The Matchmaker

Disclaimer: PoT and all of its very-well-thought-up characters belong to Konomi Takeshi, not me.

Hola, everyone! This is my FIRST fic so please support me and be kind, review but no flames please. I think the story's pretty cliche but here it is. Hope you all like it.

of.sin.and.sanity

February 14th is a very special day for most girls or boys.

Girls have a chance to give chocolate to their true love and boys have a chance to receive chocolate from their admirers.

The day is very special indeed.

But, for one boy, it never really mattered.

- - -

"Oi. Seishonen, you do remember what day it is today, right?"

Echizen Ryoma turned and pinned a golden-eyed glare on his father.

"Maybe. Why?"

"Just making sure! You can't possibly think of wearing that to school on such an important day!" Nanjiroh said, pointing in disgust at Ryoma's outfit.

"Oyaji... This is my school uniform..."

"Huh. When I was your age, on Valentine's Day, I'd go to school wearing such ―"

"I'm going to be late for school," Ryoma stated, pulling down his cap and heading out the door.

"Just make sure you get lots and lots of chocolate from lots and lots of hot babes!" Nanjiroh called out after his son.

"Mada mada da ne...," the Prince of Tennis muttered.

The robed, perverted monk watched his son walk off quickly and chuckled. "So uncute..."

- - -

While Nanjiroh held the door open, watching his son walk away, a certain Himalayan cat slipped through and trotted off.

Nanjiroh went back inside to read his magazines.

Neither Echizen noticed Karupin quietly follow Ryoma...

- - -

Ryoma walked to Seigaku High, enjoying the peace and quiet while it still lasted.

As soon as the green-haired prodigy entered the door of the school, he noticed a certain change in the atmosphere of the school. Looking around, he saw many girls sneakily hiding behind lockers, people, or other objects, staring at him as if they were ready to pounce.

Ryoma sighed and walked briskly to his own locker, trying to avoid any girl in sight. After shoving his bag in and gathering all he needed, he shut his locker door and turned.

And ran right into a hoard of girls.

"Ryoma-sama!" they all shouted while trying to shove their own chocolates or love letters into his hands.

Echizen wince at their screeching voices and tried to pull away from their grasps. After minutes, all the girls had dropped their chocolates at his feet and ran off.

Rolling his feline eyes, he knelt down to clean up their mess. Picking up all the chocolates, he reopened his locker and stuffed the chocolates all in, hoping they'd fit.

Shutting the locker was difficult, but he managed. Ryoma wiped his brow, and then left for homeroom.

In the midst of all that commotion from the girls, Ryoma hadn't noticed his Himalayan cat standing in the corner of the hall, watching the scene.

Once his owner disappeared from view, Karupin quietly crept over to the locker.

Looking up, the cat notice the locker door was slightly bulging. Cocking his head to the side, he stared at the locker. Just then, the locker flung open and all the chocolates exploded out, landing in a gigantic mass in front of the locker.

At the bottom of the mountain of chocolates was poor Karupin, softly meowing under all the weight. Climbing out, the cat clawed at some chocolates before leaving the scene.

- - -

"Eh? Echizen, where are all your chocolates?" Momo asked, curious as to why the bratty freshman with his own fan club had no valentines with him.

Ryoma shrugged and continued to eat his lunch.

"Don't tell me you didn't get any!"

Ryoma merely glared at the spiky-haired sophomore for disrupting him while he was eating.

"I mean, you at least got one from Tomoka-chan and Ryuzaki-chan, right?"

Ryoma was about to stuff Momo's food into his mouth for him to shut him up but then he froze.

He distinctly remembered hearing Tomoka's shrieking, high-pitched voice among the mass of admirers this morning. He remembered seeing her as well.

But as for the quiet, shy girl with long, auburn braids...

Ryoma couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't received any chocolates from her. In fact, he hadn't seen her all day today. As much as he didn't want to admit it, she was becoming a daily person in his life, always there to give him the wrong directions, always there to walk home with him, always there to blush in front of him...

Shaking his head, Ryoma couldn't believe he was thinking such things. It didn't matter whether or not he received chocolates from her. After all, Valentine's Day was overrated, always was. Right?

Suddenly waking up from his thoughts, he realized Momo was staring at him with a smug grin. Ryoma's face turned red.

"Mada mada da ne, Momo-sempai..." Ryoma muttered before getting up. He threw away the remnants of his lunch and left the cafeteria, leaving a confused Momo at the table.

- - -

Karupin strolled down the halls, every now and then encountering girls who stopped and petted him, calling him "cute". Shaking them off, Karupin continued in search of something.

Noticing an open door at the top of a flight of stairs, the cat smelled fresh air coming from the open door.

He climbed up the stair and slipped through the crack in the door and found himself on the roof of the building.

Just when he was about to turn and head back down the stairs (because he was slightly afraid of heights), he saw two auburn-colored ropes dancing in the wind.

Mewing softly, Karupin quietly moved towards the ropes, ready to pounce on them.

Then he noticed that they were attached to a girl's head.

- - -

With still half the lunch block to kill, Ryoma walked around aimlessly, looking for a quiet place to nap.

He observed that the door to the roof was slightly open but he saw shadows on the other side so he didn't want to interrupt.

Walking out the doors of the school building, he sat down on the grass behind some bushes and closed his eyes, shoving his cap a little forward so that it covered his eyes from the sun.

Within seconds, the golden-eyed freshman was asleep.

- - -

"Eh? A kitty?"

Sakuno was leaning on the wall of the building when she saw a fluffy white-and-brown-furred cat jumping at her braids.

Leaning down, Sakuno knelt before Karupin and smiled.

"You are such a cute little thing!" she said, petting Karupin under the ears. The Himalayan cat stared wide-eyed at the girl but softly purred with pleasure.

Sakuno smiled again.

Karupin's stomach suddenly growled since the cat hadn't gotten any lunch. Sakuno blinked, and then realized it was the cat's stomach.

"Oh, kitty, you're hungry! Hold on, I think I've got... some extra lunch left over...," Sakuno muttered as she turned around and picked up her bento from behind her.

"Here, little kitty, eat up!" Sakuno said, placing the half-eaten bento in front of Ryoma's cat. Karupin meowed and then happily dug in.

After a while, Sakuno sighed. "You know, kitty, I've been hiding up here all during lunch..."

Karupin looked up from his bento for a second to show he was paying attention and then continued to gobble it up.

"I mean, see, there's this boy," Sakuno continued, "who I think I really like. I even brought chocolates for him today."

She showed Karupin the heart-shaped box of chocolates and sighed.

"I want to give them to him, I really do. But, today... this morning, when I saw him surrounded by all those girls with their chocolates, I wondered. I wondered if... my one chocolate would make a difference if he'd already received a million! You know?"

Sakuno looked at the cat and smiled.

"Hehe, funny, I'm talking to a cat."

Karupin just stared at the auburn-haired girl and then went back to his food.

"Well, kitty, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm... just... Well, I'm pretty sure Ryoma-kun... He doesn't like me back."

Karupin looked up from his lunch and, once more, stared at the girl.

My master... Ryoma-kun?

"He always says I'm so troublesome too! I'm always so weak around him, so shy, so nervous and because of that I act so immature! He always scorns me and calls me a nuisance... But Ryoma-kun is still such a good friend and... I want to thank him... I just need a good chance, catch him alone, but I never do... And I'm too afraid to ask him to talk, especially in front of all his friends and... It'd just be so embarrassing! Even worse, he might not accept my chocolates... but..."

Sakuno was lost in thought. Karupin looked at her as she pulled out a picture of Ryoma from her pocket.

Ryoma had his uniform on and he was carrying a large load of books. His expression was dreamy, as if he was off in his own world, even as he was walking. He was surrounded by people in the library so the picture was obviously taken in secret, without Ryoma's knowing.

Karupin stared at the picture, then at the girl, then at the picture.

Eating one last bite from Sakuno's bento, Karupin darted off. He rounded the corner and went back inside the building and down the stairs.

Sakuno got up and watched the cat leave. "Thanks for listening, little kitty," she said, smiling. She looked at Ryoma's picture again and sighed.

- - -

"Mrow!" Karupin batted at Ryoma's cap.

"Not now, Karupin...," the freshman muttered, petting the cat away blindly, and then going back to his nap.

Suddenly, he sat straight up, his cap falling off his head.

"Karupin??" he exclaimed, looking at his Himalayan cat beside him.

Karupin stared at him once, then turned and darting off towards the school.

"Karupin!" Ryoma shouted, grabbing his cap and running off after his cat.

Karupin raced into the school with Ryoma close on his tail. Ryoma ran desperately after his cat, though he had no clue where it was going.

"Karupin! Where are you going?! W-why are you here in the first place?! Gah... Karupin!!"

Finally, the cat found the staircase to the roof and ran up, slipping through the door and out of Ryoma's sight.

The roof? Ryoma thought before racing up after his cat.

Ryoma had barged through the door just as Sakuno was petting Karupin again.

"Ah?! R- Ryoma-kun! Uh, what are you doing here?" Sakuno stuttered, surprised that five seconds after the cat had come back, Ryoma just randomly showed up with his disheveled appearance.

Dang it! Ryoma thought desperately. I look like an idiot, barging through the door like that... my uniform's all messed up too... He cursed to himself under his breath.

"Ryuzaki? What are you doing here?" he asked, suddenly realizing the peculiarity of her being up here.

"Um, I was just... eating my lunch up here," she answered, still unconsciously petting Karupin, who remained by her side.

"Hn. Well... That's my cat," he said, trying hard to keep his cool appearance.

"Oh!" Sakuno said in surprise, jumping up and backing away from Karupin. "Gomen! I - I really didn't know! It just c-came up here while I was here and ―"

"It's fine, Ryuzaki. Thank you for finding him," Ryoma said gratefully, picking Karupin up into his arms.

Karupin meowed, struggling from his grasp. He managed to get out of Ryoma's arms and leaped to the ground, running straight towards where a certain heart-shaped box was hidden.

"Ah!!!" Sakuno yelped when she realized Karupin was leading Ryoma's gaze to the chocolates. She ran to stop the cat but then realized that this was her chance to give them to him. They were alone, after all, and that's what she'd wanted.

"Karupin! Get back here!" Ryoma said, coaxing his cat back. Karupin stopped mid-run, eyed Sakuno one last time, and then jumped back into Ryoma's arms.

"Well, it's been nice seeing you. See you after practice then," Ryoma said to her, secretly disappointed that she hadn't given anything to him.

"R-RYOMA-KUN!" Sakuno shouted with her eyes shut tight.

Surprised, Ryoma turned around.

Sakuno stared at her feet, blushing madly.

"Uh, could you hold on a sec!" She ran and quickly recovered her chocolates and her letter. She ran back to Ryoma, who was still holding Karupin in his arms.

"Ryoma-kun... um... THIS IS FOR YOU!" She bowed deep and handed the chocolates and the letter to Ryoma. Ryoma took it, surprised but secretly satisfied.

Rising, Sakuno's face turned red. Before Ryoma could say anything, she quickly ran away, back into the building.

Ryoma gently put Karupin down and opened the letter.

Dear Ryoma-kun,

Hope the chocolates aren't "mada mada da ne"!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yours truly,

Ryuzaki Sakuno

Karupin gently meowed as he saw his master slowly smile.

- - -

Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot! Sakuno ran and yelled at herself. You - are - so - stupid! Just shove it in his hands and run for it, huh? So much for an emotional moment of confession! IDIOT!

Somehow, Sakuno went through the rest of the school day avoiding Ryoma. Not once did she see him and she had a feeling why.

He hates me now... He's too embarrassed to see me... He doesn't want to hurt my feelings... He doesn't like me back... He won't be my friend anymore...

After tennis practice, Sakuno didn't wait for Ryoma like she usually did. There's no point anymore... Our friendship, or whatever it was, it's over...

She was just heading out of the school's entrance she was bonked in the back of the head by someone.

"Ah! Hey!" Sakuno pouted, turning to see who it was.

And there, brushing his shoulder against hers as he walked past, was Echizen Ryoma.

"You didn't wait for me today," He murmured so softly she almost didn't hear him. She blushed when she saw him slightly smile.

Behind him was Karupin, who stopped to meow at Sakuno before trotting happily after his master.

Still standing there, frozen, Sakuno stared after the green-haired freshman, wondering what he meant.

Then, as if to answer her questions, he turned.

"You coming?"

Sakuno's whole face lit up as she smiled. She ran and caught up to Ryoma, who stood still, waiting for her.

"Oh yeah," Ryoma continued. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Sakuno looked up into Ryoma eyes and blushed, quickly looking back down at her feet.

Smiling softly, Ryoma, offered her his hand. "Shall we?"

Sakuno smiled too and took it.

Together, they walked, hand in hand, back home. With Karupin trailing behind.

- - -

"Cat! Where have you been all day?!" Nanjiroh mumbled, picking up Karupin hastily and going back inside.

Karupin meowed. Matchmaking.