"Ryuzaki, you're a girl."
Sakuno had no idea how to respond to that. She was indeed a girl, but had no idea why Ryoma was pointing that out in the middle of their English lesson looking as though he'd just had the greatest revelation known to man.
"I-I am," she managed to stutter back, her brain spinning.
"Echizen! Ryuzaki! Stop talking!" The teacher snapped and Sakuno quickly looked back at her English textbook.
"Meet me on the roof at lunch," Ryoma whispered before turning back to his own book, his face back to its usual bored expression.
Sakuno felt the blood rush to her face. There were usually very few people on the roof- a perfect spot for a private conversation!
Is he going to… The words in front of her blurred as her mind raced off to the roof where Ryoma was waiting for her, surrounded by sakura blossoms.
She glanced over at him. He'd disappeared off to America for two years after their first year of middle school and then, without a word to anyone, reappeared for their first year of high school. America hadn't changed him much -he was still as aloof as ever- but he was much more handsome now, his face becoming much sharper and striking. And taller, where once he was the shortest of the regulars, he was now somewhere in the middle of the group.
And, of course, Sakuno's crush had returned full force when she'd walked into her classroom at the start of term and there was Ryoma sat at his desk, flicking boredly through a tennis magazine. She'd thought that she'd never see him again other than on TV when he inevitably took the tennis world by storm so her crush had faded away, turning into regret that she'd never been brave enough to say anything (although, she doubted that had she done so that Ryoma would have stayed for her- the pull of tennis was too strong).
She hadn't talked much to him since his return, other than greetings in the morning and goodbyes in the afternoon. Her shyness seemed to come back tenfold whenever he was near her, turning her into a stammering, blushing mess. It was pathetic really…
What are you going to do if he confesses to you?! She thought, feeling her chest tighten in panic and excitement. Of course she would accept, but whether she'd be able to get the words out was another thing.
She barely noticed the lesson ending until she realised that Ryoma has disappeared off to the roof and she should head up there now.
Should I see if my hair's okay? The thought sauntered through her mind as she headed in the direction of the stairs. I think I've still got that lip gloss I borrowed from Tomo-chan in my bag…
Calm down, she told herself firmly as she reached the bottom of the stairs and began to climb. On her way up she met Tezuka-buchou coming down, he gave her a somewhat curious look before giving her a nod of acknowledgement which she returned rather nervously. There had always been something about Tezuka-buchou that made her a bit nervous, it always seemed like he could see right through her.
She scampered up the rest of the stairs and was soon standing in front of the door. She took a deep breath and pushed it open.
Ryoma was waiting by the netting around the edge of the roof, as she approached she could see that he was staring at the tennis courts below. Some things would never change.
"W-what did you want to talk to me about?" Sakuno asked as Ryoma tore his eyes away from the courts to face her.
"It's stupid," Ryoma said and then launched into an explanation.
It went something like this: He had gotten into an argument with his 'stupid father'. The old man had demanded to know when Ryoma would be getting a girlfriend and Ryoma had insisted that tennis was much more important than that. And, through a series of events that Sakuno didn't understand, Ryoma had been challenged to find a girlfriend and he couldn't turn down the challenge because otherwise his father wouldn't play tennis with him anymore.
"So now I need to find my one true love," Ryoma said, "whatever one of those is."
"Couldn't you ask someone to pretend to be your girlfriend?" Sakuno asked, turning red at the implication. She's read many a shojo manga where the main couple pretended to date first before realising their true feelings for one another.
Ryoma shrugged, "if I'm gonna do this I'm gonna do it right."
Sakuno nodded, willing herself to stop blushing. If he didn't want to fake date then maybe he wanted to date for real.
"You know about stuff like romance right?" Ryoma asked and Sakuno nodded again, wondering where he was going. "Good, could you help me find someone?"
"S-sure," Sakuno replied.
"Thank you," Ryoma said, smiling. Sakuno's heart skipped a beat.
