A/N: Hi all! Yes, this is about one week overdue but I was busy with assignments and helping the organisation of the event that my club is organising. And I did say that if my assignment stumped me, I wouldn't be able to post up last week. So yup, here's chapter three. It's a transitional chapter from the French Open arc to the Hawaii arc. This chapter is also about the interactions of the two main characters with the people around them. There's a bunch of OCs introduced in the later half of the chapter. Character profiles of all OCs and also updates of canon characters will be posted up at the same time.

In the meantime, enjoy!!

Disclaimer: PoT is not mine. If it is I would have tried to come up with a better title that the "New Prince of Tennis". It was a very good first chapter though =)

Title: Suki, Ai?

Chapter Three: "Let's go to Hawaii"

It was 7pm of the same day. Feeling slightly better after a shower and a nap, Ryoma entered the restaurant opposite hi hotel, bracing himself for a dinner with his parents. Surprised to see that his parents have yet to arrive, he approached the maitre'd who directed him to table already reserved for them.

However, he had barely taken his seat before a loud voice boomed across the restaurant, temporarily breaking the peace in the quiet French restaurant. "Seshonen! How's our favourite, famous grand slam winning, world-no 2, tennis start doing?"

"Urusai oyaji. This is a high class restaurant you know. At least you are in proper attire. Or else you would have probably been kicked out of the restaurant just now," he retorted in a cross voice. He then turned to greet his mother who had bent down to kiss him hello. "Konbanwa, Kaa-san."

"Hello dear. Are Nanako and Roger not here yet," Rinko asked.

"We are here," Roger suddenly said from behind them.

"We bumped into each other at the lobby. In fact we saw you and uncle ahead of us while we crossing the road just now," Nanako continued in explanation as to why the entered the restaurant together. After saying the necessary greetings, everybody settled down into their seats.

Suddenly, a childish voice exclaimed, "Argh! This is what I don't like about the French Open. Everything is in French. I could never say a word beyond a word of French beyond merci, je m'appelle Nanjiro and vous êtes très jolie. Order for me somebody!"

Amused, Rinko reached out to swat her husband on his forearm. On the other hand, Ryoma and Nanako were mouthing the words "vous êtes très jolie" to each other with a questioning look on their faces.

"Stop being so childish dear. And yes, you two. This man here may not be able to speak anything but English and Japanese, but he made it a mission to learn how to say 'you are beautiful' in as many language as possible," Rinko explained.

"Want me to say it in Chinese," Nanjiro asked excitedly. "Ni shi hen piau liang," he continued while gesturing comically at his niece.

"Ah. Enough already. Baka oyaji. Can we please order," Ryoma said impatiently. Not waiting for their replies he signalled to a nearby waiter. No, he was not especially hungry but was just eager to put a stop to his father's antics.

After they have each placed their order, they sat back, comfortably making conversation, wineglasses in hand. Nanjiro and Roger started out by excitedly recounting every minute of Ryoma's championship match. Even the arrival of food didn't stop the conversation from flowing as the topic moved from tennis, to sports in general and from there to updates of everyday life. It was only towards the end that the conversation slowed and Nanjiro asked his son a very important question.

"So, Ryoma. What now? We haven't heard a concrete next plan from you yet, and neither have the press."

"Well, oyaji. Do you remember the plan you suggested at the start of the tournament?" At everybody's look of surprise, Ryoma hastened to explain. "Roger, I understand that this is really reckless. But, I think I want to skip this year's US open and Wimbledon tournaments. Rest up, train up and maybe play at the minor tournaments to still earn points but it won't be as aggressive as going through another round of major tournaments. Then, I can start afresh for my Grand Slam title race next year at the Australian Open." Ignoring his spluttering manager, he turned to his father. "What do you think?"

"I suggested it to you. Of course I think it's the most brilliant idea ever," Nanjiro answered rather smugly. "But really Roger. I know it is partly my fault but we have been working this boy to the bone since his debut 5 years ago. As of today, he has been in 14 major tournaments, won 8 and earned one Grand Slam title. He deserves a break," he continued in a more serious tone.

"But, but, but… His ATP rankings! Winning two majors at the beginning of the year cannot make up for missing the two at the end! I don't even want to imagine how drastic a drop it will go through," Roger interrupted the men, a slightly pleading tone in his voice.

"Roger. It's not like he is dropping off the face of the earth. He should still continue playing the minor matches, keep himself in touch with the circuit. Just not as active. As long as he continue winning, his ranking should not drop by much. Maybe about two to three? So he should end the year at number four or five, which is still an increase from his 8 at the beginning of this year," Nanjiro said, trying to reassure his son's manager.

"But-,"

"Oh come, on Roger. This is what Ryoma wants and even I'm agreeing that it's a good idea. Why continue objecting," Nanjiro continued cajolingly. Everyone at the table knew that Roger is a huge fan of Samurai Nanjiro, even 22 years after his retirement. Although he has become comfortable around the Echizen family, Roger still had a touch of hero worship and would usually entertain Nanjiro's various silly antics. Of course, that also meant that he rarely could refuse Nanjiro's wants.

Sighing in resignation, Roger leaned back in his seat, running through the details of Ryoma's plans in his head. While he did see the merits of the plan, he still felt that there were more pros than cons. However, with both his charge and his idol determined on that particular course of action, he had no choice but to agree.

"Fine. Let's do this. But be prepared, I'm suggesting that coach trains you at least two times as much. You'll probably be playing in quite a number of minors too."

"YAY! With the manager's approval, we'll just have to inform the media to make it official," Nanjiro squealed excitedly. Ryoma just stared at his father in total disbelief, wondering why he was the super excited one.

Roger raised his hand slightly, trying to calm down the excited man. "Right. Since we are doing this anyway, let me tell you about an offer we received," Roger said, his mind already busy making plans for the remaining months in the year. "There is going to be an international amateur's tournament in Hawaii in the middle of next month, just before Wimbledon. The organisers want to invite you to play an exhibition match with the winner of the tournament. It'll be an all expenses paid trip, pretty much like a holiday actually since you'll only have to play that one match at the end. I turned it down at first since it was so close to Wimbledon but since we are not going this year, it'll be a good opportunity to both take a break and keep up with training. What do you think?"

Ryoma stared pensively, his turn to run through the merits of what is being suggested in his mind. It did sound like a good idea and with many of his friends and sempai in the in the amateur tennis circuit, he should be able to meet up with them too.

"Hmmm, ok then. Let's go to Hawaii."

3 days later, Office of Monthly Pro Tennis in Tokyo, Japan.

"SAKUNO! Konnichiwa!!" Sakuno jerked back in surprise as the sound of her best friend's loud greeting echoed over the already noisy office. She looked away from her computer screen to see said best friend prancing across the office as if she truly belonged there. In actual fact, Osakada Tomoka was not a staff but since she comes by to either visit or pick up Sakuno frequently, everybody had gotten used to seeing her around.

"Tomo-chan, shh. What are you doing here," Sakuno asked as she stood up to give her friend a hug.

"Did you forget our girls only lunch gathering today?? We promised we'll meet up the day after you got back from France remember? So here I am, coming to pick you up! Quick, the others should be making their way to our usual café right now too," Tomoka responded with her usual peppiness. Although, at age 24 she has calmed down a bit, she still tended to be louder and chipper than the average person. Other than her hair, which now either hangs loose or tied back into a high ponytail, nothing about her had really changed. Unlike Sakuno who had grown a bit to her current 165cm in height, Tomoka had stopped growing once she reached 158cm. She still preferred wearing pants or shorts over skirts and dresses and her only concession to feminine dressing is her addiction to high heels in order to make up for her self-identified lack of height.

"Ah yes. All right, can you give me about 5 to 10 minutes more? I promised the editors I'd have this story done before leaving for lunch. We need it for the special French Open extra issue coming out three days from now," Sakuno answered, her eyes not leaving her monitor.

Curious, Tomoka attempted to read what was on the screen. "Nani, nani? What's the story you are writing about?"

"Tomo-chan! No!" Sakuno had no idea why but her hands had moved to cover the screen. Somehow she just didn't want Tomoka, the friend who had been especially supportive of her during the bad time after the breakup to know that she was writing about Ryoma. However, Sakuno was too late and Tomoka had already seen the name of the star of her article.

"Echizen Ryoma… Ryoma-sama? Sakuno! They made you meet up and even interviewed him in France?" Tomoka was frustrated that her friend tried to avoid meeting her eyes. Fiercely, she grabbed her friend and turned her around so that they faced each other.

Sakuno shook herself free and turned back to face her computer screen. Things were quiet between them for a few seconds as Sakuno stared determinedly at the screen while Tomoka just looked at her with concern.

"Yes, I did," Sakuno suddenly answered in a quiet voice. I had no choice since Kitamura-senpai fell sick. Can we… can we talk about this later? When we are with everybody else. I'd rather not have to this story twice.

Tomoka nodded as she down at a nearby chair. Although, she had so minor questions, none of them were asked as she understood her friend's need to be alone and just not think about the issue at hand.

"Wow. Quite a lot happened during those last few days in France, didn't it," Tachibana An commented at the end of Sakuno's revelations. "Are you ok dear?"

"Yes, An-san. I'm fine. It did annoy me that I practically broke down in front of him though. It would have been better to continue appearing unaffected after all these years," Sakuno said with a sigh.

"But you know, he probably suffered quite a bit watching you like that. I'm not siding with him. He knows I haven't forgiven him for this issue. But I also know that he regrets what he did more often than not. I knew you guys back when you were a couple. You can't tell me you think that he enjoyed doing what he did to you," Inui Yukino said.

"But that doesn't change the fact that he did what he did. Don't get me wrong. I like that little boy. But I still have not forgiven him for what he did to Sa-chan here either," Sunohara Chiaki said defensively.

"Now, now. We are all gathered here together to plan our holiday. Let's concentrate on that and forget all this sad stuff," Tezuka Kokoro said in her gentle comforting voice. She may not be the oldest in the group, but she is just so sensible and stable that everybody else saw her as the big sister of the group.

"Wait, wait. Last thing then we can get back to it. It's just that… Well, it was inevitable that you two would meet. You do work in complementary jobs; he's the newsmaker and you're the news writer," Fujioka Ami commented.

"Yes, I know. Given that my closest friends are good friends with him and the line I'm working in, it's amazing I've managed to avoid him for the past five years," Sakuno responded wryly.

"Ok, ok. Let's stop talking about it already," Hashiba Risa interrupted, eager to change the topic. "So… Where are we going this year?"

"Erm, I was thinking of Hawaii," suggested An.

"Hawaii??!!" The squealing voices of four excited women surprised the patrons at the neighbouring tables. Sakuno, just stared at An, understanding where this is leading up to.

"Well, you see, I have been invited to join an international amateur tournament to be held in Hawaii next month. Sakuno should have been invited too right? And since we are going on holiday anyway, I thought that we could kill two birds with one stone?" All eyes turned to look at Sakuno after An finished explaining.

Sakuno squirmed a bit in her seat, feeling slightly uncomfortable with all the attention. She had lost most of her shyness but that did not mean she enjoyed so much attention focused on her. Anxious to shift attention away from her she quickly replied.

"Um… yup. I was invited to join the tournament. Haven't decided whether I'm joining though."

"Sa-chan really?" " Sakuno?" "No way you've to participate!" Seven voices said at the same time.

"Ah," Sakuno said feeling slightly overwhelmed at the bombardment. "Hai. Erm, I was invited for doubles too actually. I suppose if we are going there for our holiday, I'll just concentrate on one and not both."

"No worries. I'll tell Sadaharu for you. I love every chance of disturbing him," Yukino said with a laugh. She cared a lot about her cousin but hewas just too weird sometimes and she considered it her dutyto make him as normal as possible.

"So does that mean we've decided on going to Hawaii," Kokoro asked.

"Koko-chan! It's Hawaii! Why would we say no," Ami said in comical indignation.

"But… won't they be busy with the tournament and will be too tired to even hang out with us properly?"

"Kokoro-san. You are thinking of Tezuka-san's pro tournaments. Trust me; the amateur tournaments are so slack. The levels might be higher since this is a by-invite only international competition but most of us amateur players are the same. We play tennis because we love it but are too lazy to make it our career. So we play it as a serious hobby and so our tournaments are would never be as intensely tiring as the pro ones. We get a lot more break time for one thing," An explained.

"Yes, and besides, I am quite used to playing both singles and doubles in one tournament. So being able to concentrate on just singles would make me at least 60% less tired," Sakuno said, continuing An's explanations.

"So, see? They are fine with it. And An was the one who suggested it in the first place," said Chiaki excitedly. "Please Koko-san. I wanna go to Hawaii. Besides, it's such a coincidence that it clashes with the period we usually go on vacation!"

"Oh alright, alright," agreed Kokoro, relenting. "If everybody say they are fine with it, well then… Let's go to Hawaii!"

"Yay!! " Once again, café patrons at the neighbouring table got quite a shock as the young women occupying the table near them erupted in cheers.

"By the way An… Don't forget that this is a girls-only holiday. No hanging out with Momoshiro-san too much just because he'll be there too. You guys will be married soon after all," Risa said, closing their holiday discussion with a teasingly cheeky comment directed at An. Everybody laughed at the sight of An blushing both at the implication that she had just wanted to hang out with Momo in Hawaii and at the thought of her upcoming wedding with her boyfriend of 10 years.

A/N: Heyos. Thanks so much for reading to the end. Do leave me a review to tell me what you think, what questions you have and if you spot any mistakes in the text. I LOVE reviews, totally feed on them. Haha.

Look out for chapter 4 to see them in Hawaii (I think. Haven't really planned chapter 4 yet…)

Once you are done leaving me the review, don't forget to move to the next page and read the character update and OC profiles I posted there.

Thanks dear readers!!

cheers,

cityangelz!!

No random ramblings this chappie (=P) except for the question aren't our PoT boys ever gonna grow up canonically? It has been nine years and the new PoT brought them back as the exact same age that they were. I wouldn't mind if they move to high school instead you know… LOLS