Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Translate This ❯ Through His Eyes ( Chapter 12 )

A/n: Ok well, SUPER CHEESY one coming up for you guys. Try not to gag on this fluff guys, it's pretty thick.

 

 

 

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Translate This

 

 

 

 

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Through his eyes

 

 

 

 

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Disclaimer: I wish I owned POT, which means I currently don't. Right? Right.

 

 

 

Tenaya and Ryoma had been playing for almost an hour, but neither one seemed to notice. They were having so much fun that nothing else seemed to matter. The team hadn't gotten bored either, for it was basically impossible to tire of watching Ryoma and Tenaya have the time of their lives.

 

 

Tenaya's POV

 

 

I could feel my energy growing and growing as the game continued, until it had gotten to a certain point. As soon as I reached that point, I was automatically reminded of Regionals. Suddenly, Ryoma's figure melded into the familiar figure of my Regionals opponent, a 16 year old blonde Russian girl with the temper of a caveman. I grimaced at her. She had been a particularly tough opponent. She wasn't quite as fast, because of her bulk, but her strength was much greater than mine. It took all of my strength to return her balls. At that point, I had thought for sure that I'd run out of energy before the game ended.

 

 

 

I concentrated on Lisa, which was the girls name, although in the back of my head, I knew it was Ryoma. My body was not conscious of that though, because it was living in the past. I smiled, hitting an overhead, I remembered the pride I felt when that last overhead won the game for me. I nearly collapsed on my way to the podium, but I was so excited for my chance to compete at nationals that I forced myself to stay up. But I was most proud when I passed my dad, who had a priceless look on his face. His expression was a mixture of pride, joy, understanding, excitement, and yet somehow, there was a trace of sadness. I had never understood why though.

 

 

 

My heart dropped when I finally realized that he was sad because of his sickness. I tried focusing my attention on Ryoma, but my mind continued drifting. My mom had told me that my dad had found out about his disease just before the end of Regionals. And that he had kept quiet so that I could still do my best. My vision of Ryoma blurred as I remembered our car ride on the way home from Regionals. My dad showered me with praise, making me just about the happiest kid on Earth, but when he took that huge sigh, signaling the beginning of bad news, I knew that there was something wrong. My dad was dying. My DAD, my father, my mentor, my everything was dying. And what hurt most was that I had no control over any of it. It didn't matter that I was holding a gleaming first trophy in my hands. It didn't matter that I was now the most talked about kid in the tennis world, because the one person who I wanted to be proud of me was dying.

 

 

 

I remember nights when he would want to read me a story in front of the fireplace, and I would say no and leave, only to read more books on tennis technique. When he'd have a
”bring your daughter to work” day at his company, and I refused to go because of a scheduled tennis practice with my friends. I loved him, but I loved tennis too. And I was too caught up in my sport to pay him any attention until it was too late.

 

 

 

I hit the ball as hard as I could towards Ryoma, who didn't even bother returning it, for he knew it was going to be long. And it was. I took a gulping sob, and rested my hands on my knees. Fortunately, nobody had heard me, and I hid behind my hair to make sure that nobody would. It wasn't fair of me to do this. I shouldn't be playing tennis, I thought. When my dad had died and I was too busy playing this stupid sport. My tears dripped from my face and onto the dark red of the court, turning it an even darker shade. I quickly wiped my eyes and got ready again, for Ryoma's serve.

 

 

 

But I couldn't stop thinking about my dad. Why was I playing tennis?! Why wasn't I doing something more productive with my time? “No.” I whispered as I hit my perfected one-hand backhand stroke. The only one-handed backhand in all of the girls' division back in America, and some of the guys as well. I hit it perfectly, and my anger rose even more. I thought about the days when I'd totally blow off previous plans to perfect that stroke. And now it was perfect, and who did I have to show it to? Nobody. This was stupid, I thought, the whole court becoming blurry through my tears. “No, I shouldn't be playing.” I said hoarsely. “Dad…I'm sorry.” I whispered. I concentrated on the ball coming towards me despite my will. As much as I wanted to tear my attention away, I couldn't. I took my forehand swing, and with all my might, swung through the ball. “NO!!” I screamed as my racket hit the ball, sending it into a perfect shot over to Ryoma's side. I sobbed. How I hated myself.

 

 

 

Narrator's POV

 

 

Ryoma wiped his brow, concentrating hard on Tenaya's swing. She was so good, it was almost unbelievable. He was getting extremely worn out, but he couldn't show it. It took so much strength to even run, but he had to win. It was just…a Ryoma thing.

 

 

 

Ryoma had thought Tenaya had been becoming more and more strange over the last half an hour. Her mood had gone dramatically from happiness and excitement to anger and frustration. And when she had hit that long shot, he had thought he heard her cry out, but he thought that that was just in anger for making such a mistake. He had watched as water dripped onto the court, not knowing if it was sweat or tears. He had watched, but had found out nothing.

 

 

 

But it was the last straw when Tenaya hit that perfect shot, and still screamed “NO!!” He let the ball zoom past him, not even trying to return it, to watch as Tenaya crumbled to the ground in a heap of tears. She had let her arm fall, letting the racket fall down in front of her pool of brown hair. She stayed there, on the side of her knees, sobbing. Ryoma's heart broke at the sight of it, and he automatically dropped his racket and ran over to her side. Although, the whole team had already gathered around her.

 

 

 

So he stood at the side, hiding his anxiety by hiding his hands in his pockets. He watched in anticipation as the team crowded around Tenaya's fallen figure, asking what was wrong.

 

 

His face crumpled into a mask of pain, hurt by the fact that he could do absolutely nothing to help the girl he…..

 

 

Narrator's POV

 

 

Tezuka had been watching her, running her name over and over in his head. And before long, he had remembered. He leaned over to tell Fuji, before he forgot again.

 

 

“Hey Fuji,” He whispered.

 

 

Fuji looked up at him in a look of wondering.

 

 

Tezuka continued. “Have you ever heard of Tenaya's name elsewhere?” Fuji shook his head.

 

 

“Well, I finally remembered where I've heard of her before. She was 2002 USA Regionals girls' champion! I remember, because the news had said she was half Japanese, which caught my attention.”

 

 

Fuji's eyes widened and he turned to look at Tenaya. “Are you sure?”

 

 

 

Tezuka nodded. “Positive. But that's not the big part. I remember reading a few months later that she had withdrawn from the Nationals competition although she had an excellent chance of becoming the youngest person to win the Nationals. I did some more research then to find out why, and I discovered that her dad had died not long before Nationals started, and she withdrew because of the overwhelming pain of it. It said that she had some past regrets that linked to her dad, and because of those, vowed never to play tennis again, no matter how much she loved the sport.”

 

 

”Which was a whole lot by the looks of it.” Fuji looked over at Tenaya again with a look of amazement in his open, royal blue eyes. “I had no idea…but then, why is she playing now?” But as soon as he said that, he heard a cry from her, and looked over to see her laying on the floor, sobbing. His breath caught in his throat, and he ran as fast as he could through the gate, jumping over Tenaya's strewn racket to reach Tenaya's side. He gently stroked her hair, reveling in how soft it was.

 

 

 

But he shook his head of the unimportant thoughts, and looked up as the rest of the team had caught up and were now also surrounding Tenaya. He looked over at Tezuka who bent down next to him. Tenaya meant a lot to Fuji, and he really didn't want to see her hurt.

 

 

 

He looked over at Ryoma, standing over to the side with a look of utter pain on his face. Fuji's smiled grimly. Looked like he had competition.

 

 

 

Tezuka picked Tenaya up, bridal style, and stood slowly up. Tenaya tried to quiet her sobs and wrapped her arms around Tezuka's neck, gently burying her face in Tezuka's warm chest. She didn't really know who was holding her, all she could think about was her father and how he disappointed he would have been at this moment.

 

 

The team all stood around and watched as Tezuka (slightly blushing) carried Tenaya's crying figure into the school.

 

 

 

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Tenaya's POV

 

 

I blinked slowly and opened my eyes. I sat up so fast, I almost gave myself whiplash. I rubbed my semi-swollen eyes and looked around. I was in my room. I frowned. How did I get here? I thought about it for a little while, but couldn't remember anything. I lay back down and closed my eyes. The last thing that happened was…..

 

 

 

My eyes snapped open. I had been playing tennis when…I…collapsed? Yeah. That was it. I sighed. I was such a crybaby. Can't believe I collapsed. I looked over at the clock. 5:35 p.m. it said. I had been asleep for about an hour and a half.

 

 

 

I heard a light knock on my door and turned to see my mom, peeking into my room. Her face was soft with worry, but lightened when I smiled at her. “How are you feeling honey?” She asked gently.

 

 

I kept smiling lightly. “Better.”

 

 

 

She came in and sat down on the bed. “I'm glad. I heard from the tennis team captain who brought you home, who's a cutie by the way…”

 

 

 

I rolled my eyes. Mom was always mom.

 

 

 

“Well anyways, I heard that you had collapsed while…playing tennis.”

 

 

 

I sighed and closed my eyes. “Yep. I know, it's weird, I haven't played tennis for 3 years.”

 

 

 

She stroked my cheek. “Yeah, but I'm glad you've started playing again. Your dad would be happy.”

 

 

 

I looked up at her, slightly surprised. My mom almost never spoke of my dad. I turned to face the wall as I heard the doorbell rang. My mom leaned over to kiss me on the forehead, and went downstairs to answer the door. Right after she left, Carter knocked lightly on my open bedroom door, and came in followed by Joan. I smiled at them, opening up my arms towards them. They both leaned down to give me a hug, and then sat down on the bed next to me.

 

 

 

“Hey sis, how're you feeling?” Carter asked, gently holding my hand.

 

 

 

I smiled. “I'm good, don't worry you guys, I'm fine.”

 

 

 

Joan frowned. “Well yeah, we heard that you collapsed at school. That doesn't sound too good to me.”

 

 

 

I smirked. “Guys, trust me, I'm fine.”

 

 

 

“Okay, well good, just wanted to make sure. But I got a lot of homework.” Joan smiled warmly, and kissed me on the cheek. “By the way,” she whispered in my ear. “Who's that guy who brought you home? Whatta hunk.”

 

 

 

I rolled my eyes. “Tezuka, the tennis team coach. You'd like him, he's a sport freak too. Well, only tennis, I heard he's really good.”

 

 

 

Joan got back up and groaned. “Yeah great, the only sport I'm NOT good at. See ya sis.” She said, waving.

 

 

 

I waved back, while Carter scooted closer to me on the bed. “So you're playing tennis again huh? Finally.”

 

 

 

I smiled at him. “Yep. Three long years later.” I sighed.

 

 

 

He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “You know, Mom's right, Dad would be happy.” He got up and left, leaving to myself. Although, not for long, because Mom stuck her head back in a few moments later. “Ryoma's here.” She said. “Is it okay for him to come up?”

 

 

 

I nodded.

 

 

 

Narrator's POV

 

 

A few moments later, Ryoma came into Tenaya's room. His hair was wet, as he had just taken a shower. Tennis practice always made him all sweaty and gross. “Hey.” He said quietly.

 

 

 

“Hi.” Tenaya replied, smiling lightly and patting the space next to her on her bed. Ryoma walked over and sat down hesitantly.

 

 

 

“How are you feeling?”

 

 

 

Tenaya played with the ends of her hair. “I'm fine.”

 

 

 

They remained in silence for a little while, Tenaya just playing with her hair, and Ryoma sitting there watching her. Unknown to him, a million thoughts were running through her head, and were becoming too much. He saw a tear escape her eye, and roll down the side of her face onto the pillow. He scooted closer, and took her hand away from her hair, and held it. “What happened?” He asked gently.

 

 

 

She didn't reply at first. And he thought that she wasn't going to tell him, so he made to leave. But right when he tried to stand up, she held onto his hand tighter, and he sat back down. She moved over so that her head lay partially in his lap. She held onto one of his hands with both of hers, and his other hand started gently stroking her hair.

 

 

 

“It's just that,” Her voice broke, and more tears flowed down her face. She quickly wiped them away. “Well, I guess I'll tell you, if you really want to know.” With that, she glanced up hesitantly at Ryoma's face. He smiled and nodded, continuing to stroke her hair.

 

 

 

She took a deep breath. “Okay. Well, I've been playing tennis for a long time. Almost my whole life. My dad…he was my coach. No, more than that, he was like my best friend almost. He was great at tennis, and he taught me to love it as much as he did. And yeah, I did fall in love with the sport. How could you not?” She smiled lightly. “Anyway, in 2002, I decided to go to Regionals to compete. I was in the teen girls' section, although I was only 11. But I was doing really well, and I started climbing up the ladder until finally, it was the day of the finals.

 

 

 

“For the final match, I played this huge Russian girl, who was really good. And I won. I couldn't believe it.” She sniffled, closing her eyes and reveling at the feeling of Ryoma's gentle hands through her hair. “And so of course, I was heading for Nationals. If I won, I would've been the youngest competitor to win the teens division. But that summer,” and here, her voice cracked again. Ryoma gently pushed a tendril of hair away from her face, encouraging her to continue.

 

 

 

“That summer, my dad got sick. He got really, really sick. But despite of his cancer, I kept training. I completely ignored him. Well, not completely, but I was so focused on Nationals. I never thought that my dad would die. But yeah, that's what he did. Two weeks before Nationals, he died in his sleep.” Tenaya shook her head, the tears now flowing freely. “I was so mad at myself that I vowed to never play tennis again, including at the Nationals. As you might know, today was the first day in 3 years. I felt great at first, I was so completely happy at the feeling of being able to play tennis again. But after a while, the memories started flooding back, and I just…collapsed.”

 

 

 

She stayed silent for a while. Ryoma leaned down on top of her and hugged her gently. “Thanks for telling me.”

 

 

 

She smiled shakily and wiped her eyes. “You probably think I'm a pathetic little crybaby.” She said, with a sobbing laugh.

 

 

 

He shook his head. “Of course I don't. I think…you've been through so much…that I can't help but wonder how you keep smiling everyday.”

 

 

 

She looked up at his sparkling green eyes. In the background was the sun setting through her window. She sat up slowly and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her face up to meet his. A light peachy scent washed over him, and he stiffened, as she drew closer and closer. But she only kissed him on the cheek, and then rested her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, slightly disappointed, but still extremely happy. But despite his giddy feeling, he stayed put, holding Tenaya gently. They stayed like that, until Tenaya had fallen asleep. Ryoma gently lay Tenaya back down onto the bed, lightly placing her head back onto the pillow. He pulled the covers up, and wiped her tear streaked cheeks. He sat there and looked at her for a while. Her grey eyes were hidden behind closed eyelids, with thick, long, dark lashes that fluttered against her evenly colored, smooth cheeks every now and then. Her perfect lips were slightly parted as she slept. He smiled, resisting the urge to really kiss her.

 

 

 

Maybe it was just him, but when he looked at Tenaya, he saw a goddess. One, he thought sadly, that would have to return to her home soon. He stood up and exited her room, closing the door lightly. He walked back down the stairs, waved a goodbye to Tenaya's mom, and out the door into the setting sun. She would leave soon, ending her short, but sweet visit from heaven.

 

 

 

 

A/n: Okay, how was it? Glad you guys got through the cheese alive.

 

Thank you all reviewers, I love reading the reviews :]