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

CHAPTER 66: Did I?

Mukahi Gakuto woke up in the middle of the night, craving for a drink of water and a trip to the toilet. When he rose, he glanced at the nearby alarm clock and saw that it was already past one at early dawn.

He groaned and forced himself to get up. He went to the bathroom first and washed his hands properly before heading to the kitchen. Things were getting boring because they were not assigned to the same team as Atobe and the Fujioka princess. It was quite a shame too because they could've whipped up strategies to help the chairman with his plans, but situations are getting dire because the only Hyotei player in that team aside from Atobe is Hiyoshi. That stiff guy would not do anything. Yuushi said that they should talk tomorrow and plan something. Well, whatever is cruising into Yuushi's mind, it better be good.

He was yawning as he poured himself a glass of water when suddenly, a creaking sound interrupted the silence. Gakuto's hand stopped midway, the glass almost filled. He listened hard. Somebody from outside opened the front door of the cabin.

A bit alarmed, he crept towards the small living room. "Who is it at this time of the night? Is it a spy from another team? What would they gain by barging into another team's cabin? Or is this a prank of some sort? Is the second event starting?" All kinds of thoughts were running inside his mind when a hooded figure stepped inside, closing the door behind.

The height of the person was enough to make Gakuto relax. "Ichinensei? (A freshman?)" He mumbled to himself.

The suspicious figure took the hood off of his head. Gakuto narrowed his eyes. They were still blurry from sleep. "What the. It's just Echizen." He thought as he saw the person's face. "Where did this kid come from?"

Suddenly, Gakuto's eyes widened and he couldn't believe his ears. Is Echizen Ryoma... humming? Yes, he is hearing it right.

The boy is certainly humming a tune to himself, brushing off what looked like flecks of dirt from the sleeves of his jacket. "~Oretachi wa itsudemo yuzurenai mono dakishimete~ hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm~"

Gakuto pursed his lips tight to keep himself from laughing. Looking at him closely, Echizen Ryoma has a smile lingering on his lips. Something good must have happened to the brat for him to be acting like that. Gakuto couldn't deny that it is making him curious.

Still humming the tune in low volume, Ryoma made his way back to his room. Gakuto followed the boy with his eyes. Now that was something that you won't get to see everyday... "What on earth is he so happy about?" Gakuto asked himself before getting reminded of what he went to the kitchen for. He downed the glass of water and proceeded up the stairs. "Back to sleep." He told himself, stretching his arms.

~~~

Inside his room, Ryoma took his jacket off and hanged it to the coat stand at a corner. He was humming as he changed into a fresh shirt and a pair of shorts before flopping down on the bed like marshmallow. The springy mattress bounced him up and down for a few seconds before he settled onto the bedsheets. He reached over for the blanket.

It took him a moment to realize that he was smiling. He wiped the smile off and sat upright, ending up face to face with his own reflection on the full-sized mirror attached to the closet a few steps from the foot of the bed. He looked at himself. "Let me just get this straight. I'm not smiling because I liked what I did. I'm smiling because I scored a one-up on that intolerable girl. She is always teasing me. I deserve a counter-attack." He told his reflection.

He blinked twice and his hand subconsciously made its way onto his lips, brushing them with the back of his forefinger. "And besides..." He continued his self-pep-talk. "She seriously needed a wake up call. If no one's gonna do it, then she'll never learn." He took his hand off his lips.