The Misplaced Foreigner (Prince of Tennis)

The Only One Left: Shared History

You actually know this old man?

"Oi, shut it you little-," Nanjiro stopped talking. He could feel an intensely dark aura from the girl who just moments ago had been so happy she was in tears.

Hearing Ryoma's- No. Echizen's voice snapped Yuri back to reality. She could still hear their conversation from last night in her head. She slowly pulled away from Nanjiro and turned around towards the young tennis player.

"Nanjiro Echizen, he's a famous tennis player--or I should say was. You must know him! You do play tennis don't you?" Yuri asked.

"Never heard of him," Ryoma shrugged.

"So you've never heard of Nanjiro Echizen, huh?" she glared at the younger Echizen, "You've never heard of your own father?" Yuri spat incredulously, because now she remembered why she had recognized his first name. He was the son of her teacher and close friend.

The look in Yuri's eyes was such a contrast to what he had seen that a sudden chill came over him. He almost thought she wasn't capable of anger until that point. He realized she was furious.

However slight a chill Ryoma had gotten, was nothing compared to what his father was feeling. He took slow tentative steps backwards, ready to flee at any given moment. He'd witnessed and bore the brunt of Yuri's wrath before, so he knew just how menacing she could be, especially when she felt betrayed.

Yuri was more than furious, she was livid. How could Echizen have denied her the truth? She had expressed her interest in him even if she hadn't said that she was looking for him, and yet he felt the need to lie? Echizen--for that's what she would call him now, how could she call him by his first name after he lied to her?--was not the person she thought he was. Gosh, she actually thought he was someone she could trust. How could she not have learned her lesson by now?

Even though just looking at him made her blood boil and her hands shake with anger, Yuri couldn't allow herself the time to explode at Echizen. She took a deep breath and let her anger turn into an eerie calm. A deafening silence had fallen after she yelled at Echizen.

Yuri decided she would use her anger to sharpen her focus onto the reason she came to Japan in the first place. She turned away from her mentor's son.

"Nanjiro, we need to speak. In private," Yuri said, and Nanjiro flinched expecting an outburst but was surprised when none came. However, he was still wary; there was no way her anger had just dissipated all on its own.

"Sure, we can talk after breakf-"

"Now."

Nanjiro heard the slight venom left over in her voice from when she spoke to his son.

"Or now is good, too," he said weakly.

They walked away and Ryoma watched as they went out the side door. He'd pissed plenty of people off before and it never bothered him. So why did he suddenly feel like he did something wrong? Maybe it was different because she was girl? Or maybe it was because the reactions he usually got were huge outbursts of anger and shows of physical strength.

He certainly wasn't expecting the reaction he got from Yuri. Well, sure maybe the first part where she shouted at him was to be expected, but the look he saw on her face before she turned away from him definitely wasn't. She looked hurt or sad, almost as if she was disappointed in him. Or maybe herself.

~~

 Yuri had a death grip on Nanjiro's wrist and didn't let up as she marched away from the house. Then she saw the tennis court in the Echizen yard and stopped abruptly.

Najiro had kept quiet even as his wrist began to sting. When Yuri finally stopped walking, he called out her name.

"Yuri," no response. "Yuri," he called out a little more forcefully.

Yuri really didn't even know where to begin. How did she explain why she had traveled across the sea to come see him? She began to worry about how to phrase her situation when she whipped around quickly and decided to just blurt it out before she lost her nerve.

"My dad is dead," she breathed. Even as the words came out, she felt her voice losing its steadiness. Nanjiro stood frozen in front of her.

He wanted to find the right words to make everything okay but nothing would come except, "I'm sorry. Oh, Yuri, I'm so sorry."

The tears started to pool in her eyes but she took a deep shaky breath and said, "It's okay; that's not why I came here. Nanjiro, you're the only one left that I can trust."

Nanjiro looked lost for a moment, "Yuri, what's going on...? Why are you in Japan?" he quickly put up his hands, "Don't get me wrong, you are more than welcome, but--my son said he found you collapsed."

"Right, well, there's a little more to it than that.." Yuri took one more deep breath to clear her thoughts before she explained to Nanjiro everything she could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Author's Note: Many of the same events that occur in the anime will take place in this story but the characters will already be in high school. This is to account for more maturity that will be seen in the characters. This story may end up being rated mature for potential lemony scenes though I may choose to publish said potential scenes separately.

Also! Sorry for the long wait and the short chapter but I wanted to give anyone who was waiting some more of the story. I will be updating more frequently as summer approaches.