Author's Notes (1): This is the Monday right after the previous one-shot "A Little Cut to the Heart". It mainly involves mainly Sakuno, Kawamura and Ryoma, but you do get to see the rest of the team. (It still happens before or while Episode 49 (English trans: Different Kind of Fight) and definitely before they meet up with Hyotei.)
Author's Notes (2): Okay, my Japanese sucks. I'm having Sakuno call her father 'Daddy' in English since it's easier for me.
Author's Notes (3): It's fixed. Sorry about the oneesan/oniisan fiasco again. This was originally part of the previous one-shot, "A Little Cut to the Heart", so the change over never occurred. And I also hand-fixed some errors the loading made. (For some reason, when I load it on random words or letters are cut out.)
Teaser: Here's my take on this situation: In the anime, has anyone wondered why it's always just Tomoko making the bentos for Ryoma?
Title: Bento Revelations
Ryoma scowled as he walked into the clubroom for Monday afternoon activities. He was glad that it was near the end of the day. Though nothing had happened during the day, almost everything about him felt really off. And to top everything off, his mind kept wandering back to his strange and disjointed dream that involved Karupin, sushi, the team and for some reason Miss Clumsy-Wobbly Hips a.k.a. Sakuno Ryuzaki.
Hence, Ryoma felt that he was walking in a fog and just simply felt like snarling at everyone who spoke to him instead of ignoring them. Not even the favorite grape Ponta he was sipping on was doing anything to cheer him up. Maybe he was coming down with a cold or something. It would royally suck if he were. "Mada mada dane."
"Wow! Look at your food, Kawamura-sempai! It looks really tasty!"
Ryoma rolled his eyes as he heard Momo-sempai's voice. He was always thinking about food. The young tennis prince closed the door and saw his sempai gathered around Kawamura-sempai and his amazing bento. They all looked envious. "Uisi."
"Oi, Echizen," called out Momo-sempai as he lifted his eyes long enough to look at his kohai. "Take a look at this!"
Sighing deeply, Ryoma walked over slowly, "What's going on?"
"We're just admiring Taka-san's bento," Fuji said as he smiled at Echizen. He looked down again and smiled. "And that looks so cute, Taka-san! Is that radish supposed to be you?"
"Hai, it's supposed to be me," Kawamura said proudly as he held it up. "Great likeness, neh?"
Fuji's eyes narrowed as he looked at it more closely. "You know, there was something familiar about the way it's carved… If I didn't know better, I'd say that it wasn't you that did it, Taka-san. But that would be silly to say wouldn't it, neh? Anyway, I didn't know that you were so talented, Taka-san!"
"I'm not," Kawamura blushed and gave out a small laugh as he scratched his head. "And you're right, I didn't make it. It was Sakuno-chan that carved out my face on the radish when she came over yesterday. Isn't she talented?"
There was sudden silence at that.
"Nani? Nani?" Kikumaru yelped as his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "Nyah! What did you just say? Did you just say 'Sakuno-chan', nyah?"
The fogged mindset Ryoma was in dissipated immediately. Ryoma froze as he gave a hard stare at Kawamura-sempai and in a flash behind his eyes, he saw Ryuzaki in Kawamura-sempai's arms. 'Who carved out Kawamura-san's face on a radish?'
"Who carved out Kawamura-sempai's face on a radish?" Momo-sempai managed to demand as soon as he got his jaw from the floor.
His eyes working furiously behind his glasses, Inui took in every reaction of his teammates before he delicately cleared his voice. "Did you say 'Sakuno-chan', Kawamura? Who exactly is this Sakuno-chan?"
"Do we know her, nyah?" Kikumaru asked eagerly.
"You all know her, she's Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter," Kawamura said with a laugh. He smiled at his friends to say something else but stopped when he noticed them stare at him. "Eh? What's wrong?"
Kaidoh was the first to break the silence. "Fssh… Sempai was with sensei's granddaughter?"
"Nyah! Kawamura is so brave!" Kikumaru exclaimed as he stared at his classmate with wide eyes. "It was nice knowing you, Taka-san! We're really going to miss your 'burning' mode! Right, Oishi?"
"Huh?" Kawamura yelped as he stared at Kikumaru dumbfounded.
"Eiji! It's impolite to say things like that!" Oishi scolded. "Sorry about that, Taka-san. I'm sure sensei is all right with you dating her granddaughter-after all, you did get her approval, right?"
Kawamura stared at Oishi as if he had two heads. "Huh?"
Momo's eyes started to bulge as he processed what his two sempai were saying and then yelped, "Taka-san had a date with Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter?"
"Kawamura-sempai is dating Ryuzaki!" Horio yelped as he came into the clubroom with Katsuo and Kachiro. He raced up to Kawamura, eager to hear new gossip. "Is this true, Kawamura-sempai? Does this mean that she broke up with that other guy? Hey! Echizen!"
"Sorry, it slipped," Ryoma muttered as he looked at Horio and started to help him pick up the fallen towels. He ignored the exchanged looks between Katsuo and Kachiro and the speculative one from Inui-sempai.
Pointing to the batch of towels on a lower rack, Momo scowled, "You know, you could have just used the ones here."
"The ones up there are better," Ryoma said curtly as he glared at Momo-sempai.
"Mah, mah, I didn't know you two were seeing each other," Fuji smiled as he looked at his friend. "Congratulations, Taka-san!"
"Especially if she makes good looking bentos like those for you," Oishi said cheerfully.
Distracted at the thought of food, Momo looked at Kawamura again. "Wow! She's the one that made the bento for you, Taka-san?"
"Huh? Huh?" Kawamura said as he looked at Momo, Oishi and Fuji blankly. "What are you all talking about? Me dating and Sakuno-chan?"
"Wasn't that why Ryuzaki was there yesterday, sempai?" Ryoma asked Kawamura with wide eyes. For some reason, he was once again feeling a little irritated at the thought of Ryuzaki dating Kawamura-sempai. And the way his mother was whole-heartedly encouraging a match-making date between them. "Are your parents and sensei going to make it official already?"
"Make what official, Echizen?" Momo demanded as he looked at the young tennis prince.
"Nyah! What? What? What do you know what we don't, Ochibi?" Kikumaru demanded excitedly as he looked at the young player.
Looking back at Kawamura and his confused face, Ryoma shook his head. "It's nothing. Just something that sensei and Kawamura-sempai's mother said something in the kitchen."
"What did my mother and sensei say in the kitchen?" Kawamura demanded confused.
Adjusting his hat, Ryoma avoided his sempai's gaze. "Something about match-making you and Ryuzaki since the two of you are so alike."
Everyone stared at Echizen as he looked at Kawamura-sempai. Then chaos broke out.
Horio stared at Echizen. "RYUZAKI IS GOING TO MARRY KAWAMURA-SEMPAI?"
"Say what?" Kawamura yelped as he stared at Echizen. "What?"
"Ryuzaki-san can't be marrying Kawamura-sempai!" Kachiro practically yelled. "She's only our age! Twelve!"
"Are you sure that you got it right, Ryoma-kun?" Katsuo demanded as he stared at Echizen.
"You're not saying this just because are you?" Horio demanded as he looked at Echizen. "Kawamura-sempai's not exactly the best one to marry right-"
"Fssh! Are you saying that Kawamura-sempai is not a good man to marry," Kaidoh demanded as he glared at Horio.
Immediately Horio started to stutter and try to appease the angry-sounding sempai. "No! No, sempai! It's just that-that Kawamura-sempai is- he's-"
"He's only fourteen," Kachiro yelped nervously as he looked at Kadioh. "And she's twelve!"
"Ii data," Inui said as he started to scribble madly into his notebook. "Ii data!"
"Nyah! This is wonderful news!" Eiji exclaimed as he slapped Kawamura excitedly on the back. "You're going to have a fiancée, Taka-san!"
"Eiji! It's not totally wonderful news!" Oishi yelped at the top of his lungs. His eyes went huge at the implications of what could happen. "Taka's not even fifteen yet! She's only twelve! Aren't Ryuzaki and him too young to be thinking about this?
"Just remember to invite us to the wedding, Taka-san," Fuji smiled calmly.
"Huh?" Kawamura repeated as he looked at everyone confusedly. "What are you talking about? There's no wedding! We haven't been match-made!"
"Are you sure, sempai?" Momo asked as he looked at Kawamura doubtfully. "I mean, she was over at your place."
Kawamura stared at him. "But- but – it was only because sensei's car had a flat and Sakuno-chan didn't have her keys with her, so sensei sent her over to the restaurant to stay."
"And she carved your face on the radish," Oishi said carefully.
Kikumaru leaned over his partner's shoulder to look at Kawamura. "Nyah! She must really like you to do that, nyah!"
"What does my face on a radish have anything to do with this?" Kawamura yelped. "She carved it because my parents and I were complimenting her on her skill with the paring knife. All our customers were complimenting on the garnishes and Oyaji and I had no idea what they were talking about until we saw her in the kitchen with Kaasan! My face on a radish has nothing to do with this!"
Fuji stared at his friend. "Oh my, Taka-san, is it possible that you don't know?"
"Don't know what? Know what?" Kawamura demanded as he looked at his friend. "What am I supposed to know?"
"That girls in love usually do things like that," Inui replied as he looked at his notebook. "They draw pictures of the guys they like, write his name all over their notebooks, put his name in hearts and sorts of other things. Most obvious thing that they do is make bentos or other sort food for their crushes."
"Like how Osakada makes tasty bentos for Echizen all the time," Horio said helpfully as he looked at Echizen.
"What? What? Osakada makes tasty bentos for Ochibi?" Kikumaru demanded eagerly. "Really? I thought it would be Ryuzaki that would make tasty bentos for him!"
"She did once when we were all together but she hasn't made any since," Horio said as he looked at Kikumaru-sempai. "Not that anyone can blame her, after all, Echizen was simply being his usual self."
Katsuo and Kachiro both nodded in agreement. "Um-hm." "That's right."
"What do you mean by that?" Ryoma demanded with a frown. "How can I offend her just by being myself?"
"I didn't say that you offended her," Horio corrected. "You just were simply your usual self and that's why she probably won't make another bento for you."
"Huh?" Ryoma asked as he looked at Horio then at Kachiro and Katsuo as they nodded in agreement. "And when did this all happen?"
When Echizen looked at Horio blankly, Kachiro supplied helpfully. "It was when we all went to Kachiro's dad's tennis club and you played against Sasabe's father."
Echizen blinked as he vaguely remembered the time. "Was that when the bento I was eating suddenly disappeared?"
"It suddenly disappeared because Ryuzaki took it away from you," Horio snorted as he crossed his arms and shook his head.
"Echizen! What did you do to her?" Momo demanded in a threatening voice. He ground his knuckles on Echizen's temples. "Did you make her cry again? I swear the god of dates and I will never forgive you if you did!"
"Ittai! Ittai!" Ryoma shouted as he tried to get away.
"This sounds like more interesting data," Inui said as he adjusted his glasses and whipped out his data book. "Please tell us what happened."
"Oh, yes! I'd like to hear more of this," Fuji said encouragingly. His eyes opened to look at Ryoma. "I'd especially like to know what you did to make her cry."
"Oh dear," Oishi said as he put his hand on his forehead.
"Fssh…," Kaidoh hissed as he glared at Echizen.
"You made her cry! Again!" Momo yelped as he ground his knuckles into Echizen's temples again. "Didn't you learn your lesson the last time?"
Kindhearted Kachiro grabbed Momo's sleeve. "Momo-sempai! He didn't mean to make her cry! Really, sempai! Ryoma-kun was just being Ryoma-kun at the time!"
"That's right, Momo-sempai! It's like Horio said- Ryoma-kun was just being his usual self!" Katsuo agreed as Horio nodded wisely.
Echizen and Momo looked at Katsuo, Horio and Kachiro blankly. "Huh? What does that mean?"
"What? What? How was Ochibi being his usual self, nyah?" Kikumaru demanded as he looked at the three freshmen.
"What makes you think I did anything?" Ryoma demanded as soon as he got away and glared at his classmates. "All I know was that I was eating a bento but then it disappeared."
"I told you, it disappeared because she took it away," Horio huffed as he glared at Echizen. He shook his head superiorly. "Honestly, in my two years experience in tennis, I have never seen anyone into tennis as you and that's why she took it away."
"That doesn't explain anything!" Momo yelled as he glared at Horio. "What happened?"
"He said 'mada mada dane' about her bento for him, didn't he?" Inui asked as he closed his book and looked at the Freshmen Trio. "That's what made her cry and stop making bentos for him. Wasn't it?"
The three boys had sweat drops coming from their heads. Kachiro smiled weakly, "Well, that's sort of right."
"Echizen." Momo's eyebrow started to twitch with irritation. "You insulted a pretty girl's bento for you- something she made with her own hands and out of love?"
Oishi shook his head. "Even if it tasted awful, you still shouldn't have said that and eaten every bite of it!"
"Oishi's right, Ochibi! You should have apologized to her about saying that," Kikumaru scolded as he scowled at his young teammate. It was rare that he was annoyed with Ochibi. "You just don't do that to a pretty girl! Especially one as delicate as Ryuzaki!"
"Fssh," Kaidoh hissed as he scowled at Echizen.
"Hah? But I didn't say 'mada mada dane' to her bento," Ryoma frowned as he looked at his classmates in confusion. "I know I didn't."
"Technically, you didn't," Katsuo allowed as he looked at Echizen. "You said it about the two tennis players who were having a match in the court below."
Kachiro cleared his throat as he looked at Echizen. "While at the same time you were distracted, Ryuzaki asked how the bento tasted-"
"And you said 'mada mada dane' with your eyes still on the players," Horio ended as he looked at the attentive sempai-tachi. "That's how he was himself-"
"And how the bento suddenly disappeared," Kachiro said as he glanced at Echizen then at the sempai-tachi. "Osakada tried to get her to come back, but she wouldn't. It's also the reason why we and-"
"Osakada think that Ryuzaki won't make another bento for Ryoma-kun anymore," Katsuo continued as he gave a pitying glance to Ryoma-kun. He looked at the sempai-tachi. "She probably stopped making them because she thinks that he insulted her bento."
Ryoma stared at his classmates as a tight knot formed in his stomach. "She went away crying?"
"Like a river," Horio nodded as he looked at Echizen. "We told Osakada to tell Ryuzaki that it's probably because you weren't paying attention to her when you said that-"
"But Ryuzaki's probably too embarrassed to make anymore for you because she took it away over a misunderstanding," Kachiro shrugged. "That's why Osakada's been making you bentos."
"Oh, poor Ryuzaki," Oishi commented as he shook his head.
"Nyah! Poor is right!" Kikumaru exclaimed as he shook his head. "In love and unable to express her love for Ochibi! All because he insulted her bento!"
"I didn't insult her bento!" Echizen said in an annoyed voice. "I was-"
"Just being your usual self. You don't ignore a girl or her bento," Kaidoh hissed as he shook his head. Ryoma stared at Kaidoh-sempai, the usually silent and moody sempai. If HE said something was bad, then it really was bad as it sounded.
"Now don't you start saying 'mada mada dane' to Osakada when she's around with food she made with her own hands," Momo warned as he looked at Echizen. "If you do, you'll never get a bento again. Let me tell you this as a sempai: You have to say nice things to a girl to make her happy to feed you. Since you've already lost Ryuzaki's bentos, you can't afford to lose Osakada's. So compliment her the next time she makes you a bento."
"Fssh," Kaidoh hissed as he shook his head. "Baka. Like a girl has ever made you a bento."
"What did you say, Mamushi?" Momo glared as he looked at Kaidoh.
"Anyway, it's a pity that Echizen will not receive any bento from Ryuzaki," Inui said as he shook his head. His face remained impassive as Echizen shot him a quick irritated glare. "It would have been interesting data to record."
"Yes, it is a pity. Especially when she's really a very good cook," Fuji commented as he picked up his racket. "Shall we go out and practice now?"
Everyone turned to look at Fuji. The Freshmen Trio looked at each other then at their sempai. Katsuo cleared his throat. "Fuji-sempai? We know that she bakes delicious stuff-"
"But how do you know she's a very good cook?" Horio asked as he looked up.
Kawamura frowned as he looked at his friend. "Ano Fujiko-chan, how do you know she's a very good cook? She can't even use a big knife properly- yesterday she cut her finger in my kitchen when I was trying to teach her."
Fuji smiled angelically as he looked at the men in the club room. "I know because-"
Fuji leaned over, placed a finger on his lips and opened his eyes wide as he smiled brightly at his teammates. "It's a very deep secret. I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you."
Shivers started to run down the spine of everyone in the clubroom. Just then a knock was heard at the door causing everyone in the room to jump. Fuji walked over to the door. "Ah! Ryuzaki! What a pleasant surprise! What can we do for you?" Fuji turned to look at the people behind him. "Taka-san? Ryuzaki would like to see you for a moment."
Scratching his head, Kawamura walked slowly towards the door. When he looked back, he saw the interested faces of his teammates and frowned at them. He had a flashback of the time he had met up with Jin Akutsu's mother. As soon as he got to the door, he shut it tightly. Just in case.
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"Was that Ryuzaki?" Kikumaru demanded energetically as he looked at Fuji.
"Yes, it was," Fuji smiled as he looked at his friend. He smiled brightly as he brought a finger to his lips then pointed to the open window near the door. "Shall we spy on them?"
Kikumaru's eyes sparkled with glee as he nodded and scrambled up the bench near the window with Fuji.
"Eiji! This is too much! You shouldn't be doing this to Taka-san," Oishi scolded as he looked at his doubles partner. "And Fuji- you know better!"
Eiji gave his friend an innocent look. "But don't you want to know why Taka-san shut the door? He and little Ryuzaki- maybe they could be discussing marriage!"
At this, Oishi started to look like one of his wide-eyed, open-mouthed tropical fish… and raced to the window. Almost immediately, with the exception of Ryoma and Kaidoh who were looking quite irritated, the Freshmen Trio and other sempai-tachi were at the window, listening as hard as they could.
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Kawamura scratched his head as he looked at Ryuzaki. "Ano how is your finger?"
Sakuno smiled as she held it up. "It's good now, Taka-san. Obaachan changed the bandage this morning again and said I'm well on the way to recovery."
"Ah, that's good," Kawamura said as he nodded. Then blinked when he had a small paper bag shoved at him. "Ano what's this?"
"I made strawberry shortcake for Taka-san and his parents," Sakuno said as she bowed. "It is to show my appreciation for allowing me to stay in your restaurant until Obaachan arrived and as an apology for causing so much trouble for Taka-san."
"Oh- you weren't any trouble at all, Sakuno-chan," Kawamura immediately denied. "You were a perfect guest."
Sakuno looked at Kawamura owlishly. "If a perfect guest means someone who sliced open her finger causing blood to be gushing all over the place which caused a few disasters to happen, including making sempai faint- then, I would agree that I was a perfect guest."
"Now, now, it wasn't your fault," Kawamura chuckled. "You did tell me that you were not allowed near big knives. It was my fault in trying to teach you how to use one and being distracted when sensei and Echizen came into the kitchen."
"Then you think we should probably blame Obaachan and Ryoma-kun for the fiasco?" Sakuno wondered aloud.
"That would be interesting, wouldn't it?" Kawamura said as he looked at her.
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"Oh dear," Oishi whispered loudly to Kikumaru. "She's blaming Echizen for hurting her finger! This is not good! It can't be good!"
"Poor Ochibi! Maybe she really doesn't like him that way anymore!" Kikumaru lamented as he gave a sorrowful look at the young tennis prince.
"Yeah, sounds like she really has gotten over Echizen," Momo said with a nod. He heard Echizen give a small hiss at him then glared. He went over to grab the first year over to the window. "You must listen first hand how much she doesn't like you anymore!"
"Mada mada dane," Ryoma muttered as he glared at Momo.
"Momo! That's too cruel!" Oishi hissed loudly as he looked worriedly from Echizen to Momo.
"It's a lesson we must all learn while growing up," Momo commented as he looked sternly at Echizen. "We must learn to be sensitive to another's feelings- especially those of a girl's."
"And that should be a lesson to you both," Horio announced to Kachiro and Katsuo.
Annoyed Katsuo poked Horio. "You're the one who usually says something insensitive!"
"And the one who usually gests us in trouble with Ryuzaki and Osakada," Kachiro added as he poked Horio on the other side.
"Yes, but I've never made any girl cry like Echizen did," Horio defended superiorly.
"You probably will someday- according to my Nissan, it is a man's destiny to make at least one girl cry once in their lives. And sometimes they can't ever correct the mistake that they made," Fuji said sagely. His eyes glowed strangely as he looked right at Echizen. "Oh well. One man's stupidity is another's fortune."
"Any comments, Echizen?" Inui asked as his glasses gleamed.
Ignoring his sempai-tachi as he sipped his grape Ponta, Ryoma felt his stomach strangely tightening at the thought of Ryuzaki hating him. He scowled as he pretended indifference. Ryuzaki said that she liked me. She wanted to have her first kiss from me. She kissed me while I was pretending to be asleep. But that was before we went to Kachiro's dad's place. Two months had passed since that day by the sakura. Does she still like me?
"Well, Echizen? What do you say?" Inui prodded as his eyeglasses gleamed.
Scowling, Ryoma looked at the Seigaku data man. "Mada mada dane."
"Is that for her or for you?" Inui said as he looked at Ryoma. Ryoma just shoved his hat down lower.
"Quiet everyone! I can't hear her!" Kikumaru scolded as he looked at his friends.
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"It would be interesting," Sakuno agreed then she gave out a small laugh. "I don't think they'd like that when all they did was stand there in entrance. Obaachan would sulk but Ryoma-kun wouldn't really be upset. I think. He'd probably just say, 'Mada mada dane' and then sip his Ponta as he walked away."
Aware that Echizen was still in the clubhouse, Kawamura cleared his throat. "You might be right about that." Then he looked at her curiously. "Why don't think that he would be upset that we blamed him partially for what happened to your finger?"
Sakuno shrugged as she gave him a bright smile. "Because Ryoma-kun is Ryoma-kun; nothing outside the tennis gets him upset terribly, I think. But if something does, he'll just use his Tennis of Righteousness to fix it."
Kawamura stared at her. "His Tennis of Righteousness? What is this Tennis of Righteousness?"
"Oh- I came up with that name myself! It's when Ryoma-kun uses his tennis to right the wrongs- like he did with Sasabe and his father or with Ginka," Sakuno said brightly.
"Or when he avenged Kachiro, Arai and myself against Jin," Kawamura said softly.
"Hai, just like that time as well," Sakuno nodded as she smiled. "And it's not just him, the sempai-tachi all have it to some degree. And so does Yuuta-oniisan."
Kawamura blinked at that. "Like Yuuta-oniisan?" He looked at the smiling girl. There was only one Yuuta he knew of… "Sakuno-chan, do you mean Fuji Yuuta? You think that he has Tennis of Righteousness as well?"
"Of course he does!" Sakuno answered immediately then frowned as she thought about it. "But then, he didn't use his tennis- he used his fists at the time. So maybe he has the Fists of Righteousness. Sounds like a martial arts move." She smiled brightly. "But that doesn't matter because Yuuta-oniisan's a real hero!"
"Fuji Yuuta is a real hero?" Kawamura stared at the smiling girl. "How- what-"
"Oh! Sakuno! What are you doing here? I thought you were on your way to your lesson!"
Both turned to find Ryuzaki and Tezuka coming towards the clubhouse. Sakuno smiled at her grandmother. "Ohayo, Obaachan! Tezuka-bouchu! I'm going to my lesson now- I just wanted to drop off the cake and cookies to Kawamura-sempai! Here you go sempai!"
"Oh, thank you," Kawamura said with a smile as he looked into the bag. "Ano what's this other box for?"
Sakuno blushed as she looked at him. "Those are gingerbread men- except I made them to look like the Seigaku regulars. I'm sorry but I can't make the radishes look like the sempai-tachi like you wanted- my finger still hurts when I touch my knife. So I baked and decorated gingerbread to make them look like the Regulars." Her smile faltered as Kawamura-sempai stared at her in silence. "Sempai, is that all right? I know that you wanted to show off my radishes on your salad and that this is a poor substitute-"
"Oh no! This is fine! Really!" Kawamura stammered as he looked into the box. He picked one out. "This one looks like Tezuka! Wow! You are very talented, Sakuno-chan! Doesn't this look like you, Tezuka?"
Tezuka blinked as he took the gingerbread man from Kawamura's hand. For a cookie decorated with brown, blue, white and red icing, it was an amazing likeness. "Ah- yes it is. You are very talented, Ryuzaki."
"Not really," Sakuno said blushing as she shook her head. She smiled brightly. "But I am improving! Anyway, I must be going now. I hope you have a good practice and that your family likes the cake, sempai! Obaachan, where are the bentos that I made this morning?"
"I put the chawamushi and the roasted mackerel are in the teacher's lounge's refrigerator," her grandmother answered as she smiled. "And the other things are on my desk. I'll pick you up after you're done with your tennis lesson from Yuuta; just call me."
"Hai, Obaachan," Sakuno nodded obediently. She turned to bow politely at Tezuka then at Kawamura. "Please enjoy the cake and cookies."
"I'm sure we will and thank you for your gift," Kawamura said as he smiled at her as she gave one last bow and started to walk away. He frowned thoughtfully as he watched her disappear around the corner then he looked at Ryuzaki-sensei. "Sensei-"
"So where are the others?" Tezuka demanded as he looked at Kawamura.
Kawamura was about to answer when the clubroom door slammed open and he felt a sudden weight glomming on to his back. "Oh! Eiji!"
"Let me see! Let me see!" Kikumaru exclaimed as he grabbed the gingerbread man from Tezuka's hand. His eyes were round as he looked at it. "Nyah! Oishi! Come look! This really looks like Tezuka!"
Kikumaru passed of the cookie to Oishi before he grabbed the box of cookies from Kawamura. "Nyah! Let me see what everyone looks like! Sugoi! Sugoi! Oishi! This looks like Oishi! And me! Inui has a data book with him! And Kaidoh has a bandana! Oh! Momo! You look so cute as a cookie! And Ochibi has a white hat!"
As most of the team gathered around Kawamura and Kikumaru, Ryoma came out of the clubroom slowly, gripping his racket. 'She made chawamushi? She's making bentos for Fuji Yuuta? What the does she mean that Fuji Yuuta's real hero?'
Momo whistled as he admired the gingerbread version of himself. "She's very good at this! Look at how she made my hair! She used licorice strings for it!" He grabbed the Echizen gingerbread man and showed it to Echizen. "Look at the details! She even got your hat and how your hair falls out of it as well! What do you have to say?"
Blinking, Ryoma took the gingerbread man and studied. It really was well made and detailed. In fact, it looked pretty good but he would rather have his tennis racket taken away for life before he would admit that to his nosy sempai. Shoving his cap down his head to hide his blush, Ryoma merely shrugged. "It's gingerbread."
"We know that, Echizen," Momo practically shouted as he glared at Echizen and shoved it into his hands. "But what do you have to say about how it looks? Isn't it the splitting image of you?"
Seriously embarrassed and annoyed, Echizen glared at Momo. "It looks like she made it out of sugar and licorice."
"She did make it out of licorice and sugar. So you all like how the cookies came out?" Ryuzaki chuckled as she looked at her regulars. "They taste as good as they are decorated."
Oishi blinked as he looked at his cookie. "How long did it take her to make it?"
"Oh, I think she spent a couple of hours last night making them after we left Kawamura's restaurant," Ryuzaki smiled. "It took longer for her to bake the raisin bread and make the soup buns for Yuuta than it did to make these."
"Sakuno-chan made raisin bread for Yuuta? And she soup buns?" Fuji smiled as he looked at his coach. "The boys in his dorm will be going crazy with envy again."
Kawamura looked at him puzzled. "And why would that happen?"
Fuji gave his friend a bright smile and shook his head. "Because Sakuno-chan's foods are almost as good as gold in an all male dorm. Yuuta sometimes uses it as currency if he has any leftover or if he's desperate. Most of the time, however, everything Sakuno-chan cooked is just about finished by the second day in the dorm."
"But she said that she wasn't a very good cook," Kawamura said in surprise.
"Sakuno was probably comparing herself to one of her uncles, who happens to be a master chef," Ryuzaki-sensei said as she shook her head. "She's actually a pretty good cook- considering that she only knows how to use a steak knife and a paring knife."
Confused, Kachiro looked at Ryuzaki-sensei. "Why doesn't she use a regular knife?"
"Because she always manages to hurt herself with it, some way, some how," Ryuzaki-sensei answered as she shook her head. "She's just like her mother when she was young- Sakuno can hurt herself just by standing in place."
"Is that so?" Inui mused as he added the information down into his book. As he wrote, he kept one eye on Echizen and commented, "Seems like this would be important for Kawamura to know before his wedding day." Smiling slightly, Inui saw Echizen pull his cap down as the short regular snorted. "This would be very good data to know."
"Inui! It's not a set thing and I have no idea what is going on!" Kawamura scolded as his face turned red and he resembled a cooked lobster.
"But I don't think that it is a good idea at all for Ryuzaki to be cooking for another man, nyah!" Kikumaru blinked as he looked at Kawamura and Ryuzaki-sensei. "Don't you think that it's that bad? I mean if little Ryuzaki is going to be match-made and then married with Taka-san-"
"What? Who said that?" Ryuzaki blinked as she looked at Kikumaru. "What are you talking about? Well?"
"Well- we- well, we heard it," Kikumaru stammered as he looked at his coach. "We heard that Taka-san and your granddaughter are going to be match-made."
"She's only twelve years old! Far too young to be match made!" Ryuzaki-sensei announced with a glared. "I wouldn't match make my granddaughter for the world. Now who said that this was going to happen?"
Ryoma blinked when the sempai-tachi stood behind him then winced when his coach yelled, "Ryoma! Where are you getting these ideas from?"
Puzzled, Echizen looked at his coach. "But you said yesterday- with Kawamura-sempai's mother that it would be a good idea to match-make them-"
"Is that what this nonsense is about? I was trying to get her mind off the alcohol," Ryuzaki said as she shook her head. "Ryoma, you saw how she was yesterday- if you hadn't distracted her by insulting her; it would have taken at least another fifteen minutes for her to even allow me to pour the alcohol on."
Uh-oh, Ryoma thought as he felt rather than saw the dangerous aura coming from his sempai-tachi. "It wasn't like I meant to insult her, sensei-"
"You were just yourself when you said it, right?" Kachiro said as he shook his head. Katsuo simply nodded his head.
"Just like that time," Horio said as he shook his head.
"Echizen! How could you?" Oishi said as he shook his head in disappointment. Kaidoh just hissed as he shook his head.
"Ochibi! That wasn't nice!" Kikumaru scolded as he shook his head.
"Now, now, it wasn't so bad," Kawamura said as he tried to placate his teammates. "She might have cried because of the insult but it did-"
"She cried?" Fuji interrupted as he looked at Kawamura. "Sakuno-chan cried again?"
"She cried?" Inui said as he looked at Kawamura. "Just like she did after she believed he insulted her bento?"
His face flushed with anger, Momo's eyes bulged. "You INSULTED her? First you mistakenly make her cry over her bento and then you insult her directly and make her cry! What kind of man are you?"
"I did not intentionally insult her!" Ryoma growled back. "I just said she looked bad with that blood smeared on her face!"
"You really didn't say that to her, did you, Ryoma-kun?" Kachiro asked as he stared at Ryoma.
"He said it," Horio said as he looked at Echizen for a moment with his arms crossed. Katsuo nodded in agreement. "He said it."
"Oh dear," Oishi said faintly. "You said that? He really said that Taka-san?"
"He really said that," Kawamura said as he shook his head. "She took it as him saying that she looked disgusting… which made her even more upset."
"Fssh," Kaidoh hissed as he shook his head.
"You just keep doing the same thing over and over again," Fuji sighed as he shook his head.
"You should not have said that!" Momo shouted as he shook his head. "Now she's NEVER EVER going to make another bento for you again!"
"Now, now, you never know," Oishi said as he glanced worriedly at Echizen. "She just might."
"After mistakenly insulting her twice, nyah?" Kikumaru yelped as he stared at Oishi. "You really believe that she'll make a bento for Ochibi? Ochibi's lucky she still comes to his games! She'll never make a bento for Ochibi! Right, Inui? Nyah!"
"Actually the probability is ninety percent that she wouldn't make him another bento," Inui said as he looked at his data book. "That's close to never in a girl's mind."
"Are you going to try to analyze a woman's mind now?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked as her eyebrow went up in amusement. She shook her head. "You'd have a better chance to reach for the moon with your own hands, Inui."
"Really," Inui said as he adjusted his glasses.
"You mean that there's a chance that Ochibi will get a bento from Ryuzaki-chan?" Kikumaru asked eagerly.
Momo looked at his teacher eagerly. "And maybe a love letter and declaration?"
"Eiji!" Oishi scolded as his face turned red. "Momo!"
"Enough of this! Everyone! Thirty laps! NOW!" Tezuka shouted. He glared at his team. "We have to get ready for Hyotei!"
"We'll finish this later!" Momo hissed as he ran next to Echizen who immediately sped up.
"Ochibi! Nyah! There's hope for you yet!" Kikumaru called out as he started running. "Race you Oishi! Nyah!"
"Mada mada dane," Ryoma said as he took off into a faster run. He scowled as he thought about what his sempai-tachi said then glared at Inui-sempai as he ran next to him. 'Ninety percent chance that I'll never get a bento again? I'll rise above that data and get a bento from Ryuzaki if it's the last thing I do.'
P
O
T
P
O
T
As he ran, Inui ran the notes he had collected in his head. He remembered the facts he had gathered at the tournament against Yamabuki, where he had seen Fuji and Ryuzaki together.
Fact A: Ryuzaki was walking with Fuji towards the consolation games.
Fact B: She was carrying a bento box with her.
Fact C: Fuji was carrying something in a bag.
Question A: Why was Ryuzaki with Fuji?
Answer: She was off with Fuji to see Fuji Yuuta.
Question B: What was Fuji carrying? Was it his? Or Ryuzaki's?
Answer: She wanted to give Fuji Yuuta a bento
Inui's glasses gleamed as he thought about the conclusions.
Conclusion A: Ryuzaki had formed a brother/sister relationship with Fuji Yuuta.
Conclusion B: Ryuzaki is in the throes of hero worship of Fuji Yuuta.
Then Inui frowned as new information popped up in his head.
Observation 1: Fuji seemed disturbed at supposition that Ryuzaki was dating Kawamura.
Observation 2: Echizen seemed disturbed to think that Ryuzaki was dating Kawamura.
Observation 3: Echizen was disturbed at the thought of his causing Ryuzaki distress.
Observation 4: Fuji was disturbed at the thought of Echizen causing Ryuzaki distress.
Observation 5: Ryuzaki was neither defending nor was she accusing Echizen for incident with finger.
Conclusion: Inconclusive. Need more data.
Sighing over the lack of data, Inui went back to the facts he knew.
Fact A: Fuji calls Ryuzaki 'Sakuno-chan.'
Fact B: Kawamura calls Ryuzaki 'Sakuno-chan.'
Fact C: Ryuzaki calls Kawamura 'Taka-san'
Fact D: Only Fuji knows how tasty Ryuzaki's cooking is.
Fact E: Ryuzaki refuses to make a bento for Echizen.
Fact F: Echizen never noticed he never received a bento from Ryuzaki after incident as described by Freshmen Trio.
Inui frowned as he grouped everything in his mind.
Conclusion 1: Fuji has a soft spot for Ryuzaki.
Question 1: Does Ryuzaki have a close relationship with Fuji due to his younger brother?
Conclusion 2: Kawamura has a soft spot for Ryuzaki and vice versa.
Question 2: Does Kawamura and Ryuzaki have a close relationship?
Conclusion 3A: Echizen is oblivious or is ignoring to Ryuzaki's feelings.
Conclusion 3B: Ryuzaki seems to have changed her feelings for Echizen.
Question 3C: What will Echizen do now?
At the final question, Inui's glasses gleamed as he slid a look at his young teammate. More data. I need more data.