When Sakina awoke the next morning, she was lying on the couch by herself. "M-Mako-chan?" She asked, glancing around.
"That guy left already," Sakura said from the table. "He said not to wake you though."
Sakina nodded and stood up from the couch. She stretched and yawned loudly.
"Well, I have to go, I'll see you later!" Sakura exclaimed, getting up and heading to the front door.
Sakina noticed that Sakura wore her hair down. It was no longer in pigtails but was down her back and flying after her as she left. Sakina thought she caught sight of Sakura's old Wooden sword but dismissed the thought.
"Hmm, I wonder what I should do today. I know! I should practice my tennis!" She said to herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile...
Sakura met up with a group of Girls all wearing bandanas and carrying weapons with them. Some girl's had baseball bats, one even had a broken pipe.
"Okay, Ladies! We move out!" Sakura yelled, lifting up her wooded sword.
The girl's lifted their weapons as well and followed after Sakura as she led them to a secluded area.
A Brown haired boy was standing alone glancing around. An arm slung around his shoulder startling the boy.
"Why're you so jumpy? Do ya have it?"
"Y-yes Haizaki! I have your money!" The boy called out.
Haizaki moved away from the boy and smirked as the boy handed him a pouch full of money.
Haizaki snatched the bag and began counting it's contents.
Unknown to Haizaki, the boy saw the crowd of girl's slowly approaching and backed up at the sight of their weapons.
When Haizaki looked up, the boy took off running in the opposite direction.
"Haizaki, right?" Sakura demanded.
Haizaki turned around and snickered at the sight of the girl's all together.
"What do you want? Don't tell me that the kid hired you?"
"You hurt my friend Sakina! I'm not gonna let you get away with that you son of a bitch!" Sakura yelled, suddenly running up to Haizaki and swinging her Wooden sword at his face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakina continued to hit the tennis ball against the wall of the basketball court ignoring the looks of passerby.
Each time the ball hit the wall, Sakina imagined the Seigaku Regulars and remembered their pointers during practice.
"I have to get stronger," She mumbled, continuing to hit the ball.
Sakina stopped and wiped the sweat from her forehead and attempted to catch her breath.
She picked up her tennis ball and turned around bumping into a boy.
"G-gomen!" She exclaimed, rubbing her nose. Sakina looked up at the boy and nearly choked.
"R-ryoma?!" Sakina blinked. The boy looked similar to Ryoma however was much taller and much older than Ryoma.
"N-no, You're not Ryoma. Who are You?" She asked.
The boy smiled at her. "I'm Ryoga, Ryoma's older brother. I just got here from America,"
"Oh, You were in America? Wow, that's cool! Do you speak English?" Sakina questioned, switching from Japanese to English.
Ryoga blushed and looked away as he mumbled, "I try not to speak English much. My accent..."
"I see, well anyway, as Ryoma's big brother, does that mean you play tennis too?" Sakina asked.
Ryoga smirked, "Of course," He responded.
Sakina smiled. "You look strong! Would you mind showing me Your skills?"
Sakina held out her Racquet and tennis ball. Ryoga took them from her and began heading towards an empty tennis court a little ways away from the basketball court.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a few practice rounds, Sakina said goodbye to Ryoga and headed home.
Once she got home, she was surprised to find Sakura sitting on the couch.
"Hi, Sakura. What happened to your face?!" Sakina suddenly asked, her voice full of concern as she approached.
"Hmm? Oh this? Nothing happened, I just wanted to give the floor a hug is all. I'll see you later, I gotta go now!" Sakura responded, quickly standing up and running out the door before Sakina could question her further.
Sakina watched her go with a confused look on her face.
"Well...I guess it's just you and me, Ramen-kun," Sakina mumbled, heading into the kitchen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura huffed and puffed as she stood outside a house. She knocked on the door and glanced around briskly.
"Hey, Sakuchin, what're you doing?"
"Atsushi! Let me spend the night!" Sakura responded. She entered Murasakibara's house without letting him answer.
"Hmm. Sakuchin, You're lucky my parents are out or I'd get yelled at," Murasakibara commented, watching as Sakura plopped on the couch.
"I might've been followed. I don't want them to think I live with Sakina or she might be dragged into my affairs."
"You were being scary again, weren't you?" Murasakibara asked.
"Well, I had to take care of him!" Sakura responded, crossing her legs and looking nonchalant.
Murasakibara frowned slightly before sitting beside Sakura and laying his head in her lap.
"I'm glad you're here. I missed you, Sakuchin," Murasakibara whispered.
"I know, I missed you too," Sakura responded, giving Murasakibara a kiss on the forehead.
"You can be really scary sometimes, Sakuchin,"
"I know that. What can I say, I'm a B.A.B."
"What's that?"
"You're too innocent. Nevermind. Close your eyes Atsushi, and go to sleep,"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakina attempted to fall asleep but found that she couldn't.
She sighed and got out of bed and peered at herself in the mirror.
"Tennis...is hard. I don't know if I'll be able to be as good as the regulars. But...I can't give up! No, I won't give up!" Sakina smiled at her reflection in the mirror when there was a sudden knock on her door.
"Who could that be?" She mumbled to herself, walking over to the door and answering it.
Sakina gasped. "R-ryoga?! How did you get here?!"
Ryoga shrugged, "I followed you. I don't have anywhere to stay at the moment and wanted to know if I could crash here tonight."
At least Sakura isn't here or she'd get the wrong idea Sakina thought as she moved out of the way and said, "Come in,"
Ryoga entered the house and sat on the couch. "Pretty nice place. Where are your parents?"
"Oh um...They...don't live here..." Sakina mumbled, a blush on her face.
"Oh. Anything good to eat? That game from earlier made me pretty hungry,"
"I can make something in just a moment!" Sakina responded, rushing into the kitchen.
Sakina took a look inside her fridge and sighed. Sakina rolled up her pajama sleeves and began making something to eat.
She prepared the food and placed it down.
"I hope you like it. I made pork cutlet parmesan, and spicy skillet pork chops."
Sakina bowed before standing back as Ryoga examined what she had made.
"It looks good. Thank you," He said, picking up his chopsticks and eating.
Sakina sighed in relief. "I'm actually not a good cook. I'm glad that you like it. But something is bothering me. If you're Ryoma's big brother, how come you're not at his house?"
"I figured hanging out at your place would be more fun," Ryoga responded, his mouth full. "Besides, you're a really good cook!"
Sakina blushed at the remark. "T-thank you."
Once Ryoga had finished, Sakina took the empty plates to the kitchen.
"You can sleep in the bedroom in the back. I'm sorry if it's too feminine, my friend usually sleeps there," Sakina called out from the kitchen.
"Okay," Ryoga yelled back.
Sakina washed the dishes before wiping her hands and heading to bed.
She climbed into bed and closed her eyes before drifting off into her dream.