"Get out of the way, kids!" said a voice nearby.
Ayame looked up to find the source of the voice. She had been walking outside and didn't pay any attention of where she's going, as she was deep in thought. Her thoughts had been interrupted when she heard the voice.
She looked and saw that she was near a tennis court. Three high schoolers were bullying four elementary schoolers. The younger kids looked slightly beat up.
Looking at the scene, it reminded Ayame of when she was a bully victim. She was often bullied for having high marks in elementary school, and it tortured her. Until one day it became a full all-out fight. Ayame kicked the leader out of self-defense, causing the rest of the bullies to try to fight her. She managed to single-handedly beat them up, as her experience with habitually kicking Nanjiroh paid off. When the teachers saw the beat up group, the bullies said that it was Ayame who beat them up. Ayame had managed to flee the scene before any teachers showed up, and since she was one of those "teacher's pet" kind of student, she wasn't suspected. From that day on, she was one of the most respected and most feared person at the school by all the students.
Knowing how it felt to be bullied, Ayame went up to the tennis courts, pulled out her tennis racket and a tennis ball, and served the ball through the open gate. The ball bounced and hit one of the high schoolers in the face.
"Who did that?!" one of the high schoolers demanded.
The three looked and saw Ayame standing at the gate, racket still in hand.
"What do you think you're doing?!" the high schooler that Ayame hit demanded.
"I'm looking for my ball," she said. "I think it landed in here. Can you help me look for it?"
"Well, you hit me with the damn ball!" the high schooler said angrily. "You better apologize or you'll be sorry!"
"You're not the boss of me!" Ayame retorted. "If you're just gonna yell at me, leave me alone!"
"Why, you!" the high schooler got up and was about to punch her.
"I told you to leave me alone!" Ayame said as she thrust her foot up and kicked the high schooler square in the face.
Her kick had given the boy a nosebleed.
"Want to play some tennis?" she asked as she tied her hair back and went to one of the courts.
But then she noticed that she'd be playing two of the older boys.
'I won't lose to assholes like them!'she thought furiously as she prepared to play a one-against-two.
"Ne," called a familiar voice. "Playing two against one isn't fair."
Ayame looked up.
"Ryoma!" she called, glad to see her friend.
"I'll back you up, Ayame," he said, pulling out his tennis racket.
"Let's do this!" Ayame said, stripping off her shirt and miniskirt, revealing a pink tank top and some black shorts underneath.
It was Ryoma's serve. Ayame took a glance at him and knew that his signature move was coming. Ryoma served, and the ball bounced at the high schooler's face in similar fashion to how Ayame's ball had bounced earlier.
"Was that the Twist Serve?!" the other high schooler exclaimed in shock.
Ryoma hit all his serves as Twist Serves, and the high schoolers were unable to return any of them. When it was their serve, Ryoma and Ayame were able to hit quick returns. As that round dragged on, Ayame realized that Ryoma wasn't any good at doubles. She knew she wasn't either, as this was her first time playing doubles. She ended up having to pinpoint where the ball would land and checking to make sure that she won't hit Ryoma by accident, and there were some really close moments where she almost ran into him.
Ryoma and Ayame broke serve, and Ayame served this time. She hit a Twist Serve, but instead of bouncing at the face, it bounced in the opposite direction.
'Ryoma may be able to do a regular Twist Serve,'she thought'but I could do a backwards Twist just like Ryoga.'
Ayame held serve by hitting Twist Serves forward and backward at random. As they changed courts, Ayame wanted to speak to Ryoma before the next round began.
"Ryoma," she started. "Are you good at net play?"
"Yeah," he replied.
"Given the way how we play right now, we might miss a few balls. First off, I want to get some of the balls, but the problem is that I might run into you. So, for every time the ball is served, do you mind if you play at the net and I play at the baseline? I'll cover any balls that go past you... if they go out of your reach."
"Fine by me."
As the match when on, Ryoma had been playing at the net while Ayame played at the baseline. For every ball Ryoma missed, Ayame covered for him. However, one ball went too far for either freshmen to reach.
"We've got you!" one of the high schoolers shouted.
Ryoma smirked, and suddenly Ayame appeared to teleport from one end of the court to the other and she reached the ball. The high schoolers were too stunned to return it.
"F-fast!" one of them stuttered.
"Ninja Dash," Ayame said.
'Ninja Dash...'Ryoma's thoughts ran.'Ayame kicks off the ground and explodes into a dash that's faster than the human eye. Her leg strength allows her to move that quickly since she kept kicking the damn old man her whole life. She can cover the entire court by herself with that move. It does not cause any burden on her legs, so she can use it at ease.'
Ayame and Ryoma easily defeated the high schoolers.
"Mada mada dane," Ryoma said.
'Its been a long while since I've last heard that phrase', Ayame thought.
"Damn you brats..." one of the high schoolers cursed.
"If you want to make it physical, I'll gladly do it," Ayame said while giving out her most fierce look that would've killed them if looks could kill.
She raised her racket as if she was using it as a sword to slice. The high schoolers got terrified and ran.
"Now that that's over with..." Ayame said, packing away her racket. "Why're you here, Ryoma?"
"Your dad asked me to deliver something to you," Ryoma answered. "I searched around town for you."
"Sugoi!" one of the elementary schoolers shouted before Ayame could ask Ryoma what he was delivering.
Ayame and Ryoma looked to see the elementary schools looking at them admiringly.
"Sorry, what were you here for?" Ayame asked Ryoma again.
"You forgot your cell phone," Ryoma answered as he dug it out of his tennis bag.
"Oh yeah, I forgot! Arigatou!"
"So what were you doing all the way out here?"
"I was taking a walk. I saw these kids getting bullied. I know how it feels to get bullied so I went to help."
"Hmm?"
"When did you get here? When I finally saw you, you were coming to my defense."
"I arrived here when you hit a Twist Serve at one of those guys. And when you kicked one of them really hard."
"Oh."
"So why were you taking a walk?"
"It's kinda not every day you get to take a walk without worry. America's kinda dangerous for walking alone. Especially if you're still a kid."
Ayame and Ryoma walked out of the tennis courts together. Ayame then saw a vending machine, and she went over to it and bought some cherry Ponta. Ryoma sees this and also buys himself a grape Ponta. The two friends drank the Ponta they bought together.
'Every time I drink some Ponta with him, it always feels like something is missing,'Ayame thought.'Back then, Ryoga'd be with us, and the three of us would drink orange juice together... Does he still remember Ryoga? ... Probably not. Given that he forgot how we met, it's most likely that he forgot Ryoga...'
"Why are you staring at me?" Ryoma asked.
Ayame snapped back to reality. "Huh? Oh, sorry. It's nothing."
The two went back home together.
"Well, till next time," Ayame said.
"Bye," Ryoma said.