Sorry again for another late chapter. School, though it is easy, is time consuming, and it's insane trying to write two stories at once, get good grades, and have a decent family life.

Enjoy the chapter! And please, comment! If you comment, you seriously make my day. I'm not kidding you. I love comments! However, I don't want to have to set a comment goal for y'all, so don't make me! :D

OMG! OMG! OMG! I'M A RAVENCLAW!

Chapter 17

The Acrimonious Duel

-Two Weeks After the Birthday Party-

Miku, just like the Hyoutei matches, was early. Not two hours early, though, just a measly hour. She'd thought that the day Seigaku was playing was a school day instead of the Saturday it really was. So there she sat, on a bench with her white and green air cast on her right ankle in her white shirt, green jacket with pink bow, and short green skirt, staring off into space. An earphone was in one ear, music drifting from it at a comfortable volume, and a sketch pad sat slightly off-kilter on her lap.

The park that the Seigaku team would be playing their matches at was very pretty, so Miku was sketching the landscape. The tree nearest to her as well as the edge of the tennis court was completed.

Suddenly, Miku was aware of someone leaning on the back rest of the bench. She looked up. A handsome boy with light silver hair that had hints of black and white was smiling down at her. His arms were crossed casually.

"Hey there," he said. "Are you a Seigaku supporter?"

Miku shook her head in the affirmative.

He gave a short laugh. "Mind if I sit down?"

Miku nodded again, going back to her drawing in the hope of brushing him off. The boy gracefully hopped over the top of the bench and took a seat a little too close to Miku for her liking. He spoke again in his smooth voice, "I'm Saeki Kojirou. But of course, you can just call me Saeki."

About a hundred yards to the pair's right, Eiji sat next to an occupied Fuji fuming.

That bastard is way too close to Miku… get the hell away from Miku…

Eiji felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked behind him and saw Fuji giving him a concerned smile.

"Eiji, we don't want to blow anyone up by glaring at them, do we?" the tensai asked.

The redhead glowered at him.

"All right, don't answer that. But… look, she's leaving, so you won't have to worry."

Eiji grumbled to himself and looked over.

Back at the bench, Miku finally tired of Saeki's coquetting.

"Excuse me, but I think I need to go now. See you around, Kojirou-san." And with that, Miku walked off toward where the Seigaku team was gathered. Saeki wore a misty-eyed expression, his eyes fixed on the bouncing brown waves of her hair. After a while, he too headed over to where his team was, as a fukubuchou well should.

Miku stood by the Seigaku players, cheering as the first match neared its end. Momo and Taka, the power players, were playing wonderfully. The spiky-haired boy was unleashing his mind games on the opponent, and the slight schizophrenic was revealing his new shot-the dash hadokyuu.

Miku became aware of a presence behind her, wanting to get her attention. She turned. Sakuno was standing there, blushing as usual, and holding a bag that contained yellow and blue items.

"Miku-san, want to cheer with Tomo and I?" she asked.

"All right, but you know my policy," Miku answered with a grin.

Sakuno smiled as well. "We're cheering for Kikumaru-san, too, don't worry."

"Good. Where's the bathroom?"

"…."

Eiji and Fuji stood across from their opponents, Saeki and Itsuki. The opponents shook hands.

"Go Eiji! Go Fuji!"

Eiji looked over to who was cheering. Miku was dressed in a yellow tank top and short blue skirt and was holding a pair of pom-poms. He blushed, and looked back to where Saeki was watching him with an amused expression.

"I see what's going on here," the silver haired boy said smugly. "Well, Kikumaru, I have an idea. Are you in?"

Eiji just glared at him.

"How about a duel? Whoever wins the match gets…" he continued, gesturing subtly over to Miku, "…the girl."

Fuji raised an eyebrow while Eiji considered the suggestion with a growing evil grin.

"I accept," the redhead said, shaking Saeki's hand. The tensai sighed with a slight eye roll.

"Oh no, not again," Miku murmured with great concern. Eiji was once again low on stamina.

'That jerk,' she thought. 'Saeki totally played him to make him run everywhere.'

Currently, Eiji was standing in one spot, head down, and not moving. Fuji was taking on both Itsuki and Saeki by himself, but he was losing ground. The Rokkaku guys were good. They had not only sealed one of Fuji's triple counters, but had almost broken Eiji as well.

"Looks like this battle is going to be mine, Kikumaru," Saeki called to the exhausted redhead as he hit a smash past Eiji to get yet another point. Eiji didn't have enough energy to glare. It'd mean he'd have to lift his head.

'I shouldn't have tried that move… I'm never going to make it back now,' The acrobat thought, panting hard.

Fuji and Itsuki were rallying in the small space between the singles' and doubles' boundary lines, getting "oohs" and "ahs" from the spectators outside the fence.

21, 22, 23, 24, 25…

Fuji, getting ready to serve, looked forward at his doubles partner and smiled mysteriously. He hit the ball with a new, sudden energy. Consequently, his opponents couldn't touch the serve.

37, 38, 39, 40…

The tensai played a baseline rally with Itsuki. The tennis ball slowly neared the net.

Closer, closer…

43, 44, 45…

And finally, with a mighty stroke of his racket, Fuji Syuusuke hit a perfect Tsubame Gaeshi. The Seigaku supporters went wild.

"Did you see that, Echizen?" Momo yelled in the shorter boy's ear as the former glomped on the latter.

"I might've been able to see it better if you weren't hanging on me," Ryoma answered with a slight hat adjustment and a sip from his Ponta can.

60, 61, 62…

After another Tsubame Gaeshi, Itsuki and Saeki still couldn't find the flaw in their plan, which brought a smile of malicious delight to Fuji's face.

Another rally ensued, but this time the tensai didn't try to make the ball get closer to the net.

78…

Saeki's eyes scanned the bright green tennis ball nervously as his teammate and childhood friend hit back and forth. Rokkaku was definitely being pushed back, even though they were playing 2-on-1.

85…

Fuji, however, did seem to be getting closer to the net. There could be an opening for Rokkaku somewhere…

"Itsuki! Hit it to the baseline!" Saeki commanded.

Pom! A lob shot up above the Seigaku court. Taking a half step back, the tensai hit a crushing smash, earning yet another point. The flow was all Seigaku's now.

93…

Fuji served an easy, slow(er) serve, letting his opponents return it easily. He didn't mind if the other team knew he had something up his sleeve.

"Argh!" Saeki grunted. He had hit a lob sky-high to the other court; his timing had been off because he had expected a fast serve like the previous one.

98, 99, 100!

Fuji straightened up and tilted his racket onto his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Saeki-san," he said with a smile. "But this duel… is over."

And with that, Eiji smashed the ball at a fantastic speed on the other side of the court.

Still panting but grinning with the sheer glee of a win, the redhead hopped, skipped, and jumped over to his teammate and happily gave him a fist bump.

"Thanks for covering, Fujiko!" the former cried cheerfully.

Fuji chuckled. "I'm just glad to see your counting skills are still up to par."

After a handshake between opponents and the tensai having to drag Eiji away from taunting Saeki about his win, the dream pair rejoined the Seigaku team.

"Sugei, Fuji, Eiji," Miku congratulated.

To the latter, she added, "You… you really should be more careful, Eiji."

Mentally, the redhead was agape at his crush. He had just fought an acrimonious duel for her, and now she was patronizing him.

Miku and Eiji sat down outside the fence as the next match began. Both of them were thinking hard.

'Is now the time? Can I tell her now?'

'He shouldn't have endangered himself like that… I almost had a heart attack…'

'Crap, there are a ton of people watching. I can't tell her now!'

They sighed quietly, almost in unison.

Would this torture never end?

I don't know why, but Saeki is such a ladies' man to me-even more so than Sengoku. He just seems that way since he's so handsome. *shrug* Not that I care.

COMMENT PLEASE! I WOULD NOT MIND TIPS ON HOW TO CONTINUE THE STORY! (Though I already have it planned out, some ideas for future wouldn't hurt) AND I WILL TRY TO UPDATE AS SOON AS I CAN!

And as one of my favorite fan fiction authors said, "Flames welcome, as they are good for marshmallows. As long as I don't burn them."

Please excuse any stupid punctuation or spelling errors I might've made as I am finishing this chapter at 12 AM. I'd appreciate it if minna would point out any wrongdoings in the grammar department so that I can correct them.

See you next chapter! Au revoir!