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

CHAPTER 103: Ryouko versus Keigo!

"Oi..." Ryouko said as she stared at Ryoma's closed eyelids. "Chikai... (He's close...)" she thought. He's so close that she could estimate the length of his eyelashes.

All of a sudden, she was reminded of yesterday's orange incident. She bit her lower lip and her eyebrows knitted together. "Why am I remembering such an agitating thing in this situation?" she told herself bitterly.

Ryouko blinked questioningly. Agitating? Why would she be agitated because of that? It was part of the game. She had already spent a whole lot of time wondering about why she hurled that orange at Ryoma and Sakuno.

That distance... The way Ryuzaki Sakuno got close to Ryoma... Ryouko didn't like it one bit. Even recalling the scene makes her bite her lower lip in frustration.

"Souka... (I see...)" Ryouko thought, coming to a realization. "Riyuu wa wakatta... (I now know the reason...)"

She lifted her hand to the back of Ryoma's head and pressed her forehead to his even firmer.

"Huh?" Ryoma said in surprise and opened his eyes. Ryouko had her eyes closed and she was smiling slightly.

"Kono kyori wa ore no mono. (This distance belongs to me.) Someone was intruding on what's mine, it's only natural that I got riled up," Ryouko mumbled. "That was why I was agitated," she added.

"What are you talking about?" Ryoma asked, totally clueless.

She suddenly opened her eyes again and met Ryoma's bronze-gold pupils. Startled, Ryoma stepped away from her. Only then did he realize what he just did.

Ryouko lifted a hand to her forehead and touched it. "That was some weird way to reprimand someone. Were you about to headbutt me or something?" she said.

"Headbutt?" Ryoma thought, irritated. "Sono wake nai darou, kono chibi bouke! (That can't be the case, can it, you clueless shrimp!)" he yelled.

"Then what did you come here for?" Ryouko asked. "Ore wa ima isogashii. Asobu hima wa nai wa (I'm busy right now. I got no time to play with you)," she told him.

"I'm not asking you to play with me," Ryoma hissed through gritted teeth.

"Is that so? I'll go ahead then," Ryouko said as she turned around.

"Hey, wait for me!" Ryoma said and ran to her side. "Why did you make such an idiotic deal over a stupid match?" he scolded.

"Muka tsuiteru kara ('Coz I was irritated)," she answered. "Ano Bakeigo... (That stupid Keigo...)" she added, clenching her fists. "I'll crush 'im for sure!"

Ryoma sighed. "Praido no mondai ka... (Pride matters huh...) I should've known," he mumbled to himself.

"Still," he said aloud. "You shouldn't go around betting your future on something so insignificant. If your cousins were here, there could've been a war in that hall," he added.

"They're not here and even if they were, they have no right to meddle in my matters. That also applies to you," Ryouko said matter-of-factly.

"You sure are cruel to people who cares about you. You're so insensitive, it's not even funny anymore. You better change that habit of taking people for granted or it's gonna bite you later," Ryoma told her.

Ryouko suddenly turned to him with wide eyes. "I take you for granted though," she said. "You mean, if I continue being mean to you and refuse to listen to your advices, you won't care about me anymore? Is that it?" she asked and seemed upset.

Ryoma was taken by surprise at the outburst. He averted his eyes uneasily, pink patches crawling to his cheeks. "I'm an exception," he answered.

Ryouko laughed. "Great!" she said, hitting Ryoma at the back with the palm of her hand. "You scared me for a moment there."