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

Part 18

"Look here." Eiji motions, pulling something from his bag. "My family and I went to a shrine yesterday. Here you go." he says, handing the blue charm over to Ryumi.

She smiles widely. "For me? Thank you Eiji!" she tells him, shaking it a little so the tiny bell rings in her ears. "I'll put it on my bag." she tells him, hooking it to a metal ring on her school bag.

Eiji smiles happily as he watches her do so. "Did you do anything yesterday?" he wonders.

She shrugs. "Mostly studying before Nanako kicked me out of the house. Ran into Oishi and Tezuka. Even their free days revolve around tennis you know." she chuckles.

"I'm not surprised." Eiji muses. "Ne, Ryumi-chan. You look really happy today." he notes.

"Ah. I guess I've got lot's of energy today." she tells him.

"Well that's good!" he smiles, before glancing at his watch. "Oh! I've gotta go. See you in class!" he waves, darting off so he can change for morning practice.

Ryumi waves him goodbye before making her way around the school, her little charm ringing softly with each step.

Her smiles fades when she hears a ruckus and rounding the corner, her eyes widen in horror to see a tall, pale boy beating up second year tennis club member Arai.

Kachiro stands beside him with a basket full of tennis balls, shaking. All of a sudden, he drops the basket and runs off in Ryumi's direction.

The bully picks up a ball before serving it in his direction, no doubt to harm him. His eyes widen when a hand intercepts its trajectory. Ryumi caught it, pulling Kachiro behind her. She won't flinch, although that did hurt the palm of her hand.

"Echizen-senpai!" Kachiro calls in relief.

"Kachiro-kun. Stay back." she orders him without breaking eye contact with the boy in front of her.

Ryumi narrows her eyes at the wicked looking boy. "Who do you think you are coming here and causing trouble?"

He merely smirks back at her. "Echizen? Are you related to that boy that beat all the Ginka regulars yesterday?" he asks, making her raise a brow as she wonders what Ryoma had been up to yesterday.

"Probably." she states. "Are you a student from Ginka?" she asks him, wondering if he's here for revenge. "You should leave here. You have no business being here."

He narrows his eyes. "No, I'm not one of those spineless weaklings. And you... Don't order me around. Bad things happen to people who order me around." he states threateningly, making her glance at Arai, who looks horrible.

"Senpai...." she hears Kachiro's wavering voice behind her.

"You have no right to hurt anyone. Get lost before someone calls the police." she tells him unwavering, although not fancying ending up like Arai.

He scowls. "I told you... Don't order me around!" he shouts before serving another tennis ball, now in her direction, aimed straight for her face. It never makes contact though, because a racket gets in between it and her.

"Ryoma." she mutters, relieved that he warded off the attack, but also worried, because she knows him so well...

"What's with all the ruckus?" he asks unimpressed.

"Finally showed up huh? First year regular." the boy states, his smirk returning to his face.

Ryoma rests his racket over his shoulder. "I don't know you."

It seems the boy didn't expect him to know, but he looks like he wants to make sure Ryoma will remember him from now on. He picks up a rock from the ground.