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

CHAPTER 98: Let's Play Nice

"Tsumannai... (I'm bored...)" Ryouko said as she dropped her pen and jutted out her lips. She slumped onto the table, her chin and elbows resting on the polished wooden surface. It was so smooth and shiny that she can see her reflection on it. She turned to Seijuro. "Nee Sei-sama... Can we stop the etiquette lessons already? I've already memorized every rule written in that thing," she added, narrowing her eyes at the big, hardbound book in Seijuro's hands.

Seijuro heaved a sigh. Indeed, he already exhausted all of the materials he had prepared for Ryouko's lessons. It had only been three days since his arrival at the Fujioka mansion. She had learned everything in that short amount of time. He didn't anticipate how quickly his pupil can absorb information. He had to admit that she's extremely smart for her age.

Seijuro snapped the book close. "Well, what do you want to learn?" he asked.

Ryouko blinked at him. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Just as the words implied, tell me anything you want to learn and I'll teach it to you," he replied. Seijuro remembered what his father had said to him before he was sent to England. It was not really important for Ryouko to learn manners and etiquette. As a matter of fact, Seijuro has suspicions that she had already been receiving such lessons since early childhood. Every child of the upper class had to undergo such initiation before debuting to the public.

He set his red eyes on his pupil. What is important is for this little princess to have a companion and the bottom line is that I have to keep her entertained, he told himself.

Ryouko had lifted herself off from the table, propped her elbows on the surface and placed her cheeks on both palms. She smiled at Seijuro cheekily. "Is that your way of saying you are good at everything? What if I ask you to teach me something that you don't know?"

Seijuro placed the book back on the shelf. He looked at Ryouko over his shoulder. "If it is something out of the area of my expertise, then I'll just learn it while teaching. I do have a lot of free time outside of our lessons."

"Ohh?" Ryouko said. Seijuro felt annoyed at her tone. It sounded like a mixture of mockery and admiration, but he wasn't sure which one was more dominant. There were a lot of instances where Seijuro failed to analyze the true feelings of this girl. She seemed transparent most of the time but there is more to her than meets the eye.

Ryouko stood from the chair and sat on the table instead, facing the wall free of any furniture. She took out a tennis ball from the pocket of her skirt and started bouncing it against the wall. It went back and forth into her hand skillfully. "In that case, since I have a veeeeery dependable tutor, I'll come up with a lot of interesting activities to learn," she said, putting emphasis on her words.

Seijuro's eye twitched. Was it just him or did that sound like a challenge?

"But for now..." she continued. "Can you teach me how to play an instrument?" The ball bounced back into her open palm and she closed her fist around it. She turned towards Seijuro and threw the ball at him.

Seijuro caught it without batting an eyelash. "What kind of instrument?" he asked, throwing the tennis ball back.

Ryouko caught it with the same steadiness. "I don't know... But I'm interested in learning the violin," she hurled the ball back to Seijuro.

"The violin?" Seijuro questioned, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Are you saying that you're confident in mastering such a complex instrument during the remaining four days under my tutelage?" he tossed the ball back to Ryouko.