The sun beat down without mercy on the tennis court below suffocating the players practicing for their upcoming match. Each court was taken up as they all divided into pairs and gave it their all, the loser of each match having to try Inui’s new special juice. The sounds of balls thudding against the court’s surface echoed across the school yard, drawing spectators from all edges of the school grounds.
The practice drained on the player’s strength as neither side gave in. Among the crowd stood Coach Ryuzaki, Inui, and Tezuka, each one of them watched every match carefully, looking for improvement. Tezuka’s match against sophomore Momoshiro had ended quickly once the captain brought out his Drop Shot, and now Momoshiro was most likely in the bathroom trying to get rid of Inui’s special drink results. Inui stood on the sidelines, notebook in hand, gathering data to further the training regiment for the following day. Coach Ryuzaki studied each player, a smile on her lips at the improvements witnessed before her. In the now dwindling crowd, Sakuno Ryuzaki, the coach’s grand-daughter, stood at the fence, the links clenched between her fingers, as she watched the boy of her dreams move across the court, his movements graceful.
There were only two matches going on now. The first was between Echizen Ryoma, Seigaku’s freshman regular, and Fuji Syusuke, the tennis prodigy of the school. They were pulling out all the stops as they battled for “safety” from Inui’s juice. Their battle raged on, neither showing signs of tiring. On the other end of the court, Oishi Syuichiroh, who made calculated shots, and Eiji Kikumaru, Seigaku’s acrobatic player, grinned at each other from each side of the net. They’re Seigaku’s golden pair and they knew the other’s moves so well that a lot of rallying was taking place between the two. Each player emitted waves of enjoyment and fierce determination.
Sakuno gripped the links of the fence tighter, her heart heavy with prayers that he would win. A slight breeze swept past and twirled her long braided pig-tails in the air, her wide brown eyes never leaving the game in front of her. She admired the way he moved and swung his racket. A sigh escaped her as he scored yet another point off of his partner.
Out on the courts Fuji sent yet another lob across the net, baiting Echizen into using his twist smash yet again. Echizen complied, a smirk darting across his face when Fuji rallied it with one of his three counter moves, sending it shooting past Echizen. Echizen pulled down his hat to hide his smirk and said, “Mada Mada Dane Fuji-senpai.” The point was called in Echizen’s favor to the shock of everyone watching.
“I see,” Inui said. “He was adjusting the slant of his racket each time, eventually hitting the side of the net to slow the momentum of the ball down, causing Fuji to miss the sweet spot of his racket as he counter attacked therefore sending the ball out of the lines. Hmm . . . good data,” he gripped his pen in his hands and wrote furiously, a shine glistening off of his glasses.
On the other side of Inui, Tezuka stared at the four players before him, a sliver of hope swelling up inside him, a hope that maybe they could go all the way this year. Coach Ryuzaki also felt the beginnings of hope as she stared with pride at her students. This year was different, everyone could feel it.
Sakuno stood silently, a mad blush skirting across her face every time she caught a glimpse of his smile. She knew what this feeling was, and she longed to do something about it. Anything at all, if only it would direct his attention to her.
The match between Oishi and Eiji continued as well, both of them seizing absolute joy in the game. Oishi would serve and wait for the return, rallying the ball back with his Moon Volley move. This move worked on most players, but on Eiji, who knew Oishi so well, it wasn’t as effective when he could use his acrobatics to jump, twirl, and flip across the court to reach the hard to reach returns.
So much time passed that the sun became hidden behind the incoming clouds, the overcast leading to a sudden downpour that caught everybody in a mad dash to clean up the courts, except for the Echizen and Fuji match, where they continued to play. Everyone stared in amazement and then in laughter as Coach Ryuzaki strolled onto their court and called a halt to the match, gripping Ryoma’s cheeks in between pinched fingers. His exclamation of “ow” reverberated throughout the court.
As the lecture began, the others rushed for shelter, some to the storage closet, and others to the locker room. Sakuno rushed to the side of the building, her troubled eyes following her crush as he bounced alongside his friends to change. Clenching the fabric of her shirt over her heart, Sakuno’s eyes filled with tears as a heavy pressure descended upon her. It was time to make her move, she decided. I can’t wait any longer or this urgency I feel will crush me. Straightening her spine she strode to the locker room doors and leaned against the wall, waiting for him to come out. Her fire-glazed eyes stared out over the empty courts, her mind was focused, and determination sprawled across her delicate features.
Inside the locker room, the regulars of the Seigaku Tennis Team clapped and cheered for each other over the victories, and shouted encouragement for the loses. They all looked on in amusement as Ochibi (Ryoma) pouted his displeasure at having his match interrupted. Fuji stood back with Tezuka, both of them speculating on the strength of their youngest member. Oishi gulped down water in between deep breaths, his heart still accelerated from his match with Eiji. Eiji was bouncing around the room shouting, “Nya,” to the ceiling, excitement gripping him still from his match. Kaidou and Momoshiro stood off to the side, arguing once again on who was better.
The bustle of the locker room carried outside and Sakuno’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing the laughter from her crush. Her eyes closed in delighted pain as his voice touched her ears. All of a sudden the locker room doors banged open and the Seigaku regulars piled out one after another, the down pour having receded to a light sprinkle. Jerking to a standing position, Sakuno stared at Eiji, a desperate hope filling her heart that maybe he could love her back, would love her back.
“Oi, Sakuno,” exclaimed Momoshiro, a sly grin sliding across his face. “Did you come to wait for your lover?” He sent this exclamation teasingly and was shocked when she became a pretty shade of pink and cast her eyes down. The others watched with curiosity, except Tezuka who walked away toward the school gates.
“Echizen,” Momo sniggered, “your girlfriend is here. You lucky dog you.” He nudged Ryoma in the side, sending him skittering into Sakuno. She gasped and tried to grab him to keep him from falling but they both ended up tumbling to the ground, Sakuno landing on bottom.
“Nya, Momoshiro!” Eiji exclaimed, jumping in to lift Sakuno to her feet as Oishi helped Echizen to his. “Look what you did. You hurt Sakuno-chan,” he gasped when he noticed the blood dripping from her elbows where she had scraped herself against the asphalt. He then noticed her legs shaking and her hand cradling her head. “Sakuno-chan, did you hit your head?” He looked at her, worry etched across his face.
“Gomenesai sempai,” Sakuno murmured her eyes locked on Eiji’s as her heart pounded erratically in her chest. The feel of his hands on her arms, the warmth emitting from them, made her go weak kneed and light headed, causing her to stumble into his chest. Too stunned to move, she leaned into Eiji-senpai and tried to control her breathing. Momoshiro laughed, “Look Echizen, if you don’t move soon Sakuno could fall for one of your very handsome senpai.” Sakuno gasped and looked at Eiji-senpai, her face becoming as bright as a tomato. Jerking back, she squealed in panic and took off running, desperate to leave the watchful eyes of all the regulars.
They all stood still, frozen in time for a second as each member absorbed what had just happened. Momoshiro, the first to break out of his trance murmured, “Is it just me or did she seem to have eyes only for Eiji-senpai?” Confusion settled across everyone’s face as they glanced at Eiji, who stared blankly back at them. Across the thoughts of everyone but Eiji was “Momoshiro could be right.”
Slowly a dawning light began to seep into the acrobat’s eyes, his mouth dropped open and he exclaimed, “Nya! What do you mean? But . . . I thought she had eyes for Ochibi only. Nya,” a hint of panic crept into his voice at the end as he stared at Echizen with wild eyes. Echizen met his gaze and pulled the bill of his cap back.
“Mada Mada Dane,” he muttered under his breath. “Eiji-senpai, I have no feelings for Ryuzaki-san except for friendship. She has to have noticed this and moved on. You are now the object of her affections. So what are you going to do about it, senpai?”
Eiji stared at the group before him and shook his head slightly, his brow puckered in confusion. “I have no idea,” he whispered under his breath as he looked toward the direction that Sakuno had disappeared in, “I have no idea.”
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Sakuno ran with all the energy she possessed, which wasn’t that much, and desperately held onto her tears. Reaching the park, she stumbled to a bench and placed her spinning head on her knees. What have I done, she thought. I looked at him and felt all my love for him shining in my eyes and then was too coward to say anything, instead, turning from the group, I ran. “What have I done,” she wept, cradling her tear stained face in her trembling hands.
Sakuno stayed in the park until the moon was shining high in the sky and the wind whispered in the silent trees. Her self-reflection ended with no results and she staggered home with a heavy conscious and a cracked heart, the fear of tomorrow overwhelming her.
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Sunlight streamed in through the slightly parted blinds, landing on the sleeping face of Eiji Kikumaru. Mumbling under his breath, he tucked his head underneath his pillow and moaned. Sunlight still managed to sneak in between the cracks of his bedding, blinding him. Shifting his eyes open a sliver, he peeked at the alarm clock on the nightstand beside his bed and exclaimed, “Nya,” as he bolted from his bed and dashed to the closet. Rummaging into its deep depths, he pulled out his school uniform and stripped to his boxers, replacing his night clothes with school ones.
Stumbling down the stairs into the kitchen, he swiped a piece of toast from the table and leapt for the door, shouting a quick good-bye over his shoulder to his smiling family who all shook in their heads in amusement. This was a normal morning in the Kikumaru household.
Eiji made it to school just in time for first bell. Sitting in his seat, he laughed with the rest of the class until the teacher marched in and started the day’s lessons. Eiji quickly lost focus and shifted his gaze outside, his mind bringing yesterday’s event into clear focus. Sakuno-chan, he thought. The whole scene kept replaying itself in his head over and over. It had prevented him from getting sleep last night until the wee hours of the morning. Just thinking about Sakuno made his heart ache, but Eiji was unsure what his true feelings toward the girl were.
The rest of the day passed by in a blur for Eiji as he tried to analyze his feelings for Sakuno-chan. Each class went unnoticed and he changed rooms only out of habit. At the end of the day, he made his way to the tennis courts, his usual energy lacking in his eyes and his actions.
Suddenly Eiji halted and was rooted to the spot as he caught a glimpse of Sakuno among the girl tennis players. When she turned her head to laugh at her friend Tomoko-chan’s antics, Sakuno’s eyes didn’t hold their usual glimmer of happiness. The smile and the laughter seemed forced and very painful for the young girl.
A sharp pain began to build in Eiji’s chest and a desperate and lonely feeling began to well up inside him; longing. In the bright of day, right beside the tennis courts, Eiji found that he had indeed fallen in love with Sakuno Ryuzaki and an emotion so intense began to strangle him; want. Losing thought of all else, Eiji walked onto the girl’s tennis court and headed for Sakuno.
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Sakuno tried desperately to present a cheerful façade to the world as she died slowly inside. Eiji-senpai could never love me. He looks at me and see’s “Echizen’s girlfriend”, not a love interest. Sakuno sighed deeply, a gloss of tears shimmering in her eyes briefly before she blinked them away. Refocusing on Tomoko-chan, she forced a smile upon her tired face. Sleep had been late in coming to her last night as she lay on her bed fretting about her encounter with Eiji-senpai. It had left a crack in her heart and that crack had widened as she remembered the way he had placed her permanently as “Ochibi’s girlfriend”. Her mad dash away from the regulars hadn’t been fast enough, for Sakuno had heard Eiji’s parting shout about him thinking that she had had eyes only for Ryoma-kun.
Heart aching in her chest, Sakuno turned to the side and stared out over the courts, her mind on him, always on him. From behind her she heard a sharp gasp of surprise and then everything was still. “Tomoko-chan, what . . .,” she questioned as she turned to her friend. The words, however, died in her throat as she came face to face with Eiji-senpai. Taking a faltering step back, she lost her balance and ended up on the ground, staring up into the face of her crush as he leaned over her.
“Nya, Sakuno-chan, are you ok?” He held out a hand to help her to her feet, brushing his fingers against her palm in a slight caress as he let go. Her startled eyes shot to his guarded ones, unease trickling down her spine.
“H-Hai, Eiji-senpai, I am fine,” Sakuno blushed deeply with discomfort upon meeting those eyes so unlike the ones she had come to love. Brushing the dirt off of her skirt, she avoided his gaze in hopes that he would wander off and do what he had come to do, leaving her behind in a semblance of peace.
Abruptly, she was jerked forward into two strong arms. A collective gasp went out among the crowd as Eiji hugged Sakuno close to his chest and buried his face in her neck. “Sakuno-chan,” he breathed against her slender throat, “come with me.”
A tremor worked its way through her petite frame, an intense wave of longing coursing right along with it. Lifting her hands, she placed them on his slender shoulders and replied, “H-hai.”
Stepping back, he grabbed her hand and led her through the gaping crowd of girls toward the boy’s locker room. She stumbled along behind him as her legs threatened to give out any moment due to the fear clawing at her throat. Sweat gathered on her clammy palms, but her hand still gripped his much larger one tightly.
Upon reaching the door to the locker room, Eiji halted. Releasing Sakuno’s hand, he clenched his fists and rammed them against the door, leaving them there upon impact.
“Eiji-senpai,” Sakuno inquired hesitantly, stretching out a shaking hand and placing it on his slim back. Fierce tremors coursed along his body, traveling up her arm and jolting her senses. “Eiji-senpai, are you ill? Please, speak to me,” she begged as she moved to the side to see his face. Her eyes widened when she saw the look of indecision on his face.
Snapping toward her, his eyes snagged hers and held her captive. Standing up straight, Eiji opened the door and ushered her inside, locking them in together. Turning to Sakuno, he began to stalk her around the room, his eyes so bright from the many emotions swirling inside him. Sakuno, unsure of what exactly the gleam in his eyes meant, wheeled away from him, desperate to escape.
Finally reaching the door, she began to fumble with the lock but was frozen by the whispered plea from behind her: “Please don’t go Sakuno-chan.”
Those words wrapped around her like a warm blanket, giving her hope, perhaps a foolish hope. Turning back to her senpai, she swallowed, and whispered, “Why, Eiji-senpai? I need to know why.” Distress sat on her features, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. She held her breath in anticipation for his answer.
Eiji stared at the trembling girl before him, desperately trying to get his turbulent emotions under control. After that first wave of recognition, an intense longing had begun to build inside him and then, when he had been standing on the girl’s court, holding Sakuno to him, he had become buried under unrivaled passion for the sweet brunette. “Sakuno-chan, I feel so strongly for you. I want you to be mine, forever and always in every sense of the word. I love you,” he whispered the last part as tears shimmered in his eyes, all the emotions he held for this girl gripping his heart in a tight fist and not letting go. Reaching out a quivering hand, he stroked her cheek, gazing into her shy eyes, and murmured, “Sakuno-chan?”
Tears began to pour down her flushed cheeks as she threw herself into his arms. Gripping his shoulders, she stood on tip-toes and said, “Take me as yours, Eiji-senpai. Take me as yours!” Without waiting for a response from the stunned boy, she thrust her fingers into his silky locks and crushed his slightly parted lips in a deep, passionate kiss.
Eiji moaned and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. They stayed locked together for many moments, swept up in the emotions that were rolling over them. Eiji slid his hands to her waist and silently edged her back, bringing her passion down until they were placing sweet kisses on each other’s bruised lips. Lifting his hands, Eiji cupped her sweet face in between his trembling fingers and murmured, “You are mine, Sakuno, forever and for always.”
Sakuno smiled up at her love and whispered, “I love you, Eiji.” Gently kissing each other once more, their foreheads touched and they stared into each other’s eyes, love creating a cozy atmosphere around the new couple. It was the start of something new, something wonderful. They were finally together, and had all the hope and faith of the young to believe that they would be together forever.
