Authors note
Thanks for reviewing, Kari-chan and Yue! I really appreciate it! And no, Kari-chan, the length of the previous chapter was not because of you. Well, maybe partly… But I did intend to make that chapter short before I go back to Seigaku, so I guess it was kind of my plan, so don't sweat it! Anyway, I know I update slow but this rips me into pieces! Ahhh! I hate it! Why must I have exams at the very critical part of the story? Why? God really hates me…
Let's not talk about that and see what's on our schedule! Let's see… hmm. Ou! Seigaku!!! Yay! Then… Seigaku… And then maybe Seigaku again and then it will be Hyotei!!! Yay! Anyway, for the time being we'll be in Seigaku's story and see how the development between Sayaka and Tezuka is going. Kyaa! Authoress starts…
Previous chapter (chapter 22 and 23)
At the double story chapter we were at the tournament where Seigaku faced Hyotei. Tezuka was ready to burn Atobe when he saw their relationship. He did want Yuki to have better friends and so he kind of got pissed and protested in declaring a war against Atobe. They were supposed to clear it with a match. When it came so far… Ou! Let's not forget the girls! Emm… They won basically. So, the boys: Tezuka was finally facing Atobe in a deciding match.
Atobe was playing rather aggressive (just like two years ago against a certain arrogant brat, who called him the king of monkeys…). Tezuka was surprised by this and approved of him. So… Atobe lost and Seigaku proceeded to the next round! Yay! Anyway, Atobe was pissed in seeing Yuki with her bf, who dared to smirk at him. On a certain school day Yuki and Atobe had to read one of the essays out loud and Atobe decided to read his.
So… he read it. And in the last chapter (23) he read his own version of the ending (that is basically his own experience because he's in a similar story and has the same sufferings…) and Yuki got his message and ran out of class pissed and disturbed. Well, Atobe came along to where she was and calmed her down… And we leave that story for a while, as it goes as I stated at the end of the chapter (we'll get back when I balance this off with Seigaku…)
Saa, let's see what happens with Sayaka and Tezuka! I hope I'll make this interesting… Tezuka really starts to feel something strange and doesn't get it! LOL Enough about that and let's start!
Chapter 24
Gentle words under the setting sun
Right after the second round of the tournament (which was against Hyotei) they had a few days of school before weekend starts and the coach decided to do some recreational activity (which they do after every win in the Kantou tournament…) on Saturday. So, we enter the day after the tournament…
At school… Sayaka and Tezuka just had their physics class. The rest of the class was heading off for lunch but the teacher stopped Sayaka.
"Koyumi-san! Come here for a second," he signaled her to come to him. Sayaka hesitantly went up to him because she knew what would follow. Tezuka raised an eyebrow and was rather wondering about what matter that might be.
"Yes, sensei?" The teacher looked at her seriously.
"Koyumi-san, your last homework was rather disappointing. You had such good results before but at one moment you just go down rapidly. What happened?" Sayaka sweat dropped.
"Ah… It's just that I don't get this new topic. I understand everything else but I just don't get this…" The teacher sighed. He took out some sort of paper and handed it to her. Sayaka took it and inspected it carefully after which she raised her eyes from the paper slightly twitching.
"Sensei, what's this?" The teacher scratched his head.
"This is homework for you… If you answer at least half of these correctly, I will let you take the test. If not, then you'll have to sit through this topic and get a "not tested"." Sayaka opened her jaw.
"But this is not fair! There are 30 questions and each of them requires a formula and a specific explanation, which can take at least half of an A4 paper! And I like have to answer 50% of this? That's impossible!" Sayaka was already waving her hands in the air. The teacher sighed again.
"Life isn't fair, Koyumi-san. If you can't do it, you will have to be satisfied with a bad grade on your paper and that will lower your whole grade…" Sayaka twitched. "He did not just mention the whole grade…" The teacher turned around to leave but then stopped.
"Ou! And if you decide to write it, I'm expecting it by tomorrow. Bye!" Sayaka twitched even more and looked at the paper again. "That's it! I'm officially going to die!" she sighed and hanged her head. At the same moment Tezuka overheard the conversation.
"It seems you have a problem, Koyumi. Maybe I can help…" Sayaka started fake crying.
"This is just impossible. I can't believe I will get a bad grade just because I'm stupid in this topic!" Tezuka blinked. Sayaka handed him the question paper. He looked through it.
"Huh… This doesn't seem hard. Which part don't you understand?" Sayaka sighed and stopped fake crying.
"Everything…" Tezuka sweat dropped.
"Huh?"
"I just don't get the whole topic!!!" She started over reacting and making a drama out of it. Tezuka sweat dropped again. He then sighed.
"You can ask Inui-" She turned to him and pointed out at him.
"No way in hell I'm asking that stalker!!!" Tezuka got confused and sweat dropped even more.
"I suppose I can help-" Sayaka's face turned all shiny and had a wide smile. She jumped on Tezuka and hugged him.
"Kyaaa! Thank you! You're my life savior!" Tezuka got surprised by her sudden action and blushed all over his face. As she hung on his shoulders, the both of them earned death glares from each group of fans. One, Tezuka-sama fangirls. Two, Sayaka fanboys. Sayaka finally noticed what she was doing and blushed for a second but then let him go in a flash.
"I don't think I can help you with all the problems though. We have practice and the only time is after that…" Sayaka blinked.
"Huh… Can we clear that after practice? I only need someone to explain how to use the correct equation and the basic sense of the topic…" Tezuka sighed.
"I see… You can always ask Inui-" Sayaka glared at him.
"I am absolutely, seriously never, ever even in a hundred years and if I'm dying from the Black Death going to ask that walking data collector of a stalker!" Tezuka took a few steps away and sweat dropped. Sayaka was omitting an evil aura. "She's scary in a way… Why did I just offer my help to her?"
So, after classes the practice was up… The girls were practicing separately this time and Sayaka was giving a hell of a training again. She was standing with her arms crossed and observing the girls. Actually, she was more concerned about her assigned homework and didn't bother thinking about practice. The girls were all dead beat. Sayaka sighed and let them off for the time being. The coach called everyone to her.
"This is all for today, girls! I'll see you tomorrow! And Saturday is the recreational day! Dismissed!" The girls were heading off to the changing room. Sayaka went towards the boys. When she reached the courts, she went up straight to the usual stoic figure, who was observing some match. Tezuka turned his look towards her and gave a light smirk.
"This is unusual…" Sayaka turned at him with a questioning look.
"What is?"
"You usually train the girls longer than we have practice. Couldn't concentrate because of your homework?" Tezuka grinned at her (don't forget he smiles around her! She made a deal with him…). Sayaka looked away.
"Hn! Just get over with the practice. I don't have all day," she said gruffly. Tezuka laughed to himself. Sayaka turned to him and blinked.
"What's so funny?" he smiled and turned back to watch the game.
"Nothing… You're just cute when you get mad like that…" Sayaka blinked at him again and smirked.
At the same moment Fuji and Eiji were in a court.
"Nya, Fujiko! Why is Saya-chan here?" Fuji smirked tensaish.
"Saa… They seem to have a good relationship. I wonder if Tezuka will make a move on her…"
After they both had finished practice, they were walking home together. They had almost reached Sayaka's house, when Tezuka decided to break the silence.
"Koyumi, since you need help with the equations, I will need some of my notes," he said with his usual monotone voice.
"Huh…" Sayaka was rather sunk in her paper that she didn't quite get what he said. Tezuka looked at her and sighed.
"My notes are at home…"
"Ah…" She was still too deep in thought to listen. Tezuka stopped and sighed. Sayaka turned around and blinked in stupidity.
"Now that I got your attention… My notes are at home and choose: we study at your home or mine?" Sayaka smirked.
"I don't care. Then be it your home… If your notes are there and we will need them, then it would be easier to go to your house than you running around from house to house, ne?" she smiled at the very end, which made Tezuka widen his eyes and blush for a second. She then turned around and signaled him that she's going ahead. Tezuka smiled to himself.
"Jeez… She really knocks everything down around me. She makes me want to do things that I have always tried to hide from others. She brings another person out of me… Or rather who I really am…Ma, it wouldn't hurt to spend time with her."
They walked for a few minutes, when Tezuka realized that a girl is going to visit his home and his parents must be there already.
"Darn! I hope father doesn't start asking unnecessary questions … Calm down. She's only a classmate, who needs help with her homework-" he looked at her, as she was reading the questions to herself. He blushed, when he noticed that she wasn't all that an ordinary classmate. "K-Kunimitsu… Stop this… She's just a classmate. So what if she's a beauty and cute? That doesn't mean they'll consider her as your- Ahhh!" he slapped himself mentally. They reached his house and entered the gate.
Tezuka reached for the door handle and gripped it. He sighed. Sayaka noticed it and kind of sweat dropped. "Don't tell me it's the first time he's having a girl over to his house… I'd better be as polite as possible." Tezuka opened the door and they walked in.
"I'm home!" he raised his voice slightly and his mother came from another room. She came up grinning at him.
"Kunimitsu, how was-" she stopped as she saw a girl standing next to him, wearing Seigaku's uniform and smiling at her. Tezuka sighed at his mother.
"This is Koyumi Sayaka, my classmate. She needed some help with her homework and we'll be studying," he introduced her. His mother snapped out of it.
"Hello, nice meeting you. I'm sorry to bother you, oba-san…" said Sayaka bowing down. His mother smiled at her and greeted her back. She noticed that she was carrying a tennis bag, as Sayaka put it down. "She looks nice. Not to mention her looks, she seems rather respectful…"
Tezuka was about to lead her to his room but was stopped by his fathers voice who just had to pop out of the other room at that moment. Tezuka sweat dropped because he was pretty much sure what will follow. His father noticed Sayaka and was rather surprised for a second but then he smiled widely and approached her.
"Hello! And who is this cute ojou-san, Mitsu?" Sayaka turned her look at his father and noticed that he was rather good looking for his age and almost melted when she saw him smile at her. She snapped out of it and sweat dropped while glancing at Tezuka. "Must be in the genes…"
"I'm sorry to bother you. Koyumi Sayaka, nice meeting you," she bowed again. He looked at her with deep interest. "She's cute… Nice choice, Mitsu. Hmm…"
"Sayaka-chan, huh? And what brings you here?" Tezuka's mother explained to him the matter and he just smiled and was ready to go off to his room, when he turned to his son and grinned. Tezuka sighed and signaled Sayaka to follow him.
"If you two get hungry, just say so!" his mother yelled after him. Tezuka showed her to his room and locked the door. His mother went to the room where her husband was sitting in his couch.
"She's nice…" he didn't lift his head from a book.
"Eh… I never thought it'll be so soon-"
"Hou… I don't think they're dating… yet…" he grinned and his wife just giggled over it.
Sayaka looked around his room. It wasn't nor big, nor small… She would describe it as… normal. Anyway he took another chair and put it next to his table.
"Let's start, shall we?" he said and they both started off a sprint of getting through the topic. Rather, Tezuka had to explain one thing like 5 times before it finally got to her.
"I see now! I understand!" she screamed out in happiness. Tezuka just sighed and was surprised that she was happy about something so natural. "Jeez… You just could've read it 5 times and not ask me. Still…" he looked at her as her eyes burned in happiness and he just couldn't resist but smirk to her smile. "… seeing her like this makes me feel warm inside for some reason."
"So basically you just put that formula in their and the numbers instead of the letters and just solve the equation, right?" Tezuka nodded.
"And when you get the result you just explain why it had to be like this. And for that you just have to read and understand the definitions, right?" Tezuka again nodded. Sayaka grinned and started writing the answers to the questions. Tezuka smirked.
"Jeez… You're smart enough for this anyway and this topic was in Junior High before. Why not look through your notes?" Sayaka didn't raise her head from the paper.
"Huh… If I remember correctly, this topic came up at the last year of Junior High and at that time I was studying in the US… I guess I just forgot everything because I had to learn it in English." Tezuka blinked.
"Huh… So you studied in the US?" Sayaka was scribbling down rapidly in her paper.
"Yeah, I was there like for a year and a half… I didn't want to lose track of school and all, so I had no choice but to go there to school," Tezuka smiled to himself.
"So, since you understand now, I can walk you home-" Sayaka stretched her arms and cut him off.
"Sorry, Tezuka. But I'm occupying your table because if I go home now, I will lose my trail of thought and won't be able to answer these… Or am I bothering you with something?" Tezuka blinked at her and stood up.
"Not really, you can stay…" he walked up to his bed and lied down to read a book. "I might as well just read for history anyway," Sayaka smiled at him, which made him blush for a second.
"Thank you, Tezuka," she then got back to her sprint of answering the questions. He lowered his head to read the book.
"She really wants to be perfect in everything… If I would ask her why she's so keen on writing all of the questions, she'd just say: "Isn't this like tennis? You strive to reach the top and you do everything to overcome hardships…" Hm! She really sees life from a different angle… This feeling of her being here is just intoxicating. I guess I wanted her to stay…"
He observed her for a few minutes and then lowered his head again with a slight shade of pink on his cheeks. "I-I don't understand myself. Why do I get the urge to stare at her and say things that I usually wouldn't? Why do I feel like it's natural to smile around her? I even start smiling more often, when she's not around… when I think about her- Tch! Snap out of it!" He was already reading the same sentence the 10th time, when he finally started reading the book.
Sayaka was dug deep into her own work… When she got to the 15th question she got nervous because she couldn't find the answer. She snapped.
"Ahhh! Mou! I can't take this!" Tezuka raised his head and blinked at her.
"What's wrong? I thought you understood this…" Sayaka sighed and put her chin on her hand.
"I can't find the correct result for this… Can you help me for second?" Tezuka stood up and came up from behind of her and looked at the problem. He laughed.
"You used the wrong formula for this. See here-" he leaned closer to her and took her pen. His chest touched her shoulder and his left arm was wrapping her left side, as he leaned even closer. She could feel his breath close to her ear, when she noticed that his face was only inches form hers. He pointed at the book and then explained some things. Sayaka was barely listening as she felt her face burning up and falling into a daze.
"Did you get that, Koyumi?" Sayaka snapped out of it and nodded. She did get half of it but it was enough for her to continue. Tezuka went back to reading, when he realized what he just did. He felt his blood pressure rise as he put his hand on his forehead. "What was that just now? Did I just- This is not happening!" He lied down again and continued his reading.
Sayaka was still into her work, when three hours had already passed and she was at the last question. She couldn't concentrate. Why? Well… "Why am I blushing now? He just explained to me the problem and all… Why am I reacting like this? This is weird…" She looked at him and dazed off into her thoughts. She looked at her paper.
"It really felt weird for a while… He came so close to me but I kind of felt not nervous, not scared but comfortable in a way. Why? I know that all guys are the same. But why did I feel that he's different? I kind of knew that he wouldn't try anything… Still why did my chest start pounding so fast after he pulled away? Ah! Mou! Stop this!" she sighed and put her head on the table. "I still have to finish this problem… And still… I just keep staring at him at times…" she felt the image in front of her become blurry as her eyes were already closed.
Tezuka looked at the watch and then turned his look at Sayaka. He widened his eyes when he noticed that she's sleeping on the table. He approached her and firstly he looked at her answers. He smirked and turned his gaze at her again. "She answered most of them correctly. She doesn't stop surprising me…" he slowly put is hand on her cheek and ran it through her bangs.
"Okaa-san…" she said as a light smile showed on her face. Tezuka widened his eyes and pulled away. He then smirked to himself and watched her for while. "This is the second time she- Her mother really loved her and so did she…"
He observed her for a while longer and then put his hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly.
"Koyumi, wake up…" Sayaka slowly opened her eyes and noticed that her head was on the table. She finally raised her head and sat up straight trying to wake up. She put her hand on her forehead.
"Did I fall asleep?" Tezuka smirked.
"You must be tired. No wonder… After practice you studied non-stop. You should rest…" Sayaka turned at him and grinned.
"I still have to finish the last question-" at the same moment a knock came and Tezuka's mother walked into the room.
"Are you two hungry? You should take a break…" Sayaka gestured with her hands.
"No, no… I'm not-" her stomach growled at the same moment, which made her blush and feel rather embarrassed. Tezuka looked at her and laughed to himself.
"You're stomach says otherwise though," he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the door before she could say anything else. His mother just stood there in awe.
"Tezuka! Wait! I can't possibly-"
"Don't worry about it! You need a break or you'll collapse…" he cut her off and dragged her down the stairs. His mother turned to their trail and giggled. "I've never seen Kunimitsu act like that. He must like her…"
The both of them were sitting next to each other and having their meal. Tezuka's father was sitting right in front of her and grinned widely, which made Tezuka sweat drop. "I have a bad feeling about this…"
"This is really good, oba-san!" His mother smiled at her.
"Thank you. So how's your homework doing?"
"Eh. I'm at the last question…"
"So you're Mitsu's classmate, ne?" His father asked.
"Eh…"
"Do you live far away from school?" he continued his questioning.
"Not really, just a few blocks away from your house." She said bluntly.
"I noticed that you play tennis as well… Are you a regular?"
"Ah, hai…" he grinned even wider.
"What rank?" Sayaka raised her head and blinked. "Why is he asking me such questions?" Tezuka decided to answer instead.
"She's a captain…" Tezuka's father raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"I see, you spend a lot of time together… Do you walk home together?"
"Since we live in the same direction, yes…" she answered bluntly but still didn't get his interest in this. He grinned even wider when hearing this. Sayaka blinked.
"Ano… Is there a reason for these questions?" she finally asked trying not to seem rude. His father turned around and grinned.
"No reason… Just thought you'd make a good couple…" Tezuka choked and Sayaka just dropped her food from her chopsticks and sweat dropped.
"Father! What are you saying?" His father turned his look away and sighed.
"What I think…" his mother punched his side and glared at him and he sighed. Sayaka stared at him for a while and then snapped out of it. "He just did not say that so bluntly! Is he really his father? He reminds me of someone I know very well…"
"Hai… Hai… Sorry, Mitsu. I thought she'd be perfect to be your girlfriend…" he grinned again and dashed off to the other room. Tezuka blushed and twitched.
"Father!" His mother gestured him to calm down and he sat down properly. Tezuka sighed.
"I'm sorry, Koyumi. He's just always like that-" Sayaka turned to him and smiled.
"It's okay. I'm not bothered… It's really a normal thing for parents to ask these questions. My father does the same and like more often…" she sweat dropped at the last sentence. Tezuka blinked.
"Huh…" Sayaka sat there in thought. "I was kind of surprised by the sudden "girlfriend" thing… I never thought about dating him like for real." As the time passed it was already dark and Sayaka still wanted to finish her last question but Tezuka persuaded her in leaving it and taking a rest for the day. He offered to walk her home, she tried to refuse because she was already a bother to him but he still insisted and his father as well. So she eventually agreed.
"It was nice meeting you. Thank you for your hospitality…" she bowed in goodbye to his parents.
"You don't have to be so formal, Sayaka-chan. Come by anytime soon!" said his mother.
"I'll be right back…" said Tezuka as he started leaving but was stopped by his father. He leaned to his ear.
"If you like her, make a move on her…" Tezuka twitched.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"The way you act around her is obvious. Ask her on a date…" he let him off with that and a wide grin of course. Tezuka glared at him and walked off.
His parents stood there for a while.
"You also think he likes her, ne?" he asked his wife.
"Eh… He actually laughs around her. I like her!" he grinned at her.
"Because she has a big appetite…" she twitched and stomped his foot and walked off.
"Ouch! What was that for? They seem to understand each other quite well but don't see it themselves. Teenagers these days…" he looked up at the sky. "You're daughter is quite something, Haruka…"
As this day was over, the next day came and Sayaka submitted her answers to the physics teacher, who promised her to check them until the next day. Sayaka was at practice and was having a rally with Kotoko. Her concentration was on top again but that changed when she was asked by Yumi (after the rally) how she managed the question sheet the previous day. Sayaka blushed as she had a flashback of when Tezuka was close to her. She snapped out of it and gave a simple reply.
"I-I got some help…" Yumi just blinked. Sayaka was wiping her sweat off. "Jeez! Why did I just think about that part! He was merely helping me… I guess I need to thank him afterwards. How?" as she was thinking about thanking Tezuka for his help, he was having his own problem.
Tezuka was standing around the courts and having flashbacks of the previous day. "Why can't I just calm down? I was just helping her that's all… That doesn't mean I have to follow "his" advice and ask her on a date. This just doesn't make sense! I like her but at the same time I don't know what I'm really feeling. When I got close to her, I didn't feel nervous but in a way sure about my action- What the hell! I'm not supposed to act like that… Why do I always end up having thoughts about her? And why is she the source of my change?"
This was just another day of their dilemma and nothing special happened.
The next day came and the last day of school… Sayaka got her results from the physics teacher and dashed straight to Tezuka. As she entered the classroom, she dangled her paper in front of him with a victorious smile on her face. Tezuka sweat dropped from behind of it.
"Satisfied?" he asked calmly. She put away her paper and grinned.
"You bet I am! Thank you, Tezuka. This was all thanks to you…" He looked at her paper and noticed something.
"I thought you'd answer the last question as well… Why didn't you?" She took the paper and looked at it a bit and sighed.
"No matter how hard you try, you'll never be perfect. There will always be a weakness in everything you do. But aren't weaknesses the reason to strive for something higher?" Tezuka widened his eyes. He never knew that a person could think the same way as he did. She really saw things that he had missed.
"The same is with tennis, ne, Tezuka? No matter how hard you try there will always be things that you want to achieve and one thing will always remain incomplete until you find what you have missed… Ne?" she grinned at him and he couldn't help but stare at her and smirk back at her.
"Ah… I wonder what is the thing that we all need the most…" he looked at her with a dazed off look. "For me perhaps it was always someone, not something…"
The next day came and it was the day of the recreational activity!!! Yay! Guess where they headed off to? Well… since Yumi got injured in her game against Kurōdo High, she got to choose where to go. She chose… soccer! They went to a soccer field in their school and decided to play for fun. But you know Inui! He never takes things just for fun… The girls were also playing, so he decided that the losers will have to-
"-drink a whole glass of one of my previous drinks "Aozu"…" the whole group sweat dropped and stared at the blue liquid with trembling fear and made side steps. Especially Eiji, who had a flashback of what happened to Fuji when he drank it. He shrieked.
"No way in hell I'm drinking that again!!!" he ran behind Fuji who was looking at the liquid twitching. Sayaka was really twitching and had a disturbed look on her face. Why? Well… Let's find out!
"Okay! Let's draw!" the coach held the papers which had two different colors. The two teams were as followed: Team red: Fuji, Yumi, Momo, Ayumi, Rika, Inui, Kawamura, Akiko; team blue: Sayaka, Tezuka, Kotoko, Eiji, Kaidoh, Yori, Oishi, Haruhi.
"Well… Let's start!" the coach started the game and they were off. Well… I won't go into details but some things are worth mentioning.
Eiji was leading the ball and passed it to Oishi, who passed Momo and saw that Sayaka was free and passed the ball to her. She widened her eyes. "Please, not me!" She tried to hit the ball further but couldn't react as Ayumi took the ball away and passed it to Momo again. Yumi stared at Sayaka but then ignored it.
After this the ball was passed again to Sayaka but she kicked it pretty hard but it went the other direction. The group sweat dropped staring at her. Sayaka blushed and looked away. Eiji approached her.
"Ne, Saya-chan! Hit the ball to the other side!" she twitched.
"I did! So stop whining!" Eiji shrugged and then blinked. Oishi approached her.
"Am I the only one who thinks that she doesn't know how to play soccer…"
"Saa… Tezuka?" Tezuka was staring at her at the moment and sweat dropped. He didn't answer.
Well, again the ball was passed to her and she was about to kick the ball, when Kaidoh yelled at her to pass to him. She twitched.
"Sayaka-buchou! Pass the ball!" and she twitched.
"Just kick the ball, nya!" Eiji cried out. And she twitched.
"Pass the ball, buchou!" And she snapped.
"Just make up your mind already!" she kicked the ball with all her power at some random direction. She knocked out the coach. As she noticed what she hit, she was pissed.
"You! This is all your fault!" she pointed at Eiji and Kaidoh.
"Nya? I only told you to kick the ball…"
"Fshh… I only asked you to pass the ball because I was-" she twitched again.
"You're confusing me! You told me to kick the ball, so I did and you told me to pass the ball!"
"I meant that you should kick the ball to Kaidoh, nya! How is that confusing?" said Eiji.
"Well it's not the same! It's still your fault!" she was still screaming, when Tezuka came up.
"Koyumi, stop this… It's not their fault that you misunderstood. Have you ever played soccer before?" he asked. Sayaka looked away blushing.
"Never…" The regulars were in awe. "Is she for real? So the buchou isn't all that perfect…" Tezuka sighed and sweat dropped.
"Let's continue!" They continued with the game and Sayaka was mainly the reason for them losing. She still didn't want to give up and tried her best though. At one point she even collided with Tezuka and fell to the ground. They both blushed and got up in a flash.
In the end the team where Tezuka and Sayaka were in lost. Yes, lost. And you know what this means… Inui came up with his "Aozu" and handed each of them a glass of it.
Sayaka looked at the liquid with repulsion.
"I am not drinking that!" she exclaimed and took a few steps away. The others who were in her team made an evil aura. She shrieked.
"This was mainly your fault that we lost! So drink, buchou!" she looked at Tezuka who also had a terrified look on his face. Their team members drank it first and got knocked out. Sayaka was still against it but then felt guilty for the loss. So both of them took their glasses and drank the blue liquid. The other team was waiting for something to happen. Inui was ready with his notebook to get any data that he could on the two.
When Sayaka and Tezuka pulled the glasses away, they turned blue and then purple and ran straight to the wash basins holding their hand in front of their mouths. The group of survivors observed the action of the two captains.
"How in the world did they survive this? They actually didn't get knocked out! How is that possible?" asked Momo. Fuji smirked tensaish.
"Saa… I guess it was a good choice from you, Yumi-san…" he turned to Yumi who was sweat dropping at the scene. She blinked.
"Huh? Why?"
"Because we actually won this… I really wanted to see how Tezuka reacts to this drink. This is really priceless. And you just stopped Koyumi-san's all time avoiding drinking Inui's blue liquid of doom…" Yumi blinked and turned to where Sayaka had disappeared.
"Huh… Wait! I thought you were immune to Inui-san's juices…" Fuji smirked with his usual sadistic smile.
"This was the only drink I got knocked out after drinking it… And who knows what would have happened if we'd lost… But this was fun, ne?" Yumi sweat dropped. "He's really scary in a way…"
Tezuka and Sayaka spent half an hour at the wash basins cursing Inui. After that the regulars went to grab something to eat (not all of them though). When they were walking down a street… More precisely, they were crossing the street; Sayaka was walking in front of Tezuka. When she turned around to face Eiji behind her, she was on the road, when a car was driving straight at her. Tezuka noticed it and grabbed her into his arms and prevented her from being run over.
They were standing at the other side of the street. Tezuka was holding her in his arms closely. Sayaka was shocked and couldn't say a word for a while. He sighed.
"Jezz… Watch where you're going, Koyumi! A road isn't a playground…" she was still shocked. Tezuka finally noticed that he was holding her and let go. He blushed and felt a bit awkward.
"A-Ah… T-Thank you, Tezuka…" she pulled herself together and looked at him, while blushing for a second. The other regulars dashed to them and were rather worried but then everything got cleared and went on with their trip.
After they all parted Tezuka and Sayaka decided to walk home and took a longer road. They were walking by some river… Sayaka stopped and wanted to observe the scenery for a while. Tezuka sighed and joined her.
"Ne, today was fun… in a way…" she said while looking at setting sun.
"Ah…" He looked at her and didn't turn away. Sayaka noticed him staring at her. She turned to him and smiled.
"What?" she asked gently.
"Nothing… Just thinking about what you said yesterday."
"And what did I say yesterday?" Tezuka smirked at her and didn't let his eyes wonder off from hers.
"That: No matter how hard you try, you'll never be perfect. There will always be a weakness in everything you do. But aren't weaknesses the reason to strive for something higher?" Sayaka widened her eyes in surprise. "Did he memorize everything I said? He really listens to people carefully…"
"What about it?" he smiled at her.
"I see, you never thought of yourself being perfect in everything you do…" Sayaka twitched slightly.
"Hm! You want to laugh about it? Go ahead-" he laughed about what she said.
"I'm not going to laugh about you not being able to play soccer. It's just that I thought about the last sentence of it. My answer to it would be, yes. When you find a weakness, it makes you want to find something to make up for it. Just like you said: there will always be things that will remain incomplete… But my question is: What is the thing that you need the most to overcome any weakness that you meet?"
Sayaka widened her eyes as she didn't believe that someone actually understood her so well. She smirked then and lowered her head.
"Friendship… The only thing that can prevent me from becoming weak is friendship and the people that I love the most in this world," Tezuka widened his eyes but wasn't surprised by her answer. He somehow knew what she would say because he felt the same way.
"Does this also imply for tennis?" she smirked.
"Of course it does… If there is no trust between the team, weaknesses will come to the light but we compensate for each other we find a way to fill in the holes…" He somehow thought that she might say something about their doubles pair. He wished that she would have more trust in him. Somehow he wanted to be someone who can make up for her mistakes and give support. He turned back to watch the sun which had almost hid itself under the horizon.
Sayaka then broke the silence…
"I really want to thank you for today, when you saved my life…" he turned his look at her again.
"We're teammates and doubles partners, that's what I'm supposed to do-" she took a few steps closer to him.
"I wanted to thank you for helping me with my homework as well but I didn't know how… until now…" he blinked at her as she looked up at his eyes.
"You really don't have to-" she cut him off.
"No, I have to. Since I came to this school, you were the one, who encouraged me to return to tennis, even when I faced some trouble you were always there to protect me. Even today, you protected me… Like you said: we're doubles partners and I want to put my whole trust in you," as she said this Tezuka stared at her and froze. She smiled at him gently.
"Would you… close your eyes? I want to give you something…" he sighed and did as she asked. For a while she stood there observing him as the wind blew and made his hair waver to it. She looked at him with a dazed off look and went up closer to him. She reached her hand out to his face and wanted to touch it. But then didn't, she leaned closer to his face. Her lips almost touched his as she felt his breath against hers.
She then… smirked at him and took out her necklace and put it around his neck, making her wrap her arms around his neck as she locked it behind him. Her head was pressed closely to his, as she slide down her nose through his hair. "This scent… It's really irresistible…" Tezuka at the moment felt her breath close to his neck and didn't want this to end. His cheeks showed a slight shade of pink and his chest started pounding faster.
Sayaka smirked and pulled away. Tezuka opened his eyes and noticed that something was hanging around his neck. He looked down and saw a blue oval stone. He looked at her with surprise.
"I can't accept this… This is yours-" she put her hand on the stone and pressed it to his chest.
"It was my mothers'…"
"The more reason for me to not accept it. It's a memory for you-" she shook her head.
"No. It always protected me… Since you're the one who protected me as well, I want this to be yours. This is my gift and thank you for everything… Please, accept it. It's very important…" she looked at him with a smile. Tezuka couldn't resist that and accepted it. When they noticed that the sun had already set, they decided to walk home. They reached Sayaka's house and she stopped before she entered the gate.
"Tezuka…"
"Hm?"
"Ever since we play together, you fill up most of my holes and my weaknesses slowly disappear…" He widened his eyes at her sentence and felt somehow happy about what she said. She smiled at him one last time and went into her house. Tezuka stood there for a while and then walked off smirking to himself.
"She never stops surprising me… Her presence is something that I want. Every time I talk to her, I can't help but say everything what's on my mind… She sees through my deepest thoughts. Now I really don't understand. When she came close to me, I didn't want her to pull away… She was something that I desired at that moment. The scent of her hair, everything is just pulling me to her. My body was just screaming out to hold her, to kiss her…" he was already home and lying on his bed. He put his hand on his forehead and sighed while blushing.
"Calm down- Wait! I'm actually calm… I don't understand. If this were love, I would have felt uneasy and nervous around her but I'm calm and actually enjoying it. Is this who I really am? I don't recognize myself. I wouldn't act like that towards a girl previously but she- Why her? I wonder if she feels the same…"
Sayaka was in her room sitting on her bed staring into emptiness…
"W-Why did I just do that? I never felt so calm about coming close to a guy, since I met Tezuka… Why him? All guys are the same but why does it feel different when I'm with him? I actually wanted to kiss him at first… His face, his eyes, everything just pulls me towards him. Maybe this is some sort of a selfish desire… If so, why do we understand each other so well? His words are so sincere and gentle that they pierce through my chest every time he says something…" she slapped her forehead.
"I am not! I am so totally not… falling for him… I'm not. This is just some passion that rises between us. It can't be… 'that'…" she closed her eyes and the only thing that ran through her mind was the scent of him. She wished that she could erase these emotions but at the same time this scent was something she didn't want to fade away…
The next week came and the next round was against some random school and both boys and girls won. The mixed doubles won their matches and proceeded to the final round of the Kantou tournament. Their final opponent in this tournament is… Rikkaidai…
Next chapter
As we continue with the story, the final round is delayed for two weeks, where the first week is the last of school before holidays start and a week off tennis. What happens during that week and on the weekend? How will Tezuka and Sayaka get through their feelings? So what are they feeling for each other? Love, passion or desire the other to be theirs? Hmm… They meet at the most unexpected place, where they experience really weird things towards each other. What happens? Read and find out!
Authors note
Wohooo! I'm on my sprint of making the chapters long again! Yay! I hope this wasn't confusing. About what Tezuka and Saya-chan feel for each other will get clear during the story… Note: They do like each other but there is something more to that… They think that it can't be love because experience changes when they confront each other. As Saya-chan pointed out it can just be their desire to be close to each other (but that is what they think). Let's see how this will turn out!
The next chapter is still Seigaku! I'm on a roll! Yay! About the recreational part: I originally wanted to put bowling in but then went for soccer (because they didn't have a soccer episode in the actual POT series). Anyway, I didn't go into detail in this part but mentioned some things. And one more note: Tezuka's father knows Sayaka's and he's name is Haruka. You'll find out in the next chapter about them knowing each other... And you'll find out who Sayaka thought his father reminded her of as well next time! I hope you liked it! I'll update as soon as possible! Promise! Review, pleeaasssee! See ya!