Title: Frozen tear
Diclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.
Chapter: Four: He said, she said
Note: changed the rating just to be safe; for language
It was supposed to be another ordinary, boring day for Sakuno. Supposed being the keyword here. She did what she did every morning of the last three years so she cannot comprehend what she did wrong for this to happen.
And she curses the newspaper for having such large bold letters that says:
A mystery girl in the life of Echizen Ryoma.
They wrote facts about her that she did not even know herself. Her privacy was violated but she cannot do anything to protect herself. Those words that she dammed was not enough for them. No, nothing will be enough when they want to torture her. In one side of the paper is her picture with him. And she wracks her brain to remember when the picture was taken. The night of the party. And she cusses. The almost kiss. It did not even happen and it is blown out of proportion. Oh shit.
The moment she stepped foot in her campus all eyes was on her. Those eyes that belittles, scandalized, wondering, judging her soul, her character. And she swears some eyes are so angry they emit a red laser light. And she starts to wonder what the hell she did wrong to be the end of such terror.
The moment she start moving, walking to her classroom they started to whisper, murmur yet she can hear them clearly, every word, every syllable.
Isn't she-?
How can this happen?
She's not even pretty.
This must be a lie.
Look at her, she is pathetic.
That bitch!
She have heard tidbits of their insults, of their cruelty and she feels she is about to explode and become a goo of tears. She was never familiar with this kind of attention and she never wanted to experience it again.
Every step become unbearable, her pace quicken, desperately running away from all those evilness she is cornered with.
She run for the solace of her classroom, of anything that will protect her, shelters her from this world.
A hand grabbed her and she almost cried of relief to see the faces she knew by heart.
"Guys." She said in a relieved and happy tone.
"Are you okay?" they chorused and Sakuno almost laughed at their faces that are etched with worry, concern and anxiety. Redundancy be dammed.
They console her, comforted her, cried with her, and laughed with her. And she cannot be more grateful to find friends that are so true in this ever-changing world of cruelty.
She can see the curiosity in their eyes but they keep their mouth closed. She can almost hear them asking When this did happen? How? Why? And so many many more.
You can choose to keep stay quiet, to keep it all to yourself and leave them out of the picture, out of the complexity of your life, of your heart. But then you are reminded of the bond you made with them. The bond you have known as friendship.
Then you are bombard with the fact that they have let you in their lives, their souls, and their hearts. And they welcomed you, your flaws, your darkness—wholeheartedly. And you feel cruel, untrue.
Do you not trust us? Your heart hears them cry.
No. No. Never. I trust you. How can you even think of that? You want to scream, to shriek that you love them more than life itself. That they are precious to you that is why you want to protect them from your darkness.
Then they weigh of it all goes down in your fragile shoulder and you cannot keep the waterworks in. You cry and they cry. Because this is your friendship. Words are not needed. Just hearts, feelings.
And you let them in, the darkness in your soul, the other side of your heart, and they accept you, love you even more. And you love them back.
And their place in your pumping heart becomes larger, deeper, and you know they can never go back to the way they are before. Because now they are a part of you, a part of your heart, a part of your life. And you wouldn't have it any other way.
When the tears in your faces dried you started, "Ryoma is my ex-boyfriend."
And tears started to flow once again.
"I will fix this." Was what he said after that terrifying day of bullying, of cruelty, of madness. Your hair disarray, your shirt stained, your bag missing, you shoes dipped in a gooey substance you do not even want to know what substance it is.
You want to laugh just to mock him. Fix this? What is there to fix, huh? I am already broken. Can't you see?
"I swear I will fix this." He repeated when you just stared at him.
Oh Ryoma, you are cruel. Stop making promises that you are ought to break. Fix? You can never fix me. These tears will dry, these stains can be washed, my bag can be found, my hair can be combed, my bruises can be healed but not my heart. Never my heart.
For their cruelty reached my soul, tormenting it. My friends protected me but we are outnumbered yet they still tried.
But you, oh dearest Ryoma, YOU were not even there.
"Just tell me who did this." He said, anger stenches in every syllable.
They are too many, too many to defeat, too many to remember. We did not stand a chance but we still tried.
Yet you did not even witness it, Ryoma. How I fought, how I struggled to stay alive. You were never there.
"I will protect you." He said.
Protect me. Help me. Save me.
I keep shouting, screaming but you did not come.
My faith in you, my hope in you never faltered until the end. But I never saw you face, I never felt your security when I needed it the most.
She stares in his eyes, those beautiful eyes, and smiles. That cruel, hurt, dying smile of her. Ryoma was taken a back because of the coldness of her smile. This is not Sakuno, he keeps thinking, convincing himself.
"You are too late." She said.
And the weight of what have transpired goes down on Ryoma. And he felt miserable, useless, weak.
You should work on your timing, lad.
End of Chapter.
Thank you for the love! :)
