Author's notes: GinGaara: I am getting really crazy with your thumbs up! I love it! RedKitty909: I've just read your review today but don't worry a gift is revealed in this chapter, the others would be disclosed in the next chappies and I hope you're not angry with me, you seemed so pissed off when you gave that review, I just hope you're not... Kira wolf354: That review was also awesome and I've read your Tennis no Ohjisama random talk show and it's good! luvcloud307: We're in the same boat; I still don't know who will end up with the adorable Sakuno but anyway thank you very much for your review lotsaluv! Mou'Ikka: Your review made me laugh "Bugged out Eyes" haha and know what? Your pen name reminds me of that song from Naruto, if I'm not mistaken it was Kanashimi wo Yasashisa ni? Haha, Thanks again! Enjoy reading everone!
Chapter 4
The Crane of Love
Ugoiteru toki no naka
Meguri aeta ne you and I
Afuredasu kono omoi
Kirenaiyou ni atatamete
Kira me…
"Moshi Moshi"
"Hey! Sakuno It's me An"
It was lunch time, Sakuno decided to eat outside the school building for she doesn't have someone to eat with, Tomoka had been absent since Thursday last week because she have chickenpox and Sakuno doesn't have the slightest clue when she'll come back. She was deeply fast asleep under the Sakura tree when her cell phone rang.
"Oh! An-chan, daijobu?"
"I'm fine, I just called you because I'm wondering if you would like to come with me at the fireworks festival at Hikarigaoka tonight?"
"Fireworks festival?" Sakuno repeated
"Yeah, and don't worry we will have some companions, aniki gladly took my offer and he said that he'll bring Kamio and Shinji with him
"Ahm… Okay then" Sakuno said happily, "demo… could I also bring a friend with me?" she continuingly asked
"Friend? You don't mean that loud girl who dedicated her life cheering for Echizen?" An said in an exasperating voice
"No, no An-chan, Tomoka have chickenpox so she couldn't come" Sakuno said ignoring An's sniggers, "I'm thinking of bringing Shusuke-kun with me"
"Shusuke? Fuji? If its him or any other it's fine" An said
"All right then An-chan I'll come" Sakuno said happily
"Ok, I'll meet you up in front of ParaKiss store by seven then and oh! Kimono's the legal outfit, dewa mata!"
"Ki… Kimono?! Demo… An-" Sakuno exclaimed
It's useless. Her friend cut of the line. Sakuno sighed heavily; she was still looking at her cell phone when she suddenly noticed the stuff rabbit hanging from it, looking at it made her smile, Gakuto was the one who gave Ruka (as what Sakuno would call the said stuff) as a souvenir from their unforgettable Hyotei outing, she then remembered that she haven't told An about her going out with the whole Hyotei tennis team excluding of course the Ferris wheel thing with Atobe, she knew An would just be infuriated because for her Hyotei was just a bunch of girl breakers, Sakuno really wanted to prove that she's wrong but she doesn't know how, she sighed again and let the thought slipped of her mind, she glimpse at her watch to see that it was just half past twelve, " I still have time to ask Shusuke-kun then" she muttered to herself and hurriedly packed of her things and headed towards Fuji's classroom.
Half panting, Sakuno reached her senpai's room and slowly poked her head inside. She saw a wonderful scene: Her senpai, Shusuke Fuji, being cornered (no!), harassed (no!), tortured (no!), tormented (yes! That's the right word to describe it! Or is it?! Whatever) by some girls who were asking him if he could possibly eat lunch with them. (In your dreams)
Fuji, who is one heck of a charismatic sadist, was still implausibly calm with the scene, actually he seemed not to listened or even noticed the girls who were wrestling each other just to get his attention, sorry you girls! His attention was now stolen by the adorable culprit: a remarkably beautiful cute girl who have unbeatable twin long braids!
Fuji walked towards Sakuno, ignoring the girls who were all wondering were their prince will go, one of them saw Sakuno, she nudged the girl beside her who did the same to the other and so on, they all gave Sakuno fatal glares which she just ignored, she always got thousands of glares and hundreds of death threats schoolwide or not whenever she would talk with any regulars from the tennis club, millions if Kikumaru alone hugged her, billions when she had lunch with any one of them and infinite when she's spotted enjoying an outing with the team. It's a puzzle to every regular including the mighty tittle-tattler Sadaharu Inui, how she managed to discount all of it since they saw her as a shy and quiet girl.
Anyway, Fuji greeted Sakuno with his usual gentle-inside-evil-outside smile then asked her the reason of coming all the way to his classroom.
"Anou… Shusuke-kun, can I… can I ask you a favor?" Sakuno initiated
Fuji looked curious but then he said, "As long as it's for you"
"Hai"
"Ok, what's the favor then?"
"Ahm… would you… would you… come with me… at the fireworks festival tonight?" Sakuno asked shyly
"The one that will be held at Hikarigaoka?" Fuji asked smiling
"Ahm… Hai, demo how did you know Shusuke-kun?" Sakuno asked with a questioning look
Fuji grinned devishly and said, "The whole team was talking about it this morning, Eiji and Momo urged everybody to come and we all agreed even Tezuka but it doesn't stopped him to make Eiji and Momo run a hundred and ten laps"
"Oh my, poor Eiji and Momo-senpai, but could I…"
"You are very much welcome to join us Sakuno-chan, the team would be very please especially that cocky boy" Fuji said as if he read Sakuno's mind
Sakuno blushed; she knew who that cocky boy her senpai was talking about, after all that boy used to be her crush up until her last year in middle school, but it's over now, her feeling towards the world renowned Prince of Tennis, Ryoma Echizen, had faded… faded without her noticing somehow…
"Something bothering you Sakuno-chan?" Fuji asked sill grinning
"Ah… no nothing…" Sakuno said, "So then Shusuke-kun, where will I meet you?"
"Well, Oishi told us that its better if we all meet in front of ParaKiss store, he said that it's the nearest to everyone's place" Fuji explained
"That's great then!" Sakuno said joyfully, she noticed the curious look on her senpai and said, "Honestly Shusuke-kun, An-chan invited me over to that festival and so I agree because she told me that Kippei-oniisan will accompany us along with Kamio-san and Shinji-san and I… ahm… asked her if I could bring you with me" Sakuno said looking at the floor so that Fuji will not see her blushing, " and she also told me that our meeting place would also be in front of ParaKiss store" she finished
"I see, that will be fun, Seigaku along with Fudomine will be full of surprises and we should hope that other schools will be there as well" Fuji said, his tone was more like suggesting an evil plan
Sakuno didn't even noticed that her senpai was now making some out of the ordinary views on what will happen on the festival, she was so busy talking to herself when a familiar "nya" came out from behind her.
"Nya, Tezuka's so mean, He let me and Momo run the remaining 47 laps we didn't finish this morning"
"Fuji and Sakuno looked to the direction of the speaker and saw a sweating Kikumaru, Sakuno pitied her senpai's misfortune, Fuji on the other hand walked forward to his friend, patted his shoulder and said, "So did you have fun, Eiji?"
Kikumaru was so tired he hasn't got the energy to argue back, he then saw Sakuno and his face began to brighten. Sakuno had to back off a little because she knew what her senpai was planning.
"Nya, Sakuno-chan's here!" Kikumaru shouted, and to Sakuno's horror again, Kikumaru wrapped her in his unsurvivable hug, okay! now she's earning a million of glares which were all on maximum and boiling point and she's also sure her tomb was being arrange. She was breathless when Kikumaru released her, "it seemed that the magnetic power of the killer glares had gone down a bit" she thought to herself.
"So then, Sakuno-chan, why are you here?" Kikumaru asked innocently
Fuji, noticing that Sakuno can't talk yet because she was still grasping for her breath, was the one who explained to Kikumaru everything, Kikumaru bounced up and down when he learned that Sakuno will be going with them at the festival, Fuji had to cover Kikumaru's mouth as he was attracting lots of attention, Sakuno just giggled.
Soon enough the school bell rang signaling the end of lunch, Fuji and the come back energetic Kikumaru waved her goodbye, they both told her that they'll pick her up before meeting with the others at ParaKiss, Fuji teasingly said that he don't want her to be lost again, Sakuno bubbled up her mouth but just bowed and run towards her classroom.
It was not a bad afternoon for Sakuno; she had passed her English exam and was exceptionally good in her Mathematics class, she answered three-fourths of her teacher's questions, when her class ended, Sakuno, together with a classmate of hers needed to stay for a while to finished their cleaning duty.
"Ok, I think were done now, Ryuzaki-chan" a cyan green haired girl told Sakuno shyly
"At last then" Sakuno replied blissfully
"Anou… you seemed so happy today" said the girl
"Oh, it's because ahm… I'll go to the fireworks festival with some friends tonight, Fuyuumi-chan" Sakuno said softly
"Well, I think those friends are the tennis regulars then" Fuyuumi said, "They always make you happy"
Sakuno nodded and both of them gave out a small laugh, Fuyuumi was the only classmate of Sakuno who was not infatuated with the bishounens of the tennis team so Sakuno can freely talk to her about the regulars without getting deaf, also Fuyuumi was just like her, shy, hesitant and easily gets intimidated, no wonder why they get together.
After their friendly chat, both bade each other goodbye, Sakuno did not go home straight, she decided that she'll dropped by at pink box first to buy some ribbons that she will partner with her pink kimono which she'll be wearing at the festival.
She was humming while making her way to pink box when suddenly someone called her out, She turned her head and was so surprised to see the stoic Kunimitsu Tezuka standing in front of her.
"Ku… Kunimitsu-oniisan!" Sakuno cried out, she was told, ordered rather, by Tezuka himself to call him oniisan, Sakuno was hesitant at first, but Tezuka reasoned out that it's just upright because he, after all, babysat her many times already for the past three years. Sakuno knew he's right and because she was told by her Shusuke-kun that she shouldn't ever in her whole life disagree with Tezuka, she half-heartedly agreed.
"Why are you not home yet?" Tezuka asked sounding like a strict father
"Ahm… well… I'm just going to pink box to buy some ribbons for the festival tonight" Sakuno said plainly
"Aa, Fuji told me you're coming with us with some of your friends from Fudomine" Tezuka said
"Hai"
"Well if you're going to buy some things, I'll accompany you then" Tezuka said briefly
"Anou… You don't have to Kunimitsu-oniisan, I'll just buy some ribbons that's all, and I don-"
"You're not a bother" Tezuka finished the sentence for her
"Ahm… Okay then"
Sakuno entered pink box with Tezuka who attracted lots of attention especially from high school girls, Sakuno was just relieved that they were not giving her murderous glares but she wished they wouldn't looked at her as if she's the luckiest girl in the universe, well, "I mean I'm really not, It's Ms. Riyo Mori, the one who had just been crowned as Ms. Universe, I was rooting for Ms. USA though, its just a damn thing she slipped!" Sakuno thought to herself (nn)
Sakuno wanted to ignore it but she can't, Tezuka noticed her awkwardness and so he gently flinged his arm around her shoulders and told her to start looking for the ribbon she wanted. Sakuno then nodded and moved from isles to isles, it's really hard to choose because all the items in pink box were cute; there are some with unique designs on them, some flowery, hearty, stuffy and George Clooney. It was fun though; Tezuka even helped her to choose from ribbons to ribbons, Sakuno found his taste interesting.
"How about this?" Tezuka asked Sakuno handing out a cuddly pink ribbon with some tennis balls for its design.
Sakuno found it cute and so she agreed, she was about to get it from Tezuka when he suddenly walked past her and headed to the cashier, Sakuno followed him not knowing what her senpai was planning.
"I'll purchase this for you" Tezuka said
Sakuno's eyes widened, " No Kunimitsu-oniisan, I'll be the one who'll pay for it" she said trying to get the ribbon from Tezuka who held up his hand so she won't be able to reach it.
"Mou… Kunimitsu-oniisan, that's unfair, you're far taller than me" Sakuno said not knowing that's she's already clutching Tezuka's shirt, she looked like a kid who wanted her toy back from her older brother, Tezuka patted her head with his other hand and said, " I'll purchase this"
The lady on the counter was amused by the action of the two, even some girls stared at them and started whispering, Tezuka realized that they were attracting some attention and called Sakuno's name in a taut and solid voice, Sakuno trembled and let her senpai buy the ribbon.
"You know what" said the lady at the counter, "You're a cute couple"
Both the teens blushed, Sakuno's face was fuming, "Anou… We're…no-"
"Arigatou" Tezuka barged in while claiming the wrapped package from the lady
They exited the shop with Sakuno still clutching Tezuka's shirt in silence, that's the first time she's been called as her someone's girlfriend, people would often mistake her as her senpai's little sister or sometimes in Inui's case, his daughter. Tezuka on the other hand seemed to looked as if he enjoyed the idea of Sakuno being his so called girl friend, "If only he could give that lady a thumbs up, he'll surely do it" he thought
While walking, Tezuka called the girl beside him who immediately looked up.
"What toy?" He asked pointing to a crane machine
Sakuno looked at the machine and then remembered that every time they'll go out, Tezuka would always get her a stuff toy from the crane, she loved all of it, Tezuka had already given her about 237 toys, all of those have weird names such as Eks Wye, Fetnat, Hester Bester, Dr. Moler, Ratshit and so many more.
Sakuno leaned on the plexiglas of the crane to look for a toy she wanted , Tezuka was pleased that she gained back her cheery attitude, "The crane never fails" Tezuka mumbled to himself.
"Kunimitsu-oniisan can I have the big eyed green monster over there?" Sakuno asked pointing to the certain stuff monster
Tezuka nodded and began to manipulate the joystick, Sakuno looked very excited at the same time impressed, her Kunimitsu-oniisan was very good at cranes, he always gets the target toy no matter how big or small they are.
Vwinnn……… Plop
"Yay! You got it" Sakuno said hugging Tezuka who was very thrilled deep inside
Tezuka got the stuff monster from the hatch then gave it amusingly to the excited Sakuno and asked, "What's its name now?"
Sakuno put her hand to her chin and started thinking, a bulb then flashed above her head and said, "Boogeyman"
"Weird name again huh?" Tezuka said
"Mou… Kunimitsu-oniisan it's not weird! I think it's cute" Sakuno defended holding her new toy tightly
"I'm just kidding" Tezuka said, "I'll take you home now, you still need to prepare for that festival"
Sakuno noticed that Tezuka's eyebrow twitched a little when he said "that festival", she thought that maybe her Eiji and Momo-senpai had gone far when they both urged the team to come.
When they reached Sakuno's house, Tezuka asked if she wanted him to pick her up, Sakuno told him that her Shusuke-kun and Eiji-senpai already volunteered to do it, Tezuka felt a bit disappointed but he just nodded and told Sakuno to go inside their house.
Sakuno bobbed, "Dewa Mata Kunimitsu-oniisan"
Tezuka stared at her for a moment before giving his usual nod, but before he turns and walk, he gave her a rare smile and said, "I'm really glad you're coming with us to the festival"
END OF CHAPTER
Hope you like it… I really hope…
And please submit a review… Thank You!
-nineyroldie-
