"Why are you single?" It suddenly dawned upon her. So, looking at Suna with a puzzled expression, she stopped neatly writing down her notes and started to muse the possible answers to her question.
"If I'd been given a nickel every time I was asked that," Suna muttered in disinterest as he, contrary to the girl seated in front of him, continued studying. "I'd be a millionaire."
Sakuno only broke into a smile.
"That's an American idiom."
"I think it's bothersome." Suna just said.
"But, you've liked someone, right?"
The handsome young man had to stop himself from suddenly looking up at the brunette.
"Not really." He said, his reading pace returning from the momentary halt.
"Do you want me to set you up?" Sakuno asked, suddenly excited at the notion of double dates. She rested her chin on her hand, leaning closer as she watched him study.
"If I had a nickel-"
"Hai, hai." Sakuno laughed, amused by his nonchalance. "You'd be a millionaire."
Suna looked up at her through his bangs, still slouched over his notes, and couldn't help but smirk.
"Doesn't love interest you? Don't you want to fall in love?" Sakuno continued.
"No." Came Suna's outright and unfiltered reply.
"You're joking?" The brunette couldn't help but laugh at his words, finding them downright preposterous. "Everyone does, even those who say they don't. People just can't help it. It's just something that happens."
Sensing she wouldn't stop her pestering until he gave her a mouthful, Suna finally stopped his reading and looked squarely at a rather taken-aback Sakuno.
"Sure, some people fall in love. Some seek it. But not everyone does and wants it. There are more common sensical things in life." He said. Then, thinking, added. "My sister has been pining for a man for twelve years now and I've seen what it's done to her. Because of him, she goes from happy to moody to happy again. It's illogical to let someone declare what you feel." Suna said with a tinge of disgust and remorse. Even just the slightest thought of him ever feeling that way was too unwelcomed to dare think of.
"It is real." Sakuno lobbied. Suna simply sipped on his coffee, still unmoved. That didn't unnerve Sakuno though. Instead, her lips found themselves curving involuntarily into a nostalgic smile. "I'm going to make a wild assumption." She started, her voice dripping with intrigue.
"Shoot." Suna challenged.
"You will."
The young man before her simply raised a naturally well-cropped brow.
"One day, you'll fall in love and just know." Sakuno grinned.
"Know what?"
Then, she laughed.
"That I, Sakuno Ryuzaki, was right." She proudly declared. "Everyone falls in love." And continued. "My friend, all the years I've known him, thought nothing of love. Most of his life, love only meant zero to him." She looked away, suddenly reminiscent, before turning back at him. "Now, he has a girlfriend."
"That's not true." Suna told her frankly. "Besides, how are you sure he wasn't just saying those things?"
Sakuno played with a stray pen.
"Because, he's my boyfriend." And she smiled, her heart filling at the thought of Ryoma and his snarky boyish grin and his lips next to hers. "And he never told me. I saw it with my own eyes."
Suna looked away, not knowing what to say and suddenly not wanting to speak. With his brows knotting, he questioned the sudden dryness of his throat and the bitterness creeping into his chest.
"He never noticed any girl all throughout high school. When I confessed, I was confessing to get rejected." Sakuno laughed at the memory. "That's why when he accepted, I didn't know how to react so," She laughed even more. "So, I cried."
Resting his chin on the palm of his hand, Suna's eyes turned back to the young woman with the pretty smile and the doe eyes. And, covered by his hand, his lips involuntarily curved into a small smile. Love was not for everyone as she thought, not for him at least. She was though. And he was happy for her, he decided. So, he had to find a way to quell the heat that grew in his pit whenever she showed it.
