Take One

Summary: After winning consecutive tournaments, the princess of tennis disappears from the American media only to reappear in Japan to find new opponents.

Chapter I: Re-Enter!

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At the outskirts of Los Angeles, a modern house surrounded by orange trees were filled with cries of surprises. Inside in the dining room, a family of three sat around the table; eating. Two of the adults held an incredulous expression on their faces as they looked at the apathetic girl eating her japanese dinner.

"You have to be kidding, bishoujo!" The man sporting a dark hair retorted.

"What made you think of this, dear?" The brown haired woman questioned her daughter.

The young girl took another bite out of her fish, taking her time to chew before swallowing it. She opened her eyes, revealing striking golden orbs and glanced at her mother, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly in response.

"I'm bored here in America. I want a change of pace." She said.

Which to her parents roughly translated, 'I want to find new opponents and don't like reporters invading my private space.'

"But Japan?! You'll find more opponents here, bishoujo!" her father shook his head, crossing his arms in front of him in disapproval.

"Your father is right, dear." Her mother, Rinko seconded.

The girls sighs, putting down her bowl. "I'm graduating from school in a week, Mom. I really am not joking about being bored in America, I haven't found any worthy opponents yet in the tournaments I'm participating. Besides, I heard tennis in Japan can get quite competitive as Kei described— it seems to be more exciting." She explained.

"Moreover, isn't that the place where oyaji grew up? I really need a change of pace." She reasoned, leaning against her chair.

The two adults stayed mum, mulling over her explanation. For the most part, moving to Japan isn't really a problem for them financially— but the problem lies within the Tennis Association there. Boys and Girls are naturally divided just like everywhere else. They were lucky enough that the USTA made an exemption for their daughter to participate in the boys' division due to acknowledging her skills and the background of being a Pro Tennis player's daughter.

Their daughter might be famous in the tennis world here but not in Japan.

"If you go there, there's a risk you might not be able to participate in the boys' tennis, bishoujo." Her dad warned her.

"Your father is right, Ryoma. We were only lucky enough that the USTA even remotely made consideration in regards to you— even I had to find the right words to coerce them to agree getting you mixed up in the boys' tennis."

She merely gave him a smirk. "Why not? We'll just have to persuade the Japanese Tennis Association into agreeing just like USTA, right?"

Both adults blinked.

There was a pregnant pause, followed by laughter.

"What's so funny?" The pre-teen scowled at her parents.

"You really do take after your father." Her mother commented, giggling.

"Leave it to the bishoujo to think of something normally someone wouldn't!" Nanjiroh snickered under his breath before calming down, peering over his daughter with a smirk.

"Yosh! If you want to so bad, we'll be leaving for Japan after your graduation!" In one of those rare occasions, Ryoma actually gave her stupid old man a grateful smile and nods.

"Thanks, oyaji." She says softly, "But wait, about the JTA—"

"You don't have to worry about that, dear. I'll take care of that for you." Her mother smiled at her.

"But wait, what should I tell the reporters?!" Nanjiroh exclaimed, he forgot there will be an interview in a few days.

Ryoma shrugged, and figured it was the perfect time to drop another bomb, "And also, I don't plan to appear in the finals."

"WHAT?!" Her father yelled. The females in the room covered their ears.

"THIS WOULD BE YOUR 5TH WIN! ARE YOU GOING TO THROW IT AWAY?!" He sputtered.

Ryoma furrowed her eyebrows at her loud old man and grunted, "It doesn't mean a thing. We already know I'll win anyway, I don't even know who my opponent is. Either way, I commend him for making it to the finals— not that they were any good at all."

Nanjiroh narrows his amber eyes at the pre-teen before him. He studies her for a few minutes, seemingly deep in thought. Skill wise, he admits that his daughter did have them; she was a prodigy in her own rights with her natural instincts when it came to the sport.

However due to the fact that she hasn't been beaten by anyone else aside from him wore out her fire. Golden eyes met light amber; two mirroring looks locked on.

"What are you looking at, oyaji?"

"Ngh, mada mada daze; bishoujo." Nanjiroh grumbled at his daughter's arrogance.

'Mah, maybe our stay in Japan will do her some good.'

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It has been several days since the initial discussion about them moving to Japan, Ryoma stayed true to her words and stood up her opponent in the tournament which caused chaos; shocking the people waiting for her appearance. Reporters who have been covering Ryoma's case in the magazine ended up calling her parents for interviews regarding her forfeit but they turned them down with no comments.

Just as soon as she graduated, her mother contacted her cousin; Meino Nanako to arrange things in Japan and that included a request to allow her to play in the boys' division Tennis in Japan and her transfer to a Japanese Middle School. Thankfully enough, after some paperwork done by her mother, the Japanese Tennis Association took things into consideration and ultimately allowed her to play after having been backed up by the USTA. In some sense, her mother once mentioned that the head of the current JTA was an old acquaintance of hers so this man took it upon his own amusement to have her debut in a tournament in Japan this upcoming month.

Ryoma took up the challenge but held the bars high herself by proposing to enter the U-16 tournament instead, confident that she will be able to beat them and thus they came to an agreement.

Ryoma sighed to herself as she sits on her leather chair; crossing out her lists of items to pack in the last minute. Their flight to bound to Japan will be tomorrow first thing in the morning; she can't get any rest can she? Finishing off her lists and double checking to see if she'd forgotten anything; Ryoma nods to herself as she finalized the lists and concluded that everything was all packed.

A few minutes later, she laid on her bed; thoughts filled with scenarios in Japan. She could not contain the tiny bud of excitement in her.

Japan…

A new place to be— that's what it was to Ryoma. For a moment, she began to wonder whether she would actually encounter strong opponents there. A year ago, her cousin mentioned to her over the phone that it wasn't as bad especially playing against National level players.

'The National tournament eh?...' she mused.

There were reasons why she wanted to move to Japan and the school system was one of it. After taking in her cousin's stories, she had been mulling over transferring to Japan in order to play in this so-called 'National Tournament'. A Tournament where all of the best teams in Japan would gather and compete to be the number one.

Such competitions were not available where she lives. American schools usually focused on Basketball and American football. Otherwise, one would have to enter a tournament held by the association to play.

She wanted a change of environment, a change of pace. Maybe as well to relight the fire she once had for tennis, encountering stronger players aside from her dirty old man.

'I hope I'm right…'

She stayed like that for minutes; accepting her furry friend curling into her arms. Being drowned in her feline friend's purr, she succumbs to sleep.

Japan

Tokyo

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"Fuck...it's too hot here."

Ryoma mutters under her breath, adjusting her tennis bag that was slung over her shoulder. She took off her cap and used it to fan herself; allowing her dark hair to flow freely when the breeze hit her face. She sighs, relaxing then puts her cap back on, heading towards the subway.

Although she had the tendency to get lost; she was a bit lucky that she managed to find her way to the right train destined for Kakinozaka.

It had been a day since they set foot on the land of the rising sun and has more or less been settled. Her family didn't really bring a lot of belongings so there weren't anything to do at all— especially since her cousin, Nanako, already fixed things for them.

At the moment, she was heading for the tournament held in Kakinozaka Tennis Garden, only a stop away in a few minutes. It was a peaceful ride, she mused; appreciating the fact nothing was bothering her at the moment.

That was until some loud idiot began boasting about the difference between Eastern and Western grips.

'Talk about talking so soon.' She thought sarcastically to herself.

For a moment, she decided to stay silent and keep her urge to humiliate him at bay. But the more the high schooler boasted, the more she got annoyed at his loud voice and mediocre knowledge about the sport.

"If you want to hit a topspin, you use a western grip. You hold your racquet as if you're performing a handshake." He then begins to swing his racquet to exhibit the grip.

"As expected from the ace of Kitagoe High!" His lackey exclaimed.

'For real?' For a second she wonders if her Japanese was horrible. Did she just hear that guy was an ace of some club? Ryoma grimaced, tugging the brim of her cap. If that was so then first impressions of the players here were third-tiers.

'Not a very good start.'

All hope was not lost though, she just had to pray that the bunch before her were only mere idiots and that this isn't all what Japan had to offer.

'After all...this is where baka oyaji trained.' She still had a tiny glimmer of hope.

"It's only common sense!"

"Ne." The boys stopped, looking at her. She didn't bother to look up at them.

"You guys are too loud." Honestly, she could feel their glare at her; though she could care less.

The high schoolers stayed silent which made her feel way better. She watched as the older boy almost lost his balance when the train made a turn and dropped his racquet on the floor. He bent down to pick it up and said rather arrogantly,

"Che, I can't believe I got told off by a little girl."

'A little girl you say?' She irritably thought.

"Bingo." She said dryly, "Picking up a racquet from the ground is the correct Western grip."

"What?"

"Furthermore, the handshake grip you were referring to is called the Eastern grip." She peers up from the brim of her cap, staring into his infuriated stare.

"There are people who mix them up a lot; seems like you are one of those." She says, standing up from her seat as she noticed the train stopping.

Before the shocked boy could say another word, she had already exited the compartment. It took her another few minutes to look for the venue, and after asking two to three people; she finally arrived just in time to confirm her registry at the desk.

"Echizen Ryoma." She recited.

The man checking off the list stared at her, surprised. "You must be mistaken, little girl. This part of the park is for the U-16 boys' division." He countered politely, unable to believe she was actually registered in the boys' tennis.

"There's no mistake. Echizen Ryoma, my name is registered in Block A." She said softly, motioning for the list.

The man looked hesitant for a moment before finally taking time to look through the names and indeed he saw hers. He didn't expect Echizen Ryoma was a girl; the name itself was not exactly feminine.

"So?"

"Indeed, it's here," He nods, "Your match will begin in fifteen minutes."

Giving the man one last nod, she walks towards the A section and takes her place beside a tree; stretching as she waits for the umpire's call.

Ten minutes into the wait, an umpire enters the courts and so did another player which she assumed to be her opponent for the first match. She sighs nonchalantly to herself, picking up her bag and enters the courts herself.

"Hey you! Non-players are not allowed inside the courts." The umpire called out to her.

She merely gave him a blank stare.

"Echizen Ryoma, present." She said dryly.

"E-Eh?" The umpire was surprised as he recognized the player's name. He had heard there was a twelve year old kid playing in the U-16's but he didn't expect that kid to be a girl at all.

However as he looked closely, the girl did fit the age description and she is fully equipped as well. He relents and told her to get ready for the call.

Ryoma silently takes off her jacket and slung it over the bench. After fixing her shoelaces, she took out one of the three racquets that she carries around and rests it on her shoulder right shoulder.

"Look, it's that rumored twelve year old kid."

"Uwah? What are you talking about? That's a girl!"

"How can a girl be playing in the boys' U-16?!"

"There must be some mistake."

"I bet she got lost." Laugh.

She ignored the jeers despite feeling annoyed at being looked down upon. Just because she was a female didn't mean her skills were inferior. Tennis holds no boundaries, that's her motto.

So far, she has always proven it to everyone that she was just as good as the boys. That's what earnt her the title of being the Princess of Tennis.

Her eyebrow twitched a little, she wasn't exactly fond of her title. She never liked being called a princess; she never has and never will in the future.

"Players, at the court!"

This was it, Ryoma thought to herself. The tournament finally began. Walking in front of the net, the dark haired girl craned her neck looking up at her taller opponent who was glaring down at her arrogantly.

"What is this? Is this a sick joke?" He mutters under his breath. She stays silent, keeping her impassive gaze on his.

"Che, did you get lost or something kid? This place is not a playground," He continues, "If you plan to play tennis, go back to the female's division, you'll only lose miserab—"

"Ne." She interrupts, narrowing her eyes.

"Can we start? I don't have all day."

"How arrogant." Her opponent spat.

"Idiot." She mutters under her breath, turning around her heels as she heads to the baseline.

"Hey, wait!" The umpire calls. "You both need to decide who serves first!"

She looks over her shoulder, "It's fine, he can serve."

"Keh!" Her opponent scoffed, mirroring her actions and went back behind the baseline. The umpire sighed, allowing it since the players agreed on it.

"Game and Set, Murokabara to serve!"

"I'll make you regret stepping into the courts, little girl."

"Clam up and serve." She snorted, getting into position.

"Tch." Losing in a verbal battle, the boy quickly served earning gasps from the audience in awe at his 'fast' serve.

In the corner of her eye, she could see the slight grin he held when he thought he overpowered her. But he was wrong. The grin was quickly replaced with a shocked look once he registered the ball had ended up in his court.

"Love-15!"

Murokabara quickly turns around in haste to confirm and indeed, the ball was rolling lazily at his side of the court.

"Oi, oi! She returned that serve!"

"Amazing…"

"She actually returned Murokabara's serve, that girl!"

Murokabara grits his teeth, turning to the smirking girl across the court. Her laxed form irritated him even more, his pride as a renowned seeded player had been tarnished because of that lucky return!

He tosses the ball and aimed for a straight shot, running up to the net, the girl countered it with no problem.

'A volley, eh?' Ryoma thought, watching his initial move to the front.

As expected, he did a serve and volley. Ryoma quickly returns it with a lob while he jumped to get it.

"You're not gonna reach it." She whispers to herself, walking back to the baseline. She didn't even need to wait and see what happens.

"Love-20!"

The next two serves were all the same. Murokabara aimed for a serve and volley all the time, however; Ryoma persevered on her game and easily procured the first game.

The two exchanged courts, passing by the frustrated high schooler without sparing a glance; sporting a bored look on her face.

Preparing stance at the service line, Ryoma held her racquet loosely with her right hand, holding onto the neon tennis ball and bouncing it a few times.

'Ah...how boring…'

Kakinozaka

Block D

"Geez, that Jirō!" A redhead grumbled, looking around the area, followed by three others behind him.

"Doesn't that guy have a sense of privacy at all? He always sleeps everywhere." The ponytailed brunette sighed exasperatedly, waving his right hand in a dismissive manner.

"He probably doesn't." Commented the bespectacled boy, pushing up his glasses.

"Should we split up and look for him?" A gentle looking boy with silverish hair suggested.

The four boys stopped on their tracks, considering their youngest's suggestion to split up in order to find their lost teammate a little bit quicker.

"GUAH!"

THUD!

"WOAH!"

The cries of awe caught their attention. Turning to the left, they saw people crowding around a certain court. The four exchanged looks, a little bit curious about the commotion.

"That girl is amazing!"

"I can't believe she won!"

"Oi, she's going to the finals!"

"For real?! This kid is taking up the finals?!"

"A girl?" The redhead muttered quizzically. He turns to look at his partner, "I thought we were in the boys' division?"

His partner merely shrugged his shoulders in response, mimicking his confused look. "We are supposed to be."

"What's the commotion about?" The brunette questioned, walking over the crowd of people by the court.

A boy takes notice of his question and turns to him to answer. "A twelve year-old girl just won the semi-finals for the U-16!"

"Eh?!" The redhead and brunette exclaimed in surprise.

"Our reaction as well," The boy told them with a chuckle, "But the kid is unbelievable. To think she'd be advancing to the finals— her skills are real."

"But a girl playing in the boys' division?" The bespectacled teen quirked an eyebrow.

"I know, I wonder what the Tennis Association is thinking for allowing this," The boy nods at him. "However, I guess it's justified— she just proved she deserves to play here."

"Heh...that's amazing." The silver-haired boy mumbled.

Right then, the gates to the court opened; revealing a short girl about five foot , carrying a tennis bag over her shoulder. She passed by them and the only feature they saw was her striking gold eyes under the brim of her cap as she spared them a quick glance and that smug little quirk of her lips, her dark hair tied in a ponytail glowed emerald under the sunlight flutters behind her trail.

The boys could only do nothing but look at her retreating back, stares filled with a mix of astonishment and curiosity.

"...that was her right?" The redhead uttered.

"I believe so…" his partner replied, eyes still fixated on the girl's back until she finally disappeared from their vision.

Silence.

"Ah! We forgot about Jirō-senpai." Their junior exclaimed, reminding them why they were initially there.

"Oh yeah." The three seniors chorused.

"I want ponta." She mumbled to herself, searching for a vending machine around the park.

She had completely dominated the tournament yet again, climbing her way up to the semifinals; ending her matches quickly under twenty minutes. So far her opponents have been as usual, third rates or second rate type of players. She gives a sigh, expecting this to happen so it wasn't anymore of a surprise to her actually.

She was disappointed, she expected a better challenge at U-16 than the Juniors division. But so far, she has not even played a player that would require her to use her dominant hand. She hoped it was worth it because it wasn't exactly easy to convince the Japanese Tennis Association to allow her to play in the boys'. Her mother, although willing, had always despised having to use her influence as a card to procure what they need and she has to agree with her mother at this one. Therefore, she knew by some sheer luck, the heads of USTA and JTA took interest and permitted her.

'This is no fun.' The princess of tennis thought, glancing at the right— catching sight of what she was searching for.

Sliding a coin in it, she chose a grape flavoured Ponta. Once she took it out of the compartment, she tipped off the head; opening the can with a 'pop'. She pauses on her spot , staring at her can for a little bit, albeit deep in thought.

'Which school was I going to?' She says to herself mentally, taking a sip.

'Ah, It was Seigaku if I remember correctly,' She blinks, 'I heard they were seeded.' And that meant they were a strong team, she reminded herself—an act to cheer herself up from the let down that was today.

She didn't notice it, but in the midst of her thoughts; she found herself trudging along the park in search for the exit. The finals wouldn't be until tomorrow, so she could just go home and perhaps play with her feline friend. Karupin.

"Ah! There he is!"

"Oi, carefu—!"

"Ah!" Ryoma lets out a small yelp as she tripped over something, causing her to lose balance and stagger onto the grass rear first.

"...Too late."

'What the—?!' She inwardly cursed to herself, wincing at the slight pain on her rear. The girl opens her eyes to inspect what tripped her over, only to be greeted by a sleeping face then momentarily shifts her gaze to her spilled ponta.

'Who the hell sleeps arou—' she falters her thoughts quickly, recalling that she also does the same.

Sitting up properly, she barely noticed the group of boys running to her direction until she saw a hand in her peripheral view held out towards her helpfully. She looks up and golden orbs linked with worried bright ambers.

"Are you okay?" He asked gently.

She blinks and stands up on her own, ignoring the hand. This action caused the boy to hesitantly and awkwardly withdraw his hand from her.

"Aa."

"Oi, Jirō you bastard— WAKE UP!" She hears his one of his companions bellow harshly, nudging the sleeping boy with his feet.

"I apologize for our friend, are you alright?" A tall bespectacled boy asked her like a gentleman he came off to be.

Her gaze shifted from the sleeping boy, Jirō ; then to the tall one in front of her and she shrugged it dismissively.

"It's okay. I wasn't looking." She says flatly, turning around in an attempt to walk away.

However, the boy with the glasses stops her on her tracks. "Hey wait, weren't you the one who just won the semi-finals?"

She peers over her shoulder, eyes darting up in thought with an inaudible hum before answering flatly,

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Liar!" Another voice interjected. She gives a deadpan look, wondering how she should go on about this. All she wanted was to get home as soon as possible, take a good shower and nap with Karupin.

"We saw you walk out of the courts." Said the same boy who accused her of lying.

"Hm...is that all?" She drawls, tugging down her cap.

"Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to have a match." The tall, bespectacled boy smirks— now this got her attention.

She briefly studies them closely which she never had done so before, she searched their shoulder and saw a tennis bag slung over the bespectacled boy's shoulder.

"You...play tennis?" She speaks up no with more keenness than before.

"In fact, I do."

By this time, the boy named Jirō was successfully woken up by the boisterous redhead at the back. The glassed boy quirked the edge of his lips, sending her a challenging stare.

"Just a game, how 'bout it?" He bargains.

Ryoma stares at him for a little while with hidden interest in her impassive gaze, contemplating whether she should or not. Although tall, seemingly well built and intelligent, the boy didn't seem all that much.

She figured he was like the others as well. But who was she to turn down a match when bored? Echizen Ryoma was not such.

Mirroring his smirk, Ryoma turns fully at them, "Fine, I hope you'll provide me more entertainment than the bunch at the tournament."

"Don't worry, you won't regret it."

Meanwhile, the three boys plus a half-awake individual wonders what is actually taking place. The two stalks off to an open court while they could only do nothing but follow them in anticipation.

Once settling on an empty court, the duo drops their bags by the benches. Ryoma takes out her red racquet once more whilst the other boy took off his jacket and fishes out his own.

The boy watches the girl in amusement as she makes her way to the baseline, completely forgetting the mannerisms in beginning a match. She stood behind the baseline, shoulders lax and racquet tapping rhythmically on her shoulder.

"Not going to decide the service game?" He says to her.

"It's fine, you can have the service game."

"How pompous…" someone from the sidelines muttered.

The tall boy sighs in bewilderment, "It seems like I'm being underestimated."

Not delaying the initiation any further, her opponent makes his spot, "Being too overconfident won't do you too good, girl."

Tossing the ball, he projectiles the ball to her side. For a second, Ryoma's eyes dilated in surprise at the speed of his serve. Still, it was still at a returnable rate. Hitting a straight return, the boy hits it again to the opposite side of where she was.

Before he even hits the ball, Ryoma already predicted where he was aiming for, therefore in an instant; she was already at the spot— catching everyone by surprise.

"Heh...you're actually better." She jeers quietly, hitting the ball at the net, softly but strong enough to have it go over her opponent's side of the court.

"Love-15." Her voice filled the quiet court.

It felt damn great to see the shocked faces of these older boys, she mused. She could never get tired of showing them at all; being beaten by someone younger.

Her opponent took a breath, relaxing his tense form. "Seems like you're not all talk."

Her eye twitched, "It's a given." She shot back arrogantly.

She watches her opponent closely when he retrieves the ball. A serve was coming, and the amount of calmness her opponent displayed were unbelievable compared to the ones prior to this game. For once, she might actually be thinking he was up to something by the look in his eyes.

"Oi, Yūshi— don't you dare go easy on her! Our Hyotei's name is at stake!" Yells out the redhead.

'Hyotei?' She repeats in her mind, oddly feeling familiar with the name.

"No need to tell me, Gakuto. I'm winning this game." The boy named Yūshi replied, pushing his glasses up along his nose bridge.

"Ne, can we start?"

"Impatient aren't you? Are you really that excited to be beaten?" He muttered, serving a topspin.

Ryoma didn't reply but instead returned it. From then on, they began to rally for a while; each unrelenting to give the other a point.

At the sidelines, the boys couldn't help but look on in amazement at the girl no younger than two years their age actually holding up to the tensai of their team. At first they thought it was just pure luck she scored— it was merely denial though.

As regulars themselves, they knew that was her game plan when Yūshi began his serve. She was cunning they have to admit.

Although cocky and pompous as she may be, he girl actually was skilled. Probably not as skilled as their captain but at that point, seeing the display right before their eyes, one thing crossed their mind.

'How good is she?'

It was a question out of curiosity to see how far this girl could go. It was not everyday to witness a girl at their age range play at their level.

She had potential, they mused.

"It seems winning the semi-finals wasn't a fluke after all ne, Shishido-san?" The youngest commented to his senior.

"Aa...I can't believe we are seeing this, Choutarō." Shishido mutters under his breath lowly, sporting his usual frown.

"30-all" Yūshi's voice rang through.

"Che, another tie." Gakuto scoffs.

"That girl is good."

Yūshi sent another quick serve to her left, aiming for the backhand stroke he noticed she wasn't keen on— especially when his serves were a little bit heavy. Smirking to himself, Yūshi hit a smash when she lobbed.

'What?!' Expecting her to return it with another backhand, he was shocked when the girl shifted her grip to her left in the midst of positioning herself beside the ball and hit it across the court, she inches away from the line.

"30-40, heh."

"U-uso! Southpaw?!"

"It seems like you were not even playing at your best, I see." Her opponent, Yūshi mumbled in amazement.

"You're welcome." In a sarcastic tone, Ryoma smirks at him.

"But I'm sorry; I don't plan to let you win this game."

"Let's settle this then."

"You don't need to say more."

PAK!

The sound of the ball being hit echoes throughout the isolated park. It was now afternoon five o'clock; the orange hue of the sky illuminated the two figures rallying back and forth the court.

What originally started out to be a short one game match lasted for twenty minutes already. The two players seemed unaware by it as they both refused to give one another the final deciding point to who's victorious.

Thinking they've been rallying for too long, Yūshi decides to end it with his next shot. He hits a cross-court, pinpointing the ball's destination as far as possible from her.

She failed to reach.

"One games to love," Yūshi murmurs to himself, lowering his arm beside him. "It's my win."

'He aimed for that at the last two shots.' Ryoma stares silently at the spot where the ball landed. A mark was left, leaving her to mull over it after seeing it being hit just an inch away from being considered 'out'.

'He did this on purpose, it was no luck.' She mused.

"Not so arrogant now that you've lost?" The boy was anything but jeering at her. If anything— he was just amused.

She gives him her usual impassive stare, before breaking eye contact; heading for her bag. She ignored the boy's companions cheering him on at his victory in the game and puts back her racquet.

"You're so cold." His deep voice reaches her ears, even though it was meant to be not heard.

"Why, thank you." She replies with her usual snarky tone, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Hah! You didn't think you'd win against our genius, right?" The redhead, Gakuto laughs.

"Stop it, Gakuto." Yūshi defended her.

"But Yūshi, you taught her a lesson." He retorted with a snicker, "serves her right being too arrogant for her own good; she'd never equal to us. Never seen a girl do, probably never will."

Okay, that hit a spot.

Pausing on her steps, Ryoma looks over her shoulder, glare ice cold and gold eyes glinting dangerously under the shadows emitted by her cap.

"Did you say something?" She speaks in what she considers her 'mother-tongue'.

"W-what?" Gakuto stammers, feeling a chill down his spine at the icy glare he received from the girl.

"Tsk, whatever." Clicking her tongue, she left.

"What was her problem?" Gakuto raised an eyebrow, oblivious to his statements earlier. His doubles partner merely sighs and shook his head in disapproval.

"You do realize that I only won one game against her?" The tensai emphasized.

"He's right, Mukahi-san." Choutarō nods.

"So?"

"What I'm saying is, I haven't completely won against her." The bespectacled boy speculated, packing his belongings.

"don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I would have lost against her— however, she had potential. The game really was just starting the moment she changed to her dominant hand." He explained then it dawned to the redhead.

His face turned solemn, "You're serious aren't you?"

His partner nods, "very."

"In any case, let's all go home." Shishido suggested. "We still need to catch up to the bus."

"Aa, that's right!"

"And someone, wake up Jirō! I don't want to have to deal carrying him!" Shishido grimaced at the thought when he remembered being left to fend for himself when their power-player, Kabaji couldn't attend due to flu.

"Neither do we!"

Shrine

Echizen Residence

"I'm home."

Ryoma calls out quietly to the whole residence to let her family know she was there. It was a customary manner in their household; a culture from Japan that is still practiced in their small family.

Taking off her shoes, she makes her way to the living room; smelling the delicious scent of her favourite fried fish.

"Welcome home, dear!" Her mother greets her, popping to view from the kitchen.

"Oh bishojou! Just in time for dinner, eh?" Her annoying father greeted her with his happy-go-lucky taunt.

She refrained the actions to roll her eyes at him and instead puts her bag on the floor beside the couch.

"I'm hungry."

"Just wait a little bit more, Ryoma, I'm just finishing the miso soup." Her mother said in a sing-song voice, disappearing once more into the kitchen.

"Meowrr!"

"Ara, Ryoma-san— you're home!"

She turns to the hallway and saw her cousin with a wet Karupin wrapped around a towel, in hand. Karupin meowed and struggled out of Nanako's hold, desperate to get to his owner.

"Karupin."

"Meow!"

"I gave him a bath for you, Ryoma-san. I figured he should be fresh especially when he sleeps on your bed." Nanako smiled softly.

Ryoma blinks at her cousin and a small tug at the edge of her lips could be seen when Karupin broke free and scurried to her lap.

"Thanks, Nanako-nee."

"Anytime, Ryoma-san."

"Oi, bishoujo!" She turns to her father who happens to be looking at the newspaper.

"What?"

"How was the tournament?"

Ah, the tournament. The samurai's daughter merely shrugged her shoulder and answered in a dismissive tone.

"I'm advancing to the semi-finals."

"Oh! But how was it? Found any good players?" Nanjiroh begins to pester.

"Not really, it was boring." Ryoma closes her eyes, plopping onto the couch.

Nanjiroh's excited face turned sour at his daughter's response, muttering a quiet 'I see'; then proceeds to read his newspaper, finding it meaningless to ask his apathetic daughter any further information about the event.

"But…" Ryoma's voice reached his ear, he glances at her.

"...I guess there are some players in Japan worth facing."

The last sentence stuck in Nanjiroh. A smirk makes its way across his face as he looks at his own daughter with a knowing gaze. He didn't say anything and opted to let the clanking in the kitchen fill the house accompanied by Karupin's meows as they waited for dinner.

'It seems it won't be a waste to be here after all.' Was what Nanjiroh thought.

A/N: Lemme know what you think bout this chap :)

So basically, I just want to clear things up regarding this story. This story is the Prologue for 'Take Two'. After just jumping to the second part of my story that takes place in U-17 camp, I felt very compelled to share the previous one as well. So please forgive me for being messy. T.T