'Relax, relax, relax.' Megumi kept repeating to herself. She had absolutely no idea why Masa pulled her out of class, much less make the whole class remember she was actually there. It annoyed her, and gave her an unmeasurable amount of anxiety. It had lowered by the time Masa was done ruining her hair, and mumbling to himself. He was still a complete stranger to her and she was desperately trying to get rid of the curiosity about him. She knew how dangerous it was to get close to people, and had to protect herself from anymore humiliation and pain.

"Wow, you're not even listening, are you?" Marui pouted at her.

"Oh, you were talking to me?" she asked, her eyes focusing back on a pink head. She noticed that Masa actually wasn't there.

"Niou was right. He said to tell you that he'll be right back from telling the rest of our team that you're a fairy that only true tennis players can see so he can test the reactions of everyone. He's coming right back." He rolled his eyes.

"Where did that idea come from?"

"His distorted brain." Marui relaxed his shoulders.

"Hey, Bun-chan."

"You little cocky bastard… what?"

"Oh, I was just about to ask if you preferred me to call you Bun-senpai, or gum-senpai. I guess I won't get away with calling everyone without honorifics." She said with her eyes on the wall, barely looking at him. But she noticed his face lit up.

"You female bastard." He laughed, "Let's go with gum-senpai. Then for sure everyone knows you're talking about me."

"Cool." She said, giving an awkward smile.

"So! You want one?" he said, putting a piece of gum in front of her. She drew her face back.

"We're about to eat lunch, though." She said.

"Yeah, save it for later. Then tell me about it later." He said, nearly jumping up and down. She saw Masa walking toward them and he tilted his head to the side. She held up the gum he handed her, and he gave a soft laugh.

"Let him be excited. You ready?" he asked her.

"To meet the legendary tennis players of the country?"

"Uh, you already met him." He walked proudly, and she followed. She drew a silent breath and tried to calm herself down. It's been so long since she tried to even make eye contact with people other than her family, she's forgotten how to even introduce herself. Luckily, no one seemed to be staring at her.

"Yagyuu. Yes or no?" Masa said as they came closer to the seats near the other person she met the day before.

"Why, Niou-kun, I told you I discovered her yesterday." He adjusted his glasses and smiled softly to her. Although it was a few seconds late, she gave one back. She moved her eyes to the tan, bald person next to him. He was squinting and blinking, as if he was truly trying to see her. He shook his head.

"That was scary, my eyes were dry and I seriously couldn't see you for a second." He let a deep breath out.

"Come on Jackal, you're becoming too lame to be my partner." Marui took the seat next to him.

"Anyway, I'm Jackal, I swear I'm not as lame as I seem right now." He said and stuck his hand out. Megumi looked at it, then his face, then back at his hand. She froze and forgot what was supposed to happen.

"Uhhh, are you afraid of germs, or are you racist?" he raised an eyebrow. Her eyes shot to her face and she turned incredibly red for a moment.

"N-no, I…"

"I'm joking, relax. Take a seat." He laughed. She blinked and didn't know what to do. It seemed too much for her. Then a hand went to her head.

"Yagyuu, Jackal, Marui. Remember them, okay?" Masa said behind her and sat down. She softly nodded and drew another deep breath. Before she could slowly let it out, a set of hands set her down to a seat. She tensed up and looked up, and saw blue hair she's seen before.

"Hi, I could feel your anxiety from the room across." He said. Her memory was becoming fuzzy. She'd seen this face before, but she couldn't remember where. She's never seen a tennis match, and she's never paid attention to anyone from this school.

"Okada Megumi, right?" he smiled as he brought a chair over.

"I'm Yukimura Seiichi. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah. You too…?" she said, looking at Masa, wondering if he'd mentioned her to him before. But she saw him just as confused.

"So, what's today's update? Marui, Niou, you two seem a little more tense than usual. What's going on?" he asked, beginning his meal. She didn't even notice everyone else doing the same.

"Ask Akaya, it's his fault." Marui avoided his gaze.

"Oh. So it was his idea to leave class early and say it was mine?" he rested his chin on his fingers.

"Uhh… Uhh…" Marui couldn't think of anything. Niou acted as if he couldn't hear a thing.

"And I'm pretty sure there's something I'm going to have to tell Sanada about Okada-chan. Do you want to tell me now?"

"Okay, before you say anything, it was your idea to get a team manager. We could use one." Masa said, before swallowing all his food.

"Niou's right. This manager thing is all Akaya's fault." Marui jumped back in.

"Oh, she's our new manager? How wonderful." Yagyuu said. Jackal gave Megumi a thumbs up.

"Guys, let's take a step back. I didn't hear a word about her being our manager." Yukimura raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, me either." Megumi said quietly. She saw Marui and Masa freeze.

"Well, you don't have to be our manager if you don't want to." Yukimura said nicely. Megumi felt relieved. She didn't know a thing about tennis, and she for sure did not want to be involved with anything that had to do with teams and leadership anymore. Just the thought gave her shudders. Her world suddenly grew dark, remembering what had happened before. Words flew back and forth through her brain, and her heart felt hot and tired.

"Eat." She felt something on her mouth. It slightly opened and a cherry tomato went in her mouth. Masa was staring at her, and she felt like her mind was being read.

"You haven't even opened your lunch yet. I wanna see." Masa said, nudging toward her box.

"Oh, you're right." She said, and took it out. She felt everyone pay attention to it.

"We don't see girls' lunches too often, it's an experience for us." Marui said, unashamed. She felt a little bit of pressure but opened it. A tray of white rice, half a tray of avocado, and half a tray of imitation crab. She also took out a bag of dried seaweed and soy sauce.

"Woah." They all said at the same time.

"You brought sushi to school." Jackal said.

"I guess…" she said and started to put together mini California rolls.

"That's cute, Okada-chan." Yukimura smiled to her. She looked at him and tried to remember him. That soft voice and almost enchanting eyes were an incomplete memory to her.

"But, I have a favor to ask you. You can say no, but if it's true that the word got out that you're our manager, I'd like you to come see our practice today. If you can pretend every once in a while, it would help from outside distractions." He asked.

Megumi gulped, not knowing what would be the best thing to do. She had absolutely no obligation to the team, and she was allowed to say no if she wanted to. But unfortunately, she didn't know how.

"I guess I could. I don't know a single thing about tennis though, I hope you're aware of that." She said and immediately regretted it. This meant more introductions, more people noticing her, and even more people talking to her. A whole team of people. A team known by the entire country.

'What the hell did I just get myself in to?' she asked herself.

"Look, you can relax about it. I'll just have you do things for us regulars. I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want since you're doing this for us." Yukimura said.

Megumi continued to eat, not knowing what to say. She took a good look at everyone smiling toward her, looking excited. She had no idea why. They didn't know her, and she didn't know them at all. It hasn't even been a week since the day she met Masa and this was happening all at once. And what was she supposed to tell her dad and her brothers? She knew they would flip out over something she probably hadn't even thought of. Her head was beginning to spin, and she had no idea what people were talking about anymore. She was starting to forget what made her this anxious in the first place. She turned to look at Masa, who wasn't paying attention to her anymore. He was talking with Marui and Jackal, all done eating. She looked at her food and she had only had a few bites. Out of desperation to gain back her sanity, she poked Masa's shoulder. He looked at her, not knowing a single thought she was having.

"Yeah?" he asked. Her mouth slightly opened but words didn't come out. She bit her lip, embarrassed and nervous about how the group was looking at her. He started petting her hair again.

"Do you need something, manager?" he smiled at her.

'Right, manager. Fuck, I don't know if I can do that.' She scratched her head, pushing away his hand.

"You'll be okay, just stay out of Sanada's way and he'll barely notice you." Marui said to her.

"Who?" she managed to say.

"Sanada. He's our vice-captain. He can be pretty intense and scary." Jackal said.

"Wow, what a good way to make her excited for the new position. Now she's going to run away scared."

"Well, I doubt he's that bad." Megumi thought out loud. They all stared at her as if she had just said her last words of her life.

"Oh, today is going to be great." Masa smiled to himself. Megumi took that as a fair warning. She immediately knew that this one smile was an automatic reaction Masa had when something out of the ordinary was going to happen. She got a little nervous, but the bell rang and she had to get nervous about something else now.

"Man, I barely got to hear you talk today." Jackal said, looking honestly disappointed.

"You don't deserve to." Marui said, putting his things away.

"Since when do you hate me so much?"

"I saw you spit out the gum only thirty minutes after I gave you some!" he pointed his finger, centimeters from his face. Yukimura lowered his arm, and chuckled to himself.

"You guys can settle that later. Okada-chan, do you know where the tennis courts are?" He moved his glance to her. She shook her head.

"Okay, you can ask Akaya, if he doesn't have to stay in class today. But if he does, go over to the gym, since we have the first years get supplies from there. If you follow them, you'll find us."

"O-okay." She said, forgetting majority of what he just said already. She had to go back to class, and this time, she knew people were going to notice her. That was the last thing she needed. And if people started remembering who she was, she was sure she had to make herself disappear, even if it took drastic measures.

"Hey, you're going to be late." Masa said and started pulling her arm. She let him take her but he paused once they were in the hallway. He looked at her and pointed upwards. For a second, she didn't know what he was trying to say. She looked up, and she understood. She gave one nod, and they headed for the roof.

"So, was that overwhelming for you?" he asked as Megumi was finishing up her lunch.

"Yeah. Not your friends, but the thing about being the manager and having to go back to class. I really don't know how I'm going to handle people seeing me again."

"Again? They could see you before?" he asked, proceeding to lie down and cover his eyes with his hair.

"Yeah, up to my first year here. And then I just tried to be invisible and it worked." She sighed. She stood up and walked to the edge. The ground looked far, like always, but the wind wasn't strong. She had control of what could happen. She turned around to look for Masa, but he was already standing a few feet behind her. A light wind passed by them as they looked right at each other.

"Take two steps towards me." He said. She was confused, but obliged. He let a breath out.

"Yeah, that freaks me out a little bit." He quietly said.

"You can get freaked out?"

"Apparently." He stuck his hands in his pockets and stood next to her. The two stayed quiet, of both speechless. But Megumi didn't feel the pressure to talk at all. She just looked ahead, wondering what kind of people live in the apartments she saw. Her eyes looked over at Masa, who was just enjoying the breeze. A small smile grew on her face, and she felt content. She let a breath out, hoping he couldn't see her face.

"I know you just smiled when you looked at me." He said, looking at her from the corner of his eye. She turned red and turned away.

"You know nothing." She mumbled, hating herself for finding him deeply handsome. She heard a small laugh as he followed her again.

"So, are you always like this?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Masa looked confused, and undid one of his buttons like before. Megumi calmly looked for something else to look at.

"I-I don't know. But you always say some crazy things to mess with people."

"Oh, that? I don't know, it's just fun. But now, most people don't react to it. Before, they would freak out like crazy and I'm left with a sense of satisfaction." He said. Megumi wondered why tricking people would give him any kind of satisfaction, but she ignored it. She knew it wasn't any of her business.

"What about you then?" he sat next to her, "Are you always this frazzled when people talk to you?"

"Frazzled?"

"Yeah, I could tell you were going insane earlier."

Megumi thought for a while. It's been so long since she's talked to so many people at once, she forgot how it was supposed to be done.

"It feels new. I'm barely able to carry a normal conversation even with you, it's crazy."

"But aren't we talking right now?" he asked, sounding honestly confused.

Megumi tilted her head. She wasn't even sure about it. Was this a normal conversation? What was the point of it? And why? Why were they both on top of the roof? Was he trying to mess with her? She didn't know what to think and she was digging a hole in her brain with a shovel of questions.

"Megumi." Masa said loudly. Her eyes shot forward and Masa was sitting in front of her with his hands on her shoulders.

"Relax, don't overthink what I just said." He said, and patted her head.

"Why do you do that?" she asked.

"Pat your head? Dunno, I just end up doing it. Kinda like how I freak the hell out of Akaya. It's not entirely on purpose, it's actually out of habit." He shrugged and pulled his hand back.

"Oh. But I don't really blame you, I'm sometimes shocked by the way he reacts to things in class."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Well… we were talking about sea animals, and he actually asked if mermaids count as one." She said, remembering that day. She actually did find it funny and wanted to tell him that it wasn't until three years ago that she let go of the belief of them.

"You're joking." Masa said, laughing.

"I felt bad when the class laughed at him about it, but he was so strong in defending himself. If you ask him now, he'd probably say they're real."

"I'm definitely going to ask. I appreciate you telling me, Megumi." He tugged her hair.

"How is that a form of gratitude?" she asked, scooting away.

"It's coming from me, just be happy." He said.

She rolled her eyes, and packed up her lunch box. She was surprised she wasn't freaking out anymore. Usually, once the thoughts came, they overflowed and wore her out. Her hand automatically went to her other arm and let a breath out.

"Hey. You don't have to show up today if you don't want to. I know Yukimura feels really bad."

"How?"

"I know everyone. Don't doubt me, Megu." He said sternly. She let out the smallest laugh possible. Her eyes grew wide.

"You just laughed." He said, smirking at her. Her smile vanished faster than light and she shook her head.

"No." she said.

"Alright. Whatever you say." He put his arms behind his head, but he didn't take his eyes off of her.

"Anyway. I guess I'll go. But I really don't want to talk to everyone. I could barely handle your friends earlier."

"Yeah, I know that. And Yukimura does too." He assured her.

"Yukimura. Who is he?" she asked, remembering she had a small memory of him.

"The child of God." He said blankly. She blinked three times, knowing he was joking around.

"His skills in tennis prove it."

"Okay. The bell's going to ring soon."

"Yeah. There's no point in heading back if we missed the one before this." He smiled and lay down. She smiled a little and brought her knees to her chest.

"Yeah."

After minutes of conversation and moments of silence, Megumi grew more and more nervous about the tennis team. She would have never admitted it, but she had no idea how scary that Sanada man would be. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of the team.

"It's going to ring for the final time." Masa said standing near the door.

"You were counting?" Megumi asked.

"Don't you?"

"No, I came here to escape running in to people. I would just get out when the sun looked darker, I never care about the bell now."

"You live such a simple life." He laughed and lifted her up by her arm.

"Hey, don't touch me." She said, struggling to get her wrist back. He pulled her to him, and inched is face so close, they were touching noses.

"Why not, Megumi." He slyly asked. Megumi's eyes widened and her face was heating up. He let go and laughed away from her.

"You turned red so damn fast! Man, Megu, always giving me a laugh." He said over the bell. Megumi let out a long breath and glared at him. She was mortified not only because he made her blush, but that she believed Masa would actually try something. He opened the door and gestured his hand to let you go first.

"I've only known you two days!" she yelled at him and walked out. She heard him laughing behind her, and walked forward, thinking it felt like she'd known him for months already.

Thanks for reading!