"We made it back from the edge of hell!"
—Toyama Kintaro

The Empress | Chapter 19

It was early morning, the sound of multiple tennis balls could be heard from a sole tennis court. It was the practice match between Oni and Tokugawa. Most would be amazed seeing such a scene; the two high-schoolers were effortlessly playing with ten balls in total.

But a certain white-headed, tanned skin high-schooler merely watched them with a smile. His eyes didn't bother following the multiple balls, instead, he said, "You're at it bright and early."

The two players ignored the male and continued their match. That is until he said the next line which made Oni stop in interest, all the balls bouncing passed them. "By the way, an interesting match is about to start." Tanegashima placed his palm on his cheek.

Tokugawa turned his full attention towards the male, "They came down from the mountains, didn't they?"

The white head merely giggled in response.

"Hey, you guys are from Court 2, aren't you?" A certain Prince asked the jogging players.

"What about it?" Asked one of them, with narrowed eyes.

The Prince smirked, "Why don't we play a match?" behind him stood multiple players that looked beat-up like they've been through some hellish training with bruises and scars on them, along with ripped clothes here and there.

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Atobe picked up a bright orange-tinted tea and took a slip before a satisfied smile tagged on his lips, "Nothing beats a cup of Single Estate tea after a workout like that."

"Big news!"

Atobe and the remaining middle-schoolers turned towards the source of the noise.

"Kikumaru-kun, you're awfully noisy this morning." Kite, captain of Higa Junior High said from his table of members.

The redhead panted, trying to catch his breath since he ran all the way to the Cafe. Everyone waited patiently for him as he said, "Court 2 is starting a match."

"Court 2?" Fuji repeated in question, then turned to Atobe, "Do we have a shuffle match against Court 2 today?"

"No, Onigawara said we wouldn't be having a shuffles match for a while," Atobe responded, somewhat confused. Fuji turned back to Kikumura, "Then are they playing Court 1?"

"No, they're playing Oishi, O'chibi, and the others!" Kikumaru said with excitement and a bright smile.

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"Snake!"

"Burning!"

"Did these guys really fail out of this camp?"

"Over already? This is no fun."

"...Kin-chan."

"Oishi!"

"Not enough. Not nearly enough."

"Momo."

"Shishido-san... Shishido-san."

"Is this all Court 2 can do? You must be going soft!*"

"My right side is God's Domain."

"No one can get past Migihashi's right side."

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"I promise I'll break through your right side."

"Hitting eight balls is nothing to brag about."

"T-Ten balls?"

"He broke through my right side... I lost."

(a/n: This is my version of time skip)

"We have an announcement for all players. As per the coaches' suggestion, the 27 losing middle-schoolers are assigned to Court 2." Kurobe announced through the speakers while he and the two coaches watched everything occur through the little screens from the monitor room.

"All right!" The new Court 2 cheered in excitement as they ran into the court.

"We made it back from the edge of hell!" Toyama shouted with excitement leaking from his voice.

"Welcome back, Kin-chan." Shiraishi smiled down at the redhead while Chitose smiled behind him.

"Oishi!" Kikimaru yelled and jumped on said male's hips. It was evident that the cat-like male was very happy to have his double's partner back.

"C-Calm down, Eiji." The mother-hen-like male held him up with a worried look, fearing he would fall off.

Yukimura smiled at the returned-players from his school—Sanada, Marui, and Yagyu—and Sanada gave a curt nod back in response. The Demi-God noticed there was a white eye-patch over his right eye.

"Their growths are monstrous as always." Atobe's eyes shone with interest as he stared down at new additions—specifically the Prince. Fuji smiled in response and followed the self-proclaimed king's gaze with the closed-eyed smile.

Out of them all, Ryoma looked the most beat up. His white cap was scratched here and there while missing a chunk of the material and his hair sticking out through the hole. On his nose, there was a white bandage and another on his right cheek, along with several bruises on his face. However, His black jersey and white t-shirt seem to have escaped all the damage.

Ryoma returned the look with a determined one before he realized a certain someone was not here. He searched around the happy players for a certain beauty. Yet, she was nowhere in sight. But he did look up when he felt intense stares at his form. There, Tanegashima, Oni, and Tokugawa stood staring down at him.

At the same time, Fuyuki was in her room. Or more specifically in her bathroom that was attached to her room. After seeing Kirihara's Devil Mode, she came back to her room so she could lay down on the tub. Although the beauty was fully dressed, her head was rested against the cold porcelain while her feet touched the warm water that continued to fill the tub. This was one of her bad habits. When she had nothing to do or when she had too many thoughts to think about, she would fill up a tub of hot water and just lay there fully clothed. It helped slow down all the ideas and calm her.

Lost in her own little world, she very faintly heard the sound of Kurobe's voice announcing a new Court 2. The words didn't process through her dazed mind until she repeated them. The 27 losing middle-schoolers are assigned to Court 2, he said. The 27 losing middle-schoolers.

Ryoma!

'Ryo-chan is back.'

She jerked her body out of the water, ignoring the clothes which were clinging to her body like a second skin. Quickly turning off the faucet, she didn't bother grabbing a towel to dry herself as her heart raced with excitement. 'He's finally back.'

Quickly stripping out of her drenched clothes—which was harder than she thought when wet—she fumbled through her closet to find some of the best clothes she owns; she wanted to look pretty. Thankfully, Haru arrived just in time.

After some considerations, the butler chose an elegant white long-sleeved laced top that went up to her neck. Around her neck, Haru wrapped a large scarlet ribbon to add some decorative factor. The lace top was somewhat sheer so he made sure to a white bralette that covered her bust underneath. For the bottom, Fuyuki wore a high-waisted scarlet skirt with a thick black belt, holding the look together. To finish off the outfit, he added her trademark black thigh-high stocking and scarlet strapped heels.

As for jewelry, he put on long white chandelier earrings with scarlet flowers on the ends in each ear and matched the design of the jewelry in her hair when styling it. Some strands of hair were clipped on to forming two small buns on each side of her head and the rest of the hair let loose. Haru curled the tips of her long hair that reached her waist and make sure her bangs framed her small face perfectly. Lastly, Haru curled her long eyelashes and added a tint of gloss to her pink lips.

(Outfit above is for reference. The outfit isn't exact but it's close to what I imagined.)

Once everything looked good, Fuyuki ran past the surprised butler and some flustered players who stared at her dressed up form. She didn't bother to stop to say it's rude to stare as she was busy running towards the courts.

By the time she reached there, she was panting but her eyes didn't stop their search for her person. When they landed on the bruised Prince, her eyes widened. Ryoma looked the same but so different. The look in his eyes was proof of it. There was no hesitation. He was sure of himself now. Fuyuki didn't know if she should appear before him or go back to her room; she felt shy all of a sudden. It was clear to see Ryoma had been training hard for weeks whereas she didn't even bother. It only made her all the most reluctant to see him.

Before she could come to a conclusion, his hazel eyes met her own. She couldn't stand it anymore as she called out his name. "Ryoma," She jumped down from the steep bleachers one by one till she reached the last one then leaped.

The prodigy's eyes widened in horror. "Yuki!" He opened his arms and got into position in hope of catching her without injuring the frail girl. The girl merely giggled and did a backflip in midair and wrapped her arms around the Prince's neck and tackled him into a glomp. "I missed you." She giggled, speaking in English while burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"Me too." Ryoma secretly sighed in relief when she landed safely, wrapping his arms around her waist. He wanted to scold her of the dangerous stunts she always pulls, but he didn't have the heart when he saw her beautiful form after what felt like forever. However, when he hugged her, he noticed she was slightly wet. He automatically presumed it was her 'habit'; after all, she only took showers or baths at midnight. When the Prince pushed her back ever so slightly to get a better look at her, his eyes widened when the white area covering her chest showed a faint outline of her bralette underneath—of course, the sheerness of the lace didn't help. He swiftly took off his jacket and covered her up before anyone could notice. Fuyuki, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to all that as she smiled cutely at her childhood friend.

Their 'audience' observed the two's interaction, still trying to figure out the relationship. They stared at her; there is no denying that she is indeed gorgeous even at a young age of sixteen. All the outfits she wore looked like something a model would wear, so it's not difficult to conclude that she is a rich young lady. Well, along with the fact that there is always a certain butler behind her. And thus, with all those observations anyone could tell she was more dressed up than usual. The reason was even more transparent as she seems shy all of a sudden under the Prince's gaze.

"R-Ryo-chan?" she called his name softly somewhat confused at the intense look in his eyes, her cheeks slightly tinted in color.

Too cute.

When the boy didn't respond, she pouted. Only when she was looking at him this close does she realize how much she missed him in such a short amount of time. It made her question how was that she was able to part with him for so many years before. The way his beautiful eyes looked at her made her cheeks heated and her heart weak. She stood up abruptly, "Yuki dressed up for Ryo-chan." she blurted. Thankfully, her voice was just above a whisper; the beauty wasn't sure why she said that but she couldn't continue being looked like that by him. To play it off, she twirled cutely and smiled, "Is Yuki pretty?"

Ryoma's cheeks tinted pink before he avoided eye contact, making her sulk. 'Meanie Ryo-chan.'

Meanwhile said male wanted to scold her for making him so out-of-character in front of his friends and enemies. There's no way he could say yes yet, to both his and Fuyuki's surprise he nodded once discreetly. At least he thought it was discreet until Momoshiro wrapped his arms around his neck, tightly with a ticked off mark on his forehead. "Stop flirting. It's not fair." He looked towards the beauty who was smiling like the sun with her bright aura after the simple nod, "Really not fair."

When Ryoma noticed the looks he was receiving, he coughed. He certainly didn't miss the looks Fuyuki was receiving, especially from a couple of regulars he knew all too well. He frowned immediately. The Prince was only gone for a couple of weeks at most but they had already set their eyes on the beauty. Not that Ryoma didn't expect this outcome. The girl was very beautiful, charming, and amazing at tennis. Although he wasn't sure if she played any matches to demonstrate her skill. All that aside, she was also too oblivious sometimes for her own good. It was both a blessing and a curse.

When the beauty noticed the furrowed of brows on her childhood friend, she gently rubbed the area between his eyebrows to straighten it, "Ryo-chan will get wrinkles and become an old man if he keeps frowning~"

Ryoma immediately stopped. He tipped his cap downwards to hide his amused smile. She was seriously too cute. And although he didn't want others to see this cute and open side of her, he also wanted to show them exactly who made her behave like this.

Fuji watched the interaction between the two and although his lips were curved into a smile, his closed eyes were anything but amused. It was always a surprise how much the beauty's personality changes around the Prince. She was closed off and slightly distant to anyone else and it really made the sadist wonder why she is only like that towards the freshman. It made him feel irritated watching.

Yukimura also watched them from the beginning to the end. He felt an almost violent urge to separate the two when she hugged Echizen. Sure, he felt somewhat strange the last couple times he saw their closeness, but now it was the feeling of annoyance and slight anger. He liked to consider himself close enough to her to go over there and grab her away. After all, she knew his story, she allowed him to call her by her first name. So why, why couldn't she look at him like she looked at Echizen Ryoma?

Tokugawa glared at the girl and walked away with Oni. But Tanegashima stayed behind for a bit as he blushed, recalling the last time he saw her. He still couldn't get the image of her wet form wrapped only in a towel. He groaned, 'what is she doing to me?' Unable to stop that train of thought, he quickly followed after the two with a glance back.

Fuyuki was well aware of the glare Tokugawa sent her and it only made her amused. 'How silly.'

The beauty turned to see the remaining 26 players, the new Court 2. "Congratulations," she began with a slight curve of her glossed lips, "and welcome back."

If the difference in reaction—between her seeing Ryom and her seeing the other returned-players—bothered them, they didn't say anything. Still, they felt warm being welcomed by the beauty.

When the two were alone in her room, sitting on the couch, Fuyuki asked Ryoma all sorts of questions to satisfy her curiosity.

"Did you meet Coach Nyudo? How was he?" Although Fuyuki had heard of him, she has never met nor seen him.

"Annoying." Ryoma grunted, recalling the coach in the mountains, "But he knows what he's doing." The Prince has already improved so much since the moment he first stepped into the camp.

"Hmm." she pushed him down to rest his head on her lap upon noticing his tired expression, causing him to blush and making her smile in secret. She's the only one that can make him react like this. No one but her. Too bad she won't have moments like this for long. "Nee Ryo-chan, it looks like the first strings are coming soon."

"The first strings?" he closed his eyes with a peaceful expression on his face but under it, he was calculating.

"Mmhm." she grabbed a grape from the fruit bowl on the table and peeled it before pushed it against his lips. The boy didn't say anything as he opened his mouth and chewed while she ran her slim fingers through his soft locks while humming. He felt very comfortable in her presence.

"They are the players selected to represent Japan."

"Oh?" Fuyuki didn't have to look at him to know he was already interested. His eyes open, staring up at her.

The beauty smiled down at him, "Don't worry Ryo-chan, you will be a representative." 'Yuki will make sure of it.'

Ryoma's back! ^^ And soon the 1st string, Fuyuki's other childhood friend, and Kuroko no Basket will join us. Get ready for chaos :)

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Edited: Aug 21, 2020