A/N: The final chapter…By the way, I'm sorry if I disappointed some of you by making Atori Sakuno's cousin but if I didn't then this story would be like 20 chapters long. Then it would have tampered with my studies and my parents might have banned me from anymore story writing! Wah!!!

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To Be or Not To Be

11

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"Nani Echizen, you two haven't even paired up and you're already arguing."

"Shut up Momoshiro." Ryoma sank to the ground. Great. Just great. Now what do I do?

"Echizen." Ryoma looked up to find a towering Tezuka looking down on him. And the expression on his face wasn't a good one. "As punishment for breaking the code of conduct, you are to run thirty laps."

Ryoma gaped.

"Thirty?! You can't be serious!"

"Is it not enough Echizen?"

"No no no. It's perfectly fine," said Ryoma quickly. Grumbling, he set off.

"Ah, young love. Can't ever forget it," said Momoshiro wistfully.

"Forget what? You never had anything to forget it the first place," teased Kikumaru.

"Why you little…"

"Are you two done yet or do I have to make you run laps too?"

Both Momoshiro and Kikumaru noticeably paled.

"Nya, Tezuka buchou. We're done, we're done." Kikumaru hurriedly assured the scary-looking captain. "Oh look, ochibi's almost done!"

After Ryoma finished the last lap he collapsed on the freshly-cut lawn. His moment of bliss, however, was cut short by Tezuka's looming shadow.

"What do you want now? I'm done aren't I?"

"Not quite Echizen. You may be excused after you pack up the equipment in every single court. I shall inform the other players not to pack away their equipment and let you do it for them."

Dammit thought Ryoma as Tezuka turned and left. All this work and I didn't even get one shot at Atori!

"What are you doing Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma turned his attention away from the ball he was picking up to find Tomoka watching him.

"Thanks to your friend, I have to clean up every single court in this school."

Tomoka bristled.

"Well thanks to you, Sakuno-chan's been crying in the bathroom all day."

Ryoma stared at Tomoka.

"I'm sor-"

"It's not me you have to apologise to," interrupted Tomoka.

"Right. Which bathroom's she in?"

For the second time that day, he disobeyed a direct order from Tezuka.

Ryoma stopped in front of the bathroom. He could hear sniffling inside.

Ryoma's heart skipped a beat. It skipped another when he felt someone tapping him on the shoulder. It skipped a third when he realised that the 'someone' was Atori.

"What are you doing here?"

"Uh…nothing. I was just going to my locker."

Atori raised an eyebrow.

"And does going to your locker always involve stopping in front of the girls' bathroom?"

Shit. Failing to defend himself, Ryoma decided to go on the offensive.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm trying to persuade my cousin you're not worth crying over."

This statement left Ryoma in quite a dilemma. If he denied it it meant that he wanted Sakuno to cry, which he didn't. But he just couldn't let that insult go by. He was, however, saved from replying (rather ironically) by Sakuno.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Uh…nothing," they both answered. A little too quickly.

"What are you two up to?" she asked suspiciously.

"Uh…"

"Sakuno, I'm sorry about what happened today at practice," said Ryoma.

Sakuno blushed. "Oh. Don't worry about it. It wasn't that big a deal."

Atori snorted.

"Oh shut up Atori!" they both snapped.

Ryoma and Sakuno stared at each, and felt themselves smile. Atori looked at them both incredulously. Man, these two are so annoying!

"ARGH! I can't take this anymore! Okay, I'll leave Ryoma and you alone if he beats me in a game of tennis."

Sakuno gaped at Atori, which prevented her from noticing Ryoma do the same thing.

"Do you really mean it?" Both Ryoma and Sakuno asked.

"Nani, you don't trust me?"

"No." they both muttered under their breath as they headed towards the courts.

THWACK!

"Game won by Echizen!"

"Mada mada dane." Ryoma left the court, leaving a flustered opponent behind.

"Yeah! I knew you could do it Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno smiled and rushed over to congratulate him. This time she didn't speak too fast. Or run too slow. And Ryoma realised her hair was fine the way it was.

A/N: I'm done! Whew! Can't believe I managed all this in under a month! Please tell me what you thought of the story!