Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis? Not mine. Got that? Great.

A/N: I dedicate this chapter to KiTtEn18sMiLe and apandas327.

Warning: There will be OOCness due to circumstances invented by my imagination. This is a short chapter for today.

Please enjoy the fifth chapter!

Chapter 5: There is a fine line in between.

"Ryoma-kun!"

The said teen turned around to see Izumi running after him. He stopped walking and waited for her. She stopped in front of him, panting. "What is it, Izumi-sempai?" He asked. "You didn't have to tell them that." She told him but her eyes were downcast than looking him straight in the eye.

He placed a finger under her chin and tilted up her head a little so she could look at him in the eye. "Don't act like this is nothing, sempai." He told her, making the usually composed female look surprised. "No one should be judged so easily. You should know about that the most." He said as he removed his finger from under her chin as he sensed some people approaching.

"I know but it's a common fault for everyone, mostly if they started off at the wrong foot." Izumi replied. "You should stop at looking at people's faults most of the time." Ryoma told her. She nodded before giving out a long sigh. "Thank you." She whispered before hugging the shorter teen. Ryoma nodded before patting her back softly.

"We apologize if we are intruding on something."

At that, Izumi had pulled away from Ryoma and turned around. The person who had spoken was Sengoku and behind him were Momo and Wakato. "I'm sorry!" They chorused with a bow. Izumi gave Ryoma an uncertain look, which didn't go unnoticed by the people who were spying on them, making sure that the four teens did what they promised to do.

Surprisingly, at least for the ones who were spying, Ryoma had smiled and gave her a light push on the back. She had stumbled a little but gave a smile back at Ryoma. "Thank you." She mouthed before facing the three bowing teens. "Apology accepted." She told them, making the four teens straighten up.

"As for your stunt, you four are in-charge of feeding the fish in the pond for next week." She grinned at them. The three teens were shocked at first before sighing. They were foolish enough to think that they would get away that easily. Ryoma, on the other hand, had only smirked when he heard what Izumi had said.

'As expected from her, she will never let anyone get away unscathed.'

That was the common thought that ran though the spies' and Ryoma's minds. "As for the people hiding in the bushes, because you broke my first house rule, you will all sleep on the porch tonight in your boxers until next week!" She said cheerily, as if she was giving away a prize.

The group hiding behind the bushes groaned before revealing themselves. They were Niou, Marui, Kirihara, Gakuto, Kintarou and Ibu. "It must be your lucky day boys because you are the first ones to ever break a house rule!" She cheerily told them. Inside though, she was a little upset. 'They are getting their punishment so no acting like Shizuo Heiwajima from Narita Ryohgo-sama's Durarara! for now.' She thought happily.

"Anyway, let's go back inside." Izumi suggested. Everyone else just nodded and went back to the living room where the other tennis players were. When they came in, Izumi's cheerful air, Ryoma's indifferent one and the others' gloomy ones didn't go unnoticed. "What happened that made you this happy, Hanabi-san?" Atobe asked as he eyed the eerily smiling female.

"It's nothing relevant to you and everyone else, Atobe-san." Izumi replied in her still cheery voice. Atobe kept his taken aback expression. This side of Izumi was new to most of the teens and inside, they were wary that something bad might happen if they dare do something wrong or stupid. "Izumi-chan!" A certain blue-haired idiot- I mean teen exclaimed.

"Don't ever call me that, Yukimura-kun!" Izumi said as she threw a cushion at him. She was still smiling but it was evident on her face that she was annoyed. Most males in the room had made up their minds to never dare call her 'Izumi-chan'. That and Yukimura's surprising point of stupidity will be the death of him.

"Izumi-chan."

Almost everyone felt sorry for the soul and the body of the one who dared to say it, who was shockingly Ryoma. "Yes, Ryoma-kun?" Izumi asked in a cheery tone, surprising everyone else in the room. "I was only testing it out." Ryoma informed her. "As long as you say it, it's okay." Izumi happily replied. A dark air around Ryoma suddenly appeared, making the boys around him take a few steps back.

"What if Tezuka-buchuo calls you that?"

There was a look of childish innocence in Ryoma's face that looked too unreal but at the same time, quite fitting, when he said that. The dark air around him had suddenly disappeared too. The other teens looked at Izumi, who had a look of shock on her face. Her face and ears were pink then slowly turned into a red that put Eiji's hair to shame. She suddenly looked at the floor with her hand shielding her face before replying.

"I-I guess I w-wouldn't m-mind."

The guys, with the exception of Ryoma, Yukimura and Tezuka, were surprised at her reaction. "Izumi-chan." Tezuka tried it out after Ryoma gave him a look. "M-Mitsu-kun!" Izumi suddenly shouted while still looking at the ground. Everyone else was stupefied at the turn of events.

It only got worse when Izumi fell to the ground, laughing out loud.

"I-I can't believe y-you guys didn't n-notice!" Izumi said in between laughs. Most of the guys looked at either Ryoma or Tezuka for an explanation. "We're childhood friends." Tezuka said. "Don't forget that you two are cousins." Ryoma added with a smirk on his face. Most of the guys in the room were downright surprised by then.

Izumi only laughed harder when she saw their reactions.

"Y-you actually t-thought that I have a crush on Mitsu-kun? That's just so funny!" If Izumi wasn't wearing a yukata, some of them figured that she would've been laughing while rolling on the ground by then. Some of the guys were getting annoyed by the fact that Izumi was laughing at them as if they actually have fallen for the most obvious prank in the whole wide world.

Suddenly, Izumi stopped laughing and looked thoughtful in an instant.

"I must admit though that Mitsu-kun is quite attractive…" She drifted off, as if she was contemplating about something. "He's not as attractive as Echizen-kun though!" She continued with a big grin on her face. The said dark-haired teen only coughed nervously and looked away from the female red-head.

"I think that sempai is attractive too."

Everyone stared at him in shock about his sudden comment. Izumi suddenly stood up then walked over to Ryoma. "I'm glad that you agree with me, Echizen-kun!" Izumi patted him on the back lightly. Ryoma suddenly turned around with an annoyed look on his face. He hit the back of Izumi's head hard before walking towards the door. Everyone was looking at him.

"I didn't mean Tezuka-buchuo, baka-sempai."

All the guys stared at Izumi who had a grin on her face. When she noticed that, she looked at them with a calm look. "He'll be okay when dinner is ready. Since I'm here at the moment, why don't we try to get to know each other better?" She asked. Everyone nodded, interested at the idea.

"Why don't we start with my dear cousin, Mitsu-kun?"

A/N: So yeah, a little drama in this chapter as well. Izumi's a little quirky, neh?

I hope I didn't make the characters too OOC. I might have been a little excited when I typed this so... Please tell me any typos and inconsistencies, even grammar mistakes (being the "Grammar Nazi" that I am).

Constructive criticism is appreciated in the form of private messages and/or reviews.