Seiichi was shocked. He didn't see this coming. He was being friendly with Kaori only it resulted to being doubted by his own teammate and was forbidden to have any contact with her. For him, it was simply too much since he didn't do anything bad at all. He tried to reason with him but in the end, his attempts were futile. He didn't want to worsen the situation and just agreed to not talk to her at all but deep inside, he just wanted to say at least goodbye to her and explain why he had to avoid her.

A couple of days after the incident, the daily routine in the Rikkai Dai tennis club continued as nothing serious happened. This only Seiichi and Marui knew.

Marui breathed heavily after revealing his feelings for the blind girl to his buchou. Finally calming down, he looked at him straight in the eye and said, "Don't worry though, buchou. I won't involve this in our club activities, I assure of you."

Seiichi smiled grimly. "Bunta, you have to listen to me---"

"You've said enough. I don't need to hear what you have to say." He interrupted him. "Don't worry about on how Kaori-chan will react. I'll talk to her after this."

The Rikkai Buchou believed that the conversation was over. He sighed in defeat. "Ah. I'll see you at school on Monday then, Bunta."

The volley specialist turned away and started walking until he stopped. Looking back across his shoulders, he added, "Keep your promise."

He sighed as he remembered the scene for the fifth time as he watched the clouds moved ever so slowly above the sky. He glanced back down to the tennis courts where his teammates were training hard for the upcoming tournament. He watched every single regular until his eyes landed on Marui who just used his specialty move with ease. For a moment, he felt saddened but he reminded himself again that it was for the betterment of both the tennis club and for Marui.

But how about you?

Seiichi frowned inwardly. What do you mean by that? And what about me? I'm perfectly fine with everything but it seemed unfair at some point.

See? So you also think that it's unfair that you have to be separated with someone like her.

Yes…I believe about that but I don't want to cause trouble for Bunta, Seiichi reasoned with himself.

So you're saying that it's better to hurt yourself than to seek your own happiness?The voice questioned him again.

My own happiness? What does that have to do with it?

The voice laughed yet its voice was distant. It's your choice on what you want to do with your life. All I'm saying is that one day, you'll realize something important and you'll do anything to gain it.

Seiichi didn't continue to argue with his inner self because Sanada asked him a question. "What is it, Genichirou?" he replied with a smile.

The fukubuchou of the team sighed slightly as he watched his captain. "It's not polite to space out while someone is talking." He said sternly. "Something's troubling you lately." He added.

"No, nothing's troubling me." He shook his head slowly and gave him a reassuring smile.

"It's not good to lie. Do I even have to repeat this? You may be a good liar but you can't lie to me or to Renji." Sanada said monotonously.

Seiichi felt as if he wanted to tease Sanada about something he knew that would tick him to hell but forced himself not to. Instead, he returned, "And you, my dear friend, should not be so uptight most of the time because you'll age faster than the rest of us."

The fukubuchou said, "Stubborn."

"Just like you." He smiled.

Sanada shook his head. He could never win against him at anything.

Kaori was sitting on the side of her bed, feeling a small portion of the sun's ray from where she's sitting. She couldn't help but be worried; She hadn't had any contact with Seiichi for the past few days and oddly enough, Marui called and told her that Seiichi won't be able to visit her because he's been busy lately. She nodded, understanding the Rikkai Dai's tennis captain's situation but deep inside, she could not help but doubt her childhood friend's explanation.

She sighed deeply. She just wished that she could call him personally and asked him what was the real reason but she knew that if she did that, she might cause a problem. She heard a knock from the door and said, "Come inside please."

The one who entered was her older brother, Kannon. As he entered the room, he lightly shut the door behind him and approached his younger sister, sitting beside her. "You've been staying here for quite a while, Kaori-chan." He remarked. "Are you expecting a certain someone to call you?" he questioned her.

Kaori shook her head quickly; a small blush crept on her cheeks. "Of course not, onii-san. I just don't feel like going out." She replied.

"Is that so?" he looked at her intently, checking whether there's any reaction. He let out a small sigh. "Is it that blue-haired young man? What's his name again? Oh yes, Yukimura-san, right?" he said thoughtfully, though he said it intentionally.

Kaori heard the Rikkai Dai's surname and she immediately flushed and it only lasted a mere 2 to 3 seconds.

Kannon caught her. "Ah so he's the one you're waiting." He said teasingly.

She was stunned. "Y-you're mistaken." She said defiantly.

Her older brother raised an eyebrow. "So you're waiting for Bunta, then?" he remarked.

Kaoru paused for a while then shook her head. "…No."

Sighing, he put his left hand on the left temple of his younger sibling and slowly made her lean against his shoulder. "You're upset. Something happened? Tell me." He said quietly, acting more like an older brother than before.

"Well, I…" she started. "I don't know, really. I just feel as if something did happen without me knowing it."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Seiichi-san suddenly didn't visit for quite a while then Bunta-kun came the other day and said that Seiichi-san won't be visiting because of too much work. I know he's the captain of the tennis club and also the student president of his school but it seemed so sudden that he stopped coming here. Knowing him a bit more, he could've at least called me and said about it." She explained.

Kannon blinked. "Is that the reason?"

"Not really." she shook her head. "Bunta-kun has been acting unusual few days ago. I'm not sure what's the reason but I could tell that something's bothering him and it seemed like he won't tell me about it." She told him.

"Kaori…"

"I'm really confused right now, Kannon-niisan. Something really happened and the two of them won't tell me…" she said worryingly.

He sighed. "Okay, how about this. I'll go talk to Yukimura-san and Bunta and after that, I'll tell you everything. Will that make you calm down for a while?" he said reassuringly.

Kaoru nodded once. "Thank you. I just don't want the two of them to break their bond with each other."

Kannon stood up, ruffling her sister's hair. "You worry too much." He walked towards the door and opened it but before going out the room, he added, "I'll call Ami to come inside, the two of us are going out."

"Okay."

Seiichi was inside his room, doing his homework and at the same time, thinking about what Kaori was doing at this time. He really wanted to call and talk to her, explaining to her what really happened and the reason for not visiting her and helping her tend the flowers in the blind girl's greenhouse. He was so immersed in thinking that he didn't hear or notice his younger sister Reiko enter his room and call him.

"Niichan!" she hollered.

Seiichi blinked and looked left. "Reiko?"

Reiko pouted cutely at him and whined, "I've been calling your name a lot of times but you're not replying…" her eyes started to become watery and she sniffed a little.

The older brother felt guilty. "Reiko, I'm really sorry. Please don't cry." He embraced her gently as he calmed her down. "Feeling better?"

The little girl nodded quickly. "Niichan," she called him yet again.

"What is it?"

"You have a visitor downstairs." She said shortly.

"Eh? A visitor?" he repeated.

"I don't know him, really but he seems to know you well. He has this really messy red-orange hair and he's really tall!" she described with actions to boot.

Seiichi chuckled and stood up from his seat. "Ah, I see. I'll be going down to meet him."

"I'll come too!" she piped up as she held his hand. The two of them walked together and went downstairs, going to another hallway until they entered the living room. Reiko finally let go of Seiichi's hand and ran towards the visitor. "Niichan is here! Sorry for making you wait, Visitor-jiichan!" she said toothily.

"Ah didn't I tell you to me niichan and not jiichan? I don't have white hair, you know." He said exasperatedly to the little girl.

"Okay jiichan!" she nodded. The visitor sighed deeply.

Seiichi still stood from his spot. He couldn't believe his eyes. In front of him was Kaori's older brother, Kannon. "Ogawa-san." He said finally.

Kannon looked up and gave him a small wave. "Yo, Yukimura-san." He greeted.

"This is quite unexpected." He commented.

"I quite agree with you there. I can't believe that I've actually visited you." He chuckled. "Didn't know you have an energetic younger sibling." He added.

Seiichi nodded as he sat before him. "Yes, she's ten years old right now. She just had her birthday last week." He told him.

"Is that so?"

Reiko glanced at Kannon and nodded at him furiously. "I'm a big girl!" she said proudly.

He couldn't help but smile at her. "Yes, you're a big girl."

Seiichi beckoned his younger sister and asked her to leave the room for a while, which she complied but before leaving, she kissed him on the cheeks and waved at the visitor. "Handful, is she?" Kannon asked as soon as she left.

The rikkai buchou shook his head and replied, "No. In fact, she usually is the one cheering me up and staying beside me when I'm sick or depressed."

"Ah. That's good." He nodded.

After a minute's silence, Seiichi spoke. "Since you visited, I believe it is something of importance you needed to know or inform me."

Kannon nodded once and said quietly, "My sister's been worrying about you and Bunta for the past few days."

He felt a small pang inside but ignored it a bit. He asked, "Is she?"

"She had a feeling that something happened between the two of you guys and because of that, she's fretting about it ever since you stopped visiting her." He told him. Eyeing on him a bit, he questioned, "Judging from that expression of yours, something did happen. I suggest that you speak about it or I won't leave here."

The Rikkai Dai buchou thought for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should tell him. He responded with a smile, "There is nothing to tell you. Nothing happened between me and Bunta. Please do tell Kaori-san that I won't be able to visit her."

The older guy let out a sigh. "I did say that I won't leave here until I got a sufficient answer." He said seriously.

"I did tell you my answer."

"It wasn't the answer that I'm expecting."

"What kind of answer do you want me to tell you, then?"

"Stop playing around. I'm doing this for my sister so you'd better tell me because right now I can tell that you find me rather annoying. And by the way, you can't fool me that easily, I'm majoring in Psychology." Kannon said sharply.

Seiichi frowned slightly. "I believe it is none of your business."

Kannon smirked in triumph. "I have every right to know what's happening because it concerns about my sister."

"Are you going to tell her about it?" he questioned him.

"It depends on how awful the situation is." He said simply.

The Rikkai Dai buchou sighed in defeat. "It happened when…"

After telling him what really happened, Kannon simply stared at him with his mouth slightly open. "…That's what happened?" he gaped.

Seiichi nodded.

He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed deeply. He didn't expect the situation to be this bad. "So you just stopped visiting her so that the situation between you and Bunta will not worsen but why? You don't have any attraction towards Kaori-chan, which I'm glad about it." He repeated what Seiichi told him.

He sweat dropped at his last comment. He really is protective of Kaori-san. "Even if I did, he won't listen to me." He said.

Kannon nodded, understanding him fully. "He is a stubborn person, that Bunta. Even as a kid, he won't listen to the others and just does what he wants." Glancing at him for a while, he added, "So, what are you going to do now?"

He blinked. "What do you mean by that?" Seiichi asked.

"How are you going to prove to sugar-rush that you see Kaori-chan as a friend and not as a potential girlfriend, which I'm not saying that she is not girlfriend-material, if you're wondering." He elaborated. "Also, I don't think that I'll be able to tell her all about this so this is the only way I could only think of," He pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket and unfolded it.

Seiichi looked at the paper curiously. "What is that?"

Kannon smirked. "This is what I had in mind."

Three days after, the Kantou Tournament began and Rikkai, as usual, won the game against their first opponents with ease. They're determined to win this time and to face Seigaku in the nationals. Seiichi pushed all of the regulars, including himself, to their limits and did not let any of them go easy. They trained hard each day, putting all of their effort so that they will become the champions. When it was 5:45, Seiichi ended today's practice.

"Damn, today's more brutal than usual." Niou panted as he wiped the sweat from his jaw.

"It can't be helped, though. We have to do this until we get to face against Seishun Gakuen." Jackal said as he drank water from his water bottle.

Akaya removed his already sweaty shirt and breathed deeply. "We're definitely going to win this year." He said determinedly. And I'm going to beat that smiling Fuji.

Seiichi checked the time again and after that, he picked up his things. Sanada and Renji watched him closely, not uttering a single word. They knew their captain was hiding something but they couldn't tell what it was since Seiichi was good at hiding things from them. "Next practice will be on Friday afternoon. Dismissed."

As soon as he left, Sanada and Renji went to an empty corner of the tennis courts where any one would not hear them. "Something's up." Renji spoke as he noted that no one's near them.

Sanada nodded. "He won't budge as usual."

"I'm positively sure that it concerns with Marui and his friend." He stated.

"Ogawa? That girl?" the fukubuchou raised an eyebrow at him. "Why is she involved?"

"Simple," Renji nodded once. "If you noticed Marui more closely, you can see that he's less himself when he talks to Seiichi. He's not very good at hiding his emotions, you see." He told him.

Sanada thought about what he said for a moment and realized it as well. "You're right about there but I don't see why Ogawa is connected in this."

"I've got sufficient evidence as to why she's involved and the reason behind it is that Seiichi visits her once or twice in every week at her place." The data specialist said coolly.

"Why is Yukimura visiting her?" he asked.

"As far as I can gather, both of them have the same hobby." He said simply. "He helps her maintain the flowers and plants at the greenhouse that Ogawa takes care of."

"Hm." Sanada nodded once. "That's the only reason but then, Marui---"

Renji nodded. "That's right."

They didn't talk for a while, letting the silence take over.

"If that is so, Yukimura must be…"

"That is something we have to find out, Genichirou." He said finally. "We still lack facts and if this continues," he paused.

"There will be a high chance that we might lose in any of our incoming matches in the tournament." Sanada finished it. "Nevertheless, the two of them shouldn't lose their concentration no matter what happens to them. They should know better not to mix their personal affairs here."

"True. For now, we'll just watch them and if the worst case scenario happens," Renji said.

"We'll have to interfere. This is going to problematic." He said flatly.

"No choice. We'll just have to do our part." Renji muttered as he and the fukubuchou decided to go home.

Sorry for the really long wait yet again. My finals just started yesterday and I have to study which right now I'm temporarily not…eheheh.

Nothing much really happened in this chapter, huh? Mostly about hiding and suspicions between each other. Sorry about that. Something good or bad, your choice, will happen in the next chapter and I hope that you'll enjoy it.

For now, have this chapter. Please review. (Edited...thank god)