Chapter 11: Crush on You
"Hey, Sakuno!" her cheesy and very loud friend Tomoka yelled. Sakuno's ears automatically adjusted themselves to her loudness and she smiled back.
"Hi, Tomo-chan! The dance was fun, wasn't it?"
"It was! I thought it was really sweet when Ann-chan showed up and Momo-senpai practically fainted!" The two girls laughed really loud at thatmemory (it was a memory for Tomoka, which she told Sakuno).
Flashback: (i.e. a bit about the dance between Momo and An, just for fun maybe? :D)
Tachibana Ann walked onto the dance floor with her brother, wearing the lavender spaghetti-strap dress she had bought when she had gone shopping with Sakuno. Looking around, she spotted Tomoka and ran over to her.
"Hi, Tomo-chan! How are you?"
"I'm fine. Have you seen Sakuno? Where is she?"
"I purposely told her to come late so that she could make an entrance." Ann grinned. "Takeshi filled me in on the plan they had to make that baka Echizen jealous."
"Normally I would tell you not to disrespect Ryoma-sama, but in this case I must make an exception." Tomoka said gravely. "This time, he's gone too far."
"Un." The two girls went over to the snacks table to grab something to drink. At that moment, Fuji and Momoshiro had just walked in, dragging Ryoma with them.
Seeing Momoshiro walk in, Ann blushed slightly. Tomoka noted this with a grin. "Go and say hi to him!"
"No, not yet." Ann turned away, face reddening by the second. Tomoka paid no heed to her pleas and dragged her over to where Momoshiro was standing alone (because Fuji and Ryoma had both gone somewhere else).
"Konbanwa, Momo-senpai!" Tomoka smiled at him. Momoshiro greeted her, but when he turned to Ann, his jaw dropped.
"What's wrong, Takeshi-kun?" Ann smiled innocently, successfully hiding her nervousness at seeing her crush.
"You...look..." Momo stuttered. For once, the confident and energetic second-year had absolutely nothing to say.
Tomoka grinned. "She looks stunning, doesn't she?"
"Whoa..." Momoshiro breathed, still in a trance. Ann snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Takeshi-kun...doushitano? What's wrong?"
"Do you want to dance?" he asked suddenly, snapping out of his trance and giving her a nervous smile.
Ann blushed. "Sure."
Tomoka smiled affectionately as those two began dancing, choosing instead to look around for Sakuno.
End flashback
"She's so happy with him." Sakuno smiled.
"Yeah, she's really lucky." Tomoka added. "I heard that he asked her to be his legit girlfriend! Good for her!"
"Really? That's awesome! I have to ask her about that!" Sakuno exclaimed. She was obviously ecstatic for her friend.
"Let's ask her right now! Do you have your phone on you?"
"Yeah, I do." Sakuno pulled out her phone to text Ann and check to see if the rumors were true, while Tomoka looked over her shoulder eagerly.
Sakuno: Ann-chan!
Ann: Hey Sakuno! What's up?
Sakuno: Is it true?
Ann: Is what true?
Sakuno: Did Momo-senpai ask you out?
Ann: …
Sakuno: Well?
Ann:...yes.
Sakuno: OMG! Waaa...lucky you! Did he kiss you?
Ann: What? Why are you asking me that?
Sakuno: Why aren't you answering?
Ann:...maybe...
Sakuno: OH MY GOD YOU'RE SO LUCKY WAAHHHH!
Ann: You OK? You don't sound like yourself...
Sakuno: Oh, whoops...sorry this is Tomoka. I stole the phone from Sakuno.
Ann: Haha! I should have known...
"Sakuno-chan?" Sakuno turned to see Momoshiro, Kikumaru, and Fuji standing in front of her and giving her smiles. She turned back to her phone and typed in, "Gotta go...senpai-tachi calling..." before turning to them. "Senpai-tachi? Can I help you?"
"Well..." Momo looked a little embarrassed. "We were just wondering if...we could ask you something..."
"Sure, what do you need?" Sakuno gave them a smile.
"Do you...do you still...do you still like Echizen?" Momoshiro finally asked.
Sakuno's smile immediately disappeared and she averted her eyes. "Did hesend you here?" she asked more harshly than she meant to.
Before Momo could answer, Fuji cut in. "Never mind that, Sakuno-chan. Do you still like him or not?"
Sakuno had no idea what to say. "I...uh..." Part of her wanted to immediately answer in the affirmative, but her rational mind once again intervened. Sakuno...get a grip and say no!
"N-no...I don't."
Kikumaru and Momoshiro looked taken aback, and Fuji suddenly stopped smiling. "Ryuzaki-chan..." Kikumaru started. "Are you sure..."
"H-hai." She turned and looked at Tomoka, who was giving her a Don't look at me! I don't know what you should say either! look. "Why?"
"Echizen really cares about you, Sakuno-chan. You should have seen him at the dance yesterday...he got really jealous of pretty much every guy that you spared the slightest glance. Not to mention, he didn't even try to deny it when we accused him of liking you."
She said nothing. "Do you think...you could give him another chance?" Kikumaru asked gently.
Sakuno stopped. At this point, she started to get indignant and a little angry even though her heartbeat quickened at the thought of Ryoma reciprocating her feelings.
He hadn't even apologized and all of a sudden he sent his senpai-tachi over to see if she would relent and get over her grudge, just because he was too proud to apologize? No way.
She turned away from Fuji's penetrating gaze and her eyes searched around for something else to stare at to avoid her senpai's powerful blue eyes. Suddenly, through her peripheral vision, she noticed a golden-eyed freshman who was eavesdropping on their conversation. Her eyes narrowed and she barely suppressed a glare, opting to turn her head away instead. Oh, so you did send them here, did you? Too proud to come and apologize for yourself, are you? Would it kill you to just admit you're wrong for once? Now take this!
"Sorry, senpai-tachi. I can't forgive Echizen-san. He's gone way too far this time. And don't try to tell me that he cares for me...I'm no longer stupid enough to be blind to the fact that all he cares about is tennis. And you can tell him that not only do I not believe that he supposedly likes me, but he can marry that stupid tennis racket of his for all I care!" With this last sentence, she grabbed Tomoka's hand. "Let's go, Tomo-chan. Jaa ne, senpai-tachi." She bowed and off the two girls went.
It would be the understatement of the century to say that Fuji, Momoshiro, and Kikumaru were shocked out of their lives. Even Fuji's normally smiling face had an expression of utter astonishment on it. They walked over to Ryoma.
"Well...that didn't work..." Momo chuckled uneasily.
You think? Ryoma suddenly felt as if he wanted to punch something, having no idea why he was so angry all of a sudden. "I...I thought she..."
"Echizen, I think that if you want to gain her forgiveness at all, you're going to have to apologize to her yourself." Fuji told him.
"Why should I apologize? I didn't do anything wrong!"
Something inside Momoshiro snapped. "Echizen, just shut up and listen to us for once!" he yelled. "Just get over it and accept the fact that it isyour fault she's mad at you! Why is that so hard for you?"
"He can't swallow his pride." Fuji answered Momoshiro's question for him. Ryoma fumed silently and said nothing. Of course, being the cocky idiot that he was, he couldn't handle criticism to save his life.
"Ochibi, would you just go apologize to her?" Kikumaru asked.
"I'm leaving. Ja." Ryoma turned and made a bolt for the tennis courts, intent on escaping both his senpai-tachi's criticism and his own conflicted feelings.
Meanwhile, in the deserted cafeteria, Tomoka was gaping at Sakuno. "I cannot believe you just said that to the senpai-tachi."
"Oh no...I hope they're not mad at me..."
"I'm sure they aren't, but Sakuno...are you really over Ryoma-sama?"
"..."
"Come on, I'm your best friend! I won't tell anyone, I swear!"
"OK, fine. Truth be told, Tomo-chan, I'm not. I really want to be, but...it hurts so much and it's so hard! Baka! Why'd he ever come here? Why'd I ever meet him on that train? Why'd I ever fall in love with him?" Sakuno looked on the verge of a tearful rant when Tomoka pulled her into a hug.
"Do you love him then?"
"I have no idea. God, I hope not..."
Tomoka secretly believed the affirmative, but she did not voice her opinion for the sake of her friend's mental health. "Don't worry, Sakuno! I'm sure it's meant to be! It was fate! If Ryoma-sama ever falls for anyone it'll definitely be you. You're the only girl he's ever cared about."
"Thanks, Tomo-chan, but he probably won't ever fall in love with anyone. He doesn't have it in him. You need a heart to fall in love, remember?" Sakuno said bitterly and wiped away her tears. "Oh dear. Why are we even talking about him? He's definitely not thinking about either of us right now. Let's go!" The two friends both packed up and got ready to leave, resuming their previously interrupted conversation about Ann and Momoshiro.
Little did they know, however, that Sakuno had never been more wrong in her life, because she was the only thing on Ryoma's mind that entire evening. And for some reason, Sakuno could not stop sneezing all night.
