Hi! I'm back with the continuation of the previous chapter. I will make it according to the song with some twists. With further ado, here it is. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not Own Pot. The whole story was only figments of my imagination.

Chapter 7: Koko Dake No Hanashi part 2

Chapter Summary: She's enjoying his company amidst the tenses and worries they have. He, on the other hand was furious inside. He made his next move. What was it? Find that all out here.

Flashback:

Friday afternoon, Training Period:

He was staring at her for a long time. Her moves, her actions, and even her smiles and blushes. He felt a slight pain in his chest. Is he the only one who can make you act like that? He thought to himself. He was a bit surprised when she looked at his direction. He kept his expression that he didn't show to her before. He noticed the sudden change of her expression as she looked his way. That's definitely different, Sakuno-chan. He added in his thought. He looked away after that so he didn't see her reaction looking so sad.

Unknown to his knowledge, Momo was actually looking at him. He observed his move all the time. He thought that it was quite strange that his senpai was not nosy that day. I think senpai was having a love problem. He thought.

Momo observed the three. The young kouhai was still acting the same. He was definitely good at hiding his emotions. He just shook his head. Then he looked at the innocent girl. He saw on her face that her worries were subsided a little. He wondered if the prince of tennis did something to make her feel better. Then he looked at his senpai. He was definitely strange as he observe from him earlier. He thinks that their actions was somewhat connected.

This is going to be an awkward situation between them. Momo kept that thought for himself. A helping hand is what he can only do. For now he will cheer for the down one. He talked to Eiji, Kaidoh and Kawamura afterwards. With the help of Oishi, they made plans, they all nodded, and even Kaidoh did.

Friday Night, After Practice:

He left the court after he talked to the coach. He was walking to leave the school premises. He was still thinking on how to make her look at him. He closed his eyes. I am not obessed about thinking her, am I? He thought. That made him laughed ridiculously. Then he looked up and whispered some words. "I guess… I am really falling for her… deeply." He realized that as he continued to walk.

He was thinking some things to work out when someone called him.

"Fuji-senpai!"

He turned to the person.

"Takeshi, what are you doing here, this is not your way-"

He couldn't finish his words because Momo grabbed his arm. "Come with me for a while."

"What?"

"Just come with me. Questions later, okay… " Momo said as he kept dragging him alone.

He was not in the mood to argue or to object his kouhai's demand so he just went with the flow. In an instant, they were standing in a sushi restaurant.

"Hey, isn't this...?" Fuji asked.

"Hai, it's Kawamura's. Let's go inside." Momo pulled Fuji inside.

Fuji was a bit surprised when he saw Eiji and Kaidoh who started eating.

"Oishi-senpai was supposed to be here but he had something to do," He said and he turned to the both of them. "-ahh, didn't I tell you two that no one will start until I go and fetch Fuji-senpai to come here?"

"You are taking so long Momo-chii, we are hungry already." Eiji said.

"Kikumaru-senpai, you are eating a lot. Save some for us." Momo said walking to their direction. Fuji followed him.

Kaidoh vacated a seat for him so Fuji sat there. "What was this all about?" he asked.

"Nothing, we just wanted to have a bonding moment after the long practice." Eiji said.

"Without EVERYONE here?" he asked again emphasizing the middle word.

"…err, as I've told you, the others are quite busy so they can't come here." Momo replied.

Fuji stared at them. Their eyes were both closed and smiling so deceivingly. They were creating sweat drops including Kaidoh. Fuji noticed that they were lying. The tennis tensai just sighed, he's here already so he should just enjoy the night… for a while.

"Give me something to drink." The others felt relieve when he said that.

"Ah Fuji-senpai, you should eat first. It's not good to drink without filling your stomach," Momo said. "Kawamura-senpai, please give him an order, the usual one."

Kawamura nodded. "Leave it to me."

"Takeshi… "

Momo looked at him.

"Thanks."

He just nodded. Eiji, Kaidoh and Kawamura just nodded at each other.

"But you have to pay for dragging me here in the middle of the night."

"D-don't worry, Fuji-senpai. It's my treat anyway." Momo said to him.

"That's not what I mean." Fuji looked at him with a devilish stare after saying that.

The sweat drops were created once again, and this time it was bigger. The four of them bowed their heads as a sign of defeat and making a reaction like 'we are doomed' look.

Momo just smiled after that. They continued eating and drinking afterwards. Fuji was quite drunk and so as Eiji who was slept already. Kaidoh was also losing his poise. Momo was slight tipsy and Kawamura had drunk slightly for he has a shop to take care of. Momo has still his senses fighting the spirit of the alcohol. (He purposely didn't drink too much alcohol that night.) He flinched when Fuji talked:

"Do ya think… I have a… chaaaance… to her? Fuji asked being succumbed by the alcohol.

"Fuji-senpai… "

"I… don't want… to fight him… It was his fault… anywayssssss… " Fuji continued as he leaned on the table while holding an empty bottle.

Momo just stared at his senpai, thinking something very hard. He massaged his back as a form of comfort. Fuji's face became serious as he said his next words:

"And her… she's innocent… she doesn't deserve to be hurt like that," He said as he beginning to close his eyes. "She will… be loved… by someone… and that… that someone… is… " He couldn't continue his words because his eyes were shut closed and finally asleep.

Momo stared at his senpai. I can't believe that you would fall for a girl like this senpai. He can see how serious Fuji is. He's worried now that both of his friends were actually fighting for a girl. Well, in Ryoma's case thinks that he's not. The young lad was feigning it no matter what they do to make him confess.

In the end someone will definitely hurt. He thought as he looked up to the place where Kawamura was. The owner's shop's son was cleaning the counter while waiting for the next customer. He was in the depths of his thought and whispered: "What are going to do now huh… Echizen?"

That night was definitely long for everyone. The same goes for the two individuals who were about to start their secret training together.

Meanwhile at the court:

The rain has finally stopped. From the edge of the court where he was standing, he was watching her hitting the ball back and forth for quite a while now. He saw such determination in her eyes but she was sweating already. It was only thirty minutes since they started training. But she was already panting.

She's lacking stamina and endurance. She needs to pay attention on those skills. He thought as he observed her. And boy, she's blushing all the time. There were times that she couldn't hit the ball.

"Hey, pay attention on the ball," he shouted just right. Fine enough to hear from her location. "Concentrate!" He continued as he crossed his hands in front of him.

The girl gasped when she heard him shout. "h-hai."

She continued to practice. He later saw the seriousness in her eyes. She was beginning to hit the ball properly and able to return it for several times. She ran back and forth hitting it to the wall but her stamina was still her problem. Everything was okay as he observed her. Well, aside from her long hair that was swaying together with her body.

"che" He whispered as he looked away for a short while and then returned his look to her. He was irritated watching that long hair of hers. But all in all she was doing okay.

I think he did well at tutoring her. He was surprised on his thoughts. He couldn't believe that until this very moment he could still remember those days he was teaching her. Well, he is definitely his senpai, more experienced and a talented tennis player. That's why they called him after all, a tensai. He shook his head and trying to forget what he had just remembered. He didn't want to ruin the mood or so he almost didn't thought about the mood in it.

Sakuno was tensed all the time. She couldn't concentrate knowing that Ryoma was watching her. She couldn't imagine that practicing while the prince of tennis was watching her could be this hard. She was panting already, she was not actually that. The reason; her heart was beating fast because he was watching and that doubled her fatigue. She was startled when he said that she should concentrate. That made her back to her senses. She shouldn't be slacking off. She must be thankful that he was helping her. It adds to the fuel that he knew about her 'little secret' that no one knows and no one will. She gripped her racket hard and continued practicing. She merely made mistakes when Ryoma suddenly spoke:

"Stop!" He said.

She wondered why but she stopped as he ordered her to do. She panicked in the inside when Ryoma started to walk towards her bringing his own racket. Keeping his stoic face, he stared at her as he walked to her. She felt conscious as he examined her appearance. I-is he wanting to have a match with me? She thought as she hugged her racket up front, blushing all over as always.

"Hey, Ryuzaki… " He started.

Sakuno flinched. "W-what is it?" She took a step backward, trying to stare at him with his stoic face.

In an instant, Ryoma acted the role of a coach and verbalized what he was trying to imply:

"Knees are too straight," He said pointing her knees with his racket. Sakuno was a bit surprised when he said that. "Elbow too bend," he said next as he placed his racket under her elbow. Sakuno then couldn't react. He said those words so fast. He then continued:

"You hair length is too long, let's cut it already." He said. And to her surprise, Ryoma was holding a pair of scissors where he was holding his racket before but it was under his armpit now, exchanging for the cutting instrument while his other hand was holding one of her pigtails and was waiting for it to be cut.

Sakuno was definitely shocked on his actions. She hurriedly distanced herself to him before her hair was getting cut by him.

"M-mou, R-ryoma-kun. I-I will follow all your orders, b-but not that one. Y-you will not let me." Sakuno said blushing a lot while holding her hair that he was holding a while ago.

Ryoma stared at her. He sighed after that. "che, so be it." He hid the scissors in his pocket. Actually, he was just making a prank on her. 'Killing the tense' would be the perfect term for that. He won't cut her hair despite the intention of wanting to cut it though. Sakuno was relieved when she saw him hide the scissors. He spoke again:

"You should pay attention about running. You need a lot of stamina for that." He said.

H-he noticed. she thought and nodded at the same time. "I-I'll do that."

"You should run first thing in the morning. And try to run at least 50 laps before our daily training starts." Ryoma continued.

Sakuno nodded again.

"Improve your serving shots." He said as he gave her a demo by hitting the ball in the air and bounced from the wall. "Give more force to it, but don't use your full strength in just one serve." He explained.

"h-hai." She said.

"Do it again."

Reluctantly, she followed him. She positioned herself and ready to serve when Ryoma spoke:

"I told you, Knees are too straight and elbow too bend. Fix that." He ordered her.

"H-hai."

"Don't raise your racket too high to save energy. Do that when you are ready to serve." He placed his racket over hers.

"hai" She agreed again. Ryoma-kun is such a strict coach. She thought while fixing her wrong positions. Luckily she was able to do it. Ryoma was somewhat satisfied on her improvement.

Ryoma looked at his wrist watch. It's 10:45 in the evening. "There's still time, let's practice."

"E-eh?" She was surprised.

"Show me, what you've got." Ryoma said as he positioned himself to the other side of the court.

"B-but I-I just start-"

"Come on, don't slack off." Ryoma interrupted as he served first.

He hit the ball. Sakuno panicked at first but she was able to return it. The only thing was the hit was out.

"Concentrate!" Ryoma ordered the girl. He gave another shot.

This time she hit it properly. She did it for several times. Ryoma was adjusting to her skills and she was not that bad. There were times that he played seriously and she was able to return it. He didn't forget her moves that she usually does. She jumped such small steps. One, two, three… then take one step up she hit the ball for the last time.

Ryoma was impressed. But he didn't show it. He knew how to make the girl to motivate herself more and he said it without hesitation:

"Nice Shot!"

He was right. He saw how happy she was on his praise. They were both panting but it was worth the practice. He won't admit it but he had fun practicing with her.

"A-arigatou Guzaimasu!" She bowed honestly.

Ryoma went back to the bench and started to wipe his sweat on his face. On the other hand, Sakuno took out two cans of ponta from her bag. She gave the other one to Ryoma. The boy just nodded as a thank you sign.

Both of them didn't say anything but he knew that the girl was blushing all over again. He was drinking his ponta when he remembered something. He flinched because of that:

E, I forgot to do my homework today. He thought when he remembered the last subject which he has homework to do. Might as I will do my homework later. He just thought of that when someone whacked him on the head. Sakuno was shocked as well.

"T-that… hurts." Ryoma rubbed his head where he was whacked and then looked at the person who did that. "O-oyaji?"

"Oi, seishounen! You seem to be enjoying her company that you forgot to go home." Nanjiroh said scolding his son. He was holding a large and thick newspaper that he used to hit him.

"che"

"Hey, don't be too arrogant! He is still your father after all."

"O-obaa-chan!" Sakuno was shocked to see her grandma who was actually beside Nanjiroh.

"You are also enjoying the time with Ryoma, Sakuno." It is more like teasing sound than a complaint.

Sakuno blushed more because of that.

"W-why are you guys here?" Ryoma couldn't help but asked the both of them.

"Isn't it obvious? Your mother asked me to look for you. You're taking so long and do revise your work."

"What work are you talking about?" Ryoma retorted. "And I told Okaa-san that I will be late tonight."

"Speaking of late, I came to pick you up Sakuno. It's getting late. You forgot the time, FYI." Sumire said.

Sakuno looked at her watch. It was 11:15pm. "-ahh I forgot to set the alarm. Gomen nee, Obaa-chan." She stood up and bowed numerously to her grandmother.

"I knew this would happen. But now I felt relieve that someone is accompanying you." She said as she looked at the both of them. The two just shifted their faces in different directions.

"Well, well since this has happened to be like this, let's leave them alone." Everyone was shocked on what Sumire said. "You will take my Granddaughter home tonight Ryoma, You will have thirty minutes."

"Hai." Ryoma said as he bowed down to his coach. Sakuno blushed again. She couldn't believe that her grandma was leaving her alone with a guy. She was starting to wonder what her grandmother was thinking.

"What are you talking about, Old Hag. My son is just there-"

He couldn't finish his words because Sumire was pinching his former student's ear. "Just leave them for now okay. You will see your son later. Don't worry."

He could see and hear them changing foul words. But he couldn't careless. He ignored the seniors until they were out of sight. They were left alone again and silence was occurred afterwards. Sakuno finally broke it seconds after:

"U-uhmm Ryoma-kun… "She started as she turned to face him. "T-thank you… for tonight."

Ryoma nodded. The night was different, totally different for them. He was unconsciously enjoying her company. After a few mintutes, he talked:

"Let's go home too, it's getting late."

"hai" she agreed. They began packing their things up and left the court afterwards.

"Ryoma-kun, t-thank you for believing in me, believing t-that I can win." Sakuno shyly said.

"un, nothing is impossible if you believe yourself." Ryoma said with still in an expressionless face. "Don't act on your own aimlessly or your moves will become all weird and strange."

Sakuno blushed when she heard him say that. She remembered his words on how he was watching her all the time. R-ryoma-kun saw me, how embarrassing! She panicked on the thought. He respected her days by not intruding her practices until that fated day. And I've gotten a piece of advice as well. She added on her thoughts.

"Mada mada no mada da ne… "

She flinched when he heard that.

"You are good enough to beat an opponent but you need improvements. Let's work on that."

"Eh?" She blinked her eyes once. What is he talking about? Ryoma answered her thoughts.

"Let's practice again, every night at the court." Ryoma said straightforwardly.

She was a bit surprised after hearing that. He wanted to practice with her every night. Was she dreaming? It was almost impossible to be with him this night but the thought of practicing with him every night was… too good to be true.

"B-but I-I don't want to bother y-you-"

"It's not a bother. I can also practice as well." Period. She sensed how serious he was when he said that. She looked straight ahead. She was very thankful to him and he was willing to practice with her again. The boy who was pissed before because of the misinterpretation of her love for the tennis was now teaching her to improve it.

"T-thank you very much. Y-you really are a great help." Sakuno embarrassingly said. Ryoma nodded.

They reached Sakuno's home. She thanked the boy again for the last time.

"You thanked me enough for the day, just do your best." Ryoma said with a stoic face.

"h-hai."

"And keep this as a secret."

"e? B-but why?" She wondered. So he doesn't want the others to know their little training, probably because she was also hiding a secret.

"This 'secrets' are just between us." Ryoma said and then he smirked afterwards and said:

"Between you and me… "

Sakuno's eyes got widened. She understood his words 'secrets'. That's clear to her now. She smiled afterwards and nodded.

Ryoma turned around and started to walk. He waved his hand as he left.

"ja."

She waved him good bye as well. The night was wonderful. She was overwhelmed and it's all thanks to him. She stared at him as he was walking away and whispered.

"Yeah, just between you and me… "

She entered the door afterwards.

Saturday Morning:

She was early on the school grounds the next morning. They will have their training the whole day since they won't be having their practice tomorrow so everyone can rest. But not on her case, she will practice with Ryoma tomorrow… secretly. Her thoughts were filled with joy that she didn't realize that there was someone already with her.

"He made you happy again, I guess."

She was almost jumped when she heard him.

"F-fuji-kun." She blushed. It was so stupid of her to forget him. She remembered how upset he was and she didn't know why. "I-is there something bothering you?" She didn't know why she asked that.

"What do you think is the reason?" He asked her back.

Sakuno's eyes widened. She looked down. She couldn't look at his eyes. She felt like she was cheating on him. Wait. What? Cheating? They are not even a couple yet.

Yet?

She was confused now. She knew now how Ryoma felt when she confessed to him. It was actually happening right now. But she hasn't rejected him.

"Fu-fuji-kun. I-I"

"I know you are confused. I'll stop if you will tell me, are you two going out?"

Sakuno was more confused and red all over. She shook her head hard.

"Y-you know that it was impossible… " she looked down. She was hurt by her own words. She clasped both of her hands tightly as if gathering courage from them. Fuji saw that.

He sighed and said:

"If that's the case, then I still have a chance to you." Fuji implied. He walked towards her that made her take a few steps backward.

She looked up to him. He was serious. Then she averted her eyes and said:

"Uhm, F-fuji-kun. A-about my feelings, I-I still don't know. I-"

"I know that's why I'll do my best for you to like me. More than on how you feel about him."

Sakuno was shocked. She was getting nervous not because of his words were sound so demanding but the closeness that they were having at the moment.

"I won't give up Sakuno-chan, as long as I can still see a chance. I won't simply give up on you, definitely not to him."

She tried to look up to him:

"F-fuji-kun, y-you know that I-"

"I am aware," Fuji sighed. He closed his eyes and then opened them again. The seriousness was sudsided a little but she saw a determination on his face. "I know, I told you that I will wait. But I realize that waiting was no good. Waiting was useless, as If I am waiting to get defeated without even trying. And that young kouhai of mine was actually doing something without knowing to his own senses."

Sakuno couldn't retaliate everything he said. Her heart was beating so fast. Fuji continued:

"I won't lose to him, Sakuno-chan," Fuji said. He held both of her hands that made her flinched and blushed more. She saw fond in his eyes. "I want you to know more about me as I want to do the same to you."

They both stared at each other. Sakuno looked down first.

"Give me this one chance I am asking," He said not letting go of her hands. Sakuno was still looking down when Fuji decided to say his next set of words:

"Go out on a date with me, Sakuno-chan"

Sakuno was shocked. Her eyes were wide opened as she heard that. She looked at his eyes and saw how serious he was. She was blushing all over. There was a sudden gust of wind appeared in the area. The mood was so tensed and it was freaking quiet.

Silence was definitely long between them.

Done, finally! How was it? I was enjoying this chapter when I was writing it, especially the training part. I hope you enjoyed this too like I did. Tee hee hee. There are some English translations that I didn't include but oh well; I hope it will meet your expectations. Fuji made his first move and I'll tell that more surprises will come soon so stay tuned.

Special acknowledgement to my favorite seiyuu and singer Junko Minagawa for the song I used as a title. I do not own it. POWER!

By the way, I made two one shots and I uploaded them today. If you have time to read them please do. I am willing to know your reactions thanks.^_^

Next Chapter: Sakuno's first kiss