Disclaimer: As much as I would love to own Prince of Tennis, it kills me to say that I do not own it
The Art of Flirting: Chapter 1: The Problem
Summary: To get Ryoma to realize his deep, deep feelings for Sakuno, she is taking Tomo-chan's advice: get Ryoma jealous by flirting with the sempais. Easy enough, right?
Note: I have read the whole series of PoT, and (SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT READ!! JUST SAVING MYSELF FROM ANNOYING COMMENTS!) I know that they do not end up together, and I also know that he goes to USA after the National tournament. (END SPOILER!) So, I decided the story takes place right after the tournament, before the end of the school year. Timing may be off, but it's just a story. This will also be a pretty short story, less than 20 chapters.
And, if you didn't know, its definitely a RyoSaku fanfic because what other pair is there? (rhetorical question)
I was walking down the street one Thursday morning to go to Seishun Academy. Tomo-chan was next to me, going on and on about what had happened at the Nationals. And, for the past five sentences, she had continuously said how awesome Ryoma-kun did. As much as I liked him, he was a complete jerk to me on the day of the Nationals. After I had tried to find him and help him with his tennis, he blows me off without even saying 'Oh thanks for the offer!' But then again, who was I kidding. Ryoma-kun never says 'thank you' or 'your welcome'. He was the cockiest, most arrogant twelve-year-old I knew. Tomo-chan said she now preferred Fuji-sempai over her once-great-idol Ryoma-kun. Her change in crushes made me start to think: why did I like Ryoma-kun?
"So, I saw Ryoma-sama's awesome last move at the Nationals yesterday! He called it…well I don't remember but it was so awesome! It's such a shame that Fuji-sempai lost. He's so cooler than Ryoma-sama is!" She stopped for a second.
"Sakuno-chan, are you even listening to me?" She whined, waving her hand in front of my face.
Tomo-chan's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Yeah, yeah I'm listening. Fuji-sempai was awesome, but he lost. I know, I was there too remember?"
"But not for Ryoma-sama's match! Where were you?" Oh, she caught me. I wasn't there for his match because, as mentioned before, I was furious at him!
"Oh…I was…busy." I quickly made up an excuse, which I doubted Tomo-chan was going to buy.
"Yeah, sure, Sakuno-chan, sure." Tomo-chan slowly nodded her head, as to say 'Yeah right you lier!' But, before I could say anything to back my horrible excuse up, Ryoma-kun walked by. Before I knew it, I blushed and my palms got sweaty. My heart beat speed up. Why did Ryoma-kun make me act this way? And why hasn't he noticed? I sighed inwardly; these are the questions that'll never be answered.
"Hey Ryoma-kun!" I exclaimed cheerfully, waving, "Good job at Nationals!"
He glanced back, a backwards wave, and continued to walk on. I was practically fuming.
"What was that?" I said angrily to Tomo-chan once Ryoma-kun was out of earshot. "He didn't even say anything!"
"Yeah, Ryoma-sama isn't very nice to you." Tomo-chan continued, hearts in her eyes, "But Fuji-sempai is always nice!"
"You know Fuji-sempai is graduating to high school next year, right?" I snapped, bursting Tomo-chan's happiness.
"Hey, atleast the guy I like isn't a total ass." Tomo-chan fired back. Oh, nice comeback, I thought sarcastically.
"I know he's an a-a-ass." I stuttered over what I considered a 'foul word'. I've never been great at arguments. Although I'm overcoming my shyness little by little everyday, I still have trouble saying foul words.
"Come on Sakuno-chan. Ass. Say it with me. Ass." I waved her off.
"The real problem, Tomo-chan," I said, changing the subject abruptly, "is that I have no clue whether Ryoma-kun really likes me or not."
We had reached our lockers, and I started to turn my dial. 24,45,50. With a twang my locker door opened and I started to stuff books into the small storage space.
"There's an easy answer to your question Sakuno-chan," Tomo-chan started with a wink, "you have to make Ryoma-kun jealous!"
I stared at her dumbfounded. "Why would we want to get Ryoma-kun jealous?" I finished up at my locker and together we walked over to hers. While she was doing her code, she answered: "You see, Sakuno-chan, guys get jealous whenever a girl they like is talking and/or hanging out with another guy. It's some instinct they have. Simply enough, if Ryoma-kun gets jealous, then we know he likes you or at least has some feelings for you."
"Please, Tomo-chan, you know Ryoma-kun doesn't show feelings like that." I scoffed at her.
"That's not what Momo-chan told me!" She winked again, closing her locker. Although the two of us had different homerooms, we walked down the hallway together. I stopped and stared at her. Tomo-chan stopped too and gave me a weird look. But I didn't care: Since when did Tomo-chan hang out with Momo-sempai?
I repeated what I thought, "Tomo-chan, you hang out with Momo-sempai?" I was beyond astonished.
"Come on Sakuno-chan. You're not my only friend, you know!" Ouch, bruise to my ego. I stared sadly at her; she quickly apologized and continued, "Well, we aren't exactly friends. While you have been practicing at the girl's tennis club, Momo-chan and I have started talking after Seigaku's matches. And, from what Momo-chan told me, Ryoma-kun got very jealous after Kintarou Tooyama, that guy from Shitenhouji, ate your homemade onigiri and said how good it was. So, if we plan this out right, Ryoma-sama will get so jealous, he won't be able to take it anymore and spill out his inner love for you!" She squealed and I winced. Ryoma-kun having inner love for me? Make it deep, deep, deep inner love for me, locked in the deepest part of his heart. I sighed, we had reached our homerooms and the bell was going to ring soon.
"What's your plan?" I asked her, knowing Tomo-chan for as long as I did, she had something up her sleeve.
"It's pretty simple Sakuno-chan. But I can't tell you now. At lunch, meet me outside and I'll discuss my beautifully thought out plan with you!" She waved and walked into her classroom.
For what seemed to be the tenth time this morning, I sighed. Why did having a crush have to be so hard? Especially since my crush is Ryoma-kun, who I can't seem to read. Sometimes it seems like he likes me; sometimes it seems like he hates me. I opened the door, walked in, stuttered 'gomen' for almost being late, and took my seat. I looked at Ryoma-kun, who was, surprise surprise, sleeping. Again, I sighed- I had three hours until lunchtime when Tomo-chan was going to tell me her plan. That's three hours of nervous anxiety. That's three hours of daydreaming of what the plan was going to be. I smirked and with sarcasm I thought: Oh, what fun those three hours will be.
TO BE CONTINUED!
A/N: I hope you liked it! Review and the next chapter will come, which is called: Solution. As you can see, I kind of made Sakuno a bit more…braver? Less shy? I just believe her character isn't weak, even though it feels Ryoma treats her like that. REVIEW, flames are welcome too.