Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis, just Sakura and the plot. Please don't hurt me.

Author's note: I really did mean to make this a Sakuno centered fic., but somehow Sakura just took hold of me and screamed, "Write about me!" Oh well, I hope you all like this, as I promised, a lighter chapter. Just to warn everybody this chapter has guy-bashing in it. I'm only semi-serious, it's really just meant to be for fun, I hope no one gets offended by it.

Chapter 4 - Guys

Sakura was back in Sakuno's bedroom. They had gotten back from their little trip from the used bookstores. Sakura looked at the volumes of manga that she had just bought. I can't believe I was able to get the latest volume of Fruits Basket so cheap, yea! She looked up at her younger cousin, who was sitting on her bed. Sakura noticed that she was trying to look interested and happy, but she seemed distracted.

"Sakuno-chan is everything alright?"

The twelve year old snapped out of her reverie and looked down at her older cousin, "Yeah, I was just thinking about something."

Sakura's eyes narrowed for a moment, "You wouldn't happen to be thinking about a certain cap wearing, non-talking, cocky, tennis prodigy?" She watched as her cousin's eyes went wide and then her entire face turned crimson and Sakuno began to sputter in disagreement. Sakura gave her a sympathetic look, she knew that Sakuno was thinking about Ryoma, and she understood why. I suppose it was going to happen, figures she'd fall for him. Ryoma really is his father's child. Sakura tilted her head before speaking, "Sakuno-chan, do you like him?"

Sakuno turned a even brighter shade of red. She tried to speak, but her vocal cords only produce a small squeak, so she nodded. Her older cousin went up to sit next to her on the bed. She gave Sakuno a hug and looked into her eyes. "I know; it sucks doesn't it? But Sakuno-chan, do you like him because of his tennis, or do you really like Ryoma because he's Ryoma?" Sakuno's eyes flew up to look at her older cousin. She never really thought about it before. Ryoma wasn't perfect, he ignored her constantly, usually seemed annoyed when he was tricked into helping her with tennis, but there was something about him that always drew her to him. So then why? Why put up with being ignored, having him tell me without words that I am bothersome.

Sakura sighed when she saw Sakuno thinking. Her poor cousin, probably never considered the possibility that she cared for an ideal and not a person before. Better to have the talk now before it got too far, just in case. "You need to figure out which describes your feelings for him as soon as you can. If it's the first then you can save yourself from a lot of heartaches when you're older. Because if it's the ideal that you care for the sooner you admit it; the sooner you can see that he's not ideal, and the sooner you can care for the person. However, if you care for him, really him and not the image, then it can be really hard. You have to deal with people who will claim to love him, but they really only care for the image. You'll have to deal with the idea that he may be with someone who only craves the image and the attention that comes with being around him. You'll have to deal with being ignored and the realization that he may never see you for who you are."

"You make it sound like all I have to look forward to is my heart breaking over and over again." Sakuno stated bitterly.

Sakura lifted her chin so her little cousin could see her eyes. She gave Sakuno a small understanding smile, "Sakuno-chan," she said gently, "If all things in life didn't have risk, then what's the point of living? Yes, caring for some one like Ryoma can result in a lot of heartache, but by admitting it to yourself; you can get to a point where you won't hurt so much. If you really want to stay by him, that's fine but make sure his life doesn't become your life. Find something that you love, and focus on that. When he falters, and as improbable as that sounds, everyone comes to a point when they hit a wall, be there, even if he needs to overcome his barrier on his own, just, just make sure that you let him know that you will be there waiting for him on the other side. Make sure that you leave enough for you, your life, your loves, and passions, not just his."

Sakuno looked at her cousin for a minute. The words made sense, but it wasn't the words that interested her, it was her tone. "Sakura-neichan, you . . .who do you care for?"

Instead of denying it, Sakura just looked at her cousin. "I'm that transparent? To be honest sometimes I think I'm just in love with the idea of being in love with him." She turned slightly and looked down at her hands in her lap. "Besides right now, I 'm no better than a distraction to him. He doesn't need that in his life right now."

"I don't think Tezuka-sempai would think so lowly of you," her younger cousin told her softly. Sakura raised her right eyebrow. Sakuno gulped, "He's the only player that you ask about in your letters beside Oishi-sempai, and Oishi-sempai is much too nice to think you were only a distraction." Sakura only stared at her cousin before giving her a sheepish grin.

"You're right, Syu-kun is much too kind for his own good. I hope he doesn't fall for some high maintenance witch; he deserves someone nice. But really, even if he wouldn't admit it, I'm a distraction." Sakuno opened her mouth to protest, but before she could say anything, Sakura raised her hand to continue. "I'm not saying that I'm a bad distraction, but I'm a distraction, to all of them, remember what happened at practice? But then again, what do you expect from guys?" Her tone changed from thoughtful to joking. "Really, all guys are idiots, and there is no changing of it. They're doomed to be idiots for years before we can expect them to act like adults."

"Not all of them are that bad," Sakuno said weakly trying to defend some of them.

Sakura just laughed. "Believe me, when it comes to their emotions, we may have to wait a lifetime before they get over themselves. I never explained my view on the male gender have I?" Sakuno shook her head. Sakura smirked. "Well, get nice and comfy cuz this will take a while."

"Now the most important thing to remember is that there is always, and I mean always, exceptions to what I'm telling you. Exceptions exist in everything including guys, the only thing is I have yet to meet a guy who is an exception, and no one has ever refuted me, and believe me; I've asked. The other thing to remember is that variations exist in all things; I'm not going to talk about every type of guy, just a more general picture of all them.

"As babies there isn't that much difference between boys and girls. It's when boys start to walk and talk that my theory begins. It starts around 3 to 7 there are basically three types of boys, Perfect Little Gentlemen, Little Devils, and In-betweens. Perfect Little Gentlemen act exactly like they sound. They're nice, polite, listen to adults, nice to girls, but not sissies per se, they just know what's right from wrong. The Little Devils are also exactly the way they sound. They pull pranks, don't react well with authority figures, tease/act badly around girls, run amuck, you get the idea. In-betweens are a mix of the two.

"Now, during the ages of 7-10 we get to the stage when almost all boys think that girls are stupid. I like to think of it as their Pre-Guy years. They start to act all macho and stupid. And don't get me started on their egos when it comes to sports." Sakura did a mock shudder, her younger cousin giggled. "Don't get me wrong, there are still traces of the little boys that they use to be, but they're starting puberty, so the Guy phase is inescapable. They're going to make complete fools of themselves at this point. Of course, not all of them are like that, just about 90% of them are.

"And now we get into the Guy Phase. Now in a nice fantasy world, we would be able to bypass this phase, but in real life this phase may last for the rest of their life. If you don't believe me ask Ryoma about his father, there's a life timer if I ever saw one. Anyway, the Guy is a real jerk, usually a smart mouth. During this phase, the Guy is usually the worst during high school, I don't know why, but it's what I have observed so far. Maybe when I go to college I'll learn that I was wrong. Anyway, I'm just going to talk about the worst type of Guy. This type of Guy is a super jerk because he's usually very good-looking and very talented or very well rounded, and he knows it." She sounded so bitter that Sakuno just giggled again. She turned to her younger cousin, "I'm serious, just you wait another couple of years, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.

My biggest problem with this type of Guy is their attitude/ego. There's a senior at my school, name is Peter, perfect example of the type of Guy you have to avoid for the rest of your life. Gifted in looks, athletics, and fairly intelligent, but oh, my God, such a pig. The things that his friends and he say about girls, when they get together, are sick. It's degrading, they talk like they're God's gift to dating, as if all they have to do is snap their fingers, and they can have any girl they want, like we're objects. I don't care if most of it is just talk, and they really don't feel that way. Just by joking about stuff like that, I want to just go over and slap the whole lot of them." Sakura then gave her cousin a smirk, "Of course, there are ways of getting back at people like him. Beating them in anything they're good at, whether it be sports or class, CONSISTENTLY, usually takes them down a peg or two. And then there is the option of driving their precious car into a lake.

"Oh, and good luck trying to get them to really talk their feelings, the really serious ones, not just, 'How do you feel about dinner tonight?' No, I'm talking about the 'Why do you care about me?'-type feelings. And why do they not want to talk, because they think it's silly, and unmanly; forgetting the basic truth that talking about their feelings gives them free brownie points with their girlfriends, if they're lucky enough to have one, and healthier for them on an emotional level than keeping everything bottled up. Of course part of the problem is that if they do start to acknowledge how they really feel, then they would have to admit that what girls have been doing for generations is good, meaning that on some level they would have to admit that females are superior in some way, and this is can never be." Sakura finished with a wide smile in her eyes and on her face.

Sakuno just giggled. "Sakura-neichan, that's a little harsh, I mean there has to be nice guys, I can't imagine someone as kind as Oishi-sempai being a jerk."

Her cousin smiled and nodded, "Yes, there are nice guys out there. The biggest problem of course is that as nice and sensitive as they are, as soon as they are alone with their buddies, their guy tendencies surface. What can I say; no one is perfect. The other thing is that usually the nice guys are either your friends and you're not interested or if you are, you don't want to ruin the friendship, or they're taken. Believe me; it's always the nice ones who get the girlfriends first, and there is a reason for that, even if the other idiots don't realize it." She stopped to sigh and was about to continue, but her father peaked his head into the room.

"Am I interrupting some secret meeting between the two of you?"

The two just looked at each other and giggled liked little children. "No, I was just telling my cousin, my opinion on the male gender."

Sakura's father groaned and rolled his eyes, "You know, you sound like your mother more and more each day, Lena-chan. Come on you two, time for dinner."

Tuesday

Sakuno walked towards the tennis courts to watch the boy practice since the girls practice had finished early. She was happy today because her sempai told her that she had improved a lot. She got closer to the courts she noticed Ryoma playing a match with Oishi; she watched them as she remembered what her cousin told her the other night.

"No matter what, you should always remember that the most important thing is respect. You need to respect yourself enough to realize that if some guy doesn't respect you then he doesn't deserve your attention."

Of course, this made Sakuno wonder if Ryoma respected her. In her mind, she decided that there was a very good possibility that Ryoma only felt contempt for her. She winced at the thought. Then she remembered that respect isn't given; it's earned. She didn't know how, but she knew that some day she'll get Ryoma to respect her. In the meantime, she was content to admire him. Suddenly a groan was heard over the tennis courts. It was the first time she noticed her cousin was on the court with a racket in her hand and across the court was a very disheartened Momoshiro.

Oishi and Tezuka stole a look over at Momoshiro, looking at the expression on his face it was obvious that he didn't fare well against Sakura. Then they looked at Sakura, and Oishi gulped. Sakura's eyes were gleaming, and that was never a good sign. "Momoshiro, what did you agree to?" Oishi asked. Momoshiro didn't respond; his head between his hands, he just closed his eyes and groaned again. Fuji was smiling; he had heard the entire bet and watched the match. Fuji's smile was oddly wide, and he began to speak.

"He agreed to a karaoke battle."

"Well, that's not so bad, really Momoshiro, you'd think that you promised that the entire regulars would have to participate with the moaning you're doing." Oishi started, then his voice began to fade when he realized that Fuji's smile grew bigger. Oishi's eyes got wider. "No, he didn't." But Sakura's laughter only confirmed his sinking feeling.

"MOMOSHIRO!"

Jadeling's notes: Ha, ha, can you imagine Kaido trying to sing? Ha! Sakura's such a schemer, hee hee.

Beriath – Ha! I'm trying; I swear! Glad you liked the explanation, I was worried that people would think it was hoiky. The reporters will be making an appearance but not quite yet. I promise that Oichibi will show up more in the next couple of chapters, especially in chapter 6.

H0shiko – What can I say? I read and watch a lot of mystery shows, you learn a lot of useless information, and also develop a twisted mind. Thanks for the nice review, I hope you like this chapter as well.

Hotori – Five stars, Wow! ^v^ Have nice, warm, and fuzzy feeling inside hearing that. Thanks!

Hmmm, did you guys really want this to be a Tezuka x Sakura ficy? I have thought about it as I stated in my earlier notes that Sakura is pretty much taking control of this story, not that I had originally planned it that way. But I'm really not sure how I'd get that to work . . . I can't promise much, I mean it's one thing to admit you like someone like Sakura does in this chapter, but would she act on it, ummmmmm, probably not. As for the Ryoma x Sakuno pairing, I swear, there will be hints. I promise!!