Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Hatred ❯ Genuis 1 ( Chapter 1 )

“Haruka, come eat some breakfast!”

Haruka glanced at her closed bedroom door before turning back to look at herself in the mirror. A scowl formed on her face as she once again made an attempt to tie the pink ribbon around her neck into a bow. This would be only the second uniform she has worn for a school but it was the first with a bow. Growing up in America, she wasn't used to wearing a uniform but that was the smallest of her worries. Smiling with satisfaction, she finally was happy with how her bow looked. Grabbing her school bag, Haruka left her room and headed through the small apartment to the kitchen.

“Nice to see you're finally with the living, Haruka.” Her mother said as she entered the small kitchen. Haruka just scoffed at her remark before placing her bag against the chair and sat down at the table, failing to notice the black bag sitting against the other chair. Her mother handed her, her breakfast before sitting across from her. The breakfast the two of them shared was enjoyed in silence as Haruka thought to herself. She was glad that she was starting at a new school today since it gave her the opportunity to start over. Everything back in America was overdone and she was sick of it. It was too bad that she couldn't truly get away from the sport she so despised.

“Haruka, your father sent me this. I think he wanted you to have it back. My understanding is that you left it at his house.” Her mother said as she brought the black bag onto the table. Haruka set her chopsticks down, done with her meal, before looking at the bag. The moment she had seen it, she scowled but what she had said made her scoff. “Throw it away. I don't need it nor do I want it. It's just a waste of space anyways.”

“Are you sure you want to do this, Haruka?” Her mother softly as she put a hand gently on the bag. Haruka knew that she wasn't just talking about throwing the object away but the other things that were occurring in her life. She stared at the bag before finally looking away then abruptly stood up. “I'm supposed to meet Grandma before school so I'm leaving now.”

Her mother nodded her head with a small smile before saying goodbye. At times, Haruka didn't understand her at all. She said goodbye in return before grabbing her schoolbag and leaving the room. At the front door, Haruka put on her brown loafers that went with her uniform before leaving the apartment completely. Once outside the apartment complex, she headed for the nearby Seishun Academy.

Haruka would have to give her mother some praise for being able to acquire an apartment so close to the school. The reason why she was going to Seishun? It was simply because her grandmother taught there and her younger cousin would be attending the school as well. Everything else about the school didn't catch her interest. Even so, her grandmother still wanted to speak to her before school to see if she could change that. Haruka scoffed at that idea. Tennis didn't interest her at all.

Haruka was happy to find out that it took her a little less than ten minutes to reach the school, walking. Her decision to go early also proved to be a good choice considering that there was barely anyone on the school grounds. But that, of course, didn't keep her from running into someone when she abruptly turned to head towards the back of the school. A pained gasp left her lips as she was knocked to the ground. Falling back onto her backside, she tried to catch herself with her hands, only to have them get scratched up by the hard dirt below.

“Ne, are you alright?”

Haruka looked up to see who she had run into and the one who had spoken. Standing there before her was a boy who appeared to be about her age. He was wearing the boys' uniform of Seishun and had a tennis bag on his back. Ignoring that fact, she saw that he had light brown hair but the expression he was currently wearing kept her from seeing his eyes enough to tell the color. Hoping that she hadn't been staring at him for too long, she nodded her head at his question. “I think so. My hands are a bit skinned up but I'll be fine.”

“That's good to hear. Let me help you up.” The guy said with a grin. Before Haruka could even respond, he had offered her his hand. Not wanting to be rude, she took his hand, flinching slightly when his flesh pressed against her opened skin. He was able to quickly and easily pull her up to her feet with a tug though, letting go of her hand the moment she was stable as to not put more pressure on her hands. He glanced at her to make sure she was okay before leaning down to pick up her schoolbag. Haruka shook her hands, trying to rid her of the pain but it ended in failure. With that, she sighed and then took her bag from the guy with a small smile. “I'm really sorry for running into you. If there's anything I can do to make up for it, please let me know.”

“I'll keep that in mind.” He said with a small smirk that sent shivers down her spine. It was obvious that she definitely didn't want to get on this guy's bad side. Haruka mindlessly nodded before taking a quick glance around. Getting pass her disorientation, she noticed his tennis back for the second time and came up with an idea. “Um, are you going to the morning practice for tennis?”

When he nodded his head, she was a bit elated. Haruka smiled at him before bowing slightly. “If you don't mind, can I follow you to the tennis courts? I'm supposed to meet with Coach Ryuzaki this morning.”

“With Coach Ryuzaki, huh? Well, let's get going then.” He said before walking passed her and began towards the back of the school. Quickly saying a word of thanks basically to her, she went after him. She was grateful that she actually had someone to show her where the courts were instead of having to wander about the school grounds in search of them. It didn't take her too long before the two of them arrived at the tennis courts. The guy glanced at her before he headed to the locker rooms. Spotting her grandmother, Haruka headed to the courts and stood outside of them, next to the fence, so she was able to watch those already on the courts practicing.

There were a few guys already starting their morning practice. It was interesting to see that there were three different groups. The seventh graders were the smallest and wore normal warm-ups, probably gym clothes. Then the eight and ninth graders wore navy warm-up clothes with Seishun embroidered in small font on the left chest. Finally, there were the ones her grandmother took pride in and talked constantly about. The Regulars. The Regulars wore red, white and blue warm-ups so they easily stood out against the others. But what really stood out the most was her grandmothers PINK warm-ups. Haruka sweatdropped at that thought before calling out to her. “Grandma!”

“Huh?” Her grandmother, Sumire Ryuzaki, turned away from the guy she was talking to before looking over at her area. Haruka smiled slightly as she waved to her. She wasn't a bit happy about being here but she was always happy to see her grandmother plus she wanted to try her best not to look pissed off. Sumire grinned when she saw her and immediately came off the courts to greet her. “Glad you made it, Haruka. The way your mom talked about it, she made me think that you weren't going to show up today.”

“I thought about it but I came anyways. So, is Sakuno starting today as well?” Haruka asked as she switched hands she was holding her bag with. It was starting to sting a bit but she would go to the nurse after she was done talking with her grandmother. Plus, she'd gotten worse injuries before so she should be used to it but it did still sting. Going back to the situation at hand, her grandmother nodded her head then smirked. “Yes, she'll be in Class 1-1; her first year. Oh, and Ryoma's starting here today as well.”

“What? Ryoma's coming to Seishun? Well, I guess they finally returned to Japan then, huh? Ryoma sure did take his time coming here though. I wonder if he's gotten any better or if he still has that big ego of his.” Haruka muttered to herself as she began to think to herself. She remembered the Prince of Tennis quite well; that Ryoma Eichizen. Incidentally, she had actually grown up with that kid though she couldn't say it was always pleasant. But the last time she had seen him was a little under a year ago. Sumire chuckled as she watched her think to herself, finding it amusing. However, both of her attentions were brought to the person walking up to them when they heard footsteps.

“Good morning, Coach Ryuzaki.” The guy greeted as he stopped by Sumire. It appeared that he was another boy about her age so Haruka was beginning to assume that these guys were ninth graders just like her. The interesting thing about the guy though was the fact that he was wearing the Regulars warm-ups. Her grandmother grinned at him and patted Haruka on the back to get his attention on to her. “Ah, Oishi, this is my granddaughter. She's starting today as a ninth grader.”

“Oh, it's nice to meet you. My name's Shuichiro Oishi; Class 3-2.” He introduced himself before holding out his hand to her. Haruka smiled nervously as she glanced down at his hand. She had been hoping that he would have just bowed but apparently it wasn't her day. Nothing was going the way she wanted it. Not wanting to seem rude, she quickly grabbed his hand with her free hand. The two of them shook hands while she introduced herself, trying not to let on that she was in pain. “Same here. I'm Haruka Ryuzaki by the way; Class 3-11.”

“I hope you enjoy coming here to Seishun. If you're as good as your grandmother, you should go apply to join the girls' tennis team. They're always looking for good players.” Shuichiro said with a grin as he let go of her hand. She was hoping that it would all end there but, of course, it didn't. Apparently, during the hand shake, her hand began to bleed from the repeating pressure placed on it. Both Sumire and Shuichiro stared at her when they saw the blood on both hers and Shuichiro's hand.

“Haruka, what happened to her hand?” Her grandmother asked as she quickly grabbed a hold of her wrist, bringing her hand so she could see it better. Haruka flinched at the grip she had on her wrist, which made her let go of her school bag. The item fell to the ground but it didn't draw their attentions away from her. Knowing there was no way that she was getting out of this without some sort of explanation; Haruka decided to comply and answered her question. “You know me, Grandma. I tripped on the way here. It's nothing to worry about.”

“Hmph, you skinned herself up pretty bad but it could be worse. Oishi, go get the first-aid kit, will you?” Sumire asked him as she took a hold of her other wrist to look at her other hand as well. Shuichiro nodded his head then quickly headed back to the locker room. The moment he left, her grandmother gave her a look saying that she didn't believe her story. Haruka just looked away and her grandmother then knew that she wasn't going to say anything else about it. She could never admit that she was clumsy enough to run into other people. It was a bit embarrassing after all.

“Here you go, Coach.” Shuichiro said as he returned and handed the box to Sumire. It didn't take long before her grandmother had expertly tended to her small wounds. Once she was done, Haruka was quick to pick up her schoolbag before turning back to her. “I'm going now. We'll talk later.”

“Okay. Come by tomorrow morning then.” Her grandmother said with a sigh and a small smile. Haruka nodded in understanding before turning to Shuichiro. “Oh, and I'm sorry to say I don't take after my grandmother.

I suck at tennis.”