Disclaimer: I don't own The Prince of Tennis.

Memories with the Prince

Kirihara gulped at the very sight of the violet liquid then shifted his attention to his senpai-tachi. He glared at them and stomped away somewhere 'safe' from these group of people.

"It's a good thing that you're friends with Seigaku's Data Man, Renji." Yukimura commented as his plan was now in full execution. "That thing you are holding is very effective indeed." He pointed to the Inui Juice Renji was holding. Renji just smiled.

Renji remembered what his buchou uttered in his 'confession' to Sakuno, "Seiichi, those things that you said were all lies, weren't they?" he slightly opened his eyes to meet Yukimura's gaze and the other cleared his throat to speak.

"Half of it is true." He looked at Niou who was sipping some of the wonderful juice, "Niou wouldn't want to pull a prank on Sakuno since he is too fond of her." Renji just gave a confused look and asked Niou what Yukimura meant.

"Yeah, I wouldn't do that." He took another sip of the juice, "If you want a reason, I just don't know why I can't pull one on her." He put his glass down and folded his arms in front of him, "Besides, I don't want to go to hell just yet." Renji quickly understood what he meant by his last sentence- Marui and Kirihara would kill him if he did so.

"Don't tell me that you, Renji, aren't fond of her." Yukimura wanted some of the juice but Niou stopped him from doing so and handed him a different drink, something that is vodka-free.

"Well," Renji thought and he realized that ever since he and his friends met Sakuno, he has been able to extract valuable data from his teammates. "I do get Ii data through her…" he said as he put a finger on his chin.

"And if you would look at it, Jackal has gained another baby to babysit." He looked over the counter where he saw Jackal doting around the dazed Sakuno. Jackal has become Marui and Kirihara's official babysitter ever since they met.

"Ii data." He mumbled as he started writing down notes about Jackal.

Yukimura chuckled as he scanned through his immediate surrounding for a little imp who's having his tantrums. To his efforts, he found none.

******

Marui finally decided to go inside the house as his bodily mechanisms went back to homeostasis. He was hungry and the cookies that Sakuno gave him were already gone. As he made his way to the dining area, he came across a perky Sanada and Yagyu, who were playing shogi.

Sanada placed a piece and was very satisfied with what he did and thought that this game was good as won. Marui bent a little to look at the board then moved one of Yagyu's pieces and left. As Sanada looked back on the board, he was the one who was defeated. He hurriedly picked up the board and tossed it over, acting like a child who was a sore loser.

"TARUNDORU! Yagyu, 50 laps around the garden!" steam streamed out of Sanada's nose which made Yagyu sweat drop. Fortunately, the garden wasn't a big garden maze and he was able to finish his run in a jiffy.

Sakuno called, as she finished cooking and cleaning up in the kitchen. The guys went to the dining room and were fascinated with the food on the table. Sanada, of all the boys, was starry eyed and drooling over the food. Niou wanted to laugh out loud since the vodka has gotten to Sanada's nerves.

"So this is what you're like when you're drunk." Niou chuckled.

The party was now full blast. Everybody was cheering and jeering, all having that wonderful juice, uninformed of the vodka in it. Niou always gives Yukimura a different drink when he wants some of the juice and gives a lot of excuses as to why he can't have some of it.

All of them were munching on the delicious food that Sakuno had prepared, when something struck Yagyu's thoughts. He had a lot of second-thoughts before his words finally came out of his mouth.

"What happened a while ago and why were you soaked?" Yagyu inquired. Everybody was concerned when they saw Sakuno, wet and shaken. 'Crap! I blurted it out!' he thought. He didn't have any control over his mouth and tongue- the superb effect of alcohol.

"Eto… I was bullied by a g-group of g-girls." She said, avoiding the dangerous part where she almost got killed. Marui looked at her, filled with concern. She smiled in return to say that it was fine.

"Those fan girls; they're starting to get annoying." Kirihara spoke as he took a fried tempura into his mouth. "Well, they've been annoying from the start." He chewed and swallowed his food. "They're going too far this time." He said as he wiped off the grease from his mouth.

"I-It's okay." Sakuno looked down to her hands that were clasped on her lap. "I'm used to it." She said; her voice filled with sadness as she bear in mind the torture she's been through in Seigaku.

"Eh? What do you mean by that, Sakuno?" Renji never knew that; Inui never told him, probably because Inui didn't care about it.

"Yeah, that's right! Come on, tell us!" Niou and Renji are getting nosy that Sanada shouted at them and gave them 50 laps around the courts in practice as punishment. Sakuno pleaded to lift the punishment and Yukimura affirmed.

"You're lucky, you bastards." Sanada said, good thing his mom wasn't there to hear that, or he could have gotten 50 laps around the block where their house stood.

"It's okay Sanada-senpai." She calmed her senpai and she started telling a part of her life in Seishun Gakuen. "You probably know Echizen Ryoma," she begun.

"You mean that stuck up brat?" Niou said and he didn't care about what he just said. The others said "SHHH!" as they silenced the Trickster and continued to listen to Sakuno.

"Wasn't he your boyfriend?" Renji butted in. Everyone was dumb-struck. That was just plain impossible, they thought.

"I thought he only cared about tennis." Kirihara said, grabbing another tempura. He avoided any contact with Sakuno, since she sat beside him.

"That was what everybody thought," she paused. Now her eyes are so full of unhappiness, as if she was about to cry. "And so did I. Yet it turned out differently."

There was silence. Everybody kept on munching quietly as they listened to Sakuno. "But fate was tricky; when I was with him, I felt like I was the happiest person alive." Her eyes narrowed, about to cry, "But when I was alone, it felt as if the whole world was against me."

"They left letters on my locker, stating threats and said that I should stay away from him. They pulled bad pranks at me as well; they're so bad that they're not pranks anymore. Sometimes they even poured water on me. So I'm used to it."

She suddenly cheered up, freaking them out. "But it's okay now; that was the past, I shouldn't live by it." She smiled and it wasn't a fake one.

Yukimura was curious so he asked, "Where you really happy?"

She nodded, yes, she was happy. Her eyes were shining with a very lively glint. But tears started to flow down her cheeks.

"Sakuno!" they shouted, concerned. She started sobbing.

"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have asked that question!" Yukimura said as he approached to comfort her.

"It's just that," she sobbed again, tears still falling down relentlessly, "He left everybody without any explanation." She wiped away her tears and breathed in very deeply. "Right now, I still don't know why." She tried to look strong but everyone knew what kind of turbulent feelings she has trapped inside her. She smiled and everyone was relieved.

Niou piped up and threw her a very personal question, "Did you have your first kiss with him?" if he were a dog, you would probably see his tail wagging and patiently waiting for his master to give him a treat.

"Uh… I…" Sakuno's face fired up and she was as red as a tomato.

Jackal nudged Niou's arm and said, "Niou, stop poking your nose where it shouldn't be." Awww, what a very kind nanny Jackal is.

"H-Hai…" she said and nobody was able to hear it because it sounded as if she whispered into the wind. She repeated it with a louder voice and everyone was in disbelief. She remembered how it felt through Marui, she thought that her kiss with Ryoma was the last one she'll make in her life and Ryoma would be the last guy she'll do it with. She was blushing furiously as she remembered her moment with her Marui-senpai.

Marui felt as if he was defeated. 'And I even thought that it was her first time.' He thought and he just continued eating. There was an awkward silence within the group as they chomped on. Niou felt uncomfortable and initiated a conversation.

"Why don't we play a game?" to his surprise, everybody agreed. "A little perky, aren't we?" then they moved to the living room and he took a bottle with him. Sakuno took the empty plates to the kitchen and were washing them as the boys had their fun.

"What are we going to play, Niou-senpai?" Kirihara was curious and he knew that his Niou-senpai will never come up with something boring. Boring isn't in Niou's vocabulary.

"We're going to play…" he paused and he saw the faces of excitement in everyone.

"Dare or Dare."

There! I've got a lot of catching up to do. I hope you enjoy this one. Why is it when it is a RyoSaku fic, there are a lot of readers?

I'm still a KiriSaku fan, no mattter what. Enjoy!