Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ When Tezuka Had Fallen For Her ❯ Act i ( Chapter 1 )

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Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis!!!

(But I surely own Harinozuka Ringo)

 

Author's Note: Please do review this and feel free to tell me

if there's anything I need to improve at.

ArigatÅ Gozaimasu for reading this!!!

 

 

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Act i

(Chapter One)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tezuka Kunimitsu, as usual, trekked his way to school that morning, already wearing his Seigaku jersey for the sunup practice the team attends to before classes start. As captain of Seigaku Boys' Tennis Team, he is obliged to be the “pillar” of the team's strength, and must set a good example to his members; and being the one earliest to arrive in assemblies is one way of living that responsibility out. So he was already on his way to Seishun Gakuen Middle School (a.k.a. Seigaku), even if it's still almost half an hour before practice begins.

 

Tezuka is considered as one of the most skillful, fearsome, and respected players in the junior high tennis world, that even the professionals had their eye on him. But beyond that huge asset, Tezuka is worse than a novice. He knew nothing aside from tennis and studies, which made him look rather older than he really is, already having taupe hair, sharp, brown eyes behind a pair of glasses, and a firm expression. He is so serious that most people find it hard to socialize with him. However, even with his aloofness, the buchou had a whole battalion of girl fans, whom he had really never paid attention to. His reserved and cool personality seemed to cause the girls' attraction, like that of magnet on iron.

 

The Seigaku captain's mind drifted to the Goodwill Tournament some of his team had won weeks ago as he crossed the railway to the walkway by the river. He was thinking about tennis again.

 

“Don't worry, I'm coming.”

 

Tezuka's thoughts were interrupted as a female voice broke the morning's silence. He turned at the source of the noise, and was rather astounded to see a girl crossing the river, the water in level with half of her body. She seemed to be heading towards one of the pillars of the bridge perpendicular to the river, which was located quite far from the banks. He then noticed that something was squirming at the bridge post, and realized that it was a ginger cat, wet and shivering.

 

What had made Tezuka's conscience feel more involved with the situation was that what the girl is doing now is dangerous, and the fact that the coast was clear except for him, which thrust him to the responsibility of aiding her when worst comes to worst. Another thing is, the girl was wearing the Seigaku girls' uniform.

 

Fortunately, the girl was able to reach her destination safely. She scooped the cat in her arms, and began to make her way back to the riverbank. It seemed she was already safe from then on, and Tezuka was already thinking of resuming to his walk—when he heard a sharp gasp. He turned back swiftly, and could now only see bubbles on the place where he last saw the girl, which became his cue to run downhill and drop his bags, remove his glasses and Seigaku blazer, and surge into the cold water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ryuzaki Sumire sat behind her desk, sighing. For a week, her desk had been bombarded with permission letters from what felt like all the sports magazines existing in Japan, requesting interview sessions with her team. She scowled heavily at the pile of still-unopened letters in front of her, wishing that they would just vanish for good. She blamed herself for not anticipating something like this to happen. Of course, obviously since Seigaku won the Regionals and (for some members) the exhibition match with Team America in the Goodwill Event, their popularity had shot a hundred miles upward, explaining all these painstaking interviews.

 

But then, a familiar beeping noise filled her office, disrupting her from her thoughts. It took her a moment to recognize the sound as her own mobile phone's ringing tone. She searched for the cursed object, groping around her paper-filled table. She finally found it under Tezuka's weekly report, and a slight crease formed in her forehead as she didn't recognize the number flashed across the screen. What's more, the number looked like it indicated an international call, which confused her even more.

 

Nevertheless, she answered the phone.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Good day. Sorry for the sudden call. Is this Mrs. Sumire Ryuzaki?”

 

The old Seigaku coach frowned. The female voice over the line isn't familiar to her in any way, and her Japanese was rather bad. Besides, by the way she used the English title, she doesn't sound like Japanese at all.

 

“Yes, you're speaking to Ryuzaki Sumire. Who is this?”

 

“Thank God,” was the reply of the caller, this time, in English. She was a foreigner after all. Then she deliberately snapped back to her try-hard Japanese. “Oh, and you must be wondering right now who I am. Sorry for the late introduction. I am Dr. Helen Wakefield…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tezuka sat on the grass, his whole body dripping wet.

 

He knew that river to be deep, and it was true. He was surprised that around the middle, the river floor breaks into a steep cliff, which explained what happened to the girl. Aside from her, Tezuka was able to get the cat too, which now was lying beside him, too scared and shocked to move.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked the girl, who was breathing heavily at his right.

 

The girl looked at him—or rather, that was what he thought, as he was still off his glasses. He was far-sighted.

 

“I-I think so—wait!” The girl sat bolt upright. “The cat! Where is he—?” She stopped as Tezuka shoved the ginger cat to her. She sighed in relief as she took the animal in her arms.

 

“You should think about yourself first before anything else,” said Tezuka. He groped the grass around him, and a moment later finally found what he was looking for. He perched his glasses back, blinking at the sudden return of his clear vision. He looked over at the girl.

 

 

Even if she goes to Seigaku as well, Tezuka isn't familiar with her face; he hadn't seen anyone like her in school. At one glance, he could already tell that she is not pure Japanese, even if she speaks the language fluently. She held a long sheet of light-brown hair and a pair of blue-gray eyes. Judging by her looks, she must be around freshman year.

 

Tezuka was slightly puzzled to see that, far from happy, the girl looked indignant. However, despite his confusion, his face maintained its impassive expression.

 

“You should not have done that!” she started, getting onto her feet and looking down at him. “You can't see very well, but you still went there!—” She pointed a finger to the river behind her back “—What were you thinking?”

 

Tezuka was so taken aback that he didn't say anything. The girl's unexpected reaction caught him off-guard. Girls are very unpredictable indeed.

 

The girl stood before him, uniform and hair soaked wet, holding a shuddering cat.

 

“Well?” She raised an eyebrow.

 

“You should have seen what you looked back there,” said Tezuka, getting onto his feet. He realized that the girl was two-and-a-half heads shorter than him. “You won't be able to get out of there without anyone's help. Furthermore, you had put that cat's life in more danger. As a witness, I could not just stand there and watch you drown.”

 

“I could have gotten out of there even without your help,” she snapped back.

 

“Could you have?” said Tezuka. Now it was his turn to arch an eyebrow. “Even if you can, could you have been quick enough to save the cat? You know that unlike you, the cat doesn't know how to hold its breath. It would die.”

 

He had won. The girl was speechless, looking very resentful. She hated to admit that this tall guy had a point. Maybe he had already noticed that she doesn't know how to swim. She sighed in defeat.

 

As silence stretched between the two of them, a gust of wind swept by. Tezuka had barely felt it, but the girl shivered, tugging the cat more tightly.

 

“You should go back to your home and change,” said Tezuka, bending to pick up his Seigaku blazer, which now is his only dry garment. “You might catch cold.”

 

“My house is far from here,” said the girl at once. “If I go back, I would be late.” She turned her attention to the ginger cat in her arms.

 

“Sorry for scaring you,” she said sweetly, scratching the back of its ears. “Now I should find a place to keep y—” She stopped as she felt something fall on her back, which blocked the wind pressing against her body. She looked back to see Tezuka's blazer on her shoulders, and its owner already walking back to the sidewalk to pick his bags.

 

“Wait!” she called back. Tezuka stopped in his tracks.

 

“That's very kind of you. Thanks,” she said quietly, then, after a moment's hesitation, “and sorry. I shouldn't have been so rude. It's just that…you might've also hurt yourself in saving us.”

 

“Like I said, think about yourself first before you think of others,” said Tezuka, without facing her, then resumed walking. The ginger cat gave an audible purr, positioning himself comfortably in the girl's arms.

 

 

 

 

 

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End of Act i.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE: Please review. Flames and criticisms are most welcome. Act ii might take some time, but I promise I'll upload it within this month. Thank you again for reading!!