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

CHAPTER 143: A Change in Circumstances

It was nine o'clock in the morning and the wind blew solemnly under the white sky of winter clouds. There was a sprinkling of light snow the night before, leaving a nice white carpet all around town.

Early shoppers awaiting the opening of the mall were suddenly distracted by a bus stopping right out front, directly across the entrance. A tall young man stepped out of the bus door and like a leader, called out the group of kids from inside.

People could not help but stare at the proceedings for the children that got off the bus looked as if they have been pulled out from a magazine. They were of all heights and sizes, with differing hair colors and auras. They were mighty energetic as well and made quite a lot of noise.

"Ara, is it a field trip?" a woman commented, smiling at the group of children.

"My, they're so lovely... Is there a photoshoot or something? They look like models," another lady remarked.

Among them, three of the tallest and whom looked like the eldest as well, took the lead and kept order, giving instructions and making everyone settle down. A teenage girl who also seemed to be the only female among the group approached the three leaders with a brown-haired baby boy in her arms playing with the thick dark braids coming out from the knitted cap sitting on her head. The toddler squealed happily as he used one of her long braids as some sort of lasso.

"They're staring..." Ryouko thought as she tried to ignore the eyes of the people around them. She sighed internally. This always happen when the Fujioka children were out in a bunch. They were especially standing out right now because there's so many of them. Even at groups of three or four, they were enough of a spectacle.

"Ryouko-chan, anytime you want to switch carrying Fuyu, just tell us," Kaname told her.

"Got it, Kaname-nii," Ryouko replied.

"Is everyone nice and warm? Although the mall has an adequate heating system, we're gonna hit the rooftop later so make sure you have your scarves and gloves with you," Umino announced.

"Umi-nii, we're not that thoughtless... Can we just go inside now? We're wasting precious time out here..." Tetsuya complained.

"Yep, we should get going to maximize our time. We still need to get ready tonight for the New Year's Eve celebration," Tatsuya added.

"Fine, fine. Geez, you guys are so impatient," Umino answered, a little pissed off.

"Just remember the grouping arrangements that we made earlier and those in charge to take care of the little ones should always be assisted by the others, is that clear?" Setsuna said, asserting his authority as the eldest of the first family.

"Yessir!" the group answered or at least most of them. The kids younger than ten already looked distracted and itching to play whilst the quiet ones minded their own business as usual.

"Goodness, will we make it out of this mall later with the whole group intact?" Hibiki commented, scratching his head in exasperation.

"Who cares if we lose one or two?" Ren remarked, shrugging.

"Ren-nii," Ryouko told him with a stern voice.

"I got it, I got it... I'll also look after the kids so stop giving me the evil eye," Ren said before snatching Ryouko's braid away from the hyperactive Fuyu. "Give him to me," he said and took the toddler.

Fishing out a lollipop from his coat pocket, he dangled it in front of Fuyu. "Behave, okay, Fu-chan?" he told the toddler.

"Fu-chan good boy!" Fuyu squealed and only then that Ren unwrapped the lollipop and gave it to him.