Disclaimer: All creative rights to the Prince of Tennis plot and characters belong to Konomi Takeshi.
Challenge Prompt: A one-sided RyoSaku (from Angieko)

Introverted

Panting slightly, Sakuno stopped a bit to catch her breath before carrying on. She was extremely late for the tennis match that was held across town, so therefore, taking the train was required. And Sakuno was one directionally challenged person.

A couple people she ran by gave her a looks, probably curious to why she was carrying so many bentos in her arms or afraid that she might trip and end up flat on her face at any second.

In any case, Sakuno had almost made it to the courts when she spotted the iconic white Fila cap of a particular person that she was looking forward to seeing today.

Her face brightened up as she used her free hand to wipe the sweat off of her sticky forehead.

"Ryoma-kun! Good afternoon!"

The said-person gave her a curt nod but did not stop briskly walking towards her. Sakuno felt herself boiling for some reason. It must've been the sun.

"What time is it?"

Blinking rapidly, it took a minute of pure silence to let the question sink into Sakuno's brain. She swiftly proceeded to take a look at the watch on her left wrist, but, unfortunately, it was her left arm that was carrying all of the bento lunches.

Ryoma watched as all the carefully prepared lunches splattered on the ground, and the girl's (whose name he had forgotten) face become redder then it already was as she tried to clean up the mess.

He gently grabbed hold of her wrist. That single touch shot shock waves throughout Sakuno's body. She looked up and their eyes locked for a moment before Ryoma broke it off to look down at the mess in front of him.

Sakuno's breath hitched in her constricted throat, air unable to get in or out.

'Is Ryoma-kun going to help me?'

When Ryoma let go of Sakuno's wrist, he stood back up and glanced in the direction of the tennis courts.

"I still have twenty minutes…" were the words that came out of the boy wonder's mouth.

Her heart sank as she watched him walk away without another word. She focused her gaze back to the ruined food: rice was everywhere, the shrimps were covered in sand, and the egg omelets she tried to make today without her grandmother's help were broken.

Sighing, she reluctantly got up and went after the freshman regular.

"Ochibi! You're late – nya!"

A small smile formed on Sakuno's lips as she watched Ryoma get glomped by the acrobatics specialist of Seigaku. She resisted the urge to laugh at the glare he was giving Kikumaru Eiji.

"Sakuno! You're late too! Where were you?"

Tomoka's sudden presence startled Sakuno, nearly giving her a heart attack.

"A – ah! Well, I accidentally took the wrong train and…" her explanation trailed off when she noticed her best friend glancing over her shoulder.

"Why do you have a backpack on? Is there something in there for Ryoma?" Tomoka said slyly with a grin on her face.

Rapidly waving her hands in front of her, Sakuno tried to deny it. But the lingering grin on Tomoka's face told her that it was all in vain.

Sighing in utter defeat, Sakuno nodded while she unconsciously glanced over to where Ryoma stood. His bento took the most time out of everyone's, and knowing how clumsy she was, took further caution by placing it in a backpack instead of carrying it in her hands.

"But I spilled everyone's lunches along the way, so if I only give Ryoma-kun his, then everyone else might get mad at me for not making them a lunch too…" Sakuno said dejectedly, facing Tomoka again.

Giving her best friend a pat on the shoulder, Tomoka offered her a smile.

"Don't worry, Sakuno. I made bentos too, most of them were for Ryoma-sama but since you already made one for him, I'll let everyone else have them instead."

Those words instantly cheered Sakuno up again, but after a second, she felt bad. She knew Tomoka worked harder on Ryoma's lunches then herself.

Seeing Sakuno's reluctant 'I'm not so sure' look, Tomoka gave Sakuno a stern expression and said that it was seriously okay.

But that stern look diminished when Tomoka noticed that Ryoma was starting to head over into the court. She pumps up her arms, pom-poms waved in the air as she shouted 'Good luck, Ryoma-sama!' boisterously.

Turning around, Sakuno watched as his form got farther and farther from everyone else.

Mustering up her courage, Sakuno cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted the same thing. She hoped that he had somehow heard her through all the cheering and chanting.

But he did not look back.

End