I would like to say a lot of million thanks for the reviews that I received on my last chapter. I can't name the guests but you made my day. I am motivated to write one another. Thank you to you all. This next chapter is somewhat related to Ryoma's song. Please enjoy. ^_^
Discalimer: I don't own POT, the title chapter or anything except my thoughts.
Chapter Summary: Just when they had the most joyful moment of their lives, sadness came next. He never bothered by it before… but now…
Chapter 15: Crying Skies
'We will be experiencing moderate rain this following week. Be sure to bring your umbrella and go home early to avoid unnecessary incident…'
Sakuno was watching the news on the TV one morning. She looked outside; the news said nothing about typhoons or anything probably just a low pressure area that was planning to stay for a while. But that was not the reason why she was a bit upset. It was the event what happened last week.
Ryoma is going back to America…
Flashback:
"Ochibi is going back to America." Eiji repeated what Sumire said.
"Seems like it," Sumire nodded. "It is an opportunity that he will not definitely miss. Ryoma is slowly reaching his dream."
Ryoma looked at his Sensei. He's kind of expected that and he will definitely join the four major competitions. But why was he feeling a bit odd on the news? He tried to forget that feeling and answered his sensei;
"Yorukonde, Sensei. I'll go back to America as soon as the papers are done."
Sakuno was somewhat upset on his words. He's leaving again. She thought. Fuji saw her reaction. He stared at her for a long while. He wasn't aware but he faced the young protégé and asked a question;
"What about the nationals? You are not going to participate anymore?"
Ryoma looked at his senpai and stared at him for a while, "…Kaidoh-senpai can replace me."
"Are you sure about this, Echizen?" Momo asked him.
"What about Ryuzaki-chan?" Eiji asked next. "Are you going to leave her?"
Sakuno and Ryoma both reacted. Sakuno interrupted the conversation, "W-why does it have to do with me? I-If Ryoma-kun wish to go back to America, then I will be supporting him." She was blushing when she said that.
Ryoma remained silent. He absorbed every word she said. He held his hat down. Everyone made different reactions, mostly good luck messages for him. Sumire talked afterwards;
"Save the good luck words later. Ryoma is not leaving yet and he still has to attend classes. He still has to practice with us but he will no longer be joining the nationals. Kaidoh welcome back to the team."
Kaidoh straighten up and he nodded and said. "Hai! I'll do my best, Sensei."
"Let's go home everyone. Be sure to rest for the following practice match the day after tomorrow."
"Hai!" They said in unison as they started leaving the shore.
xxx
"I'm going ahead, Obaa-chan."
"Be careful. It is slippery outside." Sumire reminded her.
She was assigned to the cleaning duties that morning so she has to go to school early but her mind was leading her to something else.
"If you keep dumbfounded like that, you will definitely lose your way without you noticing it."
She flinched when someone talked behind her, "R-ryoma-kun."
The boy was in his regular jersey. His hands were in his pockets as he walked towards her. "You should do something about your habit."
She looked down and apologized. They walked together to school. "U-uhmm Ryoma-kun… Good luck on your competition in America."
"Un" he said. He didn't say anything after that so she continued.
"Do-do you remember what you said to me at the shrine?" Sakuno asked him.
Ryoma looked at her with curiosity on his face but he remembered his words back then. He shifted his look straight ahead.
"I-I did what you told me. I did… think of you. S-so thank you." She blushed.
Ryoma walked ahead, "It isn't something that you should thank about. I just did that to build up your courage and the spirit to fight."
"But still, it was you who saved me that night so I really wanted to thank you."
"Everyone helped you as well so thank them too." He quickened his pace.
She knew that he wouldn't want to walk with her anymore. So she didn't follow his pace. The rain started to fall after that. "I-It started to rain." She took out her umbrella from her bag and continued to walk… way behind from the tennis prodigy.
xxx
The weather was getting bad as days went by. The premises were getting cold and chilly. It was a bit difficult to practice at that time so they finished practicing a bit early than before.
"Sakuno-chan"
She looked behind her. When she saw Fuji she stopped fixing the rackets from their location and waited for him to get closer to her.
"You are not going home yet?"
Sakuno shook her head, "I have more things to do. I will go home later."
Fuji didn't reply on her words instead he draw nearer and helped her fix things up.
"F-fuji-kun? W-why are you doing that?" She asked him.
Fuji chuckled, "helping you, of course," He said as he started packing the rackets to their bags, "I am going to take you home today."
"E-eh!" She stopped from her chores and looked at him.
"You will let me, right?"
Sakuno blushed as she looked down. To his happiness, she nodded.
They finished fixing the rackets to their places and went outside the club. They reached their locker room. She was a bit surprised to see Ryoma, Eiji and Momo just outside the locker room. Tomoka and Horio were there as well.
"What took you so long?" Tomoka said to her.
"W-what? Why?" She asked inquisitively.
"Have you forgotten? We are going home together today." Tomoka implied.
"—Ah, I'd forgotten. G-gomen nee Tomoka-chan, y-you see… " She didn't continue her words instead she looked at Fuji.
Tomoka understood that. "Ow, I see. I'll let you pass then. Come on Horio let's go."
"What! Why are you dragging me along?" the boy asked her.
"Don't ask more questions and just follow me."
Eiji and Momo smiled deviously, while Ryoma was still standing at the corner without any reaction shown to his face. Sakuno was a bit shocked to see him staring at her… sternly.
W-why is he staring at me like that? It looks like he's back from the time where he hated my tennis. She thought. She turned around as she opened her locker. She was even more shocked to see a love letter inside. She picked the letter up only to remember that the regulars were still there standing beside her. She tried to hide the letter but it was too late. Someone grabbed the letter from her.
"What's this, Ryuzaki-chan? …A love letter?" Eiji said as he grabbed the letter from her. How did he get that from her at such a distance?
Fuji and Ryoma both reacted. Sakuno tried to retrieve the letter but Eiji just won't allow it. Tomoka heard Eiji's words that made her and Horio return to their place.
"Sou ka, I totally forgot about your secret admirers." Tomoka said unhesitantly.
"T-Tomoka-chan!" She blurted as she blushed a lot.
"Secret admirers?" Fuji and Ryoma said at the same time.
Once again, the strange aura between them was visible. Momo and Eiji were smirking so mockingly.
"You see, while you guys were away from the Nationals, a lot of secret admirers suddenly appeared. To keep ourselves busy during the festival week, we searched for her admirers but we found no one in the end. I thought that they stopped pursuing her after the festival but I was wrong." Tomoka said as she looked at the blushing girl deviously.
"S-stop it Tomoka-chan. I-It's not like I am going to entertain them… " She looked down. She couldn't look at any one of them.
"Ryuzaki-chan is really popular now. We should have expected that after she won the competition." Momo said to her.
"Every boy here is calling her a princess now." Tomoka said.
"T-tomoka-chan!" She blurted out once again.
"Okay! Okay! I didn't say anything."
Everyone began teasing the reddened girl. Ryoma remained silent but he was actually thinking that no one knows could guess. Fuji grabbed the girl and said,
"Stop that boys, don't you know that I am the only one who can tease her?" the tennis tensai said to them.
Sakuno blushed a lot. Ryoma reacted on his words. Fuji noticed that so he looked at the young prodigy while saying his words;
"Let's go Sakuno-chan. I'll take you home. Don't worry, I'll protect you." he led Sakuno to the exit while still looking at the non-changeable reaction of his kouhai.
The other regulars along with Tomoka and the trio walked on their different paces. Amidst to their knowledge, Ryoma was furious inside. He didn't want to admit it but he was definitely pissed that day. He didn't understand himself why was he acting like that. He hated it… a lot. He took a deep breath as he clenched both of his fist inside his pockets and looked up. The rain was started to fall again.
Why can't I be just honest to myself? He thought as he was fighting it with his pride.
xxx
Under the same umbrella, they walked together. Sakuno was blushing the moment they left the school premises. She brought her umbrella but Fuji didn't allow her to use it instead they shared his'.
"You are doing it again, Ryuzaki-chan."
"Eh?" She reacted.
"You are trying to hide something from us, from me." Fuji complained.
She understood when he means. "B-but that is something that I can… do for myself."
"I just want you to tell me something like that. Remember admirers can be stalkers if you don't pay attention to them."
She became alert. She thought about taking an extra care fro m now on. "B-but Tomoka-chan and the others knew about this so… I-I didn't exactly hide it to anyone."
"Y-you are right, but it is still better to tell us. Ryuzaki-chan. I want to help you."
Sakuno smiled. "T-thank you, thanks a lot Fuji-kun"
He stared at the innocent girl. He stopped from walking that made the girl stop as well. She looked curiously at him. He became serious after that and said;
"My offer is still on… Sakuno-chan."
"W-what offer?"
He stared at her for a long time. "For you… to be my girlfriend."
Sakuno gasped when she learned his words. Her lips were slight open but nothing came out. They stayed like that for a while as the rain was starting to get heavy.
xxx
He was lying on his bed when Karupin jumped on his stomach.
"Ugh, K-karupin… you're heavy."
His cat just meowed as it didn't bother jumping off of him. He ended up caressing its skin instead. He decided. He will leave at the end of November this year. He talked to his coach about this just a while ago. He is going to be away again… for a year. Luck will be the chance for him to come back during the breaking period. He wanted to go and it is his chance but something was stopping him but he couldn't name it or he just didn't want to name it. His attention was cut into halves and he didn't know which he should follow. He faced his cat and asked it;
"What should I do, Karupin?"
Once again, the cat only meowed at him. He smirked thinking how crazy of him to asked his cat a question for the second time knowing that it will only answer him with just a 'meow'.
"Oi! Seishounen, quit talking to the cat and get down here to eat dinner. It will never answer you." He heard his father calling out to him.
His eyes narrowed as he heard that, "Baka Oyaji… " He got up on his bed to have dinner that night.
xxx
She couldn't sleep that night. She rolled back and forth on her bed. Fuji's words were giving an impact that she couldn't give her best support for her attention was too caught between them. She just couldn't decide on what to follow. She rolled on one side once again as she remembered their conversation earlier;
Flashback:
"I want you… to be my girlfriend, Sakuno-chan." Fuji said looking all serious, staring at her.
"Y-you remembered… w-what you said back then?" She was shocked blushing all over again.
"…Every word of it." He replied just that.
Sakuno couldn't react on his words or an appropriate to say that she couldn't find the right words to utter. When he noticed that she couldn't reply a word to him, he continued;
"Even the feeling is not mutual, just accept me. That's all I want to ask… at least for now."
Sakuno looked up to her senpai, "b-but that's unfair to you… I-I can't do that… "
"I'm not asking you to be like that. I am just wondering- no I'm hoping that when we become a couple, you will learn to like me." Fuji said to her.
"F-fuji-kun… it-it's not that I don't like it… I-I mean I-I like you… but I'm not sure if the feeling will be the same… "
"You will never know, Sakuno-chan… unless you try," She flinched when he held one of her hand. "It is also an alternative way so that those admirers of yours will stop bothering you."
She looked up to him. Thinking of the words he said. How does she feel about him? She couldn't name it. But the offer made her blushed a lot, and her heart was beating so fast. She was actually panicking inside. He noticed her reaction no matter how much she tried to hide it. He sighed after that.
"When you become my girlfriend, I won't force you on anything that you don't want me to do. I promise. But I think you are not ready for my offer… I'll give you time to think. I hope you will give me a positive answer."
"F-fuji-kun… " all she could utter was his name and nothing else.
"I hope that he's not the one who hinders you from answering me," He said as he saw her reacted to his words. "Open your heart to others who are willing to offer more than you can offer to him."
She felt his hand gripped hers. She looked down as she was thinking his words carefully. She didn't give him a definite answer but Fuji somehow understood that.
"Let's go." Fuji said as he noticed that the rain was started to fall hard again. She was blushing all over. She didn't say anything when they reached home aside from a simple, plain 'thank you' to him.
xxx
She buried her face when she remembered their conversation. She felt embarrassed in a different way. Hey eyes became soften as she was bothered on his words.
W-what should I do? Why am I so doubtful about my feelings? H-how do I feel for him? I can't compare it on what I feel for Ryoma-kun.
Upon remembering the young tennis prodigy, she became more flush red. That was her mistake. Her resolution became more complicated than it was before. Because of that, she couldn't sleep well that night.
One Week Later:
Fuji was the same as always as the week goes by. She was getting red all over him. Because of his protection, no one dared to approach her. Although, they could sense that some guys were all eyes on her. The days were like the usual except for one. She noticed that Ryoma was starting to avoid her for unknown reason. They learned that the young kouhai was leaving in the last week of November. That will be less than two months from now. She didn't know the exact reason but the boy was just doing that.
"What is happening to Ochibi?" Eiji said one morning in the club. "Why is he acting like that? Doesn't he know that Syuusuke is almost winning Ryuzaki-chan?"
"…Beats me. He didn't do anything. I really don't know what the real score is." Momo replied to his senpai.
"I don't want to say this but maybe he is giving up." Oishi said who was a bit worried.
"…Without even trying? That's ridiculous." Eiji retorted.
Inui interrupted, "We can't decide for his sake. I hope that he won't regret his actions when he realized that it was too late."
Everyone nodded and created different reactions. Unknown to their knowledge, the young tennis prodigy was there for quite a while now. He heard everything they talked about. That made him think a lot. He started to walk away from the club.
Regret?
He could still remember Inui's final words that he heard. He kept telling himself that there's no way that he will regret his actions. That was never included in his dictionary, even in his English dictionary. But why was he bothered by it? He couldn't understand himself. Thinking about these situations will only make him crazier. He thought of leaving Japan as soon as possible. Just when he was about to turn to a corner of the corridor, he saw a certain auburn pigtailed girl at the end of it. The girl was startled the moment when she saw him. They both stayed still for a while, he took a step forward afterwards. He heard her say his name but he just passed over her… completely ignoring the surprised girl to his action.
xxx
She was startled when she saw him at the corner. The boy didn't show any kind of reaction. She flinched when the boy started to walk forward. She gathered her courage to initiate a conversation to him;
"R-ryoma-kun."
She mentioned his words but the moment they crossed lines he just passed her by without saying anything. It was like a slow motion for her at that moment. And that shocked her, he ignored her totally. She looked upset and down. She gripped both of her hands tightly and decided to follow him outside the school grounds. The rain was falling lightly outside but that didn't bother her. It seems that Ryoma was not aware of the weather as well.
"W-wait! Ryoma-kun!" she called him. The boy stopped from walking. "W-why are you avoiding me? Was it something I did that upset you?"
You should know that to yourself. He thought but he said a different statement. "Why are you saying that? Is there something that I should avoid you about?" he looked at his shoulder to face her.
"B-but that is what you are doing right now… Y-you are avoiding me like I have some kind of disease." She said feeling sad as she was sensing that the boy was distancing himself from her. "W-when I called your name, y-you just passed me by."
"There's no need for you to do that." He said as he started to walk away from her.
She panicked. "I-I told you that… even though y-you are away… I-I will keep supporting you. I just don't want you to ignore me."
He stopped and looked at her… sternly. She flinched when she received the same look again days ago. The boy talked, "Look, don't act like you know everything. Just because I helped you a lot these past few days, you could talk to me this way. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some tournaments to focus on. You better go back to a certain tennis tensai and bother him instead." He said as he walked away without waiting for her reply.
That shocked her. She didn't expect that from him. She cried as the rain started to fall hard. No one could know if she was crying or not. But one thing was for sure… she was hurt again… by the person she liked the most.
Liked?
Was it over? She should know that from a long time ago… when she first confessed to him. But that thought didn't let her go thinking that she could have a slightest chance of him liking her back… even just a little. But it was really over. She walked back… wondering elsewhere. She was crying non-stop amidst the rain. She wasn't aware on how long she walked. She didn't care anyway.
"Sakuno-chan?"
She looked up to the person who called her and as she recognized the voice immediately;
"F-fuji-kun… "
The tennis tensai ran to her with his umbrella, "What happened to you?" he asked her wearing the worried look on his face.
Sakuno looked up to him and thought hard. This guy… I-if I… if I give this guy a chance maybe I will be happy. She raised both of her hands to touch his cheek. The tennis tensai was shocked. He lost grip on the umbrella that he was holding.
"S-sakuno-chan?"
"Y-you said… that I won't cry anymore I-if I go out with you," Sakuno said looking up to him. She moved her face closer to his as she said her next words, "make me… forget about him… pls."
Fuji was shocked that he couldn't move. The girl was leaning closer to his face as he heard her next words, "Fill this emptiness… in my heart… S-Syuusuke-kun."
He was shocked and out of reflexes he pushed her away. The girl was shocked, still crying. He stared at her for a long time. The girl was not in her usual self. She just cried. Fuji felt pity on the girl as he gritted his teeth and hugged the crying girl carefully;
"Don't cry… I'll fill it… I'll fill it," Fuji said as he hugged her tightly. "You don't have to cry anymore. I'll make you happy from now on."
Sakuno was a bit shocked. She didn't remember what she did a while ago. But one thing that she was certain, she felt safe in his arms. She closed her eyes firmly as she burst her heart out to him. She was actually entering a new life… with him… right from that moment.
Three Days later:
The news between Fuji and Her was revealed after three days. They hid it in her favor. She was just adjusting from the last one but someone leaked the news out to them.
"Curse you, Syuusuke! Why did you hit on our little princess?" Eiji complained him.
"I didn't force her, just for the information. And don't get the wrong idea; we are legal to Ryuzaki-sensei." Fuji proudly said to them.
Everyone looked to their coach, the latter wondered, "What? Do you have a problem with that? I respected the decision of my granddaughter. She could pick whoever she likes."
Everyone reacted differently. Ryoma stayed silent but he was definitely shocked. He secretly stared at the blushing girl. Just like him, she didn't say a word.
"Hey! Don't give me that look," Fuji said as he grabbed Sakuno's hand and brought her in front of them. "I promise in front of everyone and to Ryuzaki-sensei that I will not hurt our little princess."
Sakuno turned red all over as he kissed her hand in front of everyone. "S-syuusuke-kun."
Fuji smirked when they heard everyone what the girl called him. He looked at a certain kouhai of his. Amazingly, he didn't see any reaction other than his pictured stoic face.
"You should be that's my granddaughter you are holding." Sumire warned the tennis tensai.
"Hai!." Fuji was really glad. Sakuno was actually blushing all over and her heart was beating very hard. One thing that you couldn't do was to look at a certain tennis prodigy. She knew that very moment, that everything will change and there's no turning back now.
Four Days Later:
The news made her admirers to stop following her. That was a relief for her anyway. Now she didn't have to worry about walking alone in the hallway. The school schedule turned out to be fine and everyone went home later on. Fuji took Sakuno home since they started going out. Everyone did go home except for one.
He's currently resting on the rooftop. He was just staring at the sky but he was not sure what was he thinking. He was lost there. He hasn't talked to everyone not longer than five minutes. He didn't talk neither to Fuji nor to Sakuno, just nod or stare were all he could give to them. He was confused now.
"Darn it!" he suddenly seated for unknown reason. He brushed both of his hands to his hair. What is happening to me? Why am I bothered to anything that she does? He didn't find the answers to his questions as the rain had started to fall hard.
"Oh great!" he said. He brought his umbrella but it was meaningless anyway. He decided to go down the rooftop, get his belongings and go home. He was pissed all day and he was soaking wet already. The thoughts were still lingering in his mind. His run turned to walk as he starting to realize something that he didn't admit. He slowly gripped his tennis bag holder in his one hand and looked up in the falling rain.
What did you do to me? I don't like this…
xxx
His face couldn't read by someone who passes him… if there is someone. On the contrary, there is someone. A certain braided pigtailed girl was staring at him, with a curious look on her face. The boy was soaking wet in the rain. He hasn't noticed her yet. She had this doubt of calling him having the fear of ignoring her again. But the unusual look of him that made her call him,
"R-ryoma-kun…"
The boy looked at her. She was a bit shocked. She didn't know if it was the rain's doing but she thought that he was crying. She couldn't actually distinguish the tears from the rain. The tennis prince was different in her eyes at that moment. She had this feeling that something was about to happen.
Done! I actually don't know how to make this chapter but I planned the scene about Fuji and Sakuno. But please don't get mad to Ryoma… he will be the antagonist for quite a bit. But he is starting to regret everything… as he realizes what is he missing in the picture. Well a revelation will come to the next chapter. Stay tuned!
Reviews please… one or two words from you will be all appreciated by Mitsukijunko. ^_^
a – Thank you for the review. I wish I could see your first review but I really appreciate it. I'm glad that you like it. I hope you will also like this one. ^_^
music4life1791 - thank you that you find my story an interesting one. Well, I will do my best to make them in good terms. I hope that you will keep updating 'till the very end. I have more plans for the three.
Next Chapter: Arashi no Yokan (Premonition of the Storm version 2)