Ryouko smiled in satisfaction as she looked at the glare of the light from her laptop screen that night. The freshmen showed such promise. She felt proud of them and she felt prouder for herself because of the looks of surprise at everyone's faces as they surveyed the practical exams earlier that afternoon. It had been a pleasure to triumph over them after they threw 'not-so-good' commentaries over her coaching.
See? Fujioka Ryouko really was more than capable of training other people. She had that much strength, prowess and knowledge.
She showed them all, she did...
Her thoughts were interrupted by Ichidou peeking in the door of her room. "Ryouko-chan... It's half past 4 a.m. Aren't you going to sleep?"
"It's 4 a.m.?" She repeated, surprised. She glanced at the grandfather clock at the corner of her room. Indeed, it read 4:34. And class will begin at 8 am.
"Just a few more minutes. I'm going through the individual results of the first years today... Then I still have to group them into categories depending on their strengths. Pretty soon, I would also need to prepare individual programs for each of them. I have to get the data sorted out so I won't have any problem. I also still have to prepare the individual programs of the juniors and seniors. Half of them are still unfinished." She said as she typed some more and stared at the screen of her laptop.
Ichidou sighed. "Licht and I are getting worried over all these all-nighters that you've been pulling since you started working as the tennis club's manager... Don't you think you're working yourself too hard?"
"Nonsense. You know me... A few all-nighters won't break me down. Don't worry... I'll sleep after 30 more minutes..." She told him. She looked back from her shoulder and smiled at his cousin. "I know what I'm doing, okay? Don't worry about me." She said in an assuring way.
"Okay. But if I peek in here after 30 minutes, you should be in bed or I'll yell and run around the house like crazy." Ichidou replied.
Ryouko gave a small laugh. "Don't tempt me, dear cousin. I may want to see that."
Ichidou smiled and closed the door.
As he walked on the corridor towards his own room, Ichidou thought. Sooner or later, all this sleepless nights will catch up on Ryouko's body. She always said that she knows what she's doing to herself but there had been many a time that her statement proved wrong.
"Maybe I should talk to Ryoma. She almost always listen to what Ryoma has to say..." He thought to himself.
Then a voice in his head interrupted him. "You shouldn't ask Ryoma. He's not exactly part of the family. Ryouko's matters should be solved by the family members. If Ryoma will be the one to solve this, then what's the good in having twenty-eight cousins?"
"Right. I shouldn't ask Ryoma. I'll use him as a last resort. After all, Ryouko-chan listens to Gai and Setsu-nii. I should call them first." Ichidou told himself.
He was so deep in thought that he bumped a table and the vase there full of flowers almost crashed down. It was a relief that he caught the handle an inch from the floor. He sighed.
"Ichidou-sama. Is the young miss already sleeping?" Licht suddenly said from behind him.
"Nope. She insisted on 30 more minutes." Ichidou answered as he set the vase on the table and arranged the flowers.
Licht sighed. "Ojou-sama always bickered to other players to take care of their health when she's not setting a fair example."
"I know right... She's so good at nagging at others when somebody has to nag at her. Too bad that I can't be that someone. She doesn't listen to me. Ryouko-chan is hard to control. So I'm thinking of calling Gaito and Setsuna-nii to set her straight. She listens to them." Ichidou replied.
"I think that it's the right thing to do. I myself hadn't been any good at making Ojou-sama obey." Licht said, nodding solemnly."But Setsuna-sama and Gaito-sama has their studies to take care of. I don't think Ojou-sama will like it if we bother them, especially if she learns that the reason is herself." He added thoughtfully.
"Oh, she reaps what she sows... If she's taking care of herself well, then we won't have to use such emergency measures. If she carries on like this for several more nights, she's going to collapse. And if we call them after Ryouko-chan collapses, Setsu-nii and Gai will positively kill me for not calling them earlier. Not to mention the other cousins. They'll run me over with a tractor, I'm sure of that..." Ichidou told him.
"Okay then. I understand. I will call them first thing when the time over there is convenient." Licht nodded solemnly.
Ichidou nodded back. "Remember, Licht. Gaito is in Italy for a field study, Setsu-nii is in Canada. Ask them not to act paranoid. I'm sure once they hear about Ryouko, the two fools will panic and board the first plane to Japan. They're usually so calm, but if it's about Ryouko, they're just two worrywart older brothers." He reminded Licht.
Licht gave a small chuckle. It was unusual to hear the butler give a laugh. "Indeed they are..." He agreed.
"I better check if Ryouko-chan is keeping true to her 30-minute-promise. Have a good night's sleep, Licht." Ichidou said.
Licht bowed and bid him good night before returning to his own room.
~~~
That morning, Ryouko was on her way to school, yawning into her open palm.
"Ri~yo~ko~cha~an~" Came the singsong voice of Mami from behind her. Mami engulfed her in a back hug. "Ohayou. (Good morning.)" Mami said cheerfully.
"Ohayou." Ryouko greeted back.
"Ohayou, Ryouko-chan. Didn't you sleep well? You've been yawning." Miyako told her.
"I just stayed a bit late to arrange the results of yesterday's practical exam." Ryouko answered.
"Ryouko-san!" Came the voice of Shimada Ritsu from behind them. He was running towards them with a huge smile on his face.
"Ohayou, Shimada." Ryouko greeted him.
"Ohayou. Say, Ryouko-san. How did I do yesterday? Did I do good? Well? Or just right?" He asked in anticipation.
"You did very well. One of the top scorers." Ryouko answered.
Ritsu beamed with joy. "Thank you very much, Coach." He told Ryouko and shook her hand in an overly-excited way.
Ryouko just smiled simply at his enthusiasm.
All of a sudden, Ryoma arrived and with a single karate chop motion descending down Ritsu and Ryouko's hands, successfully unclasped the handshake.
"You shouldn't block the sidewalk. People can't get through." Ryoma told them.
"Ohayou, Echizen-kun." Shimada greeted cheerfully, totally oblivious of the cold air around Ryoma. "Did you hear that? Ryouko-san said that I'm one of the top scorers of yesterday's practical exam."
Ryoma ignored him and turned to Ryouko. "Ryuzaki-sensei said for all of us to stop by the courts before going to class."
"Why? I'm sure that there's no morning practice today." Ryouko replied.
"I'm not sure why. Maybe she has something to announce." Ryoma said.
"Well, ain't that interesting... This doesn't happen everyday. I have a feeling that she have something exciting in store for us." Ryouko said wih a smile.
"Don't keep your hopes up... You might be disappointed." Ryoma told her and lifted his hand to ruffle her hair. He stopped short as he remembered that they're not exactly alone. He narrowed his eyes at Shimada and the two weird girls whose eyes were looking star-stuck and dreamy.
"We better go. The senpais might already be waiting." Ryoma said and went towards the school building.
Ryouko nodded and followed him.
Miyako and Mami sighed dreamily.
"If only they'll keep it out in public, then Echizen-kun will no longer have such a hard time." Mami said.
"Keep what out?" Ritsu blinked and asked, totally clueless.
"People who don't understand shouldn't try to understand..." Mami told him. "After all, the truth might hurt you severely." She added as she and Miyako went away.
"Huh?" Ritsu asked, confused. What on earth was she talking about?
~~~
"Ohayougozaimasu." Ryoma and Ryouko chorused as they entered the room where the senpais were in.
"Ohayou." Oishi greeted back.
"Oya... Ochibi and Hime-chan came together?" Kikumaru said.
"Hime-chan? Just who on earth is that?" Ryouko asked with a frown.
"Well... You're the only girl of a very rich household. That's enough for you to be a princess. So I want to call you Hime-chan. It's an appropriate nickname." Kikumaru answered. "You don't mind, do you?"
Ryouko's face displayed an expression saying that she does mind but Kikumaru cheerfully ignored that fact.
Ryouko and Ryoma took their seats.
"I wonder what Ryuzaki-sensei will tell us..." Kawamura wondered aloud.
"Do you have any idea about it, Buchou?" Momoshiro asked.
"None." Tezuka answered.
Kaidoh leaned on the wall at the side of the room. "Because she called us all out, it might be something important."
"I'm a bit excited. This can turn out pretty interesting." Fuji said with a smile.
"Let's wait patiently for her so we can hear the reason." Inui replied.
All of a sudden, Ryuzaki-sensei entered the room. "Is everybody here?" She asked.
"Ohayougozaimasu, sensei." They all greeted.
"Everyone's present, including Ryouko-chan." Oishi told her.
"What are we meeting for today, sensei?" Tezuka asked.
"Well... It's a good piece of news. It seems like you'll be having a free vacation. That is, if you'll agree to the invitation." Ryuzaki-sensei told them.
"Invitation?" Kawamura repeated, confused.
"About what kind of vacation, sensei?" Fuji asked.
"Atobe Keigo of Hyotei sent us an invitation to an inter-school tennis camp that he's planning on hosting starting next week. I received the invitation early this morning. Ten schools will be participating in the camp, including all the schools who participated in the nationals." Ryuzaki-sensei answered.
She took an official-looking document from the folder that she was holding and read off of it as she continued. "To be exact, it's Hyotei Gakuen Chutou Bu, Seishun Gakuen, Fudoumine Chugakko, Shiritsu Sei Rudolph Gakuen Chugakko, Shiritsu Yamabuki Chugakko, Josei Shonan Chugakko, Rokkaku Chugakko, Shiritsu Rikkaidai Fuzoku Chugakko, Shitenhoji Chugakko and Higa Chugakko. That makes a total of ten schools. All the regulars will be participating as part of a good will inter-school tennis camp. I think that it's a nice idea because many of our regulars are seniors. Consider this your last piece of fun before you graduate. It's also a chance to once again meet those teams that you have fought for the past year. What do you guys think?" She told them.
There was silence for several seconds before the whooping and cheering from Momoshiro and Kikumaru began.
"Are you serious, sensei? Is that for real?" Oishi said with a pleasantly surprised voice as Kikumaru hooked an arm happily around his neck saying, "Yaay! Yaay!"
Even the serious Tezuka wasn't able to hide a corner smile. After all, they all thought that everything was over for the seniors; that the nationals will be the last time they will all be together. This was such a delicious piece of news even though it came from Atobe.
"It's really exciting. I'll get to spend time with Yuuta on the same camp." Fuji commented and smiled.
"It will be like the time we went to the Senbatsu Training Camp for the preparation for the Good Will games and fought the American team." Momoshiro said happily. "Man, I'm so looking forward to it!" He added with an enthusiastic voice.
"Stop making such a fuss, bastard. It's just a camp." Kaidoh said with a gruff voice.
Momoshiro went to him and hooked an arm around his neck. "You're saying that but you're actually overjoyed about it..." He said with a teasing voice.
"Let go of me, you bastard." Kaidoh replied.
Truth be told, Kaidoh was overjoyed at the idea of spending time in a camp with the seniors and the members of the other teams that they have met over the year. It will be such a nice get-together before they all part ways.
Suddenly, a hand went up in the air. "Ummm... May I ask why on earth you called me here?" Came the voice of Ryouko amidst the noise.
"Oh. You're also coming, Ryouko." Ryuzaki-sensei said.
"Naze desuka? (Why?)" Ryouko asked with an arching of one eyebrow. "I don't have anything to do with the nationals." She added.
"Yes, but your name is written in the list of guests." Ryuzaki-sensei said, flipping to another page of the document she was holding.
"A guest? For what?" Ryouko asked.
"It wasn't written here." Ryuzaki-sensei answered.
"I can't come, sensei. I have to coach the freshmen. Then there's also the juniors and seniors. I promised them. I can't go back on my word." Ryouko said.
"E? Hime-chan won't come?" Kikumaru said, pouting a little.
"You don't need me there, senpai. But I'm needed here. After all, with all the regulars gone, who will be the one to run the club? Ryuzaki-sensei is also coming with you, am I correct?" Ryouko replied.
"That won't be a problem, Ryouko. Because we are this year's winning team, they rae giving us special treatment. It won't be just the regulars that will be coming. The whole Seigaku tennis club will be included in the camp." Ryuzaki-sensei said with a smile.
"The whole club?" Fuji said, not quite believing his ears.
"You mean, all of us? Including all the other seniors, juniors and freshmen?" Oishi asked for confirmation.
"Yes. All of the members of Seigaku tennis club are invited." Ryuzaki-sensei answered with a nod.
The regulars cheered this news in their own ways. Tezuka wasn't thrilled to say a word of compliment or gratitude to Atobe but he can't deny the fact that he needed to thank the guy for making such a joyous event happen.
"What are we doing here? Let's go tell everyone!" Momoshiro said.
"Not so fast. I will announce it this afternoon. I just wanted to get the opinion of the regulars about the matter. And of course, the vote of the instructor of the freshmen is also needed." Ryuzaki-sensei said.
"There's no need to ask us, sensei. Of course we approve." Kikumaru said. He turned to Ryouko and said, "Right, Hime-chan?"
Ryouko smiled. "If it won't be such trouble to include us, then we'll be honored. The freshmen will be exposed to a wider environment. It will be good for their improvement."
"Then everything is settled." Inui said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "When will this event start, sensei?" He added.
"Next week. So we all still have a week's preparation. The setting will be the Atobe family's resort in Okinawa. They've prepped up the place for it to be suitable for a tennis training ground. I have to say Atobe Keigo made such great preparations for this. You will be there for a total of one week. Starting tomorrow, I will be handing the waivers and other documents needed for the trip. Make sure that you're guardians will approve of you going. If the waiver is not signed, then the student cannot go." Ryuzaki-sensei told them.
"Hai, sensei." They all answered.
"This meeting is dismissed then. You children go to your classrooms. It's almost time for homeroom." Ryuzaki-sensei said before leaving.
The regulars and Ryouko went to their class with high spirits, greatly anticipating the camp that they will have a week from now.
- Await the Inter-school Tennis Camp situated in Okinawa!
This'll be fun... XD
Remember the Senbatsu Tennis Camp wherein they selected the Japanese team members that will play in the Good Will Games against the American team?
A surprise about the American team! They'll meet our Tennis no Ojou-sama soon!
A reunion of the capped boys! XD