The Court Dancer | A Prince of Tennis Fanfiction

17 | A Lady Should

"Isn't that great? Whatever his sexual preference is, it shouldn't be their business to begin with." He still smiled from his previous outburst.

"I hope everyone is thinking that way." Sighing, Hikari rested her head on the bench, forgetting that his arm was still there so she quickly raised her head again. "Ah! Sorry!" To her surprise, he pulled her close to him. Hikari let out a surprised yelp and put her hands on his chest while he caressed her shoulder with his thumb. "W-wha—hey!"

"But you're okay, right?"

"Huh?"

"You said that they're after you upon finding out that you're your brother's sister. Did they do anything to you?" Genuine worry was pooling in his dark blue eyes. Hikari couldn't not looking at it as if her soul was sucked into it. It was mesmerising, just like the dark blue sky that held so many secrets.

"Uh, no. I'm fine, really!" she convinced him when he slightly tilted his face as if disbelieving her."It's just...." Hikari bit her bottom lip. "I've made a resolution to be looked up as a mature lady and keep that image. But now people will just see me as my brother's sister. Why did he have to send me to school? It's better if no one knows!" She twitched her lips.

He drummed his idle fingers on his knee for a moment before saying, "On the contrary, I think he did it on purpose."

"What? Why?"

"Judging from your story, your brother seems to have a certain influence in your neighbourhood. After what happened to you in Germany, your brother wanted to make sure they know who they'd face if something happens to you. Of course, it seemed that he didn't calculate the 'fangirls' effect to occur instead." Hikari's lips slightly gaped in surprise.

"It surprised me to see you know him more than I do."

He looked away and covered his face with his hand. "That's what I thought at least—what I would do if I were in his shoes."

"So he did that to protect me..." Hikari bit her bottom lip, on the verge of tears at the immense gratitude she felt towards her brother. "Huhuu... Onii-chan..."

"Hey..." He chortled while patting her head. "Didn't you just say that you want to be a mature lady?"

"I'm just a brat compared to him! I should forget about being a lady! I wasn't born a noble anyway!" She wiped the side of her eyes with the edge of her palm.

"He did what a brother must do for their little sister. But no matter how good he is, don't you ever call yourself that. You're not a brat." He tucked her hair behind her ear. "You're always a lady for me..." Hikari was blushing hard at this. She looked down to avoid his eyes, also to hide the redness her face might have turned into.

"You really are a smooth-talker. How many ladies fell for you because of this?" she muttered, still looking away from him.

"Ahn, did you imply that you fall for me?" he asked with a smirk.

"What?! No! Don't even dream about it!" Hikari crossed her arms and moved away from him but he kept her in place. "Hey, let go of me!"

"Adel sitzt im Gemüt, nicht im Geblüt. (Nobility resides in the mind, not in the blood.)" Hikari stopped struggling at this, surprised by his fluency in Germany. "That asides, the most important thing of being a lady is not only about looking or behaving properly." He lifted her face by touching her chin."You must believe that you're not less than your brother no matter what. If you don't believe that yourself, no one will."

"And what else...?" Raising her teacup, she stuck her pinkie finger out only to had him taking the cup and fixed her hand so she was holding the top of the handle with her thumb and forefinger, supporting the bottom of the handle with her middle finger.