Anomaly
by: RoyaleDeuce
Disclaimer: TeniPuri is not mine.
Warning: Crack-ish. And possible OOC-ness.
After Echizen Ryoma had left for US, things had become different for her. A better different. Not only had she become more mature and independent, but she gained several other attributes that she had a resolve of nurturing. She was currently one of the top in her class. Her cooking skills upped a notch with Kawamura-senpai taking time to mentor over her. She outgrew her stuttering and blushing-a-lot habits. And she had recently gained popularity among the male population of Seishun Gakuen for growing all of a sudden. Grow as in chest and hip developments, more defined cheekbones, lovelier and longer auburn-hair (if it could possibly grow even longer), fuller lips, and beautiful chocolate orbs that was full of suppressed zest for life.
Her transformation attracted many, that she wasn't so invisible anymore.
Boys asking her out had become more often. Sumire had to ward off any unwanted and straying-too-long companies around her granddaughter almost every single day. And her politely declining each of their invitations had almost become a daily endeavor. She had been asked many times with regards to her continuous refusals, but she would merely reply that she wasn't ready yet.
A concluding inference that she still loved a certain tennis prince was what kept many just to wait in line.
Not only had she lured suitors, but Sakuno also gained lots of friends in the three years after Ryoma left. Thanks to the absence of her timidity around most people, her classmates learned to fully appreciate the girl. Not only in her cooking, but also in character.
She was a new sensation.
Sometimes, she herself felt that she was loved by everyone, but knew better than to let that get in her head. Because despite her being all that...
Ryuuzaki Sakuno was still prominent for what could possibly be the clumsiest living creature on Earth.
Her anomaly.
God knows how hard she tried to continue playing tennis to impress a particular someone, but it was apparent that she was absolutely hopeless. All thanks to her inborn klutziness and day by day spaz attacks. Whenever her pen fell in class, she'd always either stumble over something or hit her head on someone's desk when getting it in the process. Or whenever there was a dance class, Sakuno would have to apologize to her dancing partner every two-minute interval. Or whenever she was doing a laboratory experiment, some sort of havoc was always bound to happen, so she was never asked to touch any of the tools or chemicals. She was merely the note-taker. Which was absolutely fine with her...
But being condemned to be a walking disaster was not.
For it consequently kept her from being 'the someone' she assumed a 'certain someone' would like. Sucks for her that the tennis courts was where she did not belong. And she hated herself for it.
There were some nights that cried herself to sleep. She thought of the time she watched Ryoma in all his tennis-glory, crushing his opponents with a snap of the finger. Since she was well aware that the boy had nothing in mind but tennis, she, on the other hand, had nothing in mind but to become good in tennis to catch the said boy's attention.
But Lady Luck wasn't shining upon her for not being the person Echizen Ryoma would most likely adore.
She lacked the one thing that Echizen Ryoma could possibly be looking for in a girl.
She felt groggy as she walked her way to her high school.
Last night had been another of her times when she would fall asleep sobbing while thinking of Ryoma again. The rising tennis star wouldn't have crossed her mind that evening if it weren't for him being interviewed in one of the international talk shows she usually watched every night. The conversation between the host and he was kind of boring actually, having topics on his tennis career, Ponta signing contract, more interviews, break from tennis for a moment and blah, blah, blah. Counting that the boy was fond of giving simple and often mono-syllable responses. But she wasn't after that anyway... her eyes had been fixed on Ryoma the entire show, glad that she was able to see him again, not caring if the conversation drifted to topics like the boy's current love life—
Hold up.
Now that she thought about it... W-What did Ryoma-kun say about his love life?! Sakuno slammed her forehead on her palm as she finally reached the gates of Seishun Gakuen.
Her self-esteem descended yet again, her regret for not using her chance with Ryoma seeping inside her and ruined her morning.
Curse her previous and still present anomaly.
Taking a deep breath, she realized that she should definitely not let Echizen Ryoma bring her down. And since she was more visible to people now, it was quite impossible that no one would notice her 'down-in-the-dumps' mood. She never was a pro in masking emotions. Finally composing herself, she lifted her head and plastered on a bright smile...
And then her mouth dropped open.
The entire female population in the vicinity had auburn hair in pigtails.
She wasn't sure whether she should have her ego soaring right now at the thought that everyone suddenly wanted to look like her, but confusion had overwhelmed all other thoughts. It had been the initial reaction... and most likely the last.
She rubbed her eyes to be assured that everything wasn't an illusion and weren't the effects of lack of sleep.
But alas, no matter how many times she rubbed her eyes, the same scene greeted her.
"Good morning, Ryuuzaki!" a girl which she was sure had black hair greeted her with a smile.
"Good morning Ryuuzaki-san... wait. Are you Ryuuzaki-san? Can you turn around— Oh! It is you! Good morning!" another girl that wasn't supposed to have auburn hair and pigtails greeted her.
She was still uncomprehending of everything that was happening that she wasn't able to form even one coherent sentence in response to the greetings. Was she some kind of teen idol that everyone suddenly wanted to look like her? She was talked to by the two girls about things she can't even relate to like: 'So are you ready for the awaited homecoming?' 'Did you get the latest edition?' 'I look like this because I want to have a chance too, you know'. She was only interrupted from her present stupor when the familiar voice of Osakada Tomoka rang in her ears.
"Good morning, Sakuno-chan!!"
Sakuno had never been gladder to see her best friend! She slowly turned around to Tomoka. All I have to do is ask Tomoka-chan why people are wearing auburn-pigtails and- and- "T-T-TOMO-CHAN?!"
The sight of her friend with identical long auburn braids like hers caused her to hyperventilate all of a sudden.
"SAKUNO-CHAN! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"
And it was at that... that Ryuuzaki Sakuno fainted from lack of sleep and extreme shock. She was brought to the infirmary to rest until she was well enough to walk again.
At least it saved her a day of not being the root of chaos.
He had been prepared for the shrieks. He had been prepared for the screams. He had been prepared to be tackled and tugged.
But he definitely wasn't prepared for this.
"I never knew that Seishun was full of auburn-braided girls. Figures why you probably said those details for the interview," Ryoma's manager said with mirth and ruffled the tennis star's hair affectionately. "Knew you weren't serious about saying that a girl with long auburn braids was your 'dream girl'... Never was specific in these kinds of things, eh Ryoma?"
"She's real..." Ryoma muttered annoyed, finally overcoming his shock when he looked outside the car window.
"Ah... so... you're a player?" the manager asked confused.
Baka. Ryoma merely sighed. "Mada mada dane..." he muttered while catching a glimpse of a horde of girls outside wig shops and salons.
How in the world will he find his auburn-head out of the sudden auburn-braided craze?
He takes back what he said about being prepared for being shrieked, screamed, and tugged at.
When the car he was riding dropped him off at Seishun Gakuen, he was immediately bombarded by the entire female population who all looked ridiculous for sharing the same hairstyle. Why in the world would these girls take effort in dying their hair or wearing wigs anyway?
Oh right. Because of the stupid magazine interview he had.
Just when he wanted to be serious about that aspect of his life... everything turned upside down and became a laughing matter.
Silly was the perfect word actually.
He had been running for a good fifteen minutes now. It was freaky that girl he encountered looked the same. And it was annoying that every girl who looked the same was after him. It's like he was in a nightmare full of auburn-braided imps haunting him everywhere he went! Whenever he thought that someone was her, he'd end up just running away from the girl he mistook to be Sakuno.
Where is she?
Realizing that looking for her with such predicament was futile, he gave up. He had had enough of auburn-braided girls for the moment.
He opted to go to the principal's office for solitude and was about to open the door right in front of him for a shortcut, when he remembered that there was shorter way of getting to the principal's office without having to pass by the infirmary.
Ryoma stealthily made his way pass the infirmary and to the back building as discretely as possible.
His search for Ryuuzaki Sakuno could wait.
The loud noise outside was what caused her to wake up from her not-so-peaceful bliss. Her head was still throbbing, but she managed to talk the school nurse that she was fine and that she could manage on her now. Exiting the infirmary, she was left to ponder over the last thing that she saw before she blacked out.
I still need to ask Tomo-chan why everyone looks like me today...
Now on her way back to class, she passed by several schoolmates who asked if she was already fine and other random things. It made her wonder why there were suddenly so many people in one area. Specifically the auditorium. She wracked her brain for an upcoming event she might have forgotten about, but to no avail, came up with none.
Curious, she changed track and headed to the enormous hall.
"It is an honor to have such a successful young man as you are back here..." she heard the school principal say.
She reached the auditorium, but had no clear view of the stage thanks to everyone blocking her way. Why is everyone here anyway? Curiosity nagging, she was determined enough to squish her way towards the front. There were occasional gasps and shouts when she accidentally stepped on someone's foot or elbowed someone, but nonetheless, she managed to make it through. But it was unfortunate of her that her view was still blocked because all the girls with the long auburn-braided hair were crowding in front.
She sighed and lost hope.
"KYA!! YOU'RE STILL SO KAWAII!!"
Tomo-chan? Sakuno's eyes widened.
Finding a new resolve, this time, to approach her best friend, her gaze randomly fell upon the janitor's cart just beside the curtains of the stage. A bucket, sprays, and mops were among those in it. Getting an idea on how she could see who was on stage and where Tomoka was, Sakuno walked towards what would become her instruments for a pandemonium.
"It is an honor to have such a successful young man as you are back here..." the school principal who currently 'betrayed' him said with a big warm smile.
He shut his mouth up to prevent himself from saying something rude.
Firstly, he went to the principal's office to take a break from seeing auburn-heads. But the school principal just had to be so ecstatic of his return that he had the need to showcase him to the entire student body. So much for escaping.
To occupy himself as the principal continued rambling about him being missed by the entire school, he eyed the spectators with heavy scrutiny, hoping to find an auburn-braided- All girls have auburn braids... baka. He thought with a sigh. Hoping to find Ryuuzaki Sakuno then. Just when he thought he spotted her among the crowd, the girl which he had eye contact with suddenly screamed.
"KYA!! YOU'RE STILL SO KAWAII!!"
Wrong girl... he gritted his teeth.
When he was about to put aside his hopes of seeing her again, a loud crash suddenly echoed in the hall.
Scattered mops and a big rolling bucket was what greeted him when he traced back where the noise came from. And at that chosen moment when he was about to identify who caused such mess, the curtains by the stage suddenly fell and landed on whoever was there. He saw a glimpse of auburn braids sticking out from the still semi-covered figure.
What a klutz... he thought.
Then it clicked.
Auburn braids + Klutz.
"Sakuno-chan! Are you alright?"
He did not think twice of jumping off the stage and dashed towards her. He pushed his way in between the sudden crowd surrounding the girl, and indeed, found Ryuuzaki Sakuno sprawled against the fallen janitor's cart and draped with the auditorium curtains. Her hair was loose, and she looked absolutely dishevelled. He smirked at her.
"R-Ryoma-kun..." she muttered, her chocolate orbs looking back at him surprised under the strays of hair in front of her face. She was visibly blushing. Baka no Sakuno! You looked like a complete fool!
"Ryuuzaki..." he said softly and leaned towards the girl, surprising many.
Just when everyone thought he was going to kiss her, his mouth took a different course and hovered right beside her ear.
"Cut your hair and dye it... I'm kind of sick of everyone with auburn braids."
Sakuno blushed, but nonetheless nodded. "... I agree."
The next edition of 'Glam Gal' was released a month after. With the previous issue having Echizen Ryoma for its front page sell well amongst the female population, this time, it also sold to the male population.
The salons and wig stores did not complain with their increase in customers, but were bewildered with their sudden prosperity.
With a smile, Ryoma's manager shook his head in utter disbelief as he read the 'Glam Gal' magazine and saw all girls walking in the streets black-haired.
Then, flipping the magazine close, Ryoma's manager left some paper bill on the table, leaving the magazine he was previously reading as well.
Echizen Ryoma with his cocky smirk visible was beside a blushing but merry looking black-haired Ryuuzaki Sakuno on 'Glam Gals' front page.
A gust of wind suddenly burst forth, flipping the pages back to where the manager had left off.
Echizen Ryoma's dream girl: Edited!
...Someone who has black hair and (temporary. It may change if the person gets tired of her previous hair color) has brown orbs.
...Someone who is good in cooking.
...Someone who is kind, loving, and supportive.
Most sought for: ...Someone who could possibly be labeled as the 'clumsiest living creature on Earth'.
The End
A/N: This idea randomly popped in my head while I was cleaning my room and came across an old teen magazine. (:)) So what do you think? Bad? Good? Review!
[Edited]