Hi there! This fanfic just suddenly pop up to my mind. I hope you like this one-shot. Enjoy… ^_^
For more stories and one-shots (well if you are about to like this) just click my name. ;P
I just got the idea from another anime entitled Betrayal Knows My Name. I love that anime. A special acknowledge to the anime and completely not owning anything.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Tennis no Oujisama and never will.
Betrayal Knows My Words
Sitting on the bench under the sakura tree where the wind blew and the birds were chirping merrily, everything was so quiet and peaceful. She didn't move a muscle as she was looking straight from a distance. From her location where she was sitting a certain Aoyama Masaya was standing in front of her. She stared at the young boy in front of her. The boy was serious that she wasn't aware what he was saying.
"…ike you."
"eh?" she blinked her eyes twice, "w-what did you say?"
"I said I like you, Ryuzaki-san!" The boy said to her.
She paused on her location and slowly she was beginning to realize what the boy said to her. From there, she turned crimson red, "E-EEHHH!" she stood up and panicked at the same time, "U-uhmm l-l-like… I-I A-aoyama-kun, Uhm I-I don't know, I can't-"
Aoyama sweat dropped on her stuttering reactions, "Ryuzaki-san!"
She stopped and bashfully looked at him, "h-hai…"
"Y-you can't like me back?" the boy asked her.
She was able to stare at him and nodded. She closed her eyes.
Aoyama stared at her fondly. Oh how he liked the girl in front of him. She was a shy type of girl. She blushed a lot and got embarrassed easily. He was always watching the girl ever since the semester started. The way she acted like now made him like the girl even more. It was sad that the girl couldn't like him back so he asked the girl;
"Is there someone else?"
He saw her reacted and she shyly nodded. Her eyes turned soft as if the girl was thinking of that person right now. He blinked when the girl talked;
"I am sorry, Aoyama-kun. I-I can't return your feelings."
"Does this guy like you as well?" he asked.
"eh?!"
"Does he like you?" he repeated. He saw how the girl became upset. He came up with the conclusion, "It's one-sided as I can see. I still have a chance."
"A-aoyama-kun?" she looked at him.
"I can make you fall for me." he leaned closer to the girl. The boy was blushing as well but he will take all the risk to have her.
Sakuno reacted, "I-ie, A-aoyama-kun. p-please don't. I-"
"I still have the chance."
"U-hm, I-"
"He doesn't feel anything to you."
"W-wait." She panicked as he began to lean closer to her.
"I won't give up."
She couldn't say her words as he was eager to aim for his purpose.
"I simply won't give you up."
She closed her eyes tightly as she tried to say her words, "I'm sorry, Aoyama-kun. E-even though it's only one-sided, I-I still like Ryoma-kun a lot."
Silence occurred afterwards. Sakuno was waiting for his reply but he didn't say anything. She opened his eyes slowly and saw his shocking reaction. She felt sad when she rejected him. She was about to comfort him when she saw someone behind Aoyama's back. Her eyes were slowly widened as her face was getting redder and redder.
Aoyama's shocking reaction turned into bewilderment. The girl's reaction was in a big surprise. He saw how the girl stared behind him. He looked back to see the reason of the girl's sudden redness and saw a boy around their age. He knew the boy behind him. He was the young famous tennis prodigy, Echizen Ryoma, the person Sakuno liked.
Wait?
Ryoma was there?
Since when?
He looked at him curiously and judging for his reaction. He seemed to hear everything. When the boy recovered from the sudden revelation he heard, he saw him pinned his hat down and smirked;
"che"
Sakuno held her breath as she was blushing really hard. When she saw his reaction, she covered her mouth with both of her hands and started to run away as she apologized to the both of them.
"R-ryuzaki-san-" Aoyama tried to catch up to her only to be stop by the tennis prince.
"So, that's should be the case."
Aoyama looked at him, "What do you mean?"
Ryoma looked at him sternly and smirked afterwards, "Ne, what is one-sided?"
Aoyama looked at him and met his gaze. The wind blew hard as they continued staring at each other.
xxx
She continued to run to exit the school. She was still covering her mouth with one hand this time while looking down on the ground. R-ryoma-kun heard me. H-he heard my confession. W-what am I going to do? I-I can't face him now. Mou… She thought as she ran outside. She never intended to confess in front of someone especially to the guy that she liked. Even though Ryoma only heard her confession accidentally, it could never change the fact that the boy knew her feelings for him now. It was worst than she expected that she blamed Aoyama for that incident. T-this is so awkward and embarrassing.
Several Days Later:
The news had never been bad as she thought. It was her biggest mistake to have believed that. The next thing she knew that the rumor about her confessing to him spread out the entire school. She wanted to shrink at that time as she was being stared at everyone. She couldn't look at Aoyama or even to Ryoma because of that. The rumor hadn't stop since then.
"You sure are popular now, Sakuno. How could anyone to expect that a certain quiet and shy girl can confess to the boy she likes like that." Tomoka said during their lunch break.
Sakuno was almost chocked on her food that she chewed, "T-tomoka-chan. T-that was an accident a-and I didn't tell him directly."
"That doesn't mean that he didn't hear your confession." Tomoka caught her words.
"Mou… I never planned to confess in the first place," she remembered Aoyama after saying that and blushed, "it's just that… t-the situation asked for it…"
Tomoka wondered when she said that, "You know, Aoyama-kun has the ability to reveal your true self. I mean he could make you show the real you."
Sakuno tilted her head. She couldn't understand what her best friend said. Tomoka continued;
"You never planned to tell the truth to him, right?" Sakuno bashfully nodded and the she talked further, "That's the point. If you didn't plan it, why did you say it in front of him? Take note that you said it to someone else not to him despite that the prince was actually there."
Sakuno was beginning to understand her words. He had the ability to make her like that. She just showed him her true self in front of the boy. She blushed on the realization.
"He is interesting, I can say." Tomoka said.
Sakuno didn't say anything as they continued eating. She was able to eat despite of the thoughts of Aoyama in her mind. Aoyama-kun is an enigmatic person.
After Lunch:
"6 games to 0, Game set and match, Echizen Ryoma." Tezuka announced after the practice game between him and Arai. The latter sweat dropped after receiving another love game from him. The boy went to the bench and grabbed his ponta.
"Ne, Ochizen! What are you going to do now?" Momo asked him.
Ryoma looked at his senpai and then he replied, "I'll drink ponta and then practice more and then drink more ponta."
"That's not it, stupid, about the rumor."
"Yeah, yeah," Eiji butted in, "Ryuzaki-chan seems to be bothered by it."
The other regulars crowded his place as if they tried to ask him the same thing. This was somewhat pissed him and he didn't seem to care a lot. He kept on drinking his ponta ignoring all of his senpais questions.
On the other hand, Sakuno who was watching the game together with Tomoka and the trio was quietly staring at the crowd inside. She didn't notice that the tennis tensai approached her until the latter spoke;
"Are you alright?" Fuji asked the girl.
She nodded, "I-I hope that he wasn't bothered by those rumors though." She blushed after she said that.
"Knowing Echizen, he's not the type who bother someone's business. So don't worry about him, he'll be fine." The tensai explained.
T-hat's what I thought as well. She said quietly as she stared at him, "S-senpai, I'll go ahead. See you after school then," She said to him. The tensai just nodded. She was about to asked Tomoka to go with her but it seemed that her best friend was bickering with her mortal enemy... again. She sweat dropped as she looked at Fuji.
"Don't worry, I'll tell her that you went ahead."
She thanked the tensai and started to walk out from the court.
Ryoma noticed the leaving girl after she talked to the tensai. He closed his eyes as he tried to hoist the can into his lips but noticed something, "Ah!"
"What is it, Echizen?" Momo leaned closer to him. He was followed by Eiji, Inui, Kawamura and Oishi.
He held the can upside down and declared to them, "It's empty."
They stared at him for a while, "Baka," Momo retorted as he tapped his back hard. The boy just stared at him, "I thought that you found ways on how to comfort our little Ryuzaki-chan here."
"Echizen doesn't have any idea about girls and such." Kawamura said.
"Yeah, yeah." Eiji said while closing his eyes as he crossed his arms in front of him and nodded at the same time.
The boy stood up and walked away but before they could ask him he answered, "I'll go buy another."
They looked at him curiously and they gave up on persuading him as he started to leave the place. They shook their head wishing that the boy would wake up and do something about the spreading rumor.
xxx
She went to the vending machine to buy ponta. She was standing right in front of the machine but she didn't do anything. She thought a lot about it. Even the boy knew her feelings right now, he could still act normal. But the rumors kept on spreading and everytime she heard about it, her worries grew bigger. She was not worried about the confession anymore; she was worried for the boy who was being bugged by the people around him... well his senpais were not exemptions but he could ignore them as he could. She yanked coins from her pocket and was about to put them in the coin slot when she was stopped for another thought.
He was not bothered by my confession, was he? I-I don't want him to lose his concentration from his matches. She thought as she beginning to learn her mistakes. She closed her eyes shut as she whispered enough to say something, "These stupid words, why did you betray me?"
"Your words betrayed you?"
She almost jumped when she heard someone's voice. She dropped a coin accidentally and rolled to the ground. The coin ended up to the person's shoes that talked earlier and the person then picked the coin up afterwards. She was shocked to see who was in front of her.
"R-ryoma-kun." Sakuno blushed when she saw him standing near her. The boy walked over to the machine and dropped the coin himself into the coin slot. It was an instant; the boy was offering the drink in front of her. She bashfully accepted the can and thanked him.
"Is it true?"
"e-eh?!"
"About on what you said before, in front of him?" he asked.
"W-what I… said before?"
"…The confession."
Sakuno wondered at first but she was beginning to understand what he was asking her. She blushed more because of that.
"I-I…" She fidgeted.
Ryoma just looked at her, waiting for her to reply.
"A-about that…"
Don't say it. She quietly screamed into her mind.
"R-ryoma-kun, I…"
Lie to him for once.
"Spill it already." Ryoma butted in.
Do not tell him.
"U-uhm, I…" She was blushing really hard as he suddenly talked.
Say another word.
"…h-hai." It was a whisper but he could hear her enough. She was looking down so she didn't know what his reaction was on her confession. And this time, she confessed to him personally. She couldn't look at him as she gripped the can hard in front of her.
"Ne, I-"
"G-gomenasai!" She bowed as she started to run away from him. It was rude but she didn't let him finish his words. She was not ready for rejection as she was scared to hear his words. She never planned to confess to him in the first place anyway. This shouldn't be happening. I am not expecting any of this. She covered her mouth as she continued running away from the place as she continued thinking. YOU betrayed me again. Mou!
xxx
Ryoma tried to stop her from running but the girl was nowhere to be seen anymore. He stared at the direction where she ran. He closed his eyes afterwards as he went to the machine and grabbed a can of ponta for himself as well. He opened it as he started to walk away from that area. He drunk the can as he started to whisper between his hoisting;
"Stupid girl."
Saturday after school:
Everyone was present even the girls when they were having another practice game. The doubles match Between Eiji and Oishi pair and Inui and Kaidoh pair had just ended. The match was won by the golden pair. Ryoma was next to compete with Fuji for singles. Both of them entered the court. Ryoma was the one to serve first. But Fuji was trying to be a little teaser for that day. When Ryoma was about to give his twist serve to the tensai, the latter talked;
"Hey, did you reply to Ryuzaki-chan's words yet?"
He looked at him curiously causing the boy to miss his swing. The others were shocked on the tensai's words and the young tennis prodigy's actions. Sakuno was surprised as well.
"Fault! Echizen pay attention." Tezuka warned him.
"But B-buchou, Fuji-senpai-" He tried to defend himself but Fuji talked once again.
"You will not bother by my words, if it's not true."
Ryoma stood straight and looked at Tezuka, "Buchou!"
"Fuji, stop distracting Echizen. Focus on the match."
Fuji placed his racket to his shoulder and said, "Hai, hai."
The match continued but everytime Ryoma was doing his serve and if he was returning his shot, Fuji kept bugging him about the rumors. There were times Ryoma made mistakes and lost sets from him. That made him pissed and distracted at first but he was able to catch up with him during the second half of the game.
Sakuno was worrying all the time. She could hear all the teases from the senpais and also to Tomoka as well. She saw his mistakes for several times. She saw him panicked and disoriented. She was trembling and realization came to her mind. She looked down and walked backwards slowly. She left the court without anyone noticing.
At the Sakura Tree:
She was there again, sitting at the bench where Aoyama first confessed to him. The boy didn't give up as he said. He was talking to her sometimes and offering himself to help her with some things. He was kind and he could do anything for her to like him back. She thought that she would.
"Ryuzaki-san?"
She looked up. There he goes again. Just like where it all started. Aoyama was standing in front of her just like before. She was able to stare at him this time and she managed to look at him closely. He looked good in her eyes as she was thinking something.
"You looked down, what's the problem?"
"…"
"It's him, right?"
Her eyes widened. She looked down after that short reaction. She stayed like that before nodding her head, "I-if he didn't hear me that time… m-maybe everything was still okay…"
"Stop depressing yourself."
She lifted her head only to find a serious Aoyama in front of her.
"The rumors will subside if you will choose me. With that Echizen-san will not be bothered anymore."
She was shocked on his words. She saw how serious he was when he said that. The boy must've liked her a lot. He smiled genuinely as she offered his hands in front of her.
"I am not forcing you to like me right away. But if you give me the chance and accept me, you will not bother by anything anymore, even the people around you."
She looked at the hand being gestured at her. She thought about it. Aoyama was not that hard to like if you think about it. She wasn't sure if she would be doing the same thing. She wasn't sure if confessing to the tennis prodigy was the right thing as well. Deep inside her she knew that Ryoma wouldn't return her feelings in that confession that she suddenly blurted out. The second option was… to try a different path. And she was having that option right now. Her right hand automatically rose from her lap as she was about to accept the offering in front of her;
"She was not a bother at all."
The two looked at the direction and shocked at the same time. Sakuno was blushing so hard when she saw Ryoma standing not far from them; his hands were in his pockets. Her right hand was left in the air and never touched Aoyama's. The tennis prodigy walked closer to them.
"You are saying that it's okay if those rumors keep clinging on you." Aoyama asked him.
"They are pretty harmless anyway." He said as he maintained his stoic expression.
They stared at each other for a while. Later on, Aoyama sighed and decided to look at Sakuno.
"I guess my offer will be held back for a while. But if you are down I am always here. Do not forget that." Aoyama said to her.
Sakuno bashfully nodded but she was looking down. She couldn't stare at the two boys in front of her. She noticed that Aoyama was leaving the area. She was fidgeting with her fingers when suddenly a pair of shoes appeared at the capacity of her vision.
"Did you find the floor interesting to watch?"
She slowly looked up to see Ryoma standing in front of her. The situation was more awkward, now that the person that she liked was actually in front of her, "I-I just don't know… what to say?"
"You didn't finish our match." Ryoma sat besides her making her flinch a little.
"Y-you seemed too distracted." She looked down once again.
"Did you think that YOU were distracting me?"
Sakuno nodded, "T-they will keep teasing you, as long as I am there."
"They can tease me as long as they want. I am not bothered at all."
"Ryoma-kun, but that's -"
"And you didn't even know what my reply would be back then."
She replied on his words, "I-I am… scared."
"For what?"
She continued playing with her fingers not looking at him, "t-to be… r-rejected."
Ryoma didn't say anything. She cursed herself for telling him the truth. Her words were betraying her again. She closed her eyes and was about to stand up and bid him goodbye but her plans were stopped as the boy talked;
"That's why I asked him about this one-sided thing before."
She looked up to him inquisitively, "e-eh?"
"This isn't one-sided at all," He said as he looked up at her, "So don't jump into conclusions."
She was shocked on his words. She was able to stare at him but she could sense that she was blushing at lot at that time. She was surprised when the boy grabbed her right hand with his left hand and placed on the allotted space between them.
"You ran away from me the last time. This is how I reply to your words," He said looking at the distance; she was even more surprised when the boy intertwined their fingers in a gentle manner, "You should thank your words for betraying you like this."
Her heart was beating fast. It was being understood. His action was being understood. She looked at their intertwined hands. The boy's hand was gripping on hers and she could feel the warmth in it. She looked down once again. She felt really red that time. Everything was so wonderful. Even she couldn't believe it. She understood what he did and said. She responded on his grip and thought at the same time;
My betraying words are not such bad after all.
Done! It's finished. I planned to make it shorter but my mind didn't cooperate with me as I tried to think every next scene to write. Sorry if it is a long one shot. Anyway did you like it? Was is not enough? If so, could you tell your thoughts about this one? About the match of Fuji and Ryoma, who did you think win? Hehe…
Onegaishimasu!
Aoyama Masaya – another crossover character from Tokyo Mew Mew, Ichigo's love interest in the anime. Actually I was thinking of another character while I am watching one of my AMVs that I made then I saw him there. I thought that he would be perfect for the role as the third person here.
I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew. Not at all. Special acknowledgement on the anime.
Reviews please! Onegaishimasu! Please don't betray your words,… tell the truth guys… I really need your thoughts so that I can continue writing stories. (BTW I am writing two stories: Absolute Couple and Crystal Teardrops) Again, if you have free time please do so, just click my name above. Domo! ^_^
~MitsukiJunko