Chapter 6: Confusion
Disclaimer: Tennis no Oujisama/ Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi-sensei. I wish Takeshi-sensei would write another sequel to his magnificent manga though…
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A/N: Sorry for the late update! Got some things to do, but as promised, I'm back with a chapter longer than the rest I've made. I want to punch myself- I dunno why, but, oh well… Let's continue. By the way, don't be surprised by the way Ryoma is acting here... He's not OOC in this; in fact he can be really jealous, like what was shown in the later chapters of the manga or the OVA series. Oops, too much said. Let's continue! ; )
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His Eyes on Hers
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Sixth Chapter: Confusion
Ryoma had to blink for himself.
He just stood there, unsure of what to do or whether he should move at all. In front of him were two persons, a boy and a girl- and it looked like that he opened the room at a wrong time. He needed not to narrow his eyes down on the couple in front of him just to tell what they are up to. What bothered him were the flashes of mental pictures that appeared to him when he saw the two together. Ryoma was really sure that he saw them before- these carbon-copy faces exactly- but couldn't grasp at what exact instance did he perceive such things. And also, there was another thing that bothered him-almost, he insisted to himself- the girl calling him "Ryoma-kun" had some nostalgic feeling to him. He tried to remember who she was, and succeeded. With her dark brown eyes, a pair of braids that hung behind her back and her small face that almost always tinted with a faint pink color, who could go wrong? She was one of the two girls back in middle school that followed the tennis regulars and supported them in their matches. She was the girl who occasionally made him bento. She was the girl who once befriended some rival back then and made him- he shouldn't elaborate on that, he scolded himself.
She was his tennis coach's granddaughter. Ryuzaki-
What's her name again? Was it Sumire, or of some sort? No, Sumire always belonged to the older woman.
Sakuno.
Right, he praised himself. The name itself sounded clumsy. It had to be Sakuno.
"Un." He muttered after a second of meditation, and then became satisfied for a reason yet at the same time irritated, though he didn't know why. Wait, he thought again, isn't it that Ryuzaki is a calm and shy person? How come she's here with a guy and it looks like…
Hiroshi felt the discomfort that hung in the air. His eyes quickly took a look at Sakuno's face, then at her eyes that had their attention focused on the floor. He let go of her chin and prompted himself to speak, or to explain, to this guy who came out of nowhere.
"Sorry to disturb you from what you were doing," Ryoma started when he finally came to his usual self and remembered what he was supposed to do, "but the guard sent me here to tell you that need to leave already."
Hiroshi was rather pleased that he did not need to explain anymore. People can really be insensitive to what's happening around them, I suppose. He smiled then answered, "Thanks, man. Our other companion just left to ask up to what time are we permitted to stay in here and practice. Good thing you came and told us ahead."
Practice what? Ryoma asked himself inwardly. The awkwardness in the air squeezed out of what was left of the friendly atmosphere when silence prevailed for seconds. Sakuno was still competing with the floor in a staring contest. Yet, she wanted to ask Ryoma so many questions, or if her guts wouldn't allow that, she wanted to ask him at least a question: what did he mean by what he last said? Although she was gawking, she was completely aware of what the two were saying to each other. And to her small relief (or disappointment?), Ryoma didn't mind her being held like that by a guy or questioned what were they doing. Or maybe, he didn't recognize me. Hey, maybe he didn't remember me anymore…
Hiroshi had to look back from Sakuno, to the guy who just came inside, then back to his duet partner. He noticed the look in Sakuno's face, and he was pretty sure that he never saw that face of hers before.
"Sakuno-san… and this guy? I knew it."
A smirk tinted with a glint of mischievousness replaced the smile he wore.
"Oh, I just remembered. Mister-"
Ryoma frowned a bit when he was called "Mister".
"Don't call me mister; we are like more of the same age."
Hiroshi had to suppress a laugh. "I'm sorry to offend you. What's your name then? Nakayama here. It's a pleasure to meet you. "
"Echizen."
"No wonder you look familiar. You are the famous Echizen Ryoma. Am I not right, Echizen-san?"
Ryoma just nodded while his face was getting more irritated.
"Just tell me what you were about to say,"
Sakuno gathered up her courage and raised her head. She acted to be nonchalant and pretended to watch the two as they talked.
"Can the two of us wait in here for a few more minutes?" Hiroshi continued gladly, with him giving emphasis on the words pertaining to him and Sakuno, "You see, our companion left to ask that question I was talking about a while ago, and she left her cell phone here with her other things. We can't go yet until she comes back."
The other guy looked unconvinced.
"We promise to leave this music room as soon as our other companion comes up." Hiroshi promised then looked at the girl beside him.
"Isn't that right, Ryuzaki-san?"
Sakuno was taken back to the reality when she heard Hiroshi spoke to her. And in the abruptness of his words, she blushed furiously.
"Uh, y-yes! That's certainly right… We can't leave until Tomo-chan arrives here."
Ryoma eyed the couple suspiciously then glared at Hiroshi. Don't tell me you two will continue what you were doing? Without the least of hesitation, he closed the door behind him and leaned on the wall. He found a little difficulty in doing the latter action so he put his tennis bag on the floor.
"Can't be helped then. I'll wait with you two here." He said passively. Hiroshi and Sakuno looked at each other then at Ryoma. Feeling that she needed to speak for the two of them, Sakuno fixed her eyes on the floor then said to Ryoma that he need not to wait with them. Hiroshi backed up what she said and added that Ryoma's coming to the music room and telling them that they had to leave is a task in itself.
"We don't want to disturb you further, Echizen-san. Besides, it's getting late-"
"It's also my duty to make sure that you people are out of here before I go home." Ryoma cut Hiroshi's words short with a still passive explanation as to why he was still with the two of them. "But you can still continue what you were doing. I'll just wait here."
"Okay then. That was nice of you, Echizen-san." Hiroshi answered with his trademark smile. "But I guess we can't do what we were doing. It's like a secret."
Sakuno looked at Hiroshi and sighed. She couldn't do another thing, could she? She wanted to talk to Ryoma, but her bashfulness got in the way. In the year when they were still first year middle schoolers, it was hard for her to have a decent conversation with him. How much more now that they have grown old only knowing each other by the name, face, and other small basic details? She scolded herself. Sakuno, grow up. You told yourself that your crush on him was just childish right? Why are you acting this way?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden crashing sound that came from the door. The person she wished to appear before Ryoma came out of the door finally arrived.
"Sakuno, Hiroshi-kun! That's "time's up" for the practice as of the moment." Tomoka almost shouted in her natural loud voice. She put her hand in her hip. "It's time to go home, sweet couple."
"Tomo-chan!" Sakuno protested. Hiroshi's smile widened in his face while Ryoma's eyebrows came closer to each other. The braided-hair girl intended to go up to Tomoka and hand her bag but Hiroshi stopped her.
"Your feet, Ryuzaki-san. Remember, please." Hiroshi looked at Sakuno and got Tomoka's bag from her hand. Tomoka gladly reached out for her bag when she noticed the person standing beside the door.
"And who is this…?" she immediately answered herself in horror upon recognition of Ryoma. "Is this really the real thing…? Oh, IT REALLY IS! RYOMA-SAMA!" she shrieked, then went up to Ryoma.
"What were you doing here, Ryoma-sama? Looking for me?" Tomoka excitedly inquired while she peered at his handsome face. "Kyaa! You haven't changed a bit, Ryoma-sama! You're still cool!"
Ryoma did not pay any attention to Tomoka's latter comments. "I told them that they have to leave this place like what the guard said."
"Ooh…" she mused to herself then looked at the two people behind her. "Really huh…"
Ryoma took his bag up and swung it behind his back.
"We're leaving now, as you can see. I'll wait for you outside." Ryoma said before closing the door. Without anymore words, Sakuno, Tomoka and Hiroshi arranged the things before turning off the lights and eventually leaving the music room.
The four persons walked home casually. Tomoka was beside Sakuno, talking about how her second meeting with Suzuhara-sensei went. At first, Tomoka (and Sakuno too, but she didn't want to admit it) wanted to talk with Ryoma but as usual, Ryoma was aloof and cold with her, so Tomoka gave up on him. Hiroshi didn't mention a word after they left the school, but his smile was still evident in his face. Ryoma was- well, he stayed the way he was when he was around the two girls. He didn't feel like talking to Hiroshi either because, to start with, he wasn't really friendly. The walk until the pedestrian crossing was only noisy because of Tomoka's gushing.
The four finally reached the pedestrian crossing, and they had to part ways by then in order to get home.
"You go that way too, Hiroshi-kun, right?" Tomoka asked the tall guy as she pointed at the direction to Sakuno's house. Hiroshi nodded in response. "Then you two will walk home together. Take care of each other, see you tomorrow!" Ryoma glared at Hiroshi and Sakuno before turning his heel to leave. He had already walked a few paces from Tomoka, Sakuno and Hiroshi when he heard Tomoka's voice calling him from behind. He looked back at the pig-tailed girl.
"I didn't know you were headed this way home too, Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka managed to say when she was beside Ryoma. Ryoma shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"Always was."
"You'll walk me home, Ryoma-sama? Wow, that was sweet of you! I'm so happy, Ryoma-sama! You're really walking me-"
"I never said that."
"But you're doing it already!" Tomoka laughed.
"I've got no intention to do such a ridiculous thing."
"Ryoma-sama! You're really cool! So cool…" Tomoka tried to be sarcastic but she was just too happy thinking that her idol was walking beside her. Tomoka's eyebrow arched slightly when an idea popped into her head.
"Say, Ryoma-sama, why were you with the couple in the music room a while ago?"
"I had to do a favor of telling them they had to leave, didn't I tell you that?"
Tomoka's grin came unnoticed by Ryoma as the latter was not looking at her.
"But why did you have to stay there? I mean, you can tell them and just go."
Ryoma started to become irritated by Tomoka's questions so he did not answer her.
"Ryoma-sama?"
"It's my responsibility."
Tomoka's face grimed a little. Ryoma-sama sure is snobbish before, but not this way. She looked ahead and saw that her house was just a block now from where there were.
"Ryoma-sama, I hope to see you tomorrow again! You seemed to be in a bad mood today, as I can see. Maybe you'll cool off a li'l tomorrow. See ya!"
Tomoka ran a little away from him and finally disappeared. Ryoma continued his trudge to home, but Tomoka's words left him a little disturbed for a while.
"I don't know why I had to stay there either. Darn."
It was night again at the Ryuzaki residence. Sakuno was lying on her bed while hugging her pillow. Her grandmother was fast asleep now on her room, so the lights outside were lit off.
I can't sleep. She thought. She usually was off to dream land by nine in the evening, but the clock registered that it was already ten and she hadn't felt close to being sleepy. She tossed and turned with her eyes shut, desperate to catch some sleep. However, she failed to do so. Her body was really tired, but her mind still thought and thought that she just wished she could turn her mind off like her PC's CPU. Realizing that she couldn't really fall asleep by just lying flat on her bed, Sakuno raised herself and got the receiver of the phone placed on the side table.
"I hope she's still awake," she whispered to herself before dialing Tomoka's number.
"Hello?" a sleepy voice answered on the other end of the line. Sakuno's face lightened up.
"Tomo-chan! It's Sakuno. I'm glad you're still up."
"Sakuno?" the other voice answered in a little surprise. "Now I'm the one surprised you are still up. Why'd you call in this late hour?"
Sakuno shrugged her head then leaned her back on her bed. "I can't sleep. I'm sorry to disturb you, but I just need someone to listen to me now. Do you mind?"
Tomoka, who was sitting on her bed, laughed. "What can I do? You already woke me up before I even start dreaming… C'mon, spill it. I bet it's about Hiroshi-kun, isn't it?"
"I'm sorry…" Sakuno sheepishly murmured, "But it's troubling me. And it's not about Hiroshi-kun."
"Then what's it about. Ryoma-sama?"
Tomoka heard Sakuno's sigh. "Yes, it's about him."
It was Tomoka's turn to sigh. "You still like him, right?"
Sakuno nodded in agreement before murmuring a yes. She then heard Tomoka laugh.
"What's making you not sleepy then? I knew that you like him since ages ago."
Sakuno then got a lock of her chocolate-tinted hair and played with it in her free hand. "I want to move on from that feeling, Tomo-chan." She finally said, her tone dead serious. She expected the girl from the other line to be surprised, but unexpectedly, Tomoka didn't shout "WHAT?" nor even gasp.
"What made you think like that, huh Sakuno?" Tomoka's tone lightened and her smile grew wide. How she was relieved that Sakuno couldn't see her right now. And she was also thankful that they were talking about this matter this very night. She already expected for this topic to be discussed, although not as early as now.
"Well, Tomo-chan, I…"
"C'mon, continue. I'm listening."
The tears in Sakuno's eyes almost fell down to her cheeks but she tried hard not let those fall while she was still talking to Tomoka. She bit her lip hard.
"I know these feelings will never be returned back to me."
Tomoka rolled her eyes. If you only saw how Ryoma-sama reacted to my question a while ago. "Sakuno, I'm not the best counselor you have but I've got one good advice to give you about that matter." She then heard Sakuno stop sniffling.
"Don't be too bitter about it."
"To-tomo-chan…?" Sakuno uttered, unsure if her voice was steady enough when she said it.
"Sakuno!" Tomoka said gleefully, as if trying to remove the tension and sadness in the air. "Listen, and do it carefully."
Sakuno smiled to herself. Here comes Tomoka again, she's sometimes childish but when it comes to this she's a whole lot more mature. Tomoka became a woman while I still remained as a girl.
"Liking someone is one of the best feelings a girl can feel throughout her life. Hey, that goes for the boys too, but what I'm telling you is based from my own experience. I can assure you that." Tomoka proudly told her friend on the telephone. "Sometimes, it does not matter if the person you like feels the same way for you, but…"
Tomoka stopped for a while. Whew, I almost slipped. What am I telling her?
"… Who the hell cares? If you decided to confess to him and he rejects you, then it's his loss. You hear that? It's his big loss, not yours."
Sakuno scoffed then laughed by the way her friend said her advice.
"Tomo-chan… You're really a great friend. I can't thank you enough!" Sakuno genuinely said, her eyes free from tears of bitterness.
"Why? From making you laugh while you cry there in your room?"
"Tomo-chan!"
"Fine, fine. One more thing, before I forget. You know why I volunteered you to sing for the acquaintance party?"
That got her attention. Sakuno wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks then asked her the real reason why. For two days to be exact, Sakuno thought that Tomoka did that for one shallow reason- but now she thought she was wrong.
"For some reason, I knew that you wanted to move on from your crush on Ryoma-sama." Tomoka said to her like it was some ordinary fact. Sakuno's jaw dropped.
"And so the first step in doing that, if you really wanted to continue with your wish, is to dedicate your song for him in front of a huge crowd." The girl with a mole in one of her cheeks said. Sakuno still didn't answer; she thought, where's the logic in that?
"You understand, don't you?"
Sakuno shook her head. "Tomo-chan…"
"I'll tell you why some other time. Sakuno, I'm really sleepy… let me rest, okay? See you tomorrow. Good night!"
And Tomoka hung up. Sakuno disappointingly put down the receiver of the phone back. She wondered why Tomoka just hung up when their real conversation was just about to start. She looked at the clock and saw it was almost eleven in the evening.
"Eleven?" she couldn't believe her eyes. She got her pillow back into her arms and closed her eyes tightly. She had to sleep. School and practice tomorrow demanded energy. Not after a few more minutes that her eyelids shut close and she silently drifted to sleep.
Back at Tomoka who looked exasperated after the conversation, she was now in her bed, thinking.
"Tomorrow will be a long day… and so was this night. Good luck with our mission, Hiroshi-kun."
And she closed her eyes to sleep.
The days came swiftly, and now it was a Thursday, just a whole day more before the most-awaited acquaintance party. The classes after lunch were cancelled in consideration for the acquaintance party the next day. Every class was busy for their own final preparations, as each has a number to present for the party. Not only do they have to present for the said event, they also have to get ready for the auditorium's arrangement, food, each person's dress, etc.
As for Section 1, they were just relaxing by the time the other classes were working on their final preparations. There was an exception, however: the people included in the song number still went on with their practice. If this committee only included three persons when they started, now it included almost all the members of the class-there was a few for the extras to be included in the bar scene, a few more to manage the mini-stage where the song is to be performed on, and the rest were in charge of the props, costumes, sounds, among others. The practice of these many persons was not as orderly as like when only Tomoka, Sakuno, and Hiroshi did it, but Tomoka- being the bossy and leader figure she was, pulled it out perfectly. Now, for the "finishing touches" (as Tomoka called it), the whole group would have to practice altogether- with the music, of course.
While Tomoka lectured the others who will act as extras, Sakuno and Hiroshi were given enough time to practice by themselves. Everyone was in the music room, but the duet was situated on the far end of the room, beside the place where the grand musical instruments were placed.
"That'd be enough for now, Ryuzaki-san. Great, just great. You're always improving."
"Thanks, were great, as usual."
The two seated themselves at the sofa nearby. Hiroshi ran a hand over his locks then looked at Sakuno who leaned her back on the sofa and closed her eyes. A faint color came to his cheeks.
"Ryuzaki-san, would you mind talking to me for a while?" Sakuno opened her eyes and saw Hiroshi. She still couldn't help but feel uncomfortable whenever she's close to him- it reminded her of what happened yesterday.
"N-no Hiroshi-kun, I don't mind." She stuttered at first, but managed to calm herself down and talk to him like before. Hiroshi then gave her his trademark smile.
"I just want to give a comment, though this one might offend you. Don't worry, I'm just giving my opinion for the better…"
Sakuno just nodded her head. Hiroshi continued.
"I think you take things too seriously… Ryuzaki-san."
"I do..?" She asked amusingly. Hiroshi looked at her.
"Yes, you do."
She searched her memories of her being like that (as Hiroshi told her) but found none that she could use as evidence for herself to believe the boy beside her.
"You might ask how, Ryuzaki-san." Hiroshi shrugged his shoulders a little when he saw Sakuno nod her head.
"Say, yesterday… you thought I'm going to do it…" Blood rushed harshly to his ears, and that happening surprised himself.
"You're going to do what, Hiroshi-sensei?" Now Sakuno watched the others practice- Tomoka was armed with a large paper fan and it kept the others from fooling around. Inside, Sakuno was in a conflict with her thoughts but she kept that to herself. Hiroshi almost blamed himself for bringing his topic up. He ran a hand over his locks again. Just say it like you used to, this is for the better of everything, remember?
"That I will kiss you?" he asked straightforwardly. She who hadn't recovered from the weariness yet suddenly found herself burning with embarrassment.
"No, I didn't, Hiroshi Nakayama-kun! The thought never crossed my mind!" came the outburst from her. She said it loud enough that Tomoka's "students" looked at her in surprise.
"Sakuno, Hiroshi-kun, you okay there?" Tomoka asked them then pointed her fan at them. "Keep your voices down, if you won't mind."
Sakuno's face burned while Hiroshi's was that of a smiling one.
"See?"
The braided-hair blinked in bewilderment. The usual smile of the guy beside him widened.
"Oh, I see now… I'm so sorry, Hiroshi-sensei… It was so ill-mannered of me to shout at you."
"No, not a problem. Actually, that helped you release that bomb inside you."
Sakuno flushed. Even Tomo-chan didn't make me act like this. But Ryoma always did- well, he hated the sight of my long hair and my poor form in tennis.
"But Hiroshi-kun, no, Hiroshi-sensei," Sakuno started, feeling ashamed, "why did you point that out?"
"Simple," Hiroshi fixed his gaze at the grand piano situated at the other corner of the room, "Talents must never be vanished by mere weaknesses,"
"You mean Coach, I have talents…for these things?"
"Yeah…" he became too absorbed in his staring at that while speaking his thoughts. "You have great potential- you have the voice, even though you're not making everyone hear it yet; you have the looks-" Sakuno raised an eyebrow at this comment, "of an actress, of a lead actress to be concise, and lastly-"
"Coach, what is it?" Sakuno almost chided, acting not to be flattered by the previous comments.
"You have the will to act, but something inside you stops you from doing so. Maybe you are too conscious of what other people will say if they see you, a bashful girl, would capture the stage and-"
"I really wanted…"
Hiroshi looked at her. Sakuno was more of talking to herself than to Hiroshi. She was smiling bitterly.
"… to gain confidence…'cause if I do have that thing, I think…"
He never saw her that serious and the sight of her flabbergasted him. Kaa-san…
"I think that maybe, maybe I'll stop being a burden to the persons around me… at least…"
She paused for a moment. She was too absorbed that she didn't notice Hiroshi staring at her in disbelief. In Hiroshi's mind, pictures of her mother came one after another- his mother smiling, his mother frowning over a small wound he got, his mother crying silently to herself during night time. Her image, sad, bitter, yet forcing a smile, was reflected here on the girl beside him.
I have fallen… Kaa-san, I've fallen.
"It has always been like that. I wanted to become stronger, to be independent, I want to be…" she continued. Hiroshi woke himself up and smiled genuinely to himself.
"That's why I'm telling you now this thing," he tapped her on the shoulder, making her stop short and the bitter smile on her face disappear just like the way Hiroshi wanted to.
"I'll help you reach your goal or dream, if that's what you call it, Ryuzaki-san."
Sakuno looked at him again with the bitter grin. "I appreciate it, Hiroshi-sensei. Though I hate being like this for the time being.
He shook his head. "I have something to correct. You are not a burden, Ryuzaki-san."
Trying to comfort me again sensei? "You can call me Sakuno, Coach."
"All right then, Sakuno-san. Understand everything I tell you next. Get it?"
"I understand," she answered gleefully, "Hiroshi-sensei!"
Tomoka called out to them. "Now we're set for the general practice. Sweet couple, come over here we need your voices and acting!"
Sakuno smiled shyly at Hiroshi, which surprised the latter a little. Whenever Tomoka called them like that, she would protest with a blush. But now…
"Maybe I should start acting grown up now. Calling us a sweet couple isn't as bad as I think. Hiroshi always comforts me, always, always…"
~oOo~
Chapter 6 done! I'm so happy… One more chapter before the most awaited party. Everyone's invited!
A/N: Tomoka will play a major role in this story. I grew tired of reading stories where she's JUST Sakuno's nosy and noisy friend, so here I'm giving her a brighter spotlight. She might be a little OOC (I'm sorry for doing that, but I though it would be more unrealistic if Sakuno finds another friend as trustworthy as Tomoka, isn't it? Besides, they are already fifteen years old…), but if you're curious of what's really in her mind, then might as well read the latter chapters which I will post soon. If you don't mind, please leave me a short review. Thanks for taking time reading this, everyone!