Mata POT Ryosaku!! Yoroshiku ne!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own no nothing, really!

Chapter 11

That night, Sakuno finally found out what lay beyond the darkness. All in one night, she met her destiny and was given a peek at her future. All in one night, her last night in Tokyo for a long time to come ……

-Seigaku, Tennis Practice after school-

He was not the first one to notice, in fact, the news was only delivered to him after he failed to get away from the other 3 Ichinens and the loud cheerleader.

Then, Horio and the loud cheerleader were shouting at the same time, one in each of his long-suffering ears. He was rather taken aback when he finally figured out what they were trying to say.

Ryuuzaki-chan had not come to school for 2 weeks!

Sakuno was missing!

Did he know what happened to Ryuuzaki-san? When did he last see her?

He didn't think much of the issue then, just told them to find out from the Obaa-san. Anyway, he figured she probably fell sick or something.

Later, when he was on his own, laying in bed and cuddling Karupin while he studied the ceiling, he recalled how cold she was last Thursday, how weak she seemed … And how cute she looked in his Regular jersey.

Now, where did that line come from?

Well, she definitely fell sick then, although he could vaguely recall seeing her well and alive the next day … Oh, well. She'll come back to school soon. Then he could find out what did happen to her when the other Ichinens and the loud cheerleader forcibly tell him.

He turned on the bed, shrugging off those non-tennis-related thoughts like so much dust.

He didn't realize what was going on with him until he caught himself distracted during a game. The loud cheerleader was probably late that day; that's why he hadn't already tuned her out before he started playing.

He suddenly heard her calling him when he was in the middle of a game with Momo-senpai. Hearing that "RYOMA SAMAAA!" brought to mind a softer "Ryoma-kun", which made him recall the 'incident' and her absence. He just wanted to see if she was back, nothing special even if she was, he was just curious.

He looked. And couldn't find. For a moment, it felt like his heart was falling. Why was he disappointed? Then he was rudely called back to the game when Momo-senpai was performing his Dunk Smash, and making all the loud noises that accompanied his special move.

After that, when he was at the burger place with Momo-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai, he tried to recall how long she had been gone. He couldn't recall exactly, but he had a feeling it was a very long time. That thought bothered him all through dinner, and Momoshiro had to rouse him more than once and scold him for not paying attention to his senpai-tachi. To which he simply reiterated his favorite phrase, "Mada Mada da ne."

Hai, mada mada da ne, Echizen Ryoma, letting a girl bother you like that. Especially since she wasn't even around to give you trouble.

He decided that he had to find out, that he had to settle this issue if he was to be able to keep his mind on tennis. Not wanting to give his senpai-tachi more gossip fodder, he went to some trouble to catch Ryuuzaki-sensei alone, and asked outright where was her granddaughter.

She was away.

No, she didn't say when she would be back.

Actually, no, she didn't exactly say that she would come back. But she was doing fine, thank you for your concern.

And no, the other regulars wouldn't find out that he was asking.

That was that. He tried to close the issue, but his heart was having a little trouble forgetting a certain longhaired girl with big brown eyes, and who was wearing his jersey. The image stuck with him for a long time.

Time passed, how many days, how many months, he really wasn't taking note. But finally, thoughts of her were silenced and buried in his heart, like a small pebble at the bottom of a pond. It was always there, just buried far below the surface.

She never came back. The girl whose existence was never more known to him than when she wasn't there.

She wasn't there when Seigaku won the nationals, himself clinching the crucial match. The loud cheerleader made her presence known without doubt, but she wasn't there.

She wasn't there when the trio finally made it into the Regular team, and her friend started to cheer for Horio at every practice. Not that he minded, it was actually quite a relief to be rid of her. He just thought, no matter that one was the antithesis of the other, she still reminded him of her.

She wasn't there when he was appointed as Buchou for the club, a position he grudgingly accepted. She wasn't there when he led the team to greater glory.

She wasn't there. He told himself he didn't care.

And then he would remember that sometimes, she was. And that sometimes, he did.

She was in his mind at the strangest moments; when he successfully countered Fuji Syuusuke's Triple Counters, when he managed to win more points against his baka Oyaji, when he effectively tamed an especially bratty, and slightly gifted, Kouhai by utterly trashing him in a game.

She was there when he was just lying in bed, with only his thoughts and his cat for company. She was there with her impractical long braids and soulful eyes. And she was always wearing the oversized jersey with their school colors.

Graduation sneaked up on him. When he turned his back on the tennis team after leaving his last piece of advice, he wondered how she was doing.

It took her 2 years to come back.

She remembered her initial trauma at leaving the place that meant home to her, and the people who were her friends.

She could have returned much earlier, at the 2-month deadline, but she chose not to.

Her power was, indeed, strong. Much stronger than the other Ryuuzaki witches, whom she had met over the last couple of years. So strong, she almost couldn't control it in the beginning.

Within 2 months, Mayu managed to toughen her up, made her mind stronger than the magic. She remembered her aunt telling her: Without a strong mind, she would only be consumed by the magic. A witch who couldn't control her own magic was merely seeking demise.

And soon, she wasn't so terrified anymore; then she wasn't crying every night because her friends were far away from her. Her interest in the magic and its philosophy grew, she wanted to find out more, try out more.

And she kept at it for 2 whole years, while continuing her studies at a local school.

And finally, after graduation, Ryuuzaki Sakuno the witch was ready to go home. To the friends she had to leave behind.

A/N: Ano … couldn't help myself, once I started typing, the story line gets more wrecked up …. Sigh, sorry, I know the whole thing is bloody long, I meant to do short and sweet pieces only … mou …. Remember the sweet scene that started all these? I changed it and stuffed it into the following 2 or 3 chappies, original idea was that ONE: Sakuno would "suddenly" realize that she and Ryoma were meant to be, so she would end up more relaxed around him rather than all shy and tongue-tied. Then all her natural beauty would come out and Ryoma had to beat off other suitors to get to her. TWO: Absence does make the heart fonder, and Ryoma only missed Sakuno when she wasn't there anymore (well, that she would disappear for a loooong while, at least)

Yikes! Long A/N .. sorry! Plz R&R, and big thanks to Magy, atori and cyjj for reviewing the first 10 chapters …. I know the story is dragging …. Big hugz to u guys for sticking with me