the downward spiral to romance

10. Summertime Madness

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10. Summertime Madness

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Two weeks ago…

“I don’t like Ryuzaki.”

Under the blooming sakura tree, Ryuzaki Sakuno takes a slow, heavy breath–aware of how her heart continues to thump loudly against her chest. She wasn’t sure why his voice sounded so strange in her ears, prompting her to lift her head and look for his golden eyes.  

The tennis prince has his cat-eyes looking sideways, as if to avoid hers. As she notices his discomfort, she finally realizes what his words really mean.

“I don’t like Ryuzaki.”

“Oh.” she reacts, almost inaudible. 

Then she hears an imaginary creak. She breathes deeply, feeling prickles in her lungs. There’s something breaking inside her, Sakuno knows for sure. But instead of quickly delving into the dread that’s starting to eat her stomach, she chooses to try and contain her emotions. She should at least give a response to his rejection, right?

Sakuno steels herself, going as far as trying to make a smile in the middle of her internal pain.

“I see…” She weakly replies, “Still, t-thanks for hearing me out, Ryoma-kun.”

He’s still refusing to look at her. Her chest tightens in pain; she wonders if she really did the right thing.

Unable to withstand his silence, Sakuno turns her heels, starting to walk away. She tries to distract her thoughts, at least until she reaches home. But as her eyes wander around, she notices the tennis club senpais watching. She momentarily stops, unsure what to feel with their shocked and pitying expressions. She turns her head and remembers Tomoka. How could she ever tell her best friend that she just got rejected by the boy she’s been in love with for three years?

Her feet briskly steps as fast as her clumsy legs can. From afar, she can see the triumphant face of Tomoka who seems to be in victory against the group of girls that she chased earlier. The energetic girl’s grin towards her is enough for Sakuno to lose it all.

“Hey, Sakuno!” Tomoka calls excitedly, as she jogs toward her. “What happened with Ryoma-sama? Did something exciting happen between you and Ryoma-sama?” 

And Sakuno wasn’t even sure why even with Tomoka’s intense sound, all she could hear was that of emptiness. The hollow, inaudible ringing– the sound of her heart breaking.

As her tears start to fall, her cloudy eyes can see her best friend’s visible confusion. At that point, Tomoka’s worry-filled questions sound unclear amid her crying mess. The warm, comforting hug only made her bawl as her pent-up feelings overflow.

For the first time in her fifteen years of existence, Ryuzaki Sakuno cries it all. 

Sakuno blinks, feeling the warmth of her hot chocolate mug spreading in her hands. She currently sits on her study desk’s chair, watching the rain outside the windows that morning. Droplets race on her glass window, forming columns of wet lines on the transparent panes. 

They do say that when it rains, it pours. And she really is sure that it is the case with everything that happened so far.

She tries to suppress the bitterness in her heart, remembering the events of two weeks ago. With a heavy feeling, she puts the mug back on the table before walking, and drops face first on her soft bed.