I just want to say a quick thank you to all of those who have reviewed this story. I was honestly surprised to get so many on the prologue. Hopefully I can keep this going and keep it interesting. So, here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer remains the same.

Chapter 1

Sakuno had the stomach flu, or at least she thought she had the stomach flu. She'd been throwing up quite frequently for days now and she was tired of it. Every morning, this week it was the same thing, she'd wake up running to the bathroom.

Her grandmother was worried about her, she knew. Sakuno couldn't remember the last time she'd felt sick like this, only to turn around later in the day and feel like nothing happened.

More than one sensei had suggested she head to the nurse's office, not that Sakuno had wanted to go. Going meant possibly finding out that it wasn't a stomach virus she suffered from and that she couldn't handle right now.

"Tomo-chan, I have to practice," Sakuno said as her friend proceeded to try to drag her away from the girls' courts. Tomoka completely continued to ignore her pleas, much to her consternation. Sakuno finally gave in when it seemed she had no choice.

"Ryoma-sama," Tomoka said, waving like crazy at her favorite tennis player. Sakuno's eyes found the form of Tezuka-senpai, with his back to her. Just seeing him reminded her of what they'd done a few times since the party, all in secret of course.

None of it had been planned when she first arrived at his home to talk about that night. She hadn't known what she was going to say, or how she should say it at the time.

"Ryuzaki, What are you doing here?" he'd said the moment he closed the door to his bedroom. Sakuno's eyes remained on the ground, too afraid to look into his eyes. How was she going to ask her question and not die of embarrassment?

Her cheeks flushed deeply, giving him all the answer he needed. "It's about last night isn't it" he said. When she nodded, he sighed. "Then I don't suppose you awoke feeling exactly the same?"

"No," she whispered, noting how he turned away from her to hide what ever expression he might reveal. "I felt sore." She couldn't possibly be expected to say more than that.

He nodded in response, having already expected as much. "Then I suppose the question we must ask ourselves is what will we do next? I would hate to think of how your grandmother would react to such news."

Sakuno cringed at the thought of her grandmother finding out about what she had done, and yet… "I don't remember if I enjoyed it." She thought she might have spoken lower than any human could hear, but Tezuka heard and turned sharply in her direction.

"Why would it matter?"

It was her first time, that's why. She had always heard that a girl should remember her first time. But she said none of this to Tezuka-senpai. It would only anger him..

She glanced out his window, finding the whole conversation awkward. She really should leave and just forget any of this ever happened. It was what a normal girl would have done. But Sakuno had no energy to leave.

She wanted to know, deep down, what it felt like to have sex. She wanted to be able to remember what it felt like to be connected with a guy that way.

She returned her eyes to Tezuka-senpai, a boldness striking her suddenly as it did the night before. "I want to remember what it feels like. I want to try it again."

Tezuka refused he of courser, but she was determined to have her way, while she still had the courage to do it. She felt almost like how Kawamura-senpai must feel every time a racket was put into his hands.

The tennis captain was handsome enough to want. Girls would be envious of her if they learned hat she had bedded him. Plus it wasn't as if Tomoka was an angel. She could do it. She had to do it.

And the best way, she learned, was to challenge Tezuka in a tennis match. She bet, that if she could somehow manage to hit just one ball past him, that he would sleep with her.

Neither could remember how she managed to get the ball past his defense, but both admitted that it was sometime between when she slipped over her own shoelaces and when her racquet flew at his face.

Again turned into a few more times after that, each time when she was angry with Tomoka. Sakuno would have felt embarrassed if she hadn't had to deal with Tomoka bragging about all that she had done with Ryoma.

Then all of a sudden Tezuka wanted to stop their meetings. He was afraid someone would find out and inform their families of their indiscretions.

To lay with her once could be passed off as a mistake, but to continue for longer, most times without protection, could only end in their being disgraced.

She saw him begin to turn in her direction. Her eyes widened, not wanting to be caught staring. She turned sharply to where Ryoma played, hoping to not be noticed by Tezuka.

Vaguely she heard Tomoka continue her lecture on everything having to do with Ryoma in his private life. Sakuno wasn't sure if she'd ever get a chance to be able to tell Tomoka how she really felt.

The twinge of sickness hit her stomach, crawling its way up toward her throat. Sakuno fought it to the best of her ability, but it didn't work.

She ran for the nearest garbage, bending over to rid her stomach of its contents. When she finished she noticed all the attention she garnered. Her grandmother's grim expression met her own as she faced the older woman.

"Sakuno, you're going to the doctor. We need to know what's wrong with you as soon as possible."

Sakuno sighed in agreement. Hopefully, there was some sort of medicine she could take that would help with the sickness she suffered. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to take it for much longer.

Tezuka watched the commotion Sakuno made on the school grounds. He was worried, in a much different way.

A stomach virus would have passed through days ago, so it could only be something else. He forced the regulars through another twenty laps around the school as he headed toward his coach and her granddaughter.

"Ryuzaki-sensei, do you need me to take her to the hospital?"

The old woman turned to the captain of the boys' team, then to her granddaughter who had paled further. "Yes, I think that will be a splendid idea."

He watched as the eyes of the girl grew incredibly large with surprise. He stared at her, daring her to challenge his suggestion. If his theory proved true, then he felt he had a right to know immediately.

"Go change Ryuzaki, I will wait here." She ran off to change out of her tennis uniform.

It took him five minutes to go change into his school uniform and make it back to the meeting point. The girl still wasn't there, so he was forced to wait another fifteen minutes for her.

When she arrived, this time she was moving slowly as if she had just been sick. Tezuka felt his lips turn into a slight frown. She looked much worse than she had just a few minutes ago.

Without a word, he turned to leave the school, expecting her to follow him. It didn't matter much to him that she dropped back three steps behind him. He couldn't really have people thinking they were dating anyway.

"Tezuka-senpai," he heard softly asked behind him. He turned his head slightly to acknowledge that he was listening. "Ano, why did you ask to take me to the doctor? I thought we weren't supposed to talk anymore."

He said nothing in reply. He didn't really think it necessary to say anything until he found out if his guess were correct or not.

They reached the hospital in short order and were told to wait for a doctor to be available. Tezuka could tell she was nervous about having to see the doctor. To tell the truth, even he had to admit to a slight nervousness.

What was in actuality a fifteen minute wait seemed more along the lines of hours spent waiting. Finally a nurse entered the waiting area to say, "Ryuzaki Sakuno?" Sakuno shot out of her seat to go follow. Tezuka held his breath, waiting, hoping that his guess was indeed incorrect.

"Ah, Sakuno-chan, how are you this afternoon?" the doctor said upon entering the exam room.

Sakuno shrugged, too afraid to speak. The doctor looked over the file with her information. "It says here you've been sick for quite a while now. Tell me what the problem is."

She explained about the mornings she awoke ill and the tiredness she felt all throughout the school day. As she spoke of her symptoms, she toyed with the edge of her school skirt.

The doctor made a couple of notes, a slight frown on his lips. "Have you been sexually active recently?" he finally asked.

Sakuno stuttered over a reply. She didn't want to lie, but she certainly didn't want to tell the truth either. The news would definitely get back to her grandmother. "Y-yes," she whispered nearly too low to be heard.

She heard the doctor sigh and mutter something too low for her to hear. "From what you've told me, it doesn't sound as if you have the stomach flu at all. There's a test I want to run on you that should possibly help me rule one thing out."

Sakuno was given a cup and told to provide a urine sample. She stared at the cup, deathly pale. The doctor didn't have to say a word about what this test would be. It was clear from his blatant disapproval that he assumed the worst about her.

Tezuka closed his eyes as he ran through possible tennis drills in his mind to keep it sharp. Sakuno's test was running too long in his opinion, which wasn't a very good sign that things were going well.

Around him other patients sat waiting for either their turn to see a doctor or were like him, waiting for someone who was in to see the doctor. He drowned out their presence, focusing only on his mental strengthening.

If asked later, he would never have been able to remember exactly how long he waited for Sakuno to be finished with the doctor. It wouldn't have mattered to anyone if they too had witnessed her leaving the exam room for the waiting area.

She was bleached of all color. Her eyes were akin to deer caught in headlights. She visibly shook as tears streamed down her face. Tezuka stood, more alarmed than he could ever remember in his life.

Sakuno didn't say anything as she passed him by, leaving the hospital. Tezuka sped his steps to hurry after her, not wanting to appear as if he were truly concerned.

He found her further down the street, where the crowd was thinner. He didn't say anything other than to motion her to follow him. They were close to the university tennis courts, which should give them a chance to speak without being heard or interrupted.

Sakuno refused to look at him. She didn't know how she was ever going to be able to face anyone ever again. She was disgraced, used goods and nothing was ever going to change that.

More important than her own disgrace, she had quite possibly ruined Tezuka-senpai's life as well. This was a critical point in his career in tennis. What would happen to him? How would her grandmother react to the news? Could Tezuka-senpai ever forgive her?

"You're pregnant aren't you?" he asked her. She responded with sobs of anguish as he stood there not saying anything further.

"Please forgive me," she managed to get out. She didn't want to have to deal with this alone, but she didn't want to get him in trouble for this either. She didn't know what to do, or how to act.

Abortion was out of the question without her grandmother finding out. She was still a minor and wouldn't feel right going without an adult as support.

She watched as he turned away from her, staring out over the tennis courts. What thoughts were going through his mind she didn't know. She was still processing the knowledge in her own way.

She watched as his head bowed slowly, his shoulders slumping as the heavy weight fell upon his shoulders. What would they do? How could they get past this without anyone knowing? Her grandmother knew she went to the doctor about her stomach, so there was no way that she would be able to hide her condition. Not for very long at least.

"I'll assemble my family in a meeting with your grandmother. We will inform everyone who needs to know of the situation immediately, so as not to draw out our disgrace."

Sakuno nodded at the suggestion. Yes, she would let Tezuka tell her what to do since he seemed so calm about it. Rational thinking, that's what she needed. "Hai, senpai," she said.

After looking at his watch Tezuka turned to her. "I will bring my family at seven. Please make sure you have the tea ready. I prefer Unacha."

Sakuno made mental note of his preference. It required going to the store before heading home, but it was also a way of delaying the inevitable. She glanced at her own watch. She had little over an hour to get home and get something on the stove for dinner.

If Tezuka was coming then that meant she needed even more food and had to let her grandmother know that they would have guests.

She called the house from a payphone, letting her grandmother know that they would have guests and that what she had to say was indeed extremely important. She was sure her grandmother could infer that something big had happened just from her tone of voice, but she didn't say anything either. 'I'm very sorry,' she said in her mind. I didn't mean for any of this to happen.'

Tezuka had informed his parents of the change of plans for the evening. His grandfather, unfortunately, or perhaps just this once fortunately, had gone to his Go club meeting with other of his retired friends.

His choice of clothing was very carefully selected. He took time to think of what he might say, that would ensure he not be thrown off the tennis team. His captain position was probably already sacrificed.

'Oh well, it could just possibly push me back to my original plan of going professional.'

Of course, he would do the responsible thing and be responsible for the child. He could have easily continued to deny Ryuzaki every time she came to him. She would have eventually lost interest in him.

He glanced at his appearance in the mirror. The time was much too late to think about what he should have done. He could only focus on what he did do and seek to make restitution.

A glance at the clock told him it was time to leave. He ushered his parents out of the house to ensure they made it on time. Considering what he knew of the girl, Ryuzaki had probably somehow told her grandmother the truth in a panic. The girl just didn't seem the type to handle pressure well.

He didn't know just how right he was.