A/N: Konnichipuu Minna-san? I didn't know what came into me. Just feel like writing another Sakuno-centric fics. This is my first attempt on pairing up Tezuka and Sakuno. So please be patience with me.

This fics is dedicated to all Sakuno's lover. They will be more pairing coming up. In fact I'm taking this concept to write Sakuno's drabbles. So please do expect more pairing coming up.

Warning: Sakuno centric. Please do not continue if you are not fans of Sakuno-chan. Readers have been warned.

Standard Disclaimer: I'll probably be traveling around the world by now if I owned Tenipuri. Nope, definitely not mine, all the characters belongs to Konomi Sensei except, except, Kunihoshi & Kunizuki.

"…" denotes speech

'…' denotes thoughts

Italics denotes flashbacks

Bold denotes Song lyrics

Song title: Hikari no Saki by Tezuka Kunimitsu


Title: Why Papa has to be…

Chapter 1: Tezuka Kunimitsu?

It's been ten long years since Ryuzaki Sakuno had married to Tezuka Kunimitsu, the renowned National Treasure of Japan and the President of Japan National Tennis Association.

To everyone's surprise, the well-known Tennis Star had ended up tying a knot with their former coach's granddaughter, the diffident, soft-spoken and wobbly, Sakuno. Their wedding was held in one of Eastern Kyoto's most traditional and purify temple, Chion-in.

Many of their friends as well as teammates concluded that their marriage wouldn't last long, since Tezuka is a man who speaks less then 20 sentences a day with his renowned libretto "Don't let your guard down" vice-versa, Sakuno also has an introverted nature who is too shy to carry herself well; such relationship would definitely fail due to lack of understanding, yet as friends as well as team, there is always a mutual respect in each other's decisions.

Once again the supposed to be mismatched couple had taken their friends by surprise when their marriage turns out perfectly right and it also proves that they are meant for each other.

While Tezuka pursue his dreams and ambition, Sakuno has always been supportive as a role of a wife as well as a mother. After two years of marriage, she bore to Tezuka a pair of adorable twins, Tezuka Kunihoshi, a boy that resembles the father and Tezuka Kunizuki, a girl that resembles the look of her mother.


As time flies, the twins are now in their fourth grade in Seishun Elementary School (Seishun Gakkuen).

Just when Sakuno was happily preparing lunch for her beloved family, she heard her two children bickering with each other.

She shook her head, switching off the stove; she enters the hall where the screaming and wailing could be heard.

"Hoshi, Zuki!" Sakuno said sternly, yet, that doesn't stop the two from biting each other's bones.

"Hoshi…stop teasing your sister" Just when Sakuno wanted to walk over to stop them, Tezuka entered the hall and stares impassively at his two defiant children.

"Both of you, ten laps around the house" Tezuka said sternly.

As soon as they heard the familiar voice, they jerked away and quickly hide behind their mother's back.

Sakuno sweat drop, but she knew her husband's attitude well. Reluctantly she steps aside, letting her husband to do the disciplining.

"Hora, Hoshi…Zuki…" She looks at her two children benevolently as she speaks "That's the punishment for breaking the bond between the two of you"

"But…but, it wasn't my fault…" Zuki reasoned and the two threw teary eyes at her mother to earn her sympathy.

Hearing his daughter's retaliation, Tezuka walks a few steps towards the children. He has been patience enough with the two.

"Twenty laps and hit it now and Sakuno…"

"Hai…" Sakuno shrugged as she replies 'Is he gonna ask me to run around the house too?' she thought anxiously.

"No lunch to be served to the two if they have not completed their punishment"

"Hai" Sakuno nodded and watched her husband turn and walk back to the study.

"Mama!" Hoshi instantly protested "How could you be so submissive. Papa's being unreasonable"

"Hora" Sakuno smiled again "It's only twenty laps right? I know that both of you should be fine with it. Come on, let's hit it before your father changes his mind again"

"Papa is a demon!"

"Imp"

"Fiend"

"30 laps!" an angry voice bellowed from the study.

Reluctantly, the two had left with no other choice but to comply to serve their punishment.

Before Sakuno go back to resume her chores, Sakuno let out a soft chuckle as she envisioned her husband furious face when he heard their kids calling him names 'He's taking their words seriously afterall'


The kids and their father had been having cold wars right after they served their punishment. Neither one of them had said a word nor Sakuno doing so. She just let them had their own way. Sooner or later, they'll just resume their normal self again.

Sometimes the kids really doubted their mom's decision of marrying to such abusive man. Their mother is such an adorable and kind woman, though, she might be wobbly sometimes, yet, she's such a wonderful person, that everyone would love her dearly.

'He must have forced her into a shotgun marriage' the two thought in unison.

Though the two are still in elementary grade, they are unpredictably knowledgeable like other kids all around the world; as the world advances.

Just when their father had left the house for an urgent meeting, the two adorable trifling children, take this opportunity to ease their curiosity.

"Ne…ne, mama?" Zuki begin. She has such a sweet and innocent voice that when everyone hear her words would instantly turns into jelly :P

"Yes, what is it sweetie?" Sakuno answered but her attention is still on the bowl of flour which she's now kneading. Just when she was about to pour some sugar into the mixture, Zuki continued "Did papa force you to marry him?"

Sakuno gets a shock of her life. The 'some' sugar that she was suppose to pour into to the mixture, soon turns into a peak.

"Mama!" Hoshi called out "The sugar!"

"Ah!" unable to regain her composure, the woman had not only messed up the mixture, but also knocked down some of her dinning wares that were placed next to the sink. With just few wobbly actions, Sakuno was able to turn the kitchen into an after war clutter.

Both Hoshi and Zuki sweat drop upon witnessing her mom's wobbliness.

"I'm so useless…" Sakuno sighed pathetically. With teary eyes, Sakuno had to clean up the whole mess before her husband comes back from meetings.

Right after she is done, Sakuno called her two children to enter the kitchen "Hoshi, Zuki…we need to talk"

"Hai!" the two quickly dashed into the kitchen upon hearing their mom's calling.

"So where were we?" Sakuno tug a hand under her chin and eyed the two young Tezukas with slight amusement.

"Eto…mama, why are you not mad at us?" before Zuki continue, she asked softly, feeling a little guilty of suddenly giving her mother some unnecessary trouble.

Sakuno raised a brow "Why should I?"

"Coz we scared you" the twins said in unison. "Mom, we're sorry. Please don't tell papa about it"

The hazel haired woman let out a soft chuckle "So both of you are not actually concerned about getting me into trouble, but was worried that I might tell you papa that the two of you had given me some difficulty?"

"No…no" Hoshi interrupted "We don't really mean to scare you like that, since we thought that we only wanted to know why you were married to papa and why he has to be our papa?"

"Don't worry, let's keep this a secret between the three of us, since I don't want to be punished by your papa too…" this time Sakuno winked at her two children.

"Promise?" Two pairs of eyes glittered with hope upon hearing what their mom said.

"Promise" Sakuno replied cheerfully.


Meanwhile…

"We need to think of a strategy to improve their skills otherwi…ha…ha…chu…" Tezuka immediately tilted sideward and covered his mouth with a piece of hanky as he sneezed. The group stared at their president with slight astonishment. "Excuse me"

"Oh, Tezuka only sneezed once? Someone is thinking of you" Fuji teased "Could it be our cute little Sakuno-chan?"

"Fuji" Tezuka turn and eyed his vice president irritably "She's not 'our' cute little Sakuno-chan. She's my wife"

"Hai hai…" Fuji chuckles and the rest of them laugh upon hearing Tezuka's fuming mixed with slight possessiveness.


Back to Tezuka residence…

"By the way, what makes both of you think that I was forced to marry your papa?" Sakuno asked curiously.

"That's because…that's because…" Zuki lowered her head as she was unable to pour her heart out whenever she gets nervous. She even starts to play with her fingers if her nervousness is out of control.

"He's mean" Hoshi interjected "He seldom smiles and he talks less than 20 sentences a day" Being a boy, Hoshi is a little too outspoken, and that also doubted many friends if he's really Tezuka's son.

"Really?" Sakuno raises her brow as she mused "Do you really count?"

"I did count" Hoshi said.

"Right…because mama is always smiling but papa is so different" still unable to look at her mother, the little girl murmured softly, but that was good enough for Sakuno to hear her.

"Well" this time Sakuno poked a finger beneath her chin and started to ponder why she had married Tezuka "That's because mama likes papa the way he is"


The Past…

"Hey, why don't you just come with us? We can show you lots of fun, you know?" one young man said viciously, while the other man pulled her on one of her braids.

"Let go…" she squeaked softly as her body was trembling with fear "Please…"

"Oh? Did you hear that? The cutie is begging us? She's so cute" just when the perverted guy is about to touch Sakuno's face, a ball flies over and hit straight onto his face with great force. The man loses his grip on Sakuno when he fell flat onto the ground, unconscious.

The other man was shock to see or even believe that the intensity of the tennis ball could cause his friend to lose his consciousness.

Just when he had decided to take revenge for his friend, he saw a man with stern looking face, glaring furiously at him. His dead glares caused the man to retreat from his earlier decision.

"I…I'll remember this" with that he pulled his unconscious friend and leave the place.

Terrified by such dreadful incident, Sakuno was unable to stop herself from trembling.

"Ryuzaki!" the familiar voice called from behind. She recognizes his voice, the usual stern voice of the formal Seigaku Captain, now the national seeded player, Tezuka Kunimitsu.

As soon as Tezuka stood in front of her, Sakuno raised her head and stare anxiously at her former senior "Tezu…ka…san"

"Daijyobu?" He asked as he helped the frightening young lady to stand on her feet.

"I…I'm fine…" Sakuno stammered and tightens her grip on his hand.

"Why are you here at this time? Don't you know that it's dangerous for a girl to stay out late at night?"

"Gomen…nasai" Sakuno sniffed, biting hard to suppress her tears from falling.

"Er…" Suddenly Tezuka realized that he's been a little harsh towards the girl, moreover, she had not been fully recovered from the initial shock. "No…I mean, sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice…"

"Come on…let me send you back home"

"Arigatou…"

"Can you walk?"

"I think I sprained my ankle" She said softly "but…I can manage"

"Let me carry you…"

"No…I mean…" Sakuno blushed "I'm quite weighty…"

Tezuka raised his brow and studied the young lady in front of him. Little had he notice that Sakuno has grown up into a promising beauty, her features still reserves a little of her childlike look, without those baby fats on her face. She has a great figure with curves that would definitely make many men drool.

'A young lady like this could easily get into trouble' Tezuka noted inwardly 'She's beautiful…wait! Where does this come from? What was I thinking?'

Tezuka immediately shoved off his perplexing thoughts and offered her a baggy ride. She shook her head once again only to get another stern glare from the former senior.

"Sorry for the trouble again…" She said shyly.

"Ryuzaki…" they have been walking in silence for quite sometimes and there's a sense of awkwardness in between them, so Tezuka decided to break the silence.

"Hai…" Sakuno answer without hesitation.

"Why were you there just now?"

"I had my practice at the nearby street tennis court…" she murmured softly.

"Street tennis court? You mean that one next to the playground?"

Sakuno nodded "But I hit the ball too hard and it flew over to the other side and fell into the playground..."

"…" Tezuka didn't know how to react upon hearing what Sakuno said. 'How did she hit the ball to make it fly over to the playground?' Tezuka thought amusingly 'That was quite a distance away from the court…'

"As I thought, my tennis skill is terrible…"

"…" there is another awkward silence between the two again before Tezuka could say a word "Ryuzaki, do you really like tennis or you're only doing because of Echizen…"

Again, Tezuka's questions has taken the girl by surprise, she hesitated for a moment before she answer him with honesty "Yes, I love tennis. At first I also doubted if I've chose to enter to Tennis Club because of Ryoma-kun, but eversince Ryoma-kun left us, I realized…I play tennis because I love tennis. I enjoying running around the court, picking up balls, enjoy the game…"

"I see" Tezuka lowered his head. Her words had somehow made him smile. "I guess there is something I can do to help you to improve your skills"

"Really?" Sakuno instantly lighten up, but soon her smile was replaced with an audible frown "but…how could you have time for me, since you're with the national team. I read the Weekly Tennis Pro magazines and knows that the National Team is busy with their upcoming competitions"

"Ryuzaki…" Tezuka shook his head to disapprove her assumption "never doubt me when I assure you something"

"Hai…"


Even if it's very, very painful, I can never, ever show my complaint.
Let's not worry about things like this and calm down.
I won't allow you to say things like "does it hurt, perhaps?"
I don't want to ever see that sort of worried face again.

'6 games to 4! Winner, Tachibana Ann of Fudomine'

"I lost…" Sakuno lowered her head to admit her defeat. Right after the game she left the court without a word and headed to one of her favorite spot to reminisce her performance during the match. 'How am I gonna face him?' She thought pathetically.

"Ryuzaki?" Tezuka had been searching high and low for the young lady. 'What am I doing? Why am I running and chasing after her?'

Tezuka thought furiously to himself. He seems to have lost his wisdom eversince he had met Sakuno.

Flashback…

"Tezuka-san…" Sakuno waved at him and greet the man with a warm smile "I'm here…"

'Ryuzaki…' Tezuka thought. Every time when he sees her smile, his heart skips a beat, yet, he tried not to show his affections.

"Sakuno Ryuzaki, reporting herself to Tezuka-sensei! From today onward, please show your guidance to me"

"Ryuzaki…don't let your guard down…" Tezuka said sternly before they start their training.

"Hai! Tezuka-sensei" Sakuno saluted as she flashed another broad and cheerful smile at him.

'Sensei?' Just as when Tezuka turns away from her, he mused with another smirk on his face.


We can believe in each other, because everyone is here, no matter what the time, we will not be broken

I won't allow anything like worry, because you are an irreplaceable friend to me.

"Excuse me" Tezuka saw two members of the Girl's Tennis Club; he stopped them to ask if they have seen Sakuno, but as soon as the two ladies recognized him, they shouted with excitement.

"AH! TEZUKA-SAN!" Soon a group of crazy fan girls surrounded him "PLEASE SIGN FOR US!"

Tezuka struggled to break away from the group. Just when he was almost free from their entanglement, he saw Sakuno right in front of him. She didn't know that Tezuka is watching her while she sneaked out of Girl's Club House.

All the fan girls soon quiet down as they too diverted their attention to Sakuno who is now acting like a sneaky thief.

"Ri…yu…za…ki…"

The dreadful voice that called from behind had made Sakuno shivered from head to toes.

Her face turns pale upon registering the owner of that low and dreadful tone. Without turning back, Sakuno began to run away from him.

Once again Tezuka set off and chase after her. All the fan girls were left behind, dumbfounded.

"Wait! Ryuzaki! Why are you running away from me?" Tezuka bellowed while trying to get hold of the girl.

She knew that there is no way that she would get away from him, especially those firm and broad hands pulled her over to his warm embrace.

"Why?" In order to stop her from running away, he embraced her into his arm, though he had a better way to do so, yet, his body seems to have acted on their own, when two hands pulled her towards him. He tightens his embrace, fearing that she'll flee again.

"I…I'm ashamed" Sakuno murmured pathetically, gritting her teeth, she pushes herself to hold back her tears "After all the effort that you had for me, yet, I've lost…"

"I've wasted your time, I've wasted your efforts…I couldn't get myself to face you again, Tezuka-san…I'm sorry…"

"Is that the reason why you're avoiding me?" Sakuno could detect a slight difference in Tezuka's tone as he speaks. His words had somehow calmed the girl down.

"I…" Sakuno lowered her head "I don't know…" Sakuno suddenly felt perplexed. She had no idea why she was running away, avoiding Tezuka in the first place. Perhaps the only reason she could think of is that she doesn't want to see him mad or even hate her.

She knows that her heart would definitely shatter into pieces if only Tezuka would tell her that he hates her for wasting his time. She knew that he really had put a lot of hope, efforts and time to train her well, helping her to improve her skills.

She recalled there was a time, she had caught him fell asleep as he sat on the bench and was suppose to monitor her form during one of their training session. Despite his busy schedule, he always managed to have time to train her.

"Tezuka-sensei…how is that…"

"Tezuka-sensei?" Her eyes widen upon seeing Tezuka's sleeping form. Carefully, she tiptoed towards him. She watched him closely, studying his serene features.

'He's not so scary now' Sakuno noted mentally, covering her mouth to control her chuckles.

'He's kinda cute too…' face instantly turns crimson red upon hearing he own thoughts.

She couldn't break her stares away from Tezuka. His handsome feature, his serene façade, had deeply captivated her heart. She felt a sudden urge to touch his face, ran fingers over to feel the softness of his hair.

Little had she noticed that she was slowly inching towards him, their face is just a few inches away from each other when Tezuka suddenly open up his eyes and sprang up from his sleeping form, colliding his head with hers. An audible groan could be heard from the two.

'Her head is harder than I thought' Tezuka could hear the girl apologizing to him while he massages his throbbing forehead.

"Sorry…Tezuka-sensei…I didn't mean to make you to get your head to bump into mine…I didn't mean to disturb your sleep…"

"I'm fine now…" Tezuka assured her and Sakuno instantly felt relieved upon hearing his assurance.

Just when she was about to resume back to her practice, Tezuka raised another doubts. "By the way, I though you were suppose to practice your ball controlling skill on the wall. Since you said just now that you were disturbing my sleep…what is it that you want from me?"

"I…" Sakuno stood fidgeted; her face blushed furiously upon recalling her earlier depraved thoughts on Tezuka "I…"

"Eto…I saw a large mosquito that was about to suck your blood…so I quickly rush over to shoo it away" She lied

"Mosquito?"

"That's right. A mosquito"


Let's cut through the wind and advance forward, no matter the destination. Let's push on like a ship running through the ocean. Aiming for the shining light, come on, let's go.
Facing forward and becoming one, wherever we may go.

"It's alright" still embracing Sakuno in his arm, Tezuka assured her with an unusual soft voice "I watched the match and I could tell that you've done your best. I'm very proud of you, Sakuno"

Sakuno eyes widen when she heard Tezuka called her given name for the first time. She could also feel a warm hand gently stroking her hair in a comforting manner.

'I'm in love with you…' Sakuno closes her eyes to feel the warmth of the man she's in love with. 'Tezuka…'

'I'm in love with you, Sakuno' at the same time, Tezuka has also cleared up the perplexity of his feelings for Sakuno. He'll just have to handsomely admit to himself that this is the girl that he had fallen for.


"Mama?" The two tugged their mother's sleeves to bring her soul back from wandering.

"A re?" Still haven't got her soul fully return from wandering around the world, Sakuno blinked at her children.

"Are you okay?" Hoshi asked "Ne, mama…why are you suddenly dozing off?"

"Mama suddenly recalls all those happy incidents of me and your papa"

"Really? Can you share with us?" this time Zuki interjected.

"No…both of you are too young to listen to things like this…" Sakuno reasoned.

"It's time to study…Hoshi, Zuki, be good and go back to your room to do your homework and revision" Sakuno said softly. Knowing that the two are just as persistence as their father, she decided to divert their attention.

"But…" just when the kids were about to protest, Sakuno told them that she'll prepare some dessert for them.


We can laugh with each other, because everyone is here, we can still do it, and we can still give it our strength. I understand. I won't overdo it. There is no pain. It's all right.

It's almost dinner time when Tezuka reached home. He massaged his throbbing temples to release his stress.

"Anata/Papa! Okaeri nasai" Sakuno and their twins quickly rush out from the kitchen to welcome the head of the family.

(Anata – Husband, Okaeri nasai – Welcome home)

"Tadaima…" Tezuka smiled. All the tension he had during the meeting were instantly gone, replacing with a sense of happiness that deeply touched his heart when he sees his beloved wife and children.

"Ah? Papa is smiling! Look, Mama, Zuki? Papa is smiling" Hoshi jumped up and down with joy upon seeing his father smiling face.


Sakuno returned to her room as soon as she had put the two kids to bed. She was surprise to see that her husband is still awake. He's reading the latest Tennis Guide Book, authored by Inui.

"Anata?" Sakuno walk over and stood behind Tezuka and took the book away from Tezuka "It's not good to read in the dark" she protested.

"Sorry" Tezuka apologize "So how are our children today? Are they behaving well?" his head turn and tilts upward to stare at his wife.

"Of course they are" Sakuno assured him.

"Thanks for all the effort, Sakuno"

"Same here…thank you for working so hard for us"

The couple stares passionately at each other. Sakuno lowered her head as she place a soft, chaste kiss on her husband forehead. Tezuka venture further to capture her lips in full. He nibbles her lower lip and she let out a soft moan.

Just when the couple was about to prelude into a more intimate state, the door suddenly sprang open and interjected their moments.

"MAMA/PAPA!" the crying Zuki ran towards to hug both her parents.

"Hoshi is bullying me again!"

"I didn't!"

"Both of you…50 laps around the dinning hall!" Tezuka bolted

"But Anata…it's almost midnight now"

The End

A/N: Bansai, bansai! Finally, my first completed one-shot! A TezuSaku fics. Eto, I would like to apologize to those who would read this fics and find it rather complicating. This fics is actually divided into three parts, the present, the past and the flashbacks of the memories.

I hope I'll do better next time. Please review and lemme know if my fics is good/bad.

Next

Title: Why papa has to be...

Chapter 2: Fuji Shusuke – When tensai meets wobbly girl

Hontoni Arigatou…

mi-chan yori