Disclaimer: I do not own PoT.
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Chapter 7
"A Boy's Spell"
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"Yo."
A pair of cat-like dark blue eyes surprised Sakuno as she was watching the boy's tennis club practicing.
"Ta-Tatsue-chan?!" she exclaimed as the girl walked up to her. Tatsue raised a brow.
"What's with that look? I came here just to see you and you give me that look? I'm hurt." She said jokingly, tears coming from the corners of her eyes.
SWEATDROP
"It's not that… I was just surprised that you're here. Haven't you got any practice today?" asked Sakuno, tilting her head a bit.
Tatsue shook her head, "No. We're not having any today, my senpai-tachi are all busy with the upcoming festival, so we freshmen, just had to clean the area to be used for tomorrow's practice."
"I see… but," Sakuno asked again, "why don't you practice on your own?"
Tatsue had put her hands on her hips, "Kya, it's too tiring. Besides, the atmosphere here is a lot enticing for a young girl like me."
Sakuno smiled, there were times that Tatsue had acted so much unlike herself.
All of a sudden, the tennis court screen rammed wildly, taking the two chatting girls by surprise. Kaidoh Kaoru, also called Mamushi (though he doesn't want to be called as such), had just made a tennis ball crush onto the side of the court. Sakuno bowed her head, scared, as Kaidoh glared furiously at the two them; Tatsue however, stared indifferently at him. Her eyes looked more narrowed than usual.
"Oi, Mamushi! Your opponent is me!" Momoshiro shouted as he shot a bullet serve to the distracted rival, who dived to catch the ball, but failing miserably so. Momoshiro gave thumbs up to the two girls.
Tatsue smiled sheepishly at the older boy. Sakuno then noticed a cap-wearing freshman and frown dawned on her face. She still hadn't forgotten what had happened last Sunday.
Tatsue looked at her friend from the corner of her sharp eyes, she knew Sakuno was shy, timid and sometimes clumsy, but she really was kind and caring. That was why Tatsue liked Sakuno so much. That's why she wanted to be Sakuno's friend.
Sakuno reminded Tatsue of her younger sister so much that it hurt a lot to see Sakuno sad, knowing that whatever she say, the pain won't just go away.
Tatsue balled her fists, and then relaxed. She turned brightly at the quiet girl.
"Let's go get ice cream."
"Eh?" Sakuno looked with surprise at her friend, "But I can't go outside yet!"
"It's okay! We're just going out for ice cream!" insisted Tatsue, grabbing Sakuno by the hand, leading her away from the tennis court.
Sakuno's braids bounced softly, letting herself get dragged away from the court. With one last look, she murmured in the air, wishing Ryoma could hear it, "Goodbye, Ryoma-kun…"
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"Hey, did I just see that girl, Kitami-chan, again today?" Kikumaru pointed at the two girls, who were leaving the tennis court.
"Yeah." Oishi answered, "Seems like she's visiting a lot."
Ryoma tipped his cap down, "Che. Annoying."
"Annoying? I don't think so." Said Momoshiro, "She's a sarcastic and funny girl," he then remembered her casual sarcasm that really should be lessened a lot, "Then again… yeah, she can be really annoying."
Kaidoh let out an annoyed hiss, and said, "She is annoying."
"Oh, you spoke, Mamushi?" exclaimed Momoshiro, "I thought you could only hiss!"
Kaidoh threw sharp looks at his opponent, but then just brushed past the teasing teammate.
"Hey, is Kaidoh alright?" asked Kawamura, "I can't believe it, he just passed by Momo."
"Maybe he's sick."
Inui fixed his glasses, "No. But he seems to be distracted today. That's something worth noting."
Fuji's face lit up a devious smile, "By a girl, perhaps?"
"Nya? No way!" Kikumaru protested, almost teasingly, "There's no way that Kaidoh would be like that, much more because of a girl!"
Oishi scolded Kikumaru from behind, "Eiji!"
"Nya!" Kikumaru waved his hand at his friend, "I was just joking!"
Tezuka remained silent, though in his mind. It wouldn't be a surprise if Kaidoh was distracted; it was surprising enough that two totally different schools, with different interests, had suddenly made a connection, and supposed to work together without prior warning whatsoever. Not to mention that none of the activities would be beneficial for the team, he wondered what Ryuzaki-sensei was thinking when she agreed.
Fuji gave a sigh and thought out loud, loud enough to be heard by Seigaku regulars, "This will be a very interesting month."
His sharp blue eyes had revealed themselves as he opened his usual closed lids.
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It was late afternoon, and fortunately, Sakuno and Tatsue didn't have to leave the school premises; an ice cream retail truck had just stopped before Seishun, thus the guard had let Sakuno and Tatsue buy ice cream, and didn't have to sneak out. They went to the rooftop of the school to avoid the crowd, and for Tatsue to talk to Sakuno without anyone bothering them.
Sakuno licked her strawberry ice cream, looking serene, in deep thought. Her thoughts drifted from what had happened last Sunday, she had performed shamefully during her set with Ryoma. And then, she blushed a bit when she remembered the boy who lent her his handkerchief.
"Oi, Saku-chan, your ice cream." Tatsue pointed at the dripping treat.
"Kya! No!" Sakuno exclaimed and licked the dripping melted sweet, "Oh… no, my ice cream."
Tatsue chided at Sakuno, "Yare, yare, Saku-chan. You should finish that soon or you'll get all sticky!"
"Ehehehe… sorry." Sakuno gave a weak smile.
It wouldn't take a genius to know that Sakuno wasn't feeling alright.
"Saku-chan, is there something you would like to tell me?" Said Tatsue, finishing her treat. The cool autumn breeze made her short pigtailed hair sway a bit, and then licked her finger, Sakuno's hair was disheveled a bit, eyes never leaving her friend's face.
Sakuno averted her gaze from Tatsue's face and looked up at the almost orange sky.
"I… " Sakuno whispered, "I wanted to become like Ryoma-kun who is so great in tennis."
Tatsue remained silent, listening only to her cheerless friend.
"He was my inspiration, the source of my strength in tennis; I really look up to Ryoma-kun. I wanted to be like him. But…" Sakuno lowered the ice cream cone, "Now… I… I just want to be myself."
"Kya?" Tatsue had a look of utter confusion on her face. What the heck is she saying?!
Sakuno finished her ice cream.
"These past months," Sakuno continued talking, and huddled on the floor, "All I did was talk about Ryoma-kun, his greatness in tennis, and how I would like to be like him… but then, after playing against him, I realized…" a single tear had threatened to fall from her eyes, but was quickly wiped off by Sakuno herself, "How different we are from each other."
Tatsue continued to listen to her friend's voice.
"Tatsue-chan?" Sakuno fiddled with her fingers.
"What is it, Saku-chan?"
"I'm giving up on Ryoma-kun."
Tatsue was fazed with Sakuno's resolve, "W-What?!"
Sakuno stood up, "Yes, Tatsue-chan. I… I'm giving up on Ryoma-kun."
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"Ja ne, Tomo-chan!" Sakuno waved at her friend.
Tatsue lifted her right hand, "Ja, Osakada-chan!"
Tomoka waved back at the two, though still surprised of Tatsue's rather friendly attitude that day, "Ja ne, Sakuno-chan! Kitami-chan!"
"Oi!" a certain prickly haired regular waved at the two freshmen, "Sakuno-chan! Kitami-chan!"
"Momo-chan-senpai." Sakuno bowed, while Tatsue just planted her hands into the pockets of her jacket and responded with a "Yo."
"Do you have any plans tonight?" he asked.
"Not exactly." Answered Sakuno, "How about you, Tatsue-chan?"
Tatsue shrugged, "Me? Not really, but I have to go home early or I'm not going to finish all my notes. Well then," she took out her right hand from her pocket and waved a little, "Ja ne, Saku-chan, Momo-chan."
She was about to pass by Kaidoh, and waved at him. Kaidoh pretended he didn't see her and continued on walking past her, Tatsue shrugged and continued walking.
"She's really not scared with Kaidoh, isn't she?" commented Fuji, who just spoke without any precautions, causing both Momoshiro and Sakuno to jump.
Sakuno smiled softly, "Yes."
"That's a first for the girls, then." Inui fixed his glasses.
Ryoma appeared, "Che. She's still annoying."
"Oi, O-chibi, don't say that, Kitami-chan is Sakuno-chan's friend!" Kikumaru exclaimed, pointing at the twin braided girl.
"Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno whirled around to face Ryoma, her expression was a first, "Please don't say things like that about Tatsue-chan!"
Then she ran away.
"Echizen, you definitely screwed this up." Momoshiro shook his head.
"Che." He said, throwing his bag to his shoulder, then began to walk towards his house's direction.
"Oi, you're not going to come and play with me?" Momoshiro called out to the prince.
Ryoma waved his hand, signifying that he'll be going alone.
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Sakuno walked aimlessly once more. It was too early for her to go home, but it was too late to go back to Seishun Gakuen. She wandered around, thinking of what she had proclaimed to her friend earlier.
Sakuno stood up, "Yes, Tatsue-chan. I… I'm giving up on Ryoma-kun."
Sakuno sighed in defeat, wondering whether she had made the right decision or not. Giving up would be one thing, it was good that she didn't say that she will be over Ryoma. She walked to the park once more, wondering if she'd be able to return the handkerchief that the mystery boy had let her borrow.
Her feet seemed to know where she wanted to go, and for less than five minutes, she found herself in the empty playground where she saw the mysterious boy.
Sakuno walked up to the empty swing and sat. Smiling to herself, she took out the white handkerchief, which she washed, and pressed.
"Oi!" Sakuno looked up to see the source of the unfamiliar voice.
It was the mystery boy from before!
Sakuno could see him clearly now, since the last time she stared at him, her vision was rather blurry. He started to approach Sakuno.
He wore an unbuttoned blue coat, with a white undershirt and black necktie, and a pair of black school pants. He sported a messy mop of black hair, which had streaks of color brown.
"Ano…" Sakuno stood up.
The boy smiled as he walked nearer, "Are you feeling much better now?"
"Y-yes." Stuttered Sakuno.
It was odd, because, she suddenly felt that her cheeks were burning, making her face look a little bit redder than usual. Before she had her match with Ryoma, Ryoma was the only person she had felt something like what she was feeling at that particular moment.
The boy smiled naively, "Well, that's good. I have no reason to stay here then."
"W-what?!" her voice seemed to protest against the boy's statement, "I mean… your handkerchief…"
"Eh?" The boy looked at her, questioningly, "Oh, yeah, I remember that."
"H-here!" she held the neatly folded hankie to the boy, who smiled unbelievingly.
Sakuno blush was even more evident when the boy's face leaned towards hers. She had never been this close to any boy. Not even Echizen Ryoma.
"Didn't I tell you?" he brushed past her face, and whispered into her ears, "You can keep it?"
"I can't bear seeing cute girls like you cry," Sakuno blushed a bit, he then waved his hand (as if saying, "I don't mind"), "You can keep that!"
The mysterious boy held her hand and closed it for her, the white handkerchief still inside it. Sakuno blushed a deeper shade of red when the boy stepped back a single pace, making her see him directly, face to face. He held out his hand on an eyelevel.
Sakuno squinted her eyes shut.
The expression on Sakuno's face was a dead giveaway, so the boy, who had planned to caress her cheek, only ruffled her brown hair.
"Eh?" Sakuno opened her eyes, and found the boy's face just centimeters away from her face.
"You look cute when you blush. But I would prefer it if you'd smile." The blush that almost left her had once again showed up.
The boy leaned back, smiling at the blushing girl.
"Minami Kenichi." He held out a hand, as if asking to have a handshake.
Sakuno held her hand against her bosom, and even though she was hesitating a bit because of the awkwardness of the situation, she held out her hand too.
"Ryuzaki… Ryuzaki Sakuno."
In almost an instant that he held her hand, she felt like she was pushed by some kind of unseen person (though it might just be because of her usual clumsiness), stumbled and fell into his arms. His emerald eyes had captured her chocolate ones.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Sakuno blushed ever so brightly, "Ano… y-yes. It's… it's nice to m-meet you Minami-kun."
"Eh? Minami-kun?" the boy comically stared at her.
"Huh?" she looked at him innocently.
The boy leaned closer to her, "Would it be too much if you call me Kenichi-kun… Sakuno-chan?"
In that moment, as she was captivated by his eyes, she muttered a small "no", gaining another smile from the boy. She suddenly realized what she had said and tried to tell him that her answer was just an accident.
"Sakuno-chan." The way he said her name made Sakuno stop, "What school do you attend, anyway?"
"Se-Seishun Gakuen."
He quirked up his brow, "Seigaku?"
Sakuno nodded, and then asked, "Why?"
"I'll be visiting you sometime, so watch out for me, okay?"
The world seemed to stop as the boy's lips brushed on her flaming cheeks. Leaning back, he smiled at her.
"Smile, Sakuno-chan." He waved at her as he left the blushing girl.
Sakuno held the handkerchief on one hand, and touched her burning cheeks by the other.
It seemed like… she had fallen into Kenichi's spell!
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From behind a tree near the playground, a hidden (and frowning, though this he doesn't notice, being the Prince of Denseness that he is) prince preferred to stay out of sight that time.
He had seen everything.
"Che." Ryoma scowled, unknowingly glaring at the leaving boy, "What do I care?"
Well, apparently he does. (Or he wouldn't have followed her all the way to the park!)
He's just too immersed in tennis, too young, and too dense to notice.
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A/N: Whoa, whoa, whoa! I can't believe I'm really pushing my luck in PoT! Ack, I know a lot of people will hate this chapter! ACK! I must hide from the mob! WAAAHHHH!!!
I am actually rethinking this chapter. I DO NOT WANT TO PULL OFF AN HBP!H/G IN MY VERY FIRST PoT FANFICTION!!! NOOOO!! (but apparently, that would be the only option I have right now… I wonder whether this crisis was what JKR had in her mind… waaahhh…)