Disclaimer: I only own the OCs; I don't own Prince of Tennis. But prince of tennis PWNs.

Yes, I'm so sorry I haven't been updating and what-not. But those of you who don't review should be sorry you didn't review xDD. Just enjoy the next chappie.

And I've gotten a few requests to make tiny biographies for my characters, because the names are hard to remember. I have posted this at the bottom of Chapter 3. Enjoy.

I have to go study for finals now, so I won't thank individual reviewers. Just know that I LOVE your reviews and I'm really grateful.

This chapter is all about Sayaka (Momoshiro's twin) vs. Suzume (Club rebel with all the piercings)

To Catch a Falling Star—Chapter Eight: Catfish and Sparrow

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The air was hot, but now there was a chill in the atmosphere. Sayaka didn't know if it was because she was just nervous, or the temperature had actually changed. She ran a hand through her short black hair, and returned her brother's smile. However, when she stepped onto the court with Suzume, she felt like her confidence had been dented.

"Which?" Sayaka asked as she spun her racket on the ground, deciding who will take the first serve.

"Doesn't matter," Suzume replied, and Sayaka looked up in surprise. "You're a new fish; you can have the first serve. I'll win either way."

The racket was still spinning. She grasped it in her hand, stopping its rotation abruptly, feeling a growl of anger in her throat. "What did you say?!"

Suzume had already walked to the baseline. She tossed her deep red hair over her shoulder in a careless gesture. "Are you going to serve, or are we just going to stare at each other?"

The black-haired girl was squeezing the tennis ball so hard she was surprised it didn't burst. 'So much for not getting provoked.' She threw it above her head and served a powerful overhand served.

The return shot by her head, so close she could feel it whip through her hair.

"0-15!"

She didn't even have time to react.

Suzume smirked. "Is that the best you've got?"

She tightened her grip on her racket in anger. Throwing up the ball, she hit it with even more power than before.

The return was equally fast, equally powerful.

"0-30!"

'Hmm…' Despite her fury and shock, she let out a smile. 'Not bad… so is this what Take-nii was talking about?"

Two points later, Suzume took the game.

"Oi… Sayaka, you could at least win a point!" Momoshiro complained.

Her next four return aces shut him up.

"Game, Momoshiro. 1 game all!"

"They're still testing each other out…" Chiharu murmured. "The rallies will start in the next round…"

"Oshiro-senpai…" Momoshiro slowly said.

She turned her amber eyes up to him questioningly.

"That is… it is safe for Sayaka to be playing her, right?"

Amber eyes lingered on the black-haired girl, before shifting to her opponent. "Umm… It's never safe to be playing against Suzume-chan…"

"What do you mean?" Oishi's eyes widened, his mind set in worry-mode. "What do you mean by "not safe"?"

Momoshiro, however, understood her meaning. He and Fuji-senpai were the only two regulars that managed to get a glimpse of Suzume's potential during tryouts. At that time, her opponent was even a girl from the tennis club, and yet she forfeited halfway through to match. 'Her tennis… is frightening…' He clenched his hand into a fist, suppressing his urge to pull Sayaka out of the match immediately.

"But don't worry…" Chiharu tried to reassure him. "I'll stop the match if Suzume-chan starts getting too dangerous. She'll listen to me."

Momoshiro nodded, though he still felt a bit apprehensive. "Oh, that's right," He suddenly remembered. "I've been wondering about this for a long time. Why does Kimura only listen to you? She's always so obedient when it comes to you…"

A small smile appeared on her face. "I can't tell you that," she replied simply. "That's between me and her."

"If Sayaka listened to me half as much as Kimura listened to you, she wouldn't be out there playing against her." Momoshiro grumbled.

Sayaka served again, and when Suzume hit a fast return, she caught up with it and made a cross shot. Suzume returned it and approached the net. When the ball came flying back, she drew her arm back in a large swing and hit a powerful forehand.

"Sayaka, watch out!"

She ducked instinctively, and the ball shot by the area her head was a moment ago.

"0-15!"

The ball bounced high and over the green wire fence.

Her heart was beating frantically. Judging by the force of the bounce, if she had ducked a fraction of a second later, it would've knocked her out cold. "Is that the way you play tennis?!" Sayaka bit out angrily. "By aiming for the other person?"

Suzume smirked and didn't answer.

'Damn it!' she thought as she served again. 'She's winning me psychologically already! I have to calm down, CALM DOWN!'

The return shot carried topspin. Sayaka brought her racket down to hit it back, but when the ball bounced, the course changed and it flew towards her face. Her heart skipped a beat. 'Twist kite.' She moved out of the way, but managed to maneuver her racket so that it hit the ball. Upon impact, she realized that she missed the sweet spot on the racket. Her shot hit the net.

"0-30!"

"Kimura's tennis…" Oishi murmured, awestruck. "Sugoi… she actually aims for the openings Momoshiro-san creates instinctively. Momoshiro-san's instincts are being used against her."

"Call her Sayaka; it's getting confusing." Momoshiro told him.

"But then..." Kaidoh said. "This is the kind of tennis she should be able to counter…"

"What's that, Mamushi?! Why do you say that?"

"Shut up and watch the match, you idiot!"

"You think you're so cool since you've seen her tennis style before I have?!"

"Idiot! She's your twin! You should know things like that!"

"Oi, you two!" Oishi stepped between them. "You're going to miss it if you don't watch closely!"

Suzume hit a drop shot that Sayaka dove for. 'I've got you now…' She lobbed the ball over Sayaka's head… 'What!'

Sayaka's back arched gracefully as she did a back flip, pushing herself off the ground. Suzume wasn't even aware of Sayaka returning the ball until she heard it smashed into the ground behind her.

She landed as lightly as a cat. (Even more lightly than Marui Bunta when he jumped off the fence.)

"I'm only going to say this once," She glanced at her brother with a grin. Then she returned her gaze to Suzume's face and pointed a triumphant finger in her direction. "Don."

"15-30!"

For a moment he was utterly speechless. "Sayaka… you…" His face broke into a wide smile, despite the fact that she stole his catchphrase. "I can't believe it. You play acrobatic tennis."

"Idiot…" Kaidoh murmured. "You should know. She was on the gymnastics team."

"What did you say, Viper?!"

"What, you didn't hear me?! I said you're an idiot!"

"Now, now…" Kawamura and Oishi pulled them apart forcibly. "If you guys are going to argue, you'll miss the whole match."

"And you don't want to miss it. Kimura-san aims for openings created by Sayaka-san's own instincts, but Sayaka-san's reflexes allow her relocate her blind spots." Inui muttered. "But one can only relocate these blind spots, not remove them. These two tennis styles constantly cancel each other out."

Sayaka's sinewy body flipped and curved through the air, bending as if her bones were elastic. Suzume blinked, miscalculating the next few shots entirely. It was nearly impossible to tell how Sayaka hit the ball and at what timing, as all this was concealed by her elaborate movements. She easily sealed off the game after a score of 40-30, and the following game as well.

"Game, Momoshiro! 3 games to 1."

Momoshiro cheered loudly for his sister, turning with a triumphant glance at Suzume. His grin disappeared. He didn't like the glint in Suzume's eyes…eye. Like a tiger stalking her prey. "Oi… she doesn't look like someone who's two games behind…"

"Suzume's adroitness is to be venerated." Reina told him.

He gave her a blank stare. "Was that Japanese? No… that was not Japanese; Martian, maybe..."

"Her ability to remain calm under pressure is to be admired." Inui translated.

"Sayaka-chan's movements are unpredictable, confusing her opponent with all the flips and turns," Chiharu said. "But Suzume-chan was never one to calculate and come up with strategies. That's Reina's job," She observed the red-haired girl closely. "In the end, Suzume-chan will stop looking at Sayaka's movements and go entirely for the ball. That's when things start getting hazardous."

Sayaka's hands supported her as she flipped backwards. She allowed her empty hand—her left hand—take most of the weight. Suddenly, the ball was smashed into the ground, dangerously close to her left hand. She jerked it away reflexively. However, now her right hand—the one holding the racket—was supporting her weight. The awkward feeling of the racket handle being pressed into the ground caused her to lose her balance and fall. She managed to land on her feet, but wasn't fast enough to reach for the ball.

"15-0!"

The strain had taken its toll on her wrist; she could feel the ache creeping up her arm for a brief moment. She moved it back and forth experimentally, clenching and unclenching her hand.

Oishi signaled frantically to the second year that was the referee. "Time!"

When Sayaka walked over to the bench, Oishi reached for her hand and began examining it, feeling along the bone. "Does it hurt?"

"No, not at all."

"She's lying." Momoshiro said bluntly.

She glared, her purple eyes meeting his. "And how would you know?!"

He placed a hand on her head, a gentle smile coming across his features. "We're twins, remember?"

"Maybe you should stop now," Oishi said. "Your wrist—"

"I'm fine!" She yanked her hand away. Without looking back, she picked up her racket and entered the court.

"Momo," Oishi said. "Can you stop her?"

He chuckled. "She wouldn't listen to me. Sayaka was never one to back down from a challenge."

Oishi turned his eyes back to the court. The determined expression on her face was one he had seen many times. "I think it runs in the family."

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Momoshiro replayed the last rally in his mind, over and over, trying to figure out why Sayaka had not landed smoothly. He remembered the ball had been smashed very close to the hand supporting her weight, maybe close enough to trigger an instinctive response? "Oshiro-senpai… Did Kimura just aim for Sayaka's hand?"

Chiharu looked down at her hands. "I almost hope she did…"

"What?!" Momoshiro looked at her in disbelief. "Why… why do you say that?" He bent down so he was eye level with her and tried to suppress the anger in his voice. He didn't realize how threatening he looked at that point. "Why do you want Sayaka hurt?!"

Chiharu stepped back, her eyes wide. "I didn't mean…"

"Momo!" Oishi moved towards him, but before he could do anything a tennis ball flew by and hit Momoshiro on the top of his forehead.

"Ow!" He rubbed the spot that was injured, looking up to see Suzume glaring at him with a contemptuous look on her face.

"What were you trying to do to Oshiro-senpai?!"

He was shocked. He could almost feel her eyes burn into his even though they were 20 meters apart. This time, there was no mirth in her eyes, no taunting tone in her voice. It was pure, harsh anger.

"0-30!"

"Suzume-chan…" Chiharu said, holding up her hands. "It's okay…

Suzume gave him another filthy look before continuing the game.

"Interesting…" Inui murmured. "This relationship between Oshiro and Kimura is enough for her to sacrifice a point…" He jotted some notes down. "Care to elaborate, Oshiro?"

Momoshiro was also looking at her expectantly. 'Kimura's always aloof and indifferent… except when it comes to Oshiro-senpai…'

"It's a really, really long story…" Chiharu said tentatively. "But it's sort of personal… If Suzume-chan hasn't told anyone, I don't see any reason to," She ran a hand through her blue curls. "If you really wish to know, ask her yourself."

"Then could you at least explain why you wished that Kimura had aimed for Sayaka?!" Momoshiro's patience was wearing thin.

Chiharu spoke softly. "Suzume-chan may be a bit of a wild card, but she does have her morals. She would never attack another person using tennis—" She ignored the indignant noises Momoshiro was making and how he was pointing to the bump on his forehead. "—Her style, as Inui-san has said, consists of aiming for her opponent's blind spots that are created by themselves. It's instinctive for her; she doesn't even really analyze their moments. You remember the first two games?"

"Yeah…" Momoshiro said, thinking back. "All of her hits were return aces. And then all of Sayaka's returns were aces too."

"She did it to see how Sayaka-chan would react…" Chiharu said. "Her mind memorizes the places Sayaka seems to favor and the places she doesn't. And she does attack, but not directly. She attacks the areas around her opponent…"

Momoshiro had a brief flash of that other girl Suzume was playing during tryouts. "That's what happened there! Osaka forfeited after that!"

The air was getting colder. She shivered. "Osaka had a weak ankle from a previous accident. Suzume didn't know about it, but she could see it. She could sense it in the way that Osaka moved. And she deliberately went for the spots around Osaka's ankle." Her amber eyes caught his expression. "It's just her style That's it. On the court, she would never try to injure someone on purpose."

Oishi turned his head over, listening to their conversation. "But… why would Osaka forfeit?"

"Fear," Inui said, scribbling yet another note down in his notebook. "For example, say you injured your wrist in a car accident. Afterwards, if someone made an aggressive grab at your wrist, you'd immediately think back to that car accident and pull away instinctively. Physical wounds heal faster than memories," His pen paused on his paper as he looked up again. "Kimura's tennis must have invoked memories of her injuring her ankle."

"Inui-senpai, I like it how you can explain things so concisely and clearly." Momoshiro said; his voice deliberately loud.

Reina's eyes narrowed. "My apologies if you consider my verbalization of language circumlocutory, for I may be loquacious in my articulation, however if you were unsuccessful in possessing so much fatuity, you would discover my words less recondite, and an indirect altercation of acrimony would be avoided." She tossed her head with dignity.

No one even attempted to understand that one.

While they had been talking, Suzume had begun playing more aggressively. Her shots were pinpointed to areas next to Sayaka's left hand, the hand that she landed badly on. Sayaka flipped to the side, but as the ball came close to her hand again, she jerked away and lost her balance. She flinched as most of her weight shifted on her wrist and fell.

"Game, Kimura! 4 games to 3!"

"Damn!" Momoshiro swore under his breath before crying out in concern: "Sayaka! Are you okay?!"

"Stop!" Oishi said, signaling to the referee again. "Time!" He turned to Momoshiro's twin, who was walking towards the bench. There were scrapes and scratched on her arms and legs from where she had fell. She rotated her left wrist and grimaced from pain. "You should forfeit before you injure it seriously." Oishi told her.

"I'm fine!" she insisted.

"Sayaka…" Momoshiro tried to take the racket from her right hand. "It's okay, you did well."

"No!" She pulled her right hand away from his. "I'm perfectly fine! I can still play!"

Oishi shook his head. "You can't keep supporting your weight with your left hand! You could seriously—" He stopped talking when Momoshiro stepped in front of his sister, facing her, as if trying to intimidate her with his size.

"Sayaka," he said firmly. "Enough."

"No! It's not!" she exploded at him. "For once, could you stop treating me like a baby?! I'm—"

"I don't want to see you get hurt." he said.

"I'm not your 'baby sister' anymore! I've never been! I was only born about five minutes after you, anyways!" She paused for breath. "And I've seen all your tennis matches and you should understand! I'm not done yet!"

"You're not me."

"No, I'm not!" she retorted. "I'm better. I've never stopped you in the middle of a match, not even that time you ran into the fence headfirst. Why can't you do the same for me?!"

He stared at her in astonishment. The rage, the passion, the sheer determination carved onto her features… He understood. He understood completely. How many times had he felt that the same exhilaration amidst a match? He smiled and placed a hand on her head, like he always did. "All right. Go for it."

"Momo!" Oishi gave him a disapproving look, before turning back to his sister. "Sayaka-san, I cannot allow you to keep playing. Unless you can find a way to take the weight off your left wrist or stop playing acrobatic tennis, you may start doing permanent damage to your wrist." Oishi knew that Sayaka would be unable to change her style and revert to the 'normal' way of playing tennis. She could as easily detach her arms. 'Try asking Eiji to stop playing acrobatic tennis.' And there was no way Sayaka could use her right hand to support her weight; it was the hand holding the racket. Under the circumstances, he would force her to forfeit.

There was a spark in her eye that wasn't there before. She turned and bowed to Oishi, surprising him.

"Wha—?"

"Thank you, Oishi-senpai. You've just given me a bit of an idea. If it works, I will be able to take the weight off my wrist."

"Oi! Wait!" he called after her as she walked onto the courts, but she didn't turn around. He made a move to follow her.

"Stop, Oishi-senpai," Momoshiro said calmly.

"But..."

"Sayaka is very capable of taking care of herself," He grinned. "Besides… aren't you curious about what she's going to do next?"

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There was sweat running down her forehead. This was uncommon. No, there was more than sweat; she was actually feeling a bit tired. She was being pressured. Suzume couldn't help smiling. 'Finally, an opponent that can more or less keep up with me. I haven't felt like this since Oshiro-senpai…' She swiped a hand across her forehead. The last three games she had won easily, due to the fact that Sayaka's left hand was weakening. 'Hopefully this isn't all she's got.' Feeling pressured felt good.

"Kimura!" Sayaka called to her. "Don't even try to make me give up!"

'She's just asking for more, isn't she…' Suzume served. Sayaka's reactions were slower; she was purposely shielding her left hand, and Suzume decided to make most of it. Again and again her shots were smashed into areas near Sayaka's supporting hand. "Your hand can't take all that weight!" she said in her taunting tone, but it carried a heavier warning.

"Then maybe it shouldn't have to!"

A huge gasp went through the crowd as everyone took in an astonished breath at the same time. Someone screamed. Sayaka hurled her racket into the air—high. She arched her back and performed two back flips, supporting her weight with both hands. On the final flip, she leaped upwards and grasped the racket perfectly within her right palm, doing a somersault before her feet finally found the ground.

The ball had disappeared.

Only the gentle brush of the ball as it slid by her ankle notified Suzume of its whereabouts.

Her mouth dropped. She had concentrated so much on Sayaka's acrobatics that she lost track of the ball completely. The rapid series of motions—flipping, spinning, twirling—caused Sayaka's blind spots to relocate so quickly that it was nearly impossible to aim for them… 'Nearly impossible…' She served again, her gaze sharpening on Sayaka's left hand.

Again, Sayaka tossed her racket into the air, flipping backwards and pushing herself off the ground with both hands. She caught her racket easily. The ball was smashed into the area behind Suzume before she even located the ball with her eyes. The crowd had fallen completely silent.

The normally talkative Reina only uttered two words. "RG…"

All the Seigaku regulars turned their eyes to her, perplexed. "What?"

Momoshiro grinned. "RG," he repeated. "Rhythmic… Gymnastics."

Stunned, everyone immediately thought of the graceful gymnasts they had seen on TV. The beautiful bending and twisting of their bodies on screen… Almost as if they were in another world entirely; a world where the laws of physics and human physiology did not apply. To bring that to the court had made Sayaka into an instant legend. Her acrobatics had completely silenced the crowd. They watched her in pure awe.

Inui's pen flew across the paper, almost mimicking the way Sayaka was flying across the court. "What apparatus does she use?"

"What?" Momoshiro looked baffled. "Hey, I know Watanabe-senpai can talk fancy, but Inui-senpai—"

"Hoop." Reina suddenly said. "Ribbon. Clubs. Ball. Rope." She looked hurt. "Is that concise enough, or must I recapitulate it into an even more epigrammatic and compendious explanation?"

"Uh… Watanabe-senpai…"

Inoue turned his eyes to Momoshiro kindly. "What she means is what does your sister use in competitions?"

"Use…?"

"Basically, 'what object is she throwing up in the air all the time?'" Akane's voice suddenly drifted in his ear, making him jump a mile.

"Ito-san!" Oishi exclaimed. "When did you get here?"

"Izumi's and Kimiko's match finished just a few minutes ago," she said. "I caught a glimpse of the last maneuver," She turned back to the black-haired boy. "Well, Momoshiro?"

"I don't know," he replied sheepishly. "I never really watched her perform or anything…"

"Rope and clubs." A new voice suddenly came from outside. "Sayaka was most skilled with those two." The tennis players all turned their heads to the person who spoke. It was Ichikawa Remi, captain of the former gymnastics team. Her eyes were shining. "When the gymnastics team was cut, Sayaka was the person that I felt the most regret for. Her talent in that sport was amazing. I know now that it won't be wasted."

The rest of the team that was watching Izumi and Kimiko's match joined them then. Izumi still looked a little upset.

"So who won the last match?" Momoshiro asked curiously.

Oishi nudged him. Sometimes he was just so inconsiderate. Couldn't he see that Izumi was feeling down...?

"Izumi won." Akane replied.

"Oh!" He looked surprised for a moment, then grinned at her. "Good job, senpai!"

Izumi murmured her thanks but didn't smile, which puzzled him.

Sayaka pulled out of a twist and reached outwards, her racket landing perfectly in her outstretched hand. She didn't even have to look. It was coming back to her; feeling her way through the movements, merging the next maneuver as part of the previous one. The ball was smashed along the center, winning her the last point.

"Game, Momoshiro! 5 games to 4!"

"Taking two games in one swoop? Nice, Sayaka!" Momoshiro called.

"WHOA! Sayaka-chan's waaay more acrobatic than me, nya!" Kikumaru said cheerfully. "Makes me kind of jealous, hee hee!"

Shiba was pressing buttons on her camera, going through the last few pictures. "Oh, they're all blurry. Momoshiro-san is fast when she's flipping around."

Kimiko titled her head to the side. "Doesn't she get dizzy?" She seemed a bit perkier now than she was a few minutes ago, even though she was still leaning heavily on Kikumaru's arm. Her cousin had departed for Kanagawa shortly after her game.

"No," Inui noted. "She alternates 'clockwise' and 'counterclockwise' spins in order to avoid lightheadedness. It's obvious that she has had professional training."

"Actually," the gymnastics team captain began, and everyone turned their eyes to her. "Sayaka's still playing it safe. I think that if she performed stunts more complex than what she's doing now, it would affect her aim. You should see her on a traditional floor mat. Her floor routine is amazing."

Suzume picked up the ball and turned it around in her hand, fingers stroking the furry surface. 'This is getting fun.' Maybe it was time to crank it up a notch. She glanced over at her opponent. Sayaka was swiping a towel over her head and panting visibly. 'I wonder how much more she can take.' She had never faced an opponent that had a style quite like Sayaka's, and she didn't want the match to end when she was just beginning to enjoy herself. At the moment, Suzume wasn't giving the match 100% of her potential, but if Sayaka continued to play as well as she did in the last game, Suzume would be forced to give it her all.

The game had started again. Suzume served, allowing a rally to take place for a few minutes. Then she hit a drop shot, luring Sayaka closer to the net. Sayaka volleyed the ball back, performing a tiny somersault.

Suzume saw her chance.

She lunged forward and hit the ball back in a powerful, fast shot.

Sayaka was suddenly paralyzed. She couldn't react—then somehow she did, but she jumped away from the ball. The ball grazed her left wrist, leaving a painful streak of red.

Her heart pounded in her ears.

"15-0!"

Suzume bounced a ball onto the ground. "It's interesting how our instincts work, isn't it?" she told Sayaka with a smirk on her face. "If you had stayed where you were, the ball wouldn't have touched you at all."

The crowd had drawn in a collective breath. For some, it was the first time seeing how dangerous Suzume could be. To them, it seemed that Suzume was aiming for the injury on Sayaka's left wrist.

"That's not a 'sparrow'…" Momoshiro grumbled. "More like an 'eagle', if you ask me." (A/N: "Suzume" essentially means "sparrow" in Japanese.) He eyed the sparrow that was tattooed on Suzume's collarbone, which was looking fiercer and fiercer by the moment.

Another rally began, and Suzume hit another drop shot. Sayaka felt dread course through her body; she didn't want to reach for the ball when it was so close to the net, and so close to her opponent. Yet she couldn't afford to lose the point. She ran forward, her racket stretched outwards…

What happened next was hard to see. The only thing the crowd heard was the racket clattering onto the ground as Sayaka grabbed her left wrist.

"Sayaka! What happened?!" Momoshiro cried.

"The ball was nowhere near her left wrist this time though…" Ryoma muttered.

Inui nodded. "True, but my theory is that Sayaka imagined it was. Fear creates illusions." He paused in his writing and tapped his pencil against the page thoughtfully. "But that's not all…"

"Neuromuscular Facilitation." Reina said.

Half the regulars sweatdropped.

"Normally that would be a good thing…" Akane said, nodding. "But here it's being used against her."

"Excuse me…" Kachiro asked politely. "But what is neuromuscu-whatsis?"

"Muscle memory," Inui replied. "If you perform one movement over and over, your body muscles memorize the movement and next time you'll be able to perform it subconsciously and more accurately. That is why we make you swing your rackets over and over again." He readjusted his glasses as he continued to observe the game. "But Suzume has forced Sayaka to dodge so many of her shots that now Sayaka's body is dodging them on its own, even when she doesn't want it to."

"That's Kimura's style…" Tezuka said. "Most players aim for the spaces at the edge, or spaces where their opponent can't reach. We're all pretty much used to chasing after balls and hitting them back. We rarely come across an opponent that hits the ball straight at you."

Suzume smirked as she won another point. "I'm not aiming for anything…" she taunted. "There's only two moving objects—the ball and your opponent. I hit the ball towards the other moving object. It either hits them, or hits a blind spot newly created from when they tried to dodge it."

"She has Momoshiro's recklessness, Echizen's arrogance and Kaidoh's determination. That's our Suzume." Akane said.

Sayaka was panicking. 'My body is reacting completely on its own… I'm always reaching in the opposite direction…' She yelped as the ball missed her head by a centimeter. As it bounced, she chased after it and swung her racket, missing the ball by inches.

"Game, Kimura! 5 games all!"

Sayaka kicked herself mentally. What was wrong with her? She suddenly felt scared, exposed. 'I can't hit the ball… Why can't I hit the ball?! Why can't I just move towards it?!' Almost angrily, she dove for it, again and again, but at the minute her racket reached the ball her mind went blank. Her heart speeded up, and her body veered away. She missed it every time.

"Game, Kimura! 6 games to 5!"

Suzume shook her head, disappointed. "It's over."

The black haired girl clenched her fists tightly, drawing blood where her nails dug into her palms. "Why am I such a coward?!" she criticized herself, anguish in her eyes. "Why can't I take control over my body and just go for the ball?!" Suzume served, and again, Sayaka froze, unable to move… Suddenly, she exploded to the right. The ball sliced her ankle.

"15-0!"

'I can't do this…'

"30-0!"

'Am I… scared?'

"40-0!"

Suzume sighed. 'And it was just beginning to get fun… I'm surprised she lasted this long.' It looked like the black haired girl was finally giving up. "It was fun while it lasted!" she called as she served for the final point.

Sayaka's eyes locked onto the ball. 'Don't move. Don't move, don't do anything.' Still, her body responded in fear. She bit down on her lip and closed her eyes, trying to anchor her feet to the ground. She imagined twin weights on her ankles. 'DON'T MOVE. DON'T MOVE.'

"Sayaka! Look out!"

At the last minute, her eyes shot open. She swung her racket.

It connected.

The ball arched upwards, a lob. It was a free chance ball. Easy.

However, the crowd was stunned to see Suzume drop her racket and watch the ball soar above her head, a smile on her face.

"40-15!"

"It's a little present." she told the stunned Sayaka, moving back into position. Sayaka was about to retort, but before she could open her mouth, Suzume held up a hand. "Don't take it personally. I just want the game to last a bit longer." Her deep red hair was sticking to her neck with sweat; she shook it out, droplets shining. "But you'll have to play better than that. I won't be giving away any more free points."

Sayaka grinned, but she was still in a dilemma. If you hit a shot at the last second, as she had done, you had no time to prepare. The last point had been luck… and sympathy on Suzume's part. 'I don't want the rest of my returns to be all lobs.'

Suzume prepared to serve. 'I want to see how this turns out…' she thought, strangely… happy. 'She was willing to get hit by the last ball in order to overcome her fear.' Suzume had never met anyone that would go so far to combat her tennis style, and somehow she… liked it.

"Time!" This time it was not Oishi that called, but Tezuka. "Momoshiro!" Momoshiro jumped, thinking the captain was referring to him, but noticed him beckoning to Sayaka and relaxed.

Sayaka walked up to him apprehensively. He was awfully intimidating.

"You've forgotten your style," he reprimanded seriously. "Suzume sealed off your style in order to make your tennis playing awkward."

"It's a factor that's inducing fear." Reina added.

Realization dawned on her. On the last few games, she hadn't been playing her tennis. She hadn't even tried. She was so scared, she couldn't seem to move at all—sealing off her acrobatic style. 'That's why I felt so awkward…'

"Tennis players cannot forget the way they play tennis. Once forgotten, they can no longer play." Tezuka nodded at her. "That is all. You play well."

Her face became red. The blush spread from her cheeks to her neck. She quickly walked back to the court.

"Aren't you lucky!" Kimiko popped up out of nowhere, her enthusiasm back. "Tezuka-buchou doesn't give advice or compliments to just anyone…" She giggled. "Last time he said something like that to Chiharu-senpai, and I swear: she wouldn't stop blushing for a week!"

Sayaka laughed and returned onto the court, feeling more cheerful. She could just imagine Chiharu's face as a red tomato and Tezuka being completely oblivious.

Suzume's eyes narrowed in anticipation of a challenge. Sayaka seemed to have regained her composure. Suzume jumped and served again, aiming at the area where the lines intersected. But the minute her racket came in contact with the ball, Sayaka was up and flipping through the air again. She sliced the ball and landed on her feet, leaping up again almost instantly.

"Let's see if you can handle this!" Suzume called. She leaped up as well and smashed the ball towards the still airborne Sayaka.

"Eek!" Kikumaru shielded his eyes and peeked through his fingers.

"Just watch me then!" Sayaka laughed. She tucked her whole body into a ball and somersaulted forward twice. On the last one, she snapped open like a jackknife and smashed the ball with all her might, causing it to shoot towards the ground in an almost vertical line.

"Jackknife, Sayaka style." she announced as she landed, winking at her brother.

"Hmm…" Suzume commented, reluctantly impressed. "Not bad for a new fish."

"Fish?" Kikumaru complained. "Mou, Sayaka is a cat nya!"

"Cat?" Suzume looked amused.

Sayaka took a moment to catch a breath. She flashed a grin in Kikumaru's direction. "I'll take that as a compliment!"

"I'm serving now…" Suzume said, giving her a head's up. "Let's continue, Namazu-chan…"

"Nama…zu?" Sayaka echoed. "Cat…fish…?"

Chiharu chuckled. "Suzume just gave you a nickname…" she said, loud enough for Sayaka to hear. "That means you've won her respect. Nicely done."

"How do you get her respect, anyways?" Momoshiro grumbled.

"No one has figured it out…" Chiharu said. "Suzume seems to have her own little rules…"

"Actually, only two people have Suzume's respect," Kimiko told them. "Chiharu-senpai and Tezuka-san. And now Sayaka does too…"

"Maybe she only respects those people that beat her in tennis?" Katsuo suggested timidly.

"How many people have beaten her in tennis?" Horio asked.

"Two." Akane's voice carried a trace of bitterness this time.

"Oh. Who?" Horio continued to ask.

"Reina and Chiharu."

"Oh. So Ito-senpai didn't beat-aaarg!" Momoshiro elbowed him so hard in the ribs that he seemed to have fractured a few.

"But I obviously don't have her respect, since she casually insults me all the time." Reina took of her glasses and cleansed them with the edge of her t-shirt. "Maybe its how she communicates."

All of them stared at her. "Wait…" Momoshiro said slowly. "I actually understood that…"

She gave him a smug look. "Well, while my language may be flamboyant at certain circumstances, I panegyrize myself for being able to expatiate with breviloquence. I can be quite laconic."

Blink.

"Yes, I'm sure you can speak concisely at times, Reina," Akane said without looking at her. "You just choose not to in order to torture us."

"6 games all!" The referee's voice boomed loud and clear. "Tiebreak!"

"This is turning out to be a long match…" Fuji murmured. He glanced at the sky, noting the distance cry of thunder. "The weather is surely not in favor."

Both tennis players were playing to their best. Sayaka flipped, twirled, spun, and only landed for the briefest second, like a dragonfly stepping on the water. She cartwheeled twice before performing a handspring and grabbing her racket to hit the ball. In the air, her movements were so elaborate that they became too fast to see—she weaved herself through her former shape, and the crowd could only catch the ghost of her last maneuver.

"She's so…" Izumi said quietly, "…crippled."

Fuji looked at her. "That's interesting word choice. Why do you say that?" Sayaka, so graceful, so nimble, so flexible… crippled?

"Just look…" Izumi went on, the gaze in her eyes sad but full of admiration. They watched her do a triple salto with a full twist in the air, "She's so close to flying, so close… yet she doesn't have wings…"

Fuji just stared at her. Izumi said the strangest things, but something about them was just… deep. Deep, yes, and with a touch of melancholy.

Suzume too, played at 100%. Sayaka's jumping without a racket had left her vulnerable, and Suzume took full advantage of that. She hit the ball towards her, forcing Sayaka to do another spin, another flip to avoid it and therefore missing her chance to pluck her racket from the air. She definitely wasn't panting or sweating as much as Sayaka, nor was she half as stressed. She was completely calm, almost indifferent, which clashed with the way she was playing so aggressively. Her deep red hair shone violet in the flashes of lightning.

Thunder crashed, making them all jump.

"Deuce! 34-34!"

Neither of them wanted to give in as they stood there, breathing heavily. Finally, Suzume smirked at her and took out a small comb from her pocket. "This is the highest compliment I can give you…" she said as she began to comb her dark red hair.

"Is that another psychological change?" Momoshiro asked Akane.

"No." Akane's voice was urgent. "It's much worse."

Suzume was in the midst of splitting her hair the other way, covering up the right side of her face and leaving the left side exposed. Akane walked up to her. "Kimura, stop."

She ignored her.

Akane reached for the comb but Suzume slapped her hand away. "Don't you stop me." she spat.

"Suzume-chan…" Chiharu's voice suddenly came before Akane's temper could flare up, and the blue-haired girl gently took the comb. "It's not worth it…"

Suzume gave her a sharp glare. For a moment her piercing green eye stared into Chiharu's gentle amber gaze, and then she tossed her head in annoyance. "Fine. Whatever."

"Besides…" Chiharu stopped as a tiny droplet of water fell on her nose. "…it's raining…"

The rain came down in thin, needle-like streaks, showering the regulars. They tilted their heads back and welcomed it, each droplet felt like life as it cooled of their burning skin. The crowd giggled and shrieked at the coming of the rain, shielding books over their head and running for the building.

Sayaka clasped her hand at the net. "That was fun." She grinned.

Suzume returned the smile. "Let's play again sometime, Namazu-chan."

"Hey, Chiharu." A male voice came from behind the fence. "I think she'll be okay. Thanks for looking after her."

She nodded. "I don't think you have to worry so much over her now, Kai-san."

"I do anyway."

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"OI! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!" Coach Ryuzaki's voice blasted, making the thunder seem like it was whispering. The regulars stopped in their tracks, halfway to the changing rooms. "We haven't announced the roster yet!"

"Ah. Our opening match is against Koishikawa High. We're announcing the roster a little early—"

"—as opposed to announcing it on the day of the match—" Momoshiro muttered.

"—so we can make necessary changes if need be." Oishi finished.

"All right, guys first: Doubles 2 will be played by Inui and Kaidoh."

"We got this one." Inui said, and Kaidoh grunted in agreement.

"Doubles 1 will be Oishi and Kikumaru."

"Yahoo!" Kikumaru jumped his friend. "Partners to the end, Oishi!"

"Singles 3 will be played by Echizen."

" 'Kay." He hid a satisfied smile.

"Singles 2, Kawamura."

"COUNT ON ME, BABY!"

"Singles 1, Tezuka."

"EEH?" Momoshiro made an indignant noise. "So Fuji-senpai and I aren't going to be playing?"

Sumire Ryuzaki just rolled her eyes at him before proceeding. "Girls: Doubles 2 was a tough decision, but right now we have this pair…" She squinted through the rainwater that had gotten in her eyes. "Ryuzaki and Komboi. That would be Sakuno and Aiko."

"Why can't I play singles?" Aiko burst out in English. Only a few people understood her. Echizen translated for Sumire.

"We don't doubt your ability, Aiko," Coach Ryuzaki replied patiently. "Right now we're just experimenting."

"Speaking of which, where is Sakuno?" The regulars looked around and shrugged.

"Doubles 1 will be Ito and Marui."

Kimiko and Akane exchanged a high-five.

"Singles 3 will be played by Kimura."

Momoshiro snickered. "Man I feel sorry for whoever has to go against that sparrow."

"Singles 2, Morioka."

Izumi lifted her head and nodded her agreement.

"And Singles 1, Oshiro."

Chiharu too, nodded silently.

Coach Ryuzaki flipped to the back of the sheet of paper. "Now we have the mixed doubles. This is an entirely separate event. It's sort of like a miniature tournament on its own."

"Can we change the doubles pair for different matches?" Kikumaru asked.

"Yes," Oishi replied. "It's a test to see which school can come up with the best combinations."

"There are two mixed doubles. In our first round, we'll be sending Watanabe and Fuji as our mixed Doubles 2."

"Good luck understanding her, Fuji." Kikumaru whispered.

"And Doubles 1," Sumire smiled at the next two names on the sheet of paper. Momoshiro and Momoshiro."

They exchanged surprised glances. "All right sis, we're doubles!"

"So long as you don't hold me back."

"Hey!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Neh, Tezuka…" Fuji said as they were the last ones in the changing room. "What did you think of those matches?"

"There's a lot of places they need to work on."

Fuji chuckled. "So cold. But Kimura could've won if she didn't give up that point…"

"Maybe…" Tezuka replied. "But Momoshiro Sayaka seems to have her brother's extraordinary ability to adapt. You saw the way she brought the advantage back over to her side."

"Hmm… yeah…" Fuji smiled. 'Catfish are able to adapt to any harsh conditions, which is why they are found all over the world. The nickname Suzume came up with may have a deeper meaning than just being a play with the words 'cat' and 'fish'.

"All in all, the upcoming tournaments will be interesting.

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End Chapter Eight

Phew, that's done. xD It was fun… but I'm not sure where I'm going to go next. I want to speed up the plot a little. The first matches won't really be described, probably just a few lines here and there. I think sometimes there's more interest in the un-tennis parts of the story xD.

Reina was a fun character to make. She really helped me with the vocab portion on the SATs. If you can understand Reina, you're all set for SAT vocab. (Actually, I'm not even sure if I'm using the words in the right content anyways. F*CK SATs.)

REVIEW and be patient for the next chapter.

BTW: gotta luv the new PoT. Tis awesome. Anyone know when the new anime's coming out?