A/N: I'm desperate now. Someone give me a links to everything you know that is RyuRin related! I need my drug! I need more RyuRin!

-x-X-x-

Tsundere

-x-X-x-

'Tsundere'

Hayami Rinka knew what it meant; basically a person who was hard on the outside but soft on the inside. She knew what it meant, and she had no problem with the word or people who could be put into the category. But when she was labeled as one, she found herself somewhat uneasy.

It all started during the exercise with the nicknames… Actually, it was before that. Back during the events that lead to Itona becoming a proper member of Class-E.

At that time, she had blurted out the infamous line 'don't get the wrong idea', followed by a similarly tsun-esque words. That in itself wouldn't have been a bad thing, but she had been heard by the otaku of the class Takebayashi, and the always perverted Okajima.

And that lead to her being given a particular nickname during the previously mentioned exercise. And the nickname was; Tsundere Sniper.

Even that would've been okay if it had stayed at that. But the nickname had surprisingly caught on. Now, especially during training exercises, she was frequently called 'Tsundere Sniper' as a sort of code name, even though everyone knew the name stood for her. It was of minor annoyance and wasn't really infuriating at all to be honest. But still, for reasons she did not know, she found herself uncomfortable.

It wasn't like anyone treated her any different. Rather, all of her classmates actually acted more familiar with her now than ever, each on their individual levels of course. So why did she have this feeling? To find out the answer, Rinka had decided to speak to the person, apart from few of the girls, she was closest to in her class.

"Chiba,"

The boy looked up from his desk at her voice. "Yes?" He asked. School was over for the day, so there were few students in the classroom at the time. Besides the two, there were Kurahashi, Yada and Nakamura chatting at the front row, and of course, Ritsu's main body at the back like usual.

"I want to talk to you about something. Can we go somewhere more private?" Rinka asked.

"…Alright," Chiba agreed, not seeing any reason to refuse. The two went out of the classroom, Chiba following Rinka as she lead him, and out of the building as well. The girl stopped at an open area near the school building, where no one was around and none of the girls in the classroom could hear them.

"So, what is it?" Chiba asked.

Rinka took one last look around before looking at the boy, "Okay, I'm going to be straight here,"

'Aren't you always?'

"Do you think I'm a 'tsundere'?"

Chiba raised an eyebrow, "Tsun… dere?"

"Yes, 'tsundere'." Rinka repeated. "Ever since I uttered the sentence 'don't get the wrong idea' that one time, I've been constantly labeled as a 'tsundere' in the classroom. It's not exactly a bad thing, but I don't feel very comfortable with it for some reason, and I want to know what you think."

'What I think…' Chiba scratched his head. "Does it really matter if you are?"

His question was met with stern eyes of Rinka who was now leaning forward. " .Question."

Chiba leaned back on instinct as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Rinka could be scary at times. "Umm… I know little about these things, so I can't really distinguish. But personally, I don't think you are one,"

Rinka raised an eyebrow, prompting Chiba to continue. "I mean, I think your 'hard' or 'tsun' part is just your straightforward personality and not exactly what the 'tsun' stands for. And I know that you're an overall caring person, so…"

'Overall? What's that supposed to mean?' Rinka asked in her mind but didn't speak out loud. Instead, she leaned back to stand straight, a skeptical look on her face. Chiba seemed nervous as of now.

"Okay… even if you don't think so, let's say for now that I am in fact a 'tsundere'. How would you feel about me?"

'What's with these questions?' Chiba thought before answering again. "How would I feel? Well, I don't think I would feel any different really,

"I mean, even if we're taking about 'tsundere' itself, I don't have anything against it. I can actually understand why so many people like it. I feel like dealing with a 'tsundere' person can be viewed like a great adventure. The journey is long and hard, but the rewards you reap at the end are well worth it and even better because of the harsh path you threaded. Similarly, dealing with the 'tsun' is worth it for the reward of 'dere', and the 'dere' is ever sweeter because of all the 'tsun' you dealt with. And even the 'tsun' can be cute at times, depending on the person's perspective.

"And that's just 'tsundere' itself. Now if I apply it to you, which is applying something I don't have a problem with to a person I like, I wouldn't really feel any different as I said before. Because, at the end of the day, you're still you, and I like you."

'…Wow.' The now wide eyed Rinka thought. She was NOT expecting that reply from him. Something that sounded like a self-opinion-based breakdown of 'tsundere' was not what she thought she'd hear when she asked him the question. Though, the part about how he felt about her not changing either way pleasantly warmed her heart… wait, "… 'Like' me?"

"Hmm?" Chiba asked on impulse. But as his brain processed the question, a look of shocked realization appeared on his face, accompanied by a blush. "Uh… I didn't mean it the way it probably sounded. I simply meant 'like' as a person, as a friend, you know? Nothing deeper,"

"…I see…" Rinka said with an odd look. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. She thought she would be uncomfortable if he had actually meant 'like' in that way. But even now that he'd clarified it wasn't the case, the feeling in her chest certainly wasn't comfort or relief.

An awkward silence settled between the pair. They both looked to the sides, unsure of how to carry on from that point. Finally, Rinka spoke up,

"Well, we've finished with what I initially wanted to talk about. So I guess we should head back now." She said. Though, hearing her own words made her realize something. The prior uncomfortable feeling she'd been having upon being labeled a 'tsundere', after hearing Chiba's responses to her questions, it had vanished. Sure, a new discomfort had settled in her heart due to their later exchange of words, but that particular feeling had completely disappeared. Did that mean…

"Yeah, let's go." Rinka was broken out of her thoughts by Chiba's agreement on heading back. She nodded absentmindedly, prompting the boy to start walking. She followed him quietly, those thoughts still racing around in her head. And that's why she didn't realize when Chiba suddenly stopped, and thus ended up walking right into his back.

"Ow!" Rinka mumbled as she stumbled two steps back, rubbing her nose which had hit the taller boy. "What happened? Why did you stop?"

Chiba turned to her without saying a word. He stared at her intently, not that she could tell, and spoke quite frankly,

"While we're on topic, do I look like an adult game protagonist?"

Rinka blinked.

-x-X-x-

A/N: More love for our Adult Game Protagonist and Tsundere Sniper! See you next time -Plus Ultra Bye!