Chapter Seven: Christmas Moment
Sakuno and Tezuka were walking back home after their trip to Rikkaidai. It was an awkward walk for Sakuno since Tezuka is very intimidating to talk to. You'll feel inferior when walking near Tezuka. Sakuno has her head bowed and would take a glance at Tezuka once in awhile but all she sees is him looking ahead with a serious expression on his face.
Elsewhere, Aoi Kentaro, the Rokkaku freshman captain, was about to eat the ramen he ordered. He has his eyes closed as if thinking of something deep.
"Hmm..." Suddenly, he opened his eyes as if he just thought of something.
"I get to kiss a cute girl if I finish this ramen within five minutes!" After he said that, he took a glance at the clock in the ramen shop then started eating his ramen. Exactly five minutes, Kentaro placed the ramen bowl back on the table. He glanced at the clock again and smiled.
"Success! Now I'm off to find a cute girl." Kentaro ran outside the ramen shop with the shop owner yelling at him.
"You forgot to pay!"
Back with Tezuka and Sakuno, they were still awkwardly walking with each other. They passed by the ramen shop but then somebody came out from the inside and almost bumped into Sakuno but Tezuka noticed him come out and pulled Sakuno out of the way. Kentaro tried to stop but he tripped while trying to. Kentaro sat up and rubbed the back of his head then he looked up and saw Tezuka with a cute girl. Kentaro's eyes sparkled and he pulled Sakuno for a kiss but with a sudden twist of fate, his lips missed Sakuno's and instead kissed somewhere near the corner of her lips. Sakuno blushed so hard that she fainted and Tezuka's vein popped.
"What are you doing, Aoi Kentaro?" Tezuka asked with an intimidating voice and a death glare.
Kentaro felt Tezuka's deadly aura and sweatdropped, "Ah Tezuka-san, I didn't know you were here. Ahahaha." Kentaro nervously laughed while Sakuno lay on his lap unconscious. Tezuka was still glaring at Kentaro, expecting an answer to his question in which Kentaro got the message, "I made a condition earlier that I would kiss a cute girl if I finish my ramen in five minutes!" Kentaro waved his arms in front of him trying to protect himself from Tezuka's death glare. Just then, their talk was interrupted by the ramen shop owner opening the door and shouting at Kentaro to pay for the ramen.
~xoxoxoxo~
Sakuno woke up and found herself on Tezuka's back. Like usual, she blushed again.
"A-a-a-no, w-why am I on your back Tezuka-senpai?" Sakuno nervously asked.
"You fainted when Aoi kissed you." Tezuka bluntly answered. Sakuno blushed redder as she remembered what happened.
"I-I see." Another awkward silence. Then, Sakuno realized she isn't even injured so there's no need for Tezuka to carry her. "Tezuka-senpai, I can walk now since I'm awake." Tezuka also didn't notice that Sakuno doesn't even need to be carried and immediately let her walk.
"Th-thank you and sorry for the trouble, Tezuka-senpai." Sakuno bowed.
"It's my duty as your senpai." Awkward silence followed again. Sakuno wanted to get to know Tezuka more and she tried to think of a topic. She then remembered the guy who kissed her and wanted to ask what happened to him.
"Senpai, what happened to the guy earlier?" Sakuno looked away so that Tezuka wouldn't see her embarrassed face in case Tezuka didn't answer.
"I made him run laps around the town." Sakuno sighed in relief when Tezuka answered but then sweatdropped right after when she realized that Tezuka made the poor guy run laps.
"Tadaima." They finally reached the dorm and Sakuno went straight to her room. Sakuno sat on her bed and smiled.
'Tezuka-senpai isn't so bad after all. Just intimidating.' Sakuno leaned back to lie on her bed but then she noticed a slight bump. Then she noticed something stir underneath the sheets. Sakuno started to get scared. She got even more scared when that something sat up and stared at her. At that moment, Sakuno did what anyone would do if they were in her position.
"KYAAA!"
Everyone in the dorm flinched and instantly recognized it was Sakuno's voice. They immediately ran towards her room and Ryoma was the first one to get there. Don't get him wrong, his room is just beside Sakuno's. He opened the door wide and saw a look alike of him on top of Sakuno and that guy was holding Sakuno's mouth close.
"Oh my gosh! Ochibi grew taller and is molesting Sakuno-chan!" Eiji shouted with his hands on his mouth. Ryoma stared at him blankly.
"I'm right here Kikumaru-senpai." Eiji smiled at him brightly and then looked shocked and stared back at the guy on the bed with Sakuno and pointed with a shaking finger.
"Ochibi's doppelganger! No ochibi! Don't look! You'll die!" Eiji covered Ryoma's eyes which irritated Ryoma so much.
Meanwhile, the guy on the bed with Sakuno removed himself from the fainted Sakuno. Sakuno seems to be fainting a lot these days.
"Y-You're mistaken! I'm not trying to molest her or something! She just suddenly screamed and it urged me to cover her mouth." The guy defended himself.
"Anyway, who are you, how did you get inside and what are you doing here?" Oishi interrogated the guy, trying to know the details.
Ryoma instead answered for the guy, "He's Echizen Ryoga, my older brother."
"Eh?" Everyone looked at Ryoma and upon realizing that the guy on the bed over there is his brother, they screamed, "EHH!"
"Also, I found out that chibisuke was staying in this dorm and I wanted to come by and say hi but I never expected that I would get the wrong room." Ryoga sniffed upon knowing his failure.
"My room is next door." Ryoma said.
Momo butted in and asked, "Why'd you have to put yourself in an awkward situation by going on top of Ryuzaki-chan and covering her mouth?"
"Reflex?" Ryoga lamely reasoned. Everyone sighed.
~xoxoxoxo~
Sakuno woke up from fainting. Again. She sat up and noticed a presence beside her. She looked at the person and it was the guy harassing her earlier. They were alone together. Sakuno got scared again but this time Ryoga spoke first.
"Don't scream. I won't do anything. I'm Echizen Ryoga." Ryoga introduced himself. Sakuno blinked. 'Echizen?'
"Eto, by Echizen, you mean you're-" Ryoga nodded, "Chibisuke's older brother."
Sakuno widened her eyes and exclaimed, "I didn't know Ryoma-kun had an older brother." Ryoga slightly widened his eyes thinking, 'First name basis?'
Ryoga said, "Well now you know. I only came here to see him because it's almost Christmas and his birthday."
"Birthday?" Sakuno suddenly got interested. She didn't know Ryoma's birthday yet.
"You didn't know?" Ryoga blinked, "Aren't you his girlfriend? How can you not know?"
"Girlfriend? No! I-I'm just a dormmate." Sakuno completely denied and shook her head. "W-what made you think that?"
"Eh? But you call him by his first name. I thought you two had a little something to be on first name basis." Ryoga slightly tilted his head.
Sakuno was in deep thought, 'He's right. Maybe I'm being too informal calling Ryoma-kun by his first name when we're not even close.'
"Anyway, his birthday is on Christmas eve. It's a fun day ain't it?" Ryoga said, interrupting Sakuno's thoughts.
"24th? I-I have to buy him a gift then." Sakuno blurted and blushed upon realizing she said her plan out loud. Ryoga stared at her and laughed.
"Such a nice girl. Can I come with you shopping then? I heard from the others that you get lost easily. Besides I want to buy chibisuke a gift too." Ryoga grinned. "Maybe." He added after. Sakuno blinked and laughed lightly.
"Yeah, you can come with me. Is tomorrow fine?" Ryoga nodded and they then talked about Ryoma's childhood after.
~xoxoxoxo~
Ryoma was in a bad mood. 'Why did I have to sleep with that guy last night? I couldn't properly sleep. Grr. He kept telling me stories that I don't care about and he snores loudly when he sleeps too.' Ryoma may look calm on the outside but on the inside, his mind is full of anger. Ryoma passed by Eiji and Momo without greeting them.
"Oi! You should respect your senpais! You should!" Momo shouted at him but Ryoma looked back with a death glare on his face. Eiji and Momo sweatdropped. Ryoma continued walking again.
"Is ochibi in a bad mood?"
What's adding more fuel to his anger is that his stupid brother and Sakuno are going shopping together. He was supposed to be Sakuno's escort today!
"Don't be jealous Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka suddenly appeared behind him that made Ryoma almost jump out of shock. Almost.
"Why would I be jealous?" Ryoma shrugged.
"You're right. You shouldn't" Tomoka smirked, "Since she's out shopping with Echizen-san for you." Tomoka ran away after giving Ryoma a clue. Ryoma didn't get what she said and just shrugged and walked away to practice tennis and pour his anger on the wall.
~xoxoxoxo~
Sakuno sighed, "After going all the way here, I haven't even thought about what to buy for him yet. Have you thought of what to buy, Echizen-san?"
"Echizen-san? Call me by my first name. You sound like you're calling my father if you call me that and I haven't thought of what to give chibisuke yet." 'I'm thinking of a gift that would make him want to scream in fear or make him show an expression he rarely shows.' Ryoga thought and grinned evilly. Sakuno saw him grin evilly and slightly backed away from him.
"Ah! Koshimae grew so tall in just a few days!" Sakuno recognized that voice and the wrong way of saying Echizen and excitedly looked at where it came from.
"Tooyama-kun!" Sakuno waved at Kintarou and he waved back with arms stretched. Kintarou ran towards Ryoga and Sakuno and then stared at Ryoga.
"What's your secret for being so tall in just a short time, Koshimae?" Kintarou said while eyeing Ryoga.
'Koshimae?' Ryoga thought with a sweatdrop.
"Tooyama-kun, that's Ryoga-san. He's Ryoma-kun's older brother." Sakuno explained.
"Eh! Koshimae had an older brother? Th-then I'll call you Koshimae-nii!" Sakuno giggled and Ryoga weakly smiled with a sweatdrop.
'What a happy kid.'
"What are you doing here by the way, Sa-chan?" Kintarou asked.
"We're shopping for a gift for Ryoma-kun. It's his birthday on Christmas eve."
"Suge! It's Echizen's birthday?" Jirou appeared with an arm around Marui. Sakuno and the rest stared at them, surprised at their sudden show up.
Marui popped his bubble then widened his eyes and removed Jirou's arm from him, "Oh no. Don't tell me you all thought at the same time that we're dating? We are not! Not!"
"We didn't actually say anything." Ryoga replied with a sweatdrop. It was Marui and Jirou's turn to stare.
"Is it possible for a human being to be this tall in a few days?" Marui asked.
"This is Koshimae-nii! Koshimae's niichan!" Kintarou explained.
"Suge! I didn't know Echizen had a brother!"
Suddenly, out of nowhere Niou appeared. Niou stared at Ryoga.
"Echizen?" Niou muttered. The rest sighed.
~xoxoxoxo~
The group then explained about Ryoma's birthday and brainstormed for what gifts to buy in the burger joint. Niou and Ryoga were on the same wavelength about wanting to prank Ryoma.
"A jack-in-a-box?" Niou suggested.
"No, it's gonna be too obvious. Chibisuke won't get shocked." Ryoga crossed his arms and closed his eyes.
"Add a hand buzzer to the jack-in-a-box?"
"Not bad but let's think of something else. It'd be nice if it was explosive."
Sakuno, Kintarou, Jirou and Marui all sweatdropped at the two.
"W-well, let's think of ideas too."
"A necklace?" Kintarou suggested.
"This is Echizen we're talking about. He don't care about things like that." Marui butted in.
"But it's the thought that counts isn't it?" Jirou pouted, "Well, let's give him-" Jirou was about to suggest something but he saw someone he knows and unknowingly called him out, "Ato-chi!" The others looked at Jirou in an are-you-crazy? look.
"Give Echizen Atobe as a gift?" Marui tilted his head sideways.
"What's an Ato-chi or Atobe or whatever it's called?" Kintarou innocently asked.
"No! I mean that Ato-chi's over there!" Jirou pointed. Atobe turned his head to where someone called his name rather informally and saw Jirou with random people from different schools. Atobe approached them rather elegantly.
"Did someone call for ore-sama?" Atobe asked in a royal tone. Atobe turned his head and saw Sakuno looking at him curiously. "This little lady's staring at me. Does this little lady want a kiss from me?" Atobe leaned forward to give Sakuno a kiss and the others were too shocked to move.
CHU
Marui accidentally swallowed on his bubble gum, Jirou felt that because of the scene in front of him that scarred him for life, will prevent him from sleeping ever again, Kintarou jawdropped that the cola he drank spilled on the floor, Ryoga and Niou can't decide whether to laugh or feel sorry and Sakuno blushed and covered her mouth with her hands.
Atobe wondered why the little lady's lips taste like grape ponta and opened his eyes to see that he wasn't kissing the little lady! Atobe pulled away in shock and the guy he kissed? It was Ryoma. Earlier, Ryoma was about to practice tennis but he can't help but feel a little jealous. A little! So he searched for Sakuno and Ryoga and saw that Atobe was about to kiss Sakuno and he blocked Sakuno reflexively.
"B-be honored to be kissed by ore-sama!" Atobe tried to smirk but is failing miserably.
"I-I think you're the one who should be honored to kiss the prince of tennis." Ryoma tried to smirk but failed miserably as well. Well damn! That was Ryoma's first kiss. His first kiss is with a guy, what the heck?
"Ryoma-kun are you okay?" Sakuno worriedly asked but then remembered that they were here to buy Ryoma's gift and she grabbed Ryoga's hand and ran out of the store. 'Ryoma-kun will surely come with us and we can't buy our gifts for him anymore if he does.'
The others blinked when Sakuno suddenly ran out of the store.
'Was Sa-chan hurt that Koshimae's first kiss is with this guy than her?' Kintarou thought. But that isn't the reason really. Ryoma just stared at Ryoga and Sakuno leave, slightly hurt. Slightly.
With Ryoga and Sakuno,
"You know chibisaku, I think chibisuke will accept any gift you give him. It doesn't matter what it is. Like what the orange-haired guy said, it's the thought that counts." Ryoga suggested and smiled at Sakuno when he saw her thinking deeply about it. Then, Sakuno widened her eyes as she now know the answer to what gift to give Ryoma. Ryoga smiled again.
"It seems you found your answer." Sakuno nodded gratefully at Ryoga and Ryoga added, "Well let's go home then!"
'I know what to give Ryoma-kun now.'
~xoxoxoxo~
It was Christmas eve, the dorm is very lively and everyone helped in preparing for the party. Eiji was the most enthusiastic among them. When Sakuno finished all the tasks assigned to her, she looked around the room looking for Ryoma. She found him sitting on the front porch of the dorm and she approached him.
"Ry- Echizen-kun." Sakuno called him thinking about what Ryoga said about first name basis. Ryoma curiously turned to look at Sakuno. 'What's with the formality?'
"I don't know any Echizen-kun over here." Ryoma muttered and looked away.
Sakuno blinked and shyly said, "But I thought that you don't want me calling you by your first name since we aren't that close yet."
"I didn't say anything like that." Sakuno blushed and played with the hem of her skirt. Silence followed. Ryoma just looked at the stars and Sakuno stared at Ryoma. Sakuno then remembered what she approached Ryoma for. She reached inside her pocket.
"R-Ryoma-kun, happy birthday." Sakuno blushed while her hands were outstretched and were holding a box. Ryoma looked at her and accepted the box with an expressionless face.
"Thanks. How did you know it was my birthday?" Ryoma asked with his eyes looking straight into Sakuno's.
"Ryoga-san said it to me." Sakuno blushed harder when she saw that Ryoma was staring at her.
"I see. I'll open it later. Thanks again." Ryoma said as he put the box inside his pocket. Ryoma noticed Sakuno sigh in relief when he said he'll open it later.
"I have another gift for you Ryoma-kun. Although I don't know if it's worthy to be called a gift." Sakuno shyly said.
"Another?" Ryoma slightly tilted his head. Sakuno nodded.
"The box was for your birthday, this is for Christmas." Sakuno blushed. 'You can do this Sakuno!' Sakuno noticed Ryoma's eyes widen a little. Ryoma smiled gently. Sakuno blushed even more if possible.
"Christmas is near my birthday, so it doesn't have that birthday feeling. When I was young, they would give me only one gift for my birthday and Christmas. It kind of makes me happy that you have separate gifts." Ryoma muttered.
"B-but like I said, I don't think this Christmas gift is worthy to be called a gift." Sakuno whispered, feeling really embarrassed now. Ryoma looked at Sakuno curiously.
"Ryoma-kun, thank you for everything you did for me. You saved me lots of times. I'm sorry if there are times that I'm a bother to you. Without you, I don't think I'll be staying in this dorm. You were the one who helped me find my way. Well, what I'm saying is..." Sakuno faltered while Ryoma was just staring at her, listening to every single word she said. "M-my Christmas gift...to you...is...I just...want to..." Sakuno was blushing and she felt tears coming out from her eyes. She bowed her head to hide them from Ryoma. Then she looked up with a determined look on her face and said real clearly,
"I want to say that you're really special to me!"
TBC
Omake 1:
After Ryoma and Atobe's accidentally fateful kiss, Ryoma is shown in the bathroom brushing his mouth a thousand times and using a mouthwash a million times. The rest were standing in front of the bathroom door with sweatdrops on their heads. The sweatdrop grew bigger as they heard Ryoma shout colorful words inside.
Meanwhile at Atobe,
"Kabaji! Bring me the most expensive toothpaste, most expensive toothbrush, and most expensive mouthwash there is." Atobe ordered.
"Usu." Kabaji nodded and brought Atobe the most expensive toothpaste, most expensive toothbrush, and most expensive mouthwash. Atobe snatched them quickly from Kabaji's hands and proceeded in his awesome prowess at brushing his mouth.
"Be awed by my flawless brushing!" Atobe said before brushing his mouth.
Omake 2:
"Marui, I have a Christmas gift for you. Yagyuu as well." Niou suddenly said.
"Well that's surprising. This is the first time you've given me any Christmas gift." Marui said while blowing a bubble but deep inside, he's clearly suspecting Niou.
"Well, when I was talking to Echizen's brother, I just thought of some things to give you and Yagyuu as well. Here." Niou ran to Yagyuu to give his gift as well. After giving the gifts, Niou ran off somewhere again.
Marui blinked at the gift. It was a bubble gum. Marui's clearly doubting this gift but he can't help the temptation since it's in the form of a bubble gum. Marui put a bubble gum in his mouth and - .
Yagyuu blinked at the gift he was given. It was a golf ball. Yagyuu was also suspicious of the gift since this is Niou, the trickster, we're talking about but he, like Marui, can't resist the temptation and went to get his golf club. He hit the golf ball with the golf club and -.
BOOM! BOOM!
An explosion was heard. The Rikkaidai regulars flinched in shock while Niou snickered. He gave Marui and Yagyuu an exploding bubble gum and exploding golf ball.
Omake 3:
Before Sakuno expressed her feelings to Ryoma, Ryoga approached Ryoma.
"Chibisuke, happy birthday! Here's your gift!" Ryoga innocently smiled while handing his gift. Ryoma stared at the package carefully and opened it. It was a tennis ball. He went outside and Ryoga followed.
"Ne chibisuke, will you try it out with me?" Ryoga suggested but to Ryoga's surprise, Ryoma threw the tennis ball unto the sky and it exploded into a million pieces like a firework.
"Mada mada dane."
Disclaimer: I don't own POT.
A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing. Well this is what Ryosaku fans have been waiting for, a Ryosaku moment up ahead :) and I'm kinda having this certain obsession over Marui 3 I was searching up prank items and saw an exploding chewing gum and exploding golf ball so I added that omake. I just invented the exploding tennis ball xD and it's weird, I got teary eyed typing Sakuno's confession . RxR~