Dislaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Prince of Tennis!

...

"Parseltongue"

...

...

It wasn't until Hari went to bed that she realised that she hadn't talked to Yoshida after learning that she could join the boys' team. Lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling had her thinking about the sad and yet determined look that had been on Yoshida's face. She did look to be sorry about everything.

Hari sighed and turned to her side as she tried to find a comfortable position. She knew that it hadn't been Yoshida's fault for how the other girls treated her, but at the same time she didn't feel like the other girl had stuck up for her either.

She resigned as Captain, a small voice whispered in Hari's mind.

It was clear to Hari that Yoshida had worked hard to become the Captain of the girls' team and one of the few who actually took tennis seriously. It was not something that Hari would or could dismiss and it had a bad taste in her mouth to know that she had been a part of the reason why Yoshida had resigned.

Hari was confused. She didn't know what to do or if she should do anything at all. Was it her problem that Yoshida had decided to resign? Hari hadn't told her to do so, she hadn't even told her what the other girls had said or done. She hadn't meant for Yoshida to resign.

Doesn't mean that you shouldn't do something about it, the same voice in her mind said. It sounded very much like Hermione.

Frustrated and confused Hari finally fell asleep despite not knowing more about what she should do about this.

...

"Laugh it up," Hari grumbled as she gave Ryoma a glare. Momoshiro was laughing as he watched them.

"I will," Ryoma said.

"What are you talking about?" Momoshiro finally decided to break into the bickering only to have Hari glare at him before turning away with a huff.

"Oyaji decided that Hari should stay home from school today and play tennis with him," Ryoma explained with a laugh, "also thought she should be homeschooled from now on."

Momoshiro blinked, "eh, why?"

"He's gone crazy," Hari muttered.

"He always was crazy," Ryoma told her but he smiled.

"Don't know why you're so amused," Hari shot at him.

"For once he's not focused on teasing me," Ryoma shrugged. "Besides…it's funny."

"Are you going to do that?" Momoshiro frowned slightly worried. He didn't want her to quit.

"As if," Hari snorted. "He's just having a momentary crisis. Rinko will snap him out of it."

Momoshiro blinked at her words and looked to Ryoma who was smirking again. He met his eyes and leaned closer to Momoshiro.

"He's not too happy about her being around boys," Ryoma whispered.

"Ah," Momoshiro said and smiled amusedly.

Hari noticed and narrowed her eyes at the two boys who quickly tried to school their expression when seeing the look on her face. They weren't successful.

...

It was lunch and Hari was about to find Momoshiro and Kaido when the twins she had met the day before stopped in front of her desk. Sora and Hira both smiled at her and she smiled back automatically.

"Want to eat with us?" Sora asked.

Hari glanced over at Momoshiro who was talking with a boy from their class and Kaido had already left, so she looked back at Sora and nodded.

"Sure," Hari said.

Hari got up and followed the two out of the classroom with a wave at Momoshiro who looked confused but waved back.

They ended up on the rooftop of the school and Hari immediately went to the edge and looked out over the schoolyard. She could see the tennis court from there but they were empty right now, not that she was surprised by that.

She smiled as she leaned forward slightly and felt the wind on her face and hair, but soon a pair of hands pulled her back.

"Are you trying to fall off?" Hira asked incredulously.

"What? No, of course not," Hari blinked at him.

Sora laughed and pulled her brother down next to her before Hari sat down as well and found the bento that Nanako had made her. She grinned happily as she took a bite of the food and reminded herself to thank the older girl later. While it wasn't like the food at Hogwarts it was still good and more than she would have received at the Dursley's.

"You like high places?" Sora asked breaking the silence making Hari look away from her food and to the other girl who was eating as well.

"Mm," Hari nodded. "I always felt like I could think better when I'm up somewhere high."

"Crazy," Hira mumbled but he rolled his eyes and smiled slightly taking the sting out of his words.

Hari just shrugged. Hermione had never understood that either, but Ron had.

Hari had a good time during lunch with both Sora and Hira, she found that they were easy to be around. While they didn't really know much about tennis Hari found that they really liked comics and movies. It fascinated Hari enough that she wanted to learn more.

"Wait, wait," Hira held up his hands as he stared at Hari with wide eyes. "You mean to tell me that you never, like not at all, have watched Star Wars?"

Hari shook her head.

"Lord of the Rings?"

Hari shook her head again.

"What about the Hobbit?"

Hari sighed, "no."

"Have you lived under a rock?" Hira asked.

No, she thought, only in a remote location without access to muggle culture.

"Perhaps," Hari shrugged and leaned forward. "Is any of the movies good?"

"It's the best," Hira exclaimed.

"Oh, you really shouldn't have said that" Sora sighed. "He will bore you with details about the movies for hours now."

"I will not!" Hira protested. "It's not boring! You like the movies too, you know!"

"Yes, but I don't rant about them like a fanatic," Sora huffed. "Besides, the books are better than the movies."

"Star Wars isn't books," Hira glared at her. "At least not the original story."

Hari smiled as she watched them bicker.

The lunch bell interrupted their bickering and made them all scramble to get their things so they could get back down and to the classroom.

...

"Hari-chan," Momoshiro grinned at her. "Are you ready for your first practice today?"

Hari, who had been talking with Hira and Sora, looked over at him and grinned back at him.

"Hai," Hari nodded.

"Practice?" Sora asked curiously.

"Hari-chan here is a part of our tennis team," Momoshiro explained and reached out to ruffle her hair, but Hari swatted his hand away.

"When you said you liked tennis I didn't think you meant you played with the boys," Hira blinked.

Hari shrugged, "it's my first practice with them today."

"And we have to go before we're late," Momoshiro said. "Or Captain will kill us!"

Hari grimaced. She didn't really want to get Tezuka angry at her at the first practice.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Hari told Hira and Sora before following Momoshiro out of the classroom.

They talked as they walked to the practice grounds making Hari feel a little more at ease and the nerves that were bubbling in her stomach to settle some. She really wanted this to work out.

"Ah, Hari-chan," Oishi was just getting out of the locker room when she and Momoshiro reached it. "I was just going to go and look for you."

"Oh?" Hari looked at him.

"Come with me," Oishi smiled. "Momo, you go and change."

Momoshiro nodded and disappeared into the locker room. Hari turned toward Oishi and followed him to a door leading into the back of the small house where the locker room for the boys was. She arched a brow when Oishi stopped in front of it.

"We thought you might need a different place to change," Oishi explained and he couldn't quite look at Hari as he reached up to rub the back of his head. "So, um, I cleaned out space here…"

He pushed the door open and Hari stepped inside when he motioned for her to do so. She looked around, it wasn't a large room, but it held a small bench and some shelves were put up on one of the walls so she could have a place to place her things and a few hooks were screwed on the side of the wall for her clothes.

A small bathroom was even attached to the room and she could barely make out a shower inside. She felt her throat thicken as she took in the small room, she swallowed repeatedly to keep from doing something embarrassing. Like, start crying. It wasn't the room in itself, but…the effort.

"I know it's not much," Oishi explained, "but we thought it would be better for you and that way you don't have to go all the way over to the other girls to change. But of course, if you want to do that you can…"

Hari shook her head and smiled at him.

"It's great," Hari said. "Arigatou!"

Oishi smiled relieved and nodded.

"Here," Oishi handed her something and when she looked down into her hand when she received it she saw that it was a key. "For the door."

Hari only nodded her words getting lost in her throat. Oishi smiled at her before turning around and walked out of the room.

"Get changed," Oishi said. "We'll start practice soon."

Hari nodded again and locked the door behind him before walking to the bench and sat down. She inhaled deeply before letting it out again as she looked around. No one had ever done anything like this for her before. She had dreaded the thought of having to go and change in the locker room for the girls' team. She hadn't wanted to have to face them every day, but now she wouldn't have to.

She shook herself and quickly got changed before exiting her room and locked the door. She wouldn't want anyone inside while she practised.

...

"Ka-chan!" Hari beamed at Kaido who startled slightly.

"You are too short to see over the fence," he hissed.

"Hey," Hari scowled at him. "No need to be offensive!"

He blinked at her looking startled and was actually gaping at her while the others who had heard her looked at them confused. Hari folded her arms over her chest as she glowered at him.

"Eh?" Kaido asked.

Hari noticed the confusion and wondered why he would be confused when he had just…Oh. She blinked and felt her eyes widen a little as she realised what had happened. Ups. She reached up and rubbed the back of her head as she gave a sheepish laugh.

"Ah, gomen," she looked away sheepishly.

Stupid, she shouldn't have forgotten that he had the tendency to speak parseltongue without knowing it and she had thought he had just insulted her because she understood what he said.

Kaido blinked before shrugging and she guessed it meant she was forgiven or just dismissed as being weird. She grimaced slightly.

Tezuka chose that moment to call for attention and Hari turned her attention to the Captain who gave his orders for the practice.

They were first set to run around the courts and Hari had not much trouble keeping up with them.

...

"Hari-san," Tezuka stopped in front of her where she was taking a break to get something to drink after having run 30 laps around the court.

"Hai, Captain?" Hari asked wiping her mouth with the back of her hands as she looked at him.

"I want you to work on your serve," he said.

"My serve?" Hari repeated confused.

"Yes," he nodded. "Your Slice Serve that you used against Fuji."

"Ok," Hari said.

"Come on," he said and turned walking away from her leaving her to follow him. She picked up her racket and followed him to the side of the court while the others spread out and started their own practice.

"I noticed that your Serve is rather good," Tezuka said adjusting his glasses as he looked at her. She smiled slightly at the praise. "I want you to work on it to develop it further."

"Sure," Hari nodded. "I want to get better."

Tezuka nodded and much to Hari's surprise got ready to help her himself. She blinked a couple of times before she got into position and tossed the first ball up in the air and with the racket in a continental grip hit the ball on the right-hand side making the ball spin. The side spin made the ball curve to the left and dipped slightly.

Hari scowled when the ball didn't continue like it should and it wasn't as hard as she liked.

"I want you to use a little more force and be careful to hit the ball with a cleaner hit," Tezuka told her.

Hari nodded and tried to do as Tezuka said. She hit ball after ball after ball until her arm felt like it would fall off, but she continued. Tezuka would occasionally stop her and give her advice on how to make it better, or how to adjust her grip.

...

Hari was walking through the school and frowned when she found herself in a corridor she didn't recognise. She scratched her head before sighing as she realised that she was yet again lost. She had thought she knew her way around the school by now, but here she was. Lost.

She turned and started to walk back the way she came, or at least she thought she came and looked around. She had no idea where she was.

"Echizen-san?"

Hari looked up to see Yoshida standing there looking at her curiously and with a trace of nervousness.

"Hey," Hari said a little awkwardly.

"What are you doing here?" Yoshida asked looking around. "It's the third year classrooms."

Hari hummed and nodded as she looked around once more.

"My classroom moved," Hari sighed.

"Your classroom moved?" Yoshida repeated. "You mean you have class in a different room than usual?"

Hari shook her head, "no. I mean it's not where it should be."

"You're lost," Yoshida said.

"No," Hari scowled.

Yoshida looked at her for a moment like she tried to figure her out, but Hari just shrugged.

"Alright," Yoshida said sounding confused. "Aren't you done for the day anyway?"

Hari nodded, "yeah, but I had to get something from the classroom."

Yoshida nodded.

The silence between them was awkward and tense as neither girl knew what to say or how to break the silence. Hari shifted on her feet as she stood there.

"Um," Hari cleared her throat. "Did you really resign?"

Yoshida looked back at her before she nodded.

"I did," she said.

"Why?" Hari asked.

"I didn't do a good enough job leading them," Yoshida looked away before walking over to the window and looked out. Hari followed and stood beside her but her back was to the window and she leaned against the wall as she glanced over at Yoshida.

"You were a good Captain, Yoshida-san," Hari said. "It's not your fault that the other chose to act like that."

"They did it because of me," Yoshida admitted after a pause. "They thought it would be something I would want, something I would approve of. If they think I would do that…then I haven't done a good enough job leading them."

Hari didn't say anything for a moment as she thought about what Yoshida said. She had been a little unsure about what she thought about the other girl, but it seemed like she really did feel bad about what had happened.

"Echizen-san," Yoshida spoke up interrupting Hari's thoughts. "I did not do enough to stop them from targeting you and I am sorry."

Hari swallowed and shifted on her feet suddenly feeling very self-conscious and awkward.

"It's not your fault," Hari finally said. "I'm not mad at you, Yoshida-san."

Yoshida looked doubtful and Hari sighed. She wasn't really sure why she was even still here talking with the other girl. She didn't blame her, but she hadn't particularly a reason to talk to her either. Hari just wanted to forget the experience with the girls' team altogether.

"You don't control the others," Hari added. She had learned that the hard way back at Hogwarts, she couldn't control how they saw her and what they thought about her.

"Still," Yoshida said.

"They didn't like me," Hari interrupted a little impatiently because she really didn't want to talk about this, but the lost and regretful look on Yoshida's face had her talking. Hermione always did say that Hari had a soft heart and the need to save others. Looks like she still did. "I have no idea why, but it had nothing to do with you. People just don't like me."

There was something lost and so matter-of-fact over the voice that Yoshida had to take a double look at the other girl. She had a self-deprecating smile on her face and a darker look in her green eyes that had Yoshida frown.

"People like you," Yoshida said.

Hari shrugged and took a few steps away from the other girl before pausing and looking over at her. She seemed to be giving her a look trying to see through her.

"You like tennis, right?" Hari asked.

"Yes," Yoshida said.

"Then you should find a new way to play tennis or be involved in the game if you don't want to play anymore," Hari told her. "I refused to let anyone take away my joy for the game. That's why I quit the girls' team. I love tennis and I just want to play and have fun with it."

Yoshida looked a little thoughtful as she watched Hari walk away and disappearing around a corner.

...

"Tadaima," Hari called out when she entered the house and heard Nanako answer from the kitchen, but Hari headed for the stairs instead. She went to her room and sank down on her bed as she thought back to her meeting with Yoshida.

Would Yoshida really quit? The thought nagged at her more than Hari thought it would. The look of loss and regret that had been in Yoshida's eyes had hit Hari harder than she thought it would and Hari felt even more annoyed and upset with the girls' on the team.

What was with them? Fine, they didn't like Hari. They saw her as a threat or something, but Yoshida was one of them. She was their Captain and they had pushed her to quit. They had done that and Hari felt really angry when she thought about it. What was worse was the fact that they said it was for Yoshida's sake and that was not okay!

How could it have been for Yoshida's sake? What good would it do them or her if they targeted Hari? Hari had no idea why they would do that and think it was for the best.

Hari thought it was time for some payback. A smirk crossed her face as she got an idea. She just had to find the perfect time.

...

Two days later found Hari sitting perched up in a tree smirking as she watched the girls' locker room and the arrival of the regulars for the team. They were, as usual, talking and laughing making Hari scowl as they didn't seem at least bit sorry for the one who wasn't there.

They opened the door and was about to walk inside when they paused.

"Eh!"

"What happened in here?!"

"Ghost?!"

Hari laughed and had to hang on to the branch she was seated on to keep from falling off. Their confused and slightly scared looks were much more amusing than she thought.

"Someone get Ryuzaki-sensei!" Hashimoto exclaimed.

Ah, it was time to leave. Hari didn't want to be seen close by the, um, scene of the crime in case someone would point a finger at her and blame her for it. She jumped down from the tree and made her way over to the courts where the boys' practised. No one was there yet and Hari was pleased with that.

Not long after the rest of the team came and joined her.

...

Hari was walking with the rest of the team when they noticed the commotion to their left. It was almost time for the classes to start, but they paused to see what it was all about.

"I have no idea how it happened," Hashimoto said waving her hands. "The door was locked!"

"It must have been a ghost," Ueda said.

"How would a ghost managed to do that?" Hashimoto snapped at her.

Ryuzaki looked tired and was rubbing her face as she looked at the girls. The girls looked a little fretful and kept looking at each other as if searching for clues.

"What's going on?" Momoshiro asked having stepped closer to the commotion curiously.

"Someone has stuck the furniture to the roof of the room," Fukui said blushing slightly at the attention from the boys. Her eyes were slightly wide though.

Hari worked to keep her face blank as she observed them from where she was standing beside Fuji who was smiling like normal.

"Eh?" Momoshiro and Kikumaru both asked at once and rushed to the door and looked inside of the room.

"It's true!" Kikumaru exclaimed. "The furniture, even the lockers, are all placed on the roof as if it was the floor! Amazing!"

Hari felt Ryoma looking at her but she didn't look over at him because she wasn't sure she would be able to keep her mask up if she did. Everyone walked over to the door and looked at the room and Hari could hear many wonders how it was possible and who could have done it.

"Out of the way, out of the way," an old man grunted and pushed past the watching students. He stopped when he saw the room and blinked. "Huh. I see."

...

Hari made her way to the classroom with Momoshiro and Kaido ignoring the looks she got from Ryoma and Fuji. She felt slightly concerned over the fact that Fuji was watching her. Ryoma would guess it was her, she knew that, but for Fuji to look at her like that… well, that couldn't be good. She grimaced slightly.

"I wonder who could have done it," Momoshiro commented as they sat down at their desks.

Hari shrugged.

"It must have been very difficult," he continued. "I mean…how could someone lift the furniture and make it stick to the roof like that?"

Simple, Hari thought, just use a levitating charm and a sticking charm along with some glue and it stuck just fine to the roof.

"There must at least have been two," Momoshiro continued. "No one could have done that alone."

Yes, they could, Hari thought again with a secret smile.

"Who knows," Hari said.

The rest of the class was also talking about it and Hari heard them speculate about who it could be and why someone would do that. It seemed that most found it amusing, though.

Sora and Hira both came over to Hari and talked about it and she played her part very well if Hari had to say so herself. She acted as surprised and astonished as the others and wondered who it could be.

...

"So," a voice from behind her had Hari jump and twirl around to see Fuji standing there waiting for her. He had been leaned against the wall outside of the school and pushed away from it when he saw her. She blinked at him.

"Don't do that!" Hari gasped and glared at the other boy.

"I didn't do anything," Fuji smiled innocently at her.

"Right," Hari scoffed and turned to walk toward the gates. She could spot Ryoma standing by the gates waiting for her.

"So," Fuji said again coming up beside her. "That was a good prank."

Hari glanced over at him feeling not as surprised as she should be over the fact that he seemed to know it was her, but she kept her face blank. She arched a brow at him without saying anything.

He smiled wider and looked thoroughly amused.

"I must say," He continued, "I can't figure out how you managed to do it."

"You think it was me?" Hari asked.

"Of course," he simply said.

Hari huffed, "you give me too much credit."

He laughed, "somehow I don't think I give you enough credit."

Hari looked away from him and shrugged.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about," Hari said.

"Of course you don't," he smiled. "Jya matane!"

"Bye, Fuji-sempai," Hari waved at him just as she reached Ryoma.

...

"How did you do it?" Ryoma asked.

"Do what?" Hari blinked at him innocently.

"You know what," Ryoma gave her a look. "The prank."

Hari shrugged, "who says it's me?"

"Hari…." Ryoma narrowed his eyes at her.

"Fine, I had a little help from my magic," Hari shrugged. "It was easy."

"You're crazy," he said. "What if someone saw you?"

"They didn't," Hari rolled her eyes. "I am better than that."

He snorted, "I thought you didn't do it?"

Hari frowned and realised that she had admitted to doing it. She scowled at him and huffed annoyed.

"Cheater," she accused.

Ryoma smirked at her.

"Why did you do it?" Ryoma asked curiously.

"They deserved it;" Hari scoffed still annoyed that he had managed to get her to admit doing it. "They act like they've done nothing wrong and they pushed Yoshida to resign because they claimed they did what they did to me for her."

Ryoma nodded in understanding.

"And pranking them is better than something else," Hari continued. "The prank is even rather innocent as well."

"It was a good one," Ryoma agreed.

Hari smiled pleased and nodded.

...

Yoshida sat on a bench in a park nearby her home, she could hear the sounds of children laughing and playing. Her eyes trained on two children playing tennis, looking like they had fun and really enjoyed the game. When was the last time she found tennis that fun?

Hari's words from a few days ago still echoed in her mind making Yoshida feel like she should do something, but she just didn't know what. Did she really want to quit tennis? Yeah, she didn't want to be the Captain anymore. It felt sullied now, but she still wanted to be involved in the game.

Hari had been brave and made choices that made her happy and would protect her joy for the game. Yoshida knew that it must have been difficult for Hari to make the decision she did, or maybe it wasn't. Perhaps it really was as simple as deciding to quit what makes you unhappy and find a new way to keep doing what makes you happy. Could it really be that simple?

Yoshida frowned as she thought about it all. She was forced to think about everything she had done up until now and every choice she had made with her tennis. She had worked hard to get to where she was with her tennis, but…she couldn't deny that there had been that underlying hope of gaining the attention of the boy's regular team as well. Not as strong for her, but the other girl's… well, the boys were the reason they played tennis at all.

But why had she started with tennis? She couldn't remember why she had first started to play the sport, and that was not good. She barely remembered how it was coming home almost completely exhausted and barely managing to eat dinner before falling asleep after a long day of practice. It felt like a foggy memory at best.

Yoshida felt really confused and conflicted as she went over her choices and feelings. She grimaced slightly as she tried to make sense of it all. She needed to find her love and joy for the sport again, she decided. That decided she knew what to do and got up from the bench.

...

Standing outside the gates of a house she had only walked passed before had Yoshida question her decision. Was this really a good idea? The name Echizen stood clearly written beside the doorbell and Yoshida swallowed nervously before she pushed the small buzzer.

Waiting felt like an eternity even if it was only a few seconds in reality, but then the gate opened and a tall girl with dark blue hair and purple eyes smiled warmly at her.

"Hello, may I help you?"

"Um, I was looking for Echizen Hari?" Yoshida grimaced when it came out as a question. She saw the arched brow from the older girl but then she smiled slightly wider.

"You're Hari-chan's friend?" the girl asked seemingly delighted. "I'm Meino Nanako, her cousin."

Yoshida felt awkward, she couldn't really say she was Hari's friend. Not that she didn't want to be, but she doubted that Hari saw her as a friend.

"Hajimemashite," Yoshida tried to smile. "I'm Yoshida Satomi."

"Hari-chan is up at the temple," Nanako said. "If you just go a little bit that way you will find the temple and you'll find her."

Yoshida looked a little uncertain, if she was out then maybe she didn't want anyone to interrupt her.

"She won't mind," Nanako seemed to understand her hesitation.

"Alright," Yoshida smiled and walked in the direction Nanako had pointed to. She knew the temple, she didn't know that Hari spent any time there, though.

...

Yoshida stepped into the temple grounds and immediately heard the telling sounds from a tennis ball hitting the ground and looked to the side spotting Hari in the middle of a match. She couldn't see how Hari was playing against from the angle she was in right now, but Hari looked really focused and sweat was running freely down her face.

"One more time!" Hari demanded. "Tanomu!"

A man's laughter was all that Yoshida heard before she got closer and saw an older man with slightly messy brown hair dressed in a monk outfit. He looked completely relaxed with the tennis racket in his left hand.

Yoshida couldn't help but stare at the game going on in front of her. She knew Hari was good, but this man… he was unbelievably good. She had never seen anyone play like that before, he didn't even move from his spot.

Hari missed another ball despite the dive making her fall to the ground in a sky of dust. She grumbled as she pushed herself up and dusted the dirt off her clothes.

"Finished yet, Hari-chan?" the man teased.

"No!" Hari got ready again and Yoshida was not sure why. It was clear that she was losing, that she really didn't have any chance against the man. She looked over at the man again and saw the (could she call it) proud smile on his face as he got ready to serve the ball once more.

Hari managed to hit it back and even if the man returned with ease Yoshida could see Hari remain focused and managed to return the ball once more with a little more force. Back and forth it went a few times before Hari missed another ball despite her speed and agility.

"Bugger," Hari muttered and wiped her forehead with the towel she picked up from the side of the court. Yoshida could see when Hari spotted her because she froze and her mouth popped open in surprise.

"Hari-chan?" the man asked before he too spotted Yoshida. "Ah, a beautiful young girl is here!"

Yoshida blushed at the compliment (?) from the man and saw that Hari seemed to snap out of her surprise.

"Shut up, Nanjiro," Hari scowled at him. "You're creepy."

"Hari-chan!" the man exclaimed. "You wound me!"

Hari snorted and rolled her eyes before looking back at Yoshida with a curious look on her face.

"What are you doing here, Yoshida-san?" Hari asked.

"Um, I hoped we could talk," Yoshida swallowed nervously.

Hari stared at her for a moment and Yoshida wished the younger girl would blink. Nanjiro was looking between them before he smiled and ruffled Hari's hair making the girl scowl up at him and swat his hand away.

"Talk with your friend, Hari-chan," Nanjiro laughed. "We'll continue our match another time."

"Alright," Hari nodded.

...

Yoshida sat down on the bench Hari walked to and wished she knew what to say. She had hoped that the words would come as she came here.

"Who was that?" Yoshida asked lamely.

Hari glance over at her before going back to bouncing the ball with her racket.

"Echizen Nanjiro," Hari said, "my adoptive father."

Yoshida blinked. The name was familiar like she had heard it before but couldn't place it.

"What do you want, Yoshida-san?" Hari finally asked.

"I wanted to talk to you," Yoshida admitted.

"Well, talk away," Hari said as she caught the ball with her hand and put it away and turned toward Yoshida.

"I don't know how to say it, but…" Yoshida frowned. "I thought about what you said and I think you're right. I just… I can't remember what I liked about tennis."

Hari tilted her head as she looked at her making Yoshida think about a dog, but she pushed the thought away.

"I see," Hari said. "I don't know if I can help you with that, Yoshida-san. I don't know why you started to play tennis."

"Why did you start?" Yoshida asked.

Hari didn't say anything at first and Yoshida feared she had asked the wrong thing.

"Well, I met Ryo-chan back in England when I was 8 years old," Hari finally answered. "He was playing tennis and asked me to join him. I never had any friends so I joined him because he was the first one to ask me to join in a sport or any game really. I found I like it the more I played and tennis gave me my first friend, Ryo-chan."

"Why do you like tennis?" Yoshida asked.

"I like tennis because I meet new friends and it's fun," Hari shrugged. "It's something that connects me to Ryo-chan and makes sure I'll be a part of his world."

Yoshida was sure it was a simplified version of the reason why Hari like tennis, but she didn't ask anything more. She didn't have the right to demand more reasons from the younger girl and it was enough to know this.

"I want to find my reason for liking tennis again," Yoshida said. "I don't know if I'm ready to play for a team yet, but I want to be involved in the game."

Hari blinked at the fierce declaration and Yoshida blushed embarrassed before Hari smiled a more genuine smile than any Yoshida had seen before.

"Then join as a manager or something," Hari said. "I'm sure Ryuzaki-sensei will allow that."

"I don't want to be on the girls' team," Yoshida admitted looking away.

"I don't blame you," Hari scoffed, "I don't either. That wasn't what I was thinking, though."

"It wasn't?" Yoshida asked.

"No," Hari shook her head before giving a small smile, "I was thinking you should join the boys' team as a manager. Inui-sempai would like the help, I'm sure."

...

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AN: What do you think? :)

If anyone has any ideas for pranks feel free to let me know! I struggle with coming up with good pranks and ideas, so any help would be appreciated! XD

Thanks for reading and supporting the story! :)

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Japanese words used:
Oyaji - Old man/ dad
Hai - Yes
Arigatou - Thank you
Gomen - Sorry

Jya matane - See you later!

Hajimemashite - Nice to meet you
sempai - Senior
Tanomu - Please

Tadaima - I'm home