Disclaimer: I don't own Tennis no Ojisama except for cards and stationary.

Author's Notes: Hee hee, I have nothing to say, just that I hope you enjoyed the end of the last chapter. Now on with the show!

Chapter 5 - Triggers

"Ssssshh!"

"Will make good data."

"I can't believe this."

"I think it'll be fun, nya."

"Yada."

These remarks were only a few of the protests that erupted as the agreement between Sakura and Momoshiro was revealed. Sakura was over by the side of the court at this moment while the rest of the regulars surrounded a very distressed Momoshiro at the middle of the court. Sakuno walked over to her cousin.

"Don't you think you should tell them something so they won't hurt Momoshiro-sempai?" Her voice slightly laced with worry.

Her older cousin raised an eyebrow before walking over to the group. "A deal is a deal. If I lost then I promised I would go out on a date, and if Momoshiro lost, it was agreed that the regulars would participate in a karaoke battle. Fuji-san heard the whole exchange of so either of us tried to renege on the bet then there would be a penalty to pay."

The others turned to her, "What kind of penalty?" Kawamura asked.

"Drinking a pitcher of Inu's Super Energy Juice, in one gulp."

All of the regulars stopped their glares at Momoshiro and just gulped, except for one (guess who?). Ryoma spoke first, "Why a karaoke battle Sakura?"

"You're all competitive; I figured even if I suggested karaoke, by the end of the night, it will turn out to be some battle of who is better. Plus," she gave them a smile, "I thought it would be fun."

Friday Night

The regulars of Seigaku were standing in front of a large glass building. After learning of the punishment for reneging on the challenge between Sakura and Momoshiro, most of them stopped harassing the young tennis player. Well, Tezuka made him run 50 laps at practice for the next two days, and Kaido refused to even say anything, but just hissed at him for the rest of the week. However, besides that, all of the other regulars stopped their hazing. Now?  Now, they were waiting, for Sakura to appear to take them to where ever this hell of a night was going to take them. They waited for about 5 more minutes before Inui opened the door for them.

"Inui-sempai, when did you get here, and how did you get in?" Momoshiro asked.

"I came here 15 minutes and 7 seconds ago, and I asked to see Sakura. Come on, she's going to be a bit late."

"Wait a minute, when I got here and asked to see her, the people of the desk told me they didn't know anyone by that name," a confused Oishi stated.

"Maybe that's because you didn't use the right name." The others looked slightly confounded for moment before the seniors realized that they were walking through some photo studio. As they walked through the hall and to the elevators, Momoshiro noticed a framed picture and went over to admire the person in it.

"Selene Lee, I have this photo, of course it's a lot smaller but man she is so hot, it's too bad that she's dating some other model." Then his eyes narrowed a bit as he got closer to the picture. Suddenly his eyes grew wide and he backed away from the photo as if a poisonous snake that just bit him.

"What's wrong Momoshiro?" Kikumaru asked.

"Nothing, I just, is it just me or does Selene Lee look a lot like Sakura?" a nervous Momoshiro questioned. Kaido looked at him as if he was crazy. Then again, Kaido wasn't a big fan of Selene Lee, he thought she was pretty, but he didn't have time to moon over some pretty face when there was a good chance that he'd never meet the person behind it. Ryoma just closed his eyes as if Momshiro was being dumb. That was until they got out of the elevators and into someone's studio. There was a photo shoot going on, with many people and a lot of lights, and the tennis players just felt like they were completely out of place until someone noticed them.

"Oh, you must to be the friends Selene was talking about. She told us you'd be coming. We're a bit behind, one of the models didn't show so we had to get a replacement; they should be done soon. If you want, I can show you where you can wait." The group allowed themselves to be led to a sitting area away from the organized chaos that was the shoot.

They didn't wait long before Sakura came out for the shoot. She was wearing her gray contacts and her hair was up in an elaborate twist with only a few wisps that framed her face. She was wearing a good amount of silver jewelry too. A silver chain with star charms was weaved throughout her hairstyle and ended with the chain dangling on her right side, while she wore matching earrings and a bracelet. In her right hand was a small bouquet of flowers. She was wearing a pale blue, full-length dress with a slit on the side that stopped around the knees.

However, what made all of the players jaw drop was the person who followed her. The girl appeared to be very nervous and Sakura kept whispering and smiling to her to keep her at ease. She was wearing a blue dress as well, but unlike Sakura's the skirt ended mid-calf and flared out. She sported a genie-style ponytail with two silver chains wrapped around the tail in a crisscross pattern. Maybe it was the hair and makeup but it took everyone about a minute before they realized that the girl with Sakura was Sakuno.

"Oy, Sakuno looks really cute today don't you think, Ochibi?" a smug Kikamaru asked Ryoma noticing that the shocked expression hadn't left the young boy's face yet.

"Yeah, she does." Ryoma stated somewhat dazed. Then as if his own voice woke him up from his confused state, he quickly turned around to find himself surrounded by several of his teammates staring at him. He didn't mean to speak that admission, he thought he only said it in his mind. He was about to say something else, but before the hazing could begin a small shriek diverted their attentions.

Sakuno was extremely nervous; she was only supposed to be an observer. She had begged her uncle and grandmother to come see one of Sakura's photo shoot because she was curious. Today, Sakura was posing designer gowns, specifically bridal gowns with other models; Sakura was one of the bridesmaids. Sakuno was enjoying watching her cousin get dressed up; it was like watching Cinderella getting ready for a ball. Then the call came that the model who was suppose to be the flower girl wasn't going to be able to come, someone notice Sakuno watching. That person mentioned that Sakuno seemed to be around the right age and build of the other model. Immediately, Sakuno was surrounded by people asking her who she was, and what she was doing at the shoot, before Sakura rescued her. After Sakura talked to a couple of people, she went to her younger cousin and asked if Sakuno wanted to participate as the flower girl in the shoot.

The process was like a daydream to Sakuno. She couldn't even remember how she got out of her regular clothes to the silk dress. When she saw her reflection in the mirror she couldn't believe he eyes. She didn't even resemble herself, she just stared completely shocked. Who knew that some makeup and a change of hairstyle could do so much? Sakuno was so distracted she didn't even notice when her cousin walked up behind her. Sakura told her something, she couldn't remember, but Sakuno finally noticed that her cousin was also finished getting dressed up.

"Selene, are you and your cousin ready?" The photographer called out to them.

"Yeah, we'll be out in a minute," Sakura yelled out. She turned back to her younger cousin, "You know if you really don't want to do this, you don't have to."

Sakuno just shook her head, "No, it'll be fun to be a model for a day, you know?"

Sakura looked down at her cousin, and gave her a wide grin. "Yeah, it can be you know, just let me know if you want to stop okay?"

Sakuno didn't know how long they were out their, although it was busy and chaotic it was also fun on a surreal level. First, they did some individual shots of the different dresses, then they did group shots of the girls and then the boys. After they getting shots of the boys, the girls were suppose to come out again to do a group shot of the whole party. While they were waiting for the boys to finish, Sakuno met some of the other models who for the most part seemed nice. Sakuno was enjoying herself immensely although she as she watched the blinking flash from the camera lights she couldn't understand this nagging feeling from her brain. A feeling that something wasn't quite right. She wasn't very far when someone informed her cousin that the Seigaku regulars were waiting. Sakuno felt her face grow pale. I can't go out there looking like this. I'll embarrass not only myself but Sakura-neichan in front of them all, especially in front of Ryoma-kun. I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to pose. Why? Do you not like me God?

As if aware of her discomfort, Sakura quickly came up to her cousin and reassured her that if she didn't want to pose for the last sequence it would be okay. But the other models told Sakuno that she was doing fine. They persuaded and reassured her that the shoot wouldn't last much longer and that she had nothing to be embarrassed by. Bolstered by their assurances, and Sakura's smiles, she went out to be in front of the cameras again. She was feeling more confident with Sakura by her when one of the male models crept up behind her older cousin and lifted her from behind. Sakura gave a small shriek of surprise and then started to tell the young model, whose name was Kenichi to put her down. Kenichi looked down at Sakuno, gave her a quick wink, and lifted her older cousin over his shoulder. Sakuno started to giggle at the action, which made Kenichi smile.

"Look, Selene-san I got your cousin to laugh, something that no one has done this entire shoot. What do you say to that?"

"I say you better put me down before Sae-san from costuming kills you for ruining this dress." Sakura responded in good humor.

"Oh, you're no fun, but you're right." The model carefully placed Sakura back down, where she promptly gave him a small smack across the chest.

"I would smack your face, but then you would need to go back to make up and I don't want their wrath on me. Oh, look you messed up your boutonnière, let me fix it." They continued their light banter while one of the photographers noticing the chemistry between the two started to take their pictures. Sakuno laughed as the two started to trade small insults, but noticed the regulars standing off in the distance. What interested her was the look on Tezuka's face. Instead of the usual stoic expression in his eyes, they were narrowed by some unknown emotion. She didn't have time to analyze these observation, because the other models were out and the photographers started to motion the need to pose them together.

When they finally came out again, Sakura had changed her contacts to give herself brown eyes, and her hair was now in a very loose twist. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans with holes in the knees and a faded tee shirt that said "Diva" on the front. On the other hand her cousin was came out wearing her school uniform, but instead of her normal two braids, her hair was also in a loose twist . They came over to the boys, Sakuno's head was down and she started to blush furiously, while Sakura gave them an apologetic grin.

"Sorry for the delay, we got held up a bit. Did you have dinner yet?" The group shook their heads. "Come on, there's a restaurant on the top floor we use that's not too expensive and then we can go to the karaoke place."

At dinner, Kikamaru complemented the two girls about the shoot. The others echoed their complements as well save for two members (gee, I wonder who? ;)). Sakuno just epped at the members and blushed an even brighter crimson, while Sakura gave them a faint grin. "Thanks, but you should be thanking the people in charge of makeup and hair, it's their job is making us look good."

After dinner, as they were waiting for the elevators, several models from the shoot came off their level, including Kenichi. Upon seeing Sakura, he came up to her, "Selene-san! How could you cheat on me with so many good looking guys?" He stated in mock horror.

Sakura let out an exaggerated sigh and rolled her eyes as if annoyed, before answering, "Ken-san, how can I cheat on you if we're not dating?"

"But you won't even join me for dinner and here I find you and your cousin with nine guys."

"Ah, but you've never asked me to dinner, you only asked me to grab some coffee."

He smiled, "Touché," Kenichi continued in a more serious manner. "You haven't been hassled too much by the press have you?"

"About the latest article or the rumors of our supposed relationship?"

He grimaced at the last part before giving the group an apologetic grin, "Both."

She shrugged, "I'm doing alright, the press hasn't figured out where I'm staying yet; I pity my agent. Although, I do find it amusing that a trip to get coffee became a torrid relationship."

He laughed with her. "I know, I mean we are older than children, but we're not adults yet. However, the tabloids will have you believe that I'm getting married. I wonder, how is a trans-pacific relationship supposed to work, where I only get to see my beloved every 3-4 months?"

Sakuno giggled at Kenichi's puzzled face. He smiled and continued, "Anyway, Ha-san wanted you to know that the photos from today should be done by morning. He said if you'd like copies of the photos of you and your cousin, you should let him know by Sunday."

"Oh, that would be great. I'll leave a message for him now. Thanks!"

"No prob. I should get back. It's nice meeting you Sakuno-chan."

They headed down the block before entering another tall building, which Sakura revealed was owned by the agency, which included a recreation center. Inside, she explained that the center had a couple of karaoke rooms, but only one room would be large enough to fit them all. They took a couple of turns before reaching their destination. Sakura turned around, looked at the players, and frowned, "Where's Ryoma and Sakuno?"

The others looked among themselves and realized that the youngest members in their group were gone. Sakura's frown deepened as she excused herself and went to retrace her steps, with the tennis players following close behind. As she walked, she heard Ryoma's voice wafting through the halls.

"Oy, Sakuno, are you all right? Hey, snap out of it."

Her eyes widened and she quickened her pace.

Jadeling's Notes: I know it's a big cliffhanger, but believe me the chapter would be waaay too long if I didn't end it now. I'm really writing as fast as I can, but things happen. I think it's only fair to warn all of my readers that as I keep writing I find myself getting more and more serious, and as much as I try, I really don't know if I can get the later chapters to be as funny as the first couple. So I'm saying this right now to all of you people who really liked the humor: I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY!

The flutterer; butter-fly:  Thanks for the loan, but I'm not sure if I'll use it . . . yet.  Hey, guys if you want to read a really cute Ryoma x Sakuno fic, read her's!  I thought it was very, very good!  And thanks for reading and reviewing my ficy too!

Hitori:  Wow, lots of info!  As you can see, I didn't use It (but not because I didn't want to, promise), but I may have questions about the songs later.  I haven't decided if the karaoke thing is ever really going to happen, because a lot of things are about to happen in the next couple of chapters. 

H0shiko:  Glad you liked the last chapter, kind of funny wasn't it?  Hope you won't kill me for the cliffy that I just left.