By 4:00, Sayomi had been just putting the finishing touches on Leah and Tiffany's flashy doubles entrance.

"Sayomi-sama!"
"There's only one person I can think of that calls me that..."

She turned around slowly to the Eiji and the other regulars at her back gate. She dropped her racket and jumped back in surprise.

"Ah! What the hell?!"

"Not happy to see us?"
"No, I am...but...what the hell?!"

"Surprise! I told you we were coming!"

"How did you convice the others?"
"I may have given them a few gifts..."

"A few?"
"Okay, a lot."

"So the other regulars aren't here of their own will?"

"I am!" Momo smiled.

"So are we jumping your fence or what?"
"No,I'll open the gate."

Eiji and the others excitedly ran into her backyard.

"Sayomi! Who are these hotties and where have you been hiding them?!"
"...Japan?"

"Damnit...I knew failing that English exam would come back to haunt me..."

"It's okay Momo. The rest of us didn't even take English."

"Speak for yourself, Eiji."

"Oishi, you took English? Why didn't you tell us?"
"It never came up."

"Huh. You'd think something like that would come up in conversation."

"Tezuka takes English too."

"Eh? But how would you know that, Sayomi?"
"I'm in their English class."
"You're in a third year English class?!"
"Yeah, and she's the little show-off that sits at the back!"

"Tezuka, did you pass your English exam? Speaking of English exams, did you pass yours too, Oishi?"

"I passed...barely."

"So Sayomi, who're the hotties?!"
"Ryoma, care to take this one? I'm not completely sure of all their names."
"These are the regulars on the tennis team: Tezuka, Oishi, Eiji, Fuji, Inui, Kawamura, Momo and Kaido."

Each regular smiled and waved as their name was said.

"Who's the hot one with the glasses, the coach?"

"No, that's captain Tezuka."

"He's hot!"

"Thanks for the obvious, Leah."

"Tiffany, Leah, be quiet a sec, I gotta talk to these guys."

"Oh, fine."

"Hey, are you guys coming to watch the tournament?!"

The regulars looked at each other, unable to understand.

"Yes, we are."

"He speaks!"

"Leah, be quiet! So guys, you're coming to watch the tournament? Who told you about it?"

"Of course! Are you playing?"
"Yeah, but who told you about it?"

"I have my ways of knowing..."

"The same way you knew where I lived?"

"Exactly!"

"I don't even want to know what your ways are."

"I can't wait to see you play! You're so amazing!"
"Come to think of it, when we were coming over here, a lot of people seemed to know who you were."
"Care to explain that, Sayomi-chan?"

Eiji crossed his arms and waited for Sayomi to explain, wanting the others to know.

"Well you see...around here, I'm pretty well known..."

"And why is that?"
"Because I won a big tournament a few summers ago..."

"How big?"
"It was for the title of the best junior female player in North America..."
"What?!"

"So are you telling us...that you're the best junior female player in all of North America?!"

"Why wouldn't you have told us that before?!"
"Because I barely know most of you!"

"So?!"

"I'm leaving."
"Don't just leave us!"
"The tournament is in fifteen minutes, I have to go."

"We'd better go find seats before there aren't any left!"

They grabbed their tennis bags and ran toward Shihobu Courts.

"You've even got a court named after you?!"

"Yeah..."

"Hurry your butt up Sayomi, we're gonna be late!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

They hurried over to stadium to check when their match would be.

"Oh by the way guys, where are you staying?"

"We should have planned better but uh...we could only get two rooms at the hotel."
"Which means only four of us will have a place to stay..."
"Where are the rest of you staying?"

"We don't know..."

"Well, mine's the first match so I gotta go."
"We'll be right in the front row!"

Sayomi hurried off to see who her opponent would be.

"It's Tiffany?!"
"Cool man, I get to play you!"
"Just because we're best friends, doesn't mean I'll go easy on you."

"But I'd be happier if you did."

"Well it won't be much fun if I didn't go easy on you. Or anyone else for that matter."

"Alright! Playing with a handicap!"

After a few hours, the singles portion was over and there was a break before the doubles portion began.

"Sayomi-sama, you were awesome! You won every single match!"

"W-what did you think, Tezuka-senpai?"

"You played well, Sayomi."

"Thank you."

"Don't worry, we'll be right here for the doubles portion too!"

"Speaking of which, I really should check who my partner's going to be."
"We'll come too!"

The group excitedly headed off to check the list.

"It's Ryoma!"
"It's Ryoma?"
"It's Ryoma!"
"It's Ryoma?!"

"It's me?"

"It's you!"

"Enough of this!"

"Aww, you're no fun, Oishi."

"Leah, Leah, we're partners!"
"Oh my gosh Tiffany, we are?!"

"We are!"
"You are?"
"We are!"
"I said enough of this!"

Sayomi pulled Ryoma aside to come up with a strategy.

"So what're you thinking?"

"That you'd look incredibly cute with your hair cut short."

"I meant strategy!"

"You take net, I'll be in the back."

"As usual?"

"As usual."

"You gonna use some of your flashy stuff?"

"If I need to."

"In which case, no?"

"You underestimate these players so much!"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because they're better than you think!"

"Then why do you have such an easy time winning against them?"

"Because...because..."

"Say it."

"But I hate saying it!"

"Say it."

"...Because I'm better than them!"

She looked down and frowned.

"Why do you hate saying that so much?"

"Because I don't like to feel like I'm better than everyone..."

"But you are. Don't feel like you're avereage. You're way above average."

"Ryoma..."

"You're better than them, don't be afraid to say it."

"Don't make me say it again..."

"Say it, it's the truth."

"Don't make me say it!"

"Say it."

"Stop making me say it!"

"I'm not gonna quit until you say it again."

"Ryoma!"

"Sayomi..."

"Leah!"

"Tiffany!"

The two jumped in excitedly.

"What are you doing?"

"The name game?"

"We were discussing a strategy!"

"Say it..." he whispered.

"So guys, who are you playing first and when?"

"You guys, third match."

"Wow, they really like pitting me against my friends, don't they?"

"Well we may have requested a few things..."

"Oh well. At least I'm playing with a partner I'm used to."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We've played together before and I've gotten used to playing with you."

"That sounds a little less insulting."

"Come on you two, the first match is starting!"

"But we don't play until the third."

"It doesn't matter!"

"I'll be hanging out in the locker rooms, see you later, Ryoma."