a/n: I know… it has taken me so long to get this chapter done… sorry XP But, please, enjoy!
Warning: Reference to the Prince of Tennis Movie: The Two Samurais, the First Game But you don't have to necessarily watch the movie.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis. It belongs to Konomi-sama.
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Grasp
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"Oh please!" Sakura scoffed, "If that is how you rank how wonderful a sibling you are, then I'm the best sister Sakuno's ever had!"
"You guys are so mature…" Ryoma commented sarcastically. Behind him was a stunned looking Sakuno.
XxXxXxXxXxX
"Sakuno…" Voice barely over a whisper, Sakura tried to calmly asses the situation.
She and Ryoga were arguing over something… something childish…
'What were we talking about again?' Sakura asked herself.
She tried to recall the beginning of their conversation. It started along nicely until Ryoga told Sakura that she was meddling with the lives of her students. It then escalated into a debate about being nosy, wherein Ryoga argued that he had the right to do so because he was Ryoma's brother. Sakura, not wanting to be outdone and wasn't thinking straight, countered with…
'Oh no.' Sakura's face paled, 'I said I was Sakuno's sister!' She was left frozen as the thought consumed her.
Meanwhile, Ryoga stared at the scene confusion written all over his face. He was wondering why everyone looked so serious all of the sudden. Ever since they heard Ryoma talk (effectively catching the older pair's attention), both of the ladies were now looking considerably frightened. He thought that maybe it was due to the noise that he and Sakura were making when they had an argument, but surely two people fighting wouldn't instill such a reaction, even if they were adults and bantering could be considered childish. He tried to think of other possible causes when he heard Sakura try to talk.
"D-did you hear a-about…" The teacher hesitatingly addressed her female student. They waited for her to continue her question but it seemed that the teacher voice was being blocked.
Ryoma, guessing what his teacher had wanted to ask, said "We heard from about the time you two were saying something about us being study partners at school... And everything else that came after that." He said it all so nonchalantly, but his expression looked a tad more curious than he had intended.
Sakura was speechless. If they were listening since that time, then that would mean that they've heard a lot. Sakura didn't know how to react, she felt guilty, angry, scared and disappointed at the same. She stole a look from Sakuno. The young girl was staring back at her with various emotions as well.
Sakura wanted to reach out and touch her, embrace her, hold her tightly. The young woman wanted to explain herself, to tell her sister everything and apologize for it, too. But her voice, much to her chagrin, was still missing.
It took her so much energy just to lift up her hand to Sakuno, but the young girl, with eyes wide, took a step back, back until she was slowly picking up her pace, turning around to exit the whole scene. The timid girl left everyone inside the Echizen household stunned.
Sakura's hand fell limply back into her side. Her head was downcast, bangs covering her eyes, not letting anyone see her expression.
"Chibisuke… go after Sakuno. Calm her down…" Ryoga lightly ordered, breaking the silence that enveloped them for a few seconds.
Nodding in affirmation, the tennis prince hastily left, slamming the door on his way out. He hoped that the girl hadn't gotten too far.
He looked in all directions before managing to spot a familiar pair of braids disappearing into a corner. Not wanting to waste anymore time and risk losing her, Ryoma dashed to his left, trying to catch up to Sakuno.
Ryoga and Sakura were left. The boy was staring at the closed door, the girl unmoving.
"Don't worry," Ryoga comforted her with a smile, "Chibisuke's sure to find her."
"… You don't understand…" Sakura meekly said, not even bothering to look up. "…She wasn't supposed to know yet…not right now… She probably hates me for not telling her earlier… She just had to catch it at a bad time… learning about it in such a way…I wasn't even able to properly speak to her, not directly to her face as what I've been planning over and over. She just heard it… when we were arguing. Just how was she supposed to react to that? Maybe I deserve this… How can I face her now?"
Finally, she looked up, turning to face Ryoga. "How?" she asked again. "I… I don't know what to do… I can't… I don't want to face her anymore…"
"If you're going to be like that, ranting and rambling all by yourself, then you really won't be able to face Sakuno properly. You're confused and so is Sakuno. Calm down… Chibisuke will be able to handle her." Ryoga said in a calming voice.
"But even Echizen doesn't know that I'm Sakuno's sister. Just how is he going to help? What does he know about siblings never having a chance to interact after all these years then suddenly meeting again in the least favorable way?" Sakura couldn't help biting back. She flinched when she realized that the boy was only trying to calm her down, she didn't have to talk back to him that way. "… Sorry."
Ryoga gave her an understanding smile "You're anxious right now. And you're probably not thinking straight. You should really stop berating yourself… And to answer your question… First of all, that brat really cares about people no matter how apathetic he might look. He has his own way of showing it.. Secondly… you may not know it, but Ryoma does know that feeling. Heck, he even experienced it first hand!"
Sakuno looked at Ryoga in surprise. In return the boy gave her a rueful grin.
"To make it simple, when we were young, I ran away. Chibisuke forgot about me as the years passed. And when he was about 12, we met. He didn't really recognize me at first, and he only remembered when he heard my whole name… took him quite a while to recollect, too. Anyway, we met at this cruise ship where I was the captain of it's tennis team. His friends were invited to be our opponents. But you see, my team played in games that were fixed. The matches were betted on, and they had to lose or else their lives would be at stake." Ryoga looked like he was blankly staring at the wall, but Sakura knew that he was trying to think about what happened. To her surprise, when he faced her again, he was smiling.
"In the end, we did have a battle… A fair one. The brat won, got over the whole incident… and well, here we are. Here I am, back at their house, trying to catch up on the times that we've lost. If he got over it, then I'm sure Sakuno will be just as fine. We should just trust Ryoma."
Sakura nodded obediently.
"So, how about we sit down so you can compose yourself and maybe tell me what happened? It might make you feel better… and the tea wouldn't feel too neglected." He laughed and offered her a seat as Sakura took a cup of tea and began explaining to Ryoga her side of the story.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Sakuno didn't know where she was heading. She just wanted to get away, forget all that she heard. Maybe if she ran long enough, she'll get tired and eventually fall asleep. And when she wakes up, everything will go back to normal. What happened was just some silly little dream that she had.
But somehow… no matter how tired she is right now, her mind wouldn't overlook what occurred a while ago at the Echizen household.
Even in her current state, legs weak and breathing ragged, her mind refused to break down, just when she wanted it to happen…Her mind kept insisting that what took place was genuine, and she knew it in herself that it was true. What she heard from Sakura was probably the truth… what her teacher – no- what her sister said was real.
Sakuno didn't know what came over her when she took off so suddenly. She knew it was rude, undignified… but she didn't care. She wanted to leave. So she did.
Her mind was full of questions but none of them coherent enough. All that she knew was that she suddenly didn't want to be with everyone else at that time when Sakura reached out to her.
Shaking her head vehemently, she hastened her steps even more, not minding the pain and exhaustion taking over her body.
"Ryuzaki!" A voice, sounding almost as exhausted as she was, called out.
"Ryuzaki!" Sakuno felt a strong hand grip her arm, forbidding her to move. And at that moment of rest, all the running that she did finally caught up to her. She felt dizzy, her chest suddenly seemed constricted and her knees gave way… Her blood felt like it was rushing away from her head. She felt drained of all her energy, and sleeping suddenly sounded like such a good idea…
"Ryuzaki!" The voice called out again… she could hear the origin of the voice saying some other things but her mind refused to comprehend any of it. And she was too tired to do anything, anyway.
XxXxXxXxXxX
It took a while, but Ryoma was finally able to catch up to Sakuno. If it wasn't for all that training that he did, he would have lost her. She did have quite a far lead before Ryoma managed to spot her turning around a corner.
Sakuno gave quite a chase, turning randomly and entering an alley unexpectedly. That was why they had gone some distance before Ryoma managed to grab her at last.
He kept calling out to her, but Sakuno paid no heed and kept running, her pace slowing down only for a few seconds before speeding up again.
"Ryuzaki!" Ryoma shouted out while grabbing her arm. He must've latched on too tight because she lurched forward at the sudden halt.
Both of them were panting heavily, Sakuno placing her hands on her lap to steady herself, Ryoma still holding on tightly to the girl. He was easily regaining his strength, but Sakuno seemed to have a hard time retrieving herself because after a few seconds, the girl fainted.
"Ryuzaki!" Ryoma shouted out of surprise. Luckily, he was able to catch her before she completely fell down.
"…she fainted…" Ryoma 'tsked' before looking around to see if there were any benches where he could place Sakuno. He was surprised to see that they were in a park. That meant that they had run a few kilometers away from his home. No wonder Sakuno was really worn out.
Finally settling the timid girl in one of the nearby benches, he gave himself some time to relax as well. He got tired from running, too. It wasn't as taxing as the training and laps he did during tennis practice, but it was enough to make him want to rest for a while.
After a few moments, Ryoma saw Sakuno's eyelids flutter. Yes, he was staring at her, but it wasn't that long. Just a few seconds… minutes… okay, fine, the whole time they were resting. It wasn't his fault that Sakuno looked really helpless at her current state and he was just being… nice… by looking out for any signs of discomfort. And what better way to see if she wasn't feeling good by staring at her face? Exactly. No one else was around, so he felt it as his duty to look out for the girl. Yup, he was being nice.
Anyway, her eyelids began to open.
"H-huh?" She asked. Her face still looked blank, meaning she wasn't yet fully aware of her situation. She blinked a few more times. Then she focused her gaze at the person beside her. Realizing who the person was, a pink hue began to spread on her cheeks.
"Ryoma-kun! What are you… what are we doing here?" she queried when she noticed that they were at a park, sitting on a bench.
"Hn… Shouldn't I be the one to ask you that?" He said, finally taking his eyes off of her face.
"Huh? What?" She titled her head to one side, looking all innocent. She tried to remember what happened. 'Oh, that's right… I ran away from Sakura-sensei… I mean, my big sisterSakura.' She frowned a bit, 'then, all I remember is getting real tired and…fainting?'
"I-I fainted?!" Sakuno gasped, her hands covering her mouth.
"Bingo." Ryoma said.
Sakuno was still gaping when another thought flew to her head, "T-then, how did I end up sitting here?"
"I carried you." He answered in a tone that said 'What other reason could there have been?'
She promptly blushed. "O-oh! Thank you Ryoma-kun. I'm sorry to have caused you trouble." She apologized, looking towards her hands that were now folded on her lap.
"It's nothing." He said as he got up. Sakuno saw him go towards a near-by vending machine, returning with a can of Ponta and a bottle of water. "Here."
Sakuno accepted the bottle of water with a shy 'thank-you'.
They sat there, drinking their beverages in silence. It was surprisingly Ryoma who has spoken first.
"Are you alright?"
Sakuno stared at him, a bit surprised at the sudden question by the normally quiet boy. "U-uh…Yes, I'm fine, thank you."
"Hn…" he drank from his Ponta before talking again. "…Why did you go?"
Ryoma noticed that Sakuno was looking really unsure.
"I-I… don't know, to tell you the truth." She said after some time. "…When we overheard Ryoga-san and Sakura… 'sensei' talking about the sibling thing… I froze. T-things suddenly came to my mind, but at the same time I didn't know what to think nor feel. A-and then, when she reached out to me, the first thing that became apparent was that I wanted to leave, and fast. So I ran, and ran… and ran…"
Ryoma listened quietly to Sakuno.
"I felt really tired running, but I couldn't stop… My mind wouldn't let me, so my body followed. When I was running, I asked the same question you asked me… 'Why did I go?', 'Why did I ran away? Was there something that I wanted to escape from?'…But… but nothing came to me, except for the fact that I wanted to get away from everything and maybe even forget what I just heard. I kept wishing that all of this was just some dream, and none of it were true… But I don't know why I felt that way. I knew it was unreasonable, I should just stop… go back… But I kept going; I didn't even know where I was heading."
Sakuno looked as if she was surprised about her own actions, and only thought of it just now.
"Maybe I was just afraid of the truth… I didn't want to believe that Sakura-sensei was my sister. It felt so unreal. My whole life I always thought that I had no parents, no siblings. Just my grandmother... Then just this morning I suddenly hear someone saying that she's my sister!..."
She seemed as if she was just talking to herself, mumbling most of the time. She sounded hurt and shocked.
"…though, come to think of it… I think I remember dreaming about this girl a bit older than me. I only had it a few times. The first scenes were about us together then the next would always be about the time when my parents died. Grandma was holding me in her arms but I was reaching out to the girl. She kept shouting my name and calling me 'Chibisaku' and 'sister' saying that she'll come back for me… I'm not sure if that's connected to my old memories. But since I never really did recall ever having a sister, I thought of that as just some dream that I had… The first time I dreamt about that was during the first day of school, the day that we also met Sakura-sensei. Though it could be just some coincidence…"
She looked really confused.
"…If I really had a sister… Sakura-sensei… would she be that girl? B-but all this time. If she already knew for a long time, then why didn't she just tell me? I mean, we're really close right now, right? Why go through all the trouble of hiding the fact that we're sisters?! How could she have managed to keep that to herself the whole time we've seen each other?..."
She had other barrages of questions, one after the other, as if finally being able to release them.
"Instead of asking me or yourself those questions, you should ask Sakura-sensei." Ryoma finally said.
Sakuno faced him, agony noticeable on her face. "I-I don't know… I don't think I can face her right now."
"Maybe that's how Sakura-sensei has been feeling, too." He told her.
"What do you mean?"
He sighed, preparing himself to explain. "When she finally saw you, assuming that she only got to see you during the first day of class after such a long period of not being together, she felt that she wasn't ready to tell you…. What would you do if an unknown person tells you that she's your sister?"
Sakuno thought about it, "I would be scared, shocked… unbelieving."
"How do you think sensei was feeling?… Especially when she doesn't know how you'll react." He asked
"If I was sensei, I would be scared, too. I'd want to somehow start things over… get close with my sister and let her be used to my presence…" Sakuno recounted what had been happening in the time that they spent with Sakura.
"Maybe something happened when you got separated, too." Ryoma added.
"I'm not really sure… Grandma never told me about Sakura-sensei. And I was really young when my parents died. It's been about thirteen years since then."
Ryoma gave a low whistle, "Thirteen years, huh? Took her quite a long time to find you… she's mada mada dane."
"Do you think that's why Sakura-sensei didn't want to approach me at first? Because she's afraid that I would get angry at her because it took her such a long time to find me?" Sakuno asked worriedly. "Did something bad happen to her? Maybe she's guilty of something else."
"…Maybe. You should just ask her." Ryoma suggested. "She must have been waiting for you to remember her."
Now Sakuno looked really sad and worried. "I wasn't able to remember her… There was a time when sensei told me about her sister that doesn't even recall her… She was talking about me the whole time. Maybe Sakura-sensei was missing me so much… I wouldn't want to be a source of worry for her… She looked so sad when she told me about her sister… about me… But she looked really happy when I told her that I would be happy to be her sister."
Sakuno smiled as she remembered the time when Sakura was helping her get dressed for the '(not a) date'.
They were quiet for a while. Sakuno could hear Ryoma's breathing… then Sakuno blushed. Just now she was able to realize that she had been talking to Ryoma so openly about herself. She wasn't stuttering so much and that she was chatting without restraint, and the boy was replying, too. He helped her understand the situation… she was very thankful that Ryoma was here today.
She was about to say thank you when Ryoma interrupted her, a bored look present on his face.
"You wanna go back yet? It's getting dark already." Ryoma said, reaching out his hand to help Sakuno get up.
"Okay… And thank you." Sakuno accepted his hand and stood, finally looking happy and relieved. She was a bit excited now to meet her sister, get reacquainted, and maybe get some answers, too. It was nice to be able to talk freely to someone, and it was also nice to hear someone console you and help you feel better.
"Hn."
As they walked towards the path back to Ryoma's house, Sakuno was smiling. She's looking forward to being with Sakura, her sister… just the thought that she had a sibling that was as nice as Sakura easily made her smile…
But maybe that smile was also due to the fact that Ryoma was the one who helped her feel excited and happy about having sister. Maybe it was also because the boy used some of his precious time to make her feel better about the situation and just plainly be there for her.
Yes, maybe that was also a reason… then again… maybe it's also because Ryoma's hands were now intertwined with hers.
XxXxXxXxX
"So you fought even when the ship was breaking down?!" Sakura asked incredulously. "You didn't even think of stopping when a massive wave hit the deck?... tennis freaks…" Sakura mumbled the last sentence to herself.
Ryoga chuckled. Then he heard the door open. He and Sakura turned to look at each other before focusing their gazes towards the opening door. It was Ryoma and Sakuno.
"Yo, Chibisuke! You're back!" Ryoga greeted, "Something interesting happen?" He asked as he trailed his eyes towards their linked hands.
Noticing what Ryoga was staring at; the younger two immediately separated and blushed.
"Shut up." Ryoma said as he took off his shoes and approached the living room with Sakuno meekly trailing after him.
There they were. Ryoma and Sakuno seated in one couch, Ryoga seated in a recliner opposite Sakura. None of the girls were looking up, they had their heads bent and their hands were primly placed on their laps.
The boys sighed. Ryoma nodded to his brother, the silent gesture telling him to do something to get things going. It wasn't that he minded the silence, but he knew how awkward the situation must be for the two women right now, so a little conversation could be had.
"So…" Ryoga began. "You're sisters… yeah…and, um…" he trailed off, not knowing what to do or say right now. He didn't know how to make females reconcile and talk to each other. Weren't they the talkative gender? Putting himself in their position wouldn't help because, if he was in their situation… Well, he wouldn't even be getting to this point. He would have told Ryoma straight out that he was his brother, let him remember, play tennis, make him forget about what happened in the past, make peace and whatever and then play some more tennis… Which what was actually what he did back then during the tennis match at the cruise ship.
Okay, think… If he was some emotional female, how would he resolve this?
It seemed that he didn't have to think up of a plan, because Sakura took it upon her initiative to talk.
"Sakuno-chan, are you alright? Did you run too far away? You must be tired… Echizen, did you take good care of her?" Sakura inquired.
"Oh, I'm all right, Sakura-sensei." Sakuno immediately replied. She somehow winced when she saw the older Ryuzaki deepen her frown. Sakuno was used to calling Sakura 'sensei' and felt guilty that her teacher might have taken the honorific as the young girl's way of saying that she hasn't accepted Sakura as her sister.
Sakura gave a poignant smile, "I'm glad to hear that Ryuzaki-chan…"
Sakuno was really guilty now. She didn't want to see her big sister sad just because she stupidly forgot and addressed the older woman as what she usually did before this whole ordeal. And now, Sakura was back to calling her by her last name!
"I-it's okay for you to call me Sakuno… didn't I tell you that when you were helping me the last time… Sakura-nee-san (sister)?" Sakuno said, adding the big sister honorific as an after thought. "…Or maybe you would like it better if you called me by that nickname you gave me… Chibisaku."
Sakura's face brightened considerably upon hearing those words from Sakuno. "Y-you remember now that I was the one who gave you that nickname?"
"Vaguely…" Sakuno admitted.
Sakura hesitatingly stood up and approached Sakuno. When she was near enough, she drew the girl into a hug. "Chibisaku… I missed you…"
"I'm sorry I didn't recognize you, big sister." Sakuno said, hugging her sister back.
Sakura shook her head. "No… You wouldn't be able to distinguish me as your big sister that easily because you were so young when we were separated." She hugged the girl tighter, "What's important is that you know now."
"Yes." All that Sakuno could do was agree.
"Aawww… What a nice sister bonding moment!" Ryoga gushed out. He approached Ryoma and slung an arm around the younger boy's shoulder. "Chibisuke, why didn't we have that kind of hugging when we saw each other?!" He wrapped his other arm around Ryoma in a lazy hug and letting his weight rest on the younger boy.
"Ugh, get off me! You're heavy!" Ryoma tried to push off Ryoga.
Ryoga reluctantly let go. "That's not cute Ryoma…" he sighed in mock forlorn, "Oh, just where did my cute brother go?!"
Everyone watched him, and after a few seconds they all laughed, well the two ladies giggled while Ryoma smirked.
When the laughter died down, Sakuno directed her attention towards the two Echizens. "Thank you so much, Ryoga-san, Ryoma-kun... and I'm sorry to have bothered you and wasted your time with our predicament." She stood up and turned to Sakuno. "We should be going now, Sakuno-chan. You still have school tomorrow. Echizen-kun, I will be expecting you at class tomorrow seeing as you are fit enough to have ran quite a distance. Also, do not forget to do your homework."
"Hn. Fine." Ryoma said, a bit begrudged that the teacher remembered about the assignments that he needed to do.
Ryoga stood up, too. "Will you two be going to the same house?"
"No, I am staying at my own apartment. I will be dropping Sakuno-chan off at our grandmother's house." Sakura said.
"Two ladies walking alone at night aren't safe…" Ryoga grinned. Sakuno quirked an eyebrow, but soon got the gist of what Ryoga was trying to say.
"I see, I see… Will one of you be kind enough to escort us home then… Echizen-kun?" Sakura titled her head towards the younger Echizen's direction.
Ryoma thought over the idea. He was about to decline, using the reason that he was tired and he was supposedly still sick (he was just lazy), but Ryoga beat him to answering.
"It will be faster if both of us escorted you girls home… Maybe Chibisuke could come with Sakuno-chan? What do you think sensei?" Ryoga grinned mischievously.
"That's true, Ryoga-san. It would be much faster if we split up. It might get too late if you stopped by both of our houses. It would be so much easier, indeed." Sakura was beginning to grin as well.
Ryoma just had to sweat-drop at the somehow pre-arranged dialogue of Sakura and Ryoga. But seeing as they were being persistent, and he felt that he no longer had a say about the matter, he reluctantly agreed. "Fine. Whatever."
"Great! Chibisuke, go with Sakuno!" Ryoga grabbed the boy and pushed him towards the door.
"Wonderful, thank you, Ryoma-kun! Now, let's go Sakuno-chan!" Sakura gently maneuvered the girl to the door, too. "Ryoma-kun, you know where Sakuno's house is, right?"
"Yeah." Ryoma said as he put on his shoes.
Outside the yard, the two groups had to part ways.
"My house is this way." Sakura told them.
"Are you sure Sakura-nee-san?" Sakuno asked. She still remembered what happened this morning when they got lost trying to locate Echizen's house.
"Uhm…. I think so… Yes, yes… I'm sure this would be the way." Sakura said, her face full of determination.
"Okay, good night then Sakura-neesan, Ryoga-san. Take care! Thank you again, Ryoga-san!" Sakuno waved.
"Bye Sakuno-chan! Chibisuke, don't do anything to her okay?!" Ryoga shouted out.
"Echizen-kun, I will be expecting my sister to be well and unharmed tomorrow! Good night Sakuno-chan! Thank you as well, Echizen-kun." Sakura waved at her students.
Sakuno and Ryoma blushed, the boy muttering something about stupid big brothers and teachers/sisters.
Ryoma tugged on his cap (that he only got to wear now) before taking Sakuno's hand, leading her. "Let's go."
"O-oh! Okay." Sakuno blushed. They seemed to be holding hands more frequently now, not that she minded, of course.
Really, today wasn't so bad, Sakuno thought. Sure, she embarrassed herself by running away, but she learned that Sakura is actually her sister… and now, she got to spend so much time with her Ryoma-kun. It might just be her, but she's really feeling that they are getting closer… even if it may just be as close friends for Ryoma. For her, just being around him is enough.
"Ryuzaki. You're slowing down." Ryoma said as he tugged her hand.
"Sorry, Ryoma-kun!" She apologized as she tried to pick up her speed and to go along with his pace.
… Yes, today really isn't bad. Not bad at all.
XxXxXxXxXxX
It was early in the morning, but the Seigaku tennis team regulars were already present in their clubroom. Well, at least almost everyone was present. As usual, Echizen Ryoma was… wait – he wasn't late yet. Everyone was just early. Really.
Besides, for once, the tennis team wasn't talking about tennis. Which sounds really weird, but they weren't. Instead, they were forced to gather inside the clubroom by a very nosy big sister of one of their juniors. That nosy big sister also being their teacher for at least one of their subjects, meaning defying her could result to some nasty effect on their grades.
"You kids aren't forced to listen to me just because you're afraid that I'll drop you're grades if you don't, do you?" Sakura asked. Disbelief etched on her face. She was seated in one of the chairs near the coach's table.
The regulars wanted to say yes. But they respected the teacher too much to tell her that. And who knows what she'll do if they did.
"You are, aren't you?" Sakura narrowed her eyes, looking at them closely.
They looked sheepish and guilty. They shifted in their seats, in their silence the metal benches' screech was deafening…
"Don't worry. I wouldn't be able to do that. That would be against the teacher's code of ethics. However, if you do agree in helping me, I am willing to give you extra credit." Sakura explained. "So, how about it?"
The regulars exchanged looks. Oishi was the first to speak.
"Um… Sakura-sensei, not to be disrespectful or anything, but I don't really think that it would be a good idea for us to continue prying in your sister's and Echizen's… um, private lives…" he got a few agreeing nods from the group.
Sakura thought about what her student said, and she completely understood that. She didn't know how else to convince them, but she really needed the help from other people close to her Sakuno-chan, and according to her grandmother, these people were some of her closest friends. "Are you sure none of you are willing to help me?"
"Sensei, would you mind telling us first why you are so intent in getting Sakuno-chan and Echizen together?" Fuji asked, smile in place.
"Because it would make not only my sister but probably even Echizen-kun happier." Sakura answered in a tone that said she was very confident of her reasons. "I want to be able to see my sister truly smile and glow. If being with Echizen-kun would help bring that out, then I would do all that I can to see it through."
Fuji was grinning as he said, "Hmm, that's good enough for me… And besides, setting Echizen up on dates sounds really fun."
"Yosh! I'll help too sensei!" Momo said, pumping his fist in the air, "Maybe that brat would have more respect for his seniors if he had a girlfriend!"
"Nya, I wanna help, too! Ochibi and Sakuno-chan belong together!" Kikumaru said as he began jumping in his seat, waving one hand in the air. "And Ochibi should be able to experience treating someone for once and not always freeloading on his seniors!"
"There is an 87 percent chance that Momoshiro and Kikumaru agreed to help because they need to increase their grade point average." Inui commented, receiving protests from the two mentioned. His face was still buried beneath his notebook as he was writing something on it. "…Having data on Echizen's love-life would prove to be valuable to my research; therefore I will also partake in this experiment."
"Thank you very much!" Sakura said, happily clasping her hands together.
"Oishi…" Eiji looked expectantly at Oishi, waiting for the vice-captain's decision.
"I'm sorry Eiji, Sakura-sensei. I think I have intruded enough before." He apologetically said to Sakura.
"It's alright Oishi-kun. Though, I am still very thankful for your last assistance." She gave a grateful smile. "How about you Kaidoh-kun, Tezuka-kun?"
"Fssshhhh," Kaidoh had a tiny bit of blush on his face, "Sorry sensei…"
"No need to ask for forgiveness, I understand." Sakura, as well as the other regulars, turned their attention to their captain. Though they already suspected what his decision would be.
"I'm very sorry, sensei, but that matter is already past my duties as Echizen's captain. I am reluctant to say that I have to decline your request." Tezuka stated in the most polite yet stern manner.
Sakura nodded. "I see. Still, I am thankful, Tezuka-kun that you are allowing me to… 'borrow' your teammates… Do you have anything else to remind them?"
"Do not get careless." He said unflinchingly. "And practice begins in ten minutes. Regulars begin warm-up by running five laps around the court. Oishi and Inui will give you further instructions for today's training menu."
"Yes, sir!" Everyone chorused. Sakura couldn't help but smile at the captain's personality.
"Thank you again everyone! I'll leave all of you now so you can practice. To those who volunteered, Fuji-kun, Inui-kun, Eiji-kun and Momoshiro-kun, could you please meet me at the teacher's lounge whenever you're ready after your afternoon tennis practice?"
"Okay, sensei." The volunteers replied.
"Bye now! Have fun at practice!"
As Sakura was heading towards the gates leading outside the courts, she happened to run into Echizen. He was calmly walking and was yawning a bit.
"Good morning Echizen-kun. I see you are well enough to come to school today." Sakura gave Echizen a semi-suspicious looking smile.
"Hn, Good Morning." Echizen merely tugged his cap as gesture of greeting the teacher, he didn't like how the older woman's smile looked suggestive of something.
"How was your walk with my Chibisaku last night? Anything –special– happen?" She asked, smile not wavering.
'Her Chibisaku? Huh? Oh… right. I almost forgot… Ryuzaki's her sister.' Ryoma thought. Keeping a straight face, he said "Nothing special, Ryuzaki-sensei."
Sakura blinked at Ryoma's use of her surname, almost forgetting for a moment that he also knew that Sakuno was her sibling. "Okay, then. Echizen-kun, you better make haste, you wouldn't want to be late for practice… See you later at class."
Ryoma nodded before passing Sakura. He entered seeing that everyone was already prepared and was about to start laps around the court.
"Yo, Echizen! Hurry up and change!" Momoshiro greeted the freshman regular. "You're just on time. A minute more and you would've been late, then you'd have to run extra laps."
"Momoshiro, Echizen! Run three extra laps for loitering and not preparing for practicing." Came Tezuka's order.
"Ugh, spoken to soon. This is your fault Echizen!" Momo blamed Ryoma.
"Mada mada dane, senpai. You're the one who talked to me." Ryoma said as he jogged to the locker room to change.
"Brat." Momo murmured before commencing to run.
XxXxXxXxXxX
"We shall now begin this meeting of the 'Get Sakuno and Ryoma Together Squad'!" Sakura announced while holding up a sign that had the said group name written on it.
Those involved face faulted, but could not bring it upon their selves to laugh out loud due to the serious look sported by the teacher. Everyone present was seated in the chairs littered around the teacher's lounging area. Sakura was standing behind her table flashing the sign proudly.
"First – Attendance. Say something after being called, please." Sakura now held up a clipboard in one hand, a pen in the other. "Fuji Syuusuke?"
"Hai."
"Kikumaru Eiji?"
"Nya!"
"Inui Sadaharu?"
"Present."
"Momoshiro Takeshi?"
"Yo!"
"Osakada Tomoka?"
"Here!"
"Ryuzaki Sumire?"
"Here."
"Echizen Ryoga?"
"Yeah."
"Great! Everyone's present." Sakura flipped over to a new sheet on the clipboard. "I would like to thank you all for using your time to help out, especially grandmother Sumire and Ryoga-san."
The two mentioned smiled as if saying that 'it was nothing'.
"You all know why you are here right?" Everyone nodded. "Good, but for the sake of clarity, I shall explain again. We are now gathered here in an attempt to get Sakuno and Ryoma together, which should have been apparent right now, given the name of our group. All of you present are especially chosen because you have connections that could prove to be very helpful in this endeavor. You may also be an important source or comrade in executing plans, seeing that you personally know the people in question and would know what would be the best course of action to take in handling them. All of this is for what we believe would lead to the happiness of Sakuno-chan and Echizen-kun. Now, let us commence in planning! Any suggestions?"
She was answered by silence as everyone seemed to be deep in thought of a plan.
"Maybe we should analyze the situation first." Sumire spoke, "We need to know what the current situation of Echizen and Sakuno is… Inui what do you have?"
Being their former coach, Sumire was pretty much sure that Inui would have already taken into account that bit of information. And she was right.
"According to my data, compared to last year, their degree of familiarity has increased by 76 percent. Physical contact in the form of hand holding was recorded to have been done by at least four times just this couple of months. Echizen has also been stated to have been more responsive to Ryuzaki by 82 percent. It has also been noted that Echizen's sense of protectiveness of Ryuzaki, especially after the pervert incident, had increased by 79 percent." After reading his report, Inui raised his head to see gaping faces.
"Wow… Inui is really good at taking data, nya…" Kikumaru commented.
"Wait! Wait! Inui-kun, when did that pervert incident occur?! How come I've never heard of that?!" Sakura almost screamed at Inui. She was already standing up with her hands covering her mouth in mid-gasp.
"Oh,
that was after they went grocery shopping the first time we decided
to 'follow' them. It was after we left." Inui stated
calmly.
"If you guys already left, then how did Inui-sempai know
that?" Momo asked.
Inui's glasses seemed to have glinted as he said in a monotone voice, "I have my ways."
The others suppressed the urge to shudder, except for Fuji who was looking completely relaxed.
Ryoga coughed to get their attention.
"Yes, Ryoga-san, do you have anything to say?" Sakura acknowledged.
"Yeah… Inui, you said that Chibisuke has become more protective of Sakuno-chan right?" he started.
"Yes, by about 79 percent.." Inui confirmed.
"Yeah, yeah. Then that would mean, Chibisuke would easily get jealous if another person would get too close to Sakuno-chan, right?"
"Right… And?" the other simultaneously said.
"And, we need Chibisuke to completely realize his feeling for Sakuno-chan, right? For that to happen, jealousy can become one of our best buddies. If the brat gets really jealous he'll want to be able to be beside the girl and then he'll notice how important she is… You know, stuff like that." Ryoga explained, which earned a collective 'Aahhh' from the group.
"Good idea, Ryoga-san. Who should we ask?" Sakura surveyed the room for any ideas.
"Would any of the other tennis regulars work?" Sumire suggested.
"Saa that could work, Sumire. Eiji, Momo and I could provide our assistance." Fuji said.
"Don't call me 'Sumire' Fuji." Sumire scolded.
"Yes, ma'am." He answered with a grin. "But we wouldn't be able to constantly be around Sakuno-chan, so we might need another person."
"Sakura-sensei, how about Chihiro-chan?" Tomoka raised her hand upon talking, "You could dress up again during breaks. I think I saw Ryoma-sama glaring at her during those times that she was with us."
"Tsubasa Chihiro, that special student we met that one time?!" Momoshiro exclaimed, remembering the times that he saw the girl having lunch with the other freshmen. "What does she have to do with this?"
"… Momoshiro-kun… You're not serious are you?" Sakura asked the second year, raising one of her eyebrows.
"Nya, yeah Momo-chan… Even I could tell that Tsubasa-chan is Sakura-sensei." Kikumaru said, the others nodded, too, except for the two non-students. Even Sakura was aware of the fact that people had been able to guess that she and the student were the same… All that she needed to fool with the costume was Sakuno, and so far the girl never showed any signs of telling them apart, so it didn't really matter if other people found out as long as they never told Sakuno.
"What?! You knew Eiji-sempai?! B-but the last time that I asked, you guys said that she wasn't!" Momo wailed.
"Saa, we were just playing along with Sakura-sensei. When I first saw Tsubasa-chan, I immediately knew she was Sakura-sensei in disguise." Fuji smiled serenely. "There must've been a reason for her to wear a student's uniform, so it would be such a waste if we would have spilled her secret, don't you think so?"
"I knew from the beginning, as well. From the few encounters that I had with Tsubasa-san, I had compared her physical attributes to that of Sakura-sensei and upon inspection they were completely the same, even most of her habits and gestures." Inui noted, notebook in hand as usual. Sakura couldn't help but feeling a bit apprehensive of the data-man's ways of knowing people.
"At first, I thought they were really different because she was really persuasive. But after spending a lot of time with her, I noticed that it really was Sakura-sensei, though I didn't really know why sensei had to do that… She only told me everything today." Tomoka added. Sakura had to ask for her help since she was Sakuno's best friend. Along with asking for her cooperation, Sakura had to tell the girl that she was Sakuno's sibling and tell her about almost everything. After the explanation, the girl was more than happy to help.
"Eehhh! You guys already knew and you didn't tell me?!" Momo gaped at his companions. He was a bit peeved that he was left out. He completely trusted and believed their words when they said that Tsubasa and Sakura were two different persons.
"Nya, we thought you already knew!" Kikumaru flinched when he saw his kohai's dejected expression. To lighten the mood, he glomped the boy, "Don't be sad, don't be sad, nya!"
"That's right Momo-chan-senpai! You're not the only one who still doesn't know. Sakuno, Horio and the others weren't able to see that they were the same person." Tomoka tried to help placate the second year.
The two visitors just stared at the group, not being able to fully understand the commotion, they intelligently decided that it did not concern them, anyway.
"Well, I'm not sure about Echizen-kun. He might already know, too…" Sakura contemplated. "What do you think?"
"Does it matter if Chibisuke would know who this Tsubasa kid is?" Ryoga asked.
"A bit. If he knew that I was Tsubasa then he wouldn't be as jealous if she were a totally different person. He might just shrug it off as me trying to get close to Sakuno because I'm her sister." Sakura explained.
"If I didn't notice then Echizen wouldn't either!" Momo declared. He was more than willing to have other people share his naivety about the whole disguise ordeal.
"But Momo-chan-senpai, Ryoma-sama can be pretty observant if he chooses to!" Tomoka decided that she should defend her prince.
"When it comes to tennis, that brat can be very attentive but Tsubasa-chan isn't something that is tennis related." Momo countered, smirk on his face and arms folded on his chest. Yes, he definitely would not allow it that he was the only one who didn't know.
"Saa, why don't we ask Inui?" Fuji tilted his head towards Inui, whose eyeglasses seemed to have glinted again.
"There are only a few occasions that I have managed to observe the interaction between Echizen and Tsubasa-san, and given those samples I can only say that there is a 58 percent chance that Echizen would know about it." reported Inui.
"Given that proportion, we aren't really sure…" Sakura mused, "But I wouldn't mind taking the risk. It's not that big of a deal anyway… Except female companionship isn't probably enough, we might also need a male rival for Echizen-kun. That would make things even more… difficult for him, I guess."
"How about Ryoga-san, nya?" Kikumaru suggested.
"Nah, Chibisuke might have already noticed how I always try to get them together. Doing that will only contradict with my past actions and arouse his suspicion." Ryoga stated as he but his hands behind his head and casually rested his back on the sofa. "We'll need some other guys…"
They began brainstorming.
"How about Katsuo-kun?"
"No…"
"Kachirou-kun?"
"Nu-uh…"
"Horio-kun?"
"No way!"
"(cough)"
"I-I mean… No…"
"Tooyama Kintarou-kun?"
"Who?"
"Saa, he is that other freshman that Echizen got to play with during the Nationals at his first year in Junior high school."
"But doesn't he live at Osaka?"
"Yeah, he lives too far away."
"Aoi-kun?
"Aoi Kentarou. First year student at Rokkaku Chuu located at Chiba."
"Also too far…"
"Nya, does it have to be a freshman?"
"I guess not..."
"Akaya?"
"Come now! Are you serious?!"
"Why grandma? What so bad about… Akaya-kun was it?"
"That brat's a demon!"
"Really? Then no way!"
"Oh… yeah… How about Kamio Akira? He's also here in Tokyo."
"But isn't that Rhythm-freak –"
"Momoshiro-kun, it's bad to call people names."
"Sorry, sensei… I mean 'Kamio' obviously likes Ann-chan…"
"Nya, your Ann-chan?"
"Out of the topic Kikimaru-sempai!"
"(snicker)"
"How about that Hyotei kid?"
"Hiyoshi Wakashi?"
"The gekokyujou kid?"
"No… the nicer one."
"Ootori Chotarou. Second year, serve and volley specialist, blood type O. "
"Yeah! That one!"
"Saa, I don't think it's a good idea to use a school such as Hyotei, or any other school for that matter. It might be best to have someone here in Seigaku."
"Hmm. How about that Gary kid I've heard about recently?"
"Which one?"
"The first year, the transferee from Europe."
"Oh! Gray Stu! I know him!"
"Stu-kun… may be too much for Chibisaku…"
"Nya… this is hard...!"
"I agree, I agree…"
"And this has already taken too long. Maybe we should just skip this idea?"
"Yeah…"
"All who agree, please raise your hand"
Everyone raised their hands. Sakura nodded in understanding.
"Okay then… Moving on. We can begin project 'Jealous Tactics' tomorrow, starting with the regulars at morning practice. Any ideas?" she asked, pen and paper still ready.
"Hmm, we could let Echizen overhear our conversations and such. Eiji and Momo would come in very handy." Said Fuji while giving off a smile that scream 'Conspiracy'.
"Okay, Fuji-kun I will assign you as leader for that specific undertaking. Inui-kun you shall record any reactions from Echizen-kun during those moments and if possible any other possible occasion that you deem important and provided you have the free time to do so."
"Ii-data…" Inui gave off a smile that showed how pleased he was with his assignment.
"During lunch breaks, Osakada-chan and I will begin our move." Sakura glanced at Tomoka's direction. Somehow 'signaling' to the girl that it was during their lunch hour that she will dress-up again as Tsubasa Chihiro and start phase two of 'Project: Jealous Tactics'.
"All right, Sakura-sensei!" Tomoka said while raising one hand in the air.
"Grandmother, any advice or additional inputs?"
"Hmm, I can make Sakuno forget to bring her lunch box, so you could cook for her." Sumire said thoughtfully.
"But grandma, I'm not any good at cooking…" Sakura pouted. "I can only do desserts, which I'm also planning on using. During those times that I would bring desserts and feed Chibisaku, I think I saw Echizen-kun glaring at me, so it might work again. But I really can't cook meals…"
"Ooh! I got an idea!" Ryoga suddenly brightened up. He was waving both hands in the air, like an eager student waiting to be called by his teacher.
"What is it Ryoga-san?" Sakura acknowledged.
"What if someone brings a bento for Sakuno-chan? We could say that that came from some secret admirer!" Ryoga said while putting his index finger and thumb on his chin. He was now mentally praising his self for such a bright idea.
"But shouldn't it be girls who make the food for guys?" Momo pointed out.
"So? It could work!" Ryoga said defiantly.
"Fine, we'll try that. Who can volunteer to make the food and have it delivered?" Sakura asked the group.
"I would like to volunteer. And to make it more special, I will use my special Inui lunch recipe. Guaranteed 100 percent tasty and nutritious, especially if drank with my Inui supreme golden juice, 3.2!" Inui pushed his glasses up with his index finger, while emitting a sort of evil-scientist aura. He also had this eerie-looking smile…
"Eh-heh… Osakada-chan, maybe it would be less obvious if we said that a guy passed the lunch to you, when if fact it was really you who made the food?" Sakura looked pleadingly towards Tomoka. She remembered the effects that Inui's concoctions had done to her students, and she doesn't want her sister to experience that any time soon, not if she could help it.
"U-uh, Okay Sakura-sensei. I will make the food and bring it at lunch time!" Tomoka hurriedly said, immediately understanding the teacher's predicament. After all, she is Sakuno's best friend. It is also her duty to look out for the timid girl.
"Thank you for your offer Inui-kun, but I think it will be better if Osakada-chan would make the food, since she would also know what Chibisaku likes." Sakura tried to look like she was sad that she had to pass on the job to another, but inwardly she was thankful that she had managed to evade the proposal.
"All right. Such a shame… I even have a sample of it now." Inui he took out a bento. When he opened the lid, everyone (except Fuji) cringed to see green and blue smoke coming out from the food.
"Saa, can I have a taste, Inui?" Fuji smiled at Inui. He graciously took the bento and proceeded to take a few bites. The others could only be mesmerized as bit by bit, Fuji consumed at least half of the food without any reaction to it whatsoever aside from enjoying it. "Mmm, it tastes good." He and Inui exchanged smiles.
The others shuddered and twitched.
"O-okay… Everyone, that would be all for today's meeting. I will have you contacted for future ones. Thank you again for participating! I am I debt to all of you!" Sakura stood up and gave a low bow to everyone in the room.
The others replied that it was nothing. Soon everyone made their way outside, they were eager to get home.
"Grandmother, are you sure you'll be fine going back home all by yourself?" Sakura asked as she walked along with Sumire towards the school gates.
"Yes, I'll be fine Sakura. Go on now, the way towards your house is the other direction, right?" Sumire shooed her granddaughter away playfully.
"Take care, grandma! Thank you, again!" Sakura waved at her grandmother's retreating figure.
"You know what?" A voice that suddenly spoke surprised Sakura. She turned her head only to see Ryoga smirking at her.
"Oh, Ryoga-san. What is it?" Sakura asked while titling her head.
"I wasn't sure before but now…" Ryoga paused to add tension.
"Yes?" Sakura urged him to continue.
"I feel that…" Ryoga looked directly at Sakura.
"You feel that?" Sakura stared back.
"… You really are a nosy big sister." Ryoga finished with a smirk.
Sakura looked away with a 'hmph' and pouting slightly.
"So are you." She said after a while.
"Took you long enough to answer." Ryoga countered.
"Whatever." Sakura stopped when they came towards an intersection. "My house is this way. Thank you for your help Ryoga-san. Good night." She gave another bow and without waiting for the other's answer she went along her way, leaving the other waving behind his back as he, too, continued his journey home.
Now alone, Sakura could no longer suppress the smile she had been holding back ever since the meeting.
'I'm so happy… I hope Chibisaku appreciates what we're trying to do! And now that Chibisaku knows we're sisters, it's even better. I don't have to hide it from her anymore! Tomorrow is going to be so fun!'
Sakura couldn't help but giggle as she decided what dessert she should make and fix all the things needed for project 'Jealous Tactics' tomorrow.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Sorry it took such a long time before I got this out --' I think my grammatical and writing skills are being mean to me this month… I just can't seem to write nicely (as if the previous ones were good enough to begin with XP)
Anywho, I hope you still do like this chapter. Whether you liked it or not, you can tell me in a review! -nod nod- I'd love to receive some -grins-.
Advertisement: Guys, would any of you like to become my second beta? I need that beta to check this whole fic (I Found You) for any grammatical errors or any other possible changes that s/he deems fit. I already have the plot planned out, so I can't really change much from the past chapters. But I think it really needs to be cleaned of any grammar mistakes and such. If you're interested please PM me or tell me in a review! Thank you so much! (Oh, and after that beta finishes the old chapters, I'll need that same beta to proofread the future ones too XD)
