Hye! I am back with the new chapter. This is actually the last chapter of my Valentine Special fic. I hope you like this short fic of mine. Thank you very much. *bows head*

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

Valentine Kisses

'A sweet, sweet chocolate
Even if I try and give it to you
Because I just don't stand out
I might just have to use my special method to win your heart.

The chocolate I save to this day is my very own lips
In your arms, I'll definitely close my eyes for you…'

Valentine Kiss (English Translations) – Various artists

Counting the days wouldn't be ordinary for her. It had been three days since white day and she felt that everything that happened then just happened yesterday.

Sakuno gave her chocolates to Ryoma three days ago and luckily, she found the right answer to his enigmatic question. What she didn't expect was the boy's sudden actions. He gave her a piece of chocolate that she made for him…

…By kissing her on the lips.

The boy gave the half piece of the chocolate as he was kissing her. It was a very unique one. She had never imagined Ryoma would be so… romantic, at least in his own way. He was the romantically-challenged type, the one that she never expected doing something like that… for his current age.

As for her, not really familiar of the feelings herself, had to deal with it. She was aware enough of her affection towards the boy. Sakuno liked Ryoma, loved even if she knew the real meaning behind the word. She came up with one realization;

Ryoma kissed her and the chocolate was just an alibi.

xxx

"This month totally sucks."

"Indeed, I hate this."

"Why can't we have boyfriends to ourselves."

"Why can't we? Because some random girl stolen all the boys from a club that we often visit."

"Right! How selfish of her?"

"Even the star player of the game caught her attention."

"Yeah, she is just plain and I don't know what they saw in her."

"Probably she's someone's relative from the faculty."

"Who couldn't leave her shadow."

She could hear all the words the girls said as they were slowly fading from her ears. She was in the girl's restroom in one of the cubicles and couldn't get out when those girls came around. Even they didn't drop the name down, she was perfectly aware who they were talking about. Sensing that she was alone in the restroom, she slowly opened the cubicle and emerged from there. She released the air that she didn't know she was keeping inside. She thought that she only had one realization but she was stood corrected.

The girls were getting her on their nerves.

Two weeks later:

"Sakuno!"

Blinking, she looked at her best friend who was leaning closer to her, "W-what is it?"

"Duh, I've been calling you for a thousand time," Tomoka said exaggeratedly, "Are you even with me?"

"Gomen, I was just thinking things, that's all," She defended and before she could ask another, she asked her question instead, "What is it anyway?"

"It's black day."

"Black day?" She repeated not really sure what Tomoka was talking about.

Her best friend nodded as if she were confirming it, "In two weeks. It is to celebrate people singledom."

"What do you mean by that?"

From looking up ahead, she turned her head towards her and frowned, "You don't really know anything, do you?"

"I would not have been asking if I know." She said.

Tomoka frowned at her first but then her face lit up when she realized something, "Ah! Right! You're no single anymore. It's not important if you don't know about black day."

"I really don't get you."

"Because you don't need to," Tomoka waved her, "You are not single anymore. You are committed."

"N-not single? Committed?" Sakuno frowned at her best friend's words. Leaning closer to her, she asked her another question, "What do you exactly mean by committed?"

"Committed. As in committed," Tomoka stated like it was the obvious answer she was expecting from her. But what she didn't expect was her next words, "To Ryoma-sama."

"Eh?" She reacted a little louder. She lowered her voice to avoid getting attention from everyone in the class, "To Ryoma-kun?"

"Come on, Sakuno," Tomoka said almost rolling her eyes to every answer she got from her, "Please, don't tell me that you didn't know what I am talking about?"

"B-but, but, that's impossible," Sakuno looked away blushing in the process, "I… I can't be committed to him."

"Yes, you are," Tomoka insisted, "After you gave your chocolates to him on white day. It's only a sign that you returned his feelings so making you a couple since then."

She couldn't get what she was telling her at first but when she was starting to understand word for word, she just couldn't contain her reaction hidden, "W-WHAT!"

This time, their classmates turned to their location, surprised at Sakuno's sudden outburst. She was never like that so they were wondering why she shouted like that. Embarrassed, she faced the class and bowed at them for several times apologizing frantically. When she thought that everything was alright, she sat beside her best friend and whispered to her;

"I… I never expected. I… I mean we haven't talked since then."

"What do you expect of a tennis prodigy?" Tomoka whispered back. Refraining from laughing from the earlier incident, "Who knows? Maybe he's just taking his time and when he does, he'll spend it with you."

Tomoka was actually right. They rarely spoke to each other. Ryoma was really busy for they were preparing for a match. They could only talk on the phone via text messages and nods when on the court. She didn't have an idea if she could call themselves a couple.

"Geez, I can't believe that you didn't know."

"Well, I am still not sure," Sakuno admitted, "H-he never said anything when we talk at all."

"Pity." Tomoka only said one word and she never said anything after that. She only meant one thing. It was her turn to find things out for herself.

After Tennis Practice:

He was washing his face with the running water on that fountain that time. His practice match with Momoshiro was worn out so much from him. The match was approaching so he never had the time to spend time with his other activities. Those girls were eyeing him fondly, much to his irritation. Ever since the white day, they just wouldn't stop staring at him. It was worse before the events started. If only she could escape them, he would have done so.

One thing that he was annoyed about, he couldn't get a proper conversation with the braided-pigtailed girl. At first, he was satisfied of exchanging text messages with her or just turning both of their heads to give them nods. But now, it seemed that it wasn't the same case anymore.

Not really admitting it, he wanted to have a real conversation with her. He couldn't believe that he followed every suggestion of his father… he meant all of them.

White day seemed to be a blessing for him. He had an excuse to do that as if he was just thanking her for the chocolate.

But they both knew what that meant… no wonder that he really needed to see and talk to her. And this time, he would make sure that no one would stop him of meeting her.

xxx

"Ryuzaki-chan!"

Sakuno smiled as she spotted the tensai walking towards from the fence. The practice was still going on so she hoped that she could catch them practicing on the spot, "Konnichiwa, Fuji-senpai," She bowed when he finally reached her, "Are you done already?"

"Not yet actually," The tensai answered smiling at her in the process, "I just want to tell you something."

"E?" Curious, she looked at the tensai, "What is it?"

"Do you know where Echizen is?" The tensai asked looking around, "He hasn't showed up for practice."

"He hasn't?" Looking behind him, she stared at the court and searched for a player with a hat on his head but she saw none from them, "Why isn't he here?"

Fuji shrugged, "I thought that he's with you."

"E?"

Fuji studied her and gave her his signature smile, "You haven't got enough time to spend alone so I thought that you would spend it with him."

"F-Fuji-senpai," She was starting to feel uneasy. She had the instinct about the only one who didn't know about their relationship was her, "I…"

"Now that he's not here, I bet he's locking himself up on the rooftop."

Before she could say anything, Fuji turned around for he was being called by Tezuka. He gave her a quick nod and waved goodbye before running back to the court. She was left there dumbfounded… watching the others continued to play.

"What are you waiting for? Go to him!"

Her eyes widened when Tomoka appeared somewhere and started to push her away from the court, "C-chotto, Tomo-chan!"

"No need to waste!" Tomoka still urging her to move, "I can cheer the team for us. Now, go!"

She took several steps before she finally allowed herself to move of her own. Looking back, Tomoka waved her away with her hands and that made her shake her head. Not really winning the protest, she finally walked away where her best friend asked her to go.

…On the rooftop.

xxx

Luckily, the rooftop was awfully quiet. She should have expected that since it was after school time. Only the members of the club were the only ones remain in the school premises. No wonder that the youngest regular member of the tennis club found it suitable to lie down on the cold ground without worries. His hat was covering his face so she assumed that he was just sleeping there.

She had doubts whether to approach the sleeping prodigy or not. Sakuno didn't want to disturb him if he was indeed sleeping. Sighing, she turned around and walked towards the door hoping she could talk to him, if not now, maybe later.

"Where are you going?"

Her plans of leaving the rooftop and going back to the court were stopped when the boy suddenly spoke. Turning around, she saw him removing the hat and started to sit. He wasn't sleeping after all.

"I… I thought that you preferred to be alone."

Ryoma stared at her which made her feel awkward. She started looking away but decided not to when he spoke, "I've been alone ever since."

"Oh." That was the only answer she was able to give.

"I've never seen you."

"W-well, your team's been busy and you never had the time to rest," Reasoning out, she started walking towards him, realizing that they were conversing at such a distance, "You should have been resting if I were you."

"Impossible." He said as he looked away when she sat beside him, "There's a big match to come."

"Right!" Sakuno exclaimed and looked at him making him turned to her, "Fuji-senpai was looking for you. Training's about to start!"

"Fuji-senpai was looking for me?" He asked like he wanted to make it clear which was weird because he was never deaf to begin with.

"Hai…" She nodded reluctantly before she remembered the main purpose, "Well, d-don't just sit there! Go to the court and practice!"

Ryoma ignored her words instead said another thing, "He knows that I am here."

"Eh?" That caught her off guard, "W-who knows?"

"Fuji-senpai is."

Her eyes widened when he said that. Fuji knew that Ryoma was actually on the rooftop. Was he doing that on purpose? He set her up to Ryoma if he did. Refusing to believe that, she shook her head and looked at him;

"Well, it doesn't matter. Ryoma-kun, you need to practice now," She said standing up and grabbing his hand without warning, pushing him to stand up, "You said there's a big match coming… so go!"

"Mataku…" He murmured that she almost misheard him, "Just when I got to be alone with you…"

And that made her stop from pulling his hand. She looked at his eyes and saw how serious they were. She didn't have the time to react when Ryoma reversed the hold of their hands pulling her to bend down while he leaned upward having their lips met in the middle.

Her eyes widened and everything felt like a slow motion to her. The wind wasn't helping her at all as it began to blow her hair and bangs from her face. Her hand was tightly held with his strong hand. It was still a wonder why her bended knees were still intact while Ryoma kept on kissing her chastely.

It was definitely a sweet kiss.

Her mind became blank. The kiss that he was doing wasn't that intimate. It was like their lips were brushing to each other but Sakuno could feel the warmth from them. She knew that she was also blushing really hard at that time. It took a few seconds before he finally released her. Ryoma's free hand went to her cheek and felt her. She was still speechless but she could recognize the proud look that he was giving.

"It will not end like this. I'll see you later." With that he stood up and walked to the door. Her knees finally collapsed the moment she heard the door closed behind her. Ryoma kissed her again… and this time, he didn't do it with the chocolate.

With her heart beating really fast, her trembling fingers reached for her lips and felt them. It was the second time Ryoma kissed her since White day. He was her first kiss and now he gave her second. His words really wondered her.

Ryoma wasn't going to end it like that. What was he meant? She wouldn't know until Ryoma said it himself.

The Next Day:

They didn't actually meet after the practice yesterday. She needed to go home while they needed to extend their practice. She didn't have the choice especially when Sumire ordered her to go home. Ryoma was irritated and got even more irritated when his senpais started teasing him on how he was able to spend time with her. Knowing that the tensai just tricked her into coming to the rooftop, some of them knew where Ryoma had gone to.

Sakuno just confirmed that because of her own best friend.

The day wasn't going to be normal since they were starting to talk about the Black day once again. Even the regulars started talking about it. They planned to spend that day together… at least for the people who didn't have partners.

It would be the day for the singledom.

White Day, March 14:

"Black day? What's that?" Ryoma asked. Shock was plastered to his face when they blocked his way towards the entrance of that shop. He secretly followed them when he was told that he was not coming with them. Offended, he did the tail and was asking them at that moment.

The rest looked at each other before they looked back at him. Momo approached him and gave him a brotherly gesture, "It's not for you Echizen so you don't need to worry."

"And you get all the food you want?" Ryoma retorted removing his hand from his shoulder, "Really funny."

"It is not for you to eat," Momoshiro said looking at everyone, "It's only for people who are single."

"What are you talking about?" He frowned this time as he looked at them. When they didn't give him an answer, he continued entering the shop.

Before he could fully enter the shop, Momo, Eiji, Horio and Katsuo pushed him back out. He was getting pissed because of their actions, "Hey!"

"If I were you, I would call Ryuzaki-chan and spend the day with her," Fuji said who was already sitting on his chair and told him directly from the entrance, "This is the best day for you to be together."

He looked at them and was about to retort when he realized what Fuji said. This day was the best one to be with her? That was an understatement but it was a good idea. Why didn't he think that? He glared at them for a few seconds and not saying another word, he turned around from them and walked away. Besides, it was clearly understood that he was kicked out from the celebration anyway.

Meanwhile:

She didn't know what came over him and suddenly called her that day, demanding that they should meet at the training center right away. Her heart was pounding really hard and she couldn't contain the nervousness that she had at that moment.

Not wasting time, she immediately made her way to the center. Ryoma was actually practicing when she arrived. He was working with the machine and seemed to focus from his hits. Not really wanting to disturb him, she sat on a bench that was near his place and waited for him to be finished. She didn't wait long when he stopped from hitting the tennis balls and looked at her direction. She stood up and bowed in front of him.

"Do you want to try that?"

"E?"

Ryoma pointed the machine inside of answering her. She flailed her hands rapidly as she clearly rejected the offer.

"I… I don't think…"

"Try it."

"But—"

"I'll teach you."

With a few more convincing, he was able to convince her to play with the machine. She was nervous at first because he was watching her. She couldn't hit properly for the first try but she was getting a few as she continued hitting them. She hit some until the whole session was finished.

"G-gomen, Ryoma-kun," She said as she gave her his tennis racket back at him. He lent his racket to her for she didn't bring hers, "I ended your session. You were supposed to be training here."

"Betsuni," He said taking his racket back from her and placed it to his bag, "I am not really planning to train today."

"T-then, why are you here?" it was a wonder to her why the boy said that.

Ryoma slung his bag first before he continued speaking, "Senpai-tachi said that I am not allowed to join their celebration today."

"W-why?"

"Today's black day or something." He shrugged, "Don't even know what that means either."

Her eyes widened when he said that. He was right. It was that day. Could it be that his senpai-tachi were assuming that he was no longer single? What were they anyway? Were they really a couple? He wouldn't make it clear to her. Her heart and mind were bugging her since that sudden kiss. She couldn't stop thinking about it and she knew that it would keep bugging her.

"You knew it, didn't you?"

Her thoughts were cut when Ryoma spoke. She looked at him as he walked closer to her.

"What is black day?"

"R-Ryoma-kun," She started trying to act calm as possible as she could, "I-it's the day of the single."

"I already know that far," He answered as if he was still waiting to elaborate her words, "What does it have to do of what to eat?"

"E-eating noodles with black beans mean that you are single," She started trying to explain as clearly as she could, "People gather together to celebrate their singledom like today. T-they are eating this kind of food because they are single. B-being single means is not having someone special in their hearts."

"…"

"…"

"So that's what it means." He said after a few seconds of silence.

"T-that's right."

"…"

"…"

"At least, I am not single." He said as he continued walking past her as if he was saying those words to her.

She was shocked when he said that. He couldn't mean that, could he? He was always leaving her hints and not confirming it in the end. She didn't want to think things over forever. He was a few steps away from her so she turned around and called his attention;

"What do you mean by that, R-Ryoma-kun?"

The tennis prodigy looked at her and frowned, "What did you mean about what do I mean?"

"T-that you are not single?" Blush was present to her when she answered that. Sakuno couldn't look at him after she said those words especially when he said his next ones.

"Well, we are not, are we?"

He was now standing in front of her before she even knew about it and her heart felt like panicking all over, "Y-you never said anything."

"Said anything what?"

"A-about us," She couldn't believe that she was the one saying that. It was getting awkward between them, "Y-you should know that."

"…"

"…"

"You should know that."

His words made her look up at him. The moment she lifted up her head, his fingers went to her chin making her speechless.

"Friends don't do this." He leaned down and placed his own lips to hers making her stationary at their location.

Ryoma made her shock, surprise, still once again. Everytime he kissed her, she had to tendency to block everything around her. He was just kissing her naturally, enough for her to feel his warmth. It only improved when he wrapped his hand to her waist and the other to her nape. It lasted for a few seconds before he released her. She was still agape and didn't know what to do or say.

"It's not really a black day for us." He smirked as he stared at her.

"R-Ryoma-kun…" Really, after all that happened, his name was the only word she could say. She bit her lip not really trusting her words anymore… getting the urge to nod at him in the end.

Screwed the fangirls.

Screwed the rumors.

And screwed the day.

They weren't single after all. She didn't protest when Ryoma lifted her chin once again. His eyes were telling her that. He wanted to kiss her again and thinking that already making her nervous. When she didn't protest, he leaned closer to her once again and planned to kiss her.

…Only to realize another thing.

"R-Ryoma-kun!" She immediately said pushing him in surprise. It was really an unexpected expression from him. He was really into it when she stopped him. She really wanted to laugh but decided not to. She explained instead, "W-we are in a public place."

He frowned when she said that but recovered first, "Does that matter?" The prodigy said cupping her face this time, "At least they know that we are a couple." And then he successfully kissed her.

Which she fully accepted after a few second of shock. What would she expect? He was Echizen Ryoma. He would do anything that he liked.

And she was Ryuzaki Sakuno. She would never reject anything that he liked.

~ Owari ~

How was the ending guys? I couldn't think better than this I hope this satisfies you. I hope you like my Valentine Fic. Thank you very much. This day serves as Black Day. For those who haven't known the day, it is being told above. Thank you once again... *bows head*

~ MitsukiJunko with her Saint Valentine - Signing off ~