We Don't Need To Worry
By Chiyoh Mi
A/N: Takes place in high school.
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis isn't mine.
Tomoka Osakada's Point of View
"Saku-chan!" I called my bestfriend, Sakuno Ryuzaki, for the nth time.
She had been staring into space for awhile now. This also seemed to get the senpai-tachi's attention, because they went nearer to us, except for Tezuka-senpai.
We were watching the regulars' practice, which was weird, because usually, Sakuno would be with her boyfriend, Mateki Sude. I happened to also notice that Ryoma-san isn't training with them.
I had long given up on him, as well as the Fanclub and the –sama suffix. I started to move on with someone I know that likes me for who I am. And that is, unbelievably, my cat-fight-mate, Satoshi Horio. But still, I support him like any other fan.
Getting back on the topic, yes, Sakuno still liked the said boy. Her agreeing to date Sude-san is still a mystery to me.
"Eh? Osakada-chan, what happened to Ryuzaki-chan?" Kikumaru-senpai asked me. Oishi-senpai, Momo-chan-senpai, Inui-senpai, and Fuji-senpai also huddled around us. Kaido-senpai and Kawamura-senpai just stood nearby, but I can directly see from their faces that they were also worried about Sakuno.
Remembering Kikumaru-senpai's question, I shook my head. The rest of the regulars frowned at this.
"I know Ryuzaki-chan's quiet, but I didn't expect her to be this silent." Momo-chan-senpai stated. Fortunately, Sakuno snapped out from her trance and then stared at us.
"A-ah, s-senpai-tachi! T-Tomo-chan!" I slightly frowned at her. But nonetheless, at least I know she's back.
"Sakuno! You weren't even paying attention?" I said impatiently. Well, who won't?
"I had been calling you for the last few minutes! Is something wrong?" I asked her.
"Is it your parent's death anniversary?" I added. She smiled faintly, and shake her head.
"Yeah, Ryuzaki-chan. You can always tell us." Oishi-senpai also urged her to tell us what was wrong with her.
"O-oh…it's nothing. Just a simple teenage p-problem." Sakuno replied, bowed before us, and then started to run away from the tennis courts. Seeing her upset like this, we all knew that it wasn't just a trouble-free dilemma.
Then I stared at Inui-senpai. He gives the impression that he may have a clue about this.
"Saa, Inui. Do you have any idea about Ryuzaki-chan's behavior?" As if reading my mind, Fuji-senpai asked the data man. But Inui-senpai shook his head no.
"Ne, has anybody seen Echizen?" Kawamura-senpai asked. This made Fuji-senpai's eyes open. Once again, we shook our heads.
"Maybe the coach knows something." Kaido-senpai suggested.
We then headed towards the main office, to find the older Ryuzaki.
"Ah, Sakuno? Nothing…I don't know what happened to her. But yes, she did act weird around me. And I was just about to ask all of you. Why don't you try Mateki?" Ryuzaki-sensei explained. So, she doesn't know what happened to her own granddaughter, huh? This is totally freaking me out.
They ignored sensei's last statement about Sakuno's boyfriend, probably because they don't know about him.
"Maybe Tezuka knows something." Kikumaru-senpai then ran ahead of us, looking for the stoic captain.
When we arrived back to the courts, we saw Kikumaru-senpai's face color with concern. This has made our curiosity level up.
"Tezuka said he saw Ryuzaki-chan walk away crying from the vending machines this morning."
We all gave it a thought.
Seriously, Sakuno is acting weird today. This morning, she was so happy walking with Sude-san, but when she came back after lunch, her eyes were puffy and red like she had been crying throughout the day. I asked her about it, but she just said that the wind blew something to her eye, and she begins tearing up from the pain. Ryoma-san was also staring at her strangely, as if concerned. Also, I saw Hateli Wayasume, one of her friends, looking apologetic towards her.
Realization then hit me.
Why didn't I think of this from the beginning?
"Ne, senpais, why don't we ask one of her friends?" The senpai-tachi just looked at me.
"I mean her friends. As in her individual friends." I added to ease out the confusion. They beamed at the idea. So we quickly looked for Wayasume, hoping that she would still be in school. After all, it had been a while since classes ended.
We found her with Sude-san. But this wasn't the picture we all imagined.
There, sitting on the bench near the vending machines, was Wayasume, as well as Sude-san. Sitting beside each other. Holding hands. Kissing like there's no tomorrow.
I suddenly scowled.
I felt my blood boiling with anger.
So that's why Sakuno was acting weirdly.
She saw her so-called boyfriend cheat on her earlier.
My upperclassmen just stared at me as if I grew another head.
Now, gravely, before the senpais jumped into conclusions, I explained to them about Sakuno's relationship with Sude-san.
The results I got?
"Ryuzaki-chan what?" Oishi-senpai and Kawamura-senpai exclaimed. All the rest were speechless. I nodded my head sheepishly. I knew this would happen.
"Let me get this straight, Ryuzaki-chan had a boyfriend for two weeks, and he is that dude over there?" Kikumaru-senpai was pointing to the couple nearby. All of them were glaring daggers towards the hottie.
"Wait until I get my hands on him!" We had to hold Momo-chan-senpai back before he caused any trouble. Inui-senpai had to show him a glass full of bubbling goo before he shut up.
"Senpai, that guy over there is cheating on Ryuzaki-chan!" He whispered dangerously. I saw Kaido-senpai nodding his head, and his infamous 'scary face' was on. Opportunities like this were rare: Kaido-senpai and Momo-chan-senpai agreeing? Wow.
This time, Fuji-senpai opened his eyes.
"Look. It's Echizen."
We looked towards the direction he was looking at and yes, we did saw the tennis prodigy walking calmly towards the betraying couple. On his face held many emotions. Ones that you would never imagined that the athlete would show to unknown people.
Irritation. Anger. Jealousy.
We hid behind a bush, our curiosity growing more.
"Ne, are you Sude Mateki?" The tennis genius asked. He was glaring, and only a blind person won't see that he was gritting his teeth. We all listened carefully. Inui-senpai began scribbling madly.
"Yes." We heard a faint reply from the other party.
"I don't care about you, but you have no right to make Sakuno cry like that." His glare intensified more.
Shock befalls on all of us. Did the tennis prince just defend my bestfriend? And did he just address her as 'Sakuno'?
"Hey. She's a pest. She stutters like there's no tomorrow. I don't have any idea why I even asked her out on the first place." The senpai-tachi suddenly went out of the bush and stood beside Ryoma-san. I still didn't come out.
"I feel sorry for her. But Mateki-sama is right. She's an idiot." Wayasume added, but her voice was faltering. She was also scared of the dudes in front of her.
That's where I draw the line.
Nobody. As in nobody befriends my bestfriend and then calls her an idiot behind her back because of a guy.
I went out of the bush, walked in front of her and glared her down.
"You're the idiot one." I said menacingly. All of the people around me quiet down.
"Do you even know the dangers you just got yourself into?" I added. Momo-chan-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai stood beside me, also glaring her down.
"BURNING! No one treats Ryuzaki-chan like that!" Kawamura-senpai exclaimed with his racket in hand.
"Leave." We all turned our heads and saw Tezuka-senpai and Ryuzaki-sensei. Why didn't we see them before?
The brats left immediately. Ryuzaki-sensei then faced Ryoma-san with a smile. As if on cue, he left for the Sakura tree, near the tennis courts.
Sensei told us to follow a little later after the prodigy left.
When we got there, we saw Sakuno sitting on the prince's lap, crying. The mentioned boy was gently stroking her hair, telling her that everything would be alright.
Who knew that the prodigy would be so… comforting?
A few minutes passed, and Sakuno was tear-free. She apologizes to Ryoma-san continuously, and to shut her up, he kissed her. All of us were cheering. Even Tezuka-senpai was smirking slightly.
As we all walked home that afternoon, we teased the new couple. They both looked like tomato heads, but nevertheless, a small smile was present on both of their faces while their hands were intertwined.
And so, with the Prince of Tennis in my best friend's side forever, I don't need to worry about her.
Echizen Ryoma, take good care of her. –Seigaku Tennis Team, Ryuzaki Family, and Osakada Tomoka.
A/N: What do you think? Sappy? Fluffy? Cute? I tried my best on not making them OOC. But I think I still need to work on it.
I'll update on 'Future Life with the Echizen's' tomorrow. Stay tuned for it :)