You're Mine

Chapter 2: Childhood Memories

The pressure in the air was so thick and Sakuno held her breath as she darted her eyes around her companions.

The freshmen trio, Momo-senpai, and Kaido-senpai remained quiet as An (who had chosen Seigaku because Fudomine didn't have their own high school) and Tomoka glared fiercely at Ryoma while their classmate, Nami-chan, fidgeted in her seat.

Sakuno wondered how Nami got involved in this though. Nami was usually as quiet as her.

It was lunchtime and they were still on the rooftop. She refused to let Ryoma get their lunchboxes, afraid that the girl would ambush him, and he refused to let her go back in class so Sakuno texted Tomoka to bring their lunch here. However, that seemed to be the wrong decision.

'I should have just gotten our lunch boxes myself,' she warily thought as she finished eating her lunch as well as everyone else. That was when Tomoka exploded.

"That wench is an absolute bitch," Tomoka said through gritted teeth.

Sakuno gasped, horrified. "Tomo-chan! You shouldn't–"

Tomoka suddenly turned to her with a piercing glare and thrust her pointing finger right to her face.

"And you, Sakuno! Who told you to just stand there like an idiot when a slut was trying to claim Ryoma-sama for herself! Don't you have any sense of possessiveness!"

Sakuno ducked her head in shame. How could Tomoka tell her to do that?

'Ryoma-kun isn't mine to begin with, he's his own person. He owns himself.'

She clutched her skirt. 'But am I really wrong not to intervene? If Ryoma-kun chose that girl, I don't think I have the right to protest. I don't even feel like I deserve him. He's just too good for me,' she thought dejectedly.

Since they started going out, she was filled with anxiety about Ryoma leaving her. When would he get tired of her? When would he realize that he deserved better? And now...another girl appeared claiming Ryoma for herself. A much prettier girl than her.

'She's probably smarter and more talented too.'

"Sakuno! Are you even listening?"

Sakuno flinched in surprise. 'Tomo-chan is still talking, I didn't hear what she said.'

"I-It's not right to judge people without knowing them, Tomo-chan," she mumbled.

An and Tomoka looked at her in disbelief.

'An-chan too?!'

"Tomo is not judging her out of impulse, Sakuno. That girl slapped Nami," An bluntly said, her eyes hard.

"W-What?" Sakuno only murmured as Ryoma sharply looked at them.

"Tomoka-san, i-it's alright. You don't have to–" Nami tried to stop Tomoka from saying more but she was ignored.

"Hush Nami," An interrupted her. Nami ducked her head.

"She slapped Miyu-san?" Ryoma asked, raising an eyebrow.

"So you finally decided to speak Ryoma-sama. Yes, your bitch of a fiancee slapped Nami for defending Sakuno," Tomoka said with her hands on her hips, glaring at Ryoma.

"She's not really," Ryoma gritted his teeth, "my fiancee."

"Oh, but she claimed to be," An interjected. "She was looking for you when lunch starts and asked Nami-chan when she picked up your lunch boxes and got angry when Nami-chan answered that you're with your girlfriend."

"She turned so red when Nami mentioned you having a girlfriend," Tomoka added, "She's probably going to start bullying Sakuno now."

Ryoma grunted as he crossed his arms. "If she touches a strand of Sakuno's hair, she'll regret it," he firmly stated.

"Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno mumbled as she put a hand on his knee.

"So what's the deal Echizen? Is she really your fiancee?" Momo-senpai finally asked. The rest looked at him expectantly.

Ryoma sighed. "According to my father...there's a written agreement about that, but there seems to be a misunderstanding, so it's not yet clear to me until we talk in person."

Their friends looked at Sakuno worriedly and she looked down, unable to meet their gaze.

"The old man told me that we have to talk about it later and I should bring Sakuno. If they force me to accept that stupid agreement, I'll marry Sakuno to shut them up," Ryoma said, scowling.

"Pfft, marrying? Are you nuts Echizen? You're still in high school," Horio said, laughing uncontrollably. No one laughed along with him so he stopped in confusion. "What?"

"Y-You're serious!" Momo-senpai exclaimed.

Sakuno blushed from the roots of her hair. She didn't comment anything because quite frankly, she was so head over heels in love with Ryoma that she would probably follow him to the ends of the world.

"What do you think?" Ryoma replied, looking irritated.

"Well, at least we know that Echizen-kun doesn't have any interest in that girl," An muttered.

"But still, marrying at 17 is still too hasty, even for you Echizen!" Horio exclaimed.

Ryoma scoffed. "I can do anything I want, I'm a tennis pro. Unlike you, who is still dependent on your parents' money."

Horio squeaked indignantly. "J-Just because you won a few tournaments overseas–"

"Horio, do you even know how much a tennis pro earns? Echizen can probably buy your whole life now," Momo-senpai said, snickering. "And it's not as if he stopped going abroad to play tennis. He still disappears from time to time to join tournaments, right Echizen?"

"Che, Oyaji takes care of my schedules and Mom wants me to finish my studies first before everything becomes too hectic for me," Ryoma said offhandedly. "plus those stupid promotions and advertisements that Oyaji keeps pushing on me."

Horio reddened in embarrassment and was about to retort something back but he was cut off.

"I prefer Ryoma-kun's decision too though. I wouldn't want him to end up with that girl. She's scary. Sakuno-chan is a much better choice," Kachiro said, trying to diffuse the argument that Horio started.

"I admit that she's really pretty, but considering she slapped Nami…" Katsuo trailed off.

"I-I'm fine now everyone," Nami whispered. "I'm just glad Ryoma-san and Sakuno-chan are okay."

"Thank you, Nami-chan," Sakuno said, smiling at their friend. "And I'm sorry for what happened."

"Don't worry about it, Sakuno-chan," Nami replied with a smile.

"Fsshh, if I were Echizen, I would marry Ryuzaki-san too instead of that girl," Kaido interjected, crossing his arms.

"You'll marry Sakuno-chan, Mamushi? Echizen will kill you!" Momo said teasingly.

"I-Idiot! That's not what I meant! I got Tomoka!" Kaido yelled as he tried to hit Momoshiro who hid behind An.

An shook her head at the two's antics before she returned their attention back to Ryoma and Sakuno.

"So, are you going to return to class?" An asked.

Sakuno was silent as she waited for Ryoma to answer.

Ryoma sighed. "I'm contemplating skipping today. I don't think that girl will let me be if she sees me again." He grimaced. "I also want to settle things with my father right now, but I'll come back for tennis practice. How 'bout you, Sakuno?"

Sakuno opened her mouth to answer but Tomoka answered for her. "You should go with Ryoma-sama, Sakuno. I don't think that girl will leave you alone if she sees you."

An nodded, "That's right. It's much safer that way."

Everyone agreed, so Sakuno sighed in resignation.

"We'll take your bags and shoes at the back wall, meet us there," An instructed as the rest tidied their lunch boxes.

"Come here for a second Sakuno," Tomoka called, gesturing her hand at her.

Sakuno shared a glance with Ryoma before she followed her best friend.

"We'll just be at the restroom downstairs, Ryoma-sama!"

Before Sakuno could protest, Tomoka had already dragged her down the stairs and into the nearest restroom with An beside her as the rest went to fetch Ryoma and her bag.

"Now Sakuno, this is an important battle for you. So let me teach you how to fight for Ryoma-sama," Tomoka determinedly said.

Sakuno sweatdropped and was about to reply when An interjected.

"That's right Sakuno, you shouldn't let that bitch near Echizen, and we should do a bit of transformation," An said.

"H-Hoe! W-Why do I need to?" Sakuno cried as she hugged herself, looking mortified at her best friends.

"You're much more beautiful than that clown. You just don't like to dress up. Now don't be afraid, we will not let you look like a beat-up clown," Tomoka said, smirking at her.

"You just need a little bit of refinement," An stated, fist-bumping with Tomoka.

"We'll be at your house at 6 am tomorrow, wake up much earlier, okay?" An instructed, wagging a finger on Sakuno's face.

All she could do was to obediently nod her head.

"And now, let us teach you how to fight for your man," Tomoka said, smirking devilishly.

Sakuno took a step back as the two started instructing her on 'how to fight for her man' and making her say extremely embarrassing lines.

After 15 minutes of pure torture, they finally let a traumatized Sakuno go.

"Now, go back to Ryoma-sama," Tomoka said as she pushed Sakuno out of the restroom.

She sighed as she proceeded to walk up the stairs again.

"Mou, Tomo-chan, and An-chan are worse than Oba-san sometimes."

Ryoma opened his eyes as he heard the door to the rooftop open and close. Lifting himself from his lying position, he saw his girlfriend approaching him with her face red in embarrassment. He raised an eyebrow at her as she situated herself beside him.

"What did they tell you?" he asked, observing how the red hue on Sakuno's cheeks deepened.

"They're just being silly again," she muttered, pouting a little. "Though they mean well."

"What do they want you to do?" he asked as his curiosity was piqued.

"Mou, Ryoma-kun, why do you have to know," Sakuno protested.

Ryoma's eyebrow raised higher. "Why can't I know?"

She bit on her lower lip and Ryoma couldn't stop himself from pulling her towards him to brush his thumb against her reddening lips.

"You don't have to put your frustration on your lips, I like them you know," he said, smirking arrogantly.

Wrapping an arm around her waist, he placed her on his lap and watched in amusement as the redness engulfed her whole face up to her ears and she shut her eyes tight as she lightly slapped his arm.

"R-Ryoma-kun!"

He laughed, Sakuno never failed to astonish him even after three years of dating. Seriously, he wondered why she still got shy around him especially with this kind of topic when he kissed her all the time.

His girlfriend was still so innocent and Ryoma couldn't get enough of her reactions. She was just too fun to tease.

He smirked, "Mada mada dane."

"Mou…" she pouted.

Ryoma patted her head. "We should get to the back of the school. They might be waiting for us."

Sakuno nodded as she stood up and lent a hand to him.

Ryoma couldn't help but smirk at her as he gripped her hand. "Shouldn't this be the other way around?"

She giggled as she helped him stand. "I'm sitting on your lap," she blushed again, "so I have to be the one to stand up first."

Ryoma reached out a hand and tugged one of her braids just because he could.

"Oww, Ryoma-kun! Why do you always pull my braids?" she protested.

He smirked at her. "Because I can."

She pouted at his answer and he chuckled as he held her hand and they walked out of the rooftop and down to the back of the school building.

When they got there, Momo and Kaido-senpai were already there with their bags and outdoor shoes in their hands.

"Took you long enough. Did you guys have to finish a last-minute make-out session?" Momoshiro teased, grinning devilishly at them as he handed their shoes to them.

Ryoma snorted. "Don't be stupid Momo-senpai. If we were making out, we would have arrived here much later," he retorted, which earned him a light shove to the side from Sakuno before they both accepted their shoes.

"Mou, Ryoma-kun stop it…" his girlfriend muttered, trying to admonish him while she removed her indoor shoes and replaced them with her outdoor ones. Ryoma did the same after raising an eyebrow at her.

Momoshiro laughed as Kaido hissed.

"What? It's the truth," Ryoma teased, smirking as he and Sakuno handed their indoor shoes to their senpais, trusting them to return them to their respective lockers.

Sakuno blushed and shifted her gaze away from him. He suppressed a chuckle.

"So, how are you going to carry Sakuno-chan up there?" Momoshiro asked, thrusting his thumb towards the direction of the wall.

On the other side of this wall was their secret way out of the school without needing to confront the guards in the front gate. Momo and Kikumaru-senpai were the ones who introduced him to this route.

"Easy," Ryoma answered.

He grabbed both his tennis bag and Sakuno's from Momo and Kaido-senpai before he hopped twice on his feet and launched himself up the wall, gracefully landing on top of it. Ryoma then looked down at his senpais and girlfriend.

"Momo-senpai, make your hands as stepping stones for Sakuno," Ryoma instructed. "and don't you dare try to look up her skirt!" He glared hard at his senpai to prove his point.

"Geez, I'm not a pervert Echizen. I have An y'know," Momoshiro muttered.

Sakuno cautiously placed her hands on their senpais' shoulders as she stepped on Momoshiro's hands.

Ryoma reached out to help her up the wall. Once Sakuno was secured beside him, he looked down at their senpais and saluted.

"Thanks, Momo-senpai, Kaido-senpai. See you later," he said as their senpais waved their hands at him.

"Take care of Sakuno-chan, Echizen!" Momoshiro yelled.

"You don't have to tell me," Ryoma replied as he jumped down the wall and smoothly landed on the other side.

He gazed up at his nervous-looking girlfriend and prepared to catch her.

"Jump, Sakuno," he instructed.

She slowly nodded before she clenched her eyes shut and jumped down the wall, screeching.

"Ooff." Ryoma easily caught her, wrapping his arms around her as she buried her face on his chest, trembling a little.

"Now that isn't too hard, right?" he retorted, smiling.

Sakuno looked up at him and pouted. "I'm scared of high places you know."

"But still, you jumped," Ryoma pointed out.

"It's because I know you'll always catch me, Ryoma-kun," she murmured, making him smirked, pleased with himself.

"Exactly." He guided Sakuno out of the alley and into the road. She followed him without a fuss.

"D-Do you think there's a way out of the agreement?" she suddenly asked, looking down at their joined hands.

"There should be, or else, I'm going to strangle that stupid Oyaji," he grudgingly replied.

Sakuno chuckled nervously and didn't reply until they arrived at his home.

"I'm back," Ryoma called out as he removed his shoes.

Sakuno followed after him as he entered the house and went directly to the living room.

There, he found his parents sitting seriously on the sofa while eyeing a worn-out-looking paper on the small table in front of them.

"Oh, you're here early, seishounen, and you brought Sakuno-chan too!" his father greeted them with a grin.

"Don't you still have classes now?" his mother asked, frowning worriedly.

"We can't attend class if someone is pestering me about some stupid engagement," Ryoma muttered through gritted teeth.

"Oh, so you skipped school with Sakuno-chan," his father retorted, grinning teasingly at him.

Sakuno ducked her head in shame.

Ryoma glared at his father. "That girl is aggressive. I don't want her anywhere near Sakuno."

Rinko and Nanjiroh blinked in surprise.

"I don't remember Reina-chan being aggressive," Rinko muttered.

Ryoma snorted. "She slapped one of Sakuno's friends for saying that I already had a girlfriend and for not telling her where I am." He deadpanned.

Rinko glared at her husband as he laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, it's a good thing you have sweet and kind Sakuno-chan here, seishounen, or you might have ended up with a tiger for a fiancee!" Nanjiroh said as he laughed boisterously.

Rinko hit him on the head. "Stop laughing! You caused a lot of trouble for your son and Sakuno-chan."

Ryoma exchanged looks with Sakuno as they both watched his father get scolded by his mother.

Nanjiroh pouted. "How was I supposed to know that he'll end up with Sakuno-chan here?" he protested, rubbing his aching head.

"I don't know, maybe you shouldn't set up an engagement for your 4-year-old son," Rinko sarcastically remarked.

"Okay okay, I understand. This agreement is not set in stone anyway," Nanjiroh grumbled which caught Ryoma's attention.

Sakuno perked up beside him while Rinko raised an eyebrow at her husband.

Nanjiroh huffed indignantly at his wife's skeptical look. "Of course I thought of the possibility of Ryoma liking a different girl." Both Ryoma and his mother snorted.

"Geez, I can definitely feel your trust guys," the old man muttered as he picked up the papers and thrust them in front of Ryoma.

"Well y'know, this is supposed to be a last resort, if Ryoma decided he loves tennis more than girls. I couldn't let that happen so I thought, 'hey, why not?' it's not a valid contract though, read the note at the end," Nanjiroh said as he picked his ear with his pinky.

Ryoma grabbed the paper and scanned it before he read the last note.

"This agreement will only be implemented if both parties involved failed to find their own partners. If one of them fell in love and got engaged with somebody else, this agreement is considered null and void," he finished reading.

He frowned. "So, she knows I already have a girlfriend so why is she still insisting that I'm her fiancé?"

Nanjiroh scratched his head.

"Well you see, apparently, Mr. Yu lost his copy of the agreement just recently so he probably didn't remember about this part. Also, we were both drunk then, so there could have been a misunderstanding on his side. Good thing I managed to keep our copy in one of my magazines or you would have been doomed seishounen." He puffed his chest as if he was so proud of himself. "You should be grateful to me."

"Che, even if you didn't have that, I'll force you to sign a consent to let us marry in Hongkong. So that agreement would still have been useless," Ryoma offhandedly retorted before he smirked. "Mada mada dane, Oyaji."

"You brat!" Nanjiroh exclaimed while Sakuno gasped and Rinko cried happy tears.

"Oh, my baby has finally grown up. He's talking about marriage now," his mother uttered.

Ryoma felt his cheeks burned in embarrassment. "Mom! Seriously?"

"Oh don't mind me. I know you can already provide for yourself since you earn a lot from playing tennis overseas, but still. No grandchildren for us until you finish college, alright?" his mother said, wagging a finger in front of him.

Ryoma's ears heated. "Mom! We're not t-thinking of that!" he protested as Sakuno seemed to turn into a puddle of red goo.

"Ohohoho, so you still haven't scored the home run yet, seishounen? What a letdown. You're my son, you should–"

"Shut up, stupid Oyaji!" Ryoma yelled as he proceeded to kick his father.

"Let's go and eat something, Sakuno-chan. Nanako-chan is still out grocery shopping."

While his mother guided Sakuno to the kitchen, Ryoma strangled his father and Nanjiroh screamed for help. No one listened to him though.

"Ryo-kun, let's play!"

Little Ryoma glanced behind him to look at the smiling 5-year-old girl.

They were in the backyard of their house in America and he was rallying on the wall when this girl appeared and started pestering him.

"Whatever, after I finish practicing," he answered, momentarily stopping from his rally.

"You're always playing tennis! Please play with me now!" the girl persisted.

"I told you I will later! Just shut up for now," little Ryoma irritatedly replied.

"Okay, as long as we play later!" The girl enthusiastically bounced on her feet.

Ryoma scoffed and threw his tennis ball up and started rallying on the wall again while the blonde girl watched him.

'At least she finally shut up.'

"Ryo-kun, wait for me! Ah!"

Ryoma stopped walking to glance behind him and saw that the girl was flat on the ground. She immediately sat up and started crying though. Ryoma sighed and approached the little girl.

"Yu-chan, you should watch your step," he grumbled.

He noticed the scrape on the girl's knee and sighed again.

'Why do I even need to take care of this girl?'

"Here." He handed her part of his orange to stop her from crying. "Stop crying and let's get that treated," Ryoma said as he held the girl's arms and helped her up.

"Ryo-kun, let's stay together okay?"

Ryoma eyed the girl first as they slowly walked towards the back door. Her eyes were still clouded with tears and he knew that if he refused, he was sure that the girl would start bawling again.

Ryoma pouted. 'This is torture! I'm also a kid, why did they have to leave me another kid to worry about? Stupid dad, stupid grown-ups.'

"Ryo-kun, ne, we'll always be together right?" The girl's voice was quivering now and her hold on his hand was tightening.

Ryoma looked up at the sky as if saying, 'Why me?' before he sighed in resignation for the third time.

"Alright alright, just shut up now," he grumbled.

"You said that, promise me!" she insisted

"Yeah, I promised," Ryoma boredly replied as they finally entered the house.

"Yay!"

"Sit down and hold still," he instructed as he climbed up a chair and grabbed the first aid kit on top of the cabinet.

"Geez, stupid dad, stupid girls, and their tears," Ryoma grumbled under his breath.

Yu-chan had been here since they were four but all she did was distract him from tennis. He didn't have time to babysit. He wasn't progressing much with his hits and he wasn't even able to win a point from his father.

Ryoma pouted again which immediately disappeared once he faced the girl again. He knelt in front of her and started treating her scrape.

"Ouch! Ryo-kun, c-careful!" she cried out.

Ryoma furrowed his brow in concentration and finally put on a bandaid to avoid any infection.

"Done." He stood up and returned the first aid kit in the cabinet.

"Ryo-kun, I heard our dads say that we're going to marry each other in the future."

Ryoma looked down at the girl as he closed the cabinet.

'Marry? Like, mom and dad?' He cringed at the idea. 'No just no, I don't want a noisy girl following me around while I play tennis.'

"That's stupid," he answered, which was apparently the wrong thing to say because the girl started crying again much to Ryoma's horror

"B-But dad said that we're going to! You promised me that we're going to stay together!" she cried out.

Ryoma jumped down from the chair and cautiously approached the girl.

'Now what am I going to do here? Seriously, where are mom and dad?'

He was tempted to scream out in frustration.

"Alright alright! I'll marry you, or whatever! Just shut up already!" he burst out.

Just then, his father entered the kitchen.

"Oh, what do we have here. Ryoma-chan promising marriage?" Nanjiroh teased, wiggling his eyebrows at him.

"Shut up! This is all your fault!" Ryoma screamed with his face red in anger. Pushing his father aside, he ran out of the house.

"Oi, Ryoma! You leave your little bride here!"

"Shut up, you marry her!" Ryoma screamed without looking back.

"Ryo-kun!"

'Like hell, I'll be babysitting that girl again!'

"Nii-chan! Don't go! Nii-chan!"

Ryoma ran after the car, his tears falling down his cheeks, making his vision blurry.

"Ryoga-niichan! Please don't leave me!" he cried out but the car continued to move far away from him until he tripped on an unsuspecting rock and he fell flat on the dirty road.

Ryoma cried harder, not even bothering to stand up. He didn't know how long he was crying there, but he could feel the heat of the sun burning his skin. He still didn't move though, and the tears wouldn't even stop.

'Why did Ryoga-niichan have to leave? Why did he leave me behind? Did I do something bad? Did I–'

Just as negativity continued to eat him whole, he heard timid footsteps beside him, and slowly...he looked up. Only to see...a girl?

"Hi, Umm...I know you don't know me, but I-I'm watching you since earlier and the Sun is getting hot," she spoke in Japanese, fidgeting with her fingers.

'Japanese?' he vaguely thought as he stared at her dumbly.

The girl reluctantly helped him sit up and surprisingly enough, he let her. She then proceeded to wipe his face with a handkerchief.

"What are you doing?" Ryoma heard himself asked faintly.

The girl stopped wiping his face.

"Oh, umm, your face is dirty," she answered, looking down on her lap.

"W-What do you even care!" he exclaimed, looking away from the girl as he snatched the white handkerchief from her to wipe the snot off his nose.

Ryoma felt his cheeks heating up and he couldn't understand why.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just, I understand...how it feels when o-our loved ones leave us," the girl murmured.

Ryoma slowly looked at the Japanese girl, seeing tears gathered in her sorrowful chocolate eyes.

'Why is she...trying to cheer me up when she's sad too?' he confusedly thought.

"The only difference between us is that...you'll still be able to meet him again in the future, while I...will never..." The last part of her sentence was barely whispered but Ryoma was still able to hear her.

His eyes widened in realization.

'She...will never see them again…'

She looked up at him, staring directly into his eyes. Ryoma felt himself freeze, trapped in her unwavering gaze. She smiled.

"I still have my oba-chan though, so...here," she handed him a can of juice from her backpack, "Cheer up, you'll meet each other again in the future," she said as Ryoma accepted the can in a daze.

"I'll be going now." The girl smiled again. She then stood up and ran away before he could say anything.

Ryoma looked at the can in his hand and read, "Grape Ponta?"

He stood up and stared in the direction where the girl had run before a few tears escaped his eyes once again. He wiped them with her handkerchief and surprisingly enough, a small smile quirked his lips.

"Thank you…" he whispered in the wind.

"Ryo-kun!"

He looked up as he heard a familiar high-pitched voice called out to him.

Ryoma saw a small girl running in his direction, before he could react though, the girl had launched herself at Ryoma and wrapped him in a hug.

"I'm sorry Ryo-kun! E-Everything will be fine, so please get back home. Everyone's worried," Yu-chan said, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes.

Ryoma sighed, and reluctantly returned Yu-chan's embrace.

He was feeling a bit okay now though…

'Thanks to that girl.'

"Okay, let's go back," he murmured.

Yu-chan smiled up at him and nodded. She held his hand and guided him back to the house.

As he entered his home and was embraced by his mother, he suddenly remembered that he wasn't even able to ask the girl's name.

Ryoma internally groaned.

"Oh, Ryoma, did you buy that?" his father asked, pointing at the can of Ponta in his hand.

Ryoma gazed at the can and hugged it tightly in his chest.

"No, someone...gave it to me," he whispered softly.

"Oh…" his father mumbled as Ryoma walked past him and towards his room. All along he felt his father's calculating gaze on his back.

It had been two days since Ryoma met the Japanese girl and he did everything he could to find her, even coming back to the place they met, but he still couldn't find her.

He didn't know why he was looking for that girl. He just knew that he wanted to see her again.

"Wait for me here, Ryoma. I'll just meet with the old hag," his father said to him before he disappeared.

Ryoma sighed, 'Typical,' he deadpanned.

He started rallying with the boulder in front of him since his father left and he didn't have a rallying partner.

They were currently at his father's friend's house. Who was that friend? Ryoma didn't know and he didn't care. They have a lot of orange trees though, all of them already have fruits in their trunks.

These trees made him remember Ryoga-niichan though. Ryoga always gave him oranges whenever they played tennis with each other.

Feeling irritated at thinking of Ryoga again, he hit the ball too hard and it bounced off the boulder and into a tree. The tree shook from the impact and a few oranges dropped down to the ground, rolling on the grass.

Discreetly, Ryoma looked around him before he cautiously approached the fruits and picked them up one by one.

'No one is here anyway, and it's an accident so they can't blame me,' he thought, smirking to himself.

"You should ask permission first before you pick them up."

Ryoma paused from picking up another orange on the ground and slowly, he straightened up.

'That voice…'

His eyes widened and he immediately turned around to face the girl that helped him two days ago. There she was, wearing a cute pink dress with her yellow backpack and two pigtails, smiling gently at him.

"I-It's...you," he whispered.

He didn't understand why he was suddenly feeling too pleased with seeing her again, but before he even realized it, he was beaming happily at her.

The girl's smile turned shy. "H-Hi." She timidly waved her hand.

Ryoma approached her, giving her two oranges. "I accidentally hit a tree with my tennis ball, so I think it's okay to pick them."

The girl accepted the oranges before she let out a giggle. "It's okay, my uncle owns it."

Ryoma blinked in surprise. "You live here?"

The girl shook her head. "No, my uncle. We're just visiting."

"Oh," he murmured.

Ryoma looked down on his feet, suddenly feeling shy. "T-Thank you for the Ponta...the other day."

"It's nothing," the girl replied, smiling at him, "Actually, I have another… i-if you want."

He found himself looking anywhere but at the girl as he slowly nodded his head, muttering a small 'yes' under his breath.

He felt his ears burn and he scratched them, wondering why they were suddenly feeling so hot along with his cheeks.

"Umm, here. Oba-chan frequently forgets to buy the correct flavor for me and I always ended up buying another one." She handed him the grape Ponta while showing him another can on her other hand. Ryoma noticed that it was cherry flavored.

"Thank you," he mumbled as he accepted the can and held it tightly in his hand, not knowing what to do next.

Then he remembered that he still hadn't asked her name. He opened his mouth to finally ask her, but then, a loud horn interrupted him. He turned his head in the direction of the sound and wondered who it was.

"You have a leaf on your hair, let me get that for you," she said, her voice was surprisingly near him.

Startled at the sudden nearness of her voice, he abruptly turned his head to look back at her.

"Huh–"

–which was a very wrong move.

Both of their eyes simultaneously grew three sizes as their lips connected with one another.

Flabbergasted, Ryoma's mind shut down as all he could think of was, 'S-Soft...smells good, strawberry and...vanilla…'

The girl was the first one to recover from their trance as she immediately backed her head away from him in a gasp.

"I-I'm s-sorry! I-I…" she stuttered, waving her hands in front of her.

Her face was so red, maybe as red as an apple but he couldn't even say that to her when he felt feverish himself, as if his whole face was aflame.

Ryoma's mouth opened and closed like a fish, not knowing what to say.

"...kuno!"

Someone yelled from the distance followed by another loud horn from a car.

"O-Oh no! That's Oba-chan. I'm so so sorry..." The girl bowed at him thrice, "...but I gotta go. I'm so sorry!" she squeaked as she hurriedly ran away.

It took Ryoma three seconds of gaping before he realized that he wasn't able to ask her name again and that she and he had…

"Oi, Ryoma! What are you gawking at there like an idiot? Let's go, Your mom is probably looking for us!" his father yelled at him as he approached him but Ryoma wasn't even able to move his body.

His mind was in shambles as he realized that he, Echizen Ryoma, had lost his first kiss at age 7.

His father would never let him live this down if he found out.

So right then and there, Ryoma swore that he would never ever say a thing about this incident.

This event would only be known to him and...that girl.

Ryoma might not have been able to find out the girl's name 'til the end, but it was then he had developed his addiction to grape Ponta.

Ryoma's alarm blared from his side table, waking him up from his deep slumber. Slowly, he reached out his hand to shut his alarm clock off as he groggily sat upon his bed.

"That wasn't just a dream," he whispered, combing his bangs up with his fingers.

'No, it's not a dream...those are...memories.'

Stunned at the sudden realization, Ryoma wasn't able to brace himself as his childhood memories started bombarding him without mercy. He massaged his forehead to ease the sudden spike of pain.

He did remember Yu Reina now, but he also remembered why he didn't see her as more than an annoying friend that he was forced to have.

'What will Sakuno say if she found out that she wasn't actually my first kiss?'

He scratched his head as he heaved a deep sigh.

"It was an accident anyway, I can't even remember the face of the girl anymore. Except for…"

'Her chocolate eyes. Just like Sakuno's.'

He immediately shook his head as the girl's eyes flashed in his mind, strangely comparing them with his girlfriend's identical irises.

He decided right then and there that he would take this secret to his grave and like how he never asked his father about the girl before, he would, again, try to forget about her.

'To think that the reason why I like Ponta so much is…'

Again, he shook his head and headed to the bathroom to wash his face. When he returned to his room to change, he noticed that the clock on his side table says: 2:40 pm.

His eyes widened in realization.

'That's right. I set the alarm at 2:30 because I have tennis practice after school dismissal!'

He immediately grabbed his tennis bag to pull out his tennis uniform when the door to his room opened.

"Ryoma-kun." His girlfriend's head peeked from the door.

Ryoma blinked at her twice. "Ah!" he exclaimed just as another realization dawned on him.

'I forgot! Sakuno's with me…'

Ryoma's eyes swiveled to his bed and he felt his ears burn.

They were… heatedly making out after the whole agreement incident happened when his mother knocked on the door to give them snacks.

The heat between him and Sakuno disappeared like a popped balloon and they scrambled to fix themselves before he opened the door to let his mother in who sent him a meaningful glance before smiling at Sakuno.

He would definitely get teased mercilessly by his father later if his mother decided to say something to his nosy Oyaji.

'I hope mom keeps it to herself.'

"I...umm, fell asleep beside you and woke up first," Sakuno mumbled, her cheeks flushing red.

"Ah...yeah…" he replied unintelligently.

He remembered that they decided to play on his game boy after his mother left, and although they had chosen to play tennis, his girlfriend surprisingly dominated the whole game which was why he plopped down on his bed in a huff while Sakuno giggled at him.

He could also vaguely remember himself sleepily setting his alarm before he completely fell asleep.

"Ryoma-kun? You'll be late for practice if you don't hurry." Sakuno snapped him out of the memory lane and he cleared his throat to help compose himself.

"I'll be right there, you can...wait for me in the living room," he said as he busied himself with grabbing his tennis uniform.

"Okay then," she muttered before he heard the door shut.

Ryoma let out a deep sigh as he sat down on his bed, ruffling his hair in mild irritation.

'It's because of that stupid dream! Now I feel awkward around Sakuno. It's like I just...cheated on her.'

It was a silly thought since it happened before he had even met Sakuno but still, now he wasn't too worried about Yu Reina.

He knew that he felt nothing about that girl, aside from annoyance when he was forced to agree to marry her. Still, though, he was just a kid back then, and he hadn't yet realized the audacity of that promise.

Just as he was putting on his shirt, Karupin came out from underneath his bed, rolling a can of Ponta with his nose.

"Meowr," his cat innocently purred just as a pair of chocolate eyes flashed through his mind to torture him more.

"...here. Cheer up, you'll meet each other in the future again." Her voice echoed in his memory as an image of her handing him a can of Ponta for the first time came back to him.

"Karupin!" Ryoma abruptly yelled, making Karupin jump in surprise and run back underneath his bed, leaving the can of Ponta to mock him.

He immediately snatched the can and threw it out of his bedroom window, watching as it flew far far away.

"That settles it, I'm not going to drink another can of Ponta, ever again," he grumbled under his breath before grabbing his tennis bag and marching out of his room.

"Sakuno! Let's go," Ryoma called out just as he landed from the last step of stairs.

"Coming!" Sakuno answered.

He was putting on his shoes when his girlfriend sat beside him on the porch, putting on her own shoes.

When Ryoma looked up though, he abruptly jerked in surprise as he saw Sakuno hugging four cans of Ponta in her arms.

"What are you doing?" he asked her before he could even stop himself.

Sakuno stared up at him in confusion. "Hm? I'm putting on my shoes," she answered innocently.

"N-Not that!" he exclaimed, making Sakuno flinch in surprise.

"THAT!" Ryoma yelled, pointing out a finger at the cans of Ponta in her arms.

"Oh...these?" She lifted the cans to show it more to him and Ryoma jerked away from them as if they were a bunch of bombs ready to explode.

Sakuno blinked at him in confusion.

"Nanako-san gave them to me. She just bought a dozen of Ponta earlier since you like them so much," she slowly answered, looking at him strangely.

He slapped a hand on his face and groaned.

'So much for not drinking a can of Ponta for the rest of my life…'

To Be Continued...

Thank you to all my beta readers!

Black angel in love and OkaAyamo

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