For The Love of Tennis
A birthday fic for AquaJet
The bell rang for lunch and everyone around her immediately started moving. Students opened the windows to allow the fresh afternoon breeze waft in with the smell of spring lingering around the gardens. Sunlight poured in through the glass and spilled over gossiping girls and arrogant boys. All in all it was a pretty average school day, just like Sakuno had hoped for.
"Ryoma-kun!" Girls squealed outside of the classroom door. "Come eat lunch with me!"
She glanced out of the corner of her eye to watch the tennis prince simply reject them by ignoring their hungry stares and obnoxious behavior. He ran a hand through his hair before tossing the dark locks messily. His golden eyes glinted yellow in the sunlight as he stood up from his chair and walked towards the door where his squealing fangirls remained.
His arrogant nature annoyed her. How could she have honestly fallen for that arrogant prick when she was in junior high? Even though that was only three years ago she could see why she would've been infatuated with him. He was confident-to the extreme-and had good looks to boot. Aside from all of that he was quiet, sarcastic, conceited, defiant, and mysterious. Perhaps that was why she was infatuated with him; he was nothing like her.
Three years could make a lot of difference though. She had recently returned from France to live here in Japan for the last two years of schooling at this boarding school for intelligent, athletic, and artistic scholars.
"Kyaa! Ryoma-sama!"
Well, most of the people here apply to those standards with the exception of Ryoma's six-man squad of squealing, pompous, and conceited fangirls. They're always stalking him and trying to vie for his attention. Can't they see that Ryoma doesn't care about girls, much less ones who won't leave him alone?
Sakuno knew this best of all. She had only been back in school for a couple weeks now, but no one had noticed or remembered her. Was it because she cut her hair? The length is only to her shoulders and expertly braided, but the color hadn't changed. Was it her height? She had grown older, but she was going to get taller and mature eventually. Or was it her personality?
"Sakuno-san, would you like to have lunch with us?" Suzumi asked. The tall auburn girl was the only person who attempted to get close to Sakuno. She invited her to lunch every day since the first day of classes. At first she thought Sakuno was strange with her nonverbal gestures and silent demeanor, but Suzumi warmed up to her and Sakuno to Suzumi.
"Aa." Her quiet response wasn't unnoticed and Suzumi smiled at her friend, leading her to their usual lunch spot along with a couple of others Sakuno vaguely recognized from class.
"Sakuno-chan! It's good to see you." Similar greetings were made to her and Sakuno smiled and nodded to each and every one. Lunch went by quickly with the girl's chatter and consumption of her bento box. The rest of the day left her with her individual studies and tennis practice.
"Ryuzaki-san, you're getting better each day!" Her coach, Mikuni-sensei, complimented her. She didn't feel like she accomplished anything today, but Mikuni-sensei felt otherwise. "With such fluidity and movements you could become captain of the team next year."
Sakuno froze at the words her coach uttered. There was no way Sakuno would ever be a captain. A captain should inspire her team, motivate them to achieve more, and push her comrades to their limits. She could do none of those things.
"Hai, Sensei." Sakuno's voice was quiet as she bowed low to Mikuni-sensei before she left the court to train her other teammates. Her eyes trailed after the coach, wondering why she would ever suggest her of all people to be captain. She was anything but deserving. Picking up her racquet, Sakuno continued practicing on her own.
"Your coach said your name is Ryuzaki, right?" The voice called from behind her as she was swinging a backhand. She tried not to be surprised, but the tennis ball conveyed just that as it bounced out of bounds.
"Hai."
She waited for his response.
"Are you any relation to the late Ryuzaki Sumire?"
She froze. The tennis racquet was held limp in her hand.
Was he serious? Did he not remember her? She went to every practice she could! Every game and every meeting! How? Why?
Her grip tightened around the throat of her racquet as she balled up her free hand into a fist. Anger seeped into her heart as she glared at the floor in front of her.
He remembered her grandmother, but not her? She supported him even more than she did! She was always there for him as a friend, but he doesn't even remember her?
Hot tears threatened to pool into her eyes, but she steeled herself and held them back. She didn't need to cry over something that happened years ago. She didn't need to cry over a single boy who's head was too far in the clouds to see anything other than his arrogant self. She didn't need to cry, but she wanted to.
"Hai. My g-grandmother." She stuttered. Dammit. She thought that if she stuck to simple words that she wouldn't have to stutter ever again. Was it because she was being so emotional right now? Was it because of all of the feelings she was starting to feel again because of this stupid boy? She didn't know. What she did know was that he was chuckling.
"You shouldn't let your emotions get in the way."
Sakuno whirled around in anger. "You should l-leave me a-alone."
Ryoma's eyes widened in surprise at her intense glare. When had a girl ever glared at him like that before? It was unsettling, to say the least, so much that he had to tip his cap down to shield his eyes.
"Mada mada dane." He muttered to her as he started to walk away.
"You w-wouldn't be saying that i-if you k-knew the truth." Sakuno managed to stutter lowly, but Ryoma still heard it. He hesitated in his step, wondering if he should turn around to confront Sakuno, but thought the better of it and kept walking. He wondered if he had ever met her before.
It wasn't until after summer break that Ryoma caught her alone again.
"You should hold the racquet a little lower to give your swing more freedom."
Sakuno glared at the tennis ball in her hand angrily. "I k-know what I-I'm doing." She couldn't help but stutter around him. Usually she could manage a simple sentence like that without a single stutter, but around him... something inside her changed.
"Oh? Then you don't need my advice." As he walked away Ryoma heard another interesting tidbit of information.
"I did once. It's too late for that."
It confused him. Did he know this girl? Why would he ever give her advice? He tried to think back a couple of years, but with Nationals and exams he just couldn't place her. She was interesting, he'd give her that. She was confident in that quiet sort of way. He had never heard her speak more than a few sentences at any given time. Most of all, she seemed to dislike him. He doesn't remember ever meeting her, so why would she dislike him? He would find out.
A couple weeks later he returned again.
"Your hair is getting long."
"I like it this w-way." She kept her sentences short to keep her stutter under control. Her anger didn't help her control, but she was starting to get used to his presence.
"I never said I didn't like it," he clarified. "I just said it's getting long. If it's too long it could hurt your tennis."
As he walked away her heard another comment that wasn't made for him to hear.
"So you've said."
A week later he came to observe her again. It was right before Sakuno's second tournament and she was training with high intensity.
"Training all the time isn't healthy for you."
Anger boiled up in her again, but not a furious as the other times. It felt more of a small simmer and she didn't seem to notice the change.
Not even pausing in her sit-ups she replied, "I'm u-used to this."
Ryoma frowned as he watched Sakuno continue onto her push-ups. "Strains mean no game tomorrow."
He turned his back and walked away slowly to catch her muttered response. "You never cared."
As surprised as he was he somehow knew he shouldn't have been. The girl seemed to know him, but he was sure that he never even met her before. Was she some kind of stalker? He didn't believe her to be, but something kept drawing him to her. Each time he came he received more and more clues about the quiet girl with adequate tennis skills.
Sakuno didn't know when he started coming every day, but he did now. He'd watch her, give her tips or comments, and then walk away as she was nearing the end of her training regimen. When she noticed this pattern she decided to end her training abruptly one day.
"W-what are you coming f-for?" She was frustrated with his behavior, but more than that she was curious. He never expressed any interest in her other than acknowledging her existence every once in awhile, so why did he start now? Why did he start right when she thought she was going to get somewhere with her life? Why... Why must he bring up all of these feelings in her!
"You know me." It wasn't a question even though she could sense the curiosity in his tone.
"Yes." Of course she knew him; he was in her class.
"No, before this year. You know me. How?" He wasn't commanding her, which was new. It was almost perplexing seeing the ice prince melt a little to show emotions other than what he wanted you to see.
"Seishun Gakuen. I w-was a f-freshman."
Ryoma squinted as he thought back to the time. He seemed to be having trouble, so she gave in and tried to clue him in.
"I h-had lone hair b-back then. In t-twin braids. I w-was f-friends w-with Tomoka and c-came to c-cheer you o-on with Grandma."
He closed his eyes and visibly relaxed. "I was your classmate. I helped you with tennis once or twice. Where were you?" His golden eyes bore into hers as she fought back the blush threatening to creep up on her. She hasn't blushed in ages, much less in front of a boy! Why... Why were these feelings arising again?
"France. A-after Grandma d-died I w-went to live w-with some r-relatives."
"And they trained you in tennis." It wasn't a question. He could tell by her form that she's been training for awhile now. Not good enough to make it into the major leagues, but decent enough to put up a good fight.
"Yes." Of course he only cared about tennis. Why would he want to know what she went through? All of the heartache, grief, and pain that tore through her very soul. Her relatives tried to help make her strong enough and she'd like to think that they succeeded. She had changed a lot, so it was for the better, right?
His eyes glinted in discontent and Sakuno could sense that something was off. He was mad about something, but she couldn't tell what it was. He wouldn't blame her for her grandma's death, right? It was a stroke and nothing she could've done to prevent it.
"You don't have to let them control you."
She blinked. "Huh?" Who was controlling her? She's all by herself here!
"Che. Mada mada-"
"Don't you 'dane' me!" She shouted at him, managing not to stutter in the process.
His eyes widened a fraction and he smirked, leaning back on the bench he was sitting on. "Troublesome," he muttered. "Just stop pretending."
"How... How dare y-you accuse m-me of pretending...a-about a-anything! Y-you don't k-know anything!" She glared at him, her once peaceful hues turning into a hardened shade of earth.
"I know a lot, actually." He muttered and she looked at him in surprise. "You're hurting inside. You're upset that your closest family member is gone. You're angry that you couldn't have fulfilled her wish to become better on your own. You're grieving over never having found your own way. You're pretending to be confident."
Sakuno's eyes were wide and brimming with tears that stung in the fall wind. "I-" Ryoma held up his hand, signaling that he wasn't finished.
"You tried to be confident and succeeded, in a way. You still stutter, but that's because you've never found yourself- found your voice. You've become confident in your abilities, but not self-confident. You're kind, but not trusting. You're happy, but wallowing in your grief. If you really want to know what to do... stop. Just stop pretending, Sakuno."
His eyes were liquid gold and she couldn't tear her eyes away. They poured all of the emotion he couldn't show her into that single connection. She felt his sincerity and took it to heart. She let go... of everything.
Tears trailed down her cheeks. She couldn't do more than let them fall. Fall for her dead grandmother, her most precious person. Fall for her lost identity, the person she should've become. Fall for the purpose of crying in itself, something she wouldn't let herself do before.
A body overshadowed her and she looked up to see Ryoma covering her face with his chest and his arms around her back.
"Most of all, I see someone who never gives up. Even then a strong person needs someone stronger to lean onto."
She smiled for the first time in three years. "Why do you care now?"
She could feel his chest rumble as he chuckled. "Who said I didn't before?"
She let out a choked laugh. "You could've fooled me."
"Sakuno," he muttered. "Girls grow up faster than guys. Didn't anyone ever teach you that?"
She frowned and decided not to dignify that with a response. "How do you know all of this about me? Not just through class I'm sure."
"How else? Tennis."