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

CHAPTER 113: Sweet Play-acting

Ryouko was first to arrive as she was usually an early bird. The minute she slid the door open and walked in, the bickering of the class died down and they all tried not to stare at her, failing miserably at the attempt. Ryouko however, seemed to be blind to their curious and wary stares. She made her way to her chair and sat down as if it was a normal morning.

No one dared to walk up to her and ask what yesterday's fuss was about. Mami desperately wanted to but Ryouko was emitting a strange and ominous aura as if anyone dumb enough to approach her would have a terrible curse cast upon him or her. No one wanted that for sure.

Everyone felt uncomfortable but didn't dare show it through. Little did they know that it was mild compared to what they would experience a few minutes later.

Upon Echizen Ryoma's entrance through the sliding door, the room seemed to reach a temperature of below zero. Just like Ryouko, he made his way to his seat as if nothing was wrong and didn't even give a side glance to his left where the said girl was seated.

The classes started shortly after and they had no time to wonder over Ryoma and Ryouko. Only Mami was overly observant of the two. She keenly watched them as the classes go on and realized something fatal.

Ryoma and Ryouko are acting as if they are invisible to each other! Forget ignorance, this isn't ignorance. Ignorance mean that you are still acknowledging the presence of the person you are ignoring but this is different indeed! They seem to erase the existence of the other completely like wiping a slate clean. No side glances, no head turning and no word spoken. Their poker faced expressions made it even worse. Mami was absolutely horrified.

The two did not attend the meeting for the class booth after lunchtime and did not show up at rehearsals right after. Mami and the class representative received similar messages from the problematic duo.

'I'm fine with anything for the class booth. Let the others decide. I'm gonna study my lines at home. Do not disturb.' Ryouko said.

'Do whatever you want with the class booth, I'm game with anything. Internalizing my lines, don't bother me.' Ryoma said.

The corner of Mami's left eye twitched irritably upon reading the messages. It was like working with prima donnas who goes about deciding their schedules by themselves without consulting the director or the production crew. Mami took deep breaths and calmed herself, deciding that she should focus on the characters other than the leads for the time-being.

The class booth was decided to be a cosplay café wherein the cast in the play would dress up as their respective characters to help with publicizing their class presentation. That way, they would catch more attention and the public would be more curious about their play. Another advantage is that the cast would be forced to be on character every minute of the festival which would help a lot to diminish mistakes onstage and make them internalize the characters even better.

Those who did not belong to the line of casts would dress up with attires fitting to the concept and timeline of Robin Hood, some being servants, some being commoners and others being aristocrats. The whole class loved the idea and started on planning the menu and the room décor according to the concept of Robin Hood as well. Ryouko's participation would have been greatly appreciated since she lived in England but sadly, she was too busy 'internalizing' her role.

Wednesday morning came and both Ryoma and Ryouko continued to act as if they were sitting next to air. Before Mami could have the chance to intercept them, both disappeared like bubbles during lunchtime and did not show up again for the afternoon. Mami and the class representative received the same messages they got yesterday and it took every effort for the class prez and Miyako to calm the rampaging Mami.