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

CHAPTER 76: Ryouko and the Guidance Counselor

Ryouko found Tezuka looking up at the lights that lit the tennis courts. His arms were crossed over his chest. Ryouko smiled as a thought hit her. "Even his posture depicts how stiff his personality is." She told herself.

She placed her duffel on the ground, zipped it open as quietly as she could and took out two tennis rackets from inside. She straightened and yelled, "Heads up!"

Her shout caught Tezuka's attention. He looked at her direction. Ryouko threw one of the tennis rackets in the air. Tezuka easily caught it. "What are you doing?" Tezuka asked.

"Look alive!" She said in response. She held a tennis ball in front of her with her left hand, dropped it and lobbed it across the court.

Tezuka returned her shot with a lob. Ryouko watched the ball fly towards her side of the court. She lobbed it again towards him. Since the flight of the ball is very slow, the two only needed to walk towards the direction it was heading.

"Is this your idea of an after-dinner exercise?" Tezuka asked as he lobbed it back.

"Well, this is better than just walking around, isn't it, Cap?" She replied as she returned it. "I was gonna invite you to a friendly match to show my gratitude for the favor you did for me this morning."

"A match is your idea of showing gratitude?" He said, smirking. He swung the tennis racket up, sending the tennis ball into a wider arc.

"Sure. It's an honor to have a match with me. I'm Australian junior champion you know." She answered, pulling off an effortless swing.

"I admire that confidence. Do you think you can win against me in a serious match?" He replied, lobbing the ball back.

"No one will know if we don't try." Ryouko told him with a smirk.

They continued the rally for a few more minutes before Tezuka noticed the time. "You should get going now." He told her.

"Not until we finish this." Ryouko said, fishing something from her duffel bag. She took out two small containers and a pouch with two teaspoons inside. She handed one container to Tezuka.

"What is this?" He asked, opening the lid.

"Gelatin dessert. It's coffee jelly with a bit of a twist. It's my own recipe. I placed mangoes and peaches in it before it hardened. My older cousins love this concoction. I thought you wouldn't like sweet stuff like some of them does. This one's very mellow." She answered, giving him one of the spoons.

Tezuka took the spoon and scooped some jelly. It looked pretty. The jelly has a light brown color and sort of transparent so that you can see the pieces of mangoes and peaches trapped inside it. He gave it a test-taste. "It's really nice. You really are a good cook like what the rumors say." He told her.

"Oh, this is far from cooking." Ryouko said after eating a spoonful. "All you have to do is sprinkle gelatin powder in the right amount of water in a small casserole, flavor it, put it under a small flame, stir constantly before it boils, pour it on the molder, place the fruits and let it harden. Quite foolproof in fact. Anyone can make this stuff."

"If that's supposed to make the explanation of the procedure simple, you're not doing a fairly good job." He commented.

"It's because you have never stepped in a kitchen before, Captain." She retorted.

"That is so rude. I do take home economics." Tezuka pointed out. Ryouko nearly choked on her coffee jelly for bursting out in laughter. "I'm so sorry, Cap, but the thought of you in an apron is just too bloody funny." She chuckled.