Hullo! I am back! Enjoy chapter three guys, domo.

Sorry, still haven't reviewed for the typos.

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

Chapter 3: Ten Lords are leaping

Chapter Summary: She cheered for him and that was the best thing he did for him until...

'On the tenth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Ten Lords-a-leaping...'

The morning breeze on the 27th day of December was especially cool. It was cold, yes but the snow was thoroughly shoved away from the ground. The pavement was glistened with the remaining parts of the melted ice. But that didn't stop the students to come to school on that special day. The campus was especially busy today because of the year end friendly match each club was planning to do. The competition was going to be a long day and it was also going to be a busy day for me as well.

I told Tomo-chan what I said to Ryoma-kun last night and she couldn't stop nagging me about it. She plotted for our cheer for that day and she even suggested that we should practice that morning which was the reason I was here earlier than the normal time I would go. I had the slightest thought if I did the right thing of telling her. I sighed as I dreaded of doing something embarrassing which I hope I wouldn't. As I looked around the campus, students from different clubs were already there. There were some remains of snow littering on the campus ground making the temperature a bit colder. One thing I was thankful for, the snow had stopped falling. I hoped that it wouldn't until later.

I reached the court and my best friend was already there as I had predicted. She was rambling something in her bag so she didn't notice me approaching and when she did, she stood up and gave me a hug.

"Oh, good! You are here!" She said before releasing me and went back to whatever she was doing earlier, "I have something here for us to wear for today."

"S-something to wear?" I gulped. Knowing Tomo-chan, it was impossible not to miss something just to make this memorable for the both of us. I was just not sure if it was a good thing or not.

Until she showed me the fabric that we were about to wear for the whole day.

"Sakuno, it's time to cheer!"

xxx

My face was totally red as I observed myself with the outfit I was wearing. It was a one piece cheerleading outfit but it exposed a lot of skin at the bottom part of my thighs. The top was sleeveless and the color was light orange. For the benefit of the school, Tomo-chan even sew a patch of Seigaku's logo on the left side of the chest area. Despite the shortness of its length, it was still a beautiful outfit to wear. Trusting Tomo-chan for designs was the right thing to do. I was just too shy to wear this thing, especially when the person who was going to see was...

Then my eyes widened and my heart started to beat fast, "Tomo-chan! It's too short! I can't wear this!"

Tomo-chan walked out from the other fitting room and was wearing the same thing, "Hush! It's fine! It's not too short. You aren't just used of wearing one. That's all!" She said as she circled around me to take a look. I had to admit that it was still decent but it wasn't the same thing I was usually wearing.

"Can't we just wear our uniform?" I asked hoping she'd agree but she just gave me a glare. I sighed in defeat and grabbed our pompoms, "I don't think I can last for long."

"Oh come on, Sakuno. You'll forget ever wearing one when we get there," She said grabbing her own pompoms and gestured me out," Now, quit complaining and let's practice. We have an hour to do so. The others are already waiting outside.

"O-others?" I frowned. Her words somehow made me nervous

"I recruited other eight members. What do you expect? You don't take me as the president of Ryoma-sama's fan club for nothing." She said as she opened the door and saw the other eight girls waiting at the other side of the yard wearing the same outfit. Just where did Tomo-chan get these costumes anyway? My jaw dropped as I realized what we were going to do.

We were really going to cheer for the team.

xxx

We did what we could because everything was impromptu. Luckily, Tomo-chan taught us the easiest moves we could do for the shortest time. It was exciting and terrfying. Since time flew by, we immediately walked our way to the court and saw the teams from different schools to compete. The other schools had cheerleading squads and already cheering for their teams. Our team was currently having a meeting with my grandmother and seemed to be in a serious mode.

It seemed that they were not trying to go on easy to their opponents even though this competition was only a friendly match.

Since the temperature was surprisingly cold, the faculty decided that there would be several winners in this match, meaning the team would be competing once. The more members they were winning their games, the more changes the teams would win the matches.

It was a fair fight for friendly matches.

Obaa-chan dismissed them and ordered them to warm up. Tezuka-buchou led them and gave strict orders not to slack. Our own group went to the vacant place to cheer and some of the girls made themselves announce their presence to the players. I bit my lower lip when I saw their eyes on us.

My face felt hot when the senpais started whistling of appreciation. Momo-chan-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai called for my attention by just shouting my name. I felt really red right now. I willed myself to look forward and I saw him, staring right back at me.

"RYOMA-SAMA! FIGHT-O!" The girls started cheering and I wasn't following them. Well, they were cheering of their own, " He's looking this way! Kyaaa! He's looking at me!"

"No!, he's looking at me silly!" The other girl said.

"Get your heads up girls! We cheer for them today, remember?" Tomo-chan said getting their attention. And when she did, I muttered 'thank you' to her. I looked back in front of the court and saw him warming up with Momo-chan-senpai. I felt a bit relieved when he was not looking here anymore.

He was making my heart pound so loud despite the outfit I was wearing.

Soon after the matches had started. Different schools vs. Different schools. Several winners. Seigaku team was ready.

"Let's do the formation guys!" Tomo-chan told us and we did what we rehearsed earlier. It was just a simple formation. Five girls in front and the other five in the back. Tomo-chan and I were at the end of each line in the front. And then we did our opening cheer.

"A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E! GO! SEIGAKU! GO! SEIGAKU!" We cheered shouting on top of our lungs. We clapped our hands for three times when we shouted 'Go' and we jumped everytime we shouted our school's name.

Kaidoh-senpai and Inui-senpai played first. Their opponents were kind of sneaky as they observed them. And they weren't wrong about it. We started cheering for the two.

We leaped on the ground when they got a point and cheered at the same time. But unfortunately, for the first match, the first game won by the rivalring school.

"THAT'S OKAY SENPAI-TACHI! WE WILL GET THE NEXT ROUND!" We shouted just how we rehearsed. Both of them were down but when we encouraged them, they fired up a little.

The next match was going to be with Kikumaru-senpai and Oishi-senpai. They went immediately to the court and did perform the Australian formation. The golden pair was hard to beat and was indeed proven. After some time, they got the point, thus winning the game. We cheered for our win this time.

It was a win-win match but it was worth it. The next one was Momo-chan-senpai. Kaidoh-senpai approached him and slapped him hard on his back, telling the forner to avenge him. Momo-chan-senpai being Momo-chan-senpai without forgetting to tease so they ended up bickering. We were thankful that Tezuka-buchou and Oishi-senpai were there to stop them.

But like the match between Kaidoh-senpai and Inui-senpai, Momo-chan-senpai lost the game. It was a close match but unfortunately, he didn't make it. We did the same encouragement to him. After the third match, the judge decided to take a twenty minute break so everyone did their personal activities. I also felt thirsty so I told Tomo-chan that I'd buy ponta.

"Buy me too, please?" Tomo-chan requested, "I'd like to go with you but I had to observe the girls. I don't want them doing something fishy behind my back." She whispered so I could only hear that and I ended up chuckling.

"I won't be long." And I was off to a vending machine to buy us two cans of ponta.

xxx

I didn't know if leaving the court alone was the right thing to do. Sure, this was our school but there were visitors at the moment and I didn't want to be the center of their attraction, especially what I was wearing today. Trying to avoid those possible stares, I quickened my pace to the machine. When I finally reached it, I fumbled for my coins from my pocket and immediately placed them to the coin slots. I dropped the last one on the ground and rolled away. That was the time I realized I was trembling. It was really silly of me but that was what I am. The coin stopped at someone's rubber shoes.

"G-gomenasai..." I whispered not looking at the person in front of me as I tried to get the coin on the ground but before I could get it, the person did it for me. I didn't have a choice but to follow the hand's movement until I could see the face. My eyes widened when I recognized the person's eyes everywhere.

"Clumsy as ever, nee Ryuzaki?"

"Ryoma-kun!" My face immediately turned red when he said that and pouted after the shock, "Mou! You don't have to rub it in me!" I whispered-shouted at him. He didn't know how glad I was to see him instead of unknown people that could have been in front of me. I was thankful that it was him standing there.

Ryoma walked towards me and placed the coin in the slot. He was close too when he did that so I held my breath, "Ponta, isn't it?"

Not trusting my voice, I nodded at him. When I heard the machine dropping some cans, that was the time I moved to my location so he could get them.

"Here." He handed me the two cans of ponta while he kept his mine. I muttered my thanks to him. He seemed to be frozen for a short while when I grabbed the cans from him. I was about to ask him what was wrong but when I saw him where he was looking at, I immediately blushed once again.

He was looking at the infinity bracelet he gave me on Christmas.

We stayed immobile for a couple of seconds before I broke the awkward silence between us, "G-good luck on your match, Ryoma-kun."

"Sankyuu." He gave me an approving nod and a tiny smile, "Let's go back."

"Hai!" We walked together on our way back to the court. We didn't say anything until we reach the court. I could almost see the stares of the other girls giving to me but I tried not to mind them as possible. Walking together with the tennis prodigy was attention grabbing enough and I didn't want to cause more trouble.

"Nice outfit by the way." He whispered before he walked away to the court. My heart drummed clumsily once again. The way he said it was sincere. There was no sign of malice in it. He appreciated my effort... our effort. I silently bowed at him before walking towards my group.

Some girls were glaring at me and I tried to ignore them. I approached Tomo-chan and handed her can of ponta.

"Nice move, Sakuno." Tomo-chan whispered into my ear. I looked up at her and blushed.

"We didn't do anything! He just went to get his own can and we walked back together. That's all!" I explained and I knew that the others heard.

"I didn't say anything." My best friend said smirking in the process. She opened her soda and took a sip.

"Mou!"I pouted and opened mine as well. The rest went on their activities until it was time for the match to resume.

Ryoma-kun stood on the side of his court while his opponent on his. He needed to win this game so that they would have a chance to win the match. He played safe at first observing his opponent's movements. His opponent scored some points. We kept cheering as the game progresses. We jumped, we moved, we made our formation and we cheered.

Until Ryoma-kun caught up and eventually winning the match in the end.

"YATTA!" All of us leaped and threw our pompoms in the air. The match was a tie. The match would be determined on the next game. Whoever won the next round would be the winner. Tezuka-buchou nodded at Fuji-senpai as the tensai stepped into the court.

My eyes looked for Ryoma-kun and found him surprisingly looking at our direction. I gave him my genuine smile and mouthed 'congratulations' at him. I was not able to see his reaction for he already tipped his hat down but he nodded confirming my greeting. My eyes shifted back to Fuji-senpai and both of them started to play the last game.

Unlike Ryoma-kun, Fuji-senpai was getting the upper hand. Sure his opponent got the first points but that was all he got. The rest was won by our tensai. This winning the game and then the match.

We, once again, jumped in the air and shouted for joy. We won the match. Well, the tennis team did. And it was a nice game.

The team shook hands with their opponent before going back to their coach. Once again we locked eyes. My face was red once again. Things like these were happening for several times now. It was even odd.

Ryoma-kun was making me nervous everytime he did that.

"Okay, guys! Pack up! The victory party will be tomorrow night at Kawamura's so rest the night and see you tomorrow." Obaa-chan announced and the rest cheered once again.

"Well, that's a wrap up!" Tomo-chan said to us as well, "See you tomorrow night then!" She said and grabbed my shoulder, "I'll call you later, okay."

I nodded and she walked away. Today had been a long day and I smiled to myself. I watched everyone leave the court. I looked up and saw that it had started to snow. Obaa-chan was inside the room so I thought of following her. Unconsciously, I grabbed my wrist with my other hand and I stopped short. I raised my hand when I realized something.

My wrist was wearing nothing.

That made my heart skip a beat. It wasn't for excitement of anything. This time it was distress and nervousness... worst, fear. My heart was still drumming really hard as I looked around me where the place was already isolated hoping to find something on the ground.

The infinity bracelet that Ryoma-kun gave me was missing.

Done! How was it? For this chapter's title, I thought of making the ten people would be the cheerleading squad or the tennis team including Sumire. Heheh, it's up to you guys to decide.

Reviews please! Domo!