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

CHAPTER 104: A Line Needs to be Drawn

As Ryoma dragged Ryouko by the hand, she merely stared at the back of his head and stayed docile. Once every fifteen seconds or so, she would hear him mumble things like 'Unbelievable, who does he think he is' or 'Damn Monkey King, I'm gonna get you for this' and such.

Ryouko was in the middle of contemplating why the heck her best friend is reacting more violently at this than she is. It was as if Ryoma was channeling her wrath from the embarrassment that was done to her and she felt her anger slowly subsiding. If Ryoma hadn't dragged her out of the court, she would have had Keigo on the ground in a suplex by now.

Ryouko sighed and placed her palm on Ryoma's hand which had a firm grip on her fingers. Ryoma stopped on his tracks and turned to her.

"Let's stop here," she said. "I don't think you have a destination in mind," she added.

"The hell I don't... I just want to get away from there as far as possible," Ryoma answered. He stared at her skeptically for a moment before narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

Ryouko noticed the distrustful look and blinked. "What?" she asked.

Ryoma let go of her hand and sat down on the nearest boulder he could see. He crossed one leg above the other and folded his arms over his chest. "Why do I get this feeling that you don't seem upset about what the Monkey King did to you?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "You're not enjoying this, are you?"

Ryouko scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Why would I enjoy a preposterous thing like this? Have you gone bonkers?" she replied with a slightly offended tone. She walked around the boulder where Ryoma was seated and dusted off the space behind him with one hand.

"Well, you're taking it better than I thought you would and you don't look angry," Ryoma pointed out.

"It's because you're doing the 'getting angry' part for me and my head is slowly cooling off," Ryouko replied, flopping down on the other side of the boulder. She leaned rearwards using Ryoma's back as support.

Ryoma felt the difference in their body temperature on the entirety of his back. His pulse quickened at her burning warmth, mixed with the dampness of sweat permeating the fabric of her shirt. He looked at her sidewards, marveling at how defenseless she can make herself at times. It's no wonder Atobe plays such tricks to tease her. She's too blatantly oblivious.

Looking at it at an angle though, Ryoma sort of couldn't blame Atobe for teasing Ryouko since he is also guilty of the same crimes. Ryouko makes such interesting facial expressions that he couldn't help himself in making fun of her.

"Man, it's hot... I played quite seriously for a moment there," Ryouko breathed out and fanned herself by flapping the neckline of her jersey shirt repeatedly. She leaned back and eased the tension on her shoulders, feeling completely relaxed and peaceful. There's nothing like the comfort of Ryoma's cool back after a bout of running around in the court.

She wasn't exactly satisfied with the outcome of the match. As a matter of fact, she was feeling more peeved at that than what Atobe did to her before and after the game. An unfinished match always makes her feel dissatisfied and fidgety. If Ryoma wasn't there to keep her at bay, she would have spent all her time bashing a ball at a wall somewhere and practicing until sunset.

At that moment, Ryoma was reminded of how Ryouko played in the court several minutes ago and couldn't help feeling bitter. "Since when did you get to play that well?" he said, careful to keep his tone nonchalant. It was not the first time he had noticed Ryouko's strength and improvements in tennis but it was the first that he had voiced it out loud.

Try as he may, Ryoma was unable to conceal the competitiveness in his tone. Ryouko couldn't possibly miss that. She smiled maliciously.

"I've always been that good. You just didn't have an opportunity to witness it earlier," she pointed out. She turned around and sat on the boulder sidewards, her legs crossed on one side, then she casually slung her elbows on Ryoma's shoulders in a semi-back hug. "We can have a match right after the camp and I'll make you realize just how worthy of a rival I am. How about it?" she said, leaning at the side slightly so she can have a look at Ryoma's face.