Hi everyone! Sorry for the late update, but I am still getting used to college life now. There isn't much free time for me now, and I am trying to write as much as possible when I have some.

Furthermore, I wish to thank everyone who reviewed on my other fic, Dear Cousin. I have never, in my previous written work, received so many reviews in such short period of time. I love you all, and hope you enjoy this fic as well!

Summary: 'I want to end this.' She interrupted with the most unexpected answer Ryoma had guessed.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 2: Break Point

Sweating hard, he returned the tiny ball harder. He was not in a good mood today, and he wanted to end the practice as quickly as possible.

'Ochibi calm down,' Kikumaru yelled while hitting the ball back. 'You're no fun to play with.' Eiji and Ryoma were having their regular practice match. Of course, being a semi-pro, it would have been easy for him to beat any of his senpai in the high school tennis team, but recently his mind was preoccupied by someone that he made a lot of mistakes and was not concentrating in the game at all. 'Damn,' he hit a top spin and the ball was out.

Although the sky was starting to snow, this did not bring any practice to a stop, as the High School Tennis Team could book some indoor courts in the area and still trained after school.

'Game Kikumaru-senpai, 3-5.' He heard a senpai calling. Damn. Losing 3 games to the immature senpai never gave him a good feeling.

'Com'on ochibi, this is not like you.' Eiji smirked, waving his racquet at him. Ryoma ignored him and hit his serve.

On the sideline, Momoshiro and Inui were watching the two. 'Echizen sure has been acting weird these days,' the dunk specialist started. 'Usually he would not have lost more than one game to us, except for Fuji probably, but the number of unforced errors has significantly increased.'

'Echizen has a 68.3% increase in unforced errors. The reason is 66.6% due to the absence of Ryuzaki-chan, 18.0% due to argument with or being tricked by Fuji, and 13.9% due to academic reasons or being scolded by teachers, and the remaining due to the desire to sleep.'

Ryoma groaned upon hearing the analysis and missed another ball. 'Senpai, you are too loud.'

'Though still ignorant as ever,' Inui hummed. 'Speaking of which, I haven't seen Ryuzaki-chan around lately.' Oishi joined in their conversation. Although as the captain of the team (as Tezuka had left) he should be scolding their inattentiveness, he was also worried over their little kohai.

'I heard from Ryuzaki-sensei that she was feeling sick these days, and had been absent for nearly a week already.' Fuji said calmly. His match with Kaidou had ended already, and he decided to attend the Echizen Ryoma conference.

'Poor Echizen must be worried,' Momoshiro grinned mischievously, 'that his girlfriend is not here to cheer him up. Ah, it's so nice being young…' and the rest of the regulars laughed. Of course, they knew nothing about their tennis ace and Sakuno going out, but they always loved to tease them about it. It was their joy of the day to see Sakuno blushing like a fresh tomato and Ryoma lowered his cap in denial.

'Pop.' A swift of a tiny object dashed past them, and they were stunned to see Echizen Ryoma swinging his racquet tensely. 'Oishi-buchou, I am not feeling well. Can I skip the rest of the practice?' He said, as calmly as he could, to the group of senpai.

Oishi stared at him for a moment. 'Fine, but tomorrow you have to run twenty-five extra laps for trying to attack your senpai.'

'Hai.' Despite the constant teasing he received from the regulars, he still held a respect for them. He turned and left them, totally ignoring Kikumaru's protest of 'the match had not ended yet, Ochibi is so cruel!' Well, some of them.

The fifteen-year-old did not give a damn. He quickly grabbed his tennis bag and left the court. Changing swiftly into his school uniform, he packed his stuff and left his school.

Yes, his senpai was right. The reason he was so pissed lately was because of none other than the twin-braided girl who stole his heart. He knew that she was sick, having had called her to confirm it. What pissed him more was she forbade him from visiting her. They had argued over this on phone. Ryoma had even gone directly to her house, ignoring her request, but Sumire, his tennis coach, would not let him in. Sighing out of despair, he promised not to trouble her.

He had no idea why she did not want to see him at these situations. She was sick. Shouldn't he, as a boyfriend, at least visit her once, after she had been absent for almost a week already? He did not understand her reasons, something about causing trouble to him and her family. Crap, he thought. She had not acted in anyway weird on their last date, and he had no idea what caused her to change her attitude from affectionate to deliberate ignorance.

Getting close to him probably changed her personality in some way. Without noticing, he had already arrived at his destination. Her place.

He observed the building for a while. The roof was covered with snow and no light was on. Nobody's home? He wondered. He dialed her mobile but no one answered the phone. This girl is starting to get on my nerve.

'I'll just wait here,' he spoke to no one in particular. Spotting a small area that was not covered with snow near the door, he sat down and wrapped his scarf around his neck tighter to keep himself warmer.

He didn't have to wait long, as after a few minutes, he noticed the familiar figure approaching. He raised to welcome her.

Only to find her accompanied by another male.

Ryoma widened his eyebrows.

That male looked around their age, with short brown hair and blue eyes. His countenance showed no sign of acknowledging his mere self in front of the door. He was good-looking, Ryoma admitted, but that did not explain, for instance, why another lad was walking her home instead of him.

They seemed to be in deep conversation that it was not until they were a meter from him did they notice his presence. Sakuno looked surprised to see him there.

'Ryoma-kun? Why are you here?' She asked hesitantly, and Ryoma definitely did not like her tone.

'I should be asking that.' He peeked at the male's arm that went across her shoulders. His gaze and voice turned cold in an instant. 'I can tell you're very sick.' There was no way he could hide his anger and jealousy upon this very scene.

Sakuno shivered from his voice. True, she knew that whenever Ryoma was very pissed he would use that tone to talk to anyone. 'Please go in first. I'll come in a minute.' She whispered to the teenager next to her, handed him the house key. Ryoma, again, could not hide his shock. SHE had permitted someone HE did not know to enter HER house. Even for Echizen Ryoma, the infamously cool and indifferent student, that was too much to take.

He waited until the blonde disappeared from their view to open his mouth. 'Who is he?' Hatred filled his voice.

'Ryoma-kun, we need to talk.'

'We are, Sakuno,' he gritted his teeth. 'What's the meaning of this?'

She looked at her feet and did not say a word. Her brown bangs covered part of her face that Ryoma could not decipher her expression.

'Whenever I wanted to visit you, you didn't allow so. Fine, I respect your decision, but what is a sick person walking around in a snowy environment?' Still, her bangs prevented him from looking directly into her eyes.

'Look at me, Ryuzaki,' he warned, and blurted out the questions followed by. 'Why are you doing this? Who is that guy? Are you going out with him now? Are you…'

'I want to end this.' She interrupted with the most unexpected answer Ryoma had guessed.

He froze on his position. The breezing wind only made him feel worse. 'What are you talking about?' For once, anger, yet mostly fear, was what Sakuno could decode in his precise articulation.

'I want us to end, Echizen-kun.' Oh, now she was even addressing him with his last name. Ryoma's eyes were wide open. He could not believe what he had just heard. For minutes, he just stood there, looking at her. Her face was, unusually, calm and emotionless. He saw her shiver, but concluded that was due to the cold weather they were placing themselves in now.

'You've got to be joking…' he trailed off. He did not know what to say, when his girlfriend for more than half a year suddenly requested, or ordered, to break this relationship.

Stillness filled the space between the two fifteen-year-olds again. The breeze attacked them again, and while Sakuno was trembling, she was aware that Ryoma's body was shaking too. Her countenance softened (not that he could notice) yet became more determined. She walked past him to open her door, when she felt a pull on her wrist.

It was Ryoma's strong hand.

'Why?' He made a nearly inaudible remark, without turning his head.

For a moment she did not speak. Silence again took the scene.

Ryoma had never felt this terrible before. Yes, they had had arguments before, but they would just give each other some time and eventually they would be back together again. They always talked through things out. Not once had they been in such deep quarrels.

'I…' he heard her shaking voice, and he lifted his face to observe her. Still, he could not see her face. 'I am tired of being in the back,' she gulped, waiting for him to absorb the words.

'I don't know how many times have I been worried over us when you are always surrounded by your fangirls, watching them having intimate contact with you while I could just sit back and act as if nothing has happened.' She took a deep breath, ignoring Ryoma's shocked expression and intention to protest. 'I want to be recognized sometimes, Echizen-kun, and I want someone who will always be by my side, instead of being away for weeks for some tournaments around the world.'

'We have talked through this before we started,' Ryoma cut in. 'It was a mutual consent.' He knew she felt lonely when he participated in tournaments outside Japan. He knew she was mad sometimes when some fangirls had close physical contacts with him (pushing themselves on him, to be precise). He knew she faced trouble and threats when she was being close to him, even when they were not officially dating but just friends. 'This is to protect both of ourselves.'

'I guess I was wrong.' She sighed. Obviously, that was not a good enough answer for the prideful prodigy.

'Is it because of that guy?' he murmured dangerously. That blonde who put his arm around his Sakuno's shoulder…under normal circumstances he would have taught him a lesson already. 'The one who was with you a minute ago?'

Sakuno kept quiet the whole time, making no intention to admit or deny. Ryoma finally understood what heartbroken really meant. There was no way Sakuno would forgo him just for another guy. This was not Sakuno at all. 'Why…?' he could not understand in what way he, the tennis prodigy that shocked the world, the one who brought Seigaku to victory in the Nationals, the one who showed his true self only to her, was not a better one for her. He might seem not caring sometimes, but she knew him! She knew his personality better than anyone else.

'I did have a really good time, these seven months.' She pulled his face onto hers and placed a tender kiss on his lip. 'Arigato.' Before Ryoma could recover, she was nowhere to be seen. The big and concrete door separated them completely.

'What does this mean…' he raised his voice. 'WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?' He slammed his fists on the door continuously, begging for an answer. 'ANSWER ME, SAKUNO!' He kept his action on, ignoring the curious gazes of passerby and some annoyed neighbours. Gradually, he lost his mental strength to go on. He leaned his back on the door, sliding his body onto the ground. He did not care about the cold surface that made contact with his trousers. He did not care people stopped and gave him strange looks. All he knew now was that he wanted to cry.

Echizen Ryoma never cried. He just could not control the tears rushing out his eyes.

If he had taken better notice, there was a brown-haired girl mirroring his position, with only a door in between them, also sobbing soundlessly.

-End of Chapter 2

And here goes Chapter 2. I find it strange that I write most when I am busiest (e.g. doing homework, studying for exams) while when I am free I cannot fully concentrate on writing this fic or another…strange habit I guess.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this as much as I write it. Quite OOC, I know, but I would shiver more if Ryoma was really that heartless in such situations. I know I have not explained things much in this chapter, but I promise you that it is intentioned to do so. More will be revealed in later chapters.

Please, do review. Any comment and criticism are welcome.