THE LAST ROSE
written by: me
Tenis no Oujisama written by: not me, but the one and only Konomi-sensei
AN: Just a note for those who do not like to read Japanese injected into the stories: please do not read my story. I like to use Japanese because that is the original language it was created in and also I think the way things are said are better expressed in Japanese. Also, just to let you know, I have studied and am continuing to study Japanese, so please no comments as if you think that I'm just randomly placing words in the story and I apologize ahead of time for any spelling errors or typos.
For everyone else who just enjoys reading a different kind of story, I hope that this one is to your liking...especially all the RyoSaku fans out there.
Sakuno stared at the chalkboard. She didn't know how she got into this mess. Just a few days ago, everyone was voting on what the class was going to do for the cultural festival and the next thing she knew she was signed up to be Little Red Riding Hood.
"Hazukashii na!!" she sighed.
Her class had voted on a "Storybook Café". The classroom was decorated with props from different children stories and a few students were picked as story "mascots" to walk around the campus to advertise. Sakuno could feel her stomach turn. At any other school it would have been okay, she would have been fine. But she wasn't at any other school. She was at Seishun. Her mind trailed off to her sempais on the tennis team and Ryoma. What if he saw her? She began to wonder if it was too late to feign an illness.
"SAKUNO-CHANNNNN!!"
Sakuno turned to see a girl with short hair standing in the doorway waving. In her hand she was carrying a huge white shopping bag. Sakuno grimaced. It was too late.
"I've been looking for you Sakuno-chan."
"Heh, heh, Ohayoo Chieko-chan. Um, here I am, I guess."
"Kochi, kochi. We've got to get you ready. Nami is already in the bathroom."
Before Sakuno could say anything, Chieko grabbed her by the arm and dragged her all the way to the girls bathroom.
The students in class 1-1 were all a buzz as they were getting the final preparations ready before the festival began. They 'ohhed' and 'ahhed' as each one of the storybook mascots walked into the classroom. There was Prince Charming, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, and Snow White.
"Hey, we're missing one!! Where's Sakuno?"
"Do you think she even came to school today?"
"She better not have tried to duck out by playing sick!!"
"Yeah!!"
The class was starting to become more and more anxious. Of course, they could get by with the mascots who were there, but they wanted a Little Red Riding Hood. She was basically the main mascot. As the anxiety level of the class began to reach dangerous heights, the door slid open and Nami and Chieko stepped in.
"We now present the one, the only Little Red Riding Hood!!" the two girls announced proudly.
The class turned and looked in excitement, but their faces quickly fell blank as they stared at the empty space in between the two girls. Chieko looked at the class then looked out the door and sighed at what she saw. There was Sakuno, squatting against the wall near the door. Her hands gripping the basket handles so tightly, her knuckles began to turn white.
"C'mon, Little Red Riding Hood. We're all waiting for your appearance. Chieko pulled Sakuno up by the arm and smoothed out her cape. "It's okay. Go on in." Just like a mother duck would nudge her chicks into the water, Chieko gently pushed Sakuno into the classroom.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! KAWAIIIIIIIIII!!!" The entire class cheered as Sakuno stood awkwardly before them, still clutching the basket as if the basket was the only protection she had.
"Nami-chan, Chieko-chan!! You girls did an amazing job!! If I didn't know better, I would have thought Little Red Riding Hood was a real person standing before us."
"Arigato Yamada-sensei!" the two girls replied in stereo; their faces beaming with pride.
Sakuno stood as still as a statue as her classmates fawned over her; touching her dress, her cape, and her hair. Her dress was made out of a dark red silk and fell right at her knees. Her sleeves were short and puffed up at the shoulders while the front was laced around her bust like a corset. White lace trimmed the sleeves, collar, and the edge of her dress. A small silk red ribbon looped through the lace and two more ribbons were woven through her braids and tied into bows at the end. Underneath her dress, Sakuno wore a huge white petticoat that made the skirt of the dress flare out. It reminded her of a ballet tutu made of tulle. But the most embarrassing of all, the petticoat could be seen. Not only was it embarrassing; it was itchy.
Sakuno finally let one hand go of her basket and tugged on the strings of the cape that were tied around her neck. The cape was a brighter red than the dress and was made of velvet. At least the hood doesn't feel uncomfortable, she thought. She looked down at her white lacy socks and her school slippers. This was going to be a long day.
The class finally settled down and got in their places to receive their final instructions for the day. The mascots were brought together to get the fliers that they were to hand out as advertisements for their café. Sakuno put her fliers into her basket and looked at the other mascots. They seemed so comfortable and ready to go out in their costumes. They didn't have to worry about bumping into certain people, or rather, a certain person as Sakuno did. She shivered as the teacher announced that it was time.
"Ganbatte minna!!" the mascots called out as they headed out the door, with Sakuno reluctantly following suit.
The halls quickly filled with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings; each one excited about the cultural festival. Seishun was known for having one of the best festivals for a junior high school. They all oohed and ahhed at the many tea and haunted houses. Some classrooms were used for treasure hunting, ice cream parlors, and one was even turned into a runway for a fashion show. Everyone filed in and out of classrooms, eager to see what each one offered.
Ryoma watched as the people flooded through the gates of Seishun. He was kind of glad that there were no classes, but he wouldn't pick what he was about to do over class. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and pouted. Why couldn't we just do a tennis demonstration instead of this??
"What's the matter, Ochibi?" Eiji asked as he approached the sullen 12-year old.
"Betsu ni." Ryoma replied grimly.
"He probably wants to play." Momo suggested with a stick of Pocky hanging from his mouth.
"Yeah, but this is more important!!" Eiji explained to Ryoma as he watched him nod at Momo's comment.
"What's so important about flowers?" Ryoma asked, his expression growing sourer by the minute. "And what does it have to do with tennis?"
"Everyone wants to buy a flower from the Starters of Seishun's Tennis Club! Every year, the Starters go around and sell roses. It's the highlight of the festival." Syusuke added as he joined the other boys.
"Yeah, especially the girls from other schools." Momo grinned. Syusuke and Eiji looked at each other and nodded with the same silly grin on their faces.
"I wonder how many I'll sell this year." Eiji thought aloud.
The three of them turned and walked away from the ichinensei still discussing how many roses they would sell and how many different sailor fuku they would see. Ryoma just watched as they left him alone.
"I still don't see what flowers have to do with tennis." He grumbled.
"Echizen."
Ryoma turned around to face Inui-senpai with a bushel of freshly cut roses in his arms.
"Here's your share. Each rose is 550 yen. If you run out, you can come back here to pick up more. With your popularity, you have a 99.9 chance of coming back at least three times." Inui handed the roses to Ryoma. "Ganbarou." Inui smiled, then turned and called out Kaidoh's name while heading in his direction.
Ryoma could barely see through all the roses. There was no way out of this now. Maybe I could give Horio my jacket and have him go around with these flowers? Ryoma thought for a moment; but quickly dismissed the idea. It would probably turn out like the last time Horio imitated Ryoma. Horio had an uncanny knack of getting himself into trouble and Ryoma would be right in the middle of it again.
As Fuji-senpai said, this was supposed to be the highlight of the festival so there was nothing Ryoma could do about that, for now. He looked around for the other Starters but they had already left on their missions. Even Bucho. The remaining club members stayed behind to man the booths by the courts. Ryoma shrugged his shoulders and headed for the building, swinging the bouquet of roses over his shoulder.
"Oh, aren't you adorable!! Class 1-1, huh? This way?"
Sakuno nodded as the middle-aged woman patted her on the head and headed down the hallway towards the classroom. She let a little sigh escape from her lips. This wasn't as bad as she thought and she was actually enjoying herself; that, and, her petticoat didn't itch as much. She walked up to a few more people and handed them a flier. As she waved bye to them, Snow White grabbed her hand.
"C'mon. Let's go to the upper levels and pass out fliers! Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, and Prince Charming will be alright by themselves."
Sakuno nodded her head and the tow headed up the stairs to the third floor that held the 3rd year classrooms. As they went up the first flight of stairs, a figure in a white hat carrying flowers passed by.
TRANSLATION NOTES:
Hazukashii na!! (How embarrassing!!)
Kochi, kochi. (Come here...loosely translated)
Betsu ni. (Nothing)
For Sakuno's costume, just think of a lolita-type outfit but red. Once again, inspiration came from a japanese magazine. Also, this story does take place during the cultural festival for Seishun. I do not know if they talk about the cultural festival in the manga or show it in the anime so I took a few liberties with what I know about the festivals themselves. Hope you like it so far. There will be more to come soon.