Hi! I am back with the new chapter. Just enjoy it guys… I hope.

While you are it, or if you have the time... please feel free to read the latest chapters of 'Cherry Valentines' and 'Marriage Complex'. Thank you very much... ^_^

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Prince of Tennis and never will.

johanna – well… unti unti na nilang nalulutas ang problema… un pa lang ang masasabi ko sa ngayun…

Anonymous13 chapter 1- Thank you that you decided to read the sequel of Crystal Teardrops. Yap, Capella is still sweet as ever and Ryoma is like the same as well. Well, Chris will be receiving more like that in the future… and I agree with you…

Chapter 2: She is indeed brave. Ryoma was shocked alright. The last line was enigmatic, wasn't it? Well, I leave it to your thoughts for a while… tee hee hee…

Chapter 4: Yeah, unfortunately, they suffered a lot. And Meyers was being rude towards them. Tee hee hee… I guess the story will be telling you the truth… very soon… ^_^

Chapter 6: I am glad that you love the last part where they watched the sky. Thank you very much… ^_^

Oh and to answer your question, I update this fic every Friday morning, just like the prequel before. Thank you very much… ^_^

Chapter 7: Omen

Chapter Summary: She thought that bad luck would be that bad. But she was wrong about it. Find that out.

One more week had past and a lot of things happened. Ryoma had been competing in Wimbledon that time. And the others had been doing their own things. They decided to meet in the mansion that time along with the Hyotei.

It was the first time Hyotei ever stepped foot in the mansion and they were really amazed at the sight, except for Atobe of course. Even though they knew their Captain's wealthy status, they still couldn't stop themselves from the shock.

Sakuno was really excited seeing them, especially her grandmother. Her parents allowed her to join their meeting along with Fakir and Ahiru. Capella was kept with Hinagiku at that time. The pink haired girl was also teaching the little boy some self-defense and it was time to have their little warm up.

…And to shift the little boy's attention away from her for a while. Capella had been with her since then.

Sakuno hugged her grandmother the moment they saw each other.

"I am glad to see you again, Obaa-chan." She said while leaning to her grandmother's shoulder.

"Me too, Sakuno. I really miss you." Sumire said hugging her tightly.

Fuji leaned closer to her and gave her a smile, "It's nice to see you in good shape, Ryuzaki-chan."

"He's right nya," Eiji commented as he too leaned closer to the girl, "Ryuzaki-chii's becoming prettier than ever."

"M-mou senpai!" She said as she released herself from the hug and faced them, blush was present to her face, "You guys never changed."

"Well, Eiji-senpai's inspired," Momo suddenly commented and pointed his senior, "His girlfriend returned from London, you see."

"Hey!"

Everyone laughed after that. Sakuno laughed as well. She hadn't laughed like that in ages, as long as she could remember.

"Ryuzaki-san, you're pretty rich huh?" Gakuto commented as he looked around, "No wonder you can eat lots of sweets here."

"Hey, stop that," Oshitari said as he slightly hit his partner on the head, "Have some manner, will you?"

"Sorry about Ore-sama's teammates," Atobe said grabbing her hand and kissed it, "They just don't know what they're doing."

Sakuno was blushing when the Hyotei's Captain did that. Suddenly, someone grabbed her hand from him making everyone shock;

"Don't do that to my fiancée. I am the only one who can kiss her hand."

Everyone looked at the last person who talked. Seigaku didn't like the last person but the Hyotei was wondering about the relationship that the guy had with her. Atobe who was a bit offended, retorted;

"And who are you?" He said as he shifted his look from him to Sakuno who was still blushing, "Aren't you brat's girlfriend?"

"What?!" Everyone reacted when Atobe asked that. Sakuno was speechless. Somehow, she knew who the brat Atobe was talking about.

"What? Whose brat are you pertaining to?"

Everyone sweat dropped at the event. A lot of things happened that they almost forgot about Sakuno's fiancé. No wonder that the Hyotei Captain didn't know about Chris' relationship to the Kitazawa family at all. Before Atobe could ask, Seigaku's Vice Captain interrupted and said something;

"Ummm guys, I think we should start the meeting," Oishi said and then looked at Tezuka, "Shall we go inside?"

Tezuka just nodded as he leaded the others to the door. They entered the door and suited themselves in. Soon after the couple arrived with Fakir and Ahiru signaling that the meeting should commence.

xxx

"So, the painting is fake?" Reinja asked the two who went to Azerbaijan a week ago.

Fuji nodded as confirmation, "But they are actually hiding the real one for safety purposes," He explained as he revealed the paper in front of them, "The fake painting has a message inserted there. I asked the owner to keep it as a secret."

The members of the mansion looked at the folded paper. The two teams had seen the message of the paper. They studied every possible solution for the message but it was useless. Reinja opened the folded paper and read the message aloud;

"You are facing the wrong direction of the light."

"What's that mean?" Reina asked the group this time.

Fuji shook his head, "We thought that it was directions but it was getting nowhere. I am trying to figure out to decipher the message."

"Maybe it's just a literal meaning, We only have four directions to turn to and four directions to enter each," Reinja explained, "We just have to discover the correct way."

"I wish it's just like that," Oshitari said this time, "If we know the right way, it could be the location of the culprit."

"You're right," Reinja agreed, "We cannot let our guard down, now that we both have the two heirs on our side."

They agreed. Sakuno was happy to hear everything now. They shared everything to her and now she was updating her knowledge about it. This painting was the latest information that she got. She hadn't got any idea about the painting at all.

"I also remembered about 'Big Ben'," Fuji said catching everyone's attention, "Remember the last line of the riddle?"

Everyone nodded and told him to continue;

"'Big Ben will strike four', that's the riddle said," Fuji said, "It happened though… when they ambushed your daughter a few weeks ago."

They remained silent after that. Fuji continued talking;

"They didn't give us any warning about their attack. It just happened."

"We need to move fast," Tezuka said all of the sudden, "We need to take actions before the culprit does."

"All we have to do is to find the real perpetuator and to solve this message," Reinja said and then looked at Fakir, "You find something to solve the message from the painting."

"Yes, sire. Certainly." He said.

Reinja looked back at them, "Do you still have the painting?"

"The Aurora Borealis?" Fuji asked them.

Sakuno flinched when she heard that. She looked at her bodyguard and her personal maid. They were smiling at her as if they knew what they were talking about.

P-painting? Aurora Borealis? She thought as she looked at the paper. Then she analyzed every information that she heard so far. She read the paper in her mind. You are facing the wrong direction of the light. Wrong direction? Aurora Borealis is…

"Aurora Australis…"

Everyone looked at her after she said that, looks were wondering about her.

"Aurora Australis?" Reina repeated what she said, "What do you mean by that?"

"Aurora Australis is… the southern counterpart of Aurora Borealis," Sakuno explained making everyone to look at each other. Fuji stared at her as if analyzing what she said, "Y-you mentioned about the painting right? A-and it's about Aurora Borealis… which is the Northern lights and it says here that we are facing the wrong direction of the light… c-could it be the Aurora Australis or the Southern lights?"

Silence erupted between them then, later on, they started praising her making her blush in the process.

"Sugoi Ryuzaki-chii! How did you know that?" Eiji praised her.

"I-Ie," She closed her eyes, "I—I just read that information lately. I've been reading books you see."

"Saa… that book is really useful," Fuji commented as he looked at her, "Thank you Ryuzaki-chan, that will help to the message."

"But solving the problem doesn't mean it's already there," Oshitari said this time, "What does it mean? Do we have to search south from here?"

They remained quiet after that. Things got complicated but Fuji wanted to try it harder. Everyone was thinking about the message but no one could solve it yet.

…At least for now.

Later on:

Capella felt asleep after the self-defense training for hours. It was Sakuno's turn after an hour. She was resting in her room so that she could prefer for her training. Ahiru fixed the little boy's bed as she smiled at him. She gave him a peck on the forehead before she brushed his hair;

"You'll have a wonderful life after this, Capella-kun," She said as she never left her stare to the boy, "I am glad."

"I am also glad that you can smile like that again."

She looked at the last person who talked. Fakir was leaning on the door while staring at them. She blushed when she noticed him.

"H-how come you can say cheesy things now?" She looked away when she couldn't take the knight's stare anymore.

"Why, am I not allowed?" He said walking towards her.

"N-no… it's not like that at all." She replied still not looking at him. She flinched a little when the knight finally approached her and tipped her chin up.

"Then, a smile suits you the best, Ahiru."

She blushed really hard. Looking at him, she knew that she wanted to smile but the way he looked at her was stopping her from doing so. Without the chance of doing anything, Fakir leaned down and kissed her fully on the lips. All she did was to clench her hands to her lap the whole time.

"F-Fakir-san…" She called his name as if she didn't know what to say.

"Ne, Capella's sleeping," He smirked as he suddenly pulled her up from the bed, hugging her to waist with one hand while the other was holding her hand, "Let's go to my room."

Her eyes widened when he said that. She knew what he was thinking and she couldn't help but to blush.

"W-we're in the middle of the work, Fakir-san."

"Correction," He said looking intensely to her eyes, "We have got an hour to rest too, now that they are resting."

"W-what…?" She almost whispered her words.

"Come on, let's have twenty minutes if you are that worried."

"W-wai—" She was about to protest but the knight had already pulled her out to the room and took her to his room. The knight did all the possible things that she wouldn't object. Well, she didn't want to in the first place after all.

Wednesday:

The acrobatic player was really excited about that day. First, there was no practice due to the committee meeting. For some reason, it was very rare of him to become happy for not having a tennis practice, except for Inui's concoction of course. The reason was because of number two. When they learned about the cancellation of the practice, he immediately called Milfeulle and asked her to see him.

…Which the girl agreed.

And now he was waiting for her in front of the school gate. The last they saw each other was a few weeks ago. Milfie was very busy with her work for she had a business that she needed to pay attention to. It was a manga publishing company and her father entrusted the company to her as the Chief Executive officer.

The girl was pretty busy at such a young age.

"Eiji-kun!"

He looked at the area where the voice came from. His smile grew larger when he saw the pink-haired girl walking to his way, "Milfie-chan!"

Milfie stopped in front of him so he had the perfect view to see her. She was wearing a simple white dress. The girl was simple and he liked the sight of her.

"You are so cute!" He couldn't help but hugged her making her gasp in the process, "I want to take you home with me already."

"E-Eiji-kun!" She blushed really hard because of what he said.

Realizing what he did, he immediately released her and apologized, "Gomen, I didn't know what's gotten into me," He said scratching his head then, blush appeared to his face, "I must've missed you a lot."

Milfie looked away as she blushed as well, "I… I… M-me too."

He looked at her and stayed like that for a while. He was blushing as well. Staring intensely at the not-looking-to-him girl, he slowly reached for her hand and grabbed it. Milfie was a bit surprised that made her to look at him, "Let's go."

"E-Eiji-kun…" The girl looked down. He frowned when she did that. He was about to ask her what was wrong when the girl said something first, "C-can we just… go to the park?"

"I won't mind it but why it's only park?" He really wondered about it. He wanted to take her somewhere else better. But it seemed that Milfie was bothered about something.

And he wasn't mistaken when the girl spoke;

"I… don't want the same thing to happen again."

He thought about it. Milfie's fear. She was scared about the last time. No wonder that she was worried about it. Smiling to himself, his other hand went to her cheek and gently caressed it;

"Daijoubu da yo, Milfie-chan," He said being all serious once again, "I will not let that happen again. I don't want to see you sad and definitely I don't want to see you cry. I'll be fine. I promise."

"E-Eiji-kun…" She blushed at his words.

"Well, shall we?" He grinned as he offered her his arm.

Milfie stared at him before to his arm, "Un." She smiled as she accepted the offer afterwards. They started to walk on their way to the park.

Friday, afternoon:

She couldn't believe what was happening. Looking at the T.V screen, the crowd's noise was overwhelming, probably joining the victory of the player who would advance to the finals round. But she didn't understand anything; she didn't want to understand it at all.

"N-nee-chan…" Capella started tugging her shirt as he too was staring at the screen, "Nii-chan lost, wasn't he?"

"…"

"H-he lost the match… how?" Capella couldn't believe it himself.

Sakuno was stunned as well. There were few scenes about the boy leaving the court before they focused at the winner that day. She couldn't see his reaction that time but she knew it.

Ryoma was upset about losing the game.

Night:

She decided to stay in the library after the news. She told Capella that he should stay with Ahiru for a while as Fakir was just outside the library guarding her. She too wanted to distract something. The news affected her too. It felt sad that Ryoma lost his match. If it was that bad for her, what was more for the tennis prince? She couldn't imagine it herself and she knew that the boy needed some time alone.

She thought of calling him later after she read a book for an hour. Browsing the shelves with her eyes, she found something interesting. It was like a diary book and it did catch her attention. Sitting on a chair, she started opening the book.

T-this is indeed a diary. Sakuno thought as she read the owner's book. It's Ouka's diary. Fully catching her attention, she started reading the book.

She learned a lot about the girl. How she became Ahiru's best friend much to her surprise. How she was loved with the people around her. She used to disguise herself just to escape the mansion. She also learned that her room was Ouka's room before. It was also a surprise that the secret passage that Ryoma went was also the girl's escape route. And it was miraculously kept hidden until today.

O-Ouka-san's pretty sneaky too, huh, when she was a child. She giggled at that thought. She loved horseback riding, reading books, dancing and fencing. She often played with her friends in the garden.

Sakuno turned another page and she discovered that it was about her lovelife. Tiashe, that's the name of the person that she loves. She thought as she continued reading. She also discovered that her love life wasn't that easy.

Ouka and Tiashe had no problem with their title. They were both noble and it was okay for them to marry someday. But someone was hindering their love, a person who was chasing the girl. W-wait, I—I remember Ouka? I heard that she had been called… She stopped thinking when she continued reading the book.

It was actually the last page as she turned it. She read the remaining words and her eyes widened to what she had discovered. She slowly stood up while still trembling, losing the energy to grip the book, she suddenly dropped it on the floor. She was actually wondering and staring nowhere;

"N-no way…" Her eyes widened due to what she had learned, "T-the real culprit is…" She almost jumped to her location when her phone suddenly rang. Still dazed at what she had discovered, she picked up the phone without looking at her caller;

'H-hello…' She greeted with the lack of enthusiasm.

'…Hey…'

Her eyes widened when she recognized the voice, 'R-Ryoma-kun!'

'…'

'Ryoma-kun, I—I have something to tell you. I-I—'

'Sakuno…'

'H-hai…'

'I want to see you...' He said after a series of silence and then he added when she didn't reply, '…now.'

'Eh?'

'I am outside the mansion. I am soaking wet.'

Meanwhile:

Fuji was stranded in a department store that night. Of all the days that it rained why did it have to be the day where he didn't bring his umbrella? So much for being genius.

"I didn't expect that it would rain today." He said. The truth was they were also bothered about the result of their youngest regular member of their club. Ryoma lost his match as everyone watched the game. The Kawamura restaurant became silent when they saw the result. They felt sad about it but Eiji made the whole team to still congratulate the boy when he came back.

It wasn't the boy's first time losing the tournament at Wimbledon's after all.

After that little encouragement, they parted ways. And that was the reason he was in a department store. Sighing, he decided to go back to the store to buy an umbrella as the rain was pouring heavy that night, "Let's see if I have change left." He said to himself as he yanked some money to his pocket. As he got some to his pocket, something came out in it and fell on the wet ground. Fuji saw it.

It was a tissue paper that he inserted to his pocket a while ago after he ate some wasabi sushi at Kawamura. He wasn't aware that he inserted it to his pocket. He watched the thin tissue getting soaked into the rain. As he observed it, something came to his mind.

His eyes suddenly widened, "That's it." He whispered as he thought of something. Why didn't I think of it before? He thought as he clenched his hands tight. With the new discovery, he ran to the wet pavement to get home really fast, forgetting to buy an umbrella completely that day.

Mansion:

Holding an umbrella, she was looking straight ahead of her. Using the same secret passage, she was able to come outside just like him. What she was shocked about was the appearance of the tennis prodigy in front of her.

Still wearing his fila hat, his expression was unreadable. He was wearing a black t-shirt covering with the black jacket and paired with black short. He was holding an umbrella as well but he wasn't using it. The rain was heavy but he didn't seem to mind it. Blinking twice, she returned to her reverie and ran to him.

"Ryoma-kun!" She said when she approached him shading him with her umbrella, "What's gotten into you! Y-you could've been sick of what you are doing right now!"

Ryoma didn't stir when she tried to wipe away the water from his hat and face.

"W-what are you doing anyway? Why are you soaking wet?" She asked him with hints of concerns and worries, "Ryoma-kun, what's wrong? Tell me?"

"…"

"I-is this… is this about the tournament?" She saw him flinch and she knew that she was right, "It's alright. Don't worry about it. You will not let yourself sulk because of the lost, will you? I—I mean losing will only make you stronger, right?

"…"

"So, use that chance and make yourself stronger, okay," She said as she smiled at him, "And then make sure that you will beat your opponent next time."

She let out a sudden gasp when he suddenly gave her a hug, surprising her in the process. She accidentally dropped her umbrella making her wet as well. He was cold due to the weather but she didn't mind it. She felt that he was hugging her real tight under the rain. He placed his cheek to her neck making her blush in the process.

"Seriously," He said for the first time, "You have the right words that I really need to hear at times like this."

"Ryoma… kun." She whispered. The boy wasn't planning to let go as if he needed the strength that he could get from her.

"You…" He started brushing her now soaking wet hair, "…will still be here even if I lose."

Sakuno was shocked when he said that. Ryoma was affected at his lost but somehow, his words were telling her something else. To make them comfortable once again, she tapped his back and gave him her reassuring reply, "I will always support you, no matter what happens."

xxx

The place was rather dark but the five-year old boy didn't care about it. He was sleeping soundly in his bed and didn't care about the world.

How dangerous that world to him was at that time.

He wasn't even aware that someone had entered his room and quickly walked to his side of the bed. The person placed a handkerchief to his mouth. He had a difficulty in breathing as he tried to struggle but soon after, he lost the small amount of strength and went back to slumber. It would have been a peaceful sleep if it wasn't for the person smirking at him.

xxx

The tensai arrived home making the other members wondered about it.

"What happened to you? Why are you soaking wet?" Yumiko asked him.

"Don't worry about me?" He said walking his way to his room. Yumiko and Yuuta looked at each other before they saw him appearing from his own room carrying the paper in his hand. Then they followed him to the kitchen.

"What are you doing nii-san?" Yuuta asked his brother. Fuji Syuusuke lit up the electric stove and placed the back paper on top. He walked closer to him and said, "H-hey! You are not going to burn the evidence you've got, are you?"

"No, I am not. Just watch." Fuji said keeping the paper on top of the stove. Yumiko and Yuuta just watched what Syuusuke was doing. Then, they noticed that something was appearing from the back of the paper.

"T-this is…" Yuuta couldn't believe it. Words were slowly appearing on the paper.

"You're right," Fuji said watching the paper revealed the letters, "This is the secret message of the paper."

They watched the paper being heated up under the fire. When it was finally revealed, shock was registered to their faces. Fuji became alerted when he realized everything.

"No way, it can't be?"

"Syuusuke? Do you know?" Yumiko asked him.

Fuji looked at them and gave them a serious look, "Ryuzaki-sensei has to know this. I need her to tell Ryuzaki-chan's parents before it's too late." With that he quickly ran from their house.

"Syuusuke, the umbrella—what a bother." Yumiko shook her head watching her younger brother ran under the rain… again.

xxx

"I am sorry for making you wet as well."

Sakuno smiled at him as she sweat dropped, "I-ie, that's fine. W-wait, I think that you should have a change of clothes," She said before she grabbed the umbrella on the ground and gave it to him, "I'll ask Fakir-san if he has some that fits for you."

Ryoma watched her walked away from her. He remembered that he was holding his own umbrella, "No need to give this to me though." He whispered to himself as he lifted her umbrella that he was holding. Sakuno started to run and went her way back to where she appeared. Smirking to himself, he slowly followed the girl ahead of her.

The sound of the heavy rain that fell failed him to hear something that came to their location. His eyes were slowly widened when he saw the girl wobble her head to her sideways, swinging her wavy hair in the process. It was a slow motion when he saw her collapse on the wet ground.

"Sakuno!" He said as he dropped the umbrella to the ground and ran to her. He also felt something sting to his nape. His eyes widened as he couldn't find his voice. He too also collapsed fighting for the consciousness. He looked above and tried to vision the girl with his feline eyes. The rain was giving him a hard time to see her but he could sense her there. He gritted his teeth, "Sakuno…"

His vision was slowly fading away. He could sense another figure standing in front of the girl and bent down to her. He saw the figure brushing the girl's hair. He was able to see the figure smirking before he too lost consciousness in the amidst of the heavy rain.

xxx

I hope Ryuzaki-chan's omen is not that bad, right? Fuji thought to himself as he ran in the middle of the rain. He needed to tell everyone really fast. Gripping the paper in his hands, there was only evidence that could save everyone from danger.

Be careful. The culprit is just around the mansion. And I know… The culprit…

Done! How was this chapter? Something bad happened. What did Sakuno and Fuji discover? Or should I say who? Find that out in the next chapter. Expect a lot of actions in the future chapters. I hope it will turn out fine… Sigh…

Reviews please! Need to motivate myself more. Give me a boost, guys. Thank you very much.

Just Sharing: While waiting for the last chapters of Gakuen Alice which was taken for ages… sigh, I decided to read another manga. I picked Shaman King Flowers. Tee hee hee, I love the sequel… It's the story of Hana Asakura, Yoh and Anna's son. (To think that they named their son Hana even though it's a girl's name. Well, Hana's name has its history so don't judge it.) He's funny alright and just like his father who befriended Manta and mostly Ren Tao, he also befriended someone and the name is Yohane Asakura. Yohane is his distant relative by the way… from the branch family. I love their friendship that started as enemy first. But oh well. Hana has also a fiancé that showed up and her name is Alumi (Anna the Itako III) Okay that's for it… the last was when Hana met his uncle and the current god, Hao Asakura and called him dummy for several times… (Hana was only a baby back then.) I restrained laughing when I read that chapter… tee hee hee… Sorry for telling it… can't help it… You should read it too… I haven't told anything yet… just the fun part… tee hee hee… ^_^

Next chapter: The Truth