A/N: A one-shot I thought of after reading this certain shoujo manga... Some plots may be similar to that manga with some changes though. LOL I forgot the title of that certain manga. I have such a bad memory. Sorry if I'm slow updating Princess and Thief though. I got a writer's block on that fic. RxR~
Warning: OOC maybe T.T
Disclaimer applies.
Overcoming the Silence
Silence is one great art of conversation. -William Hazlitt
"I like you, would you go out with me?"
Sakuno stared, dumbfounded. Upon realizing the fact that her crush just confessed to her, she blushed and looked down.
The sun was already setting and all the students, except those in clubs, went home already. Ryuzaki Sakuno, 12 years old, was about to go home as well only to see her crush, Echizen Ryoma, suddenly confess to her.
Is this some kind of prank?
"Y-Yes."
Think of her as stupid or an idiot, she doesn't care. Even if it was just a prank, to be able to get close to the one you like even for just a short moment is enough for her. That's why she accepted.
After that incident, they would always walk home together. Ryoma would wait outside her classroom or when he has club, Sakuno would wait and watch him.
But after that incident, they lost communication.
They walk home together, yeah, but they never found a topic to talk about. Their whole walk was filled with silence.
It lasted for a month, until that fated day.
While walking home together in silence, Ryoma suddenly spoke.
"You must be thinking how I'm boring to be around with, huh?"
Sakuno stopped and looked up at Ryoma.
'No, that's not it at all.'
Sakuno wanted to say those words but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out.
Ryoma turned to look at Sakuno.
"Let's break up." Ryoma said which made Sakuno flinch. She stared at his face and couldn't find any expression on him. Why must he be such a serious guy?
Ryoma then went closer to her and grabbed her hand placing something in it.
It was a necklace, with a blue penguin attached to it.
"At least, let me give that to you. You can do anything with that. Throw it away or break it."
Ryoma then walked away, biting his lower lip while Sakuno clutched the necklace close to her chest. She was sad, but tears won't come out for some reason.
~xoxoxoxo~
3 years passed and they were now in high school. They were still in the same school but this time, they were placed in the same class.
"Wow, these cookies look great! Can we try one?"
"Sure." Sakuno smiled as the girls got cookies and took a bite out of it.
"So delicious! You're so great in making stuff like these, Sakuno-chan!"
"Echizen!" A teacher called out from outside their classroom. Ryoma stood up from his seat to go to him, passing by Sakuno's table. Tomoka glanced at Ryoma and called, "Ryoma-sama! Try one of Sakuno's cookies."
Ryoma looked at Tomoka then at Sakuno. Sakuno had her eyes widened but it quickly softened into a smile. Ryoma took one cookie and left but not before saying, "Thank you."
One of the girls then said, "Sakuno-chan, you and Echizen-kun dated before right?"
Sakuno's gaze looked down but she continued wearing a smile on her face to not let the others worry.
"Yeah, it was a shock. Out of the blue, you two would walk home together everyday. But then out of the blue again, you two stopped."
"Uhm, yeah. We were still young back then." Sakuno reasoned.
"Sakuno-chan, do you still have feelings for him?"
Sakuno bit her lip. She has. She still has feelings for him but she can't possibly tell that to them. It would reach Ryoma and it would be embarrassing if he learned that she still has feelings for him. Ryoma's feelings for her possibly changed.
"Sakuno. We're gonna be on duty together later." Ryoma, who came back from being called by the teacher, informed Sakuno.
Sakuno looked up at him in shock and nodded.
After Ryoma left, Tomoka said, "He still calls you by your first name. Maybe he still has feelings for you."
Sakuno was about to deny it but the bell rang signalling the end of lunch.
~xoxoxoxo~
It was dismissal time and all the students went out of the classroom leaving Ryoma and Sakuno alone.
They made the tables face each other and Sakuno wrote the things that happened in a notebook as part of her duty.
Like usual, silence was evident until Ryoma decided to break it.
"The cookie was delicious."
Sakuno stopped writing. She smiled and said, "Thank you."
Sakuno finished writing half of it and gently pushed the notebook to Ryoma for him to finish.
She wanted to bring up a topic as well but she can't think of any. All the things she talked about with the others were her cookies and her relationship with Ryoma. She wouldn't even dare bring up that topic to him.
Unfortunately, they finished without anyone saying another word to each other.
~xoxoxoxo~
The next day at lunch, Ryoma was sitting at his usual desk with the ichinen trio surrounding him and talking about stuffs.
Sakuno approached them and told Ryoma, "The teacher asked me to give you this, Ryoma-kun."
"Thank you."
Sakuno left and went back to her seat while the ichinen trio stared at her.
Horio then said to Ryoma, "You dated Ryuzaki-san back in middle school right? She still calls you by your first name and you call her by name as well. You still have feelings for her?"
Everyone in the classroom looked at Ryoma's direction. Kachiro and Katsuo sweat dropped.
"Horio-kun! Your voice is too loud." Kachiro said while Katsuo took a glance at Sakuno and sweat buckets once he found her looking at them.
Ryoma boredly stared at Horio. He looked around him and everyone looked back at him with anticipated expressions. He sighed and stood up as he said, "Yeah. I still have feelings for her. You happy now?"
The class was in an uproar but Ryoma didn't care one bit. Sakuno fidgeted in her seat while looking down. She was being teased by the other girls in class but she just blushed and didn't answer.
When the students realized that the two of them don't plan on talking, the issue calmed down. Ryoma was left alone with the ichinen trio while Sakuno with Tomoka.
"That was such a mess huh?" Tomoka laughed and patted Sakuno on the back. Sakuno smiled at her and answered, "Yeah."
"Aren't you glad though?" She asked. Sakuno stopped smiling and looked ahead, seemingly thinking of something.
"I noticed that you keep wearing this necklace ever since middle school. Who gave it to you?" Tomoka said, holding Sakuno's necklace gently in her hand. Sakuno didn't even notice her took it out.
"Ah, y-yeah. Someone gave it to me." Sakuno answered. Tomoka smiled a tired smile thinking, 'That didn't really answer my question but okay.'
Ryoma stood up from his seat and walked out of the classroom.
"Hey, where are you going?" Horio asked.
"Toilet."
Tomoka watched the scene and stood up as well. Sakuno looked at Tomoka questioningly.
"I'm going to the washroom for a while." Tomoka said.
"I'll go with you." Sakuno offered and was about to stand up but Tomoka pushed her back down gently.
"I'll be quick." Tomoka smiled and walked out.
~xoxoxoxo~
"Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka called out when they were a little far from their classroom.
Ryoma, hearing that it was Tomoka, quickened his pace. Tomoka vein popped and ran after him.
"I'm not here to bother you! It's about Sakuno." Tomoka said and rejoiced in her mind when she successfully made Ryoma stop.
"What do you want?" Ryoma boredly asked.
"I wanna ask. Did you gave something to Sakuno back when you were dating?" Tomoka asked.
Ryoma blinked and thought hard. After a while he answered, "Yeah."
"Was it a necklace with a penguin?" Tomoka asked while grinning. Ryoma weirdly stared at her grin and nodded.
"Haven't you noticed? Sakuno wore that necklace since middle school until now."
"I see." Ryoma said and walked away only to be stopped by Tomoka again.
"No, you don't see! She still has feelings for you as well. Go talk it out with her. I may not know what happened to you two back when you were dating but it's clear that you two still aren't over each other so go talk it out!" Tomoka scolded Ryoma making other students look at them.
Ryoma sighed at the attention they were receiving and irritatingly said, "Fine."
~xoxoxoxo~
That dismissal time, Ryoma called Sakuno out to the rooftop.
"Is there something you need Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno asked while looking down and playing with her skirt.
Ryoma went closer to Sakuno and saw her wearing the necklace he gave her. He took it gently unto his hand and stared at it. Sakuno blushed.
"I-" Ryoma started but Sakuno interrupted him saying, "I still love you, Ryoma-kun."
Ryoma stared at her. Letting go of the necklace he said, "Let's start over again. You can talk about anything with me. Even the breakfast you ate or the things you do. I won't laugh and will listen to everything you say."
Sakuno nodded. The tears that didn't come out that day they broke up were now falling from her eyes. But it wasn't tears of sadness. They were tears of happiness.
Ryoma gently hugged Sakuno as she cried her eyes out and patted her head as if implying that everything will be okay and that they will always be happy from now on.
End