HEY GUYS! sorry for not being able to update Beautiful Stranger yet again. I fell into this black hole called "Job" that I didn't get much time to write. Chapter 3 is half-way done, I promise. I just don't have the time to encode it because my mom was hogging the PC all by herself.

Anyway, can I ask you guys a favor and give this story a title? I can't think of anything. I wrote this when I was brainstorming about the chapter 3 of Beautiful Stranger and I said to myself that "I NEEDED TO GET THIS OUT OF MY SYSTEM.". I'll update as soon as I can. Please voice out your thoughts regarding this on the Review section. Thank you in advance!

"USO!"

Ryoma was startled by one of his classmate's loud voice that made him wake up from his nap. Everyone in Seishun Gakuen are preparing for their yearly school festival. There are only two days left before the actual day of the festival. The class where Ryoma belongs is preparing an attraction for the visitors, a Planetarium. But his classmates know him well enough that they don't even bother giving him a job, but some girls bothered him by having him help to carry something that was "heavy" for them. When other students took their lunch, here he is taking his nap. He can take his nap at the rooftop but the class representative said that there is going to be a meeting and he needs everyone to be in the classroom so he just chose to sleep on his seat.

'Noisy. What are they blabbering about' he thought to himself still not showing any signs that he is awake.

"Are they really dating? That doesn't' make any sense…" said the girl who shouted a while ago.

"I heard it from Osakada." Her friend answered.

'Osakada?' Ryoma thought, 'That ringed a bell, hmm…Ah! Ryuuzaki's friend!'

"I heard Osakada asked that girl, 'How are you and your boyfriend?', those were exact words. Then she mentioned Echizen's name."

Ryoma's eyebrows twitched hearing his classmate's conversation.

"And by 'that girl' you mean…"

"Yes! Ryuuzaki Sakuno!"

Hearing his coach's grand daughter's name, Ryoma's head bolted right up, sit up straight and looked straight up front, glaring at no one in particular. His left hand made its way to cover his mouth which is wide open because of a yawn he let out and stretched his other arm. His face return to its normal nonchalant, half-lidded-eye look and turned his head to face the direction of his gossiping classmates who by the way got startled when he sit up and couldn't help but stare at him and watch his actions earlier. Having them catch the prince's attention, one of the girls gathered courage to ask Ryoma.

"Anou, Echizen-kun…" the girl said hesitantly as Ryoma continued to give her his bored look but a soft 'oh?' can be heard. "Is it true that you and Ryuuzaki Sakuno-san are dating?" she said loud enough to be heard by the whole class that made them stop whatever they are working on, the soft chatters died down and everyone present inside the classroom eyed the tennis prince curiously. Ryoma then looked at the general direction of his classmates not giving anything away through his face.

His attention then drew to the twin braided girl outside on the hallway walking past their classroom and is carrying a large box. He also saw Kachiro and Katsuo opened the door on the back and blocked Sakuno's path and said something to her, after hearing what the two have said, Sakuno looked panicked and approached the door where the two got out and looked into Ryoma's eyes. Ryoma in return, looked straight at hers as well. He can see fear and uncertainty in the auburn-haired girl's eyes. Ryoma broke down their mini staring contest, sighed and fixed his eyes to the girl who posed the question. Little by little, his bored looking eyes are turning into a glare. He tilted his head forward, stood up, put his hands on each of his pants pocket and started walking towards the door where Sakuno was still standing. The whole class followed his every footstep with their eyes. He stopped walking when he was beside Sakuno and turned his head to glare again at the girls who were talking earlier.

"Will I gain something if I answer your question?" a smirk crept up his face and turned his attention to the girl beside him who is still staring at the seat he vacated across the room. "Rumors are rumors…" he continued in a measured tone, his voice tinted with smugness, his lips now forming a small actual smile and whispered something to Sakuno who has her eyes now wide open after hearing his whispered words. Ryoma then walked away. The tense atmosphere inside the classroom has now mixed relief (from fangirls), pity (from the guys, and some girls) for the auburn haired girl that stood there and witnessed everything and some are happy assuming that Ryoma Echizen's words meant that nothing of the rumors are true. Some even voiced out their excitement by shouting 'YES!'. Sakuno bowed her head and bit her lower lip as if trying to suppress her tears.

Sakuno turned her heel and walked towards her classroom as if nothing had happened. When she reached her destination, all of her classmate's attention turned to her giving her different looks that is similar to the students of the classroom where she was from a moment ago. 'Maybe they heard what had happened' she thought to herself.

"I'm sorry minna, I got held up. Here are the decorations that we needed." She said lifting the box that she was carrying all this time. She lowered her head and approached her classmates that are in charge of the decoration of their classroom. Their class is organizing a café for the festival. When she was near them, she wore her best smile and offers her help at whatever they are doing.

"SAKUNO!" she heard Osakada Tomoka's voice loud and clear as the girl slammed the door open and close. She approached the quiet girl and dragged her outside to the hallway. Sakuno managed to mutter an apology to her classmates while she is being dragged.

"Tomo-chan, what is it?" Sakuno said timidly as she recovered her balance and stood firmly in front of her best friend while rubbing her wrist where Tomoko held her.

"What is up with the rumors? I just heard a new one. Did Ryoma-sama really do that?" Tomoka said, her fists on either side of her waist and her voice rises and rises at every word she's practically spitting towards her best friend.

"Calm down, Tomo-chan. Please don't mind the rumors. I think it's better that way." She said quietly, holding her hands up in front of her and trying her best not to look at Tomoka's fierce gaze, but as Tomoka saw her friend trying to act tough in front of her, her expression softened immediately.

"Are you alright? I also heard you were actually there." Tomoka asked her sincerely. Her brows furrowed at the thought of Ryoma saying those words in front of her.

"I'm fine, don't worry. I told you, it is better this way."

"Well, okay, I'll let it go for now, but if he do that again, even if I'm his Fanclub president, he will surely get what he needs." Tomoka said as she repeatedly pounded her right fist to her left palm.

"I-I think there's no need for that…" Sakuno chuckled nervously. "Let's go back inside, they need our help there." She persuaded and led Tomoka inside, with her back facing Tomoka, Sakuno let out a sigh. 'When will these rumors stop? Soon, I hope' she thought.

And boy was she wrong. After that incident in Ryoma's class, other testimonies have spread on why they think that the quiet girl and the uber confident boy are dating. Like for example:

1. A kouhai of theirs says that she saw the two often meeting up in a nearby park in the afternoon after classes and club activities and then head to somewhere. She swears this is true because she works part time at a nearby café and that the two became their customers a few times as well. They don't talk too much about personal things but when this kouhai get a glimpse of what they are talking about, it is about tennis.

2. A girl on the same grade said that when she was putting out some equipment to the store room behind the school building, she saw Ryuuzaki eating a sandwich under the big tree behind the school building as well, when Echizen jumped off the tree, go to Ryuuzaki's direction and whispered something before taking a bite on her sandwich and walked off smirking.

3. A guy from Ryoma's class testified that when he came to school early for class duties, he saw Ryuuzaki through the door putting something under Echizen's table, he waited for the girl to get out of the classroom before he came in because he didn't want to embarrass the girl. Out of curiosity, he peeked under Echizen's table and saw a neatly wrapped bento.

4. Another guy from Echizen's class which happens to be located behind him when lining up at the gymnasium said that he notice Echizen often looking at the shy girl's direction smiling to himself not bothering to listen to anything whoever on the podium was saying.

5. Many have said that Ryuuzaki can be often seen beside the tennis court watching the regulars play…Oh yeah, that was a given. Sorry.

6. A classmate of Ryuuzaki swore that she saw Echizen laying on Ryuuzaki's lap 10 minutes before lunch just a week before and the twin-braided girl can also be seen stroking his hair.

Why they choose to let all these information out just now, I'm not really sure, maybe because it isn't their business and they are not the nosy type of person. Nevertheless, the rumor mill just piled up as time goes by.

Sakuno sighed to herself. 'Ryoma-kun must feeling burdened by all these rumors.' Sakuno was standing in front of their classroom door trying to keep the A-frame ladder from shaking helping Yuusuke, a classmate of hers to attach the banner that has their class name and what attraction/event they are going to offer, when a bunch of guys from the neighboring class can be heard laughing their heads out and running in the hallway.

"ABUNAI!" a girl shouted to warn the running guy and the auburn haired-girl of the incoming accident, but it's too late, the guy who was running in the hallway bumped into Sakuno who was so lost in her thoughts making her shake the ladder and the boy on top of the ladder lost balance and crash onto her small body. People who saw the situation gasped and shouted, earning more attention from other people who are around.

Panicked, the boy who bumped into Sakuno ran as fast as he could away from the scene before the students started to clump around. Yuusuke, luckily was not that hurt, he then immediately looked at where he fell. He then saw Sakuno beneath him and noticed that the metal ladder had hit her too, causing a wound on her forehead and is now bleeding. "Ryuuzaki!" he shouted from shock and worry. He was about to lift his unconscious classmate when somebody slapped his hands and carried Sakuno instead, bridal-style. In a breeze, the Tennis prince has made his way through the crowd who was all paralyzed from panic of what had happened, he then walked out with Sakuno in his arms and proceeded to the infirmary.

Sakuno was woken up by the throbbing sensation somewhere on the right part of her head. She studied the place where she is at the moment: white walls, curtains, steel bed, and two of her classmates. She must be in the clinic "Ryuuzaki!" Yuusuke and its twin Yukari came rushing to her side when he heard the bed creek as Sakuno tried to sit up. Sakuno squinted her eyes to get a better look of the two people inside the infirmary with her. Her vision was still blurry and her head was spinning, last thing she remembered was somebody bumped her causing Yuusuke to fall from the ladder she's preventing from shaking. When she registered that Yuusuke was one of the people inside, she immediately lowered her head to bow and apologized.

"Yuusuke-kun! I'm really sorry for what happened! I didn't mean for you to fall. I was really careless. I hope that you would forgive me." The twins were astounded by Sakuno's apology.

"It's alright, Ryuuzaki-san. It was an accident. Besides, you suffered more injury from the accident than I have. I only had scratches." Yuusuke said smiling hesitantly showing her his arm that has a band aid that covers his small scratch.

"But I'm still sorry for what happened. Thank you by the way for bringing me here." She once again bowed showing her gratitude.

"Oh, we're not the one who brought you here Sakuno-chan." Yukari said timidly with a shade of pink painted her cheeks as if she's remembering something.

"Then…who-" Sakuno was about to ask the twins who brought her to the clinic when the door slide open with too much force and came in (or more like being pushed) the guy who caused the accident, Hiroki from class C.

They didn't fail to notice the circular bruise on his forearm as he get down to his hands and knees and bowed low before them, his forehead almost touching the floor. "Hisakawa-san (Yuusuke), Ryuuzaki-san, I'm really sorry for what happened earlier. I'm sorry for running away, I got scared. Please forgive me. I promise I will never cause any more trouble for the both of… no, for the whole school."

"It's okay Hiroki-kun…" Sakuno smiled at Hiroki who is still bowing and not moving an inch. "Just please be careful next time." She continued.

Hiroki's head rose up and looked at the angel like features of Sakuno's smiling face.

"Is it really okay Ryuuzaki?" Yuusuke asked. "I mean we can bring him to the prefect of discipline office for proper punishment." By this time, Hiroki already got up from the floor.

"Hn." Sakuno hummed as she shook her head. "It's really okay, besides I'm fine now." She resumed and swing her feet off the bed to stand up. She staggered a bit by her sudden movement but was caught by the two guys near her and steadied her to her feet. "Thank you." She said and smiled timidly.

"No, Ryuuzaki-san, thank you. I was so afraid that you won't forgive me. Echizen might kill me for it." Hiroki commented.

"What?" Sakuno said, wide eyed.

"What does Echizen-kun got to do with this?" Yukari asked.

"Well, he was the one who found me from hiding and brought me here to apologize, which I am going to do even without him telling me to do so." Hiroki said warily and defensively. "Your boyfriend sure is hot headed Ryuuzaki-san, he smashed a tennis ball right at the moment he found me." He continued and showed his arm that has the circular bruise.

"B-boyfriend?" Sakuno asked bashfully.

"He is your boyfriend, right? I mean, who would go as far as to find the culprit right away after the accident when he can report me to the prefect and have them settle this, and mind you that he dragged me here after saying, 'Apologize to Ryuuzaki or you will be my target practice'. That was one of the scariest times of my life. I think that look he gave me might give me nightmares." He shivered at his very thought.

"So that's why Echizen-kun came out running after bringing you here." Yukari realized.

"R-ryoma-kun's the one who brought me here?" Sakuno asked once again.

"Yes, I saw him carrying you and entered the infirmary. After a minute, he dashed out running looking extremely mad." Yukari explained.

"When I saw you beneath me practically crushing you, I'm preparing myself to lift you up when he came and lifted you up instead." Yuusuke explained to her. She can't believe what she's hearing. 'I am really a burden to him' she thought.

After that conversation and a few more consultation from the school nurse, they all went back to their classrooms and get ready to go home. Almost all of their classmates were gone. A few of her classmates that were still inside inquired if she's already fine after seeing her forehead with a patch of dressing with a reddish-brown hue, she answered them "yes" with her usual smile. She made her way to the shoe lockers. When she was reaching for her shoes, she can hear students from the other aisle talking.

"That's really sweet of Echizen-kun, what he did earlier." Sakuno's head instantly jolted up upon hearing the boy's name. "Carrying Ryuuzaki-san like that…I will give up everything just to have a chance like that." The girl sighed dreamily.

"I thought she's not his girlfriend? That's what he said, right?" the other girl asked.

"That's what he told everybody. Maybe he's just helping her because she's his coach's granddaughter, right?" the first girl said, their voices now fading as they made their way out of the building.

Sakuno was lost in her thoughts once again for the nth time that day. 'When will these rumors stop? I don't want to ruin his reputation or burden him further more.'

The day of the festival came. The school was covered in colorful banderita, food stalls, stalls that sell pre-loved and new stuffs, people chatting, laughing, discussing their itineraries but were clearly seen that they are having fun.

It was almost break time on Sakuno's part of the shift. She and Tomoka have different shifts, so she thought she will just wander around alone. She came to check out the other class' attractions. There are more of the usual: horror house, cafes, booth that offers different kinds of games. But throughout the day, she hasn't seen even the shadow of the cat-eyed boy that she adores. She's too shy to ask his classmates where he is, plus her asking where he is will just make another rumor about the two of them which she's not in favor of. She wanted to enjoy this day, she wanted to be with him, but that's impossible. She sighed deeply as she made her way back to their classroom to resume her shift.

There is a tradition in Seishun Gakuen when the day of the festival has ended. All students must come to the school grounds around a bonfire and do a traditional dance in which should be in pair of a male and female. Being in a class that have an odd number of students, Sakuno thought to herself that she will not join the dance, besides, who would want to dance with a clumsy girl like her? She was sitting quietly at the part of the field that has grass when some male on other class has come and approached her to be their partner for the dance. She didn't know what to do, and she started to get a bit more frantic when they formed a circle around her waiting for her answer.

Not far enough, the girls are whispering something to each other, some gasps, and some even shrieked when they spotted Ryoma looking hot as ever on the field as if looking for somebody.

"RYOMA-SAMA!" He made his way towards Osakada who confidently hollered his name despite the crowd.

"Where is she?" He asked bluntly.

"See that bunch of guys over there? She's hidden in there somewhere. She's quite popular on her own you know…" as Ryoma looked at the direction where she's pointing, he didn't finish whatever the girl was saying and just made his way through the crowd to the girl he's been looking for.

"Move" with one word, the crowd of guys around her looked behind to see who talked, and just like the Red Sea, the boys parted and created an aisle to make way for that guy who was really intimidating.

Sakuno can't hide her shock seeing Ryoma walking towards her. Without words, he offered his hand for her to take so that she can stand on her feet. She was about to take his hand when somebody spoke up.

"Hey Echizen, we came here first, get in line if you want to dance with Ryuuzaki." A tinge of irritation can clearly be heard on that boy's voice. After that, more protests can be heard from those males that are present in the mini crowd around them.

Ryoma looked at Sakuno who looks really uncomfortable at the current situation. 'I'm sorry Sakuno, but I have to do this.' He thought before he announced something that caught everyone's attention.

"Leave my girlfriend alone!" he roared leaving the crowd speechless.

"Ryoma…" Sakuno looked at him nervously as if she's hinting him to stop talking.

"Ne, don't look at me like that. I can't stand seeing my girl dancing with someone other than myself. I want to show you off, you know. Don't you know how frustrating it is to see these guys lurk around you? I want to show them that you already belonged to someone, that you belonged to me." Him saying that earned an enormous amount of gasps and whimpers from the crowd which is because of the shocking news or the fact that Ryoma Echizen can speak that long besides from his usual grunt and hums.

"But…" Sakuno tried to reason out but he cut her off.

"No buts. I already told you, you're not burdening me. It's fine with me. I think you're the one who's being burdened, so I will ask you again, is it really okay with you if we hide it?" those were the exact words that he whispered to her two days before in the classroom when he "cleared" up the rumor. He gave her a small smile, a smile that was especially and exclusively just for her to see.

Hearing those words were her reassurance. She didn't have to hide it anymore. This man in front of her is proud, proud that she belonged to him. She slowly reached for his hand, and with a slight force, he pulled her up to stand. She bowed before the boys around them and muttered an apology. The hand that held her suddenly intertwined with hers making her blush hard. She took a quick glance at their intertwined hands and looked at the face of her boyfriend who is smiling at her again. She can't help herself but smile as well. They walk through the crowd and halted at the center of the field standing a fair distance from the bonfire. Well actually, Sakuno pulled Ryoma's hand suddenly so that they would stop. He looked back at girl who is somewhat smiling mysteriously.

"What?" He asked.

"Let's dance." She suggested, smiling at him.

Flabbergasted, he looked away trying to hide his face which is tinted with a faint shade pink. He is also trying to avoid his girlfriend's puppy eyes which always made him think 'How cute can she be?'. He already knew that he was going to lose this battle. He can't stand up to that. He sighed accepting his defeat, looked back at her, grabbed both her hands and place them on his shoulders as he placed his hands on her waist. With Sakuno smiling and Ryoma looking away, they started to move to the rhythm of the music present at the moment.

They instantly became the center of attention of the whole closing ceremony of the festival. Seeing them dancing, fangirls cried and whined. Sakuno's admirers moved on pretty quick realizing they are no match to what is in front of them. They can see that they love each other. How they look at each other's eyes, how they laugh at a certain conversation they are having, how they complimented one another just by simply standing side-by-side on each other's side. Yep, they totally look like in love with one another.

Everything from that day changed, now they can be seen waiting for each other if their schedule doesn't fit with one another, eating lunch, Sakuno cheering at the tennis court (again, this is a given), Ryoma was acting more like a bodyguard than a boyfriend for he can be seen glaring at any male species that will come close to Sakuno, Sakuno trying to calm him down just by smiling (talk about effortless) to reassure him that it was nothing, and holding hands were the only physical connection they are showing. Although the whole school can clearly see how they adore each other.

The following week came and more rumors came. Some were considered fact, some were not. The facts were:

1. They are indeed in a romantic relationship.

2. They have been dating for a steady 10 months now.

3. Ryuuzaki was the one who wanted to hide their relationship from the crowd for she doesn't want to ruin Ryoma's reputation which Ryoma doesn't get the point by the way.

4. Ryoma agreed for he doesn't want Sakuno to be attacked by some of his reckless fangirls.

5. Ryuuzaki didn't push herself to Ryoma for him to notice her. It was the other way around, mind you. They were just so unsure of themselves to notice their affection for one another.

6. Ryoma did court Sakuno for a good 5 or 6 months.

7. They spend their Christmas together at an amusement park where Sakuno give him her consent to be his girlfriend.

8. Ryoma admitted that it was one of the best days of his life, better than winning his games.

9. They kissed for about… I better left this one unanswered.

10. All of these facts were from Osakada Tomoka.