Entry tags:

40_loves, ayame fanfiction

15

Title: First Impressions II
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Kamiya Ayame (OC)/Yagyuu Hiroshi, Tachibana An, Fuji Syusuke, Kikumaru Eiji, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Oishi Syuichirou, Kamiya Junko (OC)
Claim: Prince of Tennis General Series
Prompt: #15 Spring
Word Count: 2,561
Rating: G
Summery:  Ayame had a knack for making fairly negative first impressions.  This one was just another in a long list.

Ayame woke in the hospital sometime later, alone and feeling like she had been run over by a truck.  Everything hurt, including her head, and she felt extremely dizzy and rather nauseous.  Within moments however, she was no longer alone as a nurse came in, followed by a doctor and they were quick to start asking her questions about how she felt, what she remembered, and what had happened.

She told them everything she knew and was informed that it had only been three hours since she was brought in.  They told her that she had been nebulized several times while she was unconscious and that they had cleared her lungs and settled the asthma.  She was, of course, lectured at length after that, about always making sure she had her inhaler, and that she should be aware of her condition enough never to run up stairs.  Ayame had never felt more sheepish in her entire life.

After that she was levered out of the bed and helped into a wheelchair so that they could cart her off to have tests done.  To make sure she didn’t have any lasting damage due to the limited oxygen she had received for several minutes.  By the time they returned her to her room, and gave her some mild medication for her headache, she was so worn out she fell asleep again.

When she next woke, it was to the sound of voices, a group of them.  She recognized one instantly as her mother, and another as An.  The others were male and familiar, and as soon as she opened her eyes she realized why.

Her Seigaku friends, some of them anyway, had traveled the thirty or so kilometers from Tokyo to come see her.  Fuji was of course there, and Eiji, as well as Oishi and Tezuka.  Ayame actually blinked at the sight of the tall, bespeckled young man sitting comfortably in one of the several chairs that were crowded around her bed.  She never thought he would come, if any of them would.  Fuji was not a surprise, neither was Eiji, since she was rather close with both, and she and Oishi had become good friends during Tezuka’s absence.  But Tezuka… she considered him a respected senpai, possibly even a friend (he was, after all, the captain of her beloved tennis team), but she would never have expected him to come all the way to Kanagawa to see her.

“Not a very auspicious first day, hm Ame-chan?” An teased, the first to notice Ayame’s awakened state.

Ayame blushed and pushed herself into a seated position, wishing that there weren’t several pairs of eyes staring at her.  She accepted her glasses from her mother, who made a show of fussing over her – smoothing out her hair, straightening her hospital pyjamas and just generally making sure she was comfortable.    “How are you feeling?” Kamiya Junko asked, settling back in her chair.

Ayame was distinctly aware of everyone’s attention, as well as the fact that she hadn’t properly greeted them.  Her blush burned brighter as she smiled as best she could at her four Seigaku friends.  “I’m okay, feeling better than I was earlier.  Thank you all for coming.” She bowed as much as she could in her seated position.

The four boys smiled back, even Tezuka, although his smile was so tiny that it was almost imperceptible.  Syusuke, who was seated closest to her, directly to the left at about her level, leaned over and squeezed her hand.  “We’re just happy you are okay.  We know how dangerous it can be for you.”

His words brought back bittersweet memories of running from the tennis club only to collapse in an attack.  That had been her first real meeting with them, and she was starting to think that it was something of a trend.   I really hope it doesn’t continue this way… I can just see it: the first day of college and once more I do something stupid and almost die.  Fortunately, the time at Seishun Gakuen had ended far better, since she had had her inhaler on her.

“Ma, ma, Ame-chan!”  Eiji wriggled closer, practically pushing Syusuke out of the way so that he could hold her hand.  “When An-chan texted us earlier we were so worried!  All she said was that you had a severe asthma attack and had to be rushed to the hospital!”  Even now, his eyes were wide with worry and the dark blue orbs flashed their way over her, as if to check if she were truly all right.

“Well to be fair to me, I hadn’t expected you all to come rushing out here as soon as school was finished.” An piped up dryly from her position next to Junko.  “You didn’t even give me a chance to update you.”

Junko smiled maternally at her daughter’s interaction with her friends, squeezing the hand she was holding in a reassuring manner.  “Why don’t I go get you something to drink hm?  Would any of you like anything?”

The four boys declined politely, while An, who viewed the woman as almost a second mother, had no problem requesting some juice.  As soon as Junko left, An sat in her vacated chair, looking relieved.  Oishi stepped up closer to the edge of bed from where he had been leaning against the wall and smiled gently down at Ayame.  “The others send their best wishes.  We’re sorry we didn’t bring you any flowers, but Eiji threw together a card and made everyone sign it.”

Following his gesture, Ayame caught sight of the extremely large card sitting next to a pot of flowers on the table beside her bed.  Her eyes paused on the flowers, but she picked up the card without any hesitation, since she was curious and touched, and also because her friends were watching her. 

It was an over sized, orange and white construction, made of what look liked supplies stolen from school.  A giant “Get Well Soon Ame-chan!” was scrawled over the front in blue ink and sparkles and it made her giggle.  She could just picture Eiji putting it together when he was probably supposed to be doing something else.  When she opened it, she found an utter cacophony of little notes and signatures, many of which were from people she was unfamiliar with. 

Inui had written in precise, neat script, a short recipe for some kind of drink that would make her feel better (and it was an actual drink, not one of the funny ones he liked to inflict on his teammates).  Kawamura’s signature was bold and sprawling, but his message was sweet.  Momoshirou’s practically yelled on the page.  She could almost hear the worried, but ‘tough’ hissing from Kaidou’s simple “Pay more attention.” message.  Then there was Eiji’s long and convoluted message that took up almost a quarter of one of the pages and had her giggling again and made her feel a hundred times better.  Fuji’s was full of support caring, and Oishi’s was a bit scolding, but still every bit as supportive as the rest.  Tezuka didn’t write anything but his name, but the fact that he had come all the way with the other three told her all she needed to know about what he felt.

“Thank you all, so much.  And tell the others I said thank you for everything,” she said after she was done reading everything.  She had to blink the blurring tears from her eyes so she could smile at the four boys in true gratitude.  She hoped that they understood just how much their support meant to her, especially since she had made a terrible fool of herself at her new school.

She gave Eiji’s hand a gentle squeeze and it lit up his face like a Christmas tree bulb.  “The others wanted to come too,” Eiji confessed, brow furrowing.  “But Yamato-taichou would only let us come… and only after Tezuka pleaded our case.”

Ayame had trouble picturing Tezuka pleading for anything, but as she allowed her gaze to meet his, she saw a rare glimpse of emotion, one he had undoubtedly meant for her to see.  Her smile softened and she bowed slightly, happy when he returned it with a nod of his head. 

“Kaidou was especially upset that he couldn’t come.” Syusuke said softly, his eyes closed and expression a bit mischievous. 

Ayame made a face at him, understanding fully the teasing quality of his tone.  Everyone in the room laughed, except Kunimitsu, as per his nature.  An’s giggle was especially evil sounding, since she had been teasing Ayame about her friendship with Kaidou Kaoru for the better part of a year – since he had become the Seigaku junior tennis team’s captain in their third year and the role had brought them into closer contact, allowing them to develop a closer bond.

“Although it appears that Kaidou might have some competition for Ame-chan’s affection na, An-chan?”

An met Syusuke’s smile with one of her own and she winked at him wickedly.  “He might just, I think.”

“We’re not like that!” Ayame cried, flushing.  And though she desperately wanted to see who the flowers were from, she didn’t want to take the chance and be teased even more.  On some level, she was sure that Fuji was punishing her for not being more careful, since that was his way.  He didn’t scold or reprimand generally, but he did punish or sanction when he felt it necessary.  Nothing like a little healthy embarrassment to discipline the lack of attention to her own welfare.

But Kunimitsu was well aware of what was going on, and quickly put a stop to it.  “Fuji.” He said firmly, eyes glancing toward the honey blond boy.

“Aa, aa.”

“Mou! Who are the flowers from?”  Eiji broke in, genuinely interested as he tried to bounce over Syusuke to get at the little card.

Syusuke batted his hand away, and instead retrieved the card and handed it to Ayame without opening the tiny envelope.  Ayame allowed her curiosity to over come her then, and looked over the flowers with interest.  They were daffodils, bright yellow and cheery looking in their simple clay pot.  There four of them in total, and they looked extremely new and young. 

Touched by their prettiness, and the fact that they would continue to grow (they would make a fine addition to their sparsely decorated dorm room!) Ayame turned to the card in her hand and opened it silently. 

The message was simple and to the point:

            “Get well soon.

                        Sincerely,

                                    Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku senior tennis team”

The writing was almost absurdly neat and straight and almost clinical.  It was almost extremely small, as if someone had been used to writing on small cards.  But the thought that Rikkai tennis players had sent her flowers after doing so much for her (like saving her life!), caused a squiggle of something in her stomach.

“Ah!  It’s from the Rikkaidai tennis team!”

An’s announcement caused a stir among the boys, Eiji in particular, who exclaimed with wide eyes his surprise that Ayame had already made friends with the new tennis team.  Ayame was quick to refute that she hadn’t even talked to them, and so couldn’t understand why they had sent her flowers.

“Oh yes, a group of boys brought those by while you were sleeping a few hours ago,” Junko informed them all cheerfully, returning from her errand bearing two cans of juice and what looked like coffee.  “They were very nice, if a bit quiet.”

Ayame flushed at the giggles that erupted from An and Eiji, and the chuckles from Syusuke.  At that moment, she was never more thankful for Tezuka’s silent and stoic nature or Oishi’s grace.  At least two of her friends weren’t mean.

“Did you ask for their names, Junko-san?” An asked brightly, opening her juice and sipping.

The older woman waved the sixteen year old down when she went to vacate the chair, and smiled at the group of teenagers, all of whom seemed incredibly interested – even her red-faced daughter, who was trying very hard to hide it.  “There were three of them, and only one introduced himself.  I believe his name was Yukimura Seiichi.  He was very polite.”

There were various exchanges of surprise among the Seigaku boys, and Eiji actually bounced in his chair.  “Na! Yukimura!  What did the other two look like?”

Ayame thought they were all too interested and threw a narrowed glance at her male friends.  It was far too embarrassing for her liking.  But if Junko noticed her daughter’s unease, she didn’t say anything, instead she plowed on, describing the other two as if it didn’t affect anyone either way.  “Well, they were both tall, and obviously athletic, which makes sense now that I know they are tennis players.  One had black hair and a very severe face, the other wore glasses and had sort of purple hair.  They were all very handsome.”  Junko giggled at the end, shooting Ayame a rather pleased, and girly look.

“Okaa-san!” Ayame cried in mortification, slumping lowering in her bed.  It was made even worse by the fact that everyone in the room, minus her mother, knew exactly who she had just described.

“Sanada and Yagyuu,” Oishi supplied.

Junko nodded, holding her coffee close to her chest.  “You know them?  I was hoping to ask them if they knew the boys that saved Ayame’s life, since I haven’t had the chance to ask the headmaster yet, but they were in and out too fast.”

An opened her mouth, and Ayame knew in that moment that she was going to have to go into seclusion.  Why they thought it all great fun to embarrass her further, she’d never know.  She sighed.  It was bound to come out eventually… It’s probably all over school by now.

“That Kirihara didn’t come!” An exclaimed, looking unsurprised but annoyed.  “You should have just asked me, Junko-san.  Those boys were the ones that helped Ame-chan, well not Yukimura, the third was actually a stupid boy named Kirihara, but he’s completely thoughtless.”

“You’re very mean, An-chan.”

Junko blinked, even as the Seigaku four looked extremely surprised.  “Sanada, Yagyuu and Kirihara?  They told me that one of the boys held Ayame and physically helped her calm down and steady her breathing.”

An nodded, her smile losing its mischievous quality as it became more relieved than anything.  “That was Yagyuu.” She then turned her eyes to the cowering Ayame.  “You should seek him out and thank him personally, Ame-chan.  He probably saved your life.”

Ayame nodded, sheepish and embarrassed.  The amount of detail included in her mother’s and An’s accounts was unneeded in her opinion.  But she knew that they were right.  She did owe those young men her life and she would have to do something about it.

“Well I’m just glad that Ame-chan is all right!”  Eiji nodded, noticing Ayame’s state of embarrassment and feeling bad for her.  “Ame-chan has to be well to cheer for us this season!”

They all shared a laugh and Ayame agreed (it was not a difficult agreement to make) that she would come to every one of their games, and that she would even give them helpful hints on how to improve their game, despite the fact that they went to a rival school.

.