Chapter Text
A/N: This is my 1st PoT Fanfic… and well, my 2nd fan fic (the 1st being She who delivers tofu, an Initial D fanfic. ) So PLEASE tell me my mistakes! Tips would be very welcome~ ^^
OH! Make sure you watched the anime! Haha
WARNING: This chapter is intro, so it's slow. If you like Romance I'll tell you now that it's going to get much better in a few chapters^^
Disclaimer: I WISH I own Price of Tennis
"This is spoken language."
'This is someone's thoughts.'
"This is in English"
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CHAPTER I: Exploring Tokyo - Preparation
It was a refreshingly sunny Saturday morning. The surrounding area was covered with an utterly heavenly atmosphere... An ideal setting to wake up to. I say this because our heroine finally decides to wake up from her long slumber. She was after all, asleep since 5pm the previous day.
A pretty young girl with silky greenish black hair, gorgeous golden eyes (and height that she isn't particularly proud of), yawned as she stretched her arms as far as she can as she woke up from this wonderful, wonderful dream of finally beating the crap out of her father and brother.
"Ah…" She smiled confidently and talked to her sleeping cat "Soon…"
"Meow" The cat lazily replied as it woke up from the sound of its master's voice. "Ha-ha. Good boy, Karupin." She grinned as she pet her adorable cat. 'You're going to get a treat.' She told the feline internally and it meowed as if he replying to her thoughts.
She giggled, lifted Karupin, and they both went to the window to look at the sky.
Yes, it was a refreshingly sunny Saturday morning. How can our heroine stay indoors?
"Going to do some exploring, Reina?" Her mother, Rinko, asked as she eyed her daughter. Her eyes twitched.
"Cross-dressing again?" Rinko exclaimed, troubled by how un-girly her daughter is. "I will not allow it, Reina. You're thirteen now. And a girl, at that. Start dressing like one. "
Reina groaned. She liked dressing up like a boy, it's much more comfortable. Stares of girls are definitely less annoying than men's. Other than that there's the fact that, unlike her brother(much to her dismay) who outgrows his outfits quite quickly. And her brother has a walking closet full of clothes. So his garments were barely used. And they were all branded, too.
After she finally overgrows the clothes herself… well… she sells them in the internet.
"E-bay is my friend." That's her motto.
Oh, how many gallons of ice cream she could buy with a pair of shorts…
"But WHY do I have to dress like a girl, then…?" She tried to reason with her mother.
"That's just the way it is!" Her mother replied. Then when she realized that Reina was going to say something complicated, she cut her off "And don't 'it's the 21st century and there ought to be new customs' me, young lady!"
Rinko internally sighed. She didn't really mind at first because her daughter was so adorable no matter what she wore. But now that she's a young teen... She already had her 1st period a month ago, too…GAH! She knew she'd regret letting the boys of the house take care of her wardrobe. 'My career just HAD to peak during her developmental years.' She complained.
She's very disturbed now. Her daughter being such a big tomboy was already a problem, and that just had to happen. She knew her daughter would get over it (eventually) but she can't let her daughter continue on this streak. She had no choice but to use her final and strongest weapon.
"Please, Reina…?"Rinko asked her daughter in a sweet voice partnered by her famous puppy dog eyes "…for Okaa-chwan?"
'S-SheeeeP!' Reina shouted internally, even when her eyes only widened on the outside. 'Not the puppy-dog look! DAmniT!'
'What do I do? What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?'. Since the incident a few months ago, she never wore girl's clothing again. Her mother never asked her to wear girly outfits after the incident… not until today, that is. And she never refused her mother before, and she doesn't know if she wanted to start.
What was her mother thinking? This was a place she never explored before. Sure she knew how to defend herself, but surely her mother wouldn't be so confident as to let her go looking like a girl?
She didn't like attention. Primarily because it is the cause for pretty much all her troubles. (Well with the exemption of cooking. She just didn't have the talent for that. She lives to eat, not cook. ) Heck, she dressed up like a normal girl for a period several years before. And what happened?
Nothing good, that's for sure.
She literally shuddered at the memory.
(Flashback)
"Come one, Reina, honey, go out with me." A rather good-looking young lad asked (or more accurately, ordered) her as he held her chin tilting her face upward.
Oh, how she wants to strangle the arrogant bastard.
Well, she tried .
Luck simply wasn't on her side today (well as do on most days but having an exception today wouldn't have hurt, no?). The arrogant bastard was hailed the strongest martial artist among their age group in the US, unfortunately. Well, that and due to the fact that 4 of his cronies were watching in the sidelines with rather amused smiles.
If only mass murder wasn't illegal. Well massacre sounds more fitting here.
If only massacre wasn't illegal…
"Go to hell ." She replied coolly followed by one of her trademark glares. 'Who does he think he is? KEIGO? He acts like that guy but this bastard simply smells a lot, lot worse.'
Intimidated (by her glare), his hold on her chin slightly got loose. Reina, taking advantage, quickly stepped back and was getting ready to dash when the arrogant bastard got a hold of her arms... and kissed her.
(end of flashback)
Yes, he kissed her. He bloody friggin KISSED her. She got kissed by one of the most disgusting creatures she will ever meet. When she meant 'most disgusting creature' she wasn't exaggerating.
You see, Reina was gifted with incredibly enhanced senses. She's sensitive not just to the movement of physical objects but also to the movement of the mind. She also has intuitive knowledge of the behaviors of living things.
So when she said the 'smell' of that guy was bad, she didn't mean it literally. She meant that the guy's attitude and personality, in general was definitely rotten. What's worse? The guy is totally full of himself and he didn't know when to stop bugging Reina, no matter how sharp her words get. The guy believed she was just playing hard to get.
And she attracts a lot of similar guys. And truth be told, they're very dangerous admirers.
'Crap' She shivered in disgust. 'I'm gonna puke.' And she was about to, until she remembered it was all on her head.
No. Even if it was on her head she definitely felt sick. She believes rotten people accumulated some sort of disease as they live. But that guy was incurable…
'And I was KISSED by him.' She shivered.
As unromantic as she is, she still thought a kiss was special. And that guy ruined it. She shivered again. It was definitely the most disgusting incident in her life.
The revenge she did was not satisfying at all.
(Flashback)
Everything turned red after the kiss and what soon became massacre (With the victims still err… alive… sort of) started with a strong and clean uppercut. What happened afterwards was a blur to Reina, and censored for the readers.
And with that, Echizen Reina (technically) became the strongest martial artist in her age group in the whole of the United States.
(End of flashback)
Other than her first kiss being stolen by a bloody maniac, there were problems with a number of stalkers. They were forced to hire a blasted bodyguard to keep an eye on things.
Don't get her wrong, she liked her body guard. The woman was like an older sister to her. But now that she was in Japan, going to start a new life, they no longer needed her and she had to say goodbye.
Which led going back to the question What is Rinko THINKING?
Well, the answer is, she wasn't... not really, anyway. She just assumed (correctly, probably) that Japan is in general, safer. The place is also less liberal than USA. Her brother and 2 best friends that protected her (but left 5-6 years ago, due to variable reasons) back then are also here in Japan.
Reina didn't know that, and she wasn't planning on telling her.
She recalled how cute the four of them doing practically everything together. At least one of the boys always accompanies her every time they were out. They were also particularly protective when she's in girl's clothes. The kids were strong, both physically and mentally… which showed in their presence.
The boys made sure that no one was acting 'suspicious' around their princess. This limited the number of new friends she had, yes, but she didn't mind… since they friends she did make made up for quality. Reina, being around 7 years old, was rather oblivious to the guards and the wall of protection they made around her.
And when they had to leave, her daughter went in for the shock of her life.
Fan clubs became aggressive and admirers popping up as if some supposedly nonexistent balloon of hope suddenly appeared before them.
Yes, it was a shock. And being a good judge of character, she knew most of them only saw her either for her face or her last name. So she barely made any new friends.
What's worse is that she even had a hard time making her tennis and/or music buddies look at her for the skills she loved and worked hard for. She started dressing up like a boy for good because it keeps the most dangerous fans away. Other than that she has -
"AH" She exclaimed in recollection. She looked at her mother who, apparently, was lost in her own thoughts until she exclaimed and told her "Very well, mother, in one condition…" Reina smirked.
"I'd have to wear that."
Her mother groaned.
...
Reina now wore a plain white t-shirt partnered with khaki Capri pants. Her long silky hair is now held together by a ponytail. 'Looks feminine enough.' Rinko thought trying not to look at the huge fake opaque eyeglasses that covered 1/3 of her daughter's face. She hid her biggest aesthetic asset, too – Her golden cat-like eyes.
"I'll be back in the afternoon, then." She stated as she turned to the door.
"You're not gonna bring your brother with you? I'd go wake him up." Rinko offered. The older of the two women was sure the younger one would get lost. Her daughter, even with her incredible instincts and reflexes, is err… cursed with a defective sense of direction. She wondered if she adapted it from a certain anime character the young teen took a liking to. 'What was his name? Roroneo… Roronoa …something…hmm…'
"He must be tired." Reina just replied noticing that her mother was lost in her thoughts again. "We just got here last night from the states after all. Unlike me, who could sleep anywhere, he seems to have this troublesome need to be in a bed. I doubt he got any sleep during the flight. Plus, I bet he's the one who carried me to my room, right? "
Her mother nodded, and decided not to question her any further. Reina was definitely determined to explore, the weather is too good to let pass.
"Very well, but you have to wait here for several minutes until I say you can go."
"What for?" Reina asked stoically.
"I'd make a few calls first." Her mother stated and went to the kitchen.
...
15 minutes later, the doorbell rang.
"You can go now."Her mother literally shooed her. Reina raised a brow.
"Huh?"
"I'm saying get the door and then go adventuring."
"Oh." Reina stood up and apathetically said "I'm off, then." And walked lazily to the door. Just as she opened it, something suddenly bear hugged her.
"WAAAAAAAAH!" A petite girl with long brown hair cried. "REEIIIINAAAAA! I mishydyuuuuuuuuuuSOoooo much!" She sobbed.
"Sakuno." She called coolly her overly dramatic friend. "We just met a month ago, remember?"
"Well…" She frowned "That's not why I was hurt. I mean, how could you not tell me you're in Japan? Huh?" It was a rhetorical question, though so she cut Reina when she was about to answer.
"No, Reina. DON'T YOU DARE SAY YOU WANT TO SURPRISE ME! I know you, you probably just thought it was too troublesome." Reina stared at the statement, it was true you know. Why call when you'll see each other soon enough, anyway?
"SEE?" Sakuno exclaimed holding her arms in the air making her point. "That and…" The brunette breathed and then continued "… How could you suddenly retire from the American tennis scene without even telling me?"
'Oh dear, here she go again with her nonsense arguments.' Of course she'd retire from the American tennis scene since they are moving to Japan.
Reina knew Sakuno only becomes this… noisy when she's with her. So she just let it slide and let her one and only female best friend talk. Reina knew Sakuno would continue with her uncharacteristic nagging for a while so Reina decided that they start walking as her friend... monologues.
.
.
END OF CHAPTER ONE
Next:
Chapter II: Exploring Tokyo – Day 1
...
So…Do you like it? Mind telling me what you think? I'm new at this, so I could use as much of your constructive criticisms as possible.