Tennis no Ouji-sama © Konomi Takeshi, Shuheisha, Inc.
- Act XXII -
[ Treasure Chest ]
She likes me…
She doesn't like me…
She likes me…
She doesn't like me…
Keigo plucked the rose petals one by one at each sentence, dropping them to the hot bath while his eyes strayed nowhere. The petals of doubt had completely filled his bath. Along with the smoke from the water, the scent roamed the entire bathroom. His face simultaneously smiled then turned sour at each sentence.
After getting Insight, everything he planned was always successful and according to his predictions. But who would've thought his impromptu disguise could backfire and ruin his entire plan.
Wrong, it wasn't the fault of his Insight.
He was the one who wrongfully used it for women.
If tennis was something that could strategically be beaten by logic, nothing in the universe could make out the mind of women.
He didn't even know whether or not he should be happy to know that she actually fell for him, in his disguise.
And rejected him, without his disguise.
At this point, revealing his disguise would only backfire and ruined everything he had established with her.
What he didn't understand the most was why did she fall for a janitor when she clearly had a perfect man like him beside her? Keigo glanced down at his reflection on the water, wondering what was his flaw compared to a janitor that never revealed half of his face, a janitor who supposedly wasn't as rich, a low-class worker.
"What is wrong about me?! The real me! What's so good about that other me?!" he screamed as he slapped the water surface. Panting, he chuckled when he realised how stupid he was.
Was he actually getting jealous of himself?
Keigo groaned as he slumped on the bathtub. He didn't even have a personality disorder yet he was battling with himself at that moment. Even the Wagner music he was listening to did nothing to calm his mind.
Deciding that he would do one last check to see if he was right, Keigo placed two of thirty phones he owned in his front. One was the phone he dedicated for her, the other was the janitor's phone. Keigo sent a message as himself first, asking what she had for dinner.
But when he was about to send a message from the janitor's phone, she sent a good evening message to it. Keigo checked the other phone and gritted his teeth when he saw no reply from her in his phone.
She ignored him…
She actually ignored the great Atobe Keigo's message!
A blood vein popped on his temple and it took his everything to keep himself from screaming at that moment. But as the man known as the Ice Emperor, he had to cool his mind. Keigo poured himself his favourite non-alcoholic champagne and finished it in a shot.
Keigo shut his eyes as he slumped himself in his bed, fingers drumming against the silky sheet until he opened his eyes. He chortled, then it gradually became the sinister laugh one would be afraid of. He wondered why he had to be so stressed about having her fall to his disguise.
He had won her.
All he needed to do was make it right.
Taking her handkerchief, Keigo placed it on his chest, holding it there as if he was holding her. "You're going to be mine, Tezuka Hikari… Your rightful place is in Atobe Keigo's arms and no one else's…" He took the janitor's phone and turned it off.
If she played this game to him, then he'd do the same to her.
Though it was the hardest thing to do.
Even getting beaten numerous times in the past wasn't as hurt as seeing her sad expression when she expected to see him and left empty-handed. But if it was the path he had to take for victory, then he'd do everything for it.
Days without meeting or exchanging messages with her went by so fast that it seemed that he just repeated the same boring cycle every day. Even winning the matches in Prefectural Championship felt like a breeze of wind.
But that was his downfall.
He was wearing the robe of triumph too much that he lost his feet on the ground.
According to the data last year, Fudomine was not a school he needed to worry about that he sent their second-tier players so he could preserve the regular's stamina for the next match. Ryō was the only regular registered for the match. However, he was beaten in less than fifteen minutes by Fudomine's captain, Tachibana Kippei—one of 'The Two Wings of Kyushu'.
Beating St. Rudolph in the next week was their only chance to snatch the last spot to the Kanto Regional Tournament so the regulars were all lined for the match.
However, their coach, Sakaki Taro heartlessly dropped Ryō from the regulars because of his loss. Feeling that he was partly responsible, Keigo begged the coach to give Ryō a second chance, especially after Ryō cut the hair he was always proud of. Coach Taro eventually gave in to his demand but even with all that, Keigo, of all people, knew how it was to sacrifice something precious…
Keigo didn't allow anyone to enter the locker room post the incident. Because he knew that Ryō would need some time alone to pour his emotions out. No man would like anyone to see them in their weakest state. He knew exactly how it was to lose something he was always proud couldn't lie that it affected him a bit and triggered the childhood memories of his, when humiliating loss consumed him so much that he couldn't see light anymore.
To cool his head down, Keigo told his chauffeur that he wanted to walk his way home to the manor. Leaving the Hyotei compound, Keigo mindlessly walked as his eyes strayed to the dampened road. Burying his hands into the pockets of his pants, he looked up to the grey sky and wondered if the weather was actually resonating with his feeling…
So dark and suffocating…
He didn't even care if the rain ruined his hair anymore, leaning on the wall nearby as he waited until the heavy rain eventually died down to drizzle. Opening his palm, Keigo was surprised to see a cherry flower fall into his hand. It was rare to see one because most of the flowers had gone before the summer began.
Indeed, happiness was like a fleeting beauty…
After what seemed like an endless darkness, Keigo looked up to see the grey clouds had gone, revealing the rainbow that majestically arched in the sky. As a kid, he was told that the leprechauns tend to hide their treasure chest at the end of the rainbow. With all the wealth he owned, Keigo wasn't sure what kind of treasure would make him happy. In the blankest state of mind, he followed the rainbow, leading him back to the road he had walked through, and abruptly stopped the moment his eyes landed on someone across the street…
There was silence the moment their eyes met, not even a bird chirp.
His mouth slightly gaped, so did hers. It was too much like a dream that he couldn't believe his Keigo raised his hand to call her, she quickly covered her face with her pink umbrella and ran away.
"Wait! Stay right where you are!" Keigo ran in her direction, though he was still across the street.
"You don't see me! I'm not here!" How much he wanted to laugh at her nonsense.
"Do you really expect me to buy that?!" Due to the difference in their legs' length, Keigo easily caught up and leapt through the roadblock. When the road was empty, he quickly ran across the street, chuckling when he saw Hikari shrieked to see him catching up. She turned to the right but before she could run, he put his hand on the wall to block her, making her drop her umbrella in the process. "Gotcha…" he said with a smirk.
Hikari raised both hands in surrender so he took a step back to give her some space. But Keigo knew her too much to let his guard down. She was about to run the opposite way so this time he trapped her in between his arms.
"Long time no see, Princess." He lowered his face to her level.
Though she looked nervous, she forced a smile. "Y-yeah. How long h-has it been?" she stuttered, eyes refusing to look at him.
"Almost a month, maybe? Let's see… how many messages I've sent to you since then, ahn?" He rubbed his chin, mocking a confusion with his cocked brows.
"I-I'm sorry!" she quickly said. "I'm sorry for… not replying to your messages." She scratched the side of her face while looking at the other side.
"And why is that?"
"I'm bu—"
"Clearly you're not that busy to not reply me."
Keigo held her chin, making her gulp in response. "It's just… I don't want to toy around with your uh… feelings…" she whispered the last part.
"My feelings, ahn?" Keigo faked his confusion.
"Y-you've said before that you don't want us to stay as friends and…" she gulped again, "…want to be m-more than that. But I can't do that because…"
"Because?" he repeated when she fell silent.
"I… am in l-love with someone else…"
Keigo had expected this but even with the knowledge that someone was none other than himself in disguise, the statement still pricked his chest.
"May I ask you what makes that person better than me?" Hikari widened her eyes, clearly didn't expect him to ask.
"D-don't get this wrong. It isn't because he's better than you or else! It's just…" She clenched her fist in front of her mouth.
"Just?"
"M-my heart chose him… S-some people don't like my choice, even my friend questioned my feelings toward him b-but I really like him, for who he is. H-he doesn't have a good backstory but it doesn't matter to me! His kindness, gentleness—those are all that matter to me!" She raised her head at this, showing him how serious she was with her feelings though there were specks of red on her nose and cheeks. "I'm so sorry! Y-you're a great guy and you'll definitely find someone better than me, so…"
He really couldn't imagine anyone better than her at that moment, not especially after what she had just said. Hearing that made it harder for him to keep himself composed and not hug her tight.
"I see…"
"T-that's why I think it's better if I keep my distance from you. That way you won't be—" Keigo placed his index finger on her lips.
"I want to respect your feelings from now on, as much as you do to mine… If becoming friends first is more comfortable for you then let's be. I don't mind you liking someone else as long as you keep coming to the court and showing me your dance…"
"Does my dance really matter that much to you?"
He smiled at her. "Very much. No one else but you can give me the same kind of feeling."
No one else but her…
Keigo smiled upon realising what the warmth he sensed in his heart actually meant…
Hikari's eyes softened at this. She tightened her lips while looking down to the ground before back to him. "One more thing. I… don't want you to do your things for me."
"My things?"
"Expensive clothes, jewelry, dates, and all that… You might be used to it but I don't, so… please don't do that anymore." Keigo raised a brow, clearly didn't expect the generosity turned out to play a role in her discomfort. "You might be used to it but I'm not…"
So that was it…
Just like her brother, she wasn't the type that fell into the glamorous life surrounded by fortune and wealth.
Just the way a treasure chest filled with gold would never satisfy him.
Keigo recalled the flower that fell on his hand earlier and put it above her left ear, admiring how the flower stood out in her brown-coloured hair. "Yeah, maybe flowers suit you the most compared to all of that." He was honest with his words. But maybe her most beautiful jewel was her sincerest smile…
The smile that became the light that touched every part of darkness in him…
Taking her fallen umbrella, he offered her his elbow and waited until she held on it before walking together below the rainbow bridge, holding the umbrella so it'd protect them from the drizzle.
Maybe the legend was right after all.
He had found the treasure chest he wanted to cherish all his life at the end of the rainbow.
The jewel he wanted to keep close to his heart.
Because he couldn't imagine himself loving any woman more than he did to her...
AN: Welp! I didn't expect this week could be another hectic week! ;; I'm planning to do my double update on Wednesday but I couldn't make it! So sorry!
I kind of making a symbolic scene in this chapter. In Japan, there's a symbol called 'aiai-gasa' [相合傘] where the names of a man and a woman are put under an umbrella drawing. This implies a man and a woman who are already or almost in a romantic relationship because when two people are using one umbrella, it means they're together. Though yes, at this part they aren't yet together, but it's at this moment Atobe realises his feeling. XD
What will he do now that he realises his own feeling? I swear to you that the next two chapters are the most interesting and probably the two you're waiting for the most. LOL~ Make me happy and I will update in hours, not days. XD
Don't forget to send your love through vote, comment, and review guys! I love you all for following the story up until now!
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