Chapter 13: Confrontation

Mr. Arata rested his chin on his hand. He has been staring at Sakuno while she happily prepares a special dish for her best friend Tomoka. He noted the precise seasoning and meticulous garnishing that she has done. But what caught his attention the most was the girl's angelic expression. She was clearly in love with cooking, everything about it.

"Here you are, Tomo-chan," she delivered the food to Tomoka, who marveled at the scrumptious-looking dish.

"Wow…" her best friend's eyes widened.

"Sakuno-chan, you did a great job!" Mr. Arata leaned closer to admire the dish. They were all in awe as if the food was a sparkling treasure. Atsushi showed up behind her and crossed his arms.

"She really is amazing, isn't she? Sakuno-chan, you should be a chef," he commented. Sakuno's smile dropped. She had long erased that dream of hers when grandma left her.

"E-Eh, no…" she waved her hands in front of her.

"Sakuno-chan… you clearly have the talent. Why don't you try?" Mr. Arata frowned at her. Nothing is more painful for a mentor than seeing his disciple give up on something she loves. He has been planning to persuade Sakuno to pursue a college degree in cooking since he had observed her natural talent.

"I know I said that it's better to do this than what society says," Atsushi sighed. He really did stuff nonsense words into Sakuno's mind, and he regretted it. "But you have what it takes to succeed. I hope you think about it and make the right decision."

"He's right, Sakuno. You just have to do what's best for you. After all, it's your future that will change. You jump in and take whatever challenges you'll face. Don't be afraid of failure, because that's the only thing that will prevent you from reaching your dream," Tomoka delivered the final blow and successfully tangled Sakuno's train of thoughts.

Her resolve is beginning to crumble. If she would be completely honest with herself, she would do it then and there, no questions. She was indeed afraid of failure, but she was more terrified of the fact that when she fails, no one would be there for her. It will be her, and her alone. If she breaks down, no one will tell her comforting words, like how Ryoma had consoled her when grandma died. She only has herself in the future and it scared her.

She needed her comfort zone.

As soon as he got home, Ryoma held out a piece of paper in front of Nanjirou.

"What's this?" He grabbed it and read the contents. His eyes widened when he read the words 'practice matches with Brazilian tennis players'. It was indeed a great opportunity to hone Ryoma's skills and get used to how Brazil plays the sport. It would be beneficial for his growth.

His mother then entered the living room, carrying a tray of fruits and tea.

"Ryoma, you're back. Have you eaten dinner yet?" Rinko asked.

"I did," he said in a low voice.

"So, you'll be leaving for Brazil in January," his father spoke. He studied the waiver and completely understood it. He passed the paper to Rinko and stood up.

"Yep," Ryoma could only go with the flow.

"Okay," his father sighed, he walked past Ryoma. He put a hand on his shoulders before speaking.

"Have fun and… take care of yourself," he walked off.

Ryoma didn't turn around to face Nanjirou. His eyes displayed an unsettled look, his lips unable to say anything. He knew that sooner or later he would have no choice but to follow the path of a tennis player. As much as he wanted to stay for a bit longer, he knew that this time would come, and it was inevitable to leave all the people that mattered to him.

"Ryoma… are you really going so soon?" Rinko asked with a worried face. As if her worry for his well-being isn't enough, his mental health might suffer, too. Things are happening so fast, and she feared he might not keep up.

"Of course. It's irrevocable," he closed his eyes and stretched his arms out. "I'm going to the restaurant," he walked upstairs to change clothes before heading out the front door.

Rinko gently closed the door and watched him walk on the dark, snowy street. Behind her, Nanjirou showed up, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm worried, too. We should talk about this with him," he said.

"Yeah," Rinko frowned.

Horio stood outside the restaurant. He's been waiting for almost an hour, and he struggled to keep his frozen hands warm in his pockets while he waited for a certain boy to come. Now that he knew that Ryoma has been coming there every night, he figured he should just wait for him and go inside together to lessen the embarrassment of being alone.

Finally, a silhouette of a guy came into his view, he was riding a bike along the wet pavement. As he moved closer to him, Horio noted Ryoma's eyes were wide, probably surprised by him. He waved a hand to him and smiled.

"Yo, Echizen!" he cupped his mouth with his other hand to amplify his voice.

Ryoma stopped in front of him and got off the bike.

"You're here again?" He was somewhat annoyed at seeing the boy again. He still thinks that Horio was trying to confess to Sakuno and it only irritated him more that he's here, waiting for her when this is supposed to be his and Sakuno's walk home together. He was beginning to hate Horio.

"Well, I thought I'd hang out with you,"

"Is that so?" He almost rolled his eyes, but he resisted the urge to be rude to him since he's still one of his friends.

It was still early when they got there. There was still an hour before Sakuno clock out, so the two boys decided to eat there to pass time. By now, Sakuno, Atsushi, Tomoka, and Mr. Arata were not surprised by their constant visit anymore. This has been an almost everyday occurrence, and they were just happy to have more people in the restaurant.

On the far-left table, away from the bar where Tomoka sat, Ryoma and Horio quietly ate their meal. The prince would notice Horio would steal a glance at the kitchen and… is he blushing?

"Why don't you just sit over there?" he glared at him. Of course, Horio was oblivious of his annoyance.

"Are you kidding me? She's right there!"

"Then stop blushing. You look lame,"

"You're lame. At least I had the guts to tell her,"

Ryoma dropped his tempura on the table, his eyes fixated on Horio's face. He knew that the boy planned to confess to Sakuno and now that he said he actually did, Ryoma didn't know what to do now. Did she accept it or not? It was driving him crazy, but he didn't let his emotions reflect on his face.

He wanted to ask about her response, desperate to know the answer. But he was afraid Horio might think he's into Sakuno, too. That would create unnecessary conflict in their circle.

Meanwhile, Horio raised his eyebrows, wondering why he looked so perplexed. Since when did Ryoma cared about Tomoka anyway? Didn't he always ignore the girl? Or was he concerned with him? That sounds more plausible!

"Echizen… thanks for your concern. If you must know, she didn't reject me nor did she answer my… confession. How do I put this? I played it off as a joke…" he was embarrassed to tell him the truth after bragging about his braveness.

"Oh…" Ryoma muttered.

He noticed him staring at the kitchen again. He felt so angry at how he kept looking at Sakuno. It looked like he was almost undressing her with his eyes, and he just wanted to slap him or something.

"Hey, would you stop?" his voice had a hint of viciousness now and Horio noticed it.

"O-Oh… sorry. I just wanted to take a good look at her face. Look at her smile whenever she sees Atsushi," Ryoma slowly turned around and saw that Sakuno was cooking in the kitchen with the said guy. She was smiling at him like he's the funniest man on Earth.

"Are you jealous?" he asked Horio.

"N-No. She likes him, and she's clearly happy with him. I like her but… I also want her to be happy," Horio felt a little embarrassed with the fact that he's currently opening his heart to the densest guy on Earth. But he was grateful that Ryoma would at least listen to him and would sometimes comment, albeit useless stuff.

But the guy in front of him wasn't even listening anymore. He was too fixated on the girl with braided hair, sweetly smiling with her colleague.

Is Sakuno happy with Atsushi? Now that's more of a problem to him than before. He doesn't know why but it just made him sadder than angrier. He really is at the bottom of all men in the universe.

"I just can't help but think how I don't deserve her in any way," he was hearing what Horio was saying but he was not listening. He doesn't understand anything anymore. Ryoma knew that Atsushi was dating Tomoka, her loud friend. And now, he would hear from Horio that Sakuno has feelings for him? That's… complicated. He was not used to thinking about these kinds of things so he couldn't analyze the connections.

"Isn't Tomoda together with that guy?" he pretended to ask as if he was just a bit curious, but he was already sweating on his shirt.

"Yeah, that's why I don't expect her to like me. And it's not Tomoda, It's Tomoka. To-mo-ka," Horio crossed his arms and looked at Ryoma with disappointed eyes. Weren't they good friends now? He knew that Ryoma was bad with names, but Horio couldn't help but correct him.

"Hm… I don't understand," Ryoma crossed his arms as well and closed his eyes. He wanted Horio to help him understand what was happening because he felt like he misunderstood something. He just can't pinpoint what it is.

"Eh? I thought I told you,"

"I don't understand,"

"I'll explain it to you since you're too slow with these kinds of things. So, basically, Atsushi is dating Osakada, and I like her. But I don't plan on making a move. I just told her what I felt and that was it,"

Ryoma arched his brows. He didn't mention Sakuno, though.

"And Ryuzaki?" he asked. Upon hearing her name, Sakuno approached the two boys' table and stared at them.

"W-What about me?" she asked with ignorance on the matter.

"R-Ryuzaki! You heard?" Horio jumped from his seat. Although he was aware that Sakuno already knew about his feelings, Horio was still jumpy when the subject of the topic was right by the bar. He couldn't risk being caught talking about her.

"Y-Yes. Did you call me?"

Ryoma sat there, looking at Horio, then to Sakuno, then to Horio. He felt as if those two didn't really have that kind of spark between them. Was he just dense not to see or did he miss something?

"What's happening, you guys?" Tomoka had finally entered the scene and the four had started an awkward staring contest. That was the weirdest night Mr. Arata has witnessed. Tomoka took a seat beside Ryoma while Sakuno eyed Horio curiously.

"I don't get it," Ryoma glared at Horio. He was still looking at Sakuno with eyes that seemed to signal something. The girl only looked at him for a moment and then turned away. The blush on her face was enough to set Ryoma's mind on a whirlpool. His temper was rising, and he could feel his blood boil. The awkward atmosphere between Horio and her infuriated him.

"I-I can't explain it with the two of them here…" Horio felt a sweat roll down his temple as he nervously signals Sakuno to take Tomoka away because it seemed like Ryoma was about to lose his temper any second now. He has no idea why, but the prince's mood has completely changed when Sakuno showed up. Horio figured that Ryoma might have feelings for Sakuno, and of course, the girl had always liked him. But why is he suddenly mad at him? Horio never said anything bad about Sakuno, so why?

"R-Ryoma-kun, are you okay?" she asked. The moment he heard her voice, Ryoma's expression changed from anger to neutral.

"We're fine, Ryuzaki!" Horio waved his hand and motioned for Sakuno to go away. He did the same with Tomoka and although the girls looked at him confusingly, they eventually left the table. Ryoma could hear Tomoka's grumbling.

"Do you understand now?" Horio whispered when the girls were out of sight.

"No…" he was genuinely confused now. Normally, he wouldn't take interest in other people's business, but with Sakuno being involved somehow, Ryoma wanted to know everything about it.

Horio sighed in defeat. If Ryoma isn't a smart and handsome tennis freak, he wouldn't have been popular with the girls.

"Tomoka is happy with Atsushi, so I can never be with her. I don't even dream of it. That's it,"

"And Ryuzaki?"

"There's no Ryuzaki, man!" Horio grasped his head and shuffled his hair in frustration.

Ryoma blinked.

"But… hah?" he scratched his head. Suddenly, a tall guy sat on the chair beside him and smiled at them.

"A-Atsushi…" Ryoma and Horio both stared at him like they had only seen him for the first time.

"I can explain, Ryoma-kun," his smile never left his lips as he cleared his throat. Horio had a feeling that he's going to be in a lot of trouble.

"Apparently, Horio-kun here likes my girlfriend. I don't blame you, Horio-kun. She's quite the girl," he turned his head to Horio's direction and flashed a knowing smile.

"And Ryuzaki?" That was the only part that Ryoma really wanted to know. Everything else was a blur. Atsushi let out a hearty laugh, and Horio was still frozen from the guy's sudden participation in their private chat.

"You're so cute, Ryoma-kun. Sakuno-chan is not in any way involved in our love triangle, rest assured,"

"Oh," the prince's shoulders finally dropped as his tension was finally diffused and he felt relieved. So that's it. He recalled all the times he went paranoid over Sakuno and Horio and he felt like a huge boulder was lifted from his back.

"But really, you're so obsessed with her… Do you love her?" That was a shocking question for Ryoma. He was so eager to ask about Sakuno that he hadn't realized that he kept on mentioning her name.

"Er…" it left him speechless, but Atsushi found it amusing that he has yet to realize his attraction towards Sakuno. This might be interesting to divulge.

Meanwhile, Horio cleared his throat. He was suddenly forgotten by the two boys, and he was nervously fidgeting, trying to calm his nerves now that he was found out by the boyfriend.

"A-Atsushi, I can explain–"

"If you don't mind, can we talk later? We can ask Ryoma-kun to walk the two girls home," the boy smiled innocently at the both of them. Horio was stunned at his calm nature to the whole issue, and Ryoma… frowned. He shot the boy with a death glare before sighing in defeat. Now that he knew that Sakuno was out of trouble and he was not going to make an enemy with either of them, that was all it mattered to him. He was willing to do them a favor now. Oh well.

"Fine," Ryoma muttered.

"Okay," Horio said.

"Have you told her yet?"

Horio blinked. Atsushi looked genuinely curious about his answer. He was a bit confused since the boy had not attacked him yet. Atsushi was surprised, of course, but he didn't get mad at him, he was handling it very well, so he decided to tell him the truth.

"I… confessed to her," he closed his eyes, hoping that the boy would not curse at him. Instead, Atsushi stayed calm, almost like he expected it.

"What did she say?"

"Um, nothing. I said I was kidding, so…"

"What? Why?"

"Because… I don't know," Horio sighed. It was awkward enough that they're now alone in the restaurant, but the boyfriend is actually asking him about his confession to his girlfriend! Atsushi was being weird, he thought.

"Hm… can I tell you a secret?" the boy spoke. There was a spark in his eyes that Horio had never seen before. Horio reluctantly agreed before Atsushi began to whisper something in his ear. Hearing those words, Horio could only gasp, trying to comprehend what Atsushi had revealed.

Ryoma, Sakuno and Tomoka walked side by side on the snowy street. The boy has been tasked to see Tomoka home since Atsushi and Horio decided to talk to each other about something that the prince had no interest in anymore. When he learned that Sakuno had nothing to do with any of them, he was content, and happy. He didn't understand why but yay.

"Ryoma-sama… what are they talking about?" The girl was restless with how the night had changed, from her boyfriend walking her home to Ryoma. If she was still a superfan of the prince, she would have been over the moon, but she was too curious and worried about Horio and Atsushi. It felt like they had something serious to talk about and it was driving her crazy, being the nosy character.

"Hm… don't know," he shrugged.

"Maybe they're talking about you, Tomo-chan," Sakuno smiled knowingly. She walked in the middle of Ryoma and Tomoka.

"Hah? Why?"

"Because of you-know-what," the timid girl whispered, afraid that Ryoma would hear, although he was never interested in other people.

"His confession? But how would Atsushi know that? I never told him, and surely that Horio would never tell something that embarrassing to someone he's barely friends with,"

"Well…" Sakuno checked to see if Ryoma was listening but he was now lost in thought about something else, his eyes staring at the dark sky. "Ryoma-kun and Horio-kun were talking about it awfully loud a while ago. Then, I saw Atsushi come over to their table. I guess he heard everything."

Tomoka gasped. Now that's bad! Atsushi might get the wrong idea, even though she never did anything wrong. He might break up with her over something she has no control of.

"Don't worry," Ryoma said, "He said it's alright." He didn't know why he felt the need to defend Horio, but he did.

Sakuno and Tomoka's mouths were shaped like the letter O. They were quite surprised that the prince was actually eavesdropping on their conversation. Well, to be fair, they were talking about it mindlessly. They forgot that he has ears.

"W-Well, I know that he's not serious about it. It's a waste of time for them to be talking about it," Tomoka crossed her arms to establish her nonchalance, but her red face gave her away.

"B-But he is!" Sakuno couldn't help but tell her that Horio really meant it. Tomoka can't think that he was only joking around. Her trust with Horio might disappear and the moment he properly confesses would mean nothing anymore. Sakuno has read too many romance novels to conclude that much.

"Hmp! I just thought that he likes you, Sakuno! He would always come to the restaurant!"

Ryoma's ears perked upon hearing Tomoka's words. Sakuno suddenly covered her mouth, afraid that the prince would misunderstand.

"N-No! He was looking at you!" her best friend removed her hand and kept rambling away. Tomoka's face was now getting redder by the minute and she just wanted to change the topic so she wouldn't have to hear Horio's name over and over again.

"I told him that you're in love with Ryoma-sama so there's no hope for him!" she blurted out.

"Ooops!" she gasped.

It was like God had pressed the pause button on the three of them. No one moved a muscle, with the two girls nervous if Ryoma heard Tomoka.

She slowly turned her head to Sakuno, who was as shocked as she was.

"S-Sakuno, I didn't mean to–"

"What did you say?" Ryoma turned his head to them. His eyes were wide, obviously shocked, as well.

"N-Nothing! I was kidding! I said that to brush him away!" she said. Sakuno has made it clear that she didn't want to confess to Ryoma, and now that she accidentally revealed it, she needed to play it off as a joke (just like Horio) and throw Ryoma off. She just hoped that the prince would be a little stupid to catch on.

"Oh," he only muttered, then he continued to walk away.

Sakuno let out a sigh. She didn't know what to do if Ryoma found out about her feelings. She wasn't ready to let him know, in fact, she might never tell him. Sakuno felt a little mad at Tomoka for spilling her secret, but she was just thankful that the prince was super dense.

"Sorry, Sakuno…" Tomoka pleaded.

"T-That was close, Tomo-chan!" She pulled her best friend to catch up with the boy's huge strides towards Tomoka's house.

"I'm so sorry…"

"I will never ever tell him, so please keep your mouth shut, Tomo-chan!" she hissed at her. It was the best angry face she could ever pull, and it surprisingly scared Tomoka. She nodded in response.

Sakuno stared at Ryoma's back. Even though she was head over heels for him, she could never tell him about her long overdue feelings for she was afraid of rejection, and she knew that she would lose him if he ever found out.

To be continued.