Thank you so much for reading! Special hugs to those who reviewed, faved, and subscribed as well as C2d. I already posted the drawing 2 weeks ago. If you wanna check it out just type 'Nispedana female Ryoma Rikkai high'. xD
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DISCLAIMER: I WISH I Own Prince of Tennis
…
CHAPTER XVIII: Tennis
It was either be blunt or not to speak at all. That was Ryoma.
Actually having to choose the right words—was something she was not gifted at. It was the reason why she was good in grammar, yet she sucked in literature. It was why she was so rudely blunt, especially in tennis—something she'd rather not try going around the bush with.
It was the same with Seichi. Not speaking was not an option, but the other was not a good one either. It wasn't that she didn't trust him… it was just that too much happened that everything felt so… fragile.
They had a long way to go. But they'll manage…
And she knew, finally playing with each other—in a game close to their hearts—was a way to start.
…
Yukimura Seichi stared at his fiancé. Frankly, he thought that they already had this silent, highly unspoken, agreement not to lie anymore… considering all the deceit they had done to each other and to themselves. And although she wasn't exactly lying, at least not yet, it was altogether driving him insane.
"Well…?" He repeated, but this time much firmer. He didn't realize she was stepping back and he was following her. He was thankful to the wall for once again assisting him at keeping his lovely, but still a little stressful, fiancé at bay.
She turned pale and he felt guilty. He did not plan to back down though, but he still wanted the color back to her face. It disconcerted him that she looked so scared. He calmed his heart before leaning down and kissed the side of her face, right next to her ear, just before whispering: 'Tell me'.
He parted to see her eyes again and, indeed, the pale color was replaced by a beautiful shade of red. He felt he might as well be even redder. He felt her hands climbing to his shoulders, but it gently pushed him away. He stared.
"We'll talk about it… after I get changed in boy's clothes. I t-think I still have a few sets hidden." Seichi raised a brow at her, to shifting to the choice he wanted her to take before in an attempt to change the topic. But then he realized why exactly she wanted a change of clothes.
His hand—it was slithering on her legs, straying just before the hem of her skirt.
He felt bursting in both embarrassment and everything else really. "Gomen." He said, quickly lifting his hand up and almost gestured to step back when—
"I can't… breath." She said, which was odd at first glance since he was no longer making any skinship with her. The closest he was was his left hand, supporting his weight against the wall and keeping his distance from her. And of course his face, which was an inch away from hers.
But then he realized what she meant…, because he couldn't breathe either. Perhaps being at this proximity always would. But instead of reflexively stepping back, he stayed there and watched the growing blush on her face. "Seichi…" She whispered. He thought it was utterly beautiful. He wanted to kiss her to oblivion, but he didn't. He knew his heart would probably stop for good.
So, he only smiled, keeping his position stable—teasing—even as she continued to try pushing him away. She was strong, but she had weakened considerably. "Step back please…"
"I will when you tell me."
She managed to let out a characteristic scoff at that, despite struggling for air. "Says the man who backed out on a tennis match."
"…" What did that have to do with it? She took it as an advantage to finally escape and she was a safe meter away from him. Seichi shook his head, of course.
"So you're giving out a condition before telling your fiancé the truth?"
"Because…" She frowned. "Just play with me."
"Whay if I say I won't?"
"Are you scared I'd beat you?"
"You said it yourself—I'm stronger now."
"Not necessarily stronger than me." Seichi could only stare at her. She got her full composure now and was emitting that pompous aura that could make any man who wanted to run swim in shame. "I'll tell you if you have a match with me."
Seichi knew a lost cause when he saw one… now that he wasn't denying anything anymore. So he sighed in defeat.
"Fine."
RIKKAI HIGH
"TARONDORU!"
Sanada watched over the players and ensured they weren't horsing around. Yukimura was late again, and he knew it probably wasn't about their parents. It wasn't like them to be late so often…
He ignored the twitch in his chest. It wasn't easy to…what? Let go? Perhaps. Every time he thought of those two finally understanding each other, he felt an odd mix of annoyance, anger, pain, and… relief.
He couldn't even bear seeing them hold hands.
It was then he heard respectful yells to his right. "BUCHOU!" The freshmen said and bowed. Echizen, she was right beside him, yet walking a good distance.
There was a dark, heavy, aura about them and it made Sanada frown deeply; Those two better not be fighting.
…
CLANK
Sanada held the fence that in his view was right behind her back. Unconsciously, he felt like touching her. But in the end, he was frowning deeply in anxiety. He did not put himself through that only for them to fight again.
It was only several minutes prior when they arrived, and after blankly nodding at the greetings they got ready and to their surprise, they headed straight to a free court. Everyone watched and tried to absorb everything and soon the parameters of the court were full of spectators.
She was then picking up her racket and she stood up, with the same serious expression on her face as she had when she got to school. She felt his stare and their eyes met.
"What happened?" he mouthed and to his surprise, a small and abrupt smile crept up her face—almost reassuring.
"Don't worry, Sanada. We're just having a bet, nothing… serious." She said quietly, to the point he was certain only he could understand. She stepped closer and nodded. "We wouldn't have been able to move so much without your help."
And she stepped back.
"Thank you. You're a good friend."
And frankly, Sanada was not sure if he was ecstatic or in pain.
Perhaps it was both.
…
The two halves of the undefeated doubles pair walked side-by-side as they headed towards the court. They were asked to get some items from the storage area by Sanada since Echizen, who was the one assigned to the task, was still unavailable.
Frankly, Yanagi didn't think Sanada could be so lax. Lax in the sense that he didn't look as annoyed or as begrudging as he probably would. After all, Sanada was a very serious team player.
In any case, the bespectacled golf player stared at his partner who was holding a whole box of their new score cards. He had a very large swell on his cheek and Yanagi was still deciding whether or not he would ask. After all, the trickster would probably lie and try and bring him about in circles.
"You got into a fight?"
"Yeah."
"Oh?" He asked, almost believing him. But Niou knew as an athlete he should not be involved in such fights. "Are you sure?" Yanagi voiced out, giving the hint he'd tell Sanada.
But to his surprise, Niou scoffed… in self pity. "Tell him and you could say my beautiful face goodbye forever."
"You got into a fight with another team?"
"Who knows…" the trickster shrugged and watched as two students passed by them in a scurry. Yanagi lifted his glasses with his free hand. Soon, they arrived at the courts. It was relatively empty and they just placed the items somewhere where it was not an obstacle. "I wonder what's happening…"
His attention was caught by his double partner grinning. "Yagyuu… where's the camera I asked for?"
"In my bag." He said, staring. "What's it for?"
Niou though, didn't answer the question, and just extended his hand until the camera was there. "You'll know soon."
And he did… a second later, courtesy of a sprinting-then-falling-idiotically-Kirihara-Akaya. "Senpai! Hurry! Buchou and Chibi-Gaki are going to have a match!"
Yagyuu stared questioningly at Niou, who only opened the camera and grinned.
"I know everything."
…
"Rough or smooth?"
"Smooth." Yukimura said, with that serious expression still on his face. He was fighting the urge to claim her in front of everyone, especially Sanada—even when he probably already knew of their relationship. But he didn't do anything. He was a Yukimura after all, they had a lot more composure than that.
CLACK
Smooth
"You serve." He said, and Ryoma only nodded before stepping to the back. Ryoma used her left hand immediately, of course, and she gracefully dribbled the ball.
And just like that, the tension they had been keeping inside of them—in preparation for this long-awaited match of theirs—was released, like an explosion.
And their game began.
…
The whole court, despite being packed, was silent. Other than the sound of bouncing balls and their hard contact with rackets, nothing else dominated the air. Yanagi was the umpire, and even he looked especially serious.
PAK
PAK
PAK
Half an hour had already passed since they started, and a game hadn't even finished yet. It was a heavy game, but it was not like they didn't expect it from two very serious individuals.
But to Sanada, it… was beyond that. These were two people with deep feelings for each other. This game was heavy not because they had serious personalities. It was heavy because it held such meaning for them that even people who didn't know them personally could feel it.
Sanada followed the ball, every hit a pounce to his chest, and yet he couldn't feel tired of it. He was not a masochist, but he never felt this way before—and despite it being painful, these feelings were something he would treasure.
BAM!
And with a smash, Yukimura took a game.
Yukimura's service game came next, and like Echizen, the only special move they let out were their serves. But…
PAK!
.
"…f-fifteen-Love…!"
He never saw this type of serve before, and it was the same with everyone else. It was like his invisible serve—only soundless , and utterly tremendous. Perhaps he was exaggerating, but he swore a wave of air just went past him, emanating from Yukimura.
PAK!
"Thirty-love!"
BAM!
"Forty-LOVE!"
PAK!
"GAME! Yukimura!"
After Yanagi's announcement, he felt like breathing as much air as he could. Blankly, he watched the two players pass by each other as they exchanged courts. They were still serious, but they were starting to sweat. Their eyes met, but other than that no contact was made.
Echizen's second service game started, and once again Yukimura effortlessly returned her serves.
And yet another, mentally-exhausting game started. This time, it was going to be shorter, the two had after all let out a large amount of energy at the first three games. They were sweating buckets already, and heaving air.
They were trying to tire each other out though and both were targeting spots that would make the other run. It was then Yukimura finally hit a volley, and Echizen caught it in time—hitting the net. Yukimura sprinted to the net but…
It slid across the net and with a flop it landed right on the lining of the court opposite of the side where it was supposed to land.
"My tight rope walking technique…" he heard Marui whisper behind him, and Yanagi, quickly composing himself, announced the score.
"Game, Echizen! One game to Two!"
…
Yukimura Seichi huffed and watched the ball go to him and used his whole body to give him a point. The games after that level-upped tight-rope were equally impressive, despite them showing hints of fatigue. And apparently, being female didn't necessarily mean one had lower stamina. Ryoma, after losing two points from his serve, finally got used to it and ended up winning the game primarily due to stamina.
The next game was… perhaps, in lay terms, light. To most it was a light exchange to regain some energy, but perhaps it wasn't just that. Maybe they wanted to have a light rally and just have a game with each other, feeling each other's presences.
But then, she won that game, and that meant she was leading. Pride or not, he was not going to lose. He'd make her tell him every inch of her secrets—he would know all of her, all that she hid, and… ideally know more than anyone else about her.
He didn't realize that at that moment, that was his primary motivation. For he was always in it to win it—never to lose; for the sake of his pride, albeit now… his pride included something uncontrollable, something within an unpredictable person he deeply cared for.
He, Yukimura Seichi, was going to win this game, no matter what.
…
Thump!
Sanada's heart skipped a beat the instant she lost her balance going after the ball. Yukimura visibly tried to harden himself up (it didn't seem to be working), and Echizen definitely emitted an aura that no one was to worry about her. Ever.
Ryoma cleaned herself up and went back to an alert position as if she didn't have a large scratch on her skin, with her flesh barely holding on the gushing blood. A few more push and it would bleed.
It was then that Sanada caught her glaring Yukimura down. Not because he was suddenly winning by using consecutive techniques that could push anyone to the verge of insanity, rather it was because he faltered. She was not going to have him soften up just because of this little incident—that was for certain. And she made that clear.
So, Yukimura put his feet back to the ground and hardened himself up and after hitting the shot the pace returned to but there was a slight difference—Yukimura was winning. It was really sudden, his sudden use of impossible techniques. Techniques that surpassed Fuji Syusuke's in complexity. Every single shot, different techniques, and it went on for three games.
And in what felt like a blink of an eye—they reached the final game. It was then, after the sun came out of the clouds, did they realize the time. But… as he looked around and saw their classmates… along with the professors. Mentally, he sighed in relief—they wouldn't have to be making excuse letters for being absent after all; the class went to the court.
PAK!
Sanada was pulled back to the game when a finishing ball ended at a court.
"30-15!" Yanagi announced. Echizen finally got a point. Sanada and everyone else gulped as the ball was, once again, gracefully served. But primarily, they continued to watch in awe as Echizen continued to give it her all, despite never once looking desperate in the process. Yukimura understood her firmness and didn't falter under her stare.
Every single move, full of feelings and strength, every single bead of work she emitted was—unconsciously or not—admired and awed by everyone.
Sanada smiled.
Echizen Ryoma was a truly beautiful woman.
…
"ECHIZEN RYOMA. Seven games to six!"
And there were no cheers, only claps, as everyone's energy had been pulled out—in an oddly positive way—and a few sensitive people even cried. If Sanada had more tear glands, perhaps he might have shed some tears as well.
Yukimura, after letting out a large satisfied huff, looked directly at his fiancé. She was letting out deep breaths as well and was then gesturing to walk to the center of the court. Yukimura didn't feel his legs anymore but frankly, he never felt so energized in his entire life.
He realized the game, unconsciously or not, was in many ways like their relationship. It was ironic, and he was sure it was practically a coincidence.
Their game, like their relationship, started out serious and heavy. But after getting hang of each other it became lighter somehow, but then she started winning over his being and he went on a defensive stance that attacked the most sensitive of places.
But she continued to pursue, no matter how hard he got, and she never faltered nor did she gave up. A tedious battle commenced, both tiresome, but at the same time… ecstatic.
It started out with him wanting badly to win against her—wanted so much more than he ever would have anticipated and ended up with just wanting to exchange shots with her. He watched Ryoma for a while, and letting himself… out, he realized this game was fun in a different way than usual.
It didn't matter who won; what mattered was that they went through the game together.
Oh, how sappy he had become.
"Good game." She said, nonchalantly stretching her hand for a handshake. Yukimura though, could see the beautiful glimmer in her eyes.
"Ah."
His eyes ended up on the beads of sweat that ran along her soft face…, and down to her neck. His hand moved on its own and he manually tried to wipe the beads of perspiration off her skin, she stared at him, and he could feel everyone else do the same.
And when his hand ended up on her cheek, he wiped to her head and to her hair, combing it in the process. His palm rest on the back of her head and still she stared, but her gaze softened.
And just like that—something snapped—and he didn't realize he, as he wanted earlier, was already claiming her in front of everyone. But neither of them noticed any of the outside reactions. They were in their own little world.
"I… wanted to know." He said, not hiding his slight disappointment in losing.
"I never said you had to win." He blinked and she smiled reassuredly, even when it suddenly looked nervous. "I'll tell you… later."
He felt speechless really, was it only him who thought of this as a battle to be won? And as if reading his thoughts, she let out a smirk.
"Mada Mada Dane." She said…, not realizing he was leaning closer at all.
And he gave her a kiss that would entice a lot of gasps in the following weeks to come.
.
.
END OF CHAPTER XVIII
Coming Soon:
CHAPTER XIX: Overture
REPLIES TO ANGELS
Mintleafeon- Yay~! xD *celebrates* Glad you still think the interactions are cute and thank you for the review~!
Yuki Masaharu- *blushes* Blushes like hell. xD I'm very glad you thought it was mindblowing and wonderful…! I'm sorry this chap was kinda late and hope it was worth the wait! Thx for the review btw~!
O0violetphoenix0o- Haha. Happy you loved the chap! I suppose she will get kinda feminine, depending on the situation. And actually… she'd just crossdress outside. *cough* Who knows what she'll wear in the house? Loool. Thank you for the review, btw! xD
FranscoiseLaraLapis- Lol. Yeah I apologize for the bombing. Tried to improve the flow but it didn't do much. xD And hope this chap was worth the wait and thanks for the review!
Shanagi95- I'm happy that you loved this chap! Hope this one was good, too, but don't hesitate to say otherwise. ;D Thanks for the review!
BrokenBlackCat- Gahehehe. Seichi's reaction, eh? xD Next chapter! Ahahaha. Don't expect anything mindblowing though… you might get disappointed! Haha. And yeah, let's hope Seichi gets ahold of his hormones soon. *cough* Thanks for the review~!
Deadlycute17- Indeed! Hahaha. Seichi's adorable trying to take control of himself… how long though? Pfftt—anyway, thanks for the comment! xD
JuRy28- You did? I apologize! And I did it again. T_T Hope this chap was worth the wait and thank you for your comment! :DD
Guest [4/10/13] or snowpoppy- Yep they're together! xD And I'm really glad you liked this love triangle. xD My other lovetriangles from other stories kinda ended up in failure. xD Thanks for the review!
Natasya Ivashkov- You're so sweet! xD Keeping on reviewing even when you don't know what to say anymore. Thank you for that! :D
DragonFire Princess- Thank you for the review! I'll take note of what to maintain and I'm not answering that last question. *wink* hahaha (sorry)
Summer usagi 31 – (ch1) I'm glad you liked my writing (I hope to keep it up) and thank you for the review~! :DD
DigimonLoveForever- Hope this chapter answered your question! Tehee. Glad you think it's a great story and thank you for the review~
Zwolftd- Indeed! xD You took the words right out of my keyboard! xDD The tennis tournament will begin a little later. A lot of things'll happen before it though (sorry) and thank you for the review! xxD
Silver Butterfly- Hahaha. The OMG Silver butterfly? xDD And it will help, thank you! It was nice to finally address you with a name. And Rinko did hide them. Haha. But they (will) talk her out of it tho. Haha. Thank you for the review, btw!
Guest [4/14/13] a.k.a Blackwaves- You two have such cute naming sense—yo! xDD I won't say anything about Atobe *cough*. And lol—it's hard… thinking of a decent 'punishment; for Niou. Haha. Thanks for the review!
xDarkxKurokox- Thank you for the review! And so that's what 'omaera' means. I learned something new today! Hahaha. And here's the update. Sorry it's late~! xD
ShikiKira- Thank you for the review and glad I made the right decision with Sumire. Ah, but the events of the previous 2 chapters were in the same day. Gomen I didn't clear that up. xD Hope this chapter was good enough as well~!
Darkspider- Maybe, maybe not. xD Maybe the foreshadowing thing is just for fun. Ahahhaha. *wink* I missed you too and hope this chapter was worth the wait! Thank you for the comment~!
…
Thank you for reading! I dunno what happened to the others in the previous chap but special thanks to everyone
who showed their support so far! ;D The thoughts are what keep me going.
Hope you enjoyed, but whatever you thought I'd be happy to read them all! :D