36 Drabbles

29: Thank You For Your Hard Work

"Thank you for your hard work." One of Sakuno's classmates said, bowing to her in gratefulness as the young Ryuzaki stepped out of the classroom. Ryoma was off at tennis practice again, and a classmate had asked her to help clean the classroom because she accidentally twisted her foot while trying to reach for the bucket placed on a high cabinet. Sakuno, ever kind and thoughtful, agreed immediately and helped bandage the injury before she started on the cleaning. When her classmate apologized for making her work in her place, Sakuno just waved it off and said she had nothing to do anyways, Tomoka leaving early after school for her new part-time job.

"Please, let me walk you down to the front doors." Sakuno offered, gripping her classmate's arm firmly as she helped her hobble down the hallway. Her classmate, agreeing with a little bit of guilt, placed a hand on the windows to help her steady herself, but then looked out the window to smile a little longing smile.

"Ryuzaki-san is so lucky." She said, alerting Sakuno's attention. When Sakuno just made a noise of confusion, her classmate tugged her to the window and pointed down at the muscled, sweat-covered body of Echizen Ryoma. He was currently having a tennis match with Momoshiro based completely on power. Kaidoh stood on the side, acting as referee as he observed their skills. Well… Momoshiro's skills.

"O-oh, you're talking about Ryoma." Sakuno mumbled, flushing a bit. She always got comments like those, and yet they still caught her off guard. Her classmate just smiled another silly smile, turning to continue walking down the stairs. She seemed happier now, just taking a single look at Ryoma. It made Sakuno's chest pang in slight jealousy.

"I still can't believe he's an international tennis player! Echizen-san must've worked really hard to get where he is now, even with his natural talent for tennis." The classmate pondered, looking to Sakuno for confirmation. The shy girl smiled slightly, a little uncomfortable with the subject topic. She had never thought about that… All the hours spent training with his dad, perfecting his skills. It was probably frustrating too, having your father as a famous tennis star and needing to equal him in skill, possibly even exceed him. She wondered how much pressure Ryoma needed to carry. All her parents ever asked of her (before they died) was to get good grades in school.

"Y-yes, you're right." Sakuno replied to her classmate's comment, the both of them arriving at the shoe lockers. Sakuno helped the other girl sit down and brought her her shoes.

"Ryuzaki-san," her classmate said after Sakuno helped her put her school shoes into her shoe locker. Sakuno looked over, her caramel eyes a little widened in query. The classmate smiled kindly, making shooing motions with her hands. "You can go ahead and meet with Echizen-san; tennis practice is probably over by now," she said, adding to that, "I can make it on my own from here. Thanks again Ryuzaki-san!"

Naturally, Sakuno tried to protest, but was chased out by her classmates stern voice and firm glare.


Ryoma was mildly surprised to walk out of the men's change rooms and not see Sakuno anywhere. She usually made her way to the tennis courts fairly early, dying of boredom. Today, she was nowhere to be seen. Ryoma just shrugged it off, deciding he should look for her in case she fell asleep somewhere, or was helping someone and taking too much burden upon her shoulders again. He was making his way to the doors of the front entrance when Ryoma was pleasantly greeted by his girlfriend slamming into him.

"Ah! R-Ryoma!" Sakuno exclaimed, blushing brightly. He smirked, bending down to give her a chaste kiss that she enthusiastically returned.

"Sakuno." Ryoma said simply. "Shall we go?" He turned around without waiting for her response, because he was Echizen Ryoma and that was what he always did. So, it was a bit unusual to feel Sakuno's hand wind around his larger arm, gripping it to stop him so he turned to look at her. She smiled shyly, taking a step closer to him and getting on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. Ryoma was confused, until she pulled back and gave him a big smile.

"Thank you for your hard work."


A/N Twenty-ninth drabble! Only 6 more to go, people! I'll be really sad when this ends, despite its minor frustrations. But until then, let's keep a positive attitude, ne?

My inspiration for this chapter was Sakuno telling Ryoma "Thank you for your hard work" in reference to his tennis skills and the things he needed to do to get at the level he is today. Goodness knows how hard Nanjiroh trained Ryoma when he was so small. But then I thought Sakuno talking to Ryoma about it would be a bit strange and out of the blue, so why not some random classmate? Tell me what you think!

Review for some sugar cookies!

Snowflake Flower