A few weeks had passed since the first day Itou Seiya made a lunchbox for the Prince of Tennis.

Ever since then, she had been making daily lunchboxes for him, while paying no heed to Osakada Tomoka’s histrionics. Today was no different.

That is, if you discount the fact that the recipient of her lunchbox was nowhere in sight.

“This is strange… I wonder where he went?”

Muttering under her breath, she strode out of the classroom and headed for Ryoma’s usual nap spots.

The rooftop was empty; so was the garden. Racking her brains for the next spot to check, she decided to take a shortcut through the back of the classroom blocks to the tennis courts. As she walked down the less trodden path, her ears picked up what seemed to be the voices of a male and a female.

Curiosity having gotten the better of her, she decided to halt her mission of locating Ryoma for a few minutes.

I mean, you can’t fault me for wondering what these two are doing at the back of the school, right…?

While she attempted in vain to justify her nosiness, she tiptoed as silently as she could to the source of the voices. Peeking out from behind the trees, she finally found the mysterious couple.

“I’m sorry to trouble you but… please accept my feelings!”

Uwaaa… it’s a confession!!

Seiya watched as the girl held out a letter with both hands toward the other party. She inched forward as much as she dared to, wanting very much to see who the male student was.

“I apologise but I cannot accept.”

Mentally berating the guy for being so mean, she wanted even more to see who this unfeeling person was. In her silent hype to get a glance at him, she failed to notice the unsuspecting root of the tree in her way.

“…eeep!!!”

Flailing, she managed to regain her balance and not fall on her face. However…

“Who’s there?”

She could hear quickening footsteps in her direction. At the same time, the female party, having been caught at possibly one of her most embarrassing moments, took the chance to flee the scene. Before Seiya could do the same, a large hand clamped on her shoulder just as she turned to escape.

“Why were you eavesdropping?”

Seiya had no choice but to turn round to face him. In complete dread, she did so and tried to come up with something believable.

“Ah.. No.. Umm.. Yes! I was looking for… for you! Yes, you! Here! This is for you!”

Stuffing the previously forgotten lunchbox into his other hand, Seiya gave him the best smile she could muster at the moment (which really wasn’t much of a smile). She noted at the back of her mind that he looked vaguely familiar.

Taking advantage of his surprise at having something suddenly jammed into his hand, she immediately shrugged off the other hand on her shoulder and loped off as fast as she could, leaving behind a somewhat confused Tezuka Kunimitsu.

September 27th, 2009 | Shiraishi Kuranosuke, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Untitled 4 (TeniPuri; Tezuka | Shiraishi DN) | No comments

“Aa… this is so boring.”

Unimpressed, Itou Seiya shifted her attention from the incessant droning of the teacher to the person in the seat next to hers. He looked equally disinterested in the lesson.

A small impish smile graced Seiya’s lips as she studied his countenance. She had heard more than countable stories about him. Reticent, mysterious yet brimming with confidence (some may call it arrogance, but that doesn’t really matter, right?), that’s the Prince of Tennis, Echizen Ryoma, for you.

As though he could feel her eyes on him, Ryoma’s glance flickered in her direction, only to have his amber eyes meet another curious pair of hazel brown ones. He blinked in surprise as Seiya gave him a broad smile. Vaguely uncomfortable, he looked away.

Seiya cheered silently in her heart. It’s unbelievable just how adorable he was! Where most people would be put out by his brusque attitude, for some reason noone could ever fathom, she found it extremely endearing. Also, just for the record, she would rather describe him as ‘awkward’ than ‘brusque’. How could anyone not find an awkward little boy cute?

A light knock on the classroom door snapped her out of her reverie. The unexpected visitor entered the classroom just as all eyes went to him.

“Sensei, these are the papers you requested.”

“Ah thank you, Tezuka-kun. Please leave them on the table. You may go after that.”

Tezuka Kunimitsu did as he was told and then gave the teacher a quick bow.

“I shall take my leave now then.”

As he turned, he spotted a familiar face among the students in the class.

“…Buchou.”

Ryoma muttered a small greeting when he realised that Tezuka was looking at him. He was responded with a curt nod before Tezuka left the classroom.

Seiya watched the scene with interest. See, who said the Prince of Tennis had no manners whatsoever? He just greeted his captain voluntarily, didn’t he! What a cute boy!

As she continued to sing his praises in her mind, the school bell rang, indicating that it was lunch period. Right after the teacher dismissed the class, two girls ran into the classroom.

Or rather, a girl who was dragging another girl ran into the classroom. And stopped at Ryoma’s desk.

“Ne, ne, Ryoma-sama! Sakuno has something for you! Sakuno, hurry!”

The girl in ponytails gestured to the one behind her to quickly bring out whatever she was supposed to hand to Ryoma.

“Ah, Tomo-chan! U-um… R-Ryoma-kun, this is for you…”

Ryuuzaki Sakuno, the blushing girl in braids, gently placed a pink lunchbox on Ryoma’s desk before lifting the lid to reveal a few onigiri shaped like tennis balls. Not expecting the contents to be what they were, Ryoma blinked in surprise before muttering a quick ‘Itadakimasu’ and taking a tentative bite.

Ryuuzaki waited with bated breath as she asked timidly,”…How is it?”

Ryoma merely grunted and was about to reach out for the next one when a distressed Ryuuzaki snatched the box away and fled the classroom, much to her friend’s annoyance.

“Ahhh Ryoma-sama! Why didn’t you say anything! Sakuno, Sakuno!!”

With that, both girls were gone from the classroom again. Clearly confused, Ryoma stared after where the both of them had disappeared to before shrugging. Just as he was about to get up to head to the canteen, another alien article appeared in front of him on his desk. He turned to the source to see the same hazel brown eyes as before watching him with a small grin.

Seiya beamed at him before removing the lid of the lunchbox and offering him chopsticks.

“Try it.”

Scratching his head, Ryoma gave the plain-looking food a quick appraisal. Thinking that there was probably no harm in trying yet another lunchbox, he accepted the chopsticks. After all, noone could say no to free food, right?

He took his first bite and braced himself for his classmate to ask the same question as what Sakuno had earlier but it never came. It piqued his interest. He looked over in curiosity at the neighbouring girl. He found her eating from a similar lunchbox as the one he was offered, with a few differences.

Where his slices of ham were cut carefully into sakura shapes, hers were cut into strips with uneven edges that were evidently the sides of the sakura shape. Where the top of his hard-boiled quail eggs were cut carefully to reveal the yolk and had sesame seed eyes, hers were in a mess of white and yellow.

Wordlessly, he returned his attention to his lunchbox and finished the rest. After replacing the lid, he turned to the girl and leaned over to place the box back on her desk. Alerted by the action, Seiya looked over at him.

“…Thank you for the meal.”

Again, Seiya beamed at him before asking the inevitable.

“How was it?”

Ryoma sighed inwardly. They all just had to ask, didn’t they?

“Hnn, mada mada dane.”

To his bewilderment, Seiya merely gave him an amused look and resumed her meal. Shrugging, he stood, ready to head to the rooftop for his usual afternoon nap. Unexpectedly, her happy voice floated over.

“I’ll make one again tomorrow.”

He looked over his shoulder at her in surprise, and then he gave her one of his characteristic smirks.

“I’ll be waiting.”

——–

A/N: Can be read either as a Ryoma one-shot or the first chapter to a Tezuka VS Shiraishi series. :)

September 26th, 2009 | Echizen Ryoma, One-shot, Shiraishi Kuranosuke, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Untitled 4 (TeniPuri; Tezuka | Shiraishi DN) | No comments