Ryouma sat in his rooms in the middle town, with his sword over his knees, cleaning it. His hands moved automatically, years and years of familiarity guiding them while his eyes rested on the blade without seeing it.
There were strong people, here. Not many that could give him trouble, but a handful who might be worth something to him. A handful who might help him step up. Not that he cared about rank, not like Horio, or even Kachiro, whose ambitions were a lot more realistic. He’d watched his father’s distant smirk at generals who passed through their town. Rank wouldn’t help.
His sword flashed lantern light up at him as he turned it over and he blinked dark spots out of his eyes as he reached for the oil.
Rank wouldn’t help. Talent wouldn’t help. Plenty of people were talented; Ryouma was talented; talent wasn’t enough to get past his father. The rest of the world fell away from Ryouma’s sword and left only him standing, and still he couldn’t find the step to reach where his father stood.
Stood smirking.
Ryouma gazed blankly at the surface of his sword as his hands smoothed a fold of soft paper down its curve, wiping away excess oil.
Maybe Uesugi would be different. Maybe he would finally find it here.
Whatever it was.
End
*pets Echizen* Poor kid.
Seriously. He’s so just not getting it yet. Ah, well, that’s what the storyline is for. *pets him too*
♥ for Ryoma, as always. It’s nice to see behind his snark and cocky confidence.
*nodnod* He’s one of those characters who’s so reserved, I can’t help feeling he’s given to introspection. *grins* At least when he’s not busy mouthing off. Back to the action next, though!
…. seriously. these bits are just the teasers, right? you’re purposely stringing us along, tiny bit by tiny bit until we’re being reason, salivating and craving more. Right?
[giggles] I’m going to go crazy enjoying reading this… I can tell. It’s already begun.
Well, I do need to set it all up properly. *angelic expression*
*giggling* Seriously, though. Most parts will be fairly short, but there’s action coming!
Looks like Echizen isn’t such a cocky brat (most of the time). Really liking this.
*nodnod* Echizen around people and Echizen when he’s alone often seem to be quite different, when I read/watch the series. I hoped to give him some of his proper depth, for these stories; good to hear it worked out! *pleased*
I’ve squeed about this once and I’ll do it again: the samurai *thing* sits on Ryoma’s personality so much better than uber!tennis prodigy.
Oh, Ryoma, I’ll just sit here and be stringed along by Branch-san and be oblivious with you okay? We ought to be around the same age. Or maybe you’ll be older.
*hearts* I do feel like it gives Ryouma more of the edge he deserves to have. *pets him*
*laughing* Poor guy is going to have to get kind of frustrated before the light dawns, but it’s good for him, I’m sure…
Actually I think that it’s the edge that Konomi-sensei is trying to give Ryoma, only it isn’t working too well with tennis. Whereas it seems so much more natural, and therefore pronounced and more fangirlable here.
Little doses of frustration are like taking little doses of arsenic each day! 😀
*de-lurking*
One of the things I like best about your writing is the academic side to it. I’m only passingly familiar with Japanese history/culture, so I often feel like I miss a lot of subtext in cultural idioms and expectations that just go right over my head. For example, it never occured to me that OF COURSE PoT is also (kind of) a samurai story! Genius! Reading your writings/journal often opens a new perspective on anime/manga for me – so thank you!
It’s amazing how – in only a few lines! – you so distinctly capture Ryouma’s state of mind at the beginning of the manga. He needs something, but he doesn’t know what it is! And it’s burning him up inside!
‘Cause his dad’s kind of a jerk!It’s especially evocative knowing what’s going to happen later.i.e., Tezuka whapping Ryouma over the head with a raquet until he gets it.*happy noises*
*re-lurking*
*sparkles* Thank you so much! Giving the boys swords seems so natural to me, it’s good to know it works well for other readers too.
*pleased* And I’ve always liked doing these little character sketches for Ryouma; they really work well for him.