Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Translate This ❯ That Sport I Loved ( Chapter 11 )

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

Translate This

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Chapter 11

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That Sport I loved

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Disclaimer: I don't own POT or CRACK, or WEED or anything else illegal okaiz?

Narrator's POV

“RYOMA!!” Nanjiro yelled up at his son who was still sleep in bed. “WAKE UP, AND COME DOWNSTAIRS!!!” And with that, went back to his Sunday paper. Or rather, the playboy magazine hidden in the Sunday paper, Tenaya had noticed.

Tenaya winced, and rubbed her poor ears. She shook her hair out of her face and stuck her hands in her jeans. She had decided to wear jeans today instead of her usual cargo pants because, well….she just felt like it. Paired with her fitted black jeans was a big, baggy, dark grey ETHEREAL shirt that she had tied in the back with a rubber band. She left her long dark brown hair the way it was, only brushing it and nothing else, and had left all of her earrings out of her ears today. On her left wrist she wore a neon pink wristband that had a big, black C on it, since she had borrowed it from her brother (haha), and had a silver snake ring on her right thumb. On her feet were a pair of black Etnies with lavender laces.

Tenaya was not one to pay much attention to what she wore. Once in a while, on special occasions, she put on something somewhat more formal. But no matter what she wore, she almost always looked great. On most days, such as today, she just pulled on whatever she could happen to find in her heap of clothing, and could always make it work. Needless to say, today was no exception, and Tenaya was looking gorgeous.

Or at least, that was the first thought that ran through Ryoma's foggy head as he stumbled down the stairs in his pajamas. He rubbed his eyes, and stared again at Tenaya, standing at the bottom of the stairs in all her glory. He blinked. He'd never seen her wear jeans before, and they looked really good on her. Her hair was looking unusually soft, and her perfectly chiseled face was smiling. At him.

“Good morning!” She said, as chipper as ever. If Tenaya had been the type of person to hold a grudge, then Ryoma would probably be in for it. But she wasn't.

He smiled down at her. “Hi.” He said, now all of a sudden regretting his crappy behavior towards her last week, and wanting to make it up to her. “What's up?”

She laughed and shook her head. “Well, you finally are. Now get dressed, I wanna go somewhere!”

Ryoma looked down, and blushed as he found that he was still in his pajamas. “Alright,” he said, turning around and jogging up the steps. “Be right back!!”

Tenaya chuckled. She thought he looked cute in his dark green pajamas. They made his green eyes stand out more, not like their usual brown-unless-you-got-right-up-in-his-face green. “Wear something green!!” She yelled up at him.

“Why?!” He yelled back.

“CUZ!!” She smirked to herself. “I said so!!”

“Okay!” Came a muffled reply of him tugging his green shirt on. He shook his messy black hair out of his face and quickly ran his brush through it. He threw on some black pants, and slipped into his Adidas, running back down the stairs to where Tenaya was waiting.

He came to a stop before her and smiled. She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Growth spurt?” She asked.

He blinked. “Huh?”

She shrugged. “You're like, almost taller than me now.”

“Oh.” He frowned. She was right, maybe he did have a growth spurt. Tenaya laughed and looked at his sparkling green eyes. “Wear green more often kay?” She said and turned around to open the front door.

He frowned again as he followed after her. “Right.” He muttered to himself, closing the door after him.

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They had decided to go to the mall and hang out there. After all, the temperature outside was dropping into the lower-fifties, and neither of them had remembered to bring a jacket. So they ran, shivering, into Central Mall, and warmed up. They walked around the bottom level of the mall, just people-watching for a little while. After strolling around for about half an hour, they had warmed up enough to get some ice cream. They found a small, cozy ice cream shop and sat down in a little booth in the corner. After a few moments, the waitress brought Tenaya her peppermint sundae, and Ryoma his chocolate-coffee ice cream bowl.

“Tenaya?” Ryoma asked, taking a bite of his ice cream.

“Yeah?” She said, with a mouth full of her sundae.

“Um, when are you leaving?” He asked hesitantly.

She smirked at him. “What, can't wait for me to go huh?”

Ryoma shook his head. “No, of course not! It's just that, um…I don't really want you to go.” He finished meekly.

She stared at him for a few moments, and then smiled warmly. “I'm leaving in about a month. Shortly after New Year's.” She wiped her mouth on a napkin. “Yep. Then it's back to America for me.” Her heart sunk slightly at the thought of it. Even she had forgotten that she was to leave soon. She had had so much fun in Japan that she didn't really want it to end. She picked at the melted ice cream gathering at the sides of her glass with a spoon.

Ryoma glanced at Tenaya's sad face, and decided to change the subject. “So the talent show…thinking about trying out?”

“I don't know…maybe. What about you?” Tenaya asked.

Ryoma shook his head. “The only thing I'm good at is tennis, and I can't exactly play that onstage.”

Tenaya laughed. “You're not good at anything else? Oh c'mon, there must be something.”

He stared blankly at her.

“Um, magic tricks?”

He blinked.

“Okay. Singing?”

He scooped up more ice cream. “Possibly. I don't think I'm very good at singing.”

She sat up, excited. “Oh, you could sing, and I could play guitar for you! How's that?”

He shrugged. “What song?”

She took a small stick of candy cane out of her ice cream and sucked on it thoughtfully. “Dunno. We can work it out. Okay, c'mon let's switch.”

“Huh?” He replied, cluelessly.

“Ice creams!” She said, pushing her sundae over to him and retrieving his. They both ate a spoonful of each other's ice cream, and simultaneously stuck out their tongues, making a face. Peppermint and chocolate-coffee didn't mix very well.

They returned each other's ice cream and finished them. After paying, they headed back into the mall. They decided to just walk around. After all, when you're in Japan, it's not like there's not enough Japanese street fashioners strolling around. Tenaya found the fashion here especially fascinating. She loved the colors, and chains, and ripped shirts, but most of all, the hairstyles.

“I don't really want you to leave.” Ryoma's sad voice cut through her thoughts. She looked over at him, walking with his head tilted downward and his gorgeous black hair partially veiling his beautiful face. She smiled, and gently slipped her hand into his. “Me neither. But it's all good, we'll have fun while I'm still here!!” She replied, smiling brightly.

Ryoma laughed, squeezed her hand, and brightened when she gently squeezed back. They continued walking, hand in hand, through the mall, laughing every once in a while when they saw something funny. Girls stopped to stare at Ryoma in all of his green-eyed, tennis-tanned hotness, and guys drooled at the sight of Tenaya with her gorgeous face, streaming hair and sparkling, grey eyes. Hand in hand, looking like a match made in heaven. What a sight.

After a while, Ryoma and Tenaya ran into Fuji and Tezuka who were shopping in the sports store. She ignored the group of girls gathered around the two of them, gawking.

“Hey guys!” Tenaya called and pulled Ryoma over to them. Fuji and Tezuka turned, and brightened at the sight of the two.

“Hi.” Fuji said, and smiled. He looked down at where their hands connected, and grinned to himself. How cute, he thought. “What's up?”

“Not much. We're just walking around. Nothing better to do on a Sunday.” She smiled up at him brightly, and dropping Ryoma's hand.

Ryoma looked at Tenaya's smiling face. Earlier, he had been in heaven, and the whole world seemed to revolve around them two, and it had seemed like Tenaya thought so too. But now he wasn't so sure. She looked really happy to see Fuji, and didn't even seem to acknowledge him anymore. He dejectedly stuck his hands in his pockets, and tuned out the rest of Fuji and Tenaya's conversation.

Tenaya turned to face Tezuka after chatting with Fuji. “Hey Tezuka? I was wondering, if I could just…decline your little job offer? You know, the girls tennis team coach one?” She said, wincing slightly.

He blinked. “I don't see why not.”

She stared at him, mouth open. “What?! You make it sound like not such a big deal now!”

He shrugged. “Well, it never really was.”

She sighed. “And I endured all that…” she muttered, under her breath.

“What was that?” He asked. But she just shook her head, and brightened. “Anyway,” Tezuka continued. “I was wondering if you'd play some tennis for us. I mean, just for fun, for us to see how good you are.” He pushed his glasses up his nose. At this, Ryoma perked up. Afterall, he did really want to see Tenaya play some tennis. Possibly even play her.

Tenaya sighed. She decided that maybe it was time to let go of her dad's feelings, and have some fun. Afterall, she did owe something to them. “Fine. Next week. I promise.”

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The week passed slowly, seeming to drag on. On Thursday, the team gathered for Seigaku team practice. Today was the day that Tenaya had promised them she would play. For once, even Momo was on time, for they all were waiting to see Tenaya in action. They stretched anxiously, all hoping that maybe they could get the chance to play her. All except Ryoma. He was sitting against the tree with his hat tilted over his eyes, drinking Ponta in the tree's shade.

Tenaya walked out of the girls locker room dressed and ready to go with her Prince tennis racket in it's bag, swinging from her shoulder. She had a brown Element camisole on, and baggy black basketball shorts. But instead of Nikes, or Adidas, she had on her usual etnies. In fact, she looked pretty much like her normal self, except her shorts weren't made from jeans. Well, when you asked for a sporty Tenaya, this was what you got.

She came to a stop before them, and smirked, unzipping her tennis racket bag, and extracting her tennis racket. She gripped it in her hand, and reveled at the familiar feeling. She smiled, and the feeling she had used to love came rushing back. She jumped up and down, suddenly pumped. “Alright!” She called out, laughing. “Bring it on, losers!!”

They stared at her, and then smiled. “I wanna play her!!” Were the scattered yells heard among the team. Tezuka cleared his throat. He was about to announce Fuji to play Tenaya, but right when he opened his mouth, Fuji cut him off with a whisper. “Let Ryoma play her.” Tezuka looked down at Fuji's serene, smiling face. “He really wants to, trust me.” Tezuka shrugged. “Okay, everybody, court 2!! Tenaya versus Ryoma!!”

Disappointed groans were heard but they were soon replaced by playfuls arguments, everyone putting their bet on who would win the match. “Warm up!!” Tezuka yelled, and Ryoma and Tenaya each headed onto the court, starting to hit back and forth to warm up.

Ryoma served the ball underhand over to Tenaya's side, anticipating the worse. But when it reached Tenaya, and she swung her racket, she hit it on the rim of her racket and watched as it sailed up into the air and over into the next court. She sweatdropped. Talk about rusty.

The team was silent, all with dumbfounded looks on their faces, including Ryoma. Tenaya sighed, and got into her ready position, this time serving underhand to Ryoma. “Give me a break,” she said, before hitting the ball. “I haven't played in 2 years.”

Ryoma shook himself out of his trance and gently hit the ball back to Tenaya. This time, Tenaya concentrated, brought the racket back into the ready position, and swung perfectly through her normal stroke, meeting the ball exactly in the middle of the sweet spot, sending it zooming back to Ryoma's side, just barely 2 inches over the top of the net. She smiled joyously. Now she wondered why she had waited so long to experience this feeling again. How could she have stopped playing tennis when it was such a wonderful feeling? Ryoma, a little surprised, returned the ball weakly back to Tenaya, and Tenaya hit her powerful stroke again. Tenaya and Ryoma made great rallying partners, each person's strength almost exactly the same. After a few minutes of rallying, they both walked toward the net to decide sides.

Tenaya won the racket flip, and chose the receiving side. She walked over to the right side of the court, and got into her ready position. She watched as Ryoma jumped gracefully into the air, hitting the spin serve that she had anticipated the whole time. She quickly back-pedaled, putting distance between her and the net. When the spin serve hit the ground, Tenaya was already almost 8 feet behind where she normally stood, ready and waiting for the ball to drop again from it's upward spin. And when it did, she swung her racket, watching as the ball went zooming back to Ryoma's side with her own spin plus the spin leftover from Ryoma's serve. It bounced on Ryoma's side, and immediately changed direction to the left, just out of Ryoma's reach. Tenaya spun her racket and smiled. “15 for me.” She whispered to herself, walking over to the deuce side court.

While Tenaya and Ryoma battled on, the team watched in utter enthrallment. They had never anticipated Tenaya to be so good. She was better than Ryoma, not by much, but still noticeably better. Fuji smiled at the pure look of joy on Tenaya's face as she hit ball after ball. She was definitely good. Better than him, probably not quite as good as Tezuka, but who knows?

Inui was completely in his own world, not seeing anything but the ongoing match. He was scribbling furiously in his book. Tenaya was matched with Ryoma in speed, slightly more power than him, better footwork, great eye for the ball, and very exact hand-eye coordination. He looked up from his notebook. But that wasn't it, he smiled. He had learned a long time ago, that tennis wasn't just a technical sport. Tenaya looked so happy when she was playing, that it seemed like nobody in the world could stop her. He closed his notebook and tucked it under his arm, watching Tenaya play with endless energy.

Tezuka himself was deeply impressed. She would have made an excellent coach, he thought. He could just tell by the enthusiasm she had for the sport. He watched her precise movements, and exact footsteps. The way she played seemed almost familiar. Suddenly, his brain clicked. Tenaya Rialles, Tenaya Rialles. Where had he heard that name before?

A/N: Well, like I said, I'm trying to be a little faster at updating, because as a reader, I hate waiting too long for the next chapter. So yeah, hope you all liked this chappie I worked pretty hard on it. From now on, I can just about do a 2 chapters a month. Yeah, doesn't sound like much, but that's the fastest I can work.

Thank you all reviewers!