Ryoma walked towards the table which he assumes was the cashier or the information counter. Whatever, he didn't get how this bar works anyway, and he didn't want to get too familiar with it either.

The woman at the counter smiled at him. "Hi, enjoying your first time here?" She asked sweetly, winking. Ryoma rolled hi eyes. The annoying winks... Ryoma had encountered many girls that would do all those annoying little winks that they somehow mistaken it for an action that would get Ryoma to like them, which is obviously not true. In this bar, those annoying winks seemed to more than double the amount, and it's really irritating.

Ryoma did not bother answering to the woman's question. "Where's your manager?"

The woman stared at him for a while, before answering. "I am. Call me Carrie. May I help you with anything?" She gestured at the chair in front of her.

Ryoma looked at her before sitting down at the chair. "The girl that…erm…you know…erm…served me just now…" He said, finding the words hard to come out of his mouth, feeling a faint blush creeping up on him as he forced the word out.

"Oh, Sakura. How do you like her service?" Carrie smiled. "She's pretty good, huh? Even though she's kind of new, but she's really pretty and she learns fast. You can request for her every time you come here, she haven't got a regular yet, so she's pretty free. Though trying out different girls each time can be fun too."

"Yeah, her." Ryoma said, digging into his pocket. So, she call herself Sakura, huh? Not a very clever way to cover her identity. It has too much connection with her real name... He took out his wallet, and gave Carrie a wad of cash.

Carrie stared at the money, slightly dumbfounded for a while. "This is…"

"This is for her." Ryoma said, as Carrie took the money and counted them, and gaping at the humongous amount.

"You know, if you want to give tips to her, you can give it to her directly." Carrie said. "Aren't you afraid that I will eat up the money and not give it to her?"

Ryoma glared at her, as she laughed. "Joking, sir, I will never do that. Alright, I'll make sure that this is passed to her, and I'll tell her it's from you."

"No!" Ryoma almost shouted, but quickly composed himself. "Erm…no, don't tell her. Don't tell her that it's from me. Just give it to her disguised as a...a pay rise or something. I'll…You give her salary every week, right?"

Carrie nodded. "The money they get is dependent on how many customers they served."

Hmm, no wonder Sakuno was so desperate in trying to get her to stay. "So…I'll come every week and give you the money, just make sure it reaches her as her salary."

Carrie laughed. "Alright, I'll do that for you. You're the first customer to use such a weird tactic to give our girls their tip. Though it would be good if you can be a regular customer too. If you do, then the money she received for tending to you will be doubled."

Ryoma hesitated. Doubled? That means Sakuno would earn more… He sighed. "Okay, what day does she normally come?"

"She's available every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night."

Ryoma thought for a while. Well, he's free every Friday after tennis practice. There's no harm coming here to enjoy the air condition after a tiring tennis practice. "All I need to do is to request for her through you, right?"

"Yup, but I suggest you decide on the day and time now, so that I'll book her for you now, then you won't waste your time waiting on the day itself." Carrie suggested.

Ryoma frowned. "Alright, I'll come every Friday, around 5pm." He sighed, as he picked up his tennis bag and turned.

"Hey, are you acquainted with Sakura?" Carrie asked.

"Yeah." Ryoma said without turning around, as he walked out of the bar.

Carrie smiled, Sakura had such good friends, she thought.

XxXxX

Hope that that woman really did give her the money, and did not use it for herself. Anyway, it's easy to tell whether she did give Sakuno the money; Sakuno always give away her thoughts and emotions so obviously. That's how he was able to recognise Sakuno that day. No matter how much she tried to hide it, it was just so obvious. The familiarity hit him like a rock when she first entered the room, with such beautiful tube top. Her expressions, even though hidden by that mask of hers, were just so…Sakuno-ish, if it were a proper adjective. The way she stammers and the way she would put her hands on top of her dress in a polite manner, everything about her just gave her away.

At first he brushed it off as something impossible ("Impossible, Sakuno would never do this sort of job. She had said that she was working in a cake shop"), but then they started talking, and he was getting more and more suspicious. Finally, when her friend called out her name, even though he only heard it vaguely, he was already convinced.

Sakuno must have quit her job in the cake shop without telling anyone. Maybe the cake shop does not earn as much money. Well, that was obvious. When she enrolled for the cake shop, Ryoma was skeptical that she could earn enough money for Ryuuzaki sensei's treatment. He half-knew that Sakuno changed her job. When Sakuno was working in the cake shop, her face had been distorted with worry, worry about her short of moeny. But after one month of working in the cake shop, her expression in her face became more relieved, which hinted to Ryoma that she had found a job with a higher salary. But never in his mind…would Sakuno…work in the Aging bar…

Well, now that he gave…what's her name…Carrie the money, Sakuno should get more money. And hopefully quit her job as soon as possible.

But…He stared at his wallet. He used up his money for that. And he still needed to come up with the money for next week. He sighed. The other day the tennis company had asked him to help coach those tiny brats tennis. He had refused. I mean, who wants to teach little lazy brats that won't pratise tennis and would not respect you just because you are a high school student? This time, he should contact the manager again. He needed the money. This is so annoying…why did he decide to help Sakuno? She won't even know that he was the one helping her, she being so dumb and blur. After all, after so long of hanging out together, she didn't even notice that he liked her. He's always doing extra stuff that won't get notice…

"Sakuno, you look happy today!" Horio pointed out loudly. Ryoma looked back. Sakuno was walking towards them, smiling brightly. Ryoma had to admit; sometimes Horio's loud annoying voice does have an advantage to it.

"Yup, I just got a pay rise!" She announced cheerfully.

"Really?" Tomoka said.

"Yeah!"

"Ooh, you must be improving in your baking skills! I want to try your cake sometimes!"

"And Ryuuzaki-sensei would be healed soon, right?"

Sakuno nodded, eyes bright with hope. "Yes! Grandma is going to be healed soon, with my amount of salary now!"

Ryoma stared at her. Maybe it was a good thing after all to help Sakuno. Getting to see her smile like that was quite rare, ever since Ryuuzaki-sensei was hospitalised.

He sighed. He really missed the cheerful, bouncy Sakuno. Anything to make her happy…

"Ryoma!"

Without turning around, Ryoma knew who it was already. Long-forgotten anger rised up in his chest as he turned around. "Momo-sempai, damn you!" He shouted.

"Whoa, Ryoma, don't get so agitated now…" Momoshiro said, calming Ryoma. "You can't just attack your friend like that…you just can't…"

"Well explain to me what yesterday was all about!" Ryoma demanded.

"Haha, I just thought that you might like a little relaxtion. I see you practising tennis all day." Momoshiro slapped Ryoma's back. "I was worrying about your future romantic prospect!"

"I don't need you to worry about it." Ryoma growled angrily.

"Oh? You don't?" Momoshiro said cheekily. "Does that mean you have already found a girlfriend? Ne, Ryoma? You can't just keep it to yourself, Ryoma, you just can't…" Seeing Ryoma ignoring him and drinking ponta, he added. "Or do you already have a girl of your interest?"

Ryoma choked on his favourite grape flavoured ponta, coughing violently.

"Ahahaha oh my gosh I found out what was bothering Ryoma. HE LIKES A GIRL!" Momoshiro announced throughout the entire tennis court.

"Ochibi likes a girl? Finally?" Eiji perked up.

"Interesting, good data." Inui also said.

"Not bad. Who is it?" Fuji asked.

"Ooh hoho she must be super pretty and slim and attractive to have gotten Ryoma's attention!" Oishi said.

"Oh yeah baby! She must be hot!" Kawamura shouted, holding onto a racket.

Ryoma gaped as he watched his seniors gossip about his 'romantic prospects'. Wait…I didn't say anything…I just choked because I suddenly thought of Sakuno…ah damn… He peeked at Sakuno and her friends. They were murmuring and giggling among themselves, obviously amused by the subject. Sakuno…was looking disappointed. Or maybe he was just imagining things; why would Sakuno care about who he likes? But if she did care… He pulled down his hat, hoping Sakuno did not get any wrong impressions of him.

"Ne, ne, Ochibi, who do you like?" Eiji poked.

I like Sakuno. A lot. He wanted to say that, but decided to ignore his senior instead.

"Get into position, and stop talking among yourselves!" The Captain Tezuka ordered, as everyone scattered into their position.

"Fifty laps, now!" He ordered, followed by a lot of groans.

XxXxX

"Grandma, I got a pay rise!" Sakuno announced happily as she peeled apple for Sumire.

"Oh? Really?" Sumire said, smiling.

"Yup! Now, I earn three thousand dollars a week! I can't believe it, you're getting out of the hospital soon!"

"Three thousand dollars a week?" Sumire exclaimed in disbelief too.

"Yup! I used to earn only four hundred dollars a week. I don't know why I have this sudden increase in salary." Sakuno said cheerfully. "But it's good to earn this much."

Sumire smiled. It's good to see her granddaughter so happy and cheerful. Though this sudden increase in salary made her quite suspicious; how could a person's salary increase that much? Sakuno was just a small baker that did not even go to work everyday, how could she earn that much?

The door opened. Ryoma stood at the doorway, holding a bunch of flowers and his tennis bag, sweating from head to toe.

He was quite shock when he saw Sakuno.

"I guess…I shouldn't interrupt…" He said, closing the door.

"No, it's okay, Ryoma, come on in." Sumire said. Even though it was quite faint, but she could notice a blush in Ryoma's face when he looked at Sakuno. The boy seems so cold, but he still has a heart, which would soften for a girl. He had been visiting her every week whenever he's free, perhaps trying to get the grandma's favour. She chuckled in her head. "Hope you get well soon…I can't wait to see Sakuno's happy face." That was what he said almost everyday to her, blushing. Wonder if he's going to say it here, with the subject in presence.

Ryoma walked towards them, and gently put the bunch of flowers onto her bed.

"H…hi…Ryoma-kun. How nice of you to visit Grandma." Sakuno said, smiling a bit nervously.

"Get well soon…" Ryoma muttered.

Sumire raised an eyebrow. "And? Why don't you continue your sentence?" She teased, prompting him.

Ryoma ignored her.

"Why are you sweating that much?" Sumire asked.

Ryoma wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeves. "I was practising."

"A hardworking guy, aren't you? When I'm back on the courts I should expect a great improvement, right?" She said.

Ryoma smiled slightly. "I'm still mada mada."

"Really?" Sumire laughed slightly. Ryoma could be confident while playing a match, but when he's practising, he's quite harsh on himself. Well, it's good; he would improve a lot more this way. "I heard from Nanjirou that you had accepted the contract from the Monosports Company."

Ryoma nodded.

"You're trying to earn money too huh? Like Sakuno." Sumire stated. She smiled, amused, when the two of them glanced at each other and then quickly averted their gaze.

"You denied them at first because you said you had no use for the extra money. So now, what are you using the money for?"

Sumire could see Ryoma taking a real quick glance at Sakuno. "Something." He said vaguely, with a faint blush on his face.

Ahaha, him blushing like that…it must have to be something to do with Sakuno. Sumire smiled. Ryoma should really just admit his feelings and confess. But seeing him do stuff for Sakuno in the back while hiding his faint blush in his face was so cute.

"I'd…better get going now…" Ryoma said, as he grabbed his tennis bag and left the room.

When he closed the door, Sakuno let out a sigh.

"What is it?" Sumire asked.

"N…nothing." Sakuno answered, blushing a bit.

Sumire raised her eyebrows. The relationship between these two is really weird and cute.

"Here you go, Grandma." Sakuno said, feeding Sumire the apple she had peeled.

Sumire ate the apple, staring at Sakuno. Somehow…she had a feeling that Sakuno's sudden pay rise is due to Ryoma. She laughed slightly to herself. "I can't wait to see Sakuno's happy face…" It must have been Ryoma, doing his way to speed things up a bit. Now he had succeeded, Sakuno is happier than usual now.

"What's so funny, Grandma?" Sakuno asked.

"Nothing." She said simply. "You'll be really happy in the future, Sakuno."

"Huh?" Sakuno frowned, confused.

XxXxX

End of chapter! Please review!

A mini explanation: The name 'Aging Bar' is taken from Monochrome Factor. I used to call it the 'Jazz Bar', but it sounds stupid, so I changed it. So if there are any remnants of 'Jazz Bar', please do tell me so I could change it, cuz I might have missed it while scanning through. :) Monosports company's name is also inspired by it. xD Thanks!