luffEhh. Let’s see how this daily update stuff goes. xD And let’s see if I can get over 10 reviews by the time this is over. |D Would be a miracle. /grows mushrooms in corner
Disclaimer: If I owned PoT I wouldn’t be growing mushrooms now would I?
Diagnosis, Treatment, and Rehabilitation - Chapter 2 By Karina Eide
Fight with Herself
And all thats left is to accept that it's over
My dreams ran like sand through the fists that I made
I try to keep warm, but I just grow colder
I feel like I'm slipping away.
-Beauty from Pain by Superchick
The last thing Sakuno expected was the tennis regulars of Rikkaidai. The word that came to mind at the moment was something along the lines of ‘crap’. “Ah, hello Niou-sempai. I just had a routine doctor’s appointment today. And what are all of you doing here?” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but not the entire truth. The visit was practically a routine for her, but it wasn’t the classic doctor’s visit. The thought of warping the truth still made her squirm despite how often she played around with what she said.
The way her sempai’s eyes darkened was worrying, was he going to call her out on what she said? “We’re visiting Yukimura-taichou.” Yagyuu put a calming hand on his partner’s shoulder and silently told him to get a hold of himself. He watched as Sakuno seemed to remember the blue haired teenager from all of those years ago. “He seemed fine at nationals, Yagyuu-sempai. Did something happen?”
Yagyuu constricted his partner’s shoulder slightly in warning. She was unknowing stepping on a landmine within the team. “Complications arouse.” He briefly replied and signaled that the conversation about Yukimura would end right then. He mouthed the word “later” before dropping his hand from his partner’s shoulder. “We’ll see you later at school, Ryuuzaki-san.”
“About time!” The seaweed head pushed past the group and flew into the hospital promptly ignoring the complaints of the nurses. “We’ll have to find him now… Blast Kirihara, he should know by now he has no sense of direction.”
- She won’t make a sound, alone in this fight with herself-
“Disgusting.” Sakuno grunted as she stared at the glass of water before her. She had never known water to be an effective weapon of torture until about a year ago. She swiped the water from the table and took a sip. She popped in a small gray pill before swallowing it down. Sakuno fought the urge to gag at the grimy taste in her throat. No matter how often she had to take the stupid pills she could never get over the sickness she felt when swallowing them.
It was amazing to think that she just swallowed two hundred dollars and hated it. After paying thousands of dollars for them she would have thought they would have cared to improve the taste. Money, money, money, it was such a nuisance that everything ran off of money. It was even more troublesome that it was impossible to imagine a world running on anything but money.
There was no real way to fix the problem Sakuno and her family was in. That was how Ryuuzakis were, too proud to accept handouts from others. Her mother, Michiko, and her father, Tomio, were both doctors at Tokyo University Medical Hospital, but the paychecks couldn’t cover everything. Sakuno had ears; she wasn’t deaf to the problems of her family. The bill for the surgery would account to thirty thousand US dollars, at least a third of their yearly income.
It couldn’t possibly help that this was the third surgery that year. Things just couldn’t go right now could they? Financially, the Ryuuzakis were not poor, but they were scraping by. Two hundred dollars a pill and twenty eight pills in a bottle meant a nice five thousand six hundred dollar bill each month. Each dollar that it took to get her these pills only made her feel that much worse. A description along the lines of “money-sucking” was how Sakuno would describe herself.
Her eyes glanced towards the clock. It was 7:20 and time to jet off to school. Sakuno quickly threw on her uniform and shot out towards the school.
-And the fears whispering if she stands she'll fall down-
Denial. It was a river in Africa and it was also what Sakuno was experiencing. She denied the fact that people could understand and want to help her. She denied that not all people would throw a pity party over her. She denied that her friends from Seishun Gakuen could ever look at her the same way after they knew the truth.
It would just hurt too much to see people change from friendly and kind to alienating and awkward. People just didn’t know how to react to the news and the first thing they did was push away. It was a natural instinct when people were shocked, but it still hurt. It hurt a lot. Pain was just something Sakuno couldn’t risk more of so she left without saying goodbye.
She had heard nothing of her ex-friends other than the fact they kept on pestering her grandmother about where she was. Sakuno sighed softly as she walked slowly towards homeroom. They would probably find her eventually. Rikkaidai and Seigaku both had competing tennis teams and Sakuno had no doubt that they would clash within the next few months.
Sakuno aimlessly stared out the window once more in class as she thought of the whole jumble called life. Running probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do, but bravery wasn’t a trait that Sakuno could call her own. She was startled out of her thoughts as the cutting ring of the bell sounded. Kids rushed up from their chairs and stormed quickly out the room, leaving a dazed Sakuno behind. “Ah.”
Sakuno shook her head to regain her senses before grabbing her bags and heading towards the door. “Ryuuzaki-san, a moment?” The teacher waved his book at her to grab her attention before walking over. “On behalf of the teachers, we just wanted to let you know we’re supporting you. Just tell us if you feel like you can’t complete all the schoolwork. We can always figure something out.” The man gave her a small smile and tapped her on the head with the book. “Good luck, Ryuuzaki-san.”
Sakuno smiled in return before leaving the room. She trotted out to the tennis clubroom and stuffed her bookbag in a small cubby. She quickly changed in one of the stalls and made her way out to the courts. The high school tennis team was very different from the middle school team’s practice. Everyone had to push their weight, including first years, which effectively meant that they didn’t pick up balls anymore.
Sakuno knew she wasn’t an incredible tennis player by any meaning of the word, but she did have talent. After being a manager for a team that won nationals, Sakuno managed to create a style of tennis for herself. Sakuno was a baseliner with a focus upon accuracy and hitting the ball as close to the line as possible. Sakuno called it the Tip of the Spear. The second style she used was Edge of the Sword where she hit the ball towards the feet of opposing players and made it a nuisance to return. Lastly, there was Hilt of the Blade.
Hilt of the Blade was Sakuno’s weakest style since it focused upon hitting with enough spin that it caused the ball to fly out of control. Sakuno’s Eastern Backhand grip allows for stronger control and spin, but too many tweaks have lost the spin that the grip used to hold. Tennis could be so complex at times.
Sakuno looked around the courts for her age group and immediately blended in to the crowd. Tennis was a sport Sakuno wasn’t willing to let go of. Even if she was sick and spent most of her time in the hospital, Sakuno would never stop playing. Tennis had become a part of her and letting go of it would hurt just as much as letting go of Seishun Gakuen.
LATE CHECK. I GOT A REVIEW. I am so happyyyyy~ /runs around in circles
I’M WALKING ON SUNSHINE~ /whacked over the head
Ow… Anyways.
LadyLight0105: I feel bad for Sakuno too. Q_Q Sacrifice must be made for the story! I’m trying to keep this 100% realistic and everything in the story is based off of my life or people I know with cancer as well. I don’t know if I have a pairing in mind for her quite yet, but I was thinking of YukimuraxSakuno or NiouxSakuno. I have plans for all the characters… BUAHAHAHAHA! /insert evil cackle
Ooo! And I got a favorite as well. /sings happy songs
Thank you, chivini!
I have a feeling my writing got even sloppier today… Probably because I wrote half of this with a migraine. /fistpump Fun stuff. I’ll see you all tomorrow! :D
