Deafening Silence ( prince of tennis) (#wattys2016)

39

This chapter is average.

Streets of Kanagawa

Aside from walking from the train station to school and back, Roko had never really explored Kanagawa at all, so it came as a surprise when he realised just how close Rikkaidai was to the beach. It was only a few minutes' walk, and the coastline looked beautiful even when it was the middle of winter. The streets were lined with stores and cafes that had a nice view of the beach, but there was no one really around aside from him and the regulars. Roko didn't really know where they were going, but he hoped it had Japanese food, since he was really craving some right now.

"Echizen, how can you carry that thing all day?" Kirihara asked curiously, and Roko looked to him with a raised eyebrow and made signs.

"You get used to the weight" Sanada translated, and Kirihara frowned.

"Yeah but, that thing is as tall as you" he protested, and Roko just rolled his eyes at him. In truth his cello wasn't really that heavy at all, either because it was designed to be lighter or Sanada's monstrous tennis training programme had paid off, but Roko wasn't sure.

"By the way Echizen" he heard Marui say, and he turned to him, who was blowing a bubble of apple gum, "When did you learn the Tezuka Zone and Higuma Otoshi?" he asked, and Roko didn't fail to notice how everyone was watching him now, and he smirked and made signs. He could see Sanada's eyes widen and he hesitated, much to Roko's amusement.

"The Tezuka Zone is a copy from the original Samurai Zone developed by my father" Sanada translated, and Marui's eyes widened.

"So your dad taught you that?" he asked. Roko just nodded his head in response.

"And what about the Higuma Otoshi?" Yanagi asked curiously, and Roko smiled. In truth he had no idea whether he'd be able to pull it off just from watching, and he was amazed at how he successfully used the Higuma Otoshi, when he just expected to do some sort of embarrassingly awkward movement. He would mention to them about how he'd watched every one of Seigaku's Distrcit Tournament games, but somehow he felt like maybe he shouldn't mention that detail, and it was their own fault for never asking where he went, though they probably assumed he was going home.

Yanagi leaned forward in curiosity, and Roko just smiled and shook his head at him, to which Yanagi frowned.

"Ah, there it is!" Marui said cheerfully, and Roko looked up to see they were walking towards a large building made entirely out of wood in the traditional Japanese style, and it had a large sign on the front that read 'Kuwahara Ramen Shop'

So this was Jackal's family restaurant. Interesting, but more importantly it served Japanese food, and Roko forced down the large smile that was threatening to appear. They quickly entered through the front door, and Roko immediately noticed that the place was empty, not surprising considering it was mid-winter. The room was a traditional Japanese style with small tapestries on the wall, with long rectangular wooden tables and long benches on either side of them, and a counter with benches along the front, where the chef would make the ramen.

A moment later a tall man with dark skin who looked very similar to Jackal appeared around the corner, wearing an apron over a white shirt and black trousers.

"Ah you're here" he stated with a large smile, and the team collectively nodded and proceeded to the benches in front of the counter, and Roko followed suit, placing his cello case by the door. He sat down between Sanada and Niou, and put his bag down, and Jackal's father moved to the counter and noticed him.

"I've never seen you before" he stated, "So you must be Echizen". Roko nodded in response, and Jackal's father smiled widely.

"It's nice to meet you" he said, before looking up to the rest of the team. Roko could tell that he knew he was mute, which was good, since it spared him the awkward moment when someone realises he's mute.