Ryoma was finally returning home to Japan from America. Oh, boy, was he ever happy. He was hoping to return home right after the US Open finished, but his Oyaji made him stay in America a little longer for some training. Ryoma didn't mind the training—he loves tennis—but he really missed his homeland.

Ryoma stepped off the plane and grabbed his luggage.

"Oi! Boy!" Nanjiroh yelled from across the airport. Ryoma looked up and started walking towards him. "So, my son, what are you going to do your first day back in Japan? Go find all your girls so they can kiss you and tell you how much they missed you? Hehe."

"Che," Ryoma responded to his father.

"Are you telling me that you didn't learn ANYTHING about girls while you were away in America?!" Nanjiroh screamed at his son.

"Oyaji, if you remembered correctly, I went to America to play TENNIS, not to check out girls," Ryoma countered.

"Oh fine, whatever. Well, what are you actually doing then your first day back?"

"Tennis."

"Heh, same old boy. Never changes."

They finally reached their house, and Ryoma quickly walked in. He dumped all his luggage into his room then grabbed his racket and headed out. "Bye!" He yelled while walking out the door.

"Hey, wait!" His father replied, waving his hands frantically in the air.

"What?"

"Make sure you're back before your mom and Nanako get here. They've missed you, you know."

"Ah, hai. I'll be back by eight." Ryoma started walking back out the door.

"Don't forget to let the girls kiss you when they tell you how much they've missed you!" Nanjiroh yelled at the retreating figure of his son.

Ryoma arrived at the courts and started hitting against the wall. 'It's so good to be back home,' he thought. He wondered if any of the Seigaku players would be around tomorrow. 'Maybe Momo-senpai will offer a bet for to buy burgers for the winner. Heh, looks like I'll get a free lunch tomorrow,' he added to his thoughts while he continued hitting.

After an hour of hitting against the wall, he looked around to see if anyone was there he could challenge. Nobody was out there. He even scanned passed the trees to see if anybody was walking up. Nope, still nobody. He sighed and returned to hitting against the wall.

Squeak. Squeak.

Ryoma's ear picked up on the quiet noise right away. 'What was that?'

Squeak. Squeak.

'It sounds like shoes.'

The sound of the shoes kept getting louder and louder until, finally, the owner of those shoes rounded the corner onto the tennis courts. Ryoma just stared at the owner. His eyes looked up from the owner's pink and yellow tennis shoes, to the white tennis skirt, to the two long auburn braids, and, finally, to the face with bright shining brown eyes. Then his mind registered who the owner was.

"Ryuuzaki?" He asked.

"Huh?" The owner of the shoes had been staring at the ground while walking. She snapped her head up in surprise when she heard her name. Then she saw the boy she had missed for a year standing right in front of her. "R-Ryoma-kun?" She couldn't believe it. "I-I didn't know you were b-back!" She exclaimed.

"Hn, " Ryoma responded.

Sakuno didn't know what to say. She had so many thoughts circling around inside her head at once. "H-How are you? How was America? You p-played v-very well at the US Open!" She blurted out. Then she blushed after she realized she said all those things all at once.

Ryoma smirked. He found it amusing that she was able to blurt all that out while stuttering and blushing. "Hn, thanks," he replied to her.

"A-are you going to be s-staying here for a-awhile in Japan now?" she shyly asked while her cheeks grew redder with every word she said.

"Yeah, I'm staying here in Japan. I'll just be leaving every now and then for a few tournaments," Ryoma informed her.

"A-ah! That's great, R-ryoma-kun!" Sakuno excitedly exclaimed. Her eyes were shining brightly at the good news. "W-well, I g-guess I will see you around R-ryoma-kun! Welcome back!" Then she turned around and started walking back out the courts.

After Sakuno turned around, Ryoma turned his attention back to his racket and the wall. 'Hn,' he thought, 'Looks like I'm back to hitting against the wall again. Somebody should just show up already. Wait—'

"Ryuuzaki!" Ryoma yelled out right before she turned the corner to leave. Sakuno stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"What is it, Ryoma-kun?"

He smirked and pointed his racket at her. "Let's play a match." Just then, a gleam went through his eyes.