Broken Strings (Prince of Tennis/ slow burn love story)

Part 5

"Rotate your shoulder once more." doctor Akitaka asks.

Ryumi does as asked, cooperating with her new physician calmly. He feels the movement of her muscle and nods, satisfied. "Alright. I think you can leave the sling now. The muscles in your shoulder have recovered enough. I can't guarantee that if you're not careful, that it won't pop out of its socket again though. The muscle always is left a bit weakened once it has." he explains.

Ryumi nods in thanks. "What about the cast though?" she questions.

"Mmh. I think we can make an appointment in two weeks to make an x-ray. If I'm satisfied, we can take it off the same day." he states with a smile.

That would be nice, wouldn't it honey?" her mom coos, making her nod in agreement.

As the doctor puts away his things, he speaks up, "Your mom told me you will be starting school this Monday. Seigaku huh?" he muses.

"Yeah." Ryumi answers, putting on her coat without the help of her mom this time. She's glad she can lose the sling, so she can be a little more independent.

"My nephew in is in the same grade you'll be in. Oishi Shuichiro. Maybe you'll meet him." he tells her with a smile.

Ryumi blinks, a little surprised. "You're Oishi-san's uncle?" she wonders.

"Huh? You've met him already?" he questions surprised, making Ryumi nod. "That's good. Than you will at least know someone there already besides your brother."

"Anyway. You're free to go. I will call ahead when I can see you about that cast." he nods at her arm.

"Thank you doctor Akitaka. We'll see you soon." her mother smiles kindly before they walk out of his office together.

As they step into the car after leaving the hospital, her mom turns the ignition on and drives them back home, talking happily, "Are you excited about going back to school? I heard from Ryoma that the guys from his team are pretty nice. You'll make lots of friends, I'm sure."

"Ryoma said that?" Ryumi asks her mom, skeptical about Ryoma saying such a thing.

Rinko chuckles. "Well, in his own way off course. He hasn't said anything bad about them, so they must be, right?"

Ryumi shrugs. "I suppose." she hums, remembering the four she met already. They seemed okay to her.

.........

The phone rings a few times on the other end before it's picked up. "Ah! Little sis! Took you long enough to call. Did you forget about me already?" an indignant voice asks from the other end.

"Of course not Ryoga-nii. I just needed some time to adjust, I guess." Ryumi tells him petting their cat Karupin absentmindedly, as he lies sprawled out across her bed.

He hums on the other end. "I see. So how is it going?" he questions. "Any better?"

Ryumi shrugs before becoming aware that he can't see it. "A little. The sling has come off today. The cast is going to remain for at least two more weeks." she tells him.

"And your knee?" he asks, a little carefully.

She grimaces. "It hurts still. I-I don't feel any improvement." she admits.

He sighs. "Well, just wait it out. It's too early to make any conclusions. It needs time to heal properly. Don't sit still for too long, but don't overexert yourself either. Step by step, it will improve, I'm sure." he tells her, sounding confident.

Now it's her turn to sigh. "I hope so. I... I hate feeling so weak and dependent. And, I also hate worrying you guys." she tells him earnestly.

"Don't mind it sis. It comes with being family. We just want you to be happy again." he waves off. "We understand you took a big blow. You love tennis more than anything; heck, if you'd have to choose between me or tennis, I'd be pulling on the short end of the stick."

Ryumi can't help but laugh. "No way aniki. I'd only trade you in for a lifelong supply of sundae's."

Ryoga scoffs. "That's nice to know."

Ryumi laughs again. "You know I love you."

"Yeah, just not as much as ice cream. I know where I stand." he mutters.

"Aah. Now I feel like getting ice cream." Ryumi sighs.

"Alright, alright. I get the hint. I'll leave you and your ice cream to yourselves. Talk to you later sis." he chuckles.

"Bye Ryoga~!" she sings, before hanging up the phone.

She sighs before putting her phone away, staring at the wall for a moment. Ryoga knows how to pull her out of her shell better than anyone. She misses her brother and the feeling is even more prominent now that she heard his voice. How long will it be before they see each other again?

He's always so busy. Ryoma hasn't even seen him in a long while. She wonders if he would even recognize his brother when he saw him.

Shaking the melancholy away, her eyes run over her school uniform hanging over her chair. The skirt is a bit short... Tsch. Can't be helped.

Checking the time she decides she will pick up Ryoma from school. She can practice the route as she does. And on the way back, they can go for ice cream. That's killing two birds with one stone!

Ten minutes later, she is standing at a crossroad, looking down at her phone with confusion. If she followed the map correctly, she wouldn't have come across such a large intersection, so at one point or another, she must've taken the wrong way.

As she stands there, frustrating herself over where it went wrong, a voice beside her speaks up, "Did you get lost or something?"

She looks up to see a boy with short brown hair, who's pretty tall and has a scar on the right side of his forehead. He carries a tennis bag over his shoulder.

"Er. A little?" she half-heartedly admits.

"Hn. Where are you planning on going?" he asks, though only half-interested. It seems he's trying to keep up some though guy act or something.

"Seigaku. Do you happen to know the way?" she wonders coolly, quirking a brow when the mere mention of the school makes his eye twitch.

"Yeah, I know." he scoffs before walking off.

Ryumi stares after him indignantly. "You're not going to tell me?" she asks, stepping after him.

He shrugs. "You never asked the way."

Ryumi can't help but roll her eyes. "You have a beef with them or something, Fuji-kun?" she asks, making him halt in his tracks.

"How do you know my name?" he asks surprised, only to sigh when she points at his name printed on his bag.

"Relation to?" she asks, only to have him narrow his eyes and scoff again before continuing on his path. "Brother issues huh? Well, I'm trying to find mine and I would appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction." she says bluntly only to nearly crash against his back when he comes to a sudden halt.

She blinks as he points to the side of them and follows his finger to a large school building. Next to the gate hangs a sign: 'Sheishun Gakuen'.

"Ah~. Seems you're not such a bad guy, Fuji-kun." she muses, realizing he led the way to her destination.

"Yuuta." he states. "Call me Yuuta instead." he says sternly before sauntering off.

"Okay. Nice to meet you Yuuta-kun! Ryumi Echizen is the name!" she calls after him before making her way over to the school building, not noticing how he stumbles over his feet in shock.

"What?!"

I've been writing so much on this story, I thought I could afford to post often. I don't know how long that will last though, but I have a lot written down already. Please let me know your thoughts on the story. I love to hear from you guys.