Miss Valentine

The Prince of Tennis and related characters are trademark and registered copyright of Takeshi Konomi/Shueisha. This fic's made for fun-purpose and non-profit use only by Ferrum.

Started and Finished: June 2002.
Uploaded: March 2003

This is RyoSaku, repeat, Ryoma Echizen x Sakuno Ryuzaki; but at the same time, it's not going to be Ryosaku.
I know some Sakuno-haters around there. I believe I hate her in the anime version. But, I think she's not THAT annoying in the manga. Myself, is a TeniPuri yaoi-fan. But I still think that (sometimes) Ryoma looks good with Sakuno.
Forgive the grammar errors, please...

---

February 14th...

Yes, that explained everything. Ryoma Echizen looked blankly at the mountains of colorful boxes in his shoe locker at the school's genkan. He never thought that the valentine traditions of giving chocolates to the person you like was also popular in Japan. No, looking at the amount of the chocolates in his shoe box, the damn tradition even more popular than in America.
He sighed, and his sandals are far underneath those silly things.

"Whoa! A good view you have there, Echizen!"

Ryoma looked to the higher man that was standing behind him, and Takeshi Momoshiro continued, "Damn! I thought I would get the third biggest amount of chocolate this year! Tsk! Too bad, we didn't expect you to come!"

"Third best?"

"Ah! You don't know?" Momoshiro then took one of the chocolate, and read the card that's written 'for Echizen Ryoma-kun from secret (1-3)'. "Who's this secret girl from 1-3?"

"I've no idea."

"Well, I was saying." Momoshiro put the chocolate back to its place, the mound of valentine chocolates. "Kikumaru-senpai and I was talking about valentine chocolate the other day, when you're out for doing class duties...

"13! This year I think I will get at least 13!"
"Well, you're going a little bit too confident, over there, Eiji."
"But, Ooishi! 13 is little!!! Tezuka last year got 34!!! Imagine that!! 34!!!"

"13? 34? What's going on here?" Momoshiro dropped the bags soon as he entered the club room.

"Oh, Momoshiro, came back from the shopping duty?" Takashi Kawamura picked up of the bags and shove his hands to it. "Did you get what I've asked you, Momoshiro?"

"Yup." Momoshiro soon asked, " what did you get 34, Tezuka bucho?"

"It has nothing to do with me." One cold sentence from Tezuka.

"Valentine chocolates, Momo! Va`len`tine!!" Eiji Kikumaru answered.

"Tezuka bucho got 34 last year?" Momoshiro looked at Tezuka.

"Yes! And Fuji got 30! He's the second."

"Hmm..." Momoshiro then eyed the smiling Fuji, who was arranging his locker. "Well, it sounds like the number one and number two strongest in this tennis club---" suddenly Momoshiro stopped.

That time, all Seigaku regulars' eyes were watching Momo blankly---
-------------
-------------

"Momo!!! You're BRILLIANT!!" Eiji was the first one who got his voice back and jumped.

"Sounds interesting." Fuji smiled.

"Yes. Momoshiro has good eyes sometimes."

"What did you mean with that, Inui-senpai!?"

"I'm not into this." Tezuka commented dryly.

"So?"

"So?" Momoshiro wrinkled one eyebrow, "Echizen!! Use your head!! This is valentine day! Today, there's no club activities, but we'll gather and count our valentine chocolates amount at the end of the day!! It's like a match between all the regulars!!"

"It's nonsense." Echizen replied nonchalantly, hands shoving into the piles of chocolates to reach his sandals.

"You sound like you don't like valentine chocolates."

"I don't like it."

"Hmm... if you don't like it, I can take 3-4, can't I--- ouch!!!" Echizen just slapped Momoshiro reaching hands, "What was that for!?"

"You cheated, Momo-senpai."

"Geez..." Momoshiro rubbed his hands, pale red marked with Ryoma's hands. "So that means you're in, huh?"

"There's no way I will run away from a match." Ryoma then started to count, "1, 2---"

***

Sakuno Ryuzaki, same moment, didn't move the place she was standing. It was not by coincidence she was standing near the place Ryoma and Momoshiro-2nd year were having the conversation. It was not by coincidence that she was there, standing and overheard the whole conversation.
She was there, from the beginning to put her valentine chocolate inside Ryoma's shoe locker. But, seeing all valentine chocolates there, she had changed her mind, and had decided to give him directly... but changing her mind again after seeing Ryoma approaching the school, because of one basic reason, she was afraid that he was going to reject her chocolate.

But, that means... he's not going to reject this chocolate, doesn't it? Her little fingers tightly held the box wrapped in pink, as if she was afraid it would run away from her. That means he's going to accept my chocolate, right?
Correction, Sakuno, he's going to accept any chocolate... not just him, but the whole regular members are going to accept chocolates from anyone, repeat, ANYONE.

Sakuno sighed. Yes, Ryoma would accept chocolate from anyone. Maybe he wouldn't see who gave him the chocolate. As long as he had a chocolate...

It's better than being rejected... A little voice said.

Yes, of course... But somehow...

" 18." Ryoma's voice.
"What!? In the morning and you got 18 already!?" Momoshiro voice, seemed like he was panic.
"Well, I'm first then, Momo-senpai."

Sakuno bit her lower lip.
Somehow... it was.... disgusting...
Sakuno turned her body and headed straight for her class, just before that, throwing away her valentine chocolate she had made the day before, the chocolate she had prepared to make since she first met with the young genius...

Next year, she thought, if they didn't make another silly bet...

***

"Isn't that Ryuzaki-sensei's grand-daughter?"

Without her acknowledge, someone's hand took the still-clean-wrapped-chocolate-box from the trash bin, "seems like it."

"'For Ryoma-kun'? Geez, why did just dump the chocolate for our baby?"

"Hmm."

***

"Ryoma-kun, what's this!?" Katsuo eyes widened at the paper bags Ryoma put under his desk.
"Echizen, don't tell me these are valentine chocolates you got today!?" Horio's voice soon followed.

No answer. Ryoma just put one of the boxes on the desk to the paper bag, and took another box.

"What are you doing, Ryoma-kun?" Kachiro asked.
"It seems like he's reading the cards." Horio answered.
"You read all of them!? Are you going to reply to all of them, Ryoma-kun?"

"It's not it." Ryoma put another box into the paper bag.

"Echizen! There's someone searching for you!!" A voice from one of the classmate at the door, and Ryoma stood from his chair, leaving Katsuo, Kachiro and Horio behind...
5 minutes later, he came back, two boxes in his hand.

"Another?" Horio's voice went high in disbelief.
"That makes the 22nd today." Katsuo continued, "I think at the afternoon-break, there will be more."

"Is that so?" Ryoma threw the last two chocolates to the paper bag.

"From who are those?" Kachiro mentioned the last two chocolates.

"Don't know."

"You don't know!? I thought you were reading all those cards!!" Horio debated.

"Not interested." With Ryoma's last answer, the bell ringed.

Horio shook his head, going back to his chair. "I just don't understand you, Echizen, why were you reading all those cards if you're not interested in any of them?"

"A good question." Ryoma replied.

"Ahh! I have enough of this!!!" Horio slammed his body to the chair.

***

"Grandma!!!" Sakuno looked disbeliefly at the pile of chocolates on her grandmother's desk in the teacher's room. "I can't do that!"
"Says who you can't, Sakuno? You only give these chocolates to all Tennis club members."
"But grandma, you bought all those chocolates, why don't you give them all by yourselves?"
"I have things to take care."

"Uh..."

"Why? Does something bother you?"

"Grandma, did you know--- err, --- I mean---"

"Oh, you're worried about the chocolate match between regulars?"

"What? You knew?"

"Well, Fuji told me yesterday, that's why I bought all these chocolate for them." Sumire Ryuzaki then laughed. "Hah hah, it's funny for the regulars to have a match in this kind of thing. They can be really creative sometimes."

Just a few moments later, Sakuno's already out from the teacher's room with a bag for the tennis club members. Few seconds after sighing and walked, she bumped somebody. Not long after that, she had bombarded the sentence of "I'm sorry! I was not watching! Please forgive me!" while holding her reddened nose..

"It's alright, though."

Hearing the voice, Sakuno lifted his face and blushed. "I'm sorry, Ryoma-kun! I didn't see you!"

"Ah."
"Did you come to see grandmother?"

"?" Ryoma eyebrows wrinkled a little, saying. "No, to see homeroom teacher. It's the teacher's room, isn't it?"

"Ah, yes! I'm sorry!"
"What are you apologizing for?"

"No--nothing." Sakuno's face reddened again. "I--- I have to go!" She bowed one more time and ran from him.

***

It. He had seen it. Ryoma brought the paper bag filled with the valentine chocolates he had gotten that day. So far, they were 33 of them. Well, they were 3 chocolates ahead from Fuji's last year's, and one away from Tezuka's last year's. But it was not the thing he had in his mind.
It, no, them. He was sure that there were a lot of them in the bag Sakuno brought the time he bumped her in front of the Teacher's Room.
He was close enough to her... wasn't he? So, it was not impossible for him to have one... wasn't it?

Fool. What was he thinking about? He was about to open the door to the Tennis club room...

"Ryuzaki's grand-daughter? You got from her too?"

That was Inui's voice. Ryoma recognized it soon. He was mentioning Sakuno... but what were the 'got' and the 'too'?

"Yep. I was surprised though."

And that one was Ooishi's voice. 'Surprised' for what?

"Yup! I said to her that she was the first freshman who gives a chocolate for me directly!!" Kikumaru's playful voice continued.

'Chocolate'...!? Sakuno... gave chocolate 'directly'? That shy Sakuno? To the third years?

"Looks like she gave us all, regulars, directly. How nice of her. I can imagine how Kaidoh's face when---"

"SSSS----" Kaidoh's voice stopped Momoshiro's sentence.

'All regulars'? Well, it didn't seem like it.
Ryoma tightened his grip to the door knob. He pulled his breath and ope--- took his hand away from the knob, moved it to his side... Eyes looking at the bag with chocolates he had gotten that day...
None from Sakuno...
He didn't get any from Sakuno...
All the regulars got them...
He didn't...

"Echizen?"

Ryoma also jumped the time Tezuka Kunimitsu voiced behind him. The same time, the door's opened, and Kawamura was there, Momoshiro appeared behind Kawamura, "Echizen! You came! Huh, bucho, why are you here!?" Momoshiro's eyes moved to the bag Tezuka was holding, "don't tell me they're all yours!?"

Tezuka only stepped inside, answering with silence.

"Well, it seems like it." Ooishi breathed.
"Ooishi, there's no way for use to win this if Tezuka's participating." Kikumaru added.

"Well, there's no way for Tezuka to avoid a match, is there?" Fuji smiled, as usual.

"Bucho."

All eyes went to Ryoma.

"Did you," Ryoma stopped for a while, "get a chocolate from Sakuno Ryuzaki too?"

"Sakuno Ryuzaki?" Tezuka put his bag on the bench, "did you mean Ryuzaki-sensei's grand-daughter?" This time he put the chocolate bag on the table with the others'. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

Ryoma took one breath, "nothing." He entered and put the chocolate bag on the table, purposely put his bag beside Tezuka's. Same height, and that time, everyone just looked at each other, realizing, that this was going to be a battle between Tezuka and Ryoma... and Fuji...

"Well, it seems like everyone got it here," Ooishi half laughed.

"I didn't."

"Huh?"

Ryoma put his school bag and sat. "I didn't get anything from her. I got 33 though." He pointed at his pile with his thumb. "It doesn't matter."

It doesn't seem like it. Everyone looked at Ryoma's face doubly. Cool as ever, but it didn't change the fact that they sensed something strange in his eyes...

"Well, I thought you would be the first who got something from---hmmph!"
"We start the counting, shall we?" Kikumaru silenced Momoshiro with his hands from behind.

"Yes." Ryoma then smiled, a half smile... no, not smirking... smiling... even though it was only a faint smile, but it was a smile...

Everybody's jaws almost dropped. Well, there *WAS* something wrong with Ryoma. They could see the sun rising from the east everyday, but not with a smiling Ryoma.... and they all realized it...

"Oi, oi, is there going to be a bloody rain tonight?" Momoshiro moved beside Kaidoh the time he had released himself from Kikumaru.
"Sss---" Kaidoh answered, his face was darker than the usual. "Maybe."

***

"I don't mean for involving myself with people's business... but what relationship does he have with Ryuzaki-sensei's grand-daughter, anyway?" Kawamura asked.
At the background, Inui questioned. "What we should do with Echizen's chocolates?"
"Echizen said, do whatever we want with it, so I think we can take it..." Fuji answered.
"Yaay! Chocolates!!" Kikumaru squealed.

"Well," Momoshiro scratched his head, half confused. "I don't know. But they're close enough... had gone out together one time, though." Momoshiro stopped, noticing the sudden silence, and the look of disbelief on all Seigaku members' faces. "Not a date, but going out to fix the strings and play--- only that. Well, but only the both of them."

"Well, that make sense." Ooishi eyed Echizen's pile of chocolate. "Maybe he's even waiting for that girl chocolate. Speaking of that, he seems to be quite popular among girls. I saw some chocolates from 2nd years and third years too... Looking at the amount---"

"That's a tight rally." Inui looked at the paper in his hand, closing the club room's door. "Tezuka won 1 point from Fuji with 35 chocolates."

"You're lucky, Fuji." Kikumaru continued, "if Echizen got the chocolate from Ryuzaki-sensei's grand-daughter, you'd be tied with him now."

"Hmm." Fuji nodded. "Speaking about Echizen's chocolates," Fuji shoved his hand to his school bag and took two more chocolates from it.

"!!!"
"That's this morning's---!!" Kikumaru didn't continued.
"This morning's---?"

"Yes, the chocolate from Ryuzaki-sensei that her grand-daughter gave to me... asked me to give to Echizen... and... the chocolate from Ryuzaki-sensei's grand-daughter herself, that she threw away this morning, after over-hearing Momoshiro and Echizen's conversation." Fuji explained.

"What conversation--- AHHH!!!" Suddenly Momoshiro screamed. "It can't be---"
"I don't want to know anything about this." Tezuka shook his head and picked his school bag.

"It seems so." Fuji smiled, "Seems that I forgot to give them to Echizen..."

"I think you did that purposely." Kikumaru sweatdropped.
"If you add those chocolates, Echizen would be tie with Tezuka in first place." Inui then scratched his pen on the paper.

"Poor Echizen---"
"Fuji, you're cruel---"