Disclaimer: Me no own Tenipuri. Everything belongs to the genius Konomi Takeshi.
Title: Just Another Morning
Author: Luin-lote
Pairing: Ryoma/Sakuno
Rating: PG
Summary: It's really just another morning.
A/N: OMG a Het-fic! I'm a yaoi-girl, really, but this short piece of fluff was written for Milady Goddess. She drew me a picture of my beloved Fuji Syuusuke, and as I can't draw, I decided to write her a little something in return for her pretty picture, featuring her OTP, Ryoma/Sakuno from Prince of Tennis. Hope you like!
- - -
Just Another Morning
She looked at the only part of him that was visible, the mop of black hair sticking out in all directions from under the soft blue covers.
She loved him.
It'd been a crush at first, and she could admit it; a deep kind of shy admiration, making her want to know everything about him. What he liked, what he didn't like, what about his family, did he have any pets? Everything.
- -
Sakuno reached out her hand and took a soft lock of Ryoma's black curls between her fingers, combing through them gently. A content sigh was heard from beneath the massive layers of blankets and the person under them seemed to wiggle deeper under them, making himself more comfortable.
"Ryoma?" Sakuno whispered softly, reaching under the fabric to stroke the soft skin at the nape of Ryoma's neck. "You need to wake up now, or you'll be late..."
- -
Ryoma had always been honest with her, more so than anyone. He hadn't paid any interest in her at first; not really. Not in the girlfriend-kind-of-way, at least. He had been a twelve year old boy, with nothing more than tennis and Ponta on his mind, after all.
Sakuno had admired him already back then. To be able to work so hard for something, to work so hard to reach his goal, to become number one. Sometimes, when she'd watched his games already back in their Seigaku junior high-days, she'd watched him play with so much excitement and she could feel her nerves jumping when she saw the ball hit the racket, flying rapidly across the court, almost faster than her eyes could catch it... Ryoma's fierce hits, jumps and screams in victory or frustration. They all made her fingertips tingle, made her head almost spin. It was intoxicating to watch him play.
Sakuno had talked to him sometimes, during the first few months, and he'd answered most of the time. But, Ryoma was too preoccupied with tennis to pay her any attention. But, he'd never be mean to her, or laugh at her or make fun of her. If she was practicing tennis, and did something wrong, sometimes upper-classmen would laugh at her with a self-satisfied little smirk, as they knew more tennis, knew it better. Sakuno would blush and feel stupid, as she didn't know what to do to become better.
And then, out of seemingly nowhere, Ryoma would appear and he didn't greet the upper-classmen; he didn't even glance in their direction. But he'd come to tell her to bend her knees or hold her racket differently. He'd tell her, and then he'd walk away without a sound, but it'd seem as if he walked just in front of the crowd that'd gathered around, while hitting the ball on the edge of his racket in some new extravagant move, at the same time smirking slightly.
Sakuno would blush furiously, thank Ryoma profusely and then start practicing hard.
He'd tell her if she did something wrong, but then he'd also tell her how to fix it, without laughing at her. When he saw that she had improved, he'd comment on it, not quite praise her as much as acknowledge her hard work.
- -
Sakuno's wrist was caught under the covers, and the movement was soon followed by a grumpy muffled grunt.
Sakuno chuckled lightly, "Same as always, this morning. You need to get up... needed to get up 15 minutes ago, actually, but I thought I'd let you sleep a little longer today."
A disheveled head slowly started to appear before her, and brown-golden eyes soon blinked at her sleepily. "What time is it?" He then turned towards the alarm-clock. It read 7.45.
Ryoma fell down against the bed, his hands touching the headboard as he stretched like a cat, his back arching as he yawned again.
- -
Ryoma had just turned 23. At 19, he'd become Japan's number one tennis-player, at 21 he'd won the same title in Asia and he was now fighting with all his might for becoming the top in the world.
Sakuna had been there from the start, cheering him on more or less silently from the side, for every match he'd ever played. And she planned to keep doing that.
- -
Ryoma woke up slowly; he always had and Sakuno had gotten used to his lengthy morning procedures a long time ago. He'd rub the sleep from his eyes with the back of his hand, he'd yawn at least three times, he'd scratch his neck, then he'd finally open his eyes, still dimmy from the night. Slowly, the grumpy face would change to a smile as he saw her and he said "Morning," with a voice raspy from sleep.
He casually leaned over, a soft expression on his features, sweeping his lips against Sakuno's. "Good morning," she whispered back.
Then Ryoma leaned down, and put a hand on Sakuno's big, round stomach. "Good morning to you too, little one. When're you planning on coming out from there?"
Sakuno laughed. "It's still four month's until it's time. You'll just have to wait a little longer before teaching him all you can."
Ryoma smirked at that and said, "Mada mada dane," before giving her belly a soft kiss over her nightgown.
- -
Sakuno had, through the years learned everything about Ryoma that she'd wanted to know during her school-crushing days. And she was still surprised to find that she learned something new every day.
They had been 16 when they starting dating. Ryoma had come up to her after a tournament and asked her if she wanted to, "go to the movies or something, just to celebrate, you know?" She'd blinked in shock, happiness and surprise before stuttering out a "Y-y-yes"
They'd gone out and Ryoma had fallen asleep within five minutes of the movie, and when the movie had ended and Sakuno had spent almost ten awkward minutes debating how to wake him up, he woke by himself.
Surprisingly, many dates had followed after that, and it was their fifth one when she'd finally dared to ask him what she'd been wondering about from the start. He liked tennis. And Ponta. He kinda liked burgers, too, if he thought about it. He didn't like people, in general. They were stupid and annoying and 'Mada Mada Dane'. He had a family. A father and a mother and a cousin. He had a pet, too. His cat, Karupin.
Her questions had kept coming, a new one following the previous with a frequency. This date had taken place on a sunny afternoon, and they'd been outside an ice-cream parlor, Sakuno eating a big strawberry sundae, and Ryoma sipping a ponta while eating a chocolate and blueberry cone. Suddenly, when she asked him about his favorite movie, he'd stopped her with a curious look and a raised eyebrow, "Why're you asking me this?"
Sakuno had blushed and stuttered something like, "I... I don't know... I just... I wan't to know you better..."
Ryoma had stared at her for a moment, before saying, "Oh." A pause. "I see." He was silent for a while, and Sakuno didn't really know what to say. Could she keep asking questions? There was so much she still wanted to know...
"Then, what about you?" Ryoma suddenly spoke again.
"Me?" She blinked at him confusedly.
"Yeah, you. What do you like?" He took a sip from his Ponta.
"I... I like..." She didn't know what to say, confused by the sudden change from being the questioner to the person supposed to answer. She searched her brain frantically for things she liked, and suddenly blurted out, "I like you!"
Ryoma had stared at her with wide eyes for a moment before pulling his cap lower over his face. He mumbled something that could've been, "I see..."
Sakuno felt her breath catch, the world spin around her and she was almost waiting for him to start running away.
Ryoma looked up at her, quickly, before looking down again, "I like you, too." A faint pink color tainting his cheeks, before he continued, as if to change the topic back to safer grounds. "And what about your family? Do you have any pets?"
Sakuno stared at him, before continuing, everything seeming so much easier now. "I... have a mom and a dad... and you know my grandmother, Ryuzaki-sensei... and I just bought a turtle. I named him Kei."
Ryoma still didn't look at her, but she saw a faint smile hidden under his cap. "That's nice."
She nodded, not sure if he saw it or not.
- -
"Ryoma, you really need to get out of bed, now. Your practice starts in 30 minutes, and you haven't eaten or gotten dressed, yet." Sakuno stroked his cheek gently.
"30 minutes?" He flung out of bed, and now seemed to be fully awake. "And I was going to take a shower!" Instead, he flung on a pair of black shorts that lay in the top drawer. He pulled on a green T-shirt, and with a pair of white socks in his hands, he kissed Sakuno's forehead before he dashed for the kitchen.
"There's two sandwiches on the kitchen-counter, for you!" Sakuno called for him from where she still sat on the bed.
"Thanks, I'll eat them on the way! Itadakimasu-!" She heard the rustle of a jacket being put on and a bag being slung over a shoulder.
'Same procedure, every morning,' Sakuno thought to herself with a small, amused smile playing across her lips, as she stood up and walked towards the kitchen to clean up after breakfast. She laughed at Ryoma's continuing tendency to over-sleep, even after all these years, and said out loud, "Mada Mada Dane."
-Fin-