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

CHAPTER 127: I Promise

Ryoma took a couch cushion and placed it on his lap to prop up his elbows. "Don't worry. I was only a bad liar when we're little but I'm real good at it now, especially when there's a good reason for lying. The guilt might bother me from time to time since I'm betraying Ichidou's trust just after I finally earned it, but you matter more than Ichidou anyway so I'll be fine..." he told her.

"Sorry..." Ryouko said sincerely. She was so glad that Ryoma and Ichidou are starting to get along and putting the past behind them. But their newfound friendship is being placed under danger once again because of her.

Ryouko's troubles could be seen plainly on her face and Ryoma reached a hand out to pat her head. "It's okay... Ichidou would understand eventually... He's not an unreasonable brat anymore..." he said in a comforting tone.

Ryouko nodded silently. "Thanks," she said, peering into his eyes. "Thanks for volunteering to hide me and I'm sorry in advance for all the lies you're gonna have to tell later..."

"Well, what are friends for?" Ryoma said with a smile.

Ryouko smiled back. That's right... They're such good friends and they've always helped each other in times of need. That might be the reason why her feet took her to his house the minute she got away from Ichi and Licht. Her whole being knows that only Ryoma is there for her in this desperate time.

The untidy spare room seemed inappropriate for Ryouko to use so Ryoma took her to the room that Nanako-san uses during her stay in their house. He moved sets of his old clothes inside a drawer and thought of the basic necessities Ryouko would need during her stake-out.

Blushing a little, he posed her the obvious question. "What about underwear? You can wear my old clothes but there's nothing I can provide for undergarments..."

"I'm thinking of just ordering some online but I'll use your phone to make the purchase. I left my phone at home since they might locate me by using the signal," she told him. She looked at Ryoma with amused eyes and added, "Don't worry. I'm not going to make you go to the department store to buy some. I can't put my benefactor in such an embarrassing situation..."

"Well, thank you very much for that..." Ryoma answered sarcastically.

Afterwards, Ryoma took Ryouko on a little tour regarding where to find the most basic things in the house. His mother stock up on the toiletries everytime she comes home so they never have a shortage of fresh bars of soap, containers of shampoo and conditioner, toothbrushes, towels and every piece of toiletry.

All of a sudden, a peculiar sound interrupted their tour. A low growl escaped from Ryouko's stomach, making the two of them stop and look at each other blankly.

Patches of pink crawled to Ryouko's cheeks and she placed a palm over her tummy. "I've only eaten breakfast..." she said sheepishly.

"What?" Ryoma exclaimed incredulously. "It's almost five in the afternoon, you should've told me you haven't eaten lunch," he scolded.

"I forgot," she replied apologetically.

"Well, your stomach sure hasn't," he told her with a sigh. "Let's go down and have an early supper. Then you can go to bed early. It's been a long day for you anyways... You need a good meal and ample rest." He took her hand and led her downstairs towards the kitchen.

~~~

Several minutes later, Ryoma regretted speaking so confidently as if he would be the one to fix supper. After he embarrassed himself in front of her, cracking an egg miserably and mixing in small pieces of the shell on the ruined yolk, Ryouko took the lead and fixed supper herself.