9. The Aftermath

One can't deny that the best times for the best naps would be after eating a hearty lunch.

Echizen Ryoma, the boy who has since then lived by that fact, currently spends the last 45 minutes of lunch break at the rooftop. His eyes are closed as he lies near the wall in order to shield himself from the intense summer heat. He yawns lazily, mind wandering about the latest stuff that he has to do and remember.

"Echizen."

The familiar voice of a senpai prompts him to open a single eye and check.

"Fuji-senpai," he recognizes, but he doesn't move from his spot. "What is it?"

"We won't have any tennis practice after school, but there will be a meeting for the regulars." Fuji says, walking towards the railing by the rooftop, "And… Tezuka is back."

"Tezuka-buchou?" At the mention of the name, Ryoma lazily sits up from his lying position, "His pro events overseas are already finished?"

"That's what I heard from him," Fuji smiles, "Maybe he's just resting a bit… It's hard being a tennis monster like him."

Ryoma doesn't immediately reply, wondering why his senpai suddenly decided to go back to Japan. But then, if he's back for good, it would be a shame. The only reason why he stayed out of the professional scene for the meantime was that his mother insisted that he finished high school first.

"In a way, you're the same tennis monster as Tezuka, Echizen…" Fuji chuckles.

"Che." Ryoma rolls his eyes, "Like you're one to talk, senpai. You just don't like to pursue being a pro at all."

Fuji only turns his head back to the view of the school grounds below before he says, "Maybe. Though that really isn't my style at all."

The senpai glances back to Ryoma, wearing his usual amused smile, "Putting that aside… How have you been lately, Echizen?"

Skeptical at how his senpai changes the topic, he stands up, "The usual."

"I see." Fuji answers, fishing a small-sized paper envelope from the pocket of his polo uniform, "I keep on forgetting to give you this."

"What is it?" Ryoma asks. He doesn't have the slightest idea as to what his senpai might be giving.

Fuji hands him the crisp paper envelope, "It was the photos from the festival."

Ryoma recalls that festival from two weeks ago. It wasn't really the most pleasant memory. Hesitant, he accepts them from the tensai.

"I was supposed to give those to Horio and instruct him to give these out to you first years," Fuji shrugs, "But I figured that you probably would like some of the photos for yourself."

Frowning, Ryoma opens the envelope. It contains some of the photos that Fuji-senpai took since preparing for the festival. One photo was a picture of Kachiro and Katsuo holding up buckets of paint, another was a photo of him and Horio as they painted one of the props. The next photo was a picture of him and Ryuzaki, with Ryuzaki smiling at him while he was annoyed at the paint on his cheeks.

It made his stomach churn in uncomfortably.

There are more photos after, but he decides to not look at them for now.

He decides to confront Fuji. "Why are you giving these to me..."

Ryoma is about to return the envelope to the brown-haired senpai and air his annoyance at the task when he hears the sound of the rooftop door closing, with no Fuji Syuusuke in sight.

"...senpai."

'Great,' he grimaces.

The car ride to Osaka wasn't at all silent. There were country tunes akin to sounds of the eighties blaring on the car radio as it fills the space along with the subtle hums of Ryuzaki Sumire as she drives.

Sakuno relaxes in her seat, looking over the greenery by the car window. It is a school day and she was supposed to attend her classes as a normal high schooler would. But here she is, on her way to Osaka to accompany her grandmother for a tennis appointment as advised by the Seigaku coach's doctor.

The change of environment from the bustling city of Tokyo to Osaka's calming countryside provided Sakuno with the escape that she needs. She lets out a sigh, barely noticed by Sumire who decides to ask.

"Is there something wrong, Sakuno?"

The girl faces her grandmother, shaking her head while giving her a reassuring smile. The last thing she wants is for her grandmother to feel guilty for bringing her along.

"Nothing, obaa-chan. I just remembered some school stuff."

Her grandmother nods as her eyes gaze back on the road; she seems to drop the subject while she continues to hum. Meanwhile, Sakuno resumes looking back at the car window, trying to distract herself.

How long has it been?

'Two weeks?' She wonders.

Remembering it all–somehow makes it all anticlimactic. Shame. The fact that her feelings just appeared to be so childish and unimportant, continues to hurt.

'Last week was a mess,' Sakuno concludes. 'It shouldn't have happened.'

It was her fears coming to life.

She internally cringes, trying not to remember. She takes a deep breath, determined to not let herself cry. She managed to appear alright for the past two weeks after crying her heart out at home that afternoon.

At the sight of the school gates from the window, Sakuno wills herself to smile. Shitenhouji High School, it read. As Sumire swiftly parks their car in the designated parking spaces, Sakuno can see the number of students roaming around freely.

"Looks like we arrived just on time for lunch" Sumire comments, getting her phone out of her jersey jacket. She starts to make a call, "Sakuno, can you take the food basket out of the car?"

The girl instantly follows her grandmother's instructions. It is Sumire who first gets out of the car, talking on her phone. Meanwhile, Sakuno gets the food basket through one of the car's backseat doors. With the basket on her arm, she momentarily peeks on the food contents that they brought. Colorful pastries meet her eyes, and she's glad that the sweets she helped prepare yesterday didn't get damaged from the ride.

"Hey! That looks delicious!"

At the voice dangerously close to her ears, Sakuno almost drops the basket to the ground, getting the surprise of her life. Luckily, a strong hand catches the container on time, saving it from getting dropped.

"Phew, that was close," a red-haired boy around her age says, "Nee-chan, are you trying to throw away perfectly good food?"

Finally getting herself together, Sakuno apologizes, "Gomen… I was just surprised," she reasons, looking at the boy's face to recognize him, "I didn't notice you."

"Ah!" It is the boy who gets to realize who she is first, "Aren't you that Seigaku girl? The one who makes tasty rice balls!"

He flashes her a huge grin. Tooyama Kintaro looks exactly the same since the first time she met him, only taller and a bit more mature-looking. Still, the way he jumps at his discovery is a thing that perhaps won't really change at all.

"Konnichiwa, Tooyama-kun," she greets.

"Call me Kin-chan!" He says,"Your name is Sakuno-chan, right? I remember your cheerleader friend calling you that!"

Kintaro laughs heartily, pleased at himself. Then, he holds her hand tightly—much to Sakuno's surprise again–to return the basket to her.

"Are you okay, though? Is it too hot?" The energetic boy asks in worry, "Your face looks reddish."

"Ah!" Sakuno realizes that she must have blushed because of how straightforward the boy is. She shakes her head adamantly, "M-Maybe it's just the heat. It's summer, after all."

"Yeah, it really feels like it's already summer now, huh?" the boy agrees, nodding before changing the topic, "By the way, are you here with Seigaku's coach?"

She nods in confirmation. Finally remembering her grandmother, Sakuno looks around to locate Sumire. But the old woman is nowhere to be found. She finds herself in a moment of panic, not being with anyone she's close with in an unfamiliar place.

Probably at the sight of her panicked face, Kintaro laughs. "Don't worry, Sakuno-chan! I'm sure that Seigaku-baachan is with Jii-chan."

Sakuno does know that her grandmother is here to have a meeting with Shitenhouji's coach, but why did her grandmother go ahead without her? Now, she has to find where the faculty is. Or at least, where the Seigaku coach would be meeting her peer.

"Mou…" she unconsciously pouts. She knows she's not the best at directions.

"Hey! Why do you look so down?" Kintaro asks, curious. His face is too close to Sakuno's, which makes her step back. Noticing her discomfort, the boy leans back scratching the side of his messy red hair in deep thought.

Sakuno finds him weird and brash. Truth is, she's known that the boy can really be too hyper since a long time ago. Seigaku has been having matches with Shitenhouji for the Nationals every year, after all. Still, this is the first time that she's been around him for this long since the rice ball incident that she could still recall from their first-year middle school days.

"I know!" He suddenly declares, grabbing her hand. He runs towards somewhere, Sakuno in tow. She grips the basket on her other hand, careful that it won't spill as she gets carried away again by a guy. Sakuno tries to keep up, not really wanting to be just dragged around again.

She doesn't want to be negative. But the last time it happened, she cried.

So she asked, "Are we going to where Grandma is?"

The boy looks at her with a wide smile, nodding. In her eyes, his hair shined like it was on fire against the sunlight. He radiates warmth.

Tooyama Kintaro is like the sun.

Sakuno doesn't know what to make of that.

All of a sudden, Ryoma's mood drops.

He feels annoyed for some reason. Was it because it seems like Fuji is making fun of him? Or he's feeling uncomfortable again, seeing his photo with Ryuzaki?

It's genuine confusion and if it weren't for the fact that he's in the middle of English class, he would've pulled his hair in frustration. And so, a terrible glare appears on his face–his bad mood reaching even the subject teacher.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Echizen?" The teacher asks him in English.

Ryoma looks at him, trying to compose his mood, "Nothing important, Mr. Eguchi."

He replies effortlessly in the same language.

Thankfully, Eguchi-sensei only nods and continues to discuss the importance of subject-verb agreement in grammar. To Ryoma's further annoyance though, he can feel the inquisitive stares of Horio, Kachiro, and Katsuo, who were sitting in different areas of the classroom. With a silent exhale, he turns to face away from his classmate friends. But like a joke, his eyes settle on the empty seat of the classroom which Ryuzaki Sakuno usually occupies.

"Ryuzaki-san is accompanying Ryuzaki-sensei to Shitenhouji today."

Ryoma remembers their class adviser telling the class during the first period the reason for the girl's absence. Not like it mattered to him. Because even if she's attending class, she's not making herself present around him.
He knows she's doing her utter best to avoid him. No more 'good mornings' when she arrives in class, no more 'Ryoma-kun, would you like these…' when she makes extra food, no presence of her during tennis practices, and she's also definitely avoiding his family.
Not like he can blame her. After all, he just broke her heart in front of everyone. If anything, Ryoma felt like he should not even be existing around her.
It may come to everyone as a surprise, but he does feel guilty of breaking her heart.
After all, he considers her his close friend–a staple figure in his daily life. He cares for her even if he's not showy about it. He also knows that she considers him as a close friend too, that's why he got confused when apparently, she's been in love with him ever since middle school.
Was he really that oblivious?
Ryoma's head starts to ache. How was he supposed to realize that she likes him all along? How was he supposed to react from that event two weeks ago when he dumped her? That time, all he wants is for the two of them to resume back to their peaceful, simple lives together. Without anyone bothering them of what is between them and what is not. That's why, without considering her feelings, he rejected her.
As the tennis prince feels even more suffocated by his thoughts, he decides to look outside the window. And as the teacher's voice disappears on his ears, unconsciously he watches the familiar car of his middle school coach on the school grounds, parking among other faculty cars.
He continues to watch from above, seeing Ryuzaki-sensei come out of the car first, then her granddaughter following her. Ryoma stares at them as they eventually make their way to the school building.

"Ryuzaki-sensei, thank you for having me in the club. I will take my leave now."

Sakuno watches as one of her grandmother's middle school coachees says goodbye. The room is quiet as Sumire nods in approval. As the boy gives one last look before he dismisses himself, the middle school coach speaks.

"Thank you, Yiruma."

And the door closes with the last recognition from the coach.

It was only half an hour after they had returned from their short Shitenhouji trip. Being it still the last minutes before the proper last subject ends for high schoolers, Ryuzaki Sumire decided to spend a bit of her time finishing her documentations while Sakuno decided to just hang around the room.

The girl walks around the faculty room, used to being there a lot–a privilege that she has because of her grandmother. There were no other teachers around, and she freely wandered around the room. Just before Sakuno gets back to that spot in the room where her grandmother's desk is in, her eyes linger on the one photo that evoked many memories. It was a framed article about the Seigaku Middle School Tennis Club team's win at the National Championships. The said article had a group photo of the team, but there was a separate photo of the team's then captain:Ryoma, for being hailed as the best player for that season.

Sakuno's chest tightens even more, seeing another framed article from almost four years ago. Seigaku Middle School's win over Rikkaidai that had the whole team group photo included. In there, Sakuno could spot 12-year-old Ryoma whose features were more childlike than now.

The nostalgia trip only made her heart feel even more broken, realizing that she was pining since the first year of middle school.

Sakuno let out a long, tired sigh that got the attention of Sumire who was still working.

"Sakuno, what do you think of Ryoma?"

It wasn't the first time that her Grandmother would tease her about her obvious feelings for the tennis player, but Sakuno is just not having it today–not when her heart is still broken.

"Mou, obaa-chan," she murmurs, "stop teasing me."

Instead of the usual mischievous laugh that she used to joke around with her granddaughter, Sumire only shrugs.

"I'm not teasing you this time," she states, looking at the girl across from her, "What do you think of Ryoma, Sakuno?"

Sakuno purses her lips, unsure whether she should answer. But her grandmother looked serious, and for some reason, she feels like she has to be honest. So Sakuno composes herself, staring at the photos in the article again. She hopes to conceal her embarrassment, as she can't help but think of the boy's qualities that made her fall in love with him in the first place.

"I think… Ryoma-kun is great," she shyly says.

"Why do you think he's great?" Sumire follows up quickly.

Sakuno pauses, unsure why her grandmother would ask her an obvious question. But she obliges, "B-Because Ryoma-kun is great at everything," she starts. "Besides being a tennis prodigy, he excels in academics…"

"And?" Sumire counters.

"He has a lot of friends who care about him… a family who supports him."

"And?"

"He isn't a quitter, and he actually works hard to live up to his potential."

"And?"

"And he loves animals!" Sakuno unconsciously blurts out, getting riled at Sumire's persistent questions. She lowers her voice shyly, but as she speaks, her voice becomes determined and sure.

"Ryoma-kun, despite looking aloof and distant, cares for his friends a lot…especially his cat."

Sakuno smiles and nods to herself.

Sumire shakes her head, making her intentions even more vague to Sakuno. The question and answer conversation continued even with Sakuno not seeing why it was suddenly being asked by her grandmother. Still, she continues to humor the old lady.

"Favorite food?"

"Japanese food. Ryoma-kun dislikes western dishes." She replies before cutting off the next question, "Obaa-chan, why are you asking me these kinds of questions?"

"Sakuno, do you think Ryoma is perfect?"

She is a bit taken aback with such an unfiltered question. Sakuno takes her time before honestly saying her thoughts.

"I…I do."

Sumire gestured for her to sit on the chair in front of her table, "Sakuno, you know, I also have ears on the campus… And news does go around."

Sakuno awkwardly sits on the chair, thinking about what incident her grandmother pertains to. Realizing the situation, her cheeks flush in shame. Did her grandmother know how she was dumped by the tennis prince?

"Sakuno, maybe it is time for you to assess how you see Ryoma." Sumire says, "I know that you have liked that kid ever since, and I can understand why… At this point, I know you know a lot about him," the coach continues, "but Ryoma isn't perfect. And maybe it is time that you try to see him beyond rose-colored glasses."

"But I'm not seeing him behind rose-colored glasses." Sakuno quickly defends, "I know for a fact that Ryoma-kun is great, and he's a good person…"

"Who also happens to be dense enough to unknowingly hurt me with his thoughtless comments and actions… and mean enough to dump me– his friend in front of everyone."

It is her deepest, negative thoughts that speak in her mind.

Silence fills the room again when Sumire decides to not say anything more.

Sakuno feigns a shrug, but deep inside, she reflects.

The skies are just about to look warm, the sunbeams starting to not feel as hot.

"Is everyone here?" Oishi claps his hand to draw the attention of the other regulars within the vicinity just outside the club room. He stands beside Tezuka Kunimitsu, the captain of the tennis club last year.

All of the regulars in their school uniforms gather around to form a semicircle. There is no tennis practice that day, being the last day of the first term. Since it was just after dismissal, many students still loiter around the school–some of them really decided to spend their afternoon watching pro-player Tezuka standing in front of the Seigaku regulars.

"Ahem," Oishi clears his throat, visibly uncomfortable at the unintended audience. Thankfully, they were nowhere near to hearing the contents of their meeting.

"So it was decided that our tennis club will hold a week-long training at Echizen's residence," the current Seigaku captain announces. "We just received a call from Ryuzaki-sensei that Shitenhouji declined the proposal for a joint training at Osaka, since their team are set to go on another place for training at the designated dates."

Ryoma only looks ahead, not really listening. He is more absorbed in the thought of going home since there would be no school practice anyway.

"Because we will have Tezuka oversee our training, we can't really change the schedules to accommodate other schools' availability for joint training." Oishi continues, "Plus, you cannot really ask for anything more when you get to practice around a tennis legend… Right, Echizen?"

His mind continues to wander around, if not for Momoshiro who elbows him, "Ah, what is it again, Oishi-buchou?"

"Ha…" the captain furrows his eyebrows but he repeats, "I said that we can't really ask for anything more if we are going to hold our summer training at your place, around Nanjiro-san's."

Finally, processing what Oishi just announced, Ryoma immediately asks, "We're doing summer training at my place? How come I didn't know any of this beforehand?"

"Echizen, I see that you haven't been really paying attention to things lately." Tezuka, who is only watching beside Oishi all this time finally decides to comment, "Don't let your guard down."

Ryoma wanted to roll his eyes but he couldn't dare to do so. He still respects the previous captain to not retort. Instead, he adjusts his hat, "Hai."

"Are we all clear? Everyone?" Oishi takes that as the cue to wrap up their meeting, but then, at the corner of his eyes he sees an old woman wearing a pink jersey, approaching them. He immediately glances at Ryuzaki-sensei walking towards them, her granddaughter, Ryuzaki Sakuno shyly walking behind.

"Ah! Ryuzaki-sensei! You've arrived," the present captain greets.

Sumire waves her hand dismissively, smiling at her ex-middle school team.

"How are you, kids?" she asks everyone. "I'm sure Oishi has told you about the summer training."

"Konnichiwa, Ryuzaki-sensei!" The regulars greet, not forgetting their gratitude to their coach of three years in middle school.

Ryoma, following along with his senpais, bows a bit to the coach before standing straight. His eyes unconsciously settle on the twin-braided girl who hides behind her grandmother. The small packet of photos in his pockets feel heavy, as he ponders about how he can give them to her.

"Truthfully, since Sugisaki-sensei retired, the school is yet to choose another coach for the high school boys' tennis club. So far, Oishi has been doing a good job in leading, I assume…" Ryuzaki-sensei nods, "But I'm sure that sooner or later, you guys would lag behind if you can't train with a proper coach."

"Luckily, Tezuka here is stopping in Japan for a bit before returning to Germany. So he will be coming with you to the summer training as a mentor. I'm sure that his experiences in the professional scene will really help. Also, I have talked to Nanjiro about this training and he has agreed to use his backyard, and look into your guys' training from time to time. I will also be staying there to be your main coach…" the coach continues to inform.

Meanwhile, the boy has been adjusting his hat to prevent his sight from wandering towards the girl he rejected two weeks ago.

'Damn.'

If only he knew that it would be this awkward for him around her then…then what?

A/N:

Yay. Finally updated! It's been months since my last update, so as always, thanks for sticking with me. I hope you continue to enjoy the stuff I write.

I know I dont update much (because of real life stuff in general lol) but I still have a lot of stuff to put out for my OTP. Also, since the New Prince of Tennis anime is coming back with a new season, I just know that it will make me more fired up. Haha!

Thank you hanshiz for beta reading.

And thanks to YOU for reading this. :)

Feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews.