Hye! No further ado, please enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Prince of Tennis and never will.

Chapter 6: Seven Swans are Swimming

Chapter Summary: She was bracing herself for the upcoming new year and also for an impending news everyone had to receive.

'On the seventh day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Seven swans-a-swimming,..'

"You can get it back tomorrow afternoon," The jeweler said examining the broken hook of my bracelet before he looked at me, "Lucky for you, I am open tomorrow."

Tomo-chan and I beamed when he confirmed it. He was going to do it for us knowing that I begged him to fix it. The shop didn't usually open on New Year's Eve but it was going to be for my sake.

"Thank you very much, Oji-san!" I bowed to him for several times knowing how thankful I really was, "I really owe you one."

"She's right Oji-san!" Tomo-chan copied my action and thanked him, "Thank you very much!"

"Hush girls! It's only a small favor. No need to work out that much." The jeweler laughed cheerily at us and that made us smile, "Run along now. It's still early. Go do your thing. This will be good as new tomorrow." He winked at us gesturing the bracelet in the process.

Both of us giggled before we walked on our way to the door, "Thank you again." I said before walking out the door. The bell dinged as we got out.

"Have fun!" We could still hear the jeweler remind us. Tomo-chan and I looked at each other for a few seconds.

"Well, what now?" I asked my best friend.

She shrugged as she looked around, "We should do what he said? We have plenty of time before preparing for new year."

"But the New Year's Eve will be tomorrow." I told her as I looked around as well. The area was still covered with snow but it stopped snowing. It would lessen the job that we would do in the future if it would not snow again. But I highly doubted that.

"That's why the more the time we have the better," Tomo-chan said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me away, "Come on!"

"W-where are we going?"

She grinned at me before answering, "Ice skating!"

xxx

"T-T-Tomo-chan! I-I-don't think this is such a good idea." I said grabbing my best friend's arm for my dear life. I didn't know why I agreed to go ice skating with my best friend this morning. Yeah, I was no ice skater. That was why people called me clumsy. I barely managed playing tennis but I was still hanging on, like what was I doing right now.

"Oh come on, don't be a scaredy cat!" My best friend said pulling me away from my grip into her arm, "We've been doing this every year but you are still not good at it."

"T-this is not my skill, Tomo-chan!" I said trying to grab her again but she only held my hands to hers.

"Let's do this again just like the old times," She said pulling me to the center of the rink, "Come on, glide your skates."

I did what she told me. It was slippery as I tried gliding to the ice. As I looked around, I noticed that there were only few people skating around. The place was usually famous for freezing. The lake here froze quickly as soon as the temperature dropped to 10 degrees celcuis. It was just not safe to jump all the time or the ice might collapse from above where you were standing.

This wasn't good for ice skaters who had special talents. Somehow, this was good for amateurs like me. But I still didn't want to do it. I looked below and observed the frozen ice below me. If the ice wasn't thick, I would've seen the water from the surface. The thought made me a bit pale.

"Tomo-chan, what if this ice collapse? I don't think we can endure-"

"Oh hush hush! Sakuno!" She interrupted still pulling me, "We will be fine. Trust me."

"Should I?" I looked at her inwardly.

"Haha! Very funny!" She replied sarcastically.

I just shook my head to her and soon she began guiding me on how to skate. It was like the old times. She was the one to teach me every year. It was like our yearly routine. She would teach but I wouldn't learn. I was wondering why my best friend had not given up on me. I was too scared to learn to be honest.

"Try to skate on your own." She suddenly said after a few minutes of practicing. Before I could protest, she slowly let go of my hands. I jerked forward flailing my hands in the midair.

"Tomoka-chan~" I called out to her. Tomo-chan just stared at me as she skated her way around me,

"Are you just going to stay still like that?" She said still observing me, "Skate Sakuno."

"But I can't!" I closed my eyes shut as I felt myself balancing. My legs were stiff not daring to move at all. My hands were getting cold from the temperature the ground was giving. I could see the end of my plaits swaying back and forth as I opened my eyes and stared at them, "I told you I am not good at this!"

"Try to glide, Sakuno," She said gliding backwards. Her hands were at her back. Her ponytails were following the direction of the wind my best friend was making. They almost covered my vision of her face because of them, "Skating is fun!"

Out of an impulse, I tried to move my foot forward, hoping to skate even just a little.

"Skating is sure fun!"

The voice was awfully familiar to me that I gasped, "W-wha-kyaa!"

"Sakuno!"

I landed on my buttom as fast as I heard the voices. It wasn't only my best friend's voice that I could recognize. Looking up, I saw several faces, "S-senpai-tachi!"

"Gomen na! Ryuzaki-chan! I didn't mean to scare you." Momo-chan-senpai smiled apologetically at me.

"You scared the soul out of her senpai," Tomo-chan scolded him. Her hands were on her waist, "Just when I was about to see her skate."

"I still can't skate." I murmured to myself. My hands and botom were getting cold so I tried getting up. The problem was it was hard on doing that. I was about to ask Tomo-chan to help me stand when I saw a gloved hand in front of me. I looked up to see amber eyes staring straight at me.

"Why are you skating then?" He asked as I placed my own hand to his and pulled me up. I thanked him as I was back on my feet once again but I was wobbly still not used of balancing on the blades.

"T-Tomo-chan-forced me!" I answered with mere shock. I was not ever aware that I began gripping his hand too hard afraid that I would fall again, "I couldn't say no to her."

"Of course you can't!" Tomo-chan replied as she looked at me, "Ryoma-sama, why don't you teach her," My eyes widened as I was able to stare at my grinning best friend. She was planning up to something, "It seems that she will learn from you like how she did at tennis."

"Tomo-chan!" I whispered-shouted at her. For some reason I forgot where I was and looked at her, "Don't drag him into this please!"

"No worries! I am pretty sure he wants to teach you,", She said grinning wider if possible, "...am I right, Ryoma-sama?"

I never had the chance to protest when my hand was being pulled towards him. The movement made us stun for a moment. And crashed into his chest because of his sudden action. His hand was still holding my hand but his other hand was wrapped on my waist. It was cold but I could feel the warmth his hands were giving to me. My heart was beating fast when I realized how close our faces to each other. I knew I was already blushing and I desperately hoped that he wasn't hearing the drumming of my heart from my chest.

"Look! Ochibi's already making his moves!" Kikumaru-senpai suddenly said.

"Ah young love, young love."

I tried giving distance between us and he was doing the same thing but not encouraging enough to let go of me completely, "Urusai." He mumbled before he pulled my hand once again but this time, he moved along with it, "Ikou."

"E?"

"They want privacy!" Momo-chan-senpai teased.

"No, senpai! They want to have an exclusive lesson!" Tomo-chan said on purpose.

"M-mou! Stop it you guys!" I was able to complain but I only received laughs from them. I couldn't believe that senpai-tachi except Tezuka-buchou, Kaidoh-senpai and Inui-senpai were here just to skate. The place became crowded now that the team was here.

Almost all of them were here.

I was still in my own thoughts when Ryoma-kun tugged my hand. That was the time I looked up and stared at him. We were far from the team as I realized. He never let go of my hand until I understood why. My eyes widened as I looked at him.

"R-Ryoma-kun, I don't think..."

"It'll be fine,"" He insisted as he grabbed my other hand, "Come on."

I bit my lower lip hoping that I would not act stupid in front of him. He pulled my hands towards him while he glided backwards. He was doing it slowly so I could follow. I was a bit nervous because of two things: I might fall down once again and because he was the one teaching me.

"Yarujan." He suddenly said. From looking at my own feet, I shifted my attention to him.

"I could barely stand."

"It's normal. It's just like tennis. Bend your knees a little." Ryoma-kun coached.

I did what he told me. I was biting my lip the whole time while my hands were gripping his as I tried to move, "Sugoi, Ryoma-kun. You are good at everything." I whispered to him matter of factly.

"It's nothing."

"It can't be nothing!" I disagreed as I stared at his eyes, "You are really great!"

"It's not that hard." He answered shortly.

"Easy for you to say." I whispered but he heard me. He tugged my hands to get my attention.

"You can do it," His hands suddenly left mine and I felt panicky all over, "Relax. Control your balance."

"R-Ryoma-kun..." I looked at him pleadingly. My feet were glued to the ground. He was just looking at me, examining my whole being.

"At least you are standing." He commented. I gasped when he said that. He was right. My feet were cooperating with me somehow. I remained still on the frozen ground. I wasn't moving but I was still standing.

Not falling at all. That brought a smile to my face. I looked at him and saw him staring straight at me. Blush appeared suddenly to my face when I realized that he did. He surprised me sometimes and those times were really unexpected. I was never been ready when that happened.

All of the sudden, I lost balance. I fell forward and braced myself for the cold impact. But I met a firm contact instead. A flesh even. I looked up and saw Ryoma-kun holding me from my waist and hand. My heart skipped a beat when I realized how close I was to him. His eyes were also widened due to shock. We couldn't move away from each other. It felt like there was a force that brought us together.

"The couple is having a romantic moment!" I heard Kikumaru-senpai shouting. The area was not that big so it was impossible not to hear that. In an instant, we broke away and looked away after wards. I knew I was blushing really hard. Ryoma was probably too but not too much.

He was indeed blushing a bit.

"Ochibi is blushing!" Kikumaru confirmed it for me.

"Urusai, senpai!" He muttured but firmly said. I could see that he wanted to leave and chase the others but he couldn't.

He couldn't leave me or I'd fall.

It was like hearing his thoughts, the others approached us instead. I looked around and noticed some swans walking around the area. At this time of year, these white creatures would have been looking for a shelter to stay. I didn't even know if they could survive the cold, let alone to swim in winter season. It wasn't like they could swim in the lake now.

It was totally frozen anyway.

My thoughts had been like that when Tomo-chan tapped my shoulder, "See I told you, you could do it," She praised me and I couldn't help but blush, "A bonus moment with Ryoma-sama too.." She whispered the last sentence and I blushed even more.

"Tomo-chan!" I blurted out but I held on to her that she was close to me now.

"At least, it was a nice memory while it lasted, right?" Kikumaru-senpai said looking at each of us, "Now that Ochibi here will leave again."

Tomo-chan and I looked at him before we looked back at Ryoma-kun.

"What do you mean senpai?" My best friend asked him.

"Don't you know? Echizen will leave next year for the upcoming matches abroad" Momo-chan-senpai said making us catch by surprise.

True, Ryoma-kun would leave but we did not expect that it would be too soon. Ryoma-kun just grunted confirming the annnouncement. It was unexpected for me because I thought he would not leave until later.

Ryoma-kun really wanted to surprise us and guess what? It was working.

Done! I am sorry! I just don't know how to end this one but I hope you like it. Domo...

I edited chapter three and this one too. I hope this one is okay. Domo.

Reviews please... We're half way done. Help me more... Thanks... :)

See you tomorrow... :)