Chapter Two:

As Ryoma continued to drag Sakuno away, he was so intent on getting her as far away as possible that he didn't realize the strong grip he was forcing onto her wrist. When Sakuno stumbled, and Ryoma jerked, she let out a cry of pain. The whimpering sound cut through Ryoma's anger and had him turning around. Small tears were gathering in the corners of Sakuno's eyes. Ryoma let go feeling ashamed of himself; he'd let his anger get the better of himself and in the process, he'd hurt someone who'd only wanted to do something nice for him.

Putting his hands in his pockets, Ryoma switched his weight from foot to foot. Sakuno was trying to inconspicuously wipe the tears from her eyes. This made Ryoma feel even worse. He had to do something. "Sorry." He whispered, Sakuno looked up at him.

"What?" She asked. She was surprised; she thought she was imagining it.

"I said I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." Ryoma said, he looked straight at her. Sakuno could see that he was feeling guilty, and that made her happier. Wiping the remaining traces of her tears, Sakuno gave him her best smile. She didn't like it when Ryoma felt bad, and she knew he hadn't meant too. Ryoma blinked at the bright smile. With the reddish marks of wiped tears on her cheeks, and the smile combined with the sun, he felt a little twitter rush through him. Pulling his hat down to hide his face in reflex, Ryoma tried to push the feeling away. He'd try and figure it out later.

Sakuno smiled again, glancing her wrist, a small bruise was appearing. She'd always had fair skin that bruised easily. Ryoma noticed what she was looking at. A pang hit him, grabbing her hand; he surprised himself and her by taking his blue and white wrist band from his own wrist and transferring it onto hers from their connected hands.

Sakuno blushed as waves of warmth spread from her fingers down to the tips of her toes, and electric shocks speed to the ends of her hair. As Ryoma adjust the wrist band to cover the bruises, Sakuno looked at Ryoma's facial features. He had a concentrated look on his face, yet it wasn't the same look as the one he had during a tough match. No this one was much softer. Sakuno felt the shift. It was like the world began shaking, quaking through her.

Before she'd only felt friendship towards Ryoma and worry, but now her heart was racing, and she was having a hard time breathing properly. Before she knew what she was doing, Sakuno leaned forward and pecked a small kiss on his cheek. Then stepping back Sakuno looked off to the side in a vain attempt to hide her blush. She held her wrist to her chest, a small smile gracing her lips. Meanwhile, Ryoma was looking straight at her. The tilt of her head making her look more mature, more like a foreshowing of the woman she'd be one day.

Ryoma had the biggest urge to be there when she finally became a woman; he wanted to be with her forever. 'She's beautiful.' Ryoma's thought caught him off guard, stepping back he rubbed the place above his beating heart in a vain attempt to slow it down.

This magical moment of revelations was interrupted by the loud speaker saying it was time for the next match. Ryoma looked at the clock on a pole just off to the side of Sakuno's profile.

SHIT, he was running late to meet up with his sempais. Once again he grabbed for Sakuno's arm, this time making sure not to hurt her. In doing so his hand slid down to cup her fingers, Sakuno once again had a hard time breathing, but she smiled and giggled. This was a wonderful feeling.

Sakuno's giggling brought Ryoma's head around, the big smile and sweet laughter had an unconscious smile to his own lips. As they ran, Ryoma's strides lessened bringing Sakuno up next to him.

Turning the corner the saw their sempais all crowded around a bench, as they ran to them. The sempais, who'd been worried about their underclassmen, sighed in relief. The smiling faces full of unaware joy made everyone happy, bringing smiles to everyone's face.

What the two young ones wouldn't know until much later was that as they rushed to their friends, hand in hand that they'd be running into their combined future. One full of many happy faces, and problems that brought sadness; yet always they continued together.

"Forever together, forever in love." –Anonymous.