I read the first chapter once again just to find a whole lot of errors. I sincerely apologize for all of them; even I was annoyed to find those out. *Sigh* Well, we can never be perfect.
Oh thank you for my first reviewer Yuka Muntou! (m_m)
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS
CHAPTER ONE
"Have you heard about the Serenata now looking for new members? Tell me, are you going to join?"
"No. Certainly not this year…"
"What?! Seriously? Then what will you do with that voice? Let it rot? Are you stupid or did your bonk your head this morning?"
"It's more stupid if I don't join the tennis club, Minako. It's better to waste this voice than the opportunity to be with my Fuji-senpai. Kyaaa!"
Sakuno almost gawked as she overhead the conversation between two classmates sitting three seats behind her. If only she had the guts, she would gladly explain every detail of stupidity to her.
It made her utterly annoyed how the girl could easily choose fandom over music. Sakuno knew her, the girl is known for her angelic, high pitch voice critics would cry for the moment she sang the first note. But unfortunately, her classmate flunked to see that.
Treating tennis as a sort of way to see her idol? What does she know about tennis anyway?
And why do I have to care so much? Sakuno could only mentally slap herself.
Sighing, she stood up and took an exit from her classroom to hopefully find a place where peace resides- though she could say that she'll be very lucky enough to ever come across the term especially with the new semester's incoming club try-outs. Muffled voices could be heard along the corridor, and being gifted with perfect hearing, she could almost hear them clearly.
"Which club would you join this semester?"
"The tennis club, of course! Isn't it obvious?"
Looks like her obaa-chan will be very busy once again to stamp 'FAILED' remarks on try-out application forms. And that would only mean more work for her too. Since her obaa-chan would humbly hand on all the work to Sakuno telling how old age had affected much of her speed and accuracy where even the coach's eye sight was put into the matter. Add the coach's reasons that some rest was all she needed when she obviously had it all during the break.
Sometimes Sakuno could only question how her grandmother became the most respected coach of the Seigaku Tennis Club…
"I'm trying out for the tennis club too! If I fail, then the volleyball team would be the last resort…"
Another try-out sheet to evaluate…
Why can't these girls just join the club they were good at? It's not as if entering the tennis club would accord them the honor of being taught by the regulars themselves. In fact they could always watch the regulars' practice after their respective club meetings anyways.
Why waste their own free will to choose the clubs where they excel?
And why do I always care?
Sighing to stop at the intersection towards other corridors, one to her left leading to the science lab, the other on the right towards the music room and art room, she tried to compose herself back again.
Ryuzaki Sakuno
A name well-known for her undefeated shy personality and tranquil being. She seldom (others say never) got mad at others; or in rare circumstances wherein she does, she would keep it all to herself and let the day passed without them knowing. But then again, there were still times when she's far too annoyed that she would resort to blaming herself instead.
Truly Sakuno-ish, isn't it? She could say so too.
"Get out of the way!"
"Eeep!"
Quickly, taking a step back, she was just in time to avoid a boy with round nerdy eye glasses in a lab coat running a pushcart hauling various-hopefully-not-dangerous chemicals. And being the accident magnet that she is, she found the situation reasonably normal.
Taking a hard breath out to look at the hallway where the boy passed, it was fairly impossible to miss a poster sticking on the wall.
Vandalism. She thought.
Clubs were prohibited to stick posters on unauthorized areas. They were supposed to be posted on bulletin boards, not on walls.
Peeling it off the wall, she stared at the colorful poster for a while, comprehending what was written.
Serenata is on the search for new campus serenades!
Have the voice and the talent that melt even stone hearts?
Join us now!
And under is an arrow pointing to the music room.
Her hand nearly crushed the said poster. This is the club where her classmate is supposed to join, not the sweaty tennis club.
It's not that she's holding others to join her own club, which is hardly the tennis team. No, in fact she wants the team to earn a bunch of talented and skilled members. Talented and skilled. Not overly devoted and hormone-packed admirers.
But if anyone is to question Sakuno's loyalty to the tennis club, one could say she would be the most loyal one. Providing never ending support together with a consummate dedication to learn the sport.
But how could you handle a situation where you never wanted to be one? If the only reason why she was staying on the club was to continue their tennis bloodline?
The Ryuzaki family, composed of skilled and exceptionally capable tennis players. From her greatest grandparents up to her parents were tennis players. And not just any normal ones, they were pros- legendary and eminent professionals. Heck, even her grandmother is an enormous and famed coach recognized by prominent tennis teams all around Japan, and somehow around the globe.
Though Sakuno could never understand how that blood which made their family name illustrious betrayed to flow through her body. She knew the sport and even admire those neon balls create wonder around the court, but somehow she could only admire it-admitting to herself that she's not gifted enough to play the sport well.
Her support may never end but ones dedication can never be restrained to be limitless. That was why, staying on the club is the only thing she could do for now. Support the team whilst hoping to find a way to compel that tennis-blood run onto her system, even if it meant sacrificing her true gifts and desires.
Sakuno looked at the poster again. Serenata- a club she longed wish to be a part of. She may not be gifted tennis player but she knew she had a thing for singing and perhaps passable at it too. A friend had heard her only to be dazzled of the talent the auburn possessed. And somehow, it heartened her to know that she could be notable at something as well.
But as gladdening as it was, singing isn't an inch close to tennis. One couldn't excel with the sport by humming notes that consists a song. And she could only let the gift go to give way for the other, if it somehow found time to cross by.
Maybe she just has to stick to tennis where she sucks a lot.
Folding the poster neatly, she put the sheet in her skirt pocket before getting back to her path. If she couldn't be with them, the least she could do was save the club from trouble.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Aaaaah!" Inhaling the air and exhaling again, she smiled at the breeze's purity.
The auburn haired lad looked down at Seigaku from where she stood up a hill in which a cherry blossom tree was planted, creating the small lump of green soil a perfect place of beauty.
Add the fact that the place offers a perfect view of the whole campus. Everything was a view to behold on where she stood- from the cheerleading squad's thrilling flips and turns, to the teen agers spending their short afternoon break eating on the lenient grass whilst freely laughing with each other.
Although above all, one would be dumb not to notice the small lump of crowd gathering beside the gym near the tennis courts- the courts that made Seigaku glorious all around Japan by withholding the prominent tennis players of their age.
Maybe they should make that courts covered one day to give the regulars some privacy. Yeah, that would be an upright suggestion since not even half of the majority is educated of the said term.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Ah, they had come out quite early I suppose.
Sakuno almost covered her marred ears as soon as the girls' loud screeching noises and chants, that would have made a pig's slaughter put onto a shame, began. Oftentimes, they would serve as an alarm clock to her, indicating that the regulars were to start their daily routine practice (and that her grandmother needed her to supervise there too).
"1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8. That would be eight members for you."
Sakuno sadly smiled at how incomplete they were right at the moment. Counting them before became quite a habit whenever she watched them practice, as well as smiling at the ninth member to count. But today was another atypical day.
Echizen Ryoma.
The tennis prodigy. The Prince. It had been four months or less since she had last count him as the ninth member of the Seigaku tennis team. Fledding to U.S. to participate on the U.S. Invitational Open, he continued to be victorious in the said field of sport.
Shouldn't she be happy that he's being successful? But how come it saddens her to know that the only person who had inspired her to continue a sport she almost gave up on was long gone on where she stood and was too far away from their country.
Sakuno knew it was selfish to keep the Prince for herself or to wish for him to come back, somehow stopping herself seemed to be a strenuous detail- for he had meant a lot for her. Awfully a lot. Some people say that she holds a crush on the lad but she knew otherwise. Perhaps her heart would pound whenever he was there, but the auburn teen discern that it was more than a hormone-driven crush.
For aside from swooping the auburn girl with his alluring guises, he had as well brought something in her fire up. Something long forgotten and stored deep within.
For fun, he said. To play the sport for fun which she knew otherwise. Seeing him on those courts swing his racket to ram a neon tennis ball was one thing, but to caught sight of that doubtless and assertive smirk was what drove her up. The boy playing so well and confident nonetheless, made her envious. Sakuno knew it was close to impossible, to play like he does.
But what makes it different is that the prince made her forget about the fact that she only plays the said sport to continue their bloodline of tennis pros and to meet her family's expectations.
Like a Prince saving a Princess from a veiled castle tower, he had showed a brand new milieu to her, a whole new nature.
"It never hurts to believe in yourself you know."
Those were probably the words she always played in her mind whenever her family's expectation weren't met, whenever she would be compared to her great cousins and whenever they would look at her like a stain of the Ryuuzaki 's.
Smiling, she breathes the fresh air again before closing her eyes, replaying his words in her head again and again, like a broken CD she would never regret not fixing…
And just like before, her voice just came out without her knowing.
It never hurts to believe in myself…
(Believe In Me by Demi Lovato to listen to this song visit this link, replace the song the words dot with . itself.) wwwdotyoutubedotcomslashwatch?v=hQatX_y9Rjw
I'm losing myself trying to compete
With everyone else instead of just being me
Don't know where to turn
I've been stuck in this routine
I need to change my ways
Instead of always being weak
I don't wanna be afraid
I wanna wake up feeling beautiful today
And know that I'm okay
Cause everyone's perfect in their usual way
So you see, I just wanna believe in me
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
The mirror can lie
Doesn't show you what's inside
And it, it can tell you you're full of life
It's amazing what you can hide
Just by putting on a smile
I don't wanna be afraid
I wanna wake up feeling beautiful today
And know that I'm okay
Cause everyone's perfect in their usual way
So you see, I just wanna believe in me
I'm quickly finding out
I'm not about to break down, not today
I guess I always knew
That I had all the strength to make it through
And I cannot be afraid
I'm gonna wake up feeling beautiful today
And know that I'm okay
Cause everyone's perfect in their usual way
So you see, now, now I believe in-
"Ooof! Aw! Aw! Aaaaaw!"
Sakuno, surprised of the voice that cut her off from singing, quickly turned back only to see a girl with short brown mushroom hair sitting under the tree massaging her head with her two bare hands.
As far as she could remember, a girl was never there sitting leisurely a while ago and she had also never seen someone climb up the hill aside from her.
Wait. She had never checked up the tree right.
Looking up the tree and realizing what had just happened, she blushed in embarrassment. Someone had just seen her day dreaming and smiling goofily like a crazy maniac. Not to mention, someone had heard her sing, a secret she had always been keeping. Oh no!
Sakuno instantly covered her mouth from the realization before getting her attention back to the girl rubbing a-what seemed to be growing soreness on her forehead.
Observing her intently, Sakuno realized how vaguely familiar she is, with the mushroom hair she meant. Adding the Fudomine uniform, that confirms her supposition that this is someone she had met the girl back in the good old days- if you could even call it good.
"Ouch! That really hurts!" Sakuno momentarily stared at her more, finding a hard time rolling the girl's name off her mouth; that is until she looked up at her with wide surprised eyes.
"Sakuno-chan! I knew it's your braids I could see from up there!"
"Ta-Tachibana An-senpai?" And the girl called as Tachibana got up from the ground to immediately hug her tight- so tight she could almost beat Kikumaru's power hug.
"Senpai, I-I-tai…"
"Oops sorry about that. I was just… uhmm.. " Sakuno watched her fought to say the right words. And when An just grinned with a failure to explain, she asked the question bugging her at the moment.
"How did you get in here senpain? And… up there?"
An followed the direction to where Sakuno points her finger, which is obviously up the tree before scratching an unknown itch at the back of her head before again, grinning.
"Well it doesn't matter. What matters most is that… YOU SING SO WELL!" An beamed while the other shied away and feared for her life. So An did hear her.
"Tachibana-senpai, you wouldn't tell anyone right?"
"What's with the formality, just call me An. And wait a minute, did you just tell me not to tell anyone? Are you kidding? Because-"
"No it's not a joke Tachi-An-senpai!"
"But… you're voice… it's… magnificent! Why not tell anyone? I mean, it even made me fall off the tree." Sweatdrop was all Sakuno could do as An imitate how she fell of the tree.
"An-senpai. I-I-I…"
"No! Stop it. No need to be shy!" An waved offhandedly at her before continuing. "That singing is of yours is a true gift!"
But I don't have the skill in tennis that I really needed.
"And…" An continued. "Everyone to hear you would surely be delighted."
Everyone except for my family.
Sakuno sadly smiled at her senpai, putting the side comments she made away from her mind. Other sincere compliments Sakuno had to keep inside. No matter how An would complement her, it would always end to that. She could only accept them and throw them at the back of her mind to lessen the disenchantment she feels inside.
Acceptiance. What a hard word to do for her, but still she try her hardest to manage.
Silence passed between them as both of them thought of words to say. Sakuno was about to be the first one to explain when An suddenly took her hand and talked before her.
"Sakuno-chan, I need your help. Could you please…sing for me?"
Edited this chapter out, hope it's better than before.
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