A/N: I decided to try a different style in writing because I'm not really comfortable with how I wrote the prologue so here.

Also the italicized words in between the horizontal lines or (( )) are Inui's notes.

Chapter 1

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"That is all," the voice of Kunimitsu Tezuka quickly ended his announcement after seeing that most of his teammates' faces are turning into a disturbing greenish or bluish color except for Fuji. He casted a glance towards the perpetrator, their data gathering tennis player, Inui Sadaharu.

"There's a 2% chance that you're going to ask me what I gave them," Inui said still holding on to his trusted pen and notebook. Their stoic captain only stared at him blankly before turning around and walking away.

"And a 98% chance that you would ignore that remark and thread towards Ryuzaki-sensei instead," he finished a smile of satisfaction can be seen on his face. Although he can't accurately gather data about Tezuka with regards to tennis, he was actually quite proud that it wasn't the same when it came to other matters. He pushed his glasses up and observed the scene before him. Momoshiro and Kaidoh were still arguing despite the occasional covering of their mouths to avoid vomiting. Oishi was helping Eiji stand up from the ground so that they could head straight to the fountains. Fuji was holding out a water bottle to Kawamura who was sitting at one of the benches. Last but not the least, their first year regular, Echizen wobbly walked towards the nearest vending machine.

(( Up until now, Echizen still continues to drink Ponta after taking in one of my creations. ))

Feeling accomplished for the data he gathered at today's practice, Inui decided to head towards the clubroom to change and pack up his things. He was quite excited to try out this new recipe he had come up with. Upon reaching his destination, he noticed the ichinen trio walking towards him while holding different tennis equipments. He opened the door for them seeing that their hands were quite full at the moment. The three freshmen thanked him before entering the clubroom.

"I need to verify what you guys were talking about yesterday," he said surprising them with his unexpected comment.

"Ah! Inui-senpai!" the three chorused before looking back at him in confusion.

"Gomen, senpai but we don't know what you're talking about," Kachiro politely replied.

"I'm talking about that hypothesis of having a female manager can boost a team's performance," he said whipping out his notebook ready to write whatever useful information he can get.

"Oh that one! Well, the basketball team's standing has greatly improved after they have gotten a female manager for the team. Well, not only them but also other teams here at school too. You can even check with their coach to see their development," Horio explained feeling overly confident as if he just said something very intellectual.

"Really? That's interesting," Inui noted as he scribbled something on his notebook. He thanked them for all their help and excused himself to make a few calls. A few minutes later, the regulars came in one by one to take showers and prepare their things before going home.

"Oi Mamushi! Don't sit on my shirt!" a half naked and towel-clad Momoshiro angrily spat out. Kaidoh stood up and glared at him before replying with,

"Huh? It isn't my fault your shirt looks like a rag!"

"Do you want a fight, bandana freak?"

"Bring it on, porcupine head!" But before they could finish their argument the reprimanding voice of their vice captain immediately stopped them.

"Momoshiro! Kaidoh! Stop it! You don't want Tezuka to be the one to punish you," Oishi scolded them his arms crossed over his chest. The young lad still hadn't outgrown his mother hen-like attitude. The two second years scowled at each other one last time before looking away.

Just then, Tezuka suddenly emerged from the doorway and headed straight to his locker. His face still showed no signs of what he was actually thinking. He was about to open the door to his locker when Inui suddenly appeared beside him and called out.

"Tezuka."

Tezuka looked at the other bespectacled boy waiting for him to continue.

"I have a suggestion. The team should have a female manager."

A slight raise of his brows was the only indication of his surprise to the remark but it was enough to catch the attention of almost all of the people there especially a certain auburn haired tensai who was already taking a few steps towards them.

"Now where did this come from?" Tezuka silently thought. Honestly, his teammate really had a knack for sprouting out unusual things at exactly the right time.

"Why?" he asked ignoring the warning alarms in his head. Inui merely opened his notebook to read some of the data he had gathered.

"Apparently, having a female manager can also help improve the team's standing. According to my sources, Seigaku's basketball team, baseball club and football club have all gotten better since a female manager joined them. I checked it all with their coaches and they all said the same thing," he pushed his glasses up after finishing.

"Really? That's cool! Ne, buchou maybe we really should have one!" Kikumaru Eiji excitedly joined in on the conversation.

"I'm going," Echizen said as he exited the room clearly not interested in the topic.

"Oi, Echizen wait up!" Momoshiro exclaimed and ran after the first year.

"Fssh," Kaidoh grabbed his bag and also walked out of there sharing the same disinterest with Echizen.

"I don't think that's the real reaso-"

"You forgot your racket, Taka-san. I think Momo and Echizen wanted to meet you outside," Fuji interrupted Kawamura before he could even finish his sentence.

"BUUUURNIIIIING! YEAH! WHERE ARE YOU TWO GOING WITHOUT ME?" Kawamura shouted at the top of his voice and then quickly ran outside to chase the others. Leave it all to Fuji to make things more complicated for their captain. Tezuka internally sighed as he was left to deal with the expectant looks that his team was giving him. He shifted his gaze to Oishi who shrugged his shoulders as an indication that he doesn't have any idea where Inui got this information from.

"I'll talk to Ryuzaki-sensei about it," Tezuka responded not wanting to make this conversation get out of hand.

"You can also tell her that I have the perfect candidate to fill in that position."

"Inui," he stressed out his name to emphasize that this conversation is now over. Unfortunately, some people wanted this to go on.

"Saa, Tezuka, I also want to hear more of Inui's suggestion. After all this is about the team and well, obviously, we're part of the team too. Right, Oishi?" Fuji interjected earning an unsure nod from their vice captain. The stoic captain of Seigaku finally decided to respond to his words with a glare while Fuji just smiled and feigned innocence to his silent warning. If Tezuka was a captain who abused his power and authority he might have already barked out laps at his teammates but he wasn't so instead he shifted his icy stare at the root cause of this conversation.

Sensing that their captain had finally given his approval, Inui continued their conversation.

"The best candidate would be…Ryuzaki Sakuno."

'One, two,three,' Inui mentally counted while waiting for them to process his words.

"EH?" Oishi and Eiji blurted out and looked at Inui as if he grew two heads

"I said Ryuza-"

"No," Tezuka instantly cut him off.

Inui scribbled down every reaction he got especially the frown that was plastered on their captain's face. Even though the slight change in his features was miniscule it was clear enough for the other bespectacled boy that he was a bit affected with the suggestion. Now, I only have to figure out why he's so against it.

"That's a great idea, Inui." Fuji smiled approvingly.

"Well, that would be a logical decision, nya! After all, Ryuzaki-chan was always with us during middle school!" Eiji grinned.

"Tezuka doesn't seem to think so," Inui thought while Fuji chuckled at him as if he read his mind.

"What idea?"

All five of them whipped their heads to the direction of that voice and were surprised to see their coach standing in the doorway her arms folded across her chest with her face showing mild curiosity. They must have been too preoccupied with their discussion that nobody noticed her come in. They immediately crossed out the idea of her knocking because well, she never did knock every time she came to the clubroom.

"Ah. Ryuzaki-sensei, Inui just told us some interesting suggestion. Tezuka was about to ask for your thoughts on the matter but since you're already here we might as well tell you now. Right, Oishi?" Fuji said waiting for their vice captain's words since he had been awfully quiet about the ordeal.

"Eh..uhm. Yes that would be that case," he answered and scratched the back of his head unable to look at their captain.

"So, what is this about, Tezuka?" she asked oblivious to the weird tension enveloping her students.

"I'll leave the explanation to Inui. It is his suggestion after all," Tezuka pointed out before proceeding to open his locker and tuning out the rest of this conversation. Frankly speaking, he doesn't want to be on the receiving end of their coach's wrath after hearing that some of them wanted her granddaughter to become the manager for the team. This could've been done during their middle school days because she was still interested in tennis but now he didn't see her frequent the courts so that must mean she was spending her time on something else. He didn't want to force her just because of this ridiculous idea that their team performance would increase upon getting a female manager.

"We should have a female manager. Apparently, having a female manager can also help improve the team's standing. According to my sources, Seigaku's basketball team, baseball club and football club have all gotten better since a female manager joined them. I checked it all with their coaches and they all said the same thing," Inui mimicked his last explanation for their coach.

Ryuzaki Sumire chuckled at the suggestion while shaking her head.

'Boys will be boys,' she thought.

"I'm guessing you already have someone in mind for this job?" she inquired amusement evident in her tone.

"Yes. The perfect candidate for this is-"

"You know what maybe we should discuss this first with the other regulars. They might have someone else in their minds to fill in the position," Oishi laughed nervously. His senses told him to stop this conversation from heading to that direction. If their captain denied the request then of course, their coach who was the grandmother of Ryuzaki Sakuno would have the same sentiments. She might even be furious at the thought.

Coach Ryuzaki raised a brow at the vice captain's words.

"Don't worry about it, Oishi. I only want to hear your suggestions. We will still debate on this matter with all the regulars," she assured the young man.

"You're still a big worry wart ne, Oishi?" Kikumaru teased earning a small blush from Seigaku's mother hen.

"I remembered I left something on the courts. Do you mind helping me find it, Eiji?" Oishi blurted out and dragged the redhead along with him before Kikumaru could even protest. The action only confused their coach but she did not voice it out. She faced her other students waiting for the continuation of their conversation.

"Saa, Inui. Who was the best candidate again?" Fuji asked as if he completely forgot.

Inui adjusted his glasses and readied his pen and notebook before speaking.

"Ryuzaki Sakuno."

Tezuka didn't know if he was only imagining things but the room's temperature seemed to drop after Inui spoke. He slowly closed his locker and turned to see their coach's reaction. Her smile seemed to be stuck on her face while her brows were knotted showing her agitation about the matter.

"I'm sorry. I think I might've misheard you, Inui. Care to repeat that?" There was a certain stress on her words and for once their data tennis player hesitated to reiterate what he just said.

"Actually, I think I'm going to heed Oishi's advice for now," Inui cleared his throat and closed his notebook. He then stealthily left the room not waiting for any response.

Fuji's smile turned to a small frown because of the course of events. He was quite disappointed with the results.

"Saa, I can always persuade Inui to go on with his plans," he thought his previous disappointment now forgotten. His thoughts were now centered on Inui's suggestion. He promptly excused himself and proceeded to go home leaving behind their trusted captain to fend for himself against their not so happy coach.

Inui scanned the writings on his notebook trying to figure out what caused his plan to be put off for a while. He didn't consider his plan to make Ryuzaki Sakuno as their female manager as a failure just yet. Managing to escape their coach's wrath doesn't equate to his plan being a failure. He was briskly walking up the stairs while taking two steps at a time. Classes were long over and the chance that he'll bump into someone along the way was very slim. His data however proved it otherwise. He had his notebook plastered on his face that he didn't see Sakuno walking down the stairs as well.

"Inu-" she was about to greet him properly when he unceremoniously bumped into her thus causing her to lose her balance. Her scream pierced through the quiet air and she had honestly thought she was going to hit her head on the floor. She braced herself for the painful impact only to feel something warm envelope her. A few seconds passed before she opened her eyes to see Inui acting as her cushion and breaking her fall. She was about to stutter an apology when she saw the painful look on his face.

She quickly sat up and checked him for any external injuries her embarrassment now clearly forgotten.

"Where does it hurt senpai?" she asked in a worried tone while looking over him.

At the sound of her voice, Inui managed to open one eye to look at her.

"I'm sorry about that, Ryuzaki," instead he apologized while mentally berating himself for his actions. If he was only paying attention to where he was walking then he could've missed her and they wouldn't be in such a predicament.

"Ano! Don't worry about it,senpai! I'm alright," she interjected not wanting to blame her senpai for the accident. She stood up and held out her hand to help him as well.

"Can you stand senpai?"

"Yes, I think so," he managed to say and clasped his hand with hers. A stinging pain suddenly shot through his hand eliciting a gasp from him. He was about to brush it off as nothing but Sakuno had caught on to his reaction. She carefully inspected his hand and saw that it was beginning to swell up.

She immediately felt guilty for what had happened. If she was only careful enough to not lose her balance then they wouldn't be in such a predicament right now. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying and making her senpai feel even more worried. She already guessed that he was blaming himself for the accident because of his apology.

"I'm sorry, senpai," Sakuno uttered not knowing how to make it up to him. They were currently at the infirmary waiting for the nurse to come back after informing her grandmother of what happened to one of the members of their team. Fortunately, it was Inui's left hand that was sprained and not his dominant one. He could still play but he won't be able to utilize both his hands when returning the balls.

"I should be the one apologizing, Ryuzaki," he smiled. He already had a clear view about her personality but it still amazes him of how far her kindness stretched. It was clearly his fault that this had happened yet she somehow thought otherwise.

"B-but it isn't your fault, senpai," she insisted only to be stopped by the look on his face. Her gaze fell down and her hands fumbled with the hem of her skirt. She always did this every time she felt shy, distraught or uncomfortable. It was a habit that she never really outgrew.

Of course, he knew about this fact as well that's why he felt rather guilty about it. He wanted to change the topic and as if by coincidence a particular thought popped in his mind.

"Ryuzaki," he called out to her.

"Hai?"

"Are you interested in becoming the manager for the team?"

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A/N: Please leave some reviews about what you think of it!