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

CHAPTER 45: Motorcycle Frenzy

"Ryouko, you alright?" The driver asked as he got out of the motorcycle. He turned his head towards her. When he saw her unharmed, he took off his helmet. "Whew. What a disaster."

"I should say." Ryoma said, narrowing his eyes at the driver irritably.

Hiyoshi moaned as he felt his aching ribs. She was thrown on him so hard that if she were a few more kilograms heavier, his ribs would have broke. Ryouko scrambled from him saying, "Are you okay?"

Hiyoshi looked up and his eyes met hers. She was kneeling by his side, peering at him so intently that he began to feel uncomfortable jitters in his stomach, the pain in his ribs forgotten.

"Are you hurt?" She asked.

Hiyoshi opened his mouth but no words came out. He was tongue-tied. He felt ridiculous.

Ryoma was concerned. After all, Hiyoshi just tagged along with him. He ran close to them. "Is everything okay?" He asked.

Ryoma's voice was a trigger and Hiyoshi found his voice again, turning his eyes away from Ryouko. "I'm alright." He said.

Ryoma was not convinced. Elbowing Ryouko out of the way, he knelt on one knee in front of Hiyoshi and made a V sign in front of his face. "How many fingers am I holding up?" He asked.

Hibiki rolled his eyes behind them. Such exaggeration...

"Stop it, dork. He didn't hit his head, for crying out loud." Ryouko said, annoyed, pushing him away. She turned to Hiyoshi. "Don't make any reckless move. It seemed like I rammed directly to you that might have caused damage to your ribs." She said as if she was an expert and placed both palms on his chest. Hibiki and Ryoma scoffed in response. They saw each other and looked away as if disgusted. Hiyoshi, on the other hand, coughed uncomfortably.

"Say if it hurts." She instructed, pressing gently.

"What if we just take him to the hospital?" Hibiki said.

"Shut up, you hoodlum-good-for-nothing-cousin-you." Ryouko snapped.

"That's a little too harsh. I didn't mean any harm." Hibiki said, checking his nails and looking not even remotely hurt.

"I thought so..." Ryoma thought, rolling his eyes. "Here we go again with the crazy cousin business..."

"Cousin?" Hiyoshi said, surprised.

"Yeah, most unfortunate for me..." She replied.

"Hey!" Hibiki reacted, sounding offended.

Ryouko helped Hiyoshi up with Ryoma half-heartedly helping.

"Come. I'll take responsibility and escort you to the hospital." Hibiki told them.

"Hospital is pretty exaggerated. I'm not really hurt." Hiyoshi said.

"Really? That's nice. Less trouble for me." Hibiki replied, shrugging and looking totally guiltless.

Ryouko looked at her cousin and shook her head hopelessly. She turned to Hiyoshi. "Let's at least have you taken care of in the infirmary at school. There's no harm in being cautious." She told him.

Hiyoshi merely blinked. She said it in a domineering way as if he had no right to object. Ryoma sighed while Hibiki rolled his eyes and tagged along as they went.

~~~

Kikumaru gasped in pleasant surprise upon entering the clubroom. On the table, four dazzling cakes with different flavors were placed. He pranced towards them, his eyes shining. "Ichigo! (Strawberry!)" He said excitedly.