Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters.

Author's note: I was almost finished this chapter and then it got an encoding problem and screwed up so I have to retype it. I am SO sorry for anyone who was reading my story. I am VERY grateful for all the reviews! I'm so happy people are reading. I will do my best to get this up today and make it better than the screwed up chapter.

Sakuno walked happily to school the next day. Namuri had banished any doubts Sakuno had about being friends again. Sakuno had confessed her feelings to Namuri over dinner at Namuri's home. Namuri's family was busy so they were left alone to talk and Sakuno felt much better. It was like talking to Tomoka, relieving and comforting.

"Sakuno, are you listening?" Tomoka waved a hand in front of the day dreaming girl.

"Gomen Tomo-chan! I didn't mean to ignore you!" Sakuno's cheeks were tinted with pink.

"That's ok. I'm just glad you aren't all quiet like yesterday. By the way, I called you three times last night and your grandma said you went out with your friends." Tomoka stopped her best friend and looked at her with protectiveness in her eyes. "Who are these people that you would spend all night with them?"

"I didn't spend all night with her. She invited me for dinner and told me to wait until her parents got home so she could drive me home because it was getting dark."

"I should meet these people. They might be a bad influence making you stay out that late!" Tomoka smiled happily. "But you're coming to watch Ryoma- sama play today right?"

Sakuno had completely forgotten. She stared nervously at her friend whose eyes grew large and watery. "You mean you forgot?"

"No, it's just that I made plans with Namuri-san."

"But Sakuno, Ryoma-sama is playing!"

"I'll just call her and tell her I'm going to be late, ok?" Tomoka let it slide and the girls went off to start the day with their first period.

At lunch, Sakuno walked cheerily through the halls, looking for her best friend. Some girls had told her Tomoka went to the courts to get a good spot to watch Ryoma play. Tomoka left nothing to chance when it came to watching Ryoma. She was mapping out the courts to see where she'd see Ryoma best. Sakuno was a little late in meeting Tomoka but her call had taken slightly longer than she'd planned.

Sakuno had called Namuri to postpone their afternoon. Surprisingly for Sakuno, Namuri said everything was fine and that she should have fun. Something had come up and Namuri had another band practice. Namuri seemed in such high spirits. She even invited Tomoka to come and hang out with them. Sakuno declined the offer and Namuri laughed, saying she'd see her later.

Sakuno rounded the corner and stopped just in time not to run into Ryoma. Sakuno blushed a bit and looked at her shoes. "Gomen Ryoma, I am day dreaming so much lately."

"Betsuni," Ryoma looked at the girl he'd ignored some many times. She seemed like every other girl but after following her yesterday, he found that he really didn't know anything about her. He'd been up last night trying to think of one thing he knew about her that wasn't tennis related. He came up with nothing.

A long awkward silence proceeded. Surprisingly, Ryoma broke the silence. "So who was that girl yesterday?"

"You mean Namuri-san? She's one of my childhood friends."

Ryoma made a small sound of acknowledgement. There, now he knew one thing about Sakuno. There was a little more silence when Ryoma started again. "She isn't someone I thought you'd hang out with."

"What do you mean by that, Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno felt a little knot twisting in her stomach. She could remember this conversation from years of defending her friends against prejudice.

"She's a punk." He said simply. "She's just going to bring trouble. It's what kids like her do."

Sakuno felt a long extinguished anger was sparking inside her. It began to grow with every passing second, into a raging fire. "What would you know? You don't know anything about her!" Sakuno couldn't stop herself. "Namuri is a good person. You wouldn't know that after just one meeting."

Ryoma was slightly stunned by Sakuno's behavior. She was usually quiet and shy but now she was yelling with great conviction. He didn't think he deserved to be yelled at but she gave him no room to talk back.

"You don't know Namuri and you never will because you're being stubborn and rude and..." Sakuno struggled to find the words she'd buried away in her memory. "You're being a pathetic bastard!"

Some kids that had gathered around to watch Sakuno shout gasped in surprise. Sakuno NEVER shouted. Sakuno NEVER got mad. Sakuno NEVER swore. Whispering broke out and began spreading through the crowd of people. Sakuno looked around suddenly aware of the crowd of people whispering around her.

'Oh no, I screwed up! How could I have lost control like that?' Sakuno thought angrily.

A loud voice began to push his way to the front and Momo. "Hey, what's going on here?"

Eiji popped up behind Momo and looked between the two freshmen. "Ochibi and Ryuzaki-chan?"

Sakuno began to panic. She burst into tears and pushed her way out of the crowd. Momo and Eiji immediately turned on Ryoma, grabbing him.

"What did you do to her, Echizen?"

"Nothing." said the small boy trying to escape his senpais' grip.

"Then why is she crying?"

"I don't know!" Ryoma put up a valiant struggle and he was soon released. His senpais lectured him the rest of the day, while Ryoma listened half heartedly. It was odd how only Sakuno was able to hurt Ryoma (though he'd never truly admit it) by calling him a bastard.

Sakuno went home and skipped the rest of her classes. She'd cried herself into a nap. When she woke up an hour later, she felt a little better. How could she have made such a mistake? Everything had been ok and then she blew her cover.

What's worse was what she'd said to Ryoma. She went into the washroom and looked at herself. Her eyes were puffy and red. They made her look pathetic and weak. She looked closely at her reflection, examining her innocent large brown eyes and her long braided brown hair. She looked at how small and innocent and weak she looked. She looked like a doormat, a pushover who bent to everyone's will.

She didn't recognize who this girl was. She ran from who she was and made up someone else to be. Namuri had told her that she couldn't run from who she was. It would catch up to her and then you wouldn't know who you were.

Namuri had always been there for her, just like she'd always been there for Namuri. Ryoma's words came back to her and Sakuno knew she wasn't wrong. He had no right to say things about Namuri. He knew nothing of what she had been through or who she was. Sakuno had risen to defend her friend as she had done many times before.

Sakuno returned to her room and opened her closet. She fought her way right to the back and dug out her clothes and the boxes where she'd locked away her past. She sat on the floor looking at the boxes. She wasn't ready to do this alone.

Sakuno picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number. "Hello?"

"Namuri, I need some help."

Author's Note: This is MUCH shorter than I had planned so I am going to start the next chapter right now! Please review and point out some things you thought I could do better. If you have any complaints or have been offended in anyway please express your concerns in your reviews.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I love you all so much. I haven't ever gotten so many reviews in two chapters before! I am so sorry it took me so long but I will try to get this next chapter up soon!