The Little Merboy Who Became the Prince of Tennis

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is the property of Konomi Takeshi

Summary: retelling of Prince of Tennis using The Little Mermaid's plot with slight allusions to Momotaro and Yoshitsune; no singing; strictly tennis only

What to expect: AU, anachronous historical setting (tennis in Kamakura Period Japan), shounen-ai (boy love) but no yaoi lemon, non gender bender and no singing

Pairings: Echizen Ryōma x Tezuka Kunimitsu

Author's Note: I'd be glad to accept correction for any mistake – be it spelling, punctuation, grammatical or misinformation.

Kakka = Your/His/Her Excellency (honorific for nobleman/noblewoman)

Denka = Your/His/Her Highness or Your/His/Her Royal Highness (honorific for a prince/princess or crown prince/princess)

Joō Heika = Your/Her Majesty the Queen

Kokuō Heika = Your/His Majesty the King

Kōgō Heika = Your/Her Majesty the Empress

A long time ago, far, far away, deep at the bottom of the fathomless waves of the sea, settled a magnificent palace of corals and sea shells. There, Ryūzaki Sumire, empress among the merpeople, held her sway in the Sea-Tennis Empire. Her only child and grandchild were devoured by sharks. Heirless as she became now, Empress Ryūzaki adopted seven merboys around her late granddaughter Sakuno's age; each was the pride of his noble family in terms of sea-tennis ability.

Kawamura Takashi, the first foster son, seemed to be a bashfully gentle merboy, but once he held a sea-racket, he became as gallant as could be and played sea-tennis with Herculean strength.

Inui Sadaharu, the second foster son, deeply immersed in the mysteries of potion-making and enjoyed analyzing his fellow merpeople's behavior to play his data sea-tennis.

Oishi Shuichirō, the third foster son, was a patient and responsible merboy who preferred supporting others and was best for playing double for this very reason.

Kikumaru Eiji, the fourth foster son, was a cheerful merboy conspicuous for his sharp vision as well as acrobatic sea-tennis and became a very compatible partner to Oishi.

Kaidō Kaoru, the fifth foster son, was bad-tempered, but possessed the most immense stamina among them and was able to play snake-like sea-tennis.

Momoshiro Takeshi, the sixth foster son, specialized in jack knife and was a very amiable merboy, albeit to Kaidō only, he would not hesitate to be animus.

Echizen Ryōma, the seventh foster son, the youngest and fairest of all, was a sea-tennis freak who never passed a single day without practicing. Unsurprisingly, he was the best sea-tennis player among the seven foster royal siblings, and since they were the best in the kingdom, this made Ryōma best of the best. No mater how impressive he was while playing single, he was abysmal in playing double, nevertheless.

One stormy night, Ryōma decided to practice on the surface to see if his smashes could go against the gale. He saw a ship but chose to ignore it. If there was anything to mark Ryōma, apart from his devotion for sea-tennis, it was his apathy for everything else. Why should he care about some human ship unless … the gale blew his ball onto that very ship!

Hence, Ryōma climbed onto the ship, careful not to reveal his presence to the predaceous humans aboard. Taking a peek, he saw a tennis ball amidst the human legs. How was he going to get it?

But before he found the solution, one of the humans picked that ball with his racket and served beautifully. His movements were so adept Ryōma could swear they were flawless. None of the merboys Ryōma ever met could outdo this human!

Nevertheless, that was not all! Yet another human could actually respond to the perfect serve and returned the ball elegantly. "Nice serve as always, Denka," he remarked.

"Fuji Shūsuke," the crown prince rebuked the other boy while making another hit, "I trust my royal advisor to be more than capable to call me by name whenever we are not in the middle of some formal ceremony. Did I not mention this before?"

"If you say so, Tezuka," replied his royal advisor with a smile, returning the ball yet again.

Looking in awe, Ryōma started to wish to become a human so that he could play tennis with them or other humans at their caliber. Lately, the merboys in Sea-Tennis Empire had proven to be no challenge to him.

He started to wonder how it would feel to play land-tennis, to hit and receive ball on feet. But the little merboy did not have the luxury to muse any further; the sound of a thunderclap warned him to go home if he still valued his dear life.

He glimpsed at the ship deck once more and found a barrel of tennis balls. Come to think of it, the one that the prince and his advisor were currently using might not be his, after all. His ball could probably have fallen on that barrel and got mixed with the other balls. "Oh well, I lost a ball but saw something wonderful in return." Ryōma dived.

The youngest prince of merfolks did not return to the sea floor immediately, but continued his practice of swinging his racket jut a few meters below the water surface. This was one of the rare occasions when he was actually concerned about others' wellbeing: he was curious how the humans – the tennis geniuses – would survive such vicious storm.

From there, Ryōma noticed the ship above him shook violently and lost its balance. The crew lowered some safety boats and made their escape just before the ship broke into pieces. Perhaps there was an accident involving gunpowder or something, Ryōma thought. All that matters is that those humans manage to get back to the shore safely.

Ryōma was about to return to the depth of the sea, when he noticed a pair of human legs beginning to sink. And what's more, as far as Ryōma remembered, those ueno-hakama trousers and pointy shitōzu shoes were the ones worn by the crown prince.

It's a pity to let such a capable tennis player to die, Ryōma considered. Hastily the young merboy swam to the human's rescue. He found the human unconscious while still gripping a wooden plank of the shipwreck. Ryōma swam ashore with the prince in his arms and his tennis racket slung in a strap over his shoulder. However, swimming with such loads took longer than he expected. By the time they reached the shore, dawn was peeping at the edge of the horizon.

Laying the sleeping prince on the sand, Ryōma noticed that his tennis ball was in the human's clutch. He recognized the unmistakably smell of sea kelps from that ball. Carefully Ryōma loosened the human's finger grips from the ball. After he retrieved it, the merboy took his racket and swung it, hitting the ball back to the sea and swam after it.

Prince Tezuka Kunimitsu awoke on the sand, catching a glimpse of the best Twist Serve in his life, but not the clear view of the player. The crown prince rose to pursue the mysterious tennis player, but he was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, the royal advisor was running on the shore, beaming with joy to see his prince safe and sound.

"That Twist Serve…" was the first phrase that came out of the crown prince's mouth when his royal advisor approached him.

"Oh Tezuka, everyone in this kingdom know how obsessed you are with tennis, but to go as far as to think about it at your very own verge of death… you really are a tennis freak, aren't you?" remarked Fuji.

"I didn't merely think; I saw. Someone was doing a Twist Serve right there." He pointed at the sea.

"With all due respects, Denka, it seems that you swallowed too much water or too tired from swimming. Nobody in the right mind would play tennis in the sea."

Tezuka pondered at his royal advisor's words. Surely they made sense, but then what was this doubt in his heart? Why did the smell of sea kelps earlier felt so real? Was it just his imagination that someone took the tennis ball from his hand?

Fuji was tolerant person. Seeing his crown prince's troubled expression, he resolved to listen to whatever Tezuka had to say, no matter how absurd this conversation was going to lead. "All right…," he replied with a repressed sigh, "… supposed those eyes of yours did not deceive you, would you care to tell me about this player's appearance at all?"

Tezuka looked at Fuji immediately. "I am not very sure myself," eventually the crown prince answered, "My spectacles were drowned and the sunlight at dawn did not illuminate things to the fullest."

"But?" Fuji sensed the hanging end at Tezuka's sentence.

"I thought I saw a boy, a little younger than us, Twist Serving a ball into the sea and dived," Tezuka admitted.

Fuji smiled. "You would like to have a match with him, wouldn't you? I can tell; it's written all over your face, Tezuka. We'll find him. Surely you are capable of identifying to which country he belonged from his attire?"

Tezuka answered truthfully, "He didn't seem to wear any garment."

Fuji's blue eyes snapped open at this answer. I never realized the prince swung that way. Now it all makes sense why he has been rejecting all the marriage proposals with the neighboring princesses. If he was having a young boy as a wet dream material, perhaps I should arrange little princes as his next marriage candidates instead.

"Don't look at me that way, Fuji!" Tezuka shifted uncomfortably, "I have no shota-con (love for underage boy) tendency, all right! I just want to play tennis with him."

"Fully clothed!" Tezuka added with finality in his tone as he saw Fuji sneered.

"Of course, Denka." Fuji changed his sneer into a polite smile at once. "Now, shall we get back to the castle?"

###

Back in the undersea palace, Ryōma hid the ball that was once in Tezuka's hand underneath his pillow. He somehow felt he did not want others to touch that ball, as if to preserve Tezuka's touch. The more he attempted to push Tezuka's matter aside, the more that human incurred certain longing to him. He never felt this way before; why must he feel so now?

The next day, while practicing with his foster brothers, Ryōma's usual brilliance waned. He even spaced out from time to time. "What's wrong with you, ō-chibi?" Kikumaru asked him.

"Nothing." Ryōma couldn't bear to tell any single soul that he yearned to play tennis with a new opponent – a human on top of that!

However, Ryōma's condition worsened day by day, making his foster brothers and their foster mother seriously worried.

"I'd say he suffers from an unknown malady," Inui deduced when both Ryōma and Ryūzaki were not among them.

Kawamura said, "Oh dear, let's hope it's not a chronic disease!"

"Guys, from the look of it, don't you think that Echizen might be suffering from love sickness?" It was Momoshiro who said this and, being the usual master of jokes, everyone laughed at his suggestion. Only seconds later, they ceased laughing and thought about the prospect of truth in Momoshiro's words. Everyone gasped.

They knocked at Ryōma's room at once in order to console him. "Everybody has their own chance to fall in love. Love knows no time; no need to be shy because you are younger than us."

"Love?" Ryōma gaped in disbelief. The unknown feeling he had been experiencing for the last few days was love all along?

Kikumaru insisted, "Come on, you can tell us who the lucky mermaid is! We'll support you even if mother disapproves."

But Ryōma only answered him languidly, "There is no such mermaid."

All of them fell momentarily silent, then Oishi gulped and reopened his mouth to speak, "We understand if you … uh … prefer a merboy instead."

All the other merboys now turned their gaze facing Oishi, although Kikumaru's look was less censorious than others'. Ryōma looked appreciatively at Oishi, but shook his head nevertheless.

"A married merman?" Oishi took his second guess with a sweat drop. Everyone's eyes now grew large, but again Ryōma shook his head.

Oishi squinted briefly, and then hesitantly continued, "You don't mean…" Oishi covered his mouth with his hand, "Oh no!"

"A human?" hissed Kaidō.

Ryōma could only stay silent, letting the others learn the bitter truth through his defeated expression.

"Let me be alone for now!" He grabbed the tennis ball from underneath his pillow and swam away.

Ryōma swam as far as his fins could carry him. He was way beyond the Sea-Tennis Empire border. Arriving on an unfamiliar seascape, he sat on bedrock. His tail shoved the sediment around him, his hands were bouncing the ball with his racket, but his mind was somewhere else.

"Why are you sitting there, all alone and looking troubled?" a voice greeted him.

The young merboy turned to see his speaking adversary. It was a sea witch standing by the mouth of a cave.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to trespass into your yard," Ryōma offered his apology and turned to leave.

"Not at all, young one," the witch smiled, "If a merperson sees this place, he or she must be in a great need that I can offer my assistance to; such is what the prophecy said and such is the destiny of this place."

"Whatever. I'm leaving." Ryōma swam away.

But the very next second he heard the witch saying, "I'm not the right merperson to talk about prophecy and destiny, hag."

Ryōma halted. That was indeed what he said inwardly just now.

"How did she know? Was that a lucky guess?" the witch said again, "I'll prove to you that there are things which luck alone can't achieve, young one."

Ryōma's heartbeats palpitated even louder.

"Yes, there is a way for you to become a human and play tennis with your beloved prince," the witch grinned.

"At what price?" Ryōma asked her back.

"Oh, it's simple, really. All you need to do is sign the contract, drink my potion, and your tail will transform into legs for three full lunar circles. I will seal your Twist Serve, Cool Drive, and all other movements in a jar. If you manage to defeat him without those trump cards, you will become a human permanently for the rest of your life, but upon failure, you will turn back into a merboy and all the special movements that you've mastered until today will belong to me, regardless of the result."

Defeating such a highly capable player without my trump cards? Ryōma pondered. If my trump cards are taken, I'll just have to find others, won't I?

Ryōma answered without hesitation, "Deal."

Thus, subsequent to the contract signing, the witch gave Ryōma a small cask of her brew, which he drank upon reaching the shore. His tail did indeed split into two legs, but the witch mentioned nothing about the excruciating pain of the process.

This is for tennis' sake, Ryōma reminded himself, but visualizing Tezuka in his mind.

When Ryōma tried to step on the sandy beach, he fell immediately. How was he supposed to play tennis on these legs if he couldn't even stand with them?

Ryōma did not abandon any hope. He used both hands to support him as well, crawling with his knees and knuckles. After he got the feeling of it, he leaned on a big rock and walked on two feet. Gradually, he lessened the leaning and was eventually able to walk without support.

It was then Prince Tezuka, who regularly took a stroll on that beach since the disappearance of the mysterious tennis player, arrived on the scene. Seeing the naked boy, Tezuka took off his coat to cover the youth's body.

"Greetings, stranger! I am called Tezuka Kunimitsu. May I have the pleasure of your acquaintance?" the crown prince asked.

To which the younger of them answered, "My name is Echizen Ryōma."

"Pray tell, Echizen-san, have you, by any chance, ever played tennis here before?" Tezuka inquired upon seeing the youth's racket on his back.

There is no way I can say yes now that Twist Serve as well as all my other techniques are no longer in my disposal to use. Therefore he replied, "Why don't you find it out yourself?"

At that time, Fuji came accosting them, "Well, Tezuka Denka, why don't we bring your guest to the castle?" Fuji tried to display an amiable smile, although Tezuka regarded it as a smirk and Ryōma was indifferent about it.

###

Tezuka's castle turned out to be a lofty twenty-tiered Kamakura-style edifice containing many a spacious room, each segmented by brilliantly painted sliding fusuma door.

As soon as Ryōma was given food and drapery, Tezuka brought him to a tennis court. Ryōma was restless with anticipation: the one he had wanted to play for days was now standing before his eyes.

For a moment he forgot the witch's bidding and posed himself for a Twist Serve, but his body wouldn't obey him. So this is how it feels to have one's movements sealed by a witch, Ryōma thought. Ryōma tried another approach: using his right hand. Echizen Ryōma had always been a southpaw, but today he was going to learn ambidexterity. Today his history of Nitouryû – Two Sword Style – had begun!

Nevertheless, swinging the racket in the absence of water pressure felt peculiar. It took several minutes for Ryōma to adjust his strength to new air pressure and gravity.

In addition to the fact that he had just learnt to walk that very same day, without all of his specialties, Ryōma was undoubtedly a player far below Tezuka's standard. Yet somehow, in the way the young boy awkwardly moved as if trying to achieve an obstructed result, Tezuka had the hunch that Ryōma was made of something more than he was showing him now. Ryōma had a sharp vision and high agility, to start with. Yet, the most fascinating aspect of all was his unrelenting willpower to keep playing despite the propitiousness of the match result. Not even the prince's royal advisor, Fuji the prodigy, had this kind of steel determination.

As for Ryōma, defeat was no stranger to him. He used to play his father, Samurai Nanjirō, and lost to him at every single match. Another loss wouldn't discourage him. True, there were times when he wished he still had Drive B or Super Rising upon receiving Tezuka's certain smashes. Yet, Echizen Ryōma was not the type of person who lingered in the past. Instead, he was pumped up to defeat Tezuka with new techniques all the more.

Unfortunately, as the prince of the land, Tezuka had other things to attend to. He had to take his leave after the game set 6-1 with Ryōma. Ryōma, contrarily, had as much free time as he wanted and what else did a tennis geek do at times like this?

Ryōma practiced alone. His match with Tezuka had started to restore his tennis sense. He could not do any intricate movements yet, but he had had the grasp of some and was able to develop them into new techniques.

That night, Fuji, who had peeked at Tezuka-Echizen's match earlier that afternoon, returned to the tennis court. His hunch was right: Ryōma was still absorbed in his practice.

"Would you care to have a match with me, Echizen-san?" he accosted Ryōma.

"With pleasure, Fuji Kakka."

"What an immense stamina you have!" the royal advisor remarked as he hit the ball.

"No, I did take some breaks before you came," answered the prince's guest.

At first Fuji seemed to have the upper hand, but gradually Ryōma cornered him and he had no choice but launch the first of his triple counter: Tsubame Gaeshi – Swallow Returns. How can he improve this fast? He really is something. No wonder Tezuka has an eye for him.

Instead of cowering in fear, Ryōma faced this interesting technique head on. He could not counter it at the first try, for sure, but on the next game, he began to return the ball, adding more precision as he went on.

Fuji smiled. It had been a long time since an opponent managed to make him open his eyes and used his triple counter, with Tezuka as an exception.

The first light of dawn marked the end of their game with Fuji's win at 6-3. Fuji knew he would yawn a lot while doing his administration job later on that day. Yet, he did not regret playing tennis with Ryōma at the slightest bit. In fact, their match had rekindled the excitement of tennis within him; this youth was by no means a dull opponent!

Ryōma cleansed himself, slept, eat, and then was back to practice again. That afternoon, when Tezuka played him again, he actually managed to bring Tezuka Zone out of the prince.

"How do you find your little friend today, Tezuka?" Fuji came some two hours later while the prince and his guest were having a short break.

"His rapid development does not fail to amaze me."

"Naturally," Fuji smiled, "he made me play wild last night."

There were many occasions when Tezuka considered Fuji's teasing as mere passing wind, but this was not one of them. 'What did you do?' the prince asked with air of severity, ready to send his advisor running twenty laps around the castle.

"What do you imagine us to do then?" Fuji teased his prince even more.

"You were playing tennis the whole night?" was what came out of Tezuka's mouth, though an entirely different notion was what he had in mind.

"As a matter of fact, we were." Fuji ceased teasing Tezuka, satisfied with the fruit of his labor. He discerned a tiny change in Tezuka's stoic countenance and knew that his prince was actually relieved by this answer.

"He made me use Tsubame Gaeshi."

The game resumed and at the end of the day Tezuka still pocketed his victory. However, defeating Ryōma today was definitely not as easy as the day before.

Thus, Ryōma had Tezuka as his opponent by day and Fuji at night. Everyday this routine continued. After a month and a half, Ryōma managed to corner Fuji to enhance all of his triple counters: Tsubame Gaeshi – Swallow Returns – into Houou Gaeshi – Phoenix Return; Higuma Otoshi – Bear Drop – into Kirin Otoshi – Kirin Drop; and Hakugei – White Whale – into Hakuryuu – White Dragon.

Nevertheless, Ryōma never succeeded in defeating Tezuka's Muga no Kyōchi – State of Self Actualization. Fight poison with poison, he thought. Hence, Ryōma started to study his own Muga no Kyōchi.

Nonetheless, without his father – or any instructor at all – to guide him, learning Muga no Kyōchi was not as simple as he hoped to be. One day, thinking he wouldn't get enough improvement in time by merely staying in one place, Ryōma set forth for a journey in quest for strong tennis opponents.

First, he met an assassin named Kirihara Akaya and managed to open the first door of Muga no Kyōchi: Hyaku Ren Jitoku no Kiwami – Pinnacle of Hard Work. As Muga no Kyōchi allowed its user to intake all techniques he sees and perfectly copy them, Ryōma got all his old techniques back! In addition, he could increase certain body part capacity by focusing all his energy into different parts of his body.

After that, Ryōma met several others, but they were 'mada mada dane'; none was challenging enough for him to improve his techniques. His next notable match was with a street entertainer named Tōyama Kintarō, who made him create a new signature technique called Samurai Drive – an impregnable smash which split the ball into halves.

When a wandering rōnin named Sanada Genichiro challenged Ryōma for a tennis duel using his ultimate Furinkazan, the younger boy managed to open the second door of Muga no Kyōchi: Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami – Pinnacle of Great Wisdom – which enabled him to predict the number of shots he needs to earn a point.

Ryōma was finally able to open the third and final door of Muga no Kyōchi: Teni Muhō no Kiwami – Pinnacle of Perfection – during the match with a hermit named Yukimura Seîchi. So sanctimonious was this sage that he earned the title of "God's Child". So fast was the speed of his hit that it was invisible to naked eyes, and therefore, nicknamed Kamikakushi – Spirited Away. Thanks to Teni Muhō no Kiwami, however, Ryōma's speed exceeded Yukimura's and he won the match in the end.

There was not much time left before the three months was up. Ryōma made haste to return to Tezuka's castle. Unfortunately, an ogre stood his way on the only bridge available. This ogre challenged a game of tennis to everyone who passed the bridge carrying any tennis racket.

With Ryōma's new abilities, the game only lasted ephemerally. A loud chorus of applauses was audible as soon as victory was secured in Ryōma's hands. Then, he heard fingers snapping and the cacophony was silenced that instant.

"You've done a god job defeating Kabaji, traveler," said a glamorous man, "Thanks for your hard work too, Kabaji."

"Ossu," the ogre made his reply, but Ryōma stepped away.

"Where are you going young man? Are you going to turn tail from facing me, Atobe Keigo, the king of bandits?"

"Maybe next time; I'm in a hurry today," answered Ryōma.

"Tell you what, why don't we make a deal? You beat me, you'll get my service – the fastest transport throughout this land; you lose, you'll work as my underling," he offered.

Seeing the number of Atobe's followers, Ryōma had no choice but to acquiesce; they wouldn't let him go in one piece otherwise.

Needless to say, the game ended very quickly, too quickly, for anyone's expectation. Ryōma got an easy win by using Atobe's ultimate technique, Habetsu no Rondo – Rondo towards Destruction – against its original inventor. The king of bandits was impressed and kept his promise: Ryōma reached Tezuka's castle two days earlier than scheduled.

He ran all the way from the castle gate to the prince's location, stirring here and there to find him. "Tezuka Kunimitsu, I challenge you to a game of tennis" was what he said as soon as they stood face to face, before even catching his breath.

Fighting the urge to hug the younger boy due to his long time absent, Tezuka accepted the challenge.

But Fuji interrupted "I'm sorry, when it came to official duel, I'm afraid decorum demands that the challenger must defeat me first before challenging Tezuka Denka."

Tezuka clenched his jaw. He was perfectly aware of this decorum, but why couldn't his royal advisor make an exception just this once? He had been checking the windows every half an hour for the last five weeks, in case Ryōma might return, and now when he was finally within his grasp, Fuji monopolized the brunet. Patience, Kunimitsu, patience! He reminded himself.

Calmly, however, Ryōma made his reply, "That's fine, Fuji Kakka. It is also my intention to beat you."

"Cheeky brat," Fuji snickered, though not displeased.

The moment Ryōma greeted Fuji with his Twist Serve, Tezuka realized it was the very same movement as the one he had seen once on the beach. Echizen Ryōma had been the one he was looking for all along! After that, Drive A, Drive B, Drive C, Drive D, Cool Drive, Twist Smash, Super Rising, and Single-footed Split Step only enticed Tezuka more.

Fuji did not sit leisurely during Ryōma's absence either. Instead, he had prepared new techniques: Kagerou Zutsumi – Dragonfly Illusion; Hecatoncheires no Monban – Gate Keeper of Hecatoncheires; and Hoshi Hanabi – Star Fireworks. Nonetheless, none of these could stand a chance against Ryōma's old techniques with Hyaku Ren Jitoku no Kiwami as an addition. The game ended with Fuji's loss at 6-3.

Tezuka startled with excitement as he watched their match: Ryōma had mastered Muga no Kyōchi . There was nothing else in the world he desired more than having a tennis match with Ryōma right here right now, but he knew it wouldn't be a fair match. Ryōma must be exhausted from such a long journey and from his match with Fuji; he must wait till tomorrow.

That night, both Ryōma and Tezuka found it hard to sleep. Each was giddy with the thrill of what tomorrow had in store.

When the long-awaited time came at last, unsurprisingly, the game started with Ryōma's Twist Serve, which the crown prince responded with Tezuka Zone.

Ryōma's Zero-Shiki Drop Shot was too obvious, and therefore, not as good as Tezuka's. However, even the formidable crown prince could not do anything against Ryōma's Samurai Drive. There was no such thing as propitiousness of whose win this duel was going to be.

Both players had to resolve to Muga no Kyōchi . Their hair spiked upwards, as if magnetized by the forces of nature. Ryōma's hair and eyes turned green in the process, as green as the water back home, in the depth of the sea. Tezuka's, on the other hand, became as brown as the land where he lived.

The child of the sea and the child of the land tied until the opening of Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami. Afterwards, Ryōma turned the table by opening the third door of Muga no Kyōchi: Teni Muhō no Kiwami.

"You have achieved something I couldn't," Tezuka remarked in awe as Ryōma's superhuman speed overwhelmed him.

Ryōma explained, "It's because you forgot the true bliss when you first met tennis. You were too absorbed about winning or losing."

Ryōma's words touched Tezuka to the core. They were true! As the crown prince of the land, he had to meet people's expectation and disciplined himself with 'I play to win' rather than 'I play for fun'. The figure before him, a boy he barely knew, however, was able to remind him on such important feeling. If only this boy could constantly be at his side…

When it became Ryōma's turn again to hit the ball, he shouted "Kunimitsu Tezuka, I love you and this Dragon Cyclone Smash is the proof of my feelings!"

"I accept your tennis and your love, Echizen-san … no, Ryōma,' Tezuka hit the ball back, 'and I return your feeling with reciprocal affection!"

"Do I get a present from defeating the prince of the land?" Ryōma asked teasingly as the game ended in 6-4.

"What present would you like?"

Instead of answering straightaway, Ryōma took his time sauntering towards Tezuka and stopped just a step away from the prince. There, with innocent eyes he said, "Are you sure you won't regret granting me the present?"

Tezuka's reply was not unexpected. "Fear not, I am a man of honor; I keep my words."

Ryōma made a whispering gesture, "Bend a little and lend me your ear."

But when Tezuka did bend, Ryōma caught the prince's lips with his own. The shock prevented Tezuka from giving a proper response at first. Yet, after a while, he began to kiss the younger boy back and even embraced him.

Both knew this kiss would be the beginning of their happily ever after life.

OWARI

OMAKE

Fuji grinned widely from afar. "I shall handle your wedding preparation whenever you're ready," he jovially remarked after they broke the kiss.

"We object that our son should marry a commoner!" Tezuka Kunimitsu's parents – King Tezuka Kuniharu and Queen Tezuka Ayana – appeared on the doorway with irate expression.

"Kokuō Heika. Joō Heika." Fuji bowed.

"Forgive me father, mother. I'd rather be no prince at all than lose this person," the crown prince firmly stated with unwavering voice, fully realizing the meaning of Echizen Ryōma's existence in his life.

Fuji, who was a devoted believer that love should prevails, encouraged his best friend, the prince, though he did so inwardly.

Queen Ayana clasped her hand in front of her mouth, covering her gasp of horror. She did not, however, manage to hold back her tears. 'How dare you, Kunimitsu!' King Kuniharu thundered.

"What's with all the commotion?" Kuniharu's wizened father, Kunikazu, came in with his walking stick.

After Fuji explained the situation, the old man said, "Son, daughter-in-law, why don't you cut him some slack?"

"But father," King Kuniharu protested, "A commoner as he is, what if peasants recognize this boy's background and start to make fun of us? Besides, he can't provide Kunimitsu with any heir, can he?"

"No, people won't recognize him, son. He is not from our world. You may not know this, but my mother used to be a mermaid and this Echizen boy smelt just like her. And what's more, a merperson of any gender can lay eggs, once he or she turns 18. It is the partner, however, who ought to fertilize the egg, for the egg will need to absorb genes from both parents as its nutrient. I was hatched – tadpole-sized – not born, you see, even though my mother was no longer a mermaid at that time. And my father had to incubate the egg for a fortnight."

Ryōma was astounded to hear this, but he had no opportunity to ponder much on the subject, for Kunikazu soon addressed him, "What say you, young one?"

"It is true that I used to be a merboy. I left the sea to be on Tezuka Kunimitsu's side by becoming a human."

Fuji stole a glance at his best friend and saw a tiny smile on his countenance. This was one of the few things that actually made the stoic prince smile.

"What are we waiting for?" exhorted Kunikazu, "Fuji, prepare the wedding!"

Now everyone in that tennis court gaped in disbelief. Finally, Queen Ayana broke the silence "Father-in-law, aren't they a bit too young to be married? We could always start with their engagement first."

"How old are you?" the poor-sighted elderly man asked the ex-merboy.

"I'll be 13 in two months."

"All right, the wedding can wait then." Kunikazu cleared his throat, "Fuji, prepare the engagement party!" The merry old man then turned to Ryōma again, "All your kinfolks are invited, of course!"

Therefore, Ryōma went to the shore, calling for his pet fish. It surfaced the moment its master whistled. "Tell my real and foster families about this, Karupin!"

Thus, the engagement party was held as extravagant as could be. Even King Kuniharu and Queen Ayana were delighted to know that Ryōma turned out to be more than a commoner.

"Where's the lad hat steals my youngest son's heart?" Empress Ryūzaki Sumire craned her neck impatiently into the engagement ship.

"May I help you at all, Kōgō Heika?" Fuji addressed her politely.

My, what a charming young man! It seems I don't need to worry to leave Ryōma in these humans' care. "As a matter of fact, yes, young man. I was wondering if I could see Prince Tezuka Kunimitsu."

Fuji bowed and promised to call Tezuka for her. When the crown prince really did come, Empress Ryūzaki lauded her youngest foster son's taste inwardly.

But Momoshiro blurted, "What's so good from a guy who can't smile like that?"

The merboys' view of the human prince changed drastically, nevertheless, after they witnessed how he played tennis. There was no other soul on earth they preferred to be Ryōma's lover when Tezuka Kunimitsu was around!

Thus, the sea witch received Ryōma's amazing tennis techniques in her jar as a payment. Ryōma got all his techniques back and even developed new ones. Ryōma became a human permanently and stayed at his prince charming's side each and every day to practice with him, and in the occasion when the prince was too busy, there was Fuji to practice with. Ryōma's foster brothers often visited him and played friendly games with Tezuka and Fuji. Their foster mother allowed this and even bestowed them concoction to turn them into humans for a few hours time on each visit. And they all lived happily ever after.

THE END

A/N: The beginning to the end of Konomi Takeshi's Prince of Tennis series took place in three and a half months span. Hence, it made sense that Ryōma mastered his techniques in the three months time given by the sea witch in this fanfic.

About the egg issue … well, think about snails, penguins, frogs and seahorses; merpeople's reproductive system is somewhere in between them in this story. Biology was one of my worst subjects, sorry!