A/N: First Prince of Tennis fanfic, so excited, woot! I'm jumping up and down in joy. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Just because one writes fanfiction, it does not mean that one owns the franchise.

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The Wrong Match

Chapter One

Sakuno looked at the invitation in her hands in shock.

This can't be happening……

The content of the invitation read:

'We would like to invite you to the joyful union of Echizen Ryoma and Osakada Tomoka. We look forward to your attendance.'

The rest of the letter was the venue, date and time of the wedding.

Sakuno read the invitation until she had it memorized, then collapsed into her armchair miserably. She couldn't believe it. Her best friend and her ex-boyfriend were getting married. She had known that Tomoka was getting married, but she hadn't mentioned who. Now she knew. No wonder Tomoka kept it a secret. Her ex-boyfriend. Honestly.

But wait, she couldn't think of him that way, could she? Ryoma had never been merely a boyfriend. He had been more than that. Ryoma was Sakuno's soul mate. There was nothing else to it.

Ryoma and Sakuno had been a couple up until four years ago. They had been so in love, that people thought that they would get married. That had been when they were fifteen. When they turned eighteen, people knew that they'd get married. But people were wrong.

Ryoma and Sakuno broke up the following year.

Nobody knew why. All everyone knew was that when Ryoma began attending university in America, things fell apart. In a last ditch attempt to save their relationship, Sakuno had gone to America to visit Ryoma. It was meant to be a surprise visit, but she came back with the news that she and Ryoma had decided to go their own ways. And that was the end of that.

It was a big shock for everyone, but they moved on. Ryoma went on to become a famous tennis player like his father and Sakuno started her own career as a translator in English

Only, their feelings for each other hadn't changed. At least, Sakuno's feelings for Ryoma hadn't changed. She realized it now. That just made her feel more miserable. She sighed and rested her head against her armchair. If Tomoka loved Ryoma, and if Ryoma loved Tomoka, and they wanted to get married, there was nothing she could do about it. The least she could was be happy for them, because that's the kind of person she was. So, Sakuno decided to put her feelings for Ryoma aside and attend their wedding. Tomoka was her friend, after all.

Sakuno put the invitation card down on the coffee table and made her way to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of juice. The wedding was in three months. She had three months to pull herself together. To be happy for them.

If he is happy, so am I.

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Tomoka finished dusting the shelves in her living room and looked around to see if there was anything left to do. Nothing. She could allow herself some time to relax. She sank into the couch and switched on the T.V. and started surfing through the channels.

Reality show, news, soap opera, music, news, soap opera…..all boring. Tomoka stopped at one of the soap operas and settled down to watch it.

Unfortunately, it was the wrong one.

'How could you do this to me?' asked one of the characters, 'I thought you were my best friend!'

'I didn't mean to do it!' replied another character in an anguished voice, 'It was a mistake, I promise!'

Tomoka sighed. How fitting that a program like this would be on at this hour. And how fitting that she'd choose to watch it. She could actually see herself and Sakuno in the show. Sakuno accusing Tomoka of betraying her, and Tomoka trying to explain that she didn't mean to do it.

Well, if it happened in reality, Tomoka would deserve it. She was betraying Sakuno by marrying the man she loved.

However, it wasn't Tomoka's fault that this marriage was taking place. She was in no way in love with Ryoma, and Ryoma wasn't in love with Tomoka either.

Theirs was an arranged marriage, more of a marriage of convenience, and neither Ryoma nor Tomoka were very keen on it. It had been arranged by their parents. Both Ryoma and Tomoka's parents were good friends. And since Tomoka was getting a headway into her singing career, and since Ryoma was famous already, they thought that getting the two married would be the best way to increase their popularity. It had been decided a long time ago, and neither Tomoka nor Ryoma could do anything about it.

Tomoka fiddled with a thread of her t-shirt that had unraveled, not really paying attention to what was going on T.V. She felt guilty, like she had committed a crime of sorts. She had hurt so many people.

Sakuno.

Ryoma.

Horio.

Horio…..

Loud, obnoxious Horio. Kind, warm Horio. The one person she loved, and from whom she could actually expect love in return, and she had hurt him, however unintentional it was. She had tried to convince Ryoma not to send an invitation to him, but Horio was one of Ryoma's closest friends, so he felt he deserved to be invited.

But what was worrying her most was that like Sakuno, Horio didn't know that Tomoka was marrying Ryoma. He didn't even know Tomoka was getting married, but she knew that the news would hurt him. Because even if they didn't have a solid relationship, she and Horio loved each other.

Tomoka was sure that if this marriage hadn't been arranged, she and Horio would have been a couple. They would have been together in love, living happily ever after. If this marriage hadn't been arranged, then Tomoka wouldn't be cleaning her place and watching soap operas about friends betraying each other and feeling guilty and thinking about everyone she had hurt and waiting for her fiancé to come over so that they could discuss the wedding.

Her fiancé who was incidentally five minutes late, thought Tomoka, rolling her eyes as she got up to get ready before Ryoma arrived. Their parents had decided that Ryoma and Tomoka should meet as much as possible before the wedding so that they could get to know each other better.

She switched off the T.V. and went to her room to find something to wear. As she went through her clothes, she noticed a picture of her and Sakuno taken years ago hidden underneath. She looked it for a few seconds and then turned it over.

If fate was playing a horrible sadistic trick on her, she might as well go along with it.

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And that's the end of the first chapter. Was it over-written? Under-written? Well-written? Anything? Ah, never mind.

Please review! They provide inspiration.