July 2, 2007 to July 3, 2007 (REFORMATTED May 1, 2010)
Disclaimers: I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis.
Summary: Thanks to the source of Tomoka, the Regulars find out that Ryuzaki Sakuno always went alone to the fireworks on July 4th. The Seigaku Regulars devise an unknown plan so that Echizen Ryoma must take a stand and spend his July 4th with her. Enjoy! And don't forget to review please!
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Part One
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Twelve year old Ryuzaki Sakuno sighed as she took her seat in English Class, stared out the window for a moment, and looked down at her clenched fist. Two red, crinkled Admit One ticket stuck out of her hand. Water began to flood around her eyes and she quickly wiped them off with her school uniform sleeve before burying her head.
Osakada Tomoka, Sakuno's closest friend, heard the sobs of the little girl and stared at her with widened eyes. Her eyes continued to follow as her friend stood up and discarded the tickets into the trash bin. When Ryuzaki had gone out of the classroom, the loudmouth tipped over to the wastebasket and retrieved the crushed vouchers, and left the classroom as well.
"So you're saying that Ryuzaki-chan goes to see the fireworks alone every Fourth of July?" asked the second year, Momoshiro Takeshi, earnestly, inspecting the crumpled pieces of red paper.
"Yea," answered Osakada, nodding her head, "I just realized that when she was holding back her tears in the early morning before class. Then she threw the tickets away and went to the bathroom to clean up probably."
"And your point? Fssshhh…" questioned Kaidoh Kaoru, also a second year, "We do need to practice you know, ffssshhh…"
The freshman nodded her head before bowing, "Gomen, senpai-tachi! Demo, I don't want Sakuno-chan to be alone anymore. She's always cheering us on and being my best friend, I think she deserves something better." All the regulars agreed as the Data Man, Inui Sadaharu, was scribbling furiously in his notebook, talking to himself at the same time.
It was just then Fuji Shusuke, the tensai and sadist, noticed a certain freshman practicing his moves against a wall. He grinned and called everybody to huddle around.
"What are you doing?" asked Tezuka, spotting the lively group, "Everybody, twenty laps!"
"Nya, Tezuka, why are you so harsh?" questioned Kikumaru in a baby voice.
The light shone on his glasses brightly as he said, "thirty laps."
The regulars sighed for a moment before taking their minds off the discussion as they began to run around the courts.
"Sakuno-chan! Matte!" cried her best friend as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
"Hai, Tomo-chan. Something wrong?" Sakuno replied, asking with worry.
"Do you have anyone to go to the Fireworks with? It's in a week, you know!"
Ryuzaki sighed a moment before answering her question, "No, but I'll be fine alone again this year! You always help me a lot and accompany me everywhere, I just couldn't ask for more." She smiled brightly, but Tomoka could tell she was still depressed inside.
"What about Ryoma-sama?" inquired her friend, as she stared into Sakuno's eyes.
Ryuzaki Sakuno turned a deep, dark red and looked at her feet. Her face was burning as blood rushed to her head. She took a deep breath before speaking, "I think Ryoma-kun has other plans. He's too busy with tennis anyway, so why bother?" The timid girl looked away from her friend, not noticing that suddenly her companion had ran off somewhere.
"Tomo-chan?" piped Sakuno, as she looked everywhere for her, running back to the school. It was just then, at that moment, she had collided with somebody. She wrapped her arms around her petite body and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the hard contact of the ground.
But it never came. However, she felt strong, big arms wrapped around her small and fragile body. She slowly opened her eyes to see a pair of golden-like feline eyes staring directly.
"Ryuzaki, you should be more careful, and watch where you are going," stated Echizen Ryoma indifferently. She blushed at his statement, her appearance turning to a deep maroon, darker and redder than before.
"Ano…Ryoma-kun. You can let go of me now."
He slowly unraveled his arms and dropped her off to the ground safely. Then the freshman pulled down his Fila cap, tugging it with much force.
"It's getting late. I'll walk you home."
Her eyes widened greatly for a moment, before she gave out a smile, "OK." She picked up her fallen bag and followed him like a puppy.
The walk home was very quiet. As Sakuno looked around the environment, and the green-leafed trees, Ryoma averted his attention to her profile and began to feel a tinge of red crawling up to his face. He gave away a cough before tugging down his cap again.
"Ano-o, arigatou-gozaimasu-u, Ryom-ma-k-kun-n," stuttered the girl, who began to blush again.
"Betsuni," he coldly said.
"Ryoma-kun," she said, trying to start off a conversation, "Why did you stay behind today?"
"Senpai-tachi told me to do a few errands around the school. Took longer than I thought," was his indifferent answer.
"Ah, that's nice. I mean that's, um…I don't know…" Sakuno replied, shaking her head and whimpering slightly of her terrible choice of words. Her hands began to tremble and she mumbled to herself.
At the sight of this, Ryoma smirked. She's funny. And pretty too. The nice color and shine of her hair, those expressive and colorful eyes, and the lips that…WHAT AM I SAYING?! GOD, MY HORMONES HAVE GONE CRAZY…must be from my baka oyaji…showing me perverted magazines and stuff…damn him, I'll beat the crap out of him when I get home!
Still lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice that somebody was tugging his shirt. He snapped back into reality and heard a part of the sentence, "…my house, Ryoma-kun."
"Ah," answered the boy, as he felt heat steaming off his head. He pulled down his cap and turned to walk away when something sparked him.
"Ryuzaki," interrupted Ryoma as he dug through his pocket, whilst she was unlocking the front door, "Fuji-senpai told me to give these back to you. He said he found them in the trash can or something." On his palm where a pair of vouchers to the Fireworks Festival. The girl blushed at the sight of it and grabbed them back, clenching them in her fist.
"Ja ne, Ryu––" his words were interrupted by a few sobs coming from behind. He whirled around to see the girl crying.
God, what have I done wrong now? thought Ryoma as he sighed and walked towards Ryuzaki.
"What is it?" he asked coldly, trying to sound as sweet as he could. Pftthh. Dream on – you can't even ask nice to her. BAKA HORMONES! I'M ALREADY ACTING NICE ENOUGH WITH HER BY STAYING BEHIND AND MISSING MY MATCH WITH OYAJI!
"It-t's-s nothing-g, Ryo-oma-a-k-kun-n. Y-you-u can-n go-o b-back-k h-hom-me no-ow-w." she stuttered and sobbed at the same time, wiping her tears off with her sleeve.
"Well," started Echizen, "I can't leave until you stop crying. Otherwise, Ryuzaki-sensei will blame me. And I've already been in trouble because of you."
Sakuno's eyes widened, and more tears began to spill. "Ryoma-kun no baka!" she cried, flinging the tickets in front of his face as she pushed the door open. She slammed the door right in front of him and was never heard from again.
He blinked, and then gazed at the ground. He found two crumpled pieces of paper on his feet, and he bent down to pick them up. Echizen sighed for a moment before ringing the doorbell. The crying girl slowly opened the door, glaring at him as the water began to flow from her right eye.
"I'm not gonna bite you. And be that way if you want," murmured the freshmen, "I'll come pick you up on the fourth around the evening. So don't be late." He practically shoved something to her face, and her palms opened to accept it.
As he walked away, the creased ticket fluttered down to her palms. She gaped at it, and then brought it close to her chest, smiling as she closed the door behind her.
Outside, there was a buzzing among the bushes. The stranger hiding smiled as something shone brightly, beaming across the way.
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Owari
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A/N: This is supposed to be the one-shot for the romantic story I'm writing. It sucks; I was hoping to make it as short as possible, but it turns out I'll need another chapter to wrap it up. So please wait for it! And Happy Early Independence Day! Please review and give me any feedback! I am very happy to be criticized because there is always room for improvement. Arigatou!
Ja ne, and I do not own any part of Prince of Tennis!