Seigaku Princess (Prince of Tennis)

Chapter 28: An Tachibana

Ryaka's POV

There were quite a few people who are playing, the other courts are noticeably empty.

"There aren't many people around." Ryaka said.

"I don't know, this place is usually packed especially at this time of the day." Tezuka observed as well.

Ryaka just shrugged and they went to sit on one of the bleachers to watch.

"Wow, there really are interesting players here Kuni-kun." Ryaka said as she starts to mentally evaluate their moves and skills.

"Rye, are you evaluating them?" Tezuka asked.

"Teehee. It just comes automatically when I see players." Ryaka grinned and turned her attention back to the courts.

--

"Hi Tezuka-san!" A girl about Ryoma's age with short brown hair clipped on either side stood in front of them.

"Tachibana." Tezuka acknowledge.

'Tachibana? Must be Kippei Tachibana's sister' Ryaka thought.

She smiled at her and the girl smiled back at her.

"Hi, I'm An Tachibana."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ryaka Echizen."

"Ooooo~ Are you Ryoma Echizen's sister?" An asked.

"Hai, and you must be Kippei's...?" She asked as well.

"Yes. So cool! Tennis sisters!" An said and they both laughed together.

"But Ryaka-neesan, are you a girlfriend of Tezuka-san's?" An suddenly asked.

She glanced at Tezuka whose eyes widened for a while but was back to the stoic face in a split second. She turned back to An.

"Teehee, you know, this isn't the first time someone said that. Heh, but we're not boyfriend-girlfriend. We're just good friends. Hihi. Right Kuni-kun?" She gave him a wink.

Tezuka just nodded at them without even looking.

She and An talked for some more while Tezuka's just sitting there and not minding them.

After a while Tezuka stood up and said he'll get some drinks.

--

"Hey miss, we're almost done with the matches you know." A large guy with a scary face said to An. He turned and went around to another court.

Ryaka and An got up and followed him.

They saw a court full of exhausted players and the scary guy paired with a devious looking one. They are playing a match against a panting pair.

Ryaka noticed that it was the last. "Hey An-chan, what's their deal?"

An nervously looked at her and explained. "W-well, those guys are making so much trouble around here and bragging about their strength and belittling the others and I kinda stood up to them and challenged them that if there is any pair here that can beat them, they should stop and go away."

"And... if they beat them all?" Ryaka asked.

"...They said they'd date me." An finished.

"What?! Those guys are scary!!!" Ryaka has a worried look on her face.

"I-I know. But I thought Kamio-kun and the others would come in time since they said they'll be coming today. I didn't know those guys were actually this strong and finish everyone in so little time." An is already panicking.

Ryaka let out a sigh. "An-chan, calm down okay? We'll think of something."

She watched the two guys closely and evaluated them. She assessed their strength and skills.

The match ended in a short while after and the two guys walked over to them.

"Miss, is it time to go to our date?" The devious looking guy said and made an evil grin.

An hid behind Ryaka.

"The deal was to beat everyone right?" Ryaka calmly said.

"Yeah so? Everyone here is a loser. Its over." The scary guy said.

"Well, there's one more pair." Ryaka smiled.

"Who?"

"Me and her." Ryaka stepped back and saw a shocked An.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Two girls against us? Are you serious? Bwahahahaha!"

"Why? Are you scared?" She asked.

"You think? Bwahahaha this is too funny! Okay then, but if we win this, YOU are coming too." The scary guy said as he walked back in the court.

"Ryaka-san, what are you doing? They're too strong. We don't stand a chance. Where's Tezuka-san? He can defeat them." An said.

"Don't worry An-chan, even if we do loose, at least we bought Kamio-kun and the others some time right?" She gave her an assuring smile.

She turned to one of the guys and asked to borrow a racket. The guy was hesitant but gave her a racket anyways. She weighed the racket on her right hand. "Hmmm this is a good one, thanks! I'll return it later." She smiled at the guy.

She and An positioned themselves on the court.

"Alright, since you're pretty girls, we'll go easy on you." The devious guy said.

"Oh? Well thank you then." Ryaka smiled and she winked at the nervous An behind her.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

A/N:

To be continued...