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

CHAPTER 127: I Promise

After a few minutes of thinking, Ryoma decided that it's kind of uncomfortable making Ryouko wear clothing that he currently uses so he rummaged inside the closet of the spare room and found old clothes that's gotten a bit small after he gained his few inches. They would be the right size for Ryouko whose height is similar to his before they migrated back to Japan. Selecting a pair of faded lavender pajamas, he went downstairs.

Ryouko is waiting patiently in the kitchen, unable to go to the living room because of her wet clothes. She just finished the tea that Ryoma prepared for her. It warmed her up real nice after hours of staying out in the cold. She didn't consider that she'd get drenched all over running in the snow like that. She just focused on getting away from home as far as possible.

'Licht and Ichidou are worried sick!'

Ryoma's words from earlier suddenly returned to her. She remembered Licht and Ichi calling out to her as she hid from them. She feels guilty worrying them like this but it can't be helped. She's also a bit angry at them. From the looks of it, they've known about the engagement for days even before Ichi returned from England but they didn't even tell her a word of it. If they told her, even just secretly, she wouldn't be this rash at accepting the news. She would've planned accordingly with them to come up with a countermeasure.

But they kept it to themselves, kept her in the dark. Betrayal, shock and anger got the better of her and before she knew it, she snatched the wallet with her cash savings and bolted out of the house.

It was quite a hard ordeal trying to get away from them. For a self-proclaimed indoor person, Ichidou is so fast on his feet and Licht can move nimbly in the snow even with that butler's suit on him. It took an hour and a half playing a desperate game of tag with them before she got away successfully then she went straight to the Echizen residence and stayed in the clothes donation bin for the next three hours afterwards.

She sneezed and wiped her nose on one damp sleeve. Feeling shivers all over her body, she wrapped the towel tighter around her. At that moment, Ryoma approached and handed her a pair of pajamas. "Get changed and see if this fits," he said.

She nodded and gratefully accepted the set of dry clothes. He also provided her with a pair of fluffy indoor slippers which Rinko-chan might have purchased for Ryoma to use but he didn't bother using. It still looks new.

Thankfully, her undergarments are safe from the dampness that her uniform suffered. She would've to think about her change of underwear for the whole time she's hiding out but for now, she's too mentally tired to care. After getting changed, she asked Ryoma where she can place her drenched uniform and shoes. Ryoma himself put them away.

Fifteen minutes later, the two teenagers can be seen in the living room, Ryouko sitting down on the blanket-laden floor, looking like a docile puppy caught destroying its owner's favorite pair of shoes, and Ryoma on the couch, sitting with a business-like expression on his face and staring down at her like a judge in a courtroom.

Ryouko just blinked up at him, all the more looking like an innocent fluffy Pomeranian pup. The lavender pajamas fit her but still seems quite baggy to fit her feminine curves. The arm sleeves are a bit too long that only the fingertips of her small hands could be seen peeking out.

Ryoma bit the inside of his cheek. "Dang it, she's cute," he thought to himself. He tried hard not to think of the fact that the pair of pajamas he used until last year is now hugging Ryouko's delicate frame and touching her smooth creamy skin. The mere thought makes him feel extremely strange.

"So," he said, waving away his thoughts and going down to business. "What do you plan on doing from now on?"

"Since you provided me a good place to hide out, I'll just continue hiding out until they take back the engagement. They say that the darkest spot is under the candle... They wouldn't think I'll be so close to home when I'm desperate to get away from it," she said and looked up at Ryoma, looking uncertain. "But that means that you have to keep lying to them eveytime they ask whether I've contacted you or not. You're not a very good liar and I feel bad for making you lie... Are you really gonna be alright with that?"