Ryoma walked towards the gate of the school. Momo had wanted to get his regimen of hamburgers in after practice and had asked Ryoma to come with him. Nearing the bike rack where Momo was waiting, he heard two familiar voices emanating from behind a nearby building. "See Sakuno-chan? You're doing great."
"You're a good teacher Fuji-senpai."
What is Fuji-senpai doing with Ryuzaki? He thought, turning to investigate. Sating his curiosity was never much of a priority for him. He usually left things as they were and didn't poke his nose into other people's business, but for some reason he couldn't leave this one alone. Heh, maybe my teammates are rubbing off on me. Rounding the corner, he couldn't believe what he saw. There, in dancing in Fuji's arms, was the coach's granddaughter; and she was doing quite well. Fuji-senpai you didn't… He silently cursed. He wasn't sure which bothered him more; the fact that Fuji had his hands all over Ryuzaki or that he had done something he couldn't do only hours earlier; teach the clumsy girl to dance. After a moment's thought, he deduced it was the latter. He never did like it when someone was better at something he was good at. Pulling his hat further over his eyes, he clenched his fist tighter around the strap of his bag. "Fuji-senpai." He said, stepping closer. "What are you doing?"
Spinning her around into a graceful dip, the smiling third year looked up at their intruder. Instinctively, Sakuno tightened her grip around his neck as not to fall. Ryoma frowned. "Echizen." Fuji acknowledged. "I was just helping Sakuno-chan with her dancing for the play." He said innocently, up righting Sakuno.
"Ryoma-kun." Sakuno said. "I couldn't remember everything you taught me earlier so I came back here to practice and Fuji-senpai happened by and offered to help. I think I got it now so I won't step on your toes anymore. I hope…"
Ryoma gritted his teeth. "Well, then I guess I should be thanking you senpai." He said; a tinge of bitterness on his last word. "Ryuzaki, if you needed help you could have just asked."
"I could have? You seemed so busy though and I didn't want to bother you so I came here by myself and…"
"Oi Echizen!" A voice bellowed across the campus. "There you are. I've been waiting for…eh? Fuji-senpai? What are you doing with Ryuzaki-chan?" Momo asked, bewildered.
Fuji laughed, releasing his gentle hold on Sakuno's waist. "Oh, just helping her with her dancing. I'm about to leave though. I have some homework I should be catching up on. Good job today Sakuno-chan." She smiled as he picked up his bag. "And Echizen, good luck with the play." He advanced toward the freshman. "She is your princess after all." He said so only Ryoma could hear. "I'll see everyone tomorrow."
The three underclassmen said their goodbyes to Fuji and Momo turned to Ryoma. "You ready to go now Echizen? I'm starving!" Ryoma nodded. "Ok then. See you tomorrow Ryuzaki-chan!" Momo waved cheerfully.
Sakuno smiled. "See you tomorrow Ryoma-kun, Momo-senpai." Over his shoulder, Ryoma lazily waved goodbye and walked off with Momo.
"You know," Momo said between bites of food, "I'm a lot more excited for this year's festival. My class was so clueless last year that our booth fell apart on the first day." He laughed. "That won't happen this year. We're winning the competition for sure. Maybe some cute girl will confess her feelings to me at the bonfire. Although I don't think I'd know what to do if that happened." He scratched the back of his head and watched Ryoma half heartedly pick at his food. "What's wrong Echizen? You've been in a bad mood since yesterday. Did something happen? You know you can confide in your senpai right?" He flashed a toothy grin.
"Nothing really." He replied simply, taking a sip of his drink.
"Oh?" Momo raised his eyebrows. "It wouldn't have anything to do with Ryuzaki-chan dancing with Fuji-senpai earlier today would it? You know, they seem to be hanging out with each other a lot lately. Maybe he's planning on confessing to her at the end of the festival, or maybe they're already dati-"
"They're not." Ryoma snapped, sounding more annoyed than he intended.
Momo laughed. "With the way you just responded someone might think you're a little jealous."
"It's not like that."
"Of course." Momo said with a smirk. "You're in the same class; of course you'd know something like that." Ryoma huffed.
"Eh? Momoshiro-kun? Echizen-san?" A voice inquired.
The duo turned to see who their visitor was, and were greeted with a familiar face. "Hey! It's Tachibana's little sister." Momo teased.
"I have a name! It's Ann!" She pouted.
"My bad, my bad. What brings you here today?"
"We need supplies for our school festival, so I stopped to grab something to eat on the way."
"Looks like you're having your festival the same time as ours. What does Fudomine have in store for this year?" Momo asked.
Ann giggled. "It's a secret. I wouldn't want Seigaku stealing any ideas from us now would I?"
Momo pouted. "No fair! Fine, I won't tell you what my class is doing either."
"Fine." She stuck her tongue out. "What is your class doing Echizen-san?"
"Just a play." He muttered quietly.
"Don't be so shy Echizen." Momo turned to Ann. "His class is performing Sleeping Beauty and he gets to be the prince; complete with a kiss from Princess Ryuzaki-chan. Isn't that right Echizen?"
Ryoma's eyebrow twitched. He never understood why guys felt the need to be loud and show off in front of girls. "Yeah."
Ann's eyes widened. "Sakuno-chan never mentioned any of this to me. I'm sure she's thrilled. Maybe I'll stop by and see it." She smiled and glanced at her watch. "Oh no I'm late for my date with Kamio-kun!" She exclaimed. "I'll see you later Momoshiro-kun, Echizen-san."
"Date?! I thought you were just going to get supplies!" Momo yelled after her, but she had already left the building. Momo slumped to his seat. "I don't understand girls sometimes."
"You ready to go?" Ryoma asked.
"Yeah. Feel like heading over to the street courts for a bit? I have the urge to smack something."
Ryoma smirked. "Let's go." With that, the duo deposited their trash and headed toward the tennis courts.
"Sakuno-chan I can't believe you didn't tell me you were the lead in Sleeping Beauty!" Ann's voice rang over Sakuno's cell phone later that night. "And that Echizen-san was the prince!"
"I'm sorry Ann-san. I've been meaning to tell you but I've been so busy. Ryoma-kun just got the part of the prince yesterday so we had a lot to work on."
"Yesterday?" Ann asked. "Isn't your festival in a week and a half?"
"Yes it is." Sakuno replied, telling her the story of Saitou's family emergency and how Ryoma replaced him as the prince.
Ann laughed. "Well I'd say this has worked out in your favor. I'll definitely come see it. I can sneak away from my festival for awhile."
"Thank you. I just hope I do okay."
"You'll do fine. Echizen-san is the one I'm worried about. Well, I have some homework to finish up so I'll talk to you later Sakuno-chan."
"Ok. Talk to you later." Sakuno hung up the phone and leaned back on her bed. Tomo-chan was still her best friend, but it was nice having another girl to talk to every once in awhile. Ever since the three of them helped at the Junior Senbatsu camp, Ann had become good friends with both of them. Sakuno sighed and covered her face with a pillow. Today was a long day. She thought. I really do hope everything goes okay. Fuji-senpai was nice enough to help me with my dancing, but Ryoma-kun seemed mad when he saw us practicing. He said I could have asked him, but every time Ryoma-kun has helped me with something it's because someone asked him to and I didn't want to be a burden on him. He's so confusing. Sakuno sighed again in frustration. "I'm going to bed." She said to herself; standing up to change into her pajamas and get ready for bed.
The following afternoon, Shirota called the main cast members over to him for a brief meeting. "Okay. I know this is only you're second day of rehearsal Echizen-kun, but I want to familiarize you with the rest of the cast, so today I want you to work on the scene where you're imprisoned in Maleficent's castle. You only have a line or two, so we're mainly going to go over body language and the fight scene. Osakada-san already knows her lines, so she'll be able to help you out as well."
Tomoka gave a confident laugh. "Leave everything to me Ryoma-sama! You're mine and not Sakuno's." She grinned wickedly. "Ooh I've always wanted to say that."
Ryoma gave a small nod and diverted his eyes away from the girl. Having to sit here and listen to her voice is imprisonment enough. He thought.
"Ryuzaki-san, we don't need you right now so if you want to go somewhere and practice your lines or anything like that feel free." Shirota said, turning to Sakuno. "I heard you had an upperclassman help you practice your dancing yesterday after school. That's great! Hopefully he was a good teacher." Sakuno nodded. Ryoma bit his tongue.
"I'll go rehearse my lines then." Sakuno said. "Good luck everyone!"
"Oh, Ryuzaki-san, I almost forgot. Have you and Echizen-kun set any times for practice outside of school yet?" Both of them shook their head. "Well what about today? I know you're both in the tennis club, but most clubs have shortened their practices for the festival. Are you two busy after practice?"
Sakuno felt her ears turning pink. "I-I'm free after practice."
Ryoma sighed inwardly. He knew this was coming eventually. "I'm free too."
"Excellent!" Shirota exclaimed. "Do you two think you can go over the scene in the woods where you first meet again? It's the biggest amount of dialogue between you two and I want it to be good. I know you can do it. Just remember how you did it yesterday Echizen-kun and you'll be fine." Ryoma nodded. "Okay Ryuzaki-san you're free to go." Sakuno gave a small bow and left the classroom.
Tomo-chan must be thrilled. Sakuno thought. She gets to practice with Ryoma-kun today. I know he'll do a good job. She paused to think. Now to find a place to practice. The roof should be quiet enough. She trotted toward the door, flung it open and headed to the roof.
After going over the meeting scene for what felt like the hundredth time, Sakuno closed her script and closed her eyes briefly. That should do it. I hope Ryoma-kun and Shirota-kun think my acting is okay. I'm not too worried about my scenes in the cottage with the three fairies, but I always get so nervous around Ryoma-kun. We haven't even gotten to the kissing scene yet. I hope I don't screw that up, although all I have to do is lay there. What if he thinks I'm a bad kisser? I've never kissed anyone for real and all I know about it is what I see in the movies and… The shrill sound of a bell brought her out of her reverie. Lunch time already? She thought, picking up her things and heading back inside the school.
Halfway back to her classroom, she ran into Ryoma. Right! I don't know where we're practicing after school today. "Um, Ryoma-kun?"
"Yeah?"
"D-Did you have any place in mind of where you wanted to practice after school today?"
Ryoma thought for a moment. The school grounds were out. His teammates had way too much time on their hands and Kikumaru-senpai and Inui-senpai would be giving everyone lessons in Voyeurism 101. His house was definitely out. The sheer amount of harassment he would receive from his father for just bringing a girl home, much less one he had to pretend to be in love with, would be enough to last a lifetime. "What about your house?" He asked, figuring it would be the safest place from the prying eyes of his teammates and anyone else who seemed to be interested in his business as of late.
Sakuno shook her head. "We're having the house repainted today so there will be workers everywhere. Plus it'll be very noisy."
So much for small favors. He thought. "We could go to the park then." As much as he didn't want to practice in public, the park was large enough for them to find a secluded spot where they wouldn't be disturbed.
"Okay." Sakuno agreed, fiddling with the bow on her uniform. "Do you want me to meet you at the boy's courts when practice is over? My practices are shortened too so I think we finish around the same time."
"No." Ryoma said abruptly. "I mean, I'll come get you." The last thing he needed was a tail of busybodies following him.
"O-Okay. I guess I'll see you then."
Ryoma nodded, turning toward the lunchroom.
Following practice later that afternoon, Ryoma took his time changing back into his school uniform. Under the guise of having some errands to run, he waited till everyone had left the clubhouse and made his way over to the girl's tennis courts.
"Good job Ryuzaki." One of the girls said. "Your form has really improved."
"Thank you senpai." Sakuno replied. It's because of Ryoma-kun's advice.
"Alright practice is over. Good job today ladies." Their coach said.
Sakuno took her sweatband off and scanned the grounds. Spotting a familiar black uniform leaning against a wall, she waved at him and rushed inside to change. When she finished, she walked over to Ryoma and bowed. "I'm sorry, we're you waiting long?"
"Not really. You ready to go?" Sakuno nodded and the two of them left the school grounds.
The walk to the park was uneventful. Rather, Sakuno was having flashbacks of the time Ryoma had taken her to get her racket restrung. The silence was deafening. "Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno attempted once again to make small talk with the boy. "How was practice with Tomo-chan today?"
Ryoma fought back a shudder. That girl was enough to grate on anyone's nerves, but he had to admit the part of the evil queen suited her well. "Fine. We're here."
Sakuno looked up the steps and read the sign that indicated they were indeed at the park. Climbing the stairs, the duo stopped when they reached the top. "Where do you want to go?" Sakuno asked quietly.
Scanning the park for an area with as few people as possible, Ryoma found a clump of trees that looked deserted. "Over there." He said pointing.
When they reached the trees, Ryoma and Sakuno set their bags down. In doing so, Ryoma's English book unceremoniously tumbled out. Bending down to pick it up for him, Sakuno found her hand covered by Ryoma's when he bent down to pick it up as well. Feeling the heat rise to her face, Sakuno and Ryoma looked at each other and back at their hands before Sakuno jerked hers away as if the book was on fire. "I-I have to go to the bathroom." Sakuno said quickly. "I'll be right back."
Ryoma watched the girl dash off and glanced at his hand. She better not get lost.
AN: Bleh, transitional. There will be more mayhem in the next chapter. You can count on it. As always, thanks for reading.