Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ When Tezuka Had Fallen For Her ❯ Act x ( Chapter 11 )

Author's Notes: After a day of monologue and brewing thoughts…I finally did Act x. Here you'll figure out why I call my chapters “acts” and of course what my Ringo is really made of. Okay, enough with this….

 

Disclaimer: I don't own PoT…it was a shame, really…

 

 

 

 

~>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+> +<+>+<~

 

 

Act x

(Chapter Ten)

 

 

~>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+> +<+>+<~

 

 

 

 

“Sumimasen, sensei…”

 

The teacher sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don't want to see you here in the faculty room again, Momoshiro-san.”

 

“Hai.”

 

Momoshiro sighed as he pulled the faculty room door shut behind him. This is about the seventh time he ended up in the faculty room for that month, just because he was caught eating and chatting in class. Was it his fault that he was bored?

 

“Yosh…I better change for practice,” he said to himself.

 

Three girls, however, came dashing out of a corner, and one of them, too busy talking to her friends to look on her way, bumped into an equally absentminded Momo.

 

Both of them sat painfully on the floor.

 

“Gomen!” they said in chorus.

 

Momo regained his composure and got onto his feet, reaching out a hand to help out the poor girl, who he realized a second later was one of his classmates.

 

“Are you okay?” the two other girls said as their friend held Momo's hand to regain her balance.

 

“Why are you girls running anyway?” the spiky-haired junior regular said curiously. “Running is not allowed in the corridors.”

 

“Demo, we'll miss the match in the girls' court!” one girl said.

 

Momo blinked. “Match?”

 

The other girl nodded. “You see, Mizuno-fukubuchou will have a game with guess who?”

 

“Who?” Momo was confused. What was the fuss all about?

 

“Our new classmate, Ringo-san!” the third girl literally squealed.

 

It was now Momo's turn to shout. “NANI?! Ringo-chan?”

 

The three girls nodded. The one in the middle added, “They said Ringo was an international player…eh? Momo-kun?”

 

The trio blinked, for the boy that was standing before them was nowhere to be seen.

 

 

 

 

 

~>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+> +<+>+<~

 

 

 

“Oi! Minna!”

 

The whole boys' tennis club turned to Momo, who was running while waving his arms up high.

 

“Momoshiro, you're late,” Tezuka started, glancing at the junior as he stopped by his side and panted. “Twenty laps a—”

 

“I'll do the laps, buchou, don't worry,” Momo cut in, mildly shocking the buchou. He turned to everyone. “But first, you need to hear this!”

 

The regulars were the first to react.

 

“Hear what, nya?”

 

“Did something happen, Momo?”

 

“Saa…”

 

“Fsshh…”

 

“I-I hope it's not bad news.”

 

“By how Momo looked, it's 75 percent good, Taka-san.”

 

“Okay, okay!” Momo said, hushing them up. “I just heard that Ringo-chan will have a match at the girls' courts!”

 

Again, the regulars were the fastest to reply.

 

“Whaa…? Hoi, hoi!”

 

“Nani…I thought she wasn't playing anymore.”

 

“Intersting.”

 

“…”

 

“Hmm…”

 

“Heh…all of you are mada mada dane.”

 

“Ringo, you say?” It was now Ryuzaki-sensei who spoke, and the whole team looked at her. They hadn't noticed her come up to them. “That's interesting.”

 

“We're going to see an international player's moves, nya!” Eiji said, bouncing.

 

“This is my chance to gather data,” Inui said.

 

“Minna,” said Tezuka sharply, “I know this is interesting, but we should prioritize our practice over anything else at the moment.”

 

“Aa…” said Kawamura meekly. “I was looking forward to watch her play, though.”

 

“Besides,” added Fuji. “Didn't you say that watching a match is one way of practicing?”

 

An uproar of agreement followed the statement, and Tezuka sighed in defeat. Sumire on the on the other hand was smiling.

 

“Okay, boys,” she said, “I'll allow you to witness Ringo's match.”

 

“Yeah!”

 

 

 

 

~>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+> +<+>+<~

 

 

 

 

Sakuno and Tomoka stared, awed. They were now in the girls' tennis clubhouse, accompanying Ringo as she fitted clothes some members had the kindness to let her borrow for the meantime. They watched, as their senpai finally emerged, completely equipped.

 

One word crossed the freshmen's minds.

 

“Kawaii!” Tomoka said admiringly.

 

Ringo sighed, before turning around to face a whole-body mirror propped against the wall. “It's been a long time.”

 

She was wearing a white camisole over a red fitted shirt and a white pleated skirt with black tights underneath. She had tied her pale brown hair in a high ponytail, and she held Sakuno's racket in her right hand. Tomoka had suggested for her to wear a cap or at least a sun visor, but she doesn't like the idea in the very first place. They always blocked her sight.

 

“It totally fits you!” Sakuno praised, before blinking as she noticed something black wrapped around Ringo's right wrist. It looked like a wristband, though this one is bulkier.

 

Ringo noticed where Sakuno was looking as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, and smiled. She reached her left hand to her right wrist.

 

“This is a power band,” she explained shortly.

 

Sakuno looked at her, surprised that she noticed where she was looking. “Oh…”

 

“Huh? Power band?” Tomoka said. “Hmm…wait, I know that…ah! Those are the ones I see Kaidoh-senpai and Momo-senpai wear! Sugoi, Ringo-senpai…it's heavy, right?”

 

Ringo turned her back to the mirror to face them. “Not really…it weighs 750 grams. This had been my habit since I started playing. I got so used to it that it doesn't feel normal anymore when I'm not wearing one, so even if I long stopped playing I still wear it.”

 

They were interrupted when the door suddenly opened.

 

“Fukubuchou was asking if you're ready, senpai,” a freshman said. She was wearing a very sober look that Ringo thought she looked like she's watching a person being led to their execution.

 

“Aa,” Ringo said, nodding. She began to walk towards the door, and Sakuno and Tomoka stood to follow her.

 

“Anou…senpai?” the freshman who opened the door suddenly said, as Ringo and the others were about to step out of the threshold.

 

Ringo turned to her distractedly. “Hai?”

 

The kouhai looked at her feet. “G-Gambatte.”

 

She was surprised when she felt a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up, she saw Ringo grasping her shoulder lightly.

 

“Domo,” the senpai said simply, before proceeding outside.

 

“Don't worry,” Tomoka said to the freshman reassuringly. “Ringo-senpai will win.” She then ran to catch up with the others.

 

 

 

 

~>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+> +<+>+<~

 

 

 

“Tezuka,” Inui said, without looking up from his notebook as he scribbled some notes. “Who do you think will win?”

 

The whole Seigaku team, with the freshmen trio (Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro), was standing just in front of the wire fence that enclosed the girls' courts. The moment they spotted the boys, the girls became extremely giggly and frantic about how they and their courts looked like, and began to clean their surroundings with too much effort and haste that one would think they had gone crazy judging by the way they ran back and forth. The team, though, paid almost no attention to them.

 

Tezuka gave Inui a sideways glance. “It's too early to assume. Mizuno Shina was proven to be a competent player, and we have yet to witness Ringo's skills.”

 

The data-man nodded, almost absentmindedly. He wrote some more, before finally clicking his mechanical pencil shut and closing his notebook. Tezuka didn't know what's going on behind the data specialist's thick glasses, but he didn't really care about it that much.

 

Inui's next question, though, rattled Tezuka's mind in mild surprise.

 

“Do you find Ringo interesting?”

 

There was a short pause.

 

“Actually, yes,” the buchou said monotonously. “I'm curious about her playing style.”

 

But, if truth to be told, he's not only bugged by her tennis skills. He was also mildly intrigued about Ringo's behavior the night before. He didn't know how she could still smile and act cheerful in front of everybody when she was carrying some emotional burden like that, and how she could hide the part of her that he saw last night so well.

 

Not that he cared.

 

He was also curious as to why she had stopped playing tennis, and that now she was going to play again. He wasn't really the type to nose into people's businesses, but he can't help but vaguely wonder.

 

Inui nodded again. “Sou ka…”

 

The buchou wasn't really bothered by Inui's creepy attitude, but he thought he found the smirk forming in his lips right now somewhat disturbing. Something must be running in the data-man's mind right now.

 

“Oh, Sakuno, look, it's the Seigaku team!” he heard somebody say, and, turning to the source, he saw Tomoka, coming to a halt before them with Sakuno by her side.

 

“Ryuzaki-san, Osakada-san!” Horio said loudly.

 

“Where's Ringo-chan?” asked Eiji and Momo in chorus.

 

“Why is she playing? I thought she's not anymore,” Oishi said worriedly.

 

Tomoka had opened her mouth to answer the questions, but paused when she felt a racket land on her shoulder. Surprised, she looked back and saw Mizuno step forward to speak.

 

“I didn't expect to see you here, regular boys' team,” she said. She smiled, particularly at Tezuka. “You're watching the match?” She pulled her racket away from Tomoka.

 

“Heh?” Momo started. “We're here because of Ri—” But Eiji put a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

 

“Sshh!” the acrobat hissed on his ear, unusually serious.

 

“Aa,” Inui said.

 

“Shi-chan!” a girl called out somewhere overhead. “The opponent's ready!”

 

Mizuno grinned. “Finally.” She left, and Momo and Eiji craned their necks in search of Ringo.

 

“There she is!”

 

 

 

 

 

~>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+> +<+>+<~

 

 

 

“The unofficial match between Harinozuka Ringo and Mizuno Shina will now begin.”

 

Ringo, her fists clenched, walked slowly towards her side of the net for the racket flip. She hated to admit it, but her knees shook in nervousness and his stomach lurched uncomfortably.

 

I can do this, she thought. Even if I didn't have enough warm-up and the possibility of cramps is high.

 

Yeah right.

 

Her body wasn't conditioned for a match, not to mention a long-drawn one. Ringo can judge by Mizuno's height and bulk that she wasn't just any player, and their height difference was a great disadvantage for her. But she knew she could do it; she had encountered this situation almost every time that it wasn't even a problem anymore.

 

But now it is. Because she wasn't prepared.

 

Mizuno's outstretched hand welcomed her as she came to a halt before the net. They shook hands—or rather, Mizuno tried to crush Ringo's hand.

 

“Rough or smooth?” Mizuno asked smugly, after the handshake (if you could call that one).

 

“Smooth.”

 

Ringo waited in bated breath as the racket twirled. Being the first one to serve can boost confidence and bring the momentum…

 

Rough.

 

So much for confidence and momentum.

 

Ringo sighed as her shoulders drooped, and the people around cheered. She turned to go back to the baseline.

 

“For a champion, you sure lack confidence,” Mizuno called out to her retreating back, before smiling to herself and returning to her baseline to prepare to serve.

 

“One-set match. Mizuno service play.”

 

 

 

~>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+> +<+>+<~

 

 

The Seigaku boys' team watched eagerly as Mizuno Shina bounced the tennis ball in preparation to serve. Eiji was actually gripping the fence in excitement.

 

“Show them who you are, Ringo-chan,” he said determinedly.

 

Sakuno, Tomoka, and the other freshmen were cheering on Ringo.

 

“Ringo-senpai! You can do it!”

 

“Ringo-senpai!”

 

“Senpai-tachi,” Horio suddenly said, turning to the team. “Is Mizuno-senpai strong?”

 

“Saa…” said Fuji smilingly. “Let's say…”

 

Mizuno threw the ball up high and jumped.

 

“…she's so much like Momo.”

 

She hit the ball, and it darted towards the opposite court so fast that most of the watchers didn't see it.

 

Momo was flabbergasted. “That's my bullet serve!”

 

Meanwhile, on the court, Ringo watched the ball's progress with sharp eyes.

 

Fast! Bullet Serve!

 

She took a step forward and hit the ball with a forehand. And heavy too, she added, exhaling a shout as she successfully returned the shot.

 

Mizuno was taken aback that Ringo could return her serve, but she was still smiling. She went after the whizzing ball and hit it with a double-handed backhand towards the side of the court opposite to where Ringo stood.

 

“Fast and heavy…” grunted Kaidoh.

 

“Oh no, Ringo-chan!” shouted Momo.

 

But in a quick movement they found the junior already on the formerly empty side of the court, returning the shot.

 

Inui jerked his head as he closely observed her.

 

“What is it, Inui?” Fuji asked calmly.

 

“Ringo's wearing a power band on her right wrist.”

 

By this, all the regulars's eyes widened and looked at Ringo's hand closely.

 

“He's right,” said Taka-san in amusement.

 

But as Ringo returned the ball she immediately found Mizuno at the net, and she returned the ball with a drive volley that directly went and bounced to the opposite court. Her eyes widened. So fast…

 

“Fifteen-Love.”

 

The people screamed and cheered. Mizuno laughed as she pulled out a spare ball from her skirt's pocket. “This one's mine,” she said under her breath, before jumping to perform her serve.

 

And this time, she had hit a service ace.

 

“Thirty-Love.”

 

The girls' cheers were now deafening, and Eiji, Momo, and Kaidoh were actually glaring at the ones nearest to them.

 

“Nya, so noisy!” Eiji protested as he covered his ears.

 

“Ringo-san should do something to shut them up…fssshh,” Kaidoh said in an undertone.

 

Momo heard this and a sly smirk formed in his lips. He nudged Kaidoh's side. “Heh…Did I hear you right, Mamushi? You're siding on Ringo-chan?”

 

Kaidoh blushed furiously and quickly defended himself. “N-No, you're wrong! I mean, I just know how it feels when everybody cheers for the opponent! That's all it is about!”

 

“I'm on Ringo-chan's side nya,” Eiji said determinedly. “Aren't all of us?”

 

“Yeah,” Fuji said. “Aren't all of us?”

 

“I'm not so sure about that,” said Inui, casting a look at the person on his right, who happened to be Tezuka.

 

Tezuka, who was absorbed to the match, didn't notice the looks the others were giving him.

 

“Of course all of us are!” Tomoka said indignantly. “Ringo-senpai is there because she was forced to be!”

 

At this, everyone turned to her questioningly.

 

“Nani? You mean Ringo-chan was forced to play by these girls?” Eiji said.

 

“Err…no,” Tomoka said timidly. She sighed, before telling the whole story. By the time she finished, the regulars were looking at Ringo with mixed worry and pride.

 

“Heh, so it's Tomo-chan's fault,” Eiji piped up, watching as Ringo ran left and right to return the balls. It's clear that Mizuno's using the height difference to her benefit. “Poor Ringo-chan…”

 

“Eiji, that was childish,” said Oishi sternly, before turning to Tomoka. “Pardon him.”

 

Tomoka shook her head sadly. “Eiji-senpai's right, Oishi-senpai.”

 

They were interrupted by the people's cheers as Mizuno had taken a point again. One more point and the senior would win the first game.

 

A bead of sweat rolled from Ringo's temple down to her chin as she held her racket before her, waiting for her opponent's Bullet Serve. She happened to learn quite a few things as she observed Mizuno since the match had started. She is a serve-and-volley type of player, and had a habit of turning her wrist when she hits backhand topspins, causing the ball to lose rotation speed and become slower. Her left side is much weaker than her right side, and to put it simple, she sucked at backhand shots. Another thing is, she was having difficulty in returning slices.

 

Bingo, Ringo thought triumphantly, stepping forward to receive her bullet serve, she avoids bending her knees too much, because it drains stamina, that's why she doesn't return slices that well. She's a type of player who doesn't play long matches.

 

Their rally lasted for five minutes, and ended with another drive volley from Mizuno.

 

“Game won by Mizuno. One game to Love. Change court.”

 

More cheers.

 

“Masaka…Ringo-senpai's losing!” Horio said anxiously.

 

“Ringo-senpai…” Sakuno said worriedly.

 

“No,” Fuji said abruptly. “Look at Ringo-san's face.”

 

Ringo's face was as blank as a clean sheet of paper as she walked across the court. Mizuno leered at her as they came across each other.

 

“Losing, aren't we?” she said.

 

Ringo merely stared at her.

 

“I guess you'll still need to drink many bottles of milk before winning against me.” The senior laughed at her own joke and proceeded to her court, leaving Ringo staring at her over her shoulder.

 

“This is it,” Inui suddenly said, making the team look at him curiously. “This is where it begins.”

 

“Eh?” Eiji said. “What will begin?”

 

They were distracted, however, when Ringo suddenly jumped on the spot three times before doing stretches.

 

“W-What are you doing?” the student umpire told her. “We're in the middle of the match. Go to your court.”

 

Ringo merely stood back and walked to her court. Then she spoke, almost to herself.

 

“Act one.”

 

“What?” Momo said in confusion. “What did she say?”

 

Inui grinned. “Watch closely. It began.”

 

“Began?” It was Tezuka who asked this time. He could tell that Inui was thoroughly enjoying the suspense he was building up.

 

“Aa,” the data-man said, his glasses gleaming under the sunlight. “The ballerina's performance.”

 

 

 

 

 

~>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+> +<+>+<~

 

 

End of Act x.

 

 

 

~>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+> +<+>+<~

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note: Please don't kill me. This is twelve pages long, for goodness' sake…and for me a chapter contains a maximum of ten pages. I just found this one too long that I cut it *peace sign*. But don't worry!!!! I'll work on the eleventh right after I post this so I guess I will be able to post the next chapter within the day. I really hope that wasn't an evil cliffhanger.

 

 

Ja!

 

Oh right…please review….

 

Thanks!!!!