Wound Up

By hye-kyo

Disclaimer: Nope POT isn’t mine…

Author’s Notes: So I had received a number of review saying last chap was hard to understand. I do not usually make this, but since I realized how lame a writer I am for doing a one-shot that’s totally hard to understand, and weird and maybe unlike-able, I decided to do a little extra for that one-shot. You’ll find the omake after this one-shot.

Anyway, for this, I hope I wouldn’t need to do an omake. Read and review!

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Title: Again

Rating: T

Genre: Drama/Angst/Romance

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The first time she saw him again was six years after he left for the States. The senpais held a homecoming slash reunion party and as the Coach’s granddaughter, and as Echizen’s childhood sweetheart—no, it was not her idea, it was Momo-senpai’s—she, together with Tomo-chan, was invited.

She brought along a little tennis ball she painted with his face. It was reminiscent of the tennis ball he asked from her before he left. And thinking that it might be significant she made one just to be sure.

She arrived, certain tonight would be a very important night. She was eighteen, mature enough, she had gotten past her stuttering and she was less clumsy. She knew, overall, that she had improved. And she was determined to show him that.

She went to the front porch, rang the buzzer and immediately a stressed Horio answered the door. His eyes widened upon seeing her and he called for Tomo who relentlessly tried to pull her out the house. But she had stepped in, although wondering why the sudden change, they had been the ones too excited to make them meet anyway, and saw Ryoma-kun by the kitchen.

She clutched the little ball with her two hands behind her back and made a beeline for the kitchen. She stopped immediately just as she murmured his name for surprisingly he seemed to have heard it though people had been shouting at the top of their voices. He turned, slowly, as if everything was in slow, slow motion.

“Ryuuzaki.” The only thing that she noticed then was the hand wrapped inside his own hand. No she didn’t notice that he remembered her name. She almost didn’t hear it. She strained her eyes to see the interlinked hands and only worked out the image just as soon as he stepped into a full circle, revealing a pretty girl with black hair and matching eyes holding hands with him.

She almost stopped breathing. She took a step back, her eyes never leaving his and felt the wall against her back. She cursed inwardly. The moment she stopped moving they started walking towards her. Ryoma was still holding the girl’s hand and the girl was giggling at something.

She immediately straightened up, took another step back and realized that she had reached the living room and that bean bags were scattered everywhere. She turned immediately just as Ryoma started speaking, “I didn’t know you were going to come.”

“Ah,” years of practice had never prepared her for this. She forced a smile, looked up at the girl and found that she had nice white teeth.

“Hello,” the girl said, smiling, “You are Ryuuzaki-san? Oh I heard much about you.”

She could only nod. What kind of things? She wanted to ask. Perhaps Ryoma told her of her stupidity, or her clumsiness, or her lack of talent. Right, she was never good at anything. She cleared her throat, “Well...I actually just dropped by to say hi...”

“You’re leaving already?” the girl asked, her brows furrowing, “And I haven’t introduced myself yet.”

“She’s Yumi,” Ryoma said offhandedly, his eyes never leaving hers. She could feel a burning sensation on the top of her head where he was staring at.

“Ah...n-nice meeting you Yumi-san,” and she knew then and there that everything was lost. She could feel something bitter in her throat, a little heartburn and she knew she was going to faint if she doesn’t leave soon. “I’d better go now...” and she turned to go. And that was when her feet got caught in a bean bag and she landed on her face on the carpeted floor. A hushed silence suddenly filled the room.

She cursed, a little curse that goes deep down her core and she knew she would be crying soon. She felt pathetic and of course who was she compared to Yumi? Ryoma was an international star and she was nothing. And Yumi looked pretty and she seemed half-Japanese and half-American and she started speaking with Ryoma in English as she felt her face getting buried deeper onto the floor. She cursed again.

“Are you alright?” Yumi asked.

She took in a deep breath, fought the tears and managed to stand up, dropping the ball in the process. Yumi picked it up, gazed at it and gleefully squealed.

“Hn...” Ryoma darted an eye from the ball to her.

“This is so cute, and Ryo-kun’s face is so cute,” Yumi kissed Ryoma on the cheek.

She took a step back, careful not to get caught on another beanbag, mouthed apologies and amidst the calculating gazes of the people in the room she quickly made a dash for the door.

---

The next time she saw him was two years after. He was in some photo shoot in a safari in Singapore and she, after a whole day of trying to book a promo flight, was touring with Tomo-chan. He did not see them. And contrary to what Sakuno knew Tomo-chan would do in similar circumstances, she disregarded him, looked away and told her brooding wouldn’t get her anywhere.

The same night they met him in a pasta place in Sentosa. He was with someone, a pretty brunette with big eyes. He nodded at them after a long while of staring, which meant that he finally realized who they were only after a good length of examining and staring. Well, she knew she was the forgettable type. She was never someone who makes an impression.

“You’re Ryuuzaki-san?” the brunette exclaimed when they came over, “Oh I’ve heard a lot about you.”

She nodded and smiled weakly. Of course. She was the laughing stock of the whole I-love-Ryoma-Echizen-and-he-doesn’t-belong-with-a-loser-like-Ryuuzaki community. Of course.

“Well,” Tomo butted in. She glared at no one in particular, though it was quite evident that she was not that happy with seeing Ryoma, “We would love to stay and chat but our schedule’s too tight. We have to get somewhere tonight.” And Tomo nudged her when she started asking.

“Ah-ah...” Sakuno swallowed hard, “Yes, yes. I remember. So we’d better go?”

“Come on,” and Tomo grabbed her hand and led her to the door.

She had the feeling that someone was boring a hole through her back.

---

She saw him again a year after. Back in Japan Sakuno was working as a writer for a local magazine. She met him at a charity event she was tasked to write about. It was the cap she saw first and upon recognition she quickly dashed for cover. She knew then, immediately, that it was too late to seek shelter. He had spotted her early on.

“Ne,” he started as he approached, “Why are you here?”

If she just was not too nervous she would have rolled her eyes. But it felt like something was upon her chest and she was twelve years old again. She cursed herself for feeling that way even after all these years, even after all the infidelities. She shook her head, he was not unfaithful, there was no reason to be faithful anyway. It was not as if they were in a relationship or something.

He arched a brow.

“W-work,” she stammered and felt stupid. She looked behind him, expecting to find a pretty girl, probably a redhead this time, to sprout from his back. And like she was a fortune teller or something a pretty girl came around holding a champagne glass. But she was not a redhead, she has a black bob, sophisticated, sexy. Sakuno felt a little too little.

“Hn,” he murmured before pecking the girl’s cheek. He smiled at her, a rare smile and Sakuno realized that there really was no difference between now and when she was eighteen. Until now she was unwanted.

“E-excuse me,” she swallowed hard and before the tears could fall she disappeared into the corner.

---

A year after, a grand sum of ten years after he left for the States where they chanced by each other a few times in between, all the time him with a girl, all the time her with a broken heart, she found him by her doorway.

She was twenty-two and she realized that being twenty-two she had all the right in the world to call the police and have him arrested for trespassing, and if possible for breaking her heart many times. She approached him, he was leaning against her doorframe with a frown on his face.

He noticed her approaching and he quickly straightened up, the frown never leaving his face. As soon as she came in hearing range he hissed, “What took you so long?”

Sakuno could only arch a brow.

“I’ve been waiting for three hours,” that was probably the longest sentence Ryoma ever said to her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked without stuttering. Perhaps all she needed was more time, after a bit more time she would have totally forgotten about stuttering.

He glared, his hands inside his pockets. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know of anything that you might need here,” she said, backing away. He seemed to hover above her and she felt a bit suffocated. There were feelings she could recall and all those involved pain. No, she was not some stupid twelve-year old who’d bawl her eyes for him.

“You,” and with a step he backed her against the wall and had her hands pinned on her sides. “Where’s your door key?”

Sakuno swallowed hard. All the confidence she thought she finally has disappeared. She felt her knees buckle underneath her and without even thinking she murmured, “In my jacket pocket.”

He smirked, a haughty smirk that if conscious—she still believes she was not at that time—she would have liked to smack off his face. He didn’t have the right to be arrogant, to be so sure of himself, to be so sure that he can control her feelings still. Because he can’t, can he? He slipped the key from her pocket and inserted it into the keyhole. The door unlocked with a dry click and Sakuno suddenly felt very nervous.

And maybe because she was very nervous or maybe because the click of the unlocked door broke her from her semi-hypnotized state she asked, “What are you doing?”

“Hn,” he regarded her slowly as he half-dragged her inside. The door shut, the sound a little too menacing for her comfort. He looked around, a frown on his face and asked, “Where’s the bedroom?”

“F-first door to your left.” She cursed herself inwardly for letting such valuable information slip her.

“Come on,” and still he half-dragged her inside.

“W-wait,” she caught a chair and held on, “What are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” he said with an exasperated sigh.

“If you’re going to tell me you don’t want to see me again then f-fine, I-I won’t attend the next reunion...” she felt like crying. That was probably the only reason. Ryoma would never approach her for anything else.

“There’s a reunion?” his eyebrows shot up.

“Y-yes but I won’t a-attend if you—”

Then his mouth was on hers. A crazy, urgent first kiss which sent her tumbling towards the now open bedroom door. His hands slipped behind her and rested on the small of her back. It didn’t take them very long to fall against the bed, Sakuno gasping for breath underneath him and Ryoma smirking above her and marvelling at how thoroughly-kissed she was.

“G-get off,” she tried to squirm away but he had caught her hands.

“I’ve been planning this for a long time. It’d be stupid of me to let you go this time.”

She wanted to shout obscenities at him as he roamed her exposed neck but his words caught her attention and her ears perked up. There were words, words she never thought she’d hear from him and she needed to make sure lest she was only assuming things. “W-what?”

“Hn,” he nipped her earlobe, “You might have figured it out by now. I mean you should have.”

She squirmed again but his hold tightened. “R-Ryoma-kun...please let me g-go now...” She felt like crying. What did he mean? Did he mean that all these years, all these years she was hurting because of some stupid scheme he set up?

“I won’t,” he said sternly, his eyes trained on hers. “I don’t care now whether you have a boyfriend or not. I’ve been waiting so long.”

She furrowed her brows. Boyfriend? She never had one. What was he talking about? “I-I...I never had a...”and she involuntarily moaned as he started kissing her collarbone.

“You were jealous weren’t you?” he asked, a smirk on his face once more.

“Jealous?” she swallowed hard.

“Jealous. It was hard trying to know your whereabouts. I was always on tour and I had to plan those meetings in advance.”

“Meetings?” her eyes widened. Plan, meetings, jealous? Everything was planned?

“I never really intended it to drag this long,” he kissed her mouth once more, “But Horio said you had a boyfriend as soon as you were over with the first.”

“W-what?” she pulled herself up, placing a palm flat against his chest to create distance between them. “Horio? Me? A boyfriend? I never had a boyfriend. Horio told you that?”

It was his turn to furrow his brows. “Hn. He said so. Well, it was Momo-senpai who told me about it the first time. It was Horio who told me about the boyfriend after. And one of the Ichinen who told me about the third. Fuji-senpai about the fourth. And the fifth...I’m not really sure if it was Kaidoh-senpai or Inui-senpai.”

Her eyes widened.

“You mean to say all those were not true?”

“Yes. I mean no they were not true.”

He stood silent for a long while, a dangerous glare in his eyes. “Was it because of Yumi?”

The name clicked right away. Yumi, the girl he brought at the reunion party. At the party where she tripped and made a mess of herself.

“Ah...” his hold tightened.

“Ba-chan told me it’s better t-to...to forget about you...” she took in a deep breath. No she would not tell him she had spent nights crying herself to sleep.

So it was all a conspiracy. He would tell everyone soon. A girl and they all decided Ryuuzaki should forget him? Alright. He knew their concern stemmed from something more deep-seated than that. He had hurt her before, even before all this, what with his nonchalant attitude towards her and how they thought he was taking her for granted, and for that it was only right that they protect her from him. But this? Isn’t this a little too overacting?

“So...” she could put two and two together and produce four, “So you were just making me j-jealous?”

He regarded her silently, “Hn.”

A little smile brightened her face, “Because you thought I have a boyfriend?”

“Hn.”

“And you were jealous of my so-called boyfriends?”

“Hn.”

“That was...unexpected.”

“I know,” he exhaled.

“It’s been so long,” she murmured, a little sad at the years they wasted going around in circles, assuming things that never existed.

“Ah,” he kissed the tip of her nose, “Yumi hadn’t been my girlfriend.”

She pulled back suddenly, her eyes intently on him. “She hadn’t been?”

“No,” he said, “It was business-related.”

“But we thought...” she trailed off.

“Hn...funny how we went around in circles assuming things that never existed,” he repeated her thoughts.

She broke into a smile, “You silly man.”

“I love you,” he abruptly said.

“What?” she turned her head.

“I’ll only say it once,” he said nonchalantly.

She laughed softly, “And to think that I’d been crying for nothing.”

“It’s worth it anyway,” he brought his mouth closer.

“And to think that you had been jealous for nothing,” she laughed when he saw him frown.

“It’s your turn,” he said, averting his eyes. His face was lightly red.

She arched a brow, her hands on the buttons of his shirt.

“Say it,” he kissed her mouth lightly.

“Say what?”

“Ryuuzaki,” he warned.

She giggled, laughed and laughed until there were tears in her eyes. She wiped them, buried her face in his chest and stopped herself from crying.

“It’s okay now.”

“I know,” and she took in a mouthful of air. “Ryoma-kun.”

“Hn?” he started undressing her.

“I love you too,” she upped herself to kiss him.

“Ah...it has been too long,” he said.

“Ah...it has been,” and she smiled.

---

Omake

“So? True or not I would like to—”

“Hai,” she said and she closed her eyes for the kiss that would last. Rolling the words in her head she realized she didn’t understand anything he said. She hastily opened them, stared at him quizzically and asked, “What were you saying again?”

He arched a brow, a smile on his lips. He was trying hard not to laugh.

“Ryoma-kun,” she ran her tongue down her bottom lip, “I didn’t quite get what you…”

“You were too eager,” he feigned admonishment. Then he burst out laughing.

“G-gomen,” and she furrowed her brows together, her mouth in a little pout. “I was just…why don’t you just tell me what you were going to say?”

He smirked, flicked her forehead and said seriously, “I don’t talk much and the very first time I tried to talk you cut me out.”

“Gomen, I was…I was just…”

“How would I even get to ask you to be my girlfriend?”

“I mean I was just…I mean…I won’t…” she stopped, blinked her eyes and said, “What did you say?”

He faked an exasperated sigh, “Silly Ryuuzaki. Kissing you is a lot easier than talking to you.” He smirked and just kissed her.

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A/n: So you know the drill guys…