Chapter Twenty: Tezuka's Advice – Sunrise

Ryoma yawned as he walked to school. He'd walked past the Ryuzaki house but Sakuno had left already apparently. This made him slightly nervous. He had somehow not been able to sleep last night because of that line he said at her door.

'You're right about a few things'

Where did that even come from anyway? He had never said anything like that before despite his witty nature.

"Echizen!"

Ryoma turned around, caught sight of the running freshman and suppressed a groan.

"Hey, we haven't talked much lately," said Horio, walking in step beside him, "How are you going?"

"Good," said Ryoma.

"Uh, nice day isn't it?"

Ryoma gave him a suspicious look, "What?"

"Remember that time we were buying tennis stuff?" asked Horio.

"Yeah," said Ryoma, why is he bringing it up now?

"Were you actually buying flowers for your dying grandmother?" Horio eyed him suspiciously, truly serious for the first time in Ryoma's memory.

Ryoma was caught off guard by this. So he decided to just go with the truth, "No."

"It was actually for a girl?"

"Yeah." He pushed aside his cocky comments this time.

"Ne… It's, uh, Ryuzaki-san, isn't it?"

Ryoma paused. He hadn't actually expected Horio to get it right.

"Yeah. She is."

"Oh, well, uh…" Horio was at a loss for words. So was Ryoma for that matter. He had no idea what to say in this situation and for once regretted not putting his earpiece in. He could actually use his senpais' advice at this point.

Just then, the sound of the bell interrupted both their thoughts.

"Hey, uh, Echizen?" said Horio, somehow finding some words first. They were barely audible over the last ring of the bell but Ryoma gave him a curious look to acknowledge him.

"Can we meet at lunch?" Horio said a bit louder.

Horio was really surprising Ryoma today but he refused to let that show on his face. Instead he just nodded silently and started walking to class. He had a feeling what – or rather who – they were going to talk about and he needed time to think up what he was going to say.

…

Sakuno barely remembered that Tomoka returned from her holiday yesterday until she got a text at midnight.

Finally back! Whoo! Hope you didn't miss me too much, Sakuno!

Pretty tired now though… I think I might have jet lag.

P.S: Make sure you come to school tomorrow so I can catch up on everything Ryoma-sama and his supposedly hot brother!

Night!

Tomoka.

Of course this made Sakuno feel awful as a best friend. There was a lot going on with Ryoma right now but that was no excuse to forget about Tomoka. So she made sure to show up at school earlier and talk with her. She felt a little guilty at leaving Ryoma without a message but she really didn't feel like seeing him right now, especially after last night's events.

"SAKUNO!" The shout could be heard a mile away, like the running footsteps.

Sakuno turned around just in time to almost be barrelled over by her friend.

"Tomo-chan!" Sakuno exclaimed after coughing in the dust cloud that followed the girl, "G-Good morning…?"

"Not exactly the best morning," said Tomoka, suppressing a yawn and massaging her head, eyes closed, "Look at these bags! I was up half the night because of stupid jet lag…"

"Tomo-chan, you shouldn't have come to school if you don't feel well," said Sakuno, slipping into her natural worrying role.

"How can I not come to school?" said Tomoka, having a demonic aura rising from her as she hustled Sakuno against a wall, "There are so much interesting things to hear and God knows you won't respond to my texts!"

Sakuno lifted up her hands, "Sorry, Tomo-chan," she sincerely apologised, "I know I haven't been as good a friend lately. But I'll try to be better. I'm really sorry."

Tomoka stopped for a second, looking at Sakuno with a mix of emotions on her face.

Finally she sighed and said, "Sorry I'm so mad. I'm just tired." Sakuno knew she didn't just mean lack of sleep and felt a pang of guilt, "But thank you. It's OK." She gave one of her evil smirks, "As long as you're telling me what happened of course~"

Sakuno laughed as Tomoka sat down on a nearby bench and patted the space next to her, "Come on. There's still some time before class—"

The bell interrupted them with its loud rings.

Rings that were just barely loud enough to drown out Tomoka's cursing.

"Tomo-chan…" said Sakuno, holding in a laugh. She smiled behind her hand, just like how everything used to be.

…

At lunch, Ryoma didn't really know where Horio was since he hadn't specified where to meet. He'd lost sight of him in the crowds of students and wondered if it would be better to keep searching or get some lunch first.

After a while, he decided to head to the cafeteria and get some food. Whilst there, a hand grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Hey," greeted Momo when Ryoma turned around.

"What do you want?"

Momo seemed oblivious to his impatience, "So… How'd it go last night?"

"Good," said Ryoma as he grabbed a burger from a tray and a Ponta. He didn't particularly like the food but he needed an excuse to look away before Momo noticed the slight blush on his face.

"Just good?" he seemed disappointed.

"Good," confirmed Ryoma.

His sempai wasn't going to let this go.

"Did you say she looked pretty?"

Had he complimented her? He said her dress looked pretty. Was that the same thing?

"I think so…"

"What do you mean you think so?" said Momo, sounding weary, "Did you do all the gentleman stuff?"

"Pretty sure."

"Did she like her food?"

"Yeah." Her face lit up when she ate, Ryoma remembered.

"Did she say she had a nice time?"

"Yeah."

"Then you probably did pretty well," Momo conceded, "But work on that complimenting thing. You're probably new to it and everything but it's still nice every once in a while." He looked at Ryoma as he didn't reply and gave a knowing smile, "It makes a difference when you compliment the girl, Echizen. Remember that!" With that, Momo left, leaving Ryoma to his thoughts.

Momo-sempai knows me too well, thought Ryoma bitterly, meaning he also knew the best ways to make him frustrated.

So Ryoma went in a different direction and walked up the stairs leading to the roof. The door was slightly open. He wondered for a second if Karupin had somehow managed to follow him to school again and opened the door.

Horio was sitting there.

"Echizen, there you are," said Horio, seeming relieved as he turned around, "It took you long enough."

"You didn't say where to meet," said Ryoma, shrugging as he walked over to sit down, "What is it?"

"It's about Ryuzaki-san," said Horio. He was still in serious mode, something that made Ryoma curious.

"Hn?"

"Ne, do you like her?"

Ryoma almost coughed on his burger, caught off guard. Before he could even say anything though, Horio spoke.

"I guess you do from that reaction."

He had been observing Ryoma quite closely, something the rookie player also had not suspected.

"What about it?" said Ryoma instead, attempting to seem nonchalant. Denying it at this point would be useless.

For a second, a surprised expression crossed Horio's face. Maybe he wasn't expecting Ryoma to willingly talk openly with him, but it was gone in a second and replaced by a new expression, an expression that seemed to combine a number of things. Not exactly sad, angry, happy or calm. Sombre, Ryoma finally decided; that was the closest thing he could come to.

"Well, I just wanted to know, I guess," said Horio.

Ryoma raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. He wasn't entirely blind or clueless. He saw the signs (for once); just didn't know how to respond to them.

Finally, he said, "I'm not going to say 'I'm sorry'. If you wanted to say something to her, you had a lot of time."

"I know." Horio gave a small humourless laugh, "Just didn't know that you would be the first to say something, Echizen. Then when I figured it out, I had to have you confirm it before I believed it."

Ryoma shot a sidelong frown at him, "What do you mean by that?"

Horio didn't flinch, "Can you really blame me for not believing it at first?"

Well… that was kind of true. Ryoma hadn't even believed it himself at first so he was pretty much being a hypocrite right now.

"Guess not," he conceded, shifting his gaze back to the front. After a lengthy silence, he asked, "Are you mad?" He opened a can of Ponta and took a sip.

"Not entirely at you," Horio answered, "But a little bit. You know, Echizen, you don't have to smash a tennis ball in my face every time Ryuzaki happens to fall onto me."

Ryoma almost choked on his Ponta as he smiled, remembering the memory. Sure it wasn't the nicest thing, but Horio's face was priceless.

"Did you just laugh? You just laughed didn't you?" yelled Horio.

"Sorry." He was still smiling as he drank the rest of the Ponta.

"Whatever," said Horio, standing up, stretching and grabbing his bag, "Good that you haven't changed, Echizen."

With that, he left. As he opened the door, he said, "Ne, Echizen?"

"What?" Ryoma turned his head around slightly.

"Good luck."

He gave his signature smirk, "Thanks."

As Ryoma lay back down on roof, enjoying the slight breeze and sunshine, he thought of how ironic it was that even Horio had ended up helping him somehow.

'Good that you haven't changed…', huh? thought Ryoma.

It was the first time since the whole operation began that someone said it was good he hadn't changed. It felt nice.

"I don't know for sure but I think… you've been acting different for a while."

Ryoma frowned as Sakuno's words from last night suddenly occurred to him.

Have I actually changed? Ryoma wondered, suddenly doubtful on a rare occasion. He didn't like being doubtful, and the thought stuck with him the rest of the day.

…

"Obaa-chan, where are we going?" Sakuno asked for the thousandth time. It was Friday, four days since she had made up with Tomoka. The jet lag had practically turned her friend into a zombie so she'd been absent the next three days. Sakuno had visited her each day and she seemed to be getting enough sleep now. Still, she was a bit worried as she slept when her grandmother suddenly woke her up, ordered her to get dressed in warm clothes and get in the car. The sun wasn't even up yet. It was unbelievable. What's worse is her hair, in unruly waves around her face that she had to keep brushing away. Her grandmother didn't have the patience to wait around while she brushed her hair, barking, 'Hurry up, Sakuno! We're going to be late!'

"You'll see," said Sumire cheerfully and patiently, completely unlike her previous mood, for the thousandth time.

"Obaa-chan!"

"Whine all you want, Sakuno, I dealt with Nanjiro and his son too," said Sumire, "You're nothing compared to them."

Sakuno sighed and leaned back into her seat. It was dark so she couldn't tell where they were going from the surroundings. There were no glowing signs and the car didn't have GPS either.

But the sounds and feel of the car suggested they weren't on the road anymore.

"Are we in a forest?" asked Sakuno. They'd definitely been driving long enough.

"On a trail," conceded Sumire, "Good job on picking up on that." She sounded approving.

Sakuno suddenly felt a bit panicked. Were they doing some kind of survival training? At night? She looked behind at the backseat. No luggage or even any food.

"Obaa-chan, where are we going?" Sakuno asked calmly. Maybe if she no longer amused her, her grandmother would tell her.

"We're here," Sumire announced chirpily, slamming her foot on the brakes so suddenly, Sakuno flew against her seatbelt, and then hit her back against the seat.

"Obaa-chan," Sakuno had lots of patience but even she had her limits.

"Save your energy," said Sumire, "Get out."

Sakuno sighed but obeyed. Once she was out, she got a good look at her surroundings. Hard dirt ground and not much else. Sakuno reached out a hand and felt a rough, uneven surface.

A cliff face?

"Are we on a mountain?" Sakuno asked incredulously.

"I heard this is a good sunrise view," said Sumire, as if that explained everything, "Here, catch!"

A smooth, cool object landed in Sakuno's hands. As she stared at it, a second object came flying towards her. Sakuno caught it, immediately getting a feel for what it was.

Matches? Then this…

Her hand found a handle on the first object.

"You're gonna need a lantern," said Sumire, "It'll last long enough; don't worry about not being able to go home, you'll be picked up and have fun!"

Sakuno fumbled with the matches, finally lighting the lantern properly just in time to see Sumire's car carefully but quickly pulling away, "See you, Sakuno!"

"EH?" cried Sakuno, watching in disbelief, "Obaa-chan!"

"I drove up the mountain as far as I could go. You'll have to go on foot from here! Don't worry though, it's not far!" yelled Sumire, waving out the window and quickly driving away, disappearing into the underbrush.

Sakuno stood for a second; twitching at the bizarre situation she was suddenly in. As the lantern flickered, she remembered it may run out soon and that she dropped her matches somewhere in the bush.

Sighing, Sakuno began making her way up the smooth slope, carefully picking her footsteps.

Soon she reached the top of the mountain, a flat plateau with trees and bushes. Towards the edge of the plateau was bare grass where a familiar figure was sitting.

"Hey, Ryuzaki," said Ryoma, turning around, "Come on, the sunrise is starting."

…

Ryoma was glad Sakuno had brought along a lantern – something his brother hadn't thought to give to him so he had to hike up the mountain in relative darkness – when she appeared from the line of trees and bushes.

"Ryoma-kun," said Sakuno. She didn't sound as surprised as she used to anymore; his name was spoken as more like a greeting than a question.

She walked over to where he was sitting and sat down, drawing up her knees and placing the lantern between them. It was a somewhat comfortable, yet awkward silence. Ryoma didn't know whether he should say something or not.

Then the top of the sun appeared over the mountain. Light gleamed in rays, slowly covering the town below them as the shadows shrunk back. The sky was dark mixed with light, each star vanishing one by one. There wasn't even a whisper of wind to disrupt this moment.

"It's beautiful," breathed Sakuno. Ryoma looked sideways at her dreamy, delighted expression, his smirk melting away into a real smile.

"Thank you, Ryoma-kun," said Sakuno. But even as she said that, Ryoma sensed something. There was no mistaking her happiness but there was something else there. The sunlight reached them, casting half of Ryoma's face in shadow as he shifted his position to look at her, "What is it?"

Sakuno didn't turn to face him, but he could definitely see the doubt on her face. She was silent for several seconds, watching the sun slowly rise as Ryoma waited impatiently.

Finally she seemed to visibly reach some decision. Her arms tightened their hold around her knees but that was the only sign of her doubt. She still didn't face him and her long hair danced around her face in the sudden wind that picked up. It made it somewhat difficult for Ryoma to hear what she said next.

"You're hiding something."

…

Finally finished this! It was so hard to get the scenes right! But, yeah! :D

The end is in sight for those of you wondering~ Only Ryoga's mystery advice left to go! Anyone guess what it is?

Until next time~~