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


- Act LXI -
[ Best Friend]


Of all the emotions that existed, he could name the cruellest emotion of all…

It was love…

It could make him so happy that the feeling alone could bring him up to the sky.

Yet once he was on the top, it dropped him down to the earth.

It hurt so much… So much that nothing could mend that feeling.

Even after practising for seven hours non-stop.

His breath was already raging but doing nothing would turn him crazy so Keigo turned on the tennis ball machine again. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the upcoming ball and hit it as hard as he could. In all honesty, he used too much unnecessary power that the tennis bible, Shiraishi Kuranosuke would reprimand him because of it but Keigo didn't care.

Hit after hit, he still couldn't find the salvation he was looking for. Before the last ball was shot, Keigo accidentally let his racket slip from his hand. When the ball was flying in his direction, he could do nothing but stare at it as his body was too tired to follow his command.

"Bocchama!" he faintly heard Michael screaming for his name.

But the ball never hit him.

Opening his eyes, Keigo saw Munehiro standing before him, hitting the ball away.

"Kabaji… What are you do—" Keigo never got to finish as the stretch of black invaded his vision. Far away, he could hear people calling his name but not that name…

How long had it been since he sat there with her, enjoying their tea time in the garden she always loved? She spent her time in that garden so much that the aroma became a part of her, leaving traces in the air wherever she walked. He could smell that because she was always walking by his side, holding his hand…

Then she would kneel to his height, caressing him with so much love and saying, "Grow up well, my little warrior… I always love you, little…"

Keigo widened his eyes awake before he got to hear the name. He promptly pushed himself off the bed, looking around to see that he was already in his bed.

"Bocchama, you're awake! I'm so glad!" Genuine worry was visible in Michael's eyes that he was on the verge of tears.

"Michael? Why am I in bed?"

"You were overexerting yourself, Bocchama. Munehiro-kun here is the one who brought you here. He even stopped the ball from hitting you." Michael stepped back to allow him to see Munehiro who sat on his couch. The occurrence flooded back into his mind.

"Thanks, Kabaji," Keigo simply said as he combed his hair back.

"Usu."

"You can all leave this room." Munehiro left the room but Michael remained at his side. Sensing that Michael seemed to want to say something, Keigo waited until the older man speak.

"Bocchama… I know that I've said it but I want to apologise again for allowing this incident to happen under my watch."

"Michael… who is this butler?" Keigo craned his head in Michael's direction. "And how did Hikari find something I carefully hid? She's not the nosey woman who would rummage through my things even if she went into the study room. She wouldn't find the letter unless she saw it right in front of her eyes."

Michael furrowed his brows, suddenly looking very serious. "I didn't report this right away seeing your conditions these days, but I've looked into this case and discovered a few oddities." Michael took out the cup he recognised to be the teacup served before his match with Kunimitsu. "I'm glad that you heed my request to never touch anything that isn't served by me, Bocchama."

Keigo widened his eyes. "Don't tell me that—"

"Benzodiazepines. Enough to knock you out the entire day. It seems that since you didn't touch your tea, he made his next move to Ojō-sama." Keigo recalled that the butler was there when he hid Hikari's letter. "This guy was listed as one of our butlers, assigned by the HQ so I didn't suspect anything about him but…"

"But?"

"We couldn't find him in our register after the commotion happened. He might be here for other reasons but I have a feeling that he was here to mess up your match against Ojō-sama's brother, if not targeting Ojō-sama herself." Keigo clenched his fists on the blanket until they turned white. The muscle around his jaw grew so tense that he ended up punching the table next to his bed. "B-Bocchama…"

"He could do anything he likes to me, I wouldn't care. But not Hikari!" Keigo threw his blanket away but the moment his feet touched the floor, he lost his footing and was caught by Michael.

"Whatever your plan is, please look after your health first, Bocchama."

"But she—"

"I've arranged our best bodyguards to watch over her and her family and to report immediately should anything strange happen. Please rest assured." He was relieved to hear the update and obediently followed Michael's motion to go back to bed. Michael tugged his blanket up until his chin and patted him like he always did back when Keigo was still a kid. "I'm sorry to say this but I never expect that I'd see the day when you're heartbroken."

Keigo rolled his eyes. "Is that supposed to be good?"

"Pain and gain are the most essential parts of growing up. I still remember back in England when you were awfully defeated by those boys older than you, you would come home hiding under your blanket. Exactly like this." Michael chortled. "It turns out that some things never change."

"I'm not hiding." Then he let out a small smile. "Then the rest was history…"

"Yes. You're always that boy who would find your way out of your situation, no matter how bad it is. Even your friends keep saying that they won't have to worry about anything whenever you're around."

"That doesn't mean anything if she doesn't want me around…" Saying it was like a slap across his cheek. Only that the stinging sensation was in his chest.

"I've told you that lying is bad, Bocchama. Especially if you're doing that to ladies." Michael sighed. "It will take you a while to win her trust back." Michael indeed had warned him numerous times about the bad outcome of what he did to Hikari. "Nothing good will come to you if you want to get something as soon as you want it."

"Will she ever forgive me, Michael?"

"Everything came down to her at once, Bocchama. I wouldn't be so surprised if she's very confused at the moment. Give her some time to calm herself, okay?" When Keigo didn't respond, Michael patted him on his blanket once again before leaving the room.

How long did he have to wait?

Even money couldn't suppress his desire to have her back in his arms.

Keigo shifted in his bed and widened his eyes the moment he caught the hint of cherry blossom from the pillow beside him. He pulled the pillow and held it tight as he inhaled the scent deep into his lungs. Though he had the chance to hold her tight yesterday, it still wasn't enough.

Who would've thought that he'd eventually see her on his way marvelling through their sweet spots together? If he hadn't thought about her recent heart recovery, he would chase her until he got her back.

To his surprise, Munehiro eventually came back with a hot chocolate. This time, he placed it on the nightstand beside his bed and waited. "Michael-san wants you to drink this." Keigo narrowed his eyes at the chocolate as seeing it only made the bubble of his togetherness fill his mind again. "Michael-san also said that you weren't eating properly lately and skipped tonight's dinner. I have to wait until you finish the entire cup."

"Aren't you supposed to listen to me, Kabaji? Just leave me alone."

"I'm listening to Michael-san this time because I agree with him." Munehiro slightly bowed at him.

So he drank the chocolate, slowly just because it was hot but hoping to finish it quickly because he really needed to be alone. It was the best quality chocolate but he couldn't taste anything at all but the bitterness on his tongue.

But even after that, Munehiro didn't leave him.

"What else now?"

"I'm doing the same thing you do to me, Keigo-san." Keigo raised a brow. "I'm not leaving you in your despair."

"I'm not in despair. Just want to rest."

"Pardon my impudence, Keigo-san. But I already know about you and that girl…" Keigo quickly turned his body around. "I saw you wearing a disguise numerous times to talk with her." Munehiro faintly smiled. "I spent most of my life with you. It wasn't hard to tell it was you." Keigo rolled his eyes. He really had to learn how to disguise himself as good as Masaharu.

"Then what about it?"

"I feel a bit left out at first… But I can't help but brim with happiness seeing you look so happy with her. It has been a while since I saw you with that expression… Maybe since you moved to Japan six years ago."

Has it been that long already?

"Take your time to recover but if you must know, I'll… I will always be here as…" Munehiro lowered his head as if he didn't have the courage to express whatever he wanted to say.

"A friend? Is that what you want to say?"

"F-forgive my impud—"

"You're my friend, Kabaji…" Keigo smiled as he covered the upper half of his face. "You always are my best friend. Don't you dare put yourself lower than that."

"Atobe-san…" There was pure bliss in Munehiro's face, the kind of joy words alone couldn't describe. "It's an honour."

"Hn. Don't be so formal with me. Didn't I tell you to call my given name when there's no one else around?"

"I'm sorry, Keigo-san. Actually, there's something I haven't told you…" Munehiro looked down to the ground before coming back to him. "I've… met her."

"Ahn?"

"Forgive me, Keigo-san… But I happened to see Tezuka-san's sister in Hyotei after we lost to Fudomine. When I gave her an umbrella, some girls from Hyotei said words about me and asked me to return their shoe. She took it in my place and threw it at their face." Keigo couldn't hold his laughter at this. It was so typical of her. "Then she told me that I was a great man."

Keigo chortled. "Kabaji, aren't you supposed to make me feel better?"

"D-did I say something wrong?"

"Do you remember that one most important thing I want from my future queen?" Munehiro nodded. "She has checked the most important requirement."

Munehiro nodded with a smile. "She did, Keigo-san."

Keigo took the necklace he put on his nightstand and kissed the pendant. "She will always be my one and only…"


AN: Happy Easter for those who celebrated it! And thank you for 1K votes for this story! You guys are truly the best! I truly appreciate this Easter surprise from you all! Once again, thank you to those who follow this story until now. Some of you might remember the moment when I was on hiatus for a long time. There were the ups and downs throughout the making of this story, not only the writer's block but I had to overcome depression and writing my original story as well. That's why I'm honestly very touched to see some readers were still waiting for my stories to be updated. If you must know, this is the greatest honour an author could ever have.

I love you all, my dear readers!

And talking about the next two chapters—please named two people whom you think will most likely be the stars of the chapters! The winner will get a shoutout and hints for the next two chapters! I will DM the person who gets the right answers! XD

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