CHAPTER I: Exploring Tokyo - Preparation

Thank you for clicking lol! Banzai for those who read fem! Ryoma fics~! XD For those who didn't, I would deeply appreciate it if you give my stories a shot! ^^

Especially since I wrote this all the way back in 2011... and I do want to believe that my writing already improved drastically since then. I'll try to find time to revamp the first chapters, but for now all I can ask for new readers is please read until chapter 4 before deciding whether or not to continue on. xD

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Disclaimer: I WISH I own Price of Tennis

...

It was a refreshing and sunny Saturday morning then in Tokyo, and fortunately it did not exclude a small temple strategically placed above a hill. Its surrounding area, as in many others, was covered with an utterly heavenly atmosphere: an ideal setting to wake up to- indeed, and when the heroine finally decided to wake up from her long slumber, she could not feel any better.

A pretty young girl (who had been asleep since 5pm the previous day) with silky greenish-black hair, alluring golden eyes (and height that she wasn't particularly proud of), yawned as she stretched her arms as far as she could... smiling for the good mood from the dream she just had. It was wonderful: she had finally beat the crap out of her father and brother.

"Ah…" She smiled confidently and talked to her sleeping cat. Soon…

"Meow" The cat lazily replied, just waking up from the sound of its master's voice. She laughed and she patted his head, telling him how much of a good boy he was. 'You're going to get a treat.' She told the feline internally and he meowed as if he replied to her thoughts. Her gaze softened even more and she lifted the cat effortlessly, and they both walked to the window to look at the sky.

It was a refreshing and sunny Saturday morning at a place she had never been to before. How could she stay possibly indoors?

...

"Going to do some exploring, Reina?" Her mother, Rinko, asked as she eyed her daughter when she went down. Her eyes twitched immediately. "Cross-dressing again?" She exclaimed, troubled by how un-girly her daughter was. "I will not allow it, Reina. You're twelve now. And a girl, at that. Start dressing like one. "

Reina groaned in irritation- she liked dressing up liked a boy; it was much more comfortable. Stares of girls were definitely less annoying than men's. Other than that there's the fact that, unlike her (much to her dismay), her brother outgrew his outfits quite quickly. And her brother had a walking closet full of clothes. So his garments were barely used. And they were all branded, too.

After she finally overgrew the clothes herself- which took a depressing amount of time- well, she sold them via the internet. 'E-bay is my friend.' was her motto.

Oh, how many gallons of ice cream she could buy with a pair of shorts…

"But why do I have to dress like a girl, then…?" She asked professionally, trying to reason with her mother.

"That's just the way it is!" Her mother replied. Then when she realized that Reina was going to say something complicated, she cut her off. "And don't 'it's the 21st century and there ought to be new customs' me, young lady!"

Rinko internally sighed. She didn't really mind at first because her daughter was so adorable no matter what she wore. But now that she's a young teen... she already had her 1st period a month ago, too- GAH! She knew she'd regret letting the boys of the house take care of her wardrobe. It was just that her career peaked during her... developmental years, and Rinko was certain her absence had a huge bearing on why her little girl grew up like this.

But it wasn't the only one.

Rinko was very disturbed now. Her daughter being such a big tomboy was already a problem, and that just had to happen. She knew her daughter would get over it (eventually) but she couldn't let her daughter continue on this streak. It was the main reason they went back to Japan. Reina had gotten tired of the life she had there, it was time to make her feel like the normal teenage girl that she was. And hence, Rinko had no choice but to use her final and strongest weapon.

"Please, Reina…?" Rinko asked her daughter in a sweet voice partnered by her famous puppy dog eyes "…for Okaa-chwan?"

Reina eyes only widened on the outside, even when internally she was yelling in despair. 'Oh hell no- Not the Puppy dog look!'

'What do I do? What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?'. Since the incident a few months back, she never wore girl's clothing.

Rinko had let her pass for a few months, but now that she had retired from her work in the law department... she was determined to help her daughter get back to the right path. Besides, her daughter had never refused her before- she was certain the girl wouldn't start now.

Reina, on the other hand, was grimacing. What was her mother thinking? This was a place she never explored before. For it was true that she knew how to defend herself, one never really knows what might happen. Surely, her mother wouldn't be so confident as to let her go looking like a girl?

She didn't like attention, that was for certain. Primarily because it was the cause most of her troubles after her best friends had left. The exemption was cooking, though... she lived to eat, not cook. And there were a lot of things that happened in her childhood that were fixed a year prior, making all her irritation of dressing up as a girl somewhat diminish.

After all, she met them again- after so many years. She felt... protected again.

But in the end, her dressing up like a vulnerable little girl was big mistake.

She literally shuddered at the memory.

-Flashback-

"Come one, Reina, honey, go out with me." A rather good-looking young lad asked (or more accurately, ordered) her as he held her chin tilting her face upward.

Oh, how she wanted to strangle the arrogant bastard.

Well, she tried.

Luck simply wasn't on her side that day... as always, but she somewhat hoped that day was an exemption. The arrogant bastard was hailed the strongest martial artist on their age group in the states, unfortunately, and what made it worse was that four of his cronies were watching in the sidelines with rather amused smiles.

If only mass murder wasn't illegal. Well, massacre sounded more fitting then.

If only massacre wasn't illegal…

"Go to hell." She replied coolly followed by one of her trademark glares.

Intimidated, his hold on her chin slightly got loose. Reina took advantage and swiftly stepped back, ready to dash away, when the arrogant bastard got a hold of her arms and kissed her.

He could feel it- the lingering taste of utter disgust.

She could only curse the gods for letting this happen to her.

-End of Flashback-

She gagged mentally. Where was that repression of memories when she needed it? Indeed, she got kissed by one of the most disgusting creatures she would ever meet- and when she meant 'most disgusting creature' she wasn't exaggerating.

That guy's smell- it reeked of his sick attitude and personality. What was worse was that he was totally full of himself, in a blind way, and he did not know when to stop bugging Reina- no matter how sharp her words got. The guy believed she was just playing hard to get.

And she attracted a lot of similar guys, as a supposedly uninteresting 12 year old. And truth be told, they were very dangerous admirers. But that guy certainly took the cake.

The revenge she did to him wasn't even close to 'satisfying'.

-Flashback-

Everything turned red after the kiss and what soon became massacre (with the victims still err… alive… sort of) started with a strong and clean uppercut. What happened afterwards was a blur to Reina, and censored for the readers.

And with that, Echizen Reina (technically) became the strongest martial artist in her age group in the whole of the United States.

...

Sigh

Anyone would find it odd that a physically undeveloped 12-year old- that was, vertically challenged and no sex appeal at all- would have a lot of stalkers. She attributed it to her face, and while everyone else knew she looked like an angel, it was still true that she looked a lot like a rising star in the tennis scene - Echizen Ryoma. Which, unfortunately, was the reason she had to cross-dress in the first place. It depressed her that people could have somehow recognized her and started following...

Which led going back to the question: What was Rinko THINKING?

"Awchoo!"

Rinko wiped her nose to comfort herself. Her daughter, who was standing a few meters away from her, must have been cursing her with her mind. But she shrugged in the end, she believed this was the best course of action.

Besides,she assumed (correctly, probably) that Japan was in general, safer. The place was also less liberal than USA. Her brother and 2 best friends that protected and sheltered her back then were all also here in Japan, not that she knew though. While her brother returned to her a few years back, she certainly had no idea that her friends were there in Japan. And she wasn't planning on telling her, either.

Rinko recalled how cute the four of them doing practically everything together. At least one of the boys always accompanied her every time they were kids were strong, both physically and mentally… which showed in their presence. The boys, regrettably, even ensured that no one was acting 'suspicious' around their princess. This limited the number of new friends she had, yes, but she didn't mind… since they friends she did make made up for quality. Reina, being around 7 years old, was rather oblivious to the guards and the wall of protection they made around her.

And when they had to leave, her daughter went in for the shock of her life: Fan clubs became aggressive and admirers popping up as if some supposedly nonexistent balloon of hope suddenly appeared before them.

Yes, it was a shock. And being a good judge of character, the girl knew most of them only saw her either for her face or her last name. So she barely made any new friends. What was worse was that she even had a hard time making her tennis and/or music buddies look at her for the skills she loved and worked hard for.

She started dressing up like a boy for good because it keeps the most dangerous fans away. She even invented a sort of disguise to protect her even when she was in girl's clothes. She looked down on the girl and that look in her eyes told her she just thought of the same thing.

She groaned.

*Several Minutes Later*

Reina now wore a plain white t-shirt partnered with khaki Capri pants. Her long silky hair was now held together by a ponytail, and her beautiful golden orbs- along with half her face- was cover by those huge fake opaque eyeglasses.

"I'll be back in the afternoon, then." She stated as she turned to the door. Rinko panicked for a moment and stopped her. There was one other problem her daughter had-

"You're not gonna bring your brother with you? I'd go wake him up." Rinko offered.

She was certain the girl would get lost.

Her daughter, even with her incredible instincts and reflexes, was err… cursed with a defective sense of direction. The girl wasn't born with it, though... but unfortunately, it could not be cured anymore. Damages had been done.

Reina sighed.

"He must be tired." Reina just replied noticing that her mother was lost in her thoughts again. "We just got here last night from the states after all. Unlike me, who could sleep anywhere, he seemed to have this troublesome need to be in a bed. I doubt he got any sleep during the flight. Plus, I bet he's the one who carried me to my room, right? "

Her mother nodded, and decided not to question her any further. Reina was definitely determined to explore, the weather was too good to let pass. "Very well, but you have to wait here for several minutes until I say you can go."

"What for?" Reina asked stoically. Her mother smiled.

"I'd like make a few calls first."

And that she did, for a few minutes she stared at the ceiling and her mother joined her for several minutes that came after. She muttered something about her just sitting still and wait for the doorbell to ring.

Ding Dong

"You can go now."Her mother literally shooed her

"Huh?"

"I'm saying get the door and then go adventuring."

"Oh." Reina stood up. "I'm off, then."

She apathetically walked to the door but just as she opened it, something suddenly bear-hugged her.

"WAAAAAAAAH!" A petite girl with long brown hair cried.

"REEIIIINAAAAA! I mishydyuuuuuuuuuuSOoooo much!"

"Sakuno." She called coolly her overly dramatic friend. "We just met a month ago, remember?"

"Well…" She frowned "That's not why I was hurt. I mean, how could you not tell me you're in Japan? Huh?" It was a rhetorical question, though so she cut Reina when she was about to answer.

"No, Reina. DON'T YOU DARE SAY YOU WANT TO SURPRISE ME! I know you, you probably just thought it was too troublesome." Reina stared at the statement, it was actually... true. Why call when you would see each other soon enough, anyway?

"SEE?" Sakuno exclaimed holding her arms in the air making her point. "That and…" The brunette breathed and then continued, "…how could you suddenly retire from the American tennis scene without even telling me?"

'Oh dear, here she go again with her nonsense arguments.' Of course she'd retire from the American tennis scene since they are moving to Japan.

Reina knew Sakuno only became this… noisy when she was with her. So she just let it slide and let her one and only female best friend talk. Reina knew Sakuno would continue with her uncharacteristic nagging for a while so Reina decided that they start walking as her friend... monologues.

...