"Hey, Ryoma, shouldn't you be doing something about that?" Horio asked while pointing across the classroom.
Ryoma turned around to see what Horio was worried about all he saw was the new transfer student talking to Ryuzaki."
"So what?" Ryoma asked in a bored tone as he turned back around.
"Dude, he's so scamming on your girl! I mean look at him! He's almost about to kiss her! Wait. He is kissing her!"
"What?" Ryoma asked as he turned back around.
The new guy was just kissing her hand. It was nothing to worry about. Ryuzaki was blushing, but her smile was forced. She wasn't interested in the guy. Ryoma turned back around with a bored look.
"Aren't you even the least bit worried?" Horio asked, astounded.
"No. Why should I be?"
"Why should you be?" Horio repeated incredulously. "Damn you're cocky. Don't you know?"
Ryoma was confused. "Know what?"
Horio smirked at him, glad that he could show off his awesome knowledge. "That guy's name is Hatsuhara. You know, like the guy in that famous shojo manga? Well, anyway, the guy in the manga is supposed to be like super hot or something and now all the girls are saying how he could so pass for the guy's real-life look-alike or something. Every girl in school wants to hook up with him! It makes me so jealous!"
"That so?"
"What? You're still not worried?"
"She doesn't like him. Why should I worry?" Ryoma asked, glancing off to the side and staring into space.
"Hey, look! I think he's asking her out."
Out of boredom and maybe some pleasure at watching the new guy getting shot down, he turned to watch. The guy was asking her out, leaning in close enough to make the girl go red in the cheeks. He saw her friend, Tomo-something, come up to the two with a wicked smile on her face.
"Oh course she'll go out with you!" the girl screamed for the whole classroom to hear. "Pick her up Friday at seven!"
Then the girl whisked Ryuzaki off before she could protest, as Ryoma was sure she was about to do. The new guy, Something-haru, looked at him with a big grin and had the balls to wink at him. He just turned around and waited for the bell to ring.
"You still think she's not interested in him? They've got a date," Horio said with a frown.
"Whatever."
Ryuzaki didn't say yes. Her friend did it for her. He wasn't worried. He was certain that she didn't like the new guy.
--------------------------------------
"Why am I here?"
"So you can see that you have something to worry about, idiot!" Momoshirou yelled.
Horio had a big mouth and had told Momo-chan-sempai that Ryuzaki had a date and that he wasn't worried. Naturally, Momoshirou had decided to take it upon himself to spy on Ryuzaki's date and drag him along to do it.
"You got to be more careful, Ryoma-kun. You're going to end up losing her," his sempai explained.
Ryoma knew that would be next to impossible.
"Now, shut up! Here they come."
He had to wonder how Momoshirou knew the two would come to this restaurant. He also wondered how he knew exactly where to hide to get a good spot right next to the table the waiter was leading Ryuzaki and the new guy. Wait. That waiter was Tachibana's sister! That explained it.
It was really boring watching them order dinner. When Tachibana's sister left, the new guy started putting the moves on Ryuzaki. It was making him mad, but he wasn't worried. Whenever the guy tried to hold her hand, Ryuzaki pulled hers away. When the guy tried to rub her leg with his, she moved hers out of the way and apologized like she had just been in his way while he stretched or something. She was blushing furiously, but that was just Ryuzaki. She wasn't stuttering around this guy. Ryoma wasn't worried.
"Momo-sempai, can we go. Nothings going to happen," he said.
"Keep it down will you? Do you want to get caught?" Momoshirou whispered furiously. "I can't believe you're still not worried. Aren't you even mad at this guy? I'm starting to wonder if you care about Ryuzaki-chan at all."
"Tell me, Sakuno-chan, have you ever been kissed?" the new guy asked in a low voice.
She blushed beet red, but she didn't stutter. "No, not yet. I was saving it for the one I really like."
The new guy smirked. "Well, then…"
Ryoma saw the guy move toward her. He knew she would let him. She was too naïve to know what he was doing and once he did it, she wouldn't have the backbone to stop him. So, Ryoma punched him before he could kiss her.
It was a mess. The guy fell out of his chair. A salad bowl went flying. A couple of ladies screamed. A waiter dropped a pitcher of tea on the new guy's head. Ryoma didn't really care.
With one satisfying look, he forgot about that Hatsu-something guy and grabbed Ryuzaki's wrist.
"Come on, Ryuzaki. We're leaving."
"No!" she yelled and wrenched her wrist out of his grasp. "We can't just leave him like that."
He was surprised she had talked back. That's when he started to worry. She hadn't stuttered.
"What did you do that for, Ryoma-kun? He was just sitting there," her sweet voice spoke clearly. She walked over to where the guy was still sitting on the floor and tried to help dry the tea out of his hair.
He had no idea why, but that made him furious. He lost it.
"Just sitting there?! He was trying to kiss you, stupid!"
She jumped at the anger in his voice and her eyes went wide. "H-he was not!"
"Ask him if you don't believe me!" he yelled at her, angry and now frustrated by the hurt in her eyes.
"Is that true, Hatsuharu-kun?"
The guy just grinned at her, only slightly guilty. "Yeah, I did. I was hoping I might have been the one you were saving your first kiss for."
The ladies who had screamed a moment ago were cooing now at the romantic words. It just mad Ryoma madder.
"I told you so! You should be thanking me."
"H-h-how do you know…it wasn't H-hatsuharu-kun I was…talking about?"
He smirked at her question and all his worry and anger vanished. He walked up to her and stood so close he could feel her breath on his lips and the heat from her blushing cheeks.
"I know because you're stuttering," he said huskily.
Her breath caught and his smirk got wider. He held her wrist again and tugged.
"Come on," he said as he turned away so that her lips lightly hit his shoulder. "We're leaving. And there better not be any arguments this time."
He looked over his shoulder to see her shake her head no. He grinned and pulled her along, the Something-haru guy already forgotten.
He wouldn't kiss her yet. He wanted to, but now wasn't the time. He'd kiss her one day when she wasn't on a date with another guy and salad bowls didn't fly across the room. Maybe he'd kiss her when they went on their first date. Maybe he'd kiss her some time even sooner than that. As he glanced back at her, he couldn't stop his eyes from locking on to pink lips. Most definitely some time sooner than that.