Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

A/N: Had a hard time writing this chapter ._. oh yea, kiss alert lel.

Chapter 7: Musical Pair

In the Echizen Household:

After many mishaps and threats, Saturday finally came. Why are there mishaps and threats? Courtesy of those fangirls. Who was it directed to? A certain Echizen Ryoma.

Then this morning, she had a visitor.

"Chibisuke!~ I missed you so much!~" Ryoga cried as he ran to 'hug' Ryoma. The stoic girl saw this and sidestepped at the last second, which resulted to Ryoga falling down to the floor, face first.

"Waaaaa~ Chibisuke, how could you not accept my hug of love?" Ryoga whined to his baby sister.

"You mean your hug of death?"

"You hurt me, Chibisuke. Is that how you greet your brother that you haven't seen for how many years?"

"Yes."

This made Ryoga's heart shatter like china glass and sulk. Ryoma just ignored her brother's sulking and went outside the living room.

Rinko and Nanjirou chuckled at their children's interaction with each other.

Ryoma had to prepare for her own activity this afternoon, which was going to Marui's house because they did promise to practice this weekend. That and the fact that Marui can't go to her house because of his piano. Good thing her instrument is only a violin.

Ryoma sighed as she remembered that they haven't decided on a piece to play. There's also the fact that music brings out her emotions whenever she plays. That's going to be the main problem for her. Emotions.

"Ara, Ryoma. Are you going out?" Rinko asked the girl as the mother saw her daughter dressed up.

"Un. Bunta's house for music practice."

"Ah. Take care and return before dinner or you can stay there for dinner, just call first."

"Hai."

The cat-eyed girl walked out, possibly ignoring or didn't see her mother's knowing grin.

In the Marui Household:

Two teenagers were sitting in Marui's bed as they decided on which piece to play.

"Hey, Ryo~"

"Nani?"

"Don't you agree that this piece is awesome?"

"..."

"..."

A nod.

"Yey~ I knew you'd love it~ I know you like classical pieces~"

"Do you even know what the title mean?"

"Uh...no?"

Staaaaaare-

"Tell me~" A pout.

Ryoma sighed before saying, "It means Love's Greeting."

"Oh~ As expected, you already know about this piece."

"I was bored."

"Tell me more about it~"

"The composer, Elgar Edward, finished this piece when he was engaged to be married-"

"Ah. Somehow isn't that like us~ Let's do this piece!"

The younger girl shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh, "Hai hai.."

Marui grinned and popped an apple flavored bubblegum into his mouth.

"Eh... Bunta, gimme one!~" Wow that attitude change.

"Gomen, this is the last one.." Marui nervously said as he watch the girl cry crocodile tears.

"Uso..."

Marui brightened up as an idea formed in his head. He grinned deviously before 'smiling' to the girl, "If you insist, I can give you one but there is going to be a condition."

"What's that condition?" Ryoma glowed with joy, "I'll do it!"

"Really?" Marui's 'smile' was a little close to a smirk now.

"Really." Ok. It became a smirk.

"Then~ I'm expecting no complaints~" Marui leaned in closer to the unsuspecting girl.

Before Ryoma could ask why should she complain, she didn't expect to feel a pair of lips on her own pair nor did she expect that it was Marui's.

Ryoma's mind failed her as she couldn't think of anything at that moment. She didn't move until she felt Marui nibbling on her lower lip, begging for entrance. Ryoma felt her lips part, giving the redhead entrance as his tongue roamed her mouth for a while before pushing something into it.

The redhead pulled back with a pant and a grin. He examined his fiancee's face and couldn't help but be proud of himself. Ryoma sat there with her face flushed red and panting heavily. Her eyes still wide as she wasn't able to comprehend what just happened.

"I'm going to get some drinks~" The redhead stood up and went out of the room but without sneaking one last glance towards the girl.

Ryoma barely heard what he said and the door slamming shut before touching her lips. Did that seriously just happen?

The girl felt that there was something in her mouth and found out it was the bubblegum that Marui was chewing on. She felt her cheeks burn again. So much for the bubblegum.

After that, Ryoma managed to get a hold of herself and practiced the piece with Bunta. After some few errors here and there, they were already mastering it. Ryohei and Kohei would give them comments where it sounded off and would give them praises.

"Eh, Ryo~ Stay here for dinner~ Onegai..." Bunta pleaded with puppy eyes towards Ryoma.

Ryoma flinched when she saw the puppy eyes. If she said no, those eyes will be full of sadness and she will feel guilty. If she said yes, well, she could avoid the "no" scenario. With a sigh, she nodded, "Fine.. Let me call Okaa-san first."

"Yey~"

Bunta, being the expert in Japanese food, be it sweets or not, cooked a lot of Ryoma's favorite food and even included Strawberry Daifuku for dessert.

"Arigato, Ta-chan. It was really yummy! Teach me how to make Daifuku next time!" Ryoma went back to her own childish personality. She used to receive cooking lessons from Bunta when they were younger. Though, it was mostly how to make sweets.

"Sure~ Wanna come by tomorrow? Oh wait.. Okaa-san and Tou-san's going to arrive tomorrow.."

"Ah! If so, Okaa-san might invite you guys for dinner. She said something like that."

"Really?"

"Un. I'll ask her to double check then."

Ryohei and Kohei looked at each other before asking, "Can we come too?"

The two teenagers looked surprised before smiling at them, "Of course, you guys are also coming. You are also family, ne?" Ryoma said as she smiled softly at the two.

"Yay~ Arigato, Bunta-nii, Ryoma-nee!"

They only giggled before Bunta went with Ryoma to walk her home.

"Ne, Bunta?"

"Nani?"

"Did you really have to kiss me earlier?"

Marui flinched a little as he did that for his own part of fun. Well, they weren't really intimate with each other so he felt like he had to do something.

"Etto... Un?" That came out as a question as Marui was also doubting himself.

Ryoma sighed, "Oh well. Though it caught me off-guard."

"Eh~ But did you enjoy it?" Insert a perverted grin from a certain redhead here.

The younger girl blushed before looking away, "Baka Bunta. I swear Baka Oyaji's rubbing off on you."

"Oi oi.. I'm not that bad."

"So you do admit that you are bad."

"Whatever you say, Ryo."

Ryoma giggled a little here. He always seemed to lose whenever they had arguments. The two walked a little bit more as they saw the Echizen household from afar.

"Ne, Ryo."

"Hm?~"

"Did you forget about the reward?"

"What reward?" Ryoma asked as she didn't remember about any rewards at all.

Marui grinned like he won the lottery, "You don't remember?"

"Tell me! What is this reward?"

"Well~ I can give you the reward right now."

"Ha?" was the last thing Ryoma said before Marui gave her a chaste kiss on her lips. She went a little wide-eyed and suddenly remembered about what reward was he talking about.

Marui grinned as he pulled back, "Remember now? The one when you surprised me with the news."

"Ah.. I remember now.." Ryoma sighed as this was the second time in the day that she got caught off-guard.

"Hehe~ Well, we're here now," Marui announced as they stopped by in front of Ryoma's house.

"Hm.. Arigato... for today."

"No problem~ You're free to come by anytime. Just inform me first~" Marui mock saluted.

"Hai hai.. Jaa... Oyasumi." Ryoma gave him a smile. A special smile that's only reserved for him.

"Oyasumi, Ryo. Jaa ne!~" Marui grinned like there was no tomorrow and bounced away. As in literally, bounced. He was bouncing in joy because of the events that happened.

Ryoma shook her head as she was amused by her fiance's antics.

"Tadaima!"

"Okaeri, Ryoma. How was your day?"

~The next morning~ (Sunday)

In the Echizen Household:

"Ohayo, Okaa-san," Ryoma stifled a yawn as she greeted her mother.

"Ohayo, Ryoma," Rinko greeted her daughter and set up a meal for her.

Ryoma took a seat on the table. Nodding thanks to her mother, she said her grace before eating her breakfast. She happily noted that it was Japanese cuisine.

Halfway through the meal, Ryoma remembered about yesterday night.

"Ne, Okaa-san."

"Nani, Ryoma?"

"Etto, Bunta's parents are coming back today. You said something about inviting them for dinner when they come back," Ryoma said and Rinko gasped.

"Ah. So they're coming back today? Well, could you go invite them for dinner?" Rinko asked her daughter.

"Sure," Ryoma shrugged. Maybe I can also drag Bunta out for a match...weird, It's too quiet.

"Okaa-san, where's Baka Oyaji and Baka Aniki?"

"They went out to settle some business. I'm not really sure what is it about though."

The young girl just shook her head and sighed inwardly. Whatever those two are doing, they will always cause trouble anyways.

Ryoma took her dishes and placed them on the sink. She then headed upstairs to take a bath and dress up. After that, she grabbed her tennis bag and headed out, "I'm going now!"

"Have a safe trip!"

Ryoma stood in front of the Marui Household looking rather exasperated. Why? On the way, she bumped onto Yukimura. Literally bumped. Ryoma still had her clumsy genes in her even though she acts maturely (most of the time). While Yukimura didn't mind at all, she apologized at least a thousand times before the blue haired teen calmed her down. The sadistic buchou made a deal with her to calm her down. What deal? The buchou will make her do 1 thing he asks her to do and she will NOT argue/complain. Ryoma, being 'responsible' accepted. It was only when the buchou said his good bye when the situation registered in her brain. "Sadistic buchou" and "make her do 1 thing without an argument" doesn't look very nice in one sentence.

Ryoma sighed before ringing the doorbell. A very familiar redhead went out of the house and adopted a surprised expression at his face.

"Ryo? What are you doing here?" Marui asked before opening the gate to let her in but she just shook her head.

"Okaa-san told me to invite you guys for dinner tonight," Ryoma explained.

"Ah. Sure~ I'll tell them," Marui happily nodded.

"Well, care for a game?" Ryoma smirked as she gestured towards her tennis bag.

"Sure. Let's go to a nearby street tennis court then."

"Fine with me."

Ryoma and Marui arrived at the street tennis courts and they were surprised on how many people were there.

"Wow, it's so crowded here," Marui whistled on how many people were there.

"But it seems that there're only double matches going on," Ryoma observed and she inwardly winced.

"That's because with the amount of people here, double matches are the only way to maximize the courts."

The pair both turned to see a brunette who's smiling at them.

"Hey, I've never seen you two around here. New around here? I'm Tachibana Ann, by the way." The brunette happily introduced herself which reminded Ryoma of a certain redhead beside her.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Echizen Ryoma. Yes, we're new around here."

"Marui Bunta. Yoroshiku." At this, Ann developed a confused expression.

"Ara? Your name is quite familiar.." Ann tried to remember but to no avail. Ryoma and Marui just chuckled at her thinking gesture.

"Well, we're here for a game. Ryo, wanna play doubles with me?" Marui asked the green haired girl beside him.

"Eh? You know-"

"It's going to be fine. It's me after all and not anyone else," Marui playfully winked as Ryoma gave in, "Hai hai.."

Marui turned to the brunette and asked, "Who are the best doubles pair here?"

Ann gestured to a pair who were currently playing a match against some people. One guy had spiky orange hair and his partner had purple/gray wavy hair that was tied up in a ponytail, "Currently, it's those two from Gyokurin. Though they're quite arrogant, they usually challenge everyone around here. New or not."

Ryoma smirked a little at that, "Hm. Interesting."

"But too bad you suck at doubles~" Marui teased the green haired girl who pouted in reply, "Che."

Ann giggled at the two, "Well, good luck to you two~"

The two blinked in confusion before the brunette pointed behind them. They turned to see the Gyokurin pair which were heading towards them. Oh. Good luck eh?

"You two. New around here? It's quite rare to see a girl playing doubles with a boy though," Carrot head, nicknamed by our pair, looked at Ryoma as if she was some sort of alien.

"Yea, we're new around here." Marui said as his face adopted a steely look.

"Whoa there, no need to be overprotective of your girlfriend," Ryoma sweatdropped at this, "We only want to know if you can play or not."

"We wouldn't be even here if we can't play," Ryoma said as she thought, What are our bags for? Display?

Marui mentally sweatdropped at Ryoma. Technically, she can't play doubles.

"Oh. I like your spunk kid," Insert a glare from Marui and Ryoma, "Let's play a match then." The ponytail guy said.

"Sure. But make sure not to cry when we're done with you," Ryoma was seriously pissed off. She will not back down if she got called "kid". Never.

~A few minutes later~

"Uso... The Gyokurin pair lost to a pair of new kids? What's more, to a girl?" One guy managed to say as he stared wide eyed along with the others. The Gyokurin pair were sweating heavily and panting as if they ran a marathon while the Unknown pair didn't even break a sweat. What's worse was that the Gyokurin pair lost with 0-6. Complete annihilation as they didn't even get past one ball against them.

"M-Monsters.." Carrot head barely managed to say between breaths.

"Hm~ I've been called worse." Ryoma looked at them with no emotions, "And that's better than being called a kid. Let's go."

Marui smirked playfully and then ran after Ryoma who was already near the stairs.

"Ryo, what did you think?"

"They're still Mada Mada."

"That's so surprising, coming from you."

"The sarcasm is not needed. By the way, when do you want to practice for the competition again?"

Marui's thought was, What competition?, before remembering what she was referring to, "Ah. What do you say about Wednesday?"

"Fine. But what time?"

"Hm... Free time? You never know~"

Ryoma sighed and said, "Let's go home. We still have that family dinner."

~Time skip~

Monday and Tuesday went by without a problem (except for those fangirls) and in Wednesday, Yukimura was actually surprised to see Marui and Ryoma winning against Kirihara and Yanagi. In a doubles match. He faintly remembered Marui saying that the cat-eyed girl sucked at doubles. Now, he was doubting that.

"Saa, Genichirou. What do you say about an early dismissal?

"What for?"

"Don't you think they deserve a break?"

"Hm."

"Saa." Yukimura smiled at his fukubuchou before turning to the club, "Minna, can I get your attention?"

Of course, he did get all of their attention as they kept away their rackets and formed lines in front of their buchou.

"Saa, we've noticed that you guys have worked hard for the past few days. So, for today, you guys will be dismissed early." This brought some silent cheers as they didn't want to cheer out loud and cancel the early dismissal.

"With that said, Dismissed." Most members scrambled as they cleaned up the tennis courts before leaving.

The regulars and Ryoma only went to their buchou and fukubuchou.

"It's rare for you to dismiss them early, Yukimura." Yagyuu commented as the others nodded.

"Saa, you guys have been working hard for the past few days."

Marui grinned at Ryoma, "See? I told you~ Free time~"

Ryoma sighed, "If only you didn't say that, I would've thought that you had nothing to do with it."

"I don't~"

"So, where?"

"Wanna do it here? Nobody's going to bother us anyways." Many ears went red/perked up at this. Perverted team.

"Really? How will you bring your piano here. So much for being a tensai." Giggles and sighs of relief were heard. Wait. Piano?

"87.54% they're talking about the upcoming school music competition." Yanagi clarified their questions. Most reactions were shocked.

"Eh? Senpai-tachi. You guys can play music?" Kirihara asked.

Ryoma only nodded while Marui grinned, "Sure can~"

"Uso!"

"What's a lie?!"

"I mean senpai never told us!"

"I told you now!"

"But-"

"Urusai." Ryoma pinched their ears and twisted it painfully. The two victims only let out a strangled, "Go-gomenasai."

The others either smirked or smiled as they looked at the scene. Ryoma has really gotten accustomed to them. To the point that she even participates in the Regulars' training and hangs out with them. But that's mostly because of Marui.

"Jokes aside, I already borrowed the music room for today," Marui informed them which gave him stares.

"Saa, Marui-kun. You already borrowed it in advance without knowing that there will be early dismissal?" A murderous aura surrounded the blue haired buchou.

"E-Etto.. I just had a feeling there's going to be free time today... You can even ask Ryo!" Marui glanced hopefully towards Ryoma at the last part which made the girl sigh.

"Is this true, Echizen-san?"

"Hai, buchou. He told me that during Sunday," Ryoma obediently replied.

"Saa. Marui, can you let us spectate your practice?" Yukimura gestured to the other regulars and smiled at Marui. The redhead felt hopeless as he knew it's a one-sided request. He looked at Ryoma for permission, which she replied with a shrug. It's fine with me.

"Sure."

The regulars watched in amazement on how the two opposites played their instruments with ease. The more amazing part was how emotions clearly poured out of their music (A/N: Idek. I suck at explaining it so yea.). Especially in Ryoma's case, it showed at her music and face. Yes, their dear stoic of a friend was actually showing emotions. Only if they knew how she acts when she's alone with Marui.

They sat in comfortable silence except for the music and a few hums from Yagyuu who already knew what the music was (He wakes up to classical music everyday). The music ended with a long note from Ryoma and some from Marui.

As soon as it ended, the spectators applauded.

"Uso! Marui-senpai's actually good.." Kirihara shouted in disbelief as he clapped.

"I did tell you~" Marui grinned as did a "V" sign with his hand.

"Saa. The competition will be a lot more interesting now," A certain buchou said in delight.

"Come to think of it, why didn't you join?" Yagyuu asked the Child of God. Many heads turned in curiosity.

Yukimura chuckled before answering, "I may be skilled in arts but not in this type of arts."

Many sweatdropped at his answer while Kirihara turned to the others with a questioning look, "What does he mean by that?"

"You really deserve the name Bakaya." Kirihara turned to the 'owner' of the voice, which he thought was Jackal, "What did you say?!"

Jackal

"Puri." Only 4 people noticed a devilish smirk within the chaos.

"Mattaku. Can't Niou stop it with his pranks," Marui whined to no one in particular as he walked out of the music room with Ryoma. The others already went home ahead of them while they stayed back for more practice. The school was mostly deserted, considering what time it was.

"Bunta... where's your bag?" Ryoma asked though she already expected the answer.

"...Crap. I think I left it in the clubroom. I'll go get it, so can you wait at the entrance?" Marui grinned sheepishly and Ryoma said, "Okay."

As Marui ran towards the tennis courts, Ryoma began to walk towards the entrance. It was quiet until the classroom door beside her opened and the people inside it grabbed her and threw her inside before locking the door from outside.

"Serves you right! I hope you freeze to death!" A girl sneered from the hallway. Ryoma recognized the voice's owner as Ashiwa Rui and only shook her head in disbelief. The girls outside mocked her (Though she just ignored it and looked outside through the window) and left. As the footsteps faded, Ryoma walked towards the window to unlock it. Hey, it's the first floor and wow, they planned on locking her there for the night yet didn't think about the windows as possible escape route. Brilliant.

Ryoma was walking towards the window when the door unlocked and opened. She turned to see Yukimura Seiichi looking worriedly at her. She blinked.

"Buchou, I thought you went home already," The girl said as she kept her usual poker face. Said buchou only wondered on how did she remain calm in this type of situation. Then again, she's not a normal girl.

"I overheard their group about making you pay or something like that. I tailed them for almost an hour and I guess it payed off," Yukimura smiled as he thought of telling this incident to Niou. That should certainly make those girls learn their lesson.

The girl stared for a few moments before asking, "But why did you that?"

This question caught the older teen off-guard and inwardly chuckled on how curious she was. She's really like her. Innocent and curious.

"Saa. You remind me of my little sister," Now it's the girl's turn to be caught off-guard. Out of all the answers she expected, she didn't expect that.

"Hm."

Yukimura looked at her and stepped aside, "A few more minutes and Marui's going to panic."

That reminded Ryoma of her waiting fiance and how much of a worrywart he was, "Ah. Arigato guzaimasu. Take care on your way home."

"Same to you."

"Come on, Ryo~ Tell me~"

Ryoma ignored Marui's whine and continued walking while her companion whined/asked.

"What happened? I was really worried!" Marui continued, "Plus, I saw that non-existent fan club president with her other followers, laughing on how they finally had 'revenge'. I thought it had something to do with you so I was ready to search every inch and corner to-"

"Enough. I'm fine as you can see," Ryoma cut him off as his rambling was giving her a migraine. Just thinking about those girls gives her a migraine.

"But.. Did they do something?" Marui asked seriously which made the girl beside him inwardly flinch.

"Nothing much."

"That's so vague.."

"Depends on how you see it. Anyways, if they had 'revenge' on someone, then I think they'll get punished tomorrow." Ryoma had a smirk as she said this while Marui's anger became pity. That smirk means she's already planned everything. He could only pray that it will not involve him.

~The next morning~

In Rikkaidai:

Everything was going fine in the tennis courts. Regulars and Non-Regulars did their daily menus that were provided by Yanagi (also improvised by Ryoma). In other words, peaceful could be used to describe it. As of now.

"WHERE'S THAT DAMN GIRL?!"

Many heads turned in confusion at that shout while some frowned. They had a gist of what's happening and 3 people actually knew exactly what's the problem.

Ryoma and Marui turned to the owner of the voice. If someone was looking for a girl there in the boys' tennis courts, there's only one person who fits the bill.

Niou went near Ryoma while Yukimura walked towards the owner of the voice, who turned out to be Ashiwa Rui. "May I ask what business do you have with one of my club members?" The buchou asked with a smile. Usually, when he smiles towards her, it's always forced. But today, it wasn't forced. Why? Because Rui looked like she went through... abnormal situations.

Rui glared at Yukimura, who still kept his amused smile, and said, "I need to talk with her. Privately." Scratch said, she growled.

Yukimura's smile got wider, "Sorry, but we're in the middle of practice. It would be better if you talk with her after practice." Not like I'm going to let that happen~

"But this is urgent."

"If you'll excuse me," Yukimura ignored her and went back beside Sanada, who gave him a questioning look. He only replied with, "I'll tell you later," before grabbing his racket and heading off to one of the courts. Probably going to slaughter whoever was there.

"Hey-" Rui tried to protest but was cut off by Sanada's shout, "Why are you guys not practicing?! Tarundoru! Give me 30 laps now!"

"Hai!"

Ryoma was in the girls' changing room. She immediately went there after practice before anyone else could interrupt. More like, avoiding the girls.. then again, if they used their brains, they would know that she changes her clothes here and not with the boys. Ryoma sighed and went out of the room after quickly changing into her school uniform.

After taking a few steps, she was immediately surrounded by the girls and their 'leader', Ashiwa Rui. Wow, seems like they did use their brains.

"You! We'll never forgive for what happened to us earlier this morning!" Rui scowled as she remembered earlier's events.

Ryoma inwardly sighed, she didn't even do anything to them. Ok, maybe she jinxed them on being pranked by Niou, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb, you bitch! You did those stuff to us!" One girl shouted.

"Sou sou! You probably did that out of revenge didn't you?!" Another shouted while Ryoma thought 'Hypocrite.'

"How did you even escape yesterday?!"

"Someone found me," was Ryoma's answer. She didn't tell more details about this 'someone.'

"Heh. Lucky bitch. You should've been frozen to death and cried like a baby." One of the girls sneered and laughed. The others also laughed/snickered.

Ryoma plainly ignored them while thinking, 'I'm going to be late at this rate..'

Rui snapped at her other companions, "You idiots! She didn't even get humiliated nor get hurt yet we were!" Many snapped out of their laughter and growled at Ryoma, "Good to see that you've stopped laughing now. Make her pay!"

As they tried to lunge at her, Ryoma easily sidestepped each of their 'attacks' and calmly walked towards the school building, leaving most of the girls grumbling about how more dirt got into their clothes and a certain frustrated Ashiwa Rui.

During lunch break, Ryoma went straight towards Niou's desk while Marui trailed after her. Niou tried to pull the 'innocent' face but to no avail as the girl was extremely sharp.

"What. Did. You. Do." It was a statement as she knew that he's definitely involved with the 'revenge'.

"I only did what I had to do," Niou coolly stated while waving his hand as if nothing was wrong.

Ryoma sighed and shook her head, "While I agree that those girls need to be taught a lesson, I hope you didn't go overboard."

The redhead beside her finally caught on what she was talking about and asked, "What did you exactly do?"

"Want me to list all of them?"

"Err.. tell me 5 things then," Marui was 100% sure that Niou did at least 20 pranks to each girl. Wherever they were during the span of 6 hours.

Niou smirked, "Sure~ First of all, I placed some tacks inside their indoor shoes." Marui sweatdropped at that while Ryoma remained passive.

"Secondly, I put piles of dirt inside their shoe locker~" Ah. No wonder the girls' clothes were so dirty. It must've went to them the moment they opened their shoe locker.

"Thirdly, I snuck in their respective classrooms. Of course, while looking like another student that goes to this school. I put some worms under their desks," Marui shivered at that and Ryoma still remained passive.

"Fourthly, I made sure that 'someone' would bump onto them and accidentally pour water over them," Niou smirked at that and the pair knew who was the someone and it wasn't accidentally at all.

"Fifthly, I put some sand in their hair driers," Niou said with a wink and a grin while Marui sighed at the chaos his teammate caused while Ryoma just blinked.

"It was a mission. I couldn't afford to fail it." Niou smirked and stood up, "Now if you'll excuse me, I must eat~" He left with that.

"Mission?" Ryoma echoed and looked questioningly towards Marui.

Marui just shrugged in reply. Must be 'Mura who gave that 'mission'...

~Time skip~

Days flew by and the day of the School Competition came.

All students were currently gathered in their spacious auditorium that didn't look too spacious at the moment with all of the students in it.

Suddenly, two people came up onto the podium with a microphone in their hands.

"Good morning, you guys! We'll be your Emcees for today! I'm Wataru Shigeru!" A boy with silver hair and blue eyes exclaimed while his partner, who was a girl with black hair that was tied up to a side ponytail said, "And I'm Mashiro Nana."

"Are you ready for some musical blast?!" Shigeru asked the students with enthusiasm and the students also replied with a loud "YEA!"

"This time, we have 15 pairs that will perform on stage. Our judges will be grading them and the one with the highest grade would be the winner. The judges are: Nishigawa-kouchou, Aikawa-sensei, and Aoi-sensei." The three sat at their respective seats reserved for judges.

"There are three areas where they will judge the performance: Performance, if the musical piece was outstanding or not and if they committed any mistakes. Impact, if the audience liked it or not. Lastly, Attire. This will be a stepping stone to people who are aiming to be a musician in the future as this will be like a replica of competitions. Without further ado, let's welcome our first pair!"

Minutes flew by as pairs played their piece or sang. Most were experienced and some were not. But it was still a good performance as they did it with their hearts.

"Wow! That was a nice performance! Now, let's welcome our next and last pair, Marui Bunta and Echizen Ryoma!" A lot of gasps were heard as they didn't know a tennis regular was participating and a lot of jealous fangirls were frustrated for not being 'chosen' by their 'Bunta-sama'.

The tennis pair went up on stage and it became quiet. Marui was wearing a black tuxedo and actually wasn't chewing on a gum while Ryoma wore a black sleeveless dress that reached her ankles as she held her violin. They got into their positions and soon began playing their piece, Salut d'Amour by Edward Elgar.

The piece went from high to low in an abnormal rhythm but it was still peaceful to hear. The audience was shocked on how they expertly handled their instruments and how they were better than the others. What's more was that Ryoma was constantly changing her face's expression as if responding to the music. It was a rare sight to see so much emotions on her face.

They ended it with a long note from Ryoma and some closing notes from Marui. After it ended, there was silence for 5 seconds before loud cheering erupted from the audience. They were clapping, shouting, some where even whistling.

"That was an outstanding performance by Echizen and Marui! Don't you agree, Mashiro-san?" Shigeru exclaimed as Nana nodded, "Ee, they were simply wonderful. Let's see what score will the judges give them later on."

"As that was the last pair, there will be a 10 minutes intermission as the judges will decide what pair won!"

With that, the audience were buzzing with anticipation while the tennis regulars were proud of their teammates.

"Sugoi! They will definitely win!" Kirihara's eyes sparkled as he cheered for his senpai-tachi.

"Saa, it will be up to the judges." Yukimura chuckled as he also thought they will definitely win.

"Hmm. 97.5% they will win." Yanagi said as the others sweatdropped. The percentage was expected and unexpected at the same time.

As 10 minutes passed by, Shigeru and Nana came up to the podium again with three enveloped at their hands.

"Here we are, folks! The winners will be now announced!" The audience cheered and Nana silenced them with a polite cough.

"Coming as 2nd runner up, would be the Hajime-Eshino pair!" The respective pair went on stage and they were given a certificate.

"Next, the 1st runner up would be, Kiyo-Miya pair!" The two girls went on stage with a smile and they were given a plaque.

"Now then, the winner that amazed us all today is, none other than, Marui Bunta and Echizen Ryoma!" The crowd let out cheers and clapped as the mentioned pair went on stage and got a mini-trophy. Marui grinned at the people while Ryoma smiled a little.

"Let us give them a round of applause!"

"Wait there, don't leave yet! The awarding ceremony ain't done yet! The winner will get an additional prize!" Many were confused and wondering at this part. What additional prize?

"The additional prize is... a pair of VIP Tickets to the newly built yet super popular amusement park, Senbonzakura!"

A/N: LOL yes, I know. The amusement park name is from the Vocaloid song, Senbonzakura by Hatsune Miku ouo. Well... I couldn't think of anything else. It feels like my brain was malfunctioning during the whole time I made this chapter... Well... school... ;; - ;; so yea. And that's all! Jaa! o/