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

CHAPTER 35: Tasukete, Ryouko-san! (Help us, Ryouko!)

"Should I walk you home?" Ryouko told Ryoma.

"You wanna die?" Ryoma answered sarcastically.

"I was joking. You're such a sensitive freak." Ryouko said matter-of-factly.

"You should learn the things that you can joke about and those that you can't." Ryoma replied.

"Fine, fine, I got it. Go home already. My head is hurting at the sight of you." Ryouko said, waving her hand impatiently. She was seeing Ryoma off at the gate of the Fujioka mansion.

"I'm planning on going. You're the one that's delaying me." Ryoma said. He was about to go when Ryouko stopped him.

"Wait a minute." She said.

"What?" Ryoma asked.

"What was that at the airport earlier? The thing that Ren-nii told you." Ryouko asked.

Ryoma recalled what happened before Ryouko's cousins went inside the airport.

"Oi, Ryoma. You know what to do, right?" Ren told him.

"Dakara, iwarenakute iin-desuyo. (I told you, you don't have to tell me.)" Ryoma replied, a bit annoyed.

"Oh, that? Betsami nandemonai. (Nothing really.)" He answered.

Ryouko knew that it wasn't 'nothing, really' but she kept her mouth shut and stopped herself from prying further. If Ryoma didn't want to tell her then she'll probably not know about it 'til the day she die.

"Wakatta. Hayaku ike, bakayaro. (I got it. Hurry up and go, stupid bastard.)" She said moodily before turning around and entering the mansion gate.

Ryoma smiled at her childish act and went.

~~~

Ryouko opened her right eye. The first thing she saw was the face of the grandfather clock at the edge of her room. She sent her cousins off at the airport yesterday and was made to have an early night by Ichidou and Licht's endless nagging. Whenever Ryouko had an early sleep, she had the tendency to prolong it. Thanks to that, in the first time since she arrived in Japan, she overslept.

She stared at the clock's face for several seconds before the reality sunk in. She scrambled out of bed.

"I'm late." She said as she took out her uniform from her closet.

"Baka Ichidou! Baka Licht! Why didn't you wake me up!" She yelled.

There was some scrambling noise from downstairs as someone walked up the grand staircase in a hurry.

"Ryouko-chan? You haven't left yet?" Came the voice of Ichidou. He pulled Ryouko's door open.

Ryouko was in the middle of changing her clothes and so Ichidou saw her half-naked. His face went tomato red.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up?" Ryouko said as she hiked up her skirt.

Ichidou closed the door with a bang.

"I didn't know that you were still here." Ichidou replied quietly, still getting over the shock.

"What about Licht?" Came Ryouko's muffled voice from the room.

"He went out two hours ago to do an early shopping. He told me to wake you up but you usually wake up fine on your own so I forgot." Ichidou explained.

The door opened and Ryouko came out, fully dressed. "Get outta my way then... I'm late for school." She said.

Ichidou was stuck on the spot that he was standing on. Thinking about it, he should've just went with his brothers. It'll be hard to look at Ryouko in the face after what just happened.