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

CHAPTER 28: And in a week's time too...

As soon as Ryouko went back from school, she threw her school bag and duffel bag to the nearest sofa and swerved her way to the tea room. She folded her arms over her chest as she surveyed her cousins calmly drinking tea, without any sort of remorse or repentance over the damage that they have caused her that afternoon.

"Ain't this lovely?" She said in a sarcastic tone.

"Okairinasaimasen, Ojou-sama. (Welcome home, young miss.)" Licht greeted her with a bow.

"Ryouko-chan, come here and have tea." Gaito told her with a smile.

"Sit beside me." Ren said, pulling a vacant chair near him.

"Says who? She's sitting beside me." Natsu remarked, holding the back rest of the same chair and pulling it closer to his side.

"Stop it. You two had been acting like children since the moment you came here in Japan. Behave yourselves." Setsuna said with authority in his voice.

"You're asking an impossible feat, Setsu-nii. You know that there had been bad blood between the two of them since the day they've met each other." Gaito remarked as he swirled the tea in his tea cup.

"I didn't mean to break his stupid violin. Who knows that he'll be holding a grudge against me for five long years just because of it." Natsu commented.

"Take that back or I'll cut your tongue." Ren said with a glare.

"Stop it. And answer my question." Ryouko said with a firm voice. All five cousins looked at her attentively.

She drew a deep breath and said, "Why on earth are you guys here and what the hell do you plan on doing here?" She said the line with emphasis on every word. It was clear that she's really angry.

"Well... Because I got such a rare week's time of vacation from the university, I figured that I can go here to see how you're doing." Setsuna said, making the lies slip so naturally from his mouth. After all, the five of them, including Licht, talked and whipped up some valid reasons to calm down Ryouko's nerves. If ever she was informed that the real reason they came was because of her, she'll send them back to wherever they came from in that instant.

"I finished my field study earlier than I've thought. I thought it will be real nice to see your face again so I went here. It's been such a while since we last saw each other." Gaito told her. It wasn't a lie, he really finished early so his conscience is as clean as a white canvass.

"I had a concour in Italy and I met Gaito there coincidentally." Ren answered. That too, wasn't a lie.

"I was also in Italy with our Dad, assisting with some company matters. I decided to stay for a while to enjoy the sceneries and Dad went ahead. Because I know that Gaito was there, I payed him a visit. He said that he's going to Japan to see you and it won't hurt anyone if I go too." Natsu explained. His explanation wasn't an exact lie. He actually met Ren and Gaito in the airport when he was supposed to return to Korea.

Ryouko looked from one face to the other. It seemed like they're saying the truth.

She sighed. "Well, now that you've seen that I'm alive and well, you can all go back now. It's already handful having Ichidou here, I wouldn't want you guys to add on the noise in the house. I need absolute concentration so I would really hate noise." She said.

"Not to worry. We're all grow ups. We won't make noise." Setsuna said with a laugh.

"Won't we, Ren? Natsu?" He added with meaningful looks to each one.

"As long as he won't provoke me." Ren answered.

"As long as he won't start it." Natsu also said at the same time. They glared at each other.