(no subject)
Title: Inexperience
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Fuji Syusuke, Ryuzaki Sakuno
Prompt: #35 - Sixth Sense
Word Count: 1, 358
Rating: PG
Summary: Making the right choices is a very hard thing.
Author's Note: This is a squeal to this
Disclaimer: I don’t own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters.
***
A petite girl leaned against a brick wall, seemingly waiting for someone. Her eyes were transfixed on the cement a foot away from her and a wrapped package occupied her hands.
The heat didn’t seem to bother her at all. That was what usually happened to a person when they were in deep thought.
“Sakuno!”
The name seemed to be the magic word for the girl, for she jolted out of her thoughts. With speed, the pig-tailed girl looked over to her side to find another girl walking towards her, waving as she did so.
The other seemed happy, with her big grin and closed eyes. She held a package in her free hand as well. Her brown hair didn’t seem to mind the heat since they stayed neatly tied in two ponytails.
“Ah, Tomo-chan. Shall we go?”
“Let’s!”
The two girls walked down a path that was parted into two when nearing the school. They took the left one because it would lead them to their destination.
“So who did Tomo-chan make lunch for?”
The other chuckled nervously, “No one special. Just…”
Sakuno turned her head to face her best friend. It was rare for the girl to stammer but the older girl didn’t mind this switch in roles. It was usually Sakuno that would stammer when asked who her made lunch was for.
Before the pig-tailed girl could prod at all, loud gasps filled their ears. The two stopped walking and watched the tennis club members run their usual number of laps.
Round and round the courts they would all run, most failing to complete the amount and falling to the ground. Those unlucky people were then punished by drinking a vile drink that went by the name of ‘Inui Juice’. Those poor souls.
The few that were left running were dubbed as ‘Regulars’. They, who were the most outstanding players of them all. Kikumaru Eiji and Momoshiro Takeshi jumped over the fallen bodies; they both seemed to be racing to the finish line.
The other regulars ran behind them, a little distance between them. Sakuno’s eyes fell on a short boy who wore a cap, as usual. She grinned and ducked her head, in order to hide her tiny blush.
When Tomoka’s teasing didn’t reach her ears, Sakuno became confused. Looking over to her side, the cinnamon eyed first-year found the other with stars in her eyes.
Curious as to who her best friend was looking at, the girl tried to follow the mesmerized gaze. She was a little taken back when she found Kaidoh Kaoru at the other end. It would be best if nothing was said.
“Ah…it seems as though practice is almost over. Shall we go settle down on the benches over there?”
Sakuno half-heartily pointed towards a picnic table located a short distance from the courts. A random noise emerged from Tomoka, meaning that that was okay.
The pigtailed girl smiled and nodded, leading the other girl towards their set destination. But before the two could reach the wooden piece of work, a certain tennis player caught their attention as usual.
His speed was amazing; the boy still managed to keep his hat on while running from one end of the court to the other. As per routine, the two stopped to admire the boy, of who they thought as an exceptionally good tennis player.
Because Sakuno was so engrossed in watching her favourite tennis player train, she failed to notice a pair of blue eyes watching her. Never did she think her smile might make someone else a bit annoyed. Especially when it was meant for someone else.
Fuji Syusuke watched the two first years and wondered what they found so interesting about Echizen. What he could do, the other tennis players could do - those in Seigaku, anyway.
What was so good about a cocky freshman? The seniors had more experience playing the game but why was it that the little kid had more of a fan club then them?
That smile that he had received only once from her was so easily given to someone who wasn’t paying attention to them. Fuji had worked hard for that smile…
“Fuji, what are you doing? Practice isn’t over yet.” Tezuka said as he walked towards him. Fuji’s half smile returned in to a full blown one in a flash and he nodded.
“Just watching something, Tezuka.”
He turned away from his captain, who was probably a bit confused at his reply as usual, and walked towards Echizen. After stating that Fuji would practice with his junior, the player smiled at Echizen before opening his eyes a fine crack.
Sakuno blinked before grinning shyly at Fuji. His eyes must have caught her for he was smiling and waving at her. It may have been the sun’s fault for messing with her eyes, but she could have sworn her sempai had opened his eyes a bit.
The only time that happened was when he was surprised or serious. Sakuno shook her head; no one really took practices seriously nowadays since there wasn’t a tournament or anything of the sort coming up, so there wasn’t a chance that she would be able to see his eyes.
“Go go, Ryoma-sama!”
Tomoka had started to jump up and down, getting excited over a simple game played between Fuji-sempai and Ryoma-kun.
“Tomo-chan…really…”
Sakuno closed her eyes and shook her head. The other girl could take things a little too far. When opening her eyes, she noticed another talented tennis player starring at them. He must have seen her for the boy then looked away, saying something that irked Momo-chan-sempai.
She tilted her head to the right a bit, a little confused by the action. “Ne, Sakuno! Look at Ryoma-sama! Isn’t he just so cool?!” Tomo-chan shrieked, causing the older girl to look at the rally Fuji-sempai and Ryoma-kun had going on.
Fuji hit the ball back lightly, making it twist to Echizen’s right. She had to have seen that move. It wasn’t his best shot or anything like that but it was a well known fact, to him anyway, that she would be impressed by the simplest moves.
Instead of hearing something meant for him, Fuji heard the two girls praising Echizen. His smile faltered but not enough so others would notice. When the first year hit a lob, the third year took the chance to smash it using all of his strength.
After seeing the somewhat confused expression of his junior, Fuji regained his smile. True the two had agreed to a rally but because of certain factors, points needed to be gained.
“Fuji-sempai…what was-“
“Ah, Tezuka. What’s the matter?”
Ignoring Echizen, Fuji went on to talk with the captain. It didn’t help hearing a loud, “Ryoma-sama!” with a quiet, “You’re very talented…”
***
Sakuno eyed her senior as he walked away from the court and towards the tennis club’s respected captain. She watched him as guilt washed over her.
Neglecting her mentor was one of the cruellest things she had done to him. But he shouldn’t have kissed her back then, even if he was trying to teach her a lesson.
She looked away knowing that staring too long can catch someone’s unwanted attention. Ryoma-kun was an outstanding player, as was Fuji-sempai but she wasn’t about to be impressed with a move like the one the latter preformed.
“Sorry…but sempai shouldn’t have done that…” She mumbled out to no one in particular.
“Sa-ku-no! Let’s go! We’ll wait for Ryoma-sama over there!”
The pigtailed girl nodded and followed her friend towards a free bench. A sudden urge had her wanting to glance back at the blue eyed tennis player but that would be the wrong move.
To resist the urge, Sakuno bit her lip but all that did was cause her pain. She tilted her head enough so it didn’t seem like she was looking back, to glance at him. It definitely was the wrong move because staring back at her was a certain tennis genius.
With a full blown smile.