From last time…

"Ooishi, do you really think that Ochibi-chan will accept to end his game like that?" Kikumaru said.

"I know, but…"

"Just wait and see," Oshitari said. They turned to see her stepped back in the court.

"Sorry for the commotion," Ryoma said to Ibu. "Let's finish this game now."

"Echizen to serve!" the referee called.

Mark. Mark. Mark.

"5-4. Echizen!"

"Ah!" the crowd exclaimed, a cold sweat ran down their neck.

'His speed… has increased…' Ibu watched Ryoma as he was scared. 'What kind of monster is he?'

.

"Less than one minute… He wins a point in less than one minute again…"

The spectators gulped.

.

Meanwhile, in Seiyou corner, Ryoma's team mates smiled.

"See," Oshitari told Ooishi. Ooishi nodded, still not believing what he just saw.

"Ochibi-chan is much stronger than during the ranking tournament, isn't he?" Kikumaru said.

"We have a lot of work to do if we don't want to be ran over by him," Marui said. Kirihara, Niou, Ootori, Shishido and Momoshiro nodded.

.

Service. Top Hit. Run. Slice. Return. Run.

"Hey! I'm really getting annoy with your alternated topspin and slice pattern now!" Ryoma said cockily, smiling.

'What?' Ibu watched a her. 'He figures it out!'

Ryoma smirked.

.

"Ah! I remember now!" Inui said. "By alternating topspin and slice shots, you can freeze your opponent's arm."

Yanagi frowned.

"Spot. It's called the a spot, I think," Yanagi said.

"Spot?" Gakuto asked.

"Returningg slices and topspin continuously, the muscles of your arm kept contracting until it numbs," Yanagi developed. "Even though it's only momentary, it's what it takes for Fudomine's Ibu to mark a ball."

"Oohhhh…" Kirihara, Marui, Niou, Ootori and Momoshiro said, admiration in their voice.

"To think that a second year have such a wonderful technique…" Sanada said.

"They are good, very good," Yukimura finished.

Fuji smiled. He opened his eyes and fixed them on Ryoma.

'But Echizen-kun, you know how to face it, right?'

He saw her mysterious smile.

.

"Numbing my arm, huh?" Ryoma said again.

'What? He figures out my Spot!' Ibu thought.

Hit. Top. Return. Slice.

"You won't be able to do it anymore!"

Return.

"Have you ever hear of Nitouryou (1) before?"

Top.

Switch! Left to right.

Return.

"Ah!" Ibu gasped at her.

.

Seiyou bench.

"Way to go, Echizen!" Kirihara, Kikumaru and Momoshiro cheered.

"I see," Oshitari smiled.

"Nitouryou, right?" Inui mumbled as he scribbled in his notebook.

"I see. By switching his racket from one hand to another, Echizen avoid burdening his muscles," Yanagi analysed. "Thus, his arm won't numb."

"It's a good thing that our freshman is ambidextrous," Yagyuu said.

Yukimura turned to look at him. Then, he smiled. Yagyuu, who is normally cold to other people and don't easily welcome them to him, just called Echizen "our freshman" without realizing what he was doing.

.

Fudomine bench.

"Nitouryou?" Kamiro repeated.

"But how can he anticipated in which direction the ball would come and change his racket beforehand?" Ishida asked.

Tachibana watched Ryoma. Then it strucked him.

'Slipt Step on one foot…?' Tachibana gulped. 'I see. By jumping from one foot to another, he can rapidly change his racket. But what an incredible reflex sense!'

.

Right. Left. Right.

Hit. Return. Hit. Return. Hit. Return.

.

Seiyou bench.

"Hey! Why Ibu don't hit topspin anymore, but slice only?" Gakuto said.

"It's not that he don't want to. He cannot," Jirou answered.

"Ah! Jirou-senpai! You're awake!" Momoshiro yelped.

"But what do you mean he cannot hit topspin?" Hiyoshi asked.

"Echizen is aiming between Ibu's feet and very low ball," Kaido answered.

They turned to look at Ibu.

Low ball. Low ball. Low ball.

"Ah! You're right!" Kirihara said.

"It's the same thing as the time Echizen played against you, Kaido!" Ootori said.

"Topspin can only be done if the ball came directly to you. But since the balls are low, you can only do slices," Yagyuu explained.

"So it means…" Momoshiro started.

"…that Ochibi-chan seals the Spot," Kikumaru finished.

"Exactely," Inui said.

.

Left. Right. Left.

"15-love. Echizen."

'I'm not giving up!' Ibu returned a shot.

Right. Left. Right.

"30-love."

'If Echizen keeps this pace, maybe he can make it,' Inui thought as he watched his stopwatch.

"Oh no! Echizen!" Ooishi stood up.

Ryoma's eye was bleeding again, her eye pad red.

Left. Right. Left return. Mark.

"30-15."

'Echizen's power is weakening,' Tezuka observed.

"30-all." Ibu marked again.

'Echizen…' Fuji frowned, a little bit worry.

"40-30."

Inui watched his stopwatch again. Thirty seconds before the ten minutes limited.

'Just one ball!' Ryoma thought.

She jumped and serve a Twist…

'Twist Serve!' Ibu immediately took position to receive the serve and returned it.

Ryoma hit. The ball landed in front of Ibu and spin on itself. Ibu moved half a step back, bend his body to the left, raised his racket and…

The ball bounced to the left side and directly in Ibu's left hand.

'Twist Smash…'

"6-4. Game set. Echizen."

"Wohooooooooooooooooooooo!" the crowd cheered.

Inui watched his watch. 1.2 second before ten minutes. He smiled.

'Well done, Echizen,' he thought as he watched Ryoma.

The poor girl was being glomped by Kikumaru and Marui, choking her. Kirihara, Momoshiro, Niou and Ootori danced in circle around her, making her went dizzy. Not to mention all the cheering, which she qualified of noisy. Couldn't they have a little bit more consideration for her? Like forgetting her existence in this world and leave her in peace alone for example? And not testing her as their new human stuffed toy? She was ingured after all.

"Seiyou Academy, champion of the District Preliminaries. Fudomine, second. We wish to see you again for the Prefectural Tournament. Bow," the referee said.

Fudomine and Seiyou bowed.

"Arigatou gozaimashita (2)," they said.

Fudomine and Seiyou exchanged their last salutations, talking to eachother.

"See you again for the Prefectural," Ishida said.

"Aa. Certainly," Ooishi answered.

"Yo, Mamushi!" Kamio called Kaido.

"Uruse, Rhythm yaro," Kaido said.

Tachibana and Tezuka shook hand.

"Let's have a good match again," Tachibana said.

"Aa," Tezuka answered.

"Echizen-kun," Ibu stopped Ryoma. "Sorry for your eye. It wasn't my intention to hurt you. But I must thank you. You got me complete my Spot. But it's you who should be more careful and not let yourself be hit. Ah! I know it know. You did it in purpose! To gain people's attention. It must be that! What a sneaky short brat…"

"Shinji!" Tachibana snapped.

"Sumason!"

'Ahou (3)!' Ryoma thought.

Ryoga brought Ryoma her bento. When he saw her eye pad, he nearly kill all the people around him. Ryoma launched a ball in his face and knocked him out. After what, she explained to the twitching body on the ground what happened. Ryoma soon forgot about him and watched in delight her bento box. Her bento was huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge today, ten time bigger than usually.

'I love you kaa-san, Nanako-chan!' Ryoma thought, stars filling her eyes. Kirihara, Marui, Niou, Ootori watched her bento, drooling. Jirou, awake, crouched near it, was humming it delicious smell.

"Echizen, are you going to eat all that by yourself alone?" Kirihara asked, envious.

"Of course!" Ryoma replied.

"Actually, Chibisuke, kaa-san and Nanako-chan made it for your friends too, not for you alone. She thought that you will be starving after your matches. So Nanako and she made a picnic for all of you," Ryoga said.

"Ah! Really!" Kirihara, Marui, Niou and Ootori exclaimed excitedly. They rushed over the big bento box, unwrapped everything and started to dig in.

"Hey you! Don't eat my share!" Ryoma rushed.

They choose a place under a tree and have a picnic with the bento Ryoma's mother made for them. This time, there was no need to fight for Ryoma's food because there was enought for everybody. Ryoga also ate with them, sat next to Ryoma. He had Inui and Yanagi told him about Ryoma's match.

Tit tit tit! Tit tit tit! Tit tit tit!

Fuji's cellphone rang.

'Huh?'

Fuji stood up and walked away to answer it.

"Moshi moshi."

"Aniki, it's me," Yuuta said on the other line.

"Yuuta!" Fuji said in a bright voice.

"I just want to let you know. I will be back to school next week," Yuuta said.

Fuji smiled bigger, his eyes opened.

"I'm very happy to learn it. Thank you for letting me know," Fuji said.

"Then see you again next week," Yuuta said.

"Hmn!"

Fuji flipped his cellphone closed, happy, very happy. Before, Yuuta didn't speak a lot to him. But lately, he was a little bit more opened to him. In fact, Yuuta has been like that since he was hospitalized. And now, Yuuta called him on his own. Fuji don't know what happened to Yuuta, but he was happy of the change.

.

In the hospital.

Yuuta put down the phone, smiling.

Flashback

"You know, Yuuta, maybe it's hard to believe, but I think that your brother really cares for you," Ryoma told him. "For example, aniki. He is noisy, stupid, air head, show off, a messed up brain jerk and really he enjoyed making fun of me. But I also know that he cares a lot for me, though he is still very annoying. I guess that's the way how big brother shows concern for younger siblings. Aniki is sometime embarrassing, but he's always there for me. Maybe your brother is the same as my brother too. You should try to open to your big brother a little bit more. Maybe you will discover a new aspect of him that you don't know."

End flashback

'Ryoma was right. Aniki seemed very happy to receive my call,' Yuuta thought, smiling again. He looked outside his window. 'I'm sorry for all the troubles I caused to you, aniki. I will try to amend them from now on.'

Fuji returned to the other, a very obviously big smile on his face. A real happy smile and not just his normal or fake smile.

"Fujiko, you seem to be very happy. Good news?" Kikumaru asked. He came to see what Fuji.

"Yes. Yuuta will be back to school next week," Fuji said.

"Ah sou ka! I'm very happy for you then," Kikumaru said sincerely.

"Thank you. I'm very happy myself too," Fuji said as he sat down with the others.

Kikumaru wasn't the only one who noticed Fuji's happiness.

"Fuji-senpai, you're smiling. And not your sadistic smile!" Kirihara said.

Whack!

Marui hit him on the head.

"Itai!" Kirihara yelped, rubbing his sore spot.

"Don't say that, you baka (4)! You want to die so soon?"

"Yikes! I forgot!" Kirihara immediately regretted what he said. He looked at Fuji with fearful eyes. But Fuji only laughed.

"It's alright. Don't worry," Fuji said, smiling.

"Piouf!" Kirihara sweeped his sweat. "But why are you so happy, Fuji-senpai?"

"My brother will be released from the hospital and he will be back to school next week. He called me to tell me that by himself," Fuji answered.

"Oohhh! I understand now!" Kirihara said. "No wonder you're so happy!"

Fuji chuckled. He took a sakura mokana and was going to eat it, when he stopped.

'I'll keep it later for Yuuta. He likes them,' Fuji said. He took his handkerchief and wrapped it.

"Huh? Fuji-senpai, why don't you eat it?" Momoshiro asked.

"I will keep it for my brother. He likes them," Fuji said.

Ryoma blinked. She reflected a moment. Then, she took gave up her share of monaka and gave it to Fuji.

"Fuji-senpai, here, you can eat this one," she told him. "I'm sure that your brother would very like to know that you enjoy one too."

"Echizen-kun…? Thank you… But you…"

'He accepts to sacrifice his part for his younger brother. So he must be really a good big brother,' Ryoma thought.

"Don't worry! Aniki will pay something else for me for amend. He will bring me to the new amusement park tomorrow. Beside, I can always get them from kaa-san whenever I want."

"Hey! Chibisuke! Why do you gave your monoka to other people, but be picky on me?" Ryoga argued.

"Because it's fun to annoy you!" she retorted.

"And why must I bring you to the new amusement park?"

"Because I win!"

Ryoga, remembering how fast his wallet lost weight last time, turned blue.

'That girl…' Ryoga twitched an eye. Yes, she got him very annoyed. But inside, he was happy. If she was annoying him, it meant that she was fine and back to her normal self. He was very worried about her injury.

"The new amusement park? Do you mean the one on the half island recently built, that attraction park?" Fuji asked.

"Yes! It's there!" Ryoma answered excitedly. She was imagining about all the food she can eat and the games she will play tomorrow.

"Aa sou ka. If you like, Echizen-kun, I can get you the VIP pass, which give you free access to everything, including the food," Fuji said.

"Eh? How?" Ryoma asked, bewildered.

"This place belongs to my family business," Fuji explained. "It's really not a problem for me at all."

"Really?" Ryoga said, happy for the new perspective concerning his wallet. "Then we will happily accept it!"

"A VIP pass…" Ryoma said. "Gah!"

"…WITH ALL THE ATTRACTIONS AND FOOD FOR FREE!" Kirihara, Marui, Niou, Ootori, Kikumaru and Momoshiro said in one voice, excited. Ryoma suddenly got crushed by them, who were piled up on her.

"Nee nee, Fujiko! Can we go too?" Kikumaru asked. The remaining of them nodded happily, forgetting about the poor girl squashed underneath their weight.

"Errr… I don't mi-…!"

"GET OFF FROM ME, YOU OAFS!" Ryoma yelled angrily, interrupting Fuji while sending/kicking the said oafs flying away in the sky.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Ahou!" she said, dusting the dirt on her shirt. Fuji chuckled.

"Then, let's meet at the bridge crossing to the island at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning," Fuji proposed.

"Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" Kirihara, Marui, Niou, Ootori, Kikumaru and Momoshiro cheered.

"Then let's say it will be a reward for our victory," Yukimura said.

'Oh well,' Ryoma shrugged her shoulders. 'They are annoying, but it's fine.' Maybe there will be more fun than just Ryoga and her.

Fuji and Yukimura chuckled.

Then Ryoma remembered something.

'That's right. Yuuta too will be released from the hospital next week.'

(1) nitouryou: ambidextrous;

(2) arigatou gozaimashita: "Thank you very much" in polite language;

(3) ahou: stupid;

(4) baka: stupid.

A/N: Next time. Ryoma revealed as a girl.