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


- Act XX -
[ Crush ]


Time mercilessly flew so fast that suddenly, it had been a month since the beginning of his third year. His tennis play had shown significant progress, and so did the training regiment he designed specifically for the tennis club members. They were all working hard and as a captain, he had the greatest pride over his club.

The Prefectural Championship had begun but unlike the other year, Keigo was very certain about one thing.

Hyotei was going to win the National Championships for sure that year.

The problem was that the opposite happened to his progress with his clumsy Cinderella.

He had to admit that he might have been too aggressive and it might have made her uncomfortable so he learnt to respect her personal space, touching her less to tone down his approach to her. He'd do whatever it takes as long as she was comfortable.

There was one thing that bothered him to no end, however…

She started to visit him in Hyotei a lot more than she did in his manor.

"…then Kotoha-chan lent me her bow for the archery club's trial and I was wondering how could she go back and forth with a bow this heavy?!" She was holding an imaginary bow in her hand with eyes full of tears. "Pulling the string was even harder. I tried to pull it but I accidentally released the arrow. It hit the apple the club prepared to be the target but it also brought the apple flying until it landed right on the crotch of the Benkei-sama's painting in the club room! It looked like he has a swollen crotch!"

Keigo had to lightly tap his forehead with the back of his palm to push his laughter back. Even in his mind, he could make out how ridiculous the historical painting must have looked like post the incident. Fortunately, the mask he was wearing covered half of his face that she couldn't see him pulled a sheet of tissue and passed it to her.

Every time she came, she always had a funny story to tell about her school, be it the ruckuses caused by her own clumsiness, her curse-lover best friend, her strict headmistress, or how she was now known as Seigaku's Cupid. It was funny to know that she ended up running an errand for the fangirls to deliver their love letters to Seigaku's regulars, especially since her senior got together with Kawamura Takashi because Hikari delivered her love letter.

It made him glad that she had truly chosen the best school for her. The more he thought about it, especially after hearing the occurrence of her first day, the more he was glad that she didn't enrol in Hyotei.

Who knew what his fans might do to her? Keigo couldn't even imagine what he would do if what happened to the last female manager, who wasn't even his fan, in his club happened to her. The poor woman was verbally and physically harassed just because she often talked to him regarding the club's preparation. She tearfully told him that she wanted to move to another school and since then, he never had any females in the tennis club.

"But that was an accident."

"They didn't care! The head nun said that the painting was already there even before God planned my birth to this world(Keigo lowered his head again to mitigate his laughter) and kept scolding me even though I've endlessly apologised! Why am I so unlucky?!"

"They let you off in the end, right?"

"No! I have to clean the toilet on the second floor the whole monthas punishment for breaking the school's property!" She turned around to blew her nose so he wouldn't see it. "I'm very bad when it comes to aiming. I shouldn't even tried it…"

"Hey, that's okay. At least no one got hurt." He passed the tissue box because she still shed more tears. Keigo stealthily glanced at the clock in the room and saw that the club practice was going to end in fifteen minutes. He had to give a few speeches before allowing his team to go home but he didn't have the heart to leave her all alone crying.

"But I ruined Benkei-sama's dignity! It has a hole in his crotch now! (Keigo touched his cap and lowered his head at the desire to laughed.) I've asked students from the art club to fix it but they couldn't do much!"

"Did the school asked you to replace it?"

"No. It's just… I'm a dancer, you know? The painter has worked really hard for that painting in the past. As a fellow person who works for art, I feel guilty for him… He must be sad looking at what happened to his art up in heaven…"

Why does she have to be so sweet?

Keigo secretly texted someone to look for a traditional art restorer below the table before making a cup of chocolate for her. Placing the cup before her, he said, "If I'm the painter, I'd be happy to hear you feel that way. Cheer up. Everything is going to be fine." He pushed the cup closer to her reach.

He was glad that she finally smiled at him. After a sip of the chocolate, she sighed in relief. "Thank you for listening to my story… I feel much better now."

"You're always welcome, Tezuka-san." He rose from his seat. "Can you wait here? I need to do something."

"Oh, that's okay. I need to leave now as well because I have an exam tomorrow." She finished her chocolate and said, "Also, thanks for the chocolate. It's delicious as always!"

"Come whenever you want it. I'd be happy to make it for you."

"Okay. Then I'll take my—" The ground was shaking and Hikari yelped when she lost her balance and bumped on the locker behind her. Keigo quickly jumped across the table and quickly put his body around her to shield her, having his head hit with an empty bucket instead. "A-are you okay?" she asked.

His vision was disoriented due to the impact but Keigo didn't answer and pulled her below the table and put his hand on her head, waiting until the earthquake was over. The more objects fell, the tighter he was holding her, so did her clutches on his shirt. The earthquake lasted for a minute that felt like forever. Keigo didn't release her until he made sure the quake had died down, then sighed in relief.

"That was a big one. Are you okay?"

"I-I should be the one to ask you that! Is your head okay?"

"I'm fine." Though it wasn't. He furrowed his brows when the pain started to spread from the left side of his head. He checked his phone to see the earthquake alert and said, "There might be another coming. Avoid walking around tall buildings and don't go to the underground stations today. Be careful."

He'd take her home himself if he could.

"Okay. Thank you for…" She lowered her head as he saw the colour red splashed on her nose up to her ears. "…protecting me. I'm sorry that you got hit by the bucket…"

"It doesn't hurt at all so don't worry. I only did what I must do." When he noticed the strands of hair that were on her face, Keigo subconsciously tucked it behind her ears before resting his palm on her cheek, lightly caressing it with his thumb. He completely forgot about his own stance to keep his hands off her. When she looked up at him in surprise, Keigo realised what he was doing and quickly retracted his hand to scratch the back of his head. "S-sorry."

Keigo always kept his distance from her as a janitor except when he taught her tennis, so he expected her to scream at him like she usually did.

When that never came, Keigo looked back at her…

Only to see her blushing really hard with both hands on her cheeks…

The kind of happy blush she never showed when she was with him.

"I-it's alright! I'll see you later then…" She took her bag and bowed at him before leaving the hut, almost in a hurry.

Keigo stood rooted in his stance, not being able to react as he watched the door was being closed behind her. The mouth that was covered in the mask was gaped open. Though he had never been in a romantic relationship with anyone before, Keigo wasn't dense at all to know how a girl would react to the man she liked, especially with hundreds of fangirls he had to face every single day.

Placing his finger in between his eyes, Keigo recalled her recent behaviours and calculated everything with his Insight. Suddenly, they were all making so much sense to one possibility…

Covering his face, he let out an exasperated sigh at the realisation…

That she was falling in love…

With no one but his disguise…


AN: What a complicated love triangle between Hikari, Keigo, and Atobe. LOL~ XD Now, what will Atobe do upon the realisation?

So, are we going to have another double update next week? Five reviews from you mean yes. XD We're so close to (cough, cough) part, by the way~

Thank you mapl3nin2cool and Arisakura for your kind reviews!

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