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

CHAPTER 126: Runaway Princess

Echizen Ryoma is, at the moment, in an extremely grumpy mood. Due to their coincidentally matching outfits, Ryouko and Kevin had been mistaken as boyfriend and girlfriend not only once but four times from the time their group exited the tennis facility until they reached the nearest cinema. They just bought tickets to Jessica's movie of choice (the other three are too distracted to care what they would watch) and the four of them are currently standing in line to buy popcorn and drinks when the familiar scenario happened again in front of Ryoma's very eyes.

The lady behind the snack bar stared at Kevin and Ryouko who led the line with Ryoma and Jessica behind them. "Oh? Having a weekend date with your boyfriend?" she told Ryouko before the latter could open her mouth to order four medium tubs of popcorn and four sodas. The lady turned her eyes to Kevin and smiled knowingly. "What cute outfits. The two of you look really good together..." she commented.

Kevin just looked confusedly at Ryouko for he cannot understand Japanese. Ryouko gave the lady a small smile and said, "He's not my boyfriend... And we're with-"

Before she could finish talking, Ryoma suddenly stepped forward between her and Kevin. "Four medium tubs of salted caramel popcorn please, and four regular colas," he said, his tone sounding half-annoyed. "Four, not two. We're in a group of four," he added with emphasis to the numbers.

Jessica blew out her cheeks like a squirrel to keep from snickering. Unlike Kevin, Jessica can understand basic Japanese, something that she made herself learn during the sixth grade half for investment in her future as a businesswoman and half because of her old crush on Ryoma. She understood all of the conversations that had been going on for the past twenty minutes since they went for the movies and watched Ryouko as she did her best to correct the misunderstandings of the people commenting about her and Kevin. She also watched as Ryoma slowly turned green from holding himself back from punching anyone.

Seriously... Ryoma is doing a poor job at hiding his jealousy so how can Ryouko not notice his sour mood? These two kids are impossible... It's the first time Jessica saw such obliviousness.

Her gaze shifted to her cousin who is looking more mystified after Ryoma broke into Ryouko's conversation with the snack bar employee. "Sorry couz..." she thought. "It'll do you better for me to nip this in the bud before your crush deepens... You'll thank me someday..." She looked at the four tickets in her hands, coming up with an instant plan. She arranged the seating arrangement and gave each of the three their own tickets.

"Do you guys have any problem with the seat numbers I got you?" she asked them.

The three stared blankly at their tickets and shook their heads.

With that, Jessica announced that it's time for them to go inside the theater.

They entered the theater in a neat line, surrendering half of the ticket to the employee waiting by the door. Their eyes slowly adjusted to the dark room with only the small bulbs from the sides giving off dim lighting. They hugged themselves with their tubs of popcorn, feeling the cold from the high air-conditioning and wishing they got a warm drink instead of the iced colas on their hands. They found their seats in a minute and they filed one by one across the middle row like a group of ducklings.

Kevin was about to take his seat when he noticed that Jessica is making her way to the row right behind them. "Psst..." he hissed at his cousin. "What are you doing there? Your seat's next to mine..."

"Chill," Jessica answered. "There's not many people and this seat seem to be empty. I like the view from here better. I'll vacate if someone tells me to," she added.

"Suit yourself," Kevin shrugged and took his seat. Looking from the higher row seat, Jessica admired her masterpiece. Right before her eyes is the perfect seating arrangement she orchestrated, with Ryouko sitting between the two boys. "Lovely..." she murmured to herself and smirked. First phase of the plan is a success.