Tennis has always been nineteen-year-old Ryoma Echizen's #1 priority. For the next month, he is even planning on spending his days in a mansion for men competing in the next Japanese tournament. What are we forgetting? Oh, yeah. All of the workers are girls, and one is being very mysterious… okay, he can read her like font size 72.

Author's Note:

I just came up with this today. I know I really should be updating my other story, but I've been cursed with writer's block and really don't feel like it anyway. So, here goes.

Disclaimer: I never use these, but I keep seeing them so I'm going to use it to seem normal (yeah, right!). I do not own Prince of Tennis or any characters used in this story (Okay, I own almost all of the maids and a few of the players).

Ryoma walked into the room, feeling calm and collected as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary: he thought. His quarters were all black; black carpet, black wallpaper, black bedding, black toothpaste (Eew? I mean, what flavor is it?), black lighting…okay, that's a stretch. You get it; everything is black.

He threw his stuff on the bed and began to unpack. A few minutes later, he heard a knock on the door. He reluctantly opened it to find Akira Hiroshima, the host and owner of the mansion, there.

"Echizen-san! What an honor!" Akira exclaimed. Ryoma, finding no reason to respond, remained quiet. "Anyway, I came to tell you a few things. As you may have noticed, all of the workers are female. Since all of the guests are men, I am allowing you all proper privacy. If one of them comes in to clean at a bad time, you can just send them off." Ryoma didn't even nod.

"All right," he continued, "there's more." He poked at Ryoma's racket, but Ryoma snatched it away quickly. "Most of the maids here just work here for college funds. A lot of them have dorms there, but one stays here due to costs. It comes out of her pay, but that's a tad off topic. I'm not accusing you of anything, but in the past we have had cases where guests have harassed our young workers, and we'd appreciate it if everyone would let them be as they please. Thank you."

Ryoma glared at him as the implication sunk in. Akira suddenly left, as if he were frightened or offended. Ryoma rested on his bed for a bit. He didn't need to check out the tennis courts. It didn't matter. He would always beat his challenger, no matter the court. In a few minutes, he was sleeping as deeply as he had in junior high under that tree.

In the meantime, a shy young maid knocked timidly on his door. She definitely didn't want to disturb whoever the room belonged to. A lot of the tennis players picked on her when she came to clean, and she really didn't want that to happen like it always did. A bead of sweat dripped down her neck. At first she thought it would be caught in her hair, but then she remembered pulling all of it up in her bonnet. Her amber-brown eyes studied the door, waiting for some answer.

When she received no reply, she pushed the door open. At first glance, the room seemed empty. She quickly saw a young man sleeping on top of the covers and a bag full of clothes and equipment on the bed. She tried to reach the bathroom, but instead tripped halfway and landed…

…right on top of the tennis player. Somehow she thought she recognized him up-close, but she then remembered her situation. He shifted, and her bonnet came undone. Twin braids fell down her back. The players eyes shot open, and she immediately pulled free.

She ended up landing right on her thigh, hitting the (black, but) wooden floor. "I-I'm sorry, I tripped and-and I…" she suddenly cut herself off. She now knew who it was in front of her. "Ryoma-kun?"

"Oh, it's you Wobbly Hips," Ryoma said. Heat crept into her cheeks, as much as she tried to hide her blush. She pushed herself up, straightening her maid outfit.

"H-hai! Sakuno Ryuzaki, actually, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno stammered. He now stood above her, nearly hovering.

"I didn't forget," he said bluntly.

"Of course you didn't, Ryoma-ku----- I mean, Echizen-sama," Sakuno said, bowing constantly.

"You don't have to call me that," he said.

"W-well, I do here," she replied. "Otherwise, I may get fired, and that'd be bad. T-taking into consideration that I live here, of course."

"So he was talking about you, Wobbly Hips." Ryoma started unpacking his bags again, so Sakuno began to straighten up the bedding and clean the restroom.

"Why are you working here?" Ryoma asked once.

"I need the money if-if I want to become…"

Ryoma stood still, waiting for her to finish. She waited a few seconds, and then she opened her mouth.

"I want to become a great violinist! A musician," she stammered. She waited for him to say something, ranging from "That's nice," to, "Whatever." He said nothing, so she continued on with her work.

"Do you still play tennis? I wasn't planning on playing today, but I'd do it if it were you," he offered.

"I can if you allow me to," Sakuno said. "I'm your personal maid. Your word is law to me." Sakuno blushed at the word personal. He smirked.

"Personal?" he said, kneeling down beside her. "Doesn't that also mean private?" Sakuno felt like she would faint.

"E-Echizen-sama?" she asked.

"Yes, Sakuno?" he asked.

"W-what are you implying?" He stared at her, expressionless.

"Oh, nothing. Why don't you get back to work?"

Author's Note:

I know I am so weird and lazy and ugly, but I just got a new computer and it is heavenly and I'm in such eternal bliss that I don't think I will ever update this or work again. (JK! I WILL update this).