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Ryoma Echizen

Amane smiled contently as she leaned against her chair, arms raised up above her head in a stretch. A soft moan left her sealed lips as she enjoyed the feeling. Sighing in bliss, she brought her arms down, back against the desk. Her eyes soon found their way glued on the paper in front of her, filled with words in her writing.

She giggled quietly to herself. She had really outdone herself this time. Everything was dead on.

Staring at the last line she had written, her smile grew brighter. That one was definitely the one she had noticed the most. Walking out of the room, she ignored the students that stared at her abnormal cheeriness, sweat-dropping.

Never, had she thought that maybe, they were sweating because of her actions.

'Sweating is a sure sign of stress'

"Please read the model." She heard the droning of the teachers voice. Words that sounded foreign to her ears spilled from her mouth, as if her brain had a mind of its own.....in a sense....

Nodding, the teacher allowed her to sit, then continued with his lecture.

Her eyes fluttered shut....then open....then shut again. Blinking continuously, she tried to stay awake in this boring, prolonged class filled with the dull, monotone voice of the algebra teacher. Sighing, she gave in to her want for sleep.

Setting her elbow against the table, she let her head rest against her palm as she shut her eyes. Amane's breathing almost became even before she could feel a pang against her head. The stinging sensation made her eyes widen as she jerked up in her seat.

"Pay attention, Junko-san." The teacher muttered, not pleased with her.

"Sorry." She apologized softly as she stared down towards the ground. A piece of worn out chalk laid there, gradually rolling away.

'Teachers have excellent aim with small objects.'

"I think I've found the answer!" Her friend had suddenly stated as she rose her finger up in the air. Amane's head perked up at her friend's sudden outburst, eyes blinking stupidly.

"What? You finally finished your homework?" She questioned with a yawn. They had been in the library doing self-study, well, Amane was dreaming about her and him.

"No...." Her friend pouted. Immediately, it perked back into a smile. "What I need, is one of those." She emphasized as she pointed at Kyoko, smartest girl in the class.

A small laugh left Amane's lips as she turned back around, reading through her textbook. "You seriously don't believe that, do you?"

"What's there not to believe. Her brother has one too, and he's in the top university in Japan." Her friend shrugged and continued to work on her homework.

'Smart people wear glasses'

Walking down the school campus dejectedly, she really didn't understand. Yeah, she had been keeping it in for a long time....but...how could she ignore this now? She wasn't great at English like he was, she wasn't over all smart like Kyoko, she wasn't as cute as Sakuno.

Sighing, she noted an empty spot on the bench beside the tennis courts. Occupying it, she couldn't help but sigh once more. Stupid boy, screwing up her heart. She hated it so much, but if her life was like an anime, there would always be a happy ending, right?

Life was like anime...right? Of course she was right! She had a list of similarities in her notebook!

Feeling somewhat better, she turned her head to the side, catching the girl, that was once mentioned in her thoughts, staring at her with a questioning expression. "Are you okay, Amane-chan?"

"S-Sakuno-chan." She stuttered. "I'm fine, really." She couldn't help but feel envious. Why did she have to fall for a guy, who was probably in love with the girl in front of her. "What about you?" Amane's chocolate eyes glanced over her face. Her gaze broke through Sakuno's facade, which wasn't well set up.

"What do you mean?" She asked with a flustered voice, a blush started to spread across her face. "Nothing's wrong with me!" Even though Amane didn't believe Sakuno's lie, she could tell that Sakuno was troubled too.

Maybe she was having guy problems too......with Ryoma?

'Romance never comes simpler than in a triangle.'

"He what? Seriously?" Amane couldn't help but overhear random ramblings from the girls surrounding the courts. Their gossips and gasps were unbearable, you couldn't block it out.

"I'm serious! Ryoma-kun did it all by himself too!" The random girl's friend exclaimed. This fact seemed to interest Amane. Who knew he had it in him?

Well, she did. She had had fantasies where he was a knight in shining armor. There were also moments where she would imagine him tilting his head back, sweat that disconnected itself from his hair seemed to sparkle in the air as it fell to the ground. ….....Those moments did come often though, so that didn't count her as one of those obsessed fan girls.....hopefully.

"Did you know, Ryoma-kun caught a purse-thief?" Amane couldn't help but spread the rumor around. If glorified the boy who stood in the court, playing against his upper-class man....well, he was always glorified in her eyes.

'The boy in the baseball cap is always more powerful than he seems.'

"Hey, Ryoma-kun, what's your favorite season?" Amane asked the green-ish haired boy as they walked home. The temple that he lived in was only a few blocks away from her house.

"Why?" He asked in his bored, monotone voice. His eyes never strayed away from the route in front of him.

Amane slightly frowned, but continued talking. "Well, I was just wondering. What's your least favorite season?"

"I hate winter." The boy stated blatantly, adjusting the strap on his bag. "Too cold."

Pouting, the girl looked up to him. "Times like these, I wonder why we're friends." She mused. "We have nothing in common."

"Who knows." The boy shrugged turning the corner. Amane quickly followed his actions. She wasn't sure whether he said that in reply to the first sentence, or last.

"In my opinion, winter is the best!" She stated, walking up to his side. Her stare bored into his head, making him gaze at her from the corner of his eyes. "Snow compensates for everything."

"Then buy a snow globe." He stated. "It snows every time you shake it."

"That's different!" She argued.

Sighing in defeat, the boy didn't know why he spent his time debating idiotic things like this with her. The beating of his heart made it seem as if it were a sport, other than tennis. Did he actually enjoy it? "I guess winter is okay." He murmured as he walked through the gates, into his house.

"How about snow!?" She questioned as she watched him pause on the door step. Not facing her, he waved his hand as a gesture of goodbye, but she understood the second meaning behind it.

Smiling brightly, she skipped the rest of the way home.

'Snow means love.'