everything comes with a price

Chapter 19: ITM Champions New Coach!

Pakura's throat choked at the question William asked. "Why don't you find someone else?" Pakura couldn't. She thought of what if it was the reverse- her dying in the ITM, Natsuhi finding another girl, and promising to marry her, forgetting all about her. The hatred to the phantom girl was almost real. Natsuhi was hers. She was Natsuhi's. Anything else is unthinkable. Why did it take two years after his death to realize this? Because she's a coward. No wonder she won the ITM. She's not a decent person after all. You helped Ryoma win, she told herself. But she knew it was mainly because she wanted to help him get his revenge, and when he won, she planned to teach him doubles. She didn't want to be alone in the courts. She's doing it for herself again. 'Pakura, you selfish girl', she thought. She must have looked like she was going to throw up, because Ryoma said, "Stop it, Will. She's emotionally distressed after telling her story to us." William apologized. "Alright, sorry." She guessed she must have still looked like she was going to throw up, because Ryoma then said, "I know! Why don't we order in some takeaway food and watch movies?" The team nodded, and agreed.

To be honest, Ryoma didn't know how to cheer people up. That department was for Pakura. Since he was betrayed by the Seigaku regulars, Pakura was always by his side. Whenever he was upset, she would take him to Central Park Zoo. She knew he loved it since he was little. It's way better than the Bronx Zoo, because it's really small and cozy, and the animals are much friendlier, especially the seals and the polar bears. He loved polar bears. At the Central Park Zoo, they have this one polar bear, Ryoma remembered. All he does all day long is the backstroke. He was on the news once because this animal psychologist was worried he was under too much stress. It must suck to have people looking at him all day. But they bought him some toys, and after that he was alright. He just kicks back in his enclosure-they don't have cages at the Central Park Zoo, they have enclosures- and watch you watching him. Sometimes he held a ball when he does it. The last time Pakura took him there, she forked over a couple of dollars to get in- another thing good about that zoo was it was cheap. Ryoma paid a little call on the bear. The bear appeared to be doing fine, much better than him, anyway. After all, Seigaku didn't betray him, did they?

She also brought him to the penguin house. It smells kind of bad in there, but it's fun. There are these windows that look underwater, so you can see the penguins swimming around, having a good penguin time. Little kids would put their hands on the glass, and when a penguin swims toward them, they start screaming. It totally cracked Ryoma up, so by the time they get out of the zoo, Ryoma felt much better. The best part, he could totally relax and forget about Seigaku's betrayal.

Too bad they can't go out here, so Ryoma called his boyfriend over as well, and they had some sort of vacation right there in the penthouse. They ordered a pizza, and while Tyler sketched his fellow teammates, they were watching a very excellent movie called Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? , starring Tori Spelling of Beverly Hills 90210 fame, as a girl who has an abusive boyfriend. Ryoma didn't get why any girl would stay with a guy who hits her, but then Atobe said it's all about self-esteem. They watched the satisfying but completely unbelievable ending of Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?, which was followed by the dishiest made-for-TV movie ever, Midwest Obsession, in which Courtney Thorne Smith plays the local Dairy Princess ("Hey, she's a princess like you, Pakura" exclaimed Tyler) who goes around in a pink Cadillac wearing cow earrings, killing people like Tracy Gold (deep in the throes of her post Growing Pains anorexia) for messing with her boyfriend. After the movie marathon, they decided to have a picnic at the roof, where they ordered a bunch of food and grabbed blankets. No one disturbed them, as they weave flower crowns, sketch pictures and chatting about god-knows what. At least, they think no one is watching them. When Pakura got up, saying she needed the bathroom, she took the elevator to her floor, and found the Seigaku team standing in her room. She had to double check to make sure she's on the correct floor. "What are you doing here?" she said acidly. "I don't think this floor is assigned to you."