"A female manager?" Inui echoed.
"And an assistant coach at that... Ryuzaki-sensei, are you serious?" Oishi said.
"Why, Oishi-senpai? Do you have any problem with me?" Ryouko smirked.
"Uh, I didn't mean that..." Oishi stuttered.
"Fu-fu—fu-fu..." Tomoka stuttered, refusing to believe the fact that the boy that she admired was actually a girl.
"Tomo-chan, daijoubu? (Are you okay?)" Sakuno asked.
"Daijoubujanai. (I'm not okay.)" Tomoka finally said, her head bowed and voice down-set.
"Seigaku's female manager and assistant coach, they say..." Mizuki wondered, setting eyes on the girl from head to toe.
"Well, this is a new thing..." Hanamura-sensei commented.
"Oy, oy..." Atobe said as he rested the head of his racket on his shoulder. "Isn't the more important thing is that she's a girl?"
"Ayone can see that she's a girl, Atobe-san..." Mizuki said matter-of-factly.
Overhearing him, Momoshiro thought, "As if he weren't fooled that she was a boy..."
"Why? Is there a problem with me being a girl?" Ryouko asked Atobe.
As a matter of fact, there was. Those shots couldn't have come from a girl's strength. It was impossible, he thought.
Atobe certainly didn't use his full strength, only about a quarter if he will be asked to describe how much he used. But still...
Atobe eyed Ryouko curiously. He could've swore he already saw her from somewhere...
"Oy." Ryouko said when Atobe didn't reply. "The next time you limit your strength while facing me will be the moment that you will regret."
"Leave it at that, Ryouko. Now, introduce yourself." Ryuzaki-sensei said.
"Fujioka Ryouko. Twelve years old, first year. From England." She said briefly.
"Not exactly elaborate..." Saeki said with a hopeless smile. The girl seemed to possess a peculiar personality. Well, all of the Seigaku members have peculiar personalities too, so she might actually blend well.
"Tezuka, have you heard about this?" Fuji asked.
"Hatsu mimi da. (It's my first time hearing this.)" Tezuka answered with his arms folded in front of his chest.
"It's because I made the decision myself." Ryuzaki-sensei said. "From this day on, Ryouko will be responsible for keeping the club's data and paperworks and she will also be an instructor."
"By instructor, do you mean that she will actually train us?" Fuji said.
Ryouko smirked. "It seems like many people here doesn't approve of me."
"We didn't mean that, Fujioka. We just..." Kawamura was saying, afraid that they offended their kouhai.
"Daijoubu-desu, Kawamura-senpai. It's not as if I cannot understand your sentiments. I'm aware that I look small and powerless in your eyes..." Ryouko told him.
Then she threw a tennis ball in the air, and released a serve very similar to the twist serve, yet different. It hit the ground and stayed there still spinning for about five seconds before bouncing upward to the right.
"Shinji's kick serve!" Kamio exclaimed.
True enough. Ibu Shinji's kick serve is very similar to the twist, but bounces to the right instead of the left. And that was no ordinary kick serve. The bounce was delayed far too long.
"It's like my Super Dunk..." Momoshiro commented.
"Indeed. The delay before bouncing is very like your Super Dunk." Fuji agreed.
"A mixed-shot using Ibu's kick serve and Momoshiro's Super Dunk?" Kaidoh asked.
"I don't think so. I'm sure she haven't seen both shots yet. Momoshiro doesn't use it in practice and she probably doesn't know who Ibu Shinji is..." Fuji answered.
"Perhaps that was too soft to convince you. Should I destroy a wall or two so you can be satisfied?" She asked cockily. The 'girl' comments really pissed her off.
"Ryouko..." Ryuzaki-sensei scolded.
"Ore no se janai desu. (It wasn't my fault.) They were the ones underestimating me..." She reasoned. She glared at all the people surrounding her.
Next time, she'll be sure to crush all of them flat and make them succumb to her power.
"You can stand-by for now... Observe the practice of the members and tell me your thoughts afterwards." Ryuzaki-sensei told her.
"Hmph." Ryouko said and went to the bench at the side of the court, flipping her braid moodily.
Meanwhile, Ryoma heard what was happening and went to the courts at once.
"Oy, Echizen! Change to your jersey and come over here!" Momoshiro called.
Ryoma looked at Ryouko sitting on the bench. What the heck did she do this time?
Practice of the players, regulars as well as the juniors and seniors began to smoothly proceed on the courts. Ryouko eyed them like a hawk.
"What is she doing here?" Ryoma whispered to Momoshiro.
"She's our new club manager and assistant coach." Momoshiro answered.
Ryoma's eyes widened. What the heck was that?
~~~
Hanamura-sensei looked at the girl and smiled. She felt something special from the girl called Fujioka Ryouko. Perhaps her intuition is true...
After the practice, Ryuzaki-sensei turned to Ryouko. "What do you think?" She asked.
"Not half bad..." Ryouko answered. All the time that she was observing, she was scribbling notes from time to time in her notebook.
All of a sudden, she stood up.
Then all spectators were surprised to see her advance towards the players.
"What is it, Ryouko-chan?" Kikumaru asked.
"I'd like for you guys to do a little something for me..." She replied, not bothering to speak politely because of her ruined mood.
They looked at each other questoningly, wondering what it is.
"What?" Kaidoh asked, grumbling about the fact that she didn't use formal talk to address them.
"Nuge. (Strip.)" Ryouko said.
For a while, no one made a sound.
The players from the other schools were first to make a reaction.
"Did she just say 'strip'?" Kajimoto asked.
Sengoku whistled. "I want to join them..." He commented.
"Doshite-desuka? (What's wrong?) Should I go to you people one by one and take your shirts off myself?" She asked.
Panicking that she will really do what she said, they obeyed one by one, taking their shirts off hesitantly.
After a few minutes, there were five regular members who still have their shirts on namely Tezuka, Echizen, Fuji, Inui and Kaidoh.
"Oy, oy... That's unfair, guys..." Kikumaru told them.
"Leave them alone, senpai. It seems like they don't trust me yet." Ryouko said, advancing towards the players who did as she said and not even landing a gaze at the five who didn't.
"The five over there will be last. And if they still have their shirts on by the time I reach them, I'll tear those shirts to shreds if the need arises." She added, raising her voice to a volume that will make it very hard for them to say that they didn't hear her.
At those words, everyone's faces turned pink. Even though she looks very innocent, Fujioka Ryouko's words were pretty bold and straight-forward.
She surveyed the players one by one with an icy stare that made them feel as if they were being x-rayed.
"55%." She mumbled after looking at Kikumaru. She scribbled the number down on her notebook.
"Huh?" Kikumaru mumbled, confused.
"48%." She told Momoshiro and wrote down his number.
Momoshiro pointed at himself cluelessly.
"59%." She said to Oishi.
Oishi also looked confused, wondering what the numbers she was saying meant.
She went form Oishi to Kawamura and suddenly stopped. She looked at him for a longer amoung of time.
"65%." She finally said. Then she went closer to Kawamura and motioned for him to lean closer to her.
Confused, Kawamura bent his back and brought his face towards her.
"Ooh..." Sengoku said excitedly.
She whispered something to Kawamura which made his eyes widen.
"Do you understand, senpai?" They heard her say as Kawamura straightened.
Kawamura nodded.
Then she began to go away as she went towards the other juniors and seniors. After going over all of them, she said, "You can put your shirts back in place now." She began to go back to the side of the court.
"Chotto, Fujioka... What were those numbers you said?" Momoshiro asked.
"The senpais' current physical status. Minus those numbers from 100 and that will be your room for improvement. I said 59% to Oishi-senpai, which means that you've reached 59% of your raw body potential and can further gouge out 41% more as the potential untouched, thus your room for improvement." She answered.
"Room for improvement and physical status?" Kikumaru wondered aloud, still confused.
"How were you able to say that so easily?" Inui asked skeptically.
"Muscle tone, physical appearance, vasculature and let's just say that I can see deeper than the normal eyes can." She said.
"Ryouko grew up in an all-males environment, being the only girl in her family. And she is the granddaughter of a former professional tennis player who has his own training facilities. She grew up under the condition wherein she see the naked torso of players all the time during their work-outs and thus, she developed skills of evaluating a player's strength by merely looking at their bodies." Ryuzaki-sensei explained.
"Will somebody hand me a pair of scissors?" Ryouko said and looked at the still-dressed Inui, Fuji, Tezuka, Kaidoh and Ryoma.
"Oy, oy, Fujioka... You'll really tear their shirts to shreds?" Momoshiro asked, both surprised and amused.
"Sure. I can do it with my bare hands but that will take quite a while and there's five of them..." She told him.
Inui gulped and took his shirt off. "I won't be caught by this many people with a girl undressing me by cutting my shirt to shreds." He thought.
Ryouko went towards him and smirked. She looked at him for about three seconds before saying, "68%."
It was by far, the highest number.
"Are you saying that I only have 32% of improvement left?" Inui asked her. "You're not being biased in your judgment. Are you?"
"You should know the best that data shouldn't be tampered with, senpai, with your tennis style and all... It's the real number. Truth be told, it wasn't your physical strength that contributes to your strength in tennis. Of course, strength is important and you certainly has it, but the ability of your muscles to develop further is lower than that of the others." She answered.
"How about you four?" She asked, turning to them.
"I think I'll better take this off then..." Fuji said, intimidated at her gaze that seemed to amplify to thrice its hostility everytime those rust-colored eyes land on him.
Tezuka said, "This is pointless..." and walked away from the court.
Ryouko gave no attention to Tezuka who ran away from possible humiliation and simply gave Fuji his number with her brows knitted together. 51%, the lowest digit yet from the third years.
Ryouko turned his attention at Kaidoh who instantly had chills running down the back of his spine.
It will be too lame to obey her and take his shirt off now, but he doesn't want all these people seeing a girl taking his shirt off, but then obeying will be lame, and not obeying will be embarrassing. Kaidoh's head heated up as the thoughts jumbled inside his head. Finally, the steam went off and he just took his shirt off, mainly because he doesn't want his head to explode.
"48%." She said.
"The same as Momo-chan-senpai..." Horio commented.
"Psssssshhuu..." Kaidoh hissed at his direction, annoyed.
Horio backed away and hid behind a pillar.
Ryouko then, turned to Ryoma whose hands were inside the pockets of his jersey shorts. "I don't think I need to know what number I am..." He told her.
"Fine then..." She said.
"Eh???" The others said altogether.
Sengoku was disappointed that she didn't stood by her 'kind-of-erotic' stripping promise.
Ryouko extended her right hand towards Ryoma. At first, he looked at her palm to see if something's written there. There weren't any.
Ryoma raised his eyebrow at her as if asking what that hand is for.
"Akushu. (Handshake.) A commemoration for my debut as the club's manager and assistant trainer. Let's get along well since we're both first years from the same class." She said.
The moment that Ryoma took her hand with his right one, she maneuvered her body and turned her back towards Ryoma and threw him off her shoulder. He landed on his back on the court, both confused and surprised at what happened.
"Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka exclaimed. Sakuno looked worried.
The others watched, slack-jawed.
Ryouko went towards where Ryoma's head is, crouched down and took hold of Ryoma's shirt by the hem. Off the shirt went with one pull from Ryouko.
She looked at him as he said 'Ouch' and stood up from the ground, massaging his right shoulder. She smirked as she stared at him for about five seconds. The others hanged on to hear what number she will say. Echizen Ryoma, after all, is the pillar of Seigaku whose playing style and strength are acknowledged by everyone.
But instead of giving a number, she said, "Mada mada dane." Then she threw the sirt at Ryoma, turned around and went away.
"What the heck was that?" Kikumaru said. "Ochibi doesn't have a number?"
"Echizen, you got insulted..." Momoshiro said in a fit of guffaws.
Ryoma immediately got dressed. He glared at Ryouko as she advanced towards Ryuzaki-sensei.
"Give me a minute of your time, sensei." She told her.
They talked for a while in a spot wherein no one can overhear. The players looked at them curiously. What could they be discussing?
They went back to the court with Ryuzaki-sensei sporting a fairly serious expression.
The practice was then dismissed.
"Ryouko-chan, Ryouko-chan... Can you take a look at me before you go?" Sengoku said, blocking Ryouko's way.
"Maybe after you tell me who the heck 'Ryouko-chan' is and who the hell you are..." She answered.
"You don't like to be called 'Ryouko-chan'? What will it be then? Ryouko-tan? Fujioka-chan? Ryou-chan? Or maybe, Imouto-chan?" Sengoku asked.(Imouto means 'little sister' and ototou means 'little brother')
"I didn't know what kind of alien language was that but clam it. Ryouko is fine." She told him.
"That's not cute at all..." Sengoku complained.
Ryouko started to walk away.
"Whoa, whoa. Don't leave yet... Such a temper you've got..." Sengoku said, blocking her way.
"I'm Yamabuki's Kiyosumi Sengoku. You can call me 'senpai' or perhaps 'oniichan'." He said.
"I'll pass on that." She replied. "Take your shirt off then."
"Yorokonde. (Gladly. Can also be translated as 'My pleasure')" Sengoku said and did as she told.
She looked at him from head to toe. "I'd say... 58%."
"Only 42% more and I'll reach my limit?" He asked.
"Not really. A limit is something non-existent. Humans can always go beyond boundless as long as their body and mind is ready for the change. That is your physical status for now, but if you establish a higher level, strictly speaking, your 100% may also change. Bone structure and development, muscle toning and further growth can happen since you're young." Ryouko explained. "That applies to all of you." She said, raising her voice and looking at the Seigaku players.
"I see..." Mizuki commented, approaching closer to them. "Perhaps the players here aren't too appreciative of that ability of yours but I'm certainly interested in you. Maybe you can go to St. Rudolph where people that will certainly acknowledge your abilities are currently in the tennis club that I manage."
"I'd like to pass on that. If there are people here that refuses to acknowledge my abilities, then I'll simply beat them up." She replied.
It sounded like a joke since she's such a fragile-looking girl so Saeki gave a small laugh. The sharp glare Ryouko threw at his direction was enough to frighten someone out of their pants.
"Tcch." She said before going away.
She'll show them, and she'll show them soon.
"Interesting child, that one..." Hanamura-sensei said.
"You think so, sensei?" Kajimoto asked.
"Certainly. A maker of masterpieces recognize a person with talent to hone masterpieces herself. And I look forward to the work she will contribute in Seigaku, then perhaps we can also try to persuade her to go to our school." She said with a smile.