Time goes by so fast.
Road to Queen
Chapter 3: Change
Before he was Keigo, rich and handsome diva extraordinaire…
He was a man.
Back in middle school, a silly little whelp like Echizen Ryoka hardly deserved a second glance if you ignored her tennis skills. She was always your average tomboy with short hair and awful fashion sense, always wearing loose shirts and shorts.
Although Atobe had no idea what happened in the two years that he didn't see her, the change in the girl was drastic. Traumatic even.
"Did you wait long?"
"15 minutes. How dare you make me wait on you for 15 minutes! Where in the world were you?"
Ryoka raised an eyebrow at the tone Atobe took. She did not approve of it. "Hmph. Womanly problems," she said smoothly, not at all embarrassed.
"… womanly problems." Atobe repeated, having a hard time believing it. Although there was no reason not to. Echizen did grow up into a fine woman. Her hair was longer and was artfully flicked and pulled. She was wearing cream colored baby-doll dress under a short-sleeved coffee cardigan, and each step she took was echoed with a click by the ankle-high brown boots she wore (Atobe was surprised to see that it was a brand-name item).
The girl nodded, her expression bland as she told him matter-of-factly, "There was pregnant lady who needed to be taken to the hospital—"
"Save it," Atobe interjected, rolling his eyes. He stood up and brushed his designer jeans off as Ryoka pouted. Chic or not, Echizen was still Echizen.
Even if she was still giving off heavy, heady pheromones and her rosy lips curled into a sultry smirk or the fact that her eyelashes seemed to flutter against her cheeks with every blink—
Atobe shook his head, trying to escape these thoughts.
Why wasn't he used to her already? He saw Tezuka not even flinching whenever she grabbed his hand; why couldn't he do the same?
As if reading his thoughts, Ryoka grabbed him by the sleeve and began to pull him along as she walked confidently, a clear destination in mind. Atobe felt his stomach flip as if someone just punched him in the gut and his heart rate kicked like he ran a marathon. He face was hot and he felt like a kid again.
So he wrenched himself out of Ryoka's grasp. The girl gave him a glance but otherwise did nothing and kept walking. Now he just felt pathetic, getting embarrassed because a girl touched him. Good going Keigo.
And there was also that creeping feeling that resembled disappointment when she didn't reach out for him again (but he was sure he would have reacted in the same manner if she did try).
But it was the first time Echizen willingly touched him.
There was no doubt that the two had grown closer after their little bout in which Ryoka injured herself. After the girl had fully healed, the two met up often to play tennis together, and sometimes, when a game ended early, the two, in unspoken agreement, went to the nearest convenience store together for a bar of ice cream (the loser paid). They always walked a fair distance away from one another, and all the words they shared were taunting and smug.
Atobe didn't know why he was going out of his way to spend extra time with this girl (because he swore that he wouldn't be infatuated with her! He just refused!), but whenever she looked at him through her dark lashes with those bright, challenging eyes… he found that it was impossible to say "No".
So here he was, in a shoe store, waiting with his arms crossed against his chest as Echizen lazily strolled through the many aisles and looked at all the displays with a careful eye. She handed Atobe her boots as she got ready to try a pair of strappy heels on. With a grimace, Atobe took the proffered pair of shoes and watched with an expressionless face as Ryoka slipped her feet into the shoes and walked around, testing them out. She then looked at Atobe who raised an eyebrow at her look.
With a sigh, Ryoka pulled the shoe off and put it back.
'I didn't say anything!' Atobe argued silently as the girl went further down the aisle and plucked another pair from the line.
The kitten heels she tried on were akin to the pair she broke in her match against Atobe. It was a vibrant scarlet color and seemed to go well with Ryoka's (not-too-pleasant) personality. She looked up at Atobe again who stiffened this time and wondered what it was that she wanted.
After a moment of silent staring, Ryoka kicked the heels off her feet and made a face at the male before stalking down the aisle again. Atobe ignored the discarded pair and languidly followed the girl, wondering what she was waiting for.
But this trend continued on for a bit, with Ryoka trying on a pair of chic heels, looking at Atobe who said and did nothing, and Ryoka tossing the shoes away without a word and moving onto the next pair. It wasn't until Ryoka had successfully walked down all the aisles with the fancy-prancy shoes that she gave Atobe a somewhat frustrated look and headed towards—
Tennis shoes. Row after row of new and lovely tennis shoes.
Ryoka grabbed a pair of white and red pumas, testing its weight and soles before she put them on her feet. Atobe grunted when the girl thrust her bag into his arms and watched as she jumped up and down and did a series of quick side steps in her dress (and Atobe refused to think that it was amazingly hot).
After she satisfied herself with the small checkup, she turned to Atobe with a sultry smile, one that made the teen's very soul tremble. Atobe turned away and cleared his throat. "They'll be useful. For tennis," he said lamely.
But his reply seemed to satisfy Ryoka who carefully pulled the shoes off. "Should've known," she said with an amused click of her tongue. She retrieved all her belongings from Atobe and replaced them with the trainers in her hand. "I'll buy these then."
Atobe scoffed and raised an eyebrow. "Are you possibly buying these just because I have made a comment about them? My, my. If I didn't know you any better Echizen, I would say that you were seeking my approval."
He felt smug about it and half-expected Ryoka to deny such a claim vigorously, but he blinked in surprise when the girl turned to him with a serious look on her face. "If I was the one buying then, I wouldn't give a crap what you thought. But you're paying, so I figured I might as well make sure you were somewhat satisfied with your purchase," she said rather haughtily, but Atobe was too shocked (and perhaps a little bit touched) to care for her disrespectful tone.
"You…" he started, but found himself lost for words, "… brat."
Ryoka smirked in return and walked ahead of him towards the register.
In return for the shoes, Ryoka graciously offered to get them some crepes from a side-cart (Atobe agreed, but he knew that the only reason Echizen had even offered in the first place was because she didn't want Atobe to use the shoes against her in the future).
He waited for her, watching from a distance as she dug her wallet out from bag (her drawstring duffel could hardly be called a "purse") and paid the stall-keeper. She held a crepe in both hands and seemed to be struggle with making sure none of the strawberries fell out of the dessert for a second before she settled and began walking back towards Atobe with slow and purposeful steps—
She didn't get very far.
Atobe straightened at once when a group of boys, college students from the looks of them, approached the girl with leers and offensive cat-calls. Ryoka raised an eyebrow and stood her ground confidently, not even withering when an uninvited hand reached out to touch her lower back. She dodged the hand and sent a glare up at the offender who hooted at her fire.
Having seen enough and feeling enough heat between his eyes to make his head explode, Atobe quickly (but gracefully) made his way over to the group and stood behind Ryoka just in time to catch another wandering hand, giving it a meaningful, joint-cracking squeeze.
"Was my lady friend bothering you gentlemen, ahn?"
Ryoka looked up at him with a disgruntled expression but said nothing otherwise.
The group looked at Atobe (and his sportsman stature as well as his full height of 6'2") then exchanged glances amongst themselves before deciding that one girl was just not worth it. They left with dirty glares and lots of dissatisfied spitting all around.
After they were out of his line of sight, Atobe redirected his frown to Ryoka whose mood seemed to have brightened a bit and was smirking. She clucked her tongue and simply said, "They're still not good enough." She passed him his crepe and turned on her heel, walking off.
They went home, and it was only later, long after they had grunted their goodbyes and the sun went down that Atobe steadily realized that he had been angry. Honestly, sincerely, and quite generously so.
And… he was (Atobe scrunched up his face like he swallowed an avocado pit whole) jealous.
Insanely jealous. Of plebeians who had nothing better to do than to harass what was his.
Alone in his room with no one else to witness the shock that flashed through his wide eyes and his sudden intake of breath, Atobe laid a shaky, clammy hand over his face and let the realization of his thoughts and emotions set in fully.
He considered Ryoka to be his. Echizen Ryoka whom he swore was nothing more than a rival and perhaps a friend; a little chit that simply grew up better than normal women. He was attracted to her. Physically, mentally… emotionally.
And it scared him.
The last thing Atobe was known as was a "coward". He met challenges straight on and dished them out eagerly; he never backed down from anything and if met with a wall he would scale it using his hands, his feet, and his money.
But this was different. This wasn't tennis or school or just some cocky punk looking for a fight.
Atobe stiffened as his phone rang again. He lost track of the many times it sounded. Sometimes it was from his schoolmates, other times it was from his parents…
But once or twice it was Echizen Ryoka.
Her messages were always short and concise. Only asking if they were meeting for a game tomorrow, but Atobe ignored them. He ignored his phone entirely and had left it in his room that morning before school. It was a foreign concept to him… not taking his phone with him everywhere he went. But it took a few ounces of burden off his shoulder for a short amount of time.
His friends all noticed. Oshitari gave him strange looks and had asked questions, but realized Atobe wouldn't answer him straight-forwardly so he shut up and settled on sneaking narrow-eyed glances at him every now and then.
He was okay with that. Honestly, he was.
But when he got home and entered his room, the first thing he saw were Ryoka's broken heels that laid in the corner of his room (he was meaning to give those back but never got the chance to) and the reminder of her was like a kneedrop on his heart.
He thought of her. Her face, her presence, her smirks, her taunts… just her.
It was driving him insane.
Ryoka was slowly going mad.
The day after their "date", Ryoka had wanted to play a game of tennis. She didn't think it was too soon. What was wrong with wanting to play tennis with a guy she had seen just yesterday? Was that weird?
But her call didn't go through. At that time she didn't think too much of it (even if Atobe had a strange habit of having his phone glued to his hands at all times, except when playing tennis) and she left a short message asking him to call back.
The son of a bitch never did.
She mailed him the day after, feeling a bit irritated now, but she still tried.
Two weeks passed by without any message from Atobe, and Ryoka realized long ago that she was being ignored. Honestly, she forgot what that felt like until now—and it wasn't a nice feeling.
She tried to tell herself that she didn't need him to go on. She had done just fine without him before and she could go back to that life. She could.
But game-after-game against boys that didn't seem all too into tennis against her was beginning to tick her off. Slow steps, weak hits, piteous and apologetic glances. What affected her most were their nonchalant shrugs at her win, as if they had let her.
It sunk in slowly, but in the end she did realize: Atobe was all she had, and he was leaving her.
But it seemed fate had different plans.
Atobe stared as Ryoka turned to him. He watched as she froze and her mouth parted in surprise. And he found himself unable to move.
They had met by pure coincidence at the street courts. Atobe had come with Kabaji to torture a few unfortunate souls in his bad mood. After he had let off steam (but the crease between his brows was still present), he had meant to leave for home…
But he was caught by the ever-familiar heart-pounding pink scent of pheromones and something in him swelled up with a comforting warmth and he stopped in his tracks only to see Echizen before him. A beautiful sight for his tired eyes.
He hated it. He hated how he missed her so much.
Ryoka seemed to be lost for words for a moment. Her lips flapping silently before she regained herself and a dark look passed over her eyes.
"Atobe."
He winced at her cold tone. Somehow, at that moment, he would have preferred her to call him by that degrading nickname. But instead of replying, the teen huffed and turned away, his entire body stiff with reluctance and guilt. He had meant to walk away without turning back, but he heard Ryoka shift, plant her feet firmly on the ground, and call out to him in a snide tone, "Hey. Where you running to? How 'bout a match, Atobe."
Looking over his shoulder at the girl, Atobe responded lowly, "It's Atobe-san you little brat. I haven't any time to play around with little girls either, so you should just look the other way, Echizen."
He saw it. He saw the way her mouth curled in contempt and how her eyes lit up in anger, and it made his stomach fall to his feet.
"What." She spat, voice tight with emotion. "Are you scared to lose? We are at a stand-still aren't we? How about we end it here, once and for all?"
He wanted to say no, that he had no reason to play against her and she was an idiot for thinking that she would be able to make him.
But Atobe pinched his lips and turned around to face her fully, looking down at her from his height, but the difference between their stature went unnoticed by either of them. Atobe realized that Ryoka was not just a woman to be defeated…
She was more than that.
He was in love with her and if playing a single set of tennis with her was what she wanted… Atobe would give her just that.
"Kabaji. Fetch my racket."
"Usu."
And a slow smirk spread across Ryoka's face.
This "last" match was akin to their other matches, but also different in the almost desperate quality that was in the serves, the returns, the smashes, everything. It was as if neither player wanted it to end, yet they wanted to come out victorious.
By the time the score reached 3-3, an audience had gathered around the court. Boys from all over Tokyo were crowding around, watching the match between a boy and girl half his size go on. They were both skilled, enviously so, and it was the first time in a very long while that Ryoka was realized and recognized not for her looks or anything like that…
She was respected because of her skills.
'Just like she should be,' Atobe thought as the ball flew past his racket by mere centimeters.
"Mada mada dane," Ryoka drawled, eyes lit up by a familiar flame.
"Brat."
"Monkey King." Ryoka smiled and Atobe's heart melted.
"I missed this."
"What, being pushed around and grabbed at by strangers, ahn?"
Ryoka sent the boy beside her a flat look. Atobe didn't see it as he was busy drying the sweat from his neck, but he felt his skin prickle from her gaze.
The pair sat under the shade of a tree near the courts. They had just managed to shake off the enthusiastic viewers who had all but fallen to their knees for a game with either of them. Atobe had grabbed Ryoka by the shoulder and squeezed the two of them through the excited throng of people. He left Kabaji back there to take care of anyone who tried to follow them. It had worked all too well.
"I wish I had a zipper for that self-loving mouth of your's," Ryoka huffed, fixing her hat to shade her eyes from the sunlight. Atobe forced down his chuckle and stood up. He brushed his pants off and looked down at Ryoka from over his shoulder with a gentle look. "Right back at you, brat."
For a long moment, Ryoka seemed transfixed by him, staring at him with wide eyes, but she came out of this trance when Atobe turned away and began to walk off. Ryoka quickly got up to her feet and threw herself in his way, making Atobe stop in his steps.
"You were ignoring my calls," she said simply, but her tone managed to get under Atobe's skin whose pride made him snarl in return. "Are you questioning me, Echizen?"
Ryoka's eyes flashed. "You're not denying it."
Then she pressed in close to him and Atobe felt shivers rack his body and he forced his limbs to stiffen in order to keep himself from wrapping the girl up in his arms. But Ryoka saw this reaction and she gave a dark sneer, "What? Do I disgust you or something?" Atobe said nothing and looked straight ahead, completely missing Ryoka's hurt look.
"Why aren't you looking at me, A-to-be?" Her words were condescending and snarky, but her voice was shaky and unsure. She was confused; she had trusted Atobe to an extent. Afterall, the boy had promised to be her rival forever (when everyone else had failed her), but he then just tossed her aside without so much as by-your-leave (just like the others…).
She wanted a reason, but he wasn't even talking to her. "… is it because I'm a girl?" she asked tightly, her eyes wet with emotion. "Because I suddenly have boobs? Are you going to change on me like everyone else did?"
And that was the heart of everything. To Ryoka, the change in her body was natural and gradual. She honestly didn't even realize how easily she attracted male attention. To her, it was the boys that she grew up with and became friends with that suddenly changed on her; she was the only one who stayed the same while everyone else became different.
And it was unfair.
And just as she was about to lose all hope, Atobe came into her life, unchanging and as haughty as ever. With each meeting and words shared, Ryoka saw him as a sort of pillar in her life.
'And now even Monkey King is changing on me. He's going to look at me differently and treat me weirdly. Like everyone else.'
Atobe looked down just in time to see Ryoka wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand; she sniffed lightly and darkly muttered something under her breath. And it was like his conscience punched him in the gut and Atobe really felt like he deserved it. He cursed himself at that moment as he watched Ryoka dry her eyes. How stupid he had been to almost let this girl get away like that. His pride, his beliefs… they didn't matter anymore. He loved Echizen Ryoka, everyone else be damned.
At that moment, nothing would have been able to stop his arms from lifting up and wrapping around Ryoka. The girl gasped in surprise when she felt herself pressing against a strong, lean body and her senses were overfilled with the spicy scent of cologne. Atobe's hold was loose, but Ryoka couldn't pull away.
"I'm giving you a chance to run away, Echizen," Atobe said, his voice deep and Ryoka felt it rumbling from his body. She paused and thought about his words, her current situation, and the last month together with Atobe before, slowly, she wrapped her own arms around Atobe's waist and leaned into his warmth. Atobe closed his eyes and pressed his lips to stop the relieved smile from breaking across his face. He leaned down to press his nose into her hair; it was her sweet and addictive pheromones that made his body taut with desire, but it was something else that made him feel giddy with love.
"We're… hugging," Ryoka said unsurely, but her hold around him held strong. "Why?"
Atobe said nothing for a bit, relishing the way the curves of Ryoka's body felt almost right against him. "Because I'm going to change on you too," he answered, tightening his hold on her now. He couldn't let her go; he refused to let her go. "I tried not to, but you kept looking at me with those eyes and saying things with that cheeky mouth. I kept digging and digging my own grave and I was afraid to lose control around you. My pride and policy towards women made me wary and I didn't want to get attracted to you, but I lost myself before I realized. It's your damn fault. Take responsibility."
Ryoka rolled her eyes but she couldn't fight down the blush that reddened her face. Atobe looked down at her and caught the color on her cheeks as well as her embarrassed frown. His heart tightened at the sight of them.
"You still have lots more to work on," she murmured softly, tilting her head up towards him. Atobe gave her a wry smirk and ran his thumb over her bottom lip, making them part with a breathless sigh before he leaned down and covered it with his smile.
'Perhaps, falling so hard for a single girl is not such a bad idea. Especially if it feels like this.'
He pulled away and looked down at her awestruck face with satisfaction and not a small amount of pride. "I hope you know that this doesn't mean we're dating. One of us will have to ask the other out first. And it certainly won't be me, I'll tell you that right now."
Ryoka raised an eyebrow, looking amused. "… fu-un. Well won't this be a problem? Because I have no intention of doing so either." And she pulled him down with a steamy smirk. Atobe, after a moment, figured that it wouldn't hurt to be the one to ask a girl out once in a while.
A few months later of their push-and-push relationship, Atobe found himself sitting on a bench near a tennis court, watching Ryoka play a game. Without him.
The girl had her usual collected smirk on her face as she returned the ball over the net with a quick Drive B. Her opponent, Kirihara cursed and glared.
But Atobe could spot the tiny little blush on his face and he felt nothing but deep contempt for the seaweed-head. Ryoka, seeming to sense his bad mood, looked his way and threw a playful wink, making Atobe heat up from his toes to the roots of his hair.
How could dating a girl make him feel like the king of the world?
"Hey! Could you stop flirting and play seriously?" Kirihara shouted at the two, waving his racket in their direction.
Ryoka rolled her eyes and gave a jaunty shrug. "Maybe if you weren't so mada mada I wouldn't have to hold back so much," she drawled in reply, making Kirihara spit vile, unrecognizable words in return.
Atobe shook his head, his lips curling up. Ryoka was the same as always and the eyes of men followed her unconsciously. It couldn't be helped; she exuded an aura, a pheromone of a commanding, beautiful queen. She was dangerous and teasing and undeniable.
And she was his. Atobe had nothing to worry about.
End
I purposefully left the winner of the last match unannounced. You guys can choose who you like better I guess, but only I'll know the truth. (tee hee)
I honestly meant for this story to last a few more chapters, but it ends here. Sorry folks. :I
Hope you enjoyed Road to Queen! My next Prince of Tennis work is a Yuuta/Fem!Ryo called "Chalkboard Umbrella"! Make sure you come and check it out! (Hopefully first chapter will be posted within the first week of August but idk)