#a stupid list
Echizen Ryoma was mad; not just any mad, but eye twitching, jaw-ticking, fist clenching mad. He viciously crumpled the piece of paper in his hand and moved to hightail it into the trash can when the object of the paper's disdainful conversation grabbed his wrist.
She wrested the crumpled piece of shit from his hand, and resting her hands on her petite waist in an exaggerated motion, demanded to know what had his knickers twisted in a bunch?
If his ire at the moment hadn't been directed elsewhere, he would have strictly objected to her choice of vocabulary and told her to leave his knickers out of their conversation.
"Ryoma-sama, I'm waiting!"
"Nothing" he bit out.
"Don't give me that! We saw you kick the door on your way out! Right Sakuno?!"
"Mmm, yeah" Ryuuzaki quietly agreed.
"..Then, you were glaring daggers at this piece of paper..whats on it?" she continued, narrowing her eyes at him?"
He angled his head sharply away from her and refused to meet her gaze.
"Are you going tell us yourself or should I just read it?" she prompted, moving to face him and waving the sorry piece of paper in his face.
He started to say "I don't care ..", then abruptly changed his mind.
He moved for it just as she realized what he was about and moved a step back to avoid his reach, and immediately situated herself behind Ryuuzaki, so she could use the other girl as a shield.
He stopped abruptly, running a nervous hand through his hair. Why was she so impossible to deal with?
Ryuuzaki would have just handed him the paper and not persisted in a conversation he clearly did not want to have.
He did not want Osakada to read that thing.
He did not know if she would be hurt or mad after, or both. He just knew he didn't care to find out.
He did not care for her to know he was bothered by it; especially when he wasn't quite sure about his reasons yet.
He did not want for her to get ideas; ideas he wasn't quite ready to digest for himself yet.
He watched her face in silence as her eyes ran over the shitty list of reasons why Echizen Ryoma could never be interested in Osakada Tomoka.
She went pale as she moved down the list, her grey-green iris darkening to a dull storm. His stomach felt like lead as she bent her head, bangs shading her eyes from view.
"Osakada-"
"Ryoma-sama!" she hastily interjected, gently grabbing his hand and pushing the list back into it, "you really didn't need to make a list like this. You could have just told me. I wasn't looking to get with you, you know. I hadn't realized I was bothering you so much though. "
He didn't register her words because he was still in the process of assimilating her expressions.
"Don't you worry", she said all in one breath, wrinkling her nose, smiling brightly at him and patting his forehead all at the same time before turning abruptly and walking away.
"Osakada Tomoka will keep her distance and not be a pain in your butt, starting right now. Ja ne."
And she was gone.
Just like that; leaving behind a startled Echizen Ryoma in her wake; too stunned to react immediately.
Wait.
He finally registered her odd misunderstanding.
What the hell was she on about?
He didn't write that.
How did Osakada jump to an absurd conclusion like that?
Did he look like the kind of guy who would waste his time making up stupid inane lists like that?
He was really mad now and made to march after her when he felt someone tugging at his sleeve.
He turned around to see that it was Ryuuzaki. He had forgotten she was here.
From the looks of her, she had been calling out his name and trying to get his attention for a while now, but he had been too preoccupied with his thoughts to notice.
She flushed and let go of his sleeve as he looked at her and said in haste, "What? I need to go after Osakada-she-"
"the-the list. Can I see it please?"
He handed her the list feeling a bit impatient. Maybe Ryuuzaki had a good reason-
"You didn't write this at all, did you?" She said softly, as she skimmed through it.
"I didn't. That why she needs to know. That idiot thinks I did."
"I see."
"Can I have the list back?"
" ."
"I'm going after her now. Ja."
He turned around to leave not noticing her indecision when she unexpectedly stalled him again.
"Wait!"
He looked back at her bewildered by the sad tension in her voice and then suddenly, he understood.
He had hoped it wouldn't come to this because he hadn't wanted to reject her. She was somebody he cared about and the last thing he wanted was to hurt her in some way. She was also very important to Osakada and he had dreaded being chewed out about it later by her too.
He had been aware of Ryuuzaki's crush on him but he had thought it best to let it run its phase.
He had hoped that she would grow out of it on her own so he would not have to directly address it.
He turned around to directly face her this time, preparing himself to do this properly.
If she was determined to do this, then she needed her closure and he would damn well be considerate enough to give it to her, however uncomfortable this was for him.
If Tomoka was here she would probably be proud of Ryuuzaki for being brave and finally allowing herself to put her feelings out there for him to accept or reject.
"Ryoma-kun! I-I like you! I've always liked you. So, So, please accept my feelings."
She shouted out her feelings with a sincerity that was clear to see and Ryoma felt uncomfortable and a little sad that he had to turn her down.
He hoped they could still be friends after this.
"I'm sorry. I cannot. I have never thought about things like this before but I get the sense that Ryuuzaki is an important friend to me and-and I do not feel the same way. Sorry."
She released the breath she had been holding in sadly, her eyes tearing up a little.
"and you don't think things could ever change for us?"
"I- No. I'm sorry."
This was hard. Breaking somebody's heart was hard.
He hoped he wouldn't have to deal with this sort of thing again in his life. He had plenty of fangirls but nobody had directly confessed to him until now. Ryuuzaki was the first.
It vaguely occurred to him he wouldn't have to deal with this sort of thing at all if he actually got himself a girlfriend-
"is it because of tomo-chan?" she asked directly, shocking him.
His fists clenched at his sides in response as he tried to answer a question he didn't know the answer to as honestly as he could.
"I don't know."
"I see. I have my answer then. An uncertain response leaves far more hope for different possibilities than certainty. I hope things work out for you and Tomo-chan, Ryoma-kun." She said bravely, while rubbing her eyes clear of tears.
He clamped his lips together tightly, the ends curving downwards feeling bad for her.
"T-Thank you. And I'm sorry."
She smiled at him then, looking more at peace with herself and handed him back the list that started all the drama between them, as gently as Tomoka had.
"its alright! I'm going to be fine. Tomo-chan has supported me in my love all this time no matter what. It's time for me to stop feeling miserable for myself and support her too! Goodluck Ryoma-kun! Tomo-chan can be very stubborn."
"Aaa. I know. Ja, I'll see you later then." He said, clutching the list and feeling relieved that Ryuuzaki was picking herself up admirably well.
"mmm. I'll see you two later."
As he walked away from her resolutely, he was suddenly glad he had that talk with Ryuuzaki.
He realized it was something they had both needed to move forward.
It had been getting rather stifling for him too with everybody around him, Tomoka especially, [with everybody else jumping on the bandwagon because of her] pulling for him to get together with Ryuuzaki when he was frustratingly becoming increasingly attracted to Tomoka instead.
He hadn't assimilated these facts before but it was all falling into place now.
Now that he and Ryuuzaki had come to an understanding and resolved their issues, he suddenly felt free to let his mind wander in directions he had forced himself to ignore before.