Disclaimer: I don't own POT.
Summary: Ryoma finds a rather innovative way to shut up Tomoka. [Ryoma x Tomoka
Notes: God, I'm addicted to this pairing. I wish people would write more of it.
Means to Quiet
Tomoka was furious.
And everyone knew it too.
Fear stricken students scattered out of the raging girl's way as she stomped towards the tennis courts. Pulling the court door open with enough viciousness to scare even Tezuka, she scanned the perimeter for a familiar face.
When her eyes didn't catch sight of the familiar form, Tomoka tried her best not to scream in frustration. After all, she promised Sakuno that she wouldn't cause a big scene, though she wasn't sure how much longer she could follow through with her word.
The regulars around the court stayed wary of the fuming girl, knowing that once provoked, she could be scarier than even their stony captain. Momo, however, disregarded their warnings and approached her. Tomoka looked up at him with urgency in her pale eyes. Before he could even get a word in, she had her hand fisted in his shirt.
"Where is he? Where is that damn boy?!"
Momo was shocked. He had never heard the usually chipper girl sound so angry. But considering the events of the past few days, he should've expected this. Momo gulped as her grip tightened, mentally noting to never be on the receiving side of her wrath.
"Ano, he's behind the school I think. Something about getting some peace and quiet."
Hearing this, Tomoka let go of his shirt and rushed off in the direction of the school building. Momo watched her go, smirking at the thought of what was in store for the poor youth who was, without a doubt, going to be pummeled.
Leaning against the back of the school, the famous tennis prodigy, Echizen Ryoma lounged about, savoring the last of his favorite drink. With a quick swipe of his upper lip, he threw the bottle into the trash and prepared to take off.
He had taken not one step when he heard the familiar shout of his name. Ryoma whipped his head around to see Tomoka Osakada stomping toward him. Great, just what he needed. He expected this after that certain incident but by the look on Tomoka's face, he knew he was really in for it.
Ryoma turned to face her, hoping to tune out her yelling. She stopped a few feet from him, hands on her hips.
"YOU BASTARD!"
Ryoma tried to disregard this insult.
"I can't believe you! And to think that I actually thought you were cool!" Tomoka glared at him, growing even madder with his unresponsive demeanor. She was going to get a reaction out of him damn it, if it was the last thing she did.
"How dare you go and break Sakuno's heart like that?! She's the sweetest person I know, and I thought you could see that. But obviously you can't get that through your thick skull!"
He watched her rant in a bored fashion. He just hoped she was done soon; her loud voice was going to cause him to go deaf before twenty.
"But you know what? She's over you, so stay away from her! She's found someone way better than you and she'll be a hundred times happier with Fuji-senpai anyway!"
Ryoma raised his eyebrows. Fuji-senpai and Sakuno? Whatever it was, he just wanted to get her irritating voice away from him.
"Well, than good. Now you can stop screaming at me. If Sakuno's happy with Fuji-senpai, I presume you're done with your ranting."
Tugging his hat down, he prepared to walk off when a surprisingly strong hand pulled him back by the fabric of his shirt.
"Hold on, you're not going anywhere until you explain yourself!" Tomoka glared at him square in the eye.
He sighed, knowing it was futile to argue with a mad woman. So he gave the simplest answer he knew, and one that was sure to piss her off.
"I have my reasons."
Tomoka's eyes flashed dangerously in response to his statement. She took a step closer to him, and Ryoma's eyes widened when she jabbed a finger at his chest. "Reasons! What reasons?!"
The prince of tennis watched her apprehensively. All Ryoma wanted to do was shut her up, but seeing that she seemed to have an endless supply of oxygen to go on ranting, it seemed quite an impossible task. Unless of course…
Without a second thought, he grabbed her and smashed his lips against hers. Instantly, much to Ryoma's satisfaction, her voice died down. He broke the kiss after a good few seconds, letting a triumphant smirk grace his features.
He then turned to walk away when Tomoka again grabbed his shirt, lip poised to ask a question. His eyes narrowed; he would have to take this further. Leaning down for the second time, he kissed her again, this time slipping his tongue in between her parted lips. She moaned when he stroked his tongue over hers and the sound sent shivers down his spine.
He continued to coax her mouth into submission and she tightened her grip around his neck. He smirked softly, before realizing what exactly he was doing. He cursed himself for enjoying the kiss so much. It was just a means to shut her up. He had never harbored romantic feelings for the loudmouthed girl and he never intended on having any.
Swiftly, he broke the lip lock, leaving a dazed Tomoka staring up at him.
Ryoma smiled when he noted that she was still speechless. He turned to walk towards the court, this time, enjoying the golden silence that followed him.
The next few days were a little awkward for Tomoka.
Everyone noticed that she had become mellower. She no longer harbored the anger toward Ryoma she had so passionately displayed a couple of days ago.
But just because Tomoka had become quieter didn't mean she was any less confused. All her anger had disappeared when he had pressed his lips against hers. The sensations he caused in her body were far stronger than the temporary hatred she fostered for him.
Besides, Sakuno had already forgiven him and Tomoka supposed she could too. After all, she was his self proclaimed number one fan. But she was still going to get to the bottom of this mystery.
Tomoka cornered him that afternoon.
"Ryoma-sama, can I talk to you?"
He turned around, a faint smile tugging at his lips. Who knew a simple kiss could cause her to stop being so rambunctious?
"Not mad anymore?"
She scratched her head sheepishly, "I guess I over reacted. Sakuno forgave you, so I guess I could to. But I wanted to know…"
"Why I kissed you?"
She nodded, relieved that he said it for her.
The trademark quirk of lips found its way up his face again.
"Just to shut you up."
Tomoka gawked at as his back as he walked towards the tennis courts, a particular sway in his steps.
She scowled at his retreating figure, before a light bulb switched on in her head.
'Two can play it that way, Ryoma-sama.'
She caught him on his way home from practice. The sun was already painting the sky orange when he heard her calling his name from a mile away.
"RYOMA-SAMA!"
Tomoka skid to a halt beside him and instantly launched into some annoying one sided conversation. She knew he hated it when she badgered him about stupid tings (meaning things that didn't have to do with tennis). Her voice soared to new heights as she watched his facial muscles twitch.
His eyebrows knitted together in concentration as he tried hard to block her chattering out of his brain. Tomoka grinned widely as she dove in for the final move.
She walked in front of him, and took him by the shoulders.
"Ryoma-sama, did you reject Sakuno because you're secretly…gay?"
She knew she had gotten to him when his left eye twitched.
Bingo!
He pushed her rather forcefully against the nearest solid object and crushed her lips to his in a searing kiss. Tomoka was far from surprised by now and opened her mouth to him willingly. She ran her fingers through his midnight hair, still awed that the seemingly stoic boy could give such a passionate kiss.
He pulled his mouth from hers and looked down at the panting girl. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked rather pretty.
Before he could make a comment, she wriggled out from under him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. She walked away humming, and ponytails bouncing.
Boy, did he feel used.
Ryoma hated surprises.
But what he hated more was having the tables flip on him so suddenly.
He noted, with a sour look and aching ears, that Tomoka had returned to having a voice louder than a megaphone. She smiled at him cheekily, and shouted for him to do his best. He didn't really mind the encouragement once in awhile but every second of his day was filled with her voice, and driving him insane.
She had figured out their little game and he had to win it somehow.
A devilish smile spread across his face as he thought of the best way to get back at her.
His scheming thoughts were interrupted as Momo plopped down next to him on the bench.
"Ne, Osakada-san seems a lot louder than usual today."
Ryoma nodded to his sempai's comment.
"I wonder why she's so loud now when she was so quiet just yesterday."
Ryoma smirked at his secret, mind quickly conjuring up ways to benefit from Momo's curiosity.
"I bet I can shut her up."
Momo looked down at him in surprise.
"What? You really think you could?"
Ryoma nodded.
"Fine then do it. I'd like to see you try."
"Okay, but if I succeed then you buy me two weeks supply of Ponta and if I lose, I'll do whatever you say for the next two weeks."
Momo grinned, "Deal. Get ready to be my slave Echizen!"
Ryoma shook his head, "Not quite sempai."
Tugging his hat, he strode over to Tomoka.
She looked up at him when he made his presence known.
"Ryoma-sama," she gave him a wide smile, "going to kiss me again to shut my mouth?"
Tomoka closed her eyes in expectation and leaned forward.
But instead of the fiery kisses she was used to, she felt the rough pad of his thumb brush over her lips. She opened her eyes in surprise as Ryoma leaned in to whisper in her ear.
She was vaguely aware of the tennis court falling silent and Momo-sempai shouting, "No way!"
But that didn't bother her at all; in fact the only thing she cared about was his smooth voice flowing over her.
"You know, I kind of like it when you're this…LOUD!"
The single word echoed through out the perimeter.
Tomoka jumped away from him in shock, clutching her assaulted ear. In the distance, Momo dropped his racket and once again repeated, "No way!"
All of the tennis club members were staring at them in surprise and Ryoma decided he didn't quite like the attention. So he swiftly grabbed Tomoka's hand and dragged her behind him, leaving the inhabitants of the courts staring wordlessly after them.
Momo was the first one to recover from the shock. He grimaced at his bad luck, who knew Echizen was so suave?
Tomoka crossed her arms and huffed at him.
"That hurt, Ryoma-sama."
He rolled his eyes, why could she not understand?
"It was supposed to."
She glared at him again and he almost found it cute until he noticed the familiar fire lighting in her eyes. Tomoka opened her mouth to screech at him but he was too quick.
He reached down to meet her lips and massaged them open, earning a small groan from the girl under him. He broke the kiss to press his lips against the hollow of her throat, eliciting the sound of his name from assaulted lips. And this sound, he liked.
Before he got carried away, Tomoka pulled his head up, much to his dissatisfaction.
"What you said before, do you really like me loud?"
Ryoma nodded.
"But why? I thought you found it annoying."
The tennis prince smirked, "It gives me reason to kiss you."
Tomoka's eyes widened at hearing his comment. It was one of the most intimate things anyone had ever said to her, and it was coming from Ryoma Echizen's mouth.
She grinned at him, "You don't need a reason."
A small smile broke over his face and he kissed her gently for the first time.
"What was that for?"
"No reason."