Through A Journalist's Eyes

"This job is stupid." The heavy pack on my back slowly clawed me, it was freaking painful. I tucked my pack once more and pulled the cap from my ballpoint pen. Another stupid interview with another stupid tennis player.

Sometimes, I couldn't understand why I even took this job in the first place.

"Sports Daily." I scrambled to my feet--and dropped my pack, again.

"Shit!" Faces looked at me and I cursed mentally. "It's cool. Just dropped my very heavy bag." I chuckled and raised my hand as the manager, Momoshita or Momoshido, called for my magazine again.

"Man, are you fine with that luggage?" He slapped my already slouched back and I coughed the ballpen cap that was still inside my mouth. He then removed the pack from me and handed it to another bulky guy lingering around the halls.

"Thanks, man." I picked the cap and resealed my pen. I got my recorder and notepad and walked into the oak doors that separated me from the master tennis prodigy.

"Echizen!" Man, his manager's pretty loud! "Sports Weekly--" "Daily" "Daily, whatever, is here for an interview."

I heard a grunt from inside and took that as a very bad omen. But then, if I backed out from this one, my boss will truly skin me alive this time. The last time I was assigned to interview a tennis star, it was Andre Agassi and I had him covered in coffee, well, let's just say that got me on probation.

"H-Hi! I'm Takada Ruiji from Sports Daily." Momo (I decided to call him that since that's the only part of his name that I'm sure of) pushed me lightly towards the hidden tennis player. "Hey, anybody here--Woah!"

A tennis ball zoomed above me and missed me by an inch. I stood frozen as Echizen Ryoma tucked his racket behind his neck and smirked evilly.

A bad omen, indeed.

"He threw you outside?" I winced at my editor's cold voice. I nodded hesistantly.

"He threw you outside." My editor glared like stone and I swore to myself to never look at those eyes again. "Why did he do that?"

"Well..." I honestly don't want to say it...

"Well?"

"I...It's because I'm Ryuuzaki Sakuno's ex-boyfriend." Really, the coincidence rates are fairly high...and alarming. Well, that's what I heard when Momo asked him in a pretty loud voice.

"And, what does your love life has got to do with that interview?" I should praise my boss for this, she is truly taking this matter in a calm way.

I shrugged. She glared.

"GO BACK AND REQUEST ANOTHER ONE!!"

I guess she's not calm, after all.

"Why did you throw me out?" It was astounding how I got the courage to approach him the moment I found him under a horrendous disguise.

"Do you want me to do it again?" Really, prodigy or no, this guy's a complete lunatic. And totally creepy.

Echizen walked away from me with a strawberry ice creamin his left hand. As I remember it, that was Sakuno's favorite.

"What has it got to do with Sakuno, anyway?" I blurted it all out, and froze as his piercing eyes bore through mine.

"W-well, w-we broke up." And there I thought it would lighten the mood. His glare remained.

"Hm." He took a lick and smirked. "I see."

He walked away from me again. I totally didn't care and smiled. After all, I wasn't thrown out this time.

"Hello? This is Momoshiro Takeshi speaking." So, it's Momoshiro. I should've known. "Hello?""Uhm, hi! It's Takada, from Sports Daily." I heard a low chuckle and pillow being thrown, but I didn't care. "May I--"

"Reschedule? Sure--knock it off, Echizen! When are you free? You can always--OW!--interview this brat." I blinked in confusion and didn't mind the ongoing catfight at the other end of the line.

"Are you sure about that?" A grunt and a 'yes' was said. "Would Echizen not mind?"

"Oh, he won't--HEY!"

"Don't worry, Terada, you can do your interview. 7 pm, my place."

"It's--" The line went dead. "--Takada."

I really have a bad feeling about this. Getting an idea of my own, I contacted another person and, for the very first time, asked for help.

This is getting weirder every minute. I downed the glass of water in front of me and felt my palms sweating again. Great. Now I'm starting to feel nervous just by the thought of meeting my ex-girlfriend.

"Ruiji?" There she was, standing behind me with that smile.

"Sakuno." I smiled back and offered her a seat.

Contrary to what most of you are inclined to believe, I did not break up with her. She broke up with me. It was for some idiotic reason that I can't even remember, but we broke up a month ago...and being Sakuno, we are still on good terms. I still like her a lot, but it seems she doesn't feel that way about me anymore.

"Do you know Echizen Ryoma?" I asked and watched in confusion as her cheeks burnt red and her eyes blinked hard.

"O-Of course, he was a known tennis player." She briefly smiled and attended to her food. By the six months we've been together, I have known every quirk she had--this one represented nervousness.

"You do, don't you?" I smiled in amusement as her cheeks flamed again.

"He-He's just a childhood crush." I quirked my eyebrow and...decided to bring an old question back again.

"Sakuno, why did you not ever call me Ruiji-kun?" Sakuno only smiled at me and brought her gaze at the window. Her smile looked hollow, and I regretted the question the moment it left my lips.

"I don't call anyone that." She drank her Ponta and didn't say another word.

"Ne, Echizen-san." I finished asking him the questions my editor wanted. I say, he's a man of too few words, answering only "Hn" and "No comment". Mostly, he grunted, glared and smirked. Unfortunately, my recorder can't record those.

He stared and waited. He was downing his fourth can of Grape Ponta. Jeez, that drink tasted awful. I can't fathom why he and Sakuno drank that stuff.

"Has anyone ever called you 'Ryoma-kun'?" I heard him sputtering the Ponta back to its can. Well, that caught him off guard.

"You just did." He threw me a dirty look and I passed him a towel. I still looked expectantly; based from a journalist's experience, when the subject is caught off guard, the topic is somewhat relative to said subject.

"A woman, perhaps?" I'm enjoying this. "A childhood sweetheart?"

He glared at me and walked towards the bay window. He smirked and looked blankly across the metropolitan sky. His smile, as I expected, was hollow and he spoke the same words that ran through my mind.

"I wasn't called that." He drank from his Ponta and shooed me away.

I smirked. Tell me about liars. Finally, I've got all the right moves.

It was funny how I got another call from Momo right after I ran my story. Of course, I left the "Ryoma-kun" part right where it was formed. Momo said that Echizen has read my article rather frantically--and that amused me to no end.

The thing is, Momo said that I go to the Kyoto street courts and wait there. I never got the chance to ask why or if I could bring someone along...so, I decided on my own about the latter.

I dialled a number and waited patiently for someone to pick up. "Hello?""Sakuno! Are you free?"

It was spring and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. I walked all the way from my apartment to the courts and the sound of balls hitting walls formed an eerily calming rhythm amidst the silence. I watched Echizen hit with precise speed and I marveled at his form and grace.

Maybe, this is why I stuck up to my job. I was always fascinated with tennis players since I was little.

"You play?" Echizen glanced at me and picked up the broken cans that piled up beneath the wall.

"No, tennis isn't my thing." He smirked and threw them in a nearby trash bin. I heard her approaching, her light gasp was audible as she saw Echizen throwing the cans one by one.

"Here." He threw me a racket and smirked as I caught it. He tossed a ball and I volleyed, earning an appreciative nod from him.

"How did you meet?" I asked rather loudly, praying that Sakuno would be able to hear this. "How did you meet Sakuno?"

Echizen glared once more and gripped his racket tighter. The ball on his right hand was battered and dirty...something I never thought I'd see in the hands of a professional tennis player.

"She never told me about you." His grip loosened. "When I asked her about her previous relationships, her eyes would go hollow and blank...yet, she never told me about it." His gaze went to the tattered ball he was holding.

"She only said that it had been a long time." I heard a sniffle from behind. "She didn't want to tell me."

Echizen stared at me. I stared back. It occured to me that Echizen had asked for me here in the first place, and I'm confident that it's not about some tennis.

"Why did you meet me here, Echizen-san?" The winds whipped my cheeks and the cherry blossoms littered across the tennis courts.

"Someone did call me Ryoma-kun before." I stayed silent and opened my ears for the sounds from both parties. "Ryuuzaki."

He tossed the battered ball at my direction. It was filthy, and a caricature of Echizen himself was present, though faint. I traced the outline of the drawing, knowing that this was given by her, before he left.

"Do you love her, Echizen-san?" I gazed at the ball. I knew that she felt love for him still, even if we shared a few months together.

Two amused eyes met my own and I tossed the ball back. "Do you think I would've thrown you out if I didn't?" I chuckled and shook my head no.

Sakuno's laboured breath was not mingling with the air. It was surprising how Echizen wasn't able to hear her subtle tears. He began swinging his racket once more, and I watched him as he aimed at the center of the wall with accuracy and precision.

"You said you weren't good at tennis, what sport then?" Echizen continued his strokes and I watched as another figure moved towards him.

"Chess, Echizen-san." Echizen froze as familiar warm hands encircled his waist and newfound tears soaked his already wet shirt.

"I've always been a strategist, you know. Planning ahead. Making sure of the right moves. Not much of the physical effort there, too." I walked away and watched the blossoms dance again. For me, the last word I heard was enough clarification.

"Ryoma-kun."

"This job is hell!" I adjusted my pack and picked my tie with my teeth. Apparently, Sports Daily got me to cover the most explosive wedding of the century. But still, it doesn't eliminate the fact that I'm going to suffer severe back pains afterwards.

"Just remove the heavy gear, mate!" Momo slapped my back again. "What's inside it ,anyway?"

I straightened up and saw Echizen's smirking face by the altar.

"All the right moves, mate. All the right moves."

Back pains be damned.

Woohoo! I haven't written a story in WEEKS! xD This is a great refresher! :] I just had a massive burnout from writing THREE speeches and this story! Haha! I do hope I recover soon! Reviews please! :)