DISCLAIMER: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Is she serious? Reading the whole time during a tennis match? Ryoma thought.

"No, she's not really reading all the time. When she thinks there's something interesting to watch, she'll…what's the word? Spy," a voice said. Ryoma raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder to see a girl around his own age with pigtails leaning against the wall staring at him smiling.

"How'd you know what I was thinking about?" he asked. The girl's smile disappeared as she turned her head to watch Sakuno. Ryoma did the same.

"You were staring at her so confusingly while she was reading a book during such a fascinating tennis match. Anyone would know what you were thinking about. Don't worry though, a lot of people have had the same thoughts," she said without turning her gaze away from Sakuno. Ryoma shoved his hands into his pockets and continued to stare at Sakuno. Sakuno must have sensed that someone was staring at her so she turned her head towards Ryoma. When she saw that he was really staring at her, she smiled, winked at him and then turned back to her book.

"I think she likes you," the girl said.

"Hn, she hates tennis, so why would she like anything or anyone involving tennis?" Ryoma asked. The girl laughed.

"I don't know, Ryoma-sama. There are exceptions. She doesn't hate her grandma or the tennis regulars…or more of one person in the tennis regulars: Fuji-senpai," she replied.

"Shusuke Fuji?"

"Yup, and I have a feeling that you're also going to be categorized as an exceptional," she said, and then she stood up straight and walked towards Sakuno, leaving Ryoma in deep thought.

"Echizen Ryoma!" a voice said. Ryoma turned around to face Ryuzaki Sumire.

"What are you doing, spacing out? It's the last match now, which means it's your turn! Get on the court, now!" Sumire ordered. Ryoma grunted and got up.

Might as well get used to it… he thought. When he got on court, he was surprised to see who his opponent was.

"Well, well, well…if it isn't the kid with a big mouth from this morning. This is getting interesting. Sakuno's even here to watch. Hey! The name's Sasabe! Sure you've heard of me for my famous 'Bullet Serve', right?" the opponent said. Ryoma looked behind his shoulder to glance at Sakuno, only to find her using a leaf to bookmark a page. Then she slammed her book shut and raised her head to look at both of them, again with a smile on her face.

"You're wasting your time, you know? What do you want? Let me guess…a bet? You're going to end up losing like all the others," Sakuno said.

"Well, I'm going to be the first one who WON'T lose. Here's the bet: if I beat this kid, you go out on a date with me," Sasabe said.

"And if I win?" Ryoma asked. He didn't like to be used as some sort of betting tool.

"Why don't you choose, Echizen-kun? It doesn't feel nice to be used as a betting tool, does it? You should have a say in this bet as well," Sakuno answered. Ryoma was beginning to think that this girl could read his mind.

Silence passed through the entire tennis court. Everyone wanted to know what the young newcomer would say. Why? Simply because it was the first time Ryuzaki Sakuno had let others decide the consequence for her in a bet. Sakuno was famous for her bets. She always used bets when guys wanted to ask her out. No one had won over Sakuno.

Ryoma raised his hand up to adjust his cap. He was looking on the ground and his shoes.

"If I win," Ryoma raised his head to look at Sakuno. Ryoma's hand came down and shoved into his pocket. Then he turned to face Sasabe.

"You stay away from Ryuzaki," he said as he produced a tennis ball out of his pocket. The crowd gasped. Sasabe snickered.

"Fine by me," he said. Ryoma looked back at Sakuno.

"Very well then," Sakuno said as she flipped back to the page she had bookmarked. She then looked at both Ryoma and Sasabe.

"Let the games, begin!" she said and started 'reading' again.

Ryoma looked at the ball he was bouncing. When he stopped, he shifted his gaze to look at his opponent. Then he jumped and served. Sasabe snickered as he got ready to return the serve.

"I wouldn't be snickering if I were you, Sasabe-kun. That's a pretty powerful serve headed towards you," Sakuno said. Sasabe's eye widened when he realized that Sakuno was right. He was amazed at the amount of power he needed to use to return the serve. His eyes widened even more when he realized that the ball he returned didn't even go over the net. Gasps could be heard, including Sasabe's.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You should've been the one to serve. Here, let's start again," Ryoma said as he tossed a ball to Sasabe. Sasabe smirked. He then sent Ryoma his Bullet Serve.

"You go Sasabe!" Sasabe's friends hooted. Sakuno laughed.

"Impressive, but it's still too slow for Echizen-kun," Sakuno said without looking away from her book.

"Hn. She's right, you're way too slow," Ryoma said as he returned the serve easily. Sasabe gritted his teeth. He ran near the net to return the serve and realized the height difference. He smirked as he jumped up to return the serve.

Bull's eye, he thought as he made the ball shoot down.

Ryoma looked up at Sasabe. Then he held his racket as if he were frying pancakes and once again, successfully returned the serve. The ball went high, so high that even Sasabe couldn't reach it.

Crap! I can't reach it! He thought to himself. Then he looked at Ryoma who was standing in front of the net. He smirked.

"Take this you idiot!" Sasabe said as he threw his racket at Ryoma. Ryoma looked up and his eyes widened as he saw the tennis racket flying towards him.

WHAM!

Gasps filled the crowd as Ryoma fell onto his knees, using one hand to cover his face and the other to support himself from losing balance.

"AH! Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka exclaimed as she started to run towards him but was stopped by a hand that was blocking and slowly pushing her back and gasped even louder when she saw a rare sight in front of her own eyes – the hand blocking her belonged to the one and only Ryuzaki Sakuno who was actually looking at the match taking place attentively without trying to hide it.

"Sakuno-chan?" Tomoka asked surprisingly. Sakuno just smiled at her.

"You shouldn't go onto court when there's a match going on," Sakuno replied.

"But, Sakuno-chan!" Tomoka protested.

"It's alright, Tomo-chan." Sakuno said gently but firmly. She gave Tomoka a small smile and continued to watch. Tomoka looked once more at Sakuno. Then she calmed down and leaned back against the fence.

"Hehe, sorry. I lost my grip," Sasabe said as he picked up his racket.

"You know, Sasabe-kun, there're only two explanations, either one. One: you did that on purpose or second: your grip is weak. But I'm pretty sure you wouldn't do something so stupid as to foul yourself, right? So, let's go with a weak grip," Sakuno said. The only difference this time was that her book was closed and she was looking directly at Sasabe, her mouth bent in a small smile but eyes burning with fury.

"Tch. Again, she's right. Your grip is really weak," Ryoma said as he also picked up his racket and got up. There was blood dripping from his forehead down his face. He picked up the tennis ball.

And jumped up.

And served.

This time, Sasabe couldn't even see where the ball had gone. Ryoma served again and he managed to return it but then Ryoma surprised him with a hit upfront. Sasabe screamed and then threw his racket onto the floor.

"I quit!" he yelled and ran away. Sakuno sighed as she put her book back into her bag and took out a handkerchief. Then she walked towards Ryoma whose gaze was still following Sasabe, saying "mada mada dane" under his breath. She brushed his bangs away and pressed the handkerchief onto the wound. Ryoma turned around to look at her, used his free hand to replace Sakuno's and pressed the handkerchief against his head.

"Keep it there for a while. You'll have to wait until the blood stops. Anyway, that was a nice game you put up, Echizen-kun," Sakuno said and smiled.

"You were watching, weren't you?" Ryoma asked.

"Possibly, I guess. See you later," she said. Just as she was about to leave, Ryoma reached out for Sakuno's wrist. Sakuno turned to look back at him.

"What?"

"Why do you hate tennis?"

"Do you think I'd tell you? I already said I hate tennis so why would I like anything or anyone involving tennis?"

"There are exceptions," he said.

Sakuno's smile slightly straightened.

"Has Tomo-chan been talking to you?" she asked.

"Huh? Who?" he asked. He followed the direction of Sakuno's pointing finger and was surprised to find that 'Tomo-chan' was the girl with the pigtails that he had talked with earlier.

"Osakada Tomoka-chan, has she been talking to you?" Sakuno asked.

"So what if she has?" Ryoma asked. Sakuno looked at him straight in the eyes and smiled again.

"The reason for why I hate tennis is for me to know and for you to find out. Have fun training with the regulars. Oh, and which class are you in?" Sakuno asked.

"I think 1-2…why?" Ryoma asked confusingly.

"Nothing, just happy I won't be killed by your future fan girls. I'm lucky to not be in the same class as you, or else I wouldn't be able to learn anything except how to scream 'Ryoma-sama' in a fan girlish way. See you when school starts, Echizen-kun," Sakuno said and with a yank, she pulled her wrist out of Ryoma's grasp leaving Ryoma to stare after her.

"She's an interesting person isn't she?" a voice said. Ryoma turned around to face a senpai who had a gentle aura surrounding him,

"And you are?" Ryoma asked. Like Sakuno, the senpai smiled at him.

"I'm sure you've heard of me. I'm Shusuke Fuji, and I am to tell you that practice starts tomorrow after school, from 4:30 to 6:30, but there's going to be a morning warm-up, and we'd very much like you to join, but you'll probably be too busy since you just go to Japan. See you there," and with that, he left.

Osakada Tomoka: Close friend of Sakuno. Unknown to Sakuno, she knows why she hates tennis because of a certain reason. She's the leader of Ryoma's fan club and is also very supportive of all the Seigaku tennis regulars. She is constantly seen cheering them on. She usually has to take care of her younger brothers.