Notes: This is another meaningless little fic about Ryoma and Sakuno's marriage. Somehow I simply adore the idea of these two married. - The idea for the story just came into my head and refused to leave. So here it is. I hope you can enjoy it. Oh yeah, I have no excuse for the title. I couldn't come up with anything. -;;

I'm Innocent

Ryoma stared at the ceiling. It was a nice enough ceiling. He had spent quite a lot of money to make it nice. He had always been pretty happy about it. But right now he downright hated it. Right now he was forced to look at it a lot more than he wished to and he didn't like it one bit. And he hated the room that he was in, he hated the sofa he was lying on, he hated the lack of Sakuno's steady breathing next to him. He couldn't sleep. It annoyed him.

Huffing, he rolled to his side and stared at the dark silhouette of the television. Perhaps there was something worth watching going on. He glanced at the clock. It was nearly three o'clock in the morning. He should sleep now. He had rough training ahead of him tomorrow. He closed his eyes and once again tried to sleep. He had never thought sleeping could be so difficult. It was frustrating. He was tired but couldn't sleep. Where was the logic in that?

Perhaps he should apologize.

Ryoma's eyes snapped open and he glared angrily at the television. He was not going to apologize. Not him. He never apologized. Besides, there was nothing to apologize for. He had done nothing wrong. It was all Sakuno's fault for being so damn serious about little things Ryoma himself didn't even notice. He had told Sakuno, he remembered it clearly, he had told her that he didn't even know the woman. Somehow that had made things worse. Sakuno had started to cry and accused him of being cold-hearted and cruel. Her words had stunned him. He had been thrown deeper into confusion when Sakuno had sobbed that he should at least be kind to his…lady friends. Did he know how bad they would feel if they heard him talking like that about them? At that point Ryoma had been totally lost. What the hell was Sakuno talking about?

The only thing that was clear to Ryoma was that Sakuno accused him of infidelity. Not directly saying this but she had made it clear enough, in a very Sakuno-like way. And as a result of her accusation Ryoma was forced to spend his nights on a sofa. When Sakuno had brought his pillow and bedcovers to the living room he had just shrugged, determined to keep his cool exterior no matter what. He was wrongly accused and he was not about to bow down before Sakuno for no reason. And so he had been kicked out of the bedroom. The very idea of it made him scowl. And if anyone ever got wind of this humiliating event… Ryoma would make sure the offender never talked to anyone ever again.

It had been over a week now. Curse women and their stubborness. Couldn't she just give up and let him back into the bedroom? He was not going to apologize. He had not wronged her in any way. In fact, if he thought about it, it should be Sakuno on the sofa instead of him. He was the one who had been wronged, not her. But he was willing to show mercy and let Sakuno stay in the comfortable bed. And his softness had nothing to do with him missing his lullaby, the soft inhales and exhales that Sakuno emitted in the darkness of their room. Nor had it anything to do with the cold feeling in his arms for not having Sakuno in them. No no, it had nothing to do with those things. He was just a righteous man, that was all.

Ryoma sat up on the sofa and stared piercingly at the bedroom door. He was going to get in tonight. This ridiculous…thing…would stop now. He was not going to take any more of a woman's stupidity. God damn it! Was it his fault that women liked him? No, it wasn't. He never did anything to encourage them. He was being the perfect husband, never even thinking of betraying his wife and this was what he got from it. Nevermind that the reason for his lack of interest in women was due to him always being busy concentrating on tennis. The fact remained that he was true to his wife and had always been. Christ! He had never even been with anyone besides Sakuno, what with them being together since junior high. And he had never shown any interest in other women. How could Sakuno doubt him? It was an outrage.

Ryoma plopped back onto the sofa. He had changed his mind. He was not going to be the one to give in. If Sakuno wanted him to forgive her she would have to work for it. That's right. That was the right way to deal with this situation. Ryoma would just wait until Sakuno's jealousy was worn off and then graciously accept her plea for forgiveness. Satisfied, Ryoma closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

Wait! Ryoma's eyes snapped back open and he sprung to his feet. Jealousy? He blinked and then, after awhile, a tender smile rose to his lips. He understood now. Sakuno didn't really doubt him, she didn't really believe he had betrayed her. She was just jealous of other women being so near him. He remembered Sakuno had once said that she felt very insecure because Ryoma was a handsome and famous man and a lot of women tried to get him. At the time Ryoma had thought she was just being silly and as Sakuno never showed any sign of jealousy after that, he had thought it had been nothing but a phase. It seemed that he had been wrong.

Ryoma walked to the door and opened it softly. He could feel he was being his mushy self that very rarely made an appearance. But sometimes Sakuno was just too cute. He was glad that this time this had happened when they were alone. Last time his father had been with them and the bastard was obviously not going to forget it. Ryoma had already been blackmailed into numerous stupid things just so that Nanjiroh would shut up about the stupid incident.

Sakuno was awake. She sat up when Ryoma entered the room, and looked at him with her beautiful, wide eyes. Ryoma felt like she was begging him to do something. He went closer to the bed and sat down. He lifted his hand and trailed his finger on her face. Then he smiled and leaned in for a soft kiss. "You're not very clever, Sakuno."

Sakuno blushed furiously and hid her face with her hands. Ryoma pulled them away.

"But that's okay. I have brains for the both of us." He planted a kiss on her nose. Sakuno leaned closer to him, resting her head on his chest and hugged him tight. Ryoma put his hand on her head and inhaled her sweet scent. "I love you."

Sakuno startled. They had been together for a long time but she could still count the times these words had been uttered to her with her fingers. She broke into a wide, happy smile and snuggled closer to him. "Thank you," she whispered into his shirt.

Ryoma held her for some time. Neither of them knew how long it had been when Ryoma finally loosened his grip and hopped into the bed. He drew Sakuno into his arms and smiled when Sakuno curled against him in a familiar way. "Sakuno." When she lifted her eyes to look at him, he smirked. "I'll forgive you this time. But if you ever dare to tell anyone about this…"

Sakuno chuckled and nuzzled her nose against his chest. "I missed you."

Ryoma's smirk widened until his face had settled into his trademark grin. "But of course." Nothing could make him admit that he had missed her too. Well, unless Sakuno would once more decide to be so damned cute that he would lose his control again. But he would fight to his last breath against such a fate. His expression softened as the sleep that had evaded him for several days finally gave in, and his head pressed against Sakuno's auburn, soft hair. Sakuno smiled, but it was only due to instincts for she had long been peacefully asleep.