44AN: This is my second prince of tennis fanfic, and I hope that you enjoy reading it. There will be a little bit of romance, but not that much; the focus will mainly be on Sakuno's journey through her hardships.
"Hi." (Ex: talking); Hi. (Ex: thoughts)
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Prince of Tennis because if I did, I can assure you that it would not have turned out as well as it did; I'm not that good of a writer.
What Hinders A Princess?
Chapter 1
(Sakuno's POV)
"Awesome!"
"Can't wait for the next chapter!"
"The suspense is killing me! Please update soon!"
These were but a few of the many reviews I received from my latest chapter update. I was doing a last minute checking of my account, to see if there were any new reviews posted, before I had to leave. I would be away from my computer for the next few days up in the mountains with my grandmother and the team she coaches.
The Seigaku players had been at a training camp for the Under Seventeen (U17) Japanese tennis team. They had been invited there, along with the other teams that had participated in the Nations, to train and hopefully become part of the team. Ryoma-kun had even come back from America early to participate in the training camp.
Anyway, it had been two months now and they all were finally coming home! We, my grandmother, Tomoka, the Ichinen Trio, and myself as well as the other teams' coaches, were going to meet them at the gates to the training camp. We were going to take them on a surprise trip to a hot spring, where we will stay until the week before classes started back up.
I could hardly wait! I know that they have gotten stronger and I can't wait to see just how strong they have become! I am so excited that I already have all my things packed and ready to go, and I have already checked, double-checked, and triple-checked everything. I even made sure to grab my tennis racket, in case I have time to practice; as well as one of my journals and a copy of my latest chapter of my story, so that I can continue to work on that as well. I figured that I could split my time between practice and writing by practicing during the day, and writing my story at night, after dinner but before I go to bed. Not to say, that I won't keep my journal with me; or, a piece of paper, and a pen with me at all times, just in case inspiration hits me.
As I am reading the latest review of my story, I hear a voice calling me from downstairs.
"Sakuno, it's time to go. Do you have all your stuff ready to go?"
"Hai, oba. I will bring everything down in a minute."
"OK. Just put your things by the front door, and I will help you put them in the car."
"OK, oba."
With that decided, it was finally time to leave! Quickly checking again to make sure that I have everything, I turn off my computer and start taking my things downstairs to put in my grandmother's car. Luckily, I didn't have that much to carry, just a suitcase, my tennis bag, my purse, and a small backpack with my story journal in it. It also has a few other things such as a book or two; and a Japanese-to-English translation book that I have been studying lately, to improve my English and, hopefully, my grades in English this year.
Once all my things, and my grandmother's, were in the car, we left for the school where we would meet up with Tomo and the others (including the other schools' coaches) and transfer over to the buses, that will be taking us to the camp, and then later to the hot springs.
o0o0o
"EEK! Sakuno, can you believe it! Today's the day we get to see Ryoma-sama again after such a long time!" Tomo squeals with joy. After the initial statement, I nod my head then tune her out so that I can help grandma if she needs me.
Once everyone was on their respected buses, we headed out to pick up our teams, then we can head to the hot springs for some much needed rest and relaxation.
o0o0o
"No, you aren't!"
"Yes, I am!"
"No. You. Aren't!"
"Yes, I am, and I can prove it because Ryoma had asked me personally to help him with his things, for the training camp, NOT you. Also, if memory serves, he ignored you the entire time he was here!" Horio exclaims with a triumphant smirk on his face as Tomo tries to come up with a smart comeback. When she fails to think of something, this only infuriates her even more and starts the whole argument over again.
On the way to the training camp, Tomo and Horio had gotten into an argument over who was Ryoma's biggest fan, and who he liked more, much to the dismay of everyone else on the bus, including the driver.
"Would you both shut up!" my grandmother just about yelled. We had both been patiently waiting for the argument to die down, I guess my grandmother reached her breaking point before the argument could die down. Either way, her outburst had the intended effect. Both Tomo and Horio quieted for a few more minutes before Kachiro broke the silence.
"Look! It's the gates to the training camp!" he said excitedly causing everyone to look out their windows. You could just see the gates through a break in the trees, but we still had a ways to go before we would actually reach the gates.
o0o0o
As we reached the gates, we could see all of the Seigaku regulars, as well as the other regulars from the other teams that Seigaku had gone up against in the Nationals Tournament, waiting for us. Once the buses had stopped, we got off and greeted everyone. I started to look for a certain cat-eyed boy once I had greeted my respected sempai, I spotted him leaning against a tree a little ways away from the large group. I walked over to him with a shy and timid smile on my face that faltered once I was close enough to get a good look at his physical appearance.
Scratches and bandages covered him from head to toe. They looked somewhat old, yet well taken care of, but none-the-less, they still worried me. I tried to mask my worry by putting a smile on my face and asking, in a somewhat sarcastic manner,
"Training hard, I see." His emotionless face suddenly turned into a smirk as he uttered his ever-present catchphrase,
"Mada Mada Dane, Ryuzaki." I blushed at this, then let out a soft laugh, instantly relaxing.
"Well," I mumble as my cheeks turn even redder than before, "how was your trip to America?" I was curious because Ryoma hadn't really kept in touch with anyone during his little overseas adventure, except for maybe answering a few of Momo-sempai's and my grandmother's calls and letters.
"Boring," was all he said.
"Let me guess, there wasn't anyone good enough to put up much of a challenge, huh?" I ask with a smile on my face, almost laughing in the process. At this, Ryoma smirks until a tall stranger comes up and puts his hand on Ryoma's head, attempting to ruffle his hair through his signature hat.
"Hey Chibisuke, who's the cutie, your girlfriend?" the stranger looks like an older, and taller version of Ryoma, only without the signature hat. Ryoma only glares at the stranger as he moves out from under his hand.
"Oy, is that any way to treat your older brother?" Older brother?
"Yo, tha name's Ryoga Echizen and I'm this chibi's older brother," he says as he gets Ryoma into a headlock and starts to give him a noogie. Ryoma struggles and tries to get out of the headlock, but fails. The torture continues until Momo-sempai comes over to us with Oishi-sempai and Eiji-sempai in tow.
"Oy, Ryoga stop harassing Ryoma and get on the bus, Ryuzaki-sensei is taking us on a surprise hot spring trip up in the mountains." Momo and Eiji-sempai both exclaim with much enthusiasm.
"Cool," Ryoga says as he finally let's go of Ryoma, who just straightens his hat and clothes as if nothing had happened. At this point Oishi-sempai walks over to me and checks to see how I'm doing.
"Are you okay Sakuno? How has your summer been since we've been gone?" However, before I can answer, Ryoga interrupts me.
"Ah, so your name is Sakuno, huh? A cute name for a little cutie," he says with a smirk.
"Yo, Ryoga, stop flirting with Sakuno-hime. Only Ore-sama can flirt with his hime." Everyone turns to see Atobe walking up with Yukimura-sempai, Sanada-sempai, Kintaro-kun, and Shiraishi-sempai.
"Yay, Sa-chan is here!" Kintaro runs up to me and engulfs me in a huge bear hug that lifts me off the ground, forces the air from my lungs.
"Kin, put her down, she can't breathe." Shiraishi-sempai tells Kintaro, who starts to pout as he puts me back on the ground, but doesn't let go.
"Kin, stop acting like a kid, unless you want to be punished?" questions Shiraishi-sempai as he starts to remove the bandages from his left arm.
"Ah! Not the poison arm!" Kintaro-kun exclaims as he finally lets go of me and takes a few steps back while trying to hide behind me.
"That's a good boy. Now, let's go get on the buses, I'm tired and can't wait to relax at the hot springs." Shiraishi-sempai says with a kind smile on his face. Everyone agreed to this and started walking over to the buses where everyone's luggage had already been put on board the buses. Suddenly, Oishi-sempai speaks up as we near the buses.
"Oh, that reminds me, Ryuzaki-sensei told me to tell you, Shiraishi that you and your team will be riding with us on our bus." Oishi-sempai says with a sheepish grin on his face with his hand scratching his cheek while laughing nervously.
I guess he almost forgot to tell them, before they got on the wrong bus. Shiraishi only smiles and thanks Oishi for telling him, while Kintaro-kun starts to jump up and down excitedly.
"Yay! That means that I get to sit with Koshimae!" Kintaro exclaims. To this Ryoma only sighs in annoyance.
o0o0o
Once we are on the bus, I somehow end up sitting next to Ryoga, which nobody seemed too thrilled with (I wonder why?), while Kintaro sat next to Ryoma with Ryoma getting the window seat.
He stared out the window for the most part, but from time to time, I could see, from my aisle seat next to Ryoga, that Ryoma-kun would glance over in our direction. I couldn't tell if it was because he was worried that I was sitting next to his brother, Ryoga, or if it was because Kintaro kept asking me questions about my summer. Since we were only across the aisle from each other, starting a conversation wasn't that hard and I didn't see any harm in it, so I tried to answer Kintaro's questions to the best of my ability.
"Hey, Kin give her a rest, you'll have her tired out before we even get to the hot springs." Gin-sempai said, after which Kintaro switched from asking me questions, to asking Ryoma questions. It seemed that Ryoma, for the most part, tired to ignore Kintaro with an annoyed expression on his face.
At this change in events, everyone laughed and started back on their conversations between each other.
o0o0o
Once we reached our destination, a ryokan with onsen facilities. While grandma went to check us in, everybody else got busy unloading their luggage. While I was unloading my own luggage, I accidentally dropped my backpack with my story journals in it, causing its contents to spill out everywhere. As I stop and try to hurry and pick everything up before anyone sees anything, someone stops and picks up one of my journals that contains the latest chapter of my online story, 'What Hinders a Prince?'
"So you're the infamous mystery author for the most popular online story, 'What Hinders a Prince?,' Sa-chan." I look up to see Fuji-sempai looking at me with his eyes wide-open showing off his beautiful azure colored eyes.
"What!?" just about everyone yells.
AN: So, here is the first chapter, hope you enjoyed it! If I made any mistakes please notify me in your reviews of just pm me. Now for something fun. If you have any suggestions for what to name the ryokan, then please tell me via review!
Hai – yes
Oba – grandmother
Ore-sama – king
Hime – princess
Koshimae – Kintaro's mispronunciation of Ryoma's name
Ryokan – hotel
Onsen – hot springs