"Isn't his attitude different from usual?" Kikumaru asked as he watched Ryoma practice his serves

"He has been like that since Tezuka left…" Fuji replied "Though tomorrow's match against Jyousei Shounan might also have something to do with it…"

"Ne, Kura-chan isn't Ochibi cool?" Kikumaru asked excitedly only to see Sakura sulking in a corner with a dark aura surrounding her.

"I guess mentioning that Tezuka is gone is taboo for her…" Fuji chuckled as the dark aura around her seemed to grow before looking over at Mizuiro who was practicing harder as well.


"Jyousei Shounen Middle school versus Seishun Gakuen will begin now"

After Ryuzaki announced the lineup, Sakura frowned for a second. As much as she wanted to play with Mizuiro, she was glad to be playing with her boyfriend. It had been a while since the two had played together but she was Mizuiro's doubles partner and she felt that she barely got to play with her.


"What's this? A girl on the boys team?" Oota said "Seigaku must be getting desperate to let a girl on the boy's team"

Sakura's eye twitched a bit at his comment.

"Just because I'm a girl, doesn't mean I can't play like the boys" Sakura glared "Being a guy doesn't make you instantly better than the girls"

"Seishun Gakuen versus Jyousei Shounen, Doubles 1. One set match. Oota to serve"

Sakura was frowning. Ever since the first serve, they've been mainly rallying. Jyousei Shounen continued to win games making her frustrated. Sakura was shocked when she tried to return a ball only to have her racquet knocked out of her hand.

"How do you like it? My Cannon Volley" she and Kikumaru heard

"Are you okay?" Kikumaru asked worriedly as she picked up her racquet

"Un." Sakura smiled back, but he could still sense her frustration "Let's take control back with our serve okay?"

"Alright!" Kikumaru smiled

Using her 'disappearing' serve, she left her opponents in shock

"15-15"

Serving another ball, Sakura let them think she would aim at a corner. To their surprise, Sakura used a spin serve instead. Then serving a slow ball, Kiriyama became irritated and the ball harder than necessary causing the ball to get stuck in the fence behind them. Out of anger, he threw his racquet on the ground.

"Out"

Sakura smiled as they began to take control of the match, but she was getting tired which was unusual for her.

As Oota and Kiriyama grabbed another game Kikumaru looked over at Sakura as they had a quick drink of water.

"Are we going to give it a try?" Sakura asked noticing Kikumaru thinking about something

"Yeah, you can do it right? Since you helped Oishi and I practiced and watched once in a while" Kikumaru replied tilting his head to the right a bit in a curious manner

"Might not be as good as you and Oishi, but I'm sure I can pull it off" Sakura smiled. Surprising everyone, they began to use the I formation.

"Game and Match, Hikari-Kikumaru pair. 7 games to 5" Sakura and Kikumaru cheered as they high fived.

"Oi Sakura!" Mizuiro called out "Look who's here!"

Turning, Sakura spotted her brother waving "Onii-chan!"

"I thought I'd be a surprise" Ryuu laughed as his sister nearly tackled him to the ground

"How long are you staying?" Sakura asked once she let him go

"Not too sure" Ryuu replied shrugging as Mizuiro mentioned about wanting to get a drink from a vending machine they walked past earlier

"How's Papa?" Sakura asked. As a way of staying as her father's 'baby girl' he insisted that she would always call him 'Papa.' Sakura and Ryuu never really understood their father much, but his playful ways could be seen in them as well. If they had to pick who's personality was like closest to their father's, it would be Sakura with no doubt.

"Dad's... well Dad" Ryuu said as Sakura nodded understanding "Oh remember that small sports shop he started with in New York?"

"Ah, I remember" Sakura grinned, she was often sent her tennis supplies from that small shop

"It became super successful and now there's a store pretty much everywhere" Ryuu stated "William's Sport Shop is earning more and more money each day"

"Ehh, that's so cool. Papa must be so proud!" Sakura grinned


Mizuiro frowned as she saw another girl pulled Sakuno's braid. Mizuiro hated bullying and it was something she could never stand seeing. Even though Mizuiro found Sakuno's friend annoying at times, she had nothing against the two girls; especially against Sakuno. She, like Sakura, found Sakuno pretty cute with how sweet and shy the girl was. Mizuiro quietly walked over to the group and pulled on the hair of the girl who had pulled Sakuno's

"Ow! Oi! What do you think you're doing?!" the girl turned to Mizuiro

"Just what you did to her just now" Mizuiro replied with a bored look. Feeling the two other girls sneak behind her to pull her hair, she quickly turned and smacked their wrists. The frowned and looked at Mizuiro angrily as they held their wrist and walked behind the girl she figured to be their leader. "Oh, so you're Jyousei Shounen cheerleaders? Well looks like I'm not going to be impressed by your school now"

"Who do you think you are?!" the girl with short pig tails asked

"Oh, you didn't notice?" Mizuiro turned her back to them so they could see the writing on her jacket. The girls were surprised to see it was indeed the jacket for Seigaku's boys tennis team.

"Wait, you're a Seigaku regular? You're the girl playing against Wakato-kun?" the girl with back hair asked

"Actually, yes I am and I don't intend to lose" Mizuiro replied

"Oh please... Wakato-kun will so beat you." the leader replied. A tennis ball came whizzing right next to her head and Mizuiro smiled as she caught it while the girls ran away.

"Ryoma! Help me warm up!" Mizuiro grinned at her kouhai.