The long-awaited bell finally signaled the beginning to lunch. As she watched the mountains of students who rushed downstairs to stand first in line, Nabiki made sure to stay outside the disaster area. The classroom was mostly empty now, but somehow, it was still very loud. Where on Earth did those vocal chords come from?
"Naki!" A pair of arms pulled her into a giant bear hug, enveloping her completely. The young girl's first reaction was panic, but that immediately went away as she realized that her "attacker" was none other than Osakada Tomoka.
"Tomo-chan!" A flustered Sakuno came up behind them, shaking her head. "You'll suffocate her."
Ignoring her friend's comment about having done any bodily harm to the small Echizen, Tomoka tightened her grip. "I'm so proud of you! Congratulations on winning the RuCon!"
"Tomo-chan!" Sakuno asserted herself a little more. "You have to get off of her now!"
"Arigatou." Nabiki replied when she finally managed to breathe again. The self-proclaimed president of the Echizen Ryoma fanclub had an alarming death grip.
"Tomo-chan is right though Naki." Sakuno smiled. "It is the first time that our school has made the charts for the Rutherford Contest, not to mention defeat Hyotei Academy— who has always been the champion for the past five years."
"Who cares if they're a rich school!" Tomoka was glowing with pride. "They aren't even close to Ryoma-sama's level in tennis or Naki's level in math and physics! The Echizen bloodline is incredible!"
"S-sh Tomo-chan!" Sakuno looked around nervously. "Y-you're too loud!" By this time, several inquisitive students already had their eyes locked in their general direction.
Despite the chaos, the corners of Nabiki's lips stretched into a light smile. "Let's eat."
-080-
A soft breeze swam past them, and paused for a moment to massage their slender limbs. The sun was warm overhead, heating the air around them to a comfortable temperature. The three girls put down their bento boxes. Good weather really did make you happy sometimes.
"Hey, Naki, I've been thinking." Tomoka started, chewing on the straw of her banana milk. "What if Hyotei's really sour about losing? Don't you think they're going to do something despicable?"
Nabiki swallowed the mochi that was in her mouth. "I don't think so." She replied, choking slightly. Blasted thing probably detached an arm or leg and left it stuck in her trachea.
"Are you alright? Here, drink some water." Sakuno offered. She was still gentle and caring, but had definitely matured nicely. No longer as shy as she once was, thanks to Tomoka's coaching, the girl had learned how to assert herself when needed. Give her a few years, and she would turn into a quiet beauty worthy of the covers of local magazines.
"What do you mean by 'you don't think so'?" Tomoka air quoted after she saw that her friend had recovered and could speak again. "If those guys are as rich as people say they are, they're probably planning some kind of dirty revenge right now."
"Not everyone in Hyotei Academy is a sore loser." Sakuno interjected.
"Oh yeah? Like who?"
"Like…" Sakuno blinked, trying to recall the name of that particular individual she had in mind. "Like Atobe-san." She finally said. "He didn't do anything dirty or low when he lost the bet to Ryoma-kun and had his hair shaved off."
"W-well…maybe that's just the tennis club then!" Tomoka folded her arms over her chest. "Who knows what the rest of the school is like!" She picked up the rest of her things and stood. "All I'm saying is that Naki here should be careful. Even if Hyotei doesn't attack her, some other school might."
"Naki…do you really think they would?" Sakuno sounded worried. She glanced briefly in the direction that Tomoka had gone.
Nabiki ate another mochi, appearing rather nonchalant. "It would be an empty gesture." She said, looking at the sky.
Sakuno followed her gaze. "Yeah…I guess so."
-080-
The sound of tennis rackets invaded Atobe's ears as his limousine pulled up outside Seishun Gakuen. His lordship was well aware that he was gracing the commoner school with his royal presence and deemed it necessary that his existence be known. Several sophomores who were headed home after club activities stopped briskly in their tracks, eyes wide at what they hoped to be a dream that was real.
"It's Atobe Keigo!" one of them whispered quite loudly to the others. A fit of giggles followed as flushed faces followed the purple haired youth's every move. To an extent it satisfied Atobe. Breathing proof that his prowess was not limited to just Hyotei Academy.
"Kabaji." the King drawled out lazily. "Tell them to guide ore-sama to the tennis courts."
"Usu."
They were more than happy to be of assistance. Atobe bathed himself in their adoration. He positively loved it when he was admired by others for the achievements that he had put hard work into. He may be wealthy, but Atobe Keigo never took more credit than he deserved.
It was needless to say that all the teams were training for the Kantou tournaments again. The high school league was just as tense this year as the middle school league two years ago. However, the one responsible for gathering data was certainly not Atobe himself. That was Oshitari's job, and he had better do it well.
"It's been a long time monkey king." The unmistakable voice of Echizen Ryoma came from his left. "Did you manage to get a few more minions to join your colony?"
"Brat." Atobe replied. "Ore-sama should have known that your mouth would only get more foul as you got older, ahn?"
"Hn." Ryoma's smirk taunted him. "What're you here for? We don't have any peach trees around. Momoshiro-senpai's in high school now."
"Is that how you talk to a senior, brat?" Atobe's voice was not pleased. "But that doesn't matter, since ore-sama is not interested in playing a match with you today."
A flicker of surprise was extinguished in Ryoma's eyes. He waited.
"Ore-sama wants a word with this year's champion of the RuCon."
Nabiki?
Samurai Junior recovered quickly. "Sour because Hyotei was creamed in the face by my baby sister?"
A small crowd had gathered around them by now, and rumors were circulated faster than ever. What did the rich looking student from Hyotei want from the tennis team's captain?
On the far end of the tennis courts, anyway from the crowd, located Echizen Nabiki's hideout. Her leisurely tapping on a white laptop was interrupted unceremoniously when a first year student from the tennis club cried out her name. She looked away from the screen with a sigh of longing. Algorithms were fun, but powerful toys.
"Echizen-senpai, someone's looking for you!"
She waited for him to continue, her right hand had already strayed back to the keyboard. The girl pressed a few more keys, and kept an eye on the freshman who came closer with every passing second. Now…if she could only finish reviewing her program before he got here.
The boy stopped to catch his breath. Several thoughts raced through his head at the moment. Everyone at Seishun Gakuen knows for a fact that Echizen Ryoma was influential. He was the son of the Samurai Echizen Nanjiro, and the first middle school freshman who had been invited to compete in the US Open for goodness sake! But this person who sat before him, this…machine, he had not even seen her pick up a tennis racket. She was, undoubtedly, a whiz at all those fancy calculations that sometimes even eluded a second year university student specializing in the field. But the key thing here is that, to his knowledge, Echizen Nabiki did not play tennis. If the other student knew Echizen buchou so well, he must also be very skilled at the sport. If that was the case, then…why are they arguing over Echizen-senpai? The poor child's head was beginning to spin, but he was determined to deliver the information. "He's a Hyotei Academy student. Tall. Purple hair. Affluent. Really good-looking. And he's arguing with buchou!"
The possibilities escaped her.
Atobe Keigo?