Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis? Not mine. Got that? Great.
A/N: I dedicate this chapter to KiTtEn18sMiLe, ShinigamiinPeru and ArticFox-14.
KiTtEn18sMiLe: Thank you for pointing out my little mistake! Knowing the perfectionist I tend to be, I just need to add it. hehehehe...
Warning: There will be OOCness due to circumstances invented by my imagination. This is another short chapter.
Please enjoy the ninth chapter!
Chapter 9: Confessions are never easy.
"What happened?" Yukimura asked as he couldn't stop himself again. It now concerned his youngest teammate, who he first assumed was not that close to Seigaku's freshman prodigy. A dark look came upon Izumi's face. "I don't know the details but, something happened between them during his middle school graduation." She replied, the expression in her face unchanging.
"You shouldn't be talking about other people's personal matters like that, Hanabi-sempai."
Izumi gasped as she turned her head towards the source of the voice to see the topic of their conversation, Echizen Ryoma, with Kirihara by his side. "Why are you so curious about what happened then, sempai?" Ryoma asked, with no ounce of tiredness or sleepiness evident in his voice or stature. "It was after that day that I did not see your kind side, your caring side, anymore." She started in a low voice.
"I was so worried. I wondered on what had previously happened that made you like you are now." She muttered as she wrapped her arms around herself as if she was cold. "I felt an ominous feeling every time I remember that day, as if something had gone terribly wrong." She whispered as she stared into nothing, forgetting about the two other males in the room.
All of a sudden, she felt warmth surround her, and it forced her to tears. She latched on to the source, gripping hard on the cloth she first touched. The source told her to hush. "I'm sorry that I didn't notice that you felt this way, Izumi-sempai." He whispered to her ear in his caring voice that she had missed so much.
"I was so caught up with the others that in first glance, I thought you were alright. I should've known that you were hurting inside." His hold tightened around her, which made her look up to his face. She noticed the tears that managed to fall from his eyes that were obviously forced shut. He took down his mask of aloofness and monotony in order to comfort her.
"Ryoma-kun." She managed to squeak out, but it came out pained, full of sorrow. She adjusted their position so that they were leveled and hung her head over his shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him and drew soothing circles on his back. "I shouldn't have imposed this on anyone, mostly on you, Ryoma-kun, but…" She drifted off.
"But?" Ryoma had pulled away to look at her eye-to-eye, but then he noticed that she had hidden herself away again and stared at her lap; her downcast gaze shadowing her eyes from his view. Using his finger, he forced her to look at him, straight to his eyes to convey the emotion he didn't want the two other teens to know.
"I love you, Ryoma-kun."
A/N: So, things are finally coming into motion, neh? hehehehe...
I forgot to mention in the previous chapter but I'll just write it here. There will be random shounen-ai moments, but nothing too drastic. The genre is still friendship, not romance, so yeah... I probably won't be doing much with it but to please my urges to fit some love in random moments. (insert-nervous-laugh-here)
I hope I didn't make the characters too OOC. I might have been a little excited when I typed this so... Please tell me any typos and inconsistencies, even grammar mistakes (being the "Grammar Nazi" that I am).
Constructive criticism is appreciated in the form of private messages and/or reviews.