Deep down, jerks are still jerks.

"Hello?"

Sakuno nervously twirled the phone cord with her fingers, contemplating how she was going to go about this. After her incidental meeting with Niou last week, the man had given her his phone number in case she wanted any more advice, and right now, she was in desperate need of it.

"Hi Niou-san, it's Sakuno."

Niou perked up as he recognized the voice.

"Oh hey, what's up?"

Sakuno racked her brain for some form of small talk, but when she couldn't come up with any, she ultimately decided to just cut to the chase. She let out a sigh.

"I still like him, Niou-san."

Niou remained silent as his mind slowly processed this news.

"And I have to go to tennis club practice in half an hour," Sakuno continued. "I'm bound to see h--"

"What do you mean you still like that Echizen brat?"

Sakuno hunched over in embarrassment, feeling the apples of her cheeks heat up.

"I mean, I know he acts like he doesn't really care about me, but I've always thought that deep down, he kind of did."

Niou smacked his forehead in frustration.

"Sometimes I wonder where you get these stupid ideas. Look, Sakuno-chan, if a guy treats you like he doesn't give a shit, he really doesn't give a shit. I don't know what chick flicks you've been watching, but deep down, jerks are still jerks. They don't change."

"But what about--"

"Okay fine, most jerks don't change."

Sakuno slid down against the wall to the floor, pouting slightly.

"So what am I supposed to do now? Just ignore him from now on?"

"Yes!" Niou shouted, having insinuated this from the beginning. "Obviously he's not interested in you so just forget about him."

Sakuno let out a huff of disappointment, one that Niou could hear from the other line. He suddenly started to feel a twinge of guilt.

"Look, just do what you need to do. Just be careful, alright?"

Sakuno nodded. "Yeah, I'll try."

Sakuno ambled her way though the maze of tennis courts until she reached the ones that the boys were practicing at. Honestly, of all places her grandmother could have told Sakuno to meet her, it had to be here. As Sakuno approached the area with anxiety, she noticed her grandmother talking to Tezuka Kunimitsu on one of the far courts. She was just about to enter when a figure blocked her entrance.

"Ah…Ryoma-kun."

Echizen blinked confusedly for a moment, having just realized she was there.

"Ryuzaki-san," he said, filling the empty void. As the two merely stood there, Sakuno let all reason slip out of her head, and all that came out of her mouth was incoherent mumbling.

"I…um…I…"

Sakuno figured she should just stop before she made a fool of herself and went to staring at her feet. Echizen had no particular reaction to this.

"Ryuzaki-san…"

Sakuno looked up from her feet with an almost scared expression.

"…can I ask you a question?"

Echizen had said this in such a sincere tone that despite past feelings, Sakuno couldn't help but widen her eyes with hope in a rather school girl kind of way as she imagined romantic music playing in her head.

"Anything," she said in a sweet, desiring voice.

"Can you please…"

Sakuno nodded for him to continue. "Yeah."

"…move?"

"Wait, what?"

She swore she could hear the needle scratching.

"I need to get to the club room, and you're kind of in the way."

Sakuno checked her surroundings to see that she was indeed in the doorway of the tennis courts.

"Right…sorry."

She moved out of the way to let Echizen pass, wearing an absolutely dejected look as she did so. Starting to make her way over to her grandmother, she dragged her feet as she walked and kicked weakly at one of the small stones on the ground, letting it hit the fence with a rattle. She let out another sigh.

"I hate it when Niou's right."

OMG, it's been so long. Actually, I think it's been only one or two weeks, but it feels like it's been so long. So anyway, here's the next chapter. Sorry I kind of had to make Ryoma the enemy, but don't worry, he'll have some redeeming qualities in other chapters, just not when it comes to Sakuno. So yeah, I bet you figured out that this story is very anti-RyomaSakuno. I never really liked the couple. It just seemed way too cliche for me, but that's beside the point. Watch out for the next chapter, featuring Fuji Yuuta, Mizuki, and Fuji Yumiko.

Come on, guys. The Mary-Sues get more reviews that me. How sad. T.T