Chapter 12: Wanting

Sakuno was about to follow Ryoma out, but she noticed Horio's serious gaze at Tomoka. She remembered the time when they had walked together, and when she asked if he likes Tomoka.

The blush on Horio's cheek and his speechlessness says it all.

There was an awkward silence in the restaurant, with Tomoka glaring at Horio as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"H-Horio-kun, were you planning on having dinner here? We're closed, though… I suppose I can fix you something," Sakuno meekly said. "B-But where did Ryoma-kun run off to?"

"Oh, I don't know. He just left," he watched Sakuno go back to the kitchen, and he hastily waved his hands in front of him. "Ryuzaki, I'm not hungry at all. Don't trouble yourself."

"Sakuno, don't worry about him. Let's go home if you're done," Tomoka spoke, removing her gaze from Horio. She had an idea why the boy suddenly dropped by. Tomoka was still under the impression that Horio likes Sakuno. She felt her cheeks heated up as she thought about how insensitive Horio had been, going there with Ryoma when she had clearly warned Horio not to do anything with Sakuno, especially not in front of Ryoma.

She grabbed Sakuno's arm and dragged her to the door. Sakuno's wide eyes looked at Horio. To her surprise, he was also looking at her, and his eyes held a lot of emotions, and it seemed like he was trying to signal something to her. Sakuno's not the brightest, but her intuition told her that she should do something about their situation.

As Tomoka continued towards the door, she walked past Horio. He could feel his bravery gradually fading as she started to twist the doorknob behind him.

"T-Tomo-chan!" Sakuno pulled her arm out of Tomoka's grasp, earning a startled look from her. Sakuno needed to give them some space, so she tried her best to come up with an excuse to escape the scene.

"Sakuno, you're acting strange," Tomoka crossed her arms. By now, she's standing beside Horio who only watched Sakuno's weird actions.

"R-Ryoma-kun," she muttered. "Um, I need to go to him now."

Upon hearing that, Tomoka's lips curved into a smile, and she nodded approvingly to her.

"Oh, yes, I get it, I get it," she sighed. Well, Sakuno having some alone time with Ryoma is more important than her getting away from Horio, so she's going to have to let her go. At least, Horio wouldn't be able to profess his feelings to her best friend and that's what matters.

"Go get him, Sakuno."

Sakuno nodded and scrambled out of the door. Mr. Arata, who had been standing by the kitchen, completely forgotten by the writer, had witnessed the whole situation and he could not have been more confused. In his fifty years in this world, never had he seen such youngsters this obsessed with their love lifes!

The two friends/enemies stood there; silence engulfed them. Neither of them wanted to utter a single word. But the same thought had entered their minds.

Good for Sakuno…

Good for Echizen…

Horio scratched his head. Now what? How could he tell her about his feelings with this uncomfortable tension between them? He could tell that Tomoka wanted to get away from him as soon as possible, and that's fine with him. Anything just to escape this dreary situation. But, being a good friend, he can't just let her walk on the dark and cold street.

"Osakada," he turned his head in the opposite direction to hide his blushing face from her. A quiet grunt was heard from the girl as she waited for Horio to continue.

"I'll walk you home,"

"No, thanks,"

Horio saw that coming. Tomoka has always been a difficult person, and it's actually one of the reasons he's disgusted by the idea of falling in love with the girl.

Love? Who says that he loves her?

No.

He likes her, but not to that extent.

Right?

"Ugh. Don't be stubborn and let's go. It's dangerous being alone at night," he grabbed Tomoka's arm and although she tried to pull away, he only tightened his grip on her. Tomoka felt her cheeks flare up from his touch, but she quickly shook her head to erase those embarrassing thoughts.

When they opened the door, the deserted street covered in white snow greeted them. The cold air blew past them, and the streetlights were dimly lit. Now, Tomoka was a little grateful that Horio was still with her since there were no signs of Sakuno or Ryoma anymore.

"Let's go," Horio uttered. He walked ahead of Tomoka, who was still processing the turn of events in her mind. She went to the restaurant thinking that she could see Atsushi, but it turns out he's not at work, so she figured she could go home with Sakuno and Ryoma, but her best friend just suddenly scrambled out of there the moment Horio walked in. Now, she is forced to follow his footprints on the snow as she keeps her head low out of pure embarrassment.

The walk to her house was only about ten minutes. Horio used that time to organize his thoughts and decided on how he was going to tell Tomoka that he likes her. He wouldn't expect anything back. He wouldn't expect her to feel the same because that's impossible. He could never match up with Ryoma, and of course, Atsushi. He held no chance against him, that's a fact. But still, he didn't want to graduate with regrets.

"Osakada," he spoke. Tomoka looked up and stared at his back. She never realized how broad his back grew up to be. He looked more manly than boyish now. Puberty really does work in wonder.

"Yeah?" she asked. She didn't have that usual intimidating tone in her voice. Instead, she sounded more feminine tonight, Horio noted.

"Finals is almost here and soon, we'll all be graduating,"

"I know,"

"I like you,"

"Yeah,"

She watches his feet make large sized footprints, then she stomps on it, leaving a smaller print inside his own. That was a satisfying one, she thought. Tomoka focused on the road ahead of them, trying to entertain herself since the boy was spouting nonsense.

Wait. What?

She stopped in her tracks and blinked rapidly. Did she hear that right?

"What did you say?" she asked. Horio slowly turned around and looked at her with bored eyes.

"You heard me,"

"Y-You're kidding, right?" she didn't understand him. If it was his wicked way of joking around, then that's not funny. Tomoka forced a laugh to shake off the tension between them. The longer she stared at his eyes, the more she felt conscious of her heating face. All of a sudden, Horio became a completely different person. He was more mature, more serious and more… unfamiliar to her.

It was a bizarre night. Instead of meeting up with her boyfriend, she ended up spending a vexing moment with this person.

"Of course," He continued on walking, with Tomoka standing in the middle of the snowy road. Her mouth opened a bit, and her eyes widened at the sight of Horio walking away.

"What was that…?" she muttered.

Sakuno was busy using Ryoma's chest as her pillow when the said boy suddenly pulled her away. There was a shocked expression on his face while it turned redder and redder.

"Sorry, Ryuzaki. I-I don't know why I did that," he blurted out, holding Sakuno's shoulders. He felt ashamed of hugging her. Even though it was because he was cold, he felt that he took advantage of her kindness. He imagined Coach Sumire beating him up until he bled.

"I-It's okay…" she said in a tiny voice, almost a whisper. She observed his face. He looked exhausted and red. Sakuno raised her hand to feel her forehead, and true enough, he's coming on with a fever. Ryoma flinched from her touch but did not dare to move away. Every touch she did was like an angel's touch to him, and he mentally slapped himself for thinking that much, but that was what he thought.

"You're hot, Ryoma-kun!" she exclaimed worriedly. Upon hearing that, Ryoma pursed his lips as hard as he could to keep himself from laughing. It seemed that Sakuno hadn't realized how that sounded and the boy found her innocence hilarious.

"W-What's funny? Ryoma-kun…" she pouted, her hand still on his forehead. She felt her face get heated at the boy's face. She didn't understand what she said wrong.

"I'm okay, don't worry," he almost expected her expression the moment he realized that he was sick, and a worried Sakuno is a pain, alright. She would fuss over him all over again and that would only trouble the both of them. He sighed and rode on the bike before the girl could speak again. Instead, she understood that she needed to ride on the backseat to make their way home now.

"Let's go home so you can rest. I-It's my fault so… I'll take good care of you," she looked down on her lap, her cheeks the shade of tomato, as she let those straightforward words escape her mouth. She sounded like a girlfriend! Never has she said anything like that before and it's a little embarrassing. She just hopes that he agrees.

In Ryoma's mind, hearing those words were all he needed to immediately let her take command. After all, it was her fault that he's sick. Worrying over Horio's confession had him worked up for no real reason and that was yet to be explained to him. Anyway, remembering that made his mood turn sour for a little bit, but right now, all that mattered is Sakuno was focusing on him.

"Sure," he muttered as he continued pedaling through the slippery road. Sakuno's eyes widened at his response, but she then smiled, grasping his jacket.

Ryoma focused on the road, mindful of the melted snow and a few pebbles on the way, and Sakuno focused on the boy's back, his shoulders moving as his hands drove the bike, and his black-green hair that swayed with the cold wind. She finds it amazing how even from behind, he looked handsome in her eyes.

"Good morning, Ryoma," Rinko said in a mellow voice. She laid out a full Japanese breakfast in front of the sleepy guy. He rubbed his eyes groggily but still greeted his mother back. He then began to consume his favorite food.

"Ryoma…" the mother sat beside him and cleared her throat. Ryoma noticed that she was hesitating to continue her words, but he still waited for her to speak. "Are you enjoying your training?"

His brows arched.

"What's so fun about ripping out my muscles?" he answered nonchalantly. Honestly, who enjoys those hardcore training, right? He's not a masochist, but that kind of training is required for him to play his best so he will see to the end of it.

"I thought so… I'm sorry, honey," Rinko looked down. She had been thinking about her son's well-being ever since that night that he went home looking lifeless. She worried that his body might give up sooner than his will to play tennis. She hasn't had the opportunity to talk to him and she thought now would be a good time to fish his point of view regarding the matter.

"Why are you apologizing?" By now, he had already finished his breakfast and was now getting ready to leave. He noted that Sakuno had gone to her job when he passed by her empty bedroom.

"I'm worried about you," she stood up and followed him to the front door. He began to tie his shoelaces. Rinko fought her tears to fall down, she has to mask her own emotions, or it will distract Ryoma. This is a crucial moment for his career and Rinko doesn't want to be the one to ruin it.

"Don't worry. I can take it," he muttered without any change in his voice.

"Are you still happy?" she asked. That made Ryoma's hands pause. That was an unexpected question. Happy about what? Hmmm… he doesn't understand the question. Is he happy right now?

He stood up and took a moment to think about the stuff going on in his life recently.

Flashbacks of last night's happenings went through his mind.

As soon as they got home, Sakuno ordered Ryoma to take a bath and lay down on his bed. She told him to wait for her and she will prepare a few things for him. He didn't take the time to ask her what it was, he just wanted a nice hot bath as soon as possible.

Sakuno knocked on his door and found him on his bed, wearing a simple white shirt and black pants, and he seemed to be playing on his phone when she came in.

"Ryoma-kun, I brought dinner. After you eat, you can take this medicine," she reluctantly entered the door, holding a tray of rice porridge and water. She gently placed it on his nightstand and sat on the edge of his bed. Ryoma scooted to the other side to make space for her. She checked the temperature of his forehead one more time before she placed a towel over.

"Have you eaten yet?" he asked as she handed him the hot bowl. Sakuno nodded and smiled. She ate dinner before he and Horio got to the restaurant.

"How are you feeling, Ryoma-kun?" she watched him blow on the food before slowly eating it. She felt a wave of relief that he even had an appetite despite being sick.

"I'm okay. I'll be better in the morning," he said.

"T-Then, don't go to training tomorrow,"

"I can't do that,"

"Why not? You're sick,"

"I need to train. There's only a month before the match,"

Sakuno fell silent. The Rio Open will be held in February, that's not much time to prepare even if he's the Prince of Tennis. But then, if he always pushes himself too hard, he will be sick more often and that's not good.

"Ryoma-kun, you need a break. You don't need to walk me home anymore, okay? Just take care of yourself," she meekly said, hoping for him to accept her request. She has known Ryoma to be stubborn with these things so if she could make him choose between tennis and herself, of course he should focus solely on his dream.

"Can't do that, either," he said without looking at her. He just finished his bowl of rice porridge and quickly took the medicine and water. Sakuno was surprised at how fast he ate and now he was about to lie down and sleep.

"R-Ryoma-kun, don't be stubborn! I mean it, don't go to the restaurant anymore, okay?" The boy closed his eyes, his blanket completely covering his body.

"Don't wanna," he stuck his tongue out and pointed at the fluorescent light above.

"E-Eh…" she doesn't understand him at all. On another note, he looked childish just now, just like how he used to look when they were twelve.

"Lights, please. I need to rest," he turned to the other side. Sakuno sighed in defeat and stood up to turn the lights off, Ryoma could hear her mumbling as she silently went back to her bedroom with words 'stubborn' and 'childish'. Unbeknownst to her, Ryoma smirked at successfully brushing her off. He does what he wants, after all. And he wanted to see her.

So yeah, if his mother asks him if he's happy…

"I am," he turned his head and flashed a rare smile to her, causing Rinko to widen her eyes. He walked out of the door and shut it.

"W-What was that…" she could only stare at the boy's retreating back.

"It was so weird, Sakuno…" Tomoka sat beside her friend as they ate together at the restaurant on her break. Atsushi was back and he was busy cooking for the other customers. Mr. Arata was currently serving food for the people.

"Maybe he meant it, Tomo-chan,"

"He said he was kidding, though. But it really is weird when he suddenly told me,"

"Well, let me ask you, Tomo-chan. What do you think about Horio-kun?"

"Hmmm…"

Tomoka put her hand on her chin and thought hard for a while. She thought about Horio in their middle school days, then high school. Truthfully, he didn't change that much. He just became more mellow on his bragging about tennis and seemed to take on the role of Ryoma's assistant. That was it. On the physical side, he became taller than Ryoma by a few inches, and his facial features are more defined thanks to puberty. But still, Ryoma is so much more handsome than him. Like she said, Horio's more on the cute side.

"So…?" she had forgotten about Sakuno's presence there. Tomoka shook her head, embarrassed to think about an insignificant person in her life.

"Let's just forget about it. Let's think that he's just really kidding," she finally said.

"B-But Tomo-chan… You've been talking about it since morning," Sakuno nervously laughed when Tomoka's smile broke.

I was…?

She could feel her face get hotter.

"Sakuno. Don't tell anyone,"

"I-I won't!"

"A-Anyway, what happened with you and Ryoma-sama last night? You disappeared just like that!" Tomoka tried to change the subject and distract her from the thoughts of Horio.

"O-Oh, we went home…" she said. Although remembering the events last night made her turn red. Something that Tomoka noticed. She smiled wickedly.

"Oh… something happened, right?" she could always see right through her best friend when it came to Ryoma.

"T-Tomo-chan…" Sakuno felt her heart pound faster as thoughts of Ryoma entered her mind. Truthfully, she's almost tired of thinking about him all day long. The hug that he gave her was something that she couldn't forget. The feeling of Ryoma's body against hers and his arms wrapped around her, making her feel safe. She can't help feeling happy.

"Sakuno. When are you going to confess to Ryoma-sama? It's obvious that you're in love with him," she frowned. Her ship from day one has got to sail!

"I told you I can't…" she looked down in sadness. If Tomoka would remember her reason for not going through it, she wouldn't feel the need to explain one more time.

"I know… but you need to take a leap. You might regret it," she said in a low voice.

Sakuno exhaled. Did she really need to tell him? She was going to leave anyway. It sounded hopeless to her.

"Are you telling me that you can see him getting together with someone else and not have regrets?"

"N-No!"

"Do you love him?"

"Yes!"

"Then that's all that matters. It's always great when someone tells you they love you,"

Sakuno stared at Tomoka's genuine smile. She sounded really sincere and that line she said had really moved her. She gets the feeling that Tomoka's talking about herself, too, with Horio's subtle confession last night, Sakuno could tell that she's been touched with his affection.

"Tomo-chan…"

"It was… nice, you know," she held Sakuno's hand as they both came up with a decision in their own minds.

It was his eighty-fifth lap around the field. Sweat rolled down his forehead but he didn't care to wipe it off. His wet shirt clung on his body, revealing his well-toned abs. On one of the benches sat a beautiful girl watching Ryoma. Her eyes were practically heart shaped as she gaped on the boy's profile.

"Easy, Honoka. He's going to melt," Brian, another one of the tennis players in Ryoma's training center, sat beside her.

"Oh, Brian… I'm so attracted to him, and I don't know what to do," she sighed. Almost every place Ryoma has been to, there's always a girl falling for him. Honoka is one of them. Other female players also expressed their affection towards him, but he never catches on. It was no different for Honoka. Even though they're batchmates, Ryoma had no idea how Honoka feels for him. She attempted to confess a few times, but he always rushes to go home, and she doesn't know why.

"A guy like that would surely have a gal, you know," he commented as he wiped off his sweat.

"What…?" she pouted. "Well, he's not married. I still have a chance," Honoka smirked at him.

She stood up, startling Brian in the process, and jogged towards Ryoma. He had just finished running laps and was resting on a bench. Honoka figured she could start getting closer to him and figure out how to woo him.

"Ryoma-kun!" she spoke in a merry tone. Her blonde hair fell from her shoulders and her busty front squeezed by her tight shirt. She deliberately wore something that small since all boys are into girls like her.

Everyone except Ryoma. He never turned his head to her whenever she talked to him. Of course, he's aware of her presence, but Honoka is far from his type. He wasn't even sure he had a type. Tennis was his type.

"Yeah?" he responded. Ryoma stretched his legs to conclude his warm-up.

"Are you free this weekend? Do you want to go to the movies?"

Hmm… when was the last time he went to see a movie? Never, Ryoma thought. He didn't feel the need to since his father has his collection of CDs, and he wasn't much of a watcher.

"No…" he figured it would only be a pain and a waste of money. He started to walk back to the tent where his coach stayed. Honoka followed behind him, her face looking troubled. She needed to think of another plan to invite him out for a date. If her looks don't work against him, then what?

"R-Ryoma-kun, wait for me," she jogged behind him, her chest bouncing, and a few other male athletes were certainly distracted by her.

Coach Rui waved a hand to the approaching boy, he was holding a paper on his hand. He was excited to inform his team of athletes about the great news he had with him.

"Are you done with your warm-up?" he asked, and Ryoma nodded. "Okay, before we start with your routine, I just have to gather all of you and talk about this exciting news." He waved the piece of paper in front of the boy. Ryoma curiously arched his eyebrows and stared at the paper.

"What is it, coach?" Honoka asked.

As the coach called for a meeting in his tent, five tennis players sat at a circular table in front of him. They consist of Ryoma, Honoka, Brian, Beth, and Richie.

"Now that everyone's here, I am happy to tell you that a practice match with Brazilian players that I had pitched to the coordinators was approved. It will be held in Brazil after Winter Break. That means we will fly there a little bit early for the practice match, and we will stay there until the fateful Rio Open starts," he flashed an excited smile to the five young adults.

They all had a mix of reactions. Richie and Beth, the couple who is also the doubles pair, high-fived each other happily. Brian sighed in boredom, he didn't expect to ride the dreaded plane this early and he already feels sick in his stomach. Honoka smiled at Ryoma, obviously excited about her first trip abroad. Ryoma's reaction was the biggest, though. His eyes wide, and his mouth slightly parted, he raised a hand to catch Coach Rui's attention.

"Coach…" he hesitated.

"Yes, Echizen?"

Ryoma thought hard. Is he going to tell them that he didn't want to fly so soon because Sakuno's birthday is coming up? But why would they care about that? The practice match with the Brazilian players is certainly more important in his career and he shouldn't be troubled by this. No, a couple of months ago he didn't care what he should do or where he should go. Nothing mattered as long as it's helping with his tennis life.

He lowered his hand slowly, realizing that thinking about it won't do him good. It seems like the plan is final and there's no changing it.

"Nothing…" he muttered. He will have to accept the fact that he will be leaving sooner than he planned.

To be continued.