Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis. Shocked, aren't you?
Ryoma and Sakuno are now seniors.
Too Many Tears
"Come on, Ochibi!"
"No."
"Come on, Echizen. We won't tell anyone."
"Like hell you wouldn't."
Okay. This was officially annoying. Momo-sempai and Eiji-sempai were nagging him to tell them if he liked someone for the umpteenth time that week. It was only Tuesday.
"Oi, Echizen, there has to be someone you like by now, right?" asked Momo.
Ryoma turned to face him, smirked, and said, "Maybe. Maybe not." And while the two sempais were still trying to figure out what that smirk meant, he quickly made his way out of the classroom.
Sure, there was someone he liked, Sakuno Ryuzaki specifically, but if he took the advice of any of the people he had access to, his confession would go up in smoke. And he was dead scared that if he tried it on his own, he'd make her cry again, just like he had been doing ever since he met her. Even if he didn't confess, they would still nag and tease him about it constantly and try to interfere in anything he did with her. Worst-case scenario would be they let something slip and she found out.
He just exited the school building when he heard someone say, "So would you go out with me?" He instinctively looked toward the voice out of curiosity and his eyes widened. It was Akutsu Jin. Normally, it would be a great shock just to find him asking out a girl. But Ryoma didn't care about the asker at the moment. He was much more concerned about who Akutsu was asking. 'Out of every girl that attends this school, why'd it have to be her?!' he thought as he watched from afar.
"Umm…" Sakuno hesitated.
'Why is she hesitating? She's not actually considering saying yes is she?!' Ryoma thought while he panicked.
"Ryuzaki!" he called before he realized he was speaking. He somehow kept his voice and expression calm.
"Ryoma-kun?"
Both Sakuno and Akutsu's attention were now focused on him, and he thought frantically on what he would say next.
"Can I talk to you for a moment? It's important," he continued. He turned and began walking away, motioning her to follow.
"Okay," she said starting to follow, then turning and muttering a quick "Excuse me for a sec," before continuing.
Once they were alone, Ryoma turned to her and said, "I think it's in your best interest not to go out with Akutsu."
"Huh?" she exclaimed, clearly surprised, and for a moment Ryoma thought he saw something resembling hope in her eyes, but he dismissed it as they soon turned irritated. "Why? What does it matter to you?"
To say he was surprised would be an understatement. He had only seen her like this when she scolded him for leaving Horio to his doom when it was Ryoma's fault he was there in the first place because he had been late for the tournament.
"It's just that he's had a history of violence," he stated, keeping a straight face the whole time.
"So have you," she retorted, attacking him instead of calming down like he hoped she would.
Now he was mad. He did not have a history of violence, and even if he had, comparing him to Akutsu was taking it too far.
"Name one time," he said scowling.
"The second Kantou tournament match, freshman year, you attacked a group of girls with tennis balls," she said instantly.
He grew angrier still. "One. None of them were hit. Two. You can't prove I did that on purpose. And three. I didn't think you were enjoying having your hair pulled." He was sure he had this argument won.
To his astonishment, she once more replied instantly. "One. A girl had to duck to avoid being hit. Two. I don't have to prove anything, we both know you're too good to have lost control. And three," she gave him one of those innocent smiles of hers that he adored so much, "I was under the impression that you didn't even know I was there."
Ryoma flinched as he realized two things. He had, of course, pretended he wasn't saving them, and she had this planned ever since he stated his excuse for not wanting her to date Akutsu. The ditzy, clumsy girl he had fallen for had outwitted him.
"Uhh…" he said dumbly.
"Could it be that Ryoma-kun is looking out for me both then and now?" she asked, clearly enjoying herself.
He turned his back to her determined to get his image back. "Che. As if. Can you imagine the consequences with the coach if I just let her granddaughter get hurt?"
A few seconds passed in silence and in those few seconds Ryoma felt confusion and then horror at the silence.
'I did it again, didn't I?' he thought before slowly turning back around. He mentally slapped himself at what he saw. 'Yep, I made her cry, again!'
When Sakuno finally spoke again, her voice was shaking terribly. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I was such a nuisance."
"Huh?" was the only thing that Ryoma could say. He wasn't as confused at her words as he was at how he could be so stupid as to say something so cruel to the one he loved.
"I'll try not to bother you anymore!" she cried. Then she turned and ran from him. Ryoma ran after her, cursing himself in his mind.
With all the running practices Ryoma had gone through, it was almost no time at all before he caught up with her and he grabbed her wrist.
"Let me go!" she shouted while struggling to get free.
"No!"
"I said let me go!"
"Just listen to me!"
Sakuno stopped struggling, but still didn't look at him. He felt her trembling. 'This is no time to be cool,' he thought as he took a deep breath and for the first time ever, let every emotional barrier come crumbling down.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said and there's no reason for me to have said it. Please forgive me."
Ryoma watched as she turned around and he saw confusion all over her face, and he wondered why. After a moment, something seemed to click in her head. She bowed her head slightly and a sad smile formed on her face.
"How could I be so stupid? Of course it would be even scarier to be with grandma when you made me cry," she said softly, "Don't worry Ryoma-kun, I won't tell her anything."
Ryoma was horrified. He had done it. He had hurt her so badly that none of his words would reach her anymore. So with all other options exhausted, he gathered his courage, and just as she was about to walk away, he grabbed her, pulled her close, and kissed her.
A few seconds passed and she hadn't pulled away or returned the kiss, so he pulled away and opened his eyes. He was relieved to see that she had stopped crying, but instead there stood a blushing Sakuno, eyes wide and mouth gaping.
"W-Wha-?" Sakuno was having trouble forming words, so Ryoma quickly explained.
"I'm an idiot when it comes to words. I've had these feelings for a long time, but every time I tried to tell you, I'd end up making you cry. So…"
He took another look at her and saw that she was crying again, and he lost it.
"Shit! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't cry! Please, I-"
He was cut off when Sakuno wrapped her arms around and pressed her lips against his. In his surprise, he lost his balance and fell backwards. Ryoma would have been more than content with the situation, but he was still confused, so he broke the kiss.
"Why are you still crying?" he asked.
"These are tears of joy Ryoma-kun," she told him, "you have no clue how long I've been waiting for this day."
She leaned in to kiss him again, and this time he kissed back, making it more passionate than he could have imagined, and he was now relieved of every worry he had before. When they broke for air, they were both flushed. Sakuno smiled.
"You're even cuter when you blush, Ryoma-kun," she said. Ryoma's eyebrows rose at the thought of him being cute, but then he gave her one of his famous smirks and said, "Right back at ya."
Sakuno's blush spread from her cheeks to all over her face, which she hid in Ryoma's shirt. He laughed.
"You kiss me like that and you're still shy?" he asked teasingly. She nodded slowly into his shirt. He grinned and played with one of her braids that she always refused to cut. "You're too cute, Sakuno-chan."
***
"Was that okay?" asked Akutsu.
"Yeah! It was perfect!" Momo and Eiji chimed in unison.
"How did you guys know he would interfere? What if he had left and she said yes?" Akutsu inquired.
"The probability of each of those happening was 0%." stated Inui.
"1000 yen says they'll make out!" shouted Eiji.
"Come on Eiji, we're not old enough to gamble yet," said Kawamura.
Momo slipped a racket into his hand.
"BURNING! I'LL TAKE THAT BET!" Kawamura yelled at the top of his lungs.
Oishi sighed at his lack of control over the group.
"Huh? We're missing a few people," Eiji noticed.
Momo went down the down the list. "Fuji-sempai went to take pictures of whatever happens between Echizen and Ryuzaki so he could torment them later, the snake is probably scared by whatever twisted version of the situation Inui fed him, and Tezuka-buchou kept hanging up when Inui tried to call him over."
Akutsu scoffed. "You guys are all freaks."
That's right, the team set them up. Now review, or else weird things will happen.