Notice:
'Huh?': thinking;
"It's very good. Arigatou, ojii-san.": normal talking;
"Alexander, what is it?": talking in German.
Ryoma pulled on the strings of her racket, testing their guts. She just had them changed. She smiled to the clerk.
"It's very good. Arigatou, ojii-san," Ryoma said.
"Dou itashimashite, ojou-chan," the clerk responded, smiling.
"Chibisuke, are you finished?" Ryoga asked.
"Hai."
Ryoma paid the clerk and the brother and sister left the shop. As they passed in front of a vending-machine, Ryoma stopped and pulled out a 100 yen coin and dropped it into the machine. She was going to push on the button for the grape Ponta, but Ryoga made another choice for her. He pushed on the orange flavor button.
"Aniki!" Ryoma protested.
"Hehehehe!" Ryoga grinned. "Chibisuke, it's boring to always drink grape. Life has many flavors; you should try them all and not limit yourself to only one."
"Life has many flavors. So why do you limit everything to orange only?" Ryoma retorted and sent him a kick.
"Hihihihihihi!" Ryoga laughed and dodged. Ryoma tried to punch him, but he also dodged, as well as all her other attempts to inflict him at least one strike. "Chibisuke, mada mada daze! You're still too slow!"
"Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh!" Ryoma tried to attack him again.
"Hahahahaha!" Ryoga laughed as he avoided all of her attacks.
"Ryoma!" a voice called her.
"Huh?"
The two Echizens stopped their quarrel.
"Yuuta, Fuji-senpai," Ryoma greeted.
"Yo!" Ryoga saluted.
"Ya!" Fuji greeted back.
"What are you doing here?" Ryoma asked.
"We are going to the public tennis court. And you?" Yuuta answered.
"Same thing!" Ryoga said.
"Then why don't we go together," Fuji proposed.
"Ah. Hai," Ryoma answered.
On the way to the court, Ryoma and Yuuta walked ahead while Ryoga and Fuji were behind them. The two younger chatted together, though Ryoma listened more than she talked. Fuji, being him, didn't talk unless it was necessary. However, his eyes were constantly fixed on Ryoma. And they were opened. Ryoga thought that he saw a soft expression in his eyes.
'Huh?'
Unsure, he focused his attention on Fuji. While listening to Yuuta, Fuji's eyes were still fixed on the black emerald head in front of him, his lips gracing a gentle smile. Ryoga opened his eyes wide. Then, slowly, he smiled too, slyly.
'Hmn… Sou ka… Interesting…'
Bump!
"Ah! Itai!" Ryoma bumped into someone and fell on her behind.
"Chibisuke/Ryoma-chan/Ryoma!" Ryoga, Fuji and Yuuta hastened around her.
"Chibisuke, are you alright?" Ryoga worriedly asked and helped her to stand up. Ryoma simply nodded.
They looked at the person into who she bumped. It was a boy, maybe between Fuji's and Ryoga's age. He was tall and had a fairly pale complexion: very white skin, shoulder length light blond hair and pale royal blue eyes. At the first sight, one could tell that he was a foreigner. And a handsome one too. He wore a black sport suit with white and pale blue stripes across the chest. The boy and Ryoma fixed each other, not blinking.
"Alexander, hurry!" one of his companions, who were behind him, called.
'Germans?' Ryoma thought.
The boy glanced one last time at Ryoma, then left with his friends.
"Are you all right?" Yuuta asked her. Ryoma nodded.
"Fuji? Echizen-chan?" someone called. Ryoma turned her head to the direction of the voice.
"Senpai-tachi!"
"Hello," Yukimura greeted. Sanada nodded to them. Marui and Niou were there too.
"Hello," Fuji greeted.
"What are you doing here?" Yuuta asked.
"Yukimura wants to try a public tennis court," Sanada simply answered.
"Hmm…" Ryoma said, eyeing the pretty-girl boy buchou. Yukimura smiled. "And you, Marui-senpai and Niou-senpai?"
"We crossed with them so we decided to tag along," Marui said, blowing his bubble gum.
"How about you?" Yukimura asked.
"We were planning to have a couple of matches," Yuuta answered. "Care to join?"
They accepted the invitation.
First, they had one or two games in singles. Ryoma first played against Marui, then Yukimura. Though it was only for warming-up, Ryoma could feel the hidden power of Rikkaidai's buchou. After that, they played double. Sanada-Ryoma pair against Fuji-Niou. It didn't take a long time to grasp an irrefutable fact.
"Ryoma/Echizen, you suck in doubles!" Yuuta, Yagyuu, Yanagi, Niou and Marui chorused. Ryoma grunted.
"Senpai-tachi, since when were you here?" Ryoma asked Yagyuu and Yanagi.
"Since the last ten minutes," Yanagi said.
"I heard that Yukimura wants to try a public tennis court, so I thought it was a good opportunity to collect new data," Inui, standing next to Yanagi, said as he scribbled in his notebooks. "Indeed, I got some good data about you, Echizen."
"But It's surprising, Echizen-chan. You, our female prodigy, is so bad in doubles! Hehehe!" Niou said, grinning. "Mada mada dane!" he quoted her, tsking with his finger. Ryoma scowled.
"What? You didn't know that she's not good in double?" Ryoga asked.
"Well, considering her antisocial personality, it's not easy to find a compatible character to put in doubles with her," Yagyuu said. "And Sanada's icy demeanor is the worst combination with Echizen."
"Pfffffffffff!" the Fuji brothers, Yukimura, Marui and Niou snickered. Sanada and Ryoma glared at them, eyes twitching.
"Hihihihihi!" Ryoga snickered but a dagger glare from his little sister immediately shut him up. Though, he was still snickering.
They took a short break. Ryoma wanted another Ponta drink and went to search for a vending-machine alone.
'This time, aniki won't be there to annoy me!' She looked to the right, then to the left. 'Ah! There!'
She hurried to the machine, her coin in her hand. There was also another person in front of the vending-machine. Ryoma slowed her pace as she was near the person. It was a boy. Feeling the presence of another person, the boy turned around. Ryoma recognized the guy into whom she bumped earlier. Seeing the coin in her hand, he stepped aside to let her buy her drink. Ryoma nodded, thanking him. Sliding the coin into the slot of the vending-machine, she chose the grape flavored Ponta and pushed on the button of…
'Life has many flavors, you should try them all and not limit yourself to only one,' Ryoga's word echoed in her head.
…the strawberry flavor. Ryoma sighed.
'Why do I let aniki influence me?' she wondered as she took her juice can.
"Oh my! Look what we found here!" a snobby voice said behind her. Ryoma turned on her heels. It was the boys who were with the blond hair guy. The one who talked was tanned skin guy with long red-brown hair.
"Woo hoo!" a very, built, pink-red skin with bright blond hair guy whistled. "What a chick!"
"Hehe! Japanese girls are not bad!" a boy wearing a blue gray cap said. "Especially this one! I never saw anyone with such an unusual eye color. It's like golden!"
Ryoma froze. She was feeling uneasy and a cold sweat ran down the side of her face. She made a step back, but the vending-machine blocked her way.
"Guys, don't scare her!" the pale blond hair guy said.
"What, Alexander? Do you know her? Is she your girlfriend?" a huge bald headed guy asked.
"Barely in Japan and you already got a new girl?" a black skin guy with bleach white hair tied in a short braid down his neck asked.
"As expected from Alexander, the Icy Prince. He strikes again!" a guy with round small black eyes, wearing a large green headband said.
"Hahahahahahaha!" his companions laughed.
"No, I don't know her," the one called Alexander said.
"In this case, we can play with her, right guys?" a boy with bony features said.
"Hehehehehehe!" all the boys laughed, except Alexander. Ryoma didn't like the sound of their laugh. She wanted to run away, but they suddenly surrounded her, cutting off all of the escape ways.
"Hey miss!" the bony faced guy said, grabbing her chin between his fingers. "We just arrived in Japan. We don't know a lot of people, but we want to make friends. Why don't you come with us? We know a very nice place."
"Ya! A really good one!" the black skin guy said.
"Yahahahahaha!" they laughed again.
Ryoma gulped. Inside her, she was shaking from fear now, but it wasn't apparent from the outside.
"Hey! Stop it! Let her go, Wolfang!" Alexander said.
'Aniki!' Ryoma mentally called.
"Hey! Stop it! Let her go, you wolves!" someone said. All the guys turned their head to the direction of the interrupter. It was Ryoga. Ryoma took advantage of the confusion to push the bony faced guy away and escaped.
"Aniki!" Ryoma ran straight into Ryoga's arms, silently crying.
"Chibisuke…" Ryoga was worried. She was shaking madly in his arms. He pushed her behind him.
"Who's that guy?" the bandana guy asked.
"Who cares? He's interfering with our fun!" the red-brown hair guy said as he approached Ryoga. He put and hand on Ryoga's shoulder. "Hey boy! She was with us first! So go away!"
Ryoga snatched his hand away.
"Ryoma, get away from here!" Ryoga pushed Ryoma away.
"Aniki!"
"Get away! NOW!" Ryoga yelled.
"Hey! You want to pick a fight with us!" the pink skinned guy said menacingly to Ryoga. He punched Ryoga in the stomach.
"Ouphfffffff!"
The others one also charged in, beating Ryoga.
"Stop it now!" the Alexander-guy yelled to them, but they ignored him. They pushed him away and they continued to charge on Ryoga. They repeatedly kicked and punched him. Ryoga cannot fight alone against seven guys. Ryoga was covered with blood and bruises everywhere. A kick of the big pink guy sent Ryoga flying. He knocked his back against a tree.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"
"Aniki! No!" Ryoma ran back to Ryoga and pushed away the attackers. She stood in front of them, her arms spread, making a wall between Ryoga and them.
"Get away! Don't touch him!" Ryoma yelled, tears trailing down her face.
"Huh? So she knows German. She's even more interesting than we thought!" the tanned brown hair guy said.
"Ryoma… run… away…" Ryoga trailed, and then he lost consciousness. He lost too much blood.
"Hahahahaha! The trouble guy is out! Now we can play with her…" the bony guy creepily said. He slowly walked to her, like a predator. "Hehehehehe…" he sneered.
"Wolfang, this is enough. We are not here to cause trouble!" Alexander-guy blocked him.
"Get away, Alexander! This is not your business!"
Wolfang violently pushed Alexander away. He turned back to Ryoma and placed a hand on the neck of her shirt. Ryoma bit into his hand.
"Owwwwwww!" Wolfang yelled and immediately released her. He became furious. "You bitch!" He raised his hand to slap her.
Thud!
"OWWWWWWWW!" Wolfang yowled. He got knocked by a tennis ball on his wrist and on the back of his head. "Who did that?!"
All the Germans turned their head to see a brunette boy, who was looking at them with cold and menacing cerulean eyes, a racket in his hand.
"Fuji-senpai!" Ryoma exclaimed.
Fuji didn't say anything but keep his eyes on the bad guys. Soon, they felt a frightening cold chill running all over their body and into their bones, freezing their blood. Unconsciously, they start to shake.
"Ryoma!" Yuuta ran to her. Marui and Niou came with him.
"Yuuta! Aniki…" Ryoma didn't finish. She returned back to Ryoga. She knelt down beside his immobilized body. In her distress, with her shaking hands, she clumsily tried to see where his injuries were. But she was so scared that she didn't dare to touch him. She was scared that she will discover something dreadful, that she wouldn't feel his heartbeat, that she… A hand grabbed hers, stopping her from thinking further more.
"Echizen, stop. Let us handle everything," Niou said. Ryoma snapped out to see Yanagi and Yagyuu knelt down next to Ryoga. Marui called for an ambulance with his cell phone. Sanada left to wait for the ambulance at the entrance to the public tennis court, down the street.
"Don't worry," Inui said. "Yanagi and Yagyuu know how to give the first-aids in case of emergency. They have been trained for that. Just move a little bit away to give them space to work."
"Aniki…" Ryoma obeyed, crying.
Meanwhile, Fuji confronted the German guys.
"Hah! It's only a girly boy!" the black skin one said, trying to hide the scary feeling which was creeping down his spine. There was just something in that brunette's cerulean eyes that frightened him in a way he couldn't describe. Something similar to an overwhelming suffocating power. All his partners felt the same thing as him.
"Despicable!" Fuji spat. "Seven against one, you are lower than the lowest animal!"
"W-what did he say?" the cap guy stuttered. They didn't understand anything Fuji said, but they could feel the venom in his words.
"And you even dare to attack a girl! This is unforgivable!" Fuji continued.
"W-what can you do against us, weakling!" the pink guy said.
Fuji didn't reply back, but he took out another ball.
"Fuji!" Yukimura stopped him. Fuji turned to Yukimura, who nodded at him. Fuji nodded back and left to where Ryoma stood with Marui and Niou. Yuuta was helping Yagyuu, holding Ryoga's head while Inui noted down Ryoga's conditions. When the paramedics showed up, this would help them. Ryoma was shaking. Even if she wanted to help, she cannot do anything in her current condition. She was too distressed. Even Marui and Niou didn't know what to say to her.
'Aniki…'
Gently, Fuji approached her and put a hand her shoulder. Ryoma snapped out of her distress to see Fuji standing next to her. He was looking at her with comforting yes, comforting her. Ryoma slightly calmed down. Fuji took out his handkerchief and gave it to her.
"Here," he softly said. She accepted it and clumsily tried to wipe her tears. Seeing that, Fuji took the handkerchief back and wiped her tears for her with gentle gestures. "Calm down, Ryoma-chan. Trust Yagyuu and Yanagi. They know what they are doing."
"H-Hai…" Ryoma closed her eyes, trying to do as he told her, letting him wipe her tears.
Yukimura stood alone in front of the Germans, his arms crossed over his chest in a relax demeanor. He calmly fixed them with a stare, his head slightly tilted.
"What?! Another skinny pretty-girl guy! These Japanese boys are really nothing!" the bald one said.
"Hahahahahaha!" his companions laughed with him.
Yukimura changed his posture. His head straightened up and he squarely fixed the guys in front of him with a glare. They immediately froze. For a reason they didn't understand, they felt like an immense power crushing down from the sky on them. They thought they were seeing an illusion. The wavy hair boy in front of them seemed to be enveloped in a cold blue glow, his eyes colder than everything. If the brunette boy's aura emitted a suffocating oppression, this one's aura would be described as the power of an angry but wise god. The guys felt a cold sweat. Every part of their body shook like crazy. Their hearts beat furiously, threatening to burst out from their chest at any moment and they had difficulty breathing. Their legs gave out and they stumbled on the ground.
"L-L-L-LET'S GET AWAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" They scampered. Alexander wanted to apologize to Ryoma but a piercing cerulean glared crucified him on the spot. He gave up and left too.
Sanada arrived with the paramedics. They immediately took care of Ryoga and carried him to the ambulance. One person was permitted to go with paramedics. Ryoma wanted to go, but Fuji stopped her.
"No, Ryoma. Let Yagyuu go with him," Fuji said.
"But…" Ryoma said.
"Yagyuu's family owns a hospital," Niou explained.
"Under him, the best care will be brought to your brother," Marui said.
"Let's follow the ambulance by car," Sanada said.