Dedicated to '-'FreedomFairy'-'-chan, so sorry I haven't replied your message, February is positively the most hellishly busy month of my life! But heck, I survived. XD

There was a sound of switch flipping shut, and then all was black.

Echizen Ryoma groaned. Of all the time a power failure had to occur, it had to be during his cleaning duty in the Home Economics room. A gasp was heard from somewhere in the dark, and Ryoma was reminded of the fact that his partner for cleaning duty that day was Ryuzaki Sakuno.

Great. Of all the people he had to be stuck with, it just had to be someone timid. Oh well, better than Horio or Osa-, Osa-something whom Ryoma was sure would be screaming their heads off by now.

Nothing to guarantee that Ryuzaki wouldn't do the same thing though. Keeping this in mind, he tossed his broom aside and comforted her, "I'll go check the power circuit."

Apparently, walking in the dark was not as effortless as he had reckoned. Twice he almost stumbled over something, and once he nigh-on slammed into a wall. Wincing, he did finally manage to locate the power box, and by that time, his eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness so he could fiddle with the toggles easily. No luck. The blackout persisted.

"How is it?" Ryuzaki called out.

Ryoma sighed. "Looks like we're stuck here for awhile."

"Why? We can still get out of here, right?"

"The door is operated by power. It won't work during a shutdown."

"Oh," Ryuzaki breathed.

Unfortunately for them, not only was the door bolted securely, there were neither windows nor openings on the walls as well. Since the room was designated for cooking, that was done to ensure no leakage of gases to the other parts of the school. The only apertures were ventilation fans positioned high up on the walls, allowing streams of daylight to penetrate feebly through the darkness creating circles of light on the floor.

Ryoma decided that it was futile to stand there waiting, and chose a light ringlet to settle down on. He leaned back on the cupboard, bolstering his head with his arms and closed his eyes, every sign indicating that he was drifting off to sleep. Therefore, Sakuno jumped when he unexpectedly addressed her.

"Ne, don't you feel tired standing there?" he stated without even unfastening his eyes.

"H-Hai!" Sakuno exclaimed, understanding that Ryoma was inviting her to come sit down beside him. She hastily scrambled over to him, a rather pleased sensation swelling in her chest that Ryoma actually still remembered her existence and actually asked her to sit beside him. She didn't dare to edge too near to him though; Ryoma didn't seem to be the kind to enjoy human contact.

They perched there in silence for some minutes, Ryoma because he took pleasure in peace and Sakuno simply because she didn't dare disturb Ryoma. Eventually, she relaxed, stretching her limbs out and reclining on the solid cabinet behind her.

"Are you hungry?"

Sakuno jumped for the second time that day. "N-No," she replied, flustered. Why was it Ryoma had the knack to speak out of the blue?

To her further surprise, Ryoma got up from the floor, rummaging in the fridge for something before returning to his previous position.

"Here," he knelt down, proffering something to her. "It's a cupcake I made just now for Home Economics."

"Thanks," she said, taking the cupcake shyly in her hands while Ryoma clambered back to a comfortable position on the floor, munching on a cupcake himself blithely. Sakuno peeked a look at him, silently taking in his arrogant yet graceful poise, the way he was not in the slightest perturbed by the fact that he was trapped in a room, the way he just exuded with confidence. She couldn't imagine, say, like Horio, or Kachirou, or even Katsuo to remain so unruffled in his shoes. It made her all the more grateful that it was Ryoma she was confined with and not anyone else, albeit the fact that she was alone with the prince of tennis caused her heart to thump out of rhythm recurrently.

"I may not be a genius at cooking, but rest assured it's edible," Ryoma said, mistaking her hesitation as skepticism at his culinary prowess.

Not wanting to offend him, Sakuno tentatively bit down into the muffin, pleasantly amazed that it was appealing to her palate indeed. Sure, it was vaguely cold and hard from storage in the refrigerator, but other than that the texture and flavour were startlingly scrumptious. In fact, if Sakuno didn't know any better, she would say that the cake was bakery-manufactured.

Surprise must have been written all over her face for Ryoma then demanded, "What?"

"N-Nothing," she uttered, embarrassed. "It's just that... You're so good in everything, Ryoma-kun."

Ryoma blinked his wide hazel eyes at her, and Sakuno found herself mesmerised by those aureate depths that glowed golden under the dim lighting of the ventilation chambers. "Hnn..." was all he said nonetheless.

A few heartbeats passed in hush, sprinkled only with intermittent sounds of chewing from Sakuno.

"Not really."

By now, Sakuno was used to abrupt contributions of dialogue from Ryoma, so she managed to catch herself in time before she jumped for the third time that day. However, she was nonplussed at what Ryoma was referring to as 'Not really.'

"Not really what?" she inquired.

"I'm not really good in everything," Ryoma elaborated curtly.

Despite herself, Sakuno arched a doubtful eyebrow. She couldn't conjure up a single thing in which Ryoma lacked proficiency. "What aren't you good at?"

"Momo-senpai says I have no people skills at all," he answered in a tone of voice that suggested that he didn't care anyhow.

Sakuno chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Ryoma stipulated.

She quickly stifled her mirth. "Anou... Ryoma-kun, that's because you don't bother what people think of you."

"Naturally," he said matter-of-factly. "Why should I concern myself with what strangers think?"

Sakuno grinned and shook her head wryly. That was so Echizen Ryoma-esque.

"Do you care what I think of you?"

Sakuno blushed, disconcerted by the query. Feeling like her cheeks were on fire, she nodded slowly.

"Hnn..." Ryoma drawled and smirked. "That's because we're friends."

If it was possible, Sakuno reddened some more, and she silently thanked heavens for the sheer murkiness of the room. Even so, she couldn't stop the idiotic beam tugging at the corners of her lips. Ryoma didn't accept people easily, and it was considered an achievement to befriend him, and even more so to hear the confirmation from said tennis prodigy's mouth.

A draft of cold wind flowed by, and Ryoma felt Ryuzaki shiver beside him. He did what seemed to be most reasonable to him – he grabbed her hands and rubbed them between his owns, occasionally blowing warm air on them. Ryuzaki seemed to stiffen suddenly though.

"Are you that cold?" he enquired, wrongly assuming her rigidity as a result of chill. "Come here."

Sakuno didn't respond. She was still in shock that Ryoma was holding her hands in his. Boy wonder sighed in resignation. He crawled up from the floor and pulled Sakuno into his arms, hugging her body tightly to himself.

"Is that better?"

Sakuno was currently incapacitated to make any form of rejoinder. Russet irises dilated inordinately as her already unsteady heartbeat zipped at the speed of light, her chin dropping open in astonishment. Her mind was even worse off; it was at the moment struggling to wrap itself around the fact that her Echizen Ryoma was hugging her. Hugging her!

In her stupor, she didn't notice her lips brushing across Ryoma's cheek as she inclined into his lap, but the tennis genius did. He frowned; they felt so cold against the warmth of his cheeks. Deciding that something had to be done about that, he circled one arm around her slender waist, another free hand tilting her head up to face him. Then, he bent down and pressed his lips against hers.

Ryuzaki gasped beneath him, attracting a current of wintry air, so Ryoma sealed her lips further to ward off the arctic air. He was somewhat astonished that this felt rather good, as a pleasurable sensation was born in his chest, and he deepened the kiss. It was after a few moments later that Ryoma broke the lip lock regretfully as he found that it was impossible to breathe while doing that.

"Do you feel warmer now?"

Warm? Warm? Sakuno felt like she was going to spontaneously combust any second now with the surge of fiery heat coursing through her veins. Ryoma had just kissed her! KISSED HER! And he was acting like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

On second thought, he possibly really thought nothing out of ordinary had happened. If Sakuno guessed correctly, he was probably trying to transfer his body heat to her. Well, it worked. Judging by her body temperature right now, Sakuno was probably going to blow up the thermometer.

"Ryuzaki," Ryoma summoned. "Ryuzaki."

"Ha-ah?"

"If you're exhausted, you can rest on my shoulder."

Sakuno stared at his shoulder blankly. An exasperated exhalation escaped Ryoma's lips.

"Fine, you can cuddle my arm too," he said, extending his left appendage out. Sakuno shifted her gaze to the outstretched arm, took it mechanically and propped her head on Ryoma's right left shoulder. She was still in stun.

"Thank you," she murmured out when some semblance of coherence finally entered her brain. Ryoma shrugged his unoccupied shoulder.

"Go to sleep, Ryuzaki," he commanded, closing his eyes as well.

"A-Anou, Ryoma-kun, call me Sakuno."

A beat. Then another. Sakuno was ready to be rejected when the emerald-haired boy at long last groused, "Sleep, Sakuno."

This time, Sakuno was more than happy to comply.

O... kay... I'm not entirely sure whether that makes sense, but anyway I feel like posting something on Fuji's birthday, even if there is nothing about him here except this A/N. XD Happy Birthday Fuji-sama!

Hope you like it, Farisa-chan. I promise I will reply your message after my exams next week. ^_^