"I-" "Wait" Tezuka stopped her. All eyes turned to him, confused and curious as they assumed that their buchou would be the one most eager to know what was going on. Tezuka stared directly into Sakuno's eyes, "Why are you telling us now and not when we were alone in the locker rooms?" Sakuno's eyes dropped down to her hands as they fingered on Tahe's shirt-sleeve.

"I… When Kikumaru-senpai came rushing in, I thought something happened to Tahe…" Sakuno worded her sentence slowly and carefully.

"But he's a kid isn't he? Don't they get scraps and stuff all the time?" Momo pointed out. Sakuno shook her head.

"It wasn't the scraps and bruises that I am worried about…" Sakuno replied, brushing her hand through Tahe's figure as he snuggled deeper into the warmth of his mother's sweater.

"Then what was it, Ryuuzaki-chan?" Taka asked. Sakuno bit her lip and stayed quite for a while, confused on what to answer. Tezuka cautiously put a hand on her back, something he used to do when she got nervous in when she was being interviewed with him during the tennis interview panels. Sakuno took a deep breath before answering.

"I… Someone is after Tahe-chan. Due to the circumstances now, I know that some people want Tahe away from me and I… I can't let him go yet." A few lone tears fell on Tahe's face and while he stirred slightly, Sakuno breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't wake him and quickly wiped her face.

"Who is it?" Everyone turned to their buchou who had his head down, his fist that was not on Sakuno's back fisted with anger, "Who is it?" he slightly raised his voice now. At this, Tahe woke, rubbed his eyes with his tiny fists before looking up, drowsily at his mother who put on the I-am-a-put-together-not-really smile.

"Mama?" He reached up, still drowsy. Sakuno gathered her son into her arms as she slightly bounced him, "Mama, ssstop I'm not a baby…" Tahe whined sleepily as he snuggled closer.

"You'll always be Mama's baby," At this, Sakuno tightened her hold slightly on Tahe but the little boy did not notice before he said, "I'm hungry." Sakuno turned her eyes to the owners of the house, "Is there anything quick I can do for him?" Oishi stood, gesturing her to follow him.

"Leave him here." Their buchou who was silent all this time spoke. Tahe opened his tired eyes and glared at him slightly. Sakuno hesitated but then realised it might be good for father and son to get acquainted especially if… Sakuno mentally shook her head. She turned to Tahe in her arms and said, "Tahe, Kaa-san's going to go get some food for you so you have to stay and be good." Tahe tightened his hold on his mother slightly before nodding and letting go. Sakuno sat him down between Fuji and Tezuka before giving Fuji a look to make sure that he will stop Tezuka before things go out of hand. Fuji nodded. Tezuka saw and was slightly annoyed and disappointed that Sakuno would think of such of him but then acknowledged that his behavior all afternoon has only put her on the edge. Sakuno left the room with Oishi to the kitchen. It was awkwardly quiet for a while.

"Shall we play a game of Jenga?" Kikumaru suggested.

KITCHEN

"I'm sorry that we all decided to pile into your home. It was very selfish of me" Sakuno said as Oishi and her were putting on the aprons. Oishi's said "MAMA HEN" (courtesy of Momoshiro who got it to him for his birthday) and Sakuno wore one that said "Troublemaker" (Kikumaru bought this one for himself).

"It's alright. It's nice to have you visit. You and Tezuka were the only ones that haven't been to our new place since we moved in." At this Sakuno turned to him.

"Even Tezuka?" Oishi nodded with a sad smile as he was pulling out ingredients from the fridge.

"He wasn't right after you left. He got more... Emotional. I guess if we said this years ago, we'd think this might be a good thing for him to let things out more often but he's… It's not in a good way, let's just say that." Oishi said, picking his words carefully. He did not want to speak badly of the person who was his good friend but he thought it was important for Sakuno to know how Tezuka has changed, "Anyway, he just pulled out of more social gatherings. We'd get him out a handful of times but most of the time, he avoids it. I think with this house," Oishi looked up at her and smiled at the memory, "Well, the five of us went house-hunting together didn't we? It was the last time before…" "Before I disappeared." Oishi nodded as he pulled out the frozen carrots and peas from the freezer, sausages already on the table from they talking early on, "Yeah, so I think he didn't want to see this place. Not without you. Kikumaru and I even considered moving but Inui talked us out of it."

"I'm sorry…" Sakuno mumbled quietly as she started loosening the leftover rice. Oishi did not say anything until…

"HAHAHA JENGA MAMUSHI!" CRASH-GLASS-BREAKING "PSHHHHH shut up bakayaro" At this, Sakuno giggled even though the atmosphere in the kitchen was still low.

"They never change, do they?" Sakuno commented. Oishi smiled fondly.

"I think they're more sensitive than you think. It's to break the ice really I think but…" CRASH-THUMP-CRASH- "Momo, you broke one of the picture frames!" "It's all this mamushi's fault! "…and sometimes I think they're just having fun." Oishi finished as he pulled out a pan.

As he turned on the fire to heat up the pan, he turned to attention to Sakuno who was standing next to him, "Sakuno," She looked at him, "I don't know what happened five years ago and I have a feeling you're hesitant to tell us everything but I hope everything was worth it. You've hurt us a lot. Every time we see Tezuka, we wondered if we should've done things differently. Maybe not go for so many practice games or…" "That wouldn't have changed anything. He'd still have gone for private training." Sakuno cut him off, "And I know you might not believe me but I am proud of him. I've always been proud of him. I still look at the Japan Sports magazine and… and I feel so proud of him every time I see him win something… I am also glad he's continued to play…"

"I think he hoped to see you at games." Oishi said as he turned his attention back to the pan, adding oil to it now. He noted that Sakuno's hands tightened into fists in her apron and decided he should change the topic.

"So what does Tahe think about Omurice?"

LIVING ROOM

While the four were play fighting (if you would call it play fighting between Momo and Kaidoh) and even whilst playing the game, Tezuka and his son sat side by side, silently whilst Fuji and Inui observed quietly.

Tahe started to put the pieces back into the Jenga box, readying for the next game. Tezuka silently handed his son pieces and Tahe was putting them to place.

"Kaa-san talks to me about you when she thinks I'm asleep," Tahe suddenly commented, eyes and hands still focused on the activity while Tezuka's stilled.

"Does she now?" Tezuka quietly replied, not knowing how to continue this conversation.

"Yeah… We had to move every time you come to the city we were living at for a game." Tahe replied, he stopped his activities and turned himself to look at Tezuka, "It made her sad. Kaa-san didn't complain but I think kaa-san was lonely."

"Why did you have to move?" Tahe looked down and shrugged.

"Some people always makes us move but when we came here, it was only kaa-san and I when we moved. Then we came and stayed with Tachibashi-san."

"Tachibana-san?" Tezuka asked. Tahe nodded.

"Yeah but they found us soon later. Mama went to talk to them and I think something went wrong. She just went to her room and cried and when I went to see Kaa-san, she didn't stop crying." Tezuka was inwardly measuring the severity of the issue. From what he has seen, Sakuno did not seem like the type that would emotionally depend on her son or would easily show him her tears.

"Otou-sama," At this, the whole room quietened and everyone stared at the little boy. He's never given any indication that he knew Tezuka was his father, "I don't like you and I don't know you but I need you to please protect Mama from the bad guys." At this, Tahe did a low bow towards his father. Tezuka froze for a little before putting a hand on Tahe's head and patting his reddish-brown locks.

"I promise. Stand up straight, Tahe. We will make this promise as men," Tezuka removed the hand from Tahe's head and offered his hand for a handshake to which Tahe took.

"It's a promise. Kaa-san said that if you break a promise, you have to swallow a thousand needles." Tezuka chuckled, aware that that the little boy has mixed up the sayings but assumed that Sakuno (who tend to jumble information) was the source of this, "Yes. Promise." Tahe nodded seriously at him.

"Another game?" Fuji suggested.

"Tahe! Your food is ready!" Sakuno's voice sounded from the kitchen.

"I'm coming!" Tahe called back as he moved to walk towards the sound. However, he found himself picked off the ground into his father's arms.

"Your leg is hurt" was Tezuka's simple answer. Tahe seemed to want to reject him by impulse but then decided that his father's reasoning was sound.

"It's your favourite. It's omurice with Unagi (eel) at the sid-" Sakuno dropped the cutleries she was holding to set up for Tahe when she saw her son in his father's arms. Sure, she had seen him but this time, Tahe was awake and willing. He didn't seem particularly happy but he wasn't fighting Tezuka either. Tezuka sat him down on a chair only to realise that Tahe was still too little to be on a normal chair. Sakuno then gathered herself quickly, picked up the cutlery and walked over.

"Oh, don't worry about it. He can sit on my lap," Sakuno answered quickly. Tezuka nodded and picked up his son again until Sakuno was sitting comfortably on the chair before he let him down onto Sakuno's lap.

"Arigatou, okaa-san." Tahe said, smiling at his mother.

"You have to thank Oishi-ojii-san as well and otou- I mean- Tezuka-san for carrying you."

"Arigatou, Oishi-ojii-san and otou-sama. Itadakimasu." Tahe put his little hands together in a prayer and then started eating.

Night Time

"So, he's started calling you Otou-sama, ne?" Sakuno asked as she brushed through her son's locks. Oishi-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai has decided to house Sakuno and Tahe for the night which also lead to Tezuka spending the night. They had a spare room in which there was a king-sized bed and a futon laid on the floor for Tezuka.

"Yes, he has," Tezuka said, putting his arms around her, putting his face into her freshly washed hair (she showered) and taking a deep breath. She was warm and she didn't push him away. He wouldn't let go if she did but they both needed this and they knew so they stayed like that for a while, quietly.

"Who's after you, Sakuno?" Tezuka asked. He felt Sakuno's relaxed figure freeze and felt the tension in the room rise, "Tahe said that there were people that made you move. How did you afford it and how did you stay hidden? Inui has one of the largest network in Japan. It would be near impossible to have lived in Japan and for us not to even get an inkling of where you were. I was worried that you may have died, even…" At this, Tezuka's arms tightened until Sakuno put a small hand on his arm, calming him.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." Sakuno reassured him, stroking his arm.

"Will you tell me?" Tezuka asked.

"Not tonight. Too much has happened and I am really tired today. I just want to sleep." Sakuno replied.

"You will tell me soon." Tezuka 'demanded' lightly. Sakuno chuckled at the familiarity of his firmness.

"Yes, I will. Just not tonight." Tezuka nodded, even though she couldn't see him directly, she could feel the movement on her back.

"I'm going to get changed." Tezuka released her and watched as she walked over to pick up Kikumaru's bright neon yellow t-shirt and blue shorts that had fish and pandas on them. Tezuka quickly rummaged through his bag and pulled out a spare t-shirt he always kept in his overnight bag he left in his car.

"Wear this." Tezuka said, throwing his T-shirt to her. She looked at it and then at him.

"What are you going to wear?" Tezuka then realised he hasn't thought this through. He couldn't wear Kikumaru's clothes even if he could resolve himself into wearing them. They were too small.

"I wouldn't mind if you… dressed the way you did last time" Sakuno said shyly, blushing pink all over. At this, Tezuka looked at her and nodded. He knew it was slightly uncomfortable to her but was pleased secretly that he still managed to have that effect on her. Without a second thought, he pulled off his current shirt which left him topless. Instead of blushing pink all over like he hoped (he will not admit this to anyone), Sakuno just stared at him quietly. She dropped his t shirt as she walked over and traced his body.

"Are you okay, Mitsu-kun? You've gotten so thin…" The old concerns came back and she did not notice the slip of her tongue when she said his name. Tezuka would have relished at the sound of his name off her lips but he was more focused on the concern in her eyes.

"I'm ok. I will be okay now that you're here." Tezuka admitted. He realised over the years that he has always regretted not expressing himself and his feelings to her. His pride has been high then but he won't let it be that barrier that separates him from Sakuno. Not now. Sakuno then looked at him and nodded before blushing. She quickly backed away and comically picked up the t-shirt and ran to the en-suite to get changed. Tezuka chuckled slightly at her embarrassment when they have done many other things already. One, in which, resulted with the boy currently sleeping away in the bed. Tezuka slipped himself into the futon and only opened his eyes when he heard Sakuno shuffling back into the room. He heard her climb into the bed next to her son, with her back turned to him.

It was dark and only the nightlight illuminated the room but it was enough. Tezuka smiled (yes, smiled) before closing his eyes. He decided that's how things were going to be from now on. Him, his son and his…well, the love of his life. Even though he was not next to her, he was willing to take things slow. As slow as she wants it to be as long as she returns to him.

On Sakuno's back, the t-shirt read "Property of Tezuka Kunimitsu".