Tennis no Ouji-sama © Konomi Takeshi, Shuheisha, Inc.
- Act XXV -
[ Purity ]
The storm that was raging outside the window perfectly represented her current state of mind. Even with the possibility of getting rejected, getting the actual rejection still hurt so much. She was out at the garden, thinking that cooling herself down before going home would be the best because she didn't want anyone, especially her brother, to see her in her broken-hearted state.
Who would expect the typhoon came a lot earlier than what was predicted?
And who would've thought that things were developing in the most unexpected way for her?
Hikari looked up to the sleeping man that was breathing evenly in his sleep. One of his arms pillowed her head while the other securely wrapped around her waist. Her lips were sensitive when she traced it with her finger due to the many kisses they shared the previous night. Knowing her zero experience in everything, he treated her very gently as if she was made of glass. The memory alone engaged the blood in her system and radiated the heat around her face that she clenched her fists around her blanket as she pulled it to her chin.
She was heartbroken when her first love rejected her just yesterday…
Yet so easily did she give up her first kiss to someone else…
Even spending the rest of the evening in the kisses and touches of another man.
A man whose name she didn't even know…
She was taking advantage of his feeling to run away from her pain.
What was wrong was that everything felt so right…
Her family would definitely kill her if they found out about this.
Shaking her head, she pushed herself off the bed only to be yanked back into it. She yelped when her back touched the bed and widened her eyes when his lips had covered hers in a blissful morning kiss, gentle at first but growing bigger and more intense. Both of his hands were pinning her wrists. Sometimes, he would move his lips to the back of her ear, making her shudder with pleasure. Hikari couldn't deny that she loved his kisses. Every time they did it, there were butterflies inside her belly and the knot inside her throat at each of his touch couldn't be any tighter. Though he had done it many times since yesterday, it still felt like the first every time.
"Good morning, Gorgeous…" he said with a smile.
"M-morning." Hikari looked away at the glimpse of his naked chest on the unbuttoned part of his pyjama.
"Did you sleep well?" He gently caressed her bangs, kissing her forehead.
"How could I when you kept kissing my face throughout the night?" She pouted.
"Can't help it. You're so irresistible. I just want to kiss you as much as I can." He was about to kiss her again when her phone rang and she kicked him off from her to get it, making him roll all the way to the floor.
"H-hello, Onii-chan?" Her heart was thundering like crazy that Hikari had to take a deep breath several times to compose herself. Her brother literally called her once if not twice every hour to check her since yesterday. She could tell that he was very anxious to know that she wasn't home throughout the storm.
"Hikari. Are you still in your friend's place?" She could hear Eiji and Takeshi's voice and laughter in the background. Just like her, her brother was trapped in school because the typhoon's alert was suddenly raised to level three during their practice time that they had to stay in the gym along with the other students.
"Yeah, I still am." She glanced at the window to see the rain was still pouring hard. "Can we go home today?"
"It's hard to say. Is your friend's place safe?"
"Yeah, it's… very safe." Hikari's eyes slowly flitted from one part to another in that room. Seeing how strong the foundation of the building was,the place might be able to be used as an evacuation place. "I'll call home to tell them I'm okay. Take care, Onii-chan."
"You too, Hikari. Don't go out until it's safe. Don't let your guard down."
She hung up with a sigh, glancing at the window with worry when the storm didn't ease at all. She was wondering how he was doing in this kind of storm. Was he safe and well?
But there was one thing that bothered her…
"Ouch…"
What was he doing before he found her in the garden? Clearly, he went there to find her. And judging from his gesture and the way he was panting, it looked like he had done a frantic search before finding her there.
Could it be…
"Are you okay?" She approached him and apologetically smiled when he rubbed his head.
"Ore-sama never expects a ballerina to have such strong legs. It didn't seem you were holding back at all." His expression feigned hurt.
"Sorry," she sheepishly said.
"Nope. That won't do." He held her elbows and sat still as if he was waiting for something. Hikari flattened her eyes when he raised his face, fully understanding what he wanted. She leant in to give him a peck on his lips. He furrowed his brows at this. "Just that?"
"Just that," she simply answered. "I want to take a shower." She was about to stand up but he kept her in place.
"Why not together?" He smirked as he pulled her face closer.
Hikari chuckled and pushed his face away. "Don't even think about it, pervert!"
She didn't understand why he was so persistent about getting together with her since the beginning. Even after she told him that she was in love with someone else, he didn't back off, even supporting her. After getting rejected, he never left her side and showered her with so much attention that she almost forgot that she was heartbroken. She couldn't imagine how she'd go through the night if it wasn't because of him…
Him filling the love she had longed from that man…
His soft touches promised protection; his kisses cherished her made her the woman she always wanted to become, treated her like one when everyone else treated her like a kid.
Though she was wondering about something…
"One question."
"Ahn? What is it?" he slightly tilted his head while caressing her hair.
"How did you have clothes that are my size?" she asked while gazing at the closet that clearly had everything she needed. She initially thought there was another girl who lived here before—another woman if he didn't have a sister."Clearly, they aren't pre-owned because they're all brand new."
"Of course, they're new. I bought them all for you."
Hikari widened her eyes in disbelief. "I can understand if you bought me dresses but… pyjama?"
"Just in case." He smirked. "Good thing ore-sama is fully prepared for a situation like now." He circled his arms around her waist. "This way my queen doesn't have to worry about anything."
His queen…
Hikari's cheeks were flushed that she looked away from him until she recalled something that had bothered her when her eyes fell on the corner of the closet. "Then explain how do you know my undergarment size."
He didn't react at first, looking away from her but Hikari grabbed his chin while keeping her eyes on him, insisting on an answer. He unashamedly smirked and placed his hand over his face. "Everything is transparent to my Insight."
Clearly, she didn't know what he meant by 'Insight' but the embarrassment was becoming too much that she took the empty shoe boxes and threw them at him one by one. "Pervert! Pervert! Pervert!"
He skilfully avoided whatever she threw at him until she threw the giant bunny doll that hit him right on his face and made him lose his balance and fell to the bed behind didn't waste the time to climb on him and hit him several times with the bunny doll.
"Hey, stop that!"
"Don't you ever measure me again, you pervert! How could you know so much about me yet I don't know anything about you!" He held both of her wrists to stop her movement, giving her a meaningful look that seemed to be holding a lot of emotion.
"I promise I'll tell you everything." He moved his hand to her cheek. Hikari widened her eyes upon noticing a glint of sadness in his eyes. "I promise there will be no more secrets between us. But please give me some time for it…" He circled his arms around her waist and pulled her so he could rest his forehead on her chest.
Gone was his king's crown when he said those words. Hikari pondered why a severe narcissistic person like him didn't favour the idea of telling her his name since the beginning. It should be the thing he was proud of yet he always looked away when she asked about it. She gently stroked his hair before placing her arms around him.
"Are you afraid that I will judge you for who you really are?" It was slightly but she could feel him tightened his hold on her waist. Putting her palms around his face, she noticed the deep sadness in his eyes so she kissed his forehead and said, "I'll wait until you're ready but whoever you are… don't feel bad just because of the things you were born into."
For a moment, he looked like a lost child who finally found someone he could rely on. His expression softened as he held the hand she put on his face and kissed it. He then kissed her belly, the center of her chest, then her lips as he gently turned their position so he was on her top.
"Do you know that you made me a perfect man I'm not?" he whispered to her ear.
She chuckled. "I haven't done anything, Weirdo."
"You only have to stay by my side, my queen…" he said before gently brushing his lips against her while entwining his fingers with hers, holding her so tight. It was this kind of affection that made her choose to fall deaf to her logic…
And chose to follow her heart instead.
The storm still hadn't ceased outside yet inside the manor she was pampered with the luxury of being safe and thousands of rare book collections she could only see on theinternet. But since he wouldn't let her alone to read them, they ended up doing the same old thing.
His brows were furrowed as he rubbed his chin while Hikari nonchalantly slanted her legs, waitingfor him to execute futile movement because she had blocked him from all directions. Having the nature to be the best in everything, he kept challenging her in go because he never managed to win over her.
"How did you learn to play go, anyway?"
"My great grandfather was a go grandmaster. He taught me since I was three." Tezuka Kunihiro was one of Japanese go legends and since him, the firstborn of the Tezuka family were famous people. Her grandfather, Kunikazu was a police chief commander; her father, Kuniharu was a famous prosecutor—judge to be, and lastly, her brother was a famous tennis player.
"No wonder." When he moved his white stone, Hikari finalised the match with her black stone and smirked when he finally said, "I have nothing," while raising both hands in surrender.
It was her fifth victory in the go game they played that day.
"I've won too much that it's getting boring," she proudly said while stretching her arms.
"Hn. I'm always up if you want to do something interesting." He moved the go board aside and scooted closer to her.
"Such as?" she playfully asked, knowing well what he wanted.
"This…" He moved his face closer to her but Hikari promptly put her hand over his face.
"We've done a lot of that yesterday."
"With you, I'll never be satisfied."
"Hm… Sounds like a dangerous addiction to me," she said with a smirk.
"Indeed…" He kissed her neck, then up to her cheek before pulling her into his lap. There, he captured her lips by putting his hand behind her neck, slowly massaging the spot as his lips moved the same way his hand did. Moving her hand behind his neck, she pulled him closer and finally gained the confidence to move her lips along with his kiss. She couldn't stop herself from moaning when he put his rough calloused hand on her thigh and massaged her there.
Hikari couldn't help but shudder at the kiss, wondering why she enjoyed kissing him when she actually loved someone else. When his face crossed her mind, Hikari quickly retracted her lips from him, earning her a questioning look.
"What's wrong?"
Hikari shook her head. "I-I want to practice for my upcoming audition," she reasoned. "Can I borrow your stage?"
Of course, he allowed her. Since he brought her to the manor, he literally gave her everything she wanted that her guiltiness only grew every time.
When he opened the door for her, Hikari peeked inside and bit her bottom lip, pondering if the riches out there would own a stage which design was the smaller version of Monaco's Monte-Carlo opera house. The golden ornaments surrounding the stage weren't as intricate as the original but they were still stunning.
After putting on her shoes, Hikari took a deep breath to clear her audition date was coming closer and she didn't have much time to waste. Slowly she raised her feet into on pointe. She managed to keep her balance as she slowly walked with both arms spread.
I can do this…
I will do this!
But when the moment of rejection flashed in her mind again, a tinge of pain was spreading from her chest that she lost her focus along with her balance. Before she fell on the floor, a pair of strong arms caught her. She glanced to the side but before she got to say anything, he preceded her.
"The only love that should exist in this stage is your love for your dance, your love for the character you're playing as." He smiled at her. "Everything else doesn't matter.I'll be here to catch your fall until you're back onto your feet again." He then caressed both of her arms and kissed her temple. "Come on. You can do this."
Everything else doesn't matter…
Hikari closed her eyes for a moment to dissipate all the negative thoughts that clouded her focus. All she wanted to do at that moment was to stand up on the stage, to get the eyes of the spectators, to captivate their minds, and to bring them to the beauty of her world.
It only worked for a few minutes, until she could stand longer on pointe that one could no longer notice the imperfection she suffered on her feet. Hikari smiled as she was able to execute her moment, turning around several times until she saw him in front of her, opening his arms.
Throwing herself onto his arms, Hikari was engulfed in the overwhelming euphoria that made her feel like she was already on top of the world.
"Well done, my queen…" He kissed her forehead.
Did she mistake her feelings for him all the time?
"D-don't you think we're moving too fast? I mean… I don't want to use you because I'm just…"
He chuckled. "Use me, my queen. As long as it mends your pain, I don't mind…"
"But why are you going this far for me?" He didn't answer right away. Instead, he gently caressed her cheek with his knuckles, glancing at her in a way that uttered his adoration even without him speaking.
"Simply because I love you." Her heart skipped a beat at this. The way he said it was so sincere and without hesitation as if he was prepared to say it for a long time already. "That's my only reason. I'll wait for you to love me back no matter how long."
Would it be okay for her to just move on to him?
Hikari rested her head on his chest. Despite saying it out loud and confident, his heart was pummelling hard against his chest and that alone had let her know how serious he was. She tiptoed to gave him a chaste kiss on his lips.
She had decided…
"I… want to love you back," she shyly said. Never had she saw him smiling wider than he did at that moment.
"I've been longing to hear that, my queen." Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and the flowing melody of her favourite song.
"J-Junsei…" she trailed off as she looked around the stage. "I didn't know this song has the orchestra version."
"Special request by me. We need to have our favourite song together, don't you think?"He took her hand and bowed at her.
She chuckled. "So now you admitted that you like this song, huh?"
He only raised his brows in response. "May I have this dance with you?" Then he kissed her knuckle.
Hikari curtsied back at him before putting her arms around him while he put his hand on her waist, his other hand entangled with hers. Together, they swayed in a waltz, feet following the beat of the music. Their eyes locked one into another, silently conveying thousands of unspoken words. Their hands were holding one to another as if they never wanted to separate.
At the end of the music, she made a turn once before leaping into his arms again, continuing their dance through their lips. Her heartbeat so loudly that it was thumping against her eardrums that nothing else mattered anymore…
Nothing but the union of their feelings…
AN:The official book only tells us the name of Tezuka's grandfather and father, so Kunihiro is the name I made. It's written as {国裕] and means 'abundant country'.
Junsei [純正]] means purity. I think I've mentioned this in the previous chapter that I took the song idea from Ed Sheeran's Perfect but tweak the title instead.
How do you like this fluffy chapter? Did I bake it good enough for you? How many times they're kissing in this chapter? XD
Typhoons are either a blessing (for a break) or a true disaster. It happens a lot during summer. Though fortunately I never experienced a bad one, not everyone is as lucky as I am. For this story, I think it's good for Atobe and Hikari's relationship development. LOL~
I actually planned to update this Monday since there was no Dragonboat Festival to participate in due to the lockdown but hey, I ended up making rice dumplings with my mother so the update was postponed to the weekend. Kinda sad because those morning practices are wasted but turn out making rice dumpling weren't so bad either. Though it's late, Happy Belated Dragonboat Festival for those who are celebrating it!
Enjoy the fluff as much as you want folks! Shower me with reviews if you love the chapter!
Kinda wondering what do you expect to happen in the next chapter? XD
Favorite, follow, and most importantly—review are gold for me! As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the story is also posted in 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 faericire and mapl3nin2cool for your reviews!
I wonder what do you think will happen once Hikari finds out every single thing Keigo hid from her. XD
Thank you for reading and have a nice day!
