Hello~ Sorry for the wait. I bet most of you have been waiting for the training camp. ^^

Disclaimer: I do not own The Prince of Tennis.

Special thanks to my lovely beta reader ChiyakoChan :)

Warning: Tennis ball and bears and a little fluff~

Ch9: Heartbeats

Most people thought the cool mountain air was really great and refreshing, especially if they lived in a big, hot city like Osaka. That was what the Shitenhouji Tennis Club members felt when they arrived at their training location. Their bus stopped in front of a large lodge. Kintarou dashed out the bus once its doors opened.

"This is great~" He exclaimed. He took a deep breath and enjoyed the way the fresh air filled his lungs.

"Kin-chan, please be careful." Shiraishi warned the youngest regular as he got off the bus, followed by the others.

"Look, Koharu, that's our love nest!" Yuuji said, hand-in-hand with his boyfriend.

Koharu squealed. "Aw, Yuu-kun~" Both of them then emitted an unpleasant lovey-dovey aura.

"Disgusting." Someone commented.

Everyone looked at the one who had just said that, some of them were surprised because it was no other than the supposed-to-be-a-lovely-girl Tsubasa.

"Tsubasa!" Tsubaki called him in disapproval. She then looked at the couple and apologized. "Sorry about her."

"It's perfectly fine." Koharu chuckled. "We're used to it, right, Yuu-kun?"

Yuuji nodded and grinned at her. "It's okay, it's okay."

"Anyway, that was unexpected." Chitose commented.

Koishikawa who stood beside him agreed. "Yeah, that supposed to be Zaizen's line, wasn't it?"

The guys laughed at his statement. She quickly glanced at Zaizen. He was just as nonchalant as usual. He seemed not affected by everybody else and kept typing on his cell phone. Was he always that ignorant to the others? She didn't know nor had any idea about it. She just felt he was awfully silent today and she found it very uncomfortable.

"Well then, everyone, let's get started!" Osamu clapped his hands to gain their attention. "The rooms are assigned based on your grade. I'll sleep with the third years and the girls will get their own room. Now, put your belongings in and warm up by running around the mountain!"

"Yes, sir!" The boys answered in unison and ran into the lodge. After placing their bags in their respective room and changing into tennis uniforms, they ran outside and started the warm-ups the coach had assigned.

"Be careful, the path is slippery," Osamu shouted to them. "Oh, and there might be bears!"

"B- Bears?" Kouki widened her eyes.

"Great, I hope one of them will get attacked." Tsubasa commented coldly.

Tsubaki sighed. "Tsubasa…"

"No need to worry. Men are way scarier than bears… If you understand what I mean." He hummed. "Let's start working, shall we? The courts ought to be ready before they come back."

Osamu told the girls to go the lodge's backyard. There, they found several old courts. They started cleaning and set the nets. It should have been the freshmen's duty; however they were all gone because he had told them to join the seniors. After he brought three baskets full of tennis balls, everything was ready.

"I predict they will have arrived by now." He looked at his watch. It had been an hour and half since the boys started running.

"They're here!" Kouki said, pointing at a dirt path in a nearby forest.

Tsubaki looked at the direction where the other girl was pointing. She then could see some yellow figures approaching. The figures cleared once they were close enough. The first one was Kintarou, then Kenya, followed by the other regulars.

"I win! I beat Kenya!" Kintarou cheered as he arrived at the court.

"Don't get so worked up, Kiddo. That's because I wasn't running at my full speed." Kenya replied.

Kouki giggled as she approached the two. She handed them towels and water. "Good job."

Tsubaki followed Kouki's example and started to distribute towels and water to the rest. Though Tsubasa looked reluctant to do so, he eventually joined the girls.

"Here, Zaizen-kun." Tsubaki said as she gave him a bottled water and towel.

He glanced at her for a mere second then took them without saying anything.

It wasn't just her imagination, he was awfully silent today. Was he angry to her? Had she done something wrong? Had she offended him in some way?

"What is it like, running in the forest?" She tried to ask him, but he didn't reply. He didn't even look at her and kept himself busy by drying his sweaty hair with the towel. Her eyebrows twitched in annoyance. She didn't know what was wrong with him, but couldn't he at least pay a little attention and answer when he was being asked?

Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm down. She stared as his back. Right, it was Zaizen Hikaru who was standing in front of her.

She decided to give another shot. "Watanabe-sensei said that there were bears. Is that true?"

Five seconds… Ten seconds… Fifteen seconds… Negative.

That's it!

She looked at a basket of tennis balls which happened to be only one feet away from her. Without a second thought, she took one of the balls and threw it to him. The ball graciously hit him on the head.

He yelped as a hard round thing collided with his skull. Stroking the aching spot, he quickly turned around. He glared at her. "What the hell are you doing!"

She looked away and crossed her arms. "That's your fault for not paying attention."

"And you think it's a proper way to gain someone's attention?" He snorted.

"Well, at least you are paying attention now." Raising a brow, she smirked.

"Why should I?"

"Don't you ever learn that you ought to pay attention when someone is talking to you?"

"Screw that!"

"That's what people call manners, Zaizen-kun."

"Heh, as if you're the one to talk, Senpai. I don't wanna hear a lecture about manners from a girl who deliberately threw a ball at someone else."

From afar, the rest of the team watched in worry.

"What happened?" One of them asked.

The other gulped then answered. "I think… She had just awakened a sleeping giant."

"What should we do?" Asked another.

"Let them be, I guess. It's just too dangero-"

"ENOUGH!"

The shout made everyone petrified, including the arguing duo. They all looked at the coach. He really flared up.

"Get back to practice!" Osamu ordered both the regulars and non-regulars on the courts then he looked at Zaizen and Tsubaki. "You two," he pointed at them. "Cool your heads down by having another lap around the mountain."

"But-"

"Now!"

Zaizen grunted. He threw his towel and bottle aside and exited the courts. A moment later, he disappeared among the trees.

Still in the state of shock and confusion, Tsubaki turned to Osamu. "Do I also have to-?"

"Yes. I'm fully authorized here and my orders are absolute." He firmly replied.

She looked at him in disbelief. She didn't even belong to the team.

"Keep this in your mind, Miss. Racquets and tennis balls aren't tools to hurt people."

Her face turned red in embarrassment. "I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." She bowed deeply.

"Well, I think you're apologizing to the wrong person."

She blinked in confusion. He gave her an understanding smile and gestured to the forest's path where Zaizen had just taken.

"Now, if you're pleased, Yamato…"

"Y- Yes sir, I understand." She bowed once again to the coach then ran to catch up with Zaizen.

"Zaizen-kun, wait!" Tsubaki desperately called the younger boy as she was trying her best to catch up. He was so damn fast. Even though she had better stamina than other normal girls thanks to her Kendo club training, he was still too fast for her. "Za- Zaizen-kun!" She panted. This wasn't good, the distance between them grew wider and wider. What should she do if she completely lost track of him? She didn't want to get lost here! Ugh, she really wished she had taken another ball with her. That way, she would have been able to throw it to him again and (hopefully) make him stop for a while.

"Wa-AAAAH!"

Suddenly everything around her spun around. She closed her eyes in reflect and when she opened them again, she found herself lying on the ground. She blankly stared at the sky. What… What had just happened?

"Senpai! Senpai, are you alright?"

She could hear his voice. Strange, why did his voice sound so far? She was sure he had been right in front of her just now.

"Don't move, ok? I'll go down now." He said again. A moment later she saw him. His face was pale and terrifying. Strange, it was the first time she saw him in such condition.

"Are you alright?" He knelt down next to her and helped her sat up. "Slowly."

She could feel pain slowly creep over her body as her back left the ground. "I'm okay… I think."

He examined her. It wasn't as bad as he had thought. She was really lucky she had landed on a pile of dry leaves. It helped reduce the damage on her body.

"God, Senpai. If you were listening to Osamu's nonsense talk about bears, you should have listened more to his warning about the slippery path." He grumbled, but there was a hint of relief in his voice.

She held her aching head. Slippery? Had she just slipped and fallen down a cliff? Phew, thank God it was declivitous.

"Sorry." She said after her mind start working properly.

He sat on the dry leaves then answered. "Well, there's no need to apologize to me."

"Still, I have to apologize to you for what I have done earlier. You know, the ball…"

"It was also my fault for ignoring you," he paused for a while then continued. "Sorry, I was just not in a good mood back then."

There was an awkward silence between them until she decided to break it.

"So, are you still not in a good mood?"

He glanced at her. "It depends."

"Huh?"

"Say, what made you join the camp? I thought you hate boys." He asked out of the blue.

She thought for a while. "Why does everyone ask about it? Tsubasa asked a similar question yesterday."

"Oh, really?" He rolled his eyes. It would have been the end of the world if that kid hadn't asked her about it. Then again, he felt slightly annoyed to find some similarity between them.

"He asked why I agreed to attend a training camp full of boys." She continued without noticing a little change in him.

"So, why did you agree to do so?"

"First, I don't hate boys in general. I just dislike the bad, flirty boys. Second, I have nothing to do. And third…"

He raised a brow. "Third?"

"I… You know, I..," she stammered. The third reason was embarrassing, especially if she spoiled it in front of the very person it was. "I owe you a lot. So I think it might be a good chance to pay back."

He gaped. "That's…ridiculous."

She was about to protest when he cut in.

"We should go back or else we'll miss the entire practice."

At first she was confused, but then she remembered that they were actually in the middle of detention. "Right."

He changed his position and turned around so that he was kneeling with his back facing to her.

She blinked. "Wha-?"

"You won't be able to walk with that condition, will you?"

She stared at his back. Was he offering for a piggyback ride? Piggyback? Wait! Was it for real?

"Be quick or else I'll leave you alone here."

She bit her lower lip and placed her hands on his shoulders. Oh, she was really tense. Her heart beat so fast. Slowly, she leaned her body closer to his back. He then stood up without giving any sign of embarrassment and it surprised her. For a second, she had thought she would have fallen but she didn't. He held her firmly and easily, supporting her weight.

It was the first time she realized how strong he was as a boy despise being younger. She also noted that he had wide shoulders, definitely much wider than hers… and warmer.

Dear God, she could only wish he wouldn't notice her heartbeat.

Mens are scarier than bears… oh really? I think women are even scarier XD

Thank you for reading, please drop a review :D