Tennis no Ouji-sama © Konomi Takeshi, Shuheisha, Inc.
- Act XL -
[Yūshi POV – A Cinderella Story]
Once upon a time, there was a peaceful kingdom known as the 'Ice Empire'. The kingdom was running normally until a hurricane came and changed everything; a hurricane that was leaving trails of his taste wherever he went, from the cafeteria, school gym, hall, and many more. This hurricane later announced himself as King Atobe Keigo, who literally tore people in between two choices…
Love him or hate him.
Those who loved him would kiss the path he was walking on.
Those who hated him would throw dumps on him.
What about him, one might wonder. Though Yūshi never exactly approved of whatever the King did, he chose to tag along because whatever the King was doing, Yūshi just never grew tired of it. He was all up to the show and King Keigo always had ways to entertain him.
All the King was doing, he was seeking perfection. The King was hailed for getting straight A's in AS level exams despite his busy schedule, even consecutively managing to get 100% attendance in every academic year. It was why his absence that day from the club activity raised a question mark in everyone's head.
It appeared that the King finally caught the commoner's cold he despised, surprising everyone because the King claimed that he bowed to no sickness as it was too 'peasant' to his taste. Thus, along with his teammates, Yūshi decided to come and see him.
Only to see him disappear from his bedroom…
The whole 'castle' was so frantic with the missing of the King that Michael even called all the securities but Yūshi assured them to not worry because he had an idea where the King might be going. But using a rope to flee from his own room?
O Keigo, were you trying to play Romeo? So romantic…
He was always thirsty for entertainment so there was no way he wouldn't track the king down. And there he found the pompous king, wearing another easily recognised disguise. He was wearing sunglasses and a fedora hat that was turning heads instead. Yūshi hated to admit it but Keigo would look effortlessly attractive in any clothes he was wearing. Not even the stupid janitor clothes could hide his charm.
Yūshi hid in the corner when Keigo looked around before entering the hospital where Yukimura Seiichi was getting treated but Yūshi was 100% certain that he wasn't whom Keigo was looking for. Yūshi hid behind a newspaper as he saw Keigo go to a room and peeked into it through the glass on the door. Yūshi quickly turned around when Keigo ran in his direction and hid in the opposite corner of his hideout.
Confirming his suspicion, a girl came out from the room with her wheelchair being pushed by her mother; the very girl Yūshi saw together with Keigo every time he was wearing his janitor disguise. What Yūshi didn't expect was that she was Tezuka Kunimitsu's little sister — of all people in the world, of all available women in Japan.
Keigo might be reading too much Shakespeare to be inspired into taking the path of a tragic love story — at least Yūshi wished it wouldn't end up as tragic.
It seemed that she was released from the hospital and Keigo wanted to make sure she was alright… by being a stalker, and so did Yūshi as he followed the stalker. On his way to pursuing the girl, Keigo quickly hid, and so did he, when they saw Yukimura Seiichi approaching the girl, saying a word or two before bidding him farewell. After the girl went into the taxi with her mother, Keigo sighed, seemed to be very relieved to see her well but his back looked so lonely from his view. It was the mask Keigo never showed the entire time Yūshi knew him.
After the match, the rift between Keigo and Tezuka Kunimitsu became a hot topic in Hyotei, especially in the tennis club with Tezuka Hikari being the centre of the topic. Though everyone in Hyotei literally worshipped the ground Keigo walked on, no one truly knelt to him…
No one except Tezuka Hikari, who begged him to stop the match for her brother's sake.
Yūshi couldn't imagine how Keigo felt at that moment, being torn apart between his pride as a leader and the woman he loved, the woman who made Keigo take off his crown and went all the way to wearing a janitor's clothes just to see her.
How romantic…
Reading lots of romantic novels did give him insight into what was romantic but never Yūshi think that what he was seeing in real life would be far more dramatic and romantic than anything he ever read.
The recent incident was still fresh and clear in his mind. When he had the idea about following Keigo when he dismissed them after the match, he didn't expect to find Keigo kissing Tezuka Hikari. The suspense was so real that his heart was beating and his adrenaline was rushing just by watching the romantic scene. Though both he and Gakuto almost suffocate Jirō to keep him from screaming his excitement while Ryō and Chōtaro stuttered by the suspense.
Especially when none other than Tezuka Kunimitsu appeared, discovering their secret relationship by seeing them kissing…
Was there anything more dramatic than that?
Fortunately, no one outside the regulars seemed to know what was going on between Keigo and Tezuka Hikari. He wouldn't like to see what would happen to the poor girl if Keigo's fans found out.
Being an Atobe Keigo, he came back with the cape of his charisma and pompous crown the next day. During Greek class, Yūshi caught Keigo glancing at the tennis court. Being a captain of the club, it wasn't weird for him to do that but Yūshi knew it wasn't the reason.
He was looking at the spot where he saved her from the omitted ball.
The memory drifted Yūshi's mind back to the moment when he saw Keigo in janitor's clothes for the second time during their practice in the clay court. He was certain now that the Atobe Keigo that day was none other than Rikkai's Niō Masaharu. With identical weight and height, Masaharu was Keigo's perfect body double.
How cool was that?
Keigo was still his usual self when he came into the club. Losing to Seigaku had stripped them from their right to join the National Championship. Keigo even granted the liberty for the third year to skip the club activity so they could prepare themselves for university preparation. However, the third-year regulars still chose to stick to the club activities.
It probably was the last time they could play tennis as much as they wanted. It wasn't cool to waste the chance.
Beating Gakuto by 6-4, Yūshi was fixing the net of his racket, completely ignoring how his red-haired friend stomped his foot several times like an angry kid. When Keigo finished changing into his jersey, the freshmen quickly lined up to welcome him.
The self-pronounced king had his jacket hung on his shoulders, waving like a king cape behind him. As he walked down on the invisible red carpet, the freshmen shouted the Hyotei's chant until he snapped his fingers.
"The winner will be…"
"Atobe Keigo!" they shouted as they wanted to express their gratitude towards Keigo's leadership.
However, Keigo slowly slouched his arm downwards and said, "Resume your practice." His smirk promptly faded upon hearing the name he always glorified. After that, he just wheeled around and sat on the bench, watching the practice.
He was definitely sick.
Fixing his glasses, Yūshi decided to investigate this further. First of all, he would see how Keigo was living his life post the 'break-up'. He waited until the day when he dismissed Munehiro and walked by foot because it would mean Keigo wanted to be alone. He was only a few steps into his investigation when he realised that he wasn't alone.
"What's this? What are you guys doing?" He narrowed his eyes upon seeing Gakuto, Ryō, Jirō, Chōtaro, and Wakashi behind him.
"Ssh! Just shut up and follow Atobe before we lose him!" Gakuto roughly pushed his back.
The glacier king suddenly stopped in front of a convenience store and to his surprise, bought the class-B food he said didn't suit his taste. He then went to Kadokawa Park, sitting on one of the benches and ate there.
"Hmm? Isn't that the spot where we heard the Hyotei chant?" Chōtaro suddenly said. "Do you remember, Shishido-san?"
"Ah. That was when we met Sanada and Tezuka, right?"
"What's that? What was happening that time?" Yūshi asked without shifting his attention from Keigo.
"Tezuka and Sanada were talking about their cancelled match, then suddenly we heard the Hyotei chant." Ryō fixed his cap's position. "I wasn't too comfortable about checking it out because there was a couple making out on that bench."
That was the moment when both Chōtaro and Ryō pointed at each other, gasping. "D-don't tell me that—"
"It was Atobe. Probably with that girl. That's the most plausible explanation," Yūshi flatly said though he almost chuckled at the scenario of how comical the situation must be with Genichirō and Kunimitsu around.
"No wonder he looked familiar! How lame!" Ryō scoffed.
"So, he sits there reminiscing about that moment, huh?" Gakuto said while scratching his head.
"What a good chance to gekokujo him."
"Should we wait until Atobe finishes eating? I'm a little bit sleepy here…"
"No one asked you to follow to begin with! What a lame, Jirō!"
"Uhm? Atobe is leaving." True to what Jirō said, he rose from his seat and walked in the direction of the hall.
They discreetly walked behind the bushes while watching Keigo climb the stairs to the hall. Because they couldn't see clearly what Keigo was seeing, they tiptoed their ways to the half parts of the stairs before hiding near the door to the ticketing room. Yūshi narrowed his eyes and fixed his glasses to see what the poster was about. No, he didn't need to do that to get a better sight. He only did it because it was cool. It was a poster about the upcoming Cinderella ballet performance.
Yūshi quickly stretched his arm to push his teammates into the shaded place when the door in their opposite direction suddenly opened. He widened his eyes when he saw the very girl that invaded Keigo's mind walking in their direction first before climbing down the stairs. Now that he paid good attention to the girl, he could understand why Keigo was head over heels with her.
Though she hadn't completely lost some of the childish features on her face due to her young age, her budding prettiness was growing day by day. Her graceful gait made her beautiful pair of legs too conspicuous to ignore, though Yūshi would prefer a longer pair of legs. Compared to the other day, her eyes were sharp and accentuated firmness. He could tell that she was Kunimitsu's sister with her current expression.
"Oi! I-isn't that—" Gakuto gesticulated his hands.
"Ssh!"
She was only five steps down when her left shoe slipped off so she wheeled around to take her shoe back, only to have it taken by Keigo who was climbing down the stairs at the same time. The two didn't seem to notice each other at first.
"Here's your shoe."
"Thank you so—"
Then their eyes met…
In the most dramatic Cinderella moment.
Oh, the suspense…
How Yūshi wanted to smack the teammates behind him for making incorrigible noises. Gakuto was pulling Yūshi's hair in suspense. Jirō was scratching his head nonstop while Chōtaro put his hands together, muttering something like a random prayer. Didn't they know how much he wanted to keep his cool?
Tezuka Hikari tightened her lips as she tried to pull her shoe from him but Keigo held her hands instead and pulled her into his embrace. There was pure joy on Keigo's face when he held her. Though his brows furrowed, he was smiling as if it was the moment he awaited the most.
"L-let me go!" She pushed him by his chest.
"I will…" Keigo softly stroked her hair, "…only if you let me hold you just a little bit longer…"
"D-do you understand that I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore?! It's over between us! The clock has struck twelve!"
What's this? It feels like watching a stage play. Only that it's real…
"Do you really want this to be over?" The girl stopped fidgeting in his hold before shaking her head.
"…I-I do!" There was an underlying resolve in her voice. "That's why I'm going back to get my shoes. This way, you can't look for me anymore!" She pushed him again but Keigo tightened his hold around her instead. "Let me go! You have a lot of women in line to be your lover! Why don't you just choose one of them?!"
"Because that glass slipper only fits your foot… It belongs only to you."
How romantic…
The answer seemed to startle her, but she still pushed him harder and eventually released herself from Keigo's arms. Keigo promptly ran after her after he regained his composure. Yūshi was certain that Keigo could catch up with her but upon reaching the end of the stairs, Keigo stopped running, even though he was still gazing in the direction she was running, for a while… with longing eyes. Never did he think that an Atobe Keigo could look so small and so hopeless…
What a devastating sight…
It crushed his heart so much that he might be losing his cool at any moment now.
Fortunately, he wasn't the only one.
"Y-Yūshi! We have to do something!" Gakuto sniffed. "Never in my life had I imagined I would pity Atobe!" Then he cowered, covering his watery eyes with his arm.
"We have to get them together again!" Jirō dramatically said.
"I'm unbelievably moved right now, Atobe-san! I thought you were only playing around with her but I can see that you truly love her!" He wouldn't be so surprised to see the sensitive Chōtaro already had tears cascading on his face.
"Tch! How lame, Atobe! Looking so pitiful just because of a girl!"
"Gekokujo…"
"Please have a heart, Hiyoshi! Shishido-san! Don't talk like that!" Chōtaro shouted at them.
"There's no better timing to gekokujo Atobe-buchō than now. I'll gekokujo him while he's playing around with her."
Yūshi smirked as he pushed his glasses with his ring finger. "What is this? Then I guess we all have the same thinking, don't we?" Even though Wakashi had different goals than all of them.
"Uhm… I like to stay away from people's romance as much as possible but I'll make an exception this time," Chōtaro said while scratching the side of his face.
"Whatever you're planning, Yūshi! We're with you!" Gakuto vehemently said.
That was it.
Oshitari Yūshi was a total sucker for romance.
The clock might have struck midnight but that was only half of the story. As an avid reader of romantic stories, Yūshi wouldn't let it end like that. He would be the one who searched through the kingdom and found the young maiden whose foot fitted the glass slipper…
Then brought her back to the king's arms where she belonged…
AN: Hyotei [冰帝[] means 'Ice Empire'. I think Konomi-sensei is really smart to come up with this name and indeed, everything is set to fit Keigo's persona and skill.
I bet most of you didn't expect Yūshi to be the star in this chapter. XD I need someone from Keigo's side to tell things and I can't think of anyone aside from Yūshi to do this job as interesting as he does, especially with his dramatic persona. Clearly, he's the one in the team that is most eager to find out things and we can see this from the special episode where he follows Jirō to find out what stimulates him. XD
Favourite, follow, and most importantly—review is 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!
