Disclaimer: not mine. (A/N at the end. PLEASE READ!)

"Sanada, you're in love."

In love. In love. In love. In love. In love…

Sanada gritted his teeth and slammed his racket down onto the ground, panting and glaring at the hole he had created in the wooden practice wall. Bloody fantastic.

It had been a full month since he and Kimiko had talked, and he was getting sick of knowing that he was in the wrong, and he couldn't do anything about it because she wouldn't say a word to him.

All right, sure. It was his fault. But how was he to apologize if she wouldn't talk to him?

It's called approaching her yourself, a tiny voice inside his head said. He pushed it away and picked up his racket. He'd think about it later. Now wasn't the time.

Yet he was reminded of it anyways. As he bounced the tennis ball, two of his teammates bounded over to him. "Hey, vice captain, where's Moriyama-san been this past month?"

Sanada turned and glowered at them, alarming Marui and Akaya. "Uh oh…"

He was about to vent his frustration when he heard a cough from behind him. Turning around, he saw Yanagi and Yukimura looking at him expectedly, and he apologized gruffly to the innocent duo. He subsequently stalked off in the other direction to find some personal space.

As he quickly strode off the courts, heading towards the water fountain, he heard Yanagi's and Yukimura's footsteps behind him. Sanada walked faster; he was not in the mood to talk.

Reaching his destination, he immediately took off his cap and plunged his head into the stream of water from the fountain. The cool liquid soaked into his hair and flowed quickly off his face back into the drain. But icy as the water was, Sanada's blood was still boiling.

"Genichirou."

"Don't even get started, Seiichi."

"That's my line. You've got to do something."

"100% chance that even if Seiichi tried, he couldn't change anything, Genichirou. It's your problem. You've got to fix this."

"Nothing would change anyways."

"You think it wouldn't."

"I 'think' the truth!"

"Gen, Kimiko—"

The unexpected vibrating of Yukimura's phone cut him off. All three boys jumped slightly.

Yukimura bristled and flipped his phone open. "Who and what do you want?"

Sanada and Yanagi looked at Yukimura silently while he continued his conversation with the other person.

"Oh, it's you."

"Yes, he's here."

"No, bad idea."

"Fine then."

Yukimura abruptly took the phone away from his ear and tossed it at Sanada. "He wants to talk to you. Don't screw up."

Sanada looked at the phone, then Yukimura, then Yanagi, and then back to the phone. Warily examining the unidentified caller ID, he put the device to his ear. "Sanada speaking. Who is this?"

"It's me."

What was this guy doing calling Seiichi? "What's your business?"

"Kimiko."

"How do you know her?" Sanada barely kept suspicion from coloring his voice.

"We're cousins."

Tezuka and Moriyama are cousins? He couldn't see the resemblance, but that was beside the point. "Ok, Tezuka, if she's going to be in the conversation, I'm hanging up."

"Wait."

"What's the use of talking to me? I have no connection to her anymore."

"She does to you."

"What?"

Sanada heard a sigh on the other end. "Put it on speaker phone, Sanada. I'm assuming Yanagi's there, too."

He did as he was told, and the three of them huddled around, forming a tight triangle around Yukimura's cellphone.

"Yanagi, did you pass on everything to Sanada?"

"No, not quite yet. My data said that there was a 50% chance he'd get the big picture with just—"

"Forget it. I'll tell him myself."

"Just what are you talking about?" Sanada was becoming frustrated about the fact that he seemed to be the only one not in on anything.

"Kimiko loves you."

A stunned silence trailed after the statement. He added after a moment's thought, "A lot."

Yukimura smirked. "You really do things bluntly, don't you, Tezuka?"

He glanced over at Sanada. They had revealed to him that she liked him. Yukimura sighed. His hopes of his friend figuring out for himself that she loved him had just gone completely down the drain. And it was glaringly obvious that Sanada was having trouble coping with the magnitude of the truth.

Like, yes. That much was clear. But love? At this age? Nonsense.

Sanada stared at the phone in his hand. For the first time in his life, he was truly unsure of the path he wanted to take. Or to be more specific—unsure of how to begin walking the way he did want to go.

"Sanada?" Tezuka's voice broke into his reverie.

"Just give me a moment."

Sanada closed his eyes, thinking. Just shutting out everything except the one topic he was concentrating on…Kimiko's face slowly appeared in his mind.

Happy memories of the tutoring sessions and walks to classes flew through like a whirlwind. The time he realized she was actually accelerated, the times when she collapsed on the floor, doubled over in laughter. Sanada's lips unconsciously twitched upwards.

But with the happy thoughts, Sanada realized exactly how much of an idiot he had been. From when Kimiko had run out of his house crying because he had insulted her passion—to his ignorance of timing and how much she really meant to him.

He liked the way her hair fluttered in the breeze, her chime-like laugh and the glow it brought to her face.

He liked the way her eyes danced with amusement when she couldn't laugh out loud, her company, the times she sat beside him in silence or conversation.

He liked her.

No. That wasn't right. Sanada felt the sun's rays warm his back. Taking in a deep breath through his nostrils, he opened his eyes with a new fire sparked within him. He loved her, Kimiko Moriyama.

"Hey, Tezuka."

"Mhm."

"How is she?"

"Mad." Yukimura snorted at the monotonous reply. No duh.

"But, she misses you."

Sanada inhaled sharply, hesitating.

"Sanada?"

"Did she tell you that herself?"

"Yes."

"That's sufficient, Tezuka. Thanks." Sanada made a move to end the call when the caller stopped him.

"Sanada. One thing."

"Quickly."

"Someone else wants to talk to you."

"Hah?" Sanada raised an eyebrow, looking up at his two friends for clues. They looked back at him, shrugging. We don't know either.

"He's here."

Sanada focused back on the phone. Who on earth could this—?

"Sanada. I hear that you're wooing Kimi-hime, ahn~?"

Sanada fought back a groan. "Atobe," he spat, and ground his teeth in frustration. Great. Another person to add into the equation.

"How do you know Moriyama?"

"Do you know the school she went to before Rikkaidai?"

"Hyosei Elementary."

Atobe paused. Sanada listened attentively, waiting for a response, but getting none.

Atobe sighed and said, "You're an idiot."

"In what sense exactly?"

"Oh? So you admit it?"

"Atobe…" Sanada said warningly.

"Like I said, you're an idiot. What does Hyosei sound like, moron? Ahn~?"

Sanada's forehead creased. He thought. And thought. And finally realizing Atobe's point, he had to refrain from smacking himself upside the head. Yes. He was an idiot. In all senses. He was losing his mind both emotionally and academically.

"Kimiko was on the student council while she was at Hyosei—I met her through Choutarou and Shishido. Shishido's her cousin. And, well, Choutarou—I'm surprised he didn't ask her out," Atobe drawled.

Sanada wasn't listening closely enough to get irritated. "Of course Hyosei sounds like Hyotei!" …Wait. So Atobe had met Kimiko before he did? It wasn't exactly something to be surprised about…but that unsettled Sanada. A bout of jealousy stabbed at him. He didn't like that. Not one bit. Especially because the person happened to be a pompous, attention-grabbing, womanizing—

"Hey, Sanada. Listen up. I want princess to be happy."

Sanada tilted his chin up a fraction of a degree before catching himself. For Christ's sake, what was he nodding for?

Tezuka took over. "Basically, if you make her cry—"

"All right, I get it." Sanada snapped the phone shut, simply standing there and staring downwards at the cellphone in his hand, his expression unreadable.

"Genichirou?" Yukimura and Yanagi had reason to be worried. Their friend didn't seem to be handling the situation emotionally well.

Sanada thought quickly. He had to get her back. He loved her. He wanted her by his side. He—wait.

"Guys. What day is it today?" Sanada's head jerked up to stare at Yukimura and Yanagi.

"The 14th of March."

"Good." Sanada began briskly walking off the courts.

"Hey, Genichirou! Where are you going?" Yukimura shouted after his quickly disappearing silhouette.

"To get the one thing I really need," Sanada yelled in reply without turning backwards. His eyes set forward towards his goal, his fast-paced walk quickly became too time-consuming, and Sanada broke out into an all out run towards the school building.

Yukimura and Yanagi looked at each other and grinned.

"Well," Yukimura said, "that turned out well."

"100% successful."

Sanada ran as fast as his legs would take him. The wind nipped at his cheeks, but he ignored it. He was a man on a mission.

Running through the school building's open doors, he dashed to the student council room and flung the door open. "Moriyama!"

Silence ensued as several pairs of eyes turned in shock to the intruder.

"…Sa…nada?" a shaky voice penetrated through the stunned silence like a knife through butter. Sanada immediately shifted his gaze to where the voice came from. He stormed over to Kimiko and grabbed her roughly by the arm.

"H-hey!"

"I'll be borrowing her for a bit," he said brusquely to the stunned council members. The vice president could only nod back in a daze. Sanada hurriedly thanked him and subsequently dragged a loudly protesting Kimiko out of the room, slamming the door behind them with a mighty bang.

The entire room shook with the force Sanada used to close the door, and the vice president was startled back into business mode. He clapped his hands. "All right, guys, let's get back to work while Moriyama-san is occupied."

"Hey, Sanada! Let go! It hurts!"

He ignored her, continuing to drag her through the empty hallway.

"Let go, I said!"

He didn't slow down. No response. Not even a flinch.

Kimiko narrowed her eyes. What's with him today? She glared at her "captor." "CUT IT OUT ALREADY!" she yelled, digging her heels into the floor and yanking her arm away from his grip.

Sanada stopped and turned to stare silently at her. "What?" he asked coolly.

'What?' he says! What does he mean 'what'? He's the one who unreasonably dragged me this whole way! Kimiko was absolutely fuming. "What do you want?"

Sanada said nothing, choosing to instead stare at Kimiko, who began to feel edgy under his unwavering gaze.

Minutes passed—the hall was completely silent; as cliché as it was, Kimiko really could hear the unfaltering movements of the clock's second hand. Tick, tock, it went. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. A bead of sweat rolled down her temple; she licked her drying lips.

Sanada finally took a single, cautious step, towards Kimiko, but still saying nothing, betraying no emotion.

In an instinctive response, she took a hurried step back.

Two steps forward, two steps backwards. A lunge towards her, a lunge away from him. They continued on and on, a waltz of to and fro, towards and away…

"Oof!" Kimiko's back eventually struck onto the hard wall in her last ditch efforts to get away from Sanada.

He stopped for a moment, and Kimiko swore she saw a smirk flit across his stony features before he slammed his arms over her head, trapping her in between him and the wall.

…H-hah? Kimiko's mind was blank with shock. What's with this… flustered, she looked around. AWKWARD POSITION MUCH!

Sanada finally spoke. "Hey, Moriyama, isn't it about time you talked to me again?"

Kimiko cringed slightly at the accusation, but quickly recovered her cool facade. "I don't see why there is a necessity for me to speak with you, Sanada."

"Oh?" Sanada's voice took on a dangerous tone. He again fell silent and stared intensely at Kimiko, searching her eyes with a disconcertingly piercing glare. She couldn't help but squirm a little bit.

Ugh, I have to get out of here. …All right, she decided on a shotgun escape plan. On the count of three, I'll scream for help. At least I'll be able to run. Ok? One. Two. Thr—

"You like me, don't you?" Sanada's voice sliced through the fog of Kimiko's brain. Shocked, she froze like a deer in headlights, only able to gape back at the boy in front of her.

Sanada coolly raised an eyebrow. "So it's true."

Kimiko's chest ached at the smirk on his face. Look at that confidence. I can't…I can't beat him. Shock. Pain. Confusion was dancing a tango with her heart as unsuppressed fury began to well up from the mental abyss it had been suppressed and locked away in.

"And I heard that someone had prepared chocolates for me, but didn't have the guts to gi—"

"And whose fault is that!" A strangled wail erupted from Kimiko's throat, surprising both Sanada and herself. Tears began to well up in her eyes, spilling out drop by pained drop. Kimiko messily wiped them away with her palms; Sanada could only watch in surprise.

This wasn't what I planned to say to him…

I didn't mean…to hurt her…

"H-hey…" All sarcasm and cockiness gone, Sanada reached out a tender hand, but Kimiko sensed it and smacked it away.

"Why did it have to be you? Why are you the one who can control my emotions like obedient pawns in the palms of your hands? Why you…?" she shrieked, having completely lost all self-control. "Why do I have to love you?"

Sanada's eyes grew wide at her unintentional confession, and his gaze softened. His stiffened cage-like arms loosened just the slightest bit; he tried to give her some room to breathe.

But Kimiko just continued. "Why are you even here, Sanada? Why do you even care if I talk to you or not? Didn't you say so yourself? We have no relationship to each other at all! You're just my old tu—MMPHHH!"

Sanada smothered her cries into his chest. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he quickly pulled her to him in the middle of her rant, burying his chin into her hair.

"I—" Sanada's voice broke; he cleared his throat and tried again. "I have something to correct."

Kimiko had quieted by this time, and lifted her head from Sanada's chest. "Something…to correct?"

"Something very important." Sanada's face was turned the other way to hide the almost imminent pink on his high cheekbones.

Kimiko was getting a vague idea of what he wanted to say. "And that is?"

"Er. Well. Um." Sanada awkwardly cleared his throat again. "That is…er…"

"That is…?" Kimiko was starting to enjoy herself—her frustration gone now that she was beginning to understand exactly how Sanada ticked.

"I…" Sanada began.

Kimiko grinned. "You…?"

"I…about you…"

"Yes?"

Sanada took a deep breath. Calm down. You can do this. Don't screw up. He exhaled, and said out loud what had been in his heart all this time. "I love you."

Kimiko laughed in joy and threw her arms around his neck. "I do too, Sanada-kun! I love you too!"

He was frozen on the spot the moment she hugged him, but then relaxed and returned the embrace. "Thank you," he whispered gratefully. (To her, or to God, we'll never know.)

Suddenly, an important task popped into his head. He pulled a puzzled Kimiko away from him and set her down on the ground. "Turn around and close your eyes," he said with a rare smile.

She did as he asked, albeit a bit confused. "What's going on?" She heard the sound of something rattling inside a container.

"Wait for 5 seconds please."

Kimiko decided to be obedient, but for fun, counted out the seconds. "5…4…3…2…1…"

"All right, you imp, turn around now."

She turned around meekly, and immediately was met with Sanada's deep laughter. "Open your eyes, too."

So she opened them.

And what a sight she beheld! Dangling from Sanada's fingers was a delicate silver necklace with a lovely chain and a crystal pendant in the middle…?

"Sanada-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Um…"

He panicked. "Is it not to your liking?"

Kimiko almost laughed at his wide-eyed fear. "No, no," she waved her hand to reassure him that she liked it plenty. "But what's with this crescent shaped pendant?"

"Ah, that." Sanada put a hand on the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Well, you see, I've got a silver version of the other half." He reached into his back pocket and brought out a similar silver chain. Sure enough, there was the mirror image of the crystal pendant on Kimiko's necklace. He took the two pendants and put them together, shifting them until they matched, and then showed it to her.

Kimiko gasped. It's… "a heart," she breathed.

"U-uh…yeah…" Sanada laughed awkwardly. "Cheesy of me, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Kimiko nodded, causing Sanada to sigh. But she then added, "I like it."

"Really?"

"Yup." She turned to him with a smile like the sun.

Stunned, he looked back down at the necklaces in his hands. "S-shall I help you put it on?"

"Oh, sure. Thank you." Hands shaking slightly, Sanada draped her necklace around her neck and closed the clasp. Kimiko looked down at it and smiled tenderly. "It's beautiful."

She turned to Sanada. "Can I put yours on you too?"

"Eh?" Sanada took a step back.

"What? You put something binding like this on me. It's my turn!"

"N-no. Er, not that, I'm really happy you feel that way, but I d-don't usually wear stuff like this."

"I don't care. Stay still!" Kimiko sat him down on a random bench in the hallway and made him face the other way. Quickly draping and fastening the necklace, she turned him around again and grinned cheekily. "Now we're even."

"Yeah." Sanada smiled defeatedly back, reaching out a hand to tentatively ruffle her hair, though she protested playfully. "Happy White Day, Kimiko."

A/N: OMG IM SO SORRY TO EVERYONE! IT TOOK A LOT OF TIME TO GET STARTED AGAIN! IM SO SORRY! IM 3 MONTHS LATE I KNOW IM SO SORRY!

I hope you guys liked this chapter. If anyone wants any adjustments I'll do it, so just tell me! I feel like this one was kinda rushed, but it was 'cause I really wanted to "see" you guys again, so I pushed through a couple all-nighters to finish this!

Is it any better than the other chapters? I was hoping for some character development. Sanada seriously needed to get his love meter on!

Anyways, once more, I'M SOOOO SORRY! And thank you to everyone who supported me! I love you all! Hope to hear from you soon!

~Hime-chan