Chapter 15: The Nationals: Finals
The last couple of days for Ayame had been a blur. The Nationals had started days ago, and the finals were drawing close. A day ago she followed Ryoma and Nanjiroh to Karuizawa, where Nanjiroh was teaching Ryoma the Tenimuhou no Kiwami.
All Nanjiroh had done was ask Ryoma if tennis was fun. Ayame and Ryoma didn't understand what Nanjiroh was getting at, but Ayame had thought that there might've been some meaning behind the question. Nanjiroh made Ryoma use a stick as a racket and a pebble as a ball. Ayame did the same, wondering if there was anything important about it.
She couldn't figure it out and stayed with the Echizens overnight out in the wild. Now, she had gotten up extra early and decided to go on a nature hike to take in the beautiful scenery before Nanjiroh could continue... teaching. She didn't wander too far away from their campsite, as they were in the middle of nowhere, and she feared that she'll get lost.
When she turned around to go back, she saw Ryoma standing on a rock in the middle of the river, hitting serves with the pebble and stick. Nanjiroh came out of the tent and noticed as well. Soon after that, a log was coming down the waterfall, about to fall on Ryoma.
"Look out!" Ayame shouted.
"Dad, aim a little to the left side of the cavity!" Ryoma hollered.
Ryoma served a pebble at the same time Nanjiroh did, changing the trajectory of its fall. Ayame felt relieved, but that relief only lasted for a second. As the log fell into the river, the splash of water swept Ryoma into the river.
"Ryoma!" Ayame and Nanjiroh cried at the same time.
Nanjiroh jumped into the river to rescue his son, while Ayame could do nothing except helplessly watch. She knew that she couldn't swim against the current, and had to leave it to Nanjiroh. She ran along the river and soon found Nanjiroh standing in a shallow area, carrying an unconscious Ryoma.
"Geez... how troublesome..." Nanjiroh muttered.
Nanjiroh got back onto land and laid Ryoma on the ground. He took off his robe to let it dry. Ayame was too busy worrying about Ryoma to kick Nanjiroh for taking off his robe. They waited until Ryoma regained consciousness. He sat up and looked at them.
"Um... who are you two?" he asked.
Ayame knew that Ryoma wasn't right in his mind as soon as he said that. It took Nanjiroh a few moments to realize that.
"Ryoma?" Ayame said quizzically, staring into Ryoma's confused, hazel eyes.
"Who's Ryoma?" Ryoma asked.
Ayame felt panic rising in her as one thing registered her mind: Ryoma has amnesia.
"Ryoma! Don't you recognize me?!" she started crying out.
"No..." Ryoma replied blankly.
"Ryoma! It's me, Ayame!" she continued crying out helplessly. "Ryoma! Ryoooooomaaaaaa!"
Ayame's mind had gone into complete shock. It was bad enough with Ryoga gone, but now that the Ryoma she knew was also gone, they were both technically gone from her life. She wanted to cry, but she knew that crying wouldn't solve anything, so she held in her emotions.
Ayame noticed something floating in the river, and it was Ryoma's cap that had fallen off his head when he was swept into the river. She picked it up and stared at it. Soon after that, she heard the sounds of a helicopter overhead. She looked up and the helicopter landed near her and the Echizens. Two middle schoolers came out.
"Momoshiro-senpai! Monkey King!" she said in recognition.
"Stop calling me that!" Atobe shouted at her in annoyance.
"Where's Echizen?" Momo asked her.
"He's right here, but..." Ayame was unable to continue as soon as she saw Ryoma.
"Come on! Let's go!" Momo said.
Ayame obeyed and grabbed Ryoma's arm. She went into the helicopter and brought Ryoma with her.
"What's wrong?" Momo asked Ayame when he saw the sorrow in her eyes.
"Ryoma's..." she started, but couldn't continue.
Momo's question was answered when Ryoma failed to recognize anyone.
"What happened to Echizen?!" Momo demanded to Ayame.
"He fell into the river..." was all Ayame could say, as she feared that mentioning the incident would make her start crying.
While they flew back to the arena, they listened to an ongoing play-by-play of Seigaku's match against Rikkaidai. Currently it was Singles 3 with Tezuka against Rikkai's vice-captain Sanada Genichirou, and Tezuka was losing pretty badly. However, Tezuka soon began to counterattack, but Atobe said that he was going to sacrifice his arm one more time.
For God's sake... Ayame thought as she remembered Ryoma telling her about the time Tezuka injured his arm and had to go to rehabilitation. Couldn't he have played right-handed instead of killing his dominant arm just like that? He even played against Ryoma right-handed and beat him...
It took the entire Singles 3 match for the group to get back to the arena, where Ayame finds that Tezuka lost. She didn't have time to worry about it, as her concern was more on Ryoma than anything else. As she expected, the Seigaku team reacted with horror when they found out about Ryoma's amnesia. They decided to have Ryoma watch the Doubles 2 match and hope that he would regain his lost memories.
Ayame hoped that it would work. She watched the game as it was Inui and Kaidoh against Kirihara Akaya and Yanagi Renji. As the game went on, she noticed that it wasn't working.
Ayame then recalled something that Ryoma said. He had told her that once Kaidoh had amnesia, and they managed to help get his memories back when he played a doubles match against him and Fuji Yuuta while being partnered with Momo. However, after that, they had to deal with Momo losing his memories as well.
Watching a match must be very different from playing one... Ayame thought as she watched the doubles game in front of her.
She remembered Nanjiroh telling her that he introduced tennis to Ryoma when he was only two.
It might be better if I forced him to play a match with me... she thought. If this keeps up, he won't make it by the time Singles 1 begins... There's no other choice.
"Oi, Ryoma!" she called to him. "You're coming with me!"
"Where are you going with Echizen?" Tezuka asked her.
"I'm going to force him down memory lane!" she answered in a fierce tone, determined to bring back the Ryoma she knew.
Ayame dragged Ryoma outside of the arena and to one of the tennis courts nearby. She took out his racket and gave it to him while taking out hers. She forced him to stand at the baseline as she went to the other side. She immediately began serving.
I don't care if you're afraid of the balls, she thought as she saw Ryoma bracing himself. I'll keep hitting balls at you until you can at least do a decent rally with me.
Ayame didn't relent as she kept serving. Ryoma, believing that she was going to hit him, braced himself as the balls bounced harmlessly past him. Pretty soon, the other side of the court had balls lying everywhere. Ayame soon stopped.
It's not working...? she thought hopelessly. Maybe it might've been better if he was still watching the match after all...
"Um... can you please teach me?" Ryoma's voice interrupted her thoughts.
She looked up and noticed that Ryoma had gone up to her and asked her to teach him how to play tennis.
It just might work! she thought, exhilarated.
"OK," she said. "But we'll have to move fast!"
Ayame hit regular serves at Ryoma, and pretty soon he was able to return her serves and keep up a rally with her. Eventually, Ryoma hit a cross court shot, and Ayame caught up to it with her Ninja Dash. Ryoma hesitated as the ball bounced past him.
"Kanna..." he said.
Ayame looked up, realizing that Ryoma acknowledged her by name... but only by her surname. She wanted to feel glad and relieved, but she knew that there's no time to stop and cry.
He may only remember my name, but he has to remember everything! she thought.
As she went on playing with Ryoma, she demonstrated the moves that she used as well as his moves (Ryoma and Ayame shared their playing styles and are able to pull incomplete versions of each other's moves). Ryoma slowly began to regain his lost memories, and soon managed to remember Ayame. She knew that it wasn't enough, and that he needs to regain his skills at tennis.
Soon, Momo appeared to help. Inui and Kaidoh joined in (Ayame noticed that they were both injured, but she knew that she couldn't stop to ask why), and soon other players that Ryoma faced in the past showed up.
"I leave the rest to you boys," she said as she left the courts.
Ayame wanted to stay with Ryoma, but she wanted to see the status of the matches too, so she decided to go do that first. By the time she got back, Doubles 1 was finishing. Apparently they lost Doubles 2 in a forfeit (Ayame then found out it was because Kirihara injured Inui), won Singles 2, and now they've won Doubles 1.
Singles 1 was about to begin. Ayame noticed that Ryoma wasn't there yet.
Shit! she thought. He's not back yet!
Looking around, she saw the Rikkai captain Yukimura Seiichi. She knew that he was Ryoma's opponent, but he hasn't gotten onto the court yet. She had heard that he has never had a game taken from him.
Never had a game taken? her thoughts went. Interesting. I'll test my limits with him!
She climbed over to the bench where Yukimura was sitting.
"Oi, Rikkai's buchou!" she said. "Wanna play a little until Ryoma gets back?"
Yukimura did nothing for a few moments, but then he stood up and picked up his racket.
"Shall we do it then, Kanna-chan?" he asked.
"Kanna is going to play a match with Yukimura?" Ayame heard voices in the crowd say.
"Hey, isn't that the girl who hangs around with Seigaku's Echizen?"
"Is she really going up against Rikkai's buchou?"
Ayame and Yukimura got onto the court. She hit a regular serve, trying to observe Yukimura's playing style. Yukimura kept returning the balls regularly, and she returned the balls without executing a single move.
Does he not have any secret moves? she wondered.
However, as the rally went on, she began having a very uncomfortable feeling. Her mind kept thinking that Yukimura was returning her balls like a machine.
Forget about it! her thoughts scolded her. Concentrate on the match! Don't worry about anything else!
She felt the feeling inside her get stronger. She realized that no matter how tough her mind was, she couldn't shake that feeling.
There's no other way... she thought as she pushed herself.
Ayame continued rallying. Yukimura kept returning the balls.
What is she? Yukimura thought. She should've succumbed by now... even now, how is she still playing normally?
Finally, Ayame hit the ball and it hit the net. Yukimura thought that he scored, but then the ball spun along the net and landed on his side of the court.
Damn, even for one point, this was still intense... Ayame thought.
She looked up and saw Ryoma standing in the sidelines.
"It's about time you came back, bastard!" she called out to him as she stepped off of the court.
Ryoma got onto the court and the Singles 1 match began. Ayame, who had just experienced Yukimura's playing style, knew that Yukimura was one fearsome opponent.
As she watched Ryoma's matched, she noticed in stunned silence as he unlocked the Hyakuren Jitoku no Kiwami and the Saikikanpatsu no Kiwami.
He still hasn't won a game, though... she thought.
When Ryoma accidentally smashed the ball out of the tennis courts, he had fallen and gotten a nosebleed. It was then he lost his sense of touch.
"It's that..." Ayame muttered.
"It's what?" Kikumaru asked. "What are you talking about, Ayame-chan?"
"Yukimura-san's tennis," she replied. "He returns all your shots like a machine. It felt like I'd never score a point... it felt like as if I didn't want to play anymore. My mind was threatening to force me to stop moving. But, for me, I don't know how I was able to resist so hard..."
She heard somebody say that it sounded like the Yips, which was the emotional state of not being able to play properly anymore. Little did Ayame know that she resisted Yips because of three past experiences that prevented her from properly being affected by it: her mother's death, Ryoga's departure, and the recent Ryoma's amnesia. All three of those memories were unforgettable memories that had constantly attacked her mind and she had struggled to forget them, but to no avail. While she had been unable to forget them, it had clung to her mind, strengthening her mentality, and not allowing her to remember Yukimura returning all the balls.
Ayame watched in pained silence as Ryoma began suffering from the full effect of Yips, even going as far as losing his sight and hearing. Ryoma faulted and then did a double fault. He then tripped over the ball near him. Ayame noticed that he was crying. She squeezed her eyes shut and looked away, not wanting to watch her childhood friend suffer. It reminded her of when she refused to look at Ryoma when he found out the truth of Ryoga's departure. She had known Ryoma to be a tough boy, but to see him crying was too much. She wanted him to stop playing, but she knew perfectly well that Ryoma wouldn't forfeit a match, no matter what kind of situation he was in.
Meanwhile, Ryoma remembered Nanjiroh asking him if tennis was fun. He remembered playing tennis with Nanjiroh when he was a small child, and seeing a young Ayame timidly watching from behind a tree. Ayame had approached the court and asked Nanjiroh to teach her tennis, and a few days afterward she was rallying with him. Ryoma remembered the times he shared with Ayame, his Seigaku teammates, and playing with people from other schools.
"Tennis is..." Ryoma said.
Surprised, Ayame opened her eyes and looked to see Ryoma getting up. She noticed that Rikkaidai was stunned by his persistence.
"Tennis is fun!" Ryoma said aloud.
As the area was engulfed in a blinding light, Ryoma's hair spiked up, and he had unlocked Tenimuhou no Kiwami.
That's what the old pervert meant! Ayame thought, realizing what he had been trying to convey back in Karuizawa.
Ayame watched as Ryoma began to dominate Yukimura. She heard the crowd get excited around her, and soon enough, she heard Nanjiroh behind her. The Seigaku members recognized him as Samurai Nanjiroh. Almost immediately after, Ayame lashed out at Nanjiroh and started attacking him by kicking him repeatedly, leaving the Seigaku members staring at the scene, confused by why she was so violent to him. Their question was soon answered when she yelled "old pervert" at him.
After Ayame calmed down, Nanjiroh started explaining to the Seigaku team about Tenimuhou no Kiwami. Soon after, Ryoma defeats Yukimura and ended it by using the Samurai Drive to split the ball in half and smash both halves into Yukimura's side of the court. Ayame noticed the Seigaku regulars running onto the court to get to Ryoma, and she tried to beat them to it by Ninja Dashing to him... only to run too quickly and crash right into him, knocking him down.
"My bad!" she said as Ryoma got right back up. "You did it, bastard!"
She playfully slapped Ryoma's back... only for him to fall back down from the impact.
Uhhhh, I'm pretty sure my arm strength is still weak... she thought as she stared down at Ryoma. How did he fall from that?
Right then the Seigaku club members came up and swarmed Ryoma.
He deserves some Ponta, Ayame thought as she watched the award ceremony. Better make a mental note to go buy some. Also... I'll be the one to beat him next!