A/N: I really don’t know how this came about. But well, it’s just there. I forgot what Yuuta’s favorite food was. Anyway…

Disclaimer: I don’t own Prince of Tennis

Crossroads

Unknown to most, Fuji Yuuta had a bad sense of direction.

Fuji Yuuta, regular of St. Rudolph, was absolutely pissed.

He absolutely dislike the fact that even though he had earned his place at St. Rudolph, he was still described as Fuji Syuusuke’s little brother. Although he couldn’t deny the fact that Fuji had become quite the celebrity ever since defeating Arnold of the US team, he absolutely abhorred the fact that people would point to him saying that he was the brother of that very player.

Which was why, he was stomping on the cold hard ground like a child right now.

A girl, a pretty girl, had talked to him a while back. Yuuta had thought that finally somehow, a girl had actually talked to him and not ogled him to the point where he would actually chase them away with his tennis racket. But then, that very girl, had just come to ask whether his older brother was available. How nice.

“Darn stupid Syuusuke.” Yuuta cursed. He was by no means angry at his elder brother but he just could help but vent on the older Fuji regarding his misfortune.

Glancing at his surroundings for the very first time since after his encounter with the stupid girl, he noticed that he was utterly lost… somewhere… in town… during night which was a bad thing despite the fact that he was a young man and could actually protect himself.

He decided that he should just walk and walk until he could finally reach his destination. He had to come home that Wednesday night because their sister was cooking his favorite meal, blackberry cheesecake, making him decide then and there to go home at once after practice..

Besides, walking always worked before. And yes, he had gotten lost once before… and also the time before that and another time before that. It was safe to say that he got lost a lot. At least he got to his destination despite the hours and hours of delay.

This was also one of the reasons he lived in the dorms. He could always walk with someone to school, letting someone lead the way was the most logical solution.

Yuuta cringed. The street that he had somehow ended up at was devoid of any lampposts and people and checking his phone, there wasn’t even a network in range around those parts.

Walking very cautiously, careful of thieves and possible attackers, he gripped his back tightly and walked briskly… and bumping into someone in the process.

Two screams woke the dead that night.

“Please don’t hurt me!” Yuuta.

“I’m sorry!” A slightly familiar voice, but he couldn’t quite place who it was.

Yuuta grabbed his tennis bag ready to make a run for it before a small soft hand grabbed his arm, making him jump in surprise. Did murderers have such silky skin?

“Ah. Fuji-san.”

The mention of his last name made him turn his head towards the intruder holding his arm. It was a young girl with red hair held in two braids and she was wearing the uniform of Seigaku.

Yuuta twitched, “Great, another one of Syuusuke’s stupid fans.”

“You’re… from… St. Rudolph, right?” She said timidly, while playing with her braids. It slightly shocked him that she chose to mention his school rather than Syuusuke’s name. It shocked him so much that he almost forgot to answer.

“Aa.” Yuuta finally choked out, “Do… I know you?” He asked slightly confused as to who this girl was.

She blushed ever so slightly, making him wonder if she was born with some kind of disorder or something.

“No… Not really. But I’ve seen you. You’ve played with Ryoma-kun. I’m Ryuuzaki Sakuno.” Ah. Ryuuzaki. He heard his older brother mention that name as their coach, this must be her relative. Come to think of it, he recalled a barely clear memory of this very same girl visit their home delivering some kind of message for his older brother.

“Aa. What’s the matter?” Yuuta asked, “Why are you in place like this?” It was really stupid for a girl to stay in a place like this. She could really get into some trouble around these parts. How hypocritical.

“Ah… Well… You see, I got lost.” She said shyly as she averted her gaze to the concrete floor.

Yuuta watched as she turned different shades of red at the mere mention of her dilemma. He wanted to help her… really, he did. The only thing was, he was in the same situation.

“Why… don’t we just walk together? I got lost too.” He admitted, slightly embarrassed that at an age he could still get lost like a little boy.

She nodded, a bit hesitant but she conceded after taking a glance around.

They started walking around, turning at every corner and crossing every street. They were silent after the first three corners but Yuuta decided to break this, wary of the silence that was consuming them.

“So… You like my brother too?” He deduced this by recalling the only memory he had of her… blushing and stuttering while talking to his older brother.

“Ah…” She said while walking, “Not really.”

Yuuta thought that she was merely trying to convince him, in an effort to keep it a secret from the object of her affections, “It’s all right. I won’t tell him.” He said turning to look at the girl beside him who only stared at the ground shaking her head.

“I don’t li…like him in that way.” She said, playing with the hem of her skirt.

Yuuta decided to humor her, “So… how about Echizen? I see you stare at him a lot during his games.” He said trying to tease her and sound friendly.

The girl blushed. So he was right. She did hold affections for the ebony-haired freshman, though it did slightly surprise him that she favored Echizen over Syuusuke.

“N-No… That was before.” She said while playing with her braids.

Not Echizen either? Maybe Tezuka… But no, Tezuka could hardly care about women, much less attracting one but seeing that she liked Ryoma once before, she must go for the silent-types.

“I… I don’t really like anyone as of the moment.” She said while they turned a corner finally reaching a familiar store after three hours of non-stop walking.

“I see.” Fuji Yuuta said finally remembering how to get to his home from this convenience store that finally proved its name to him.

Taking a left turn and then crossing the street, Yuuta saw their house in view with Syuusuke just waiting outside for any sign of him, his blue eyes saying how worried he was.

“Yuuta!”

Yuuta ran towards Syuusuke and smiled reassuringly, “I’m fine.”

“You’ve really got to bring a map with you.” Syuusuke said, his face molding back to its carefree look. He looked behind Yuuta to see Ryuuzaki Sakuno, their coach’s granddaughter, “Ryuuzaki-chan?” Syuusuke asked.

Yuuta turned to stare at the young girl, only to be surprised that she only smiled at the two of them proving that she didn’t see Syuusuke in that light, “I better get home. My grandmother must be worried.” She said while quickly turning around.

“Aa.” Yuuta heard his brother say, “I’ll walk you home.” Eliciting a small smile from the young girl. Maybe his brother knew about Ryuuzaki Sakuno’s bad sense of direction but Yuuta actually heard some kind of emotion in his older brother’s statement.

But Yuuta, deciding that he should take the chance, said, “No. I’ll walk you home. Ryuuzaki-san.” The girl gave a wider smile, showing her teeth and waited for him to catch up with her.

Yuuta heard her mutter a quick ‘thank you’ and ‘good-bye’ to his older brother who stood at their doorway staring at Yuuta and Sakuno.

She heard her cough softly, “Ah. I hope I’m not keeping you from anything.” She said out of politeness.

She was actually keeping him from getting his much-deserved slice of Blackberry Cheesecake but what the hell… this was far more important than that.

Those were Fuji Yuuta’s thoughts before he actually remembered that he also had a bad sense of direction and that they were already lost once again.

Well, a three-hour walk wouldn’t be so bad if he got to spend it with dear Sakuno-chan.

A/N: I really have no idea how I came up with this and how I liked this pairing. Hahahaha. But well… nothing I can do now.

Please tell me what you think.

Jeje-chan:)