SUMMARY: A Valentines Day special. A marriage booth. Two soon-to-be lovers but currently best of friends. Sakuno nudged Ryoma's shoulder gently. "I'm not marrying you without a ring."

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is not mine. (sighs)

All thanks to peanutkisses, jHeyTTernallie, pinkfloweree, samurai-lapin,

CrazyGirlofManyNames, Zero'N'oveR, astig3422, sakura-koneko, BlueJx23, Sumaru93, YummieCreamy, Hazelnut, Fullmoon05, The Sakura Snowflake, Jomai, Elme, Kawaii Chou, KrisMs, ignoredflower, pinklove, Forever Dreamin, larsha, Cyansilent, 2756, kanomie08, The Magical Whatever, pabi chan, loki lee, KenRik, unchangingxp, Pure Essence, ScarletNinja123, XkanomieX, animeflunky, Chi Bara, rotflol162, sakura4594 for reviewing my fic! They're really cool! Hope you continue supporting me! Arigato gozaimasu!

----

Chapter 5: Always

Ryoma jerked when something was snapped firmly against his wrist. He looked down, saw the handcuffs, and looked up to glare at the perpetrator with furious hazel eyes.

Horio gave him a toothy grin. "Because you're my captain, and you could make me run laps-" Ryoma glowered inwardly. Damn hell! He'd give his bloody fukubuchou a thousand laps! "-I'm giving you the chance to choose your bride."

Ryoma clenched his teeth. "There's no way I'm going to marry anybody," he snarled.

Horio shook his head, the grin still on his face. "No way, Echizen! If you don't want to choose a girl, I'd choose one for you." At this, dozens of girls, ranging from freshmen to seniors, quickly lined up in front of him. The vice-captain nodded thoughtfully.

Ryoma's eyes narrowed. If Horio was even contemplating of choosing a girl for HIM, then he was seriously thinking of booting someone out of the team.

"A-anou... what's going on here?"

The voice was heaven to his ears... in more ways than one.

Horio's eyes lit up. "Ah! Sakuno-chan!"

She blinked at him in confusion, her eyes darting to the tennis captain. Ryoma nodded at her, a small smirk gracing his lips. Kami-sama, she looked beautiful. How come he never noticed how the school uniform complemented her?

Horio promptly grabbed her wrist and snapped the handcuffs around it, chuckling madly.

A heavy blush adorned her cheeks as she realized Horio's actions. "We're not about to get married, are we?" she whispered nervously to Ryoma.

That elicited a soft chuckle from him, and he looked at her in amusement. "Of course we're not. I haven't gotten you a ring yet."

Her mouth opened in surprise. And then she nudged his shoulder gently. "I'm not marrying you without a ring."

He raised an eyebrow. When she didn't budge, he sighed in mock-surrender. "Che." And he took out an emerald box out of his pocket, which he consequently threw at her.

Her eyes widened. Horio's eyes widened. Every person's eyes in the room widened.

Horio rubbed his eyes to see if he was dreaming. When the box didn't disappear, his jaw dropped. "Echizen, are you proposing to Sakuno-chan?"

Ryoma gave him a glare. "Oh NO. I just gave her a ring because I felt like it."

"When did you get this?"

He shrugged in what he hoped was an offhanded way. Because at that moment, butterflies were flying like crazy in his stomach. "Just yesterday. After you told me I loved you."

Horio's jaw hit the floor. Some of the girls fainted.

Sakuno smiled softly, and Ryoma could see her eyes were shining with unshed tears as she looked at him. He felt his breath catch. "You didn't say anything."

His mouth twitched. "I was too busy kissing you that time."

The remainder of the girls fainted as well. In the sidelines, Horio looked like he was having a palpitation.

She clutched the box tightly in her hands, her eyes gazing at him searchingly. "Is this for real?"

He smiled warmly, one that made Horio run out of the room screaming "Pigs are flying!" because of its sincerity. "No, it isn't." And then he dropped down on one knee, eliciting a surprised gasp from her.

"R-ryoma-kun!"

"I'm not asking you to marry me, you know," he muttered. "Not yet, at least."

Her face flushed. "RYOMA-KUN!"

He smirked, took the ring, and gently inserted it in her ring finger. He admired the small diamond adorning the silver ring. "It actually looks good on you," he teased.

She nodded weakly as her lower lip started to tremble. "R-ryoma-kun-"

He laughed and gave her a one-arm hug. "Mada mada dane, Ryuzaki." He leaned down to whisper in her ear and bask in the rightness of everything as she started to cry softly. "Mada mada dane."

----

They got married that day, much to the shock and amazement of everybody, and then she was officially announced as Echizen Ryoma's girl friend. The comfort room was packed with girls crying over the loss of the most sought after bachelor in school. Most of them got over it, though. The Echizen Ryoma Fan Club wasn't dissolved, however. In fact, Sakuno was immediately held as an honorary member. She was THE Echizen Ryoma's girl friend after all.

And then... and then everything was back to the way it was.

"Ryuzaki, I'm trying to do my homework."

Sakuno blinked, surprised. What had she been doing? She was simply sitting on his bed, that's what. "A-anou... I don't understand."

He swiveled on his chair to face her, tilting his head slightly. A smirk graced his lips as he noticed the cap on her head. And she was wearing his regular's jacket. She looked really pretty. "It looks better on you than it does on me," he commented wryly.

She laughed. "Mou! You're teasing again." She smiled. "You look good in anything you wear, Ryoma-kun."

"Che." He turned around again to hide his blush. "Don't distract me."

"But I'm not doing anything!"

He had moved so fast she didn't even have the time to blink as he cupped her cheeks and pressed his lips to hers. "You were looking too pretty," he breathed.

"Ryoma-kun! I was just sitting here! And you weren't even looking at me!"

"Love does that to people." Sakuno's eyes widened. Ryoma's eyes widened. And then you could see her holding back a giggle. "That sounded so sappy, right?" She shook her head vehemently, her hand over her mouth. He groaned. "I can't believe I said that."

"Don't worry, Ryoma-kun," she said, giggling softly. "It was sweet coming from you." He looked a tad insulted, and then there was a glint in his eye. She didn't even notice when he started. She was rolling on his bed, squealing like a school girl as his fingers ghosted along her sides. "Ryoma-kun!" she gasped.

He smirked above her. "Who's sweet now?" He tickled her mercilessly until she finally managed to tackle him, both of them falling hard on the floor, her on top of him. "Ow," he groaned. "Kami-sama, you're heavy."

She was giggling madly, and then she was kissing him again.

Ryoma never did get to finish his homework.

And he didn't care.

----

"Wait for me at exactly seven."

Sakuno looked up from packing her things. "Sorry?"

"When you go back, wait for me at exactly seven," he repeated.

Her eyes dawned in realization. And then she was confused. "Seven? But that's so early, Ryoma-kun. Classes start at a quarter before eight. And we never consume more than fifteen minutes walking to school."

He smirked. "Who said we'll only be walking?"

The sock she threw at him and the blush on her cheeks made his smirk wider.

----

"RYUZAKI!"

Sakuno stopped in her tracks. She turned around and was surprised to find a bunch of girls looming ominously in front of her. She smiled hesitantly. "Hai?"

The girl nearest to her growled and took a step forward. "You have no right."

Sakuno belatedly realized that some of the girls looked familiar. Not in a particularly friendly way. She remained quiet. Her Ryoma-kun told her to fight back, but she was never fond of violence.

"I knew you wanted him, you scheming little witch," the girl, Mizumi, hissed. "I knew you would eventually try to take him away."

Sakuno opened her mouth to retort, but the stinging slap that was delivered to her cheek left her momentarily stunned.

"You deserve that," Mizumi snarled. "And more." She promptly raised her hand to strike again when a hand closed around her wrist.

"NEVER. TOUCH. MY. GIRLFRIEND."

Sakuno almost jumped when an arm curled around her waist. She looked up and was surprised to find her tennis prince holding her. "Ryo-"

"Shut up!" Mizumi shouted, her green eyes furious. She shook her wrist free from Ryoma's grasp. "You planned all of this along! You knew he was going to come, you slut!"

The sharp slap delivered to her cheek shocked her.

Sakuno gasped. "Ryoma-kun!"

Dark hazel eyes simmering with barely restrained fury stared Mizumi down. "You should go," he said in a soft lethal voice. "Before I decide to do something I will never regret."

"R-ryoma-sama-" she started in a brokenhearted voice, tears falling from her eyes. Sakuno felt so helpless as she watched her classmate break down. Ryoma didn't even move an inch.

"I don't hate you," Ryoma suddenly announced in a blank voice. "But if you ever touch my girlfriend again..." His eyes hardened. "Then damn you to hell."

It had been so dramatic, Sakuno mused. If she hadn't been involved, she would have cried. Her Ryoma-kun would make a great knight. As it was, they left, leaving a crying Mizumi and her cronies. Once they were outside the school premises, Ryoma cupped her face and kissed her senseless, ignoring the passersby who gaped openly.

Sakuno blinked at him, dazed.

He touched her cheek and said in the softest voice she had ever heard from him, "Are you all right?"

She smiled at the unmasked emotion in his eyes, and she nodded. "I'm fine."

You're here.

----

"OCHIBI!"

Ryoma released a muffled groan as a solid weight slammed into his back. He glanced at his girlfriend, his lips quirking slightly as he noticed her wide eyes. "Nice seeing you too, Eiji-senpai."

The famed acrobatic player of the Golden Pair released him and gave him a wide grin. "Hoi, hoi! What are you doing here, ochibi?"

Ryoma grumbled under his breath. Snapping out of her daze, Sakuno rushed forward to help him smooth out his shirt.

"And-" Eiji took a step back uncertainly at the scene playing in front of his very eyes. "And why are you kissing Sakuno-chan nya?"

Sakuno flushed and slapped Ryoma's shoulder. "Ryoma-kun!"

"Waaaa! You're harassing Sakuno-chan, ochibi! I can't believe you'd stoop so low nya!"

Ryoma sighed in exasperation as Sakuno quickly defended her boyfriend.

Eiji couldn't believe his ears. "You mean- you mean-"

"Yes, senpai, we're on a date," Ryoma supplied helpfully. "And we're getting married soon."

"Ryoma-kun! He was kidding, Eiji-senpai!"

"Says who?"

Eiji looked at them in apparent disbelief. And then... and then he opened his mouth to wail, "OISHI!!!"

As if on cue, the other half of the legendary Golden Pair rushed out of a nearby sports shop. When his green eyes spotted a flash of red hair, he sighed in relief and walked over to them. After making sure his doubles partner was okay, he turned to face the couple with a pleasant smile. "Ah... Echizen, Ryuzaki-san."

Sakuno smiled shyly. "Oishi-senpai, it's nice seeing you again."

"Can you believe it, Oishi? Ochibi and Sakuno-chan! Together!"

"Yes, well- WHAT?!"

Ryoma shook his head. "Senpai, Ryuzaki and I are TOGETHER, got it?"

"Like friends?"

"Eiji, when they say together like that, it means they're lovers."

"Oh."

Oishi gave them a smile. "Took you long enough, I guess, ne, Echizen?" He laughed. "You even had a girlfriend before I did."

Ryoma almost snorted. "Oishi-senpai, Ryuzaki and Eiji-senpai aren't exactly of the same gender."

Oishi paled while a crimson flush crept up Eiji's face. "Ochibi!"

Sakuno smiled prettily at all of them. "Anou... it's a double date, then?"

The redhead laughed, slinging an arm around Ryoma and shooting his doubles partner a warm grin. "A double date it is, then."

Ryoma rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long day.

----

a/n: ok. there. finished. as in DONE. I might add an epilogue, might being the operative word. the ending's pretty crappy (I just want my eiji to be involved somehow).

I'm sorry if this one is too late for valentines day. I can't rush it, you know. if you have any ideas, let me know.

also, thank you to all the people who have supported me all throughout the making of this story. love you guys!