Okay, I know that I fail to update sooner. I'm incredibly sorry. *bows down* Instead of writing during the break and the holidays I ended up working extra for my thesis paper and doing art stuff. I'll let you see some of those soon.
Anyways, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everybody! It's been a great year and I'm hoping this year will be even greater. Updates will still be slow but not as slow as this one. I finish with my thesis paper by February so updates might go on a much steadier pace this time.
My thank yous to the following people who read and gave their time to review the past chapter of this story.:
Sweet-Lia
Kuma the wolf alchemist
Lovelyanimeangel
Sakuraxgaara2233
Starwarschic11
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, otherwise known as Tenisu No Oujisama. Other characters not originating from the said anime/manga is considered a property of Ysah-chan
Chapter 8- Gifts and Meetings
After the dance, Eriol lead Yumi back to where her brother was. Tezuka just finished talking to another relative of their and was waiting back in their table. It was time for another part of the party to commence. This time, Eriol gave the guests a short speech and gave his thanks to his relatives. His speech was short and sweet and everyone applauded him. He motioned to one of the helpers and then all the waiters began distributing the party giveaways.
A young woman was the one to begin the gift giving, as she handed Eriol a midnight blue wrapped box with white ribbons. Eriol gladly accepted and placed the gift on the table beside him. After that, the rest began to line up to give their gifts to Eriol. The older guests took their sweet time and even had a small chat with the smiling host before handing their gift.
"Why don't you two take our gift to your cousin?" Kunikazu suggested.
"Go and fall in line with the rest. We'll stay here," said Ayana as she handed the paper bag to her son.
"Oh, okay," said Yumi as she followed her brother.
The queue was quite long since there were a lot of guests and there were still some who are still on their seats. Tezuka and Yumi patiently waited for their turn but Kunikazu's cousin was enjoying his chat with Eriol. There were fifteen more ahead of the siblings; a few of them were adults, similar to who Eriol was talking with at the moment.
"Yumi, could you borrow a pen from otou-sama? Okaa-sama forgot to write our names on the birthday card," said Tezuka.
"Ah, hai," said Yumi.
She walked towards their table and found her father talking to a guest. Instead of bothering him, Yumi decided to approach her mother. Ayana was in one side, apparently, the two Tezukas were both chatting with some guests; the older of the two went mingling with the other guests.
"Okaa-san, do you have a pen? Onii-chan said you forgot the names on the birthday card," Yumi said softly.
"Sou desu ka? I completely forgot about it. Your father might have one," said Ayana.
"Eh, who's this little girl?" asked the guest who was talking to Kuniharu.
"Ah, this is my daughter, Yumi. Yumi, this is Atobe-sama from Global Industries," said Kuniharu.
"Konbanwa, Tezuka Yumi desu. Yoroshikuu onegaishimasu," said Yumi, as she bowed.
"It's very nice to meet you as well, Yumi-chan. I'm Atobe Kei," said the man.
"Atobe-sama is not a blood relative, but he's close to our family. Although your onii-chan and his son are rivals in tennis," said Kuniharu.
"Hontou desu ka?" Yumi asked curiously.
"Ah, Kunimitsu-kun and Keigo-kun only meet during special events like these and during tennis tournaments. They're not close, unlike otou-chan and Atobe-sama, that's why they became rivals," Ayana explained.
"Sou ka," said Yumi.
"But, that's only in the tennis courts. They're very mature when outside the courts, if you haven't noticed," said Atobe-sama.
"Ah, I forgot. Otou-san, may I borrow a pen please? Onii-chan needs it to write our names in the birthday card for Eriol-niisan," said Yumi.
"Ah, here," said Kuniharu.
"Arigatou. I'll be back again later. It's nice meeting you, Atobe-sama," said Yumi as she bowed and walked back to where her brother is.
The line already moved when she got back; but there was another old timer who was talking to their cousin. There was no point in making a fuss about it. Tezuka wanted to write the names on the card, but it was a little difficult since he was in a standing position. He didn't want to leave the line as well, since there were already a lot of people.
"You can lean on my back, onii-chan, so you can write," Yumi suggested with a smile on her face.
"Are you sure?" asked Tezuka.
"Hai," Yumi said enthusiastically, as she offered her back to her brother.
Tezuka tried to write their names as fast as he can. Yumi on the other hand, couldn't help but giggle every time the pen touched the card. It wasn't that hard after all. She could still feel the pen as Tezuka wrote their names in Kanji.
"If you keep giggling I might write your name differently," said Tezuka, although he found it a bit funny that she was trying to hold back her giggles.
"Mou, onii-chan, don't mess my name up," said Yumi, still fighting the giggles that came to her.
"All right, I'm done. You can stop giggling now," said Tezuka as his sister turned to face him.
"Can I see it?" asked Yumi.
"Hai, dozo," said Tezuka as he handed the card.
"Onii-chan's handwriting is really amazing. I want to write like this too," said Yumi, who's always expressed how much she loved Tezuka's handwriting.
"I told you, I'll teach you when vacation comes. Be patient, Yumi," said Tezuka.
"Ah, I remembered, sensei is asking me if I could write my name in my notebooks. Could you write it for me instead?" Yumi asked.
"All right, I will, but you have to behave first," said Tezuka.
For the past month that Yumi lived with them, Tezuka grew closer with his new sister. She was just like any little girl you would meet but somehow different as well. She's just like any kid sister who always got into some sort of mischief, although she always seems to do so at home. He himself knew that it was so unlike him to be affectionate towards others, but he feels he could be that way freely whenever it was with Yumi.
Yumi felt the same way whenever she was with her brother. She was sweet to her family and friends, but she always showed more of her mischievous side to her brother. Fortunately, she hasn't caused any trouble for him yet, and she hopes she doesn't give him much in the future.
"Ne, onii-chan, there are a lot of girls in school who wants to get your personal information. I turned down a couple of them this morning. There were even some who wanted to give gifts," said Yumi.
"You know what to do to them, I already told you. Don't accept any and politely turn them down. That goes for guys who try to hit on you as well," said Tezuka.
"No one really dares to come near me now though. They think Ryoma-kun's glare is a mini version of yours," said Yumi.
"He glares at them?" Tezuka asked curiously.
"I told him to do it. It's tiring to turn down offers a lot so we decided to do this. The only condition to it is that I become Ryoma-kun's Home Economics partner," said Yumi.
"Ah, at least it helps. Just make sure Echizen also does his part of your work in Home economics," said Tezuka.
"Hai," said Yumi.
Meanwhile, five people behind the siblings, was a grey haired young man wearing a white suit. He was accompanied by a personal body guard who carried a huge box for the youth. He was on the phone with someone.
"It's just a party my father was invited to," said the guy.
"Really now, I bet you're enjoying yourself right now," said the guy on the other line.
"Shut up. Although Ore-sama is used to these kinds of parties, it does tend to get pretty boring after so long," answered the young man.
"Atobe, you're from the elite class. Get used to it! After you graduate from college, I'm sure you'll be spending even more time in these kinds of parties," said the other guy.
The guy was named Atobe, or should we say Atobe Keigo, son of the very rich Atobe Kei of the Global Industries Corporation. As the only son in the family, Atobe was forced to attend the birthday party his father was invited to. Of course, the great Atobe Keigo was interested in inheriting the billions they have in their family, but for the meantime, enjoying life the way he wanted it. At least he got to enjoy the ladies and food of the night.
"Oh, there's a cute one," said Atobe.
"What are you talking about?" asked the person from the other line.
"There's a girl here. She looks really cute; quite familiar too. She reminds me a lot about someone but I can't really point out whom," said Atobe.
"Go on and flirt then. I have much better things to do," said the guy.
The guy hung up and Atobe was left with the beeping on the other end of the line. He then watched as the girl talked to someone she was with. The guy she was talking to seemed awfully familiar to him.
"Tezuka?" he muttered aloud.
Tezuka turned as he heard someone call his name. He was expecting a relative of theirs to be the one calling but instead it was someone unexpected. Who'd expect the great 'Ore-sama' to come to a social gathering that doesn't include other people who get highly intimidated by him? Well, apparently, he picked this day to come.
Well that's it for now. I'll try to update as soon as I can. Again, please read and review. Your support helps a lot. btw. follow me on twitter and interact with me! I need your ideas for the next chapter! look for Ysahaya :) Thankies~!