Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Translate This ❯ Running ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Tenaya has really forced herself into a corner this time. Tezuka wants her to play tennis, and she's stuck between running away and giving in. Meanwhile, Ryoma has some troubles of his own to deal with.

Anime/Manga: Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.10.2005 | Pages: 14 | Words: 9.8K | Visits: 551 | Status: Completed

Disclaimer: I don't own POT and the plotline. Unfortunately.

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Translate This

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Running

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*Narrator's POV*

Tenaya took a deep breath as she skated down the street towards Ryoma's house. It was 10:00 A.M. on a Saturday, and she felt great. The day before was...a thinking day for her, and she was back to her lively self today. She skidded to a halt in front of Ryoma's house and knocked on the door. A minute later, a very sleepy looking Ryoma answered the door.

"Whaddya want?" He said, trying to stifle a big yawn and failing.

"I'm not gonna let you sleep in on a day like this!" She smiled brightly. "Get out here."

"It's a great day to sleep..." He mumbled.

“Lazy bum. I'll give you 3 minutes."

"...Fine." He rubbed his eyes, and headed back upstairs to change. Normally, he would have refused, but he was so relieved to see Tenaya back to her old self, that he agreed.

A few minutes later, he appeared at the bottom of the stairs in a T-shirt and shorts, but no hat this time. "So, where do you want to go?"

Tenaya smiled and pointed at him. "You're gonna show me around town!"

He sighed. "I am?"

She nodded. "Yep."

"Ok fine, let's go. We'll start in the shopping district okay?"

She motioned for him to lead the way. "You're the boss." She said, and skated after him. A few minutes later, they reached the downtown shopping area, and began making their way through stores. Tenaya dragged Ryoma around to some clothing stores, and laughed while she made Ryoma try on ridiculous outfits. Then they decided to take a walk through central park. After playing on the swings, and having multiple sand fights (which resulted in a very grumpy Ryoma with sand in his hair), they headed back to the shopping district for some ice cream. While they ate that, they went around and visited some tennis stores. At the shoe store, they spotted Eiji trying on a pair of shoes, and Tenaya insisted that they say hi.

"Eiji-san!" Tenaya called out.

He looked up. "Aah! Tenaya! And you're here with ochibi-san!"

"Mm-hmm." She nodded as they made their way over to where he was sitting. "So, are you buying new shoes?"

"Yeah, but I can't decide on what color." He said, and held up a red pair and a blue pair. "What do you think?"

"Red. It matches your eyes!"

He laughed. "Good choice. I'll go with that."

After paying for the shoes, Kikumaru bid farewell to Tenaya and Ryoma and headed home. Tenaya looked at her watch. "We should head home too. It's already 4:00."

Ryoma looked up. "Wow, we've been out here a long time."

She smiled and shrugged. "Time flies when you're having fun."

He thought about that as they headed home. This was the first time he had fun in a while. Of course, he always enjoyed playing tennis, but that was different. He hadn't wanted to leave his house this morning, but right now, he was glad he did. He looked up as he heard the sounds of a tennis game going on to his left. Obviously, Tenaya had heard it too.

"Hey look, street tennis! You should go play Ryoma."

He shook his head. "Nah."

Her face fell. "Oh, why not?"

"I just...don't want to."

"Yes you do!"

"No I don't.

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"...please?" She said, looking up at him with big gray eyes.

He took one look at her pleading face and sighed. "Fine. But you owe me."

"Yay! Ok, now go over their and beat their butts!"

He muttered under his breath as he walked over. The game had just finished, so he borrowed a racket and stepped onto the court. He started with his right hand, but found that his opponent was pretty good. So even though he was winning 3-2, he switched to his left hand to speed the game up. Soon the game was over, Ryoma winning 6-3. Tenaya cheered as he stepped off the court, and ran over to give him a congratulating hug.

"You were great, short stuff!" She exclaimed, eyes shining with excitement.

He smiled and took a drink of water. "Thanks."

At this moment, they spotted Ryoma's opponent walking over with a couple of friends. He sneered as he approached them. "So, you think you're good don't you?"

Ryoma wiped his mouth and put away his water bottle. "Better than you."

His face started to cloud with anger. "I was just going easy on you. Don't get all cocky."

"Don't make excuses for your lack of skills."

"Look, you don't know who you're dealing with! I'm Hiroya Aikowa, kind of street tennis! You're should be bowing down."

Ryoma just stared. "If you're such a legend, then why did you lose so badly to me?"

He smirked. "Like I said, I was going easy on you. After all, you are just a little freshman, and I didn't want any feelings getting hurt.

Ryoma snorted. "That's the excuse everybody uses. They just pretend that they were holding back, when actually, they're just ashamed that their best couldn't beat a freshman." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm on the last part.

"Why, you little-" Hiroya was obviously really ticked off now. Before anybody could react, he stepped forward, and struck Ryoma square in the jaw with his right fist. Ryoma stumbled backwards from the impact, and clutched his bleeding lip.

Tenaya finally spoke up after quietly watching their argument all this time. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" She yelled.

Hiroya, as if just noticing Tenaya, turned to face her with a smirk on his face. "Ooh, feisty one. Not to mention beautiful, just how I like them." He sauntered over to where she was standing. "What do you say, you and me?"

"Eww, no! I'd never go out with a jerk like you."

"Mm, not to mention a foreigner with kick-ass English!! Aw c'mon, you know you want to. You're lucky to get asked out by Hiroya Aikowa. You don't know how many die-hard fangirls I've turned down."

"Well, all your fans must be messed up in the head then, because you are not a chick magnet like you think."

"Of course I am! And I'm offering the chance for you to be my girlfriend! Tons of girls would die to be in your position right now."

Tenaya looked over at Ryoma, who was still holding his lip, which was still bleeding. "No. Go to hell."

"Well, if you don't want me, then you could at least do better than this guy!" He said, pointing at Ryoma. "What is a gorgeous girl like you, doing with a wimp like him?"

She glared. "Well, he's a way better person than you are. I'd take him over an ass-sucking dumbfuck like you anyday."

"Aw, you don't mean that." He smirked. (Although he didn't know what she just said because his school didn't teach English cussing.) "I know you really can't resist a hot guy like me." He said, moving closer to her and placing his hands on her hips.

Tenaya smiled and leaned in closer to Hiroya. A look of triumph came onto his face, as she lifted up her arms and wrapped them around his neck. He smirked over her shoulder at Ryoma who was looking at him and Tenaya with a helpless look on his face. Tenaya leaned upwards to whisper seductively in his ear. "You're right Hiroya, you are pretty hot, under that first impression. I just can't keep my hands off…” She slowly trailed one finger down his chest, and leaned so close to his ear that it looked like she about to kiss it. “A jackass like you!!!" She yelled, making him cringe at the sudden explosion in his eardrums. And as soon as he winced and removed his hands from her butt to cover his ears, she punched him hard in the nose. “Whew, that was worth all of your disgusting octopus-groping.” She said, smirking.

All of his friends looked surprised for a second, but they snapped out of their daze when they heard a howl of pain.

"Ow, my nose! It's bleeding. Y-you punched me!!"

She glared. "And you deserved it."

He quickly scrambled up to his feet, still clutching his nose. "You're lucky I don't hit girls, because you would be so dead."

"Bull, you're just afraid. And you know you want some more." She said, smirking and cracking her knuckles.

His eyes widened and he quickly started scampering away with his friends. "We're gonna get you back for this!"

"Good!" She called out, and turned around to face Ryoma. "God, jerks like him don't deserve to live. Hey, you okay?" She said, voice softening at the end as she kneeled down to face him.

By this time, his lip had stopped bleeding except for a small trickle of red that ran down his chin. He had really thought she was serious back there, and for some reason, was extremely relieved that she wasn't. He didn't know why, but the moment she returned Hiroya's hug, he had suddenly felt a slight pang of hurt and betrayal, which was ridiculous considering how they weren't even anything more than friends. "Yeah, I'm...okay."

"You should fight back next time." She took a napkin out of her pocket and wet it with some water from his water bottle. Then, taking the wet towel, she carefully removed his hands from his bloody lip, and gently wiped the blood away. But as gentle as she was, he still winced. "Sorry," she whispered, as she continuted cleaning. She was really sad somehow. Ryoma didn't deserve this kind of treatment, and she realized that he was probably often bullied because of his skill. She gently brushed the hair that was sticking to his blood and sweat covered face away, and finished cleaning his lip.

"Thank you." He said, lightly touching his swollen lip to test how bad it was. It had finally stopped bleeding all together, and didn't hurt much when he touched it. Then he stood up and started walking home with Tenaya.

"Hey Ryoma, just...don't listen to people like him, they're just jealous."

He shrugged. "I guess."

She sighed, as if she was suddenly tired and weary. "You're good at tennis…and they know it." His situation had suddenly reminded her of when she was little, and was often made fun of out of the jealousy and hatred that her opponents often had for her.

They spent the rest of the walk in silence. When they reached Tenaya's house, she was about to open the door and walk in when Ryoma's voice stopped her.

"Um...Tenaya?"

She turned around to face him. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say...thanks." It was nice to have somebody stick up for him for once. And nobody had ever called him a good person before.

She smiled, and her gray eyes seemed especially vibrant. "Now we're even."

* * *

Sunday morning passed pretty fast. Ryoma came over to help Tenaya and Carter repaint his room. (He wanted it blue instead of white) Then, after that, Ryoma went home, and Tenaya and Carter had lunch. Then they started preparing dinner. Ryoma and his family were supposed to come over for dinner that night, so Tenaya and Carter were preparing something special. Carter was making shrimp fettuccini, and Tenaya was baking garlic bread from scratch.

By the time they finished, Ryoma and his family had already arrived. Dinner was lively, and everybody got along surprisingly well. After they ate, the grownups chatted while the kids enjoyed a game of Soul Calibur on the PS2. After the Echizens went home, Joan and Mom cleaned up. It was the perfect day before the start of another week.

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*Tenaya's POV* - Tuesday

I was in hiding. Yep. From Tezuka to be exact. He would no doubt force me to play tennis if he found me. When I showed up at tennis practice yesterday, I just barely escaped his `wrath'. I know that I promised to play for Tezuka so that he could recommend me to be the girls' tennis coach, but I just didn't feel ready yet. I could only use the “didn't-bring-a-change-of-clothes” excuse so many times.

I was currently hiding behind the skate ramps, where nobody could see me. But I was extremely bored, and I planned to run for it as soon as Tezuka looked the other way.

Finally, about 10 extremely long minutes later, Tezuka headed into the school office, and I grabbed this chance. I got my skateboard and backpack, and ran over to the tennis court to tell Ryoma.

“Where were you? Tezuka's looking for you.” Ryoma said, wiping his sweaty brow.

“Yes, I know! That's why I'm going into hiding.” I whispered as I looked around for the tennis coach.

He gave me a weird look. “O…k…”

“Yeah, so I'm gonna go home first okay?”

He set down his racket and picked up his water bottle. “You can't run forever you know.”

I winced. He didn't know it, but those words were the exact ones that I kept trying to tell myself. I sighed in defeat. I knew deep inside that he was speaking the truth, but I wasn't ready to face the truth. Not yet.

Ryoma must have noticed the look on my face, for his brow wrinkled in worry. “Oh, sorry…did I say something wrong?”

“No. I'm okay.” I smiled at him weakly and shook my head. “I know you're right, but I'm not ready, okay?” I paused and when his worried look deepened, I was about to say something else to reassure him, but instead, I just turned and started running in the other direction. “See you later!” I called out. But unfortunately, I ran right into Tezuka.

“Tenaya! There you are, are you going to play today?”

“Uh, no…I can't…” I stammered. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the regulars all stop to watch the current ongoing drama.

“Why not?” Crap, now I was in for it. I looked around for an escape way as Tezuka launched into an explanation of why I needed to start playing very soon, and how I was running out of time. Suddenly I gasped and pointed.

“Oh my god!!! Fuji dyed his hair pink!!!”

“What?!” Tezuka whirled around to look at Fuji, who had a half-confused, half-amused look on his face, and I stole this chance to run. I heard Eiji cheering as I turned the corner. I continued running all the way until I reached my house, and I sat down on my front porch to catch my breath. “Aah, that was close…” I said to myself, in between gasps. Escaped this time…

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*Narrator's POV*

Tenaya sat down on the grass at the park, while Hikari sniffed out the place. She sighed, and lied down. This seemed like the thinking park for her. She knew that one of these days, she'd eventually have to stop running and face the facts. No doubt Tezuka would make her soon enough.

She wondered with a smile, just how bad she had gotten over the past year. She sat up, and brushed herself off, but when she looked around for Hikari, she was nowhere to be found.

“Hm, I wonder where she went…” she murmured to herself, as she started searching through bushes. She pushed aside a branch, and to her surprise, found Hikari prancing around in the grass around none other than Kaido Kaoru. He looked up, and when he saw Tenaya, looked away to hide his blush.

“Kaido, right?”

He only nodded.

She laughed. “You like animals don't you?”

He looked up. “How did you know?”

“Oh, I can sorta tell.”

“So, is this your dog?”

She nodded. “Yep, her name's Hikari.”

Kaidoh bent down to pet her. “She's a German Shepherd?”

“Yeah, she is.” Tenaya smiled. “So, what brings you here?”

“I was in the middle of my jog.”

“Do you come by this park often?”

He nodded. “Everyday.”

“Hikari likes it too, it seems.” She smiled.

Kaido sighed. “I wish I had a pet.”

“Why don't you get one?”

“I guess, with tennis and school, I'm just too busy to take care of one.”

“Oh.” She sighed. “Too bad. How long have you been playing tennis?”

He stuck his hands in his pockets, “Ever since I was nine.”

“Wow, no wonder you're so good.”

He blushed. “How about you?”

She smiled. “What about me?”

“Well, do you play tennis?” He said, giving Hikari's ears a little scratch.

She sighed. This was getting repetitive. “Used to.”

“Oh. Because Tezuka wants you to be the girls' tennis team coach right?”

“Yeah, but I'm not sure if I'm right for the job…”

“How come?”

She shrugged. “I don't know. Tennis…just might not be my thing…” She trailed off, and sighed. “Anyways, nice talking to you! I'm gonna head home now.”

“Okay, bye.” He waved and continued jogging.

Tenaya thought about that while she lead Hikari home. If she was so sure that she didn't want to play tennis, then why did she agree to becoming the girls tennis coach in the first place? She shook her head clear of these thoughts. She decided that she was way over-thinking this situation. Maybe she should just let things take its course, and hopefully, everything would work out for the best.

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a/n: Sorry for the cheesy chapters, they'll get better, I promise. Anyways, I'll try my hardest to update at least once a week, and if not, then I apologize beforehand. So, constructive criticism, comments, and flames, all welcome.