Disclaimer: POT is not mine and never will be. I don't make any profit from writing this story nor intend to use this for commercial purposes

Jealous, am I?

By: (Crystal Sniper)-before but now, Kanomie08

Chapter 3:

Enter the New Guy; Kenji Tanaka

A/N: This will now be narrated and will be out of the character's POV. Well, on with the fic. Enjoy!

Sakuno was still running not bothering to care a bit with things around her when suddenly, she bumped into something or rather, someone. She felt her head pound on a warm chest

"Erm, I- I'm so s-sorry." She managed to choke out in between light sobs. Tears were still gushing from her drained and blurry eyes. She looked up to see dazzling jade pools staring down at her. She didn't see much of his face though. Her sight was still blurred.

"Oh, no, it's alright. I wasn't actually looking at the way myself." An enticing handsome boy with dark brown unruly hair said coolly yet nicely. He then felt that his shirt was a little wet and saw the girl in front of him shedding tears and before he was aware of it, he asked, "Um, are you alright, Miss?"

"Uh, yes I am. I-I need to go. Sorry again." She looked at the boy straight to show that she meant the apology and at that, he got a full view of her face.

"Ah! Sakuno! Is that you? Don't you remember me? I'm Kenji! Kenji Tanaka." He abruptly blurted out.

"Huh?" she then wiped her tears with her hands and turned to look at the guy in front of her. "Onii-chan, it is you! What are you doing here?" It was patent that she became really glad and delighted seeing her old friend, her old brother and not to mention, old crush as well.

Yes. This guy here is Kenji Tanaka, Sakuno's childhood best friend. They met when Sakuno was seven years old and Kenji was nine. They were neighbors and they played together.

FLASHBACK:

Kenji is a son of a fairly wealthy couple and he had a sister that had the name of Ayame. They were really close and Kenji loved her dearly because she was his younger sister and the fact that they were the only ones that did understand and played with each other. Their parents were mostly not at home everyday 'cause they had to work and when they do stay at home, they would still need to do some things that involved their job. That's why at home; Kenji and Ayame were always together with the maids and the servants. They weren't allowed to go outside. No, actually, it was just Ayame that wasn't allowed to. Her body was always sick and she constantly felt ill. But despite of that, she is really a cheerful and sparkling girl. Kenji loves her very much so he himself doesn't feel like going out anymore.

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"Onii-chan, I want to go outside. I want to feel like playing out there where there are fresh air and nice surroundings." A charming girl said sweetly.

"But you know you can't Ayame, don't you?" an attractive boy said sternly.

"Yes, I know that but I really want to at least know the feeling only for a while." She became sad and looked at Kenji sorrowfully. "Please, Onii-chan…" and pleaded him to approve

"No!" he disagreed and saw Ayame's sad but cute puppy-dog eyes. "O-Okay. But just fast, alright?" he surrendered.

"Yes. Yipee! I'm going out with my beloved brother!" she looks really happy.

Kenji looked at his joyful sister as she jumped up and down because of happiness and he smiled.

---At the park: ---

They were always together and he loved and treasured her Ayame so much that he was very depressed and disheartened when she passed away. They were together in the park that very day when…

"Hey 'yame, wait here. I'll just buy ice cream in there. What flavor do you want?"

"Oh, I would love chocolate Onii-chan."

"Chocolate it is then. Just sit here, don't go anywhere and I will be back in a minute."

Ayame sat in a bench at the park playing with a ball. "La la la la…" she hummed when her ball rolled away from her. "Ah, my ball!" she followed the ball and it stopped in the middle of the road. She then tried to get it and there came a car in front of her running fast.

"Ahhh!" She screamed as she was hit by the zooming vehicle. "Onii-chan…" she whispered so softly. And at that, she fell lifeless on the road.

Kenji came back smiling. "Here's your ice cream, Ayame-chan. Now, where is that girl?"

What's happening in there?

He turned to look at the commotion in the middle of the road and walked over there. he shoved the people away to make his way to the fuss. "Excuse me, going through." He repeated. He reached the spot and saw an awfully familiar girl lying on the road. Unconscious and not moving. He then dropped the ice creams.

"Ayame!" he went to her sister but was stopped by a policeman. "She is my sister, let go of me this instant." He snapped furiously and they let him go immediately. "Ayame, what happened?" Tears were now swelling down his eyes as he sat there staring at his dead sister. "Ahhh!!! Ayame!" He screamed as he hugged the lifeless body of his beloved sister.

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---The day of the funeral: ---

"It's my entire fault." Kenji was still crying for the death of her cherished sister.

"No dear. What are you saying? That's not true." His mother was beside him and was comforting him. She was also crying really hard.

"Yes, it was kind of your fault Kenji." His father commented. He was teary as well but looked like he was trying to stop more tears from coming out. "You let her go outside and you were with her but failed to look after her."

"Yojiro, stop saying that. It wasn't your son's fault. It was just an accident." She hugged her son.

"Ayame-chan, why did you leave me? I'm sorry for what happened to you. I'm really sorry and I love you very much, my dear sister." He whispered really softly. Tears past his barrier again.

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Kenji became very lonely after that incident. He didn't speak that much and he was always cheerless. He still blames himself for what happened to Ayame. He always wanted to be inside his house and didn't want to go out nor converse to other people. He became less sociable and nobody saw his captivating smile after that. So, his parents decided to have him home-schooling and get him a tutor. He was always in his room, sleeping, staring at nothingness (probably thinking about Ayame) or sometimes in his window, looking at the outside world. One day, he saw a cute little girl with two rather long braids that seemed to look like a girl she knew well. The situation with the girl and three boys that was obviously older than the girl (much like as old as Kenji) caught his attention.

"Leave the poor cat alone. He didn't do anything to you!" cried the girl.

"Shut up, little girl! Why do you care for this filthy cat? Go now or we'll be force to hurt you. And besides, he bit me." A tall and skinny boy said.

"God, he is only a cat. Oooh, did he hurt you? Where are your boo-boos? Whining over a tiny cat's bite and you call yourself a man? Save yourself some shame and maybe some manhood and just leave him alone." She uttered crossing her arms and mocking the boy.

A certain boy secretly watching the incident smirked at that statement.

"Why, you…" the boy was really angry now and he tried to punch the girl despite their age and gender difference. Tried but didn't succeed because someone stopped and blocked his fist with an arm.

"Bullying a cat and now a girl? How much low and pathetic can you get?" A boy named Kenji () said calmly and somehow insulting.

"Who the hell are you?" the boy asked.

"You don't need to know." Kenji said calmly.

"Mind your own business and leave us alone." Now, he tried to punch Kenji with his left arm but was blocked yet again. Kenji then punch and beat the boy and of course, he succeeded. Another boy attacked him but he just grabbed its arm and threw him over his shoulder. Right then, the three boys unhanded the kitten and ran quickly away from Kenji and the girl.

It was a bad decision, picking a fight with Kenji. He studied karate and he's very good at it though it doesn't look obvious.

"Um, thank you." The girl then immediately went and picked the kitten up and then to that just saved hers and the cat's life. "Thanks again and my name is Sakuno Ryuzaki. It's nice to meet you." She beamed at him and offered her hand to shake.

'She looks like Ayame. A lot.' He thought as he stares at the girl in front of her.

"What's the matter? Is something wrong?" Sakuno asked him.

Kenji was back to his senses. He took Sakuno's hand and shook it. At that, she smiled sweetly at him and again, he was reminded of his late sister. 'She really does look like her.' He thought.

"What's your name?" she asked, the smile never leaving her face.

"I'm Kenji Tanaka." He managed to say despite his shock.

"It's nice to meet you. Can I call you Kenji-chan? You can call me Sakuno."

"Um, yes. Nice to meet you too."

"So now, we're friends. You were really good and the cowards just ran away."

"Thanks. You were pretty brave back there." he heard her chuckle that was just like Ayame's as well.

"Uh, Kenji-chan, where do you live? I've never seen you before."

"I live there." he pointed his house.

"Really? We're just neighbors then. Your house is really big. I think you play with your brothers and sisters in there. How many do you have?" she asked happily. He suddenly looked sad.

"I had a sister but she's now passed away." He turned to see Sakuno being kind of teary-eyed as if it was her fault.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Sorry. I shouldn't have asked you that." She really was sad for him.

"No, it's alright. Don't cry." She then wiped her tears and looked at him.

"So now, you're all alone in your house? Aren't you lonely having no one to play with?"

"Well, yes I am. My parents are always at work. But I'm used to it."

"Don't worry. We're now friends. But…" she was now thinking of something. He looked at her somewhat confused of what she was thinking of.

"But you still don't have company to play with at your house." She then handed the kitty to him. "Here." She said.

"Why?" he asked, still puzzled at her actions.

"Here's Pichi. You can have him and play with him so you won't be lonely. Take it." She then smiled kindly and sweetly at him. He was shocked by what Sakuno just said and couldn't resist smiling at her. A smile that was gone and lost after Ayame's death.

"You look good when you smile." She said.

"You're a silly girl, Sakuno-chan." He said, still wearing the kind smile that graced the handsome features of his face. Then, he took Pichi from her. She grinned.

"There. Take care of Kenji, Pichi." And Pichi meowed as if he understood her statement. He chuckled like the old Kenji.

"You know Sakuno, you look and act just like my sister Ayame a lot."

"Really? I do? Well then, would you like me to be your sister? Can I call you Onii-chan?"

"Of course you can." Then, he smiled again for the second time that day and it looks like he would be doing this much more from now on.

The two of them became the best of friends. Sakuno made him feel better. They played together and she really became like his lost sister. But Kenji needed to go and leave the neighborhood and Sakuno. Their family switched home and went away.

"Bye, Sakuno-chan. I will really miss you and you will always be my little sister."

"Bye, Onii-chan and take care of yourself and Pichi. I'll miss you too and you will always be my big brother." She became teary-eyed as she bade goodbye to Kenji and Pichi.

"Stop crying, Sakuno. I wanna see you smile before I go. We will see each other again, I'm sure." She then wiped her tears and smiled for him. He smiled as well.

END OF FLASHBACK

"I will be studying here from now on, Sakuno-chan. I'm happy to see you." He said as he hugged her.

"I'm happy as well. Onii-chan, how are you?" she hugged him back.

"I'm okay. You? You look different now despite the braids, Sakuno. You're much prettier." He smiled.

She blushed slightly. "Uh, thanks, Onii-chan. You look different as well and still good-looking." She smiled back.

"Hehe. Why were you crying, Sakuno-chan?" he asked, a bit worried.

"Uh, not much. I can't tell you now but I will next time." She remembered the earlier incident again and brushed it off.

"Okay. You're still a crybaby." He said teasingly.

"Yeah, I guess I am." She said with a smile.

They really missed each other. They talked and chatted away happily, oblivious that a pair of feline eyes were watching them from afar.

Sakuno was really happy and thrilled to see Kenji. But it couldn't be denied that she was still suffering from the pain that she just received a moment ago from her Ryoma-kun. No, scratch that. He isn't hers. Never was and perhaps, no, surely, never will.

'Who the hell is he? Why's he talking to Ryuzaki? Darn, I can't hear them from here. Wait, I shouldn't and I don't care. But why is she so happy now? Damnit!' a Ryoma Echizen thought, unaware that he was gripping his Ponta can a little too tightly.

A/N; heh. That was chap 3. ah, I'm tired. A long flashback and introduction of Kenji. Was it lame? I just needed to include Kenji's sister. Sorry for the late update… kind of busy. Thanks to all who reviewed. i appreciate it so much. Sorry if nothing much happened. I will try to publish the next chap faster.

And to vin- you totally read my mind. Well, almost. Hehe… I planned to make kenji a good guy. But he's not a tennis player but a varsity. You know, basketball… I already said it before… and thanx for the review.

Please review, guys… constructive criticisms are more than okay.