Eiji heard a faint sound that kept getting fainter. He looked over, and saw something on the ground. It was a racket. Ryoma's racket. "Oh no, Ochibi..." "What's wrong Kikumaru?" Sakuno asked as she looked into his deep blue eyes. "O...Ochibi." he said quietly, still looking at the racket. He suddenly felt a pang of guilt. All this time he had been trying to fix Sakuno up with Ryoma, but he ended up making Ryoma jealous. At first he thought that was okay because it got some emotion on Ryoma's head for Sakuno, but before...before was different. Sure, Sakuno and Eiji were only friends, but Ryoma didn't know that, he didn't realize that. That was the problem. 'Now Ryoma thinks that I was trying to take Sakuno from him. Sakuno is nice, but much to young. Too young for me, but perfect for Ryoma, plus she's not my type. Not at all. I think of her as a friend. Not even like a sister. Just a friend.' "Uh...Sakuno-chan, I have to go." Eiji said as he started to walk away. "Hai, I see...Kikumaru, do you think that Ryoma-kun hates me now?" Sakuno asked before he left. "No, of course not. He could never hate you." he responded. And it was true.
----------------
2 hours later
Ring...Ring...- "Hey this is
Eiji, what's up?" "Kikumaru-senpai, we need to talk." Ryoma
said on the other end. "Ah, Ochibi! What's with your tone? You
seem tense. Is this about Sa-" "Just meet me at the Seigaku
tennis courts in 20minutes. I want a match." Ryoma's voice was
cold and harsh, but Eiji continued to sound calm. "Look, Ochibi.
You don't want to do this. Let me explain." Eiji spoke gently.
"Explain what? You don't want to have a simple match, senpai.
Afraid you'll lose?" he taunted. "Ochibi!" Eiji protested.
"20minutes" was all Ryoma had to say. He hung up. "Oh, Ochibi,
I'm sorry..."
-----------------
"Are you sure he asked you to come here?" Momoshiro asked as Eiji and him had been wandering for 5minutes. "We're already 3minutes late. Let's just give up." "No, you should've heard him on the phone, he was so direct and upset. I need to make this right." Eiji assured him. Just then, a tennis ball flung straight between Eiji and Momoshiro's faces. "Ah, you're here." Ryoma said. Eiji looked into to his cold eyes. "O...chibi..." he whispered under his breath. "Let's do this." "Listen to me! Sakuno-chan means nothing to me. She's just a friend, if that." "You say she means nothing to you, yet you call her a friend? Don't your friends mean something to you? Of course from the way you're behaving, I guess it's not hard to believe. Wish I would've known that before you stabbed me in the back." Ryoma's voice was even colder then it was on the phone "Let's play." "You're very stubborn, Ochibi." Eiji smiled innocently. "Bring it on." Ryoma said, returning his smile with a small grin. Momoshiro blinked. "What just happened?" but no one answered. They walked toward the courts, and started to play, Eiji's serve. "This one's for you, Ochibi." He said as his eyes flickered and his smile got bigger. Ryoma returned it, and then Eiji did as well, but Ryoma missed. "15-0, Kikumaru." Momoshiro announced proudly. His eyes seemed to almost shimmer at the sound of his own voice. Kikumaru made another serve, Ryoma hit it back, but it hit outside the court. "Out! 30-0, Kikumaru." Ryoma sighed. He wasn't going to mess around. He didn't understand why but for some reason he wanted to get even. With Eiji. With Sakuno. And mostly, with himself. "There are those who boast only so they don't have to fear falling down, but if you keep putting yourself up so high, I guarantee, you will fall." He said. Eiji's eyes looked back at him with utter disbelief. 'Our little Ochibi is growing up.' Eiji started to serve, and just as he hit it he heard a voice. "Kikumaru, Ryoma-kun? Momoshiro-senpai?" Ryoma knew he shouldn't, but he turned to look at who it was, even though he knew who it was. 'Ryuzaki...' The ball hit the ground next to him, but Momoshiro and Eiji were also too busy looking at the girl. She blushed lightly at the attention. "Ano, may I ask...why are you all here?" "That is none of your business, now why are you here?" Ryoma responded, but he felt bad for his coldness. "I...I was getting something for my grandma...and th...then I heard something by the..c...courts so I came by." She stuttered. "ACHOO!" a girl behind Sakuno sneezed. '(Ryoma):Hey that's Ryuzaki's friend...of course, she could never get the courage to come here alone at night.' "Bless you." Momoshiro chimed in. "Ah, its Tomoka-chan. I take it you'll be coming to school again now?" Eiji asked. "H..HaiiiiCHO!..." Tomoka replied. "Or...maybe not...anyway, why were you guys playing tennis at this time, and more importantly...who was winning?"
"Well, why we're playing...you'd have to ask Ochibi that, but the winner...Ah, that'd be me...Momo-chan! The score is 40-0! Don't announce the score if you can't do your job." Eiji pouted. "WELL EXCUSE ME! I WAS TRYING TO BE POLITE! IT'S NOT LIKE YOU WEREN'T CHATTING AWAY!" Momoshiro defended. "R..R...Ryo...Ryom..." Sakuno started. "What do you want, Ryuzaki?" Ryoma asked. "Wh...wh..why were you playing so late?" she tried to say calmly, but her voice kept shaking. "Didn't I just get done telling you that It's none of your business?" "Ha...Hai. Excuse me for being rude. I didn-" "You're excused." Ryoma frowned. 'I really am a jerk...' Eiji and Momoshiro couldn't take their eyes off of him. If Sakuno and Tomoka weren't there, they would have punched him really hard, right then and there, without the slightest hesitation. Sakuno looked at the ground. She didn't know what to do. She had a few options:
1) cry
2) yell at Ryoma for being such a
jerk
3) run away
Somehow, those didn't work for her. So she chose number 4. "Well it was nice seeing all of you. I have all the stuff I need, and we better get back. Bye." And she walked away briskly, dragging Tomoka along. 'Usually Tomoka is the one dragging me...but she didn't just get her heart ripped out by the biggest tennis-obsessed jerk there is on the planet. Stupid Sakuno. He's just a guy. He's just a guy. He's just a guy. Not even that much. He's just some person. That's all.' But no matter how many times she tried repeating that, she would never believe it, and deep inside, she knew that as well.
They walked home talking only a little bit, mostly because Tomoka was loosing her voice, and Sakuno was too upset to say much. "S..Saaaa...Saa...-COUGH-...Saaakuunoe..you need toooo tell –COUGH- Ryo...oma...howww you fuh...feel." "Tomo-chan...don't speak. You're loosing your voice and it's pointless. Ryoma-kun doesn't like me. In fact he probably hates me. At least let me forget about this while I still have my dignity." Sakuno begged. "You're dignity? You're dignity? SAK
-COUGH- UNO! DIGNITY IS NOTHING COMPARED TO LOVE!" Sakuno sighed. Her friend would never understand.
------------------------------
"50-40, Echizen." Momoshiro announced once again. Ever since Ryoma saw Sakuno, he had been trying now, and Eiji didn't want to make him mad, so he tried, just not as much. It was Ryoma's serve. He hit it hard but suttle, and Eiji hit back, only to find that Ryoma hit it back harder. They kept hitting back and forth wondering when this would ever end when suddenly Ryoma looked at the clock above Eiji. '7:43? Uh-oh. I better go. I have a lot of homework I couldn't do it before because I was too busy thinking about that stupid girl. She always gets me into problems like this. She is so troublesome.' He hit his head, then hit the ball back 'No it's my fault. I had to like her out of all of them. Her. Dang it. This would've been so much easier if I would've just picked a different girl. Why can't people pick who they like? It's a little unfair. Very unfair. That's it. I quit. I quit playing games. I quit denying it. I quit treating her that way. I quit being a jerk to her just so she doesn't know my feelings. I quit. I quit.' "I quit." Ryoma declared. "Huh?" Eiji stared at him, obviously very confused. 'He had been so determined before, and now, this?' "I, qu-it." Ryoma repeated. "You win. I have to go. Goodbye." He walked off the court. "Oh, and one last thing, Kikumaru-senpai," he shook his head back and fourth, then turned around with his back facing his two confused teammates. "Mada mada dane." "Echizen quit. Kikumaru wins by default." Momoshiro announced for the last time. He was still quite shocked. With that, Ryoma left. He went home, ate a little bit, did his homework, and lay down, thinking about nothing to do with Eiji, Momoshiro, Tomoka, or Sakuno. Nothing.
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(Comments):
I hope you like.
Reviews are appreciated since this is my first story. I hope you
enjoy. I do appreciate criticism, and yes I know this story isn't
perfect, but I hope you enjoy.
Anyway, here are the words and
translations for all the Japanese I have and/or will use in this
story:
-Mada mada dane: you still have a long way to go (Ryoma's favorite phrase...hopefully if you watch the anime, you probably already know that)
-Hai: yes
-Daijobu: are you okay?
-Ja ne: see you later
-Senpais: seniors
-Ano: excuse me
Also I am sorry for any tense errors. It's probably a bit confusing to read, because it's talking about it in past tense...sort of, but the people are thinking while it's happening, so they're thinking in present. Sorry about all that. Also sorry for any errors in grammar. Please, if you notice any extreme errors, or several repeating ones, message me about this. It's better to be edited by others than just yourself. I did use spell-check, but sometimes, they think that the words are different words, like racket and racquet. Anyway, thank you for reading.