Pure Essence: Hey! Here's my first Fanfic on The Prince Of Tennis. So go easy with the reviews. I love the couple Ryo.Saku! So I've decided to write this story for all you Ryo.Saku lovers out there!
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from P.O.T.
Echizen's Room 8:30 AM
BEEEP!
BEEEP!
BEEEP!
BEEEP!
Echizen Ryoma, also known as "The Prince of Tennis", groaned as he pulled the covers over his head to try to shut out the constant repetitive noise of his alarm clock. Sleep was still sticking to him and he refused to reach out a hand to shut off the alarm.
BEEEP!
BEEEP!
BEEEP!
His alarm clock continued to beep as Echizen continued to sleep.
BEEEP!
BEEEP!
BEEEP!
MEOW!
'Meow?' The unfamiliar sound caused him to open his sleepy honey brown eyes. 'Since when could my alarm clock do that?'
Trying to get up, he was tackled back down by a heavy weight. "Oof!" he huffed as his head hit the pillow.
"MEOW!" A furry face looked down at him. Recognizing it as his cat Karupin, he sighed in relief.
"Good Morning Karupin" he said and reached out a hand to turn off the forgotten alarm.
Pulling Karupin off of him, he stood up only to realize his room was extremely cold. A cool breeze swept past him and sent shivers down his spine. Suddenly, he yearned to get back to bed again. But looking at the time, he decided against it.
Pulling out a few shirts from his closet, he quickly changed before rushing downstairs for breakfast.
'I hope it's Japanese breakfast this time'
Ryuuzaki Sakuno woke up late… again.
In a panicked frenzy, she braided her hair on her way out the door. Her two loose braided Pigtails flung all over the place as she ran to school at a frantic pace. 'I'm going to be late for English!' she mentally cried.
English had never been her strongest subject. In fact, it was one of her poorer subject other then Physical Education-, which she got the lowest grade in, due to her constant clumsiness. Sometimes, besides the fact that she's a klutz, she think she deserve a higher grade for that class. After all, what matters most is effort and participation right? But her shyness got the best of her. Therefore, she never dared go up to the teacher to question about her grade.
As she made her way to the school's entrance, she noticed that it was packed with girls. Trying to see what was going on, she stood on the tip of her toes to try to peer over their shoulders.
'What's going on here?' she thought in curiosity.
As if on cue, a shrill voice, somewhere in the crowd, yelled.
"OHAYO RYOMA-SAMA!"
Recognizing it as Tomo-Chan's voice, Sakuno mentally slapped herself on the forehead. 'Tomo-chan just has no shame.' She thought in embarrassment.
Sakuno looked at the time on the school building to make sure she made it in time.
"8:45. Fifteen minutes before class starts." She muttered to herself.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she tried to make her way to the front of the crowd. Squeezing in was a bad mistake, for she got glares from other girls who thought she just wanted to get closer to Ryoma (Which she secretly does).
"Excuse me please" Sakuno said as she tried to squeeze her way to the front.
When she got mid-way through the crowd, the girls began to push in excitement--probably because Ryoma was getting closer to the school.
"Eek!" Sakuno squealed as she tripped over someone's foot and felt herself tipping over. The crowd immediately moved away so they don't get dragged down by her fall as well.
Ready for the hard impact, Sakuno squeezed her eyes shut.
She waited.
She waited
And she waited.
But instead of feeling the cold and hard pavement, she felt two strong arms wrapped around her waist and her face touched something hard, but warm.
'Eh?' Wondering why she didn't fall and hurt herself already, she opened one eye only to realize her face was smuggled into someone's warm chest.
Behind her, she heard a few boys whistle and Tomo-chan's shrill voice complaining about how lucky she was.
'Lucky?' She felt confused and dazed at the same time. Looking up to see who her savior was, her mouth fell open and her face turned red from embarrassment. She didn't know exactly what she was feeling right now. But, the thought of her body pressed tight against him was enough to make her feel faint.
Quickly scrambling back to standing position, she bowed her head low with an apologetic look
"Gomen- nasai Ryoma- kun!" Sakuno squeezed her eyes shut. She'd never felt so embarrassed in her life! She could almost feel the girls' jealous evil glare at the back of her head. .
"Mada mada Dane." Ryoma replied casually.
'Clumsy as usual Ryuuzaki' he thought with a smirk. He had to admit though, the feel of her body falling against his chest and his arms wrapped around her waist made him feel all warm and protective. Hiding the tiny smile that was pulling on the corner of his lips, he pulled his cap lower.
"You should get to class Ryuuzaki. It's already 8:50"
The look on her face was priceless. She turned her head to the school building. Indeed it was 8:50. She was in trouble. There's no way she'll make it to class with all these people surrounding them.
A worried frown formed on her panicked and flushed face. 'I'll never make it to class in time! What should I d-'
Without warning, Ryoma had grabbed her hand and was pulling her through the crowd. Sakuno gasped in surprise. Her hands tingled from the warmth of Ryoma's hand, which was tightly grasping her smaller ones. She felt her cheeks beginning to heat up.
"GO GET HIM SAKUNO!" Tomo-chan's cheerful voice called from the crowd.
Sakuno groaned inwardly. She wasn't sure if that cheer was supposed to be good or bad. It was good that her friend was cheering her on and all. But, she also feared it because now they know her name! Who knows what they'll do for revenge?
'Now's not the time to worry about that' she thought as she stared at their connected hands.
Finally, breaking out of the crowd, Ryoma began to run. 'There's not much time left' he noted as he took a quick glance at the clock.
Sakuno ran behind him.
Her braids had slowly begun to unwind as it flew after her. Hair began to slip from the braids and eventually, the rubber bands that had used to keep her braids tight, slipped off allowing the hair to unravel itself into the bright sunlight.
'My rubber bands!' Sakuno cried mentally while reaching out a hand behind her to try to catch the rubber bands in the air. But, Ryoma's hand held on tight to hers and she couldn't turn back to retrieve it. 'Oh no…' Those pink rubber bands were one of her favorites.
"Aww…" she muttered under her breath. 'Guess I'll have to go to school without braids today.'
Ryoma's stride began to slow as they entered the school and into the hallway. Finally reaching his destination, he stopped. Sakuno, who was taking long, quick strides behind him, bump into him at his sudden stop.
"Ow…" Sakuno said as she rubbed her sore nose. 'Why did he stop?' Looking up, she saw her English classroom right beside them.
"Oh!" she cried in realization.
"Get in." Ryoma said with his back facing her. "Class didn't start yet."
Sakuno made no move. Ryoma, who waited for her to enter the classroom, turned around to look at her.
"Get in" he repeated.
Sakuno stared at her feet. A light pink painted across her cheeks.
"Demo… Ryoma- kun" she whispered. "You're still holding onto my hand." She emphasized her point by pointing to their still connected hands.
Realizing that he was indeed still grasping tightly onto her hand, he quickly dropped her hand- maybe a little too quickly.
"Gomen. I didn't realize." He said and began to walk away with his hands tucked into his pocket.
"Chotto Matte Ryoma- kun!" Sakuno called after him. Turning around, he looked at her with his half- lidded eyes.
"What?"
"Ano…I didn't thank you for before yet" she said with a smile. "Thank you for catching me. I was so sure I was going to hit the floor if you weren't there."
Silence.
Deep inside of her, she felt disappointed. She knew somehow that Ryoma wasn't going to say anything. That's just how Ryoma was. If she knew that, that's the way he was, then why was she so disappointed?
"Ja!" she broke the silence and reached out a hand to slide open the classroom door.
"Just be more careful next time," he replied suddenly.
Sakuno froze. 'Ryoma-kun actually replied!' The disappointing feeling within her, evaporated and was replaced by a happy and cheerful feeling.
"Hai!" She turned to give him one big smile. "I will."
Ryoma stared intently at her smiling face that was encased by shiny, sleek hair. .
"Your hair…." He trailed off as he examined her new look.
"My hair?" Sakuno looked down and ran a hand through her long hair. "What about it?"
Turning his back to her, he began to walk away again. "It looks better unbraided."
Sakuno blushed. 'Was that a compliment from the prince?'
"Arigato. I lost my rubber bands so I had to leave them down." She explained.
"I see." Ryoma said as he continued to walk. "Ja."
Sakuno watched as Ryoma turned the corner. Somehow, her day had turned out for the better. She hoped her English class would be the same too.
DING! DING!
"Eek!" Sakuno jumped in surprise. 'I forgot about the time!' She thought. Quickly, she slid the classroom door open and ran in just before the teacher came in behind her.
DING! The bell rang the last time to signal that class has begun.
YAY! First Chap completed! P Review Review! XD