I stood there , dumbfounded . Kaidoh-senpai and Oishi-senpai stared at me with both of their eyes wide open . The president is joking right ? Please tell me he's joking ! Because , I am not going to play tennis with that bastard !
"Echizen Ryoma ! Are you here ?" he shouted on the microphone . Damn , he's serious ! Che , I can just walk away right ?! If i'm not here , they'll just pick someone else ! Call me a coward if you want but I am not going to play tennis with him !
"Echizen , I know you're here !" Momoshiro-senpai shouted from the tennis court . Ignore him echizen ryoma . Just walk away !
"AH ! There he is !" Horio shouted and pointed his finger at me . Damn it ! Screw that guy !
"Oh , echizen ryoma ! Please make your way to the tennis court !" the president asked . Now , screw him ! Just walk away- What the hell ?! Two student from the student council came over and grabbed my arms .
"Oi ! What the hell are you doing !?" kaidoh-senpai said in a extremely pissed tone . The two students turned around and looked at kaidoh-senpai .
"Doing our job ?" The both of them dragged me in to the tennis court . Oishi-senpai and kaidoh-senpai followed behind me . Once we're in the courts , I shoved the two of them away from me . Damn it ! Don't touch me !
"Echizen ! You okay ?" Oishi-senpai asked .
"Damn it ! Why the hell am I even chosen for this stupid thing ?! I should just get out of here"
But then , I saw the two students that dragged me all the way here , locked the gate of the tennis court .
"Oi ! Why did you lock us in ?!" kaidoh-senpai shouted in disbelief .
"Because , we can't let our competitor to run away ..?"
Somebody kill them ! Now i'm stuck in the court ! What now ?! Momoshiro-senpai walked towards the net .
"Wow echizen , I can't believe we get to play tennis with each other again . I really missed it " he smiled at me .
"Drop the act momoshiro-senpai , I know you're faking that smile ."
He opened his eyes and his smile faded in to a smirk .
"I guess this is what we call fate huh .."
"I'm not going to do it ..."
"What ?"
"Why should I waste my time to play tennis with you ?!" I turned around and walked towards kaidoh-senpai . He probably has the capability to stop this nonsense . I am not going to-
"So you're just going to run away ?"
What ?!
"And I thought you were much stronger than this … ah ah , looks like i'm wrong . You're weak . Or maybe you're scared ? Heh , scared that you might lose to me ? Well , even if you are , I wouldn't blame you . You never played tennis anymore . So its obvious you're a coward . Ah I wouldn't want o play you either ! Just go and run away like a coward , Just like you did two years ago.."
Alright I have had enough of him ! If its a fight he wants , he gets it ! I grabbed a tennis racket that was nearby and walked towards the net .
"Fine ! If its a match you want , so be it !" I'm not going to just sit back and relax ! Not after what he said ! He smiled at me .
"Alright...I'll knock you down in front of the others and show what a loser you really are ."
"Fine by me ..!"
I know I said that i'm never going to play tennis again .. But , I'm not going to let him ridicule me anymore ! I've had enough of running away ! This time , i'm going to face him no matter what he throws at me ! I walked over to the bench and took off my tie . Oishi-senpai looked at me with a worried look on his face .
"Echizen .. you sure about this ? You don't know what he might do to you !"
"Oishi-senpai … you worry too much ..."
I walked in the courts and prepared for the match . Oishi-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai sat down at the bench and watched .
"One set match , Momoshiro to serve !" The referee shouted .
"Here I go !" he shouted as he threw the ball high up into the air .
Just try me !
The match begun . Momoshiro served and got a service ace . Ryoma didn't bother about it . In fact , he didn't shown any mercy . After Momoshiro took the first game .Ryoma started going all out on him . He took three games back in a row and which pushed momoshiro back . Momoshiro used his dunk smash and jack knife , but all of them were easily returned by ryoma . This made momoshiro desperate and he started to panic .
"Damn it ! At this rate , i'm going to end up as the laughing stock ! And it'll be a disgrace to lose to someone who is not on the tennis team ! Not to mention i'm also the vice-captain !" He thought to himself . Before he knew it , the ball landed on his side of the court and went pass him .
"Game , won by echizen ..4-1"
"You're not much of a challenge anyway ..even a three years old can beat you .."
"Momo ! What are you doing out there ? Hurry up and beat that kid !" Kikumaru shouted from the sides .
"Momoshiro is losing ..."
"What's going on ?"
The people who were watching the match whispered . This made momoshiro even more angry .
"Damn it ! I have to think of something fast ! Wait … hehehe .. I know just what to do .."
It was ryoma's serve . Just right after he served the ball , momoshiro spoke .
"I never thought you could play tennis again...even after sakuno left you … you still continued tennis ."
This made ryoma freeze and momoshiro scored a point . He served again .
"Ah ah .. you haven't changed a bit . But just to let you know , she never loved you ..."
Momoshiro scored another point again .Throughout the match , he kept on reminding ryoma of the unpleasant memories which made the game turn to his favor . Ryoma couldn't concentrate at all . Momoshiro managed to take back three games which made it a tie .
"Change court !" The referee shouted .
Ryoma walked to the bench and took a break .
"Echizen , you okay ? Maybe you should stop .." Oishi asked ryoma as ryoma wasn't looking too good .
"I'm fine ..."
"That son of a bitch ! I want to go over there and punch his face so that he will shut the hell up !" Kaidoh raged . Ryoma said nothing as he wiped his sweat away . He walked back into the court and faced momoshiro again . This time it was momoshiro's turn to serve .
"Echizen , even if you win this match . No one will bother .." he served and ran to the net . Ryoma also made his way to the net . The both of them were at the net and as ryoma was about to make a return , momoshiro said something which made ryoma freeze on the spot .
"because … no one cares about you ..."
Ryoma froze .
Chiyo..
I walked out of the classroom . Well , now that i've finished my work , lets go to the tennis court . As I headed towards the stairs , I bumped into someone .
"ah Sorry !" I bowed and apologized .
"Ah chiyo ! I've been looking everywhere for you !"
I looked up and saw a girl from my class .
"Ah Mira-san ! What's wrong ?"
"You better head to the tennis court soon ! Erm there's something wrong with echizen-san .."
Huh ?
"what do you mean ?" What did she meant that something was wrong with echizen-san ? Is he hurt ?!
"I don't know ! A guy name Oishi asked me if I knew you and he asked me to come and get you ! Anyways you better hurry !"
"Ah okay , erm Mira-san ?"
"Yeah ?"
"You seemed worried about echizen-san.."
"I-i'm not worried about him . I just thought that he may not be such a bad guy after all..."
"Thanks for coming to get me .."
I bowed and ran as fast as I could to the tennis court . What's wrong with echizen-san ? He's not hurt right ? My chest tightened . I feel so worried . Echizen-san please be okay ! I ran out of the school building and headed straight for the tennis court . Once I reached there , I looked around for echizen-san . I saw him inside the tennis court . I ran towards the court .
"Echizen-san ?" I grabbed on to the fence .
"Chiyo-chan you're here !" Oishi-senpai came over from the other side of the fence .
"I heard that something's not right with echizen-san !"
He looked over his shoulders with a worried look on his face .
"He's playing a match with momoshiro right now and he's on the losing end ! We tried calling out to him but he's not moving nor is he responding to our calls ..He just froze there."
"What ?"
"It must be because of the trauma he suffered ..."
"What trauma ?"
"... Chiyo-chan ...Echizen wouldn't want me to tell you this but … you're probably the only person that can help him now.."
Oishi-senpai told echizen-san's story to me . My eyes widened as I continued to listen to Oishi-senpai . Echizen-san had such a painful past . That explains why he's so hostile towards people . I...i never knew … His family … his girlfriend and his best friend .. left him … all alone …Echizen-san …he's like me ...
"Chiyo you there ?"
I can't leave him alone ! He'll break ! I know how it feels to be left all alone ! I ran towards the gate of the tennis court . I tried to open it but its locked ?! What the hell !? Open the damn door already ! Echizen-san ! Hang in there !
Ryoma...
The game is already about to end ..I'm going to lose …?
I can't move . I can't hear . My mind is going blank . The only thing that keeps repeating itself in my mind are those few sentences ..
"I never loved you ! I only used you !"
"We're getting a divorce and moving out of japan .. you'll be okay alone right ?"
"She never loved you !"
"No one cares about you !"
Shut up !That's not it ! Its not true ! Stop it ! Stop it ! My head hurts ! I'm falling into darkness again ..
"O-chibi !"
"Echizen !"
Stop it ! Stop the memories from flowing in to my mind ! They're not my friends ! They all betrayed me ! Stop calling me like we're friends ! Stop it !
"No one loves you ! That's why they left you ! You're all alone now !" a voice echoed my head .
I'm ...I'm all alone ? Am I really alone ?No ! I don't believe you ! Who are you ?!
"'Who am I ?I'm you , and you're me ! How can you not believe me ? Face it ! Mother and father left you ! No one wants you anymore !"
No ..that's not it ..that's not ..it .. why ?
...Mom and dad left me … Karupin left me … My friends left me … All of them left me ...I'm ...alone …? I'm alone ...i'm.. i'm...
Someone save me …
"Echizen-san ?"
Who's there ?
"Echizen-san ..?"
From the darkness , I saw a small ray of light . From within that light , I heard a voice .The voice got louder . It sounds familiar and it's warm too . Who ?
"Echizen-san !"
Not a moment too long , I saw a shadow of a girl standing there . She walked towards me and held my hands . Its warm.. All of the sudden , the darkness around me disappeared and I regained my vision . I saw takanishi-san standing in front of me , holding my hands in hers . I looked at her . She gave me a smile .
"Its okay echizen-san ..its okay now ..."
"W-weirdo..?"
"Its fine now , you're not alone … you're not alone anymore .. you don't have to be afraid anymore . You don't have to care about what others say to you . You don't have to care about it at all . Because , its not who you are . You are you . You're not what others judge you to be . You're echizen ryoma . You're the person that helped me with my studies . You're the person that took care of me when i'm sick . You're a good person .. You never left me alone .. I'm not going to leave you alone .. Echizen-san , don't be afraid .. don't be afraid to play tennis again . You don't have to be afraid anymore … because... you have us.."
Oishi-senpai and kaidoh-senpai stood beside takanishi-san and together , they held my hands .. You guys...I felt a sense of warmth . I don't feel my trauma anymore .
"Hey ! Get off the court !"
"Shut the hell up ! Why don't you get off the court !" Oishi-senpai shouted which surprised everyone including tezuka-senpai and the others .The referee flinched and kept quiet .
"Echizen-san ?" she looked at me . Weirdo, Thanks . I took off my jacket and threw it to her .
"Keep that for me while I beat this guy's pants off .."
"Echizen-san !" She smiled . I turned around and gave her a smile . Her face turned red , heh . I turned back and faced momoshiro-senpai .
"Sorry about that ..Now , where were we ? Oh right ." I served the ball and it went right pass his face in a split second . He stood there , dumbfounded . I could see tezuka-senpai and the others shocked and dumbfounded face .
"Hey referee , i'm waiting for your call .."
"15-0!"
Chiyo...
Wow ! Its amazing ! Echizen-san is amazing ! I've watched tennis matches before but its nothing like this ! Echizen-san is so ...cool ! He's okay now ! I watched as he scored another point from momoshiro-senpai . He took a game back in a few minutes ! Echizen-san ! Echizen-san !
"Go for it echizen-san !" I shouted as loud as I could .
"Go echizen !" Oishi-senpai cheered .
"Go get a win !" Kaidoh-senpai shouted as he punched his fist up the air .
"Okay !" He shouted with confidence and scored another point . Its match point now ! Echizen-san you can do it ! As the ball approached him , he jumped up in the air and smashed the ball back to momoshiro-senpai's side of the court . What was that smash ? It's so fast !
"I haven't seen that move in a long time ! Right kaidoh ?" Oishi-senpai said in excitement .
"Yeah .. echizen's cyclone smash .."
"Game and match ! Echizen Ryoma ! 6-4 !" The referee shouted . Momoshiro-senpai stood there with his eyes wide open and he dropped his racket . I stood there and stared at echizen-san's face . He won ! Oh my god ! He won ! I watched as he raised his racket and pointed it at momoshiro-senpai .
"Mada mada dane !" he said with confidence .
"Echizen !" Oishi-senpai and kaidoh-senpai said at the same time .
Everyone watching the match was quiet . The entire court was quiet . There were some gasp and whispers . Oh whatever ! I don't care about that !The important thing is that he won the match ! I ran towards him and hugged him .
"Congratulations echizen-san !" I didn't know what I was doing but I just felt like hugging him . Oishi-senpai and kaidoh-senpai also came over and hugged us .
"Group hug !"
"Echizen ! Congratulations !"
I laughed and laughed . Then , the court was filled with cheers and whistling ! Everyone was cheering for echizen-san ! It was a great match ! This is great ! Can this day get any better ?
Ryoma...
Takanishi-san came over and hugged me . Kaidoh-senpai and Oishi-senpai came over as well . All of us group hugged . I...I've never felt so happy in such a long time . I feel really blessed now . Its all thanks to her . If it weren't for her , I'd probably be in a state of darkness forever . Thank you … Chiyo...
"Congratulations echizen ryoma ! And now , the prize you deserve !" he took a piece of paper out from his pocket . I wonder what kind of lame prize he's giving out ? A ticket to the Burger joint ? Who knows ? I don't care about that at all !
"A kiss from Takanishi chiyo !"
Wait , What ?!
"What ?!" takanishi-san shouted . "Hey president ! Why am I the prize ? You didn't get my permission !"
"Oh , its because you owe me !"
"Huh ?"
"Look there … you literally broke the gate down ..." he point to the tennis court gates . What the ? Did he say she broke the gate down ?! That's crazy ! Is she even human ?!
"Ah , I really did break it ...opps .."
"You're really something , you know that ?"
"Well the gate was locked and ..."
"And ?"
She turned her face away from me .
"I was worried about you..." She blushed . I stared at her and I used my hands to cover my mouth . What am I doing ? Why am I covering my mouth ?! I can't be ...blushing ? I looked away from her . God damn it ..
"Hey , how long are you going to make us wait ? Hurry up and kiss him already !" The president shouted . I am going to shut that guy's mouth up ! Who does he think he is ?! This is not funny ! Its not something to joke about !
"You don't have to kiss me …"
She looked at me . Sigh .. I turned around and glared at the president .
"I don't need it …"
"What ?"
"I said I don't need the god damn prize ! Takanishi-san is a girl , its not funny . I would appreciate it if you would respect other people's feelings ! Plus , its not something to joke about .."
The president stood there and stared at me like I was some sort of idiot .
"I don't get you echizen-kun … why would you turn down a kiss from someone popular ?"
"I don't need something like that ...and isn't that basically forcing her to do something she don't want to do ? I'm not going to do that … She has... always been there for me … and it's more than enough … I don't need anything else ..."
"Echizen-san ..." takanishi-san said .
"Lets go ..." I grabbed her wrist and walked out of the court . The president stared at me with his mouth wide open . I could hear people whispering to each other . I didn't care about that . The both of us walked to the back of the school next to the tennis team locker rooms . I released her hands. Kaidoh-senpai and oishi-senpai came running towards us .
"Echizen ! You were amazing back there !" Oishi-senpai shouted .
"You were even more amazing when you shut the president up !" Kaidoh-senpai patted my back .
"It was nothing ..."
"Echizen-san ..." Takanishi-san called out to me . I turned around and faced her .
"Do you really mean what you said ? Just now ..."
"...Yeah..." I replied . She looked at me with eyes wide open and the both of us stared at each other . The wind blew against our face . I stared into her eyes . This feeling i'm having .. Where have I felt this before ? I'm sure it was when Ryuzaki-san and I were together . No .. this feeling is different … It feels stronger … Face it ryoma … you're … you're...
"You've gotten strong echizen ..." someone called out to me from behind . I turned around and saw my former teammates standing there . What now ? Oishi-senpai and kaidoh-senpai frowned and stood beside me .
"What do you want ?" I asked .
"You're still rude and cocky as ever ..." Kawamura-senpai said while putting his hands on his hips .
"What did you say ?!" Kaidoh-senpai shouted as he clenched his fist . Why even bother with them ? They're just a waste of my time !
"Kaidoh ! What's wrong with you ?! We heard from horio that you've sided with that jerk ! Oishi too !" the red headed , kikumaru-senpai shouted back . Kaidoh-senpai was about to charge at him when Oishi-senpai stepped in front of him .
"Eiji ! What your language ! Echizen has a name ! Please stop calling him a jerk and also , the problem is not with us ! Its with you !"
"What ?! Fine ! I don't get you at all ! You people are the stupid ones !"
Inui-senpai stepped out and walked towards takanishi-san . What is he trying to do now ? I stepped in front of takanishi-san and shielded her from inui-senpai . Inui-senpai stopped and looked at me .
"What the hell do you want ?"
"I have no business with you echizen … instead , I want to have a chat with her . Takanishi chiyo right ? From my data .. it seems like you're quite popular .. Why is someone like you hanging out with someone like him ?"
"I-"
"Don't answer him ! He's not worth of you're time ." I cut her off .
"What ? You can't stop her from talking !" Kikumaru shouted and walked towards me . "You're blackmailing her right ?! That's why she's hanging out with you !"
"Eiji !" Oishi-senpai shouted . I said nothing and glared at them . From behind them , I saw horio , katsuo and katchiro running towards us . Argh , could this get any worse ?!
"What Oishi ! Stay out of this !"
"Kikumaru-senpai is right !" horio came over and pushed me aside . He grabbed on to takanishi-san . "Chiyo , he's got something on you right ?! What is it ? You can tell us !"
"That's right , we'll help you .." Fuji-senpai and the others crowd around her . Damn it !
"That's not it ! I...I..." Takanishi-san tried to say something but she can't. She looks pale . That's right , she's no good with people that she don't know ! Damn it ! Leave her alone ! Just target me ! Screw this !
"Look what you've done echizen , she's so scared that her face has turn white ! She don't even dare to tell us what you've done !"
Horio came over to me .Horio you god damn liar !
"You're such a jerk ! I already told you to leave her alone ! You're a spoiled brat ! You probably thought that chiyo is fun to play around with just because she's nice to you ! Its just the same with ryuzaki-san right ?! No wonder nobody wants to be around you ! Its because you played with people's feelings ! And that little show you put on at the tennis court ! Oh its so touching ! My foot ! You forced her to say those things and made it look like she cared for you right ?! Heh ! You can fool everyone else but not us ! It's no wonder your parents left you ! Because you're a rotten child that no one loves !"
Why you little-! Before I could do anything, takanishi-san went in front of me . What is this weirdo doing ? She can't handle him ! I was about to push her aside when she raised her hands in the air .Smack ! She whipped her hand across horio's face . I stood there with my eyes wide opened , speechless . Everyone stood there with a surprised look on their faces . Horio , was the most surprised .
"Chiyo.. why-"
"Take back what you said !" She shouted .
"But chiyo , I'm speaking the truth .."
"Its not the truth ! What you said about Echizen-san is not true at all !" She shouted at the top of her voice . "Echizen-san is … a very kind person … He cares about me . When i'm in danger , he saves me . When I need help , he helps me … When i'm sick … he took care of me . When i'm feeling down , he cheers me up .. When i'm alone … he's there for me . He's always been there for me ! He's not a jerk and he's most definitely not rotten ! Echizen-san is... echizen-san is ..." tears were flowing out of her eyes . Why .. is she crying ?
"ECHIZEN-SAN IS SPECIAL !" She cried . "So ..take back what you said... stop saying things like that about him...You don't know him at all..." She rubbed her eyes . Weirdo... You...
I walked over to her and grabbed her wrist . I looked at her for a while and I started to run away , pulling her along . The both of us ran to the river behind the school. We stopped running and I turned around and looked at takanishi-san . Tears were flowing out of her eyes .
"S-sorry ...i'm ..." She apologized .
"Why are you apologizing ?"
"Because .."
"Idiot ..." I walked over and squeezed her in my arms . "Why are you crying anyways ..?"
"I don't know...I... I just can't stand it .. They don't know what they're saying … the tears just came out on their own ..."
"...baka.." I continued to hug her . "Its okay now ..."
She nodded and she squeezed my sleeve . I can't believe what i'm doing … I just want her to calm down and stop crying . I closed my eyes and we stayed in that position until she stopped crying .
"I'm fine now echizen-san .. thank you .." She looked up at me and smiled .
"That's the weirdo I know ..." I released her and sat down on the floor . She came over and sat down beside me . We looked at the river and felt the wind blowing through against us .Sigh ..
"Echizen-san...Should we call kaidoh-senpai and oishi-senpai ? They don't know about this place and they're probably looking for us right now ..."
"It'll be fine . By the way , you can stop with the formalities ..."
"Huh ? What do you mean echizen-san-"
"Call me Ryoma ..."
"Eh ?"
"Echizen-san echizen-san , its getting annoying .. Just call me ryoma .."
"Okay..erm...ryoma-kun ?"
"Wrong ...Just ryoma ..."
"Oh .. okay ...erm...Ryo-ryoma …?"
When she called me that , my heart skipped a beat . Th-this is unexpected . But .. I feel kind of happy ..
"Yeah ?"
"Ah this is awkward !"
"You'll get used to it soon .."
"Oi echizen ! Chiyo ! Where are you ?" Oishi-senpai's voice called out to us . I stood up and reached my hands out to takanishi-san .
"Come on .. lets go .."
She looked at my hands and then she smiled . She grabbed my hands and I helped her up .
"Okay !" she said in a happy voice . Yep , she looks best when she's smiling and when she's happy .
Meanwhile …
"Horio , you okay ?" Katsuo and katchiro walked over towards horio . He said nothing .
"I can't believe chiyo slapped horio just for ryoma .."
"Yeah ...Anyways , i'm a little worried about momoshiro-senpai.."
"What's wrong with momo ?" Kikumaru asked .
"He's sort of depressed .. he's in the locker room right now ..."
AGAIN ! I do not know how to bloody end this ridiculously long chapter ! So , im just going to leave it hanging :D Sorry if it kills you ! I'm trying my best already ! HOHO ! Ryoma won the match wahahahaha ! LOL ! I'm insane ! But , anyways ! Ryoma got over his past trauma and he's able to play tennis again ! It's all thank to chiyo ! Also , is ryoma starting to notice his own feelings towards her ? Read to find out ! PS : The festival is not ending yet ! Plus , What's going to happen to the depressed momoshiro ?
Discliamer : I do not own POT :D