my first multiple-chapter fic!! oh, yeah! ^^,

R&R

Disclaimer: I do not own POT, just the plot

-there is something that I've taken from another anime, Major, that is, I really liked that quote of the lead girl which says: 'even I can't have it all, I don't want to lose everything'

kawaii, ne? now back to POT :D

~..~

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Conspiring to Get to You

-I swear I'll be there by any means-

Chapter 1: Acceptance

Five years has passed since our prince took off for America. This is the place where he'll establish his name in the world of tennis. He's been doing well. In fact, at the age of eighteen, he is already known as one of the best tennis players in the world, yet he can't still beat the record of Samurai Nanjiroh. Indeed, he has a long way to go to establish something that isn't associated with his father at all. He needs his own, not something handed down from father to son.

Despite the fact that he's been living in America for five long years, he has maintained correspondence with his former teammates in Japan. 'They're probably successful in whatever their undertakings are.' he thought. Besides his former teammates, he also kept in touch with a shy, brunette girl with wobbly hips. She's in high school now, already in her last year, where he could've been if he's not too busy conquering the tennis world. The two of them seems to have created a bond of their own—'more than friends but less than lovers', as Momoshiro once put it. Sakuno, who's been crushing on the tennis prodigy has somehow gotten over her infatuation and learned to accept their current status. It's due to her reasoning that even she can't have it all; she doesn't want to lose everything—if there is anything. Well, the five years he is away really helped her get over him. He's now just a very good friend who lives far away. She supports her whenever he has a match (though not physically since that would be impossible, ne?), she congratulates him when he wins (which happen all the time), and she's there to listen to his problems especially the intrigues that are faced by famous people. Regardless of this closeness, she still managed to shut down any resurfacing feelings for him. She will always be his friend, a very good friend.

Sakuno is now on her third year in high school. She needs to decide what career she would undertake and to what school to go to. She is filling out application forms for different schools when her phone suddenly rang informing her of a new text message. She took the phone to know who sent the message and read it.

"Hey, are you busy?" the message says. It was from Ryoma. She occasionally gets text messages from him, sometimes he calls, and sometimes, he was her who calls him. Her expression, which should be all blushing and shrieking by now if she's the old Sakuno, shifted into a worried one. She knows her friend very much and by the looks of it, she knows he has a problem.

"No. What's wrong?" she typed and sent it afterwards. It only took a minute or two before her phone rang again in her hand, but this time, it was not a message, it was a call. "Hai?" she greeted.

"Hey", says the person on the other line.

"What's up?" she asked as if she has no bit of an idea yet why he called.

"Are you busy?" he asked again repeating what's in the message he just sent.

"No. I'm just filling out application forms." She sounded like those things aren't important.

"Are you sure? Shouldn't you need to finish those forms?" he asked pressing.

"Hey, I took your call. That should confirm that I'm not busy, right?" she said in a warm tone, assuring his friend that he's not disturbing her or anything.

"I guess so", he replied, unsure.

She sighed. She needs to know what's up to him sending a text message like that and calling sounding really down."Come on, Ryoma-kun, you know you can tell me anything", she reminded him.

And he is reminded. "You see…" he trailed of while she waited for him to continue. She suddenly heard as if Ryoma is talking to someone and whoever it is sounded…angry? About what? "Ryuzaki, I can't tell you after all." Then he hanged up.

Sakuno listened to the beep that followed. 'Something is up', she thought, and she wants to know. Especially with what Ryoma just did, he wouldn't have acted like that if there is nothing going on. She will definitely get to the bottom of this.

o-kay..so just to make it clear, Ryoma went to America, we all know that part, then after five years, he was famous and rockin' the tennis world *cheers Ryoma like a crazy fangirl* ^-^. Now, he's in France for Wimbledon. yeah, he's there.. the next chapters will clarify any loose ends, i hope.. haha! R&R!