Author's Note

Whoa! It had been SOOooooo... long! I'm REALLY very sorry for this delay, it's just that I was in a MAJOR writer's block and that things were not going well for me at home and in school..Ya..I apologize...
Hmm..this chapter may be a little weird..I don't know for you, but it seems weird to me..Ah..Forgive me..I haven't touched this story in months, so I am now a little out of touch. Does Tsukushi & Rui seems to be out of character to you? Ah...things seem to be quite foreign...haiz..I must be boring you...On with the story!

Seeing that Tsukushi was the weak link, Soujirou and Yuki directed most of the balls to her. To her credit, though she was playing very badly during practice, she had improved a lot and managed to hit back some of the balls that were directed towards her.

For a long time, there was no clear winning team. Though Tsukushi was not as good as the others, Rui made up for her mistakes with his quick actions and forceful serves. Whenever Soujirou's team scored against them, Rui was quick to bring up the score.

"Out of bounds!" Akira called out.

Sending an apologetic look to Rui, Tsukushi opened her mouth to apologize, "I – "

"Don't worry about it. You're doing great for one who has just learnt the game. Just do your best, I'll cover you. Relax; remember that you are not alone." He smiled encouragingly.

Her face warmed under his intense gaze.

The game went on; with the players hitting the ball back and forth. It was a fierce fight; at the moment, Soujirou and Yuki were ahead of the other pair. Tsukushi was getting anxious, she so do not want to get creamed by the special facial treatment, also, she did not want to be a burden to Rui, not like the basketball match, so long ago….

Gripping her racket tightly, she shifted into a fighting stance, "ALL RIGHT! LET'S DO IT!" The flames of determination that had faltered, flared up again, burning even stronger than before.

The others watch in amazement as she began to charge around the court, smashing any ball that dared to come over to their side. Yuki and Soujirou were taken aback at this new change and couldn't react in time, resulting in several lost points.

"Huff! Huff! Let's se-see how you han-handle tha-at! We will not lose!" Beads of perspiration rolled off her face as she tried to catch her breath.

For the next half an hour, Tsukushi continued running around the court and viciously slamming back any tennis ball that came to their side. Soujirou and Yuki recovered from their initial shock and tried to match up to Tsukushi's hard and fast serves. It was Soujirou who had the most hits, as Yuki could not quite handle the oncoming slaught. During this time, Rui was standing by, letting Tsukushi hit the balls and coming in whenever she missed. With Tsukushi's fast and furious serves and Rui's accurate and powerful hand, they left no room for the other pair to attack.

"Plop! Plop! Plop!" The ball bounced a few times before rolling to a stop. Yuki hadn't managed to return Rui's serve.

"Tsukushi, are you ok?" Rui asked. His eyebrows knitted together in concern.

Tsukushi was bent over, her racket loose in her hands and taking in huge and hungry gasps of the air.

At the sound of his voice, she rallied up a huge smile, and stood up, "Yup! Let's continue, Rui!"

On seeing that she was tiring, Rui spoke, "Let me -" Before he could finish, Tsukushi had tripped on her shoelace and fell awkwardly to the ground.

"AAAHHHHHHH!"

Note: I'm sorry that this is so short. This is what I can eek out at the moment. My fountain of inspiration is horribly dry now. I do have general ideas of how the story should proceed, but I need some ideas to link things together..Anyone? Please comment if you like..)
As soon as I have some inspiration, I'd add on to this chapter..so, do come back to this chapter for more..P
I'm sorry to say, but, I can't really confirm when will I be updating..