Itsuki Ameno

* Tennis
* School
* Casual
* Original

**Itsuki Ameno** is the shortest member of the boys’ soft tennis club and the younger brother of Namie Ameno (the vice-captain of the Girls' soft tennis club)

## Appearance

Itsuki has auburn colored hair and matching colored eyes. He is the shortest of the tennis team. He has burn scars on his back as a result of his mother pouring boiling water on him when he was an infant.

## Personality

Itsuki is generally a reserved person who usually distances himself from other people. He usually spends his time alone and observes others when playing. In some occasions, he tries to occupy himself through random things (e.g. playing with a gecko, stabilizing a ball on top of a racket).

Due to his reserved personality, Itsuki tends to ignore other people's comments about himself and the soft tennis club and rarely gets angry when they make fun of him/the soft tennis club. However, when he becomes angry, Itsuki won’t hesitate in using violence to those who belittle him. He seems to enjoy watching other people suffer as a consequence of their behavior.

When Maki joins the club, Itsuki considers himself to be more superior than Maki. He tends to belittle and purposely tease Maki in order to show his superiority. However, when he realizes that Maki is way better than him, Itsuki starts to acknowledge Maki and no longer teases him.

Itsuki is famous for being sarcastic towards others and telling dark jokes. He can be seen jokingly saying “I will kill you” to others, which causes others to fear him. He also likes to give a “pet-name” to others (e.g. Kana-cat for Mitsue and Maki-maki for Maki).

Soon after gaining interest in soft tennis, Itsuki is cheerful and always gives his best to support the club activities. He and Rintaro practice hard in order to win their matches. When they lose the match, he doesn’t blame Rintaro for it, but instead he supports him by saying that they will win the next match.

## Plot

### Childhood

Itsuki is the youngest child in the Ameno family. He is one year younger than his sister Namie. His mother suffers from parental neurosis and has abused Itsuki before. When he was 2 years old, his mother poured boiling water on his back, which gave him a severe burn wound. The neighbors quickly rushed him to the hospital and he was taken into the care of a child guidance center. Soon after the event, his parents divorced while Itsuki and his sister were brought up by their father’s parents.

### Shijo Minami Middle School

Following his sister's footsteps, Itsuki joins the soft tennis club during his first year in Shijo Minami Junior High. However, he is not as passionate as his sister in playing the game and he doesn’t like putting too much effort into it. This is why most of his school friends often tease him by comparing him with his sister. Itsuki doesn’t seem to be troubled with it and ignores it most of the time.

During their second year in the club, the boys’ soft tennis team are having a practice match against the girls’ soft tennis team. Itsuki plays as the back player with Nao as his partner. The game is heavily one-sided with the boys’ being outperformed by the girls, unable to score a single point throughout the match. Due to their poor performance, Takuto angrily quits the soft tennis team, leaving only seven members in the team.

The next day, the club members are informed that if they don’t win a single match during summer tournaments, they will be disbanded. Itsuki tells them that it’s not just their fault for the poor performance; instead, the club alumni are also responsible for it. The teams are desperate to find new members to join the soft tennis club, but their efforts are initially futile since there are no first-year students who are interested in joining the club. Toma manages to recruit Maki to join the club and introduces him to the rest of the club members.

In order to accustom Maki to soft tennis, Toma suggests a practice match against the other pairs of the club. Itsuki paired with Nao, and the two face up against the Maki – Toma pair in the third game. During the match, Itsuki deliberately aims the ball straight toward Maki to tease him. Maki gets hit by the ball on his thigh, leaving a bruise on it. As the game progresses, the Itsuki – Nao pair is overwhelmed by Maki who is continuously running all over the court to avoid Itsuki's direct serve and successfully returns it. This causes the Itsuki – Nao pair to lose their advantage and ultimately lose the match. Angered by the team's poor performance, Toma violently throws his racket and leaves the team.

During the next practice session, the downcast boys are sitting at their practice spot discussing how they’re a club on the verge of disbanding with a captain who is fed up with them. While they are talking, two boys approach them and start to tease them. Itsuki tells them to leave. However, they proceed to tease Itsuki about his family’s condition. In rage, Itsuki takes his racket and hits one of the bullies in the head. As the other members run up to the bully to check on him, Rintaro and Maki try to calm down Itsuki and tell Itsuki to not let the bullies' words bother him. Later, Rintaro accompanies Itsuki to Sakurai-sensei, who said that he understands why Itsuki hit the bully, but he condemns the violence.

The next day, Toma attends the club session and apologizes to the rest of the members for being selfish. Maki informs the club that their pair combination is what makes them awful, so he decides to change them all. Itsuki is now paired with Rintaro, Tsubasa is now paired with Shingo, and Nao is now paired with Taiyo. Maki then suggests a 15-point game to test the new pair combinations. In the practice match, Itsuki is the front player paired with Rintaro in the back. With this new combination, Rintaro and Itsuki manage to win the practice match against Maki and Toma.

The following days, the club becomes livelier during the practice sessions as every member has found their motivation to practice soft tennis harder than before. At the end of the practice session, Sakurai-sensei shows up and informs the team that he arranged a practice match against Misaki Academy. The team becomes pessimistic about winning against them, but Maki tells them not to worry about it because the team has improved a lot and through the practice match, the team can discover their own strengths and weaknesses.

During the practice match against Misaki Academy, Itsuki and Rintaro are up against the Yanagishita and Ikeda pair. They lose the first set, but manage to accustom themselves to the strength and speed of their opponents’ serves. The Itsuki – Rintaro pair are able to return the opponent's serve, look for openings, and win the second set. However, the pair soon become exhausted and lose the 3rd and 4th set, giving victory to the Yanagishita – Ikeda pair. All in all, all the pairs lost their matches against Misaki Academy.

After the practice match against Misaki Academy, the team is motivated to practice more. Itsuki changes his clothes with the rest of the team for the first time, revealing the burn scar on his back. Maki notices it, but doesn’t comment. Instead, he tells Itsuki that he has devised some new tricks to improve his playstyle. As the team members are discussing practice plans, Sakurai-sensei suggests the club shouldn’t overdo practice, so instead he arranges a barbecue party for the team on Sunday. The team enjoys the party and does a victory dance to pray for their success during the summer tournament. However, due to a complaint from Nao’s mother, the club is halted and not allowed to do practice for the whole week.

The next day, the boys discuss in the library a plan to scout the Hatanouka Middle School Tennis Club, one of the popular schools participating in the National Soft Tennis Championship, to get a gist of their performance. With Maki and Yuuta cross-dressing as girls and doing the scouting, the rest of the team watches them from a distance. The team then analyzes the recording in the following days. Itsuki pleads to his sister for another practice match with the Girls’ soft tennis team, while at the same time Sakurai-sensei pleads to Murou-sensei. At the end of the week, the team receives good news from Yuuta as they manage to secure a practice match with the Girls’ soft tennis club.

On the day of the Practice match between the Boys’ and Girls’ soft tennis team, Shingo brings his little sister, An, to watch the match. He introduces her to the rest of the team in the locker room. During preparation for the match, Rintaro and Itsuki brush the court while Mitsue, Yuu, and Shingo buy some drinks. An goes to the toilet unaccompanied and goes missing. Shingo quickly realizes that An is missing and the rest of the team helps him to look for her. With the match on the brink of cancellation, Maki manages to find An sleeping inside the infirmary. All the boys team members including Sakurai-sensei take turns to apologize to the girls’ soft tennis club. The team then continues the practice match as scheduled.

During the summer tournament, Itsuki and Rintaro played first against Ashitaka and Murai from Johoku Middle School. They managed to set the game pace and maintain a good performance, winning the first 2 sets. However, during the third set, Rintaro’s leg starts to cramp up, greatly affecting his performance and preventing him from returning the serve effectively. This causes the pair to lose the next 2 sets, bringing the match to a final set. As Rintaro’s cramp is not getting better, Itsuki tells him to stay in the center and avoid running too much. The pair loses the game with a score of 2-3. Rintaro walks to the bench assisted by Itsuki. He apologizes for holding him back due to his injury, but Itsuki reassures him that they’ll win the game next time. Both of them are congratulated by the rest of the team for their performance.

Before the match between the Maki and Toma pair and the Itsuse brothers, Rintaro abruptly runs outside the tennis court. Itsuki notices Rintaro’s behavior and quickly follows him. Rintaro tells him that he was looking for his biological mother. After realizing that he is unable to find her, Rintaro then runs back to the tennis court to watch Maki and Toma’s match. Still confused with Rintaro’s behavior, Itsuki follows him back to the tennis court.

In the epilogue, set 2 years after the national soft tennis championship, Itsuki is seen hanging out with his friends in senior high school and has grown taller.

## Playstyle and Abilities

Itsuki used to play at the back when paired with Nao. However, he is more suited as a front player because of his quick decision-making skills and good focus. Complemented with Rintaro’s cautious playstyle, he’s able to set the game pace and execute well-coordinated plays with Rintaro.

## Relationships

### Namie Ameno

Itsuki’s sister is the vice-captain of the Girls’ soft tennis team. She cares about Itsuki’s condition and always gives her best to support him. When Itsuki got into trouble with the bullies, she supported his decision to fight back the bullies, but condemned the violence. The other time when Itsuki pleaded with her for a practice match against the Girls’ soft tennis team, she granted it and praised the effort made by the Boys’ during the last couple of months.

### Rintaro Futsu

Itsuki’s partner is Rintaro, who plays as the back player: they always support each other during the match and outside the match. When Itsuki hits the bully with his racket, Rintaro supports him by reassuring and accompanying him to Sakurai sensei. The other time when Rintaro was having a leg cramp during the summer tournament, Itsuki didn’t blame him; instead, he tells him that they will win the game next time.

## Quotes

* Nao: You’ve got a big sister who’s smart, pretty, and good at tennis, I envy you.
Itsuki: Are you being serious?
Nao: (*surprised*) Huh? Uh… I- I was joking.
Itsuki: You better be. If not, I’ll kill you. **(Episode 1)**
* Rintaro: Disband, though? I feel bad for our seniors
Itsuki: Don’t you think those seniors are partially to blame, too? It’s not just our fault.**(Episode 1)**
* Let’s not haze the newbie, Tsubasa. **(Episode 2)**
* Good teams get preferential treatment. That’s how the world works. **(Episode 2)**
* It’s a bad idea to let him (Maki) get full of himself. **(Episode 3)**
* Getting hit by a soft tennis ball isn’t going to kill you. **(Episode 3)**
* (*to Nakao while grabbing the racket*) You need to learn when to shut up. **(Episode 3)**
* Itsuki: (*to An Takenouchi*) Wow, you’re so smart, way smarter than Shingo.
Shingo: Sure is, she can even read katakana. **(Episode 9)**
* Rintaro: Sorry, I held you back.
Itsuki: Don’t apologize, we almost had it. We’ll win next time for sure. **(Episode 10)**

## Trivia

* Itsuki has a habit of giving his friends unusual nicknames e.g. ***Maki-Maki*** (Maki Katsuragi) & ***Kanacat*** (Kanako Mitsue). According to the director, he actually has given everyone a pet name in his mind. However, he merely does not voice them because he thinks the other person will get angry if he says it to their face.
* Itsuki's hobby is playing a horror-type shooting game or similar. His sister likes them indiscriminately and would join him.
* Itsuki blood type is B.

### **Etymology**

* The name **Itsuki** means "tree" (樹).
* Itsuki's surname **Ameno** means "rain" (雨) (**ame**) and "field, wilderness" (野) (**no**).