Disclaimer: Dear readers if The Prince of Tennis was mine – then it wouldn't be this successful. Prince of Tennis is a work of art by Takeshi Konomi – I salute him.

Summary: Sakuno finds herself married to Ryoma Echizen–who wasn't satisfied at being the No.1 Tennis Player/Tycoon/Vocalist. Sakuno didn't know that Ryoma fell in love w/ a girl who left him for another. Now the girl shows up and wants to take Ryoma from her.

Gifts and Curses : The Girlfriend I Never Had

Chapter 1 : Agreement

"You need to relax for a bit Ryoma" his manager advised

Ryoma twitched from irritation, "I don't need any rest."

"I guess you don't need rest . . . what you need, is a wife."

"What do you mean?!"

"Come on Echizen, you know I'm not the only one who wants that to happen! In fact, 100% of the population who knows you wants it as well! And that means the whole world!" his manager explained

This was what's in his mind for the whole trip. It was the 6th of January, one winter afternoon. Driving from Tokyo to Karuizawa, he didn't know why he had to build a mansion on Cereas Minari – why did he have to buy the whole land in the first place? As he drove his way to the mansion, he passed a little cottage. But that wasn't the thing that caught his eye – he saw a lady – with her hair cascaded until her mid-thigh, chocolate eyes, rosy thin lips and a petite nose, dressed in a short purple colored gown of durable material extending to her ankles, with an ankle length skirt over a homespun white petticoat, covered by a long apron of pink linen (kind of like a female commoner's outfit in fairytales) – who was, begging – as what he inferred, to two policemen. He was curious, nonetheless he drove away.

d(_ _)b

"Please, my family has nowhere else to stay if we leave this place." Sakuno pleaded.

One of the guards sighed, "Miss this is now a private property, I'm sorry but you have to leave."

Sakuno was determined, "How can it be that we weren't informed about this? This place belongs to no one."

"I'm very sorry, but this area was bought a week ago. We'll give you three days to leave, if not – you'll be living in jail, we're very – "

But before the guard could say his apology once more, he was slapped by Sakuno. "How cruel you are!" she shouted.

Now the police was mad, "Just because you're a woman doesn't mean I can't hit you!" he fumed and raised his hand; he was gritty to slap back the lady. Sakuno remained brave, she closed her eyes . . . she waited – but alas! Nothing happened.

"What kind of educated person are you?" Sakuno suddenly heard, she opened her eyes – dark green hair, golden orbs that resembled to that of a cat, well-built body clad by Calvin Klein clothing. The man stepped closer to them. "Especially for a policeman, you should review the law. If I remember correctly, according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [1948]Preamble, Article 5 – No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

The slapped officer gritted his teeth, "Just who do you think you are?!"

The man shot him a glare "I am, Ryoma Takeuchi Echizen."

Sakuno looked at the two officers who straightened themselves; it's as if they saw a ghost. Poor little lady, because of her dedication to make her family live comfortable and happy, she lost track of current events. She looked at the Echizen guy, surprisingly he was looking at her too. She took back her glance and looked down, a shade of red colored her cheeks.

Ryoma on the other hand smirked at the lady's reaction then turned the two policemen. "What is it you bring forth to such a young lady?" he asked them.

"M-Mr. Echizen, this lady and her family have been ordered by the authorities to leave this area since it is now a private property." The un-slapped officer explained.

"We've been living here ever since I can remember, this has been my homeland." Sakuno protested

Ryoma looked at the young brunette "I see. . ."

Silence conquered the area, no one wanted to break the deafening stillness of the current place.

"Officers, you may go now. I'll handle this." Ryoma ordered.

"But sir –"

"That is an order, you're shooing this lady and her family because this place is owned by someone else . . . and yet you don't know who the holder is?" Ryoma asked them. But they were still, he took his phone from his pocket and dialed a number, "Yes hello, it's Echizen, I need you to talk to some people here . . . yes . . . okay." Ryoma handed the phone to one of the officers.

"Yes hello? A-ub, M-Mr. Tooyama, yes, yes. . . yes sir. Y-yes sir, good day" the officer said and handed back the phone.

Ryoma smirked, as he took back his cell, "I own this place, so you can leave now." The two policemen proceeded as soon as Ryoma finished his sentence. He sighed, and then turned to the dazed young lady.

Sakuno took notice of the fact that the young man's eyes were set on her. "Th-thank you!" she said and bowed.

He smirked, "You think that's like that?"

Sakuno looked at him, he had a plan, that's for sure. "W-what do you mean?"

"What can you offer?"

"O-offer?"

"It's not free"

That hit her – it was better verbally arguing with the two guards than this guy, his words are short – but deadly and straightforward. Suddenly, a crying little girl ran towards the lady in front of Ryoma.

"Mommy, are we still leaving the house?" the girl with dark green hair and chocolate brown eyes asked in between her sobs.

Sakuno crouched down, "Saia, please get back inside, Mommy is having a conversation with her visitor, and remember what I told you about proper behavior?" Hearing this, the girl nodded. As Saia walked inside, Ryoma was looking at the disappearing figure.

Sakuno turned back to the man in front of her, "I'll give you anything – just let my family live here in peace."

"Marry me." Ryoma said seriously.

d(O_O)b

THIS IS JUST A PREVIEW OF A NEW FIC I'M WORKING ON, please tell me what you think. (If I should post this or not)