36 Drabbles

13: Hat

It was the summer of their fifteenth year. Graduation had passed, and Ryuzaki Sakuno was surprised to know that she and Ryoma still kept in touch after school was over. In fact, they had scheduled a tennis lesson just this morning, which was why Sakuno was rushing to get ready after waking up late. (Tomo likes to talk late into the night.)

"Sakuno, weren't you supposed to leave thirty minutes ago?" Ryuzaki Sumire asked, a cup of coffee in hand as she watched her granddaughter rush around the kitchen, trying to cook a bento and retie her right braid again. She had come down a couple minutes ago, expecting to see the kitchen empty except for a plate of breakfast already cooked for her by Sakuno. Instead, she saw her granddaughter looking harried and panicked, scolding herself for not getting up on time.

"I'm leaving now, grandmother." Sakuno said, plopping the lid of the bento on the box and tying a handkerchief around it. She grabbed her tennis bag, slinging it over her shoulder and grabbing the bento boxes before hurrying to slip on her running shoes. "Please don't wait up for me!" Sumire watched her granddaughter rush out the door, wincing when it slammed shut.

"You're late."

Sakuno groaned, collapsing on the ground as Ryoma stood above her, sipping a ponta leisurely. She was late by about half an hour, but by then Ryoma had come to anticipate that, so he cleverly arrived five minutes before she arrived. He took a detour as well, grabbing a ponta on the way. Sakuno got up, gasping a little.

"R-Ryoma-kun, are you hungry? We can eat the bento before we practice." Sakuno said, holding up the handkerchief with the two lunch boxes on the inside. Ryoma looked at them, debating in his mind if he wanted to start with tennis or a yummy home-cooked lunch first.

Naturally, he went with the lunch.

"Hmm." Ryoma mumbled, finishing off the last of his bento in disappointment. Though he was full, the tennis prince still wanted to taste more of Sakuno's delectable food. Sakuno had already finished her smaller bento, having less of an appetite as opposed to the boy (man?) stretching across from her like a cat. He yawned, and Sakuno shifted so she was on her knees, knowing he got sleepy after he ate.

Ryoma tugged his hat off, placing it on the ground beside Sakuno and turning to lie down. That is… until Sakuno gasped.

"What?" Ryoma muttered, staring at her strangely. Sakuno giggled a little, pointing at his hair. It was messy and probably tangled, sticking up at odd angles.

"Ryoma-kun has hat hair!" She exclaimed, bursting out into another fit of giggling. Ryoma's eyes widened, and he reached up to feel his black/dark green locks. He scowled a bit, looking at the still-giggling Sakuno.

"Do not." He protested, crossing his arms and turning his head to the side. His hair had always felt like this, so he had no idea what she was talking about. Hat hair? Please. Echizen Ryoma never got hat hair. Sakuno stifled her next few giggles, leaning forward towards his hair.

"Here, let me just-," she started, trying to get her fingers in his hair to straighten it out a little. Ryoma pouted childishly, Sakuno sitting behind him as she ran her fingers through his hair, tugging on a few tangles and eliciting a few winces from him. Every time, she apologized, and Ryoma didn't mind too much because the feel of her fingers against his scalp was very relaxing. When Sakuno's fingers disappeared, he figured she was done combing his hair and picked up his hat.

"Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno exclaimed, snatching his hat from him. He blinked.

"What?" Sakuno scowled.

"If you put your hat on, it'll mess up your hair and all my work will be for nothing."

Ryoma's eyes narrowed, and he looked at the Fila cap clutched against Sakuno's chest. Ryoma wasn't one to care much about things, and it was true he never wore his Fila cap during school hours, but that was an exception because it was a school policy. Anytime outside of school (or his house), there was no way Ryoma was going to be seen without his Fila cap. And not even Sakuno could stop him.

"Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno exclaimed, scooting back as he lunged at her. His eyes were fixated totally on the white hat she held in her hands, and Sakuno pursed her lips, scrambling onto her feet and running off. "I won't let you wear it!" She shouted behind herself to Ryoma, a giddy smile on her face. Though she couldn't see, Ryoma smiled a mischievous smirk.

"We'll see about that." He murmured, before taking off after her.

It was quiet, tranquil. The leaves of the forest danced in the wind leisurely, the birds chirping beautiful songs in harmony. Little baby birds were nestled in their mother's nest, getting ready to settle down for their nap of the day, as a way for waiting for their mother to bring them food. The leaves rustled softly, not wanting to disturb the birds but much too energetic to stop moving completely. The mother and father birds began to chirp softer, lulling their babies to a peaceful sleep. All was quiet…

For a while.

"Iyaa~! Ryoma-kun!"

The baby birds jolted, shrieking loudly as they complained about the loud noises, their mothers chirping songs to try and lull them back to sleep. The trees went back to rustling loudly, now that they no longer had to keep quiet for the sake of the children.

Sakuno was giggling hysterically, Ryoma running light touches all along her ribcage and trying to snatch away his hat at the same time. Sakuno kept it away from him successfully, seeing as it was difficult when her opponent was being unmerciful. And it was really quite ironic, especially when the whole point of keeping the hat away from Ryoma was to keep his hair nice and neat, but it ended up becoming even messier than before because of their little cat-and-mouse game.

Ryoma finally got his hat back, after Sakuno decided his hands were wandering a little bit too far up her torso. With a big smile, a little giggle, and a tear in her eye from laughing too much, Sakuno handed Ryoma his baseball cap back. He took it smugly, plopping it back on his head. He then tugged on one of her braids, his eyes devilish.

"Ne, Ryuzaki. Your braids are messy." He said, mocking her. Sakuno blushed furiously, taking a look at her long hair. It was indeed quite messy, tangled a little and very loose, sporting a few leaves as well. Sakuno sighed, spouting out a "mou…" before taking out the hair bands and untangling it. Ryoma watched with curiosity reminiscent of a five-year-old, Sakuno's hair beautifully wavy when it was let down. He reached out, fingering some strands between his three fingers and causing a blush to rise to Sakuno's face.

With a little grin, Ryoma reached to the top of his head and took off his hat, plopping it on her head.

"Not bad."

A/N I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but meh.

The inspiration for this chapter came from my friend, the one who helped me with drabble six (Taking A Walk). He just wondered to himself why Ryoma never has hat hair, which sparked the idea for this drabble. (Ryoma does have hat hair. Doesn't it seem like his hair is messy when he isn't wearing his hat?)

Review for some apple pie! And ice cream!

Snowflake Flower