Kyandi: Yhay I reached my goal for today! Three updates in one day!

Hikari: You really need to get a life.

Kyandi: Well excuse me! I don't have anything to do until the first of the year!

Hikari: That is because you're a social misfit.

Kyandi: Thank you Hikari for the vote of confidence.

Hikari: You're totally welcome, Kyandi-sama.

Kyandi:…anyway we're moving on before my OC meets an untimely end.

Hikari: She won't kill me. So please enjoy and review.

Kyandi: I do not own Prince of Tennis. But I do own Hikari and she better remember it.

Hikari:…I have no comment at the moment.

Chapter 25 Comforting Chat

Hikari yawned as she leaned back in her desk chair. She looked over at her clock the time 12:56 flashing back at her. It was getting close to one a.m. and she had yet to decide who she should put in Singles two against Kirihara.

She could always put Ryoma there. He had beat Kirihara once before, but she needed him against Sanada if they really wanted to win Singles one. Fuji was a good choice too, naturally. He could teach Kirihara a thing or two.

Hikari sighed as she rubbed her temples. She had been running the question through her head all day with no answer in sight. Looking at the data for Rikkai Dai's double they were going to have a fight on their hands.

As it stood it might come down to their singles players which meant she had to pick them carefully. Of course she was going to put Kaido in to face off with Jackal in Doubles 2. Only Kaido's stamina could match up against Jackal's defensive style.

That meant she had to pair either Inui or Momo with him. She had to put Inui in Singles 3 against Yanagi which left Momo. It wasn't a bad pair. Hikari tapped her pencil on the desk. Well that took care of Doubles 2 and Singles 3.

For Doubles 1 she was defiantly putting in Eiji and Oishi. Only their skill together could deal with the tricky play style of Niou and his gentleman of a partner, Yagyuu who had his Laser Beam. Now of course was the problem of who to put in Singles 2 and Singles 1.

Just then a small buzzing reached her ears. She turned to her cell phone which was buzzing across the desk top. She picked it up and flipped it open. There she found a message from Tezuka.

Are you awake?

~Tezuka~

Hikari debated on whether to respond to him or not, but then again with it being the night before the finals it might be important, especially if he was texting her at that time of night. So instead she settled for a sarcastic remark.

"No, I'm asleep dreaming of bunnies, or ponies. Whatever girls are suppose to dream about." She sat the phone aside to try to work on the lineup while she waited for a reply. She didn't have to wait long. Soon her phone was dancing across her desk top again.

Higarashi you humor is dry.

Hikari let out a curt laugh as she leaned back in her chair. Her humor was dry? That was rich coming from a stoic man like him who almost always resembled a stone with his never changing expression.

Hikari typed her reply. "Look whose talking. At least I try." she replied pushing send. She was still kind of laughing to herself. She hadn't expect that kind of reply from him. She had expected to get scolded for being a flat out smart-ass. She looked back at her phone as another message arrived.

Are you suggesting I don't?

Hikari raised an eyebrow at that message. "Seeing how you barely talk let alone joke…yes." Hikari replied hitting send when she was done typing the message. It didn't take him long to reply, her phone buzzing when she got the message.

You don't know everything Higarashi, no matter how much you try.

For a moment she thought that over. For the most part she did know everything about her teammates. She made it a point to know as much as she could. Her mother had told her as a little girl, and her father after her, that knowing was half of the battle.

But in the end Tezuka was right. She didn't know everything there was to know. "Leave it to him to make realized my own faults." she remarked before another message set off her phone. Hikari looked down at her phone curious.

What are you thinking, Higarashi?

Hikari tilted her head as she read the message. Perhaps he was asking about the lineup. Well she hadn't even finished the lineup yet having gotten stuck on singles two. That was why she was still up to begin with.

"I haven't finished the lineup but I was thinking about putting Fuji-sempai in Singles two against Kirihara-san and Echizen-san in Single one against Sanada-san." she replied hitting send. It didn't take long for a reply to make her phone buzz.

I wasn't talking about the lineup. What are you thinking?

"Oh…" Hikari stared at the screen of her phone in surprise. He wasn't talking about the lineup? Then what? Did he mean just whatever was on her mind? Hikari thought for a moment before she typed her reply. "I think you are a very nosy captain." Hikari pressed send and waited for the reply. When the reply came she had to laugh as she read it.

I'm your captain. When you refuse to tell me I have to be nosy.

For a moment Hikari thought about it. Should she really tell him what she was thinking about? He was being a little too nosy for his own good but the rest of the team was just as nosy if not more so then him.

She tapped her fingers on the desk for a moment before she typed a reply. "Mostly I'm racking my brain on who to put in Singles two and worrying about the match tomorrow. I'm also worrying about someone I really care about who is injured at the moment." Hikari hit send. She sat there for a moment before his reply came.

We'll deal with the lineup in a minute. Who is this person?

Hikari grinned to herself. Now she wasn't going to tell him that. She wasn't about to go and flat out tell him everything. "He's a really good friend of mine. Someone I really trust." Hikari hit send. His reply was almost instant.

Tachibana?

At this Hikari shook her head. Of course he would automatically think it was Tachibana. Oishi probably had told him about Tachibana's injuries in his match against Kirihara. Of course she was worried about Tachibana but that hadn't been the person she was talking about. "No, not Kippei. He's much closer then Kippei." she typed before hitting send.

Who is he?

Well wasn't he being extra nosy. Hikari shook her head as she replied. "He's a third year. He's been really sweet and considerate of me. When he got hurt it really worried me. I felt like my heart leaped up into my throat. Strange because I haven't ever felt like that." she typed pressing send as she twirled a pencil in her fingers, waiting for the reply.

You love him.

Hikari paused in her twirling of her pencil when she read that. It was a statement not a question. He was stating what he thought like he knew exactly what he was talking about. Did she love him? Just the mere thought of that being the answer made her heart pound in her chest.

She stared at the text for a moment thinking of how to word her reply before she replied. "I don't know about that. Then again I am still in middle school. Anyway, you said you'd help with the lineup." she typed hitting send.

You're never too young to find true love.

That was shocking coming from Tezuka. Tezuka didn't usually talk about things like this. She actually kind of liked it. It was showing her a side of him that wasn't completely about tennis. "Says you but how would you know? You're only a few years older then me." she typed back hitting send. The reply was almost instant.

I don't know for sure but you will. As for that lineup I know who you should put in Singles two.

Hikari stared at the text. She was about to reply back who he thought should be in singles two when another text arrived. Hikari stared at the text before smiling. "Now that's a good match up." she said to herself penciling in the name in the Singles two slot.

Now that the lineup was finally done the biggest part of her worry lifted and she could finally go to bed and get some much needed rest. Before she got up from her desk to head to bed she typed a short reply back to Tezuka.

"Thank you. I think I'll good a night's rest for once now." She hit send and went up to her bed, turning off lights as she went. She was just about to climb into her bed when her phone went off. Hikari flipped it open.

Any time, Higarashi.

Hikari smiled to herself as she closed the phone. For some reason she just felt a lot better when she talked to him. Like he made all of her problems look so small, like they could all be solved. He just made it all seem a lot better.

But she wrote it off as it just being because of everything he had done to help her in the past month or so. Hikari turned off her light and settled down for a night's rest. Tomorrow was finals, she would need all the rest she could get.

-0-0-0-0-

"Oishi-fukubuchou!" Oishi looked up as Hikari finally showed up running up to the group the lineup in hand. Today she was wearing her regular's jersey along with her cap and glasses as she had before Tezuka agreed to let her appear as the team's manager.

"Hika-chan? Do you have the lineup?" Oishi asked. Hikari nodded. "I asked Tezuka-buchou last night about some of the match ups. I kept getting stuck on a few and I thought that perhaps he could clear it up for me a little." she told him as she handed him the paper.

"He approved of all of the match ups." she added. Oishi looked at the paper before looking back up at her. "Tezuka told you this?" he asked. Hikari nodded. Oishi looked her over. "And how is your hand today?" he asked.

Hikari looked down at her right hand. Currently it was wrapped in bandages, the two injured fingers wrapped together. Thankfully the bones were only fractured and not fully broken. Though she still owed Kirihara for almost breaking her fingers. She owed him big time.

"Fine. I can't even really feel the pain. I can still move them and can sit pick up and grip things." she told him honestly. "My uncle is really good with these types of injuries." she added. A smile crossed Oishi's face. "Alright then. Lets go." he told her. Hikari nodded following him.

"Fuji you and Taka are going to be on the bench today." Oishi told them as he and Hikari rejoined the team. Everyone looked up when they heard this. "Wait you mean…" Everyone stared at Hikari with grins and smirks.

Hikari herself couldn't help but smile. "Looks like today marks the very first appearance of Seigaku's Silver Siren." Fuji remarked with a smile as Hikari grinned. "Silver Siren? Huh….I like it." Hikari remarked.

END

Kyandi: Sorry that this chapter was a little shorter then the others.

Hikari: She was a little busy trying to sick her pet snake on me.

Kyandi: I don't get it. Usually Mr. Ruffles loves to go after you. Today he wouldn't even budge.

Hikari: Perhaps because he was sleeping off the big mouse he caught in your basement?

Kyandi: Well that could always be true. Anyway I hope to have the next chapter up soon.

Hikari: Until then please enjoy and review.

Kyandi: BYE!