The Prince and the Pauper

moontonic18

Disclaimer: I do not own prince of tennis

Chapter 3. The Comeback

DING DONG

The sound of the doorbell disturbed my studying. I glanced at the clock to see that it's already 11:24 pm. Mitsuki onee-chan's currently taking a bath so I had to answer it.

"Welcome home" I greeted Grandma the moment I saw her "How did it go? And how come you came home so late?" I asked her as calm as I could.

She smiled "Relax…" she threw herself at the sofa "Our first opponent in the semi finals is Higa Middle school" she sighed while opening a bottle of water "They're so low… poor Rokkaku" she was talking to herself. I wanted to ask her what she meant but I decided to leave that one out- again.

"Oh" I sat next to her.

"I had to discuss a lot of things with Tezuka. An unexpected happening occurred" she faced me "Ryoma's back… Oishi gave up his position for Ryoma…"

My eyes widened while my jaw hung open- which made Grandma laugh hard "what's with your reaction? You're becoming funny"

I pouted "Grandma, please don't make fun of me" I flushed

She laughed more "I should've taken a picture! Hahaha!!"

I stared at her, keeping the same expression "Well, I guess I kind of looked funny awhile ago" I laughed along.

"Sakuno… you're becoming more and more like your mom" she gave me a warm smile "I guess you got her laugh" she gave me a sincere smile.

"Oh hi Mitsuki" she greeted Mitsuki onee-chan when she saw her coming down the staircase.

"Welcome back" Mitsuki onee-chan greeted back "I heard all about it… so Ryoma Echizen did came back after all"

Grandma stood up and headed to the kitchen "Yeah… Tezuka and I had a long discussion about this" she stopped in front of the door "that reminds me" she faced Mitsuki onee-chan "have you spoken to him? 'Cause as far as I remember you two are childhood friends, right?"

I gazed at Mitsuki onee-chan, it's like grandma's words stung her "Y-yeah…" she answered faintly.

"Captain Tezuka's your childhood friend?!" I almost squealed as I entered her room.

She sat on her bed "I was shocked at first… but I don't think he's planning on talking to me ever" she frowned "When we left for Britain I didn't know anything… I was just 6 years old back then" she continued "Mom and dad told me about it two days before we leave. Tezuka and I made a promise that we'll be friends forever. When I was about to tell him, he wasn't home" she looked down "On the day we left I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to him…"

"How sad…" I reacted "But there are things you can't control" I encouraged her "maybe he's not upset"

"Even if he isn't…" she faked a smile "He didn't even recognize or remember me. I did something bad to him that made him completely forget about me…"

"It's finally the Nationals… yay!!" Tomoka squealed as she rushed inside the venue. Mitsuki onee-chan and I just stared at her in amazement.

Mitsuki onee-chan chuckled "she sure is exuberant." I laughed along.

When we got inside we ran up to grandma. We were a bit early so she invited us with the group for awhile. We got inside a white colored room filled with posters of tennis pro players.

"Ah! You've come to cheer us up!" Senpai Eiji greeted us with full excitement.

"Of course we'll support you with all our might!" Tomoka squealed. I searched the room, to see how Ryoma's been doing. As usual, he's not inside so I figured I should give up and just go outside. I planned on tagging Mitsuki onee-chan along with me but I figured she needs time to talk to the Captain, so I got out by myself.

I decided to sit on a bench nearby after a short walk. My mind went in circles as I tried to recall everything that happened. But the daydreaming didn't last long, I was distracted by a guy practicing nearby, Ryoma. I felt my cheeks flush as I tried to find a way to get out of here without him noticing me.

"Where are you going?" a VERY familiar voice suddenly asked me.

I sweat dropped "Umm…" I turned to look at him "Well… I don't want to disturb you" I turned my gaze at the ground "Good luck…"

I could hear his footsteps little by little approaching towards my direction. He stopped right in front of me "Thank you…"

I gazed back at him. He's actually smiling faintlyback at me. I stood in shock. "Remember this ball?" he held out a tennis ball and levelled it to my sight "International no.1" he read the words written on the tennis ball, the ball which I gave to him before he left for the US Open.

"I'll prove that I deserve to keep this" he kept it inside his pocket

"YAY!" We squealed in excitement as the umpire announced the last point "He did it Tomoka!" I turned to face Mitsuki onee-chan "They won!" the three of us embraced each other.

The crowd got all excited. Others were jumping up and down while the players from different participating schools occupied the court, rejoicing.

We screamed in happiness as they formally announced the winner. I stood in happiness as I watch my prince's contented expression; if he's happy then I'm happy.

We decided to celebrate with the team so we entered the court to rejoice together with grandma and everybody else.

"Congratulations…" I greeted everybody. I laughed as the Senpais played with Ryoma's hair while Senpai Tezuka approached grandma.

"Hey, I got a great idea!" Senpai Eiji suddenly suggested.

"This should be good, Eiji" Oishi teased his best friend

"Why don't we celebrate this by going to some place… like a beach or go camping? Let's say… for ummm… let's say, three to five days? What do you say guys?" Senpai Eiji suggested.

"I think that'll be great Eiji!" grandma immediately answered back "but where could we possibly go on such short notice?" she asked in disappointment.

Everyone frowned for a bit until Mitsuki onee-chan spoke "Ummm… I believe we have a cottage in Manza beach…" she smiled lightly "Do you mind going there?"

"Manza?!" the other Senpais screamed in excitement.

"We'll definitely go there!" they said in unison.

"Will you come with us, Tezuka?" Mitsuki had a hopeful smile.

Captain Tezuka studied everybody's hopeful face "I'm in" he stared at Mitsuki onee-chan's hopeful face.

"Then tomorrow, we'll go to Manza beach!!" Tomoka squealed

To.Be.Continued

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