Hi guys! So I failed uploading this before my school started again but never mind that anymore...
This chapter may have been predictable and I know that my writing here kinda sucks so I'm really sorry. The text in italics by the way are sort of a flashback. Although I wanted to make it longer but I had to make do with this instead. All of the things I wanted to include in this chapter but couldn't will definitely be placed in bonus/side chapter(s) which will follow this one because I want to relax my mind before giving this story a bigger development. I hope you can follow Moving Forward till the end but if you want improvements as we go along, please do give me opinions/suggestions/remarks/comments etc... Anything helpful will be appreciated.
My longest chapter so far, I hope you enjoy ;)
Truth
"Hey otoutou-kun, what's up with Rina-chan's 'Empress' thing earlier?" Kuramochi asked his partner's younger brother as they were gathered in one table, eating breakfast together with the others who were present in Rina's room earlier. Haruichi gave out a weak laugh.
"I think it's better if we explained things from the start." The pink-haired first year then looked at Sawamura and Furuya then gave them a nod.
"The night after our practice game with Kiryuu, Furuya and I were out on the ground for a run." Sawamura started.
"Oh, that night where you two were fighting over a tire." Miyuki and Kuramochi snickered.
"You saw that Miyuki-senpai?" Furuya asked. Miyuki only had an irritating and smug look on his face.
"Well then, continue." Ryousuke ordered. Sawamura complied with a slightly discontented look on his face.
"Furuya then heard whimpering sounds and went to check it out. In one corner of the ground, on the other side of the fence Rina was there." Sawamura looked to Furuya to continue telling what happened.
"She was trying to stand up but she couldn't. She was crying in pain. We ran over to her to help her up. She then asked us to bring her back to her room quietly."
"Oi Miyuki, Kuramochi, you didn't see that happen?" Jun directed the question to the two second years.
"Who'd want to watch to idiots fight over a tire Jun-san." Kuramochi retorted. Isashiki was convinced. Haruichi continued with the rest of the story.
"When they were taking Rina-chan back to her room that was when I saw them. I was also on my way back from practicing my swing. She instantly knew that I was one of the people whom Takashima-sensei asked to keep an eye on her. She told me to follow them to her room because she said explain everything to us there."
_._._._._
Haruichi opened the door to Rina's room and the other two helped her take a seat on the bed. Rina sighed as she settled into a comfortable position. The twin-tailed girl then asked for the cold spray on her desk. The one she uses for instant pain relief before taking any painkiller medicines. She gave out another sigh and stood up afterwards to place the cold spray back to where it was. She then returned to her bed.
"Do you guys remember my first night here?" The girl softly asked.
"Yeah. I remember it well cause it was the night I beat you after you challenged me."Sawamura had no ill intentions but it certainly insulted Rina a bit, earning him a glare from the girl. She then glanced over to all three of them then started speaking. Her eyes began to shine.
"I said I used to play baseball but now I play a different sport right?" pausing for a moment before she continued. "I shifted to playing tennis during fourth grade. My dad was hired at this tennis club and took me with him whenever I had no classes. One of his clients asked if I wanted to try playing and well, taking after my dad who loved playing different kinds of sport, I excitedly nodded my head. Surprisingly, I had the talent so dad started to train me vigorously and once I was thirteen yrs. old I started competing in the Junior Circuit in order to raise my rank." The girl speaking was suddenly cut off by a question coming from Sawamura.
"What's a Junior Circuit?" Rina chuckled. 'Of course they'd be clueless.' she thought to herself. The brunette then proceeded with explaining.
"The Junior Circuit is a series of international tournaments for successful and national standard players. Kids from 13-18 yrs. old who play in these tournaments get the chance to raise their world ranking which helps if you want to go pro. Oh! And by 'successful and national standard', it simply means that you've shown results in national tournaments. I've dominated in a few so I had no problem in my legibility for the Junior Circuit. In fact…" Rina then gave them a smug smile as she proudly declared her rank without them even asking.
"At my young age, I dominated over older players and became the World's no. 1 Juniors Girl player!" She exclaimed but soon after that the sparkle in her eyes started to fade.
"Or that was until 'this' happened." gesturing to her knee to give the three boys an idea.
"During my last Major tournament, I was so hell bent on winning that I took training to extremes without my dad and other coaching staff knowing which resulted into a serious knee injury. And during the finals where I was losing one set, I was so desperate in returning the ball so I jumped for it but when I landed my knee finally gave out. Luckily I didn't need surgery but I got so depressed that I just lost my way." Tears were building up in Rina's brown eyes. She tried to hold them back no longer wanting to shed tears in front of Haruichi, Sawamura, and Furuya.
"So much for being called an 'Empress of the Court'. They'd be surprised to find out I'm such a crybaby." she said as she forced herself to laugh. She then wiped away the tears that have yet to fall and finished the whole story.
"So they decided I needed some time on my own but since I'll definitely be bothered back home, they sent me here. And because I really wanted a new environment, I selfishly requested to live here in the dorms. At least this way, Rei-nee could still supervise me." There and then, Sawamura who tried keeping all his reactions at bay finally let it all out.
"So you're telling us you're a world champion and you even have a nickname like 'Empress of the Court'!?"
"Yep." Rina nonchalantly shrugged at Sawamura.
"Well then, can I ask questions?" Putting on a serious look, Rina stared into one particular boy's eyes. Or to be exact, she simply stared at him because she can't look into his eyes when his bangs are covering them. Haruichi gulped air and nodded cautiously, giving Rina permission to interrogate him.
"Why did Haru-chan comply with Rei-nee's request to keep an eye on me?"
"Eh?" Haruichi was caught off guard by the question. He didn't expect that one coming but he could only answer honestly. "That's because Takashima-sensei asked us to. Of course we couldn't turn down a request from a sensei and one of the higher ups of the team."
"I see…" were the only words Rina could mutter. Obviously hurt but it was an understandable reason. She tried to smile it off.
"I should have probably opened up to you guys sooner but for now I hope we can all keep this a secret from the rest. I don't want to go back yet! You could say that I'm trying to run away from my own problems back in America by making this an excuse but I want to support you guys. I've finally started gaining back my determination and confidence when watching you guys play so please… I want to return it to the whole team."
"Rina-chan." Haruichi gently said her name.
"Come one Harucchi, let's keep it a secret for her." Sawamura tried to convince his friend.
"How about this, let's make her promise to stop going out at night." Furuya suggested.
"Eh? That might be impossible. Don't you know the saying that 'Old habits die hard.'?" Rina whined and Haruichi sighed. "Then you have to promise to call us whenever you're going out."
"Then how about this, I promise I won't go out at night anymore but when you guys go out for some late night practice you definitely have to call me." Rina suggested her own idea. The three boys looked at each other and smiled.
"Okay then." Haruichi replied.
"Thank you Haru-chan, Ei-chan, Sacchan!" and a big grin was on the brunette's face.
_._._._._
Almost all of them had a uniform expression. Mouths were open, eyes grew wide and they were left speechless. But that was a second ago because…
"Wai- WHAT!? Are you saying that Rina-chan's some world class tennis player!?" Kuramochi shouted which transferred their feelings of shock to the other members present in the canteen eating breakfast as well. To think that their manager who transferred to their school one month after the academic year started, who was also niece of their club's assistant director although a different sport, plays on a whole different level compared to them. Even Miyuki and the third years were taken aback by this revelation.
"But she doesn't look like she's a world champion." Isashiki remarked.
"She told us power play isn't her style that's why she's slim." Sawamura shared. When he tried to complete the information "Uhm, she said her style was… what was it again?"
"Serve and Volley." Furuya answered.
"What's that?" Kuramochi asked and Haruichi explained.
"We don't know exactly but she just told us that she likes putting pressure on her opponents and make them chase after the ball." The whole table was confused with all the tennis talk. Why the hell in the world would they know about a sport they don't play? But one person was finding amusement in all this. Seems like he found a new partner…
"So that's why she's an 'Empress'." Ryousuke concluded.
"To think that Rina-chan was someone like that… Even I didn't notice. I thought she was good with the bat cause of her past baseball experience but really, that girl is just as amusing as Sawamura. Right, Chris-senpai?" Miyuki snickering at the thought asked Chris for his opinion.
"So, we're kinda similar." Chris pointed out.
"Chris-senpai…" The boys went silent.
"Hm? What's with those dark faces? Did I really worry you guys too much?" A girl who stood close to their table with a large grin on her face said.
"Rina!" Sawamura stood up from his seat and greeted the girl with a big grin on his face.
"What did you talk about with Rei-chan?" Miyuki inquired.
"I'm staying. I explained everything and Rei-nee said she won't send me back home but she's still gonna go and tell my dad." Rina reported with slightly red cheeks, a bit embarrassed about the whole matter.
"You can still help me with my Stamina Roll?" Furuya eagerly asked.
"Yep! And in fact…" The girl scanned over the table to look for the person she was looking for.
"I already got permission from Rei-nee and Coach Kataoka. All I need now is yours, Chris-senpai. Will you let me help you prepare those two over there for the tournament?" As she motioned over to Sawamura and Furuya, the determined look in Rina's eyes caused Chris to give a small and fleeting smile.
"I'm counting on you then."
"Wait a minute. Why the heck am I out of this talk?" Miyuki brought up.
"Huh? But I thought Kazu-chan already approved of me so I didn't ask your permission." Rina replied.
"I don't recall anything like that. And don't call me Kazu-chan." A slightly irked Miyuki retorted.
"How cruel Kazu-chan. I thought you acknowledged my abilities during my first night here, the night where Ei-chan and I had a showdown." Rina faked that she was hurt by Miyuki's words, acting as if she was on the verge of tears.
"Miyuki made Rina-chan cry. You're gonna get it from Rei-chan later. Hyahaha!" Kuramochi teased his fellow second year.
As Rina sniffled she proposed "If you want then we can have a match as well but we change places. Kazu-chan stands in the batter's box while I catch for hmmm…" Rina thought for a while on who she was gonna pick as the pitcher. "Sacchan's pitching is too strong, Ei-chan could be good, but Nori-senpai as well… Hmmm" The boys waited in silent anticipation for Rina's decision.
"I've decided! I'm gonna go with Nori-senpai."
"Hey, hey! Don't get too ahead of yourself. I haven't even agreed to this yet." Miyuki yet again made Rina fake that she was hurt.
"There you go again Miyuki, making Rina-chan cry like that. If you don't want to go through all this then why don't you just approve of her. You did acknowledge that she was good with the bat earlier." Ryousuke sneaked into the conversation. Miyuki was finally cornered.
"Alright, alright!"
"Thanks Kazu-chan!" Rina happily cried.
"Just don't call me 'Kazu-chan' anymore, please?" Rina shaked her head and replied "Eh? I don't wanna." and the girl stuck her tongue out and pulled down her lower eyelid. Then she ran out to escape.
"Rina! What about breakfast?" Haruichi asked.
"Rei-nee said she's taking me to the hospital. I'll eat on our way back. Thanks anyway. See you later!"
"It kinda reminds you of when we first met her doesn't it, Sawamura?" Chris remarked.
"Yes!"