Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ ◄:� S A K U N O Chronicles �:► ❯ Itadakimasu! ( Chapter 9 )

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

:: AU equals Alternate Universe equals Please read the author's notes in the first chapter equals does not necessarily follow canon nyah ::

â™¥ N I N E â™¥

Â¤ Kyouya is related to Choutarou in my own little world. Â¤

How long ago did he start collecting these?

“Hey, can I have this?” He asked as he looked at the chibi replica of himself staring back at him from the surface of the yellow tennis ball.

Sakuno looked surprised. “Sure, but… why?”

“Just because… I feel nostalgic.” He wanted to say more but he was distracted with so many thoughts running through his head right now. All he could say was “Thank you.” Then walked away before she stopped him again, calling out his name.

It sounded special, when it came from her lips.

Sometimes, a person's existence is perfection unto itself… or something like that. Wasn't that what the people from Fudomine were mumbling about earlier that day when they observed Seigaku's practice? Tezuka-buchou would probably have said something cooler than what he did, but he wasn't Tezuka Kunimitsu. He was Echizen Ryoma.

That night he placed the nostalgic ball with the other things he `collected'.

A pink diary; a pink headband; a copy of the candid picture that Shiba-san gave him, the one where Sakuno got accidentally pushed into the picture by a quarreling Momo-senpai and Eiji-senpai just as it was taken; the wrapper from this Valentine's Day's chocolates; a pink handkerchief embroidered with her name; a pink hand towel; and the bear was rather big for the shoebox, so it sat on top of the shoebox on the foot of his bed.

They were all her things. Hers. Sometimes, he would find himself lying in bed with his treasure trove.

Oh god, I've turned into some kind of obsessive stalker!

He had no explanation why he started collecting these things. It just sort of happened. He saw the pink handkerchief on their game against Rokkaku one day, his eyes drawn to the contrast it made against the lush green grass. He picked it up out of curiosity and found out it was Ryuzaki's due to the name “Sakuno” daintily stitched near the ruffled edges. It found its way to his pocket, his intent was to give it back to the girl after, but he forgot.

The next time he remembered about it was when he found the pink headband near the water faucets. He merely wanted to quench his thirst and there it was, staring right back him as he washed his face. He waited several seconds for the girl to retrieve it, but when she didn't, it too found its way into his backpack, reuniting with its pink sibling at home.

By then he wondered if she embroidered her name on all her pink stuff. The hand towel would surely be a point towards the `yes' answer.

All of the items eventually found a home in one of his Fuma shoeboxes. Like a super secret collection of some obsessive fan. Not all of them were pink. The picture was given to him by Shiba-san (he didn't ask for it) but it went straight and looked right at home with the other Ryuzaki-things. He remembered the chaos that caused the accidental photograph. Eiji-senpai's flailing, screaming bloody murder at the sushi that Momo-senpai held hostage; setting those two loose would level half of Tokyo in ten minutes.

He really should return her perfectly pink things, one of these days.

Maybe on Monday…

Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤

“Six shades of pink and ten shades of red.”

“What was that?” Momo was wringing excess water out of his precious uniform and was too distracted to understand what Echizen was talking about. The heavens decided to open up and dump an entire ocean on unsuspecting people just as he was cheerfully riding his bike to school this morning. He was drenched by the time he entered the school grounds and was forced to change into his sports gear, which were warm and dry. Their outdoor shoes were going to be unmoistened by the time school ended, hopefully.

Sakuno had entered the school grounds in a dash, a pink umbrella over her head. She was mostly dry, being one of the very few who had to foresight to anticipate drizzle. The rain must've made her exceptionally clumsy today because she hit a passing student as she swung around to get rid of the excess water.

It connected with the guy's face with little force, but his reflex reaction was to step back, causing him to stumble backwards and into the path of another student before they both fell into a heap of wet limbs unto the floor. All Sakuno could do was to apologize profusely while helping them both up. The commotion caused quite a stir - with the girl whom the guy had collided with after Sakuno collided with him shrieking and all - thus causing a small foot traffic near the entrance. Everybody wanted to know what it was all about.

Ryoma snapped out of counting how many shades Ryuzaki was capable of blushing, frowning at the reason instead. “Nothing,” he answered Momo-senpai, resuming his indifference. It was the hair. If she just cut it off, she'd probably regain her sense of balance. He was sure of it.

Not that he particularly cared or anything like that, of course.

Tearing his eyes away from her direction, he bid farewell to his senpai and trotted off to his classroom.

Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤

Due to the sheer size of the stacked bentos, the girls were forced to wait until their reinforcements arrived or else they wouldn't be able to go anywhere at all. Sakuno was currently swinging her legs playfully as she sat on top of the bench.

It was perfectly dry, surprisingly. The storm clouds they had this morning were nowhere to be seen and the day had become unexpectedly hot.

Tomoka was gaping at the food. She had seen Sakuno's Friday bento boxes for her Fudomine coach and any member of his team that might be present during their lesson before, but they had all paled compared to this. Sure her usual Friday afternoon treat normally consisted of eight to nine tiers plus the separate two for Ibu-kun (that's why there was always someone who picked her up to help carry the food or Fuji would drop her off if the schedule allowed it), but the bentos sitting next to Sakuno on the bench right now looked enough to throw a feast for the entire Seigaku tennis club three times over. And one had to keep in mind that Momo-senpai had an appetite the size of China.

“What is in there?” Tomoka asked in half-awe.

Sakuno pointed to the first few tiers. “Plain rice, fried rice, assorted onigiri, yakisoba, natto (fermented soybeans), soba and various toppings.” She paused then pointed to the next ones “Grilled fish—“

“Is it the one with the tomatoes, onions, garlic and other spices you stuff in it?” Tomoka cut off, her mouth watering at the thought.

“Hai,” Sakuno replied then continued to list the contents of her bentos. “Oden, nabe (hot pot), yakitori (grilled chicken pieces on skewers), tonkatsu (deep fried pork cutlets), tempura, curry-flavored potato croquettes, dumplings, curry, takoyaki, chicken and pork adobo, shredded daikon, pork spare ribs, I cut up some oranges and bananas and there's also miso of course - you can never forget that.”

“What the heck is an adobo?” Tomoka's stomach growled hungrily. “I think you have enough to feed a small country. What's inside the coolers?” Her brows furrowed. “Why did you cook so many? How long did it take you to cook this?”

Sakuno reddened. “Several hours last night and the kitchen looked like a hurricane hit it really early this morning. You think we have enough?” She chewed her lip nervously, failing to notice that her friend was gaping at her in disbelief. “I got carried away with cooking one thing after another. I don't know how big of an appetite Akaya-kun has, you know? So I doubled the quantity of what I normally make. Then I remembered that I wanted to try out the new recipe, so I made that too… Then I remembered that Momo-senpai has a big appetite also, so I made some more… then and I remembered Atobe-san. What if he decided to drop by and eat as well? Surely he'd bring Kabaji-san with him, and Kabaji-san must have a healthy appetite. Suddenly the doubled quantity didn't seem enough anymore, so I made additional dishes and well…” She smiled, a little embarrassed, “I think I got carried away a bit.”

Tomoka looked from the stacked bento boxes that were occupying most of the seat and probably weighed more than the two of them combined to her friend's face. “Ya think?”

“I brought some of Kazu-nii's JaPan, just in case.” Sakuno replied nervously. If it wasn't enough or if they didn't like the taste of her food, the JaPan should be more than enough to make up for it. She hoped.

“And that?” Tomoka asked again, pointing to the coolers.

“Pudding and jello fruit cups.” Sakuno's grin turned into a frown. “I was going to bake a cake but I didn't have time to do anything else.” If she didn't panic at thinking that she didn't have enough, she might have had time to make one. But she had been too tired to start a cake from scratch last night… and she didn't have enough time this morning. Was it going to be enough? She worried for the millionth time that day.

Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤

“Momo-senpai, you want to go grab a burger with us?” Horio asked as he was lacing up his sneakers. The ichinen trio together with Echizen was going to the local burger joint, for it was Friday and they were hungry.

Momo was hurriedly stuffing his things into his bag, glancing at his watch every so often. “Thanks but I'll pass this time, Horio. Ja, I'll be going now. Have a nice weekend you guys!” Momo was out the door before anyone could reply.

“Well he was in a hurry.” Horio huffed as he finished up, waiting for the others. The four of them were the only ones left inside the club house.

“Maybe he has a date.” Kachiro joked.

“With who? Ryuzaki again?” Horio said without thinking then slapped a hand against his mouth, shooting a horrified look at Echizen. The remark just slipped out of him, a reflex at Kachiro's joke. He felt the temperature in the club house drop several degrees below zero and he found it difficult to swallow his own saliva. Bad timing, since his throat suddenly decided to dry up. And was that his brain deserting him?

“Again?” The calmness in Ryoma's voice betrayed the swirling emotions that raged within him. First there was confusion. He thought Momo-senpai liked Tachibana Ann? If so, what was he doing dating Ryuzaki? Then there was denial. Momo-senpai couldn't be dating Ryuzaki. Momo-senpai was his friend. His friend wouldn't do that to him. What wouldn't Momo-senpai not do to him you ask? Date Ryuzaki, of course. Why? Just because. He didn't need to spell it out for the likes of Momo-senpai, the person he was probably closest to in the tennis club… or the whole school for that matter. It just was without needing any explanation for it. There was also speculation. Maybe Momo-senpai “went out” with Ryuzaki in a very literal sense - like how Fuji-senpai did - thus Horio's theory of them going out on a `date' when it really wasn't - so that he could talk to her about the Tachibana girl. The two girls were very close and if Momo-senpai was going to make a move on his feelings, then it would make sense that he would enlist the help of one of her friends.

Yes, that was it. Horio just used the wrong word to describe it, that's all. He ignored the clenching of his gut, especially when Kachiro and Katsuo glared at Horio, and he didn't pay attention to the dread making its way to his chest at Horio's reluctance to further delve into the subject.

He looked like he wasn't even capable of proper speech right now. “Aaaah… ummmm… errr… cough… cough, cough… etooo… anou… eeeeehhh…” Horio looked like a cornered mouse.

“What do you mean by `again'?” Ryoma reminded him.

Kachiro laughed forcibly, scratching the back of his neck. “Aaah… Horio-kun didn't mean anything by it, did you, Horio-kun? He was just ummmm… he just wasn't thinking when he said it, that's all!” Katsuo nodded vigorously in agreement beside him.

“Is that true?” Ryoma was the picture of perfect calmness.

“Aaaaahhhh…. Eeeerrrr…. Iii… oooo…” Horio seemed to have forgotten how to speak, except for the vowels. “Uhhh…” On one hand, he didn't want to receive kicks from his friends again. On the other hand, if he didn't tell Echizen about what he knew now, he might have to face his wrath later on. His black eye just faded like... two seconds ago; he didn't need a new one so soon. Weighing those two on his mind, he blurted out “Momo-senpai and Ryuzaki went to a concert this Saturday!” and quickly braced himself for the backlash.

“What kind of concert?” Ryoma asked, sounding so calm that Horio felt a little silly for even thinking that Echizen would go off on him.

“We don't know,” Horio replied, feeling a bit better that he decided to come out with it instead of going with Kachiro and Katsuo's plan of keeping it on the down low. “All we heard was Ryuzaki asking if Momo-senpai was free last Saturday and that she had concert tickets.” He disengaged himself from the sitting fetal position his body reflexively crouched into.

“I see.”

And there was silence.

The only sound that could be heard inside the club house was uncomfortable shuffling from the uncomfortable ichinen trio and mild breathing. There was an occasional cough or two but the three freshmen didn't want to make any sudden movements just yet.

Like deer caught in the headlights.

An eternity and a day passed before Horio spoke again. “I doubt if Ryuzaki's going on a date with Momo-senpai right now.” The least he could do was to make amends for his earlier slip up.

“Why is that?”

“Because Ryuzaki spends her Fridays with Ibu and Tachibana on the public courts.” Horio replied cockily, sure of his theory. “We could even follow them to prove it, if you don't believe me.” They have, after all, done it lots of times before.

Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤

Momo hurried over to where the girls promised to meet him, doing a double-take at the amount of bentos he was supposed to help carry. “Did you have to wait long? I'm sorry!” He was a strong, healthy young man but he had a moment of doubt when he got closer. It looked enough to feed an army.

He couldn't recall ever feeling so relieved to see the figures of Ibu and Kamio approaching them not more than five minutes later. “Yo!”

Kamio's face soured. “Yo.” He didn't mind coming with Shinji to fetch Sakuno but he didn't expect Momoshiro to be there too. Was he coming with them? Because if he was, they really didn't need any help to carry the - “Holy sh- er… how long did it take you to cook all those?!” The visible eye that was unhindered by his hair was comically popping out of its socket. Now he knew why Ibu had insisted he come with him.

“That's exactly what I thought!” Tomoka was in total agreement with his reaction before she barked out “Well don't just stand there, pick something up so we can get going!” She didn't get a chance to come to Friday practices often and the sooner they got started, the better.

There was a moment of Momo butting heads with Kamio as they fought over who was getting what and how many things to carry. Shinji merely identified his special containers and watched their battle indifferently, so Tomoka put a stop to it by dividing the bentos between the three of them equally. The girls helped carry what little was left (which were the thermos containing miso soup) and headed for the usual spot, oblivious to the figures trailing them.

The boys' stomachs were making weird noises by the time they climbed the stairs that lead to the public courts; the trip there was made almost unbearable by the smell coming from the packed lunches that they weren't allowed to eat until they reached their destination.

They found Ann watching Tetsu play a friendly match against a figure wearing a yellow jersey.

“Let's eat!!!” Momo called out impatiently, without preamble and not even bothering to greet anyone. His poor little stomach can't take much torture anymore. He was ready to start gnawing on his arm any minute now.

“Akaya-kun, you came!” Sakuno's fluttering butterflies were back.

“I wouldn't miss the chance to get Sakuno-chan to feed me.” The rascal winked.

Off to one side, unseen and camouflaged by the bushes, three people were trying not to choke on the dark aura that was swirling around them. No ant, caterpillar, spider or any other insect could be found within their immediate radius. It was like how animals tended to run away before an earthquake or natural disasters because they could sense it beforehand. Do instincts tell you to play dead when faced with an angry bear?

“That is possibly the cheesiest excuse for a pick-up line Ore-sama has ever heard.” All eyes turned to look at the newcomer.

“Why are you here?” Ann asked arms akimbo, voice full of disdain.

Akaya frowned. He didn't think the guy would actually invite himself on his weekend. “Don't you have a tall building to go leap somewhere?”

Atobe ignored the scathing remarks from Tachibana's little sister and that boy whose name he couldn't remember right now. “Ore-sama was invited. And,” he added, looking down at them, “unlike some people, Ore-sama brought cake.” A snap of the finger made Kabaji hold up both hands containing expensive-looking packages. The labels were from a famous cake shop.

“Cake?!” A nearby bush rustled as the redhead received a sharp elbow to the side. “Ow!!!”

“Shush!!! You're going to give away our position!!!” One of his companions hissed furiously.

“But they have cake!!!” The boy whined, chewing on his knuckles pitifully as he looked at the cake boxes longingly. “Cake…” He wondered what flavors they were.

“Sssh!!!” The leader of the pack chastised, quieting the group down. They didn't come all this way to spy on their junior ace, managing to go undetected until cake got added into the mix.

They watched as several of Atobe's staff appeared out of nowhere and started setting up an elegant picnic setting on the nearby grass and took the bentos from the teens. Everyone stood there speechless as the uniformed staff spread out picnic blankets, provided utensils and unpacked the bentos. After they were done, the scene looked straight out of some movie or picnic catalog.

“This isn't how we normally eat our Friday afternoon lunchboxes from Sakuno-chan. We usually practice first, but I'm not going to complain.” Shinji plopped down in the middle of the spread, strategically placing himself within reach of everything, while still clutching his personal bentos. He was perfectly capable of unpacking his own food, thanks. The others followed, Atobe huffing about how he was supposed to choose the first seat first and then waited until Sakuno sat down next to Shinji before sitting next to her.

It earned a loud protest from Akaya, but no amount of glaring was going to make the Hyotei captain move, so he sat down beside the pompous peacock, pouting. Kabaji quietly sat down next to him. Ann and Tomoka distinctively complained at Atobe for taking `their' seats then sat down across of them. Momo quickly took up the available space next to Ann and Kamio, who refused to sit next to Momo, sat next to Tomoka instead.

“We have nothing to drink.” Shinji observed just as everyone got comfortable.

“Oh no, I forgot! Gomen, Shinji-kun!” Sakuno prepared to stand up and get some drinks but Atobe's hand gently restrained her. His all-powerful finger snap produced refreshments for everyone within a blink of an eye and then they were ready to eat.

“Itadakimasu!”

“You know, the only thing missing is a kotatsu table (heater table). I feel like I'm at home eating a feast with family.” Momo was currently drowning himself in the delicious nabe, ignoring the fact that Kamio kept going for the meat that he was interested in at the same time that he would.

“I don't think he meant that he wanted to have a kotatsu right now, Atobe-san.” This time, it was Sakuno who placed the restraining hand on the boy from Hyotei.

He was about to snap his finger again in response to what he perceived as Momoshiro's request. She quickly withdrew it and apologized for her forwardness, but he didn't mind her familiarity at all. Nobody dared to do that upon his person before. It wasn't an unpleasant experience.

“Why does he have a separate bento?”

Shinji shirked away from Atobe's gaze, cuddling the pink hello kitty bento protectively (Sakuno had ran out of bentos to pack it in so she had no choice but to use that one). “Because I'm special and you can't have any.”

He could feel his elegant brow twitch at the insolence. “Why would Ore-sama bother to take anything you've already slobbered upon when there's more where that came from?” He turned to the girl beside him. “The food is delicious, by the way.” He savored a piece of flavorful tempura in his mouth. It was a rare treat for him to eat commoner food, and these tasted like it could've been cooked by one of his personal chefs. “Simply divine.”

“Simply divine.” Akaya mimicked in a sing-song voice under his breath, mocking him.

“What was that?”

“I said that this meat is fine.” To prove his point, he popped the meat into his mouth and chewed slowly. “You're a great cook, Sakuno-chan!” He gave her a left-handed thumbs up because he was holding his chopsticks in his right hand and smiled as she tried to deny that her food was even remotely edible. “Your humble blushing face is kawaii!”

“I still can't believe you cooked all of this!” Ann was certain there would be enough left for her to bring home for her brother later. And boy, would he be happy or what. She wondered what she could get in exchange for it.

As the meal progressed, the group felt more and more comfortable with each other. Ann was in her own world where only she and the food existed, so she didn't really pay attention to anything going around her. She didn't notice how Kamio had diverted his attention from fighting with Momo and was now talking animatedly with Tomoka beside him. An outsider would think that the two had been close friends all their lives, looking at how they interacted with each other right now.

The others were involved in mini discussions about tennis and other stuff teenagers their age normally talked about.

“Hyotei has leveled up since the last time we played you so watch out.”

Momo even engaged Atobe and Akaya in conversation once in a while. “We're taught to never let our guard down so we're ready for anything that you have.”

All in all, the food was being put away as fast as several growing boys could. Kabaji was a silent dark horse who didn't say anything, but Sakuno was glad for the enormous portions she thought to make.

“I feel like I'm being watched.” Shinji said in between mouthfuls. Not that he really cared, but he thought he should mention it anyway. Whoever they were had been watching the entire meal and as long as they didn't cause him or his friends any harm, he wasn't going to make an issue of it.

“I often feel that way too, Shinji-kun.” Some of the bushes to the left tensed at Sakuno's reply. “But I think it's just the product of my overactive imagination.” Who would take the time to watch her, after all? Only someone with a lot of time on their hands and nothing to do maybe, but she didn't really lead a very interesting life. She wasn't stalk-worthy, in her opinion.

Atobe noticed the concealed visitors the moment he joined the group, but didn't think it was worth mentioning because he was used to it. It was normal for a flock of girls to follow him around screaming his name in adoration, hiding behind buildings and foliage just for a glimpse of his greatness. He couldn't recall being stalked by people of the same gender before, more so by people he played tennis against, but there was always a first time for everything. If they wished to bask in his fabulous presence, even if it is from behind bushes which only hid them from people who didn't have the gift of insight such as himself, he wasn't going to deny them the privilege.

“It's okay, they're harmless.” He smirked at the shinobi-wannabes' responses. Someone should tell them that greenery didn't normally shake and then stiffen up like that. Maybe he should tell them to do something about their hair, too…

“They?” Sakuno's head cocked to one side as she wondered what he was talking about, feeling like she missed out on an important part of the conversation.

Akaya tensed. He looked around when Atobe casually dropped the info on them. He was curious as to what he was talking about and was surprised to find a familiar head of red hair in the bushes. If you weren't looking for anything, you'd miss it for it blended well with the surrounding cluster of leaves. An ordinary person would pass it off as berries.

What the heck? How could he have not noticed it sooner? It was almost time for dessert. At least now he knew that he wasn't losing his mind when he thought he had random sightings of some of his senpais on the train. But why were they here? Wait… were they spying on him!? He should've known what that unidentifiable glint was in his senpais' eyes when they asked him about his plans for this weekend. Kuso! Who knew they were this nosy?

There was only one person who could've blabbed about his plans today to the group. He couldn't see if he was with them, but he'd bet the bento he was eating right now that he was there somewhere. He was just very adept at imitating flora - a tree especially - that Akaya couldn't spot him right now. But he was there, somehow, Akaya knew he just was.

“The squirrels!” He suddenly replied. At Sakuno's odd look, he expounded: “The squirrels in this park are harmless.”

“How do you know that? I've never seen you come here before.” Tetsu commented as he reached for another helping of grilled fish. His stomach had enough room for one more. After that, he was ready for cake.

“Have you ever seen a squirrel attack anyone before?”

Tetsu shrugged.

“Maybe for some cake they would, but as I said before, the squirrels are harmless. What flavors did you bring anyway?” The change of topics was deliberate; timed just right since everyone was finished eating.

“Possibly chocolate and strawberry; Ore-sama only ordered the most expensive ones.”

The rustling of the bushes became more pronounced as the people behind it had to physically restrain one of their own from exposing their cover.

“Too bad you can't feed squirrels cake. Is it bad for their health, do you suppose?”

Sakuno could swear she didn't put any drugs into the bentos. Why were Atobe-san and Akaya-kun talking about squirrels? Maybe they liked furry woodland creatures? “We can share some of our cut up fruits if you want.” Squirrels ate fruits, right?

“No cake for the squirrels because they've been bad.” Akaya was glaring at a bush across from where they were when he said that.

“If the squirrels have been bad then they could have some tree bark instead.” Atobe inserted, getting into the swing of things. “No use sharing any of this delicious food with them.”

“Especially the cake.”

“Oh definitely not the cake.” Atobe agreed heartily. Everyone but Shinji and Kabaji were giving the duo odd looks.

Ann exchanged a look with Tomoka. “Have you two finally lost your mind?”

“Us?” Akaya shook his head as he reached for something inside his tennis bag. “Of course not.” Atobe smirked as he saw the boy raise his hand and -

WHOOSH!

The tennis ball connected with some of the bushes.

“Your aim is really bad.” Atobe accepted the balls that Kabaji presented him and aimed.

CRACK!

Several twigs snapped.

“I want a turn.” Shinji thought what they were doing was kind of fun.

“What are you doing?” Tetsu furrowed his brows at the flora they were assaulting. Who invited these weirdoes here today?

Sakuno watched in confusion as they took turns throwing tennis balls at the bushes. It was a very odd way to pass the time waiting to eat dessert. She hastily opened the cake box closest to her, took out the cake, cut it and passed it around. Maybe it would distract them from attacking the bushes.

It did, thankfully.

“Do you like strawberries?” Akaya asked her. When she nodded, he rolled the strawberry he had on top of his slice unto her plate, not caring that he had his elbow on Atobe's stomach in order for him to reach her.

“A-arigatou.” Sakuno's face was as red as the strawberry, she was sure of it. Especially when Atobe dropped his strawberry on her plate, too. “A-anou…!”

“You can have it. Ore-sama doesn't really care for strawberries much.”

“Thank you, Atobe-san.”

“Would you like to have my strawberry, Ann-chan?” Kamio said, taking a leaf out of the two dorks who were glaring at each other right now.

“That's alright, Kamio-kun.” Ann replied. She wasn't as fond of strawberries as Sakuno was. What she wanted was a slice of the chocolate cake after she finished her current one.

“I like strawberries.” Shinji remarked. “Why isn't anyone offering to give me their strawberries?” He looked around curiously.

“Ah… you can have mine, Shinji-kun.” Sakuno placed one strawberry on his plate, pacifying him. “I feel bad having so many.” She smiled, a little embarrassed.

“Thanks.” Shinji's lips curled into a serene smile. Sakuno was always seeing to his needs. “After this, we should rest for a bit before we practice. I didn't think Kirihara would actually come but would you like to play, too?”

Akaya shot him a look. “Of course. We can play doubles if you like or I could go first and -“

“Ore-sama would also like to join this game of yours.”

Akaya frowned. “Then you can pair up with -“

“- Atobe while Sakuno-chan and I play you.” Shinji finished for him.

Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤

I'm blue-da-da-dee-dum-da-da-da-da-dee-dum…

“Moshi-moshi? Ah, Yuuta! … Sakuno-chan? I think she's with Ibu right now, isn't she? You know her schedule just as much as I do. Why are you asking me this right now, we're going to see each other later, aren't we?” He paused with his companion on the side of the sidewalk, looking at the cars that passed by. “……… Mizuki? Who's that? ………… Yeah… … … and… …? Rikkai Dai people are there? In the public courts?” His companion gave him a questioning look. “Why?”

He placed a restraining hand on his companion's arm as the light turned green. Around them, people began crossing the street, mumbling about how inconsiderate teenagers were these days.

Ignoring the inquiring brow raised against him, he dragged his friend to the side, away from the foot traffic. “I'll see you there then.” He said as he hung up the phone and then proceeded to share the interesting conversation he just had with his younger brother. “Why don't we drop by that Go Salon another day? What do you say to going to the public courts instead?” He asked, eyes twinkling with interest.

Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤

By the time the teams were finally established, Sakuno found herself paired up with Shinji. Akaya was complaining loudly about how and why he was stuck with Atobe, echoing what Kamio was feeling. Kamio was openly glaring at Momo who was paired up with Ann against him and Tomoka. Tomoka was too fired up to notice anything else, and Sakuno wasn't the only one who thought of how much she resembled a mini female version of a fired up Kawamura-senpai. Tetsu was content to just lay back and take it easy for once. Kabaji was chilling right beside him.

“Yosh!!!” Tomoka turned to her designated partner. “Do your best, okay Kamio-kun? Don't worry about anything else right now, just concentrate on pounding Momo-senpai to the ground. I'll deal with Ann.”

“It's still twenty years too early before you can beat me in a tennis match, Tomoka!” Ann was pretty confident.

“You won't be so smug when we wipe the floor with you!” Tomoka shot back. “Isn't that right, Kamio-kun?”

Kamio smiled hesitantly, not wanting to contradict either of the girls. He saw Ann-chan on an almost daily basis, but the Tomoka chick was just as scary. Even scarier up close… when you're on the same team… and she expected you to do something for her. He was more than ready to beat Momoshiro not only because they were rivals, but more so because he didn't want to face this girl's wrath if they lost. “A-ah… hai!”

“Kamio-kun, you traitor!”

“Gomen, Ann-chan!”

“Yeah, that's right! You should be sorry alright! Sorry you're going to lose that is!” Momo flashed a feral grin at his opponents in challenge. “Sorry Osakada, but I'm not going to go easy on you just because I'm your senpai.”

Tomoka snorted, unabashed. “Bring it on, Momo-senpai.”

Sakuno watched as Momo served, starting the game. Ann had more tennis experience than Tomoka, but what the Ryoma Echizen fanclub president lacked in experience, she made up in skill. She had good hand and eye coordination. Tomoka could do things in one session that Sakuno had to practice weeks or possibly even months for. Although, she seriously doubted that it was a question of who was more skilled with regards to this match. The game looked more like a loud verbal contest between the girls as they bragged about how their partners were going to beat each other up.

“They don't really like each other much, do they?” Akaya observed as Tomoka did a little victory dance to taunt Ann when they scored a point. “I half-expect them to breathe fire any minute now while Kamio and Momoshiro duck for cover. I didn't imagine that players who were invited to the All-Japan tennis camp would crumble when faced with two shrieking girls.”

“You would too if you were in their shoes.” Shinji felt like he should defend his friend somehow, even if he was in total agreement with his statement.

So did Sakuno. “They're not um, shrieking, really… they're just really excited.” It didn't help her case one bit that her two best friends would laugh maniacally whenever they got a point in.

Akaya thought how his ears were taking a beating from the noise level but didn't comment on it. Instead, he turned to Shinji. “Are you sure you don't want to exchange partners with me?”

“No thanks.” Shinji merely blinked at Akaya's sigh. “Why don't we let Sakuno-chan serve first?”

No one protested the suggestion, so Sakuno hit the ball as best she could, wondering why they were playing. She was used to teaming up with Ibu-kun or Ann-chan, but this is the first time she's ever played against someone else outside of her small circle of friends. She had nothing to be embarrassed about when it was just her friends she played against, but this was different.

She played Ryoma-kun once, when he went with her to get her racket restrung. She also played lots of other good tennis players like Syusuke-nii, Yuuta-nii and even the buchou from time to time, but that was different. They were familiar with how bad her tennis was and she didn't mind letting her guard down with them to show them just how awful she was at tennis.

This was different. It made her feel guilty that they had to tone down their play a lot so she can participate in it. Surely they had enough good players if they wanted to play doubles without her. Or if they wanted, they could even play singles matches. There were lots of other available courts now that they've expanded it for the public.

This was just bad.

“I should just practice my swings against the wall,” she said as Akaya grumbled about how Atobe refused to fetch any of the balls that went way out of bounds. “I told you I'm not very good at this.”

“Non-sense!” Akaya said as he came back and softly served the ball. “I think you just need guidance, Sakuno-chan. I can give you tips while we volley.”

Sakuno returned it, albeit a little too high.

“Like how you should lower your grip on the racket.” Atobe volunteered as he slowly hit the ball back.

Distracted by his advice, Sakuno missed it by a mile but Shinji was there to save it. “Like this?” Her grip on the racket lowered and her hand didn't feel as stiff anymore. “Arigatou, Atobe-san!”

A little annoyed at how Atobe just inserted himself in their conversation like that, Akaya swung his racket a little too hard, forcing Shinji to cover for it once again.

As both teams volleyed back and forth, oblivious to the arguing teams next to them, the boys managed to give Sakuno more advice on her form and her hits which were all greatly appreciated. She felt like she was having three lessons at once and it was thrice the fun.

Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤Â¤

“Will you stop giving me looks like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you're accusing me of doing something that I haven't even done.” He smiled piously. “I'm just… curious… and I really haven't done anything.”

“Yet.”

“You're just sore we didn't get to go to that Go Salon today.” As a tensai, he knew things even when they were left unspoken. “It won't go anywhere, you know. And it's owned by his dad, so I'm sure Touya Akira would frequent it often. You'll get another chance to fanboy over him some other time.”

The glare would have sent normal people scurrying for cover. “I do not `fanboy' over anyone.”

“Sure you don't.” His eyes were closed but they need not be opened to show his amusement. He decided a slight change of topic was in order. “I still can't believe you're into Go. Isn't that a game for old people? Should I start calling you jii-chan now?”

“Just because my grandfather got me interested in the game doesn't mean that being old is a requirement for it. It's a thinking game; a game all about strategy. It's harder than chess.” He pursed his lips together. “Touya Akira is only a few years older than us. He's not old.” And before his friend could come up with a smart-mouthed retort, he added “Sakuno is interested in Go as well. She's also not an old person.”

Touya Akira was probably the most well-known professional Go player today, not counting the title holders. And it wasn't just because of the fact that his father was Touya Koyou, a retired pro Go player who once held five titles and is even thought to be the strongest Go player in the present.

“I think Sakuno-chan is more interested in one of the players rather than the game itself.” He chuckled. “What was his name again? Shin… Shindou Hikaru, was it?” He wasn't into Go unlike his two friends, but they've talked about it enough for him to know enough. Tezuka's interest in the game was sparked by his grandfather, and when he mentioned it to Sakuno, she took a liking to one of the new pros, fueling her interest in Go even though she didn't play it.

Tezuka's bored look indicated that he didn't really care much for the player. “Touya Akira is the strongest player under eighteen in Japan right now. He even won against Korean and Chinese pros.”

Fuji chuckled some more. “I don't really understand any of what you're saying but I told you you're a Touya Akira fanboy.” He was saved from whatever Tezuka was going to say when their eyes caught a peculiar sight. Both boys blinked before they looked at each other curiously. “Is that who I think it is?”

Tezuka frowned a little. “What are they doing?”

Â¤ “When egos collide!” - Atobe vs. Tamaki. I'd put my bet on Atobe just as long as Kyouya doesn't get involved. Â¤

Jii-chan - gramps

Hieiashke - lol! bakit masama ang tingin sa yo?

Disclaimer: Same old stuff about me not owning any of the characters or making any profit from this fic. I don't own Prince of Tennis, Hikaru no Go or any of the characters. I'm just playing with them.

Summer vacation is here! YAY! (I made it, didn't I? Someone was telling me to update before their summer vacation was over. Gomen! I hope I made it in time. Hehe!) As I was typing this chapter up I kept laughing because I never expected things in some of the previous chapters to coincide with Yakitate's episode 61. I'm watching YJ61 as I'm typing this and I won't spoil it for you but for those of you who are familiar with it, look at chapter 3… XD

The pudding and jello fruit cups were stolen from CCS, Honey-senpai influenced me on the cake. Honey-senpai wa cake tabete kudasai! Errr… you can spot the Hikaru no Go references, I think.

I had to finish this in a hurry because I was away for so long. (weeps) So please don't throw stones at me at how this chapter turned out.

Thank you for everyone who reviewed. You might not realize it and I might forget to tell you or reply personally each time, but I appreciate each little review. Thank you, arigatou gozaimasu at salamat talaga. 8D It helps get me off of procrastinating. XD

Kyaa… and just to clear things up, I have nothing against puppy dog eyes. I'm weak against them thus my asking you not to use them against me. XD

If you're looking for a new series to watch, you could try Blood(plus). It has a Buffy/Blade feel to it (plus a gabillion WOW factors) and it sucked me right in. I can't help but love it with all my heart even though it's made me cry like everybody I love just died. o.o

(EDIT) Thank you very much to noomma who helped me with the Ibu-Kamio mix up. Mwehe, I always tend to mix those two together when I write. Gomen!!!