Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

A/N: Well ouo idk. Lel. Anyways, enjoy the chappie ouo. Proofread by my friend Kyle/Rolo ouo

Chapter 5: Rikkaidai

In the Echizen Household:

Ryoma unpacked her books and arranged it according to its titles on her bookshelf. Marui was helping her unpack different things on her room. He was helping the Echizens unpack their things and they were thankful for it. Rinko told Marui to help Ryoma as she has the most items and Marui had to agree on that.

"Oi Ryo, are these the last batch?" Marui panted as he sat down on her bed.

"Yeap, you can go rest and chew on gum now," Ryoma didn't allow Marui chew gum while he was helping her unpack her stuff. She said it is for stamina but it is obviously a torture for Marui.

Marui stared at Ryoma for a while, as he felt like he is forgetting something important.

"Ne, Ryo."

"Nani?"

"Did I tell you that I would be doing something today? I feel like I'm forgetting something important.." Marui felt like he is being strangled as he tried to remember.

"Err, if I remember correctly, you have tennis practice today and will show me around Rikkaidai," Ryoma raised a brow at Marui as he paled.

"Oh crap! I forgot about tennis practice today! And it's already 9:30 AM! It would take me 10 minutes to go home from here to get my tennis equipment and around 30 minutes to school from there... I'm dead." Marui sulked in a corner as he feared that the Child of God and the Emperor would be giving him hell.

Ryoma sweatdropped at Marui's depression and said, "I can lend you my rackets for today. If you go now, you can still make it in time."

Marui brightened up with that, "Really?! Arigato Ryo! I owe you big time!"

Ryoma just chuckled and grabbed her tennis racket then went towards her bedroom door, "Hurry up if you don't want to be late."

"Hai!"

"Yosha! We're on time!" Marui cheered as he will still live to see another day. Even though he is dead tired from running all the way there, he is happy that he lived.

Apparently, they were 15 minutes early before tennis practice started.

"'We?' I thought you're the only one who's on a time limit," Ryoma smirked as she saw the redhead heavily pant, "And you still have to work on your stamina."

Marui pouted at Ryoma, which she found adorable, "Mou, I AM working on it!"

"Really? I don't really see the result of you working on it~"

Marui just stared exasperatedly at his cat-eyed companion, "Whatever..."

Ryoma chuckled in reply before tugging at the redhead's arm, "Guide me to the registration office first before I get lost and blame it on you."

"Hai... And… you? Getting lost? Now that's unheard of."

Ryoma just stuck out her tongue before letting Marui guide her.

After a few turns, they were standing in front of the registration office.

"Well, here we are. Did Rinko-san already enroll in advance?" Marui popped an apple flavored bubblegum in his mouth and chewed for a while before blowing a bubble.

"Un. I think I'm going to take the placement test today. And give me a gum too. I need some sugar," Ryoma pouted and cheered after Marui gave her 3 pieces.

Marui sweatdropped at her cheer. He knew that Ryoma is already smart enough to finish the test within an hour. Especially with gum.

"Oops, I have to go. I think we'll have a break in an hour and a half, so I'll meet you here?" Marui said as he looked at his watch which read '9:55 AM'.

"Sure~ Just don't tire yourself too much. You still owe me a match," Ryoma looked at her fiancé's eyes. Amethyst eyes stared back at her golden ones.

"Hai~ I haven't forgotten about it! This time, I'm going to take a game from you," Marui grinned as he gave her a thumbs-up.

He turned to leave but a hand grabbed his arm before he could even take a step. He turned and looked confusedly at the emerald haired girl, "Ryoma?"

The next event was barely registered on his mind as Ryoma tiptoed and pecked him at his cheek. She blushed before she mumbled a barely audible 'Jaa' and went inside the office.

He could only stare wide-eyed as he touched his cheek, momentarily forgetting that he is going to be late for tennis practice.

When his brain finally functioned, he realized that he is late for practice and ran like the wind. His life is in danger but he couldn't care less as he is still thinking about the kiss (Though he was avoiding more extra laps than 50).

"Marui! Extra 50 laps for being late! Additional 20 laps for not wearing the uniform!" Sanada barked at Marui, frowning on how could the redhead be late for practice and not wear the Rikkaidai jersey.

"Hai~" Marui responded cheerfully before running his laps.

Now, the other regulars also frowned. Others frowned in confusion, while others frowned in concern.

"You don't think that Marui got replaced by an alien?"

"...47.6% that is possible."

"How is the possibility even high?!"

"People have recently spotted alien markings and there are rumors tha-"

"That will stay as rumors. Go back to practice and ask Marui himself later."

"Hai buchou."

One more weird thing that happened is that the redhead eats a lot more sweets than usual. Ok, that is hard to notice as the redhead ate sweets on a daily basis but the regulars noticed it was twice more than usual. Many brows were raised at this. Was he preparing for a match or something?

After an hour and a half, Yukimura told the regulars to take a break for 30 minutes. It was quite long but then it was supposed to be a holiday so the others had no qualms about this.

As some of the more curious regulars approached Marui, the sweets lover suddenly stood up, bought a can of Ponta at a nearby vending machine, and ran towards the school building. Many more questioning glances were sent towards the direction the redhead disappeared to.

"Saa, that's quite interesting," Yukimura mused as he planned on questioning Marui when he returns.

The others only prayed for Marui's safety.

Ryoma was utterly bored.

She finished the test within an hour and was now waiting for Marui to have his break. The teacher told her that the papers will be graded within 2 hours so she was free to explore the school within that period. She would love to explore it except for the fact that she might not be back within 30 minutes and have her fiancé fretting over her.

Ryoma sighed as she just blew another bubble and popped it. Same procedure happened until 30 minutes has passed by: sigh, chew, blow a bubble, pop, repeat from the top.

It was then when she noticed Marui jogging (He realized it would be bad to run inside the hallways) towards her.

When he finally reached her, he asked, "How was the test?"

"It was just fine. Though, I finished it 30 minutes ago."

He grinned at her reply and offered her a can of Ponta, "Here, a reward for finishing it early."

Ryoma shrugged and accepted the can of her favorite drink. She quickly drank it within seconds as she was quite thirsty.

"So, I bet you need to wait for 2 hours so why not stop by the tennis courts? You can also watch us practice," Marui beckoned her to follow him as he walked outside the building and towards the tennis courts.

"Fine with me but isn't it your break?" Ryoma quickly followed Marui and walked beside him. Their hands unconsciously slipped together, they didn't notice it as it felt right.

"It's my break but we could play a game if you want?"

"Eh, but I thought that we'll play later.."

"Hmm, I'm sure one of my teammates will play with you," Marui smirked as it would be amusing to see one of his teammates get beaten by Ryoma.

"Sounds interesting. I could see we're thinking on the same boat by your smirk," Ryoma also smirked as it would be interesting to see how strong Rikkaidai is.

"Well, we're here," They stood before the tennis courts where they could see various regulars either doing light swings, eating, or chatting with each other. Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi noticed Marui but what surprised them was that a girl was beside him and oh, they're holding hands.

"Ara, Marui. I assume the reason why you ran off earlier would be to fetch your girlfriend?" Yukimura smiled all-naturally as he would enjoy teasing the redhead. At this, all heads turned to Marui with a speed that Ryoma was surprised that they didn't get whiplashed.

"Nani?! Marui-senpai, you have a girlfriend other than Echizen Ryoma?!" Kirihara all but shouted. Well, wrong thing to shout as Ryoma twitched. She was thinking that this seaweed hair was seriously stupid. She heard about the magazine incident and couldn't this idiot realize that she's Echizen Ryoma.

"Bunta, can I kill him?" Ryoma whispered dangerously as Marui began to pray for his kouhai's life. Bakaya never learned to shut up.

"Sure. Oi Bakaya! Mind playing a match with her?" Marui shouted to his kouhai. Ryoma took this opportunity to get a racket from her tennis bag and turned to the blue haired boy that was staring at her amusingly. If she remembered correctly, he would be the buchou that the redhead told her about.

"Etto, do you mind if I use one of the courts?" Ryoma asked politely. Yukimura raised a brow at this. How did she know that he was the buchou? Ah, Marui.

"I don't mind," Yukimura shrugged, "Feel free to use it."

Ryoma nodded in thanks as she went inside one of the courts to wait for her opponent.

"I don't mind but are you sure because she-" Kirihara complained as he doesn't want his senpai's girlfriend to lose and complain to Marui that he didn't go easy on a girl.

"Finish that sentence and you'll be in a world of pain, Bakaya. Go to the court now if you will play with her," Marui quickly interjected as he knew what Kirihara wanted to say. One thing that Ryoma hates would be underestimating her in tennis. Sure, in other things but tennis? Well, good luck not facing her wrath.

Kirihara just followed his senpai's instructions as his senpai's girlfriend was already inside the court.

"You serve first, is it okay?" Kirihara told the cat-eyed girl. He thought that Marui won't get angry at him if he went easy on his girlfriend but he didn't expect the girl to glare at him. He watched as she went to the baseline and got a ball out of her shorts' pocket. She dribbled the ball gracefully before throwing it up and hitting it.

Kirihara thought it would be an easy ball but he didn't expect the ball to be fast and what the hell, did the ball just go towards his face?

He stared in disbelief at the spot where the ball bounced and back to the girl who was just staring at him.

She shrugged before calling, "15-love"

Kirihara smirked, looks like she would put up an interesting fight.

Most of the regulars widened their eyes at the perfect twist serve the girl just executed. Now they knew that the girl was no pushover. Yukimura was amused to no end, the girl would make this year very interesting. Sanada was impressed and Yanagi was just writing on his notebook, probably storing data about that girl. Niou, Yagyuu, and Jackal just widened their eyes and gaped.

Marui smirked at their reaction and quickly took a picture of it. More blackmail~ Arigato Ryo~

"4 games to love" Ryoma announced. 'Jeez, Bunta better put up a fight later or else he'll regret living,' she thought as she looked at the heavily panting Kirihara in front of her.

Oh yeah, Bunta told me his kouhai can go into Bloodshot mode if hurt during a match? Let's check that out.

Ryoma smirked before serving a twist serve but she purposely aimed for Kirihara's face which he couldn't dodge because of exhaustion. A lot of regulars paled at this, did she purposely do that? Marui worried a bit before he saw that smirk on Ryoma's face. Now he is sure she purposely did that and wanted to see Bloodshot mode. He sighed a little and shook his head, she must be very bored.

"I'll paint you red!" Kirihara sneered as he watched Ryoma smirk and serve another twist serve. He returned it with so much force and aimed for Ryoma's right knee. Ryoma saw this and dodged quickly as she returned the ball.

"30-love," Ryoma smirked once again. This continued until Kirihara hit Ryoma's right wrist. She winced as she looked at her sprained wrist. It took everything for Marui to not go into the courts, and drag Ryoma to the infirmary. He knows she will be okay but he couldn't help but worry.

Ryoma sighed as she transferred her racket from her right hand to left hand. Many pairs of eyes widened at this, she was a lefty?! And she was playing against Kirihara the whole time with her right hand... Not to mention, it's already match point for her.

Ryoma dribbled the ball before throwing it up, and hitting a fast serve that it was barely seen by the others. Kirihara couldn't even take a step as he didn't see the ball until it rolled to his feet.

"Game and match to me, 6 games to love," Ryoma smirked as she tapped the racket on her left shoulder. She looked at her swollen wrist and shrugged as she went towards her tennis bag. She faintly remembered that she kept a first aid kit inside it. Marui quickly went towards her as he is worried about the wrist.

"Ryo, are you okay?" Marui wrapped the wrist with some bandages, "Stay here, I'll get some ice from the infirmary," he was gone before Ryoma could even protest.

Ryoma only sighed as she sat down to elevate her wrist. At least she hasn't forgotten the R.I.C.E (Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevation) for sprained wrists. It mostly happens with athletes so she was forced to know some basic first-aid.

"Er, we're very sorry for Kirihara's actions and your injury," Yukimura could only offer an apologetic smile as he looked at her injured wrist.

"It's ok. I brought that on myself by purposely activating his mode anyways," Ryoma shook off his apology and scanned the faces of the regulars.

"My name is Yukimura Seiichi, nice to meet you," Yukimura introduced himself.

"Echizen Ryoma. Yoroshiku."

All of the regulars blinked at that. Echizen Ryoma? Isn't that the name of Marui's girlfriend?

Sanada regained his composure and introduced himself, "Sanada Genichirou. You are very talented to beat our ace like that."

Ryoma shrugged, "Doomo."

"Yanagi Renji. Nice to meet you." Hm, a data player? Interesting.

"My name is Yagyuu Hiroshi, it's a pleasure to meet you." Ryoma raised a brow at this. Gentleman much?

"I'm Jackal Kuwahara." Ah, Bunta's doubles partner.

Kirihara went towards Ryoma, "Kirihara Akaya desu. I'm sorry I couldn't control myself. Gomenasai," He apologized as he bowed 90 degrees.

"It's fine, though you were pretty good. Just fix your control and you're fine."

"Hai!"

"Ryo!" A certain redhead shouted as he ran towards Ryoma and pressed an ice pack against her sprained wrist. Ryoma winced at the contact.

"Bear with it," Marui sighed as he saw Ryoma wince. She just glared/pouted at the redhead.

"Ne, Marui. You didn't tell us your girlfriend would be coming here today, puri."

"Do I have to tell you guys?"

"Un. Especially if it involves your love life~ puri."

"That's right senpai! How could you not tell us?!"

Marui stared at his teammates like they grew another head and ignored them for the sake of talking to Ryoma.

"Ryo, you need to be careful next time."

"Hai hai, I already heard that.."

"Ryo... What will I say to Rinko-san and Nanjirou-san about this?" An exasperated sigh.

"Just tell them that I tripped and fell while walking down the stairs," A deadpan stare.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

The other regulars just stared as the two conversed.

"Are they really a couple?"

"Err, yes?"

"I don't see how."

"Anyways, she's good at tennis! Senpai is so lucky to have a girlfriend who's good at tennis..."

"Yea, so good that you only got 1 ball past her, puri."

"Niou-kun, don't add salt to his wound."

"Eh? Why are you calling yourself? My name is Yagyuu Hiroshi in case you forgot."

"Tarundoru! Stop fooling around! Break ended 10 minutes ago! Get back to practice!"

"Eh?! Hai!"

All of them went back to practice right away except for the redhead who made sure Ryoma would be alright until their practice ended.

"Ryo, don't move around that much."

"I won't go anywhere." Marui saw her cold/mature facade was put up again and grimaced a little as he remembered why it was made.

"Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. If anything, it's their fault."

Marui now had a scowl as he swore to himself that he would definitely find the bastards that did that to Ryoma and would make them suffer 10 times worse.

"Marui! 20 laps!"

"Go now if you don't want that to be 50 laps," Ryoma's face didn't hold any emotion but he could hear amusement and worry in her voice.

"Fine.. Just don't go anywhere."

"Sure."

Practice ended an hour later and Marui swiftly walked over to the bench Ryoma was sitting on.

"See? I told you I won't go anywhere."

"Yes, you did. Now, how's your wrist?"

"Feeling better."

"Good. Wanna stop by a cake shop? I know a good one~"

"Sure," Ryoma shrugged before standing up, "But before that, let me get my test results."

"Ah, I forgot about that."

"Ne, Marui-kun. Can you come here for a while?" Niou called Marui over as the other regulars wondered why they were also called. Marui had a suspicion as he never heard Niou add -kun to his name. Never. Unless he's going to cause trouble. He looked over Ryoma for permission and the girl just shrugged, "Ok."

Marui walked to the group and asked, "What?"

Ryoma just went towards the school building. She had a feeling that they were going to have a long talk and it's about her. Better get the results rather than stare at them all day.

"Do you still remember my reserved question? Puri," Niou smirked at Marui's paling face.

"Y-yea.. I do," Marui uncharacteristically stuttered. Niou's smirk widened at that and the others were amused on how Niou managed to make Marui stutter like that.

"So let me ask: Is she really just your girlfriend?" the Trickster found it amusing to torture Marui in front of the other regulars.

Marui's mouth opened to answer but Niou interrupted him, "By the way, I can tell if you're going to lie so don't bother," Marui's mouth snapped close at this and was sweating nervously now.

A minute passed by and there was still no answer, "We're not going to wait all day, you know? Puri."

"She's my..." Marui nervously started.

"She's your?" Niou pressed on as a sadistic grin formed at his face.

"...my fiancée.." Marui murmured but Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi, and Niou heard it. Yukimura only blinked in surprise as he was not expecting that at all before 'smiling'. Sanada gaped a little and stared wide-eyed at the redhead. Yanagi was muttering, "The possibility was only 8.4%. I miscalculated," as he wrote in his notebook while Niou turned his grin into a smirk, a devilish smirk that everyone did not want to see. It was the sign of impending trouble, after all.

"Eh~ That's very interesting Marui-chan~ How could you not tell us?~" Marui winced lightly at the 'chan'. Niou's enjoying this too much!

"Eh? What did he say senpai? I couldn't catch what he said..." Kirihara asked while Jackal and Yagyuu nodded in agreement. They knew this might doom the redhead but they were curious.

"Saa, Marui-kun, can you repeat what you said for the sake of Kirihara-kun, Jackal, and Yagyuu?" Yukimura smiled 'pleasantly' towards Marui as the volley specialist flinched. Now his buchou joined in the honorifics torture? He is dead.

"I-I said that... She's my... fiancée.." His voice faltered towards the end but the three caught it. Of course, they did NOT expect that at all and Kirihara summed up their reactions within one question:

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

A/N: Yea, I know they're OOC but... I suck at writing eh ;3 I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Oh, I might be on hiatus mode because school is... quite near T-T. Jaa o/