[Prince of Tennis] Goodnight, Young Master, It's Time for Bed

I got into a car accident, then lost my memory.

Doesn't that sound familiar? Cliched? Like the classic setup from those angsty, domineering CEO novels from ages ago?

At first, I thought it was pretty cliched too, until I saw a brightly colored novel lying beside me. It was called The Beloved of the Wealthy Young Master, and the male lead looked exactly like the young master of the family I was staying with!

They were both rich and handsome, both into flashy style, and both had a narcissistic streak.

I suddenly had a bad feeling. Had I transmigrated into a book?

But I'm not one to overthink things. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Right now, I wanted to figure out who I was, so I asked that flashy guy. He said, "Do you really need me to tell you who you are?"

As he spoke, he had the air of a person in power, with a hint of nonchalance, an unguarded manner, and a touch of familiarity. It was all very unusual, as if we'd known each other for over a decade.

Thinking of how respectfully and deferentially the servants treated me, I had a bold theory!

Which was

I had to be the classic butler from The Beloved of the Wealthy Young Master, the one with the famous line, "The young master hasn't smiled like that in a long time"!

What? You want to know why I didn't guess I was the heroine?

Obviously! How do I look like a heroine? What heroine starts from the start living with a young master from a powerful family? What heroine lives under the same roof as the male lead with such a distant relationship, without a single blush-inducing moment or classic line being triggered?

And what heroine looks so intimidating, with brown hair and green eyes... Hey, I'm mixed-race, too.

Anyway, heroines are usually supposed to come from ordinary families, be sweet-looking, unafraid of power, and a little absent-minded now and then. That has nothing to do with me.

All I had to do was play my role as the butler. Then perhaps, once the hero and heroine got together, I could return to the real world.

So I began my life as a butler.

Taking care of the young master's daily needs, accompanying him to and from school... What? You ask why a butler still has to go to school? Obviously, I haven't graduated yet. Don't try to apply logic to a cliched novel.

When the young master got sick, I called over the doctor friend who comes standard with every male lead... Though that doctor friend looked at me a little strangely.

Helping the young master with the company matters he'd take over after graduation... Wait, does a butler also have to moonlight as a secretary? Whatever, it's a novel. Just let it slide.

When a girl who might be the heroine came to visit, I saw how happily they chatted and finally got to say the classic line in a fond voice.

"Miss, the young master hasn't smiled like that in a long time."

Atobe Keigo had a childhood friend and fiancee, Hanazaki Aya. Their parents were family friends, and since her parents had always worked abroad, the Atobe family had practically raised her as their own daughter.

From childhood playmates to teenage friends, and then to lovers, their relationship had changed naturally. He wasn't opposed to it, nor did he think it was too ordinary or dull.

Many people were surprised, thinking he wasn't the sort to go along with something so "ordinary." Even his best friend once joked, "I thought your views on love would follow your aesthetic, too."

Atobe had no comment.

He liked flashy things, as passionate as roses, but that didn't mean he ranked relationships or believed love had to be a whirlwind romance in the public eye to count as love... If anything, he'd always thought Aya was his red rose.

He thought everything would carry on at its usual pace until they walked down the aisle.

Until

"Young Master, it's time to go to bed."

Seeing his fiancee standing respectfully nearby in a butler's tailcoat, Atobe Keigo: "..."

It was only after his fiancee lost her memory and decided she was a butler that he realized just how cliched his life could be.

So what if it was cliched? Life really could be pretty cliched sometimes, like losing your memory.

So he put up with his fiancee laying out a red carpet for him at school. He put up with her digging up Shishido in the middle of the night to come treat him when he was sick. He even put up with her saying weird things in front of their mutual friends.

But when a certain someone decided she'd done her job and could "retire," then wanted to pursue the basketball player next door and the volleyball player next door, and find herself a new boyfriend... he could put up with

Put up with basketball and volleyball? As if!

You think tennis players don't count?!

Content warning: A silly, fluffy story with no brainpower or logic

Theme: Two people together are greater than the sum of their parts