Disclaimer: Let's do this, the usual, eh? Not mine. Night on the Galactic Railroad is also not mine.

~oOo~

A/N: I'll rant at the end of the page. Go on, read and enjoy! It has been a year!

~oOo~

His Eyes on Hers

~oOo~

Chapter 17: The Calm before the Unknown

~xxx~

"Ice cream, oranges, banana, leeks, eggplants, tuna..."She hummed to herself as she picked up every item from her grocery bag, "did I miss anything?"

Tomoka's eyes shone. There it was – her favorite chocolate bar! She placed the things back into her basket and moved to the counter of chocolates. "A bar of chocolates won't hurt, I guess." A big smile crept into her face. "And another one? I wonder who's the lucky guy?" She tilted her face, "but Valentine's is still far off..."

She was about to pick it up when a familiar profile came into her peripheral view.

"How about me?" The person pointed out to himself. Snorting, Tomoka faked a poker face. "Oh, it's just you, Hiroshi."

"Yeah." He offered a small smile while placing both of his hands in his jacket's pockets. "Can I have a little of your time?"

"Busy. Have to get back home."

He looked sideways and regarded her basket. "How about I walk you home then let's talk at the park?"

She was smiling cheekily, albeit her resolve to stop acting nice around him. "I did not know you wanted to talk to me so badly."

Hiroshi faced away, taking the basket with him. "Add my chocolate here, please."

"I AM busy. I told you."

"...Please?" A suave suggestion that she could not resist his requests resisted to come out of his mouth, but he pushed it away into the back of his mind. He was, after all, talking to Tomoka.

-xXx-

Tomoka opened her can of soda, and Hiroshi followed suit. They were at the swing of the local park, the chilly atmosphere of the upcoming winter sending chills to their bodies which made their skin tingle. That was aside from the awkward silence which made them think whether to speak first or not.

After a generous amount of lemon soda, Hiroshi breathed deeply.

"I know you won't like what I'll be saying."

She was continually pushing her swing, being careful not to spill of what remained in her drink.

"I accidentally told Sakuno that I like her."

Osakada abruptly stopped swinging.

"You what?"

"I confessed."

Hiroshi placed his empty soda near him as he watched Tomoka's shadow on the ground move towards him. He would accept this like a real man, unlike someone who was afraid to accept pain. He clenched his teeth and tried his hardest not to close his eyes.

"Hey, Hiroshi, look at me."

He was caught off-guard by her emotionless voice that he immediately looked up and suddenly, his left cheek was stinging.

Damn it, his preparations weren't enough. He couldn't act like a talented young actor he was right then. More importantly, he could not understand girls! Oh, right. What was he thinking... Was the impact that severe he could not think well?

"That hurt, didn't it?" She asked, still with the same steely tone. That got him back. To be honest, he didn't like it one bit. It was painfully annoying.

He sighed and rubbed the large hand print on his cheek. Yeah, of course, it did. Hiroshi couldn't almost feel the left side of his face and he could not think right. He shook his head, cramming his mouth with something neutral to say, the least.

"Not as much as what I felt when I told her that I wasn't – I won't be expecting her to go out with me or anything of that sort."

Tomoka left him to throw her now empty can of soda. The young man heard the vague noise which came from the bin.

"Is that all you gotta say? If it is," she looked back at him, "I got a whole lot of better things to do."

He looked down, unsure how to continue with the conversation. He walked towards her.

"Thank you for listening to me, Tomoka-san."

Her fists started to shake.

"It was really reassuring, it helped me feel lighter in my chest, like I can breath again and-"

Osakada Tomoka snapped.

"How insensitive can you be? You are really are a jerk, aren't you? You come down, ask me to talk to you and once you're done, you saunter off and say 'thank you' like it was nothing!" Her eyes were shouting with passion, as she continued with her tears now brimming up, "At least know what a talk means! Know what I want to say, or how I feel!"

She pushed him too roughly, and they both land on the dirt. His back ached from the impact, but he acted as if it was nothing. Hiroshi watched her with a blank stare and a mind full of retorts he could not even put into words.

"I have feelings too, y'know?" She hollered and balled his shirt in her hands, awkwardly bringing him up. "This is not some one-sided conversation, you said you wanted a talk! You even know how much I like you, and yet you constantly tell me these things..."

Her tears spread on his shirt. "Don't cry on top of me."

"You're just saying that so you'll look good! Acting like you're the perfect gentleman... Don't keep messing with me!"

Hiroshi cupped her hands in his and help himself to sit on the ground.

"Why did I even have to like you of all people..." She weakly protested as she choked on her sobs.

He encased her in his arms, almost hesitantly. He felt her shaking of anger and he decided to hug her tighter, more firmly. He shook of the thought of comparing her again with his mother.

"I said, let go!"

"Ironic, isn't it?"

She tried to pry off his arms away from her, crying all the while.

"I asked that question to myself a lot of times now, too."

She was almost going berserk but froze when Hiroshi ended what he was saying.

"...You are the one who understands this feeling the most."

She was as still as a statue, as she was trying to get his words to sink in. This sudden realization felt like cold water poured on her back. Her sobs escaped her, and a lone tear made its way from the corner of her eye to her cheek.

"I tried to handle this like a real man, or an adult," he released her slowly, "but I realized, I'm nowhere getting successful."

Osakada Tomoka didn't have the guts to face him for the first time.

"It's not like I chose to feel this way. Can you imagine being me, Osakada-san? I like someone, but someone else likes me. Worse is, the two girls involved are best of friends."

Tomoka finally was able to move away from Hiroshi. She stood up and offered her hand. Hiroshi's vision panned from her outreached hand to her puffy, red face. He tried to convince himself that he should like this girl – he never even said sorry and yet, he was forgiven.

But he likes Sakuno.

He took her hand. They went back to the swings nearby. Hiroshi fetched them both sodas, and they drank their sodas in silence again.

"How did Sakuno take it?"

"She won't believe me." He looked to some place far, and found the starry sky. "That, I think is better than if she took it straight away."

"You say that you like her in her face, yet she does not believe you." Tomoka closed her eyes, then pink from crying. "How naïve can a girl be."

"Maybe that's why I..." He remembered his words to not spill carelessly from now on. "Anyway, I offered that we move on our life. Like I just said that because I wanted her to know. End of story."

"And this one is Mr. Naïve." Tomoka looked at the starry sky as well and joked, "are you sure you two are not related by blood?"

"How come?"

"Almost same face. Not to mention you both are as dense as ice."

"I am not dense!" He held his hands up, spilling his drink on the dirt. "Or maybe, she's rubbing up on her clumsiness and naivety on me?" Hiroshi sheepishly provided as he watched liquid spill from his soda can on the ground.

"Whatever. It won't work between the two of you. You're basically the same pole. North and north would not stick together." She also watched the pathetic soda-ridden can on the ground. "It's just makes sense. You should like me." She laughed.

He took the can and threw it on the bin. "No joke. I should like you."

Tomoka flushed red and kept her eyes on the ground. "D-don't say that so easily."

"Sakuno likes someone else, right?" Hiroshi's eyes were the saddest thing she saw ever since she started to like him.

"We are just squabbles of emotions, Hiroshi. Or maybe, we are merely slaves of emotions." Tomoka's face was still red even as she looked at him. "You and I should understand that the most."

-xXx-

"Have you talked to him, Obaa-chan?"

Ryuzaki Sumire shook her head. "Not yet, Sakuno. I think there's a better person to tell him about this other than me." She patted her grandchild's head.

"It's not me, is it?" She looked away, knowing the answer to her query.

"Let's just say that if I were Hiroshi," Sumire hugged her granddaughter briefly and made Sakuno look at her, "I would be hurt if I heard it firsthand from another person rather than from my actual cousin."

"Y-you're right, Baa-chan..." She smiled. Sumire looked at her and nodded.

"Take it easy. We're welcoming another person into our family after a long time we've been apart! It is in any day a good news."

Sakuno could not help the frown that made its way into her lips. "Even after the tragedy* of our family you just told me?"

Sumire stood up, tired from the chain of events of the day. "Yes, dear. Everything is more special after surviving a tragedy. Hiroshi's the result of that tragedy. He must be missing the company of a family so much."

The older woman headed to retire for the night while Sakuno tended the dishes. For the rest of the night, she stayed in her room, laying her personal documents on her bedroom floor along with what Hiroshi's documents her grandma has given her. It was wrong of her to think back and say that this maybe the reason of all her feelings of belonging, comfort and sheer happiness whenever she was with Hiroshi – but it all made sense to her now.

Her pictures and his pictures. Her documents and his documents. Her platonic way of treating him and his feelings for her. She froze – that was the one thing that made everything that was supposedly perfect, wrong.

"I'd better tell Tomo-chan tomorrow when I have the chance." She put her head on the side of her bed and moistened it with her tears throughout the night. Like the other two in the park, she was also a squabble of emotions.

"I wish it was just that easy, Baa-chan. I wish it was just that easy."

-xXx-

"Good evening, Nakayama residence."

"Hiroshi!" It was his aunt. "I have been calling you, but you were not answering. Were you out?"

Hiroshi sneezed thrice in a row. "Sorry, Aunt. I was out and I forgot my jacket."

"It's fine. You were on a date, weren't you? You grow up so fast, Hiroshi!"

He smiled. Was it a date with Tomoka? "Aunt, I'm already 15. And no, it was not a date. I talked with a friend."

He heard her aunt giggle.

"It's not a date!" Hiroshi laughed as well. "I'm a little busy. Had to sort things out."

"Make sure you take care of yourself – for goodness sake, bring a jacket when you get out nowadays. It's been chilly. You hear me, young man?"

"Yes, yes. I hear, Aunt. Send my regards to Uncle and those li'l kids."

"Yes, I will. Are you sure you're fine?"

"Of course, I'm well. Thanks to you."

"Have a pleasant night, Hiroshi, dear."

"Goodbye, Aunt. It was nice talking to you."

Everything went better than expected, he thought. And the loud thumping on his chest made this happiness swell more. For some reason, he was sure that he would be looking forward to the next days to come.

-xXx-

"I assumed you have read the lesson for today, so we won't be reading any of the lessons today." The Japanese Literature teacher fixed his glasses in place. Class 1 was hesitant to rejoice for what was said, knowing that this certain teacher had a lot of surprises in store. "Instead, we'll see if you have read. Open your textbooks to page 72 and look up the third paragraph. Kindly read, Hayashi-san."

"Yes, Sensei." Rika stood up, held her book and read a passage.

'So, if we think of the Milky Way as the Celestial River, then each and every one of these tiny little stars may be seen to be a grain of sand or pebble on the bed of that river. If we imagine it to be a giant stream of milk, then it's even more like a river, and the stars become minute fatty globules floating inside the white liquid.'

"Excellent. Now, kindly interpret what Hayashi-san has read, Mizuhara-kun."

Said boy dropped from his seat and scrambled to get back on his feet and read his book. The class was entertained for a minute or two as they watched Mizuhara's antics to re-read the paragraph.

"Dude," he whispered to his seatmate, "help me out! What was he asking?"

The class watched him still, amused that they were not the one called out to interpret it. The best friends, Tomoka and Sakuno, were giggling as they re-read the paragraph. Better be safe than sorry.

"The poor guy needs help understanding Night on the Galactic Railroad." The teacher showed off his teeth, more amused that he get to play time with his hands – and also with his students' present mental stability. He looked from left to right, and picked one of the poker-faced students.

"Care to say something..."

Everyone was on the end of their ropes.

"...Abe-san?"

Abe, who was seated in between Mizuhara and Hiroshi, stood up and rubbed his eyes, and started to blabber something similar to a lyrics of a popular rap song. Everyone was keeping their laughs to themselves, afraid to call attention and get called to recite, as usual.

"Why the hell is Abe reciting a rap song?" Tomoka clutched her tummy, as she was laughing already. She tapped Sakuno's shoulder, and the latter looked at the back of the room. Hiroshi was smiling when he happened to meet her eyes. Sakuno looked away almost too quickly that she almost pained her neck. Tomoka also looked at Hiroshi, and they exchanged looks of confusion. Tomoka forgot her laugh and pointed her thumb at Sakuno. Hiroshi only shrugged his shoulders.

"What was that, Nakayama? You shrugging your shoulders? Would you rap for us too?" The teacher's nerves in his head were bulging, and Hiroshi just smiled alarmingly.

"Uh oh." The heartthrob of the room continued to smile awkwardly, and provided, "Well, uh... Giovanni and Campanella's teacher wanted to know what is true happiness?"

Tomoka slapped her forehead when she saw that the new alliance of the three boys at the back of the room stood proudly, rambling whatnot to explain what was a simple passage from the classic novel. Sakuno looked briefly at Hiroshi and sighed.

After the Japanese literature ended, Sakuno was careful not to bump into Hiroshi. She carried the two lunch boxes in her hand, and called her best friend.

"Tomo-chan, I have to tell you something important. Can we talk briefly after I eat with Ryoma-kun?"

Osakada's face lit up. "You're even prioritizing Ryoma-kun over me, Sakuno-chan. Okay, then. Is it very important but not as important as Ryoma-sama?"

The braided girl's face flamed red. "S-stop teasing me, Tomo-chan..." She looked at Hiroshi again to make sure he was not to go near them. "Hiroshi-kun might hear. I can't talk to him for the mean time."

Tomoka's lips made an "o" and she nodded, making sure she would be quite. She put her hand over her mouth to exaggerate the gesture. Sakuno laughed a bit and thanked her and made her way to her usual lunch spot with Ryoma. When she was gone out of the room, Tomoka went towards Hiroshi and his friends at the back door.

"Can we talk for a while, Hiroshi?" Tomoka called out. Two of the guys who was with Hiroshi – his latest alliance, Mizuhara and Abe – smiled like dogs and teased the two. Tomoka glared at them.

"None of your business, Giovanni and Campanella." Tomoka brought her chin up. Hiroshi went to her side and they walked to the other side of the classroom.

"She was obviously trying to avoid you."

He nodded. "That's as expected. I wanted to talk to her this morning, but I might make her jumpier as she is."

Tomoka sighed. "You should really make things the way they are before. That's a tough one, but you brought it up."

"I see." Hiroshi smiled a little. "I accept the challenge." Tomoka peered at him and smiled too. That was when she suddenly remembered and almost shouted – she had to bite her tongue so she would not do so.

'The deal between Sakuno and Ryoma-sama was for one week. Today's not counted...' She gasped. 'They are on a lunch date?'

-xXx-

There was something wrong.

Ryoma was in a very good mood that Monday morning. He woke up on the right time. His mom and his cousin Nanako actually cooked him a traditional Japanese breakfast. His father was not in the mood to tease him and make him frustrated of the smallest of things. Karu bade him farewell before he left the house by rubbing on his legs and purring. Because he was not late, Momoshiro was not able to ambush him with his bicycle. Horio chose not to blabber nonsense to him. And for the first time, he enjoyed his English class because he was left undisturbed by his classmates and his teacher.

All of those things happening in one day was just to good to be true – that was strange to begin with, and he liked that strangeness because it was all in his favor. However, there was still something wrong.

His lunch break is too... silent for his comfort. Don't get him wrong; he likes silence, but this was just ridiculous!

She never even greeted her when they saw each other at the rooftop. She just smiled, unwrapped the lunch box, moved his share to his side (with the cake he requested for), and ate her share after scooting a good distance away from him.

Normally, she would start their short conversations with "Good afternoon, Ryoma-kun! I prepared this and that... I hope..." she would blush in turn and look down, "you'll like them."

She did not even utter a word. Sakuno just ate slowly, as usual, but quieter this time. Ryoma tried to think of ways how to open up a conversation by making her speak. Actually, last Saturday when he asked her to postpone the remaining lunch dates, he was making a plan to speed things up – he got competition, for goodness' sake! What he did not understand was what that other guys see in her that they liked her? He returned the question to himself – and he answered, he does not know. He just...liked her.

Great, the silence was making him ramble. Ah, was it that easy to say that he likes her and he wanted to go out with her?

"You know, I can listen." He sighed. There. His own small talk starter. He looked at her briefly. She heard, looked at him for a split-second as well, and smiled.

"Really, Ryoma-kun?" She asked, and got herself ready to tell a story. He nodded.

"Well, uh... Here's a short story that got me thinking. There was this young boy." Sakuno looked down, arranging her lunch box. "He grew up alone with his mom, because his father left them. The reason was unknown – he just left them one day."

Ryoma tried to stop the overflow of his ramblings as he looked at her face. Damnit, Ryoma scolded himself. Listen to her like you said you will. Stop. Staring.

"This boy was rather happy that he lived with his mother. They would do a lot of things together – and the boy was contented with it. Even if he got teased at school because he did not have a dad with him, he was fine with that. His mother was all he wanted."

He continued to eat what was left of his lunch while listening to her. Good thing she had greatly improved with her cooking – the omusubi was delicious enough to distract him of his thoughts about her.

"It was one fateful day when he and his mom walked home from buying groceries. They were crossing the street when a vehicle came rushing down to them. It was too late to walk back to the other side of the lane with the speed of the motorcycle. So, with a speed of a god," she breathed in, "the mother pushed her kid as far as she could across the pedestrian lane so he could be saved."

They looked at each other briefly. "She, among other pedestrians, was hit by the rushing vehicle. However, she was the one who received the most aggravating damages. The mother of the kid never made it to the hospital."

"The kid was not damaged at all, only scratches in his skin were left to remind him of his accident. He never accepted the death of his mother readily that he was delusional for almost two weeks. He thought his mother was still alive." She sniffled a bit, Ryoma caught that, and he moved just a little bit closer to her. "He lived with a relative of his mother until he was fourteen. He tried to prove that he can live alone, so he moved out of the house, took part-time jobs and rented a small room."

"And then?" He probed. He was getting a hunch of who might this person be. He was pretty sure that this is no fictional character from Sakuno's fantasy. Her eyes were downcast.

"And then when he reached high school, he met a girl who looked exactly like him. They were classmates and consequently, club mates. Before, this boy, now a young man, never really felt close to his peers. Now that he met this girl who looked like him, he became more open to having meaningful relationships. Eventually..."

Sakuno peeked at her companion. He had his eyes closed and he leaned on the floor. "Oh."

He peeked open one eye. "'M listening. Continue."

Her hands looked for something to fumble, and she found her skirt. Both palms landed on her green skirt and fiddled with it, effectively crumpling it.

This girl really does not know how to fake it.

"The boy liked the girl who looks like him." She breathed fast. "The girl liked the boy too, but not the like-like..." She crumpled her skirt more, Ryoma observed. He grinned like an idiot."Sort of a brother-like."

"Hn..."

"The boy confessed to the girl one night, but she did not return those feelings. Later, the girl discovered that the boy was the son of her father's twin brother."

The tennis prodigy sat up straight. He also caught the part where the boy confessed to the girl at night. "They look alike because they are cousins."

"Un." Sakuno smiled and her hands left her skirt. "How do you think will the story unfold, Ryoma-kun?"

He looked at her briefly, and asked through his eyes if she really wanted to continue her story. He detoured.

"I have an older brother." Ryoma took the initiative to arrange his lunch box to be returned to Sakuno. "I never knew he was my brother when we were young, actually. We just messed up with each other all day, threw oranges at each other and played tennis."

The young Ryuzaki disregarded her previous question and listened most intently to Ryoma telling a story of his life. A strong pounding in her chest made a strange sensation towards her cheeks and her ears. This sensation... it was like going back three years before...

"He annoyed me so much he would make it a point to get me whenever we were around each other." He snorted and wrapped the lunch box. "It was only when I was ten that Oyaji told me he was a son from another woman besides Kaa-san."

"T-that's..." She was beyond surprise. "How did you take it?"

"Everything's fine." Ryoma handed her the lunch box and Sakuno murmured 'Thank you' as she took it and put it to her side. "He still annoyed me, as always, but he's my brother. I don't care what , where, how or why, but he's my annoying brother."

She felt her hair and could not help but smile. He was trying to comfort me... So this was another Ryoma she was talking to. No wonder she kept falling for him, time and time again. He always has a new side to show to her – and every time, every time, she would find herself liking it and falling for it.

"Ryuzaki." He paused. "This Nakayama guy,"

"He's your cousin."

It was the first time her realizations last night got condensed in one statement. It was so blunt, it was so sudden, and it was the truth. Hiroshi was her cousin. Hiroshi was the son of his father's twin brother. Hiroshi was the son of her uncle who left without as much as a goodbye. Hiroshi, her classmate, her club mate, her teacher, was her cousin. He also confessed to her last night. Like a deer in headlights, she froze. The corner of her eyes started to overflow with her tears again.

"Y-yes... He is my... c-cousin."

More tears flowed. She just stared ahead, vaguely towards Ryoma's direction. Seconds later, she was sobbing loudly, much to Ryoma's disdain.

She cries so easily. He shook his head, afraid of himself that he was getting used to the sight of her crying. He would always hate it when she cried. He did what he thought was the best course of action – he hid her from him by engulfing her small frame in his arms.

"Stop crying."

She sobbed louder, as if on cue. So much for not showing Ryoma how weak she was, Sakuno thought. So much for trying to change, and become a Yamato Nadeshiko, or be strong and confident at least. What was she doing her, crying on Ryoma like some idiot she was? She cursed herself more, and cried. It was impossible for her. Why was she even crying for Hiroshi? It would always be a good thing to find the result of a tragedy back on his feet and keep fighting to enjoy life, said her Obaa-san.

She feared of what was to come. Sakuno was afraid she would lose Hiroshi to the awkwardness of the situation they were in. He was very dear to him, and to her she was not a cousin, she was a brother.

As Sakuno cried on his chest, Ryoma tried to get his hanky and offer it to her. It was awkward, this situation was. He wanted to comfort her; he didn't have any clue how. Maybe the hanky would help. Sakuno stopped crying out of the blue and moved a bit from him. He looked at her face, and a lone tear threatened to drench her face more. With the hanky forgotten, he wiped the corner of her eyes and her cheeks with his hands.

"Mada mada da ne, Ryuzaki Sakuno." His voice was very low that she barely heard it. "I'm here."

She resumed crying, but she fought back cringing by smiling. Her face was puffy, but she was just so happy. It was a literal rollercoaster of emotions. "T-thank-k yo-ou, Ryo-ryoma-kun..." She repeated and cried more, her lips all happy.

"Since I'm here, you'll be fine."

With what courage left of her, she buried her face in his chest again. His heartbeat was in its steady rhythm.

"Look at me."

She did. His face was so close... So close she automatically closed her eyes.

"Look at me, Sakuno."

Sakuno opened her eyes again. She felt his left hand hold her chin. As if on agreement, they slowly closed their eyes and felt warm breathe spread through their faces as they got closer to each other.

-xXx-

"Sakuno, you're so late!" Tomoka wrote on a piece of paper. "We never got to talk about that thing you said to me during lunch. What was it?" She folded it in haste and motioned for her seat mate to receive it from her. Sakuno simply stared ahead, unaware of the things happening around. Tomoka took her pen and used it to poke the dazed brunette.

"Y-yes, Tomo-chan?" Sakuno asked, rather loudly, her eyes dreamy and hollow at the same time. The whole class looked at her with questioning looks. Tomoka panicked and waved her arms.

"We need to listen to the lesson, Sakuno. Stop daydreaming, stop daydreaming!"

The math teacher returned to write the next problem on the board while the girls chuckled to themselves. Sakuno was beet red all over, like she was caught red-handed. She shook her head. Stop daydreaming about Ryoma-kun...

She continued to be a red tomato for the rest of the period. Tomoka got tired of waiting for her friend's answer to her note – making her all the more curious of what was Sakuno about to tell her, and if there was something Sakuno needed to tell about her lunch date with Ryoma.

The bell rang, and it was the end of classes. Being too distracted for her own good, Sakuno did not see Hiroshi come to her side with his things. He was ready for practice at the Drama club.

"Ready, Sakuno-san?" Hiroshi asked, the lively beat back in his voice. Sakuno continued to arrange her things, still under the spell of enchantment and daydreaming.

"Sakuno-san?" He poked her shoulder. She looked behind her shoulder – there was Hiroshi.

"Eeep!"

Her things got scattered all over her table.

"Ow, sorry!" He helped her get back things. A thick envelope came across his vision. She stuffed her things as fast as possible into her bag.

"It's...fine." Sakuno closed her bag. "Thank you. Where's Tomo-chan?"

He scratched his head. "She went ahead, coaches called for her. She told you before she left."

She dared not look at his face. "Okay. I'll be going ahead, too." She clumsily ran towards the classroom's door.

"Wait!" he called out. He could not believe that she wanted to get away from him that much. Hiroshi ran after his practice partner.

"Sakuno-san, let's go together!" He called. Sakuno was not running anymore when he spotted her. But she heard his voice and she picked up her pace.

"Really, now." He ran and he was by her side. "Let's get back to being before, Sakuno-san."

Sakuno maintained her stand to not look at Hiroshi. They went down the stairs like they were running a race.

Unfortunately for Sakuno, she was tripping on her feet. As fast it was, the two watched as her things came flying out of her bag for the second time of the day. Hiroshi caught her by the waist just in time, saving her from falling into the bottom of the staircase. They disentangled hastily. To make things more unfortunate, they realized that those things plummeted outside the building and into the school grounds. Sakuno's jaws dropped.

"Let's go get it." Hiroshi motioned for her to come, when one of their club members appeared before them. He was panting.

"Ryuzaki-san, come with me. You were called by Miho-sensei right now." He finished and breathed deeply. Sakuno shook her head and hesitated. "My things... scattered... ground..."

Hiroshi pulled Sakuno towards the club member. "Go. When Miho-sensei calls, it's urgent." He took her bag from her. Sakuno ended up looking at him. "I'll go get it for you and follow you."

"B-but..." The club member urged her to start walking. "Ryuzaki-san, we have to hurry!"

"Don't look at my things, Hiroshi-kun!" She abruptly said, with her hand ending up to cover her mouth. She just did what she intended not to do. She rushed to the club room together with the club member who fetched her.

Hiroshi, on one hand, wasted no time. He ran down the stairs and got her things. Most of them were papers, some were books and her pens. He was almost done when he noticed the envelope earlier that got his attention. It was opened from the impact.

He carefully took the papers from the envelope that ended outside. The second to the last document contained a picture of a very familiar face of a man. He had to stop and observe that face.

It was that bastard's face.

His mind started to swirl with his memories from before as he stared at the picture of the man.

"Hiroshi! Hiroshi!" Tomoka ran towards him. In his panic, he shoved the documents back to the envelope and closed it. As he waited for Osakada to approach him, he mentally slapped himself. He forgot to look at the name of the man who owned that face he just saw.

"Stupid Take. He forgot to get you together with Sakuno. Let's hurry, you're called by the coaches." Tomoka said. She saw Sakuno's bag in his hands.

"Let's...go?" Tomoka asked him. He smiled briefly, and carefully put Sakuno's things inside her bag. As they walked, his body walked on its own accord. Inside, Hiroshi was stopping his mind from making inferences that would otherwise disrupt his concentration.

The image he just saw haunted him. He could not fathom the ideas created in his mind.

Sakuno was his... sister?

~oOo~

A/N: Hello, readers! It really has been a year and months! I sure hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Right, I will be putting an extra chapter where I will write the tragedy (*) that was mentioned in Sakuno and Sumire's conversation. In truth, I wanted it to be included in this chapter, but it'll make it too awkward. It will tackle the story of Sakuno and Hiroshi's parents.

There, it was all drama. And of course, since this is RyoSaku, there you go. I'll post up the extra chapter as soon as possible. No, it will not take me a year. Only days.

Other notes: (1) Un-beta-ed, so please bear with me.

(2) Thank you to those who continually support this fanfiction by adding it to their story alert list, favorite list, and reviewing. There are a lot of people who did this, and I'm very, very happy. It has been a very huge thing to help me keep writing. Truth was, I was discouraged to continue because I sensed that there has been copying or imitating my plots, whatnot. It flattered me at first, right. However, it got to the point where I thought I would abandon the story altogether. Don't get me wrong, I'm back on my feet, promising to finish this until 23 or 25 chapters. I just wish writers would use their originality and creativity more. Sigh, I'm rambling like Ryoma.

You can send your love or hate. Praises will bring a smile to my face, but a concrete constructive comment will help me a lot more (it's like putting alcohol on your wounds – it will sting a lot, but it will help fasten the speed of healing).

Until then, have fun reading!