Crimson Rose Petals

Chapter 1: Childhood Friend

"Ganbatte Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka shouted loudly, jumping up and down in her skimpy cheerleader outfit. Sakuno (wearing modest clothes) looked on in the match with hopeful eyes. The ring tone of Tomoka's cell phone wafted out of the female's bag, and Tomoka momentarily stopped cheering to answer it.

"Moshi moshi?" there was some muffled voices on the other end. "But okaa-san!! I'm watching Ryoma-sama's match! But – fine. Right now?! Okaa-san! Okay, alright! Fine. Sure. Ja ne." Tomoka hung up, looking at Sakuno with puppy eyes.

"Tomo-chan? Is everything alright?" Sakuno asked her best friend.

"I have to leave. Okaa-san has to leave and I have to go home to take care of my brothers. Tell me how Ryoma-sama's match goes, alright?" Tomoka asked, before grabbing her belongings and taking off.

"Tomo-chan-," but he friend was already gone. Sakuno sighed, before turning back to Ryoma's match. She cheered silently, and happiness burst within her when the referee declared him the winner. She went to congratulate him, but held back as the rest of the Seigaku tennis team beat her to it. Pursing her lips, she turned around to head back to Tomoka's house.

"Sakuno-chan?" She turned at the source of her name, finding it slightly familiar. "It is you Sakuno-chan!" She turned to find a black-haired girl looking at her happily. Sakuno gasped, recognizing her familiar face.

"Moriko-chan! What are you doing here?" Sakuno asked her. Moriko smiled.

"I came looking for you! You haven't called or wrote in a long time, and I got worried." She said, winking. Sakuno smiled.

"No need to worry about me, I'm fine."

The high school student smiled at her longtime friend. There was the sound of footsteps, and they turned to see the entire team of Seigaku looking at them strangely.

"Konnichiwa?" Moriko said uncertainly. They all looked at her.

"And you might be…" Momoshiro started. Moriko smiled brightly.

"Hajimemashite Moriko desu. Douzo yoroshiku!" She said brightly. Sakuno stepped up, blushing slightly.

"Senpai-tachi, Ryoma-kun, this is Moriko, a childhood friend. She just came to visit me." Sakuno explained. Everyone introduced themselves as well.

"So Moriko-san, where are you from?" Fuji asked, still smiling. Moriko smiled.

"I'm from Nakamura High School. You might not have heard of it, because it's a basketball school." Moriko said. "I'm one of the regulars on the basketball team. Which reminds me…" Moriko dug into her bag and threw a basketball at Sakuno, who caught it easily. It was small and there were words on it. Sakuno blinked, looking at it.

"Basketball National Championship. 1st place, Nakamura High School." Sakuno read, shock registering. "You won the Zenkoku Taikai?" Sakuno asked. Moriko smiled brightly, nodding.

"We had them make an extra one, just for you. We felt you deserved one, after all the effort you put into helping us train." Moriko told her. Sakuno blushed.

"I was just doing my former team a favour. It wasn't anything special." Sakuno protested. Moriko wagged her finger.

"Ah, ah, ah! If it weren't for Sakuno-chan, we wouldn't have even made it past the preliminaries." Moriko praised. Sakuno blushed.

"Sakuno-chan plays basketball? Nya! Kakoii!!" Eiji exclaimed. Sakuno smile shyly.

"It's not that big of a deal. Basketball is just a hobby." Sakuno said.

"Just a hobby? Most people don't train until midnight just for a hobby Sakuno." Moriko teased. Sakuno ducked her head down, embarrassed. She checked her watch, sighing. "Gomen, Sakuno. I have to go. Onee-chan will have my head if I don't finish my homework before dinner. Ja ne!" She called, waving as she ran off. Sakuno timidly returned the gesture.

Everyone was looking at her, and Sakuno blushed, clutching the golden basketball. She just remembered she was supposed to go to Tomoka's and gasped.

"Gomen nasai senpai-tachi, Ryoma-kun! I have to go! Dewa mata!" Sakuno shouted, running off. The regulars watched her go, slightly confused.

"Ryuzaki Sakuno… and basketball?" Oishi wondered aloud.

"Interesting…" Inui muttered, scribbling in his trusty notebook.

"No one would've guessed." Kawamura added.

"Fshhhh." Kaidoh hissed.

"Hn. She's still mada mada dane in tennis." Ryoma commented, tugging his hat down.

"…" Tezuka remained silent.


A/N The first chapter of the new and improved Crimson Roses! I'm still keeping the older version up, and I changed the title for this one, but someday I'm going to delete the old one. I hope you like this one though, so I won't feel guilty about deleting the old Crimson Roses. Here's a small glossary for the Japanese words used in this chapter.

Ganbatte: Good luck
(Name)-sama: suffix used to show immense respect for someone.
Moshi moshi: Hello (mostly used when answering the phone)
Okaa-san: Mother
(name)-san: roughly translates to 'Mr.', 'Mrs.', 'Ms.', etc.
Ja ne: See you (informal)
(Name)-chan: suffix used to show a close relationship between people (usually girls). Also used to address someone younger then you.
Konnichiwa: Hello/good afternoon
Hajimemashite: How do you do
(Name) desu: I'm (Name)
Douzo yoroshiku: Nice to meet you
Senpai: Upperclassman
Senpai-tachi: used when addressing a group of upperclassmen
(Name)-kun: affectionate term usually used for boys
Kakoii: Cool
Gomen: Sorry (informal)
Onee-chan: Sister
Gomen nasai: Sorry (formal)
Dewa mata: See you tomorrow
Mada mada dane: Simply not there yet

Name Meanings
Moriko: "Forest child"