Floor Two: Marui and Sakuno

The elevator went –DING!— and Sakuno gulped down all her fears as she took a nimble step towards the door, only to recoil in fear and telling herself she would definitely catch the next ride up. The occupant of the elevator shot her a strange look before the doors went shut again, leaving Sakuno whimpering in fright. Definitely the next one, she told herself, definitely the next one.

However, the next elevator came and went, and Sakuno was still dead afraid of so much as taking a single step towards machine, leaning against the wall with her head down against the box of cakes she had baked for Ryoma.

The elevator door opened again, and Sakuno didn't so much as gave a glance, too indulged in her fear to really care. She would have taken the stairs upstairs, really,down all forty-six flights… if there were any stairs in this department building.

"Hey, are you getting on or what?"

Sakuno's head snapped upwards, her eyes in surprise as she heard a voice calling from inside the opened doors. She gave a small gasped as she realized just who was standing inside the opened doors, casually leaning against the back wall with a green bubble exploding through his lips.

"Hey! I know you! You're that Seigaku girl!" Marui noted as his bubble popped. Sakuno nodded slowly.

"I… um… eh… y-you don't have to… um…"

"I'm not like Kirihara, I don't bite," Marui told her with a smirk. Sakuno was practically shaking now. There was just no way she could get out of this, and she knew it. It was time to face her fears. So slowly, and ever so meekly, Sakuno got on the elevator. The doors shut, and so did Sakuno's eyes.

You're all right, you're all right, you're all right, you're all right… she told herself over and over again as she hugged onto the box of cakes for Ryoma. However, she was too focused on trying not to freak out to notice how ridiculous she must have looked in front of Marui. The boy could only conclude it was a girl thing, and didn't say much. Besides, it's not like he even knew her name, just that she was 'that Seigaku girl'.

However, when the elevator suddenly cam to an unexpected halt, light flickering between the sixth and seventh floor, and Sakuno gave a terrified shriek, Marui could keep silent no longer.

"Are you okay?" he asked her after he called for help from the elevator operator, who 'says' he'll get them down in around fifteen minutes at most. (Except then you end up waiting for an hour and a half and still no people because they're always on break.)

Sakuno was now crouched in a corner, box in front of her and both hands on her head, curled up in a ball, whimpering in fright, muttering things like: "It'll be fine" and "You won't die, Sakuno". Marui could only speculate that she was either terrified by him (which he doubted because everyone just had to LOVE Marui) or that she had some kind of metal disorder he didn't know about.

"Well, the mechanic guy says we should be moving in about fifteen minutes or so," Marui informed her. Sakuno's head shot up again, her eyes wide with terror and her face ghostly white.

"F-f-fit-t-teen m-m-m-minutes!" she gasped, clutching her heart. Marui gave her an odd look, and Sakuno finally took the time to explain. "I-I'm claustrophobic!"

Marui slapped him forehead. Oh, great, wonderful! Now she'll probably faint on him or -THUMP!- … something… Okay, he really shouldn't have thought about that.

"Say, Echizen, have you seen my granddaughter Sakuno anywhere?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked the prestigious youth, who was watching Eiji playing a game against Momoshiro and Inui smirking evilly behind his pitcher of Inui juice.

"No," he replied bluntly.

"Do you have any idea where she might be?" she continued.

"No," Ryoma replied again.

"Well could you possibly look for her? I fear she'd gotten into trouble again."

"No."

"Echizen!"

"… Fine…"

"CIVILIZATION!" Marui screamed in joy as the elevator doors opened at last. It was getting kind of stuffy being trapped in one, not to mention quite awkward with a fainted girl next to him. She still hasn't woken up yet, unfortunately.

"Sorry it too so long, kid," the mechanic apologized sheepishly. "I was on tea break (because tea is just so much better than coffee) and the hotel manager had a hard time tracking me down and- whoa! What happened to her?"

"Claustrophobia," Marui explained as the guy sighed and walked away, muttering things like 'My tea got cold'. Then Marui finally perked up and remembered that Sakuno was still lying unconscious in the elevator. Oh, wonderful.

Marui considered his options.

He could A: leave her there and wait for her to either wake up or for someone else to wake her up.

He could B: call 1-1-9 (Japanese number for the hospital if I'm not mistaken.) and leave it to the medics.

He could C: drag her to tennis practice, which he was already late for, and dump her on Yagyuu before trying to explain to Sanada and Yukimura why he was late.

"This is just perfect…" Marui sighed as he popped a fresh piece of bubblegum in his mouth. His options were limited and frankly, they all sucked. Life was not being fair to him. Why, out of all the possibilities…

"Move."

Marui gave a start as he whirled around to face none other than boy wonder himself, cap in place and hands in his pockets with a rather bored and annoyed look on his face. Marui's eyes widened as he recognized the boy in all his 'Mada mada dane' glory.

"Y-You!" he sputtered as Ryoma lightly pushed him aside and went into the elevator. Marui stared in confusion as why the boy was here before seconds later Ryoma emerged with Sakuno in tow by the back of her collar. If he could, Marui would've sweatdropped.

"Bye," Ryoma said bluntly.

"H-Hey!" Marui said. Ryoma paused, but didn't look back. "Shouldn't you be- I don't know…"

"Ah…" Ryoma said blankly before he grabbed Sakuno and flung her over his shoulder, taking care to keep her skirt down. Not exactly what Marui had in mind, but it was better than dragging the poor girl around on the floor.

"Wait!" Marui called again. Ryoma sighed but kept on walking. People were so annoying… "Your friend forgot…" Marui trailed off as he realized that Ryoma was nowhere in sight.

Now, being the curious little boy he was, Marui wouldn't resist taking a peek as to what was in there, regardless of the fact that he should well have caught up to Ryoma and returned it. However, the returning thought immediately slipped his mind as he realized that there were cakes, very well made cakes inside of the box. Marui licked his lips.

Well, at least one good thing came out of all this.