36 Drabbles

21: I'm In A Pinch!

"Mou… what do I do?" Ryuzaki Sakuno mumbled to herself, looking left and right down the sidewalk of the beach. She was dressed scantily, in a cute pink bikini Tomoka forced her to wear, a sheer magenta sarong wrapped around her waist. Her hair was wrapped tightly in her two braids, partly wet but drying thanks to the sun. A pair of magenta flip-flops were on her feet, the strap of the one on her right foot broken. If you looked closely enough, you could tell her ankle was a little swollen.

Sakuno sighed, wondering why she had to have such bad luck and horrible direction. Everyone (all the Seigaku regulars) had gathered on the beach for some fun. The Freshmen Trio and Tomoka were even there, and only Ryoma was running late. They didn't think too much of it, since this was supposed to be a leisurely break from tennis practice, so they started the volleyball match without him. Sakuno was sent off to buy a few drinks, hence the plastic bag lying on her lap. She just never expected to trip and twist her ankle really badly. What's worse, no one would come looking for her if she took too long because they'd assume she just got lost.

"Mou…" Sakuno groaned again, afraid to ask for help from a stranger. She would try to brave it out and walk back to the others, but it was a long distance and her ankle really hurt. Sakuno had also thought about hopping on her uninjured foot, but as she said before, the distance was too long for her stamina to take. She didn't doubt that in her effort to balance on one hopping foot, she would eventually trip and injure that one. What was a girl to do?

"Sakuno?"

Why, wait for her knight-in-shining-armour! Or rather, her prince in tennis gear.

"Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno cried happily, trying to get up but yelping in pain as she put pressure on her foot. Ryoma lunged forward, catching her under the arms and letting her lean on him as she recovered from a momentary bout of stupidity. Ryoma studied her form carefully as she regained her balance, her hand still on his shoulder to steady herself. The tennis prince noticed her trying not to put pressure on her right foot, and his eyebrows scrunched together.

"Wobbly knees." He chided softly, which meant she was such a klutz. Sakuno gave him a dirty look, but Ryoma didn't see it, as he was busy hooking an arm under her legs, the other supporting her back. Sakuno shrieked when her feet suddenly left the floor, clutching the bag on beverages. Her head unconsciously nestled into the crook of Ryoma's neck, eyes squeezing shut.

"Ryoma-kun!" She exclaimed, feeling his body vibrate as he chuckled. A little pout formed on her lips, and she looked up to him urging, "Put me down!" He just ignored her, making her embarrassment grow when people began to point and stare (especially girls). Ryoma was, as usual, apathetic about all of it, and/or not noticing them at all. Sakuno blushed brightly, burying her face in his chest to avoid the stares. It wasn't long until she heard Tomoka's loud voice, entwined with Horio's and looked up with faintly flushed cheeks.

"Sakuno-chan!" Tomoka cried.

"Echizen!" Horio yelled after her. Ryoma nodded his head in greeting, and Sakuno meekly raised the bag of drinks.

"I'm sorry we're late." Sakuno said quietly as they neared the large group. Oishi rushed over, his "mother" senses tingling as he checked over Sakuno meticulously. Ryoma softly explained to him that Sakuno's ankle was twisted, and Oishi led them over to the blanket set down on the sand.

"Good thing I'm always prepared." Oishi said a little happily, taking out a large first-aid box out of seemingly nowhere. Everyone gave him a few strange looks, but Oishi ignored them with a twitch of his lips and set straight to work on Sakuno's injury. It was at that point that Ryoma and Sakuno were subject to the endless teasing.

"Kyaa~! Ryoma-sama is so cool, carrying Sakuno-chan like that in her time of need!" Tomoka boasted, wriggling with the fluff of the moment. Sakuno blushed again, trying to calm her friend and bring her voice level down a notch so the entire beach wouldn't hear her. Momoshiro got in really close, a big toothy smile on his face as he put an arm around Ryoma and Sakuno.

"Ah, young love." He sighed dramatically, yelping in pain as Ryoma pinched his arm. Sakuno giggled, watching as Momoshiro back away with an angry pout and Kikumaru took his place, pouncing her.

"Nyaa~ ochibi is growing up so fast!" He said, still not realizing that Ryoma was taller than him. The tennis prince kicked him until he ran off with Momoshiro to complain about Ryoma's rudeness to his senpai. Spot open, the younger boy scooted to the side and wrapped an arm around Sakuno's waist, letting it settle there loosely. Inui was writing in his notebook, muttering calculations under his breath and how "that was not scientifically possible". Tomoka fangirled some more, soon getting into an argument with Horio about the volume of her voice. Katsuo went to go spread the drinks that Sakuno bought around, and Kachirou helped Oishi with tending to Sakuno's ankle. Kawamura tried to calm Horio and Tomoka down, and Fuji was eyeing Ryoma and Sakuno with something akin to deviousness. Tezuka just stood beside Ryuzaki Sumire, chatting quietly with her.

Sakuno smiled brightly, watching everyone flitter around the beach having fun. Even Tezuka seemed to have a small smile twitching the corners of his lips up. She reached across her stomach; intertwining her fingers with Ryoma's and smiling brighter at the glance he gave her. She leaned into him, her mouth close to his ear.

"Thank you for helping me, Ryoma-kun." Sakuno whispered softly to him, and she felt his hand squeeze the side of her torso in response. She laid her head on his shoulder, eyes softening as some of the group went to go splash around in the ocean. By that time, Oishi had finished bandaging her ankle and ran to the shores to warn everyone to be careful.

"Hn." Sakuno giggled a little, shifting her legs into a more comfortable position. It was hard to believe they were going into their second year of high school, and the senpai have graduated and are going to move on to their post-secondary educations. It seems like so long ago they were in middle school, not having a care in the world about anything except tennis. It seems like a dream to have her feelings returned by her prince, have him kiss her senseless in the privacy of his room and call her by her name. Sakuno's eyes closed contentedly.

"Ryoma."

His golden eyes turned sharply to look at her, surprised because this was her first time calling him by just his name. And his eyes grew even wider after, because it was also be another first for her, a sentence whispered so quietly he had to strain to hear it, but when he did it seemed like nothing mattered anymore except the girl – woman, beside him.

"I love you."

A/N Twenty-first drabble out!

My inspiration for this came from my friend (the one who helped with drabble seventeen and fourteen). It was mainly just going to be her flip-flop breaking, but I thought that was a bit boring, lol, so I decided I might as well make her twist her ankle. The ending, where she finally tells Ryoma she loves him and calls him by his name without a suffix just sort of... happened while I wrote to finish it. XD I love my brain.

Review for some brownies! (Nuts are optional, for those who are allergic.)

Snowflake Flower