Tennis no Ouji-sama © Konomi Takeshi, Shuheisha, Inc.
- Act XLVII -
[ King VS Queen]
Being expected to look good in everything he did, Keigo spent his entire life trying many things, at least being good in it if not mastering it. Of all things he tried, he was only interested in fencing, ballroom dance, and tennis out of everything. And being a gentleman, he would never challenge a woman, and especially not his queen. But it was an entirely different story if she was the one who challenged him.
Did she even realise how sexy that was?
He was the one who taught her tennis after the longest time she didn't play, Keigo knew what she was capable of. But not even his Insight could tell that when she said a match, it wasn't tennis.
"Best of luck, Hikari-chan!" said the Seigaku lots to her.
"I'm worried. Will she be okay?" was what Takashi said until Eiji put a racket in his hand. "DORYAA! BURNING! YOU CAN'T LOSE TO HIM, HIKARI-CHAN! BEAT HIM WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT, BABY!"
How dare he called his queen 'baby'…
Keigo warmed up his wrist by swaying the striker in his hand as she did the same, glaring at him in the most intimidating way that only made him fall even deeper into her.
"Air hockey, ahn?" It was the very first time he ever visited a game centre. Truthfully, it wasn't the kind of atmosphere he'd like with the mixture of all kinds of chimes and jingles filling the place in the most annoying way. His teammates, of course, were beyond happy to be there, especially Jirō and Gakuto who immediately played claw machines and racing arcades.
"I'm not crazy enough to challenge a national-level player like you in tennis." The movement of her hand was so smooth as if it was dancing instead of warming up, making him want to kiss that tiny wrist of her. "Does Your Highness need some tutorial?" she mockingly asked while raising an eyebrow.
"I've played this once before." He readied his position while placing his hand in between his eyes. "Give me your all, my queen…"
"I'm not your queen!" Keigo stood rooted in his position when her striker hit the puck in a flash and got into his slot as if the lightning just struck him. Keigo glanced down to see the puck appeared in his slot, waiting for him to take it.
"W-what was that?" Gakuto said.
"You're letting your guard down, Atobe Keigo…"
Was it him or did he see Kunimitsu instead of her? She was surrounded by the similar intimidating silvery aura and fearful expression that frightened most of her brother's opponents once he entered the court.
"You're also good at Air Hockey, ahn?" Keigo smirked. "Fine. I won't play lightly against you, my queen. Here I come! Tannhauser Serve!"
"Atobe-san! She's your girlfriend! How could you?!" Chōtaro shouted.
"I'm not his girlfriend!" To his surprise, Hikari could return despite it headed directly to her slot. Deciding that it was time to get serious, Keigo put his hand in between his eyes.
"World of Ice…" He felt bad about going all out against his beloved queen but it was the game he didn't want to lose. Seeing the ice pillars on each side of her, Keigo hit one of the pillars, bouncing right into her slot. "That's 1-1, my queen…"
"Gosh! You really aren't holding back at all, are you?!" Takeshi remarked from the side.
"They still have long ways to go…"
"W-what was happening just now?" His flabbergasted-looking queen was looking to the side where he hit the puck. "How could I miss it?"
"To put it simply, Atobe is aiming for your blind spots. With his Insight ability, he could accurately pinpoint the target and timing at your blind spots," said the data tennis player.
"I-Insight?! I-isn't that his pervert ability?!" Hikari quickly covered her chest while Takeshi and Ryoma were suffering in the background in their attempt to hold back their laughter. Even his own teammates were looking away from him, palms covering their mouths. "How could you?! You've promised to never use it on me anymore!"
"I promised not to use it to measure you but not on a match, my queen." He flicked his bangs. "That aside, I don't have to use it to measure you anymore, you know?" He winked, causing her to fluster.
"P-pervert!"
"Hn? How interesting. So it can be used to measure people's sizes as well," Sadaharu remarked while writing on his note.
"What?! How far were you with him, Hikari-chan?!" Takeshi shouted. "This is crossing the line!"
"Stop imagining things, Momoshiro-san! Don't say things that make people misunderstand, idiot!" Keigo smiled at that. Hikari hit the puck with the enormous power he didn't know she had. If not because of his Insight, that definitely went straight into his slot.
"Hn. They're free to imagine anything they want. But the details belong to you and me only."
Hikari twitched and readied her position as she served the puck. "Don't be so full of yourself!" Keigo didn't even have the chance to blink when the puck directly went into his slot. "That's 2-1, Your Highness…"
"That's an amazing 'service ace'. But can you handle this?" He hit the puck, only to be returned to her. There, Keigo saw the chance to execute his deadly move, hitting the puck so it'd hit her palm.
"Ah!" But Keigo's heart skipped a beat when Hikari retracted her hand and hissed in pain.
"Are you ok—" In a swift, Hikari gripped her striker and hit the puck straight into his slot.
"You fell for it. You're letting your guard down again, Your Highness," she said with a smirk.
"I have to admit that this girl is doing gekokujo in the most brilliant way."
"Fssh…"
Did she try to create her brother's illusion in this match?
Points after points, both he and Hikari kept catching up with one another, having a long rally for each point. Sometimes, Keigo deliberately didn't aim for her slot. After the whole time, he didn't get to spend with her, he only wanted to enjoy the game, never knowing that having a match like this could be really fun. Especially when he had her eyes all for him and only him as her opponent.
"Oi, oi… Aren't these two pretty fired-up for a normal game like this?" Gakuto remarked. His head was following where the puck was.
"Well, this is not a normal game for them. It's a life and death match between an angry broken-hearted woman and a man who wants to win her back." Yūshi calmly replied.
Their points were finally tied to 6-6. Whoever got the point first, they were the winner.
"I'm going to win this, Atobe Keigo!"
He chuckled. "Ahn? Do you really hate me that much?" When she didn't answer, Keigo asked her again, "Do you not love me anymore, Hikari?"
In a slow motion, he could see her eyes rolled to the left and right, mouth gaped open. It took her a few seconds before she finally said, "Y-yes! I don't want to see you anymore!" However, Keigo didn't miss those dubious brown eyes, trembling lips, and the way she tightened her lips after she said it.
That was her real answer…
"That is the answer I need to see, my queen!" Keigo hit the puck, which was returned by Hikari, then he hit it directly towards her striker, strong enough to make her lose her grip on it.
The seconds she needed to grab her striker made her miss her hit, causing the puck to stop in the middle line where both players could hit it. She quickly sauntered towards the puck at the same time he did, but when they met in the middle, Keigo held her shoulder and pulled her into a searing kiss where he poured everything he wanted to express to her. She was too shocked to react so he continued savouring her lips. Before seven seconds passed, he hit the puck directly into her slot without looking, dramatically raising his hand that was still holding the striker for the cool effect.
"Rondo… towards my lover's heart," he said with his lips still touching hers.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Kaoru shouted with both fists clenched.
"Woah! That's great, Atobe! So embarrassing!" screamed Jirō as he clapped his hands.
"That is the cheesiest technique name I've ever heard," Ryoma stated with flattened eyes.
"W-w-what are you doing?! That's cheating!" she shouted with a face as red as a boiling lobster.
"O-oi! Does that even count!? That's dirty! You can't do that, Atobe-san! You can't!" Takeshi shouted while pointing a threatening finger at him.
"Basically there's no rule stating he couldn't kiss—or distract his opponent. As long as he hit the puck within seven seconds, it counts," Sadaharu said while holding his note.
"Isn't anyone going to comment that it's illegal for him to kiss her?!" Takeshi shouted again.
"I've seen that coming somehow. Knowing Atobe it was 98% going to happen," Sadaharu flatly commented.
"It's my win, my queen." He kissed her temple, inhaling the scent of her hair he dreamt of every night.
"S-stop doing that in front of everyone!" She pushed his face away but he kept his arm around her waist.
"Ahn? Do you mean we can do it when we're alone?" He smirked.
"What?! No! Don't even think about it!" She blushed even harder.
"Just like what you've promised, you'd do everything I want if I win."
"W-what do you want?"
"Let's talk somewhere else." He tightened his grip on her waist and brought her with him.
"Stop right there, Atobe." Shūsuke rarely frowned but he did at that time. "Unless we know what you want to do with her, we can't allow you to bring her anywhere as you please. You know the situation."
"W-what situation?" she asked. Though none of the Seigaku lots said anything, he knew that they voluntarily were there due to her recent kidnapping. It seemed that Kunimitsu had informed them but asked not to tell her.
"Nothing you should worry about," he quickly said with an assuring smile. "I don't want to talk with her with you rabble listening."
"Then do it where we can see you both," Shūsuke said.
"Tsk. Fine." Keigo put his hand around her shoulder, slightly pressing her body onto his just when her kidnapping case crossed his mind. They went to the park across the game centre and walked far to the giant tree while his teammates along with Seigaku were talking to each other near the fountain.
"So, w-what do you want?" she stuttered, eyes not looking directly at him. Without saying anything, Keigo pulled her into his embrace, closing his eyes because he wanted to embed the sensation of holding her body into his mind and body. "H-hey!"
"Don't say a word and let me hug you." He kissed her hair and then softly caressed her tresses. "I miss you so much." She moved her hands but the touch he was waiting for never came. His thumb was drawing circles on her back as his other hand slipped something into the pocket of her skirt.
"You've gotten skinnier… Eat your food properly and don't make Michael-san any more stressed than he already did."
"Okay. Anything for you." He kissed her forehead. It was wonderful to know she still cared that much about him.
"You w-weren't planning on asking me to go back to you, were you? Because—"
"If I am, you're going to reject me again, aren't you?"
"Of course! After everything you've done, how do you expect me to get back to you?!"
"I didn't mean to lie to you, Hikari. After our first meeting, I just couldn't imagine a way to approach you without scaring you out. Thus, the disguise…"
"And you kept doing that! How do you feel when you see me looking for two of you on the same day?!"
"Happy." He smiled. "It was tiring to switch back and forth but if it meant that I get to spend more time with you, I don't mind doing that. It was worth it."
"Then why can't you just say that you were one and the same person?! How about the lies you've told as Louis?!"
"That…" Cat got his tongue at this.
"I can't be together with someone I've known who has been lying to me. My grandfather told me to never stay with someone who has broken my heart once, but you already did that twice despite saying that you never will." Her lips were trembling as she said it.
"What I've done to you is unforgivable…" His hands held her face as his thumbs wiped away her tears. "But I'll never give up on you."
"You should! Just forget about me already and find another woman!"
"I will say this over and over again, Hikari. That glass slipper only fits your foot. It belongs only to you. You're not someone who can be easily replaced." Taking her hand, he kissed her wrist before resting his face on her palm. "I will wait until you open your heart for me again, but this time you'll have to do whatever I want. That's my winning prize."
"W-what is it?" When Keigo leant close to her, she was so tense under his arms that she closed her eyes. He smirked at her reaction. As much as he wanted to kiss her again, he had another priority. Stopping right beside her face, he kissed her cheek once before whispering at her.
"My condition is…"
AN: Surprise! I'm still alive! XD
A lot of things happened and life drama occurred. I've been through things that I never imagine will ever happen to me yet here I am, coming back stronger than ever. And no, I won't say that I'm amazing or whatsoever. It's just human. We always have the power to come back stronger no matter how much life pummelled us down to helplessness.
There's a lot of things I want to do while I'm still breathing and finishing this story is one of them. I didn't realise this before when I was still a reader, but now as an author, I realised how one or two loyal readers could mean so much and empower me to keep writing.
If you're enjoying the story, do know that I'm honoured to be able to provide you the story that worthy of your time. Don't forget to let me know if you do! =)
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!
