Hidden Meaning
By: rennomiya
"Do you know what's the meaning behind the greeting, 'Happy Birthday'?" young Ryuzaki Sakuno asked innocently while she stared at the young boy in her age with a Fila cap over the tennis courts.
The boy shrugged her questions off and continued on hitting lousy serves.
Sakuno lowered her head and looked at the ground sadly. Maybe, it doesn't mean anything to anyone at all. Maybe it's just to say that you remember that other person's birthday.
Ryoma stopped hitting tennis balls on the wall after a while and turned to her. "Oh yeah… Happy Birthday," he said and turned around again to continue his wall practice.
Tomoka Osakada ran cheerfully towards her best friend and hugged her like there was no tomorrow. She rubbed her cheeks on her friend's ones and said, more like screamed, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SA-CHAN~"
Sakuno smiled (even though her ears hurt) and gave Tomo a polite expression of gratitude.
After Tomo ran towards another direction again, Sakuno saw Ryoma approaching her.
"Ryoma-kun…"
He stopped two feet away from her. He hid his hands under his pockets and smirked. "Guess what? You were born exactly on the same day today nine years ago."
Sakuno fought the urge to roll her eyes.
"Happy Birthday," he added. He turned around and began walking away. But he stopped when he was two rooms away from her. He turned his head around and said, "Oh yeah… I like Sakuno better—it's more appealing than Sa-chan." With that, he walked away completely.
"Happy Birthday!"
"Happy Birthday, Sakuno!"
"Be awed by Ore-sama's greeting."
"Happy Birthday, Sa-chan!"
Ah, Facebook.
Sakuno stared blankly at her wall's page on her Facebook account. People she hardly knew and people she hardly talked to greeted her a happy birthday. Even Atobe! Did he even know who she is, or if he talked to her before?
Yup.
Birthdays and the tendency of Facebook to remind the world of your day.
Then, her chat box popped open and saw that Ryoma typed a greeting to her too.
"Ryuzaki, it's your birthday today."
Sakuno rolled her eyes. Tell me something I don't know, she thought.
She typed her reply to him, "Yes, I know that much."
After a few seconds, his reply came, "Happy Birthday."
And then, he logged out.
"Here," she saw Ryoma handing her a can of Ponta with his usual indifferent look.
She took the can from his hand and thanked him softly. She watched as he opened his own can and drank from it. He saw her watching him and so he sat next to her. "What's up?"
Sakuno forced a smile. "Do you know what's the meaning behind the greeting, 'Happy Birthday'?"
He stared at her unbelievably for a while before going back to his stoic look. "That question again? You asked me the same question ten years ago," he said before sipping his drink.
"I know. But you see… as years pass… my happiness during my birthdays gradually disappeared. Aren't my birthdays supposed to be happy because people around me wished it?"
"So, is it completely gone now?" he asked looking bored and ignoring her last question, "Your happiness?"
Sakuno nodded sadly. "I only feel like it's an ordinary day, and yet I must make myself look happy in front of others."
Ryoma sighed and rested his back on the bench's backrest. "It's not because it's your birthday means that you must act and look happy. Don't force yourself if you're not."
Sakuno didn't feel less happy by what her childhood friend said. He didn't even make sense. She knew he was never really good at making people feel better, so she was not disappointed at all.
He stood up and stretched his back. He stared at the afternoon sun and said, "And besides…" he paused.
He turned to face her, making half of his face glow in her perception. "Those people around you," he continued, "were only 10 percent wishing for your happiness."
Sakuno looked at him sadly. "I-Is that so?" she stared at the ground and added, "Then they're only greeting me to tell me that they remember the day of my birth?"
"No," he answered.
He turned his head around and began walking to the sunset. "That's not what I meant. Saying 'Happy Birthday' to you meant those people around you were glad that you were born; that you were a part of their life."
Sakuno's eyes widened.
Saying Happy Birthday meant that all along?
She stood up. "W-Wait… y-you knew that answer all this time?"
"No. Had no idea about it," he replied again. His voice was getting lower as he kept on walking away. "Just found out when I was consistently greeting you every year."
Sakuno narrowed her brows in confusion. And then, it finally hit her.
"R-Ryoma-kun… y-you're glad that I-I'm a part of your life?"
Ryoma smirked, though she can't see it. He waved one arm up as his silhouette form began blending with the sunset.
"Happy Birthday, Ryuuzaki."
.OwArI.
A/N: Hi everyone! Just wrote a birthday fic for Sakuno. The meaning of greeting someone 'Happy Birthday' came from my Sociology professor. He mentioned it to our class last Wednesday, and I thought I should make that as a birthday fic for our dear Sakuno. No romance though. Just pure friendship.
Sorry for not being able to update certain fics. I'm too busy with school actually. The truth is, I just really wanted to apply what my prof taught us in Sakuno's birthday fic, so I found a little time to type it. I'm exhausted right now and I still have to do a lot of things tomorrow. That's why this was not much of a comedy, unlike all my other fics.
Prince of Tennis © Konomi Takeshi
Review, nee ^^