Pure Essence: Hi everyone! It's been so long since I've written a new fanfic. The lack of motivation and disappearing plot-bunnies are the reason for my hiatus. However, a few plot-bunnies have been popping up here and there recently so I feel like I can write something now (that is, if I have the time).

As many of you noticed, I haven't written anything for a long time… so if my writing didn't improve or downgraded, I'm so sorry! But I do hope that's not the case! I would like to give a shout out to all the reviewers who continued to review my other stories despite me not updating them for so long. Part of the reason why I'm writing again is because of their motivation and reviews. So, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

P.S. – I've had a poll up in my profile for a while now; I hope all of you would take some time out to answer it. Thanks! (It will help me a lot for the future!)

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of P.O.T, nor do I own the mangaka of P.O.T (though I wish I did so I could force him to put more RyoSaku moments in there!) :P

Setting: Seigaku High School

Characters:
Ryoma Echizen: 2nd year of High School (keep this in mind. Ryoma's no longer 12 years old so he might be OOC in terms of how the anime/manga portrayed him… but I'm writing how he would be like later on in life when he has more of a personality.)

Sakuno Ryuuzaki: 2nd year of High School

Momoshiro/ Kaidou: 3rd year of High School

Rest of Seigaku HS team: 4th year of High School

Their Little Secret by Pure Essence

If anyone were to give a description of Echizen Ryoma using only adjectives, it would be something along the lines of arrogant, rude, handsome, dominating, or talented. Not one person would describe him as caring, considerate, romantic, or possessive – not even when it had to do with his girlfriend, Sakuno Ryuuzaki.

When the two of them were seen walking together at school, Ryuuzaki Sakuno would always be a few steps behind Echizen Ryoma, never walking at the same pace as him nor walking side by side like regular couples do. They barely made contact and were never seen kissing, holding hands nor whispering intimately into each other's ears.

Their lack of contact made many people gossip. Nearly everyone wondered if the two of them really liked each other at all. As a result of this, Ryoma Echizen's fan club grew even larger despite the fact that it was announced that he was already taken. The fan girls unrelentingly continued to support him with the hope in their hearts that Echizen Ryoma really didn't love Ryuuzaki Sakuno.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The only ones who knew how the relationship between said couple really went were the perceptive and stalker-ish Seigaku High School tennis team members. Having known Ryoma and Sakuno since Seigaku Junior High, they have been keeping their hawk-like eyes on the couple. They were able to read all of Ryoma's little actions that would not have been understood by anyone else if they didn't know him well enough.

In their opinion, if they were to describe Echizen Ryoma using a few words, it would be jerk, arrogant, competitive, brat, sore loser, skillful, etc. But when it came down to Sakuno Ryuuzaki, they would describe him as caring, considerate, romantic, and possessive.

They all knew that what people saw at school of the couple was just a show. Despite Ryoma's cold and unfeeling demeanor, he actually cared a lot for the auburn-haired girl. His "mada mada danes" always had a hidden meaning behind them and only the selected few understood what it meant. To other people, it seemed like he was scolding or looking down on them.

In the beginning, they didn't believe that Ryoma would ever get together with Sakuno Ryuuzaki, the granddaughter of their ex-coach from Seigaku Junior High. Although they did know that Ryoma tolerated her more than any other girl, Inui had predicted that the chance for them to get into a relationship was 0 percent mainly because of Ryoma's cluelessness and the fact that he only cared about tennis and nothing else at the tender age of twelve.

Perhaps it was because Ryoma had hit puberty that Inui's percentages started increasing as they all noticed Ryoma's constant stares at the shy girl every time she came to watch their games or cheer for them.

It was not shocking at all for them when they found out that Sakuno Ryuuzaki and their Ochibi were suddenly an item albeit how that happened, no one knew. Every time they tried to extract information from Sakuno (because Ryoma would never tell them even if they tortured him with Inui's vegetable juice), her face would turn tomato-red and ended up stuttering so much that they would not be able to understand a thing she was saying.

"Mada mada dane" Ryoma would say with that arrogant smirk every time they pestered the poor girl for answers. "Stop being so nosy senpai-tachi."

In the end, they would not get any information out of the two. But despite not knowing how they ended up together, they stalked the couple long enough to know how Ryoma was caring, considerate, romantic and overly possessive of his girlfriend.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sakuno Ryuuzaki was well aware of all the gossip surrounding her and her tennis star boyfriend, Echizen Ryoma.

'Are they really a couple?'

'Maybe he doesn't love her at all'.

'Just look how awkward they are together.'

'I've never seen a couple walk together like that before.'

She heard the same old whispers every time she walked through the corridor trailing after her handsome boyfriend and long time crush. But she knew better than anyone that Ryoma, although he had a hard time showing it, really loved her and their relationship was anything but fake. He was the most loving, considerate, and romantic boyfriend she could ask for. As for being possessive, she just assumed that he was not the possessive kind simply because he never showed any signs of it (though she wished he was sometimes).

Their relationship at school was a show for everyone to see. They did this purposely so that Sakuno would not be threatened or bullied by his large fan base which consisted basically three-fourth of the female population in the school. If they made it seem as if he didn't really care for her at all, the fan girls would not bother with her – thinking that she was no threat to them and would probably even take pity on her.

At first, Sakuno was a little lonely. Although the person she loved was right beside her, she was not able to "be" with him or show him any of her feelings at school knowing that it will only cause herself to become the entire school's target for bullying. However, she eventually forgot all about her loneliness because Ryoma, in the end, always found a way to make it up to her.

Even now, as she walked behind him ignoring the stares and whispers, she could sense that he was upset at the gossip they made about her. His back was tense and his hands were slightly clenched at his side. He also had a slight scowl on his face.

She couldn't help but smile inwardly at his reaction.

She waited patiently until the people stopped staring before she walked a little quicker and gently grazed her fingers over his clenched hand. He immediately relaxed as if suddenly relieved of all the stress. He turned to look at her and she smiled back at him. A soundless exchange was made.

'Daijoubu?' she asked him wordlessly. They were simply exchanging gazes. But they were able to understand each other perfectly.

'Hn.' He nodded. He should've been the one to ask that. 'Don't listen to what they say.' He had also wanted to add. Before he could get that message across, he felt her squeeze his hand lightly as if to assure him.

'I know.' Her eyes twinkled.

She appreciated his caring attitude and her heart skipped a beat just knowing that he worried for her this much. Even though no one around them saw the exchange, she was content just knowing that only she had that privilege.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Although Sakuno was a fragile girl, she didn't get sick that often. But when she does, it would last for a while. Lately, she's been feeling under the weather. Soon enough, she got the cold and has been sneezing and coughing for 3 days now.

She was currently sitting with Ryoma in a VIP section of the cafeteria made especially for the school's famous tennis team members. The rest of the senpai's had suddenly excused themselves by saying that they had something to attend to.

Before they left, Inui-senpai had offered Sakuno a sample of his muddy looking vegetable juice claiming that if she drank it, her cold will be healed immediately. Sakuno cringed when her senpai stuffed the horrible looking drink into her arms despite Ryoma's death glare.

"Nya! Ochibi take good care of Sakuno-chan neh?" Kikumaru had said.

"Now Now Echizen, you don't have to give us that look. I'm sure that drink will taste just fine. At least I liked it." Fuji grinned. The rest of the Seigaku regulars sweat dropped. Just what kind of taste buds does Fuji have to be able to withstand such poison is beyond their understanding.

As they left in a group chattering away, Ryoma raised an eyebrow at her as if questioning her, 'You're not drinking that are you?'

She gave a small laugh despite her ragged voice. "N-No. I don't think so…I feel bad for wasting this but…" Just staring at the bottle was enough to make her feel like puking.

She will just pour it out in the bathroom. "I need to go to the restroom for a moment."

Ryoma nodded understandably as she stood up and made her way to the ladies room. By the time she came out, Ryoma had already thrown out her empty tray and was waiting for her with her book bag by his side.

"Arigatou, Ryoma-kun." She thanked him when he handed her the book bag. The book bag felt a little heavier than it was before but she simply dismissed it. 'Maybe I'm just getting a little weaker.'

He nodded silently and they both made their way out of the cafeteria to their own classes. It was not until Sakuno sat down at her desk in class and opened her book bag to take out her books that she found out the reason why her book bag felt a little heavier. Inside was a bottle that looked strangely like the water bottle Ryoma used during tennis practice to hold his drinks. There were also two bottles of vitamins. Attached to the water bottle was a message written on a yellow post-it. It read:

Drink this. Mada mada dane.

Sakuno laughed silently at the short, brief message. She knew the 'mada mada dane' part of Ryoma's message meant, 'Take better care of yourself.'

Ryoma must've inconspicuously put these in her bag while she was in the restroom, she concluded. She opened the water bottle and took a sip of the liquid. She was startled when she recognized this to be Ryoma's mothers' favorite cold remedy. She wondered how Ryoma managed to get this for her.

Shaking her thoughts away, she told herself it didn't matter. It was enough that Ryoma was considerate enough to show how much he worried for her well being. She took another sip and made a mental note to sanitize the bottle before giving it back to him so he wouldn't get sick as well.

The sudden thought of sharing the same water bottle as Ryoma made her flush scarlet.

'Mou, Sakuno...' She scolded herself with the famous phrase Ryoma always used. 'Mada mada dane (You've still got a long way to go!)'

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

It was February 14th – Valentine's day. A special holiday meant to celebrate love and friendship for some.

Today, Sakuno was as fidgety as ever. She handmade a tennis ball-shaped chocolate for Ryoma knowing that he had a love for sweet things (hence why he always liked to drink that Grape flavored Ponta – it was awfully sweet!)

As she made her way to the tennis courts, she was not surprised to see the school's female population waving chocolates and screaming at the top of their lungs for Ryoma and some for the other regulars. Afterall, this happened every year. Her becoming Ryoma's girlfriend did not change their minds one bit.

Sighing at the chaotic scene, Sakuno tried to stand on her toes hoping to get a good look over the crowd and find Ryoma. She finally caught sight of him on the bench stretching. 'He must be up next.' she thought. She couldn't help but notice how devilishly handsome he looked under the bright sun. His greenish hair stood out clearly under his trademark white cap. His face slightly tanned from being outdoors most of the time. There was also a glint in his honey colored eyes that reflected excitement for the upcoming game.

Trying to get a better view, Sakuno made her way through the crowd while muttering "sorry" constantly. Most of the girls however, refused to let her past. They blocked her way to the front causing her to be stuck in the middle of the screaming mass of people.

A sudden commotion startled her as everyone started screaming "Ryoma-sama!" Sakuno guessed that Ryoma was finally up for the game. The girls pushed and pushed waving their chocolates and confession cards frantically up high. Sakuno tried her best not to move as she was being shoved front and back, and side to side in between them.

A sudden push from the right side caused Sakuno to switch her box of chocolates to her left hand so that it will not be squished against her body. Just before she could grasp it tightly with her left hand, another push came and knocked the box out of her hands and onto the floor where hundreds of feet are jumping, kicking, and pushing.

Sakuno bent down frantically and tried to save her box of chocolates before it got trampled on. Unfortunately, her box of chocolate was kicked somewhere farther as she scrambled past the people to find it.

"Sumimasen" she excused herself through the crowd chasing after the traveling chocolate praying that it has only sustained minimal damage. When she finally had the chocolates in her hands and made her way out of the crowd, she was in a disheveled state.

Her hair was a mess and her clothes were dusty from crawling on the ground trying to get to the box that she put her whole heart into the night before. The nicely wrapped chocolate box was now dusty and dented with a few footprint marks on top.

"Mou…" she said sadly and tried to clean the marks off the once beautiful box. It was too late to give it to Ryoma now…

She held in her tears and she made her way to the boy's changing room. She hoped Ryoma wouldn't notice the lie she was going to tell him. Just as she rounded the corner, she saw that Ryoma was also heading there a distance away. She quickly shoved the chocolates behind her back with two hands and made her way over to meet Ryoma.

The only way to shield her awkward posture was to pretend she was happily skipping towards him.

Ryoma noticed Sakuno coming toward him in an awkward pose. It was obvious that she was hiding something from him. Her disheveled state and shiny eyes told him that something was not right.

He slowed his pace down until they met up in front of the changing room.

"Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno greeted him too cheerfully. "H-Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Hn." He said, unsure of what else to say. He simply stood there as if expecting Sakuno to hand him something. When nothing came, he looked at her questioningly.

"A-Ano…I made something for you today Ryoma-kun…b-but I kind of forgot it this morning at home on the k-kitchen table." She stuttered out.

Sakuno Ryuuzaki forgetting to bring a gift that she was going to give THE Echizen Ryoma (a.k.a her boyfriend) on Valentine's Day? That was hard to believe.

"Mada mada dane, Sakuno." Which basically translated to, You're such a bad liar, Sakuno.

The poor girl lowered her head in shame ready to burst into tears at the frustration of not being able to give him the chocolates she spent all night making, on top of having to lie to him and failing at it.

"I'll take whatever you have behind your back." His calculative eyes observed her stiffened figure.

"D-Dem—"she was about to object when Ryoma quickly spun her around and took the disfigured box out of her hands before the girl could make another excuse.

"So you do have it." He stated it plainly as if he knew it all along. He observed the box and scanned her up and down. He could tell what she had been through. The many footprints on the box as well as on her skirt were enough to tell him what might've happened.

He also knew that she was embarrassed to give him such a gift. She had always wanted to give him the best and nothing less. If only she knew that anything she gave him was good enough for him…

"G-Gomen Ryoma-kun" she mumbled quietly. "I will make you another one later so let me have that one back."

"Yada." Ryoma opened the box of chocolate much to Sakuno's protest. As expected, the tennis-shaped chocolate was now broken into smaller chunks.

"I-It was supposed to be a tennis ball…" she explained.

"Hn." He picked up a small piece and put it into his mouth. The delicious handmade chocolate slowly melted in his mouth. He could taste her dedication and love for him through the chocolate. It was warm and sweet just like her.

He leaned down slightly till they were almost cheek to cheek and whispered a "thank you" into her ears. A blush immediately surfaced on her face. He smirked inwardly at the effect he had on her. She was so easily swayed by him – not that he minded. Ryoma suddenly pulled back from her flushed face and steered Sakuno into the changing room. Sakuno watched as Ryoma rummaged through his bag for a moment before pulling out a nicely wrapped box and handed it to her.

Without saying a word, she took it from him. Her heart pounded at the thought of what could possibly lie beyond the elegant box. Slowly opening the box, she gasped when she saw that it was a pair of couple key chains made to hang on the cell phone. It was in silver. One had her name engraved in elegant script. The other one had his.

She was shocked beyond words. This was the first time Ryoma had ever given her something that confirmed their relationship as a couple. It was a symbol of their relationship.

It was so unlike him, Sakuno had to admit. However it was because Ryoma went out of his way to do something that was so unlike him that she was truly touched by his actions.

"A-Arigato Ryoma-kun" she stuttered, so happy that she wanted to cry.

"It's…" she struggled for the words to describe the item in her hand. "…perfect."

She knew that Ryoma isn't the type of person to book a fancy dinner with her nor will he send a bouquet of roses for every Valentine's Day but he was romantic in his own subtle way and that was more than enough for her.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

It all started when Ryuuzaki Sakuno came to school with her hair down. Seigaku High was in a chaotic uproar that day. No one had expected Ryuuzaki Sakuno to look so beautiful with her sleek auburn curls framing her pretty heart shaped face. For as long as they could remember, she always had her hair either tied up or styled into her trademark braids.

The news spread quickly around the school and everyone collected in front of her classroom to try and catch a glimpse of her pretty face with her hair down during the breaks and in passing.

Sakuno was awfully uneasy at the attention she was getting from the males and females alike. Did she really look that different? She ran her fingers through the soft curls nervously. She only wanted to try a new hairstyle. If she knew it was going to lead to this, she wouldn't have come to school like this to garner so much attention to herself.

Sakuno tried her best to ignore the secret stares she was getting during class. The girls were mostly directing envious glares at her while the males were looking at her in a dazed way – much to Sakuno's discomfort. When the school bell rang, she was quick on her feet and exited the classroom before anyone else could follow her. She made her way to the exit of the school and headed for the tennis courts where she knew Ryoma would be.

She spotted him by the entrance of the courts as if he had been waiting for her. She ran up to him when she saw him. "Ryoma-kun." She greeted as usual.

Ryoma was silent as he observed her. He had obviously heard about her so called "transformation." His senpais had bugged him all morning about it saying how if he did not watch his girlfriend properly, she would be glomped by the school's predatory male population.

Much to his annoyance, he was afraid they were right. Sakuno looked absolutely stunning with her hair down. A part of him was secretly jealous that he had not been the first one to see her like this. This was the very first time Sakuno had let her hair down despite the many years he had known her and he could feel a tinge of possessiveness pull at his conscience.

Grasping a section of the luscious strands that framed her face, he twirled the hair around his fingers thoughtfully.

"I like it better when you had it tied up." He said blatantly. Of course, that was far from the truth. He found this hairstyle very refreshing and fitting for her. But when it came down to the attention she was receiving for it, he'd rather her not…

Only when she was alone with him, would he allow it.

"Eh?"

It was at that moment when the Seigaku Regulars decided to intrude on their moment and popped up behind Ryoma.

"Wow, Sakuno-chan, you look great!" Momoshiro winked, causing the girl to blush shyly. She quickly mumbled an "Arigato" at the compliment.

Ryoma scowled and held himself back from wanting to "accidently" jab his senpai in the stomach with his elbow.

More and more of his senpai-tachis began to compliment her. The quiet girl was now as red as a tomato and their teasing only made it worse.

"Mada mada dane." He grumbled out. 'Enough now.'

He quickly grumbled out that he was leaving and dragged Sakuno away from the nosy group and toward the bench where he had his belongings. "Do you have everything?" he asked her. She scanned herself to check if she had forgotten anything and realized that she had left her coat on her chair in the classroom! She had completely forgotten about it while trying to escape.

"E-Eto… I left my coat in the room…"

"Hn." He mumbled and handed her his tennis jersey. He decided against bringing her back to the room to get it. He had a feeling that some people were still waiting outside for her to come back for it. He looked at her and he could tell she shared his same sentiments.

"Arigato Ryoma-kun." She took the jersey from his hand and put it on. She turned around with her back facing him after putting on the jersey.

A sudden smirk graced his lips as he stared at something behind her back. Sakuno, who felt an intense gaze coming from behind her, turned around and asked, "Is there something wrong Ryoma-kun?"

He shook his head 'no' yet the smirk and glint in his eyes did not disappear. Sakuno looked at him with a confused expression. He dismissed it and started walking toward the exit. As always, she followed him ever so obediently.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Echizen Ryoma could not help but smirk at what he saw as he stared at the back of Sakuno Ryuuzaki. On the bottom of the jersey, in medium sized English words, printed:

Property of Echizen Ryoma

His lips tugged higher as he read the words and chuckled inwardly at how fitting it was that she was wearing it. A sense of possessiveness flowed into him when he watched her innocent face turn to look at him questioningly.

"Let's go." He said and walked her to the exit not bothering to even look at his senpais who were watching him carefully (he had a feeling they already figured out why he was smirking).

As he walked with her, Echizen Ryoma couldn't help but wonder silently to himself how he wouldn't mind lending her his jersey more often…

If you were to ever ask the students of Seigaku High if Ryoma was caring, considerate, romantic, or possessive, they'd look at you like you've grown three heads and tell you, "No."

x.x.x.x.x.x

If you were to ever ask Ryuuzaki Sakuno if Echizen Ryoma was caring, considerate, or romantic, she'd tell you, "Yes."

x.x.x.x.x.x

If you were to ever ask the Seigaku Regulars if they thought Ryoma was caring, considerate, or romantic, they would tell you secretly, "Yes."

x.x.x.x.x.x

If you were to ever ask Ryuuzaki Sakuno if Echizen Ryoma was the possessive kind, she'd look at you with a wishful look and tell you, "No."

But if you were to ever ask the Seigaku Regulars of Seigaku High that very same question,

They'd tell you…

…

…

…

Well,

…they'd tell you otherwise. ;-)

FIN.

[A/N]: Thank you for reading! Please DO review! It's been a while since I've written and I would like some comments on how I'm doing after so long. I really hoped many of you enjoyed this!

I was actually going to finish this and post this yesterday night…But I was busted by my dad who scolded me for not sleeping at 2:30 in the morning. XD

But, better late than never neh?

I told myself last night also that this is going to be one of my shorter one shots… in the end, it came out to be as long as my other one-shots! LOL. Nothing ever works out to be the way I say it.

Please excuse any grammar mistakes. I hope I didn't make too much of it.

Thanks again to all of you who continued to wait for my update! I love you :)

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