Hello~! It's Kaye-chan, back with another chappie of 'Down the Road'! I'd thanks everyone fr reviewing...it feels so great that people are actually reading this horrible fanfic of mine....^_^ so, thank you~! And I'm sorry for the late posting of this chapter ; I seem to be getting lazier day by day..
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"Did you hear about that......Ryuzaki confessing to Echizen....?"said a couple of students before school started.
"Yeah! Who hasn't.......and I can't believe it, does Ryuzaki think that Echizen would fall for her? She must be off her tree, yeah?"Another girl commented. Ryoma heard everything from far, everything about Sakuno and him. What's wrong about Sakuno? She was just an average Japanese girl.
"Ryoma-sama rejected her....man, I pity her, but what would Ryoma-sama think of her as if there's a loyal and pretty girl, meaning me, supporting him~?"blabbered Tomoka. She never stopped talking. Well, she is still Tomoka, after all, so he guessed he couldn't do anything about it.
"Ano, buchou..."said Kachirou.
"Yes...?"
"We all heard about you and Ryuzaki-san....."
"So? I don't wanna talk about it,"Ryoma answered, getting up from his seat. School was starting any moment, and Ryoma still decided to get out of his classroom, pronto. He knew the girl's tennis team were training hard, even in the morning. There would probably be a chance for him to see Sakuno.
Ryoma walked swiftly and walked outdoors. He wanted to see Sakuno for no reason. He wanted to see how she was doing, though his presence in front of her would stir up more trouble. From a distance, he could see a few girls playing tennis.
"Wah, sugoi ne, buchou!"commented a girl, looking at the tennis ball that flew past her.
"Nah, you just need to practise more, Yamatachi-san,"Sakuno said, smiling.
Ryoma continued to observe Sakuno in silence. She was indeed a good player, not like how she was two years ago. Probably all her inspiration to get better at tennis was none other than the ouji-sama(prince). The one serve that Sakuno hit just now, it just looked familiar. Her opponent could not hit it back, even though trying in vain.
"Wah, buchou, that serve was good!"Kiko Yamatachi said. Ryoma could still remember her as one of Sakuno's good friends, and also one of the good members of Seigaku's girl's team.
"D-don't mention it..."Sakuno shyly replied. Fine, so she was still the shy Sakuno that Ryoma met.
Now, Ryoma remembered why the serve was very familiar. It was his own Twist Serve, performed Sakuno style. Considering how good she is now, it's not a surprise how she could pick up that serve by observing Ryoma alot.
"Oi, Ryuzaki, just now, was it a Twist Serve?"Ryoma asked the girl curiously. It just had to be.
"So what if it is?"Sakuno snapped. "Kiko, serve please,"she continued, trying to avoid looking at Ryoma.
"I think I can help you improve it. Meet me at the Kaginozuka Tennis Garden at 5 PM today,"Ryoma said, turning back to school.
"And by the way, school's starting soon, so I advise you to change and go for class,"Ryoma continued. Sakuno turned to Ryoma and saw his back at her, heading back to the school grounds.
Is he sure he has no feelings for me...? thought Sakuno. Whatever it is, guys are very hard to understand.
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It was finally lunch time. Ryoma's stomach had been growling because he skipped breakfast(apparently Nanako cooked eggs on toast, so Ryoma decided to pass on that. Wasn't there anything Japanese that Nanako could cook, like chawan mushi or something like that?). Great. And there wasn't anything interesting to eat for lunch either. Ryoma was beginning to get cranky.
The boy marched out of the cafeteria to the balcony of the school. He had no choice but to stay starving. Probably taking a nap would fill his empty stomach a bit.
After a short nap, he was woken up by the creaking of the door from school. It was unlikely for Ryoma to get up so easily, but honestly, he wasn't even sleepy at all.
"Ryoma-kun....what are you doing here?"said a surprised Sakuno. So she was the one who opened the door.
"Taking a nap."
"Say, you haven't had your lunch, right? Here you go..."Sakuno timidly said, handing Ryoma a lunch box inside a small Hello Kitty bag. Ryoma opened the bag, opened the lunchbox, and was amazed by the amount of food in it. He instantly woke up at the sight of the food. His brown eyes grew bigger, and he of course gobbled it down. The whole lunchbox was clean when Ryoma handed it back to Sakuno. Sakuno chuckled as she looked inside the empty lunchbox.
"What's so funny to laugh about...?"Ryoma said. Sakuno smiled back at her ouji-sama.
"Ah, nothing...."
"By the way, was that your lunch?"Ryoma asked.
"Yup. Seeing you so hungry made me pity you, so I sacrificed my lunch for you.....you better be contented...."Sakuno replied.
"But....did you eat anything else?"Ryoma went on and on, full of guilt.
"Of course, of course!"Sakuno said, reassuring Ryoma. She smiled broadly.
So, he does think about me.... Sakuno thought.
Finally, after a moment of silence, the school bell rang. It was time to go back to class.
Darn, when I was about to bring out that topic... Ryoma thought to himself. He found himself in an awkward situation when talking to Sakuno. That probably was the best time, but then the school bell had rung.
"So, I'll see you around...."Sakuno shyly said before turning back to the school.
Ryoma nodded his head, and then turned back as well.
Sakuno....gomen nasai...really, gomen.... said Ryoma to himself.
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Hi....I'm so sorry! I think I better continue on the story '1000 Words' for now!