A/N: I just want to thank everyone who reviewed last time: chocomadsandirish, AznMistress, just saying, CranberryChocolate, and LittleGreenMonster4Ever.

You guys are really awesome people, and you have all definitely helped me feel better about this story. As much as I do love this story, I wasn't sure if others were liking it, and since no one was reviewing/alerting/favoriting, I thought that no one liked the story and that I was just writing it for an audience that wasn't there, because it sure is awfully hard to continue writing a story when you feel like the people you want to read it aren't reading it.

So I just wanted to thank everyone again. :) You guys are all really great, and without your support, I would not be able to keep writing for you.

Winners and Losers

follow . me

{but i believe in whatever you do

and i'll do anything to see it through}

til . we . can . reach . that . bright . place

"Class 3-A. . ." Usagi Ryouko flipped her ponytail behind her back as she walked around the halls trying to find her classroom.

This is what I get for waking up late, Ryouko mentally sighed. She had woken up late, on the first day of school no less, and missed the bus that went out to Rikkai. She couldn't even make it to school until lunch time.

Her stomach grumbled woefully, reminding her that she had missed breakfast, and that now she would be missing lunch too. Ryouko sighed before continuing to find her classroom. It had been years since she had stepped onto a Rikkai campus, and seeing all of the familiar faces was just plain odd.

Ryouko's mind wandered off as she thought about the others. She didn't know if she would be the only one who came back or not, and she was not looking forward to being in any class with any of the boys.

"Excuse me," she said as she brushed past someone exceedingly tall.

"86% that you are Usagi Ryouko. 14% that you are someone new that's not Usagi-san," the tall man began.

"Eh?" Ryouko turned around and looked at the person talking to her. It was a tall guy with brown hair and closed eyes. She tried to call his image in her mind, but he didn't seem very remarkable. He was a very good looking guy, yes, but his features weren't that memorable.

"Am I correct?" he questioned.

"Why do you ask?" Ryouko gulped. Crap, it's some guy here to bring me to the principal's office for being late!

"For my data." His eyes remained closed as he talked to the green-eyed girl. Her eyes were flashing with a mixture of indignation and cautiousness.

"Data?" She repeated. Did he mean her school record?

"There's a 97% chance that you forgot who I am," Renji added.

Why does he sound so damn familiar? Ryouko bit her lip as she thought back to her middle school days at Rikkai.

Her eyes darkened as she tried to remember. The truth was that she barely remembered anything from that time. The humiliation she felt overcame any other feelings, and over the pat three years, she had blocked out every bad memory of the time. She nearly forgot why she left, but the impending word loser was embedded in her brain like a crystal in a geode. Their loss at nationals was as pitiful one for Rikkai, and after that . . . after that she could barely remember what went on. The memories from earlier were locked up in a safe that even she forgot the combination to. She vaguely remembered all of the crude names she was called, and all of the hateful pranks that were played upon her and her fellow teammates—her friends at the time. And she could recollect a bit about the boys' team and how they treated her team, but she had pushed out that thought a long time ago, and in her mind, she only knew that they were treated badly by the boys. She couldn't even remember who the boys were, but she had a faint idea about how they looked and what they sounded like.

Ryouko knew that those memories were bad, so she very rarely ever called upon them. It was because she had locked them away that she was able to be the person she was. She was able to live a carefree and happy life where she wasn't always pressured into winning. She had forgotten about it, and her overall demeanor turned out to be more fun and adventurous.

As she was contemplating all of this, Yanagi Renji cleared his throat, staring at her without even opening his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I don't really remember," Ryouko confessed.

"Not as I expected," Renji murmured, his hand on his chin. "If that's the case, can I accompany you to the lunch room?"

"Sorry dude, no can do. I need to find my class ASAP."

"You didn't find it before?" His voice was inquisitive.

"Um . . ." Ryouko bit her lip again, there was no way she could tell him the truth! He might be working for the principal . . . with his "data" it sure seemed like he was.

Ryouko narrowed her eyes at him, scrunching up her nose a bit as she scrutinized him. His tie was perfectly nodded, and his white, button up shirt was ironed, given they weren't tucked into his pants though, but no one tucked their shirt in. He wore wristbands around his wrists, and he held a bento box in his hand.

"Well?" His voice betrayed no emotion, but Ryouko could tell he was getting impatient.

It was at that moment that Ryouko's stomach made the decision for her. "Okay," she sighed. "Let's go get some food before I die."

She followed the boy down the hall, whispers following the two as they walked. Ryouko glanced wildly around, trying to figure out why they were whispering. Was it because she was new?

"Here we are," the boy announced. He led her into the cafeteria. The sight of the food was making her sway as she was pulled towards the lunch line by the smell.

Yanagi went over to sit with Yukimura and Sanada as soon as he saw that she was preoccupied.

"Who was that you just walked in with?" Yukimura smiled. "It's only the first day of school and you already have a girl following you?"

"That's not what was going on," Yanagi replied. "I was just showing her to the lunch room. She's a familiar face, if you know what I mean."

"There seem to be a lot of those today," Yukimura agreed. His eyes glanced around the room, landing on Ryouko and then shifting back to his friends. "It seems they all came back this year."

.

Ryouko entered her classroom after lunch and explained to the teacher why she was late. Luckily, the man was very kind and decided to excuse her since it was her first day and because she was a new student. It seemed as if he wasn't quite used to the Rikkai rule of no slacking off.

Seats had already been chosen by students and Ryouko didn't want to steal any of their's, so she waited until everyone had filed in and sat down before she chose a seat relatively in the middle behind a black haired girl and in front of a silver haired boy who smiled at her in a strange way before she sat down. Once again she couldn't help but feel as if she faintly recognized him, but she couldn't really tell who he was.

So she decided to ignore the feeling.

Off to the side, Ryouko didn't realize that Shiori was staring at the girl intently.

She's back. Shiori thought. Her eyes glanced to the figure behind the girl—Niou. And then her eyes traveled to the figure a few seats in front of her window seat—Sanada. It was surprising to her that the two boys weren't sitting together; she thought they were all close friends.

Shiori sighed as she spaced out. She needed to get Ryouko safe. She needed to become her friend so that she could protect Ryouko from people like Niou or Yukimura, people who still remembered. Shiori composed herself as the history teacher told them to all get into small groups to do the next assignment.

Shiori quickly got out of her seat and made her way to Ryouko who seemed to be having an altercation with Niou.

"Stop pulling my hair!" Ryouko hissed. Her green eyes narrowed at the trickster.

"Puri~" Niou said as he pulled on her long, black ponytail again.

"Niou," Sanada reprimanded, coming up from behind Shiori. She was surprised at his sudden appearance, but he kept his distance from her.

"Eh?" Niou looked up at both Shiori and Sanada with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. "I want to be partners with Ryouko-chan here."

"Eh? How do you know my name?" Ryouko exclaimed. She looked up at Sanada and Shiori and her mouth formed a small O in surprise.

"Shiori?" Ryouko shouted, suddenly standing up, causing her desk to shake violently. "Shiori!" Ryouko moved forward and gave the girl a tight hug. "Saa, I missed you so much!"

"A-ah," Shiori stuttered. "I feel the same way." She awkwardly patted Ryouko on the back. She wasn't used to such human contact, and it made her feel awkward.

Ryouko let go of her and jumped back slightly with a smile on her face, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. Her smile was genuine, but Ryouko's entire look screamed troublemaker. Shiori sighed, Ryouko really always was someone who looked for adventurous and exciting things to do.

"Shiori-chan, you shouldn't be stealing my partner away from me," Niou interrupted.

"I'm not," Shiori replied curtly. Her eyes flashed at him in annoyance for a moment.

"You and Sanada here can be partners."

Sanada and Shiori were silent at the suggestion.

"Find partners quickly!" the teacher announced as he walked through the classroom. He stopped at the four and asked, "So which one of you are partners?"

"Ryouko-chan here is my partner," Niou smirked, grabbing Ryouko's arm and pulling her back down into her seat. "Sanada-fukubuchou and Shiori-chan are partners."

Shiori smiled at Sanada politely before pulling a desk up next to his. She was treating him like a complete stranger.

"I'm sorry about Niou," Sanada apologized.

"No, it's fine," Shiori replied. She brushed her hair behind her ear in a regal sort of way not looking at his face. It seemed as if Niou's little trick then didn't have an effect on her like what he was saying to her that morning. She seemed more composed than before, and it was sort of eerie.

Shiori was already drawing the shapes of all of the continents on a piece of blank paper. The teacher had given them an easy assignment since it was only the first day.

"I'll label all of the countries and capitals if you draw the borders," Sanada stiffly suggested. He wasn't used to talking or working with girls. He only did it when necessary since he usually had no time for such things.

"Fine with me," Shiori agreed without looking at him.

"Hm." The two continued their work without even a glance to each other all period.

.

"Kagami!" Hoshiyo Akahana whined as she slowly followed her friend. Her feet dragged on the floor as Nagisa Kagami walked briskly ahead. Her pale blonde hair was cut into a curly bob, and she always wore a black headband. Her light blue eyes behind her square glasses were set in determination as she walked even faster.

"Slow down!" Akahana complained. She opened her big blue eyes and stared at Kagami in a forlorn way.

"Your puppy dog look isn't going to work on me, Akahana," Kagami said over her shoulder.

"It's not fair though that we're searching for a club on the first day of school." Akahana stomped her feet and glared at her friend.

"I want to get first dibs," Kagami called. She walked over to the announcement boards and scanned the list of clubs. "Same old, same old. They're all the regular clubs that every school has."

"Maybe you should join the Student Disciplinary Committee since you seem to be so good at torturing students." Akahana rolled her eyes in annoyance. She pulled back her waist length pink hair and clipped it back.

"No thanks," Kagami replied. "I'm not interested in such a club. Anyways, Sanada Genichirou is the president of that club."

"Just forget him. He doesn't matter anymore." Even as Akahana said that, her eyebrows creased in anxiety. She had tried hard not to come in contact with any of the regulars. Yanagi Renji, Yagyuu Hiroshi, and Marui Bunta were already in her and Kagami's class. It would be hard to ignore them, but it wasn't that hard to get past them once the school day was over.

"Let's just join the tennis team and be done with it," Akahana suggested.

Kagami spun around and faced her, a glare on her face. "Did you forget what happened to us? Did you forget how we were treated?"

Akahana's throat felt dry and she took a big gulp. Her eyes projected uncertainty even while she was saying, "I like tennis though. We . . . we shouldn't let the boys ruin that . . . they might be over it by now . . ." Her eyes were cast downwards.

"Your determination never stopped you from leaving Rikkai along with me and the others," Kagami stated coldly.

"That's different!" Akahana's head snapped up. "At least I still got to play tennis at the other school!"

They both stood there silently. It was rare when they ever got into fights. Kagami studied Akahana. She was different. She was a bit lazier, she settled for average grades, she constantly wanted to have fun and be doing something, and she was more disagreeable. Before in middle school, the two had never fought. Akahana had started settling for mediocre. Maybe tennis was the only thing she wanted to excel in, maybe she wanted to excel in it because of how people had treated her in middle school. Akahana wanted to prove herself as a good tennis player. She was probably the only one out of all of the girls who left where tennis was still the number one priority in her life, all of the other girls got different hobbies.

Akahana trusted people again too easily, and it was a weakness. Since leaving Rikkai she had been slacking off. She let her emotions run wild, and she did things for herself only. And only for the sake of having fun. It seemed as if she didn't care about her life anymore, and she wanted to live everything like one big, stupid party.

"I heard that you were a huge party girl now, is it true?" Kagami questioned.

"Does it matter? We're supposed to be best friends, you're suppose to accept me no matter what. It doesn't matter that I party now or that I have the occasional drink. I'm still doing fine in school, and I'm still doing fine in tennis!" Akahana shouted back. "You just don't understand anymore Kagami. You don't trust anyone anymore, and it's annoying the hell out of me!"

Kagami shut her eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them again. It was true, she stopped trusting people, but she didn't want to let her guard down. She didn't want to run from her mistakes anymore, even if being at Rikkai reminded her of how human she was. Of how full of flaws she was. She had trained herself to be a perfect student, a perfect daughter, and a perfect friend. Her parents expected nothing less of perfect, and Rikkai was a place where champions were born. Kagami was to be a champion, and if not . . . her parents would be disappointed.

Sometimes, the stress of everything got to her, and Kagami felt like just running away like how she did in middle school, but if she did again, it would mark her as a true failure. She wouldn't be loved, she wouldn't be admired, she would just be a loser, and a failure, and someone who was worth nothing. She couldn't let her mask crack or the weaknesses inside of her would be exploited. If that was the case, then her parents might not even accept her again, and she knew the feeling of rejection. She felt that powerful feeling when all of Rikkai turned against the girls' tennis team.

"You're too wild," Kagami conceded. She rubbed her temples lightly. She wasn't one to accept mediocrity, and her best friend had decided to live on mediocrity.

"Just accept me, Kagami," Akahana pleaded. "We're best friends, and we should be able to still be best friends now."

Kagami nodded her head slowly, thinking about what Akahana just stated. They were best friends, and even though Akahana had settled for mediocrity in life, she still tried with all her heart to excel in tennis.

"Don't you want to show them all that we've changed? That we're better now and that we won't lose?" Akahana added. "Don't you want to disprove everything that anyone ever said about us?"

"Eh, I do," Kagami consented. "Let's do it then, let's join the tennis team."

Akahana smiled at Kagami, holding out her hand. Kagami smiled back and shook it.

"Let's show everyone that we still got it," Akahana insisted.

"Yeah, let's do that," Kagami agreed.

.

"E-Etsumi!" Asa panted as she ran over to her friend. She had just finished playing her challenge matches and had run off to buy a bottle of water when she heard two girls talking.

"What is it?" Etsumi queried.

"Two more girls are going to join!" Asa jumped up and down as a huge grin appeared on her face. Maybe this year we'll get people who like us!" Asa continued to jump and dance as everyone else trying out played their matches.

Asa had just started dancing the macarena when she spotted the two girls.

"There they are!" she squealed in excitement. She ran towards the two to greet them enthusiastically, but all Etsumi could focus on was the girls' faces.

A/N: Review anyone? :) It will be fun, I promise. :)