Obvious nyah!

NOTE: The events in this chapter occurs in a day. When reading, keep track of the timings, have jumped or turned back time in order to accomodate the storytelling. Well, gee, I hope that made sense.

She froze for a moment. As the seconds ticked by, Ryoma began to feel slightly irked as she did nothing to acknowledge his peaceful gesture. He was about to snap at her when he felt her dainty fingers enveloping his.

"Friends."

3.57 pm

It had been a most unusual day. Naturally, Sakuno had predicted that today would be more unusual than others. She had even prepared herself by creating a chart of possible scenarios complete with appropriate solutions to each and every predicament. In dire times such as these, she had even woken earlier than usual and made an emergency kit consisting of a first aid and sewing kit, an ample amount of food rations, an extra set of uniform, ear plugs, a wig, and a notebook to write her will in. Well, this was moot considering she had about 16000 yen in her bank account, but at least she would see that it went safely to her grandmother. This however, she did not expect.

"Oi. I'm hungry."

Sakuno huddled her stash protectively to her chest. She gave Ryoma a sidelong glance and proceeded to ignore him. This wall as his fault anyway, she thought waspishly.

"Stop growling at me. This isn't my fault."

Hah!Everything was Ryoma's fault.

"How was I supposed to know you never even mentioned I was back? I think it would be pretty obvious soon enough. Did you assume I would hide in a cave?"

She grudgingly acknowledged his logic. Still, he could have handled the situation a tad more delicately.

"Ryuzaki. Give.Me.Food."

Ryoma received a Kit-Kat bar thrown to his head.

7.45 am

When Ryoma woke, it was to a feeling of complete discombobulation. The day of retribution, or in this case, the first day of school, had finally arrived. He was looking forward to meeting the familiar faces and his old teammates just as much as Karupin loved getting her fur sopping wet. Laying an arm over his closed eyes, he calmly breathed in and tried to compose his errant thoughts. It was very likely that everyone would wonder why in the world he was in Japan. As he was fiercely secretive of the fact that he was injured, he gathered that the first thing to do was to conjure a valid reason as to why he was back.

As the minutes ticked by however, Ryoma found his waning imagination to be a great deal of grievance. Heck, he would never come back to Japan if given the choice. What in the world could possibly make him want to come here? For one thing, his cat was not here. And despite his outwardly unaffected appearance, Ryoma really, really loved his cat. In fact, he was starting to grow even more melancholy thinking about Karupin. Just as he was starting to feel like a shmuck for missing his feline companion so much, an idea hit him.

He would probably get punished by kami-sama for this idea, but he was sure Ryuzaki would not even notice.

9.05 am

When the sound of girls squealing flitted through the halls of Seishun Gakuen High, Sakuno made sure to bury her head completely in her maths textbook. Beside her, Tomoka halted her sentence halfway, her eyes narrowing in speculation. "Ne Sakuno, are you all right?" Sakuno paid her no heed. Tomoka barely noticed the commotion that seemed to be heading nearer to their classroom. Instead, she leaned in nearer to Sakuno to see as to what was so engrossing.

"Is this one of those hentai magazines you're hiding in between?"

"Tomo-chan!" Sakuno gasped out, scandalized.

"What? It's okay, I read them too. My brothers leave them lying around."

"Tomo-chan!"

Tomoka laughed. Seriously, Sakuno was just too easy sometimes. She was about to indulge in a more explicit description of what she saw in those magazines when a breathless Horio came barrelling into the classroom. "It's true!" He managed to choke out between gasping breaths. "He's BACK!" He promptly swooned and was caught by an equally flustered classmate behind him.

Tomoka merely raised an eyebrow at his antics. When an earsplitting shriek outside their classroom however, she began to feel her annoyance rising. Really, what was with the girls in this school? She was about to make a comment to Sakuno about their lesser sound schoolmates when the door slid open and Echizen Ryoma stepped in. Wait, Ryoma?!

The classroom stilled.

10.15 am

Of course the fates had intervened, which was how a detached, slightly sullen Ryoma was found to be sitting next to Sakuno. Naturally, they had not spoken a word to each other ever since the first period sensei had walked in to conduct class. After a slight introduction of the new student, (as if there were still people in Japan who didn't know who Ryoma was) he had settled in to teach, despite the light murmuring reverberating throughout the classroom.

Sakuno was glad for this, as it prevented any sort of interaction between her and Tomoka, who she could feel was boring holes into her back. She subtly turned her head behind to check on her psychotic but endearing best friend. Yep, still glaring. Sakuno nervously fidgeted, readjusting the frames of her glasses. She had expected Tomoka to be possibly annoyed at her, but this was slowly heading into dangerous territory. Tomoka could hold a grudge like no other person. Perhaps she should have feinted some sort of sickness today…

For what seemed like the millionth time, Ryoma heard Ryuzaki sigh. Again. Really, was he that horrible to be around? Ever since that night in her room when they had shaken hands, he thought that they had become more comfortable with each other. He was certainly more at ease with her now; due to their forced close proximity. They could hold a civilized conversation, careful not to delve into anything personal. It was certainly a change from their childhood days, when she would merely stammer her way around him.

From the corner of his eye, he peeked at her. She was doodling on a piece of paper, pushing back her glasses every once in a while when it threatened to fall from her face. Heh. She was actually…cute. In a ditzy, bookish, Ryuzaki way. He rubbed at his neck unconsciously; he had suddenly experienced a curious warm sensation in his stomach.

From behind him, he heard a gasp. He turned to find…Tomoka? Who was pointing at him then at Ryuzaki, her mouth moving soundlessly. A loud harrumph brought everyone's attention to the front of the class however, to a sensei who was displeased to have the attention shifted to someone else.

12.18 am

It must be hard being famous, Sakuno absently thought. It was just 3 minutes into their lunch period and already Ryoma had a fan club and legions of admirers. About 30 or so of them were now surrounding him at his desk, 70 percent of them being girls all desperately vying for the prince of tennis' attention. She was quietly amused to see that he seemed extremely impassive to it all. He barely answered questions, and spoke only when required. Meanwhile, Horio was bragging to everyone about how he and Ryoma were 'best friends', and how they had played tennis together.

"So. This was the big secret?"

Tomoka was speaking to her! "Tomo-chan….I'm really-"

"I can understand you wanting to keep it a secret. I know you really liked Ryoma, maybe you wanted to keep him to yourself for a while.I know I would be tempted to,"

"Eh?!"

"To be honest, I was really angry before, but after thinking it through, I realized that, you really couldn't help it. I mean, look at Ryoma! Goodness, I hope you kids had a good time you know."

"Eh?! No, Tomo-Chan, I-"

"Anyway, what I wanted to say was, I forgive you. There. I said it."

Sakuno could only shake her head incredulously. She was about to straighten out Tomoka's ridiculous assumption when a deafening silence finally registered with her senses. About 50 pairs of eyes, most of which were feminine and decidedly hostile, were centred on her.

"You came back because you missed Sakuno?!" Horio finally spluttered out.

4.15 pm, Present Time

Due to the mild rampage that had started after what Ryoma had stupidly assumed was an innocent declaration, they had both found themselves being chased by angry fangirls and were now huddled behind a dusty bookshelf in the library. For what was now the past 3 hours, according to his watch. Ryoma could tell that Ryuzaki was still seething at him, she had been quiet all the while but her shaking hands were a clear telltale sign.

He was actually stumped by all the commotion. Japanese girls were definitely a different breed from the girls he had encountered in America. He had no idea that they could flicker from sugary sweetness to borderline psychotic so easily. He would have to ponder this some other time. Presently, the old coach's granddaughter was giving him the silent treatment, which was surprisingly causing him to feel an inordinate amount of guilt.

"Ryuzaki."

No response.

"Ryuzaki."

A slight twitch to her eyebrows, but other than that, she resolutely ignored him.

"Your hair is too long."

That finally got a response. Eyes blazing dangerously, she was obviously about to blast him but froze in shock when Ryoma pressed his palm on her lips, quelling any chance she had to speak.

"I had no choice Ryuzaki. No let me talk," Ryoma persisted when Sakuno made a muffled protest. She quieted down, albeit in a very grudging manner.

"I…don't want to tell them. About my arm. If they knew…If everybody knew. They'd never forgive me..." He whispered, looking away from her.

"You were the only reason I could think of. About why I was back. I apologise for the absurdity of it. I…I was just...I'm just sorry." He finally turned back to look at her, only to find her head slightly bowed, auburn bangs obscuring her face. Feeling slightly alarmed, he lowered his hand from where it was covering her mouth. "Ryuzaki..?"

His alarm spiked even further when he noticed that tears were trailing down her cheeks. He actually scooted back slightly when she made a movement, only to take off her glasses and wipe at her eyes. When she raised her head to look at him, he was stupefied to see teary brown eyes making contact with his own.

"Ryoma…" She choked out.

He stopped breathing altogether when she launched herself at him, arms wrapping themselves around his neck while she cried.

Wrote the whole chunk in a night. Would love to hear your thoughts on this one. Had a bit of trouble with Ryoma and Sakuno, I wanted them to subtly grow without making it ooc. I hate it when that happens, you know,when Ryoma suddenly has an epiphany and realizes that Sakuno is his One True Luv.

Man, I gotta pee.