Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis.
Mother's Home!
Sakuno hurriedly packed her book bag, stuffing in her notebook and pencil case the instant their teacher dismissed them. She was the first to get out of their class, giving out apologies to her friends for having to leave so abruptly. Rushing down the corridors with her sailor's collar and long auburn braids flapping behind her, she blinked- stopping suddenly in a slow skid- almost bumping into a wave of newly dismissed students rushing out of class just as she was.
"Ryuzaki?" The person she almost ran into suddenly said in surprise. Sakuno's head shot upwards to find Ryoma Echizen's handsome face a feet away. Her cheeks flushed in an instant.
"Ryoma-kun!" She suddenly blurted- taking a step away for careful distance. Cheshire eyes looked over her, probing.
"You're headed home?"
"Ah- hai!" She blinked, looking around as people flooded into the corridors. The two took a few steps away from the classroom door.
"So," Ryoma looked away. "You're not watching my game?"
Sakuno's eyes widened- to which Ryoma turned back to her, his eyes almost glaring.
"You forgot." He told her accusingly.
"Sor-"
"It's nothing." The boy grunted before turning away. Then, turning back to see Sakuno's face creasing in guilt, said. "And not that I'm counting, but that'll be the third game you miss."
Sakuno, mouth hung agape, could only watch Ryoma's back fade into the crowd. It took an accidental nudge from a batchmate to bring her back to reality. Suddenly remembering, she pushed her way out of the crowded hallway and out of school.
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"O-Okaa-san!" Sakuno waved as she got off the elevator of her mother's office building. Her mother blinked, turning, as she was dropping off her paperwork. Then, the woman smiled.
"You're on time, Saku-chan!" The chocolate-haired lawyer grinned as she took her daughter in a tight embrace. "Was the rush hour terrible?"
"Tolerable." Sakuno smiled. "Ne, ne, where are we going tonight?"
Her mother's brows raised, teasingly.
"You love sushi, don't you?"
Sakuno's smile couldn't help but widen.
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"I bet it's a boyfriend." Eiji nodded, as if in deep thought as they changed out of their tennis wear. Beside him, Ryoma visibly stiffened. "I mean, it's been the three consecutive games of O-chibi!" With eyes widening, he puffed in exclamation. "I bet she's over her crush and has found herself a boyfriend who isn't a big brat!"
"What your mouth, Eiji," a teammate said, his voice low, as he gestured to Ryoma. "There's a simmering pot beside you ready to boil over."
"But she hasn't missed any of our games." Another thought. "It must be deeper than simply having a boyfriend." Then, their high school classmate grinned. "I bet she just hates Ryoma and explicitly doesn't attend his games!"
"No, nya!" Eiji cried foul. "Sakuno-chan would never hate O-chibi!"
"Just pointing it out there." The guy shrugged.
"But then again," The red-haired seventeen-year old muttered, eyes glaring in doubt. "It has been nearly four years."
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"I can't believe I'm missing Ryoma-kun's game for the fourth time." Sakuno sighed as she stared at her platter of premium steak. It's been the fourth time her mother flew back to Tokyo for work, and as much as Sakuno loved her company, she couldn't help but question the frequency of her mother's flights.
"So, you've told me." Her mother smiled as she cut her food. "It's just a game, Sakuno. There'll be a lot more, I'm sure." Then, with her tone dipping. "Especially since he's that guy's kid."
"Sorry?" Sakuno suddenly looked up. "Whose?"
"Nanjiroh." Her mother gritted. "Tch."
"Okaa-san?" The timid girl smiled uneasily. "Is there something the matter with Echizen-san?"
Her mother shook her head and sighed.
"It's nothing. Just a petty high school thing." The woman said. "We went to the same high school. He was two years my senior. Even back then he was an ass." Then, her mother looked at her warily. "How'd his kid turn out? How come you keep talking about him? Do you like him?" She prodded with a raised brow at the red-faced girl before her.
"I-I-"
"Out with it Sakuno!"
"We- Well, it's not that I like him... perse. But! Ryoma-kun is pretty nice. Though he's kind of arrogant. But that's only because he's smart, athletic, and charming. Though he rarely smiles." Sakuno blinked. "He's a good guy, kaa-san. He got beat up once for helping out a bullied kid." Then, adding. "And even though he's busy, he finds time to help me out with my homework. He teaches me tennis. He walks me home. And he-"
"Walks you home?" Her mother repeated in a shrill. "What is he, your boyfriend?"
"O-Okaa-san!" Sakuno cried. "We just live in the same neighborhood!"
Her mother's brow twitched.
"So tell me, what more does this boy of Nanjiroh's do for you? Hmm?"
"Well," Hazel eyes looked around in thought. "He accompanies me to get my racket restrung, I guess almost all the time. Also, sometimes we eat out together." Then, she adds, feeling silly. "Sometimes I'd forget I don't have enough money and he'd pay for my meal as well. I think I've come up to owing him around 5,000 yen." Then, eyes widening. "You know what, he's so kind he has never even brought up I owe him money. I really have to pay him back this week."
Her mother's eyes narrowed.
"Also, he's thoughtful enough to remind me of his games. He knows how much I love watching him play." Sakuno's eyes glittered. "Back in junior high, he told me he'll be studying abroad. It really surprised me when he showed up on the first day of classes! In my school no less. Talk about sheer luck, ne kaa-san!"
"Ne, Sakuno, sweetie." Her mother smiled crookedly. "Do you mind sharing with your dear mom your good friend's number?"
Sakuno raised a questioning brow, pulling out her phone.
"Alright." She said unsurely. "Though, what for?"
Her mother's fake smile almost broke.
"Just trust me, love."
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Ryoma didn't get a wink of sleep. So, it wasn't really his fault that he almost ruined a classmate's Physics finals project by walking into it.
Thinking over last night, he wondered what was worse, finally finding out that Sakuno indeed had a boyfriend or that her mother called him to accuse and yell at him over the phone. How'd she get his number anyway? And, first things first, he never knew Sakuno kept in touch with her mother!
"Echizen! Ryuzaki's looking for you." Someone called out. Ryoma's eyes narrowed as he turned to the approaching girl who was in all smiles. How dare she beat him when he was down.
"Ryoma-kun." Sakuno grinned, much to Ryoma's chagrin. Then, handing him a small envelope said, "Sorry I'm only paying you now."
"What?" The boy said.
"For the treats after your games, before we go home, after school, silly!" She laughed lightly. "You seem to be out of spirits today, Ryoma-kun."
Ryoma's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"And you, oddly enough, seem to have enough for both of us." He bit out accussingly. Then, looking away. "Might as well tell me who he is."
"Who is who, Ryoma-kun?"
Red tinted the boy's cheeks.
"Your boyfriend."
"What?" Sakuno laughed. "That's a silly notion you have there, Ryoma-kun!"
"Even until now, you won't come clean?"
"I- I don't understand-"
Ryoma glared at her with his bloodshot eyes.
"Your mother called me last night." Sakuno's eyes widened. "And told me to stay away from you because- apparently-" His glare deepened. "You're taken."
"Oh, Kami-sama." The girl gasped. Then, with her eyes clouding with worry, leaned imploringly to Ryoma, taking his hand in hers. "I'm so sorry! My mother's just like that-"
Ryoma's cheeks flushed, looking away. His hands were still held by the pretty brunette.
"I mean, if you have a boyfriend, you could've at least introduced us."
"But, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno broke out in a half-smile. "Why would I have ever have a boyfriend when I have you?"
Golden eyes widened, turning to his schoolmate with the same shock on her eyes. Suddenly stepping away, she shook her head, aghast.
"I mean- I meant to say that I like Ryoma-kun- No- I mean Ryoma-kun is a friend and that I-"
Ryoma was too shocked to speak.
"Baka, O-chibi! Ask her out now, baka-chibi!" Eiji cried from outside Ryoma's classroom. To which the tennis prodigy blinked, surprised, as he looked around. He forgot he was in class. And now, with all the eyes looking back at his, they all knew his personal business.
"What are you looking at us for, idiot." A random classmate, who he had yet to know, mumbled when Ryoma caught his line of sight. The bulky tanned large student pointed his chin over to Sakuno and said. "Aren't you going to confess?"
Ryoma turned his eyes to find large chesnut orbs trembling in front of him in anticipation and utter unease.
"Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno muttered when Ryoma didn't say a word. Then suddenly, the boy smiled at her for a brief singular second.
"Go out with me?"
The class was in all cheers the moment Sakuno nodded with tinted cheeks and a shy smile.
"Okay."
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Ryoma's eyes twitched as he sat stoicly on his seat in the kitchen table of the Ryuzaki household. His fist tightened uneasily as his ears rang. In the other room, he could hear Sakuno's mother yelling bloody murder at both Sakuno and the old hag.
"I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS!" He could hear her scream in a tantrum. "WHEN THE DAY WILL COME THAT THAT NANJIROH STEPS IN MY HOUSE AS A IN-LAW, I'M GOING TO FREAK OUT! FREAK OUT, I'M TELLING YOU SAKUNO!"
The boy shook his head, thinking over his choices. Not getting far into it, he sighed, wondering then what would've been better. Sakuno not having rekindled her ties with her estranged mother or he not having his stupid idiot father. He rolled his eyes, not anymore knowing. Both seemed too troublesome to handle.
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Suddenly, his eyes lit.
How could he have forgotten about eloping?
The end.