Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis? Not mine. Got that? Great.
A/N: I dedicate this chapter to Beccann, KiTtEn18sMiLe and ArticFox-14.
Warning: There will be OOCness due to circumstances invented by my imagination. This is where the slight AU-ness of my story kicks in, just so you know. :DD
We've come along a long way so here it goes, the twelfth chapter!
Chapter 12: There is a new face in town.
Izumi was about to explain further when Ryoma walked into the room. The black-haired teen simply nodded his head in greeting. "Otouto, you came back!" Izumi cried as she jumped towards the black-haired freshman. The male did not try to move away and let his self-proclaimed sister hug him to death.
"Young Master apologizes for the disturbance he caused earlier."
Everyone faced the source of the voice only to see the same female from earlier, Sachiko, who unlike before was wearing a casual maid outfit that reached an inch before her knees. They had not noticed her entrance as they were too distracted by the return of the black-haired freshman. Noticing the stares on her, she decided to introduce herself. "My name is Sachiko, and I am the maid of Young Master Ryoma." She said with a deep bow.
"Man, Echizen. You disappear for a few minutes only to come back with your own personal maid!" Momo exclaimed with a shocked look on his face, mirroring the reactions of some other teens in the room. "Hanabi Izumi-san?" Sachiko called out. "Yes, Sachiko-san?" Izumi sheepishly asked.
"I apologize for my treatment on you earlier. I had failed to recognize you as my master's older sister." Sachiko told her with a deep bow. "It is okay now, Sachiko-san. It would be better if Ryoma-kun explained the situation to all of us." Izumi replied. "Let me explain in Young Master's stead, Hanabi-san." Sachiko told her before they all took their seats.
"In this world, there are two kinds of beings. There are the normal humans, which makes up the majority of the world population and the gifted ones, which are divided into two: Fighters and Creatures." Sachiko started with a blank look on her face.
"Fighters and Creatures have special powers. There are small differences between them. Fighters need to use a weapon of sorts, or the use of charms, pendants and the like. Creatures on the other hand are part animal, to say the least, and do not need to use weapons or any other thing as a form of medium. Creatures have depicted themselves as better than average humans, because of this. Due to the constant discrimination, they have moved into a different world. We have no definite language there. Even if one speaks in Japanese to someone who replies in French, they will still understand each other, and would be heard as he or she understands it." Sachiko continued.
"Does this mean all we hear would only be Japanese from everyone in your world?" Eiji asked. "Yes, that is true, but when we go to your world, we would be in the standard of where we came from. This is only an exception to those who was not born in our world. There are only four main languages in our world: English, Japanese, French and Latin. Young Master and I were born and came from the area where the standard is English." She explained.
"Please do not let this new information hinder your relationship with my master." Sachiko told them, and was about to say more but Ryoma signaled her to stop. "Please stop, Sachiko, for you have said enough." Ryoma told her in a low voice.
"But Young Master-" "I said it was enough, Sachiko." Ryoma cut her off in a harsh tone, which Sachiko cowered in response to. Realizing what he just did, he placed an arm around her. With that gesture, Sachiko inwardly grew relieved and nodded in response. His actions did not go unnoticed by the others, but they were laid forgotten for that moment.
"Sachiko-san, can you please tell us a bit about yourself, both as a human and a Creature?" Izumi asked. Sachiko looked at her master who simply nodded after a few seconds. She faced the other teens and took a deep breath. She analyzed what possible kinds of humans were in the room before speaking.
"My name is simply Sachiko and I have no family name, because this was only given by Young Master. He found me back in our world and took me in. In return for his kindness, I worked, and still am working, as his personal maid. I am of seventeen years of age, just like you Hanabi-san. Unlike all of you, I do not go to school, but am being home-schooled." She started.
"My skills are sewing, playing music, and cosplaying." When she said that, a sequence of surprised statements (usually "what" and "really") were heard. "Why are you people so shocked? Is cosplaying considered an abnormal hobby here in your world?" Sachiko asked.
"It's not like that, Sachiko-san. It's more of like-" Oishi was cut off by Eiji. "Most of us here are tennis players, nya! Most of us have never really met an actual cosplayer before." Another wave of words of agreement came from the other tennis players.
"Would you like me to show you an example of one of my cosplays?" Sachiko asked. "Yes please!" Izumi cheered. When she saw the curious looks that were pointed at her, she began to explain her behavior. "I may not look like it, but I really like watching anime and reading manga, you guys." She said with a pout.
"Would it be okay if I cosplayed Kazami Mizuho of Director Ide Yasunori's Onegai Teacher, Young Master?" Sachiko asked Ryoma. The boy did not fail to notice the mischief he saw in her eyes after he glanced around only to see eager faces of his sempai. 'Hentai sempai-tachi. They will pay for wanting to see Sachiko cosplay that kind of girl.' Ryoma angrily thought before he tried to think of another anime character Sachiko had introduced him to.
He gestured her to come closer when he thought of one. He whispered it to her ear, which she nodded in response. "I am ready now." Sachiko said. She left the room for a few minutes before walking back wearing a white and blue sailor uniform. She also had a devil's tail on her back and shackles on her wrists.
"That is Yui of Maeda Jun's Angel Beats!" Izumi instantly recognized as she noticed the accessories. 'So fast…' Most of them thought in awe of her swift recognition. "I thought she was going to cosplay Mizuho." Ryoma heard someone whisper. "I really wished she cosplayed her instead." He heard another voice reply.
In his anger at what he had heard, he glared at the two teens behind him, which were Momo and Sengoku. Beside them was Wakato who looked like he was going to add something to what the two had earlier said. In an instant, he formed a small plan for them in his head. "Is something the matter, Young Master?" He heard Sachiko's worried voice ask. When he had faced her, he saw that she had already changed characters. She was now Virgo of Mashima Hiro's Fairy Tail.
"Oh Kami-sama! To think you can cosplay Virgo as well! Please give me your autograph!" Izumi squealed. Sachiko did so and signed the paper Izumi handed her, a clueless look on her face as she did so. The red-haired female squealed once again in delight. 'Izumi-nee-san must be in heaven right now, seeing as Sachiko is cosplaying her favorite characters.' Ryoma inwardly smirked at the thought.
"Sachiko-san, could you please dress like Virgo during the whole training?" Izumi begged to the peach-pink-haired female before her. He noticed two bright-red eyes look at him for confirmation. Izumi had noticed this and had faced Ryoma as well. He sighed before giving a small hesitant nod, knowing that Sachiko was going to enjoy the said favor anyway.
"Thank you, otouto!"
A/N: Once again, I made an automatic disclaimer on both the characters and anime/manga mentioned! I have no connection on any of the mangakas/director mentioned either.
I hope I didn't make the characters too OOC. I might have been a little excited when I typed this so... Please tell me any typos and inconsistencies, even grammar mistakes (being the "Grammar Nazi" that I am).
Constructive criticism is appreciated in the form of private messages and/or reviews.