Author’s Note: Once again, I apologize for the wait. But the good news is that I already have two other chapters for this story near completion. So I should be posting two more chapters before the end of February. In any case, I want to point out that this story is not related to any earlier chapters. In fact, this chapter takes place in an alternate universe in which Ryoma never went to school in Japan and therefore never met Sakuno or the others. Consequently, the timeline and Ryoma’s abilities are a bit different. Please keep this in mind while reading. Also, I want to send a quick shout-out to all my reviewers, including Sepheraf, for brightening my day and encouraging me to write.

Warning: Alternate Universe; minor swearing; unedited

Summary: Ryoma had given up hope that he would ever play tennis again. But when he encounters a determined physical therapist named Sakuno, he finds himself changing his mind.

Prompt: #28 Wada Calcium CD3 (calcium tablets)

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is not mine. If it was, Ryoma would focus a little less on tennis and a little more on Sakuno.

Kiss Kiss
#28 Wada Calcium CD3
Just What the Doctor Ordered

“There you go Tezuka-san. Now how does your shoulder feel?”

Tezuka flexed his arm experimentally, then gave the girl a small smile. “It feels much better Ryuzaki-san.”

Sakuno smiled at the response, hands moving to jot down notes on her clipboard. Ryuzaki Sakuno had been his physical therapist for just over three months now. When he first arrived, he had been skeptical wondering if the petite woman could really help him. He suffered from an old middle school injury that had interfered with his playing abilities for years. The pain was tolerable and he had managed. Then he played in a selective tournament in Germany and faced the toughest competition he had ever played against. After it was over, he emerged with a second place trophy and a busted arm. He knew that if he ever wanted to achieve his goals, something had to be done. He announced to a shell-shocked media that he planned to skip playing in Wimbledon and take a one year sabbatical in the hopes that resting his arm would allow him to recuperate and reach his full potential. Since his unexpected announcement, he had been to countless number of other doctors and physical therapists, but no one had seemed up to his impeccable standards.

Then his old tennis coach mentioned that her granddaughter ran a clinic known as Helping Hands, located in the Kyūshū region. Knowing he had nothing to lose, Tezuka scheduled a single session. A few sessions later, he signed up for regular weekly sessions and dismissed all other doctors in favor of Sakuno’s healing touch.

During each session, he watched Sakuno work her magic with a gentle smile and unwavering determination. Three months later, his arm was beginning to move easier and without the constant pain he had become accustom to over the years. Something he never believed possible. Sakuno was a miracle-worker, even if she didn’t realize it.

“Okay Tezuka-san, I want you to continue the strengthening exercises I showed you and the weight lifting regime that Momo-san recommended. Other than that, I’ll see you on Thursday.

He nodded and rose from the examination table. “Until then, Ryuzaki-san,” he said with a nod before heading out the door.

Sakuno smiled at his retreating figure and then took a look around the room. Various weights and mats were scattered over the floor from when they had been going through the exercises. The place looked like a pigpen. Sakuno sighed. She needed to hire a maid one of these days.

But then again, putting someone else on the payroll for such a menial task didn’t seem worth it. She liked just having such a small number of people who worked there. She loved working hands on doing basic stretches and exercises and the complimentary skills of Momo’s weight lifting regime and Inui’s nutritional advice filled in any areas she might miss. No, Sakuno thought with a smile as she began straightening the room, she rather keep things the way they were. She was carrying a handful of used towels to put in the laundry bin when the phone rang. At first, she ignored it wondering why her secretary Ann hadn’t picked it up yet. Then she remembered. Ann had the day off today.

With an undignified squeak, she dropped the towels on the examination table and sprinted to the phone. She managed to reach it just after the fifth ring and rushed to respond. “Hello?” she gasped, out of breath from her dash.

“Sakuno-chan you’ll never believe what just happened!”

Sakuno blinked upon hearing the familiar, excited grabble. “Tomo-chan?”

“Yes, it’s me, now guess what just happened!”

Sakuno racked her brain, trying to figure out what had gotten her friend so excited this time. Maybe something unexpected happened at work. Or maybe she was trying to arrange another informal gathering back in Tokyo. Or maybe the mall had another huge sale and she wanted Sakuno to accompany her. With Tomo-chan, it could be almost anything.

“Ah…” she said.

“He proposed!”

This threw her off. “What?”

“Last night we went to Ippudo, the place where we went for our first anniversary. Through the whole dinner, Kaoru had been acting strange so finally I asked what was going on. I thought he was breaking up with me but when I told him that he got real irritated. We were about to start fighting right then and there when he pulled a ring out of nowhere and told me that he wasn’t trying to break up with me, he was trying to propose to me.”

“Con-congratulations Tomo-chan,” Sakuno stammered, trying to absorb what she had heard. Tomo was getting married? Dazed by the news, Sakuno missed what Tomo said.

“Sakuno? Sakuno-chan?”

“Yes, Tomo-chan?”

“I said I’m doing an American style wedding and I wanted to know if you would be my Maid of Honor.”

“Oh,” she said, equally stunned and honored by the request, “of course. I would love to.”

They chatted for a few minutes about the styles of dresses the bridesmaids would wear and what kind of food to have at the reception. Tomo did most of the talking with Sakuno making noises of agreement every so often. Tomo did tell her that the wedding would be held in Tokyo which meant that Sakuno needed to make travel arrangements. They talked for a few more minutes after that about everyday things before they hung up.

Sakuno set the phone back into its cradle with a sigh. Her fingers lingered for a moment as she thought about what she had learned. Tomo-chan was getting married. Sakuno was happy for her of course, but a small part of her felt a bit envious. Deep down she longed for what Tomo had. Someone to share a life with.

Sakuno sighed again and shook her head to erase the negative thoughts inside. No use wallowing in self-pity. Tomo-chan deserved the best and Sakuno was happy for her. End of story. She turned to resume cleaning when she noticed there was a man standing in the doorway watching her. A very attractive man that she had never seen before. When he saw that he had her attention, he smiled like a predator who

had just stumbled upon new prey.

“My name is Echizen Ryoma,” he said, flashing his perfectly white teeth, “I’m your next patient.”

“Where the hell are you taking me?”

“Calm down; I’m taking you somewhere nice.”

“… are you taking me to another strip joint because okaa-san made you sleep on the couch for a month after that.”

“Of course not! Geeze brats these days have no sense of humor.”

Ryoma rolled his eyes, automatically tuning out his father’s pitiful attempts to defend his actions. When the sound of his ranting finally died down, Ryoma glanced over at him again and waited.

His father sighed, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. “I’m taking you some place that will help,” he said, unable to prevent himself from glancing at the arm that Ryoma held in a sling. Ryoma’s expression tightened but he didn’t say anything. The inadvertent glance had told him all he needed to know. He was headed to see yet another doctor or physical therapist about the arm he had injured over two months ago at Wimbledon.

It was the semi-finals. His opponent was a man named Ibu Shinji. At first, the match went surprisingly well. Both men gaining a point here and there but neither dominating the match. It was about ten minutes into the match when his right arm began acting strange. It was small, hardly noticeable things at first. Right when Ryoma went to swing his arm muscles would tighten and he would have trouble moving it. But he managed. And the game went on. Then an easy serve came in. Ryoma smirked, seeing an opportunity to score an easy point by driving the ball back. He pulled his arm back to hit it when his arm completely froze. He stood there like a complete idiot, frozen in time, as a serve an amateur could easily hit went sailing past him untouched.

Ibu started laughing. He eagerly explained that his technique of mixing topspins and slices could freeze the muscles in his opponent’s arm. He laughed telling him it was impossible to beat him when Ryoma couldn’t even swing a racket. Ryoma’s body was now under his control and there was nothing Ryoma could do.

It went on like that for a few minutes, Ibu gaining point after point, while Ryoma stood frozen. The only points he could score were when he won the serve and could use his Twist Serve. But when it was Ibu’s serve, he was in trouble. A few minutes went by and the game had reached its climax: whoever scored the next point would win the game and the entire set. And Ryoma had an idea. A goddamn stupid idea, he now realized but back then it seemed like his only option.

Ryoma got ready, smirk hidden beneath his white cap. When Ibu's serve came, instead of pulling back his arm to swing, he spun on his heel at the last second, forcing his frozen arm to hit the ball. And it worked. The ball ricocheted off his racket and sailed back to Ibu's side of the court. Ibu, too surprised at someone being able to return his shot, hesitated too long and couldn’t reach the ball in time. Ryoma got the point. Too bad, he was in too much pain to take any joy in that fact.

The moment the ball had hit his racket, a terrible pain raced through his arm. The doctor later told him that the pain he felt was the ligaments in his arm tearing apart. With a grim expression, he explained that his right arm would never be able to play tennis again, much less on a professional level. Ryoma had won the match but lost the game forever.

Ryoma grimaced at the memory and went back to looking out the car window. The two sat in silence the rest of the way.

When Nanjiro slowed down to park, Ryoma began to look at the “nice place” that his father thought could help. The building was moderate in size. The outside was a pale yellow and the sign above the door read: Helping Hands. Ryoma gave his father a skeptical look.

Nanjiro rolled his eyes as he opened the front door. “Don't judge a building by its front door,” he said in English.

“It's don't judge a book by its cover,” Ryoma corrected, walking through the open door.

There was a man inside talking on the phone. When Ryoma walked in, the man stiffened and sent him appraising look. Instantly, Ryoma felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Not willing to back down, Ryoma held the look. To his surprise, the man smirked as if he had learned something valuable and looked away. Less than a minute later, he was out the door with his phone tucked closely to his ear. Ryoma glowered at his back, wondering what that was all about.

“Oi, brat, I'm leaving now.”

“What?”

“You’re in your twenties, Ì hardly think you need your old man holding your hand during a preliminary appointment. I'll be back in a half hour.”

Ryoma looked away but didn't answer. Truth be told, he was surprised that his father had taken him this far. Shaking his head and muttering comments about stupid, lazy men, Ryoma headed deeper inside the building. Might as well get this over with.

He passed the secretary's desk but found no one in sight. He was going to take a seat on one of the chairs in the waiting area but the door into the office was cracked and he could hear a voice coming from within. He headed towards the door and was surprised at what he saw inside.

It was a woman. She was young, probably around his age or younger. She stood near one of the big bay windows talking on the phone. Her free hand had woven itself into the cord as she talked about a conversation he could only half hear. He was about to alert her to his presence when she laughed. It was a small sound, more of a giggle really but it was almost endearing in a way.

He watched from the doorway for a few more moments trying to figure out what was so attractive about the woman. The fame and popularity of playing tennis had long ago introduced him to many different kinds of woman but something about this particular one drew him to her. It wasn't her beauty, although she was fairly easy on the eyes. In fact, he couldn't figure out what it could have been until he saw it again.

It was her smile. Her smile was real and genuine, so unlike the majority of people he encountered most days. He could only catch a glimpse of it at this angle but he knew that the full thing would be even more beautiful. He noted her phone conversation was coming to a close so he settled into the doorway to wait for her to finally acknowledge his presence. When her eyes glanced at the doorway then widened in shock, he knew his wait was over.

“My name is Echizen Ryoma. I’m your next patient.”

The moment the man spoke, an old movie quote popped into Sakuno's head: looks like Trouble just walked in the door.

Sakuno blinked trying to process his words. “Echizen-san?”

“Ryoma.”

“What?”

“I’ve lived in the United States all my life so I'm used to being called Ryoma.”

Sakuno blushed and fidgeted slightly. She knew the westerners called each other by their personal names, a practice she had always found a little bit odd. She looked at him once again. There was no way she could call him “Ryoma.” It was too intimate, too personal. She took note of his delivish smile and blushed. In fact, calling him Ryoma seemed downright dangerous.

“Echizen-san...” she started to explain.

“Ryoma.”

“...Echizen-san.”

“Ryoma.”

Sakuno sighed in defeat. This was getting her nowhere. “Ryoma-san?”

“Yes?” he answered innocently.

“I don't recall your name on my list of appointments. The Echizen listing I have is a forty-two year old named Nanjiro.”

“My father. He must have put it under his name to prevent it from being leaked to the press.”

Sakuno frowned at this disclosure.

“Something wrong?” he asked in that innocent tone of voice again.

Sakuno didn't make it a habit of telling off clients but rules were there for a reason and when someone broke those rules it usually lead to injury. Even so, he was a new patient and she couldn’t risk losing business by insulting him on the first day.

So she put a business-like smile on her face and spoke in very controlled even tones, “The reason we ask for such personal information is so we can recommend the best treatment course possible. For instance, if a forty-two year old man broke his arm, the first priority in therapy would be to prescribe calcium tablets to help restore and aid his bones in recovery. On the other hand, a twenty year old would have less need for such things because his body would process calcium easier and the daily nutrients within his food would be enough.

"You're angry," he said with an amused smile which just made her feel more irritated.

"I'm upset because your father wasted time by giving us his personal information instead of yours."

He grinned and stepped further into the room. "Well then Doc, I guess you're just going to have to take the time to get to know me," he said sitting down on a cushioned chair that was normally reserved for waiting family members, "fire away."

Sakuno gaped at him for a moment. She explained how his father wasted valuable time and he responded by flirting with her? Unbelievable. She squared her shoulders. She had handled all kinds of people in this job, she could take care of him too. Echizen Ryoma was going down.

The conversation that followed only served to reaffirm her earlier impressions; he was truly attractively. He was even delightfully charming. And he made her want to rip her hair out.

In other words, he was definitely Trouble.

He alternated between charming her with a wicked smirk and unwavering confidence and aggravating her with evasive answers. Anytime she would try to get him back on track and learning about what caused his injury, he would just flash her that smirk and the argument she had in her head would slip. Definitely trouble. And yet, she could somehow feel herself being drawn to him.

“Echizen-san..”

“Ryoma.”

She sighed. “Ryoma-san, please, we only have a few minutes left and we still have some things we need to discus.”

“Then we should meet for coffee and discus it then.”

She blushed, but then cleared her throat. “I don’t think that would be appropriate.”

“Boss will get mad?”

“Ryoma-san…” she said embarrassed.

He laughed, a rich timbre sound. “Fine, just tell me one thing.”

“What?”

He grinned and leaned closer to her. She felt her heart sped up inside her chest. “What will it take to get you to go out with me?”

“A lot more than that pitiful attempt, brat.”

Sakuno jumped to her feet and stared at the doorway where a tall, scruffy-haired man stood. She searched for something to say but her mind was blank.

“Whatever old man,” Ryoma responded gruffly, but Sakuno could detect a faint flush to his cheeks. He was embarrassed. And rather cute. If she wasn’t so embarrassed herself, she would giggle. As it was she was still trying to figure out the relationship between the two men before her.

Fortunately, the man decided to help her. “I’m Echizen Nanjiro; I’m this brat’s father,” he said with a smile.

Something clicked and all the embarrassment she felt disappeared in an instant. “You’re the one who gave us the false information!”

Nanjiro looked bewildered but Ryoma just laughed. Sakuno, upon realizing that she had just shouted at complete stranger, went back to feeling modified. Especially when Ryoma refused to stop laughing.

“Something I should now?” Nanjiro asked confused, scratching his head.

Sakuno looked at the floor.

“It’s nothing,” Ryoma said finally. “I’ll meet you in the car.”

Nanjiro seemed to recover upon hearing this. “I see. You want to spend a little more time with the cute little,”

The rest of the sentence was cut off when Ryoma threw one of the cushions at his head. Even with Nanjiro gone, Sakuno felt too embarrassed to look Ryoma in the eye. She rarely raised her voice and never in front of strangers.

“So I’ll guess I’ll be seeing you again?”

Though she knew what he meant, his statement still seemed rather intimate to her. “Yes,” she said, still not looking him in the eye, “just call to schedule an appointment with Ann.”

“And if I want to talk to you?”

She blushed, but responded firmly, “Ann handles the appointment.”

“I see.”

Something in his tone, made her glance up at him to see his expression. He was smirking the same way he was when he first arrived. And Sakuno could feel herself responding to his devilish look. She quickly looked back at the ground. It was safer.

Unfortuantely, Ryoma had caught her glance and knew what it meant. “I’ll be seeing you,” he said again. She was about to respond when she felt warm lips gently touch her cheek.

“Goodbye Sakuno,” he whispered in her ear before disappearing out the door.

Sakuno stood in the empty room with one hand to her cheek wondering just what the hell happened.