I bet some of you were thinking that I wouldn't be back for a long time. Well, you were partly correct. With the season and everything going on, it did take me a bit of time to get this ready enough to upload. I hope it was worth the wait. Thank you so much to those who have placed this on their favorite's list. I honestly wasn't expecting that sort of response with this story. You guys are all great readers and keep me going.

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Chapter 6

Sakuno looked carefully over the copy of the notes she'd taken from Inui-senpai's notebook, but still was unsure how she was to interpret it.

"Tezuka-senpai, have you taken a look at this?" She turned to her husband who was dressing Akira in the new outfit his mother had made for him. It was such a cute outfit that Sakuno had decided to take the baby to get some professional photos done.

Tezuka turned slightly toward her. "Yes," he said. "He even has notes about Akira."

Sakuno set the notebook aside for the moment since she was heading to the school with Tezuka and the team's morning practice. She stretched her arms high over her head before turning toward her husband who had just finished dressing the baby.

"Do we have everything ready?" she asked him. He nodded, carrying the baby facing down across his forearm.

Sakuno gathered together her backpack and the fully stocked baby bag along with an extra blanket for just in case. As she was taking the bus she wouldn't be able to take the stroller without help. She was going to be out of the house for the whole day, so she knew she had to prepare for everything.

Tezuka settled the baby in the carrier before he lifted it in his left hand. He led the way to the bus stop, leaving Sakuno to follow behind him at her own pace.

On the bus Akira decided he wanted to be held and fussed until he was in his father's arms. Both noticed how the females on the bus reacted to his actions. Sakuno couldn't help but be intrigued by the way the girls vied for his attention, even when it was apparent that Tezuka wasn't interested.

It wasn't really something that she noticed before since she had always barely paid attention to the tennis captain before they were in this mess. Now that she was aware, she found it interesting that someone with such a cold front could garner such attention.

'What am I thinking? What about Ryoma and his fan club? He never seems to encourage the attention.' She let loose a chuckle she thought was well kept.

"What is so funny?" she heard Tezuka ask. Over his left shoulder Akira's face rolled into view.

She shook her head, leaning forward to smile at her son. "Hi pa pa. Hi mommy's sweetheart." She got a smile from her son, which caused her to practically squeal, "There's that smile."

"Sakuno," Tezuka said quietly. "I asked you a question."

Her eyes shifted from her baby boy to her husband, a slight smile on her face. "Seeing those girls fawn over you just reminded me of Tomo-chan and her Ryoma fan club." She shrugged as if it weren't so important.

They said nothing else for the rest of the trip. When their stop arrived, Sakuno grabbed the carrier by its handle as she waited for the bus to stop. Tezuka stood first, carrying the baby out into the school grounds.

Sakuno stepped down to his side. It had been too long since she had to come to the school in the morning like this, when many of the sports clubs began morning practices.

She glanced around, remembering what her life had been like before she'd gotten pregnant. The girls' tennis team members were already gossiping on their way to change into their uniforms.

Around the corner were the guys. Inui had already changed into his uniform and stood waiting for her. Tezuka continued to walk, allowing Sakuno to do what she wanted to do.

Sakuno bowed before Inui. He in turn, returned the favor before pointing toward the courts where one of the players was already beginning to practice.

"Information gathering is a very delicate art. For those without the scientific minds, information gathering is meaningless. What I need you to look for is habits or the clues that tell you the actions they are about to take."

Sakuno made sure she wrote down the important things that Inui said. She understood that she wasn't guaranteed to get anything right, but if she did her best then perhaps it would be helpful.

'Hm, I could probably do like Momochan-senpai as well and gain personal information.' Looking through Inui's notes she'd noticed he sometimes had a habit of missing personal information in favor of looking at tennis skills.

"Do you know what schools you will be visiting today?" he asked her.

Sakuno shrugged. "I don't think I was going to do too much spying today. It's difficult to say who will be practicing when. Plus I kind of wanted to be here for the ranking matches. Tezuka-senpai believes that this will be the best season yet."

Inui pushed his glasses back on top of his face. "He's probably right. The talent had definitely improved around here."

They discussed a few more techniques for information gathering before Inui had to go practice. Sakuno stayed to watch, practicing her information gathering techniques on the players.

Her grandmother had decided to hold Akira while Sakuno gave her full attention to the practice. When it was all over, Sakuno grabbed her son to head for a good coffee shop where she could sit and await the opening of the malls.

After she got the pictures taken of Akira and did a little window shopping, she'd return to have lunch with Tezuka at the school. And after that she'd probably drop Akira off with Tezuka's parents for the night. After that, she'd figure out something to do.

"Smile for mommy," Sakuno kept saying, doing her best to get Akira to smile. This time he wouldn't listen to her, being much too occupied with trying to stuff the tennis ball into his mouth. "Come on, pa pa, you can smile.

For just a single moment he looked up at her. He lifted the ball with both his hands, revealing the words Seigaku High across his shirt. Very quickly the photographer took the photo of the moment Akira squealed with joy.

Sakuno too squealed, knowing that the photo was bound to be the absolute best photo ever taken of a baby. She bowed to the photographer repeatedly, thanking him for his time and effort.

According to him, it would take him about two hours to have all her photos ready, more than enough time for her to go looking around the mall.

Since having Akira she found she spent more time shopping for baby items than actually looking for things for herself. The first store she entered had some of the cutest hats for babies. She wanted to buy one so bad but was afraid to do it.

She feared everyone instantly mistaking her son for Ryoma-kun's because he always wore a hat. Instead, she bought a few more sleeping outfits to be kept with his grandparents. It was easy to tuck the small bag in her backpack.

The two hours over, she rushed over to the photographer's to pick up the photos of Akira. That done, she rushed toward the nearest bus stop, praying that she choose the correct one and didn't get lost like she was prone to do.

She had one hour to get to the school and find Tezuka so they could have lunch as a family and if she missed this, she was sure he wouldn't allow for another try.

"Taka-san has invited all the regulars to his father's restaurant after practice," Tezuka said between bites of his specially made lunch.

Sakuno jumped slightly before replying, "Oh, what are you going to do then?"

"I said I'd think about it. It depends how the practice runs later this afternoon." Sakuno knew that every time he said that it meant that he intended to do his own workout and wanted to make sure that he had the time to do it to his satisfaction, especially since they would have a break from the baby.

They sat under a tree near the boys' courts together watching the few players get in a short practice. Sakuno turned her attention back to her husband who now had Akira. She couldn't help the soft smile touching her lips. "He's always so calm with you," she said suddenly.

Tezuka looked down at Akira who had fallen asleep in his father arms. He made a soft sound that could be interpreted as nearly anything. She decided to take it as a good sign.

"Do we have any idea who's going to make it to the regulars' team?" Sakuno asked. So far the usual regulars have managed to win all their matches the first day of the rankings. With two more days to go, it was possible that it could change.

"Whoever wins, the team will be strong and that is what matters."

Sakuno stared down at her lunch. Having conversation with Tezuka was just too difficult. He was just too quiet all the time, never speaking unless he absolutely had something to say. She should be used to it, what with the way Ryoma-kun always behaved, but she wasn't.

She was an all around friendly person. "Tezuka-senpai," she said softly. "Do you hate me?"

Tezuka glanced in her direction. "No," he said finally. "There is no reason to hate you."

"But…you don't talk to me. So I just wondered that's all," she fairly whispered. Tezuka looked straight into her eyes, everything just as stoic as usual. She was the first to turn her eyes away from him.

"How can we say much when you continue to call me senpai?" Sakuno paused, having never thought of that before. She didn't feel comfortable calling him anything other than senpai, but he was supposed to be more than that to her wasn't he?

He was her husband and as her husband, it seemed unusual to call him senpai. She sighed, adding it to the list of things she had to think about when it came to Tezuka.

Lunch ended not too long after, forcing Sakuno to have to leave the school with Akira. On the bus to her in-laws home, she thought about what Tezuka had said. It was true, although she was his wife she didn't always behave as the wife.

But, it was hard to know what to do when she was so young. She didn't even know his first name that well. What was she supposed to call him?

She glanced down at her son sleeping away in his carrier. "I don't suppose you know what mommy should do?" She wasn't surprised when she didn't receive an answer.

"Baby Tezuka pictures. So cute," Eiji said when Sakuno presented him with a wallet sized photo of the baby. The others were gathered around looking at their own pictures given to them.

"You didn't have to do this Sakuno-chan," Oishi said, although the smile on his face said that he was happy she did.

Sakuno shrugged it off. "I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to do something to boost the moral of the team. Since he's wearing a Seigaku uniform I thought, he looks kind like a mascot or something like that." She laughed sheepishly.

From the corner of her eye she watched her husband approach the group. She turned, preparing herself to speak with him in private. Now that she'd had some time alone, she'd come to a conclusion.

Before she opened her mouth to suggest they speak she heard Eiji say, "Eh, Tezuka. Look at baby Tezuka's smile." He waved the photo in front of his captain's face. Tezuka ignored him in favor of starting practice, forcing the regulars to run an extra ten laps, just because he felt like it.

Sakuno sat around while they worked out, working on building her own data technique while she watched Tezuka begin his own ranking match against Oishi. When he won this one, it would be his fourth win and his automatic entry into the regulars.

She glanced up at the sound of Tomoka's voice as she cheered on Ryoma. Sakuno glanced at her husband playing. "Tezuka-se…san," she finally whispered "See, it's easy to do. You just have to do it." That was what she intended to use until she could bring herself to ask for more.

With a relatively sad smile she gave up on her note taking, instead taking her place by the fence as she watched the progression of the match. She saw for herself, perhaps for the first time in her memory, just how good Tezuka was.

How could she have ever thought only Ryoma-kun had a beauty to his movements on the courts? Tezuka's movements were so much more graceful, so perfected compared to Ryoma.

Sure both males had the conceitedness of players who knew they were good. They were nationally ranked. Ryoma had played in the US Open and Tezuka had the scouts pushing for him to hit the pro circuit.

Many would think that she was almost dating Ryoma by being with Tezuka in a way, except she wasn't. 'Oh what am I thinking? Stop rambling Sakuno.'

The next time she looked up, Tezuka was shaking hands with his closest friend. She smiled heading toward the entrance to congratulate him and that way she should be able to speak with him as well.

She stood before him, waiting for him to finish giving advice to his friend. She smiled briefly at Oishi as he passed her by. Tezuka turned toward her, waiting patiently for her to either speak or to step aside so that he may leave the court.

Sakuno took a deep breath before she smiled. "Good job Tezuka-san," she said. He nodded his head in acknowledgment before guiding her away from the fence.

"I've decided we will gather at Taka-san's family restaurant with the others," he told her. Sakuno gave a nod. She didn't mind going to Taka-san's family sushi restaurant. The food was always excellent and it gave them the opportunity to be seen in a social gathering.

The matches for the second day ended soon after. All of the regulars gathered after they changed. Eiji and Fuji stood together discussing their favorite aspect of the photo given to them. Sakuno stood behind Tezuka being tested by Inui about note taking. Not too far away from her position, Tomoka latched on to Ryoma.

As a group they headed to the restaurant, where Taka-san's father was already in the process of making some of his specialties. Taka-san joined him, creating sushi that had everyone's mouths watering.

Sakuno sat the table with all the seniors. There was fun and laughter. None of the seniors thought ill of her for having been put Tezuka in a compromising position. They treated her like always.

For the first time since her marriage and motherhood, she truly felt relaxed and happy. It didn't even bother her that she occasionally felt the glare of Tomoka on her back.

After all, what did her obvious jealousy matter when she could have a good time?

Sakuno ate her fill; actually, she ate more than her fill and wondered if she was going to have enough energy to make it back home. Beside her, Tezuka walked slowly, keeping even with her for once.

"Dinner was fun wasn't it? Didn't you think hanging around the others was fun?"

"Yes," he said. Sakuno turned her eyes back forward, wondering what it was she should say next, or if she should actually say something at all. The night was nice and it didn't seem so bad to have silence.

When they reached the junction to reach the house, Tezuka guided her in a different direction. Sakuno followed along, curious as to where they were now going. She didn't actually voice her question, she just followed.

It wasn't long before they reached the street courts. They were empty at this time, but that didn't seem to matter at all to Tezuka.

He dug through his bag for a racquet, handing one to her before picking up his own regular one. "One set match," he told her.

"But I'm no good," she said softly. He shrugged, unconcerned with her talent level. When he simply took his place on the opposite side of the court, she soon followed.

"You serve first," he said and tossed her the ball. Sakuno grasped it tightly, getting ready for her first serve. She had no idea what it was he wanted, but she was determined to play at her best, however pitiful it was in comparison to her husband.