Tennis no Ouji-sama © Konomi Takeshi, Shuheisha, Inc.
- Act XLII -
[ Hyotei VS Seigaku ]
Of all the people she could meet in the hall, why did it have to be him?
Hikari was running as hard as she could, without looking back because there was no saying what she would do if she allowed herself to be lost in his embrace any longer. She was fortunate enough to reach her home without no one else at the moment to see her outburst. After closing the door, Hikari took a deep breath to ease her feeling, only to have her overflowing emotion cascading from her eyes. Holding herself tightly, Hikari rested her back on the door and slowly slid down.
"Because that glass slipper only fits your foot… It belongs only to you."
Why did he have to say that?
The last thing she wanted now was the reason to run into his arms.
"I hate you, Atobe Keigo… I hate you!" She pummelled the floor numerous times.
Ever since then, her brother would always pick her up from her school. After the commotion she caused, she obediently followed everything her family decided for her to compensate for everything she did. She did regain confidence in her relationship with him. Being loved had made her feel like her existence truly mattered. But she realised how reckless and stubborn she became against her own family.
Sighing, she glanced to the right and left for her brother, only to recall that he told her he couldn't pick her up that day because he had a tennis club meeting. Kotoha asked if she wanted to go to the ice cream parlour they usually visited but Hikari said she had her own engagement…
Her engagement with her own mind…
"Tezuka Hikari-san." Hikari turned around to see the blue-haired man she met during her visit to Hyotei, twice when she practised tennis. "I'm Oshitari Yūshi from Hyotei. We've met twice before, remember?"
"W-what do you want from me?" Hikari raised her bag, treating it as a shield while taking a few steps back. Knowing that he came from the same school and club, the man was probably being asked to do something with her.
He raised both of his hands. "Calm down, Tezuka-san… I'm just here to talk to you."
"If it's about your captain then we have nothing to talk about! Now, excuse me."
Yūshi blocked her way when she wheeled around. "I came here on my own accord and I won't justify anything he has done to you, or to your brother. I want to talk to you about Atobe, from my own perspective…"
"Oshitari-san…" She took a deep breath and emotionally exhaled it, "You have no right to talk me out. You know nothing about what transpired between us. I've been his plaything since the beginning!"
He snorted. "Then how could a plaything devastate him so much?"
"He deserves it! I trusted him, Oshitari-san! I trusted him so much that I went against everything just to be with him! Then look at what he has done to my brother! Stop wasting your time on our matters from now on! It's over between… us." Why were her lips trembling when she said 'us'?
"Tezuka-san… Have you ever gone to Kadokawa Park with him?" Hikari widened her eyes at this. "Atobe went there almost every day, sitting on one specific bench eating katsudon he despised so much before just because it's too 'commoner' for him."
"T-that…"
"So I was right. He did that to reminisce about his moment with you. Would he do that if you're just someone he's playing around with?" Hikari bit her bottom lip. "He's been thinking about you all this time."
Why…
After everything that had happened, why did she still want to forget everything and run into his arms?
"Please give him a chance, Tezuka-san… Meet him and talk about your feelings."
"I…" But before she got to say anything, three shadows appeared before her.
"You can't take her anywhere, Oshitari-san! You can't!" Hikari widened her eyes to see Takeshi, Eiji, and Ryoma appeared out of nowhere.
"W-what are you guys doing here?!"
"We decided to pick you up today since Tezuka has a meeting. Good thing we came in time nya!"
"Don't make things more complicated and let me take her to see Atobe!"
"She doesn't have any obligation to see that narcissist jerk!" Takeshi snapped back at Yūshi.
"That's up to her to decide!"
"Whatever! You're not taking her anywhere! Go, Eiji-senpai! Echizen!"
Ryoma grabbed her hand, pulling her with him with Eiji guarding the rear. Hikari looked back to see Takeshi holding Yūshi from chasing after them.
They were running straight and making a turn to the left but something appeared before them.
"Where do you think you're going?" A maroon haired boy was smirking, landing on the ground with a soft thud. "Stop right there and let us bring that girl to Atobe."
"Mukahi…" Eiji was flabbergasted at first but it didn't last long as he flashed his Chesire cat's grin. He walked past them and stood in between the red-haired guy and Ryoma. "Hey, Mukahi! My jumping record was 2.5 metres yesterday! I bet you can't pass that record!"
"What are you saying?! Of course, I can!"
"Nah! You're too short to do that nya!" Eiji moved his hand to his back and made a sign.
"Damn you, Kikumaru! Watch me!" The red-haired guy was easily intimidated and jumped as high as he could. Hikari made a wide 'O' with her mouth as she saw him jumping past the trees.
"W-wow! How could he—"
"Now, Midget!" Ryoma pulled her again with Eiji following behind her, sticking his tongue to the red-haired guy who was still afloat in the air.
"Damn you, Kikumaru!"
"Too bad, no regrets, better luck next week!" Eiji cheerfully said before sticking his tongue out to mock the red-haired man behind them.
She could hear Takeshi's voice from her back. Looking past her shoulder, she saw both Yūshi and Takeshi were starting to catch up with them. What was worst was that the red-haired guy turned out to be really fast and that he was a hair away from Eiji.
"Gakuto! Get her!"
"Damn! Can't you run faster?!"
"I c-can't! I'm running out of breath!"
"Oh, shit! I forgot about your heart condition nya!" Suddenly, she felt her body being lifted and suddenly, she was already on Eiji's shoulder. "Hoop!" he said as they resumed their escapade.
"P-put me down, Kikumaru-san! This is embarrassing!" Hikari covered her face with her palms upon realising her position.
"Can't nya! Mukahi and Oshitari are right behind us so we can't stop now!"
Takeshi had slung both of his arms around Yūshi and Gakuto to hold them back but Gakuto eventually managed to release himself and caught up with their speed since Eiji couldn't run as fast while carrying her.
"H-hey! Get back here!"
"Go get her, Gakuto! Don't miss the chance!"
Suddenly, something coloured yellow flew past her, so fast that she had to keep her skirt in place. The yellow object eventually smacked Gakuto in the face and made him fall to the ground.
"Boomerang Snake…" Kaoru muttered under his breath.
"Nice hit, Mamushi!"
"Fssh…"
"Nice job, Kaido! We'll leave things to you here!" Eiji said as he ran past him.
"Fssh… Leave it to me."
"W-what was that? Was the ball curving?!"
"Will explain that to you later nya! But that's Kaido's special technique! Just like my Kikumaru's Beam!" Eiji seemed to be very proud.
"W-what kind of tennis are you playing?! I never knew that hitting a ball would require a Dragon Ball's technique!"
"You haven't seen anything yet." Before she got to say anything, Eiji abruptly stopped. Since she was facing the other way around, she couldn't see what was happening.
"Shishido and Ōtori…"
"Seigaku, put her down and let us take her to Atobe."
"I'm begging you, Kikumaru-san and Echizen. Please let Atobe-san talk with her."
"Tch! Like hell we'll hand her over to that Monkey King!"
"Then I'm afraid I won't let you walk past this road."
"Of course, you will." Hikari glanced to her side to see Shūichirō. "It seems that this is going to be a showdown between the silver pair and golden pair. Right, Eiji?"
Eiji sniggered as he put Hikari down. "Midget, I'll hold them here. Carry on with our plan." She turned around to see two men she saw on her first date who greeted Genichirō and her brother.
"Ah! You two are—" she quickly clamped her mouth upon realising that she wasn't supposed to know them.
"As I expected! You were with Atobe in that park!" The spiky-haired man said.
"Tezuka-san! Please hear us out! Atobe-san is very serious about you!" The white-haired man managed to release himself from Eiji's grip and approached her but Ryoma blocked him from getting closer to her.
"Get her now, Chōtaro!" She was amazed by Chōtaro, who was being so polite that even in that situation he bowed at her before taking her hand. ("Oi Chōtaro! Why are you bowing at her!" screamed the other man.)
"Do you really think all of you can convince me to talk to him?! I never want to have anything to do with him! Never!" She yanked her hand from him.
"You've heard her! Now go, Echizen!" Shūichirō immediately blocked the man called Shishido from going after them. Ryoma was holding her hand as they ran away. When they were turning right, she felt something on her feet and together with Ryoma, they fell.
"Urgh!" Ryoma grunted in pain.
"E-Echizen-kun! Are you okay?!" Hikari held his shoulder to check him. Glancing to the road, she saw a rope tied to the electric pole. Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm so she craned her head to see a long brown-haired man.
"Gotcha!"
"L-let me go!"
"I'll take you to Atobe-san no matter what the cost!" the guy said. However, Hikari stood rooted when she saw two glistening squares behind the man. Like a slow-motion, she watched how Sadaharu grabbed the man from his back and shoved a glass of a weird-coloured drink into his mouth.
"Graaah!" the man screamed before losing his consciousness.
"I-Inui-san?" She blinked.
"According to my calculation, 97% Hyotei would convince you to see Atobe when Tezuka is busy with the meeting. I'm glad everything is according to my calculation," Sadaharu said while fixing his glasses. "Fuji has taken care of that blonde, so all you have to do now is carry on with the plan."
"Thank you, Inui-senpai," Ryoma said as he dusted his pants.
"Don't waste your time here, Echizen. The rest are still going to come here," Sadaharu said as he lifted another batch of drinks, "as I'm going to give them free samples of my special drinks." Hikari sweat-dropped. Now she understood why her brother was so against her drinking Sadaharu's drink creation.
"Gotcha! Let's go now, Hikari!" Hikari had lost count on how many blocks were already passed to avoid the Hyotei's regular tennis members. She finally saw her possible escapade at the end of the road where Takashi waved his hand on the bicycle on the other side of the road.
"Echizen! Hikari-chan! Over here!"
Ryoma was about to cross the road when a chilly "gekokujo" whispered behind her. Hikari shrieked and quickly wheeled around to see a scary-looking man glaring at them.
"Hee… isn't it the so-called Hyotei's ace? Did you come to lose again?"
"Don't get all cocky just because you won once, brat. I'll bring that girl to Buchō," he stated, "Then I'll overthrow him when he's playing around with her."
"I'm not a toy! And I won't meet your captain no matter what!" Hikari stated.
"Hikari. Go to Kawamura-senpai's place as soon as possible while I hold him here. Kawamura-senpai will send you home."
"Are you going to be okay? Because this guy is…" she gulped, "…scary. He looks like he could eat you alive."
"He won't eat me. Just go," Ryoma said with flattened eyes. Hikari nodded in response and sprinted towards the intersection. Takashi came out from his hiding spot and ushered her to sit on his back.
Sighing in relief, Hikari thought the pursuit had ended. However, the noises behind her told a different story. Hikari widened her eyes when she saw both guys from Seigaku and Hyotei chasing after them.
"Ah! This isn't good!" It seemed that Takashi started to panic because the bicycle started to sway, and accidentally hit a toy kiosk. No words could come out either from her mind or mouth when a toy racket fell into Takashi's hand. "DORYAA! BURNING!"
"S-slow down, Kawamura-san!" Hikari screamed at the top of her lungs when he rode the bicycle at the top speed, holding his waist as if her life was depending on it. She widened her eyes and muttered incorrigible words the moment they entered the marketplace. She looked back to see the quarrelling guys still running after them. Feeling that the situation would lead them into a situation she didn't want to imagine, Hikari shouted, "Stop this right now!"
However…
It distracted Takashi so much that they crashed the ramen bike and Hikari fell from the bike
The sudden halt startled the guys that both Gakuto and Eiji fell into barrels with fishes inside. Takeshi and Yūshi hit the meat stall roof and it became a domino effect until it hit the fruit stall's roof, dropping the watermelon that was rolling towards Hikari.
"Watch out, Hikari-chan!"
But Hikari didn't get to move her legs. She could only watch the watermelon heading her way until a big shadow appeared before her. Squeezing her eyes shut, Hikari could only prepare herself for the accident but it never hit her. Opening her eyes, she saw herself being carried by the gentle big man she met back in Hyotei.
"T-Totoro…"
"Usu," he said with a smile.
"Nice job, Kabaji!" The man with the blue cap shouted.
"No! Don't take her, you hear me! Don't take her!" Takeshi shouted, stretching his arms helplessly because he was buried under the pile of his teammates and the other Hyotei's regulars.
"A-are you with them too?" He didn't answer. Instead, he put her down and handed her bag.
"What are you doing, Kabaji?!"
"Go home safely. Atobe-san will be sad if you're hurt. If I can have one thing to ask from you…" He bowed at her. "Please allow Atobe-san to talk to you when you're ready."
No one dared to speak a word at that moment, not even her. The man was the biggest among them, yet he didn't follow his friend's way to take her to talk to him. He only did the thing that would put Atobe Keigo's mind at ease. Hikari craned her head up when she recalled the conversation she had with him.
"You're his—"
However, it wasn't like she could go home at that moment. Not when the police came with a whistle…
To capture them for what they did in the marketplace…
AN: Talking about the team's dedication to Atobe and Tezuka, I imagine this to be truly happening in canon. Yet, Kabaji, though he seems to be very obedient and just follow things through, would choose to sort things out wisely and peacefully. XD
Now, how about our two main princes who are rushing their way to the scene?
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Thank you for reading and have a nice day!
