So I have no work tomorrow, which is a clear sign that I will be working on this story. Which…I should be working on my other one also…but this one's got me in a weird craze. Like I have to get it all down before I forget. XD Also, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to a friend of mine, since we're both on the same wavelength when it comes to OCs. XD So this one's for you Different Child!

Disclaimer- I do NOT own The Prince of Tennis or any of the characters originating from this series, specifically Tezuka and Fuji. June and Melissa are mine though.

"Are we finished yet??" Tezuka asked mercifully. He didn't know how much tourism he could take for the day. The sun shone brightly overhead, clearly reflecting June's mood. I wonder if she's part plant, and feeds off the sun like photosynthesis…he thought humorously. He watched her as they exited the park, losing in a battle to explain the mysteries of the Wonder in front of him. Her name's more accurate than I thought…

June spun around, eyeing him carefully. "I suppose we're finished with the shops at least…"

Tezuka let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. Shouldn't you be heading home then? It's quite a bit of a trip if I do recall."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" June asked, a bit of a pout on her face. Doing his best not to give in to the adorable look on her face, he looked away, pretending to be interested in the trees. "I didn't say that. I was just wondering if you wanted me to walk you home now."

"I don't want to go home yet…I know! We'll do something you want to do!" she suggested eagerly. "I want to go home and take a nap from all this running around." He protested. She pouted, which made him look away. "Do you really like hanging out with me that much June? Don't you have other friends to spend time with?" Tezuka reasoned.

"Well of course I have other friends…but I want to spend today with you…." June replied simply. "If I'm bothering you Tezuka, all you have to do is say so and I'll back away. I think you know that by now…"

"It's not that…" he started with a sigh. "It's just…" then an idea hit him. "Do you think we could stop by my house really quick before we leave again?"

"That's not an issue. What for though?" she asked, excited that he was eager to still spend time with her. "Well I want to grab my tennis racket. We can go play wall-ball or something. Does that sound okay?" June froze a bit at this. She told Tezuka that her family was full of tennis professionals, but she had failed to mention that she didn't know much of anything about the game herself! June blushed darkly. "Well that's fine…but I-"

"Really? Great!" he replied excitedly. He took her hand and started to run towards his house. June stumbled close behind him in an attempt to keep up. This is going to be interesting… she thought. But I'll worry about that when I get there. Right now he's so excited he doesn't realize he's being more confident with me. Or that he's holding my hand… She giggled happily to herself, being careful not to let her immense glee come forth. He didn't seem to notice as they walked through the door to his home. "Hey everyone, I'm grabbing a couple of things and heading out again."

His mother poked her head out from the living room. "Oh? Where are you two off to this time?" she asked. Tezuka shrugged a bit as he started up the stairs. "We're going to the park to play tennis."

Tezuka's mom was quick to notice his exceptionally good mood and grinned a bit. "That boy has no idea does he…."

Tezuka shut the door to his room and opened his closet, grabbing his tennis bag and scanning the hanging clothes for a suitable outfit to practice in. June pouted a bit when he had let go of her hand to do so, missing the warmth of his fingers wrapped with hers. Wouldn't have minded if he'd held on a little longer… she thought. Taking a seat on his bed, she glanced around his room briefly. "I see you've got tennis on the brain." She commented aloud, turning her head to look at him, jaw dropping slightly.

"Well I like to watch tennis as well as play it. I think that being able to study and understand it goes hand in hand with how you play. Just a little hobby of mine." Tezuka answered, glancing over at her. He frowned a bit when he saw her staring at him in shock. "What's the matter?"

Oh nothing's the matter…. She thought wickedly. Her eyes once more traced his muscular chest, taking in its hard physique for her own. June resisted the overwhelming urge to reach out and touch the flawless skin teasing her. "My goodness, you could sizzle eggs on those abs…" she muttered, lips curling to an O as the realization that her thoughts came out on this comment. June blushed immensely and looked away.

"June?"

She looked back at him, catching his confused stare.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to stare at you or anything…. maybe I should wait outside until you're ready." June stood up and made her way to the door, keeping her head low from embarrassment.

"June, it's really not that big a deal." Tezuka tried to reassure her. Wait a minute; is it really not a big deal? He thought to himself. Well I guess she didn't do it on purpose, I was the one who dragged her up here…

"No really, I think that was pretty indecent of me…." June reasoned.

It hurts to see her like this…don't let her accept that humiliation alone! Tezuka muttered a curse under his breath and grabbed her arm gently, turning her to face him. "June, calm down. I should be the one apologizing."

Wait, what?

"E-excuse me?" June questioned, shaking her head. "Maybe I didn't hear you right…but did you just say you're the one who should apologize?" Ignoring the temptation to say something sarcastic, Tezuka nodded gently. "I'm a little lost. I'm the one ogling you and invading your privacy…and you want to say you're sorry?" June verbalized.

"I wasn't thinking when I started to change. I shouldn't have put you in that position. So I'm sorry." He replied softly. June looked away, smiling a bit. "Believe me, it wasn't that bad a position to be put in. I should have had the decency to look away instead of being a pervert. I'm sorry too."

"You were being a pervert?" Tezuka asked, a light blush falling upon his cheeks. June's face flushed a bit more as she sighed. "Well I don't know what else I could be in that situation, other than conservative…and I think we both know how I am with that."

They shared a laugh together.

"I really am sorry though. I'll be more careful next time." Tezuka reassured, subconsciously pulling June in a little closer to him. "Yea…I'll be more aware next time myself." June promised.

Before they could even take their next breath, there was a knock on the door. They looked awkwardly at Tezuka's mother as she let herself in.

"Tezuka, I managed to finish the rest of your laundry, so you'll at least be able to…." She stopped and glanced at them carefully, taking in the sight. Tezuka stood shirtless holding June, a flushed look on June's face. Blinking to get the gears of her mind turning once more, she laughed nervously. "Oh my…I seem to be interrupting…." Sensing Tezuka's tension by the increased grip on her arm, June spoke up. "No not at all! We just worked out the awkward part. I didn't quite realize he was changing until I saw it. I made an effort to leave shamefully, but he stopped me to reassure me that he wasn't feeling violated." Tezuka looked at June bewildered. How in the world can she just up and bluntly explain it??!

"The situation just surprised me is all. Thank you for being honest with me June." His mother replied, setting the basket on the floor by his desk. "I'll just leave these here. Be sure to call me when you're heading home so I know when to set the table for you." She looked at June once more. "Will you be joining us dear? We'd love to have you here."

June smiled brightly. " I wouldn't miss it for the world."

The following seconds that passed after the door clicked shut once more were in silence. Tezuka was the first to speak after he let go of her arm. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen." June laughed and she rubbed her arm a bit. "I don't think either of us meant for that. It's okay. We told her what happened, and she let it go."

"About that…" Tezuka started, grabbing a blue shirt from the closet. " You've got some guts to just say it like that. I don't think I would have been able to explain it as well if you hadn't said something."

Keeping her eyes off his sculpted body this time, she tilted her head a bit to read the titles of various books set on his shelf. "Well it's easier on everyone if you just tell the truth. What's lying about it going to accomplish?" he smiled a bit. "I suppose you're right. Even so, you didn't hesitate at all."

"If you spend all your time hesitating, you're going to miss out on a lot of things. And in this case, hesitating would have just let your mom's mind race with a million different scenarios as to what was happening up here." June answered, glancing over at him quickly to make sure he was fully clothed once more. Much to my disappointment….

"That's a good point. It's already interesting enough for her. I don't bring many people in my room." He said thoughtfully. Her giggle fit caused him to look over at her, baffled. "What? What is it??" he asked.

"Well I should hope you don't." she joked. "You're so weird." He teased, picking up his duffle bag. "I didn't mean like THAT you silly girl." Tezuka took note that she was still holding her arm where he grabbed her. "Are you okay?"

She waved his question off with her hand. "Yea yea. I'm fine Tezuka. Are you ready to go now?"

"Are you sure you're not hurt? I didn't mean to-"

She put a finger to his lips to silence him, the suddenness of her movements causing him to blush. "Tezuka…I'm okay. I'm not one to waste words, remember? If it were bad, I'd say something. I promise you that." June slowly pulled her finger away from him, smiling in reassurance.

"You promise…" he repeated, and she nodded. "Okay. Then let's be off. I don't want my mother thinking up any more crazy thoughts if we're out too late."

"I know what you mean. I at least want them to be accurate if they're going to involve us, and I don't see that happening." She joked, laughing as she ran down the stairs.

Shaking his head in frustration, he slowly followed after her. Yep…I can't figure this one out at all….

At the park

"This is like watching a train wreck…." Tezuka whispered to himself, running his hands through his hair in disbelief. He knew that some people had a natural knack for tennis; people who could pick up a tennis racket and after a couple matches become a pro in no time.

June Wonder…was not one of those people.

"I thought you said that your family is full of pros??" Tezuka asked, amazed that she missed yet ANOTHER easy hit against the wall. She looked over at him and laughed nervously. "I wasn't lying about that. My mother, father, as well as my sister can play the game like none other…but I never said anything about me being any good at it! I don't know the first thing about this game…." She admitted with a sad smile. His stern expression softened when he saw her face fall in discouragement. "Why didn't you ask them to just teach you as well?"

"I would have asked them if I really wanted to learn…but I didn't want to play tennis…" She managed to hit the ball against the wall a couple times before she swung too hard and spun herself around, the ball rolling to a stop at Tezuka's feet. June slumped to the ground, unable to face him. That was a stupid thing to say. Mr. "I want to become a pro" isn't going to go for someone not interested in tennis.

He couldn't stand to see her on the ground like that, so full of frustration and hurt. Tezuka wanted to reassure her, allay her worries. I am soooo not good with this sort of thing…but… Moving from his place on the bench, he spoke to her gently.

"I guess we can't all love tennis, otherwise there'd be too much competition."

She looked up to see Tezuka kneeling in front of her. The smile on his face held a genuine kindness to them, and she found her heart racing in her chest once more. "Tezuka…"

"There's nothing wrong with having different interests June. I'm just a little curious as to why you agreed to come out here and play if you knew this was going to happen."

June took interest in the ground once more. "Because it's something you love to do. I thought it was fair to at least try it, since you brought yourself to escort me around all day. Against your will. If coming to play tennis will get you to smile at me like that the whole time…I would play it horribly all day…."

Her words touched his heart, causing it to thud almost painfully in his chest. "June…you don't have to force yourself to do these things…I know I acted pretty harsh about it, but I really didn't mind being with you today. In fact…it was really quite fun." He lifted her chin up so she was looking him in the eye. He tried peering into those emerald pools, searching for something that would help him decipher this young woman that came into his life so suddenly. "I don't understand how you do it…but you get me to come out of my shell…just by being yourself. So please…don't humiliate yourself like this again. It hurts to see that smile of yours disappear."

She knew that he had never been so upfront with another person like he was doing with her right now. In a way, she wanted to cry. Because he trusted her with a piece of himself, trusted her enough to kiss her even though he hardly knew her. It was a moment the two of them would have between themselves forever. And she felt selfish to want to keep it that way for as long as she lived.

But why…

" I was scared…" she finally answered, catching Tezuka off guard. "I felt that if I couldn't share this interest with you…that I might not have a chance…"

Don't say it June; you can't burden him with that…

He put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, his mind running rampant trying to figure out what she was attempting to say. "A chance at what?"

"To be your rival."

An upside down crow passed overhead and the sounds of kids playing on the other side of the park became slightly more audible as they sat there in silence. Tezuka was, to say the least, not expecting those words to come out her mouth.

Well what were you expecting? His mind teased. "Pardon?" he finally managed to choke out. She looked up at him, sticking her tongue out in a teasing manner. "Well come on. We both know I'm going to beat you academically, but to be your rival I can't very well lose to you in sports. That would be embarrassing!"

She laughed like a madwoman when he fell over out of sheer frustration. "Well what were you expecting silly? Something profound?" June rose to her feet and brushed off her skirt. Smiling gently, she held a hand out to him. "Thanks for cheering me up though."

Tezuka grunted in "annoyance" and took her hand, pulling himself up. "You're welcome. But remember, you promised to let me know if something was causing you trouble."

"I did in fact say that." She agreed, picking up the racket. June was about to start once more when Tezuka spoke up. "Why don't we go back to my house for dinner now? I'm sure you're hungry from all that running." He laughed when she looked at him and huffed. 'Oh you're terrible, don't make fun of me! I'll show you running!" This time he was the one running from her, as she held the tennis racket and knew full well she wasn't a bluffer.

I couldn't say it today…but one day when I'm strong enough…I'll be able to tell him.

A/N- BAM!! And here we have another chapter! Finally! This is the second longest one of the series so far, so yey! I'm very bad with writing about daily activities, as you can clearly see. So dialogue tends to consume most of my stories. X( Well thanks for the continued support to all of you who review and such! I really appreciate it.