Konnichiwa minna-san! Thank you for the reviews! I am so touched. For AkainoHotaru: thank you for your inspiring words. It does motivates me. Please bear with me a little more. ;P
I can't believe that you like my story despite some grammar errors and structures. I will do my best and I always will. Writing my own story makes me so excited myself. If I miss it, I feel like reading them all again. Anyway, enjoy this new episode.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tennis no Ouji-sama. I love to share the anime.
Chapter 5: Arashi no Yokan (Premonition of the Storm Version 1)
Chapter Summary: She was suffering between two options. Her heart was breaking apart and the danger was beginning to absorb her. How can the two personas deal with the upcoming premonition?
"I want you to quit tennis." The girl with the long hair said.
Sakuno's eyes became widened. "W-what?"
"Quit tennis and we will stop bullying you."
The eerie between them became tenser. The girls smirked while the innocent girl was quietly crying. Her mind was not working properly at that moment.
The girl in the middle was staring at her claiming that she won the price without even joining the competition.
"What? Can't you do it?"
"O-of course, I can't. I love tennis; it is part of my life." Sakuno defended herself.
"So, you won't mind us bullying you, until you quit?" The girl in the middle said.
Sakuno chose to be silent first before answering her question. "I-I just can't…."
The girl was irritated about her stubbornness. The girl with pigtails whispered to the girl in the middle. The girl nodded and smirked, thinking about something very tricky.
"How about we make a deal?"
"D-deal?
"Yeah,…" The girl looked at the other girls. When they nodded she mentioned the deal. "You will join the competition. If you win, we will stop bullying you and we will let you get close to the senpais and even Ryoma-sama, and we will acknowledge your confession to him."
Sakuno was blushed on that and then she looked down. "B-but I was rejected."
"That doesn't change the fact the he knew your feelings."
She remained staring on the ground. The girl continued her words.
"But if we win, you will quit tennis for good and you will not allow getting close to Ryoma-sama."
She raised her head after hearing those words.
"I-I can't, I-"
"If you won't accept the deal, then we can not do anything about it. My minions are everywhere. You can not easily accuse anyone if they did something bad to you, especially if I ask them to target your dominant hand."
She was startled upon hearing that. What to do? She was stranded in a jam that she can not escape. She gripped the chains of the swing. She lowered her head as a sign of defeat.
The girl wickedly smirked and said: "Is that a yes?"
Sakuno remained silent.
"I want you to say it."
She gripped the chains tighter. She cried the last drop of her tears as she said 'yes' to them.
They were overwhelmed. "We will allow you to do some unnecessary movements for now. But you still can not speak to the senpais and Ryoma-sama casually."
"T-they will notice if I do that, I-I can act normal towards them. I promise. And please spare my best friend in this situation. She has got nothing to do with this."
The girls murmured. She took the chance to say what's in her mind.
"P-please, l-let me be with them. I-I want to spend the possible time with them s-since I don't know w-what will be the outcome of the competition. So please,….. I want to be with my senpais and to…to b-be with him."
"hmmm, looks like you already admitted defeat without even starting. Okay, I will let you since this will be the last time you will be with them."
She felt relieved after hearing that.
"But I warn you, you can not tell anyone about our deal or you will be punished without you noticing it."
She opened her eyes wider. She looked down again before saying her vow: "I-I won't, y-you have my word."
They all laughed at the upcoming victory. The girl in the middle patted her head. "Good girl, now just be obedient and follow us alright, see you in the competition." Then they left the park laughing non-stop.
Sakuno was still out of reach. If she was with someone right now, she won't probably hear that person's words or even noticing the presence of that person. She made a deal that might change her life entirely. Tears began to fall down on her cheek again; she gripped the chains of the swing with all her might that she can not feel her hands anymore. She slowly bowed her head involuntarily and started to cry again. She doesn't care if she was crying in a public area. She bursted out her tears there like there's no second time crying.
Another week passed:
She managed to act normal. She was able to talk to her senpais without them noticing. The bullying stopped but slight warnings were indicated to her. She had to take an extra careful with her words. Or everything will be ruined.
A certain young tennis prodigy was staring with a certain braided pigtail girl for a long time. He seems like he was thinking something very deeply. He clenched his hands like he was about to punch someone. He was shocked when someone grabbed on him from his back.
"hey, hey, Ochibi. You are staring at her for a long time, nya~" Eiji teased him.
"Shut up, let me go." He said trying to free himself from the acrobatic player.
"You are not so honest." Eiji added. "I think I am gonna side with Fuji who already confessed his feelings to our little girl."
Ryoma gave him a stern look that made him take a few steps backward.
"Haha, you are making sense here now, Eiji." Fuji butted in when he heard his name.
Ryoma glared at him but Fuji deflected it. The aura was back again. Everyone took a few steps backward from them.
"now,now stop that glaring thing and such. Let's practice already." The mother hen interrupted.
They started to practice afterwards. They have their own thoughts occupied by something differently.
xxx
After the long practice, they took a break. Momo, Eiji and Fuji went closer to Sakuno, Tomoka and the Ichinen trio.
"hey, hey. I heard that you will be having a match on the upcoming festival three months from now?" Eiji asked them that made Sakuno flinched. Ryoma saw how she reacted.
"Yeah, we will practice afterwards. We will aim for the championship right, Sakuno-chan?" Tomoka asked her.
"H-huh, uhmmm, y-yeah. Y-your right." Sakuno stuttered panicky.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? I am not Ryoma-sama." Tomoka slapped her back.
"E-err. H-hai. W-We will win, for sure." She said trying to act normal.
"Hey. How about practicing with us?" Fuji suggested.
"W-what?" the girls and the trio asked at the same time.
"Yeah, it could be enjoyable." Momo second the motion.
"B-but isn't that cheating?" Sakuno tried to object.
"Nah, it is not as long as it is only a practice. It is not forbidden that two clubs will work together. You can ask everyone in the club to join you."
"That will be a great idea. But is Ryuzaki-sensei will allow us to join?" Tomoka asked the tennis tensai.
The subject of their conversation butted in: "It won't be a problem. We will decide the trainings from the girls to the boys. I will discuss the details to the coach of the girls club."
"That will be alright. Oh I am so excited." Tomoka said. "Thank you sensei."
xxx
Not long ago, the schedules were implemented. The practice trainings between boys and girls were separated for the first three hours and then the warm-up practice on both clubs will be merged for the next three hours and the practice trainings of the both clubs will be the last for the remaining hours. Since the festival is approaching, classes were gone up to the lower half of the day so that they can practice earlier than the designated time. Their practice officially ends at 9pm.
All of the girls from the tennis club were really excellent except for one. Sakuno was definitely worried about it. She can see the five girls laughing at her. She averted her eyes to avoid eye contacts with them. Fuji noticed that. He came closer to the innocent girl.
"Say, Sakuno-chan."
He was a bit shocked when he saw her flinched. He suddenly remembered his confession to her. But he felt that somewhat was bothering her aside from his confession. He just couldn't name it, unless she will tell it to him.
"Are you okay?" Fuji asked her.
"Y-yeah," she blushed, walking a few inches away from him.
"Are you sure?" He catches up to her.
Sakuno nodded. She embraced her tennis racket. Fuji saw her do that. "Let me help you practice." Without waiting for her reply, he went to her back and held her hand with her racket. His other hand was placed on top of her shoulder. Sakuno blushed because of his actions.
"F-fuji-senpai." She reacted.
"Let's see how you swing your racket." Fuji said gripping her racket covering her hand. She did. "Add more force to it, not the real force but the force where you can hit the ball directly to the opponent.
"H-hai." She said. She's beginning to pay attention to her senpai's instructions asiding the closure they had.
"That's right, keep swinging like that." Fuji said. She keeps swinging and after that Fuji whispered in her ear:
"I hope you can call me Syuusuke like the way you call his name."
Sakuno blushed when he did that. "F-fuji-senpai."
Fuji sighed. "Oh well, I can wait." And then they continued to practice. He taught her how to hit the ball properly and how to get the proper timing. Everyone from the girl's club was raging with anger towards her and the other one from the boy's club was glaring at them for a long period of time.
"They look so cute." Momo said.
"Yeah, look how Ryuzaki-chan blushed." Eiji agreed.
"Better take pictures between them." Inui said using Fuji's digital camera, he took pictures of them. "Ii data." He continued.
Ryoma heard them. He knew that they let him hear those words on purpose. To forget the scene he witnessed earlier, he shifted his attention to the ball and transferred his irritation to the poor ball.
The captain and the coach of both clubs were just watching them practice. They see the improvement about their players. Even though the girls will have to compete with themselves on the festival, they can see the potential in each individual.
"I guess this year's festival is going to be interesting." The coach of the girl's club said.
"Yeah, it's too bad that the boys can not join the festival because of the upcoming nationals. The preliminary match will be in the afternoon time of the festival." The coach of the boy's club said.
"But you can wait for their match since the competition will be held in the morning."
"Yeah, we will definitely watch the game."
The both captains of the clubs just fixed their own glasses as they watched the players.
xxx
The practice was long gone but Sakuno asked her grandmother for a favor.
"But Sakuno dear, it was dangerous to be outside."
"O-obaa-chan, t-the court is just a few blocks away. And besides there are lights in the court so I am not worried. I am certain I won't disturb people who were nearby because the ball won't create very loud noises." Sakuno explained.
"But,-"
"Please, Obaa-chan. Just for two hours, I will set an alarm so that I won't lose track of time."
Sumire just scratched her head and sighed big. If her granddaughter was this serious she couldn't disagree. She saw how serious she is. She really loves tennis that she dedicates herself to win. She thought. "Alright, just two hours, and if you are not back within that time I will fetch you up."
Sakuno was happy for the permission her grandmother gave her. She hugged her tightly. "Thank you Obaa-chan, I love you so much." She said.
"My,my. Okay, you got me but you will start tomorrow. Now rest and get ready for school tomorrow."
"hai." She said as she started walking upstairs and to her room. She hated to be alone because it will only push her to think those problems especially at night. That was the reason why she wanted to practice very late. She will tire herself up so that when she goes home she will definitely rest and sleep right away. With that, she won't be thinking those problems at night.
The Next Morning:
She went to her locker first thing in the morning. She was a bit shocked when she saw a letter that colored red as blood. She picked the letter with a little fear. She looked around to see if there's someone nearby. When she checked that the coast was clear, she read the letter:
'Don't forget your position; you are losing your way, we didn't like what we saw yesterday. Do your thing properly if you want to be safe. We are all watching you in the school premises remember that.'
She felt her sweat coming down frigidly. She must be careful now or she will be in trouble. She thought of winning the competition at all cost. But with her skills right now, she won't be able to do it. She will do her best to practice alone. The chance will be smaller but she will take that small chance to win. She will let anyone know how serious she is when it comes to tennis. She can forget everything for the sake of her favorite game….even for the sake of Ryoma. The thought pained her but she will have to face the reality. Like the girls said to her before, she will never win his heart... no matter how hard she tried. She bid goodbye to her first love while crumpling the letter.
xxx
The first three hours was over and they will have the merge training later on. Sakuno was sitting on the bench wiping her sweat on her face. She looked at the court fondly, with the other players doing their own activities. Fuji saw her like that. She was thinking something very deep. Something is definitely bothering her. Why can't she tell me? He thought. There is only one way to find out. He was about to walk near her when her senpai called her. She returned from her reverie and stood up instantly. She walked to her senpai. Fuji sighed after seeing that. I guess this is not the right time to ask her. He said to himself as he go back to the other regulars.
"Fuji -senpai was looking at you just a while ago." The girl with long hair said.
"W-what?" She blushed.
"He confessed to you, right? You really are popular. But we can not let you have all the boys from the club." The girl whispered to her, emphasizing every word she uttered.
Sakuno felt like she was being chocked. She can not breathe freely when she's with them.
"Smile you idiot, act normal. And I want you to buy us some drinks. Buy us some pontas. Here's the money." The girl said giving the money to her hand.
She gripped on the money. With hesitation on her face she started to walk away and left the court. She went to the nearest vending machine to buy pontas. She was still thinking about the confession of Fuji to her. She didn't pay attention to that until the girl reminded her with it. She respects the tennis tensai but she doesn't know about her feelings towards him. Like the condition she has with Ryoma, she can not be close with Fuji also or everything will be in chaos. It will shorten the time that she will have to spend with them. And she didn't want that to happen. She shook her head on the thought. She inserted the coins on the coin slot and she was about to press the button for pontas when she remembered something. She stopped halfway. Of all the drinks, why does it have to be a ponta? She thought. The realization came to her that they just love torturing her by simply making her remember the thing that the prince of tennis likes. She was actually thinking particularly nothing. Her mind was somewhat blocked after that. She flinched when someone pushed the button for ponta. The drinks fell on the container. She looked at the person who pushed it. She obviously flinched when she saw Ryoma beside her.
"It took time for you to push that button so I helped you." Ryoma said with a stoic face. He was actually wondering about her weird reaction the moment she saw him.
"T-thanks." She blushed before getting all the pontas. Ryoma went to the machine and bought his own ponta.
"U-uhmm, I-I apologize on what I said to you that day. I-I was just depressed that's all." She said not looking at him.
Ryoma started to drink his ponta first before saying his reply: "I have completely forgotten about it."
"I-I see,…." Sakuno fidgeted. "W-well, I-I need to go now. S-see you." She said and then walked away without waiting for his reply. But Ryoma made her stop with his words.
"Good luck. You can do it."
She was surprised to hear something like that from him. She didn't look back at him but she nodded. It was something that she really needed to hear. It was unbelievable that it was Ryoma who said that to her. She continued walking away from him.
Friday:
Morning has just started but she was already sweating. She was not satisfied about her skills. She went to the school court grounds that day just to practice. She will definitely do her best in this competition. She will take the risk not to lose in the game. Despite the stress, fatigue and hunger that she was feeling these days.
"You are early."
Sakuno flinched on the voice who spoke. She turned around to see who it was.
"F-fuji-senpai…" Sakuno fidgeted as she recognized the person standing at the edge of the court.
Fuji examined her appearance. Something was definitely wrong with her. He thought. He noticed that she can not look at him in the eye. Was it something to do with his confession? I guess not. She will never act like that in front of him. She's not like that.
"What's bothering you, Sakuno-chan?" he couldn't help but ask the girl.
"N-nothing. S-senpai. I-I'm just worried about the competition." She said honestly. In fact, close to the truth.
He noticed the aversion of her eyes again. "But why can't you look into my eyes then?"
"I-I because... " She panicked. I need to act normal. Calm down Sakuno. She thought. "I-it was a bit... awkward... " she blushed.
She blushed. He smiled because of that. "Hey, I won't make anything that will make you embarrassed. Don't worry. Besides, I am not rushing you about your reply."
"F-fuji-senpai... " To her surprise, he leaned closer to her face. She blushed a lot. She couldn't breathe because of their closeness.
"Why not practicing calling my name now, Sakuno-chan?"
Sakuno panicked not because he asked him to call her by his name but the closeness between them. "I-I but... Fuji—"She tried to speak to him but Fuji interrupted.
"Try it,"
"-Kun." She suddenly said, in an impulse.
"eh?" Fuji blinked. "-…kun?"
Sakuno blushed. "F-fuji... kun" she looked down below.
Fuji sighed. The honorific that she used to call him was demoted to something friendly. He smiled after hearing that. "Well, I guess that'll do. It is okay than senpai."
She felt relieved when he distanced himself.
"Come, I'll teach you tennis." Sakuno was about to object but he interrupted. "And I won't take no for an answer."
Sakuno just smiled bashfully. She needed to act normal so that no one will notice it. She joined Fuji in the field and started practicing.
"Relax your muscle, take a deep breath. Imagine your opponent in front of you. Look into her eyes, make a glare that will make her flinch a little." Fuji instructed her seriously.
Sakuno nodded in everything he said. Fuji went to the other side of the court. She focused everything in that court. She imagined that girl in front of her. She tried to swing her racket with full force as she waited for the ball to come back that Fuji threw to her. She hit it just perfectly fine. She was happy about that result.
"Finally, I saw you smile again."
Sakuno was shocked on his words. Fuji was staring at her. She blushed because of that.
"Let's continue." Fuji smiled.
Sakuno nodded as they continued practicing.
They made some throws and hits for a several times when Momo, Eiji and Ryoma arrived.
"Woah, what did we miss? Did you two practice alone, huh?" Eiji made a gate crash towards them.
"I think you can tell from watching us." Fuji said as he looked at the youngest tennis prodigy.
Ryoma was staring with a stoic face. He fixed his fila hat and entered the court. He walked pass through Sakuno who was blushing the moment they arrived.
"You dated without our knowledge." Momoshiro abruptly told Fuji.
Ryoma heard that as well as Sakuno's total denial. "Y-y-you got it all wrong. W-we are just practicing t-that's all." She stuttured.
"Then why are you stuttering and blushing like that?" Eiji and Momo leaned closer to the innocent girl. The girl blushed more.
"Stop torturing the girl, you two." Fuji said as he started to gather his things up.
"I-I will be out for a while. M-my class will start in a minute now." Sakuno said trying to escape on the conversation. Then she left the court with loud noises that's coming from the regulars.
Ryoma entered the club room. He saw them practice for a while before Momo and Eiji saw him in the vending machine. He couldn't enter the court with the two of them practicing. He sensed that the tense will be more awkward if he exposed himself at that time.
xxx
The practice went well. The training ended a bit earlier. They pack their things individually. A certain boy of cat-like eyes noticed a certain braided pigtailed girl saying her byes to her grandma. He wondered. Why did she take off without her grandma? She always does that after our practice. He thought. He shook his head to think of something else. After half an hour he left the court.
"I'm going."
"Thank you for today." Inui said.
Ryoma nodded. He left the school afterwards. He didn't left with Momo because his senpai has got something to do and it was the total opposite to his way. Ryoma took a different path for an unknown reason. He rarely passed this road because it was somewhat isolated. He then remembered that there is a court nearby. Might as well have a little more practice before going home. He thought. He decided to go to the court. He took a short stop when he suddenly heard some ball that was bouncing on the wall. It was nearby and he was certain, the ball that created a sound was definitely coming from the court. Out of curiosity he made his pace a little faster and went near the court. He peeked a little just to make his eyes widened.
He saw her. Her breathing condition was not stable. She was pretty worn out and exhausted and sweating all over. He could see her knees were trembling for lacking of energy. He flinched when the girl talked:
"Just... a little... more... " She said between her gasp. She threw the ball in the air and hit it. She can adopt the training he and her practiced earlier base on Ryoma's observance but the power was not that powerful unlike before. She ran to catch the ball. She hit it for a couple of times but missed not long after. Her stamina is losing as well. He observed her from head to toe. While watching her, he couldn't stop whispering to himself:
"Why do the sacrifice like that, you will only tire yourself, is this what you do after practice? Ryuzaki."
With the non-changeable look on his face he continued watching the girl who was dead serious about winning the competition. He stared at her for a couple of minutes without her noticing his presence. He watched the little klutzy girl practice that night.
Done again! How's this one? Fuji will start expressing his feelings towards Sakuno. And the jealousy part will also takes place. See how Ryoma is going to change from being antagonist to… Argh! It is soon. I hope? Well, what do you think? I need more motivation to continue. thanks a lot!
Reviews please! Domo Arigatou Guzaimasu! I Love You minna!
Next Chapter: Koko Dake No Hanashi