I don't think that the match before the quarter finals was the tennis-match, but it works that way in my story, ok?

^ ^- Kris' thoughts

Now then:

Chapter IV

With these thoughts, Ayumi entered the court.  "GO AYUMI! GO STREAK!" many shouted.  A ball was thrown to her.  Ayumi raised the ball to serve, it traveled too far left. 

"Fault!"

Given a second ball, Ayumi waited until her nerves calmed down a little.  She threw the ball up again, served, and the game was on.  Two minutes later after that same serve, the ball finally slashed past Kris' racket.  "Point, server, 15, love!"

"Good Lord, they are so evenly matched!" commented Mr. Miracle's personal doctor.  Mr. Miracle simply put his elbows on the table, chin on folded hands.

~*~

Halfway through time, they were still on the first set.  They still had two to go.  Both athletes were positively sweating.  The last game went by faster than the other, they both were terribly exhausted.  The current score was 15, 30; Kris' serve.  She served, it barely made it over the net with a topspin.

" 15, 40, set point!"

"Set point," Ayumi whispered under her breath.  Kris served.  Ayumi could barely control her feet when she hit the ball to Kris' backhand.  Kris hit a weak backhand, Ayumi countered it with a fast ball on Kris' opposite side.  As Kris ran for the ball, Ayumi re-centered herself on the court.  When the ball came back, she was ready with an underspin.  Once again, the ball almost hit the net, but it made it over.  Kris was too far back to get it.  "Set point, Ayumi Nagato!" A cheer went up.  It was an intense game.  If asked, anyone would say that they didn't know who would win.  The game was paused for five minutes to get the athletes back on their feet.  Ayumi could do nothing other than collapse on the bench and close her eyes. That was torture… On the other side of the court, Kris was also exhausted ^Akari…I'm almost there…soon…^

~*~

Third set, sixth game…final game.  Ayumi couldn't keep from breathing hard.  Both Ayumi and Kris had won two sets.  Before they could start the last one, time was called.  They were given twenty minutes for the last set.  People were fidgeting in the stands, some had actually left.  But Ayumi didn't care.  The only thing she was Kris, the court, the net, and the ball.  They continued.  Ayumi stood diagonally from Kris, ball in hand, ready to serve.  It was now or never.  Her body went into automatic pilot.  She threw the ball up, the tennis racket came into contact with the ball, and it slammed onto the other side with such force that it drove a slight indentation in the ground.

"She still has strength," commented the headmaster.

"Not for long," answered Mr. Miracle.  The crowd let out a little gasp when the ball hit the court, but gasped even louder when Kris actually returned it with an even hit.

"Point, receiver, Love, 15!"

Ayumi took another deep breath.  She served again.  This time, she was able to return the ball twice before losing another point.

"Love, 30!"

There is no way that I'm going to lose like this…no way…Carol…help.  She wondered why she had thought that, but shook it off.

"15, 30!"

Finally, she made a point. Whew! But it was understandable.  Anyone who played three sets three hours would have understood*.

"30, all!"

^Let's hoe this doesn't go into deuce again^ thought Kris.  She looked up in time to see Akari looking down at her from the stands.  It was hard to tell, but who could mistake those bunny ears' hair?

"40, 30!"

^Wow, I have to start paying attention^.

"Why did she just stand there?!"

"Akari," was all that Mr. Miracle could say.

"Deuce!"

^O, crap, not again!^ they both thought.  Suddenly, thoughts that she might not see Akari flashed through Kris' mind.  ^No, I don't want to lose her^.

"Advantage, receiver!" "Deuce!" "Advantage, server!" "Deuce!" "Advantage, server!" "Deuce!" "Advantage, receiver!"  It won't on like that forever.  By then, both athletes were gaining pretty frenZied looks on their faces, Kris most of all.  The ball was just a blur, the only clue to its location was the occasional dent in the ground.  In fact, the athletes seems to be playing harder and faster than before, despite the fact that they had played for nearly an hour.  Suddenly, Kris cried out, "I won't let you beat me!!"

"Wha…?!"

"I won't let you go to the finals…I…I promised Akari that I would go with her…I don't want to break this promise!"

"Promise?" Ayumi whispered. Promise?

"Well, that was a nice run…" breathed Ayumi.

"Right, but you still beat me…grr" Carol feigned taking a swing at her.

"Haha…well, the triathlon is tomorrow, I know that we will definitely make it."

"Yeah, we're the top two people." There was a small pause before Carol spoke again. "Ayumi?"

"Yeah?" I turned my head from watching the sunset fall under the cliff.

"I…I really appreciate all the time you helped me.  I used to be one of the last ones in a race, but now I'm in second place.  I can't thank you enough.  Not only did you raise my score's, you also raised my self-esteem.  "I am really happy that I'm your friend."

I blushed, could not help the wetness in my eyes  I blinked several times.

"Ayumi?"

"Well, I couldn't have done it without your willing to…half of it was you, don't forget about that."

We both paused to watch the sky and clouds grow dark.

"We should make a promise, right here," she startled Carol.

"What…what kind of promise?" (sound familiar?)

"That we will work together so one of us will become Cosmo Beauty."

Carol smiled, "Yes, officially?"

"Yeah."

We both touched index and middle finger to lips, heart and finally shook hands.

Carol, I promised to always be there for you…what am I doing here, why didn't I remember this the day you left?

Unable to think about the game anymore, she simply collapsed on the hard, baked court.  Her racket fell to the ground, she was on her knees.  The ball whiZZed over her head.  The audience, who had been holding their breath, burst forth a collected relief.  The game was finally over.  "Matchpoint, Kris Christopher!"

~*~

Weeks later, Akari KanZaki won her title as Cosmo Beauty.  But Ayumi was not there to see it on TV.  Instead, she was outside, catching up on old times with her childhood best friend, Carol.

*~*~*

*never played tennis at professional level, don't really know how long a match actually takes, but just think of it as an insanely loooong time.