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

Chapter 26

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Somebody was knocking on the door.

Bang! Bang!

She really should get up and open if for whoever it was.

Bang! Bang!

Ah, but her head really hurt. Her body felt really weak and she really couldn't get up at all.

The banging stopped. Guess whoever it was went away. Good, she could get back to sleep. She tried to turn onto her side, which was her usual sleeping position, but found that her limbs were not obeying her brain. Maybe it was because her head was in so much pain. She let out a moan, objecting to the heavy throbbing behind her eyes.

She heard footsteps coming toward her and struggled to sit up and see. She got a quick glance at a beam of light, before she had to close her eyes again. She couldn't really look at that until her eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of photons. The footfalls stopped beside her, and someone asked her if she was alright, in Ryoma's voice as he pulled her into a sitting position.

Aa? Ryoma?

Sakuno's eyes snapped open quickly this time, and searched for her prince's face in the poor illumination. She asked him where they were, but he didn't answer, just sat down beside her while he played the torchlight all over the room.

Sakuno's eyes followed the light, checking out their surroundings. She saw that Ryoma had just came from the direction of the door, and deduced that he was checking out the lock, and had tried to get the attention of anyone who might be outside. Guess he wasn't successful then. But why were they trapped here in the first place?

Getting rather confused, Sakuno tried to remember what she was doing there, with him. A sudden flash back brought Fuji to her mind. The tensai had asked to see her and bought her a drink, then ……

Clearing the path for nature's course, eh, Fuji-senpai. Sakuno thought of laying a curse on the tennis prodigy, but didn't want to stain her career by casting such vile and low-classed spells, not even for the deserving Fuji.

She then thought of undoing the lock with her magic, but realized that since Ryoma had already checked out that way of exit, she couldn't do that without explanations.

Sakuno wondered what Fuji hoped to achieve by throwing her and Ryoma together like this. Whatever he had planned for, he had better be ready for Ryoma to get truly angry at this latest stunt he pulled.

That reminded her. She was not happy with Ryoma at the moment. The blockhead still hadn't apologized to her for saying all those horrible things the other day. Suddenly filled with renewed anger as she recalled his words that time, Sakuno purposefully turned her back on Ryoma, not caring that it was childish behavior.

Take that! You slimeball! She silently told him, hoping he could hear and that he would slowly decompose from her scorn.

Ryoma switched off the torch to conserve the battery, plunging them into abject darkness again. The mood suited him; he was dejected.

She was definitely still angry. He suspected as much, even if she didn't just turned away from him. Ryoma sighed inwardly. How was he to say he was sorry when she obviously didn't want to see him even when there were only the two of them stuck in this tomb-like space?

He wondered if things would have been easier if she was still the Sakuno from two years ago. That Sakuno would surely be frightened and dependent on him in such a situation. That Sakuno would have accepted his apology quick as can be, then all his problems would be over.

But then again, if it were that Sakuno, all the events of the past few weeks wouldn't have happened at all. If it were that Sakuno, she wouldn't be angry with him now because he said all those things about her in the heat of the moment then.

He reminded himself that he was dealing with the new Sakuno, the one whom he had finally decided was still a Sakuno he liked. The new Sakuno was rather more difficult to deal with, though.

Sigh. Ryoma was one troubled teenager.

Well, he meant to apologize anyway, and since he had her alone, even if he didn't get there by any of his own half-baked schemes, he should get it over and done with.

And if she wouldn't forgive him, then he would just go away and die slowly inside.

He wondered if she would be happier to watch him die; he wouldn't mind doing that if she would let up on him. He had barely been functioning over the last two weeks anyway, how much worse could death be? Let's see, how many ways were there to give your life in exchange for pardon? He slowly counted, concentrating on the entertainment value to ensure she relented; each method was more excruciating than the last, he gave an involuntary shudder.

They had been sitting quietly for almost an hour going by his watch. He couldn't even hear her breathing. Getting slightly worried, he turned on the torchlight again, and turned to watch her. She was hugging her knees and balancing her chin between them.

Clearing his throat nervously, he wondered how to start on his "apology".

"S-Sakuno, are you thirsty? Or hungry? There is some bread and water over there …." He put a hand on her shoulder when she didn't reply, and was shocked that her body felt cold to his touch. Concern leaped into his face, then annoyance that she didn't even tell him she was cold.

Ignoring her continued silence, he shrugged off his jersey and draped it over her shoulders. She startled and spun around to face him, as though suddenly realizing he was there.

Now he was really pissed. There had been only the two of them in this room after all, how could she have forgotten he was there, too? His anger made it into his voice as he spoke," Couldn't you have mentioned that you were cold? Are you trying to catch pneumonia or something?"

She was still looking shocked; her eyes were wide and kept looking left and right, her mouth opened slightly and in the poor light from the torch, he could see her face was bleached pale.

Damn, but she looked really scared. Ryoma pushed aside his anger and started all over on the concern that bloomed in his chest when he saw her like that. Getting onto his knees, he placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her lightly, "It's alright. I'm here with you. Don't worry, I am sure we can get out by --- Ommph!"

Ryoma was not prepared for the impact when Sakuno suddenly threw herself into his arms ……