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

CHAPTER 78: Him and Only Him

"Ah~ So pretty..." An said dreamily.

Ryouko smiled at her exaggerated admiration. "Come on, An. Miyako and Mami are waiting for us with tea and cookies."

The two roommates decided that they don't need to be formal anymore and made an agreement that they will call each other by their first names. "Okay Ryouko." An answered, winking at her.

Meanwhile, someone was on his way to the second team's main cabin.

Ryoma went out early, having finished his share of the chores. He wanted to find Ryouko quickly and address her with the matter he thought about last night. He just didn't have a good feeling about it and it's stressing him out.

He walked slowly because Ryouko was still probably tending to the second team's breakfast. All of sudden, he met someone on the pathway. It was one of the people he definitely didn't want to run into at such an early time in the morning.

"Move, Echizen." Atobe said as he advanced a step forward.

"Why don't you move first?" Ryoma retorted.

"I'm not in the mood to be fooling around with you." Atobe said, glowering down at him.

"Neither am I." Ryoma answered, equally pissed off.

They glared at each other, their irritation mounting. Suddenly, Ryoma noticed that Atobe is carrying a tennis racket.

"Practicing this early?" He couldn't help but say that.

"Yeah. Just to blow off some steam." Atobe couldn't help but answer.

Slowly, the levels of their anger meters subsided. "How about you? You're taking a walk this early?" Atobe asked.

Ryoma caught sight of a blue wristband on Atobe's right wrist, adorned with red zigzags. It was the kind of design that Ryoma likes. "Yeah." He answered. "Cool wristband." He commented, his eyes glued to the accessory.

Atobe lifted his right hand to look at it. He raised an eyebrow. "You think so?" He asked.

Ryoma nodded. He took his eyes off of the wristband and looked squarely at Atobe. "Let's count to three. You go to your left side, I'll go to my left."

"Agreed." Atobe said.

"One." They said simultaneously. "Two, three."

Ryoma moved to his left and Atobe also did the same. They passed by each other without another word.

"Thank goodness that's over." Ryoma murmured to himself as he continued on his way.

After several minutes, he reached the second team's cabin and found Ryouko on her way out of the back door. She stretched her arms high in the air. "Ryouko! We'll serve these to the guys! Aren't you gonna eat your share?" Came the shout of Kajimoto from inside.

"I'll eat it later! Just leave it on the counter!" She yelled back.

"Okay!" Kajimoto answered.

Ryoma took that moment to go towards her. He walked slowly just so she won't misunderstand that he hurried there. "Oi." He said, calling her attention.

"Ryoma? What are you doing here?" She asked, looking at him.

"I'm just checking on you." He answered.

"Checking on me?" Ryouko said, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just as what the words implied..." He told her. He knew that he had to bring up what he came there for. He shouldn't beat around the bush. "Listen." He started. "I'm meaning to say this to you for quite a while now but I wasn't able to find the right timing."