He and Oishi approached Sayomi, rackets in hand.

"Sayomi-chan."
"Nyu?"
"Could you do us the honor of playing a doubles game with us? Just one quick set."
"Doubles? But I don't have a partner."

Ryoma passed by, on his way to the tennis courts.

"Echizen could be your partner." Oishi suggested.

"Eh?"
"Get over here, O'Chibi! Come be Sayomi-chan's partner."

"Uh...okay."

Eiji spun his racket around his wrist as he walked.

"Eiji-senpai, you're so cool! You have to teach me how to do that!"

Oishi looked at Sayomi in disbelief.

"This is the amazing girl he was talking about? She definetly doesn't seem that amazing. Looks like an average middle school girl to me..."

"Are you sure she's all that amazing?" he whispered.

"I'm sure of it."

"Okay...because I'd feel really bad if we beat a middle schooler so badly..."

On the court, as usual, Eiji stood by the net with Oishi at the back. Sayomi decided she'd stand by the net, leaving Ryoma to cover the back. Sayomi's happy-go-lucky personality instantly changed. Her eyes narrowed and a smirk grew on her face.

"You're goin' down, cat boy." she pointed her racket at Eiji's face.

"Woah, she's like Kawamura!" Oishi commented.

"One more thing."

"Hm?"
"We're playing for a prize."
"And what are we playing for?"
"The loser has to drink Inui juice!" Oishi suggested.

"That's just mean." Eiji whispered.

"What's Inui juice?"
"It's Inui's vegetable drink that helps improve your game!"
"Well if it helps improve your game, it can't be that bad..."
"She hasn't tasted it..." the regulars muttered.

Knowing that Oishi was the co-captain for a reason, Ryoma started off with the twist serve, which barely slipped past him.

"Quit serving aces, I want to play!"

"Yeah, yeah."

He served a regular overhand serve, with Oishi easily returning it. Sayomi then displayed her tennis abilities, using her right hand.

"But...she was using her left hand when I saw her...is she going easy on us?"

Sayomi did an array of flips, dives and spins. Watching her play tennis was like watching a gymnast doing a floor routine. She hit the ball with great power, aiming for random places on the court each time. This unpredicability confused Eiji and Oishi, but they still managed to return all of her shots. She was near the middle of the court and the ball was coming in low. Now was the perfect time to try one of her flashiest moves. She would do a backflip and stand on her left hand, using her right to lob the ball to the back of the court. After doing this, she would flip backwards again, landing back on her feet. Doing so was a sight to see, but dangerous if not performed correctly. If she didn't land properly on her hand or feet, she would risk damaging her wrist and ankle. But she too knew that Oishi was the co-captain of the tennis club, and wanted to impess him. It was a risky move, but she'd practiced it many times and was almost sure she could do it. She jumped up, backflipped...

"Woah!" the regulars said.

"There it is..."

"Eiji, you've seen that?"

"Yeah...that's the move that caught my eye."

The lob flew over Eiji's and Oishi's heads, too stunned to react. She backflipped back onto her feet, her knees buckling a bit. She lost her footing and fell back into Ryoma's arms. Eiji and Oishi clasped their hands together and cooed.

"Aww, that's so cute!"

Ryoma helped Sayomi to regain her balance.

"I've never seen that move. What else haven't you shown me?"
"Um...several things."

"You mean there's more awesome moves like that?!" Eiji's jaw dropped.

"Are you gonna show us?"
"Maybe if I find the right time to do it..."

"Let's try and get her to show us those other moves!"
"He wasn't kidding when he said she was amazing..." Oishi thought.

The ball sailed through the air. Sayomi knew should couldn't hit it just by standing, but if she jumped high enough, she thought she could get it. Knowing that she was expected to do something breathtaking and flamboyant, she decided to do her whirlwind smash. She jumped up, gracefully spinning like a top, and performed a powerful backhand smash. The ball soared past Eiji and Oishi, again too astonished to react.

"Incredible..." the regulars said.

"So awesome!"

Sayomi turned to see a crowd of people. Ryoma and Sayomi's classmates, the regulars, their classmates, even Coach Ryuzaki had come to watch the match.

"Oh good, an audience. Now there'll be people to witness the co-captain's defeat." she smirked.

"Go Ryoma! Go Sayomi! You two make the best doubles pair ever!"

"Shut up Tomoka, you're going to make them lose their focus!"

"The score is 40 love, Sayomi. One more astounding shot like that and we'll win."

She played as usual, waiting for a ball that was out of her reach. When one came her way, she told Ryoma not to get it. Instead, she did a simple one handed cartwheel, hitting the ball while she was on her hand.

"She's like...a gymast..."
"An acrobat..."

"She's awesome..."

The ball shot past Eiji and Oishi like a speeding bullet.

"Woah, that was fast!"

"That must've been over a hunderd miles per hour!"

She shook hands with Eiji and Oishi, then strutted off the court confidently. The moment she stepped off, her personality returned to normal. She stared at the crowd, her eyes widening.

"Look at how many people came to see you guys!"

"Actually, I think they came to watch you."

The crowd stared at Sayomi, lingering on her every move. She blushed.

"They're all here...to see me?"
"Oh, don't forget about the deal." Ryoma laughed.

"Oh that's right, you guys have to drink the Inui juice."

Hearing this, Inui ran off, quickly concocting a batch of Inui juice. Eiji and Oishi took the cups and looked at the thick green drink, whimpering softly.

"This is so gross..."

"Oh, hey, can you make a glass for me?" Sayomi asked.

"Oh, and one for me too!" Fuji smiled.

"But Sayomi-chan, we won, you don't have to drink it."

"I want to, they said it would help improve my game."

Inui rushed back with two more glasses of Inui juice.

"Ready?"
"One..."
"Two..."
"Three!"

The four tilted their heads back and gulped down the Inui juice. Eiji and Oishi ran to the water fountains, coughing and gagging.

"I can never get enough of this, I love it!" Fuji exclaimed.

Everyone watched Sayomi, waiting for her reaction.

"What?"
"So what do you think of it?"

"Not too bad...but it's not something I'd drink on a regular basis."

"WHAT?!"

"You don't hate it?"
"I'd don't really like it either."

"How can you not be dying for some water right now?!" Eiji screamed.

"Because...it is't that bad..."
"You see? I'm not the only one who likes it!"

"I never said that! I just...don't hate it."

Ryoma just stood there, bewildered.

"You drank it of your own free will...and you liked it?"

"I didn't say I liked it! I just...don't hate it."

Ryoma shook his head.

"You never cease to amaze me, Sayomi-chan." he muttered.

"Who is that?..." Tezuka thought.

"Oh!"

Sayomi pulled Ryoma to the side, where she hoped the crowd wouldn't be able to hear them.

"So how'd it go? When's the date?"
"Tomorrow."

"Oh, you're the best Ryoma-kun, I love you!"

Sayomi hugged him and ran off to tell Kome. As she passed by Eiji and Oishi, who were sprawled out on the floor after drinking the Inui juice, they got up, shaking her hand.

"Congratulations on beating us, Sayomi-chan. You're very good."

"Thank you Oishi-senpai, it means a lot coming from you." she blushed.

"But I mean it, you're quite good at tennis."

"It was quite an honor being able to play against you, Oishi-senpai."

"Oh no, the honor was all ours, right Oishi?"
"Uh...yeah, I guess."

"Listen Sayomi-chan, if there's ever anything you need, you can count on us, right Oishi?"

"I guess..."

"Do you play on any teams?"
"Well I played on a team back in Canada...but none in Japan yet."

"Why don't you try out for Seigaku's girls team?"
"Yeah, I'm sure you'll make it."

"Thanks...maybe I will."

Sayomi began walking home, thinking about what they had told her. She had completely forgotten that she was going to talk to Kome.