Chapter 12: Cold as Ice
Little Falcon: I'm surprised I actually found time to update. This surprised me big time. So please read and review okay?
Standard Disclaimer: I only own the idea that's all. If I did own this series I'll be the happiest person on earth!!!
Suddenly the receiver she was holding felt too heavy to hold. "I understand," her voice didn't betray her breaking self as she answered automatically. I'm not allowed to be happy. This was the first thing she thought of immediately. Whatever she did, someone up there didn't like it. There was no quota on misery for her, no quantifiable threshold that once reached, got you miraculously taken out of the distress pool.
Her eyes wandered back to the room where she came from, to where 'that' person was waiting for her return. Quietly, she grabbed her bag from the closet and left the mansion through the backdoor to the place where her raging thoughts can be silence immediately.
His amber eyes stared at the place where he lost sight of her. For the longest time in his life, he was rooted on his spot, unable to move. Why are you doing this? Her question was simple, no metaphors or deep vocabulary he can't understand but why didn't he answered her right then and there. I'm doing this because… his forehead creased in deep thought as he tried to find the right words to represent what he was feeling- his protectiveness, his jealousy, his worries, his… the words were pouring into his head but none seems fit to describe what he really wanted to tell her. In the end, he only ended up looking at her and calling her name. Pathetic. He ran his fingers through his unruly dark green hair in agitation. "Excuse me, is Sakuno done with her phone call?" he impatiently asked a passing maid.
"Sakuno-sama? She left an hour ago through the backdoor," the maid replied then bowed to leave.
Somehow he felt relief that he didn't need to answer her question immediately but hurt was at its heel. Just what am I to you now, Sakuno? He too left the mansion to join the Seigaku team to practice.
The blades on her feet glided across the smooth glass-like ice. The empty skating rink came alive with just the presence of one person. In a display of great skill, she jumped off the ice to do a triple Lutz perfectly. It was as if she wasn't injured earlier on. Although, her technique was flawless, her mind was in chaos. But in a way, the coldness of the ice beneath her feet seemed to numb her thoughts and let her think of nothing else but to skate.
When her breaths came in painful puffs and her legs were shaking from fatigue, only then did she realize how much time she spent on the ice. The large wall clock told her it was an hour before dinner. She had to go back… to the mansion…to reality.
"Take over from here, okay?" she removed her apron then wiped her sweat off.
"Hai, Sakuno-sama," the maids began to set the table just in time before the Seigaku tennis team arrives from their intensive training.
"Sakuno-sama, someone is here to see you," another maid called from the other room.
"Who is it?" her chestnut brown eyes widened in surprise to see her middle aged coach sitting causally on the couch, waiting for her. "Coach," even before she could say another word. Sado Kaname stood up and slapped her so hard, she tasted blood.
"If you ever humiliate me like that again, you're out of the team," his eyes glared at her as she wiped the blood away with the back of her hand.
"What's the matter, Coach? Did the Seigaku player get to you just like that?" her voice was confident and cold. It was as if their situations turned around all of a sudden and she was the one making the threats now.
Being taken back mentally, the Ryuugan coach retained his composure. "Remember your place, Hime-chan! I know you don't have it in you to leave the team even if you wanted to. He wouldn't like it," with that he left.
With just those words, her walls crumbled at her feet. The victorious smirk on her coach's lips made her want to retaliate physically because there was nothing she could say to counter his statements.
Her chestnut brown eyes gleamed with moisture as she heard the mansion door slam shut. He wouldn't like it. These words rang in her head and added more to the chaos in her mind.
The grandfather clock rang loudly. It was six o' clock. Time for dinner. As if on cue, the Seigaku team entered the mansion looking beat. The well set table welcomed them home. Almost instantly, everyone took their seat.
"Where's Sakuno?" the Seigaku female coach looked around before they began to eat.
"Sakuno-sama stepped out for a bit. She already ate so you can start without her," the maid replied politely. At least, that what Sakuno-sama told me to say.
His uninterested eyes looked at the elegant dish before him. His heart was pounding against his chest before they stepped into the mansion, not because he was tired from training but because he was still unsure of what to tell her when he faces her again. But now that, she was nowhere in sight his heart felt like it was sinking into the depths of despair. He thought that training hard until his hands and legs gave way would take his mind off her but it didn't. Every step he took and every stroke he made, his mind wandered back to her and only her.
"Oi, Echizen! Your food's going to get cold," his sempai with brushed up hair, Momoshiro, waved his hand in front of his teammate's face.
Abruptly, Ryoma stood up. "I'm not hungry. I'll go take a walk," he muttered before he left the mansion.
Where to go didn't seem to matter to him. He just wanted to have a temporary peace of mind even for just a while, picking up the pieces of his thoughts in the process. For a while, Ryoma walked around without a hint on any destination. It was when the thunder clapped threateningly that he realized he was somewhere unfamiliar to him.
Looking around, there wasn't anyone to ask for directions. For the first time, he got lost without anyone to ask for directions. This is bad. A movement from afar caught his attention. When he was about to call for that person for direction, his amber eyes widened in surprise to see a silhouette so familiar to him.
Curious, Echizen approached her and recognized her immediately. Sakuno? His eyes narrowed in inquiry as he saw how broken her chocolate brown eyes were as she walked away from what looks like a cemetery.
He should just follow her home that was the reasonable thing to do but somewhere in his head told him to go somewhere else. His feet began to take him to the opposite direction to where Sakuno was heading.
Silent marble tombstones greeted him as he searched for something he didn't know. There was hardly any movement in the place except for the rising smoke from the newly lit incense from a distant grave. Walking over to it, he saw the marble stone cleaned, newly lit incense and fresh flowers lying at its feet.
The strong wind blew as his eyes read the name engraved on the cold stone.
"Saiga Toushiro…"
Little Falcon: Read and review onegai…