A Tennis Heart Ornament, and Ryoma's Face on a Ball

Sakuno Ryuzaki sighed nonchalantly while she shifted on her seat of a local park bench. Soft rain fell daintily from the sky.

The sunshine was still out though comforting her loneliness. 'Darn, why did Tomo-chan have to be sick today? I could be at her

house right now and not wallowing in self-pity' The auburn girl pouted before turning to her attention to her tennis racket with a

little heart decoration in the dead center (courtesy of Tomo-chan of course!). Swiftly picking it up by its taped grip, she gazed

at it in melancholy. It was no surprise; her thoughts soon whirled around Him. With her other hand, the coffee-eyed lass

clawed her fingers through the gaps inside.

Funny, that's what He did before a tennis match on several occasions. 'Why am I here again? Ah! That's right for tennis

practice! Or…for hope Ryoma-kun might be here…' She shook her twin-braided head vigorously making passerby glance at

her oddly. 'Darn it, Sakuno! Stop! Stop! Stop! He never looks your way, never, never…'

"NEVER!" The girl yelled before falling over; making the bench come down with her.

"SAKUNO, NO BAKA!" The said girl screeched, standing up once more. Even more passerby turned their heads (some t

urning their head the OTHER way) towards the accidental -'Oh, why me?'- Outburst.

"Mommy!! That lady's scary!!" A nearby girl cried.

"D-Don't worry sweetie." Her mother reassured.

"S-S-Sorry…" Sakuno muttered towards the circling crowd that began to gather. She blushed furiously.

"Weirdo…" Some said.

"Wow…that was strange…" Others commented.

Finally after the crowd dispersed, the twin-plaited-girl girl felt a wave of relief as she made her way back toher previous seat.

Holding up her precious stringed equipment close to her face; Sakuno peered through the little heart ornament. Paranoia

shocked through her as she pondered whether or not Ryoma might have been in the passerby. Suddenly…a short figure

(concealed by an umbrella) walked stiffly by; crunching snow beneath the soles of their shoes.

The figure stopped shortly after to observe nearby tennis players. Finally revealing his/her identity, the figure hoisted his/her

umbrella and swung it around his/her side. A white cap came into view, then a crimson jacket.

"Ryoma-kun…?" The inquisitive girl said breathless. She refocused her vision, recalling the little decoration on her racket, and

how she was still peeking through it. A heart now outlined the mysterious figure.

'AHH!! I'M…MAKING A HEART AROUND RYOMA-KUN!!' Horror struck her expression, with a scarlet blush.

The girl tried her best to toss her humiliation aside (literally) only to allow her racket to slip out of her grasp. A deafening shatter

sounded as the pink racket (now a brown) clashed into a puddle of mud. No more crowds gathered, since the park was nearly

empty now. 'Phew! Thank goodness!' The red-faced teenager shuffled her feet into the mud where the racket lay. Only to stop

dead short when she noticed a familiar tennis attire adorned by a peculiar person. Sakuno shot her gaze right up to meet liquid-

golden eyes. 'R-Ryoma-kun…'

"Hn, you're way too careless." He replied shortly. My mouth was still agape. 'Ryoma-kun? Here? AHHH!! THAT MEANS

HE SAW ME WITH THE HEART ORNAMENT!!' Her face still continued to burn.

"And illogical…you can't hit a ball right with that thing on." He continued, poking the little heart on the racket, making her

blush immensely.She was about to protest when-

"R-Ryoma-k-kun," She called out cravenly. 'Uh-oh… I-I r-recall using my t-tennis ball with R-Ryoma-kun's face on it

earlier today…' He glanced up at her awaiting an answer. 'WHAT A MINUTE… HOW DID IT END UP THERE?!…'

"I-I d-didn't mean for that b-ball…"Sakuno started her excuse slowly. He raised an eyebrow in question, and turned to reach

for the racket. He stood still, finally recognizing what she was trying to cover up. Sinking inward the puddle of mud; the heart

lay on top her Ryoma-kun-faced-ball making -

"Ryuzaki…" He responded hesitantly.

-the heart ornament outline the…

"Why…"

-ball…with Ryoma-kun's face on it. 'Oh no! So is this how I end up confessing to Ryoma-kun?!'

"Do…" AHHHHH!!'

'How will Ryoma-kun react?! The girl staggered a bit to regain composure. 'So this is it….'

"Y-y-y-yes Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno smiled warily. 'This is it!!…Ryoma-kun will finally know about my-'

"Why do you have a tennis ball with Kaidoh-Sempai's face?"

"WHAT?! K-KADIOH-SEMPAI!?" She fell down...anime style!

"YOU T-THINK I D-DREW…B-BALL…K-KADIOH-SEMPAI?!" Sakuno cried exasperated, still on the ground.

Ryoma just raised his eyebrow in utter confusion.

"R-RYOMA-KUN!! WHY ARE YOU SO DENSE?!" Sakuno yelped in frustration, waterfalls sprouting from her eyes.

She lifted herself up, running away to the nearest exit.

"Huh?" Ryoma blinked.

"ECHIZEN!" A familiar spiky-haired sempai (Momoshiro) rushed out from a bush.

"O'CHIBI!" Another crawled out revealing himself to be Eiji.

"BURNING!! ECHIZEN!! HOW DARE YOU MAKE RYUZAKI-CHAN CRY!" The other upperclassmen (with his

infamous racket in hand) scolded.

"Eh? Sempai-tachi? What are you doing here?"

'And why did Ryuzaki draw Kaidoh-sempai's face?' The tennis prodigy thought to himself with slightly angered.

"Hey look! I think O'chibi's jealous about Kadioh's face on Ryuzaki-chan's ball, nya!" Ryoma stumbled over his thoughts.

'Did Eiji-sempai say something?'

"Jealous of what?" He replied genuinely confused.

They sweat-dropped.

"ECHIZEN/O'CHIBI!! WHY ARE YOU SO DENSE?!"

To Be Continued...