Tennis no Ojou-sama: A Prince of Tennis Fan Fiction

CHAPTER 3: Girl Genius

"Mousugu isshukan desune? (It been almost a week, hasn't it?)" Horio said. He was looking out the window at the girl throwing away a trash bag outside the building.

Ryoma didn't bother listening to him and merely concentrated on sweeping the floor. It was their turn to clean the classroom and Horio was glad that Fujioka-san was placed in the same group as them. It had been five days since she transferred.

"We're really lucky for Fujioka-san to be placed in our group, huh?" Horio said.

Ryoma remained silent.

"Chotto, Echizen... Are you listening?" Horio told him, looking at his direction.

"Zen zen. (Not at all.)" Ryoma answered.

Horio sighed and looked below again. "A-re? (Japanese expression usually translated as 'Huh?') Where did Fujioka-san go?" He asked aloud.

"Ore ni nani ka? (What about me?)" Ryouko answered from behind him.

Horio almost jumped out of his skin. "Bikkurishita... (That scared me...)" He sighed. He pulled himself together and said, "You work quickly, don't you, Fujioka-san?"

"Ryouko de ii wa. (Ryouko is fine.)" She told him as she erased the writing on the blackboard.

Horio blinked. "What did you say, Fujioka-san?"

"Ryouko de ii tte itteiruno. Fujioka wa chotto nagai shi. (I said Ryouko is fine. Fujioka is a bit long.)" Ryouko told him.

"And I have a lot of cousins, so no one called me 'Fujioka' where I came from." She explained.

"Eh? Hontou-desuka? (Is that true?)" A couple of girls said as they approach Ryouko.

Ryouko nodded.

"Ja, Ryouko-chan wa ii desuka? (Then, is Ryouko-chan alright with you?)" One of them asked.

"-chan wa chotto... (-chan is a bit...)" Ryouko said with a frown, wanting to say that it wasn't alright.

"How many cousins have you got, Ryouko-chan?" The other girl said, ignoring Ryouko's protest.

"Ni-ju-hachi. (Twenty eight.)" Ryouko answered, still frowning because of the -chan they attached at the end of her name.

"Ni-ju-hachi?!" Horio and the two girls chorused in surprise.

"Why do you have that many?" One of the girls asked.

"Shiranai. (I don't know.)" She answered.

"Did they all attend the school you attended before?" Horio asked.

Ryouko nodded.

"Taihen mitai desune. (That seems like a lot of trouble.) Imagine calling out 'Fujioka-san' and having twenty-nine necks swerving at your direction." One of the girls said.

"Stupid. They can't be all in the same age range, can they? That's pretty ridiculous." Horio commented.

"It's not twenty-nine if Ryouko-chan has siblings you know." The other one said, ignoring Horio's remark.

"Do you have siblings, Fujio— I mean, Ryouko-san?" Horio asked.

"Inai. Ore wa hitorikko dakara. (None. I'm an only child.)" She replied.

"Eh..." The girls chorused in understanding.

"By the way, if it's alright to ask, why do you pertain to yourself with 'Ore'?" Horio asked. (As all of you know, 'Ore' is the manlier term for 'I'. 'Boku' is literally used by boys [good boys if you want to stereotype] and 'Watashi' is used by girls and elderly. It can also be utilized by both men and women in formal speech.)