36 Drabbles

24: Ponta

The day was normal, like any other day. School had been let out, and Sakuno was once again waiting for Ryoma to finish tennis practice so they could go home together. Sometimes she'd hang out with Tomoka, but this particular day was the Ryoma Fanclub meeting, and Tomoka was president so she couldn't keep Sakuno company. A little lost as to what to do, Sakuno decided to have a drink at the water fountains; it was a hot day. But then something unexpected happened.

It was when Osakada Tomoka had approached Sakuno with a devious gleam in her eye; the young Ryuzaki suddenly felt a looming sense of doom fill her entire body. When two of the members of the Ryoma Fanclub made themselves known as well, eyes also twinkling in devilishness, Sakuno could only think she was screwed.

"Tomo-chan?" Sakuno questioned, her bottom lip trembling a little as the three other girls surrounded her. There was a very scary gleam in her eye, one that told Sakuno she wasn't going to be let go unless they scrounged every single detail from her that interested them. Knowing Tomoka, and her obsessive nature with Sakuno's boyfriend, this was going to be a very long and embarrassing talk.

And it was. Long in the sense it didn't end soon enough for Sakuno's liking.

"What does Ryoma-sama taste like?"

Sakuno just turned beet red, and would've fainted if one of the members of the fanclub hadn't slapped her face with an ice-cold wet dishcloth. Sakuno gaped a little at the attack on her face, until Tomoka grasped her by the shoulders and gave her a little shake to make sure she didn't faint. Her eyes narrowed, her mouth set in a determinative frown.

"Sakuno! This is for the sanity of the Ryoma-sama fanclub!" Sakuno's mouth flopped open like a fish, wondering what Tomoka preached about in their meetings after school. She still wondered why the fanclub was still alive, given Ryoma was already taken by yours truly. Then again, Ryoma was Ryoma, so his getting a girlfriend probably wouldn't deter anybody's determination. That made Sakuno's confidence deflate just a little bit.

"T-Tomo-chan, I can't answer something like that!" Sakuno exclaimed, her hands clutched near her chest as she blushed at the implications of that question. "It's… it's so embarrassing!" Tomoka scoffed, putting a hand on her hip and turning her nose up in the air. To follow their leader, the two girls also assumed a haughty stance, eyes narrowed at Sakuno, who was quivering under their gazes like a mouse under an eagle.

"Fine." Tomoka said, pouting openly. "We have a hypothesis as to what Ryoma tastes like anyways." The two girls behind her nodded, giving each other a smirk. Tomoka leaned forward, a wicked smile on her face, as though what she was about to say would be absolutely right. "Ryoma-sama probably tastes like ponta. He drinks it like a dying man drinking water!" Sakuno's mouth dropped open again, and the three girls believed to have been right. With a swish of their hair, they turned around to head back to the meeting room and report this to the rest of the members.

Ryoma was wondering why his girlfriend was blushing red like a tomato again, as the two of them sat on his bed in his room. He was playing with Karupin, flicking the cattail toy around as his Himalayan cat tried to grab it with her brown paws when he noticed Sakuno was unusually quiet. She would be giggling and trying to give Karupin competition, touching the cattail with her finger and watching as Karupin meowed in jealousy. Today, she just sat at the top of his bed, looking down at her hands with a blush staining her cheeks. When Sakuno blushed for a reason unknown to him, Ryoma became curious. And we all know Ryoma leans more to the cat side than the human side sometimes, hence why "curiosity killed the cat" related to him more than most people.

"Sakuno, what's wrong?" He asked, as it was his nature to be blunt to the point of being rude. Sakuno jumped when he called her name, blushing brighter now that he was paying attention to her. She sputtered some incoherent words for a few moment, before he was able to decipher things like, "Tomoka… question… taste…. Ponta…" and his eyes shot up.

"It's so embarrassing!" Sakuno said, finally saying something he could understand. With a little sigh (as he knew Sakuno wouldn't get over this until he did something), Ryoma got up and threw the cattail outside, Karupin running after it with a loud meow. Closing the door (and locking it), Ryoma made his way back to Sakuno and settled down beside her, wrapping his hand loosely around her waist.

"Now," he said, his voice a little stern, "say that again, but this time in a way I can understand." Sakuno blushed and bit the bottom of her lip a little, but took a deep breath and told him of the little incident at the water taps. When she finished retelling her tale, Ryoma couldn't help but just snicker in amusement, causing her to hit him and exclaim, "Ryoma, its not funny!" Ryoma hummed, thinking as to what to do. With a little grin of mischief, Ryoma leaned closer to Sakuno's face and inquired, "shall we find out?"

Sakuno fainted.

Ryoma chuckled, holding his girlfriend's light body and letting her rest on his bed until she woke up. And when she did, she would be too preoccupied with the racing feelings going through her entire body to remember what Ryoma tasted like. That he tasted like strawberries, a fruit she so loved to eat, and that he didn't taste like ponta because he kissed her strawberry-flavoured mouth more than he drank his favourite soda.

Of course, Sakuno eventually did find out what Ryoma tasted like, but it was kind of unexpected and confusing until Ryoma explained it to her.

Then she fainted again.

A/N Twenty-fourth drabble done! I did this in all of an hour, so if you see spelling errors, point them out to me please!

My inspiration for this chapter was inspired by the idea of Sakuno saying to Tomoka, "Ryoma-kun tastes like ponta". But then I thought, sweet shy Sakuno would never say that to anyone, not even Tomoka because it was so embarrassing. So it would have to be forced out of her, right? And that stemmed this!

Review for some s'mores! (Dunno if I spelled that right)

Snowflake Flower