Disclaimer: I so very much wish I did, but I don't.

Chapter 22

Sakuno ignored the noise he was making outside her door. She didn't want to see him right now. She needed some time alone, to sort out what had just taken place outside her house.

There was so much going on in her mind, in her heart, that she couldn't really pay attention to what she was doing. Running on auto mode, she went through all the motions of putting her things away then setting up in the kitchen. She had to rub away her tears more than a few times while she worked.

The pots and pans floated through the air more slowly than usual. The ingredients from the refrigerator were cleaned and prepared in sullen, jerky movements.

Leaving the usually lively preparations to their own devices, she retreated upstairs and ran a hot bath, adding a few drops of the chamomile essence her aunt gave her as a present. She tried to think while she soaked, but ended up crying harder, sobbing till she had problems breathing.

She hadn't cried for a long time. She used to do that a lot, small things used to make her cry buckets all the time. But that was before she found out she was the most powerful Ryuuzaki witch alive, probably even the most powerful witch in Japan since such people were rare in these modern times. Facts like that could really bolster one's confidence, and it did for her.

She had her craft, and she was proud of it, of herself. The knowledge kept her from shying away from people, kept her from feeling small in front of them and kept her alive, vivaciously alive.

So she hadn't had a reason to cry in a long time. Until today. Until Ryoma called her by that horrible term she didn't deserve. No, she didn't deserve that. She hadn't done anything to deserve that.

Her tears kept flowing hot and fast, while her bath water gradually cooled.

That was how Sumire found her when she got in sometime later. Sakuno was sitting in cold water and hiccupping from crying so hard. She had run out of tears, but there were obvious water stains on her cheeks. She allowed herself to be dried and bundled up by her worried grandmother, but it was obvious she wasn't really there at all.

Sumire pampered her until she came back to life, bit by little bit. Then she cried more while relating her story. Sumire brought her into the kitchen and started talking to her while urging her to eat.

She said that everybody had faced relationship problems at some point in their lives. If they were lucky, they learned about it from others before they faced the same predicaments. If they were luckier, they learned how to deal with it the hard way.

She claimed that boys like Ryoma needed more time to understand and learn. All Sakuno needed was patience, and even the most hardheaded male would come around on his own in time.

Sumire advised her granddaughter to give space to Ryoma while he was figuring himself out, let him come to her instead of her crowding him. Let him work for it so he would treasure her more.

All through dinner, Sakuno was still very upset; she couldn't properly process the logic behind her grandmother's words. But she was too lost to know what to do, so agreed to follow her advice for a while at least.

That night, Sakuno couldn't sleep because her heart was aching so.

Once he reached his home, he went straight up to his room and fell into bed, not caring that he was all sweaty from practice. Karupin snuggled on his stomach; Ryoma stroked his cat absently as he stared hard at his ceiling.

Just what had he done? He knew things had gone horribly wrong; he had made a disastrous move.

He was too harsh on her, he thought. His anger had slowly built up and unleashed all at once on Sakuno. He shouldn't have done that. He recalled how painfully shy she used to be, how the slightest thing could make her terribly embarrassed or cry buckets, and how weak she was.

No matter that she had changed her appearance, no matter that she had become more socially adept than he would ever be; she was still a weak female.

He shouldn't have made her cry. Her eyes were so sad; he had experienced a strange constriction in his chest when the tears spilt out His cheek still burned where her hand had connected, but his chest hurt more. Why?

Why? Sakuno, why? He didn't know himself anymore.