Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis in any which way or form.

Author's note: Second chappie. Sorry, not much action, but there will be lots in the next chappie. Thanks for reading my insanity!

p.s. PM me for any requests.

R&R.

Sakuno looked down at the dress she was currently wearing. "Uh…Tomoka, I don't think this is the one."

It wasn't as if the dress didn't look good. It did, but Sakuno didn't think that bright, hot pink was really her color. She took another look in the full-length mirror in front of her. "I look like defective strobe light that won't turn off and only lights one color." She said flatly.

Tomoka looked her up and down. "Yah, I think you're right. That looks kind of wrong."

She sighed as she slipped out of the pink party dress. It was currently her…well, she had tried on so many dresses that she couldn't remember how many there were. Tomoka had dragged her dress shopping for the dance and it had been hours. They had been in countless stores, and she still hadn't found the 'perfect' dress yet. It was quite ridiculous.

"Why am I even going?" Sakuno grumbled. "I don't have a date anyway."

"Well, because I'm going and you wouldn't leave your best friend to go alone, would you?" Tomoka pouted at her. "And besides, that's not true. You do have a date."

Sakuno blinked. "I do? Since when?"

"Since I set you up." Tomoka gave her a huge grin.

"You did not."

"Yup, I did."

"You did NOT!"

"I did, and you're going to like it. End of story." Tomoka said firmly. "You are going with him, and you're going to like it. And then you two are going to get married and name your first daughter after me, your wonderful friend that set you two up."

"As if." She scoffed. "I am NOT naming her after you."

Tomoka just laughed in reply.

"Okay, try this one."

A green dress was tossed in her face. "Pfft. You didn't have to throw it at me!" she cried indignantly.

The only response she got was a punctuated eye roll.

Sakuno pulled the dress up over her slim body and attempted to zip it up. "Hey, Tomoka, could you grab the zipper for me?"

"Bend over a bit."

The zipper slid up easily and she lifted her head up to look in the mirror.

What she saw was breathtaking.

The dress was a vibrant green that complemented her auburn hair and honey brown eyes perfectly. It was strapless and accentuated her cleavage nicely, showing enough to tease, but not overly much. The top hugged her body showed her slim waist off as the material went down her frame. It went all the way down to the ground, but there was a slit up the side all the way up to her waist, showing off her right leg. A simple black dashed line made up the trim around the edges of the dress.

It was simple.

It was elegant.

It was beautiful.

It was her.

"I want this one." She said breathlessly to Tomoka. "This is it."

Tomoka agreed instantly. "Girl, this is your dress, one hundred percent. If you don't get it, god help me, I will buy it for you."

"Stop it, Momo!" A frazzled Ryoma glared at his senpai. "I can walk perfectly fine on my own, you know."

Momo rolled his eyes. "Yah, but right now you're walking so slow a turtle could outrace you."

"That was absolutely the most uncreative comeback I've ever heard." He commented dryly.

Momo shrugged. "It's true. Now hurry up."

Ryoma grumbled in annoyance. "Why should I? I didn't want to go to this thing in the first place, but you just had to drag me here."

He tugged at the too-tight collar. The black tie around his neck was nearly choking him to death, and it was made even worse by the too formal outfit that Momo had made him wear. A starched perfect white shirt topped off his black pants and black shoes. In addition, a black belt and the black jacket was thrown on over his clothes. The only part of him that did not look an inch bit stiff was his hair, which was, as always, flopping over his eyes in a wonderfully messy style.

Ryoma ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. "Why did you drag me here anyway?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Not particularly."

"Ok, then, shut up and hurry up."

"Fine, maybe I do want to know."

"Too bad."

"Goddammit, just tell me."

"Hurry up, ochibi."

"I told you to never call me that again."

Ryoma was still grumbling as Momo dragged him to the last place he wanted to be at the moment.

Sakuno nervously tugged at her dress, trying to make sure it looked perfect on her. "Tomoka, does this look alright to you?"

Tomoka looked over from where she was sitting on Sakuno's bed. "Don't worry, Sakuno, you look amazing." She assured.

She stared into the mirror one last time, checking that the makeup Tomoka had helped her apply hadn't smudged.

"Thanks for everything, Tomoka, really mean it." she said sincerely. "You're the sole reason I look awesome right now."

Tomoka grinned at her. "Don't thank me yet. Not till you see your date."

She looked at her friend curiously. "Oh yah, you mentioned something about that. How did you manage to find me a guy?"

"I have my ways." Tomoka said with a sly smile. "His name is K-"

The doorbell rang all of a sudden.

Sakuno looked at Tomoka. "Well, that would be your date, Sakuno."

Tomoka gave her a pointed look. "You should probably answer the door."

She walked down the stairs nervously. What if he didn't like her dress? What if she tripped and made a fool of herself? What if she couldn't even speak in his presence? What if he wasn't her type at all? What if she wasn't as pretty as the girls he usually dated? What if he just didn't like her?

Well, there really was no point in waiting any longer.

Sakuno unlocked the front door and slowly turned the doorknob. "Hey Sakuno."

"K-Kintarou?"

Ryoma leaned against the wall, bored out of his mind. This was most certainly not his idea of a good way to spend his Friday night. He would much rather be playing tennis or just sleeping at home. "Loosen up."

Momo plopped a cup of punch in his hand. "You look like you're being made to swallow bugs."

He glared at his friend. "This is worse."

Momo rolled his eyes at him. "It's just a dance, Ryoma. Really now."

The tennis prodigy ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "You clearly don't get it. I don't want to be here. Obviously."

"Well, you're here now, so you might as well dance with someone." Momo shrugged. "I don't see the problem at all."

Ryoma glared at him. "You don't see the problem because you actually have a date, you know, someone that actually wanted to come here and spend time with you. Someone you actually like. As opposed to me, who doesn't particularly like anyone in this room because none of them know the definition of clingy." He said through clenched teeth.

"Actu-" Momo seemed about to tell him something, but was interrupted as his girlfriend, An, ran up and gave him a huge hug.

"Hey, Momo." She kissed his cheek, and he blushed slightly.

Ryoma raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I'll just leave you to lovebirds alone," he drawled.

"No, wait," An spoke up. "I brought a friend along for you."

Ryoma opened his mouth to protest.

"One that isn't going to try and rape you." She added.

He closed his mouth. "Thanks." He said grudgingly.

"Welcome."

A pretty blonde-haired girl walked up to them. "Hey, An, could you perhaps help me out here? Unlike you, I don't know anyone from Seigaku. I'm starting to wonder why the hell you dragged me from my tennis practice for." She said irritably.

Ryoma liked her already.

The blonde seemed to just take notice of him. "Oh, you're Ryoma Echizen right? I've heard of you. Pretty good at tennis?"

"Yes, and you are?"

"My name is Kiyo. Girl's tennis team. Regular." She stuck out her hand for him to shake. "And yes, I've already got a boyfriend." She added unnecessarily.

He smirked and shook her hand. "Good. I don't need any more crazed fangirls."

She nodded her head sympathetically. "Yah, An told me about that."

She paused for a second. "Well, do you want to dance or just talk?" she asked.

Ryoma shrugged. "I dunno. Was just planning on sticking with Momo."

He looked to his left where Momo was a moment before. "Goddamnit."

Kiyo rolled her eyes. "Don't bother. An's been talking about this all week. They're gonna be stuck together like glue."

This was going to be a long night.

"K-Kintarou?" she repeated in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

The boy looked a bit hurt. "I'm your date."

"Oh!" Realization struck Sakuno and she blushed a bit in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I was just expecting someone that I didn't know already so…"

She shifted from one foot to the other awkwardly.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked amusedly.

"Oh, yes. Come in. Come in." she said hastily. "Uhh…I'll be right down. I just need to get something from upstairs."

She fled up to her room, leaving Kintarou standing in the foyer to look with interest at his surroundings.

"Tomoka!" Sakuno pushed open the door to her room frantically, almost tripping and falling into the room in a heap.

Her best friend turned around in surprise. "What's wrong?" she asked, the tube of lipstick frozen halfway to her lips.

Sakuno lowered her voice, and spoke urgently. "You didn't tell me that my date was Kintarou!"

Tomoka shrugged. "I didn't think there was any need to. I mean, is there something wrong with him?"

"Well, no," she floundered helplessly. "There isn't. He's perfect."

"So what's the problem?"

"He's perfect! That's the problem!" her voice was close to hysteria now.

Her friend stared at her strangely. "That just made no sense, Sakuno."

She stumbled over her words, trying to make Tomoka understand. "He's too good to be true. What if he doesn't think I'm pretty? What if he thinks I'm boring? What i-"

Tomoka grabbed the hysterical girl's hands soothingly. "Sakuno, relax. You look absolutely beautiful right now, and he would be a fool to think otherwise. As for boring…well, you can't have everything."

"Tomoka!" she wailed in anguish.

"I'm just kidding!" Tomoka laughed. "Just be yourself, and no, I'm not saying this to be cliché, but you are seriously the most wonderful person in the world. I mean, you like to print out your schoolwork on blue paper."

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

"It makes me smile."

Sakuno could feel herself calming down as Tomoka gave her a reassuring smile.

Breath in.

One.

Two.

Three.

Breath out.

The petite girl marched down the stairs, determined to make the best of things in her too-high green high-heels.

As she walked down the stairs, she caught her breath at seeing her date standing there. He was just staring at her with his cute brown eyes with his mouth slightly agape. Messy red hair just made him look cuter. His formal white shirt was already wrinkled beyond belief and so were his black trousers. The black and red tie around his neck was extremely loose, and Sakuno longed to just straighten it. Apparently, already too hot, he had taken off his jacket and slung it over his shoulder.

Her heart pounded in anticipation and she took her hand off the banister, stepping forward to meet him.

That was a mistake.

Sakuno felt herself falling forward as her too-high heels didn't quite catch on the last step.

Goddammit.

She knew she shouldn't have worn those dumb shoes.

The inevitable fall never came, and instead, she felt herself nestled in a strong, warm embrace. She heard a chuckle coming from the boy. "You're already falling for me?"

Sakuno opened her eyes and looked up into his teasing ones. "A-arigato."

Damn. Her stuttering came back.

"Would you like to go to the dance or am I going to keep holding you all night?" he asked amusedly. "Not that I mind holding a pretty girl."

She blushed a bit in response. "G-gomen."

Sakuno regained her balance, and he reluctantly let go of her. "You don't have to say sorry, you know. You did absolutely nothing wrong. In fact, I rather liked being the prince rescuing the damsel in distress there for a moment." He responded blithely.

He smiled at her, a smile that lit up his whole face, and honest eyes that looked at her adoringly. She believed she felt her heart actually skip a beat.

"It was rather cute the way you fell." Now, it became a grin.

His friendly countenance, and the fact that he didn't blame her for falling, caused her nervousness to melt away.

"I'm Sakuno." She introduced.

"We've already met." He said with another grin.

She became a bit flustered at that. "So…"

"So…" he rocked back and forth on his heads like a little kid.

Sakuno laughed, and then stopped an instant later, surprised that she felt comfortable in his presence.

Maybe this evening wouldn't be so bad after all.

Ryoma was thoroughly enjoying his evening. Though he had thought he would be miserable, the company of Kiyo was comforting. She wasn't obsessed with him and didn't act as if he was the best damn thing that could have happened to her. She treated him like a person and he liked that.

All of a sudden, he heard Momo's loud voice all the way across the room. "Hey! You made it!"

He squinted and saw a pretty girl in a green dress near the entrance.

Ryoma paid no attention…that was, until he saw the two unmistakable pigtails.

Oi, that's Sakuno…

…but who the hell is she with?