Take One

Summary: After winning consecutive tournaments, the princess of tennis disappears from the American media only to reappear in Japan to find new opponents. FujiRyo, YukiRyo, slow burn.

Chapter V: Data Tennis

Momoshiro Takeshi have always been a friendly individual, be it to his peers, his seniors or his juniors— there were no exception. He was the school's resident 'nice guy', 'people's man' and many more titles that fit his overly familiar and happy-go-lucky personality.

He would always be in good terms with either everyone, nobody really made enemies with him because he was just that likeable. Even now as a sophomore, Momoshiro was a popular senior amongst the first years, quickly making a name for himself as the coolest and friendliest upperclassman in the tennis club.

He held certain degree for tradition, but that didn't deter him from allowing his juniors to call him in an overly-familiar manner who in return, still added 'senpai' at the end of his surname despite him giving the green card to call him 'Momo-chan'.

Normally, Momoshiro Takeshi is very horrible with folks that didn't know how to show respect at some point. It still irk him when one steps over the line.

People that barely talks, cocky and arrogant bunches were individuals that gets placed on Momoshiro's bad side, be it a boy or a girl. However, in this start of semester; he found himself intrigued by such an individual.

A girl, only a year younger than him. She was the epitome of unfriendly, pompous, arrogant and snarky— traits that people would definitely condemn the moment they witness. Her apathetic demeanor, impassive and defiant stares as if she was above you would have definitely lit a fire inside Momoshiro. Yet somehow, this girl was difficult to dislike. He couldn't find it in himself to get angry, but of course; there were moments he was irked at her snarky remarks— still, she was strangely...magnetic.

Echizen Ryoma was different. Although at a glance, Momoshiro would think she was someone he would definitely dislike; Echizen Ryoma was anything but.

She was interesting, and charming. He felt like a moth drawn to the warmth of a fire. So despite her exterior demeanor, Momoshiro decided to approach her— throwing her a protein bar as an attempt to open a conversation.

It was a petty attempt but it worked.

It surprised him that the aloof girl had actually attempted to put humour into their dry conversation. It was cute, the way she failed— he thought. That moment, without a doubt; made Momoshiro relinquish his initial opinion of the girl and certainly knew that he will see himself more with her from then on.

Smiling to himself, the sophomore regular bit a huge piece of his burger alongside the said girl across him. He eyes the girl with discretion, slightly amazed at how unrefined she ate her burger, as if she could give a damn about her femininity.

After her match against his rival, Kaidoh Kaoru and winning against him, Momoshiro proceeded to approach her after school; offering to show her around if she haven't made herself familiar around the prefecture's vicinity and to show her to his favourite burger joint just down the street before walking her home.

Surprisingly, the apathetic girl who seemed like she wasn't about to accept any invitations anytime soon; accepted the moment he mentioned 'burgers', quickly adding, "You're paying then, Momo-senpai." Before the girl sent him a taunting look which only made Momoshiro feel challenged in his position as a senior.

"Of course I am paying, that's why I invited you in the first place!" Was Momoshiro's reply.

Walking with the girl had been relatively quiet as expected. Ryoma did not talk, nor did she look like she had any intentions to at that moment; which left the elder of the two to try and keep the atmosphere alive.

Still, he only managed to receive one word replies, nods and grunts in return for his questions— although sometimes, the girl did form short sentences to answer here and there.

That was how they stayed till now.

"Is there something on my face Momo-senpai or are you just being a creep, staring at me like that?"

Momoshiro was jerked back from his thoughts the moment her flat tone of voice reached his ear. Heat spread throughout his cheeks, embarrassed at being caught and being called a creep out of all things.

"W-who's staring at you?!" He stammered, taking a huge bite on his burger to mask his embarrassment.

Golden eyes bore at him impassively for a moment. Momoshiro felt like shrinking under the gauging scrutiny that was Echizen Ryoma as she averts her eyes momentarily to fix the straw from her drink. She issued a low hum in the process before she took the last bite of her burger and sipped on her vanilla shake.

"Who else? You," She pointed out innocently.

"But you should really be careful Momo-senpai, if you keep that up— people might actually perceive you some creepy pervert who likes to stare at others." She jibes, nonchalantly tilting her head to the side as she rests her face against the palm of her hand lazily.

"Is that really a way to thank your senpai who just treated you to dinner?" Momoshiro grumbled, shooting her a look. The nerve of this kid, Momoshiro thought.

She simply shrugged.

Momoshiro sighed, well the girl was still cocky and ungrateful. For a second, the aggressive baseliner thought to himself why exactly was he treating this junior again? Ah right, because he somehow felt compelled to get closer to her.

Shrugging his weird train of thought, the second year began another topic concerning her next opponent.

"Anyway, tomorrow, you'll be facing Inui-senpai." He says, unwrapping his second burger.

"Who's he?"

"That tall guy with the glasses." Momoshiro described.

"Aa, him."

The indifference in her tone had Momoshiro refrain the urge to shake his head in dismay. Her ignorance will be the death of her someday.

"You should start getting to know your seniors more Echizen, you should!" His tone was oddly jovial despite the clear lambaste.

A grunt was her only response to this.

"You know, Echizen, Inui-senpai is much more stronger than the Viper y'know, much stronger." He leans closer against the table's edge, bearing a serious look in his purple eyes.

Hearing this, Ryoma finally veers her sights away from the passing pedestrians to the boy before her— interest piqued.

"Oh really? That's interesting."

"The guy uses Data Tennis." He informs, Ryoma raises an eyebrow at this newfound information. She never heard of such a style of tennis.

"Data tennis?" She repeats to confirm and Momoshiro did by nodding.

The remaining time of their after school outing ended up in the discussion regarding Seigaku's Data Master. Momoshiro kindly took it upon himself to save her the trouble in getting the shock of her life for tomorrow, informing her about her opponent's style of tennis to perhaps think of a counter overnight.

After that, her senpai generously walked her home to her doorstep to which their goodbyes ended with Momoshiro offering to pick her up tomorrow morning with his bike since his route was near.

Without giving it too much thought, Ryoma allowed the sophomore to do as he pleases, nodding silently and bid him goodnight.

The Next Day

"OI, BISHOUJO!" Nanjiro bursts into his daughter's room, frantic.

Ryoma squirmed under her blankets, pulling the sheets over her head; narked and muttering something incoherent as she ignored her father's aggressively frantic voice.

"WHO IS THAT BOY IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE?! WHO IS HE?! DON'T TELL ME HE'S YOUR BOYFRIEND?!" He continued to rant, bouncing beside her, pulling off her blanket in one motion.

Feeling the blanket's lack of presence, Ryoma's eyes snapped open; instantly clutching her pillow and threw it harshly at her old man's face— shutting him up in the process as he fell on the floor with a thud.

"Shut up...so early in the morning." She muttered, standing up from her bed and strode her way outside her bedroom.

"OI— RYOMA! HOW CAN YOU JUST GET A BOYFRIEND SO EARLY?! SCHOOL JUST STARTED!" He yells after her but the teen just tuned out his annoying yells, proceeding to the bathroom in order to take a quick shower.

"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME WHEN I SAID YOU WEREN'T ALLOWED TO GET A BOYFRIEND UNTIL YOU GET MARRIED?!"

"Ryoma dear, your senior is here to pick you up honey!" Her mother yelled from the kitchen.

"Alright mom, just let him in the living room— I'll be down in a few minutes!"

"Alright dear! Be quick okay? We don't want him to wait for too long!"

"'Kay!"

With that, she shut the door close, took a quick shower and quickly got dressed in just a span of a few minutes total. Fixing her damp hair with a comb, Ryoma decides to let her hair down freely this time and as usual omitted the ugly green blazer for the girl's uniform; opting to stay true to the white button-up shirt.

All the while, she could hear her own father wail about her getting a boyfriend so early, threatening her senior in the process and getting scolded by her own mother.

'That stupid old man is so embarrassing.' She thought grouchily.

She hastily grabbed her tennis bag from the bedroom, but not before making sure her beloved cap was inside and ready for her to use when her hair dries up later. She runs down to the living room to see Momoshiro being offered some toast by her mother while her stupid old man was sitting at his usual spot by the porch, sending glares at her poor senior.

Hearing the footsteps, Momoshiro swiveled his head in time to see her entering the living room.

"Ohh, Echizen!" He greeted with a wave, voice muffled due to the toast sticking out from his mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, senpai." She said, beckoning for him to leave with her.

"Ara, Ryoma, not going to eat your breakfast?"

"I don't want to stay any longer with that idiot screaming so much this early." She muttered, walking to the table; picking up a piece of toast.

"I'll be taking this." She gave her mother a nod then shifts her gaze to her senior.

"Let's go, Momo-senpai."

"A-Aa…"

"Take care you both!"

"We will!"

Shutting the door close, Ryoma quickly makes her way outside the gates; Momoshiro following closely behind. Positioning his bicycle, Momoshiro straddles it while Ryoma rode from behind, standing on the pegs.

"You're quite early, Momo-senpai." She says, clutching on his gakuran.

"Nah, you're just tardy." He shoots back as he began to pedal.

"I always wake up around this time, I've never been late." She huffed stubbornly, munching on her toast.

"Yet I see you running to school at the last minute all the time." He counters.

"Still proves my point I have never been late." She counters and the onyx haired boy sighs, giving way to his stubborn junior.

"Well, if you say so." He laughs.

Ryoma rolled her eyes, muttering, "whatever," quietly to her senior.

It took them a few minutes and they could finally see the school gates. Fellow students were flocking, greeting each other outside the gates then entering the gates together as if it was a mandatory thing for everyone to do. By coincidence, Ryoma recognized the third year boy waving enthusiastically at their direction to be that acrobatic regular.

As they neared, the girl slightly grimaced at the energy oozing from the redhead so early in the morning, her vision shifting from him to the two accompanying the cat-boy.

His doubles partner, if she remembered correctly, gave them a subtle nod and a smile, uttering out, "good morning," towards them followed by the honey haired boy, his ever so prominent smile present that causes his eyes closed halfway.

'Doesn't he ever stop smiling?' She briefly thought, wondering how tiring that must be.

Suddenly, she felt weight on her and it took her everything to stay standing. Arms wrapped around her neck as foreign warmth enveloped her back, Ryoma blanched as she quickly recalled that she should have made a hasty retreat the moment she saw the third years.

"Ochibi!"

"Ugh…" she groaned, she should have made haste and left Momoshiro instead. How could she forget this hyperactive oddball and his vicious glomps?

"Senpai, could you please stop that?" She growls at him softly, holding his arm and wiggled out from it.

"Stop what, nya?" The redhead blinked at her innocently.

"Invading my privacy." She muttered, pivoting around her heels as she began to walk towards the school entrance. She raised her right hand and waved it without looking back,

"And thanks for the ride, Momo-senpai."

"No problem!" Momoshiro beamed, waving at her direction, though he didn't notice his cat-like senpai sending him sly looks.

"Hehe~ what do I see here?" Kikumaru wiggled his eyebrows.

"Could Momo-chan possibly be…" Kikumaru trails off, snaking an arm around Momoshiro's shoulder who flushed at the implication.

"N-No it's not like that, senpai!"

"Momo's quicker than we expected, eh?" Fuji chuckled, causing Momoshiro to blush even more.

"No! Senpai, you're misunderstanding!" He retorts.

"Heh~ really? Didn't we just see you two come to school together?" Kikumaru grinned deviously.

"T-That's because her place is near my route! So as a good senpai, I just offered to pick her up!" The powerhouse defended, denying any sort of romantic accusations from his seniors.

"Mhmm, but Momo, you sure know how to pick 'em— ochibi is really pretty after all." Kikumaru continued, completely disregarding his junior's distress.

"Hey, Eiji!" Oishi hooked his index at his partner's collar and tugged on it. "Let's not tease Momo too much."

"Ehh? But Oishi~ our junior finally has his eyes on someone, and it's ochibi!" The childish acrobat whined to the mother hen whilst the brunette simply chuckled inwardly.

"Momo is such a boy," Fuji adds, wagging his index finger at them. "Just don't let your relationship get in the way of practice."

If it was possible, Momoshiro's face turned an even darker shade of red at his senior's indications. Although he was indeed fascinated by the girl, it wasn't as if it was remotely close to romantic. They definitely had the wrong notion about him and Echizen, still— the thought alone made him feel treacherously ambivalent if it really was the case.

Stoic olive green eyes trails to her every move, watching her with shrouded interest as she walks past the third year's hallway until she disappeared off to the stairs. A slight sigh escaped his lips whilst he pivots around, walking towards the office room where he and the coach often discuss topics regarding the club.

As he continues his plod to his destination, his mind wandered back to the first year enigma that unexpectedly appeared under their noses. Questions swarmed in his mind— unanswered questions by their coach who took great pleasure in keeping rather curious informations from them.

He was not the type to pry, he would ask, but given if the person does not want anything to be known, he learns to respect that. Therefore, when he began to fire a few questions here and there to the elderly woman— which was then left unanswered, he relented, only having learnt a few things of her.

In all frankness, he was interested in this unforeseen turn of events. The girl was definitely not your average player, the amount of hidden potential buried deep within her was what he saw in her the first time he laid eyes on her during that moment she played against their sophomore.

'It wasn't everything,' he thought to himself.

Although pleased to discover such raw potential, he still felt ambivalent. As a captain, he was adept to knowing about the rules and regulations set forth by the Association.

'The opposite sex can play on each team if the school does not offer a comparable sport.'

That was implemented worldwide. Seishun Gakuen offered a girls' tennis club, so weren't they going against the rules? He close his eyes, feeling a headache creeping its way to his temples. He brought his left hand up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing out exasperatedly. Had he acted too hastily? He was beginning to question his own decisions prior to the ranking tournament.

He knew of this, but he allowed the coach to coerce him into placing her name on the roster.

Still, coach Ryuzaki shouldn't even be making this kind of mistake if ever they have crossed the line with the guidelines provided. She had been in this field far too long to be making this amateur-esque mistake.

He recalls the time he voiced out the problem before he even considered writing down her name in that piece of paper. The elderly coach's eyes shone with blitheness, accompanied by the nonchalant upward tug of her lips. That chaff tone in her voice when she partially exalts over the first year wonder, roused his interest even farther.

He had never shown such regard to anyone before. Yet, this girl two years younger his age, that has shown great skill in the sport he plays— has definitely allured the ever so stoic Tezuka Kunimitsu.

He doesn't know what it is with that girl nor what he wants to do with her being in the team soon enough if she ever manages to win against Inui, he was confused with himself.

There were so many things stirring up inside him, alienating to a point. Tezuka figures there was no point ruminating about it, he trusts in himself that answers will come in due time.

So for now, he will have to stand by and watch over her.

Cerulean blue eyes dragged across the corridor as he walks past the crowd, dodging every shoulder coming his way. It was break time and at this point, he found himself wanting some fresh air. As always, when he was in this type of mood, he usually would head for the rooftop. Strange as it may be, not many goes there even during lunches; therefore he dubbed it as a perfect place for some much needed peace whenever he felt disturbed or just the utter need for quick air.

Climbing up the stairs, it didn't take him long to reach the final floor and came face to face with a door leading to the rooftop. Grasping onto the doorknob, he pushes it down causing it to click open. He leans in a bit, allowing his weight to widen the gap and what greeted him was a new sight.

Blinking once and twice, his half-lidded eyes transfixed onto the unknowing figure ahead at the corner of the area. He steps outside, closing the door silently behind him, wondering if she was awake or sleeping judging by the way her back was against the fence, arms crossed; a phone in hand, and her legs stretched as far as possible— right leg over her left, then her chin rested on her chest.

Studying a little bit closely as he makes his way closer to her, he could see the steady breathing by how her chest rose and descended. The lack of grip on her phone proved that she was, in fact, sleeping. His eyes shifted on the white cord connecting from the phone to her ears.

'Listening to music huh?' He mused.

Figuring he should let the girl be, he takes a step back and gained a bit of distance from her. He came here to get some fresh air and to clear out his mind, not to initiate anything with their team's female member.

Breathing in deeply as a light breeze brushed through him, he closed his eyes fully, relishing the gentle ambiance it provided. The only noise he hears were the light whistling of the wind and the rustling of the leaves, accompanied by an audible muffled noise from the girl's earphones.

Today was the final day of the Inter Ranking Tournament. Somehow it felt rather anticlimactic knowing his spot in the regulars is definitely certain. A frown slowly transitioned across his face as he began to mull deeper.

After a while, he rids himself of the thoughts floating inside his mind, opting to clear out his head and enjoy his alone time instead. 'Hardly alone, but it counts I guess.' He thought, eyes squinting to his left where the girl still lay sleeping.

Noting that he had spent quite some time at the rooftop, Fuji decided it was probably best to return to the homeroom before it was too late. Turning to the doorway, he pauses for a bit, contemplating whether he should wake her up or let her be.

'I should probably wake her up.' He nods to himself. But before he could make an attempt, the door swung open, revealing two freshmen girls.

"There she is!" The girl with twin pigtails whom he often sees around the courts recently, exclaimed loudly.

"She's sleeping." Says the one with the twin braids.

The boisterous one of the duo looked at him with recognition, eyes widening, then excitement emerged in replacement to her once shocked expression. Her lips stretched into a grin.

"Fuji-senpai!" She almost squealed.

Fuji wore his usual expression, and smiled at them gently, "Hello."

"H-Hello, Fuji-senpai." The timid-looking one whom he recognizes to be their coach's granddaughter, bowed politely at him which he returned with a subtle nod.

"Fuji-senpai, what are you doing up here?" Tomoka asks.

"I just came up here for some fresh air, you two?" He answers and questions them back, despite vaguely knowing what their intentions were judging by Osakada's initial exclamation.

"We were looking for Ryoma-chan, she skipped library duty." Tomoka informed with a chastising look sent to the unknowing girl.

"Ah, she seems to be sleeping." Ryuzaki stated, walking towards the girl in question.

"Mou, Haido-sensei will definitely throw a fit." Tomoka sighs.

Finding no need to stay any further, Fuji says, "Well, I'll have to go. I was just about to leave after waking her up," he looks over to the scene of Ryuzaki nudging the girl awake, her left earphone was tugged from her ear then her eyes cracked open.

"But it seems like you have your own agenda with her, I'll leave you girls alone." He smiles then wasted no time and disappeared down the staircase.

Afternoon practice came and it was finally time for her to face the 'Data Master' of Seigaku. After she got on her gears, just like yesterday, a flock of boys and girls alike rounded at her. She might have been imagining it but it felt like there were more than before.

As usual the boys and girls made their wishes known to her by loudly declaring that they were behind her all the way and that they believe she would win. The same boy from yesterday shoved her a Panda plushie this time, informing her that it was her lucky item for the day as well and it would help ward off the bad luck that would come her way this day seeing as Capricorns had bad compatibility with Gemini today.

Finding it was a hassle to retort otherwise, Ryoma simply accepted the item without much defense and asked them to make way. The whole crowd obeyed and allowed her through the gates inside the courts where her opponent sat by the bench, testing out his racquet strings.

Dropping her bag on the bench beside him, Ryoma took out her cap and placed it on her head. Taking out her water bottle as well as her racquet, Ryoma took a seat, waiting for the umpire's call.

"The court's quite noisy." Her opponent says. She glanced at him with the corner of her eye but didn't answer.

"You should teach your fans some basic courtesy sometime, Echizen." He muttered, pushing the rim of his glasses upwards as he stood up and began to stretch his legs.

"Well, not like you'll need to in the future." His last statement finally got her attention. She turns her head and looks at him firmly with an imposing stare.

"Players at the court!" A sophomore took up his role as the umpire. Both Ryoma and Inui took their respective sides and faces each other by the net, Ryoma holding out her racquet upside down against the rubbered ground.

Looking up, Ryoma momentarily felt a little irritated at the sheer difference in height. Given that she was definitely vertically challenged, and that she is in a boys' team to boot which obviously would make her the shortest in the bunch aside from her fellow freshmen that haven't hit a growth spurt yet— this guy was towering.

"Which?"

"Smooth." Inui answered. Ryoma turned her racquet and as it landed, Inui nods to himself. The girl picks up Her racquet and took Inui's extended hand for a handshake.

"Let's play a match without regrets." Inui said.

"Sure." She replies with a shrug.

"The best of one set match, Inui's service play!"

As the two players took spot at the service line, Inui bounced the ball in hand a few times then served a cross. Ryoma returns it with ease but Inui poached it just as quickly leaving almost no time for her to react. Thankfully enough, she was able to manage and aimed for the baseline, thinking it was the best course.

"You missed." Inui muttered under his breath, hitting it with a quick return— earning a quick point.

"15-love."

Straightening herself, Ryoma stares at her opponent across the court. He served another ball and they both began a long rally for the next point. Ryoma narrows her eyes, unblinking as she watches his movements closely like a hawk eyeing its prey in an attempt to determine his game plan. Sending another cross to the left, the freshman grunted as she saw Inui run to the spot she thought of aiming for before her racquet actually made contact with the ball itself.

'Data Tennis, eh?' She thought as the ball passed through her.

"30-love."

After another set of rally, Ryoma finally understood. Data Tennis really was something to be reckoned with. Normally, it was very common for those who have mastered the basics to start determining where their opponents will aim for next by looking closely at their habits, the slightest tilt of motions, their eyes and through psychology—the latter being used rarely.

"40-love."

However, this was a rather irritating situation, Ryoma concluded. Being made to run around the court, having her thoughts being read and calculated— it was as if she was playing against herself, it was surreal. What irked her more was the fact the glassed senior seems to be muttering something under his breath after he hits the ball to her, having audibly caught one of his predictions the moment she ran up to the net only to have another point taken by him when he took advantage of her short reach.

Grunting as she hit the ground, Ryoma clicked her tongue whilst she pushed herself off the ground.

"I've watched your matches along with Kaidoh's. Twelve straight shot, three lob shots, five cross shots. In a case like this, your approach with your cross shots only have a change of hitting it back at twelve percent."

"Especially against a tall opponent like I am, a lob is bad in that area. Also, knowing that hitting it straight to the right side isn't working for you, you decide to hit it behind me with a difficult cross shot. Therefore, calculating twenty-five percent chance of success; probability of hitting a cross shot is ." Inui smirked, glancing at the shorter girl over his shoulder.

"I've already figured out your game."

Ryoma sighs irritably.

"It's a reference to your data."

"Hn, what an irritating strategy that is." She says in her usual cool tone, tapping her racquet on her shoulder as she proceeds to her position in the court. Inui shrugs, a small smirk appearing on his lips, amused at the unfaltered confidence the younger girl had.

"Such a rude rookie you are."

Catching the tennis ball passed to her, Ryoma bounces the ball with her right hand. She glances at her opponent across the court, thinking of ways to overcome this strategy. Even if Inui clearly didn't seem much of a player physically aside from his towering height which accommodated to his big strides and long reach, he admittedly did make up for it with his strategy. There was a difference to facing an opponent that has superior physical attributes and being completely read. Without it, she could have easily toyed with him just like how she did with that snake guy from before.

The field was silent and tense. Anxiousness of the anticipation could be felt as she kept bouncing the ball; all waiting for her to serve. The freshman smirks to herself, an idea just popped up. Just as the ball was in mid-air, her eyes closely followed the older boy's movements and sure enough, he predicted the course she was about to serve. He moved quickly to the spot before the ball even got there.

But her reflexes weren't something to be underestimated as well.

Everyone stood flabbergasted or rather— confused when the ball didn't pass over the net.

"Did you expect that serve?" She mocked.

"I didn't expect that fault." Inui replies, aware not to get triggered by her words. He knew better this was his Junior's game.

The game continued on. Ryoma proceeds with her plan in mind; attempting with more accurate and stronger shots which was something she haven't quite done before. Even if she never planned to lose her service game— she ended up losing it over to Inui anyway. Nevertheless, it was the only choice she has.

"You're pretty good." Inui's voice caught her attention.

"Targeting areas that are out of my reach...Frankly you're stronger than me. But if you know where the ball is going to land; no matter how good the shot is, you can hit it back." He says.

"I don't think you'll be part of the team soon. I will be one this time, unfortunately for you." Inui finishes, walking back to the service line.

Well, surely arrogance was something they shared in common, Ryoma thought sarcastically to herself. Craning her head to the left, Ryoma mirrors his actions; although that seemingly noticeable smirk caught the onlookers' attention.

"Nah, I don't think so." she casually responds and faces Inui, her cat-like eyes filled with mirth and resolve.

"It was good that I came to Seigaku afterall. Now I can beat all kinds of tennis players." With that, she begins to hop slickly on her toes. Inui serves and she immediately rushes to it.

'Now, let's see where you will be hitting ne—'

"It's annoying to keep guessing right?" Ryoma interrupts his train of thought.

"You don't have to anymore, hitting to the right!" Ryoma announced.

It was for a millisecond, but Inui almost faltered. He did however successfully hit it back to the opposite side of her court, but she knew that already.

"Next is to the left!"

Ryoma kept her gaze on him like a hawk.

"Next, to the right!"

Inui scowls, he didn't know the true purpose of her strategy. Surely it couldn't be as simple as tricking him by announcing her shots so he would begin to doubt his calculations.

"Behind!"she lobs.

'She's underestimating me. But it's just the same pattern as before.' he smashes it.

"This time to the left!" Ryoma had already hit it before he could land. The ball was barely over the line.

"OUT!"

"Che, just as expected of you senpai." Ryoma smirks, "You knew it would be out, that's why you didn't move right?" there was an underlying mocking tone lacing in her voice. Inui's eyebrow twitched.

'The nerve of that kid…' he thinks. 'It wasn't that I knew, but I didn't have enough time to react at all.' Although ticked by her attitude, Inui couldn't help but find her amusing. This girl was exceeding his data's expectations throughout the game. 'This never happened before, except for when I am against him.'

This was a rather fun turn of events, Inui mused. Never in awhile had he found anyone other than Tezuka to exceed present data while in the court. This unpolished potential inside her must be what prompted Tezuka to put her in the ranking tournament in the first place.

"Interesting indeed." He serves the ball.

Just like earlier, she begins to announce her shots. They began another short rally and in a flash, the ball flew past him.

"15-15!"

Inui serves again.

'That split step is allowing her to be a second quicker than she normally is, and her shots have been getting more accurate and stronger compared to the first few matches.'

"Next i'm hitting to the right and going to the net!"

'Split step is a common technique, but her step is different...she's only doing it with one foot which enables her to be quicker than the average Split step would allow.' Inui frowns, hitting the ball to the right.

"Left!"

"I know that!"

"Right!"

Inui was certain that she wasn't lying. As expected, the ball came rushing like a bullet to the calculated spot but what he didn't expect was to see that ball just hitting the tip of his racquet.

"15-30!"

The court was filled with amazed awes from the crowd. They couldn't believe Ryoma was starting to score against Inui's foolproof Data tennis. This was something nobody had expected despite knowing the fact that Ryoma was already infamous for her skills in the school. Although exceeding more than the girls were, they never believed she would be faring well against Inui at all.

"I can't believing Inui-senpai is losing."

"She's good…"

"She did it!" the three musketeers from her classroom cheered and she inwardly rolls her eyes at them while Tomoka cheers along.

Ryoma sighs at her female classmate's boisterous cheers. She looks at her opponent.

For sure this game was...

"Done." she mumbles quietly to herself.

True to her words. The longer the game ensued, the quicker and sharper her shots got. A data not yet scribbled and analyzed. Points were earned, games were lost. It was Ryoma's service game, indefinitely it was time to up her game again, announcing her shots left and right were getting boring. She switches to her right hand, it was time for a twist.

"My right hand isn't as strong as my left...but I want it to fly towards your glasses." she serves.

Inui attempts to hit it back, but the sharp angle of the swerve intimidated him and he froze. The ball flew right past him, narrowly chafing his ears. He could still hear the hissing sounds of the ball's heavy rotation against the fencing before it limped on the ground.

"Game set, Echizen! Six to four!"

She sighs. It was finally over— and here she had been thinking when it was going to end.

Walking forward to the net for the pleasantries, she holds out her hand and takes Inui's for a shake.

"I was a little pissed, but it was a lot of fun." she admits quietly, looking up at him. The older boy merely smiles before going off, leaving the court; once again mumbling to himself, leaving her to stare after his retreating back.

"I gathered some good data."

"I never want to play you again." His tennis was decidedly her least favourite to face against.

A/N: heyo! Been a while hasn't it? I have no excuses rather than to say...I got lost in the path of life. 2018 was hectic, I can say that for sure. I hope this update would be sufficient enough, a small gift for Christmas to those who have been waiting painfully long for Take One's update.

xXSakuraBlossomsXx- Yes there are hints of pairings for this story. It it quite obvious since it had already been revealed in the second part of the story. However, that was just bad planning on my part since I did not expect to update this first part of my story at all. Thank you for loving my story xoxo

Ren- Yes I do know biologically that in physical capability, Caucasians are stronger than Asians. However, do keep in mind that Ryoma had only faced in Junior competitions officially. Sure she might have faced older opponents back in America through street tennis but let's be real, I'd like to think during her time there, she'd probably only faced off ones who weren't as good aside from her father and her brother. Which I will mention more later as the story unfolds. I don't want to make a Mary Sue story out of her and I'm trying to keep it real, as good as she may be, Ryoma is still inexperienced. Currently she is facing older ones that are not her family with different and specific styles of strategies. It is in a way— a new experience for her. But I did hint in her match with Kaidoh and Inui that she is way more calculated, and stronger than her original counterpart. :D

Merry Christmas all of you and I cannot thank you enough for liking my story even, I really appreciate it. I'll try to update as soon as I can. Much love from me, I hope all of you have happy holiday!3