[Log] Falling Sakura Petals
Who: Fuji Syuusuke and Ryuzaki Sakuno
Where: The Garden
When: Directly after this log~
What: Sakuno hears something that leaves her heartbroken.
Warning: G
Comments: Sure? ♥
She shouldn't have been there and she shouldn't have heard anything from their little chat but maybe bad luck walked on her shoulders? Ryuuzaki had indeed been there and heard too much - all from Ryoma-kun's 'Maybe just because I want to! Why do you date me, anyway?' to 'I am gay. Completely. There is nothing Ryuzaki could give me like that, ever. Uh okay, so her chances had always been in zero? She hadn't had no clue about any of it. So when she heard those words from Ryoma-kun, she was shocked and stayed there for a little while because her body wasn't able to move an inch.
She had to get out of there before the boys left the room, of course. Ryuuzaki just wasn't sure when exactly had she run away from that place. She didn't know when tears had started overflowing this much but her legs stopped working in the garden. Geez, it hurt to fall on the ground but Sakuno didn't care about it too much. That little amount of physical pain would go away in minutes. She sat up, tugged her up and drowned her face on them. Ryoma-kun was.. It felt devastating to a girl like her, really. Just how long had she been in love with him? Sakuno believed in love for first sight so maybe that long? Great, now her crying started becoming hysterical. Good thing she was alone in this garden or that's how she thought anyway. It's not like she checked the place when she entered it.
The book was good, but not good enough, Fuji decided after plowing through about thirty pages of it. He usually enjoyed books when they caught his attention immediately, or if they subtly managed to catch his attention, nearly without him noticing and then, when he looked up, he would have read maybe over 100 pages and hours had passed by. This book, however, was fun for the moment, but it wouldn't have the power to captivate him completely.
Therefore it was without regret that he got to his feet as he watched Ryuzaki Sakuno storm into the garden in which he had taken his refugee. The girl looked horribly messed up, and Fuji realized immediately that something quite bad must have had happened. There were Sakuno whining and then there were genuine distress after all, and this looked like a case of the latter. He walked up to her as she fell and squatted down beside her, head slightly leaning to the side. "Ah, but this is wrong... A pretty flower like you shouldn't be raining all over yourself."
Sakuno heard steps. She wished they were only in her mind or steps of someone who was leaving the place after her arrival. Neither one of her wishes came true when Fuji's voice reached her ears. Well, at least it was Fuji-senpai and not someone who'd only make Ryuuzaki feel worse right now. She wanted to be alone, sure, but this just might have been the best alternative of everyone in the camp to see Ryuuzaki like this. The girl took a look at Fuji. Hm, what to answer? She tried to form words from her lips until the situation hit her again and she started the hysterical crying again. "Sorry." The only word she was able to say in the middle of that crying. Yes, an apology because Sakuno really didn't want anyone to see her like this.
"Oh my, that serious?" Fuji hm-ed to himself and moved a little closer, digging around in his back pocket for a handkerchief. "You've just recently arrived, dear... So I'm guessing you're not crying because of home sickness?" He reached out with the handkerchief and tried to gently wipe her face. The questions could wait for later, he decided, and put his other hand around the long haired girl. "There now..."
Ryuuzaki nodded a needless nod. Fuji-senpai could clearly see it was this serious -- well, to her this was at least. She just lost all of her dreams and hopes and whatever about the boy who was her first love by overhearing that conversation. And the boy sure made the ever word sound serious to her ears. Why did these tears overflow so much? No, this definitely wasn't home sickness. The word home made her almost wish that she had just stayed there though. Fuji's try of wiping those tears gently came all of a sudden and Sakuno looked surprised. She blinked her eyes at least twice. It worked better than her hands which only got salty wet in the process. Had it been a normal situation and Fuji-senpai could have made her smile with just those actions. Something like a hug offer, huh? But Ryuuzaki didn't want to wet his shirt. She swallowed a piece away from her throat after crying there for a while. "It's not home sickness at all... It's..." Why couldn't she just get those words out? And she'd have to stop this shaking.
"Shh, you don't have to explain," he hushed her, gently stroking her hair. This position was starting to get quite uncomfortable however and he figured he had to move her away from the ground eventually to place her on the nearest bench. He still had no idea what was wrong with her, but maybe it was something really serious... She might have heard that something had happened to Ryuzukaki-sensei or something. Fuji wasn't about to let her go before he knew what was going on, or before he had had any chance of comforting her. "Just... come on, Sakuno-chan... We can't stay like this." He gently tried to coax her onto her feet as he continued to talk. "The flowers need watering, that's true, but I think your tears might be a little bit too salty for them. There now... Come on, sweetie, you're not alone, okay? I'm here."
Uh, she didn't have to explain it right now? Sakuno wondered whether it was good or bad to keep it in her own mind, felt like it was breaking her more and more. Fuji's hand on her hair felt comfortable though. Ryuuzaki wasn't sure if she even realized Fuji being there, she was still in shock about what she just heard. What? She'd have to go somewhere because they couldn't stay like this? Sakuno looked confused about it. Maybe this place wasn't such a good place for a girl to cry, eh, true. Ryuuzaki got up to his feet slowly. This shouldn't have reminded her of that running but it did and it hurt. Her legs worked at least, maybe that was very important right now. Good, she'd have to calm down even a little. She nodded, they could go to ... Wherever he was about to take the girl. Damn, she felt bad for being so quiet. Well, she was almost always quiet and shy but today she was even more quiet than usual. Maybe this was just a bad bad nightmare? No, she shouldn't think about that idea. She felt like Fuji needed explanation sooner or later, right now just wasn't the right time. Sakuno would have to calm down more first.
He gently led her over to a bench as she seemed almost unaware about her surroundings or anything. Fuji couldn't help but worry, but he carefully sat her down, smiling at her, his face not revealing his uncertain thoughts in the least. "Now, first we need to make sure you calm down, sweetie. And then I'll have a look at your knees, nee?"
Bench? Oh that's right, they were in a garden, of course there was at least one bench. She sat down on it - or well, was more like sat down by Fuji-senpai and she still didn't look like the smiley girl that she was. Smile on Fuji's face received a mental smile from her though. Oh she was glad it really had been Fuji who found her. Anyone else could have been a bad thing right now. "Mmm. My knees are fine though." She sobbed. Maybe there were a few scratches and small trails of blood but that wasn't serious.
"You think so now," he tsked, brushing her hair out of her face. "But you wouldn't want to get dirt into the scrapes, Sakuno-chan. That could be bad." He smiled at her. "I'm sure the boys will like it if your legs are as pretty as the rest of you~"
"Right, dirt would be bad." Ryuuzaki wouldn't most likely even notice thing like dirt on her knees right now but she didn't want to find dirt from those scrapes later either. So luckily there was someone who took care of things like that right now. Boys ... Like ..... You. Such hurting words for the moment but of course Fuji couldn't know how they hurt right now. Crying started again, she disliked herself for that but Sakuno couldn't do anything about it now. She didn't want to cry this much!
Blink. "Sakuno-chan?" Oh. Had he said something wrong? He was about to reach for his handkerchief, but then reconsidered as it was already wet enough to do next to nothing good, and instead he released her and walked up to one of the flower beds. He kneeled and started to slowly pick himself a bouquet; yellow, pink, orange and white flowers, more or less withered by now, but some still pretty, and he made sure he had his back to the girl, giving her some sort of privacy while still keeping check on where she was.
Sakuno'd have to stop this, she was crying way too much. Or was she? She had just lost all of her chances on the boy she loved, it sure wasn't an easy thing to understand. Fuji went somewhere. Ryuuzaki startled as he left but then she saw him going to the flower bed. Oh good, that wasn't too far away. For a moment she thought that senpai would just leave her alone now. She took her time to cry there alone, yet she wasn't alone just like Fuji said earlier. But would it be better if she calmed down first and maybe talked after that - and maybe broke down again after that? She could try~. Not to force herself but try. Except she couldn't find the words. She never found any words when it was something about Ryoma-kun, typical. Sakuno sighed after tears stopped flowing. She really lost this boys vs. girl match 6-0.
After what seemed a too long a time - poor girl - the sobbing subdued and Fuji had managed to put together a pretty nice bouquet of he dared to say so himself. He straightened himself up and walked back to the bench, greeting the timid, crushed girl with a caring smile. "If you'd like to go and wash your face, I understand," he said softly, placing the flowers in her lap. "But maybe these little ones need water too. Would you like to see to that, Sakuno-chan?"
Fuji walked back to her with the beautiful bouquet of flowers in his hands. Ryuuzaki shooked her head. "Ummh, I guess it's fine this way." She almost felt like going though but figured this was better. She'd have time to wash her face later. Total surprise hit her face when Fuji placed the flowers in her lap. For her? Sakuno liked the scent of them and Fuji succeeded in getting a little smile from her now. "Mmm, I'd like to see that~" The smile didn't last long but at least it had been there on her face.
Well, that was a start. Fuji kept smiling while he made himself comfortable and then reached out one bony hand to play absentmindedly with one of her braids. "Does... Does this mood of yours have anything to do with..." Well, he should just say it, shouldn't he? "... Echizen?"
The hand playing with one braid felt... Funny. It always did, whether it was she or someone else playing with them. Sakuno twitched for the question and looked surprised again. Of course it wasn't difficult to say who was this about. Sure, it had everything to do with Echizen Ryoma. Sakuno nodded and moved her boots on the ground. She didn't want to cry about this anymore in the next few hours, she knew she was going to cry about it again in the next 24 hours though. It wasn't easy to let go of those feelings, it wasn't supposed to be easy either when it was love in question. "He ...." Sakuno swallowed. "I overheard him talking to Dan-kun about the....ir relati...onship." Okay, she didn't start crying again but it hurt to say those words. At least she didn't tell anything too straight so it was easier to say it.
Oh. Oh my... Fuji remembered how he had been telling Dan that he should set things straight with Echizen... But he had never intended for Sakuno-chan to overhear that; nor had he realized completely just how strongly she felt for the tennis prodigy. Well, this put him in a quite awkward position, didn't it? He released her braid and instead picked up the flower bouquet, picking out a small, pink flower and looked down on it. It would look great in Sakuno's hair, he decided, but it would have to wait. For now, he just had to make sure she knew that he listened to her and that he wasn't going to interrupt her any time soon. The girl needed to get things off her chest, and that was all. He gave her a sympathetic smile and nodded slowly, waiting for her to continue.
The words she had heard had made her thinking about something. Why was she so in love with Ryoma-kun or why did these feelings start in first place? She wasn't going to think about it now though. She'd have almost too much time to think about it later. Wait, was Fuji waiting for her to continue? Sakuno blushed and turned her eyes to stare down to the flowers. Her legs kicked upwards slowly. "I never knew he's ..... completely gay nor that he's in a relationship with someone. Or that I'd hear words like there's nothing like that I could give to him, ever." Nothing and ever hurt the most, sure. Maybe she should have seen it coming. It wasn't like Ryoma-kun had ever paid much attention to her or anything. One bit to her lip. "I had no idea of it. Any of it. He sounded so... Cold as usual. I .... guess it's about time to stop daydreaming about him and move on." But she'd have to get over this heartache first, of course
Fuji leaned back in his seat, fingers idly toying with the small pink flower. "What would you have preferred? Hearing it straight and to the point like this, even if the wording was rather cruel... Or if he said something face to face with you and tried to cover things up?" He paused for a moment, then added with a rueful smile on his lips. "Of course, there's the third option. That he said those hurtful things straight to your face. And the fourth, that he said nothing at all."
Sakuno wondered if she could just bury her face to those flowers to make sure senpai didn't see her blushing so much. She shouldn't have heard anything from that conversation! And now Fuji-senpai reminded her that she had indeed heard something. The question was good though, very good actually. The last option was the easiest way, mmhmm, but she wouldn't prefer an option like that. Ryuuzaki thought about it for a moment, tilting her head at some point as she thought about it more and more. "Face to face. I know it would have hurt very much but now I feel like a stalker or something. I just happened to be close to that place and heard it." It reminded her of not following Ryoma-kun's voice everytime she heard it. She had done that much in their first year of junior high school. "Fuji-senpai knew?" A little curious face looked at Fuji's face.
The girl was intelligent, Fuji concluded. Painfully shy and lacking in the self confidence area, yes, but she wasn't stupid. He appreciated it, it made it easier to talk to her. He turned his head slightly so that he was able to look her straight in the eyes, and then nodded. "I did... I... I'm actually the one at fault here, Sakuno-chan." He paused and brought the flower to his lips, kissing the petals and inhaling its scent before he continued. "Dan-kun and Echizen had a fight, and I told Dan-kun that he should really talk with Echizen to figure out his true feelings. A relationship is a bad one if either or both of the parties involved are hurt because of lack of communication after all, and..." He shrugged. "I just never thought they would have the conversation in public. I'm sorry, Sakuno-chan..."
It was a simple answer after all. Face to face was always the best option, no matter how much it could hurt. Maybe it made her wonder if the boy was ever going to tell her though. Ryoma-kun sucked at talking about things like that, everyone knew it. Fuji's words made Ryuuzaki blink. Fuji was part of this somehow? The boy kissing those petals had something to do with this? Well, good to know she hadn't told details about Ryoma-kun's life to someone who didn't know about Ryoma-kun's relationship but... Sakuno listened carefully to every word of it. So that's how Fuji was part of it and maybe he had known about them for long. Well, maybe almost everyone at this camp knew about the relationship. Sakuno wasn't going to start yelling about it anyway. She knew and that was enough after this conversation. Now, many girls could have just thrown the flowers back to Fuji and storm out of the place after hearing all those words from Fuji. Ryuuzaki wasn't a girl like that. She sat quiet for a while, thinking about all she just heard. Then she brought her face closer to those flowers in her lap and inhaled their scent for a bit. "Mm~m." Sakuno shook her head. "Fuji-senpai did the right thing, that's what I think. I just happened to hear it and maybe that's how it was meant to be." She paused for a moment, thinking she was too chatty. "At least I know now. I won't dream about him in vain anymore."
This was where some people would probably say that things would get better with time, that she would get over him and just look back at this as her first childhood crush and that it was a memory she would learn to cherish as she grew older. Fuji wasn't going to say that, mostly because he was still dealing with his own heartbreak, and even though he hadn't really talked with anyone about that, he knew that had he done that, he wouldn't have liked to hear the platitudes that were so easily spouted by some people. "The dreams might stay," he said carefully. "I was turned down not long ago... And it was stupid of me to confess in the first place, as I knew the one I confessed to was already seeing someone... But I still have the dreams, you know?" He paused and got to his feet, leaning down to place the pink flower behind Sakuno's ear. "And for me," he continued softly, "the dreams are a sign that I haven't lost the ability to love, and I welcome them. Of course it's all a matter of individuality... What works for me doesn't have to work for you." He pulled back once he had fastened the flower properly and smiled down at the girl. "Just know that you can come to me if you ever need someone to talk to, Sakuno-chan."
The dreams might stay? Yes, maybe it was true. She could keep her dreams in her mind. There was nothing bad about dreaming unless they hurt but she'd have to see that later. Right now it all hurt too much even though Fuji had really made her feel better. Sakuno blinked in surprise. Fuji-senpai had been turned down? By an already taken someone. So Fuji-senpai had even confessed to someone like that. That was wonderful, to be able to confess one's feelings to the one who was the receiver of those feelings. There was a sad smile on her face but the face was somewhere behind the flowers again. She had been too shy to confess her own feelings, too bad. Sakuno blinked as Fuji placed the flower on her. What? A flower? That and those words about dreams made her smile. Yeah, that's right. Fuji made it sound wise and right. There was nothing bad about dreams anyway, not anymore now when she knew the truth. Not when Fuji had confessed and all. She smiled gently. "I'll keep that in my mind, Fuji-senpai. You have amazing skills to cheer people up after all." Sakuno was cheer for now. Sigh. Sure, she might be sad about Ryoma-kun again but she'd have to remember this conversation here. Life had the ability to go on, it always did that at some point.
Where: The Garden
When: Directly after this log~
What: Sakuno hears something that leaves her heartbroken.
Warning: G
Comments: Sure? ♥
She shouldn't have been there and she shouldn't have heard anything from their little chat but maybe bad luck walked on her shoulders? Ryuuzaki had indeed been there and heard too much - all from Ryoma-kun's 'Maybe just because I want to! Why do you date me, anyway?' to 'I am gay. Completely. There is nothing Ryuzaki could give me like that, ever. Uh okay, so her chances had always been in zero? She hadn't had no clue about any of it. So when she heard those words from Ryoma-kun, she was shocked and stayed there for a little while because her body wasn't able to move an inch.
She had to get out of there before the boys left the room, of course. Ryuuzaki just wasn't sure when exactly had she run away from that place. She didn't know when tears had started overflowing this much but her legs stopped working in the garden. Geez, it hurt to fall on the ground but Sakuno didn't care about it too much. That little amount of physical pain would go away in minutes. She sat up, tugged her up and drowned her face on them. Ryoma-kun was.. It felt devastating to a girl like her, really. Just how long had she been in love with him? Sakuno believed in love for first sight so maybe that long? Great, now her crying started becoming hysterical. Good thing she was alone in this garden or that's how she thought anyway. It's not like she checked the place when she entered it.
The book was good, but not good enough, Fuji decided after plowing through about thirty pages of it. He usually enjoyed books when they caught his attention immediately, or if they subtly managed to catch his attention, nearly without him noticing and then, when he looked up, he would have read maybe over 100 pages and hours had passed by. This book, however, was fun for the moment, but it wouldn't have the power to captivate him completely.
Therefore it was without regret that he got to his feet as he watched Ryuzaki Sakuno storm into the garden in which he had taken his refugee. The girl looked horribly messed up, and Fuji realized immediately that something quite bad must have had happened. There were Sakuno whining and then there were genuine distress after all, and this looked like a case of the latter. He walked up to her as she fell and squatted down beside her, head slightly leaning to the side. "Ah, but this is wrong... A pretty flower like you shouldn't be raining all over yourself."
Sakuno heard steps. She wished they were only in her mind or steps of someone who was leaving the place after her arrival. Neither one of her wishes came true when Fuji's voice reached her ears. Well, at least it was Fuji-senpai and not someone who'd only make Ryuuzaki feel worse right now. She wanted to be alone, sure, but this just might have been the best alternative of everyone in the camp to see Ryuuzaki like this. The girl took a look at Fuji. Hm, what to answer? She tried to form words from her lips until the situation hit her again and she started the hysterical crying again. "Sorry." The only word she was able to say in the middle of that crying. Yes, an apology because Sakuno really didn't want anyone to see her like this.
"Oh my, that serious?" Fuji hm-ed to himself and moved a little closer, digging around in his back pocket for a handkerchief. "You've just recently arrived, dear... So I'm guessing you're not crying because of home sickness?" He reached out with the handkerchief and tried to gently wipe her face. The questions could wait for later, he decided, and put his other hand around the long haired girl. "There now..."
Ryuuzaki nodded a needless nod. Fuji-senpai could clearly see it was this serious -- well, to her this was at least. She just lost all of her dreams and hopes and whatever about the boy who was her first love by overhearing that conversation. And the boy sure made the ever word sound serious to her ears. Why did these tears overflow so much? No, this definitely wasn't home sickness. The word home made her almost wish that she had just stayed there though. Fuji's try of wiping those tears gently came all of a sudden and Sakuno looked surprised. She blinked her eyes at least twice. It worked better than her hands which only got salty wet in the process. Had it been a normal situation and Fuji-senpai could have made her smile with just those actions. Something like a hug offer, huh? But Ryuuzaki didn't want to wet his shirt. She swallowed a piece away from her throat after crying there for a while. "It's not home sickness at all... It's..." Why couldn't she just get those words out? And she'd have to stop this shaking.
"Shh, you don't have to explain," he hushed her, gently stroking her hair. This position was starting to get quite uncomfortable however and he figured he had to move her away from the ground eventually to place her on the nearest bench. He still had no idea what was wrong with her, but maybe it was something really serious... She might have heard that something had happened to Ryuzukaki-sensei or something. Fuji wasn't about to let her go before he knew what was going on, or before he had had any chance of comforting her. "Just... come on, Sakuno-chan... We can't stay like this." He gently tried to coax her onto her feet as he continued to talk. "The flowers need watering, that's true, but I think your tears might be a little bit too salty for them. There now... Come on, sweetie, you're not alone, okay? I'm here."
Uh, she didn't have to explain it right now? Sakuno wondered whether it was good or bad to keep it in her own mind, felt like it was breaking her more and more. Fuji's hand on her hair felt comfortable though. Ryuuzaki wasn't sure if she even realized Fuji being there, she was still in shock about what she just heard. What? She'd have to go somewhere because they couldn't stay like this? Sakuno looked confused about it. Maybe this place wasn't such a good place for a girl to cry, eh, true. Ryuuzaki got up to his feet slowly. This shouldn't have reminded her of that running but it did and it hurt. Her legs worked at least, maybe that was very important right now. Good, she'd have to calm down even a little. She nodded, they could go to ... Wherever he was about to take the girl. Damn, she felt bad for being so quiet. Well, she was almost always quiet and shy but today she was even more quiet than usual. Maybe this was just a bad bad nightmare? No, she shouldn't think about that idea. She felt like Fuji needed explanation sooner or later, right now just wasn't the right time. Sakuno would have to calm down more first.
He gently led her over to a bench as she seemed almost unaware about her surroundings or anything. Fuji couldn't help but worry, but he carefully sat her down, smiling at her, his face not revealing his uncertain thoughts in the least. "Now, first we need to make sure you calm down, sweetie. And then I'll have a look at your knees, nee?"
Bench? Oh that's right, they were in a garden, of course there was at least one bench. She sat down on it - or well, was more like sat down by Fuji-senpai and she still didn't look like the smiley girl that she was. Smile on Fuji's face received a mental smile from her though. Oh she was glad it really had been Fuji who found her. Anyone else could have been a bad thing right now. "Mmm. My knees are fine though." She sobbed. Maybe there were a few scratches and small trails of blood but that wasn't serious.
"You think so now," he tsked, brushing her hair out of her face. "But you wouldn't want to get dirt into the scrapes, Sakuno-chan. That could be bad." He smiled at her. "I'm sure the boys will like it if your legs are as pretty as the rest of you~"
"Right, dirt would be bad." Ryuuzaki wouldn't most likely even notice thing like dirt on her knees right now but she didn't want to find dirt from those scrapes later either. So luckily there was someone who took care of things like that right now. Boys ... Like ..... You. Such hurting words for the moment but of course Fuji couldn't know how they hurt right now. Crying started again, she disliked herself for that but Sakuno couldn't do anything about it now. She didn't want to cry this much!
Blink. "Sakuno-chan?" Oh. Had he said something wrong? He was about to reach for his handkerchief, but then reconsidered as it was already wet enough to do next to nothing good, and instead he released her and walked up to one of the flower beds. He kneeled and started to slowly pick himself a bouquet; yellow, pink, orange and white flowers, more or less withered by now, but some still pretty, and he made sure he had his back to the girl, giving her some sort of privacy while still keeping check on where she was.
Sakuno'd have to stop this, she was crying way too much. Or was she? She had just lost all of her chances on the boy she loved, it sure wasn't an easy thing to understand. Fuji went somewhere. Ryuuzaki startled as he left but then she saw him going to the flower bed. Oh good, that wasn't too far away. For a moment she thought that senpai would just leave her alone now. She took her time to cry there alone, yet she wasn't alone just like Fuji said earlier. But would it be better if she calmed down first and maybe talked after that - and maybe broke down again after that? She could try~. Not to force herself but try. Except she couldn't find the words. She never found any words when it was something about Ryoma-kun, typical. Sakuno sighed after tears stopped flowing. She really lost this boys vs. girl match 6-0.
After what seemed a too long a time - poor girl - the sobbing subdued and Fuji had managed to put together a pretty nice bouquet of he dared to say so himself. He straightened himself up and walked back to the bench, greeting the timid, crushed girl with a caring smile. "If you'd like to go and wash your face, I understand," he said softly, placing the flowers in her lap. "But maybe these little ones need water too. Would you like to see to that, Sakuno-chan?"
Fuji walked back to her with the beautiful bouquet of flowers in his hands. Ryuuzaki shooked her head. "Ummh, I guess it's fine this way." She almost felt like going though but figured this was better. She'd have time to wash her face later. Total surprise hit her face when Fuji placed the flowers in her lap. For her? Sakuno liked the scent of them and Fuji succeeded in getting a little smile from her now. "Mmm, I'd like to see that~" The smile didn't last long but at least it had been there on her face.
Well, that was a start. Fuji kept smiling while he made himself comfortable and then reached out one bony hand to play absentmindedly with one of her braids. "Does... Does this mood of yours have anything to do with..." Well, he should just say it, shouldn't he? "... Echizen?"
The hand playing with one braid felt... Funny. It always did, whether it was she or someone else playing with them. Sakuno twitched for the question and looked surprised again. Of course it wasn't difficult to say who was this about. Sure, it had everything to do with Echizen Ryoma. Sakuno nodded and moved her boots on the ground. She didn't want to cry about this anymore in the next few hours, she knew she was going to cry about it again in the next 24 hours though. It wasn't easy to let go of those feelings, it wasn't supposed to be easy either when it was love in question. "He ...." Sakuno swallowed. "I overheard him talking to Dan-kun about the....ir relati...onship." Okay, she didn't start crying again but it hurt to say those words. At least she didn't tell anything too straight so it was easier to say it.
Oh. Oh my... Fuji remembered how he had been telling Dan that he should set things straight with Echizen... But he had never intended for Sakuno-chan to overhear that; nor had he realized completely just how strongly she felt for the tennis prodigy. Well, this put him in a quite awkward position, didn't it? He released her braid and instead picked up the flower bouquet, picking out a small, pink flower and looked down on it. It would look great in Sakuno's hair, he decided, but it would have to wait. For now, he just had to make sure she knew that he listened to her and that he wasn't going to interrupt her any time soon. The girl needed to get things off her chest, and that was all. He gave her a sympathetic smile and nodded slowly, waiting for her to continue.
The words she had heard had made her thinking about something. Why was she so in love with Ryoma-kun or why did these feelings start in first place? She wasn't going to think about it now though. She'd have almost too much time to think about it later. Wait, was Fuji waiting for her to continue? Sakuno blushed and turned her eyes to stare down to the flowers. Her legs kicked upwards slowly. "I never knew he's ..... completely gay nor that he's in a relationship with someone. Or that I'd hear words like there's nothing like that I could give to him, ever." Nothing and ever hurt the most, sure. Maybe she should have seen it coming. It wasn't like Ryoma-kun had ever paid much attention to her or anything. One bit to her lip. "I had no idea of it. Any of it. He sounded so... Cold as usual. I .... guess it's about time to stop daydreaming about him and move on." But she'd have to get over this heartache first, of course
Fuji leaned back in his seat, fingers idly toying with the small pink flower. "What would you have preferred? Hearing it straight and to the point like this, even if the wording was rather cruel... Or if he said something face to face with you and tried to cover things up?" He paused for a moment, then added with a rueful smile on his lips. "Of course, there's the third option. That he said those hurtful things straight to your face. And the fourth, that he said nothing at all."
Sakuno wondered if she could just bury her face to those flowers to make sure senpai didn't see her blushing so much. She shouldn't have heard anything from that conversation! And now Fuji-senpai reminded her that she had indeed heard something. The question was good though, very good actually. The last option was the easiest way, mmhmm, but she wouldn't prefer an option like that. Ryuuzaki thought about it for a moment, tilting her head at some point as she thought about it more and more. "Face to face. I know it would have hurt very much but now I feel like a stalker or something. I just happened to be close to that place and heard it." It reminded her of not following Ryoma-kun's voice everytime she heard it. She had done that much in their first year of junior high school. "Fuji-senpai knew?" A little curious face looked at Fuji's face.
The girl was intelligent, Fuji concluded. Painfully shy and lacking in the self confidence area, yes, but she wasn't stupid. He appreciated it, it made it easier to talk to her. He turned his head slightly so that he was able to look her straight in the eyes, and then nodded. "I did... I... I'm actually the one at fault here, Sakuno-chan." He paused and brought the flower to his lips, kissing the petals and inhaling its scent before he continued. "Dan-kun and Echizen had a fight, and I told Dan-kun that he should really talk with Echizen to figure out his true feelings. A relationship is a bad one if either or both of the parties involved are hurt because of lack of communication after all, and..." He shrugged. "I just never thought they would have the conversation in public. I'm sorry, Sakuno-chan..."
It was a simple answer after all. Face to face was always the best option, no matter how much it could hurt. Maybe it made her wonder if the boy was ever going to tell her though. Ryoma-kun sucked at talking about things like that, everyone knew it. Fuji's words made Ryuuzaki blink. Fuji was part of this somehow? The boy kissing those petals had something to do with this? Well, good to know she hadn't told details about Ryoma-kun's life to someone who didn't know about Ryoma-kun's relationship but... Sakuno listened carefully to every word of it. So that's how Fuji was part of it and maybe he had known about them for long. Well, maybe almost everyone at this camp knew about the relationship. Sakuno wasn't going to start yelling about it anyway. She knew and that was enough after this conversation. Now, many girls could have just thrown the flowers back to Fuji and storm out of the place after hearing all those words from Fuji. Ryuuzaki wasn't a girl like that. She sat quiet for a while, thinking about all she just heard. Then she brought her face closer to those flowers in her lap and inhaled their scent for a bit. "Mm~m." Sakuno shook her head. "Fuji-senpai did the right thing, that's what I think. I just happened to hear it and maybe that's how it was meant to be." She paused for a moment, thinking she was too chatty. "At least I know now. I won't dream about him in vain anymore."
This was where some people would probably say that things would get better with time, that she would get over him and just look back at this as her first childhood crush and that it was a memory she would learn to cherish as she grew older. Fuji wasn't going to say that, mostly because he was still dealing with his own heartbreak, and even though he hadn't really talked with anyone about that, he knew that had he done that, he wouldn't have liked to hear the platitudes that were so easily spouted by some people. "The dreams might stay," he said carefully. "I was turned down not long ago... And it was stupid of me to confess in the first place, as I knew the one I confessed to was already seeing someone... But I still have the dreams, you know?" He paused and got to his feet, leaning down to place the pink flower behind Sakuno's ear. "And for me," he continued softly, "the dreams are a sign that I haven't lost the ability to love, and I welcome them. Of course it's all a matter of individuality... What works for me doesn't have to work for you." He pulled back once he had fastened the flower properly and smiled down at the girl. "Just know that you can come to me if you ever need someone to talk to, Sakuno-chan."
The dreams might stay? Yes, maybe it was true. She could keep her dreams in her mind. There was nothing bad about dreaming unless they hurt but she'd have to see that later. Right now it all hurt too much even though Fuji had really made her feel better. Sakuno blinked in surprise. Fuji-senpai had been turned down? By an already taken someone. So Fuji-senpai had even confessed to someone like that. That was wonderful, to be able to confess one's feelings to the one who was the receiver of those feelings. There was a sad smile on her face but the face was somewhere behind the flowers again. She had been too shy to confess her own feelings, too bad. Sakuno blinked as Fuji placed the flower on her. What? A flower? That and those words about dreams made her smile. Yeah, that's right. Fuji made it sound wise and right. There was nothing bad about dreams anyway, not anymore now when she knew the truth. Not when Fuji had confessed and all. She smiled gently. "I'll keep that in my mind, Fuji-senpai. You have amazing skills to cheer people up after all." Sakuno was cheer for now. Sigh. Sure, she might be sad about Ryoma-kun again but she'd have to remember this conversation here. Life had the ability to go on, it always did that at some point.