sanada about what had happened during the volleyball unit of their PE class.
"See, Sanada-kun, so the girl next to me, she wouldn't let me at the ball, you know? So I just…" she continued chattering happily to Sanada, who she knew was listening by the way his body was turned slightly towards her as he worked on his own homework.
A slight knock interrupted a laughing fit from the class president, who immediately sat up cross-legged from her place on the floor where she had been rolling in mirth.
"Gen-chan? Phone call for you!" Sanada's mother spoke through the thin door of the room.
"Aa, I'm coming right now." Standing up, he looked down at the still-sitting Kimiko and said, "I'll be right back." After seeing her nod in affirmation, he opened the door and slipped into the hallway, leaving Kimiko to amuse herself for the next few minutes.
(in the hallway)
"Hai. Sanada Genichirou speaking."
"Ah, Sanada-kun."
"Sensei? Is something wrong?" What was he calling at this hour for?
"I have something to speak to you about tomorrow. Please come talk to me half an hour early before first period."
"Is something wrong?" the vice captain repeated.
"Oh no! Just…something." Perhaps it was his imagination, but Sanada swore he could detect a hint of cheerful secrecy in the teacher's enigmatic statement.
"Hah…" Sanada was unsure of what to say now.
"In any case, I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning. Good night, Sanada-kun."
"Oyasuminasai, sensei." With that, his teacher hung up.
Sanada placed the phone back to its place on the receiver, completely befuddled about what had just happened and what was to come. Just what does he want to talk about so early tomorrow morning? (Waking up early wasn't the problem; he would have to miss some tennis practice to make it though, and that irked him.)
Sanada walked back to his room, continuing to internally contemplate the entire time.
(back in his room)
"Sanada-kun?" No response.
"Sanada-kun?" A slight twitch of the eyebrows.
"OI SANADA-KUN!"
"Aa," the vice captain jumped just slightly. "What is it?" He asked, annoyed by the volume of Kimiko's voice.
"What's wrong? You've been zoning out since you came back from that phone call." Worried, she reached out a tentative hand and placed it on his forehead. "You all right?"
Sanada reflexively moved slightly backwards from her hand, thinking for the shortest moment, Her hand is so soft. "Aa, nothing's wrong. Sensei just has to tell me something tomorrow before class."
"Oh…" she relaxed a bit and smiled, "All right then." I guess I'll leave it at that. He doesn't seem to want to talk about it.
Sanada seemed to appreciate her holding back her questions, because he threw a small nod of thanks in her direction. "I think we're done for today. You can come over tomorrow, too, after school, as it's a Saturday school day."
"Ok!" Kimiko piped cheerily. "See you then! I'll see myself out!" She bounced happily out the room, and Sanada could hear her humming happily while going down the stairs and greeting his family goodbye. He raised an eyebrow—had something happened? She seemed really upbeat, even more than usual when she was around him and let her cold façade down.
He stood up and stretched. In any case, he should go to sleep. He would see her tomorrow—maybe she would tell him if he asked her.
He slipped under the blanket and turned the lamp off, immediately falling asleep.
Little did he know what awaited him tomorrow.
(the next day at school)
Sanada walked in through the school gates, striding quickly in the direction of the tennis courts. Seiichi was pushing all of the regulars to the limit before Nationals, and he knew what he would get if he, as vice captain of the entire team, was late.
Yet, his good intentions were immediately flattened as he was bombarded with hundreds of rabid fan girls as soon as he walked past the metal fences.
"SANADA-SAMA! PLEASE GO OUT WITH ME!"
A brutal shove to the side. "NO HE'S MINE! SANADA-SENPAI, PLEASE! TAKE THESE!"
Another push and a shove. "NO TAKE THESE!"
And et cetera, et cetera. Sanada was taken aback by the ferocity of the school's female population that was surrounding him at the moment. Sure, he had to face the occasional one or two during classes and fend them off by holding them at arms' length or ignoring them, but this was an unprecedented record. What was up with all of them today?
In any case, he had to go. Squeezing past and doing his best to push them off without severely injuring them, he quickly ran off towards the courts, where his fans knew better than to go on. One step meant possible hatred from the regular members, and possible expulsion from a school that values tennis over grades.
So they hung back, waiting for their chances to pounce on their targeted, "unsuspecting" regulars.
(practice is almost done)
"Seiichi, could you do me a favor?" Yukimura turned to Sanada questioningly, and then noticed his fans, and grinned understandingly.
"You need a decoy?"
Sanada gave a sigh of frustration. "I wish there was another me to distract 'them,'" he jerked his thumb towards the group of drooling females outside the fence, "but as there isn't, and I have to talk to one of my teachers right about now…" he trailed off.
As he expected, Yukimura picked up quickly on what he needed. "All right, just go from the back gate. I don't think they know about that one. The rest of us will somehow cope here."
Seeing the gleam in his friend's eyes, Sanada felt just a bit sorry for the rest of the regulars. Whatever Yukimura had in mind, it didn't seem they would fare well.
But that couldn't be helped. He was admittedly more curious about what his sensei had to say. Looking at his watch, he realized he was almost late, and rushed off, leaving the questioning regulars to their fate.
"Saa," Yukimura grinned, "Let us go to valiantly rid Genichirou of his rabid fans!"
The regulars shrank back in apprehension. A collective Oh no… ran through all of their heads at the same time. They were in for it this time. If their sixth Yukimura-buchou sense was tingling the right way, they were going to be the sacrificial lambs for fukubuchou's nutty fan(atic)s.
(at the history classroom for first period)
Walking rather slowly (for Sanada anyways) to his history classroom, he trudged to the open door and was immediately met by Kimiko, who seemed to be waiting on purpose for him. "Sanada-kun, you're almost late. Come on, sensei's back, so let's sit now." She tugged playfully on his sleeve, hoping to elicit the usual spark of amusement in his eyes.
But Sanada could only manage a failed attempt to smile; his eyes told the truth. "Moriyama, I have something to tell you after school today."
Kimiko's bright smile faltered at the seriousness she saw in his eyes and heard in his voice. "O-ok…"
With that, Sanada abruptly turned to the board, effectively ending their conversation, and Kimiko could only ponder exactly what could have happened. What could he possibly need to tell her after school and not now?
Well, she would learn soon enough.
(after school)
"Sanada-kun!" Kimiko cried happily, her melodic voice carrying through the air to said boy's ears.
He turned to her, again seeing her fly towards him, hair streaming and bag flying behind her.
She stopped in front of him again, screeching to a comic halt. "So, you needed to tell me something?" she asked cheerfully.
"Aa," he affirmed.
Kimiko smiled, "I do, too." Sanada looked at her, but she gestured for him to proceed, "But you tell first," and she patiently waited for him to speak.
And then he spilled the beans. "I will no longer be tutoring you from now on."
She inhaled sharply, telling Sanada that she was more than surprised.
Sanada nodded again, and the memories of that morning rewinded in his mind.
-Flashback—
Sanada opened the sliding door quickly, bowing brusquely to his teacher, "Ohayou gozaimasu."
"Ah, Sanada-kun. Right on time. Come, come." His teacher happily gestured for him to close the door and come closer to his desk.
"?" Sanada was puzzled, but did as he was told. Moving closer to his math teacher's desk and looking downwards, he noticed that the entire desk was filled with Kimiko's papers. Questioningly, he gazed back up, "What is the meaning of this?"
"I'm extremely pleased with your work with Moriyama-san. Her grade has returned to being acceptable. In fact, more than acceptable, it's an A+." Sanada was stunned. Was he kidding?
"As I am now hopeful she can keep this pace until the end of the year, you no longer will have to tutor her." At this, Sanada felt something snap in him, but shoved it down. He should be happy; she had been a nuisance, and it only took up his time. Now he could concentrate solely on tennis.
"Thank you for all your hard work, Sanada-kun. Gokurou."
"No, it was not a problem. Now, if you will excuse me." Sanada stiffly bowed and quickly strolled out the classroom door, his teacher smiling contentedly all the while. What a wonderful student…
-Flashback end—
"So there you have it." Sanada ended the narration. Kimiko was smiling…But her oddly cold, and slightly sad, grin found a piercing way to even Sanada's heart, and to change the topic, he said, "You had something to tell me, as well?"
He looked at Kimiko's expression, and immediately wondered if he shouldn't have asked her. He had seen her white with shock, pink with laughter, red with embarrassment…but this was downright black.
Her face was completely dark in terms of the aura, and even Sanada was surprised by the extremity of her gloom. He saw her twist her right hand behind her back, as if to hide something, and she forced herself to smile.
"Oh no, it was nothing after all."
Sanada raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" He reprimanded himself for asking a second time—what was he possibly expecting?
She nodded in reply. An awkward silence ensued, unease surrounding the two.
Sanada cleared his throat and spoke, "Well then, I guess this is it. We don't have anything to do with each other anymore."
Kimiko tensed, and then bit out a terse "Right." With that, she spun on her heel and ran. Sanada was about to call her as she took off, but she disappeared too quickly.
Catching himself gazing after her disappearing figure, he coughed and turned to go the opposite way. This was what she wanted. She needed better grades; she got better grades. No more, no less. It's exactly what I wanted, too.
But somehow he couldn't shake off that feeling of regret. Was that really all he had expected?
(somewhere far far away in the suburbs of Tokyo)
Kimiko pressed furiously on the doorbell through her drying tears, praying fervently to God he would be here.
"Please, please, please Kami-sama, let him be at home and open the door!"
Her prayers were answered.
The door swung open, and in response, Kimiko flung herself and latched onto the familiar and somewhat-welcoming face, shouting gratefully, "Mitsu-kun!"
Ok, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I know this chapter was probably the most confusing and worst one yet—don't hesitate to tell me how or where, 'cause all I know is that it was horrible. Not counting the fact that Kimiko and Sanada are fighting AGAIN. I had to rewrite it 6 times and it's still like this! Urgh… I'm very sorry if it was painful to read, I tried my best.
So, the regular drill—PLEASE REVIEW or any of the alerts/favorites please! Thank you everyone, esp. the people I mentioned in the beginning of this chapter! I love you all!
Hope to update soon for all of you, and bear hugs for all my readers!
~Hime-chan