Falling Apart

Summary: In her four years of knowing him, Sakuno had discovered one thing about Ryoma: that he only had eyes for nothing but a tennis ball whizzing towards him at 120 km/h. Which was why what was about to happen next had made her whole world stop.
Pairing(s): RyoSak, RyoOC, FujiSak
Setting: Canon Universe, four years after the start of the manga
Rating: T, just to be safe
Warning(s): THIS FANFICTION WILL CONTAIN ORIGINAL CHARACTERS (OCs) THAT MAY BE PAIRED UP WITH CANON CHARACTERS. Just saying.

A/N's at the bottom of the chapter. For the meantime, enjoy. :)

Chapter 1 - Turning Points

"You wanted to see me?"

Sakuno Ryuzaki stopped dead in her tracks. She knew that voice—the monotonous, baritone voice that always seemed so bored, and yet, rang like a beautiful melody in her ears. For the last four years, it had sent her mind reeling, her cheeks flushed, her heartbeat accelerating. It made her visualize unruly, dark-green hair, lightly-tanned, taut skin, soft-looking lips constantly curled up in a smirk and—lastly—a pair of amber eyes so bright she could feel herself getting lost in its unfathomable gaze.

Ryoma-kun.

Ryoma Echizen's voice sounded like it was nearby, and true enough, as Sakuno took another step forward, she was greeted by the sight of his lean form, standing in the shade of a large sakura tree. Sakuno had just come from the gym to collect some equipment for the girls' tennis club, and had opted to take the relatively secluded shortcut along the back of the building to save time. She hadn't expected to run into her long-time crush-Ryoma Echizen, the Prince of Tennis himself—at such a place, at this very moment, when he was supposed to be with the rest of the boys' tennis club, intensely training for the upcoming Regionals.

Not that she was complaining.

As discretely as she could, she observed the boy whom she had come to admire and—dare she say it—love, over the years. Ryoma, from the boy he was in middle school, had grown quite more handsomely in such a short span of time. He was taller—perhaps as tall as Momo-senpai—his arms and legs firmer, his stance commanding and authoritative. He wore his hair longer, just past the ears, and his eyes, if they were wide and cat-like before, had become narrower—sharper, intensifying his stare tenfold and rendering anyone on its receiving end momentarily immobile, or, as how Tomoka Osakada would eloquently put, "turn to jelly." He still wore the same white Fila cap, however, but that didn't make him look any less appealing.

Oh, Ryoma-kun.

Sakuno was harshly snapped out of her reverie when she realized why Ryoma had spoken: he was not alone. Blinking, she noticed the smaller figure standing in front of him: a girl whom Sakuno recognized was from another class. Since Ryoma was facing Sakuno's direction, the girl's back was turned towards her.

"Y-Yes, E-Echizen-kun," the girl squeaked, her voice trembling.

Sakuno stared, drinking in the unusual sight. What is Ryoma-kun doing in a secluded part of the school with a girl when he's supposed to be in practice? Her brown eyes widened, her mouth forming a small 'o' as the implication of the situation hit her.

She's confessing to him!

But then again, the news of Ryoma's immense popularity among girls wasn't new to Sakuno. In fact, she was pretty used to it. By the time they had stepped in high school, Ryoma easily outshone the rest of the male population with his good looks, good grades and perfect athletic skills. As a freshman, he often received confessions even from older girls. Sakuno also noticed that even though gradually, Ryoma's personality had changed as well, apparent in his attitude in class and relatively warmer treatment towards his classmates, in contrast to how he was in middle school, fresh from the States and brimming with pride and arrogance. Maybe his somehow more sociable disposition made him even more desirable in their eyes…

In her eyes.

Blushing even more, Sakuno mentally shook her head and concentrated on the scene unfolding before her. She knew that she was crossing over some line in here, but then she couldn't resist eavesdropping. Oh, what would Tomoka give to be with her right now!

Ryoma-sama receiving a love confession right on the first month of his first term in sophomore year? That's something Sakuno's best friend—Tomoka Osakada, self-proclaimed president of Ryoma's fan club—would love to put in the Blind Item column of the school paper's spring issue.

If Sakuno were to be completely honest with herself, though, she wanted to see this because deep inside, she wished she was the girl, confessing her heart out to the only boy she had set eyes on in her sixteen years of life. Even at Tomoka's incessant prompts, and despite having the perfect chance to do so in the past, Sakuno never plucked the courage to confess to the Prince of Tennis. She wasn't bold enough, and even if she were, she would know better.

In her four years of knowing him, Sakuno had discovered one thing about Ryoma: that he only had eyes for nothing but a tennis ball whizzing towards him at 120 km/h.

Which was why what was about to happen next had made her whole world stop.

"What is it, Yamato?" she heard Ryoma drone in his flat voice, eyeing the girl in front of him casually. "If I'm not back on the court in five minutes, Kaidoh-buchou will have my head."

For one, brief second, as the girl—Yamato—shifted uncomfortably on the spot trying to string two words together, Sakuno thought that Ryoma's eyes shifted and spotted her standing there by the bush, unabashedly spying on their private conversation. She involuntarily sucked in her breath, panicking. Oh, no.

But then, Ryoma turned his attention back to the poor girl and Sakuno realized that he must have been glancing at the general direction of the tennis courts, not at her hiding place.

Whew. 10 points for stealth, Sakuno!

"Yes, I u-understand." Yamato heaved a great sigh. "You must already know, Echizen-san…by my tone in the letter I slipped in your shoe locker…what I'm about to tell you."

Sakuno, even from her spot, could see Ryoma quirking an eyebrow in question.

"I'm afraid I don't." Ryoma Echizen. Always so straightforward. Sakuno somehow felt bad for Yamato.

"Echizen-kun…"

"Yamato, really, I'm at a loss here. Tell me already."

Yamato's right foot shifted. "I-I like you," she said in a barely audible voice. "I like you, Echizen-kun."

Sakuno could hear her own rapid heart rate as she waited along with Yamato for Ryoma's reply. The silence that followed seemed to stretch for an eternity.

Yamato fidgeted uncomfortably. "…W-Well…?" she bravely asked after a while.

Ryoma stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face. He seemed unmoved by the confession, and no one could possibly know what was running in that pretty head of his. If anything, he looked like he was making a decision on what to eat for breakfast.

Simply put, it was a cruel sight. Sakuno found another reason for not daring to tell her feelings for Ryoma. She would never want to receive such an emotionless gaze from the very prince of her dreams.

Poor Yamato-san.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Ryoma finally showed some sort of reaction. He cocked his head to the right, and, his eyes never leaving Yamato, casually said:

"Okay. Let's go out."

Sakuno's mind went blank.

Huh?

Apparently, Yamato shared the same response. She let out a sharp intake of breath.

"W-Wha…?"

"I said," Ryoma said, a little slower, "Yes, I accept your feelings. Let's go out."

Sakuno watched, still shell-shocked, as Ryoma's words finally sank in and Yamato looked like she was about to pass out upon realizing that she was now officially dating the most sought-after boy in the campus.

"Oh," she gasped. "I can't—thank you Echizen-san…" she said, breathless. "I'm—I'm so happy…" She took one tentative step closer to Ryoma, her body barely containing her glee. "Can I…Can I call you…R-Ryoma-kun from now on…?"

Ryoma-kun! A voice inside Sakuno protested loudly. You can't call him Ryoma-kun! She couldn't move a muscle or even bat an eyelid as she stared disbelievingly at the boy she thought would never want a girlfriend in his lifetime…

Girlfriend…

Something within her shut down and crashed to a million tiny pieces.

Meanwhile, Ryoma's lips curled up in a small, uncharacteristic smile. "If you wish," he said simply.

"I can't believe it…" Yamato murmured. "I really didn't think you'd say yes…"

At that, Ryoma's demeanor changed slightly. "Look, Yama—"

"Please call me Hikari!" Yamato interrupted quickly, looking up at her new boyfriend with eyes full of adoration.

"Hikari. I really need to go back to practice…" Ryoma paused. "I'll see you after?"

Yamato looked as if Christmas had come early. "Yes…"

Ryoma was about to start leaving when he froze in his tracks. Yamato noticed his odd behavior and was going to ask him what was wrong when she realized that her new boyfriend was staring at something—or rather, someone standing right beside a bush not too far away from them.

"Ryuzaki," Ryoma said, sounding a little surprised.

Sakuno Ryuzaki remained still, her brown eyes wide in mixed shock and disbelief. She belatedly registered that Ryoma was addressing her, and when she did, she started opening her mouth to say something.

"I…uhhh…" Her voice faltered and left her completely at a loss. Ryoma-kun has a girlfriend now.

"Ryuzaki-san?" Hikari Yamato said, recognizing her in an instant. "Are you alright?" Sakuno appeared to have not heard her at all. Her petrified gaze was focused on Ryoma, her face as pale as chalk.

Ryoma was frowning. "Ryuzaki, are you okay?" he asked, his usual flat voice laced with mild concern. When Sakuno didn't respond, he involuntarily took a step forward.

That seemed to finally jolt Sakuno back to her senses, as she immediately took a step backward, further away from Ryoma's reach.

"I'm o-okay," she croaked out, feeling her gut twist and knot at the obvious lie. "I-I'm s-sorry to interrupt…" She couldn't take any of it any longer. She could feel her tears welling up in her eyes, clouding her vision of Ryoma Echizen's handsome face, a mere feet away from her.

So near, yet so far…

She needed to get out of her, now.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice finally cracking to reveal her overwhelming emotions. Without looking both at Ryoma and his girlfriend, she quickly turned around and fled from the scene, her emotional dam finally giving in and letting the tears fall and fly freely behind her.

Ryoma Echizen, the love of her life, had gotten himself a girlfriend, and it wasn't her.

Kaoru Kaidoh looked away from the rows of freshmen performing drills to regard Ryoma Echizen as he strode in through the gates of the tennis courts. He's late. Hissing under his breath, he left his post to approach his star member, the words "ten laps around the court" resting at the tip of his tongue.

"Echizen!" he barked as he purposefully made his way towards the Prince. "If you think you could get away with-" He stopped mid-sentence when he registered the look on Ryoma's face. "What is wrong with you?"

Ryoma reflexively tugged his white cap lower to hide his eyes. "Cheers, Buchou. Ten laps, isn't it? I got it." And before Kaidoh could respond to that, he turned around and jogged away, leaving the captain gaping at his retreating back.

"What's with him?" Takeshi Momoshiro suddenly said, coming up to stand beside Kaidoh. "He looked like his cat died or something."

Kaidoh gave his Vice Captain a hard look. "And you should be doing your paperwork, Peach."

Momoshiro swore loudly. "I forgot! Jeez, Ryuzaki-sensei's gonna have me for dinner!"

"Stupid."

"Are you saying something, Viper?!"

"Don't get me started, Peach. Fssssh."

As Momoshiro scampered away to perform his neglected duties, Kaidoh scanned the tennis courts with a keen eye and spotted Ryoma, who was still in the middle of finishing his laps. As the Prince of Tennis passed by a group of girls watching from the other side of the fence, the air was suddenly filled with screams and loud giggles, followed by outbursts of, "We love you, Ryoma-sama!"

Girls these days, Kaidoh thought with a mental shake of his head. "Horio!" he barked, making a brown-haired young man with a unibrow jump out of his skin in shock. Horio left his post and ran up to him.

"Yes, Kaidoh-buchou?" he asked politely.

"Get those girls out of the court or so help me, you'll run fifty laps and do the cleaning after practice."

Horio was positively mortified. "Y-Yes, Buchou!" He practically dashed away as if a madman was after him.

"Still allergic to girls, aren't we, Buchou?"

Kaidoh glanced at the source of the voice and spotted Ryoma at a nearby bench, done with his laps and wiping sweat off his face.

"Trying to be cheeky isn't going to save your ass, Echizen," Kaidoh said, frowning. "Where have you been?"

That seemed to make the star member pause before answering. "I've got some stuff to do," he said with a shrug, chugging from his bottle of water.

"More important than practicing for the Regionals?" Kaidoh inquired sardonically. He had been teammates with Ryoma since middle school, so he could pretty much conclude that the only two things that mattered to Ryoma were tennis and his cat. While it was typical of him to be late or sleepy in class, it was not usual for him to be distracted during tennis practice.

"I don't know," Ryoma replied quietly, and Kaidoh stared at him in surprise. Still in deep thought, he looked at his captain dead in the eye and asked, "Does trying to figure out girls count as more important?"

"Huh?" Kaidoh said blankly. Ryoma Echizen? Girls?

Ryoma blinked at his stupefied face and tugged at his cap again. "But what would Buchou know?" he wondered out loud, before grabbing his racket and a can of tennis balls and lazily walking away.

A/N: I know, I think I owe some of my readers an update on my existing stories, but then this idea popped in my head and I couldn't get rid of it! So here it is. As usual, I can't promise speedy updates, but I am doing my best! I don't usually see this kind of plot around here, probably since RyoSak is pretty much a well-established OTP and pairing Ryoma with a girl other than Sakuno, while not unthinkable, seems surreal. But worry not, fellow RyoSak shippers! As what I mentioned in my summary, this is primarily a RyoSak story.

Thanks for reading. Reviews are very much appreciated. :D