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


- Act XV -
[ Bloom]


Hikari returned home wearing exactly the same thing she wore when she left her house that day so she wouldn't raise suspicions. However, she would never think that aside from promising to have a match with her brother (which failed because of her), Genichirō had an errand to deliver a melon gift from his grandfather.

"What a slack off, Hikari!" was the first thing he said when his eyes met hers. How dare he do that after years they didn't meet? He literally said everything her brother probably meant to say.

Because here her brother was, staring at her with arms and legs crossed. Not a word was said, but his eyes had said everything.

It was the only thing she didn't miss from Japan.

"I know, I know! I was wrong! I've admitted that I'm clumsy and won't let my guard down next time!" Hikari threw herself on the tatami when her legs couldn't take it anymore after sitting on it for a while.

"You've said that every time…"

"I was panicking when my friend said she was sick!" Hikari tried her best to describe the man as a female so it wouldn't be obvious that she was lying. "It turned out to be a prank, though."

"Your friend isn't the one to be blamed. You're easily fooled, that's why they keep doing that to you."

She hated it when her brother was making sense.

"I've learnt my lesson," she simply said with twitched lips.

"Good." Hikari sighed in relief when she saw him on his feet. "I just remembered something…" Hikari widened her eyes and tightened her grip on her skirt. "Did you go to Kadokawa Park today?"

Shit!

"What? No." Hikari raised her head and stared right into her brother to accentuate her firmness in her answer. "My friend's house is in Minato and it's miles away from Kadokawa Park. Why do you ask?"

Though she tried to keep her face stoic, the beads of sweat had formed on the back of her head and the layers of her inner-self were screaming "Mayday!". Deep inside, she was praying for every God passing by her house to help her.

"Fine…" Hikari almost sang a worship song at this. "You better rest now. I'll send you to your school tomorrow."

"You really don't have to—" She widened her eyes when he suddenly patted her head. Though his face remained stoic, his warm hands had told her his reason.

He just wanted to be there with her when she stepped into a new chapter of her life.

"I appreciate it. Thank you, Onii-chan," she said with a smile. Hikari had planned out her school life. She didn't want to be an idol in her school. She only wanted to be known as a proper lady.

It was a decision she regretted the next day.

Because she had all the eyes on her…

Or more onto her brother…

Hikari twitched her lips seeing how emotionless her brother was despite groups of girls around him, squealing and glancing at him non-stop. Some even tried to talk with him but he only politely bowed in response. Her brother told her to pose in front of the school gate just so he could take her picture.

"I've got to go now. I have to prepare for my school ceremony," her brother said.

"See. You're busy yourself but you still came with me," Hikari said as she swayed her body. "But thank you for coming with me here, Onii-chan."

He patted her head with a very small smile, but she wouldn't miss it. "Have fun, Hikari."

Smiling, she waved her hand as her brother went away. She wished she would just go to his school but going into different schools would give her space to be independent. When she went into the school building to change her shoes, she was welcomed by a crowd of girls who seemed to be waiting for her.

"Was that Tezuka-sama from Seigaku?"

Tezuka-sama…?

"What's your relationship with him?! Are you his girlfriend?!"

"I can't accept this! I can't take that you're in a relationship with Tezuka-sama!"

Some of them even patted her head just so they could touch the part her brother touched her because it appeared that they saw him patting her head.

"I'm his sister!" she screamed. "Hey! Stop touching my head!" She waved her hands around her head to keep their hands away from her.

They squealed upon knowing that she was only a sister. However, when she was about to take her indoor shoes in her uwabaki, they cornered her instead.

"Then can I have his number?! Please tell me his number!"

"Please help me give my letter to him!"

"Are you close to Echizen-kun?!"

"Is it true that he's in a gay relationship with Fujii-san?! I want to make a doujinshi about them so do you mind if I interview you about them?"

That last question snapped the last string of her patience.

"GET OFF FROM ME AND LET ME GO TO SCHOOL IN PEACE!" In her imagination, she had unleashed her pure rage and turned into her Godly form. She was thankful for the nun headmistress to come in time.

It wasn't even an hour since she began her school life but gone was the image she wanted to build there. Being in Germany for years, she didn't know that her brother actually made it into the recent ten high-schoolers choices for 'I wanna be your girlfriend' poll in their prefecture, as stated in Doki! Doki! Magazine one of the girls in the class lent her ("You should read this because your brother is in it!").

He was number five.

She sat on the grassy field near the sports area while reading the magazine. Everyone was busy introducing themselves to one another in the hope to find that true friend who'd stay by their sides through the ups and downs. It was supposed to be the thing she would do on her first day. However, anyone who approached her now would have one agenda in their mind.

They would only want to get close to her just to get close to her brother.

Either him or any of the Seigaku regulars.

"Hmm, let's see who's better looking than my brother?" She flipped the magazine to the next page and gasped. "Oh, gosh! Yukimura-saaan! What have puberty done to you?!" Hikari dramatically touched her chest, admiring how handsome Yukimura Seiichi had become. "I forgot to ask Gen-chan about his condition. I heard he has a serious illness." She sighed. "I hope he's okay…"

"Number three is… no way! Echizen-kun?!" Hikari widened her eyes seeing the candid photo of Ryoma side-glancing towards the camera while sipping his favourite Ponta. She had to admit that he looked very charming in that photo. "Uhm, yeah. He's cool indeed… until he starts speaking." Hikari nodded. "And on the second place is…

"Ah… Fuji-san! My first crush. No wonder he made it up here. I really have a good taste when it comes to men." Hikari covered her mouth as she giggled. "But then all my brother's teammates aredownright good-looking." Hikari creased her forehead when a group of girls were cheering over a magazine with a popular Korean boy band on the cover. "And on the top is…" Hikari creased her forehead deeper when seeing 'Atobe Keigo' name on top of the page without any photo.

"Weird, why didn't they put up any picture of him? I keep hearing his name lately. I think I need to look him up on the internet." Hikari searched his name on her phone, resulting only in broken images. "Hmm… Atobe Keigo, you really don't want me to find you out, huh?" Hikari shrugged as she closed the window. "Never mind. Some people like to be secretive anyway."

However, none of them excluding her brother would match that person. Thinking about her meeting with him the other day always bloomed the flower in her heart. She shut the magazine and threw herself on the she no longer knew if she could enjoy her school life with the disturbance of her brother's fangirls. Before shutting off her eyes, Hikari saw a glimpse of shadow on the corner of her eyes. She opened it again to see a black long-haired girl with sharpeyes staring at her.

"…May I help you?" Hikari asked, staring at the doll-looking girl one would easily mistaken as a feudal-era princess with a very mysterious vibe surrounding her. The girl's stature was almost like her, though she was slightly shorter than Hikari.

"I take it that you hate socialising as much as I do," the girl said as she sat beside her. "Understandable seeing how they cornered you this morning."

Hikari chuckled. "Do you know my brother?"

"Sort of? It's hard not to recognise him when he's often become the talk of the town." The girl rested her face on her palm. The way she talked about her brother was already a good sign. "You have to understand why they act that way. For them, this all-girls school feels like a barren land without men. When a handsome man's coming, this is what happens."

"You don't feel the same way as them?"

"Nope. I don't worship men like them." Hikari couldn't not laugh at this.

"Uh… Tezuka Hikari," Hikari said as she stretched her arm to the girl. "I want to know you better since you hate socialising as much as I do."

"Oh, the irony…" the girl said with a smirk. She held Hikari's hand and said, "Kanamori Kotoha. It's nice to meet you, Hikari-chan."

"Nice to meet you too, Kotoha-chan."

Suddenly, her day went much better than she initially thought.


After signing up for the ballet club in her school, Hikari went to the park with Kotoha for ice cream while chatting about their lives in junior high.

"Well, to have that incident just a week before the school year begins here in Japan—" Kotoha crunched the ice cream paper in her fist, "—it's almost like it's your fate to come back here to Japan, don't you think?"

"D-do you think so?" Hikari glanced at her ice cream, then to Kotoha's hand, pondering how Kotoha could eat her ice cream in a flash.

"Every human has tasks to do to preserve the universe. I think your task has been finished in Germany, and you have to go back for a reason…"

"What kind of reason, I wonder…" Hikari licked her ice cream and turned sour at the recollection of the occurrence. "How could they do this to me…"

"Just forget about them already, Hikari-chan. You're very naïveif you think your career will be going on smoothly. I'm in archery myself and the rivalries aren't funny at all. I bet it's still much more lenient compared to something like ballet."

"Oh, wow! You're an archer?"

"Not in the level I can brag on like your brother. It'll be nice if I can make it into the Olympic but—" Kotoha shrugged. "Maybe I should do this to smooth my path to it." Hikari's smile only lasted until Kotoha took out a straw doll with red strings on its neck with a sinister smile. When she was a kid, she used to watch an anime about people who could send the named antagonist to hell when the red string was pulled.

"W-wait! W-what are you going to do with that, Kotoha-chan?!" Hikari swore she could see black clouds around Kotoha,

"We'll see…" Kotoha's smile was darkened and thunder was striking. Hikari couldn't hold back her yelp when Kotoha touched the string.

"S-stop that, Kotoha-chan! You've told me to forget them and here you are trying to kill your rival!" Hikari quickly wrapped her hand around the straw doll so Kotoha wouldn't be able to pull the string."I can't let you go to hell after you die, Kotoha-chan! I can't let my first friend here go to hell!"

"Who says about me going to hell?"

"Just stop that! Don't do things like this!"

"Don't do what exactly? You're hurting Mimi-chan, Hikari-chan!"

"Mimi-chan?"

"I want to introduce you to my beloved Urami. I called her Mimi-chan," Kotoha joyfully explained while showing the black straw doll like it was her baby. "Isn't she cute? Say hello to Hikari-chan, Mimi-chan."

"N-nice to meet you, mm… Mimi-chan…" Hikari said with a forced smile, then whispered, "Don't send me to hell…"

"Of course, not! Why would I, silly? She's just a small thing that could do a big thing for me."

Hikari sheepishly laughed. "Yeah. A little 'grudge' won't hurt, right?" Rolling her eyes, Hikari pondered about the 'big thing' Kotoha meant.


Kotoha was actually a very nice friend. It was her antique that surprised her to no end. Who would have a cursed doll as their baby doll? After meeting a vampire guy, a real-life hell girl appeared before her. She wouldn't be surprised if a devil showed up next.

Maybe it was her destiny to live within a social circle filled with weirdos after all…

"Hm?" Hikari looked up when a drop of water fell on her nose and widened her eyes when rain suddenly fell. "Shoot! I forgot to bring an umbrella!" Hikari covered her head with her bag and ran, only to be bumped by a boy.

"S-sorry! Are you okay?" He caught both of her armsbefore she fell.

"Uh, yeah. Thank you…" She stared straight at the worried-looking green-eyed man with messy black hair. He helped her get back on her feet and bowed in apology.

"I'd like to offer you my umbrella if I had one. But I fell asleep on the bus and left mine there. Once again, I'm sorry! Please be careful on your way home!" He bowed once again before leaving without allowing her to reply.

Hikari shrugged and continued running, looking at her left and right for any place to shelter herself. Upon seeing the brick wall, Hikari felt familiar with the road and realised that she was in Hyotei.

"Uh, I can't get into the building, but that cherry blossom tree shouldn't be too tall to be struck by thunder." She screamed when the thunder struck. "Geez! Why the heavy rain on my first day?! Is this a bad premonition or what?!"

Glancing at the blooming cherry blossom tree around her, Hikari imagined how nice it was if she really chose Hyotei. However, aside from being a posh school, Hikari had her other reason for not choosing the school. Her heart was thumping like crazy just at the thought of it that she rubbed her chest to ease it.

"I wonder if I can meet that person again…"

The weather was truly bad that Hikari could hardly feel like the spring had reached the core of her heart. How she wished it could be just one fine day when she strolled on the road with floating cherry blossom petals dancing around her. Instead, here she was, staring at the water that carried the cherry blossom petals on her feet when suddenly it reflected another shadow beside her. Hikari glanced at her right, seeing him with an umbrella in his hand.

A smile stretched upon her lips…

When the spring finally came and bloomed the cherry blossom in her heart.


AN:I took the popularity rank from the 4th Popularity Poll in manga because I need the one where Atobe is number one. LOL~

This is just for fun question, but if there's a third wheel between Atobe and Hikari, who do you think it'll be?

I can't believe how I overcome my writer's block lately and manage to write until chapter 30 something. Do you think I should release everything next week? XD

And another question. I've made the chapters changing POV so far but I've reached the part where it might be more interesting to see things from other PoT characters' POV, do you want to keep seeing things from Atobe and Hikari's POV or do you want to see other character's POV?

Your review will support my morale, guys! I need to hear what do you think about the story so far too so please help me answer the question above so I can keep making stories that will cheer your day! =D

If you give me a lot of reviews, I might consider doing an update marathon next month (twice a week) since I want to celebrate my writing anniversary! It's been five years, yay!

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 for reading and have a nice day!