Finally I have more than 1 review! Thank you guys for your comments, since I didn't think the story was that interesting it was a nice change to have such comments :) Keep giving me more comments like this please!
And if you haven't guessed already, some of the names in this chapter were made with a Japanese name generator :P
Rikkaidai Fuzoku School Library
It had been one week since the new year began, and Sanada was hunched over examining lists and lists of names of tennis club members, in a sea of printed papers. Papers were spread all across the desk, each with an applicant's name, grades and personal statement.
Normally, choosing players for the regulars ranking tournament would be a breeze, but unfortunately, there could only be 16 people in the tournament including the regulars, so there could only be 8 applicants.
25 people had applied, and because of this, Yukimura had Sanada personally select who would play. Normally, Sanada would select people for their skill, but Yukimura also wanted to make sure there would not be any weirdos in their team - since they had enough of them already - so he asked Sanada to also look over the personal statements they had written when applying for this school, and on top of the fact that a regular's grades must be above average to stay one. This only made the job even more tedious.
Sanada had two piles next to him - a pile of possible players in the tournament, and a pile of definite time-wasters. So far, nearly all of the applicants were - in Sanada's opinion - too weak to play in the ranking tournament, and so he had a large pile of applicants on one side.
The problem was that Yukimura wanted 8 players, and Sanada had only managed to find 5 people who would be worthy of his time.
And so, he had 5 applicants on one pile, and 19 on the other, with one last applicant in front of him.
Mainly because Sanada had no clue what to do with the last man, he put the paper aside for a moment, and went through the list of failures again. He could feel a migraine coming on as he read them, all of them saying the same thing. Just lines and lines of rambling on about how great they were at school and listening and sports, Sanada could see the lies in the black ink as if it was clear as day. He wanted to shred all of these wastes of paper and just pick the most experienced players, but Sanada knew the huge difference between skill and talent, because while the third-years were skilled, they were utterly talentless and their grades were poor.
So Sanada chose two more third-years with the best skill, ignoring everything else, and looked at the final piece of paper he had pushed away, picking it up and looking at the name, grades, and personal statement.
His grades were above average in every subject, though his skill in tennis was unexplored, and his personal statement was devoid of the lies and half-hearted truths that others had used.
'My name is Echizen Roko. I won't lie to you, I'm not an open person, I don't have a happy personality and I'm certainly not a good talker. But I am a good listener, probably because I can't interrupt someone in a conversation, and I have grades which I hope you're satisfied with. I don't like attention, I hate it when people approach me to 'get to know me' and I especially hate it when people ask unnecessary questions. And if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm mute, so I can't answer your questions even if you ask me. But I hope that you allow me to enter this school because Rikkaidai Fuzoku has the best academic standards and achievements of any other school in the region. That's all.'
Sanada actually chuckled slightly at his statement. Niou hadn't been exaggerating when he said this freshman was the only kid with guts. He didn't use lies or deceit to cover up his failures; he just told you what to expect, and to deal with it. Sanada wondered how the principal reacted when he read this.
He's mute, Sanada thought, so at least he'd be a nice change to our loud and wilful team
But Sanada knew nothing of the kid's tennis skills. He could be useless like the rest of the freshmen, or untapped potential.
Sanada stared at the paper for a long time. He hated this freshman, he hated his guts, and here he was with his application in hand, with full rights to deny him the spot if he wished. Sanada realised then what kind of weight was on his shoulders.
He had enough confidence in himself to apply. If he's good enough, he'll be a regular, if he's not, he'll become a cheerleader.
Sanada knew then he had to make a choice, selfishly deny Echizen a chance at the regular position, or give him a chance, and if he succeeds, Sanada would have to put up with him nearly every day for the rest of the year.
He didn't like either choice, but he knew he had to make one.
So he sighed, and gave the new kid a chance.
Echizen Household
RING ~ RING ~ RING ~ RING ~ RING ~ RING ~ RING
Ryoma groaned loudly and turned towards the alarm clock on the table between his and Roko's bed. He half-heartedly reached out for it and pressed down the button on the top, silencing it, before pulling himself out of bed.
The first thing that surprised him was that Roko wasn't there to turn off the alarm clock like he usually does. The second thing that surprised him was that the uniform that Roko had left hanging on the dresser was missing, meaning he was already showered and dressed. While Roko did go to a school further from here than Ryoma's, he still had plenty of time to get ready and catch the train if he woke up now. Which meant Roko was excited about something.
Ryoma smiled, knowing immediately what it was, and quickly got ready himself and pulled on his own Seigaku uniform, which was just a black jacket, a white shirt and black trousers and shoes. Seigaku had a really dull uniform, even more so than Rikkaidai.
Expectantly, Ryoma found Roko downstairs dressed and ready, drinking a glass of orange juice with an empty plate in front of him. Nanjiroh was probably in the front garden ringing the bell, and he could hear his mother talking on the phone in the other room.
"You seem excited" Ryoma commented with a smile. Roko looked up from his glass and identically smiled back at him.
"Why shouldn't I be?" his hands asked. Ryoma smiled wider, it seemed when it came to tennis Roko was so full of energy.
"You don't even know whether you got in yet, after all, doesn't your vice-captain hate you?" Ryoma asked. Roko seemed unmoved by that.
"Mada mada dane", his hands proclaimed. Ryoma chuckled before crossing the kitchen and grabbing his plate of food and sat down, quickly devouring the Japanese meal. Ryoma looked up to see Roko smiling at him. They both had their ranking tournament at their schools today, and Ryoma was just as excited as Roko. Roko made two short gestures.
"Good luck". Ryoma smiled.
"Good luck to you too" he replied solemnly.
Their mother Rinko then appeared around the corner, she was a tall woman with long black hair, soft features and deep blue eyes, which contrasted with the golden eyes of her twin sons.
"Ah, you're both up. Excellent. I just wanted to say good luck to you both for today" she said softly. Both boys acknowledged her with a nod.
"And don't come back injured" she added with a smile, before disappearing off again. The twins smirked at that, since both of them knew that that wouldn't happen. Then they both then stood up in unison, grabbing their bags at the door and walked out. As they passed by the bell their father looked up from his magazine.
"You both better come back with a win, or no dinner for either of you!" he called over to them. Ryoma and Roko just shared a large smile. They reached the end of the garden, and into the street. Ryoma turned to look at Roko.
"I won't let you live it down if you lose" he said teasingly. Roko just smiled and made several gestures.
"I don't plan on it". Ryoma chuckled at his brother's confidence.
"Mada mada dane" he said, as the brothers turned from each other and walked off in opposite directions.
Rikkaidai Fuzoku Tennis Courts
Yukimura looked at the board where the blocks for the ranking tournament were posted with a small smile on his lips. Sanada had made very good choices when selecting candidates, but while some of them weren't the best, Yukimura found it hard to disagree that this would be an interesting tournament.
Block A:
Jackal Kuwahara - 3rd year
Marui Bunta - 3rd year
Kuroske Azuki - 3rd year
Chuugo Tadami - 3rd year
Block B:
Sanada Genichiro - 3rd year
Yanagi Renji - 3rd year
Ayato Jin - 3rd year
Ukito Ryuuhei - 3rd year
Block C:
Yagyuu Hiroshi - 3rd year
Daigo Kakuba - 3rd year
Kirihara Akaya - 2nd year
Echizen Roko - 1st year
Block D:
Yukimura Seiichi - 3rd year
Niou Masaharu - 3rd year
Yamato Shigeyuki - 2nd year
Etsuyo Haruka - 2nd year
Yukimura smiled inwardly at some of the choices.
Sanada put the doubles partners against each other to test their skills in singles, while he put me with Niou so he can copy my tennis and him with Yanagi to decide who is better. I wonder how Echizen-kun will do against Yagyuu and Akaya.
There was no doubt in his mind that Echizen was confident - confident enough to apply for the tournament, but there was a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Was he doing this because he had real confidence, or because he has the blind confidence of the other players in the tournament?
Yukimura was the first to look at the board, and when other tennis club members began to crowd around the board outside the clubroom, there was a sudden uproar from them.
"That mute first year got into the tournament!?"
"No way! He hasn't even played a tennis match yet!"
"He'll get flattened by Yagyuu-senpai!"
Yukimura allowed himself to smile wider at their comments. If Roko was everything Yukimura thought he was, he would take those comments and send them right back at them.
"Buchou" came a voice behind him, and Yukimura turned to see Kirihara looking at him intently. He was very excited.
"Who am I playing?" he asked excitedly. Yukimura smiled at his behaviour, clearly looking forward to crushing his opponents.
"You're playing Yagyuu, Daigo and Echizen" he said with a smile.
"Echizen!?" Akaya cried, taking a step back, and Yukimura couldn't blame him. Akaya's expression softened.
"I didn't think fukubuchou would choose him, I mean, have we even seen him play?" Akaya asked no one in particular.
"No" Yukimura responded, "but if Sanada had chosen him it means you cannot let you guard down". Akaya looked up at Yukimura and smiled determinedly.
"I won't, buchou!" he exclaimed. Yukimura allowed himself to chuckle.
Echizen Roko, you have definitely made things interesting.