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

CHAPTER 102: Atobe's Condition

Ryouko woke up pretty early that morning. Rubbing her eyes, she groggily went downstairs and proceeded straight to the kitchen. She thought it fortunate that she was able to gouge out a few hours of sleep. It was hard to sleep deeply with thoughts running rampant in her head.

Riko was supposed to spend the night in the room that An and Ryouko shared but somehow, she said that she'd rather sleep in Mami and Miyako's room. "It must be because of my behavior last night," Ryouko thought and sighed.

However, Ryouko did not actually have to blame herself for Riko's decision. Satsuki was supposed to room in with Mami and Miyako but Miyako told Riko that Satsuki shouldn't be left together with Mami or they'll start a catfight.

"I'm not going to spend the whole night trying to pry them from each other, thank you very much," Miyako said, quite adamant. Thus, the switch was inevitable even without the incident in the baths.

To sum it up, Satsuki ended up sleeping in a futon between Ryouko and An's beds. Both of the junior high girls suffered an ordeal with Satsuki who was unexpectedly crazy that night. She kept on starting pillow fights and fondling their chests. The remainder of the night was spent with Satsuki giving tips on how to ensure chest growth. An was faintly interested. Ryouko merely sighed and waited until they tired out and the lights were turned off. Satsuki and An were out cold after that and only Ryouko had difficulty sleeping.

"I'm parched..." Ryouko said sleepily. Yawning from time to time, she opened the refrigerator, took out a pitcher of water and poured herself a glassful. She lifted it up to her lips. The cold liquid awakened her senses as it trickled down her throat.

As she was drinking, Riko suddenly entered the kitchen. Ryouko almost choked. She gulped down the water and immediately greeted her. "O-ohayougozaimasu... (G-good morning...)" she said almost timidly.

"Ohayou... (Good morning...)" Riko answered awkwardly. "Man... I sure outdid my nosiness this time. She's on her guard. I shouldn't have said that in the baths last night," she thought.

"Umm..." Ryouko suddenly said, tucking a few stray strands of hair behind her ear and looking shyly at Riko. The corners of her lower eyelids were still moist from yawning and the way her pupils faltered looked somewhat bashful, uncannily similar to the way a teenage girl confessing to a guy she likes looked like.

"Chou kawaii... (Super cute...)" Riko thought and felt herself blushing. She abruptly turned her back at Ryouko. "What the heck is with this girl's charms? She's too beguiling!" she thought, a bit flustered.

"Senpai?" Ryouko called, a little confused at Riko's behavior.

Riko turned around to face her, laughing forcibly. "Nani, nani? (What is it, what is it?)" she said.

"About yesterday... In the grounds..." Ryouko said and seemed to hesitate. She opened her mouth but Riko interrupted her.

"Oh, about that? Don't worry. I won't pry into it. I won't ask anything about it either, even though I'm really curious. It's none of my business anyways," Riko told her, smiling and scratching her head. She regarded Ryouko with kind eyes. "You must've been startled last night. I'm really sorry," she added.

"No. It's fine. I'm the one who left so abruptly. You even went to the lengths of sleeping in another room to avoid me," Ryouko answered. She stood straight and bowed her head. "Thank you for being considerate."

"No, no, it's not a big deal. I kinda realized that I was prying too much. And it wasn't as if I was avoiding you or anything. Miyako-chan told me that it would be better if Satsuki and I switch rooms," Riko explained. "Kocchi koso gomenne... (I'm also sorry...)" she added.