Hi, back again with the next chapter. It's shorter than I had in mind at first but I really wanted to get it out before Xmas. Merry Christmas to everyone!

Thank you again for all your reviews, it's great to know someone is reading! I'd like to clarify a few things:

This will not be TezuFuji, the pairing is kind ofgrowing on me but not for this story. I haven't actually decided whether this will be FujiRyo or TezuRyo - TezuRyo is one of my OTPs but FujiRyo is very popular - especially with my cousin bugging me to make it FujiRyo.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tennis no Oujisama or any of the characters.


Tezuka was not at Monday morning practice, having to meet with Ryuzaki-sensai, so he missed Eiji's animated description of Fuji's date with Echizen to a wide eyed Taka-san. Not that Tezuka was left in the dark for long; a member of the tennis club overheard and the news was all over the school by first period. Naturally, the various fan club presidents sought confirmation; not from Tezuka, even they knew to keep their distance, but gentle Oishi was descended upon rapidly by girls of all years. There were even a few boys crowding around the fuku-buchou when Tezuka finally went to rescue his friend.

Oishi gave an audible sigh of relieve as he shut the classroom door behind them. "I never knew Fuji and Echizen had so many fans! And that's only Seigaku students!"

Tezuka gave no answer as he sat down next to a window. A part of him was annoyed that people cared more about their private lives than their tennis abilities and a part was debating whether to make them run laps for the disruption that would undoubtedly ensue at training later. A separate part was raging and demanding to play a match against Fuji and tell him to stay away from Echizen. Tezuka maintained this was the irresponsible part of him that wanted to protect Echizen; it was purely platonic. It did not mean he was having inappropriate thoughts about said freshman. Yes, he was just looking out for his kouhai like a good sempai.

"Oishi."

Oishi turned to look at his best friend. "Yes, Tezuka?"

"Is Echizen lonely?"

Oishi blinked. Was there some part to this conversation that he'd missed?

"Erm, is there any particular reason you think Echizen is lonely?" Oishi asked. He'd always known Tezuka was not as cold as some of the others may think but this was definitely taking "caring" to new heights.

Tezuka didn't answer. Yes, maybe he should spend some time getting to know the next Pillar of Seigaku.


Ryoma, himself, was aware that more people were pointing and whispering about him than normal, well, apart from Tomoka who was wailing and Horio was shouting loud enough for the entire Tokyo to hear. Boy wonder wasn't really bothered as long as he was allowed to sleep in peace and play his tennis. Maybe if he complied with Fuji-sempai's conditions and called him Syuusuke, Fuji-sempai would play a serious match with him.


Tezuka wasn't overjoyed when Echizen asked Fuji for a game after they'd run their warm up laps but he couldn't really do anything to stop them; it was helping them get better so he kept quiet and went about practice as normal.

"Tezuka has handed out 13 more laps than usual, there was a 5 increase in his strength in the practice game against Kawamura but his speed and accuracy decreased by 7 and 4 respectively. All this indicates that Tezuka lost his focus and wasn't concentrating." Inui murmured softly to Oishi as they supervised the first years to tidy up while Tezuka had his meeting with Ryuzaki-sensai.

Oishi frowned, Tezuka was acting a bit odd today; you wouldn't notice it if you didn't know Tezuka well but Oishi was close enough to him that he recognised the slight twitch in Tezuka's right temple and the minute tightening of muscle at the corner of his mouth. "Maybe the pressure of the Nationals is getting to him; it's quite a big burden."

"He seemed very interested in Fuji's game with Echizen." Inui observed.

"Well, those two are closest to Tezuka in terms of skill level; I think everyone was watching that match." 'And we were all gob smacked when Echizen called Fuji by his given name too, Tezuka in particular.' Oishi added to himself.


"Echizen."

Ryoma looked up and squinted against the setting sun. "Ah, buchou."

The two walked together out of school and continued in the same direction even though Ryoma could have sworn Tezuka lived in the opposite direction. Maybe he was visiting someone.

"Do you want to play a match?"

"Huh?" Ryoma shook himself out of his reverie and turned his confused expression onto the older boy.

"Tomorrow at the Haruno University courts after practice."

If Ryoma wanted to ask why they couldn't play during practice he kept it to himself. It didn't really matter as long as he got to play the boy who he had unconsciously been chasing after since their last match. And he didn't even have to keep asking and badgering Tezuka this time. A familiar smirk took over Ryoma's face. "Sure."


Fuji had never been someone to leave a mystery unsolved, especially when there was potential amusement to be had. Tezuka glaring at him throughout Monday practice seemed to fit quite well in Fuji's category of "Things to investigate when bored". He found himself looking forward to the weekend so that he could take the freshman out again, maybe they could go to the amusement park and he could ask Yuuta along. Anyhow, it was too early in the week to talk about the weekend, he didn't want to scare Echizen by moving too quickly; the younger boy took things as they came, planning ahead held no meaning for Echizen Ryoma.

Suspicion and a good dose of curiosity was what prompted the tensai to follow his buchou and potential love interest (depending on how Yuuta and Ryoma get along) when the two surprisingly left together after Tuesday's practice. Now Fuji knew for a fact that Tezuka either went straight home after practice or stayed behind to practice on his own and Tezuka never deviated from his routines. So why was the stoic buchou breaking his own habits and walking kami knows where with their freshman regular?

Fuji chuckled to himself when he saw their destination; trust those two to go completely out of their way for a game of tennis! The tensai stayed for a while to watch the game, mesmerised by the sheer passion the two players on the court were exhibiting; even though he'd played with both of them before, the feeling in the atmosphere was different between Tezuka and Echizen. Fuji left them to it when Echizen was leading 3 games to 2.

Someone in a lavender dress shirt watched him leave with indifference as he sipped his cocktail drink. This was going to be a long evening.


Ryoma collapsed on the floor, chest heaving to get the much needed oxygen into his lungs even as he grinned. 7 games to 6; he had improved a lot even if Tezuka still won the game. Beside him Tezuka was also breathing heavily, a sign that assured Ryoma that he had not been holding back.

"You're catching up with me."

Ryoma quirked an eyebrow. "I thought I'd already caught up before the US Opens."

Tezuka caught the mischief and laughter in the younger boy's eyes and ignored the comment. "When you play someone of a similar or higher level of skill, you learn something every time that can help you improve. Do you want to do this again sometime?"

Buchou had complimented him. Though not the first time, it was still a rare occurrence and to be treasured. "Are you saying you can learn from me buchou? That I am of a similar or higher level of skill compared to you?" he asked with wide-eyed innocence. It could have been the angle of the lights but Tezuka's cheeks definitely turned half a shade darker than before. 'So buchou isn't immune to people's comments.' Ryoma filed the information away to use in a tight situation. He picked up his bag as he made to leave.

Tezuka waited for an answer as the younger boy turned back to him at the gate.

Ryoma flashed a warm smile at him, "Id like that. Same tomorrow?"

Tezuka blinked. "Aa." he nodded, a ghost of a smile flitting across his face as Ryoma walked away.


"Sanada here." a gruff voice came over the phone.

"They played tennis after club practice and then went home."

"Ah. Thank you."

"Tell Ore-sama why you wanted to know what Tezuka and Echizen did after their club practice."

"It's a club project."

Pause. "You're a horrible liar Sanada."

Faint muffled conversation in the background was heard as the phone on Sanada's side changed hands.

"Good evening Atobe-san. This is Yukimura. Thank you for doing us this favour. As to why; I made a deal with Destiny to get Tezuka and Echizen together if she cured my disease."

Silence as Atobe struggled to process the information a second time and make sense of it.

"Right. As long as everything's good now." Atobe decided not to ask. Not everyone had Ore-sama's intellect and knowledge to know deities were legends used to manipulate the lesser beings.

"Why couldn't Yanagi ask Seigaku's data collector about Tezuka and Echizen. Atobe asks too many questions." Sanada grumbled.

"Sadaharu asks just as many questions and he is better at deducing answers." came Yanagi's reply. "Seiichi just told Atobe the truth but Atobe won't believe it so the deal with Destiny is safe."

Sanada looked ready to answer back when Yukimura broke up the impending dispute.

"Hush. We can't keep asking people for reports anyway. One, they'll get suspicious, two, I need to be there to know what needs to be worked on." The blue haired buchou was silent for a moment before a predatory gleam entered his bright eyes. "Sanada, can you come to Tokyo with me tomorrow?"

Sanada's refusal to miss lessons as well as practice died on his lips as Yukimura turned large amethyst eyes brimming with hope at him. "Of course."

As Sanada pulled down his cap to hide his blush when Yukimura flashed a warm smile back to thank him, Yanagi wondered if this would count as a first date.


Sanada enjoyed himself immensely in Tokyo, a day for just him and Seiichi, no Yanagi writing down data on their every action, no Kirihara to terrorise the general public, no Niou to keep an eye on and no Marui to drag away from pastry shops. Just the two of them. So he was understandably unhappy when Yukimura informed him that Seigaku's tennis practice was in progress and they had to get moving, it would be a good opportunity to observe the strength of their team as well as keep an eye on Tezuka and Echizen's interaction.


Fuji had been surprised when Echizen left with Tezuka once again, were they making a habit of matches after club practice? It bothered him more than he'd like to admit; what were Tezuka's intentions, was he a rival for Echizen? Fuji was so caught up in his thoughts, that he didn't realise two other figures were watching the same pair he was; one with a dark cap and the other a head of dark blue hair.

"It seems that Fuji has realised his feelings for Echizen." Sanada frowned, it would be more difficult to remove the tensai from the picture now.

"Maybe, maybe not. Fuji Syuusuke will not let our plans run smoothly if they interfere with his interests." Yukimura murmured quietly as they carried on watching the intense match before them, mindful to keep half an eye on Seigaku's tensai who had his eyes half open.

"You want to talk to him?" Sanada asked.

Yukimura smiled brightly. "I like meeting new people."


"Fuji Syuusuke."

Fuji turned at his name. "Ah, Rikkai's Yukimura-buchou and Sanada fuku-buchou. What brings you all the way to Tokyo?" he said, mindful to keep his trademark smile on his face.

"Oh, just taking a break from everything. We were just about to head back when we came across this match." Yukimura replied in a carefree manner.

Fuji turned back to the game. "It's a very interesting game." he agreed.

"Echizen looks up to Tezuka very much, doesn't he?" Yukimura asked.

"We all look up to Tezuka at Seigaku. I'm sure your team mates feel the same about you, Yukimura-kun."

Yukimura laughed lightly. "Maybe, but I can't do what Tezuka does for Echizen; I don't think I could sacrifice myself to help another to further their skills."

"Tezuka always puts the team before himself. He wants Echizen to be the next Pillar of Seigaku." Fuji clarified.

"Oh? Well, it's a good thing for Tezuka to have someone look after him as well. After all, there's only so much a person can give; a pillar will collapse if there is nobody to look after it. Goodbye, Fuji-kun."


Fuji walked home pondering Yukimura's words. He was sure the two Rikkai boys' appearance was not by mere chance but what could they want? To see how strong Seigaku are? He had a feeling there was a hidden purpose in the other buchou's words, but what? All he was getting was … Tezuka's interest in Echizen exceeded that of a caring buchou!


"Yuuta-kun."

"Yes, Mizuki-san?" Yuuta looked up from his maths homework only to cringe and fasten his eyes back on his black and white homework. Yuuta wasn't much of a fashion expert but boys should not be allowed to wear pink and lilac, especially not in those shades!

"Tezuka's been out a lot with Echizen lately." The dark haired boy sat down opposite him.

"Oh?" Yuuta willed himself to stay calm and resisted the reflexive instinct to run for cover.

"Usually they just play tennis but sometimes they go for some food afterwards." Mizuki twirled his hair, not noticing the other boy was resolutely not looking at him.

"Maybe they were hungry, Mizuki-san."

"But it could be something else. We should go to your house this weekend and get Fuji-kun to ask Echizen for another date!" Mizuki exclaimed.

Yuuta refrained from hitting his head on the table. "Er, that might not be a good idea Mizuki-san. Aniki doesn't really like you that much."

Mizuki waved away his concerns. "They should go and see a nice movie then have a romantic dinner for two! I'll plan it all for them." With that, he flounced away, a maniacal gleam in his eyes.

Yuuta gave in to the urge to whimper as his head came into contact with the hard wooden desk. 'Why me?'


Soooo, how was it? I used to keep moaning about how there wasn't a lot of TezuRyo fanfics but now I realise exactly how hard it is! Apart from tennis, which everyone uses, I can't think of anything else for them to do -ideas please! Send in your FujiRyo ideas too if you want. Don't know whose move is next yet. Will try to get moving soon.

Review!