Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Rain ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

[ A - All Readers ]

A/N: Me again with yet another fic! This one is quite different compared to my others....it involves a relationship with people of the opposite sex!! Scary, ne? lol Well, anyways..this was to help me get out of my writers block..so we'll see how things go, ne?

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis nor and of its characters, but I do own Riley Blain, so ask permission if you'd like to borrow her!! (highly unlikely but gotta cover all grounds, nya?)

Enjoy!

The rain was falling swiftly, soaking the streets and the pedestrians as they walked to their destinations. A young man with a bandana stepped outside of a pet shop to watch the rain come down.

He looked upward and sighed softly to himself. He was in one of his moods again, or that's what his friends like to refer it as. He was just feeling lonely and now that he was in high school not only had his tennis skills evolved, so had his hormones.

Standing at about 5'7, the dark haired, dark eyed man with luscious full lips was in search of his soulmate. Yeah, Kaidou Karou was a romantic at heart. He was one of the more well behaved and proper of his classmates and tennis comrades even if he did have a short temper.

He had been on a few dates, mainly they had been set up by his rival Momoshiro Takeshi. Double dates here, double dates there. He just could never get into the girls Momo set him up with, nor the ones that Inui Sadaharu chose for his favorite underclassman. He data analyzed Kaidou of all his likes and dislikes, then went around gathering data on girls matching that of Kaidou's tastes, and then would separate those who had a higher percentage of winning over Kaidou's feelings. Some had come quite close, but there was always something missing from each of the girls and no one could figure out what it was that Kaidou was wanting from the girl of his dreams.
After his third year in high school, Kaidou gave up taking out girls his friends set up for him and decided to just leave it up to fate in finding his true love. He got a part time job working at a pet store selling all sorts of animals from kawaii nekos he was so fond of, to large, gorgeous snakes which he became quite attached to.

Today business was slow because of the hard rain that had been coming down now since before school let out that day. Tennis practice had been cancelled due to the rain so he went into work early. He helped in cleaning some of the cages, and assisted in selling a ball python to a frequent customer. The store was empty except for him and the owner so he excused himself to step outside for a breath of fresh air.

He stood under the awning above the door and watched people carrying umbrellas through the heavy rain and some with briefcases or newspapers shielding them from the never ending pour. The smell of rain filled his mind and body and the sounds of rain smacking the concrete perked his ears. He enjoyed it when it rained. It was just such a natural thing of life and was beautiful in its own right. He lifted his face towards the heavens as he thought it would be nice to enjoy this moment with that special someone. He took a step out into the rain to feel the touch of the cold wetness kiss his bare skin on his face, neck, and arms.

The moment he felt the prickles of rain hit his skin, he was slammed into and he began to fall onto his side.

"Oh my!! Gomen-nasai!! Gomen! Gomen!! I didn't see you coming!" Kaidou heard as he was caught around the waist by the person who slammed into him.

He looked up to see a girl his age with deep blue eyes, so deep they could rival Fuji Syuusuke's. Hair so long it was past her waist, and a dark shade of blonde, mostly because of the rain.

Kaidou didn't move as he stared at the young woman, completely lost in her beauty, completely forgetting he had just been knocked over and being held up by the girl. He watched as rain dripped down her face; from her hair, down her nose, to outline her full, pink lips, then to drop from her chin or continue its' path down her neck. He glanced down a bit further and noticed something. A hand. Fisted in her shirt. A black shirt. With a band on it. He couldn't read the name of the band because of the hand that was fisted in her shirt. He then wondered why there was a hand fisted in her shirt, and whose hand it was and why it was there.

Then he heard something besides the thoughts in his head and the sound of the rain. A voice. A very pretty voice. He knew he could listen to this voice forever and fall asleep listening to this voice telling him many sweet things as they lay in bed after hours of making sweet love. The voice was speaking to him, he finally figured. What? Am I ok? Why wouldn't I be? Stand up? Can I? Of course I can! I am! Aren't I? He looked back at the glaring hand fisted in this beautiful teen's shirt. Why is it still there? He decided to just follow the hand because there was an arm attached to it, and if he did that he might find whose hand it belonged to!

His eyes followed the length of the muscular arm from the hand, to wrist, to forearm, to elbow, and was happy to find there was more of the arm so it had to be attached to someone. He continued from the elbow, up the biceps to the shoulder when he noticed that it was attached to a body. His body! Oh. So it was his hand fisted in the girl's shirt? Oh. He looked up at the girl and saw her eyes were filled with a bit of concern and then he looked back at the hand in her shirt, then to his shoulder where he knew it was his arm attached to that hand that was holding onto her shirt. He looked back at her face, then saw he was looking up in a strange angle, and saw she seemed to be straining some. He glanced down and saw she was holding him around the waist and he was only a foot or so from the concrete. Hmm. .... Oh. ... OH!!

Everything finally came to him and smacked him squarely in the face and startled him back to reality. He took his free arm and laid it on the concrete to balance his body out and she took that as cue to let him go. No. Don't let go! But he stood up and looked at her. Worry lines creased her forehead.

"Daijoubu?" She asked. There was that voice again. "I don't think you hit your head or anything. I thought I caught you before you hit the ground. Are you alright? Do you not understand me? Sir?"

SAY SOMETHING!! "Uh." Yeah. Bravo. "Uhh Fshuu!!" Sure, scare her off with your hissing. Good job.

"You work here right?" She asked pointing towards the pet store.

Kaidou nodded and she smiled finally getting some kind of reaction out of this guy. Kaidou smiled too when she did. Her smile was purely contagious. He really liked that. She began to walk towards the store but stopped and looked down. Kaidou looked down and stared.

He still held her shirt in his hand. Eyes going wide he stammered, yet shouted, "Oh no! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"

She laughed lightly and took her hand to his, still holding tightly to her shirt, and placed it on top of his. "Can I take this?" She asked.

Kaidou blinked a few times before releasing his grip on her shirt and she slid her fingers through and brought their hands down. She smiled at him gently and then wrinkled her nose in amusement. Kaidou again blinked a few times at her behavior, and then smiled back. Contagious smile for sure.

She led Kaidou back inside the pet shop with a tug of his hand. The shop owner greeted her warmly and she the same back. The man asked why the two were soaked and she just smiled and asked if he could kindly get them towels to dry off with. He smiled back at her and walked towards the back to retrieve something for the two.

Kaidou watched his boss leave the room and turned to the girl. "Arigatou gozaimasu," he said with a bow of his head.

"Hai hai. Are you alright now?" she asked lifting her hand to brush back a few stray hairs off his forehead.

Startled, Kaidou grabbed for her hand and took a step back.

"Whoa there cowboy! Chill out." She pulled her hand back from his grasp and stepped back herself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," Kaidou said taking a step back towards her when he realized what he did.

She cocked her head and gave him a half smile. "I think you did bump your head back there. Unless you are usually this out of it," she asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Uhh, n-no. I guess I'm still a bit shocked at what happened," he said lowering his head and playing with the material of his apron.

"I'm really sorry about that. It's just I had found this kitten and had it in my bag, and it had just poked its head out and I was tucking it back in while trying to hurry home. That's when I ran into you."

"Kitty?" Kaidou's interest in her just went up another ten notches.

"Hai. Oh!" She reached down to her messenger bag and lifted up the flap to reveal a black and brown kitten with long whiskers and white paws.

Kaidou blushed at how cute the kitty was and how badly he wanted to play with it. But he tried his best to contain himself in front of...he just realized he still didn't know who this blonde beauty was.

"Ano..could I ask you your name?"

"Hai, I'm Blain Riley. Nice to meet you. You are?" she asked reaching her hand out to shake his.

He took her hand in his and stuttered out, "Kaoru, Kaidou Kaoru."

"I'm sorry we had to meet in such a...rough way," she said in a short giggle. "Here, would you like to hold the kitten?" she asked while digging the fur ball out of her bag.

He nodded his head and stuck his hands out to retrieve the cute kitten from her grasps when he heard a loud hissing coming from the tiny object of his current affection. He looked up to see Riley laughing at the two of them.

"This is why I named him Mamushi! He sounds like a snake when he hisses!"

Kaidou just stared at her for another minute before beginning to calm the kitten down. Riley stared at the boy and a smile crossed her face at how sweet he was with the kitten. Kaidou was finally able to take Mamushi from her hands and scratched it behind his ears right when the shop owner walked back in with towels for the two.

"Thank you," she said taking both towels from the owner. He excused himself after handing the kids the towels, saying something about feeding some of the animals in the back and to call him if it should get busy.

Riley wrapped one around her neck and took the other and placed it on Kaoru's head.

"Uhh..." Kaidou started.

"Ne, you play with the kitten. He seems to like you more anyways." She gently rubbed the towel through his hair, down his neck and arms, then draped the towel over his shoulders when she was satisfied. She then turned her attention to drying her own hair.

Kaidou sat and watched her in amazement. "Riley, this, this may sound forward, but would you please go on a date with me?" Kaidou blushed furiously and ducked his head, concentrating his eyes only on little Mamushi in his arms.

"Sure."

Kaidou sat there his attention still on the kitten when he saw her standing in front of him. Her hand reached up and tilted his head up. "Kaoru, I said 'Sure'! Are you sure you didn't hurt yourself earlier?" she laughed.

He looked at her and absorbed what she said before he smiled back. "I guess I just don't know how to act in front of you."

Riley cocked an eyebrow at that. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Kaidou blushed furiously at her. "You've just got this aura that makes me nervous. But in a good way!" he added. She just smiled at him and let him continue. "I just lose myself in everything about you, and I just want to be near you and learn more about you."

Riley winked at Kaidou and presented a 'V' with her fingers. "Kaoru, this is just the beginning! Don't get all lovey-dovey on me already! Let's go have fun!"

He couldn't help but smile at her. "Yeah. Let's go," he said walking towards the door.

"Kaoru!" Riley shouted.

"Huh?" he asked, turning back to the blonde.

"Chibi-Mamushi needs to find a home first," she said laughing at the new name for their kitty.

Kaidou blinked again and then smiled at her words. He took the kitten in the back for the shop owner to watch until they returned later, as well as ask permission to leave early. The man smiled and told him to have a good time.

Kaoru came back out kitten-less and apron-less, but with a smile on his face. "Where to?"

Riley placed a finger on her chin and tapped it a few times. "Hmm, how about Kawamura's Sushi? They have a great selection!"

Again, Kaidou blinked at the strange girl who seemed to be a lot like his teammates. He nodded and agreed on their selection being great. He opened the door for her and noticed it had yet to stop raining. He turned back in to grab an umbrella when one was stuck right at the tip of his nose. He looked up to see a smirking Riley, holding the other end of the umbrella. He smiled at her and stepped out to unfold the thing. He turned back to tell her it was ready, but she was already by his side.

He smiled at her, realizing then that they were roughly the same height. Him holding a few inches more than her though. She smiled back and the two began walking.

For the first half of the walk they were lost in each other's silent company, but Kaidou was itching to ask her where she was from. He looked over to her and opened his mouth to begin when he was cut off by her saying, "It's so much more pretty here when it rains than in America." Ah. So then she wasn't a fake blonde with blue eyes. He mentally smacked himself for even thinking she was fake in any way. He glanced down at their hands which had at some point laced together on their journey to the sushi restaurant. Her hands were such a lighter shade than his anyways. "How do you know Japanese so well?"

"Oh, well at first I just picked up things while watching anime and the sort," she said blushing slightly. How cute! "But then I knew one day I would love to travel the world, and especially visit Japan. So I took a few courses over the summer, and just kind of picked it up as time went on. I don't think my Japanese is that great. I'm sure you could tell I'm still fairly new at it from the get-go," she said with a smile.

Kaidou blushed knowing he hadn't. But then he blushed deeper when he realized he hadn't cared either way when he first saw her. He just knew there was something about her he liked, and he was becoming obsessed with it the more he was near her. "No, your Japanese is really good. I wish my English was half as good as your Japanese."

She smiled at him, "Well, Kaidou Kaoru, I'd be more than happy to help you with your English if you help me with my Japanese."

"Thank you. I'll take you up on your offer, but again, you don't need any-" then Kaidou realized she was setting up more dates for the two to spend more time together. "Thank you, Blain Riley. It would be my pleasure to help you." He smiled at her and squeezed her hand in his quickly.

"Do you play tennis, Kaoru?" she asked lifting their hands to examine his.

"H-Hai. I'm sorry my hands are so rough." he said bowing his head.

"No, it's fine, Kaoru. They give you character." She winked back up at him, and nodded ahead. "We're almost there."

He looked up and saw the restaurant and a group of people standing outside. He was confused as why there were so many people outside when, even though Kawamura's was popular, they've never had to have people wait outside.

The closer they got Kaidou started getting nervous, and a notion of dread washed over him. As they approached he unmistakably saw his teammates standing around talking. He just knew if they saw him with Riley they'd embarrass him, and he'd end up doing something just as embarrassing to get them to stop. He was quickly thinking of a way to take a detour from the restaurant when Riley stopped suddenly. He looked at her and he saw her glance worriedly ahead and then turn to him with a bright smile on her face. He looked at her totally lost in what was wrong.

"Kaoru..I just realized I'm not exactly hungry for sushi right now," she said slyly, stepping closer to the teen.

"Um, what are you hungry for then, Riley?"

"Mmm, I want you Mamushi," she said, her eyes suddenly half-lidded, lust filled.

"W-what? Riley?" he asked as he was sucked in by her gaze, the umbrella dropping some, covering their faces from onlookers, his body drawing closer to hers. His voice lowered, husky from the emotions flooding his body. "What do you want with me?"

Riley's mouth was just inches apart from his. She licked her own lips quickly, and gazed up at the boy. She watched as droplets fell from his bangs and he closed his eyes slowly, trying to contain himself. She smiled and her gaze flickered past the dropped umbrella and saw that the crowd around the sushi restaurant had dispersed. She smiled again, leaned in, and placed a soft, gentle kiss on Kaidou's cheek.

She leaned back and smiled happily at him. "Ok! Now I'm ready for sushi!" She said and skipped around the umbrella in Kaidou's hand and headed for the restaurant.

Kaidou lifted his empty hand to his cheek and touched the place where she kissed him. His heart fluttered, but he knew there was something hidden in that kiss. She was hiding something. But what? He had to find out. He pulled the umbrella back in and closed it back up, not caring of the rain anymore, and took off after the blonde who was a few yards ahead of him and close to the restaurant.

Once he caught up she grabbed his hand and smiled brightly at him. "I'm starved Kaoru!" And the two walked into the building and were greeted by the owner. He said a few praising words to Kaidou as well as Riley.

"Shame practice was cancelled today, eh Kaidou?" he said, smacking the teen on the back.

"So you're friends with Kaidou as well as Tezuka?" he asked the girl as he led them to their table, smiling.

Kaidou felt her still at his question, but she kept her smile firmly in place and said of course. Mr. Kawamura left to get the two their "usual" drinks, and Riley and Kaidou took a seat across from each other at the table.

"So, I guess there's a few things I need to tell you," Riley said looking down at her folded hands on the table.

Kaidou's emotions were on fire, he felt betrayed some how but didn't know why. She was going to tell him something, and he definitely could tell he would not like it.

"Fshuu," was all he could say before their drinks were brought to them.

TBC...

Hope you enjoyed! Please review and tell me what you thought of it!! Thank you!