Game and Match: Sakuno?
A/N: I missed you guys! Here's the twelfth chapter, and I've spent quite a time figuring out the scenes to be put in. There'll absolutely be RyoSaku fluff, but no family moments from Sakuno's side. Sorry a million. Well, I did update, right? And that's what matters right now. Please enjoy! Hugs and kisses!
WARNING: Okay, I need to put this warning because there will be a scene in this chapter whereby the rating will be bordering M. But for some, it might still be in the T region… just to be on the safe side, if you don't like steamy scenes, don't read the second last part of this chapter.
Ch12: Interview and Revelation
Some blusher on her cheeks, a sneeze there… and done.
Sakuno looked at herself in the mirror after she had taken Tomoka's advice to 'slap some powder on'. But she thought she overdid it a little, because she had taken the advice to heart and did as Tomoka literally told her to do: slap some powder on her face.
And she didn't really recognize the clown looking back at her from the mirror.
She never knew she could be this pitiful.
Sighing, Sakuno decided to wash and rub her face clean, dry it, and apply her usual lip gloss and some compact powder. She tried to glare at the pallets of green, blue, purple and red powder sitting on the dressing table, but they were a present from Tomoka when her best friend heard about the interview. Sakuno raised a brow as she noticed the price tag that Tomoka had not-so-subtly left sticking onto the underside of the casing. A cheap present. Just like Tomoka.
But it still showed that her best friend still loves her.
A smile graced her lips.
"Thank you, Tomo-chan."
Her cell phone rang, causing her to jerk a bit. It took a while for her to respond to the screaming of her phone before she finally answered it. She forgot to look at the name displayed onto the screen.
"Hello?"
"Ne, Sakuno nee-chan! When are you coming?"
Sakuno slapped her forehead with the heel of her palm as she realized she was fifteen minutes late. Again, she tried to glare at the colored pellets sitting on her dressing table, making a point to blame the pellets for making her too preoccupied to realize the time.
"Sorry, I'll be there. I'm picking you up at the nearby bus stand, okay?"
"Okay!"
As Sayuri hung up, Sakuno checked her appearance once again before the mirror and tried not to grimace.
Why did she just realize that she didn't really have a sense of fashion?
The sound of shopping bags rubbing against each other accommodated the 'ding' of the elevator as it stopped on a particular floor.
"It's kind of weird though, not having a yard. But I guess this house is okay."
Sakuno adjusted the strap of her briefcase and tried to balance her own shopping bags as she did so.
"How about your laundry? I heard guys like your brother don't really do their own laundry."
Sayuri led the reporter along the corridor to stop in front of a door, numbered 19-126. She pushed some numbers on the small keypad installed above the door knob and waited a few seconds for the door to unlock.
"We pay for our laundry."
"Even your underwear?" At this, Sakuno thought about her own new set of lingerie and suddenly remembered Sayuri's push up bra.
Sayuri nodded and entered the house as the door unlocked itself, with Sakuno still thinking about other people folding others' underwear. Not quite her thing to be exact.
Sakuno's thoughts suddenly came to a halt as she stepped into Echizen Ryoma's house. Or unit. Or whatever those rich bachelor guys live inside other than a mansion. She stood transfixed by the still-open door while her brown eyes scanned the interior. The most favourite part of the house might just be the ceiling-to-floor windows overlooking the city below. Her eyes roamed over the dark-colored carpets, and stopped at a figure lying down in the longest couch, a hand covering his closed eyes looking like a lazy cat.
The younger Echizen disappeared somewhere to drop her bags, making sure to drop Sakuno's by the coffee table in the living room, and came back to wake Ryoma up.
"Wake up, sleeping beauty."
Sakuno could hear him mumble something that most probably sounded like 'five minutes' before he let his hand that previously covered his eyes to dangle by the edge of his navy-colored couch.
"Hey, wake up, nee-chan is here already."
He lazily opened his eyes to look at his sister before reluctantly sitting up to look for the brown-haired woman. A lazy grin spread across his face as he saw Sakuno looking at him by the front door.
"Hey."
Blinking, she watched as Sayuri disappear once again to change her clothes. Her eyes were then focused on the tired-looking tennis player a few feet from her position.
"Oh. Hi."
The grin on his face neither widening nor faltering as he nodded towards the door. "You can close that door, you know."
Realizing she was standing in the middle of the doorframe, Sakuno blushed and turned around to close the door. She turned back around just as she heard the door lock itself and was left looking at Ryoma who was scratching his head. He did look a little bit like a lazy cat.
"Sorry if we disturbed your nap."
The grin was not there anymore as he shook his head in the slightest.
"It's okay, I was waiting for you guys anyway. How did it go?"
Sakuno walked towards him, a finger resting on her chin as she did so. "She was fine, we ate, and talked about… her mother…"
She could see the slightest change in his eyes as she said that, and wondered if he was planning to do anything to make his life back on track. She remembered Sayuri telling her about the boarding school applications stacked on top of his bedside table, and made Sakuno promise not to tell Ryoma that the girl knew about the schools.
To think about it again, Sakuno knew the girl didn't want to talk to Ryoma about moving somewhere far away from her current home.
She decided to change the topic.
"She's quite weird though…"
Ryoma quirked a brow. "When hasn't she been weird?"
Sakuno laughed at that. "Well, she bought a… uhm…" She laughed nervously, "…a push-up… bra."
A push-up bra? Why did a sixteen-year old need that for?
"And let me guess, a pound of rock candy too."
The reporter nodded, and set her briefcase by her feet when she sat next to Ryoma.
"You ready? I've got all my questions with me."
Ryoma nodded half-heartedly as he searched for something. His eyes still looked sleepy as he decided to abandon whatever he was looking for and settled on looking at the woman next to him instead. He stifled a yawn as he looked at her single braid and the frameless glasses she had on her nose bridge. He noticed she'd changed those horrid glasses for something better. At least that was what he thought.
"Nee-chan!"
Sayuri called out as she reappeared at the living room, all clean and fresh. Her amber eyes scanned the reporter's appearance and frowned. The blue cardigan worn over the white and red T-shirt looked quite good on Sakuno, but the reporter had those clothes on since morning and she thought that the older woman needed a shower to freshen up.
"Are you comfortable still wearing those clothes? I think you need to wash up, you know.. freshen up your limbs and muscles... We did buy some new clothes, right?"
Sakuno realized that she did need a shower, a hot shower to soothe her exhausted muscles. They were constantly moving around at the mall and it was taking a toll on her small figure.
"Um, yes, you're right. I think I need to change… and wash up a bit…"
Ryoma nodded towards the guest room, the room left vacant between his and Sayuri's room.
"You can use the guest room."
He motioned Sakuno to follow him when Sayuri was busy reading the calorie content of one of the food stuff in the kitchen cupboard, distracted at her brother's calorie intake. They stopped at the second door, and she followed him inside, with her shopping bags in her hands.
She tried not to gape at the room, but she couldn't stop herself from blinking at the spacious spare room. The door to the small toilet was at the end of the room, and Sakuno wasted no time picking out a new set of lingerie from a plastic bag when she paused. Lifting her face to look up, a brow was raised as she watched Ryoma rest a shoulder against the door frame.
"Excuse me, Ryoma-kun?"
"What?" He asked, putting on a clueless face.
Sakuno blushed faintly as she cleared her throat, while a thumb pointed towards the bathroom door.
"I'm going to change, Ryoma-kun. Do you have anything to say to me that makes you stay here? Or are you just simply staying here to take a look at me?"
That got Ryoma to smirk. He straightened his posture and crossed his arms across his lean chest. But he didn't move away from the door.
"Maybe. But I thought I told you there was nothing to look at, didn't I?"
Sakuno sighed, not wanting to start something else. She was too tired to do anything anyway. She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture as she walked towards him.
"Please, Ryoma-kun? If you really have something to ask, can you just say it out or wait after I change?"
Shrugging, the tennis player let his eyes drop somewhere else, anywhere but her brown eyes. He settled on the dark blue plastic bag that according to Sayuri, had lingerie.
"How did you drive around town?"
Sakuno tiredly gave him a toothy grin. "I got my car back. Apparently, Inui-san helped a bit. He made some calls."
She giggled and made him smile a teeny tiny bit at her gleefulness. He turned around and walked away before reminding her they were to do the interview after dinner.
When Sakuno locked the door after him, she suddenly realized that she had yet to eat dinner. Shrugging it off, she made her way to the bathroom with a fresh set of lingerie, a new grey pullover hoodie with a Care Bear print on it, and a fluffy towel that was provided at the head post of the bed.
Sayuri looked up from the can of preserved bamboo shoots as Ryoma walked into the kitchen.
"Nee-chan is in the bathroom?"
Taking out a Ponta from the fridge, he nodded. Sayuri frowned as her brother chugged down the drink.
"You probably should cut down on that Ponta, nii-chan."
Ryoma raised a dark brow. "And why should I?"
The younger Echizen had her hands on her hips, a gesture indicating that she was going to lecture him over something petty.
"It has tonnes of sugar in it, and sugar can lead to high calorie intake and can make your body chubby! I don't wanna be seen walking around with a chubby brother."
He shrugged as he read the contents of the can he was holding. "I know. But I won't get fat, Sayuri."
Sayuri shook her head as she was busy pulling out fresh vegetables and other stuff to be put on the kitchen table.
"Yes, you will."
Ryoma tossed the empty can into the bin and walked over to his sister to pick up a Chinese cabbage.
"I have a high metabolic rate. I can burn off fat as fast as I consume it."
The frown on Sayuri's head disappeared as she laughed at Ryama's clever reasoning. "Oookay. Hey, put that cabbage down."
"What are you doing anyway?"
Sayuri proudly looked at the fresh foodstuff she had picked out from the super market, with Sakuno's help, of course. She pounded a small fist against her chest.
"I'm gonna make dinner!"
Ryoma tried not to laugh, but he couldn't help the grin forming on his face. "You? Cook? You're gonna burn this house."
Pouting, Sayuri put on an apron and fetched a chopping board and knives. "I can."
Leaning against the counter with the grin still on his face, Ryoma watched as Sayuri scratched her head.
"What are you cooking?"
As expected, his sister raised a brow at most of the stuff she picked up and crossed her arms across her chest. She frowned as she looked at the vegetables, and lifted her head to look at Ryoma.
"Um… I don't know."
Ryoma gave her a look which clearly said: 'Told ya so' before he made a move to the living room to call for take-out dinner. Sayuri tapped his shoulder before he made his move, making him turn around.
"Nii-chan, I don't want to eat take-outs anymore. I'm bored of the food."
Scowling, Ryoma nodded towards the food stuff brought out on the table. "I can't wait for you to figure out how to cook."
Sayuri smiled sweetly. "Um, actually, nee-chan can cook…"
He didn't like where this was going. Sakuno was there to interview him, not cook dinner for them. That was asking too much, although the idea did appeal to him. But no, Sakuno was a guest. And he didn't make guests cook for him. Because Sakuno was, sadly, the first guest to ever enter his current home.
"So? You can't ask others to cook for you when they're guests."
Sayuri pouted. "Since when have you become so nice?"
Ryoma could feel a brow twitch. "And why are you becoming a brat today?"
His sister gasped dramatically. "Nii-chan!"
Annoyed, Ryoma reached inside his pocket for his cell phone to dial instead. "What?"
Sayuri managed to somehow produce tears at the corners of her eyes. "I just wanted some home-cooked Japanese food… Is that too much?"
To add to the dramatic effect, Sayuri let a tear roll down her eye, and her lips were wobbling.
He couldn't believe it.
Why was his sister being such a drama queen lately? Her mood swings were getting worse, despite the fact that they were slowly getting along with each other.
He crossed his arms again, and proceeded to dial the number for take-out. "No."
Sayuri pouted again, her fake tears instantly disappearing as she huffed when she turned her back to him. To emphasize her sulking, she crossed her arms.
Ryoma sighed inaudibly as he watched his sister's back to him. He held the phone to an ear when he heard Sayuri mumble.
"I wish I had a nee-chan."
He was about to snap the phone in half out of frustration when they heard Sakuno by the kitchen door.
"Um, I can cook for you if you want…"
Instantly, Sayuri turned around to flash him a goofy grin.
Hanging up from his previous call, Ryoma looked at his sister dejectedly. "Sayuri…"
Sakuno laughed as she heard Sayuri told her everything about not knowing how to cook and Ryoma not letting the guest cook. She donned the apron Sayuri had previously put on as she rolled up the sleeves of her new pullover hoodie.
"It's okay, Ryoma-kun. You agreed to do an interview, and this is the least I can do. If we have soba here, I might finish dinner in half an hour."
Sayuri eagerly stuck her hand into another plastic bag and handed Sakuno a packet of dried soba noodles.
"Here, nee-chan!"
Ryoma sighed as he leaned against the counter, watching Sakuno chop up some vegetables to make a simple soup.
He realized he was sighing a lot more often ever since Sayuri entered his life.
He grabbed a glass of water as he stayed by the side lines, watching as Sakuno chatted happily with Sayuri who was rather being quite bothersome by popping here and there, trying to learn how to cook. The water was boiling, and Sakuno had let the soba noodles cook for a while before she drained the noodles. He watched as she expertly sliced some mushrooms to be put into the soup, and wondered why the reporter was good in a lot of things. The woman knew how to write journals, she knew how to communicate with Vlad's and Bobby's slurry Japanese, she knew how to make him feel good about himself.
Ryuzaki Sakuno to him, was amazing.
His eyes spotted the bandage covering her right hand. She must have had a bruise for punching that Okinawan guy.
"Nee-chan, I'll make the tea. Um… put five cups of water…"
Ryoma heard Sayuri mumble to herself as his sister carefully poured some water into a kettle to be boiled. Childhood memories flashed for a moment, making him smile just a little bit as he walked to his sister to ruffle her hair.
"You said 'gotter' when you were two."
Sayuri pouted as she smoothed her messed hair. "I was a kid. How did you know anyway?"
He stood behind Sakuno as he peered over her shoulder to look at the boiling soup.
"I visited, but I doubt you remember."
Nodding, Sayuri turned to the fridge to store some stuff. "I was cute when I was a kid."
A chuckle escaped him. "You were bald."
He ignored the soothing feeling in his chest as he heard Sakuno's laughter. Sayuri, on the other hand, scowled.
"I was still cute."
Ryoma nodded nonchalantly as he continued to peer over Sakuno's shoulder.
"What's that?"
Sakuno nearly jerked as she felt his breath tickling her earlobe, wondering since when he was behind her looking over her shoulder so dangerously near to her.
It was times like these when everything she heard from Tomoka flashed in her head.
Lean into him.
She blushed faintly at the thought. Clearing her throat, she continued to stir the soup gently, careful as to not let the vegetables break into small pieces.
"It's vegetable soup. I've put some slices of beef in here too."
Ryoma nodded distractedly, and glanced towards Sayuri as the young girl hurried to her bedroom to answer her ringing phone.
"Thanks."
Sakuno blinked, and turned her face to look up at him. Their faces were so close to each other, that it made her brain shut down for a while. Ryoma's hair was a bit tousled, as if he'd just been out of bed when she and Sayuri had come back from their shopping, when he had only been napping for a while. And he looked delicious, she couldn't help it when her eyes dropped to his lips. Without looking up from his mouth, she managed to whisper out an answer.
"You're welcome."
Seeing her eyes dropping to his mouth tempted him to just kiss her silly right then and there. She had suddenly licked her lips, causing the bottom lip to glisten a bit at the action, rendering his mouth dry. He knew then and there if she was ever to seduce him, he would be a lost man. He was already a lost man when he dipped his head to kiss her, her warm breath tickling his lips as he came very close to kiss her.
The soup was left forgotten for a while as they lips touched, but not for long when suddenly Sayuri came back, her eyes focusing on her phone screen. Instantly, they both pulled back, and Ryoma quickly stepped back, quite disappointed at the loss of Sakuno's body heat from just a few moments ago. He sucked in a breath as his sister mumbled something about some dude calling the wrong number. Ryoma didn't notice that Sayuri was saying something to him as he looked at Sakuno's back; and knowing the reporter, he knew she was blushing uncontrollably.
"Nii-chan? Are you listening?"
Ryoma snapped out of his trance as he turned to his sister, his eyes looking unfocused for a while.
"Yeah?"
Sayuri frowned as she observed her suddenly fazed brother. "Are you okay? You look exhausted."
He blinked for a while and cleared his throat. "I'm okay…. No, I think I need a shower."
And with that, he quickly left the kitchen to lock himself in his bathroom for a cold, cold shower.
Dinner was simple, but it was the fact that it was home made that made dinner so delicious and nostalgic to Ryoma. He remembered why he preferred Japanese cooking, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that Sayuri shared the same preference when it came to food.
Sakuno listened as she heard the two siblings talk about Sayuri's school, their dad and other family-related stuff, where Sayuri had obviously been the main person to talk and Ryoma being the ever-so-loyal listener he was. Her brown eyes dropped momentarily at the glass of milk Ryoma had poured for her. Believe it or not, Echizen Ryoma was a milk drinker. How adorable.
"Ryuzaki, you're not drinking the milk." She heard him say, making her look up at him.
"Why are you telling me to drink it, anyway? I thought I said no thank you."
Sayuri slurped on her soba. "If you wanna know nee-chan, my brother is a man who eats healthy stuff."
Ryoma nodded as he drank some of the milk from his glass. Sakuno remembered not seeing Ryoma drink coffee, and she remembered the tennis player declining her offer for coffee when he'd talked to her the day after she was sacked momentarily.
"I do know for a fact that your brother doesn't drink coffee."
The man in the centre of the conversation finished the last drop of his milk. "I'm a temple of healthy food."
Suddenly Sakuno's mouth decided to butt in, and said probably the dirtiest thing in their conversation so far.
"And women with big chests and long legs are welcomed to worship."
Sayuri laughed, even coughing a bit as she choked on a piece of cabbage. And Ryoma was smirking at her, his amber eyes glinting with something unreadable. Sakuno blushed and covered her mouth afterwards.
"I-I'm s-sorry. That came out wrong."
As if it was everyday routine, Ryoma shrugged it off and saw that his sister hadn't touched her glass of milk.
"Sayuri, your milk."
Sayuri pointed towards Sakuno's untouched glass of milk. "But nee-chan doesn't have to!"
Sakuno nodded affirmatively.
Ryoma looked at his sister for a heartbeat, before he shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know about you, but I think if Aunt Fujiko's here, she would tell you to drink the milk before you become like her."
Apparently, Aunt Fujiko must be an osteoporosis nightmare to be able to make Sayuri shut her mouth and chug down her glass of milk. She licked off the white moustache and suddenly burped, making Sakuno widen her eyes and Ryoma to sigh yet again.
"Seriously Sayuri, you're unbelievable."
The younger Echizen giggled instead and suddenly made a random statement. "I wanna drive your car."
Ryoma stood up to bring his own dishes to the kitchen, followed by Sayuri tailing after him, dishes in her hands as she pestered her brother about his Land Cruiser. Sakuno smiled serenely as she watched them from the sink while she washed her dishes. Whatever that made Ryoma to think that he wasn't enough of a good brother, he was definitely wrong. Brothers don't have to be talkative or jovial to be a good brother. Even when Ryoma seemed to ignore his sister completely whenever the young girl talked about him letting her drive his car, or when she would be pestering him to give her one of his visa cards, it was crystal clear to Sakuno that they were really on good terms, if she put out the boarding school issue. Maybe others couldn't even tell that they were born from different mothers. Despite all, seeing Ryoma's tint of a smile on the corner of his lips as he conversed with his younger sibling seemed to just make her heart pinch just a little bit more.
She didn't know when the conversation turned from his car to Sayuri telling him about sleeping over at her friend's house, a couple of floors below their unit.
Wait, a sleep over? She didn't know about this.
That meant she would be alone in Echizen Ryoma's unit, alone staring at the owner of the house himself. In five minutes. In five, cursed minutes when she would watch helplessly as Sayuri walked out of the front door, a back pack readied in her hands.
"Wait, Ryoma-kun… Are we… still doing the interview?"
He missed the blush on her cheeks as he nodded, oblivious to the fact that he was doing an interview with a reporter who he knew nothing about her feelings for him. Or maybe he knew and he was doing this just to spite her?
"C'mon. It's more comfortable in the living room."
Obediently, Sakuno followed her interviewee to his living room, and joined him as he sat on the previous couch he'd napped on. He watched patiently as she reached for her briefcase and pulled out a recorder. A corner of his mouth tilted upwards slightly as she took off her glasses, set them on the coffee table and tied her brown hair into a messy bun. She looked cute when she chanted something under her breath –probably some encouragement, seeing as she clasped her hands in a praying manner – and turned to him with a notepad with questions scribbled on them in her right hand and her recorder in the other. She actually looked nervous, and it felt quite odd to him that an interview would cause the nervousness. There were little stuff that unnerved her, from what he noticed during her travels with the team.
She took a big breath, and Ryoma had to keep his eyes glued to hers to avoid looking at her moving chest.
"To lead the Dragons to countless victories just a few weeks after you were appointed Captain, I'm sure there are some secrets behind that, don't you think?"
Ryoma was speechless for a moment, and looked at her as if she was Sayuri speaking French. And Sayuri was bad at French. All of a sudden, Sakuno was all-work and no play. He kind of respected that.
"I wouldn't call it a secret though. Sure, we won a lot during those times, and I'm sure to say that Inui's training drill was one of the reasons we pulled through."
Sakuno held in a giggle. "I see you're one to not take all the compliments to yourself."
He nodded. "It's just that this game requires a lot of teamwork. We usually back up each other when someone has a hard time in the courts. Maybe that helps a lot too."
Nodding, Sakuno read another question from her notepad. "Those kinds of back-up are what makes your team a good one, am I right?"
Ryoma shrugged. "Well other teams have those kinds of back-ups too, but I do think considering the guys in the team are quite… interesting, so yeah. We've got Kikumaru and Momo, Sengoku's quite on the eccentric side too sometimes. Mostly he's just a perv."
He got Sakuno's laughter out of his last statement and thought that this interview thing wasn't such a bad idea after all. Not when he's with her.
The reporter shook her head and seemed to relax a bit when she pulled up a leg onto the couch, and settled more comfortably next to him.
"That was a good response." She glanced at her notepad again. "What about retirement? Ever thought of it?"
He never really considered retirement ever since he was back on track after the worst part of his life when he was in rehab. As he thought about winning the World Tennis Cup, he never expected retirement so early.
"No, not really."
"When would it be then? If you were to retire, I mean."
He thought for a while. "Inui likes to predict stuff, and he said I would retire in five years."
He saw Sakuno smile as her eyes dropped to her lap, obviously about to say something. "And knowing you, you wouldn't do that."
Ryoma raised a brow and a corner of his mouth kicked up a bit. "Of course. Maybe a little more years after that, but not in five years. It's too soon."
Sakuno nodded as she read something in the notepad. "People have been wondering, if you're interested in coaching after you retire. What about that?"
"I've been thinking about that, yeah. It's the least I can do to help others, I guess."
"I know this is quite random, but do you have some pre-game rituals?"
Her interviewee looked up from his fingers to her face, a half grin on his face. "Besides you calling me a big dumb pumpkin?"
Sakuno blushed and cleared her throat. "I'm not writing that."
Ryoma scoffed. "Hypocrite."
"I have to be sometimes, to avoid any mishaps during my interviews."
He waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever. I eat energy-boosting stuff, like meat and lots of Ponta."
He heard Sakuno laugh at that. "Ponta? Yes, the guys have been telling me that. Interesting."
"Sayuri had told me to cut down on Ponta though. She's sometimes controlling what I eat, as if she's not damaging herself already with the rock candies."
Briefly, Sakuno thought she saw something flash in his eyes. Fondness, maybe? It seemed to her that he was doing well for a person who hates interviews.
"Do you want to talk about your sister?"
As she thought, Ryoma shook his head. She instantly turned off the recorder in her hand.
"I don't want her swarmed by the press. She frets about stuff easily, especially when it concerns me and oyaji."
Sakuno nodded. "I understand. I'm not recording anymore."
Ryoma let his eyes drop onto the coffee table, looking at the surface intently as he thought of things. "No, you don't."
A smile stretched across Sakuno's face as she shook her head. "I do, believe me. I might not have a brother, or any other siblings, but I worry over my daddy if he doesn't pick up the phone. We don't have mommy to look out after him anymore, so I do know what it feels like to fret over a family member. Especially because we only have each other to hold on to."
Guilt washed over him as he looked at her with that sad look on her face. He hated it. His eyes dropped to her bandaged knuckles.
"Does that hurt?" He asked, as he pried her recorder and notepad off her fingers and set them onto the coffee table.
She watched as he brought her bandaged hand into his, stroking lightly on her right knuckles. She distractedly answered his question with a 'Sort of', and almost missed the next words coming from him.
"Sorry. I didn't know about your mom."
Smiling shyly, Sakuno shook her head. "It's okay."
She watched him as he nodded slightly, and when he slowly trailed his fingers along her exposed forearm, past the ruffle of her rolled-up sleeves, and rested against the crook of her neck, her skin tingled in the most pleasant way. Amber eyes bore into hers as he lowered his face to kiss her, freezing her in place. The sound of the screaming police siren from nine stories below slowly faded as their lips touched, gently at first, and when she kissed back shyly, he pressed harder.
His other hand nestled against the curve of her waist and pulled her closer, and they broke apart to suck in air as she ran her hands up his flat abdomen towards his lean chest, making her warmth seep through his white long-sleeved shirt and making the skin under her hands turn very warm.
She blushed as she heard him mumble against her lips for her to come closer before kissing her again. Her leg accidentally hit the leg of the coffee table as she shifted closer to him, drawing up her left leg to rest against his right knee. As he untied her messy bun, Sakuno knew doing this would lead to troublesome situations, and she really didn't mean it when she shifted closer and closer towards him as he expertly explored every crevice in her mouth, daring her to entice him too.
Ryoma had hooked his hands at the back of her knees, and brought her legs closer to him so that she straddled him. Instantly Sakuno broke the kiss as he rested his hands on her hips to make her sit on his lap. She heard him growl as she flattened her palms against his chest to put a foot of space between her chest and his.
"W-Wait… Ryoma-kun…"
She heard him mumbling something against her neck and leaned away to hear better. "Sorry, I didn't hear you."
He still had his nose buried in her loosened hair when he spoke, his voice clearly sounded annoyed at being stopped.
"I'm not gonna do what you think it is, not until you're ready. So come closer, damn it."
She gasped as he crushed her to him again and sent burning kisses along her neck, and a yelp came out of her lips as she felt his hands lifting up the hem of her hoodie to expose her bare sides. She hadn't felt it necessary to have worn something under the hoodie, and she started regretting it when she felt his kisses stop at her earlobe to look down.
"What?" he sounded sleepy, but there was a tinge of amusement in his voice as he got to see the thing that Sakuno tried to hide by pulling down her clothing.
"U-Um…" She tried to cover her exposed skin by tugging the hem down, but Ryoma managed to lift the sides back up to see a little more of her skin.
There, just above the right side of the hem of her beige caprice, was a tattoo peeking out. He ran a thumb over the inked small roses and vines twisting into an elegant drawing on her creamy skin. Sexy. Very.Damn, he couldn't even form a complete sentence. He was a really lost man.
"Don't look at it for too long… it's embarrassing…" She whispered above his head, even as she leaned towards his touch.
Without looking up from the tattoo, he distractedly spoke up, his voice turning husky. "Why are you embarrassed about this?"
Blushing a few shades darker, Sakuno bit her lower lip. She had her hands on his shoulders to tighten a bit.
"I… I'm not one to inspire lust… in men… especially men like you… I didhave a boyfriend a few years back though." She whispered the last part, now almost surrendering to his touches.
Again without looking up, Ryoma wondered what she would do if he kissed her tattoo. Knowing Sakuno, it must have hurt when she got it.
"You're kidding me. Whoever your ex was, he really didn't know what he was missing."
The woman straddling his thighs laughed shyly, and then complied as he lifted her up from his lap to kiss her tattoo. He looked at her face as he sat her back onto his lap, watching her as she smiled at him, the blush on her cheeks making her look so damn beautiful.
"Stay tonight." He said as his eyes dropped to her lips again.
Without answering, Sakuno wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fully on the lips. She could feel his smirk growing against her lips as she slid closer to him, making sure her body was pushed fully against his.
That was definitely a 'yes'.
Sakuno's house, a little over midnight.
The black beads that made up the eyes for the tiger plushie perched on top her bed reflected the lights and the movement of the man inside the house.
The sound of him chuckling as he found what he wanted reverberated throughout the empty room. The small beads on Tiger's head glinted a while as the lights were shut off, and saw the man moving fluidly towards the door to let himself out of the apartment.
If only the plushie was a living thing, it might have been the only witness to see Ryuzaki Sakuno's house intruded.
A/N: That. Was. Exhausting. And steamy. I'm sorry to those who are pure-hearted, I'm not a perv or anything, I haven't even had my first kiss yet. It's just that I read a lot of stories and books and VOILA! This is what you get. I warned you, didn't I?
I'm not aiming for 100 reviews or something like that, but it'll be much appreciated if you send reviews, yeah?
Till I update again! Buh bye!