Princess in Prison Chapter 4: Knight in Shining Volvo, a prince of tennis fanfic

Disclaimer: Takeshi Konomi owns POT

CHAPTER FOUR

Knight in Shining Volvo

7:30 am

Huff

The morning came out right, just the way she dreamt about it for years. Waking up in a normal household, with her pink frilly apron that her Obaachan made for her, she would cook breakfast happily and probably share it with a friend- and at her case that was Tomoka.

Huff

Sakuno couldn't possibly want to move forward until she relished that she's back in her homeland. Specially when she first stepped foot in her house, Tomoka sure outdid her expectations. She made outstanding use of the white fur carpet, used a fantastic mix of colors for the sofa and the glass table too, the colored pebbles quite gave compliment to the color combinations as well. Sakuno couldn't help but think that she really did pick the right person for the job.

Huff

She breathed, well. It was a chatty breakfast until her beast friend realized that she was late for school which starts at 7:00 am, Sakuno giggled in between her breaths, she just hoped her best friend made it on time.

Huff

She even made a bento for Tomoka, it's really good to be back in the place where she felt really homey. Taking in a deep breath as she kept her pace up in her early morning exercise, Glancing happily on the park watching some kids do their morning stretch with their parents. She smiled, this is home.

Huff

Grabbing her iTouch from her back pocket as she continued to jog, she scrolled on to increase the volume, she continued to her route.

Pok

No matter how he tries to look at it, he couldn't figure out how his coach got ill, and as hard as he may try, he couldn't summon the right words to say if he would ever come across Sakuno.

Ryoma felt like he had all the right to feel guilty.

Echizen Ryoma may be the apathetic Grand Slam Tennis Superstar as he is, but before anything- he's first of all a human, a human who is born with emotions, Ryoma may seem a bit lacking of how to express it that he may seem void of it, but it exist.

All throughout Middle School and High School, Ryoma acknowledged Ryuzaki's support of him. There weren't any of his games that she wasn't there. He never really knew why she'd always been there because she hasn't got any reason too, but she's there.

Sure, Ryuzaki told him that he made her love tennis no matter how hopeless she was to it, but then again- it doesn't explain anything more.

Ryoma was thankful nonetheless, he saw her believe in him regardless of how difficult things were. She made him feel like she was sure he could do just about anything.

It made him feel bad- death may be inevitable but the very least that he could was be there for her. And of course Ryuzaki Sumire had been his coach since Middle School, the fact made things worse.

He was sleep deprived, Ryoma's eyes are red like he was awake forty eight hours straight. It was that feeling that bugged him, with the notion that if he can't do it pronto- sleep would never visit him. But it was late at night, and Ryuzaki's arrival wasn't due until then.

So he did the next best thing.

Pok

Woke up early, drive himself to the Ryuzaki Household only to find it locked up. Well, probably she's still sleeping. That seems logical, Ryoma had long outgrown himself from jetlag- but normal people don't. So the next best thing didn't work.

Pok

So he'll wait until the next-best-thing to work. He still couldn't believe how things turned a little too suddenly.

"Where's Ryuzaki-sensei?" He looked down in an inquiring gaze, she looked surprised with what he just asked, then a sad expression crossed her face.

"She's- wait, we've been sending you mails, haven't you been receiving them?" She asked

"None that I know of."

"Sou ka, would you like to come inside then? This would take long." Tomoka muttered.

"I have all the time." He answered nonchalantly.

If this is the heavens version of joke, it wasn't funny at all. The brunette kept on filling him up, so Ryuzaki had been sent to Boston- studying Medicine and was now in her father's custody.

"That girl, she never complained about anything…" He looked up when she said this, while forcing a smile.

He couldn't understand what Osakada meant, but from the looks of it Ryuzaki looked fairly well, to what point should Sakuno complain? She's living a life of luxury, studying in a prestigious University probably with a lot of zeros in her trust fund,so what's there to complain about?

He shrugged, and looked at the photographs a little more.

"I'd bet, if the Chairwoman gets her engaged, she wouldn't complain either." Tomoka heaved a sigh, earning a serious gaze from the Prince, she raised a brow-

"Engaged?"

Is this girl talking jargons? Or is she not speaking Japanese, because Ryoma couldn't understand in the depths of hell she's jabbering about.

"Clearly, Ryoma-sama doesn't know The Chairwoman dislikes Sakuno-chan because she's an illigitimate child… now I wouldn't want to use the term she actually used to call Sa-chan…it hurts my ears really. You'll never know how far a business crazed woman can actually go for business expansion do you,And certainly Sakuno-chan is a good investment."

Hitting the ball harder as it bounces back at him, Ryoma groaned. In what twisted way could Sakuno be an investment, he just couldn't ponder. It absolutely sickens him, although it was just Osakada's hypothetical statement it wasn't null at all cost- it can be valid. Ryoma couldn't settle the score until he sees the situation for himself.

He had to wonder onto what grounds does Osakada prove to be true, he hoped that he'll end up proving the latter girl and might as well himself as wrong as they could probably be.

Was it his imagination that a flash of cinnamon crossed his peripheral vision, Pausing as he caught the neon ball in his grip, Ryoma turned to confirm.

Now that's something you don't see everyday. No, son. Echizen Ryoma isn't ogling, he just merely passed his eyes by some petite auburn haired girl.

No, she's not that gorgeous, Ryoma had met plenty of women- Supermodels and actresses alike, they were what they should be- keeping up with the Supermodel standards, Yes, they are of what their reputation claims to be, Perfect. Although they have this feeling similar to that when you had too much sweetness, too much sugarcoat and is not at all refreshing.

And maybe he could give this girl a credit for that.

From his view, she's definitely Japanese her petite built told him so, her long auburn locks tied in a ponytail. From his distance he could barely see her face, but she looked so oblivious enough to notice the attention. Because it's not everyday, you see a fairly attractive girl much less in her simplest form wearing simple clothes and comes out rather differently than how they should look, jogging around the park as if showcasing her wonderful piece of anatomy.

But then again, he's just a bystander who kind of passed a looked. No big deal,he had seen better. He shrugged and continued to his business while he threw the ball up in the air and was about to hit it again-when something had hit him hard.

Hold up

That girl looked awfully familiar, wait- that can't be possible. He never remembered Ryuzaki wear her hair in a pony tail, much less clad in a body hugging jogging pants paired with a low cut racerback sweatshirt.

Catching the neon ball in his grip, he couldn't look any longer. Clearly nobody told her that white is never a thing for girls to wear especially during work-outs. He'd better knock some sense in her head, because right now parasympathetic nervous system's acting violently as he watched a couple of hormonally-challenged-mentally-incapacitated-certainly-annoying males jogging right after her.

That's it, scratch the i-don't-know-what-to-tell-her part, because he thought of a very good intro and maybe he would give her a piece of his mind.

"Ryuzaki no baka." He meant that, he really did. Grabbing his tennis bag, he threw it inside the sleek red Corvette, scooping up his sweater which he will definitely need later on when he managed to catch up with that stupid,stupid girl and do her a favor for keeping her modesty intact.

He never felt such urge to smack a girl in the head. Just this once.

Ryoma would like to think that she didn't mean to catch attention, or so help him God she's gonna get it- sure, he felt kind of responsible to look after her now, If Ryuzaki-sensei was here, she would probably ask him to look after her precious (and furiously annoying like now) grand daughter. Oh, she won't be happy, she really won't be happy to see Ryuzaki like this, she must be shifting in her grave.

It irked him, from this distance he could hear the guys whistling as they cheered with the cat calls. It was a blessing in disguise, to have her music tuned too loud for her to notice what's going on, Ryoma was sure that if she could hear them right now- well, things would sway on a different scale.

Tugging the visor of his dark cap, Ryoma noticed her stop. There's something wrong with her shoes, quirking a brow he watched her cross the street and found herself a bench.

He could feel blood rushing to his head as he watched what she did next, All hell be damned. He couldn't look further, he will never sink that low. Ryuzaki was innocently tying up her shoe lace. Though he's got to admit- No wait. He's got to deal with the fiasco at hand.

"Stand up" he spoke sternly, as he tugged an ear phone from her ear. Looking at the opposite direction, avoiding the things his eyes must not lay upon.

Ryoma Echizen is down right pissed. Firstly, he wanted to beat the living daylights out of those perverts, but he can't. Secondly, He can't beat those guys up because he's stupid enough not to bring his racquet with him.

Her mouth hung slightly open. She thought she had seen him in the park a while ago, Sakuno dismissed the thought since she knows that Echizen Ryoma is on the far off corner of the world playing his tennis to more stardom and possibly dating some celebrity at that.

And here he was, proving her wrong. Sakuno straightened up her back and peered closely, the scrunched face and was that a blush on his cheeks? Probably because of his training. Oh! And did he just spoke to her in English? The nerve of him-

"Didn't you hear me?"

"I did." She scoffed, arrogance. Really is his forte.

He was pissed, now she's giving him a very awful angle, he can't even look at her face. Ryoma refused to look at her, instead he fixed his gaze across the street, glaring at those perverts who seem to scram their way back somewhere else.

It's an unspoken rule to the Male World, never mess with the Alpha Male, a.k.a Echizen Ryoma. In the flesh.

Following his gaze, It then hit her. Crap!Crap! Sakuno no baka!baka!urgh!!! wincing at this, she palmed her face in shame. After long years, this is the situation he caught her up with? Some impression this is. Just marvelous, she groaned.

Complying with his previous demand, Sakuno sighed.

"Thank you" She muttered in defeat.

"Wear it." He ordered, reaching for his red sweater, which she hesitated to take until she realized how much her shirt had given her quite a fare, she winced again and took his offer.

"Im sorry for the trouble, Echizen-san" She spoke.

Well, that's something new. Was it because she's not used with honorifics anymore? Or she became too formal to drop the Ryoma-kun? It didn't matter though, it's still his name one way or another. But it is somehow….irritating.

"So, what brought you back here?" She asked, as she walked beside him heading back to the park.

"Japan Cup, probably next week." He answered nonchalantly as he peered at her slightly, he smirked, and well she did look good in his sweater. Although it's too big that the sleeves are five inches longer, and the size…well, it is big.

"Well, that's to be expected."

"Ryuzaki…"

She nudged slightly, and tilted her head slightly to hear him.

"Hn."

"About Ryuzaki-sensei, I didn't know that-."

She knew it was hard for him, No, Sakuno harbored no hard feelings. Life comes and goes, He may be the Tennis Prince but he's no God. He couldn't do anything to stop her Obaachan's death.

Sure, Sakuno did quite had a little dismay, she hoped to see him there. But as years passed by, she realized, with or without Echizen Ryoma, there'd be no difference. He's not to blame, not in any way.

"Don't worry about it, really. Death is an inevitable thing, It's just a matter of time that makes the difference. So, how about coffee?" She smiled.

She looked fine, he realized she overcome about her stutters, from her jogging, her coordination proved to finally reach the human level or normalcy. Ryuzaki matured in such a short time span- four years would be short to achieve things in life, in exception to the Tennis Prince who started ten years earlier than anyone.

"Grande White Chocolate Mocha and Peppermint Cappucino coming up." The barista called.

"How was Boston?" He asked, palming his cheek on the table quirking a brow as he looked at the auburnette sitting across him.

"It's peaceful in Boston,a celebrity like yourself would appreciate the place." She answered in the same language. Well, Boston's main attraction is the Universities, so you'd expect people there to be busy enough to ignore celebs like the Prince himself- besides, isn't that what celebrities ironically cry about? Privacy?

He couldn't help but smirk, his eyes never leaving her face while she looks out the glass window of the café, now she's looking up at him with a confused gaze.

"Paparazzis at three o'clock." And with that, Sakuno angled herself away from the window, and took a bite of her sandwich.

She frowned while his smirk grew wider.

"What's so funny?"

"Betsuni." Brushing away the crumb that was left at the sides of her mouth, with a smirk that grew wider as he watched her cheeks turn pink.

"G-Gomen." As she took a napkin from the table and wiped her mouth clean.

"Hn, It ruins the aesthetics."

"Is this how you hook up with girls, sweet talking and all?" Sakuno scoffed.

"Maybe" he wasn't quite sure, but as far as he was concerned he wasn't good with sweet talks, nor does he need to do it anyway.

Call it innate talent of Ryoma, by which he idignantly identified. Ryoma was caught ed handed by using it to his advantage most of the time- and he takes pleasure of it.

But then again, she looked adorable when she tries to brush him off. Like a kid caught on the act while she's stealing cookies on the jar, the blush was priceless though.

Ryoma felt like patting himself on the back for a job well done.

Sakuno had to admit, she wasn't choking on her words as she did when she's younger. It was rather lighthearted talk, it comes out so easily. Nevertheless, she never expected to see him here in Japan, of all places. Well, she didn't have much spare time to watch ESPN these days, so maybe she missed knowing about the Japan Cup- okay, he's pissing her off! What the hell is he smirking at?!

She was about to speak again when his phone started ringing, she smiled customarily as if telling him that he should answer his call.

"What do you want now?" he groaned.

The person on the other end seemed incoherent on her ears, Ryoma merely spoke a sentence just his traditional 'Hn', he must be this tired and busy that he felt it was a drag to answer in decent words, at least that's what she thought- averting her gaze outside the café, still hiding her face against the window.

It wasn't hard to ignore him, but it was hard to forget him. She tried, back in those four years, but if the world revolves around him- seeing his face on every reading material aside from her Medical books, it's one tough job. In the end, she surrendered, with a good excuse of being a sports enthusiast- in tennis to be exact.

That's all there is, just a spectator who admires talent in the flesh of Echizen Ryoma, it's a resolve with the thought that she had matured enough.

Fairytales won't exist in her twenties world now,she never hoped for it to become real. Because if so, then the prince would have a very tough job liberating the princess from the clutches of a very powerful villain.

He noticed her deep in thought, Ryoma had dismissed the call a little while ago. It was Momoshiro, ranting about a reunion slash celebration party tonight, Horio seemed to have had the venue covered.

"I guess I better go now, Thanks for today. Echizen-san" Sakuno spoke silently, darting a gaze at the bushes outside the café.

Ryoma noticed, paparazzis have flocked the vicinity, It's a good thing he parked at the opposite side of the café for an accessible exit.

"There are three other Echizen's in Japan, so who's it gonna be?" He glared. Ryoma couldn't help but feel kind of irritated it's about the way she called him sound awkwardly foreign, especially when she speaks of it. And just when he thought it didn't matter, Ryoma then realized that it does.

Sakuno had to admit, it really did sounded weird, but she didn't want to gamble on feeling acquainted with him. She knew very well that Ryoma had a very bad memory- trust she even bet on him to forget her name, it's quite a shock that he managed to remember her.

Wouldn't it be embarrassing to endear someone who cannot even remember your name? But then again, as much as she denies it- Sakuno would rather call him the way she did four years prior.

"Sure, Ryoma-kun." That sounded better, in her ears at least. She couldn't help but smile, and those butterflies in her stomach she chose to ignore.

"Good." taking off his cap as he stood up and threw it accurately at her.

It took her seconds to get things registered, really…could Ryoma Echizen's life get even more troublesome, she sighed and wore his hat close to her face, taken by surprise as she got dragged out of the café.

Ryoma swore, it was the barista who tipped the media about him, and the next time goes out- he'll make sure to bring something for disguise, flicking his car keys from the pocket of his khaki, he pushed the door open with Sakuno trailing behind him.

It's more like running than walking as they make their way to his car, lights started to flash as they came out of the door. Sakuno heard him groan a couple of times, she hoped none of these cameras get a glimpse of her face- or even worse, have her published over papers, it's going to be messy that's for sure.

She could only imagine what the Chairwoman might say, Sakuno wouldn't like any of those foresight to come true, it's quite frightening to say the least because she doesn't even have an idea what her Obaasama would do- she's a very unpredictable person that makes her dangerous.

1:30pm

He started hitting balls against the wall again.

Ryuzaki seemed pretty normal to him, aside from a few physiologic maturities he rather deemed to ignore, nothing seemed out of place as of the moment.

Pok

And she should stop wearing anything white.

Pok

It's very hazardous for the eyes, really.

Pok

Fine, he did look. But he had no ill intentions.

Pok

He smirked.

Fine, he finds her a little adorable than necessary.

He hated hospitals, but a Doctor of that caliber makes it a little tolerable- Oh!God! did he just-

Catching the ball in his grip, a smirk played on his lips.

"Mada Mada dane…Ryuzaki."

So, the celebration party was for her after all, Osakada had told him about her success in the Physician Licensure Examinations, so that was it.

So why didn't he feel like ditching the party now? Oh! right! it's now sworn duty to watch over the little Ryuzaki with her Obaachan's loss. That's it! Right? and if he ever needs to come back in America he'd make sure to drag her with him for safety purposes, there! Wow! Then it'll be like hitting two birds with one stone! She'd be able to watch his matches and make him bentos while he watches over her like a big brother- so he has to find a way to coerce Ryuzaki into coming with him, wait! Who says coerce? He doesn't have to convince her, he will definitely make her come with him.

In places like clubs, harassment is customary. Oh, the coach wouldn't want her little mago-chan to get harassed right? sure, he'd be more than willing to break little bones here and there.

TZUZUKU

This was supposed to be the Chapter Five, but I guess cacrulz was right. So I re-read the Chapter Four and I find it uneventful and insignificant, haha!~ :D So I decided to re-plot the Chapter five and tadah! Here goes Chapter Four (revised)

See, the benefits of leaving a review? :D and the thing about writing ahead. Because readers SHOULD be heard as well. Ne?! oh well! That's all Ja ne!