[Prince of Tennis] fic: He Never Knew part 4
A little sick. ): *shivers*
Hm, I think I'll probably be able to finish 1-2 more themes, and that'll probably be it for me for 31days_exchange since they're all due by tomorrow. I feel so bad not finishing. =/ Especially when there was lots I wanted to write!
FFnet is still not working for me, though I see that other people have been updating their stories. I guess it's account-specific and not a site-wide thing.
Title: He Never Knew part 4
Day/Theme: 14. Good fast fiction fresh off the calendar
Series: Prince of Tennis
Character/Pairing: Echizen Ryoma, his teammates
Rating: PG
Words: 1301
Notes: for 31days_exchange, 31_days masterlist. I took a break from Ryoma's head. Should have done it sooner! (though I think my style is very confused because of this. What is this narrative...and these full names...)
Previous Part
Part 4: Without Tennis
Echizen Ryoma without his memories was a curious thing. He had been popular enough as the first year rookie of the tennis team and always had tales of his impressive skill and his cheekiness trailing after him. He even had his own fan club, one that was of a respectable size, small in comparison with some of the other tennis players in the middle school circuit, but respectable nonetheless. However, when Echizen Ryoma lost his memories and came to school with large, questioning eyes, his fan club swooned.
And began growing in size. Exponentially.
There was something about the way Echizen Ryoma carried himself that made all the females want to give him a much needed hug and to shower him with love. He no longer walked with his hands in his pockets, racket bag slung over his shoulders. Gone was his self-assuredness. Gone was his absolute focus on tennis, the one path he had been following. Without his memories, without tennis, Echizen Ryoma was an entirely different being.
His golden eyes that had always lazily glanced at them (or outright ignored them all together) from beneath his dark bangs now actually focused on them whenever they spoke with him. Those eyes would widen, or they would narrow, his every expression etched clearly on his face, open and vulnerable like never before, unable to be hidden away beneath his tennis cap. Instead of brushing them off with small, conversational noises (like a careless "heh" or a removed "hn" here and there), he responded with interest and politely asked questions when there was something he didn't know.
Echizen Ryoma, asking questions?
Echizen Ryoma, paying attention?
The teachers loved him for it. They could almost cry (after their initial shock). His classmates gossiped about it, fascinated, because how could someone lose their memories just like that?
Rumors spread like wildfire, some true, some false, most merely exaggerated. They said he had been kidnapped on a helicopter and thrown into a den of lions (there had been a helicopter and there had been a fierce team of ruthless rival tennis players but no real lions, and Atobe Keigo would protest to kidnapping Seigaku's rookie when he had so gracefully lent a helping hand). They said he had drowned under a waterfall and had almost been ravished by a savage (while he had been half naked, that "savage" was Echizen's father, for goodness' sake, and he had been trying to dry off his clothes, crazy teenagers and their wild imagination). Everyone wondered, but no one actually sought the truth, for rumors were much better entertainment, and the tennis club was too frightening to approach with its multiple lines of defense, the first being toxic health drinks that made it so that no one even figured out what the second line of defense was (some said it was laps).
The rumors made it so that his fanclub cooed and went "awww" over him even more, not that Echizen Ryoma understood what was going on. He'd been dense and clueless about anything that wasn't related to tennis. Now he was still dense and clueless but in a different way, and he could no longer claim to be an expert in tennis either. It made them wonder how he was faring without the one thing that had driven him because no one knew Echizen Ryoma without tennis.
Their current understanding, however, was that it made him much more approachable as long as you learned to stop mentioning tennis in his presence.
"Echizen-kun, you have library duty in a few minutes. Would you like me to accompany you there?" asked a female student who had always been in Echizen Ryoma's class but had never spoken with him before now. Although they were the same age, even she wanted to mother him when he turned and blinked his confused eyes at her, head tilted to the side.
"Really? Thanks for the reminder...do you know what I'm supposed to do there?" His voice held none of his usual disinterest and rudeness, a stark difference that never ceased to send the females into twitters.
After she explained and they started off together, the students behind them once again started gossiping.
Did you see that?
He was so cute! I should have offered!
And that was how his fanclub kept growing.
-----
Echizen Ryoma without his memories was a curious thing, but only for those who didn't know him very well before he lost his memories. For his teammates, Echizen Ryoma without his memories could only be regarded as a strange being.
"I heard Ochibi has gym class today! I hope they're playing tennis!" exclaimed Kikumaru Eiji, one of the most openly distressed over his kouhai's predicament.
"I don't think he's ready for that yet...besides, I'm sure they're going to have class indoors," replied Oishi Shuuichirou calmly, though secretly, he too hoped their youngest teammate would have the chance to step on the courts once more and hopefully rediscover his passion for the sport. It saddened and frightened them all to think that perhaps Echizen Ryoma had been scared off for good (Echizen Ryoma, scared? Of tennis? The mere thought should have been blasphemous, but no, it was the truth, one that should have never come to be).
"I believe they are playing volleyball today," commented Inui Sadaharu while fixing his glasses. His data told him that there was an 80% chance that the teacher would decide on volleyball, for she always had a pattern in the sports she chose, with volleyball coming after basketball.
"Well, that sucks," said Kikumaru Eiji with a frown. "Besides, Ochibi sucks at volleyball, right? He's not going to have any fun with that."
Oh how wrong he was.
When they passed by a gaggle of first years sweaty from gym class, they overheard tales of Echizen Ryoma's surprising skill in volleyball. He had singlehandedly helped his team win and had left their opponents with dropped jaws at his impressive skill. He had done it with a wide and carefree smile, rumors said, as if he were soaring in the air (and he had been, if only for a few seconds when he'd been spiking the ball down).
"That can't be true!" protested Kikumaru to Fuji Shuusuke in between class. "Remember that time at the beach? He fell flat on his face! And, and...how could he enjoy volleyball so much when he won't even touch his racket?"
If people could be envious of a sport, Kikumaru was feeling that right now. Who cared about volleyball? It wasn't tennis! That wasn't what Ochibi should be playing!
Fuji mused. "Did Inui say anything about the matter?"
With a face, Kikumaru nodded. "He said that maybe it's because Ochibi doesn't remember tennis. Since he kept trying to apply tennis moves while we were playing beach volleyball..."
That was what scared him the most, the fact that Ochibi had so completely forgotten tennis that it no longer colored his actions.
Fuji patted his friend on the shoulder. He knew the feeling too well. Echizen Ryoma and tennis had always gone hand-in-hand, and that was what had brought him to them. Without tennis, the one thing that ran through their shared memories, there was nothing binding Echizen Ryoma to them or even to the Echizen Ryoma of the past. It disheartened him to think that perhaps he would never see to the end of that fateful match cut short by the rain, the match that had filled him with adrenaline and intoxicated him with a thrill so great that it was almost uncontainable. How could Echizen Ryoma forgot the thrill that he had taught others? How could he not feel that missing part of himself?
For his teammates, Echizen Ryoma without his memories, without his memories of tennis, was a complete stranger.
Through and through.
-----
to be continued
Next Part
Hm, I think I'll probably be able to finish 1-2 more themes, and that'll probably be it for me for 31days_exchange since they're all due by tomorrow. I feel so bad not finishing. =/ Especially when there was lots I wanted to write!
FFnet is still not working for me, though I see that other people have been updating their stories. I guess it's account-specific and not a site-wide thing.
Title: He Never Knew part 4
Day/Theme: 14. Good fast fiction fresh off the calendar
Series: Prince of Tennis
Character/Pairing: Echizen Ryoma, his teammates
Rating: PG
Words: 1301
Notes: for 31days_exchange, 31_days masterlist. I took a break from Ryoma's head. Should have done it sooner! (though I think my style is very confused because of this. What is this narrative...and these full names...)
Previous Part
Part 4: Without Tennis
Echizen Ryoma without his memories was a curious thing. He had been popular enough as the first year rookie of the tennis team and always had tales of his impressive skill and his cheekiness trailing after him. He even had his own fan club, one that was of a respectable size, small in comparison with some of the other tennis players in the middle school circuit, but respectable nonetheless. However, when Echizen Ryoma lost his memories and came to school with large, questioning eyes, his fan club swooned.
And began growing in size. Exponentially.
There was something about the way Echizen Ryoma carried himself that made all the females want to give him a much needed hug and to shower him with love. He no longer walked with his hands in his pockets, racket bag slung over his shoulders. Gone was his self-assuredness. Gone was his absolute focus on tennis, the one path he had been following. Without his memories, without tennis, Echizen Ryoma was an entirely different being.
His golden eyes that had always lazily glanced at them (or outright ignored them all together) from beneath his dark bangs now actually focused on them whenever they spoke with him. Those eyes would widen, or they would narrow, his every expression etched clearly on his face, open and vulnerable like never before, unable to be hidden away beneath his tennis cap. Instead of brushing them off with small, conversational noises (like a careless "heh" or a removed "hn" here and there), he responded with interest and politely asked questions when there was something he didn't know.
Echizen Ryoma, asking questions?
Echizen Ryoma, paying attention?
The teachers loved him for it. They could almost cry (after their initial shock). His classmates gossiped about it, fascinated, because how could someone lose their memories just like that?
Rumors spread like wildfire, some true, some false, most merely exaggerated. They said he had been kidnapped on a helicopter and thrown into a den of lions (there had been a helicopter and there had been a fierce team of ruthless rival tennis players but no real lions, and Atobe Keigo would protest to kidnapping Seigaku's rookie when he had so gracefully lent a helping hand). They said he had drowned under a waterfall and had almost been ravished by a savage (while he had been half naked, that "savage" was Echizen's father, for goodness' sake, and he had been trying to dry off his clothes, crazy teenagers and their wild imagination). Everyone wondered, but no one actually sought the truth, for rumors were much better entertainment, and the tennis club was too frightening to approach with its multiple lines of defense, the first being toxic health drinks that made it so that no one even figured out what the second line of defense was (some said it was laps).
The rumors made it so that his fanclub cooed and went "awww" over him even more, not that Echizen Ryoma understood what was going on. He'd been dense and clueless about anything that wasn't related to tennis. Now he was still dense and clueless but in a different way, and he could no longer claim to be an expert in tennis either. It made them wonder how he was faring without the one thing that had driven him because no one knew Echizen Ryoma without tennis.
Their current understanding, however, was that it made him much more approachable as long as you learned to stop mentioning tennis in his presence.
"Echizen-kun, you have library duty in a few minutes. Would you like me to accompany you there?" asked a female student who had always been in Echizen Ryoma's class but had never spoken with him before now. Although they were the same age, even she wanted to mother him when he turned and blinked his confused eyes at her, head tilted to the side.
"Really? Thanks for the reminder...do you know what I'm supposed to do there?" His voice held none of his usual disinterest and rudeness, a stark difference that never ceased to send the females into twitters.
After she explained and they started off together, the students behind them once again started gossiping.
Did you see that?
He was so cute! I should have offered!
And that was how his fanclub kept growing.
-----
Echizen Ryoma without his memories was a curious thing, but only for those who didn't know him very well before he lost his memories. For his teammates, Echizen Ryoma without his memories could only be regarded as a strange being.
"I heard Ochibi has gym class today! I hope they're playing tennis!" exclaimed Kikumaru Eiji, one of the most openly distressed over his kouhai's predicament.
"I don't think he's ready for that yet...besides, I'm sure they're going to have class indoors," replied Oishi Shuuichirou calmly, though secretly, he too hoped their youngest teammate would have the chance to step on the courts once more and hopefully rediscover his passion for the sport. It saddened and frightened them all to think that perhaps Echizen Ryoma had been scared off for good (Echizen Ryoma, scared? Of tennis? The mere thought should have been blasphemous, but no, it was the truth, one that should have never come to be).
"I believe they are playing volleyball today," commented Inui Sadaharu while fixing his glasses. His data told him that there was an 80% chance that the teacher would decide on volleyball, for she always had a pattern in the sports she chose, with volleyball coming after basketball.
"Well, that sucks," said Kikumaru Eiji with a frown. "Besides, Ochibi sucks at volleyball, right? He's not going to have any fun with that."
Oh how wrong he was.
When they passed by a gaggle of first years sweaty from gym class, they overheard tales of Echizen Ryoma's surprising skill in volleyball. He had singlehandedly helped his team win and had left their opponents with dropped jaws at his impressive skill. He had done it with a wide and carefree smile, rumors said, as if he were soaring in the air (and he had been, if only for a few seconds when he'd been spiking the ball down).
"That can't be true!" protested Kikumaru to Fuji Shuusuke in between class. "Remember that time at the beach? He fell flat on his face! And, and...how could he enjoy volleyball so much when he won't even touch his racket?"
If people could be envious of a sport, Kikumaru was feeling that right now. Who cared about volleyball? It wasn't tennis! That wasn't what Ochibi should be playing!
Fuji mused. "Did Inui say anything about the matter?"
With a face, Kikumaru nodded. "He said that maybe it's because Ochibi doesn't remember tennis. Since he kept trying to apply tennis moves while we were playing beach volleyball..."
That was what scared him the most, the fact that Ochibi had so completely forgotten tennis that it no longer colored his actions.
Fuji patted his friend on the shoulder. He knew the feeling too well. Echizen Ryoma and tennis had always gone hand-in-hand, and that was what had brought him to them. Without tennis, the one thing that ran through their shared memories, there was nothing binding Echizen Ryoma to them or even to the Echizen Ryoma of the past. It disheartened him to think that perhaps he would never see to the end of that fateful match cut short by the rain, the match that had filled him with adrenaline and intoxicated him with a thrill so great that it was almost uncontainable. How could Echizen Ryoma forgot the thrill that he had taught others? How could he not feel that missing part of himself?
For his teammates, Echizen Ryoma without his memories, without his memories of tennis, was a complete stranger.
Through and through.
-----
to be continued
Next Part