Note: this is also crossposted in my AO3. ryosaku is my childhood OTP so naturally, that update breathed life back into these weary bones. chapter title is inspired by hall & oates, while the idea for this chapter is inspired by... a barbie movie oops

1

everytime you go away

Echizen Ryoma was not a fool. He did not knowingly enter into situations for the sole purpose of making an embarrassment out of himself. He was Seigaku's star player, back in Seigaku's glory days. He was well-loved by his peers, feared by his enemies, and admired by his rivals. He was a cool guy.

So when his girlfriend of three years asked him if he wanted to go ice skating at the popular rink that opened up two weeks ago, completely oblivious of the fact that he had no idea how to skate, what does he answer?

"Sure."

"Yay!" Sakuno chirps from the other end of the line. Ryoma feels the lump on his throat more than ever before. "I'm so excited!"

"Heh. Really?" He starts breaking a sweat at the nape, he has to run his face towel over it.

"There might be a lot of people though, since we're going on a Saturday."

Great, Ryoma thinks inwardly.

He doesn't know why he's thirty minutes early. Usually, he'd be thirty minutes late. It used to annoy the heck out of Sakuno, whose patience, he had discovered, for his tardiness gradually thinned the longer they stayed together. Over time, she had gotten used to it, even going as far as to not bother waiting for him.

But today, the people hanging around at the mall on this Saturday morning should be honored to witness the once in a blue moon occurrence that is Ryoma showing up thirty minutes early for literally anything in his life.

And on this particular day, that thing happened to be, god forbid—ice skating.

His girlfriend came on the dot, like the punctual, responsible girl she was. Today she had her auburn hair in a ponytail, as if she had already anticipated he would be a mess, and she needed to get any distraction away from her face as soon as possible.

Or maybe he was just overthinking.

"You're early," was the first thing she tells him. She's not wrong.

"I'm always early." He jokes dryly.

She laughs. But after three years of being at the receiving end of all her giggles, he knows it's not because she actually finds him funny.

Instinctively, he laces his fingers around her small ones, and pulls her along.

"For two please." Sakuno tells the bespectacled guy behind the cashier, who was taking an annoyingly long time punching things into his age old computer screen.

She always took the initiative to talk to receptionists and people behind the register, not because he orders her to, but because he was terrible at communicating with people, and it was something that frustrated her to no end.

"Okay." The guy says, "Can I have your names please?"

Honestly, the best place to hang out was always at home, where you weren't forced to spend money or talk to people. But this was Sakuno. And when Sakuno asks something from him, it was so hard to say no.

"Echizen Ryoma?" The guy suddenly yells, "You're the Echizen Ryoma?"

About twenty other people turned their heads. And at this, Ryoma completely freezes up. Contrary to his girlfriend's fervent belief, there was always a downside to achieving so much at a young age. This included that awkward moment when a receptionist recognizes you and then yells your name loudly for the fifty other people within an earshot to hear.

He turns to Sakuno. A silent plea. Help me.

When it comes to her, there is no need for further explanation. "I'm sorry, our tickets please?"

The bespectacled guy snaps out of his reverie, finally remembering that he should be getting back to work instead of exposing the identity of popular tennis players who just want to spend quality time with their loved ones.

"Oh, right! Here you go! Have fun skating, Echizen-san!"

Echizen Ryoma was fairly well-known in the city. Not as well-known as, like, BTS or something, but he does have his moments. After the bespectacled guy behind the sign-up booth, came the very star struck lady who manned the shoe locker and who took an awfully long time to fetch their ice skates because she had made him—actually, it was Sakuno who supplied what she later on deemed the tabloid-worthy information—repeat his shoe size like five times.

"I can imagine all the news sites tomorrow." Sakuno tells him, after they collect their ice skates and start proceeding to the benches to put them on, "Echizen Ryoma: Prince of Tennis goes ice skating?!"

Ryoma rolls his eyes. For some reason, Sakuno found all those articles written about him absolutely hilarious.

"Protect your crown, Yuna Kim, there's a new skater in town!"

"Just put them on, so we can get this over with."

"You're so boring." She comments boldly. Whatever happened to the meek, shy, could-never-ever-bring-herself-to-insult-him Sakuno all those years ago…he will never know.

Together they settle by an empty bench. For someone who's never skated at all in his life, Ryoma has his skates on in the blink of an eye. Sakuno, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling to slip her tiny feet onto the heavy skates.

"And you're still so weak. Here, let me do it."

He kneels in front of her, and fixes her laces up quickly. Sakuno smiles in delight, and when he was done, she balances her feet over the blades like a kid.

Just as he was about to get up, convinced that things can't probably get worse than they already are, and that Sakuno has put up with a lot of his issues enough to stay even after she discovers he was a bad skater, a very, very familiar voice starts yelling behind them.

"Is that…Echizen?"

Ryoma's entire body freezes up.

Oh shit.

It's not who he thinks it is. It's not who he thinks it is. He takes a glance at Sakuno, whose shining eyes were cast on the person the voice belonged to—or, the person he hoped it didn't belong to.

"Momo-senpai!" Sakuno clasps her hands together, "Funny to bump into you here!"

"You too, Sakuno-chan!" Momo says, "Wow, you're getting prettier every time I see you! No wonder Echizen gets into a lot of fights!"

Ryoma was hoping that not looking at Momo-senpai would make him go away but can't help but spin around to give his senpai a glare. That's literally not even true. Except maybe the Sakuno getting prettier part, which is truer than any true thing can be—but that was not the point. "What are you doing here?"

"We haven't seen each other almost a year, and that's what you tell your beloved senpai?" Momo shakes his head in mock disappointment.

Ryoma has half a heart to get up and literally go home altogether. No, he did not feel like entertaining his old teammate today. Any other day will do—at the arcade, or a fancy restaurant, or god forbid even at a goddamn salon. He'll go anywhere. He'll even willinglypay the facial and mani-pedi. Just, not today. Not when he is at a skating rink, ready to make a fool of himself in front of all these people.

"You know Miyaka." Momo gestures to the girl beside him. No, Ryoma has no idea who this Miyaka girl was, except maybe because of some offhanded comment Momo made months ago at a burger joint about the girls in his class he kind of digs, "Miyaka, these are my former kouhai, Echizen and—" and Momo still wiggled his eyebrows at this, "—the love of his life, Sakuno-chan."

"Yeah, okay. Well, it was nice seeing you." Ryoma tugs his girlfriend by the arm, and heads for the direction that was anywhere but around Momo-senpai, "Let's go, Sakuno."

But his girlfriend wasn't cooperating. Sakuno pulls him back with a strength she only uses whenever she was a little angry, and whispers—or whisper-shouts, because she was definitely kind of irritated right now—away from the earshot of Momo-senpai and his date, Miyaka, "Don't be rude, Ryoma. It's been almost a year since you and Momo-senpai last hung out. You can't just walk out on him like this. Look how happy he is to see you!"

"This is our date."

"He's your senpai."

He gives her the look he saves for desperate moments—the puppy dog look. "Sakuno, please?"

But it has no effect. Sakuno pats him affectionately in the arm, and flashes a blinding smile, "Go on. I'll keep Miyaka-san company."

Ryoma had actually concocted a plan for today. And that plan was to cling onto Sakuno for as long as they were at the rink. He could pass it off as his usual flirtations and Sakuno would then be too busy being flustered—because public displays of affection make her uncomfortable—to notice that it was actually because he literally can't skate on his own.

It was the perfect plan. It saved him from seeming on par with the string of six year olds participating in the rink's weekday lessons. It also gave him an excuse to hug his girlfriend.

Except, nothing was going according to plan.

Momo finished putting his skates on and was now energetically jumping around, scaring some people around them in the process. He was absolutely pumped.

In a state of panic, Ryoma searches the now-forming crowd for any sign of his girlfriend. But damn it. She was already in the rink, gliding along with that Miyaka girl—happy and carefree, without the troubles of boyfriends that can't skate themselves out of a paper bag to worry her.

For someone who was clumsy in literally everything else, Sakuno was pretty darn good at ice skating. Her loud friend, Osakada, at some point became a die hard fan of that Olympic skater, what's his name, and as a result, dragged Sakuno ice skating on the weekends. Ryoma always found reasons not to show up until Osakada gave up inviting him altogether. Back then, he thought he was pretty clever, because Osakada never gave up on anything.

But right now? Right now was a different story.

"I can't believe this." He murmurs, feeling very heavy inside.

"I know right?" Momo responds, eyes fixed on a group of twenty year olds stumbling together in the middle of the rink. "Those six year olds can skate better than them."

"Yeah." Ryoma was already sweating really bad. But too bad he left his face towel in Sakuno's bag.

"You know, this is the first time we're ever going skating together."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah! We should've done this with the team. It would have been great!"

"I guess so."

"Imagine discovering buchou sucks at ice skating. That's something no one will ever forget!" Momo-senpai releases a chortle that's loud enough that it causes the people around them to turn their heads sourly.

Ryoma was starting to feel uncomfortable. "I need to stretch." He doesn't really know whether ice skaters actually stretch right before ice skating, "You can go ahead."

"You kidding?" Momo slaps him in the back a little too hard, in a way that makes Ryoma kind of regret forming a solid friendship with his senpai, "We're bros. Bros stretch together."

And thus, ensued ten long, harrowing minutes comprised of listening to Momo-senpai's frustrations about his college thesis and spending all his allowance on the Taylor Swift concert next month, and stalling the inevitable future of Ryoma looking like a newborn baby camel on ice for everyone, including Momo-senpai who had the useless habit of never forgetting every single embarrassing thing that happened in Ryoma's life, to see and remember for the rest of eternity.

People around them were coming and going, the same people he and Sakuno entered with, and new people. The rink was beginning to fill with more people. Some of the local figure skaters are gracefully gliding through the crowd, starting their afternoon routine. If this were a tennis court, all eyes would be on him. But unfortunately, they weren't at a tennis court. And right now, Ryoma would prefer it if no eyes were on him.

"What are you waiting for, Echizen?" Momo says impatiently, "I haven't skated in a long time! I'm absolutely pumped!"

Ryoma doesn't respond. The stupid, twelve year old side of him wishes that if he continues not responding to his senpai, maybe, just maybe his senpai will go away.

"Don't tell me you don't know how to skate?" Momo kind of holds back his laughter, unknowingly shooting an arrow into his sensitive kouhai's pride.

Triggered by this innocent accusation, Ryoma turns quickly to Momo and defensively says, "The hell are you talking about?"

"Ah, I get it! I get it!" Momo was nodding his head, like this was a well-anticipated eureka moment, and he was commending himself inwardly for his discovery, "It's because you can't go anywhere without Sakuno! I totally get it."

Ryoma wants to send his senpai a look of disbelief, but if he continues this act, maybe, just maybe Momo will finally leave him alone.

"I know you like the back of my hand! You don't have to hide it from your senpai! Don't worry. This senpai understands completely."

And just in the nick of time, the rink is starting to be cleared away for the obligatory five minute performance by the local figure skaters. Miyaka and Sakuno return, in the middle of laughing about something funny, when Momo excitedly bounds for them.

"Sakuno-chan! Good timing! Your boyfriend was just looking for you!" Momo wiggles his eyebrows and thumbs to where Ryoma was trying to act like he was just coolly hanging around. Miyaka whispers something to Sakuno that sounded like—aw! You two are so cute!

Ryoma didn't have to look to know that Sakuno was anything but touched. Confused, was probably the correct reaction. She walks up to him, poking her head into his line of vision.

He feels a huge wave of relief wash over him. She's finally back, and with her here, he might somehow just find a way to save his dignity. Maybe.

"What is it this time?" She asks.

"Nothing."

"You okay?" He feels her taking his hand with hers and brushing her thumb over it gently, "You're sweating a lot."

It's getting harder and harder to lie to her.

"It's really nothing."

Sakuno doesn't look convinced, but didn't push further. Instead, she turns her gaze fondly toward a pair of skaters in the rink, who were doing an emotional routine set to Saint Saens' Le Cygne.

He's not really fond of figure skating, but he is fond of her. And maybe that's why he was here, about to willingly look stupid, just so he can see her like this: eyes twinkling, lips curled in subtle wonder. He laces his fingers around hers, brushing his thumb over the soft skin of her knuckles, out of habit, comfort, affection, all of it.

The routine ends, and he's clapping along with Sakuno and the rest of the makeshift audience, even when he barely watched the thing at all. People are skating back into the rink, Momo and his date along with them.

Sakuno turns toward him abruptly, with a smile on her face, "Hold onto me."

He blinks out his daze away, "What?"

She ignores him, and pulls him into the rink herself. Snowflakes start falling from snow machines on the ceiling, a soft icy blanket over the rink. Ryoma doesn't even have enough time to take in a breath when they finally break into the ice.

They find themselves at one isolated corner, his arms wrapped around her shoulders in a very tight, desperate hug. Sakuno, finally accepting the difficulty of maneuvering around the rink alongside Ryoma's firm resolve never to let her go, literally, was giggling against his chest.

"This is not funny."

"I'm sorry. It's just-"

More giggles.

"Stop laughing."

"It'll be easier for the both of us if you hold onto the wall."

"I don't want to."

"You don't have to be scared to look like an idiot if you hold onto the wall, Ryoma." She tells him softly, her warm breath tickling his neck, "You already look like one."

"It's not that hard to just pull me around."

"I can't. I only have enough strength for one person."

Ryoma doesn't budge.

"Please hold onto the wall?"

Momo skates past them, sporting a wide grin, and chirps, way to go Echizen! like a hyperactive seagull. It was tempting to let go, but for the sake of his dignity, he will never, ever let go.

"Okay fine!" She's had enough. Victory! his mind yells inwardly, "I will pull you around, but you have to let me go first." She brings her hands to his arms, still wrapped around her neck tightly.

"I like it when you tell me what to do." He whispers into her hair.

"Don't say stuff like that when you're standing there like a penguin."

"Sakuno… What are you- oi-! Sakuno! Hey!"

"Calm down."

"Don't let go…"

"I'm shifting our position so you can move better. Put your arm around me."

"I'm going to fall…"

"You're going to be fine."

"Wait…not yet!"

"Let go, Ryoma."

"Stay there, okay? Just stay there."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"You're moving too much! Don't move!"

"I'm not moving!"

"You're laughing at me."

"I can't help it! Stop looking at me like that! You're just going to make me laugh harder."

After five more minutes of furious bickering, the confusing shifting of limbs, and the repetitive incantations of 'yes, Ryoma, you're going to be fine', they found the perfect position: his arm draped casually over her shoulders, and hers slipping around his waist. They looked like your average, slightly gross—because he really refused to let go of her, for fear of falling into the ice—couple on a date in the ice skating rink. To Ryoma, this was the perfect façade.

"You should've told me you couldn't skate so I wouldn't have forced you to come here." She says.

"Maybe it's because I wanted this to happen." He attempts to flirt, but his foot slips just a tiny bit on a part of the ice that was slightly damp for god knows what reason.

"Not even grandma would believe that." She says with a laugh.

In the end, the day unfolds much better than he expected. A figure skater glides skillfully past them, and another round of snowflakes fall from the ceiling, and cling like tiny crystals into her hair. She tries to get him to match her strides, so they skate slowly and rhythmically and take their time.

He was stiff, and she laughed way too many times to give proper instructions. But it didn't feel embarrassing. Not when she was by his side.

Through some kind of miracle, Momo never found out Ryoma's ice skating skills, or the lack thereof, dismissing the fact that Ryoma clung onto his girlfriend all day as the result of him still being unable to move on from the honeymoon stage, even after three years of being together. Sakuno doesn't make any comment, but the funny look she gave to Ryoma signified that she was dying to.

The four of them ate dinner together at some restaurant near the rink. They talk about many things, like Momo's college, how he saw Eiji at the batting station the other day, what the others are doing now, and how memories of junior high school feel so far away. Momo and his date went ahead, because Miyaka lived in the other side of the city, and he wanted to take her back himself.

That left Ryoma and Sakuno alone, walking back to the train station, the sunset painting the sky a fiery orange, signifying the end of a long, tiring day.

"Looks like I'm never inviting you skating ever again."

"Why not?"

"Do you know how difficult you were today?"

"I can get better."

"Right. Just stick to what you're good at, okay?"

"You don't have faith in me." He teases. He doesn't mean it. But the way Sakuno turns to him alarmingly makes him sound like he did.

"That's not true." She says, linking their fingers together, "I always have faith in you."

Echizen Ryoma was not a fool. Seigaku's star player never did things that would make an embarrassment out of him. This was the rule.

But every rule always has its exception.

His exception came in the form of a girl, who spent most of the train ride home laughing at all the embarrassing things that befell them at the skating rink today.

As he stares at her, her smile, and her laughter, he comes the pleasant realization that maybe he is a fool.