36 Drabbles

7: Coincidence

Ryuzaki Sakuno sighed, her chin cushioned by her two hands, which were supported by her elbows on her knees. Clad in a lovely summer dress (coloured light yellow with splashes of sky blue and lime green), Sakuno listened to the sound of the tennis ball rallying back and forth, watching Echizen Ryoma step from side-to-side. The person on the other side of the court perspired heavily, while his opponent was still breathing steadily.

Sakuno smiled a bit, mulling over how ironic everything turned out. The two of them happened to be sitting in the same train, Sakuno being bothered by a bunch of egotistic know-it-alls. They were swinging their rackets all over the place, coming close to hitting her in the face. Ryoma, on the other side of the train, noticed the commotion and intervened by baiting the three older boys. That soon led to Sakuno being dragged to an abandoned tennis court, watching Ryoma "defend" her from a bench outside the court.

Sighing again, the young girl watched as Ryoma began to score point after point, ruthlessly using his twist serve and winning games very quickly. The only reason she was still waiting here for him was because his opponent was calling "in" shots out (they landed on the white line, but he claims they landed outside the white line).

Kicking her feet against the soil beneath her and chocking up dust clouds, Sakuno sighed and lay down on the bench. She huffed, irritated at not being able to find a comfortable position. The girl had a feeling this match would go on longer than Ryoma intended it to, so she decided to take a short nap in the meantime. Only… she couldn't get to sleep.

Groaning a little, Sakuno threw an arm over her eyes to see if that would help (the sun cast bright lights onto her closed eyelids). It did help, as now she could see nothing but black, but it didn't make her fall asleep. All it did was heighten her sense of sound; so much she could hear Ryoma's opponent pant from some ways away, "look, your girlfriend can't stand to watch you lose!" Sakuno blushed horribly; keeping her embarrassment hidden by covering her cheeks with her other arm. Ryoma didn't say anything to that, probably ignoring that comment like he was ignoring Sakuno's presence. If she didn't meet him, he probably wouldn't have changed at all. But her?

Sometimes she did wonder what her life would be like if she didn't meet Ryoma. Would she be at home now, like where she originally planned to be when she got onto the train, sporting a bruise on her cheek from those boys? Being woken by a boyfriend's text message, or Tomoka gushing about a cute guy and complaining about her brothers? Staying up to practice the flute for her solo performance in the school concert? How had this chance meeting – coincidence – changed her?

Or was it really a coincidence?

As that thought struck her, Sakuno's eyes shot open. But the glare of the sun peeking through the sides of her arms made her close her eyes again, lest she be blinded by the light.

Who was to say it was a coincidence? Maybe it was a choice of the gods. For all Sakuno could know, their meeting could have been predetermined, could have been done just for some higher beings amusement. On a mere whim of a deity, they could have not met at all, and lived lives without the other. Sakuno could have gone on to be a famous singer, or actor, or flutist. She could've remained in the shadows all her life, working as a lowly secretary for some high-class company. Ryoma would still become a professional tennis player – it was what he was born to do, but would he have come back to Japan to finish schooling (would he have come to Japan at all?) and lounged on the top of the school roof during lunch with a pigtailed girl?

But what if gods didn't exist? What if there were no celestial beings controlling your every thought and decision? Maybe it was fate? Dare I say, destiny? Had their meeting been destined from the start, had their lives with each other been fate? Maybe they were friends, watching out for the other in their reincarnated life. Maybe they were strangers in the past, yet acquaintances in the present. Or maybe they were lovers in a past time, coming to meet once more in a heroic display of bravery by the man.

'Maybe…'

Sakuno groaned, feeling something tickling her ear.

"Ryuzaki… wake up."

Sakuno mumbled some incoherent words, trying to swat the ticklish thing away. There was a chuckle before something warm and calloused grabbed her wrist, trapping it so she wouldn't be able to swing it anymore.

"Come on, or I'm leaving you here." The voice said again, this time clearer as her brain began to focus on her surroundings. Letting out another groan, Sakuno's eyes cracked open and she could see the golden eyes of Ryoma staring at her, as emotionless as always. With a little shriek (hurting Ryoma's ears), Sakuno jolted up into a sitting position and immediately noticed that it wasn't as light as it was before she lost consciousness. In fact, the sun was just setting!

"Iyaaa~!" Sakuno exclaimed, her hands coming up to cover her open mouth. "R-Ryoma-kun, what time is it?" Ryoma shrugged, not really bothering to carry watches around with him. His cell phone battery was dead too, because he didn't notice he was using the music player during his match with the small fry. Sakuno scrambled for her phone, flicking it open and adjusting her eyes to the sudden brightness of the screen. "It's eight pm! Mou, grandmother is going to be so worried!" Ryoma took a slight step back, turning around in the direction of the subway station. Sakuno blinked. "Ryoma-kun?" The tips of his ears were red.

"Hurry up, or I'll leave you behind."

A wide smile blossomed over her face, like the sakura petals dancing around their mother tree. Grabbing her purse, shoving her cell phone in it and clutching the strap in front of her with both hands, Sakuno got up to follow the young tennis prince as he began to walk away. She could see the back of his regular jacket rustling from both his movement and the wind blowing. Scrunching her lips in thought, Sakuno came to a conclusion and hopped forward a bit, now walking beside Ryoma instead of behind him. Ryoma looked at her from the corner of his eyes under his hat, and then looked back to the station as his ears turned red again. Sakuno giggled, opting not to say anything and enjoying this new development in their budding relationship.

'Coincidence, fate, destiny, or anything in between; it doesn't matter so long as I am by his side.'

A/N Here's the seventh one for you guys!

My inspiration for this chapter was just Sakuno thinking about her meeting Ryoma for the first time, and how it was such a coincidence. I originally just planned for it to be her, lying on her bed and thinking about it, but then I thought that was too boring. So I added in some irony (everyone loves irony, right?) with the whole "Ryoma-saves-Sakuno-from-being-hit-in-the-face-again"! Like it?

A lollipop for anyone who reviews!

Snowflake Flower