Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ ◄:� S A K U N O Chronicles �:► ❯ My bear is better than yours. ( Chapter 5 )

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

Disclaimer: I don't own PoT, onomatopoeic words like “poke” or the Build-A-Bear Workshop. Also, no bunnies were killed while making any of the chapters, as well as no people were killed by the killer bunnies. O.o

Thanks for your reviews last chapter. 8D

â™¥ L I M A â™¥

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Poke.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

“Do you really have to do that?” Oishi's voice was resigned, he sounded old and tired.

Poke. Poke. “You have to make sure that you get the softest and best ones, Oishi!” Poke. Poke. Poke. “I want my new bear to be really soft and cuddly!” Kikumaru was feeling euphoric at the amount of material available in the store. The possibilities were endless and he couldn't even begin to imagine all the things he could do!

“Hmmmm…” Momo observed as he too poked at the materials they were allowed to use. Poke. POKE.

“You know, Momo-senpai,” Ryoma couldn't help but notice, “When you do it, it's almost kind of creepy.” The sight of a tall boy poking fluffy cotton-like things in the midst of girly stuff looked totally weird.

“But Eiji-senpai is doing it!” Momo pointed at Kikumaru who wasn't only poking, but squeezing and even nuzzling the stuffing to his face at times.

“Yes but that's Eiji-senpai we're talking about.” That statement made perfect sense to the both of them, and Momo promptly decided to stop his poking.

“Have you made your wish yet, Sakuno?” Ann picked a pink heart to insert into her bear. She saw on television that people made a secret wish while holding the heart before putting it inside their bears. She thought it was cute.

“I made mine!” Kikumaru hugged his stuffing lovingly. “I wished that-“

The girls gasped. “Kikumaru-senpai,” Sakuno looked stricken, “you're not supposed to tell anyone about your wish! It makes it more special like that.” Ann and Tomoka nodded solemnly.

“Ah, is that so?” Kikumaru was relieved he didn't blurt out his wish before he ruined it. He skipped away, going back to helping Oishi who was struggling with his own creation.

Akaya found himself enjoying this happy accident. He never fathomed that his ability to nap on buses would lead him to interesting things. Things like how the other tennis teams acted out of the courts, for example. Mwahahahahaha, an evil voice inside his head laughed. He was secure enough with his masculinity not to cringe at the sight and feel of fuzzy cuddly things, but he doubted if you could say the same thing about some of the other guys here.

“How does my bear look, Sakuno-chan?” Akaya dangled his almost-finished bear in front of Sakuno. The girls giggled at his behavior. While Kikumaru looked right at home in the Workshop - like a little girl trapped in a teenage boy's body - the other guys looked totally out of their element.

Atobe was trying hard not to choke on the cute, loudly announcing after one glance at all the fuzzies that Kabaji was going to help him make the best bear Hyotei could produce. He refused to get his hands near any of the fluffy happy-happy joy-joy things that would mar his manly image.

Fuji had no problem touching the girly stuff. He didn't look as home as Kikumaru looked, but his years of training as a live dollie with Yuuta under their older sister came in handy. One does not simply walk into onee-chan's room… there is evil there that never sleeps. Inui's special remix juices were like walks in the park on a sunny day while holding hands with friendship bunnies compared to what the eldest Fuji sibling was capable of doing.

Inui looked like he was jotting down each step of the bear-making process, taking note of which materials would go best with what. Each process was painstakingly recorded in his trusty notebook. A lot of them wondered what purpose this would serve him in the future, but left him to his own devices nonetheless. It was best not to disturb geniuses at work.

Kamio and Momo were competing with each other, sneaking a look at each other's bear every once in a while. They both looked lost on what to do next, but neither refused to back down or break down and ask for help.

Kippei, for all intents and purposes, was a man's man. His father was proud to have him as his son, and he enjoyed manly things like pulling your teeth out one by one with a pair of rusty pliers or cutting your nails too short and then scraping them across a blackboard. Those things were more enjoyable than what he was doing right now, but if Tezuka and Atobe were doing it, then he wasn't going to chicken out either.

Tezuka absolutely refused to participate or go anywhere near the fuzzy creatures. He took one look at the wall to wall stuff that sent the girls (and Kikumaru) into a rabid frenzy and almost fled. The weird language that all the female species in the room (and Kikumaru) spoke consisted entirely of words sounding like “meep”, “squee” and an occasional “squeegle” made him feel totally lost and alienated. But he didn't back down, nor did he waiver. No one even had a glimmer of an idea that the great buchou of Seigaku was actually fighting off a cold shiver down his spine. Wax in, wax off. Breathe, he could do this. Sure he would rather have both of his shoulders broken rather than walk into the cute-smelling store, but if Atobe and even Tachibana could do it, then so could he. Was it even possible to die from extreme fluffiness?

Sakuno was having a great time, but she couldn't help but feel self-conscious as well. She wasn't used to the constant attention that Akaya-kun was giving her, and the warmth in her cheeks wouldn't disappear. You would normally think that someone who looked dangerous would stand out in a cutesy store like this, but compared to the others, Akaya-kun was faring actually quite well. “It looks like it's going to be a very cute bear, Akaya-kun.” She replied, feeling like she's known Akaya-kun all her life instead of just a few hours.

From the time their ragtag group took on Atobe's makeshift challenge, Akaya-kun hasn't left Sakuno's side. He was right at home, chatting with Tomo-chan and Ann-chan, the two girls forgetting their dislike for each other and enjoying themselves even.

Ryoma thought that this Kirihara character from Rikkai Dai wasn't someone that any of them should trust. He kept one discreet eye on the boy as he stuffed his chosen bear. He could swear Kirihara would sniff Ryuzaki once in a while, like some bizarre animal raging with hormones. If you blink, you'd miss it, but he was sure he wasn't just imagining things.

The girls were rather taken by him. Of what, Ryoma didn't know. Kirihara looked like a devious little troublemaker. Mischief lurked behind those deceiving eyes; no one should trust any girl below the age of 70 alone in a room with him.

“Put some more of those, Kabaji.” Atobe pointed out specific directions from the sidelines.

“Ossu.”

“And maybe some of those,” the duo continued their own project. Atobe was determined to prove his superiority not only in the tennis courts.

“Nii-san, after you're done with your bear you can start picking the accessories for it.” Ann sang happily as she secretly compared her bear with Tomoka's and decided that hers was way better.

“Hai,” Kippei's Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed distinctly. I hope nobody else sees my humiliation had become his mantra as he stared at his bear intently. Hmmm… I think blue would match well with his fur… he thought before he could stop himself.

“Aaaw, that's cute, Oishi!” Kikumaru cooed as he leaned forward and examined Oishi's bear.

Oishi laughed hesitantly. Why did he feel like he lost manly points even though Eiji was complimenting him? “Thanks, Eiji.” He felt like he lost a big part of his pride, for some reason.

Especially when Kikumaru added, “But my bear is still cuter nyah!” and he cuddled it to his chest lovingly. “Don't you think so, Ochibi-chan?” He peered at Echizen's work as he paraded his own in front of their youngest Seigaku Regular.

“It's a bear,” Echizen answered in a deadpan voice. Surely Eiji-senpai didn't actually expect him to agree with that statement.

“Mama,” a little girl tugged on the hem of her mother's skirt. “Can we come back another day?” The girl, about age four or five, shivered.

The mother picked her up, baffled at her daughter's behavior. “But you haven't even started on your bear yet, sweetie.” Loving hands wiped the bangs away from her precious child's face. Her child had been looking forward to coming here and she was extremely puzzled as to why her baby didn't look as excited as she had been for several weeks now.

The little girl shivered some more, clearly she was afraid of something. “I'm scared, Mama.” A chubby finger stretched forward, pointing at someone. “Let's go home and come back tomorrow when he's not here anymore.” She was whimpering as she tried to burrow her way into her mother's safe bosom.

Inui was sporting a deranged grin as he scribbled into his notebook, hunched over his masterpiece. “My precious…” he would mutter once in a while, alternating between taking notes and working on his bear. The tennis data man never noticed the mothers steering their little girls away from him, cradling them protectively in their arms.

Dear Diary,

Ryoma-kun has charisma, as obaa-chan said. When he walks into a room, he commands attention even if he doesn't do anything. He has that air of confidence around him that I wish *I* had. He's *so* cool! I wonder if he has a cellphone… I've never seen him with one, but Tomo-chan insists that he must have one. I'm too shy to ask him though - he has no time to exchange numbers with a girl like me, a girl whom he probably doesn't even pay much attention to. Still, it's okay for me to continue admiring him from the sidelines, ne? He has become my favorite tennis player and I'd like to think of myself as his number one fan.

Ryoma wondered where all the adoration he read and thought she felt for him had gone. If he was so `charismatic' as she said in her entry, how come he felt like she didn't even know that he existed right now? If she smiled sweetly at Kirihara one more time, he was going to puke.

“You know, Tezuka,” Fuji thought it prudent to give his friend some advice “your bear won't build itself just by you glaring at it.”

Tezuka decided to ignore the amusement he detected in Fuji's tone. “I was just contemplating the best way to start.”

“Well, stop glaring at it!” Kikumaru clucked his tongue disapprovingly. “You'll hurt its feelings nyah!”

Note to self: Make sure Eiji gets an extra ten laps at practice on Monday. “Thank you Fuji, Eiji.” He finally gathered enough guts to touch the fluff. No amount of therapy would ever make this okay… He couldn't decide whose fault this was - Atobe's or Eiji's. He felt like he lost at least a thousand manly points on contact with the fuzzies. Saa… let's build a bear without any regrets…

“That's really cute, Tomo-chan.” Sakuno remarked. Ann, not to be outdone, pushed her incomplete bear towards Sakuno subtly. “I can't believe you're almost done with yours, Ann-chan!” Sakuno didn't fail to compliment her friend. The bear was a clear reflection on Ann-chan's personality - cute with an attitude. “I wonder what accessories I should give mine.”

“Do they have tennis gears?” Akaya looked around. A store worker heard his question and pointed him in the right direction. “Wow, this place has everything!” He never knew so much work or thought was required to make a single bear.

“That's because bears are special, Akaya-kun.” Sakuno smiled shyly at him, feeling brave enough to give him some trivia. “Do you know that when you give someone a teddy bear that you made all by yourself, it's said that you'll be connected to that person forever?” Even Inui paused from his extreme bear-making to listen to Sakuno's words. “And even more special if the one receiving the bear names it after the person who gave it to them.” A thoughtful look passed on her face, remembering her first intentions about the bear that she was going to make today.

She originally planned to give it to Ryoma-kun, but she hadn't foreseen that he would come with them while she made it. Also, her original plan was to give it to him together with some Valentine's Day chocolates, but ended up handing out chocolates to all the Regulars and no bear instead last month. She was still giving him the bear, despite Valentine's Day having finished already, maybe on his birthday or for next year's Valentine's Day, but that was before he came with them to build it. If she gave it to him after this, everybody would know and she didn't think she'd be able to survive the embarrassment.

It was bad enough that everybody probably assumed she had a huge crush on Ryoma-kun (however true that may be), there was no sense in waving it like a bright red flag and parading it in front of everybody else.

If she had little courage to give him the bear before, she certainly had no courage to give him the bear after this. The bear would have to go to someone else, maybe Ann-chan or Tomo-chan, or Shinji-kun as a thank you gift for all the tennis lessons he's been giving her… or maybe she should just keep it for herself, but not Ryoma-kun. Not anymore.

Pity, that. But what he didn't know won't hurt him, so it was okay. It wasn't like he would appreciate receiving a bear from her, right? She didn't even know if he ate her Valentine's chocolates…

“Thanks for the good data, Ryuzaki.” Inui resumed his extreme bear project.

“So who are you going to give your bear to, Sakuno-chan?” Fuji asked, curious.

Sakuno got red in the face, not really wanting to answer Fuji-nii's question. “Um… well…” she stuttered, “I don't really have…”

“She's going to give it to Tezuka, of course, Fuji!” Atobe loudly answered in behalf of his rival in tennis. He heard everything and wondered why Fuji was called a genius if he couldn't even figure out such simple things. “It's only natural.”

Fuji smiled at the dark cloud hanging over Echizen. “Of course, Atobe. How silly of me to think that she would give it to anybody else in the first place.” He humored the guy. He could always get the details from Sakuno-chan in private. It was more fun to keep a secret than have everybody else in on it anyway.

Akaya was slightly bothered. Sakuno-chan was young, her senpai-tachi were right, she looked like a baby still. He admitted to himself that he was interested in her and wanted to know her better. That also didn't mean that they couldn't become friends right now. However, if she was already involved with Tezuka… “Sakuno-chan,” he whispered low as the others continued with their tasks and didn't seem to pay them any attention.

“Yes, Akaya-kun?” Sakuno whispered back, perplexed as to why they were talking in hushed tones.

“Can I ask you a question? I know we haven't known each other for a long time, and it's kind of personal, so I hope you don't get offended - you don't have to answer it if you don't want to.” The words came out in a rush, all jumbled up.

Sakuno blinked at him. “You can ask me anything, Akaya-kun.” He didn't seem like the rude type of person so what was he worried about?

Akaya closed the gap between them even more; he didn't want the others overhearing their conversation. “I was wondering if…” his voice was barely above a ghost of a whisper “Tezuka is really your boyfriend?”

“The buchou?” Sakuno squeaked in surprise. “He's not my boyfriend!” She whispered back in denial as her face turned into five shades of red. Anyone with a sane mind would find the buchou very appealing, but as far as she knew, he didn't even see her as anything but a kid whom he babysat once in a while. He was certainly a great guy - handsome, intelligent, mature and caring - any girl would be lucky to be his girlfriend, but she saw him more like an older brother rather than boyfriend material…

Akaya looked both relieved and embarrassed. “I just thought that you know, since Atobe said it…”

“But Atobe-san doesn't seem to listen to anybody but himself…” Sakuno couldn't help but mumble and then promptly felt bad for saying it, turning seven shades of red this time as she placed a hand on top of her mouth, causing Akaya to bark out a laugh that got the others' attention.

“Tezuka, Ore-sama believes that someone is trying to sneak one past you.”

“I believe you're right,” Akaya murmured in Sakuno's ear, causing her to redden even more. He was glad he cleared it up with her.

“Excuse me,” Ryoma appeared out of thin air and wedged his way in between Akaya and Sakuno. “I think I need this material right here.”

Akaya's brows furrowed thoughtfully as he got pushed to the side. “You mean this?” He said, picking it up and handing it over to the boy.

Ryoma didn't even bat an eye as he accepted the pink lace… thing. How the heck am I supposed to use this on a girly bear? Since Kirihara was looking at him expectantly, he didn't even blink and continued to pretend like he knew what in the world he was doing. Damn stupid bear. He glared at the offending thing, following buchou's example.

“Um, Ryoma-kun?”

“Yes?” His voice was gruff and grumpy. Where the heck am I supposed to put the damn frilly lace?

Sakuno flinched from his tone. Ryoma-kun wasn't the type to like doing these kinds of things, unlike Kikumaru-senpai, so she could understand his frustration. She figured he was probably asking for help in his own way when he came over, his struggle with the cuddly thing frustrating him. “Would you like some help with that?”

“Yes, Ryoma-kun,” Why did he feel like Kirihara's use of his name plus the honorific was some kind of insult? “You should let Sakuno-chan help you. She's very good at this.” Ryoma wasn't fooled by that false smile either.

“Thank you, Ryuzaki.” Yes, Sakuno was rather good at lots of girly stuff, even if she couldn't play a decent game of tennis. She made a few nips and tucks that helped improve the bear's condition greatly, relieving him of having to glare at it into submission.

“Sakuno is also a great cook.” Ann said as she joined them, smiling deviously inside her head. “Did you know that, Kirihara-kun?”

“I didn't.” Akaya replied, filing the information away for future use.

“But you don't have to take my word for it,” the girl from Fudomine had matchmaking on the brain. “Maybe Sakuno could cook for you someday and you can judge for yourself, ne?”

“Ann-chan…” Sakuno couldn't figure out what relevance her non-existent cooking skills were to their current task. Just because her food was edible compared to her friend's didn't make her the good cook that Ann-chan liked to brag about. She didn't want people to have great expectations of her only to be disappointed in the end.

“Someday, definitely.” Akaya agreed.

“Ryoma-sama has already tasted Sakuno's cooking.” Tomoka elbowed her way into the conversation. She was suspicious at Ann's behavior. Was she trying to play cupid between Sakuno and another guy who wasn't Ryoma-sama? Ryoma remained silent, finishing his project. “Isn't that right, Ryoma-sama?”

Ryoma could vaguely remember accepting a bento from Ryuzaki once… and the mere smell of her lunches always made his mouth water, even if she hadn't made any other bento for him except for that one time… “Uh… sure.” He answered, lacking anything else to say.

“Ah, I'm done!” Oishi breathed a sigh of relief.

“Me too!” Kikumaru whooped in excitement.

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One by one they finished their projects and left the store after paying for their purchases. Several feet reluctantly dragged as they found a spot to compare their creations in private. There was no definite judge (despite Atobe's self-proclamation), so they were going to have to collectively agree on the winner.

The girls, predictably, had delightfully pretty bears. Tomoka's was a bit excessively ornamented, Kirihara joking about how it reminded him of someone while he looked at Atobe, while Ann's was simple yet charming. Kikumaru couldn't help but huggle Sakuno's creation, christening it “baby bear” and teasing his Ochibi about how he should watch out because it was cuter than him.

Then came Oishi's which was, surprisingly, very well done. Kikumaru insisted that his was still cuter, earning him a pat on the head from his doubles partner.

Fuji didn't have an ounce of hesitation as he presented his masterpiece, impressing his peers with it. He graciously accepted the oohs and aahs from the girls, taking the ribbing from the boys in stride.

“If I didn't know any better, I would say you've had practice.” Inui observed. Fuji merely smiled that serene smile of his and asked the next person to present their teddy bear.

Both Momo's and Kamio's bears looked a bit roughed up, almost identical to each other except for the color of their fur. This started an argument between them, Kamio accusing Momo of imitating him and Momo scoffing at the statement. Kippei diffused it by holding up his creation, which looked a little glum for a teddy bear.

“If you put a dot on the middle of its forehead, it'd almost look like you, nii-chan!”

Kippei chose to ignore that remark, for he was secretly happy about how his bear turned out. It didn't look anything remotely sissy-ish, and he was able to salvage what pride he had left after this horrible experience.

Tezuka pinned a look towards Echizen that silently told him to get his bear out or else. The unwilling boy forked over his pouting honey-colored creation for inspection.

“I didn't know bears could pout,” Kirihara remarked as he compared his bear with Echizen's. A few of them even wondered out loud why Echizen's bear was sporting some pink lace.

“Mada mada dane,” Ryoma glared at them.

“And here is mine,” Tezuka placed his bear out of the bag for closer scrutiny. Everybody went silent. Even Kikumaru didn't have any cute comebacks.

“Um…” Even Oishi didn't know what to say. He didn't want to vocalize his thoughts about how he felt a bit intimidated by the stuffed toy. It looked very authoritative, much like the person who made it. All it needed were some glasses and they could call it Tezuka Junior.

“It's very nice, buchou.” Sakuno and Tezuka shared a smile.

“Yes, very nice.” Atobe eyed it carefully, not disagreeing with Tezuka's girlfriend since she was too busy making googly eyes at Tezuka. “Kabaji, show them what Ore-sama made.”

“Ossu.” Kabaji obediently did what he was told to do.

“Oh my God!” Eiji pointed horrifically, looking totally petrified at the sight. His eyes were starting to water with unshed tears, his gut telling him that this injustice will not be forgotten. “You killed the teddy bear!”

Kabaji, under directions from Atobe, managed to put as much stuffing inside the bear as possible; it looked like a soft jab on its tummy would send its innards right side out. The eyes that were supposed to look sparkly and cute were threatening to pop out of their sockets, the seams were visible. Clearly, neither The Great Atobe nor Kabaji had any inkling of how a normal teddy bear looked like.

“Harsh words to be throwing at Ore-sama's face, Kikumaru.” Atobe complained. He was surprised at the end result himself, but he didn't kill anything. The bear didn't look like the one he had pictured in his mind, thanks to Kabaji. It wasn't his fault that the bear looked dangerously close to bursting. His instructions had been perfect, it wasn't his fault that Kabaji couldn't take directions well this time. “Let's see how your bear turned up.” He challenged.

“Here you go nyah!” Kikumaru's bear was very cute. Oishi thought it looked like a miniature of the one Eiji had at home, the one that kept falling to its left side when left unattended. The girls praised it, giving him props for attaching a piece of cloth on the left side of its face, resembling a Band-Aid. The boys merely grunted at it, refusing to use the word `cute' to aptly describe it. It even had a little red bow tied around its neck, like a pretty package.

“I think Kikumaru-senpai shouldn't be participating in this contest.” Momo might not have been too enthusiastic about this project, but Kikumaru-senpai's experience in this field was a definite disadvantage for them.

“What!” Kikumaru protested. “Momo-chin, you're so cruel! Why are you trying to leave me out of this nyah?” Not counting Ryuzaki-chan's bear, his was a definite shoo in for the cutest and therefore a guaranteed win for him. “This was my idea!”

“Ore-sama would like to disagree and remind Kikumaru that this was Tezuka's rival's idea.”

“Kirihara Akaya - my name is Kirihara Akaya.”

“Rival for what, Monkey King?”

“Kikumaru-senpai you have an unfair advantage over the rest of us.”

“Nyah, you're just making excuses because your bear doesn't measure up, Momo!”

Chaos ensued as Kikumaru and his finger got up close to Momo's face, insisting that he be included in the competition while Kamio insulted Momo's bear. Akaya was also lecturing Atobe about his proper name, with Ryoma muttering “Ryuzaki is not the buchou's girlfriend” in between Akaya's lectures. Atobe failed to take notice of the two boys, deeming them beneath him as he tried to come to terms with the fact that Tezuka's bear looked better than his.

Kippei so didn't need this right now; he was getting a headache from all the boys running around arguing about teddy bears for the love of everything that was manly. Whatever happened to the pride of being a guy? “Why don't we let the girls be the judges so we can all go home afterwards?”

“But that would be unfair.” Atobe wondered why they turned to him curiously. “Tezuka's girlfriend will surely vote for Tezuka.” He explained, speaking slowly for the benefit of those who seemed to have difficulty understanding his perfect logic.

Ryoma slapped a hand against his forehead. “For the love of…”

“Anou… I'm sure Ann-chan and Tomo-chan would make fair judgments.” Sakuno didn't want to be seen as unfair to anyone. Eyes narrowing slightly at each other before the rest of them agreed.

“Yosh!!!” Tomoka was psyched. “Then I think that Ryoma-sama made the best bear and -“

“Na uh!” Ann disagreed, cutting her off. “Kirihara-kun's bear is cuter than Echizen-kun's. No offense, Echizen-kun.”

Ryoma thought that Ann was showing favoritism, but didn't comment.

Akaya was pleased that Sakuno-chan's friend seemed to like him. “You really think so, Ann-san?” Having one of Sakuno-chan's friend like his bear was like getting a foot through the door.

“No,” Tomoka insisted “Ryoma-sama's bear is better and I declare it the winner.”

Ann tried not to growl at the girl. “But I'm also a judge and I say that Kirihara-kun's is better.” Hands clenched into fists and tempers showed.

“Ryoma-sama's bear is the winner.”

“No, Kirihara-kun's bear is. You can clearly see that it's better.”

“What I can clearly see is Ryoma-sama's skill being on a higher level and his bear is more fitted to win.”

“But his bear doesn't care about winning, it doesn't care about anything but tennis. It had its turn and now it's time for someone else.”

Tomoka refused to back down. “Ryoma-sama's bear isn't cruel nor is it obsessed with winning. You haven't even given it enough time yet. Just wait for it and you'll see its value.”

Ann took the bait. “Are you saying that Kirihara-kun's bear is cruel? It's not, it's just very competitive.”

“It's not very respectful!”

“It is! You just haven't given it a chance yet! You don't even know it so how could you say that?!”

“How can you tell all that just by looking at the bears nyah?” Kikumaru was confused. He didn't know that the bears could talk or had tennis skills… Wait, were they still talking about the teddy bears or about something else?

“Maa…” Oishi could see the signs of an inevitable endless battle between the two girls - he recognized them from experience with dealing with Momo and Kaidoh. “Then why don't we get a tie-breaker, ne? I'm sure Atobe wouldn't mind it if we ask Ryuzaki-chan whose bear she likes best.”

Sakuno turned red at the attention she got as all eyes turned to her, her feet shuffled as she tried to put her opinions into words. “Um… anou… Akaya-kun's bear is cute.” Akaya and Ann grinned triumphantly while Ryoma's frown deepened. “But so is Ryoma-kun's.”

“Ha!” Tomoka shot a winning smile towards Ann.

“And Fuji-nii's as well, I really liked that.” Sakuno continued, dashing the hope that flared inside Ryoma's chest. “And Oishi-senpai's was really pretty.” Oishi winced from the word. “I really liked Kikumaru-senpai's ribbon.”

“Hehe, did you hear that, Momo-chin?”

“And I'm sure that Atobe-san's bear can be fixed. If we remove some of the stuffing, I'm sure that we'll see how cute it really is. Momo-senpai's, Kippei no nii-chan's and Kamio-kun's bears were really well-made as well,” she couldn't decide and didn't want to play favorites or hurt anybody's feelings by favoring one creation for another. All of them were very pretty in their own rights. “So um… anou…” She wrung her hands together, trying to figure out how to word it so that everybody would be winners.

“But of course you think that Tezuka's is the nicest, don't you?” Atobe nodded in understanding. He was pleased to know that Tezuka's girlfriend had a kind and loyal heart. It was so hard to find people like that nowadays. He was humbled that she would defend that monstrosity Kabaji dared to call a bear. His view of Tezuka's girlfriend raised a notch higher, his respect for Tezuka along with it.

“I don't think that's what Sakuno-chan meant…” Fuji tried to reason with him.

“So you win this time, Tezuka. Ore-sama will learn from this loss and make sure to build a better one next time. Right, Kabaji?”

“Ossu!”

Tezuka didn't bother to tell Atobe that there would never be a next time. Once was enough for him. He remained quiet with a lack of anything polite to say.

“So we all agree that my bear is the winner, nyah?”

“Aaah Kikumaru-senpai, you're not allowed to enter in the competition!” Momo grumbled.

“Break it up, you two.” Oishi pleaded as Kikumaru grabbed Momo and placed him on a headlock. There was no point in two boys fighting over whose bear was cuter.

Kirihara watched as the Seigaku Regulars argued between themselves. Kamio was even egging Kikumaru on, giving him tips on how to make it more painful. It was very entertaining. Ann was used to the Seigaku Regulars' antics, so she paid it no mind as she stood next to him.

“White Day is coming up.”

Akaya nodded.

“A teddy bear would make for a nice gift this White Day.” She continued to say nonchalantly.

Akaya looked at the girl, wondering what she was suggesting. Ann merely smiled at him, if he was wise enough he'll figure out what she meant by her statement.

“Wait.” Tezuka's voice stopped Kikumaru from giving Momo a noogie. He just remembered something. “We haven't seen Inui's bear yet.” And he was right. They were all too distracted by all the petty arguing and judging that they didn't realize Inui hasn't shown them his bear yet.

Inui gathered quite a bit of great data, not only on bears, but on how his fellow Regulars handled them as well. He was very pleased. His glasses gleamed as he paused dramatically before pulling out his masterpiece from his bag. “Inui Bear version one.”

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In the end, Inui won the contest with his superior teddy bear-making skills. He wasn't taking notes just to freak out the regular customers from the store; he was actually gathering good data. Data that proved useful, if the end product was any indication. Inui was pleased with his win. There was no material prize, but he was happy to have succeeded to be the best among everybody else today.

Since it was nearing most of their curfews, the group dispersed into smaller pairs.

The girls originally planned to do a bit of shopping after but since Sakuno was late, they had to postpone it. Ann went home with her brother and Kamio, but not before giving Akaya pointed looks and motioning with her fingers towards Sakuno, imitating a phone near her ear and mouth.

Atobe wouldn't be caught dead riding public transportation, so he and Kabaji bid their farewell after Sakuno fixed Atobe's mangled teddy bear. He offered Tezuka and `Tezuka's girlfriend' rides, but the two politely refused, insisting on taking the bus and train with their friends instead.

Inui, Momo and Tomoka were going on the same direction so they decided to go together, while Oishi went with Kikumaru. This left Tezuka with Sakuno, Fuji and Ryoma. Akaya was the only one among them to go on his direction, so he was going home alone.

“Bye!!!” Kikumaru waved as he disappeared with Oishi in the crowd.

“Bye-bye!!!” Tomoka enthusiastically returned before she too took her leave with Inui and Momo, but not before doing what Ann did and signaled for Sakuno to call her later that night as well.

“Are you sure you don't want me to see you home, Sakuno-chan?” Akaya politely inquired. He didn't want her to get lost on her way home or have some strange guy sleep on her lap or something like that again...

“I'm going with my senpai-tachi and I know my way home, Akaya-kun.” Sakuno wanted to put a paper bag over her head. Did everybody think that she got lost all the time? Her sense of direction wasn't stellar, but she has never gotten lost getting home before… in the past six months or so at least.

“We'll make sure she gets home safe,” Fuji assured the boy. He was surprised that he seemed to care so much. He originally thought that the boy had a bit of a mean streak in him, judging from how he played tennis. He guessed he was wrong, but then that was a good thing. He didn't want any mean people around his kouhai.

“That's good then.” Akaya didn't want to ask her for her phone number in front of her senpais. All of whom seemed unpredictable. Who knew how they would react or what they would think if he did? “Um…” How could he prolong this moment and buy him more time?

“It was nice meeting you,” Fuji bowed slightly and took Sakuno's package off of her hands, intent on carrying it for her. “I guess we'll be going now then.”

Tezuka also inclined his head slightly towards Akaya and then took his leave. Ryoma tipped his hat in relief, glad that they were finally getting rid of the guy.

“Bye, Akaya-kun! It was really nice meeting you like this.” Sakuno would have bowed low if not for Syusuke-nii's hand on her shoulder.

Akaya mentally kicked himself in the butt as he watched Sakuno and her friends disappear in the crowd. He never got a chance to ask her for her number! There were always too many people butting into their conversation and there was never a good time to do so with Atobe and his ego around.

Coming full circle, he sat down at the edge of the fountain as he twirled his cellphone lazily on his hand. It was a habit he developed, using his middle finger and thumb. He often did it when he was deep in thought.

If he went to Seigaku, it would look like he was trying too hard. First of all, he didn't want to get accused of spying again, even if he wasn't spying the first time. Second of all, he didn't want to arouse any suspicions, especially with the Seigaku Regulars who acted like Sakuno-chan's older brothers who would probably happily pound him into the ground if they suspected him of anything fresh. Third of all, he didn't know what he was going to do now. Aside from tennis, he didn't really give any thought about anything else, much less about girls. They didn't teach this stuff at school. He switched from twirling his phone between his fingers to flipping it open and closed, thinking about what he should do next.

And then it hit him.

Sakuno-chan had used his phone to call her friend. Adrenaline rushed through his body as he applauded his genius. Hitting the right keys to get to the Call Log feature, he accessed the last number dialed.

Bingo!

There it was.

Sakuno-chan's friend's number. He silently prayed it was Tachibana's little sister she called instead of that other girl who didn't seem to like him as much as he dialed to call.

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“That Kirihara guy doesn't seem too bad of a person once you get to know him out of the courts, does he?” Fuji was sitting next to Ryoma with Sakuno sitting between Fuji and Tezuka on the other side of the bus. Tezuka was going to have to take a different train from them after that, but he need not worry because Fuji and Echizen were going to be able to walk Sakuno home.

“Aa,” Tezuka answered. Ryoma remained silent while Sakuno nodded in agreement at her nii's words.

“Sakuno-chan seems to like him.” Fuji smiled as Sakuno turned red. “Do you like him, Sakuno-chan?” Fuji's smile widened as he felt the boy sitting beside him stiffen.

“Akaya-kun was very nice to me, Syusuke-nii.” Sakuno answered. “And he sort of reminds me of you.”

Thoughts of taunting Echizen flew out of the window. “How come?” Even Tezuka was curious as to how Sakuno could make the comparison.

“W-well… you both look kind of intimidating on the outside,” Sakuno lowered her head in semi-embarrassment, despite knowing that Syusuke-nii wouldn't take that the wrong way. “I just um… well you know… some people might be comfortable with you immediately, and then some people might find you intimidating at first, but then you always manage to smile despite whatever situation you're in, so that might be the reason.” She glanced at Fuji-nii. “I haven't known Akaya-kun that long yet, so I could be wrong, but I just got that impression of him. Once you get past the intimidating exterior, you find a real person inside.

Sometimes people have preconceived notions of someone from hearsay or first impressions, but once you get over those things and get a glimpse of their true personality, you'd be surprised to find a completely different person.” She knew she was babbling again, but being around Ryoma-kun did that to her. The only thing she was thankful for was the fact that Fuji-nii was sitting in between them. Being near Ryoma-kun frazzled her nerves, that's why she sort of made it a point not to physically get near him too much. Delicate brows furrowed as she looked at her senpai. “Did that make sense?”

“Sakuno-chan is very astute.” Fuji observed, nodding.

Since the conversation was between Fuji-senpai and Ryuzaki, Ryoma didn't bother to respond. The feeling of that fist punching him in the gut was nothing to be concerned about. He wasn't concerned about what they were discussing or who they were talking about because it had nothing to do with him.

Tezuka had other notions of course. “So you think that Kirihara is a good person?” He asked.

“Hai!” Sakuno chirped, happy that she made a new friend today. She wondered if she would ever meet with Akaya-kun again someday.

“We'd see him in the tournaments again, since he's a great tennis player.” It was as if Fuji-nii had read her mind.

He's not that great.

“What was that, Echizen?” Fuji turned to his kouhai. “Did you say something?”

Ryoma maintained his impassive face as he stared Fuji-senpai in the eye. Did I say that out loud? “I didn't say anything, Fuji-senpai.”

“Too bad he goes to Rikkai Dai, eh?” Fuji couldn't help but tease.

Sakuno looked a bit sad at that. “Yeah… I wonder if we'll ever get to see him again, not counting the tournaments…”

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Fuji Yuuta yawned as he did his morning stretches. He didn't go home that weekend, opting to stay in the dorms instead, to get some much needed rest. His dormitory at St. Rudolph's wasn't that far from home that he couldn't go home during the weekends to rest, but he didn't want to deal with his aniki's mind games that weekend.

It wasn't like he hated his big brother, because he didn't. After having his ass handed to him on a platter by Echizen Ryoma, his resentment toward being labeled as `Fuji Syusuke's little brother' diminished. Sure he still got riled up with the term once in a while, who wouldn't, but he didn't confuse mild irritation with burning hatred anymore. He didn't hate his aniki, even if his aniki seemed to enjoy playing mind games with him. It was just the way his aniki was.

This weekend was a good weekend to spend in the dorms; most of the other members went home, including Mizuki-senpai. He liked the guy, but he could be a slave-driver sometimes. Weekends were supposed to be spent relaxing and resting, not putting your team through more rigorous training than ever.

It was sort of nice to have time to slack off once in a while, even just for the weekend. Monday signaled the beginning of another week or rigorous training, so here he was now stretching.

The other members of the St. Rudolph's tennis club trickled in for early morning practice, Mizuki going right up to Yuuta as soon he spotted him.

“Ohayou, Yuuta-kun.”

“Ohayou, Mizuki-senpai!”

“Did you have a great weekend?”

Yuuta smiled, remembering his weekend which was spent mostly sleeping and eating. “Yes I did, how about you?”

“I had a very interesting weekend,” Mizuki replied as he began unpacking his gear on the nearby bench. “I went to the mall and found something quite fascinating.”

“Really?” Yuuta politely inquired.

“Yes,” Mizuki remained seated on the bench as Yuuta approached and picked up a towel to wipe his sweat off. “I saw your brother, by the way.”

“Really?” Yuuta echoed once again. It wasn't abnormal to spot his aniki at the mall. He loved shopping there probably as much as their onee-chan did.

“He was in the Build-A-Bear-Workshop.” Yuuta's hands stilled from wiping his brow. “And he was with some of the Seigaku Regulars.” Mizuki twirled a patch of hair around his fingers, relishing in the curiosity on Yuuta's face.

“What were the Seigaku Regulars doing in the Workshop?” Even if Fuji Syusuke in the mall wasn't odd, Fuji Syusuke in the Build-A-Bear-Workshop was something different.

“I was wondering the same thing, so I observed.” Mizuki had a twinkle in his eye. “Did I mention that Atobe, Tachibana and even Kirihara were there, too?”

Yuuta blinked at the familiarity of the names. Atobe and Tachibana he recognized immediately but Kirihara was… “You mean that ace from Rikkai Dai?”

“Yes.”

“I didn't know… wait, were they together?” Mizuki nodded. “In the Build-A-Bear-Workshop?” Mizuki nodded again. “What were they doing there?” Now Yuuta was brimming with curiosity.

“Building a bear of course,” Mizuki answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Of course,” Yuuta felt like an echo.

“Did I mention that Tezuka was also there?”

“Tezuka was there?” Now Yuuta definitely felt like an echo.

“Well he was, as well as Atobe's sidekick… there was a girl with long pigtails as well, too.”

“Sakuno-chan.” Yuuta said, recognizing who it was automatically. There could only be one girl with long pigtails with his aniki.

“You know her?”

“Yeah,” Yuuta nodded surely. “Aniki tutors her and either she comes over or aniki goes to her house twice a week. It's part of the Big Brother program aniki has.”

Mizuki didn't know that about his rival Fuji. “I see.”

“So they were building bears?” Yuuta wanted to go back to the topic at hand. He was curious as to why Atobe, Tachibana and Kirihara were there. It was normal for Sakuno-chan to be with his aniki and even bears, but what about the others?

“That guy Echizen Ryoma was there, too.” Mizuki handed Yuuta's water to him; his kouhai looked like he needed a drink.

Yuuta accepted the water bottle, waving his senpai's last statement away. “Yes, but why were the others there?”

Mizuki shrugged. He never bothered to get close enough or even reveal that he was there. He didn't want Fuji Syusuke to think that he had been stalking him. “I don't know why but I do know all of them built bears. It looked as if they were having a contest or something.” Yuuta took a drink from his water bottle. “And I do know that the girl with the braids is Tezuka's girlfriend.”

Yuuta's eyes bugged out in surprise as he spit the water on Mizuki's face. “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!”

P.S.

I ripped off lines/ideas from Card Captor Sakura, Lord of the Rings, Fairly Odd Parents, the dictionary as usual and Karate Kid for this chapter... I think that's about it, but let me credit the whole world just in case I forgot anybody. “Baka saru” from last chapter was ripped off from my aniki who likes to call my Jye-sama that.

If you're feeling generous, please feed my starving muse by reviewing. 8P