I was supposed to upload this yesterday but I fell asleep proofreading it. I'm so sorry julaaaims! T_T And I'm so sorry to all my readers for a very long wait. Here is the long awaited chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of their characters as well as their tennis moves. I get my reference from wiki/Prince_of_Tennis_Wikia so if you think there is something wrong with the information here, let me know and I shall review it! Thank you and hope you enjoy!

Dame dame jan! Chapter eighteen

Meisha sighs contentedly after drinking a large portion from her can of strawberry Ponta. Ryoma glares at her with a frown as he opens his can of grape Ponta. Meisha just grins at him arrogantly as she rests her right hand on her waist while she lightly waves her can of strawberry Ponta towards him, making him frown even more.

"Oh stop sulking. I won fair and square", she sticks her tongue out playfully.

He raises a brow at the act and says, "You obviously had a head start", before he starts to drink from his can while continuing to glare at Meisha.

She grins at him—neither denying nor admitting the accusation. And Ryoma knows full well that he has lost this battle. It's just going to be a waste of time arguing with this girl. And besides, arguing with her will not bring back the 110 yen that he spent on her drink.

Her grin slowly fades as a thought began to form in her head, "Do you really think that I should aim higher?" she quickly looks down at her shoes and grips her can with both hands. Her voice was softer than usual so she's not sure if he heard her. A big part of her wishes that he didn't hear her. Why did she even ask him that?

He stares at her for a while as if assessing her current situation. She's not looking at him and she's gripping the can a bit harder than normal. "Do you want to?" he continues to stare at her and hopes she would look at him.

She bites her lower lip and lifts her eyes up to look at him, "Do you want the truth?"

He lifts a brow at her and smirks, "Why would I want a lie?"

She sighs and straightens up to look at him properly with a sad smile, "I want to but I don't know if I'm ready."

There's that smile again. The same one she gave him when they were talking about something similar under the tree a few hours ago. He still doesn't like it. Why is she even stopping herself? Her eyes clearly show that she wants to aim higher, so what's stopping her?

She notices his confusion. Of course he'd be confused. He doesn't know what happened. Should she tell him? How much should she tell him? Should she start from the very top? Will he understand? What if he laughs? Does she even want to tell him?

He could see the inner struggle and worry in her eyes. He sighs a bit impatiently, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to but—", he turns around so she can't see his face slowly turning pink, "—just letting you know that I don't mind listening to your annoying, high-pitched voice." His face is pink now because he said something cheesy but since he insulted her in the process, he just wants to slap himself.

She softly smiled when she noticed that the back of his ears are light pink. She doesn't know if it's a good thing but she's getting used to his weird methods of comforting her. She would still prefer it though if he simply just said, 'I'll listen if you want to talk about it', but that seems to be asking too much. Her smile widens. She'll tell him all about it one day. She'll also tell him that he is practically the reason why she's getting motivated to go back out there to rule the tennis world like she dreamed of since she was little.

He wonders why she's being quiet so he turns his head sideways to look at her.

She grins at him, "Thanks".

He looks away again and smirks smugly, "Let's go back and watch kelp-head getting destroyed", he says and starts walking.

She nods enthusiastically even if he can't see her. She skips a bit to catch up to him before walking beside him. They walk in comfortable silence while sipping on their respective sodas.

"5 games to love! Change court!" the referee announces.

The crowd cheers in the background.

Mizuki and Fuji move forward to switch sides.

"Mizuki-san is amazing!" one of the sophomores from St. Rudolph Academy yells out enthusiastically.

"This is an easy win!" his friend says out loud.

Yuuta remains silent and stares at Fuji's back as he remembers a time when his older brother rescued him from some bullies. He grits his teeth and looks away as if in pain. Most of the St. Rudolph students started to chant Mizuki's name. Yuuta runs to the side. Akazawa notices and watches how Yuuta is keeping in stride with his older brother. Yuuta continues to stare at his brother from the side while keeping in pace with him. He looks like he wants to say something but stops himself when he remembers what Mizuki told him. He told Yuuta that he will never be able to surpass his older brother the way he is now. The crowd around him continues to chant Mizuki's name. He looks down at his shoes as if in deep thought.

Mizuki walks briskly towards the other court with an annoyed expression. He thinks everyone is overreacting. He believes that it's obvious that he would win against Fuji. He glances to the side and notices Yuuta standing by the fence. He smirks a bit before noticing Fuji walking towards him with his bangs hiding his eyes. His smirk doesn't falter as he passes by him.

"Mizuki", Fuji suddenly calls out, making Mizuki stop beside him.

Yuuta notices the sudden confrontation and looks towards them.

"I'm going to ask just in case", Fuji starts to say without needing to check if Mizuki was listening, "Did you teach Yuuta the Twist Spin Shot while knowing that it could damage his shoulder?" he asks.

Yuuta heard the question loud and clear as he gasps and continues to stare at the two.

Mizuki's eyes move to focus on Fuji and Yuuta (since Yuuta is standing on Fuji's side). His smirk widens a bit, "Winning is what's important. To me, casualties come with victories."

Yuuta's eyes widen as he gasps again in disbelief.

Fuji lifts his head up a bit to reveal azure eyes that show anger and a lot of determination.

The two separate as they continue to walk towards their designated courts.

Mizuki is already standing by his side of the court while Fuji opens his bag to take out a gold racket. He passes by coach Ryuuzaki with his bangs covering his eyes. Coach Ryuuzaki wordlessly watches him with her eyes as he takes his position on the court.

Mizuki's smirk turns into a sardonic grin.

Inui lifts his glasses as if in deep thought.

"The game isn't over yet?"

Inui, Momo, Eiji, Oishi, the freshmen trio, Sakuno, and Tomoka all look behind them to see Meisha and Ryoma eating popsicles beside each other.

"Echizen! Meisha-chan!" Horio yells out.

"Well you two took a while", Inui says.

"This shrimp wanted a popsicle", Ryoma says as he points his thumb to the girl beside him.

"Hey! You didn't even hesitate to come along!" Meisha angrily exclaims at him.

"That's only because Captain would give me a thousand laps if I let you get lost", he smirks teasingly.

"You made me buy you that popsicle!" she points at his popsicle accusingly.

"Guys! This isn't the time to be arguing!" Kachiro says frantically.

Ryoma and Meisha look clueless.

"Fuji-senpai is having a really hard time!" Horio says frantically.

Meisha's demeanor suddenly changes.

It unnerved the freshmen (even Ryoma) for a bit because she seemed to change from Meisha to Captain Tezuka. Well, they are related after all.

She nears the fence while Ryoma follows her from behind.

The freshmen trio let her through so she can look at the court up close. Ryoma stands on her right side and on Sakuno's left which made Sakuno smile a bit.

Meisha looks at the score board and her eyes widen, "5-0", she says to herself before glancing at Fuji. She raises her brow and looks towards a smug looking Mizuki.

"Data don't lie", Inui says as if knowing what Meisha was thinking.

Meisha's stiff shoulders suddenly relax and she breathes a sigh of relief, "Oh, so it's not like kelp-head is exceptionally strong", she turns around with a frown, leans on the fence, and looks up at Inui, "How do you even know if kelp-head got the correct data?"

Everyone but Ryoma turns to look at her while Ryoma just watches Mizuki serve the ball.

"What are you talking about, Meisha-chan?" Sakuno asks looking confused.

"It's the whole reason why we're losing 5-0!" Katsuo looks adamant.

Inui cups his chin in thought, "Now that you mention it, it does seem odd."

"What?" The freshmen except Ryoma and Meisha exclaim.

"Wait, what does that mean?" Tomoka looks very confused.

Meisha grins cheekily, "There are two people here who like getting on Inui-senpai's nerves by not letting him get proper data of them", her grin widens, "Isn't that right, Inui-senpai?" she teases.

Inui sighs, "I had a feeling you two were doing it on purpose."

"So if you're one of them, Meisha-chan, then the other is—" Horio's eyes widen before looking back at the court.

The others look at the court as well in expectation while Meisha continued to casually lean her back on the fence.

The ball bounces off the court while Fuji continues to run to it.

Mizuki continues to look smug and confident but his face suddenly falls. Fuji is now right in front of the ball and ready to swing his racket.

"Always remember to never get on Fuji-senpai's bad side", Meisha says as she turns around to watch the game, "But in this case, kelp-head deserves it for being too overconfident and messing with Yuuta-senpai", she grins cheekily.

Fuji swings his racket and hits the ball hard. It speeds off to Mizuki's direction and it lands and bounces off and out of the court.

Mizuki just stands there with a look of disbelief.

Several gasps can be heard from the crowd.

"Dame dame jan, kelp-head. You messed with the wrong person", Meisha bites off half of her popsicle triumphantly.

"Do you always talk to yourself?" Ryoma raises a brow at her before finishing his popsicle.

She points her half-eaten popsicle at him accusingly while her cheeks turn bright red, "I-It's a bad habit, okay! And you shouldn't be so direct! When a girl talks to herself, just pretend you didn't notice! It's embarrassing!" she scolds him.

He just looks at her and wonders how his question led to a lecture about girls. But since he likes seeing her all flustered like this, he will keep in mind to embarrass her as much as he can. He smirks mischievously at the thought.

Shesees the smirk and immediately pulls away her half-eaten popsicle, "You already ate yours! You're not biting off any of mine!" she sticks her tongue out at him.

He rolls his eyes but continues to smirk, "Mada mada dane".

"That can't be. You're supposed to be weak at this type of play", Mizuki says while looking a bit dazed and confused.

Fuji looks at him with cool and stern eyes, "Actually, this is my favorite type of play", he says.

Mizuki gapes at him in disbelief.

The crowd goes wild—especially those rooting for Seigaku.

"Finally! Here it comes!" Eiji cheers and punches the air while Oishi looks equally excited.

"Alright! This is our chance to counter!" Momo exclaims.

"Yeah, kick his butt", Kaidou grunts beside him with his arms crossed.

Momo looks at him happily, "Oh! We are rarely agreeing", he says.

Kaidou closes his eyes so he doesn't look at him, "Shut up", he says gruffly.

"Look at him acting so cool", Meisha looks towards the side to see Yuuta's surprised expression. She grins to herself and walks towards him but gets stopped by someone pulling her ponytail, "Hey!" she turns to glare at the perpetrator.

Ryoma smirks, "You really like to meddle in people's affairs, don't you?"

She frowns, "Yuuta-senpai is my—"

"I know, he's your friend but I think the guy needs time to think on his own." Yup, that's exactly the reason why he doesn't want her to go to Yuuta. He isn't really convinced with that kind of reasoning but he'll have to leave it at that.

Her eyes widen a bit as she just stares and blinks at Ryoma while processing what he said, "I guess…" she looks towards Yuuta again who is staring at his brother in awe, "You may be right this time", she turns and smirks at him, "Just this one time."

Ryoma rolls his eyes at her stubbornness, "Whatever".

Mizuki looks frantic as he serves. Fuji easily returns it and it goes past Mizuki, earning Fuji another point. Mizuki can't believe it. He continues to serve but Fuji keeps returning them and earning points.

"How is this possible? Those were all aimed at your weak side" Mizuki looks confused and a bit disoriented.

"Weak side?" Fuji closes his eyes and gives him a calm smile, "They were all aimed at my strong side actually", he says calmly.

Mizuki's eyes widen. Fuji continues to earn point after point while Mizuki desperately tries to return Fuji's hits.

Inui uses his notebook to lightly tap Meisha's head, "You and Fuji are just not the type to allow others to know your weaknesses", and he lightly smirks down at her.

Meisha turns her head and grins at him mischievously, "I actually don't mind it but Fuji-senpai said that it's more fun that way".

He frowns, "You're becoming more like Fuji and a lot less like Tezuka", he lifts his glasses a bit, "And I don't know whether I should be relieved or worried".

She looks towards the court with a cheeky grin, "Maybe a little bit of both."

Mizuki is running around the court trying to return any of Fuji's hits but fails miserably each time.

"Fuji-senpai is awesome!" Horio jumps in the air.

"Keep going", Kachiro and Katsuo exclaim.

"Fuji-senpai! You're wonderful!" Tomoka cheers.

Sakuno looks embarrassed and tries to stop her friend, "Tomo-chan", she softly calls out but to no avail.

"Yeah! You're so cool!" Meisha yells out as well.

Sakuno turns to her left and looks to be even more embarrassed, "Not you too, Meisha-chan!" she says in a slightly reprimanding tone but her demeanor changes when she notices Ryoma missing, "Huh? Where's Ryoma-kun?" she asks.

Meisha giggles, "I just realized that that question has been asked too many times today. That kid is either late or disappears often", she uses her thumb to point behind her.

Sakuno looks towards where Meisha is pointing and sees Ryoma lying down under the shade of a tree. She covers her mouth and giggles before looking at Meisha's grinning face, "I guess that's just how Ryoma-kun is. He also seems to like taking naps under trees", she says softly.

Meisha rolls her eyes, "He's just being a lazy idiot if you ask me".

Despite the insult, Sakuno could clearly see Meisha's playful grin. She wonders once again how Ryoma and Meisha got so close in a very short amount of time. The two fight a lot but they look like they enjoy it. Well, Ryoma seems to enjoy it anyway. But seeing the playful grin on Meisha's face made her realize that Meisha might be enjoying it too.

Inoue goes near Inui while keeping his eyes on the game, "So this is what they mean by prodigy", he looks beside him to face Inui, "Mizuki-kun can't win now that his valuable data are useless. Am I right, Inui-kun?"

Inui smiles, "Yes, it's hard to come back from that."

"Game and match for Seigaku's Fuji. 7 games to 5!" the referee announces.

Mizuki looks down at the net with a look of utter disbelief. His racket slips off from his hand and drops to the court.

The Hyotei Academy's tennis regulars walk closer to the court and stand by the tree that Ryoma is lying under.

Ryoma glances to his left and notices them, "Hyotei" he says in recognition.

Hyotei's captain, Keigo Atobe, smirks, "It's just like Fuji Shuusuke to have no weaknesses whatsoever", he says before glancing to his right, "Remember him, Kabaji", he commands.

Munehiro Kabaji slightly nods, "Usu", he responds.

Ryo Shishido, who is standing in front of Kabaji while balancing his racket on his index finger, smirks arrogantly and says, "That guy is pathetic".

Mizuki screams out in frustration and falls down to his knees with both hands on the ground. Fuji calmly walks towards him with his racket in his right hand. When he is by the net, Mizuki looks up at him angrily and sees Fuji looking down at him with contempt.

"You bastard! You lost 0-5 on purpose!" Mizuki exclaims angrily and grits his teeth, "Fooling around like that!"

Fuji continues to stare down at him before calmly saying, "Thank you for taking care of my little brother".

Mizuki continues to grit his teeth and looks down to avoid Fuji's hateful gaze.

Yuuta continues to stare at his brother, "Aniki" he says.

"It still turned out to be a good match this way", Ryoma says as he approaches him from behind.

Yuuta doesn't look at him but he smiles peacefully, "Yeah".

(Author's note: Aniki means older brother but a manlier term. It could be used the same way as Oniichan or Niichan)

The crowd around the court cheers loudly. But the Seigaku supporters cheer even louder.

Horio hugs Kachiro sideways happily, "We did it! Fuji-senpai made a huge comeback!"

Kachiro swayed a bit because of Horio's weight but he's very happy that Fuji won as well. Katsuo is also happy as he pumps his left arm in the air.

Sakuno is smiling happily as well, "It's amazing that he didn't lose any points after that."

Shiba moves near the fence and positions herself behind Sakuno, "He's so hot!" she starts to take pictures of Fuji, then after a couple of shots, she takes pictures of Eiji and Meisha hugging Fuji while Taka laughs happily. Then she takes pictures of the four of them happily talking.

"You and Meisha getting along?" Yuuta casually asks without turning to look at Ryoma.

Ryoma cocks a brow, "Why?" he asks.

Yuuta turns around and looks a bit confused, "Well, you two seem to talk a lot and she looks comfortable around you".

Ryoma just stares at him blankly, "We fight a lot." How could she be comfortable with him when they are almost always fighting? And he always insults her too. If you ask him, she looks more comfortable with the seniors and this sophomore in front of him but since Yuuta knows her better, then maybe she does feel comfortable with him too. And besides, it made him a bit happy to know that she's comfortable around him—just a bit. He shrugs and glances towards the court to see Meisha talking to Taka so animatedly. He smirks, "Well, I don't mind being with that pipsqueak. She's entertaining to watch and fun to tease".

Yuuta chuckles, "I know what you mean. But it's nice to know that she's actually making friends now".

Ryoma looks slightly confused. What does he mean by that? She doesn't seem to be having trouble talking to new people or making new friends. Actually, she can't seem to stop getting acquainted with new people so he doesn't understand what Yuuta is implying.

Yuuta sees Ryoma's confused expression and widens his eyes a bit in realization, "Oh right, you don't know", then he half-heartedly glares at him, "A word of advice, if you make her cry too, you should expect a beating from a lot of people including me, Echizen" he mockingly threatens him but Ryoma can tell that it's 90% a fact.

"Too?" Ryoma's eyes widen a little and he looks at Yuuta even more confused than ever. "What happened to her?" he asks getting even more curious about Meisha's past.

Yuuta opens his mouth to respond.

"Yuu-nii!" Yuuta and Ryoma look inside the court to see the owner of the voice.

The fence shakes and rattles when Meisha runs to it and leans to get as close as she can to Yuuta who was standing on the other side. She grins up at him, "Yuu-nii, we should really play again soon! You've gotten so strong since you started going to St. Rudolph", her eyes sparkle with excitement.

Yuuta smiles and gently pushes her forehead with his left index finger, "Maybe we should. You look like you gained some weight so I could probably beat you this time", he teases.

She gasps and acts shocked, "Yuu-nii is actually being playful! I must report this to Shuu-nii!" she's about to turn around to run back to Fuji but Yuuta grabs her left ear and pulls a bit, "Ooowww! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I will do no such thing! My allegiance is to the little brothers and sisters everywhere!" she flaps her arms and cries.

Yuuta's frown changes to an approving smile, "Good answer", he says before releasing her ear.

She rubs her ear to alleviate the pain, "You know I was only kid—", she notices Ryoma who was smirking at her—clearly amused at what happened. She frowns and glares at him before smirking and looking at him mischievously, "Oh, I didn't notice you there because of your height, shorty".

Ryoma continues to smirk, "You sure it wasn't because of YOUR height, pipsqueak?" he teases her back.

"Lazy", she retorts.

"Loud", he retorts.

"Arrogant"

"Annoying"

"Ugly"

"Unladylike"

"Stop using adjectives that have the same first letters as mine!" she pouts.

"Stop making it so easy, then" Ryoma smirks.

Yuuta looks at the two continuously bickering kids. Anyone would think that these two don't get along but he notices the bright spark in their eyes—they're having fun. He smiles to himself and wordlessly walks away from the two. He's glad that Meisha is making friends again.

A few minutes later, on the other end of the court, Mizuki is wearing his St. Rudolph jacket again. He pushes the fence with both hands in frustration, "Damn it! It's meaningless! It's meaningless if we don't win!" he exclaims.

Akazawa and Yuuta joined him inside the court and are standing behind him as silent supporters. "Mizuki, we still have a chance at the last spot", Akazawa says.

Mizuki's grip on the fence tightens, "We can't lose here like this. Even one loss is unacceptable!" He grits his teeth, "This is an embarrassment for St. Rudolph!" he hits the fence in anger.

The Fudoumine team casually walks beside the court and towards their direction.

"Look, Tachibana-san. They are being sore losers", Kamio says with laughter in his voice.

"Fudoumine!" Akazawa exclaims in recognition.

Mizuki glances at them before looking down in defeat, "You guys couldn't possibly understand how I feel right now".

When Tachibana gets close enough to be in front of Mizuki, he stops, closes his eyes, and says, "You can just start over from scratch", he opens his eyes and focuses forward instead of looking at him, "You can create a new style that only St. Rudolph can play."

Mizuki looks at Tachibana and slightly glares at him, "Such an idealistic thought", he says.

"That's what we did", Tachibana says with a slight smirk.

Akazawa and Yuuta's eyes widen in realization as if to say, 'That's right! No one knew about Fudoumine's tennis team until just recently'.

"Let's go", Tachibana says before walking away with his team mates following behind.

Akazawa couldn't help but stare at Tachibana even after he passed in front of him. There is just something familiar about him.

"What's wrong?" Yuuta asks Akazawa before looking to where their captain was looking at and sees the Fudoumine team leaving.

"It's nothing", Akazawa says with a slight shake of his head.

The Seigaku and St. Rudolph team are lined up on the court and facing each other while being separated by the net. Coach Ryuuzaki and Mizuki are standing by their own designated benches.

"Seigaku vs. St. Rudolph: Seigaku wins by 3-1", the referee announces.

And on cue, the two teams bow down to one another while saying thank you.

Meanwhile, in another court, Hyotei and Fudoumine are playing their doubles one match.

"Game and match for Fudoumine. 6-4 for the Ishida-Sakurai pair", the referee announces.

Standing outside the court and behind the referee chair, Shiba takes pictures while Inoue silently watches the game.

After several minutes, the referee announces, "Game and match for Fudoumine. 6-1 for Ibu-Kamio pair".

Shiba continues to take pictures and says, "It's unexpected for Hyotei to be losing both doubles matches."

Inoue says with a casual smile, "The purpose of their lineup is to win. The game is following Fudoumine's pace."

"It looks like it", Inui suddenly pops up behind them, making the two adults turn to him while looking very surprised.

"H-Hey", Inoue greets uneasily.

Inui smirks mischievously, "I won't bother your work. I'm just here to gather data", he says as he readies his pencil and notebook.

Shiba sighs and tries to calm her heart rate while Inoue laughs uneasily before turning his attention back to the court to see Tachibana and Shishido greeting each other by the net. His eyes widen in anticipation as he says, "It's finally Tachibana-kun's turn".

"Hey, you're the captain. Aren't you playing a bit too early?" Shishido says arrogantly.

Tachibana smirks in response.

"Well, no matter who it is, I'll end it in 20 minutes anyway", Shishido says.

Tachibana remains silent but continues to smirk at him.

"Yuu-nii!"

Yuuta was checking his racket for damages on a bench before looking up to see Meisha and Coach Ryuuzaki walking towards him. Meisha immediately sits on his left side.

"Meisha", he greets her back before looking up at the coach of the Seigaku team.

"How's your arm?" the coach asks with a smile.

Yuuta looks down at his arm while Meisha lightly pokes it. It doesn't hurt or sting or anything so he looks back up at the coach and says, "There's nothing wrong with it".

Coach Ryuuzaki nods and smiles, "I see".

Yuuta looks confused, "Um, is there something you want with me?" he asks.

"Are you enjoying tennis?" she asks him with her unwavering smile.

"What?" Yuuta's eyes widen a bit at the sudden question.

Meisha giggles,"Yuu-nii, she just wants to know if you're having fun."

"I know that!" he tells Meisha grumpily while the latter just grins up at him. He looks up at the coach again while looking confused and wondering where this conversation is heading to, "I suppose so", he says.

Coach smiles solemnly, "That is what's important", she softly says before looking at him with a slightly serious expression, "Especially if you want to continue to pursue tennis in the future."

"Yes", he replies with a slight frown—he's still not sure where this conversation is going.

Coach smiles again, "Qualify for the Kantou regional, alright? Our team will be looking forward to it."

Yuuta smiles and stands up, "We will!" he says enthusiastically.

Meisha grins up at him happily, "Make sure you don't break your shoulder on the way", she jokes.

Yuuta frowns and starts messing up her ponytailed hair, "I won't!" he says a bit grumpily.

Coach laughs, "I'll be heading back, Meisha. Can you get back on your own?" she smirks teasingly.

Meisha pouts, "I ca—"

"You're a pro at getting lost", he grins teasingly at her.

Meisha gets up from the bench and places both hands on her hips, "Hey!" she pouts and points to the court in front of them where Hyotei and Fudoumine are playing, "The team is just on the other side of this court!"

He lightly pats her head, "Like I said, you're a pro", he nods.

Meisha lightly slaps his hand away and sticks her tongue out before fixing her messy ponytailed hair.

Coach laughs at their exchange, "I'll see you later, Meisha", she says with a light wave before walking away.

When the coach was out of earshot, Yuuta sits back on the bench and looks up at Meisha, "So, you came here to talk to me about something, right? What is it?" he asks with a smile.

Meisha smiles back at him before sitting on his left side again, "Yuu-nii, why are you training to beat left-handed players like me? Shuu-nii is right-handed." She clearly looks confused.

He knew that she was going to ask that but he didn't think she would ask so soon. "Why do you wanna know?" he asks.

She frowns, "I asked Shuu-nii and he said that you're probably trying to make a name for yourself."

His eyes light up a bit, "Really? Aniki said that?"

She nods at him, "When I asked him what that meant, he told me to ask you", she raises her brow, "Have you stopped wanting to beat Shuu-nii?"

He smiles at her and lightly pats her head, "My aim has not changed and I doubt it ever will until I've reached it. Beating Aniki is still my goal but we both know that I'm still far from that", he frowns when she grins at him cheekily, "Hey, you're still far from beating your own big brother too!" he says grumpily.

Her grin immediately turns into a frown, "Touché", she says in defeat.

"Anyway, you could say that Aniki was—" he looks away since he feels a bit embarrassed to admit it, "—right. I am trying to make a name for myself", he looks at her confused expression, "I'm known as the lefty-killer, right?"

She nods at him with an unsure expression.

"That label has nothing to do with Aniki", he smiles when her face lights up in understanding, "I can't change the fact that he's my older brother but I can give people another name to use instead of 'Seigaku Fuji's little brother'. So despite Mizuki-san's personality and opinions, I am still very grateful to him for helping me get this far; for helping me gain a new label", he grins at her.

She frowns, "He's still a stupid kelp-head to me though".

He looks at her confused, "Kelp-head?"

She waves her left hand at him to make him ignore the nickname, "So you're going to keep making yourself the lefty-killer and in time, you being the little brother will not matter so much anymore to others."

He smiles and nods at her.

"You asked me if I decided to play competitively", she looks down at her lap while gripping the edge of her skirt.

He knows this look and this action. She usually does this when she feels guilty about something. It usually comes with an apology, "Yeah, I did".

"I'm sorry. I lied about not wanting to compete", she glances up at him with a guilty look.

He sighs before lightly placing his hand on her head and smiling, "I know", she looks surprised, "You've never been a great liar", he chuckles when he sees her sigh.

"I guess I can count that as a good thing", she says with a small smile.

"So what made you fess up?" he asks.

She smiles softly, "A certain shorty had to tell me twice to aim higher." She fondly recalls their talk under the tree and when he said the same thing during his match with Yuuta. He was the first person she admitted to wanting to aim higher. And that meant wanting to go back to play competitively.

Shorty? Oh, she's talking about Ryoma Echizen. "I don't think you're in the position to make fun of his height", he smirks at her teasingly.

She frowns, "He's just an inch taller than me!" she releases a breath to calm herself, "Anyway, I asked Oniichan who was stronger: me or him. He said that it was me for now but at this rate, that shorty is going to be much stronger since he'll continue to play with stronger players. I usually get excited when I see stronger players but I got really annoyed when I imagined that shorty beating me", her frown deepens.

He smirks, "You see him as your rival, don't you?"

Her eyes light up in realization, "A rival?" she looks towards the court. Is that why she feels kind of weird when they are together? She sees Kintaro as her rival but she never felt this weird feeling with him. Maybe it's a different kind of rivalry. They fight a lot but even she could say that they get along more than Momo and Kaidou do. So maybe it's a different kind of rivalry like a friendly kind of rivalry. She smiles to herself before grinning up at him, "I guess I do!" she says cheerfully.

He smiles, "So are you going to start competing again?"

She looks unsure, "I'm not sure I'm ready yet, Yuu-nii. How do you get into the court with the mindset to win even if it means bringing down the other player?" She sighs, "Even if it means destroying the other player's dreams and goals", she looks up at him with a frown.

He smiles uneasily, "Meisha, that was years ago. And it just so happened that the other player—"

"Keiko", she interrupts him.

He looks confused, "What?"

"The other player's name is Keiko Suzuki", she says, "Sometimes, I see and hear her crying in my dreams." She has always wondered what happened to Keiko after that incident. She has ways to find out but she's too scared of what she'll find.

He frowns. He doesn't really know all the details of what happened since they didn't know each other yet. She just told him that she lost her best friends and that her last tournament opponent, Keiko, made her feel guilty for winning. He lightly pats her head and smiles, "I've never even thought about it. I think you're just too nice."

She frowns, "Maybe", she says. It's not the answer she's expecting but she can't blame. He was able to make a name for himself because he beat a lot of players on the way. Maybe she is just too nice but she just can't help but feel guilty for all the times she beat those crying and frustrated girls. "Ow!" she immediately rubs her right arm and looks up at the grinning culprit, "You pinched me!" she accuses.

He chuckles, "You were frowning so much, I thought your face was going to stay that way forever."

She pouts, "I was just—"

"Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei!" the Hyotei students watching the match start to cheer.

Meisha and Yuuta look at each other with wide eyes before getting off the bench to frantically get a closer look at the match.

"Hey, I think you've had enough fun already", Tachibana says while returning the ball with his right hand.

Shishido looks a bit confused as he returns the ball.

"It's already a good time for me to go near the net, right?" Tachibana says confidently.

"What!" Shishido looks surprised and caught off guard.

Tachibana jumps and smashes the ball with a backhand. The ball goes under Shishido and bounces in between his legs. Shishido just gapes at Tachibana.

"Game won by Fudoumine. 1 game to love!" the referee announces.

Meisha's eyes sparkle in excitement while Yuuta stares at Tachibana in awe.

"Oi"

Meisha and Yuuta look to their left to see Ryoma approaching them with a frown. Meisha grins at him but Yuuta raises a brow questioningly.

"So this is where you wandered off to", Ryoma says once he is positioned beside Meisha. He glances at Yuuta and bows his head a bit in greeting.

Yuuta uneasily nods in response. Why does he feel like Ryoma doesn't want him here?

"You were looking for me?" her eyes light up in joy as she grins happily at him.

Yuuta notices Ryoma's cheeks flush pink for a second before pulling down his cap visor to hide half his face, "Who would look for an ugly girl like you?" Ryoma says.

"Wha—!" she looks insulted. She looks behind her to see Yuuta trying to hold his laughter by covering his mouth with his left hand but she could clearly see his eyes smiling, "Yuu-nii!" she calls out angrily before turning around to threaten him with her fists in the air while Yuuta places his hands up in mock surrender.

Ryoma takes this chance to discreetly sigh. What is he getting all worked up for? So what if she seemed genuinely happy to see him? She's always happy. The batteries of her happy-meter never run out. So what if she's being friendly to Yuuta? She's friendly to everybody but Yuuta has known her for more than a year. He just met her days ago. Why does that bother him?

"Game set and match for Fudoumine. 6 games to love!" the referee announces, getting the attention of the three.

"Wow, that was fast", Yuuta says in awe.

"Kippei Tachibana", Meisha says.

Yuuta and Ryoma glance at her and see her eyes sparkling in excitement.

"He changed his hairstyle so he looks really different now but I recognized him right away", she grins, "One of Kyushu's best players. He's at a national level", she stares at Tachibana in admiration.

Yuuta gapes at Tachibana. He can't believe that such a high level player is in this tournament.

Ryoma hums in interest, "Must be strong, then", he says with a smirk and a spark in his eyes.

She grins cheekily, "Very strong. I have tapes of his past games, including last year's nationals. I could lend them to you if you want", she says without taking her eyes off of Tachibana.

Ryoma keeps his eyes on Tachibana too, "I would rather play with him one on one."

She looks at him with an arrogant smirk, "Dame dame jan, you have to beat me first."

Ryoma smirks back at her, "You just want to play with him first."

She sticks out her tongue playfully.

Yuuta, who was watching them the entire time, could sense a friendly rivalry between the two freshmen but there's something else in there and he isn't really sure what it is. He's never seen Meisha this comfortable with anyone other than him and the senior regulars of the Seigaku tennis team. He smiles, "Hey, Echizen", he calls out.

Ryoma raises both brows in response.

He gestures him to come closer, "Meisha, take five steps back and cover your ears. This is a man to man talk", he pretends to look at her seriously.

She blinks twice before pouting but still doing what she was told.

Yuuta nods at her before bending down to be at a closer height level as Ryoma. "We didn't really get to finish talking earlier. You wanted to know more about Meisha, right?" he asks.

Ryoma glances at Meisha to double check if she really can't decipher what they are talking about. She can read others' lips because of her good eyesight. She tilts her head to the side looking confused. He glances back up at Yuuta and nods with a blank expression.

Yuuta covers the side of his mouth to make sure Meisha can't lip-read, "I can't really give you any details but Meisha had a rough time in her past schools."

Ryoma raises his brow, "Why are you telling me this?" he asks.

"Because you're her friend. Well, at least I think you are. And the problems she had in her past schools were friend-related", Yuuta sighs, "It's ironic how someone as friendly as her have problems with keeping friends."

Ryoma isn't really sure if he likes being considered as her friend. He hasn't even considered her as a rival since they have never played an actual game yet. But he does acknowledge her strength so he still wants that rematch. And it's not like he dislikes being with her. It's the opposite but there's no way he's admitting that. Maybe it's just him but he can't consider her as just a friend. He shrugs in response.

Yuuta raises a brow, "Well, I doubt she'll have the same problems with you since you both play tennis and plus you can actually keep up with her", he glances at Meisha to see her tapping her foot impatiently while keeping her ears covered, "or even actually beat her", he smirks.

Ryoma smirks back at him, "You've never beaten her, have you senpai?"

Yuuta frowns, "Shut up", he says grumpily. "Just remember my advice and don't make her cry or else", he says threateningly.

Ryoma is fully aware that his senpaitachi will have his head if he makes her cry. He isn't worried though. There's no way he would make her cry since he doesn't like seeing her cry either. He rolls his eyes but nods in response.

Yuuta smiles, "I'm sure she'll tell you everything in time. You just met so I'm sure she's still unsure of a lot of things." He looks at Meisha and gives her a thumb up.

She uncovers her ears and approaches them, "What were you even talking about?" she raises a brow at Yuuta who just grins at her. She looks at Ryoma but he just shrugs. She frowns and crosses her arms, "Fine!"

"This completes the first day of the tournament", one of the organizers of the tournament announces while standing in front of four lined up teams, "The best four teams are Fudoumine, Yamabuki, Ginka, and Seigaku. These four will advance and have been granted participation in the Kantou regional tournament.

"Yey!" Tomoka leaps for joy and holds Sakuno's hands in glee while the latter smiles happily.

"Kantou regional participation!" Horio raises his fist in the air victoriously while Kachiro and Katsuo look at each other happily.

Meisha, standing beside Inui who is a couple of feet away from the freshmen, looks up to Inui and lightly pulls on his white shirt.

"Hm?" Inui looks down and smiles, "Yes, Meisha?" he asks.

"We're going to be busy again with training, right?" she asks him with hopeful eyes.

"Is there something you want, Meisha?" he asks. He's known her long enough to be able to tell that she wants something.

She looks away shyly and bites her lip, "I was wondering if I could…um…" she starts to fidget.

He lifts his glasses a bit. Well, this is odd. She's never been this shy to ask for something she wanted.

She looks up at him shyly, "Can I be a part of the training?" she bites her lip, scared of what Inui will say.

He looks confused, "But you are part of the training. You're helping me with the training programs."

"Yeah, I'm still doing that but I meant I want to be training as well. Like I want to have practice matches with the players", she sees his brows rise in surprise, "You-You know, to make sure I stay in shape!" she frantically adds in.

He smiles at her, "Are you going back to competing?" he asks.

She rubs her right arm and softly smiles up at him, "I'm still thinking about it, Haru-nii. I mean, I've realized that I do want—no, I STILL want to compete but I'm not sure if I'm ready yet. I know I shouldn't be scared and I know I should focus more on myself rather than my opponents but I just can't help it. Ever since that day, I can't help but be concerned of my opponents. I even ended up giving advice to them after beating them as Kenji", she sighs.

He smiles fondly at her, "That's a good thing, Meisha. You've always been kind to others." Then his glasses gleam, "But then I do understand how it could be a problem if you want to play competitively".

She sighs again, "See what I mean? I still need time to think. But when I am ready to compete again, I want to be in tip top shape."

He pats her head, "You know we'll support you no matter what."

Her face brightens, "So I can join the practice matches?" she says hopefully.

He smiles, "I don't see why not. I was thinking of using your copy skill anyway. Let's talk to coach about it."

She nods enthusiastically, "Okay!"

"In one week, we'll play for the winner, runner-ups, and consolations", the organizer announces, "That's all. You're dismissed."

"Thank you very much", all the lined-up teams bow towards the organizers and coaches in front of them. Then they spread out to prepare their things.

Coach Ryuuzaki goes out of the court where Inui was waiting. "Hm? Is there something you want to talk to me about, Inui?" she asks.

Inui lifts his glasses, "Actually, it's not me. It's—"

Meisha pops her head out from behind Inui with a grin, "It's me!"

Coach Ryuuzaki stares at Meisha with widened eyes. She did not notice her at all. She smiles at her, "What is it, Meisha?"

Meisha looks at Inui who smiles at her encouragingly before she takes a deep breath and slowly releases it. "Coach, I want to have practice matches with our team", she looks determined.

Coach is surprised at how determined she is, "Okay", she says.

"Because I think that it's—what?" Meisha looks confused.

Coach smiles, "I said it's okay".

Meisha's eyes brighten in glee, "Really?" she asks.

Inui smiles down at her. Coach smirks and looks behind her, "Looks like you get to have that rematch earlier than expected", she says before walking to the side to reveal Ryoma standing there with his hands in his pockets and a smug smirk on his face.

Meisha's eyes widen in surprise. Was he standing there the entire time?

Ryoma approaches her and stops a few feet in front of her, "You know, you could have just asked me for a rematch", he smirks.

She rolls her eyes but grins cheekily, "Your ego is exactly why I didn't".

And thus begins another argument between the two while Inui subtly adds another bottle of milk in Meisha's training menu. He's sure that she won't mind as long as he tells her that it will help her grow taller than Ryoma.

Taka, sitting on the window side of the left side of the bus and beside Tezuka, looks like he just realized something, "Where are Kikumaru and Oishi?" he asks Tezuka.

Tezuka, who is resting his eyes by keeping them closed, says, "Don't worry about it. Those two like taking detours."

"Oh", Taka says in response.

Coach Ryuuzaki, who is sitting behind them, lightly chuckles at Tezuka's response before looking at the seat beside Taka and Tezuka's to see Meisha and Fuji happily talking.

In the back of the bus, Ryoma, Momo, and Kaidou are sleeping and snoring. Ryoma and Momo are leaning against each other with their mouths wide open while Kaidou's head is slightly tilted forward with his mouth only slightly open. Momo is snoring the loudest.

Katsuo and Horio, who are sitting on the left seat in front of the three, look behind them while looking concerned. "Gah! Momo-chan-senpai is drooling!" Horio says frantically.

"Kaidou-senpai is too!" Katsuo says frantically.

Kachiro, who is sitting alone on the seat in front of the two, frantically turns around, "Shh! Momo-chan-senpai is okay but it's bad to wake Kaidou-senpai!" he warns them.

Kaidou suddenly opens his left eye and grunts angrily, making the freshmen trio pale up in fear. But he goes back to sleep, making the trio sigh in relief.

Tomoka, who is sitting beside Sakuno on the right seat (beside Katsuo and Horio's), turns around and blushes a bit while smiling, "Ryoma-sama's sleeping face is so cute", she squeals.

Sakuno turns around to look at Tomoka with a frown, "Tomo-chan, be quiet or they'll wake up", she lightly scolds.

"But it's so cute!" Tomoka squeals once more.

Sakuno looks at Ryoma's sleeping face and blushes.

Meisha, who is suddenly standing in between Horio and Tomoka's seats, is eyeing Ryoma with an evil smile, "I'm so glad I brought my permanent marker with me", she says as she takes out a black marker from her skirt.

"Meisha, the bus is still moving. Be careful or you'll fall", Tezuka warns.

"I'll be fine, niichan!" she responds with an evil smirk.

"Meisha-chan, I don't think you should draw on Ryoma-kun's face", Kachiro says.

"That's right! You're going to ruin Ryoma-sama's cute sleeping face!" Tomoka complains.

"Tomo-chan, shh", Sakuno whispers, "You're too loud", she scolds.

"And besides, Ryoma-kun played really well today", Katsuo says trying to convince her.

"Yeah, Echizen won all his games today!" Horio exclaims.

"Shh!" Katsuo and Kachiro scold Horio.

Meisha sighs and pockets her marker, "You're right. He doesn't deserve the permanent marker treatment", she smiles while looking Ryoma's sleeping face.

Ryoma's eyebrows scrunch up as he groans. All the freshmen are expecting him to wake up but he doesn't. Instead, he mutters, "Pipsqueak", before snoring again.

An anger vein forms on Meisha's forehead while she slowly takes out the marker again and opens it. She lunges for Ryoma but luckily for him, Katsuo and Horio are holding her right arm and shoulder while Tomoka and Sakuno are holding her left arm and shoulder (she's holding the open marker in her left hand), "I'm going to draw a big fat ruler on his face so he knows how big an inch is!" she says angrily as she struggles.

"Meisha-chan, he's just sleep talking! He didn't mean to insult you!" Katsuo frantically says while holding her right arm to prevent her from moving forward.

"I'm sure Ryoma-sama is talking about something else!" Tomoka frantically says while holding her left shoulder and arm.

"Me-Meisha-chan, just calm down", Sakuno pleads while holding her left hand to avoid her from throwing the marker at Ryoma instead.

"Yeah, Echizen just might be dreaming of his cat or something!" Horio frantically says while holding her right shoulder.

Kachiro discreetly says to himself, "It's more likely though that insult was for Meisha-chan", he sighs. Even in his sleep, Ryoma likes making Meisha angry.

"Will you kids stop that and sit properly!" Coach Ryuuzaki scolds them while Tezuka sighs and rubs his temples. Taka and Fuji laugh at the freshmen's shenanigans.

Thank you for waiting this long and still reading this story! :)