Hi everyone! Hime-chan here!

Hope you guys all enjoyed Chapter 2 last time! I really appreciate everyone's reviews—they mean the world to me! So thank you so much, and please continue to support me as I will continue to rely on you all!

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, only Moriyama Kimiko.

Now, please enjoy my most recent work, Chapter 3 of "The Empress!" Have fun!

And don't forget to review ^^

Regular POV (continuing from Chapter 2)

Kimiko dashed out the door, her hand clasped tightly over her mouth—this time to hold in the tears welling up in her eyes.

Desperately hoping that Sanada wouldn't come after her, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her to the nearest refuge, the local park.

Reaching there, she slowed to a dejected walk, trudging over and collapsing on a wooden bench with a defeated "plop." Placing her head in her hands, she finally allowed the tears that had swelled up in her eyes to run down her cheeks in flowing salty streams. Sobbing quietly, when she felt someone place a gentle hand on her shoulder, she immediately snapped, "Go away."

A low chuckle followed, causing her eyes to widen and her head to snap up. "Oh my god, Seiichi! What are you doing here?"

He simply smiled, saying nothing. Kimiko then realized what she had done, and apologized, crying, "Sorry Seiichi! I didn't know it was you, I thought it was…" her voice trailed off, not wanting to acknowledge the almost-mentioned person.

"…Genichirou?" Yukimura inserted for her.

Kimiko, with her head in her hands again, nodded. "He's such a jerk," she cried. "He completely ridiculed dance."

Yukimura put his arm around his childhood friend to comfort her as much as possible. She sobbed against his shoulder, "So what if he's a kendo and tennis star? Sure, he's recognized by everyone, success surrounds him like moths do to fire…But dancers deserve just as much recognition! If it wasn't because of people like him…" she collapsed into tears again.

"Shhh…" Yukimura soothed her. "I know, I know…" he hugged her closer, trying to prevent her from recalling any more bad memories. "That's in the past Kimi-chan, so try to forget. I'm here, ok?"

She nodded mutely again, having buried her face into his tennis jersey.

Yukimura waited until she calmed back down, and then voiced something Kimiko had never even thought of. "Kimi-chan, now stay calm…but have you ever considered that you might be," he paused to find the right word, "…jealous?"

The female next to him immediately pulled away and sat up in shock. "Jealous?"

The tennis captain nodded slowly. "Perhaps…of his success? The recognition that he gets…that she never got? Or…that you never received?"

Kimiko turned away from him. Was it possible?

She traced back to what she had thought of him for the past 3 years.

From when he first joined the tennis team…

To when he received the excellence award for top grades in history…

To when he became vice captain of the tennis regulars…

To when he was dubbed the "Emperor" of the tennis courts…

To when…

She shot up from the bench in a bout of realization. She was jealous. She was the one who was being ridiculous…just because she was angry that she didn't get enough recognition when he got exactly what he deserved for his efforts.

Shoving her head back into her hands, Kimiko moaned in her shame. "Seiichi, I feel like an idiot."

Said boy chuckled. "It's all right, just make it up to him tomorrow at school. It'll work out, so don't worry," he reassured her confidently, patting her on the back: "I'll see you at school. Bye." And with that, he left the girl to think things over.

Kimiko called out after him, "Thank Seiichi!" The tennis captain smiled and waved behind him before briskly strolling away.

Kimiko POV

I'm such a dimwit. Just because I was jealous…

Oh no! I've got to make up for the commotion and trouble I've caused Sanada-…kun and his family. I'll apologize directly to him tomorrow, first thing in the morning.

Regular POV (at Sanada's home)

Sanada thought over what had happened. Sure, he might have "overdone it" as his grandfather had said, but it wasn't his entire fault! She was the one acting all high and mighty, so she should apologize. He growled. If that pompous brat didn't…

The telephone broke into his thoughts.

**Ring ring**

"Sanada residence." He spoke into the receiver.

"Genichirou, is that you?"

"Oh, Seiichi, you again."

"I'm sorry if it's me." The captain huffed jokingly.

His vice captain brushed off the joke. "Anyways, what is it?" Sanada had an odd feeling about what was coming from his old friend.

"Kimi-chan told me about what happened. It seems like you guys got into a fight?"

"…And what about it?" was the curt reply.

"Well, I admit that she wasn't entirely correct, and had her faults for arguing with you. She knows that now…I think. But perhaps you should get the other side of the story as well…her view and what, or rather who, caused her to be so adamant about the fundamentals of dancing."

Sanada was intrigued. "Who…you say?"

"Yes." The captain confirmed. "It's a who. It's a she, to be specific."

Now the fukubuchou was plain stumped. "What are you talking about?"

"Kimiko's grandmother was a famous dancer in Kyoto…before she married Kimiko's grandfather, Moriyama Ryoutarou—"

"The founder of the Moriyama dojo group," Sanada interrupted, although he was still confused about where this conversation was headed.

"Exactly. She was extremely prolific in teaching and choreography, and was renowned for being one of the best. But after she married Moriyama-san, everything went downhill."

"How's that possible? She could have just continued her dancing right?"

"But now her reputation as a dancer was completely overwhelmed by something else. Everywhere she went, she was addressed as Moriyama's wife, or dojo mistress, always Moriyama this, Moriyama that…never again was she recognized for her own efforts in dancing. In fact, some people even ridiculed her by comparing her to her husband's greater success in the martial arts."

Yukimura's last statement was met by a stony silence on the receiving end.

He continued sadly, "And eventually, Kimiko's grandmother died of overworking in the hopes of being recognized for her talents again. That's why Kimi-chan's so touchy and bitter when it comes to recognizing dancers."

The captain paused for a second, recalling that day.

Flashback

A little girl sat on the branch of a tree, crying. She had just come back from a certain ceremony, and now her heart felt like it had been wrenched and crushed into two.

Her parents were under the tree, trying to coax their young daughter down from the dangerous place where she was sitting, but to no avail. The little one would not budge a single inch until she could cry no more.

So, she kept crying, until all of a sudden, an unfamiliar face popped up from below her. "Hey there," a boy with smiling eyes greeted her. "What are you doing up here all alone?"

"Grandma's –hiccup- gone…'cause –hiccup- she overworked" the little one sobbed. "She's gone, she's gone, she's gone…" the girl could only repeat those two words over and over again in despair.

And little Yukimura Seiichi, age 10, could do nothing but hold her to his chest until her tears stopped flowing down her pale cheeks.

Flashback end

"Genichirou?" the tennis captain ventured.

"Hn."

"What are you thinking…right now?"

"Apology." The vice captain answered stiffly.

"..."

"I'll apologize tomorrow, if you're so curious. She deserves it after what I said to her today." Sanada said a little gruffly.

Yukimura smiled into the phone. "All right, thanks Genichirou. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Hn." And with that, the stern emperor hung up.

I'm counting on you, Genichirou. You might be the one for her.

Perhaps Yukimura Seiichi saw it coming first.

(the next day)

Her mind set, and her vision cleared, Kimiko danced through the gate the next day, wanting to apologize to the offended boy as soon as possible. "I can do this," she repeated to herself, "I will do this."

Approaching from the other side, Sanada was briskly pacing towards the school gates, hoping to say sorry to her as quickly as possible. With his silent and stern façade, few besides those who knew him well could tell that his eyebrows were less furrowed than usual.

(in the history classroom)

Kimiko sat in the classroom, waiting for Sanada to arrive. Come on, Sanada. Where are you? Just get your butt in…

Oh my god. Kimiko thought, what am I doing? Am I anticipating talking to him? Where the heck did my brain go overnight?

She slapped herself mentally, just as said boy walked proudly (as usual) through the classroom door, his 5'11" frame barely squeezing below the top of the doorpost.

Seeing Sanada walk in, Kimiko scooted over a bit to allow him his allocated room on the bench-seat. "Good morning," she said as normally as possible.

He nodded to her in reply, a little more kindly than usual. "Good morning."

An awkward silence ensued. This time, both of them wanted to say something, but didn't know how to begin. Finally…

"Can I…?" both Sanada and Kimiko began, and then stopped as they realized the other had spoken.

"Go ahead," they tried to tell the other to speak first, but ended up speaking simultaneously again.

"I'M SORRY!" both yelled out in unison…yet AGAIN. They froze, and looked around the classroom to check that there were no other students, glanced at each other…

And subsequently burst out laughing. Yes, even Sanada began chuckling.

Kimiko was again, had collapsed onto the floor in her mirth, yelling out, "Wow, what are we doing?" and had doubled over in amusement at the situation, while Sanada, although he was more controlled, could not help but smile at the irony of today compared to yesterday.

When finally both of them had calmed down, Kimiko decided it was time to ask for forgiveness. "Sanada-kun, I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I was way too arrogant and stubborn, and I hope you can accept my apology."

Kimiko POV

I bowed deeply, waiting for his answer. A few seconds passed. Silence. Until…

"No, I'm sorry but I cannot."

My head shot upwards, eyes wide, gaze sharp. I gasped, "Why—"

"I cannot accept yours because I want you to accept my apology." The words flew out of his mouth at a rapid tempo, as if he wanted to get it all out there before he forgot. "It was my fault. I was being too proud, and completely disregarded your thinking, even though you had such a good reason behind your view."

My gaze softened, recalling Seiichi's comforting presence beside me yesterday. Knowing Sanada-kun would understand whom I was referring to, I asked, "How much did he tell you? Everything?"

"Enough," was his stoic answer.

"All right then." And then, as if the apologies were completely forgotten, the two of us simply sat there in a comfortable silence, wordlessly enjoying each other's company.

I looked at the clock: 20 minutes before class started. There was enough time to answer something that had been bugging me ever since last night's revelation.

But before I could even ask my question, Sanada-kun asked something else first. "So…you live alone right now?"

"Un (yeah)," I replied. "Mama and Papa went to Germany to help with the rest of the dojo branches, so I'll be staying alone for about a year." I paused, hesitant to reveal what I had been hiding all along. "But, I guess I'm not really alone."

At Sanada-kun's questioning gaze, I explained, "I stay over at my cousin's house more."

"Why?"

"It's empty," I said simply, and then repeating it. "Our house is an empty shell of a home when Mama or Papa isn't there."

I didn't tell him, but the reason why I asked to study at his house was because if the school found out about me living alone, they'd call my parents back to Japan. It was true that I missed them because home wasn't home without them, but they had been so happy when the business had grown enough to extend to Germany…It would break my heart to shatter their dreams because of my own selfishness.

But to my surprise, Sanada-kun didn't push any further. He leaned backwards a bit, contemplating. His curiosity still hung in the air, but he was kind enough to leave it at that. So now, it was my turn.

"Ne, Sanada-kun?" I drawled slightly, facing forwards.

"Hn?"

"Why do you like kendo so much?"

The stoic vice captain kept his silence for a while…I thought he didn't want to tell me, so I waved my hands in front of me, saying "It's ok if you don't want to tell me, I was just kind of curious as to why you would argue—"

"It was the first thing my grandfather ever taught me." He interjected quickly.

Eh? My ears perked up, though I continued to face forward. "Really?"

"Aa. And I suppose it…became a sort of link between us…Perhaps the way dance connected you and your grandmother." Sanada-kun added softly.

I turned towards him. Did I finally have someone who understands how I feel?

And in that instant of understanding, it was as if the cover on my eyes had been blown off, and I was seeing Sanada-kun in a whole another light: his hands, callused from physical work, were folded neatly on the desk, his stern face turned towards the window, and his eyes had this distant look in them…that made him really attractive all of a sudden. I slapped myself mentally for the second time in a day. What was I thinking?

But I smiled nonetheless, as I caught a glimpse of Sanada-kun's mouth also twitching slightly upwards on both corners. We were friends now.

Regular POV (after school)

"Sanada-kun!" Said vice captain turned towards the rising voice in the distance, watching as his new "friend" dashed towards him, her long hair flying behind her like a silky black ribbon fluttering in the wind.

Kimiko comically screeched to a stop in front of her tutor. "Are we going to do any tutoring today?"

Sanada looked at her, confused. Today wasn't a tutoring day. "Well 'cause of what happened, you know…we didn't really finish?" she half-explained-half-asked sheepishly.

The vice captain took in her words and simply nodded, giving the day's schedule a mental once over. He concluded, "I have time today so we can finish what we started, but I do have tennis practice right now, so you'll have to wait."

"Ok!" Kimiko chirped. They walked together towards the tennis courts, Sanada with his gear slung casually over his shoulder, and Kimiko tightly grasping her books and student council materials in her hands and messenger bag.

Now this development was occasion for gossip. As they walked along the winding dirt paths to the courts, Kimiko heard the gasps and whispering as they passed groups of students.

"Oh my gosh, is that the prez?" One 3rd year boy said.

"Yeah! Why's she with Sanada?" Another male added.

"Are they dating?" At this Kimiko blushed and put her head down to hide it, and thus missed the amusing fact that Sanada had also pulled his cap down a little farther than usual.

"No way! Really?" "Well, they do look cute together." "Yeah, real couple-like."

"Humph!" Some fangirls interrupted the benevolent gossip. "She's just trying to get on Sanada-sama's good side." They sneered, adding quietly, but loud enough that said class president could hear, "She's such a slut."

Kimiko halted in her steps. She knew walking with the Emperor would raise questions, but this? Sanada-kun's good side? Slut? She thought, horrified. Wha-what on earth?

Sanada had noticed his walking partner had frozen mid-step, and turned around to scold her for being slow, when he saw the look on her face, which almost matched that of when he insulted dancing in front of her. Taking a step towards her to inquire, he caught the last few words his fangirls spat at his new friend: "…such a slut."

He immediately connected it with Kimiko's upset expression. Knowing what was going on now, but reluctant to make a stir about it, he dragged her along, "Come on," he said, "Forget about them."

She snapped out of her trance, somewhat, and lugged her feet back into pace with him, but stayed moodily mute for the rest of the walk.

When they reached the courts, Sanada set his things down on the ground near the court fence and faced his "student." "Moriyama, don't even think about what they said. You have been doing what you need to do; that's all and everything. So just forget about them. Focus on what's right."

She nodded blankly, like a robot that had been programmed to say yes to everything and anything.

Sanada sighed, resignedly. "All right; I have practice for an hour, so until then, watch there—" he pointed at the courts, "Or here—you choose."

Kimiko replied immediately, having regained some spirit. "I'm going with you," she said decisively.

"Aa. Come on then." As much as he didn't want to admit it, Sanada was glad she had chosen to watch from a close range. He hoped to be able to keep an eye on the girl as much as possible.

They walked onto the courts together, the school's most unusual pair attracting more attention as Sanada brought Kimiko to greet the other Rikkaidai tennis stars.

Sanada POV

Moriyama strolled next to me, her step seeming to have lightened from before (when I heard the fans call her that repulsive word).

Reaching the group, I greeted the two other sankyo (A/N: the Japanese term for 3 Demons). "Seiichi, Renji."

"Genichirou," they nodded in reply.

And then all eyes turned towards the unexpected guest at my side. Slightly uncomfortable, she shifted a couple steps over so she was half-hidden behind my back, avoiding the obvious, disconcertingly curious stares of Marui, Akaya, and Niou.

"Oi, you three," I glared at the three troublemakers. "Stop scaring her."

Akaya and Niou immediately shrilled, "Is she your girlfriend, fukubuchou?"

Oh, that was the laststraw. "100 laps around the courts, Akaya!" I yelled. Shocked, he yelped, "What?"

"And Niou! 100 for you, too!"

"Hai, hai" he knew there were times when not to mess with me. This was definitely one of those times.

As those three monkeys dashed off to do their punishing laps, I turned back to face said terrorized girl. "You all right?"

She had her eyes wide, and hand clasped over her mouth again. How many times had I seen this face? I panicked, trying to find a way to comfort her, when all of a sudden, "BAHAHAHAH!" exploded from her mouth.

(A/N: So much for terrorized… -_-")

Taken aback by the reaction which had been opposite of my expectation, I took a step backwards, towards my two friends. They came onto my right and left side, and we observed the rest of the group as well as a doubled-over Moriyama, who was laughing so hard that tears of mirth had welled up in her eyes. Just what was so amusing?

On the other hand, Jackal, Yagyuu, and Marui were staring at her with wide eyes. I suppose they didn't know what to make of that slim girl who came with me, walked with me, hid behind my back, and now was laughing at what seemed to be…oh right, me.

Finally, Seiichi stepped in. "Kimi-chan, get up. They're waiting."

"Oh!" she straightened, and while her eyes were still shining with laughter, she bowed and courteously greeted the remaining three and Renji, "Konnichiwa. I'm Moriyama Kimiko. Thank you for having me here today." She addressed each by their name, "Yanagi-san, Yagyuu-san, Marui-san, Kuwahara-kun."

Something flashed through me when she addressed Jackal with the familiar honorific, the same one she addressed me with, but I shoved it down. Practice was more important right now.

By this time, Niou and Akaya had dragged themselves back to the courts, and after a quick re-introduction, practice began.

I situated Moriyama on the coach's bench next to the referee chair. "Stay here. And keep your eye on the ball so you don't get a concussion," recalling what had happened when Tezuka's girlfriend had sat next to the courts when we had a street tennis match a month ago. That was a disaster.

She nodded like she knew exactly what I meant. "I know. My cousin's girlfriend had that happen to her, just 'cause she wasn't watching the ball."

Her cousin? His girlfriend?

She grinned at me, and gave me a salute sign. "But I'll be careful, yes, sir!"

I rolled my eyes, shrugging off the unspoken question I had before. It was probably just my imagination going wild. "Aa," I replied, "Now stay put." With that, time for me to start on my already delayed practice.

Regular POV

Kimiko watched in wonder as she saw the talent and hard work of the Rikkai tennis team unravel before her very eyes. Recalling the fan girls' words, she snickered, despite her original unhappiness. Surely, they would kill for this spot to watch in, she thought to herself. Then checking her meanness, she locked that thought into the back of her mind. It was one thing to tolerate someone else's bad intentions, but entirely another to hypocritically display the same nastiness.

(on the courts)

Sanada worked as hard as usual, perhaps even more so. Every so often, however, he snuck a glance at the guest sitting not twenty feet from him, just to make sure. And of course, nothing escapes the eyes of his two friends.

Yukimura and Renji called a quick break, before heading over to where Sanada was. "Hey, Genichirou," they both called.

"Aa. Something happen?"

Renji looked slyly over to Kimiko before turning his gaze back on Sanada. "Oh no…except that a certain someone is looking at another certain someone…"

Sanada pulled his cap down. "I don't know what you're talking about, Renji." He yelled out to the rest of the regulars, "Break's up, let's continue!" and he walked away.

Yukimura and Renji grinned, with the data specialist giving the captain the probability: "69.8% there's something going on already, 89.4% they'll develop an official relationship soon, and 100%..." he whispered the final piece of data in the captain's ear, the secret causing Yukimura's grin to widen even more.

"Thanks, Renji, I'll keep that in mind."

(half an hour later)

And then, just like that, the practice was over. Kimiko bounded over to Sanada, asking, "So are we going now?" confusing everybody in the vicinity except for the 3 demons, who had been informed ahead of time.

The stern captain nodded. "You ready?"

"Yup!"

The two began walking off, but not before Kimiko walked back to Yukimura and hugged him around the stomach, shocking everybody on the court. "Thanks, Seiichi."

"Mhm." The captain hummed quietly in a pleasant response. Knowing it was his way of showing approval, Kimiko bounded off again to a waiting Sanada.

Yukimura and Yanagi stood together, watching as the odd pair walked off. "They're quite something, aren't they?" Yukimura chuckled.

"Aa. Ii data," was all Yanagi mumbled as he scribbled down random notes in his notebook.

Yukimura chuckled again. 100% he'll love her…huh.

Perhaps Yanagi Renji saw it coming second.

Kimiko POV (after tutoring had ended)

Finally, we had finished the session. Sanada-kun was quite patient with me, although, if I must say so myself, I understood the concepts faster than expected.

He walked me home, like a gentleman. Even though he was far from Yagyuu-san, whom I've interacted with before, he was close, in his own stern, gruff way.

So I plopped onto my bed and immediately fell asleep from all the things that had happened today. Forget the fangirls. Remember the tennis. And then…just sleep.

(fast forward a month)

So things continued like that for a consecutive four weeks: we definitely had sessions on Wednesday and the weekends, and sometimes I'd stay for dinner or lunch. Sometimes he'd walk me to the student council room or I'd go to watch his practice, just for kicks. Of course, eventually, the team got used to me being there, so it wasn't as terrorizing or amusing as before, but still it was nevertheless fascinating to be there as all that talent glowed before me. Seiichi was incredible…but Sanada-kun's was even more so.

And, just between me and myself, I felt that over this past month, a certain something had been growing inside me. Over time, I began noticing how cool Sanada-kun was with his teammates, his dignified and special style of tennis, the way he walked, and how his facial expressions and deep eyes could tell me everything despite the offhand façade he kept on when at school.

Because I began to understand, that under the mask, he was simply living up to expectations from his family, his teachers, and perhaps even schoolmates like me. In reality, surely, he was really like any other teenage boy—something I had obviously failed to realize when I first talked to him.

However, at one point, said "something" began to cause a huge turmoil inside me. What was this? I didn't want to blush every time Sanada praised me (in his gruff voice of course). I didn't want to get hooked to his every movement and sentence. And yet, I was falling into this bottomless pit of fixation, right where I didn't want to be.

So I called my childhood buddy out one day and asked him what on earth was going on. Desperately, I explained my feelings and the past month. When I was done, I was expecting a full-fledged answer that would clear up all this confusion, but instead…

Seiichi burst out laughing. At my bewilderment or at my facial expression or at god-knows-what I had no clue. All I knew was that I was annoyed. Seriously.

"Seiichi, stop laughing!"

"Ahaha—gomen, gomen, but—ha—Kimi-chan, you really—ha—don't know what's—haha—wrong?"

"Of course not. All I know is that this is getting bothersome, and I want to get rid of it, or do something about whatever it is!" I vented, frustrated.

Seiichi chuckled again. "It's so obvious, Kimi-chan."

"No it's not."

"You're in love, my little princess."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"WHAT?"

Hey all! Ok, I've been writing like a whirlwind for the past day. Thank god exam weeks don't include me for now! **does a mini dance**

Anyways, same thing as always, PLEASE REVIEW OR ALERT OR FAVORITE OR SOMETHING!

Thank you to everyone who contacted me in some way to show they liked my story. Ah, and thanks to Lone Panda and Janeryoma especially for mentioning some conflicting parts. I'll be in your hands for this chapter too, so please notify me if the same thing occurs! THANKS!

Remember, I love you all and appreciate all of your guys' time!

Please continue to support me on my way! Chapter 4 is coming up! (Btw, you guys can always tell me how you want the story to go…don't hesitate to tell me anything, oh anything at all! I'm completely open to everything! ^^ I'd like to keep Sanada in character, too, so that's another thing to mention if you give me a review, pretty please? THANKS!)

OK, that's it for today! Hope you enjoyed Chapter 3! Her "mystery" cousin will show up soon, don't worry! :) (Although I'm sure many of you have already figured out who it is. xD)

With love and bear hugs,

~Hime-chan