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

CHAPTER 45: Motorcycle Frenzy

Ryouko's eyes stung because of a whipping from her hair which was flying from the side of her face, blown by the wind as the motorcycle sped up. She hugged the paper bag where the fruit tart was. "It must be broken to pieces by now." She thought, annoyed. Being kidnapped was a nice cliché, except that she knew this vehicle. She'll know it anywhere.

"Hibiki!" She yelled, looking up at the helmeted head of the driver.

"Oh. I'm impressed. How'd you know it was me?" The driver replied, squinting down on her with bright blue eyes. His hand tightened on the throttle and the motorcycle picked up more speed.

"Slow down, you bonehead! This is a residential area! It's not an open highway for you to be speeding up like a maniac!" She scolded as they rounded up on an alley.

"I'd like to slow down but there are bigger boneheads chasing us for quite some time now..." Hibiki answered.

Ryouko squinted at the sideview mirror. Sure enough, two boys were running behind them. Normal people might be surprised that they were actually catching up on the motorcycle, but Ryouko's not one of them. She knew the identity of the boys well to know that they're capable of doing such a thing.

She assessed the situation. Bad guy on a motorcycle picking up an innocent girl... Damsel in distress, knights in shining armor... The cliché of being kidnapped... "Oh great..." Ryouko groaned. The two must be under a wrong assumption.

"Just drop me off and I'll explain the situation." She told Hibiki.

"I don't want to. Who are they to be overreacting like this anyway? Your boyfriends?" There was a hint of annoyance in his tone and Ryouko sighed in exasperation.

"Seriously, just stop and drop me off..." She answered.

There was no need for that because the two boys had already devised a plan to make Hibiki stop, whether he liked it or not.

~~~

"Echizen-kun!" Hiyoshi called after him.

"What?" Ryoma answered without turning his attention away from the vehicle.

"I know this alleyway. I've been here a few times. When the motorcycle makes the next turn, we'll split up." Hiyoshi told him.

Ryoma's not too unfamiliar with the alley himself but he didn't know it well enough to guess where the path will end up. "I get the drift. You go ahead; I'll pick up the rear." He replied and ran faster.

The vehicle rounded on a curve and Hiyoshi stopped in mid-second to change direction. He had to make a turn on the left then on the right, straight ahead and another right. His legs ached a bit. If he were a normal guy, he would've collapsed then and there, but he's not. Summoning the best of what his reflex skills can give, he rounded up the curves smoothly, careful not to lose too much speed.

Finally, he reached the outside of the alley and almost collided with the motorcycle. It came out just as soon as he did. The driver cursed and hit the brakes, skidding out of control. Ryouko slid out of the arms of the driver, threw the paper bag in the air behind her and while holding onto the backseat of the motorcycle, kicked Hiyoshi out of the way. He stepped backwards several times before hitting a nearby wall. He slid down and sat there, stunned. Ryoma who successfully 'brought up the rear' skidded to a stop as he saw the flying paper bag. It landed on his hands.

The fiasco of the spinning motorcycle just ended. The driver was able to gain control over the vehicle and brought it to an abrupt stop. Ryouko, who was clinging onto the back of the driver's leather jacket for dear life, had her fingers slipping out of her grip and was thrown aboard at the last second, fortunately landing onto not-so-fortunate Hiyoshi, knocking the wind out of him.