"WHAT DID YOU SAID?!?" Ryoma burst, interrupting the conversation between Ooishi and Kikumaru.
"Ochibi! You were there!!!" Kikumaru exclaimed.
Ryoma forgot to take something and returned back. That was when she overheard them talking about what happened between Tezuka and Sakaki-coach concerning her. Ryoma ran to Kikumaru and Ooishi.
"Why?!? Why didn't you tell me that before!?" she shouted. Kikumaru and Ooishi became sad. They couldn't answer to her. "Tell me!!!" Ryoma shouted again.
"Ochibi-chan, we…"
"What is happening here?" someone asked. They turned their head to see Tezuka walking to them with Yukimura and Atobe. When Ryoma set her eyes on Tezuka, she was ran to him, standing in front of him. Tears were forming in her eyes.
"Tezuka-buchou… Why…?"
"Hum? What is it, Echizen?" Tezuka asked, not understanding her question. Ryoma bite her lips and clenched her fists.
"I'm not going to let that happen!" she shouted and ran away.
"Echizen!" Ooishi called her.
"Ochibi, wait! Where are you going?!"
But Ryoma didn't stop nor did she looked at them.
"Ooishi, what happened?" Tezuka asked. Ooishi looked at Tezuka, sad.
"Echizen overheard us talking…" Ooishi didn't finish his sentence, but everyone knew what he meant.
Ryoma ran in front of her, not caring about the tears blinding her. Then, she saw him, Sakaki-coach, talking with someone.
"Sakaki-coach!" Ryoma ran to him. "Sakaki-coach!" Sakaki-coach turned to see Ryoma running to him. Seeing her tears, he asked her.
"What is it Echizen?" She went straight to him, griping his suit.
"Sakaki-coach, I don't care if I'm no longer a regular, but you cannot drop Tezuka-buchou!" she burst.
"What?! Echizen, how did you…"
"Please Sakaki-coach, I will do everything you want, but don't drop Tezuka-buchou! He doesn't deserve it! Please, I beg you!" Ryoma cried harder.
"Echizen, stop it now. It…"
"Sakaki-coach, please!" Ryoma interrupted him again.
"Sakaki-coach, we have to leave now," the person with whom Sakaki-coach was talking said. "We will be late."
"Wait, Sakaki-coach, I-…!"
"Echizen, I must go now," Sakaki-coach said.
Ryoma froze. Then, slowly, she released him.
"I have to leave for a week for business. We will talk again after my return," Sakaki-coach said, then left.
They just returned from the training camp. Ryoma had wondered why everyone's mood was so heavy during the bus ride, especially when they looked at Tezuka. But now, she knew the reason. Sakaki-coach hadn't yet announce anything, but Ryoma knew that she already failed the trial. Probably Sakaki-coach preferred to wait until they were alone to tell her his final decision. But he didn't need to announce it since everybody already know what he would said.
Alone in a retreat corner, Ryoma dropped on her knees, head down. She was angry at herself.
'I'm so stupid!' She hated herself. She failed. She failed her trial. She lost her chance to achieve her goal to win against her father. But right now, winning against her father was the last of her worry. Right now, the most important thing for her was Tezuka.
'I failed to buchou!' She cried.
'I failed to Tezuka-buchou's hope in me!' She cried harder.
From the moment she joined Seigaku, Tezuka Kunimitsu had always watched over her. She was like a raw diamond among the boys. She had very great potential, but was unaware of it. Tezuka saw her potential. Everyday, he patiently polished that raw diamond bit by bit - by assigning her laps and various hard training. Of course Ryoma never liked being assigned laps, but she knew that she became better. Not only Tezuka polished her skills, but he also ignite her desire to become stronger everyday, and not only to beat her father. He taught her to aim for a live-long goal and not only short time aim.
But now, because of her, Tezuka would be…
'No! I cannot allow it to happen! I don't care if I fail. If I have to leave the regulars, then I will. But Tezuka-buchou cannot be dropped because of me!'
She raised her again, a determined fire in her eyes. She stood up again and went off.
She saw Niou and Marui walking in front of her. She ran straight to them.
"Niou-senpai!" she called.
"Huh?" Niou and Marui stopped and turned their head to see her running to them.
"Niou-senpai, wait!" Ryoma called again. Niou and Marui turned around on their feet to face her.
"Echizen-chan, what is it?" Niou asked. Ryoma stopped in front of them, panting.
"Niou-senpai… Ha… Ha… Ha… Pl-… Pl-…" She bite her lips. It was so not like her to do this, but she didn't have a choice. "Pl-… Pl-… Please…"
"What?" Niou asked.
Even knowing that she was dropped from the regulars, Ryoma refused to let herself be down. She won't let Tezuka-buchou be dropped without doing anything.
"Niou-senpai, please help me!" she burst. Niou and Marui back off a step.
'Echizen… Ryoma… That pride girl… She… She… She is… She is asking… She is asking… help… She is A-S-K-I-N-G for help!!! It's daylight, right? I'm not dreaming, right? Or hearing thing, right? Please, someone tell me!!!'
"Please, help me!" Ryoma shouted again.
'Ah!' Marui and Niou jumped and skipped another step back. 'No, I'm not hearing thing! She is actually asking for help!'
"Please, senpai! Help me!" Ryoma pleaded, looking exactingly to Niou. Niou watched her desperate expression, frowning.
'Something very serious must be happening to her,' Niou thought. He looked Ryoma in her eyes. She was really desperate, but there was a burning fire of determination burning inside. She wasn't giving up herself to something.
"What is it, Echizen-chan? What do you want from me?" Niou simply said.
Night time. In a tennis court.
Ryoma and Niou, dressed in sport clothes, faced each other over the net, their racket in their hands.
"Echizen-chan, are you really aware of what you're asking from me?" Niou asked her in a very serious mode.
Ryoma didn't answer yet. She looked straight to the senpai on the other side of the net. She remembered her conversation with Yanagi and Inui.
Flashback
"Niou's play style?" Yanagi asked.
"Hai, tell me more about his play style and how do you face him?" Ryoma said.
Yanagi and Inui looked to each other, dumbfounded by her request. Then, they looked at her in silence, examining her. After a moment, Inui spoke.
"Niou has the ability to exactely copy anyone he had once met, in appearance, play style and techniques. That's why he is called Rikkaidai's Trickster. When his opponents saw him becoming an exact copy of themselves, they will be psychologically disturbed and scared. Not only Niou could be an exact copy of them, but sometime, he is even better than the original. The most frightening part of his play style, it's that he can show out where the original is weak or what he lacks. And he attacks on these weaknesses. Niou's main attack technique is using your most terrible fear against you," Inui said.
"Unless you has a very strong and stable mind and personality, you cannot face Niou without getting highly disturbed. Most of the time, his opponents lose to him because they are psychologically weak," Yanagi said.
End flashback
'Unless you has a very strong and stable mind and personality, you cannot face Niou without getting highly disturbed.'
Ryoma bite her lips. She knew she wasn't ready to face them yet again, but…
'I don't have the choice. It's the only way I can think about… I have to do it… for Tezuka-buchou!'
The fire in her eyes burned up again.
On the other side of the court, Niou watched her.
'To think that she asked me to do this…' He pierced her with his glare, seeing through inside her soul.
'She is still frightened… She is fully aware that she is not ready to face them now. Yet, she asked me to do it…'
Ryoma had asked him to play against her under the disguise of one of the German players. The worst, she asked him to imitate the one she feared the most: the bony face guy named Wolfang. She knew he saw the game of the German boy on the videos Sakaki-coach provided them, so he must know all the techniques of the German boy. The meetings they had with Yanagi and Inui must had also deepen his understanding of the German's play style. For Niou to copy Wolfang wasn't a problem at all for him.
"Echizen-chan, you know that I'm not going to hold back on you. Do you?" Niou said.
"I don't want you to hold back on me!" Ryoma replied.
Marui watched the game between Niou and Ryoma, frowning. Ryoma just dropped on her knees again, froze by fear. And that happened each time Wolfang-Niou smiled his wolf grin.
'It's the fourth time that she freezes. Will she be really alright?' Marui wondered.
"And I wondered why she asked us about Niou's play style," a voice said behind Marui. Marui turned around to see two people coming out from the shadow.
"Yanagi, Inui," Marui said.
"It bugged me all the afternoon, so I decide to see for myself the reason why she wanted to know about Niou's play style," Yanagi continued, his eyes on Ryoma. "I can't believe that I would see this!"
-
"Hyaaaaaaaaah!" Wolfang-Niou marked again. Ryoma froze and dropped on her knees.
"Hahahahaha!" Wolfang-Niou laughed evilly.
'Ahh…' Ryoma innerly whimpered. She had the impression that a cold iron hand just crushed her heart.
-
"Echizen-chan…" Marui whispered.
"It looks very tough on her," another voice said. Marui turned again his head this time to see Yagyuu, Oshitari and Ootori. It was Oshitari who talked.
"Ah! Oshitari, Yagyuu, Ootori! You guys are here too?" Marui said. They didn't answer, but all their eyes were fixed on Ryoma.
It had been a hour since they watched Ryoma and Niou played. The spectators watched their game in silence. Again, Ryoma froze again and Wolfang-Niou marked. She dropped on her knees. Ootori clenched his fist, his eyes fixed on Ryoma. She was shaking madly and her eyes were unfocused.
"I… I cannot see her like this anymore…" Ootori said. "I have to stop her!" He was going to push the door of the tennis court when a hand stopped him.
"Ootori, don't!" Yagyuu said.
"But…" Ootori tried to protest.
"Look at her," Yagyuu continued. Ootori reverted his attention to Ryoma's face. Ryoma closed her eyes, shaking her head to clear out the the fog of fear, which was blurring her vision. She looked up at Wolfang-Niou again, fire ignited back in her eyes. She gripped harder her racket and stood up. "She still wants to continue," Yagyuu finished.
"Echizen-chan is fully aware of what is happening to her," Inui said. "Let her decide when she wants to stop."
"She needs to go through this if she really want to become stronger," Oshitari said. Ootori bite his lips, but didn't move. They were right. Even if he was worried, he had no right to interfere. Ryoma was the only who could decide what she wanted.
'Echizen-chan…' Ootori thought. He watched her. Ryoma slightly stumbled on her legs, but immediately got hold of herself. She took the stand of the receiver, waiting for Wolfgang-Niou's next ball. Ootori closed his eyes and nodded.
"Hai…" Ootori said. Whatever she would decide, he would respect her decision. They turned their eyes on the court again, watching Ryoma in silence.
After three hours.
Ryoma froze again and dropped on her knees.
"Ha…! Ha…! Ha…!" she panted. But this time, Niou saw that her eyes didn't lose focus like the other times. It was the first time she didn't lose her focus from the moment they stepped in the court. On the other hand, she was very tired now. She was sweating and her clothes were damped. Niou reverted back to his normal appearance and walked to her.
"Niou-senpai… Ha…! Ha…! Ha…! Mou ichido… Ha…! Ha…! Ha…! Onegai shimasu (1)!" Ryoma said between her pants. Niou kneeled in front of her, shaking his head.
"No! That's enought…" he said.
"But-…!" she protested.
"…for tonight," Niou finished.
"Ah…?!"
Niou put a hand on her shoulder.
"I understand you want to continue this, but have more consideration for your body," he said. "It's very late now. Your body needs to relax and rest. And so you do." Ryoma kept silence. "Let's do it again tomorrow after school, okay?" Niou added.
"Ah…" she hesitated. He smiled nicely to her. Ryoma bite her bottom lip, chewing it. Nonetheless, she accepted. "Hai…" Niou smiled again and patted her head.
"That's a good girl!" he said.
The others boys entered the court. Ryoma turned her head when she heard the door of the fence opening.
"Senpai-tachi, since when you were here?" Ryoma said.
"It's been quite a while now, Echizen-chan," Oshitari said. Ryoma stood up, but stumbled on her legs.
"Waaahhh!"
"Aaah!" Marui and Ootori caught her by her arms before she fell.
"It's a good thing Niou decided to stop now, Echizen-chan. You can barely stand on your legs!" Yanagi said. Ryoma closed her eyes, releasing a long sigh of exhaustion.
"Come on. We will bring you home now," Marui said, smiling.
"Hai…" Ryoma obediently said.
On the way to her house, Ryoma was so tired that she fell asleep. Marui took her on his back and gave her a piggy-ride to her house while Ootori and Niou carried her things for her.
1) Niou-senpai, mou ichido, onegai shimasu!: "Niou-senpai, one more time, please!"