Hye! I am back again… tee hee hee… how is your life people? I am sorry for the delay guys… I hope that you are not upset with it… anyway… I hope you like this chapter? I hope?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Prince of Tennis. Capiche?

Chapter 3: My Dear Friend

Chapter Summary: She found herself a friend in his personality. He couldn't speak but he gave her the words that she needed to hear.

'In the end I pretended not to notice
I knew but you didn't say anything
The beginning is still not decided

You were always playing with me, pretending to be fickle
But I understood, it was for the sake of making my dream come true...
I want to tell you the most important thing
At that place by the blooming sakura…'

~ Dear My Friend – Junko Minagawa (Ryoma Echizen) ~

She breathed deeply as she concentrated on the target. After gripping the ball for a few seconds, she started dribbling it and hit it to the wall then she hit the ball right on the same spot.

Just like what Kanata instructed her.

Her face enlightened when she did that. She turned around and showed him her smile, "D-did you see that, Kanata-kun? I hit it! I hit the target!"

Kanata smiled at her and clapped his hands for several times. He gave her a sign that she should continue hitting the same target.

Sakuno understood what he was trying to tell her. She nodded as she looked back to the wall and tried to hit the same target.

Just like how she witnessed Kanata for the first time two weeks ago, she was hitting the litter 'I' from the capitalized word 'WIN'. It was hard for she was doing it for two weeks. But then Kanata was helping her doing it.

…Her new friend that she met in that court two weeks ago.

She was only looking for a court to practice but she also found Kanata, a person who couldn't speak but good at playing tennis. She didn't know but she could get along with him at their first meeting. That was how their friendship started.

Staring at the target, she dribbled the ball once again and started hitting the ball on the wall.

Next Day:

"Mou! Why Obaa-chan didn't wake me up today?" Sakuno said as she tried to catch up for her first class. She overslept because she practiced all night in the court near their home. Sumire had given her the permission to stay until ten in the evening for she knew the location of the court.

The court was long abandoned and no one seemed to be playing in that area. Sakuno was shocked about the information. She told her grandmother about Kanata and to her surprise, her grandmother knew about him.

Why didn't she know about Kanata before?

She learned the information from Kanata himself that he didn't want to mingle with others so he preferred to stay in that court and play by himself.

Kanata was an introverted type of a person and it was lucky of her that he let her enter his closed space.

She quickly made her way to the locker room but before she could get there, she was almost bumped to a person.

"Hey! Watch where you are going!"

"G-gomen." She apologized at the sound of a girl's voice as she looked up.

…Only to be shocked.

It was Ryoma and Honoka who seemed to be shocked of seeing her as well. Honoka was the first one to recover;

"Well, hi Sakuno-san, why are you in a hurry?" She teasingly said.

She looked away. She didn't want to see Ryoma's reaction at that very moment, "I…"

"Oh, is that a tennis racket?" Honoka noticed the bag that she was holding, "Do you play tennis again?"

She didn't answer as she gripped her bag instead.

"I wish I could see you play," Honoka said as if she was doing that on purpose, "Right, Ryoma-kun?"

Her eyes widened when she asked Ryoma. Before he could answer her, she excused herself to them.

"Gomen, I need to get to the class now," She said walking past them with head's down, She quickly put her things inside her locker and grabbed her indoor shoes and walked back to them, "You'll get late too if you don't hurry."

Upon hearing that, Honoka came to her senses and panicked, "Oh my, she's right Ryoma-kun! Go to your room now! Quick!"

"Che…"

She could hear them panicking behind her but she ignored them. She didn't want to involve herself with their business anymore. She quickened her pace in order for her to reach their classroom. Ryoma was in the same room as her but she wouldn't let herself walk with him side by side.

That was what she did.

She was saved a minute before the teacher arrived and since the teacher hadn't checked the attendance yet, Ryoma was also spared after a minute and sat near her seat.

It was going to be a tough day for her

Break Time:

He was looking at the window as he was already bored. Their last teacher dismissed the class earlier than expected so they had to wait for twenty minutes before their last teacher arrived. If he wouldn't do anything, he would sleep on his desk. It wasn't like he wouldn't do that, he was really tempted to do that but Ryuzaki would only scold him for sleeping in the middle of the class.

His eyes widened when he thought of that. What was he thinking? He looked to his right and stared at his seatmate.

It was Ryuzaki Sakuno of course. She was writing something in her notebook. It was probably their assignment from their last subject.

Wait?

She was doing them already? What about later? She had all the time to finish her homework later so why now? He wanted to ask her that but he knew that she wouldn't answer him. Compared to what happened earlier, of course she would ignore him.

But he noticed something.

Honoka was right; she was carrying a racket a while ago. Was she going to play tennis once again? Is she will, then that was a great idea for her.

Deep inside him, he was glad that she decided to play the sport once again.

Turning back to the window, he sighed as he narrowed his eyes. He must stop thinking about the girl beside him. He must think of his girlfriend not her. With such thought, he finally put his head down on his desk and prepared himself for a long nap.

After class:

"Ryuzaki-chan!"

She looked at the last person who called her. She spotted Fuji walking casually towards her, "Fujji-senpai." She waited for him to reach her.

"Why are you in a hurry? Are you going home?" The tensai asked.

"Anou…" She looked away as she tried to reason out, "I am going to practice."

"Tennis?" He asked almost hoping that she was.

Sakuno nodded. She wouldn't mind telling him about that at least, "I just go get my tennis racket in my locker."

"Say, why don't you practice with me then?" Fuji suggested.

"E?" She looked at him as she continued walking.

"I can offer you to train with me too if you like."

Sakuno was pretty shocked when he suggested that. She stopped on her tracks and raised her hands, "I-ie, senpai. I am very thankful for the offer but… I would like to reject it."

"But why?" Fuji said showing her an upset look.

"S-senpai," She said moving closer to him, "I… I'll practice with you sometimes, I promise."

"Promise?"

She nodded. She didn't want to disappoint her senpai. Fuji was a tennis prodigy and it was a shame to completely reject his offer. Having him to teach her tennis was already a privilege that he offered so she was not completely declining it.

"Good. I'll be looking forward to it then." Fuji smiled this time.

Fuji's smile somehow, made her feel at ease. She was very thankful of him. He was one of the regulars who comforted her during the breakup. She guessed that she should owe some to him after all.

"Saa… why don't you stay for a while?" Fuji said and then remembered something, "Are you going to practice at the girl's tennis court?"

She shook her head, "I am going to practice at a public court. Members are only allowed inside the court."

"Will you be okay?"

"Hai," She gave him a determined look, "I'll be fine don't worry."

"Okay," He said wearing his usual smile, "Why do I feel I look like a worrying Oishi to you now?"

She blushed as she weirdly laughed at his comment, "Arigatou senpai."

"You should be going then. I'll go back to my own practice."

"Hai," She started running, "See you soon, senpai." She said. She could still hear Fuji saying 'take care' to her but she just continued running on her way to the locker. She grabbed her racket and smiled at it. The truth was, she wanted to tell Fuji where she would be practicing but she already made a promise to Kanata not to tell the place to anyone.

She wouldn't break that promise, no matter what.

Later on:

It was already seven in the morning and they were both eating dinner that she bought from the convenient store while she was on her way to the court. She also promised Kanata that she would stop by to her house next time to make them some dinner bentos for the two of them.

She was in deep thought that she didn't realize that Kanata was staring at her. He flicked his fingers in front of her making her flinch in the process.

"G-gomen, Kanata-kun," She looked at him as she blushed, "I was just thinking of what happened today."

Kanata frowned at her.

"I thought that I could take it when I see them together in front of me," She said looking down, "but I was wrong. Totally wrong."

She chose to remain silent after that. Kanata didn't know what exactly the real story. She didn't open it up to him and he knew that she was heartbroken and her boyfriend betrayed her. She didn't have the guts to tell him everything for she would end up crying in front of him.

She never cried again after that fateful day. She promised herself that she would never cry again and she would stay strong after all that.

"Itte!" She was shocked when Kanata flicked his fingers once again but this time, on her forehead, "W-why did you do that for?"

Kanata gave her some signs which she could easily understand. The last sign that he gave her was when he fisted his hand and drummed it near his chest.

Sakuno stared at him and smiled a little, "Arigatou, Kanata-kun. I'll be brave from now on, I promise."

Kanata patted her head as if she did a great job. She couldn't help but giggle at the gesture. Then she remembered something, "I have something for you Kanata-kun."

Kanata frowned when she was rummaging something from her bag and when she found it, she showed it to him. Sakuno was blushing as she showed something while Kanata just looked at the item in front of him.

"I—It isn't much but… this will help you say the words that you wish for me to know," She presented him a digital writing board and a magnetic pen. When Kanata wasn't doing anything she looked up to see him just staring at it. She bit her lower lip and was about to move it back, "D-don't you want it?"

Kanata immediately grabbed the writing materials from her and wore it as a necklace. Sakuno was shocked when he did that. He was actually blushing after he wore the board around his neck. He looked at her for a few minutes before he started writing on the board and then showed it to her.

'Arigatou, Sakuno-san.'

Sakuno closed her eyes and smiled, "Hai!." She was happy that she found Kanata, a friend that she would come too when she was down. Not that Tomoka and her other friends were there for her but she also found comfort when she was with him.

She found her dearest friend in Kanata's appearance.

Few Days later:

He had been noticing it. It wasn't like intentional or something but he could notice it out of nowhere. She was practicing her tennis but not inside the school.

Where was she practicing then?

Crap.

He was thinking of that girl once again and there he was, rallying on the poor wall. So what if she was playing tennis again? What if she was not practicing inside the school? What if he couldn't see her after school?

It was her decision to play anyway. Not his. He should be happy for her. She seemed to forget about their past and that was an advantage for him. He wouldn't feel guilty of toying with her heart before.

…Because it would be her remedy for that.

It was all tennis.

…But double crap.

Why was he feeling odd at that very moment? He gripped his racket really hard.

"Ryoma-kun!"

He stopped rallying on the wall when he saw his girlfriend running towards him.

"I brought you your bag," Honoka said walking to a bench, "You don't have to get it inside so that we can go home together."

She was still saying something but he couldn't understand it anymore. He was just staring at her. He then slowly walked closer to her and pulled her without warning, kissing her in the process. Honoka was shocked when he did that but responded when she recovered.

He drew her closer to feel more of her. He should be thinking of Honoka instead. His girlfriend. He would forget about the girl. It had been a month and half and the girl seemed to be moving on.

He should too… right?

He then slowly opened his eyes. Honoka's eyes were closed at that moment as he was still kissing her. He was with her at that moment, savoring the time that they had.

But seriously… just who was he kidding?

Saturday after school:

It had been a month since she discovered the court and Kanata. Their friendship seemed to be growing a lot. Kanata was easy to understand now because of the board that she gave him. It was also the second month since they broke up.

They would meet in the hallway, at the court, at the cafeteria or anywhere in the campus but she would only give them a curt nod and then walked away.

She hated to admit it but she was still affected especially when she saw the two together. She couldn't stand seeing them together so she tried to avoid them as possible as she could until she finally moved from him.

Now that school was over, she was pretty excited to go to the court and practiced with Kanata there. She gathered all of her things and walked out of the room. She went to the locker room to change into her outdoor shoes.

…Only to find Ryoma alone in the locker room.

She immediately looked away and bowed before she went to her locker and grabbed her outdoor shoes and put her indoor shoes inside.

"Are you going to practice?"

She flinched when he asked that and she nodded after. It was rare of him to initiate the conversation and it was their first communication after that fated day.

…If she would allow to have one.

She bowed to him once again before completely leaving him inside. She felt relieved that he didn't go further and let her be.

At the court:

She ran all the way to the court and looked for her friend, "Kanata-kun!" She looked around but she couldn't find him, "Where is he?" As she looked in front of the wall, she noticed something. She walked closer to it and noticed a piece of folded paper that was posted on the wall. She grabbed it and read.

"This is from Kanata-kun's." She wondered as unfolded the paper and read it, "I will not be here today. Feel free to use the court and remember all the things I've taught you so far – Kanata."

She giggled after she read the note Kanata left for her. Not being with the guy for that day felt like something was missing. She was a little sad but that didn't stop her from practicing.

"Yosh!" She said dropping her bag on the ground and grabbed her gear inside, "Kanata-kun's not here with me so I better follow his orders."

She started rallying on the wall and practiced really hard. It was true that she was not a member in the girl's tennis club anymore. She was not good at it but she didn't mind playing it when she had the time. She temporarily lost interest when that incident happened two months ago but now she could play it again.

She shouldn't involve tennis with her personal problems.

She had been rallying on the wall for some time. There were times that she missed the ball and there were times that she could rally for long. Kanata's tips were working on her. Not that she forgotten what he had taught her, she simply wanted to remember the happy ones… not the painful ones.

And there she was again… bringing all the painful memories back in her brain. She gripped her racket hard as she returned the ball recklessly on the wall causing it to bounce off balance. The ball rolled on the ground after it bounced. She followed it until it stopped.

…from the tip of someone's shoes.

She was still looking down so she didn't know who that was. The person grabbed the ball and that was the time she followed the direction where the person was bringing it. Her eyes slowly widened when her vision focused at the person's face.

"The control of hitting the ball was a little unstable." The person advised looking at the ball.

She was just looking at the person in front of her, not really know how to reply. Her eyes blinked when the person looked at her and smirked, making her remember something from that time, talked;

"Yarujan."

The wind welcomed them after that, savoring the silence within the area.

Done! How was this chapter? Haha… short chapter again… Sigh… In future chapters, it will be longer, I promise… anyway… tell me what you think about this… something will happen soon…

Sakuno will change slowly... she will remain sweet, kind and down to earth... anything of the sort but she will face anything at hand... tee hee hee... I hope you will like the different side of Sakuno in the future... :3

The translated song of Junko Minagawa at the beginning of the fic is not mine. Zero-related. Just love sharing it… :)

Reviews please! A word is enough for me… domo… ^^

Sorry, for the grammar mistakes, typos and anything of the sort… They are not intentional…

Next Chapter: Behind Those Hazel Eyes