Title: Your World; part 1 of 3

Pairings: Ryoma/Sakuno, (with some Momo/An and GP in the background.)

Disclaimer: PoT is Konomi-sensei's, but the OC's getting pwned in this fic are mine.

Notes: Set two years in the future; Ryoma's now a senior and the captain of Seigaku's tennis team.

Sum: At the very last minute, Sakuno gathers the courage to ask Ryoma to a school dance, and somehow, he ends up agreeing. But will he have more in store for her than some petty little date?


Echizen Ryoma peered down at the courts from his lonesome desk, ponta perched on his thirsty lips as he muttered derisive commentary. Mr. Four-Years-Tennis-Experience was pitted up against a new member of the tennis club, a sophomore by the name of Ochi. Horio swore this guy was gold, and he could barely hit a ball past him. Of course, that was nothing impressive. Indeed, Ochi got many balls past his senpai, even hit a half-assed smash or two.

"Game, Ochi, six games to two-"

His backhand was too stiff, however, and his net play needed work, his timing was off, and if he were paired against any of Ryoma's former senpai, he'd be doomed. Ochi wasn't anymore gold than Horio was quiet. However, the unimpressed captain scribbled Ochi Yukio in D Block with Katou, Mizuno, Saki, and a few others he could barely recall.

"So, have you finished your selections?" asked Ryuzaki-sensei from across the room. Ryoma peered down at his sheet. Once again, nothing special. He was the last remaining regular of one of the most renowned tennis teams Seishun Gakuen had ever seen. Naturally, he followed in steps of Tezuka Kunimitsu, hoping that he, too, would be able to bring a team to the Nationals. So far, however, there haven't been any special talents. No all-feared doubles team, no smiling tensai, or any other weirdoes with flashy tricks rolled up their sleeves. Sure, Seigaku had a few power houses, a few tricksters, and, of course, their infamous captain that took the Kantou region by storm as a freshman, but other than that, it just wasn't the same.

Ryoma handed coach Ryuzaki the selection sheets for the upcoming ranking tournament. He knew Horio, Katou, Mizuno, and some other guys would probably make the team. Maybe even that boring Ochi boy would.

The way Ochi styled his hair and the way he hit smashes reminded Ryoma a lot of Momoshiro. They hadn't gone out for burgers in awhile. It was more fun when Kikumaru was stuck paying for them. That was all in the past, though. Kikumaru, Oishi, and Tezuka all attended some diligent high school out of his way and were constantly busy.

He left the room with every intention of heading straight home. He was more than ready for the matches, but he wasn't in the mood to practice with his team. Horio would probably bore everyone to sleep with stories of his tennis experience, then Ryoma would step in and make them all run laps. After all, if they planned to get anywhere in the Kantou tournament, they're going to have to work hard and train for it. For once, he was sorry he didn't had any Inui Juice to give them all that extra push.

As he headed for his own respective court, he stopped to take a look at the girl's court, just to see if they were fairing any better than his own. They weren't anything special, either, but they were all right. The first he noticed was the ever jabbering Osakada (who could miss her voice?) who'd developed into a pretty good player. Her backhand was more smooth than Ochi's. She was fast, too, and persistent. She hadn't forgotten their days as freshman, obviously, stealing all those moves from his senpai.

Then there was Ryuzaki Sakuno, who'd been in the club since her freshman year. Ryoma observed her closely. A girl who couldn't even handle an underhand serve by him two years ago still worked at tennis, but hadn't improved all that much. He wondered why she wasted her time like this. She ran fast, but missed about five balls against her rallying opponent. He'd noticed a few other girls weren't doing too badly. Again, nothing impressive, but at least it was more interesting than his team.

It was getting late, and he had no reason to stick around much longer. It was Friday, so he gathered up his Regulars as the freshman gathered balls. He put Matsuri and Murakami on shopping duty, he told Kurugusawa to work on his stamina, and he told Mizuno and Horio to stop arguing. Really, nothing out of the ordinary.

"And practice hard. You all need it."

"Later, Echizen-buchou!" said each regular, one by one, as they left the club house, changed and ready to start their weekend (of diligent practicing, Ryoma hoped in vain.)

He hadn't noticed, after fastening the last button on his uniform, that Ochi was still there, baring him the most lustful, demanding look. Ryoma pulled his hat down over his eyes and dragged himself to the door.

"Later," he said, only to feel his kouhai's hand on his shoulder. Great, Ryoma thought, here it comes-

"Wait, Echizen-buchou," 'yeah, I figured that much.' He shrugged the hand off of his shoulder, but kept his back turned toward Ochi. "I want to have a match with you."

Ryoma never turned down a good match. With his charismatic grin and pretentious attitude that struck every nerve of his elders, he was usually the one to initiate them. Now that he had all this fame and respect, it wasn't quite as fun. He always got pinned up against guys who couldn't play worth a crap; guys who already knew they'd lose to Echizen. Ochi was trembling because he knew he wasn't ready. And if he wasn't ready, Ryoma didn't want to waste his time.

"I'm busy." Ryoma sauntered a few feet away, then turned toward the bewildered sophomore. Did he really think he was good enough, with those quivering fingers and those large, awestruck eyes? Those weak returns at the net? That slow footwork? That pride that he could just defeat Horio? Yes, he could defeat Horio. After two more years of tennis experience, Horio's game had gotten much better. Nothing notable, but nothing grossly pathetic as he was in his freshman year. Just because Ochi was able to take a match from Seigaku's fukubuchou didn't mean he was anythiug special, though. It didn't mean he was ready. He was in the same boat as all the other Regulars.

"Please, buchou. You don't know what you're missing." Here comes the comforting arrogant front they all put on. It wasn't as if Ryoma hadn't seen it before.

"Sorry, I have someone I need to meet. Maybe next time." Ryoma waved once and was off, becoming a tiny silhouette in the sunset as he headed off down the street. Ochi's eyes followed his buchou's disappearing figure with a great deal of disappointment. He didn't think his captain could be such a coward-

---

Ryuzaki Sakuno wiped the last bead of sweat from her forehead after a hard day's practice. She couldn't believe her luck. For whatever reason, the foreboding sense that someone had been watching her really distracted her from her rally with Usugi-chan, and she was only a beginner. It'd been a long day, too- a long week, actually. Seigaku was holding that big, formal dance pretty soon, and she hadn't the nerve to ask a boy.

Or, the boy, she should think.

To add more stones to her tower of anxiety, the boy she wanted to ask was always so busy. She hadn't seen Ryoma in awhile; she hadn't the time to cheer his team on. Being buried in studies was not her idea of a good beginning to her third year at Seishun Gakuen Junior High. Those midterms were not going to be easy.

'All the more reason to ask him to the dance, Sakuno-chan!' Tomoka would tell her, and she'd just shake her head and blush. It was such a long time. She bet if Ryoma saw her, he wouldn't even remember who she was. That thought alone terrified her, but with the lingering possibility that he'd say no, or she'd choke and run away before the words came out. Echizen Ryoma had no clue just how much of her heart she placed into his hands, and he'd be just the type to let it drop and shatter. It was best if they just pretended not to know each other (well, she pretended, anyway.)

"You'd play better if your head wasn't always in the clouds-" a sultry voice from behind her proclaimed. She was startled to a hault. Ryoma stood beside her, grinning. "Mada mada dane."

"Y... you saw me play today?" Her face flushed completely, and she buried her face into her hands. This was the first time they'd spoken in months, and this is what happens. How embarrassed can you get?

Wait a minute? Why was he even speaking to her in the first place?

They walked in stride, a few minutes of awkward silence passing as they headed nowhere in particular together. It was late. It was Friday. Neither of them had anything better to do. That was Ryoma's reasoning, anyway. He just happened to see a pensive Sakuno dragging herself along in that typical had-a-bad-day kind of fashion. It was a great last-minute excuse to ditch Ochi, too. He really hoped that guy didn't make the Regulars.

"Um... Ryoma-kun... its been a long time-"

"Has it?"

She let rip a quiet, sullen sigh. There was no way. No way in the whole wide world she was going to ask Ryoma to that dance. It gave her goosebumps just thinking about it. He was much too busy for that. Plus, there were hundreds of other girls he could choose from, most of which being much prettier and less annoying than she was. He probably already had a date. She always got the impression Ryoma was annoyed by her in some way. Sure, he seamed that way around everyone, even the people he cared about, but... he expected so much out of love as a child. How could she ask Ryoma for something he just couldn't deliver? How could-

"Ne, you're about to walk into-"

WHAM! The sudden contact with the metallic object startled her so much she fell backwards onto the ground.

"-a mailbox."

"Mou-" Sakuno groaned miserably as she stood up and rubbed her side. Maybe she was thinking a little too much if she couldn't even pay attention to what was right in front of her.

"You can't even see where you're going out here. What makes you think you have a chance on the courts?"

Tears began to splash over the walls of her lids, and all Ryoma could do was give her that tired, aimless expression he often wore. That heaved a sharp jab right into her soul, and the sea began to flood down her face.

"Ryoma-kun-"

---

He couldn't say no.

That gamble he took really did turn out to be a dangerous one. Even the renowned Echizen Ryoma was capable of dumb mistakes. What what a dumb mistake that was!

Slipping away from that talentless Ochi who grated his every nerve nerve via Ryuzaki should've been a piece of cake. She was a quiet girl, making her tolerable at best. She was too shy and passive, though; she could never stand up for herself when they were freshmen. It was pretty annoying, and made her personality seem every bit as flat as a sheet of cardboard. Not much different from all the other girls he knew, though. He'd played her knight in shining armor a few times, which did have its perks. The mountain of balls he won from Ginka was still sitting in a box in his room. It was fun dragging down an entire tennis team for her, just for the hell of it. It made his day somewhat interesting. He took delight in defeating pretentious dipshits who didn't take the time to learn who their opponents were.

This time, however, he really underestimated his own opponent. It was someone he felt he was least likely to call an "opponent", but she sure as hell felt like one. Ryuzaki Sakuno always ran away when he made her cry, and he expected her to do so once again, being, well, Sakuno and all. Not this time, however. This time, she was driven right through her tears. This time, she would be heard.

"Ryoma-kun... I want you to take me to the school dance tomorrow."

He froze.

What a thing for a girl to ask after being blatantly insulted! Yes, he'd known all about the dance. How could he not? At least five girls a day asked him for the past month, and he promptly refused every single one. It wasn't that he didn't like girls, or that he thought he was too good for them (as quite a few of them emphatically shot right in his face after being turned down.) It just wasn't his thing. He didn't like social get-togethers, loud music, people, anything! His life was only one constant, and that was tennis.

However, at the very last minute, a determined Sakuno, through, florid tear-strewn eyes gathered the courage to ask. For once, she'd set herself on a much higher playing field as all the other girls. This was was the pearl, finally torn from its shell.

He spoke the words before he could think them.

"Sure."

He fell backward onto his bed and scratched Karupin behind the ears. Just what in the hell had he gotten himself into?

T B C

Author's Note: This is the first Prince of Tennis fic I've ever written that came out decent enough for human eyes. By no means does this mean go easy on me, though. Con crit is highly encouraged, reviews are desired, flames are ignored. Thanks for reading!