Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis.

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Sort of; Kind of a Friend

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Her eyes darted to him, stealing a glance. Then, before he turns, before he catches her, she looks away; cheeks tinting pink. And when he turns back to the game before them, she couldn't help but look back at him and wonder how it came to be; how he had singled her out of all his acquaintances in the selection; how she was now sitting beside him in the Japanese U-17 Camp, watching one of the most awaited placement matches of the team - when she last saw him over a month ago, during the happy coincidence of running into him in the streets. Was it alright, she wondered, if she were to finally allow herself to think she was Ryoma's friend.

The thought made her blush.

"Watch the game, Ryuzaki." Came Ryoma's low voice, eyes still at the match before him. When Sakuno's face glowed beet red, embarrassed at having been caught staring, the prodigy couldn't help but hide the smirk forming on his lips.

As the game intensified, Sakuno soon forgot her humiliation and fell at awe of the game. She would applaud with the viewing crowd on the benches for spectators. She would laugh when familiar faces from their high school would cheer and wail down by the courtside, catalyzed by the indescribable talent of their upperclassman. And, when the match reaches its climax, at that last point-to-point difference, she, together with the crowd, would be as silent as the grave in trepidation, in prayer.

Then, as time slows, as the crowd watched Fuji's elbow dip, as his arms gradually rise to catch the speeding neon ball and catches it in a slice that shoots to the other side of the court, accurately hitting the inner court's line, the audience explodes in cheers and deliria. Akaya falls and lies on the court, coping with his defeat amid his labored breathing and pulsing nerves. And Fuji, he stands still as the crowd continued to cry, the curve on his lips grow into a grin and he turns to the courts where their coach nods at him, proud.

Later, when the pair makes their way down to their upperclassmen surrounding and congratulating Fuji, they are pleasantly surprised by the sight of the bashful girl accompanying Ryoma. A second passed in a pause, none of them knowing what to say to the newcomers.

Then, it was Fuji who said, "You watched my game, Ryuzaki-chan." in greeting. To wit, the girl smiled and replied,

"You were incredible, Fuji-senpai."

The group gradually fell back into their conversation, congratulating Fuji, teasing Ryoma for allegedly spying on their team, talking about the next stages in their training for the U-17 World Cup. As the number of the U-17 qualifiers grew around them, Sakuno absentmindedly took a step closer to Ryoma. Her eyes darting from one person to the next, laughing at their quips, introducing herself, and promising each one of them, from Marui to Akaya to Kintaro, that she'd cheer for them in the competition. All the while, Ryoma looks at her with a smirk lacing his lips. The crowd only dispurses when the team was called by their coach, leaving Ryoma and Sakuno to wander the grounds together.

"I think it will be difficult." The girl muses as she follows Ryoma out of the camp grounds to where her grandmother was meeting with some of the professionals overseeing the development of the Japanese's team's training. She smiles at the look her friend gives her. "To cheer for you when you're playing for another team." She explains.

The handsome young man only smirks. Then, he looks ahead and confidently says, "So long as it's you, you'll find a way to."

At this, Sakuno can't help but chuckle. If anything were impossible for her, it would be to stop supporting Ryoma.

When she goes into the building where they see her grandmother wave at her while talking to someone (their meeting having just ended), she turns to Ryoma.

"Thank you for showing me around, Ryoma-kun."

"Hn."

Sakuno, anticipating when her grandmother would call for her, looked at Ryoma and back to her grandmother then, wanting to say more to the young man in front of her, seeing her off; thinking she should say more, she looked down to her intertwinded fingers anxiously, not knowing what to say.

So, thinking this is the last time she'll see him for a long, long, long while again, as he's leaving for California the next day, she settles with, "I - good luck, I guess." She tells him lamely, immediately berating herself afterwards.

Ryoma only smirks, finding her amusing.

"Thank you." He says coolly and continues looking at her.

"I- I was just joking earlier." She suddenly blurts, cheeks reddening. "I'll always cheer for you, no matter what."

"I know."

"I mean- I'll also support senpai-tachi, but- I'll always be rooting for you."

Ryoma's smirk grows and he just nods as she grew flustered.

"I mean- I- I'll cheer for all of you equally!" She shakes her red face. "No favorites!" Then, she adds, realizing, "Not that you're my favorite, or that I should have a favorite- I just-"

"Good bye, Ryuzaki." Ryoma cut her, helping her end her litany of stammers. Thankful, Sakuno shut her mouth and sighed. Settling her nerves, the color in her cheeks cooling, the doe-eyed brunette just gives him a small smile and finally tells him with a surprising conviction in the tone of her voice,

"Do you best, Ryoma-kun."

Sakuno smiles and Ryoma smirks.

"I intend to." The boy says.

Then, before she leaves with her grandmother (who only sneered at Ryoma from afar - they had a good talk a few days ago already), he tells her, "I'll see you soon."

As she walks away, looking back at him over her shoulder, her brows rise in confusion. Ryoma only looks back at her, stationary, hands in his shorts pockets, with a knowing expression on his handsome face.

END.

It is only a few months later when her grandmother starts preparing for their trip to Melbourne for the U-17 World Cup that Ryoma's words make sense to her. And even as he continues touring around the world, Sakuno would have tickets reserved for her in every country he visits; in every one of his games. And she would continue to wonder why it was so up until the moment he tells her that, one way or the other, he's always been in love with her. When he confesses (she never did because there came a point when it just couldn't be denied - that she was in fact; that she has always been in love with him), she laughs - counting the years that had passed since his placement in the U-17 World Cup years before.

Now that they were at that point in their relationship, those years waiting for him didn't seem to matter one bit.