7. The Longest Day
Without a hitch, the second day of the festival starts. Unlike the absurd queue of customers from yesterday, Class 2's Horror House had a manageable number of patrons for that morning—much to Ryuzaki Sakuno's relief who has to handle a lot because of her front desk position. At the moment, she's about to end her morning shift if not for the last task that she has to do.
And so, she walks from the ground floor to upstairs of the school's main building; a huge box of sandwiches on hand. Originally, it wasn't her role to pick up the food, but somebody had to do it since the class representative had to bring reports of last day's booth profits to the festival committee. Reaching the second floor, she unconsciously stops by one of the windows. She overhears loud laughter coming from the tennis club room, not so far away from her spot. Sakuno looks down; seeing Momo and Kikumaru fooling around with Inui who seems to be conducting some experiments under the strong noontime sun. As the warm, summer breeze blows on her skin, she realizes the beads of sweat on her forehead.
Deciding that she's spent enough time dilly-dallying, she continues on her steps. She hopes to arrive at the next staircase that she had to climb in order to arrive by their booth in a few minutes.
"Ryuzaki."
She stops on her steps, looking around for the person who called her. When her eyes meet with a familiar set of amber eyes, her heart starts to race. He's already in his school uniform, finally out of his bake-neko costume for the booth.
"R-Ryoma-kun..?" she asks, the memory of how she suddenly ran away from him yesterday plays on her mind. After the small event with their Fuji-senpai yesterday she avoided the tennis prince completely for the rest of the day by pretending to be busy with her station and running around errands that weren't supposed to be her job. In a fluster, she's about to run away again when Ryoma asks.
"What are you carrying in that big box?"
Deciding that it would be rude to flee again, she replies, "T-These are the sandwiches meant to be given to everyone during the break..."
"Isn't that Asahina's job?"
"Eh? Yes, it's the class representative's job," she tells him. "But right now, Asahina-kun is busy with reporting yesterday's profits to the festival committee… so I volunteered."
He raises an eyebrow, unimpressed, "Isn't that heavy?" he says while approaching her. She flinches, feeling his hands graze her arms. She could feel her face heat up, a reaction that was almost automatic whenever she's near his presence. In no time, he removes the box from her hands.
"Ryoma-kun...!" she blurts.
"What?" He starts to walk, catching the girl off guard. In a delayed response, Sakuno catches up to him, completely flustered.
"G-Give it back! I could carry it by myself…"
"Heh." Ryoma stops on his steps, tilting his head slightly before smirking at her in amusement, "Yada."
Seeing how he's having fun teasing her, Sakuno could only exhale loudly. In a pout, she asks, "Mou… Why is Ryoma-kun even here? Isn't it still your scarer shift?"
He freezes- a visible sweat drop could be seen in his expression. He suddenly takes interest in looking at the windows. Clearing his throat to save himself, he eventually replies, "Anyway, don't you need to get this box back to the booth in time? Let's just go."
'He probably went out before his shift ended…'
At his obvious lie, a small smile etches on Sakuno's lips. Leaving her with no choice but to agree, she could only follow him in silence.
Contrary to what she expected, walking beside him didn't feel as awkward as she predicted. It has been such a long time since she had a moment like this with him. Just a few months ago, it felt normal. Walking alongside him was the norm when you were in the same year and the granddaughter of his coach. Though his tennis lessons weren't anything romantic, it was enough for her to think that they shared a small bond. It was a bond that became muddy—all because she overreacted and resorted to avoidance when Ryoma dated someone.
Sakuno feels a small pang on her chest, blaming her immaturity for the unexplainable awkwardness she feels around him. She turns her head down, staring at the soles of her indoor shoes while she walks. When they arrived by the staircase, she wasn't sure whether she's hearing the voices right.
"That's Ryuzaki…" she hears from the group of girls that are walking downstairs, passing by. Their faces are familiar, though she isn't exactly sure where she saw them. They also cast a look at the tennis prince beside her, making her think that they are probably Tomoka's recruits for the fan club.
She isn't overthinking because she can't really tell what those girls are talking about. What surprises Sakuno is the sudden shift in the mood of the boy beside her.
"What is it, Ryoma-kun?" she asks, eyeing the way he glares in the girls' direction.
"Nothing," He simply replies. Sakuno gets the feeling that he won't say anything.
"Ryuzaki-san, I can switch with you now." Manami Yuri—one of her classmates, also the person in charge of the front desk after her shift—greets her, "Thanks for the hard work."
"Hai." Sakuno smiles in relief, standing up from her seat at the front desk. "Thank you for working hard too."
"Are you visiting the booths with Osakada this afternoon?" Yuri asks, settling on her front desk seat.
"Yes," Sakuno faces her with an excited smile in reply before stepping inside the classroom. "After all, it's the only time we could."
As she made her way towards the waiting area for scarers, there was no Tomoka waiting for her. She quickly checks her wristwatch; quite sure that it was already time for her best friend's shift to end too. And so, she decides to wait for the meantime by sitting on one of the desks placed on the side.
Not even two minutes passes by as she waits, and she could already hear the loud arguing voices of Tomoka and Horio from the booth. Her ears perk up, thinking that she didn't have to wait for her friend much longer. She begins to focus her eyes upon the booth entrance adjacent to their waiting area. Sakuno could still hear the arguments between the two, though her ears couldn't make out what they were fighting about.
By the time they emerge from the booth entrance, Horio's arm is around the class representative's shoulders for support while Tomoka follows the boys. There's an uncharacteristic blush on her face while glaring at Horio who's blushing sheepishly in defense and Asahina whose expression is blank.
"Why are you two even fighting every time you see each other?" The tired class representative grumbles, "We're not elementary school kids anymore."
"Hmph!" Tomoka is about to answer, though for some reason she purses her lips for a moment before speaking, "Why is his body even that weak? Isn't he someone with five years of tennis experience?"
"This sprain isn't even that serious." Horio can only roll his eyes, "I can walk by myself."
Sakuno continues to watch the scene, noticing the swollen ankle of her classmate. Luckily, the injury didn't seem to be so serious. But when Horio tries to walk by himself, his body slightly cringes in pain. Tomoka hesitates to approach and help him; her expression flashing one of worry.
"Ano…" Sakuno starts to make her presence known. She somehow feels awkward with the current atmosphere, "What happened to Horio-kun?"
"Ah! You're already here, Sakuno?" Tomoka replies in surprise. Though at answering her closest friend's question, she stutters, "T-There was…"
"There was an accident that involved Horio, Osakada, and some props inside." Asahina calmly answers, looking at the two who, for some reason, seem to not want to discuss it further for now.
"Sakuno, I'm really sorry I can't come with you to visit booths this afternoon." Tomoka approaches her and gives her a hug, "I wanted to go with Horio to the infirmary," she whispers.
In response, Sakuno rubs Tomoka's back to soothe her, "It's okay Tomo-chan… But what happened?"
"Ah… eh…" Tomoka's face turns a shade of red again—making Sakuno wonder why her confident friend acts that way, "I promise I'll tell you later…"
"Okay," Sakuno smiles at her friend, having this silent understanding between them.
It was a shame that Tomoka wouldn't be able to go around with her, but seeing the situation, it couldn't be helped. Since she knows that the three would have their hands full for the moment, she decides to volunteer.
"Can I help you guys at least with anything while you go to the infirmary?"
"Actually…" Horio starts to speak, "I needed to return something to Inui-senpai. He's in the clubroom now."
"Horio...! What are you even trying to make Sakuno do?" Tomoka scolds the injured boy, "Just because you're injured, doesn't mean you can order Sakuno around."
"What...? I wasn't even forcing Ryuzaki…" Horio replies.
As the two continue their usual banter, Asahina's expression starts to look dark.
"Tomo-chan, it's okay… I wanted to help." Sakuno speaks up to alleviate the two's intense battle, "Horio-kun, what is it that I need to give to Inui-senpai?"
The clubroom is silent from the outside.
Green notebook in hand, she looked around the empty courts. Sakuno could swear that just an hour ago, she saw Inui-senpai with the other regulars from the window. Curious at the silence of the usually loud and active club in contrast to the stream of people loitering around the festival, she thought she needed to check inside the clubroom just in case.
She knocks two times, "Is anyone there?"
The twin-braided girl heard an inaudible answer from inside. As the clubroom door opens, she sees the tennis prince on his way out.
"Ryuzaki…" he says in his own way of greeting.
"Ryoma-kun, have you seen Inui-senpai?" she asks.
"Inui-senpai? Why?" he returns with a question, though he adds, "He's coming here after lunch with the other senpai-tachi."
"Oh… I see."
"Why are you looking for Inui-senpai?" Ryoma brings it up.
"You see… I'm doing this errand…"
"That Horio really is careless." Ryoma bumbles while he stretches his legs, "What was that notebook he's supposed to give to Inui-senpai again?"
Sakuno chuckles, noticing the boy's usual grumpy commentary of his friend. She flips the green notebook in her hands to peek at the title.
"It was titled, 'Inui's Secret Notes: First Years' Edition," the girl answers, "Hmm… I wonder what's this all about?"
Ryoma stops stretching. Just hearing the notebook from Horio itself triggers the memory from not so long ago. "Love Interest: Echizen Ryoma." He flinches before turning to look at the girl who seemed clueless about the notebook's contents.
He swallows a lump in his throat, feigning nonchalance.
"Have you checked inside the notebook?" he manages to ask with a tone of indifference.
"I don't think it's good to read other people's stuff Ryoma-kun." She answers, "We need to respect everyone's personal stuff after all."
"Hn." He mumbles, feeling a bit guilty, "I'll just get a drink."
He knows it's just his lame excuse. Though somehow it shouldn't bother him anymore, he can't help but feel awkward talking about it. So leaving his racket beside the girl, he walks toward the area for vending machines where they have Ponta.
There is still quite a bit of the crowd because of the school festival. As he spots the vending machine he needs, he notices the queue of girls getting their drinks.
An internal struggle crosses his mind and he actually debates within himself whether he should just go to the next vendo. But as he remembers that the next vending machine is out of commission, he decides to just queue behind the group of girls.
"What's taking Akane so long?" one of the girls asks, while she steps aside for another one of her friends to use the machine.
"I heard she's at the girl's tennis club court, practicing." Another replies, "You know since she couldn't really practice because of her breakup…"
Ryoma pretends not to hear whatever the group of girls in front of him gossips about. He has this vague idea that it was Mori Akane that they were talking about. It didn't seem like they noticed him being there—they were just too absorbed by whatever topic they're discussing. Since he isn't anyone to care about other people's affairs he only stood, waiting for his turn to get his beverage.
"It's been months…" one of the girls says, "But I still can't believe that the breakup happened because of that girl."
It's finally Ryoma's turn to get his drink and the girls position themselves at the side of the machine to continue their talking. The tennis prince locates the Ponta, slides a coin on the slot, and presses the button. The machine makes a whirring sound, but the girls' voices are still clear in his ears.
"Seriously… She acts this dainty, pure girl persona. Like, come on! It's obvious that the Ryuzaki girl has been desperately clinging on Echizen Ryoma's side like she's actually at his level."
One girl nods, "Despite her innocent and plain appearance, that- what was her name again?"
"Ryuzaki Sakura...? Sakuno?" another girl answers.
His ears perk up, hearing her name again. What is it with everyone who continues to link him and Ryuzaki? As the loud thud of his canned drink resounds on the chute, his fists clench in annoyance. As his mood continues to sour, the voice of reason in his head debates whether he should just speak up—even if it means that more people would bother Ryuzaki—or stay quiet and let this all die down naturally.
"It doesn't matter what her name is." the other girl continues her statement, "How else could she seduce that cold Echizen? I believe that Ryuzaki Sakuno girl is actually a bit-"
"Hey!"
For a moment, as Ryoma opens his mouth, he thinks his voice has changed. But as he turns his head in the direction of the voice, an angry Mori Akane comes into view. She proceeds to glare at her supposed friends.
"Oh! You're finally here!" One of the girls turns her head to see her, not realizing the identity of the guy near them. As more of their group turn their heads to see Akane, some have finally realized the person beside them.
"What are you guys talking about?" Akane approaches her friends, ignoring Ryoma, "I've already told you countless times… It wasn't Ryuzaki-san's fault."
She gestures for her friends to come with her, "Let's go…" Akane instructs. But before they walk away, she stops right in front of the tennis prince.
"I'm sorry for this," she tells him.
But Ryoma doesn't care. They weren't really talking badly about him, but her. Since they dragged her name so much, isn't it only fair if they apologize to Ryuzaki?
As his eyes wander about the girls' retreating figures, his thoughts become even more muddled. Frustration, annoyance, and confusion dance within his mind.
Why is he so pissed?
With filled stomachs, the trio that comprises two second years and a single third year from the tennis club make their way towards the tennis club. Since Momoshiro and Kaidoh's class booth recently wrapped up their cafe booth, they decided to stop by the club to pass the time before the closing ceremony. Meanwhile, since Inui is one of the festival committee members along with Tezuka and Oishi, the last day of the festival isn't as hectic as the first. And so, three members of the tennis club gathered at the clubroom after having lunch.
"Ah! Ryuzaki-chan!" Momoshiro recognizes the girl first as she sits on one of the benches near the courts.
"80% chance that Ryuzaki-san is here to see me," Inui murmurs as he continues to walk behind the excited Momoshiro.
"Didn't she come here because of Echizen?" Kaidoh grumbles in response to his senpai, his eyes slanting in disbelief at Inui's proclamation.
"Why is she alone though?" Momo observes as they walk towards the girl who's currently standing up from the benches. She clearly saw them, so in a hurry, she jogs to meet them.
"Senpai-tachi, good afternoon," she greets. "Have you guys had lunch yet?"
The upperclassmen nod, "What brings you here, Ryuzaki-san?" Inui asks.
"I was just going to return your notebook," Sakuno says, handing the green notes back. "Horio-kun asked me on behalf because he couldn't come today…"
"So you're here to see me," the senpai faces his two underclassmen and teammates with a smug smile, "Thank you for returning this."
As visible sweat drops appear from the side of Momo and Kaidoh's foreheads, the latter starts to inquire, "So what data does that notebook contain?"
At the question, Inui's glasses sparkled as he showed the notebook's cover to the three, "This is the updated version of my First Year Notes. This contains all relevant information of the current first years in Seigaku that is related to the club."
"Oh…" Momo comments, "By relevant information, do you mean even personal stuff?"
Inui nods proudly and the three, including Sakuno, have the collective thought, 'As expected, Inui-senpai.'
"Hmm," as if he teleported out of nowhere, a red-head acrobat suddenly jumps to snatch the notebook swiftly from the data man's hands. He perfectly lands on his feet, flashing everyone a grin and his signature, "V! Hello everyone!"
"Kikumaru-senpai!" the three underclassmen, unites in surprise.
"This seems so interesting, Inui!" Eiji gushes, "Can I take a look?"
Inui adjusts his glasses, "I don't see why not. You already have it."
Sensing a bit of grumpiness in his voice, the cheery redhead immediately hangs an arm playfully around the bespectacled guy, "No need to be so grumpy, Inui! Come on! Just let us see for a bit."
Kikumaru continues trying to appease his classmate, "Besides, I'm sure nothing escapes Inui's great keen eyes! I'm sure nothing is as accurate as this!" He elbows him playfully, "Right, Inui?"
Inui clears his throat. A small proud smirk in his mouth as he says, "Of course. My notes are accurate. You can check it as proof."
"Yay!" Eiji jumps, "Come, Momo-chin! Let's check o-chibi's data!"
At the senpai's invitation, Momoshiro's eyes glint with mischief, realizing the senpai's motives, "There should be something interesting there to tease that brat…"
Kaidoh speaks up, noticing the scene unfolding in front of him.
"I don't think Echizen would be too happy when he finds out that you two are checking out his personal data."
"Aw. Don't be such a killjoy, Kaidoh!" Momo laughs, "Don't you want to know some of Echizen's secrets?"
"Um, ano, senpai-tachi, I don't think it's a good idea-" Sakuno tries to support Kaidoh, but she gets cut off when Kikumaru and Momo open the notebook.
"Really?" Kikumaru groans, "I guess o-chibi is really hard to gather data on. There's nothing juicy here." he flips the notebook to search for more pages, "Is this really it, Inui?"
At his statement, an invisible arrow comically pierces Inui who struggles to keep a straight face.
"What were you saying again, Ryuzaki-chan?" Momo takes the initiative to ask the girl who was interrupted.
Sakuno is about to speak when she gets cut off again by Kikumaru's discovery.
"Ah! Ryuzaki-chan's data is also here!"
"Eh?" Sakuno looks at Inui in confusion.
"Of course, since Ryuzaki-san has been a long-time supporter of the tennis club." Inui clarifies as-a-matter-of-factly, "To check the accuracy of my data, why don't you check your page on the notes, Ryuzaki-san?" He proposes.
"That's a great idea!" Eiji beckons at Sakuno to see the notes, to which she reluctantly goes.
A mixture of curiosity and shyness fills the girl while she grabs the notes from Eiji's hand. Before looking at it herself, she notices the looming figures of Momo and Eiji behind her who seem curious too. She can't exactly tell them to go away, so she comforts herself with the thought that if the tennis prince's data wasn't scandalous, then her's just might be too.
Ryuzaki Sakuno. She reads from the top to bottom. As her eyes scan the basic information, she can't find anything she may be conscious about- besides the height and weight. The thing is, even as she reaches the middle part, there's nothing untrue about the data. In fact, she thinks that Inui has been precise and accurate to an almost creepy level.
"Inui-senpai's notes are indeed accurate…" she mumbles just before she reaches the last part of her page. It was an area about random trivia. And as her eyes linger on that particular section, her face starts to heat up.
Love Interest: Echizen Ryoma
Silence fills the area, much to Kaidoh's curiosity who now starts to peek at the notes from afar. Just a minute later, his eyes widen in surprise, as he meets the looks of Momo and their senpais. At the discovery of that line, they all finally feel the awkwardness that should have been the case since they proposed to look at their previous coach's granddaughter's data with her presence.
If it might've been Ryoma, then they wouldn't hesitate to tease him endlessly. But Ryuzaki's face turning to a whole shade of red in embarrassment seems to be something they feel a bit guilty about—especially when she appears as if she's going to cry while defending herself.
"I.. I… The n-note…"
"What are you guys talking about?"
As his voice reaches her ears, Sakuno can't possibly praise her luck. Her previous companion who said he would just be getting his drinks arrives at the most inappropriate time.
As her heart continues to pound furiously, she fears that she'll get a heart attack.
After all, Echizen Ryoma's gaze won't leave her.
A/N:
Hello guys! I know it's late and I'm saying sorry again.
2021 just has been so hectic and terrible to me so far, mentally and physically. Despite ideas, I just can't find it in myself to focus on writing, and just like that, 2022 is coming in a few months and I'm still not processing 2021.
And if anyone here is waiting for an update for Waiting for that Promise, I'm currently brainstorming for it since I trashed the early drafts I made for the latest chapter. I don't know when is sooner, but I'm working on it as my time allows it.
Btw, did anyone notice the change in the story cover? I actually switched the old one with my actual RyoSaku fan art. It wasn't as great as other talented artists, but I tried my best with this one. Hopefully, more of my stories would follow so I don't have to use others' fan art anymore.
Has anyone seen the Ryoma movie trailer here? There are spoilers around but I'm getting trouble finding international RyoSaku fans on Twitter to fangirl about the latest movie together! If anyone wants to be mutuals on Twitter and interact, please do follow me. I follow back, I promise! I frequently tweet about RyoSaku, my ships, writing progress, and various anime there, so I'd like it if we could all interact there. :)
My Twitter handle is lunasupremacy. Don't hesitate to let me know if you came there from Wattpad, ao3, or here ~
As usual, thank you so much for taking the time to read my stuff! I really appreciate feedback and votes so I hope you guys could take the time :)
I know my updates are random, but I'm not abandoning any of my work. So I would recommend if you follow me or just add my works to your library so you get notified when I post stuff.
Again, thank you so much for reading! Special thanks to Piri (hanshiz) for beta reading the chapter!