Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis and its characters.

"speaking", 'thoughts' and Telephone Conversation (other end of the line)/ Sound Effects/ Read

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Transferred My Heart
by: OrangeAce

Chapter 6: Convincing 101

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Sakuno headed for school early the next morning because she wanted to break the news about the planned malling as soon as possible to her Rikkai friends. While on her way to the school campus boarded in the train, Sakuno found Kirihara sleeping while holding onto the pole. Sakuno smiled. 'Going to school, Kirihara-senpai finds time to sleep ne?' The braided girl chuckled silently. She approached the sleeping boy and realized something. 'If Kirihara-senpai is here then… Rikku is somewhere in here too!!!' Sakuno thought excitedly. Sakuno scanned the place, looking for her Rikkai bestfriend but in the end, grew disappointed. "Where is she?" The train suddenly turned around the corner, causing Sakuno to stumble and hit the sleeping Kirihara.

The messy-haired boy jerked awake. "Huh?! What?! Rikku don't tell Sanada-senpai we skipped practice!!!" The still dazed boy said randomly which caused Sakuno to laugh heartily. After a few more moments, the Rikkai Dai ace player gained composure and awoke 100 percent. "Nani? Ryuzaki-san what are you doing in here?" Kirihara asked curiously, oblivious of what was happening in his surroundings. "And why are you laughing huh?"

Sakuno had to gasp for air from the long and hearty laugh. She sighed then turned to the freshly awoken ace player with a smile. "Ah… Kirihara-senpai Ohaiyo! I am here because I'm going to school…" Sakuno stated as a matter-of-factly. She tried to keep up with her senpai's mood; freshly awoken, meaning unaware of the common sense. "Second… I am laughing because I didn't know you think of your training menus even in your sleep!" Sakuno remarked, trying not to stifle a laugh or two.

"Haha, very funny…" Kirihara said sarcastically, still lingering in the 'not-a-morning-person' mood.

Sakuno smiled at her senpai. "Since you're done asking questions, my turn to ask…"

Kirihara gave his ears to his kohai. "Okay, I'm listening…"

When Sakuno was about to speak, the train turned to another corner causing Sakuno to stumble again… but was prevented from falling by Kirihara's strong arm which supported Sakuno by the waist. Sakuno blushed with the contact. The two were making quite a scene in the train with their position. One of Kirihara's hands supported him by holding on to the pole. The other was supporting Sakuno by the back waist. The first year girl was face to side face with Kirihara who stumbled a little bit forward when he obtained the new weight; which was Sakuno. A few 'awws' could be heard from the crowd as they continued to watch the two in their too intimate position.

Kirihara was oblivious that Sakuno's face was right in front of his because he still looked around, checking where in the world they were, and if they were heading the right way. As he continued to scan, he noticed the passengers looking at him. 'What are they looking at?" He was about to say something when a small and sweet voice prevented him to do so.

"Ano… Kirihara-senpai… you can let go now…" Sakuno whispered, getting the boy's attention. Sure enough, Kirihara looked at where the voice came from. Now… the two were face to face, their nose touching and lips millimeters apart. The two turned like tomatoes and more 'awws' could be heard from the other passengers. After the almost direct contact, Kirihara spontaneously let go.

"Young love…" An old man even said. Some heads nodded in agreement.

Kirihara started whistling while looking around, acting as if nothing happened. Sakuno felt real awkward but decided to fill in the gap between the two of them and make each other feel comfortable in each other's presence again. She cleared her throat and gathered her courage to start the conversation. "So, Kirihara-senpai, why isn't Rikku with you?"

Kirihara turned to his kohai and gave her a smile. He didn't want to feel awkward around the girl and so he acted as if nothing like that happened a while ago. "Ah, that's because Rikku has an early meeting along with her fellow student council officers…"

"Eh? Rikku is a student council officer?!" Sakuno said surprised. The door of the train opened. It was already the Rikkai Dai stop so the two had to get off immediately before the doors closed. Sakuno and Kirihara weren't the only ones who were studying in Rikkai and boarded that day's morning train. There were a few others who the two didn't know but approached them as if the student was known by either Sakuno or Kirihara.

"Hey… I saw what happened a while ago… It was pretty hot, you're a cute couple…" This random girl informed the now blushing Sakuno and Kirihara.

"B-But we're not a-" The two started but was cut when another student added to the remarking.

"Wow Kirihara-san, I never knew that you would end up with the granddaughter of your rival school's coach…" This other guy said amazed.

Sakuno grew redder every passing moment. The annoying remarks from these random students continued until the two reached Rikkai Dai. The two tried their best to break it out to them that they weren't a couple, and that they were only friends, but they were just too darn stubborn to accept the fact. They were even saying 'Don't deny' or 'What's to hide about?' to them. Sakuno and Kirihara just heaved a long sigh when finally the annoying company they had found irritating went off to their own little businesses.

"Finally!" Kirihara said relieved. The two were finally standing in front of the school building, their classrooms just a few strides away.

Sakuno smiled at him then suddenly remembered about the planned malling. "Ah, Kirihara-senpai, are you guys available this Saturday?" Sakuno asked his senpai.

Kirihara looked at the girl curiously. "I'm not sure… Yukimura-buchou and Sanada-senpai might ask us to come here for practice… why?"

Sakuno slapped her forehead. 'Oh yeah! I forgot about the team's practice every Saturday! Baka Sakuno Baka!' She turned to her bewildered senpai. "Uhmmm… cause I was wondering if you guys would like to go malling with my Seigaku friends…" Sakuno finally broke the news.

Kirihara's bewildered look turned into a confused look. 'Eh? Malling with… Seigaku? Then that would mean… Fuji and Echizen are there…'

Sakuno looked at Kirihara nervously. "Ano… Kirihara-senpai, its okay if you don't want to go…" Sakuno said rather sadly.

Kirihara immediately noticed Sakuno's reaction and responded to it. "Ah, d-don't worry Ryuzaki-san! S-Sanada-senpai might allow us not to have our practice for one weekend!" Kirihara waved his hands in front of him.

Sakuno brightened up a bit. "Ah okay…"

"Why not let's tell the others later?" Kirihara said kindly, looking at Sakuno with open affection.

"Tell who what later?" A girl's voice asked curiously. Sakuno and Kirihara turned around and found themselves looking at the younger Kirihara sibling; Rikku.

"Ohaiyo!" Sakuno greeted sweetly.

"Ohaiyo sis!" Kirihara greeted enthusiastically.

"Ohaiyo!" She replied less enthusiastically than Akaya. "So… tell who what later?" She pressed the topic on.

Sakuno beamed at the girl. "Tell you and the rest of the tennis regulars that I am inviting you guys to go malling with me…"

Rikku grew excited. "Really? Wow! That's cool! It has been a long time since I actually hanged out with the rest…" Rikku remarked. "Ah, that's a good idea Sakuno! Wonderful! I will help you in convincing the others later…" She smiled at the braided girl kindly.

Sakuno smiled back. "Ah, that's great… oh… and I'm inviting my Seigaku friends too…"

Ring Ring

"We better go… or we might be late for class." Kirihara informed the girls.

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"Ohaiyo Ryoma-sama!!!" Tomoka cried as she cheerfully walked her way to the tennis prince.

"Hnnn…" He simply responded.

Tomoka shook off the cold shoulder Ryoma was giving her. "Ah, Ryoma-sama, are you free this weekend?"

Horio, who was a few seats away from the two, rolled his eyes. 'Here goes Osakada-san again… hitting on Echizen! Tsk!' He thought to himself annoyed. He decided to join the two in their conversation for he was pretty curious with what the hysterical girl was up to. "Hoi hoi! What do you think are you doing, huh Osakada-san? Heh, are you trying to bother Echizen again?" Horio inferred meanly.

Tomoka's nerves were cracking from annoyance but she decided to ignore him. "So, Ryoma-sama, are you doing anything this weekend?" Tomoka asked the samurai junior once again.

"Why do you keep on bothering-" Horio interrupted but was cut with Tomoka's fuming voice.

"Would you mind your own business!!!" The pigtailed girl screamed which caused Horio to back off and leave Echizen and her. "So, Ryoma-sama, are you?"

"Hnnn… I'm not sure… why?" Echizen asked the girl nonchalantly.

Tomoka smirked to herself. 'Heh, you act as if nothing matters to you, ne Ryoma-sama? Let me see how you will react when I tell you Sakuno is the one inviting…' The girl remembered her best friend telling her about the kiss over the phone. 'Ah, I never thought that he would be the one who would advance like that…' "I was wondering if you would be interested to join me and a few others in the mall this weekend…"

Echizen didn't even respond or reply to what Tomoka said. It was as if the news just passed through his ears.

Tomoka still kept her cool for she had a 'secret weapon' that assured her that Echizen would be joining them in the mall this weekend. "Ah… Sakuno-chan was the one who invited…"

At this, Echizen stiffened a little bit, but controlled himself from reacting too much.

Tomoka had a smug face on. "And she is planning to invite the Rikkai Dai regulars too… meaning Marui would be there…" Tomoka enjoyed manipulating how Echizen would react. She added the last statement, emphasizing it without regrets. And sure enough, Echizen responded quicker than Tomoka had expected.

"I'm going…" He said in a 'trying-hard' impassive voice… but it was obvious there were taints of anger and jealousy somewhere in those words… lingering.

"Yes! Uh, I mean, okay…" Tomoka said happily, but tried to hide her excitement. "Let's inform the others later…"

Echizen didn't reply anymore. But… 'I'm 100 percent sure Fuji-senpai will come…' He thought to himself, and then realized something. 'Oh no… I'm starting to be like Inui-senpai…'

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It was a wonderful afternoon and Sakuno, Rikku and the other regulars were in the tennis courts.

"Good afternoon Sakuno! I haven't seen you all day!" Marui cheerfully greeted his fiancée.

Sakuno smiled sweetly at him. "Ah… good afternoon to you too…"

Rikku suddenly butted in. "Hey… how about me? Tsk… only greeting his girlfriend…" Rikku teased Marui.

Both Sakuno and Marui turned red. "Rikku/Kirihara-san!"

"Hey hey! What is with the shouting?" Niou asked, slightly bothered.

"Nothing!" Sakuno and Marui said at the same time.

"Okay, okay! No need to shout…" The team's prankster said. "Well, Marui, we have to go now, practice is starting…" Niou informed his teammate then left right after to rejoin the others now in the court.

Marui turned to the braided girl. "Ah… Sakuno, I must go now…"

"Ah okay…" Sakuno said.

Rikku smiled. "Hey, Marui-senpai, you forgot to bid me goodbye too!"

Marui rolled his eyes. "Okay fine… Goodbye Kirihara-san!!!"

Rikku smirked.

"Ah, we will just be watching you guys from here…" Sakuno said calmly.

Marui looked confused. "Eh? Don't you have practice today?"

Both Sakuno and Rikku shook their heads. "None… Takagi-buchou gave us today as a rest day… since we just came from a competition last week and nothing coming up soon… so yeah… it's kinda like a reward…" Rikku explained.

"Ah, okay…" Marui said. Rikku's explanation cleared his thoughts.

"MARUI!!!" Sanada shouted.

The shout sent him to scramble on his feet. "Oh man! I really have to go! Bye!" Marui ran off to their courts, leaving the two girls behind.

Sakuno and Rikku were both smiling. "We'll both tell them all, okay?" Rikku said.

"Hai…" Sakuno replied.

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"Fuji-senpai!!!" Tomoka cried the tennis prodigy's name. She ran after the tensai as he was about to enter the courts for practice.

Fuji turned around, finding himself looking at an excited looking Tomoka. "Ah… Osakada-san, what is it?"

"Fuji-senpai, Sa-chan is inviting all the regulars to go malling this weekend!" Tomoka replied enthusiastically.

Fuji smiled. "Really? Sounds fun…" He simply said, but deep inside… he was excited about it too. "Did you tell the others?"

"Only Ryoma-sama…" Tomoka answered.

Fuji opened his eyes. He was curious with what could the pillar of support have answered. "And what did he say?"

Tomoka grinned from ear to ear. "He said yes Fuji-senpai…"

Fuji smirked. 'Ah Echizen… trying to be closer to Sakuno-chan eh? Well, if that's the case, I would be coming too…' "I'm going…"

Tomoka's grin grew larger (if it was even possible). 'Heh heh, Fuji-senpai is competing with Echizen huh?' "That's great! Well, please invite the others too please! Sa-chan would love to see you all!"

Fuji smiled. "Osakada-san, are we the only ones invited?"

Tomoka shook her head. "Rikkai Dai is coming too…"

'I thought so…' "Well, it seems like Sakuno-chan wants us to be closer to Rikkai Dai…" Fuji inferred.

"Maybe…" Tomoka replied.

Suddenly Kikumaru appeared behind Fuji. "Hoi Hoi! Fuji! What are you doing here? We still have practice nyah!!!" Kikumaru reminded hyperactively.

"Okay… I will be there…" Fuji told the red head who eventually went back to the courts. The tensai turned to the girl. "Well Osakada-san, I have to go now…"

"Okay… Don't forget to tell the others!"

"I won't…" Fuji then headed to the courts.

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"Hey, Yukimura!" Kirihara called the team captain who was heading back to the locker rooms, fresh from practice.

The blue-haired faced his younger teammate. "What is it Kirihara?"

Akaya scratched an invisible itch on the back of his head. "Ano… can you ask the other to stay for a while… Ryuzaki-san has something to say to us…"

Yukimura looked surprised. "Really? Well, if it's Ryuzaki-san who is requesting then it's okay… I'm pretty sure what we're going to talk about is significant…" The captain stated calmly.

"Arigatou!" Kirihara bowed and went back to where the two girls were, who were waiting for Kirihara to say what Yukimura's answer was.

"So, what did he say?" Rikku asked.

"Did he allow the others to stay?" Sakuno asked expectant that she would get the answer she wanted.

"Yes!" Kirihara replied happily, sharing the same joy of the two younger teens.

"That's great!" Sakuno clapped her hands in delight.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Rikku asked.

"Let's go!!!" Kirihara raced to the courts.

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So Fuji… why did you let us stay?" Tezuka asked impassively.

"Is it concerning Ryuzaki-san again?" Momoshiro asked curiously.

"How is Ryuzaki-chan, nyah!!!" Kikumaru asked.

'I have a feeling this is about the malling…' Echizen thought, a little bit bothered that he wasn't going with Sakuno alone.

"She's fine… and yeah… this is regarding Sakuno-chan…" Fuji said with a smile.

Inui prepared his pen and notebook while the others waited patiently for whatever the news was.

"Ryuzaki-san is inviting us to go malling this weekend…" Fuji finally broke the news. Echizen pulled the brim of his cap downwards.

"Really?!" Both Momoshiro and Kikumaru said at the same time.

"That's wonderful…" Oishi replied happily. He was glad that Sakuno still hasn't forgotten her old beloved school.

The others just smiled. But it was obviously tainted that this was one thing they were going to look forward to. Inui started writing down on his notebook.

Fuji then turned to the team's captain. "So Tezuka… what do you think?"

Tezuka's face remained impassive, but at least he replied. "I guess there would be no harm… To the mall this Saturday then…" He said to his team.

"Oh, and I almost forgot… Rikkai Dai is coming to…"

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"So Kirihara, why'd you let us stay?" Sanada asked the team's junior ace.

"Ryuzaki-san…" Kirihara pointed out to the girl he secretly likes.

Sakuno plastered a sweet smile and prepared to speak. "I was wondering if you would like to go malling with me and some friends this weekend…"

The others grew excited. "That's fun! Ah, Sanada! Yukimura! Let's go!!!" Marui pleaded to the two.

Yukimura showed a gentle smile. "But, there is practice on weekends remember?" He said kindly.

'I knew it would be harder than I thought…' Rikku thought and decided to help Sakuno in convincing. "Come on, Yukimura-senpai! It's not everyday we get together in the mall!" Rikku said.

"And besides, there are no tournaments coming up!!!" The older Kirihara backed up her sister.

Sakuno fidgeted with the hem of her skirt, nervous of what the result of this convincing might be. 'Ah… if Tomoka gets to convince the others but I don't get to convince them, the point of this 'day' out' wouldn't turn out to be the way I wanted it…' Sakuno thought sadly.

Marui noticed Sakuno's sad face and decided to do something about it. He approached both Yukimura and Sanada. "Please, Yukimura! Sanada! I'm sure it would be lots of fun! And, we need a break from all the training!" Marui tried his best convincing the team's fuku-buchou and buchou. The two seemed to be still evasive with their decision. "And didn't we promise that we would make Sakuno-chan love Rikkai Dai as much as she had and continues to love Seigaku? This is the best opportunity to make her feel at home with us…" Marui stated as if he was saying a presidential speech. The last statement surprisingly made an impact to both Yukimura and Sanada.

'Marui has a point…' The two thought and both took a quick glance at the still sad Sakuno. The others were waiting for their answer. "Okay…" They both said.

Sakuno brightened up spontaneously. Rikku grinned from ear to ear. Marui and Kirihara did a high five, and the rest of the team smiled at the team leaders' decision. "Yes! Instead of practice this Saturday…' Marui started.

"We get to hang out in the mall and have fun!" Kirihara said happily.

Sakuno approached Yukimura and Sanada. "Arigatou, Yukimura-senpai, Sanada-senpai…" Sakuno bowed at the two who smiled at her.

"No problem… sorry, if it took us a while before complying…" Yukimura apologized.

"Ah, it's okay…" Sakuno smiled.

"Ryuzaki-san, in return for agreeing, double the home-made lunch you promised…" Sanada said straightforward, showing an unusual sense of humor in front of Sakuno and Yukimura.

Sakuno slapped her forehead. "Ah! I forgot about your lunch! I promise to do it right after the malling; I would make it extra special!" Sakuno replied cheerfully. Then she remembered something. "Did I inform you guys that Seigaku is coming too?"

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To be continued…