Yes. Another story that I suddenly decided to make. It's one more On-going story. I'm not good with one shots. They always end up too long. Like this one. It was supposed to be a one shot but I just couldn't make it one. There were so many things to add so I decided to make it a chapter story. Ahh... Yup. Read if you're bored, let me know what it's like. This has been in my memory for so long it was gathering dust when I opened it. And so many mistakes too. So I decided to edit it and post just for the heck of it.
Read and review! Thanks for checking out this story!
It was painful knowing she wouldn't be able to cruise around the same city that she'd grown into, the same town that her friends lived in, the same streets that would be filled with familiar faces or the same hallways that her classmates would walk through. It was painful knowing she wouldn't be able to see the same views that she loved, the same people that she cared for and the same smiles that she cherished. It hurt. Deeply, it hurt knowing that she would have to leave it all. Everything she'd tried so hard to build and keep; everything she had cared for and everything she'd loved: friends, teachers, mentors, and her most important someone. The one she'd once thought of as an idol and now sees as someone she admires. It was all something she had to let go off. Her ties must be cut off; and everything; she must forget.
"Obaa-san... Is there really no other choice for me? Is this really it? Is this all we can do?" Sakuno questioned her grandmother anxiously hoping for another solution to surface.
The longtime Seigaku tennis coach and the only known relative to Sakuno turned to face the brooding female, her eyes showed no hope and her usually strong fierce expression had now faded down to a weary, gloomy exterior.
"I'm sorry my child. This is about all we can do. If things didn't happen like this then we might've been able to arrange something else but you know I wouldn't do something like this unless it was our last hope." she explained as softly as she could as if not doing so would break the girl in front of her. Her hand reached for her head and smoothed down her hair. "You've grown up. I hope you'd take on this matter as a young adult. I know you don't want to leave but it's not easy for me as well. We both have to do this. We both have to learn to let each other go."
Sakuno bit her lip and her eyes thinned as she tried her best to stop the tears but that didn't help as they all slowly fell out of her eyes.
"O-okay.."
TWO DAYS EARLIER:
"What are you saying?! You know she wouldn't want that!" Ryuzaki-sensei half shouted as she heard the news on the other end of the line.
'I'm well aware of that but we need her.' the voice on the other line replied as stern as a gym teacher.
"But why? Of all the year she'd needed to be with you and all the years she had to spend knowing her father doesn't care for her, why now? All this time she needed you and you shunned her, what makes you think that she will want to help you in your time of need?" she spoke louder than before feeling aggravated after hearing the persons moronic answer.
'That's easy. First of all I don't mind if she doesn't want to help me and second, all I need is some force to make her give in. I'm sorry for doing this but I really do need her at this time.'
"Don't even dare apologize! If you do feel sorry for what you're doing to her then don't do it! You know this is wrong but yet you still continue with no shame whatsoever!" the tennis coach retorted losing every sense of patience she had left.
'To continue this business we need 'partners' that would benefit us. We have found a perfect 'partner' but the only way we'll be able to make a connection with them is by doing this.' the voice explained sounding calm yet serious.
"Taku, this is your daughter you are talking about. How dare you use her so easily? Do you have no
shame?"
'Shame is not necessary in life. Power is only the most important thing. And if she's going to help me get it then I'll do anything.' the person on the other line replied. Ryuzaki-sensei couldn't reply anything after that. 'I'll give you three weeks to think about it. If you haven't made a decision by then I'll have to make a personal visit and take her myself.'
BEEP.
NEXT DAY
'I don't want any painful goodbyes. I won't be able to leave if they all knew about it. It'll just be harder for me.' Sakuno decided as she woke from her broken sleep. After talking with her grandmother about the news she couldn't sleep at all the night before even though she'd cried pretty much the whole night.
The door opened slowly and her grandmother peered into the room softly as if she was planning to sneak in. She gave a small smile which was unlike her usual smiles that she gave her every morning.
"Are you awake? You should get ready, I don't want you getting late again." she whispered making the girl worried. Her grandmother never whispered. Well not so quietly that is. Plus if it was like any other morning she would've threatened to pour cold water over her if she didn't wake up.
Sakuno sat up and greeted her good morning. "Yeah.. I'll get ready." she whispered back rubbing her tired, red eyes.
"I already made breakfast and I have to head to school early today. The teachers are having a quick
morning meeting. Call me if anything happens okay?" she added before closing the door. Her footsteps echoed through the silent house and the sound of the door closing told Sakuno that she had been left alone in the house.
'I can't brood like this. Obaa-san already said yesterday. I have to be mature about this. I've already decided I was going to do this without any complains. That's how she would like it. Complaining wouldn't make it any easier on her.'
Quickly the girl jumped out of bed and looked herself up in the mirror her eyes were swollen and red from her crying the night before but slowly she forced herself to smile, hiding her hidden emotions.
"I must put on a mask. I must not let them know. It'd hurt me more." she whispered making sure her smile would look as genuine as ever.
"I can't let this get to me. I must be strong."
TENNIS COURTS (MORNING PRACTICE)
"Hey! Echizen! You getting Sakuno-chan anything for Valentine's Day?" Momo asked as they finished they're warm ups.
Ryoma looked toward the girl's tennis courts which was currently empty since morning practice for them had been cancelled for unknown reasons. He shrugged, currently not in the mood to answer his senpai.
"Hah?! What do you mean by that!? I betcha she's cooking up some extra delicious chocolate cake for you and you're here not even thinking of getting her anything! Selfish!" Momo answered back. "If Eiji-
sempai was still here he'd join me on this too! Oi! Mamushi! I need your support here!"
"Fshuu do it yourself lazy ass." Kaidoh retorted after hearing his befitting (but insulting) nickname. Momo shouted back a few words before turning back to the young one.
"C'mon man! I want to graduate knowing that guys would at least have some chance of hooking up! After I'm gone you guys would have to spend a year with each other without any of your senpai's help!" he added.
"I'm not getting her anything for Valentine's Day because I'm getting her something for White Day!" he spouted feeling aggravated about his upperclassman's badgering.
Momo grew silent. "E-excuse me?"
"White Day is usually when the guy gives something back so I'm doing it then." Ryoma explained staring at his senpai smugly.
"Ah, I see you've finally had an epiphany. Thank god. I thought you were too dense to realize anything. Well then buchou! I'm leaving it all to you!" Momo cheered as he punched the air in excitement.
"Whatever. Go runs your laps." Ryoma added once more before walking away to get a drink.
Momo walked towards Kaidoh, his face held his dorky grin. "That is how you give advice." he added arrogantly pointing an insulting finger at the so-called viper.
"Stupid. He already admitted his feelings two months ago, I'm pretty sure you were there when he yelled everything out. Or are you too stupid to even remember such an important detail. Plus whatever you were babbling over there was anything but advice." Kaidoh dead panned as he started running his
laps.
Momo stood frozen in his spot as he registered everything Kaidoh had just said. 'Th-that bastard!' he yelled inwardly when he finally let everything sink in, quickly he switched to angry mode and ran after the laughing viper.
Ryoma sipped the cold water from the water fountain cooling his burning system. He stood up wiping his lips of excess water. The shouts that just went on by the courts was heard by him and he missed no words out of their conversation. They both talked too loud for their own good. But after hearing about the time when he admitted his feelings it definitely brought back memories.
It really wasn't something he was planning but it just suddenly happened. Of course he blamed everything on his sempais. They pestered him way too much to the point where he had no choice but to admit it. Or more like yell it out for the whole world to hear. But he was lucky enough that it was only a meeting for their group. The three remaining Seigaku regulars and the six who have graduated and have moved on to high school. They met after the entrance ceremony for school and everyone had pretty much left except for club members and some teachers. The group decided to meet there before they separated once more.
Well, bottom line was that the young prince couldn't hold his patience to the point that he snapped. And everyone around him pretty much ran for cover.
'I LIKE HER OKAY?! I REALLY REALLY LIKE HER! I'VE LIKED HER SINCE I DON'T KNOW AND FOR REASONS I ALSO DON'T KNOW BUT I LIKE HER NONETHELESS OKAY?! I THINK SHE'S CUTE AND I LIKE HER! HAPPY?!'
He still remembered how their faces looked after his sudden outburst, the way everything seemed to have frozen and the fact that he felt so light hearted after letting everything out. He chuckled at the memory.
Of course after yelling such a deep secret all he wanted to do was crawl in a ditch and hope to die. He panicked hoping no one else was around to hear his embarrassing confession but his sempais quickly ran to his side punching him in the back as a way of congratulation. Even Tezuka himself came in and gave a small 'congratulations' with his rarely seen smile.
At least he got through the easy part, which was admitting his feelings but now he had to pass the hardest part which was actually asking her out. He'd been considering everything and thinking things through to make sure that nothing bad would happened. The last thing he wanted was hurting her at this point. But he didn't want to end up hurt as well. He also wanted to make sure that timing and location was perfect. Although he didn't know why but he wanted everything to be perfect for her. He never knew feelings like this would make a person go to such extent just to make the person you care for feel happy.
"Ryoma-kun! Ohayou!"
Quickly Ryoma pulled his head out of the clouds as he heard an all too familiar voice. He turned and found the girl in his thoughts standing in front of him in tennis uniform.
"Ryuzaki?"
She smiled. "Hi."
"Girls don't have practice today." he answered plainly although he smacked himself inwardly for doing so.
"I know. I just really felt like practicing today so I thought I'd come in early and practice on my own." She explained adjusting her sports bag.
"Ryuzaki-sensei's not here right now, you want to try practicing with us?" he asked feeling proud of himself for actually being nice.
Sakuno's expression showed concern. "No. It's okay. I wouldn't want to bother your practice! Plus being the new captain of the team is pretty important, I wouldn't want them to get mad at for being so nice to me."
He almost stopped breathing then and there. "N-no. It's fine."
'Did I just stutter? Hurry! Cover it up!'
"It'd look pathetic if you practice on your own in such a big court." Ryoma quickly added. 'Idiot! Don't call her pathetic!'
"Oh, really?" she answered looking much more worried.
"C'mon, just hurry up. I have to get back to practice." he called over giving the girl no choice but to follow him.
"Sorry about this." she replied walking beside the young male. "And thanks. I needed a pick me up."
Ryoma smirked in victory as they entered the courts. Momo quickly ran over to the two giving Ryoma a pat on the back when Sakuno ran laps for warm up.
"You're sneaky!" he teased but Ryoma quickly threatened him with laps and Momo had no choice but to shut it. Sudden murmurs echoed throughout the court as a new distraction was noticed.
"Whoa. Why's there a girl here?"
"Ooh, cutie!"
"Where?"
"Look, she running laps!"
"Hey! She's cute!
"Thank god they made tennis skirts so short!"
The last comment completely made Ryoma livid. To think that other guys were looking at her in such a way disgusted him. Of course he just had to do something.
"If you're easily fazed by a mere girl then I say you're not meant to be in this team!" he yelled ferociously making the guys jolt in fear. And they thought Tezuka was a demon, they were dealing with the devil himself! "Run laps around the school!"
"WHAT!?"
"Do you want worse?!" He retorted making them squeal in fear. Quickly the group made their way out of the courts and began running their assigned laps.
"Protective much." Momo teased as he threw Ryoma his racket. "Why don't you have a match with her?"
Ryoma caught the racket and walked off. "I was planning that from the beginning." he replied
arrogantly as he called Sakuno from her laps and explained their match.
"We haven't played in awhile!" Sakuno cheered as she bounced the tennis ball by her feet.
"Let's see how much you've improved." he spoke from the other side of the court. "You serve first."
"Okay!" Sakuno yelled back as she threw the ball in the air and hit it as hard as she could. The ball flew fast to the other side of the court and bounced just before the bass line.
Ryoma moved fast and hit the ball back but he but he never noticed that Sakuno had already approached the net, it was already too late to change the hit and it headed directly to Sakuno. The long haired girl dropped her racket a few centimeters and let the ball bounce off it. Ryoma ran towards the ball but the ball rolled towards the net instead of the expected bounce.
Everyone in the courts who had just witnessed it froze in their spots even Ryoma. But that quickly changed as everyone erupted in an all out cheer.
"WOW!!"
"Whoa! Was that the Zero Shiki!?"
"That's crazy!"
"Unbelievable.."
"She just did a Zero Shiki!!"
Ryoma picked the ball up and stared at Sakuno who tried her best to contain the excitement she held.
"I-I!! I actually did it!! YAY!! W-wow! I still can't believe it!" Sakuno cheered smiling her biggest smile at the young prince.
"When'd you learn it?"
"Obaa-san was looking through old videos a few months ago and I watched some with her and there were so many moves that were so intriguing and I decided to ask her to help me practice some of them! Tezuka-sempai's 'Zero Shiki' was one of the hardest to learn but for once I actually did it!" she explained.
"Hn. You've gotten better." he added.
Sakuno smiled. "You helped me out a lot! Without any of your training I probably would've never reached this shape!"
Ryoma had to look away after that. If he kept his eyes on her he probably would've never been able to take them back. "Yeah.. No problem."
"Let's continue!"
He nodded.
The two managed to finish their game before school started. Of course the game won in his favor but it was definitely a close call. But he told himself that he had a handicap. If only he kept his eyes off her body and on the ball he was sure to have won greater than 7-5.
'Stupid puberty and the things you do to me! It's her fault for being so...'
"She looked good out there huh?" Momo teased but Ryoma returned his comment with a deadly glare that would scare the devil himself.
'This is good right? What I'm doing is good right?' Sakuno wondered as she walked to the bathroom to change since the girl's locker room was still locked. 'If I keep it all secret then it'll be fine right?'
The young girl shook her head as she tried her best to forget about her problems but everything just kept resurfacing. The problems refused to disappear and much to her annoyance they just seemed to yell for attention.
"I've already decided that this is what I'm going to do." she whispered to herself before slipping out of the bathroom stall. The bathroom mirror met her and she couldn't help but freeze. She stared long and hard at her eyes and spoke. "You can't let this get to you. You were expected to act like an adult so stop complaining and figure it out yourself. Treasure as much as you can in your remaining time because this is all the time you're going to get. This is your chance and this is it. Now suck it up and move on."
The words echoed through the ghostly bathroom and she let the words sink in deep before taking a deep breath. She closed her eyes trying her best to focus on what she had just said to herself.
"This is all you can do."
Slowly she opened her eyes and smiled in sorrow, she took a step near the mirror to fix herself up but she couldn't help but think one thing.
'This bathroom may mean nothing to me now but... This will probably the last time I'll be able to use it.'
The tears she'd not wanted to shed pooled in her eyes and one by one they fell. Tears plopped silently against the sink and Sakuno sunk to her knees clutching onto the white marble for support. Her quiet whimpers fell into deaf ears as she released her overwhelming sadness, her fingers clawing against the sink as if not doing so would kill her.
'It's not fair.'
"Echizen! What're you doing? Class is starting soon!" Momo yelled as he got out of the boys' locker room. Ryoma who had been standing around the fountain near the bathroom remained still as his two upperclassmen walked towards him.
"You look pathetic standing around like that." Kaidoh joked as he took a drink from the fountain. "I'm going to head off early."
Momo turned around smirking at Ryoma as he pointed at the leaving male. "He's probably going to meet up with that Osakada girl."
The young prince scoffed and shrugged. "He still doesn't know how obvious he is about it."
"So true. Anyways what're you standing out he-" Momo paused when he realized something. "Oh... Ha! You're one sneaky little guy! Acting all natural out here when in truth you're waiting for your girl! Nice move!"
Ryoma frowned as he realized how obvious he was as well. "Leave me alone."
"Don't worry! I'll leave you and your sweetheart alone! Just let me joke around for a little bit, I don't get to do this often!" he added smacking him in the back like a proud father.
"Hm? Momo-senpai? Ryoma?"
'Ah damn.'
"What are you two doing here?" the brunette asked worrying about her appearance. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to see her red eyes (from her crying).
"Well buchou I'm gonna go ahead and leave you with your "business"." Momo chuckled as making quote marks with his fingers for the word business. Ryoma almost threw his bag at the tall male but Sakuno remained oblivious about what he'd meant by it much to Ryoma's relief.
"Is something wrong?" Sakuno asked looking him in the eye as if she would be able to tell by just looking at him.
Ryoma couldn't respond once she stepped closer towards him. His hat might've helped hide his face but the heat rising on his cheeks and the way his palms began to sweat was starting to get unbearable. But the girl in front of him only got closer after seeing his burning face.
"Ryoma, you're all red. You really don't look so good." Sakuno added lifting her small hand to his cheeks to feel his temperature.
'Whoa. When did she get so brave?'
"You're burning up! I think you might have a fever!" she exclaimed. "We have to get you to the nurse!"
"I-I'm fine!" Ryoma half shouted backing away from her soft touch. "It doesn't matter, we have to get to class."
Sakuno lowered her arm feeling bad about surprising him with her sudden action. "O-okay. But are you sure you're fine? It wouldn't be good for you if you just ignored this. Just make sure you don't push yourself too hard or else, it could get worse."
Ryoma couldn't help but chuckle at her. "You're not my mother." he joked noticing the girl's lips form into a cute pout.
'This is torture.'
Sakuno looked away trying her best to halt her feelings to overflow from her heart. 'No. Stop yourself. Don't let yourself fall too far! It's only going to make things much worse!'
True. It was hard when he was being such a guy around her. She just couldn't help but fall for him over and over again. The way he treated her and the way she acted around her made her feel so special. Ever since they've met he'd considered her his only female friend. Even Tomoka was only nothing but an acquaintance and when she heard from his father once that she was pretty much the only female friend he had it made her feel important. Just the thought of leaving him for a week broke her heart. She could only imagine what it would be like to be torn away from him for years, maybe even forever.
Before she knew it tears had once again invaded her eyes. They were unstoppable once they've started, that she was aware of when she tried to wipe them away. She managed to slow down and stay behind him but that didn't stop him from finding out. The poor girl blamed her throat for making such a loud whimper.
Ryoma who was caught off guard almost jumped when he found her crying but Sakuno had heavy tears flowing freely from eyes and no matter how many times she wiped them away they still kept coming.
"W-what happened?" he asked not knowing what else to say.
Sakuno sobbed. "I-I... I... I'm sorry!" she wailed before running off to the girl's bathroom once more. Ryoma didn't expect her sudden dash and when he ran after her he was already too late and she'd already hidden herself in the bathroom. Although that didn't stop him from entering.
"Ryuzaki!" he called out once he came in. He found Sakuno bent over the sink, her head cradled in her arms. He walked towards her ignoring the fact that any other girl might walk in and find him in the girls' bathroom.
"Wh-what're you doing in here?" she sobbed trying her best to command her throat to work.
Ryoma reached her side but he didn't know what else to do besides that. "What's wrong?"
The girl remained silent and the only sound echoing through the bathroom was the sound of her sniffling. The young boy was always clueless when it came to these kinds of moments. Well of course that was the case. No one has ever cried this much around him and yet here she was crying in front of him. He was obviously not the kind of person who was good with advice and helping people, he knew that well but he couldn't help but feel guilty for not being able to do anything when she was practically screaming for help.
A few moments passed and Sakuno managed to straighten herself out a little. At least she managed to control her voice. She stood up straight and wiped the ever flowing tears from her eyes. She gave him a small smile before opening her mouth to speak.
"S-Sorry about that... I-I.. I guess I'm fine now.." she whispered, her voice still had a slight shiver. "I think we should head to cla-.."
It grew silent. Sakuno felt something surround her and she grew utterly confused. Although she'd felt an unfamiliar warmth hug her body. But her eyes widened when she finally realized the situation.
Ryoma tightened his arms around her. Her small frame crushed against his. He never knew she was so small, so fragile, almost as if she could break from any small contact with a hard object. No reason or explanation came to mind when he was analyzing his actions. He always seemed to find logic in everything he did but this small action just seemed too unexplainable. Here he was in the girl's bathroom hugging a girl who had suddenly burst into tears in front of him. None of it made sense. But nonetheless, what he was doing just seemed like the right thing to do.
He rested his head on hers, smelling her sweet shampoo from her soft, silky hair. Both his arms encircled around the girl hoping to god that she won't push him away. But they both stayed still. No one moved a centimeter.
Sakuno let herself melt into his arms. Her head snuggled up on his shoulder and her tears dried off. She noted how much he smelled like a man. Even though he hadn't worn perfume he still had that husky smell on him. It made her head spin. The whole scenario was definitely something she wasn't expecting.
"Sorry about this." she whispered. Her breath tickling his neck.
He kept quiet for a moment but slowly shook his head. "For what?"
"For being such a crybaby." she replied letting out a quiet giggle.
'That's one of the things I like about you.' is what he was about to say but he quickly shut his mouth while his heart sunk o the very bottom of his stomach.
'No, not yet.' he thought inwardly. "Don't worry about it."
Slowly he loosened his hold and backed away, though his arms were still resting on her waist. He stared down at her to see if she was okay and she looked up with her watery eyes. She smiled.
"Thank you." her lips muttered before she stepped back, releasing herself from his hold. A sudden cold rushed through their bodies when all contact was gone. He had to admit he never wanted to let her go.
"You sure you're okay now?" he had to ask once more when they exited the bathroom.
She nodded and smiled. "Yes, thank you. It's really nice to have seen another side of you."
Ryoma kept quiet and merely shrugged. But then she heard her giggle. Quickly he turned to her to find her almost bursting out into laughter.
"What're you laughing at?"
Sakuno laughed. "Sorry! It's just that I realized something!"
"What?" he asked growing confused at how she could change from sad to happy so quickly.
"R-Ryoma-kun was in the girl's bathroom!" she managed to say before laughing out loud once more. Ryoma blushed and quickly hid his face.
"Don't tell anyone!" he huffed sticking his hands into his pockets as if he had just been yelled at by his mother.
Sakuno giggled once more. "I won't, don't worry."
Her eyes trailed down to her shoes before everything came crashing back down.
'I never anything could hurt so much.'
Well there you go! That's chapter one for you! I might edit this again later but for now I'm just going to post it up just because. If you guys find something grammatically wrong or if you just want to see something different, let me know and I'll try and change it your way. We'll see where this one goes, because I'm a little worried about it. I know what's going to happened but I just don't know how to tie everything in so yup. That's always the bad part of the deal. Anyways it's another half-baked story that I pulled out of my head. Hope you guys enjoyed and please review! See you next chapter, if I ever get ot it that is... Thank you!
--Tororgi3