Chapter 3 Small Steps
The next day he waited for me by the gate and instructed me in ways I could improve. I assumed it was out of guilt for hitting me in the face the day before because he had no other reason to help me otherwise. However he continued to show up every day after school and I soon found both a friend and a coach that I couldn't find elsewhere. He was patient when I failed and encouraging when I succeeded and my confidence grew with each day that passed. I felt that I was truly growing as both a person and an athlete under his tutelage.
Day after day he would coach me and before I knew it a month had passed. Already I felt stronger than I had been before. I could practice for longer now with fewer breaks and the changes that had been so hard at first were starting to seep in and make sense.
"Hi Ryoma." I opened the gate and set my bag aside. It still felt weird to say his name but after countless attempts I figured out how to say it without stumbling over every syllable.
"Hey Saiyuri." He didn't move his eyes from the target as he threw the ball up and swung. I could only barely detect the ball before it collided against the fence and sprung away. It rolled across the ground and into the net as I looked from him to the ball.
I was left in sheer awe. Not only was he accurate, but there was a serious amount of strength behind that serve. It was simply astounding how much raw ability he had for the sport despite his height.
Unbeknownst to me I had been staring for about a minute and it took me another before I came to comprehend what I was doing. I instantly snapped to attention and tried to keep my face neutral from what I felt. When I looked over he was leaning on the racket handle with a smirk pointed straight at me. I couldn't control the blush that rose to my face so I tried to direct the attention away from me.
"W-what do you want to work on today?" Even after all the time I had spent with him the stutter would still escape every once in a while.
"Serves." My steps became choppy. I had been dreading this for the entirety of the month but I knew if I wanted to become better I would have to practice serves at some point.
"Okay." Resigning myself to the oncoming humiliation I set my stuff down and moved to the corner of the court.
"I'm just going to watch you the first few times so just do what feels right and we'll go from there."
I took a minute to psyche myself up before I threw the ball into the air and swung. I tried my best to imitate the pros but it was hard when you couldn't actually see yourself performing the actions.
My racket came down and the ball flew straight towards the next court over. Ryoma seemed impartial to my mistake and threw me another ball. I tried not to repeat my mistake again only to have the ball fly straight into the net. How the shame hadn't killed me yet I didn't know but I kept at it until he motioned for me to stop.
Sighing I grabbed my water bottle from the bench and popped the top off. I slid down against the fence and he stood beside me during the water break.
"You're trying too hard." I was in the middle of drinking and nearly choked. I swallowed it all down quickly to speak.
"What?"
"You're trying so hard to do it right that you end up doing it wrong. If you would stop thinking about it so much you should be fine. You just need to stop trying to force it." He pulled his hat down over his head and took out another candy cigarette. He chewed on it while I meditated on his words.
It made sense that I would be trying too hard in front of him. I had admired him from the start of his career and now to have him standing beside me was almost surreal. However I knew that if I wanted to get better I would have to put away that feeling and do the best I could for myself and no one else.
"Alright one more time." I heaved myself to my feet and placed the water bottle to the side. Snatching up the discarded racket I faced the opposing side with a newfound confidence. For the umpteenth time that day I threw the ball up in the air and brought the racket down, only this time I let myself relax into the motions. The ball landed on the opposite side, a natural ace.
"Perfect." Did I hear that right?
"Excuse me?"
"The serve was perfect." He touched his hat and chewed harder on the candy. I was starting to wonder if he fiddled with his hat out of boredom or embarrassment but that was a question for another day.
"Thanks." I was glad I didn't stutter this time but I still wouldn't dare to look him in the eye right now.
"You're welcome Saiyuri." He said it nonchalantly, but I still felt a twinge of excitement when he said my name. I couldn't help that I still idolized him as much as I did even after getting to know him better.
"You sure you still don't want to join the club?" The topic change caught me off guard and I froze for a minute in deliberation.
"I-I know you really want me to join Ryoma, but I just don't think I would have fun in an actual club. I mean it's very competitive and having to work as hard as you guys do will just make me hate tennis." I knew my answer would disappoint him, but it was the truth.
No matter how much I wanted to please him I just couldn't deny that forcing myself to join would make me miserable in the long run. I didn't think it was fair to either me or Ryoma to join only to end up regretting it later.
"I'm sorry." I bowed to him and was suddenly struck with déjà vu. I smiled; it was just like the first day of school all over again. However the smile quickly faded as worry took over. What would he think of my answer?
"There's no need to apologize I was just asking. I figured you would say no anyway." He shined a genuine smile to show he was fine and I felt my heart melt.
Inside I was celebrating. The thought that he would ask again had been gnawing at me for a while and I was worried what would happen if I refused again. I was glad to see nothing had become of that fear.
"Come on dinners on me." I decided I couldn't have heard him right and remained silent.
"I've been working you to the bone for a month now you need a reward for putting up with me."
Was-was he asking me out on a date or was it just as friends? I could feel my brain reeling at the first possibility, but through the cloudy mess I somehow began to pack up. I couldn't remember how I got to the restaurant, what time it was, or if I should be here at all. All I knew was that I was having dinner with Ryoma.
"You okay you look a little pale?" I snapped out of my entranced state to notice he had his hands behind his head and was nestled against the back of the booth.
"Yeah I'm fine just tired from practice is all." A thought occurred to me when I mentioned practice that made me wonder if this truly was a date.
"Um aren't you supposed to meet with the club after school?" He switched the fake cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other.
"They can go one day without me." The waiter finally came to take our drink orders and the more time that passed the more I was convinced that this was a date. However I couldn't think about it too much unless I wanted to be incoherent for the rest of the night. To distract myself I engrossed myself in the menu until the waiter came back, but after we ordered I had no escape.
"So how's practice going?"
"I'm always trying to improve but I've still got a ways to go."
"Yeah me too." I had said it without thinking about it and felt my cheeks become enflamed. Of course he knew he was coaching me for Pete's sake!
"You're coming along though you have a lot of natural skill you just need some power to back it up." I relaxed when he said it like that. Around him I didn't feel like I had to correct a mistake but rather learn from that mistake and move on. If he wasn't already a tennis star I probably would have suggested he become a coach.
"You don't need to force yourself to speak you know. Like I said before sometimes silence is better than words."
There it was again with his compassion. You would think his skill would make him prideful but it was quite the opposite. He really did care more than he let on and I found his subtlety to be kind of cute. The thought of what he would say to that made me giggle out loud.
"What's so funny?"
"It's nothing." I did my best to make it sound unimportant and tried to stifle another rising giggle.
"Well now you've got me curious." Before he could really press further about it our food arrived.
I had decided to go with something I knew both for flavor and price. In truth I was really picky when it came to food and since Ryoma was paying I didn't want to experiment with something new. I could do that in my own time with my own money. We ate quickly and the air grew quiet again. I still couldn't figure out how I had become relaxed in such a short span of time, but that could wait till later when I was alone. For right now I wasn't going to question it. Life had a funny way of doing things so who was I to question its almighty judgement.
We did end up talking after a while and I found that the conversation flowed easily between the two of us. He was always bringing up new stories and most of the time I could find a similar experience I had had when I was a child. If not he would plunge into another story without any prompting. I'm not sure what it was but he always knew when I had something to say and would intentionally give me a break to let me voice my thought. Honestly I never would have guessed he had so many adventures throughout his childhood but I guessed that it was just my anxiety that kept me from experiencing it.
We talked the rest of the evening and hours passed like minutes between us. Before I knew it dusk was fast approaching and he had offered to see me home. Blushing I accepted and as the cool night breeze brushed my skin I felt content for the first time in a long while.
"Thanks for dinner Ryoma."
"You thank people to much Saiyuri I already told you this was a reward for working so hard." He pulled his hat down and I smirked inwardly. He did pull on his hat when he was embarrassed.
"Well then thanks for walking me home." He shook his head at me and took out his package of candy cigarettes for a new one.
"Want one?"
"Sure." I always was curious why he constantly had one in his mouth, perhaps tasting one would solve that mystery. Placing half of it into my mouth I tried to pinpoint the flavor. When I thought I had it I took it out and held it in between my fingers.
"Strawberry maybe?"
"Wrong. The flavor is called fruit heaven and this is the only brand that makes it. Supposedly it's a mixture of every type of fruit on the planet. I don't know if that's true or not but whatever it is its addicting." The irony of the candy hit me once he explained.
"I guess it's fitting they're cigarettes then." He didn't respond but I could swear I heard a low rumbling sound. It took me a full minute to realize he was laughing. It was only just slight but that I had made him laugh in the first place was an accomplishment in and of itself.
"I've been eating these since I was a kid and I never even realized. I guess I've still got a ways to go." He put his hands behind his head and leaned against the apartment wall. The candy cigarette bobbed up and down in his mouth and he closed his eyes, a light smile gracing his features.
"Why do you always say that?"
"Hmmm, say what?" He opened one eye lazily.
"I've still got a ways to go." He took the candy out of his mouth and looked up in thought.
"Well it's the truth isn't it? People are always striving for perfection but they never do attain it. Even so if you don't try you'll never know how far you can go." It was silent for a few minutes as I engrained every word he had said in my heart.
"You're really wise, you know that Ryoma." I could swear I saw a faint blush on his face before he pulled his hat down and turned away.
"Anyway see you at practice Saiyuri." He walked off without looking back. He really was adorable even if he didn't want to be.
Yay I finally got this chapter the way I wanted it to be. I hope you like the results and as always feedback is very welcome. Next chapter should be up sooner than this one (hopefully) and as always I hope you have a fantastic day.
-MidnightMarchioness
