Why, oh why did they have to be gym partners?

Sakuno’s thoughts were dismal as she looked anxiously toward the clock in her seventh period class room. The fact that she had gym eighth period was not exciting her in the least. At first it wasn’t so bad; she had gym with Tomo-chan and she had made friends with Toya-kun. But then she had to get partnered up with Ryoma-kun.

She wasn’t the most physically coordinated person in the first place. But compared to him, she looked like a huge klutz.

Things hadn’t gotten much better since that first day in gym. They started playing soccer, which Toya-kun really liked. Sakuno couldn’t seem to feel the same way though. Especially since their class had to play against one of the senior elective classes. All of people in those classes were big, competitive, super-jocks.

…and frankly, they terrified her.

She had even gotten scolded by the teacher for not participating. She tried to get involved, really she did, but it was impossible! Every time she got close to the ball, a big kid would lunge in her path and steal the ball away before she could blink. Even if she found herself unfortunately placed between the ball and the other team she risked getting elbowed in the face.

At the moment she could be found outside, on a small patch of enclosed green where they held such sporting events.

She watched as a herd of angry, swearing boys rushed by; violently kicking at the ball and elbowing their way across the field. She tugged anxiously at her gym shorts as she saw one of the larger boys take a swing at Toya-kun, who resided in the middle of the throng. He ducked at the last minute, but lost the ball he had been dribbling to a member of the opposing team.

There were several games going on the field, so she supposed she shouldn’t blame their teacher for not catching such aggression…but really, couldn’t he see that? She saw it and she was across the field!

As if he heard her thoughts, Mr. Mikami suddenly whirled in her direction and called angrily to her. “Ryuzaki! If you don’t get out there, I’m going to start marking down your grade!” She flushed in embarrassment, especially when Ryoma-kun separated himself from the herd and gave her a smug look.

So she slunk off in the general direction of where the rest of the team was crowded. She crept up next to Tomoka who stood just outside the herd. The pigtailed girl turned and gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry Saku-chan; you just have to look busy, you don’t have to actually do anything.” She then winked at her and ran after the herd as it slowly approached the opposing team’s goal.

Sakuno followed warily, not trusting the situation at all.

She caught sight of Ryoma-kun in the middle of the herd this time. A tall boy with a buzz-cut leapt in his path and started trying to muscle the ball away from Ryoma-kun. He, of course, dodged the attacks smoothly and continued down the field toward the senior’s goal.

Sakuno silently cheered him on all the way. Ryoma-kun was good at everything! She wished she could be like that. Suddenly filled with some confidence she hurried toward the throng.

She got a sudden rush of adrenaline as she joined the herd.

She was suddenly apart of it all, the yelling, the fighting, the swearing. It was exhilarating and fun; not mean and scary as she had previously thought. Was this why the boys liked playing sports so much? Sure she liked tennis, but she got more of a thrill out of Ryoma-kun helping her out then the actual game itself. But this, this was where the real action was; maybe she should play soccer more often. After all, sports such as these were traditions as old as time. She suddenly felt in tune with nature itself; this wasn’t just a silly gym game—it was history in motion. The ancients played this game, beings much older and wiser than she. It could very well be the game of the gods! She was one with the elements: she ran with the wind, cheered on her team with fiery passion, she felt the ground thundering beneath her as many footfalls pounded against the earth itself.

Tomoka, who had wrestled the ball away from the heard of angry testosterone and was dribbling it down the field, had decided that she would help her best friend get involved by giving it to her. So she kicked the ball as hard as she could toward Sakuno.

She jumped as Tomoka called her name urgently and was therefore forced out of her pious ponderings. She could only stare in horror as the ball approached her head at lightning speed.

Out of nowhere, Ryoma-kun leapt in front of her and took the ball to his chest. The only indication of the hit being the small grimace he held on his face. He rolled it from his chest to the ground and quickly passed the ball to Toya-kun, who had taken the opportunity to lose his followers and advance further toward the goal. He received the ball with ease and punted it toward the bewildered goalie to score another point for the team.

Sakuno let out a relieved puff of air. Ryoma-kun really saved her there.

She turned to thank him only to find he was giving her a stern glare. She immediately went on the defensive. “Th-th-thanks, Ryoma-kun…?” She managed to stutter unsurely, while trying to give him a sweet look.

His glare seemed to intensify. “You should stay out of the way or else you’re going to get hurt.” He warned icily.

She visibly wilted as he turned his back to her and went to the middle of the field where a kick-off was commencing.

Why did she want to play this game again? It was stupid and dangerous…and it made her feel like an idiot.

She backed off and stood to the side of the gathering herd. Well whatever, she wasn’t any good anyways…

She followed the herd at a distance, trying desperately to stay out of the way. She also avoided Ryoma-kun as much as possible. She didn’t want to a burden on him anymore than she was today.

Why on earth did he get mad at her, she didn’t even touch the ball! He was the one in the middle of the big group of boys and almost getting hit constantly! She should be yelling at him to be careful!

She was in the middle of fuming when someone started urgently calling her name for the second time that day.

She whipped around to see the ball skipping along the ground toward her being tailed by the large herd of boys. Her first instinct was to turn tail and run away, but some stubborn force within kept her stationary enough to let the ball bounce ever closer.

As soon as it got close enough, she let out a high-pitched squeal and swung her foot out wildly. She just happened to catch the ball in the process, it flew through the air and smacked right against the chest of the oncoming boy with the buzz-cut. It ricocheted off him and bounced past Sakuno once again and rolled into the enemies’ goal for the second time that day, the goalie was too surprised to do anything but helplessly watch.

Everyone froze for a second and stared at her. She turned to the crowd and blinked bemusedly. “Does that count?” She broke the silence.

Toya-kun was the first to respond. “Hell yeah, it does! That was freaking sweet!”

The other team was decidedly displeased; not just at her, but at buzz-cut boy, who had technically hit the ball into his own goal.

She turned to Ryoma-kun where he stood on the sidelines, a hand covering his face. She approached him slowly, worried about his reaction.

Would he be mad? He had told her to stay away, but it was an accident. And she had made a goal, no matter how inadvertently! He should be happy for her!

She marched over to him, ready to point out these important things when she heard a grunt.

Huh?

Upon closer inspection, she realized he was laughing! He was laughing at her! She flushed with color again. Why, when she worked so hard to make him proud, did he have to laugh?

He paused to catch his breath and caught sight of her. He then gave her the most attractive smile she had ever seen and she nearly melted on the spot.

“Nice…” He said with a snigger. He then stepped toward her and placed a hand on each of her shoulders; she couldn’t help but notice how big his hands were.

“See if you can make a few more of those goals, okay?” and then he freed a few hardy chuckles, that seemed to shake her from his close proximity. She blushed feverishly as he released her shoulders and ruffled her hair. She looked up at him with wide, doe-like eyes.

Then she was made aware or the fact that they were no loner alone. Toya-kun walked over and clapped a hand on Ryoma-kun’s own shoulder. “Yeah, she’s a peach ain’t she? Saku-chan, why don’t you join Tomo on the front line? We could use a good kicker like you!” He laughed slightly obnoxiously, but she was too flattered to notice.

“You…you really want me there?” She asked with stars in her eyes. She had never been picked first for anything, and he wanted her on her front line? She was thrilled!

“Yeah, go for it!” Her smile was radiant and nothing could bother her now!

Though as she turned to leave, she felt a large open hand smack her derrière. She made a sort of yipping noise and spun on the spot, covering her backside as she did. Red-faced, she stared accusingly at a guilty looking Toya-kun and an enraged looking Ryoma-kun.

--

He turned on Toya, quickly capturing the blonde pony-tail at the base of his skull and yanking it back. Toya yelped and was forced to bend back with his imprisoned locks. “What the hell, man?!” Ryoma snarled.

“I’m sorry! That’s what we do on the team, it was a reflex! I swear!” Sakuno nodded in understanding, but Ryoma wasn’t feeling as forgiving.

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you to keep your friggin’ hands to your self?” He snarled again and yanked ever harder on the ponytail.

Toya yelped, to his immense satisfaction, and tried to twist away from his grasp. Ryoma kept a tight hold and was prepared to punish him further if it wasn’t for the soft hand that seemed to caress his shoulder.

“Thanks for worrying about me, Ryoma-kun, but its okay. It was an accident.” Sakuno said softly, a pink tint staining her face. The combination of her hand and her soft voice sent a round of shivers running up his spine and back down to his toes. He immediately retreated to the field with a huff; releasing Toya’s captured blonde locks as he did so. He nervously rubbed his shoulder where she had touched him. Heat seemed to burn in that area and it freaked him out. What the hell was wrong with him?

He went to the middle of the field where people were starting to congregate for the kickoff. Sakuno followed silently behind, she then went to stand next to Tomoka who was too busy trash-talking the other team to notice. He stood carelessly off to the side not concerned enough to get involved in any of it.

Accident, sure. He couldn’t help but think bitterly. Was it an accident when he was ogling you and Osakada’s shorts last week too?

A few of the boys on the other team were huddled close. The boy with the buzz cut was among them.

He bet that if he were to have that sort of accident, then she would slap him upside the head and never forgive him.

The boys leaned in close and talked in half-whispers. They seemed to take turns at glancing menacingly over to where Tomoka and Sakuno stood.

It wasn’t fair! …Wait, why did he care? It wasn’t like Sakuno was a girl, she was the coach’s granddaughter—hell, she was practically one of the guys!

The coach blew the started whistle for the kick-off and Tomoka charged forward aggressively, stealing the ball. Ryoma followed in a daze, his mind as far away from the game as possible.

A howl of pain alerted him to a commotion on the field. He glanced over and saw Osakada in a heap on the ground. She clutched at her ankle, a look of agony distorting her face. Sakuno was bent over her, trying to question her about her health.

“Damn it! You did that on purpose!” The injured girl cried after the crowd of players on the other team that were moving toward the goalie.

Toya, who was stooped at Tomoka’s side suddenly stood, straight as a board. “I got it.” He murmured and took off after the crowd.

“Ignore them, are you okay? Do you want me to take you to the nurse’s office?” Sakuno interrupted.

“No…I wanna watch…TOYA, WASTE THEIR ASSES!” She suddenly howled. Sakuno helped her struggle to her feet and limp over to the sidelines.

Ryoma turned back to the game to see Toya showing no mercy. He unleashed his soccer skills and was suddenly single-handedly destroying the other team.

He tried to help but he was just slowing him down apparently. Toya faked left and then kicked in a third goal, without the aide of the rest of the team.

“He is good at soccer, d-don’t you think Ryoma-kun?” Sakuno said in astonishment, she then turned her bemused eyes up to him.

He grunted in agreement. Toya was good at soccer…that didn’t mean he had to like the guy did it?

“He’s not as good as you at tennis though.” She hurriedly assured. He looked at her curiously as that now familiar pink color began to stain her face again. He decided he liked that color.

“Mada mada dane, Ryuzaki.” He ruffled her hair again. It was a habit that had come out of nowhere but he found he enjoyed touching her hair. Sakuno squeaked in surprise and his eyes widened as he remembered where he was.

He glared at his hand accusingly for touching Sakuno.

She was one of the guys.

They both lined up once again for the kick off. Ryoma got in ready position, deciding he would eliminate these strange feelings with a good work out.

Besides, he couldn’t let Toya have all the glory.

The opposing team was getting considerably frustrated since they had yet to score a single point. As the game went on there were more wayward kicks and swinging elbows, but Ryoma didn’t mind. It kept things interesting and when they won anyways it would be twice as sweet.

The rival players started to get smart by rushing Toya and cutting off Ryoma, so their perfect tag team was suddenly useless. It was getting harder and harder for Toya who ended up receiving the brunt of their aggression. Ryoma tried to cut in but half the team rushed him and was very nearly trampled. If it wasn’t for his quick footing from many years of tennis practice he probably would have lost a limb or two.

Toya panicked when no one was able to receive his pass so he quickly called Sakuno’s name without thinking and passed the ball to her.

Ryoma’s head whipped around so fast he was sure he acquired a small case of whiplash. He hoped that she would miss or run away or something. Anything would do as long as she was away from the ball, which was a ticking time bomb for trouble at this point.

Of course, as typical with Ryuzaki Sakuno, she surprised him with her abilities. She caught the ball and bounced it off her knees as if she had been doing it her entire life. She began to dribble it down the field towards to goal like a pro.

Despite himself, Ryoma was impressed. Since when was Sakuno good at soccer? Since when has Sakuno displayed any sort of skill in anything? He was curious now; he wished he could learn more about her.

…As one of the guys, of course.

He sprinted after her so she could pass the ball to him if she chose to. She surprised him again by ignoring him and going for a goal. The opposing defense charged toward her as she kicked the ball toward the goal. Time seemed to slow for a moment as he watched the ball slowly bounce towards the goal.

The goalie caught it.

He turned back toward Sakuno to wish her ‘better luck next time’ when he saw the buzzed-hair boy not halting in his charge.

He slammed into her full force. Ryoma watched in dumbstruck horror as she flew back from the impact landing solidly on her back.

“Whoops. It was an accident.” The boy said with a smirk as the rest of their class, Ryoma included, galloped over her side.

Her eyes were closed, she wasn’t moving.

He held a hand over her mouth.

She was breathing.

He released the air he didn’t know he was holding.

“What happened here?!” Mr. Mikami, their gym teacher appeared from no where, roaring like a lion.

“That jerk with the buzz-cut ran into Sakuno-chan!” Toya yelled angrily, pointing an accusing finger at said student.

“I didn’t mean to, I thought she was going to move.”

Ryoma felt himself snap at this. Without a second thought, he stood and faced buzz-cut. His left hand curled into a tight fist and he slammed it into the buzzed senior’s jaw. His victim’s head snapped back with the impact.

“Whoops.” He said without remorse. “I thought you were going to move.”

Buzz-cut turned to face Ryoma and spat blood on his uniform; apparently he had bitten his tongue. The senior grabbed Ryoma by the collar of his shirt and probably would have hit him back if the teacher hadn’t grabbed the two of them and ripped them apart with ease.

“Echizen, take Ryuzaki to the infirmary; we’ll talk about this later.” Ryoma got up and slipped a hand under Sakuno’s knees and her back. He trotted to the infirmary carrying her bridal style.

He only looked back once, but was pleased to find that Mr. Mikami had Buzz-cut hanging upside down from the top of the goal box and doing vertical crunches as other kids practiced shooting goals at him.

He was beginning to like this class.

--

Sakuno awoke to the feeling of hot breath fanning over her right shoulder and ear. She also had a sense that she was surrounded by warmth and at the same time freezing. Her eyes fluttered open and she was immediately confused by the face that she wasn’t in her room, in class, or even in gym.

She was in the nurse’s office, sitting on the edge of one of the beds.

Her arms were above her head and felt numb and tingling as though she had slept on them. She blinked in bemusement and attempted to move her arms to stretch and rub the sleep from her eyes.

She felt a form stiffen behind her and suddenly became aware of the fact that her wrists were being held in the air by two large, strong hands.

Sakuno tipped her head backward and her eyes met the nervous gaze of the tennis prince himself.

“I swear to God, Sakuno, this is not what it looks like. I haven’t seen anything.” He said nervously, his eyes flicked about the room nervously, looking everywhere but her.

His words didn’t comfort her so she quickly looked around and found that Ryoma was the one holding her wrists in the air. She looked down and saw that her hips were rested snugly between his legs. She then became aware of the fact that she was leaning against his chest. Essentially they were spooning vertically. She realized then she felt his heart hammering against her shoulder blade. Her face erupted in flaming red and soon her heart was pounding harder than his.

That explained the warmth and the breath against her back.

She tried to twist around to further investigate her situation but white hot pain exploded across her chest.

She gasped and tried to squirm free from his grasp, but he wasn’t having that. He tightened his grip on her wrists, pulling them higher and arched into her back, stretching her spine and making it near impossible for her to squirm.

“Don’t move so much; you’ll hurt your self more.” He said with sudden concern.

“What’s going on?” She demanded. “What are you doing? What-?” She looked down at her stomach, and saw the large purple bruises covering her normally pale flesh. Obviously this was the source of her immense pain.

But that wasn’t what distracted her; it was the fact that she could see her flesh at all.

She had no shirt on.

It was just her, Ryoma, and her sports bra.

She gave a squeal of embarrassment and became a blur of movement. Totally ignoring the devastating pain in her chest, she pushed and pulled, twisted and bucked trying to get free.

“Let go of me!”

“I said it’s not what it looks like!”

“I don’t care; get off me!”

“I’m trying to help you!”

“Don’t look at me!”

“I’m not! I haven’t seen anything!”

“What’s all this ruckus now?” The quiet, elderly voice startled the fight out of both of them.

Ryoma was the first to speak.

“She woke up and tried to kill me like I said she would.” He said bitterly while readjusting his grip on her wrists and arching his back into her for a second time. Effectively trapping her and lessening the space between them.

The nurse cackled. “That’s a good thing. You want a girl with a little fight in her.”

“What’s going on?” Sakuno demanded. She was in no mood to exchange pleasantries.

“We think you might have broken a rib, dear.”The nurse said easily. “Which is unfortunate since broken ribs are very painful without any real way to set it. So you’ll just have to wear a wrap and try to keep moving to a minimal.”

“But...but how?” She questioned in shock.

“That competitive asshole from gym; he body slammed you.” Ryoma growled and she felt his body stiffen with rage behind her.

Memories of the game came flooding back to her. She had been in the zone, and had managed to dribble the ball down to the goal only to miss. She was disappointed but proud of herself for being able to contribute something. Then without warning something that felt like a train slammed into her. She felt like her lungs had collapsed and then everything went black.

She turned her head back and saw Ryoma had his scowling gaze pointed toward the ceiling in an effort to be polite. It could have been the light, but his cheeks even seemed to be tinted a light pink

“Can’t I lie down or something?” She questioned embarrassedly. Her own red complexion had yet to fade.

“We tried that but it was impossible to set the wrap correctly. So I forced Ryoma to hold you and make sure we set it right.” The nurse then leaned close to Sakuno and said in a stage whisper. “You can thank me later.” She winked playfully.

“I didn’t look! I haven’t seen anything!” Ryoma snapped stubbornly, glaring at the light fixtures.

Sakuno was just about blushing to her toes now, and since she was wearing short-shorts and a sports bra everyone could tell.

Ryoma said nothing else, keeping his eyes skyward.

As soon as their nurse started wrapping her torso though, she forgot about her embarrassment.

She gasped as each little poke and prod the nurse made upon her was like a hot knife slicing deep into her beaten and bruised frame.

She became grateful for Ryoma holding her up, because she doubted she could have held herself. She gritted her teeth and winced and gasped her way through the process until the splint was set and her torso was wrapped up like that of a mummy. She let out the breath she held and Ryoma released his grip on her wrists and swung his lugs around her and on the ground to get up and stand by the door way. His expression remained aloof, unreadable, pointed skyward.

Her arms were slightly pink where he had held her but otherwise just numb from being in the air for such a long time. She shook slightly from a combination of the loss of his body heat and from the cold sweat that now chilled her skin.

“That should be enough for now.” The nurse said. “You could go to a doctor to get properly diagnosed, but if I’m right and it is a broken rib then this is about as much as you can do until it heals.” She handed Sakuno her PE shirt. “I’m going to go inform your teacher, Mr. Mikami that you are awake and as healthy as you could be. I called your grandmother; she went home to get the car so you don’t have to walk.” She turned to Ryoma now, her voice stern.

“I’m leaving this fine young lady in your care sir; so if she gets hurt anymore I’m holding you responsible.” The nurse went to leave the room but turned back at the last minute as if remembering something. “Oh and I better not see you in here with any more ridiculous injuries like your bloody nose.”

There was an awkward silence that flowed in her wake.

Sakuno broke it this time. “I’m sorry I panicked. I was just surprised.”

“It’s okay. I told that old hag that you’d try to sock me—anyone would, but I didn’t see anything I promise.” Ryoma answered quickly.

“I mean it isn’t that I didn’t trust you or anything. I do trust you, more than I do a lot of people.” She said this without thinking and soon she became red again as she came to her senses.

Ryoma’s eyes widened and he dropped his gaze to her in surprise.

“You…trust me?”

She nodded in embarrassment. “Yeah…I do…” She admitted reluctantly.

He walked up to her and ruffled her hair, his new favorite pastime, and offered her a small smile. “Good…”

She smiled shyly back up at him. Her cinnamon colored eyes looked warm and sweet. They filled him with a new and unfamiliar sort of hunger.

“I win the bet! I knew he’d at least have her shirt off!”

The obnoxious voice echoed around the room and made them jump. They both turned simultaneously and saw Toya in the door way with a wide-eyed and giggling Tomoka leaning heavily against him.

“You know I don’t see why you’re so shy Saku-chan; you have a lovely chest. You should display it to the world!” Toya said while suggestively waggling his eye brows.

Sakuno blushed and covered herself with her PE shirt which she had forgotten to put on.

Ryoma glared and charged after Toya who took off like a scared rabbit as soon as he saw the tennis prince’s blazing eyes.

--

The two weeks detention and extra laps he would have to run for the bruises he gave Toya and Buzz cut were well worth it to him.

He also didn’t mind admitting to the fact that maybe Sakuno was a little more than just ‘one of the guys’.

Ryoma wouldn’t have enjoyed helping the nurse wrap her ribs so much if she were.

…he might have caught more than a few glances of Sakuno topless while he could…

Maybe he shouldn’t spend so much time with Toya; he was starting to think like him.

--

A/n: Okay I’m sorry I’ve been busy and writer’s blocked so I haven’t really been able to update until now. I did say that it would be sporadic. So really, I cannot be blamed for lateness. I was thinking of just giving up on this one so I’m glad I even got this chapter out.

We’ll see I guess.

So what’s up people? Miss me? I’ve missed you all! Thank you to those valiant reviewers who never gave up on me!

I’ve had to cut back on writing because, well, I do want to graduate. I’ve also had a few personal problems to deal with. And those of you who write know that it’s tough to write a comedy when all you’ve got on your mind is tragedy.

I’m not giving up on Love is Just a Word either so you know, expect that to be updated again sometime. I don’t know about soon, but within the month I’m pretty sure.