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

Part 15

Ryumi finds her little brother at a practice court, looking to be lost in thought, a determined smile on his face. Sakuno is with him. "All of you, bring it on." he mutters to himself.

The look Sakuno gives him at that makes Ryumi smile. She really likes him doesn't she? If only he wasn't so dense.

She sighs, almost sorry for interrupting, but Ryoma needs to get a move on. "Oi, it's time for your match chibisuke. Stop dilly-dallying." Ryumi urges, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Right." he mutters, following after her and Sakuno as they make their way to the court he will play on.

"You're up against Fuji Yuuta, aren't you?" she asks, making Ryoma hum in recognition. "You two are a bit alike." she states.

"How so?" Ryoma asks while Sakuno blinks curiously.

Ryumi smiles knowingly. "He and our Fuji, you and oyaji." she states and it's all he needs to know.

"Wait up... Our Fuji?" he huffs, eying his sister who sighs in annoyance.

"Don't go there!" she scolds before winking at Sakuno. "My otouto is scared to death I like Fuji a bit too much for his liking." she tells the girl, making her blush. "It's not true though." she adds before the girl gets any ideas.

.........

Yuuta and Ryoma shake hands while Yuuta is looking more and more annoyed by the whispers of him being Fuji Syusuke's little brother. He really doesn't like standing in his brother's shadow.

It gets even worse when Ryoma has to provoke him by pointing this out. Ryumi scoffs. "Like he has the right to say anything." she mutters under her breath.

Inui explains Yuuta's reputation to the freshmen as the Left-handed killer, saying that lefties carry an advantage and are often stronger players. Inoue-san picks up from there and draws out where the advantage lies in serves, captivating the freshman in his explanation. Maybe he should become a teacher instead of a journalist.

Ryumi looks at her left hand, which is also her dominant one, though she can make due with her right as well. It's something that runs in the family and gives them a right out advantage when playing.

She looks up when she hears the umpire start the match. It's Yuuta's serve.

"Yuuta-kun looks really determined. He'll surely make things hard for Ryoma." she states with a smile.

"Eh? You don't sound worried." Eiji notes.

Ryumi shrugs. "I'm sure Yuuta-kun is tough, but Ryoma's arrogance isn't there for no reason."

"Is that right?" he muses. "Ne, you sound really familiar with Fujiko's little brother." he remarks, curiosity in his large eyes.

Ryumi chuckles. "We've met before. He points me in the right direction every time."

Fuji tilts his head with a small smile; glad to hear Yuuta isn't entirely bitter and cold like he tends to act.

.........

Yuuta's Rising shot is pretty good. It's very fast and helps him to get ahead on Ryoma quickly. Meanwhile, Ryumi sometimes glances at Fuji to gauge his reaction, but he's not really showing anything except a neutral face.

Tezuka must be a bit worried, because he steps up to him. "This is a complicated situation for you, Fuji."

"Why's that?" Fuji asks. "I'm okay with it, if Yuuta's okay with it." he states, though he can't hide the hint of sadness.

He and Yuuta have a really complicated relationship it seems. Ryumi doesn't remember if Ryoma was ever bothered by anyone calling him her little brother, or Ryoga's. He only gets ticked off by being called Nanjiro's son. It's sad that Yuuta resent his brother so much.

She watches as Yuuta returns Ryoma's Twist serve with relative ease, showing just how good he is in using his Rising shot for using the right moment to return it. Judging from Ryoma's look, it's just what he wanted to see, how good Yuuta actually is. But only Yuuta realizes this as he narrows her eyes in irritation.

"The Rising shot is fast. It feels like as soon as it's served, it's back again." Kawamura muses worriedly.

"That means our boy can't get to the net quick enough." Eiji realizes.

"If he can't get to the net and the ball goes behind him, then..." Kawamura starts.

"You're right. This is bad....nya." Eiji finishes.

Kawamura raises a brow at the red headed boy. "Eiji, what are you doing?" he wonders, making the other boy look at him confused.

"Nya?"

"Huh? Did you just say 'nya'?" Ryumi asks before looking a bit star struck. She pinches Eiji's cheek. "You are too cute!"

"Ouch ouch!" he complains, rubbing his red cheek.

Meanwhile, Ryoma tries again and of course Yuuta returns, but somehow Ryoma made it to the net this time and managed a return and a point at that. He's really quick. It caught everyone off guard.

"My little brother is so cool!" Ryumi exclaims, trying to have another go at Eiji's cheek, who opts to hide behind Kawamura.

It seems Ryoma has gotten better against left-handed players, all thanks to Tezuka. Shortly before the tournament started, they had their match. Ryoma told his sister little about it, but she could see something had changed within him after that, and for the better. Has he improved well enough to beat Yuuta? She believes so. But he isn't there yet.

.........

Yuuta... he pulled out another trick from his sleeve; the Twist Spin shot. It's fast and powerful and after hitting the court, it rises so high that Ryoma can't reach. Yuuta is slowly running ahead on points again.

Ryoma tries several things to solve this predicament. But his effort results in faults, though he is improving.

"Hey!" he calls across the court, not facing Yuuta. "You shouldn't use that Twist-something that much." he tells Yuuta.

"Ah. It's like that." Ryumi mutters, standing back a bit as she copies the movement Yuuta makes with his shot.

"What are you doing Ryumi-senpai?" Horio asks, but receives no answer as she flexes her limb a few times. She looks up in Fuji's direction, who watches her with his sharp blue eyes.

"Dangerous..." she breathes, making his eyes widen slightly before whipping around to look at his younger brother.