:||ReCaP||:
Sakuno turned to the corner of the hallway where her senpai-tachi were singing from inside a room located there. She did not move forward though. She just turned to the corner and sat on the floor. She hugged her knees with her eyes filled with sadness, "Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno heard the song 'Dreaming on the Radio' finally ended. Although it was a soundproof room, the beat could still be heard. "I can't believe I thought about him again…"
Then, her cell phone rang. She stared at the Caller ID and smiled. Perfect timing, she thought. She flipped the phone open and answered, "Akaya-kun?"
:||ChApTeRtEn||:
"Kimi ni todoke Kyou no REQUEST," Ryoma's senpai-tachi sang, more like screamed the last parts of the song. They laughed hysterically after the song ended. Ryoma looked at them with wonder. They picked that song for him to sing… but in the end, the only part he sang was the one Sakuno asked him to. Everyone was having fun and they did not even notice the disappearance of an important person. Ryoma sighed. He stood up, inserted his hands in his pockets, and left the room without being noticed. He figured they wouldn't notice, since everyone was busy persuading Tezuka to sing.
He stood in the hallway, just outside the room they rented for karaoke. He looked both ways before finally deciding where to go to.
"I'm doing fine… ah, well, the senpais are having fun… We rented a karaoke room… Oh! That's not true, mou!"
Ryoma heard Sakuno's voice. Her voice sounded like it came from just around the corner. He walked towards the direction of her voice. He couldn't see her since she was being blocked by the wall. He just figured that she was talking to her grandma or something. With that thought in mind, he decided to make his presence known to her and spend the time sitting next to her…
"Really? That's great Akaya-kun!"
Ryoma stopped. He was approximately three steps away from the corner now. "A-Akaya! K-Kirihara Akaya?" He thought.
"But Seigaku is still going to win!" Sakuno said proudly.
"We'll just see about that Sakuno-chan." Kirihara said arrogantly. "So anyway… why aren't you hanging out with Tezuka and the others then?"
"Oh. W-Well…" Sakuno's eyes were filled with sadness again. And then, she smiled happily, shrugging her thoughts off. "Akaya-kun! I'm really, really glad that you called, especially this time! It was a perfect timing."
By the tone of her voice, it seemed like she wanted to let out something. Kirihara answered, "What's bothering you this time?"
Sakuno's eyes softened. "It's still about him."
Kirihara sighed. "So then… what happened?"
"I suddenly remembered him again…"
"Why?"
There was a small pause before she answered. "I was praising Ryo-chan… I was hoping I could make him sing by praising his bloodline… And it made me think suddenly of Ryoma-kun… since he's always good at everything."
Kirihara made a noise of understanding.
"And then… it made me remember the fact that he likes a girl…" She was close to tears now. "I'm sorry, Akaya-kun…" She was sobbing. "I a-always depend on you with these kinds of things…" Her teardrops began flowing. "Y-You're just the o-only person I could t-talk to when it's a-about him…"
"Maa, maa Saku-chan! That's why I'm here right? To hear all of your complaints! Now let me hear them all!" Kirihara was feeling some kind of pain in his heart. But knowing that Sakuno might worry, he decided to at least sound cheerful for her.
Sakuno nodded although she knew that Kirihara wouldn't see her. "F-First… h-he's so full of himself! H-He only thinks about himself… He doesn't show it if he cares for the people around him or not… H-He's really lazy a-and always unpunctual… He's really arrogant and u-uncaring. He could at least smile… I mean… he always look so happy when he's with the s-senpais… And he could at least a-act nicer when I'm around…"
Kirihara continued to listen. After all, that was the only thing he could do for now.
"B-But," her voice was already faltering, "B-But still… I… I hate the fact that I know all these things about him… It only makes me see h-how much I love him…
And despite e-every bad trait he has… I-I still know t-that deep inside him… he's a really gentle and kind person… h-he's a humble person. And I just… I just…"
Kirihara listened to the sound of her sobbing and crying. He could hear her sniff too, once in a while.
"Akaya-kun… I just… no matter w-what he does… I-I just always end up… f-falling in love with him even more… I love every trait he has… good or bad… I love him f-for who he is…
I love him more than anything in this world!"
"Ah." Kirihara tried to sound unaffected.
"B-But still… h-he'll never know how much I care for him… H-He'll be happy w-with that girl he likes… Sometimes… I just want to a-act selfish for once… I know the same way I feel about him is the same way he feels for that girl… S-Sometimes, I say t-to myself to take him while I still can…
But… it's just… I know he'll be happier with her… Just like how I would be happy if he was with me instead. I-I can't act selfish! Akaya-kun!" Sakuno yelled; her tears were now unstoppable. She bowed her head to her knees, "I love him too much to act like that! I-I just w-want him to be happy… And if the price for his happiness is my own… then I'll willingly give it to him… I'll sacrifice my own happiness for him!"
"Hm." Kirihara lied down on his bed. "'S that so?" His eyes were blank.
"Un…"
"Go ahead… I'm still listening…"
After hearing enough, Ryoma walked away. He fisted his hand tightly. His facial expression could not be seen because he had his cap covering half of his face. He passed by the karaoke room without a single glance. He walked away completely to another direction. Before turning into a corner though, he turned his body around to look at the other corner where Sakuno was. This time, he looked at it with eyes filled with determination.
:||SePaRaToR||:
The day after, Inui did not have any activities planned that morning and afternoon so they had that time all to themselves. But there was a planned activity for the night. The others took advantage of their free time to roam around Shizuoka, while the others simply rested because of the activities that happened the day before. Eiji and Momo were on the tourists' grounds of Shizuoka. They roamed around and saw many foreigners at different places. They were awed with amazement at how crowded the place was.
"So anyway, Momo," Eiji said as he licked his strawberry ice cream. He and Momo stopped to rest for a while in a nearby park. "O'chibi and Sakuno-chan did not come back after they left last night, did they?"
Momo nodded. "Maybe those two had some lovey-dovey moments again." He grinned maniacally.
"I'm getting jealous again…" Eiji admitted.
"Yeah… me too, senpai. Anyway though, it was really a surprise for Inui-senpai to hold the 'test of courage' part on the third day of the outing."
"Yeah, that's why we're free for the day. We won't be able to sleep tonight, nya!" Eiji said as he imagined the events that will happen tonight.
"Knowing Inui-senpai, he should've held the 'test of courage' at the last day…"
"Maybe someone changed his mind?" Eiji guessed.
"Who do you think it is?" Momo asked.
The two looked at each other and sighed in unison. "Tezuka/buchou."
"Tezuka had been really in to it since yesterday. What happened to him, I wonder?" Eiji asked as he stared at the blue skies.
"Saa na…" Momo replied. "Anyway… it had been one week since Echizen turned back into a child, huh?"
"Yeah… and Inui is still not finished with the antidote. I wonder if he'll be able to finish it before this week ends?" Eiji said and began walking away. Momo followed after him and the two continued their roaming.
Inui was inside his room when he heard someone knocked on the door. He dropped his test tubes and beaker gently on the wooden ground and walked towards the door. He slid the door open and saw who the person was. "Tezuka… what is it?"
"Gather everyone at my room. I have some important announcement with tonight's activity. Include Echizen this time." The captain said sternly and left.
Inui sighed. He slid his door closed and flipped his phone open to dial some numbers. He placed the phone near his ear and heard the ringing of the phone. His sight traveled back to his beakers and test tubes filled with the antidote he was making. "Tasteless Terror Antidote: Still 60 percent done. It will turn Echizen back to normal for three hours. Still no further progression." He muttered to himself until someone answered his call, "Ah, Oishi…"
After Inui called all of his teammates, including Ryoma as to what Tezuka asked him to, everyone found themselves going to their captain's room. They sat around Tezuka who was standing still. He observed everyone and began explaining his reason for summoning them after all of them were completed. "As you all know, the planned activity for this night is the 'Test of Courage'. The original plan though, was different from this one."
Eiji and Momo looked at each other knowingly. They knew it.
"The original plan was to go with Inui's special training menu, which was supposed to be held inside the hot springs."
They looked at each other. What kind of training would that be if it was in the hot springs?
"And because of the change of plans, we decided to move this special training on the last day, Thursday."
"We already knew that…" Momo muttered under his breath.
"And so, I want all of you to gather at the entrance of the hotel at 07:00 after dinner! Latecomers will automatically drink Inui's juice. Prepare yourselves. That is all. Dismissed." Tezuka pointed his two fingers at them, as if imitating Sakaki Tarou, the coach of Hyotei.
Everyone began standing up.
"Wait." Ryoma interrupted.
His senpai-tachi looked at him with wonder. "What is it, Echizen?"
"Ryuzaki and Osakada… and even Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo… are they included with tonight's activity?" Ryoma asked. His eyes covered by the brim of his cap.
"Do you want to?" Tezuka asked him, as if challenging him into a fight.
Ryoma nodded.
Momo grinned. "Aha! So you just want to be partnered up with Sakuno-chan, don't you? Ah, young love."
Ryoma ignored him and turned to Inui-senpai. "Senpai," he called.
Inui looked at him. "Nani?"
Ryoma tipped his cap up and smirked at him. "Give me the 60 percent completed antidote."
Everyone's minds paused for approximately five seconds.
Eiji then cried tears of joy. He hugged Ryoma tightly. "I AM SO PROUD O'CHIBI!"
Momo joined him, "Me too man, me too."
Fuji smiled at him. "So you're finally going to confess, huh? That's good."
"Wait! You must reconsider first Echizen! What if you two are still too young to be in a relationship? Oh no! What if Sakuno-chan becomes pregnant! Ryuzaki-sensei will kill you!" Oishi ran around the room worriedly.
Ryoma looked at Oishi with irritation. "Don't think about stuffs like that already, senpai."
Ryoma freed himself from Kikumaru's bear hug and walked towards Tezuka. He bowed before him. "Buchou! Please! Let Ryuzaki be my partner tonight!"
Tezuka eyed him seriously. "You're going to turn yourself back to normal for three hours. The effect of the antidote is only three hours, Echizen. You'll never finish the test within three hours."
"That is unless… Echizen wants to show Sakuno-chan who he really is." Fuji said and smiled at Echizen.
Ryoma kept on bowing. "No. I'd no plan for her to know the truth."
Fuji chuckled. "Afraid she'll find out that she'd been taking a bath with Ryoma-kun for a week?"
Ryoma stiffened but he still kept on bowing in front of Tezuka. "Buchou!"
Tezuka looked at his fellow teammates. Everyone had different expressions but he was sure they were only thinking of one answer. "Fine," he sighed. "But make sure you'll finish the activity within three hours."
"Hai!" Ryoma stood up straight and nodded.
"Finish the activity and confess." Momo teased.
Ryoma glared at him.
:||SePaRaToR||:
The Seigaku regulars, the ichinen trio, Osakada Tomoka and Ryuzaki Sakuno gathered at the entrance of the hotel. Some were traumatized just by seeing the long flight of stairs a few steps away from them. Some simply tried to ignore it and the memories that came flooding back with it. And some had no special interest with the stairs.
After a while, Tezuka arrived with Inui. Inui was holding his thermos that was probably filled with Ryoma's antidote. Inui gestured Ryoma to follow him and the latter obeyed.
"Ara? Where's Ryo-chan going?" Tomo asked.
"I don't know…" Sakuno answered, also curious to where the data man will take the child to.
"This activity will be held at the forests that surround this hill. We already set up the signs of where you guys needed to go. After maybe thirty minutes of walking, you'll encounter a cave. You have to go inside the cave and get something in there. That something will be the proof that you overcome the 'Test of Courage'." Oishi explained. Some of them began to feel nervous. "You guys will be taking the test in pairs. After the first pair start, we'll wait five minutes before the next pair follow. Oh, and remember that we did not set up fake ghosts or spirits along the way. The owner of this hotel told us that there were a lot of lost spirits living in that forest and cave. Lost spirits of the people who died in the war… so be careful okay?"
Kaidoh, the freshmen, Eiji and Taka gulped nervously. "H-Hai…"
"Now! Let me announce the partners." Tezuka said loudly and took out a small piece of paper. "Kaidoh and Momo," the two rivals glared at each other, "Kikumaru and me," Eiji looked at Tezuka with shock (Eiji: nya?), "Inui and Kawamura," Taka scratched his head and turned towards the direction where Inui and Ryoma disappeared to, "Fuji and Horio," Fuji smiled at his kouhai who just scratched his head (Horio: y-yoroshiku…), "Oishi and Kachiro," Oishi and Kachiro smiled at each other, "Osakada and Katsuo," Tomo stared angrily at Katsuo who just weakly smiled at her, "And finally…"
Sakuno heard footsteps coming from behind her. She turned around and her brown orbs widened.
"Ryuzaki and Echizen."
Ryoma (as in the fifteen year old Ryoma) smirked, "Yo, Ryuzaki."
The senpai-tachi smiled. Inui was beside him and wrote down something on his notebook. He walked beside his partner afterwards.
Sakuno was so shocked about the prince's arrival. Her knees suddenly felt weak and she fell on the ground on her bottom. She kept on staring at Ryoma shockingly.
Ryoma kept on smirking. "Clumsy."
"R-Ryoma-kun…"
"Kya~ Ryoma-sama! You're here!" Tomo said excitingly and ran towards her idol.
Ryoma lowered the brim of his cap. "Buchou, could we start already?" Ryoma needed to finish the activity within three hours. Because of that, he was in a hurry. He can't keep on standing there being admired by Osakada again. "We'll go first." Ryoma stretched his hand down to help Sakuno stand up.
Tezuka's glasses beamed. "You know where to go. Do not let your guard down."
"Hai," Ryoma lowered the brim of his cap again. He noticed that Sakuno still wasn't reaching for his hand. "Ryuza—"
Sakuno stood up by herself and walked past him. She began descending the stairs. Shadows were covering her eyes.
"Oi Ryuzaki! Don't lead the way. You'll get both of us lost." Ryoma said monotonously. He followed her and began descending the stairs, too.
When the two were out of earshot, Kikumaru spoke. "What happened to Sakuno-chan? She seemed out of it…"
"Too happy to see Echizen?" Kaidoh guessed.
"Sakuno…" Tomo said. Everyone turned towards her, curious to know what happened to her best friend. "She looks… mad… not just mad… she looks really furious…"
"So Sakuno-chan also gets angry too, huh?" Momo said with his usual accent.
"Of course, baka. She's a human too, unlike you!" Kaidoh said angrily.
"What was tha—"
"Enough!" Tezuka interrupted the junior's usual fight. "You two, next."
Momo folded his arms behind his head and started walking. He was about to take one step down the stairs when he noticed that Kaidoh was not beside him. "Oi Mamushi! You coming or what?"
"Of course!" Kaidoh yelled angrily and glared at Momo. But as he took one step forward, he began trembling.
Momo scoffed. Kaidoh glared harder at Momo.
Kikumaru got impatient. He pushed Kaidoh down the stairs 'accidentally'. "Good luck, nya!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kaidoh yelled as he fell down the long flight of stairs, bouncing all the way down with his face.
"Woah! Look at what you did, Eiji-senpai! Now I have to drag him all throughout the activity if he's still alive." Momo said complainingly but he did not look like he was complaining about what happened to Kaidoh. And so, he began going down stairs, still relaxed as ever.
After five more minutes, Kikumaru jumped happily. "Nya! It's our turn Tezuka! Let's go nya!"
The childish member and the stern captain began descending the stairs.
After another five minutes, Inui and Kawamura began their activity. After that, it was Fuji and Horio. Five minutes after them, Oishi and Kachiro began. And lastly, Osakada and Katsuo.
:||SePaRaToR||:
They heard the sound of an owl from a random tree. There was the gush of the wind, too. The wind was colder during night even though it's summer. Their footsteps created mild cracking sounds as they stepped on the leaves that had fallen on the ground. Some crickets were making noise, too.
"Nya Tezuka, are you sure you guys did not set up fake bakemonos here?" Eiji asked tremblingly. He clutched Tezuka's sleeve unknowingly.
"No."
"This place is scary nya…"
"Not really."
Eiji stared at Tezuka, half irritated half scared. He sighed. That's the conversation you'll get when you're partnered up with a stern person. The two had the exact opposite personalities too. "Oh by the way, I noticed that the pairs for this test are the ones not so close with each other. Is that a coincidence?"
"So you've noticed. It was all planned out. Inui paired up the ones with terrible partnerships." Tezuka answered.
"Why?"
"For bonding."
Eiji raised a brow. "Bonding!"
"The ones together now are the ones who are infrequently talking to each other. Just like the all-time rivals Kaidoh and Momo."
Eiji nodded with understanding. "I get it now, nya! Like me and you who have the exact opposite personalities… The analyst Inui and Taka with two personalities… The sadistic Fuji and blabbermouth Horio… The worrywart Oishi and the determined Kachiro… The loud-mouthed Osakada and the patient Katsuo…" Eiji grinned idiotically afterwards. "And the cocky O'chibi with the timid Sakuno-chan!"
Tezuka nodded.
Momo and Kaidoh were still walking around the forests. Momo was walking ahead of Kaidoh with his casual expression. Kaidoh on the other hand, kept on trembling nervously while walking. Momo turned around and looked at Kaidoh. "What's your problem Mamushi? Scared?" He grinned mockingly at his rival.
Kaidoh glared at him. "NO! WHY THE HELL WOULD I BE SCARED HUH? I THINK YOU'RE THE SCARED ONE HERE!" He pointed his index finger at Momo.
Momo kept on grinning. "Whatever you say," with that, he continued walking.
"O-Oi! Y-You don't believe me, do you! Get back here porcupine head. Fshuu!"
"Hai, hai. Whatever you say Mamushi, whatever you say."
"FSHUU!" Kaidoh hissed angrily.
At the other part of the forest, Fuji and Horio walked side by side. Fuji kept on smiling while his partner was feeling nervous. Horio was not really scared of the forest. He was scared of what Fuji might do to him now that they're alone together.
"Horio." Fuji called.
Horio jumped in shock and stuttered after recovering. "H-Hai? F-Fuji-senpai?"
Fuji chuckled. "Nothing. I was just looking at this dead body here." Fuji gestured Horio to look on the ground where he was standing. It was dark so the freshman had to squint to look at what it is. Horio paled when he saw a human-like figure lying near his senpai's feet.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Horio yelled and fainted.
Fuji stared at Horio. "My oh my. I was just joking." He kicked the 'human-like figure' and it scattered around. It was then revealed that it was just some leaves piled together and coincidentally copied a human figure. "Saa." Fuji grinned sadistically and dragged his kouhai as he continued walking.
Meanwhile, not too far away from them, Ryoma and Sakuno were walking beside each other. Sakuno wanted to walk ahead of him, but he kept on catching up to her and so she just gave up the idea.
Then, Sakuno felt Ryoma grabbed her hand. She looked at him. She tried removing her hand from his grip when he spoke. "It's getting darker here. I don't want to lose you."
Sakuno looked at him. For a second, she thought differently of what he said. But then, Ryoma would never say something like that to her. Not in this lifetime. "If I get lost, someone will find me." Her voice was void with any emotion.
"You're not going to get lost. As long as I'm here, Ryuzaki."
Sakuno kept on walking. Apparently, hand in hand with Ryoma.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in America?" Sakuno asked as her curiosity finally got the better of her.
"I had some time. I need to tell someone something important, too. That's why I came back." Ryoma answered.
"How long?"
"Uh… I'll go back again in America after this activity. Then, I'll go back here in Japan a few days before second semester starts."
"Oh." After that, the two kept quiet again. Sakuno was feeling mad at Ryoma for not even telling her that he'll be back. Not only that, he'll leave immediately after the activity. But the main reason for her angered emotion towards the tennis prince is that he came back just as she was trying hard to forget about him.
She confessed everything to Kirihara. The kind boy just listened to her, not even commenting on anything she said. She felt a new resolve after she'd talked to him. She felt that she may be able to learn to love Kirihara from then on. She felt that she'll be able to move on…
And then, she remembered the time when Kirihara comforted her when she cried her heart out after talking to Ryoma on the phone back then.
Sakuno turned her head to look at the ground again. "And…" Sakuno continues, finally getting the hang of what Kirihara wanted to say, "unlike me, there is nobody else who loves you."
Kirihara nodded. "That's why you should just be my girlfriend so both parties will have a happy ending, don't you think?"
"There is no one else who loves Akaya-kun. I'm the only person he's counting on." Sakuno said unconsciously.
Ryoma stared at her.
"What if I tell you… that there is another person who wanted to be loved by you?" Ryoma asked. Sakuno stared at him.
"W-What?"
:||ToBeCoNtInUeD||:
A/N: Okay! A lot of RyoSaku moments coming up next so stay tuned!
I'm glad you guys liked the previous chapter :) Thank you for your kind reviews.
Disclaimer still applies. It applies forever.
Please give me you comments about this chapter. Do you think I did well? Please include you comments in your reviews :]
:||NeXtTiMe||:
Ryoma looked at her. That girl was really dense, he thought. "I tried confessing to her through the phone. But she misunderstood what I said and she now thought that I like someone else."
Sakuno looked up to him. "What! Then why don't you call her again and tell her about the misunderstandings!" She was a bit surprise about what he told her. As far as she knew, confessions were usually easily understood. What did Ryoma tell to that girl to make her misunderstand? The boy was so romantically-challenged, she thought.
Ryoma smirked. "You're right. I should." Ryoma fished out his phone from his pocket and dialed a number.
Sakuno watched him.
After a few more seconds, her cell phone rang.