A Prince of Tennis fanfic by Maria.
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama, romance.
Pairing/Characters: SakunoxRyoma.
He shouldn't be doing this. He just got out of the hospital some days ago, after the cold he didn't correctly take care of landed him there with high fever and all. But there he is, back in the training grounds, as the captain that he is now, directing the practice and playing with the regulars and non-regulars.
He's Ryoma Echizen. 14 years old, third year student, and captain of the Seigaku tennis team. He truly is the pillar of Seigaku, like Tezuka-buchou wanted him to be. Everyone relies on him now, so he pushes himself real hard and does his best to direct them.
"However... Ryoma-kun...".
Sakuno Ryuuzaki, Ryoma's long-time friend and "secret girlfriend" (1), stares at him from the bench she and Tomoka are sitting on. They're both worried, since Ryoma insisted that he should be with his friends and teammates despite his current physical weakness. Not even Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro, now regulars in Seigaku, managed to convince him to let them handle the team. And both Tomoka and Sakuno themseves tried to convince him too, which obviously didn't work; he simply promised he'd leave the practice if he didn't feel well, and then continued his work.
"Aren't you taking this just too seriously, Ryoma-kun?", she wonders as she sees him teach a junior the correct way to perform a good volley. She can see how his hand shakes as he grabs the racket, and how he's breathing heavier than usual...
Tennis is life for him, and she knows it since they met. He's kinda indifferent to his surroundings, but when he's in the court, he completely changes. Such a thing isn't bad in itself, but...
"Ryoma-kun, you should take more care of yourself...", Sakuno murmurs in frustration, her hands tensing. She knows now that she can't enter the tennis court to pull him out (such a thing would be an insult, and their relationship would be in serious danger); but at the same time she's getting more and more nervous, because Ryoma would rather hurt himself than leave the team, and currently she can't do anything to stop him. At least not until either Ryoma collapses, or her grandmother forces him to go home earlier…
"Ryoma-kun", and Sakuno bites her lip as she muses her boyfriend's name for the last time. She then feels Tomoka's hand taking hers, and her best friend murmurs some comforting words... but not even such a gentle gesture can completely calm her down.
Because when determination becomes obsession, nothing good can come from it.
Notes:
(1): In Japan, there's a rule that forbids dating among junior high students.