hmmm... i would say this chapter may be a little dry, sorry for that. well, its Inui you know, and all he does is ramble on and on about his data. and, he wasn't even uh... talking to the boy... Sumimasen!! Yes, i would still like to thank all the kind people out there who gave me reviews!! Pls pardon me for being greedy in this aspect ne? Heez... Sankyuu!

Disclaimer: i do not, and do not wish to, own Inui. Kikumaru's fine... but, nah... only Kunisuke is mine, sadly.

Inui Speaks:

"Hoi hoi, Inui! Ohayo! I've sent Te-Chan, are we late?"

The lanky man turned around and pushed his spectacles up a bit.

"Kikumaru? Te-Chan? Why are you with Kunisuke?"

"Hehe... Tezuka took leave to spend more time with Fuji nya, so I offered to help him baby-sit Te-Chan."

The redhead pat the boy on his head. The lanky man stared at the bespectacled boy, before he started scribbling in his notebook.

/Ii data... Tezuka Kunisuke, also known as, Te-Chan./

"Sensei, Eiji-ojisan, please excuse me. I need to get ready for training."

The boy took a bow and jogged off to the clubhouse. The taller man took a look at his watch, then turned around and shouted in the direction of the clubhouse.

"Seigaku! You have three minutes before training starts. Warm up, 30 laps around the courts!"

One hour later.

The two ex-teammates stood behind the fences and watched the boys as they had their practice matches. Inui, being the coach, was watching every game and scribbling in his notebook. Kikumaru, on the other hand, was only watching the young Tezuka's game.

"Ne, Inui. Te-Chan is quite good nya? Can he be compared to Tezuka when he was in year 1?"

The lanky man flipped through his notebook in search of the answer.

"According to my data, his speed, stamina, strength and reflexes are all comparable to Tezuka's when he was in year 1. In fact, Kunisuke's reflexes are faster by 0.27seconds. In terms of skill, he is also capable of executing Tezuka's Zero drop shot. I suspect he is capable of 'Tezuka Zone' as well, but has yet to display it. And, he is also a Nitoryuu."

"Wa... Te-Chan sugoi nya! He actually does as well as his father. He really is a mini Tezuka nya!"

"However, unlike Echizen when he was in year 1, Kunisuke does not totally live in his father's shadow. He has his own style of play."

"Tezuka must have taught him well... Ne, ne, does he have... a girlfriend? Or maybe... a boyfriend?"

Inui smirked.

"In this aspect, Kunisuke is 99 percent similar to his father. All that boy has in his head is just school and tennis. Watching him is like reliving our Seigaku days... he is really a chip off the old block. He's made it to the regular's team in year 1, and just like Tezuka; he beats all his seniors, even if he uses his right hand, which is not his dominant hand. But rest assured, I won't allow any of the older boys to harm him the way Tezuka was."

Kikumaru thought for a moment.

"I always thought Tezuka liked Fuji all along."

Inui flipped through his notebook again.

"Not when he was in year 1... According to my data, you and Oishi started dating halfway through year 2. I do not know the exact date, but it was obvious you two were together. You were close partners before you two started dating, as the Golden Pair. But after you got together, you got even closer. You did little things like helping each other wipe off the sweat on your faces, and drinking from the same bottle, which you never used to. These little actions of affection were what made your relationship known to the rest of us.

What I'm trying to say is, actions speak louder than words. Tezuka, the well-known model student would of course place his focus on studies and tennis first, that's why he only got together with Fuji after we graduated. You are partially right; he did have Fuji on his mind. From my observations, such situations began before we went on to our 3rd year. To be precise, it was during the holiday training camp we had at the end of our sophomore year. If you can still remember, Fuji had a fall because one of our seniors tripped on his own shoelaces and toppled over Fuji..."

"I remember... but what has it got to do with Tezuka? I remember we went on with training as usual."

"That's what it appeared to be. But I noticed, throughout the rest of the session, Tezuka kept glancing over to Fuji. After training, he even helped Fuji with his bag and walked him home. That is what all of you missed out... Subsequently, Tezuka became Buchou in year 3, and all the more he had the chance to lookout for Fuji from the coach bench during trainings."

"You mean... Tezuka has been watching after Fuji since then? I really never realized nya! It sure seemed like he was just doing his job as Buchou at the coach bench. Now that you mentioned, it does seem like he's always more lenient with Fuji when he makes a blunder."

Inui had a satisfied smirk on his face.

"As for Fuji, his 'symptoms' surfaced even earlier. It started when we entered year 2. He would always steal glances at Tezuka during training. And whenever Tezuka talked to him, his smile would be extra brilliant. He also made it a point to come for trainings earlier knowing Tezuka always comes earlier, so that he could find an excuse to have a warm up rally with him before training started."

"Eh? Really? How could you keep such discoveries to yourself nya! It's been 30 years and you never told us!"

"Data is not meant to be disclosed unnecessarily."

"Some friend you are, Inui... Selfish nya! But how come none of us realized they liked each other, only you knew?"

"Ah... I would say that there's an 86 percent chance, even the two of them didn't know that the other had feelings for themselves. They probably assumed that it was one-sided, that's why nothing much happened. None of you noticed it because their affections for the other were not represented with actions like yours and Oishi's, they were represented with subtle glances, looking out for the other without the other's knowing. It was way too subtle."

"Mm... sounds so romantic nya!"

Game Tezuka, 6-0

"Wa! Te-Chan you played well nya!"

"He beat his sempai again. His statistics still stand at 0 defeats."

The young Tezuka stepped out of the court and nodded politely in acknowledgement of the compliment. Inui looked at his watch.

"Eiji, don't you have to tend the shop today?"

Te redhead grabbed the taller man's hand to look at the time. His eyes widened.

"Ah! Oh no, I better run! Mata raishuu..."

The man's voice trailed off as he sprinted away. Inui turned towards the courts.

"Everybody dismissed! Training as usual after school!"

tezuka eiri: erm, no, i'm not going to write a chapter for each of the characters. in fact, this is the last chapter in which someone speaks.

yes, the story is coming to an end, minna-san. next chapter is The Promise. it'll be up in a few hours. and, updating is gonna speed up to "wham, bang, boom, everything's up" , so you gotta keep your eyes peeled. Ja!