A Sailor Moon Fanfiction: The Pledge of the Sun.

Chapter 15

Then with a great leap, the man jumped over the fence while doing a flip and landed right in court, making Rui and her practice partner look at him with surprise.

"Um... excuse sir," said Rui's partner. "But you can't just walk into the court right now!"

The man then turned to Rui. "Put your weight behind the ball," he said.

Rui looked at the man feeling puzzled.

Then the man turned to Rui's partner and walked over to her. He then held out his hand. "Please, may I borrow your racket?" he asked politely.

Rui's partner blushed madly and handed her a racket. "Um... sure. OK."

Nephrite then faced Rui with the racket in hand. "Now, serve the ball!" he ordered.

Rui tightened her racket, not backing down, as she served the ball using her signature swing. However, Nephrite quickly countered it by swinging his racket and hitting the ball with great force. Rui tried, but the ball hit her right at the wrist, knocking her racket out of her hand. Everyone who was watching was shocked as Rui held her wrist in pain.

"Oh no! Sis!" gasped Naru.

Nephrite then walked over to Rui. "That was so slow; a fly could've landed on it," he said. "Not to mention there was hardly any attack in your serve."

"Just... who are you?!" demanded Rui.

"My name is Masato Sanjoin," replied Nephrite. "I'm a tennis coach, and I can help you."

He then bent down to pick up Rui's racket. As he did, Nephrite surreptitiously placed a spell on it, implanting something inside. Then he handed it back to Rui.

"Focus on putting your weight behind the ball," he said to her. "Remember that."

"Um... OK," said Rui doubtfully.

Then Nephrite turned to the other tennis players. "I need someone to receive, please!" he said.

A young boy then came up. "Right here! I'll do it!" he said. "But... could you please go easy on me, Rui?"

Rui didn't respond. She just stood with her eyes glazed but focused. She threw the ball into the air and struck it with her racket with all of her strength. The ball shot through the air like it was a bullet. The boy tried countering, but the ball was too much as it struck into the base of his racket. The ball had so much speed and force that it knocked the poor boy flat on his back, and as it hit the ground, the ball dug into it, making a small hole. Usagi and the others were amazed, and Rui felt very pleased with herself. She turned beside her to thank Nephrite, but Nephrite had mysteriously disappeared to her surprise. He was now standing from above on the school's rooftop, unknown to her.

"Rui Saioji. The more you use that racket, the more your energy will increase," he said to himself, smirking. "And the more I can steal."

Rui continued playing against the other male players, defeating one after another with her newly found ability. Soon, all the boys she beat couldn't help but be terrified of her. Yet, Rui felt even more proud of herself than before.

"This feels awesome!" she said to herself.

Everyone who was outside of the court was amazed, including Usagi.

"She's awesome!" she said with amazement.

"I'll say," said Harusuke. "She's stronger than she ever was before!"

Naru, however, was feeling a bit worried. "I don't know. Something doesn't feel right," she said to herself. "Rui seems... different."

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