Notes: This is on Ryota and Ayako. It's actually a little side story of "All in the Game". If I have the characters acting a bit weird, please forgive me, a poor, struggling fanfic writer who thrives on the sweet and dangerous side of everything... Some Haruko bashing.

Risk All for Love - Prologue

It was another swell day for her. Earlier that morning, she had aced her biology test, and had received accolades for another incredibly written report on civilizations of the ancient world. Plus, she had gotten to see HIM. It didn't matter that he had gotten his head chewed off by their math teacher, but the cute way he blushed when she turned to look at him made her world a whole lot rosier.

And here she was again, getting another chance to see him in action. To her, he was fantastic in every way. He was graceful on the hardcourt and moved with lightning fast reflexes, dashing from one end of the court to the other, passing the orange basketball to an open man or calling out plays.

A flash of light caught on the single ear stud on his left ear, and this time, her heart skipped two beats.

'Miyagi Ryota...why do you have to be so damn hunky?' Ayako thought longingly, drifting off into space for a minute.

"A penny for your thoughts," a kind voice broke in and she snapped back to reality, seeing her own surprised, chocolate-brown orbs reflected in laughing grey-green ones that belonged to only one person. Her new-found friend, Maléna Hernandez, Coach Anzai's granddaughter who hailed from America.

Ayako smiled, relaxing a bit before readjusting her baseball cap. "You gave me a fright there, girlfriend," she murmured, settling back in her chair.

"Sorry." Maléna grinned apologetically. "You just kind of spaced out there, I got a little worried."

Ayako averted her gaze from the scrimmage to her companion, a bit envious of how truly gorgeous she was. With her green eyes, thick eyelashes, and a glossy mane of mahogany cascading past her shoulders, Maléna possessed the kind of beauty that could leave one staring at her for hours on end. What was so amazing about it was that she wasn't even aware of the kind of effect she had on guys, and she dressed simply, with absolutely no make-up and fancy jewelry.

And for one with a superstar status such as hers, she remained down-to-earth and friendly, earning both the respect and admiration of everyone. Including their small forward, Rukawa.

Ayako could already tell that the sullen boy was beginning to show signs of affection for Maléna, no matter how much he tried to hide it. Their relationship was confusing, though. There were times he'd deny having feelings for her, and Maléna stubbornly refused to believe anything, making Ayako's job of matching them up together quite tedious and frustrating.

For a moment, she wondered if it would be the same with her and Ryota. Would she still be in denial, even after admitting just how much she actually liked him? She already suspected that Ryota liked her, but was far too shy to say so. She, on the other hand, felt that she wasn't worthy of his attention, so she hid her feelings each day they were together during practice and hit him on the head with her tessen, instead.

Ayako assumed that all Ryota felt for her was trivial and that it would die down in a couple of days if she continued to hit him on the head. But no matter how many bumps she gave him, he wouldn't stop making her heart pound with that familiar, crooked grin, or the childish way he called her 'Aya-chan.'

"Have you ever been in love?" she asked Maléna, who looked amused.

"No. Can't say I've ever been in love," the taller girl replied, eyes twinkling. "I've yet to experience that." Though younger than Ayako by a year, Maléna possessed a certain maturity that was very uncharacteristic for a 16-year-old.

"Have you ever liked someone? You know, had a crush on someone before?" Ayako persisted, drawing a raised eyebrow from Maléna.

"Once." She smiled with the memory. "He was really nice. I thought him handsome then, but..."

"But?"

"He was a foot shorter than me," Maléna said wryly, her nose crinkling.

Ayako had to laugh. "Oh, the poor guy," she remarked.

Pretending to be indignant, Maléna retorted, "Poor guy? Poor me! The only thing he ever asked me was if the back of his head was messy since he couldn't see it in the mirror!"

That set off another round of giggles, but Maléna changed the topic. "Seriously, Aya-chan, why are you asking me these things all of a sudden?"

"Well..." Ayako's voice trailed off, and she hesitated.

"You know, you don't really need to tell me if you aren't ready," Maléna broke in, stopping when Ayako shook her head.

"No, no...I wanted to tell you about a certain boy."

The new coach looked mildly surprised. "I'm flattered you want to tell me these things, Aya-chan, but...why aren't you telling Haruko-chan? You've been friends longer, I think."

She shook her head harder, her curls bouncing lightly from side to side. "I'd rather much tell you. Honestly girlfriend, Haruko-chan's a sweet girl, but really, there are times when she's so unreliable. And she wouldn't be able to listen to me because of her fixation with Rukawa."

Nodding sagely, Maléna stood up and called the practice to a halt, dismissing everyone early. Turning to Ayako, she smiled. "We'll talk about this over coffee. I'm a little hungry."

~*~*~
TBC