Hi. Sorry about this late update. But I was irritated at how sucky this chapter is, because no matter how much I edit it, it always seem so sucky.
This might be the worse chapter I ever wrote, so bear with it. :P
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"You are in deep trouble, girl."
Sakuno jerked her head as the door slammed open. those girls were back. "Wh...at?"
"I know you did something. You must have. Ryoma Echizen is now in the school searching for you." The girl bent down. "I have no idea why I'm not taking his photo and stalking him." She turned to the other girls. "Take her phone and throw it down the toilet." Sakuno watched helplessly as her phone, the only communications to the outside world and her only lifesaver, was grabbed away.
"Well, did you have fun being in here? 'Cause we are bringing you into a new location. How about..." She pretended to be thinking hard. "The storage room?" She smirked as she grabbed Sakuno.
Sakuno struggled as hard as she could. She was not leaving! Kevin and Ryoma were looking for her, so if she left they could not find her at all. Oh, please, come here now, Ryoma, Kevin! Help! My hair hurts!
Sakuno had no idea where the courage came up from her, but she managed to kick the girl away, and slapping another girl that was also holding on to her.
"How dare you hit me?" The girl shouted, coming in towards her.
Sakuno braced herself, shutting her eyes closed, waiting for the consequences. Suddenly the door was pushed opened.
Sakuno's heart leapt as she saw Kevin's head in the creak of door. He's here!
But he did not come in. She watched in horror as Kevin started to walk away. I'm here, Kevin, don't go away! Kevin! She shouted inwardly.
"This door is not locked either." She heard Kevin's disappointed voice, followed by Ryoma's irritated voice. "How many toilets do this school have?" They were walking away, away from where she was. Sakuno stared in shock, as she watched the other girls changed their expression from dread to relief.
"No... Kevin! Ryoma!" Sakuno shouted after them.
"Shut her up, before they comes back!" The girl ordered, as they muffled her mouth.
Sakuno struggled away. "Ryoma! Ryoma!"
"Give up, they will never come back for you." The girl sneered.
No, it can't could they missed her just like that? Did she commit a sin so sinful that she had to be punished, over and over again, and now she could not even be rescued? Ryoma, please turn back after hearing my voice. Kevin too...
"Ryoma!" Sakuno shouted at the top of her lungs. She had never shouted so hard before, every time it was Tomoka that was helping her to shout. The girl stuffed a piece of cloth in her mouth, and somehow she was not able to make out an audible sound after that. Her mind went blank as the group crowded around her.
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"Sakuno!" Ryoma slammed open the door. He looked around. All he saw was a group of girls standing at one corner. What were they doing? Whatever, he had no interest in them. He was sure he heard Sakuno's voice as they were running down the corridor, shouting his name, calling out for him. So where was Sakuno?
"Hey there, do you know where is Sakuno Ryuzaki?" He asked the group of girls. They seemed to be fans of him, suddenly smiling coyly, tidying up their hair, getting all excited.
"I don't know who are you talking about." The prettiest girl stood out and said, flatting her eyelashes.
"But I was dead sure I heard her voice." Ryoma said.
The girl turned around. "Girls, any of you has a second name that is Sakuno?" The other girls giggled stupidly.
Kevin ran up to him. "Hey Ryoma why did you run away like that? Get out of here, Sakuno's not in here."
Ryoma doubted it. He believed in his ears, and his ears told him that Sakuno was in here.
He walked into the toilet.
"Ryoma!" Kevin tried to stop him, but Ryoma glared at him. How could he not have heard Sakuno's cries as well?
"Spread out, all of you. Let me see your face one by one." Ryoma ordered. The girls did not budge, and still remained in that clustered position. They must be hiding something, or someone.
"I said, spread out." Ryoma repeated impatiently.
"If you force us to do that, we will sue you for sexual harrassment." The girl threatened.
"How is this even sexual harrassment?"
"The fact that you even stepped into the girls' toilet."
Ryoma felt his veins twitched in anger. Right, they were definitely hiding Sakuno within them. He rushed forward, pushing them aside. "Sakuno!"
There she was, mouth clogged up by a piece of rag, hands and legs binded by a bunch of irritating girls.
"Let go of her."
"But, Ryoma, she was the one that got you all injured and hurt. She needs to be punished!" The girl said.
"Shut up! Let her go didn't you hear me?"
The girl stared at him, apalled. They let her go reluctantly. Ryoma took out the rag in Sakuno's mouth, and she hugged him.
Ryoma had came to save her. She had thought he would never come, but he came back in the end. She hid her face in Ryoma's shirt and cried. She had thought that she would really have to stay here all day and all night, and it was really frightening, in here, all alone, and cold too. And Ryoma was really warm.
"It's okay, you're saved now." Ryoma assured her, hugging her rather awkwardly. He was shocked at how much Sakuno cried, and stood paralysed as Sakuno's tears wetted his shirt.
"I'm going to complain to the principal." The girl stomped out of the toilet, and her path was blocked by Kevin.
"Get out of my way." She said.
"Not until I warn you that I have recorded my phone conversation with Sakuno, and I will also complain to the principal about what you have done." Kevin answered, holding up his phone.
The girl glared at him, and walked away.
"Wait." Kevin stopped them.
"What do you want? I'm not complaining to the principal already, okay?" The girl shouted back.
"I do remember in the phone conversation, Sakuno said something about you flushing her notes into the toilet. Well..."
"Give these to the geek, let her be buried in it!" The girl flared up, throwing her own notes at Kevin and stomped away. The other girls followed hurriedly suit.
Kevin smiled as he watched them walk away. "I'll ask Sakuno to photocopy them for you." He turned his head and saw Ryoma wiping Sakuno's tears away.
"Don't cry." Ryoma said, wiping the tears with his hands. But no matter how much he wiped, more would come out of those beautiful brown eyes.
Ryoma had saved her again. Sakuno thought. Why did Ryoma had to save her? She was very sure the one she meant to ask to come was Kevin. Ryoma...He still had not completely healed yet. She could see bandage all over his chest. She was the one that caused him to become like this. Yet, Ryoma still bothered saving her.
Suddenly Ryoma came closer and his lips touched hers. Sakuno stared in shock at Ryoma, unable to move. She felt her blood rushing up to her face at the mere contact of their lips. Ryoma...was kissing her... How many times had she wished this would happen, and how many times had she told herself that after that Ryoma would never ever kiss her, and now, Ryoma was actually kissing her.
Her stiff body started to loosen up as she melted into Ryoma's kiss, clutching his shirt with her hands excitedly.
"Ryoma."
Ryoma pushed himself away from Sakuno. Sakuno stared at him. This kiss was her second, and it felt different from her first. There was a totally different feeling in this kiss. She felt as if, she wanted more, and when they broke away, she wanted Ryoma to bend down and kiss her again. She looked at Ryoma expectantly, but Ryoma was looking at another direction.
Sakuno followed his eyes and found Kevin. Oh right, she almost forgotten that Kevin was here too. She saw the position she and Ryoma was in, and promptly pushed Ryoma away, feeling her face flushing into a deep red.
"Sorry, I...acted without thinking..." Ryoma apologised, to both Sakuno and Kevin. Especially to Kevin, because he knew what it felt like, seeing the girl you loved kissed by your best friend. Kevin must be feeling really hurt and sad. Even though it was his fault for falling in love with Sakuno, who had been all the time Ryoma's. "You can punch me like the way I did last time."
Kevin had been staring at the floor for quite some time, with this pained expression in his face. "No need." He said averting his eyes from everyone.
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"Okay, this is the room that me and Ryoma share." Kevin introduced. "Guess which bed is mine and which is Ryoma's."
Sakuno looked around. It was a spacious room, with two beds sitting next to each other. One bed was very neat and tidy, with a pillow and a blanket nicely folded, placed on the top of the bed. Another one was extremely messy. It appeared that the bed owner did not bother to tidy up the bed one bit. The mattress was very crumpled, the blanket were all over the bed, and even floor. Pillows were lying everywhere in that region near the bed.
A matching drawer was located in front of the bed, which possessed equal characteristics.
"Hmm, the neat one is yours, the messy one is Ryoma-kun's." Sakuno answered.
"Yup. Don't you think it suits our personality really well? This way, we would never mistake each other's beds. At least, I won't mistake Ryoma's for mine." Kevin said, lying on his bed comfortably.
Sakuno sat next to Kevin in his signal. "I thought Ryoma-kun has a house already."
"He has. But it is inconvenient to travel to the training area everyday if he lives there everyday, you know, with all his fangirls and stuff. So, we will room together on weekdays, and on weekends we go back to our real houses." Kevin explained.
"I see. Then I want to see Kevin's house. I saw Ryoma-kun's house before, so, I'm curious to see what your house looks like."
"You'll be greatly disappointed. It's not as big, as wonderful, as anything-you-want-a-house-to-be as Ryoma's magnificent house with fantastic cooks. Even I was quite surprised at Ryoma's house. I couldn't believe that other people don't know where he lives, it is so big and eye-catching."
"Yeah. We took a stroll in his house before, and the house was so big, I think it can be compared to my school."
"It's not that big. But well, eaten there?"
"Yes! The food was really good!"
"The cook was really good, they even would show you how they make all those weird french cuisine."
"Really? I want to watch! I want to learn how to make."
"Okay, next time you go Ryoma's house, don't forget to ask the cook to show you."
"Wait, why are we talking about Ryoma's house, when it was your house I planned to go?"
They stared at each other and laughed.
"Sakuno." Kevin said, all serious again.
"Yes?" Sakuno answered, becoming equally serious.
"You..." Kevin said, staring down uncomfortably. "You still liked Ryoma all along, don't you?"
"What? Why are you talking about that suddenly?" Sakuno said, averting her eyes too.
"Well, it's true...isn't it?"
Sakuno stared at Kevin. He had a really hurt expression, the same one he wore after Ryoma kissed her. Her heart gave a twinge.
She knew it was true. It was true that she still liked Ryoma, even after she witnessed him kissing Jennifer, even after the many times spent with Kevin. Ryoma had been her crush for nine years already, and replacing him in her heart would take a really really long time, which three months was not enough. In fact, she still liked him so much that just one stupid date made her realised all her feelings once again, when she thought that she had gotten over with in those three months with Kevin.
She had always liked, no, loved Ryoma, but she was just heartbroken as Ryoma did not return the love. Now, she knew Ryoma loved her too. He could even throw off all his treasured pride for her, and that, even if Sakuno would not admit it, made her very touched, and she actually loved what Ryoma did for her.
But seeing how much she had hurt Kevin herself, she felt extremely guilty. Back at the school when Ryoma kissed her, she had forgotten Kevin's presence and allowed herself to enjoy the kiss that she had always been waiting for to the fullest. It was selfish, and she felt very conscience-stricken about it.
"You're...you're a good friend too." Sakuno smiled, assuring Kevin.
Kevin laughed dryly. "Good friend, huh. Well, as a good friend, I recommend you to not love Ryoma, because the situation will get very messy and soon Ryoma would have to break your heart again."
"Why...why do you say that?" Sakuno frowned. Was Kevin jealous? His face did show some trace of jealousy, but his voice was dead serious about it.
"You'll see." Kevin shrugged. He smiled at Sakuno. "I love you too, you know that?"
Sakuno nodded sadly. "I know."
"I'd better get back to practice." Kevin said. "You stay here, or Ryoma will blame me for not taking good care of you."
Sakuno watched as Kevin left the room. Kevin looked sad and depressed when he left. Did she say something wrong?
She sighed. Ryoma loved her, and Kevin loved her too. What was she going to do?
XxXxX
"200 laps, Ryoma." Jennifer said, glaring at Ryoma.
"Yes, Jennifer." Ryoma said obediently.
The rest of the team were looking at them, amused. Ryoma had been known for being Jennifer's favourite, and Jennifer always seem to treat Ryoma especially nice. Normally, Jennifer would pout to the coach, requesting the coach to give less laps to Ryoma, after all, he's good enough already, everybody knows that, and he did not need to waste energy on useless exercises such as running laps. Now, it was Jennifer giving laps to Ryoma. And 200 is a lot.
"Hurry up! Is this your best speed?" Jennifer shouted at Ryoma as Ryoma picked up his speed.
Jennifer glared at Ryoma angrily as he ran. She had always liked Ryoma. He was a great kisser, he was handsome, and recently he had grew taller than her, which made her like him even more. He was an extremely proud person, which she respected it, as he was indeed, in her opinion, the best tennis player in the team, the one with the most potential to bring fame to the team. He was very loyal to the contract, never skipping a single practice, giving his all into proning his skills, becoming a pro tennis player, making his way up in the rankings.
Now, everything he was doing seemed to be going against what she had always thought of Ryoma.
He had just broken the rule in the contract. Very seriously. The worse thing was, he even asked permission for it, and all his pride vanished when he did that. He had just made himself so injured he had to skip practice. When she expected him to stay in the house obediently to recover completely, he ran away and cause trouble in one of the most prestigious university in America.
What happened to you, Ryoma? She thought, her fingers tapping on her arm with vexation. If this continued, all her plans for Ryoma, for this team, for everything would go down the drain. She needed to get Ryoma back into concentrating on tennis. Especially when next week was his match.
She saw Kevin running into the court hurriedly. She thought of an idea and left the court, not forgetting to whisper to the coach to get him to make Ryoma do the hyper intense schedule.
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"Hi, you're Sakuno, right?"
Sakuno turned around, and saw Jennifer. "Erm, hi..."
Sakuno was sitting on Ryoma's bed, reading the notes that Kevin got for her. There were lots of doodles and factual errors in it, Sakuno spent most of her time correcting it, perfecting it and adding more notes in it.
She did not really want to go to school for now, so she had just asked her teacher to send her all the lecture notes to her, and she will spend all her time in learning by herself.
She stared at Ryoma's manager as she sat down nicely on Kevin's bed, waiting for her to start speaking. "So, Sakuno, I heard that you and Ryoma are together now, am I right?"
"Together? I...We're not...really together..." Sakuno stammered, blushing.
"You two are together." Jennifer said, annoyed. "Listen, Sakuno, Ryoma has a contract to keep. You two are not supposed to be together. He's not supposed to even communicate with other people. So you two have to stop being together. At least for a year, alright? You are making him lose his concentration. His performance is getting worse, and if he don't concentrate anymore, he is never going too make it to the top. Tonight, after his training, go talk to him, and tell him to win the next match, and the next competition, and say that in order for him to do that, you have to stop seeing him."
Sakuno stared at Jennifer in disbelief. "Well, we...we're not really seeing each other in the first place..."
Jennifer slammed her hand onto the bed. "I don't care what you do, just get Ryoma back to normal! I need Ryoma to get his concentration back, in order to win!"
They stared at each other in awkward silence.
"So you think breaking up with him will get him to concentrate." Sakuno said, her voice sounded harsher than she wanted.
Jennifer rubbed her temples in frustruation. "Just...just...somehow...Alright! I don't care about the contract! Ryoma had broken almost all the rules already in this one month. Just get him to win! You can be together with Ryoma, you two can date and have a nice honeymoon together, but Ryoma has to win the next match. Get it?"
Jennifer stood up angrily and walked out of the room.
"You know, you can always get Kevin. He treats you well enough. You don't have to have Ryoma you know. Kevin is rich too." Jennifer threw these words at her before leaving.
Sakuno flushed. She's starting to hate this manager of Ryoma's. She made it seem as if she's trying to get Ryoma because of his wealth and fame. I can be wealthy too if I want! I'm a scholar in math major! She bit her lips and went back to her notes.
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Well, how is it? I find it very sucky, but I just can't seem to find out what's wrong. Maybe there's something wrong with my plot. Anyway, I promise next chapter will be better.
Review!