Peppermint and Cerise flew to school the next morning. That day, a lot of chatter and murmuring was in school. But some boys stopped and said, "Cerise-chan!" and crowded around her. She picked up two pink and four orange hearts. Peppermint said hello to her human friends. "What's with the murmur around the room?" she asked. Taiji Suki smiled. "Because-"
Then, the teacher walked in the door. She smiled. "Good morning, children! Let us go to the assembly!" The kids all lined up and walked to the auditorium. When everyone was settled, the principal quieted everyone down. Then, he walked up onto the stage and fixed the round glasses on his nose. He then boomed into the microphone, "Good morning, everybody. We have a very special assembly today. Please listen carefully. The head of the student council, Prince Obscur will speak now." The girls all cheered. Cerise and Peppermint looked, and all girls' hearts were pink and orange. Peppermint asked Cerise, "Who is this Obscur guy?" Cerise said, "Yesterday, Usagi-san told me that he is the school's very popular Prince." Then, a very tall, lean boy walked to the podium on stage. He took the microphone. The girls cheered. Obscur had very pale skin. His eyes were silvery-aqua and pierced Peppermint's heart. His hair was silvery-blond and hung in his eyes. Obscur was followed by five very beautiful, but smug and mean-looking middle-school girls. He cleared his throat and stepped behind the podium. He took hold of the microphone and said, "Hello, students of Moegi Gakuen School. I am Prince Obscur, to those who don't know me." The girls all cheered and clapped, except Peppermint and Cerise. Obscur said, "I am the captain of the basketball, tennis, and volleyball teams. Two months from now, there will be a national tennis competition. Whoever can beat me may participate. Any volunteers? Please come to the stage." A murmur spread through the girls. "No! I can't beat the Prince! Plus, those pretty members will crow over me all my life if I lose!" Peppermint mumbled, "So those girls are his members, eh?" Nobody volunteered.
Suddenly, Peppermint felt herself stand up. "I volunteer!" she said almost involuntarily. She didn't mean to! But it was too late now. All eyes were on her. Cerise gasped. Peppermint felt her cheeks grow hot. Her heart beat fast. She trudged to stage and gasped, "I…I volunteer." She had no idea about tennis.
Peppermint started to climb up the stage steps, but tripped! Her face was tomato red. "Gee, I-I-I-I'm s-so s-sorry!" she gasped, and some people in the audience snickered. She flashed them an angry look and blundered to her feet and walked onto the stage, holding her head high.
The Prince said, "Okay. You are quite a brave girl, I see." Peppermint blushed and flinched a bit. "I-it's no-nothing, rea-lly," she whispered. Then she looked. The hearts of the beautiful girls, the members, by Obscur were black! The hearts of some audience girls were black too!
Obscur said, "You have three days to prepare. On the last day, you shall play against me. After school. In the tennis court. Okay?" She nodded.
On the way home, Muffin climbed out of Cerise's shoulder. She laughed, "Only Peppermint would be so stupid to volunteer-dechu!" Prince shook his parrot head from his master's shoulder, saying, "I agree-squawk." Peppermint turned her head toward him angrily, her dark ponytail hitting her cheek. She snapped, "Quit it! Ya wanna make somethin' of it?!" He hid. "N-no!" he squawked.
When the girls reached home, Peppermint flopped on the couch. She curled a lock of her always ponytailed hair around her finger. "Ahhh, why did I volunteer? I have no clue about tennis!"She sighed. Cerise sat next to her. "Don't worry. I'm sure you can learn it." Peppermint said, "Well, at lunch, Yanagi told me that you hit a small ball back and forth with rackets. But I don't get that. Oh, I have a good idea!" She boomed, "Sugar sugar rune! Peppe rune!" Catching her wand, she said, "Tennis material, appear!" Two rackets and a ball appeared. A net sprung up outside. Peppermint said, "Okay, Cerise…go to the other side of the net." The girls started to hit the ball back and forth. They couldn't get it right, somehow.
The days passed. The girls practiced when they could. On the day of the match, after school, Peppermint was walking to the tennis court. She wiped her sweaty hands on her black outfit and saw Obscur sitting on the bench with his cool, cold character.
Peppermint fixed her ponytail and had a seat on the bench next to Obscur's. There were many people in the school in the audience. Then, a loud bell rang. A girl's voice boomed through the speakers. It said, "Ladies and gentlemen…the game between Prince Obscur and Ice-san will now begin!" The competitors stood up and went on the court. Obscur flashed her a cold smile that made her angry. Peppermint scowled for a second and wiped her sweaty hands on her opal-colored T-shirt. The same girl who announced the beginning of the match said, "Prince, Peppermint Ice-san, you may begin now. I will be the referee." Obscur tossed a ball in the air and hit it with his black racket. Peppermint refuted it, and they had a long rally. Then, Obscur happened to get a point because Peppermint hit the ball out!
The game continued that way many times. They had a long rally, and then Obscur got a point. At one time, though, Peppermint scored one! Then, Obscur got the game point, and he won. The referee girl said, "Prince Obscur wins 45-15!" Peppermint fell down and dropped her racket, tired. She was creamed. Obscur stood proudly and coolly and waved his hands at the audience. However, she saw some orange hearts from boys in the audience...they were for her! She tiredly said, "Sugar sugar rune. Peppe rune." On her seated self appeared the witch outfit, and she caught her wand. "Your hearts are now mine." Five hearts sped into her pendant.
A bit energized, Peppermint stood up and grinned. "I took them…yet I lost…oh well!" she said. Obscur had left. The audience began to clear out. Cerise ran to Peppermint, beaming. "You did great!" she cheered, quickly giving Peppermint's hand a quick squeeze. The girls chattered down the hallway and talked against the wall. Peppermint had to use the toilet and ran off to the bathroom. On the way down the hall, she ran into Obscur. He said, "You did well alone, Peppermint. Congratulations." His silvery eyes pierced Peppermint's heart, and his cold hands grabbed hers. It made her blood run cold. She blushed. Then, the members showed up behind him. One girl with very long, magenta-colored wavy hair that went down her waist said, "How could you, Prince!?" Another one with chocolate-colored eyes and blonde hair said, "Yes, it's almost as if he loves her!" Another one with beautiful long eyelashes said, "And he called her Peppermint!" Yet another member with dark brown hair and green eyes said, "However, Ice-san, we will not allow you to get in our way." Their hearts glowed black! Peppermint's face burned red from both rage and shame. She said, "Leave me alone! You girls are so mean!" and she yanked her hand out of Obscur's, running to the bathroom.
Inside the bathroom, Peppermint leaned against the wall, forgetting she had to go potty. She glanced in the mirror. Her heart was glowing bright orange! She gasped and stared at her feet. "The heart is yours to take, but never let yours be taken." Her father Houx's words of wisdom rang in her ears. She tensed up, then started to chuckle. Her face took the color of a tomato. "No way do I have a crush on THAT freak!" she roared. Then, she became serious again. "Wait…it couldn't be…maybe…I have an unknown crush on him!?"
She chased the thought out of her head. "No, no, no, no! You can't have my heart! I'm gonna take yours first, Obscur, you just wait!"