36 Drabbles
15: Nap
Echizen Ryoma loved naps. After training so strenuously in tennis everyday with his father, the prince of tennis believed it was only fair for him to be able to catch some z's. And really, that was what his lunchtimes were for. After ingesting the needed supplement for his body, Ryoma took the last ten minutes of the period napping on Ryuzaki Sakuno's lap. (Which he found to be very comfortable.)
The little routine started during their third year of middle school together, and naturally went on to their first year of high school. For a couple weeks, it was same old, same old. But then something changed…
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Ryoma yawned, stretching his arms as he leaned back to rest his head on Sakuno's lap. He could hear her fiddling with the lunch boxes, probably arranging them in the handkerchief so they wouldn't somehow fall out. It did take long though, and soon Ryoma felt her lithe fingers running through his hair. At this point, Ryoma would fall asleep because her grooming was so relaxing, except… he didn't.
Instead, the smell of something sweet invaded his nose, making him wrinkle it. He faintly thought it smelled sugary, but changed his mind and realized it smelled fruity. Like… cherries? No, raspberries! No, that's not it either…
Sakuno's hands reached forward, brushing away a few strands of Ryoma's messy hair. The smell became stronger, for a second, but that second was all he needed.
'Strawberries.'
And for the remainder of lunch, Ryoma just stayed awake, the sweet smell of strawberries captivating his nose. He would never know that this event would turn into an obsession, and he would spend every lunch hour pretending to sleep, taking deep breaths to capture the most of the sweet scent. Even more, he would soon realize that napping was very difficult without remembering the scent of the strawberries, the feel of her fingers running through his hair. And then anything involving sleep in general would be impossible if he couldn't feel her beside him, her shallow breaths the lullaby that would finally let him sink into the oblivion of dreams.
A/N Yes, I know its really short, but I figured short and sweet was good, right?
My inspiration for this chapter stemmed mainly from showing Ryoma's developing feelings for Sakuno. (Don't worry, they'll get together sooner or later.) Of course, this chapter doesn't explain much about his feelings, but like I said before, Ryoma is quite a hard character for me to write, so I tried to go with something subtle.
Review for some pocky!
Snowflake Flower