A/N: Surprise! Surprise! Here is the chapter 51 before the end of the week for you. Actually, this chapter was originally also in chapter 50. But the first version I wrote of the chapter 50 was too long, so I cut it. And it had been beta-ed by WingsofHaine (deep boooooow)! Now, you no longer have to suffer from my bad grammar!

Here enjoy!

From last time…

"Tennis is fun!" Ryoma said brightly, her smile widening from ear to ear.

Thump!

'Ah!'

Ryoma felt her heart stop beating followed by all the activities in her body. Then, there was a strange wave of power departing from her heart that spread throughout her from head to toe.

.

From the spectator's seats.

"Heeeh… So she's finally awake, oyajii!" Ryoga said, watching her with a smile.

"Ah! About time!" Nanjirou said, a proud smirk on his face.

"Ryoma…" Rinko softly smiled.

"Meow!" Karupin, nestled in Rinko's arms, said.

"Ganbatte, Ryoma-chan!" Nanako cheered.

The strange thing happening in her body finally stopped. Ryoma stood, immobilized, but she felt incredibly light. Her body no longer felt heavy and her muscles were no longer aching. Ryoma slowly straightened her head.

"Service. Echizen!" the referee called.

Ryoma bounced the ball. Yukimura prepared himself to receive. His eyes were fixed on Ryoma who jumped. Yukimura then saw her walk away.

'Huh? What is she doing?'

Then Yukimura's ear pick up a sound coming from behind his right shoulder. Yukimura turned around to see the ball rolling on itself.

'What? How…?' Yukimura gulped, dumbstruck.

". . ." Total silence reigned on the court.

No one saw Ryoma hitting her ball. Yet it was already on the other side of the court.

"Hey, the referee! Are you going to call or not!" Kirihara shouted, fist in the air.

"Yeah!" Momoshiro cheered. "Call already!"

"Mo-… Mo-… Monitor!" the referee stuttered.

"Ah… Hai!" the monitor said.

The monitor immediately rewound the video and put the images of the ball Ryoma served in slow motion.

"It's… It's… It's in!" the monitor said.

"Ah…" the referee said, dumbstruck. He cleared his throat and called, "15-love. Echizen!"

"What? They need the monitor to know if the ball was in or not!" Gakuto said.

"Uso!" Kikumaru said.

.

"1-4. Echizen!"

"What?" a player of Genhoujii snarled. "That Yukimura! He let her take one point straight!"

.

"But how? How did she managed to take a point straight from Yukimura?" Hiyoshi asked.

"There is only one explanation I can find," Yagyuu mumbled.

"Then what is it?" Oshitari asked.

"Echizen has awaken to Ten'i Muhou no Kiwami," Yanagi answered, "the Pinnacle of Perfection. It's the only plausible explanation on how she broke Yukimura's ESP."

.

"3-4. Echizen!"

.

"Yay! Ochibi-chan is coming back!" Kikumaru cheered, dancing like a monkey.

"Ohhhh!" Momoshiro and Kirihara also cheered, joining him in the dance. They made a round of dancing monkeys.

"Atobe, shouldn't you join them too?" Ootori asked, pointing to the round of monkeys.

Pop! Twitch!

A twitching red vein appeared on Atobe's head but he didn't reply back.

.

"5-4! Echizen!"

.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrgh!" Genhoujii players roared.

"Yukimura, remember. Your family business is in my hands," Torada threatened menacingly.

Torada's words crushed Yukimura's heart like a cold iron hand, leaving Yukimura's will aching.

'No! I cannot let you win, Echizen-chan!' Yukimura thought. 'The sort of my family depends on this game!'

"Haaaaaaaa!" Yukimura desperately yelled as he served fiercely.

"15-love. Yukimura!" the referee called.

"That's the way, Yukimura," Torada said.

.

Ryoma watched Yukimura, watching his desperate face. She heard the despair in his voice.

'Yukimura-senpai…'

.

"Haaaaaaaaaa!" Yukimura marked again.

"30-love! Yukimura!"

.

Immediately, Sanada's words echoed in her head.

'Do it for Yukimura! Win for Yukimura!'

.

Ryoma replied.

"15-30! Echizen!"

.

'I'm not going to give up!' both Ryoma and Yukimura thought.

.

"30-all!"

.

'I must win this game!'

.

"40-30!"

.

'For Yukimura-senpai/my family!'

.

"40-all!"

.

'And for me!' the two of them thought.

Yukimura hit, sending the ball too high to be returned.

"Ah! It's too high! She can't reach it!" Gakuto shouted.

'He is right. It's too high for me!' Ryoma thought.

Knowing Yukimura, the ball would certainly land on the line of the baseline, making it impossible to return.

'There is only one way left: I must return it before it falls!'

Suddenly fire lit up in Ryoma's heart. Ryoma ran to the referee chair and climbed onto it. Using the arm chair as a support, she jumped and reached the level of the ball. Ryoma hit it, making a cord ball. Because of the high spin she put into it, the friction of the ball against the net sliced the it in two. The two halves headed in high speed towards Yukimura's court.

Yukimura immediately responded. He returned the fastest half first, then ran to the other half, returning it before it touch the ground.

'Ah! Shimatta! (1)' Yukimura thought. Unfortunately, he didn't calculate the trajectory of the two halves very well. 'She got me!'

Ryoma knew Yukimura wouldn't be surprised by the ball splitting in two and that he would quickly react, so she made sure that the two halves would be sent to where she wanted them to be: the two halves met face to face in the air. She jumped.

"Samurai Drive!" she shouted and shot.

The ball split in two and landed behind Yukimura at the same time hitting each corner of the single court.

"Game and match. Echizen! 6-4!"

"Wooooooooaw!" Seiyou tennis club roared.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh!" Genhoujii screamed out of anger and bitterness, especially Torada.

"Seiyou Academy is the champion of the National Championship!" the referee declared.

"We won! We won! Yaaaayyyyy!" Kirihara, Kikumaru and Momoshiro cheered, making again the round of monkeys. But this time, Ootori, Marui, Niou and Gakuto also joined in.

"Yay yay yaaaaayyyy!"

Ryoma was exhausted. The Ten'i Muhou shut down. Now, she felt the raging fatigue of her muscles and her body.

"Ahhhh…" she sighed, letting out her tiredness.

She let herself fall backward but was lifted up by many arms before she hit the ground.

"You did it, Echizen/Ochibi!"

Normally, Ryoma would tell them to put her down. However, due to her exhaustion, she couldn't find enough energy to do so.

"Yahoooooooo!" the boys screamed as they threw her into the air.

Despite his loss, Yukimura let out a small smile upon seeing their joy, a little bit of sadness leaking in.

'I should be on the other side of the net with them, but I can't,' Yukimura thought sadly.

Sanada, who was watching Yukimura, knew perfectly what Yukimura was thinking.

'Yukimura…' Sanada thought.

After the Final victory ceremony. Alone, somewhere in the park.

Yukimura faced Torada.

"Why you stupid girly-boy! This is all your fault!" Torada viciously snarled.

Yukimura held himself back, not saying anything.

"You can't even win against a girl!" Torada continued. "You are really useless! If your dad is like you, then it's no wonder his business failed! You could have saved your family business by winning, but you lost. You ruined your family business. That's it! You can live with that in your conscious forever!"

Yukimura still said nothing. There was nothing to say.

'Chichi, haha (2), forgive me… I failed…' Yukimura thought.

"Hey, you lowlife!" a voice snapped.

Yukimura and Torada turned around to see Ryoma.

"Echizen-chan!" Yukimura said, surprised.

Ryoma ran straight to Yukimura and stopped in front of Torada. She used her body to make a wall between Yukimura and Genhoujii captain.

"What do you want, you mongrel!" Torada snarled at Ryoma.

"It's not Yukimura-senpai's fault that you lost! It's your own fault!" Ryoma said, looking straight to the tall boy in front of her. "Instead of using that lowly plan of yours to win, you should have practiced harder! But stealing the best player of your opponent's team for your own just shows how weak and low you are. You're not a true sportsman! That's why you lost, you dimwit! You deserve to lose, that's it!"

"What? Why you… you little…" Torada angrily growled.

He made a step toward Ryoma and looked down menacingly at her.

"Echizen-chan! No!" Yukimura called out, trying to make her step back for fear of what Torada would do to her.

Yukimura was right in his assumption. Torada raised his hand in order to strike Ryoma but his arm was stopped before he could touch her.

"AHHHHHHH!" Torada yelled out in pain due to the strong iron grip that was currently twisting his arm.

"Kabaji! Good timing!" Yukimura said, relieved, as he let out the breath he had been holding.

"Usu!"

"Aaaaaah! Let me go! Let me go!" Torada yelled, but Kabaji didn't release his hold. "Let me go! Let me go, you monster! Let me go! Aaaaaaaah!"

Kabaji still didn't release the arm held within his grasp. Torada turned his head to Yukimura.

"That's it! You're finished now! You and your family!" he snarled.

Kabaji twisted harder his arm harder to make him shut up.

"Ahhhhh!"

"Kabaji!" Atobe called as he appeared next to Yukimura.

"Usu!"

Kabaji jerked Torada away, throwing him onto the dirt. Then, turning over, he picked Ryoma up by her arms and carried her to Atobe. He put her down in the safe zone, far away from Torada, and stood next to Yukimura. Soon, Yuuta and the remaining members of the Seiyou regulars joined them.

"Echizen!"

"Echizen!"

"Echizen!"

"Echizen-chan!"

"Ryoma!"

"Ochibi! Ochibi! Ochibiiiiiii, daijoubuuuuuu! (3)" Kikumaru wailed, panicking.

Glomp! He crushed her into his arms.

"Oupfffffff!"

'I was okay before you started suffocating me!'

"You rotten apple! What were you going to do to her?" Kirihara shouted, fists raised to Torada.

"You dirty scum!" Momoshiro added.

"Fsssssh! If you've touched her, I will make you pay a thousand times the same pain everyday of your life!" Kaido threatened, his voice in a low snarl.

"Didn't your parents teach you to never raise a hand on a girl?" Gakuto said.

"It's not Gekokujou!" Hiyoshi said.

"Attacking a girl! That's so dishonorable for a man!" Ootori exclaimed.

"You don't even deserve to be called a man!" Niou rebuked, his disgust almost tangible.

"Low!" Marui said.

"So low!" Shishido agreed.

"You're the lowest of them all," Hiyoshi finished.

"How dare you…?" Ryoga growled. No one saw him appearing. "Raising a hand against her… You… you… you…" Ryoga growled again, watching Torada with fire in his eyes. He was unable to find a word strong enough to describe his disgust toward the despicable lowlife. He stood in front of Ryoma, legs spread, fists closed, growling all the while. "Argh! Grrrrrrrrr!"

Something ran through Ryoga's legs straight to Torada.

Jump!

Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiite! Sharp fangs bite!

"Yiaaaaaaaah!" Torada let out a yell of agony once more.

Scratch! Scratch! Scratch! !

"Get away from me, stupid beast!"

Torada wanted to throw the white and brown feline against a tree to kill it but Karupin proved to be faster than him. His attacking job done, Karupin jumped away from Torada and ran to stand in front of Ryoga, forming a second living wall in order to protect his mistress.

"Maaaaawwwwrrrrr!" Karupin showed him his fangs, his claws out, his back arched. He was furiously hissing.

"I don't know who you are, but if you have lay a finger on my daughter, be sure you will meet me in the court room and I will send you to prison for the rest of your life!" Rinko said.

"Ryoma-chan, are you alright? Are you hurt in any way? Let me check you for injuries!" Nanako asked worriedly, checking Ryoma everywhere.

"I'm fine, Nanako-chan. He didn't touch me. I'm not hurt! Don't worry!" Ryoma said, reassuring her cousin.

"I was so scare for you, Ochibiiiiiii!" Kikumaru wailed, crushing her once more in his arms.

"Oupfffffffffffff!"

"A person like you doesn't deserve to be called a tennis player. And certainly not a sportsman!" Nanjirou said, arms crossed, looking down on Torada with disgusted eyes.

Torada stood up, facing them, a hand covering his scratched face. He eyed Yukimura and Ryoma menacingly.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" He was frustrated and angry. He couldn't attack them like he wished to.

"You are finish, Yukimura! I will make my father put your family business into bankruptcy!"

"I don't think so," Fuji said as he appeared next to Atobe with Yagyuu, Tezuka, Sanada, Yanagi and Inui.

"Right now, it's your own family business which is going into bankruptcy," Yagyuu said.

"What are you talking about?" Torada asked.

"You didn't know? Your sponsors and partners have withdrawn their partnership with your father. He is now left alone to pay a huge debt from your business expenses," Yanagi explained.

"What? That's impossible! That's a lie!" Torada cried out in disbelief, shocked.

"If you don't believe me, then call your father and talk with him," Yanagi said.

Torada didn't want to believe him, but receiving confirmation wouldn't hurt either. He called his father.

"Dad, is it true that our sponsors and partners had withdrawn from the development project?" he asked.

While listening to his father explanations, Torada's face lost its color. After many minutes of conversation, his father hung up, trying to find a way to save at least something.

"H-how… How can it be…? Why did they suddenly withdraw with no explanations…?" Torada muttered.

"Because I told them," Fuji said.

"You… You told them? Who are you that you're able to make our partners withdraw like that?"

"So you don't know him? Now that explains your stupidity in attacking one of his friends. You should have done a little research about the people close to Yukimura before doing anything. That just shows how foolish you are. Yukimura is one of Fuji's close friends," Oshitari said. "This is Fuji Syuusuke, heir of the Fuji zaibatsu (4)."

"WHAT? Fu-… Fu-… Fuji… Syuusuke…? No! You can't be Fu-… Fu-… Fu-…"

"Fuji Syuusuke, the rising young tensai in the business world?" Gakuto said for him. "Yes, that's him alright. So you knew about him but didn't recognize him. How stupid of you. But now that you know that is him, you mustd also know that everything he says will influence the businessmen in their decision."

"Immediately after Fuji told your sponsors and your partners to withdraw from your father's development project, they did as Fuji said," Inui stated. "Your business development was nearly completed with all the expenses you made. However, it can only be completed with the condition that you still have your partners' and your sponsors' help and support. But as soon as they withdrew, they sold out the shares they hold of your family business and made the value of your stocks fall drastically."

"And right now…" Yagyuu continued as he held out a contract in his hand.

"…the one who you holds your family business is us," Atobe finished.

"We searched for all the people who possessed your stocks and shares and bought everything from them," Yagyuu explained. "With the value of your shares dropping so drastically, they happily sold out everything."

"Each of the four us hold a percentage of your family business," Tezuka said.

"Combined, we now hold forty five percent of your family business," Sanada finished.

"That's impossible! We only sold forty percent of our shares!" Torada said.

"Sadly, your father just sold five percent out in hopes of making its value raise again. And its me who bought the last five percent," Yagyuu said. "If you still don't believe me, call your father again."

". . ." Torada didn't need to call to know Yagyuu was telling the true. Such a deadly blowing attack! Calling his father to confirm the information would result in stabbing himself again by his own hands.

"Your father still doesn't know that it's us who possess his shares. And he still doesn't know that it was because of you that he lost his sponsors and partners," Yanagi said. "Unlike you, we will not play dirty like you did to us. We've already won the Nationals. We offer you a chance to save your family business. We propose you to do an exchange with us. Give us Yukimura's family business shares and we will give back yours. This is a very fair and equal exchange. If you accept, then sign a contract with us. Once it is signed, we'll go to see your father and make the exchange. If you don't, then I'll let you imagine what we will do with your shares in our hands."

". . ." Torada didn't answer.

"You should also be aware that you may have the Fuji zaibatsu, the Atobe zaibatsu and their friends on your back should you refuse," Yagyuu added.

'This is not a proposition. This is extortion!' Ootori, Momoshiro, Kirihara and Ryoga thought.

'Fsssssshhhhhhhhh!'

'A underhand attack which is still legal in the law…' Ryoga thought. 'But still, Hiroshi, you'are actually pulling too hard on the lion's tail!' Ryoga thought.

'Poor him! I don't want to be in his place!' Shishido, Gakuto, Ryoma, Marui and Niou thought.

"I… I… I agree…" Torada said.

Yagyuu immediately presented him the contract he had prepared beforehand.

"Then sign here, please," Yagyuu said, handing him a pen. "You can ask your teammates to be your testimony." Yagyuu turned to Rinko and Nanjirou. "Echizen-san, Nanjirou-san, can you be our testimony please? Echizen-san, you, as a lawyer, will give the contract a stronger credibility."

"It'll be MY pleasure!" Rinko said determinedly, still angry that Torada had wanted to hit Ryoma.

"Oh! And remember this, you stinky scum!" Ryoga said as Rinko took a pen from Yagyuu. "Kaa-san never lost a debate before in the courtroom. She is the Madonna of the court. You don't want to have her on your back too. So don't try anything dirty!"

"Meoooooooow!"

1) shimatta: Oh no!

2) chichi, haha: "Father, mother", when you talk about your own parents to people outside of your family.

3) daijoubu: Are you okay?

4) zaibatsu: corporation, business conglomerate.