So, I recently got back into Prince of Tennis after seeing a bit of NPoT on TV. It's been a really long time so forgive me if my characterization's a bit off. Feel free to tell me if it is so in the reviews. I'm alright with criticism, when constructive. Tis an Echizen Ryoma/Ryuuzaki Sakuno thing and so, adjust expectations accordingly. Funnily enough, though I've mostly gotten bored with shipping in the time between now and when I first watched PoT, I still ship 'em. Ah, the things that you keep from when you were twelve and innocent. Just in general, I don't write a lot of romance so forgive my clumsiness. That said, I like this enough and I hope you do, too. Reviews are appreciated, yo.

A Good Luck Charm

Ryuuzaki Sakuno came to Australia to cheer for Japan and for Ryoma back when the two had meant the exact same thing. She'd thought he'd seemed upset during their... meeting (date, she remembers Tomoka squealing) but she would've never thought he'd get kicked out of the training camp. She still wants Japan to win, of course, but, Ryoma... well, it then turned out that he'd be in the U-17 too, as an American representative, which was confusing but, well, while she wasn't sure at all about Ryoma joining the American team as a representative when she'd been praying for him to be one for Japan, she's sure he has his reasons. She'll cheer for him all the same.

But there was a problem...

If America and Japan were to face each other, who was she supposed to cheer for? Obviously, she had to support her country, but if Ryoma was playing for America then... she had to cheer for him, right? But what about all the other senpais from Seigaku on the Japanese team? Would it be a betrayal to cheer for Ryoma instead of them? But, then, would be a betrayal to cheer for them instead of for Ryoma? It was hard, deciding, but she supposes she can't really betray her home, all the members from the team her grandmother had personally coached. Even if it were for Ryoma... she can't! She just can't! She'll cheer for him against anyone else but Japan was her home, and their team was her team and she was going to support it! Yes!

That conviction didn't help much when the day came when Japan and America really were paired against each other, however.

The news that they would finally face each other was expected but terrifying and she fussed over the decision in the nights following the announcement but, in the end, she really, really couldn't cheer for Ryoma when that meant cheering against Japan, against all her senpais who saw this as their last chance to play together as a team.

She's sure he'd understand, honestly, but... she has to tell him, has to explain herself. He's owed that much, from his usual number 1 supporter (sorry, Tomo-chan!), now a supporter for the team he was going to fight against. And besides, even though she does want Japan to win, overall... she'd like to wish him some luck, too.

Which was why she here, now. At one of the vending machines near the stadium. She'd had to walk all the way over from where she, Tomoka, and all the rest of them from Japan were seated (and that was quite far, really), but she had a feeling she'd find him there and, indeed, there he was. She could always sort of tell when he was in a mood for Ponta.

"Ryuuzaki," he acknowledges, not looking away from the vending machine. Coins clattered and clang as he punched in the number for a grape-flavored Ponta.

"H-hello," she says shyly. "U-um, Ryoma-kun..?"

He turns. The light caught in his hair, giving it a greenish tinge. She'd always liked how his hair looked in the sunlight. His tennis bag was slung over the stars-and-stripes patterned shoulder of his American representative jersey. She knows she should be supporting Japan all the way through but she can't help but feel that the American rep jersey suited him just as well as his old Seigaku one did. He looked good. He didn't look at all conflicted about having to fight against Japan today.

"What is it, Ryuuzaki?"

He had a Ponta can in his hand, fresh from the machine. He really did look just like he always did before a match, excluding the new jersey. It was hard to look at him when he was like this without blurting out that she'd be cheering him on today. But that was why she was here. She wasn't going to be cheering him on... though, she may at least give him a little good luck charm, just because, well, he was still Ryoma and, well, she wanted him to do his best. And have the best of luck. She just, well, didn't want his team to win.

She steels herself with a deep breath.

"U-um, Ryoma-kun, I'm going to be cheering on for Japan today," she says carefully, feeling her cheeks burn as she felt him stare. "J-just so you know, si-since, you know, Japan and America are - are matched against each other today."

"Mmm." He didn't look particularly bothered. Without changing expression, he snapped open the Ponta and drained it in a single swig. "You should save your cheering for the winning team, Ryuuzaki. We're going to be the ones to win."

Her cheeks colored.

"Well, I... want you to win, too, but..." she looks down. "... well, I just want you to win too, so... I just..." she fiddled nervously with the end of one of her braids. "I wanted to give you a... a good luck charm, at least, before your match..." She was starting to feel like an idiot. What was she doing here..? Even Tomoka didn't know she was going to be here! What was she doing? Was she insane?

He sighs and her heart falls a little; he sounded tired. Was it her? Was she tiring him? Was she really going to do this? "Okay," he says boredly. "Where is it?"

Her heart's in her throat. "Here."

And before she could successfully convince herself out of it, she leans over and kisses him once on the cheek. Just once. A peck, really. A simple, chaste kiss that could've been seen as a simple, friendly kiss between a pair of good friends.

Despite this, heat floods her face, all the way up to the tips of her ears the moment her lips made that one, soft, small contact against his skin.

Despite this, his half-empty Ponta can fell with a clatter to the floor from his suddenly nerveless fingers, the drink spilling over the pavement and over their shoes, soaking into their socks and shoes.

She breaks away in a millisecond, just long enough for her to feel heat bloom beneath where she'd given him the kiss, but it was done, she'd given him a kiss and it wasn't something she could take back (not that she wanted to, it made her feel tingly doing it, even if it was embarrassingly bold). She's still blushing and flustered but she wanted to give him a blessing, of a sort, and, well, this was the best thing she could think of.

"W-well," she tries, voice squeaky without her meaning it to be. "G-good luck out there, Ryoma-kun. I... I'll see you later!"

Without looking at his face, she turned to the stadium to try and sprint back when she hears him call out her name:

"Ryuuzaki!"

He was looking at her, still stunned like she'd never seen him before, which made her feel guilty and happy in equal, embarrassing measures. His cheeks were red (or was that just the light?) and he was looking at her like he'd never seen her before. She stops in her tracks and, for a moment, they stare at each other.

"What is it..?" she says cautiously. "Um, did you, um, not like that? I - "

He's staring at her. The fingers of his left hand are shaking as he reached out to touch where she'd kissed him and, for the first time since she'd really met him, he looked just like any other boy from her class, boyish and wide-eyed and very, very young.

And flustered. Flustered. She made him flustered.

"I..." she tries again. "I'm sorry?"

He only looks at her for a moment with those wide, golden brown eyes. He seemed like he wanted to say something but no words came out. And for once, she remembers that, for all his skill on the tennis field, he was really a boy her age, maybe even younger, if she was remembering his birthday right.

"R-Ryoma-kun...?"

"Ryuuzaki, I..."

For the first time since they'd made, she heard uncertainty in his tone and she knew that he knew that she knew it and it made the uncertainty in his eyes harden into his usual determination. "Thank you," he says quietly. They were face to face once more. She could smell Ponta on his breath. He was taller than her but not by much and she could look into his eyes without having to look up. "Thank you," he repeats, the color not fully fading from his cheeks. "Thank you."

Then, perhaps not finding spoken gratitude sufficient, he returns the favor.

Only, he was more forward.

Much more forward.

For her, this meant all thought processes coming to a halt in the form of a single, suddenly all-encompassing word:

Oh.

It's not like anything she'd imagined (not that she'd imagined it much! Really! She swears...). She must've watched people kissing on TV a thousand times but this was nothing like TV, this was nothing as smooth or natural or - or -

She squeaks into his mouth but he doesn't seem to mind.

Their noses mash into each other's, their teeth click together, and Ryoma doesn't seem to know where to put his hands and ends up leaving one hovering in the space just behind her head, his other grasping awkwardly at her shoulder, his normally sure fingers almost clumsy as they guided her to better face him. It was clumsy, she was sure, the kiss, it was clumsy, very clumsy, and very not like a fairy tale at all -

- And it makes something burn warm and fierce inside her, not fireworks like it said in all the novels she'd read said it would but something just as brilliant, something just as bright. A bonfire burning in the dead of the night, sparks flying high and heavenward, heralding victory for all to see, like the bonfire they'd set on the night of Seigaku's Nationals' victory party. She closes her eyes and, in that moment, feels like she's seeing stars, joy and heat and something sweet spreading down all the way to the tips of her toes. The only thing that was right by her expectations was that, yes, his mouth did taste like grape-flavored Ponta. His mouth was warm and it tasted like grape-flavored Ponta and she's never loved the taste of it more.

Her heart's pounding when they break apart, her shell-shocked, him stunned, and, for a moment, all she can think of is how much she now misses the taste of Ponta, and how she'd like to taste it again, right here, right now, straight from Ryoma's mouth.

Then sanity returns and she squeaks as heat once again floods her cheeks, her mouth quivering, still warm, still wet, from contact with his.

It wasn't the first time she'd blushed in front of Ryoma.

But, for the first time ever, a blush stained his cheeks as well.

Self-consciously, he lowered the bill of his cap, shading his eyes and obscuring the offending blush.

"That's a 'thank you' gift," he says, voice low. His cheeks splotched red. "For the... good luck charm."

She fiddles with the hem of her skirt, her cheeks burning with a familiar warmth. "I - I see..." Should she be disappointed? She shouldn't, should she? (Would it be rude to ask for another?) She licks her lips without meaning to and there's just a hint of grape-flavor lingering over her lips. "Well, so, um, okay, I..." her voice falters and she looks down. "Thank you, too. For the... thank you gift."

He grunts. Then announcements start blaring out over the loudspeakers and though it wasn't America vs. Japan yet, she knew that Tomoka and the others would wonder where she was, if she wasn't there by the matches start. In any case, she knew that he himself would hate to miss out on any of the other U-17 matches.

"Well," he says, looking at the stadium from the corner of his eye. "See you, Ryuuzaki. I'm going."

"Can I have another?" she blurts out.

He turns back and she can't meet his eye, mortified at her own outburst (even though she wanted another one, she didn't mean to say it!). She couldn't recognize the look in his eyes and it could've been the lighting but she thought she could see his cheeks turning red again. Her own cheeks were still warm and she could only feel them grow warmer under his gaze.

"... save it for later."

He's looking at her, and his cheeks really were red once more, even if his expression was normal otherwise.

"After I win, I mean," he clarifies. "I'll give it to you after I win. As thanks for the good luck. Not that I need it but..." his voice trails off and he eyes her questioningly, eyes bright. "It could be your congratulations gift, too?"

"... alright," she agrees softly, shyly. "If you win."

"I will win," he says decisively, turning now to walk out. "Just watch."

They go back to the stadium together, not hand in hand but side by side, and she thinks its going to be very hard to put give her all cheering for Japan, knowing what may or may not come after.

end