36 Drabbles
12: Clumsiness
Pok.
Pok.
Pok.
The steady sound of tennis balls brought Echizen Ryoma to a state of awareness, calmly analyzing his regular's play styles. Kachiro and Katsuo were going up against each other, the match not ending because they both knew each other so well. Ryoma was going to have to remember to never let them play a match against each other. Horio was refereeing, but he shoved the task onto someone else when one of the other tennis regulars challenged him to a match.
Ryoma sighed, getting up.
"Eh, where are you going Echizen-buchou?" He heard a first year ask him. Ryoma sent them a nonchalant look. Of course, to the freshman it looked to be a glare and not his normal facial expression (it could be the sun shining down on a certain angle, or it could be the second year's rumours of the "demon prince").
"Water taps." He answered, before turning and walking off. The first years merely cowered in place, clutching the basket of tennis balls.
Pok.
Pok.
Pok.
Plunk.
"Mou! Stupid tennis ball!"
Ryoma looked over, seeing a short, brown-haired girl glaring at a tennis ball on the ground and rubbing her head. Her hair was split in two, braided in short pigtails. She looked very frustrated, Ryoma almost feeling like he could see steam coming out of her ears.
"Sakura, what's wrong?"
Ryoma's head jolted to the side, seeing Sakuno walk up to the younger girl named Sakura. She was wearing her tennis uniform (a t-shirt and a skirt, with a headband and wristbands) and holding her tennis racket. There was a fine sheen of sweat glinting all over her skin, showing how she had just finished warming up. Her shirt clung to the contours of her body, free for Ryoma to rake his eyes over.
"Ah! Sakuno-senpai! The ball keeps hitting me in the head." Sakura said, pouting. Sakuno giggled a little, picking up the tennis ball lying on the floor. Her skirt rode up, and Ryoma's eyes flickered to the skin revealed because of that. His eyes narrowed, wondering how she could be so careless in public, where everyone could see her.
Sakuno handed the tennis ball back to Sakura, instructing her to try again. The younger girl nodded, beginning her "match" against the wall. She constantly ran to the left and right, trying to hit it before it went past her. The ball hit very random spots of the wall, and Sakuno merely observed her kouhai's form as she rallied. Finally, Sakuno stopped Sakura and walked a little ways off, to her tennis bag and taking out her own tennis ball.
"You're swinging your racket wrong, Sakura. And your footwork could use some work as well. Also, try bending your knees; it helps. Here, let me show you." Sakura stepped back, her eyes shining a little as she waited to be awed by her senpai's performance. Sakuno served, her back arching gracefully and her arm swinging down to hit the tennis ball. It bounced against the wall, rebounding and coming back at her. She simply swung her arm and hit it again, the ball coming close to hitting the exact same spot as before. It went on for a while, Sakura in awe at her senpai's form and simply watching her.
'Not bad…' Ryoma thought, wondering in the back of his mind where the clumsy Ryuzaki Sakuno had gone. Immediately after that thought transpired, Sakuno's left foot stepped behind her right foot, onto a stone pebble. Usually, that wouldn't have fazed her, but she stepped on it with the front of her foot, causing her to stumble. As a result, her arm was unable to ready itself to hit the tennis ball, and it came flying at her face.
Ryoma, quick on his feet, dashed forward and wrapped one arm around her waist, tugging her sideways and causing her shoulder to fall on his chest. The other arm reached forward, catching the tennis ball easily. Sakuno's racket clattered to the floor, her hands clutching the sleeve of his t-shirt, blush flitting all across her cheeks as she realized what happened. Sakura was off to the side, a little embarrassed to be seeing the esteemed Prince of Tennis up close, especially with an emotion displayed on his face.
Ryoma was smirking almost mischievously. He let go of Sakuno, letting her regain her balance and bending down to pick up her racket, letting the tennis ball go. Instead of giving it to her, though, Ryoma decided to give Sakuno a little more pointers. Pointers reminiscent of a time when they were young, and it seemed their relationship had no hope of progressing as far as it did.
He tapped the back of her knees.
"Knees not bent enough."
He tapped her arms.
"Arms too stiff."
And then his free hand tugged on one of her long braids.
"Hair too long."
Sakuno blinked, looking at him. Then her cheeks puffed out.
"Mou, Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno exclaimed, hitting him with one of her small fists. He just chuckled, handing her the pink racket and then bending down to pick up the tennis ball. He tossed it up a few times, his wrist flicking deftly. Someone from his tennis team called for him, and Ryoma's eyes narrowed a bit in annoyance. He turned and waved them away, and they escaped when they saw his frightening eyes. Turning back around to face Sakuno, Ryoma leaned forward to whisper in her ear before heading off to the guy's tennis court. Sakuno's cheeks burned as he left, Sakura coming to stand beside her senpai.
"Ryuzaki-senpai?" Sakura asked, jumping as Sakuno suddenly shouted.
"RYOMA-KUN, I AM NOT CLUMSY!!"
Ryoma chuckled.
A/N And so the twelfth drabble is completed.
My inspiration for this chapter was Ryoma realizing that Sakuno had outgrown her clumsiness, but as I wrote it ended up taking a slight detour, lol. And make sure you remember Sakura! She'll be appearing in a later drabble (a much later drabble).
Review if you want chocolate cake!
Snowflake Flower