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

CHAPTER 72: The Favor of a Lifetime

Well, that thought was even more unpleasant. Not just unpleasant, it was nonsense. Why would Tezuka-buchou and Ryouko...

Ryoma shook his head to shake it off. He is thinking of ridiculous thoughts. Those two are not even close to each other.

"Why is today full of damned surprises?" He said in annoyance. First, he heard his name being mentioned between Ichidou and Ryouko. Second, he got into a mess by nosing into other people's business and accidentally upset her. Third, while he had no idea where she is, Tezuka-buchou came waltzing into the picture and making his blood boil for reasons that he cannot fathom.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Ryouko's herd of cousins or my noisy old man show up out of nowhere." He said irritably and continued on his way.

~~~

"Why am I doing this?" Tezuka asked himself with a sigh as he was climbing the stairs to the second floor of the girls' cabin. It took him ten minutes to reach the Representatives' cabin from the area of the fourth team. It was a long run.

Just ten minutes ago, Ryouko mentioned asking a favor of him regarding the 'accident' that she stumbled with. That was how she worded it.

"I need some things." She said. "But I don't have them with me right now. They're in our cabin, the one I share with the girls." She added.

"What is it? Perhaps I can get it for you." He told her.

She motioned for him to lean closer. He did so. She cupped her hand at the side of her mouth and whispered near his ear. That whisper made the ever-serious and poker-faced captain's ears go red.

"Seriously?" He asked as he stood upright.

"Seriously." Ryouko said, nodding. "I'm sorry about asking you, Cap but..."

"You don't have a choice." He completed for her. She nodded in response.

Well, he didn't have to go fetch it himself, Ryouko said. He could just deliver a message to Ayase Mami, Kurihara Miyako or Tachibana An so they can help Ryouko with the problem.

But the idea of himself telling one of those younger girls... Imagining those words coming out of his mouth to inform them... The thought was enough to humiliate him.

And so here he is... Doing the crime with his own hands and feet.

"The farthest one on the left." He mumbled, remembering the directions Ryouko had said. He entered the room which was unlocked. "Seriously, these girls have no fear nor any sense of security." He commented in his mind. He made a mental note to scold Ryouko about it later.

Once he was inside the room, he recalled the directions again. The bed on the right side. Top drawer of the bedside table. He immediately went there and firstly made sure that he is picking the right bed. He saw Ryouko's duffle bag under it and her laptop on top of the bed. He sighed in relief. He got the right one.

Tezuka knelt down to open the said drawer. Rows of neatly folded white, blue and lavender-colored underwear layed undisturbed inside. Tezuka coughed once and cleared his thoat uneasily.

Never. Never in his whole life that he imagined himself in this kind of situation.

His hand hovered over the drawer, fingers shaking. "This is harder than my rehabilitation sessions." He thought. How nice would it be if he was in Germany, doing another round of rehabilitation exercises instead of being inside a room that two girls shared, looking for Ryouko's panties, sanitary napkins and feminine wash.

Unable to grab one in his right mind and with his bare hands, he took out his handkerchief and used it as a glove. He picked a lavender-colored one with white roses on them, clipping it with one thumb and forefinger and immediately looked around for something to put it in. His eyes caught sight of a paper bag under the bed. He emptied the contents on the surface of the bed and dropped the underwear inside it.