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Announcement

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"I like you. I love you. I'm proud of you."

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'You may now read the tale.'

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Week 3

Wednesday Night

Ryoma noticed something was a little off with Sakuno the night he came home after a long day of tennis practice.

He still went home to a homemade dinner, but he could tell that she was distracted.

"Sakuno." He approached her after dinner as she was washing the dishes.

"Are you…" He hesitated for a moment. "Are you okay?"

The dishes clanged as she dropped the one she was holding.

Ryoma panicked for a moment. "Oi!" He grabbed her hands and made her look at him.

She surprised him when her eyes were misty.

On impulse, he hugged her and whispered, "It's okay."

He did not even know what he was comforting her from, but he wanted her to know that he was there for her.

Ryoma slowly rocked them back and forth as if they were slow dancing.

Over time, Ryoma felt that Sakuno was relaxing.

"I'm sorry, Ryoma," Sakuno said in a muffled voice. "But thank you."

He wanted to say something but opted to let his actions speak for himself.

Ryoma held her tighter in his arms.

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Week 3

Saturday

For the rest of the week, Ryoma trained harder for the upcoming match. It was a qualifying round for a much bigger tournament in America with a much smaller crowd but still a rowdy crowd nonetheless.

The media, of course, was present for the star of the match. No other than the Prince of Tennis.

When Ryoma came out, everyone went wild. Excited screams filled the tennis court as they cheered for him.

Ryoma was used to this, but Sakuno wasn't.

She immediately stiffened as she accompanied Ryoma into the court as wild cheers greeted them.

Sensing her nervousness, he gently took her hands into his, intertwining their fingers.

This comforted Sakuno.

When she looked at their hands, she felt happy because their fingers fit perfectly. She hoped Ryoma realized this.

Ryoma turned his head to look at her and gave her the smallest trace of smile on his lips that Sakuno felt her heart skip a beat.

And in that moment, in the middle of everything, Sakuno realized that she had fallen for him.

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Ryoma won all of his matches and the tournament itself. And all throughout, Sakuno was nothing but an attentive, caring wife. She wiped off his sweat, offered water, and cheered him silently as he played.

All of which did not go unnoticed by the media and by the crowd.

Even his fangirls were giving off this dangerous vibe. But Sakuno only focused her attention on him, never taking it off of him even for a moment.

As soon as he stepped off the podium, after the awarding ceremony, Sakuno was instantly at his side but so was the media. They rushed in, pushed Sakuno to the side that she almost stumbled.

That did not go unnoticed by Ryoma that he felt a vein pulse in annoyance.

"Excuse me," he said as he plowed through many faces, arms, and cameras to get to Sakuno.

When he was at her side, he asked, "Are you alright?"

She looked at him and gave a small nod.

Ryoma wrapped a protective arm around her waist and smirked at her.

His security warded the media off, keeping them at bay.

The media kept shouting questions at him, but the only one that stood out in Ryoma's ears was "What's the girl's relationship with you?"

Ryoma stopped, with Sakuno still in his arms. He faced the crowd.

"She is my wife," he simply said.

After which, all hell broke loose.


Notes from a Muddy Writer:

Okay so that was the shortest chapter for this story. XD But it felt right to end it like that. Future chapters are longer or I'll try to make them longer. Haha! Speaking of chapters, there's only 3 left with an epilogue... or was it 4? I plan to it end before the year ends. Oh boy. Here we go again. XD As always, thank you for reading and following and favorite-ing this story!

On to the replies:

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