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

CHAPTER 85: Strange but Beautiful

"Who?" Ichidou asked even though he already knew the answer. Ryouko have just one 'visitor' coming over the villa to play. He frowned in advance.

"It's Ryoma, dummy. Rinko-chan is going to drop him off here. She got to go to court for who-knows-how-many-days and Ryoma's gonna stay here until she finishes." Ryouko answered.

Ichidou made a face. "Why does his Mom always make him stay here? He's got his father to take care of him while she's away."

Ryouko scoffed. "The first and last time Rinko-chan left Ryoma to Nanji, he was two years old, and she came home to see Ryoma playing under the yard sprinklers, completely drenched. Ryoma caught a cold and was hospitalized for one week." She said and raised an eyebrow at her cousin. "If you were his Mom, would you leave him under Nanji's supervision?"

Ichidou rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm not his Mom, and I don't care if he falls off a cliff in the middle of nowhere."

"Ichi!" Ryouko scolded, turning an evil eye at him.

Ichidou sighed. "Fine, fine. He's your precious little 'tennis buddy'. I get it." He pouted and started to leave. On the way to his room, Ichidou sulked. Why does Ryouko have to ask for Ryoma to be her playmate? Isn't Ichidou and his brothers enough for her? And if her reason for asking particularly for Ryoma is because of tennis, Ichidou can learn from a coach so he can help her out with her training. It doesn't have to be Ryoma.

It had been two years since Ryoma was introduced formally to Ryouko on their parents' reunion. Apparently, they already met each other once on the streets of the city when Ryouko sneaked off from her bodyguards while on a trip to take her measurements for a new ball gown. She refused to get her measurements taken at home and said that she will only let them if they go to the dressmaker's shop. Ichidou already thought that it was fishy. They should seriously get used to her antics. Six-year-old Fujioka members are far different from normal children.

Ryoma and Ryouko instantly clicked. Well, if you count trying to kill each other every fifteen minutes 'clicking', then it's the right word for it. Pretty soon, rivalry turned to friendship. They were like a pair of socks, you would not see one without the other, unless of course, the person who owns the socks is a klutz that always lose the other one.

Ichidou, his brothers and cousins had never liked Ryoma ever since Ryouko dragged him by the hand in the Fujioka villa's sitting room on the summer vacation of the first grade of elementary. As far as they were concerned, he's an outsider. They never play with outsiders. They had enough company by themselves.

But Ryouko, that headstrong spoilt brat kept on sneaking out of the house to go to the Echizens' two-story home several blocks away in the neighborhood. To eliminate the risk of her getting into trouble on the way there, Licht was instructed to take her to the Echizens' residence three times a week. To make matters worse, Echizen Ryoma belong to the same class as Ryouko and Ichidou right at the start of elementary. Ryouko was delighted, although she never showed it to Ryoma himself. Ichidou found himself hating the dark-haired boy with bronze-gold eyes even more. From the moment that Ryoma showed up, Ryouko began giving less and less attention to Ichidou.

Since only the first and second family decided to settle in America, Ryouko was the only child who shared Ichidou's age. They grew up sharing the same crib, the same playhouse and the same toys. Ryouko is his one special playmate. Well, at least she was until a certain little playmate-thief came along.

Ichidou stared down from his window miserably as Ryouko ran to greet Ryoma. He was just getting off his mother's minivan. Ichidou sighed and decided to go downstairs. After all, he would be bored staying alone in his room while Ryoma and Ryouko play their usual games on the yard. He hates Ryoma, but he loves Ryouko. That ought to balance things well... Or so he thought. A day came when that fact no longer played its role efficiently.