36 Drabbles

18: Tears

"Girls are so emotional." Echizen Nanjiroh moaned as his wife, Echizen Rinko, stomped away in a huff. Echizen Ryoma, Nanjiroh's four-year-old son, sat beside him loosely holding a tennis racket with both hands. There were tennis balls scattered all over the grassy floor, and one had to be careful or they would trip trying to make their way across it. In fact, Rinko had just tripped on one a few minutes prior, which led to a harsh scolding directed at Nanjiroh for not being neat enough. He had cowered under her fiery gaze, growing exasperated as her tirade finished and she left. The young Ryoma merely sat there, glad that his mother's temper was not directed at him… for the moment.

"Mommy sad?" Ryoma asked, looking up at his father. Usually, when his old man said something like that it was after any sort of woman cried for no apparent reason (or at least, reasons Ryoma himself could never come to understand). Of course, all of his experience with crying women came from the television (or the "cool box" that showed tennis matches) when his mom decided to watch weird shows (which he soon would learn were called "soap operas" or "dramas"). At his young and naïve age, Ryoma didn't really know what "emotional" meant, because no one bothered to explain it to him. So he did a little snooping. After careful deduction and lots of research (coming from his dad, of course), Ryoma concluded that "emotional" obviously meant "sad".

Nanjiroh looked down at his prodigal son, letting out a little chuckle and ruffling his ebony locks. He couldn't help but think to himself that his son would grow up to be a handsome man, who would probably have to fend the ladies off with a stick.

'Just like his old man…'

Of course, no one expected Ryuzaki Sakuno to be thrown into the mix and change everything.

Grumbling, Ryoma's cat-like golden eyes blinked open, taking in the sight of his dad's big, wide grin.

"Wakey, wakey Ryoma!" Nanjiroh chanted, choking in pain as he son promptly gave his father a swift kick in the loins. Nanjiroh rolled off the bed, clutching his "family jewels" and crying out how Ryoma could be so cruel to his father. Ryoma, hearing all of this as he threw the covers off and let his feet touch the cold wooden floor, glared at the ex-samurai on the floor with tears in his eyes.

"Then don't try to wake me up like that next time, baka oyaji." Ryoma said, getting up and making his way to the washroom. Karupin followed behind her master, turning to look at Nanjiroh and meowing loudly, as if to say he was a stupid old man to piss Ryoma off in the morning. Nanjiroh just glared at the Himalayan cat, almost to say he wasn't going to play with her anymore because she was being mean. And at that look (threat?), Karupin just meowed again and swished her brown tail from side to side right in his face, making him sputter from the loose cat hairs that stuck to him.

"Why you…" Nanjiroh growled, getting on all fours and trying to pounce on the feline. Karupin hissed, bounding away quickly as the crazy old man followed her.

"Good morning Ryoma-kun." Sakuno greeted, walking out of her house as she saw Ryoma standing on the sidewalk outside the gate. Ryoma waved his hand, the other holding onto the strap of his tennis bag.

"Yo." He replied. The both of them headed to school together, the eyes of a few girls that went to school early following their every movement. It was not private information that Ryoma was one of the most wanted boys in school, so it came as a little of a shock to Sakuno when not one of them confessed to him, or asked him out, or tried to seduce him, etc. Of course, she would soon find out from Tomoka that it was because everyone thought she was his girlfriend, which both flustered and appalled her.

"B-but I'm not Ryoma-kun's girlfriend!" Sakuno protested to Tomoka. They had been separated and weren't in the same class anymore (although she and Ryoma were). Tomoka gave her this look as if she didn't believe her or she thought Sakuno was joking. Slapping her hands on her hips, Tomoka glared at Sakuno, who cowered a little under her scrutinizing gaze.

"Pft, come on Sakuno-chan. You're obviously hiding your relationship. You spend every lunch hour with him, you guys always walk to and from school together, and some people have even seen you together on Saturday's!" Sakuno blushed faintly at Tomoka's accusations, unable to deny any of them. She made lunch for Ryoma and spent that hour with him all the time, she did walk to school and back with Ryoma, and because of her private tennis lessons, Sakuno also spent a few hours of her Saturday with him. How was she going to convince them she wasn't dating Ryoma?

Well, let's just say it became an impossible feat once the rumour became reality.

Enter Yamashiro Aimi. She was the most wanted girl in the entire school, because of her job as a professional model. Since she was young Aimi was a very outgoing and pretty girl, so she was cast to model in an advertisement for Lolita clothing. Since then, her career skyrocketed and now at the age of fifteen, Aimi was a successful model posing for high-class products and clothing companies. She was ten times more beautiful than any girl in the school, including Sakuno (or at least, that's what she thought).

Aimi usually came late to school, and was always excused because of her model-like lifestyle. Everything was handed to her on a silver platter, and that was how the young model had come to expect it. So when she first laid eyes of Echizen Ryoma, she expected the young man to fall at her heels and beg her to date him. Only he didn't.

And that infuriated her.

He was this rising tennis star, who would probably be at the top of the world once he graduated high school and began to promote himself. So Aimi naturally thought them to be the perfect couple (but she thought that about every guy she set her sights on before), and when she went up to him and flicked her gorgeous hair, batting her pretty eyelashes, Aimi expected him to fall head over heels in love with her.

But Ryoma just looked at her like she was crazy, holding a can of ponta and taking a sip of it.

"What do you want?" He asked bluntly, clearly not interested. Aimi, a little confused at his behaviour, leaned forward a bit to see if showing her cleavage would help him come to terms with his feelings faster. He just kept looking at her with his apathetic eyes. It didn't help once Sakuno entered the picture, a little out of breath as she had ran all over the school looking for him.

"Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno exclaimed once spotting him. "Ryoma-kun, Tezuka-senpai said tennis practice is cancelled for today." She ran up to stand beside him, her hands clutched at her chest. Ryoma, interest piqued now that Sakuno was here, turned to her and ignored the successfully beautiful model standing before him, trying to dazzle him with her beauty. To him, Sakuno was much more intriguing than a spoiled brat.

"Hn. Let's go then." Ryoma said, walking off in the direction of Sakuno's home. The young Ryuzaki followed as she always did, turning to nod politely at Aimi. When they turned the corner, Aimi saw red.

"I will make you mine, Echizen Ryoma."

Ryoma was not amused.

Sakuno was mysteriously avoiding him and a strange girl with too much makeup on was clinging to him at every chance. Naturally, Ryoma didn't realize this girl was Aimi, because he had such horrible memory with anything not concerning him, or Sakuno. All Ryoma knew was he was getting seriously annoyed. Sakuno didn't join him for lunch, although he did see his bento sitting on his desk, and went to eat it on the roof. Aimi caught him there, trying to shove her own homemade bento into his hands, but he merely brushed her off. She was also walking beside him in the school and clinging to his arm every chance she got, and Ryoma noticed some of the whispers and stares directed at the two of them.

His patience finally snapped after school, when he saw Sakuno and met eyes with her, only to have her turn tail and run.

Flinging Aimi's irritating arm off his own, Ryoma took off after the pig-tailed girl.

"Sakuno!"

She would not stop.

"Sakuno!!"

She would not falter.

"Sakuno!!!"

She would not be caught.

Gasping, Sakuno was abruptly stopped when she felt Ryoma's warm (yet cold) hand grab her arm, tugging her around to face him and stop running. She refused to look at his face, panting deeply and keeping her tear-filled gaze directly on the ground. Ryoma's eyes were narrowed, not bothering to acknowledge the crowd gathering round them (Aimi, Tomoka, the Freshman Trio and his senpai included in that crowd).

"What's going on?" Ryoma demanded to know, lips pursed in a scowl. Sakuno flinched at his hard tone, her body trembling a little. Some tears slipped out, colouring the ground a few shades darker. Ryoma's eyes flickered to the ground for a second, a little apprehensive about making her cry.

"I'd ask you the same question." Sakuno sniffled, her fist clenching. Ryoma didn't like her ambiguous answer, preferring things to be crystal clear and blunt (kind of like he was). So he tugged on her arm a little harder, making her struggle to maintain a more distant length from him. His senpai standing in the crowd were a little worried, Kikumaru's bottom lip quivering a bit in suspense. Tomoka stood beside him, wanting to run out and tell Sakuno everything but Horio, Katsuo, and Kachirou holding her back.

"Don't play games with me Sakuno." Ryoma warned, surprised when she suddenly lashed out at him.

"THEN DON'T PLAY WITH MY HEART!!" She screamed, the tears running freely as her teeth grit in frustration. A sob choked from her throat, and she tried to clear away the tears. "Don't… don't give me special treatment when you're going to be with another girl, a girl that I could never even dream of standing up to. I'm… I'm not so weak-hearted as to die if you told me you were going to be with Aimi-san." Sakuno told him, though it was far from the truth. Aimi looked almost smug at this point, a few girls sending her nasty looks, Tomoka in particular.

But Ryoma was unbelievably confused.

"Who's Aimi?"

The model face-faulted, not believing someone could forget her after only a day. Sakuno just looked up at Ryoma, also confused.

"A-Aimi-san is your girlfriend Ryoma-kun. I saw you walking in the hallway together." Sakuno explained to him, twiddling her fingers nervously. She could feel Aimi's anger radiating from behind her, and hoped she wouldn't act out of turn. Ryoma just rose a brow, chuckling.

"That annoying girl? I have no idea who she is." Tomoka whooped in joy, and Aimi almost fainted, a few boys catching her before she hit the ground. Sakuno's head popped up in hope, her brown eyes wide. Ryoma, deciding now was as great a time as ever (making it public would be faster, as it would discourage all the boys who he was sure had their eyes set on her), and stepped a tad close to Sakuno, hands tucked in his pockets.

"But… I do know who you are." Ryoma said, smirking. Sakuno blinked in confusion, tilting her head to the side cutely. Ryoma just chuckled. "Who are you, Sakuno? Who are you to me?" and Sakuno's lips pursed as she tried to think.

"Your cook?"

"And…"

"Your best friend?" At this, Momo choked a little form behind Ryoma.

"And…"

"Ah… your student?"

"Guess again Sakuno."

"Ano… "

Ryoma's eye twitched a little, wondering how on earth everyone thought he was dense. Leaning down, Ryoma's hand cupped Sakuno's cheek and he softly pressed his lips to hers, ignoring the gasp resounding throughout the entire crowd and Aimi's choked scream. He heard his senpai's whistles and catcalls, ignoring those to the best of his ability, though they were extremely loud and demanded attention.

Parting reluctantly from Sakuno's soft, soft lips, Ryoma smirked at her astounded facial expression. "Be mine, Sakuno." He said, almost demanding that she follow his command. Sakuno burst into a new set of tears, her choked "yes" coming out as she tackled him. Having saw that coming, Ryoma merely stumbled a bit and hugged her tightly to him, smirking.

"Girls are so emotional." He muttered.

And a little father away, sporting a pair of smart-looking sunglasses (not really) stood Echizen Nanjiroh, holding in one arm the Himalayan cat Karupin, who was meowing at her master's happiness. A very reminiscent smirk was on his face, one that was very similar to the one his son had right now, a smirk that soon turned into a smile. Ryoma would never know that his smile was exactly like his father's when he had asked Rinko to be his. And he would never know that many of his smiles and smirks and grins were once worn by his own father, who had paved the way for him to climb to the top of the world, and take that one special girl with him.

And Nanjiroh's smirk changed into a heartfelt smile that conveyed his sense of fatherly pride.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, son."

A/N And the awaited eighteenth drabble! Ryoma and Sakuno finally get together!! 8D

My inspiration came from the line, "Girls are so emotional." I thought it was something Ryoma would say to Sakuno once she started crying after he asked her out, so obviously Nanjiroh would say it too, right? Aimi was created because I needed her as a sort of obstacle or conflict, but she'll be making a returning appearance very late in the timeline. Look forward to it! (Because yes, she will be dissed again.) And I know Sakuno seems a bit OOC in this drabble, but I figure she's grown really close to Ryoma through these two years, so she became more confident (especially around him). It just kinda... fit to have her screaming at Ryoma about breaking her heart. Plus, no one likes their feelings to be played, why would Sakuno be any different?

I'd love feedback! And please answer my previous question in drabble 17! (Depending on your answer, the continuation will come sooner or later after I finish the 36 drabbles). That reminds me, I'm halfway done! Yaayy~!

Review for more RyoSaku fluff~!

Snowflake Flower