This'll probably be my last update before school starts again. T.T It's starting a week earlier this year, nya...

Anyhow, I've achieved my goal of updating this fic twice this summer! n.n.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Prince of Tennis. Yet again...

Enjoy this chapter! (The dividers aren't working, by the way. 3)

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She was angry.

She felt stupid, she felt angry.

Did Ryoma have to rub it in like that? She got the hint the first time. He hadn't the need to repeat it.

Like a large cold wind had just blew piercingly passed Sakuno's face, thousands of sharp ice daggers all accelerating in the air in her direction, she felt an awful pain in her body.

The weatherman said that it was going to be warm today. Yet, no matter how much Sakuno tried to tell herself that it was warm, her body felt cold. The world seemed to be whirling around her, and her vision blurred gradually. Small droplets of what should be tears created a trail before her eyes; her hair was flying behind her caused by the air resistance made from her running.

Yes, she was running, and fast.

She was running away from reality. The reality was that Ryoma and she never had any simple relation at all. Not even friendship, she stressed. She suddenly felt so stupid. Ryoma probably didn't mean what he said, but even if he did, why did she react like that? She should have understood that the world guaranteed her nothing, and so it wasn't guaranteed that Ryoma would like her in any simple way.

The frequency of the movement in Sakuno's legs slowed down, and gradually to the point where she was walking. Her posture was slumped, and she stared at her shoes.

A part of her for that previous moment, before she ran out of the apartment, made her think that she deserved Ryoma's recognition. A part of her wanted recognition, and made herself believe that she had it. She was so convinced that Ryoma liked her, maybe as a friend, maybe more. She was believing in her own lies, and it made her feel like she was flying for a while. And because of that, she fell right from the top of the sky. She hit the bare cold ground, and it hurted a lot.

She was depressed. Oh-so depressed about her own behaviour earlier, and full of regrets. She regretted a lot on the way she got angry on her own. This wasn't her first time in doing this, and she should have known better.

Where was all her self-control?

Sakuno felt that she had wasted so much of her time trying to gain something that she would never get. She had spent so much time worrying about herself, both physically and mentally. She had worked so hard to get rid of the old her, the shy one who stuttered more than often. And she was so near succeeding, she was almost there.

And what had been motivating her to do all of this?

All the time, she had been walking on a ground that she believed to be stable. She thought it was there, and she thought she could depend on it. She built all her confidence on it, and a large part of her life as well, she didn't see anything coming.

And then by the time she realised that the ground wasn't actually there, what had been the foundation that had been holding her life together for the past?

She had thought that it was Ryoma that motivated her to do things, but now as she thought about it, if Ryoma wasn't there to support her, really, then what had been holding her up?

Was her own base really herself?

Through all the depression, a small light seemed to have broken through, and Sakuno suddenly felt happier. She didn't know she had been independent for so long now. Speaking of that, she had been living alone for quite a while, too. She had her own job and her own apartment… that counted as successful, didn't it? The job wasn't anything that was going to turn her into a millionaire, but that wasn't important to her. The important part was that she managed by herself, and she was content, really.

That's right, she had been content, then why had she been chasing after something that she didn't need?

The corner of Sakuno's lips turned up into a smile. She could be happy without the tennis star…

Then the thought hit her. She ran out of her home, she ran out all of a sudden without an explanation. She probably looked like a sensitive idiot.

Even if she was impressed by her own independence, she still looked like a sensitive idiot.

Sakuno could now expect the senpai-tachi and Ryoma to be having fun in her apartment, laughing their heads off about her stupidity.

Oh, god… she embarrassed herself again.

Sakuno lifted one arm and smoothed her hair out from all the flying. She sighed at herself, not knowing what to do next. She couldn't possibly go back now… She had a… non-existent ego of her own.

Sakuno stopped walking and found a cosy brick wall of a building to lean on. It was late in the evening now and there were few people on the streets. She just stared into space to use up some time. Maybe she should just wait until it was late enough, when the senpai-tachi, and most of all, Ryoma had left. Then her non-existent ego could calm.

Click.

… What sound was that?

Sakuno's body suddenly tensed in reaction, she stood up on her legs again and she spun around to look at her surroundings. There wasn't anyone on the streets now.

Click.

Spinning around again, she looked, conscious about the mysterious sound.

Click.

Eyes shifted to the side, hoping slightly that there'd be someone in the corner of her eye… if there wasn't anybody, then where could the sound come from?

Click.

Sakuno was in panic now. She twisted around in full speed this time, only to get her legs tangled beneath her, and she gasped.

Click.

Footsteps sounded from in front. Sakuno knew there was somebody… but…

Click.

The rates of these footsteps were a little fast, weren't they?

Sakuno let out a small shriek and landed on the bare concrete ground. One hand topped the other, forming a base in which her chin landed on.

The street lamps were shining onto her back, and the setting all around her. Her shadow was almost beneath her, and the rest of the ground was the colour of the yellowish light from the street lamps…

… Except there was another shadow, and it was gradually getting closer to her.

Sakuno closed her eyes, hoping that it wasn't somebody frightening. She lifted her upper-body up with her arms, but stayed in that stance, still recovering from her fall. And then her legs shifted and she sat on her knees, eyes closed, body crouched in, away from the world.

She wanted to walk away from the mysterious person who was running up to her. She didn't know who it was, but that didn't matter because he or she wasn't up to anything good, scaring her like that.

Her body wouldn't allow her to walk away, her knees were scratched and in pain. So she just gave up. She gave up trying to become strong, and she gave up trying to do so many things that she couldn't do all the time. And at this moment, it included standing up and walking away.

The shadow stopped in front of her. Sakuno was sure it stayed there for a while, because she was on her knees for that while, too. Silence blew in from the wind, and the night just seemed to get colder. Without opening her eyes and still waiting for something to happen, Sakuno placed her hands over her arm, attempting to warm herself.

Why was this stranger taking so long to say something, or do something? She didn't want to look at the stranger in case it would scar her for life, but she might just be able to take one small peek with half an eye opened…

Sakuno did exactly that, except before she could adjust her sight properly, the stranger spoke first.

"Geez," the voice said quietly. This word was meant to have that annoyingly provoking tone in it, but strangely, it had a hint of concern… "You really can't be left on the streets on your own, can you?" And he held out a hand to pull her up.

… Sakuno's eyes snapped opened immediately, and she stared at the figure before her.

Oh no… this was the last person that she had wanted to see at this moment. Why did it have to be Ryoma? What happened to the stranger she was expecting?

Sakuno stood up hurriedly and ignored the helping hand, "Sorry!" she managed to utter.

Goodness, she must have looked stupid just now. Sakuno wondered what Ryoma would have been thinking when she was fixed on the ground with her eyes closed like that.

And then Ryuzaki Sakuno felt like such a joke. She felt like such an awful joke, and that must have been what she had looked like.

She turned around and began walking away, the odd anger from a moment ago suddenly rising up from her chest. How could she face Ryoma? How could he face her? They were two independent people now, not that they were ever anything different, but at least Sakuno knew better.

As she made her first step away from Ryoma, she wondered where she was going to be going next. She didn't know, really. She could only think of walking away now, and nothing else.

Well, at least it was going on fine. She didn't become nervous in front of the prince just now, she didn't stumble over herself, and she knew that there was no need to.

It was going fine, that was right.

And that was until she felt something make contact with her wrist. Surprise shot into her from this sudden contact. A hand gripped her wrist…

… And it jerked her body back to where it was, but only on her feet this time…

Before she knew it, her head hit the figure's chest lightly, and she stood still, eyes widening in shock. The grip on her wrist loosened, but she couldn't move. She could feel the man's chest inflating and deflating by her, it wasn't good, not in Sakuno's dictionary now.

A pair of arms wrapped around her back, and Sakuno couldn't move again, stunned by the sudden movement. Her heart rate increased as she realised what was happening. She felt her cheeks flaring, and she didn't know what to do.

Wasn't she meant to be over Ryoma for good now? Where did her all her philosophies from a moment ago go?

No, she wasn't going to let herself do this again, she wasn't going to—

Sakuno inwardly protested, and tried to push away from Ryoma, but her body wasn't moving. She tried again, but realised that the arms around her had locked her in position, and she stared up at the person in front of her, expecting him to have a foreboding expression on his face.

But no, it was nothing near menacing, in fact, it was an expression that Sakuno had never seen from Ryoma.

Why did it look so anxious? It only cooled down her urge to pull away from him. And she stood, all the less irritated.

She sighed. No, she wasn't going to let it go now, "Ryoma-kun," she said quietly with some assertion in her voice, "Let go of me." Without looking at the prince this time, in case his expression would soften her again, she attempted to pull away.

She was expecting the arms to still be securely wrapped around her. She expected her attempt to free herself to fail.

But no, her expectations were once again exceeded. The moment she tried to pull away from the anxious figure before her, she used too much power and almost fell backwards. And then she just looked at Ryoma.

Usually, when people exceeded their own expectations, they would be happy, feeling smug of what they had done. But Sakuno didn't feel even a hint of joy that she had pulled away so easily. She should be happy, except her mind always failed what she wanted.

She wanted to get over Ryoma for goodness' sake.

A small part of Sakuno's mind contradicted Sakuno's apparent beliefs, however. Yes, she was angry at Ryoma. Yes, she didn't want to see him and wanted him to go away. Yes, it's all true.

But…

… couldn't he just be a little more persistent?

Sakuno felt strange. She was the one who asked to be let go of, and now she's also the one hoping that Ryoma would be more persistent.

Feelings had always been complicated, and now, Sakuno was even failing to understand her own.

Even without Sakuno herself noticing, tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes again. When Sakuno noticed, she tried to stop, but she couldn't. She didn't know why she was crying this time. Just a moment ago, she was crying and for that, she had a reason. She was angry and slightly depressed, the mixture of the two moved her to tears, and it was perfectly all right.

But now, she just had no idea why she was crying, in the midst of figuring it out, she realised that her legs were numbed from the strange coldness of what should be a warm night.

And then before she could do anything else, Ryoma took a step toward her and bent down.

"It's bleeding," he said, "why didn't you say so?" His voice changed from its previous concern to very concerned and now, with a hint of frustration too. He fished his hand through his trouser pockets, took out a scrunched up tissue, and began dabbing Sakuno's knees with it.

Not knowing where the tissue had come from, Sakuno looked at her knees and winced at the pain when the tissue made contact with the bruise.

There was indeed a lot of blood coming out… so that was why she was crying.

Out of Sakuno's pure politeness, "Ryoma-kun, you don't have to—"

"Betsuni."

And then it seemed like forever, until a logical thought could finally process through Sakuno's mind. The silence was going to make her shudder any moment now, and she might as well just…

… Without any more restraint, Sakuno couldn't but ask, "Ryoma-kun, do you hate me?" She said in a quiet voice filled with remorse.

Ryoma looked up from his task and hesitated for a moment, "Of course not," he said, "why?"

"Mou… because I was rude and I ran out…"

Ryoma smirked and finished off. He stood up, and the small smirk continued to hang onto his lips.

They were less than a foot away from each other, and since Sakuno's mind had long gone astray, she decided to wait for something to happen instead of do something herself. She hoped for a response from Ryoma, which she got.

"No," Ryoma said, reducing his playful smirk to a smaller smile, "You were right."

And she got it happily.

"I shouldn't have said so much," he added.

Sakuno beamed a happy beam at Ryoma, happy that it was rather a happy ending now, and that she didn't need to spend time trying to get over the amazing tennis prince.

It was just too hard to get over him. How could she ever? Every word that came out of his mouth just affected her so much. He wasn't an unstable foundation to build upon, after all, and she had apparently built a lot of herself around him.

And now, she wouldn't regret it.

From a distance, the disturbing sound came again. Or so maybe the couple had only just noticed it. Who would know, maybe it had been clicking away for a while now.

Click.

Ryoma jumped in surprise.

Click.

He looked around. He knew what this sound was. He'd heard it before.

Click.

Loads before.

Click.

Sakuno looked around when she realised that the sound was here again, "Not this sound again," she muttered. This was the sound that caused her to trip in the first place, thanks to it, now her legs were painfully bruised.

Click.

It could have been just fine.

Click.

Ryoma heard Sakuno mutter and said, "Ryuzaki, how long have you been hearing this sound?" He sounded slight hurried.

Click.

Sakuno stared at Ryoma. Should she answer him? The real answer was slightly embarrassing, actually. Maybe she could just reduce it… "Since I ran out here," she said, which wasn't exactly a lie.

Click.

Ryoma cursed, "We have to go, quick." He grabbed her wrist again and pulled Sakuno away from the horrifying clicking sound.

Sakuno, feeling very reluctant to be dragged like this, tried to release herself again. Ryoma was always persistent when she didn't want him to be. He didn't let go.

"Ryoma-kun, where are we going? And what's that sound?" She asked in the midst of catching up with the Grand Slam tennis player.

"Camera," Ryoma said, "A reporter's camera."

"What?"

Sakuno had almost forgotten that Ryoma was rich and famous. Yes, she had always referred to him as someone worldly ranked and someone who'd achieved the Grand Slam. But it was just so uncanny to think that this person was beside her holding her wrist and running. She just crossed out his status all this time.

And it wasn't long until Sakuno was woken from her trance and her body bumped against Ryoma's when he made a sudden stop. She immediately backed away, fighting herself not to blush, and sneaked a glance at the prince, who was nonchalant as ever.

The grip on her wrist loosened and the hand slowly released. Sakuno looked around only to realise that she was by her apartment block again. Ryoma was already leaving.

But he turned back, "Sorry about…" he paused for a moment as his gaze met Sakuno's, who was apparently still adjusting to the new surroundings, "… you know."

Sakuno looked into Ryoma's eyes, she wasn't feeling as stupid as she did before now, but wasn't going to forgive Ryoma so easily, just yet.

"Ryoma-kun," she began quietly, "You have to say it." And she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Ryoma was bewildered of being challenged "Say?"

"Why you're sorry," Sakuno prompted.

"I'm sorry, because…" he stood and thought for a moment, "because I said I didn't like you."

Sakuno slowly uncrossed her arms; again, things have exceeded her expectations. She gazed at Ryoma's eyes, which gazed back at hers with glints of integrity.

"The truth is," Ryoma continued slowly, "I do," and a faint pink colour, only visible if you squint, spread across his face.

And then this time, as her expectations were surpassed again, she didn't feel disappointed. Yes, it was just usual that if your expectations were exceeded, you'd feel happy.

And Sakuno noted that she probably wasn't very normal a while ago.

She felt her face warm up. The night wasn't cold anymore.

Ryoma began walking away, until Sakuno took one step forward and halted him, "Ryoma-kun."

Honesty really invited honesty, and Sakuno felt that Ryoma was telling the truth. She felt the need to, too.

"The truth is," she began, and inhaled lightly, twiddling her thumbs, "for a long time now, I do, too."

A small smirk appeared on Ryoma's face. This wasn't the stereotypical Ryoma type smirk. It wasn't cocky, it was a rare harmless one.

Sakuno sighed at herself. So it was irksomely difficult to get over someone like Ryoma, especially when he had that kind of smirk on his face.

"How long?" Ryoma said, challenging with his smirk widening.

"Find out," Sakuno said, challenging back.

Ryoma shot her a light-hearted glare and turned around, "See you on the paper tomorrow." And he left, just like that.

And then it got to Sakuno. Ryoma was a famous tennis player, and he couldn't stay in Japan forever, when was he going to leave?

Sakuno felt like a thousand small pins were in her body. What did Ryoma mean by the paper?

She sighed and climbed up the stairs of the apartment block. She didn't get a lot of sleep that night.

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Inside a small taxi, a man sat smugly, spreading himself across the seats. He gazed at his camera with satisfaction and smiled.

Now I'm definitely going to be promoted, he thought to himself.

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End of chapter 7.

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Well, see, I tried my best with the fluff-o-meter, but it just can't go any higher. T.T

This story is gradually getting somewhere. Probably one more chapter and an epilogue to go. n.n That is, if I don't manage to drag it longer, which I don't want to.

I hoped you liked it! Thanks for reading!