Tennis no Ouji-sama © Konomi Takeshi, Shuheisha, Inc.
- Act XXIX -
[ Guilt]
Opening his eyes wearily, Keigo took his wristwatch from the nightstand and saw that it was 4.32 in the morning. Sighing, he pushed the blanket off of him, immediately stopping when he heard a moan from his side. A smile suddenly crept on his face upon seeing his queen's sleeping face.
"I love you too, my prince…"
Even in his sleep, he repeated the sentence so many times. It felt almost unreal for him to hear her say the words he had been longing to hear. Nothing else mattered to him anymore in this world. He wondered if it was possible to love someone that much.
Resting his head back on the pillow, he caressed her soft matter how much he hated to wake her up at that moment, he had to send her back to her house.
"Good morning, beautiful," he whispered to her ear before kissing her groaned in protest as she pulled the blanket closer to her face. He tried a few ways to wake her up but when nothing worked, he finally whispered, "Your brother is in…" then she jolted from the bed, up and awake.
"W-what? Where is he?" Hikari pulled the blanket up to her chest while looking around.
"…your house." Keigo chuckled as he avoided the pillow she threw at him. "Don't you want to go home before he's awake?"
"Ah, yeah. You're right." She rested her face on her palm and sighed. "I must hurry. He wakes up very early recently." She lazily moved to the side of the bed but before she could leave it, he held her from her back.
"I hate leaving the bed too. I wish I could spend the entire day with you here…"
"I d-didn't say that!"
"You don't have to say a word. Everything is transparent to my Insight." He kissed her cheek. "Especially you."
"Pervert! What's with this 'Insight' anyway?" She pursed her lips.
"It's my special ability to read you, My Queen…" He rested his nose on the back of her ear, allowing her most relaxing cherry blossom scent to roam his senses.
"Don't even think about 'reading' me again if you don't want me to leave you!"
"Hn. I won't allow that."
As much as he wanted to ravish those stubborn lips, he didn't want to risk sending her home late because if he kissed her at that moment, he wouldn't be able to stop himself.
How he wished he could drive a car to bring her back and forth wherever they went. However, he wasn't at the legal age to get a driving license in Japan. Knowing him too well, Michael stored all the car keys somewhere he couldn't find.
Why did he haveto wait until he reacheda certain age to do things as he liked?
Couldn't he just become a man that could make her the happiest woman in the world right at that moment?
But bike driving turned out to be not that bad at all, not with her circling her arms around him, mirthfully laughing as the night wind hit their faces.
Keigo turned off the engine of his bike when he dropped her in the park near her house. When she returned the helmet to him, he took it by touching her hands without letting go for a moment, as if he'd lose her if he let her go even for a second.
Shaking his head to dissipate the bad thought, Keigo put away the helmet and caressed her cheek. "Be careful on your way home."
She chuckled. "It's only two blocks away. You're worrying too much."
"I'm always worried whenever I'm not with you." He pecked her lips.
"Stop pulling such a cheesy line or I'll leave you." She playfully pinched his nose.
"Well, can you really do that?"
"I can." She giggled when his nose touched hers. He closed his eyes as her scent roamed his senses. He could tell that she didn't want to leave as much as he did, thus making him tighten his arms around her. "But I guess you won't let me, will you?"
"Of course, I won't. I love you too much for that."
When she answered, "I love you too, my prince…," it became even much harder for him to let her go. He leant close to her and captured her lips with his. It was probably their hundredth kiss ever since they got together but the feeling remained like their first one, deeper ever since she returned his feelings.
He released their kiss when oxygen was necessary, caressing her soft cheek with an adoring smile plastered on his face. Though he had said that he wouldn't let the clock strike twelve for them, it felt that way when she gave him a smile then slowly released her hold on him.
"I'll watch until you reached your house." Though she had walked away, she still held his hand. There was a tight knot in his chest when she slid her fingers all the way until the distance carried her warmth away from him. His eyes remained locked with hers as she slowly walked in the direction of her house. When she got in, he took his phone out and texted, "Miss you already" before riding his bike back home.
But she wasn't replying…
Keigo was constantly staring at his phone even during breakfast. Drumming his fingers, he munched his croissant without being able to comprehend its taste. After changing into his practice gear, Keigo checked his phone and felt his stomach tighten when no reply notification came.
He harshly exhaled his breath to relieve the knot in his belly and went downstairs for his morning practice. Keigo immediately stopped on his fourth step when he heard noises, quickened his phase, and widened his eyes when the main door was opened, revealing the security supporting Hikari as he went into the manor. His heart stopped beating as soon as she lifted her face towards him. His body was moving on his own and the next thing he knew, he was already in front of her.
The always perfect braids on her hair were messy. Tears were flowing out from her red-rimmed eyes and her feet were dirty as she wore no shoes. Upon seeing him, she threw her arms around him and sobbed on his chest.
"What happened to you?" Keigo pulled her back to see her face and caressed her cheek. "Are you alright?"Hikari shook her head and kept sobbing so he carried her in his arms, bringing her upstairs and putting her on his bed.
Seeing the timing, it didn't take him long until he realised what probably happened.
Her family found out about her escapade with him.
When the door was closed and they were alone, Keigo fixed his position so she could rest her body on him. He caressed her hair while kissing her forehead once a while to soothe her calm.
"I'm s-sorry… I shouldn't have come here and bother you. Please continue doing whatever you were doing," she said with a sob before pushing herself off him but he held her in place.
"Don't say that. You're not a small matter for me." He kissed her temple. "I'll be here until you feel better."
Keigo continued caressing her back until she fell asleep. He asked the maid to help clean her up as he headed into his study room, with a smirk plastered on his face. He loved it so much when everything was according to his calculation.
His influence on Hikari was getting stronger day by day, especially since they were getting together. It needed a little spark to blare the distrust between the siblings to form a larger crate between them to make her fully dependent on him instead of her brother.
"I won this, Tezuka…" he muttered to himself.
When the maid informed him that they had done cleaning her up, Keigo went back to his room to tuck his blanket closer to her chin. Kissing her forehead, Keigo gently caressed her hair before letting his fingers slide down to her chin, studying her face for a moment until he realised how the way her eyebrows curled up and dampened eyes didn't suit her.
"I'm sorry… Onii-chan…" more tears trickled down on her face. A sudden hollow punch of guilt hit him straight in his guts, making it hard for him to breathe.
How many times did he make her cry to achieve what he wanted?
Keigo rested his head on her pillow to listen to her breathing, took her hand then kissed her knuckle while whispering, "I'm sorry…"
Exiting his room, his security informed him about Kunimitsu approaching the security post to ask if they happened to see Hikari. The security asked him this while reasoning they would ask the other staff.
Keigo told the security to lie and so they did. He watched them talking through the security camera. Throughout his life, he never saw Kunimitsu wearing a different expression until that moment, where he looked so devastated when he lost the lead to find his sister. Kunimitsu stood there for a moment before nodding in understanding and bowed to the security.
His Adam's apple bobbed as he felt guilt in form of a spiked ball was growing in his throat. Turning off the monitor, Keigo walked away and asked Michael to make sure Hikari got everything she needed while he went to school. Inside his limousine, Keigo peeked through the window to see Kunimitsu walking in the direction of his own home while staring at his phone, which was probably Hikari's photo.
Furrowing his brows, Keigo took a deep breath, clenching his fists because the guilt was growing more and more inside his belly.
He wasn't wrong.
He did this for Hikari's sake, so she could detach herself from her brother.
Wasn't she entitled the independence from her brother?
It was right for him to do this…
Wasn't it?
AN:I think I'm apologising whenever I post an update, like… always? XD I promised a marathon update this month but then, my schedule wasn't friendly last week so I have to postpone it to this week (which isn't even marathon). So sorry about that!
What do you think is happening on Hikari's side? Though I'm the author, I do think that what Hikari doing is so naive and stupid (Sorry, Hikari!) XD I mean like, getting together with someone whose name you don't even know? Don't do this in real life, guys!
Thank you mapl3nin2cool & xxjaelee for your wonderful reviews!
Favorite, follow, and most importantly—review are gold for me! As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the story is also posted on 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!
