Eternal.Angel
July 9, 2007 to July 12, 2007

Disclaimers: I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis.
Summary: Thanks to the J.K. Rowling's idea of writing a story that prolongs to an entire school year, I have decided to write a Prince of Tennis story that recaptures every moment of Seigaku (BE WARNED! IT'S NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ANIME OR MANGA!) Enjoy! And don't forget to review please!

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Year One, Stage Four
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"As you can see," pointed out Fuwakawa-sensei, "The festival is drawing near in two weeks. We must prepare by quickly choosing our roles and do our assignments. All roles will be drawn by our Class President and Vice President." The President and Vice President waved their hands to the class.

"However," rambled on the teacher, "The role for Snow White will be hand chosen by me. For those who wish to sign up…" Nearly all of the girls squealed in their seats and shot their hands into the air. "…must fulfill these requirements. One: grade averages that are above 70 percent," some hands went down, "Two: have a flexible schedule of staying after school and skipping lunch," more hands reluctantly returned to their owners, "And Three: are in the Choir or Chorus or have experienced singing lessons."

Soon, all the hands from the cheery girls had disappeared from the air. Fuwakawa-sensei only sighed and said, "I guess I will have to choose one myself then, whether she likes it or not."

While the roles were being drawn, Ryuzaki Sakuno wondered if she should audition for becoming Snow White, Mou, thought Ryuzaki, I can't become Snow White. I'm about to fail English, I have tennis practice after school, but I have tried singing before. But Sakuno only shook her head with doubtfulness before returning her attention back to the board.

"All the roles have been chosen, sensei," announced the President as the Vice President nodded in agreement.

"Excellent," said the teacher as she quickly copied down the notes on the board, "I trust you the two of you to handle this operation. Deadline is next week. We must be rehearsing by then."

"Hai, Fuwakawa-sensei," saluted the Vice President. The two boys turned their bodies towards the class and gave each person an assignment to do for the next two days.

oooooooooooooo

After school, Horio, Kachiro, and Katsuo were in the field looking for the spare tennis balls left behind.

"Mou, this is going to take forever!" Katsuo complained, wiping the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve.

"Neh, Horio, do something! Just because you're going to be the Hunter in Snow White, that doesn't mean you can boss us around!"

"It's not just being a Hunter, you know!" bragged Horio, spitting as he spoke, "You can't give up! It's still a long way before becoming a regular!"

"I know, I know," bluntly said Katsuo before turning his attention towards a figure on the other side, "Who's that over there?" The other two looked in the direction to find…

"Inui-senpai!"

"But what is he doing?" asked Kachiro wonderingly.

The trio noticed Inui digging in the field for something, and with a cheesy smile, he managed to pick out a twitching bug with some grass roots stuck to it.

"Inui-senpai…"

Horio sweat-dropped at the evil grin of his senpai, and nervously he spoke, "What is he doing?"

oooooooooooooo

As the regulars practiced rallying against one another, Tezuka and Sumire were observing them play.

"Will you be all right, Tezuka? Your injury hasn't healed yet, so you may be risking yourself just to wake him up," asked the coach.

"Don't worry, Ryuzaki-sensei," answered Tezuka, "I am affirmative with this choice. I have to do this."

"All right, Tezuka," said the coach, "You can go practice now then."

"Hai." Then the buchou walked back to the courts to call the regulars together, "Ok! Regulars, come around here for a moment."

After the seven regulars formed a circle around their captain, Tezuka began explaining the process and new training designed by Inui, "There are nine days left until the Prefecturals. From today on, regulars will be assigned with a special training menu. This will be a rally match with limitations to where the ball can land, known as Zone Practice."

"Nya?" commented Eiji, "This sounds interesting!"

Suddenly, Inui came into the court, and all the regulars turned their attentions towards the manager.

"The differences between the regulars' play style are as follow," clarified Inui, "Counter Puncher, who stay at the baseline and wait for the opponent's misses with stable strokes; they will be Kaidoh, Fuji, and Oishi. Aggressive Baseliner, who also stay at the baseline but fiercely attack; that is, Kawamaru and Momoshiro; Serve and Volley, who have talents in both speed and reflexes centered on net play, Kikumaru; and lastly, Tezuka and Echizen are All-Rounders, who use different techniques to maximize their overall strength.

"This time," continued on Inui, holding a stick pointing to the board, "Counter-Puncher and Serve and Volley will guard the entire side of the court. Aggressive-Baseliner and All-Rounder are only able to attack using only half of the court. This will be a 5-rally match, and you must stay in your shaded part only for defense. Hit outside of the shaded part and you lose, and speaking of losing…" traced off the Data Man, as he held up a glass of green liquid, "If you lose, please drink a full cup of Inui's Special Vegetable Juice."

Everybody only stared at the green fluid, while Eiji and Kaidoh formed sweat beads on their heads and showed a 'that-drink-is-really-scary-do-not-go-near-it-at-all' look. Inui simply cackled at the sight of the tennis players.

Kawamaru and Kaidoh were the first to rally; but Kaidoh lost because his Boomerang Snake had gone out. Forming a large bead of sweat at the sight of the juice, he ran out of the court immediately, slowed down slightly, and before he could take another step, collapsed as he clasped on to his stomach.

"Oi, Kaidoh! Daijoubu?"

"What did he drink this time?!"

Next up were Oishi and Momoshiro. Glancing at the current position of the 'dead' second year, both their eyes narrowed before thinking to themselves, Can't afford…to lose…

"Sorry, Oishi-senpai, but I'm going to win this one." With the final blow of Momo's Dunk Smash, the tennis ball knocked Oishi's racket out of the court.

When did his Dunk Smash become so strong? wondered Oishi as he picked up his racket, smiling. As he stood, Inui appeared behind him with a glass of his juice.

"Uh…" Oishi mumbled as he hesitantly looked at the cup. He took the cup and drank it before running, "AHHH!" he screamed, tripping over the bottles before falling into a twitching stance.

"Oishi, oi, Oishi!" cried his Doubles Partner, Eiji.

Then it was Fuji and Tezuka. Surprisingly, it only finished so quickly, ending with Tezuka's Zero Shiki Drop Shot.

"That…was…fast…" breathed the non regulars as they stared at their captain with awe.

"Just now," said Fuji, "You played seriously, neh?"

"Of course," Tezuka replied coolly as he walked out of the courts and grabbing his bottle to drink from.

Fuji walked over to Inui as the Data Man poured his ingenious liquid into a cup, only to find that it was water.

"Hn? This says Tezuka. But that means…" his eyes turned towards the captain, then the bottle, which marked 'Inui'.

All the regulars worried their heads off for the outcome and stared nervously at Tezuka-buchou.

No reaction.

Big gaping.

"What are you all doing there? Call the next match up already," sternly ordered Tezuka.

Huge sweat drops.

Momo immediately ran over to Echizen and began whispering about their captain, "I wondered what would happen if Tezuka-buchou felt something from Inui's Juice."

A deadly, stoic glare was imprinted upon Momoshiro's back. He whinced in surprise and was shocked. He never expected the captain to eavesdrop, or rather, hear him. Echizen only turned away from his senpai before heading on to the courts to face his third year senpai, Kikumaru Eiji.

"I'm not going to drink that thing," said Eiji confidently as he swung the racket around his wrist, showing seriousness on his face.

"Kikumaru-senpai, that looks good, doesn't it?" smirked Ryoma as he prepared himself against his senpai.

Inui thought as he got ready to serve, What's got them all hyped up? It must be this juice, the Special Golden Power Remix Inui Juice.

Ryoma ran up to the net facing against Kikumaru. However, Inui, just now, clarified, "Oops, I forgot to mention. If you go to the net, you must defend the entire court."

Echizen, his ears hearing this, widened his eyes in disbelief, "You got to be kidding me!" His senpai only grinned and hit a lob at the opposite corner. The freshman ran for the ball, and when all this senpai-tachi and classmates thought he couldn't make it…he could.

Hitting the ball between his legs just like acrobatics, the tennis ball went over to the other side. Eiji jumped off the court with his back facing the net and caught the ball just in time. Quick as usual, Echizen ran for the ball until…

"V, V, Ochibi! It's already been five shots for me," mentioned his senpai as he held up a 'V' sign with his pointer and middle finger, then began dancing around.

The first year stared at his senpai blankly and simply swung his racket. The tennis ball flew towards the dancing acrobatic player and knocked him dead on the head, causing him to fall backwards.

"Oi, Ochibi! Inui! Give Ochibi your Inui Special Juice or whatever-you-call-it-thinga-ma-bob as much as possible!" yelled Eiji as he sat up.

"With added ingredients," presented Inui as he held a glass of the brown dirt liquid in his hand, hovering over Echizen, "it's the Special Golden Power Remix Inui Juice." Ryoma could only sweat drop and he hesitated before drinking it.

Slowly, he gulped it down, then much faster, and faster each time, until he chugged it all.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
"COUGH, COUGH!"

The first year could only lean over to the water fountain and drink down as much water as possible. Folding his hands on the ledge and sitting his head down, he could only repeat to himself, "Terrible…terrible…ugh…"

oooooooooooooo

It was nearly one, and twelve year old Ryuzaki Sakuno dug through her closet desperately. Mou, I don't know what I'm going to wear! It was just then she received a phone call.

"Moshi moshi? Ryuzaki residence desu!" greeted Sakuno, holding the white wireless phone away from her slightly.

"Ah, Sakuno! Tomoka desu! You want to go hang out somewhere today? I have to watch over the house, and my brothers aren't home!" offered Osakada Tomoka cheerfully.

"Iie, gomen, Tomo-chan. Dakedo, I have to go with Ryoma-kun to get my racket string's fixed at Haritatsu's," solemnly rejected Sakuno as she hung her head low, blushing at the fact that she just said 'Ryoma-kun'.

"Ah, so that's the story. Don't worry, Sakuno! Just get those racket strings fixed with Ryoma-sama and…" Tomo-chan, her eyes widening, couldn't believe what she just heard from her best friend.

"EH?! A DATE WITH RYOMA-SAMA?! SAKUNO, I WANT A DATE TOO!" whined her best friend over the phone.

"It's nothing like that, Tomo-chan! We're just going to get my strings fixed! Ah!" gasped Sakuno as she looked at the clock, "I'm going to be late!" She threw the receiver onto its holder and chose a random outfit to wear.

Wait for me, Ryoma-kun!

oooooooooooooo

Che, thought Ryoma as he walked over to the closest vending machine there was in the train station, That girl is late. A great thing to start off my Sunday when I can be practicing.

Inserting 120 yen inside the coin slot and pressing for a Ponta, he wondered why he even agreed to go in the first place.

FLASHBACK!

"Oi, Ryoma! Come over here for a sec," called Ryuzaki-sensei.

"Hn? What is it?" bluntly asked the freshman with the racket in his hand.

"Well, I was planning to take my granddaughter, Sakuno, to Haritatsu's this Sunday to get her racket strings fixed. But it seems that I have a meeting this Sunday and can't go with her." Sumire then made a frown on her face, while her granddaughter still had no idea what was going on.

"Your point?"

"Would you mind taking Sakuno there this Sunday then?"

"Obaa-chan!" protested Sakuno as she tugged her sleeve.

"You know I don't like that guy much," said Ryoma, somehow knowing that it was pointless saying that.

"But could you please go?" pleaded Sumire.

"Fine," answered Echizen as he tugged his white Fila cap and looked at the girl. Sakuno could only turn red at the pair of golden-like, feline eyes staring through her. Immediately she bowed and exclaimed, "Arigato-gozaimasu!"

"Great!" said the coach, "Then both of you meet at the station at two o' clock."

FLASHBACK!

This could possibly be the worst Sunday I've ever had so far.

"Huff, huff," breathed Sakuno heavily as she reached the station, peering around the environment, hoping to spot the tennis prince with a white Fila cap on, and possibly a Ponta.

Too late! "I missed Ryoma-kun already…Sakuno no baka," said Ryuzaki as she closed her eyes and sighed.

"What are you doing? Let's go," ordered Ryoma, who came from behind and poked her gently, making her jump.

"Ryoma-kun!" exclaimed Sakuno. She turned red at his previous action before realizing that he was a few steps ahead of her. "Matte, Ryoma-kun!" frantically called Sakuno as she hastened to catch up with the freshman.

Soon they arrived at Haritatsu's, although that wasn't the entire story.

Momoshiro and the Ichinen Trio had followed along.

FLASHBACK!

"Arigatou, Momo-chan-senpai," thanked Kachiro as he took a bite out his burger.

"Momo-chan-senpai is so nice to teach us some important things about tennis," praised Katsuo as he sipped out of his Large Coke.

"And most important of all," pointed out Horio, "Momo-chan-senpai treated us out for free!"

"Well," beamed Momo, "This is my priority as a senpai, and I must fulfill it." He gave a cheesy smile at the three when he suddenly noticed Echizen walking down the sidewalk with a girl trailing behind him.

"Ar-e?" pondered Horio aloud, "Isn't that Echizen over there?"

"Umm," answered Katsuo.

"And Ryuzaki-san is with him," added Kachiro.

"Could it be a date?" asked Katsuo.

"Oooh, so young, so young," cheerfully said the second year as he leaned over towards the window to catch a better view when Momo realized something, and he gasped.

"Momo-chan-senpai, what's wrong?" asked the trio at once.

"Does Echizen even know how to go on a date?!" asked Momoshiro himself as his eyes widened in disbelief, just staring at the couple walking further down.

"I don't think it's a date, Momo-chan-senpai," suggested Kachiro as he tugged his senpai's sleeve.

Momoshiro could only pound his fists together as he stood up. His eyes shining brightly, he announced, "We're going to protect Echizen's date! Let's go!" As soon as he ran out of the restaurant, the freshmen followed him as well, tailing Echizen and Ryuzaki.

FLASHBACK!

Momo continued watching the worn-down store, hoping that someone would come. He was awfully hungry, and still he hadn't finished his burger. If he did though, he would have missed Echizen. Now which was better: a burger or Echizen on a date?

Anyhow, the sound of a sliding door came upon the four people, and they squinted to get a better view. Ryoma once again was walking down the sidewalk with his hands stuffed in his pockets, and Ryuzaki could only run in order to catch up to his brisk pace, breathing heavily.

Echizen, do you know how to slow down for once? The second year signaled his kohai to follow and trail down Echizen, finding a good hiding spot.

Meanwhile, Ryuzaki Sakuno, who was having trouble catching up to the awfully fast tennis prince, felt a heavy atmosphere around her. Mou, maybe I should say something. But that would be really awkward. But this is my only chance…is what Tomo-chan said. Mou, I don't know what to do!

Frustrated out of her mind, she somehow lifted some courage into her chest and suddenly, her body took over her mind for a moment. With her eyes closed and brows furrowed, she deliberately ran in front of Ryoma, throwing her arms out as if she were creating a barrier. She had on a serious look, and Echizen could do nothing more than look at her with a confused face, What in the hell is she planning now?

Her face had suddenly changed to a much softer, kinder expression, and she smiled at him and said, "Ryoma-kun, what kind of music do you like?"

"Huh? Music? Why do you ask?" asked Ryoma, clueless of the girl.

Sakuno, who did not think too far ahead, not realizing that this would happen, blushed and nervously said, "No particular reason…" She looked down at her feet, sighing slightly.

"Damn it," whispered the powerhouse under his breath, "Do SOMETHING, Echizen!"

Sakuno, who was still disappointed from her sudden action which probably scared Ryoma to death, was interrupted through weaving her thoughts by the prince of tennis.

"You know…"

Ryuzaki looked up face to face with the cocky freshman to only see a really serious expression. She felt a shred of light shining inside of her, a tiny glimpse of hope peering through. Was he going to comfort her?

"…you're more…"

More what? More of what? thought Sakuno, praying to Kami-sama, hoping that it would be a compliment of some sort that would be mouthed by the tennis prince. Her heartbeat steadily increased, and she held in her breath, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

"…talkative than usual," he finished.

"You know you're more talkative than usual."

Just hearing those words made her chest ache with pain. She couldn't believe what he just said to her, she couldn't. Water began to swarm around her eyes, and she clutched her own shirt tightly. "Wahhhh," she whined as she ran off towards his direction, tears dropping out of her eyes quickly. I'm no good, not at all like Tomo-chan! Waaahhh!

Ryoma just spun himself around and saw the girl departing far away from him. Now what is up with her? I've had enough of her fussing.

"OI, ECHIZEN!" yelled Momo as he pranced out of his hiding spot.

"Momo-chan-senpai!" called the trio as they tried to stop him.

"ECHIZEN!" yelled the second year as he grasped the freshman's collar, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"Uhh, waiting for her to come back?" he dumbly answered his senpai's question.

"Yarou! You can't just wait for her to come back! You have to go catch her! Even if the God of Dates forgive you, I WON'T, because I'm your senpai! Now go and catch her! It's your senpai's orders!" cried Momo as he pointed down the sidewalk, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR! WHAT IF SHE FALLS OFF THE LEDGE! GO GET HER ALREADY!" The second year pushed Echizen down the road, and after regaining his balance, did as he was told.

Of course, Echizen was very clueless. He did not know where to find her, and what he was supposed to do. Girls weren't much to him, after all. His entire life revolved around tennis. As a boy who was aiming for Number One in Tennis, do you think he really has time of such things?

I'm going to buy some Ponta first, thought Ryoma as he changed directions and headed towards the closest vending machine. He thought to himself as he inserted the change inside the slot (again), So where the hell could that Ryuzaki be? If I don't find her soon, Ryuzaki-sensei will kill me. After grabbing the can out of the vent, he ran back to the main street and continued on running.

Meanwhile, Sakuno was still running, unaware of her surroundings. She couldn't take it anymore. First, he had nearly threatened her, and the next he had teased her hurtfully. What was he going to do next? Embarrass her? It was just too much.

Mou, maybe I was a little too hard on Ryoma-kun, reflected Sakuno, Blaming him for what I've done, Sakuno no baka. She sighed and closed her eyes, tipping her head down slightly while her hands were folded behind her back, which laid on the iron ledge of the road.

A Ponta was offered and held in front of her face. Not realizing its presence after a few seconds, Ryuzaki slowly opened her eyes to find a white can imprinted 'Ponta' floating in front of her. Or rather held by Ryoma, who she traced with her eyes as she followed the arm.

"Arigatou," quietly accepted Sakuno. She took the can with both of her hands and opened it before slowly drinking the liquid down. He only nodded and laid on the ledge next to her, stuffing his hands down his pocket.

There was quite the silence, but Sakuno actually enjoyed it more than anything. Although there were those hard parts about her day, she was glad that she got to spend her day with Ryoma-kun instead of her Obaa-chan. She smiled as she tipped the can and allowed the fluid to run into her throat. It felt so refreshing to finally get over the crappy parts of their supposed 'date'.

Sneaking a glance at the cocky freshman, she couldn't help but to give a larger grin before finishing her can.

Arigatou, Ryoma-kun.

oooooooooooooo

"NANI? IT WASN'T A DATE ECHIZEN?!"

"Urusai, Momo-senpai. It's 1 in the morning and I'm trying to get some sleep for school tomorrow. Ja," muffled back Ryoma. He turned off his cell phone and threw it onto the table.

Dates and girls. Che. They're so confusing, who has time for them?

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Owari
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A/N: I really am sucking on this story…so I'll put it on hold…have to work on Conquest & Ryoma is Married…to all those who enjoy this one, I'm very sorry! Next time, I will include the tennis match with Tezuka & Echizen, rehearsal of the play 'Snow White', and maybe a Halloween Special. Please review and give me any feedback! I am very happy to be criticized because there is always room for improvement. Arigatou!

Ja ne, and I do not own any part of Prince of Tennis!

Eternal.Angel