Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis, it belongs to Takeshi Konomi.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pock!

A tennis ball hit the wall. Sakuno Ryuuzaki, Seishun Gakuen student, practiced her tennis skills. Even if Sakuno practiced everyday, her skills in tennis were still average. Actually, she was pretty much average in all the other things too: school, art, gym… Her only real talent was cooking. She loved to cook and bake, and almost everyone liked her cooking.

Pock!

Sakuno hit the ball once again and patiently waited until the ball bounced back.

Pock!

After two years of practicing tennis, Sakuno had improved. She could at least serve correctly by now. Her stamina had also improved a lot, since she usually got tired easily. Sakuno had to admit that she was proud of her small progress, even her grandmother had said that she was actually improving.

Pock!

Sakuno returned the ball. It was good that someone at least acknowledged her improvement. Her tennis wasn't perfect, but she always hoped that a certain cat-eyed boy would actually acknowledge her hard work.

Pock!

Demo, Ryoma-kun had gone to the states to pursue his career as a professional tennis player… She thought of quitting tennis back then, but she just couldn't leave it. Tennis was an addicting game.

Pock!

She still went to most of Seigaku's games. She loved to watch how the regulars played. They were wonderful! Tezuka-senpai and Fuji-senpai were incredible players. How she loved to watch Eiji-senpai and Oishi-senpai's games! Kaidoh-senpai, Inui-senpai and Kawamura-senpai were great too! Oh! She couldn't forget Momo-senpai! His dunk smash was so amazing! Even without Ryoma-kun, Seigaku had managed to become Japan's best National Team.

Pock!

Sakuno sighed, maybe tennis was part of her life now. She couldn't imagine herself not going to one of Team's games or not practicing tennis. It was almost like a habit of hers now. Only on Sundays she took a break from her routine.

Pock!

"Sugoi, Sakuno-chan you're improving…" Sakuno heard someone comment. The pig tailed girl blushed and turned back to see who had spoken. "Fuji-senpai, Kawamura-senpai!"

"Ryuuzaki-san, watch out!" Kawamura warned hastily. But the tennis ball had already managed to hit Sakuno's head.

"Ow!" Sakuno squealed as she rubbed her head vigorously.

"Ryuuzaki-san daijoubou?" Kawamura asked concerned.

"I..I'm alright. Arigatou Kawamura-senpai." Sakuno smiled slightly as she tried hard not to cry.

"Are you sure Sakuno-chan, you look all teary eyed." Fuji smiled and patted Sakuno's head softly. "Kawai."

The pig-tailed girl was about to burst in tears. Was Fuji-senpai petting her head intentionally to make sure it didn't hurt? Her tears started to leak. "I'm fine. Really." She sniffed.

"Umm… Ryuuzaki-san maybe I should take you to the infirmary. You really don't look so well." Kawamura interrupted as he walked towards her.

"… Maybe I should take a look at it Sakuno-chan." Fuji said as he tried to check Sakuno's head.

"Eh…Fuji-senpai. I'm alright really…" The pig tailed girl laughed a bit and took a step back. "See?" Sakuno wobbled a bit, but regained her balance.

Fuji frowned a little and paused. "Sakuno-chan, you should listen to your senpais. Right Kawamura? "

"Oh… Eh… Hai." Kawamura replied a bit startled.

"Gomen-nasai." Sakuno felt a bit of guilt as she apologized and sniffed.

"That's better." Fuji smiled at her and offered his hand.

Sakuno nodded slightly and took his hand.

"Shall we go Kawamura?" Fuji asked and looked back at him.

"Hai." Kawamura nodded as he began to follow Fuji and Sakuno.

Sakuno looked at Fuji smiling and sighed a bit. "Arigatou. Fuji-senpai." She turned a bit and looked back at Kawamura. "Arigatou Kawamura-senpai."

"It's no problem really." Kawamura smiled back shyly.

"… Eto Fuji-senpai?" Sakuno whispered softly.

"Mm…?" Fuji looked at Sakuno.

"Do…" Sakuno paused and blushed when she realized her position. She really hadn't been this close to an older guy before. She was even holding hands! What would Tomoka say if she saw her! The pig-tailed girl blushed harder and laughed nervously. "Eto… Um… Fuji-senpai do you really think my tennis skills are improving?"

"Hai. You seem to be improving." Fuji smiled.

She grinned happily. "Obaa-san says I'm improving, but I still don't feel I'm quite good at it."

"Hmm…" Fuji paused a bit and raised his eyebrow. "I think you still need more practice. You lack concentration and your posture is a little too stiff. "

Sakuno sighed. "Arigatou Fuji-senpai."

"For what?" Fuji looked at her curiously.

"For being honest." She smiled a bit and lowered her head a little.

"Sakuno-chan?" The tensai interrupted as she looked up to face him. "Hasn't anyone told you that you look so kawaii when you smile?" Fuji noted as she smiled and blushed at the comment. "See you're just adorable." Fuji pinched her cheek. "Isn't that right Kawamura?"

"Eh?" Kawamura looked at Fuji curiously. "What were you asking Fuji?"

"Doesn't Sakuno-chan look cute when she smiles?" Fuji stretched Sakuno's cheeks trying to form a wider smile.

"Y-yes." Kawamura stuttered a little and blushed.

Sakuno felt her blush worsen. This was very embarrassing. She silently prayed no one would see this. The shy girl could already imagine Tomoka bothering her about it.

"Arigatou Fuji-senpai, Kawamura-senpai. " Sakuno bowed.

"Eh ? What for? " Kawamura asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You're both so nice. " She smiled shyly.

"See, so adorable." Fuji replied happily as they continued to walk. The three arrived to the infirmary after some moments of fast paced walking.

"We're here Sakuno-chan." Fuji happily declared as he opened the door. The pig tailed girl and Kawamura both entered nervously. It seemed as if neither liked doctors.

"Umm…?" Sakuno swallowed hard and looked around nervously.

"R-ryuuzaki-san, are you alright?" Kawamura asked curiously as he felt sweat beads forming on his forehead.

"Oh… Hai." Sakuno lied as she felt her knees weaken. Both Kawamura and Sakuno looked uneasy. Sakuno heaved a deep sigh at the uncomfortable silence between them.

"Do you have a fever Sakuno-chan?" Fuji placed his hand on Sakuno's forehead.

"Iie I'm fine." Sakuno waved her hands nervously.

"Ryuuzaki? Is something wrong?" The nurse interrupted the trio.

Kawamura looked away trying to avoid the nurse's gaze as he wiped his forehead.

"Um… I well… You see…" Sakuno stuttered. "I… Um.."

"A tennis ball hit her head." Fuji interrupted Sakuno's speech impediment.

"I see.." The nurse examined her head. "I'm going to place some ice on it." The nurse said as looked for some ice. "You have to be more careful Ryuuzaki."

Sakuno nodded at her comment.

The nurse sighed and placed the ice bag on Sakuno's huge bump. "It'll be swollen for a bit, but other than that… it'll be fine." She smiled. "You're free to leave anytime."

"Oh… Arigatou." Sakuno sighed as held the ice bag on its place and proceeded to leave the infirmary. She paused to look at the Fuji and Kawamura and bowed. "Arigatou Fuji-senpai, Kawamura-senpai."

"Wait, Sakuno-chan." Fuji paused. "Are you going home?"

Sakuno nodded as she repositioned the dripping ice bag in the bump.

"Will you wait a minute for us? We'll walk you home." Fuji smiled. "Right Kawamura?"

Kawamura nodded approvingly as the three stepped out of the infirmary. The pigtailed girl paused. "I really don't want to cause you any trouble Kawamura–senpai and Fuji-senpai. I'm sure that you two should be at tennis practice… Tezuka-senpai will probably be mad at you, and then he'll make you run laps… I'll be fine really…" Sakuno persuaded the regulars.

"Ne Tezuka, you'll really make us run laps?" Fuji smiled as he looked back.

Kawamura and Sakuno suddenly looked at each other surprised.

"Bu-Buchou?" Kawamura's shaky voice interrupted the uncomfortable silence.

Sakuno wanted to run and hide. Had he heard everything? Tezuka-senpai was probably the scariest person she had met. She turned to face Tezuka-senpai. He was staring at her intently slightly glaring, Sakuno began to sniff. She sniffed again as the tennis captain narrowed his eyes. Her eyes began to water as she looked at Fuji and wordlessly pleaded for help.

"Oh… Tezuka you made her cry." Fuji noted as Tezuka's vein popped, quite literally. He gently patted Sakuno's back. "Poor Sakuno-chan. Ne Tezuka? What would Sumire-chan say if she knew about this?"

"F-Fujiko?" Kawamura looked at the tensai and then at the captain.

"Fuji 40 laps, Kawamura 30 laps. Now!" The angry tennis captain pointed the direction of the tennis courts.

"Demo, Tezuka who will accompany poor Sakuno-chan home?" Fuji asked as he disobeyed Tezuka's orders and stayed.

"Fuji, 50 laps." Tezuka said sternly as Fuji frowned. "Ryuuzaki…" Tezuka heaved a sigh. "Let's go."

Fuji smiled as Kawamura looked back at their buchou in surprise.

Tezuka glared at Fuji and Kawamura, who had paused after his announcement. "Hayaku." He scolded as he snapped his fingers.

"Bye, Bye Sakuno-chan!" Fuji happily waved back and began to walk towards the tennis court. "Don't let Mitsu-chan bother you!"

"Bye, Ryuuzaki-san, Ummm… Get well soon!" Kawamura yelled back.

Sakuno could only sniff harder in response. Both Fuji-senpai and Kawamura-senpai had left her alone with Tezuka-senpai, a very angry Tezuka-senpai, who had just agreed to walk her home. She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her free hand. "Tezuka-senpai, you really don't have to walk me home."

"Ryuuzaki are you questioning my decisions?" Tezuka looked at her sternly.

"Eto… Gomen-nasai senpai." Sakuno looked at the ground and rearranged the ice bag to prevent it from falling.

"Good." Tezuka nodded. "Where are your things?"

"N-near the tennis court." Sakuno stuttered.

"Let's go." Tezuka began to walk towards the tennis courts.

"T-tezuka-senpai?" Sakuno squeaked, she really didn't want to follow him after the whole incident. She then, voiced a quick apology. "Gomen-nasai for what I said earlier. I apologize." She bowed.

"It's fine." Tezuka continued to walk.

"R-really?" Sakuno asked in disbelief.

Tezuka looked back and narrowed his eyes as he tried to decide whether to make her run laps or not. "Are you questioning my decisions, again Ryuuzaki?" He raised his eyebrow.

"I-iie." She squeaked.

"Good, lead the way." He paused and waited until she was in front of him.

"Hai." She walked abnormally fast. The sooner she got over with the whole ordeal the better. Sakuno felt nervous, having Tezuka-senpai walk behind her was definitely a frightening experience.

"Hey! Isn't that Buchou, nya!" Eiji's voice could be heard as soon as both Sakuno and Tezuka were close to the tennis courts.

"Eiji shut-up! He'll make us run laps!" Momoshiro tried to get the red-head to quiet down.

"Nya! What's Ryuuzaki-sensei's granddaughter doing with Buchou?" Eiji's comment triggered multiple responses from the other regulars…

"Huh?" Someone blurted confused.

"Buchou's dating Ryuuzaki sensei's granddaughter?" Another interrupted, clearly surprised.

"Interesting Data." A particular regular scribbled in his notebook.

"Fssh." Someone hissed.

Sakuno blushed after hearing all those comments. She was sure that Tezuka-senpai had heard those comments too. How embarrassing! She wanted to die! Hadn't the regulars noticed that they were speaking way too loud? Even if they were distant from the courts, she could clearly hear their deafening remarks. Sakuno sighed as they moved closer to the courts.

"Nya! Buchou sure has good taste!" Eiji stated happily, a bit less louder.

Sakuno blushed at the particular comment, even if she knew it wasn't really true.

"Yeah. I wish I had brought my camera don't Sakuno-chan and Tezuka look so cute?" Fuji interrupted as he jogged.

"Fuji…" The rest of the regulars looked at Fuji oddly.

Fuji smiled in response.

"Ne, they're coming." Eiji warned as he began to practice. The rest of the regulars took different directions. Some of them picked the balls from the floor, while others checked their rackets. Only Fuji and Kawamura jogged around the courts. Tezuka passed slowly and paused as he watched some of the regulars practice their shots. Most of the regulars looked at each other nervously. There was an uncomfortable silence between them.

Tezuka narrowed his eyes as he tortured the regulars for a bit longer. It wasn't until Sakuno's movement, the shifting of her dripping ice bag, caused Tezuka to declare his punishment...

"Everyone, 50 laps!"

All the regulars groaned and sighed. Sakuno then, continued to walk and Tezuka followed her. Poor, poor regulars… She almost felt sorry for them, she slowed down a bit. The regulars were boys, and well, boys were boys. Only Oishi-senpai and Tezuka-senpai were the exception of the rule. Oh, and maybe Kaidoh-senpai, as long as he wasn't fighting with Momo-senpai.

"Tezuka-senpai, we're here. I'll get my stuff." She paused and looked around for her stuff.

He looked at her and nodded.

Sakuno began to pick her tennis balls from the ground. They were scattered everywhere. She began to pick them up: "One, Two, Three…" She paused and looked around. "…"

"Ryuuzaki, what are you looking for?" Tezuka raised an eyebrow.

"Eh…" She said softly. "I think I lost one of my tennis balls." Sakuno began to sniff again. She had just bought a new can.

Tezuka frowned a bit and sighed. "I guess you can have some of my spare ones."

"Arigatou Tezuka-senpai, but you really don't need to…" Sakuno said as she waved her free hand frantically. She really didn't want to trouble him anymore.

"Ryuuzaki." Tezuka scolded, somewhat.

She lowered her head apologetically, his voice alone was frightening.

Sakuno walked faster as she tried to catch up with his long strides. Tezuka-senpai was very tall, she nodded inwardly.

As they arrived to the tennis courts, Sakuno looked at the jogging regulars. They all panted heavily. Even Kaidoh-senpai was exhausted. Sakuno felt bad just by looking at them. Demo, somehow they deserved it. She really hoped they wouldn't be spreading any gossip around. The pig-tailed girl sighed inwardly…

Well! As if anyone would believe them anyways. Seigaku's tennis captain dating wobbly hips... She blushed furiously. Oh god. She had a feeling that she should have stayed at home today. Sakuno followed the tennis captain closely as they approached the Seigaku's tennis club.

They entered the club silently. Sakuno looked around, the place was huge... and quite messy too. The room was filled with lockers. She followed Tezuka until he reached his personal locker. She watched him as he pulled a can of tennis balls and offered it to her.

"Um…Tezuka-senpai I really appreciate it but… I can't accept it." She tried to convince the tennis captain out of it. Tennis balls were expensive and he was offering her a whole container of it.

"Ryuuzaki." Tezuka sighed and paused as he adjusted his glasses. "Just take them."

"But, senpai. These are really expensive… I can barely afford one of these." Sakuno said a bit less shyly as she disagreed with him.

"These are my older tennis balls. I'm sure you'll need them more than I do." Tezuka stated firmly.

Sakuno looked around uncomfortably, she still wasn't too sure. She watched as he offered them again and accepted. It was rude not to accept it, but somehow she wished she could have done more to stop him.

"Arigatou, senpai." Sakuno smiled half-heartedly as he nodded.

Tezuka cleared his throat. "We better get going before it gets late."

"Hai." She nodded and inwardly smiled, relieved. She was, finally, going to head home. This day had been awful… Very awful… and awkward… Oh, how she needed Tomoka to be by her side right now.

Oh wait… Maybe not... She could already imagine Tomoka. "Tezuka-sama!" She sighed inwardly. Tomoka was way too loud and outspoken. She would probably be drooling over the tennis captain too, anyways. Sakuno blushed. Did she find Tezuka-senpai attractive? She dismissed the thoughts from her head almost immediately. She shouldn't be thinking about a senpai, that way. Anyways it could never happen; she had more chances of becoming a professional tennis player than dating Tezuka-senpai… or Ryoma-kun.

"Ryuuzaki." Tezuka interrupted her train of thoughts. "Why do you play tennis?"

"Eh…" She was caught off-guard by the question so she blurted the first thing that came to her mind. "I guess… I guess, I think tennis is somehow addicting."

"Addicting?" Tezuka commented as he continued to walk.

"Yes… It may sound weird, but I can't really imagine my life without it. I can't imagine a day without practicing tennis; I can't imagine missing a match, either." Sakuno replied.

"I see." The captain nodded slightly.

In some way, the pig-tailed girl wished she had said something else. The silence was making her feel uneasy. To think that they still had a couple of minutes to walk before reaching her home.

"Are your skills improving?" Tezuka asked.

She was overjoyed that he had broken up the silence. "H-hai. Demo, I'm still not really good at it."

"Is that so?" He looked at her.

Sakuno blushed a little. "H-hai. Obaa-san and Fuji-senpai say I lack concentration. I guess it's true." She laughed a little at her own clumsiness.

"I see." Tezuka answered.

Sakuno smiled and nodded. Suddenly she wasn't feeling as bad as before. She silently cursed the only thing that was making her feel miserable, the ice bag on top of her head. By now, her bangs were completely soaked, making her feel very uncomfortable. She brushed the wet bangs from her forehead with her left hand.

She suddenly bumped into something tall. She looked up to face who she had bumped into. "Gomen-nasai."

"You brat! I'll teach you to look before you walk." An old bearded man shouted at Sakuno.

"I'm really sorry! It really wasn't my intention." She apologized genuinely.

"Ryuuzaki, let's go." Tezuka interrupted as he pulled her away from the angry man.

"Hey! I'm not done with her yet!" The man grabbed Sakuno's wrist forcefully, throwing down the ice bag on her head in the process. Sakuno yelped.

"Is something wrong?" Tezuka glared at the man as he firmly held Sakuno's right hand. Sakuno cried as the man tightened his grip on her wrist. People around began to watch the scene the three were causing.

"Let her go." Tezuka warned. He glared at the old man. The man let go of her wrist, after a while, and walked away murmuring audible curses.

Sakuno looked at Tezuka as he stared angrily at the man. She felt so… guilty. She couldn't even defend herself on her own. Not only that, but now Tezuka-senpai was probably mad at her too.

"Gomen-nasai senpai. It wasn't my intention to cause you trouble." Sakuno apologized and bowed lightly, since Tezuka still held her other wrist.

"It's nothing." He dismissed her apology. "Are you fine?"

"Hai. Arigatou, senpai." She nodded.

"Let's go, then." He released her hand and continued to walk.

"Hai." She nodded and began to follow him. Sakuno felt that her left wrist was slightly numb, but she didn't want to concern anyone, anymore. She rubbed her left wrist lightly; it didn't quite feel broken or anything. It was just painful and sore, she'd have obaa-chan check it later.

Sakuno looked at her house, she was so glad that she had finally arrived. "Arigatou, senpai." She bowed in gratitude.

Tezuka nodded and turned back. "It's nothing Ryuuzaki." He proceeded to walk.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakuno watched as he left, and heaved a deep sigh, when he was out of her sight. The pig-tailed girl closed the door slowly, and sighed again. It was relieving to be at home, finally. She slowly headed towards her room and sat on her bed.

Sakuno lied back on her comfortable sheets. Thinking about today's incidents. She sighed, Fuji-senpai, Kawamura-senpai and Tezuka-senpai had been very kind. She had to find a way to repay them somehow. Sakuno got up from her resting position, and yawned. It was probably the only thing she could possibly do. She walked out of her room, slowly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: Yay! The first chapter is done… Please Read and Review! begs O.o Please!