Hye! I am back! I am really sorry about the delay. I tried making time for posting this but time itself was not cooperating with me. I hope you'll forgive me. I'll definitely not going to give this up even if this fic will only end up with few readers. Your words are highly appreciated. And... Thank you very much for the last reviews. I really appreciated your words. Some of you guessed what Ryoma would do in this chapter. It feels so exciting to hear your guesses. Find out what Ryoma really does here. Well, you will know that in a few minutes. Thank you very much.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Prince of Tennis and never ever will.

Chapter 29: The Stubborn Prince of tennis is Back!

Chapter Summary: Not even her life she expected he would do that. Everything he did was outragious to the point that he would...

She decided to stay quiet as she sat on her seat. The speaker inside the plane was already announcing what the passenger should do during the flight but her mind wasn't actually there. Her mind was gone back to the departure area of the airport where her grandmother and her friends saw her off that very moment.

Today was her flight to London.

Any minute now, the plane would take off and bring her to the place of her dreams. After for so many years of wishful thinking, she wouldn't believe that she would be really going to the place, let alone to study there. It was true enough that it wasn't really easy to live in London.

She was prepared for that, no matter what her life would be.

Looking at the window, she spotted the area where they could be sstanding. She couldn't see them from her location but she knew that they were there, waiting for her plane to leave. She didn't regret it. She didn't regret anything, not even leaving everyone behind.

She didn't regret not saying anything to Ryoma. In fact, it would be a lot easier for her to leave without him around. It was unfair but she thought it would be for the best. She would let the futurese does it's thing.

The speaker announced their leave within minutes, and those minutes, she couldn't help but remember what she had talked about with her grandmother and her friends back at the departure area.

Flashback:

"SAKUNOOOOOO!"

She wanted to close her ears at the moment but she couldn't do it. Tomoka was giving her a huge bear hug locking her arms and hands to her sides. Her best friend was showing off tantrums and kept saying her name deliriously. For her it was awkward but for her other friends who were wawatching them in the center of the departure area, it was funny.

"Come on, Osakada-san," Momoshiro said trying to pry her best friend away from her, "You don't want to make a scene for her, do you?"

"But it is my last day of seeing her in person," Tomoka pouted looking at him and glared after a few minutes, "You were not the one who's going to miss her the most."

Momoshiro just scratched his head making Sakuno sweat dropped in the process. She knew that he was a bit embarrassed of Tomoka's remarks, "You are not being nice. Of course I will miss her-we will miss her."

"That's right, so can you give us a space?" Horio suddenly grabbed her shoulder and separated them. She secretly thanked Horio for that but it was not the same case for her best friend.

"Why don't you pick your own best friend, you idiot!" She said pointing Horio to his chest, "You can go back to your Honoka for all I care!"

"What-what are you talking about?" Horio retorted even though he already flushed when he heard the girl's name, "Don't change the subject and stop pointing at me!"

"Oh yeah, Get your own friend then!"

"G-guys, stop it..." Sakuno tried stopping them but it was useless. The two were making a commotion at that moment. She wanted to leave them behind if it wasn't a bad thing to do but they were her friends. She didn't know what Tomoka exactly meant of her words. Of course it was impossible for Honoka to be there but it seemed that someone was going on with the three. She never had the chance to ask them when Fuji stepped in and grabbed their shoulders.

"Saa, why don't you lovebirds stop fighting and let Ryuzaki-chan say her thoughts to us."

"WE'RE NOT LOVEBIRDS!" The both of them said at the same time. The rest started to laugh when they noticed their synchronicity. They made another entertainment and Sakuno couldn't help but laugh at them as well. Her attention was almost focused to them when Fuji approached her.

"This is it, I guess?"

She stared at his cerulean eyes before nodding, " There's no turning back now."

Fuji looked at the window in front of them. "But it's too soon. You are supposed to leave next year, you know."

"I made my mind," Her vision followed his, "It may sound like I am escaping but..." Her eyes softened as she stared at the scene outside. The sky was blue and it was really peaceful to go out on a journey for once, "I can only escape for another pain."

"Indeed..."

"It's better this way." Breathing slowly, she looked back and stared at his eyes adoringly, "I am going there still anyway so why wait for long?"

"You cannot wait to leave us?" Fuji said sadly, "Is that why?"

"What? N-no! I-"

"You are so mean." Fuji said though he was making the same reaction

"Mou! Senpai!" She retorted when she realized that she was being teased once again. Being near with the tensai, she couldn't get used of being teased by him, which she must have by now. Her heart skipped a beat when he leaned closer to her and whispered to her ear.

'Just don't get too much attention to the guys in London or I'll probably go there and be your chaperone.'

That statement made her speechless and she knew that she was really blushing at the moment. Never it her thoughts that something eelse could make her blush like that. She never expected that Fuji still had something on his sleeve.

"Fuji! Stop giving dirty thoughts in my granddaughter's mind!" Sumire said approaching them. She just finished scolding the noisy people in her group and she knew from her expression that she didn't want another scolding to do, in front of them.

"I was just wishing her luck, sensei." Fuji answered as he gave her his signature smile.

"Why do I fear that your luck is somewhat dangerous?" Sumire narrowed her eyebrows as Fuji just chuckled. She knew that no one would dare try to miss with him but it was different when it came to her granddaughter, considering what she had been through, "Be sure to inform me when you get there."

Sakuno looked at her grandmother and saw how worried she was. It was their first time being apart for long. Her grandmother had supported her until that moment and she couldn't help but burst out her feelings that time. She threw herself to her and buried her face to the shirt of Sumire.

"Dear, dear," Sumire started as she recovered from her slight shock and patted her head, "You are not going to give in now, are you?"

"Arigatou, obaa-chan," She murmured only the two of them could hear, "Thank you for everything."

"I'll miss you." Sumire continued patting her head. She may not seeing her but she knew that she was smiling fondly at her. Sakuno also knew that the others were also doing that same thing. She could hear them their wish of luck for her bit she was still embarrassed of facing them.

Her face was stained with her tears as she couldn't help crying at that moment. A lot of things happened in the past months. It all happened only for a short time. She didn't know that she would come to a conclusion like that.

It all seemed that everything about her had changed somehow.

As she calmed down, she moved away from her grandmother and began accepting gifts from her senpais. The girls' team was also there to her surprise. Her former team seemed to catch up with her and gave her the best of luck. She knew that she just recovered from crying but she felt like crying once again. Good thing that she was able to stop herself from doing so for the first time.

Kanata wasn't there as Tomoka gave her the hint. The boy was not planning to see her off as she expected. He was still the same, the antisocial, tennis prodigy that she had ever known. He was once asked for her forgiveness and she hadn't given it to her properly. And now, she had the best option he could offer her in order to receive her forgiveness. She walked closer to Tomoka and hugged her tightly. As she was doing so, she secretly inserted something to her pocket and she made her sure that she felt it.

"Give it to Kanata-kun," She whispered to her ear, "Please."

"Got it!" She whispered back and nodded at the same time and then proceed to the 'saying goodbye' thingy.

They all gave their gifts and lucks to her. They chatted until the time of her departure was announced. They all listened to the system until Sakuno called their attention.

"That's my flight, minna." Sakuno sighed as she tried to get courage to speak, "Please take good care of Obaa-chan while I am gone." She announced bowing in the process.

"I am still strong, Sakuno," Sumire said showing her biceps in the process, "I don't need a bodyguard."

The rest just laughed at her words which she herself followed as well. Sakuno stared at them, looking at them made her realized how lucky she was to have friends like them. They also keep her only wish.

No one informed him of her leaving for London today.

He would be mad at her for leaving like that but she couldn't careless anymore. She might regret her decisions in the future but she knew that if she didn't do it that way, she would be afraid of hoping for more.

She never wanted to hope for more as she was tired of it. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her bag and called everyone's attention;

"I'll see you during breaks." She smiled at them closing her eyes in the process. They all said goodbye to her once again. As she opened her eyes, she started walking backwards, waving her hand as she did before turning around and walked on her way to the departure area. She had convinced herself not to cry again.

For she believed that she had cried enough for one day.

The movement of the plane brought her back to the present. It just happened a while ago but it felt happened for ages. Any minute now, she would be leaving the land of the rising sun and would welcome herself in the land of Europe.

London.

The place where she dreamt of coming. Who would have thought she could visit the place. She was going to stay there, for four years. It sounded awkward but she was actually nervous of going there alone. Someone would guide her there, yes, but she couldn't get herself from worrying.

She would be on her own and how wished that she could make friends there as well. Her worries seemed to be endless but it was forgotten for a while when she felt that the plane stopped from moving somehow.

How did she know that?

She looked around her and found the other passengers talking to each other. Some of them were looking outside and some of them were talking to the stewardess that was on the floor. Curious, she also looked outside. They were still on the runway and it seemed that their plane hadn't taken off yet. She wondered what was happening.

The commotion became noticeable when the people started standing up from their chairs. They wanted to know what was going on. The stewardess tried to calm the people down. She, too, couldn't calm down. In fact, she was getting nervous.

She hadn't left Japan and she was already encountering such trouble. She kept looking outside and wondered why the plane stopped. Then she noticed that people were staring at one direction. Though, they couldn't see what they were looking ahead which was actually a stupid thing to do.

"Paging Miss Ryuzaki Sakuno, please come to the pilot's deck..."

She wanted to make sure if the announcement was really calling for her name. She thought that she was just hearing things but she heard her name thrice. When she recovered, she panicky removed her seatbelt and stood up. Her heart was beating fast. She didn't know what was going on and she never had a clue. Sakuno approached the stewardess and introduced herself. The other papassengers were already glaring at her. They were probably mad about the flight interruption which she wasn't sure about that it was her fault.

The stewardess nodded at her and told her to follow her. They went to the control room where the ooperation for the flight was held. It was her first time seeing it. They were many buttons as she could see the front and in front of the control room, there were two pilots sitting in front of the buttons. One of them noticed their entrance and looked at her. He seemed to be annoyed but less intimidating. In fact, he looked amused as he asked;

"Miss Ryuzaki Sakuno?" The pilot said.

Blinking twice, she nodded first before she found her voice, "H-hai..." The stewardess already explained why they knew her. Something was telling her that they did for some reason.

The pilot gestured her to come closer, "You better see this for yourself."

Sakuno slowly walked to the control panel. They seemed to be more than she looked at the distance a while ago. She wondered how these pilots were able to push the right button. The pilot's attention was not with the buttons. His finger was actually pointed outside the window. She followed it's direction and everything came clear now. Her eyes widened and her heart beat fast, she also knew that her face was flushing at that moment. Who wouldn't if something like this happened to her, yep, particularly to her.

Standing just in front of them, down at the run away, stood Echizen Ryoma who managed to stop the plane from taking off.

xxx

What he was going to do totally reckless, still he was going to do it. He didn't care what would the other people think of him. No one was going to stop him from doing it. The moment they told him that her plane was already taking off, he didn't waste anymore time. As Fuji gave him the hint, he immediately ran to it despite that the others were running after him.

He did the reckless thing.

He made his way to the emergency exit. But that wasn't going to be easy. The plane was really leaving and it would take minutes before it could finally take off. The problem was, the plane was still a few distance away from him, even though he could see it from the exit door.

The plane was literally big that it was impossible not to see it. There were some tall walls and fences ahead of him. Even staffs from the plane were still near the ladder the plane used to carry the important baggage of the passengers a while ago. But then again, he wasn't THE Echizen Ryoma for nothing. Gripping his hands for a few minutes, he mustered enough adrenaline before he jumped below the stairs and started running.

"Oi! Echizen! Where are you going?"

Momoshiro shouted but he didn't need to answer him. It's either Fuji would tell them or watch what he was going to do. He made his way to the first walls and he was starting to get audience. His senpais were still calling him an idiot for doing such reckless things until he couldn't hear them anymore. The wind was getting stronger as he was approaching the runway. The fence was just a few inches taller than him but he climbed it still. His hat fell off when he jumped on the other side of the fence and into the runway. The plane was still a few distance away from him. Ryoma started running towards the center. The wind was stronger at point but he didn't care about it. As long as he thought that he was in the middle, he faced the plane which was too big for him at a close distance now. He could hear the staff shouting at him, worrying about him, and like the others he ignored them as well. His stare became fierce as he lift both of his hands to his sides as if the plane was waiting for him to hug him.

It was absurb but he was trying to make the plane stop at all cost. It was actually a deathly stunt he ever made in history. The media would never get the end of it.

But...

None of it mattered now.

He waited for a couple of minutes before he, well, miraculously made the plane stop. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Fuji talking to the staff who was shouting at him a while ago. Without him explaining the reason of his reckless slash deathly stunt, he knew that everything was going to be fine... at least he hoped it would be. His senpai was doing it for him. How they did it, he never had any idea but he felt content that he would get to his own plans. He put his hands down to his sides and waited for a few minutes.

Which he didn't wait for long.

The ladder was attached to the plane's door once again and soon after it opened. He stared at that area until the person he waited for him to appear finally emerged.

Ryuzaki Sakuno walked down the stairs, carefully not to trip herself. Her plaits were blown from her back as the wind was taking them along with it. Her face was flushed but she appeared serious as she came down. He watched her stand below the ladder and made no move to approach him to where he was standing but it was fine.

They were really close to each other that they could talk.

"What were you thinking?" She asked incredulously. She frowned a little as if she wasn't expecting that he could do something like that, "Stopping the plane from taking off? It was suicidal!"

"..."

"Stop it now. Let me go." The wind was a bit harsh but none of them seemed to mind it. "You are making a commotion."

He didn't say anything as he continued staring at her. Sure, he managed to stop the plane. It was doing to impossible but he made it possible. He only made his words come true. It was something he said to her before and who would have thought that he would do it... literally. 

Who would have thought that...he would block a plane for her.

Now, that he did, he tried of thinking what to do next. Sakuno was in front of him, telling him to let her go. She was a few minutes away of leaving the country. He caused too much delay already and he did make such a commotion.

But what was he going to say? He studied her face and he saw different expressions from her. It was one thing that he never paid attention to this before. He opened his mouth before he could stop himself;

"I am not going to stop you from leaving."

Her eyes widened the moment he said that. It was clear that she never expected him saying the words. Even him couldn't believe he could say it but he continued;

"You could have at least told me," He calmly said while staring at her. His hands were closed into fists like it was the only way to do to remain neutral, "Even if we have problems."

"I want to go without you knowing it."

That hurt in his part but he didn't show it, "That doesn't mean I won't know for long. You are running away."

"I am running away!" Sakuno snapped as she looked at him. "I don't care anymore!"

"..."

"I am tired, Ryoma-kun," Her voice lowered as she looked down, "...of everything."

"..."

"Let go."

He had feared this day to come. The day she grew tired on him, the day she would give up on him. Everything was his fault. Not Kanata or Honoka but his fault. Looking down, he listened to the sound of the wind. He let his locks swayed in random directions. Not really aware, he was holding something back and he was frustrated about it.

And it was too late now.

"I am sorry," He said not looking at her so he didn't know her reaction, "for the last time."

His head found hers as he slowly looked up. She remained still but they were pretty close to each other. He had no idea how they managed to walk that close.

"Hurting you was the last thing I do. And I won't repeat it anymore," He said not tearing his gaze to her, "If going away from me will at least lessen the pain, I won't stop you."

Sakuno gasped but she didn't say anything.

"I feel for you selflessly," Before Sakuno could say anything, he reached for her shoulder and turned her around where the ladder was waiting for her to take her back inside the plane, "Your journey awaits you. It's time to fulfill it."

"Ryoma-kun..."

"Don't look back," He whispered to her ear before he gently pushed her forward, "No matter what."

Sakuno stumbled a little and he believed that it wasn't his fault. She stilled for a while but she didn't look back.

"If you do, then I won't stop either." It was the last straw he could give her. He had hurt her enough so it was fair for the both of them. Four years weren't so bad. If things would go his ways when that time came, he would give it another try.

But now, he would let everything go.

Sakuno started walking on her way back to the plane. And all he had to do was to watch her distancing away from him. It was real and it was stupid to realize it now. How important she was when he knew she would be gone from him, the moment she left the plane and take her to London.

Yep, it was all true and he made all the mess by himself. Sighing, he whispered his farewell to the girl that he loved seriously before turning his back from her.

But then, something caught the corner of his eye before he could actually move.

Sakuno, stopping from her tracks, was slowly turning her own head towards him until half of her body was actually facing him. She was not looking at him but he could that she was crying.

"You are cruel," She said her face was red as she bit her lower lip, "Really cruel."

His eyes were wide at that moment. Sakuno turned around. And it was the only way but she turned around. She looked back despite of everything. He found himself walking towards her and reached her without warning. He hugged her immediately and buried his own face to her auburn hair.

"You looked back." That was all that he could say. It felt nice to be close to her like that. He missed the scent of her hair now that he wondered the last time he felt her plaits.

"I guess, I don't mind pain," She whispered to his shoulder, "You always give me anyway."

"That would be the last time."

"I doubt it,"

"I won't-"

"I doubt it," She repeated, embracing her hands to his back, "I really do."

Ryoma felt her hands to his back and the way she tightened her embrace to him. There were no words spoken between. He just knew. Despite everything, Sakuno was still in love with him, the way he loved her. They could still save their relationship if he would take care of it.

"I'll be disturbing you some time." He reminded her wondering how he would do that himself when she was in London. She didn't say anything but she nodded. At least she knew that he would do something. He didn't want to but it took a great effort to push her gently away from him. Her face was stained with her tears and her cheeks were still flushed from crying.

"I'll see you soon." He said staring at her eyes as his hand made his way to her left cheek. Sakuno only nodded. The next thing he knew, he lowered his head and kissed her chastely on the lips. It was chaste but he made it sure that she would remember that moment. At least he would let her go with a good memory of them.

It was actually a good start despite that she would leave any minute now. He strongly believed one thing for sure. At that time.

It was never too late for them.

xxx

The plane was invisible long enough for him not to see but he was still staring at the spot where it had disappeared to. He was scolded by the staffs and his senpais for the crazy stunt he did a while ago. But he was also teased by them after everything that happened.

Surprisingly, Fuji started the tease. It seemed that it was okay for him to pursue her now. He all had their blessings. Sakuno was gone but that didn't mean their connection was gone.

He had lots of things that were on his sleeves and he wouldn't miss a chance of not using them. Four years were long yet short for him. He inserted his hands in his pocket and whispered.

"See you real soon."

Done! Hahaha! I don't know but I think there are two chapters left. I repeat Two chapters left. I replied some of the comments today and I said that it was one last chapter.  There are two more... at least here. This is about to end. What do you think of this chapter? What will Ryoma do next?

Sorry for not being active here... but I'll try to update the next chapter next week. Thank you very much... :)

You'll find out soon.

Thank you! Reviews please! One word is fine with me. I don't know what you think if you don't express it to me. Help me finish this guys. Thank you very much.

Next Chapter: Strange World