A/N:
New chapter! More RyoSaku. I'm hoping to finish this with 12 chapters, but I might end up with 14 chapters. I don't know. Hehe. Happy reading!
"Too bad, Kintarou. Sakuno's already agreed to be my date."
Did Ryoma Echizen, world-class tennis player, just say that I was his date? Did my boss just actually say that right now? RYOMA-KUN JUST TOLD KINTAROU THAT I WAS HIS DATE.
I felt the color out of my cheeks drain, only to be replaced by a hundred shades of red.
I was as red as the tomato sitting on top of the shopping cart. Not knowing what to do, I simply bowed my head and stood there staring at the ground. My brain flew away somewhere.
Reality caught up to me when Kintarou half-yells, "Koshimae! That's not fair! I asked her first!"
Ryoma-kun only smirks and says, "I already told you that she said yes to me. I asked her first."
"Stop being so mean, Koshimae!"
"You're really annoying. Let's go, Ryuzaki." Ryoma-kun turns to leave, when Kintarou bursts out in desperation,
"WAIT! Why don't we settle this with tennis, Koshimae?"
"Hn?"
I see a glint in both of their eyes. This is getting embarrassing. Two grown men in a grocery bickering over a girl? I sigh, covering my face with my hand. There really is no stopping these two. Neither one of them want to lose. Especially in tennis.
With the grocery scene out of the way, we headed back home to drop off the groceries and for Ryoma-kun to get changed into his tennis outfit. Their match is to be held in the old street tennis court downtown at four o'clock.
As I put away the last of the grape Ponta cans in the fridge, I hear the sound of a tennis ball bouncing off against the wall. Thinking Ryoma-kun might be thirsty, I grab a couple of Ponta cans, one for him and one for me. Karupin and I headed to the source of the noise.
Ryoma-kun is practicing intensely, much more intense than the first time I've watched him practice against the wall. He's made a ball-shaped dent on the wall already, hitting the ball at the same spot with increasing power.
I kept staring with amazement at his skills. He must have realized my presence, because he stopped swinging and turned around to face me.
"Ryuzaki."
"Ah, Ryoma-kun..."
"... Did you just call me Ryoma-kun?"
"No! I mean, yes! But I didn't mean it. Gomen, Ryoma-san!"
He chuckles, which is pretty strange for me to hear. Sometimes strange is good.
Ryoma-kun regains his composure; then he says, with a poker face and flirty eyes, "Ryuzaki, I think I like it better when you call me Ryoma-kun." He takes a step closer to me, and I take a small step backwards. He walks towards me a few more steps, and then I feel the cold concrete wall behind me, not realizing that I walked backwards.
What is he doing?! I screamed in my head. My heart is pounding in my ears, my face flushed, and my body slightly trembling from the adrenaline. He's in front of me now. His hands are pushing against the wall, and I am trapped inside them.
Ryoma-kun leans closer and closer until his nose was a millimeter away from my own.
What is happening?!
He snatches a can of grape Ponta from my hands (now shaking with fear and excitement), laughs and walks away.
Somehow, I feel a little disappointed by the outcome.
In the last couple of hours, I tried to convince both Ryoma-kun and Kin-chan to cancel the match. I told Ryoma-kun that it would be bad if people gathered around and found him playing street tennis and that the paparazzi will show up if they found out where he's staying. I told Kin-chan that it's been a long time since he's played tennis and that Ryoma-kun just won Wimbledon (though Kintarou is also really good at tennis). Neither side listened to me, and so four o'clock came.
Ryoma-kun, now in his tennis clothes, stretched and warmed up in the empty court. Kin-chan ran into the court hollering about "Beating Koshimae!", a wide grin plastered on his face. Behind Kintarou, the former Seigaku regulars from my freshman year strolled in. Momo-senpai flashed two thumbs up and a grin at Ryoma-kun. Shiraishi-san and Ishida-san showed up, too, but nobody else from Shitenhouji showed up to support Kintarou.
Eiji-senpai volunteered to be the judge, which is probably useful since he has the best eyesight out of everyone.
"Alright! Let the match begin! Echizen to serve," the engaged redhead announced.
Ryoma-kun did not waste time. He went straight for the Twist Serve, though Kin-chan returned it with ease. "Is that all, Koshimae?"
Kintarou's provocation only led to Ryoma-kun knitting his brows further and hitting the return with more power.
After a long rally, Kintarou scores the first point.
Kintarou sticks out his tongue at Ryoma-kun, taunting him more. "I'll win, Sakuno, you'll see!" winking at me, who is sitting at the bleachers.
"15 all!" Eiji-senpai's voice echoes in the almost empty court.
"What? That doesn't count! I wasn't ready!" complained Kintarou. Ryoma-kun took advantage of a distracted Kin-chan.
"Then maybe you should just be quiet," replied Ryoma-kun.
"Hmf," pouted Kin-chan.
Kintarou won the first game.
