Echizen Ryoma is, at the moment, in an extremely grumpy mood. Due to their coincidentally matching outfits, Ryouko and Kevin had been mistaken as boyfriend and girlfriend not only once but four times from the time their group exited the tennis facility until they reached the nearest cinema. They just bought tickets to Jessica's movie of choice (the other three are too distracted to care what they would watch) and the four of them are currently standing in line to buy popcorn and drinks when the familiar scenario happened again in front of Ryoma's very eyes.
The lady behind the snack bar stared at Kevin and Ryouko who led the line with Ryoma and Jessica behind them. "Oh? Having a weekend date with your boyfriend?" she told Ryouko before the latter could open her mouth to order four medium tubs of popcorn and four sodas. The lady turned her eyes to Kevin and smiled knowingly. "What cute outfits. The two of you look really good together..." she commented.
Kevin just looked confusedly at Ryouko for he cannot understand Japanese. Ryouko gave the lady a small smile and said, "He's not my boyfriend... And we're with-"
Before she could finish talking, Ryoma suddenly stepped forward between her and Kevin. "Four medium tubs of salted caramel popcorn please, and four regular colas," he said, his tone sounding half-annoyed. "Four, not two. We're in a group of four," he added with emphasis to the numbers.
Jessica blew out her cheeks like a squirrel to keep from snickering. Unlike Kevin, Jessica can understand basic Japanese, something that she made herself learn during the sixth grade half for investment in her future as a businesswoman and half because of her old crush on Ryoma. She understood all of the conversations that had been going on for the past twenty minutes since they went for the movies and watched Ryouko as she did her best to correct the misunderstandings of the people commenting about her and Kevin. She also watched as Ryoma slowly turned green from holding himself back from punching anyone.
Seriously... Ryoma is doing a poor job at hiding his jealousy so how can Ryouko not notice his sour mood? These two kids are impossible... It's the first time Jessica saw such obliviousness.
Her gaze shifted to her cousin who is looking more mystified after Ryoma broke into Ryouko's conversation with the snack bar employee. "Sorry couz..." she thought. "It'll do you better for me to nip this in the bud before your crush deepens... You'll thank me someday..." She looked at the four tickets in her hands, coming up with an instant plan. She arranged the seating arrangement and gave each of the three their own tickets.
"Do you guys have any problem with the seat numbers I got you?" she asked them.
The three stared blankly at their tickets and shook their heads.
With that, Jessica announced that it's time for them to go inside the theater.
They entered the theater in a neat line, surrendering half of the ticket to the employee waiting by the door. Their eyes slowly adjusted to the dark room with only the small bulbs from the sides giving off dim lighting. They hugged themselves with their tubs of popcorn, feeling the cold from the high air-conditioning and wishing they got a warm drink instead of the iced colas on their hands. They found their seats in a minute and they filed one by one across the middle row like a group of ducklings.
Kevin was about to take his seat when he noticed that Jessica is making her way to the row right behind them. "Psst..." he hissed at his cousin. "What are you doing there? Your seat's next to mine..."
"Chill," Jessica answered. "There's not many people and this seat seem to be empty. I like the view from here better. I'll vacate if someone tells me to," she added.
"Suit yourself," Kevin shrugged and took his seat. Looking from the higher row seat, Jessica admired her masterpiece. Right before her eyes is the perfect seating arrangement she orchestrated, with Ryouko sitting between the two boys. "Lovely..." she murmured to herself and smirked. First phase of the plan is a success.
As she placed her cola on the cupholder, she smiled mysteriously. Of course she would like the view from the upper row much better since she's not going to concentrate on watching the movie but rather planning on surveying the three in front of her. She would have gotten a seat a row behind them in the first place but unfortunately, she just thought of her plan after buying the tickets. She just have to hope that nobody shows up to claim the seat.
She also didn't put much thought to the movie for she picked the one that's going to be shown the soonest so they won't idle their time waiting. But as she looked at the genre of the randomly chosen movie while making their way to the theater, it seemed like luck is on her side. Among all the movie options, she actually chose a scary one. It's the perfect movie date scenario on the most typical romance comic for teens. Surely it can bolster some sort of improvement between the thick-headed two in front of her... After all, nothing beats the classic romance strategies.
She feels sorry about it but she placed her cousin there only as an accessory. Hopefully, something happens and Kevin notices the odd vibe between the two, take a hint and give up his crush on his own.
The clueless three who has no idea that they are under surveillance placed their colas on the cupholders by their right and the tubs of popcorn either on their lap or on the armrest of their chairs. They patiently waited and watched a few movie trailers being shown before the actual movie starts.
Meanwhile, Jessica is watching them from the back with eyes resembling a hawk's. Every now and them, she snuck a hand to her tub and ate handfuls of caramel popcorn in a not-so-ladylike manner.
Meanwhile, Jessica's targets began to concentrate on the movie after it started and twenty minutes later, their unmotivated faces from before began to show interest. The storyline of the movie is pretty interesting although none of the scary scenes gave any of them a fright. Jessica had jumped thrice not from the scary scenes but from the screams of the other people around them. She winced, glaring at a group of girls and a couple by the side making the most noise. They are ruining her concentration at watching her test subjects and she clearly does not appreciate it.
Another ten minutes and nothing exciting in particular is happening on the row in front of her. It was so idle that she's beginning to feel bored. But all of a sudden, one particularly tricky jump scare got all three. Kevin, Ryouko and Ryoma backed onto their seats as peals of screams reverberated in the dark theater. Jessica craned her neck anxiously, hoping for Ryouko to at least turn to one of the boys but Ryouko, that thick-headed tomboy merely stared wide-eyed at the large screen and gripped her tub of popcorn so tight that several of the puffed kernels spilled out.
Jessica hunched on her seat in disappointment and sipped half the contents of her cola to comfort herself. She settled onto her seat, looking like a lazy tabby cat on a cushion, and kept her eyes glued to her three test subjects.
Finally, after ten more minutes onto the movie, one of the moments she have been waiting for actually happened. The previous jump scare might have gotten Ryouko so bad that she forgot that she's hugging her tub of popcorn to her chest with her left arm. With her eyes fixed on the screen in front, she impulsively reached out her right hand towards Ryoma's tub sitting on the armrest between them. At the same time, Ryoma who is equally engrossed in the movie also reached over with his left hand to get himself a handful of kernels.
At that moment, their hands touched and both their heads swerved towards the other. Perhaps they were too shocked, but they just stared blankly at each other and didn't remove their hands from inside the tub.
Ryouko can feel Ryoma's forefinger resting on her middle knuckle and his thumb on the back of her hand and for some reason, her palm started sweating. Ryoma, on the other hand, did not dare move a centimeter of his hand inside the tub for fear that Ryouko would feel the tension her touch has casted onto him.
It was when he saw that Kevin is no longer looking at the screen but rather facing sidewards at them and looking at the tub of popcorn with a questioning gaze that Ryoma jerked back into motion and took his hand out. Ryouko also removed her hand abruptly and cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Sorry... I thought it was mine..." she mumbled.
"It's okay. You can eat some of mine if you want," Ryoma replied.
Meanwhile, a couple sitting not too far from Jessica began pointing and looking at her before whispering amongst themselves. It is only natural that they found her odd because despite watching a horror movie, she has a silly grin on her face as if she's watching a romance film instead. If only the couple knows that she is indeed watching something similar to a romance film, they wouldn't be too surprised...
Ryoma and Ryouko found it hard to shift their attention back to the movie after what happened. They seem to have a greater consciousness of each other's presence compared to half an hour ago and they sat stiffly in their chairs. However, it was not only them who became distracted.
Kevin casted side gances at his right every now and then, wondering about what he witnessed a few minutes ago. For someone trying to eat out of someone else's popcorn tub, Ryouko kept her hand inside a little too long. Ryoma also took his time and when his hand did come out, there wasn't a even a single corn puff on it. Kevin saw it all and it must've been almost thirty seconds before they removed their hands from it.
A thought crossed his mind and he couldn't help frowning. "It couldn't be..." he told himself. He shook his head lightly and willed for the thought to disappear. For a moment, he actually suspected that Ryoma and Ryouko might have been holding hands inside that popcorn tub.
He internally huffed and ruled his suspicion as ridiculous. Ryoma clearly said that he and Ryouko are just friends. And with Ryoma's personality, holding hands with a girl in secret inside a dark movie theater under the guise of a popcorn tub is out of the question. He's no hopeless romantic.
"Stop being so imaginative, Kevin Smith..." he scolded himself.
Meanwhile, Ryoma found it difficult not just to turn his attention back to the movie but also getting his vitals back to normal. "Won't you calm down, seriously?" he told himself as he felt his heartbeat still running faster and louder. Every movement, even the slightest shifting from Ryouko's chair makes him numb from nervousness. If only he knows that she's also equally perturbed, it might have taken a small weight off his chest.
"What on earth is wrong with me? Am I running a fever? Did we stay out in the bath too long earlier?" Ryouko asked herself, feeling frantic. The theater room is so cold that she could make a good plate of sashimi and a bowl of home-made ice cream then and there if someone gives her the ingredients, so why the freaking hell are her hands sweating like crazy? That slight touch from Ryoma's skin earlier lingered as if his hand is still near hers. She hugged her tub of popcorn closer to her chest and felt the thudding there intensify.
All of a sudden, the whole room exploded with squeals and screams as another good jumpscare hopped out of the screen, scaring the bejeebers out of everyone, including the four teens who were not paying attention to the movie.
Ryoma and Ryouko screaming their heads off is such a rare sight that members of the Seigaku tennis club might pay good money to see it personally but what happened after they screamed is what Jessica would spend her money to see over and over again.
As that very unusual scream went out from Ryouko's mouth, the tub of popcorn she had been crushing with her chest the whole time went flying to the row of seats below, and she impulsively turned to her right side, grabbing Ryoma's shoulder and gripping his clothes tight. Ryoma also shrunk to his left side and made an impulsive grab that knocked down his tub of popcorn. Before he even realized what was going on, he was holding onto Ryouko's wrist for dear life. And just like that, they hugged each other, shaking from fright.
It was a second after the scary scene melted out of the screen that the spectators recovered moderately and the two teenagers on the middle row became aware of their arms around each other. Kevin who just took his hands from his face saw them and in that millisecond, felt that uneasy suspicion the same as with the popcorn thing earlier. He narrowed his eyes at them, his hands clenching into fists.
Meanwhile, a shocked Ryouko realized her current predicament, took her arms from Ryoma's torso and backed away to the opposite side only to find herself in another boy's arms, her forehead colliding with Kevin's neck.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as some people say... Ryouko slowly looked at the blonde boy's face which is tinged scarlet either from the glare of the screen or from the pressure of being taken at such close proximity with his crush. He's practically at hugging distance.
As he surveyed the scene happening so close to him, Ryoma's hand itched to grab the back of Ryouko's shirt and pull her away from Kevin but it was not necessary. As soon as her rust-colored eyes met Kevin's wide blue ones, Ryouko squirmed towards the back rest of her chair and buried herself there, burning with humiliation. For a moment, her eyes caught Ryoma's fallen tub of popcorn by her feet, now empty, and she considered putting it over her head to pretend that she's invisible.
What happened afterwards is nothing but moments of awkwardness as no one minded the movie anymore. Ryouko just miserably wished for it to be over so that she can get her humiliated butt out of there.
The two boys are both facing sidewards away from her. Ryoma has his chin on one closed fist and seem to find the empty seat next to him incredibly interesting. Kevin concentrated on finishing his popcorn, nibbling on one kernel at a time.
Jessica, on the other hand, has an even wider grin than before. The couple surveying her earlier were starting to get real freaked out.
After what seemed like half an hour of mental torture, the movie finally ended. Ryouko silently heaved a sigh of relief. Behind them, Jessica stood up, gathered her garbage and called out, "Kev, Ryoma, Ryouko. Let's go."
Their popcorn tubs and cups of cola in tow, the three began filing out to the middle of the theater, making their way out. As soon as they were out on the carpeted stairway, Ryouko suddenly found her foot slipping as she stepped unevenly onto the next plight. Kevin saw her and quickly tried to help but Ryoma was faster than him.
Letting go of his empty popcorn tub, he caught Ryouko, his arm wrapping around her tiny waist perfectly. The tub of popcorn fell all the way down the steps, leaving dull clunks as it hit the carpeted floor. Ryouko automatically looked up at Ryoma with wide eyes. He met her gaze squarely and asked, "You alright?"
Watching them at arm's length, Kevin placed a palm over his chest. There it is again, that heavy feeling of suspicion. There's no doubt about it now... There is indeed something odd between those two.
Feeling that vibe of fleeting suspicion three times in under one hour is definitely not normal. As people say, once is a mistake, twice is a coincidence and three times is a pattern...
Meanwhile, Ryouko wriggled out from Ryoma's arm, showing obvious signs of awkwardness. Her blinking eyes found a distraction in the form of the popcorn tub which rolled all the way to the last plight of the stairway. "I'll go pick that up. We shouldn't litter," she quickly said and made her way down the stairs.
Kevin kept his eyes on Ryoma as the latter stared at Ryouko hurrying down the steps. His blue eyes narrowed when Ryoma suddenly looked at the hand he used to catch her with, a complicated look on his thoughtful brown-bronze pupils.
Jessica saw everything from the top of the stairs and heaved a great sigh. "Goodness gracious..." she mumbled under her breath.
~~~
"The movie was really scary, wasn't it?" Jessica said as they made their to the wave of people entering and exiting the theaters.
"Kinda," Ryouko answered blankly.
"It wa so-so," Ryoma added.
Suddenly, Ryouko made the gesture of checking the time on her phone and said. "It's almost four thirty..." she murmured, loud enough for her three companions to hear. "The people at home expects me to be home early," she added, lying through her teeth with a convincing worried tone. She wants to beat Jessica into it just in case the blonde girl thinks of another thing to do.
She's really in no mood to prance around anywhere anymore. All she wants to do is reach home, lock her room, dive into bed and stay under the blankets to pull herself together before Licht calls dinner. Because of the conversation she had with Jessica in the baths, some crazy notions kept entering her head and it's driving her crazy. She has a lot of serious thinking to do and it would do her better that she deal with it as soon as possible.
Jessica, the sensitive sweet thing, took the hint and decided to help her out. She just met Ryouko hours ago but she felt as if she can read the pretty dark-haired girl like an open book. People normally find it hard to guess what Ryouko is thinking but Jessica could decipher even the blankest facial expression that she makes.
"Then, shall we call it a day and go home?" Jessica said.
Ryoma seemed to look reluctant as he casted Ryouko a side glance. "I guess..." he murmured half-heartedly.
Suddenly, Kevin gave Ryoma's arm a small pinch to get the latter's attention. Ryoma's head swerved to his direction, his bronze-gold eyes questioning.
"In that case, can you accompany me to the washroom for a bit?" he told Ryoma. Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the two girls and added, "You guys wait for us by the benches out front, the one near the vending machine we passed by earlier..."
Ryoma blinked in confusion as Kevin whisked him away by the arm towards the crowd of people. The two girls also stared at their retreating backs with eyes as confused as Ryoma's.
"What are they, a couple of girls? Why would they need to go to the washroom together?" Jessica commented.
Ryouko merely shrugged in response. "Let's just go to that bench and wait for them," she added.
~~~
The two boys entered the men's room and found it almost deserted except for one guy washing his hands by the sink. He left soon after and Kevin took that opportunity to drag Ryoma to the farthest corner of the washroom.
"Just wait there while I wash my hands," Kevin told the confused Ryoma.
"You were just planning to wash your hands?" Ryoma said incredulously, crossing his arms over his chest in displeasure. "What is with you? You could've just went by yourself..." he added.
"Ryouko," Kevin suddenly said and the abrupt calling of her name made Ryoma tense up.
Kevin casually pumped the hand soap container twice, catching the clear gel-like liquid with one cupped hand. "You said that she's just a friend, right?" he said with a probing tone.
"Best friend. And childhood friend. There's a huge gap between those and a normal friend," Ryoma corrected, sounding a litte defensive.
"But putting it simply, it's just plain friendship, isn't it?" Kevin said.
Ryoma looked kind of irritated at Kevin's tone of voice. "It's not plain friendship. We're so close for it to be plain friendship. We're like siblings," he remarked, an annoyed glint surfacing in his eyes.
"But you're not," Kevin replied matter-of-factly.
"Not what?" Ryoma said, getting more annoyed.
"Not siblings," Kevin answered.
Ryoma looked at him with brows furrowed and Kevin continued. "Strictly speaking, you're not siblings."
"What's your point?" Ryoma asked, an edgy tone in his voice.
Kevin continued washing his hands and gave a small smile, looking at Ryoma through the huge mirror. "Chill. I'm not pointing out anything. But if you're like siblings and all, I guess it'll be bad manners to not ask for your permission."
The crossed arms over his chest loosened as Ryoma asked, "What do you mean by permission?"
"Ryouko... Can I like her?" Kevin answered in a straight-forward tone. Before Ryoma could say anything (which he can't because he's rendered speechless), Kevin continued. "Truth be told, when we met the two of you in the courts, I thought she was your girlfriend."
Ryoma's crossed arms tightened once more as a thought entered his mind. "Do we seem that way to other people? Ryouko and I?" he asked himself, a complicated feeling half between joy and uneasiness budding on his chest, confusing him further.
"But it turns out she's not," Kevin continued, breaking into Ryoma's thoughts. "And it also turns out that she was the girl who helped me when I was younger..." His blue eyes bore into Ryoma's brownze-gold ones as he sent a piercing stare through the mirror. "If nothing other than friendship and sibling bonds are between the two of you, can I have your permission to like her?"
Before he realized it, Ryoma blurted out an answer. "No you can't!" he exclaimed, his voice higher than usual. The sound of the water gushing from the faucet became the only noise in the background as both boys turned quiet.
Shocked at his own words, Ryoma placed a hand over his mouth. "What I mean is... It's not for me to decide..." he said uncertainly, his eyes darting everywhere but nowhere near Kevin's piercing stare.
All of a sudden, Kevin turned the faucet off and turned around to face Ryoma. "Look here..." he started with a serious tone. "I'm saying this because you're a very precious friend. It's because it's you that I'll be really frank with this." With hands still dripping wet, he crossed his arms over his mauve-colored jersey shirt. "The way I see it, you're smitten with Ryouko."
"Come again? Who's smitten with who?" Ryoma said with a half-laugh.
"Don't you laugh at my face, Ryoma Echizen. You may not have realized it, but the way you look at your 'bestfriend' is not very 'bestfriend'-like," Kevin remarked.
"Have you gone mad?" Ryoma retorted.
"Well have you seen the look you have on your face when looking at Ryouko?" Kevin countered. "Ever seen it personally?"
Ryoma pursed his lips, unable to answer.
"No, right?" Kevin answered for him.
"So what are you trying to say?" Ryoma said.
Kevin rolled his eyes helplessly and pulled agressively at the tissue dispenser. "Just how dumb are you, dumbass? What I mean is you like Ryouko," Kevin said in an exasperated tone.
"Of course I do," Ryoma said matter-of-factly.
"Don't make me want to punch you," Kevin answered threateningly. "You know that the 'like' I'm talking about is not the type of 'like' that you're talking about. I'm saying that you like her, romantically-speaking. Stop acting like you don't understand because you do. Deep inside, you definitely do. Wake up and smell the coffee and accept your feelings or else, someone else would beat you to it," he added, emphasizing his every word.
The silence that came after seemed to be engulfing the whole room.
Kevin approached Ryoma and placed both his hands on the latter's shoulders. Peering seriously at the confused golden-bronze eyes, he started ranting. "She's my first love, you douchebag. I've never liked another girl since I was seven; not even once because I was looking for someone similar to that girl. If it's not you who's in my way, I wouldn't even be considering giving up what little chance I have to get close to her. So just snap to your senses already and don't make me feel like I'm making the wrong move. You were never this indecisive except for that one time that you went home in the middle of the US Open. And even then you had a valid reason. But this time, nothing you can say can validate this stupidity you're showing. Either you continue liking her or you don't. There are others who would love to have that privilege..."
Ryoma slowly lifted his hands and took Kevin's palms off of his shoulders. "You mean I..." he mumbled, looking extremely disoriented. "I like... I like Ryouko romantically?"
Kevin placed a hand on top of Ryoma's head and grabbed the lustrous dark hair viciously. "There's no question mark to it, you dumbass..." he hissed.
"Ouch! Hey!" Ryoma said and tried to untangle his hair from Kevin's strong grip.
Suddenly, a group of guys entered the washroom with boisterous laughs that got caught in their throats after seeing two teenage boys in headlock like a pair of girls in a catfight standing in the far-off corner of the room.
Embarrassment getting the better of them, they took their hands off of each other's heads and quickly vacated the washroom.
~~~
The two girls patiently waited for the return of the boys despite it being over five minutes already. "What on earth is taking them so long?" Jessica said in a complaining voice.
Ryouko stood up and went towards the vending machine. "Do you want something warm to drink?" she asked, fetching coins from her wallet.
"Yes please," Jessica answered.
"Is coffee alright? Caramel macchiato or plain black?" Ryouko asked again.
"Caramel macchiato," Jessica replied.
They sat side by side, sipping the coffee and warming their hands on the cans while the chats and laughs of groups of friends and couples passing by them lingered in the air.
"You know," Jessica suddenly said, breaking the ice between them. "About what we talked about in the bathhouse earlier..."
She saw Ryouko turn rigid and Jessica gave a small smile. "Ahh, you're really adorable, Ryouko..." she commented.
"What are you talking about? You shift topics way too fast," Ryouko told her.
"Oh I was just admiring how pure and innocent you are... It makes sense that Kevin, who never notices any girl, took that kind of liking to you... But there's a limit to obliviousness you know... Girls like you, at the moment they realize that they like someone, it's already too late because the timing has already passed or the guy already has someone else..." Jessica commented.
"Please speak plain English. I can't understand what you're talking about," Ryouko said with a sigh.
Jessica laughed. "It it were someone else, I'll tell them to stop pretending not to understand but in your case, I'll be kind because I do know that you don't understand..."
Ryouko looked even more exasperated and she could only igh. "Let's stop this one-sided conversation... It's making my head hurt," she murmured in a defeated tone.
Jessica took a long sip of coffee before speaing again. "We just met, so I don't know whether it's good manners to overstep my boundaries, but I can't watch seeing you so confused. So let me enlighten you..." she said and turned to Ryouko with serious eyes. Ryouko merely blinked back at her.
"I'm going to ask you some questions, and you just have to answer with 'yes' or 'no'," Jessica said with a smile. Ryouko nodded her head although still looking confused.
"Do you prefer guy friends over girl friends?" Jessica asked.
"Yes," Ryouko answered.
"Does associating with boys ever get uncomfortable to you?" Jessica queried.
"No," Ryouko replied.
"Are you completely aware that you're a girl?" Jessica said.
"Ye-es," Ryouko answered with a drawling voice, sounding offended tone.
"Is Ryoma an important friend?" Jessica continued with the questions.
"Yes," Ryouko said.
"Are you very close to Ryoma?"
"Yes."
"Then does Ryoma ever make you uncomfortable?"
"..."
That last question was met by seconds of silence. Jessica peered at Ryouko's face and urged for her to answer.
"Y-yes," she finally blurted.
"Do you think that everything regarding Ryoma affect your emotions very much?"
"Ye- Maybe," Ryouko said.
Jessica wagged a finger at Ryouko as if reprimanding a naughty puppy. "Oh no dearie. Only yes or no," she pointed out.
Ryouko made a face. "Yes then," she said in surrender.
"Is it very annoying when he's nice to other girls?"
"Yes," Ryouko answered, her brows knitting together.
"Would you like it if he becomes nicer to other girls?"
"No..."
"Did you ever feel like using violence on those girls flocking around him?"
"What do you mean by violence? I'm not some sort of gangster..." Ryouko said defensively.
"None of those words sounded like 'yes' or 'no' to me..." Jessica pointed out.
Ryouko frowned. "I won't go right down to violence but I did felt like tripping them so they fall flat on their face," she answered.
"I'll take that as 'yes'..." Jessica said with a nod. "Would you like it if Ryoma started dating someone?" she continued.
"No. And he's not allowed," Ryouko replied, her tone reprimanding as if Ryoma actually have thoughts of dating someone.
"Well that small piece of explanation at the end is uncalled for..." Jessica commented, a bit amused.
"I'm only stating the truth," Ryouko murmured under her breath.
"Well, nevermind... Let's continue..." Jessica remarked. "Do you feel nervous when Ryoma gets too close to you?"
Ryouko looked reluctant to answer but she did after a second of contemplation. "Yes... Very strange but yes..."
Jessica's blue eyes glinted under the light of the lamppost. She has to be very careful with this next question. "Have you ever felt like... you want to touch him?"
In that instant, Ryouko's face went extremely pink. "To-touch?" she stuttered, losing her compusure.
"Bingo," Jessica exclaimed and snapped her fingers. "You do like him!" she declared.
"Like who?" Ryouko said, still not getting over the last question.
"Ryoma," Jessica answered simply. She pointed at Ryouko, "You, Ryouko Fujioka, likes Ryoma Echizen... And it's not the type of 'like' between friends, it's the type that's romantically-inclined," she said matter-of-factly.
"I've figured it's like this since you talked to me about your troubles over Ryoma in the baths... But now that I hear your answers to those questions, I can say with no doubt that my obervations are right. You don't need to be so surprised over your thoughts and feelings because those are very normal when you like someone... You'd feel strange when they're there and anxious when they're nowhere to be seen. You'd feel mad and annoyed when others get close because you get jealous. You wouldn't want him to be nice to others because you want his kind side for yourself. You're overprotective of him because you want to protect what you think should be yours. Very simple," Jessica told her nonstop.
Ryouko was dazed for a moment but a few seconds later, she jerked into motion and started shaking her head. "Don't be ridiculous. You got it wrong. It's too early for me to feel 'romanticaly-inclined' towards someone. I'm barely thirteen, for crying out loud. And to Ryoma... Especially not towards Ryoma... I mean... He and I... We have such wholesome friendship. And we're rivals as well..."
Jessica raised an eyebrow at her skeptically. "Really? Then why did you blush when I asked if you ever wanted to touch him?"
"Who wouldn't be red in the face after being asked such a question like that?" Ryouko countered defensively.
"I wouldn't. If I have no feelings towards the person, I wouldn't blush," Jessica answered matter-of-factly.
"Well, that's you and I'm me. We're a hundred percent different," Ryouko pointed out.
Before they could continue with their debate, Kevin called out as he and Ryoma made their way to the benches. "Hey, sorry for making you guys wait!"
Ryouko clamped her mouth shut and did not say another word until they returned to the street tennis courts where they met earlier.
"Today is really fun. I'm glad I reconnected with an old friend and made another one," Jessica said as they were saying their farewells.
"You said that you'd be leaving the day after tomorrow?" Ryoma asked Kevin.
Kevin nodded.
"It's a pity we can't spend time tomorrow. We have school," Ryoma said.
"It's okay..." Kevin answered. "I guess it'll be a long time before we see each other again huh?"
"Don't be absurd, Kev. It's the era of technology. We can chat, text, call or video call..." Jessica remarked. She stepped towards Ryouko and took her hands, squeezing them affectionately. "You will stay in touch, would you?" the blonde girl asked as if pleading.
"I will. It's very nice meeting you, Jessica," Ryouko replied with a smile.
"Just call me 'Jess'," Jessica told her.
Ryouko smiled wider. "Jess," she corrected herself.
After Jessica stepped away, it was Kevin's turn to say goodbye to Ryouko. "It's really amazing that I got to meet you again. I still can't believe it..." he told her.
Ryouko smiled warmly at him. "I'm so glad that things have gotten better for you. I genuinely congratulate you and I hope your father gets to live with you soon," she said.
"Thanks. I appreciate that..." Kevin answered, smiling back.
After that, the four of them exchanged contacts and when it was time to split ways, Kevin looked at Ryoma. "What we talked about, don't forget," he mouthed at him. Ryoma nodded reluctantly.
He and Jessica have taken a few steps when Kevin suddenly turned around. "Looks like I can't leave this way..." he murmured and went marching towards Ryouko.
Ryoma's eyes widened when Kevin wrapped his arms around Ryouko in a tight hug. He lifted a hand to the back of her head and carressed the long drak hair. "I wish you all the best, Ryouko Fujioka. You are and always will be... my first," Kevin said near her ear.
When he turned his eyes to the side where Ryoma is standing, Kevin couldn't help but grin in amusement at the murderous look on his friend's face. "First?" Ryouko repeated in confusion, unable to understand what the blonde boy is talking about.
Kevin gave Ryouko's delicate frame one last squeeze before he let go. "See you around," he told her and turned around. "Ahh, what a way to end my first love... Everything ended before I even started something..." he told himself. He felt bitter but because Ryoma is the one he relinquished her to, he doesn't feel so bad.
Suddenly, his cousin went past him and went to the direction he came from. "No fair! Me too!" Jessica said and hugged Ryouko. Blinking her rust-colored eyes, Ryouko merely smiled and hugged her back.
"You know what?" Jessica suddenly whispered near her ear. Ryouko flinched as her warm breath tickled her earlobe. "If you want to make sure whether you do like Ryoma romantically or not, there's something that you can do..." Before Ryouko could whisper something back, Jessica continued.
"Kiss him," Jessica said simply.
Ryouko's eyes widened and she controlled her tone as she whispered a vicious 'Excuse me?' at Jessica's remark.
"Just kiss him. Once is enough. After you do, you'll know instantly," Jessica said and quickly broke away from Ryouko, making her escape towards his cousin.
The two blonde figures waved their hands before taking their leave. Ryoma and Ryouko watched as they disappeared down the road.
All of a sudden, both of them realized that they're now completely alone. They stayed rooted on the spot, an awkward silence falling around them like a curtain.
"Should I walk you home?" Ryoma said, breaking the ice.
"No need," Ryouko quickly answered. "I'm fine on my own..." she added.
Ryoma winced at his own stupidity. Why did he have to say it in question form? He should've said 'I'll take you home' and say it firmly so she won't be able to refuse.
"I'll see you tomorrow at school," Ryouko said, interrupting his self-blame. She turned around and started to leave but she hasn't even taken five steps when Ryoma caught up to her.
Ryouko looked at him sidewards with a questioning gaze. "What are you doing? You can take the opposite way and reach your house faster..." she told him.
"I want to take the longer way home since dinner's probably still not ready once I arrive..." Ryoma answered.
"We ate loads today and just had popcorn and cola, and you're thinking of dinner already?" Ryouko remarked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's exactly why I have to walk the long way before going home... So that I can burn the calories and make space for dinner later," Ryoma replied, making up a magnificently convincing excuse.
Ryouko nodded, seeing the logic in his words. "Makes sense..." she commented.
Ryoma hid a triumphant smile. It's either he's a genius at thinking up excuses or Ryouko's just too easy to deceive... He casted her a side glance. "She's so easy to trick that Kevin, Fuji-senpai and other guys could wrap her around their finger so easily... How worrying..." he thought.
After Kevin dropped him a bomb earlier, Ryoma had gotten considerably calmer than before. If he thinks about it, what Kevin said might actually make sense. He had never felt infatuated with any girl before and so he does not know how it feels. But coming from the side of a third party like Kevin who has first-hand experience at having a 'first love' (Ryoma grimaced upon remembering the farewell hug from earlier), he could have a sensitivity to these things that Ryoma admits he never possessed.
He casted another glance at Ryouko and tried to stare at her while also trying to not make it obvious. She's a pretty girl even when they were young. Though boyish, her doll-like features could not be concealed no matter how rough she acts. She got a lot prettier from eight years old to twelve. Well, strictly speaking, it's thirteen since their birthday isn't that far off. If she gets any prettier, it would be really troublesome.
Ryoma also admits to the fact that he considerably hates other guys flocking around Ryouko nowadays in comparison to when they were kids. And he doesn't like it when she's nowhere to be seen. He doesn't want anyone other than him touching her casually. If that is how it is being 'romanticaly-inclined' to someone, then he's in trouble.
Ryouko trusts him so much, even more than she trusts her own family members. Suddenly liking her this way, this not-so-wholesome type of 'like', wouldn't she feel like he betrayed their friendship? As his sweet thoughts from earlier get replaced by images of Ryouko being disgusted at him and turning away upon learning about his feelings, he shook his head and tried to banish the thoughts.
"I'll see what happens... Then I decide what I really feel... I can't jump to conclusions so easily... So much is at risk. Our friendship is at risk..." he told himself before returning to stealing glances at her, trying to bury his worries.
Meanwhile, Ryouko is sweating down her back despite the cold weather because of the pressure under Ryoma's staring. If he is indeed trying to conceal his staring, he's not doing a very good job at it because Ryouko is tremendously, openly and painfully aware of his eyes on her.
Curse that Jessica. It's because of what she said earlier that Ryouko is suffering at every gaze that Ryoma gives her.
'Kiss him.'
Jessica's whispering voice echoed inside Ryouko's head. Ryouko lifted a hand to the air as if trying to swat a fly.
"What're you doing?" Ryoma asked in surprise after she suddenly started swiping at the air in front of her.
"Mosquito!" Ryouko exclaimed, a little louder than she intended. "There was a mosquito," she added with a much calmer tone.
Ryoma lifted a hand towards the side of her face and asked, "Did you get bitten?"
Before his fingers could even graze her, she dodged his hand. They awkwardly froze on the spot for a couple of seconds, blinking in confusion.
"Did she... dodge?" Ryoma asked himself.
"Idiot, why did you dodge?" Ryouko told herself.
"I'm fine. I didnt get bitten or anything..." she said aloud.
"Okay then... Thats good," Ryoma said and started walking again.
Ryouko silently cussed at herself, making a pained face and stayed a pace slower behind him. But as she stared ahead and looked at the back of Ryoma's head, his back and shoulders, Jessica's voice started invading her head once again.
'Have you ever felt like... you want to touch him?'
Red patches crawled up Ryouko's cheeks and it was a split-second later that she realized... She has her hand in front of her, reaching out towards Ryoma's back.
"Crazy!" she internally screamed and slapped her right hand with her left.
She quickened her pace and started overtaking Ryoma. "This walk would be the death of me!" she thought in agony.
Behind her, Ryoma stared at the back of her head and noted the way her long hair swayed with her every move. "She wouldn't get any prettier, would she? She can't get any prettier than this... How troubling..."
~~~
Surprisingly, Ryoma and Ryouko were able to spend time at school just as the same as they always did. Mami looked extremely displeased because she was anticipating heart-racing moments between the two after all the things they experienced in the Cultural Festival.
"How can they be so casual?" Mami complained to Miyako as they ate their lunch together. Ryouko told them that she is eating lunch with Ryoma on the roof and excused herself.
"I know, right? Even I am so mystified... After the play ended, they were so awkward around each other. I didn't expect them to recover just after a day," Miyako answered before munching on an eggroll.
"I am so so so frustrated..." Mami said and poked her burgersteak with every word she uttered. "I ruined my play for them you know... The least they can do is show some improvement..."
"Their obliviousness is not normal..." Miyako told her.
Up in the roof of the school building, both Ryoma and Ryouko sneezed.
"I don't think we can eat our lunch here after today... It's getting too cold," Ryouko commented, fetching something to wipe her nose with.
"It said in the news that the first snow would be on Wednesday," Ryoma told her, wiping his nose with a tissue.
"Really? What's going to happen to the practice schedules?" Ryouko asked, referring to the tennis club.
"Coach Ryuzaki and Captain are still talking about it... It's possible that training would be done inside the gymnasium and practice matches in a rented indoor facility," Ryoma answered.
"In that case, I'll recommend that place we went to with Kev and Jess. The members would be overjoyed that it has a bathhouse and a clothing store," Ryouko said.
Ryoma was about to take a bite at his sausage when a vein in his temple throbbed irritably. "Since when did you call Kevin 'Kev'?" he said, half-annoyed.
"Jess calls him that way so I'll also call him that way. 'Kev' sounds cute and it's shorter," Ryouko answered.
"Cute, my butt," Ryoma murmured under his breath and crammed the whole sausage inside his mouth.
After everything that happened yesterday, the both of them came up with the same conclusion. There's nothing they can gain by acting strange around each other and they definitely don't enjoy the awkward feeling thus, they figured that acting the same as always is the best option to take.
However, this doesn't mean that they're all fine and casual in the inside as well.
Ryouko stole a glance at Ryoma and thought, "Weathers like this when it's this cold, I would've snuggled close to him for warmth. I would've done that with no second thoughts... What if he thinks that I'm acting weird? Should I go snuggle now?" She smacked herself internally.
"What do you mean 'snuggle'? You shameless little..." she gave her mind a scolding.
"Don't pretend as though you don't want to..." her subconscious told her tauntingly. Her subconscious has an official voice now and it's one very similar to Jessica's.
"I don't!" she answered it. "I mean, I do but I can't!"
"Something wrong?" Ryoma asked, making her snap back to her senses.
"Huh?" she asked back.
"You suddenly went quiet... Is it too cold? Should we go inside?" he told her.
Ryouko shook her head. "It's fine. Let's finish eating quickly and go back to the classroom..."
After they have eaten, they packed their empty lunchboxes and went down the stairs. To Ryoma's surprise, Fuji and Kikumaru were on their way up.
"Senpaitachi..." Ryouko said as she acknowledged them.
"Hime-chan! It's been a while! We haven't seen each other much during the festival," Kikumaru said and attempted to hug Ryouko.
Ryoma jumped in the way and received Kikumaru's embrace. "Indeed senpai... Let's hang out sometime..." he told the confused Kikumaru before grabbing Ryouko's hand and leading her down the stairs. "Let's go back to class or we'll be late," he said and was careful to shield her from Fuji on the way down.
"What're you saying? Class won't start for another twenty minutes," the two seniors heard Ryouko say before she disappeared down the stairs with Ryoma.
"What's with Ochibi?" Kikumaru asked Fuji.
The smiling brown-haired prince merely gave a simper. "It's because he's like that that it's tempting to get in his way..." he murmured under his breath.
"What did you say?" Kikumaru asked.
"Nothing..." Fuji answered and turned to his redheaded companion. "Let's not eat in the rooftop. It seems it's too cold," he said and started going down.
~~~
Tuesday flew by like any other day and classes on Wednesday were cut halfway because of the snow. It's a good thing that his parents left for their trip on Saturday when the weather was still fine. The early flight did him two good things. One, his parents arrived to Florida safely for their business trip (Nanjiro is tagging along because Rinko's current client is a tennis enthusiast and requested to meet him) and two, his father was not able to watch the Robin Hood play as he originally planned. That's two disasters avoided.
His parents won't be coming home for another week. While they are away, Nanako-san was supposed to keep him company but she encountered an emergency at which she was tasked to take the place of her friend in some kind of organizational event in their university. Her friend had fallen sick with the typhoid and has to be hospitalized. The event lasts the entire week for prepartions and three days for the actual event so Nanako obviously wouldn't be able to accompany him. She was very sorry for it and called Ryoma often to check up on him.
Thus, the conclusion is that Ryoma would have to survive the whole week without his parents and Nanako. The house felt completely empty with just him and Karupin inside.
"I'll be fine..." Ryoma said, spending the last five minutes taking another phone call from his mother. "It's not the first time I've taken house-sitting. This won't be difficult. Stop treating me like a baby," he said, sounding a bit impatient. It wasn't until two minutes later that he was able to persuade his mother into hanging up. Afterwards, he went to the kitchen, fixed himself anf Karupin some snacks and went up his room after feeding the kitty.
It was almost 3 o'clock in the afternoon and Ryoma lay all cozy and warm in his bed, staring at his phone and trying to make up his mind about calling Ryouko. If it was the old him, he would've called her with no second thoughts. It's not as if calling and wanting to talk had any other special meaning before.
He looked back on the last two days and evaluated the way he acted around Ryouko. Was he natural? Was it too casual? Or was it stiff? Is it possible she suspects that something's wrong? It would be the death of him if Ryouko noticed his confusion before he makes sense of his feelings.
Well, if he does call her, what would they talk about? He has to have a proper reason. It would be utterly embarrassing to say that he called just because he wants to hear her voice. He would bury himsef in the snow and freeze to death before uttering a line as cheesy as that.
Just as he was about to send her a text message, asking if she's free to talk about their plan to recommend the tennis facility for the Seigaku practice matches, the doorbell suddenly rang.
A split-second later, it rang again. And again. And again.
Whoever it is, he or she is trying to ring the doorbell to death. "For goodness' sake, hold your horses..." he mumbled as he pulled on a sweater before going out of the front foor and into the gate.
He was surprised to see a harrassed-looking Licht and a frantic Ichidou behind it. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked immediately.
"Ryouko..." Ichidou said. "Did Ryouko pass by here?"
Ryoma, looking confused and a worried feeling welling upon his chest, answered the truth. "No. I haven't seen her since we got dismissed from classes this morning..."
Ichidou looked extremely troubled. "if she's not with you, then where the heck is she?" he said, his voice breaking.
"What do you mean by that?" Ryoma asked slowly.
Ichidou looked as if he is on the verge of crying so Licht answered instead. "Ojou-sama... We're afraid that she's ran away from home."
"What?" Ryoma exclaimed. "Ran away? Why would she run away?"
Licht looked very serious as he delivered the news. "Ojou-sama's engagement has been decided," he said.
Ryoma's face looked frozen in shock. It's as if someone had told him that the sky is falling.
"She is to be engaged to Setsuna-obocchama on her thirteenth birthday. She wasn't supposed to know, but she overheard when Ichidou-obocchama was talking with his brothers in a video call. She ran up the stairs, took something and went out. She didn't even change out of her uniform. We weren't able to catch up to her. We lost her downtown. She's not very good at directions so I figure she just snuck into spaces where we couldn't reach but it's snowing so hard now and the temperature's dropping. It's been five hours. We have to find her..." Licht explained.
Ichidou looked so guilt-ridden and kept murmuring that it's his fault. "Please..." he told Ryoma. "If she ever contacts you, tell us immediately. I won't forgive mysef if something happens to Ryouko..."
Licht then asked about possible places that Ryouko might've went to. Ryoma offered to help search for her but Ichidou told him to stay put. The possibility of Ryouko running to him for help cannot be ruled out. He has to stay home just in case she comes looking for him.
The two went away in the black car that Licht uses to drive Ryouko around and Ryoma stayed out in the gate a few moments even after the car has disappeared.
The bald fact is sinking itself to his brain. Ryouko is... getting engaged... And because she doesn't want to, she ran away. His stomach churned unpleasantly as worry and shock mixed inside.
Ryouko is no longer thoughtless about her health. She knows how much pain it would bring to the people who cares for her if she let something bad happen. Ryoma believes that she's fine somewhere. For her own safety, he also wants to find her immediately but a part of him wishes that she just hides herself well and not be caught.
If she gets caught, she'd be forced into an engagement that she doesn't want. She'd be imprisoned all over again, by her own family.
And he... He doesn't even know for sure how he feels about her... And yet, she's going to be engaged... That's just so unfair!
All of a sudden, a noise distracted Ryoma. Some kind of scraping against metal. He looked at the source and saw the container where the people of the neighborhood deposit their old clothes to be given away to charity.
He stepped cautiously towards it and jumped back after he heard another scrape. It's possible that a street cat went inside because of the cold so he must be careful opening it or he'll get scratched bad.
However, he didn't find a street cat. Upon opening the lid, what he saw there is none other than the missing Fujioka heiress about to be engaged to her cousin, her body twisted to fit her entire frame inside. The scraping noise seemed to be from her her sneakers hitting the side of the metal container as she shuffled in her sleep.
Ryoma heaved a great sigh of relief upon seeing her safe and sound. "You..." he mumbled. "You really..."
Ryouko furrowed her forehead as snow fell onto her face and she opened her eyes. "Oh..." she said, parting her lips which looked pale from the cold. "It's you..."
"Yes it's me, you runaway princess! What on earth are you thinking just going off like that? Licht-san and Ichidou are worried half to death. And I!" he paused in his scolding. "Why are you inside this thing?" he added instead.
"After I lost them downtown, I went here. It's weird but I never get lost trying to find your house. But I know you'll be the first person they'll ask about me, so to save you the trouble, I went inside here instead. It's a good hiding place. There's a lot of clothes, so it's warmer," she explained without bothering to get up.
She lifted her hand to the lid and pulled it close. "Don't tell anyone and just leave me alone. I'll live here for the rest of my life..." she said, her voice muffled from inside the container.
"Are you crazy? You obviously can't survive a night inside this thing!" Ryoma hissed, trying to force the lid open. Ryouko seem to be holding it shut from the inside.
"I won't go anywhere and I'm not getting engaged to anyone! I'd rather spend the whole winter inside this container and hide from them until they take it back!" she yelled.
"I'll hide you!" Ryoma yelled back and Ryouko stopped struggling from the inside.
"I'll hide you so get out of there and come with me inside the house. Surely they'll take back the engagement after you go missing for a week. Mom and Dad won't be going back from Florida until the next week and their flight might even get delayed depending on the weather. You can stay with me until then..." he told her.
There was complete silence from the container until Ryouko squeaked out, "You mean it?"
"Yeah... I mean it... When did I ever tell you something and not do as I say?" Ryoma asked.
Ryouko started listing all that she could remember. "Let's see... That time when you said you'd go with me to the toystore but couldn't because you overslept. And there's that time when you told Grandpa you'd go with us camping but couldn't because when we went to pick you up, you said you didn't felt like it anymore... And there's also-"
"I get it, I get it," Ryoma interrupted. "But this time, I'm telling the truth. You can kill me ifever I hand you over. I'll hide you properly, but you also have to cooperate..."
Ten minutes later, Ryouko can be found sitting on a chair in the kitchen of the Echizen residence and sipping hot tea. Ryoma wrapped a large towel around her. Her uniform is all drenched probably from the time that she ran from Licht and Ichidou.
"I'll get you a change of clothes..." he told her and went upstairs.
He was rummaging into his drawers when the realization sunk inside his brain. He was so desperate to make her go out of the container that he just said whatever came in mind but did he just create a situation wherein he has to live inside this empty house with Ryouko for a whole week? Just the two of them?! (Karupin is forgotten. Poor kitty.)
He dropped the sweatshirt from his hand and he blinked. He is still in the middle of trying to sort out his feelings for Ryouko, and now he has to live with her and hide her from her family.
Just what kind of crap-like situation did he crawl into this time?!
Ryoma and Ryouko, living under one roof with no supervision? 😱 Isn't it a bit too early for this, kids? 😅