April's Fools Chapter 6: You spin me right round, baby, a prince of tennis fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Prince of Tennis/ Tennis no Ohjisama

April's Fools

So in retrospect, running down the school hall's tile floor in socks wasn't one of the best ideas he ever had.

Ryoma charged after Sakuno at full speed and caught up with practiced ease. But just when he thought he was close enough to grab her she turned a corner to the left. He tried to follow, but since when have slippery floors and socks mixed well?

When he made a hard left; his momentum carried him past the corner Sakuno had turned and into the lockers at the end of the hall; just as the laws of gravity and centrifugal force predicted. There was a loud bang as he made impact and every head in the hall was suddenly turned toward the dazed and pant-less prince.

He came to his senses and peeled himself off of the lockers. With one thought in mind, he scrambled back up and ran after Sakuno.

"Ryuzaki, Get back here and listen to me!"

She had paused with the rest of the school to see if he was okay; but the minute she saw him back on her tail; she was off sprinting down the hall at full speed. Sakuno leapt down the stairs, desperately wanting to get away from the man that only seemed to cause her heartbreak.

"Ryuzaki, Get back here and listen to me!"

"I don't want to hear it, Echizen!" She yelled back, not even caring if he or anyone else heard.

Up the stairs, down the stairs, through the halls, ducking in and out of classrooms, jumping over desks, sliding down stair rails; no matter what Sakuno did she just couldn't seem to shake him. And to make matters worse she was getting tired. Ryoma Echizen was "The Prince of Tennis"; you didn't get titles like that for tiring after a short sprint across the school. Just when she was starting to lose her breath she got an idea and made a quick U-turn right toward her pursuer.

Ryoma was hot on her heels when suddenly without warning she whipped around and ran right toward him. His eyes widened and he quickly jumped out of the way in a subconscious effort to prevent a collision. Before he could react in any other way she ducked into the room barely two feet in front of him. He watched in stunned silence as the door slowly swung closed and clicked against the door frame.

He turned to follow and braced his hands on the door to push it open. Something prickled at the back of his consciousness; whether it was instinct or a lost memory, he did not know. He looked up and his suspicions were confirmed; there hung the ancient remains of the girls locker room sign.

He winced and backed away slowly; yes he liked Sakuno, hell, maybe even loved her with all of the things he'd done to keep her close; but even he had his limits. He wasn't scared of punishment; he could take it in stride like a man, but the thought of being compared to his lecherous father was much sharper and lasting than a thousand manicured nails scraping across his flesh.

He growled in a frustrated manner and started to pace in front of the door like a caged lion. He could just barge in there and hope it was empty, but he knew for a fact that there was girl's swim team practice after school today; he couldn't risk it. But what other choice did he have? Just give up and go home? Hell no! He took off his pants for this woman; she was going listen to what he had to say and beg for his forgiveness, which he would easily give for homemade lunch and a Ponta…and maybe a massage.

Before his imagination could carry him in another, less appropriate direction an authoritative voice boomed across his consciousness.

"Echizen! What the heck are you doing running around without regulation school pants on!?" He turned his gaze over to see the frizzy haired and bespectacled hall monitor, looking as ticked as a bat outa hell.

He sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance; he didn't need this girl around to bother him right now. She was a 'reluctant' member of Tomoka's fan club, claiming she only joined to keep tabs on the unorthodox organization. Yet time and again on Valentine's Day or other gift giving holidays he always found an anonymous gift in his desk of pre-signed hall passes to be used for whatever reason he liked. He was about to tell her to go and monitor some other hall before he shoved his foot in a very uncomfortable place, but then inspiration struck.

"Kyo-san, was it?" He said smoothly, putting on what he hoped was a charming smile.

"Kyoko, and that's Hall monitor Kyoko to you." She said crisply, almost making him rethink his little idea.

"Ah, must we use such formalities, Kyoko-san?" He pretended to pout a bit, a trick he usually saved for the annoying adults in his life.

She turned a light pink before stubbornly looking away; "Yes…well, why are you in front of the locker room anyways?" She adjusted her glasses nervously.

"Well, one of the girls in there was very naughty and took something from me." he really had to resist the urge to blush at the word 'naughty' and what Ryuzaki could be doing to be accused as such. "I was hoping to catch her when she came out and give her a stern… tongue lashing." God, he couldn't believe he said that; he could see his father giving him proud congratulations. Not that he was implying anything dirty…but still he would have to wash his mouth out with soap after this.

"Oh? Who was this? And what did she take from you?" She tried to look annoyed, but Ryoma could tell she was going to do what he asked anyways.

"Ah, Sakuno Ryuzaki is her name and she happened to take a gift I got last Valentine's Day from a very considerate, but anonymous fan of mine." Luckily, he managed to make himself look very upset; otherwise she probably would have smelled that bullshit from a mile away.

"So she took a gift from you?" She asked, now blushing from the intense look he was giving her.

"Yes, a small book of hall passes; one of the most considerate gifts I have ever gotten." He said smoothly; barely holding back a smirk as she started to melt like putty.

"Ryuzaki, how long are you gonna stand in my way?" Said an annoyed, heavily muscled upperclassman whose gym-locker she was apparently blocking.

"Sorry" Sakuno said and ducked into a corner. Great, now she was trapped in here. She tried in vain to think of a plan of escape. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? She didn't want to hurt anymore.

"That's better." The upperclassman said while continuing to towel her hair dry "So, who are you hiding from anyways?"

"Nobody." She replied moodily. Ryoma's words to Sakura still rang in her head 'I think you're pretty cool and smart…I'm not ready for a close relationship yet…maybe we shouldn't tell anyone…' She guessed she was just delusional when she dared to think he liked her. It wasn't that surprising that he wanted to go out with someone smart and funny and confident like Sakura. What chance did she have? She still blushed whenever he looked at her and could scarcely hold a conversation with him without stuttering.

"I don't think the pampered prince out there will appreciate being called a 'nobody', Saku-chan." The senior smirked at Sakuno's surprised face before explaining. "I saw you guys running down the halls earlier."

"Yeah, you and the whole school." She started to become aggravated, "Why does this keep happening? I try to ignore him and forget everything and he just pulls me back in…" She hugged her knees into her chest.

"So you're running away from your problems like a scrawny freshman? You do stuff like that around here you get fifty extra laps courtesy of yours truly. Being the girl's swim team captain has its perks you know."

Sakuno turned her face away shamefully. "It is none of your business."

The swim team captain sighed and rolled her eyes. "Freshmen." She huffed "Always coming to our school and trying to stir things up." Sakuno turned back to her and gave her a small, shy smile.

"You know," The captain continued "If I ever had a boy I liked in his boxers chasing me, I'd let him catch me." Sakuno considered this for a second.

"Even though you might get hurt?"

The captain sighed "Okay I'm still the swim team captain so the advice you get from me is what I give to the members of my team when they need it." She then kneeled down by Sakuno's side and put a comforting hand of her shoulder "If you're scared to jump off the high dive, its okay, but you just can't stand up their forever. You could climb back down and walk away and never know what you could have done up there. Or you could dive in and do your best; you might get hurt, but you might do something spectacular and win gold metal. Given those choices, I would dive in; wouldn't you?"

Sakuno looked at her admiringly for one second before their moment was ruined by the laughter of the forgotten swim team members in the girl's locker room.

"Hahaha I got that shpeal when I was at state and got cold feet; now she's pushing it for love advice?! Hahahah!"

"Hahahaha Oh man now we have for our captain? Hahahaha!"

The captain turned bright red and rounded on her teammates. "You think you're funny?! We'll see how funny you are after the hundred extra laps you'll have to swim!" The team sobered a bit before trying to make amends with the embarrassed captain.

"Aww, come on Captain; we were kidding, we'll-" before they could finish, the doors to locker room banged open to reveal the gritty Hall monitor.

"I'm looking for Sakuno Ryuzaki."

Sakuno looked like a deer caught in headlights. The captain, pitying the underclassman, came to her rescue.

"What seems to be the problem here…" She paused to mockingly look up and down her much smaller-in-stature opponent, "…officer?"

The brash girl flushed in mortification. "That's Hall Monitor to you! And you better not be helping Ryuzaki; she's a criminal and needs to be treated as such. If you all are with her then you're against me and-" As a couple more members of the team joined their captain in peering down at her, she suddenly seemed to become aware of the fact that these were all seniors and star athletes. They therefore could make life very hard for her very easily. She balked at the thought and started to back off a bit.

"Well, if she's not in here then I suppose I should just go…" She then caught sight of the girl sitting in the corner, peering apprehensively between the swimmers up at her.

"Ah-ha!" She pointed accusingly toward the corner. "I knew you were hiding her! Ryoma-sama said he saw h-"

"Echizen put you up to this?" A swimmer inquired.

The hall monitor immediately bridled and played with her glasses nervously. "What uh what makes you think that?"

The team continued to glare down at her.

She became slightly desperate. "Listen here; I'm hall monitor so you better not give me any trouble or I'll make sure you get suspended!" She threatened erratically.

"Oh we won't give you any trouble, but if you wouldn't mind pointing us in the direction of Echizen…we'll be on our way." The captain said with a broad smile painted on her face. There was still an air of menace about her that Kyoko just didn't want to challenge, so she spun on her heel and lead the swim team toward the hall.

The captain hung back and watched her team file out of the locker room. As soon as they left the door swung closed she turned to Sakuno and started to talk quickly.

"Look, I don't know exactly what's going on here, but I don't approve of running away from your problems either way. So, you know, stop running and just make a decision. We'll distract Ryoma so you can escape out the exit in the pool. I'm not letting you run away- We're just… giving you some time to think. Now go- girls in swimsuits can only attract men for so long…then again…maybe you'll have more time than we thought…"She broke off before giving Sakuno a 'good luck' pat on the head and ushering her through the back exit of the locker room, better know as the entrance to the pool.

----

"Ahhh! What is going on?! This is all wrong! This better not be Fuji's doing; tell me everything you know Momo!" Tomoka screamed angrily.

"Calm down Osakada, I'm sure Fuji has it all under control; no need to get upset." The sophomore said consolingly. It was hard enough for Momo to calm down an emotionally-erratic girl, but when you add the fact that he was currently the big red target of her anger…let's just say if things got nasty, Tomoka wouldn't miss the 'bull's-eye'.

"I don't know anything, I swear! Fuji never tells us about his plans; we just listen to his orders and do what he says."

"Why? Does he threaten to hit you? Cuz I can do that too…" She emphasized this by grabbing the neck of his shirt and shoving her fist in his face.

"Now, now; let's not do something we'll regret later." He said loosening his tie and wiping the sweat that trickled down his brow.

"I doubt I'll have any regrets if I beat your face in."

Then an angelic voice echoed from heaven…at least from Momo's point of view.

"Oh my, am I interrupting something?" Fuji stepped from around the corner of the building, camera in hand and cheeky smile plastered on his face. "Thanks for the great footage." Tomoka immediately let go of Momo and rounded on Fuji.

"Why you dirty rotten liar; you said you didn't make anymore changes!"

"I didn't" He replied innocently "This one was all Sakura, I didn't tell her to do anything but hold him up after class. She did…but not in anyway we predicted."

"You still assumed she'd confess her feelings to him didn't you? I can read that stupid grin on your face. Now look at what's happened; Sakuno has locked herself away somewhere and Ryoma is running around the whole school looking for her acting like a fool in his underwear!"

"A human's reaction is always unknown…But I would be lying if I said I didn't shove things in that direction slightly." A guilty smile played at his lips.

"…You all will be forgiven for plotting against me if things still work out…but if they don't…" She left her threat uncompleted leaving the torture up to their imaginations.

Momo decided it was safe to let his presence be known again. "So, uh, I should probably go and make sure everything's set up for the big finale right?"

Tomoka gave him a dark look. "Yes, I believe that would be appropriate." He nodded and looked at Fuji for extra consent. Fuji just smiled that Fuji smile of his and tipped his still-rolling camcorder in Momo's direction; who nodded in understanding and hurried out to the courtyard.

Ryoma was laughing evilly in his mind. He had done it, he had gotten her to go in and bring Sakuno out. Now where was she going to run, he had a higher authority on his side. He waited eagerly for the doors to open and Sakuno to come out. And when the doors finally opened he grinned wildly before he realized that she wasn't, didn't, and isn't going to come out.

But before his brain could process anything other than disappointment at Sakuno's absence, he was surrounded by the hulking frames of the stars on the girl's swim team.

Hulking frames all glaring down at him; guess Sakuno had made some new friends too.

"So, Ryoma, chasing a girl around in your boxers? I'm pretty sure that's some form of sexual harassment." The girl standing in front of him, the one that looked like the leader of the pack, said. Ryoma thought it safest not to say anything. "You must be pretty desperate; didn't your father teach you any better?' She said mockingly.

Unfortunately for her, and consequently him, she had poked at one of the few weak points in his armor. Being compared to his father, and calling him a pervert. Therefore he could not, and should not be held accountable for what happened next.

He adopted an extremely cheeky pose and said the words that would probably earn him a place in hell. "Well if you and your fifty-year-old linebacker's body were walking around in your underwear, men would call the police and have you arrested for public harassment!"

A look of pure shock crossed the swimmer's face, followed by one of rage and retribution.

Whoops, time to go.

Instantly the smell of chlorine violently assaulted her poor nose. She wasn't used to such a concentrated aroma of it. Sakuno didn't have to take swimming in gym because she had her fair share of lessons and could be trusted not to drown. She had learned to swim herself at a friend of her Grandma's cabin, which was next to a large lake. Thus she had never been in the school's swimming pool and the stench nearly made her dizzy.

She covered her mouth and nose and trotted quickly toward the door to the outside being mindful of the slippery pool floor. Finally she got to the other end of the pool, managing to fall on her behind only once, and grabbed the door handle. Freedom!

…but the door was stuck.

She frowned and pushed a little harder. Nothing.

She squared her feet and put her full weight on that big, stupid door that was currently the only thing from liberation and locking her in this chlorine filled hell.

Still nothing; it wouldn't budge.

She was getting flash backs from this morning, which seemed like an eternity ago now, her door was locked and she was stuck in these clothes.

The beginning of the end, in her opinion.

Well no more of that, she would not give up and walk back the other way like she did when she decided to wear the clothes she was stuck in, oh no.

So she backed up a few feet and rolled up her sleeves. She then tied her loose hair back in a pony tail with a ribbon she got from Sakura in gym. She adjusted her shorts and shirt to her liking and rubbed her hands together.

Okay, on three, 1…2…3…

She launched herself from that spot with her eyes closed, not wanting to look at the very solid object coming toward her.

Ryoma had managed to loose the swimmers by ducking around a few corners and hiding in a classroom, but he wasn't happy about it. Come on, the prince of tennis having to run from a bunch of girls? He didn't think so; so he came out of the classroom confidently strolling down the hall in his boxers. He would not be scared by anyone, he was supposed to be intimidating one!

Regrettably school had long since got out and the only people that remained were a few members from various clubs; there was no one for him to intimidate and heal his badly bruised ego. This reminded him…

Where the hell was Sakuno?! She must have escaped out the back; she got those brutes to cover her trail.

So he took off toward the courtyard hoping to catch her before she left the grounds at least. But as he exited the school and ran he heard a voice and froze in his tracks. He turned and saw a lone figure barreling toward him at dangerous speeds. Ryoma could only watch in horror and prepare for the blow as the person came ever closer.

Sakuno expected the impact, she expected it to hurt, and she even expected the solid structure to give way. Why wouldn't it, she was putting her full weight and more on that stupid door. But what she didn't expect was to land on the fallen door, which no longer felt like a door but a very solid chest, or to be pelted with debris afterward.

When the wreckage stopped falling on her, she opened her eyes to find a very disoriented and displeased high school tennis captain staring back at her. She turned and saw that the 'debris' was in fact a bunch of tennis balls that were seemingly knocked out of their baskets by her. She had apparently crashed into Tezuka as he was opening the door and football tackled him to the ground, sending the rackets and ball baskets flying.

"Uhm…" She uhmed; not totally sure how to react to the present situation. Did she mention that she was also straddling the fallen captain? Yes, that added a bit to the awkwardness. She righted herself quickly and scrambled off the regular's lap looking very apprehensive. "Hello Kunimitsu-niisan, how are you today?" She tried, putting on a friendly face.

The horizontal captain sat up so quickly she almost bumped her forehead against his. "What the hell do you think you were doing? Running around like an idiot, you could have hurt somebody…you could have killed yourself!!" Tezuka wasted no time getting to the point.

She whimpered before explaining. "Th-The door was-and I-but it didn't-so I- and I'm really sorry!!" She said in a rush, while looking dewy eyed and subconsciously shielding herself from his wrath with her arms in front of her body.

Tezuka sighed; he knew this was an argument that he had before; it seems like every time he saw her she was falling down some stairs, tripping over something, or banging into something…someone in this case.

"Whatever, just be careful next time." He said dismissively. She immediately brightened "I will; you can count on me!" Tezuka rolled his eyes.

Momo was having some sort of heart attack he was sure of it. His heart was pounding, almost painfully so, he might add; his arm hurt from holding up the camera for so long, and his life was flashing before his eyes.

The cause of his possibly, life-ending condition was none other that the demon captain of the Seigaku High tennis team. Who, he might add, at the moment was almost single-handedly foiling their entire plan for today.

'What the hell is Tezuka doing here?! Ahhh, Tomo's gonna kill me!!' He continued to watch anxiously from his hiding place around the corner from the door that started the problem; waiting, hoping, and praying.

"Let me help you pick all this up, niisan." Sakuno said helpfully; eager to redeem herself. Tezuka just nodded, while standing up and dusting himself off.

'Maybe she'll still make it, how long could it possibly take to pick up a few tennis balls.'

Then Sakuno bent over to pick up the scattered equipment and the whole story changed. Momo's eyes widened and his mouth formed an 'o' of horror. Dear lord her thong was showing. He prayed Tezuka wouldn't see, willed him to look the other way. But as if the captain could read his thoughts, he looked up and glanced over at Sakuno.

He had never seen that shade of red on the captain before, it was quite interesting. Soon the new color disappeared to be replaced by a familiarly terrifying shade of crimson that signaled an oncoming rage.

"Sakuno Ryuzaki…" He said dangerously.

Sakuno flinched recognizing the tone and turned slowly in fear. "Yes," She gulped audibly "Kunimitsu-niisan?"

"Does your grandmother know you are wearing such adult lingerie?" Her eyes went blank with unspeakable horror. That was when Momo decided the situation was out of hand and that he must handle it accordingly. He whipped out his walkie-talkie and whispered the distress signal into the receiver for Fuji's ready ears. "Code red! Code red! Level C threat! Ah, hurry up or we're screwed!!"

Across the school all the regulars were suddenly brought to attention.

"Level C threat, what's…?" Eiji said confused. Then his and others eyes expanded in terror. "Holy crap, the captain!! Who was supposed to watch him, I know we assigned someone!"

"Kaido…" Taka said dreadfully, and everyone grimaced in response.

"Alright, alright." Fuji said diplomatically, "No use crying over spilt blood," The other regulars begged to differ.

"Eiji, Taka, Oishi; go over and take care of the problem." Fuji clapped Oishi on the shoulder. "And, best of luck…" He gave them that sadistic smirk of his before grabbing Taka's racquet and placing it in its owner's destructive hands.

As soon as the racquet made contact with him, the worried look was gone and replaced by a strange almost inhuman surge of energy. He then yelled his battle cry in delight and charged forward: his destination in mind, and didn't care who was in his way; they would be moved.

Ryoma continued to stare in horror as Taka charged right at him with no signs of stopping. Just before he was slammed into at full force he found he had control of his legs and managed to dive out of the way just in time. Taka continued of his rampage, charging in an unknown direction as Ryoma stared after him trying to make sense of the situation.

As he stood up and dusted himself off Eiji and Oishi ran across his line of vision, the latter apologizing for Taka and promising to make it up to him.

"What's going on?" The prince tried to ask

"Sorry Ochibi, no time! We're men on a mission and we can't be stopped for anything, nya! Innocent lives are at stake!! Nya!!"

After that brief exchange they blew right past him. Ryoma got curious so he hung back a minute more before following.

"Does your grandmother know you are wearing such adult lingerie?" As soon as she heard that she pulled her shirt down self-consciously and steeled herself for a lecture.

A lecture that never came.

For as Tezuka opened his mouth to say something a loud screaming of "Burning!" drown out what ever he was saying.

She whipped around just in time to see Taka slamming full speed into Tezuka's side. The only sound the captain made was an ominous 'oof' noise as the air was forced out of his lungs in a whoosh and he was slammed into the ground for the second time that day.

Sakuno stared in shock at the scene, barely believing her eyes. She thought even 'crazy Taka' had more sense than that.

Eiji and Oishi came barreling around the corner a second later, panting like dogs; they both wore expressions she imagined were the same kind of looks kamikaze bombers wore.

"Saku-chan…" Eiji said gravely "You might want to get out of here, nya…"

"Yeah," Oishi agreed "We won't be able to hold him off for long and you know he only sees red when he's mad…"

She nodded and bowed her head for those who would loose their lives today. After a short prayer she jogged off around the corner Eiji and Oishi came from toward the school entrance.

Sakuno saw the entrance, she saw freedom; she was ready, ready to escape all the craziness from this day. Ready to escape from that stupid tennis prince and his stupid fan club and his stupid good looks, and stupid charm and consideration…

Before she could dwell on that thought any more two strong arms came out of nowhere and grabbed her into a solid chest. She yelped in surprise but was cut off as a hand came up and covered her mouth. She thrashed in full panic mode, trying desperately to get the attention of the seniors just around the corner. Dear lord, she was being attacked; and she thought this day couldn't get any worse!

She started to hyperventilate a bit and while she was having her episode, she felt warm breath in her ear and a very familiar voice whisper "Gotcha!"

The moment that voice went through her ears and was processed into her brain, she saw red.

Ryoma followed Eiji and Oishi out of curiosity, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't thrilled by the fact that they lead him right to Sakuno.

When he peeked around the corner of the building that the seniors disappeared behind he wasn't sure what he expected. But low and behold, he saw her standing to the side of a scene that looked like mass carnage. So he waited, like the pathetic stalker he had been reduced to, for her to come around the corner. Which she did a moment later and he grabbed her.

He really didn't expect the fight he got out of her. At first she just struggled to get free but when he whispered in her ear, something he thought might calm her struggling; she just started to fight harder.

He sucked in a sharp breath as she almost landed another kick to his shin.

It was like she was trying to hurt him!

"Stop moving!" He snarled in agitation. Her response was neither long nor eloquent, but it certainly got her point across. She bit the hand he had over her mouth.

"Ah, what the hell!?" He yelped and pulled his hand away from her mouth. As soon as he did, he regretted it.

"Get your hands off me you jerk! How dare you touch me?! You have some kind of nerve you know that!?" Shocked by her tone, he could do nothing but obey.

As soon as she was free she hopped away like he burned her.

"Hey wait; you got to listen to me…" he said carefully, grabbing her wrist.

"No! I'm done with you Echizen; DONE!" She yelled and viciously slapped his wrist away. He had never seen her this way…he kinda liked it.

She started to stomp off again; well he wouldn't have it, because she wasn't the only one in a bad mood here. He didn't know if she noticed but he was standing here in his socks and boxers for the entire world to see. All he wanted to do was apologize in the first place and suddenly he was the bad guy?!

He stomped after her, hell's fire burning in his eyes.

"Damn it Ryuzaki, you better listen to me!" He shouted angrily, trying to convey all of his rage and frustration in those few words.

Unexpectedly she whirled around, but not with the forgiving eyes he was hoping for.

"You want me to listen to you!?" She screeched; rage like she had never known was flowing like fire in her veins. It hurt so bad, the only thing she could do was yell to keep the pain at bay.

They had stopped in the main courtyard and they were under Ryoma's favorite napping tree, the cherry blossoms were just budding this year it might have been very picturesque if not for her black mood.

"Every time I listen to you, you act like a jerk and yell at me or insult me or just ignore me! Well I'm not a rug! You can't just walk all over me and then expect me to look nice afterwards!"

She saw Ryoma wince slightly from her words and that fueled the fire more. He was finally listening to her, so she would show him. She would tell him off and hope it hurts, and then he would know how she feels.

Ryoma kept his distance for he knew he was facing a girl that shouldn't be messed with at the moment. He winced at the truth of her words; he supposed he was a bit mean in the past. He just didn't know how to act, she wasn't like everybody else. He didn't always know why but she wasn't, he had never felt that way about anyone else, so most of the time he just acted like an idiot around her.

As he was speculating on this he saw something in the corner of his eyes that set off all warning alarms in his head; a suspicious pile of leaves right by Sakuno's feet.

Which sounded really weird but that's what it was. It was a random pile of leaves. They weren't the right color or size to belong to the tree they were standing under. Even if they were, it was spring; there weren't any leaves falling at this time of year!

He sensed danger, he had to warn Sakuno.

"Sakuno, I think-" She cut him off rather rudely

"No! I'm talking! You wanted to talk so we're talking!" She snarled.

"Would you just listen to me for a second?" He tried again patiently. Worry for Sakuno currently overruling his temper "Right there by you feet, there-" She interrupted him furiously again.

"Echizen you are so selfish! You're ignoring me when you're the one who wanted to talk!" She was so mad, she stomped her foot in anger; an uncontrollable action.

She heard the satisfying crunch of leaves beneath her feet and for a moment wished it was Ryoma's foot instead.

"Hold on just for a second there's-" He tried to talk again, but she would have none of it.

"You don't want to listen to me. Fine, I'm done with you then; I'm never talking to you again, Echizen!" She snarled and turned to stomp off again.

The last thing she heard was the loud crunch of leaves beneath her feet.

Then her whole world turned upside down—literally.

She didn't know what happened, one minute; she was on the ground, governed by normal laws of gravity. The next; up was down, down was gone, the whole world was swinging back and forth and her legs were glued together.

"…¿¿…" That was all she could say to the strangeness of the situation.

"Well, Well, Well…" She heard and suddenly Ryoma was right in front of her, an evil sadistic smirk on his face. Well at least that was what she thought it was, because he was upside down and slowly swinging back and forth.

Obviously he couldn't resist; Sakuno wasn't listening to him and she got caught in some strange trap. He just had to rub it in her face; how else was she going to learn her lesson? Besides she looked adorable hanging upside down with that shocked look on her face, while her hair, tied back in its ribbon, was standing on end.

He would have to thank his teammates for that apparently, for he heard snickering from a distant bush. Ryoma knew those leaves were suspicious; they were covering a lasso tied into the Sakura blossom tree.

Well, well, well…" He had said, barely containing his wicked glee.

Her reaction was as expected; she became a whirr of angry energy. Snarling and swinging out wildly, she tried to kick out her legs but her ankles were firmly tied together so she couldn't escape. He ducked out of the way and kept out of range of her enraged fists. He chuckled and thought to let her wear herself out before he tried to talk to her.

But he was surprised when a small drop of moisture hit him square in the forehead. He looked in the sky for signs of rain for a few minutes before looking at Sakuno and seeing the real source of the drop.

She was so mad, so frustrated; so why the hell as she crying?

A few more tears fell and then Sakuno felt as though the fire in her veins had a bucket of ice cold water dumped in them. She bit her lower lip in anger to try and stop herself from crying, and rubbed her eyes with her arm. This was more challenging that you would think, because everything was upside down.

"What'd I ever do to you?" She whimpered, upside down with her tears dripping on the ground and up into her hair.

Well now Ryoma felt bad, he didn't mean to make her cry!

He broke out into a sweat and looked toward the previously snickering bush for advice. The bush stayed solemnly silent and maybe he was imagining things but the bush seemed to have a guilty air to it.

So he was on his own was he? Fine he didn't need them.

"Sakuno, don't cry look I-" he started in what he thought was a promising manner.

"I-I'm not crying!" She interrupted angrily, which he might have believed if she didn't whimper at the end.

"Okay fine, but I didn't do this; I swear. I even tried to warn you before, remember?" He said this as delicately as he could, considering her emotional state.

"Well, what do you care anyways?" she snapped angrily, while hiding her eyes behind her arm. "Shouldn't you go back to Sakura?"

"Sakura?" Gees he had forgotten all about that girl. He was focused on her, Sakuno, couldn't she see that? "Why the hell would I go back to her when I have been chasing you around for the last half an hour in my boxers?!" He yelled outraged.

She took her arm off her eyes in surprise, but then turned her face away from him in a huff. "Don't lie to me; I heard you in the classroom."

Ryoma gave her an icy look, forgetting all about being delicate because of her emotional state. He took a few steps closer and placed hand on the side of her face and turned her toward him. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Well that's what you get for eavesdropping isn't it? You didn't hear the right story!" He ground out.

"I don't believe you." She said though she looked slightly unsure. She wouldn't look him in the eye.

"I don't care." He snapped "I've been working my ass off all day so you would forgive me for what I said a month ago. And now that you're listening I'll say it. I'm Sorry! You hear me; I'm sorry! I only said that shit because I like you, damn it! And I was friggin' embarrassed that an idiot like Horio could tell."

There was an awkward silence for a minute before she responded in wonder. "You…You mean it?" She said a disbelieving but hopeful look on her face.

"Well I sure hope so, because otherwise I've lost my mind." He said thinking of all the days events leading up to this very moment.

"I…like you too, Ryoma-kun." She said shyly her face turning a shade darker.

When he heard his name from her lips, he felt like dancing. His name! Not Echizen—Ryoma! Well that meant he was officially forgiven.

"Say my name again…" he said huskily; joyous, but slightly overcome from the day.

"Ryoma-kun?" There was a slight confusion to her voice.

"Again…" He said and leaned closer; an amorous look in his eyes.

"Ryoma-k--" He cut her off with his lips. Sakuno was stiff with surprise at first but she soon relaxed into him and placed her hands on his shoulders, which was awkward because she was currently upside down.

Ryoma thought this was a strange way to share their first kiss together; she in an uncharacteristic outfit and he in his boxers, one upside down, her legs caught in a lasso. But what was ever normal about a relationship? He heard the bush whistle and cat call in the distance.

She pulled away after a moment and whispered his name again. He was a bit dazed and slightly disappointed that she pulled away so he just responded dreamily.

"Yeah?" he looked into her bright red face and half-lidded appearance, and he couldn't help but smirk with contentment,

"…Dizzy…" She mumbled. His ego inflated at that, really was he that good a kisser?

Before he could dwell any more on that pleasant thought, Sakuno's eyes rolled back into her head and she went totally limp and her arms flopped from his shoulders gracelessly.

That's when he noticed that she wasn't just blushing from the kiss, a lot of blood had flown to her head from being upside-down for so long.

"Sakuno!? Waugh! Wake up, don't fall asleep! I'll get you down; don't die!!" He dove for the base of the tree and started clawing his way up it to wear the rope was tied off. He looked toward the bush from earlier, a note of desperation in his voice as he called. "Guys help! She fainted; we need to get her down!!"

The bush shook with worry before suddenly giving birth to several of his friends from the tennis team. Eiji and Taka emerged first, both looked very harassed and had bruises developing, they rushed over to the tree and untied some hidden rope and slowly started to lower Sakuno. They all worked with a speed only brought by panic.

"Ochibi," Momo called pointing a camera directly at Ryoma "Untie that last knot at the top and she'll come down." Ryoma would be mad about the camera later. He shimmied up to the thickest branch which had the rope tied around it and which currently anchored Sakuno. He very carefully undid the knot and warned those below that he was letting go of the rope. Oishi caught Sakuno, lowered her to the ground as Eiji started to untie the rope around her ankles and Momo held her torso in an upright position to use gravity and make sure the blood flow to her head evened out.

"What's going on; what happened?!" Screamed a panicked voice; everyone looked to see Tomoka, Inui, and Fuji running across the courtyard.

"She fainted, Nya! We were helping Ochibi get her down!" Eiji called back anxiously.

"What!? Oh god, call an ambulance!" Tomoka screeched, while starting to hyperventilate.

"I think she'll be okay," Ryoma said and felt her forehead, "She's just sleeping now. We should probably just take her home." All of the starters' expressions went from worried to grinning in a second.

"Of course; we need to be there to make sure you won't do anything untoward to Sakuno-Chan." Momo grinned and pointed his camera at Ryoma's face.

Ryoma could have responded, but he caught a glimpse of an angry storm in the distance and decided to make his escape.

"Well I think I can handle it myself; I got to get going though. Talk to you guys later." He swung Sakuno over his shoulder, carrying her piggy-back style and galloped off toward the exit, not even daring to look back.

"What's his problem?" Momo wondered aloud.

Suddenly a hand with a vice-like grip clamped down on his shoulder and voice spat out from hell itself hissed in his ear. "No clue." Momo turned in terror to see the hand of their tennis captain.

Momo screeched like an actress in a B-movie horror film.

"I'd like to have a word with you all; that includes you Tomo-Chan." He said in that eerie voice. Tomoka, who was trying to sneak away froze, then turned quickly and saluted smartly. She started praying that he saw pity in the fact that she was a helpless little freshmen girl.

"You all are a bunch of April's Fools!" Tezuka snarled angrily at the cowering group of individuals.

Sakuno woke and stretched, to find herself on her own living room couch. She closed her eyes and sniffed the air smelling the pleasant aroma of popcorn.

She had had a crazy dream. It had seemed so real, even now she swore she could still feel Ryoma's arms around her.

Wait a second.

She looked over and saw Ryoma sitting next to her on the couch, (he now had pants on and she would later notice that she was also was newly clothed) eating popcorn from a large bowl and watching TV.

Her eyes widened. "Ryoma-kun, what are…?" She broke off confused.

He turned and smiled at her. "Ah, good you're awake; maybe you can explain this anime to me. I found it in your DVD player and I can't understand it at all." He said and read the back of the DVD box, looking for an explanation he might have missed. "Oh, are you hungry? I made popcorn." He then offered the bowl to her.

She took it with a bewildered expression and popped a few pieces into her mouth.

"So," She started, confusion very evident on her face. "It wasn't a dream…?"

Ryoma, knowing exactly how she felt shook his head sympathetically. "Nope. Seems like it though doesn't it? I can't believe those guys lassoed you into a tree." He said contemplatively.

She didn't know who he was talking about, she remembered being upside down; but apparently she wasn't conscious for finding out who the culprit was.

She remembered kissing Ryoma and everything going black from there.

She then thought of something, "Where's my grandma?" She asked.

A wicked smirk suddenly grew on his face. "She went to pick you up some things to make you feel better from an old shrine a half-hour away."

"…So…we're alone?" His smirk widened. Sakuno blushed as he pulled her closer and pressed his lips against hers for the second time. This time they were both the right way up, but she felt like she was floating and the world around her was spinning upside down.

The End

Epilogue

Ryoma glared at the mirror, not liking what he saw at all.

He still couldn't believe that he had agreed to this. It's not like Tomoka helped him at all in the end—that was all his charm and wit. When his girlfriend insisted that he should hold to his promise, he melted like butter. He was helpless when she pouted her lips…he was going out with a vixen alright.

The vixen in question handed him a large carrot-shaped pillow, with a smile that made him remember why he agreed to this in the first place. But he wouldn't be giving up without a fight.

"I can't believe you are letting them take pictures of your boyfriend like this! Don't you have any sense of womanly possession? Get in cat-fight for god's sake!" Sakuno giggled before responding.

"But you look so cute, and it's for a good cause; they are giving all the money to the tennis team. The team could get the courts redone or get all new practice balls." She said cheerfully.

"Oh I'm definitely going to need a new pair of balls after this." He groaned in dismay.

"We owe it to Tomo-Chan you know; she kind of set us up." Sakuno said and gave him a quick peck on the lips. He tried to deepen it but she pulled away. "Besides you already promised!" She said sternly.

"That was back when she said she would put in a good word for me to you; which she didn't! That isn't worth my dignity to you is it?" He whined, even more aggravated now from the fact that she kept teasing him like that. "And don't say we owe it to her unless you want to wear this thing too." He said grumpily.

"You know that I offered earlier; you're the one that told me 'no'." He did remember that, he also remembered Tomoka holding up the string bikini that Sakuno would have had to wear, had he not intervened.

He stuck out his tongue at her in a childish manner.

She giggled before pulling him by the bow-tie on his full-body Easter rabbit costume and giving him another peck, which he deepened for as long as he could before he was shoved off again. "Love you too." She smiled. "Now get out there and wish everyone a happy Easter!"

With that, she shoved him out from behind the curtain and onto a stage in front of a crowd of people. Said crowd consisted mostly of screaming girls with cameras, though he could see Fuji, Kaido, and Tezuka in a corner snickering—Fuji of course was filming the entire event.

Ryoma sighed and hopped over to his place between Momo and Eiji, who were both posing while also dressed in equally ridiculous Easter costumes. Momo was in a absurd chick-coming-out-of-painted-egg outfit, while Eiji sported a pair of cat ears, a tail, and a bow-tie matching Ryoma's own. Taka was providing food for the event, while Inui took care of building the stage in back of the school providing the lighting and technical knowledge. Tomoka, Oishi and Fuji took care of publicity and costumes.

Kaido was exempt. Tezuka did not make him run all of the laps around Japan. Kaido, in fear, did manage to make it five hours away to the coast before somebody could contact him and convince him that the captain had forgiven him.

Ryoma grumbled and hugged his carrot pillow closer and froze like that for a few seconds—make sure people had time to get a good picture.

He adopted another pose few a few minutes before turning and shaking his cotton tail for the audience a few times. As he did this, he saw Sakuno peeking through the curtains behind them and getting a few pictures of her own. When she noticed she'd been caught she gave him a cheesy smile and winked.

Well he wasn't going to take that lying down.

He took a flying, ninja-bunny hop and pounced on her. After a few minutes of fruitless struggling on Sakuno's part he pulled her from behind the curtain onto the stage with his three-fingered, fuzzy, rabbit paws. She blushed from all of the crowds cheering and laughing at her abrupt entrance. But then Tomoka hopped on stage and plopped a pair of bunny ears on Sakuno's head. There was an awkward moment of silence before everyone else on stage burst into laughter themselves.

Ryoma pulled Sakuno closer and they shared another kiss on-stage and the cameras everywhere clicked and flashed all around them. Their bunny kiss captured forever; Hoppy Easter Tomoka; you got your wish.

Sakura stood at the back of the crowd and watched as Ryoma and Sakuno shared a kiss in front of the Ryoma's previous fan club, which had broken up once they saw how happy Ryoma and Sakuno were together—there was no chance for them.

She was happy for them.

She snapped a few pictures then turned to her new crush sitting on a picnic table away from the general populous. He stared at the assembly disdainfully. She trotted up to him and smiled pleasantly and attempted to engage him in a conversation, she knew he wouldn't return the favor but she tried anyways. Of course he just ignored her as per usual.

This of course was the cool new kid who never said anything about anything.

Sasuke.

A/N: Gahhh!! *Dodges Tomatoes* don't kill me!! I know it's been too long but I have an excuse I swear! *More tomatoes are thrown* okay, you probably don't care as long as you got the end right?

Well this is it—the end!! I know, I thought we'd never get here either, but thanks to those of you that never gave up on me! I love you all!

I am starting a couple new fics but I decided that I'll only try to post them when they're ALL done because then I don't have to keep you guys waiting so long. I do have one I'm pretty proud of in the works I'm might post the first 2 chapters to see if anyone's interested but dats it.

Till then loves, you all rock muh world!! Reviews of all kind are welcome!!

Pages count: 87 total! Woot!