Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis does not belong to me.

Chapter Eight: Meeting the Rikkai Regulars (Part Four)

Akaya wanted to stick his tongue out at Yanagi's retreating back but thought better of it. Instead he shrugged and plopped down next to Sakuno. He looked at her lazily, "So, you're Sakuno, right?" Sakuno blushed at the bold tone he used.

She replied hesitantly, "H-hai, Kirihara-senpai." Akaya frowned, "Just call me Akaya. Kirihara sounds too long. Besides all my enemies call me Kirihara, I prefer to hear Akaya if you are not my enemy."

Startled, Sakuno swung round to look at him, "E-enemies? Kiri… uh, Akaya-senpai." Akaya smirked, "Well, okay, tennis opponents. They are enemies to me so it doesn't make much of a difference what I call them."

Sakuno thought that made sense so she nodded. Akaya was pleased that she was so agreeable.

Being the youngest in the regulars was annoying. Everyone either treated him like a spoilt little boy, (well he really was one but he would never admit it), or made him listen to them whether they made sense or not. Oh, we must not forget all the errands that he was made to run just because they were too lazy to do it themselves.

Now here was someone who would listen and agree with him. Very pleasant indeed and that put Akaya in a good mood.

He was prepared to take an interest in this sweet little doggy, no, doggy had fangs and claws and she obviously did not. He then noticed her braids. That was it, a bunny, she reminded him of a bunny!

He took one of her long braids in his hands and pulled gently, "How come you cried back then? I've never seen buchou make anyone cry before. You sure startled all of us!"

Sakuno widened her eyes in surprise, "Yukimura-senpai didn't make me cry! I was just worried for Niou-senpai and Bunta-senpai because it was not their fault that they were late. It was because I was so clumsy."

Akaya lifted his eyebrows, "Really? It sure looked like buchou made you cry. He seems pretty upset over it. He was actually frowning." Yukimura was not really frowning but Akaya thought it would be fun to exaggerate things a bit.

Sakuno was distressed and she said, "Oh, I must explain to Yukimura-senpai that it was not his fault that I was crying. He was so kind not to punish Niou-senpai and Bunta-senpai and he was also Miyu-chan's important brother. I must explain."

As was her bad habit, in her haste to get to Yukimura, she completely forgot that she was not able to walk at the moment without either hurting or falling down.

She hurried stood up and immediately fell down because her sprained ankle was so painful. Akaya looked surprised and pulled her back up on the bench immediately. He had no idea that there were people who can be so silly in the world. "Geez, I was just kidding! Are you alright?"

He was careless and cruel sometimes but he was not stupid. He knew that if any of the regulars noticed what Sakuno had just done, he would be the one taking the blame and Yanagi would really assign him to be 'specially' trained by Sanada for the rest of the year.

Besides, she was a cute little thing and had not done anything to offend him, so part of the worry he was feeling now was really for her.

Sakuno tried to smile but tears started to drop out the corners of her eyes, "I-I'm fine, Akaya-senpai, it just h-hurts a little, ne…"

Akaya laughed without sounding like he was laughing, he was so exasperated, and exclaimed "To hell you're fine! Come on, let me have a look, I hope the bandages were tight or we'll have to go to the san again and I'll really be in trouble."

Sakuno gulped, she did not want to have her ankle re-bandaged because it would be painful and she was not particularly fond of pain, "Ah… gomen-nasai, Akaya-senpai."

She was so busy chastising herself in the manner of repeated 'Baka Sakuno! Baka Sakuno!" that she did not notice Akaya had pulled her entire right leg onto the bench with her foot resting on his lap.

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Fellow readers, if you recall what the Japanese school skirts look like, you will remember that they tend to be extremely short, mostly ending mid-thigh. Yes, and with Sakuno's position now, it means that her pale pink panties were extremely visible.

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It was fortunate or rather unfortunate that Akaya, for once, was really paying attention to her bandages and not her bare leg. I say this because the next thing the two, totally innocent (in this situation) young people noticed were some shadows crowding over them.

They looked up slowly.

It was Akaya's turn to gulp; he knew that he was in (pardon my language) deep shit.

In Sakuno's case, this was the second time that day, so she was not as intimidated.

Instead, as soon as she saw Yukimura standing next to her, she caught hold of his tennis jacket's sleeve and said, "A-ano… Yukimura-senpai, I'm sorry I cried earlier. I was just worried about Niou-senpai and Bunta-senpai. Akaya-senpai told me that you thought you made me cry but that's not true. You are so kind and also, you are Miyu-chan's brother. How can I be afraid of you? You didn't make me cry. I'm sorry that you thought so."

The ominous atmosphere that Akaya sensed and Sakuno was oblivious to dissipated immediately at her hurried but sincere words. Having heard her explanation, Yukimura took hold of her hand and knelt down on one knee, so that he was looking directly into her eyes.

He smiled a smile that would bring the most hardened man-hater to her knees, not that he realized it of course. Sakuno stared, not immune to his beauty any more than the next person.

He smiled because he was so relieved and so touched by Sakuno's concern for others that he unwittingly kissed Sakuno's hand gently before speaking, "I am glad that I did not make such a sweet girl cry. It near broke my heart when I saw you with tears running down your face. Miyu is the luckiest girl to have made a friend like you."

At the mention of Miyu, Sakuno snapped out of her shyness at the smile and the kiss at which she turned bright red, "I like Miyu-chan; she is such a wonderful person, Yukimura-senpai." The two smiled silly smiles at one another at the thought of Miyu.

(Fellow readers, this is a reminder that this is strictly boy and girl romance only. There would be no girl and girl and no brother and sister, although they are still boy and girl. Please keep an innocent mind when reading the above lines!)

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Meanwhile, the others were in various degrees of shock and surprise. They would later reflect in the privacy of their rooms on what a strange and eventful afternoon it had been.

Bunta, Jackal and Akaya all had their jaws hanging down; they had never seen Yukimura so gentle and intimate with a girl before. He was always courteous to everyone, except during practice, and Miyu did not count.

Bunta and Akaya had even huddled in dark corners during practice breaks to whisper whether Yukimura was really gay or not. They whispered because if anyone heard them, for example, Sanada, I am sure I do have to spell out what they end up as. They knew or would have an idea how dead they would be, therefore the speculation never went past whispers and dark corners.

Sanada did not have his jaw hanging down because that would be too undignified and he did not do things like that. Mentally though, his jaw was definitely off its hinges.

Yukimura and he were best friends and even he did not know about this side of Yukimura, not that he wanted to of course, it was mildly surprising for him, that was all. Yes, that was it, a mildly surprising revelation about his best friend.

(Sanada is not harboring a secret love for Yukimura!)

Yagyuu's glasses slid off the bridge of his nose and he forgot to push it back up, so surprised he was. Personally, he thought that it was a very gentlemanly gesture but he had always thought of Yukimura to be much more reserved on matters concerning courting the opposite sex.

However, he composed himself remarkably quickly and decided to have a talk with Yukimura later to see if he needed gentlemanly support. It might be early days but one should never be unprepared for matters of the heart.

Niou's face was unreadable but if one was observant enough, one could notice his fists were clenched tightly and that his eyes were slightly narrowed. He did not know what it was that he was feeling.

It could be jealousy except that he only knew this girl this afternoon and he never got jealous; he was sure about that… em… yes, he was sure that he was sure… he SAID that he was sure!

Yes, he was sure so it must be something else. Maybe he was feeling protective because she was so innocent that even he backed off… backed off his tricks, I mean. Maybe he just considered that since he could not have fun with her… make fun of her I mean, no one could. To his jaded eyes, the holding hands and the kissing, (really it was more a peck on the hands, but he did not care, a kiss was a kiss), meant having fun and he was annoyed because if he could not have fun earlier, I mean, pull off his prank successfully, how come Yukimura could!