36 Drabbles

4: Bye Bye

If someone ever asked another person to describe Ryuzaki Sakuno in one word, each and every one of them would answer with "selfless".

"Ryuzaki-san, can I borrow a pen?" A student in her class asked her, a nice smile on his face. Sakuno recognized the person who kept asking her for writing utensils because he never returned any of the pens she gave him. With a slightly strained smile, Sakuno looked to the pen she was holding in her hand. It was her last one, and the teenager sighed as she told herself she needed to go shopping for more.

"S-sure." Sakuno answered, reaching her hand out to give it to him. Another hand caught her wrist though, stopping her from dropping the pen into her classmate's palm.

"Borrow mine." Echizen Ryoma said, eyes narrowed in a glare as he stared his classmate down. He flicked the pen at the other student's head, where it smacked into his forehead and dropped into his waiting hands. The boy gulped, staring with wide eyes at the captain of Seigaku's tennis team.

"T-thanks!" The boy exclaimed, before dashing off to join his friends on the other side of the classroom. Ryoma watched him leave; glare never lessening until Sakuno made a noise of discomfort. Like a hot iron just touched his skin, Ryoma dropped Sakuno's wrist from his hold and shifted to stare directly at her. She flinched, hating it when he looked at her so unnervingly like that.

"Let's go." Ryoma said gruffly, not waiting for an answer and stepping out of the classroom. With a nod that he missed, Sakuno grabbed the bento boxes from beside her and rushed out the classroom, hot on Ryoma's heels. They were headed for their normal lunchtime spot; the roof.

When the two of them arrived there, a quick scour of the area told Ryoma they would be alone. Sometimes, when the both of them got up here, there would already be clumps of students occupying the area. It usually only took a single glare for them to pack their lunches and go running back into the school, but Ryoma was not in a mood to be scaring off annoying schoolmates, so he was relieved when he found the rooftop empty.

Shuffling over to the side a bit, Ryoma plopped down on the ground and leaned against the wall, watching Sakuno settle herself down beside him and begin unpacking the lunches. She worked quietly and efficiently, having done this for quite a long time (two and a half months, to be exact). Sakuno shivered a bit, imagining winter was coming soon and they wouldn't be able to eat lunch up on the roof for a while. Telling herself not to dwell, Sakuno handed Ryoma his bento and began to eat her own.

Ryoma, shoving clusters of rice into his mouth, kept glancing at Sakuno from the corners of his eyes, though the shy girl didn't see. He finished with his lunch fairly quickly; even quicker than he usually did. Packing away the bento and sliding it towards her, Ryoma was able to get Sakuno's attention and leaned back against the wall. She paused in her lunch, storing the empty bento away in her bag before finishing off her own lunch as well.

Ryoma waited for her to clear off the crumbs of her lunch, before turning around and laying his head on her lap. His cap was somewhere in his locker today, so Ryoma was able to enjoy the feeling of Sakuno's fingers combing his dark hair. They both were silent for some time, just enjoying the atmosphere and presence of the other. A light smile danced at Sakuno's lips as she watched the prince of tennis nap.

The last few months had been nothing but bliss, Sakuno couldn't help but think. In their time together, the two had only grown closer as friends (and possibly something more, Sakuno hoped). She knew, for a fact that her feelings grew from simply "like" to possibly love. It was hard to say, given she was only a third year in middle school and they had only really become close for the past two and a half months. Nevertheless, Sakuno could only bask in this moment and imagine a future with Ryoma by her side.

Until Ryoma let it all come crashing down.

"I'm going back to America."

"Sakuno…" Ryuzaki Sumire murmured, her arm around her granddaughter's shoulders as they stood in the airport terminal. Ryoma's father wanted to go back to the U.S so Ryoma's reputation as a tennis star could grow. He already hired a tennis manager for his young son, and that manager already arranged exhibition matches for the prodigy to participate in. He had also already asked a few companies to sponsor the young tennis star, and signed Ryoma up to promote athletic sportswear (like Fila) and beverage companies (like ponta).

In short, Ryoma was going to be the next international superstar.

"This is good for him." Sakuno repeated to herself, taking a deep breath to quell the tears. "Ryoma can learn more in his travels while he works. He can bring pride to Japan, and become the most famous person in the entire world! I'm happy for him." 'But I'm completely miserable.' Sakuno kept that thought to herself, thinking of all the publicity Japan will get from Ryoma's popularity. At this point, her feelings didn't matter.

"Yo."

Sakuno smiled (a strained, happy smile) as Ryoma came near. He was dressed casually, in shorts and a sweater with his trademark Fila cap on his head. A tennis racket was in one hand, probably because Ryoma just came from rallying a ball against a wall outside the airport. Sumire put on a smirk, clapping the young boy on the shoulder.

"I'm proud of you Ryoma." Sumire said. With a small side-glance to Sakuno, Ryoma's tennis coach breezed past the two teenagers to go talk to Ryoma's father, Echizen Nanjiroh. Ryoma watched her go, before he turned his gaze to the younger Ryuzaki. Her head was down, looking at the ground in an expression he was unable to identify.

"G-good luck, Ryoma-kun." Sakuno said, smiling at him. Her fingers twisted each other painfully from behind her back. "I know you'll do great." Ryoma stared at her for a long while, his golden eyes unreadable from beneath his tennis cap. Behind him, you could hear the sobs spewing from Horio's mouth, and Tomoka's shrieks of "RYOMA-SAMA!!"

Ryoma was going to say something, his mouth opening, but the announcer cut him off.

"All passengers boarding the plane for the United States of America, please begin heading to customs. I repeat, all passengers boarding the plane for the United States of America, please begin heading to customs."

Nanjiroh leaped over, grabbing Ryoma by the neck with his arm. "Come on boy, or we'll miss our flight!" There was a gleeful look in his face, completely opposite of the scowl ripping over Ryoma's. "See ya later, old hag, cute Sakuno! Don't forget to watch us on international television!!" And without giving his son any chance to speak, whisked him away until he was nothing but a speck in the distance.

"And there they go." Sumire sighed, turning to address her granddaughter. "Ne, Sakuno? Sakuno?!" She exclaimed, seeing a tear trail slowly down the young girl's pale cheek. There was a smile, a happy, strained smile, breaking over her face.

"Bye bye, Ryoma-kun."

The next morning, when Sakuno left home later than she usually did, there was nothing more surprising than seeing Ryoma standing on the sidewalk outside her house, a big scowl on his face.

"Ryuzaki!" He barked. "Coach is going to chew my head out cause we're late!"

"R-Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno whispered, her braids flying behind her as she ran past the gate and into his arms. "Ryoma-kun!" The tennis prodigy was blushing faintly as he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"My baka oyaji was playing a joke on me." Ryoma muttered. "He wants me to finish school in Japan first, before he skirts me around all over the world." Sakuno didn't even hear him, so much relief clouding her system she couldn't think straight, only knowing that he was here and not somewhere else she couldn't reach him. Hugging him tighter, Sakuno could only cry tears of joy.

"Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno started, calming herself and backing away to smile happily in his eyes. Ryoma's heart fluttered a little, seeing the droplets littering the corners of her eyes and the way her lips were curved into a beautiful smile.

"Welcome home."

A/N And here's the fourth one! It took a lot less time than any of the other ones, but I had a little more trouble writing it. (sweatdrop)

The inspiration for this chapter was also kind of varied. I didn't want to do a standard "bye bye" theme, like Ryoma and Sakuno leaving school and saying goodbye to each other. I thought maybe if Ryoma had to go back to America, it would be more "bye bye" like. The reason Sakuno's so torn up about this in this theme (cause when Ryoma had to go to America before, Sakuno wasn't so broken) is because they've grown closer and Sakuno's feelings are growing stronger for him. At least, that's my logic behind it, lol.

Please review; I'd like feedback!

Snowflake Flower