Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi-sensei and other rightful owners not me.

Author's Note:

I'm really thankful for all the views/reviews/favorites last chapter. I am also thankful to those who are still reading or waiting for this even if I have not updated for the past year. Yes, I've been gone for that long and I'm terribly sorry. I can't promise to update sooner but I'll try updating once a month. The only thing I'm absolutely certain about is I won't be leaving this fanfic unfinished.

If anyone's interested to know INABAUER came from one of the episodes in New Prince of Tennis. It was the chant that Kirihara Akaya kept saying so that the so-called "ghost" at the dorm would stay away from him.

Again, italicized words between the horizontal lines or (( )) are Inui's notes or flashbacks. This chapter is written in Sakuno's POV (finally). Happy reading!

CHAPTER 4

Ryuzaki Sakuno can be seen walking towards the familiar path to Seigaku's tennis courts. She was supposed to meet her grandmother half an hour ago but she wasn't able to due to her duties as a student assistant in their school library. It had been an unexpected decision on her part to accept the job but she did not regret it in anyway. Back in her younger years as a middle school student she had always been very fond of reading. Her grades reflected that. The only subject she was not very well acquainted with was English but she had managed to overcome her difficulties with constant studying and practice. It was during their last year in middle school that she decided to spend most of her free time in the library and not in the tennis courts. She was able to befriend the school librarian and was offered the position as a student assistant there. She had accepted immediately, of course. She also decided to continue being one as she entered high school since Seigaku's library was for the use of both middle school and high school students anyway. Her reminiscing was interrupted upon seeing the familiar figure of her grandmother. She smiled brightly and hastened her steps. She passed by one of the courts just as the regulars were running laps. Oblivious to the reactions to her arrival, she kept looking straight at her grandmother.

"Obaa-chan! I'm really sorry for being late," she sheepishly smiled and bowed at the older Ryuzaki.

"It's fine. Tezuka wanted to extend the practice hours for today anyway," Ryuzaki Sumire waved her hand to dismiss her granddaughter's apology.

"How are the senpai-tachi doing?" she inquired her eyes now focused on the running figures in front of them.

"They're still as energetic as ever," her grandmother grinned earning a chuckle from Sakuno. Their conversation was cut short when they heard a clattering sound behind them. They saw Inui Sadaharu collide with the bench and the cups filled with his liquid creation spill on him. Sakuno had a small knot on her forehead as she noticed that her senpai did not immediately make a move to remove the spill that would undoubtedly leave a stain on his shirt if left alone. She quickly reached for a handkerchief from her pocket and headed to her senpai's direction leaving behind Ryuzaki Sumire who was raising a brow at the entire scene.

"Ano, Inui-senpai. You can use this," Sakuno said and handed out her handkerchief. A look of concern graced her features as she gazed back at him. It took a few seconds before her senpai managed to react to her presence.

"Thank you," he uttered as he took the handkerchief. Sakuno became more confused as she saw him furrow his brows at the piece of cloth in his hand.

"Inui-senpai?"

No response.

"Eto…"

After not receiving a response again, Sakuno placed her hand on his arm in an attempt to gently shake her senpai back to his senses. She wasn't expecting him to act so surprised from her little gesture.

"!"

"S-senpai?"

"Ah… Yes?"

"Are you really alright, senpai?" Sakuno was beginning to worry further as she saw how his cheeks were slightly turning pink maybe from the heat. She was about to tell him that but he said something even more worrying.

"Yes, I am. Although I think I might be experiencing some mild form of heatstroke."

Sakuno frantically looked back at her grandmother to ask for help but her bespectacled senpai quickly strode off somewhere leaving her in panic. She ran to her grandmother and informed her of what happened. Her grandmother just smiled at her and told her not to worry because she was also observing Inui and did not see anything physically wrong with him. She breathed a sigh of relief at her words but there was still a tiny nagging feeling in her mind that something was bothering her senpai. She decided to just ask him about it tomorrow if she managed to see him again.

"Sakuno-chan, I think it's already time for you to go to your grandmother," a kind voice interrupted Sakuno who was preoccupied with reading a book. The brunette glanced up to see Inoue Ayame, the school librarian, smiling gently at her. Sakuno immediately apologized for not keeping track of the time. Classes were long over and she decided to spend a few hours at the library to help with the organizing of the books that were returned today and finish her homework. She was too absorbed in reading their latest assignment in Japanese Literature that she had not noticed the time. The kind woman chuckled softly at her behavior and merely patted her head like a child before leaving the embarrassed girl to fix her belongings. Sakuno's eyes followed the figure of Inoue Ayame as she gracefully picked up a few books from the tables. The woman was very beautiful with long black hair cascading down her back reaching her waist. She had striking green eyes and porcelain white skin. Her voice was very soft and the way she carried herself spoke of elegance and grace. Sakuno briefly wondered if Inoue-san was a rich young lady of noble blood. She shook her head to dismiss her ridiculous thoughts. Clearly, if her far-fetched musings were correct then she was sure her family would not immediately approve of their daughter working as a school librarian.

"I must have read too much," she chuckled to herself as she picked up the book she was previously reading. The same book that talked about a noble woman who exuded the same grace and elegance as their school's librarian. After arranging her things in her bag, Sakuno cheerfully bid goodbye to the older woman before hurrying towards the stairs. It was a good thing that she would still reach the tennis courts in time. She wouldn't want her grandmother to wait for her after being late yesterday. Plus, she also wanted to go there early to find Inui and ask him about his condition. She didn't see him along the hallway or in the cafeteria this day and decided to wait for their tennis practice to end instead. So, it was a surprise for Sakuno to see the center of her thoughts currently walking up the same flight of stairs with his every present notebook hiding his face.

"Inu-" she was about to call out to him but he continued his steps. She wasn't able to step aside thus causing her senpai to unceremoniously bump into her. She lost her balance and honestly thought she was going to hit her head on the floor as she fell. She braced herself for the painful impact only to open her eyes and 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.

"Don't worry about it,senpai! I'm alright," she interjected not wanting to blame her senpai for the accident. Sakuno did not want him to feel that it was his fault when she was the one who was blocking the way. 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. As their hands met, Sakuno caught the gasp that escaped from the older boy's lips. She carefully inspected his hand and saw that it was beginning to swell up.

She immediately felt even more 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 spurting out apologies and making her senpai feel even more worried. She already guessed that he was blaming himself for the accident based on his statements.

"I'm sorry, senpai," Sakuno uttered again 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 when he used it to cushion their fall and not his dominant right hand.

"I should be the one apologizing, Ryuzaki," she saw him smile feeling more guilty about the ordeal.

"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. Still thinking of ways on how to make it up to him, Sakuno did not see the soft gaze of Seigaku's data tennis player nor did she expect the next words that would come out of his mouth.

"Ryuzaki," he called out to her.

"Hai?" she looked up and saw a small smile on the dark-haired boy's face.

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

The question caught her off guard and she wasn't able to immediately form a reply. Would she accept it? If she did then she would have to balance her time as their manager and help in the library, as well. She was also concerned that she might not be able to spend her free time the way she wanted to because of the planned week-end training sessions that the men's tennis club would occasionally engage in.

"A-ano..,"she started not really knowing what to say at the moment. Thankfully, her senpai managed to help her with the predicament.

"You don't have to answer right away. These things shouldn't be taken lightly so I'll wait for your answer," he said easing her worries.

"Ah..Hai. Thank you, senpai," she said and offered him an appreciative smile. She found it quite endearing that he understood her reluctance and did not want to pressure her with an answer. She was still not as assertive as she wanted to be and could never explicitly say 'no' to people who would ask favors from her.

They continued conversing about random things but their usual topic involved the regulars. She felt a bit nostalgic as they reminisced about the past matches of their team and how they had won the nationals. It was when her grandmother together with Tezuka emerged from the doorway did their conversation stop. Sakuno bid her senpai-tachi goodbye and apologized once again to Inui before she went home with their coach.

After taking a bath, Sakuno went straight to her room. She did her usual before-bedtime-rituals like drying her hair, double-checking her homework for tomorrow, placing her uniform near her bathroom door for easy access and lastly, writing about her day in her journal. She sat down at her study table and placed her journal in front of her. It had been an incredibly eventful day she thought as she opened the worn-out green notebook. She smiled upon remembering the memory of how she had gotten it. She flipped the pages and found the her very first entry. It wasn't really a journal entry but a list of books and their corresponding codes. It also wasn't written by her but by the previous owner. Even if she had only written a few check marks beside the titles she considered this to be the first entry she wrote in it.

"Eto..," Sakuno ,3rd year middle school student, mumbled quietly as she continued looking back and forth between the cart of books and shelves in front of her. It was her first day as an assistant librarian in their school and she was already having a hard time returning the books to their respective places. She would've gladly accepted an increase of a few more inches to her height just so that she could do her work without disruption. She sighed and resigned herself to trying her best to fulfill her duties. She would just have to make use of the ladder to do her work even if she was worried about climbing up the contraption for fear of causing any accidents.

A voice startled the young girl just as she had managed to climb up three steps thus making her let go of the books she was holding in her arm. It was caught however by the swift movements of a pair of hands. Her gaze traveled from the pale hands, lean arms, broad shoulders to the surprised face of Inui Sadaharu. Again, she squeaked in surprise not really expecting to see her senpai here although she knew that he frequented the library. She learned about that fact when she unintentionally stumbled upon his library records and saw the massive amount of books that he borrowed every week.

"Senpai!" she blurted out only to be silenced when he placed a finger over her lips. She blushed furiously at the contact and judging from the look of the boy in front of her, he was also quite surprised by his actions. Sakuno was relieved when her senpai quickly retracted his hand.

"Sorry about surprising you,"he started to which she merely nodded not trusting herself to speak right now.

"I was wondering if you know where I could find these books. They're not in their respective shelves," he said and started reciting the titles of the books he was looking for. She was at lost when he finished because she wasn't able to remember everything he just enumerated. Sensing her dilemma, Inui handed her his notebook so that she would be able to assist him. Smiling in gratitude, she carefully stepped down the ladder then started to rummage through the numerous books in her cart. The brunette was thankful to know that most of what he was looking for was there. She put small checks on the list to mark the books they managed to find.

They moved from one shelf to another and after a few minutes, they were able to complete the list. Before the dark-haired boy was able to thank her, a female student approached them.

"Excuse me?" the girl asked Sakuno.

"Ah.. Yes?" Sakuno gingerly replied.

"Do you know where I can look for books on..," the girl then enumerated her own list. Sakuno excused herself to get a piece of paper to write down everything the girl wanted to look for but stopped in her tracks when Inui handed her his notebook.

"Senpai?"

"You can use this. I still have a spare notebook in my bag."

"B-but, what about your notes?" she warily glanced at the green notebook. She knew that he valued his notebook greatly. It was almost a permanent fixture on him. She would always see him with it no matter where he was. During club practices, during official matches when he was gathering data on other players and even during his breaktime! She also saw the great lengths some of her senpai-tachi underwent just to have a glance at what was written inside. Inui shook his head before placing it in her hands.

"It's fine. I have a soft copy of my notes back at home. There isn't much written there anyway," he said. Before she could refuse he had already walked away carrying a stack of books in his arms leaving Sakuno bewildered with the chain of events.

Back in the present time, Sakuno smiled as she recalled the memory. She flipped through the first pages of the notebook where Inui had written his observations about his team mates and friends. Some of them were very insightful and some of them were quite hilarious. She giggled upon reading an entry about how he described the regulars' reactions about the Inui juice he created. She did try to return the notebook to him but upon seeing that he did indeed have a spare one the next day she decided otherwise. In some way, she felt glad that she didn't have to give it back because she was able to understand him a bit better through this. Sakuno attributed her selfish act to curiosity. Reading about people and their surroundings being described in his words was very interesting. Just as if she was reading his journal. Not that she knew if he had kept a private journal but that was how she felt every time she read his entries. It was then that she started treating the green notebook as a journal. At some point, she also started writing in it following the same format he used whenever he wrote his observations. She grabbed a pen and started writing, her forehead knotting in concentration.

Date: X月 X日

Time: 8:48 P.M.

Today was very eventful. A lot of things had happened both good and bad. I'm still quite at lost at what to do but now that I was able to collect my thoughts I think I'm going to accept Inui-senpai's offer...

A/N: I'm sorry if the chapter doesn't have enough humor but I wanted to start building up the pace of the story to make up for the time I wasn't able to update. The whole librarian assistant concept would most likely play a big part in this story and I know that it might cause some conflict in Sakuno's schedule if she's the tennis club's manager and also a student assistant but no worries. For the sake of the story I will be introducting an OC. To be quite honest, I'm not a big fan of OCs unless they play a really important role in the story so do expect to read Inoue Ayame come up every now and then.

I apologize if there are a few spelling, grammar or characterization mistakes here and there.

Thanks again for reading this and I hope to still hear from you all~

This chapter is dedicated to Chapter 4's reviewers and the people who added this to their favorites/story alerts:

six fingers and counting, AlwaysRunning9, CoookieMonsteerx3, IfLooksCouldKill13, Iku-sensei, IreneRoseAnastasia, Jaz-147, Katarin Kishika, Linnea Farhen, RequiemDreamer56, Rinx Lawrence, The Magician of MoonLight, blackrabbit99, deadpeace6868, eionoame, kikumarucat, mysweetkat, onyxinlife, sang14, xXpandaPopcandy11Xx, xxpinkgrlxx, PanUchiha7105, Twix03, apcolypsehesarisen, gincitri, kaho-saku, kitty cat lysanne, whitelilies, lostariel, hikao-chan, tropper731, MissKain

Inabauer? Mada Mada Dane?