Disclaimer: We don't own Prince of Tennis pout

As she woke the next morning, Sakuno rubbed her still sore eyes. She glanced at her alarm clock and gasped. She was going to be late! She rushed to get dressed, grabbed her bag and ran out the door.

At the prestigious Seishun Gakuen morning practice was about to start. The regulars and non-regulars were just leaving the locker room when the boisterous power player of Seigaku noticed someone standing off to the side. The young man wore a crisp new uniform but Momo thought he looked more feminine than Fuji. Not that he would ever say Fuji looked feminine, he didn't have a death wish.

The newcomer glanced around the court, his eyes were a shade lighter than Momo's own, closer to a lavender than Momo's own raging violet. He had a small build, similar to Eiji or Fuji, and dark brown hair hanging just past his ears.

"Oy! Can I help you?" Momo asked.

"Um, I'm new here, I was looking for. . ." He glanced at a slip of paper in his hand, "Te-zoo-ka Kooni-mite-sue?" His thick accent butchered buchou's name, but Momo ignored it.

"He should be around here somewhere, probably ordering the freshman to run themselves to Nagasaki and back," he smiled warmly.

The other returned his smile and held out his hand, "My name's Toshiya Yuki."

"Momoshiro Takeshi, but you can call me Momo," he shook the other's hand.

"Momoshiro," a stern voice said from behind them, they turned to see a stone-faced boy with golden hair.

"Buchou!" Momo rubbed the back of his neck, "Er, I was just telling the new kid where to find you."

"I believe I have been found, go to practice," Tezuka said coldly.

"Hai, Buchou!" Momo ran off.

"May I help you?" Tezuka turned to the other boy.

"I'm the transfer student from Germany, I was wondering if it was too late to join the tennis team," Yuki smiled.

"It's not," Tezuka motioned for him to follow and lead the way to Ryuuzaki-sensei's office, where he pulled a sheaf of paper out of a drawer and handed them to the newcomer.

Yuki waved his hands, "I already filled everything out and had them sent to the coach," he explained.

Tezuka put the papers back in and opened a nearby filing cabinet, "Name."

"Toshiya Yuki."

Tezuka flipped through and pulled out a folder, he sat down at the desk and opened the folder.

"Everything seems to be here," he flipped through the folder's contents, "Did you receive your practice clothes?"

"Yeah."

"Then go change and report to the courts," Tezuka said simply.

Sakuno arrived at the courts just in time to run into someone coming from her grandmother's office.

"Oof!"

"Ah! Gomen nasaii!" Sakuno bowed quickly.

"Dun worry about it," he smiled, "You okay?"

"H-hai, sempai" she bowed again.

"No need to be so formal," he smiled, "The name's Toshiya Yuki."

"H-hai, Toshiya-sempai," she stammered. She couldn't help but notice how pretty he was, almost prettier than Ryoma.

"Oy! Toshi-chan!" the boy blinked then suddenly realized he was the one being addressed.

"Uh, wouldn't 'Yuki' be easier?" he sweat-dropped.

"Ok then, Yuki-chan," Momo grinned.

"Oi, Momo, your too loud too early in the morning," Sakuno's heart skipped a beat.

"Shut up, Echizen," Momo grabbed the younger boy's hat and held it out of the other's reach.

Sakuno felt her eyes begin to sting, she took a step back.

"Uh, excuse me," she turned and fled in the direction of the girl's restroom.

"Are you okay?"

Sakuno jumped and saw the boy she had run into before coming towards her.

"Th-this is the girl's room!" she stuttered, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

Yuki blushed, "Er, I was just worried about you."

"I'm okay," Sakuno wiped her eyes.

"No your not," he leaned against the sink, "What's wrong?"

Sakuno looked down at her hands clenched on the sink, "It's nothing."

"Come on, you can trust me," he smiled.

"It's . . ." she felt oddly compelled to trust the smiling young man in front of her. He continued to smile warmly and Sakuno felt all her problems spilling out.

When she was done he smiled in a knowing manner, "From what I can tell, this Ryoma kid seems like a brat, you deserve someone who will at least remember your name."

Sakuno smiled slowly, "Arigato, Toshiya-sempai."

As they turned and left the bathroom, Sakuno felt as though some of the weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She may have lost Ryoma, but she had gained a new friend.

AN: We'd just like to apologize to anyone we offended. We are sorry! Just because we don't agree with yaoi doesn't mean we had the right to call it disgusting. Once again, we're so sorry –bow-