Ordinarily Special

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis

A/N: I love Momoshiro so much! Even though I can't see him paired with Ryoma (I've tried it once, didn't like to all that much), I totally love their friendship!

Ryoma coughed, taking another sip of his Ponta. He'd been drinking the purple fizzy drink all day, and now his tongue felt completely raw. Still, he liked the taste and he was going to take advantage of the fact that Momoshiro was nicely paying for every single can. Shifting on his position on the hilltop, Ryoma covered his eyes from the setting sun.

"I can't believe you're still drinking." Momoshiro murmured from beside him, rolling onto his stomach. He breathed in slightly. "You're going to lose your tastebuds like Fuji-senpai."

"That'd be nice." Ryoma said lazily, closing his eyes. "I'd never have to worry about Inui-senpai's juice again."

"Don't worry. Next year they'll graduate and I'll become captain and I'll ban Inui juice forever."

Ryoma narrowed his eyes. "You think you'll be captain?"

"Well, it'll only be you, me, and Kaidoh left. You'll be a sophomore, which is way to young-"

"It's only a year below you."

"But still. And Mamushi could never be captain. He would scare everyone away be hissing and then nobody'll join the team. Isn't the choice obvious?"

Ryoma rested his chin on his hands thoughtfully. He took another sip of his drink. "Hn. I still think it should be me." He smirked. "I am the pillar, after all."

Momoshiro snorted in response. "Pillar my ass."

The younger boy chuckled slightly, and Momoshiro reached over and ruffled his hair. It was tiny gesture of the friendship they shared, and Ryoma comfortably curled into a sleeping position. Evenings like these, just relaxing with his best friend, drinking Ponta – they were sometimes better than tennis. Okay, well maybe not better than tennis, but they came pretty close anyway.

They laid in silence for a moment. The trees bristled and the sky contrasted of purples and oranges, a cool breeze wafting over the two regulars. Momoshiro pulled out a clump of grass and splayed the pieces over Ryoma's face, watching as the boy frowned and swatted them away, his eyes still closed.

"Remember when we played doubles?" Momoshiro grinned, looming over the boy with his violet eyes twinkling.

"Don't remind me." Ryoma muttered, but smirked nevertheless. "You sucked."

"Me?!" Momoshiro immediately fired back. "Anyone sane could tell it was your entire fault." They had this conversation about a million times since their first tournament and they never really settled on an agreement. Momoshiro blamed Ryoma's tendency to try to get every ball and Ryoma blamed Momoshiro for hitting lame shots.

"Sanity is stupid."

Momoshiro turned onto his back. "You're stupid."

Ryoma smiled. "No, you're stupid."

"Nope, it's you."

"That's a lie. It's you."

"I don't lie."

Tugging at his collar, Ryoma took a long swig of his drink before tossing the pop into a nearby garbage can. It clattered in perfectly. "If I was stupid I wouldn't be getting 90's in every single class without even trying."

Momoshiro scoffed. "I get 90's too." He paused. "Sometimes."

Ryoma snorted. "You'll get a ninety when you beat me in tennis - which, of couse, is never."

"Oh yeah?"


Momoshiro sat up, stretching his arms and glaring at Ryoma with a furious glint in his eye. "You wanna go right now? How 'bout a match?" The sophomore looked heated up at what Ryoma had previously said and the latter smirked at the response he'd gotten. Sitting up as well, the preteen nodded. "I guess I'll just have to beat you again."

"Yeah? 'Cause I've been practicing on my shots and they're so strong that these weak arms-" Momoshiro reached over and lightly slapped Ryoma's forearm, "will break before they can return my shot."

Ryoma answered easily, "You say that every time and it never happens."

"That's 'cause I'm being nice. I don't want my best friend to break his arm."

Momoshiro got a smile out of him from that one. Ryoma's lips gently curved upwards and he accepted the challenge with a nod. Standing up and brushing the dust off his shorts, the boy grabbed his racket from the ground beside him and tossed it a few times in the air like he'd seen Kikumaru-senpai do a few times. "I'm ready to beat you."

Momoshiro jumped to his feet, slinging his own racket over his shoulder. A devilish glint appeared in his eyes. "You're on."

The two friends started to walk towards the tennis courts, the sky slowly darkening and a windy breeze beginning to fill the air. Passing by the zooming cars and blinking lampposts, they made their way to where the tennis courts were, laughing and joking around. As the air chilled, Momoshiro wrapped a friendly arm around his kohai and Ryoma leaned into the embrace. They kept walking until they disappeared behind the bushes and trees that led to the courts, far into the distance and away from the eyes of the world.

If someone saw them, they wouldn't think about Echizen Ryoma, the famous tennis prodigy, or Momoshiro Takeshi who ate way too much food. They would only see two best friends without a care in the world, having a good time.

Thanks for reading! :)