SLEEP…that was the only thing that plagued the young girls mind as she sat, but then said girl couldn't do just that as her godmother watched her intently, she deserved the sleep anyway (partially), she did do her job (somewhat) and she got to school, (though she skipped every subject but the first one). Deep in thought she had slowly drifted to sleep, her cat-like golden eyes droopy.
Sadly enough, in her half conscious state, she had yawned, alerting her godmother that she was about to fall asleep again.
"You better not be planning on falling asleep again Ryoma" The (much) older of the two scolded, her face in a frown that revealed her wrinkles
"But I am so…" A yawn escaped "Sleepy" Her voice was soft and careless.
The older of the two stared, trying to remember with her slowly deteriorating memory how to keep her awake if even just for an hour. It had been done before and she would do it again, now if she could only remember what she had done a year ago….
"Grandmother!" A sudden very feminine voice exclaimed and her face lightened.
"Ah, Sakuno, is practice done already?" She asked with a closed eye smile, she opened her eyes, only to notice that her granddaughter was holding two cans of grape Ponta, she had never liked the taste so much but it had triggered something.
An image of a small refrigerator, filled to the brim with grape Ponta intruded all of a sudden, before an image of a bored Ryoma who was wide awake filled her mind.
Oh, so that was it, her granddaughter handed her the drink, eyeing the strange sleepy girl at the same time, a question already in her eyes. The pretty girl looked to her as well, acknowledging her presence as she continued to massage her calves. Her bored eyes suddenly rested on the can in her hands. After a while, those bored eyes suddenly brightened.
She stood up, despite her legs' protest and quickly walked to the girl with really long braided pigtails, her eyes shining with mirth, her face light and adorable, her hands clasped the new girls hands in her own, the can of Ponta in between.
Sakuno, blushed, she couldn't help it, the girl was so pretty and yet so brazen, she unknowingly held her breath as the girls striking face turned into an adorable puppy dog look (complete with tears at the edges), she hadn't notice though as those eyes captivated her, that the girl had taken her drink into her own hands until they had lost eye contact.
Sumire laughed as she watched her goddaughter down the drink, a small smile on her face. This laughter though had caught the attention of two regulars who were conversing, one had just finished his game, and the other was watching it and so had struck conversation with the other. They looked curiously upon the group, wondering what was so funny.
"Ah! My drink!" The braided hair girl exclaimed in woe over her drink
Ryoma on the other hand sighed in relief as she finished the drink "You, my friend, have very good taste" She wiped her mouth with her knuckle, suddenly feeling refreshed and anew.
Hey, nothing could be better than free Ponta in her world, other than her pet cat that is, and Japanese cuisine, definitely. She suddenly felt her back getting slapped by her laughing godmother, both girls looked up.
"Now that your awake Ryoma, how about a match with one of our regulars?" She asked with a smile.
"But…their…boys" she whined a little, suddenly feeling tired, maybe she could steal the old lady's Ponta too. It wasn't like she had anything against boys particularly; it was just that most of the men that she had met were annoying people.
Then again, Sumire just ignored her "Eiji, mind playing a set with Ryoma?" She asked as Eiji had just finished his game.
"Nya~!, it's fine with me" He replied with his never wavering smile.
"Ryoma?" She asked knowingly
She had no need to response as she was already in the process of taking her racket out and taking her weights off. They had picked the nearest court and had started from there.
"Ochibi-chan, you serve first!" He yelled from his side of the court
7 minutes later though, she had won the game 6-none, weirdly enough, in that short 7 minutes they had attracted a crowd, Eiji was lying on the floor, his limbs spread out in exhaustion, he was trying to even out his breath. Ryoma on the other hand switched the racket left to right though she had used her right the whole time, now she was tired again, though he had put up a good fight and had almost scored against her, she had made a comeback.
She yawned, stretching as well. "Neko-sempai, were done right?" She asked sleepily
"Kikumaru Eiji, just call me Eiji, nya~!" He yelled from his position, suddenly revitalized, he would just have to work harder from now on! Not like he had much of a choice since Inui and the other regulars were watching their game.
He got to a crouch, beaming with the joy of the game, only to have found her also lying down, only she had curled up and was about to fall asleep. His eyes widened as he saw her, and so did most of the crowd.
"Oi! Ochibi-chan! You shouldn't be sleeping there!" He yelled yet again, running towards her.
The regulars had entered the court, led by a worrying Oishi and a smiling Momoshiro. Oishi fussed over the girl as she had finally gone to sleep. A certain tensai on the other hand had noticed the girls' small peaceful smile, which had not been there the last time he saw her sleeping. He smiled, though to others it would look more like a smirk, to those who knew him well could clearly see him smile.
Without thinking, he took off his jersey and covered her from the cool breeze before carrying her (bridal style) to the dug out, surprising a lot of people and himself. Only when he had placed her down on the bench and had turned around could he see the glare from another regular.
~~~~~~~After practice ~~~~~
"Coach, what do we do about Echizen-san?" Oishi started fussing again after they had showered, it was getting dark fast and the girl was still sleeping peacefully on the dug out bench
"Well, I definitely can't bring her by myself" She stated with a huff, her back was killing her!
"We can't leave her all alone here!" Momo suddenly exclaimed
"Fsssssssh" For once the two agreed
After much debating, shouting and arguments, they had finally agreed to all go to Ryoma's house together alongside their coach as their chaperone. Fuji ended up carrying her once again as his jersey covered her, much to the annoyance of a certain regular….The trip was noisy, yet other than that, surprisingly uneventful.
Ryoma was a surprising girl, much so when they arrived at the hotel, then they were really surprised. The hotel was large and luxurious, they were silenced as they were overwhelmed by all the sparkling lights and the excess of riches that surrounded them all of a sudden, only when they had reached the elevator had they burst out.
"Such a luxurious place!" Momo exploded happily, Eiji nodded furiously only leading to Oishi's worries about whiplash.
"Ii, Data" Inui mumbled softly.
"A-ah, we shouldn't be too loud, Echizen-san might wake up" Kawamaru softly interceded
"Nothing can wake this log up" The coach suddenly spoke.
Only Tezuka and Fuji had stayed quiet throughout the whole thing as Kaidoh and Momo had almost, ALMOST, gotten into a fight. Her room was another wonder as well. It was larger than most of their rooms, it was surprisingly clean until they had reached her bedroom and….it seemed like she was living alone as the room had only one bedroom.
"Hey, coach, isn't it dangerous to live alone?" Eiji asked as they checked out her plasma T.V.
"Yup" She answered simply
"Then why does Echizen live alone?" Momo asked, on the red couch.
"Ah, I'll leave her to tell you, it's a story that should come from her" She replied, her face had hardened, making her wrinkles all the more visible.
In her bedroom though…..
Fuji had laid the girl to her bed watching her intently with his blue eyes (he opened his eyes), she was pretty, and that was without question. His hand had brushed off a stray hair from her pale face as he continued to watch. He was about to take his jersey from her only to have her hand pull it back.
"No Karupin, not yet" She mumbled sleepily
He had to stifle his laughter and left the room, leaving his jersey in her hands. His exit though came unseen, as the dynamic duo (Momo and Eiji) had opened the refrigerator with a banging force only to end up at the bottom of a pile of canned Ponta.
"Ah! Momo! Eiji!" Oishi began fussing again, one of these days he would have a heart attack at the rate they were going.
"It would seem like she only eats take out" Inui suddenly spoke as he watched an unfinished box of dim sum on the table. "Ii, data" He finished with his catch phrase
"I did tell her to learn how to cook if she was going to live alone" Sumire suddenly thought out loud "Now when was that…" She tried to remember, scouring her memories as the regular's just sweat dropped.
A few minutes of destruction and mayhem later….
The bedroom door swung open with so much force it banged back, only to be stopped by her arm (the other was holding her Himalayan cat), she had taken off her blouse, her hair was let down and her knee length socks. She yawned.
"Huh?" Was the only word that got out of her as she watched them in a drinking competition, using her own collection of Ponta. The group had silenced like a deer in the presence of a tigress. The awkward and yet deadly silence ensued. Their captain started to massage his weary mind…this was one tiring day, and it hadn't even ended yet!
Authors note: The next chapter will have more dialogue and Ryoma in it since she's awakened, hopefully enough I can explain some more of the story there. Thank you so much for the reviews! I hope the story will receive more soon! I hope to be able to update daily at the least and weekly at most. I do know the feeling of having to wait long for an update. PLEASE REVIEW! I am working as hard as I can just for reviews!