Tennis no Ojou-sama: A Prince of Tennis Fan Fiction

CHAPTER 11: Shirts and Percentages

"A female manager?" Inui echoed.

"And an assistant coach at that... Ryuzaki-sensei, are you serious?" Oishi said.

"Why, Oishi-senpai? Do you have any problem with me?" Ryouko smirked.

"Uh, I didn't mean that..." Oishi stuttered.

"Fu-fu—fu-fu..." Tomoka stuttered, refusing to believe the fact that the boy that she admired was actually a girl.

"Tomo-chan, daijoubu? (Are you okay?)" Sakuno asked.

"Daijoubujanai. (I'm not okay.)" Tomoka finally said, her head bowed and voice down-set.

"Seigaku's female manager and assistant coach, they say..." Mizuki wondered, setting eyes on the girl from head to toe.

"Well, this is a new thing..." Hanamura-sensei commented.

"Oy, oy..." Atobe said as he rested the head of his racket on his shoulder. "Isn't the more important thing is that she's a girl?"

"Ayone can see that she's a girl, Atobe-san..." Mizuki said matter-of-factly.

Overhearing him, Momoshiro thought, "As if he weren't fooled that she was a boy..."

"Why? Is there a problem with me being a girl?" Ryouko asked Atobe.

As a matter of fact, there was. Those shots couldn't have come from a girl's strength. It was impossible, he thought.

Atobe certainly didn't use his full strength, only about a quarter if he will be asked to describe how much he used. But still...

Atobe eyed Ryouko curiously. He could've swore he already saw her from somewhere...

"Oy." Ryouko said when Atobe didn't reply. "The next time you limit your strength while facing me will be the moment that you will regret."

"Leave it at that, Ryouko. Now, introduce yourself." Ryuzaki-sensei said.

"Fujioka Ryouko. Twelve years old, first year. From England." She said briefly.

"Not exactly elaborate..." Saeki said with a hopeless smile. The girl seemed to possess a peculiar personality. Well, all of the Seigaku members have peculiar personalities too, so she might actually blend well.

"Tezuka, have you heard about this?" Fuji asked.

"Hatsu mimi da. (It's my first time hearing this.)" Tezuka answered with his arms folded in front of his chest.

"It's because I made the decision myself." Ryuzaki-sensei said. "From this day on, Ryouko will be responsible for keeping the club's data and paperworks and she will also be an instructor."

"By instructor, do you mean that she will actually train us?" Fuji said.

Ryouko smirked. "It seems like many people here doesn't approve of me."

"We didn't mean that, Fujioka. We just..." Kawamura was saying, afraid that they offended their kouhai.

"Daijoubu-desu, Kawamura-senpai. It's not as if I cannot understand your sentiments. I'm aware that I look small and powerless in your eyes..." Ryouko told him.

Then she threw a tennis ball in the air, and released a serve very similar to the twist serve, yet different. It hit the ground and stayed there still spinning for about five seconds before bouncing upward to the right.

"Shinji's kick serve!" Kamio exclaimed.

True enough. Ibu Shinji's kick serve is very similar to the twist, but bounces to the right instead of the left. And that was no ordinary kick serve. The bounce was delayed far too long.