Chapter 5 – Senpai to the Rescue… Sorta
It seemed the group had finally reached Ryoma's threshold, as his racquet failed to make contact with one of the balls, said ball hitting him square on the chest. Ryoma grunted in pain and stumbled a little but still managed to keep his balance. Sakuno gasped and tears started to form in her eyes.
"This is all my fault" She thought, "If Ryoma didn't protect me he wouldn't get hurt" The tears started to leak from her eyes and onto her face, running down her cheeks. She didn't want Ryoma to get hurt, especially not for her. She then heard a sound which was music to her ears. Footsteps were coming towards them, at a fast pace. Out from around the corner came all the tennis regulars, including Tezuka. Everyone stood still in shock, or relief for the two youngest people present. The gang quickly dispersed with Kaidou and Momo going after them. The rest of the regulars quickly came to see if the two freshmen were alright.
"Are you two alright?" asked Oishi as soon as they came up to the pair.
"We're fine" said Ryoma, who stood panting and seeming to move a little gingerly. Sakuno could tell by looking at him that he wasn't as all right as he appeared. He was moving with less confidence than normal, barely noticeable but after seeing him get hit by that tennis ball it seemed to stand out by miles to Sakuno.
"A-are you sure R-Ryoma-kun, y-you don't l-look alright" she said nervously, not wanting Ryoma to be mad at her, but also wanting to make sure he was treated properly. As soon as the words were out of her mouth the attention of the senpai's was immediately on Ryoma, but Ryoma's attention was on the shy girl, as he started at her with a half accusing half curious gaze.
"Just when I thought I could get away from the senpai's without them knowing… But how did she notice….Not even the senpai's noticed I was hurt, how could she… I suppose she did see me get hit, but I don't think I showed that much pain…" Ryoma pondered as he waited for the girl to explain herself.
Sakuno decided to address the curious half of his gaze. She lowered he head, to hide her tears which were starting to return after drying up due to the relief of being rescued by the senpai's, as she explained.
"Y-you g-got hit with the ball, a-and your m-moving more gingerly than normal…" She stuttered, half because she was crying a little, half because she was nervous about Roma's reaction. Ryoma just stared in shock, as did the senpai's, even Tezuka. Sakuno noticed something none of the regulars noticed, and, unlike the regulars, she was not known for her keen observational skills, rather her lack of them. Oishi was the first to snap out of his shock as he remembered the first part of her statement.
"Where were you hit Echizen?" The young prodigy looked at Oishi, then lowered his head and answered.
"My chest" he sighed in resignation, knowing very well that he was going to be forced to go to the infirmary. Before anyone could force Ryoma to the infirmary however, Momo and Kaidou returned.
"Bastard's" Kaidou muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Momo to hear.
"They got away from us, we didn't even catch one of them" Momo recounted sadly, confirming what the others had already guessed. Tezuka then decided to take control of the situation.
"Echizen" his commanding voice caught everyone's attention "Go to the infirmary, Ryuzaki-san you go with him. Oishi, you come with me to tell Ryuzaki sensei what has happened. The rest of you go to class." With that said Tezuka and Oishi left to go find Ryuzaki sensei, leaving Ryoma and Sakuno to the mercy of the rest of the tennis regulars.
"What was all that about, why do Echizen and Sakuno-chan need to go to the infirmary?" Momo asked, having missed out on the conversation that had taken place a few moments ago. Eiji put on a sly face and answered the question.
"Ochibi got hit by the ball while protecting Sakuno-chan." He said slyly, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Momo quickly got the idea and adopted a sly smirk and voice as well.
"I didn't know Echizen was so heroic!" he turned to Eiji, "did you Eiji-senpai?" Eiji put on a fake contemplative look.
"Why no Momo, I had no idea! But then again, I'm not a pretty girl in need of saving." Eiji said winking at Ryoma and Momo. Sakuno's cheeks were tinged pink at this comment from her senpai, and only got worse as she remembered all the times Ryoma had saved her.
"I guess Ryoma-kun does save me a lot, even when we first met he saved me." The braided girl remembered fondly. Inui then spoke up.
"Echizen has saved Ryuzaki-san a total of 12 times, as far as I know" Everyone looked at Inui, shocked that he had been keeping data on how many times Ryoma had saved Sakuno, and the fact that the number was so high.
"Has it really been that many times?" Ryoma and Sakuno thought together. They both knew it had been a lot, but not that much. However, before they could ponder anymore, Inui continued.
"Additionally, Fuji said just before that Echizen 'can be very gallant'." All eyes turned to Fuji who just stood there smiling away, before finally giving in and answering the unspoken question.
"I had a nice little chat to Sakuno during our drink break. She told me how she hurt her ankle." When Fuji mentioned this, the rest of the regulars eyes went to the young girl's ankle, which they then saw was strapped. Fuji then continued. "And then about how Ryoma was very heroic last night as well." Fuji finished, smile never leaving his face. The colour of Sakuno's face was rapidly turning red due to the combination of Fuji's comments and Ryoma's accusatory glare. After a few more seconds of glaring from Ryoma he gave up and sighed.
"Come on Ryuzaki" He said and went to pick up his bag, wincing as he did so. Sakuno stood still for a moment, before remembering Tezuka's orders and hurrying, as fast as she could with her sprained ankle, to the now waiting Ryoma. She looked on worriedly as Ryoma dragged his bag along the dirt. Obviously his chest hurt too much for him to put on his shoulder, and since everyone now knew there was no point in pretending.
"R-Ryoma-kun, m-maybe I could c-carry your bag for you?" Sakuno asked, wanting to help, but knowing how stubborn and proud he was. Ryoma looked over to Sakuno, his eyes slightly widened. After a second or two he just shook his head and turned his head back to the front. Sakuno was about to insist that she take his bag, before she could however, Momo came up and snatched the bag from Ryoma's arms. Both Ryoma and Sakuno looked up surprised at their senpai and then saw the other regulars had also come along.
"We can't let our little kouhai's go without making sure they'll be okay." Momo said, the other regulars nodding in agreement. Sakuno was touched by how much they care and smiled up at all of them. Ryoma just turned his head forward, and a small smile graced his face. The group slowly made their way to the infirmary, Ryoma still in a bit of pain from being hit, and Sakuno's ankle still sore from the night before.
By the time they made their way to the infirmary classes had already begun. They were all thankful for this, not wanting to be swamped by fan-girls. The nurse took Ryoma into a curtained off area of the infirmary to treat him, while the others stayed in the main area, waiting for him.
"What happened Sakuno-san?" Kawamura asked. All the regular's eyes were on Sakuno, as she blinked up at them. She then looked down at her feet and told them what had happened. She told them about the night before, and how Ryoma had saved her, then about how they came back, and Ryoma had saved her again, and gotten hurt.
As soon as Sakuno finished, the curtain hiding Ryoma from view was pulled back. There sat Ryoma on the bed, shirtless. The regulars who were accustomed to the sight didn't have any reaction to this what-so-ever, Sakuno on the other hand… Her face was the colour of tomato. She didn't think it was suitable for her to look. "Why did they open the curtain?" When her eyes met the large tennis ball shaped bruise however, her shyness left as guilt set in. It was all her fault that Ryoma had gotten hurt. As the nurse came back from wherever she went Sakuno turned to her.
"Don't worry. He's not hurt badly." She said, to the relief of everyone, especially Sakuno. "He's just got some severe bruising. It will go away in a few days and should stop hurting by tomorrow. It will be pretty painful for a while so just be careful and bear with it okay. You can take some of these tablets if it gets too painful." Ryoma nodded and turned to grab his shirt and put it back on. Oishi then came in.
"How are you Echizen? Are you okay?" Ryoma finished putting his shirt back on before answering.
"I'm fine. Just bruises." He replied nonchalantly. Oishi smiled upon hearing the news and turned to the others.
"Weren't you supposed to go to class?" The others just shrugged. Oishi sighed and turned to address Ryoma and Sakuno. "Tezuka and Ryuzaki sensei want you to go to her office after you finish here." Ryoma nodded and got off the bed and grabbed his bag, this time slinging it over his shoulder, but not without wincing. He then turned to Sakuno.
"Come on" He said, jolting Sakuno from her musings. She grabbed her bag and followed Ryoma out the door, before anyone else could say a word.
As they were walking along the corridors, Sakuno continued to think about Ryoma's injury.
"It's my fault that Ryoma is hurt. The nurse said it would be painful." Sakuno thought gloomily.
"Gomen, Ryoma-kun" She said sadly. Not stuttering for once. Ryoma turned to her in confusion. "If you weren't trying to protect me you wouldn't have been hurt. I-it's all my fault!" She said, starting to cry. Ryoma looked at her, eyes wide. He then lowered his head.
"Baka" Sakuno looked up her tear stained face astonished. Before she could react, Ryoma continued. "You didn't hit that ball did you?" Sakuno shook her head, "Then how is it your fault? It's the fault of those thugs who attacked us." Sakuno couldn't find any way to react to his words. She stared wide eyed at Ryoma for a good 10 seconds before she nodded and wiped away her tears. What Sakuno didn't see was Ryoma's sigh of relief. For some reason he just didn't want Sakuno to blame herself for this. Usually he didn't care if someone needlessly blamed themselves, but for some reason she was different.
"Probably because we are going to see her grandma" Ryoma thought, trying to explain his strange behaviour. Sakuno looked back up at Ryoma, all traces of tears gone, and smiled at him. "Arigatou Ryoma-kun" Ryoma nodded and continued to walk towards Ryuzaki-sensei's office. Halfway to the office, the regulars came up and joined them.
"S-senpai's? What are you doing here?" Sakuno asked shocked.
"We're coming with you of course!" Momo replied as if it was obvious. "There is no way we are getting in trouble for being late to class."
"Yeah, we don't wanna go to class nya." Eiji added. Ryoma just sighed, along with a few of the sensible regulars that were being dragged along. They made their way to Ryuzaki-sensei's office and knocked on the door. Tezuka opened the door to let them all in, glaring at the regulars, who were all skipping class to be there. Ryuzaki sensei went over to Ryoma and Sakuno immediately to make sure they were all right.
"Arigatou Ryoma, that's twice you've saved Sakuno now. Thank you." She said sincerely. Ryoma used his hair to cover his eyes as he replied,
"Hn" Ryuzaki-sensei then sat down and asked them to explain everything that had happed just before as well as the night before. Just after Ryoma and Sakuno had finished explaining an important detail popped into Sakuno's head, causing her to gasp loudly. Everyone's eyes turned to Sakuno, but she looked to Ryoma.
"Remember what the leader said last night?" Ryoma just looked at her blankly which caused her to sigh, reminding her once again how horrible his memory was. "He said 'We will get you for this kid. You may be able to beat ten of us, but how will you do against twenty, or even thirty. We will all come after you, and we will finish what we started girly'. Those words exactly" Everyone was shocked by what Sakuno had said.
"This is bigger than we thought" Ryuzaki-sensei broke the silence "This gang has actively threatened Sakuno and Ryoma and proven they will live up to their threat. I'm calling the police." That left everyone gobsmacked. No one expected the police to get involved in this. Before anyone could argue, Ryuzaki-sensei picked up the phone and dialled the police station.
A.N. HIII! Okay so I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I don't really remember what I put in it but... Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to those who reviewed and just reminding you that if you have any suggestions for the plot or my writing (I know I'm not that good a writer but I hope the story line makes up for it) they are all very much welcomed.
Because I got 2 reviews for the last chapter I guess I have to live up to my deal. Please R&R. Thank you for reading and until next chapter,
Cya.
