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Misunderstanding

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Chapter Twenty-Five:

Ruse

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A/N: Hello, minna-san! It's been awhile. School has been giving me a hard time- it takes almost all of my time leaving none for writing. If only I could skip school… Anyway, hope you guys enjoy reading. R and R!

Sakuno continued to stare at the direction where Akari and Tezuka were headed. She couldn't believe what she just saw.

"Oi," Ryoma said, calling for her attention.

"R-Ryoma-kun, gomen," Sakuno apologized before taking a step toward Ryoma. "Was that…?" she trailed off, confident that the prodigy knew what she was referring to.

Not seeing why it was so hard to believe that Akari and Tezuka would walk to school together, Ryoma just nodded. He drank his Ponta as he continued to wait for her to get over it.

A few minutes passed and silence began to wrap around them. Suddenly, Sakuno's phone started beeping, pulling her back to reality. She checked her phone to see the time, before panicking.

"A-anou, Ryoma-kun, I have to go. Thanks for walking me to school. Bye!" she said, waving goodbye as she sped away, hoping that she wouldn't be punished for being late for their tennis training.

Reaching the courts, she could hear three familiar voices talking. Not wanting to eavesdrop, she turned to walk away but stayed when she heard Tezuka's name.

"What the heck was that?" Haruka said, obviously annoyed.

"I'm sure Tezuka-sama was simply being polite," Akiko said, trying to calm Haruka down.

There was a snort before Natsumi's spoke, "Yeah, she probably begged him to walk her to the courts. Tezuka-sama was just too kind to reject her request."

"That's probably right. What a slut!" Haruka stated. "First, it was Ryoma-sama, then Momo-sama, Kaidoh-san and Eiji-chan. Now, it's Tezuka-sama!"

Hearing their statements, Sakuno felt uneasy. She didn't feel comfortable listening to others as they insulted a friend.

"A-anou…," her weak voice interjected the laughter of the three. "Y-you shouldn't be talking about others that way, senpai," she continued.

"Ryuzaki, you should really just mind your own business!" Natsumi said, rolling her eyes.

Not knowing how to respond to that, Sakuno just kept quiet. She had never really been the type to talk back. She didn't have enough courage and self-confidence.

"Why do you even stand up for that-"

"Oi," a familiar voice interrupted Haruka's statement.

"R-Ryoma-sama! W-We didn't see you there. What are you doing here?" Haruka's voice immediately changed from that of a bigheaded person to that of a shy and trying-to-be-cute girl.

For a moment, everybody was silent. The three were quietly watching Ryoma while he stared at Sakuno who suddenly found her shoes interesting. Without warning, Ryoma pulled Sakuno to him before resting his hand around her shoulders.

Bang!

The door to the clubroom, just a few meters away from them, closed. But nobody seemed to have noticed the loud noise. They were too pre-occupied with what Ryoma was doing.

"She's mine. Nobody gets to bully her...," he said, looking Haruka straight in the eyes. Then, he glanced at the tomato red Sakuno beside him before saying, "Except for me."

...

There was silence. Haruka and her friends couldn't even close their mouth or think properly because of what they've seen and heard. Sakuno was too busy blushing to even try to stutter a word out of her lips. And, Ryoma was too busy smirking to say anything more.

"What's everybody doing here?" a familiar voice broke through the silence. "Why are the girls' tennis club members not doing their morning training? Echizen, why are you here?" Ryuzaki-sensei charged with questions as she walked toward the group.

"O-Obaa-chan!" Sakuno exclaimed.

The coach stopped in her tracks when she saw the way Ryoma had his arm around her granddaughter's shoulders. Shock was written all over her face. Knowing that the coach was paying them no attention, the three discreetly left the area and headed to one of the courts to start training- effectively escaping from their would-have-been punishment.

Ryoma, finally realizing why Ryuzaki-sensei had been staring at them, released Sakuno and tugged on his cap. He bowed before leaving, headed toward the boys' tennis club courts.

Sakuno was panicking on how to explain to her grandmother when the door to the clubroom suddenly opened, saving her.

"Ohayou gozaimasu!" Akari greeted as she approached them. She turned to the coach then asked, "Sensei, what happened with the emergency meeting last Saturday?"

"We just needed to discuss some things. I'm sure you're well aware of one of the matters we had to talk about."

A dark second passed before Akari smiled at the aging coach. "Sakuno-chan and I are going to start our morning training now. Please excuse us."

She bowed before pulling Sakuno with her. They rushed to one of the courts to start warming up for a practice match. Sakuno suddenly stopped, causing Akari to turn to her.

"What's the matter, Sakuno-chan?"

"Anou, senpai, what 'matter' was obaa-chan referring to?" she asked, unable to forget Akari's reaction to what Ryuzaki-sensei said.

"It was nothing," Akari said, dismissing the topic. "Anyway, are you and Ryoma-kun...?"

Sakuno suddenly went red. "N-No... I-I mean," she paused to think before continuing, "I... don't know."

"Leaving things unclear," Akari muttered as she continued to walk. "Typical Ryoma..."

Sakuno watched as their captain walked away before remembering something. "Senpai!"

"Hm?" Akari asked, turning around to face Sakuno who started to run toward her.

"Are you and Tezuka-senpai...?" she trailed off.

Expecting that that question would somehow be asked, she smiled and recited the answer she rehearsed in her mind moments ago, "We hold mutual feelings and we both know that. We recognize the effects of possessing such feelings and I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens next."

Sakuno stood there, stunned, as Akari started walking away again. Sakuno had not expected her to answer honestly- she didn't even expect her to answer the question at all. She continued staring at the courts, barely aware of what was happening around her, as she thought of the answer given to her.

'Does that mean that...? Probably.' Sakuno smiled before running to the courts for the training.

-/-/-/-

"Walking someone to school, that's new," Fuji said just as Tezuka walked past him.

He was leaning on the wall of the clubroom, just beside the door. He looked at Tezuka with a look of amusement.

Tezuka, being Tezuka, simply stopped in front of him and stared back at the smiling mask of the tensai.

"I wonder why, out of all the girls in this school, you picked her," Fuji murmured as he stood straight.

Hearing a certain tone to Fuji's voice, Tezuka analyzed him- checking if he meant any harm.

Hands put up as if surrendering, he spoke, "Don't worry. I won't touch her." That was all that was said before he walked away.

After all the years they've all been together as a team, Tezuka knew he could trust Fuji's words. But, there was something with the way he said 'I' that made him think he had more things to consider worrying about.

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There was a giggle from one of the cubicles in the girl's comfort room. Two girls managed to fit themselves in the cramp space.

"As long as it's for Fuji-sama..."

"It's okay to break the rules..."

-o0o- End of Chapter –o0o-

A/N: How was that? It's shorter than other chapters but I needed to put something up for you guys or something. I feel like I've been neglecting writing too much. So, how was it? Just click the button below to vote! Thanks!

Oh, and thanks to those who reviewed for the previous chapters!