Hello, I've disregarded my own policy of not publishing a story until the work is completely finished. However, I'm uncertain as to how this story will end and I decided to ask for impute. I hope you enjoy.

Also note, I don't use honorifics in this story.

~Xanpluto

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was their graduation party. The last celebration of their high school lives. After this it was college, trade school, real jobs, and of course an international tour for one soon to be celebrity tennis player. It was truly the last night of their childhood.

For some students this held especially true. As part of tradition the punch had been spiked with vodka. Being unaccustomed to alcohol Sakuno Ryuzaki felt the sway in her step even after two drinks. Her face was flushed and her mouth was running like it never before. Honestly, her friends had never seen her so talkative. With all that energy came the chugging of a third glass of punch; that was her peak. She began to go downhill into wooziness and weary.

"What's wrong with wobbly hips?" Ryoma said to Horio as they looked across the room as Sakuno tried to walk over to a chair and ended up tripping over herself instead.

"Oh no!" Horio shouted as he rushed to his friend. He, too, had a slight sway because he and Ryoma had also been sipping the punch but it wasn't nearly as bad as Sakuno's.

"Sakuno! Sakuno, are you alright?" Horio asked worriedly as he helped Sakuno to her feet. Ryoma was conveniently there to grab her other arm when she didn't seem stable enough to stand on her own.

"I feel fun-nnnny." Sakuno said in a slow, happy voice with a slight slur.

"I should get you home." Horio offered.

"No." A voice said as a body appeared in front of the trio. "Horio, I want you to come dance with me."

"Tomoka?" Horio said shocked. It was fairly obviously to everyone that he had had a crush on her since their last year of middle school. He would've done anything for her. Then again, he didn't feel quite right abandoning Sakuno. Tomoka had the solution.

"Ryoma, why don't you take her home? I know you don't really like these types of events plus Sakuno's house is on your way home." She said peppily.

Ryoma looked from Horio's pleading eyes to Sakuno's sloppy face and reluctantly agreed, "Fine."

"You're my best friend!" Horio exclaimed as Tomoka dragged him away with a smirk on her face. Ryoma was stuck with the useless Sakuno.

"Can you walk?" He asked annoyed. Sakuno nodded her head and Ryoma helped her shuffle out of the school. As they got outside she nearly tripped on the stairs despite his support. "Mada mada dane."

"Sor-rry."

Ryoma bent down in front of Sakuno and said, "Jump on."

Sakuno did so awkwardly and Ryoma was able to hoist her onto his back. Her arms dangled loosely over his shoulders and he could feel her hot breath on the back of his neck as he began walking home.

Again she repeated with a slight slur, "I'm sor-rry Ryo-ma."

"It's fine." He said. Sakuno's sincerity was beginning to make him feel guilty for his obvious annoyance at her earlier. She was, as Tomoka pointed out, at least giving him an excuse to leave early.

The rest of their walk was completely silent. Only when Ryoma was a block from Sakuno's house did he ask if her Grandma was home.

"No," Sakuno said clearer than before and quite sadly, "she went to visit my mom."

Ryoma decided not to ask about Sakuno's mother. It was the first time he'd ever heard Sakuno mention her mother and he didn't want to dive into any sensitive family issues.

"Do you have the key?"

"In my pocket." Sakuno said softly. When Ryoma reached the front door he set Sakuno down and she rummaged around in her coat pocket until she finally produced a small, gold key attached to a tennis racket keychain. She stuck it into the lock, opened the door, walked over the threshold, and tripped on her face.

"Mada mada dane." Ryoma repeated again as he helped her get up. "Come on, I better make sure you don't die before you reach your bed."

"Thanks." Sakuno said taking his offered hand to walk up to her bedroom. It was the first time Ryoma had been inside her room and he was honestly surprised at what he saw. Not only were there pictures of famous tennis stars but the walls were completely covered in an arrangement of doodles. He had no idea Sakuno had any talent.

Ryoma was so distracted by the drawings that he let go of Sakuno's hand and went to examine them closer. "These are pretty good." He finally said handing out a rare compliment

"Thanks." Sakuno replied and only then did Ryoma turn his head to face her. What he saw shocked him.

"Sakuno! What are you doing? You can't change in front of a boy. You have to wait until I leave the room to change!" He shouted with his mouth agape. Sakuno was standing only in her lace panties and pink bra. She held a nightgown in her hand but didn't move any faster to put it on. Rather, the alcohol made her bold and she simply looked at Ryoma with a steady stare.

"It doesn't matter; I can trust you. You've had six years in which I'd happily take my clothes off for you. If you haven't taken advantage of it by now I doubt you ever will."

Ryoma's mouth dropped. This was not what he expected her to say. It made Ryoma look at her in a totally different light. More like an independent women than a little girl. She'd grown taller, bustier, and those wobbly hips had turned into perfectly positioned curves. Even her hair had been cut shorter and into a fashionable hairstyle. She was a true beauty inside and out.

And, as much as Ryoma didn't want to admit it, he felt something for her in that instant. His heart did a little ping. He desperately tried to ignore it; he had such great body control. In fact, he'd been controlling his own unsteadiness after drinking alcohol so well that he doubted anyone noticed anything different; only he felt a change.

"Ryoma, you're staring at me?" Sakuno said unsurely. She hadn't faltered a step from her place across the room but somehow she seemed closer. Ryoma finally noticed he had been the one to take a few steps closer to her.

"I better go." There was something weird and foreign in Ryoma's voice that both he and Sakuno were shocked by. It seemed like genuine emotion. What type of emotion Ryoma didn't know, but Sakuno did.

Sakuno's own heart skipped. She'd thought she'd given up on Ryoma but now that he sounded hesitant to leave her own feelings resurfaced. She glided over to Ryoma and grabbed his sleeve softly.

"Please stay."

Ryoma looked from her head to the plead in her eyes and was suddenly overwhelmed by something he had only heard others speak about. He felt longing and passion. He let his inhibitions fly away and finally began to ask like a real teenage boy. He placed his lips on Sakuno's and kissed her like she'd never been kissed before. He kissed her so hard he literally took her breath away. When she gasped for breath he began to kiss the edge of her jaw, her ear, her neck.

Sakuno couldn't be happier. She dropped her nightgown and wrapped her hands around his neck feeling the softness of his dark, green hair. Ryoma guided her to her bed where they quickly knocked off the few stuffed animals for more room. Both sets of hands began to wander every inch of skin. Ryoma had his shirt off revealing such muscled abs that Sakuno literally felt a little faint at the sight.

That feeling only continued as he touched her in the most blissful ways over and over again. Eventually the last of their energy went to wrapping their arms around each other and falling asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakuno awoke to rustle and a soft clink of metal. She opened her eyes and saw Ryoma putting on his belt. For a split second she was in shock that Ryoma was standing in her bedroom then she remembered the events of the previous night and looked down to make sure the sheets were covering every inch of her flushed, naked body.

"Ryoma?" She asked unsurely.

Ryoma looked over at her with an empty look on his face. She didn't know if it was some cool facade or if he didn't feel any emotion towards what they'd been doing all night. "My mom called. I need to get home."

"Oh." Sakuno said unsurely.

Ryoma buttoned his suit jacket and said, "See you later" before walking out the door. Sakuno didn't even have time to say goodbye or thank him for one of the best nights of her life. And unless he intended "later" to be years later, Ryoma lied. They weren't to see each other for another six years.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Please give feedback. Thank You.