Soon, they headed off to Shihobu Courts.

"So tell me more about Shihobu Courts."

"Well, there's like, twenty courts in all, ten indoor and ten outdoor."

"Wow, this place must be pretty big."
"It is! And there's also this stadium that's connected where they hold tournaments."

"And since you guys can't play tennis to save your life, I'd assume you've never been in any of the tournaments, right?"
"Wrong! We may have been terrible at tennis when you left, but we've been practicing!"

"We may not be as good as you, in fact, we may never be as good as you, but we've played in some local tournaments."

"But the question is: have you won any?"

"That's not important..."

"Hey, I just remembered something!"
"What?"

"There's a tournament tomorrow! They're gonna take last-minute entries until 7:30!"
"What time is it now?"

"7:20! C'mon, let's go sign up!"

"Leah, we're already signed up."

"I was talking about Sayomi and her hot friend!"

"My name's Ryoma."

Thry ran inside the building toward the reception desk.

"Sandra!"
"Leah, Tiffany. If you're here for some late practice, the sixth court's open."

She didn't bother to look up, as Leah and Tiffany came to practice every day.

"We're here about the tournament!"
"You already signed up last weekend when we posted the sign up sheets."
"Not us, Sayomi!"

"Sayomi? Sayomi Shihobu? You're kidding, she moved to Japan years ago."

"She's back!"

Her eyes widened as as came face to face with Sayomi.

"Oh my gosh, it's really you! You're back!"

"Hi..."

She waved nervously.

"I want to sign up for the tournament, if that's okay."
"Me too."

"Well if you want to know more, it's a co-ed tournament, so you just might end up playing some guys."

"Sounds like fun."

"But let me tell you now, don't be surprised if some of them back out and forfeit."

"That's okay. If they want to forfiet thae tournament, that's their problem."

"Oh, and there's also going to be a doubles tournament too, after the singles."

"Do we pick partners?"

"Actually, the partners are going to be chosen at random. We're going to try to do girl boy partnerships."

"So what's the age group for this tournament?"

"Well it's strictly 12 year olds. There's separate tournaments for 13 year olds, 14 year olds, and 15 year olds. You're so good, I'd reccomend you sign up for the 15 year old tournament."
"No, I want to play against 12 year olds. Ryoma, please don't sign up for the 15 year old tournament."

"Fine, where do I sign up?"

Sandra handed them both a sheet of paper and a pen.

"I can't wait to see you play! I mean, I've only ever seen the taped tournament you were in before you left."
"Hey, I have it right at home, let's go back and watch it!"

Tiffany dragged Sayomi out the door when she had finished filling out the forms. At Tiffany's house, Leah went into the kitchen to make popcorn while Tiffany searched though her DVD's for the tournament.

"Got the popcorn!"

"Got the DVD!"

Tiffany popped it into the DVD player and took a seat on the couch.

"Is it okay if I just skip ahead to Sayomi's match?"

"Totally!"
"I'm alright with that."
"I don't really care."

"Uh..um..."

Kome's English faltered as she tried to remember the word for yes.

"Yes!"

"Okay, it's unanimous!"

Tiffany picked up the remote and excitedly fast-forwarded to Sayomi's match.

"Hey...I just noticed something."

"What?"

"Sayomi, you were playing with your right hand!" Leah snapped.

Everyone looked closer at the screen.

"You are!"
"I thought you said you were left handed."
"I am..."

"So are you telling me that you managed to become the best junior female player in North America...by playing with your non-dominant hand?"

"Sorta..."

"You are just...astonishing."

They continued to watch Sayomi's unmatched skill dominate the court. When her match was over, Tiffany shut off the t.v. and everyone clapped for Sayomi.

"Is there anything you can't do?!"

"Um...the periodic table of elements."

"Are you kidding, you have to learn the periodic table of elements?! That's tough..."

"Actually, the periodic table of elements isn't really too hard...but I have trouble remembering what they stand for."

"But still, we don't have to learn the periodic table of elements until high school!"

"So what else wanna do?"

"Back to the tennis courts?"

"Yeah, I never did get to play."

They walked out the door and headed for Shihobu Courts, being ambushed by a swarm of people as they walked out the door.

"It's true!"

"She's back!"

They brought out their phones and began taking pictures.

"Cut it out, losers! Sayomi's a normal person!"

Amongst the crowd of middle schoolers, most of them Sayomi's classmates from elementary school, was a photographer for a monthly tennis magazine. She pushed her way to the front and brushed herself off.

"I'm Candace Walker, photographer for Junior Tennis Monthly."

She held her hand out in hopes of a handshake. Sayomi shook her hand and smiled.

"Is there something I can do for you?"

"I was wondering if I could get an interview for next month's issue."

"Well it's a bit too late for me to go out and do an interview right now."

"Will you be playing in tomorrow's tournament?"

"Uh huh."

"Would it be okay if I interviewed you after the tournament then?"

"Okay."

She smiled. Leah and Tiffany separated the crowd and walked down the newly formed path.