Notes from a Muddy Writer:

And the seaweed-haired brat appears!

I'm sorry if he's not the 'normal' Kirihaya. I still haven't seen him act and all of that jazz. All I'm certain is that he's a cocky guy. The thing is he also has that other side (I think).

Actually, this chapter should've been all about them (Kirihara and Sakuno). Well, mostly of them comprising more than half of it. However, that was on the other drafts and as I was reading it again, I found it really boring and dull that I am sure you would find boring and dull too. So, there I was, rewriting the whole chapter like crazy, only to be segued by Tumblr. .

P.S. This is still un-beta(ed). I decided to publish it anyway for I can't wait~ I'll update this chapter once I have the beta-ed edition!


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The Start of The Rollercoaster Ride

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"I don't want to be married just to be married. I can't think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone I can't talk to, or worse, someone I can't be silent with."
Mary Ann Shaffer,The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

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'You may now read the tale.'

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Where did you go?

Received from: Ryoma a.k.a. The Prince of Grumpiness

Sakuno closed her phone as soon as she finished reading the text message. "Why would he care anyway?" she muttered to herself. "He sure did not care this morning."

Sakuno was looking out to the lake. She was sitting on to the edge of the boardwalk, her feet dangling on to the side. A sigh escaped her lips. Her day was a rollercoaster ride. It may have started good, went bad during the late morning, but it was surely redeemed when afternoon came. And she had one person to thank for.

"Sa-chan!"

The boy's voice brought Sakuno out of her reveries. She spun her head too fast that she bumped it against the wooden railing.

"Ouch." She closed her eyes to momentarily block out the pain.

"Are you okay?" The boy's footsteps clearly show that he was rushing out to her.

When she opened them, a warm pair of emerald eyes greeted her. They were full of concern. With their close proximity, Sakuno noticed his messy black hair. She remembered fondly the times when he was teased as the 'seaweed-haired brat' by his senpais. The boy reached out an arm to touch the area where she bumped on to the railing.

"Does it hurt still?" As he said this, he leaned in closer. He was rubbing the area with caress.

"No, it does not anymore, Akaya-kun."

"Sure?" Akaya asked once more, just to make sure. He leaned in more closely to emphasize his point.

"Yup, I'm sure." Then she realized. Sakuno heated up at the closeness of their faces. "A-Akaya-kun?"

"What's wrong?" He asked, oblivious to their current positions.

"Uh, actually," Sakuno stuttered. Why was it so hard to say again? Oh yeah. Because that would be plain awkward. "Uh…"

"Yes?"

"I-I t-think I'm okay now," Sakuno said while giving him a shy smile. She swore she could feel blood rushing up to her face, and she really don't want Kirihara to see that.

"Really? Well, then," he helped her up, "where do you plan to go next?"

"I think I have an idea."

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The hours she spent with Kirihara were a total breath of fresh air for Sakuno. She momentarily forgot her worries about her married life, even though her marriage had not lasted for a full day yet. But whatever, that will have to be put off until later.

"Ne, Sakuno-chan," Kirihara called her attention while they were casually walking down a street. Their stomachs full from their latest food trip.

"Why do you wear a ring on you ring finger? Isn't that where wedding rings supposed to go to?" Kirihara asked with a naïve tone.

Sakuno almost stumbled on to the ground at his question. "Ha?"

'Shoot! Now what do I explain to him?!'

Kirihara repeated his question again to Sakuno. He made a show of pointing her ring finger.

'Think, Sakuno, think! And think fast!'

"Actually," she began, well more of like stalled. "A friend of my told me to keep the reason a secret. So, sorry Akaya-kun, can't tell you." After that, she gave out a nervous laugh.

That was such a lame excuse that even a five-year old kid would know that it was a lie. However, Sakuno was still hoping, with all of her heart, that Kirihara will buy the story.

"Is that so?" he raised an eyebrow in question.

"Of course!" Sakuno answered too quickly.

"Well, I guess there's no helping it," Kirihara conceded.

"Thank goodness." Sakuno's voice was so low she did not expect anyone to hear it. However, with Kirihara's radar ear, honed by tennis, nothing escapes him.

"What did ya say, Sakuno-chan?"

"N-nothing."

They continued walking, not really having a destination. It is all because of Kirihara's belief: we will know it when we see it.

What exactly were they looking for?

After a few minutes of walking, it tired Sakuno out. She just wanted to go home now.

"Ano, Kirihara-kun."

"Yes, what is it Sakuno-chan?" But even as he was speaking, his eyes were on the various shops around them, looking for that perfect one where they could stop by at.

"I'm sorry to cut the trip short, but could we please go home now? Going on to the amusement park really drained me," she admitted shyly.

"Oh? Oh! Of course! Why don't you let me escort you back home? Would that be okay?"

"Un!"

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It was dark when Sakuno arrived at their little apartment. The silence was unnerving, like someone had not been in there for a long, long time.

She turned on the lights and changed into her comfy clothes: a loose white shirt and her favorite jean shorts.

Sakuno realized Ryoma had not been around the house for the whole day.

The whole place was really organized, like they had not been touched, and the most obvious one of all, their car—or rather his car— had been missing in the garage.

"Now where would that grumpy prince be?" she muttered.

Since there was nothing to do, Sakuno decided it would be nice to cook something for Ryoma.

"That idiot of a man has probably not eaten his dinner yet."

And like a good wife that she is, Mrs. Echizen cooked dinner for her husband.

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How many hours had it been since she finished making their dinner?

Sakuno had lost count of the seconds, the minutes, and the hours that had passed that she did not notice she had fallen asleep on the table. She immediately straightened up and rubbed off the sleep from her eyes.

Through her blurry vision, she could make out a shape watching her. Or at least that is what she thought. She could not be sure since her eyesight's still blurry and all.

"What are still doing down here?" A boy's voice chimed in. She very well knew who owned that voice.

"The table's not a bed."

"R-Ryoma-kun?" She squinted.

"Who else d'you expect?" Ryoma answered in a monotonous voice.

"I made dinner—"

"Not hungry." Afterwards, he heaved her heavy tennis back on to his shoulders and marched upstairs.

'That jerk! And think, I wasted all my efforts preparing this.'

Sakuno eyes the now cold dinner, made to wait but never eaten. It would all be a waste if disposed of it now. She decided that it will be refrigerated and re-heated by morning. With that happy thought, she followed Ryoma upstairs and plopped down on to her soft bed, always minding the division between his side of the bed and her side of the bed.


Replies:

And now, replies for my ever sweet reviewersssssssssss!

yukina-chan15- uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Yukina-chaaaaaaan! Gawd, I felt guilty when you typed 'please update soon'. ;_; I hope you got your answer regarding the person talking to Sakuno over the phone. Nice observation you got there about Ryoma falling for Sakuno. ;) Poor Sa-chan and how I make things hard for her… lol. I don't think her spirit's going to be dampened (enough) anyway… so yeah… Sorry for the long wait and hope you like this update even if it's quite short.

0202- Hi thereeeeee! Yeah, I've been thinking about it and here's that character. Not much but hopefully we will see some action in the following chapters… *smiles evilly* "make it humourous i guess!" Aaaaaw, I'm really trying (would you believe me?) But with the events of the past few months, I can't even believe myself to be smiling/laughing that much again. Hopefully I'll recuperate to be able to put humor into my works. Thanks for the review!

ulquihime7980- hahahaha… yes you are right, aren't you? ;) Wow, that's a whole new point of view… yeah, they need to sort out their issues with one another. Lol~

cloudgoddess- Aaaaaaaaw, I also had this kind of experience. I even asked my father once to arrange my marriage to my favorite K-Pop star! I like begged him to really go there (Korea) one day to talk to the family (of my Korean bias) and arrange our marriage. I then imagined our house and our babies, which would be twins, a boy and a girl. Yup, I know. I'm crazy like that. XD Just read between the lines and you'll know! Thanks for the review~

lechat23- Oh my gossssssssssh! I kinda get your drift… XD "expect neither fidelity nor intimacy" but I really don't think this will stop Ryoma from breaking the rules. Whoops! XD

Guest- Hi there, Guest! Sorry if this chapter was like delayed for agessssss! Just wait for the next chap, 'kay? I don't think it'll be as long as it took this one. Thanks for the review!

Slam'in Burst- Aaaaaaaaw, thanks for the love and review for this story!

Shizurei- Thank you for liking the 'irregular' Ryoma! Hahahaha… Thank you very much for the review!

Lancedark- Whoaaaaaaaaaaa~~~ Absolutely love your review! Don't worry about the length of the review~ it's the thought that counts! Hahahaha, I'm reaaaaaally sorry it took long to update. Please look forward to the next chapters! :D

Hinate- Hahaha… RyoSaku love FOREVEEEEEEER! We'll see about that request of yours. *evil glints*

DearestELFriend- Daijoubo! Daijoubo! I'm also sorry for the late update~ High five for agreeing with 'actions speak louder than words'. Great observation! 'Ryoma got jealous I think and it's just seeing Sakuno's answering a phone call .. XD' I know right~ Wonder what he will do with more than just seeing Sakuno answering a phone call. XD And I'll see what I can do with your suggested idea! Thank you very much!

Heartluv- Confused, jealous Ryoma FTW! Hahahaha… XD

May-Tears- Thank you for loving this story! And please do look forward with the upcoming chapters of Legally Married!

Lyfa- Lyfa-chaaaaaaaan! It's really okay. Sorry for the late update~ You! You're AWESOME! You take time to review even if you're not logged in! Thanks for reviewing and continue supporting this little fic of mine!

Your reviews, guys, just make me happy and smile stupidly. They do lift up my spirits during the lowest points of my life. Thank you very much for that!

Notes from a Muddy Writer:

Sorry this took like forever to squeeze out. You cannot imagine how tragic it was for me the past few months. That's why I'm kind of 'recuperating' right now to restore my state of mind. Gooooooooosh!

If you'd allow me to ramble on a bit, I'd like to say that, on the plot line I made for this story, I am like half-way of 'Chapter 5'. I have to split it up again because if I do write the entire thing, I feel like it would just be nonsense. I'd like to start fresh, start anew with each chapter. Please excuse me if it's short! Perhaps the next update will not take up a million years to published since I do have a lot of free time now… hoping that Tumblr won't distract me, my remaining 'school works' won't beckon me back to them and that I won't spend most of my free time worry of what should I really take up for college. With that being said, I bid you all a good day! :3

Preview:

Warning!

It is pretty much untitled still.

Just a quote for Chapter 8.

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"There is always a soft spot in my heart for you— even when you've done wrong, even when you've let me down, even when you couldn't care less."

Lovetrains

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