Deafening Silence ( prince of tennis) (#wattys2016)

62

Echizen Household

"You sure you wanna do this?" Nanjiroh asked curiously, tapping his tennis racket on his shoulder casually.

Of course Roko was sure. His headache had receded, and he felt stronger than he did before, and while his head still throbbed slightly this was the perfect opportunity to practice the FuuRinKaZan. Roko wouldn't waste this moment.

Roko simply nodded in response, and Nanjiroh sighed loudly.

"Alright" he said, "You just stand there and I'll hit the ball to you". Roko nodded in acknowledgement, since him and Nanjiroh both knew he couldn't run around while he was sick, it would only make things worse. Nanjiroh moved to the court at the front of the house with his casual stride, and Roko moved to the other side, gripping his tennis racket loosely. Nanjiroh moved to the baseline and produced a ball instantly, and Roko simply stood in the centre of his own court.

"Here I go" Nanjiroh declared, throwing the ball into the air with much practice and slamming it towards Roko, who returned it with ease to the other corner. In an instant Nanjiroh was there, returning the ball back towards Roko with a wide grin, and Roko lowered his racket like he had practiced, slicing upwards like he was drawing a sword invisibly fast, and the ball blurred forward over the net, bouncing before the baseline and hitting the wall. Nanjiroh just watched with interest, and whistled in admiration.

"Wow. That was a nice shot. Where'd you learn that?" he asked curiously, and Roko just shrugged indifferently, but he could tell Nanjiroh didn't buy it, but what did it matter? He was just here to practice his techniques. Nanjiroh grunted in response, moving back to the baseline and producing another ball, throwing it into the air and slamming it toward Roko, and Roko returned it to Nanjiroh easily. Nanjiroh moved and struck the ball quickly, and Roko returned it back, but he didn't expect for the ball to curve towards Nanjiroh, and Roko smirked.

Nanjiroh was using the Samurai Zone, his own technique. The old man smirked as he returned the ball, and in response Roko swung his racket low, barely clipping the ball on the edge of the racket, noting in satisfaction how it lost all rotation and glided over the net as if it was carried by the wind, barely landing in Nanjiroh's court.

So Rin could be used to counter the Samurai Zone. That would be useful if Roko ever played Tezuka.

"Another technique" Nanjiroh commented out loud, "How many of those have you got?"

Roko simply answered by holding up four fingers, and Nanjiroh's eyes glittered in amusement as he smirked.

"Oh? Four of them?" he asked, "I like the sound of that. Show me what you got, brat"

Roko smiled softly, almost shaking his head in amusement at how excited Nanjiroh was getting.

Nanjiroh moved back to the baseline, producing another ball and serving again, and Roko caught the ball and allowed it to slide down his racket before returning it, and then concentrated as he bowed his knees and spread his feet outwards, imitating the formidable stance he'd seen Sanada use. Even from here he could see Nanjiroh smile in amusement, and he returned the ball to Roko's right corner rather than himself, but the ball moved easily towards Roko, and without breaking the stance he returned the ball, applying the Samurai Zone as he did.

"That's a pretty boring technique" Nanjiroh called across the court, and Roko's eyebrow twitched as Nanjiroh moved to the ball with ease and returned it, the ball travelling towards Roko on its own, and in response Roko raised his arm above his head, holding the racket high, and in one swift motion he slammed down on the ball with his racket, throwing his weight forward and balancing on one foot.