Decisions

By: Bunny

Rated: T

Genre: Romance/Friendship

Summary: Sakuno had been ready to give it all away to make her aging grandmother happy until she found out who else was involved. Ryoma simply didn't take rejection well. Or maybe there was more to it than that. RyoSaku.

Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis / Tenisu no Ōjisama is copyright Takeshi Konomi/Shueisha.

Oh and I MUST give a big shout out to Cookie, my beta reader, who began beta reading for me with this fanfic! I hope you all enjoy the improvements to having her help!


Chapter Seven


Ryoma changed their direction and headed to their local burger shop that he frequented with Momoshiro. Sakuno was a little disappointed that Ryoma's idea of a snack was the burger place and not a cafe where she could get tea and cake, but she was still grateful she wasn't back at home moping around.

Ryoma ordered a few burgers and a couple of drinks for them and quickly enough, they found themselves seated across from each other at one of the booths.

As Ryoma finished off his second burger, he paused to stretch his arms out against the back of the booth and said, "This is nice."

At his statement, Sakuno dropped her burger. It flopped back onto it's wrapper with a dull thump as she let out a startled, "What?"

What did he mean? What a weird statement from him.

Ryoma shrugged as he reached for a third burger and unwrapped it. Sakuno marveled at how much he could eat so quickly; she'd barely made it through half of one.

"Just hanging out with you, having some burgers, this is nice."

If Sakuno hadn't already dropped her burger, she definitely would have dropped it then.

"Ryoma-kun and I have been having lunch together all week," She said.

He scoffed, "School is different."

Sakuno rolled her eyes as he added, "Besides, this isn't lunch."

Sakuno pulled her cell phone out of her purse for a second to check the time and observed that, yes, it was too late in the day to really call their meal lunch. It was more like an early dinner. She hadn't even realized that they'd been away for such a long time.

"I didn't know the coliseum was so far away," She commented.

"That's because you have no sense of direction or time," Ryoma deadpanned.

Sakuno smiled at him and said, "Just one more reason why you should give up on this stupid miai."

Ryoma shook his head, "One more reason to want to take care of you. You would not have survived the last six years if it wasn't for me."

Sakuno frowned as she realized the truth in his words. Ryoma-kun was always saving her from scrapes, and making sure she wasn't lost, or finding her when she was lost. He didn't really need to rub her face in it though and...

"That's a horrible reason to marry someone," She scolded.

He gave her a look of disinterest in the topic, "You know that's not my reason."

She sighed, "Your real reasons aren't good either."

Ryoma set down the third that was left of his third burger back on the wrapper for a minute and gave her a serious look, "Are you saying you won't marry me because you don't like my reasons?"

Sakuno's eyes widened as he continued with a bit of annoyance, "You said all I have to do is make you love me-"

"I never said that!" She interrupted.

He shook his head and rubbed his hand down his face for a moment, "I don't understand you, Sakuno. Are you changing the rules?"

"Ryoma-kun! This isn't a game that has rules that can be changed. Marriage is...is..." She flustered as her mind spun through all the intimate things she saw a marriage as being and lost her words.

"It's what?"

"It's...it's everything!" She stopped as her mind played out visions for her of marital bliss and even as her mind showed her the images, she dismissed them as being impossible with someone like Ryoma. Blushing furiously, she repeated herself quietly, "It's everything, Ryoma-kun."

Ryoma placed his elbow on the table and put the side of his face in his hand. Giving her a long look he finally said, "So you're scared."

Sakuno wanted to slink under the table so she could hide from him as she blushed more furiously at his words. She couldn't believe he'd just said that to her. Of all the uncomfortable conversations they'd had all week, this one was quickly topping the list.

Ryoma-kun, Ryoma-kun, Ryoma-kun...he would always and forever be a cocky know-it-all tennis prince, wouldn't he?

She took a deep breath for courage as she said meekly, "A little bit, I guess. I mean, I've never even..."

Ryoma nodded slightly as he said, "I know. I haven't either..."

How was he even able to say that without getting embarrassed?

Sakuno couldn't believe they were talking about...

She huffed a bit with frustration, hoping to end the insanely uncomfortable for her topic of conversation she said, "Just as well that Ryoma-kun should wait for someone better than pretty enough and not annoying."

Ryoma's eyebrows rose with interest as he quickly shot back, "What's better than that?"

Sakuno's jaw dropped with shock. How could he even mean that? If that was his standard for something good, just how lowly did he rate most girls?

"Ryoma-kun can't be serious."

"I'm serious. There's nobody better than you. I told you, it has to be you."

Sakuno shook her head in denial, "There's no way."

Ryoma pushed his back into the back of the booth and gave her a long assessing look. Finally, he asked, "What is it you aren't telling me?"

Sakuno shook her head, "I don't know what you're talking about. Listen. Ryoma-kun. You're going to meet somebody one of these days and they'll take your breath away and they'll be amazing and perfect. I'm not going to take that away from you."

Ryoma shook his head, "Mada mada dane."

Immediately irritated, Sakuno grabbed her purse, scooted out of the booth and stood up, "I've had enough. I'm going home." Spinning on her heel, she stormed out of the burger joint and charged down the street at a quick pace.

Ryoma watched stunned for a moment as Sakuno tore out of the restaurant, and then quickly took chase. Within a couple of minutes, he was on her heels. Grabbing her hand from behind and slowing her down, he said, "I think you're perfect for me."

Sakuno stopped and put her face in her free hand. Choking back a sob, she took a deep shaky breath and tried to process her crazy week. He was being incredibly sweet to her today, and she'd been pushing him away, and pushing him away, and pushing him away. He hadn't given up on her yet, and she didn't know if she should be flattered or terrified.

She wondered if he was being sincere or if he was just trying to make her love him, as he'd declared a few days prior that he would. Was this just another challenge for him or did he really feel this way? How could she know? What was she supposed to do? If she even gave him an inch on this, he would probably shatter her heart to pieces. It could be sooner, it could be later, but Ryoma-kun was the only person that could break her completely if she opened herself up to him. If it wasn't for the miai, all her dreams would be coming true, but since the miai happened, she couldn't trust any of it. The potential power he had over her...if his heart wasn't invested...

"Ryoma-kun..." She quivered into her palm.

He stepped closer to her. Releasing her hand, he wrapped his arm behind her shoulders. He rubbed his hand up and down her upper arm, "You don't have to be afraid."

Her heart melted a bit more. Why was he being so nice to her? Was this really how it would be...?

She gulped in some air as she allowed herself to tilt a bit to the side, leaning up against his chest. Once again, she was being comforted by the very one that was causing her anxiety. It was a cruel irony. This situation. Her life. Her future. Everything.

"We're old friends, aren't we? I should be the least scary option for a miai," He grouched into her hair.

Sakuno giggled a bit, "Ryoma-kun is the most scary!"

"What? Why?"

Sakuno pushed away from his embrace and began walking in the direction of her house again, Ryoma followed, matching his stride to her slower, shorter one.

"Ryoma-kun is going to be the world number one."

"Hn."

"Super models will be throwing themselves at you."

"Not if I'm married."

Sakuno rolled her eyes and turned her head to the side to give him a look of disbelief.

Ryoma gave her a look saying he thought she was being dense and said, "I don't like those kind of girls."

"Everybody likes those kind of girls."

"I don't."

"Fine. What about the women's players? Aren't they amazing?"

Ryoma shook his head, "Those girls are the most annoying."

Sakuno's eyes widened, "What? Really?"

Ryoma shoved his hands into his pockets and grumbled about how female professional tennis players were conceited know-it-alls that expected you to worship the ground they walked on.

Sakuno mused at the irony of how he practically described a female version of himself. Hmmm...was it really true what they say about opposites attracting? She'd always bet on Ryoma liking a girl that was as amazing at tennis as he was. It was why she'd taken it up herself all those years ago. The fact that she'd been at it for years and while she could play decently, she was no talent like Ryoma-kun had been one more thing on her list of reasons why things wouldn't work out with him.

Had she been wrong?

As they reached her gate, they walked up the pathway to her front door and he said, "Why are you so worried about other girls?"

Sakuno sighed and confessed, "It's just that...I don't...well, I couldn't ever...if something ever happened, I couldn't recover from that, so I..."

Ryoma took a step closer to her, leaving barely a foot between them and said quietly, "Hey. You know I'm nothing like my old man, right?"

Sakuno gave a slight nod.

"So what are you worried about?"

Sakuno shrugged, "I just can't handle it. If we were ever...and then if there was ever someone you really liked..."

He was shaking his head at her, so she stopped, suddenly feeling stupid.

"So you have thought about marrying me?"

"Ryoma-kun! This is serious!"

He moved a little closer and said quietly, "I'm being serious. You've thought about it?"

She struggled for an answer as he moved in closer still.

"Why are you doing this to me?" She whined.

"I already told you," He whispered as he closed the small distance between them.

As he got within an inch of her mouth, Sakuno finally realized what was happening, "Ryoma-k-!" Her exclamation was cut off as she stepped back, and hit air since her doorstep wasn't that wide. Losing her balance, her arms flew up high and she shrieked in fright as she dropped off the doorstep. As her back foot hit the ground from the huge drop, her other foot caught on its heel up on the doorstep. Her leg kicked forward, flying up above her. With a woozy flip into the air, she landed on her back on the ground. The back of her head smacked the concrete ground with a sickening thump.

"Sakuno!" Ryoma exclaimed as he jumped down next to her.

He felt like his heart had just been ripped out of his chest.

"Unnnn," She moaned as she grasped her head with her hand. Ryoma felt relief at hearing her complain.

She was alive. She was conscious.

He knelt next to her, pushed her hand away and rubbed his fingers along her scalp checking for injury.

"Why did you do that?" He scolded.

Sakuno moaned again and tried to roll away from him.

Considering how much he complained about others being noisy, he sure was a loud mouth.

He huffed with frustration as she turned her back to him.

"I'm going to carry you inside," He announced as he stood up, leaned over and scooped her up into his arms.

Sakuno moaned again at the brisk movements. As he adjusted her weight in his arms, she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and laid her head against his chest, wanting to be comforted, even if he was going to scold her some more. Her head was pounding furiously at her and she felt like she was going to faint from the shock of falling off of her doorstep.

Ryoma-kun had totally just tried to kiss her.

She still couldn't believe it. Despite the pain, the circumstance that had led to her injury kept repeating over and over again in her mind. She could see his face clearly as it moved in closer and closer...

She could hear his heart beating furiously against her ear and marveled at it. She wondered if it was because he was going to kiss her or if it was because she'd hurt herself and then she scolded herself for thinking about such silly things when she probably had a serious head injury.

Ryoma pounded on the front door with his foot as his hands unconsciously curled around her body, pulling her closer to his chest.

Sumire opened the door a minute later and gasped at the two teens standing on her doorstep. Echizen Ryoma was carrying her granddaughter like a bride, and Sakuno had her arms wrapped around his neck.

What happened?

"Hi Granny. Sakuno fell down and hit her head."

Sakuno moaned in protest as he spoke.

Everything was so ear-splitting loud.

Sumire's eyebrow rose in curiosity at Ryoma's address as he pushed past her into the house. He'd only ever called her Coach before, or Old Lady on the occasions he'd been especially snarky. She watched as he kicked his shoes off in her entryway and made his way up the stairs towards Sakuno's room.

"I'm going to stay here tonight so I can check her head every two hours. You have to do that with head injuries," He called back over his shoulder.

Sumire finally registered what Ryoma had said besides calling her Grandma and rushed into the kitchen to get an ice pack. A couple of minutes later, she joined the teens in Sakuno's room.

Ryoma had laid Sakuno down on her bed, and was busying himself with removing her shoes and her coat as her granddaughter groaned with protests.

Sumire knelt down next to the bed and placed the ice pack against Sakuno's head. Grabbing one of her hands, she placed it on top of the ice pack so she could hold it in place.

Sakuno made a slight sound of approval at the ice and then groaned again as Ryoma moved her again to pull her covers down from underneath her.

"What happened?" Sumire asked the young man.

Ryoma shook his head with disapproval as he tucked her in, "She stepped right off the doorstep and fell backwards."

Sumire's eyes widened in surprise. Sakuno had always been rather clumsy, but to fall off their doorstep was a new low.

"Why?"

She watched in amazement as a slight pink flushed across the cheeks of the young man that was still fussing over her granddaughter's sheets.

Hmmmmm. Interesting.

Deciding that a level of tact was needed, Sumire didn't wait for the tennis prince to come up with some answer and instead addressed her charge quietly, "How are you feeling, Sakuno?"

Sakuno's eyes opened slightly as she cracked her version of a brave smile, "I've been better."

"Ryoma says you hit your head outside."

Sakuno gave a slight nod, and then winced at the pain that shot through her from moving her head.

"Do you need anything besides the ice? Do you want to go to the doctor?"

Sakuno opened her mouth, but Ryoma jumped into the conversation instead, "Don't worry Granny, I promised I'll take care of her. You can relax."

"Don't call her Grandma," Sakuno protested through another moan of pain. She rolled on her side, putting her back to the both of them. Grabbing the ice, she moved it around with her hand and then let out a huff of frustration.

Sumire gave Ryoma a grin as she leaned to the side and patted his cheek affectionately, "Don't listen to her. You can call me Grandma if you want to."

Traitor.

Sakuno groaned again in obvious frustration. Sumire laughed and Ryoma smirked.

"After all, we were almost family once," Sumire added.

Sakuno pulled the covers up over her head while Ryoma asked flatly, "Almost?"

Sumire looked from Ryoma to the covers on the bed hiding her granddaughter and back to Ryoma. She bit her tongue to keep from saying anything further on the subject. Obviously, something was going on with the young couple in the room, and she was pretty sure she didn't want to get in the middle of it. Silently, she cheered for Ryoma to be successful. She wondered if she ought to call Fuji's family up to cancel the miai she'd scheduled for the next evening after all, but figured it wouldn't be a good idea to burn another bridge just yet.

Raising up from the floor, she said, "I'll be down the hallway if you should need anything for Sakuno."

"Un," Ryoma grunted in acknowledgement as Sumire left the room.

As the door closed behind her, Ryoma dropped into the chair at Sakuno's desk and got his cell phone out of his pocket. He hit the button to call his house and quickly relayed to the answering machine that Sakuno had hit her head and he'd be staying there to watch over her that night. Depositing his phone on her desk, he stood up and made his way over to the lump of covers that made up Sakuno. She'd stopped moaning after her grandmother had left the room, and instead she laid there on the bed, unmoving.

Ryoma gently sat down on the bed next to her and put a hand against the top of her back, "How does your head feel?"

"It hurrrts," Whined the lump of covers. He heard the ice pack shift around, so he pulled the covers down a bit and put his hand over hers, holding the ice in place for her.

"I'll take care of you."

Sakuno didn't comment, and Ryoma didn't see it since she still had her back to him, but at his tender words, a tear made its way out of the corner of her eye and slid down the side of her face, hitting her mattress.

Ryoma-kun...


Hmmkay...finally I'm here updating my fanfics. Sorry to all of you that have been waiting patiently.

I hope you enjoyed chapter 7! Things are starting to heat up for our dear couple hmmm... :D

I miss you all, I hope you all are well. I love hearing from you. xoxo ~ Bunny


Thank you to everybody that left a review for chapter 6: GalanthaDreams, Unokahel, Music4Life1791, Kathya, sugoiauriga, nekonomiko, shajira, Lancedark, Miyu Takada, lessthan3, shirochokoreete, ILuvAGdFanfic, Caterin Echizen, ILoveSxS, SinfulEmerald, Arisu-kun, ryosakuaddictioneternal, SaKuRiMo0n, Kurosaki Razhel, J Luc Pitard, and Saphire122.

GalanthaDreams - Thank you so much such high praise. I really enjoyed your review it was very insightful and heartfelt. ;)

Unokahel - There's a lot more! This fic is 23 chapters long. XD

Music4Life1791 - hehehe yeah...it's good to hear you felt bad for Sakuno. Others said they feel bad for her and some others said they feel bad for Ryoma. I like this division. It's a good thing. hehehe

Kathya - heheh well I used to update every 1-2 weeks, so these have been long gaps from me. So happy to hear you're enjoying the fic anyway.

sugoiauriga - Wow what a wonderful review. I feel so honored. I hope you find more good fics to read. :D Take Care.

nekonomiko - Yay so happy to hear you enjoyed it so much. :D

shajira - It's great how you're seeing things from both sides. I really wanted to do that. Sometimes we'll feel for Sakuno, sometimes for Ryoma. It takes 2 to tango after all. :D hehehe so fun.

Lancedark - So happy you're enjoying the story so far. :D

Miyu Takada - hehehe :D That was totally a fangirl moment for me too. heheh

lessthan3 - hehehehe yes Sakuno is a bit stubborn in this fic, but it's for her own good like you said. :D

shirochokoreete - Yay for being able to relate to RyoSaku! That's so great to hear! One of my personal goals as a 'writer' is to make the feelings and experiences realistic enough that we can relate to them.

ILuvAGdFanfic - No...their struggles entertain me a great deal as well. hehehe Yeah sorry about my hiatuses...I've just had other things going on lately. Don't worry I'll never abandon my fics. :)

Caterin Echizen - Thank you for telling me you're enjoying the story so far. :D

ILoveSxS - You're right she will and I like persistence too. :D

SinfulEmerald - I'm so happy you're enjoying this fic so much. Yes, their age makes them more mature, especially Sakuno who's life over the past six years has been more than just tennis, unlike Ryoma. Angsty Sakuno is really something, but don't worry I only write happy endings! :D So happy you highlighted Sakuno's line: "No, he likes me enough for him, just not enough for me." xoxo

Arisu-kun - Wow such praise. Thank you so much.

ryosakuaddictioneternal - hehehe yay so happy you're so excited. :D

SaKuRiMo0n - I'm so happy you're enjoying the story. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. :D

Kurosaki Razhel - So happy that you're enjoying their interactions. :D

J Luc Pitard - hehehe you're so right. :D

Saphire122 - I love hearing you're excited to read more. It will be a while before they figure it all out. XD