Deafening Silence ( prince of tennis) (#wattys2016)

24

This chapter was created at the suggestion of DragonStorm.

Tokyo Tennis Gardens Courts

Roko decided that he liked Fudomine. Sure, Kamio wasn't exactly the friendliest type but the rest of the team were good company, and having two interpreters helped, even if the captain was too focused on the games to translate.

So far it had been two wins and two losses against Seigaku, and Roko once again mentally sighed in frustration at how much better the tennis team of Tokyo were. It was just plain unfair how the teams in Kanagawa were awful, while these guys were giving Seigaku a challenge, and that was impressive, considering Seigaku were in the top four in the Nationals last year.

The final match was Ryoma versus Shinji in Singles 3, and Roko felt a small smile creep onto his face as his brother stepped onto the court. Ryoma glanced up at him in that moment, and they both exchanged a soft smile, before Roko made signs.

"You better win this one, or I'll be the better tennis player" his hands stated cockily, and as expected Ryoma smirked widely and his eyes glittered amusedly. This was definitely going to be interesting.

Shinji and Ryoma shook hands at the net, and Shinji started muttering something to Ryoma that made him twitch slightly, and Roko could tell from the bleachers that he was irritated. He himself didn't find Shinji's mumbling overly annoying, despite how the others complained of it. In fact it was a nice way to fill the silence that was common in Roko's conversations.

Ryoma served, and the game began.

Roko only half watched, with his earphones in his ears he was drifting off into his own world. He didn't need to bother watching the game, since he already knew who would win. Ryoma just had that much experience.

But from what Roko heard about Fudomine's history from Ann, Shinji had determination to match it. According to her, it was in their first year as freshmen for the tennis club. They would pick up the balls and be mocked and scorned by talentless regulars, and they soon started to rebel against them. That was around the time Tachibana showed up, a second year who believed that the way they were being treated was wrong. So they built their own tennis court and began to play there, until the tennis coach and the talentless regulars arrived and destroyed the courts. Tachibana attacked the coach, and so Fudomine were forced to drop out of the tournament, and next year they all defeated the regulars and replaced them. The coach resigned soon after.

Roko knew exactly what it was like to have a determination building up in you to prove that you aren't weak. He had had that feeling in his gut for most of his life, and he instantly sympathized with Shinji, who he knew would not allow Ryoma to win. No, maybe he wasn't so sure of the outcome after all.

"Excuse me" came a voice, and Roko and Fudomine turned to see a tall man wearing a shirt and tie with black trousers - rather similar to the Rikkaidai uniform - he had short brown hair and a camera around his neck.

"Can I help you?" Tachibana asked from the front row. The man turned to him and gave a nod.

"I was wondering if I could speak to Echizen Roko". Everyone frowned at his response, and Roko wondered what the man wanted with him. Did he know him?

"Who are you?" Kamio asked bluntly, and the man turned and smiled politely.

"My name is Inoue Mamoru; I'm a journalist for Monthly Pro Tennis Magazine". Roko mentally groaned loudly, and Fudomine collectively raised an eyebrow.

Roko really wished he could speak so he could verbalize his annoyance. He knew what this was about. This man was obviously interested in 'Echizen Nanjiroh's son', and more so because Roko never played in any of the big tournaments like Ryoma. He'd never liked playing tennis for big trophies and money; he played it because it was a fun sport.

The man - Inoue - then turned to Roko and his eyes glittered with anticipation, probably excited to get an interview or something. Roko gave a hollow look at him to try to send the message, but Inoue just laughed.

"You are just like Echizen Ryoma. You must be his brother. Can I get an interview?" he asked, and Roko felt his forehead twitch in annoyance. He shook his head in response, and Inoue frowned.

"But why? I've never heard of you before, and I had no idea Echizen Nanjiroh had two sons. This would be an amazing story" he explained, and Roko's forehead twitched again.

"Eh?" Kamio asked from the background, "Why would you want to interview Echizen?" Inoue turned to him with an incredulous expression, and if Roko could speak he would have ordered him to stop.

"You don't know who he is?" he asked, unbelieving, and the entire team turned to Roko and frowned.

"He's Echizen" Kamio said slowly, as if there was some hidden meaning in his name. Inoue shook his head.

"His father is Echizen Nanjiroh, the legendary tennis player who took the world by storm, nicknamed 'The Samurai'. I'd heard of his brother, Ryoma, who won three junior Grand Slams in America, but never of Echizen Roko. Which is why I want to interview him" he explained.

Roko wanted to strangle this journalist, because suddenly every one of the Fudomine regulars, including Tachibana, was staring at him like he was the legend himself. He hated how people did that when they heard about his dad. He may have been a legendary tennis player, but in Roko's eyes he was a perverted monk whose porn magazines were more important than his life, and there was nothing interesting about that. But the stares of Fudomine sadly disagreed.

Inoue took this as an opportunity to lean forward.

"So? Will you answer some questions?" he asked eagerly. Roko turned to Ann, who seemed to have stopped gaping at him like a fish, and he made signs to her.

Inoue frowned at that.

"Sign language? Are you deaf?" he asked hesitantly.

"He's mute" Ann replied instantly, in an irritated tone, "and he says he's not interested in answering your questions"

Inoue gaped at Roko, staring at him unbelieving. Roko felt anger building up in his gut. Why was he gaping at him? Why was he so shocked and amazed by the fact he was mute? Roko wanted to wipe that look off his face and make sure he never bothered him again, but in front of Fudomine and on the bleachers of a tennis court, with a game going on, that would probably attract too much attention.

"Are you sure?" Inoue asked hesitantly after a while. Roko glared at him, and Inoue flinched under the stare before politely excusing himself and walking away. When he was gone, most of the team looked to Roko.

"You're the son of a tennis pro?" Ishida asked from the row in front of him. Roko didn't reply, didn't look at any of them, and instead looked straight ahead at the courts where Shinji and Ryoma were playing, effectively ending all conversation. That was good. He really wanted to strangle someone right now.

Tokyo Tennis Gardens Courts

Ryoma didn't understand what was happening. He was playing fine at first, taking several games and keeping his resolve to win in place, but suddenly it felt like he couldn't move.

The Fudomine player would send a ball at him, he would return it, the Fudomine player would return it again, and suddenly Ryoma couldn't move his arm and the ball sailed past him.

What was going on? How was this happening?

Calm down, he told himself. Ryoma took a deep breath before returning to position. He'd noticed that the shot this guy was using wasn't anything special; there wasn't any spin or twist of the wrist when he hit it. In fact the shot was exactly the same as the ball before it. So this guy hit the exact same shot twice in a row, and suddenly Ryoma couldn't move.

So he guessed the only way to return it was to hit it differently the first time he hit it.

The Fudomine guy served, and Ryoma returned it easily, the guy sending the shot down the middle of the court.

It's that shot!

Ryoma angled his arm differently, hitting the ball lower than he usually would, so it sailed over the net slowly. The guy then returned it back to Ryoma, and this time he could feel his arm. Ryoma swung his racket, returning the ball, but the racket slipped from his grip.

He watched as he accidentally flung it towards the net pole, the racket breaking in two and the handle flying right back at him.

Tokyo Tennis Gardens Courts

He held his head in his left hand, blood dripping through his fingers and pooling on the court.

His breath came out in short gasps of pain, and there were shouts in the background.

His left eye was probably damaged, if not permanently.

Roko felt himself grow very cold as he tried to force back the memories that invaded his thoughts.

...

"Oyaji! Let's go already!"

"Fine, fine, Ryoma. Let's go then"

"Yay! I'm so excited! Are you excited, Roko?"

"Of course! Dad'll finally take us to the tennis courts!"

"Calm down you two, you're being too excited"

"Mom! We are not being too excited!"

"Whatever you say, Ryoma"

"Hmph!"

...

"Oyaji! Are we nearly there yet?"

"Yes, Ryoma, just a few more minutes"

"Ugghh! I can't wait that long!"

"Calm down Ryoma, you should learn to enjoy the ride"

"But I don't care about the ride! I wanna play tennis so badly!"

"And what about you, Roko?"

"I'm OK with waiting"

...

...

...

CRASH!

...

What happened?

The car crashed

Are they alright?

Yes, they are. But you're not.

My eye... it hurts.

Yes it does, don't cry. The pain will go away soon.

It hurts...

Someone's calling for you

I can't take it. It hurts too much...

Don't cry. Don't touch your eye, there's something stuck in it.

What happened?

You protected Ryoma from the car, remember?

... I did. I jumped on him to save him from the crash.

And he's alive and well.

...

Who's that?

He's an ambulance man. He'll make you feel better.

Where's Ryoma? Where are mom and dad?

They're all fine. Don't worry. Please don't cry.

I can't. It hurts too much.

Don't cry. They'll make you feel better.

It hurts.

...

...

...

"Roko, why won't you talk to me?"

...

Roko didn't even realise that he was crying until he noticed that Ann was staring at him.

"Echizen? Are you alright?" she asked worriedly, and Roko immediately stood up. He needed a drink.

Downtown Tokyo

"Kamio! Stop eating so fast! You'll give yourself indigestion" Ann scolded. Kamio flinched and gave an apologetic look, whilst the rest of the team snickered, Roko just smiled softly. They were at Fudomine's favourite noodle bar, which they went to after every game as a celebration, even though they lost.

Ann was disappointed that they lost, but the team didn't seem affected for long, everyone's spirits suddenly lifting when they entered the restaurant. Echizen followed them with his passive expression and didn't make any signs the whole time, and Ann thought it was best to leave him alone.

Contrasting greatly from the laughing, smiling team, Echizen was eating his noodles slowly and with a thoughtful expression. Ann had been suddenly so confused and worried when she noticed that Echizen was crying. She knew he would be worried about his brother, but to the extent of crying? And he didn't even go and see his brother either; he went to buy a drink instead. Ann felt a stirring feeling in her gut of worry and confusion and sadness, and she really wanted to comfort Echizen right now.

"By the way, Echizen" came her brother's voice, and Ann and Echizen looked to Tachibana, while the rest of the group had their own animated conversations in the background.

"Are you sure you want to be here and not with your brother?" he asked carefully, and Ann looked back to Echizen. It was true, she'd expected him to drop their plans for going to the noodle bar and go after his brother, but after the game Echizen had lost his previous horrified expression and just smiled and followed them. Ann figured that since his brother was well enough to defeat Shinji even after his injury, there was nothing to worry about.

"I like this team, it's quieter than my brother's team, and he will be fine by tomorrow. He's stubborn like that" Echizen's hands stated, and Ann felt something lift off her heart as she confirmed that Echizen was no longer miserable. Her brother smiled.

"In that case, trying having some conversation" he said softly, and Echizen raised an eyebrow.

"With us" he hastily corrected, since he couldn't technically have a conversation with the rest of the team. Echizen nodded and made more signs with his hands, and Ann smiled softly. It was nice to know he wasn't worried anymore.