Dude, they don't belong to me.
Her culminating rage finally doused into a frighteningly numb awareness.
" I give up…."
Okay. So perhaps, he had possibly overreacted. A little.
" Ah, almost forgot! Here's your milk Echizen-san, douzo!"
Or maybe he hadn't? From the way Saku- no, Ryuzaki, was acting, it was like nothing had happened. He peered at her suspiciously while sipping at his milk. Ryuzaki was flitting about the kitchen, chirping about nothing ado to the old coach. Her bright countenance practically lit the room.
" Oba-san, I'll be staying at Tomo-chan's place tonight. It's been awhile since I had a sleepover, I hope that's okay?"
Ryoma's eyes sharpened at that. Avoiding him already was she? Fine, he didn't give a damn. His ears grew irritated listening to her anyway, laughing at whatever answer the old coach gave her.
"Ehhh, is that the time?! I'm sorry Oba-san; have to run now, class duty today. Echizen-san, I'll see you later at school!" A gust of wind formed over the space where Ryuzaki had been sitting. Ryoma calmly took another long sip of his milk, quelling the urge to run and…just run.
"So, what did you do?" The old coach's eyes calmly assessed his stiffening posture, though her former student's eyes gave nothing away.
"Nothing,"
"Hm.I wonder…"
"What?" His voice was slightly raised.
"Nothing."
A grating silence made itself known in the kitchen. The two individuals that were enveloped in it stubbornly refused to break down, both waiting for the other to make their move known first. Ryoma grew tired of it after a few minutes. "I'm going," He grabbed his things, about to leave for school when the old coach stopped him.
"Be careful Ryoma," He didn't think she meant the journey to school.
Tomoka was beginning to feel worried about her friend. On the surface, there was nothing wrong with Sakuno, except that she was a little pale looking. She seemed exuberant though, despite the tiredness of her features. Their classmate Jun was regaling her with an interesting story about his pet dog, Sakuno's laughter peppering his sentences every now and then. Something strange was going on, though she couldn't be certain of it.
" So, you feel it too huh?"
Horio settled on the edge of her desk as he noisily chomped on melon bread. Tomoka pinched a bit of his snack, ignoring the indignant 'hey!' coming from him. "Feel what?"
"Ya know. Sakuno-chan."
"I do not feel Sakuno."
"While that is a nice image, that's not what I meant, and ya know it," Horio offered another small bit of his melon bread, to which Tomoka absently grabbed at.
"I don't know…It's like…Sakuno is usually…She's not very…"
"Cheery?"
"Exactly. She's more the…um…"
"Subdued?"
"You're quite the wordsmith today, aren't you?"
"Well, I did score the highest on the last language exam."
"That was plain luck. You probably cheated anyway."
"Well, if that's how you feel, I won't tell you what this great Horio knows then…" Finishing up the last of the melon bread, Horio crumpled a plastic wrapper and brushed off leftover crumbs on his lap. Well, he would have anyway, if Tomoka hadn't sunk her sharp manicured nails into his wrist. He hissed in pain and jerked his hand but for a girl Tomoka was horrendously strong.
"If you don't tell me, I'll tell everyone about what really happened that time in P.E,"
"What the- That's blackmail! And it was a friggin accident!"
"Sure, an accident caused you to wet your-"
"Allright! I'll tell you!" Horio checked to make sure that noone, especially Sakuno, was paying attention to his next words. He made a dramatic show of scanning the class twice, mainly to irritate Tomoka.
"Right, so I was taking a leak," A gagging sound emitted from Tomoka upon hearing this. "Oi, oi, telling an important story here. As I was saying, was taking a leak, when I heard someone having a conversation inside a stall. Guess who?"
"I don't know Yoda, but I suppose you'll tell me anyway,"
"Eh? Yoda? Anyway, this person goes something like, 'I'm fine Kaa-san, I just miss Karupin.' I guess you know who it is now huh?"
"So Ryoma misses his cat. What does that have to do with Sakuno?"
"I haven't finished. The next thing I hear coming from him is 'Ah Kaa-san, I'll be in America in two days… No, I don't want Oyaji to get me,' Geddit now?"
"Oh my god."
"I immediately left after that of course, didn't want him to know I listened in on him. Hey, I think I'll make a great spy, whatdja think?"
"Oh my god."
"Yeah, I know. Echizen is leaving again. Too bad for Sakuno eh?"
Tomoka shoved him off her desk.
The loudmouthed girl was glaring at him, Ryoma was sure of it, it was hardly subtle. Hnh, so Ryuzaki had already told her. Had very likely him painted him as the Bad Guy in the tale, which Ryoma supposed he was. He leaned back further in his chair as the sensei's voice lulled the classroom to sleep. Soon he would have to tell the school that he would be away for a while, though Ryoma didn't think they would put up much of a fuss considering his stellar grades so far.
The regulars would have to be informed; else he would be murdered when he came back. He had an inkling they would murder him anyway, whether he told them or not. The old coach would have to be told tonight. Other than them, there wasn't anyone else that he felt inclined to mention his momentary absence.
Liar, liar.
In two days, he would be back on American soil with Karupin in his arms. The pull of escapism was calling out strongly to him, he could almost imagine the sense of freedom he would soon have. No more crazy Quacks suggesting experiments, no tennis captain dictating his every movement, no silly fangirls presenting love notes to him everyday. Blessed, blessed relief.
Liar, liar.
He would be glad to be away from Japan for a while. Maybe he wouldn't even come back. There was nothing here anyway. Ryoma closed his eyes and tried like hell to ignore the whispering ache within his chest. Enough.
Sakuno hummed a tune as she helped washed the dishes at the sink, though for the life of her she couldn't identify the tune.
"Ryoma said to thank you for all your help," Her grandmother continued. She had arrived two hours earlier from the airport after sending Ryoma off. Sakuno had just gotten in from staying the night over at Tomo-chan's house.
"Sou ka? That's sweet of him,"
"Hm yes, sweet boy, that Ryoma." A giggle was the only answer that Sumire received from her granddaughter. Sumire waited for any other response from her, but she just began humming again. Inwardly Sumire sighed, though she knew that if she pushed Sakuno for an explanation for her odd behavior, the child would just clam herself up further. "I'll be heading to bed now. Don't stay up too late."
Sakuno nodded smilingly at her grandmother, her eyes twinkling in mirth. Alone once more, the twinkle began to dull out. She resumed humming again, desperate to feel normal. So what if Ryoma didn't even bother to say goodbye? It was fine, she was fine about it. They were hardly friends, just….acquaintances that were thrown together due to unusual circumstances. Her hands began to feel raw from lathering too much soap on an unclean plate. Mechanically she washed the soap away from her hands and dried them on a nearby towel.
It would be nice to have just her and Oba-san in the house. She would have the television all to herself once more; noone else would be hogging the remote control. There would be no surprise visits from the regulars, and no midnight calls from stalkerish fangirls.Oh, and she would finally get the toilet all to herself again! Ryoma always did like to take long baths, which could be annoying when she was pacing outside, waiting for her turn.
Flicking off her bedroom light, Sakuno burrowed deep into her bed covers while hugging her stuffed cat tightly to her chest. It was then that she suddenly recalled of Ryoma mistakenly thinking of her room as his that first night. An image of his reddened expression when he accidentally encountered her underwear popped into her mind, causing Sakuno to dissolve into quiet raptures.
It took mere moments for the long withheld tears to come.
About 2 months later, Ryoma called the Ryuzaki household. Sakuno overheard her grandmother conversing quietly with him, and nearly asked to speak to him before remembering that they were back to being strangers again. She left the house so she wouldn't be tempted to snatch the phone and demand him to come back.
The second time Ryoma called, Sakuno was the one who answered. Her senses had prickled as soon as it rang, and before she could stop herself, she had the phone grasped firmly in her hand. An awkward silence met her as soon as she spoke.
"…Ryuzaki?"
"Hai! Who is this?" She ruthlessly adopted a light tone.
"Ry-Ah, Echizen-san! How are you? Everything okay in America? "
"Fine."
"Ahah, that's great!"
"Hm."
Sakuno had forgotten how brief Ryoma could be. When the pause became too painful to bear, Sakuno scrambled out a number of excuses and hurriedly hung up.
Ryoma stared dumbly at the now useless telecomm contraption in his hand. It was somewhat ego bruising, the speed at which Ryuzaki had ended the call. Still, the hurt did nothing to dispel the warmth he felt upon listening to her speak.
It took him two days to realize that he missed Ryuzaki Sakuno. Badly. Even having Karupin around did nothing to lessen it. It was almost embrassing how much of a sap he was becoming. His parents probably knew there was something off about him, though they hadn't found out what. Oyaji had already told him to 'stop moping about'.
He was also harbouring another secret from them.
Flexing his left shoulder slightly, Ryoma practiced another basic tennis serve. It was only recent, but his injury didn't seem as bad as before. Of course, it could be due to the 57 page instruction booklet that the Quack had given him when he left for America, detailing as to what exercises were best for him.The Quack called everyday, asking how Ryoma's progress was, and clucking at him to come back so that they could begin proper rehabiliation.
Of course, Ryoma didn't believe that he could miraculously heal, which was why he didn't dare tell his parents. It would just dampen their hopes when his injury returned again. Practicing tennis 15 minutes a day had helped to keep his mind off his emotional turmoils.The rest of the time though, Ryoma found himself wondering what Ryuzaki was doing.
At first, he was annoyed at his uncharacteristic musings. It was fairly ludicrous, Echizen Ryoma becoming distracted by a bespectacled female.He spent his nights staring at the walls, recalling their last words to each other, rehashing the words again and again. He flinched each time, remembering how harsh he was.
Pride kept him going back and apologising. He nearly cracked today though, when he heard Ryuzaki's voice.
Kuso, he had to go back now.
Woah! Dude, I updated!
On another note, I looked at my stats counter today, and I'm amazed at the number of people who read my work. Seriously, whoever you guys are, if you made it this far, you give me the fuzzies.
Oh I'm jobless too. So I have all the time in the world to read reviews. (I know, I'm disgustingly shameless, but dammit, I like reviews)