Guys Galore
A/N: Hey! I'm sorry I haven't updated in awhile, it's just that couldn't think of anything. Then around mid February - March, I wrote this long chapter that was about 4000-5000 words long, but then I thought you guys would hate it and then I rewrote it again. My computer broke, so I lost all my documents, ugh. But anyways, here's Ch. 2. When I looked at the other 4000-5000 document I wrote (I uploaded it to already), I combined it with some of a rewritten document I wrote and walaah, here you have it. x3
And guys, thanks for giving me a whole lot of ideas and sorry I didn't get to use them. Oh, and people who said this would be one of the 'great Sakuno fics' thanks! But I sorta doubt it. But we'll see.
Btw, this is still set during high school. Sorry, if there's grammar mistakes. I don't want to keep you guys holding anymore (yeah, I do! Jk, jk!) so read, enjoy, and of course, review! :D
Disclaimer: I don't own PRINCE OF TENNIS.
Chapter Two – Just Another Day
Sakuno clawed at her sticky pigtails, ripping off the slimy rubber bands. She rushed forward at the sink, twisting the knob and dunked her head underneath the running water.
"Brrr…" She shivered with its contact, making her neck hair stand out.
Meh, that's what she hated about these faucets. The water was so cold! And the school couldn't even provide some hot, steamy water; ah, that'd be the ticket.
"Ah… ahh… brrr…" She couldn't help but let out a small whimper. There was a small knock on the bathroom door, Tomoka's head peaking out of it.
"Sakuno-chan?" Tomoka asked. She entered quickly into the bathroom, holding up Sakuno's PE uniform.
"You 'kay?"
"V-very c-cold," came Sakuno's muffled reply. "C-can you h-help? It's still v-very s-sl-slimy!"
Tomoka stepped forward, digging her nails deep into Sakuno's scalp, shoveling out handfuls of purple gunk. Sakuno yelped a little at Tomoka tugging on her auburn locks.
"Sakuno-chan, push your head forward more," Tomoka instructed, and Sakuno did as told. Tomoka rinsed Sakuno's hair, taking out extra gunk she had missed.
Finally, after five or so minutes, Tomoka handed Sakuno her uniform and she changed in one of the stalls.
"Okay! Let's go!" Tomoka exclaimed, finishing up combing Sakuno's long hair.
"Hm, Sakuno-chan. You should put your hair down more often! I'm sure Ryoma-sama would love it!" Tomoka sang the last part, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively in a teasing manner. Sakuno blushed slightly, but replied, "No, Ryoma-kun always tells me to cut my hair."
"Eh?! Ryoma-sama doesn't know what he wants! He's a boy!" Tomoka wagged her finger, eyes shut, and ponytails flying around the place.
"Ah, o-okay, Tomo-chan. We really should get going now, we have PE in about - " Sakuno checked her watch, " - five minutes!"
"WHAT? Five minutes? Oh, no, come on Sakuno-chan, we have to hurry!" Tomoka grasped Sakuno's delicate hand and hastily led them out the bathroom, taking a swift turn left and sped down the hall to Sakuno's discomfort.
'I hope we don't get in trouble!'
o-0-o-0-o-0-o
"Whoo! What a workout!" Tomoka punched her fist in the air enthusiastically, pumped up and ready to go. They finished changing in the girls' changing room, and exited the door.
Sakuno giggled silently at her friend; Tomoka was really into PE for sure. For her, well not really. It wasn't that she didn't like PE, but the running was tiresome; her muscles still ached!
"OKAY! Time for - ugh, math!" Tomoka groaned miserably, losing all that energy she had right away. Math was her worse subject!
"It's not that bad…" Sakuno encouraged. Tomoka made a face, sticking out her tongue in a playful way.
"That's because your good at it, Sakuno-chan!" Tomoka complained. Sakuno sighed loudly, now tugging on Tomoka's hand and leading her toward their classroom.
"Take me to my doom…" Tomoka dramatically said, holding out an outstretched arm as if reaching for something she couldn't grab.
o-0-o-0-o-0-o
Sakuno tugged on her backpack, as she continued to reach her destination to the cafeteria.
"Hi Sakuno-san!" a voice called behind her, and Sakuno whirled around to see who it was.
"Oh, hi Ami-san!" Sakuno greeted sweetly toward the bespectacled girl. Ami caught up
with Sakuno, and they walked together in step.
"So…" Ami started, catching Sakuno's attention.
"So?" the auburn haired girl questioned, waiting for Ami to continue.
"I heard about your little accident earlier."
"Oh," Sakuno blushed red. Ami simply giggled.
"So… Are you feeling any better? I mean, almost everyone saw what happened, and yeah. Are you okay?" Hearing this, a frown grazed Sakuno's lips by being reminded of her unprecedented morning. Ami waited patiently, failing to see Sakuno's embarrassed expression. Once the perplexed girl did, she jumped in front of Sakuno and began ranting.
"I mean! I didn't mean to… offend you or anything… It's just, you know. I care, and… and I just. I was wondering if you, you know, are feeling okay. 'Cause, I don't want to be mean or anything, it's just I know how you get sometimes… And I want to comfort you if you're feeling down…" Ami's eyes were pleading, hoping Sakuno would forgive her, for whatever she did wrong. Sakuno couldn't help but think Ami made things worse than it was meant to be. But seeing Ami down, Sakuno couldn't help but pity her. She cared, and maybe not everything that came out of her mouth sounded good, but…
"I – " before Sakuno could say anything else, her right pocket began vibrating. She pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open.
You received an IM from Tomo-chanz
Meet me at da 10S courts now
Ryo-sama is going 2 b there with da regulars!! – squeal –
Bye!
-Tomo-chanz
Sakuno shut her cell.
"I got to go! Sorry! See ya later Ami-san!" Sakuno ran past Ami, waving her hand out.
"Uh, sure! I'll see you later Sakuno-san!"
o-0-o-0-o-0-o
Sakuno ran along the path to the tennis courts, quickening her pace to see her beloved crush and lovable senpais. And yes, even after years, she still crushed on the tennis heartthrob.
Oh, just the mere name of 'Ryoma' made her heart flip and her cheeks flush. She knew she was in deep, but who cares? It wasn't if she fawned over him twenty-four seven, like all those fan girls who mobbed around Ryoma everyday. It was – she thought – creepy how they even knew his shoe size, e-mail address (because surely he wouldn't tell them), or locker combination. Everyday his locker was filled with perfume scented love notes, bite-size kisses, elegant presents, tennis balls – Sakuno didn't get it. Tennis balls? Tennis balls! – okay, fine, she did it once when he went back to the US – and the such. How everything even fit in there was a mystery. 'Course, there was always his gym locker, but even then girls stooped to that level with a chance of getting caught. Haven't they heard of "No girls aloud" ? Or at least seen the sign on the boys' locker room? But Sakuno couldn't help but feel sorry for them. Everyday they gave him gifts, everyday he was mad. And everyday he threw them away like an old play thing, as they went off with crestfallen faces. It was like plucking out the petals to a flower, but always the same result.
He loves me, not.
But they bounced back quickly, so Sakuno didn't pity them much. But the question was, would he do that to her? And if he did, was it the reason why she didn't tell him after all these years? Would he reject her?
She shuddered at the thought. But she had to admit, it was pretty cruel. What he did. Just throwing those gifts away without thought, without regret. Did his conscious work or not? But maybe he had a right to – though he could've done something in a nicer way. She couldn't imagine it; gifts everyday, always difficult to gather your textbooks, late for class… That would be such a drag.
But anyways, it didn't matter. Or at least, not right now, because she had to get to them soon.
"Almost there…" Sakuno was so concentrated in reaching the tennis courts; she failed to see the figure that had appeared so suddenly.
"Oh! Sakuno!" a hand grabbed Sakuno's hand and turned her around to face them.
"Obaasan?" Sakuno's eyes widened, seeing her grandmother's aged but healthy face.
"Yeah! I'm just here to drop off a few documents to the principal, and it just so happens I bump into you! Isn't that great?" Sumire exclaimed, her lips quirked into a grin. Sakuno's eyes were downcast, her cheeks slightly tinged with redness.
"Sakuno?" Sumire asked.
"Oh, and why are you wearing your PE outfit? Did something happen?" Sumire's voice was now evident with concern, but Sakuno refused to reply.
"Sakuno?"
"Sakuno?"
"I-I, well… I…" Sakuno was trying to find the right words to explain to her grandmother that she was embarrassed to be seen with her at school. It didn't sound too good the more she thought about it.
"Sakuno, are you sick? You're red." Sumire patted her granddaughter's wavy, auburn hair. She dug her nails into Sakuno's scalp, and Sakuno heard a few chuckles from around them. She controlled herself from not running away and yelping out in pain. The old woman was way stronger than she let on to be.
'This is so embarrassing!' the freshman thought miserably, trying to ignore all the whispers and laughs rousing around the air. It was one thing to be seen with your grandmother, but it went too far when they started pampering you like a three-year-old.
Ugh.
"What's this?" Sumire withdrew a chunk of purple gunk from Sakuno's hair, jiggling it in her hands.
"Oh! T-That's nothing!" Sakuno hopped for the liquid-like thing in Sumire's hand, but the old woman held it up to examine it up close.
"WOW! The girl's being stood up by the old fart!" a guy whispered – rather loudly – to his friend, their laughter catching on the attention of other oblivious students. If she wasn't so shy and innocent, Sakuno would've done something to that guy.
"Obaasan! It's nothing!"
Ignoring the girl, Sumire brought the junk up to her nose and sniffed it. Sakuno stopped abruptly, her flushed cheeks deepening tomato red by every second.
'Obaasan!! Just STOP!!' Sakuno stared blankly, hearing the comments the – nosy! – bystanders said. Her ears were flaming red, and her face was steaming. Her stomach began grumbling immensely, and it hit her she hadn't eaten lunch yet.
'I'd kill right now for an apple – or pizza… Yum, pizza. But, ohhh!!' Sakuno grasped her belly and rubbed it lightly with her hand.
It was amazing how she could just stay there and not just run away from this whole thing… But that was becoming a really good escape plan if this continued on… And she had to meet Tomoka too, so why not just ditch this place?
"It smells like one of Inui's concoctions. Hm, you didn't drink any did you? Because that stuff is horrendous!" Sumire's voice brought Sakuno out of her reverie.
"Aww! The lady cares! That girl is really lucky!" a girl with silky black hair exclaimed sarcastically in a false sweet tone. Sakuno bit her lip.
'Make it end!!' Okay, fine. Sumire was trying to help her. But could she get a clue and GO AWAY?! It sounded mean, but see how you feel when your fifty or sixty-something-year old grandmother came to your high school and embarrassed you to no end! What now? You can't say you wouldn't think that. 'Cause you would.
"Sakuno – "
"Oh! Sumire, nice to see you here!" an aged man greeted the woman, patting her on the back. Sumire greeted her old friend and they began to converse.
"Ooooooh!" girls and boys exclaimed childishly, suggesting to the 'couple.' Sakuno's eye twitched. And they say she was childish. Pssh.
But, yes! Finally, she could ditch this place. Oh, someone loved her up there.
"Obaasan, I have to leave. I'll see you later!" With that, Sakuno turned on her heel and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
"Okay! See you later Sakuno!" Sumire watched as Sakuno faded beyond the young ignorant ones, as Sumire thought of them. She then walked off with her friend, Akino-san the school janitor, to who-knows-where.
o-0-o-0-o-0-o
"Finally! You're here!" Tomoka greeted the tired Sakuno.
"Tomo-chan, you can't believe it! It was so embarrassing because obaasan was – "
The regulars were a few yards away from the girls, the freshman trio following right behind them. Sakuno covered her ears while Tomoka screamed out enthusiastically for them to come over.
"RYOMA-SAMA!! Senpai-tachi!! Over heeere!!"
The regulars recognized the high pitched girly voice and came walking toward them. Sakuno held her breath, seeing that mischievous glint in Inui's eyes, forgetting whatever she was going to tell her best friend.
'I h-hope Inui-senpai isn't mad still...' the petite girl thought, praying silently that Inui wasn't mad anymore. I mean, it was only juice – that disgustingly disturbing looking juice that just so happened to dump on her. Well, at least it wasn't toxic… was it? From all past references, it was said to be ultimately awful and had gotten the regulars sick on more than one occasion. But they had always drunken it; it never touched their skin before, so who knew what could happen?
'I doubt it's anything besides yucky… but I don't know. I… just… It's probably nothing at all. Nada, zip, zilch. Nothing.' Sakuno rid herself of any negative thoughts, and watched to the two rivals duke it out.
"Oh! Horio-no-baka! I didn't say you guys could come! I only wanted senpai-tachi and Ryoma-sama over!!" Tomoka argued.
"Blah, blah, blah Osakada. Too bad! The regulars aren't just your friends!" Horio replied; Kachiro placed his hand on Horio's mouth for him to shut up so he wouldn't get Tomoka madder. The girl was mad woman scary whenever Horio decided to open his big mouth. Who knew what she'd do to them? Kachiro and Katsuo squirmed in fear at the thought.
"How about we all just eat together?" Oishi suggested.
"Fine," Tomoka agreed and sat down on the bleachers. Everyone followed after, taking out their bentos and began to eat. Sakuno watched the whole scene, wanting to grab one of those onigiri and sink her teeth into those delicacies.
"Grrrr…" Sakuno's stomach grumbled loudly, catching everyone's attention.
Everyone blinked, turning to Sakuno.
"Saa... Sakuno-chan, you look pretty with your hair down!" Momo said from his overly stuffed mouth. The guys just noticed her presence.
"Nya! Sa-chan, you look so KAWAII!!" Eiji exclaimed, hugging Sakuno tightly. He caressed her hair with one hand and squeezed her tighter with the other.
"Ne, your hair is so nice! It feels so smooth! You're like Kuma-kun!" Eiji continued on with his rants as Sakuno's face turned pale.
"C-can't breathe!" Sakuno got out. Noticing Sakuno's uncomfortable state, Tezuka told Eiji to let go, which the red haired regular did reluctantly.
"T-thanks Tezu-niichan," Sakuno coughed out and Tezuka handed her a VitaminWater bottle. Sakuno gulped down chunks of the juice while Oishi patted her back. Then they started to eat, Momo and Kaidoh competing, Taka watching, and the rest eating quietly, sharing their food with Sakuno.
After they finished, they cleaned up and threw away their mess. They plopped down on the bleachers and began chatting with each other. Just to make Sakuno on the spotlight, Fuji brought up the whole Sakuno's-hair down-fiasco again.
"You do look very pretty though, Sakuno-chan," the cerulean eyed tensai complimented, earning a blush from the young kohai. He smirked slightly, enjoying the adorable scene taking place.
"ABSOLUTELY!! A MILLION PERCENT NYA! SA-CHAN LOOKS SO KAWAII!!" Eiji chirped in. He hugged Sakuno again but Oishi pried him off her.
"T-thanks Fuji-senpai, but I hate my hair this way." Sakuno explained, ruffling her hair.
"Why, Ryuzaki-chan?" Taka asked curiously.
"I don't know… I just don't like my hair down because it always gets in the way." Taka nodded.
"But WHY?! You look kawaii Sa-chan!" Eiji burst out.
"Yeah, Sakuno-chan. I bet Echizen here likes it!" Momo nudged Ryoma.
"Uh huh!! Ne, Ochibi probably looooves it!" Eiji made kissy faces. Ryoma tugged the brim of his cap.
"Eiji-senpai and Momo-senpai are annoying," Ryoma stated.
"Aww, don't be that way Ochibi! You know you love Sa-chan!" Sakuno turned around, cheeks tinged with six shades of red. Eiji-senpai was so embarrassing! He didn't have to say that did he? And Momo-senpai was no better! They might as well tell the whole world she liked Ryoma-kun!
Fuji leaned closer to Sakuno and whispered, "Ryoma's blushing; I think he likes you Sakuno-chan."
Meanwhile, Inui took notes about his surroundings the group, closely surveying Fuji and Sakuno, a small smile playing on his lips. Tezuka sat in solitude, eyes shut while trying to block out the group's loudness.
'Stay calm Sakuno. It's only Fuji-senpai, he's just playing… Yeah, playing.' She told herself. Was it her, or was it getting super uncomfortable now? The sun shone brightly against Fuji's face, giving him that angelic look girls fawned over. 'He looks… nicer up close,' Sakuno couldn't help but admit.
"Hey! You love birds over there! Don't keep secrets!" Momo hollered. Fuji's smile widened and leaned back to give Sakuno space.
"Oooh, Ochibi! You have competition!" Eiji sang, earning a menacing death glare from the pipsqueak. And so began the amusing, yet pointless argument. Not wanting to be apart of it, Sakuno scooted over to Inui.
"H-hey, Inui-senpai," Sakuno greeted.
"Hello, Ryuzaki-san." Sakuno fidgeted around on the bleachers.
"So…"
"Can I help you, Ryuzaki-san?" Inui said, slight annoyance evident in his tone. Sakuno chuckled nervously.
"I – um…" Sakuno started. She could feel herself sweat.
"Well?" Inui continued to go on with his business. He could at least look at her when they were talking, couldn't he? That way, it wouldn't be so hard. But nooo.
'Okay…' She thought hesitantly.
"Um. I just wanted to say sorry about, you know. Um, earlier. You probably worked hard on that juice thing, and I'm really, really sorry Inui-senpai," Sakuno apologized earnestly.
"It's alright Ryuzaki-san." Inui laid down his notebook. Sakuno waited for something more, but nothing else came out of him.
BRRIIINNG!!
The bell rang, and everyone left for their classes.
o-0-o-0-o-0-o
"She did WHAT?!" Tomoka asked, gagging on her vanilla bean frappuccino.
"Yes! And it was so embarrassing! People kept watching, but obaasan was all clueless and smelled that purple thingy and everyone laughed even more!" Sakuno rested her head on the table miserably.
"Oh. That's bad, and I mean bad. Especially if it was your grandmother," Tomoka pointed out.
"Hmm…" Sakuno said half tiredly, half offended.
"Well, sorry. But I mean, seriously. She was there, talking to you, pampering you, patting you on the head like you were a five-year-old!"
"Ahh, stop it! I don't want to remember that again!" Sakuno drank her frappucino, sipping her troubles away.
"Okay, sorry. But, if my obaasan came to my school…" Tomoka stopped in mid-sentence, hand rubbing her chin in thought.
"I just hope they don't remember that ever happened…" Sakuno sighed again, watching Starbucks customers leave the shop. 'I doubt it though…' she thought, and groaned, people giving them suspicious looks. Tomoka gave them a vicious glare, making them turn back in fear.
They finished their frappuccinos and dumped it in the garbage can, walking out of the shop and into the busy mall.
"Okay, enough with all this moodiness stuff, let's go shopping!" Tomoka cheered, dragging Sakuno to the nearest clothes store.
"But Tomo-chan, we only came here for our project supplies!" an exasperated Sakuno cried.
"Yeah, I know! But we're in Kanagawa; do you know how far we traveled? How this is one of the greatest malls ever?! We can't just do boring stuff without shopping!"
"Tomo-chan!" Sakuno used all her strength to pull back, making them stumble. Tomoka pulled her even harder toward a store, grunting. People stared at them strangely, and dragged their kids along away from the ruckus.
"Tomo-chan!"
"– It'll only take thirty minutes! Promise."
"No! It's already 3:30 and we have to be home by six!"
"That's plenty of time!"
"No it isn't. Please Tomo-chan! Obaasan'll be really mad if I'm home late!" Sakuno said pleadingly. Her shoes made a "screeeech!" sound against the dirty floor.
"Okay, fine. Fifteen minutes."
"No! I don't want to go…" Sakuno replied.
"Just for a while."
"No…"
"Look! We're almost there! Ooh, those jeans look so cute!" Tomoka quickened her pace, still dragging the reluctant Sakuno.
"No! Tomo-chan, please? I don't want to be late."
"Hurry! Someone's going taking them!"
"Tomo-chan!"
"Almost there!"
"NO!"
"Oh my god! That shirt will look great with the jeans!"
"STOP! Let go, we can't go shopping! Stop! Please?"
"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
Ding!
"Hi! Welcome to Rave!" came the sweet voice of a young personnel.
'Nooo…'
o-0-o-0-o-0-o
"See, that didn't take long, did it?" Tomoka smiled, carrying a bag filled with her new tomboy-ish clothes.
"Just hurry! The crafts store will close in fourteen minutes – thirteen minutes!"
"How do you even know that?" Tomoka asked.
"Hurry!" And Sakuno dragged an almost broke Tomoka along the busy corridors.
A/N: So how'd you guys think of it? Good, bad, worse than the other Ch. 2? Seriously, I want you guys to be honest with me. Oh, and if Sakuno was a bit ooc, I'm sorry, I tried. But I actually think Sakuno would've grown up a little after 2-3 years. Oh, and NOT ALL CHAPTERS WILL BE THIS LONG, sorry. (At least, I think this is long). Meh, I'm sleepy. See ya later! :D
Please REVIEW!!