Author's Notes: Please Read AND Review! I would seriously like to know how I'm doing with the story so far. I've also included some suggested pranks in this chapter, having tweaked it a bit!


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Seigaku Tennis Grounds (Wednesday Morning Practice)

"Everyone, 10 laps around the courts for warm up." Tezuka's commanding voice boomed throughout the rather deserted grounds of Seishun Gakuen Middle school. It was 6 am in the morning and everyone carried out the order of their impassive yet authoritative captain as they got ready to start their laps albeit begrudgingly.

"Everyone must finish under 2 minutes. Consequences await those who fail to do so." A deep menacing voice that could only belong to the resident data-man rang through the hollow tennis grounds. The Regulars and the Varsity members were instantly stirred up at the sight of thick, red liquid that seemed to bubble inside a transparent water bottle.

"Bloody Mary." The deranged bespectacled boy introduced eerily. "Also, last one to finish will have to drink twice the amount." Terrified yelps occupied the Seishun Gakuen Tennis grounds as another bottle with the same 'puke-worthy' liquid was exposed before everyone's eyes.

"B-blood?!" Momoshiro and Kawamura both scoffed out, the sight of the bottles seemed to have effectively awakened them from their stupor.

"Who's Mary, nya?" The eternally effervescent Kikumaru asked in innocent curiosity while pointing at one of the bottles.

"Mada mada dane, Eji-senpai." Echizen remarked impassively at his supposedly 'wiser' senior.

"Fsssssh..." Kaidoh hissed in agreement.

"You should seriously get your boyfriend to take up another hobby, Yumi-chan." Chiharu whispered to her friend in a lecturing tone, Reiko adjusted her spectacles by the stem and nodded in agreement. Yumi gave them two high-velocity slaps at the back of their heads which she thought were well-deserved. Kaita, the gentle giant, remained dumbstruck in all the commotion.

Oishi rubbed his eyes violently while doing his routine mental roll call, being the only person besides Tezuka who was unaffected by the ruckus. Everyone was well accounted for except for a certain brown-haired tennis phenomenon. Was he hallucinating or was THE Fuji Syusuke, resident tensai of the Seigaku Tennis Club, missing in action? Truly, it was not like the said tennis prodigy to absent himself from tennis practice, certainly not without notifying anyone before-hand. He tapped his foot rather nervously as his innate mother-hen nature took over him again.

It's definitely unlike Fuji to be absent for practice. Oishi mentally panicked as he turned towards the perpetually calm captain like a nervous mother chicken who was fed 50 kilos of pure Amanti Coffee beans before realizing one of her chicks were missing. Just as he was about to confront the stoic boy, an excited "Hoi" caught his attention.

"Hoi! Fujiko! You're late, nya!" The unremittingly excited voice of Seigaku's resident acrobatic player rang loudly through the empty tennis grounds as soon as his hawk-like eyes spotted a familiar figure with honey-brown hair approached the grounds.

"Ohayou, Eiji." The lost but now found tennis prodigy greeted the hyperactive redhead with his everlasting smile as he walked to the direction of his team mates with a slight limp.

"Fuji!" Oishi exclaimed; feeling relieved that nothing bad had happened to their resident tensai, or so he thought. He then noticed the hobble in the said genius' walk as he took another step. "What happened?" The Seigaku vice captain asked his team mate in a panic-stricken tone as he pointed to the boy's right foot.

"Just a little careless accident this morning, Give me a few minutes and I'll be fine." Fuji reassured his worry-wart of a team mate as he flashed him a comforting smile.

Everyone was getting ready to start their laps when they too noticed the limp in their team mate's walk.

"Fuji-senpai, don't tell us you managed to get injured just before the regionals?!" Momoshiro exclaimed in a shocked tone as he eyed his senior's right foot. After all, this was Fuji Syusuke. He isn't called genius for nothing. So how does a genius like his senpai manage to "carelessly" get himself into an "accident"? He doesn't.

"Nya! We're doomed! How will we ever win regionals without Fujiko? Nya!" Kikumaru cried in despair seeing that their team had just lost a valuable asset that greatly contributed to their entry in the national tournaments.

"Mada mada dane, Eiji-senpai." Echizen said impassively despite the hidden look of concern under his signature white cap.

"Saa... I think everyone is worrying too much. As I said, I'll be good to go in a few minutes." Fuji reassured his team mates once more as he felt the tension build up in the atmosphere.

"Mou Fuji, are you sure you're okay?" Kawamura worriedly asked his friend once again while in his normal state.

"There is a 98 percent chance that Fuji was not injured because of an accident. Rather, it seems someone had conjured the whole set-up." A pair of shimmering spectacles glimmered as Inui's knowing voice declared the statistics of his self-formulated theory.

"Saa... Everyone is over reacting. I merely got up at the wrong side of the bed." Fuji continued to try and extinguish the unnecessary hype about his right foot. He turned his attention to a certain bespectacled girl who turned blue after sensing the boy's gaze.

"Nya! You mean the other teams are trying to sabotage ours?!" Kikumaru squeaked in horror, as he feared that he might be the next one on the 'hit list, completely ignoring Fuji's statement.

"What is everyone doing? 20 Laps around the courts now!" Everyone stiffened as they heard the slightly annoyed tone in their usually impassive tennis captain's voice as he coughed up another order to run laps, adding an extra 10 to the previous one. Everyone scampered to run their laps before their buchou made it a hundred.

"Fuji. Are you sure everything is fine?" Tezuka asked his team mate in his usual monotone voice while eyeing his right foot.

"Hai, Tezuka-buchou." The tensai answered teasingly, which earned him a stern glare from his stoic captain. He put on his tennis shoes and tapped his right foot on the ground a few times. When he felt it was back to normal, he smiled and hopped to.

Tezuka fought the urge to shake his head and belch out another set of laps as he fought another migraine shooting up.


Meanwhile...

"Ne Yumi-chan, I didn't think other schools would stoop so low as to try and injure one of our players to win." Chiharu murmured to her friend in a slightly concerned tone as they finished their first lap.

"I agree. They don't see us using Kaita-san to pound other people into minced meat." Ayumi replied in a slightly irritated tone as she looked behind to see the clueless giant trailing behind them with an innocent smile. Then she turned to see her raven-haired friend and couldn't help but notice her distant gaze as she ran behind the gentle giant.

Maybe I went too far this time. I almost put the whole team in jeopardy. Reiko shook her head as she disagreed with her guilt-filled conscience.

He totally deserved it. That jerk! The pale-faced girl tried to justify her actions as she defended herself in her own mental debate.

Reiko's Flashback

Tuesday Night

Reiko savagely consumed her dinner while intensely plotting a scheme to get a back at her nemesis who was the primary suspect for her beloved Mr. Lemon's murder.

Mr. and Mrs. Hasegawa gaped incredulously at their pig of a daughter as she downed another full bowl of rice and pork Katsudon in a record-breaking 3 seconds. They tolerated their daughter's grotesque table manners and decided to use the "Growing Teen" excuse to justify her 'bore-ish appetite.

"I GOT IT!" The two elders were suddenly taken aback by their daughter's sudden burst of excitement as she ran up to her room while cackling maniacally.

"Hormones." Mr. Hasegawa concluded as he finished his cup of tea with a stern expression, despite the massive sweatdrop behind his temples. His wife could only nod, still stunned by what just happened.

In her room...

"Since you like cacti so much, Fuji-kun..." Reiko was mentally laughing like a mad woman as she figured out her next plot to get back at her arch enemy. She walked over to her room's window and cracked a mischievous smile when she saw a wide-open glass casement across her room.

End of Flashback

He couldn't have seriously been injured, can he? Reiko's conscience continued to trouble the bespectacled girl who just finished her 5th lap around the courts. Her thought was interrupted by a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around and felt her face turn blue at the sight of her arch nemesis' perpetually smiling face as he caught up.

"Saa... That truly was a good one, Hasegawa-san." Fuji greeted his brilliantly devious nemesis as he caught up with her, flashing his trademark smile that was sure to prick her last nerve.

All the guilt that the pale-faced girl was feeling quickly vaporised as soon as she saw Fuji in tip-top shape and more annoying than ever. She felt a vein pop on her forehead, her temper starting to sizzle.

"Ah... I don't know what you're talking about." Reiko tried to keep a straight face as she denied everything, failing to convince anyone.

"Saa... I almost stepped on Ramon-san. It truly was a close one." Fuji continued. Although his smile looked exactly the same, something in his tone sent unwanted chills down the pale girl's spine.

Fuji's Flashback

RRRRIIIING!

A certain brown-haired boy groggily awoke from his slumber as his arm aimlessly looked for his trusty alarm clock. After instinctively finding what he was feeling for, he rubbed his eyes and checked the time, smiling when he realized he had woken up on cue. He yawned as he stretched his arms before deciding to jump out of bed.

As he took his first step on the ground, he felt a prickling sensation shoot up from his right foot. At first he thought his foot may be numb from putting weight on it while he slept, but then he realized he woke up lying on his back and not on his side.

It took him a few seconds to realize that the prickling feeling seemed to be more painful than having just a numb foot. He decided to turn on his bedside lamp and was glad that he was in the privacy of his own room when his jaw dropped and his honey-brown hair stood up like Albert Einstein's.

Instead of finding the usual beige carpet that covered his entire bedroom floor, a sea of green potted cacti occupied the whole ground, not leaving even a fraction of a millimetre to step on. He eyed his right foot and noticed that a familiar pot of Pincushion cactus underneath it. He carefully removed the seemingly attached pot from the bottom of his right foot and inspected it carefully. Underneath the pot read:

"Mr. Lemon, 2 years old."

Fuji felt his face automatically crack a smile as he marvelled at the genius of the only person that could have been the master mind. He placed the potted cactus on his bedside table before deciding to do the same with the rest of the pots until he could make a clear foot path. He stooped down to grab another pot when he realized, just beside the empty space where Mr. Lemon's pot had been, was a familiar chequered outfitted cactus with a handmade cowboy hat. The entire colour drained from the boy's face when he realized that: Had he stepped a centimetre more to the left, he would've been responsible for the massacre of his beloved "Ramon-san."

End of Flashback

"Eye for an eye." The bespectacled girl said monotonously, trying to sound as emotionally unaffected as possible.

"True. Then I guess you won't mind if I take my turn then, ne Hasegawa-san?" Reiko stopped dead on her tracks while Fuji flashed her a revoltingly sweet smile.

"Not to worry, I'll keep it non-violent. It's not in my nature to physically assault people of the opposite gender." The brown-haired boy reassured in mock sincerity as he sprinted off to the rest of his team mates.

Fuji Syusuke. What're you intending to do?

Everyone seemed relieved to see their resident tennis prodigy back in perfect shape as they gave the boy hard slaps on the back. Everybody was elated when they all finished their laps at the same time, except a disturbed pale-faced girl who was rooted to the ground while intensely contemplating what her nemesis had in mind. It didn't take long for her to realize what her arch enemy had in store.

"Hehehe... Hasegawa-san." Reiko's deep thoughts were interrupted by a tap on her shoulder and an ominous aura that loomed over her. She hesitantly turned around to the direction of the deep disturbing voice that could only belong to Inui Sadaharu, your friendly neighbourhood mad concocter.

"You were last one to finish, Hehehe..." Reiko's pale face turned blue, again, when she saw the deranged boy hold out two, 1.25 litre bottles of 'Bloody Mary' in it.

"N-n-ne, Inui-san, maybe w-we c-can work s-s-something out? I have lots of valuable information for you." Reiko pleaded as she tried to negotiate with the mad concoctor who disregarded her appeal, much to her dismay.

She looked to her supposed 'friends' for help but found them already discussing her last will and testament as they circled her.

The last thing she remembered was seeing the satisfied smile that stretched across Fuji Syusuke's face from ear to ear. The painful feeling of the thick liquid burned up her nostrils and entered her tear ducts as her body tried to find any type of passageway to push the concoction out.


Clinic...

"BLECKH!"

Sounds of aggrieved retching echoed through the whole sick bay as Reiko regurgitated another set of last night's Katsudon, that morning's cereal and a heaping mass of human intestines, or so it felt that way. Reiko searched for the nearest toilet bowl the instant she regained consciousness, the urgent feeling of vomiting overwhelming her once more.

"Reiko-chan, how are you feeling?" Reiko heard a faint knock on the lavatory door and heard the familiar tennis coach's voice call out her name. She heaved another set of what was once a deliciously home cooked meal to deliver her answer.

After coughing out everything she possibly could, Reiko ripped open a new pack of toothbrush and proceeded to intensely 'disinfecting' her mouth.

"Ah... Feeling better now?" The elderly coach greeted the pale girl as she stepped out of the toilet. Reiko could only manage to give her a weak nod.

"Not a lot of people are immune to Inui's 'concoctions', so it wasn't a big surprise." Ryuzaki-sensei reassured the girl was in perfectly normal to react like a pregnant woman with morning sickness.

"You should be proud, you're the first girl to have ever tried one of his drinks, and you survived." The old coach admired as she flashed the stirred girl an enthusiastic smile. "Although, you were out cold a little longer than expected."

"Lucky me." A hint of sarcasm was evident in Reiko's voice as she took the 'compliment' thrown at her by the elderly coach. The aged coach's smile grew wider at the girl's retort.

"Mou, there's no need for sarcasm, Reiko-chan, you really did get us worried back there." Reiko was oblivious to the mischievous smile that now spread across Ryuzaki-sensei's aged face as the pale girl shakily went to fetch her school uniform from her badminton/tennis bag.

"Gomen, Ryuzaki-sensei. I really do appreciate you attending to me, especially when the school nurse wasn't here." Reiko felt guilty and ashamed by her impudence towards the elderly lady who took care of her after being mercilessly food poisoned.

"Ah, don't thank me. Thank Tezuka-kun, he was the one who carried you here and tended to you. Well, I guess I'll be going now. We have a Faculty meeting before school starts. Take care Reiko-chan!" Ryuzaki-sensei flashed a teasing smile before leaving a dumbstruck Reiko, her jaw touched the ground as she gaped at the revelation. The old coach thought that if she could see the girl's eyes right now, she would probably be bug-eyed in shock.

Tezuka-san?All the way here? But this is the third floor! Reiko mentally exclaimed, suddenly feeling insecure about herself. Was she too heavy to carry? Did she reek of sweaty old gym socks? What if she did something utterly mortifying whilst being unconscious, like farting? The raven-haired girl shook her head violently as she chased the random thoughts out of her head by busying herself with getting dressed.

Seeing her school bag wasn't there, she headed to the door to set out to the tennis courts. What greeted her made her cheeks burn furiously, for as soon as she slid the clinic door open, the familiar towering figure of the one and only Tezuka Kunimitsu loomed over her. His fist was balled up and raised in the air, looking as if he was about to knock, while a recognizable light grey bag backpack slung loosely over his left shoulder. She noticed he was already wearing his normal Seigaku uniform.

"T-Tezuka-san?" Reiko inwardly wondered if the boy before her had ESP, popping out of nowhere in perfect timing, while blushing furiously at the same time.

"Aa... Practice had finished." came the monotonous greeting of the stoic boy as he put his hand down to his side to avoid further looking strange.

"I see..." Reiko replied while looking down at her shoes like it was the most interesting thing in the world while Tezuka stared at the wall behind her, the two stood in awkward silence yet again.

"I came to see how you are feeling." Tezuka uttered blandly.

Reiko looked up with a questioning gaze before flashing the boy a warm smile. "Ah yes. I'm feeling better, apparently thanks to you." The atmosphere had suddenly become less tense when Tezuka had progressed from 3 worded phrases. The boy inwardly felt pleased, although showing no physical indication of it, when he saw that the girl had progressed from stuttering.

"I'm glad." The pokerfaced boy blurted out unemotionally.

"Pardon?" The raven-haired girl excused, not sure if she had heard right.

"That's good." The stoic boy said in the same tone. Reiko nodded her head in understanding. Her mind must still be playing tricks on her.

She decided to give her head a good shake before clearing her throat and stepping out the door.

"I'm sorry if I caused you trouble again, I seem to have become quite a nuisance for you." Reiko bowed her head apologetically while still holding her cheerful smile.

"I know how heavy a burden I am, literally. You didn't have to carry me all the way here." The raven-haired girl scratched the back of her head as she blushed in slight embarrassment.

"You're not heavy nor a burden." Tezuka reassured flatly.

Tezuka's Flashback

After concluding the line up for the first game of the upcoming regionals with Ryuzaki-sensei, Tezuka stepped out of the clubroom to find his team had refrained from their training and have gathered in a circle like a crazed mob.

"What's going on here?" Tezuka's furious voice boomed through the horde of tennis players who gave way to reveal a familiar raven-haired girl dizzily walking toward his direction.

"Hasegawa?" Everyone was stunned to hear the usually monotone voice of the reserved Seigaku tennis team crack an evident tone of concern. Tezuka effortlessly caught the pale girl who collapsed toward him as she drifted to the unconscious. He easily managed to sweep the girl off her feet bridal style as he rushed her to the clinic.

She's lighter than she looks. Tezuka mentally noted as he climbed the fleet of stairs to the second without breaking a sweat. He also noticed Reiko's uniform made her look a little bigger as he felt her slender figure against his arms while the familiar smell of lavender intoxicated his brain once again.

Tezuka was not surprised when they arrived at a deserted school clinic. It was understandable for the school nurse to not be there since it was only around 7:30 in the morning. No one, aside from the tennis team and the morning security guard, came to school at that hour, staff usually came around 8.

He laid the unconscious girl on one of the beds delicately while proceeding to search for ammonia in one of the cupboards. After finding what he was looking for, he turned his gaze back to the knocked out girl on the bed. He gently took the pale girl's spectacles to prevent them from being crushed. The usually unfazed boy felt his heart race at the sight of the girl before him without glasses for the first time. A mental chisel carved the 'non-spectacled' image of Reiko in his brain while resisting the urge to pry open her eyes in curiosity.

His gaze remained fixed at the unconscious girl on the bed as he undid the lid on the bottle of ammonia. He was about to pour some of its contents on a cotton ball when the clinic door slid open and revealed the familiar pink tracksuit of Seigaku's aged tennis coach holding a blue Yonex racquet bag

"You can go back now. I'll watch over her." Ryuzaki-sensei reassured the younger boy before signalling him to get back to the team.

"Aa..." The stoic captain gave the elderly coach the cotton ball and bottle of ammonia. He nodded politely as he willingly obliged to her request, eyeing the girl once more before heading back to the tennis grounds.

End of Flashback

"HAH! You should've seen me when I had weight issues! I was such a chubby kid." Reiko's retort seemed to have snapped Tezuka out of his mild reverie.

"You didn't need to know that, hehe." Reiko sheepishly smiled at the seemingly unfazed boy. "Ah, I was about to look for that." She tried to avert the attention to the light grey backpack that hung on Tezuka's shoulder.

"Aa... Ryuzaki-sensei forgot to bring your school bag earlier." Tezuka informed the raven-haired girl as he handed her the light grey Adidas backpack. Reiko was thrust downward by the sudden weight of her bag, forgetting she had all her schoolbooks inside as she absently took it.

"Hehe... I guess I'm still a bit lightheaded." Reiko was about to pick her schoolbag up, prepared for the weight this time, when a hand gripped the other strap and easily lifted it up.

"Tezuka-san?" A bewildered Reiko found the light-gray bag on the bespectacled boy's left shoulder once again.

"You're in no condition to carry this." Tezuka replied point-blankly.

"D-demo, all my books are in there." Reiko tried to argue but was instantly shut up when Tezuka gave her one of his famous unnerving stares.

"Okay, but you're really not making me feel better. I feel like I'm pushing it." Reiko guiltily resigned. She heaved a sigh of frustration before deciding to lead the way to her locker before further damaging the school's allegedly number one tennis player's shoulder.


Senior Corridor...

Tezuka and Reiko were oblivious to anguished cries by a couple of fan-girls and to the probing stares that were given to them by the few early students who curiously observed them walking side by side along the senior corridor.

Reiko stopped in front of one of the lockers down the right end of the hall and spun the dial on the combination lock of a top locker which read: "14. Hasegawa". Reiko sighed in relief when she remembered she had managed to keep her locker 'sterile' for the first two weeks of school.

Tezuka observed the highly organized locker before him. Black and white binders were alternately arranged on the top shelf, resembling the keys on a piano or keyboard. The second shelf was empty, and assumed it was for Reiko's bag. The bottom shelf held her pencil case and other stationary items, as well as extra notebooks, all stacked neatly.

"Arigatou, Tezuka-san. I apologise for all the trouble." Reiko bowed her head in shame as she guiltily took her bag from Tezuka's strong grip. She took her Samsung G800 mobile phone from her bag and made sure it was on 'Silent' mode before placing it in her pocket. She placed her bag on the second shelf as Tezuka had anticipated before giving her locker a good slam. After locking the padlock, Reiko checked her wrist and slapped her head when she realized she wasn't wearing a watch.

"It's 8:32." Tezuka declared after seeing the girl's gesture as he checked his silver Swiss Army ChronoPro Mechanical self-winding watch.

"Arigatou, again, Tezuka-san." Reiko scolded herself for being so dependent on others whilst bowing in gratitude once again. She was taken aback when the stoic tennis captain took her blue Yonex racquet bag that slung like a backpack on her shoulders and flung it on his.

He seemed to stun even himself as he found his body act on its own without thinking, in an attempt to spend more time with the raven-haired girl before him. He had always been composed and in control of his actions. The foreign feeling of anxiety made his insides become uncharacteristically nervous.

"Mou, Tezuka-san. It's not that heavy, I can manage." Reiko tried to protest once more. Tezuka turned his back on the bespectacled girl and headed down the staircase to go to the girl's clubroom. Reiko marched in disapproval as she followed the stolid boy while thinking of another approach.

"Ne Tezuka-san, since you want to play lackey so much, why don't you go buy me a drink while you're at it." Reiko thought reverse psychology might do the trick as she spotted a nearby vending machine.

Her face turned blue when she saw Tezuka take out a brown leather wallet from his pants' rear pocket and took out a hundred yen coin and put it in the machine. Her hand instinctively caught the lemon flavoured Ponta that Tezuka accurately threw at her even with his back turned against her. The back of her head let a huge sweat drop trickle at the dense boy.

"N-ne, Tezuka-san! I was kidding! Geez... Now I feel worse. Although you were spot on when you picked something lemon flavoured." Reiko complained at the hopeless boy before her. The stoic boy gave her a blank look before proceeding to walking to the girl's clubroom. Both oblivious to the nosy bystanders who eyed them closely as they gossiped in hushed voices.

Reiko quickened her pace so she could walk side by side with the boy who has been pampering her against will. She opened the can of Ponta and held it out to Tezuka who eyed it impassively.

"For all your hard work. Although you paid for it." Reiko said dryly as they walked out the building. She sighed in resignation when she saw Tezuka ignore her and continue walking.

She played with her phone in her pocket as they walked in silence again, shortly arriving at the girl's clubroom. Tezuka handed the persistent girl her bag since it was unethical for a boy to go inside the girl's clubroom.

"Finally." Reiko muttered as she took her bag and headed inside the clubroom. She wasn't too surprised to find Tezuka had waited for her to come out. She flashed him a polite smile before taking out her phone to check the time. 8:45 am, they still had a good 15 minutes before school officially started.

"Ah! Tezuka-san?" Reiko exclaimed as she suddenly remembered a thought. Tezuka faced the girl to find her toggling on her mobile phone.

"I remembered I didn't have your photo yet." Reiko flashed her phone for Tezuka to see. He looked blankly at the screen that had his name, mobile number and address in it.

"Ano, I put a picture on each person's profile on my phone so I know who's calling. It flashes when a person calls." Reiko explained.

"Aa..." Tezuka monotonously replied. The girl pushed a few more buttons on the gadget before holding it up to take a picture.

"Say cheese!" Reiko inwardly chuckled at her request as she snapped a photo. She knew Tezuka isn't the type who would smile for photos, he isn't the type to smile at all. She frowned when she saw Tezuka looked down just as she'd taken the photo.

"Tezuka-san, you looked down." She showed him the screen again so he could see his photo.

"It's awkward." Tezuka said vacuously as he pushed the bridge of his glasses up. "Solo portraits." He continued.

"Ah, Gomen Tezuka-san. I myself feel awkward in solo shots." Reiko thought for a moment before snapping at an idea.

"Then let's not take a solo picture." Reiko stood beside the stolid tennis captain and tiptoed as she raised her right hand, her phone turned around so its camera faced them.

"Say I love cheeeeeeese!" Reiko enthusiastically announced as she snapped another photo.

CLICK

The photo accurately captured the perpetually impassive face of Tezuka Kunimitsu with Reiko's head slightly tilted to the left to bring it closer to his. Her left hand was on his right shoulder as she used it for support while she tiptoed. Reiko cracked a satisfied smile as she viewed the picture before showing it to the stolid tennis captain while walking. He eyed it with his usual placid gaze before popping his black Nokia N95 out of his pocket.

He pressed a few buttons before handing his mobile phone to the dumbfounded Reiko, who was slightly stunned to find THE Tezuka Kunimitsu using a high-tech gadget, remembering the time she taught him how to use her blackberry.

"You still wrote your details in paper although you had one all along?" Reiko asked bemused while pointing to the black gadget in the palm of the boy whom she concluded as one who was old fashioned and refused to use anything invented in the present century.

Tezuka ignored her remark, although he mentally answered the question as he thought his writing was faster than his typing.

"Do you mind sending it?" Tezuka heard himself sound commanding than inquiring. "Please." He added flatly. Reiko shrugged the previous thought and gladly took his phone. She turned on his Bluetooth and sent him the 

photo. She returned the device with a contented smile as they headed back to the senior corridor while Tezuka eyed his mobile phone intently.

They reached the senior corridor just as the first bell rang. Reiko headed to her locker and found the stoic Tennis captain was still with her, toggling with his phone.

"Aren't you going to get your books Tezuka-san?" Reiko inquired curiously as she secured her locker after getting all the things she needed for the first two periods.

"Aa..." Tezuka put his phone in his pocket and grabbed the books and binders that Reiko was carrying.

"Tezuka-san, I said YOUR books! You're going too far. My classroom is just there!" Reiko pointed to a nearby classroom less than ten metres away in protest.

"Its proper decorum." The gallant boy replied insipidly as he walked the girl to her class like the 'fine' iceblock of a gentleman that he is, still unaware of the probing stares from fellow students and the gaping fan-girls who saw THE Tezuka Kunimitsu's unusual gesture.

"But I don't suppose you'll carry the rest of the school's female population's books?" Reiko cleverly countered as she subtly tried to grab her books from Tezuka who effortlessly dodged her shifty hands with amazing reflexes.

"Can't say I didn't try. Arigato, Tezuka-san. I owe you heaps by now." Reiko flashed him a grateful smile as she slid open the classroom door, earning her classmates' attentions.

Kikumaru immediately left his conversation with Fuji and excitedly rushed to the door as he spotted the distinct raven hair and pale skin that appeared just outside the classroom.

"Nya! Rei-cha—Hoi?" The charging Kikumaru came to an abrupt stop when he saw a smiling Reiko talking to another familiar figure. His eyes bugled out as he realized who Reiko was in conversation with.

"E-Eiji?!" Reiko exclaimed in surprise.

"Rei-chan?" Kikumaru puzzlingly pointed at Reiko before turning his head to his one and only buchou. "Tezuka?" Kikumaru pointed again, still confused.

"Rei-chan? Tezuka? Rei-chan? Tezuka?" Kikumaru perplexedly pointed at the two alternately. He remembered hearing an earlier rumour from one of his classmates who claimed having seen Tezuka and Reiko walking to the tennis grounds together when the worried redhead asked around for the girl's whereabouts after he attempted to visit his "dying" friend in the clinic, but found her missing instead. His brain seemed to break down when he tried to comprehend why Tezuka and Reiko would even be seen together, let alone be conversing.

"I guess I'll see you around Tezuka-san." Reiko took her books from the nonchalant tennis captain's strong arms and bowed her head courteously.

"Aa..." Tezuka replied as he gave the girl a polite nod before heading his own way.

Reiko turned around to meet the extremely red Kikumaru, who looked like he would burst any minute, the probing stares from Chiharu and Ayumi, and the inquisitive looks on her dumbstruck classmates' faces.

"Nya! Rei-chan! Why were you with buchou? Nande nande nande??" Kikumaru animatedly barraged the pale-faced girl with a series of "Why?" questions the instant Tezuka was out of sight.

Reiko heaved a heavy sigh before deciding to ignore the prodding Kikumaru and headed to her seat. She then spotted her seatmate/nemesis eye her with his usual sly smile, a hand under his chin to indicate that he too was curious and investigating.

Reiko's blood started to simmer past boiling temperature as she remembered how he had set her up to guzzle Inui's painfully revolting concoction that caused her to up chuck everything she possibly could and turned her into a pain in the butt for Tezuka.

"Fuji TEME!!" Reiko fumed as she stomped faster to the resident tensai's seat and strangled him by his shirt collar.

I see you enjoyed the 'appetizer'. Get ready for the main course, Hasegawa-san. Fuji allowed himself to be rattleed violently while keeping his hand under his chin, his trademark sadistic smile still plastered on his face.


Meanwhile...

Tezuka took out his black N95 from his pocket again as soon as he opened his locker. His ears seemed to have blocked out the loud melee that came from a nearby classroom as hell broke loose. He eyed the screen of his mobile phone in anticipation.

"Setting 'TezuRei.jpg' as wallpaper"

"Wallpaper set"

Satisfied, Seigaku's allegedly unemotional tennis captain placed the mobile phone in his breast pocket before proceeding to take out his books for the next two periods. Just before he closed his locker, the tight-lipped boy felt his mouth twitch slightly as it stretched a millimetre wider.


XXXXXXXXXX


Author's Notes: Like what I said at the beginning, please don't forget to leave me any sort of feedback! It may not seem like a big thing to others, but I personally want to know which areas I need to improve, even when I said I don't plan on becoming a professional writer. Try to understand that I'm asking for feedback to provide a more enjoyably read! Thanks!