BP: I am starting to have writer's block on this story, but don't worry, I won't discontinue it. So, do review after reading, alright?
"There's a picture to help you if you want." He handed Tezuka a picture he had printed from the Internet. Tezuka looked at it. It was a picture of two identical looking twins, one which is clearly Ryoma when he was younger, and a girl that looks a lot like him, except for her long hair, and slightly more effeminate features. It is clear that the other person is a girl. Both of them are smiling at the camera, and holding a huge gold trophy together. The girl was real good-looking, just like her brother.
"So this is his partner." Tezuka said, looking at the face of the girl. "Echizen didn't mention he had a twin sister."
"Has, Tezuka, has. I am inclined to believe she is still alive. Something must have happened for her to give up tennis like that."
"Fuji, she disappeared two years ago, according to the article."
"Yes, but doesn't the name 'Al-chan' sound familiar? And how Echizen is very protective of this Al-chan?"
Tezuka stayed silent. Fuji's smile became wider.
"Come on, Tezuka. We both know you want to know the answers as much as I do."
"We'll just observe him during tennis practice for a while. We'll only ask him when it's necessary."
"Aw, you're no fun." Fuji mock pouted.
Back at the Echizen household, Alluka handed Ryoma a glass of cold milk, where she had added a touch of spice and honey. Ryoma noted that the milk was delicious with the honey and spices. He waved off Alluka's concerned look. "Don't worry, Al-chan. I am fine. I know I am going to lose anyway." He shrugged. "There's no way I can win against him. He is called the captain for a reason."
Alluka smiled wryly at her brother, before pointing to his homework, silently asking if he needed help for it.
Ryoma smiled. "You know my answer."
Alluka silently sighed, but complied.
Ryoma sighed during tennis practice the next day. He couldn't have a moment's peace because there're scouts everywhere. All of them were clutching to their camcorder or their notebooks, with pen poised in the other hand to note down their special moves. According to their coach, Ryuzaki, she had been receiving many phone calls to request for practice matches with Seigaku. The captain told them to continue, with a glare, which is a silent warning not to use any of their special moves.
"The sounds of the cameras are very annoying…how many schools are there scouting us?" Ryoma asked, as he wiped his face with a towel. He and Fuji were washing their faces together, which gave Ryoma a very slight blush.
"That's right." Fuji replied. "I forgot to do this." He turned the tap upside down, and placed his finger on top of the tap. He then turned the tap on, causing water to splash everywhere, effectively ruining the scouts' cameras, and them to come out of their respective hiding places.
"There are quite a lot of them. Inui must be doing a head count." Fuji concluded.
"There are 49 of them. That's 1.75 more than last year." They heard Inui say from the court. "All the teams which are participating in the Tokyo competition have arrived, except for the undefeated Hyotei. Yamabuki would be one of the main targets for this competition."
'This is bad, if they somehow find out about Alluka, I'm dead.' Ryoma thought.
As they walked back to the courts together, Fuji asked, "By the way, Echizen, do you know how to play Doubles?"
That question startled Ryoma. "No, of course not, don't be ridiculous. You saw how incompetent I was with Momo-senpai." He said in his usual tone. He quickly went up to Momoshiro to ask for a practice match, which Momoshiro happily agreed to.
"Mada Mada dane!" Ryoma announced to a grumbling Momoshiro, when he won 6-4.
On the way back to the clubhouse, he watched Sakuno and her best friend practicing with what looks like a stand with an attached tennis ball by a flexible string. Apparently, when you hit with your racquet, it will return back to you, thanks to the string.
He asked to try it, and made a mental note to buy one for Alluka at the sports store on the way home, when he knocked out an orange haired Yamabuki guy with it. She might like it.
After tennis practice, Ryoma stopped by the sports shop to buy the equipment for Alluka. However, he had the distinct impression that he was followed by the same scouts in his school.
"Hey, are you sure he can't see us?" Scout 1 whispered.
"Very sure, the darkness conceals us, and the noise of the cars would drown out our voices, so we can communicate." Scout 2 replied. They crept closer to Ryoma, the genius tennis player, and son of Echizen Nanjiroh, without him noticing.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" A voice said coldly.
They turned to see Ryoma standing behind them, carrying a plastic bag. That was the last thing they saw before all went dark.
Ryoma turned at the noise behind him, and saw Alluka step out. Apparently, she was out grocery shopping, judging by the plastic bag she was carrying. He walked towards her to meet her.
"So, you caught them following me?" He looked at the scouts Alluka knocked out.
Alluka nodded. She looked at the cameras and notebooks they had in the possessions.
"They are scouts. 49 of them came today to get information on our special moves, hoping to use them against us on the upcoming Tokyo Competition. All the teams in that competition came, except for Hyotei. According to Inui-senpai, they're undefeated. But not for long." Ryoma gave her his well-known cocky smirk. Alluka smiled in return.
"By the way, I bought something for you." He held up a package. "You can open it at home."
Alluka nodded, as she picked up their notebooks, and tore the information they got about Seigaku today, and placed the pieces of paper in her pocket. She also deleted all the photos taken and videos recorded today, and made sure they're irretrievable for good measure.
"I'll carry the bag for you, Al-chan." Ryoma offered, but Alluka shook her head, pointing to his school bag, tennis bag and the paper bag from the sports store.
"I'm fine, Al-chan. Anyway, I need the exercise." With that, he snatched the shopping bag from her, placed the paper bag into the shopping bag, and hitched his school bag and tennis bag higher on his shoulders. Unbeknownst to them, two regulars saw the interaction.
'So that's his twin, Alluka Echizen. She has a healthy build, just like Echizen, but she looks frail at the same time.' Tezuka thought. 'Did something happen to her?'
"Fuji, I have the feeling we're interrupting them." Tezuka said, as they watched the twins from behind a pillar. "We shouldn't be doing this in the first place." He hoped the loud noise of the wind would drown out their voices.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" Two voices said in unison behind them.
Tezuka and Fuji turned to see the Echizen twins behind them. Both of them sported identical angry expressions.
"I think we've been caught, Tezuka."
BP: Well, it's like 1 a.m. when I was writing this, and I was pretty tired, and I had only 105 minutes before my sister uses the computer, so it's pretty bad. Do review, though. P.S: I gave some of Kikumaru's lines in the manga to Ryoma to give him more interaction with Fuji.