Dedicated to: all my patient readers. Thank you for staying with me? Here's chapter 11! With all love – Be-ya XOXO

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Chapter 11: Day 1 – Skip a Beat!

"Ah!"

Another second.

"Ouch!"

And another.

"Stop it, please."

It wasn't even an exclamation anymore. After a couple of moans and a few more sentences ended with an exclamation point, Sakuno decided that this time she had to beg for these women to stop harassing her.

She wasn't even that hairy, mind you. But these women said that she had more than necessary. Pluck here. Wax there. They even threaded her eyebrows!

She wouldn't be acting - this was just some photoshoot - and they were forcing her to cry even before anything begins.

"Oh come on," answered a woman as she applied the final touches of her makeup. "You'll be thanking us! Ryoma-sama will find you so lovely that he'll want to marry you after we're done."

Sakuno pursed her lips at that. 'But he's already married.' Much to her dismay, the thoughts flashed her mind and her heart stung a bit.

"Done! We're done!" all of them gave an approving look as they scrutinized their work from head to toe.

Another woman bobbed her head, "Makeup really does magic."

They all laughed and Sakuno, who was just sitting through everything, didn't know if she should smile that they think she was pretty (even if for a moment) or frown because they thought it was improbable and fantastical. Either way, she wasn't even given the time to think about the reaction to give. They were already dragging her by the arm out of her chair as they hollered the name of their boss.

"I never knew we were such a talented bunch!" the woman on her right exclaimed and wiped an invisible sweat off her forehead. "It was a lot of work but we're awesome so we managed."

The scene wasn't how she planned it on her head. Sakuno thought too that she'd get pretty from plain what with all those cosmetics. She thought that she'd step out of the room gracefully and everyone on the set would love her so much they wouldn't be able to take their eyes off her. She imagined they would gape and come over, attracted like magnets.

But they didn't.

Those things only happen in movies.

When she emerged from the door, the scene that greeted her was of men and women scurrying left and right. They were all fixing the set and talking with a cup of coffee in their hands. It was like a battlefield than a fairytale. Even the women who dressed her up and dragged her there were long gone.

'Whatever have I gotten myself into?'

She felt a strange twist in her stomach.

"I'm sorry!" she cried when she bumped into someone as soon as she took a step back. She turned to face her victim. "Fuji-senpai?"

He smiled the way everyone expected he would do.

"How are you, Ryuuzaki-chan?"

"Wha-What are you doing here, senpai?" She paused and shook her head. "I mean, I'm fine…just curious why you're here?"

Instead of answering her question though, he gave her a soft chuckle and tugged a strand of hair behind her ear. "You look pretty today."

"Uhm…" And Sakuno did what a sane woman does at times like this. She blushed and stuttered, "We-well, I got caught up in this situation." Her arms stretched sideways as if it could explain everything. "I had to help Ryoma-kun with his photoshoot so they dressed me up."

She wasn't exceptionally pretty. She wouldn't go that far now that she thought about it. They just let her hair loose and put on some foundation and eye shadow. And waxed her legs and thighs. The clothes gave a nice fit but that was to be expected from Maximum Apparel's clothesline. Even then it was just a skirt, a shirt and a hat similar to Ryoma's.

"I see," was all Fuji said, as he pulled his hand away.

Sakuno recoiled and avoided any eye contact. Getting too close to Fuji-senpai was bad for her health. She had to calm her nerves otherwise she swore the man would be able to hear her heart thud right out of her chest.

She couldn't even distinguish if it was her nervousness talking from being forced into modeling so suddenly or because the man was staring intently at her.

"Ryuuzaki-chan," he said her name to get her attention. "This won't do. Ryoma will be doing much more intimate scenes with you."

Her ears perked up and her shoulders stiffened. Just the idea of it was enough to turn her shades darker. And what does he mean by intimate?

"I guess he has that effect on you, huh?" he patted her head and lowered himself so that he would stare at her eyes. His eyes were open and blue. "He's coming over so ready yourself. We're not here to lose. We're going to discover his secret, alright?"

She nodded.

And she didn't even know what he meant by that.

"I'm your client and photographer today, Ryuuzaki-chan."

'He's our client?'

He went back to his smiling self. "I'm sure it'll be alright." Then he pulled back to give a respectable distance because Ryoma was now standing behind her.

The discomfort of Ryoma's proximity felt different from Fuji-senpai's, Sakuno was sure of it. For as soon as he arrived, the butterflies that she thought to have calmed down a little while started swarming inside her guts once again.

It was worse.

"Thanks for coming, Echizen," Fuji-senpai greeted.

"I'm sorry the other model backed out the last minute."

"I'm not really though," Fuji-senpai replied and pointed his thumb to her way. "Ryuuzaki-chan's my type of model."

Ryoma scoffed and looked at her. "Yeah, she sure is."

'Did he just laugh?' Sakuno turned to confirm and she hoped she didn't.

As she should have foreseen, Ryoma obviously allowed everything to happen to mock and play with her. He was sure that she would fail and she would be awkward in front of the camera. Such an insufferable bastard deserved no salvation. She wanted to slap herself for even thinking that she would have the slightest romantic feelings for him.

"I'll put myself in your hands then, senpai." She bowed and turned her heels, making sure to ignore Ryoma's presence completely and bumping on his shoulder harshly.

"You're pouting. Where are you going now?"

He was following her! He wasn't supposed to.

She should have made an awesome exit with that shoulder bump!

"Don't follow me."

"We're starting soon so I'm fetching you. Asano is going to explain the details of the shoot."

As soon as he spoke the words, Sakuno remembered that there was a bigger dilemma than Ryoma's attitude to face right then.

She stopped on her tracks. "Ryoma-kun, can't…can't we cancel the shoot?" If she could, she would make fake tears and plead. She must not treat him as an enemy right now. He was the only person who could help her out of this.

Considering that he was practically the reason why she was even there in the first place.

"No." He let out a sigh. "Ryuuzaki, they'll just take a couple of photos. There's nothing to be nervous about."

"That's not just it," she whispered after turning to him, careful not to let everyone know that she might be the biggest problem of this all. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the people running around and lifting heavy sets just so as to give them the best environment for this shoot.

"I don't have any experience on this. I might get awkward and I might ruin everything."

"You sound as if we're going to have sex."

"Se—" She gaped and her eyes turned wide at the sudden inappropriate words coming out of the tennis prince's mouth. "What are you saying right now?"

"Ryuuzaki." His face twisted in aggravation. "Asano is not going to let me off this time. She was really pissed at Yuri's sudden disappearance."

His expression was fooling her that she was beginning to think he wasn't enjoying this in the least bit, surprisingly contrary to what she had prematurely believed. It was quite understandable though if she would just take the logical viewpoint. From Horio's notebook, it said that this is just his first schedule. It was so early in the morning for him to be facing a lot of complications.

"We-well…I'm sorry," she admitted her mistake right then because a mature person would do so.

However good or bad their relationship was, Sakuno didn't want to get in his way.

"Right," Ryoma agreed instead of acknowledging the fact that he was to blame as well. He wasn't as mature as it turned out. Instead, he merely grabbed her hand to lead her to where Asano was.

She pulled back.

"What now?"

"If not to annoy me, why did you allow this to happen?"

He could have picked another model. Someone who'd be willing to work with him the way Yuri would. The girls from the makeup room were prettier than her and more confident. They could've used them. After all, if Fuji-senpai was the client, then they could just bring it up to him and change their plans.

"Fuji-senpai wants you."

'Oh… that's it. Of course.'

He let out another sigh. "And I thought you're better than Yuri." He tugged at her hand again and, this time, she let him.

She didn't know if that was said just to shut her up and satisfy her ego the way he did while they were in the car, but it made her smile nonetheless.

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"So you're just going to shoot as a lovey-dovey couple who're fond of couple sports items. As both of you should know, our Fuji here is one of the owners of this famous apparel so I won't have you disappointing him." She tapped Fuji's shoulder.

"He wants us to bring an image of a sportsman who's so passionate about his career that he influences his girlfriend to love same sport as well. In which case Ryuuzaki-san enters. You're not his girlfriend so we lead the fans to believe that anyone could be this girl.

"So!" she clapped her hands to astonish and check if everyone was still listening. "If they use the apparels that this girl is currently using, they'll be able to establish that kind of connection." Her voice was dreamy and her eyes traced the ceiling. "They'll be someone who's able to go as far as wear a couple item with the Echizen Ryoma.

"The scene you caused this morning and the fact that Ryoma is unreachable and loveless and practically a person who won't wear couple items with just anyone will make this even more effective."

Sakuno heard Ryoma grunted but Asano-san chose to ignore him.

"And yes! This is targeting the market who has been inspired to play the sport because of their idols. We're planning to make this a series of advertisements from various sports icon.

"To the players themselves, we want to give out the message that sportsmen should inspire. Technically, this shoot isn't to make them buy couple items but make them buy it individually because of their idols. Clever and so conveniently thought-out, don't you think?"

At that, Asano took a breath and surveyed both Sakuno and Ryoma, expecting them to take the idea with equal enthusiasm. It really felt like she gave it some deep thinking though it felt stretched.

"It's wonderful," Sakuno opted to reply knowing that Ryoma wouldn't give much. "That's a very nice marketing strategy…I guess."

"I know!" She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair. "Now let's begin."

In other words, this shoot was going to be about a fan who had been given permission for one day to get closer to the man who inspired her to play tennis.

The story sounded awfully familiar to her.

"Oi." She felt Ryoma pull her hand yet again. "We're starting."

And even with their hands entwined all throughout Asano-san's explanation, the whole idea still gave her heart a small pang.

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"Why on earth are you looking so sad, Ryuuzaki-san?" Asano-san shouted in the middle of the shoot. It was so loud that everyone seemed to have stopped moving. "Didn't you hear me earlier? You're a fan! You're supposed to be inspired and feel so happy that love can literally be seen in your twinkling eyes!"

It was harder than she thought. It wasn't every day that she was dragged in a set and asked to pose, feel the right emotions demanded from her and deliver through the cameras. More often than not, she would become stiff and stoned.

"Let's take a break!" Asano-san announced, wrinkles showing on her forehead. She walked out of the room with Fuji-senpai.

"Sorry, Ryoma-kun," she apologized to Ryoma who was currently sitting on the bench where they were supposed to be pretend dating.

She fiddled with the hem of her skirt, ready to be berated. After all, this schedule is getting out of hand because of her.

"Why do you look sad?"

"Huh?"

The question took her by surprise.

Is Echizen Ryoma actually caring about her feelings here?

"We-well…it's just that, this is a story of a fan who's been given a chance to be closer to the guy who inspired her."

He cocked a brow and nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"But even if this fan is closer, she'll remain as a fan right? There's still some distance between you and her. The connection feels shallow, momentary and that's kind of sad," she hesitantly peeks at him from the corner of her eyes. "It begins and ends the moment she dressed up and took her clothes off."

"So what you're saying is I should return the feelings of this fan," Ryoma replied as if he finally understood the situation.

Sakuno cringed sideways, closed her eyes and shook her head, letting a light shade of red tint her cheeks. "That's not what I mean."

"Ryuuzaki," Ryoma called and she felt him shift on his seat. "Out of all of them, you're the only one who's allowed to get close."

She turned to him and, as soon as she did, he held her close to him by pulling her through the back of her head, their foreheads touching.

"That's special not shallow."

She guessed she was so out of it right then for she saw him give her a genuine smile for the first time.

Click. Click.

"I love that expression both of you!" Asano-san cried her arms out and patronizing. "That's it! I want to see more of that." She pointed a finger to their general direction. "Your teary-eyed blushing face Ryuuzaki-san against his face that simply screams 'I love you' is just the way to do this!"

She looked at Fuji, jumping ever so slightly on her heels. "Did you get it? Was the angle nice?"

Fuji-senpai nodded, looking satisfied himself, as he leaned back and appraised his best photo for that morning's deal. "I got a good shot."

He gave them a thumbs-up.

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"Alright, that's a wrap! Thank you for your hard work!" Asano-san exclaimed and directed everyone to clean up the set.

"You did a nice job, Ryuuzaki-san! I wasn't expecting that." She approached her and looked at Ryoma. "I was actually thinking of replacing you right then but after the wonderful stunt at the bench, things kind of got better for us."

The woman gave her a wink. "And that's also the very first time Ryoma showed us that expression." She gave a huge laugh.

"I guess this is what they call beginner's luck, huh?" With a grin, she slapped Sakuno's arm and waltzed off towards the vending machine to get another dose of her caffeine.

Sakuno remained rooted to where she was standing though wondering how on earth she should react to that. At the very least, she didn't ruin everything. Although it took them longer than expected, she was able to finish the shoot without them firing her on spot.

Though she thought she had to thank Ryoma. After all, it was he who led her through the whole ordeal. When she didn't know where to place her hand, he would tell her where to put it. When it got too awkward, he would tell her to close her eyes. And it surprisingly fit Asano-san's imagined scenes.

So as soon as she found the will to move her muscles, she caught up to his walking figure and whispered a 'thank you', rushing towards her dressing room and shutting the door close immediately after.

"Even I'm surprised, Echizen," Fuji quietly whispered to the tennis prince. "I didn't expect to get so much from this. I would gladly post this on the streets of Tokyo."

"Hn, glad you got what you wanted," Ryoma said and chose to ignore the teasing remark. He trudged his way towards his own changing room but stopped short when Fuji continued.

"I wonder how your wife will react to this. What with the fact that I'll post this on our website to let the whole world know our brand. What do you think?"

"I wonder." He smirked and threw the tensai a side glance. "I guess I'll just have to explain that this is work and nothing more."

"Oh you're still saying that." Fuji gave out a small laugh.

"I am." He paused when his hand reached the knob. "Ryuuzaki is just assuming things. I'm not feeding her any."

"I wonder what you mean by that."

Ryoma shrugged then. "It means what it is." He entered his room to change.

Unbeknownst to the two, someone was behind the pot of a tall green plant nearby their exchange. She saw Fuji scratched his face and shook his head. How she wanted to disappear the moment he noticed her presence when he finally faced her way.

Sakuno, despite being able to force out a laugh off her mouth, felt it a little too awkward to continue doing so with her tear-streaked face.

"I wasn't going to get the wrong idea," she told Fuji.

He didn't say anything.

"I didn't rush here because I was excited to see him."

He just nodded.

She couldn't bear him looking at her (not because she was shy around him but because she was embarrassed) so she chose to avert her gaze downwards and wipe her snot.

Tapping the tip of her shoe on the floors, she continued, "I was only here to fetch him for our next shoot."

She heard a click.

Her vision was still clouded with tears but she confronted the sudden flash of Fuji-senpai's camera with her questioning gaze.

"You're just so pretty I can't help myself."

He and his cheesy lines. He already reached his quota for the day and Sakuno thought it was going over the top. "I totally lost today, didn't I?" she asked him, knowing that the words were out of sympathy than sincerity.

"You didn't," he mused and prompted her to come over while waving her his camera. She pushed herself off the wall and hovered curiously over the small screen.

"You haven't even seen the photos yet." He was looking at her and she was looking at herself. She appeared entirely different in the photos than what she had expected.

Fuji-senpai swiped right to show more of the photographs and tapped the screen where Ryoma was. He zoomed it in to show the expression of the face of the tennis prince. It was the photo which garnered most praise from Asano-san. "Does this look like he's winning?"

Fuji-senpai's eyes were open and blue once again.

"It doesn't," he added and turned the small gadget off. "I'm sure, Ryuuzaki-chan."

"Wha-what?"

"Echizen is not married."

To be continued…

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A/N: That's it for this chapter! Haha Well~ Fuji always knows what's happening. I hope he can guide Sakuno towards the light. If you ask me, it's irritating how the Echizens are trying to manipulate Sakuno. /sigh

So…I was iffy about the length but I didn't want to make it more dramatic for Sakuno more than it already is in this chapter. I'm so bad at romance I can't write this thing without sounding so corny haha.

Anyway, I'm free these past few days so I'm writing. I'll write the next chapter as soon as I can!

Tell me what you think?