One Day Later
"OK, everyone, practice is over. Get ready to train hard tomorrow as well. Yu dan sezu ikou." As tennis practice ended, all the regulars sprinted over to their bags to get out whatever drink they preferred, be it water or Ponta or Inui Juice (you can guess who those people were…)
Ryoma, however, was not among the group that made a bolt for their favorite drinks. Instead, he grabbed his bag and walked out of the court.
"Hey, Echizen! Where are you headed?"
"Nowhere." Ryoma yelled without looking back and left.
Of course, Momoshiro and Kikumaru didn't leave it at that! They followed him secretly and saw him walking over to Sakuno, who was waiting for him with a smile. After exchanging greetings, the two began walking out. This time, however, Ryoma slowed down for Sakuno, so she didn't have to catch up to him.
"Oh, that's why," Momoshiro laughed. "So young, so young…"
"Awww, our Ochibi's all grown up!" Kikumaru faked tearing while Momoshiro laughed some more.
"Don't laugh too hard, Momo," Fuji suddenly appeared behind them with a smile. "Don't think I didn't find out your little secret at the dance."
"Fuji-senpai!" Momoshiro yelled and reddened.
Meanwhile, Ryoma and Sakuno walked in comfortable silence, neither caring to talk. Sakuno could not stop smiling, and Ryoma smiled when he saw how happy she was.
They finally reached her place. "Thanks for walking me home, Ryoma." Sakuno smiled.
"Betsuni." He tugged his cap down to hide his blush.
"Well, I guess I'll see you at school on Monday then." She waved and was about to go inside when Ryoma suddenly grabbed her wrist. "Hai?"
"Hey, are you doing anything tomorrow?" He had no idea what made him ask her that. Oh well, too late to take it back.
"N-no? Why?"
"Do you want to go somewhere?"
Sakuno reddened almost immediately and could find no words to say at first. Oh, how she wished she could be like Ann and just say, "It's a date! Just tell me when and where!"
"S-sure. What time and where?"
"Hmmm…meet me at the station at eleven. Don't eat lunch." Ryoma smirked and let go of her wrist.
"OK then, see you then, Ryoma!" Sakuno waved and blindly ran into her house and upstairs into her room. She opened the curtains of her bay window and looked down towards the front of her house to watch Ryoma walking away.
Boy, was she shocked to see Ryoma still standing there, and worse, looking up in her direction! He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her, before giving her a wave through the window and walking off.
Sakuno reddened before closing the curtains and leaning against the window frame, heart beating wildly and eyes wide as saucers. "Ryoma…" HE JUST ASKED ME OUT! THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!
However, by the next day at 10:15, Sakuno was frantic with worry. "What do I wear?" She thought of calling Tomoka, but decided against it once she realized what Tomoka would make her wear. Reddening at the thought of wearing clothes that showed more than a little skin, she thought about calling Ann, but decided against that too, because Ann was famous for being a not-very-early riser.
"Uggh!" She mussed up her hair and looked through her wardrobe. "I'll just pull out something that everyone would approve of." She pulled out a pair of dark denim flare jeans that Tomoka had picked out for her, a dark purple shirt that Ann had chosen, and a pair of purple converse. Thankfully, the jeans had come with a matching short jacket, so she wouldn't be cold or self-conscious either.
Looking at the clock, she found that it was 10:30. "Mou, I'm going to be late!" Pulling on the clothes she had picked out, she hastily ran a comb through her hair. "No time to put it up, I'll just leave it down."
Grabbing her purse, she yelled a quick, "Obaa-chan, see you later!" and ran out of the house and down to the station. In fact, she was so focused on getting to her destination that she didn't even get lost. "Mou, I'm late…"
(A couple hours earlier)
"Hey, Echizen! Wanna play a match?" Momoshiro asked his favorite kouhai, giving him a grin.
"Sure."
They played for about an hour, using all their signature moves. Ryoma looked at his watch every few minutes, not wanting to be late for his date and making Sakuno think that he had stood her up, again.
"Why are you looking at your watch so often?" Momoshiro asked.
"I have to leave in five minutes." Ryoma replied, smashing the ball.
"Why? You never leave in the middle of a match!"
"I have a date."
Momoshiro froze, Ryoma's ball hitting him in the face. He rubbed the affected spot and stared at his kouhai. "Sorry, what? Did you just say you have a date?"
"Mada mada da ne, Momo-senpai." Ryoma smirked in reply.
Rather than the teasing and the "YATTA NA ECHIZEN!" that Ryoma had expected from Momoshiro, he found that the latter looked rather nervous. "Doushita no?"
"Echizen, where are you taking her?"
Ryoma was slightly taken aback by this question. Why does he care? It then dawned upon him. Oh, he and the rest of the regulars are probably going to stalk us. Better give him a different place. "Oh, to Kawamura-senpai's sushi shop." He was a natural liar, so Momoshiro bought it.
"Oh, good to know. Have fun, Echizen!" Momoshiro replied, plastering a very fake smile onto his face.
"Umm…OK? Jaa ne, Momo-senpai." Ryoma waved and left after packing up. What's up with him?
As soon as Ryoma was out of earshot, Momoshiro heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh, phew. We're definitely not going to go there then."
"Kami-sama, please don't make her think I stood her up again…" Ryoma panicked as he sprinted towards the train station after getting ready. When he finally got there, she was nowhere to be seen. Wait, so is she not here yet or did she leave?
He checked the time. "No, I'm not late…where is she?"
"Ryoma!" He turned to find Sakuno running towards him, panting as she slowed to a stop. As she caught her breath and stood up, a gust of wind blew her let-loose hair out of her face.
Whoa…he stared. Sakuno's appearance definitely did not disappoint. Her haircut made her look prettier than ever, and her clothes definitely contributed as well.
"Gomennasai, Ryoma-kun. Did you wait long?"
"Nah, not really. And what did I tell you about the honorific?" He smirked.
"Right…so where do you want to go? Shall we head for Kawamura-senpai's sushi shop?"
"Nope, the senpai-tachi are going to be there. That's where I told Momo-senpai we were going, so let's go somewhere else to avoid them. There's this new food court next to the amusement park, want to go there?"
"Sure, sounds good!" Sakuno smiled, making Ryoma once again notice how beautiful she could look when she tried. He tugged his cap down.
"Cool, let's go."
As they began walking silently, Sakuno frantically searched for a topic of interest. Tennis is the only thing that gets him interested, might as well…
"Ryoma, when's your next game?"
"Next week. We're playing the Monkey King." He rolled his eyes.
She giggled. "Oh, so Hyotei? You think you'll win?"
"Of course I'll win."
She giggled a little. Ryoma will never change. Before she could say something else, however, Ryoma spoke, remembering the advice Nanako had given him for his date about asking about her and not just blabbering on and on about himself.
"How's your tennis coming along?"
She paused. "Fairly well, I guess."
He smirked. "I told you cutting your hair would be the smartest thing you ever did."
"Ryoma! My hair's got nothing to do with it!"
"Mada mada da ne, Sakuno."
"Mou, when are you going to stop making fun of my hair?"
"When pigs fly and buchou laughs at something."
"Tezuka-buchou never laughs!"
"My point exactly."
"Mou, Ryoma…" Sakuno laughed. Suddenly, she felt very comfortable talking to him and didn't stutter even once. Kudos to me!
Ryoma tugged his cap down to hide his grin. He was actually having a good time. "Come on, we're here. You haven't eaten, right?"
"You told me not to."
"Hn." They walked inside.
"Wow, this place is beautiful…" Sakuno looked around and took in the pleasant, rather professional ambiance. Ryoma had called it a food court, but it looked more like a legit restaurant. Not fancy and formal, but definitely not cheap. Each table had a lantern at the top, and the glasses, cloth napkins, and silverware were all elegantly arranged. Sakuno smiled that Ryoma had chosen to take her to such a place. So he can be sweet…
Sakuno followed Ryoma over to a booth in the corner, and they sat down. "Ryoma, why'd you pick this place? It looks pretty…expensive…" Sakuno asked hesitantly.
"I owe you for that other time." was his curt reply. Sakuno understood in a flash that he wanted to make up for missing their tennis practice.
"Mou, I already forgave you for that…"
"Che, whatever." Meaning, of course, "It's useless to argue with me, so give up already."
A waiter came by and handed them each a menu before Sakuno could reply.
"Wow, there are so many options here…" While she was reading her menu, Sakuno absentmindedly picked up one of the plastic chopsticks near her napkin and twirled it around her fingers, trying to choose from the many different entrees that came from around the world.
Ryoma had already decided what he wanted, and was waiting for his girlfriend to pick.
He noticed her twirling her chopstick and stared. Now how do you do that? Picking up one of his own, he tried to twirl it around his own fingers but failed miserably. Trying again, he dropped it on his knife, causing a slight "Ting!" sound, but thankfully Sakuno didn't notice.
Trying yet again, he promptly succeeded in flicking his chopstick over to the next empty table, hitting the glass on it and knocking it over, causing the glass to hit against the silverware and creating a reverberating sound that seemed to echo throughout the entire restaurant (because it was that quiet).
Sakuno looked up in surprise, and when she saw Ryoma's red face, the fallen glass, and the chopstick next to it, she gave him a questioning look. "What happened?"
"Betsuni." Ryoma leaned over and grabbed his chopstick from the other table. "How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"The thing with your chopstick."
"Oh, this?" Sakuno lifted up her chopstick and twirled it once, elegantly.
"Yes, that." Ryoma lifted up his own and tried to twirl it, but once again failed. Sakuno smiled.
"See, you're holding it wrong." She reached over and corrected his hold on the chopstick, causing him to stiffen slightly at the contact. As she continued coaching him through the chopstick-twirling, he was reminded of the several times that he had corrected her grip on her tennis racket, and felt a strong sense of déjà vu. The roles have switched…how scary…
"Oh, and while you're at it, your knees are too bent, you have wobbly hips, and your hair is too long." Sakuno finished, mimicking Ryoma's voice and his trademark smirk.
Ryoma grinned back. "My girlfriend stealing my lines, eh?"
"Hey, you asked for it."
He finally twirled it as elegantly as Sakuno could. "Mada mada da ne."
"Same to you!"
"Hn." He smirked.
"May I take your order?" asked another waiter who had just made his way over to their table.
"Hmm…" Sakuno stared again at the menu. She whispered to Ryoma, "Are crepes good?"
"Yeah, they're not bad."
"Ano…I'll have a pesto crepe." Sakuno said to the waiter, who then turned to Ryoma.
"One order of onigiri."
The waiter wrote down his order. "Anything to drink?"
"Ponta." Ryoma and Sakuno both said simultaneously.
"Thank you. Your order will arrive shortly."
As soon as the waiter walked away, Sakuno stared at her plate, trying to think of something else to talk about. She seized upon the first topic that came to mind. "Ryoma…what kind of music do you listen to?"
After the words came out of her mouth, she realized what she had just asked. What if he accuses me of being talkative again? "Ano…forget I asked…"
"J-Pop is good." he replied.
"Oh, really? What are your favorites?"
"Hmmm…Fujita Maiko and AKB48 are probably my favorites."
"Really? I love Fujita Maiko! She's so good!"
"Hn," Ryoma grinned in reply. Cool, now I know what to do with that extra ticket. "What else do you like?"
"Mm…Mamoru Miyano and Oku Hanako."
"Hn." Another awkward silence passed by. Sakuno tried to think of another topic but Ryoma broke the ice. "What's your favorite subject?"
"What?"
"Like, I know your worst is English," he smirked, "but what's your best?"
"Hmm…I like Japanese and science. What about you?"
"I agree with you on science, but how can you like Japanese?"
"It's…it's pretty easy…"
"Maybe for you." Ryoma tugged his cap down while Sakuno raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, so Japanese is Ryoma's worst subject?"
"Mada mada da ne." he replied, to which Sakuno giggled. So Ryoma uses his catchphrase when he's embarrassed. Good to know.
In the meantime, Ryoma bent down and stared at the table, trying to hide his smile. Sakuno was turning out to be a lot more interesting than he had expected, and she wasn't stuttering at all today.
Cautiously, he glanced up and met her eyes. She suddenly stared behind him, however, and much to his surprise, she grabbed her purse and covered the left side of her face with it.
"What are you doing?" he asked her, frowning a little out of curiosity.
"Kimiko-senpai and Sanada-senpai, three o' clock."
"What?" Ryoma turned to his right and saw the two Rikkadai third-years sitting at a booth a few feet away. "Crap…" Grabbing the other end of Sakuno's purse, he also hid his face behind it, so that their faces were almost an inch apart, but not before Kimiko had turned and noticed them.
"Sakuno-chan!" She ran over to their table. "What were you two doing behind that purse? You're too young for that!"
"Kimiko-senpai!" Sakuno reddened furiously, bringing her face out from behind the purse. "We-we weren't doing anything!"
"Right…" Kimiko laughed and squeezed into Sakuno's part of the booth, while Sanada, seeing no other choice, got in next to Ryoma, who looked thoroughly annoyed by the new arrangement.
"So, Echizen, are you two on a date?" Sanada asked Ryoma.
"No, Sakuno and I are celebrating her ninetieth birthday," Ryoma replied dryly. "Mada mada desu ne."
Kimiko laughed and Sakuno raised an eyebrow. Ninetieth birthday?
"Sakuno! Kimiko-senpai!" The two girls turned towards the door to find Tachibana Ann walking in and giving them a grin.
"Ann-chan!" They slid out of the booth, ran over to her, and the three did a group hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I just came here with…where is he?" Ann looked around for her boyfriend, only to find him standing outside the door. "Takeshi-kun, why are you standing outside? Come in!"
"Ann, why don't we go somewhere else…" Momoshiro asked nervously.
"Nonsense, come inside already!" She grabbed his wrist and pulled him in, and they all went back over to Sakuno and Ryoma's booth. Momoshiro and Sanada looked thoroughly shocked to see one another there, but that was nothing on the shock that Ryoma had to see Momoshiro there.
"Sanada-san…you and Moriyama-san are together?" Momoshiro stuttered.
"Come on, Takeshi-kun, that's old news!" Ann laughed.
Ryoma stared. "Takeshi-kun? Tachibana, you're with Momo-senpai?"
Now it was Sakuno's turn to laugh. "Come on, Ryoma, that's old news!"
Momoshiro and Ryoma sweatdropped. OK…
An squeezed in next to Kimiko and Sakuno, and Momoshiro sat down next to Sanada and Ryoma. So much for avoiding Echizen today…I thought he said he was going to Kawamura-senpai's sushi shop!
"So…Ryuzaki-chan…how are you and Ann and Moriyama-senpai so up-to-date on the gossip at every single school?" Momoshiro asked, laughing a little to alleviate the tension.
Ann raised an eyebrow. "Oh, we have our sources, Takeshi-kun. Like we know deep, dark secrets that others would die to know." She gave Sakuno and Kimiko a secret wink, and the two understood immediately what she had in mind. "For example, your Tezuka-senpai is dating the captain of a certain girls' team."
"No way…buchou?" Ryoma asked, his jaw dropping. "Are you sure?"
"Positive." Kimiko grinned. "And Tachibana-san is seeing a girl from Yamabuki who's not on the tennis team…her name was Takara, I think…"
"Tachibana? Really?" Momoshiro asked, shocked.
"And Oishi-senpai's dating an American transfer student who goes to Hyotei, Ryoma." Sakuno smiled, causing her boyfriend to reel with shock.
"Right, and Sakuno's obaa-chan is a foreign spy from Venezuela," Ann remarked with a grin, causing the boys to get a little wary.
"Kikumaru-senpai's father used to be a professional underwater basket-weaver," Sakuno giggled.
"And finally, Fuji-san is a mermaid." Kimiko finished.
"What?" Ryoma and Momoshiro spluttered, while Sanada chuckled a little, having guessed what his girlfriend was up to. "Hey, you tricked us!"
Sakuno replied with, "Mada mada da ne," Ann with, "Don!", and Kimiko with "Tarundoru!", causing all three girls to laugh hysterically and the boys to glare (except Sanada, who just stared at them all, unsure whether his companions were completely sane or not).
"One pesto crepe, one order of onigiri, and two Pontas…" The waiter who came over seemed shocked to see six people at the table. "Are the rest of you with these two?" he asked, gesturing to Ryoma and Sakuno.
"No, they're not." Ryoma glared at everyone else, causing Sakuno to giggle and Momoshiro to reply, "Hey, that's not the right way to treat your senpai!"
"But yes, let's leave these two lovebirds alone," Ann smirked. "See you guys later!"
"Yeah!" Sakuno smiled at her friends, and the other two couples walked off, leaving Ryoma and Sakuno to begin eating as the waiter walked away. Ryoma was feeling pretty pissed, but he looked up and saw that Sakuno had a genuine smile on her face, and he smiled slightly. At least one of us is having fun…
"Well, that was a fiasco. Next time we do this, I'm going to personally make sure that we're alone," Ryoma muttered as he was walking Sakuno back to her house.
"Why? Ryoma didn't have fun?" Sakuno smiled innocently, to which Ryoma first glared, but then smirked back.
"Well, it was pretty fun before all those other bakas came along. And now I have something to blackmail Momo-senpai with." he replied, not losing the smirk. "So, when do you want to do this again?"
Sakuno reddened a little bit. He wants to see me again! "Are you doing anything tomorrow? We can play some tennis, if you want."
"Works for me." He tugged his cap down.
When they finally reached her house, Sakuno turned and smiled at her boyfriend. "Domo arigato, Ryoma. I had fun."
"That makes one of us," he smirked.
"Ano…I'll see you tomorrow." Impulsively she leaned over, kissed him on the cheek, and turned and sprinted back into her house out of embarrassment. Mou! What did I do that for?
Once again, she ran up to her room and peeked out of the curtains of her windows. Looking down, she saw Ryoma hold one hand up to his cheek and redden slightly. He looked up towards her window, prompting her to open the curtains. When he saw her, he gave her a rare smile and waved before walking away.
That night, the only thing our two favorite Seigaku freshmen thought was, "Today was the best day ever!"
