This is a story I've made years ago but I only got the guts to publish it now…hehehe..Hope you'll all like it.
Disclaimer: I Do not own Prince of Tennis in any other I do I would have been a millionaire!!hehehe…I own the plot though..
Weak
Sakuno woke up early today. She needed to see her half-brother. Her grandmother is having a conference for the next tournament and it will be held in New York. She was told that she'll be staying at her brother's place for two weeks. And since her brother lives alone, he agreed to let her stay with him.
She made extra two bentos today. One was for her brother and the other is for the tennis prince himself, Ryoma Echizen, who seemed to always forget his lunch. As she walks towards the school grounds she could hear the screaming fan-girls at the direction of the tennis courts. She shook her pretty little head as she walks towards their classroom to leave her things before she meets her brother.
"Those girls would do anything just to see the Seigaku men's tennis club practice. They want to get a glimpse of the team at any cost," she thought.
When she reached the classroom she left all her things except her brother's bento and she started to head towards the tennis courts. When she reached the courts she saw the fan-girls screaming their heart out. She found out that one of the girls was her best friend, Tomoka Ozakada. Tomo was the self-proclaimed president of the Ryoma Echizen fans club.
"I see that Tomo-chan's enjoying," she smiled at the thought.
When she looked inside the courts, she saw the regulars. They were rallying and practicing their accuracy. She saw Inui who was busy jotting down notes on his notebook and with him was the infamous captain of the team, Tezuka. They were at the corner and they were discussing something. She slowly walked inside, to the other girls' horror for it was not allowed, and approached the two seniors.
"Uhm, good morning Inui-sempai, Tezuka-buchou," she greeted with a bow as she reached the two young men.
Both boys glanced at her as if they were expecting her to interrupt or something. The data man smiled at her and gave back her greeting while the stoic captain just raised a brow though his eyes showed recognition.
"Can I excuse Capt. Tezuka for awhile?" she asked no one in particular.
Inui's brows rose in curiosity. Tezuka gave her a slight nod.
"Let's go, "Tezuka emotionlessly agreed.
They went outside the courts to talk without minding the curious stares of the regulars and the death glare of a particular cat-like-eyed prince.
"Nya! What does Sakuno wants with the captain?!" the ever energetic Eiji Kikumaru exclaimed.
"It's seemed very important," the blue-eyed tensai, Syusuke Fuji, stated with his creepy smile pasted on his face.
"They seemed so close, you think?" the power smasher, Takeshi Momoshiro, asked no one while eyeing their youngest regular.
Ryoma, on the other hand, just gritted his teeth.
"What the hell is she doing? Why all of the sudden she seemed so close to the Captain? Something's not right here! She did not even glance at me! Captain, I swear I'll kick your ass! You can't take away MY Sakuno!" he thought.
He has long way admitted to himself that6 he liked her. The wobbly-hips, klutz and hair too long for tennis, Sakuno Ryuzaki, always take his breath away with just a simple smile. But he would rather die first before he would let his sempais know. They would always find ways to make him confess his feeling to her. But he would never do it not even the when pigs learn to fly. And unfortunately they always fail. He would always give them death glares if he sees then hugging and or giving her a peck on the cheeks. His sempais would end up black and blue inside the courts. Now, what's with her and Tezuka?!
He was not feeling good today. He silently went outside the courts but before he could do so, Eiji and Momo had grabbed him by his neck and dragged him towards the direction where Sakuno and Tezuka were.
"What do you think you're doing sempais?" he weakly struggled out of their grasp. His headache seemed to worsen by the minute.
"Don't you want to know what they're talking about?" Momo asked.
"No. I don't care," he emotionlessly said. But deep down inside him he was green with envy and he wanted to know what they are talking about.
Momo and Eiji did not notice his weak resistance to their dragging. They silently hid themselves behind the bush where they could not be easily seen yet they could clearly hear what the two unsuspecting "couple" was talking.
"I made you a bento," Sakuno said with a sweet smile.
"Are you sure that's for me?" Tezuka teased.
Eiji's and Momo's jaws dropped upon hearing the stoic captain's teasing voice. They saw Sakuno blushed.
"That really is for you," and out of the blue the stoic captain smiled.
The juniors who were eavesdropping behind the bush were shocked. They never thought that their captain was capable of smiling.
"Do you have your things? Coach's leaving tonight, right?" Tezuka asked.
"Uh yeah. I have some clothes left in your house so I brought enough clothes for my entire stay," she casually informed him.
"Okay then. You'll have to wait for me later."
Sakuno nodded. Her smile never left her lips. And Ryoma just simply saw red.
"See you later, dear."
Sakuno beamed and gave Tezuka a big hug. And what happened next was a complete blur for Ryoma for he completely lost his consciousness.
Sakuno was still hugging Tezuka when she gave him a peck in the cheek.
"Thank you, brother," she whispered in Tezuka's ear.
Tezuka genuinely smiled. Then they abruptly broke apart when they heard a loud scream from behind the bushes.
"Ryoma! Nya!" Eiji screamed while Momo held Ryoma's limp body.
"R-Ryoma?" she worriedly cradled his head. "What happened?"
Tezuka, though worried, was emotionlessly staring at his teammates.
"Kikumaru, Momoshiro, bring Echizen to the infirmary. Then meet me at the courts after," he commanded.
He turned toward the worried Sakuno. "I'll see you later.'
He walked towards the courts as Momo and Eiji carried Ryoma towards the school clinic.
"What are you doing behind the bushes?" Sakuno asked when they've reached the infirmary.
The nurse was attending Ryoma who was sleeping on the clinic bed.
"U-Uhm…" Momo and Eiji looked at each other. Bothe boys were definitely thinking of some excuse.
"You see Saku-chan, we were so intrigued on why would talk to the captain. You rarely talked to him here at school. So we decided to snoop around and eavesdrop. We drag Echizen with us. We didn't know that he was sick," Eiji explained.
Guilt was written all over their faces. They were too worried that they didn't know what to do if something happens to Ryoma.
"Y-You w-were listening?" she stuttered at the fact that they might know their secret.
"Kind of…" Momo blushed. "Ryoma passed out when you gave Tezuka-buchou a hug and a kiss on the cheek."
"H-Huh?"
"A-are you and Buchou---?" Momo could not continue his question.
Sakuno snapped out from being stunned and smiled at her seniors.
"No freaking way!" Eiji exclaimed in shock.
"I-It's not what you think," she defended. Blush crept over her face. She inwardly laughed at their thoughts.
"Me and big brother?! That's ridiculous! These boys are crazy! And even Ryoma thought so too!" she chuckled at the thought.
"Uhm, Eiji-sempai, Momo-sempai, Tezuka-buchou is waiting for you at the courts, right?" she shifted their topic.
"Uh-oh, we area so doomed!" both boys echoed.
They reluctantly marched out of the infirmary and proceeded at the courts.
"They're definitely dead! He he ... big brother would not let them off the hook," she thought as she waited for the nurse's diagnosis.
The nurse said that Ryoma got a fever and just needs rest. Sakuno sighed in relief. The nurse asked her to watch over the sleeping prince for awhile for she is needed at the faculty for a staff's meeting. She sat beside Ryoma's bed. He has a smirk on his face and his brows are in a frown. He looked so handsome even in his sleep. Her jaws dropped when she heard him speak. He was talking in his sleep! Sakuno realized that he was dreaming and it was a bad one.
"Tezuka-buchou, I'll definitely kick your ass! Get your hands off of My Sakuno!" he screamed.
She was appalled. The great Samurai Junior was dreaming about her. She couldn't believe what she just heard. Did he just say that she was his?
Ryoma was shaking due to his fever. She doesn't know what to do and the nurse was not back yet. Despite the heat that was creeping on her cheeks she made one bold move to help the sick prince. She made a room for herself beside Ryoma and lay down just beside him. She covered their bodies with the blanket. She laid her head on Ryoma's shoulder and stretched out her right arm over Ryoma's chest. She could feel the heat emanating from the boy's body. She could feel his body shaking under her skin. She could hear his heartbeat and it's like music to her ears. She now knows that his heart was beating just for her. She closed her eyes and fell into a slumber beside her prince.
Ryoma's point of view:
I could see Buchou's hand around My Sakuno's waist. Both have sweet smiles on their faces. She seemed comfortable with Tezuka's embrace. I saw red in rage. I can't take it anymore. I can't let My Sakuno in another man's arms. I'm a greedy person and Sakuno is mine.
I stride towards them and I rudely grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from Tezuka. I gave the captain a very dangerous glare and spoke with much intensity and possessiveness.
"Get your hands off of My Sakuno!"
Capt. Tezuka just smirked and turned away. When I turned to look at her, her eyes were full of different emotions that not even my genius brain could understand.
"Ryoma…" her sweet voice is penetrating through my soul.
No I can finally admit it. I'm hopelessly and wretchedly in love with Sakuno Ryuzaki.
Lunch Time:
The regulars decided to check on Ryoma at the clinic after Momo and Eiji received their punishment from Tezuka. They bombarded Tezuka with lots of questions which made their punishment into 100 laps around the tennis courts. Tezuka was worried about his sister now. He knew that she did not go back to her class after she went with Momo and Eiji to send Ryoma to the infirmary.
When they reached the infirmary, Tezuka almost fainted at the scene. He was furious. He wanted to twist Ryoma's neck. But despite the fact that he sees red, he remained poker-faced though he let a small twitch escape his lips.
"I'll let him pay later," he thought as he gritted his teeth.
Fuji, on the other hand, had been eyeing Tezuka since they entered the clinic. The small twitch on Tezuka's lips did not escape the keen yes of the tensai. He smiled, an a creepy one that is, and he planned to discover the reason behind the aversion on the captain's face—even how much he tried to hide it.
"Nya! Ryoma's so busted!" Eiji jumped in the sight of the sleeping juniors. His grin was wide and teasing.
"Ah young love! Young love" Momo sighed.
"Fssh…" Kaidoh hissed.
"What the?! This is unacceptable! What if somebody sees them?! What if coach knew?! They might get expelled!" Oishi, as usual, was worried as hell.
"Saa..Oishi, they're just sleeping," Fuji reminded Oishi.
"Guys, we better leave them alone. Ryoma needs rest," Taka said to prevent his other team mates to create chaos in the infirmary.
Good thing everyone agreed.
"Iie…data," Inui scribbled through his notebook as he records the information he gathered upon seeing the sleeping couple.
Tezuka wants to go berserk on the sight of his little sister in the arms of the person who he considered his greatest rival in tennis. Yet he was not that dense that he can't see that his little sister was in love with the prodigy. But still, being the big brother that he is his protective instinct blinded him.
The team had retreated from the infirmary and decided to go to their respective classrooms but Tezuka stood still. He was not able to move a muscle. He doesn't have the heart to wake his sister up and scold her. He knew what his sister feels for Ryoma. He knew she had been waiting for him ever since he entered the US Open. He knew how happy his sister was Ryoma decided to go back in Japan and he knew that a part of her happiness is Ryoma.
"I'll let it pass for now, Ryoma. Make my sister happy. But once you hurt her I would not think twice, I'll definitely crush you," he thought as he closed the door of the clinic.
But the moment he turned to go back to go back to his classroom he saw Fuji. He didn't expect him to wait for him but Tezuka knew the reason why.
"Tezuka, can we talk?" Tezuka nodded and proceeded to the rooftop.
"I know you don't want talk about it but everyone in the team is confused and are asking a lot. What's really been going on with you and Sakuno?" Fuji said. His eyes were serious and a little creepy. Confusion was written all over his face.
Tezuka's expression is plain and emotionless. Yet he knew that this day would come. That one day he will tell his friends about his family.
"I know you would understand me Fuji. You've been my friend ever since. But I've never been able to tell anyone about her," Tezuka started as he stared at the clouds.
The sky is so blue and calm as if telling him to continue.
We've been hiding everything since she was born."
"She?" Fuji got more confused. "Do you men Sakuno?"
Tezuka nodded.
"Yes. She's my sister," Tezuka gave out a barely noticeable smile.
"WHAT?!" the other regulars exclaimed. They were eavesdropping at the rooftop door. And Tezuka knew that they were listening. Even Fuji who rarely gets shocked could not believe the truth. When everyone recovered they've gathered beside him. They have realized that their captain would want to share to them a part of him other than commanding them to run laps.
"She was born out of wedlock. A forbidden affair. My father has an affair with Sakuno's mom. My parent's broke apart when I was two. I know what you think. How would I know, right? My mom explained to me when she left. My father ran away from us one night. It was three days after Sakuno's birth. Our father and her mom went to shop for some more baby things for her when they've met an accident at the highway. Her mom died on the spot while our father was confined at the hospital for another three days before he died. He was able to ask mom for forgiveness. And my mom forgave him. In fact she had accepted Sakuno whole heartedly. When my mom met her new husband and went to Germany, I decided to stay because of her. She needs me. Though I'm not living with them, we've grown pretty close. I feel very protective of her. What can I do? She is my little sister, she usually stays with me during weekends," Tezuka sighed heavily.
"So that's the reason why she laughed at us when we asked her if you two were dating! Nya!"
Tezuka nodded in confirmation.
"I expect you all to keep this as a secret. Nobody knows about this except you, Coach, me and my sister. She was harassed by some lunatic fan-girls when those girls knew that she was my sister. I don't want that to happen again. She's so precious to me. Other than my mom, the coach and Sakuno are the only family I got. So I ask all of you to please keep this between us," Tezuka pleaded.
Upon his plea, nobody wants to break a promise. This is the first time they saw their captain without his stoic mask. And for the first time the great Capt. Tezuka had let his guard down.
"What about Ryoma?" Momo asked.
"Sakuno will be the one to tell him," Tezuka said.
The finality in his voice made all the regulars agree.
AFTER THE AFTERNOON PRACTICE:
Momo went to the clinic to check if Ryoma is well enough to go home. When he reached the clinic both juniors are both awake. Sakuno was helping Ryoma to sit down. Momo was carefully observing the two. He could see the blush on their cheeks. Yet both seemed so comfortable with each other's presence.
"Hmmm… Something happened here," Momo grinned at his thought.
"Hey Echizen, are you feeling better?"
"Hn."
"Saku-chan, I'll take Ryoma home. So you don't need to worry, okay?" he assured the blushing beauty when he saw worry crossed her eyes.
Sakuno smiled at Momo. And they started to walk out of the building. Both Ryoma and Sakuno seemed not to realize that their fingers are still intertwined. And Momo couldn't help but smile at the sight.
"By the way Saku-chan, Tezuka-buchou" been waiting for you at the courts. He has your things with him, "Momo informed her.
"Thank you, Momo-sempai.'
"Hey Momo-sempai, can you wait for me at the gates? I just need to talk to Ryuzaki for a moment," Ryoma faced her. His eyes were filled with so many emotions. Care, concern possessiveness and intense anger.
She stared at his eyes with confusion.
"He seemed mad at me. But why?"
Ryoma took a step towards her which made her to move backwards until she has nowhere to go. Her back touched the wall.
"Why are you doing this, huh?" he emotionlessly whispered in her ear. She got goose bumps at the back of her neck. This is an uncompromising situation, she knows, but there's something wrong with him.
"What do you mean?" she nervously asked.
"You can stay at our house. My parents would not mind. You need not go to the captain's place you know," he whispered. He was trying to convince her.
She boldly looked into the prince's golden orbs. His eyes are full of emotions. Jealousy and possessiveness. But why? He wanted to snatch her away from everyone. From the captain, Fuji sand from her fan-boys that have been increasing since they have reached high school. She does not know how hard he tried to be cool around her. She had been the closest and the only girl that he allowed himself to get close to, she had become a part of him, without him knowing it. He had been winning tournaments after tournaments because of her. She's always there for him, but how could he not know that she's been dragged away from him? That she is slipping away just under his nose? Will he never be able to see her smile and her beautiful eyes? And will he never be able to hear her lovely voice? Oh my! He's obsessed with her. He can't get her out of his system now. It's difficult to let go of her. She brings out the best and the worse in him.
Despite the silence, Sakuno understood him. But she can't oblige him now. She just can't abandon her brother. She can't tell him yet. For she's afraid that if he knew about her family he would avoid her. But now she needs to make a choice.
She slowly shook her head.
"I'm sorry Ryoma," tears starts to form at the corner of her eyes. She lifted a hand to touch his face.
"I can't do that. I need to be at Capt. Tezuka's. I can't tell you why for now. But I ask you to trust me, please?"
She saw hurt on his eyes but it disappeared quickly. Ryoma was hurt. He hid her eyes from her as he started to walk away from her without saying a single word.
"Ryoma!" she called as she tried to catch up with him but he quickly disappeared from her sight. Tears started to fall from her eyes. She cried herself out before facing her brother.
She walked towards the courts where her brother was waiting for her. The walk towards his brother's house seemed so long. She can't think of anything else but Ryoma. He had just walked away from her. He never trusted her. She was hurt as well, but she thinks that it was unfair that he did not even try to hear her out. She made her decision now. It's not worth it. He can't let her choose between him and her brother. Tezuka and the coach is the only family she got and she can't just abandon him.
"Let's go, angel," Tezuka said as he took their bags.
She nodded as she followed him. She bowed her head as they silently walked towards her brother's house. She can't help but think about Ryoma. She can't tell him about her family. She'll be putting her brother to shame for having a father who had an affair outside of marriage. And how will her friends accept her if she was born out of wedlock? It was an affair that is both socially and morally wrong?
She was just lucky that she had Tezuka as a brother. But how could she tell Ryoma about him and that what he had been thinking about them was wrong? Isn't it funny how people think? She bitterly smiled. All these years she thought he trusted her. But why did this happen? They have been pretty close these past years. He rarely gives anybody a smile. He had been more open to her than any of his friends. And after all of those years his admiration to him developed into a much deeper emotion. She had been secretly in love with him. Though she actually overcome her stuttering when he is around but her clumsiness is still present. This usually happens when he would give her his rare smile. Everybody at school noticed their closeness though neither of them admitted it. Ryoma most of the time was as dense as water while all she could do was blush. He can't let her choose between him and her brother. She can never give up his brother even if it means that she'll be losing Ryoma forever.
Tears started to form at the corner of her eyes again but she felt a warm palm holing her right hand. She jumped a little upon the contact.
"A little jumpy aren't we, Sa-chan?" she looked at her brother who was smirking at her.
She gave him a sad smile and shook her head.
"Hmmm…?"
She knew that her brother has been eyeing him since they've left the school. But instead of bugging her he had let her think.
She felt him dragging her towards somewhere and when she looked up she realized that they were in front of an ice cream shop.
"Brother, let's go home, please? I'm not feeling very well," she softly said.
"Let's get some ice cream first, okay?"
After they had their ice cream, they silently walked home.
As soon as they entered the house, she ran towards her room and locked herself up. She let her tears fall down. Every tear holds her shattered love. She can't stand the pain. He left her there. He did not let him choose. He just walked away from her without knowing everything. Now, all she can do was cry and hope that tomorrow would be the same as before. She knew that she was fooling herself.
She hoped he would listen. She wanted to be mad at him but she can't. He was just so unreasonable. That brat! But she cannot teach her heart to stop loving him, can't she? What have she gotten herself into? Her tears fell non-stop.
She did not realize that Tezuka was sting beside her and was gently stroking her hair.
"Hey little girl, want to talk?" Tezuka lovingly asked.
She looked at him and she just lost it. She hugged him tightly and cried harder on his shoulders. He just let her cry though it pained him seeing her like this. He knew that her tears were because of Ryoma.
"You wanna tell me what's wrong?"
"It's Ryoma…" she sighed.
She is ready to talk now.
"What about him, little girl?"
"He was asking me to choose between you two," she said as her tears stated to form at the corner of her eyes again. "Brother, I cannot do that. I tried to explain but he did not listen."
"Ei, you want me to talk to him? I know he'll listen to me," Tezuka offered.
She shook her head.
"No need nii-chan. He has made his choice and I've made mine. I choose you. It's up to him if did not trust me. I can't abandon you. I'll always choose you. You are my brother and nobody can change that. I might love him but if he chooses to believe things that don't exist, it's his problem," she said. She was hurting but she can't let her brother worry too much.
She had been his responsibility ever since and now it's her turn to return the favor. She had been his best friend and she can't afford to let him down now. He saw her brother nod ad he gave her a loving embrace. Then out of the blue their stomach started to grumble. They looked at each other and they started to laugh.
"I don't want to see you cry, little girl," Tezuka said as he wiped her tears away. "You should always smile. I'll leave you with your decision but once you need help, I'm just here. I love you, little girl."
Then he gave her his sweetest smile.
She smiled back at him.
"Thank you nii-chan. Can we eat now?"
Chapter 1 is finished. Hope you like it…Please read and review.
Some of the characters were a little OOC but they need to for my story to continue. And I want to show in the story that Tezuka is not just a mere stoic Captain. I want him to be more sensitive…basically more human.
I've also created some new characters…hope you like them as well…