It Will Be Different
By Chiyosa Midoki
"Last Christmas, I gave you my heart. But the very next day, you gave it away. This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special."
The famous Christmas Love Song rang throughout the whole shopping center.
A sixteen year old girl walked clumsily holding out a lot of shopping bags and assorted boxes. She let out a squeal when one of the boxes fell from her grasp. She placed one of the boxes on a bench, and then looked for the missing box. She signed from tiredness. "Mou. How will I be able to get that now?"
It so happens that the box fell right in front of a Sports Store.
"Ryuzaki-chan?" Sakuno Ryuzaki dropped all of her shopping goods at the sound of her name.
She swore she could've heard Eiji-senpai call her. After turning around, her delicate face suddenly glowed at the sight.
"Senpai!" She managed to let out before being tackled by the Seigaku Regulars. Former Seigaku Regulars.
"What are you doing here?" Momoshiro Takeshi observed her before continuing, "And what's with all the boxes?" Momo began pointing all of the gifts on the ground.
"Oh! Well you see…" Sakuno turned beet red from embarrassment. "I hope they won't recognize the wrappers when they open them tonight." She thought silently as each regular began picking up the fallen gifts.
"Last Minute Christmas Shopping, Ryuzaki-chan?" Fuji Shusuke stood up from the floor and gave Sakuno the receipt. She turned into a deeper shade of red. They all laughed when Sakuno sheepishly nodded her head.
They all began walking around the mall again talking about the good old days, without any destination. But Sakuno suddenly halted. "Oh! I was supposed to meet up with Tomoka!"
"Where?" Sadaharu Inui inquired.
"It was supposed to be on a café right inside the mall, but I forgot the name…" Sakuno was in deep thought for a moment, but smiled when she saw a flyer posted in the Mall Bulletin Board.
"There?" Tezuka Kunimitsu asked. Sakuno nodded and led the path towards the familiar stop-over.
But as soon as they stepped on the shop's doorstep, the only girl was pulled and dragged a little far away from the shop.
"Tomo-chan, what's the matter?" Chocolate pools of worry greeted Tomoka when she turned Sakuno around.
"I've changed my mind, Sakuno-chan! Let's just go home! And you know, watch those movies that you really lo-"
"Osakada-san, what happened?" Oishi Shuichiro asked, as the pack of tennis players gathered around them.
"I've changed my mind! Hehehe.." Although Tomoka's explanations and weird change of heart freaked Sakuno out, she knew that her best friend was just trying to hide something from her.
"What is it, Tomo-chan?" Tomoka looked panicked and shaken, so the regulars brought Sakuno away from the shop, knowing that it was the only thing that would calm the Osakada girl out. But as soon as they got their first step, someone stopped them on their tracks.
"Sakuno, wait!" Even if she was faced at the opposite direction, she recognized the owner of the voice. Her eyes suddenly got soft, and she was in the verge of crying. This seemed to alarm the rest, so they turned around to glower at the person responsible for Sakuno's abrupt behavior. Besides, Sumire would probably kill them if they brought Sakuno home crying.
Kikumaru Eiji's eyes suddenly began to look fierce. "Him? No wonder Sakuno and Tomoka looked shaken." He was about to step in and give the guy a piece of his mind, but Kaido held him back.
"Izumo, leave now." Eiji's tone was firm, and it scared the former.
"Wait, Sakuno, Babe! Let's talk about this!" Kobayashi Izumo broke down and started to come near Ryuzaki. The Regulars were all baffled, even Eiji, who knew the situation. They all turned to Sakuno to see her reaction.
But instead of approaching the widely opened arms of the guy, Sakuno took a deep breath and smiled. A smile so serene that it makes anyone's heart melt. Still showing her smile, she passed by Izumo, the Regulars and Tomoka and then went inside the café.
While paying for her beverage, Sakuno couldn't help but broaden her smile. Taking a good look on the picture inside her wallet, she felt herself blush just by looking at his picture.
"This year, it's going to be different."
On a bench near the Sports Store, sat a man in his teenage years. He's quite good-looking, although almost all of his whole face was covered by a warm scarf. He had just woken up from one of his long naps, satisfied that he was able to recover from jet lag.
As he examined his surroundings more, he suddenly found a neatly wrapped box on his far side. Taking a good look on it, his cat-like eyes widened when he saw his very name on a card attached on the present.
"Ryoma-kun." He read under his breath, and after thinking of all the people who called him that, a pair of long braids suddenly appeared in his mind.
He quickly searched around the area, hoping to find her nearby.
Never had he felt ignored in his entire life. He must've looked like a total idiot in front of a lot of people, and she just walked pass him?
He barged inside the café and his eyes quickly found hers. He glared at her with so much intensity, that even the people around them started to leave. Sakuno, however, kept calm and continued to stare at him with her innocent eyes.
"So you're not gonna say anything, huh?" Izumo neared her. "She's gonna play hard to get?"
Sakuno continued to drink her hot chocolate, still ignoring him.
Her pupils dilated, and Izumo thought that she finally realized that he was the one for her. But then she stood up and began searching her pile of gifts.
Realization suddenly came into view.
"Oh dear, I've gotta get it back!" Sakuno ran towards the door and was out before anyone could've stopped her.
"Sakuno!" Izumo went out of the shop and stared at the braids flying behind the girl's back. The others exited the stall and began to walk back towards the direction of the Sports Store.
"You know, if you didn't reject her last year, she could've been yours." Fuji patted Izumo's shoulder. Fuji then caught up with the rest, looking for Sakuno.
Izumo went back inside the café, drowning himself in guilt and regret.
"Did she know that I was arriving today?" Ryoma opened a can of Ponta, after going in circles trying to find or even catch a glimpse of the clumsiest person he knew. He stared at the gift on his hand, remembering his previous phone call with her the night before.
"Ryoma-kun, when are you coming back?" Even if it pained him to hear her voice sound so sad, he had to stick to his plan: Surprise her by going back to Japan after almost five years of separation.
"Don't worry. I'll be coming real soon." He reassured.
"O-Okay."
She has no idea that Ryoma was actually already back in Japan.
"Ne, senpai-tachi, isn't that Ryoma-san over there?" Tomoka pointed to the man sitting under the huge Christmas tree, holding a blue box.
"Why is Echizen here?" Not that he wasn't happy to see Ryoma back, but it did irked Momo that he didn't even called to say he was coming home.
"Hey, isn't that the box Ryuzaki-chan had misplaced?" Oishi covered his mouth shut, knowing that it may give the others wrong ideas.
"Oh yeah, but why is it with Echizen?"
"Did he steal that from her?"
"What have she done anyway?"
Random but serious ideas began to form in their minds.
"Chibisuke!" All of their heads turned at the sound of Ryoga Echizen's voice.
"What do you want?" Ryoma barely stated, his eyes still fixed on the box.
"R-ryoma-kun?" Ryoma's head snapped when he saw Sakuno standing in front of him.
"S-sakuno…" Ryoma smacked his forehead with his hand. He was supposed to be the one to surprise her! Not the other way around!
"W-what are you doing here? S-shouldn't you be in America for a match?" Ryoma finally smiled after a long time.
The Regulars, Tomoka and Ryoga saw this, and began spying on them from behind the Christmas tree.
"And what? Spend the night of my birthday warding off fan girls?" Sakuno had to laugh on that one. She sat down beside him, and that's when she noticed the box.
"W-where'd you get t-that?" Ryoma followed her finger which was meekly pointing on the box on his lap.
"Oh, this? A fan girl made it for me." He smirked when he notice her eyes widen.
"What in the world is he talking about? Ryuzaki-chan bought that especially for him!" Momo was loudly whispering.
"Although," He added, "I haven't thanked her yet. At all." His smirked got wider when she let out a huff.
"Kidding." He let out a low chuckle when Sakuno punched him on the shoulder. "You're lucky it's your birthday."
"Thanks. For waiting." He gave her one of his rare smiles once more before patting one of his shoulders, telling her to lay her head against him. Sakuno blushed at first, but the color quickly deepens as soon as she felt his lips land on top of her head.
If she is going to date the Ryoma, she had to get used with his sadistic side.
From behind the Christmas tree, the spying crew all exchanged hi-5's for a job well done.
"My, this has been a great Christmas Eve." Fuji opened his eyes to fully watch the new couple.
"So, how long had they've contacted each other?" Inui asked Ryoga, eager to fill in Ryoma's previously empty page of Love Life on his notebook.
"Actually, they started off with letters. You know, after a year of being apart." Ryoga smiled at the couple. "Then one day, Oyaji provoked Ryoma and he lost her address, so he was forced to call to ask her." They all laughed.
"I think it's time we join them?" Sakuno tugged on Ryoma's sleeve.
"Yeah, maybe." Ryoma took her hand and led her towards the rest of the gang.
It was different. But in a good way.
A/N: Hey! I'm sorry if I haven't updated on Future Life with the Echizen's for a long time. I had been brainstorming the whole week for a new chapter. So anyway, while I write the next chapter for FLE, I present you with this. Is it Mushy? Fluffy? Boring? Give your thoughts! :)
- Chiyoh Mi