Ryoma and Sakuno were on the teacher's room. Their homeroom teacher had called them in because of what happened on the day before. He was in front of them with crossed arms, sititng on his desk and a deep frown on his forehead.

"Ryuzaki-san, I'm very disappointed in you. How could you do such a thing?"

"She didn't do anything; the guy came and pushed her out of nowhere." Ryoma said, seriously.

"You aren't on the right to say anything too, Echizen-san. Why were you in the middle of such a mess?" he touched his forehead with his fingers. "Unfortunately, I'm going to be obligated to put this on your permanent record, Ryuzaki-san. It will be no good for your college scholarship application."

"Sensei, please!" she held her hands tightly.

"Sensei, Sakuno didn't do anything. I was the one who punched the guy."

Sakuno looked at him surprised.

"Look at her." He placed his hand on the top of her head. Ryoma was taller than her by almost 8 inches. He had a growth spurt when he was 15. "She is short and weak, she is harmless. Do you really think she could do such a thing?" he was lying with a straight face! "Please, don't punish her. She was only by my side. If you want to put something in the record, put on mine. But, that guy was really violent towards her. He deserved it."

"Okay, then. You two are off the hook this time. But, please, no more problems from now on!"

##############

Ryoma took a deep, relieved breath when they went out of the room, leaning on the wall.

"I was so nervous."

"Eh?!"

"I've never lied before." He closed his eyes. "I thought I would die."

"Why did you do that?! You were going to have something bad on your permanent record!"

"Shinji told me you want to be a doctor." He looked at her. "So you will need to go to a good university and have a good scholarship. Your record can't be tainted. It was the least I can do, since at that time, I couldn't help you at all."

"Echizen-kun…." She was very touched. "I'm so sorry I put you in the middle of this. It's just… I was bullied a lot on school, because I was always changing schools and I used old clothes, so, when that guy pushed me, I snapped. I got this bad side from my mother. I'm really sorry."

"Don't mention it." He showed her a small smile. "Just take care of me for free when you become an important doctor."

"Yes!" she smiled at him.

#############

Ryoma was eating lunch at the back garden of school, by himself. Sakuno used the lunch break to study on her desk and he wanted to give her some privacy.

He smiled to himself, looking at the obento she had prepared him. It was so thoughtfully made. There was rice, omelet, steam vegetables and two pieces of grilled fish seasoned with lemon. He knew she did the same for Shinji and herself but it was still nice and the boy really appreciated.

"Ryoma?" Tomoka's voice called his attention and his expression changed automatically.

"What do you want?" he said, without looking at her, before chewing some meat.

The girl got close and sat by his side, looking at him worried.

"I heard about what happened yesterday. And people saw you at the teacher's room today. What's going on?"

"Nothing. Could you leave, please? You're ruining my lunch."

"I'm worried about you! You were never in the middle of such a thing! Now you're always walking around with that Ryuzaki-san and she even got you involved on her problems!"

"You don't know what are you talking about." He closed the obento without eating the whole meal and stood up. He was about to leave when she grabbed his arm and stopped him. The boy turned around abruptly, releasing himself.

"Don't touch me." He had a horrible look on his face.

"Why are you treating me like that, Ryoma?! Not just long ago, we were hugging and kissing, now you treat me like I'm contagious!"

"You cheated on me." He responded with clenched teeth, in front of her. "I trusted you and you cheated on me. So, you have no right of demanding anything from me or talking about Ryuzaki-san. I regret the day I became your boyfriend." He got closer. "Don't you ever come near me again. Just looking at you makes me sick."

He walked away in hard steps and the girl sat down, trying to muffle her cry on her hands.

#############

"Shinji, slow down. The food will not run away." Sakuno said, while they were having dinner together. She had prepared deep fried pork with teriyaki sauce, rice and salad.

"This is very good!" he said, with his mouth full. "It's been so long since we last had pork!"

"Echizen-kun was the one who brought it." She said, before eating some rice.

"Thank you, Ryoma-nii!"

"You're welcome." He ate a piece. "It's really good indeed."

"Thank you." She smiled at him. "Hey, Shinji, I have good news."

"What is it?"

"You can have the swimming lessons on summer. I have the money already."

"Really?!" he stood up, happily.

"Yes."

"Nee-chan, thank you! He ran to Sakuno's side and hugged her very tight. "Thank you so much!"

"Tomorrow after school I will go and pay the fee, okay? We need to buy you some trunks. Let's do it on the weekend."

"Yes!" he had a wide smile on his face.

"Finish eating now, otherwise it will get cold."

##############

Sakuno and Ryoma were on the kitchen. She had put Shinji to sleep already. Ryoma was washing the dishes and she was drying them.

"So, you're really not buying the cell phone."

"Not at all. He almost never asks for anything and he was so hopeful. And, learning how to swim is a useful skill."

"Do you know how to swim, Ryuzaki-san?"

"I do. My father taught me when I was young." He noticed the sad smile on her face while she was drying some bowls. "When things were still normal."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay." she looked at him gently.

"There is a nice water park a friend of mine is always going with his girlfriend on the summer. He always invites me to go, but I don't want to be a third wheel. We could go there, together. Shinji will like it. They have those arm floats for children who still don't know how to swim properly."

"He will love it! I've always wanted to take him to one of those! How much is it?"

"I will have to take a look for the teenage fees, I don't remember exactly, but children under 10 don't pay."

"Thank you so much, Echizen-kun!" the girl smiled happily at him.

"You're welcome."

They continued to talk about trivial things while cleaning the dishes of the meal they shared and Ryoma smiled to himself, enjoying her company on that quiet night.