Work Text:
"Wow, Ping Pong Girl!!" Some idiot was shouting and pointing a finger.
Yurie looked back with nonchalance and remarked, "Oh, wow, a bowl cut, in 2014." Then she hoisted her ping pong racket above her shoulder and walked her best model strut through the double doors into the arena.
Behind her, Peco was standing, stunned, with his mouth open.
--
She steps into the arena and the loudspeakers say her name. "Kazama Yurie. Right shakehand grip, all-round attacker."
"Kazama?" She hears the awe her family name incites spread in murmurs in the stands and stands up tall. She takes off her aviator shades and snaps them shut with a swift wrist motion. The skylights set fire to her orange hair like the spotlights on a catwalk and she makes her way to the table where Ryuuichi awaited her.
He was staring at her like he'd never seen her before. "Yurie, what are you doing here?"
Yurie brought her arm with the ping pong racket around and pointed it at him with a flourish. "I'm here to take you down, Kazama-san!"
The crowds let out a dramatic "ooooohhhh". A tanned former player in a tropical shirt sat up straighter to see. The Kaio team started sweating.
"真有气场，让那位女士参加我们中国队吧，" said Kong Wenge.
"说什么呀？" said his coach.
"Obaba!" Peco tore through the doors and knocked down two folding chairs to breathlessly grab her shoulders. "Who is that girl?? Do you know her?"
"Mm," the old coach chewed on her toothpick. "She got a way better time than you did on the shrine stairs, you know, Peco."
"Whaaaaaaaaat???"
Back on the table, Kazama Ryuuichi gritted his teeth and served with all his might and Yurie flew to gracefully intercept. Outside, the sun shone on a patch of Casablanca lilies, standing strong and swaying lightly with the wind, such bright orange on white that it seemed like they were made of fire.