Falling
by: RoyaleDeuce

Pairing: [RyoSaku]
Summary: He figured her stumbles suggested something more colossal than usual.
Disclaimer: TeniPuri & 1 Litre of Tears aren't mine.
Note: Dedicated to aKemi-chan05.
Warning: Crack-ish. Do not take seriously to enjoy! (:))

Chapter 1
Head Over Heels

"Stupid oyaji," Ryoma muttered under his breath, closing the sliding door with as much force as he could.

He could never understand what was so appealing with magazines of girls in lingerie. And to add to his bewilderment, he could not believe that his father deliberately shunned him when he asked for a match. It wasn't like he asked for a diamond ring or a Ferrari. He was merely asking for a tennis game, yet his father would not concede to this simple request.

Unable to think of something productive to do, Ryoma resorted to hunt for his favourite companion. After five minutes of going around the house, the search for his pet ended up futile. There was no trace of the said cat anywhere; no paw-prints, no mewls, no nothing. It was only when he passed by the living room area when he heard... sounds. It was barely audible, but they were there. Thinking it was his beloved cat, he poked his head around the corner for a look.

"Nanako-san?" Ryoma's eyes were a fraction wider at the sight that greeted him instead.

Sitting comfortably on a bean bag positioned right in front of the television was Nanako, her hair dishevelled and her red, puffy eyes streaming with tears. The sound he heard earlier was her cousin's sobbing.

Ryoma stood frozen in place.

The first coherent thought that crossed his mind was that his cousin lost her favourite saucepan. But he realized that it was impossible to lose something that big in a kitchen so well organized (care of Nanako, of course). So, he decided against it. The next thought made his blood run cold though. Did it have something to do with the loss of his cat...?

"I-Is he dead?"

Averting her gaze from the television, Nanako was surprised to find her cousin ghastly white by the doorway. "Ryoma!" she gasped, quickly wiping the tears away with the sleeve of her blouse and smiled at the boy. "Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

"Are you alright?" Ryoma shot back after composing himself. "Is he alright?" he added faintly.

"Who's he?" asked Nanako while reaching for the remote, "I was just watching something really sad on TV, so don't mind my tears..."

"Oh." Ryoma could feel the warmth creeping on his face. And he thought something happened to his cat.

"Would you like to watch?" Nanako invited, patting the vacant spot beside her. "It's a really good show, and you don't seem to be doing anything anyway... unless you're going to play tennis?" she looked at Ryoma expectantly.

"No," Ryoma muttered with subtle bitterness, and quickly took a seat beside Nanako who brightened at his choice. "What are we watching?"

"1 Litre of Tears."

For the next several hours, Ryoma witnessed the story of a young girl's struggle with her incurable disease. At first, he was sceptical about the entire thing. His thoughts drifted to questions like: How could someone be so clumsy? Why were they all making such a big thing when the girl tripped?

"What's so sad about this?"

"Ryoma, the girl has an incurable disease—"

"The spinocellery de-genitalia disease?"

"It's spinocerebellar degeneration disease."

"Hn."

Although impassive in the beginning, Ryoma eventually began to feel for the girl. Since the Spinocerebellar Degeneration Disease affects the brain and the spinal cord, the girl's disease gradually deteriorated her coordination – one by one, it took away her ability to walk, to swallow easily, to speak, and to move freely. For the rest of the afternoon, Nanako's sobs echoed in the living room as Ryoma remained thoroughly captivated… until someone intruded.

"Nanako? Are you crying?" Nanjiroh exclaimed when he happened to pass by the living room. His eyes almost bulged out of its sockets when he saw the person beside the girl. "Ryoma?!"

Ryoma currently had his face three inches away from the television, his expression serious as he continued to watch the show without a care of his surroundings.

Couldn't help himself, Nanjiroh laughed his head off. Who knew his son could be so engrossed in something besides tennis?

"Hey, shounen!"

"Today's Sunday! You seem to be forgetting something, Ryoma!"

Nanjiroh's eyebrows twitched. "Get your butt off that chair!"

There was silence as Ryoma remained unresponsive and the only thing heard was the conversation from the television.

"For those people who are really listening, they will definitely understand."

"Tsk. Idiotic son… Wasting an opportunity with a girl," Nanjiroh grumbled as he stormed off to read more magazines.

"Oh no, Ryoma-kun! You're supposed to coach Ryuuzaki-chan in tennis today!" Nanako cried, staring at her cousin who was still so into what he was watching.

"Hn," Ryoma responded, his eyes never leaving the screen of the television. "It's not like she's going to die if I miss one lesson anyway..."

Nanako sighed at her cousin's use of words. She just hoped things wouldn't turn out so bad for the two.

"Are you ready, Sakuno-chan?"

With banners and pompoms ready, Tomoka brightly grinned at her friend. Sakuno was currently seated on the side bench, composing herself for her most important game yet.

"I think so…" Sakuno mumbled. I hope so…

Inwardly, she was greatly terrified for herself. Sure, she practiced hard for the past several weeks in preparation for this game. But the no-show of her supposed tennis coach held no assurance for a good performance in the courts that day. The boy didn't even call to inform her that he wasn't going to show up. She actually hoped for an apology, too. But Ryoma left her disappointed. Then, it dawned on her that probably, the boy had given up in being her coach – considering how absolutely pathetic she was in tennis.

"Ryuuzaki, you're up!" the girl's tennis club captain called.

I can do this. With tennis racket ready, Sakuno awkwardly stood up from her bench and headed towards the courts.

"Break a leg, Sakuno-chan!" Tomoka called from the sidelines, her props already set up for everyone to see gloriously. "S-A-K-U-N-O, FIGHT-O!" she cheered while waving her pompoms up and down. "DO YOUR BEST!"

Sakuno blushed as she walked her way to her side of the court. In spite of all the cheering they did for the Seigaku regulars, she still could not find herself getting used to her friend's excessive energy in the sidelines. As soon as she saw who her opponent was, a big girl with an expression like Kaidoh-senpai, Sakuno paled.

"God bless me."

"Hey, hey! Is that Ryuuzaki-san, nya!?"

All three regulars stopped walking and glanced at the girl's tennis courts, where a heated match was currently taking place.

"It is her!" Momoshiro exclaimed, quickly approaching the net that surrounded the courts for a better look.

"Her play's not so bad," Fuji commented with a smile as he, too, stopped by to watch. "Though her knees are too stiff."

"Where's o'chibi!? He has to watch this!" Kikumaru said excitedly, scanning the area. "Hey, there's Osakada-san cheering, nya!" he told the other two who also turned to the direction of their kouhai cheering loudly with pompoms and the entire enchilada. "OSAKADA-SAN!" he cried and started waving.

"Senpai-tachi!" Tomoka rushed to her upperclassmen and greeted them politely. "Ne, don't you have tennis practice?"

"We just stopped by to watch for a few minutes…" Fuji replied, his attention still on the game. "Ne, Ryuuzaki-san's footwork isn't so good…"

"Ah, Fujiko! You're too harsh! Ryuuzaki-san's only a beginner!" Kikumaru glared at his teammate.

"But I heard she's been practicing really hard," Momoshiro said, smiling goofily. "With Echizen at that."

"Really?" Both Fuji and Kikumaru asked with growing interest.

"They actually just had a lesson yesterday," Tomoka giggled after taking a break from her continuous shouts of 'Go, Sakuno-chan!'.

"Ah, young love..." Momoshiro chuckled, shaking his head in amusement.

It all happened so fast.

She was running to return her senpai's volley, when instead of the ball hitting her racket, it went straight to her leg. The next moment, she was lying face flat on the ground.

"SAKUNO-CHAN!"

"RYUUZAKI-SAN!"

"Ow..."

"Ryuuzaki, can you stand up?" the tennis club captain asked.

Sakuno tried lifting herself off the ground, but the wobbly sensation kept her from completely doing so. Then, she noticed drops of blood from where she previously lay. Touching her sore chin, her eyes widened when she looked at her bloodied hand.

"She's got an injury!"

Sakuno's blush never left her face as everyone fussed – they even carried her to the bench! The pulsing pain in her chin was replaced by embarrassment at the attention she was getting. Really, they didn't have to make such a big deal of her fall. She was Ryuuzaki Sakuno for crying out loud. It wasn't out of the norm for her to stumble every now and then.

"Ne, Sakuno-chan... When I said 'break a leg', I didn't mean that you do it literally."

Sakuno chuckled, "Ah... Tomo-chan..." And then she reddened when she saw the people tagging along with her best friend: Momoshiro, Kikumaru, and Fuji. "S-S-Senpai-tachi?"

"Are you alright now, Ryuuzaki-san?" Momoshiro asked, eyeing the wound on Sakuno's leg and chin. "That was quite a nasty fall."

"Mmm..." Sakuno nodded her head and smiled.

"Phew! You got me worried there, nya!" Kikumaru laughed relieved, "Be more careful next time, okay?"

Sakuno nodded again, her cheeks already a deep crimson.

"And improve on your footwork, ne Ryuuzaki-san? That was one of the reasons why you fell..." Fuji added, causing Sakuno to blush even more and fidget awkwardly on her seat.

"Stop being so mean, Fujiko," Kikumaru murmured, staring at his friend incredulously. Then he turned to Sakuno who was looking more of a human tomato as moments passed by. "Nya, don't worry, Ryuuzaki-san! With o'chibi as your coach, you'll have your footwork fixed in no time!"

"H-Hai..." Sakuno smiled faintly.

The momentary pain on Sakuno's face wasn't missed by a certain tennis tensai. He was quite sure it had nothing to do with her injury... It was the thought of Echizen that seemed to distress the girl even more.

Ryoma had to thank his senpai-tachi for their unpunctuality in practice that day. He pitied them for having to endure the torture of running laps, really. But he wouldn't have had the opportunity to slip away to buy his favourite flavoured drink if it weren't for their misfortune. He wondered why they were late though...

"You did what?!"

The moment he heard his tennis coach's uproar, the first survival instinct he did was plaster himself on the wall and hope he wouldn't be discovered.

"W-Well, her wounds are all cleaned. And she said that she can walk..."

And that's when he realized how absolutely stupid he looked plastering himself on the wall, fearing for his life. Sumire hadn't seen him, and was talking to someone else. Feeling relieved, he resumed his previous sneaking activities and went past the clinic when the old lady spoke again.

"I am no nurse, but this is my granddaughter we're talking about!"

Tsk... They're fussing over something so trivial, he thought as he continued on his way to the vending machine.

It was only when Ryoma took his shortcut back to the courts when he saw the limp figure of Sakuno sprawled near the shrubbery. He stayed rooted to his spot in pure disbelief of what he was seeing. It took him another moment to respond.

"Ryuuzaki!"

"R-Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno looked up from her position, her chocolate orbs staring at him in shock. The girl shakily pushed her body off the ground, but she landed right back on the concrete with a loud oomph.

"Idiot," Ryoma muttered, kneeling down right beside Sakuno and carefully lifting her from the floor for a piggyback. Ignoring the girl's burning face and silent protests, he wrapped her arms around his neck and hoisted her up to be brought to the clinic.

"T-Thank you..." she whispered in his ear.

The tingling pain in her legs was enough to send her crying, but she did her best to ignore the sting in her eyes and stifle her sobs. It seemed like he was making up for his absence last Sunday; but then again, her fall would have been prevented if he showed up and helped her do something about her pitiful footwork. As she took in deep breaths and eventually relaxed, she found herself savouring the overall experience of getting a piggyback from the boy she liked – his masculine scent, his soft tresses, and his gentle touch.

Sakuno smiled softly and rested her head on his shoulder.

Maybe she could forgive him this time around.

Ryoma surprised his sensei and the school nurse when he entered the clinic with Sakuno on his back. Without uttering a word, he placed Sakuno on one of the beds, greeted the still shocked elders with a nod, and then went off on his merry way.

The revelation that unfolded before his very eyes was still too overwhelming to sink in. Why was his sensei making such a big deal of the girl's fall? In the first place, why did she fall that easily?

"The spinocellery de-genitalia disease," he told himself, horrified.

By the time he returned to club, his senpai-tachi were done doing their laps. He planned to slip inside unnoticed when Horio, the ever loyal friend he was, twittered.

"Echizen! Where have you been?"

All regulars snapped their heads toward his direction. He lowered the brim of his cap when his gaze met Tezuka's.

Crap.

"Echizen, fifty laps."

A/N: Isn't a confused Ryoma just adorable? Lol. Witness the chaos in the next chapter! This is my first time doing a two-shot. My classes already start next Monday, and I told myself I'd be on hiatus in my senior year. So, expect an update some time this weekend. Hopefully, I can post it by then. More RyoSaku moments next chapter! (:)) So how was it? Was it bad? Good? Please review!