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

CHAPTER 39: Into the Starry Night

Ryouko walked through the corridor headed for the classroom with her hand still rubbing the spot where she got hit by a tennis ball earlier. She wondered where it came from. Surely she didn't piss somebody enough for her to fall victim to such childish pranks.

She stopped and thought, "Then again, I'm also the type to do such a silly prank..." She shrugged the thought off and concluded that whatever happened back then was purely coincidental. She was just unlucky enough to be passing through when somebody accidentally lost or threw off their tennis ball.

When she reached her destination, her eyes immediately scanned the room for Ryoma. He was already seated on his chair, scribbling busily at a page in his notebook. She was about to approach him when all of a sudden, the bell rang. She hurried to go to her seat.

As the teacher entered, she stole a glance at Ryoma. He seemed to be totally absorbed in writing something in his notebook that he didn't even notice her staring for a long time.

At the other side of the room, Mami nudged Miyako from behind.

"What?" Miyako asked in a whisper as she looked over her shoulder when their teacher turned around.

Mami made a meaningful glance at Ryoma and Ryouko's direction. It can be clearly seen that Ryouko was staring at Ryoma intently. Ryoma, on the other hand, seemed to find his notebook extremely interesting that he never looked anywhere but on it.

Mami made a look that asked, 'Do you know what happened?'

Miyako replied by shrugging her shoulders.

Mami settled back onto her seat and crossed her arms across her chest. Whatever it was, she's definitely going to find out.

~~~

The sound of the bell to signal the end of class couldn't have been more welcome to the boy who was under a lot of emotional stress for the last few hours. Ryoma felt Ryouko's gaze boring a hole at the side of his head for the entire afternoon. It was the most uncomfortable situation he ever encountered.

"Stand." The class president said. The class did as they were told. Ryouko stood without taking her eyes off of Ryoma.

"Bow."

Even as she bowed her head, she still fixed her rust-colored eyes directly at him. It made him shift uneasily.

"Arigatougozaimasu!" The class chorused.

Everyone began gathering their things and placing them back inside their bags, getting ready to go home.

Ryouko was about to approach Ryoma when Horio and Ritsu suddenly blocked her way.

"Ryouko-san, please take care of us again." Ritsu said. Horio grinned.

Ryouko smiled at them. "The bus will be here after an hour. You should go home to ask your parents' permission and prepare your things."

"Got it, Ryouko-san." Horio replied.

When both of them were gone, Ryoma was also nowhere to be seen. Ryouko sighed in disappointment.

Outside the classroom, Ryoma let out a sigh of relief. "Shine ga to omotta. (I thought I was going to die.)" He muttered under his breath before slinging his bag over his shoulder. He was about to go when Miyako and Mami suddenly barricaded the corridor.

He stepped sideward to avoid them but they also stepped sideward to block his way. He went the other way and they copied his movement, mirror-like, to stop him from going through.

"Move while I'm still being nice." Ryoma said in a tone of exaggerated patience.

"Is it our imagination or are you really avoiding Ryouko-chan?" Mami said in a wondering voice.