"I Can Almost See You"
...
01 Ring
There were no words that could describe the bubbling happiness, the sting in her eyes, the fluttering of her stomach, or the lump in her throat the day Sanada knelt before her with a question on his lips.
02 Hero
The first time Sakuno saw Sanada, he was but a boy fumbling through an ungraceful rescue of a cat stuck in a tree, but to the little girl eyes of a twelve year old, it was the feat of a valiant man.
03 Memory
The next time she saw him, he was tall and foreboding on the tennis court, but all she could see was the boy who had lain sprawled beneath the tree, a cat licking his face in gratitude.
04 Box
First impressions were important to Sakuno, but when Sanada suddenly appeared, starting to ask about the whereabouts of her school's tennis courts, she could only flinch and stammer an apology when the contents of her bento spilled onto his shoes.
05 Run
As he quietly bent over to retrieve her ruined lunch, it took everything in Sakuno to not run away in embarrassment.
06 Hurricane
An amateur reporter for her high school, Sakuno found herself in Kanegawa to write an article about an important tennis match, but when heavy rains postponed the game, she instead found herself brushing shoulders with the very man her article was to be about.
07 Wings
On a different day, Sakuno could only see Sanada play from the distance, but even from the hillside where she watched, she was mesmerized by his long arms swinging towards the ball, carrying him across the court.
08 Cold
She willed the bravery to ask him for an interview, halfheartedly thinking he might recognize her from years past, but despite his saying yes, there was coldness in his gestures that stung.
09 Red
Shame painted her face in a garish pink, but after she thanked him and hurriedly turned away, she could not help but notice a dusting of color on his own cheeks before he pulled his cap down.
10 Drink
Sakuno had been told all her life that real men drank coffee straight, so when Sanada ordered a chocolate latte topped with a mountain of whipped cream, she had to hide a smile.
11 Midnight
His rushed sentences and elaborate stories took Sakuno by surprise, and while she had previously dreaded the interview, hours and hours ticked by until the sun had long since set and other customers long since left.
12 Temptation
Sanada surprised her by offering her a place to stay the night, and shocks of electricity shot through her arm when his hand accidentally brushed against hers.
13 View
Moving from the bathroom to the guest room, Sakuno caught a glimpse of Sanada in his bedroom, his head bent over a magazine, and she hurried past, trying to not stare.
14 Music
The traditional music on the television made Sakuno think of kimonos, bamboo fountains, traditional Japanese homes—Sanada's home.
15 Silk
A square gift box housing a beautiful silk bracelet sat in her cubby one morning at school, and Sakuno could only wonder where it came from.
16 Cover
When Sakuno saw Sanada and his friend Yukimura on the cover of a popular sports magazine, she realized how unimportant her high school article had been.
17 Promise
A forgotten crush approached Sakuno one day, and with a tiny smile, Sakuno promised Ryoma that she could meet him the upcoming Saturday.
18 Dream
Early Saturday morning, Sakuno awoke from a dream that she hardly remembered, but she can still feel the large, weathered hand that had stroked her face.
19 Candle
Sakuno's shoulders drooped when she discovered Ryoma's ulterior motives for their date—finding the perfect scented candle for his cousin's birthday.
20 Talent
During a daydream in class, Sakuno began to think about all the tennis players she had met, and she tried to analyze if Ryoma or Sanada were more talented.
21 Silence
The cheery jingle of her cell phone surprised her one evening, but when she answered it, not a word was said until the anonymous caller hung up.
22 Journey
Train rides were always enjoyable for Sakuno, and once again, she was taking the trip to the Rikkai high school in search of talented sports players to interview.
23 Fire
Invade like fire, the air seemed to whisper as she watched Sanada and Yanagi in an intense match.
24 Strength
She gasped quietly when the force of Sanada's hit caused Yanagi to lose hold of his racket.
25 Mask
Although Sanada recognized her this time, little changed in his expression when he glanced at her, and Sakuno thought glumly that she could have been looking at little more than a mask.
26 Ice
They exchanged few words, and in her confused hurt, Sakuno returned his dismissal with her own icy exterior.
27 Fall
Time moved quickly as Sakuno buried herself in school work and news articles, and before she knew it, she was in university, watching the world grow brown with an autumn chill.
28 Forgotten
When she was picking up a few more things from home to take to her dorm room, she came across a braided silk bracelet, lying forgotten in her desk drawer.
29 Dance
There was a social that weekend at the university, and Sakuno had been planning to skip it until Tomoka had begged her to join her and keep her company.
30 Body
In the crowded room, Sakuno felt disoriented as everyone else blended together into one moving mass, but clarity washed over her senses when one familiar face, shadowed by a cap, stood out from all the rest.
31 Sacred
Alone in the dark room, meticulously developing the years of forgotten film from high school, Sakuno found something almost sacred about bringing old memories back to life.
32 Farewells
As awkwardly as they had first met, Ryoma took the time to call Sakuno to tell her he was returning to America for good, and Sakuno did not mind.
33 World
Most of the tennis prodigies from her childhood had gone abroad, and she wondered why Sanada had not yet left himself.
34 Formal
She was sitting on a bench and looking over notes when Sanada strode briskly toward her, bowed, and asked that they exchange numbers to stay in better contact.
35 Fever
The following weekend Sanada had asked to see her, but Sakuno fell ill and had to cancel what she thought would be a troublesome date anyway.
36 Laugh
When she opened her dorm door later that day only to be greeted by a huge bouquet of flowers and a gruff greeting, she could not help but smile and laugh, and laughter, she decided, really was the greatest of all medicines.
37 Lies
"No, I would have never thought that we'd end up together," Sakuno said to Sanada when he asked her how she felt about their sudden relationship.
38 Forever
"I've been waiting a long time to ask you out," Sanada murmured after a moment of silence, and Sakuno, unsure of what to say, replied jokingly that at least he didn't wait forever.
39 Overwhelmed
All the thoughts of weakness and unworthiness that Sakuno had when she was younger would sometimes harass her, and she would wonder why someone like Sanada wanted to be with someone like her.
40 Whisper
Six months into their unhurried relationship, Sakuno cherished their first kiss, eyes opening wide as the three words Sanada could never say louder were whispered in her ear.
41 Wait
During an evening of studying, Sakuno fiddled absentmindedly with the silk bracelet, and while she stared at the bracelet, it suddenly dawned on her that she, too, had been waiting—waiting to be asked.
42 Talk
It felt odd returning to Sanada's house as his girlfriend instead of his guest, but when she saw the kindly face of his mother, the words flowed much more easily than she had expected.
43 Search
Sakuno regretted agreeing to do a sunrise hike with Sanada, but as she listened to him describe in his quietly excited tone the majesty and beauty of the sun slowly stretching into the sky, she managed a smile, stumbled over a root, and sought Sanada's hand with her own.
44 Hope
A year into their relationship, Sakuno received an opportunity to accept an internship in Nagano, but while she had always hoped for such a chance, she declined when she could not picture herself leaving Tokyo.
45 Eclipse
Sanada chided her for not accepting the internship, for not pursuing her dreams, and for the first time, Sakuno caught a glimpse of the little boy who had never gone after his own dreams because his best friend had always been better.
46 Gravity
The first time they made love had been both a tender and awkward moment, and afterward, tucked neatly in Sanada's arms, Sakuno knew that she was so far gone that she would either stay devoted to him for the rest of her life or have her heart broken.
47 Highway
Sanada had suggested a trip for their summer break, and as captain and navigator, they rented a car and slowly made their way southeast to the coast.
48 Unknown
As a little girl looking upon the ocean, Sakuno had always pictured there was something spectacular where the sky met the water in the distance, and as an adult, she still embraced the childish dream.
49 Lock
When they accidentally locked themselves out of their hotel room, Sanada looked stricken, but Sakuno teasingly suggested that they spend the night out on the beach, never thinking that Sanada would actually take her up on the offer.
50 Breathe
Sitting on hotel towels, Sakuno found the nighttime air to be pleasant and balmy, but when Sanada took one her hands and knelt in front of her—a light burning deep inside his eyes and a question lingering on his lips, she nearly forgot to breathe.
a/n: Prince of Tennis and its characters belong to Konomi Takeshi. "I Can Almost See You" is a song by Hammock. 50 sentences, Gamma list taken from 1sentenceorder on Livejournal.
If anything, I wrote this because I have desperately been trying to break some writers' block... That, and I really do love these two.