Breathing I

Chapter 5: (Ryoma Interlude) She Fights

He couldn't imagine meek, sweet little Ryuuzaki hitting anyone. Honestly, he tried. He just couldn't picture it. A grand master of a dojo? Someone who beats the crap out of people for a living? There was no way.

"Ne, Shonen," his father said, giving his shoulder a shake. "She's cute and all, but you shouldn't stare like that. Girls will think you're creepy."

"Ryuuzaki, stuttering, shy, clumsy little Ryuuzaki, is the grand master of a dojo?!" he asked just to be sure.

"Of course," his mother said with a knowing smile. "It runs in her blood. Before Sano-kun, Himaru-jii-san, her grandfather, was the grand master. And before Himaru-jii-san, it was his father. And before that, it was his father's father. It goes back and back for generations. The Ryuuzaki style actually originated as a ninja form, so no one is really sure who the founder is, but almost everyone agrees someone from the Ryuuzaki family has always held the title of grand master of Ryuuzaki-do. Her father and grandfather both were teaching that girl kata as soon as she could stand up."

"What, they didn't wait till she could walk first?" he asked sarcastically.

"I wouldn't say anything, Ryoma," his mother warned. "Your Oyaji was teaching you about tennis as soon as you could crawl."

His father gave a pleased chuckle and his grin showed all his teeth. Ryoma just shook his head, still trying to fit the image of Sakuno and grand master together.

"I can't believe it."

"What do you mean?" his mother asked.

"It's impossible. There's so way a girl who trips so much is the grand master of a dojo."

"You'd be surprised," his father said. "Sano-kun was the same way all through high school. The only times I saw him show even a little bit of talent for common motor skills was on the tennis courts. Even then he was all whippy hair and wobbly hips. I still don't know how he was able to play so well with such a bad form, but he did. The first time I saw him in a martial arts tournament, I thought he was someone else. He was bold and outgoing and raring to go punch someone's face in, which was really different from how he usually was. That's probably why they wear those braids. So you can recognize them in the ring."

Ryoma just shook his head. There was no way he would be able to picture kind, caring, clumsy Sakuno as anything other than a shy, meek little girl.

"If you still can't believe it, why don't you go see a tournament?" his mother said helpfully. "Sumire-sensei gave us some tickets to the next one that's coming up. There's one for you too, but I didn't think you would be interested if it wasn't tennis. You might not get to see Sakuno-chan fight though. Only the grand masters of the winning teams' dojo will fight, but from what Himaru-jii-san says, the Ryuuzaki-do pupil is sure to win the spot."

"I'll go," he said, agreeing a little too quickly for his own liking. He hoped his father didn't notice.

"Ne, eager aren't we, Shonen?" his father asked with a wide, catty grin as he ruffled Ryoma's hair roughly. Ryoma shoved his hand away. "Could it be you're interested in Sakuno-chan?"

The suggestive wiggle of the eyebrows his father gave really ticked him off.

"Shut up, baka oyaji," he said as he got himself a snack.

"Well, if you want to come, it's Saturday afternoon," his mother said with a small smile as she flipped lazily through the photo album. "You can meet Himaru-jii-san too if you want. Oh, look at this one, Nanjirou. Remember when we went to Sumire-sensei's and…"

They went back to happily chatting and laughing over old times and Ryoma tuned them out. Instead, he thought about what he would see at the tournament. He pictured Ryuuzaki in a gi, stuttering as she greeted her opponent and politely told him to take the first move. He smirked. Saturday would be interesting.