Playground

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Prince of Tennis or Niou. I do own my OC, Taishi Miyuki.

Author's Note: Beware, Niou may be a little too OOC. I tried to keep him in character, but with him and romance, that's kind of hard…I know that my summary is bad even I admit it. Please bare with me.

It was a relatively quiet night. A girl and a boy sat in a field, close to where they both lived. They were neighbors and good friends since childhood. The boy always played pranks on other kids around the neighborhood while the girl - at most times - bailed him out of trouble.

The two of them were on their backs, looking up at the star lit sky in a comfortable silence. They had just finished watching sunset. It became like a regular thing that they started just last year, watching the sun go down and then watching the night sky, enjoying each other's company.

The boy turned towards the girl, a gentle look in his eyes that never quite suited him. Mischievous, devious, evil, cruel, were some that fit him, but more accurately, he was a trickster. "So, we've been out here for a couple of hours and we don't go home until another hour, what're we going to do?"

"You're the one who usually thinks of plans, Niou-kun," the girl turned to face him as well, her black hair seemingly tinted silver in the moonlight. She looked into his eyes and gave a silent question on what they were going to do now. The two of them had known each other for so long that they can read each other as if it were a second nature.

"Well, for once I'm out of ideas on what to do," Niou admitted. The girl gave him a skeptical look, "I mean it for real. I'm out of ideas. Don't give me that look Miyuki-chan. And why don't you call me Masaharu?" He gave her a puppy dog pout, but she ignored it.

"You do know that only Akaya-kun's work right?" Miyuki rolled her eyes at Niou when he really began pouting. "I guess that we could go to the playground not that far in here. The one we always went to when we were younger. Plus, it's fun teasing you, Masaharu-kun."

"That sounds like a plan to me," Niou smiled at her, his aura reeking of being a mischievous trickster. He stood up quickly and pulled Miyuki up with him.

Niou led the way to the playground they went to when they were younger. As they arrived, they reminisced on how they once were. How they were children with no responsibilities and only playing around all day. The playground look as it did all those years ago. The swings were still there and Miyuki did not waste any time to hop onto one and started swinging herself. Niou sat himself on a slide near her and watched as she swung on the swings, looking at the bright smile that appeared on Miyuki's face.

"Ne, Masaharu-kun, do you remember the first time came here with our families for a picnic?" Miyuki closed her eyes as she continued to swing. In fact, she could remember that day as clear as what happened this day. She remembered every conversation she was in, how she felt, and more importantly, how much fun she had with Niou.

"How could I forget? We spent almost the entire day here on this playground with our parents nearby watching incase we got hurt," Niou rolled his eyes at the last statement. He sent a smirk to her, "Though, we were only four at the time. That's such a long time ago, and yet we still remember it as clear as day. We're a bunch of saps."

Miyuki sighed and opened her eyes, "Only you would think like that, no one, but you." A light chuckle escaped from her, a wider smile threatening to appear.

"Ah, but don't you remember our promise?" Niou laughter became apparent when he caught sight of Miyuki blushing. "You always told me that my intelligence exceeded my age."

"Hey, Taishi-chan, we're always going to be with each other," Niou declared to a younger Miyuki, not giving her a chance to say otherwise. "We'll get married."

Miyuki understood what he was trying to state. "Yup, it's the two of us." Miyuki smiled at him, doing a pinky promise with him.

"You know I don't like pinky promises," Niou rolled his eyes playfully at her after he did one with her, before petting her on the head at how lost Miyuki seemed to look, it would seem she didn't understand why he didn't like doing it.

"Why?" Miyuki tilted her head to the side, not understanding why Niou did not like pinky promises. They did it all the time. Her wide blue-eyes giving the look of a lost puppy, a look which Niou absolutely loved seeing on her.

"Oh never mind," he sighed, not sure how to explain it to her without hurting her feelings.

"You didn't forget about it did you my dear Miyuki-chan?" Niou jumped off the slide and went behind her swing, stopping her by grasping the chains of the swing and stopping its movement.

"I didn't. I thought you did though," Miyuki turned to face him, her heart pounding more than she would have liked. She did not know when her feelings for her childhood friend developed. All she knew is that she treasured that promise and wished it were true and not some young meaningless promise.

"Me, forget, never. After all, I was the one who made the promise," Niou pulled her to him, nearly making her fall out of the swing seat.

"Ack, Masaharu!"

"Sorry 'bout that," Niou had sweatdropped at the short comedic scene that just happened, amusement dancing in his eyes. Nothing could deter him from being the trickster he is, they could stop him for a short time, but the trickster in him would never go away. Soon though, he got serious. "You know that I'll always be here for you no matter what, right?"

"Of course," Miyuki gave another of her brilliant smiles towards him. Inside, she's questioning on why Niou was acting the way his was, him saying stuff like that was incompatible to his nature.

"Then will you wait for me until after high school?"

"What?!"

"I know this is unlike me, but I do want to keep that promise with you," for once, this was as sincere as Niou has been ever since she knew him. "When we graduate from high school, let's make that promise real."

"Did you just propose to me without saying the cliché words?" Miyuki looked at him in disbelief, but another smile, filled with deeper emotion appeared on her face.

"So, what do you say about it?" Niou was apprehensive, especially since he knew that there was a chance that she may not love him as he loves her. He did not quite believe Yagyuu when he told him that Miyuki was in love with him.

"Yes, I'll wait for you. It's going to be a whole three years of waiting though," Miyuki winked at Niou, noticing how glad he looked at the moment she told him yes.

"No shit, those three years are going to be our dating years so people won't think we're marrying out of the blue."

Niou gathered her in his arms and crashed his lips against hers. Miyuki did not think twice when she responded. It was not long before they broke to pant for air.

"I think it's been an hour already," Miyuki glanced down at her watch, fighting off the urge to smile like a lunatic.

"I'll carry you home like prince charming," Niou drawled, laughing when Miyuki whacked him upside the head.

"I like romance movies thank you very much."

"I know, seeing as you take me with you when I rather be playing those video games with Kirihara."

"You take me to the arcade after we watch the movie anyway."

"As I said, we're a lovely bunch of saps, for everything we do for one another."

It really seems that I made Niou a little too much OOC. I tried to make it where some of his usual trickster personality brought a little comedy, but also new sides to him save for a person who he loves. I apologize if he's a definite OOC.