Diary Lessons, a prince of tennis fanfic

"Diary Lessons"

By Miyo-chan02

Disclaimer:
Prince of Tennis is owned by Konomi Takeshi

Summary:
Who knew that by reading, someone's diary, a certain prodigy learns a little lesson? One-shot

Sheltering herself from the sun's fury, Sakuno hid under a shady tree. She let her back lean on the sturdy trunk, and her eyes close for a moment. She was recalling her past. The way her heart beat for him, the way her eyes get filled with admiration every time he did something, the way she smiled for him. He was her first love after all. But that was the past and the past will never be the present. She had moved on now on her life.

Her heart beats for someone else. Her smiles are addressed for someone else. Her eyes see no one else but him.

She hugged her diary that kept all her feelings for him. After all, the past is still a part of her. A part of the girl who loved him. A part of Ryuzaki Sakuno.

Still reminiscing, she flipped the pages that contained all the emotions she felt before. Her hazel eyes scanned her very first entry. It talked about how she admired him for the first time she laid her eyes on him. She continued to flip the pages and read its contents. Finally, reaching the last entry she wrote.

Dear Diary,

I've realized… he's not the one. I realized that… only friendship fitted the both of us. And… I never believed that he'd even notice me. So… with these last words, I'll definitely forget him… I'll forget …

Ryuzaki Sakuno.

Sakuno smiled. She remembered that she never wrote his name except for the last entry. Because every time she tries to write his name, she always ends up blushing madly. But now, she could just simply write it like writing her own.

After two years, she was really able to get over him. She glanced at her wrist watch and a shocked expression engaged her small face. She was late for a club meeting! She ran, with a few stumbles on the way… and totally forgetting her diary.

~O~

Lunch time has always been slumber time for him. For Echizen Ryoma. Aside from eating, he really loved to sleep. He considered it as something really important. If possible, he doesn't want any disturbances ahead. He usually, sleeps on the rooftop, but with big-mouthed Horio on the way, he'll have to change his mind.

And so, he stayed on a shady tree at the school grounds. It was perfect. And so he leaned on the tree's trunk. Although it seemed to be uneven. He must have sat on something. He grabbed it to take a look. It was just a typical notebook covered with pink paper. He scanned it to see if it had a name. Not that he cared that much. It's just a normal thing to do after seeing a missing object. And then, a note caught him. "D…. of Ryuzaki Sakuno" He didn't really mind the very first word. All that caught his eyes were her name.

And so he opened it and read it. It talked about Sakuno loving this person that wasn't mentioned in any of the pages. For some odd reason, he felt disappointed seeing her last entry. It talked about giving up. He didn't bother to finish it. He closed the notebook and gave it a thought.

You know, Echizen Ryoma, the cocky rookie of the tennis club, isn't dense forever. After quite some time, he was able to notice the young girl Sakuno. He noticed those evident actions like blushing. But he didn't understand everything she did. After all, denseness is really a part of him.

He settled the notebook on his side and once again pondered. Did Sakuno really give up on him? Now? Now that he finally started to bit by bit notice her?

He closed his eyes.

Confrontation… is the only key.

~O~

The bell rang signing all classes off. Students came rushing outside. Having no tennis practice on that day, Ryoma stayed at the gates waiting for a certain girl to come out.

Finally, seeing her figure, he gave her a look. She stopped just before him and acknowledged his presence. "Ryoma-kun…"

"You forgot this." He said showing her the diary.

She softly gasped. That diary contained some things that she buried deep down. No one should ever read it. What if Ryoma read it? Her hands started to sweat.

"A-arigatou." She said perturbed. "A-anou… I-I have to go." She said and was able to get the diary.

"Why give up?" he asked nonchalantly not letting her reach her diary.

Sakuno met his deep gaze.

Ryoma never thought of giving up as something logical. Sure there are times that he gave up but he gave it some more thought and continued to fight back.

The girl had a chance. He still can't sort out his feelings right now. As a tennis player, he still wants to accomplish a lot of things, keeping his focus on the sport. But it doesn't mean that the girl doesn't have any chance.

She cleared her throat. "I…" She knew what she would reply, but it seemed she was lost for words. All she could do was to avert her eyes from his.

She had already given up. Not because he just said it, she'd suddenly go for him again. It's been a long time. Her heart belongs to someone else now.

"Ryoma-kun… would you love someone… who never knew your existence? Someone who glared at you… for no reason…?"

Ryoma watched her as he listened. Has he always been like that to her? So his sempais were right. He really was dense after all. But he can compensate right? He faced her with a smirk. "You think I don't notice you?"

Sakuno was caught off guard. What was Ryoma saying? A blush crept up to her cheeks as she opened her mouth. "D-demo… he isn't like you… Ryoma-kun…" she said.

His eyebrow rose. He? How come it seemed that they were talking about a totally different person?

"Shin-san… he's different…"

"Shin…" he repeated.

He promptly opened her diary once again and checked her last entry.

Dear Diary,

Ryuzaki Sakuno.

Date: July 14, 2007

(A/N: In this story, I'll use the year 2009 as the timeline)

Her last entry was about two years ago. And they met each other less than a year. So…

Upon seeing Ryoma's paled face she asked with concern, "I-is something wrong Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma didn't bother to look at her anymore. He gave her the diary and drifted off to his home leaving Sakuno with her eyebrow rose up.

With this day ending, he learnt a very valuable lesson… "Always check the date…"

~Diary Lessons: The End~

Author's notes: So… what do you think? Hehe. I'm having fun torturing Ryoma ne? hehe. Gomen gomen. You could say that this is kinda "Why Would Ryuzaki Hate Me?" having Ryoma taking it all wrong. Please review. I just missed releasing a one-shot and this idea popped out of nowhere. XD

And also this is compensation, since I won't be updating much of my stories because of this hellish school work. *bows*