Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ ◄:� S A K U N O Chronicles �:► ❯ Princess of Tennis (not) ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

â™¥ Yay for kalokohan! â™¥

added on 6/06/06 - woooo!!!

Tactics would make for a nice crossover with Inuyasha. Something that involves Kagome & Shippou with Kantarou & Youko… Time jump using the well… or have Kantarou unseal them somewhere… and don't forget Haruka of course. You can never leave Haruka out of it. `Cause he's hot.

Pop. “What are they doing now?”

“They're playing two doubles games. Atobe and Kirihara versus the pig-tailed girl and Ibu.” He paused for a second. “If I remember correctly, I believe that her name is Ryuzaki…” He trailed off, brows furrowed as he tried hard to remember her first name.

“Does she look familiar to you?” Purple Eyes asked Red Hair.

Pop. “Nope, I don't think I've ever seen her before… and I have the memory of a gnat.”

“… Sakura?” The frown was visible from under his hat. “No, that's not it.” Why couldn't he recall it? It was on the tip of his tongue and if he didn't remember it now, it was going to bother him greatly. “The girl with Momoshiro is Tachibana's little sister and I don't know who the girl doing the victory dance is.”

Pop. “They still have leftover cake.”

Purple Eyes held a certain degree of amusement. “Do you think they'll give you some?”

Someone cleared their throat behind them. “What are you doing?”

If Sanada and Yukimura were surprised to see Fuji and Tezuka standing behind them while they were hiding behind bushes, looking like a bunch of stalkers creeping about, they didn't show it. Bunta might have been startled, but it was hard to tell because of the gum that covered his face when it popped after he whirled around to face them.

“Hi!” Yukimura Seiichi, esteemed captain of the Rikkai Dai Fuzukou tennis team, stood up with as much honor and grace one would expect from someone who got caught hiding behind some bushes. Sanada and Bunta followed, dusting off some dirt from their pants. “I didn't expect to see you here.”

“Isn't that supposed to be our line?” Fuji asked in humor. Yuuta's phone call already gave him an idea of why they were here, but he still found the actual visual of it and the look on Tezuka's face upon seeing it for himself funny. Like a Kodak moment. He looked at the bushes to the right side and smiled. “It must be the in thing to do right now.” It rustled. “You can come out now; you're clearly visible from here so there's no point in curling into a ball and crowding around Echizen who looks uncomfortable with you being pressed against his side, Horio.”

There was a brief moment of hesitation before four more figures trooped out of the foliage.

“I didn't expect to see you here.” Tezuka eyed the four freshmen as they stepped out; three of them shifted uncomfortably under their buchou's gaze.

“We were just passing by.” Ryoma answered coolly. The other three freshmen looked at him like he'd just grown an extra head.

“While crouching behind bushes?” Fuji didn't look like he believed Ryoma but his smile was still in place, his eyes closed and unreadable. Ryoma could never figure out what this particular senpai was thinking, especially when he had his poker face on, so he stubbornly remained quiet. “Oh look!” Fuji pointed to the direction of the courts. “There's Momo. Is that Kamio he's playing against? They sure are fired up, eh? Why don't we go take a look and say hi for a bit?”

“Isn't that your kouhai, Yukimura?” Tezuka inquired, clearly talking about the boy who looked like he wanted to shove his racket inside Atobe's mouth.

“Ah, so it is.”

Caught and with nowhere else to go, the failed wannabe-ninjas followed the duo. Ryoma dragged his feet, while the ichinen trio felt relieved to be around other people again. The more witnesses there were, the less chance that Echizen was going to murder someone, particularly them.

“Sakuno-chan!” Fuji called out and waved just as Sakuno was about to hit the ball that Atobe volleyed.

Distracted, she looked at his direction and waved back, forgetting all about the projectile heading towards her. “Syusuke-nii! What are you doing he—?”

POK!

Sakuno's vision did a one-eighty as the ball hit her square on the side of her head. Since she was so petite and so lacked the balance that most people had, she tumbled, then twisted in an attempt to regain it, but toppled over to land on her butt with one leg beneath her and one spread eagle instead.

“Sakuno!” Came from varied directions, accompanied by the sound of several rackets hitting the ground as Akaya, Ann, Shinji, Tomoka, Fuji, Tezuka and even Atobe rushed to her side.

“I'm so sorry!!!” Atobe forgot all about addressing himself as `ore-sama' altogether. Never had he felt so horrified up to the extent of uncharacteristically jumping on top of the net to get to the other half of the court. Accidents like this usually never happened to him before. Girls fell over their feet in a swoon whenever they were exposed to him, but that was because they were awed by his awesome prowess, not because he bonked them on the head with a tennis ball. How was he supposed to know that the girl was going to turn at the last possible minute anyway? Tezuka was never going to forgive him if he killed his girlfriend.

“You should've been more careful!” Akaya accused, glaring at Atobe as he too jumped over the net. “Sakuno-chan, are you okay?”

“Are you alright?” Ann knelt on one side as she subtly righted Sakuno's skirt that got bunched a little higher from her fall. “Does it hurt?”

Tomoka glared at her from Sakuno's other side. “Of course it does, you ninny! Let's try hitting you with a tennis ball smack at the side of your head and see if it doesn't hurt!”

“Don't take this out on me, baka! It's his fault!” Ann pointed accusingly at Atobe.

“O-ore-sama is sorry!” He never meant to harm a single hair on Tezuka's girlfriend's head. And if that wasn't bad enough, Tezuka actually saw him do the crime, live!

“It's alright, Atobe-san! I'm not hurt at all.” Sakuno laughed at her own clumsiness as she rubbed the ache on the side of her head away. It felt like someone punched her on the side of her head. She didn't want to imagine how it would have felt like if Atobe was playing seriously. “I'm alright you guys.” Ann and Tomoka were fussing over her, checking for any visible injuries. Her bottom felt raw from the impact, but she didn't feel the need to share that with everyone right now. She had no one to blame but herself really. And it was kind of funny, actually. She laughed again, probably convincing everyone that she addled her brains in the fall. “Nothing but my pride is injured,” she pinked considerably. There were new people with the same uniform as Akaya-kun with her senpais, and if that wasn't bad enough, Ryoma-kun had witnessed her gracelessness too. “I'm sorry for worrying you.” Her attempt to prove them that she was perfectly fine was ruined when she attempted to stand up on her own and promptly fell, clutching at Shinji's jersey, since he was nearest, for support. “Itetetetetete…” The leg that she landed on suddenly felt weak and raw; the pain in her ankle was a surprise.

“You're hurt.” Ryoma frowned from his position in the circle of people crowding around her.

“Ore-sama is sorry!” Atobe apologized once again.

“It's alright, Atobe-san. It's not your fault.” She assured him. Again.

“Yes it is!” Several of them disagreed, eliciting another apology from the flummoxed captain.

Sakuno stepped on her foot a bit more cautiously this time, but also placed more of her weight on the other one just to be safe. “I think I pulled a muscle or something. Ah - Syusuke-nii - what're you- ack! No, wait!!! Wait!!!“ Her protests were ignored as Fuji swept her into his arms like she weighed nothing.

Tezuka stepped closer, examining her foot. “It doesn't look swollen.” Cool fingers prodded carefully. “And it doesn't look like anything's broken but put it on some ice just to be safe.” Sakuno shifted in Fuji's arms as Tezuka admonished her gently. “You should not have let your guard down.”

“Gomen,” she apologized, looking properly chastised. Was this a good time to be thankful that he couldn't order her to do laps around the court as punishment because she wasn't part of his tennis team?

“We have lots of ice in the coolers.” Shinji directed them towards their previous picnic setting, perfectly packed leftovers and all. Having Atobe (and his staff) had some merits. Sometimes.

Sakuno's pink, ruffled handkerchief was made into a makeshift compress as Tezuka tied the edges tightly to secure the ice inside, holding it against his kouhai's leg. She felt really bad for Atobe because everyone placed the blame entirely on his shoulders, when it was all her fault. The poor boy sat at one corner of the picnic blanket, Kabaji sitting beside him silently, looking totally miserable. No amount of reassurance from her that she was okay could change his mind about shouldering the blame.

It didn't help that Tomoka and Ann would take turns verbally chastising him, too.

Sakuno felt really bad for him, so after a while, she finally convinced Ann and Tomoka to continue their doubles game, which they reluctantly did; they dragged Momo and Kamio with them, and their ferocious battle for a tennis match ensued. There was no use for them hovering over her like worried mother hens when she was perfectly fine. Tetsu was also dragged to keep score.

She even convinced Akaya and Shinji to continue their match, just the two of them, since Atobe was as much out of commission as she was at the moment. She truly felt bad for him, but she didn't know what else to do to comfort someone who looked like their puppy just died.

However, after the newcomers officially introduced themselves to everyone, he seemed a little less down. He even suggested that they too eat cake, since Horio had made himself right at home and started eating the leftovers.

“Would you like some cake, Syusuke-nii? Mi-“ Sakuno caught herself, “-buchou? Atobe-san brought some really delicious cake and we still have a lot left. Ah!!! Horio-kun don't touch that one, that's Shinji-kun's bento!”

Horio promptly left it alone while nobody noticed as Ryoma openly scowled at her. Why didn't she ask him if he wanted cake? Why did she always seem to prioritize those two?

“I want cake!” Bunta chirped happily. “I've been wanting cake since Atobe got here but Sanada was too - ow!” A sharp elbow to the side shut him up quickly.

“Yes please.” Sanada bowed his head, ignoring Bunta's complaints about his rough treatment.

“No thank you, I'll pass.” Tezuka replied; he wasn't in the mood for any of Atobe's cake.

“I'll have the cheesecake too, Sakuno-chan.” Fuji wasn't as restrained as his friend.

“I can't believe they followed me all the way here.” Akaya muttered to himself as he watched his senpais eat cake. They should have just stayed hidden. He was now hitting balls with Ibu since Sakuno was busy feeding the extra visitors and Atobe lost interest in continuing their game after Tezuka appeared. If he was to choose a practice partner, he'd choose Echizen, but the boy was clearly in a bad mood. One would think that the cake did something horribly wrong to him with the way he was glaring at it.

Maybe someone ruined his plans for the weekend, too. Maybe he had plans to spend time with a certain someone and ended up having his senpais tag along and mess it all up. How was he supposed to make his moves without fear of getting ribbed to death by these sadistic bastards later on? Reason number one hundred seventy five why he hated being the youngest person on the team: nobody cared about giving him privacy.

It was bad enough that Atobe decided to invite himself over. In addition to his senpai-tachi and Sakuno's senpai-tachi, there were her classmates plus her friends. He wouldn't be surprised if it rained on top of everything else.

“Would you like me to get you a different slice, Ryoma-kun?” Badump. Maybe he didn't like cakes, Sakuno thought as she observed him glaring at his slice for several minutes. Badump.

“No, this is fine.” He replied and began to eat the chocolate cake.

“I think I'll have two of everything!” Bunta had a slice of each cake on his plate. “Wouldn't want to waste anything now, would we?” He smiled at the little girl who managed to lure his kouhai all the way here. She reminded him of a puppy yet to be weaned… or a newborn calf. You know those ones you see on Animal Planet where they're all helpless and can't even walk right yet just right after they're born. Or a teenie little baby doe with braids. He wondered why Akaya seemed interested in her. Maybe Akaya felt drawn to her superb cake-slicing skills?

Sakuno smiled back at Akaya-kun's senpai. She couldn't help but be amused at the joyful twinkle in his eyes whenever he said `cake'.

Shinji and Akaya soon lost interest in playing half-heartedly so they retired as well, joining the small picnic setting.

Ano hi boku no kokoro wa oto mo naku kuzure satta… kowarete saken demo keshi sare nai kioku to…

Sakuno jumped a little as she scrambled for her phone. “Moshi-moshi?” She wanted to walk off to one side, not wanting to be rude to those who were eating, but it was a little difficult, given her position right now. If anyone was interested in the phone call, they didn't show it anyway. “Hai? What?! Will he be alright?” She sounded distraught, even though her voice was lowered as she spoke in hushed tones into the mouthpiece. “No, no, that's okay. It's not a bother at all. Arigatou.” The conversation lasted for a short while before she hung up the phone.

“Is everything alright?” Fuji asked, concerned. Sakuno nodded her head but she was clearly bothered about something. She was twisting the hem of her skirt, a sure sign that she was upset. Fuji looked at Tezuka, as if telling him it was his turn to ask.

“Sakuno.” Tezuka's tone was gentle, but it was also that tone he used when he meant business.

Sakuno sighed, waving her hand in dismissal. “It was just Kanmuri-kun.” Shigeru Kanmuri, the baker with the pink hair. “He was calling to tell me that it's okay even if I don't go to Pantasia this Sunday because Kazu-nii's sick. He came down with a high fever this afternoon.” She liked her Sunday dates with her cousin, and not just because she really enjoyed experimenting with him in the kitchen; it was mostly because she loved her cousin dearly and liked spending time with him. The thought of him suffering with a high temperature didn't sit well with her. “I should bring obaa-chan and make him some chicken soup tomorrow or something,” she thought out loud.

“What about your ankle?” Akaya reminded her.

Sakuno winced. “I forgot about it,” she confessed.

“If you really want to go visit him, I could come with you.” Tezuka patted her head affectionately, oblivious to the disapproving frown he earned from Echizen. It didn't make any difference to him since his history and the amount of time he spent with Ryuzaki-sensei and Sakuno had practically turned him into an honorary member of their family. “I'm sure he'll like that, but be careful not to put too much pressure on your ankle. It's not swollen but it looks bruised and feels a bit tender. I think it will mend within a day or two but try not to overdo it, just in case.”

Horio was in awe at the new side of his buchou that was revealed to him this afternoon. The cabbage between his chopsticks were only inches away from his open mouth as he gawked. Never had he been this up close and personal to an almost-human Tezuka-buchou before. It was like history in the making for him.

“Yeah, so you can quit worrying so much. He's not dying, you know.” Fuji joked, attempting to lighten her mood. “And I'm sure he won't like it if he found out that he caused you distress.” His tactic was successful, because Sakuno looked up and smiled at him.

As much as Akaya hated to break up the touching scene between the Friendly Seigaku Trio (who was he kidding?), he didn't like feeling left out of the let's-comfort-Sakuno-chan-committee either. “Was that UVERworld on your ringtone?”

Sakuno nodded, pleased that someone actually recognized it. “Yes, how did you know?”

He grinned at her. “Because I have D-technolife as my default ringtone.” It was a song from the same band.

And then, much to the amusement of Yukimura, Sanada and Bunta (although you probably couldn't tell because he was too busy ogling the cake) - Akaya, who decided that now was a good time as any other, reached for something inside his bag, leaned forward, and handed it to Sakuno. She blinked at it curiously, rather stupidly, before he took her hand, pried her fingers loose and then curled her fingers back around it.

“Eh?”

“It's uh, I uh, got you something.” If he was blushing because of his bold move, touching her hand in front of all those people like that, or because he was embarrassed to be caught giving a girl something, he didn't really know.

The plastic crinkled at her touch. “Arigatou.” She had mentioned wanting one of these in one of their many, many exchanges of text messages before but she still felt shy accepting a gift from him. “Is this really mine?”

“Hai!”

“A-are you sure?”

“Of course!” Akaya said as he ignored his senpai's mumbled comment… something about this being a `love comedy'. Sakuno's blushing face was too cute. “It's like a good luck charm.”

“It's a little doggie cellphone strap.” Fuji voiced out the obvious.

“Kawaii!!!” Sakuno tore the plastic open and attached it to her cellphone. It went so well together! “Thank you!”

“Now you have that puppy that you always wanted.” Shinji said. He doubted if anybody noticed how stiff Echizen was right now. Even Atobe uncurled from his corner to look at the gift, curious.

“Hontouni arigatou, Akaya-kun!”

The precious moment where it seemed like only the two of them existed as they smiled at each other was broken by a grumpy voice.

“Ryuzaki.”

Sakuno tore her eyes away from Akaya. “Hai?”

“Okawari.” The young prodigy almost snapped, holding out an empty plate.

It took her almost five seconds to figure out what Ryoma was asking her for. “Ah! Okay, would you like the cheesecake this time?” The boy shrugged, not really having a specific preference. All he knew was that he didn't like how they were looking at each other like that and if he had to eat one more stinking piece of Atobe's cake, so be it.

Yukimura finished his slice long before Bunta did, who came back for third helpings. The girl was like the hostess of the little picnic, he had to hand it to her; if she could keep Kirihara in line without resulting to violence, she must be something. No doubt about it, he was glad that he tagged along on this expedition. A guy deserved to have some fun at the expense of his kouhai once in a while. It looked like Akaya had some competition ahead of him, too. He couldn't figure out what relationship Fuji and Tezuka had with the girl that Akaya seemed interested in, but it was amusing to see Akaya's reactions to their attention towards her. Maybe it could become as fun as the competition they had when they played tennis? No wonder Sanada took the time to tell him about it.

What was also intriguing was the unexpected was Seigaku's youngest member's reaction. To test out a theory, he decided that he should get to know the girl better.

“So am I right in assuming that you're Kirihara's newest textmate?” The seemingly innocent question elicited numerous responses.

Fuji, Tezuka and Ibu looked unaffected. They were either in the know or they didn't care. If he were to place a bet, he would say that they were already informed about it.

The three little freshmen who were hiding from the bushes across of them earlier looked like they just had an enlightenment. Maybe they've been curious as to who their schoolmate was texting and now they had their confirmation?

Akaya managed to squeak out a protest. “Buchou!” And Yukimura then knew that he had hit the mark. So all those times that he was too preoccupied to notice what was going on around him because texting away on that phone of his was so he could send messages to this girl? Like that collision with him and the trash can… or that time with him and the door… or that time with him and Niou's leg that just happened to appear in front of his path to trip him…?

Atobe, fully recovered from his depression, looked a little put out as he joined the inner circle. “Why are you giving Tezuka's girlfriend a gift and texting her?”

“Tezuka's girlfriend?” Bunta choked on the piece of cake that he just swallowed. The little baby doe was Tezuka's girlfriend?

Sanada dutifully pounded on his choking teammate's back as his brows rose above his hairline. He met the girl on a previous occasion before, and she was with Tachibana's little sister, if his memory served him right. He seriously thought for sure that Tezuka's girlfriend would be Tachibana's little sister but he wasn't one to jump to conclusions, so he reserved judgment and even forgot to mention the odd meeting to Yukimura when he recalled the events in the concert when he convinced him to follow Kirihara here today. Tezuka's caring side that surprisingly made its appearance when the girl fell should have confirmed any speculation he might've had earlier, but all the rather curious reactions from his tennis peers and odd behavior from his kouhai placed it on the back burner. Now that Atobe confirmed it for him, he was a little confused.

Why was Kirihara - dare he say it - courting - Tezuka's girlfriend? Akaya either had bigger balls than he credited him for or he was really stupid. She was already taken, wasn't she? And if she was, why was Tezuka allowing Kirihara to get close to his girl or better yet, why was Kirihara still alive? Surely a man like Tezuka wouldn't take competition sniffing around his girl lightly. Were they really an item? Atobe said so himself so it must be true, right? Atobe isn't like what's-his-name-Mizuki from St. Rudolph's so it must be true. Errr.. right?

Yukimura was just as surprised as his fukubuchou, but he didn't show it. Where Sanada's brows rose in question, only a slight wrinkle of confusion was evident in his face; One of the small Seigaku freshmen, the one with the unibrow, voiced out his confusion.

“Ryuzaki is buchou's girlfriend?” Horio laughed a little. “You're kidding, right? I can't see Ryuzaki and the buchou together. Er, I mean, I don't mean that because I think you're uncute or anything, Ryuzaki.” He tried to recover his mistake when the girl looked a little offended, as if he had just insulted her personally. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings by saying what he did, especially if she really was the buchou's girlfriend. And even if she wasn't, he didn't want to face the wrath of Hurricane Sumire or get beat up by Echizen again… if he ever survived an eruption from Mt. Fuji. “Why just the other day I heard Higurashi and Murata talk about how cute you are and… er… umm…” He trailed off, coughed as the killing intent rose from Echizen… and was that red seeping into Kirihara's eyes? He decided to then shut up, not wanting to dig his grave a little deeper than it already was. “Yeah, never mind.”

“She's not Tezuka's girlfriend.” Kirihara informed his senpai-tachi.

Ryoma glared at Atobe. “Stupid monkey king.”

This didn't really convince Yukimura, so he turned to Fuji and asked. “Is she Tezuka's girlfriend or not?”

“She's Tezuka's girlfriend as much as I'm currently involved in a love triangle with the two of them.”

Maybe quoting his little brother had automagical powers because Yuuta was right behind him not a second later. “Baka aniki.” The boy shook his head at his aniki's vague comment. It was nice to know that he wasn't the only person his brother liked to tease but giving a reply like that was just going to further confuse the people who wanted straight explanations.

“Ah Yuuta, you finally came!” Fuji smiled benevolently at his brother and spared his brother's companion a curious glance. “You brought a guest, I see.”

“You remember Mizuki-senpai, don't you?”

“Who?” Fuji didn't look like he did, which made Mizuki's hackles rise. How dare his eternal rival not remember him?

Mizuki was passing by the public courts earlier this afternoon and saw the little get-together. He called Yuuta to tell him about it and apparently, (he had hoped and was pleased that) Yuuta called Fuji. He had seen everything, from the very beginning. The main reason why he wanted to get closer to where the action was this time was because he didn't want St. Rudolph's to be left out on whatever Seigaku, Fudomine, Hyotei and Rikkai were planning together. He needed an inside man to get invited, and who better to get than Yuuta, who was acquainted with the pigtailed girl and girlfriend of Tezuka?

He was rather curious as to why these people were here together right now. It wasn't just some normal afternoon in the park, he was sure of it.

Yuuta wasn't a snoop by nature, (that was Mizuki-senpai's job), but he wanted to see for himself what his senpai was all excited about… and why people all the way from Rikkai Dai were here. First he was informed that they were building bears together and now they were having tea and cake in the park? Have they gone mad? Is the world coming to an end?

Seeking some answers, he agreed to meet his senpai and joined the group. As they approached, he heard Yukimura asking his aniki if Sakuno was Tezuka's girlfriend or not and he felt annoyed that his aniki had somehow managed to quote his previous misconception, probably to further confuse the curious audience.

“Baka aniki,” he repeated again, just in case his brother missed it the first time, then turned to Yukimura. “Sakuno-chan isn't allowed to date anyone until she turns sixteen.” In his mind, that piece of information should settle all speculation and confusion or whatever else gossip to rest. Even a monkey would understand the logic behind that, wouldn't it?

“That just means that they're officially `not dating' so as not to attract the wrath of the girl's family until she comes of age.” Atobe shared his conclusion confidently. Both Echizen and Kirihara turned to glare at him some more.

“Yuuta-nii what are you doing here?” Sakuno was glad to see him. His being here meant that he was spending the weekend at home, right? His aniki was going to be happy if it were.

“Ah we were just passing by…” Yuuta wasn't really lying but he still couldn't look her in the eye. His gaze was drawn to the makeshift cold compress held by Tezuka against her leg. “Are you hurt?” He joined them in the picnic blanket to look at her ankle closer. “How did you get this?”

“Atobe did it.” Shinji joked.

“O-ore-sama didn't mean to do it and ore-sama already apologized!” Atobe flushed. “Isn't that right, Kabaji?”

Was it just their imagination or did Kabaji really hesitate? Surely he didn't. Kabaji never disagrees, disagreed and never ever will disagree with Atobe… It's just not humanly possible. “Ossu.”

Sakuno sweatdropped; just when things get normal again… “It was my fault,” she said before everybody could get on the let's-blame-Atobe-for-Sakuno's-clumsiness bandwagon again. “I let my guard down and I think I pulled a muscle but it's going to be fine. Mi-“ she caught herself again, “Buchou and everyone's just overreacting with the whole cold compress thing.”

“… Let your guard down?” Yuuta blinked owlishly at her. Why did that line sound somewhat familiar?

“Have some cake, Yuuta… and Yuuta's friend.” Fuji distracted them, grinning.

Yuuta blinked again, this time at his brother but didn't protest as he accepted the plate. “Cake?” Did he step into the twilight zone? Sakuno cut him a piece and he ate dutifully but he looked rather bewildered. Why were Yukimura, Atobe and Tezuka eating cake together on this cloudy afternoon?

“So what are you doing here, Fuji-kun?”

Mizuki's question was met by the sound of birds chirping overhead and a low rumble of thunder in the distance as Fuji totally ignored him.

Yukimura turned to Tezuka. “Since we're here, would you like to play a friendly match with me?”

Sanada blinked. Why hadn't he thought of that before? “I would also like to request a match with you,” he addressed Tezuka.

“Ore-sama would also like to play a match against you, Tezuka.”

“I didn't bring my tennis gear.” It was a pathetic excuse but he clung to it.

“You can borrow mine if you want.” Both Shinji and Sakuno said at the same time.

“Yuuta, you want to play a match with your aniki?”

Yuuta's lips curled in distaste. “No thanks.”

“Why don't you have your tennis gear with you?” Ryoma thought it odd that they would come to the public courts without it.

“We were going to a Go Salon before we changed our minds and came here instead.” Fuji explained.

“Go Salon?” Horio's unibrow creased. “Isn't Go like Shoji?” He asked, referring to the Japanese version of Chess.

“It's similar to chess and shoji in a way that they are both games involving analytical skill. It's almost like you're playing four games of chess at the same time, but unlike chess, black goes first.” Tezuka explained. “It's a territorial game played on a grid of nineteen by nineteen lines and the player with the most territory wins.”

“And instead of chess pieces, you use smooth, black and white stones.” Sakuno added.

“Ryuzaki you play Go, too?” Horio was surprised that she knew more about the game than he did.

“Me? Ah… no, not really.” She pinked. “I just know some of the basics but I'm barely just a beginner.”

“She's more interested in one of the professional players than the game.”

“Syusuke-nii!” Sakuno gasped. He was never going to let her live that one down, wasn't he?

“But it's true, isn't it, Tezuka? Yuuta would agree with me, too.”

“Eh, leave me out of this, aniki.” Now everyone was going to be in on the joke and Yuuta found himself not really liking it.

“A professional player?” Horio was lost.

“Shindou Hikaru, the rookie who skipped most of his games in the beginning of the year and is now on a winning streak.” Fuji clarified for his benefit. “She saw his picture in the Daily Go newspaper Tezuka brought one time and began rooting for him.”

“Do you like him more than you like Eyes Rutherford?” Akaya asked, weighing his competition. A brilliant pianist and a Go player - were they the intellectual, refined types? If so, maybe he should start taking notes from Yanagi-senpai.

“Eyes Rutherford?” Ryoma echoed, confused. This was the first time he's ever heard of the name, and it was also the first time he's ever heard of Ryuzaki liking someone else but him. Their schoolmates often hinted around that she liked him, Echizen Ryoma, and those few but failed attempts at match-making by Kikumaru-senpai coupled with her diary entries led him to believe that she really did fancy him. Him, Echizen Ryoma, and not some other guy. “Who is Eyes Rutherford?”

“Isn't that the name of the pianist whose concert you went to last time?” Sanada nodded at Yukimura's question.

“You watched the same concert that Momo-chan-senpai and Ryuzaki went to?” Horio was too curious for his own good.

“Lots of other people were there.” Akaya frowned at what the boy was insinuating. “Momoshiro and Sakuno-chan weren't the only ones who saw it together. We got to go with them backstage also.”

Atobe waved it off as nothing important. “Not that it mattered anyway because not even Tezuka minded her getting an autograph from Eyes.”

“You were there, too?” Yuuta asked Atobe, a little surprised.

“Of course.”

“It's only normal to admire people who are the best in their fields.” Sakuno defended herself. Geez! You'd think they considered being a fangirl a crime or something…

“But Touya Akira is a better Go player than Shindou Hikaru.” Tezuka said, matter-of-factly, getting back to their previous topic.

“That's just because he's been playing Go longer.” Sakuno replied.

“It still doesn't change the fact that he's the better player and therefore `the best'.” Half of the group blinked and missed the ghost of a smirk that crossed Tezuka's features before he quickly masked it.

“Aah!” Fuji exclaimed, cutting in. “Don't start on another discussion on who's the best Go player under eighteen in Japan right now, you two. You're scaring Horio,” he joked.

Horio wasn't scared, he was mystified. His tennis experience senses were tingling, telling him that a possible debate was coming. Why did Fuji-senpai stop it!?

“But Touya Akira really is—“

“Hai, hai.” Fuji picked up a racket and several balls that Shinji and Sakuno had offered to lend them earlier, and gave it to Tezuka. “Here you go. Run along and play tennis for a bit before you give us the whole history of Go.” Fuji was probably the only person who could get away with saying that to him.

But it's pink, Tezuka thought, wanting to complain but decided it was better not to. He wasn't afraid of pink, and it was a good racket even though he would have preferred to borrow Shinji's racket instead of Sakuno's, if only for the color. Akaya loaned his to Yukimura, who looked a little excited to be playing a match against Tezuka, so the Seigaku captain remained silent and followed him to the courts instead. Sanada went with them to keep score and of course, Atobe followed with his shadow Kabaji because he was eager for a turn himself.

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For a `friendly match', they sure were serious about it. Sakuno couldn't help but admire the quiet determination on both captains' faces.

Who knew that Seigaku's buchou could make wielding a pink racket look cool? Certainly not her. She didn't even know her tennis equipment was capable of doing things that Tezuka was doing with it right now.

“30-15 in favor of Tezuka.” Sanada said.

“Aaaaah, you cheated!!!” Tomoka's angry voice interrupted the battle between the captains. “Stop cheating, you cheater!!!”

“Who are you calling a cheater, you cheater! You're the cheater here, not me!” Ann sounded just as angry and just as loud.

Everyone turned to look at what the two girls were arguing about now. Momo and Kamio were holding a girl each, away from killing each other most probably. Tetsu stood in between them, arms spread to keep the girls apart.

“Ann-chan! Tomo-chan!” Sakuno gasped as they both kicked and flailed to get away from Kamio and Momo's grips.

“I'll show you who's been cheating!!!”

“Oh yeah? Bring it, fatty!”

“Fatty!?!?! Who are you calling fat, ugly!?!” Sakuno could swear she saw steam rise from Ann's head and exit out of her ears.

“It was out and you know it!”

“Tetsu-kun didn't say it was so it wasn't!!!”

“Cheater!”

HISS. “Stop calling me a cheater, ugly!!!”

“I'm not ugly! But you are fatso!!!” RAWR.

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Feeling like an invalid because her self-appointed guardians insisted that she not use her own legs for walking, Sakuno had to mediate from on top of Fuji's back.

She couldn't recall the last time she rode piggyback on anyone, but she found that she didn't dislike it. She rather liked being taller or within eye-level of everyone. She was even taller than Ryoma-kun now, from her position. It sucked being vertically challenged at times.

What started the fight between her two friends was the call that Ann made, proclaiming that Tomoka's ball was out. Tomoka, of course, thought it was in, and their referee wasn't of any help because he had gone to the loo before the incident happened. Bad timing, Tetsu. And even though the rest of them were on the court beside them, nobody was really paying attention to their doubles game because of the superb `friendly match' between the two imposing captains.

Momo had, predictably, sided with his teammate Ann. Not surprisingly (or maybe it is to some), Kamio had sided with Tomoka. The disagreement between their partners further fueled the girls' disagreement until it escalated into the shouting match.

Even Sakuno couldn't calm the girls down. Could it have been because they were extremely competitive and it was a deciding point? Or it must've been the weather. Maybe dark storm clouds looming in the horizon did weird things to the explosive chemistry between Ann and Tomoka? Sakuno wasn't sure what it was but Tezuka finally put a stop to it when he ordered the boys to take their respective partners home.

Kamio had a momentary memory lapse (didn't he remember that everything Tezuka says is law?) and had the courage to tell him that he didn't know where Tomoka lived, but was quickly silenced with a don't-argue-with-me-or-else look from the Seigaku captain.

Momo had no objections because he knew better than to argue with the guy. He was also beginning to fear for his life. Which was odd. He imagined his reaction to a cat fight to be a little bit different from what he was feeling right now. Did it have something to do with Ann's involvement in it, he wondered. Or was it because he didn't expect that Osakada could be just as scary when the two of them clashed? He never knew his kouhai could be so fearsome.

He shuddered, not really able to decide. Keeping them out of each other's hair was a good idea and soon, he and Kamio went on their separate ways with a girl each; Tetsu going with the Momoshiro-Tachibana pair saying that he had to talk to her brother about something.

He who runs away will live to fight another day… ne?

“I guess that means we should also get going now.” Fuji looked up the dark clouds above them.

“You can put her down now, aniki.”

“Don't worry, Sakuno-chan doesn't weigh a thing and even if she does break my back because of her weight, she can make it up to me by giving me a massage. Ne, Tezuka?”

Tezuka didn't respond to it but his unofficial spokesman did. “A massage?” Atobe asked.

“Yeah, didn't you know?”

“Aniki…” Yuuta warned, not really sure if it's a good idea to share that little tidbit with everyone here.

“Sakuno-chan gives THE best massages.” A look of pure bliss crossed his features. “Ever! I can't begin to describe the wonders that she could do with her hands… but I think I like her feet - mfph!” A small hand covered his mouth from behind.

Yuuta laughed, he couldn't help it. “Way to shut him up, Sakuno-chan!”

Sakuno was blushing wildly for shutting Fuji up that way, but she didn't want him to give Atobe any thoughts on how he was going to sample her massage skills like he did her bento. She didn't know him well enough to give him massages, thank you very much. “I have to get my bentos first.”

“The ichinen can do it.” Tezuka's words snapped Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro into action.

“Can I walk you home?” Akaya asked, thinking it was the gentlemanly thing to do.

“Aniki and I will see that she gets home safely.”

Too bad they were already going home when he hasn't even gathered enough information yet but Mizuki, of course, was going to have to make sure that his kouhai was going to get home safely. “I too will walk Fu- I mean, the girl home.”

“I'm the one who normally walks Sakuno home on Fridays.” Shinji contributed to their discussion. “Since she's riding Fuji, does that mean that I have to walk him home, too?”

“You don't have to do that, Ibu-san.” Fuji was finally allowed to speak when Sakuno took her hands off of his mouth.

“Ore-sama's chauffeur would be happy to take her home.”

“Aniki and I will see that she gets home safely.” Yuuta reiterated.

“And Tezuka, too.” Fuji chirped.

“I think Ryuzaki is capable of going home by herself.” Ryoma was disgusted with how they were insisting on walking Ryuzaki home when she was a big girl already.

Plip.

Yuuta raised his palm and looked above, as a drop of water hit his forehead. “Ame?”

Plip. Plop.

“It's starting to rain!” Another raindrop stained Yuuta's cheek and soon, more droplets of rain fell as they scrambled to clear away the bentos and took shelter under the only gazebo around.

Animes I'm currently obsessed with: Noein and Blood(plus). 'Cause they're effing awesomerific… Noein just a bit more awesomerificer than Blood+. I don't know if it's because I was scared of Blood+ during the first few episodes or not… but it gets fanfreakin' awesome quickly. I also started watching Saiunkoku Monogatari and it looks promising. It reminds me of Fushigi Yuugi… only better.

Disclaimer: (Insert all standard disclaimers here) Lyrics for Sakuno's cellphone's ringtone is from “Colors of the Heart” song of UVERworld. `Friendly Seigaku trio' is a ripoff from Ouran's `Friendly Classmate Trio'. If you're thinking of Murata Ken (KKM) and Higurashi Souta (IY), you're right; I'm stealing their names because I don't want to make up new (lame) ones. I'm bad at names. But only their names, not the character themselves. Heh.

Angel - lol no, I'm afraid Sakuno's not acquainted with Akira or Hikaru. She's just a Shindou fangirl - compared to Tezuka who's a Touya fanboy. (Gets bricked by Tezuka) XD I'm going to try my best to insert some people from Ouran… I just need to set the stage for them first… so they can rendezvous in Noah's Arc and watch something like Twister or Deep Impact no da no da! /collaboration letter XD

Hieiashke - Opo, gusto ko si Hikaru. 8D At kaya pala! Now that you mentioned it, I can see the resemblance! XD Now I really want to have Akira and Hikaru even for a cameo here. Kyaa! Hmmmm… (ponders)

Ii data means good data.

Ii - good

Itetetete - owowowowow; I didn't want to just use “itai” or “ouch”.

Ame - rain

Okawari - seconds; second helping

A/N: Thanks again to noomma (dog, cat... same difference? XD) because a convo I had with her reminded me of the Kai-Irene piggyback on Blood+. I wanted Sakuno to piggyback on someone too (mostly Tezuka but it somehow ended up different than what I previously imagined… and minus the choking of course) but I couldn't think of any other reason (I fail as a writer) to get her off her feet but that. Gomen, Atobe. (pets Atobe)

Thanks for bearing with it so far. I think I want to do Rokkaku next, but chibi Ryoma and chibi Fuji aren't giving me any inspiration for it yet. They're starving… again… or maybe it's because they've been playing with Jye-sama's puppy Haji… aaah, either way, please feed them or else they'll wither away to nothing. They're partial to pudding and takoyaki, but reviews work, too.

I think I still have a dominant RyoSak shipper in me, but that might change… So yeah… no set pairing for Sakuno yet although MomoxAnn is almost set in stone already.

Thank you to Ficfan3484 and for all your reviews, minna-san. (insert fireworks here)