Pure Essence: HIIII! Long time no see! Thanks so much for the reviews! I want you all to know that I have songs from Ryoma, Sakuno, Tomoka, and Ann, up for request. (Please check profile for more information).

I'm so happy that I've got 66 reviews already! I'm aiming for 100 before this story ends so please support me all the way D Thank you guys so much! Recently, I don't know what happened to all the Ryoma x Sakuno writers…. But this makes me want to update so bad so all the other Ryoma x Sakuno fans can enjoy this adorable couple's stories! Now, I present you Chapter 5!

Disclaimer: The same usual gibberish. I don't own this and I don't own that. I just own the plot to my story.

Previously in the last chapter:

"I have an emergency and I need to leave. Do you think you can take over for me?"

"Hai Ryuuzaki-sensei."

"Arigato. Tezuka."

"Iie."

After leaving down instructions, Tezuka watched as Ryuuzaki-sensei faded from his view. Then, he turned his attention back to the tennis court.

"In 20 minutes, freshman will clean the courts. The Regulars, juniors and seniors may leave."

"HAI. TEZUKA- BUCHOU!"

Chapter 5: Don't Tell Him

One more day left

Sumire Ryuuzaki drove quickly and worriedly as she sped down the street to the direction of her house. Putting on her earpiece, she dialed the home number again.

Ring……… Ring…… Ring…… Ring…

'Sakuno...please answer!' Ring……… Ring…… Ring……BEEP!

The call was once again disconnected. Sumire Ryuuzaki sighed in defeat. Taking off her earpiece, she pushed the pedal harder and sped even faster home.

Finally reaching her front door, she quickly got out of the car and fumbled with the keys nervously. Roughly slipping the key into the doorknob and turning it, she burst through the front door and rushed inside without locking the door.

"Sakuno!" She called into the house but the call was only answered in silence.

Sumire Ryuuzaki rushed to the staircase that led to Sakuno's room quickly, nearly tripping over her own foot in panic.

"Sakuno!" She called again as she climbed faster. "Where are you?"

When she got to her granddaughters room, she pushed opened the door only to see Sakuno lying unconscious on her bed. Terrible things began to emerge in her mind but she pushed them aside.

Without even wasting a minute, She ran to Sakuno's side and made sure she was breathing. When she felt Sakuno's heartbeat, she let out a sigh of relief. Her granddaughter looked flushed and sweaty. Sumire slipped her hand underneath Sakuno's bangs and felt her granddaughter's burning head.

'A very high fever!'

She rushed to the kitchen and opened the freezer to get an ice pack and rushed upstairs again. Gently pushing Sakuno into the middle of the bed, she laid the ice pack on her forehead and pulled the covers over her granddaughter. Satisfied with all she could do, she sighed wearily.

'Thank goodness…' Luckily, she had made it home in time. If it had been any sooner, Sakuno would've been in critical condition. Giving her flushed granddaughter a glance, a black object on the floor caught the corner of her eye. Sumire looked down and picked up the receiver that she had not notice to be there until now.

'No wonder I couldn't get through…' she thought and returned the receiver back to its original position and then exited the room.

Players from the Siegaku Tennis Club filtered out of the courts as tennis practice in the morning ended. Ryoma Echizen yawned and stretched his aching body. The sun once again shone down on him mercilessly and his sweaty uniform stuck to his well-built body.

Unable to bear the heat anymore, he reached down to the base of his neck and unbuttoned two buttons to let his body cool quicker. About 4 feet away, he could hear a few girls, probably from his fan club, squeal in delight.

'Typical' he sighed and was surprised to see that Sakuno's best friend, Tomoka, wasn't part of it. He knew something was missing ever since the beginning of practice when the screaming and yelling wasn't heard.

He also did not see the shy pigtailed girl at all this morning. 'Not like I care really.' he thought but felt a pull in the back of his mind. He ignored it and went into the changing room to change into his school uniform. When he came out, the tennis courts were almost empty. With a light shrug, he slung his tennis bag over his shoulders and made his way inside the school.

'MOU! Where are you Sakuno?' Tomoka thought in frustration as she went around asking different people if they had seen her best friend. She had already checked the tennis courts where she and Sakuno promised to meet in the morning but she never showed up.

Tomoka tried to find Sakuno's grandmother but she was nowhere to be found. She even tried calling her best friend atleast five times by now but no one picked up. She walked around trying to find another person to ask when she spotted Kikumaru-senpai and Momoshiro-senpai together.

"AH! KIKUMARU-SENPAI! MOMOSHIRO-SENPAI!" she yelled across the hall making the two senpais flinch and the people in the hallway frown at her high-pitched voice. Tomoka charged up to them and both senpais had to put their hands out to keep her from charging into them.

"Slow down, slow down. It's not good to be overactive in the morning. It isn't." Momoshiro said.

"Hai. Gomen – nasai Momoshiro-senpai."

"Daijoubu."

"Nya! What did you call us for?" The other senpai asked.

"Oh! I wanted to ask if both senpai saw Sakuno today. I checked the tennis courts and asked around but no one saw her at all." She pinched her eyebrows together. "I even tried to find Ryuuzaki-sensei but I don't know where she went either."

Both Momoshiro and Kikumaru thought for a moment.

"Now that you mention it," Momoshiro pondered. "Obaa-san was here earlier in the morning but I didn't see her when practice ended. I did hear Tezuka-buchou mention something about an emergency. Don't know who he was talking about though."

"Emergency?" Tomoka asked with a worried face. 'Did something happen to Sakuno?'

"What about Sakuno? Did Senpai see her?"

"Nya! I'm not too sure." Kikumaru pinched his chin as if in deep thought. "I don't remember seeing her today." Suddenly, his eyes gleamed mischievously and he bent down to Tomoka's level. "Perhaps you should ask Ochibi that question. Nya!" He winked.

Momoshiro agreed. "Hai. Hai. I think Echizen is closer to her than us." He grinned from ear to ear. Kikumaru and Momoshiro then exchanged sly looks.

"D-Demo-." Before she could say anything more, they said their good byes and both senpais left mumbling something about being "so young".

Tomoka stood there dumbfounded as the two senpais ditched her. 'I was going to say that I didn't see Ryoma-sama all day either…' She gave a sigh of fustration. 'I think I'll just visit Sakuno after school.' Then she turned and walked to her classroom, mumbling all the way.

Ryoma visited the rooftop during his lunchtime to rest. Without debating, this place had become one of his favorite places out of the whole school besides the tennis courts. The tennis court is a place where he shined and was constantly surrounded by loud cheering people.

The roof, however, was like his sanctuary and home. There was no one to disturb him and no loud people bothering him. It's just him alone. No one usually comes here as far as he remembered. Besides one specific pigtailed girl he had in mind.

Ryoma scanned his eyes around the roof to see if she was there today. But, the roof was empty and silent. 'So, she didn't come today…' he thought unconsciously. With a bit of disappointment hidden in his heart, Ryoma situated himself in his favorite spot by the door and closed his eyes hoping to get some sleep.

Suddenly, his stomach growled and his eyes snapped open. He rubbed his empty stomach and sighed. "If only she was here today…" he mumbled under his breath. 'If she was here… maybe I wouldn't be sitting here hoping for her to bring me food.' His thoughts drifted to the food she offered him yesterday and it made him hungry. Ryoma quickly dug out his grape flavored Ponta, and took a big sip hoping that it will sustain his stomach till he gets home or atleast after school.

'5…4…3…2…1…'

DING! DING! DING!

"YES!" Tomoka yelled in happiness that school was finally over. A few people gave her an annoyed look but she did not seem to notice or cared. She quickly stuffed her books and pencils into her book bag messily and ran out of the classroom. When she finally got out of the building, she took out her cell phone and dialed Sakuno's number again. Surprisingly, she got through.

"Moshi Moshi?" she said into the phone.

"Tomoka?" the other line answered. Tomoka recognized that voice!

"Ryuuzaki- Sensei?"

"Hai."

"Is Sakuno at home? She wasn't at school today."

"Sakuno stayed home today. I found her unconscious with a high fever this morning."

"EH!" she yelled into the phone. "Is she awake right now? Can I come visit?"

"She's been asleep for the whole morning. Her fever's gone down significantly. Sure, You can come over. I think she'll be awake soon."

Tomoka breathed a sigh of relief. When she heard that Sakuno was unconscious this morning, her heart skipped a beat.

"Hai Hai. I'll be heading over now. See you soon Ryuuzaki-sensei." She hung up and began walking to the direction of Sakuno's house.

Sakuno groaned and shifted her body to the side. The ice pack slipped off her forehead and laid on her pillow forgotten. Sumire Ryuuzaki frowned as she watched Sakuno twist and turn in her bed uncomfortably. She walked over and gave her granddaughter a nudge.

"Sakuno. Are you feeling better now?" she asked gently. Sakuno opened her eyes slowly and was relieved that she could see color.

"Nn." She nodded weakly. "I feel better now. Arigato Obaa-chan."

"Do you think you can sit up? Tomoka is coming over right now to see you."

"Tomo-chan?" Her expression suddenly turned sullen and sad at the mention of her best friend's name. Sakuno's grandmother saw the change of expression and gave her granddaughter an understanding pat on the shoulders.

"Daijoubu. Now will be a good time to say your good byes." She paused. "There is always a point in life where things change and you just have to accept it." She watched as her granddaughter's eyes tear up.

"D-Demo I'—" The doorbell rang and interrupted what she was about to say.

Sumire Ryuuzaki gave Sakuno a she's-here nod and helped her sit up. Then, she went downstairs to open the door for Tomoka.

Sakuno sat in her room listening to her grandmother's conversation with Tomoka. Feeling like she will never see her best friend again, a single tear slid down her warm cheeks. Sakuno quickly wiped it away when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"SAKUNO!" Tomoka's extremely loud voice rang through the house and Sakuno winced when it reached her sensitive ears.

"Tomo-chan!" she greeted her best friend with the best smile she could put on. "I'm so happy to see you. Sorry for not coming to school today."

"It can't be helped" Tomoka dismissed that topic. "Are you feeling better Sakuno? You had me worried all day!" Hearing her friend's concerned and caring words made it harder for her to begin the topic she was suppose to tell Tomoka.

"Ah. I'm feeling better now. Thank you for caring so much about me." She paused for a moment and played with her fingers.

"Tomo-chan, there's something I have to tell you."

"Eh? And what's that?"

"I'm leaving for America tomorrow evening." Suddenly time seemed to stop. Neither of them moved nor said anything. The room was in total silence. Taking advantage of her best friend's silence, she continued. "Obaa-chan told me that I will be there for atleast 2 years because she will be substituting for another coach who will be doing surgery soon. I know this is a bit sudden for you. It was for me also… I really didn't want to say good bye this way."

Sakuno could see Tomoka's eyes getting watery and she predicted that a water crisis would soon follow. Unable to suppress it anymore, Tomoka's began wailing and pounced on Sakuno. Sakuno hugged her friend tightly engraving the feelings and memories they shared together into her mind where it would stay forever.

Sakuno began crying as each small memory played in her mind like a movie. "You'll always be my best friend Tomo-chan- now and forever. Please don't forget that. I'll be sure to call you once in a while when I'm in America so don't cry." She hugged her best friend tighter until the both quieted down.

Tomoka was the first to pull away. When she did, Sakuno saw her best friend's wet stained face and wiped it off gently for her. They were both hiccupping and wiping each other's tears. They stayed that way for almost five minutes when Tomo-chan asked a question that made her heart constrict so painfully.

"Did you tell Ryoma-sama yet?"

Silence for a moment. "No… I don't know where to start... I only found out about this recently. I didn't get a chance to tell anybody yet besides you."

"I'll go and tell him for you Sakuno."

"NO!" Sakuno yelled out and immediately covered her mouth when she saw Tomoka flinch. "I mean… No. It's okay." Her voice softened. "I want to tell him myself when the time is right. So please don't tell anyone about this yet."

"But Sakuno! Tomorrow might be too late. What if you don't see him tomorrow? You will miss your chance!"

"Daijoubu Tomo-chan. There's a place I know he'll be at." Sakuno smiled softly. 'A place with just me and him.'

"Where will that be?" Tomoka asked.

Sakuno smiled secretively and put a finger to her lips. "It's a secret."

Tomoka looked at Sakuno suspiciously but said nothing.

"Don't worry about that Tomo-chan. You just have to promise me one thing."

"Hai?"

"Don't tell him." Sakuno whispered. "You know who I'm talking about...just let Obaa-chan take care of it…"

Tomoka gave Sakuno a sad and painful look. But nodded her head anyways.

"I promise."

Then, they changed topics. Both laughed and kept smiling for the other. If this friendship will soon be separated because of long distance, they might as well make the best of it now.

(A/N: Wow… I didn't intend to make it this long…. But once I started, I didn't know where to end it. I put a bit of Tomoka in this story since she was the closest to Sakuno and while Sakuno was sleeping, I figured I focus on her a bit. The next chapter will probably be back to Sakuno and Ryoma. Please review! D and let me know what you thought of this chapter . Don't forget that there are songs for request on my profiles page!)