Ryumi crosses the street absentmindedly before climbing the staircase. Reaching the practice wall, she dumps her bag onto a bench close by before taking out her racket and a ball.

It's quiet around as she starts practicing on her own, alternating between using her backhand and her forehand.

A flutter in the corner of her eyes makes her throw a quick glance at the folder sticking out of her bag for a moment before returning back to practicing before she loses the ball.

Doing this repetitive swing practice makes her able to think about what she discussed earlier with coach Ryuzaki. It's a lot to think about….

"Echizen, follow me to my classroom for a minute." coach Ryuzaki urges her, making her and Ryoma share a look before Ryoma starts following after her.

"The other one!" Ryuzaki calls before disappearing around the corner.

Another shares look and a shrug. "I'll see you later chibisuke." Ryumi tells him, pulling his cap over his eyes before sauntering after the coach, hearing him grumble.

Once inside, she steps up to the window seeing the courts below. The students are all busy practicing while the regulars are running laps around the court.

"Here, take a look at this." Ryuzaki says, making Ryumi look over to see her holding out a red folder.

Ryumi eyes the cover, blinking in surprise at the flashy words greeting her. "Intersexual doubles preliminaries?" She looks up at Ryuzaki with question in her eyes.

"It's an experimental competition brought to life to bring boys and girls tennis closer. I though it might interest you." she explains as Ryumi looks through the pages.

"Is this because of the doubles I played with Eiji? How do you know it isn't just a fluke?" she wonders.

Ryuzaki nods. "Ah~. Let's say I received some good data. It may not be what you'll eventually go for, but I think it might be a start. Plus, you'll help setting a new branch of the sport on the map." she explains with an easy going smile.

Ryumi glances outside towards Eiji, the one she knows she'll feel comfortable playing with no matter what. "He's a bit busy isn't he? I don't think I can bother him with this right now." she mutters, chewing on her lip.

"Why don't you let him decide? Think about it." Ryuzaki urges gently.

Ryumi nods slowly. "I'll think about it."

Her phone ringing breaks her out of her revere and she catches the ball before walking over to her bag. She fishes out her phone. "Moshi moshi."

"Ryumi-chan, it's a date." Inui's voice comes from the other side, making her blink in surprise.

"Inui?"

"Will you meet me at the ice parlor that serves your favorite sunday? We can follow them from there." he rattles, making her sigh.

"Sorry Inui. Not right now. Have fun though." she offers before hanging up on him.

From the other side of the line, Inui looks at his phone in question. "Odd." Normally he can bribe her to join him on spying on other people's business for ice cream. He'll give Eiji a try.

With another sigh, Ryumi slings her racket over her shoulder only to find her spot occupied.

"Oi!" she calls indignantly at the boy.

"You snooze, you lose." is the reply she receives.

"Are you always this rude, Rikkaidai Fuzoku's Kirihara-kun?" she shoots back, shifting her stance, not deterred by the boy.

He pauses, looking back at her. "You heard of me? Mmh, I must be more popular than I thought." he muses, making Ryumi raise a brow.

"I heard that you had been lurking around at Seigaku a while back, if that is what you mean. How did you end up all the way over here?" she questions, making him raise a brow this time around.

"You ask a lot of questions. Maybe I just like it here. It's not like I fell asleep on the bus or something." he explains defensively.

"Right. Whatever floats your boat I guess." Ryumi sighs. "So, you're not letting me play here anymore?"

Kirihara seems to think it over. "Mh… I guess I could scoot over a bit." he says, stepping to the side.

"Mh. Thanks." Ryumi tells him, taking the other side.

He stares at her for a minute, making her unable to even lift the ball, feeling too much like she's being scrutinized. "You want to say something?"

He blinks. "Ah~. You look pretty cute. What's your name?" he asks bluntly, making her stare at him in return for an awkward moment that Kirihara himself seems oblivious to.

"Echizen Ryumi and… thanks, I guess? You're pretty straight forward aren't you?" she muses, finally able to serve her ball and restart her practice now that his gaze isn't so intense. Kirihara does the same.

"Echizen? Related to Seigaku's first year regular Echizen?" he wonders, making Ryumi hum in confirmation.

Kirihara smirks at this. "Than I apologize in advance for his loss. Seigaku won't be getting passed us." he tells her, making her glance over unimpressed.

"We'll see."

….

"Well, see you around!" Kirihara waves as he saunters off after about an hour of practice. "It's getting too rowdy here…" he mutters under his breath, bothered by the shouts coming from the courts.

"Yeah, see you!" Ryumi calls back, before putting her stuff away. She wants to check out what's going on because she thinks she recognizes those voices.

She follows the path to the court, looking around in wonder as she sees her brother play doubles against Momoshiro and Fudomine's Akira Kamio with Fudomine's Ibu Shinji.

She spots Mizuki there playing referee and Fuji standing nearby. "Fujiko." she speaks up, announcing her presence. "What's going on?" she wonders.

He smiles his usual smile. "It's a date." he explains vaguely.

"Is this what Inui called me for earlier?" she wonders, making him nod. "I don't get it." she states after a moment.

"Perhaps you should ask Ann-chan." Fuji suggests, pointing to the benches where Yuuta, Yanagisawa and a young girl are. Nodding, she saunters over towards the bleachers.

"Afternoon!" she greets, making Yuuta smile down at her.

"Ryumi-senpai, you're here too?" he wonders, making her nod before turning to the young girl who looks up at her curiously.

"You must be Ann-chan, am I right?" she asks, making the girl smile brightly. "I'm Echizen Ryumi."

"Nice to meet you." she greets happily.

"So… what's going on here?" Ryumi asks again, sitting down beside her.

Ann's smile widens even more. "It's a date!" she states, making Ryumi look around at the situation once more.

"So I heard." she muses, though still confused. Will she ever find out what's happening? She sighs, giving up.

"Hey, what's this?" Ann wonders, picking up something off the ground. Ryumi's eyes widen as she spots the folder in Ann's hands.

"Intersexual doubles?" Yuuta questions, leaning over Ryumi to see what it is, before looking to Ryumi for answers.

Said girl quickly snatches the folder from Ann, stuffing it in her back. "It's just an idea I'm playing with. It's nothing yet really." she tells them quickly.

"Hmm." Yuuta hums in thought. "It's not a bad idea…" he muses.

Ryumi blinks up at him in surprise. "You think?" she questions before staring ahead of her in thought.

Finally she gets up, excusing herself, "Sorry, I have to make a quick call."

Taking out her phone, she searches her favorite contacts before pressing 'call'.

"Hoi hoi!" Eiji's cheerful voice answers from the other end, making her smile.

"Eiji, it's Ryumi. Where are you right now?" she questions.

"Ah! Hi Ryumi-chan! We're at the street tennis courts near the park." he answers, making her blink in surprise.

"We? And where exactly?" she questions further.

"Me, Inui, Taka-san and Oishi. At the entrance. Why?" he wonders.

"Hold on." she says before walking towards the entrance, standing at the top of the staircase. "Look up."

"Huh?" she sees Eiji looking around before he finally spots her. "Ryumi-chan~!" he calls excitedly, making her flinch and quickly hang up her phone. Eiji smiles apologetically before he and the others rush up the stairs to meet her.

"What are you doing here?" Eiji wonders when he comes face to face with her, making her smile a bit nervously.

She looks towards the others first. "Your 'date' is happening over there." she points out before turning back to Eiji. "Can you please come with me Eiji? I want to ask you something." she asks him, making them all blink in curiosity.

"Ah… Of course." Eiji mutters, looking a bit bashful all of a sudden. They say their goodbyes before Ryumi leads the way to where she and Kirihara were practicing before.

She wonders what his answer will be.

Hello everyone! I want to let you guys know that I will be gone for a few weeks, so no updates for a while.

I will be vacationing throughout Kyushu Japan. I waited four years to be able to go back and I'm excited! I just hope this weekend's typhoon will be the last one.

You will hear from me once I'm back, so please continue to let me know your thoughts on this part and the story overall.