Disclaimer: Don't own.

A/N: Yeah, it's been almost a year since I've updated. NO BIG DEAL.

If anyone is still following and reading this fanfic, this chapter is for you.

I'm sorry. I got busy with school and work. I was also busy in getting my heart broken and trampled on. Basically, I had this thing with a boy. And when it ended a couple weeks ago, it was just clear to me that I cared for him a lot more than he cared for me. So, I've been kind of in a funk ever since.

Special dedications to… agate . ilie, arika ito, teanotes, mintish, fried ryce, ash-na, ElsieLorraine. Your reviews helped me through a rough time. Extra love to KurukiXV, Lilyice, Bananablez, cityangelz, and Maria-Reynne – some of the few pennames I can remember due to their unwavering loyalty to the story.

Doubly special dedication to PandaEyedTsundere, who came up with the idea for Kimiko's funny little scene near the end of the story like a year ago. And to Mirilla. She drew a beautiful fanart of Izumi. If you search Morioka Izumi on deviantart, you should be able to find it.

To recap: In the last chapter, they did archery at the Morioka household. They also trained in preparation for Hyotei, and Sakuno got slotted into Singles 3. WHUT.

To Catch A Falling Star, Chapter 24: Firecracker

~X~

"S-singles?"

Like a fish thrashing on a beach, Sakuno felt disoriented and panicked and completely out of her element. 'I'm a doubles player! Even Akane-buchou said so herself when I first joined! They wanted me for my skill in doubles, so why…"

"For warming up, 30 laps around the court! Girl regulars, 22 laps!" Tezuka ordered.

Sakuno approached Akane rapidly. "T-there must be some mistake," she said desperately. "I'm n—"

"Sakuno, I believe you are supposed to be running laps right now," Akane interrupted.

Sakuno was shocked at the coldness in Akane's voice. "B-But—"

"Whatever it is, let's discuss it after practice," And with that, the ginger haired captain deliberately turned away.

Sakuno stood there, gaping for a moment. Hearing the footsteps of her teammates speed past her, she quickly joined them in running the laps. All the while, her thoughts were scrambled up in her mind.

Singles?

'But I'm…'

Singles?

'I can barely keep up with the rest of the girls,' she thought frantically as they huffed and puffed through the laps, their breaths becoming visible mist in the cold. 'Why would they put me in singles? And in the Hyotei match…' Thinking about Hyotei brought on a whole new wave of terror.

"Isn't it good?" Ryoma's voice suddenly came from next to her. "Singles."

"R-Ryoma-kun…" She panted slightly, trying to control her breathing. "I… I guess… but I don't play singles and it's… Hyotei…"

He gave her a blank look. "What about Hyotei?"

"They're really strong!"

"Hmm…" He appeared to consider this. Atobe's grinning face suddenly resurfaced in his mind, and he grimaced involuntarily. Then he shrugged. "But the bigger they are, the harder they fall, right?"

"I… I guess…" Sakuno tried to agree with him. But inside, she was afraid that she'd be the one doing the falling.

~X~

"I can't believe I'm paired with you…" Sayaka grumbled as she hit a ball down the line.

Suzume smirked as she easily hit it back. "Maybe they wanted me to balance out your lack of skill."

"Hey, you!" Sayaka flipped upwards and smashed the ball down.

Suzume caught it in a volley, the ball hitting the court before Sayaka came down from her jump. The black haired girl grinned in spite of herself. "Nice one."

They had been rallying for some time now, and Suzume was starting to get a better grasp on her movements. She stopped to readjust her grip, frowning. "Hey, you're going to have to help me with this doubles thing, you know."

"Oh? Not so cocky now, are you?" Sayaka couldn't help but say. In terms of doubles, she was far more skilled than Suzume. The latter paid too much attention to her own plays and not enough on her partner.

"I'm serious. Hyotei isn't going to be easy if Saki-senpai didn't even manage to take away a point."

Sayaka bounced the ball up and down a few times thoughtfully. "I'm still wondering why you got stuck in doubles with me. I thought they'd shove you in singles three, you know, to freak out whoever's your opponent."

Suzume spun the racket in her hand. "Maybe Hyotei has sucky doubles. We have to hit 'em where it hurts."

"Then we should've stuck with the original partners," Sayaka challenged. "Since you're horrible at doubles and I pair well with Sakuno."

Suzume glared. "Watch it, Namazu-chan."

"Why is Sakuno in singles?" Sayaka inquired, choosing to ignore the direct argument. She glanced over at the brown haired girl. Sakuno was rallying a ball with Reina, and with difficulty too. "I mean, fine, maybe you can play better, so they stuck you with me in doubles. Why not put Reina-senpai in singles? Or Izumi-senpai?"

Suzume simply shrugged. "Buchou is always trying to test us one way or the other…" She glanced over at the ginger-headed captain. "Who knows what goes on in her head?"

~X~

Half an hour ago…

"You want to put Ryuzaki in singles three?" Oishi all but yelped. "Against Hyotei?"

They were in the classroom deciding the order for the upcoming matches. "Yes, I do," Akane said determinedly. "It's about time."

"Why? I thought we agreed that Reina-san would take singles 3!"

For a moment, Akane just looked outside the window. Then she sighed, turning back to him. "I've wronged Ryuzaki," she said in a low voice. "You know that. I told her she'd be good at doubles and then crushed her in singles. And now she's under this notion that she's only good for doubles." She ran a hand through her wavy ginger locks. "Do you know what that does to a person? It limits them completely. If we don't put Sakuno in singles, she'll be trapped."

The vice-captain tried to smile. "D-does it really matter that much? People like Eiji and Marui-san are great doubles players and they don't need to take on a singles match to do it…"

"But you, Kikumaru, Kimiko…" She shook her head. "It's different. You all became doubles players of your own accord. You found your path to doubles after you mastered the skills of singles. Sakuno… was pushed into doubles."

Akane was probably the only one that knew exactly how much psychological damage Sakuno suffered. "She's won every doubles match she's played and she's lost every singles match she's played. What do you think that tells her?" She sounded like she was arguing with herself; she was angry with herself. "If we put her in singles, even if she loses, it shows that we trust her."

"Seigaku could lose to Hyotei," Oishi pointed out.

Akane stared idly out at the window some more before replying. "We have me and Chiharu in singles one and two."

Oishi grew frustrated. Sakuno, as much as she was improving, was still leagues behind everyone else. "But if we can't win the doubles matches... Chiharu-san and you might not even get to play. It's such a great risk…" He paused, wondering how to word his thoughts. "I just think Ryuzaki's not ready."

Something in Akane's eyes snapped all of a sudden, and her voice became cold. Oishi was shocked at the fierce look in her eyes as she looked at him again, almost challenging him. "I believe in Sakuno, Oishi. And it's about time you did too."

"I…" He was startled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

Her expression softened just as quickly, the fierce look disappearing like a cat's claws being retracted. "No," she sighed, her voice sounding somewhat tired. "Don't be. I'm sorry. I just... I really want to make things right with Sakuno," Her voice hardened again. "Even if it means sacrificing a win against Hyotei."

I don't want to ruin her tennis anymore.

While Oishi disagreed with her choice, he began to understand.

~X~

CLANG. That was the sound of the ball lodging itself in the green wire fence.

Thunk, was the sound of Kimiko's jaw hitting the floor.

"That was…" She gulped. "That wasn't…"

"Not the Hadokyuu…" Reina confirmed, gazing at where the ball landed. "But close enough. Well done, Aiko."

Aiko stared at her racket in slight awe. She never thought she could produce a shot like that.

"I'll say its close enough!" Kimiko declared happily, running over to her partner. "Mou, I can't believe no one else was around to see that!" She raised a hand to clasp Aiko's. "I can't wait till we give it to those Hyotei people!" Suddenly she stilled as Aiko's skin met her own. She could feel the roughness of her senpai's palm, like sandpaper. How calloused was her hand?

How many times did she swing her racket?

'How hard did she have to work for that?'

And she couldn't help but notice how soft and smooth her own hands were in comparison.

Kimiko suddenly dropped their connecting hands, her expression downcast.

"Kims?" Aiko said. "You okay?"

The pink haired girl abruptly picked up her racket and walked away without another word, leaving her doubles partner dumbstruck.

"Don't worry," Reina said, taking a few steps forward. Her glasses glinted. "She'll be okay. On the contrary, you just inspired her."

~X~

"So this is the Seigaku team…" A guy with a baseball cap commented.

"That one, over there," A blonde girl pointed at Chiharu. "That'll be your opponent, Shigohara. What do you think?"

The girl with dark brown hair observed her for a moment. "She's pretty."

Her response caused the others to chuckle.

"Try not to be too confident," a blue-haired boy warned. "You'll want to watch out for that one."

"Oshitari," the girl twinkled at him. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

He broke into a smile. "Fair enough."

~X~

Suzume suddenly noticed something and refrained from serving. "Hey, Namazu-chan," she said quietly, clutching the ball in her hand. She jerked her head towards the edge of the fence.

Sayaka looked up and saw some gray and white clad figures standing outside of the fence. Three boys, two girls. "Hyotei, huh…" she murmured.

Suddenly, Sayaka saw Akane walk over to the fence to talk to them. "Oi, what do you think buchou is saying to them?"

Suzume rolled her eyes. "Knowing her, something along the lines of, 'Hi, I'm Ito Akane. I thought it'd only be polite for me to give you fair warning that we will destroy you tomorrow.' "

Sayaka couldn't help but laugh at that. It sounded like something Akane would say. "Still, I wonder why they're here…" she pondered aloud, running a hand through her wild hair. If they were checking out the competition, it would only mean that they saw Seigaku as a threat. She grinned to herself. 'That's what we are. We're gonna dethrone the kings of Hyotei.'

~X~

"So, why are you here?" Akane asked with measured sweetness. "To intimidate us or to gather intel?"

"Psh," Shishido scoffed. "As if we need to do either of those things. We'll beat you into the ground fair and square."

"Shishido-san…" Choutarou started.

"Excuse him," Oshitari interjected apologetically. "We're here to introduce ourselves and we hope to have a great game tomorrow."

"Likewise," Akane agreed, shooting Shishido a knowing look. He shifted, looking a little fazed and uncomfortable. Akane then turned her questioning gaze towards the two girls.

"Shigohara Minako," the girl said with a polite nod, as the fence prevented them from shaking hands. "I will enjoy playing against you."

Akane gave her a nod in response. "You've already figured out that singles one is Oshiro, not me," She smiled. "Don't pretend that you didn't already know."

The girl didn't waver, but smiled as well. "I see you've also figured out that I will be playing singles one."

"We did our research well."

"As did we."

Oshitari observed the cool banter between the two with quiet amusement.

Shigohara Minako had a sort of polished, refined feel to her, Akane decided. She carried herself with an instilled grace. Her brown wavy hair was shiny and glamorous, held in place with a jeweled hair clip. And the way she talked… she didn't sound snobby, per say, but her voice definitely had a superior lilt to it.

'Of course,' Akane thought to herself wryly. 'She goes to Hyotei. Self-explanatory.'

"What's up, Akane-buchou?"

The ginger headed captain looked up as Sayaka and Suzume joined them. "Just greeting our new opponents," she responded with a glance. "Shouldn't you two be practicing?" There was an edge in her voice; even the Hyotei students heard it.

Sayaka shivered slightly, but Suzume didn't even flinch. "We were, but she's staring at us hard I expect lasers to shoot out of her eyes any minute." Suzume jerked her head towards the blonde girl next to Shigohara

The girl smiled and mimed extending a hand through the fence. "Fuuma Eri, Hyotei third year."

"Momoshiro Sayaka, Seigaku second year," Sayaka replied.

Shishido glanced her way. "Not related to…"

"His twin," Sayaka replied, almost wearily.

"Oh?" A tiny bit of interest crept in his voice.

"You don't play like him…" Oshitari commented.

"You're observant, Hyotei's genius," Suzume remarked sarcastically.

Oshitari was taken aback for a moment. Then he smiled. So she'd heard of him too.

"Well, we should get back to our own practice," Shigohara said, turning away, brown hair swishing. "Nice meeting you."

"Same here," Akane told her with extra charm and politeness. The former Seigaku captain was one of the more rational and mature people in the team, but even she was tempted to stick her tongue out at Shigohara's back.

Fuuma took a few steps before looking over her shoulder at Sayaka. "You better fix that landing problem of yours before you face us tomorrow."

Sayaka froze.

"And you," Fuuma said, turning to Suzume. "It's your first time playing doubles, isn't it?"

"Well that's gonna be embarrassing," Suzume replied in a taunting tone. "Getting beaten by a newbie."

Fuuma merely chuckled to herself and continued to walk away.

"How did they know?" Sayaka asked as soon as she was out of earshot, slightly panicked. The Hyotei members hadn't been watching for more than ten minutes, and she hadn't attempted any big jumps. Her landing problem couldn't be that obvious.

"She's smart," Akane just said.

"Really smart."

"Put Reina-senpai against her," Suzume suggested, indifferently picking at a nail. "Have the nerds duke it out."

"Reina-san would lose." Inui's voice suddenly came from behind them.

"Eh? Why?" Sayaka asked in surprise. Suzume raised a quizzical brow.

"Because Reina-san," Inui indicated at the girl, who was rallying a ball with Izumi. "She processes information differently compared to Fuuma. She sees patterns, repetitions. She draws the big picture before filling in details."

"Fuuma," he continued. "On the other hand, is detail-oriented. She sees the little things before building up on that to see the big picture. She sees the parts before the whole thing."

"Bottom-up processing." Akane clarified.

"Exactly," Inui confirmed. "She catches on the little things. It's faster. She'd think faster and react faster than Reina-san."

"So if they're equally smart, Fuuma would react faster?" Sayaka asked, disbelief in her voice. "Just because of the way she thinks?" 'Should I change the way I think? Wait, I don't even know how I think.'

Inui paused. "Think of it like this. When Reina played against you, she noticed that you have a repetitive routine within three games. She sealed it off afterwards. Fuuma, on the other hand, caught onto your landing problem within seconds of watching you. She could exploit that so much more quickly."

"Enough with the explanation," Akane suddenly cut in. "You two, back to practice. Sayaka, you better get rid of that landing problem and Suzume, I want you to seem like you've been playing doubles for years by the end of today."

"You got it," Sayaka raised her hand in a lofty salute.

"Fine," Suzume muttered, before walking back onto the court. After all, it was hard to argue after you'd just been dissed by your opponent.

~X~

Practice ended late that day. Sakuno looked over at the red-haired captain warily. She didn't want to be cut down with another harsh remark. But she was so, so confused. Gathering her courage, she approached her once more. "Akane-buchou…" Breathe. "Akane-buchou, why am I in singles?"

Akane looked right into her eyes. "Why not?"

"E-eh?"

"Why not?" she repeated. "Isn't it good? Singles allows you to shine alone."

For a moment she was caught off-guard. "Th-then Aiko-senpai should take singles!" Sakuno offered frantically. "She's always wanted to play…" Her voice trailed off.

Akane was silent for a moment and just looked at her. Just looked at her with those brilliant turquoise eyes, those eyes that could put a shiver down her spine, those eyes that could light a fire within her, those eyes that could make or break her again. And it was all she could do to stand her ground.

"You see, Sakuno?" Akane finally said. "This is why I put you in singles."

"Eh?"

Akane exhaled. "You can't be scared of singles. Everyone is a singles player first. Tennis is a solo sport most of the time."

"But… Oishi-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai…" Sakuno tried to point out.

"Can kick-ass at singles as well," Akane finished. "Sakuno, you need to be confident. Believe in yourself."

"But—"

"You can't improve in tennis if you always depend on someone else," she continued. "You can't always expect to look back and see your partner there."

"But…" Sakuno was growing desperate. "Akane-buchou… It's Hyotei." Couldn't Akane have put her in singles against a lesser school?

"The schools are only going to get stronger from here on," Akane told her.

Sakuno remained silent, knowing she was right.

Akane offered an encouraging smile. "Everyone else already believes in you. Why don't you believe in yourself?"

~X~

"I'm surprised that you called me out here so late…" Sakiko pulled her tennis racket out of her bag, tossing it aside. The street tennis courts were desolate at this time of night. The wind rustled the leaves, giving the area an eerie atmosphere.

Suzume swung her racket back and forth experimentally, testing it. "It's Hyotei. I need the extra practice. If only we had you on the team…"

"You wouldn't have much of an advantage, anyways," Sakiko cut in, serving a ball. They got a rally going. "I got flattened. Besides, Seigaku rejected my transfer application."

"Yeah, that blows," Suzume ran for a shot that was to her left. She lobbed it upwards, watching the arc form. "Did you get accepted anywhere else?" She knew that Sakiko sent in applications to several schools in the hope of finishing her senior year someplace else.

"Yeah, get this," Sakiko smirked. "Hyotei accepted me."

"What?" Suzume suddenly stopped, and the ball sailed past her right ear. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, I got the acceptance letter a few days ago," the white-haired girl bounced a new ball on the ground casually. "I can't afford the tuition though, so there's no chance of me going." She brushed the hair out of her eyes and served.

"Thank god," Suzume continued the rally, slightly relieved. She had no intention of facing Sakiko on the courts again. Not that she'd ever let her senpai know, but Sakiko far surpassed her in skill and Suzume both respected and feared her. The red-haired girl hit a smash. "I hate those people."

"Suzume, you hate everyone that's an opponent."

"Damn straight."

Sakiko sighed and served again. "Your shots are getting sharper," she noticed as she broke into a run to reach one of them. "Nice."

Suzume pinpointed a shot to the corner, but Sakiko read it and volleyed it back. "You're not doing so bad yourself," the red-headed girl admitted, chasing her shot down. "Who was the girl that beat you again?"

"Shigohara."

"We saw her today," Suzume recalled the girl with the shiny brown hair and 'I'm-better-than-you' voice. "Snooty b*tch."

"She can live up to her words, though, I'll give her that." Sakiko went for a smash, white pigtails flying.

Suzume managed to catch it, barely dropping it over the net. "Chiharu-senpai's got a challenge coming her way."

"Your teammate actually has a shot at beating her," Sakiko said thoughtfully as she lunged for a drop shot. The shot hit the net and bounced back to her side. "When I played Oshiro, she wasn't even playing to half her potential."

"Well, Shigohara's only one member," Suzume reached into her pocket for a new ball while Sakiko kicked the one on the ground to the side. "I have no idea why they put me in doubles, anyways."

"Hyotei has weak doubles," Sakiko confirmed. "Well, weak compared to their singles, which isn't saying much."

"I thought you guys didn't get a single point."

"No, that was just me," Sakiko's voice had a trace of bitterness. More than just a trace. "But our doubles team took several points away." Ann had, in fact, played on the doubles one team and got close to taking a game away.

"Then I guess they're relying on me to take down the doubles team," Suzume threw up the ball and hit it. "Which is weird, since doubles is definitely not my forte."

"That Momoshiro girl you're paired with is really good at doubles," Sakiko informed her, parrying the ball back. "I watched her in the Fudomine match. She's pretty incredible."

"She's all right," Suzume said begrudgingly.

Sakiko stopped suddenly, catching the ball in her hand. She stared at Suzume incredulously. "You really don't have any idea, do you?"

"What?" Suzume asked in irritation. She hated it when people spoke in riddles.

Sakiko shook her head. "Your doubles partner?" she said, walking towards the net. "She's the most versatile player I've ever seen. You could probably pair her with an elephant and she would still find some way to win."

~X~

This time, the order of the games was reversed, and the girls' matches took place first. As they walked towards the courts where the games would be held, the din was deafening. It was like walking into a rock concert.

"The winner will be Hyotei! The winner will be Hyotei!"

"You've got to be kidding me…" Sayaka breathed, whipping her head around and staring at the crowd in awe. "Exactly how many cheerleaders do they have?"

"Two hundred and four," Inui suddenly popped up from next to her, causing her to jump. He adjusted his lenses. "Fourteen more than last year."

Fuji chuckled. "It's quite an atmosphere, isn't it?" He smiled. "I love playing with this kind of audience."

"Only you would like playing with a crowd that is screaming for your bloody demise," Suzume muttered darkly.

"Hyotei is always so noisy," Kikumaru complained. He glowered at the crowd as if he could shut them up with his eyes.

Aiko was carrying Kimiko on her back; the latter peacefully snoozing. "How can she sleep with this crowd?" Kikumaru exclaimed in astonishment. Then he noticed the giant headphones she was wearing on her head. With a mischievous grin, he stealthily crept up, preparing to snatch the headphones off her ears…

Until a single glare from Aiko stopped him dead.

He swallowed, laughed nervously, and backed off. Funny how that girl really didn't need to learn the language to communicate.

"HYOTEI. HYOTEI. HYOTEI. HYO-"

Suddenly the noise stopped. The Seigaku regulars immediately snapped their heads up, looking for the source of silence. A lone gray-haired figure stood in the middle of the courts, his finger pointed to the sky.

"It'll be me!" Atobe declared, and the crowd erupted in cheers. The Seigaku team half-expected the crowd to start throwing confetti up into the air.

"He's not even playing now," Momoshiro grumbled. "What's with the theatrics?"

"Smug bastard…" Kaidoh fshhhhed in agreement.

Ryoma couldn't hide his smile. "Monkey king is Monkey king…"

~X~

"We will now begin Doubles two! Seishun Gakuen, Momoshiro-Kimura pair!"

"You ready, Namazu-chan?" Suzume rested her racket against her shoulder casually, waiting for her partner.

"Are you kidding me?" Sayaka grinned and pulled her body back into a triple flip, landing right at the service line. Her eyes glowed in anticipation. "I was born ready."

The crowd dissolved into awed whispers. "What was that…"

"Show off," Suzume shook her head, but the tone was affectionate.

"Hyotei Gakuen, Gamaro-Omae pair!"

Upon hearing the announcement, both the Seigaku girls turned to survey their opponents. Unfortunately for both girls, their eyes had to travel upwards. "Holy shit, she's tall…" Sayaka whispered, feeling like a midget. Sayaka was actually the tallest among all the girls on the Seigaku team, with Aiko coming in as a close second. But this girl, Gamaro, dwarfed her. 'This is what normal people feel like next to me, I guess…' she thought to herself wryly.

Gamaro's partner, Omae, was average height, but she looked extremely short next to her partner. Suzume took in the fierce look in her eye and the defined muscles in her arms. 'Her height might be average, but her skills certainly won't be.' She was definitely not to be underestimated.

"One set match! Omae to serve!"

Sayaka and Suzume both took their places. The red-haired girl tossed her bangs out of her green eye and stared down her opponents, almost as if she was daring them. 'Try me.'

Omae threw the ball up. BAM.

A second later it was bouncing behind them.

"Fifteen-love!"

Sayaka whirled around. "…the hell?" She hadn't even seen the ball. How did it end up behind her? She clenched her hand around her tennis racket to hide the trembling. "Oi, Kimura…"

Suzume shrugged as if she was unimpressed, but Sayaka noticed how she sharpened her gaze onto the server.

That was no ordinary serve.

Omae served again. BAM.

Of all the fancy serves they expected, they didn't expect something like that. It was pure destructive force. However, Suzume wasn't about to let it get away from her this time. She sprinted up front, but the ball slipped passed her and she swung at air. With a loud 'clang', it bounced into the fence. The crowd hushed in astonishment, but she just looked down at her arm and swung her racket a few times, dissatisfied. "Che."

"Thirty-love!"

"W-what's with that serve?" Horio stammered in shock.

"That's nearly on the same level as your bullet serve, Momoshiro," Inui said.

"Yeah…" he responded. "But for a girl to hit that, that's pretty good…"

"Muscle training," Aiko said, noting the strong muscles in her arms, just like hers. "She's done muscle training."

"A lot of it too, it seems," Kawamura agreed.

Omae sneered at them, brandishing her racket like a sword. "How do you like my serve?" she taunted.

"I don't," Suzume replied directly.

Several Seigaku team members had to bite on their lips to hide their laughter. Suzume was as arrogant as ever, no matter how grave the situation was.

Omae served again, and it really was like watching a gun being fired. BANG.

Only this time the bullet was stopped. Suzume raced down the court and swung an almighty swing with her racket, letting out a yell. It connected, causing most of the crowd to start in surprise.

"Good shot!" Akane exclaimed, clasping a hand. The ball soared over the net and far out of the reach of the other two.

"Not bad," Omae said as the ball whizzed by. Then she smirked. "But…"

They gasped as a tall, ominous shadow suddenly appeared.

It only took Gamaro two strides to reach the ball.

"Forty-love!"

Oishi let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding. They almost had that point. "She knows how to use her height to her best advantage."

"Even if the ball's on the opposite side of the court," Inui murmured. "She would only need a few steps to catch up to it."

"Her partner's fast, too," Akane commented, watching as another rally began with that explosive serve. Suzume managed to return it once more with a reckless backhand, the ball just barely staying in the court. "And she has to be. She needs to get into position in order to make that big swing."

"Just like Kawamura-senpai's Hadokyuu, right?" Katsuo asked.

"Exactly."

The ball bounced up, high, and Omae leaped for the sky. Her body made a perfect arc as she slammed her racket down on the ball. Her smash was like a meteor. The impact knocked the racket from Sayaka's hands.

"Game, Hyotei. One game to love."

Sayaka felt her blood go cold. She could barely even see the ball, how was she supposed to hit it? 'She's so strong…' she thought, her eye following the girl. Before entering the match, Sayaka actually believed that she stood a pretty good chance against Hyotei. She never thought that they'd be monsters. That serve, the sheer power in Omae's swing looked like it would snap her arm in half. Her thoughts drifted back to the arm wrestling match she had with her brother in the mountains.

'"Maybe I should work on some more muscle training… in case any of my opponents play power tennis, you know? What if Kawamura-senpai has a girl counterpart?"'

She cringed at her own words. It was always on her mind to work on basics like muscle training and footwork, but other things had taken over and she'd never gotten around to doing it. Muscle training was mundane and boring and just so much work. Why would she do that when she could work on her acrobatics instead? Now she was regretting the fact that she'd brushed it lightly aside. 'Her shots, they're too strong…'

The next game involved them both scrambling around each other, trying desperately to hit the balls back. Even catching up to the shots was near impossible. Omae's shots were more than just powerful, they were well timed, and Gamaro could reach any ball. Sayaka felt like they saw right through her. When she lobbed, Omae would smash. When she hit a cross shot, Gamaro would fetch it. And when she volleyed, they would lob it right behind her.

"Game, Hyotei! Two games to love!"

"Those two are doing surprisingly well…" Akane commented.

"You mean the Hyotei pair?" Inui asked. "Well, we knew they were going to be skilled."

"No, I mean our pair."

"EHHH?" Horio exclaimed in disbelief after making sure that Akane wasn't sarcastic. "What are you talking about! We're two games down and we haven't even scored a point!"

"But that's because of a difference in skill," Akane said, watching as Gamaro served an ace past the Seigaku pair.

"Well… isn't that bad?" Horio asked confusedly, exchanging befuddled glances with the other freshmen. Several regulars also looked at her for an explanation.

"Somehow, in this short a time…" Chiharu said softly. "Suzume-chan learned how to play doubles."

"That's right," Oishi said, realization dawning on him. "They haven't had any combination issues!" Their combination wasn't flawless, but it was good. Very good, in fact, he thought to himself as Sayaka covered the court while Suzume made the shot. Especially considering the last time that Suzume played doubles she collided with her partner.

"It's astonishing how quickly she learned that," Kawamura said. "Even yesterday their partnership still looked rough. It took me at least a week to learn doubles properly."

"What does this mean though?" Momoshiro demanded. "Their combination is on par with Hyotei but their skill isn't?"

"Exactly that," Akane said.

"Well then, what does it mean for them?"

"It means that how they're playing is not enough," she said, her eyes flashing with a hard light. "If they want to win, they're going to have to bring it to a whole new level."

~X~

Sayaka cartwheeled on one hand, her racket held in her other. Just as she swung at the ball, it bounced upwards and almost hit her. She landed harshly on her feet, heart pounding, as the ball rolled to a stop behind her.

"Sayaka-chan is getting frustrated…" Chiharu said quietly.

"Let's see how Suzume deals with that," Akane replied.

The black-haired gymnast swore under her breath. Her limbs felt sluggish and choppy instead of swift and fluid. The ball was just coming too fast. How was she supposed to calculate the speed and toss up her racket if she couldn't keep up with the shots? Something stabbed at her when she remembered that she had yet to return a single ball.

Suzume knew that her partner was struggling, but she wasn't about to dwell on it. 'Whatever's bothering her, she'll get over it.' Sayaka wasn't the type to let something ruin her game. Izumi was. Reina was. Heck, even Kikumaru and Momoshiro – if something was detrimental enough, they would have a hard time regaining their focus. Not Sayaka. She was so easygoing; she could bounce back from anything. Literally.

"Game, Hyotei! Three games to love!"

"Yo, Namazu-chan," Suzume was looking at her, a little critically and a little disdainfully. "What happened to your Rhythmic Gymnastics?"

Her eyes went back to the other side of the court. Her words were like a whisper. "I can't do it…"

"What?"

"I can't do it, okay?" Sayaka blurted frantically. "I can't!" To her horror, she felt tears prick the corners of her eyes and looked down to hide them. 'I won't let you see me cry.' A faint red crept up into her cheeks from embarrassment.

Suzume surveyed her silently for a moment before making a "tch" noise. "Dude, chill out."

She felt like throwing her racket at the ground. Or at her partner. "What do you mean, 'chill out'! We're three games behind!"

"Really?" Suzume said, sarcasm dripping from every word. "I hadn't noticed."

Her belittling response stunned Sayaka for a moment. Then she lashed out, "Do you even care?"

Suzume leveled her with a stare, right into her eyes. "If you ask me, you're the one that doesn't seem to care. You're already thinking of running away."

There was a tense moment where Sayaka just glared at Suzume and the latter stared defiantly back. And then she realized. 'She's not the enemy.'

Something within Sayaka crumbled. "I can't…" Her voice was low and hollow. "The shots are too fast, too powerful. I can't let go of my racket. I can barely keep up while doing basic gymnastics. I just…"

"Namazu-chan," she cut her off brutally. "Get your shit together."

There was a beat of silence where Sayaka didn't know how to respond. Then her blood boiled. "Excuse me?"

But Suzume had already turned away and took her position.

"Hey!" Sayaka shouted at her back. Still no response. She was squeezing her racket so tightly that her palm was hurting; the grooves of the grip were probably leaving red imprints in her skin. This was supposed to be her partner, her teammate. 'How can she say that? Can't she see that I need her help?'

Horio almost leapt behind Kikumaru in fright after seeing that fiery argument. "This is bad…"

"Is Sayaka's skill more exceptional when she is splenetic?" Reina asked Momoshiro curiously.

"Does Sayaka-san play better when she's angry?" Inui translated immediately, before he even had time to look confused. "Because Kimura is intentionally provoking her," he explained.

Momoshiro shook his head slowly, uncertain. "I don't think anyone plays better when they're angry."

'That's not true. You do, and Kaidoh does.' Inui mused to himself. He looked back to the court, his notebook open. What happened next would be interesting.

~X~

' "Get your shit together."'

She bit her lip angrily. What was that supposed to mean? 'I just can't do my gymnastics right now because I can't even keep up with the shots. Why can't she understand that?'

' "Get your shit together."'

Easy for her to say. At least Suzume had enough strength to return Omae's shots.

She should've known that she would be outmatched in skill in a match with Hyotei. At this point, she hadn't even been able to return a shot to that side of the net. She hadn't even been able to hit a ball without it knocking her racket away. How could she add acrobatics to that if she couldn't even just hit the damn ball back?

She almost felt like laughing bitterly. Reina had overanalyzed her situation so, so much. Her biggest obstacle wasn't people reading her movements and memorizing her routine. It was being able to hit the ball.

' "Get your shit together."'

Couldn't Suzume see that this wasn't a temporary case of nerves or a bad day? She just couldn't do it. She was physically incapable of doing it. 'She can't just expect me to be able to do this…'

Out of the blue, something came to mind and she stopped. 'Wait…'

Her own words echoed in her mind. 'She can't just expect me to be able to do this…'

'Wait,' Clarity hit her. 'She expects me to be able to do this?'

'She thinks I can do it. She believes in me…' Suzume, the sparrow that didn't trust anyone, had put her trust in her. Somehow, this bit of knowledge made Sayaka feel so much more capable. Even if she didn't think she could do it, Suzume, of all people, believed she could. A small, reluctant grin made its way onto her face. 'Well, I guess I can't disappoint, right?' she thought to herself, gripping her racket tightly and lowering her torso in anticipation. 'Besides, if I have enough strength in my arms to launch myself a couple meters into the air, why shouldn't I be able to return a shot?' She paused. 'Well, I'm pretty light. But whatever.'

Suzume slid to the end of the court to hit a flat shot back. The return went to the other side, and she sprinted after it. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Sayaka had stopped moving. 'She better not have given up,' Suzume thought threateningly, as the ball met her racket. The force stretched the gut of her racket and she almost lost control of the shot. With a glare at Omae, she pushed against the force as hard as she could, sending the ball over the net. 'I'll take you on myself if I have to.'

"It's rare to see Kimura on the defensive…" Inui commented, writing it down in his green book.

"She doesn't have a choice," Fuji concluded. "They're being overwhelmed by Hyotei's power."

"Sayaka-chan isn't really doing her acrobatics either," Kikumaru mentioned. "Look, she's just standing there…"

"She hasn't been able to return a single shot," Aiko said, watching Suzume run across the court again and again. She was reminded of the game against Fudomine where she tried to take their opponents on by herself and almost winced at the memory. She was so bad at doubles back then.

"Damn!" Suzume spat as she dove for another ball, already knowing she was too far. Her arms scraped the ground painfully.

Out of nowhere, a black shape shot upwards into a somersault and slammed her racket into the ball on its bounce. It skidded to the very edge of the court, barely within the boundaries. As she landed, she gave Suzume a grin. "I got your back."

"Forty-fifteen!"

Momoshiro let out a triumphant whoop. "Yes! That's how we do it!"

"That's one point, baka. Don't get so excited," Kaidoh growled. But there was a relieved look in his eyes.

Sayaka shook out her short black hair. "Took me a while, but I think I got used to the power," she said. At least she wasn't scared anymore. 'If I returned one shot, it means I can return more.' She turned to her opponents. "Let's give it to them, you sparrow."

Suzume had to resist the urge to snort. "Heh. You had me worried there for a sec. Screw you, Namazu-chan."

~X~

"Looks like you've met your match in acrobatics, Gakuto…" Oshitari mused thoughtfully, after seeing Sayaka's impressive move.

The short, red-violet haired tennis player scoffed. "What are you talking about? It was only an aerial somersault. Anyone can do it."

The crowd suddenly gasped as Sayaka threw her racket at least twenty feet into the air.

"What—why?" Choutarou choked on his drink. "Is she giving up?"

They watched in shocked silence as she twisted through the air in an elaborate spiral. The racket was spinning as it plummeted back to earth. She reached out both her hands, catching it perfectly, just in time to whack a powerful backhand shot straight to the left corner.

The shot bounced and missed Gamaro's racket by a centimeter.

Sayaka landed to cheers. (Mostly from the Seigaku team, but there were some Hyotei students clapping in awe as well.) She grinned and did a victory sign at her audience.

"C-can anyone do that?" Choutarou stammered.

Mukahi swallowed his pride. "Fine! She's a little better…"

"Being able to return Omae's forehand is impressive," one of the other girls said.

"And being able to return it while doing all those tricks is even more so," another one added. "She's a lot better than you, Mukahi." The red headed Hyotei member just scowled.

Fuuma noticed the way Sayaka's wrists were trembling and didn't say anything.

Shishido kept his eyes on her. "It can't be helped. That's the difference when you've had professional training."

Mukahi turned to look at his teammate. "You know an awful lot about her, Shishido. What, do you have a thing for her or something?"

"What are you talking about!"

"Ooh, defensive," Fuuma murmured mischievously, pulling out an old issue of the school magazine. She perused it briefly. "It says here that Shishido Ryou likes the tomboyish type…"

"You printed that!" His hand grabbed for it. "Gimme that, you—" He lunged as she lifted it out of reach.

Shigohara tilted her head and continued to watch the game, choosing to focus her eyes on the more important matter in front of her. She watched as Sayaka flew upwards into a corkscrew before landing, catching her racket, and taking another point. "She's not bad to look at."

"She has nice legs," Oshitari noticed.

"She's got Omae and Gamaro backed into a corner," Atobe mentioned, his face a mask of seriousness. "Seigaku is going to take back the lead."

"Not yet," Hiyoshi suddenly spoke up, and all of them looked at him in surprise. His eyes were glowing. "Not yet. Gamaro still has that."

~X~

"Game, Seigaku! One game to three!"

After the referee announced the score, they hi-fived with their rackets. "Looks like I still got it!" Sayaka proclaimed cheerfully.

"Barely," Suzume retorted.

"Psh, details, details!" She waved it away with a laugh.

The red-haired girl felt a genuine smile surface. "You really don't let anything bother you for long, do you?" she murmured. She envied that.

Sayaka didn't hear her. "Huh?"

"Nothing," She glanced at the other side, and saw Atobe and a brown-haired kid talking to their opponents. They looked too calm. "Hey, we can't get cocky though," she said, her tone solemn. "I get the feeling that something is coming."

"We're two games behind! There's no way I'm getting cocky," Sayaka discreetly massaged her wrists.

"Good," Suzume told her.

Sayaka couldn't resist a wicked grin. "But you know what? I think we could take 'em."

~X~

"Hey, Momo…" Oishi said. "Have you ever seen Sayaka-san do a two-handed forehand before?"

"No. What?" Momoshiro turned his head back to the game. His sister did a triple flip, landed on her feet and swung with both her hands. "She usually has a one-handed forehand and one handed backhand. That's weird."

"It may be to give her shots more vicissitude…" Reina said lightly. "As the conglomerati-Ahem," she coughed as Akane kicked her. "She might want more acut-uh, variety in her shots."

Sayaka shot towards the sky in a double somersault, landed in a full twisting handspring, and hit a drive volley. "Really," Akane said dryly. "Variety? Somehow I doubt that."

~X~

Her wrists were starting to really bother her. It was more than a twinge of pain now; they felt like she had stuck them in an ice furnace. She smiled internally at her use of an oxymoron to describe the pain, but it was accurate. They were becoming numb with pain. Using two-handed shots were alleviating the pain a little, but it was messing up her accuracy too. The game was tied at three, which means she would have to hold out for at least three more games. 'I can't worry about that right now.' Her eyes snapped back to focus on the ball; it was coming in a half-lob. She did an aerial forward and brought her racket down hard, trying not to flinch.

Gamaro caught the ball and swung it back, right behind where Sayaka landed. Her landing problem was almost gone, but even so, her balance faltered as she tried to step backwards quickly. She wasn't fast enough, and the ball got away.

From the back, Suzume rammed her racket into the ball, scoring a point. She looked at her partner and gave a small nod. "I got your back too."

Sayaka gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks."

"You know, they aren't really like Momo and Kaidoh," Kikumaru suddenly declared as a new rally began.

The two second years both spun at the sound of their name. "What?"

"Kimura-chan and Sayaka-chan!" Kikumaru clarified. "They reminded us of you two when they first joined, because they argued a lot. But they actually like each other. Sort of."

Inui pulled out an old notebook and flipped to the middle. "Personality-wise, Sayaka-san is a lot more easygoing than Momoshiro is."

"You have our personality traits in there?"

"She's breezy," Akane said.

There was a pause. "I like that," Inui decided, writing it down in his notebook. "'Breezy'."

"On the other hand, Suzume is a lot more apathetic than Kaidoh is. So they argue, except it's mostly Suzume making snarky comments and Sayaka brushing them off. Suzume just adopts an 'I don't care' attitude most of the time."

"But she does care…" Momoshiro said.

"Yes," Chiharu smiled a serene smile. "More than you know."

~X~

Izumi, who had not spoken a word since the match began, suddenly said very, very quietly. "I don't like this."

Fuji was the only one who heard her. "What?"

She didn't tear her eyes from the game. "I don't like this," she repeated. "I wonder what Akane is up to."

~X~

Sayaka's breath quickened as she ran after another shot. The momentum was all Seigaku. She needed to ride this wave out for as long as possible. A sharp pain cut through her wrists as she swung and she bit her lip in pain. 'If I even last that long…' As the ball went to the other end of the court, she glanced quickly at her wrists. They looked fine. She wondered how many people knew that they were being strained.

Reina probably knew, she thought. And if Reina knew, that creepy Hyotei girl probably knew too. Which meant that she could potentially tell the Hyotei pair to target her. Suzume hadn't seemed to notice, though. Sayaka briefly pondered on bringing it up and asking for her assistance. But at the same time, there was a strong likelihood that Suzume would just tell her to suck it up.

Just as she was thinking, her concentration jolted back to the game. Gamaro was approaching the net fast.

Instinctively, Sayaka took a few steps back. "Christ, she's tall…"

The looming girl took an unusually large swing and hit a backhand, the ball coming right at her.

Sayaka stood her ground, prepared her arm, and swung.

The ball shattered.

There was no other way to describe it. She swore the ball became a million yellow pieces right in front of her eyes, before materializing diagonally behind her and bouncing away.

"What. I- What?"

"I knew they were hiding something," Suzume cursed under her breath. "Damn Hyotei."

"Inui-senpai, did that ball just… dissolve?" Horio asked, his mind blown.

"It's an illusion," Tezuka said.

"Tezuka's right," Inui confirmed. "The ball's irregular movement, along with the position of the sun causes an illusion of the ball dissolving. She must've waited for the sun to come out in order to use it."

A cold sweat broke out on Sayaka's forehead. She had no idea that shot was even possible. It was nothing short of magic. How was one supposed to beat magic? She forced herself to take a breath, trying not to remind herself that her wrists were nearly at their limit.

Another rally started, and before long Gamaro was charging the next again. Suzume crouched and stood her ground, her eyes fixated on the ball. 'Let me see what you are." With a bang, Gamaro hit it, and the second year fearlessly ran to get the ball.

Except… there wasn't a ball.

Whipping her head around, she saw it recompose itself and bounce away. "Damn."

The Hyotei members were smirking. "Gamaro's Firecracker…" Oshitari said. "It's impressive as ever."

"Guess she finally pulled it out," Shigohara murmured. "Those Seigaku girls must have something…"

"Firecracker, huh…" Inui murmured as he wrote it down. "Good data…"

"Sayaka-chan is going for a return!" Chiharu exclaimed as she saw Sayaka retreat to the baseline, intent on returning the ball when it came together and bounced.

"I see! If she hits it back at the baseline instead of volleying it at the net, it'll be a whole ball!" Oishi figured out.

"Well, that's not a good idea…" Fuuma cautioned with a secretive smile.

"Don't you know what firecrackers do?" Shigohara asked in a superior tone. "They…"

The ball met Sayaka's racket.

"…explode."

BOOM! The next thing she knew, the impact had knocked her backwards straight into the fence. Pain seared across her back as she collided.

"Sayaka-senpai!" Sakuno cried, horrified.

"Sayaka!" Momoshiro stepped over the banister, intent to rush to her aid, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Wait," Akane said. She nodded her head towards the girl on the ground, who was already shakily getting back to her feet.

The green wires cut into the hollows of her shoulders and damn it damn it it hurt. She crawled to her feet unsteadily, taking her time. The referee walked over, his expression anxious. "Are you okay? Can you continue?"

"You kidding me?" Sayaka tried her best to force out a smile. "The game isn't over yet."

Coach Ryuzaki made her come over to the bench where she inspected her wounds. Aside from a few scrapes here and there, it didn't look like she was very hurt. Then again, Sumire reminded herself, the wounds that were not on the skin were the worst. "We'll have you checked out properly at the hospital later."

"Aww, old lady, I'm fine."

"Hush you," Sumire smacked her on the side of her head affectionately. "And I see you've taken after your brother's bad habits. I'm not that old, you know."

"You're doing well, Sayaka-chan! Really acrobatic out there!" Kikumaru said encouragingly.

"I'm proud of you, sis," Momoshiro said.

Even Ryoma offered her a smile. "Nice, Sayaka-senpai."

"Sayaka."

She turned around to face Kaidoh, surprised by the use of her given name. "What's up?"

He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again. Then he growled "Don't die," and walked off.

She laughed. "I'll try not to. Or if I do, I'll bring Hyotei down with me."

Suzume kept a concerned eye on her partner. She looked fine – mostly just shocked from that shot. It was probably partially due to her low body weight that it blew her back by so much. Suddenly something made Suzume sharpen her gaze and frown.

Sayaka was rubbing her wrists behind her back.

The rest of the team couldn't see, but she had her back to Suzume. The second year's eye zeroed in on her partner's wrists. They appeared to be swelling a little, and she could see a faint redness from below the skin. Her medical knowledge told her that they were both sprained. 'How long has she endured that?'

"Ready Kimura?" Sayaka was saying as she walked back. "We're gonna—" She was suddenly cut off as Suzume took a hold of one of her wrists. She almost managed to keep a neutral expression, but a tiny cringe escaped her.

"You need to tell me these things," she said quietly.

Sayaka pulled her wrist away defensively. "I thought you'd just tell me to suck it up."

Suzume didn't say anything and walked back to her position. 'Stupid catfish,' she thought. She briefly flashbacked to her first match with Sayaka. The latter was also sacrificing her wrist for that game. 'Stupid catfish and her stupid determination,' If Sayaka hadn't been showing off so much earlier, she probably could've put less strain on her wrist. 'But no, she had to go off and do all those crazy stunts. Damn show off. She's gonna get herself killed or something.' Her gaze traveled over to Hyotei. She didn't like the glint that was in Gamaro's eye. 'Oh great. She knows. Now she's going to target her weakness. I hate people who do that.' Of course, she was one of those people too.

Sure enough, after a couple rallies, Gamaro ruthlessly sent another Firecracker on a path straight at Sayaka.

Sayaka braced herself.

"MOVE." Suzume lunged forward and shoved Sayaka out of the way. The ball hit her racket with a devastating force. She gritted her teeth at the blow. 'Fuck, that's heavy.' It felt like she was trying to stop a bus. She dug her heels into the ground and pushed.

The ball flew over the fence.

"Oh?" Atobe remarked amusedly. "I didn't think there was a girl who could return Gamaro's Firecracker."

"I wouldn't call that a return, Atobe…" Shigohara said.

"No, but at the rate she's going, she'll be able return it. That's someone to keep your eye on. Right, Kabaji?"

"Usu," the second year loyally responded.

Suzume was panting slightly from the effort. It actually didn't hurt much, despite how her arm was twitching. Maybe there was too much adrenaline in her veins for her to feel pain.

"Hey."

She ignored her. 'You're the dumbest person in the world for thinking you could take another one of those.'

"Hey! Listen," Sayaka lowered her voice. "I need your help."

She bit back a laugh. "You think?"

"Shut up. I have an idea."

~X~

"They're up to something…" Kikumaru said.

The other regulars observed the game but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Sayaka was still running at the net, and Suzume was guarding the back again. It looked lie a regular doubles formation. "Why do you say that, Eiji-senpai?" Momoshiro asked. "Haven't they been doing this the whole time?"

"Sayaka looks different," Kikumaru tried to explain. "It looks like she's getting ready for something."

"Why don't you hit your Firecracker at me?" Suzume taunted as she hit the ball straight back at Gamaro. "You scared to see it actually returned?"

"Don't listen to her," Omae warned, volleying it back. "It's a trick."

'I know,' Gamaro smiled privately. 'Besides,' Her narrowed eyes locked onto Sayaka instead. 'You aren't my target.'

When the ball came back to her, Gamaro saw her chance. She lifted her arm back and readied her racket.

At that moment, Omae saw a tiny grin surface on Sayaka's face. "Kyo-chan, wait!" she cried to her partner in horror.

"Too late!" Gamaro hit the ball with enough strength to crush metal.

"Sayaka-senpai, watch out!" Sakuno shrieked from the sidelines.

Sayaka's grin grew. Almost in slow motion, she threw herself into a back flip to dodge it, her back arching beautifully. Out of nowhere, Suzume appeared, dashing out from under her, straight at Gamaro's shot.

"That's what Ryuzaki did during the Fudomine match!" Kachiro said excitedly. "Drive S!"

She spun her racket into a reverse grip.

"Oi!" Momoshiro said. "Is she going to…"

"Hya!" she shouted, and punched forward with all her might just as the ball began to dissolve. The moment her racket met the ball, there was a huge 'BANG!' It felt like something imploded. The enormous strength of the shot was accompanied with a hot gust of wind, almost blowing her backwards.

"I've never seen someone attack Gamaro's Firecracker head on!" Shigohara rose to her feet.

The ball was spinning against her racket furiously, trying to break through. There was a giant pressure on her arm. 'COME ON. COME ON.' Suzume pretended that there was a wall behind her, supporting her so that the ball couldn't push her back any farther. Suddenly, something that resembled a cannonball blasted from her racket. The ball hit the ground, sending tremors all around, and bounced far over the fence and out of sight.

There was a circular black scorch mark on where the ball landed.

The courts became dead quiet.

"L-Love-Fifteen!" Even the referee stuttered.

Tezuka nodded with appreciation.

"That was…" Momoshiro shook his head, swallowing. "She's crazy. The sparrow is crazy."

"I can't believe she took it directly," Kawamura said. "Even I wouldn't be sure about doing that."

"I can't believe that they swapped positions using acrobatics!" Kikumaru announced. "Sayaka really needs to teach me Drive S."

Suzume was breathing hard. She half expected her racket to be on fire after that shot. Wiping her forehead with her shirt, she summoned the strength to smirk at their opponents. "Told you I'd return it."

Gamaro served the ball furiously. "That was a lucky shot," she told herself unconvincingly. "There isn't a high school girl out there that can return your Firecracker. Aside from Shigohara, but that's because she's a beast."

The return came back to her. She was just about to hit a forehand before Omae ran in front and intercepted the shot.

"Oi! What the hell, Omae?"

"They want your Firecracker, Kyo-chan," Omae panted, grasping her racket. "Then they'll get it!"

Gamaro looked over and saw that they had switched places again. The red-haired punk girl was no doubt the stronger of the two. Not only that, but the other girl's wrists should be past the limit now. 'The other one can't take it.'

Omae saw an opening. "Now!" she screamed. "Do it now!"

"She can still hit it?" Katsuo asked.

"How much power does this girl have?" Momoshiro said disbelievingly.

"Is she a monster?" Horio yelped.

Gamaro pulled her racket back and hit the ball with a fire of passion.

It was a straight shot to the back. "Suzume's not going to make it," Akane said, seeing how the second year was too far. It was a very well placed shot. That girl – Omae – had amazing timing. They were deliberating avoiding Suzume's head-on challenge, at the same time targeting Sayaka, in order to secure a point.

Suzume didn't even try to move. Instead, she turned her head and called to the girl behind her, "You wanted this one, right?"

"Thanks for that!" Sayaka grinned as she raced back to the baseline.

"No! Don't return it!" Oishi cried in concern. "You'll injure yourself!"

Sayaka got to the baseline but kept going back.

"She's going to hit it when it's at its least powerful…" Izumi realized. "As far back as possible." Air resistance would lessen the power, making the return more manageable. 'It would be less of a toll on her wrists…'

"But after it bounces…" Inui pointed out. "It'll be high above her head. She won't be able to reach it." Due to the larger power in the shot, the ball was always bouncing up at a high angle and right over the fence. There was no way Sayaka could leap that high for a smash. Even Momoshiro and Aiko would not be able to reach it.

The ball bounced sky high.

"She'll never reach it!"

"She can't jump that high!"

Sayaka grinned. And then she tossed her racket up, all the way over the ball. Immediately after, she did a double salto forward, getting as high as she could. The Seigaku regulars could only watch, hope flaring in their eyes. Their hearts were beating in a rapid rhythm.

"She's not going to make it," Kachiro said dejectedly. Her jump only brought her halfway up to the height of the ball, which was still ascending quickly.

Suddenly, there was a clang sound as Sayaka's foot met the green wire fence, causing it to quiver.

"What! She's not going to…"

Using her foot to push off, she ricocheted off the fence and upwards. She saw her goal. The racket and the ball merged as one in front of her eyes. For a moment, she felt free, the wind rushing through her ears as she soared above the earth. Then her eyes locked onto the racket. 'Let's do this.' She curled into a tight ball and somersaulted forward. At the last possible instant, she snapped open like a switchblade, plucking her racket neatly from the air, and bringing it down on the ball with every ounce of strength she had.

The ball crashed onto the court. Gamaro dove for it, but maybe she was tired from hitting those Firecrackers, or maybe it was a stroke of luck, but the ball evaded her and hit the fence, untouched.

The crowd went wild.

"That was the coolest thing ever!"

"AMAZING! Pure win!"

"Who knew Seigaku had someone like that?"

Even some of the Hyotei team members were applauding reluctantly.

Kachiro, Katsuo, and Horio were clutching each other and weeping. "That shot was so beautiful!"

"Sayaka's Jack knife," Momoshiro said to himself. "Not bad at all."

Sayaka felt like she was floating down to earth, as light as air. The moment she landed on her legs, it was like gravity reclaimed her, and everything got heavy instantly. Her legs buckled from the effort. She involuntarily fell on her back, chest heaving. Her arm like lead, but she lifted her fist to the sky. "Don."

Suzume could only shake her head at her, although her eye shone with an unspoken admiration.

Sayaka was wild, and reckless, and bursting with talent. She had an explosive energy and a spark in her personality. "Hmm…" Ryoma murmured. "I think we have a firecracker in our team too…"

~X~

"Game and match! Seigaku's Momoshiro-Kimura pair!"

It was an overwhelming feeling. Like nothing was real. Sayaka felt like crying, cheering, laughing. When you dedicated your heart and soul to a single game, coming out as a winner was the best feeling in the world. "We did it, Kimura," Her voice got louder as if she was suddenly just coming to terms with it. "We did it! We won," Sayaka reached out a hand to her partner, only for her to ignore her and turn away. "Eh?"

Suzume stormed off to the bench purposefully, without a second glance, leaving her in a befuddled wake. She followed, puzzled. "What's wrong?"

The red-haired girl reached under the bench and yanked out the first aid kit like she wanted to destroy it. Clasping a hand around one of Sayaka's wrists, she dragged her over. "Namazu-chan, you are fucking ridiculous."

"You're wrists!" Oishi suddenly noticed, going into worry mode. He didn't even reprimand Suzume on her use of profanity.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow!" Sayaka squealed as Suzume bound her wrists with cloth, being none too gentle. "Not so hard! OW! Dammit, you sparrow!"

Suzume gave her a pointed look. There was a gleam in her eye, as if they were in on a private joke. "Suck it up."

"…Shut up." She scowled. But there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

~X~

"Did your plan work, Akane-san?"

Akane finished taking a long drink from the fountain and glanced up, swiping her hand across her mouth. "What plan?"

Fuji chuckled. "I may not know you as well as Watanabe-san or Oshiro-san, but I know you were up to something."

She merely looked at him.

"You knew Sayaka-san's wrists were going to be strained," he said. "You knew that she was going to have to change tactics."

"Did Izumi tell you?" Akane guessed. "She's gotten more observant. Good."

'Izumi noticed after Sayaka started doing just aerials and aerial stunts. She stopped doing stuff that required her to use her hands for support.' "She is a choreographer after all."

"Sayaka was too much of a show-off…" Akane said. "Against a strong opponent, you can't show off all the time. It'll end up hurting you. Today, she learned how to pick her moments."

"And her wrists? What if she'd gotten seriously hurt?"

"I trusted her to figure it out before that happened. I have a lot of faith in her."

"You could've just told her that Hyotei was too strong for her to be stunting all the time…" Fuji pointed out.

"Nothing is as effective as hands-on experience. She'll remember it now, and she'll think that she came to this realization herself. Besides," Akane added. "Suzume learned how to play defense. And, more importantly," She briefly recalled how Sayaka came up with the way to combat Gamaro's shot. "How to follow orders."

Fuji stared at her incredulously before laughing. "Akane-san, you are a tricky one."

"Why thank you. I'll take that as a compliment."

~X~

'A young girl was running into the house. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement, and her hair was slightly mussed. In her hand, she clutched a golden trophy. She was still in her gymnastics leotard.

"Daddy, Daddy!" she called as she ran around looking. "Guess what!"

Her father was watching TV in the living room with her brother. "Daddy! Look! I-"

Suddenly she stopped as both her brother and her dad were yelling animatedly at the television. "Beautiful shot!"

"You see that, son?" Her father pointed at something on the screen. "Nadal is going to take Federer in the next game. Watch."

"No dad, I think Federer is going to get the game back. You'll see!" Suddenly they both shouted again. "Ace! He hit an ace! His serve is awesome!"

"Beautiful," her father repeated. "Beautiful."

Sayaka could never understand how a yellow ball was beautiful.

"Oh hey sis!" Takeshi finally noticed her standing there. "What's up?"

"Nothing!" She hid her trophy behind her back and tried to look cheerful. "I just wanted to see where you guys were. Are we getting dinner soon?"

"Right after the game," her dad promised.

She went to her room and opened the bottom drawer of her cabinet. It was filled with medals and awards, and two other trophies. She fingered the metallic colors for a moment, lost in her thoughts. Then she placed her newest trophy in and shut the drawer firmly.

Sayaka pulled out her phone to check the time and saw that she had an unread text from earlier that morning. She opened it.

'Hey Princess

Sorry I can't make it to your game today! I love you.

Dad.'

A soft, almost drained sigh escaped her. She couldn't help but think, if Seigaku beat Hyotei and won the girl's prefectural tournament… she would just have another medal to hide in her bottom drawer.

~X~

"Fuji-kun! Fuji-kun! It is you!"

Fuji barely had time to turn before the person had grabbed both of his hands. "Can we go play a match now? Please? Pretty please?"

He chuckled uncomfortably. "I think I need to watch the next game, Akutagawa-san. But we will have a rematch sometime."

Jirou's face fell evidently. He looked like a sad puppy. Then he saw someone else and it lit up again, as if someone had pressed a button. "Is that Marui-kun? Marui-kun! It is you!" He raced off, and Fuji was relieved at Jirou's sudden distraction. Then he saw where Jirou was headed. "Wait, that's—" He stopped himself. Now that Jirou's attention was diverted, it suited him just fine. Besides, this would be very amusing. He shut his mouth and leaned against the fence to watch.

"Marui-kun! Marui-kun! Yoo-hoo!"

Kimiko let out a huge yawn. She was hardly awake. She trained so late last night, she didn't even remember crawling in bed and going to sleep. As she opened her eyes, squinting in the light, she could barely make out a blurry shape dancing up and down in front of her eyes.

"I knew it was you! The one and only genius, Marui Bunta!"

"Bunta…?" she echoed hazily.

"You've grown your hair out, Jackal," Jirou said as he picked up one of Aiko's braids. "I like it. Marui-kun!" His attention was back on her. "Let's go play a match!" He suddenly stopped and looked at her properly. "Huh? Why are you in a Seigaku jersey and wearing a skirt?" He pulled at the cloth. "Is this like one of those Scottish things? You're so cool, Marui-kun!"

Kimiko opened her eyes again and stared at him. Then what he said registered in her brain.

She chucked her lollipop at him.

Hard.

It hit him in the middle of his forehead. He slumped over almost instantly.

"Uh…" Aiko wasn't sure what to do with this unconscious body in front of her. Who knew lollipops could be used as weapons too? "Can we just leave him here?" She was already carrying Kimiko on her back and would not appreciate the extra weight.

"Can we throw him in a ditch?" was her response. She was awake and fuming. She looked like devil horns were about to sprout out of her head.

Aiko made a mental note never to mistake Kimiko for her cousin Bunta. Not that it was possible. How this kid had managed to do it was beyond her.

"Oh dear," Another voice came. "Rie, would you look at this? It would appear Jirou's been taken."

"So it would seem…"

Kimiko looked up as two girls approached them, both in Hyotei uniforms. One of them was tall, with white-blond hair that had a streak of blue in it. Her attitude reminded her a little of Suzume.

"I don't think it was a good idea to knock our teammate out…" the girl with a blue streak said warningly. "What did he do to you?"

"He mistook me for a boy!" Kimiko said indignantly. 'And not just any boy, but Bunta!'

The shorter girl burst into giggles. Her black curls bounced as she moved. (That was not the only thing that bounced. Let's just say Nanjirou Echizen would have a river of a nosebleed if he saw her.) The other girl – Rie? – grinned, "Yeah, that would be a good reason to knock him out."

"He mistook my partner for one too!" Kimiko added huffily.

"Oh dear!" That sent the girl with black hair into more giggles.

"I guess for that we have to wake him up and let you knock him out again," the girl with the blue streak said with a wink, her golden eyes twinkling. She kicked him lightly. "Oi, Jirou. Up you get."

There was no response.

The shorter girl bent over him to inspect him. "I don't believe this! He fell asleep again!"

She sighed. "All right, well we can't leave him here," Then the blonde-ish girl picked him up and swung him over her shoulder as if he was as light as a feather. "Let's get back to the group. We'll see you later!" She waved at them.

"Ah… okay."

'No big deal. Because every average girl can just lift a high school boy and carry him away. Haha. Jokes.' Seeing this made Aiko somewhat apprehensive. Hyotei clearly had plenty of talent left on their team.

~X~

"Hey Ayumi, I'm guessing those were our opponents for the next match?"

"Hmm?" Ayumi glanced back, black curls framing her face. "I guess so. What do you think?"

Rie smiled. "You know, I'm actually looking forward to this one. It seems like it's going to be fun."

~X~

END CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

So being Momo's little sis is a lot harder than it looks, huh?

UP NEXT: Aiko and Kimiko take on Hyotei's doubles one, Ayumi and Rie! Aiko finally has a technique that she's been working on, but is it enough?

I know a lot of characters were absent in this chapter and there was zero romance. I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not. LOL. You'll get your romance soon. I WILL be writing a Valentine's day and White day chapter, no worries.

I'm also going to be putting in character facts at the end of every chapter.

Fun facts about Momoshiro Sayaka:

-Her favorite food is pizza.

-When she was in middle school, people called her a giraffe because of her height. She is also self-conscious of her height and thinks her chest is too flat.

-She has a turtle. Its name is Turtle.

-She's the worst cook in the world. Once, her brother had to help her scrape burnt popcorn off the ceiling. Yeah, don't ask.

-She likes her hands and thinks they're her best asset. She can also do a really good French manicure. It's probably the only girly thing about her.

If any of you are interested in following my journey after this heartbreak, I have created a tumblr called gettingoveraguy . tumblr. com (with the spaces omitted). Please follow/reblog/leave comments or whatnot. It's my first tumblr.

In the New Prince of Tennis Manga, there's this character Irie(?) that has a similar style to Akane. Just so you know, I published Akane first. Haha. (I wonder if I can copyright my ideas.)

Please check out two short stories I wrote: Faded and Spring. They're both oneshot FujiOC and (sort of)TezukaOC, both future-fic, both spin-offs of TCAFS.

Also review. Because every review is read and appreciated, and they really make me happy. (and happy me likes to write. Just so you know.)

(Edit. I realize that there is a tennis error where Suzume returns two serves in a row. I'll fix it eventually but ask that you overlook it for now.)