Watashi No Ai (My Love) (RyogaXReader)

Chapter 1

'Who the hell is this guy?'

That's what I thought when I first saw him on the tennis courts.

He took every set and game like it was nothing, even against the current public court kings. It was amazing.

Sure, I've only been here in Japan for about a week, but I've watched the public court kings beat every challenger they had in under an hour.

I haven't seen the new guy before, black-green hair and a Japan shirt on with narrow and sharp hazel eyes as he took down the kings in minutes. Ace serves and returns, using basic tennis moves and zero techniques.

I knew I'd get to see amazing tennis when I came here, but I wasn't expecting to see a kid around my age this good this soon to moving here.

"Ryoga!" A girl's voice shouted, drawing me out of my stupor. She stood by the stairs and was waving a hand up. "Rinko wants you back home to prepare for school!"

"Eh?! Why?" The black haired tennis teen shouted. "It's barely five!"

"Gomen, Ryoga," the girl replied gently, smiling softly.

"Oi, baka, listen to your cousin," a smaller boy scowled behind the girl. The teen scowled and then sighed, reluctantly packing his stuff back up and heading over to them.

Is it bad that I kinda want to follow them? That wouldn't make me a stalker, right?

I sighed, shaking my head. There's something wrong with me if I was just about to stalk someone.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets, heading home and throwing my small handbag on my bed as I shut the door behind me. I live alone here, my family's on a vacation and doing business stuff, so I got to come here alone and rent my own place out.

I've picked out my school already, and it starts tomorrow. I'd prefer if it never started at all, but at least it's a tennis school with a good captain, though I'm not sure if girls are allowed in the club. If not, I'll just have to convince them.

— — —

The next day, I headed out to Seishun Gakuen, my tennis bag over my shoulder and school bag on my back.

I had to visit the headmaster's room first to get my schedule and locker number.

Soon as I got out, I dropped my stuff in my locker and headed off to homeroom, taking a seat in the back since nobody told me otherwise.

"Oi, you're that kid from the tennis courts yesterday, right? The one just watching me," a voice said to my left. I turned slightly and reopened my eyes as I lifted my head off my desk.

The boy from yesterday at te courts was sitting there, right next to me. The super good teen player I saw.

"Echizen Ryoga," he said, sticking his hand out after a second.

"L/n Y/n," I said with a smile, firmly shaking his hand and turning back to sleeping.

"You're just like Chibisuke," Echizen smirked, looking at me with his head tilted.

"Chibisuke?" I repeated without thinking.

"Oh, he's my little brother. Super small. You can call him Chibisuke too if you want," Echizen smiled. He's quite a charming teen. I can already picture the rest of the girls in this class fawning over him with his looks and smooth talking. "He was also yelling at me yesterday to listen to Nanako."

"Oh, that kid," I nodded, feeling confident that I had messed up my Japanese.

"Not your first language?" Echizen mused as he looked at me. I nodded. "What is?"

"English," I replied quietly.

"Really? I know English too. I can help you around this place if you want, but it gotta stay behind for Chibisuke's tennis practice so I can take him home," Echizen grinned. "He's gonna be so pissed off at me for this!"

"You shouldn't do stuff to make your brother mad," I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Aww. But he's so fun to tease. You can get the best reactions out of him when he gets annoyed or angry," Echizen grinned. "Oh, right. You can just call me Ryoga cause he'll be called Echizen. It gets a bit confusing for newcomers."

"You talk a lot," I thought.

"Do I?" Ryoga asked. "Guess I'm getting a bit excited to get back in the courts again today after school."

"Echizen-kun, L/n-kun," the teacher said strictly. "Please refrain from talking during class."

I have a feeling she'll annoy me the rest of the school year here.

— — —

I didn't see Ryoga for the rest of the day, but I still managed to communicate well enough. At least I know basic greetings and how to say thank you from bingeing anime all the time back home.

School got out and I ran straight to my locker, grabbing my equipment and heading over to the tennis courts. Or at least I followed all the guys with tennis bags. Is it really an all boys team?

I hear their Captain is strict, but he's a National Level player too. That's good. They've got all sorts of players here in the club. Acrobatic, power players, logic players, and a rockstar rookie that just joined a little before the school year started.

I rounded the corner and paused, spotting a small girl standing outside the fence with wide eyes and twin braids down her back with a girl wearing pigtails standing beside her.

"Excuse me," I said as I approached them. "Do you know if girls are allowed to join the club?"

"I don't know. Sukuno?" The pigtailed girl asked loudly, turning to her friend who then hesitated and shrugged.

"Ryoma-kun!" The pigtailed girl shouted at someone on the court. I followed her gaze and it stopped on the small, black-green haired kid from the courts yesterday. Oh! Ryoga's brother. "She has a question!" The girl pointed her finger at me and I sighed, fiddling with my jacket. I had been allowed to wear a boys uniform since it costed less and the staff knew I lived here alone.

-August 8-13, 2023