Dedicated to CutePanda21 cause she was the first one to comment on this story!!!! thank you CutePanda21!!!!1
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AYUMI P.O.V
"Rinko-Obasan, thank you for the excellent breakfast! I'm heading out now, Nanjiro-Ojisan don't get Rinko-Obasan too mad!" I yell as I grab my tennis bag and run out with my skateboard.
I look at the paper Ryoma gave me and read the directions before slowly skating through the empty streets. With my sharp hearing I could hear tennis balls getting rallied. Putting the paper away, I follow the noise and found myself at the bottom of a large stairs. Picking up my skateboard, I jogged up the stairs in a quick motion. As I reach the top I see around four or five courts filled with kids from middle school to kids in high school.
I whistled impressed, the courts were actually clean and nice. I quickly walk up to a court where I saw a girl around by age. She had short hair that crowned her hear shaped face and had two clips taking the bangs off her face.
I walk towards her and feel eyes already trailing me, and I thought people would stop staring after I came to Japan...
"Hey, are there any rules to play in these courts?" I asked her friendly giving her a smile.
The girl stared at me or a minute before answering me, "Not really, it's just regular fair tennis, wasn't few years ago though, you used to need to play as a double."
"Thanks, those guys are pretty good," I said pointing at the two boys playing.
"Yeah, they're my friends, anyways I never seen you around here, I'm An Tachibana," the girl said giving me a polite smile. I cock my head to the side, I think I heard her name somewhere before...
"I'm Ayumi Gray, I'm staying at my friends house near here," I say giving her a polite smile.
"Gray? Are you a foreigner?" She asked looking at me, "You do have amazing blue eyes."
"Yeah, my Dad was American and my Mom was Japanese. I inherited my Japanese looks from my Mom and my eyes from my Dad," I say feeling a bit sad. Note the 'was'. My parents are dead.
"Really? You look so pretty," she commented making me blush a bit.
"Thank you," I muttered, I suddenly hear a roar of cheer and look at the court to the right. There was a large crowd surrounding it.
"Che, Atobe Keigo, always bringing unwanted people," one of the guys who was playing earlier came over to us, he had redish color hair which covered his left eye a bit.
"Huh? An-chan who's that?" He asked pointing to me.
"Ah, Kamio-kun this is Gray Ayumi, we just met," An introduced.
I gave him a small bow which made the guy smile, "Hey, all friends of An-chan are welcomed, I'm Kamio Akira and the silent guy behind me is Ibu Shinji," Kamio-San said giving me small wave. I gave another bow to the boy behind him.
Another roar of cheer caught my attention.
"You interested Ayumi-chan?" An-chan asked looking at me.
"Kinda," I admit looking at the crowd, why was it so crowded, and the name Atobe Keigo sounded...
Awfully familiar too...
An dragged me towards the crowd with my hands, her strength surprisingly strong for a frail looking girl.
People weren't letting us pass but suddenly people started opening up to my surprise. People looked at An-chan and me curiously and I noticed the crowd were mostly guys.
"Wow, Ayumi-chan you're amazing," An-chan mumbled walking through easily.
I gave her a confused look which she laughed at.
Soon we were in the very front of the court watching the two people shaking their hands. The brown haired girl I just met few minutes ago had her arms crossed, looking at the court with a stern look.
I looked back at the court and noticed one of the boy/men with purplish black hair with dark blue eyes looking at our way closely.
"What a surprise! Isn't it such a coincidence meeting you here An, how about a date afterwards?" He asked making An scoff.
"Only in your dreams," An insulted making me laugh it bit. Which I regret since the attention came to me.
"And who is this beautiful lady?" He asked looking at me closely, obviously his eyes raking over my body.
"None of your business," An snapped looking pretty annoyed.
I sigh and pat An on the shoulder, "It's ok."
I look closely at the boy and feel a my eyes widen slightly...
<<FLASHBACK<<
"Yumi! Let's go play tennis!" A boy yelled, his dark blue eyes glistening with excitement.
I nod my small head, grabbing onto his bigger hand letting him drag me to the court.
His small mole was underneath his right eye making it look a bit funny.
"Wait Kei-kun! You're walking too fast!" I wail tripping.
>>FLASHBACK ENDING>>
I blink few times realizing who this guy was. I try to hide a smirk but fail, of course it was Kei-kun. But obviously he doesn't realize who I am.
"Nice to meet you," I politely say giving him a bow.
"Why don't you tell me your name, beautiful?" He asked, seductively taking my hand in his.
"How about I don't?" I say back, pulling my hand away from his.
Kei-kun raised his eye brows at me, "Lets have a match," I say, looking at him smugly.
An looked at me with disbelief, "What? He's the captain of Hyoutei high school," she muttered pulling my arm. I shrug smiling at her.
"Even better," I reply pulling out my Yonex Bridgestone (Dynabeam Grandea) racquet, my favorite brand.
"If you win I'll tell you my name," I say looking at the surprise Kei-kun.
"What about you tell me your name and go on a date with me?" He smugly added the date part which I didn't really care.
I shrug and jump into the court and go to the net. I stick my hand out and wait for a handshake.
"Rough or smooth?" I ask spinning my racket.
"Smooth,"
The racket fell, "smooth," I muttered giving him the tennis ball. He smirked at me bouncing the tennis ball slowly.
"Oh for heaven sake, just go," I mutter in English, surprising him. I gripped the tennis racquet tightly with my right hand in annoyance.
THIRD PERSON P.O.V
'English?' Atobe thought, looking at the long haired beauty. He was surprised his charms didn't work on her, but her fluent English probably meant she was from America and you would meet a lot of flirts there.
The girl was fragile looking and Atobe smirked at himself, 'I could easily win'
Being a gentlemen, he served it lightly. He looked at the girls reactions and saw her glare at him and returning the serve easily.
He returned the ball but was surprised at the strangely strong ball making him accidentally hitting a lob.
Taking that chance Ayumi jumped into the air and slam dunked it getting a point for herself.
Atobe looked at the girl and noticed her wrist and ankles with covered with bands.
"Are you wearing weights sweetheart" Atobe asked narrowing his eyes at the girl in front of him. She simply shrugged as she pulled her hair back and tied it into a high ponytail.
Atobe smirked and served again actually trying this time.
Ayumi realized how her friend from childhood actually served seriously and sprinted towards the ball and returned it, her eyes mischievous. When the ball came back she tilted the racquet a bit adding a spin to the ball. As the ball hit the other court it started to spin in a fast circle before suddenly dropping at the other side of the court.
'What?' Atobe thought as he looked at the spot the ball was at few seconds ago. He could clearly see the dark marks the ball left from the heat and speed but the ball was not even close to the mark.
"Tornado Spin," Ayumi muttered as she tapped her racquet to her shoulder. She looked at An as she was the referee.
"L-love=30," the brunette stuttered looking at her new friend. Kamio who was standing next to the startled girl narrowed his eyes.
'The spin was just like Echizen Ryoma's twist serve but I don't know how it suddenly moved places' he thought looking at the ball.
Atobe looked at the girl and groaned, 'She has absolutely no weakness, not a single flaw and that return was definitely in pro level' he thought as he eyed the weights on the girl.
He tightened his grip on he racquet and sighed, he never thought he'll use this serve at street tennis.
He served in tremendous speed as he watched the ball spin down the court.
'What?! He used the Tannhauser serve he used on Echizen years ago!' Kamio thought as he looked at the serve he saw three years ago.
Ayumi narrowed her eyes as Atobe served again, searching for a way to counter it. After the third, she noticed a flaw and grinned proudly. On the fourth serve she returned it by using a high-level topspin rising shot using a footwork called Front Foot Hop.
She grinned proudly as she returned it breaking the serve.
"40=40" An called amazed by how good Ayumi was.
TEN MINUTES LATER
Atobe laid on the ground panting looking at the sky. 'I lost' he thought while sitting up, looking at the girl grinning like the Cheshire Cat from alice and wonderland. He grunted as he clearly saw that the girl wasn't even breaking a sweat nothing out of breath, instead she was talking with the overly excited An.
"Good game, my complete lost," Atobe said shaking Ayumi's hand, she gave him a polite smile.
"What school do you go-" Atobe was cut off with a hand smacking his own and taking away the girl's hand.
"Don't touch her like that!" Echizen Ryoma growled as he pulled the girl away from Atobe.
"Ah, Ryoma! You came," Ayumi exclaimed hugging Ryoma surprising everyone who knew Ryoma.
'Addressing by the first name?' Kamio and An thought together as they watched the Seigaku tennis ace growl at Atobe.
Atobe just sighed and waved while walking off, taking the big crowd with him.
"Acting all cool and mighty even after a loss," An muttered grabbing onto someone's arm in frustration.
"Owwwww," a familiar voice muttered as it wince in pain. When An looked up she quickly released her hold and looked at her friend Momoshiro Takeshi sheepishly.
His dark violet eyes looked at her before moving to the court where two teenagers were talking awfully close together. He watched as the girl suddenly jumped on Echizen's back with a bright smile and laughed out.
"Echizen!" Momoshiro yelled as he motioned with his hand telling them to come over. The tall boy easily jogged over where they were at, the girl giggling on his back.
"So is she your girlfriend?" Momoshiro grinned widely as he looked at the beautiful girl, and her eyes are what made him think she wasn't Japanese.
Echizen blushed bright red and glared at Momoshiro. He really wanted to punch his senpai but his hands were full by keeping Ayumi on his back.
Ayumi who thought it was rude not to introduce herself jumped off Ryoma's back and gave him a thank you kiss on the cheek making everyone watching, gap.
"I knew it!" Momoshiro yelled pointing at Echizen who was furiously turning red.
Echizen wished he had his usual white hat but few weeks ago his cat Karupin just had to destroy it.
"Um, are you Momoshiro Takeshi?" Ayumi asked looking at the boy who was towering over her.
"Ah, that'll be me," Momoshiro answered looking at Echizen's 'girlfriend'.
"Oh! Great I got it right! I'm Ayumi Gray Ryoma's childhood friend," Ayumi politely says bowing.
"Childhood friend? Not girlfriend?" Momoshiro asked puzzled.
"Not girlfriend just best friends," Ayumi giggle cutely. Hearing her Momoshiro look at Echizen for
conformation.
"She lived in America," was all he muttered.
"Ah! Ryoma, Rinko-Obasan said she'll be making traditional Japanese dishes today! We need to go home early or Nanjiro-Ojisan will eat it all!" Ayumi exclaimed grabbing onto Ryoma's hand.
"Bye An-chan, Kamio-San, and Momoshiro-San. Oh yeah Momoshiro-San see you tomorrow!" Ayumi yelled as she ran after Ryoma who took her skateboard ridding away with it.