The First To Lose (Prince Of Tennis)

11

Chapter 11 --

"Ryoka?" Fuji whispered, leaning towards Ryoka a little bit. "Do you know the answer to this question?"

Ryoka leaned over as well, she studied the question before whispering the answer to Fuji.

"Get it?" She asked with smile.

Fuji nodded. "You're really good in science."

Ryoka turned away, her cheeks feeling warm from the compliment.

"I-It's nothing," she muttered, brushing her hair away from her face.

Kikumaru sweatdropped at both of them, suppressing the urge to push them towards each other and make them kiss. He thought of doing it but the consequences would have been tragic. After all, it was Ryoka and Fuji.

↯

"You guys shouldn't be tired yet!!"

Ryoka flinched at her loud voice, wondering why she had chosen to stand beside Ryuzaki-sensei during practice.

"The placement selection of the Kantou Tournament was decided yesterday! This time we're going head to head with Hyoutei!"

At the sound of the word 'Hyoutei', Ryoka grinned. She couldn't wait to see how strong Atobe really was.

"Last year we lost to that team during the Prefectural Tournament's final!"

Already partially deaf, she took subtle steps away from Ryuzaki-sensei until she was out of the courts.

She breathed a sigh of relief and turned around.

"So! Echizen-chan! How was -- "

Ryoka shrieked in horror, the teacher appearing out of nowhere and scaring her.

" -- stop screaming it's just me -- how was archery practice?"

Ryoka put a hand to her chest, trying to calm herself. She was appalled at how stealthy the teacher was. What the hell? Is she a ninja? Ryoka thought. But she quickly shook her head. No... not a ninja. More like a stalker. Yeah, that's a better description for her.

Ushikawa-sensei leaned forward with a grin. "So?"

Ryoka scowled and brushed past her, not caring that she was a teacher.

"Echizen-chan, don't ignore me~" Ushikawa chirped, strolling behind Ryoka.

Ryoka rolled her eyes and groaned. "I didn't go to archery practice."

"Huh? Why not?" Ushikawa questioned, pushing her glasses up.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Excuse. I need an excuse!

"I'm the tennis team's manager," Ryoka blurted out.

Ushikawa-sensei raised an eyebrow, surprised by her answer. "Really? The girls' tennis team?"

"Nope, the boys' tennis team," Ryoka replied with nonchalant shrug.

"Really? Since when?"

"A month after school started," Ryoka lied, averting her gaze.

Ushikawa pouted, putting her hands on her hips. "Oh. Then why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Shit! What do I say?!

"Because you didn't ask me," Ryoka said quickly, fiddling with her fingers.

Ushikawa-sensei sighed, oblivious to Ryoka's fidgeting.

"Aww, OK then," Ushikawa-sensei said with a sigh. "See you around Echizen-chan!" She chirped before going in the opposite direction.

"No thanks," Ryoka muttered to herself, glad that she finally got rid of the maniacal teacher.

~

"Fuji? Where are you? You're going to be -- "

She stopped midway, her eyes glued to the brown haired boy who leaned against the glass window of the classroom. His eyes were closed -as usual- and soft snores came from him as Ryoka approached.

The light of the sun made it seem as if he was glowing and Ryoka's finger twitched against the sketch book in her hand.

Well, he's sleeping anyways, she thought, taking a seat in front of him and pulling out her pencil from her pocket. Her hand moved slowly, delicately guiding the pencil against the rough paper.

A few minutes passed and she looked at the rough sketch she had done before glancing back at the original piece of art.

His hair... it moved out of place, she thought, her eyes moving back to the sketch before going back to Fuji again.

She lifted up her hand to move the stray strand away but Fuji gripped her wrist. She gasped at the sudden movement, her eyes meeting Fuji's.

She didn't move entranced by his eyes that seemed to contain the whole ocean in them. It was the first time she had ever seen his eyes up close.

Fuji leaned in expecting her to do so as well. But instead, Ryoka tore her eyes away from him and pulled her hand back quickly. She stood up and turned around.

"Practice is starting," she said, leaving the room quickly not noticing the sketch book she left behind in her haste.

Fuji stared at the door with a frown. He didn't expect her to run away. However, his eyes caught sight of the sketch on the book. He lifted it up and stared at it, marvelling at Ryoka's unpolished talent.

She drew this? He thought, wondering if that was what he looked like in her eyes.

Ryoka rushed through the empty hallways of the school, her hand over her mouth. She felt the warmness of her cheeks and her heart pounded against her chest.

I almost... I almost kissed Fuji.

She stopped against the main door of the school, leaning against it.

Shit.