This was bad. Echizen was madly in love with Sakuno and if Tomoka told him that she left without telling him, he would be hear broken. Fuji wanted to interrupt their conversation and explain the situation to Echizen but, as he entered, Echizen dashed out of the classroom. Fuji stared at Tomoka.

Finally he composed himself enough to speak. "Where did he go?"

"To the airport."

That was all Fuji needed to hear to understand that Tomoka had given Echizen one last chance to tell Sakuno how he felt.

Ryoma's POV

I was shocked that she would just leave so abruptly. But, I had no other option but to go after her. I grabbed my best friend's bike and raced out the school gates completely ignoring the security guard. I would explain the situation when I made it back to school.

I was only twenty minutes away from the airport when I started thinking of what I would say when I got there. I had many ideas of what to say but those were things that happened in movies. This was reality. One wrong move and I could lose her forever.

I was nearly there. I saw people unloading their baggage and saying goodbye to near and dear ones. I felt like a character from a tacky love story who chased his girlfriend (or in my case probable girlfriend) to the airport to stop her from leaving.

I parked the bike at the entrance and searched the information board for the flight Tomoka had told me about. It was on time but, I needed help to get in. there was no way they would let me enter without a ticket. That when something struck me. I was Nanjiroh Echizen's son. Although I'm not proud of what I did next, I don't regret it either. I gave my dad a phone call, explained the situation to him and got him to talk to the authorities. In less than five minutes, I was granted permission to enter without a ticket. For safety purposes, an authorized person had to accompany me inside. I had no objection to that.

My race began. I dashed through security check and made it to the check-in. I caught a glimpse of Sakuno and tried getting her attention. I was about to go closer but, I stopped in my tracks. She was with another guy. Was he the reason she was leaving? He was about her age maybe a year later. As far as I knew, Sakuno didn't have any brothers. Who was he?

I couldn't bear standing there and see her laughing with him so; I turned back, thanked the authorities and grabbed the bike. I tried to be strong but I couldn't head back to school. I then went to a place I never thought I would go.

I was standing out of the large cream house. I had ditched school and not informed anyone about my little "detour" so; there was no one at home. There was only an hour left for school to end. I sat on the porch and waited for someone to come home.

As I sat there, I started thinking of all the times I didn't feel like playing a match but her cheering kept me focused. There were many times when I only challenged people just to impress her. But, there were also times when she tried to tell me that she loved me but I ignored her. I didn't know she was in love with me till I spoke to Tomoka this morning.

"Sakuno left for reasons I'm not allowed to speak about yet but I can tell you one think Ryoma-sama. She loves you and I know you love her too. Believe me, when you come to know why she left, you will hate yourself for never treating her the way she should have been treated." Tomoka had said before giving me the flight details and encouragement. Now that Sakuno was gone, I really felt the weight of her last sentence.

When you come to know why she left, you will hate yourself for never treating her the way she should have been treated. She was right. I should have treated Sakuno with a lot more love than I did.

Now that she was with some other guy, I felt lime this was the biggest mistake of my life. Although, it was too early for me to realize that I would make even bigger ones in the future.

I was thinking about her when a car stopped.

"Echizen? Why weren't you in school?" Fuji asked.

"She was with some other guy Fuji-senpai. I lost her. I'm sure that's why she's leaving."

"We should get inside before it starts raining." Fuji said as he unlocked the front door.

They settled on the couch and Echizen narrated the entire story to Fuji. He didn't fail to include the part about Sakuno not having any brothers at all. She didn't even know any guys outside school.

Fuji patiently listened to the entire story and then commented.

"How are you so sure that he wasn't just a friend?" Fuji asked.

"I didn't say that he couldn't have been a friend. I just couldn't stand the thought of her with anyone else."

This angered Fuji. He got up from his chair and grabbed Echizen's collar. This surprised Echizen. Fuji was never violent.

"Why couldn't you just go and talk to her? How are you so sure that there is someone else? Even if she was with that guy, you would at least be satisfied since you tried. But you didn't even try! You had one chance and you blew it." Fuji yelled. He finally let go of Echizen who was completely shaken up.

After a few minutes of silence Fuji and Echizen both composed themselves.

"I'm sorry I had no right to do that to you." Fuji apologized.

"It's ok. I can see what you meant. I agree that I should have tried but put yourself in my place and think of how you would have felt at that minute. I'm not saying that what I did was right. Running away is never an option but I did and it's going to haunt me forever."

"Echi-"Fuji was interrupted by his sister who was shocked to see them at home when they should have been at practice.