For all those RyomaxSakuno fans out there who love a bit of blood, drama, fantasy, vampires, etc. :)
I've been working on this for a long time and have been rewriting this so many times because I could never find the right words and expressions and lost myself after writing the 2nd year. But I came back after reading and feeling like I can write it so here it is along with all my hard work I've put into it.
Full Summary: When he first ever existed in a human's life in his high school eyars, Echizen Ryoma never expected to befriend a certain pig-tailed brunette, Ryuzaki Sakuno. On the last day of high school, Ryoma admitted that he's jealous of what every human has, but he didn't expect to meet the girl again in three years time and tell her that it was mortality he wanted. But living without love for a long time made him uneasy to the new emotion and tries to deal with it but can never seem to make him and Sakuno happy. A story of two different creatures as they overcome the struggles and blood to finally be together. RxS.
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis but if I did then I would've made Ryoma and Sakuno hook up near the beginning of the series.
Age Rating: 13+ for later chapters.
--------
The Vampire and the Girl
Prologue
People may hurt other people because they're jealous that they have something that they don't. Yet humans always find something to hold value to sometime in their lifetime, but living creatures that take the shape of humans may never gain what they cannot gain no more for the abilities and immortality they gain in exchange for that.
--------
Cheerful chatter uplifted the atmosphere of the school on the sunny day. It was the last day of school and the whole school had most of school off easy because it was. It was currently lunch time and most people were out gathering in small to extremely large groups outside of the school buildings. The teachers were in their offices, kicking their feet back and sipping coffee and reading the newspaper at their own pace and leisure. The principal, for one, was sleeping at his desk; white mountains of paper work slept beside him. Some last years were crying in the middle of the path a certain first year boy was walking on.
"Tch," he hissed. "So stupid." He kicked a rock in his path and unfortunately hit someone with it. But he just kept on walking as if he had never kicked the rock in the first place.
"Hey!"
Students who were hanging around the area quickly turned to see what all the commotion was about. The boy stopped in his path. "What now?" He sighed in exasperation.
"You!"
A last year pointed at the boy, his finger rudely directed at him. A scowl and irritation was clearly written all over his face, you could also see it in his blazing eyes. He gritted his teeth and proudly lifted his head. His wild white – thought he claimed that it was silver like the glint in the moon and stars and his amazing prowess - hair glinted in the sunlight, but none of the above bothered the other boy.
He slowly turned around. "You talking to me?" He glanced at the finger that obviously pointed rudely at him and followed its trail back to an angry face that looked like that it was explode any second now. He hummed in amusement when his gaze fell back onto the finger. He followed with his eyes to where he was pointing at; however, passed him and his gaze fell onto a standby. After the yell of 'you' people started to gather around them in a circle.
He turned back to the boy and raised his hand. "That girl?" he asked, pointing his thumb at the standby. "What did she do to you?"
The angry boy's blood boiled even more. "Why you…"he threatened. He took some threatening steps forward, enough to look down at the pale face boy.
But did he know that the pale face boy wasn't pale because he was being threatened?
"What's your name, kid?" he said gruffly. He towered over the boy at least a few feet.
"Sorry, don't you know it's impolite to ask for someone's name before giving your own?" the smaller boy replied coolly. "It's common curtesy. I think your parents may want to reteach you." He turned away for the taller boy and started to walk away.
The taller boy looked shocked, if not, absolutely appalled. Murmurs went up from the audience. The taller boy couldn't stand it, hearing whispers from everywhere. He had a reputation to stick to until the bell went off! "O-Oi!" The boy stuttered at first. He coughed and continued on with a double edge sword tone.
"Do you know who I am?" he roared. The other boy stopped walking and turned around. "Do you know who I am?" he repeated. "It is I, Ore-sama, king of the school!"
The air seemed to vibrate from his yelling. He continued:
"Be awed at the sight of my existence!"
"Ah! Go, Atobe-sama!"
"Kyaaa! ~"
"Atooe-sama! ~"
A round of applause followed his speech, people loved him. He overly proud and weird at times but he was 'Godly'. Good looks that make girls go wild and thrive for his heart, good grades that make teachers love him, and he was a great athlete. He was never single for long but broke many hearts.
Unlike the other boy.
Pale faced and dark hair that covered his face, grades that were just acceptable, and not too fit looking. He never ever had a date and never broke any hearts. Not that he cared; he had better things in mind…
"Really now?" he said mockingly. "Then how is it that I've never heard of you before?"
"What about you, huh?" Atobe snapped back. "I've never seen you before!"
The other boy's eyes narrowed but a smirk played on his lips. "I see," he said. "So that's how it is. You're too caught up in your own fame that you barely notice anyone else. I believe you've forgotten all of your ex-girlfriends? You're so stupid."
"Dare you to say it to Ore-sama's face again?" Atobe snarled. But he had to admit, some of that was probably true…
"Okay. You're so stupid." The boy continued before he was interrupted. "But you see, in every class there is always someone who no one notices. They are always there, but not there, in the background where no one notices nor see. A shadow, hiding in the darkness, waiting and praying for a chance to appear."
"What does all this crap have to do with this?" Atobe narrowed his eyes. He was becoming impatient. He so badly wanted to beat up the little guy.
"Impatient I see." The boy turned away and started to walk but stopped. "By the way, my name is Echizen Ryoma. Che." With that, Ryoma walked away.
"Echizen! I'm going to beat you up right here, right now! By awed at the sight of Ore-sama's prowess!"
A sequence of whispers rose from the crowd; everyone knew that Atobe was really good at fighting, he hardly missed! They knew it was near impossible to win against him because his gang Hyoutei would just beat them up later if he didn't win… especially the tall and bulky Kabaji Munehiro who will simplemindedly follow every one of Atobe-sama's wishes with a grunt.
Atobe leaped at Ryoma and aimed a punch for his head but Ryoma did not move to avoid it.
Everyone but Ryoma gasped; he had simply fanned Atobe's punch away as if it was nothing but a fly. Ryoma still had his back to Atobe but couldn't help but turn around to see the look on his face.
Seeing this, Atobe thought that it was an opportunity to aim another punch. He leaned back then moved his weight onto his front leg and his right fist followed. It connected, but with a hand.
Ryoma gripped onto the fist tightly and pulled it back. His face kept serious as he aimed an accurate knee for Atobe's stomach.
The air went still.
Ryoma slowly released Atobe and pushed him away abruptly whom had doubled over and started to cough out blood when he hit the ground. Ryoma stared down at him with disgust. "Pathetic excuse for a human," he spat.
No one moved no matter how much they tried; they were spelled to be frozen.
A brave girl took a small step forward and temporarily broke the spell.
"What?" Ryoma asked without taking his glare from the fallen 'king of the school'.
"You can't do that to Atobe-sama!" the girl cried. "He's king of the school!"
Ryoma wanted to gag; obviously a fan girl.
"So?" Ryoma countered swiftly. "All kings lose their reign over their kingdom."
He dragged his glare from the coughing Atobe to the dark cloudy sky. A thoughtful look haunted his face as he narrowed his eyes for a split second. He returned his gaze back to the 'king'.
"Yes," he snapped, "I don't remember any kings who never lost their reign. And besides, I just did," Ryoma stated, emphasising the last few words.
He kicked Atobe in the stomach with not much effort but it seemed to hurt a lot because Atobe coughed out even more blood.
Ryoma spat at the ground. "Some king you are," he snorted with a look of sheer disgust. "The next 'king' will definitely be better than you."
I just hope it's not Momo-senpai, he added to himself in his head.
And with that he walked away.
No one stopped him, no one moved. They all watched as he disappeared down along the path.
Atobe gave a disgusting sound. "What are you waiting for?" he shouted to his gang. "Ore-sama orders you to go get him!"
But no one moved or even heard him. Everyone was spellbound.
And that was the first time that Echizen Ryoma, in the whole of his high school years, ever existed in a human's life.
--------
"Ahh!"
The puffing girl got too caught up in the whole scene that she completely forgot about her tennis commitments. She was supposed to meet her tennis coach – who is also her grandma - at her office at two o'clock but it was already fifteen past! Her coach was going to skin her alive!
She racked her brain for an excuse but found none because of her panic attack. She pouted but continued to run. She tried to remember whose fault it was; that might help think of an excuse.
"Ah!"
It was that damn boy's fault. What's his name- no, she couldn't forget his name. It was Ryoma, Echizen Ryoma.
When he had followed Atobe-sama's finger to its target, his gaze fell onto her and their eyes clashed and interlocked with each other. It was dark and void cat-like eyes clashing with innocent and full of life chocolate. Their eyes only met for a split second, but to her it felt like the world had stopped living.
She sighed; her romantic loving friend was rubbing her influence off her. Damn that Tomo-chan.
"Ah!" the girl cried as she fell. She closed her eyes and dropped her unzipped tennis bag, which caused the contents the spill out from the bag and make a loud clatter on the cold floor. "Ow; that hurts!" she whined. She groaned and pulled a face. "Obaa-san is going to yell at me for being this late…"
She started to hastily pick up her dropped contents and place them back into her tennis bag.
Tennis racket… Check.
Tennis balls… Check.
Drink bottle… Check.
She continued to check things off her mental list but found that something was missing.
Where's… my towel?
"Ah!" she gasped. "Where is it? Oh no! Now I'm really going to be late!"
Her chocolate brown orbs frantically darted around the boring grey tiles around her and saw no towel of hers. She was about to give up and leave before spotting a pair of shoes near her tennis bag. She looked up and gasped.
Golden orbs stared back into her own orbs with slight amusement hidden in them, dark rings circling them below; his messy black hair with a fair tint of green tousled around his smooth and marble-like pale face; and in his thin and long hands was her towel.
"Ah!" she gasped. "My towel!"
The boy stared at her flatly and nodded slowly yet swiftly – the movement reminded her of a swan dipping its head. She smiled brightly at him.
"Arigatou!"
She got a nod as a reply. "Betsuni," he said softly yet his voice had a firm tone in it – Very seducing, she thought.
Silence swept through them as they continued to stand opposite each other.
"Ah!" she cried as she just realized that she was late – very late.
"I need to go see Obaa-san!" She turned towards the direction of her grandmother's office. "Ja, Ryoma-kun!"
Ryoma titled his head and she swore that she saw a ghost of a smile. "'Ryoma-kun'?" he asked innocently, with a tint of humour.
She flushed a light tint of pink. "W-well… a-ah…." She quickly changed the subject. "My name's Ryuzaki Sakuno," she beamed. "Nice to meet you." Her rosy apple face was full of warmth –which then turned into panic which nearly made Ryoma think what he did wrong. Nearly.
"I have to go now," she said as she started to run again. "Ja ne, Ryoma-kun!"
Ryoma watched the retreating petite figure with mild interest. His eyebrows nearly rose by a millicentimetre. When the petite figure was fully gone in view, he turned the other way, shaking his head.
"What a weird human," he muttered under his breath. He hummed in thought. "I wonder if I'll ever see her again…"
--------
Another year has passed and it was the last day of school once again. Cheerful chatter uplifted the atmosphere of the school on the sunny day. It was currently lunch time and most people were out gathering in small to extremely large groups outside of the school buildings. The teachers were in their offices, kicking their feet back and sipping coffee and reading the newspaper at their own pace and leisure. The principal, for one, was sleeping at his desk; white mountains of paper work slept beside him. Some last years were crying in the middle of the path a certain second year boy was walking on
"Tch," he hissed. "So stupid." He kicked a rock in his path and unfortunately hit someone with it. But he just kept on walking as if he had never kicked the rock in the first place.
"Oi, oi!"
He ignored the call. The voice seemed to have come from behind him now, though somehow, that voice seems familiar…
"Oi!"
A pause.
"Echizen?"
"What, Momo-senpai?" Echizen hissed at the grinning boy.
"You didn't come to say goodbye to me!" Momoshiro faked a pained looked. "And you hit me with the rock!" This time, the pained look wasn't fake.
Ryoma said nothing but instead turned around and started heading the other way. He had hoped that he left the annoying boy behind but – he sighed – some dreams just never seem to come true.
"Oi! Echizen!" Momoshiro caught up to Ryoma and started walking in pace with the smaller boy, an impish grin on his face. "So, what are you going to do after Mamushi and I are gone?"
Ryoma didn't have time to reply as a hiss sounded from behind.
"Fshhh! Porcupine head," the voice hissed once again, snaking through the vocal sounds produced from other people – or should I say, from the humans around them.
"Nani?! What did you say, Mamushi?!" Momoshiro roared, his cool totally lost and treading in deep water now.
"Porcupine head," 'Mamushi' hissed once again without losing his cool like the hot-tempered spiky haired boy. He then ignored the furious boy who had steam coming out of his ears now and turned to the smaller boy before him with cat like eyes. He nodded in greeting.
And got a nod in greeting back.
"Don't ignore me! Oi, Echizen! Help me here!"
"You're on your own," Ryoma muttered and swiftly turned away, walking and leaving the two last year boys behind who instantly started fighting - sparks flew and other students nearby started to fled quietly; only the very few brave stood watching, still shaking in fear.
Ryoma could hear the shouts behind him but simply ignored them by tuning out and focusing on… well, other things.
"Ryoma-kun?" A voice so very sweet, angelic and soft called out to him.
"Hn?" Ryoma turned to look at the brown haired girl before him. "Oh. Ryuzaki," he said in acknowledgement.
"Anou… I made something for you," the sweet girl said softly as she thrusted out her hands which gently had a wrapped up gift in the middle.
Ryoma stared blankly at the pink wrapping with little white bunnies and the yellow ribbon wrapped around it. After a pause, he took it without a pause in his movements – Sakuno was very shocked when the gift was gently taken from her frail hands, but nevertheless happy.
"Arigatou."
Sakuno beamed with a flushed looking face. "I-Iie, the pleasure's all mine!" She smiled happily.
A pregnant silence.
Ryoma usually didn't start conversations – he thought they were pointless because if the person didn't start talking to you then obviously they didn't want to talk to you – but this was an exception. "So, Ryuzaki, — "
"HUH?! Oi, Echizen, where did you get yourself such a good looking girl?!"
"Fshhh! Shut up, Porcupine head."
"What did you say, Mamushi?!"
"Fshhh! Porcupine head."
Ryoma could have killed them.
Sakuno could have fainted from being complimented by a friend of Ryoma-kun's.
Friend? No. More like annoying-stalker-person-who-wouldn't-leave-poor-Ryoma-alone.
He grabbed the poor girl's hand and dragged her away from the two loud mouths, feeling her wince under his cold palm.
When they were finally gone and up on the rooftop of a building, did he realized that he was still holding onto her hand.
"Ah." He let go. "Gomen."
"I-Iie, it's okay," Sakuno muttered. She looked up at Ryoma with curiousity etched all over her face. "Anou… Why is Ryoma-kun's hand so cold?"
Ryoma stared at the girl with no expression on his face.
Sakuno felt foolish and embarrassed as the boy didn't say anything but stared at her. "A-ah. Ryoma-kun doesn't have to answer if he doesn't want to…" she said with a blush on her cheeks. She looked down at the ground and she saw Ryoma's shoes walk away. She felt tears brim as she felt rejection.
"I can't tell you…"
"Heh?" Sakuno looked up and found that Ryoma didn't leave but had just moved so he was leaning against the railing, his cat-like eyes looking out, deep in thought.
"Please forgive me, Ryuzaki. I can't tell you just yet."
And with that, he walked away, but not before hearing a soft voice whisper:
"I'll be waiting…"
A small smile slowly made its way on his lips as he closed his eyes.
Ryuzaki Sakuno… What a weird human she is…
--------
Another year has passed and it was the last day of school once again. Cheerful chatter uplifted the atmosphere of the school on the sunny day. It was the last day of school and the whole school had most of school off easy because it was. It was currently lunch time and most people were out gathering in small to extremely large groups outside of the school buildings. The teachers were in their offices, kicking their feet back and sipping coffee and reading the newspaper at their own pace and leisure. The principal, for one, was sleeping at his desk; white mountains of paper work slept beside him. Some last years were crying in the middle of the path a certain last year boy was walking on.
"Tch," he hissed. "So stupid." He kicked a rock in his path and unfortunately hit someone with it. But he just kept on walking as if he had never kicked the rock in the first place.
"Hey!"
Ryoma just kept on walking.
"HEY!! I'M TALKING TO YOU!!" the voice called again.
"Tch. Stupid human," Ryoma muttered. He didn't need to glance back to know that the first year that he had hit was following him. Ryoma's eye nearly twitched. Nearly.
Ah… Why is it that every year, on the last day, that I hit someone with a rock? Not that I mind hitting them but following me is just…
He glanced back with a scowl.
… annoying.
"HEY!!"
Ryoma rolled his eyes.
Still?
He decided that it was time to get rid of the stupid first year following him. He thought of killing the boy but after he saw a large group, he threw the idea out the window.
He marched right into the large group of friends – much to many their annoyance – and, knowing that he was still being followed after he walked out from the group, he walked through yet another group of people near a corner and made a sharp turn on his heels. He blinked and found himself on the rooftop that he loved so much.
He laid down and, before he knew it, he was, what humans would assume to be, "asleep".
"Ryoma-kun?"
His eyes snapped open at his name and at the voice. He stared into chocolate brown orbs above him.
"Nani, Ryuzaki?"
Sakuno, realizing that he was never asleep, blushed and backed away from the boy and sat next to him, but not too close – Ryoma-kun might not like that, she thought.
"This might be the last time we see each other, ne Ryoma-kun?" she said but got no reply.
She smiled as she sat there and enjoyed the silence. She noticed that Ryoma-kun had closed his eyes.
I wonder if he's asleep.
She slowly and nervously shuffled towards the sleeping boy and stared at his perfect, pale face. She almost forgot that she was looking at him.
"What are you looking at, Ryuzaki?" Ryoma asked, still with his eyes closed.
Sakuno blushed and started to stutter out an apology. "G-Gomen, I-I – "
"You don't need to apologize all the time," Ryoma pointed out to her. "If someone walked right into you, would you apologize to them?"
"Yes."
"Wrong," Ryoma said flatly. "Because they were the one who walked into you."
Sakuno smiled. "But I also hit them as well so it's only polite to say 'Sorry'."
Ryoma stared at the girl before shaking his head. "Ryuzaki, would you apologize if someone kissed you without warning and you didn't like them back?"
"Yes."
"Wrong," Ryoma said flatly. "You slap them."
Sakuno couldn't resist but laugh at the way the boy said 'You slap them' so expressionlessly. "Ryoma-kun!"
"What? It's true," Ryoma stated. "My cousin does that."
Though she's dead…
Sakuno shook her head and tried to stop her laughter. "But Ryoma-kun, you have to say sorry because you don't feel the same way."
"What if they didn't like you?" Ryoma asked with the slightest tightness in his voice – This girl would say sorry to anyone and anything, even a non-living piece of paper! he thought and he was determined to find something that she wouldn't say sorry to.
"But then they wouldn't kiss me in the first place." Sakuno titled her head.
"What if they were one of those guys they call jocks and they were just doing it for fun?"
"I would say sorry."
Ryoma's eye nearly twitched. Nearly.
"Why?"
"Because they can't find someone they truly love."
Ryoma felt like strangling the girl and asking if there was anything that the girl wouldn't say sorry to.
"Okay. How about this: If someone punched you, would you say sorry?"
"Yes."
"Wrong," Ryoma said flatly again. He gave her a strange look. "Ryuzaki, they punched you."
"But Ryoma-kun, they must've punched me for a reason, right?" Sakuno asked and Ryoma gave her a reluctant nod. "So I'm saying sorry to whatever I did wrong to make them punch me."
Ryoma sighed. "Ryuzaki, what if they punched you because they felt like it and not because you did something wrong?"
"I would say sorry."
"Why?"
"Because…"
Ryoma looked at Sakuno, thinking she was finally out of reasons but the tone in her voice said otherwise, and her face looked really sad.
"If someone is punching you because they feel like it, don't you think that the deeper reason behind that is because they feel weak and want to prove to themselves that they're strong?"
Ryoma stayed silent.
"Or maybe they get abused outside of school or at home and they want to take it out on someone because the victim doesn't get abused and if they do that, they'll feel superior and normal because they know that there's someone out there who also gets abused… Or… maybe because…"
She looked at Ryoma with a soft yet sad smile on her lips.
"They're jealous."
Ryoma felt his something rip out from his chest and the words stung him like thousand of needles dipped in poison. Still and moving images flew in front of him as he fell down and down into oblivion. His crushed desires and hopes and dreams flew back at him like a raging herd of bulls and they hit him hard. And he felt all of this because…
He felt that way.
"They're jealous because you have something they don't. You're something they're not. Your life is better, you have something to love, you have people that love you, you have…"
Sakuno choked back her tears.
"So… I would say I wish I could empathize… I would say I wish they had a better life… I would say I wish they weren't jealous of me because they are unique and they have something special about or to them that no one else has… I would say… So I would say…
"I'm sorry."
And she couldn't hold back her tears no more.
Ryoma watched the fragile girl let out her feelings and sadness and awkwardly sat up and patted her head gently, running his fingers through her braids and taking them out. When the girl looked up finally after a few minutes of sobbing, he looked away and stopped touching her, feeling a new feeling of uneasiness and… embarrassment?
He stood up and walked to the railing. He stuffed his hands in his pocket and looked out into the sky.
"Ryuzaki…" he started slowly. "What you said… 'Because they're jealous'… I have something that I hold against every human that ever existed because I'm jealous of something they have that I never will. It… doesn't bother me all the time, but… I sometimes I just wish that I can have it… what they have that I don't…
"But, I don't hurt anyone because of that… So…"
He lowered his head, feeling a bit… awkward and embarrassed?
"Don't be sad. Not everyone is like that. Humans always find something to hold value to sometime in their lifetime and maybe one day everyone will have something that they can be happy with before they start hurting people. And… you have a really good heart. You're an interesting human. I like you."
And with that he had disappeared before Sakuno could even blink.
"Ryoma-kun…" she muttered softly. She smiled and closed her eyes. "Arigatou, Ryoma-kun. I'm sure that one day you'll get what you want."
She stood up and hurried to class as the bell rang but not before turning back and gaze at the rooftop.
"Goodbye, Ryoma-kun. I hope you have a good life and we meet again one day."
But as she walked through the door, she never noticed a dark figure standing on the roof above.
"Ryuzaki… Arigatou, but I will never gain mortality ever again…"
--------
Hope you liked it. I'll write up Chapter 1 very soon. Can't start now 'cos it's late.
Hope I got the feelings and expressions right. Sorry if Ryoma seemed a bit out of character in his last year of highschool but I couldn't get him to say what I wanted him to without making him sound a bit out of character.
xKairix
EDIT: I will also mention this in Chapter 1 but kokoro62 has picked up a mistake that would have GREATLY thrown everyone off. Where it says:
"Ryuzaki... Arigatou, but I will never gain mortality ever again..."
It used to say:
"Ryuzaki... Arigatou, but I will never gain immortality ever again..."
MANY thanks to kokoro62 who picked this up. Sorry to those who read it before kokoro62 informed me of this mistake. Cheers!