"What on earth are you talking about?" Ryouko asked, a frown darkening her face.
Atobe was about to speak but a commotion in the bowling alley distracted both of them.
Ryouko's neck swerved towards the source of the cheering noise and a wary look took over her rust-colored eyes. She shifted her attention to Atobe and stepped closer. "I don't think this is an ideal place for us to be discussing this matter..." she said, keeping her volume low. "I'll contact you later and let's meet up before the New Year's Eve celebration starts. It'll be trouble if my cousins overhear us," she added.
Atobe Keigo was taken aback at the short distance between them. He raised a hand to touch her but she moved away without even noticing his slight gesture.
Glancing over her shoulder, Ryouko gave him a meaningful look. "I'll contact you, okay?" she said before heading towards the bowling alley.
Atobe could only watch as she retaliated towards her cousins. He blinked consecutively and thought back about what happened for the last few minutes. He realized that he just confessed to Fujioka Ryouko, the girl whom he never imagined to be his type since the moment he laid eyes on her.
His face slowly reddened and he placed a hand over his mouth, feeling the embarrassment sink in a moment too late.
"That was crazy, Atobe Keigo. Why'd you do that so impulsively?" he told himself and looked all around him. They are in a freaking recreational center inside a shopping mall. This is, by any means, not the ideal place to be professing one's love towards a girl.
He screwed up real bad indeed. Ryouko's reaction wasn't what he expected as well and he fed her so much information about the engagement that his confession was totally set aside.
He groaned in exasperation and dragged his feet back to where his teammates are. He needs a moment to collect himself before receiving Ryouko's text or call about where to meet later.
He tapped Choutaro on the shoulder. The latter turned around. "Oh, where have you been Captain?" he asked.
"I don't feel so good. I'll be going home ahead of you guys. Just enjoy yourselves and don't bother me," Atobe told him.
Choutaro blinked in confusion and just watched the Hyotei captain retreat from the recreational center.
As Atobe descended down the elevator, he thought of only one thing. Would it be too late for him to at least grab a bouquet of flowers or something more note-worthy of his profession of love and give it to Ryouko later? Does she even like flowers?
Ahh, the torture... His own actions are driving him crazy....
~~~
The door of Fujioka Ryouko's room creaked open and the owner herself went in, turned the lights on and took her coat off. With a little sigh, she went towards the bed and sat down.
The rest of their trip in the mall was a blur to her except for the most significant moment when she took advantage of her cousins' preoccupancy and talked to Ryoma alone outside the arcade. They just arrived home approximately five minutes ago and everyone's busy washing up.
She sat up on the bed with the pillows supporting her back and began unwinding her braided hair while recalling everything that happened during the second half of their trip to the mall.
They all went to the rooftop after everyone had their fill of fun in the recreational center, bidding goodbye to the Hyotei tennis club members with their captain Atobe Keigo mysteriously missing. Tetsuya and Tatsuya were disappointed that their former kouhai didn't even bid them goodbye before leaving and mumbled curses about playing a prank on him the next time they see him.
Upon arriving in the rooftop, they sipped cups of hot chocolate while taking lots of pictures beside mascots and wallpapers present for the attractions. When they went past the arcade, everyone wanted to check it out and they ended up staying there for two hours. Most of the male Fujiokas above age nine with the addition of Echizen Ryoga, competed fiercely on who could collect the most tickets and bring home the biggest prize. Those who weren't interested enjoyed simple games with the younger kids.
When Setsuna checked the time and found out that they exceeded the hours they previously arranged for the mall trip, he called everyone's attention and announced a huddle to check the head count. After making sure that everyone was present, they made preparations to go home. Everyone was having so much fun and they groaned in disappointment.
"It's alright guys... We can visit the mall again before we leave Japan..." Kaname told them as they boarded the bus home.
"Yes, let's..." Keima mumbled.
"That was a lot more interesting than I thought," Haru commented.
"Malls are fun!" four-year-old Fuyu interjected before giggling adorably.
Unfortunately for the cousins, they were too distracted with the arcade attractions and failed to keep an eye on their precious Ryouko. When she saw all of them bemused and completely preoccupied with the games, Ryouko took the opportunity to pull Ryoma's arm and secretly led him out of the arcade.
Although a bit confused, Ryoma followed her without a word until she pushed him inside a photo booth beside the arcade.
"Hey, what on earth are you doing?" he said, his eyes wide while watching her close the stall and slide the lock close so it would indicate 'Occupied' from outside.
Ryouko heaved a great exhale and a small sigh of relief consecutively before facing him.
Ryoma swallowed hard upon seeing the sudden serious glint in her eyes. His thoughts started running wild.
What in the name of tennis could Ryouko be thinking to drag him off and lock him with her inside such an enclosed space with her cousins outside playing in the arcade? Weren't the two of them focusing on keeping a low profile? If somebody notices both of them gone and the cousins go on a hunting spree in search of their precious Ryouko, the two of them could be found in such a suspicious situation.
He was thinking thoughts along that line for the first few seconds but forgot everything when Ryouko took a step towards him. "Ryoma..." she called, her tone soft and clipped.
The dark-haired boy was not prepared for anything like the sort of situation that he's currently in but he didn't dislike it either. He ended up shutting his eyes tight as she got closer. A couple of seconds passed but nothing happened.
"What the heck are you doing, closing your eyes like that? Have you gotten some dust in your eyes or something?" Ryouko suddenly said and his eyelids automatically sprang open.
"Huh?" Ryoma said dumbly.
"I said, did you get some dust in your eyes? You closed them so suddenly," she told him.
Realizing that he totally misunderstood her intentions, his cheeks went pink and he lifted a knuckle to his right eye. "Yeah, I think there's a bit of dust," he remarked, thankful that she provided a perfect excuse for him to cover up his own shameful imagination.
"Are you alright? Should I blow on your eye?" she asked.
He shook his head abruptly. "No, no. I'm fine," he replied and pulled himself together. "Why did you suddenly drag me in here? If your cousins notice that you're gone..." he told her, leaving off the sentence undone with a shiver.
"I need to tell you something... It's urgent," she answered and it was at that moment that he noticed the anxiety sitting on her brows.
"What's wrong?" he asked, getting worried. He placed a hand gently on her arm.
"Actually, back at the recreation center earlier, Keigo talked to me privately, right by the wall-climbing area," Ryouko started without beating around the bush.
A flash of vexation glinted on Ryoma's bronze-gold eyes. "He talked to you privately? How did that even happen? I didn't see—" he said and cut off his own words upon realizing something.
"That bastard dragged you off there didn't he? The wall-climbing area was closed for maintenance and the lights were dimmed there," he remarked, almost exclaiming. Glancing at the door of the photo booth stall, he looked ready to slide the lock off, go hunting for the Monkey King and break his neck with his bare hands. If it weren't for Ryouko stopping him, he would've gone out for sure.
"Hey, calm down... We just talked," she told Ryoma with a reassuring tone, taking a firm hold of both his hands. "Well, strictly speaking, he didn't just talk to me. He pressed my hand to his chest and suddenly told me he likes me," she added almost immediately.
Outside the photo booth stall, a teenage boy's voice shocked the wits out of the people hanging around the arcade entrance.
"HE DID WHAT?!" Ryoma exclaimed so loud that Ryouko's eyes widened and she pressed both palms over his mouth.
"Shhhhh... My gosh, Ryoma... That was too loud," she hissed, looking warily at the stall door.
Ryoma took her hands off his mouth and regarded her seriously with his hands on her shoulders. "Say that again. What did the Monkey King do and say to you?"
"He..." Ryouko started and just realized that she dropped the bomb a bit too rashly with the worst choice of words possible. Although none of what she said was a lie, she still shouldn't have been so honest.
"Well, he just pressed my hand over the left side of his chest, just very, very lightly, and then he told me that I make his heart beat fast the same way that tennis does. He told me he likes me but I don't know if he's being serious or not. I guess his heart was indeed kinda beating a little quick but he was playing bowling earlier so that must be the more definite reason..." she mumbled, emphasizing the necessary words with a little playful drawl in an intention to fix the situation. Unfortunately, she ended up making it worse.
Ryoma gave a huff and a look of annoyance flashed in his eyes. He scowled at Ryouko and raised an eyebrow at her.
She mustered a shaky, forced smile in response and blinked at him twice. Ryoma wiped the scowl off of his face and smiled back. For a moment, Ryouko thought she was successful.
However, Ryoma reached for the lock the next second and said, "I'm gonna kill him."
Ryouko caught his hand in time and pulled him away from the door. To be on the safe side, she placed herself between Ryoma and the door. "No one's going to kill anyone today, no sir..." she enunciated in a sing-song tone and made him sit down on a chair.
"Just calm down and listen to me first. You can decide to go kill him or not once I tell you everything," she said before sitting across from him with his hands on hers and narrating the words exchanged between her and Atobe Keigo just an hour earlier. She gave emphasis on what Keigo said lastly.
"It was too dangerous for him to be relaying such information to me with all my cousins present so I told him that I'll meet up with him later and talk about what he said about the engagement thing," Ryouko finished.
A frown darkened Ryoma's face as he listened and even got darker after Ryouko got to the fiancé candidate part.
"I was a little flustered and decided abruptly that to talk again later would be the best option..." Ryouko continued before staring at Ryoma's eyes intently. "But if you tell me not to go, I won't. I'll find out about what Keigo knows some other way without meeting him..." she said sincerely.
She reached out a hand onto Ryoma's cheek. "I promised that I won't do anything to upset you..." she said, caressing the soft, lightly tanned skin with her fingertips. "So if you tell me not to go, I really won't..."
Ryouko's sunset-colored eyes were deep-seated with sincerity and honesty that Ryoma couldn't say a word and just stared back.
To be truthful, Ryoma was contemplating. Atobe Keigo knows something that not even the cousins know about. All of the cousins know that the engagement between Setsuna and Ryouko was not broken off completely. Even Ryouko and Setsu-nii themselves were privy to the fact that their engagement was only spoken of as 'annulled' but only 'postponed' in reality. Ryou-san was sad when he spoke of it with Ryouko on the phone and promised that he would do something about it.
Both Ryouko and Ryoma didn't pay much heed to the formalities. It was enough for them that there is no danger of Ryouko being publicly engaged at the moment. But now, Atobe Keigo just said with confidence that the engagement between Setsuna and Ryouko was completely broken off and the options were once again stretched outside the Fujioka family circle.
Ryoma couldn't deny that he's also curious about what the Monkey King has to say since it involves his girlfriend's engagement, but at the same time, he wanted her nowhere near a guy who just confessed to her and might be the strongest prospective fiancé arranged by her family.
"Say something..." Ryouko's soft voice made Ryoma snap back to reality. "Please..." she added, cupping his cheek with her palm.
Ryoma looked at her and sighed. "Give me a sec," he said and stood from the chair. Ryouko also stood upright, following his lead.
He took her left wrist on his right hand and pulled her lightly close to him in an embrace. Wrapping his arms around her, he buried his face onto the side of her neck.
"Ryoma?" she called, her tone worried.
"Just... stay still and give me a minute..." he murmured, his words muffled from her scarf.
Breathing out softly, Ryouko pursed her lips and wrapped her arms around his waist. She didn't say anything and just hugged him back tightly.
She could hear his shallow breathing and felt his chest rise and fall with each breath. His heartbeat, so close to hers, sounded a little uneven. About three minutes had passed when she heard the thudding stabilize and slow down. Only then did she dare to say a word.
"Dude... Is this another one of your ridiculously long minute..." she joked, lifting a hand towards the back of his head and ruffling the dark locks.
At that moment, Ryoma raised his face from her neck and pulled away a bit. "I'm okay now..." he remarked and breathed out heavily.
Ryouko gave a small smile. "Don't be so anxious... Just tell me what you want... I'll do what you say..." she told him and brushed away a few strands of hair stuck to his temple.
"Go and hear what he has to say... It's important information which would be pretty dumb to pass off... Besides, I'm not anxious nor would I ever be jealous of that stupid guy who doesn't know his place and had enough guts to confess to you with all your cousins present," he said and got a little pissed off at himself for thinking that Atobe was a little impressive to actually profess his love amidst the presence of the Fujioka's male population.
"You know what, I looked up 'jealous' from the dictionary before... I took note of three meanings," he added before holding up his fingers to count. "Number one stated 'strongly wanting someone else's position, advantages or possessions' and that won't apply to me since the place beside you was mine since the start of time. You're also mine and I don't need to steal you from anybody. Number two stated 'suspicious or unduly suspicious or fearful of being displaced by a rival' and goodness knows you won't replace someone as good as a catch as me. Number three stated 'protective and suspiciously watchful'. I can be a little protective and watchful at times but 'suspicious' is a strong word indicating a lack of trust and I trust you more than I trust myself so that doesn't apply to me as well," he said without pausing.
"To sum it up, jealousy isn't my thing," he finalized, marking a punctuation at his great speech.
Ryouko gave a snort of laughter and regarded him with amused eyes. "Wow, your vocabulary is superb. Did you really look up 'jealous' in the dictionary?"
"I did," he told her proudly. "You know how I like making things clear. Even a little bit of confusion can cloud one's ability to understand things... I had to know my own feelings. Research is the fastest way to do that," he added.
"Well I have to say, that's an adorable but weird way to understand your own feelings but I can't really laugh because I'll probably do the same," Ryouko said and gave a chuckle.
Stepping close to him, she initiated a hug. "Are you sure you want me to go? You're not being pressured or forced to give your permission?" she asked, resting her head on his shoulder.
"No," Ryoma said with a soft voice and his hand found its way to Ryouko's braided hair and caressed it. "Just make sure I'm still on speed dial number one and press that if he tries anything... That's the only thing I'm worried about," he added.
"Ohh he won't do that... I know you're not fond of Atobe Keigo but he's not a complete jerk. Don't take that as me taking his side though... I'm just looking at things fairly. If, by 0.1 percent of a probability that he does try something, I'm not so weak that I can't protect myself. I'll probably knock him out before pressing speed dial and you can punch him all you want afterwards," Ryouko told him and smiled so sweetly as if she didn't say anything so scary.
"I'll be content with that then..." Ryoma said, giving her shoulders a last squeeze. He untangled himself from her arms. "We should get back to the arcade. If my brother or any of your cousins notice us gone, I don't want to think of what would happen next," he remarked.
Ryouko nodded and turned around to unlock the door. However, before her fingers could even reach the lock, Ryoma gave her wrist a slight pull that made her turn back towards him. Cupping a hand at the back of her head, he inclined his face downwards at hers and planted a firm kiss on her lips.
She was startled for a second but closed her eyes anyways. After the moist warmth left her lips, she opened them again and met with Ryoma's bronze-gold eyes.
He merely blinked and pulled away as if he didn't do anything out of the ordinary.
"You're a sneak. What was that for?" she said, looking warily at the door once again.
Ryoma cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly. "To be honest, when you suddenly dragged me in here, I thought that that was what you were about to do..." he said, shamelessly revealing the thoughts that ran into his head earlier.
Ryouko wasn't able to understand at first. "What the heck are you going on abo—" her words cut off as she finally understood what he was implying.
Her face reddened and she took a witch's wand from the props corner, using it to hit Ryoma on the head. "Bad! Geez, what a naughty boy you are!" she exclaimed.
Ryoma defended himself half-heartedly from the wand and smirked mischievously. "You're the one who always sneak up on me like that... It's now my turn to act cheeky," he remarked.
Ryouko giggled. "Goodness gracious, what have I done to you? You've become so brazen," she interjected.
Ryoma shrugged. "It takes guts to date someone like you," he pointed out.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she complained, hitting his shoulder with the wand.
Ryoma took the wand from her and placed it back to the props box. "It means that you're amazing and so am I," he remarked and suddenly turned her towards the screen of the photo booth machine. Placing a couple of tokens from his pocket, he loaded them on the coin slot and pressed a button.
"Say tennis~" he said and smiled for the shot while pinching Ryouko's cheek lightly.
There was a shutter sound and the photo fell from the dispenser five seconds later.
"I paid for this so this is mine," Ryoma said, taking the picture and placing it on the pocket of his coat before unlocking the stall and going outside.
It took a moment for Ryouko to snap out of her daze. "Hey! I wanna see what I look like! You pinched my cheek, I might've turned out ugly," she shouted and followed him out of the photo booth stall.
A smile crept at the corners of Ryouko's lips as she continued brushing her hair. Ryoma had gotten a little too irresistibly cute over the period that they started dating but perhaps he had been cute ever since and she just never noticed it because she didn't like him the same way she does now.
It's amazing how much had changed since then. She really didn't expect herself to be falling in love so early in life. She always saw 'love' as a grown-up thing, something untouchable for boys and girls with the word 'teen' attached to their ages.
Her wonderful musing was interrupted when her phone vibrated. She looked at it and saw Atobe Keigo's name flash across the screen.
The smile disappeared from her face and she opened the text message.
'Time and place?' it said simply.
Ryouko typed out a reply. She already decided the place and time with Ryoma earlier so that he would be more at ease.
'Seishun Academy gate. 8pm.'
She pressed send and immediately got ready. She would have to deal with this matter as soon as possible. Her cousins would still be busy with washing up and changing clothes and it would take long for them to finish with the limited bathrooms in the mansion. It would also be a handful to coerce the smaller children to take their baths peacefully. The older cousins would have their hands full with just that.
After making two smooth consecutive lies, the first one towards Setsuna to whom she told that she would be helping out in the kitchen, and the second one towards Licht whom she told that she would be taking a brief walk outside, she successfully made her way out of the mansion and walked towards her school.
Upon arriving, she needn't have to wait because Atobe Keigo was already there, standing by the wall in front of the academy's nameplate.
It was only at that instant that Ryouko remembered that she was confessed to by the same guy she was about to confront. All of a sudden, she started feeling awkward.
She had never been confessed to before in her entire life and even with Ryoma, it was her who confessed first. Realizing that she would have to reject him properly, she felt a little nervous.
"Did Ryoma also felt like this when he was on his way to reject Ryuzaki's confession?" she asked herself. It wasn't a pleasant feeling at all. She felt like a person being forced to slit the throat of a small defenseless animal.
Atobe Keigo who towers over her head by a good twenty centimeters and always seemed to release a powerful, arrogant, high and mighty aura suddenly looked so vulnerable in her eyes. All of a sudden, she remembered the slight tremble in his voice from when they were talking at the recreational center. She recalled the way his purple eyes looked, so sincere and honest.
She suddenly wanted to turn around and go back home but the moment she took a step back, Atobe noticed her presence.
"You're here," he called and breathed onto his hands. She noticed that he had no one with him and there's no car parked anywhere near them. He must have sent his driver away which was uncharacteristic of him. He always wanted someone waiting on his hand and foot that it was hard for him to adjust to the rules at the camp.
"Why did you ask to meet here? It's chilly," he told her, his breath swirling in a mist in front of his face.
"Should we go to a café then?" she asked. "There's one right down the street," she added.
Atobe nodded and let her lead the way. As they walked, Ryouko sent a message to Ryoma, informing him of the change in the place. When she tucked the phone back to her pocket, she was met with uncomfortable silence.
Ryouko wasn't the only one feeling awkward because Atobe also felt the same. As a matter of fact, he brought a bouquet of flowers with him, a nice collection of fragrant white roses, but ended up leaving it at the backseat of the car. She might think him ridiculous for giving her a bouquet and he doesn't want that. However, he did take a single rose and placed it inside his winter coat.
When they reached the café, they ordered a warm beverage each. Picking a table further away from the other customers, they sat down and Ryouko went straight to business.
"What do you mean by you're the strongest candidate for my future fiancé?" she asked immediately.
Atobe who was about to take a sip of his latte stopped midway and placed the cup down.
"I'm not familiar with what project it is exactly, but we struck a huge partnership with Zenbonzakura at the start of December. For some reason, my old man got them to agree about placing my name at the top of the list for your future fiancé. I'm not sure how it happened in detail and my father is being ridiculously secretive about it, saying that it's his trump card or something... Dad told me that it's only a matter of time before our engagement would be announced. Possibly, there would be official announcements by this coming year since I would be graduating from Junior High in the Spring. The official engagement ceremony would be held by your fifteenth birthday. At least that's what my father told me," he said before taking his interrupted sip of his hot beverage.
Ryouko looked thoughtful. "Since the Chairman himself is giving out tentative dates, it's certain that he felt confident about it, like it's almost confirmed. He won't act like that for no reason," she commented.
"Indeed," Atobe answered. "My father is no joker when it comes to matters regarding the family business. He's also seriously trying to find me a good prospective fiancée..." he added, tapping his nail on the rim of his cup and looking at Ryouko squarely. "In his eyes, you're a perfect daughter-in-law..."
"He just thinks that way because I seem obedient. He doesn't know how terrible I can be when I get serious at rebelling," Ryouko replied before taking a sip of her cup of warm milk tea.
"Believe me, he does... He knows you well-enough and he sees that rebellious part of yours as charming," Atobe answered.
"Well I'm flattered but in this case, his compliments are a burden..." Ryouko remarked.
"Would it be right for me to assume that what you mean by that is you don't want to get engaged to me?" Atobe Keigo asked, quite calm.
Ryouko was a little surprised at his straight-forwardness. "I'm sorry but the answer is yes," she said upon pulling herself together. "It's not just you either. I don't want to get engaged to anyone," she added.
"Why?" Atobe asked.
"I'm not obliged to tell you the reason..." Ryouko answered, willing herself to sound firm and assertive.
"Well, perhaps you'll change your mind if I tell you my proposal," Atobe suddenly answered, not at all fazed. Before Ryouko could say anything in edgewise, he continued speaking.
"If you get engaged to me, my family and I would be able to block all other prospective fiancé candidates. I could also help grant you more freedom. You can use my name as an excuse to continue studying here in Japan. If you need to move countries, you can use my name as well. I'll move there first and make things more convenient for you. An engaged girl following her fiancé to another country would not be a strange occurrence. You don't need to be burdened by the engagement and if you still don't like me by the time you are of age, you can just tell me and I'll break it off myself," he told her.
"Why would you go through such lengths?" Ryouko asked.
"Because I like you," Atobe answered.
Ryouko paused and looked at him. He met her gaze steadily with a calmness in his lilac-colored eyes. "Why do you like me then?" she asked.
"Strange enough, I'm not entirely sure. You're pretty on the outside but unrefined inside. You're violent and you hit like a guy. I don't like your height, you're too small," Atobe answered.
A vein throbbed on the left side of Ryouko's temple. Is he confessing to her or savagely destroying her with insults?
"Your hair's too long, I like nice short clipped hair on a girl. You eat too much. You're stingy and thrifty for a rich heiress which I just can't understand. Your style in picking clothes is too boyish. You look like an expressionless doll which I hate and your chest is flat," he said nonstop.
At his last four words, Ryouko grabbed the spoon used to scoop powdered sugar from a container and threateningly held it near his throat. "If you wanted me to kill you, you can just ask nicely," she hissed at him.
Atobe smiled and gave a soft clipped laugh. "See? You're really not my type of girl... You're the complete opposite," he said and suddenly reached inside his coat pocket.
Ryouko flinched, thinking that he's pulling out some sort of weapon and quickly withdrew the spoon. She found herself blinking at the sight of a fully-bloomed white rose in his hand.
"You're not my type at all but it's you who I think about..." he suddenly said, his voice uncharacteristically soft. "You're rough and violent, but at the same time, you're sweet and gentle. You're honest, straight-forward, pure and untainted. You're beautiful and adorable in the most unexpected ways. Your smiles are rare and fleeting but they linger in my mind for days. I don't know how you bewitched me either but I can't fight it... I don't know how..."
He placed the flower in between them and suddenly reached out a hand towards hers. Ryouko was late to react and thus, her hand was trapped under his on top of the table.
"I don't know if I'm doing all these right. I'm new to this feeling and I don't really know how to confront my own emotions and you as well... But I'm serious about this and it hurts me when you say I'm not... I thought about this a lot and I really don't mind if you use me to your advantage. Getting engaged would get the family elders off your back. Even if you don't like me now, I'll try and make you notice me the same way... All I'm asking for is a chance," he said.
Ryouko knows that she should say something but it's the first time she had been told such words and she didn't know how to react.
While she was undergoing a silent battle inside her head, the person on the table right behind them tightened his grip on the menu that he had been using to hide his face.
"I'll cut that hand off, I really will!" Echizen Ryoma thought passionately, biting his lower lip in frustration.
Ryoma knew that he shouldn't but he could not stop himself from tailing the two of them. He had made his way to the gates of their school even before Atobe arrived and he saw the gigantic bouquet of white roses that the Monkey King actually prepared. He watched as Atobe contemplated, taking out the bouquet, placing it back in the car and taking it out again. Finally, he decided to just take a single rose and sent the car away with the bouquet inside.
When Ryouko arrived, he hid in the shadows and almost killed himself with a heart attack when his phone vibrated. Ryouko just sent a text message notifying him about changing the place to the café down the street.
He was lucky enough that the two chose an inconspicuous spot in the café. He took the table right behind it, positioning himself at the blind spot of both Ryouko and the Monkey King.
Upon hearing Atobe confess to his girlfriend in such close proximity, he regretted being so nosy and following them all the way there. Ryoma perfectly knows how charming Ryouko is. She herself doesn't know just exactly how interesting she is. She always thought that her looks were her best redeeming features but that wasn't true.
It was her character that shone brighter than her pretty face. It was her old soul and unusual way of thinking that made her different from other girls her age. It was the way she always looked ahead, far, far into the infinity of probabilities with full knowledge of the fear for possible failure and pain but she braved everything anyways.
Being courageous is not being fearless; it is staying brave despite knowing what fear is. Ryouko is the very embodiment of that. She doesn't know how amazing she is for just staying true to herself. She doesn't know that it's hard for many to stay true to themselves the way she does so effortlessly. She is so pure and untainted, just like Atobe Keigo said... And at times, her cluelessness is frustrating.
"Ryouko. Why won't you say anything?" Ryoma thought anxiously. He asked himself whether Ryouko felt the same way that he does now when he lied to her during the freshmen's Christmas party so he could go to Ryuzaki and reject her confession.
It felt terrible. Even knowing that Atobe has no chance, even though he knew the guy would be rejected, he still felt a dull pain in his chest. He just wanted Ryouko to be straightforward and give him a firm rejection.
"Keigo..." Ryouko called.
Ryoma felt the dull pain sharpen at how gently she called his name. Fujioka Ryouko can be a bit rough but she is nice deep inside. Atobe Keigo showed such sincerity and his words carried so much weight. Ryouko wouldn't be able to reject him harshly. Ryoma knows that but it still didn't sit right with him.
"I'm sorry but I have to tell you my own feelings... I can't return yours because I like someone else," Ryouko said.
The light returned to Ryoma's bronze-gold eyes and he peeked at them from the side of the menu.
"The reason why I don't want to be engaged to anyone is because I already have a boy whom I like very much. I think I'm too young to be categorizing love but I daresay I love him. I don't want to have a fiancé out in public and date him in the shadows. It's bad enough that we can't announce that we're dating. Placing a fiancé in the equation makes me feel wrong and I don't want to hurt his feelings. What he feels is the most important for me; to make him smile always, to stay happily by his side, to chase my dreams alongside him. That's why, even if your suggestion to pose as a temporary fiancé is logical and convenient, I can't agree to it," she said and sighed.
"He's actually being placed in such awkward situations since he has to adjust to my special circumstances. Even so, I only want him," she added.
Ryoma found himself smiling form behind the menu. She heard him say sweet things to him but nothing sounded sweeter than what he just heard.
"You're still young. How would you know that your feelings won't change? People change faster than seasons does. You can never be too sure," Atobe answered.
"In that case, the same can be said to you... How can you guarantee that your feelings for me won't change? Like you said, I'm not your type. What if you meet someone with the same strange qualities of mine that made you like me while possessing the character and physical features that you like?" she said with a small smile and gave a shrug. "You can never be too sure..." she added, using his words against him.
Atobe Keigo gave an amused laugh. He really can't win against this girl.
"I understand what you're saying... In that case, let me compromise..." he said and took the white rose. He broke off a petal and placed it near Ryouko's teacup.
"I acknowledge that you like another guy but you won't be able to stop me from liking you. Just let me be. If it fades with time, then it will. If I give up eventually, I'll do so in the future. But right now, I won't give you up. I can't give you up. Just like you have the freedom to like the person you hold so dearly that you reject such a fine specimen like me, I have the freedom to continue liking you..." he told her.
Ryouko blinked and stared at him in exasperation.
"That's the best compromise I can make..." he remarked and gestured at the flower petal.
Ryouko took rose petal between her fingertips and sighed. "You can do what you want but don't blame me if I turn out cruel... The boy I love is the jealous type despite not fitting the three meanings of the word 'jealous' that he found in the dictionary so if he gets upset, I'm going to be harsh to you... It's fun seeing him get jealous at times but I hate seeing him anxious," she told him.
"Gee, I'd love to know who this boy is and have him assassinated," Atobe said, making a face. Of course he already has an idea of who it is... Assassinating that one would not only be beneficial for his unrequited love but for his tennis career as well.
"I'll get you first before you could harm a hair on his head..." Ryouko said matter-of-factly. She finished off her milktea and took her phone. She took off the case, slipped the rose petal inside and fixed the phone back to place.
"I heard your sincerity and even if you believe me or not, I'm truly flattered for everything you said. I haven't been confessed to before in my life so I didn't really know how to confront you at first... But we're sort of friends already, albeit ones who bicker and insult each other quite often, so I felt more comfortable talking to you... Thank you for being honest with me and for telling me about the engagement matters..." she told him.
"Don't go putting me in the friend's zone right after you rejected me and told me outright that you're dating another guy... That's just too much to take for a newbie like me," Atobe said, grimacing.
Ryouko couldn't help chuckling at his words. "Fine. I think you should leave first since I'm the one who did the rejecting. The rejected should at least be allowed to take their dignity with them and leave the cruel person sitting on a table alone," she pointed out.
"Calling me 'the rejected' isn't helping with my dignity so can you just shut up and watch me leave?" Atobe snapped as he typed a message to his chauffeur to come and pick him up.
Ryouko made an innocent face and held both hands in surrender. "I'll shut up," she said.
"A person who's shutting up shouldn't be saying anything..." Atobe remarked.
Ryouko zipped her mouth, threw away the key and gestured for him to go on his way.
Atobe gave a last snort of laughter before taking his leave. After he boarded the car, staring at the bouquet of white roses beside him, he couldn't help smiling bitterly. He just got rejected but somehow, he still doesn't feel it sink in.
However, he's not giving up. It's far too early for that. She's not Echizen Ryouko yet and that would still be for decades to come. There's a possibility that it won't even happen.
Nothing is set in stone and the same can be said for Ryouko and Echizen Ryoma. It's far too early for the great Atobe Keigo to take an honorable step back. It took a lot of effort to take a step forward and admit his feelings. He won't take a step back just because of an Echizen Ryoma.
~~~
Back in the café, Ryouko made sure that Atobe Keigo's car had gone from sight before slumping in her chair and sighing deeply. She didn't know that rejecting other's feelings for her would be so mentally and emotionally draining.
In addition, there's this someone who just couldn't stay still when he's told.
Slipping her phone back to her coat pocket, she approached the person sitting on the table right behind the one she just vacated. She hid an amused simper when he started panicking and almost diving under the table. Finally, he contented himself with covering his head with the menu.
"Okay, Sherlock... The case is closed. You don't need to go undercover anymore..." Ryouko told him.
Echizen Ryoma guiltily took off the menu from his head and emerged from the three layers of scarves that he used as a futile disguise. "How long have you known?" he asked.
"You're not in a position to ask me anything. Get up and let's go home," Ryouko said.
"Are you mad at me for following you?" Ryoma asked cautiously.
"I said, get up and let's go home," Ryouko repeated, her eyes glinting dangerously.
Ryoma immediately sprang to his feet with a 'Yes Ma'am'.
~~~
Meanwhile, inside the residence of the Atobe family, Atobe senior just got a report that his son went to talk with Fujioka Ryouko-kun, taking a bouquet of roses with him, and ended up going home with the roses still on-hand. That son of his really has no skills at wooing females.
However, Keigo, that irresponsible brat is slowly becoming more dependable especially after returning from the interschool tennis camp. It won't be a bad thing for him to assume that his son finally found his match, a person who could tame him and make him surrender.
Cutting in line with this underhanded method may be a little too much since there was a lot of lying involved but it is the Fujioka Clan Elders' fault that they make conclusions without asking the kids first. He only needed to show them the pictures of Ryouko-kun and Keigo interacting with each other during camp and made the elders believe that the two of them likes each other. The wedding dress one during the cosplay event was the photo that definitely locked the key in place.
With the elders under the assumption that the reason why their female heiress is rebelling so much is because she wished to be engaged to the Atobe family's son who was not high on the list of the prospective fiancé because of being born from a nouveau-riche household, they made the necessary preparations to pave Atobe Keigo's way up the ladder of candidates.
Atobe senior smiled at the photo of his son carrying his future daughter-in-law in complete wedding attire. The Hyotei tennis team members definitely gave him extremely useful weapons. Now all he needs is to give his idiot son the push he needs to get closer to Ryouko-kun and win her heart for real. Both of them are still children, just thirteen and fifteen, thus there is a lot of time left over to develop an attraction between the two of them.
As the New Year's Eve neared, Atobe senior locked the photos back to a hand-held fancy-looking treasure's chest. Surely they would come in handy again in the future. For now, he has to attend some troublesome parties and make more connections in high society. All those troublesome things would eventually bring forth a good profit.
Sorry for leaving you guys hanging off a cliff for three weeks straight... I would love to gift you another good cliff but I'm too tired to care. It's almost three in the morning right now and I haven't slept for 24 hours since waking up early yesterday for Saturday shift.
So don't hate me too much. 😅
Btw, I got myself new coin purses! 😍 So adorable!