Major Tags: None Other Tags: None Word Count: 425 words
***
“Here!” Onoda carefully tied the strap through the V throat of the racket where the handle swelled into the head. The little charm swung sweetly, her smiling face beaming up at Ryoma and Onoda both.
“…What’s that?” Ryoma asked blankly, twisting the racket from side to side to watch her dance.
“It’s Pettanko-chan! The main character from Love Hime!” Onoda clasped his hands together, staring at her worshipfully. Ryoma looked from the piece of painted plastic to Onoda, then back again.
“I know who it is. You have a big poster of her in my room. But why did you tie her to my racket?” He asked bluntly.
“For luck! Whenever we sing the Love Hime song, we win. But you can’t sing while playing—“
“I don’t need luck to win,” Ryoma interrupted. The slump of Onoda’s shoulders and the way he hunched his head down a little was enough to make Ryoma’s tone a little gentler. “And I can’t play with something tied to my racket. It’d hit my hand and be distracting.”
“Oh.” Onoda hastily undid the knots he’d tied, tucking the tiny figurine away into his backpack. He thought for a couple of seconds, then his face lit up.
“I’ll get you some stickers instead!” Onoda’s smile, so sweet and innocent, stopped Ryoma from pointing out that professional tennis players didn’t have anime stickers over their rackets.
“I still don’t need luck,” he said instead.
“Of course not - but it can’t hurt!” Onoda beamed up at Ryoma and said, lowering his voice a little, “I’d sing it in the stands for you but everyone’s always so quiet during matches. Not like bike races where all the spectators shout and cheer!”
“You’re not supposed to distract the players,” Ryoma said. Still, he had to admit, the mood at the bike races was infectious. He’d made the mistake of telling Momo last weekend that he had to go watch the finale of Onoda’s race and the whole Seigaku team had turned out to watch with him (and get a glimpse of ‘o-chibi’s chibi-chan’, as Eiji put it). The tennis team had ended up yelling just as loudly as the other spectators – and when Fuji had put a racket in Taka’s hand, Taka’d cheered so much that he’d ended up hoarse.
“Stickers won’t distract them,” Onoda said, still smiling that sweet smile of his. “And only we’ll know they’re there.”
And the rest of his team, Ryoma didn’t point out. What was the point? They all liked Onoda as much as he did.
FILL: TEAM PRINCE OF TENNIS, T
Other Tags: None
Word Count: 425 words
***
“Here!” Onoda carefully tied the strap through the V throat of the racket where the handle swelled into the head. The little charm swung sweetly, her smiling face beaming up at Ryoma and Onoda both.
“…What’s that?” Ryoma asked blankly, twisting the racket from side to side to watch her dance.
“It’s Pettanko-chan! The main character from Love Hime!” Onoda clasped his hands together, staring at her worshipfully. Ryoma looked from the piece of painted plastic to Onoda, then back again.
“I know who it is. You have a big poster of her in my room. But why did you tie her to my racket?” He asked bluntly.
“For luck! Whenever we sing the Love Hime song, we win. But you can’t sing while playing—“
“I don’t need luck to win,” Ryoma interrupted. The slump of Onoda’s shoulders and the way he hunched his head down a little was enough to make Ryoma’s tone a little gentler. “And I can’t play with something tied to my racket. It’d hit my hand and be distracting.”
“Oh.” Onoda hastily undid the knots he’d tied, tucking the tiny figurine away into his backpack. He thought for a couple of seconds, then his face lit up.
“I’ll get you some stickers instead!” Onoda’s smile, so sweet and innocent, stopped Ryoma from pointing out that professional tennis players didn’t have anime stickers over their rackets.
“I still don’t need luck,” he said instead.
“Of course not - but it can’t hurt!” Onoda beamed up at Ryoma and said, lowering his voice a little, “I’d sing it in the stands for you but everyone’s always so quiet during matches. Not like bike races where all the spectators shout and cheer!”
“You’re not supposed to distract the players,” Ryoma said. Still, he had to admit, the mood at the bike races was infectious. He’d made the mistake of telling Momo last weekend that he had to go watch the finale of Onoda’s race and the whole Seigaku team had turned out to watch with him (and get a glimpse of ‘o-chibi’s chibi-chan’, as Eiji put it). The tennis team had ended up yelling just as loudly as the other spectators – and when Fuji had put a racket in Taka’s hand, Taka’d cheered so much that he’d ended up hoarse.
“Stickers won’t distract them,” Onoda said, still smiling that sweet smile of his. “And only we’ll know they’re there.”
And the rest of his team, Ryoma didn’t point out. What was the point? They all liked Onoda as much as he did.