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

From the author: I'm REAL SORRY for the super long wait! I hope you guys are still interested in this fic! But anyways, yay! I updated! Up next, Chapter 8: Effects of a Hot Summer Day… or Not!. Lol! Kk, I hope you will like this chappie! And hope you enjoy as much as I wrote it! Don't forget to review, kk?!

-Having Fun This Summer Break-

"Why is this happening to me?"

Chapter 8: Effects of a Hot Summer Day… or Not!

-Lesson#3: Swimming PART 2

-SJD#3

The boomerang snake specialist decided to take a short nap while Sakuno prepares for the lesson. He was dozing off peacefully, when suddenly a volley ball came his way, and ruined his nap. He sat up and grunted. He threw back the volley ball towards the players who quickly apologized to him. After a few more minutes, Kaidoh was back to sleep.



"I need something to eat! Can we have a break first?" (Kisarazu)

"A girl passed by selling this special treats a while ago…" (Kaneda)

"Oh the one with pigtails! What? Where is she now?" (Kisarazu)

"She's gone…" (Kaneda)

"I saw her too… but yeah, she's gone…" (Nomura)

"AWWW!!!" (Kisarazu)

"Ah Kisarazu, you hit it too hard!" (Nomura)

OOMPH!

Kaidoh rubbed his face from the sore pain he just experienced. Upon seeing what and who had hit him, Kaidoh heated up and spontaneously stood up to face the people who had disturbed him in his slumber. "What do you think you're doing hitting people on their faces with a volley ball?!" Kaidoh fumed, being in a really bad mood for being a ball target that day.

The teens who had hit him smiled at his antics and scratched their heads sheepishly. "Gomen…" 'In the first place, why would someone go in the beach to nap? I mean, come on!' Kisarazu, Kaneda and Nomura all had in their minds.

"You look familiar…" Kaneda said calmly. The other two looked at each other and then nodded, agreeing with Kaneda.

Kaidoh did not reply but instead scoffed then turned away from the teens, deciding to find Sakuno already. Their lesson has been delayed far too much. The St. Rudolph boys who had accidentally hit him just shrugged and resumed their beach volleyball game.

The boomerang snake-specialist skidded along the beach, making his way through a huge number of people sunbathing. He grunted in annoyance. Where could Sakuno be…? As he continued to make his way through the huge groups of people, he instead finds himself one meter apart from Sakuno's best friend, Tomoka who was gaping at something of some sort. He followed the direction of the girl's gaze…

Kaidoh could feel his cheeks go warm.

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Sakuno continued to walk surprisingly steadfast through the beach. Maybe it was adrenalin rush of some sort that she had at the moment that kept her going all the way… trying to ignore all the stares, catcalls, and wolf-whistles whilst being her none-klutzy self at the moment. 'Ah… I need to get out of this fiasco right now...' Sakuno thought.

As she continued her way, there was this random guy who approached and stood in front of her. "Can I get your cellphone number?" He asked boldly. Sakuno stared at him unbelievably.

Then, snapping back to reality. "Ano… gomen, I don't memorize it…" Sakuno lied and laughed fake. "Heh heh…" She started walking again. "Bye"

As she made her way once more, another boy blocked her way. "Hey babe, wanna surf?" This tanned dude invited Sakuno.

'B-Babe?!' Sakuno thought frantically. "No thanks…" Sakuno immediately replied, feeling rather mean at the moment. However, it was indeed awkward being called 'babe' by someone… even if it was surfer's language… well, Sakuno was oblivious to that anyway. So she walked away again, leaving the surfer guy depressed.

After rejecting two guys in a row, Sakuno seemed to have attracted more attention; stares, whispers, mutters, and all that emerged right in front of her. 'These stares are starting to get on my nerves already.' She thought annoyed. She even heard one person say, "Man, she's really cute!" Sakuno blushed at this, but the more she wanted to go away from the crowd! The heat of that summer day had already made her feel oh-so warm, to think that all the blushing she was emitting and the attention she was getting didn't add to her discomfort. Talk about her skimpy swimwear too!

As she passed by an area full of teenage boys around her age, they started wolf whistling and catcalling. Sakuno's face was intensely red. "Hey, hey, poor girl! The sun's already affecting her beauty…" This guy stated which caused Sakuno to blush even more.

She treaded away from that area, heading to a different direction. Then she stopped. She hit her head lightly. 'Baka Sakuno Baka' she looked around, trying to figure out where Kaidoh could be. 'You're lost once more…!' She sighed.

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'Man, is that really Sakuno?' Tomoka remained rooted on the spot, quite forgetting about the 'Halo-Halos' she was supposed to be selling at the moment. She was oblivious that the ice was starting to melt, and that a certain Seigaku senpai was just right behind her.


Kaidoh was starting to get warm all over. 'It's really warm today…' He thought and removed his gaze upon the still unknown girl to him, but instead turned it towards the sun. His eyes were squinted to avoid direct contact with the sun's bright light. 'Stupid sun…' He blamed the blazing fire in the sky. He returned his gaze on the some-how familiar girl then immediately cut it once more not wanting to be distracted by her captivating beauty. "Better find Ryuzaki-san fast… I really need the water now…" He muttered to himself.

Then he remembered the girl one meter away from him. "Osakada-san…" Kaidoh called the pigtailed girl.

Tomoka turned simultaneously right after Kaidoh called her. "Yes…?" She searched for the caller and her eyes landed on the boomerang-snake specialist. "K-Kaidoh-senpai?"

"Have you seen Ryuzaki-san?" Kaidoh asked rather embarrassed. Tomoka chuckled at this.

"You mean you haven't seen Sakuno yet?" Tomoka asked surprised, but laughed at the same time. She jerked her head towards her best friend's direction, which in Kaidoh's eyes, was the captivating girl's direction.

"Huh?" He asked confused. He got a little annoyed. "Are you teasing me?" He responded guiltily. "Are you saying I like her?" Kaidoh pointed at Sakuno. "I don't like her. I don't even find her pretty" Kaidoh stated, totally ignorant that he was acting really weird.

Tomoka was staring right at him. The girl's mouth opened in mirth, her hands around her belly. She was laughing her head off. It was the first time Tomoka saw Kaidoh act that way. Some heads that were currently enraptured with Sakuno's appearance, turned towards their direction for a moment, and then returned to the girl after realizing that the racket of laughter was nothing at all interesting… Though it was in Tomoka's point of view. She was laughing so hard, she even wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Man Kaidoh-senpai, I didn't even say anything!" Tomoka exclaimed. "It seems like the summer heat is affecting your mind at the moment…" She teased.

Kaidoh glared at her, but after processing the words she said, blushed. He looked away. "Maybe the heat really is affecting my mind…" He mumbled.

Tomoka smirked. "Well then, maybe a cup of Halo-Halo can help you regain composure!" Tomoka said cheerfully and offered Kaidoh a cup.

Kaidoh shook his head. "No thanks… I better find Ryuzaki-san for the lesson… we're really delayed…" He muttered.

Tomoka chuckled once more. "I already told you were Sakuno is!" She pointed at the girl who was currently talking to this tanned dude who she left as soon as she talked to him. "Poor dude… busted by Sa-chan, tsk tsk…" Tomoka muttered to herself and shook her head as she continued to watch her best friend from afar.

Kaidoh focused his eyes towards the said direction to get a better look of the girl, who now looked like a walking tomato with all her face's redness. Something must have triggered her to be like that. Kaidoh continued examining the girl when she stopped and started looking around. Her long auburn wavy hair followed her movements. It took a moment for Kaidoh to realize that it was indeed Sakuno.

Tomoka cut Kaidoh from his thoughts. "Nani? More boys are starting to approach Sakuno!"

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Sakuno continued to look frantic, searching for the spot Kaidoh was in a while ago. She sighed. "Where did Kaidoh-senpai go?"

As she continued looking in every direction, the girl failed to notice the new presence that was approaching her. It was two certain boys. Two certain boys that came from a school named St. Rudolph. The boys were a tad bit uncomfortable seeing the known simple and innocent girl to be in such a state of beauty she was in right now. The famous Seigaku tensai's younger brother approached the still frantic girl.

"Ryuzaki-san…" He called out meekly.

Upon hearing her name called, Sakuno turned to the caller's direction and found herself looking at Fuji Syusuke's younger brother, Yuuta and St. Rudolph's tennis manager, Mizuki. After realizing who the people in front of her were, Sakuno was blushing all over again, 'Gah! Of all times why do they have to see me in something like this!' Sakuno thought panicked. She faced her head down as to let her hair cover her skimpy swimwear. "Hey…"

Yuuta and Mizuki looked at each other. "Why are you facing down?" Mizuki asked amused. He was twirling a strand of his hair and a smirk was plastered on his face.

Yuuta was looking at the girl concerned. "Ano… Ryuzaki-san, it seems to me that you are lost" The younger Fuji inferred which was actually correct. "Again"

Sakuno's head immediately snapped up disregarding her previous predicament and eyed Yuuta. "I-I am not lost" Sakuno lied.

Upon seeing the girl's physique once again, both boys turned red. Sakuno looked at them curiously for a moment, but ignored them not long after thinking that it was just the effects of a hot summer day.

Yuuta was trying his best to calm down his hormones. He avoided looking Sakuno straight in the eye. "Are you alone in the beach?" He asked curiously.

His answer came straight to him a few moments after. "Hey Sa-chan!" Tomoka cried and waved at her best friend. The three's attention were diverted to the approaching Tomoka. She halted right beside the girl. "Man, Kaidoh-senpai was looking for you since a while ago!" She chuckled after remembering something. "He thought that you were someone else! He even-"

"Osakada-san, do you have to tell them?" Kaidoh murmured a bit annoyed and embarrassed at the same time behind the ever-hyper girl. Tomoka beamed.

"Kaidoh-senpai" Sakuno muttered. She bowed in apology. "Gomen…"

"It seemed like Ryuzaki-san was lost…" Yuuta stated. Sakuno blushed at this statement.

Kaidoh remained behind Tomoka. He was a little bit red on the face. "Well, I think it was Kaidoh-senpai's fault since he left their lesson spot…" Tomoka stated which caused Kaidoh to glare at the girl for a moment. Tomoka was chuckling. Kaidoh sighed.

"Well, I wouldn't have left the spot if it weren't for those annoying guys who whacked my face with a volley ball…" Kaidoh hissed.

Suddenly, out of the blue, three more guys joined the group. It was Kaneda, Kisarazu and Nomura. "Yoh Fuji Syusuke's little bro!!! Mizuki!!!" Nomura cried. Kisarazu was waving at them, and Kaneda was silently approaching.

A vein popped on both Kaidoh's and Yuuta's forehead. 'Them?!' Kaidoh growled inaudibly.

As Nomura finally approached, Yuuta hit him on the head. "Ow! What was that for?" Nomura exclaimed as he rubbed his head soothingly.

"You know why!" Yuuta said. Kaneda was smiling; Kisarazu was covering his mouth to stifle any laughter; and Mizuki was smirking whilst still twirling a strand of his hair. "Don't you call me that again…" Yuuta stated.

The newcomers didn't notice the Seigaku troop yet. When they did turn their heads towards Sakuno, Tomoka, and Kaidoh's direction, the three had mixed expressions. First, a wave of happiness for seeing the girl who was selling the special treats; second, a wave of guilt for seeing the guy who they had smacked with a volley ball; and third, a wave of admiration over Sakuno's exquisite appearance in the swimwear.

"What are you staring at?" Kaidoh snapped at the three, still feeling annoyed for getting hit at the face by a volley ball. The three were looking rather sheepish at that moment.

Sakuno, Tomoka, Yuuta, and Mizuki looked at Kaidoh. 'Why is he so annoyed at them?' Yuuta stared at Kaidoh curiously. After feeling Yuuta's gaze set upon him, Kaidoh glanced back and Yuuta immediately looked away.

"Geez… we're sorry for hitting you with the volley ball a while ago" Kisarazu said. "We're really sorry! I just hit the ball too hard that it landed on your face." He explained.

Tomoka was starting to laugh again. Kaidoh blushed and issued the girl a somehow deadly side glance. Tomoka immediately halted. Kaidoh returned his gaze on the three.

"I was just so hungry at that moment that I accidentally lost track of my ball control!" Kisarazu stated then spontaneously shifted his gaze towards Tomoka. "Finally we have found you!" He exclaimed.

Tomoka looked at them queerly. Sakuno was chuckling to herself; Yuuta and Mizuki were entertained. Kisarazu dug inside his shorts pocket and grabbed some money. He handed it to Tomoka. "Can I have some of your special treat?"

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"Okay, try to hold your breath longer this time… for about 30 seconds." Kaidoh instructed his kohai. Sakuno immediately obliged and sunk her head under water.

"Man! The ice is melted!" Tomoka hysterically said as she checked her Halo-Halo box. She turned to the sad looking boys who surrounded the box, expectant that they could finally eat the delicious treat.

"But I'm so hungry!!!" Kisarazu whined. Nomura and Kaneda patted him.

Kaidoh rolled his eyes. He was getting bored. 'Wasn't this supposed to be a swimming lesson? Not a chit-chatting marathon?" He sighed and glanced at Sakuno. He blushed as his gaze landed on the girl's figure once more. He immediately withdrew and looked away.

"Maybe you can eat in the Cake Bakeshop I work for…" Sakuno suggested, trying to calm down the boys.

Kisarazu brightened at the idea. "Okay!!! Let's go now!" He said and prepared to march off.

"But" Sakuno started. Kisarazu stopped. "I have to have my swimming lessons first…" She smiled and looked at her senpai who was trying his best to look subdued.

Tomoka nodded in agreement. "You've been delayed far too much already." She said.

Sakuno emerged out of the water, the droplets dripping down her face and long auburn hair. Kaidoh blushed at the sight in front of him. Not only was he the one watching the girl, but also a few others who were quite random in the scene. "I'm done Kaidoh-senpai!" She called out to him.

One of the guys approached Kaidoh and nudged him. "Lucky you! You've got a super hot girlfriend!" He gave him a thumbs-up. Kaidoh stared at him shocked.

He blushed once more when he returned his gaze on Sakuno. "Okay! Now I'll support you in swimming…" He said then gulped slightly as he imagined himself holding Sakuno. He continued to blush as he approached the girl in the water.

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"Does anyone have a camera?" Kisarazu asked. "Let's have a group picture!" He said excitedly.

"Yuuta does…" Mizuki replied coolly.

Yuuta stiffened with what their manager answered. He slowly turned to Mizuki. "How did you know?" Yuuta asked suspiciously.

Mizuki smirked. "I actually checked out the pictures to see if ever you have any data on your older brother…" He confessed. He pointed at the front pocket of Yuuta's bag. "I found the pocket open a while ago… I couldn't help it." Mizuki smirked and twirled another strand of his hair. "Oh yeah… I saw a picture of Ryuzaki-san there too…" Yuuta immediately diverted his attention towards Mizuki. "I think you fancy her…"

Yuuta looked at the team's manager with a slightly open mouth. "What made you say that?" He asked. "And are you sure there is a picture of Ryuzaki-san in here?" Mizuki nodded. Yuuta sighed. "It's not mine you know… it's aniki's…" He said.

"Ah…" Mizuki responded. "Well then, it seems like my greatest rival fancies Ryuzaki-san…" He stated and had a glint in his eyes.

Yuuta looked at Mizuki awkwardly, but decided to ignore his statement. "If anything happens to it, I'm doomed" He grabbed the camera from the pocket and handed it to Kisarazu. "Here… take care of it…"

Kisarazu nodded. "Where is Kaidoh-san, Osakada-san and Ryuzaki-san?" He asked. "Let's join them in the picture too!!!"



"One. Two. Three"

CLICK

"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Tomoka grabbed the camera from Sakuno. "Wow Sa-chan! Not bad!" Tomoka complimented her best friend. "Seems like your lessons with Fuji-senpai paid off, ne?" She said.

Sakuno smiled.

"Hey, Ryuzaki-san, I still think its unfair that you weren't in the picture…" Yuuta told Sakuno.

Sakuno shook her head. "Nah… I don't want to have a picture wearing something like this…" Sakuno pointed at her outfit. All the boys in the group blushed. Tomoka chuckled.

"I don't see anything wrong with it" Tomoka commented. "Kyah Sa-chan, I'm wondering until now how that turned out to be what you're wearing today…"

Sakuno shrugged. "I guess I just grabbed the wrong thing…" She smiled.

Tomoka looked at the picture once more. "Aww come on Sa-chan! Join the picture!" Tomoka insisted, trying her best to convince her best friend. The others nodded in agreement.

"I really don't feel comfortable with this…" Sakuno said. Then she thought of a better idea. "I will just change to my beachwear then, so I can join the picture!" She said happily.

Tomoka thought for a moment. 'It will be a really good picture if Sakuno was wearing that kind of bathing suit…' Tomoka suddenly had a devious idea that randomly popped in her head. 'It's once in a blue moon to see Sa-chan in something like that… better make the best of the opportunity now.' Tomoka rubbed her hands together evilly.

Everyone was looking at the girl weirdly. "Ano… Tomo-chan, are you alright?" Sakuno asked. When Tomoka nodded, Sakuno said, "Well, I better change now if ever you still want me to be in the picture…" She was about to head off to the comfort room to change when Tomoka grabbed her wrist.

"Ah Sa-chan, before you change, would you kindly put this film in the camera?" Tomoka asked as she got another camera and a film canister out of her beach bag. "I'm quite clueless of how you use it since it is my first time to have one of my own…" Tomoka explained, trying to add to her act.

Sakuno smiled at Tomoka sweetly. "Sure…" She simply said. As she was inspecting the camera and figuring out how to put the film inside the camera, Tomoka sneaked behind Yuuta who was currently scanning pictures in his own digicam. She tapped the boy on the shoulder. Yuuta looked behind him, and saw Tomoka.

"Hey Fuji-san, can you take a picture of Sakuno now?"

Fuji's eyes widened. "Huh? Why? I thought she didn't want to be taken a picture on while wearing…" Yuuta blushed at this point. "… something like that." He jerked his head towards Sakuno's direction. The girl was still having problems, figuring out how to open Tomoka's camera. Hers was the old kind wherein you still have to use film.

Tomoka put her hands together and begged. "Please Fuji-san. Rarely can anyone see Sakuno in a swimwear like that! I want to have a picture taken so that I can show her sometime in the future how good she looks when she dresses more confidently with a swimwear that any normal teenager her age would wear!" She whispered vehemently.

Fuji looked at her for a moment then sighed, giving in to the pigtailed girl's request. "Fine. Fine." He prepared his camera, and diverted it towards Sakuno's direction. The girl had a smile on when she finally opened the camera and was already preparing to put the film inside. Yuuta looked at the tiny hole of the camera. 'The light is shining on her magnificently. The breeze is making her hair dance with its rhythm… and her smile. Her smile is beautiful. Everything is perfect. Picture perfect…'

One.

Two.

Three.

CLICK

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"I will have two slices of Choco Overload please!" Kisarazu ordered.

"Another order of that…" Both Akazawa and Kaneda said.

"Mango Bravo for me…" Mizuki twirled a strand of his hair around his finger.

"Black Forest, dane!" Yanagisawa said cheerfully; Sakuno sweatdropped at this.

"Strawberry Shortcake…" Nomura smiled then turned to Yuuta. "How 'bout you Fuji Syusuke's little-?" He didn't finish when he saw Yuuta glare at him.

"Don't make me hit you again senpai…" Yuuta said rather dangerously. He turned to Sakuno. "A slice of Chocolate Mousse please…"

Sakuno smiled. "Ah… like Fuji-senpai when he last went here…" She stated. Yuuta glanced at her… then blushed, remembering what he just did a while ago; taking her picture in that swimwear.

"Blueberry Cheesecake please! And a chocolate shake!" Tomoka ordered happily, not feeling any sense of guilt at all unlike Yuuta.

"A glass of water" Kaidoh murmured. Everyone looked at him. "What?" He said having a curious face on.

"That's all you're going to order?" Sakuno asked her senpai. Kaidoh nodded. "Okay…" She said and jotted down the final order on her notepad. Sakuno entered the kitchen and after a few minutes, returned with all the orders. "Enjoy!" She said with a smile and returned to the counter to deliver orders to the other customers.

Everyone in Tomoka's table ate their slice of cake, except for Kaidoh who finished his glass of water in a couple of gulps. "Mmmmm!!! t asyt ooo uddd" Kisarazu mumbled. Everyone looked at him.

"Kisarazu, its rude to talk while your mouth is full." Mizuki stated as he took another bite from his Mango Bravo.

"I said it taste sooo good!!!" Kisarazu exclaimed as he proceeded to his other slice. The others nodded in agreement.

"So Ryuzaki-san is having lessons with you?" Yuuta asked the all the while silent Kaidoh.

He nodded. Tomoka expounded for him. "Sakuno-chan has a very tight summer schedule. She has lessons from her Seigaku senpais and works for this Cake Bake Shop." Tomoka explained.

"Ah…" Came Yuuta's reply. "I did hear about this 'summer-ideals-thing' from aniki…" He said. "And what I heard from him, Rikkai Dai and Hyotei were already involved in this thing"

"Sounds fun, dane!" Yanagisawa commented. He turned to Mizuki and Akazawa. "What do you think buchou? Mizuki? Let's join too!" He said excitedly.

Mizuki and Akazawa looked at each other for a moment. "Looks fine to me…" Akazawa stated.

Mizuki twirled a strand of his hair. "A good opportunity to collect more data on Fuji Syusuke and the rest of Seigaku…" He whispered to himself. "Okay, I agree!" Mizuki replied.

"What help can we do?" Kaneda asked. The group thought for a moment. Kaidoh and Tomoka stayed out of the conversation, respecting the team's own privacy.

"How 'bout let's help Ryuzaki-san in serving people in the shop." Nomura suggested. Others nodded, but Kaidoh paled as he remembered the last time something like that happened.

"Ano… I don't think that will be a great idea…" Kaidoh muttered. Everyone looked at him.

"Why do you say so Kaidoh-san?" Kisarazu asked curiously.

"Just…" He said and ended it simply. But there were hints of the tone that says 'it's a bad experience'

"Okay then…" Yuuta said, clasping his hands together.

"If you really want to help Sa-chan… maybe you can help me in selling the Halo-Halos in the beach!" Tomoka suggested.

Everyone looked at each other, thinking that it wasn't at all a bad idea…

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"Are you sure it's alright if you bring me to the Kawamura shop Fuji-san?" Sakuno asked Yuuta who nodded in response.

"I wouldn't like you to be lost…." Yuuta said as they both exited the shop right after Sakuno's duty that day. The others left an hour ago and Yuuta stayed to accompany Sakuno to her next lesson. Before going, Mizuki nudged the younger Fuji and jerked his head towards Sakuno, saying 'Goodluck'. Yuuta blushed as he remembered that.

The two reached the Kawamura Sushi Store in a couple of minutes riding the bus. As they entered, a certain familiar tennis tensai greeted them. It was Fuji.

"Aniki/Fuji-senpai…"

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From the author: OMG. I'm so sorry for the super long wait. I'm REALLY REALLY SORRY! Gomen! I've been really busy these days and I'm so happy that it's sem-break! Yay! Time for me to update on my stories! Haha! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Wait for the next update and please don't forget to review! Arigatou!