The given scenario:
"I love you."
It would have been easier to walk away from that profession, like she had once walked away from his. It would have been easier to deceive himself into believing he didn't love her enough to risk it all, once again. It would have been easier, but of course it would also be impossible. He held his hand out to her.
The problem:
He didn't notice girls.
She didn't notice guys, unless their names began with Echizen and ended with Ryoma.
The question:Tezuka and Sakuno got together…how?
1. While both attended Seigaku, never would they have really noticed each other except for the following circumstance(s):
A.
The girl was very tiny. He had a vague notion that somehow those long pigtails were connected to Echizen, but he wasn't clear how. "What are you doing here?"
Blushing madly at the realization she had been discovered, Sakuno slowly turned around to answer his command.
The girl was very meek. From the hesitant, rambling explanation filled with random pauses he somehow made out that indeed, it was Echizen that brought her into the Tennis room lockers.
"I-I wanted to give… Ryoma-kun, it's his birthday… something nice. I didn't know what to give… thought everyone was at a practice game… wanted him to get my present… I baked cookies," she finished miserably, holding up her hands to display the said cookies.
Silent, he stared at them, suppressing the small ache in the corner of his mouth that wanted to leap free into a tiny grin. With the use of cookie cutters and frosting, each cookie had been painstakingly shaped and colored like a tennis racket or ball.
Uttering apologies at the stoic and somewhat frightening captain, Sakuno started out the room.
"Echizen's locker is the one next to the spare equipment. If you leave them on the bench in front of his locker he'll see them when he's changing."
Startled, Sakuno spoke up when she realize Tezuka was leaving the locker room. "Thank you," she piped to his back, grateful and unaware of the amused smile on the captain's face.
B.
"FIGHTING, FIGHTING, GOOOOOO SEIGAKU!"
The cheering was startling loud that day.
"Ah, it's Ochibi's fan club. Why don't you give them a wave," Eiji grinned, draping an arm around Echizen's neck.
Nonchalant, Echizen tilted his head back to gather the last drop of his Ponta, pointedly ignoring both Sakuno and Tomoka.
"Look, they're wearing cheerleading outfits. Sakuno-chan looks cute in hers, ne Ochibi," Eiji continued, while poking the young boy on the right side of his rib.
Mute, Echizen shrugged Eiji's arm off his shoulder, who then turned around to give the two girls a jubilant two armed wave. Eiji missed the faint tint of red on Ryoma's cheeks. Tezuka didn't.
C.
"You dropped this notebook near the tennis courts." He stopped her with an outstretched hand holding a small red notebook decorated with various bright and cute stickers.
Her eyes the size of saucers looked up at him in trepidation. "Th-thank you," she stuttered.
Nodding, Tezuka walked past her towards his class when he felt a small tug at his left sleeve. Startled he looked over his shoulder in time to see a small hand jump back from his arm. She seemed surprised herself and fiercely gripped that hand with the other to her chest, as if she were afraid it would start moving on its own, once again.
Blushing, she looked down at his feet and stammered an apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to grab you. It's just, did you…" her voice trailed off and she took a step back as she lost her courage. "Never mind-"
"I didn't read it."
Her face still flushed, she looked up at him with gratitude. "Thank you."
D.
He knew those pigtails, although he wasn't quite sure of her name.
"Are you alright?"
She smiled at him, relieved to have found a familiar face after many minutes of fruitless wandering. "I'm supposed to be meeting Tomo-chan…I can't seem to find the right direction to the festival."
He brought a closed hand up to cover his mouth, but her ears still caught onto his small cough.
Her cheeks became rosy when she realized that behind his hand, the normally stern faced captain was laughing at her…well not laughing per say smiling, which was saying a lot because she had never once seen him laugh or smile on or off the tennis court. "Is it very close," she squeaked.
"I'm going towards that direction," he answered, solemn once more.
"Oh," she stood uncertain, waiting for him to point her out to the right direction.
"I'll walk you there," he explained.
"Oh!' she exclaimed with comprehension. "Thank you, Tezuka-senpai."
"I don't know your name?"
Another blush for good measure.
"Ryuzaku Sakuno."
A, B, C or D? Whatever you picked, you were wrong. No single incident mentioned above would have been enough for those two to take particular notice or interest of the other. In fact, I would say all of the circumstances combined would barely scrape by to create a lasting impressing on our two future lovebirds.
In that case, of course it was E, all of the above. Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, she didn't give me an E. Well you're right and it doesn't matter because I'm the one calling the shots here. There is no reason beyond my reason. So with that in mind, let's move on to the next problem.
2. The statement below is either True or False:
Her form was delicate and completely brutal to the opponent. In some ways, her play reminded him of Fuji and Tezuka's interest sparked, as it often did whenever he came across a match with talented players. He focused on the girl, fascinated by her level of skill and unique style.
"Sakuno-chan," the coach called out. "Time to head in."
The name sounded familiar and when he caught a clear view of her face, he saw it was the tiny pigtailed girl that once upon a time had cheered at all their matches. Graceful and confident, he continued to watch her as she moved towards the bench and wonder of wonders, he realized she was no longer a girl.
Some say with hard work, a person can become a great tennis player. What I think they meant to say is: With hard work, and some basic hand eye coordination skills, a person can become a great tennis player.
Now I'm not saying that's crossing out our gal and this scenario… no wait. That's exactly what I'm saying. False, oh so false- this is not how the story goes. Sorry guys, maybe in another universe.
3. Real second meetings. Which one belongs to Tezuka and Sakuno:
A.
Burdened with problems
A girl walks into a bar
Late night, two walk out
B.
University
In the beginning of fall,
She meets an old friend
C.
A love of the game
Leaves no room for another
He doesn't see her
D.
A room-mates party
A tiny flower on the wall
He remembers her
E.
The third try they cried
The fourth try was the worst try
Yet they never stop
The answer is the one that does not belong. If by now you haven't figured it out, I'll give you a hint.
Of all you could choose
One will not be a haiku
That is your answer
(Ok, technically they're senryu's since they don't focus on nature but in my elementary school a haiku was a haiku if it had three lines and the 17 syllable count divided into a 5, 7, 5 format. To make life easy, I'm going to go with that.)
4. Tezuka and Sakuno's feelings of friendship would develop and evolve when:
A. Sakuno nurses a sick Tezuka to health and wins over his affection with rice porridge and peeled apple slices.
B. They find they enjoy each other's company, leading them to become friends that grow to care for the other.
C. They continue to bump into each other, as Tezuka's room-mate dates Sakuno's close friend.
D. Tezuka takes time from his busy schedule to play matches of tennis with Sakuno, to help her hone her mediocre skills.
E. He realizes she is beautiful.
Oh, you picked a letter? Beep, wrong answer. What, you picked them all? Close, but you still get none of my fine Cuban cigars. (Which is good because I have yet to start a collection.)
I suppose I could have phrased the question, "Tezuka and Sakuno's feelings of friendship would develop and evolve when the following happens in what order?". Meh, coulda, shoulda, woulda.
C, B, D, A, E.
5. A story, albeit a problematic story, is not a story without its own issues, in which resolution lays climax. To become a couple, our match, Tezuka the mighty and Sakuno the mouse, faced all of these problems excluding one:
A. It was hard on Tezuka to love a girl who had spent most of her adolescence harboring a strong affection for his junior. An affection Tezuka was not entirely sure had completely waned.
B. Sakuno was hardly the only (and prettiest) female interested in Tezuka. More and more she found herself drawn into an invisible and exhausting competition that led to self-doubts and suspicion.
C. Sakuno felt shut out due to Tezuka's first and greatest love; tennis.
D. A lack of relationship experiences inclined Tezuka to treat Sakuno more like a girl friend than a prospective girlfriend and Sakuno was too intimidated to ask for more.
E. Sakuno had loved Echizen for so long and so hard, at times it was hard for her (and those around her) to tell whether or not she loved him still and was willing to let go and give way to other prospective love interests.
Now this one's a doozey. All options seem viable yet one must be wrong. As such, perhaps it'll help if we go through them one by one.
Just kidding, I don't have that kind of time. Answer is C.
It's the end of the line kiddies and if you've followed me this far, we're on to the big question: Tezuka and Sakuno got together…how?
The conclusion: Well, you have the answers. The rest is up to you.
Author's notes This fic was written in response to one of the requests the Loveling Ginnyreceived and graciously gave to me. Befuddled with the problem of pairing such an unlikely couple together, I went about it the easiest way I could.
On another note, I had a lot of fun writing this request fic and would like to try it again. Except, I would like to write a request fic involving Tomoka, as I find great joy in writing her character. So if anyone has any Tomoka fanfic requests, send them my way at my email address. Thanks for reading.
(I'd also like to thank Loveling Ginnyfor editing my fic, even if she spent like thirty seconds to do it while I always take at least thirty minutes to proofread her work because I care. :P.)