Rikkaidai's Newest Regular | A Prince of Tennis Fanfiction

The End of a Beginning

A/N: Fluffy and light, a nice little ending to Ryoma's first day~~

Ryoma's POV:

For the first time since I came here to Rikkai Dai, I started up my cell phone. As I began to unpack the stuff that arrived, I multitasked and called my father.

"Ryoma!" my father's childish voice blasted through the microphone of my phone. "How are you? I missed you SOOOO much! Your okasan was so worried! Is everything alright? How are those senpais treating you? Are they mean? Don't tell me they're mean to you! Your cousin's doing great, by the way! Already made a friend! Well, have you? You're much more social now! Ryoma! Reply to me!"

I smiled. Then I quickly frowned.

"Oyaji!" I seethed. "Where's Karupin?"

My father stuttered something intolerable. Then he sighed.

"Don't worry, he isn't dead. I think."

I twitched.

"YOU THINK?!" I screamed. 

Akaya poked his head inside my room and smiled.

"What happened?" Akaya asked. Not waiting for an answer, he bounced in and spread his body on my bed.

I glared at him without real hate, then turned back to my father. 

"What. Happened. To. KARUPIN?!" I shrieked. 

"Ah....um........" My father garbled. "Oh, here's your okasan! Ja ne!"

I silently fumed. What happened to my beloved cat?!

"Ryoma-kun," My mother's sweet voice sounded in my ears, like music. "Before you scream your head off, go check your largest suitcase."

I blinked. I had an urge to throw a tantrum, but since it was my mother who suggested this, and not my annoying and childish baka oyaji, I did as I was told. Dragging my feet to my main suitcase, I grudgingly opened it, and let out a gasp of surprise.

"I take that it is Karupin?" My mother said, slightly amused.

I didn't answer, as I was tackled by a fluffy Himalayan cat. He growled with distaste at being shut in the suitcase for more than 12 hours and messed my hair up angrily at the fact that the only reason he didn't suffocate was because of a lucky gap at the end of the zipper.

"Karupin, stop that!" I mumbled, though with no actual anger in my voice as I tried to stop Karupin from making my hair into a bird's nest. "Hey! Give that back! Karupin! Akaya! A little help?"

Akaya stifled a giggle at the way Karupin skillfully pawed my cell phone out of my fingers and--thankfully--made it fall on the soft bed. My mother laughed. Feeling a little sorry for me--I'm pretty sure--Akaya sighed and gently removed a hissing Karupin from destroying my beautiful hair. Now, that didn't sound like Monkey King at all, I thought with a shudder. I resolved to never think that again. 

"I never knew you owned a cat." 

I face-palmed at his statement.

"You knew me for a day," I deadpanned, "Scratch that, not a day, 12 hours."

Akaya shrugged, grinning, but then said something that made me sigh.

"You should check in with Mura-buchou," he told me. "And ask if you could keep Karupin. I hope you can! He's sooooo cute!!!" 

Karupin's tail curled around Akaya's arm, his cat way of saying ' you're my friend '.  Akaya smiled and gently hugged Karupin.

"Ah, you suppose you're correct," I grumbled. "Come with me?"