Summary: He coached her, she baked for him. She continued to do so even when he stopped coaching her. But one day, it all stopped. RyoSaku
A/N:This is my first Tennis no Ohjisama fic, so please give me some feedback!
Of
Chocolates and Cakes
The pig-tailed girl approached the famous Ryoma Echizen as he was cleaning out his locker. Over the years, she had shed her childish figure, and emerged as a full-fledged teenage girl. Her last year at Seigaku had just ended with a graduation ceremony and a grand party. Though time had passed, her tennis skills had not improved much, and decided it was time to ask a special someone she had had a crush on for two years for help.
"R-Ryoma-kun…" she mumbled nervously.
The prodigy spun around, the same blank face he had been sporting for years turning to her.
"Do you think that…You could you know, coach me over the summer?" she asked timidly.
"Okay," was his answer. It was simple, but gave Sakuno a wave of relief.
"Really! Thank you, Ryoma-kun!" she smiled brightly at the green-haired teenager.
"It's nothing. My house. Monday. Nine-thirty. If you get lost, ask for directions," he said as he gathered his notebooks in his arms.
"Oh…hehheh…Yes, I will. See you Monday then. I won't be late!" she called as she ran down the hallway.
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And so it began, the intense summer of training for Sakuno. Every day at the exact same time, save for Sunday, she would go to Ryoma's house, and practice with the green-haired boy wonder for hours on end. Sometimes, they went out to eat, and others, Ryoma's mom or cousin would make them food.
Every night, she would go home and bake some cakes, and make chocolate that she had been experimenting with the past two years, and bring them over to the Echizen household the next day. Though he never said it out loud, or even showed it the slightly, he really did appreciate the hard work that the pig-tailed girl had poured into.
Whenever they took a break though, it was now a routine for Ryoma's dad to come out of the house and flirt with the brown-haired girl. Ryoma, would of course, fend his perverted father off and take Sakuno elsewhere.
As high school started, they changed their schedule to practice sessions on Saturday and Sunday mornings, unless they had tournaments, or other events to attend to.
Though it was only a few short months, she had improved greatly under the supervision of Ryoma. Sakuno grew steadily less shy around the prodigy, and stuttered less often, sometimes even making smart remarks about how he was so picky with his food. She soon felt, however, that she had been bothering her crush, and decided to get a professional coach, to relieve Ryoma from school work, being a part of the school tennis team, and coaching her.
As always, he replied with a simple 'Okay', and walked on to get to his next class when Sakuno approached him.
Though he was no longer coaching him, the steady sweets and pastries kept coming, appearing in his shoe locker every morning. Eventually, he found himself smiling every morning as he opened his locker to find another clear plastic box with colourful goodies waiting for him.
Being in Year 1 of highschool, the tennis teams became more and more intense. Sakuno, who had once again joined the Female Tennis Team of their school, began to show her abilities. Her new coach had been training her for two months now, and was doing it in a fast, yet efficient pace.
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It was one fateful morning when Ryoma, the heartthrob of his new high school, opened his locker to find that the transparent plastic box that was so routinely placed every morning, was missing.
He frowned as he reached for his shoes, closed the locker door, and sauntered up the steps to his class.
He dropped his briefcase carelessly on the ground next to his chair and plopped right on said chair.
"Ehh. Echizen, what's wrong with you today?" Horio asked, raising a brow. His '4 years of experience in Tennis' had finally paid off, and was finally getting somewhere, even though he still wasn't a regular for their school team, he had been very close to being one.
"Nothing," he pouted.
"Right," Horio turned back to his opened book, and feverishly flipped through the chapters, trying to cram all the terms into his head.
Ryoma looked to the front of the classroom, his eyes focused on a group of girls, the pig-tailed girl appearing to be the center of attention.
"Sakuno-chan, I wish you good luck today. After all, it's going to be a big match for you," one girl chirped.
"Ah, yes. It is going to be a big match. I just hope all my practicing and training had helped…"
"Don't worry, Sakuno-chan…you'll do just fine! I've seen you play, and you've become a completely different player since the end of year 3 in Seigaku," Tomoka commented.
Ryoma smirked at this, knowing it was his coaching that had changed Sakuno's style and technique drastically. Being the arrogant male he had always been, the fact that it might have been Sakuno's new coach that had improved the coffee-haired girl's playing did not cross his mind.
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Deciding to go and watch her match after school, he had approached Momoshiro and asked him where the Female Tennis Team's tournament will be held. He got the information, and jogged off, leaving Momo sighing, "Ah, young love"
He arrived just in time to spectate Sakuno's match, as the team had left school early to participate in the tournament. She was playing the third singles match.
She had curled her pigtails into a bun, making her look like Princess Leia, from the movie Star Wars Ryoma had recently watched. His eyes following her graceful movements, he began seeing her, and only her, as if she was dancing in the water, sprinkling water everywhere with her smooth movements. He soon snapped out of it, and made a face for his awkward imaginations.
She won her opponent 6-4, putting out her hand over the net to shake the other raven-haired teenager, smiling and receiving congrats, while giving out compliments as well.
He smiled unconciously.
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After coming out from the showers, Sakuno heaved her bag upon her shoulders and walked out with her friends, commenting animatedly on the matches they had played.
Ryoma approached her and her friends. She noticed the tall figure in front of her and looked up. Smiling, she greeted, "Hi, Ryoma-kun! What are you doing here?"
"Aa, Sakuno-chan, we'll see you tomorrow!" the group of females left, not wanting to intrude.
"I watched your match. You've improved, but not good enough," he smirked.
She pouted, and brushed past him. She had had enough of his stupid cocky attitude.
As she stalked past him, he turned around and caught her wrist, spinning her around to look at him.
"Hey, where are you going?" he questioned.
"Home," she answered shortly, turning around to walk away again.
"How come you've stopped making cakes and chocolate for me?" Ryoma blurted out.
Sakuno turned around, her pigtails floating in the air as she did. "What?"
"The sweets you make for me everyday. Why did you stop?" he pressed on.
"I…I thought you didn't like them…and that they were annoying, from the annoying girl who has had a crush on you since Form 1," she answered quietly.
"When did I say that?" he asked, faking offence.
"…You…I…I just assumed you wouldn't like it…"
"You know what they say…to assume, makes an ass of 'u' and me," he pulled her closer.
Her heart was beating faster and faster by the second, her face warming up to reveal a deepening blush. Ryoma smiled as their noses touched, and his green hair tickled her forehead.
"R-Ryoma-kun…" she stuttered.
Slipping his arms around her waist, he breathed, "Will you start baking for me again?", deepening her blush, if that was even possible.
"H-Hai…I will…" she looked down at the ground.
"Good," he smiled as he dipped down to capture her lips.
She simply closed her eyes and melted in his arms. Feeling her relaxing, he pulled her closer, deepening their kiss.
She tasted like chocolate…
Well, there it is! I hoped you liked it, and please give me some feed back! ( I have another idea for another oneshotter of this cute couple!)
EDIT: September 1, 2005 - BabyTears informed me of the correct Educational system in Japan, as I assumed it was similar to Hong Kong's...(I should have listened to Ryoma-kun.."to assume makes an ass of 'u' and me"..XDD