Okay. I just started getting into this series, so don’t kill me if I don’t have all the facts. I know some things, like Momo-chan was dropped from the regular's team after the second regulars match in the series, Ryoma left for the U.S. (came back after a little) and that’s about it. –sweat drops- I just really wanted to write a fanfic for Valentine’s Day. So as a first timer in this anime/manga, go easy on me, okay? I’m trying to catch up to date as fast as possible. And since I’m just getting into the sport, don’t sue me for any tennis mistakes.

Oh, and sorry for the kind of bad title...I had NO idea what to call this story...so I just wrote down the first few words I saw on the page. Heh, heh...

By the way, I’m always open to flames. No, really. I mean it. I welcome flames into my humble abode.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Prince of Tennis but I’m trying so hard to get up to date on it!

“Ne, ne, relax,” Ryoma said, smirking lightly at her as he bounced the tennis ball up and down, “It’s just a game.”

Just a game, Sakuno thought, biting her lower lip. Just a game!? Are you mad!? When you play, it’s like a killing spree! This is definitely not a game!

And as she looked down at her trembling hands holding a wobbling racket, she still had no idea how Tomoka had gotten her into this mess. Honestly. She didn’t.

One second she was practicing tennis with the wall of the school, and then she was thrown in front of Ryoma with her friend gushing about such and such nonsense about Valentine’s Day. But it didn’t end there. Oh no. Before she had time to take in her surroundings, she was flung out onto a court with the majority of Regulars, Tomoka, Horio, Kato, and Mizuno watching. And somehow, somehow Tomoka had managed to squeeze a sentence out of Ryoma between all this confusion.

Although, the words that came from his mouth weren’t what she was expecting—

“Aah, I’ll have a match with her.”

And that was it.

So this was how she ended up on a tennis court with Ryoma.

Oh Kami-sama, was she dead. No, wait, she was past dead and onto utter annihilation of her physical and mental being. Yup. That was the right phrase for it.

“Ah!” Momo said, tearing up, “The wonders of youth!”

“Go get her, ochibi!” chanted Fuji.

Ryoma refrained from wincing at the nickname.

Why do they still cling onto that? he thought, slightly annoyed.

“I-I feel sort of bad for Sakuno-chan,” said Kawamura, timidly, “Shouldn’t we worry about her safety…? Ryoma-kun can be very violent now and again with his tennis…”

“I don’t know,” laughed Eiji, “I don’t think this is any way to treat a lady on Valentine’s Day, but if kicking her ass is what wins her heart—GO FOR IT, OCHIBI!”

“You don’t think he’ll go all out on her, do you?” panicked Kawamura, fretting slightly.

“If you’re so worried, then cheer for her!”

Without another word, Eiji shoved a racket in his hand.

“YOSH!” Kawamura screamed, fire in his eyes, “GO FOR IT, SAKUNO-CHAN! BEAT HIS BUTT ALL ACROSS THE COURT! YOSH! BEAT HIM TO HELL AND BACK, SAKUNO-CHAN! GO FOR IT! GO! GO! GO! GO! GOOOOOOOOOO!”

Slightly frightened, Eiji took back the racket and threw it over his shoulder. Some things were better left unsaid.

“O-Oh,” groaned Kawamura, snapping from his alter-ego, “Do you think this is a good idea?”

“Hn,” Inui said, looking at Sakuno first and then Ryoma, “The chances of Ryoma harming Sakuno in any way are debatable. He could harm her without meaning to. Sometimes he does get a bit carried away. On the other hand, he would never do anything to injure her since…” at this point, he flipped through his notebook and eyed the information, “‘He looks at her as a potential partner in a future relationship concerning the ideals of matrimony.’”

All the regulars, Horio and Tomoka stared at him with a confused expression on their faces.

Inui let out a sigh.

“In other words,” he said, “No, I don’t think Ryoma would do anything to hurt his girlfriend.”

Sakuno and Ryoma froze slightly at that statement. Ryoma tilted his hat slightly to cover up the light blush coming on his cheeks.

“Alright!” Horio said, sitting up in the referee chair, “Is everyone ready?”

“Nya,” hummed Eiji, raising his hand slightly.

“What is it, senpai?” Momoka asked innocently.

“I think we should make this more interesting,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear while folding his arms in the process.

“How so?” Inui asked, getting intrigued.

“Alright,” he said, suddenly serious as he looked at Sakuno and Ryoma, “The one who loses has to do whatever the winner tells them to do for the rest of the day.”

Sakuno paled at this. Ryoma looked at his teammate with indifference.

“Aah,” he said, “I agree to these terms.”

“And you, Sakuno-chan?” Inui asked, giving her a sharp look.

“H-Hai…”

“Great!” Fuji said, smiling brightly.

Sakuno and Ryoma turned to face each other. She instantly blushed when he gave her a mischievous smirk. Just looking at his face made her shake vigorously.

“Oi, you ready?” he asked calmly, grasping the ball in his hand and eyeing her, “You seem nervous.”

“E-Eh?” she asked, blushing slightly, “O-Oh, n-no, I’m fine…”

He paused for a second, still looking at her shaking form before sighing.

Women, Ryoma thought, I’ll never understand them.

“Alright!” Horio said loudly, “Let’s get the game of Sakuno and Ryoma started! And…go!”

Ryoma began to bounce the ball since he was serving first. Each time it hit the ground, Sakuno’s eyes followed it with determination.

Catching it in his left hand on the last bounce, he looked up at her once again.

“It’s not too late to back down,” Ryoma said confidently.

“Serve it,” Sakuno replied with a bit of backbone, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

“Ne, ne,” Eiji said, smiling and pointing, “Lover’s quarrel! Ochibi sure has a weird way of showing affection for a girl.”

Ryoma paused for a moment, cocking an eyebrow at her sudden boldness before throwing it into the air.

Sakuno only had three words repeating themselves in her head.

I…

Pressing his feet off of the ground Ryoma ascended upward, jumping to meet the tennis ball.

Am…

Raising his right arm with the tennis racket, a small grin played on his lips as he gazed at the ball.

Dead.

Slamming the racket down, Ryoma made the first move—doing the infamous ‘Twist Serve.’

“Nani!?” Kaidoh snapped, “He started out with that!?”

“What were you saying about the data just earlier?” Oishi asked Inui with a glare on his face.

Inui sweat dropped.

The ball slammed near Sakuno’s feet and aimed toward her face. It lightly brushed her cheek but never hit her directly. Flying off and out of the court, Sakuno completely ignored the tennis ball as she looked at Ryoma.

“15-lub,” Horio said, throwing a ball to Ryoma.

“You can still back out,” he said to her.

She glared slightly at him and positioned herself.

I’ve been training a lot, Sakuno thought, narrowing her eyes. Obaa-chan even took the time to show me some of her moves. Demo…

Ryoma threw the ball in the air again and served it regular this time.

Can I really beat him?

Once again, the tennis ball hit on Sakuno’s side but she saw something—an opening waiting just for her.

He’s just toying with me, she thought, noting that he was playing with his right hand as she sprinted toward the ball. But maybe I can do something with this…

Spiraling her body around, she slammed the ball with such force it flew over the net and bounced on Ryoma’s side. He raised his eyebrows at this, but hit it back with a simple backhand nonetheless.

She was ready for his moves.

Tilting her racket to the left, she hit the ball at an angle opposite of Ryoma with all her might. He began to dash toward the ball, his racket held out in front of him, concentration etched on his features.

When did she get this good? He thought to himself as he quickly returned the ball to her side with a whack from his racket. She’s been training a lot, apparently…

She hit it back with more enthusiasm than before.

Ryoma looked at her face for a split second—noticing a simmer of sweat gracing her face. Her lips curled upward in a small smile while her eyebrows were furrowed in determination.

He was so distracted that she ended up getting a point off of him.

“1-1!” Horio called out.

The regulars and onlookers were silent as they stared in awe.

Ryoma, being the cool and collected guy he was, smirked at Sakuno.

“Mada mada dane,” he said mischievously, switching his hands.

His left hand, she thought, her eyes widening. He’s using his left hand.

Sakuno visibly paled at this.

Oh. Man.

And so, it was a new world record! It only took Ryoma thirty seconds to beat Sakuno in tennis! The scoring ended 6-1.

When Horio announced Sakuno’s defeat, Momoka was in a state of shock while the rest of the regulars kept their snickering in.

“Oi,” Ryoma said plainly, looking across the court at Sakuno, “Come with me.”

She blinked a few times in confusion.

“The deal,” he replied simply to her unasked question.

“E-Eh?” she asked, “A-Ah…”

She quietly followed him out of the courtyard with all eyes upon them.

“Ten percent chance of him telling her about her bad positioning skills,” Inui murmured, writing it down in his book, “Fifty percent chance of him demanding her to practice more. Seventy five percent chance of him commanding her to train with him. One hundred percent chance of him ordering her hair cut. And one hundred twenty percent chance of him making a move.”

“Ah! Kawaii!” squealed Eiji, clinging onto Kaidoh.

“Oi!” he yelled in return, trying to pry his teammate off of him, “Baka! Get off! OFF, I TELL YOU!”

“Let’s watch them!” Eiji said, with a glint in his eye.

The other members smirked in return.

“I don’t think this is such a good idea,” said Kawamura, hesitantly, “I mean, what if Ryoma-kun finds out or…”

Momo tossed a racket into his hands.

“LET’S DO THIS! YEAH! WE’RE GONNA STALK THEM UNTIL WE CAN’T STALK THEM NO MORE, BOYS!”

Sakuno continued trailing Ryoma. He hadn’t said a word to her and it was clear they were far away from the tennis court.

Her gaze flicked toward his feet, watching them come in contact with the grass ground where gym took place during the day. His white shoes were slightly scuffed but just barely.

Even his shoes are perfect, she thought, biting her lip to keep herself from laughing.

They walked into a small tree patch near the gym grounds bordering a small forest. After they were deeply hidden by the foliage, he stopped and turned around to face her.

“So,” he said, casually, “You have to do everything I say, ne?”

She blushed lightly and gave him a small smile.

“H-Hai that was the deal set by Eiji-senpai.”

“Hmm,” he hummed looking her up and down for a second. “Alright. Take your hair out of those braided pigtails.”

Sakuno quirked an eyebrow up at him, but did as he told her. Taking one of her pigtails in her hand, she gently took the band from the bottom and began to unweave her hair. Running her fingers through it once, she began to work on the other braid. Once again, she patted her hair and looked up at him.

He tilted his head to the side.

“Hold still,” Ryoma said, approaching her.

She tensed visibly despite silently telling herself to calm down as his hands took some of her hair. He looked at it for a minute before tossing it back over her shoulder.

“You should get your hair cut…That’s not an order.”

She was confused by that statement.

“Take off my hat,” he demanded. “And hold it.”

With her tiny hands, she gently took off his white hat with the red letter, ‘R’ on it. She let her hands fall by her sides as she still looked at him confusedly.

“Now then,” he said, this new control over her very satisfying to him, “Tell me, do you have any admirers?”

“Only a-a few…” she looked away.

“I see… And do you…”

How to put this, he thought. How do I say it without being so blunt and idiotic sounding?

He hid the tint of red growing on his cheeks by moodily looking away.

“…Do you admire them in return?”

“Iie,” she said, shaking her head.

“Aah…Then, I have two more orders for right now.”

“Nani?”

“Don’t run away,” he said, “And don’t slap me.”

“Doshite?—”

And with that, Ryoma slanted his lips over Sakuno’s without hesitation. Damn, his mouth was so soft. He slipped his tongue out and brushed her skin with it. Before she could realize what was happening, he pulled away.

As if nothing had happened, he took his hat from her hands and placed it on her head. She looked sort of boy-ish with it on, but he had to admit—it was funny.

“Wear that as much as possible,” Ryoma said, calmly, “It’ll keep those fans of yours away. Also, since you’re always at my games, give it to me when I’m about to go out and face someone. I like wearing that hat.”

He then turned to the right and smirked.

“Ah,” he sighed, looking at a nearby bush, “You can come out now, senpais.”

The bush moved a bit and suddenly voices were heard.

“Shoot, it’s all your fault, Kaidoh…”

“WHAT’D YOU SAY!?”

“Shh! They might hear us…”

“BAKA! THEY ALREADY KNOW WE’RE HERE!”

"Ne, Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno said, shyly.

"Nande?"

"...Happy Valentine's Day."

"Huh? It's Valentine's Day?"

"OI! STOP TOUCHING MY ASS!" screamed Kaidoh's voice from the bush.

"LIKE HELL I WANT TO TOUCH YOUR ASS!"

"STOP TOUCHING IT, KUSO!"

"Can we get out of here, now?"

"I CAN'T MOVE!"

"Oh, well, that is a problem isn't it..."

"The chance of us getting out of this bush is .01 percent since we're all stuck to the branches."

"NANI!? OI! OBICHI! GET US OUT OF HERE!"

Ryoma scoffed and took Sakuno’s hand.

“R-Ryoma-kun,” she said, blushing madly, “W-Where are we…?”

“Mada mada dane,” he replied, smirking at her.

She knew exactly what he meant by those words and couldn't help feel another round of blushing come on.