Okay, more Ryoma/Sakuno coming up! Haha there will be more and more as time comes. The regulars are coming in this chapter. Hehe.

Well, hope you enjoyed. I didn't spend a lot of effort on this so this may be very bad, but... :P

Sakuno sat outside the tennis court, studying. She had been waiting in the room for god knows how long. In the long wait she had studied thoroughly, cleaned up the room, tidied up Ryoma's bed, taken a good warm bath, played the limited video games available, and did some extra research for supplementary. Kevin had come home long time ago, taking her out for dinner, and he was now resting at home, watching television.

The time now was 10.30pm, and Ryoma was still training. Sakuno had decided to wait for Ryoma outside the tennis court so that she could talk to him immediately after his training and go to sleep.

Time passed as Sakuno's watch ticked away, with the balls at the tennis court emphasizing every second passed. Sakuno had printed out some physics notes on some weird theory, in hope that she would be able to stay awake while doing something new. Well, apparently physics was not as easy as it seems.

"Sakuno."

Sakuno felt someone shaking her. Oh god, was she asleep all these time? She opened her eyes slowly, and Ryoma's big, catlike eyes were staring right at her, giving her a shock.

She jerked herself upright. (She realised she had, somehow, managed to lie on the bench she was sitting in a comfortable sleep position.) "Ryoma-kun, you're finally done with training."

Ryoma nodded, exhausted. "You have been waiting all these time?"

"Yeah. What time is it now?" The tennis court was so empty, and the lights were out too. The only light she could see was the exit sign.

"Midnight."

"Midnight?" Sakuno repeated, shocked. Ryoma trained from early morning till midnight everyday? Is that the reason why he collapsed out of over-exhaustion?

"They...they trained you too hard..." Sakuno said, holding out. Ryoma seemed so tired he looked like he might just fall onto the ground anytime.

Ryoma shook his head. "I'm okay. I'm used to it. Anyway today they purposely set me up for this hyper intense schedule, so it's a bit more tiring." Ryoma heaved his tennis rackets over his shoulder. "So, what do you want to tell me?"

Sakuno flushed. She had spent lots of time thinking of how to tell Ryoma what Jennifer wanted her to tell. Ryoma started walking, and she followed suit, taking a big breath before speaking.

"Well, Jennifer came to see me today."

Ryoma's eyes widened in shock. "She did?"

"Yeah, she told me to get you to concentrate on practice. She said your performance is getting worse, and she wants you to win the next match and the next competition no matter what."

"I see." Ryoma said simply.

"Well, she wants me to stop seeing you."

Ryoma stopped dead in his tracks. "Why?"

Sakuno shuffled her feet. "Well, apparently she thinks that not seeing you will improve your concentration, and you will do better with me gone..." She trailed off ass Ryoma's glare glowered even more.

"What crap. So she thinks that I'm losing my concentration because of you? Che. I'm losing my concentration because I'm always thinking about the contract, and it's irritating." Ryoma said angrily. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. "Last Wednesday, if it wasn't for you being there, I would have already fainted halfway during the match. You're the one that will improve my concentration, and will make me do better in tennis. You have to stay no matter what."

Sakuno blushed. "Okay...I...I'll tell Jennifer that. But you better prove it, or else she'll come pestering me again."

"Hn." Ryoma smiled. "Have you eaten?"

"Yup." Sakuno looked at Ryoma. "Don't tell me that you have not eaten yet?"

"Ate some snackbars and onigiri..." Ryoma said weakly. "I need a proper meal. After I change let's go down there. There's a 24 hours burger shop."

Sakuno nodded. She shut her eyes as Ryoma changed (even though Ryoma said it's okay, he was just changing the top), and went to the burger shop with Ryoma.

"One double cheeseburger, one mushroom supreme, one bbq pork burger, one teriyaki chicken burger, one fish fillet burger, and the rest of the usuals, every one of it upsized. Thank you."

"Okay, coming. You're eating more than usual aren't you?" The man at the counter smiled.

"The training today was harder than usual." Ryoma answered simply.

"Okay, then. Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen burgers. Here you go."

"Fourteen burgers? Ryoma are you crazy?" Sakuno exclaimed.

Ryoma shrugged. "You can help me finish up my fries."

Sakuno watched as Ryoma wolfed his burger down like a person who had not eaten for three years, and slowly ate up the fries.

"Sakuno."

"Yes?" Sakuno asked, blushing. Ryoma seemed to be saying her last name more and more frequent. He used to call her Ryuzaki, but somehow, something happened, and he started calling her Sakuno. Sakuno blushed more when she realised that she, too, had stopped calling Ryoma Ryoma-kun anymore.

"Do you like Kevin?"

"What?" Sakuno stared at Ryoma, who was staring back very intensely.

"Well, I...He's a really nice guy, and very cheerful, easygoing, and he listens to me when I complain about...stuff, he's a real good friend. So...yeah I think I can say I like him." Sakuno answered uncomfortably. Why was Ryoma asking her such weird questions?

"Then..." Ryoma lowered his eyes, and then raised it again. "Do you like me?"

Sakuno almost spat out her fries in her mouth. She could feel her blood rushing up into her head. "I...I..." She averted her eyes from Ryoma, unable to answer.

There was a long awkward pause before Ryoma sighed, and ate his last bite.

"Sakuno," Ryoma said. "I love you."

Sakuno stared at Ryoma incredulously. Ryoma was blushing slightly, but he kept his eyes on her adamantly. "I have always liked you ever since we first met. I just didn't want to admit it in front of the sempais." He pulled his signature cap down, covering his face. "I liked you a lot, I just don't know how to tell you...I was planning to tell you when my contract ends, but...I can't wait any longer." He reached out hesitantly and held Sakuno's hands. "I...I love you."

Sakuno felt her face becoming deep crimson red. This was the first time Ryoma, the tennis prodigy, ever stammered while talking."I...I also liked you ever since I saw you...I thought you were pretty cool...I was just waiting for you to tell me that you liked me first..." She trailed off, unable to speak.

Ryoma smiled a shy, contented smile. "I see. Sorry for making you wait so long." He said, pulling Sakuno into a kiss.

XxXxX

"I heard that Echizen went into the finals of the grand slam."

"Eh? Really? Whoa, Ochibi is so good."

"I have been watching his other matches, he had improved a lot, and had surpassed my data."

"Saa, how about go and support him in his match?"

"Great idea, nya!"

"Yes, then I can check my newly-updated data with the match."

"Heard that Sakuno is also in America with Ryoma."

"Oooooo... Ryoma is so lucky..."

"When are we going to visit them? I miss Ochibi!"

"I already bought nine tickets, for us, Coach Ryuzaki, and Sakuno's friend."

"Wow, that's fast."

"Yahoo! Let's go now!"

XxXxX

Kevin stared at the white, plain ceiling. Sakuno had bothered to tidy up Ryoma's bed, so when he went to bed he almost mistook Ryoma's bed for his.

Sakuno, she even bothered to clean up Ryoma's bed for him, when normal people just detoured around it, trying to get as far from it as possible. He should have noticed then, that Sakuno still loved Ryoma. How dumb it was for him to believe that he could change her mind.

Seeing Ryoma's dumb expression, he knew that Ryoma had confessed, and they had gotten together.

"Sakuno went to find you, she said she need to tell you something." Kevin said when Ryoma finally came back.

"Yeah, it's nothing." Ryoma said, smiling.

Ryoma was smiling.

It's weird, Ryoma never smile unnecessarily. Kevin sighed. He had always dreaded this day to come. He knew Sakuno had loved Ryoma, but she was denying it, so Kevin was grabbing the chance to get close to her. However, seeing Ryoma's dumb expression, it seems Sakuno still loved Ryoma and would always love Ryoma. Well, if Sakuno really liked Ryoma, then, it's only right for him not to try and get in the way. Anyway, there was no way he could win Ryoma. Ryoma had won completely, again.

"You win again, Ryoma." Kevin repeated his thoughts sadly. And he had loved Sakuno so much... Life is so unfair.

Ryoma stared at Kevin uncomprehensively. Then he smiled that stupid, cocky smile of his. "Mada mada dane, Kevin."

"Better treat her well. If you make her cry again, I'll kill you." Kevin meant every word he said.

"Hn. By the way, where's my bed?"

XxXxX

"Ryoma! What is this?"

Ryoma groaned. Jennifer was getting more and more naggy. "What now?"

"Why is this girl with you?" She demanded.

"What's wrong with her?" Ryoma demanded back.

Sakuno had came down to the practice area again this afternoon, carrying three sets of bento, and a whole stack of notes she said to 'kill time'. Just when Ryoma had brought Sakuno into the court, elated, thinking that he could finally have some proper Japanese style lunch finally after so many years, Jennifer had to come in and destroy his good mood.

"I thought I told you to leave Ryoma alone?" Jennifer shouted, grabbing Sakuno.

"I...I did...but he said..." Sakuno stammered.

"Leave Sakuno alone!" Ryoma flared up. What did she think she was, grabbing my Sakuno like that?

Jennifer let go of Sakuno, shocked.

"She's staying here, by my side, from now on. She is mine, and don't you dare try and take her away from me." Ryoma said, louder than what he wanted. Everyone was staring at them.

Shit, she's the team manager. Ryoma realised as he pulled Sakuno behind him, bracing for what's going to come next.

Jennifer stood there, paralysed. Then she turned and left. "You had better win the next match for me." She threw the sentence at Ryoma bitterly, calling the coach in, probably to request for an increase in Ryoma's training.

There was an awkward silence as everyone stared and the impact of the whole incident sank in.

Ryoma sat down opposite Kevin, and pulled Sakuno to sit next to him.

"She's yours, huh." Kevin said sourly.

Ryoma glared at him. "Yes, and whatever I said applies to you too."

"Geez."

Sakuno sensed the intensity between the two, and decided to intervene. "Um, the bento's getting cold. I think we should eat now." Sakuno said, smiling nervously, passing down the bento. "I spent a lot of effort on this, so please enjoy!"

"Itadakimasu." They said, and started eating. Sakuno sighed, and ate too.

She had just ate two mouthfuls, and Ryoma announced that he had finished, and he left hurriedly for training again. Sakuno stared at the leaving Ryoma, disappointed. She had thought she could talk some more with Ryoma, and try and understand him more, now that they had confessed to each other.

"Your bento is really delicious, Sakuno." Kevin said.

"Ah, arigatou!" Sakuno bowed gratefully, and somewhat apologetically.

Yesterday night Ryoma had brought her to a free room next to their room so that she could aviod the school areas for now, and she had thought a lot while trying to sleep. She knew that Ryoma and Kevin both loved her, and the right thing for her to do was to choose one, and she had, without hesitation, chosen Ryoma, no matter what Kevin said about him going to break her heart once again. So she needed to break up with Kevin, and she had no idea how to do that. After all, Kevin had been really nice to Sakuno throughout.

"I know what you're thinking, Sakuno." Kevin said finally. "I understand." He shrugged. "I have to admit, Ryoma is a better guy than me."

Sakuno shook her head. "No, Kevin, you're a really nice person too. Those days with you were really fun too. I really liked being with you."

Kevin smiled. "It's okay. I'm still your good friend, right?"

Sakuno nodded hardly.

Kevin laughed. "Well, let's continue eating then. I only have twenty minutes break."

Sakuno smiled, relieved. Kevin was such an easygoing and cheerful person.

"Jaa, I'll be going then." Kevin gobbled down his last mouthful, and went.

Sakuno nodded and watched them practice. Let's get back to reading those notes...

XxXxX

"There she is! The horrible person that harmed our Ryoma!"

Jennifer smiled. "Just do not do too much harm on her or else Ryoma will get suspicious."

"Okay, but the girl will get it."

"Thanks a lot, Cheryl, you're a great help."

"No thanks, Jennifer, it's my job as the leader of Ryoma's fanclub to ensure Ryoma's safety."

XxXxX

"Ooooh! America is such a wonderful place!" Oishi exclaimed happily, looking around the landscape.

"No it is not! Everywhere, everywhere has English words on it!" Eiji grabbed his hair and knelt down dramatically. "I can't understand it, none of them! This is a horrible English test nightmare!"

"Come on, Eiji, your English isn't that bad..." Oishi said, trying to calm down his dear friend.

"Hmm, the temperature, humidity, and environment here are all different, guess I need to make those changes in Ryoma's data..." Inui said, busily taking the temperature of the place around.

"What are you doing mamushi?" Momoshiro shouted.

"What is that? Want me to do it again?" Kaidoh shouted back, and they ended up strangling each other.

"Wonder what Ryoma looked like now, ne, Tezuka?" Fuji asked, smiling at Tezuka. Tezuka made no reply.

Kawamura was looking around. He was more interested in sightseeing than anything else, though after many years of seperation from tennis, he did want to see a good tennis match once in a while. He spotted a girl with long brown hair carrying a book walking down the pavement, and stared at her.

"Kawamura-sempai, what are you staring at?" Tomoka asked.

"I thought I saw someone that look like Sakuno-chan."

"Really? Where?" Tomoka looked around, and saw the girl with the long brown hair. "Is it that girl? Yeah she does look a bit like Sakuno." She ran towards her. She was surrounded by a group of girls, so she couldn't see very clearly. Eh, Sakuno seemed to be very popular.

"Sakuno, is that you?" Tomoka shouted excitedly, with Kawamura following her.

The girl turned around. Yes she is Sakuno! That familiar face, it never changed! Though she had grown taller and her body was fully grown and had a wonderful curve. How much she had missed Sakuno, her dear best friend. She laughed at Sakuno's surprised face, and ran towards her, waving. "Sakuno, a long time no see! Do you remember me?"

"Tomo-chan?"

Tomoka's smile on her face disappeared when she saw tears on Sakuno's eyes. Sakuno was crying? Sakuno never cried, even though she looked weak. She only cried while watching movies, and thinking about Ryoma-sama. The rest of the time she was really strong.

She pushed through Sakuno's friends, and went to Sakuno. "Sakuno, why are you crying?"

"Tomo-chan..." She shrank in Tomoka's arms, as if hiding away from the people around her. Tomoka looked around. Those people, they were not Sakuno's friends.

"Who are you people?" She demanded.

"Who is this person, suddenly interferring, how rude." One girl said in English.

"I am Tomoka, and Sakuno's best friend, and I won't let you go if you bully her!" Tomoka said in a very horrible English accent.

The group of girls laughed. "What is this girl saying?"

Tomoka felt her blood rushing up her face, embarrassed. Damn it, I got a 'C' in my English test, alright? She pulled Sakuno, and led her away from these horrible people.

"Where are you taking her to? She's our prey. She hurt our Ryoma, and as the leader of Ryoma's fanclub, I have to get her out of Ryoma's sight!"

Tomoka stopped. "Leader of Ryoma's fanclub?" She turned around and faced the girl. "Who are you joking? I am the leader of Ryoma's fanclub, NOT you! Get lost!"

"What did you say?" The girl shouted back.

Kawamura rushed into the scene. "Eh, Sakuno-chan, you're here! I guess I should call the rest of the people."

The girls looked at Kawamura, and the group of Japanese people crowding in the other side of the place, and decided to run away.

"That's right!" Tomoka shouted after them. "Run away! With your tails between your legs, and never come back! Serve you right for bullying my friend and stealing my title of the leader of Ryoma's fanclub!"

"Tomo-chan..."

Tomoka turned around. "What happened Sakuno? Why were you crying?"

"N...nothing..."

"Tell me!" Tomoka grabbed Sakuno on her shoulders and shook her. "You have to tell me!"

"Okay!" Sakuno exclaimed, feeling very dizzy with the shaking. "I'll tell you."

XxXxX travel back in time for 15 minutes

It was when Sakuno had read and understood and read again and fully understood the notes she had, she decided to go back to her room and have a good bath. She helped Ryoma refill his water bottle, and passed him a clean, dry towel, and left.

She was leaving when Ryoma stopped her. "Be careful okay?" He said, frowning. "I don't know what would happen to you, first Daryl, then those fangirls, and now Jennifer is angry..."

"I'll be fine." Sakuno assured. Ryoma nodded. He cupped Sakuno's face with his hands gently, and kissed her. "You'd better be."

Sakuno blushed and waved goodbye.

She walked down the pavement. She decided to make a detour towards a shop to buy some food and ingredients. That was when the group of girls surrounded her.

Oh no, it's not good. After the two incidents of people surrounding her, she was already used it, and knew that something was definitely not right. She cringed and started to walk away.

One girl stopped her. "Please, listen to what we have to say, Sakuno." This girl was different from the group of girls in her school. She had a feeling of dignity and authority around her, and there was no air of vindictiveness that wanted to harm her. Letting her guard down, she stopped willingly, ready to listen what this girl had to say.

"I am the leader of Ryoma fanclub, and I am responsible for Ryoma's safety. We have to make you understand that being with Ryoma will only cause him harm, and we need you to leave Ryoma."

"What?" Sakuno frowned. The contents in what they said were exactly like Jennifer. Jennifer must have sent them. "I'm sorry, but Ryoma wants me to stay with him. If you really are Ryoma's fan, then you have to listen to him."

"Well, we have information that Ryoma is delusioned, and we have to get you away from Ryoma in order for him to get back to normal." The girl insisted.

"If you make me leave Ryoma, Ryoma will purposely lose the next match!" Sakuno threatened.

The girl twitched. "Why you..." She barked. "Get her, we're forcing her!"

Sakuno stared at them as they came closer, and her paranoia came back. She started trembling, but she kept herself calm holding onto her notes. Ryoma won't come rescue her anymore. Why, why do they always want to try and seperate her from Ryoma? What's wrong with her being with Ryoma? If she get herself hurt from this, Ryoma would be worried, and he will lose the next match, definitely. She did not want Ryoma to lose the match because of her.

Her tears came up to her eyes. Why can't people leave them alone? Ryoma had finally confessed to her, what she had always wanted, and now, everyone was trying to ruin it. First Daryl, then the group of girls, then Jennifer... Now no one would come rescue her, and she would just stand here helpless as they tore her dreams of being with Ryoma forever...

"Sakuno!"

She turned around. That voice, it couldn't be...

It was! It's Tomo-chan! Why was she here? "Tomo-chan!"

XxXxX Travel back to now...

Sakuno squirmed in her seat. Tomoka had made her say the story to the rest of the regulars. Then after that they had threw in a lot of questions due to a lot of loopholes in the way she told the story.

"So, you and Ryoma are together finally?" Tomoka asked. Tomoka had known that she liked Ryoma a lot, and had supported her. She had thought Tomoka would be angry as Tomoka liked Ryoma, but it seemed it was just mere idolisation.

"Yeah." She nodded as the rest of the regulars go 'ehhhhh...'

"How did you two get together?" Fuji asked, interested.

Sakuno blushed. "Well, he asked for a date...then he confessed, then I confessed too, then..." They glared at her with the look of I-want-to-know-the-full-details. Sakuno sighed, and told them the full story from scratch. (A/N: start from chapter one.)

"Ehh..." They exclaimed once again. They had not thought Ryoma to be this romantic.

"Interesting. This surpassed all my data. I need to relook it again." Inui said, making more changes.

"Eh, Ryoma is so romantic, I can't believe it!" Momoshiro said.

"Saa, how does it feel like, being kissed?" Fuji asked.

Sakuno blushed, unable to answer.

"Fuji, you're embarassing her." Oishi said. "Sakuno, is the Kevin the guy from the America team that came and challenged Ryoma that time?"

Sakuno nodded.

"Whose kiss were better, Ryoma or that Kevin's?" Fuji asked again.

Sakuno blushed even more, but she knew the answer. "Ryoma's..."

"Oooohh!"

"Stop it, sempai, you're embarrassing Sakuno!"

"Ooooooh I knew Echizen had it in him "

XxXxX

Sorry, it was hard handling so many characters... Phew.

Okay, now we are cleared of some troubles, and more troubles are coming up. Geez, why am I making this so longwinded?

Hope you guys can stand this ridiculously long fanfic. I'll try to end this as soon as possible. Phew.

Review!