Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or its characters, but I do love to use them in my stories for your enjoyment.

A/N: I'm back with a new PoT story for you. I'm still working on the rumors, so if you want to see something on that story, let me know, but I have been itching to start a new actual story and since my novel is finally done and with a proofreader, I decided to give in to the urge. I discussed this one with SugarTensai and came up with a couple of different ideas together. Thanks for the help, SugarTensai! Enjoy!

Chapter 1 – Things Are Not Always as They Appear

For the past month, Sakuno has felt like she was on cloud nine. Through a series of events, and some interference from a couple of her senpai, she was finally dating Ryoma Echizen…sort of. They went out to the movies, practiced tennis together, and even went and at burgers at least once a week, and he always escorted her home, but as he usually acted, his attitude remained aloof and somewhat distant. To top it off, his two main/favorite topics of conversation were still his cat Karupin and tennis. He never held her hand, never tried to kiss her, or anything else, but that was all right because they were dating. It's just that sometimes she wished he would be more boyfriend-like. Then again, there were those people, like her grandmother, who believed being first years in middle school, they didn't need to rush anything. Rushing? At the rate they were going, glaciers moved faster.

Everything being what it is, Ryoma being who he was, Sakuno would take what she could get and be happy he had ever agreed to go out with her in the first place. She had had a crush on him since the first time she saw him at the tennis competition when he beat those high schoolers after being disqualified for not showing up. It had been amazing to see him in action, and when she found out he was going to her school, she wanted to shout and jump for joy. Of course her best friend seemed to have a louder and more pronounced way of welcoming him, however, that was just Tomoka and the outgoing girl had always been like that.

Tomoka…come to think of it, her best friend had been acting odd ever since Sakuno told her that she had her first date with Ryoma. Sakuno knew her friend had a crush on the Prince of Tennis as well, but Tomoka had always encouraged her friend to go for it. Could it be that her best friend had changed her mind now? Did Tomoka not support her relationship? That couldn't be it. If it was, Sakuno was sure Tomoka would have said something to her. Right?

As Sakuno walked towards the school, her mind raced with everything: Tomoko's feelings, Ryoma as a boyfriend, homework she was unsure she finished, and tennis practice. So many things to keep straight, and she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. First of all, she wasn't the most directionally efficient person on the planet. She had issues with that particular trait and often found herself getting lost in her own neighborhood. Ergo, when she looked up, she started to panic because she did not recognize anything around her. Where was she? Where was her school?

"Calm down. You'll find it," she muttered to herself, however, it felt like a losing battle with her emotions.

"Ryuzaki-san," a voice called out from under a black umbrella.

"Buchou?! Wh-What are you doing here? What about practice?"

Tezuka approached his kohai and almost cracked an amused smile, however, he remembered himself before it happened, "We are unable to practice in the rain, therefore, it has been cancelled. What are you doing here? You missed the turn for the school by two blocks." He knew exactly where she lived, as he had been to his coach's house plenty of times, and he also understood she lacked a sense of direction; however, she had been going to the school for several months now and had not gotten lost on her way to school for quite some time.

"EH? Go-gomen! I wasn't thinking… I mean I was thinking… I mean my mind…"

"Follow me. I will escort you to the school." It was the least he could do since this was the precious granddaughter of his tennis coach, and although he may come across as unfeeling and cold, he was still a gentleman who would not leave a lady in distress, unless he had no other choice, and then again, not this girl because his coach would kill him.

"A-A-Arigato, Tezuka-buchou!" She stuttered and obediently fell in step beside him, noticing when she started to lag behind and had to speed-up in order to catch up, he slowed his pace and shortened his steps to match hers.

And when they finally got to school, her world was turned upside down, the carpet was pulled out from under her feet, and all those other clichés people use to say she was crushed.

Arriving at the gates, Sakuno noticed her best friend and confidante waiting on her. This wasn't odd in and of itself, but the rain still fell and she bounced up and down as if she had to tell Sakuno the greatest secret in the world. "Tomoka?"

"Eh? You already moved on with Tezuka-buchou?" Tomoka shouted in surprise once she saw her friend walking with the stoic third year.

Her face turned redder than a tomato, her head whipped back and forth between gaping at her closest friend and looking at the teen beside her. Holding up her arms, she waved her hands furiously, "Wh-wh-what are you…? NO! I-I-I got lost again!"

"So you aren't dating him now?"

"Wh-what?"

Tezuka watched on as long as he could, but the girl's distress appeared as if was starting to overwhelm her…if it hadn't already. Pushing up his glasses, he spoke up and observed Tomoka jumped when he addressed her directly, "As, Ryuzaki-san has already stated, we do not have that sort of relationship."

"I-I'm still dating Ryoma-kun," Sakuno meekly stated.

"No, you're not," Tomoka argued.

"What do you mean?"

"I asked Ryoma-sama to go with me to the movies and he agreed. He said he wasn't dating you."

"Wh-Why would you do that?"

"Because I had an extra ticket and it's a movie you didn't want to see and he did."

This was supposed to be her best friend, the person who supported her and cheered her on; and yet, now she was also the person who helped break her heart. "Da-date?"

"Of course. Since you aren't going out with him anymore, I thought it would be all right."

When was stealing a boyfriend ever all right? When was dating your best friend's ex acceptable? And Sakuno wasn't even sure she and Ryoma were over. They hadn't broken up as far as she knew.

"Ryuzaki-san, I suggest you take this elsewhere. If you delay any further, you might be tardy. I would also recommend that you talk to Echizen yourself for understanding," Tezuka recommended and gave her a small nudge towards the school building.

He was right. This was not the time nor the place, and until she talked to Ryoma herself, she could not possibly know the truth. Maybe he did not say they were not dating. Maybe Tomoka was confused. "H-Hai, buchou." Leaving her bewildered friend standing there, she followed the older boy and entered the school.

It took her a while, but she finally found Ryoma at lunch on the roof. She needed to know exactly what he and Tomoka talked about, what was said, because if she just listened to Tomoka and let her imagination run wild, she would want to crumble into a million tiny pieces. "Ry-Ryoma-kun?" Kneeling down beside him, she shook his shoulder in the hopes he would actually wake up.

Feeling someone nudging him, disturbing his sleep, Ryoma slowly lifted one eye lid and rolled over, "What do you want?"

"To-To…ahem Tomoka said you are going to the movies with her on a d-d-date."

Both eyes popped open and he glanced over his shoulder, "Date? It's not a date. She had a ticket and is giving it to me. Momo-senpai is supposed to meet me at the theatre."

Breathing a sigh of relief, she nodded, "Oh, okay. She said you and I broke up and you were dating her now."

This whole conversation confused the young tennis prodigy, "What are you talking about?"

"She said you and I weren't dating even…"

"We're not," he interrupted her with a scowl.

"B-But we were dating. We went to dinner and played tennis and…"

"I was told to help you with your tennis game. As for the rest, you were all right for a girl and friend, so we hung out with others. Momo-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai were there, and when they weren't, I didn't feel like going home and you wanted to hang out. I don't have time to date. I have to beat someone in tennis and I have other things I need to do. Tennis is more important."

Gasping, Sakuno covered her mouth, tears pouring down her cheeks. This hurt worse than Tomoka's confession this morning. Had she gotten it all wrong? She assumed, but she thought it was mutual. She couldn't stay here. Getting to her feet, she ran through the roof door and down the steps. She didn't care where her feet took her, but she needed to get out of there… NOW!

A misunderstanding. That's all it was? The times she thought they were on dates, he thought he was just hanging out with someone because he was bored. While it's true they never said they were dating, never spoke the words, she really believed he liked her as more than just a girl who cheered for him at tennis matches. She had deceived herself into believing something that wound up being nothing but a figment of her own romantic imagination. Tennis is what mattered to him. She should have known better, and yet, she had wanted to believe he had finally turned his eyes towards her. Tennis was a vile thing to be hated now. She couldn't compete against the sound and feel of a racket hitting a ball. She felt pathetic.

When she could no longer run, when the stitch in her side doubled her over in pain, and when she could no longer breathe, she stopped and looked around. Once again Sakuno did not know where she was, and for the first time, she honestly did not care. Seeing a park across the street, she stumbled through the entrance and sat down on a park bench to rest. Everything felt like a lie to her right now.

"You know, being in that uniform at this time of day, could get you in trouble," someone chuckled behind her.

Spinning around, Sakuno found someone laying under one of the tall oak trees. She could see nothing except the emblem on his shirt. Her eyes grew wide and she whispered in shock, "Rikkai-Dai?"