Chapter 6 Validation
I gently pushed open the gate and set my bag on the hot concrete. He stopped to wave at me and I unzipped my bag and took out my racket before zipping back up. Making my way onto the court I knew what I wanted to achieve today.
"Ryoma?"
"What?"
"I want you to go all out against me today." Surprise was etched across his face for a fraction of a second before he grinned.
"Alright but be careful I don't want a repeat of last time."
I never worked so hard for anything in my life. The lunch rush was nothing compared to this. He truly was the ultimate tennis pro in every sense of the word. Even so I wasn't going to give up; I had worked too hard just to throw it all away when things got tough. Serve, swing, return to center, rinse and repeat until even my aching muscles faded into the background. I conceded so many points but I wasn't going rest. Not until I had scored one, just one against him. If I did everything I had done would be validated and I could hold my head high. For all my determination I knew I couldn't keep this up forever if I was going to score it had to be soon. I rallied my energy and kept my eyes sharp.
I saw my chance.
Knocking the ball to the farthest corner of the court I knew he had a lot of ground to cover if he wanted to keep the ball in play, even with how fast he was. While he was preoccupied I moved closer to the net and waited. I was in my best position I had been all match. Deflecting the ball left and right I forced him to waste all his energy trying to keep up, and I could do so all while conserving energy. I only realized how close I was to succeeding when I saw how heavily he was breathing.
Alright now!
I swung hard and fast to the opposite end of the court. He lunged for it but missed by an inch. I stood stock still as a gigantic grin took over my entire face.
"I did it! Yes!" I jumped high in the air but when I landed I accidentally slipped on my heel and fell hard on my back.
"Ow." I hurt all over but I was too proud to care. I even laughed at my predicament.
"Well glad to see you had fun." He trudged over and plopped on his back beside me. We were both totally exhausted but we couldn't care less. We let our breathing settle while the sun beat down on us and I was sure I would have a tan line by the time I left. Eventually we both sat up and basked in its warmth.
"That was a good match." He looked happier than I had ever seen him and proud too. Tennis was his passion after all so I guess that made sense.
"Yeah I thought I would never get past you." For all my belief in myself I knew I would never truly be able to beat him in a one on one match no matter how long I practiced. I had only managed to score one point after all. Despite that I was still happy for my small victory.
"Once you started using your zone defense I knew it was only a matter of time before I slipped up." His honesty was refreshing.
"If it's coming from you then it must be true." I giggled.
I don't think either of us fully comprehended how close we were at that moment, at the very least I didn't. There was a strange gleam in his eye and he looked like he was considering something.
"Ryoma-" He leaned closer and when our lips connected my brain stopped functioning. My stomach did a one eighty and my eyes closed of their own volition. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing so I let him control the kiss. He tasted of candy and it reminded me of when he had given me one of the cigarettes. It was bliss.
We parted once we both ran out of air and I pulled my knees to my chest to rest my chin. Half of me was doing somersaults and the other half had left the building. I still couldn't quite believe what had happened and I touched my lips in disbelief.
"That was your first kiss wasn't it." I nodded my head ever so slightly.
"Hmmm." He leaned back on the ground and rested his hands behind his head with closed eyes. I thought about doing the same but buried my face in my knees and closed my eyes. My head was swimming and the butterflies in my stomach showed no sign of leaving unlike my thought processes. Was this what it was like to be in love and to be loved back? A darker thought came to mind about how just because he kissed me didn't mean he loved me but I pushed it aside. Thinking like that would only ruin the moment.
It was a while before I lifted my head to glance at him. He had remained unmoving since our kiss and only the steady rise and fall of his chest told me he was still in this world. He looked...content was the best way to put it. A little smile pulled at the corner of his mouth and no matter how much I knew he hated it he looked adorable. When the thought passed I quickly averted my eyes; the last thing I wanted right now was to be caught staring. Instead to distract myself I asked the first thing that came to mind.
"How's King?" He didn't open his eyes but I knew he was thinking when his mouth twitched.
"Adjusting. He's been eating a lot but I think once he gains some weight he'll be fine."
I left it at that. After all sometimes silence was better. Sweat dripped down my forehead and chin and I reached up to wipe it away. Sitting in the sun for so long was making me thirsty and I got up to fetch my water bottle from the bench. Pulling of the cap I tilted my head back and took a big gulp. Replacing the cap I thought of a way to spend more time with him.
"Hey Ryoma." I heard an affirmative grunt from behind me.
"Do you think we could go see King?"
"Sure." I took another drink and went back to get my racket. He was still lying down with no sign of moving and I knelt over him debating if I should do something. Eventually I bent down close enough to the point where our noses were almost touching. I knew he knew I was there because he was fighting to keep the smile off his face. Honestly I didn't know what had come over me to make me so brave but I wasn't complaining; it wasn't very often that I was this confident. I stayed there for a minute while the smile grew bigger and when he could contain it no longer he opened one of his eyes while I grinned down at him.
"You wanna get back to practice?" He closed his eye and took a deep breath.
"Yeah alright." I moved away to let him get up and we finished for the day.
We skipped dinner and instead opted to head straight to his house to see King. When the door opened the cat was sitting in wait at the end of the hallway and gave a soft meow when he spotted us. Without thinking about my actions I meowed back in perfect imitation. If Ryoma thought it was strange he gave no indication and I set my bag down on the familiar table. The tabby let another cry and I knelt down to pick him up and carried him into the Livingroom.
"Who's a good kitty?" I scratched his head some before I planted my face in his neck fur and exhaled. He purred in complete bliss and I rubbed my cheeks up and down against his back. When I pulled my face away to take a breath I rubbed circles on his head with my hand.
"Hmmm, never seen anyone do that before." Ryoma had taken a seat on the couch and was watching my interaction with curiosity.
"What you haven't thought to do that, I mean they do it all the time." He raised an eyebrow but didn't comment further on the subject. I continued to pet the cat as I made my way to the couch and when I set him on my lap I glided my hands up and down his back.
"Keep that up and he'll never want you to leave." I threw him a quick smile while I massaged the tabby. He watched for a few minutes before he got up and snatched the cat from my hands.
"Hey!" He sat back down and began from where I left off.
"He's my cat I'm allowed to steal him." He gave me a teasing wink. Crossing my arms in feigned anger I huffed while I watched them from the corner of my eye. The cat didn't mind the change of hands in the least bit and kept purring his indulgence. Minutes ticked by and the longer Ryoma petted the cat the more his expression softened. It took all I had not to let out an awwww. Instead I placed a hand on my heart and grinned from ear to ear. He seemed to be completely engulfed in his own world. The candy moved up and down in his mouth in time with his hand and a smile that was becoming common place graced his lips. I wanted to see how long he would keep this up and thought of a brilliant plan.
"Do you have a cat brush?" He didn't look up.
"Front table middle drawer." I looked where I was instructed and found it was exactly where he had said. Coming back to the couch I tossed it at him. He caught it right before it hit his face.
"Nice try." I giggled and he started to brush King's coat. If the cat thought he was happy before then he was in heaven after the first stroke of the brush. He lay on his side and purred louder than before.
"What happened to not spoiling him?" I sat beside him on the couch and played with King's tail as it flicked from side to side in adulation.
"I never said that I couldn't spoil him." I caught the tip of the tail in between my index finger and thumb. I held it there for a few seconds before letting it go and trying again. It was like trying to catch a fly with chopsticks and I found the game amusing if not a little challenging. I kept up my little game until Ryoma set the brush aside and gave the cat one final pet for good measure.
"I think you've had enough attention for one day." Setting King gently onto the carpet the feline headed in the direction of the food bowl.
"If my landlord didn't charge for pets I might consider stealing him. Any of my cats at home would get annoyed if I held them for too long but King just can't seem to get enough."
"Mmmhm." We both watched the cat stride out of the room fully earning the title of King. When he disappeared from my line of sight I leaned back against the couch and closed my eyes. The fatigue from work yesterday still lay heavily upon me but it only felt overpowering now that I had the time to relax. I knew full well that I shouldn't fall asleep but the temptation was quickly overpowering everything else. I tried to open my eyes but the willpower to do so was gone and it wasn't long before sleep claimed me entirely.
When I awoke I had no conception of how much time had passed. During my sleep I had nestled into the corner of the couch but what surprised me was the thick blue blanket gingerly set atop me. Tired though I still was I forced myself to sit up. Light was steadily coming through the blinds so I guessed I hadn't slept for too long.
"Oh you're awake good." Ryoma entered from the kitchen carrying a light green mug. I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and took the beverage when he offered. I took a sip of the drink and felt my brain struggle back to life.
"What time is it?" I took a bigger sip of the cocoa to wake me up faster. I was glad it was cocoa and not coffee, I really did not like coffee.
"About eleven-thirty." I nearly spat out my drink onto the tan carpet.
"AM?" He nodded. My panic was rising rapidly and I set my drink aside to avoid spilling it on myself because my hands were shaking.
"I already called the school and told them you were sick." My panic was still climbing despite his steady tone and calm voice.
"B-but I had work last night!" I felt like curling up in a ball and dying. I had never, ever missed a day of work not even when I was deathly ill. To make matters worse I hadn't even called in to let them know I wouldn't be coming. I would be lucky if I didn't get fired.
"Saiyuri." I couldn't hear him. Worry encapsulated my thoughts and as the stress piled up everything else vanished to the back of my mind.
"Saiyuri…..…Saiyuri!" I still didn't notice him and he finally lost his patience.
He took me by the chin and kissed me hard on the lips. That finally snapped me out of it. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck desperately wanting some way out of this crisis. It was too soon when we ran out of breath and were forced to part for air.
"Sorry." I had calmed down considerably and now twirled my hair around my index finger in guilt.
"No problem, just try not to worry so much." I nodded solemnly.
"I-I should probably head home." I slowly made for the front door and he silently followed behind me. Grabbing my bag off the table I slung it over my shoulder and headed for home.
It was a nice day outside and it was a shame I had to stay indoors in order to keep up my 'sick' alibi otherwise I would have spent every minute of it on the court. I purposely took the long way to my apartment but all too soon we climbed the stairs to the third floor.
I was disappointed. How I wished that school and work didn't eat up so much of my life so that we could spend more time together. Sure we practiced together every weekday but at most I could only spare two hours before I had to rush to work. Saturday was always the best day of the week but I worried that I ruined our fun because I was never one hundred percent.
"You're worrying again." I came to my senses and found myself staring at my door. Shaking my head of those thoughts I took out the door key and slid it into the deadbolt.
"You want to come in?" He politely declined but hesitated to leave.
"What is it?" Even in my state of perpetual exhaustion I could tell that something was off. He never hesitated. I watched him from over my shoulder while he seemed to wrestle with something. I almost moved to comfort him but he turned on his heel to face the stairs.
"It's nothing." He headed down without looking back. Now I was worried and for an entirely different reason than before. Either he didn't want to tell me because it involved me or it was serious enough that he thought I would worry. Neither was appealing but I only had speculation as to which was the actual cause. Sighing I turned the knob and entered. He would tell me when he was ready it was only a question of when. I closed the door behind me and leaned heavily against it while something occurred to me-
He hadn't said goodbye.
Yay another chapter completed! This one was easier than last chapter but still took me a while to edit because I knew what I wanted to do I just wasn't sure how to accomplish it exactly. Now with this uploaded we're very close to the end of the story (waaah). Seriously though I didn't think this one would be as tough as it ended up being but I guess I'm just a bad judge. Anyway as always feedback is very welcome and favorites are always appreciated and lastly have a fantastic day!
-MidnightMarchioness
