Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ ◄:� S A K U N O Chronicles �:► ❯ White Day 101 ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer for every chapter: PoT and Yakitate!! Japan don't belong to me. The crack for this chapter is brought to you by Naruto 101. “I wanna see it… have you seen it? I wanna see Kakashi-sensei's face!” and I don't own that either, dattebayo!

â™¥ A N I M â™¥

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“Ne, Echizen, have you seen it?” Horio asked as he towered over Echizen's desk.

It was one of those normal days. Birds chirped as they rested on tree tops, squirrels ate their nuts peacefully as butterflies fluttered by.

The students at Seishun Gakuen obediently piled into their classrooms as the bell rang and everything was all right in the world of the Prince of Tennis. Even his alarm clock was kind to him that morning, he wasn't late for school. He also had a big, Japanese breakfast instead of the usual bacon and eggs, and all of his homework for today was complete.

A perfect start to a perfect day, right?

Ryoma yawned from his comfortable spot on his chair; it was too early for twenty questions. “Seen what?”

Horio placed his hands on top of Echizen's desk and leaned forward, a look of pure evil on his face. “Ryuzaki's hair down.” Ryoma's eyes almost crossed as Horio went right up to his face, in an effort to create a more dramatic atmosphere. “Well have you?” The boy with two whole years of tennis experience grinned even more evilly.

“Um,” Ryoma blinked, putting some distance between him and Horio's cooties as he pushed his chair backwards. “No.”

“Well do you want to?” Two little bumps serving as horns were almost visible on his forehead.

“I don't care either way, Horio.” Ryoma sounded very disinterested.

“You mean to say that you're not even a little bit curious as to how Ryuzaki looks like with her hair down?” Katsuo asked eyes wide as he tried to imagine what it would look like. Will her hair be wavy because she kept it in braids all the time? Or will her hair be straight? Was it naturally wavy or was it straight?

Even Kachiro was curious about it. “Don't you ever wonder if it's soft as it looks?” He swallowed audibly at the heated look that Echizen gave him. “Not that I want to touch it or do anything perverted or anything like that or - or - or anything like that at all! I wasn't thinking that, Ryoma-kun, I was just wondering!” His eyes were wide as he finished his sentence; the urge to cower under his desk was overwhelmingly strong.

“Haven't you ever wondered what it looks like, Echizen?”

“Is there an echo in here?” Ryoma was trying to downplay his curiosity. Yes, he wanted to tell Horio, I have wondered what Ryuzaki's hair looks like without those pigtails, but I'd rather drink Inui-senpai's Hyper Remix Juice for breakfast everyday before admitting it to anyone, most of all you!

Horio wasn't daunted by Echizen's disinterest. “Well… if you're not interested, I know several others who are.” He strolled back to his seat and plopped down, the gears in his head starting to work on how he would accomplish such a feat. Katsuo and Kachiro crowded around him as they planned their course of action.

No one noticed as Ryoma's face darkened and his hands clenched into fists on his lap.

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If he was to blame anyone for his current predicament, he knew for certain that Horio was responsible for it. If Horio hadn't planted that thought into his brain so early in the morning today, Echizen Ryoma wouldn't have trouble concentrating in class and wouldn't have constant thoughts of honey-colored girlish braids.

Damn Horio and his big fat mouth. He should just stick to tennis. He ruined a perfectly great day with something so mundane. Blah!

But then… thinking of braids was better than thinking about a certain diary. After more than a month of holding on to it, thinking of excuses on why he looked like he was putting off returning it to her, he could swear he was starting to grow bags under his eyes. The guilt was turning him into a girl.

He just… couldn't return it anymore. After reading it from cover to cover almost three times now, Ryuzaki seemed to have moved on from losing her diary. He even spotted her sporting a new one, another pink notebook, scribbling away her thoughts when she had some down time. Since she looked like she had moved on from the loss of her diary already, he felt like she didn't need to be reminded of her old anymore, or give her grief about having to explain why he kept it for so long.

He was never going to be able to justify why he never came forward with it earlier on. The fact that he enjoyed reading it would be a secret he decided he was going to keep until the day he died. People might think he was some kind of narcissist for reading so many entries about himself over and over again, skipping the ones where she talked about others.

The entries were engraved into his memory now, but he still fished it out from beneath his mattress, reading it at least once or thrice a week.

Although their conversations weren't very long in person, he felt connected to her, was privy to her private thoughts, her true feelings. He could bet not even her bestfriends knew some of the things that Ryuzaki wrote there. It was like having a secret with her somehow, it felt almost intimate. Almost.

She never made any mention as to why she kept her hair in those braids all the time. He figured it was probably because her hair was too long. Why her hair was as long as it was now was a mystery unto itself as well. It wasn't practical, in his opinion. Ryuzaki's hair probably weighed as much as she did or more. Maybe it was part of the reason why she couldn't balance properly. All that hair must throw her body's stability off, it had to. No one was that clumsy. It defied the laws of probability.

The lessons flew by as the teachers spoke some kind of weird alien language.

He found himself doodling some faceless girl with long flowing hair in math class. When he noticed what he was doing, he promptly ripped the page out of his notebook, crumpled it and threw it on the trash, settling on chewing on his pen instead.

And it looked like it was going to be a promising day this morning, too. Damn Horio and his big fat mouth!

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Operation See Ryuzaki's Braids Undone was still unsuccessful when lunch time rolled by.

“Why don't we just ask her?” A disheartened Kachiro asked his comrades. “Wouldn't it be easier than plotting ways as to how to get Ryuzaki to shed her braids?” Horio was giving him a look of utter disbelief, as if he just suggested they commit some kind of heinous crime. “What?”

“Kachiro, I can tell that you are `mada mada dane' as of yet.”

“Why is he mada mada dane, Horio-kun?” Katsuo inquired.

“Because we haven't executed half of my ingenious plans yet and he's already ready to give up!” Horio scoffed. “My two years of tennis experience -“

“Has nothing to do with Ryuzaki's hair.” Kachiro finished.

“Aaaah, urusai! I don't see any of you having two years worth of tennis experience, so just shut up and follow my lead, okay?”

“But you're leading us nowhere!”

“Well I don't see you having any good plans!” Kachiro was quiet. Horio was right; he didn't have any good plans. “But I do and it's simple!”

Kachiro exchanged a dubious glance with Katsuo. “And what would that be?”

“We follow her and she's bound to unbind her hair at some point.”

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“This is harder than I thought.” The unibrow on his forehead wobbled frustratingly.

“Maybe we should give up, Horio-kun.” Katsuo didn't really mean it. He really wanted to see how Ryuzaki's hair looked like without the confines of her braids, but the challenge looked easier before. A full day passed and they still haven't made any progress. All their attempts to get to see Ryuzaki's hair down have proven fruitless. Katsuo and Kachiro were ready to just ask Ryuzaki into showing them her hair down but Horio was being stubborn.

“There is no honor in giving up!” Horio sniffed conceitedly. “We have taken on this task and we must finish it to the end! And now that it has come to this, I'm even more determined to see it!!!”

“What are you ichinen talking about?” Someone hissed from behind the freshmen trio, making them jump.

“K-Kaidoh-senpai!” The trio cowered fearfully.

“Well? Fsssssh…” Snake-like eyes glared impatiently.

“We were um… um… just talking about Ryuzaki-chan's um… hair…!” Anyone with survival instincts would be afraid for their lives right about now.

“Are you talking about Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter?” Kaidoh intimidated a lot of people, but he remembered the girl being friendly with him. If that wasn't an oddity unto itself, it even went to the extent of even giving him Valentine's Day chocolates this year. He was at a loss of what to give her back on White Day, which was this week. No girl had ever given him anything before, so he was new to this. She was a nice girl. If someone was talking bad about her, it was his duty to set them straight.

“H-h-hai!” Horio had been reduced to a stuttering mess.

“What about her hair?” Even if he didn't look it, Kaidoh paid attention to the things and people around him. Was there something wrong with Ryuzaki-chan's hair? He didn't know a lot about females and their hairs so he couldn't tell if there was something wrong with her hair or not.

Horio prayed for courage and his continued good health. “W-we were just w-wondering how Ryuzaki's hair w-would look like without the b-braids, K-K-Kaidoh-senpai.”

Kaidoh wasn't the type to gossip about people. He was normally a quiet person who kept to himself and mingled only for the sake of furthering his tennis skills. Things like secrets, rumors or girls' hairs were beneath him. His glare gave the ichinen trio heart attacks. “I've always wondered how Ryuzaki looks like if she wore her hair down. Fssssh.”

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Ryoma stared at the bear that was sitting on his desk, debating whether he should bring it to school or not.

Today was White Day.

Ryuzaki had given him chocolates last month so the only proper thing to do was give her something in exchange this White Day, right? Right! A little voice inside his head agreed.

But…

Buchou and the others would know if they saw her with the bear. He didn't want anybody misinterpreting his intentions. There was no need to put meaning into something that clearly didn't mean anything.

If he gave her the wretched bear, she might think that he liked her or something. He liked her… as an almost-friend. She was one of the Seigaku Tennis Club's cheerleaders, almost part of the team. They were almost friends, that's all. Almost friends gave each other gifts all the time, right?

Almost friends weren't supposed to read too much into stuff that weren't there, so there shouldn't be any problem. Right! That voice in his head agreed again.

He was lost in his internal debate as he went downstairs to eat.

He thanked his cousin for the breakfast absentmindedly and drank all three bottles of milk like the good boy that he was. He didn't even pay any attention to his father as he talked to him. He saw his oyaji's mouth open and close while looking at him, but the words coming out of his mouth weren't making sense.

It wasn't related to a certain brown thing with frilly pink lace so whatever his father was saying was irrelevant.

His internal voices continued their dialogue as he finished eating, deciding that White Day wasn't so bad after all.

The normal Ryuzaki-sounding voice dictating an entry from her diary inside his head was suspiciously absent today. And it was all because he finally managed to get rid of it. Nope, no diary-quoting for him today or ever because he was finally over it. After spending several countless days fretting over it, having her entries follow him around making commentaries about every single thing that triggered a memory, it was finally over.

His mood was greatly improved by the time he laced his shoes together and picked up his bag to go to school. He was early and he was happy because that meant extra time for early morning practice.

His frazzled nerves had absolutely nothing to do with and weren't caused by the furry little creature hidden inside his tennis bag.

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“Ohayou, Sakuno-chan!”

It was still very early in the morning, but a few students walked by and gave them curious looks. It wasn't everyday that you saw a student wearing a different uniform talking to one of their own in front of the school.

“Ohayou, Shinji-kun!”

Sakuno's tennis lessons with Shinji-kun were normally held on Fridays, but he had called her yesterday and asked if they could meet in front of Seigaku really early that morning. She correctly guessed that he wanted to give her something for White Day, when he cheerfully handed her a whole bag of treasures as soon as he arrived.

The bag was filled with assorted candies and chocolates, strawberry pocky and there were even pink ribbons to use for her hair. It was a well-known fact that pink was Sakuno's favorite color. One only had to look at her stuff - tennis gears, embroidered handkerchiefs, cellphone, sweatbands, clothes, shoes just to name a few - to reach that conclusion.

They were all gifts from the Fudomine Regulars and Ann-chan, Shinji-kun told her. “They all wanted to come but I offered to bring it to you instead and they could just see you on Friday.”

Sakuno accepted the gifts happily, picking out the bear she recognized as the one that Kippei no nii-chan had made last weekend. “I can't believe he's giving this to me.” She cuddled the bear close. “Are you sure Kippei no nii-chan didn't make any mistake?” Sakuno made sure.

Shinji nodded. “I would have wanted to make a bear with Sakuno-chan.” He said with a hint of displeasure. He had been in a dilemma on what to give her on White Day and was a little annoyed at his teammates about leaving him out of their outing last weekend. “I wonder why Tachibana-san didn't call me. Neither did Ann-chan but I figure at least Kamio would have been decent enough to give me a call eh…”

Sakuno tried to comfort Shinji by petting his hand. “There, there Shinji-kun.” She didn't mean for Shinji-kun to feel left out. Everybody sort of just showed up at the mall and went with them last weekend, so no plans were made ahead of time. If she knew that more people aside from Ann-chan and Tomo-chan were coming and if she knew that Shinji-kun also wanted to make a bear, she would have invited him. “I can go with you and we can build you your own bear if you want.”

“You'd really do that for me, Sakuno-chan?” Shinji felt better when Sakuno-chan nodded at him. He didn't really want to make a bear, he just didn't like it that he was left out.

“Of course.” Sakuno was happy to accompany him to the Workshop if he wanted a bear of his own.

“That's okay,” Shinji's lips curved into a small smile for his friend before he voiced out his true thoughts. “I don't really want to build a bear, I was just feeling left out that you went with Tachibana-san and Kamio but not with me.” He never failed to speak his mind as always. “But I feel better now.” Shinji patted Sakuno's hand back, a sure sign that he was feeling better. “I wonder how Kamio's bear turned out. He refuses to show it to me. Tachibana-san wouldn't even talk about `the incident'. He refuses to delve into it further when others question him. Maybe he's embarrassed, but I couldn't really tell since he declines to answer my questions.”

“I think Kamio-kun is going to give his bear to Ann-chan,” Sakuno confided in him. “Call it instinct.” She grinned.

“It will be interesting to observe how he's going to give it to her today.”

“I wish I could be there,” Sakuno chuckled as she tried to play the scene in her mind. “I wonder if Momo-senpai would be giving Ann-chan his bear.”

“Kamio wouldn't be too happy with that.” Shinji blurted out the obvious and the two of them shared a laugh.

“You should've seen them, Shinji-kun,” Sakuno retold the events of last weekend to him in between giggles. It was obvious that the two men shared affection for Ann-chan, but Sakuno couldn't tell which boy Ann-chan liked the most. Both were good friends of hers and she wouldn't be able to play favorites, but truth be told, she was secretly rooting for Momo-senpai; maybe because they both went to the same school…

Shinji already knew most of this from Ann-chan but listened attentively and laughed at the difference in perspectives.

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He knew he was acting out of character, but he just couldn't help it. Tachibana's little sister's words kept repeating themselves over and over and over again in his head until he felt like he was on auto drive.

He contemplated the whole thing for the past two days and finally reached a decision.

He felt so pumped that the motions of the bus didn't even lull him to sleep like it normally did. He spotted two long braids with his keen eyesight right away, she was talking to a tall figure wearing what he recognized as a Fudomine school uniform and she was already carrying a whole bag of goodies.

He approached them, undeterred. They were too busy laughing at the joke they shared they didn't even notice his presence until he cleared his throat. “Ohayou, Sakuno-chan!”

Sakuno's eyes widened as she identified who it was. “Akaya-kun? What are you doing here?” Oh my, did he get lost sleeping on the bus again?

Akaya flashed that patented crooked smile of his. “I just came early to give you something.” Rummaging through his backpack, he found the unsquished ball of fluff and handed it over to her. “Happy White Day!”

“Is that another bear from last weekend?” Shinji ventured a guess that this guy was with Tachibana-san and the others.

“Why yes,” Akaya answered as Sakuno blinked hesitantly.

“Are you sure you want to give that away?” Sakuno wondered what she did to deserve getting two bears on the same day. “Akaya-kun worked really hard for it and I don't want to take that away from you.”

Akaya pushed the bear into her once again. “I'm not really into the habit of collecting stuffed animals, Sakuno-chan.” He took her hand and gave her the bear. Didn't she want it? He came all this way to Seigaku bright and early today and she didn't even want to accept his gift? He saw a teddy bear peaking from her loot and pretended to look crushed. “Oh. I see. You already have a bear that's why you don't want mine.”

Sakuno's eyes widened into saucers, horrified that she managed to offend Akaya-kun. “No!” She grabbed the bear from Akaya's hands and cuddled it close. “I was just making sure you wanted to give it away, I mean… thank you, I don't know what to say! Arigatou gozaimasu, Akaya-kun!” The boys watched as Sakuno's face flushed different shades of pink. “I- I didn't give you anything last month...” She finished weakly, shoulders drooping. “I'm sorry.” Honey-colored bangs covered her eyes while her bottom lip quivered.

“That's alright, Sakuno-chan! It's my way of thanking you and call it an all-in-one friendship bear.”

“All-in-one friendship bear?” Shinji has never heard of such a thing, but then he wasn't a teddy bear expert. “Who are you again?” He knew who the guy was, but they had never been formally introduced.

Sakuno snapped out of her guilt. “Mou! Where did my manners go? Shinji-kun, this is Kirihara Akaya.” She introduced the two boys. “Akaya-kun goes to Rikkai Dai. Akaya-kun this is Ibu Shinji. Shinji-kun goes to Fudomine.”

The two hesitantly bowed a little, acknowledging each other. “Nice to formally meet you.” Akaya wondered why he was here.

“I didn't know you were friends with him, Sakuno-chan.” Shinji, as usual, was straight to the point.

“We met this weekend.” Akaya replied and then asked a question of his own. “So what is a student from Fudomine doing at Seigaku so early in the morning?” Classes wouldn't even start for two more hours at least. It was way early, so they could afford a few more minutes of sizing each other up until they had to go get to their own schools.

“The same thing reason you probably have,” Shinji answered. He was trying to decide whether to like the guy or not. Kirihara a few inches taller than him but he wasn't the least bit intimidated. He met the challenge in the boy's eyes with his usual blank look.

Sakuno was oblivious to the two males posturing. “Shinji-kun was kind enough to offer and bring his teammates gifts for today.” She pushed things around in the bag to make room for Akaya-kun's gift. Yay, two teddy bears! This was starting out to be the best White Day ever, and it was only beginning!

“Are you courting Sakuno-chan?” Shinji was honestly curious. Sakuno-chan was younger than him therefore he was responsible for her. If her senpai weren't looking out for her, the responsibility fell to his shoulders.

“Eh?” Sakuno blinked, looking a little lost.

Akaya again replied with another question of his own. “Are you?” He thought that Sakuno would be on heavy guard from what he witnessed last weekend, but if someone from Fudomine was courting her, then they weren't good guards at all.

“I asked you a question first.”

The world around them seemed to have stopped; everything else was ignored as it narrowed down to only the three of them - two boys trying to stare each other down with a very disconcerted girl in between them. “Anou…” Sakuno was confused why Shinji-kun asked the question and why the air felt like it was loaded with static electricity. She looked from one friend to another, not realizing the curious stares they were getting from the Seishun Gakuen students trickling in.

The Seigaku pupils were curious about the two boys from two different schools in front of their school's entrance who looked like they were arguing. Was there going to be a fight? Why were they here so early in the morning? Didn't they have classes to attend at their own schools? Was that Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter?

Akaya's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. “No.” Not yet. “Are you?” He repeated.

Amusement was laced in Shinji's eyes as his mouth curved a tiny bit. The guy was cocky for sure but he didn't seem like he had anything sinister planned. He would have to watch the guy carefully but he was okay in Shinji's book, for now at least. “So you came all the way here just to give a friend something for White Day? That's very… interesting. It makes me wonder what your true intentions are.” The menace in the air thickened. “And to answer your question, no, I'm not. That would be like committing incest.” So that's why.

He placed a brotherly hand on Sakuno-chan's shoulder and as sudden as it was there, the static in the air disappeared, the atmosphere shifted.

“You're lucky Fudomine is nearer.” It was as if they were talking about the weather all along.

“I give Sakuno-chan tennis lessons every Friday,” Shinji even volunteered the information. He relaxed his posture and his voice had a friendlier tone to it.

“So you're the reason why her Fridays are full!” Akaya even managed to joke, falling into rhythm. “Maybe I could see one of those lessons sometime. I'm not too bad at tennis as well, if I do say so myself.”

“I wouldn't mind. Tachibana-san rarely comes with us to the public courts but most of the other Regulars are always there with Ann-chan. You could play a set with any one of us when you come.”

“I should do that. It sounds like fun.” If he ever got off early from practice and enough permission to stay out late, he could definitely pencil it in one of these days. It was a good thing that this Ibu fellow was forthcoming with the details. So far, everybody he's met from Fudomine had been friendly to him. He decided they weren't a bad school after all.

“And Sakuno-chan brings the best snacks.”

Sakuno's eyes were threatening to take over half of her face; she was befuddled at the way their conversation was going. First they were acting almost hostile with each other and now they're swapping invitations for tennis lessons?

“Are you two lost?” a new voice approached them; he was toting a tennis bag on his left shoulder, the word `Seigaku' printed clearly.

“Ah! Ohayou buchou!” Sakuno all but forgot about her earlier confusion as she greeted Seigaku's respected buchou cheerfully.

“Ohayou, Sakuno-chan.” Tezuka returned the greeting and then looked at the two boys, waiting for them to answer his earlier question. What were they doing here? Well, it was White Day. He could understand Ibu Shinji from Fudomine being here. Judging from the bag that Sakuno-chan carried, Tezuka quickly surmised that Ibu came to drop it off in behalf of the others, but what was Kirihara doing here?

The captain had a clear guess of what the boy was doing here and had it confirmed when the boy replied. “I just came to drop something off.” He grinned cheekily at Seigaku's buchou, not intimidated at all.

“That's nice.” The unflappable captain was never famous for being an expert in pleasantries. “If you don't want to be late, I suggest that you get going.” It wasn't a suggestion at all; it was an order.

“I guess it's about time for me to get to school now,” Shinji took the hint as he bid farewell. “I'll see you on Friday, Sakuno-chan.”

“See you Friday, Shinji-kun!” Sakuno stood next to Tezuka as she waved goodbye to her friend. “And thanks again!”

Akaya decided to try to annoy Tezuka a little by staying until Shinji disappeared in the horizon before saying his goodbyes as well. “Text you later.” Were his parting words to Sakuno then he too left. “Have a nice day, Tezuka!”

Tezuka breathed a mental sigh of relief after they both left. More and more students were coming and he didn't look forward to Echizen seeing those two here, most especially Kirihara, after last weekend. One had to have very keen observation skills, because it wouldn't be obvious to anybody who wasn't familiar with the boy's mannerisms, but Echizen had been acting like a walking keg of gunpowder lately. He wasn't exactly looking forward to the day when someone lit a fire under him.

He needed his Pillar of Support calm and on top of his game. He didn't want to have a raving tween on his hands, so he deemed it best if he looked out for his Pillar's interests, even if the boy didn't realize it yet. It was his duty as the buchou and as Echizen's senpai. That was the honorable thing to do.

But first…

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“Why don't we just ask her, Horio-kun?” Kachiro couldn't help but whine. This `quest' was getting ridiculous. Nothing good would come from trailing Ryuzaki in a chance to get a glimpse of how her hair looked down. She kept it in those braids all the time. They never invaded her privacy by peeking while she changed or went to the bathroom, but it was absurd to think that Ryuzaki would suddenly take her hair and unbraid it if they were just patient enough to stick around and wait for it.

Horio's plan was a bust.

“We haven't gotten anywhere!” Katsuo was of the same mind as Kachiro. “We're just wasting time.” Morning practice meant picking up the balls that their senpai-tachi and the Regulars discarded. Horio's bragging was keeping him from picking up the balls, making Katsuo and Kachiro make up for the slack.

Ryoma was practicing on the court next to them, doing a great job of ignoring their senseless gossip. He couldn't believe Horio was still set about that. Talk about obsessed. If Horio showed as much enthusiasm for tennis as he did for gossiping, he could probably improve his tennis.

Horio wagged a finger at his comrades. “But that's where you're wrong, my friends.” It was true that they haven't managed to see Ryuzaki's hair down, but all the observing they've been doing have given him a lot of `good data' as Inui-senpai would say. “We might not know as of yet how it looks like, but I found something very interesting today.”

“Let me guess,” Kachiro sighed cheerlessly. “You figured out who Ryuzaki talks and texts to on that phone of hers all the time?” The days spent spying on Ryuzaki weren't totally fruitless.

They managed to observe her daily habits and keep track of her schedule so far, like how she liked to stop at the local Pantasia instead of the bigger St. Pierre's Bakery across the street almost everyday after school. She seemed really well-acquainted with the staff, especially with the guy with the pink headband and the guy with the pink hair, whom they all mistook to be a girl at first glance because of the color of his hair. Anyone would assume that someone with pink hair would be a girl, right?

Days that weren't spent in Pantasia were spent in McDonald's, usually with Osakada. Yes, Katsuo and Kachiro felt like total stalkers, but Horio insisted that it was all part of the `See Ryuzaki's Hair' project and therefore totally justified in labeling it `data gathering'.

Horio grinned. “No.” Kachiro wanted to hurl a tennis ball at him. “It's better than that.” Katsuo tossed several balls into the basket as he rolled his eyes. He was ready to shove one or two balls down Horio's throat before the boy continued “You'll never guess who I saw give Ryuzaki teddy bears this morning.”

Unable to block out their conversation, short of plugging his ears with cotton, Ryoma almost missed hitting the ball that he just tossed into the air to make a serve. Thank Kami for his fast reflexes.

“It's White Day today.” Kachiro stated the obvious.

“And someone gave Ryuzaki a teddy bear?” Katsuo snuck a glance at Echizen.

Horio didn't miss it. “Nope, not him. Try again.”

Unable to take the combined torture of having to put up with Horio's nonchalance at their task at hand and his dragging the details for more suspense, Kachiro grumpily complained. “Can you tell us while you're helping us pick the balls up?”

Horio sniffed but obeyed and began to pick up the balls in his vicinity, placing them on the basket. “Do you want to know or not?” His friends gave him a look that clearly said `yes, duh', so he took pity on them. “I counted three and those were just the bears. She had a full bag of them and I haven't gotten a closer look of what else was in the bag yet but I'm sure there were at least three bears plus some.” He planned to rectify that as soon as he got the chance of course.

“And first period hasn't even started yet.” Kachiro was clearly impressed. He doubted if Ryuzaki was aware of it, but she was actually quite popular in their school, and it wasn't just because she was Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter. He knew she was popular, but he didn't know to what extent until now.

“Three bears?” Katsuo was also impressed. “Ryuzaki and the three bears, hehe.” He laughed at his own joke.

“Haha, yes, very funny.” Horio tossed a couple more balls into the basket. “Don't you want to know who they were from?”

“Yes but you've been delaying telling us for five minutes now. Just get on with it!!!”

“Geez, calm down will you?” Horio sadistically picked up more balls and placed them inside the basket before he answered. “One was from Ibu Shinji.” He was sure of it. Why else would he purposely go to Seigaku bright and early on a school day, right?

“Is Ryuzaki dating Ibu Shinji from Fudomine?” Kachiro questioned.

Ryoma was thankful he had his white cap on for it hid the rolling of his eyes at their foolish conversation. Horio would never make a good detective. Ryoma hasn't seen the bear yet, but he would willingly eat his cap if the bear wasn't from Tachibana Kippei and Shinji was just playing messenger boy. Shinji probably volunteered to be the one to make sure to give the gifts to Ryuzaki is all. Horio didn't know a damn thing.

“Hmmm…” Katsuo threw a sideward glance at Echizen once more, trying to judge his reaction. Although it was obvious that Ryuzaki had feelings for the young tennis prince, nobody could really make certain for sure if Echizen reciprocated those feelings.

Ryoma had to resist rolling his eyes once again. Did they think he didn't notice all the curious glances they threw his way? What did they think he was - Some Kind of Oblivious? Since their gossiping was beneath him, he paid them no mind and concentrated on his serves instead. Nothing was going to ruin his day today. Not Katsuo, not Kachiro, not Horio, not the loaded atmosphere and different expectations of people for this day and most especially not the fuzzy in his bag.

“And what about the other two?” Kachiro prodded the boy with more tennis experience than them.

“Well,” Horio twirled a tennis ball around his hand, “I don't know if you'll believe me when I tell you this but one of the bears was from Kirihara.”

Kachiro and Katsuo looked at him in disbelief. “From Rikkai Dai?” Kachiro thought Horio was pulling their leg.

“What would he be doing giving Ryuzaki a bear?” Katsuo blinked. “I didn't even know they were acquainted with each other.” He blinked again in disbelief.

“Well apparently they are because he came bright and early just a few minutes after Ibu and I saw him hand over the thing to her with my own eyes.” Horio huffed in importance. “Are you saying that you doubt what I saw? I know what I saw you know, and I saw it clearly with my own two eyes!”

If it was just Horio telling them this, Kachiro might not have believed him. But he saw the darkened mood of Echizen as he placed more power into his serves and shook his head at Horio. “No, I believe you.”

“So who gave her the third bear?” He thought it odd how Horio would say Kirihara's name second - whoever the third bear was from must be more impressive in Horio's eyes than the Rikkai Dai ace.

Horio glanced around before leaning forward and dropped his voice to a whisper. “The buchou gave it to her.”

Kachiro and Katsuo busted out laughing at Horio's face. “That's a good one, Horio-kun!” Kachiro said in between fits of amusement.

“Yeah,” Kachiro agreed. “You almost had us there.” He was holding on to the edge of the basket for some balance from his mirth. The thought of the buchou giving Ryuzaki a bear was hilarious. The buchou was the greatest tennis player in Seigaku, but he wasn't exactly Mr. Romantic. He couldn't even imagine the buchou holding a teddy bear, much less giving a girl one.

“I don't see anything funny with what I said.” Horio for once was dead serious. He couldn't believe his eyes at first either, he thought he was dreaming, but facts were facts and the evidence was solid. “As sure as the sun rises in the east, I clearly saw the buchou give Ryuzaki a teddy bear.” He added more than a bit miffed. “You think I would lie about something like this?”

“Well… no.” Kachiro managed to sober up. Sure Horio-kun was over confident at times and tended to brag about his tennis experience at the most inappropriate moments, but he wasn't the type of person to speak bad about their buchou. Everybody respected the buchou, including Horio and his two years of tennis experience.

Silence reigned as Kachiro and Katsuo stopped laughing, minds reeling at what the gift meant.

“I'm sure it was just some kind of friendly gift… you know… because Ryuzaki is the coach's granddaughter and she gave him chocolates last Valentine's Day.” Kachiro's reasoning seemed to make sense.

“Yeah, that's exactly it!” Katsuo wholeheartedly agreed. “I have a thank you gift for Ryuzaki myself, for last month's chocolates, so I'm sure buchou was just returning the favor.” He nodded enthusiastically, yes, that was it. Ryuzaki was kind enough to include all the Regulars and the Ichinen Trio in her chocolates list last year and it seemed like he wasn't the only one who was thinking of reciprocating the kindness.

“Is it a teddy bear?” Horio challenged. “A boy wouldn't give a girl a teddy bear if they were just friends.”

“Well…” No, it wasn't a teddy bear, it was chocolate. From one friend to another.

Horio rephrased his question. “Would you give a girl a teddy bear if you didn't like her?” Kachiro and Katsuo refused to answer his question, since their answer was obvious. “I thought so,” Horio smirked.

“But what does that mean?” Kachiro was concerned for what this would translate into their club. If the buchou had feelings for Ryuzaki and Ryuzaki had feelings for Echizen… wait, did Ryuzaki still have feelings for Echizen? She had been spending a lot of time with Fuji-senpai lately…

“What would Ryuzaki-sensei say when she finds out?” Katsuo had different things on his mind. He was more concerned about the well-being of their beloved captain. Their scary sensei was even scarier than a demon when it came to protecting her precious granddaughter. He didn't think that even their brave buchou could survive their sensei's wrath.

Kachiro shook his head in denial. “Wait, wait, we're jumping to conclusions here. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for all of this.” He was going to try hard not to settle on a verdict until he heard more facts, however difficult it may seem.

Katsuo decided to adapt Kachiro's frame of mind and purged the thoughts milling around his brain. “Yes, I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this. Just because buchou gave Ryuzaki a teddy bear doesn't mean they're an item.”

“Maybe they're hiding it from the Ryuzaki-sensei because she's bound to skin the buchou alive and string him up against the nearest tree if she finds out. And if they really are dating, I wonder if the buchou has seen Ryuzaki's hair down - ow!” Horio was propelled forward, landing on his hands and knees as a tennis ball hit him square behind his head. He rubbed the back of his head to ease the pain as he straightened up and glared at the perpetrator. “Echizen!!!”

“Ah, gomen Horio! I've wanted to try out Ohtori's Scud Serves for a while now. I guess I need to control it more.”

Horio thought that Echizen looked totally unrepentant for his actions but continued to pick up the balls and went back to his whispered conversation with his friends.

Kaidoh, who was on the court next to the one Echizen and the ichinen trio were using, wondered if Horio was naturally obtuse or just plain retarded. He could tell that even Kachiro and Katsuo were aware of the dangerous shift in Echizen's mood at Horio's latest speculations.

“Maybe their love affair is supposed to be a secret and I found them out due to my superior shinobi skills.” A fast serve whizzed dangerously close past Horio's ear and bounced on the wall. “Ack!” He stumbled and knocked the basket of balls out of balance, spilling all the balls they've been gathering on the court.

“Oy, ichinen!” Kaidoh chastised the gossiping trio. “Stop slacking off and get back to work! Fssssshh…” As much as he loved listening to the trio's speculations, he didn't look forward to accidentally getting close and personal with Echizen's imitation Scud Serves this morning.

“Hai!” The trio obediently replied as they picked up the pace.

But Horio just couldn't keep his mouth closed. “I always thought Ryuzaki had feelings for someone else, you know.” He had it all figured out now. “A heart is such a fickle thing.” He sighed dramatically. “I can't say I could blame her, I mean if I was a girl I would probably choose Tezuka-buchou over you-know-who. Tezuka-buchou is so much more mature and would probably make a better boyfriend.” Kachiro and Katsuo started edging away from Horio. “He probably treats her right and doesn't insult her bento or her hair, you know?”

The distance between Horio and his friends were getting wider and wider with each sentence that came out of his mouth yet he didn't seem to notice.

“I heard that he baby-sits her sometimes - that must have been how they got together,” and wider. They even managed to drag the basket of balls with them. “Maybe Ryuzaki's supposed crush on you-know-who is just a ruse to throw Ryuzaki-sensei off their tracks.” Horio was impressed with his astuteness. They should be calling him a prodigy, the next Fuji Syusuke of Seigaku. “Hey, what are you two doing so far out there?” He became acutely aware that his comrades were now a good three feet away from him. Weren't they in awe of his brilliant deduction skills and impressive insight?

Too bad he failed to use his impressive astuteness and discerning skills to avoid the fast ball that was headed straight for him.

âˆžâˆžâˆžâˆ ;žâˆž

“Sakuno, is everything alright?”

Sakuno jumped a bit into the air at the question before turning to answer her bestfriend. “I'm fine, Tomo-chan. Why do you ask?” She smiled tentatively.

One of Tomoka's brows rose in question. “You seem a bit jumpier than usual.” Sakuno was acting like a hunted rabbit.

“It's nothing, I'm alright.” In truth, she felt like she was being watched for several days now but had no evidence to back it up. It was just her overactive imagination, that's all. Why would anyone be stalking her anyway? Just because she felt several eyes watching her every move for several days now didn't mean that people were actually observing her every move.

Stop being paranoid, Sakuno.

“Okay, if you say so.” Tomoka shot her one more dubious glance but believed her anyway. It was recess time and they were eating outside, taking advantage of the nice weather. It was nice to get away from the noise of the cafeteria once in a while, just the two of them hanging out like this.

The bench they were sitting on suddenly vibrated with Sakuno's phone, making both girls jump this time. “Again?” Tomoka couldn't help but feel a little irritated. This wasn't the first message that Sakuno got today. Her cellphone had been vibrating nonstop since really early this morning.

Sakuno was polite; she turned the sounds off on her cellphone during class hours or when she was on campus. She either put it on vibrate mode or turned it off altogether. Since today was White Day, it was expected that the girls receive attention ranging from text messages, calls or people giving them gifts in exchange for the gifts they handed out last month for Valentine's Day.

Sakuno was a part of a big family and was doted upon, being the youngest. Calls, presents and attention flooded in from each family member, understandably, most especially today for it was a special day. Thus her phone was on vibrating mode instead of off today.

Sakuno's family was the type to celebrate most things ranging from Valentine's Day, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, Christmas and Easter to the extreme. These were the same people who believed that celebrating a person's first, tenth, and thirteenth birthdays were as important as celebrating the sixteenth, eighteenth and twenty first.

Tomoka could see how a person's first birthday was important, but Sakuno had to explain to her how the tenth and thirteenth birthdays were as important as sweet sixteen or coming of age at eighteen and twenty one.

A person's tenth birthday, Sakuno said, marked the point in a person's life where another digit is added to the age. Ages one to nine only have one digit and the next time a third digit is added to the age is if and when the person turns one hundred, which doesn't really happen a lot. Because of this rare event, age ten is considered a special occasion in the Ryuzaki family and celebrated accordingly.

Age thirteen marks the right of passage of the person to becoming a `teen', thus it was special. Being a teenager meant that you could be trusted with more stuff that you normally wouldn't, time to prove yourself worthy of responsibilities. It's also the time when Ryuzakis usually get their birds and bees talk; it was the time to induct the teenager to some facts of life.

Sixteenth, eighteenth and twenty first birthdays were important to most people, but Tomoka knew for a fact that it was going to be more important for Sakuno, especially her twenty first birthday. Even now they talked about doing twenty one different tasks involving twenty one different things on the day that Sakuno turns twenty one and Sakuno wasn't even thirteen yet!

It wasn't a surprise that Sakuno received a lot of gifts this White Day. Even if she wouldn't admit it to anybody or believe whatever her friends said, Sakuno's expertise in the kitchen were way beyond `Tezuka class' if you were to compare it in junior high tennis. Tomoka liked to joke about how Sakuno must have forgotten to get good balance and sense of direction when Kami was handing out those abilities because she was too busy getting in line for having great cooking skills.

Tomoka finished her snacks and reached for one of Sakuno's JaPan breads for dessert. It really paid to have a bestfriend who could whip up the most delicious meals and confections known to man; even more so if that friend was related to a world renowned baker. It wasn't a well-known fact, but Sakuno was Azuma Kazuma's second cousin.

Azuma Kazuma was famous all over Japan, having been the MVP on a world-class bread tournament held in Morocco at the young age of sixteen. His paternal grandfather is Ryuzaki-sensei's oldest brother, Sakuno's father being Kazuma's father's first cousin. He had his own line of bread made from his very own recipe, and he called them “JaPan”. Clearly, talent in the food industry ran in the family.

Sakuno was so engrossed in texting back that she failed to notice Tomoka's annoyed expression. Not even the authentic Azuma-made JaPan could wipe the sour look on her face.

Now Tomoka wasn't annoyed at Sakuno, no. She was annoyed at Sakuno's phone and her textmate. The person had been texting Sakuno ever since the girl came to school on Monday and today had been the worst by far. She would even bet her presidency on her beloved Ryoma-sama's fanclub that her bestfriend was currently texting that rogue from Rikkai Dai, too. Her bestfriend senses were tingling.

She could also further bet that that wretched Ann from Fudomine was the one to give Sakuno's number to that boy. Tomoka had been curious about him last Saturday, she even found herself enjoying his company while they were making bears, but that was before she noticed how much attention he gave Sakuno.

Tomoka didn't like it if other boys aside from her beloved Ryoma-sama got too close to her bestfriend. She didn't mind the other Seigaku Regulars and students, for they were part of their little family, so to speak, but nobody was allowed to play matchmaker between Sakuno and anybody else who wasn't Ryoma-sama without going through her first.

She didn't see Sakuno give Kirihara her number that Saturday, so the only logical conclusion was that Ann had somehow given the boy Sakuno's number without Tomoka's permission. Again, she cursed why Sakuno had to call Ann instead of her when she borrowed Kirihara's phone. If Sakuno had called her instead of the other girl, Sakuno wouldn't have a new textmate right now. Ann's underhanded tactics was grating on her nerves. It was one thing to befriend people, and quite another to play matchmaker between them.

No, it wasn't enough that he not only bombarded Sakuno with text messages. Messages, by the way, which Sakuno seemed to greatly enjoy if the constant smile playing on her lips was any proof, no it wasn't enough. The boy actually had the nerve to come here early this morning to hand Sakuno a bear for White Day!

Tomoka's blood boiled at the thought.

Sakuno didn't even know Akaya last Valentine's Day, therefore she didn't give anything to the boy to make him go all the way to Seigaku early in the morning just to drop it off. What was he playing at? Ibu Shinji from Fudomine, Tomoka could tolerate. The boy seemed to be deprived of anybody who was willing to sit through his lectures when he spoke his mind except for Sakuno. Tomoka wasn't going to begrudge him of that because she felt the same way.

Nobody else would tolerate her loud and bossy attitude except for Sakuno. She intimidated most people and most people couldn't understand the burning passion she had. Ibu was the same as her, but she couldn't say the same thing about Kirihara.

How dare he give Sakuno a bear?

And what about Ryoma-sama? Sure it was only recess, but most of the girls in the school received most of their gifts already. She has yet to see what Ryoma-sama was going to give Sakuno.

“Aren't you done with that yet?” Tomoka said crossly, glaring at the offending phone.

Sakuno blushed, feeling guilty for ignoring her friend. She couldn't text message during class so she had to sneak it in between periods, while waiting for the next teacher. Recess had been the biggest break so far and she was just taking advantage of it. She didn't stop to think that she was being rude to her bestfriend.

“Gomen nasai, Tomo-chan!” She sent one more message before putting her phone away.

“Who are you texting anyway?” Tomoka frowned even more as Sakuno's blush deepened.

“It's just Akaya-kun, being silly.”

“You know Sakuno,” it was time to give her bestfriend some advice “you shouldn't get too close to him.”

Sakuno blinked curiously. “Why not, Tomo-chan?” What was wrong with being friends with the guy?

“Because people might think that there's something between you two.” And Ryoma-sama might not like it. “Next thing you know people are going to assume he's your boyfriend or something!” Tomoka visibly shivered, freaked out by the possibility of Sakuno having a boyfriend who wasn't her beloved Ryoma-sama.

Sakuno thought it was funny and laughed. “But that's silly!” Her shoulders shook in merriment.

“It's not funny and I'm being serious!”

“But it is! It is funny! It reminds me of how Atobe-san kept calling me the buchou's girlfriend and wouldn't listen to reason.”

Tomoka refused to crack a smile even if she agreed that Atobe was acting loony the last time they saw him. “All that ego must have affected his brain.” She couldn't resist.

“He's not that bad,” Sakuno grimaced from her unconvinced tone.

“No, he's not.” Tomoka suddenly agreed. “He's worse. Can you imagine if other people believed what he was saying?” As much as she liked Tezuka-buchou, she liked Ryoma-sama for Sakuno more.

Sakuno made a face. “He's just… umm… very… enthusiastic when it comes to Tezuka-buchou.” One must always find the good in a person, no matter how big an ego they had. “He just got carried away but I'm sure he'll realize that buchou wouldn't have a girlfriend like me.” She was just some lowly freshmen who tagged along with him.

“Sakuno…”

“Nyah Ryuzaki-chan, there you are!!!” Kikumaru's voice interrupted whatever Tomoka was going to say as he dragged Oishi behind him. “We've been looking all over for you!”

Urusai - “noisy”, you're “annoying”, “shut up”

Ichinen - freshmen, “one year”

P.S.

Well… crap. This was like 12 pages of nothing. -.- I don't think I liked this chapter at all. 8( White Day is on March 14 but forgive me for being late with this. I've become obsessed with this day instead of Valentine's Day after I saw it on Tsubasa Chronicle and Fruits Basket. ._.;; Twenty one for twenty one is taken from Gilmore Girls. Credit goes to Howl's Castle, Voldemort and the whole world in case I missed anybody.

Thanks for all your reviews last chapter and keep them coming kudasai! 8D