It was the Kanto Regionals. Seigaku vs Fudomine. Ryoma Echizen against Shinji Ibu. It was now, that it happened.

All of it in twelve seconds.

The girl behind the fence counted.

1 mississippi.

2 mississippi.

3 mississippi.

And Ryoma's arm had frozen.

He still swung, turning his entire body.

4 mississippi.

5 mississippi.

The numb hand couldn't hold on tightly enough.

6 mississippi.

The racket flew away towards the net post.

7 mississippi.

8 mississippi.

The racket broke in half.

One end, came flying back.

Broken and shattered end first.

9 mississippi.

10 mississippi.

. . .

11... mississippi.

And the blood kept on dripping.

And the voices kept on screaming.

And the girl with the long pigtails and stutter kept on running. Towards the court. Where a boy with golden hazel eyes and a bloody face knelt.

And…

12 mississippi.

The girl with the two Ponta cans in hand… did nothing. She did nothing. No shout of encouragement. No screaming for an ambulance. No other sound than a slight scratching noise as she scuffed her shoe across the ground.

Instead… she just watched. And waited. She would always wait. She would always wait for him.

He had won. The boy with the green tinted black hair and golden hazel, cat-like eyes.

She didn't cheer. She couldn't anyways, and saw no need to.

The two teams bowed to each other at the net in… it took about 24 seconds.

She already had expected him to win.

She was still waiting. And... he noticed. But of course he did. He always noticed. He always did. He always would notice her.

"Ooh, Ponta. Did they have any grape left?" Was the first thing he said as he walked towards the girl. No hello was even needed.

The girl smiled slightly as she nodded, one bob of her head.

"Thanks." Ryoma popped the lid of the can open as he took a swig of the artificially flavored soda.

The girl nodded again before opening her own can, orange flavored, and taking a sip of the fizzy liquid.

"Oi, Echizen, who is this?" Momoshiro came up behind Ryoma, his eyes wide and curiously staring at the girl who merely took another drink from her can.

". . ." Of course the girl didn't say anything though.

"Saaa… Echizen-kun, Sumire-chan wants to bring you to the hospital now." Shusuke popped up from nowhere.

"Ah, you want to come along?" Ryoma turned to the girl who simply shrugged.

The girl tilted her head before reaching out her hand that held her Ponta. Pressing it against Ryoma's bandaged eyes, Ryoma simply blinked.

"No, it doesn't hurt." He said, taking another sip.

". . ." The girl raised an eyebrow at him before pressing down harder, ignoring Momoshiro's protests.

"No, I'm fine. You can get off me now." Ryoma sighed and reached a hand up to gently remove her hand from his face.

The girl shrugged, then nodded. Momoshiro and Shusuke were at a lost of what she meant by that. Ryoma however, understood.

"Come on then, before the fangirls arrive." Ryoma took hold of her hand and led her away to where the coach was.

How I ended up in a sushi restaurant after Ryoma's check-up was still a mystery to me. I sat at the counter, another boy beside me. He had bittersweet coffee brown eyes hidden behind wire-framed glasses and honey-brown hair with the parting on his left side that made it look all windswept.

As the ever faithful person he was, Ryoma would glance at me every… about 10 seconds or so.

I sighed quietly. Took another sip of my jasmine tea. Counted.

He glanced at me again.

Repeat.

". . ." I'm not sure what exactly was said, but from what I could tell, the owner of the shop and someone's father had mistaken the boy next to me for an adult and offered him sake.

I smirked. How amusing. Oh… wait for it… Ryoma looked at me again. And the red-head took one of his sushi's as he did so. Now he's pissed off.

". . ." I stood silently, waving to get Ryoma's attention.

He looked. He noticed. He noticed me. He always did.

". . ." I pointed out the door and made a person walking kind of thing with two of my fingers.

He nodded. "Be back by midnight. Use the window." He said plainly.

I tilted my head and nodded. Someone else, a woman, popped up. She had a camera.

"Let's take a picture everybody!" She cheered.

I stood back. I'm not a part of this team. I can't even cheer for this team. Useless little ole' me.

"A-Aaaah!" A girl with long pigtails screamed as she was pushed into Ryoma, just as the camera's shutters clicked, capturing the moment forever.

My smirk grew wider as I saw where their mouths landed, on each other's cheeks. I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively at Ryoma who was wiping off his lips and cheek. He glared at me with those half-lidded eyes.

"Sit." He said, motioning me over to him. I rolled my eyes. Shook my head. I don't fit in.

"Sit." He repeated. I looked away nonchalantly on purpose to make him angry.

". . ." Closing my eyes, I could hear the silence even louder than before.

I looked back to Ryoma. He was standing up now. Walking over to me. Holding out his hand. His eye, sharp as ever yet holding some sort of softness, promised only one picture. His eye-patch…

I tapped his eye-patch lightly. He looked at me confused.

"It doesn't hurt anymore." He said, not understanding what i meant.

I shook my head and mimicked a bird on my shoulder, also curving my other hand into a 'C' shape. His eyes lit up.

"I look like a pirate?" He asked, sounding quite amused.

I nodded. He smirked. His hand was still hovering in mid-air.

I took it.

He pulled me back to his seat, the other girl was still there, shy and blushing and her friend was fangirling behind her, occasionally glaring at me.

What did I do?

"Alright everyone, put more emotion into this picture!" The woman with the camera cheered.

It took only three seconds.

1 mississippi.

The camera was brought up.

Smile were plastered on.

2 mississippi.

Ryoma and I turned at the same time, towards each other.

His bandaged eye was hidden from the camera.

My hand reached around his shoulders to flash a peace sign.

His lips curved into a smile.

My lips smirked, pressed against his cheek.

3 mississippi.

A flash of white.

I think I kept my eyes open. I'm not sure.

Ryoma rolled his eyes when his fangirl started screaming. About me. At me. Then he stiffened up and froze when the shouting got a bit... into the deep territory. Forbidden topics.

"She hasn't said a single word since we've met her! She's such a rude person and-"

"Shut. Up." Ryoma growled. This is such a turn of events.

I moved to crouch in front of Ryoma. I patted his cheek gently. His glare turned to me, then softened.

". . ." I smiled. That was all I did. Smile.

He smirked and closed his eyes, sighing tiredly.

"Of course. You don't really care now, do you? You never do worry about many others. Suppose I'm lucky, ne?" He asked, voice relaxing as he opened his eyes again.

I shrugged, smile slipping into a smirk. I stood, he followed, we stared at each other.

". . ." He really shouldn't expect me to care. Hopefully, now he didn't.

"Nothing to say?" It was now his turn to taunt me and raise an eyebrow, but not for jealous reasons. For me as well, he was doing this.

I shrugged. Then shook my head. Nope.

He sighed. "See you later than. Remember, midnight. 12:00. Not past 2 like last time."

I shrugged, then picked up my case and left. A few seconds later and I heard footsteps following me. I paused, and turned. Two of them. The one with the half-shaved head and two locks of hair standing inwards on his forehead and the other was the one I had sat next to for the majority of the time.

"Oh, are you going home as well?" The one with the black hair asked in a kind tone.

I nodded, eyes still watching them carefully.

"I'm Oishi Shuichiro, and this is Tezuka Kunimitsu. What's your name?" He asked, voice still caring.

I blinked. I turned my torso to the side as I unstrapped a notepad from my belt. The pencil I tied to the connecting rings was getting dull, I'd need to sharpen it again soon.

Flipped to page 3. Handed them the notepad. The one with honey-brown hair, Tezuka, took it. He held it gently in his hand as they both read what it said on the page.

'Hello, I hope I haven't appeared too rude to you. My name is Aria Suzume, and I am mute. I am a freshman in junior high. Nice to meet you.'

Tezuka blinked, then handed it back to me with a nod, showing he understood. I'm glad for that. Oishi's eyes were wide with worry.

"Are you alright? What happened? Who else kno-" I turned away from him and started walking again. So he's the curious type, apparently.

"W-Wait! Hold on, where are you goin-" Oishi's voice was cut off, and for certain, not by mine.

"Oishi, I believe you are making her uncomfortable with your questions." I heard from Tezuka. "Am I correct Aria-san?"

I stopped again and turned. Nodding to Tezuka, and shot a pointed look at Oishi.

". . ." I tilted my head as I looked at Tezuka. He looked back. Oishi sweat-dropped at us two silent beings.

I scribbled something on my notepad quickly, then held it up. Tezuka's eyes widened as he read it.

'Is your left elbow hurt by any chance?'

His gaze cut into mine.

"How did you know?" He asked in a quiet tone, but not soft at all. Sharp and commanding.

I shrugged nonchalantly. So be it if he's pissed off at me now. I can't validly answer. Taking out my pencil, I wrote another word below the question. It's up to him if he believes it or not.

'Instinct'

Obviously, he didn't believe me.

Who would? The mute girl had nothing to say in defense, might as well be admitting she's guilty. The blind man cannot see, might as well say he was the witness. The deaf boy cannot hear, might as well say he eavesdropped.

I sighed and turned away. Footsteps followed. I had nothing to say. I had nothing I could say. We arrived at an intersection. Oishi left, waving at us.

I waved back.

Now it was two. Tezuka walked a step behind me. It would be quite awkward if we were side by side. A park came into view, lit up by street lamps.

My stop.

I turned and walked up the stone steps. I turned to wave goodbye, trying to be polite, and was confused at what I saw. Which was a confused boy. Well, he wasn't outright expressing it, but his eyes were a bit more narrowed and his eyebrows drawn closer.

"Aria-san, were you not going home?" He asked in a quiet tone.

". . ." I scratched something out and handed off my notepad to him.

'What are you still doing here? And no, I'll go home later. Much later.'

"... My intentions were to bring you home safely. It isn't such a good idea for a young girl to be outside this late by herself." He explained, handing me back my notepad.

I looked at him with owlish eyes. He.. was worried? About me? I couldn't stop the smile that curled my lips as I wrote out a response.

'I'll be fine, but thank you for your concern. I always practice at night anyways, and I'm used to walking around alone. You can leave now if you wish.'

"Practice?" His voice had a slight lilt in it, all that made it a question.

I nodded excitedly and pulled out my violin from its case. The case was now perched on a bench. After making sure my bow had been greased with the proper amount of rosin, I lowered it to the strings.

Counted out three seconds.

1 mississippi…

2 mississippi…

3 mississippi…

And played. Ayano's Theory of Happiness. I used it as my main warm-up song and cool down song. It was so complex in the melody and noises. Reach my fingers just a bit longer to catch the fret, slide my bow across more slowly to draw out the emotional notes, then speed it up as a representation of a voice.

There's a story in every song, and every song should have a story in it.

That's what I believe in. And despite the fact this was a quite complicated song, I had played it for long enough to be able to go on autopilot if I wished.

A difficult thing indeed. One mistake is all it takes for me to ruin the song. One slip of the fingers to press the wrong fret, one messed up pull of the bow as it leans into another string, not pressing down long enough for the note to resonate fully.

With one last draw of the bow, the last note of the beautiful melody resounded into the night silence.

I had closed my eyes for the performance, and as they now opened, I was greeted by the sight of Tezuka applauding lightly.

"That was very well played Aria-san." He complimented.

I smiled at him, then placed my violin and bow back in his (I've named my violin. The bow is a part of him.) case to write out a message to Tezuka. Handing him the notepad, I shifted to my other foot.

'Please just call me Suzume.'

"Ah," Tezuka's voice paused as I was given back my notepad. "Suzume-san then." He finished.

I smiled and nodded once. I lifted out my instrument once more. Placing it on my shoulder, chin against the chin strap, I began a slower song.

Saltwater Room.

It was such a sweet song, the story in sweet callings and questions and metaphors. This was what I loved, songs and stories mixing and told in a beautiful melody and by harmonious voices.

How ironic I don't have much of a voice anymore though.

I used to. Used to. I used to scream and shout and whisper and talk. But what I did the most…

I sighed as the last note left my violin and retreated away, only remembered in faint memories. I'll tell this story again soon enough though, no need to feel sad.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" He asked, voice quiet yet loud in the silence around us.

I tilted my head. Mouthing one word, I smiled.

'Yes.'

Just to make sure, I nodded my head as well. Lip-reading is a dead art and skill. Tezuka nodded as well and continued on his way.

A smirk made its merry way onto my lips. Raising my bow, I began another song, one I'm sure Tezuka would know of as he walked away.

And so as the stoic male walked away in the night, down the street, I serenaded him with the melody of Canon D in major. Or otherwise known as 'Here Comes the Bride'.

The wedding song.

I half-expected him to turn and glare at me, or at least give me a look.

He didn't.

However, he did falter mid-step before his shoulders stiffened up and he walked away with a sort of hunch to his back.

How cute.

I was going to wear shorts. They were most likely against the rules. I don't care, I was not going to only wear that green skirt, low and hanging above my knees.

I'd like to keep what little dignity and innocence I have left.

And I… *cough* *cough* … lost the pink ribbon. Terrible planning on my part to leave it in the same room with Karupin, the darling he is with his sharp claws and teeth and fondness of ribbons. I would now have on a red tie instead. Quite charming, I must say. Elegant, sophisticated…

… I'm still wearing my dirty, scuffed up tennis sneakers...

… My clothes are so wrinkled that Iron Man must be very angry at me and internally screaming...

… Ah wells, first day at Seigaku, first impressions, I'm just going to stay in the shadows. And with Ryoma.

I sighed as I looked at the uniform laying innocently on the bed once again. Ryoma's head popped up from behind the shared bedroom door.

"Oi, ready to take a shower now?" He asked.

I nodded and followed him into the bathroom with the uniform in hand. After placing it to the side, I stripped and stepped into the drizzling warm water, my skin adjusting to the temperature quickly. Ryoma soon followed.

"Pass the soap." He said.

I gave the slippery bar to him after I finished using it, and then pointed to the shampoo and conditioner bottle on his side. He nodded, squeezed some of it into his hand, and helped me rub it through my hair. I relaxed as his fingers occasionally scratched my scalp.

We finished at the same time, then stepped out. He passed me my towel as I gave him his. My hair was ruffled up by him as I wiped down my body.

"Let's not be late today." He spoke in a softer voice, or was it just the towel I had thrown over his head?

". . ." I nodded and adjusted the tie on myself.

He buttoned up his shirt and uniform jacket, then waited for me to pull on my knee length shorts and thigh high socks underneath the skirt. My entire legs were covered up by one thing or another. Just the way I prefered.

He had a grape Ponta in hand and also my sweetened orange juice. I had two pieces of toast, both slathered with a thick layer of either grape jam, or Nutella, specially ordered from somewhere I can't be bother to remember by Nanako.

I had the Nutella. Taking another bite of the crisp bread, I smiled dreamily as I tasted the sweet chocolate flavor. Ryoma and I switched our food, now I held my chocolate toast and orange juice and he had his grape Ponta and jam toast.

We finished halfway to school. Ryoma was still complaining about it not being a Japanese breakfast. Honestly though, I'd eat anything edible. My taste buds are used to nearly everything, but favor sweet and spicy things more.

"Next time, we're going to wake up earlier to have an actually good breakfast." Ryoma grumbled, still fuming not so silently.

I rolled my eyes and smirked. He smirked as well, then walked a bit faster so he was beside me. We both knew it was a lie to say we would wake up earlier, seeing as we both cherished sleep, albeit, he did a bit more than me. Our fingers brushed against each other every now and then. Whether it was on purpose or not, I didn't know.

I didn't very much care either.

If asked, I would have said Seigaku seemed nice-

Whoops.

Meant, if asked, I would have written Seigaku seemed nice. Right. Can't talk. Right.

I sat perched on a bench as Ryoma ran laps around the tennis courts because he was late. Eh, not my fault. It was the other guy's fault, the one who was running with him right now. Spiky black hair and violet eyes. They had bumped into each other as soon as we stepped foot inside the grounds, then proceeded to argue. Something about failing doubles and how they're not real men…? I walked ahead of Ryoma, and found the tennis courts by pure luck and chance.

I seem to always get lost in the right way.

I bowed out of politeness to the regulars gathered there, and for respect to Tezuka. He acknowledged me with a nod. I wrote out a quick question, then showed it to him.

'If I may watch the practices, where can I sit? Please and thanks.'

He directed me to a bench within the fence, right in direct view of the courts. I got the feeling it wasn't such a… It seemed more exclusive. That was it.

As the two males ran around the court, a woman came up to me. Her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and she wore a pink jacket and gray slacks.

"So you're the girl Tezuka allowed to watch practice from inside the fence. You should know that it's quite an honor." She told me, an amused smile curving her lips.

I nodded and gazed boredly ahead as Ryoma passed by again.

"Ryuzaki Sumire, the coach." She held out her hand for me to shake. "What's your name?"

I took her hand, she had a firm grip, and lightly shook it up and down. Taking out my notepad, I felt her stare on me. I flipped to page 3, the same one I showed to Tezuka and Oishi first last night.

'Hello, I hope I haven't appeared too rude to you. My name is Aria Suzume, and I am mute. I am a freshman in junior high. Nice to meet you.'

Her eyes widened and her eyebrows rose as she read it. She was still staring and holding the notepad. I counted out 30 seconds before Ryoma came by.

"Where's my towel?" He asked first.

Sumire seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in. "Echizen Ryoma, respect your elders and do not speak that way to me-"

"Oh, sorry, I was asking Suzume. Hey, why does she have your notepad?" Ryoma pried away Sumire's fingers from the book and glanced at the words on the page.

"Oh, and she doesn't like it when someone she didn't tell herself knows about her quietness, so please don't spread it." Ryoma cautioned Sumire as he handed me back my notepad.

I motioned for Ryoma to lean down. He sat on the bench next to me as I wrapped his towel around his neck and passed him his water bottle. He took a long drink. I played with his cap, twirling it around in my hands.

"Thanks. We'll get your schedule from the office later, 'kay?" Ryoma stood back up, placing his stuff next to me again.

I nodded and tilted my head as a question came to mind.

'Lunch?' I mouthed.

Ryoma furrowed his eyebrows together. "Think you can get to the roof?"

I hesitantly nodded.

"Follow a regular if you can't find the stairs. You should be in at least one of their classes." Ryoma told me.

'Who?' I mouthed. Ryoma blinked, realizing I didn't know.

"So, there's the captain over there," He pointed to Tezuka who was making someone run more laps. "Vice-captain there." He moved his finger to the direction of Oishi. "And the one with red-hair, the one I ran laps with, the one with a bandanna, that guy who's smiling all the time and doesn't show his eyes, the one who's shouting in really bad English, and that one's not a regular, he's more of a part-time manager but you can follow the one with the glasses too."

"You can return to practice now Ryoma, and I'll properly introduce her to the regulars." Sumire told Ryoma, waving him off to rally with red-head and bandaged cheek guy.

"Alright, I'm guessing you already know Tezuka seeing as he let you sit here?" Sumire took the seat beside me.

'Met him yesterday. Oishi too.'

"Well, the one who's rallying with Ryoma right now is Eiji Kikumaru, the one who smiling as Ryoma described is Fuji Shusuke, and he's playing against Kawamura Takashi right now. Momoshiro Takeshi is the one with purple eyes and was running laps earlier, and the one he's arguing with right now is Kaidoh Kaoru- Hold on, Kaidoh, Momoshiro, 15 laps now!" Sumire shouted at the end, making me lean a bit away from her.

She sighed, then continued. "And the last one is our part-time manager, Inui Sadaharu. He's the other one with glasses and spiky black hair."

I nodded in gratitude, then returned to watching the practice. Mainly Ryoma though. And Tezuka. They were rallying now, Eiji was taking a water break, and even though it wasn't supposed to be serious, it was so captivating as the yellow tennis ball flew over the net in arches and ducks.

I missed being on the court.

Nobody seemed to take a girl seriously whenever she stepped onto the green painted ground. Even less if she was… disabled.

But I still played. Only against a choice few though, Ryoma being one of them. I beat him. Quite fun, might I add. I didn't care much for it though. 'It' being what Ryoma loved.

Competitions and judges. I played for the sheer joy of it. Nothing else. I hope Ryoma will too one day.

That will be the day he unlocks it.

Muga no Kyochi.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

This was recently edited, like a day after being posted, and I'd like to thank ColdHeart1206 for the advice of not making Tezuka too friendly with Suzume so soon. So no more Suzume-chan.