Pairing: Echizen Ryoma x Ryuzaki Sakuno
Genre: Romance/Humor/Drama
Timeframe: Senior High School Year 3 (Final Year)

Warning: Sakuno centric. Readers had been warned.

Rating: Rated (T) for suggestive adult theme

Song title: Koibito Doushi by Jyukai (The song is really good!! I recon readers to listen to it while reading this story. If anyone would like to have it, please let me know).

Standard Disclaimer: Tenipuri belongs to Konomi sensei

"…" denotes speech

"Italics" denotes flashback

'…' denotes thoughts

Bold denotes lyrics

Title: Kissing Ryoma-kun 101 Excuses

Epilogue: Part 8 & Part 9

Part 8: MEMORIES
Even the scenery I'm always used to seeing
With you only beside me
I'm able to change its colors… Change its shape
And make it dazzling

She observed halfheartedly at players who were doing their regular trainings. The wind turns cold. Maple leaves covered the whole pathway as to mark the change of seasons.

Very soon winter will cover this training ground with snow, she thought deeply. That also means training will have to be moved to an indoor stadium.

Soon, they will have to leave this place, a place where she had most of her memories with Ryoma.

Without realizing, her body trembles voluntarily due to the declining of temperature.

Sakuno jerked when she felt a thick fabric draped on her shoulders. She looked up at the person who gave her the jersey.

"Kaidoh-senpai?" she blinked with surprise.

"You must take care of yourself" he said somberly.

"Thank you…" she smiled.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Sakuno tried to glance at her company through her lashes.

Thought between them, there were very few interactions; at this moment she felt; they did share something in common; brooding over the absence of someone.

"Kaidoh-senpai, do you miss Karupin?" she asked out of the blue.

"Karupin?"

"Yes, Ryoma's Himalayan cat. The one you always played with?"

"Ryuzaki?!" Kaidoh was really shock. He always thought that his fondness for cat is a secret he kept all to himself.

"Ho…how did you know about this?" he covered his mouth to hide his embarrassment.

"Ryoma-kun told me and so I know" she replied timidly "He said you used to go to his nearby neighborhood and wait for Karupin and he would purposely let Karupin out of the house so that both of you can play together"

"Whatever…" Kaidoh quickly turn away to hide his blushing face from her.

There was another moment of silence before Sakuno could speak again.

"Ano…can we talk?" she asked timidly and turn to look at him to seek for approval. He nodded.

"Although, there were times when I tried to stop thinking of what I've missed, but I really can't. I'd keep myself busy yet at this moment, I still cannot get over the fact Ryoma-kun is not by my side anymore" she whispered sadly.

"At this moment, I'm really depressed especially knowing that we're about to leave this place which I personally thinks this is the best place where I get to remembered all the good times I shared with Ryoma-kun" she let out a faint chuckle before giving a good knock on her forehead "I think I'm acting strange now"

All the while, she never expects that she would get any reply from her senior of someone like Kaidoh. Yet once again he'd surprise her when he speaks.

"You don't need to feel down about leaving this place" he commented.

"What we had, good or bad is always inside here" he patted the area where the heart is positioned.

"It'll not be gone even if you wanted it to" he continued with a smirk.

"Tell Echizen that I'm grateful for what he did. It had been a pleasant memory"

"Kaidoh-senpai…" Sakuno comprehended the good intentions of her senior.

"Thank you!!"

'This is very true. My memories will always be inside my heart. It's not created in places where it happened; it's created by us and will stay inside us, forever' she thought contentedly.

Part 9: HOME
The expected future is surely
Not just a simple thing but
Even so, I've thought of wanting to be together with you
As your lover

As soon as she was a few steps away from the Echizen's resident; she realized that the gate was wide opened up.

"What happened?!" Her eyes widen with fear.

'Ah?! Did I forgot to lock the gate?!' she thought fearfully for the second time.

All negative thoughts came into her mind. Due to her incompetence; she might be blamed for any loss of properties. If they finds out; it would leave bad impression for Ryoma-kun and his family.

It was then a familiar voice came out from outside the house compound that interrupted her thoughts.

"Karupin?! I told you not to go out right now?!" the familiar baritone warned "Look!! I'll lock you in my room if you're still not behaving"

The Himalayan cat ignored its master and dash out from the house compound.

He too dashed out from his house compound to chase after his cat only to find that Karupin is already purring safely in the girl's arm.

"Karupin? R…Ryoma-kun?" she couldn't believe her own eyes upon seeing her boyfriend who was supposed to be in America has now returned.

"No, no, no. This could be my hallucination…" she shook her head timidly, her brows knitted together and with that she immediately let go of Karupin before turning away from Ryoma's house.

"…" At this point Ryoma didn't know what to say. He has been treated by his girlfriend as part of her imagination.

"I must be having a fever or cold…" she muttered indistinctively. Her face turns pale, her wobbly legs shakes as if she's like a newborn fawn, her body was dangling here and there "…or this is what they call love sick"

Ryoma slapped his forehead hard. He couldn't believe that his girlfriend could think of all sorts of explanations instead of believing of what she sees.

Well, he couldn't blame her for thinking of him as part of her hallucination afterall. He was the one who decided of giving her big surprise by not telling her of his returning schedule.

Right now what he wanted most is to grope…no, to embrace her in his arms, he cancelled the first thought and smirk mischievously over the second one.

She felt a pair of strong arms embracing her from behind; that familiarity she experienced months ago. His warm breathe warmed one side of her cheeks as he said to her "I'm home"

"Ry…Ryoma-kun?!" She realized she that this isn't any hallucination; Ryoma is back, he's back again.

Ryoma had not expected that Sakuno would suddenly turn around to hug him back. He lost his balance and he fell on his back with Sakuno toppled on top of him.

"Sa…Sakuno?! Hey, I know you missed me a lot, but you don't need to hug me to that extend" he muttered embarrassingly. He felt like his bones almost get crushed by her. Well, not really…she's not that strong afterall.

"Mou, Ryoma-kun!! You're a meanie!! You never said that you'll be coming back!!" Right now she is wailing like a baby; two hands pounding against his chest "Meanie, devil, liar!!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep this from you, but I just want to give you a surprise. Guess everything has gone wry" he hushed her.

"I…I'm surprised!! I miss you so much!!" She wailed "I'm…I'm happy to see you again!!"

"You said you're happy but you're still crying…" he teased as he continues to stroke her head gently to soothe her.

"Sakuno-chan?" Rinko's voice called from behind. She heard Sakuno's wailing from inside the house. When she came out she was surprised to see that the two of them were caught in a rather awkward position.

"Ryoma? Are you bullying her again?"

"What?! I didn't do anything to her!!" he defended.

"Mou, the two of you are no longer elementary school kids!!" they got reprimanded.

"Quickly tidy up yourself and get into the house!! It's cold outside here" she ordered.

"Ano, Ryoma-kun…" Before the two of them proceed to go into the house, Sakuno pulled Ryoma's sleeves to stop him.

"What is it Sakuno?" he asked gently.

"Ryoma-kun, welcome home" she bit her lower lips and muttered diffidently at last.

"I'm home" his eyes softened as he gazed at her lovingly.

TBC

AN: Hello, everyone!! This is mi-chan again.

In fact I was kinda discouraged when I knew that out of 6,800 hit; mi-chan only received about 55 reviews and mostly from friends who supported me since long and readers who generously spent their time to post comments on my story. Well, not complaining, just feeling a little discouraged. (Angel mi-chan VS Devil mi-chan)

Guess mi-chan is still a 'madao' (Hit own heads and shook away negative thoughts)

I'm fine now. This is not only for those who read but also for all my friends and for those who supported me. I'm so happy to read all the wonderful reviews. You people rock!! This is because of the encouragement I was able to continue further.

Sorry for the delay as I was told by the doc to wear an arm sling as the sprain got worsen for the past two days. I'm so happy that I was able to resume typing today. Mi-chan is very diligent; never fails to apply medication on the injured part. Though the vein could still be seen swelling; it gets better if I did not use force and have enough rest.

So, with that said; please don't worry about me now! I've restore my 100 percent energy!! The proof, I can type such long messages (wink, wink)

The last two parts of the epilogue: Blessing & Future is still in progress. Hopefully the last two parts can be completed by this week; so mi-chan can continue with other pending fanfiction.

Angel-chan: (Chu) Yes. This is for you too. I don't want to hold back. Like I said before; the epilogue exceed the word count and I decided to split the one chapter epilogue into multi parts. Ah, I was planning to make Yagyu to read "Gintama" coz there's always a character (Yamazaki) from Gintama who cosplayed as Ryoma-kun. Oh; I thought I was a little exaggerated when I describe how the guys tried their luck, but I really like how it turns out to be.

tennisfan101: Thank you for your review too. I'm happy to know that you like how my epilogue is written; though a multi part EP shows my shortcomings. Unu? You don't find him OOC? Oh, you like that Atobe part? Guess all the Atobe fans will skin me alive!! Haha; but I'd laugh over my own ways of writing this part too. Mi-chan likes to crack puns afterall.

rose12136: I must apologize for keeping you wait. Sorry for dragging the story. I was recuperating. That was really good, a smut scene!! I dunno; I'm not very confident in making a smut story…mi-chan will have nose bleed coz when mi-chan think of this putting into that and that and this (faints). Oh, I should be the one who thank you for reading my story and taking your time to review my story too.

Special dedications: Angel-chan, Tsubame-chan, Chibi-Kari, Jomai, animeandmangaadict, Arihdni, tennisfan101, rose12136, catseyes007, oreocat101, RAMEN-monster, Fullmoon05, Arenja, Car2nfreak, animegal.zeronine, animelover11368, lilaznbunny, kawaiikireitenshi, SecondStoreyStairway, Dita5000, Forever Dreamin, reader713, Theresa, Karis Lee, Not Telling, NeverxAlone, sakunofan14, mALdiTa's Kiss, younggem, tiang-mei.na, SesshoumaruxRin.

Thank you friends and thank you for people who spent time to read and like my story and to all RyoSaku fans.

I hope that all of you will like it and please forgive me if I happened to: make silly mistakes (grammar, info & etc), said something offensive, did something silly? Please believe that mi-chan loves you all!!

Ja mata ne,

mi-chan yori