Broken Strings (Prince of Tennis/ slow burn love story)

Part 45

Ryumi smiles as she watches the first rays of light peek over the horizon, stretching her muscles as she does.

"Ryumi~! What are you doing?!" a voice calls from above, making her turn around to see Eiji hanging out of the window.

"I want to go to a place we passed yesterday! I thought I'd go before breakfast!" she explains before a thought comes to her. "Want to come?!"

He immediately nods, a sense of excitement in his eyes. "Wait up!" he calls before disappearing back in the room. Within seconds he comes rushing out the door. "Let's go!" he cheers, making Ryumi chuckle.

"This way." she motions. "It's not far."

After a couple of minutes, Ryumi turns to Eiji with slight embarrassment. "Ah, I hope you don't think it's silly, but this place spoke to the girly side in me." she tells him, scratching her neck.

Eiji chuckles at that. "No matter, I'm curious." he assures her.

She pauses, nodding towards the clearing ahead. "This is it. I just thought it's very pretty." she sighs, looking at the dewy grasses and flowers sparkling in the morning light.

Eiji takes a deep breath. "Hmmm, it smells nice here." he sighs in appreciation. Ryumi smiles in relief that he's not making fun of her.

Her smile turns to a laugh when he does a handstand before letting himself fall into the bed of flowers with a smile on his face. "Ne, Eiji..." she crouches down, poking him.

"Yeah?"

"Can you teach me?" she asks, making him tilt his head curiously. "Teach you?"

Ryumi nods, "Yeah, a handstand. I want to learn." she clarifies.

Eiji beams up at her before jumping up in one go. "Of course!"

He quickly pulls her up before stepping a little away from her. "You need to swing your legs up, stretching yourself out as you put your hands on the ground. Don't worry about falling. I'll catch your ankles, okay?" he offers with a nod.

"Ah, I'll give it a shot." Ryumi states, putting on a look of concentration.

She gives it a try, but laughs awkwardly as her legs don't seem to listen to her. "He he, sorry. I got a bit insecure." she confesses.

Eiji smiles patiently. "Don't worry. I've got you."

"Okay..." she breathes, preparing herself. She has to trust in Eiji...

"Look at you! You're doing it!" Eiji cheers. "Now keep that balance. I'm slowly going to let you go okay?"

"A-are you sure?" she asks unsurely as he backs away. That is when she starts to sway, her arms losing their strength after yesterday's workout. "Eiji!"

"I'm here!" he rushes, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her waist as she starts to fall.

Ryumi pulls him down with her, leaving them in a tangled mess. At least he softened her fall. "Ah, too bad." he sighs as he rests his head on her stomach. Ryumi can't help but blush at the awkward position.

Pulling himself up, he smiles down at her. "Want to try again?" he offers, holding out his hand.

Ryumi opens her mouth to answer, but in the direction of the lodge when she hears Momoshiro hollering that breakfast is ready.

"I'll take a rain check." she smiles, taking his hand as he pulls her to her feet. Eiji doesn't seem to know his strength, because she crashes into his chest. She grabs onto his shirt to keep form falling backwards after.

"S-sorry." Eiji stammers, making her look up to see the red hue on his face as he looks away shyly.

"I-it's okay Eiji." she offers, stepping back quickly. She didn't really want to. She isn't sure what came over her, but she really had the urge to wrap her arms around him just then and stay there. She wonders if hugging him is warm and comforting.

Eiji shakes it off before turning his back to her, crouching slightly. "Hop on." he offers, making her grin. With a jump she wraps her legs around his waist before wrapping her arms around his shoulders. It's close enough to a hug, she decides. She'll take it for now.

As they come out of the trees, they notice a new car in front of the lodge and beside it stands a familiar looking young woman.

"Shiba-san?" Ryumi questions, sliding off Eiji's back.

She smiles at the two, "Echizen-san, Kikumaru-kun. Were you on a date?" she questions innocently, making them stiffen and run red.

"E-eh?!" Eiji exclaims.

Before both of them get the chance to deny anything though, coach Ryuzaki steps outside. "Oi! You two, hurry up and have breakfast before there's none left!" she ushers, making them both nod and quickly retreat inside.

"Ah, Echizen-san!" Shiba calls, seeming to remember something just then. Ryumi halts at the door, looking back curiously. "After training today, come see me. There is something I must show you." Shiba says, looking awfully serious for her doing.

"Uh, sure." Ryumi answers uncertainly before going inside where she finds Eiji looking back at her curiously. Ryumi can only shrug. She'll have to wait until later.

...........

After a grueling day of hanging out with the seniors' former captain Yamato, gathering bamboo shoots and Ryoma and Yamato getting lost, although Ryoma denies everything, Ryumi is pretty tired. She almost forgot about this morning's occurrence until she spots Shiba at the dining table, working on her laptop.

"Oh, there you are." Shiba states, motioning her over. "Take a look."

She moves, so Ryumi can sit down before pulling up an e-mail. "We received this e-mail with a request for getting it published. It's addressed to you and seeing the contents, Inoue-san asked me to show it to you before we do, to not cause any surprises." Shiba explains, watching intently as Ryumi starts reading.

Her brow furrows after a moment, "Is this really...?" she breathes in disbelief.

After finishing, Ryumi scoots the chair back, moving away in thought. "Echizen-san?" Shiba questions worriedly.

"Sorry Shiba-san. I'm going out for some air. Ehm, thank you though, for showing it to me." Ryumi tells her.

"A lot to think about huh?" Shiba guesses, seeing the teen nod in reply.

"Goodnight." Ryumi bids before sauntering off, deep in thought. Indeed there is a lot to think about.