Disclaimer: No, I don't own PoT, sob

Chapter 19

When Ryoma got home, his father pestered him for a game. Since he hadn't played much that day at school, he didn't mind complying. But Nanjiroh wasn't playing seriously against him, and Ryoma was thoroughly frustrated by the time the match ended at 7-4 in Nanjiroh's favor.

Ryoma went to his room to sulk. His cat followed him to keep him company.

As he studied the cracks in his ceiling, Sakuno came to his mind. At fifteen, Ryoma was as lost about relationships as when he was twelve. He knew that Sakuno bothered him, and that he didn't like other people paying her too much attention. But what did that mean?

Well, logically speaking, he must care for her. There was a surge of panic as he thought about that, a sudden tightening of his chest and a very uncomfortable feeling of being suspended with nothing but a lot of empty space under the soles of his feet.

Ryoma recalled Sakuno at twelve: twin braids, poor tennis player, painfully shy, always blushing, terribly easy to tease, always there at his games or matches although she seldom made loud noises like her friend did.

She looked cute when she blushed. She looked cute when she was wearing his jersey.

So, Ryoma reaffirmed that the Sakuno two years ago was cute.

Then he tried to think of the pretty girl he walked home with earlier. Sakuno at fifteen: long soft-looking hair, beautiful eyes, more open and friendly, cute smile, talked a lot more but he didn't mind as long as she spoke in that soft, melodious voice, more confident, was missing for two years but turned up at the courts when he played earlier that afternoon, very attractive.

Very attractive? Well, yes. He recalled the many guys who approached her in class and in the corridors; he recalled Fuji and Sengoku. Although he knew he could dismiss Fuji since the tensai was probably just trying to raise his hackles. Some senpais were really annoying.

Ryoma could admit that he was rather displeased to see Sakuno with Fuji, after all Fuji was a dangerous character. Even those who knew him well wouldn't be spared from his sadistic pranks. It was highly recommended that people stayed away from Fuji.

What about the other guys? Ryoma didn't like seeing any of them.

'Lucky' Sengoku was always surrounded by girls, and wasn't that a testament to his flamboyant nature? Hence innocent girls like Sakuno should stay well away from him.

And what about the miscellaneous male students who surrounded Sakuno in school all the time? Well, they were too noisy. They shouldn't block corridors and make scenes in the classroom. Hence they should stop gathering around Sakuno.

Having thought out perfectly good reasons for being irked at those other boys, Ryoma reflected that perhaps he did care about Sakuno.But in a platonic way not as in 'like', or, cringe, 'love'. That was an alien four-letter word.

Phew! Thankfully he only cared about her like he cared about….the trio? Hmm, actually, he didn't give that big a damn about the trio even though they were all regulars at some point. Horio finally made it into the regular team in his graduation year, Katsuo and Kachiro had qualified towards the end of their second year.

How about comparing with Momo-senpai? Hmm, he had never felt he had a say in Momoshiro's choice of friends. He simply tolerated or ignored them; and never felt compelled to keep Momoshiro away from even the really weird ones like those two who used to play for Fudomine.

Ryoma fell asleep still trying to justify his feelings for Sakuno, and remained in bed until his father ceremoniously woke him up for dinner by hitting a gong right next to his tender ears.