It All Started With a Bet

Moving On

Hello! MJ-san’s back!!! How is everyone? I am sorry for delaying my fics but I’ll try my best to update... I hope you can still wait. For the meantime, this is first chapter of IASWAB. Domo… ^^

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Prince of Tennis and never ever will.

Chapter 1: Moving On

Chapter Summary: It had been a month and she knew that she moved on. She knew that she did.

“I like you.”

“E-eh?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing at that moment. Her eyes widened as she stopped from packing her things to her bag. They were inside their classroom and they were the only ones inside that Friday afternoon. She was looking in front of the blackboard while she knew that he was staring straight at her who was just standing beside her.  Did she hear him right? Blushing, she slowly looked at him and saw how serious he was, “W-what did you say, R-Ryoma-kun?”

“…I said I like you,” He said as if it was only natural for him to say that, “Go out with me.”

She remained speechless and she didn’t know what to say. Ryoma confessed to her that day and if she was only dreaming about, she didn’t want to wake up at all.

She knew that she could do it. She was slowly getting used to it. She was brokenhearted, yeah, because she felt that she was being cheated, betrayed, played and was taken advantage of her kindness.

But she didn’t react that day.

She was hurt but she didn’t let them hurt her bad.

She didn’t even cry in front of them. Not even before, during and after that scene, the scene that had proven her stupidity of believing him, the scene that had proven that everything was real.

…That the young tennis prodigy didn’t love her after all.

She loved Ryoma… a lot. When he confessed to her four months ago, she was the happiest girl alive. It might sound corny but that was what she felt during that time. She thought it was real.

She thought his feelings were real.

Her thoughts were only swiped away by the wind and disappeared forever. She needed to wake up from that dream and live to the reality now where she had realized everything.

She was only a victim of their bet.

She didn’t know the reason why and she didn’t bother to know either. What would she need to know it if she knew that Ryoma would never come back to her.

He loved someone else and that was Honoka. She was their classmate at home economics and homeroom subjects. She was really blind that she didn’t know the stare they were giving to each other.

She should’ve known from the start.

After that scene, she slowly walked away without even saying anything. She just looked down and walked away from that place. She could even hold her tears back until she reached home. Luckily that she was able to find it.

As she reached her room, she silently cried her heart out and buried herself on her pillow. Good thing that her grandmother was still in the school when the incident happened, and was all lucky that she was in the faculty room together with Tezuka and Inui at that moment.

The explanation was not enough but it was all clear to her that Ryoma didn’t want her anymore. She could remember the smirk he gave to her before he kissed Honoka.

The pain came once again when she remember that.

No… she had to move on. She had to forget everything. She had to stay strong. She wouldn’t let them think that she was being defeated by their game. She would show them that she could accept it.