Every Single Step
Previously: 'This is so embarrassing for some reason.' Sakuno thought.
'Why is she blushing?'
A/N: Here's chapter III. I'm gonna have a vacation so before I go, here's what I've got
Chapter III: Clumsiness and Coolness
Mizuru and Rio can't help but giggle a bit at the two freshmen right before their very eyes.
'They are so adorable!' Mizuru squealed whispering it to Rio as he nodded in approval.
Mizuru and Rio finally begun.
They performed the first figure very well.
Every move they did is harmonized.
God, they were so great! Ryoma and Sakuno can't help but widen their eyes. They're impressed. A better word would be amused.
The steps aren't that complex, but with the pair's performance, each step looked intricate.
But all these amusements have to stop.
'And that's figure one.' They said in unison with a smile hanging on their lips.
The two first years cleared their throat for they were intimidated. Even the prince.
'How can we do something like that?!' they thought.
But their thoughts didn't matter. All they have to do is to dance for the festival, and everything will be back to normal after that.
The prince has never been like this. For the first time-not including the Penal Tea-he cleared his throat cause of fright…? Well fright isn't the right word. No one has ever seen the prince frightened before, well still excluding his teammates for seeing his horrified look at the Inui juice. Maybe we'll have to leave that for now. I myself can't explain how he feels, well, he is Ryoma Echizen after all.
They fixed their position once again, with Sakuno's more flushed face and Ryoma's discomfort.
They did the steps with the other pair's guide.
Something sure is wrong and both of them noticed it. Well Mizuru and Rio can never miss that too.
Sakuno was about to step her right foot backward, but Ryoma has lifted his left foot to step forward. Realizing that her foot was on the way, he immediately stepped backwards again, causing himself to almost lose his balance. But thanks to tennis, he managed to land on his feet. Fast reflexes I can say. But he forgot one thing.
BLAG!
If you remember their positions- fingers entwined, hand on shoulder, hand on waist, if one falls, the other one will. Pretty much a domino effect.
Both of them landed on the cold floor with Sakuno on top of him.
(A/N: Kyaah! Pretty classic eh? Hehe :3)
'Ugh!' Ryoma is in pain, considering his position- landed on his back on the floor with a girl supporting her weight on him.
'Ittai! Eh? R-ryoma-kun? D-daijobu desu ka?'
Ryoma's eyes widened a bit then looked at his side avoiding eye contact with the girl. Any time now, a blush might escape his cheeks. Yes those cheeks that no one might ever think that a blush would appear on them. But he is an expert in hiding-your-feelings-game so it might be alright after all.
'R-ryoma-kun?' this thought wandered around Ryoma's mind. It's his first time for a girl to call him like that. Cause girls, fan girl or not usually call him, Ryoma, Ryoma-san, Echizen-san, and worst, Ryoma-sama. It sounded pleasant to the ear. The formality is killing him.
'Ah! G-gomenasai!' It's now Sakuno's turn to blush as she quickly got out of their position. She is Ryoma's opposite, she isn't good with the game.
'I'm really clumsy. Maybe Echizen-san hates me now. What if he quits cause of my clumsiness. The dance club might get mad at me too.' Sakuno thought badly.
'It's okay.' He said as he stood up dusting himself.
Sakuno's face brightened up but remembered one more thing.
'G-gomenasai.'
'I said it's okay.'
'I-iie. I-I mean, f-for calling you R-ryoma-kun instead of Echizen-san.'
Ryoma raised his eyebrow.
'In America, whether they call you by your first name or last name it's no big deal. But here in Japan, it matter s a lot. The formality can kill you.' Ryoma thought.
'It's okay.' He said. 'But not Ryoma-sama…' he continued.
Sakuno smiled.
'Wait, where's Mizuru-san and Rio-san?' Sakuno asked.
The both of them looked for them by looking a round a bit.
'A-are you finish?' Mizuru asked hiding behind a concrete, Rio behind her.
'F-finished with w-what?'
'Y-you know, with fluff and stuff. Lovey-dovey… y-you can continue if you like. W-we won't disturb you.' Rio said.
'Eh!? A-anou… th-that's… w-we're not l-l-like that. Mou sempais!' Her blush growing furiously.
Ryoma wished he had his cap on to hide his faint blush, good thing his green-like hair is doing a good job as a cover.
'Ah… s-sorry. Then shall we continue?'
'H-hai!'
'Hn.'
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
'Echizen-san, Ryuzaki-san, we've observed one thing. And we would like you to know about it. Echizen-san is too cool. His pace is too fast.' Mizuru said.
'While on the other hand, Ryuzaki-san can't keep up. Her pace is too slow. For example, the beat is 1-2-3-1-2-3, Echizen-san's pace is 1-2-1-2 and Ryuzaki-san's is 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4.' Rio explained.
'I see. B-but w-what will we do?'
'Eye contact!' both of them said in unison.
'Wh-what does that mean?'
'Well you see, if the two of you have eye contact, you will be able to signal each other when to step, when to pause and such. We also observed that both of you looked at your feet the whole time. On second thought, that is pretty normal for beginners but still, like we said before, eye contact would really be nice' Mizuru explained.
Silence filled their atmosphere. No one knew how to continue the conversation. But this silence is deafening so the prince decided to make a move.
'Hn.' Yes a simple move yet its enough to stop the silence.
'Then that settles it. You two can practice if you have free time. So that you can practice the eye contact.' Rio said with a sheepish smile.
'H-hai.'
'Anyway, that's all for practice, you can now use the rest of the time of your lunch break. Oh yeah, there won't be any practice later after class. And Echizen-san, you may attend tennis practice if you like.' Mizuru said.
Ryoma left bidding goodbye with a slight bow.
'A-arigatou gozaimasu f-for today.' Sakuno said bowing, then followed the prince. Well she didn't exactly follow him, its just that both of them are headed to the exit of the gym.
As the two finally left…
'How much did Tomoka pay you?' Rio asked.
'Well, none. She did have a point. She told me that if I didn't like the Ryoma x Sakuno pairing, she'll give me money, but I do think they are so cute so I'll charge Tomoka free.'
'Haha. But we're not really playing much of match maker. I mean eye contact is really important in dancing, what do you think?'
'Well, I guess so. Since what we explained to both of them earlier is based from our experience right?'
'Yeah.'
Connivance is in the air.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
As the two walked, silence enveloped them. Sakuno being Sakuno just kept quiet and Ryoma being Ryoma continued with his fast pace in walking. They were really quiet.
Sakuno wished something would happen to end this silence. The gods have fulfilled her wish.
Ryoma was about to say something but to his dismay…
'Sa-chan, how's practice?'
'T-tomo-chan, i-it's fine.'
'Great. Just great. The fan club president cutting me off.'
'Ne, T-tomo-chan, let's use the remaining time of lun---' Tomoka cut her off as well.
'Gomen Sa-chan. I came cause your obaa-chan asked me to tell you to come later to the courts.'
'Ahh… okay.'
'Anyway, I'll run along now. Ja!'
'Ja ne.' Sakuno raised her hand to bid goodbye.
But realization hit her.
'W-wait T-tomo-chan.' Tomoka was out of sight.
She was stuck with the passive prince once again.
It seems the gods didn't fulfill her wish thoroughly.
She sighed.
'R-ryoma-kun, s-see you.' She said bowing then head to the classroom.
Ryoma then head to vending machine to get some more Ponta.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Classes are finally over and Sakuno made her way to the tennis courts since her obaa-chan told her too.
'Hmmm… I wonder why obaa-chan is calling me.'
She reached the courts then approached her grandma who is standing infront of some students.
'O-obaa-chan?' she stuttered even she didn't know why.
Sumire looked back to see her.
'Sakuno, you're finally here. Just sit on the bench for a while.'
'H-hai.'
'As I was saying, practice will be more intense for today. You will be running around the court and we'll see who lasts. Of course, if you don't fulfill the rule, you'll be having a Penal Tea.'
'How come obaa-chan pronounced penalty a bit different.'
The members' faces turned gloomy.
'And, my granddaughter will be watching. Don't disappoint her.'
Everyone's eyes suddenly fell on her.
'Eh?' her eyes widened.
A pair of golden cat-liked eyes widened as well.
'I didn't know that she is coach's granddaughter.'
A certain sadist saw this and a plan escaped his mind, placing a smirk on his lips.
Sakuno stood up and bowed.
'I-I'm Ryuzaki S-Sakuno. N-nice to m-meet you.'
'Regulars, introduce yourselves.' Sumire said just like what the sadist expected.
Fuji, Eiji and Momo looked at each other, each sending and receiving messages.
'Kunimitsu Tezuka, buchou. Good day.' Sakuno bowed to him.
'Shuichiro Oishi, fuku-buchou. Nice to meet you.' Sakuno bowed again.
'Kawamura Takashi. Please to meet you.' He came closer for a shake.
But then he saw a racket right infront of him. He picked it up.
Sakuno came nearer but 'Burning!'
Sakuno backed away.
Fuji came and tapped Taka's hands to let go of the racket.
'H-huh?'
'Shusuke Fuji. Please to meet you Ryuzaki-chan.' He said still giving her that usual smile.
Sakuno smiled back.
Fuji came closer, knelt down then kissed the back of Sakuno's hand.
Sakuno flinched then blushed.
Ryoma's eyes twitched.
That was the cue, Eiji entered the picture.
'Nyaaah! Ryuzaki-chan is so kawaii!' Eiji said then gave Sakuno one of his famous bear hugs.
Sakuno's face became more flushed.
Now Ryoma was giving the scene a stare more like a glare.
That was another cue, Momo then entered the portrait.
'Sempais, you're choking her! That's not a way to greet her. Oh, I know a way in Europe!' Momo said then kissed Sakuno on the cheek.
Not only Sakuno's cheeks were red but her whole face.
'Momoshiro Takeshi. You can call me Momo-chan-sempai.'
Sakuno didn't know how to respond. She tried to give a slight smile.
Fuji, Eiji and Momo gave smirked, waiting for the next scene to happen.
Ryoma finally entered the scene.
He approached Sakuno held her wrist pulling her from the 'torture' she was receiving.
'Echizen Ryoma.' He said.
'A-arigatou R-ryoma-kun!' she said bowing.
'Hn.'
His sempais wondered. Ryoma-kun? Usually girls called him Ryoma-sama, Echizen-san or something else.
'Nyaa! Ochibi, do you know Ryuzaki-chan?'
'My dance partner.' He said plainly.
'R-ryoma-kun… y-you can l-let go now.'
Ryoma's eyes widened for a while then let go of her hand. Yes her hand. He involuntarily held her hand when he held her wrist before.
'A-arigatou gozaimasu.'
His sempais had sheepish smiles on their faces from ear to ear.
Then Ryoma felt a dark aura behind him.
It was Ryuzaki Sumire glaring at him, glaring at his hands.
A/N: What do you think? hehe. Hehe. I gotta pack my things now. Ja!
Anyway for the reviews. Have no time. I'll mention your names on the next chapter. THanks! ^^