Chapter 2 Impressions
My fifteen minute walk to school the next day was a quiet one. My old light brown trench coat hung loosely across my shoulders and my scarf was furled around my neck to ward off the cold. According to the forecast, it would warm up later in the day, but I didn't mind lugging around the extra clothing. In all honesty they gave me a sense of security that nothing else did. Both of my parents had insisted I purchased some cold weather clothes before I moved so I went out and found the scarf and trench coat for cheap at a thrift store. I wore both anytime I could ever since. Perhaps it was because I had chosen them for myself but I found the old fashioned style to be distinctly me in every way. Sure the coat hung loose here and there and the scarf was near to threadbare but it didn't matter to me. I treasured both above anything else I owned, even if I did have to carry them from class to class every day. My train of thought came to an abrupt end when I stood in front of the familiar double doors. With a sigh I pushed them open and began another day of school.
When the final bell rang I made the decision to practice again today, it was a great stress reliever if nothing else. Removing my bag from my locker I took out the racket and balls and set them on the ground near my feet. Next I carefully folded my coat and scarf and placed them inside the bag, it would be better than leaving them out in the sun while I practiced. Carefully I zipped up the bag and grabbed my gear. A part of me hoped that he would show up today, but I knew better than to depend on it.
For a while I practiced in silence. It was only when I sat down for my break that I heard chattering nearing the gate. I checked my watch. It was only four thirty but I assumed some of the tennis club decided to come early for a change. I quickly gathered up my things but before I could leave a group of about five students came through the fence chatting away. I stayed silent and did my best to blend into the wall but they noticed me anyway as I tried to sneak past.
I swallowed as the lead guy came over and his intense gaze evaporated my confidence in seconds.
"What are you doing here? These courts are for the tennis club members only." The edge of commanding superiority in his voice caused me to flinch and I dropped my gaze to my feet.
"W-well I-I j-just thought-"
"Stop stuttering and speak!" His voice rose and I could feel eyes prying into me from every angle.
"No one comes here till five so I thought it would be okay to practice." My voice was barely more than a whisper and I bowed deep in apology. However, he only seemed to become more upset with the answer I gave him.
"So you admit you have practiced here before." Venom seeped into his voice with every word and I could only nod for fear of rousing his anger.
"Unless you plan to join the tennis club you are not allowed to practice here or do I need to get the principle to come spell it out for you?" I was near tears at this point and the emotional stress he was inflicting caused me to snap. I curled my fists and glared at up at him.
"Who gave you the right to decide that?! You're just a jerk who decided that rule arbitrarily so that only you and your friends have exclusive rights to the courts. Well guess what it's not your court or my court it's the schools court and I don't work my butt off every day to come to this school so that jerks like you can tell me where I can and can't go at any given time!" Tears had started to fall down my face halfway through but I didn't care. They could see me cry all they liked but it didn't change the fact that I was right.
He knew it too but it only made his blood boil. His fists tightened until they were white and I knew if I had been a boy he would have already punched me to the ground. The tension in the air was palpable and I backed away from him in fear.
"Well said." I looked behind me in relieved surprise. Ryoma and what looked like the managers of the tennis club walked through the gate and the student in front of me turned pale.
"Junzo I would like a word with you." The coach motioned for the boy before taking another look around the court. The other students were avoiding looking at him directly.
"On second thought I would like a word with all of you." Each of the students looked panicked but had no choice but to stagger over to the coach. While they were all huddled together being scolded Ryoma came over and gave me a reassuring smirk and thumbs up.
"How did you know?" I was baffled at how he had gotten here at exactly the right moment with the managers. He closed his eyes and chewed on his candy.
"I didn't." He left me with that and walked away.
I wasn't sure what would happen the next day but something in my gut told me something would happen. I found the feeling to be correct when during lunch somebody tapped me on the shoulder. I looked over my shoulder to find no one within reach so I returned my attention to my meal. It wasn't even thirty seconds before I received another tap. Annoyed I spun around to face the culprit.
The only thing between us was his lunch tray and we were so unintentionally close I felt my face flush. Was it always this hot in here?
"Mind if I sit here?" He was unaffected by the proximity and spoke normally.
"N-no." I found myself wishing that I didn't stutter when I was nervous. He sat across from me and I decided to forget that had ever happened.
"Don't talk much do you?"
"No." For once I mastered my accursed stutter as I looked anywhere but at him.
"Heh that's alright sometimes silence is better." We spent the rest of lunch in silence while the conversations around us filled the void. I kept my eyes firmly affixed on my tray while I played with my food; my thoughts eating up all of my attention. He was enigmatic to say the least, but the silence we shared was a comfortable one and eventually I found the courage to lift my head to look at him. He smiled warmly. By the time the bell rang we both had let our guard down in each other's presence no conversation needed. He was the one to stand up first but when he picked up his tray he didn't leave.
"If you want I could help you practice after school." It was more of a statement than a question, not that I would say no, he was still my idol after all.
"Sure." I picked up my tray and we both quietly headed for the exit together.
The end of school left me feeling anxious and my stomach twisted itself into knots on my walk to the courts. I knew my serves weren't even on par with an amateur and my physical game suffered heavily without a partner. At best I knew how to hold a racket and swing properly besides that I was basically a novice with little to no actual experience in a real match. The anxiety threatened to overwhelm me and when my walk of shame led me to the gate I nearly turned around. Luckily, Ryoma had already spotted me at that point.
"Glad you could make it." He gave me a thumbs up and lead the way through the fence. I took longer than usual to stretch and warm up, but when I could delay no longer I grabbed my racket. As he prepared to serve I took my starting position and steeled my nerves. It happened before I could even react.
The ball whizzed past my face and I could only stare completely dumbfounded as I looked from Ryoma to the ball behind me.
"Hmm I thought you could get that. Well I'll go slower this time." He grabbed a ball from his pocket and prepared again. I was determined not to miss this one and when the ball came at me I hit it back so hard it flew over the fence. This happened more times than I could count and I grew more frustrated each time it soared over the fence. When I finally couldn't take it anymore I threw my racket down in defeat.
"I'm so useless, how can it be this hard!" I pounded my fists against my head and ground my teeth.
"Honestly it's not as bad as you're making it out to be. You're reaction time's decent you just haven't had enough practice against an actual person." I sighed. He was right of course I was probably just overreacting. He bent over to pick up a ball at his feet and tossed it to me.
"Now let's see your serve." I gulped. I knew I was going to make a fool of myself even more so than before. Throwing the ball into the air I stretched my arm up swung hard aaaaaaaaaand hit the fence way above his head. I stood frozen in my finishing position while embarrassment flooded over me and turned my cheeks pink. Without any comment on my serve he tossed me another ball and told me to try again. I did with similar results. There was no way I was going to shame myself for a third time so I told him I needed a drink of water and he let me leave. When I returned somewhat composed I was about ready to call it quits with tennis altogether.
"Ryoma I don't mean to be rude but I honestly don't think tennis is for me. I mean practicing is fun but I would rather not humiliate myself any further." He chewed on his candy cigarette for a moment in contemplation.
"Just let me try one more thing and if it fails you don't ever have to pick up a racket again." I decided to give him a chance and reluctantly took my spot at the edge of the court.
"No stand near the net." I quizzically moved forward until I only about a foot and a half from the net.
"Alright I'm gonna hit you a ball and I want you to hit it back as many times as you can." I readied myself once more and he swung me an easy target. I swatted it back to his side and he returned it with ease. This kept up for a while with the game being easygoing, but once I had returned enough he began to pick up the pace.
All at once he was hitting it harder and faster and it took all I had to keep up. The ball hadn't escaped me yet and I was going to keep it that way for as long as possible. With my current position I didn't have to run to keep up with the ball and I was doing something I never would have thought I could do. I was an impassible wall, and not only that I was in an intense contest with Ryoma. He was moving at lightning speed to keep up with my passes and I hit harder to try and overcome his speed. For a while this kept him on his toes but when I accidently knocked one too close to him he intercepted it and swung it back twice as hard. I couldn't react in time and the ball nailed me in the face as everything went black.
When I came to he was hovering over me looking guilty. "Sorry I got to into it." I could only stare up at him as my vision swam. I closed my eyes to ward off the nausea and his voice became distorted. After a while I felt something cool on my forehead and I was finally able to open my eyes without the world spinning. "Thanks."
"There's no need to thank me I was the one who hit you in the face." I smiled tiredly and pulled myself up enough to sit.
"You were right about tennis."
"Well just because you don't practice with another person doesn't mean that you're bad at tennis. In fact your zone defense is even better than mine."
If I thought about what he said too much I would likely faint so I felt the swollen bump on my forehead instead. The contact made me flinch; it was probably going to be sore for a while. "Yeah well I guess I know why you're a tennis star."
It took me a few seconds to register what I said and I hesitantly stole a glance at him to see if he had noticed. He didn't look any different from normal and I gave a slight sigh. "You sigh a lot you know."
"You heard that?"
"I hear a lot of things most people don't." I suddenly found myself hoping no one was gossiping about me within earshot of him. I stole another look at his face and found a hint of a smile. My whole being burned and I buried my head in my hands out of complete mortification.
"Don't worry its nothing to incriminating and I won't tell." When I lifted my head up he gave me a smirk before heading for the gate. "See ya tomorrow."
After he left I got up slowly to give my head time to adjust. My legs wobbled a bit but otherwise the worst was over. Just to be sure I put on hand on the fence and followed it back to the gate. To my surprise my equipment was stacked neatly against the fence. I grinned; maybe he cared more than what his appearance suggested.
Heyo, so how was the second chapter? I hope my main isn't to boring but I feel like she should be a sort of opposite of an Ultimate student. I feel like it makes things more interesting and gives her room to grow. Anywho feedback is always appreciated and I hope you have a fantastic day!
-MidnightMarchioness
