A/N: plays dramatic music At last, Saeka has arisen from the dead once more! Sorry for not updating for some time. I completely forgot about completing my fics. oo; dodges shoes flying at her I'm sorry! Here's the long-awaited chapter. Just please don't kill me.

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Just a cough. Just a little short quiet cough.

Echizen Ryoma was in quite a fix.

I'll just clear my throat and keep my eyes on the road. That's all there is to it.

He is currently debating on whether or not to clear his throat in front of his girlfriend.

"A-anou..." Sakuno said lightly in an attempt to break the silence. "I haven't seen you in quite some time, Ryoma-kun. What have you been doing in the past few years?"

"Betsuni," he rasped out before giving a short cough. "Betsuni.."

Silence ensued once more. The petite girl gave a quiet sigh and turned towards the window, immediately stabbing an imaginary dagger into Ryoma's confidence, causing it to deflate and shrivel up like a dead prune. He certainly felt like smacking himself right now.

His car smells really new. He must be really rich now since he must have been playing in so many tournaments. It makes me feel weird that I'm such a plain person going out with a really famous tennis player.

The car suddenly came to a stop. Ryoma popped open his door briskly and stepped outside. He walked over to Sakuno's side and opened hers.

"We're here. There are a lot of cars up front so we'll have to park farther away and walk up to the restaurant," he said as he held her arm to help her out. He held it firmly not like as if it were fragile glass. He had a warm hand, she noted. Not sweaty or dry but just right. It felt very right.

"Arigatou," she said happily while wrapping her scarf more tightly around herself. Maybe she should not have worn a strap dress. It was too cold. After all, it was winter. Ryoma eyed the shivering girl for a moment giving her his coat.

"Here," he tried to say as coolly as possible. "Make sure to give it back to me once we get inside."

"Ariga-"

"- stop thanking me. You make it seem like it's a huge favour. If you're cold, I'll give you my coat. It's what I'd do."

He added a small smirk afterwards to make sure that she knew he did not mean for that to hurt her feelings. Sakuno nodded before donning his coat.

"But won't you get cold?" she inquired innocently. "I'd feel bad if you get sick. And, besides, it's snowing." She offered him her scarf.

"No, it's fine," Ryoma answered as he took her scarf for her. He saw her lip turn downwards in guilt for a minute. Finally, he sighed and wrapped the scarf loosely around his neck.

"I'm taking it off right before we go in though. I don't want everyone to think that I'm wearing a female scarf because I'm weird," he said in his defense. He frowned and turned away. "What are you laughing at?"

"B-because you haven't changed one bit in five years!" giggled Sakuno nonstop while holding her sides. "G-gomen. I didn't mean for that to offend you. It's just that when you frowned, it reminded me of the first time I met you on the subway."

"How is that?" asked Ryoma, interested. He wondered how Sakuno could have noticed him when he had not even known who she was.

"Well, you were constantly frowning as if something always bothered you," said Sakuno cheerfully. "At first I thought it was because you didn't like me but then I figured that it might have been that you were nice in your own sort of way."

She bent down slightly and scooped up some snow from the ground. Packing it into a snowball, she smiled to herself.

"I really liked you back then," she said. "Especially after...that incident..."

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"Aiie, it's cold.."

"It's ice. It's supposed to be cold."

"This is really hard to do.."

"Keep your ankles up and steady. Bend your knees a bit."

"Ah!"

-

Sakuno quickly snapped out of her thoughts.

"Well, I think we should be going now. You might catch a cold if we stay out too long," she said quickly. Ryoma was slightly miffed that she did not continue her story.

"Sou, I guess we should be.." He took her hand in his and they slowly headed off.

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