Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis.

Note: This story is an alternate reality. They're still in seventh grade and they're still in Seigaku. In fact, everything in the anime/manga storyline is the same, except in the way that Ryoma and Sakuno meet each other (which you'll find out in this chapter). That's where I deviated from the original story. Oh, and the fact that Sakuno's an artist. I think that's about all I had to say…Hope you enjoy!

The Art of Tennis

Chapter 1: The Artist (And The Beginning of Her Obsession)

The beautiful canvas. The blue sky and the tennis courts. Several male players playing across the courts. The wild crowd cheering outside of the fence.

Sakuno bit her bottom lip, smiling proudly at her piece of art. It was a small eight by twelve watercolor painting, something she did as part of recreation and not as part of her usual twenty-four by twenty-four paintings she did for her class. Not like it could be. She did so many paintings of the Seigaku courts and regulars, she would have bored her whole art class if it was all she turned in. But it was what she painted in her leisure, when she was at peace and craving for a paintbrush and paper or canvas. And craving for the sport of tennis.

She had never been interested in playing sports, not until a month ago. Now, however, she imagined herself in the courts, holding a racquet that was her own, and playing matches to her heart's content. The problem was, she had never played tennis in her life. She didn't even know if she could be good at it.

And what was the point in fantasizing about a sport if she never played? She wanted to. She was afraid, however, of investing her money on her own tennis equipment, only to find that it wasn't for her, that she wasn't made for the sport as he was, and she would only embarrass herself and end up walking back home with an (imaginary) tail between her legs.

He made it look so easy though, and maybe that was why she thought she could also do it too, if she was just given the chance and proper basic training to begin with. But she had no time for it. She had to keep up with her homework and house chores, and all of her spare time was filled with art and painting…some for school, most for her own merriment (though, of course, she couldn't complain about that taking her time…it was her decision after all, but she couldn't stay from a canvas for too long).

It was during one of these busy 'leisure' painting days that she first met him personally. It was on the school grounds, where she sat on a bench under the shade of a tree, a sketchbook in her lap, near the school tennis courts. She was having a frustrating afternoon. Her art teacher had assigned a sketch, based around the theme of something 'fun' she liked. And of course it couldn't be painting, which she did all her time…it was too easy. It was supposed to be a fun, easy assignment, a 'break' from all their other more demanding projects. But Sakuno was wracking her brain, literally running her hands through her hair in frustration as she thought about what other 'fun' thing she did besides art. Television? No, I hardly watch television…Board games? No, I haven't played one in ages…Cleaning? No, that's too boring. Not to mention, I'll sound like an old woman next to all my peers. She groaned to herself when she felt a sudden, light tap against her head, and her head jerked up to see a male student dressed in the school's tennis uniform, smirking down at her. He'd tapped her with his crimson racquet, which his arms now held behind his head.

"Ne, do you want your head to explode?"

Sakuno stared at him blankly.

"You keep rubbing on it like a match," he further elaborated.

"Eto…" Sakuno let down her hands, mesmerized the young man's confident smirk. Her eyes looked at the racquet. She thought he must have been one of the regulars. It would explain the confident (and cocky) air that surrounded him. Was he in her grade? She couldn't remember him from any of her classes.

The boy frowned, his smirk disappearing. Sakuno found herself wondering what made it go away…she was disappointed that it was gone, even if she had only seen it for a moment. "Can you talk?" he asked, and Sakuno felt as if she had tripped over and smacked her face flat against hard cement.

"O-Of course I can talk," she finally replied, rather indignantly.

"Che…took you a long time to."

And with that, he lowered his white Fila cap and walked away, still with that cocky air about him. Sakuno's eyes followed him as he reached the tennis courts. And she spent the rest of the lunch hour watching him play matches against the other regulars (winning all of them, of course), growing fascinated with his speed and ability and the way he made the sport look so easy to master. As she developed her admiration for him, her admiration for the sport itself also grew. And since that day, she had painted over a dozen detailed canvas of the courts and its players, including him, and that wasn't even counting the doodles and sketches she did during class or at home.

Or the thirteenth painting she had just finished.

School was dismissed over an hour ago but Sakuno stayed behind in the art classroom to finish her recreational work. Needless to say, she was very pleased with it, and it was perhaps the most detailed and delicate painting she had made of the tennis courts yet. As she looked at her finished artwork, her hand dipped the paintbrush in the paint, mixing colors until they began to resemble a blue-green hue…the color of the tennis boy's hair.

Sakuno paused when she realized this, and shyly began to put away all her things. What did it mean? She knew she had grown a big interest in the sport, tennis. It was painfully obvious through all of her recent paintings. He was always featured in them, though she blended him in with other players or with crowds of cheering bystanders when he won a game (but to her, his white Fila cap always made him stand out). Maybe… But she shook her head. If she did something like that, then it was a clear sign that she was being obsessed. But maybe…she should start doing her own portrait of him.

The idea certainly appealed to her. But how would she be able to get him to sit down for her, in order to paint the details of his prince-like face, for example? She didn't even know him, besides the short exchange they had a month ago. And it would definitely be awkward to go up to him, her being a total stranger to him, and suddenly ask him to pose for her.

Definitely awkward, Sakuno thought, her cheeks getting warm. She wasn't even sure she would be able to concentrate on the portrait itself, if she was sitting face-to-face with him.

She packed her things, wearing her school bag on one shoulder, and carrying her portfolio bag with the other hand. She left the school building and neared the tennis courts, as she always did before leaving to go home. Usually she looked at the players for a minute or two, before leaving the school property. Today, however, she walked closer to the courts, close enough that she reached the fence that surrounded the courts, and leaned her forehead on it as she looked in.

The regulars were still training, of course. She knew their basic schedule by now, though not from playing a stalker on the team…rather, she asked her grandmother about the team. Up until she met that boy, she had never been much curious about her grandmother's job as Head Coach of the boys Seigaku tennis team, but once she did, she asked her grandmother about the team and tennis, in general. Her grandmother, pleased with her granddaughter's interest in the sport, told her all about tennis and the school's team which, unknown to Sakuno until then, had actually begun to gain national recognition because of their good skills. Needless to say…her grandmother bragged quite a bit that night.

"Ah! It's a cute freshman girl! I wonder who she's come to see!"

An older boy with a spiky hairstyle, stopped in the middle of playing a match, to point at her in exaggerated glee. His opponent, a red-headed regular (who, Sakuno recalled from her observations, used acrobatics in his playing style), groaned at him and said, "Oi, Momo-chan! I really want to practice my new move already, nyah!"

"But, Eiji-senpai, it's a cute girl. And she looks about that brat's age!" replied the one called 'Momo-chan', who wasn't doing anything to keep his voice down. At this, 'Eiji' grinned and the two started running toward the fence…toward Sakuno.

Sakuno yelped and took a step back from the fence when the two reached her, their hands on the fence and their faces pressed against it as they smiled childishly down at her. "Ne, ne, what are you doing here?" Momo asked her, excitement clearly apparent in his voice. "Are you, by chance, here to see a certain shorty?"

"She's here to see O'chibi!" piped in Eiji, and the two took on triumphant looks, as if they'd just won a doubles match together at the Nationals.

Sakuno smiled at them awkwardly, feeling nervous. She didn't know what they were talking about or why they were so happy to see her, and she didn't know what to say to them.

"Aw, don't be shy! What's your name?" Momo asked.

"S-Sakuno. Sakuno Ryuzaki."

"That's such a cuuute n—"

"Nyah!" Eiji cried, interrupting Momo. "She's Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter!"

Their happy faces immediately disappeared and were replaced with disappointment. "So she's not here to see the brat, after all…She's just here to see the coach," mumbled Momo.

Eiji nodded solemnly. "What a shame…and I thought O'chibi was finally—"

"Oi! Twenty laps! The both of you, right now!"

The two groaned and complained with the 'buchou', who remained stoic and added fifteen laps more to their original count.

Sakuno sighed in relief once the two players left her alone to do their laps, but her head jerked up again when someone else addressed her.

"Well, if it isn't the 'head-wracker' again. Wonder what she's doing here." It was the tennis prince! He stood almost ten feet ahead of her. He wasn't looking at her, but rather at the tennis ball he was repeatedly bouncing on the side of his racquet.

"I…I was just looking…" replied Sakuno timidly.

"Hn," was his short reply. He let the ball fall on the clay court once before catching it in his hand when it bounced back in the air. "Do you play tennis?" he asked, finally facing her.

"N-No…I-I mean, I've never played before. But I'd like to…" she said, her eyes falling to the clay court in embarrassment. His golden eyes were very intense…it was hard to look him in the eyes for long without feeling remarkably embarrassed. Though of what, she wasn't sure.

"Grab a racquet," he said.

Sakuno looked back up, surprised by his request. "…Eh?"

"Grab a racquet," he repeated, going over his words slower this time. "Can't you understand, either?"

Sakuno flushed in embarrassment. "O-Of course I can understand…I just…" She stopped herself before she could say anything more to humiliate herself further. She walked into the court, placing her things on a bench, before grabbing a random racquet from the ground.

"The grip on that one's horrible. Grab another one," said the tennis prince. He was already in position on the other side of the court. Sakuno examined the racquet she had picked up, and realized that the grip did indeed look quite worn out and old. She let go of that one and looked around for another racquet.

"Hurry up. There's another one under the bench."

"H-Hai…" Though he didn't really sound impatient (perhaps lazy instead), there was no denying how 'pushy' he was. Sakuno kneeled down and reached for the silver racquet under the bench, before straightening up and getting back on the court.

"You're supposed to be on the right corner, where I'll be serving to," the tennis prince called to her again.

"R-Right!" Sakuno flushed a deeper red, moving from the center of the court to the corner. She should have known this already, of course…after all, she had been observing the sport of tennis for quite some time now. But to be actually playing a game with him…she couldn't keep her thoughts straight, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Here I go," he announced, and Sakuno gripped her racquet tightly, bracing herself for his first serve.

TBC…