Revised Chapter 1 by Midnight Hell. Thank you
*Ryoma is in high school and she just came back from America because she was tired of America and misses her friends in Japan.
This is in English
'this is thought'
"Speakin in japanese"
Hope u guys like it. If u have any advices pls let me noe.
~America - 7:30 pm; JFK Airport~
"Mom, hurry up! We're going to miss the flight," the girl shouted. She bounced up and down on her feet, her golden eyes constantly flickering back to the giant clock. 7:30 pm. Their flight was in thirty minutes and they still didn't found the gates. Apparently, it was on the other side of the airport.
'I can't wait to see you again, Ryo-chan,' the girl thought.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," the woman shouted, apologizing as she pushed her way towards her daughter. She smiled at her daughter's happy face.
'This girl,' the woman thought. 'So excited to see her sister...'
"Mom!"
"Coming!"
~Japan - 7:30 am; Tokyo~
In the early morning of Japan, there is always a kid that won't wake up.
"RYOMA!" A girl yelled from downstairs. The voice barely drifted upstairs to the closed room that was labeled 'Ryoma'. The girl inside the room, groaned as she shifted and her Himalayan cat meowed in protest.
"Five more minutes, Nanako..." the girl mumbled. Despite the soft reply, the girl downstairs heard it.
"If you don't wake up, Uncle's going to eat your breakfast!" Nanako shouted. "And you're going to be late! You finally came back from America! Don't be late on your first day back! Ryoma!" Ryoma groaned as she sat up.
"I'm up," she muttered. "I'm up..." Ryoma yawned loudly and looked to her side, her cat Karupin staring up at her with its eyes. Ryoma smiled fondly at it. "G'morning, Karupin."
"Mreeeooww," Karupin greeted back and Ryoma scratched her behind her ear. Karupin purred in response and leaned into the touch.
"Heh, I'm definitely not a morning person, aren't I?" Karupin nodded. "Anyways, I seriously don't want that pervert eating my good," she grumbled and got up. Just as Ryoma was reaching for her closet with her clothes inside...
BAM!
Ryoma and Karupin's head snapped to the door. There was her dad, the famous samurai, Echizen Nanjiroh. With... her uniform?
"Wha--don't you know how to knock!?" Ryoma yelled angrily and Nanjiroh grinned.
"Hehe, but I wanted to give you your uniform, Ryo-chan," he said, putting a emphasis on the 'chan'. Ryoma growled.
"Don't call me that," she warned, her hand twitching. Nanjiroh immediately saw this and put his hands up in defense.
"Woah there, Ryoma," he said. "Don't go flipping your dad over your back now. I was just going to give you your uniform..." Ryoma rolled her eyes.
"That's all you better want to do," she muttered. Ryoma snatched her uniform out of her dad's hand and nearly dropped it once she got a good look at it.
Nanjiroh snickered. "What, don't like it, brat?" Ryoma growled.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" She screamed. "IT'S A SKIRT! A DAMN SKIRT!" Nanjiroh faked a shocked look.
"Is it? I never knew!" He said and Ryoma growled. Nanjiroh pouted. "Aw, come on, Ryoma. You haven't worn a skirt in ages! Wait... what are you doing with that chair? Ryoma...Ryoma...put the chair down. RYOMA-NO!"
"DIE!"
SLAM!
"And stay out!" Ryoma yelled as she kicked her dad out of the room (and the chair) and locked her door.
"Ryo-chan! Don't be so mean!" Came the muffled yells of her dad, which the 12-year old girl ignored. Ryoma walked to her closet as she muttered, "Stupid dad," under her breath.
She quickly pulled out a pair of black, baggy denim jeans, a red t-shirt, and some bandages. From her drawer, Ryoma pulled out a couple of black bobby pins and pinned her hair up. Then, she grabbed a wig that was the same color as her hair and carefully placed it on so that it looked real. Ryoma pinned that to her real hair so it wouldn't fall off.
"Ryoma! Breakfast!" Nanako reminded her and Ryoma turned to the door.
"I'm coming! Give me a couple seconds!" She yelled and quickly changed out of her pajamas. Before Ryoma placed on her shirt, she quickly wrapped her chest with the bandages.
Ryoma grabbed her bag on the way out along with her red racket. The tennis team in Seigaku High...would it live up to its standards that the regulars put three years ago?
If she recalled, right about now was the time for the ranking tournament. Ryoma smirked.
'Seigaku...here I come.'
"Ryo-chaaan!" Nanjiroh yelled and Ryoma winced. "Stop being a tomboy and be a girl for once! Go upstairs and change!" Despite his firm voice, the girl couldn't help but snicker.
"Have you looked in a mirror?" Ryoma asked, completely ignoring his demand. "You look like a panda." Indeed, he did, with a giant black ring around his right eye. Nanjiroh glared at his snickering daugher.
"And whose fault was that?" Ryoma grinned.
"I'm happy to say it was my fault," she said and sat down. Suddenly, Ryoma frowned. "Nanako! Why isn't there Japanese food?" Nanako gave a apologetic look to her cousin.
"Sorry, Ryoma," she said. "But I have to leave soon and there wasn't enough time. I promise to make it next time, 'kay?" Ryoma frowned but nodded nonetheless.
"You shouldn't be so picky," Nanjiroh said as he sat down in his seat. But instead of eating the food, he grabbed the newspaper from the middle of the table. Ryoma's sharp eyes saw the magazine hidden within.
"Seriously..." Ryoma muttered. Nanako giggled.
"Boys," she said and Ryoma agreed. She glanced at the clock and nearly choked on her glass of milk.
'I'm going to be late!' She thought and quickly gulped down the rest of her milk and stuffed a piece of toast into her mouth.
"Thanks for the food!" Ryoma yelled as she grabbed her bag and stood up. "Bye!" Then she ran out the door.
"Bye!" Ryoma barely heard the reply as she was already halfway down the block.
"I seriously wish Momo-senpai was here..." she muttered as she ran down the block. Bicycling was a lot faster than runnning, that's for sure. And right now, Ryoma seriously needed speed.
The black-haired girl zoomed right into the school. The school was empty by now, only a couple slackers lounging around and custodians. All the others were in their classes or at meetings for whatever club they were in.
Ryoma looked around for the office. It was suppose to be nearby and she walked around for a bit until she finally reached a building labled 'Office'.
She walked inside and a secretary looked her way. "Do you need something?" The woman asked as she gathered some papers. Ryoma nodded.
"I'm Ryoma Echizen," she said. "I'm here to pick up my scheldue." The secretary's eyes widened.
"Ah, Echizen-kun!" The secretary said. "We were wondering when you were going to come back from America. When you didn't appear a week ago, we thought something happened."
"Sorry, my flight was delayed a day due to a storm. And my dad didn't want me to start school until I was reaccustomed with Japan," Ryoma said. The secretary nodded and started searching through some file cabinets.
"Echizen-kun, why aren't you wearing your uniform?" The secretary asked as she looked for Ryoma's scheldue.
"...I didn't get the right uniform..." Ryoma muttered. The secretary blinked in confusion.
"Oh, Echizen-chan!" A voice yelled, and both females turned.
"Oh, Principal Ishigawa. G'morning," Ryoma said as she bowed. The principal smiled.
"How was your trip to America?" He asked.
"Oh, that? Same as always," Ryoma said.
"Um, Echizen...chan?" The secretary asked hesitantly. The principal nodded.
"Their family has told me of Echizen-chan's gender when she first enrolled into Seigaku High," the principal told her.
"S-she!?" The secretary yelled. The principal chuckled.
"Ms. Azami, please do not say that so loud," the principal said. "It is meant to be a secret so she can join the boy's tennis team." The secretary.
"I understand," she said. "Echizen-chan, here is your scheldue. It's the same as for Seigaku Middle with five periods a day and two breaks. A morning and lunch break. School ends at 2:30 pm. Your homeroom is A-2." Ryoma nodded and took the scheldue.
"Please come at the end of school to pick up your uniform," the principal said and Ryoma nodded.
"Thank you," she said and left.
"Good luck!" The principal yelled and Ryoma's eye twitched.
'I'm definitely going to need that luck to survive another year of school,' she thought. Ryoma walked towards her first period, Literary English.
'A-5...A-7...A-9...ah, here we go. A-11.' Ryoma slid open the door, interrupting the teacher.
"Narumi-sensei?" Ryoma asked after reading the name from his scheldue. The thirt-year old woman nodded.
"That would be me. And I presume you are the new student?" She asked and Ryoma nodded. "Please come in and introduce yourself. And do it in English, since this is a English class." Ryoma smirked.
'Piece of cake,' she thought.
""Okay,"" she said and turned to face the class. ""My name is Ryoma Echizen. I just transferred here from America. I'm really Japanese even though I've lived in America for most of my life."" The class burst into a flurry of whispers, each and every single one of them about Ryoma.
"Wow, is he hot or what?" A girl whispered to her friend. The other girl nodded.
"So hot!"
"You think he has a girlfriend?" Another girl in the corner of the room asked the girl in front of her.
"I hope he doesn't!" And the two girls squealed.
Only two students were whispering. They were just staring wide-eyed at the golden-eyed boy in front of them. Ryoma didn't seem to notice them.
""Does anyone have any questions for Echizen-kun?"" Narumi-sensei asked in English. Then, she reverted back to Japanse. "All questions must be in English." The class groaned at that, but even so, many hands shot up.
""U-um..."" A girl muttered, obviously racking her brain for the right words. ""D-do you h-have a...a girrfriend?"" Ryoma snickered inwardly at her poor English. Since there was no 'L' in the Japanese alphabet, words like girlfriend were hard to pronounce.
""No, I don't,"" Ryoma said. The girls squealed at his response.
"He's single!" A girl squealed and nearly fainted right then and there.
""Er...D-do you... do you p-pr...pray tennis?"" Another boy asked, stuttering over the word 'play'. Ryoma nodded.
""It's play,"" she corrected him. ""And yes, I do."" Narumi-sensei held up her hand to silence the students.
""That's enough questions for now,"" she said. ""Echizen-kun, please sit between Ryuzaki-san and Satoshi-san."" Ryoma blinked at the familiar surnames.
'No way...' she thought as she stared at her former classmates, Sakuno and Horio.
Ryoma walked calmly to her seat and sat down, then glanced at the brunette to her right.
"Stop staring," she muttered quietly and Sakuno quickly closed her mouth but Horio didn't. He was still in a daze to register her words. "Seriously, you guys act like you've never seen a cross-dressing girl before," Ryoma whispered. Sakuno gave a silent giggle.
"That's because they haven't," Sakuno whispered back. No one could hear what they were saying since they were whispering softly. "Anyways, I thought you were in America."
"Everyone thinks that," Ryoma muttered irritatedly. "Sorry I couldn't tell you over e-mail. There was a storm that delayed my flight by one day and cut off all reception." Sakuno nodded in understanding.
When Ryoma left for America, she kept in contact with the regulars and Sakuno through e-mail. Sakuno knew Ryoma's real gender because during a summer vacation in her third year, she went to America and met Ryoma as a girl accidentally. They became best friends after that.
"ECHIZEN! YOU'RE BACK!" Horio suddenly shouted and Sakuno jumped. The only reaction Ryoma gave to that was a slight twitch in her hand. Sakuno saw this as a warning sign.
"R-Ryo-ch-er...Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno shouted too, bursting up. Ryoma shot her a glare for almost saying her nickname out loud, Ryo-chan. "Y-You're back!" Horio nodded.
"We thought you were still in America!" Narumi-sensei sighed and Sakuno quickly sat down.
"Satoshi-san..." Narumi-sensei muttered, but Horio didn't hear her. He was still pestering Ryoma on why she didn't tell them why she was coming back. "Satoshi-san..." Narumi-sensei said, this time a little bit louder.
"ECHIZEN! TELL ME!"
"HORIO! SIT DOWN! DETENTION FOR YOU!"
"YES, SENSEI!" The class burst into laughter at that and they forgot about the question. But Horio didn't. Even after class, he still asked Ryoma why. Suddenly, Ryoma's eyes widened and she pointed in a direction.
"Ah!" Horio quickly looked in that direction.
"Eh? There's nothing there...Echizen?" Horio looked around for the boy, only he was nowhere to be found. His eyes widened. "AH! ECHIZEN! THAT'S DIRTY!"
Ryoma quickly slammed the door behind her, panting as she struggled to regain her breath.
"That guy still irks me..." she muttered, annoyed. Sakuno giggled. She hugged her.
"I really missed you, Ryo-chan," Sakuno said and Ryoma smiled as she hugged her back.
"I missed you too," Ryoma said. Sakuno giggled as she looked over Ryoma's clothing.
"You're still the stubborn girl I remember from long ago," Sakuno said. "No matter how much time passes, you can't let go." Ryoma stayed silent as she layed on the floor next to Sakuno, her arms folded behind her head as a pillow.
"It's hard to let go of old habits," Ryoma finally said. "I guess I really am stubborn." Sakuno smiled, but it was a sad one. She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them.
"It's not your fault, Ryo," Sakuno muttered. Ryoma closed her eyes as she thought of her brother, Ryoga and the event that made him leave. It hurt just to think about it.
They sat in silence until a grumbling interrupted it. Sakuno looked at Ryoma, who started to laugh. Sakuno joined in.
"Time for lunch!"
"Momo-senpai!" Momoshiro Takeshi turned to see Horio running towards him, along with Kachiro and Katsuo behind him. The latter two joined him after Horio explained what happened.
"Ah, Horio!" Momo shouted, waving him over.
"M-Momo-senpai!" Horio gasped loudly. "I-I have s-something to tell y-you!" Momo blinked.
"Eh? What's wrong?" He asked.
"Nya, something wrong?" Eiji asked and Horio jumped.
"K-Kikumaru-senpai!" Horio shouted. Eiji grinned.
"Nya, nice to see you too, Horio," he said. Momo looked to Horio.
"What did you want to tell us?" Momo asked.
"It's Echizen," he shouted. "He's back!"
"ECHIZEN?!"
"OCHIBI'S BACK!?" The two regulars stared in disbelief at the second year who nodded vigorously.
"Where is he?" Momo asked.
"I'm not sure," Horio admitted. "He used a cheap trick on me and escaped with Sakuno." Momo and Eiji shared a glance with each other, before their lips curved into a sly grin.
"Oh-ho! Echizen's got himself a girlfriend!" Momo yelled.
"Nya, ochibi! He's so sly!" Eiji yelled. Suddenly, the two senpais grabbed Horio by the back of his collar and began to drag him down the hall.
"We'll find you!" They yelled.
SLAM!
Ryoma and Sakuno looked up the moment the roof door opened abruptly.
"ECHIZEN!"
"OCHIBI!"
"SNEAKY BASTARD!" Ryoma groaned silently and suddenly, she was glomped by the red-head.
"Nya, ochibi!" Eiji yelled. "You're back! You're back!" Ryoma groaned as she fought for air.
"C-can't b-breathe, K-Kikumaru-senpai..." Ryoma choked out and Eiji immediately released her.
"Nya, sorry!" Eiji apologized. Ryoma sighed in relief as the air rushed back into her lungs, but then Momo suddenly brought her into a headlock and gave her a nuggie.
"Eh, so the famous Echizen has a girlfriend?" Momo asked, grinning slyly. Sakuno choked on her rice from her bento while Ryoma sputtered.
"WHAT?! NO!" The two suddenly yelled and Momo and Eiji grinned.
"Ah, young love and denial," Momo said and Eiji agreed. Ryoma's eye twitched.
'How I'd love to throw them over my back right now,' she thought. Momo released Ryoma.
"Anywyas, why didn't you tell us you were coming back?" Eiji asked and Ryoma groaned in frustration. She turned to Sakuno.
"Mind explaining?" She asked. "Because I'm sure not gonna." Sakuno giggled.
"Ryoma-kun couldn't tell us because of a storm," Sakuno explained. "It cut off reception for awhile." Momo and Eiji nodded.
"Echizen! You could have just told me!" Horio whined. "Now I have detention!"
"Eh, whatever," Ryoma said and Horio growled.
"Sneaky bastard!" Horio yelled. Momo chuckled.
"So, you coming to practice or what?" Momo asked Ryoma and she grinned.
"You bet I am."
~Narito Airport~
A girl with long black hair and golden eyes scanned over the crowd of people, looking for someone.
"Do you see him, mom?" The girl asked. The woman shook her head.
"He's probably reading his magazines and forgot all about us," the woman said and the two girls sighed.
"Men," they both muttered.
"Stay here while I go call Nanjiroh," the woman said and the girl nodded.
"Alright." The girl smiled as she looked over the crowd.
'Ryo-chan...I'm finally home.'
Finally, the day has ended.
"Hey, Echizen," Horio called. "Tell the captain I have detention thanks to a certain someone." Echizen nodded, ignoring his words.
"Ah," she muttered and walked towards the tennis courts. Despite her calm demeanor, one would have never guessed her excitement. Ryoma was dying to play with her senpais again and she loved tennis more than anything.
Well, except for Karupin and Rika, that is.
Only Tezuka and her dad could see her passion for tennis. Ryoma loved to chase that yellow ball around the court as the movement flowed through her body like a dance that only she could do. Tennis was her life. Nothing could change that.
Eiji grinned as he glomped Ryoma for the second time that day. "Nya, ochibi! You made it to practice!" Ryoma groaned as her senpai nearly crushed her with his weight.
"E-Eiji!" Oishi cried. "Echizen's turning blue!" Eiji blinked and looked down.
"Nya! Ochibi!" Eiji cried and jumped away, leaving Ryoma to fall and gasp for air. "Sorry!"
"Echizen, are you okay?" Oishi asked, a worried tone in his voice. Ryoma nodded.
"I-I'm fine," she managed to choke out. After another minutes of breathing in precious air, she stood up and dusted her shirt. A certain tensai spotted Ryoma.
"Saa...Echizen, long time no see," Fuji said. "Have you improved at your tennis skills?" Ryoma nodded, smirking.
"Of course I have," she said.
"How was America?" Tezuka asked as he walked up to her.
"It was fine," she answered. "The ranking tournament is going to happen soon, right?" Tezuka nodded.
"Yup, then Echizen can become a regular again!" Momo cheered. Some of the third-years looked at their senpais as if they were crazy.
"Woah, are they actually going to let a first-year compete in the ranking tournament?" A boy asked. The other boy smirked, his brown hair held back by a green headband.
"Ah, you don't know," he said. "That first-year competed in the ranking tournament back in middle school too." The peoples eyes around him widened.
"What?! No way!" A boy yelled. "Arai-senpai, you can't be serious!" Arai smirked.
"Oh, but I am," he said and walked away.
"Echizen, go change and meet us near the courts," Tezuka said and Ryoma nodded. She was already in her tennis clothes. However, she still walked towards the locker room to put away her bag.
"Saa, Echizen. I heard from my classmates that there was a freshman who already has a fan club. It can't be you, right?" Fuji asked. Ryoma stayed silent and inwardly, she was cursing.
'Ah damn, I already have a fan club? Middle school all over again,' she thought sadly. Eiji grinned.
"No way! Ochibi already has a fan club!" Eiji yelled, not noticing Ryoma's distress. The regulars however, smiled at their kouhai. They were happy that she came back from America. Despite the fact that they didn't show it, they missed Ryoma a lot and missed the cocky brat.
Ryoma and the regulars walked to the courts.
"Today, we'll be doing a warm-up session," Tezuka said. "Run 30 laps in 25 minutes." Many of the people groaned, but not the regulars or Ryoma.
"If you fail to do so..." Inui said, his voice taking on a eerie tone. "You will drink my new improved, 'Penal Tea', Special Deluxe Aoi." The drink was a strange blue-green color, and it seemed to be bubbling...
Everyone face went pale and many groaned again. Ryoma didn't even think about anything as she began running the moment Inui said start. After ten laps, all of the freshman (minus Ryoma) were out. Ten more lap later, the non-regulars were out (minus Ryoma again). Nine more laps later, only the regulars and Ryoma remained. This was the last lap.
"Last lap!" The tennis coach called. "The person who finishes last will drink Inui's drink!" Ryoma looked at it and shivered.
'There is no way I'm drinking that!' She yelled inwardly and began to run faster.
"I DON'T WANT TO DRINK THAT!!!" Eiji and Momo shouted, running even faster than before.
"Saa...This is going to be fun," Fuji said.
"..." The regulars looked at Fuji as if he was crazy and just sped up, leaving the tensai behind. Fuji noticed this and grinned, speeding up too.
"Who's coming in first?" Horio asked and the people just shrugged.
"Ten more seconds!" The coach yelled and the regulars ran even faster. At the very last second... "TIME!" He yelled and Inui looked at the regulars sadly.
"Wow! A tie!" The three freshman, Horio, Kachiro, and Katsuo chorused. Inui and Fuji sighed in disappointment. One because no one got to try his new drink, and the other because he never got to see any of his teammates suffer.
"Looks like no one got to try my new drink," Inui muttered. "Would any of you like to try?"
"NO!" The regulars shouted (minus Tezuka and Fuji). Fuji and the coach chuckled at their reactions.
'Inui's drinks always have a good effect,' the coach thought. He clapped his hands together to get their attention.
"What are you doing!?" The coach yelled. "Practice starts now! Second and third years practice in D court, the first years start your warm-up sessions and pick up the alls after that. The regulars, including Echizen, will start practice matches in A court."
"Don't let your guard down!" Tezuka shouted and everyone nodded.
"YES!" They yelled. Eiji glommed Ryoma.
"Nya, ochibi. Want to play a match with me?" He asked and Ryoma smirked.
"Sure," she said. "I won't go easy on you." Eiji grinned.
"Neither will I!" Twenty minutes later, Ryoma won 6-3, just by using his right hand the whole time and using only Twist Serve and Drive B.
"Echizen is getting better, isn't he?" Oishi asked Tezuka and he nodded.
"Aa," he said. Ryoma and Eiji were walking off the court when somebody shouted.
"RYO-CHAN!" The regulars groaned as they heard the voice.
'Fan girls,' they thought. 'Is Echizen going to be ** or is that his girlfriend?' Ryoma, on the other hand, recognized that voice.
'Wait, isn't that...' she thought and turned. She saw a girl running to her.
"AH!" Ryoma yelled as the girl jumped on her and they fell. The regulars stared wide-eyed at the scene.
The girl smiled sweetly. "Hey, Ryo-chan."
