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

CHAPTER 105: Chump Change

"Isobe Recreational Center?" Oishi repeated.

"Is there another recreational center in this area aside from this place?" Kikumaru asked.

"Who knows? We're not exactly informed about that..." Oishi answered.

"Or perhaps, this young man had gotten the name wrong?" Fuji commented, thoughtfully placing his knuckles under his chin.

Upon hearing this, Riko, the person to whom the actual question was directed to, answered, "Umm... We don't know what the Isobe Recreational Center is but in the case that you got the name wrong, this place is actually called Atobe Recreational Center."

"Atobe?" the brown-haired boy repeated, blinking with a deadpan expression. "Oh, right," he suddenly said as if a thought hit him. "Ichi said that it's an 'A', not an 'I'."

"Ichi?" Momoshiro and Kikumaru echoed and looked at each other. They only heard of one person nicknamed 'Ichi' so far.

"Mushikashite... (Maybe...)" Momo said.

As if on cue, someone rounded on the corner, looking around her surroundings as if searching for something. "Senpaitachi..." Ryouko said upon seeing the Seigaku regulars. "I've been looking all over for you. Breaktime's over. We need to gather to the main cabi—" Her words got caught in her throat when she layed eyes on the brown-haired boy. Her eyes slowly widened.

"Ke—kei-chan?" she said disbelievingly as she hurried to where Teppei stood.

"Ryouko," the brown-haired boy said, showing a light cheer in his somber voice, his eyes softening.

"Yappari... (I thought so...)" Kikumaru said, snapping his fingers. "It's another Fujioka!" he added excitedly.

"They do come in all shapes and sizes, don't they?" Fuji commented with a smile, thinking of all the Fujiokas that they have met so far. None of them seem to be of the same type. Well, perhaps with the exception of the twins Tetsuya and Tatsuya, but that can be overlooked.

"Another Fujioka?" Riko repeated cluelessly, wondering what they are talking about.

"What are you doing here, Kei?" Ryouko said upon reaching her cousin.

"I came here to see you. It's been a while since we last saw each other," Keima answered.

"To see me?" Ryouko said. "You mean, you went all the way here from America?" she added, raising an eyebrow. She looked around at their surroundings. Nope. There's no servant from the Fujioka household present among them. "Why on earth is Keima running around unsupervised?" she wondered worriedly.

"From England actually..." Keima answered. "Most of my brothers and Ichi and the others are there right now," he told her.

"Umm..." Kiyoshi said as he awkwardly surveyed the exchange of greetings while still carrying the boy on his shoulder. "Maybe I can put you down now so you can talk properly?" he added with a smile.

Ryouko only realized at that moment that her cousin is being carried like a sack of rice by a very tall... She instinctively scanned the enormous figure from the feet up and blinked. "Waa. Kuma-san da (It's a bear)," she said, devoid of expression.

Despite of themselves, Furihata, Fukuda and Kawahara laughed silently at the side. They went back to a few hours ago when Kiyoshi saw a human figure flat on its face on the road they were following. Kiyoshi, being the kindest among their party, went to help with no hesitation and tried to shake the boy awake. When he did open his eyes, the first words that came out of his mouth was, "Ah... Kuma-san da. (It's a bear.)"