Setting: Sunday, less than 24 hours before the 2nd lining of Seigaku...
Disclaimer: blah, blah. (you know what I mean --,). But I do own Saki.
Chapter 6: Unexpected...
Momo-Sempai's bedroom, early in the morning:
Because of the forgetfulness of Momo-Sempai, he was 'asked' by Tezuka-buchou to come the earliest, from all the regulars, Monday morning, to do errands and preparations for the 2nd lining, which will be conducted tomorrow.
"Hey forget that now, I'm sure I'll live until sunset tomorrow." he whispered to himself as if showing support.
As he erased the embarrassment he had to endure for forgetting practice, especially from the smirk Ryoma gave, he could only think of one thing.
"Arrgghh..." Momo-Sempai said while stretching his body in the cramped bed.
"What time is it?" he asked curiously to the invisible man in front of him.
"6:45! It's way too early! I'd better get back to bed and get some shut eye." he answered back to his question.
Momo-Sempai laid once again onto bed. He tried to sleep, but unexpectedly, he couldn't. Not with the appearance of Saki's face every 5 seconds in his mind.
"Not again! Why do I always see her face every time I close my eyes!" he asked himself harshly.
sigh
After seeing Saki, seeing her angelic face, he would always have a hard time sleeping, having her face imprinted in his mind. And he also have a hard time concentrating lately when he starts to daydream, making everything a mess in the end.
Because of the constant envading of Saki in Momo-Sempai 's mind, he asked himself 2 important questions:
First, if he is simply having a small crush, just plain puppy love.
Or...
Second, if he has completely and utterly fallen head over heals with her, to put it simply, he is in love.
"No I can't! She's Echizen's girl! Have you forgotten that tiny fact! So it's impossible for you to have her, she's already taken!" his brain yelled at him, explaining the reasons of why it could never work out.
"But then, why?" he whispered as if contradicting his own mind.
"No, no, no! My mind has to be correct! She doesn't have the right attitude!" he screamed while looking at his bedroom ceiling. (A/N: hey, I'm sorry to interrupt 'bout the attitude stuff, my friend said that Momo-kun likes girls with out-going personality, like Anne Tachibana, so I apologize if I'm wrong.)
After a few minutes debating with himself, he decided to give sleeping another chance.
Ryoma's house:
"Ryoma-kun! Time to wake up. You have to do something important today, remember?" Rinko-sama, Ryoma's mother said while knocking softly at the door.
"zzzzzzz..."
"Ryoma-kun! Wake up." she said once again.
"..." still no reply.
"Ryoma-kun!" she said with a bit more harshness in her voice.
grumble-grumble
"Hai. I'm awake mom." Ryoma finally replied with a muffled voice.
Ryoma yawned as he awoke from his bed, Karupin sleeping peacefully beside him.
"That's better. Now go get change." she told him.
After a few minutes, Ryoma got up, changed, went to the bathroom, washed his face, brushed his teeth, until finally he was ready to go down and eat breakfast.
"Good morning, Ryoma-kun." Nanako, Ryoma's college cousin said with a smile.
"Good morning." Ryoma replied rather politely.
"Will you be out today?" she asked curiously.
"Hai. I have something important to do." he replied in his usual, casual voice.
After he ate his breakfast, consisting of mostly of toast, he went directly out the front door. He was wearing his usual cap, his usual clothes he wears for practice, which seemed like he is going to a match and on his shoulder hangs his ever-so-dependable racket.
"Ohayo Ryoma-kun." a familiar sweet voice greeted him on his way out of the temple.
"Ohayo Sakuno-chan." (A/N: Ryoma calls Saki, Sakuno.) he replied to her greeting while giving her a polite bow.
"It's good to see you up so early in the morning." Saki said while giving him the sweetest smile.
Because of her smile, Ryoma suddenly blushed. Even though he was always given that smile since they were only children, he still couldn't get used to that.
"I, um, yeah... Bye!" he said staggering for words, and when no words came, he immediately left.
As Ryoma ran away, Saki had a questioning look stamped on her face.
Momo-Sempai's room, once again:
After forcing himself to sleep, Momo-Sempai had kept his eyes shut for almost an hour now, but had no success in forgetting Saki. Her face seem to appear again and again, like a broken down song in his mind.
His head's temperature rose as he opened his eyes and quickly sat on his bed, he couldn't control his temper, it was blazing like hell. His anger wasn't the fault of Saki, not wanting to leave his mind, it was for the fact that his own mind did not follow him and continues to flash her again and again. He couldn't believe it, he was angry with his own mind.
"Well, is this what you call a good morning!" he told to his brain wanting it to feel guilty at the torture it has been giving him.
He then rose from his bed, paced around the room thinking of a possible solution to take his mind of his 'problem'. Then it hit him, it was a stroke of genius. He couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it before.
"I need to concentrate my mind on just one thing, Tennis!" he quickly pointed out, making him proud of his own intellectual achievement.
"A good tennis match will fix those loose screws on my head." he said as if defending a new found theory.
"But. Who to call?" he asked himself curiously.
As he start to deduce who would be most suitable opponent from his co-members, he started to count off those he think would win against him easily.
"Tezuka-buchou, no. He'll win as soon as his racket hits the ball. Same with Fuji-Sempai. Inui-Sempai, of course no, he'll take it as my training and you know what happens to those training, if I make a mistake, he'll make me drink that unedible 'vegetable' juice." he said, as he uttered the last words, he thought of a small scene where he had made a mistake while Inui-Sempai was handing him the juice with a sadistic smile plastered on his face, then a villain like laugh.
With those horrible thoughts, Momo-Sempai shivered.
"Bad thoughts. Horrible thoughts. Must get back to my count-offs. Let's see,
Kawamura-Sempai probably too busy helping their family business. Of course, not that ugly snake. (A/N: sorry to all Kaidoh fans for this comment, but he and Momo are rivals) We'll just start arguing and bickering, and just end up with nothing but steaming heads. So, that means there are only 3 choices left. Oishi-fukubuchou, Eiji-Sempai and Echizen." he said while giving a scratch on the chin.
He had decided to call all 3 of them, and whoever says yes first will do. He went down immediately and went to the phone, he first dialed Oishi-fukubuchou's number.
"Hello, Oishi residence." a familiar voice stated in the other line.
"Oishi-fukubuchou?" Momo-Sempai asked curiously.
"Hai. Speaking. Who is this?" Oishi-fukubuchou asked the caller.
"It's me, Momo-kun." he replied, sounding joyful.
"Oh! Momo, what seems to be the problem?" Oishi-fukubuchou asked inquisitively.
"I was wondering if you would like to play a game with me today. So can 'ya" he said, making it sound like a hopeless request.
"Gomen. But I'm busy today, I have a report due on Monday." Oishi-fukubuchou flatly denied Momo-Sempai's request, trying to make himself sound sympathetic to the person in the other line.
"Is that so. Thanks anyway." Momo-Sempai replied with sadness traced in his voice.
After putting down the phone, he was struggling deeply whether or nor to call Eiji-Sempai. In the end, he dialed Eiji-Sempai's number, with a little more hope.
"Hello! This is Eiji speaking! Who is this?" Eiji-Sempai said with his always happy-go-lucky voice.
"This is Momo-kun." he replied.
"Nyaaaaa! Momo-kun, how come you didn't go to practice yesterday! I waited for our match all day long!" Eiji-Sempai commanded for an answer and fast.
sweat-drop
Even though Momo-Sempai was in the other telephone line, he could sense that the Sempai was glaring at him.
"I guess he hasn't forgiven me for that. I hope he wouldn't decline what I'm going to ask him." Momo-Sempai thought.
"Gomen Eiji-Sempai. I forgot, because I had this accident where I almost made someone visit the hospital." he replied making his voice as pitiful as possible to make the Sempai forgive and forget.
"Okkaaayyy." Eiji-Sempai said in an I-don't-believe-you tone.
"Anyway, the reason I called you was, I was wondering if you could play a match with me today." he said, even bowing as if the person in the other line could actually see .him
"Today? I can't Momo-kun. I have to wash Daigoro, (A/N: his teddy bear) and I still have to buy another toothpaste, I heard there is a new flavor out and I really want to try it." Eiji-Sempai reasoned.
Momo-Sempai has now lost all hope to the possibility of him having a good tennis match.
sigh
"Well thanks anyway Eiji-Sempai. And good luck to you finding that toothpaste. Bye." he said in a gloomy voice.
"Bye! Uxe-to! (meaning 'wait') Do you want to give that toothpaste a try? We could go together. Nyaa Momo-kun!" Eiji-Sempai exclaimed with enthusiastic.
"No thanks! I have a hunch that it'll probably taste like Inui-Sempai's vegetable juice." he shuddered at his thought.
"No, I'm fine. Thanks anyway." he replied to the Sempai.
"Didn't think so. I'm so excited, I can already taste that toothpaste! Bye" Eiji-Sempai said with a tone of happiness, as he did so, he quickly put down the phone.
sigh
Momo-Sempai sighed as he saw that his luck wasn't changing. His last change of making this a good day was Ryoma's sure-I'll-play-with-you-but-make-sure-you-don't-cry-when-I-beat-you answer.
But it wouldn't matter, even if Echizen's ego was twice as big as Jupiter, he just wants to play, forget and enjoy, especially the forget part.
So, again, putting a little bit more faith, he dialed Ryoma's number.
First ring... No answer.
Second ring... Still no answer.
Third ring...
"Hello. Echizen residence." a girl's voice answered.
"Huh? A woman's voice? Must be Echizen's mother or something. But if it is his mother, she sounds a bit young." he thought in his now overly worked brain.
"Uh. Yeah. I'm Momoshiro Takeshi. I'm looking for Ryoma. Could I speak with him?" Momo-Sempai asked politely to the girl in the other line.
"Gomen Mr. Momoshiro, I'm afraid Ryoma-kun has gone out early this morning" the girl said in a apologetic tone.
"Mr. Momoshiro! Do I sound that old? My name is Momo not Mr. Momoshiro. Mr. Momoshiro is my father not me." he screamed in his mind.
"I-Is that so. Well thanks anyway." he said disappointed.
"Gomen Mr. Momoshiro, but, I, um. Well I have to put the phone down now, that is if you don't have anything else to say." she requested politely.
"Oh! Sure. Sorry to take your time. Bye." he said as the other line went dead.
After placing the phone on the receiver, he sighed, he then rushed to his room, went straight to bed.
"Surely a day of lucks for me. Yeah right! What should I do now? Every card fell in the wrong place. It seem like even if I shake the hell and heaven, I couldn't have my brain repaired. Everything I planned went to ruins. And my luck has died, ever since I followed Echizen. Is this what they call 'karma'?" he asked himself despite the fact that he must have looked like an idiot talking to himself.
"Well, atleast it brought you a lot of good luck. You meeting HER, talking to HER and being with HER." his mind said to him as if they were debating, emphasizing the word 'HER'.
After half an hour, thinking, debating and summarizing everything, he has finally decided that it was a good thing.
"Maybe a stroll outside can clear my head. And if I'm lucky, someone good might play with me." he decided.
He immediately went to the bathroom and took a shower, he then dressed and arranged everything he needed for his 'stroll'. After fixing himself and his things, he went down to get some breakfast.
"Hi mom. What's for breakfast?" Momo-Sempai asked his mother, who was cooking eggs at the kitchen stove.
"Omelet and rice. Where are you off to now? It's a miracle you woke up early" Mrs. Momoshiro commented.
"Don't tease mom. I'll have a match with someone, somewhere out there. And I hope that, that someone is a great player.
"Really? A match? Maybe you will just have a date with someone, somewhere out there. Maybe that tennis match you were saying is just an alibi. Right?" Mrs. Momoshiro said in very a sarcastic tone. She sounded as if everything she said was just a joke. And if it was, then it was a darn good joke, making Momo-Sempai crimson red.
"Ma, stop it, will you? My whole morning is already ruined and you're not helping, you're making it worse." he pleaded to her mother as he got his composure back.
"It was just a joke. Come, on you didn't take it seriously, did you? Anyway, don't worry to much. Remember, 'every bad luck has a corresponding good one.'" she said to her son, while her son was busy looking at the air.
Momo-Sempai relish in the saying his mother has just said. He quickly thought of good lucks he would surely love.
"I want to have my on fan club, pretty girls screaming and dying for my autograph." he thought sheepishly.
"Or.. Maybe.." he thought of something else.
"I can have a date with Saki-chan." he said in his mind.
He blushed when he realized where his mind was going. He couldn't believe what he was actually thinking. He tried to suppress it and concentrate on what he was actually eating, while he was screaming in his mind 'Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!' again and again.
After finally finishing his breakfast, he got his things and went out. Hoping that, that someone was somewhere they could actually meet and finally have a great match. As he repeated the words 'Goodluck Momoshiro Takeshi!"
A cafe with the Happy Trio, Tomoka and Sakuno(the real one):
"So it's decided, after the 2nd lining of the Seigaku regulars, we'll host a party, right?" Horio said making his statement sound as positive as it can.
"Right!" Tomoka agreed along with Katou Kachiro and Minzuno Tatzuo (the last 2 members of the Happy trio.)
But the shy Sakuno did not respond to the question and remained silent. Tomoka noticed this immediately and asked herself, was Sakuno-chan just to embarrass to answer, since they were being eyed by some of the other customers for being too noisy or was it because she still hadn't got the name thing out of her system.
"It can't be the 1st one, besides what does those people care if we make a few noise, we're paying customers." she proudly dictated to herself.
"Yeah, that must be it! Ryoma-my-love was so cold. Putting aside Sakuno-chan's feelings just for a weird and ugly girl!" she told her mind.
sigh
Sakuno sighed, she thought that after the incident, and everything was patched up again between her and Ryoma, she would eventually forget how much the incident had scarred her.
"So, was that the reason he couldn't remember my name. Because if he would say my name he would always think of someone else." her mind told her.
"Because he would always think of her and not of me." she uttered to herself.
Even though Sakuno whispered the words to herself, the ever flamboyant Tomoka caught the comment Sakuno uttered. As Tomoka heard the sad words, Sakuno began to show tears forming in her eyes, and began to weep softly.
"I'm sorry." Sakuno quickly said as she began to stand from her seat and run away from the cafe and from the group, all the while trying to hard not to let even a single tear fall from her eyes.
She didn't want her tears to fall in front of her friends so she decided to run away.
She ran because she did not want to look weak, pathetic and vulnerable in front of them.
Right now, all she wanted was to cry and cry.
"Sakuno!" Tomoka shouted as Sakuno ran.
Sakuno, still running away not stopping to even glimpse at her bestfriend. So Tomoka decided to follow her.
In the streets with Momo-Sempai:
"I really hope I get to fight someone strong." he prayed as he rode down the busy street with his ever loyal bicycle.
As he did so, he pedaled more quickly as if hurrying to the hospital to save a dying patient, because of this he reached a park in a short period of time. He immediately parked and chained his bicycle and searched for the nearby courts.
As he entered the court, every pair of eyes turned and followed him intently, eyeing his Seigaku regular's t-shirt, immediately recognizing him as a Seigaku regular. Even though being eyed by the many pairs of eyes, Momo-Sempai decided to pretend to not notice.
But he was shocked to see that out of the tons of men here, there was a girl. A girl he knew. The girl seemed to be looking at the vending machine, trying to figure out which drink she would like.
As Momo-Sempai went closer, he got of a glimpse of what she had bought, it was a Ponta, the drink Ryoma loves.
"Hi!" Momo-Sempai quickly greeted her, smiling his most handsome smile.
Author's Note: Hey! Can you guess who the girl is? I was thinking of asking you guys a question, who do you think will end up with Saki? And I've got a new rule about the reviews thing, my friend suggested for me to get more reviews is to request that after every chapter, one more would be added to the previous requirement. So now instead of just 4, I need 5 reviews before I post the next chapter. Hope you don't mind. Again,
Please Please Please review. Bad or good are accepted. Thank you!