It seemed everyone was playing doubles now. Not the normal doubles, even Ryoma could handle that, No, this was a new kind of doubles, one that had never really occurred to many, if any of the Seigaku tennis members.

Ryoma sighed as gruffly as a 13-year-old could, running a hand through his wet hair and lightly shuffling his legs in the sand, enjoying the feel of the warm flecks against his cold skin. He grabbed his hat, which was placed next to his towel and placed it over his head with familiar deftness, but not before noticing the patch of dirt that had appeared, most likely due to Momo and his shenanigans.

Ryoma looked about the beach and grunted his annoyance at the other members of his team, each boy accompanied by one or more girls. A whole new kind of doubles, Ryoma thought. It had been a year since Seigaku's win at Nationals and Ryoma was visiting Japan for the summer, his ever-waving dad deciding where the hottest girls lived and hence where they would be next. As soon as wind got hold that Ryoma was returning, everyone of the former tennis club team decided a party would be necessary to welcome him back, not to mention a chance to see all of the old gang again. Even Tezuka-buchou made arrangements to come, leaving his new home in Germany to see his team members once more.

Of course, he hadn't come alone. In fact, no one had come alone save Ryoma.

Tezuka brought back a tall skinny girl with a big smile and quick wit. With Tezuka standing next to her, they looked like the perfect power couple. Fuji was standing next to a girl constantly in motion, mouth and hands never ceasing to make her elaborate yet entertaining stories even more so. As Ryoma looked at the two of them conversing with Tezuka-buchou and his German fraulein, he couldn't help but admire the perfect balance of the friendly stoic Fuji and his hyperactive joyful girlfriend.

A wave of sand and a giggle flew over Ryoma and the young boy scowled at being interrupted in thought by Momo, who was currently trying to impress a young girl standing by Kaidou. Apparently not only were the two rivals in tennis but in love as well. The furious glare Kaidou gave Momo was stifling, but Momo appeared not to notice over the appreciative clapping the girl bestowed his dumb act with. She lightly bumped Kaidou with her hip and gave him a gentle smile. From what Ryoma heard, she was able to keep both boys at ease, and he could see it even clearer. Instead of Kaidou's intense aura strangling her like it did with 99 percent of the human population, it floated through her like a breeze. What's more, her calm state of optimism seemed to entrance Momo, and he never ceased in trying to make her smile wider or laugh harder.

Eiji and Oishi both were involved in a conversation with a small group of girls, each taking turns to tell their story, their lines synching together and flowing, rapidly growing in gaiety and speed. Ryoma brushed the sand off his shorts, now dry from being exposed to the hot sun and wondered vacantly if he was the only one that had noticed. He'd never thought about it before, but with the new atmosphere of love hunched over every beach umbrella, it was obvious there was more than friendship going on between the two. He scoffed as he realized yes, he was the only one that noticed. He didn't really care, but he respected them as teammates and friends, and if they wanted to keep it secret, far be it for him to impose that. They were all friends, certainly, but they were also young and some of the boys, namely Kaidou and Momo, probably didn't have the maturity needed to accept them.

Ryoma resisted rolling his eyes as he realized even Inui seemed to have his own way with the ladies. He had a group of no less than 5 girls around him, all giggling and laughing as he explained to them his newest development of data surfing. Apparently once he'd lost the glasses and gained contacts, he'd gotten a few blushes as he passed. After a few months of analyzing the possibilities, he'd decided 'experiencing high school for all its worth would increase his chances of social opportunities and college acceptances by 84 percent', so he updated the wardrobe and managed to attract girls that had a soft spot for very tall, very smart guys.

What a change! Ryoma shook his head of the 'weirded-out' thoughts running through his particularly bedraggled mind, as well as getting out the last few drops of sea water from his ears. He adjusted his hat to block out some of the sun when someone unfamiliar plopped down next to him, sighing with a strange combination of sullenness and satisfaction. He looked beside him to see a young pretty girl with large brown eyes and silky brown hair.

"Hmm?" She looked to him curiously, as if she hadn't realized she'd seated herself beside someone, and then immediately blanched out, backing up a bit and slapping her hand to cover her mouth. "Ry-Ryoma-k-kun?"

"Huh?" Ryoma remarked intelligently, not recognizing the girl though she seemed to know him quite well.

"It's...it's been awhile." she blushed and moved back to her original position. Despite her seemingly shy nature, she scooted next to him to be daringly close. "How has your time been in America?"

He looked at her, confusion written all over his face. "Who are you?" he asked bluntly, not wanting to draw things out and embarrass the both of them later. He wouldn't even try to remember her name.

"W-what? You don't remember me? I...really?" Her doe eyes grew wider and her eyebrows slumped downward, obviously disappointed to have not made an impression on him.

He shrugged his shoulders. What else could he do?

"My name is Sakuno. My grandmother was your tennis coach for Seigaku." She looked down at her feet, and Ryoma wondered if she had something in her eye, or perhaps the sea air was making her eyes look so misty.

"Huh." Ryoma leaned back and searched his memories. He did remember a scrawny little thing that often came to visit the old lady, but this girl looked remarkably different. For one thing, her hair was much shorter, and from what Ryoma remembered she had always adorned a simple style of neat twin braids. Her hair was just past her shoulders and was hanging loose on her back. She also appeared to be much older than the girl he remembered. Could a year really change someone so much?

Ryoma looked at the girl, and though her face was downward and Ryoma couldn't see much, when he looked at those eyes, he knew it was that same shy girl that had gotten him lost on his first competition in Tokyo.

"Sakuno huh? You look different." Her face lit up and she looked at him in happy surprise.

"So you do remember me?!"

"More or less." he shrugged. "What happened to your hair?"

"Oh, I cut it." She bit her lip nervously and flicked her eyes in his direction. "What do you think?"

"Does it matter? It's already done." he commented dryly. She made a small noise of what could have been disappointment and turned back to face the sea. If there was one thing America had taught him, it was that there was no use in being overly polite. But seeing her as she bit her lip and slumped her shoulders so, he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. He knew he wasn't the nicest person, and though a year had hardly improved his introverted arrogant nature, he had learned a little more about compassion. He fidgeted, a newly acquired habit that came with the self-consciousness of puberty and lowered his hat some. "It looks fine."

"R...really?" she barely moved her head, not daring to overwhelm the situation.

He shrugged for the upteenth time. "Yeah. It's...shinier than I remembered."

A smile lit up her face, and all the awkwardness Ryoma had felt in his gut slowly began to loosen. "Thank you Ryoma-kun." Ryoma looked from her beaming face to the ocean.

"...'S nothing." he mumbled, and shuffled his legs against the sand some more. She gave a small chuckle, covering her mouth as she did so.

"I never thought I would be the one to embarrass Ryoma-kun." She laughed. Ryoma gave an indignant look, even as he felt his face becoming hotter. He moved his hat around on his head.

"Don't know what you're rambling about." For a moment she stopped laughing, and he thought he had once again upset her. He was about to sigh with aggravation, but was surprised instead when she gave a small but loud outburst of laughter.

"Sakuno!" A sugary voice came from behind them and she stopped laughing, though her smile remained. Two hands reached out and grabbed Sakuno and began tugging her further onto the beach. "Leave Ryoma-sama alone! Let someone else have the chance to talk with him."

Ryoma felt his spirit decline, but was then unnerved by the fact that his spirits had in fact been uplifted by the other girl. "I don't think so." he refused outrightly. The brown headed new arrival frowned sulkily but quickly moved on.

"Mmm, come on Sakuno, let's play beach volley ball with the Golden Pair."

"A-alright. Bye Ryoma-kun." She gave a small wave and ran off to a corner of the beach where Oishi was giving his partner a piggy back ride to the beach net. Ryoma didn't acknowledge her leaving until she was far enough away that she couldn't see his change of expression.

Leaning back into the sand, Ryoma gave a small smirk that may have even be able to pass as a smile.

Maybe doubles wouldn't be such a bad experience.

Author's Note: Ahh, don't know why but I wanted to write something for PoT and this came out. I was a bit exasperated how every person that writes for this series seems to put all the boys together, when really only a few are possibly gay. The Golden pair I can actually easily see being either, but I find them so cute I did pair them up with each other. They're just such a heart-wrenchingly cute couple! Kaidou and Momo I DON'T think are gay. Their doubles match at Nationals proved that, I think. Fuji I saw with someone semi-opposite as him yet still maintaining that happy disposition.

For some reason I really want to write a fanfiction with Momo and Kaidou having a love rival, but then it would be practically irrelevant to the original story, and yadda yadda it would turn into something I should just switch the names and get published as something else. Ya know?

So this is basically how I thought they would all turn out once they turned their attentions to girls rather than tennis. Sorry if you want them all to get down and dirty together, it's just my opinion that most of them are straight. No offense meant, I just wanted to add some love to their life.

Hope it was okay!