9 Games To Love

Chapter 10: Tennis Meets Dance

Wednesday

11) 08/20 10:00 PM

Kanagawa, Sanada Household

"I'm so sorry sweetie," Grandpa Renji mutters.

Phoebe waves off, "Don't worry Grandpa, you need to be at this meeting and I understand. Besides, you'll only be gone for a few days and I'll be with the Sanadas. I'll be fine."

The older man smiles and gives the girl a lingering kiss on her forehead, "Thank you, Phoebe. Take care and don't cause the Sanadas any troubles."

Phoebe returns her grandfather's kiss with a kiss of her own on his cheek. "Of course Grandpa."

The older Akatsuki and Genichirou's grandfather must attend a police seminar in Kyoto as consultants for a case and therefore, is gone for a few days. This places Phoebe in the care of the Sanadas and Genichirou, in which the rest of the Sanada family welcome her with open arms. The said grandfather was reluctant to leave his only granddaughter, but he trusts that Sanada will take care of her. Sanada, though don't mind the extra company, is a little hesitant because he doesn't want to deal with his friends teasing when they find out that Phoebe is staying with him. Continuing to the next day, Genichirou is in the family dojo practicing kendo at 4:30 Thursday morning when a soft voice echoes through the room.

"Sanada-fukubuchou?"

Sanada glances at the open door to find Phoebe awake and still in her pajamas: a large white long sleeve sweatshirt that reaches her knees with an original anime design at the center and (Sanada hope) a pair of shorts.

The vice-captain greets, "Good morning Barnes, did you sleep well?"

Phoebe answers, yawning a little, "Yes I did. Thank you and I hope you also had a good night's sleep?"

"Ah."

Clap. Clap.

With that said, the Emperor returns to his practice. Phoebe sits on the side in silence after clapping her hands to get an image of the dojo. After the bully situation got settled, Phoebe was able to return to the normal routine she had, but now with a new friend.

Uchida Atsuko is not what anyone on the tennis team expects. Uchida doesn't play tennis but volleyball. She has an older brother, but because her parents are divorced, she is living with her mother. While she is an exceptional athlete, Uchida didn't join the school volleyball team as the girls are too weak and the boys are too arrogant to want to play with her. So the silver eye girl practices on her own and sometimes plays with some high school boys who would let her. Atsuko has a lot of spunk and doesn't give two shits about anyone else. She is sometimes reckless and loud, but overall, she is kind and fair. The two managers got along quite well. The older girl sees Phoebe as a little sister she never had and is very protective of her. Uchida Atsuko says she is willing to throw hands with anyone that dares to mess with Phoebe, which Yukimura finds cute. During club hours, Atsuko is the one who does most of the manager chores, but at the end of each practice, Phoebe would always help out.

As for Phoebe herself, the blind player is developing and is getting stronger with each practice. From the last game she had with Jackal, Phoebe's stamina has increased tenfold due to the crazy regiment that Yanagi had put her on and her own training menu. Now, even Jackal has trouble wearing the girl down. Yukimura learns to never underestimate Phoebe as her strength, speed, and stamina now match that of an average male athlete, if not more. Phoebe now wears 15 lbs lightweight on both her wrists, and 20 lbs on her ankles and still moves around like a normal human. From what the team learns from Phoebe is that the blind beauty has been wearing lightweights since she started playing. She said that because her dream aims across the gender line, the blind girl needs to be stronger and faster than the boys. And all the regulars of Rikkaidai know that.