The Love Triangle
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of tennis or any of its characters, but I do love using them like mindless puppets on strings! Beware, the puppet master is here! (I am such an evil disoriented person, am I not?)
A/N: Okay so before we proceed to chapter two, to all those who missed the continuation of chapter one please turn back to the last page. To those who are done with everything in chapter one (which includes the appearance of Maaya Nadeshiko) please move on. Thank you, and sorry for the inconvenience. : )
Chapter 2
Starlit Memories
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"Oyasumi nasai, Echizen." Fuji told the feline-eyed lad who was jumping into the single decker next to his own.
"What do you want Fuji-sempai?" answered Echizen, staring coldy into his eyes. He knew Fuji well enough to know that the tennis prodigy had something deeper in mind.
"Saa, nothing. Can't a sempai say goodnight to his kouhai?"
The room drowned in silence soon after and slumber overtook Ryoma who was a bit exhausted from the recent Wimbledon match he had been in before the reunion.
The older boy on the other hand was kept awake by the appearance of Miss Nadeshiko during their dinner previously.
"No wonder the resort is packed with people. Most of them must be her fans, demo, something startles me though. Why do I have a feeling that we've met before, that somehow she could be her?"
His sparkling cerulean eyes pierce the darkness as his thoughts go deeper and deeper.
Twisting and tossing in his bed, he just couldn't take his thoughts away from her familiarity.
"Ugh, I can't sleep."
He padded softly towards the balcony door and opened its chestnut frame to be greeted by the sight of gems in the sky. He took a deep breathe as he gazed at the star-lit sky.
Oh, how beautiful it was to see.
He just loved to look at those celestial bodies hanging way up above him.
Looking at them could soothe and calm his heart.
That was what he told her way back when. It was a starlit night; just like this one. She had given her heart to her special someone that night only to have it shattered into a million pieces. She was running blindly; tears falling down her face when she stumbled on him. He was laying down on a field looking at the sky and she ended up falling on top of him.
Fuji smiled as he recalled the conversation that they had that night.
"Daijoubo ka, Sakuno-chan?" asked Fuji as soon as he recognized his kouhai who was right on top of him, her face centimeters away from his.
"Eeeep! Fuji-sempai! Gomen nasai, gomen nasai, gomen nasai, gome―"
"It's alright Sakuno-chan," he told her, putting a finger to her lips.
"Honto ni gomen ne, Fuji-sempai. I didn't know you were there," she apologized once more, getting up with a blush adorning her face.
"Daijoubo,daijoubo. Ne, what's the matter Sakuno-chan? Why is my precious kouhai crying?"
She cried out her heart that night, telling him how stupid she was for getting her heart shredded; for ever thinking that person would return her feelings.
Fuji was torn that night.
He saw the pain that she felt, the anguish she was in, and was supposed to be gloating in his sadism but instead found his sadistic mask gone as he watched the crystal tears falling down her face.
How he wished that he would be the one crying in place of her; that he could take away all her sorrows.
"Don't worry Sakuno-chan…everything's going to be alright," he whispered, caressing the auburn-haired two years his junior tenderly as she clutched at his shirt, letting all her sadness out.
He didn't know his extremely shy kouhai was capable of doing that without blushing a million shades of red, but he did know that he wanted to be there for her.
After all, that's what sempais are for, right?
"Arigatou de gozaimasu, sempai, for listening. It really helped me a lot." she said, stifling her sobs. "It must have been very tiring for you to listen to me. I was disturbing you out here and it must have been a bother to you."
Fuji smiled and told her that it wasn't anything important. He was simply looking at the stars, that's all.
"Looking at the stars?"
"Hai. They seem to calm and soothe me every time I see them. Maybe they can soothe yours too, ne Sakuno-chan?"
She looked up at the sky and nodded, tears still dripping down.
"Sakuno-chan?" he asked her in a calming way. "Can you do a favor for me? Look at the stars and be happy Sakuno-chan. Don't be sad….smile always…."
She didn't know what to say, but somehow she felt lighter. Seeing her sempai smile at her as he said those words made her somewhat ….happy.
"Hai!" she answered, smiling back at him. "I will."
Fuji looked up at the sky one more time before yawning.
"I wonder if my precious little kouhai is alright out there…" he though once more. "Don't worry Saku-chan, I'll make sure that he pays."
Returning back to bed, the tennis prodigy went to sleep dreaming of ways to torture Echizen Ryoma for tearing his favorite kouhai's heart and make sure that he would feel every ounce of pain that she went through.
He would make sure of that, as her sempai and as her bestfriend aside from Tomoka.
Echizen would pay.
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"Karumi-chan, it isn't funny!" the chocolate-eyed singer burst out, flailing her arms in a child-like manner.
Seeing the singer act that way made Karumi laugh harder.
It was hilarious to see Maaya all shaken up because of her overly eager fans. It was even funnier to tease her about it.
"Gomen ne, it's just so funny! I can't believe she ran away from her sempai-tachi like a frightened mouse, right, Ryuuzaki-san?" the manager of the famous star wailed, looking towards the old but still vigorous woman who had just come in to the platinum-selling singer's room to tell about her little scandal of the day.
Ryuuzaki-sensei gave her granddaughter an adoring look, nodding at Karumi's statement.
"Hmph," the beautiful girl pouted at both of them, taking off her black wig.
Shiny auburn hair cascaded down her back as she pulled it off.
"You know, Sakuno-chan…." Karumi trailed, grabbing a brush and immediately tending to those auburn locks as she pulled it off. "You should be happy that your sempai's are also your number one fans."
"Karumi-chan's right you know Sakuno. You should have seen the way Eiji wailed as soon as you left. Even Tezuka was disappointed that his crush disappeared," chuckled her Obaasan.
Sakuno smiled. "Oh, but I am happy," the singer said, walking towards the balcony.
Karumi grinned at her client. She was still the same sweet Sakuno she had met in high school. She was like that ever since, and she didn't change even though she had already become Japans number one singer.
The blue-haired manager watched in curiosity as the auburn head looked up at the bejeweled sky, laced with stars that shone like diamonds against the velvety black
night.
"I saw Ryoma-kun today…." Sakuno muttered quietly, gazing at the night sky. "I don't know way. Do I still love him like I used to?"
She clutched her arms, embracing herself as she whispered those words into the darkness of the night.
Sighing deeply, she closed her eyes and let out a faint smile. She had a feeling that there was something different with her emotions. She Didn't know what it was but she was sure that it was out there.
She didn't notice that her manager had witnessed everything. Karumi tiptoed back to her room with a determined look on her face.
"I'm definitely going to do something about that…"
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Fuji was smiling sadistically. His inner-self was laughing like crazy, he couldn't handle it.
He had handed Taka his racket before he splashed into the pool where Tezuka and Oishi were busy talking in the sides. Racket in hand, Kawamura shouted his famous 'BURNING BABY!!' before canonballing into the water.
"Nya, Taka-san" Eiji who was also in the pool tapped the shoulder of the power player who was shouting something about firewater.
The ever active Eiji's eyes were glued on a certain something or rather someone as he tapped Taka a second time.
"BURNING!! WHAT IS IT EIJI?"
Taka grinned then froze as soon as he caught sight of the direction of Eiji's eyesight.
There at the side of the pool was a soaking wet Tezuka who didn't look too happy about it.
Twitch. "Kawamura…"
"Hai buchou?"
"50 laps around the pool."
Poor Taka. The pool was half the length of an Olympic-sized one. Oh well. At least he had his racket with him.
Wait.
Who had given it to him in the first place?
Ugh. He couldn't remember. Never mind. "Alright! I'll do it, BUUUURRRNNIIINNNGG!!" With that the powerful tennis player raced around the pool like a speed boat.
"Teehee, that was fun," muttered the cause of Kawamura's situation. Looking for his next victim, the tennis prodigy smirked.
It seems that Echizen had escaped from his clutches, but not for long. Everything would start now.
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Ryoma sighed as he walked along the shore.
He just had to escape from Momoshiro-sempai's babbles about how much he loved his girlfriend, Ann. It was driving him insane. His sempai's blabber made pictures about Ryuuzaki-what-ifs keep on popping in his head.
Like what if he hadn't told Ryuuzaki that he didn't like her when he actually did, or what if he had taken time to know her more, or what if, what if……
Ryuuzaki Sakuno.
She was the only girl that he had ever allowed to be a part of his life. Since junior high he had never eaten a girl's homemade bentos, never walked a girl home, never even talked to a girl for more than a minute.
But she was an exemption to all of that.
Maybe it was because he knew that the girl truly cared for him, not like his stupid fangirls who wanted the tennis champion for his tennis skills.
He liked her, a lot.
He cared for the clumsy pigtailed auburn-head, but knowing the cocky brat, he never considered telling her. Back then tennis was everything to him and he had no room for her at the moment. He didn't know that he was breaking her heart, and his own as well.
That's why he hated it whenever he could hear anyone talk about how happily in love they were or when he could see couples going all lovey-dovey around him. It always reminded him of her and how much he missed her.
So as soon as he found an escape route, he hastily dashed off far away from his sempai.
Ryoma continued walking and stopped at a spot where he saw a large rest house near the shore.
"Hnnn…" ne muttered as he looked back.
Good. He was somewhere far, far away from his sempaitachi.
Turning back to the beach house, his eyes went as wide as saucers. Coming out of it was the singer that his sempaitachi scared off yesterday. Clothed only by a bathrobe, she proceeded to walk down the beach and remove it as soon as she touched the water. Apparently she hadn't noticed the boy who was standing a considerable distance away from her and who obviously couldn't take his eyes off the celebrity.
Why was he feeling this way?
Was it because of her porcelain-like skin? It couldn't be. He had seen women with complexions like that and not once did he feel this attracted.
Was it black hair? Of course not. He liked the color auburn on women.
Or maybe, it was her brown doe-like eyes?
Wait, brown doe-like eyes?
Ugh, of course. They had a semblance to Ryuuzaki's eyes. No wonder he was feeling this way. She reminded him of her. He had to get away fast. He might begin hallucinating Ryuuzaki images.
He took a last glimpse of her and ………..oh……..oh no….it was starting.
Okay he was seeing things.
Alright there was no Japanese singer taking off a black wig in front of him. It wasn't auburn hair he was seeing as she threw the wig away. Of course not.
He was just imagining, hallucinating.
It wasn't Ryuuzaki Sakuno he was ogling. It absolutely wasn't. To prove it, Ryoma pinched his cheek and rubbed his eyes before looking at her again. Her hair was still auburn. He did the process two times but still no black-haired woman reappeared in front of him.
Ryoma was stunned to the core. He wasn't dreaming.
The girl standing in front of him had auburn hair, brown eyes, creamy white skin, and if his memory served him right, she was none other than Ryuuzaki Sakuno― minus the braids.
He was engulfed in so much shock that he didn't notice the girl diving into the water. He snapped out of it after sometime and realized that she had been underwater four minutes ago and hadn't come up since; meaning only one thing.
"Ryuuzaki's in trouble!" he shouted out.
Frantically racing to the water, all reality was lost to him. The only thing that mattered now was saving Ryuuzaki, nothing else. Not tennis, not Karupin, not ponta.
"Kami-sama, help me save her…." he called for heavens help for the first time in his life.
Heaven on the other hand decided on the opposite.
Before he could even touch the water, a swarming crowd of fangirls rushed up to him with the speed of light. Trapping him in the heart of the mob, they caged him up with nowhere to go and dragged him off gleefully.
"Let me go! Stupid bitches! Let me go, now!" he practically screamed at them. "I have to save her!"
Their only response to their captured prey's commands and pleas was a louder shout, "Ryoma-sama, I love you!!" from each of them.
Just when he was about to save the only woman in his heart, they had to come and drag him off. Talk about great timing. He had to get to her, but there was no way out.
His fangirls were insane and dangerous.
He felt like a sacrifice in foreign tribal rituals while he could hear his fangirls' wild cries of I-love-yous, be-my-boyfriends, you're-my-soulmates, and we're destined to be togethers that sounded like barbaric chants to him.
But the tennis prince would not lose heart. Sakuno needed him and he was going to be there for her, to save her.
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Fuji was walking down the beach; thoughts on ways to torture his kouhai by the name of Echizen Ryoma. Passing by a rather large group of women, he couldn't help in hearing bits and pieces of their conversation. Coincidentally, they were talking about his kouhai. Ooooooh…….their chatter seems a lot more interesting now.
Standing by a nearby column, he learned that the group of women were the tennis prince's fangirls or a number of them.
Bling! A wonderful idea jumped into his head like a kangaroo.
The sadist immediately searched for the feline-eyed junior of his to put his plan into action. He walked hurriedly in search of him and in his haste he accidentally crashed into a woman. He had hit her so hard that the poor girl fell face flat on the ground.
"Gomen nasai! Daijoubo ka, Miss?" he apologized, immediately rushing to her side to help her up.
"I'm fine. It's alright……What?" the woman looked at him as she got up and put her hands to her blushing cheek. "Fuji-sempai?"
Fuji took a good look at the girl. Long blue hair, lavender eyes. He scanned his memory for a picture and then suddenly recalled the little girl he had helped long ago.
"Karumi-chan."
"What are you doing here sempai?"
"Oh, just on a little reunion. How about you? Are you on a vacation or something?"
"Iie, I'm here to manage Sa- um I mean, Maaya-san's concert next week."
Fuji looked at the girl and smiled. Being the gentleman that he was, he asked her if she was headed back to her place and offered to escort her there.
Karumi blushed. Fuji-sempai was so charming that she found it hard not to stutter in front of him as they walked on the white sandy ground. She was too busy finding the right words to say that she didn't notice the tennis genius's eyes scanning the beach for a cocky brat drinking ponta and donning a white Fila cap.
Once Fuji had found that kouhai of his, he saw him ogling an ebony-haired woman. Good thing Sakuno-chan wasn't here to see that lest she would faint right there and then.
Seeing that Echizen's numerous fangirls were unaware of their beloved Ryoma-sama's presence, he would enlighten them.
Changing the direction towards Echizens numerous fans, Fuji was glad that Karumi-chan hadn't noticed a single thing.
Step one accomplished. Now time for step two.
Moving closer towards the crowd of girls, Fuji abruptly asked, "Ne, Karumi-chan have you seen Echizen Ryoma around?"
"Echizen-san?" as innocent as ever the cute Karumi looked for the tennis champion along the sea side.
She was sure that she had seen a glimpse of the lad on the beach earlier.
Just as she had thought the boy was there.
"Oh there he is! Ryoma-san is there Fuji-sempai!" she cried out merrily.
Fuji smirked.
As sharp as dogs ears, the mob picked up the name of their dearest Ryoma-sama and raced towards him like hounds. If it was possible Fuji's smile was wider than before.
The two walked off, leaving behind them the screeching sounds and voices of the mob of girls dashing hurriedly towards the prince.
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Karumi thanked Fuji as soon as they got to the beach house. She wanted to invite the brunette in so badly that she was stuttering like mad as she asked the boy.
"Oh, alright then," ne nodded in response
"Can you wait for a second, Fuji-sempai? I have to check on Maaya-san," she said hastily as she flew to the door. She had to make sure that Sakuno was wearing her black wig lest her sempai finds out the truth behind Maaya Nadeshiko's real identity.
"You're living with Nadeshiko-san?"
Her sempai's velvety voice stopped her right in her tracks. "Hai…."
Great. She better move fast because Fuji-sempai was up to something. She could feel it. She knew her sempai well enough to know that nothing could stop him from prying into someone's secrets when he wanted to, and right now, it seemed that he was curious about the real Maaya. It was practically written all over his face with that silly grin of his, which Karumi of course found utterly adorable.
"Focus, Karumi, Focus!" her inner self chided her. Now was not the time to drool over her sempai. She had to make sure that Sakuno-chan was wearing her wig first. Then she could go back to drooling.
"Tadaimasu! Maaya-san, I'm back! Maaya-chan! Maaya-chan?"
Sakuno-chan definitely wasn't out; she knew that the singer would never do so, especially when she wanted to practice her expertise in the culinary arts. By the looks of the kitchen, it was obvious that she was planning to bake a cake.
Strawberries, chocolate, icing and dough were set on top of the kitchen counter and next to them was a bath towel.
Bath towel? The sea! Yes, that was where she was!
Rushing out the back door, the wide crystalline waters greeted her lavender eyes. No Maaya swimming gaily in sight.
Where could she be?
Worrying thoughts began to fill up her chest. What if she were kidnapped for ransom? Or raped? Or murdered? Or.....? Oh, no!
Karumi would never be able to forgive herself if anything happened to Sakuno. They were bestfriends and their relationship went way back. The two had known each other since high school and shared many of their treasured moments together.
Sakuno-chan,where are you? Taking a final glance at the sea, she noticed something bobbing up and down the waters. She took a closer look and in horror screeched an ear-piercing scream.
"No!!!Sakuno-chan!!!!"
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Japanese Terms
Oyasumi nasai – good night
Daijoubo – it's alright
Daijoubo ka – are you alright
Gomen ne – I apologize, I'm sorry
Tadaimasu – I'm back
Kouhai – junior
Tensai – Genius
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A/N: Okay, so this is Chapter Two. Hoped you liked it. For those who missed out on things, Chapter one is finally complete. So if you think that there are some parts of the story that you think don't add up, just read the continuation of chapter one.
Well, how's the story? Is it okay? I really, really hope you enjoyed it.
I want to know your comments and suggestions, so please, please review! It's nice to know that someone cares enough to give out suggestions or simply comment on this newbie's drab piece of work… : )
Chapter 3 coming up soon.
What will happen to Sakuno-chan? Did she something bad happen to her? How about Ryoma? What will Karumi do?
Find it all out in Chapter 3, My Saviour.