A/N: It's been a while since I've posted a story here in FanFiction, I say a while but it's actually been years since I've last posted a story. I won't be saying much instead I'll actually allow the story do all the talking.

I won't be putting a cover image for this story yet, because I'll draw one for it like what I did with my other POT story. Please, please, please read and review! They mean the world to me and can really help inspire me.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the POT characters but I do own the OC characters and the plot.

"I like you, please go out with me" Hanabusa Tsubaki mustered all courage she had to be able to convey to Sanada Genichiro her feelings

"No" That was the only response the girl could get from the man entitled 'Emperor'. He stood there with his arms crossed over the other, the way he carried himself was definitely befitting the man, who imposed only victory as Rikkai Dai's motto

Sanada was about to leave when he noticed that girl in front of him had something she wanted to say "What is it?" He peered at the girl, his cap made it seem like he was glaring at her but the girl knew that this was not the case. At least, that's what she wanted to believe "Um, if you don't mind me asking. Why did you reject me?"

The girl did not ask because she believed that she wouldn't be rejected, she was far from being the type that only cared for vanity. She asked because she felt like there wasn't even room for contemplation, it was not that Sanada did not see how much effort she had put just to convey her feelings. Although he was quite notorious for being strict, he was also one that recognized effort "Because I don't like the idea of going out with someone who is older or younger than I am"

They stood there in silence, Sanada was examining the girl's expression upon hearing the reason for her rejection, truthfully, Hanabusa Tsubaki is a year younger than him and is Kirihara Akaya's classmate. No wonder, there wasn't any room for contemplation on his behalf. The girl however only had a blank stare plastered all over her face "That's it?" She unconsciously voiced out her thoughts. Sanada raised a single eye-brow almost questioning whether the response was intended or was just slip of the tongue, interestingly he was able to hide the fact that it caught him off guard "Ah! I'm really sorry" The girl immediately bowed her head in apology, after the realization of what she had done finally processed. Sanada did not utter a word but the air around him demanded her to elaborate, at the same time challenging the girl to continue "I'm sorry! It's just that...I really was ready for the worst. Sanada-fukubuchou rejecting me, if you had reasoned out that it was because you do not know me that well, to even go out with me. Naturally, I have planned to give up afterwards but-"

"And I actually believe that it's best if you do" With that Sanada left, leaving the girl where she stood. She watched as his figure slowly disappeared, she took in mind what the guy had said. But despite that she refused to give up, the thought that he refuses to go out with someone older or younger than him, surely must have a reason. If she could just find out what this is, then it could be a step for her to give up but till then she'll keep the feelings.

The rest of their morning went by just like usual, except for the fact that the regular players from both the male and the female tennis clubs were called to the principal's office. The last to arrive were Hanabusa and Kirihara, upon opening the door to the principal's room they both saw Hyotei's coach, Sakaki Taro, in the room and no signs of their principal. The female players sat on the couch while the male players stood behind them, in front of them sat Sakaki with his legs crossed, while another man stood behind him formally "Good, you're all here" He grinned as Hanabusa took a sit next to her captain, Minase Akina. Kirihara stood beside Yanagi Renji "Then, let me explain why I'm here. You are all chosen to be a candidate for a social experiment conducted by the Sakaki Group. Basically, in this experiment, you guys will live your everyday life just like how you would normally do. Only a single factor will be changed, that factor however will be kept hidden to everyone" Kirihara and some other players didn't seem to fully understand Sakaki's point, it was clearly written all over their faces

"Now, I'll fully explain this part to each of you as easy and simple as I can. As I have said, you all are candidates for the social experiment but not necessarily all will participate, you guys are basically part of two clusters. From these two clusters, I'll be choosing one individual through that a pair is made. This pair will be the ones to take part of the social experiment." Sakaki thoroughly explained the situation, his assistant then placed two fishbowls in front of Sakaki, closer inspection to the fishbowls revealed that in it were strips of paper "The method we will be using is the fishbowl method, as you can see, inside the fishbowls are strips of paper. Written on the strips of papers are your respective names. The bowl to my right has all the names of the boy's team and to my left are that of the girl's team, we decided to use this method, so that we can randomize the chosen individuals despite being part of the cluster we have chosen. So...ladies' first" Sakaki elegantly picked a strip of paper from the fishbowl, and read the name written on it "Hanabusa Tsubaki"

Hanabusa's eyes widens as her name was called, she was a little reluctant because she did not know what the social experiment will be all about or if she would even perform well. Sakaki then proceeded to pick a name from the other fishbowl, like before he elegantly pulled out one strip of paper and read whose name was written on it "Sanada Genichiro"

The girl's team released a sigh of relief since what the social experiment will be about, was never mentioned they were worried for their junior's safety "I thank everyone for coming here and apologize that I had to pull you out of your respective classes. Everyone may already return to their class but I would like the two, whose names I've mentioned, to stay behind a little longer" Everyone did as they were told, since Sanada chose not to sit down on the couch Hanabusa sat at the middle, this was to properly face Sakaki "So, let me continue from earlier, I clearly told you two that you are now chosen to participate on the social experiment. But you won't just be normally 'per say' participating, you both are Rikkai Dai's representative for this social experiment. Again, in this social experiment you will continue to live your everyday life just like how you normally would but a single factor will be changed, this single factor is who you will be living with-"

"Excuse me, sensei?" Hanabusa politely interrupted Sakaki "Are you trying to imply that we will be pulled out from our original homes?" She looked uncomfortable with the idea

"By virtue yes, in order to successfully conduct this experiment, pulling you out of your respective homes is necessary. Your respective parents or guardians have already been informed prior to when you are actually chosen, so if you are concern whether you'll be allowed. That I can confidently say is already done and dealt with" Sakaki confirmed "Going back, not only that but you will have to live with this person for one whole month. If you are curious as to who this person is: it's actually the both of you-"

"What!" Sanada who was silent up until now suddenly fumed with anger "Live one whole month with this girl?" Truthfully Sanada's reaction hurt the younger girl, it was as if he was saying that to her this was a dream come true but the mere thought that she'll be far away from home terrifies the girl.

Sakaki who was accommodating towards Hanabusa earlier, didn't seem to be interested in treating Sanada the same way, so he decided to continue his explanation and set aside the boy's outburst "You both will be given key's to the house where you will be staying for the duration of the social experiment. In addition, you both will each receive a notebook; treat the notebook any way you want: a journal, a diary or even a planner. You can do whatever you want with this notebook however, keep in mind that you must have written something on the notebook, at least once per day. There's no format and again you don't have to be too conscious of what must be written here, write what you feel like writing. Hanabusa-chan, you are very particular with notebooks, correct?" Sakaki inquired knowing full well that the girl will say yes "Then why don't you follow my assistant, he can show you the array of notebooks he brought along with us"

While Sakaki had skilfully removed Hanabusa from the scene, he then handed Sanada his copy of the house key and notebook "I refuse-"

"I don't really care if you refuse" Sakaki placed the items on the coffee table in front of him "I can easily choose another name from the fishbowl, ultimately I'd still get the result I'll need, after a month. But what do you think will your teammates think afterwards? The man entitled 'Emperor' chose to quit because he refused to live in one house, under one roof with this particular girl. I never knew you gave up so easily" He smirked, his tone as he spoke were not only laced with sarcasm but he also mocked the boy, he slides the objects a little closer to the boy "Will you still refuse?"

Sanada takes the two objects without a single word while his expression was hidden by the visor of his cap, but Sakaki knew that the boy was furious "Further instructions will be known, when you finally reached the house you both will be living in" As he spoke, Sakaki was handed a piece of paper, on it was a sketch to reaching the house. He slid this paper on the coffee table and left it there, he knew Hanabusa would not pick the paper up "Well, I think I already took most on both of your time, you are dismissed. See you both after a month."

Sanada snatched the piece of paper from the table and was ready to storm out when Sakaki called their attention, one last time "A little reminder, don't reveal anything about the social experiment to your teammates" With that Sanada left the room leaving the door open for Hanabusa to close, she bowed one last time to Sakaki and his assistant as a sign of respect

"Please excuse my comment sir, but..." The assistant paused, arranging the words he was about to say "Don't you think you provoked him, a little too much?" He handed Sakaki a folder and on the center of it was written "Sanada Genichiro"

"He needed a little push" Sakaki grinned opening the folder that contained almost everything about Sanada, not just as a tennis player but it also included basic information such as family background "Let me ask you something, among the eight schools, I have chosen. Which of them do you think will deliver the best results?"

"If you would personally ask me then that would be Hyotei, Yamabuki and Rikkai Dai" He answered with a smile "And, I actually believe that you will agree with my choice"

"The rich kid, the delinquent and the old-fashioned kid" Sakaki grinned recalling which player belonged to which school. He conducted this experiment to eight different school, which were: Seigaku, Hyotei, Yamabuki, St. Rudolf, Fudomine, Rokkaku, Shitenhouji and Rikkai Dai. From Hyotei the person chosen from the boy's team was the captain himself "Atobe Keigo", from Yamabuki it was "Akutsu Gin" and lastly for Rikkai Dai the strict vice-captain "Sanada Genichiro"

Let's see...I wonder which one will exceed my expectation? They were partnered with someone that doesn't compliment their personality.

The rest of the day continued like how it was supposed to, when Hanabusa arrived at her classroom it seemed that they had self study for their English class, so fortunately she didn't miss anything. The day was about to end and all that was left was club practices, if Hanabusa remembered correctly, today was the day the girl's team will train together with the boy's team. As soon as the bell rang, that basically signaled the end of the class, Kirihara was kind of dragging Hanabusa by the arm because all he could think of was playing tennis.

When they did arrive at the tennis courts there was a board that revealed who they will be up against, although today was a bit different, they were having mixed doubles and Hanabusa was paired with Kirihara. Disappointed that there won't be any single matches, Kirihara dragged himself to the boy's locker room and Hanabusa could only laugh at his transition from being overly enthusiastic to completely apathetic.

Kirihara and Hanabusa's first match ended with a victory against Jackal Kuwahara and Izuki Ai, the boy's team was actually impressed on how the girl's team junior could actually control Kirihara. There were multiple times where he could have activated 'bloodshot mode' but Hanabusa was able to prevent this flawlessly "What are you guys so shocked about?" The girl's team captain smiled "Tsubaki has a natural talent when it comes to playing doubles, not only can she calmly observe her opponents movement but, she can also calmly observe her own partner. Not only that, she naturally adapts to her partners playing style and will develop a game play that will definitely make her partner shine" She watched as Hanabusa and Kirihara were talking to each other

"Hm?" Kirihara glanced at Hanabusa from the corner of his eye "You okay? You look uneasy despite our next opponent being Marui-sempai and Amane-sempai"

"Huh? What do you mean? Of course, I'm okay" Hanabusa couldn't help but raise one eye-brow "And honestly you...where do get all of this confidence? Marui-sempai is an amazing serve and volley player combined with Amane-sempai who has flexible wrist-"

"If they would decide to make a double front attack blah-blah-blah" Kirihara continued Hanabusa's sentence but got bored midway "I get it already, don't let my guard down, and keep Amane-sempai at the back that way they wouldn't get that chance. But my point is, we beat them once, we could definitely do it again" He placed his hand at the back of his head and leaned on the wire fence, which was bad news to Hanabusa because when Kirihara acts this way it meant he was relaxed...too relaxed.

"Not just because we won once, means we'll win again" Hanabusa sternly pointed out that Kirihara's over confidence will be his biggest mistake "One thing a winner will never understand about a loser is not the settling of scores but their thirst for victory. And their thirst is almost in par with a predator eyeing its prey" She continued but was certain that Kirihara had not paid any attention at all

"Ack!" Kirihara winced in pain by being hit on the head

"Fool! Listen to what she has to say because it makes perfect sense" Sanada scolded his team's junior, after that Kirihara was made to run around the school as punishment for being too relaxed. Regardless whether it is official or not, Sanada still expects the absolute best from his team "Listen, after practice is over, wait for me by the school gate" He did not even wait for Hanabusa's reply because he left just after he told her what he intended to say to her

Kirihara came back not all after and just as Hanabusa expected even when she told Kirihara to be careful, he still made the error of letting both their sempais do a double-front attack. She was able to secure their win versus Marui-Amane pair but Amane Ringo didn't make it easy for her, they ultimately lost against Yanagi Renji and Minase pair.

Although Hanabusa arrived on time, she still had to wait for Sanada a bit because it seemed like he was called to the student council. Like Sanada, she is also part of the student council but they did not work on the same department. Sanada is on the disciplinary committee and its head, while Hanabusa is a part of beautification committee along with Yukimura Seichi. After waiting for about roughly ten minutes, Sanada arrived and on his right hand was the piece of paper that will lead them the way to where they will be living in.

When they finally reached their destination, Sanada realized it's not that far from the school nor is it too near it that the thought that they will be exposed will arise. What was amazing was the fact that the really did provided them a house, somehow what both Sanada and Hanabusa had in mind was an apartment.

Upon unlocking the door with the key, they each went exploring on their own. Sanada briefly checked each of the rooms, basically the inside had a: hallway, living room, kitchen, laundry room, bathroom and a single bedroom "This is insane!" Sanada roared with anger at the thought that they will have to share one bedroom

Hanabusa on the other hand had a different approach on exploring the house; she first inspected the outside of the house. There was a front yard and a healthy rose bush along the brick fence, walking towards the back there was a garden patch much to her delight, not only that but the veranda is positioned at the back of the house.

When she entered the front door, she noticed that there was a memo stuck at the shoe cabinet, on it said "Only three people can open this house: The two of you and myself (Sakaki)" Hanabusa inspected if the shoe cabinet had any contents in them "Woah" Inside were not only footwear she owned but also footwear owned by Sanada, they were conveniently and properly arranged

The next room Hanabusa checked was the kitchen and just like from the earlier room, a memo was stuck on the kitchen's fridge "The fridge will be stocked weekly, however if this is something you both find inconvenient please leave a note at the cork board found near the entrance" It wasn't like Hanabusa doubted the memo, but she couldn't help not taking a peek. And truthfully enough, it was really well-stocked, but since she was allergic with quite a handful of things she'll probably ask Sanada's opinion regarding how the fridge will be stocked.

The next two rooms Hanabusa checked were the bathroom and laundry room "Haha, obviously they wouldn't need to leave any memos for these rooms" She laughed at her own thoughts, there were only two rooms she has yet to check and that were: the living room and bedroom.

But she decided to check the bedroom; the actual room had two beds in it, a single window and a big sliding cabinet. A box organizer was positioned on the foot of each bed, stuck on the cabinet was a memo "In case, you are wondering...yes, there is only ONE bedroom. Each of your clothes are in the cabinet and are properly arranged, the right side has Sanada's clothes and to the left are Hanabusa's clothes" After she finished reading the memo's note, Hanabusa knew that her senior will not be pleased with this whole set up, but she had to admit it...they put quite a lot of thought into this whole social experiment.

The last room was the living room, Sanada was already there and the aura surrounding him clearly sent says "PISSED OFF", but Hanabusa still inspected the room while at the same time avoided bothering the boy. She was able to find a memo by the bookshelf and written on it was "This bookshelf is filled with books that both of you will enjoy reading"

"I guess, in their own way, they are trying to make this place feel like our own homes" Hanabusa smiled at the amount of thought that went into furnishing the whole place. She had nothing to complain about the house well except the bedroom...besides, although this house wasn't completely the same as her own, there were bits and pieces that resembled her home "Hm?" Hanabusa noticed that the memo in the living room had two more memos stuck to it

"To Tsubaki from Mama: Good Luck! Although, Mama will be very lonely without you, please know that Mama is rooting for you. Now, don't neglect your health and if you feel even, just a little bit, of home sickness kicking in: I'm one call away!"

"To Genichiro from Dad and Mom: Don't abuse this freedom and neglect your studies. Take it as a learning experience and don't forget to call from time to time (Mom will expect a call from you okay?)"

"Mama..." The message from Hanabusa's mother made her want to see her mother so badly, but she knew that her mother would scold her for missing home too soon "But...compared to the message from sempai's parents, Mama sounds so relaxed and care-free" She giggled

"I see you're done exploring the house" Hanabusa flinched when Sanada spoke suddenly "What are those?" He stared at the memos his junior was holding onto, she then handed them to him. He read them one by one, and particularly crumpled one particular memo "I'm guessing that's the bedroom memo" Hanabusa thought to herself and thought that it would be best to keep it that way, she took a sit on the floor as she waited for the boy to finish reading the rest of the memos

"Let's split up the house chores" Sanada suggested as he placed the memos on top of the coffee table

"I'm okay with that idea" The younger girl smiled "I'm pretty confident in my cooking skills and I'm okay with laundry too"

"Then I'll wash the dishes and I guess, I'll help with retrieving the clothes once its dry" Sanada crossed his arm over the other "I'll also be the one checking the doors if they are closed properly. In regards to the overall cleanliness of the house that will be a responsibility we both will share, is that alright?"

Hanabusa nodded her head in approval "By the way sempai..." She paused unsure of how to say what was on her mind but Sanada gave her his full attention "Ah...in regards to the fridge being stocked weekly, is it alright with you that I request that we will do it ourselves?"

"I actually found it convenient that they will do it" Sanada was confused as to why she suddenly made request "Why? Is there a reason behind you wanting to buy them yourself?"

"Well, you see...I'm allergic to a handful of food-"

"I see, just don't forget to leave a note tomorrow morning"

"Yes!"

It was getting really late, they were done eating dinner and Hanabusa just finished taking a bath. When she entered the bedroom, Sanada was carrying his pillow and blanket with his left hand and his bed looked empty. Before his junior could even speak, he took the initiative to explain his actions "I'll be sleeping in the living room"

"But sempai-" Hanabusa's protest was quickly countered by his stern voice "No buts! I will admit that sleeping on the bed will be twice more comfortable than sleeping on the couch, but I will absolutely not sleep with a girl in one room. This will not be subjected to any argument." With that he slammed the door before his junior could say another word of protest

End

A/N: That's about it! This is where the prologue ends. Next chapter comes out next month? Well, I can't really set a definite date because I am currently busy with school work and club activities (no joke, being the secretary is hard) but I promise you the next chapter is already plotted out, and is on its encoding stages –winks-

I'll also apologize if there are grammatical errors and the like in my stories, I tend to edit them after it's been posted or when I'm done with the next chapter. So again, it'll sound so annoying but please give me your thoughts, comments and suggestions (like what you probably wanna see in the other chapters) by reviewing. Thank you!