Author's note: According to the Internet, there's a certain rule for writing romance: "Romance doesn't start off slow. The sparks between your hero and heroine need to fly from the very first moment they come in contact, whether they are attracted to each other or they hate each other's guts. These scenes will increase the romantic tension until it explodes, and the intimacy follows."

That's pretty much RyoSaku in a nutshell.

Chapter 11 – Beach Cricket

Time went on, each day as bright and cheery as the last. For Ryoma and Sakuno, the beginning of the Mixed Doubles championship was fast approaching. While their combination was beginning to pick up, there was something else that irked Sakuno. Although she detected a subtle improvement in Ryoma's normally indifferent attitude towards her, it seemed that for once, he didn't seem as driven as Sakuno thought that he would be. When it became clear to her that Ryoma did not remember the match against the Couple Cleaver, she felt as if she had to settle the score for his sake as well as her own. Going along this train of thought, what occurred to her next was entirely natural.

"Ryoma-kun," she said after practice one day, "I think I need a special technique."

As usual, she was walking behind Ryoma rather than next to him so she couldn't see his face. That was how it was these days: Ryoma always walked her home; or rather, she followed him because he always stopped outside her house before continuing on his way alone. Sakuno was a little hesitant to call this ritual "walking home together" due to the fact that he generally didn't speak to her. That was partially Sakuno's fault seeing as she was too shy to initiate conversation with him anyway. Now that she had mentioned her desire to learn a special technique, however…

"Mada mada da ne."

Sakuno's heart sank.

"I-Is that so?" she said shakily. "Then… you don't think I'm good enough?"

"That's not what I meant," Ryoma replied evenly. His cap facing downwards, he continued walking as he elaborated on what he said. "You can't just say 'I want to have my own technique', you have to discover your true style of tennis." He paused. "It can take a while."

Sakuno was not unaware that this moment constituted the single longest speech that Ryoma had ever addressed to her.

"But," she mused, "I wonder how I'm meant to discover my true tennis…?"

Seeing as Ryoma was not providing her with any answers, she meditatively pondered on the question herself – until she noticed that standing further along the street with his arms folded expectantly was Seigaku's resident genius: Fuji Syusuke. He looked up, noticed Ryoma and Sakuno, and waved.

"What are you doing here, Fuji-senpai?" Ryoma asked before greetings could be issued.

"I was looking for you, Echizen," Fuji answered with a smile. "I was thinking we could all go to the beach tomorrow."

'We' referred to the regulars, of course. "Why?" Ryoma asked blankly.

"Well," said Fuji, "tomorrow's forecast was very humid – too humid for the usual training, I thought – so why not use that time as an opportunity to relax? You may come too if you like," he added to Sakuno.

Sakuno, who had been feeling a little left out of the conversation, nodded at once. "I'll invite Tomo-chan," she said, "if that's all right."

"It's fine," Fuji assured her. He turned back to Ryoma. "Well, Echizen?"

And because Ryoma liked Fuji, he said, "Okay." Besides, he couldn't exactly practise doubles tomorrow even if he refused, thanks to Sakuno submitting to Fuji right off the bat.

Wow. That sounded kinda wrong.

"That's good," Fuji was saying, blissfully unaware of what Ryoma was thinking about. "Because you agreed so readily, I'll let you in on a little secret. The truth is – we're not going to play volleyball tomorrow."

Ryoma blinked. Wasn't volleyball the usual activity at the beach? Without it, what then?

Fuji opened his eyes, which was what he generally did when he was excited.

"Cricket," he said.

So of course Ryoma, being the type of person he is, went straight to the bookstore after getting rid of Sakuno and he got himself a book about cricket. Relaxing with his seniors was actually a euphemism for competing against them in an alternative sport. And Ryoma didn't like to make a fool out of himself out on the sporting field. He felt somewhat unnerved about cricket since he knew nothing about it other than it was a 'pommy' sport. Reading his book, however, gave him valuable insight.

A bowler serves a ball to a batter who tries to hit the ball and make runs… Hey, this was just a variation of baseball, Ryoma thought. At least he understood the basic rules of the game, having lived in America for most of his life. That was why he didn't read further into his book and promptly went to bed.

The next day was almost unbearably humid, just as Fuji had predicted.

And that wasn't all; Fuji was remarkably well-prepared for this day at the beach. Not only had he hired a bus to take everyone down the beach, he also carried a sports bag, containing the cricket bat, three wicket stumps and a cricket ball. The bat made up most of the weight and on top of that, Fuji also brought his tennis bag as well. Seigaku regulars really were obsessed with tennis.

Speaking of the regulars, most of them were there: Momo, Kaidoh, Kikumaru, Oishi, Kawamura and Inui. True to her word, Sakuno turned up with Tomoka, although aside from Ryoma, they were the only freshmen there. The only one who was really missing was Tezuka.

"It's a strange thing," said Fuji. "I could say nothing to Tezuka to induce him to come. He will be missing out on a great experience."

"Uh, Fuji, are you sure about this?" Kawamura asked nervously, scratching his head. "There are a lot of people here…"

He was right. Apparently, half of Japan had come upon the same solution to the hot weather as Fuji. There was almost no room at all since there were semi-naked beachgoers lazing around as far as the eye could see. With so little space, playing a game of cricket without the risk of injuring somebody was out of the question.

Fuji was too busy dragging his two bags across the sand to really take notice. "Ah, this cricket bat is a little heavy," he remarked suddenly. "Taka-san, could you please hold it for me?"

Before poor Kawamura could object, Fuji handed him the full-sized, wooden cricket bat. It was a dangerous blunt weapon.

"BURNING!" Kawamura roared.

With a sudden, ferocious vigour, he waved the bat around with one arm, causing all those around him to flinch. He than ran out across the sands, swinging the bat and yelling nonsensical words in English. Within the span of five minutes, there were no more strangers left at the beach.

"Hmm, I wonder why they all left…" Fuji said to no one in particular.

The other regulars all slapped their foreheads in unison.

The cricket started not long after that. While Sakuno and Tomoka stood well out of range of any balls and watched, the others scattered themselves around the beach. Fuji stood in the middle of it all because he was bowling. The wickets were situated roughly the distance of a tennis court away from Fuji. Momo stood in front of the wickets, holding the bat up in baseball position. It turned out that Ryoma was not the only one who researched cricket only to dismiss it as a variation of baseball.

It didn't take long for Momo's folly to become clear. Firstly, the cricket bat was heavier than a baseball bat, so when Momo swung it, his reaction time was slower than he had calculated. Secondly, Fuji did not pitch the ball, he bowled it instead: meaning, the ball bounced on the sand before coming towards the wickets. Thirdly, because the ball bounced on the sand, it came up to a lower level than Momo's knees, forcing him to bend down before hitting the ball. All this meant that despite his natural sense of coordination, Momo missed the ball completely.

"Idiot," said Kaidoh smugly. He was the wicketkeeper and was choosing to ignore the fact that he probably would have made the same mistake had he been in Momo's position.

"What did you call me, viper?!" Momo demanded furiously.

"You obviously don't know how to play this game," said Kaidoh, "so that means you're an idiot."

Noticing that the situation was threatening to degenerate into a fist fight, Oishi called out, "All right, knock it off, you two. No one knows how to play cricket here except for Fuji, so let's ask him how to hold the bat."

Everyone turned to the smiling Fuji. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Momo grumbled.

"I just wanted to see how well you would fare," Fuji replied innocently enough. "All right, so when you hold the bat, the tip is meant to touch the ground, as if you're dragging it. That way, you can hit the low balls easily, see?"

Momo adjusted his grip. "Okay, I'm ready. I can't screw up this time," he said, grinning. "I just can't."

After a few more practice swings from Momo, Fuji bowled again. The ball simply flew straight out of his hand. He had obviously practised bowling because his action was so seamless; it was like watching him serve in tennis.

Momo, with his penchant for picking things up quickly, watched the ball carefully, concentrated and then smacked it as hard as he could.

"Don!"

The ball ripped through the air. Kawamura tried to catch it but it flew right past him.

"This happened because I am Asian and I have awesome hair," Momo declared with an air of heroic calmness.

Then suddenly, everyone heard a plop sound.

"The ball's in the ocean!" Eiji yelled dramatically. "Gee, I think we've lost it!"

"The tide's pushing out," said Inui. "It is impossible to retrieve the ball at this rate."

The regulars gazed forlornly at the beautiful, glistening ocean.

"Not to worry," interjected Fuji. "I brought spare tennis balls." He opened his tennis bag and proved his point. A handful of fresh, new balls lay inside.

Ryoma smiled. "That's just like Fuji-senpai, always having a second plan," he remarked. It was nice to witness the antics of his seniors in all its comedic glory. He'd been so busy with Sakuno that he hadn't had much time for his senpai recently.

Just as Ryoma was thinking that, Fuji walked across the sand in the direction of Tomoka and Sakuno and he said, "I think it would be best for Momoshiro to retire for now. Ryuzaki, will you bat next?"

"Huh?" Ryoma blinked.

"Huh?" Sakuno blinked.

Eiji voiced the obvious objection. "But she's not even playing. Look how far away she's standing."

"You can hear me, can't you, Ryuzaki?" Fuji asked. "It's your decision: will you play or not?"

His eyes were open.

Sakuno had never heard a direct invitation from Fuji to participate with the regulars before. For some reason, that made her blush.

Beside her, Tomoka was giggling. "Do it, do it, Sakuno! Oh man, I want to do it too!"

Ryoma watched Sakuno wordlessly.

"A-All right," the girl said finally. "Please take care of me…"

"Good," said Fuji. He made his way back to his position for bowling.

He's planning something, Ryoma thought. There had to be a reason for this.

Because the other regulars were equally as curious as Ryoma about Fuji's intentions, nobody said anything as Sakuno nervously took her position.

"Let's make it easier," Fuji said in a kindly tone. "Ryuzaki, play with a wicket instead of the bat."

This elicited a gasp from just about everyone standing on the beach.

"The wicket is so slim and tiny! How does that make things easier?" Momo demanded.

"We'll compensate by having less fielders, then," Fuji answered without missing a beat. "Eiji, you be wicketkeeper. Echizen, you're fielding. Everyone else – to the sidelines."

Amid shouts of complaint from those not named 'Eiji' or 'Echizen', Ryoma asked, "How do I cover the whole field on my own?"

Fuji cast him a sharp glance. "You must anticipate the batter's strikes," he answered.

Ryoma's confused expression cleared. He thought he understood now. Clever Fuji.

Fuji nodded once. "All right, here we go," he said.

Sakuno gulped and braced herself. All she could think about was how pointless and embarrassing this current procedure was.

The ball connected with the wicket.

"And you're out!" Eiji announced as he picked up the ball rolled by Sakuno's feet.

Sakuno realised at that moment that she'd actually missed the ball and that it had hit the wickets behind her instead. Mada mada da ne, much? All she could do was laugh.

And then out of the blue, a thought occurred to her. She was absolutely certain on what she needed to do.

"I want to keep batting," she said. Just as the words left her mouth, she became keenly aware of how presumptuous she must have sounded. "Er, sorry, I'll let someone else have a go..."

"No, stay," Fuji told her. "Let's give it another go. Why don't you try thinking of this as tennis?"

"Tennis?" She blinked. "Oh... okay..."

She did as asked. Now that she thought about it that way, seeing a tennis ball come towards her really did give her the illusion that she was playing tennis. She knew, then, what she needed to do in order to succeed: she needed to watch the ball carefully and hit it with the sweet spot. Time seemed to slow for her as she concentrated. The wicket seemed weightless in her hand, just like the pink racquet that felt almost like an extension of her arm now.

She could hear the sound of her wicket hitting the ball. It was a wholly satisfying sound and she could hear it, ringing in her ears.

The boys (plus Tomoka) watched as the ball bounced off Sakuno's wicket. Her shot was far from Momo's level, and Ryoma dashed in closer to the girl in order to retrieve the ball. Fuji could see that though his head was down, Ryoma's mouth was curled into a very slight smile, the type that he only wore when he was watching his friends play with all their heart and soul. That subtle smile of pride.

So Fuji smiled as well.

The boy sat down with his arms folded, his gaze fixed towards an inconspicuous pot plant that was leaned against the wall. There was a window to look out of but he wasn't in the mood to look down at the dirty, crowded streets of Tokyo. There was also a small television several feet to the left of the pot plant, but all that was showing was a daytime cooking show and the sound was muted anyway. There was a small pile of outdated women's magazines beside him, which he had barely glanced at. To his right, he could hear the secretary shuffling around with the papers on her desk.

He glanced at the clock up on the wall. Only a few more minutes until he would be called up into the room which was beyond the secretary's desk. There was a closed door barring the way and it was plain and undecorated. There was no doubt that the room behind it was just as orthodox, so he wasn't concerned about what lay behind the door.

He heard the secretary pick up the phone and now she was talking into it, something about booking an appointment and a contract. He did not look at her. She had a pleasant voice which did not match her facial features and besides, staring at the pot plant was his primary source of entertainment. He was not bored, however, since he was preoccupied with his thoughts. For instance: why was he summoned here? Why did he obey the call? He had a distinct feeling that he might not be hearing good news.

Just then, he heard his name being called. "Tezuka Kunimitsu-san."

The captain of Seigaku's tennis team rose to his feet.

"Please excuse my presence," he responded with a stiff, polite bow. With that formality out of the way, he looked up. The closed door was now open and a well-dressed man stood at the doorway. He made a beckoning gesture with his hands.

"Please come inside," the man said cordially.

Tezuka obliged.

In the end, Momo never got to bat again. The rest of the day was Sakuno batting with the wicket and Ryoma doing his best to cover the entire beach, and the two of them looked like they were having fun so Momo didn't ask to bat again. That didn't mean to say that he didn't feel like coming to the beach was a pointless investment of his time. On the way back home, he brooded on this.

"Did Fuji-senpai ask us to come here for training?" Momo asked aloud. "If I think about it, using a wicket to hit a ball instead of a racquet would improve your timing and your coordination. Plus, Echizen has to anticipate Ryuzaki's shots so that would improve their combination."

"You figured this out only now?" Kaidoh snorted. "You really are slow."

"And you really get on my nerves!" Momo growled.

Because the two couldn't start being a violent on a bus since they had seatbelts on, nobody worried about them too much. It was, after all, a tranquil afternoon now that it had stopped being humid.

Meanwhile, Sakuno was leaning on Tomoka's shoulder, sleeping away her exhaustion. Tomoka just sighed girlishly but when it came down to it, she was too friendly with Sakuno to pull away. Her concern was for another subject entirely.

"Ryoma-sama never noticed my new swimsuit," she moaned. "He was too caught up about something else. Oh man!"

Nobody on the bus could remember what Tomoka's swimsuit even looked like. They were also too busy thinking about something else.

Oishi suddenly said, "But you know, Fuji, you did this to help out Echizen and Ryuzaki, didn't you?"

Ryoma, who had been silently looking out the window of the bus at the late afternoon scenery, glanced towards Fuji curiously. Fuji was sitting next to Kawamura. Noticing that Ryoma and Oishi were looking at him, he nodded.

"I thought it would be interesting," he remarked. The other day or so, Fuji had read about cricket in a book and after trying out the game himself, he had worked out how useful using the wicket for training purposes would be. Seeing Sakuno doing her best in the same gruelling exercises day in and day out had given him further ideas to apply his alternative training method. Although Ryoma and Sakuno were very much guinea pigs for Fuji's experiment, he had a genuine desire to help.

Eiji laughed. "Fuji, you really are a nice guy!"

Momo used the opportunity to give Ryoma the noogie that the little guy deserved. "Oi, you should thank your senpai when they do something considerate for you!"

"Stop that, Momo-senpai!"

"Not 'till you say thank you!"

"No way!"

"Echizen's so rude," Momo commented with a toothy grin. He let go.

Fuji didn't seem to mind. "It's fine," he said. He had gotten all the thanks he needed earlier. Even though he had taken no photos, he could still see Ryoma's smile in his mind's eye. It really was so very interesting to see the cocky freshman like that. He had ended up taking the whole doubles thing much closer to heart than anyone would have suspected.

"Just promise one thing, Echizen," he said.

Ryoma looked up. He had actually meant to say thank you; he just wasn't very good at expressing himself.

"When we get back," Fuji said, "let's play a serious match."

A serious match with Fuji-senpai... Ryoma could still remember the last time they'd played seriously. He could still hear the rain pressing down on him, feel the sweat dripping off him, the sheer thrill. That match had never been finished.

"Tell me," said Fuji as he opened his eyes, "what entices you more? Finishing that match – or doubles?"

For a moment, Ryoma didn't reply.

Next chapter: So, yeah, it turned out being more Thrill Pair than FujiSaku. And pretty well platonic at that. On another note, the question that's been boiling underneath the surface now rises to the top: What are Ryoma's priorities?

Also, who is Tezuka meeting? What surprising truth does he learn about Ryoma? Find out next chapter!