August 8, 2007 to August 25, 2007 (REFORMATTED May 1, 2010)
Disclaimers: I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis or "Four Seasons" by Namie Amuro.
Summary: "Four seasons with your love…" Enjoy! And don't forget to review please!
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Spring
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Haru no hikari atsumetara hana sakasete
(When the spring light warms, the flowers bloom)
She sat under the cherry blossom tree, reading one of the most puzzling and confusing English novels she was assigned over the entire school year. Although on the fourth chapter, her reading skills weren't too shabby. It took a while for her to understand the context as she pondered aloud, but that was not the main distraction which hindered her reading.
"Mou, the cherry blossom petals are so refreshing to look at on such a fine day like this," said fourteen year old Ryuzaki Sakuno, who was now a second year. She had grown to be a little more mature than her freshman year, but the steps she had taken had led her to blossom into a female second year who had gotten over her first crush, the Echizen Ryoma.
She clearly remembered the day when he "saved" her from a group of rowdy boys on the train car. Although he did not remember that, she regarded him as her savior and soon that relationship developed into a crush. What she had admired about the famous Prince of Tennis, she always wondered. Was it his beautiful appearance and cold personality, or perhaps his tennis skills which were near to perfection and outshone others? Whatever it was that attracted her to him, that bond was now broken, and the two were no more than mere acquaintances.
She had moved on and grew out of her shell more and more each day that had passed, a day without the Echizen Ryoma. She deliberately ignored him every time he would call her name, pretending to be distracted. Her plan actually worked pretty well, and it was the first time in years where lying had finally succeeded for her.
Sakuno sighed to herself happily; maybe she regretted doing such things a little, because she was a nothing to him probably. Oh well, just continue reading this English novel…mou!
She rubbed her temples in frustration and tried concentrating, but something stirred in her mind, driving her crazy. Now it was extremely hard for her to focus and get over with her English homework – it was never her strongest subject, after all. And yet, the nice view of Sakura petals fluttering to the ground, the color and hue of each petal, the bright blue sky with fluffy, pale clouds and the light of the reflection of a pair of golden-like feline eyes –
"Wha!" cried Sakuno as she fell off her seat on the small rock wall that supported the tree, surprised at the sudden view of…eyes?
"Ryuzaki," said a voice, and she looked up to see a hand. Slowly, her eyes followed the fingertips, to the hand, then arm, and lastly, the face. Feline orbs stared directly at her, and he wore a white cap and a smirk was tugged on his lips. It was no other than…
"Clumsy as ever, Wobbly Hips."
…Echizen Ryoma.
She gritted her teeth in exasperation and politely declined the uplift. Getting onto her two feet and brushing the dust off her skirt, she looked directly at the cocky freshman, Echizen Ryoma. "Echizen-san, what brings you here? Don't you have to go to tennis practice soon?"
"Supposedly," he replied in a bored tone, as he brought his red racket and placed it onto his shoulder comfortably, "But shouldn't you be with that loudmouth girl?"
"What makes you say that?" confidently retaliated the girl, "I don't have to join Tomo-chan all the time to watch Echizen-san and senpai-tachi play tennis."
He raised a brow in amusement, and his smirk widened. With his free hand, he advanced towards the petite female, having her back up nervously, unaware of his actions. It was just then that she hit the tree trunk and felt herself trapped between a boy and a tree. A TREE.
"What do you think you're doing, Echizen-san?"
"You've been avoiding me for quite a while, neh? Nothing escapes my eyes." She looked at her feet and blushed, cursing inwardly that she had failed. She was pretty bad at lying, after all.
"I haven't been avoiding you…it's just that I want to, um…" Sakuno tried her best to make up something, "…do something else for a change instead of watching your tennis matches all the time."
Once again he raised a brow and said, "Oh? Are my tennis matches that boring to watch?"
She breathed in heavily and placed a hand on her hip, "Well, seeing Sakura petals falling to the ground and reading an English novel is better than seeing you play, Echizen-san."
That hit the spot, alright. He could feel a vein pop in his head, and his eyebrow was twitching more than ever. He thought to himself for a moment, and then his eyes gave off a mischievous aura as his smirk grew a bit wider.
"Then are Sakura petals better than me?" he slyly questioned, and she turned red, gasping at what she just said.
"N-no! I didn't mean to insult you, Ryo – Echizen-san! What I meant was that –"
And she found herself unable to finish the sentence, for she was speechless at the sudden action. She felt something soft pressing against her lips, and it tasted something like…Grape Ponta? That she could not conclude; however, this blissful feeling bursting into her entire body was unbearable, and she felt herself giving away, and she subconsciously wrapped her arms around the tree trunk – no, a limb, a part of a body, something like…a neck?
All of those questions did not matter now, for she felt many things throbbing inside of her at one time. Maybe Ryoma-kun was something better to watch then reading some mumbo-jumbo and viewing pink, flowery petals falling to the ground gently. She most likely – rather, truly – regretted on what she had done to him. And a kiss was all that it took to make her change everything.
Haru no hana nemuru yoru ni mukae ni kite
(The spring flowers sleep as we meet in the night)
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Owari
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A/N: What I thought would be a one-shot became, well, a four-shot. xDD I wonder if that really exists though…OH WELL! I wonder if I should keep it RyoSaku, or do Sakuno x Character…we'll see, we'll see…THREE MORE CHAPTERS TO GO PEOPLE! Please review and give me any feedback! I am very happy to be criticized because there is always room for improvement. Arigatou!
Ja ne, and I do not own any part of Prince of Tennis!