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

Part 20

"Kiss. Kiss. Kiss!".... "Aw, not again." "Bugger." "So close."

Ryoma sighs, rolling his eyes at his sister and cousin. "It's too early for Korean drama's." he complains.

Ryumi whirls on him. "No way! It's never too early."

"Do you hope for a happy ending?" he asks, making her look at him like he's an idiot.

"Of course."

He sighs again. "Another time. We have to go." he reminds her.

"That's right." she muses, getting to her feet. "We'll probably see him again." she says, referring to Akutsu Jin. He plays for Yamabuki after all, possibly Seigaku's opponent today should they beat Ginka and Yamabuki beat Fudomine.

"Right." Ryoma states.

"I still feel sorry for Kawamura." Ryumi sighs.

That day Akutsu came to their school and after the boys dropped her off at home, they sighted Kawamura and followed him. At a café, Akutsu dropped a drink on Kawamura's head in front of a lady, his girlfriend according to Eiji, though she is skeptical. Eiji can sometimes make of things what he want after all.

It seems though that they knew each other before, but against Akutsu's harshness, Kawamura's gentle heart doesn't stand a chance.

...

Ryumi has been in a pissy mood ever since they arrived at the courts where none other that Akutsu was to greet them. It took everything Eiji had to stop her from destroying something. Luckily he has this power to placate her when needed. It even surprises Ryoma.

Also, Momoshiro would have gotten into a fight if it weren't for Tezuka. Momo really can't stand the guy.

But it's time to face him in a match anyway. Since both Fudomine and Ginka forfeited, they can get right to it. And it will be the Prefectural finals.

...

Ryumi watches both teams assemble when her eyes fall on a certain orange haired guy, "Oh! It's that weirdo!" she exclaims pointing at Sengoku.

"Eh?!" he exclaims, taken aback. "Pretty girl?!"

Ryoma perks up at that. "Who are you calling 'pretty girl'?! She's not pretty at all!"

"Oi!" Ryumi scolds, smacking the back of his head making him hiss.

Fuji raises a curious brow. "You've met before?" he asks.

She nods in reply. "Yeah, he just appeared out of nowhere and started hitting on me last time we were here." she explains.

"Hitting on you?" Eiji repeats, his eyes running over Sengoku, sizing him up as Fuji watches in amusement.

"Uhu. He creeped me out though. What kind of weirdo just pops up like that?" she questions.

"Eh?! I'm not a weirdo!" Sengoku counters, his brow twitching.

"Yeah you are." Eiji scoffs, making Fuji chuckle. He can watch this all day.

"On the court everyone!" Tezuka cuts in before things are delayed even further.

...

The first match ended up badly. Fuji and Kawamura played second doubles, but lost against the Nitobe and Kita duo. They were a duo that played in the nationals together, just like the pair in doubles one; Minami and Higashikata.

Seigaku's own Golden pair will be up against them and it will surely be a though match since they are at the same level. Who will have the best strategy? And will Oishi keep his cool, seeing he played them last year with a senpai of his and lost?

Oishi glares at the ground, seemingly lost in thought before Eiji unceremoniously flicks his forehead, giving him a rude awakening. "Oishi, strain yourself after I collapse." he states.

Oishi processes his words before taking a deep breath, calming himself down. He then plasters a smile back on his face. "Okay, let's do our usual."

The first game is troubling however as their opponents target Oishi. Inui explains the same pattern is used as last year, where they targeted Oishi's partner. It must bring up some bad memories for him, but Oishi must've really grown, because he refuses to lose his cool.

The duo clearly does better than Oishi did with his senpai last year. With Oishi's knowledge of the opponent's play and Eiji being a better match for him, they turn the ship around before it's too far out of sight.

Meanwhile Ryuzaki-sensei and Yamabuki's coach Banji-sensei are taking jabs at each other. It looks like they know each other pretty well.

The match continues to be tough though as the famed Yamabuki 'Jimmies', though don't ever call them that to their face, work well together in a sign play, with Minami taking the lead in signaling what to do. Eiji however makes up his own hints to Oishi as he goes and them knowing each other so well, are able to counter it.

Adding Eiji's acrobatic play style, they give the Jimmies a run for their money and eventually win with 7-5. With that kind of skill and teamwork, Ryumi is sure they'll go far this year, or she'll eat her shoe.

A ring of the chainlink fence catches her attention as the players prepare to leave the court. It's Akutsu...

"I've got to thank you for losing so gruesomely." he says to his teammates, making them glare in reply. "Now I can torment Seigaku's freshman." he laughs.

Ryumi sighs, thinking it unbelievable that he's even a jerk to his own teammates. She glances towards Ryoma, who shows no sign of being perturbed.

She then looks over to see Momoshiro stepping onto the court. He'll play singles three against Sengoku, a.k.a. Lucky Sengoku, it seems. That guy appears to be lucky in many things. Just not today...

Momo-chan pulls some luck from his own sleeve and beats the guy, leaving with a second win for Seigaku.

"Heh, serves that weirdo right! Hoi hoi!" Eiji cheers, making Ryumi eye him curiously.

"I get that I have a beef with the guy, but what did he do to you?" she wonders, making him falter, red dusting his cheeks.

"W-well... Uh.. ahhh..." he stammers, before pulling off a cute face. "Nya?" he tries as distraction, making Fuji chuckle silently while his other peers look at him oddly.

It works however, as Ryumi can't help but smile. "You're a bit weird yourself Eiji-kun. But the good kind I suppose." she tells him, before looking away. "Though excuse me, there is an extremely weird guy getting on my nerves right there." she states, stalking off towards where she has seen her dad flirting with Inoue-san's assistant, Shiba, for the duration of the match.

Eiji sighs in relief before stiffening as an ominous presence appears behind him. "Interesting data." Inui murmurs, making Eiji round on him and snatch his pen.

"What data?!"

I finally have a week off! Though sadly, it seems this is the time where my body decides shut down and lets me get sick as per usual. I hope it doesn't push through, because I have a climbing exam this Sunday and on Monday I'm going to Germany with my not so little brother. Stupid viruses!

Anyway, while I have been rooting for my white blood cells, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.