Tennis no Ouji-sama © Konomi Takeshi, Shuheisha, Inc.


- Act VII -
[ Cinderella's Shoe ]


No matter how excited she was to see the dance studio, Hikari couldn't walk past the beautiful garden without admiring the flowers. The weather was getting warmer and the flowers were blooming to their most beautiful state that the garden had become a beautiful fairy tale painting. The wind blew past her and suddenly she smelt something familiar. She couldn't put her finger on where she smelt it before but it somewhat pleased her.

Glancing to her right as she fixed her hair, Hikarisaw a man walking in her direction. He donned the school's janitor uniform but there was something that made her feel like he wasn't someone ordinary. Hikari tilted her head to her right when the man stopped before her, looking at her as if he wanted to confirm if he knew her.

"Do I know you?" she finally asked.

The man stared at her for a while, tipping his hat as if he wanted to cover his face. But even if he didn't do that, she couldn't really tell his expression anyway because of the surgical mask that covered half of his face. "No. You look just like someone I know so I apologise for staring at you."

"That's okay," she giggled, "I'm always like that too whenever I see someone I might know. But there's no way you know me since I just came back to Japan."

"I see. Are you going to enroll in this school?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I'm not sure yet." She shrugged, moving her hands behind her back while slightly swaying her body. "This is a beautiful school but I'm not sure if it fits someone like me. You know, with all these luxuries…"

"Of course. The school has been arranged for the very best condition to make sure every student can enjoy their academic life," he said as he put his broom on the ground. "I'm pretty sure you're going to like it."

"Yeah. But I think it's still too much for me. They make me feel a little bit out of place." She chuckled.

"Why?"

"I think students have to learn how to live as modestly as they could. It's a pity to see a school distribute money only to make a group of students happy. They can help students who need help in pursuing a better education instead. Don't you think?" she asked.

The janitor rubbed his chin for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"That aside… We never know what will happen in the future anyway. One day we're happy but the next moment you realise that…" Hikari lowered her head when she recalled her incident again, "…they're gone… Gone like a fleeting dream." Hikari shook her head and forced a smile when she faced the janitor again. "D-don't mind me. I just remembered something very upsetting."

The janitor didn't respond. Instead, he turned around and suddenly, she heard something being cut and the next thing she saw was a red rose. She widened her eyes then turned her head to see the janitor gave it to her.

"Uhm, sorry but this is…"

"For you. Don't worry, I've cleaned up the thorns."

"T-thank you." Hikari blushed as she accepted the flower. "But why are you giving this to me?"

"I don't know what makes you sad but you're going to be a new student in a week, right?" She nodded in response. "A red rose doesn't only represent love. It also represents hope and a new beginning. Which is why I want to give this to you."

"Hope and a new beginning?" she repeated as she touched the petal. Why the words seemed to ring beautifully in her ear, she didn't even know.

"Yes. Whatever you're facing, it'll get better. You only have to give it a second chance and begin anew."

"Begin anew, huh?" A smile cracked upon her lips. She wondered why the janitor cheered her up as if he had known her problem."That's so thoughtful of you. Thank you so much, Oji-san!" She bowed at him.

The man seemed to be shocked when she called him 'uncle' but he quickly recovered and cleared his throat before she got to say anything. "I'm not that old to be called 'Oji-san'…"

"Ah, sorry uh… Janitor-san?" She was about to introduce herself but the janitor cut her off.

"That's a lot better." He rested one of his hands on his waist.

"Well, you don't know how much this flower means tome… also your words—I'll keep them in my mind. Thank you so much, Janitor-san. I have to resume my tour here but I'm very happy to see you," she said.

"You're welcome, Ojou-san. Pleasure is mine. I hope we can meet again when you enter Hyotei," he said.

She chuckled as she waved her hand at him. "We'll see about that." She turned her head once to the janitor as she walked back to the school staff who waited for her under the tree shade while looking at the janitor in an odd way.

"Is something wrong?" Hikari asked.

"Uuh... Nope." She checked her phone and then smiled at her. "Let's go then. The dance studio is ready."

"Okay…" Hikari was itching to ask her a few questions about the oddities she felt throughout the tour, as if they especially welcomed her because she was a special guest. But the female staff kept saying that she received equal treatment as the other students did. The female staff even carried a honey lemon water in her bag to make sure she was well-hydrated as if she was a nanny.

However, the dancing studio did make Hikari reconsider about not entering the school. There were large window panes that allow the lights to enter the vast rest of the walls lined with mirrors and permanent barre mounted to them. It reminded her of the studio back in her ballet school in Germany. That aside, the school had the student exchange program to a favourite ballet school in Russia.

After she finished with the tour, Hikari walked to the gate while holding the registration form she should return before next week if she wanted to enroll in the school. She still has another school to look at before deciding so she decided to visit the other one after this school.

"So what do you think about our school?"Hikari turned her head to her back and smiled at the janitor she met earlier.

"Well… I'm still not certain yet. But I love the dance studio. It's beautiful."

"I see."

She heard sounds of balls being hit not far from their place and saw the tennis courts. Instead of using net fences like as other schools did, the tennis courts in Hyotei had bleachers lining like stairs besieging the purple coloured tennis court.

"Woah… Purple tennis courts! How unusual!" she squealed.

"Do you play tennis, Ojou-san?" he asked.

"No." She chuckled as she recalled her embarrassing matches with her brother. She couldn't return her ball properly inside the court until one day she mysteriously managed to but still beaten by her brother anyway. If she was born as a man, she was almost certain that she would never pursue a career in tennis with someone like her brother around. "How about you, Janitor-sa—"

"Watch out!"

The next thing she knew, the janitor had moved before her and with his broom, he hit the ball with an amazing accuracy that bounced inside the line despite their current distance from the court. Hikari blinked several times, glancing at him, to the court, then back at him.

"Are you okay, Ojou-san?" he coolly asked her.

"D-did you just hit the ball with that broom?!" Though he was wearing a mask, she was almost certain that he smirked underneath it. "That's amazing! If you can do that much with a broom, I can't imagine what you can do with a tennis racket!"

"You're complimenting me too much, Ojou-san. But thank you so much." He slightly nodded.

"I'm really sorry about the flying ball, Ojou-san. Are you okay?" A man with long blue hair appeared and bowed at her. He was accompanied by a man that was almost double her height.

"Yeah, don't worry. It didn't hit me thanks to this man," she amiably responded while pointing towards the janitor.

He glanced at the janitor and she saw him widened his eyes for a moment before looking back at her. "I-I see. We'll be more careful next time. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"Okay," she glanced at her watch and remembered she still had to visit another school, so she bowed at them and said, "Anyway, I should take my leave now," she gazed at the janitor, "Thank you for what you've done for me today, Janitor-san."

"Yes. Please consider Hyotei, Ojou-san. It's a great school," he suggested.

"I'll keep that in mind. Once again, thank you so much," she gave him another bow before waving her hand and left.

Hikari was giggling to herself after she stole one last glance at the janitor. Meeting him made her feel like her steps were as light as a butterfly. She didn't know whether or not she would choose Hyotei in the end, but one thing for sure, she wanted to see the man again one day. He was a kind guy and very much the opposite of the pervert vampire she met yesterday.

The janitor didn't leave until she walked out from the gate. With a smile underneath his mask, his eyes followed her until she rode the bus to her next didn't even realise the two curious eyes that have been looking at him ever since he saved the girl from the flying ball.

The blue-haired man cleared his throat. "So… May I know what are you doing in that uniform, Atobe?" He paid closer attention to him. "Isn't that the voice-changing mask your company recently invented?"

"Ahn? What did you mean by 'Atobe'?" he said while resting his broom on his shoulder. "Mind your own business. I'm busy." And he walked past them, one hand shoved into his pocket.

"Usu," said the big man.

He twitched his lips while following his retreating back, his red-haired fellow approaching him, eyes following the janitor, and said, "Oi Yuushi, what is Atobe doing in those clothes? Didn't he say that he had business to do?"

"W-well, I don't know myself," he said while fixing his glasses.


St. Anne was very much the opposite of Hyotei Academy. Since the headmistress was a nun, she emphasised the importance of modesty and Hikari was almost a hundred percent certain that she wanted to enroll in that school. However, Hyotei's ballet program was what intrigued her and she was still uncertain about her decision.

"Hmm… What to do? If I ask onii-chan's opinion he would definitely say St. Anne," she said to herself. "I wonder why he's against me going to that school aside from its luxurious facilities though… He seemed to have a bigger reason."

Hikari stopped in the middle of the road when she was near the abandoned court. It hurt her knowing that it was no longer her secret place because someone else had taken over it. Not only that, but she had lost the place where she could dance her heart out. Placing her hand over her chest, Hikari walked towards the place and checked if the hole was still there. She carefully pushed the garbage can and widened her eyes when she noticed it was still there.

There's no way he'd fix it overnight, right? She lowered her body and peeked into the hole, gasping when she saw her shoe was still there. When she was about to crouch into the hole, she wondered why the shoe was there because she remembered that she didn't leave it at that spot. But she didn't want to lose the chance of saving her shoe so she crept into the hole.

However, her hand never reached the shoe because her rear didn't fit into the hole. Hikari pushed once, then twice with insistence but she still couldn't get into the hole. Upon the realisation that she was stuck, she could feel a hot and cold sensation swirling down in her belly.

W-what's going on? There's no way I've gotten fatter over a night, right?! her heart screamed.

"As I thought, you've come for your shoe."

Her heart skipped a beat at the voice. She couldn't just turn her head around because her vision was blocked by the wall while the source of the voice came from the back. Hikari widened her eyes in horror when she heard the steps were coming closer to her and she could even sense his presence radiating beside her left leg.

"Fancy seeing you here, Princess."


AN: There goes their second (or third? XD) meeting! I feel very bad for putting Hikari in such a situation because I wouldn't want to be in that situation myself.

I'm getting some comments regarding people missing my old work and preferred the old version in this story so I want to clarify something to you. I didn't change the story because I hate the old version. In fact, I love it too much that I decided to recycle it for my future original story that will set in AU world of Japan, probably without tennis involved in it. XD

I love it so much that I don't want to let it sit as fanfiction I'd never have the chance to publish. To tell you the truth, I even consider stop writing fanfiction at one point because I have so many things going on in my life, but thanks to several loyal readers, I decided to give them love by publishing the rewrite version of The Court Dancer.

Favorite, follow, and most importantly—review are gold for me! As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the story is also posted on Wattpad. Since the site allows me to post videos and images, I might be able to pamper your eyes there. Check my account in ReikaNanatsuki!

Thank you mapl3nin2cool, heartnettrain23, DetyDuns, guest, rentamiya, and xxjaelee for your wonderful reviews! You're all flaring my spirt to keep going on with this story! 3

Thank you for reading and have a nice day!