(C 10)Who Are You?

'Blah,blah,blah' thinking.

"Blah,blah,blah" talking.

Blah,blah,blah Long flashback.

------------ changing plot.

The next day, or week, or whatever.

-blah,blah,blah flashback voice.

----------- a dream.

Chapter ten: A Strange Feeling.

Part II: Kathy?

Ryoma scratchd the back of his head as he read the message that he just got from Steve.

"Another meeting, huh?"

He took a quick change before heading to the hotel mentioned by his manager earlier.

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Ryoma took a seat next to Steve. Suddenly a blonde came sitting next to him, hooking an arm around his own.

"Hey, Ryoma."

"Let go."

Kathy playfully stuck out a tongue at him. He took a glance at her daddy, Mr. Ben Hunter. He lightly coughed. Kathy shrugged and let go off Ryoma.

"Okay,okay."

Steve cleared his throat before starting.

"Ryoma, do you know why you're here?"

Ryoma shrugged.

"A match?"

Steve turned to a grinning Kathy and a smirking Ben. He sighed.

"Yes, and one more thing."

Ryoma raised a brow. Steve continued.

"Mr. Hunter is going on an important meeting for a week, so you have to bring Miss Kathy around here."

Ryoma blinked.

"Huh? You mean..."

He turned to Kathy. She leaned against his shoulder.

"I'm staying here. And you'll be taking care of me."

Ryoma gulped. 'Are you kidding?'

Kathy smiled. She put a finger on her cheek.

"And I'll be watching your matches. It's okay, I'm not staying at your house."

Ryoma fought the urge to grunt. He turned to his manager with his oh-how-could-you-do-this-to-me glare. He silently sighed. 'This' going to be a long week. Not to forget loud. Damnit!'

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Sakuno ran her delicate fingers through her shoulder-lengthed auburn hair. A warm smile appeared on her cherry lips. She finished buttoning her darkblue long-sleeved shirt.

"This looks okay."

She locked the door behind her as she stepped out of the Ryuzaki Household. She lightly walked down the streets of Tokyo, with her swaying hair, making everyone turned heads towards her, staring her with lust. She just smiled shyly at the people on the streets.

"Why is everyone staring me?"

She sighed under her breath. Suddenly a certain teahouse caught her attention.

"Better stop here first."

She was about to sit on a perfect place near the window when suddenly she saw Ryoma with a loud and an annoying girl who keeps on yapping non-stop. 'Who's that? Miss Kathy?'

She chuckled gently as she noticed that Ryoma wasn't listening at all instead he rested his chin on his palm, staring outside the window with his cold amber eyes. Sakuno decided to greet the two.

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Sakuno sat on the leather couch in Kihito's office.

"Ah, Sakuno."

He smiled and patted her head.

"Here, take this."

He gave her a photo of a blonde, sticking out a tongue playfully. She chuckled.

"You've got a candidate? She's young though."

Sakuno chuckled again as her short auburn haired uncle blushed.

"No, she's indeed too young for me."

Sakuno frowned.

"Are? Then, who's this?"

Ryuzaki Kihito sat next to his youngest niece.

"Her name is Kathy Hunter. The daughter of Mr. Ben Hunter."

Sakuno just nodded, admiring the girl in the picture.

"Um... Mr. Hunter is one of Ryoma-san's sponsor, right?"

"Yes. And I'm gonna be one of Ryo-chan's sponsor too."

Sakuno blinked.

"Ryo-chan? You actually knew him?"

Kihito chuckled a bit, and then he rested his back on the soft couch of his.

"Of course."

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Ryoma stared outside the window. It's not that there's something interesting out there but the girl in front of him just can't shut her damned mouth. 'Could there just be somebody who's nice enough to keep her mouth shut?'

Suddenly a sweet voice woke him up to his senses. He turned to the sweet voice that he so recognized.

"Ryuzaki?"

Sakuno and Ryoma's eyes locked together for a moment but suddenly a piercing voice snapped them to reality.

"What are you doing here?"

Kathy asked rudely. Sakuno smiled at her.

"Oh, sorry to interrupt."

Kathy raised an eyebrow as she saw the oh-so familiar face. 'Sakuno Ryuzaki?'

"Are you Kihito Ryuzaki's daughter?"

Sakuno politely shook her head.

"I'm not his daughter."

She turned to Ryoma who was like: Huh? Ryuzaki Kihito?

"He's my uncle."

Kathy smirked as she saw Ryoma stared at Sakuno. 'So... Sakuno, huh?'

"So, Sakuno? Come, sit here."

Sakuno shook her head.

"It's okay, I-"

"Come on, just sit!"

She just sat next to the blonde as Kathy pulled her. 'This' going to be a very, very long day.'

She inwardly sighed and just smiled sheepishly as Kathy started to open her mouth.

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Sighing, she pulled her baby pink comforter above her head.

"Why was Ryoma-san with her?"

She frowned as she remembered the insults that Kathy unknowingly threw at her that morning.

-I hate chefs. Especially women!

-They work slow, think slow and even talk slow!

-I can't figure out why did they have to bow before leaving?

-It's ridiculous! What if their pants rip off?

-Urgh.. and they stink!

Sakuno gently wiped a tear that slowly rolled down her cheek. Her lips curved up into a forced smile.

"He doesn't like me. Ryoma-san..."

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Ryoma's brow twitched as his cell phone started ringing again. He forcefully pressed the green button.

"Hai.."

"Ryoma!"

He winced as her voice hit his eardrum a little bit too violent and made the ossicles to amplify the sound ten times more no, make that twenty times more, and made his inner ear shake like crazy. Okay, if I continue again, it's gonna waste my time.

"What do you want now?"

"I'm scared! Come here for a while!"

She tried to make a squeal but failed badly and you could just imagine how violent his eardrum vibrated. His eye twitched.

"I wanna sleep."

With that cold reply he gave her, he snapped the cell phone closed. Then another person called again. He gritted his teeth.

"If you want me to go there, get lost!"

The caller kept silent for a while. Then a familiar voice answered and made him wanted to bang his head on the wall for being so damned stupid.

"E-Eto... I- I'm sorry if I'm bothering you."

He sighed.

"Iie, go on."

"Um... I just wanted to check wether you're asleep or not. You can turn your phone off, it's okay for me."

"No, it's... alright." 'Alright? Wait a minute, I'm not going to get some sleep!'

Ryoma was about to tell her that he was sleepy but she answered first.

"Really?"

"Damnit!"

He slowly muttered.

"Eh? Nani?"

"Iie, betsuni."

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Ryoma rolled to his left, and then to his right.

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"What's wrong?"

"Iie, I'm just calling to tell you something."

"Oh."

"Actually, my uncle's going to be your sponsor."

"Really? That's all?"

"Iie, there's something else."

"Go on."

Sakuno kept silent for a while. Ryoma could hear her breathing from the other end of the phone.

"I..."

"Huh?"

"I...I-I like..."

"Huh? Like what?"

Sakuno gulped, slowly enough that Ryoma couldn't hear.

"I..."

"Hm?"

"I... I-Iie, betsuni."

"Ryuzaki, you're crying?"

"Oh, it's late already! I-I got to go now, J-Ja!"

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He frowned as he recalled what she was trying to tell him. 'Like what? Karupin? Tennis? Or...'

He shook his head. A slight smirk plastered on his face.

"Hm. Baka bakashi."

Professional Tennis Player, Echizen Ryoma Going Out With One Of His Sponsors.

Momo blinked as he read the article in the newspaper that he was holding.

"Echizen? He's dating with a sponsor?"

He shook his head. No, no. No way Echizen's going out with a... girl. That's unnatural! Totally!

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"Eh?"

Fuji Syusuke revealed his azure blue eyes as he read the morning papers that were sent to his home that morning. His dear Kyoko sat next to him.

"Syusuke? Anything wro-eh? Echizen-kun?"

She turned to Fuji with her worried face. She sweatdropped as she saw Fuji smirking in a rather evil way.

"Omoshiroi..."

----------------

"Hm?"

Twenty one-year old Tezuka Kunimitsu raised a brow as he read the article that morning.

"Aki."

He called his wife, his voice as stoic as ever, but slight worries were written in his face.

-----------------

"NANI!"

Oishi Shuichiroh choked on his coffee as he read a rather interesting article that Inui just gave him that morning. He frowned on what was so interesting as he saw Inui grinning evilly till the corners of his mouth touched his ears.

"NO, this can't be happening! What would happen to Ryuzaki-kun? What if the whole world knew this? What if Echizen was beaten by Ryuzaki-sensei? What if..."

A loud gasp escaped from his mouth as he just realized something.

"What if Ryuzaki-kun gets jealous?"

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Ryoma grunted as he saw the news that was plasted everywhere on the walls of Tokyo street. He lowered his cap. 'Those idiots..'

Meaning, 'I'm gonna hunt down whoever did this and crush their bones slowly.'

He lowered his cap and shrug his shoulders a bit to make sure he was comfortable on the way he was lifting his tennis bag.

He lightly jogged along the park as he arrived at the Tennis courts. Suddenly he had a bad feeling as he stepped into the quiet courts. 'Itte!'

He winced as he felt something sharp pierced through the back of his neck. He rubbed the sore part and looked behind him. Nothing was there. He shrugged it off and slowly put his Tennis gear on the bench.

"Ryoma!"

He widened his eyes at the sudden hug behind him.

"Let go off me!"

He hissed at the blonde who was grinning. Apparently, she already read the papers.

"Ah, so sweet of you to push me away like that."

"Shut up."

He answered curtly and took one of his Tennis racket out of his bag. He started to balance the ball on the middle part of the net. Then he began his practice, hitting the ball against the training wall.

Kathy just stared at the tennis player in front of her, hitting the ball gracefully. She really admired him since the first time she met him. It was when she was still high school, her daddy brought her to his office. Then a tall man in his thirties and a pretty good-looking boy wearing a cap came in. She then made her decision to always like him, such a stupid reason. But then she realized that she really liked him, more like she... loved him. For her, it was love at first glance. Suddenly a painfull squeel woke her up into her senses again.

Ryoma lifted the rim of his cap as he noticed that his ball flew out of the courts to another court. Suddenly, a very angry-faced woman, with short hair, grabbing somebody's hand went into the courts with Ryoma staring confusingly.

"How dare you hit this damned ball at my koi!"

Ryoma just shrugged, pretending not to know.

"Sorry."

The woman stomped towards him, dragging a very familiar person behind her.

"Ann-chan, it's okay. Let's continue practicing, Tachibana-san would be mad at me if you don't get to improve your tennis."

Ryoma's head shot up as he heard the person said. He turned to the Ann girl. She widened her eyes as she noticed who was the person she was yelling at. She grinned along with Kamio who was already tall.

"Kamio-san?"

"Echizen!"

Kathy just frowned at the pair who just destroyed her pleasure staring at Ryoma. She was apparently ignored.

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"Sit first."

Momo assured Ryoma to sit as he sat next to his kohai.

"Haruka! Echizen's here!"

Haruka popped her head from the kitchen door.

"Hai, hai."

Momo turned to Ryoma.

"So, how was your babysitting? It's really great... to be with some hottie..."

He narrowed his eyes, with a naughty smirk plastered on his face. His kohai just grunted.

"Shut up. She was annoying."

Momo shrugged nonchalantly. Ryoma remembered about him seeing Ann with Kamio just know.

"Ne, I saw Tachibana's sister just now. And she was with Kamio-san."

Momo raised a brow.

"Really?"

Ryoma shrugged. His senpai smiled.

"So, she's already made a move with that rhythm yarou."

Silence conquered the space for a while. Then suddenly Momo turned to Ryoma, a confused look on his face.

"Echizen?"

Ryoma fiddled with with a hair ribbon that he just found on his bed. Odd, how it got into his room. It wasn't Rinko's.

"What?"

Momo showed him the papers.

"What's this?"

His kohai just rolled his eyes.

"Just ignore that. That's a lie."

Momo just made the oh-I-know face.

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Sakuno struggled left and right, beads of sweat were forming on her pale forehead, her eyes were shut holding back the threat.

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There was blood everywhere in the car. She struggled out from the drivers seat, but to no avail.

"Sakuno, save yourself!"

She turned her head to the passenger's seat next to her. Ryuzaki Sakuno widened her eyes as she saw her obaa was already stuck in her seat, face covered in blood, her arms were already weak.

"Obaa-chan! It's okay, I'll save you!"

She broke free and took off the seatbelt. She briskly tried to plug off the seatbelt around Sumire's waist.

"Sakuno, I'm okay. Just leave me alone..."

Tears were streaming down her face as she tried to pull Sumire's body out of the flipped over car.

"No... No..."

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"NO!"

She sat up in her bed, sweat were wetting the strands of hair on her nape. She looked around to see if the dream was true. She sighed relieved as she noticed that she was in her bedroom.

"That was... scary."

She inhaled... and then exhaled. 'There, done. It was just a dream..'

Her hazel eyes stared out of the window. She wondered when would Sumire come back from Australia. What would she tell Sakuno about her parents?

"Obaa-chan... be back soon... please.."

Humming, she drove off towards her uncle's office. She turned right after seeing a signboard telling the way towards the parking lot. With light steps, she entered the five-star hotel towards the big kitchen that she was supposed to work.

"Ohayo, Ryuzaki-sama."

The delivery boys greeted. She answered back sweetly. When she was off, they had love patches on their eyes.

"Ohayo, Ryuzaki-san."

The hotel operator greeted. She answered back like usual. When she opened the kitchen door ready with her chef hat and her white apron on, the workers greeted her.

Starting her own job, she chopped the white onions as she got an order. She was in a good mood that day, really.

But in a corner, Kihito just stared at his niece simpatheticly. Sakuno was still too young to know what was waiting ahead.

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Entering the luxurious office, Sakuno sat down on her favorite couch, eagerly waiting for Kihito to tell her something. Something very important.

"So, what is it that you're going to tell me?"

Kihito sat next to her, patting her head like a three-year old toddler. She laughed sheepishly.

"Sakuno, this is important."

She blinked as she noticed the sad face on his face. He sighed and then he wiped off something on the corner of his eyes. If Sakuno was to see it she would've known that he was actually crying.

"Jii-san?"

Kihito turned to his niece. She was still naive. So innocent.

"Your obaa-san..."

Sakuno's two hazel orbs shone.

"She's back?"

"No. She's… dead."

Sakuno froze.

"What do you mean?"

Kihito clutched some locks of his hair.

"She... died... in a plane crash.. Just this morning..."

Sakuno laughed nervously.

"Jii-san, you're… don't tell me that this is one of your jokes, right?"

Kihito shook his head.

"No. Okaa-san… she's… she's dead."

Sakuno's favorite hair ribbon that Sumire gave her just before going to Australia slid off her silky hair. Without her knowing, tears were starting to roll down her pale face.

"No..."

Kihito hugged her tightly, holding back his tears. No way he's going to cry in front of Sakuno. Just for now, he wanted her niece, that was like a daughter to him, to cry. Sakuno clutched tightly onto his shirt.

"NO!"

She cried her heart out. Let everyone hear, she didn't care. She was petrified, scared, and lonely...

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Ryoma winced as he felt the same peircing on his nape. He looked around the private gym, nobody was there. He shrugged it off. 'I wonder if that obaa-sama's already back from Australia...'

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Sakuno stared at Sumire's picture on the windowsill. The picture of an old woman smiling, wearing a pair of sunglasses. Tears were starting to form in her eyes.

"Is she gonna be okay, Hikaru-chan?"

Eiji stared at Sakuno from the living room they were in. The regulars were the only ones who stayed after the long funeral ceremony in the Ryuzaki's Resident. Hikaru just shrugged. They were worried about Sakuno. Aki wiped her tears off as she remembered the day when she, Sakuno and Sumire used to play at the beach together.

-Sa-chan, baa-chan, hurry!

-Wait a minute! Baa-chan's changing her clothes!

55 year old Ryuzaki Sumire stepped out from the public toilet, wearing her red bikini, grinning.

Sakuno and Aki widened their eyes.

-OBAA-CHAN!

Tezuka gently tuck her hand into his pocket. She stared at him with her water filled emerald eyes.

"Kuni.. I'll talk to her."

Aki was about to walk towards her cousin when suddenly a very familiar raven-haired man came in the living room.

"Echizen-kun.."

She was relieved to see Ryoma but there was another person behind him, a... girl? The tennis teen-star turned his gaze towards Sakuno. There was a tinge of pity in his eyes that nobody could see. Slowly, he walked towards Sakuno. But suddenly he stopped his tracks as Kathy rushed towards Sakuno, putting a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm Sakuno down. Everyone stared at the blonde suspiciously.

"Sakuno... it's going to be alright."

Sakuno stared at the blonde, sadness filling her eyes.

"B-But... she's dead... she... she.."

Sakuno started to cry but remarkably she was pulled into a tight embrace by Kathy.

"Hush... hush... it's okay to cry now."

"K-Kathy..."

Sakuno choked at the last words and then started do cry again.

Somewhere deep inside of Kathy's heart, she was jealous of Sakuno, being able to take pitty from Ryoma.

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Ryoma fiddled with the pink ribbon in his hands. He exhaled heavily as he turned to his right. karupin leaped next to him, staring him with her blue eyes.

(FLASHBACK)

"Okaa-san, is this ribbon really not your's?"

Rinko patted Ryoma's head.

"Nope, dear. Ask Sao-chan."

"I had. Nanako-san too."

Rinko rubbed her chin in confusion.

"Hmm... just remember carefully, did you go to your senpai's house?"

(END FLASHBACK)

He sighed as he made a conclusion that the ribbon was Sakuno's. He didn't know why he needed to give the ribbon back, but oh whatever. Quickly, he wore his helmet and started the motor engine.

He stopped with a loud screech of the tyres as he noticed a group of people trying to turn off a big fire. The fire was Sakuno's house. 'No, not her too! Damnit!'

Without thinking twice, he pushed away the crowd and rushed into the half burnt house. The firefighters told him to wait but his legs kept on bringing him towards his instincs. He briskly rushed to Sakuno's bedroom that was already had fire burning the door. He heard her coughing.

"Ryuzaki! You in there!"

He could hear her gasp and coughed hardly. He knocked down the door only to find Sakuno sitting in a corner, a picture frame in her hands. Ryoma quickly wrapped her up with his jersey.

Meanwhile outside...

"Echizen is in there! LET ME IN, DAMNIT!"

Momo struggled as the firefighters tried to hold him back. Eiji was holding his kohai from the back.

"Momo! Calm down!"

"THAT ECHIZEN! HE'S GONNA DIE GODDAMNIT! HE-"

Momo quickly shut his mouth as he saw Ryoma coughing, with a limp Sakuno in his hands coming out. The people cheered. His senpai-tachi ran towards him as he put Sakuno down on the hard streets.

"Ryuzaki, wake up. Oi."

They just stared at Ryoma who was shaking Sakuno to wake up. Suddenly, Fuji's lips curved up into a freaking smile.

"Ne, Echizen. She can't breathe. What if you do CPR?"

Ryoma froze. Yes, she can't breath. She's not moving... She needs CPR? The others kept on giggling along when Tezuka was just folding his arms and Kaidoh was hissing. 'CPR? Mouth to... mouth? Damnit!'

"Come on, Ochibi. Do it. She's not breathing..."

'Double damnit!'

Nyah At last! I've already finished this chap! Dou? OOC? I know, this chappie is too tragic. I didn't want to make Ryuzaki-sensei die, but she's already old anyway. Saa, what would happen in the next chap? - Find that out yourselves!