dont own it.

"I know, it was a mistake. Please….just let it go." Sakuno did not dare look at Ryoma. He in turn, said nothing after that. And when Ryoma closed the door soundlessly behind him, her heart broke all over again, just like that time 5 years ago when he left.

It would have been a fairly routine day if not for the most entertaining group of people sitting in front of her. Ayu had started out her day of nursing late actually, though her lack of promptness went unnoticed due to the mild uproar behind the registration counter. She wagered on a movie star or some sort, in for a day of 'wellness' at their private hospital. Such events were hardly uncommon here. She had raised an eyebrow at the tittering females, all giggly and swooning. You would think that they were interns instead of the veterans that they were. She did start foaming at her orifices when she saw the two absurdly good looking males. There they were, with a plain girl between them, emitting a dangerous aura all around.

The younger of two, with his dishevelled hair and golden eyes was glaring at almost everyone around him, seemingly uncomfortable with the attention they were receiving. He looked faintly familiar to Ayu, though she could not piece together who he was at the moment. No, Ayu was more interested in the older one. With glasses adorned on an almost feminine face, if not for the cold eyes that looked stoically straight on. She would bet big, big money than she was in the presence of gods. Strange though, that gods came with such plain baggage. Bespectacled Plain Jane was sitting between them, almost unnoticeable with her pigtails and messy bangs. She kept fidgeting with her skirt, creating more creases on something that was already rumpled to begin with.

After a bite of gossip from the other nurses, Ayu had discerned that they had an appointment with Sano-sensei, though none of them knew for what purpose.They had arrived a mere 5 minutes before, and had jumpstarted the hearts of the octogenarian female nursing staff. As the day went on , and Sano-sensei had still not arrived after an hour however, Ayu was ready to scream from all the teeth grinding and dark look that the handsome pair was shooting at them. Gods or not, it was hardly their fault that their no holds barred Sano-sensei was a maverick who did as he pleased.

All heads immediately turned when the automatic sliding doors opened to emit a bedraggled Sano-sensei, nearly two hours late for his appointment. Bobbing his head to an invisible beat, he comically waved his hands at everyone and barked out that the next patient be in his office. Ayu sweat dropped at his almost blasé' introduction. She fearfully mumbled to Plain Jane and the Gods that they could enter Sano-sensei's office. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief once the doors to his office finally closed.

It was hard to determine who felt most uncomfortable, though Sakuno was positive that it was her. After her worst ever visit to a clinic, Tezuka-buchou had suggested that they have lunch first before returning home. Once they were in the restaurant however, Tezuka-buchou suddenly claimed to have mysterious 'stuff' to handle and disappeared before she could ask what it was.

Which left her and Ryoma. In a restaurant. Together.

Sakuno was reading the menu religiously for what was the fifth time, too much a coward to look at him. The silence was almost painful, occasionally punctured by the other patrons of the restaurant and Ryoma's softly tapping fingers.Absently she thought that he had such beautiful hands, and wondered briefly if he manicured them. After all, it was hardly unusual nowadays to find boys with varnished fingernails. Why, that day she overheard Horio preaching to the others about this nail saloon that he visited which was- Oh, he was talking to her.

"Wha..?"

"I said, do you want to get out here? I'm not really hungry."

To be honest, Sakuno hadn't eaten since morning and was starving.

"Oei. It's not a difficult question. Yes? No?"

"Ah..if Echizen-san wishes to go then-"

"Don't call me that."

"….Call you what?" Feign ignorance.

"Don't call me 'Echizen-san'. We did it yesterday night- Itai! What did you hit me for?!"

"Don't talk so loudly!" Sakuno glanced around wildly to see if anyone heard their conversation. They were safe, there was noone from school and everybody was busy inhaling food.

"Why? Are you shy, Sa.Ku.No?"

"Don't call me that!"

"But I think we should start calling each other by our first names. We have reached that stage, Sakuno."

"No we didn't!"

"We did."

"We didn't!"

"We did."

"We just kissed!" Silence reigned after that statement.

Huh. So that was his plan.

Ryoma was trying to get her to admit what happened last night. Like the idiot that she was, she fell headfirst into his trap. He had the audacity to smirk at her, victory within his grasp. She huffed loudly and crossed her arms, turning to look the other way. Her anger was so strong, her fingers were noticeably trembling.

Finally, the day was picking up, Ryoma thought. It had been a miserable morning, first with That Quack turning up late and having the cheek to say that he was 'kinda hung over, ya know?' And such a person was a much respected figure in his field. Trust Tezuka-buchou to pick out the weirdos to torture him. All they did during the visit were tests, where there was a lot of 'oohing' and 'tsking' on That Quack's part. They were told at the end of the visit to come back in two weeks time for the results, and in the meantime could Ryoma please inform the head nurse to cancel all other appointments as he had a baseball game to attend?

Ryuzaki's presence was the only thing that kept him from leaving the charade altogether. Strangely enough, he felt somewhat soothed when she was around which actually baffling as this was the first time he knew of her having such an effect on him. It wasn't hard enough to get her to go with him to That Quack's hospital. Ryuzaki-sensei had done that for him, saying that it would be good for Sakuno to keep an eye out on Ryoma. She probably would not have done that if she knew that Ryoma wanted an eye and more from Ryuzaki right now. Hm. Not good thoughts to be having. He hoped Ryuzaki didn't notice that he was suddenly flushing.

Boldly, he stared at her despite the uncomfortable tension in the air. He could sense her uneasiness, and for some reason it thrilled him. Ryoma resumed his finger taping on the table, knowing that it annoyed her. Really, Ryuzaki was just too cute sometimes.

They both jumped when a ringing tone emitted from Ryoma's pocket. He scowled when he noticed the name flashing on his phone. It was tempting to simply end the call but he knew it would make things worse. Abruptly, he growled out his annoyance to the caller on the other end. Only to receive a single line in return changed his world.

"Echizen," Sano-sensei calmly intoned.

"You cannot play anymore."

I tried to write longer, I honestly did. Unfortunately, I tried to write a dissertation too.

My life is absolute cow dung.

Any ideas where this story should go? Running out of juice lately.

Do review. I read them at work and it makes my writer's heart go pitty pat pat.